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jasntodds · 20 days

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Scars [J.T.]

Pairing: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary: Jason lets you trace over his y scar

Warnings: Swearing, fluff, scars, mentions of death, bruises, cuts, general minor injuries, hurt/comfort

Words: 1,765

A/n: I just wanted something a little soft for once. If you wanna be tagged in my fics, you can click the link below, send me an ask/comment, or follow my library blog @jasntoddslibrary and turn on notifications if you prefer that!!

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Jason carries the weight of every horrible, traumatic, and agonizing event that’s ever happened to him across his body, etched in pale and raised lines across him like a used roadmap. He wears them as cruel reminders that this life is unfair and unjust, even when he tries his hardest to make it so. There are some he pays no mind to, and doesn’t even really notice most days because they are there. That’s that. But, there are others…there are others he looks at as a punishment for everything he’s ever done and everything he never was and could never be. They’re reminders, laughing back at him every day, a sinister echo of his mistakes.

Most days, he tries to pay them no mind, either.

You’re sitting on your knees right beside Jason, his side pressed against the bare skin of your calf. Your eyes are trained on his exposed abdomen, showcasing the scars and cuts and bruises he’s collected over the last few years.

It wasn’t that seeing his body covered in new and old injuries was jarring. That was mostly fine. After the first few weeks of being friends, it stopped being jarring because that's just how it is with Jason. He gets hurt sometimes. It comes with the job and you accept that part of him. The bruises and cuts were very rarely ever jarring. The other scars were never really jarring because of course he has them. That always made sense to you. It's the autopsy scar that is jarring.

With the others, he'd told you it comes with the job and then he'd watch your face contort into a scrunch of worry and paranoia over his well-being, something he doesn't think he deserves most days. When the comment didn't ease your worry, he'd kiss you and give his signature cocky grin, a silent promise that he's fine and the conversation would end. The autopsy scar conversation is never so simple.

You knew he died because he told you not long before you made things official. You knew the story about the Joker and his mom. He told you of the horrid night and bits of pieces of the after. But this is your first time seeing the physical damage of the night that still wakes him up in the middle of the night. Your chest aches for him and it's jarring because he did die and he has to carry that kind of weight forever, something you'll swear until the day you die he doesn't deserve.

With delicate fingers, you trace over the long line of the autopsy scar, Jason’s eyes glancing from your hand to your face. His stomach tenses with the movement and you can’t tell if it’s because your hands are cold, it tickles, or he’s uncomfortable. If you know Jason, you’re kind of figuring it’s the third option. So, you glance back to him, chewing the inside of your cheek.

“This okay?” You ask softly.

“It’s fine.” Jason answers, his thumb lightly brushing over your thigh furthest away from him. “Bother you?”

Jason has been cautious not to show you because he knows how he feels about it. He knows that you worry. Seeing some sort of proof of death seems like it might send you spiraling into some sort of tornado of worry until you spin too far away from him. He's been cautious because he adores you and he doesn't want to lose you and he doesn't want it scare you.

You look back to the scar, tracing over it again. “No.” You answer quietly. It hurts your chest because it happened to him. It happened to him and nothing in this world could ever justify the torture and pain he's been through. It doesn't bother you because it is a part of him and you adore him with every beat your heart drums. “Bothers you though.”

Jason’s brows pull together. “How’d you figure?” There’s the slightest bit of a bite in his words like a scared puppy, a default reaction to being seen.

“Why wouldn’t it?” The question leaves your lips freely with unfiltered candor.

Seeing it for the first time, yeah it bothered him. It bothered him because what was the point? It wasn’t some mystery how he died. Maybe it was just legal reasons bullshit that Jason doesn’t care about. Though, he does fully understand that maybe if he hadn’t come back, he wouldn’t care. Or if it had healed, he wouldn’t care. So, that’s something he can’t really blame Bruce for. Instead, it’s that it’s there. Looking back at him in the mirror. Staring up at him when he looks down. It’s always there. It’s as if he was cut open and the weight of death and punishment and regret scattered over his organs and bones, making sure he understands the weight of his own consequences. He just can’t quite shake it and the scar is the reminder.

"I guess." Jason lets out this shaky breath as his stomach tenses below your fingertips.

"It's okay if it bothers you, Jay." You assure him. "I'd bother me if I were you but..." You pause for just a second, pressing an open palm over some of the raised edges of the scar as your eyes are locked on his. "I hope it doesn't bother you too much because you got to live and I don't care what the other bats thought about it at first because I'm glad you got to come back. And you deserve to let the weight off your shoulders for once." Your eyes go back to the scar and trace up the line from the center of his stomach up to the right side of his chest.

Jason's thumb is rubbing lightly against your skin and he wonders why you make it seem so simple. No part of him thinks you believe it's simple but there's something in the way that you say it that almost gives Jason some sort of faith in the idea of it. That maybe there is a day where it won't feel like he's carrying the weight of the world. Maybe there is a day someday where he won't feel the aching and longing of his bones. You offer him tenderness and kindness when the majority of his life has been nothing but skinned knees and broken hearts.

That feels terrifying, too but...maybe he's tired of running away from things because they're good for him. And good to him.

Seeing the autopsy scar for the first time bothered him. Seeing it yesterday bothered him. But, at this exact point in time with your fingers running along the tattered edges, it doesn’t bother him so much.

“Thank you.” Jason holds his words steady with a sort of caution at the edges. "It's not bothering me now." His voice is quiet as his eyes glance to you and then back to your fingers on his skin.

He is entirely exposed to you now. There’s no going back even if that is absolutely terrifying. Jason keeps himself guarded to protect himself and protect everyone else around him. But, you make letting the guard down a little bit easier. You’re tender and delicate with him, two things no one ever is. At no point have you ever thought less of him for the things he’s done and things he’s seen, or the things that rip his body to shreds. You take him as he is and offer him understanding and kindness, two things Jason has been desperate to get from anyone. And he is so thankful for you.

“Good.” Your voice is quiet before your stare goes back to the scar. “I hope it never bothers you again.”

Jason sits up, closing some of the distance between you while you rest your hands in your lap. His eyes run over your face slowly while the corner of his mouth is pinched barely upwards. He looks content. He looks comfortable. His heart is beating a mile a minute as it’s about to run through his ribs. There’s something fluttering against it, something that feels warm and welcoming in the beating of his heart. There’s something that makes his breathing unsteady without ever sucking the air from his lungs. There is something that feels comfortable and like a home he didn’t think he’d ever find.

Jason leans forward, resting his forehead against yours and your entire body relaxes in that instant. He pulls away, pressing a kiss to your nose and then to your cheek before he rests his head in the crook of your neck. You turn your head and press a kiss to his temple before your hands come to his cheeks to pick his head up.

His eyes lock on your eyes and you adore him. You adore him for all that he is today. The scars never really bothered you because they hold him together. All of them have a story that has led Jason Todd to who he is today. They are proof that he is alive. They are proof that even when he was hurt, even when he was murdered, he is alive. The air can be pulled into his lungs and oxygen will circulate through his cells again. He is alive. The autopsy scar is just further proof to you because he shouldn’t have been brought back but he was. And that was for a reason. That scar is just another piece of proof he is meant to be here. It is another mark of how he got here today and you, for one, are eternally thankful that he is here today.

Your thumbs are running over his cheeks and Jason swears he has never felt so wanted by anyone. And he doesn’t feel so damn alone in the world anymore. He feels important and he only hopes he makes you feel the same way. He can only hope you understand how much you mean to him and that he is just as important to you.

Your lips come to his and he melts into your touch as he kisses you back. His hand comes up to the back of your head to pull you in closer. And he thinks he might do everything in his power to have more moments like these with you. You can trace his scars and he can tell you about them and you can exist in the bubble where it is only the two of you. You can trace his scars and he can run his fingers along your thigh and you both can feel wanted and important. And loved.

Tag List: @jasontoddsmentaldisorders // @purplerose291 // @lovelessamai // @makaelaseresin // @lenidaslenchen // @mayfieldss // @ghostkingblake // @dgraysonss // @im-done-with-this-im-out // @velvetskies // @vivian-555 // @kebonita // @deyja-the-duck // @jasontoddslover // @captainmarvels-blog // @totallynotkaibiased // @scarlovesyou // @whydoyoucare866 // @littlemeowmeow1000 // @septixtrash // @kplatzman // @killxz // @achromaticerebus // @lovefks // @kolpvii

#jason todd x reader #jason todd x you #red hood x reader #red hood x you #jason todd fanfic #jason todd fanfiction #dc fanfic #dc fanfiction

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daisyvisions · 2 months

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Goldfinger - (k.yh)

➺ Pairing: Agent 007! reader x Younghoon

➺ Summary: You left the force years ago for a good reason. But it’s that same reason why you’re back on the mission, trying to catch him once and for all… Goldfinger.

➺ Word Count: 3.6k

➺ Warnings: Smut (18+, minors DNI), fem!reader, unprotected sex, choking, hate sex (if you squint), cowgirl, missionary, overstimulation, handjob, oral (m! receiving), creampies, face slapping, guns, drugs, and alcohol are mentioned, being tied up, dry humping, teasing, pet names used (baby and sweetheart), let me know if I missed anything!

➺ A/N: Very loosely based on the movie. This spy fic is not related to the other Younghoon spy fic I did! This is my entry for The 007 files by the lovely @winterchimez. Proofread once, hope you enjoy! Side note: the song from this movie is my fave so it’s linked up at the end of the fic if you wanna listen!

➺ Network & Tag: @deoboyznet @aimeecarreros @snowflakewhispers

You stare at the vesper martini in your hand as you slowly swirl it around, watching the liquid move inside the glass. You were sitting by the bar of this incredible mansion. You have never been to a party like this before.

Everyone was dressed to the nines in this lavish event. Everything from the Hors D'oeuvres to the entertainment screamed luxury, it was like you were invited to a party from The Great Gatsby. As you sip from your glass, you reflect back to why you’re even here to begin with…

Goldfinger.

He was your toughest case that suddenly went cold a couple of years back. To be honest, you were incredibly reluctant to take on this case again, having quit the force around the same time the case went dry and after that incident in Monaco when you nearly died because of trying to catch Goldfinger.

You almost had him that time, almost finally being able to place a face to the name since no one knew what Goldfinger looked like (and he planned on keeping it that way). Out of all the cases you’ve done, he was the one that kept you on your feet, kept your heart running a mile a minute, he somewhat made you feel alive again every time you were close to catching him.

But after the incident you vowed to never go back on the force and start a new life. And that’s what you did. Changed your name, moved to a new location, left everyone you knew in order to truly wipe out that chapter in your life. But sometimes you would catch yourself reminiscing those times, especially the Goldfinger case.

He was different from the other villains, that’s what made him interesting. You knew in your heart Goldfinger was more than just a man loaded with money. He was smart, cunning, and very strategic. In some weird and funny way when you think about it, he kind of reminds you of your own boyfriend Younghoon.

How he always kept the excitement in your relationship since the day you met, how he was the first man in your life that matched your intellect like no one had ever done before, and not to mention how much he would spoil you in many ways that he could.

He was truly one of the greatest things to happen in your life ever since you quit the force. You saw a future with him, a quiet and peaceful life, raising your own and spending your days with each other forever. It was like you were made for each other.

But there was one problem… You never revealed to him that you were once an agent.

So when your boss suddenly called you up while you were watching a movie with Younghoon, you panicked.

“Who’s that baby?” He looks over at your phone, a name he did not recognize.

“Oh! That’s Jacob, old friend of mine from when I took my masters.” You quickly respond. “Let me just take this call real quick okay?” You kiss his cheek before getting up.

“Okay, but make it quick. I miss you already.” Younghoon pouts before turning his attention back to the tv.

You slowly close the door of your shared bedroom and instantly swipe open your phone. At first, you were mad at Jacob for calling you after specifically telling him to leave you alone for good. But when he started telling you why he called and mentioned the name Goldfinger, you felt a sudden surge of adrenaline pumping within your veins.

“We have a really good lead and we’re sure to catch him this time around. It’s not like what happened in Monaco I can assure you.” Jacob says.

“It sounds really tempting…” You answer, trying to keep a hush tone so your boyfriend doesn’t hear you. “But I don’t know…”

“Just one last time 007, please? For old time’s sake?” You hear the slight desperation in Jacob’s tone.

You pause for a moment, suddenly remembering all the bad memories attached to Goldfinger. But there was little voice within you was screaming to take on the job. Not only that, but you had a sudden vision of meeting Goldfinger face to face and finally ending his mischief once and for all.

“Okay, I’ll do it.” You sigh heavily.

As you reviewed the case file in your study, you couldn't help but feel off about everything. Was it really a good idea to take this case again? The case that nearly caused your death? Was it to finally close that chapter or was it just for you to relive your glory days as an agent? You shook your head, not wanting to overthink the situation and just jumped right in with what you needed to know and what you were assigned to do.

According to the case file, Goldfinger had been M.I.A the same time you had retired from the force. No one knew where he was or what he was up to until there was sudden activity popping up from the credit card you had tracked years ago.

While the items that were purchased under the credit card weren't out of the ordinary, there was one pattern that stood out to you. The items he had bought seemed to be around the area where you had lived. When you took note of the dates of purchase, you realized they were at a time when you were out with Younghoon too.

Your eyes widened. Had Goldfinger been around you all this time? So close yet so far away? Was he one of the people you sat beside in the train or passed by in your local coffee shop? Whatever it was, it felt like he was mocking you. How he still seems to be right under your nose even after all these years as well as the idea of Younghoon possibly getting into danger bothered you a lot.

It should’ve frightened you, how your past seemed to cling onto you no matter what you did, but instead made you want to catch him even more.

The motivation you once felt being on this case was alive and kicking. As with every case you got into, you knew you would have to face whatever consequences there will be.

Even if it meant leaving the love of your life behind.

“Do you really have to go?” Younghoon’s raspy voice whispered in your ear as he kissed the spot under your earlobe. His body collapsing on top of you after you two come down from your highs after an intense night of lovemaking.

“It’s a reunion with my friends from master’s school. Can’t pass it up otherwise it will take years for us to see each other again.” You breathe out heavily. Your core throbs slightly as you feel him pull out and his cum slowly spilling out of you.

“Does it really have to be so far away?” He pouts as he helps you get cleaned up with a warm hand towel.

“Paris is not THAT far.” You chuckle, sitting up to grab the water he held in his hand.

“Why don’t you take me with you? Please?” He looks at you with doe eyes. How could say no to a face like that?

“It will be quick, I promise Hoon.” You cup his face and his forehead tenderly.

“Okay.” He smiles, before reaching for your waist and swiftly pulling you on top of him. His mischievous smile already telling you what he wants as you feel his member become hard beneath you again.

“Then let’s make the most of this night baby.”

“Agent!” You snap back into reality as you hear Jacob shouting in your earpiece.

“Wha-yeah what’s up?” You ask.

“He’s here…” Your heart starts racing at those two words.

Goldfinger, finally in the same vicinity as you are. Just a few feet away from you somewhere in this mansion.

“Which one is he?” You sit up properly and adjust your dress, checking if the gun strapped to your thigh is still in place.

“The tall man by the buffet table, talking to the ambassador of Norway. He’s wearing a gold masquerade mask.”

“On it.”

You down your martini before hopping off the bar stool and placing your own mask back on. You walk around the party while you keep you eye on Goldfinger’s figure, making sure you keep a good distance from him. As soon as he walks up the grand stairs and disappears into one of the rooms in the mansion, you make your way in the crowd and follow him.

As you stealthily walk towards the room he entered, you notice the door was left slightly open, allowing you to peek inside and see what was going on. You could see the back of Goldfinger facing you as he opened and a bottle of whiskey a poured a glass for himself.

There he is, you thought to yourself. You were slightly in awe seeing his figure and surprised to find out that he was not the old fat man you thought he might be. In fact, he appeared to be around your age.

While you were lost in thought, you failed to notice a henchman coming up from behind you and smothers you with a handkerchief, instantly knocking you out with whatever drug was laced on the fabric.

You slowly wake up to the sound of classical music being played while hearing the muffled sounds of the people outside the room. As you come back to your senses, you realize you were placed lying down on the king sized bed in the suite.

At first you thought it was all a dream, until you feel your hands tied behind your back and your earpiece missing. You suddenly squirm, trying to let yourself free from the restraint until-

“Struggling will only make it worse 007.”

The deep voice making you turn your attention to the living room across. The same figure you had caught a glimpse of, drinking from his whiskey glass before getting up to saunter towards you. The aura around him was so intense you couldn’t help but just freeze and stare at Goldfinger.

As soon as he got to the foot of the bed, he gently pulls your legs towards him, making you sit at the edge while he slowly kneels in front of you.

“I must say, I didn’t expect my 007 to be woman. A pretty one at that.” Goldfinger says with a sultry tone. You know you shouldn’t have reacted that way, but when he said “my” you felt your cheeks become warm. And the way he said you were pretty even if you still had your mask on made you feel butterflies in your stomach.

Keep it together agent!

“At last, we finally meet face to face after all these years.” He caresses your knees as he looks up at you.

Never in your wildest dreams did you think of your first real interaction with Goldfinger would end up like this. And it doesn’t help at the fact the more you try to see his face under the mask, you could tell that he was definitely a handsome man.

But there was definitely something about him that seemed oddly familiar, you just couldn’t name it…

“Bet you missed me too didn’t you?” You tease back. “It’s been a couple of years.”

“Oh yes I have, sweetheart.” He smirks. “Thought about you sometimes while I was on a… break.”

His hands slowly caress your thighs, goosebumps forming on your skin when you feel his hand on the exposed area of your dress. You try to hide the little gasp that comes out of your mouth but fail miserably. His smile grows wider knowing the effect he has on you.

You were so caught up staring into his eyes that you didn't even notice him getting up quick and toppling over you. His body hovers above yours as his hand places your tied wrists above your head.

“Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me Mr. Goldfinger?” You tease him again. He lowers his head and whispers in your ear.

“Why don’t you take a guess?” His hand instantly pulls out his golden pistol and points it under your jaw. You try to free yourself as much as you can but the weight of his body holds you in place, making you suddenly scared for your life once again.

“Let me see your face 007. I want to see the face of my favorite agent before she turns into gold.”

He pulls away from you and removes the mask from your face. Not even a second at looking at your face, Goldfinger suddenly gasps and drops the gun. It looked like he saw a ghost by the way his eyes widened.

“Fuck this can’t be real.” He panics.

“What do you mea-”

Before you could even ask, he removes his own mask, finally revealing to you his own face. You both stare at each other wide eyed, hearts pumping loudly at the shocking revelation happening before you.

“…Y-younghoon?” you stutter. “Is that you?”

“Baby, what the fuck are you doing here?! I thought you were with your friends.”

“And I thought you were back home! Oh my god-” You cover your face with your tied wrists, trying to wipe the tears forming in your eyes.

Suddenly you remember all the little things that made you feel like Younghoon was similar to Goldfinger. It was like it all flashed before you. Here you thought you were the only one keeping secrets, but it looks like your boyfriend was keeping some skeletons in the closet as well.

Younghoon runs his fingers through his hair as he tries to regain his composure, still trying to grasp at the fact the love of his life happens to be the very person out to kill him.

“What are we going to do now?” He looks at you with sadness in his eyes.

Instead of answering him, you sit up and lunge forward, making you both fall off the bed as you topple over his body this time. He struggles to get the gun near his hand, but you’re able to swat it out before he does.

You hold his neck with your hands still tied together, slowly adding pressure to his throat as he tries to pull your arms away. Tears start to fall from your eyes. You would never hurt Younghoon, not in a million years. You never told him about your life in the force to avoid anything bad happening to him. But here you were, trying to kill him.

You felt so confused on what to do. But at the back of your mind, you knew you had to get the job done. To finally put him behind bars once and for all, even if your heart would be broken in the process.

As you attempt to place more pressure on his throat, your eyes grow wide as he suddenly groans out of impulse. His cock slowly becoming erect beneath you in the position you’re both in, his bulge pressing on your panty covered core.

“Don’t do that Hoon…” You whine as you try to take control of the situation.

“I can’t help it! You look absolutely gorgeous in this dress baby.” His eyes look you up and down, making you get a bit shy.

“And the way you want to kill me right now? Holy shit it’s fucking turning me on.” Younghoon groans again, his member throbbing beneath you as he soaks up the sight in front of him.

“Please don’t make this harder than it already is.” You say.

“But don’t you like it hard?” He smirks, but you instantly slap his face with the back of your hand, trying to get him to shut up but you know it’s not working because you feel him throbbing under you again.

“Well, before you take me in agent, can I at least request for one last thing?” He proposes.

“And what would that be Mr. Goldfinger?” You raise one eyebrow.

“Want you to use me-” He said bluntly.

“I’m sorry?” Your eyebrows scrunch together.

“You clearly have a lot of anger you want to let out, why not use it on me instead? One last taste of you before you send me off to the sharks.”

You felt so conflicted. You needed to stop Younghoon right now before he disappears again (or worse, even kill you) but at the same time you are just as turned on as he is….

“Fuck it.” You lunged forward and hungrily kiss him on the lips. He instantly grabs your hips and makes them roll back and forth, moaning at the way he can feel your wet core rubbing against his crotch.

You continue to roll your hips as Younghoon grabs your wrists and unties the rope holding them together. As soon as you’re set free your hands start to slip to his belt, hastily unbuckling them as you slide your hand in his pants, eager to fist his length like you’ve never done before.

Younghoon’s moans grow louder as you pump his cock in your hand, your tongue snaking its way into his mouth. His hands cup your breasts, kneading them as you both touch each other like a pair of twenty-year olds in college. You both help each other up from the floor and onto the bed, removing each other’s clothes as you continue your ministrations.

You waste no time going down on him, leaving a trail of hot kisses from his jaw until his abdomen before licking a stripe on his cock and taking the whole size in your mouth. Younghoon held your hair as you worked your mouth on him, the sounds of slurping and the way the tip would hit the back of your throat made his eyes roll back in pleasure.

You release him with a pop, giving his length a few pumps before straddling his lap and sinking down on his cock without any warning. You both moan at the stretch, but you start rolling your hips not waiting to adjust to his size.

“Baby, slow down for a moment-” He tries to grab your hips but instead you grab his wrists and pin them down against the mattress.

“Not after everything you put me through and lied about it!” You grind on his cock as hard as you can, using all the energy you have to chase your own high. Usually between the two of you, you’re the one that easily breaks. But this time around, it was Younghoon who breaks first .

“How was I supposed to know?! Fuck I think I’m gonna-” Younghoon doesn’t even have time to warn you because he’s already bursting inside you, the hardest he has ever done in his life. But you didn’t care, you were gonna ride him until he started to shake and cry under you.

“Sweetheart wait-” Younghoon starts to bite down on his bottom lip, trying not to let the feeling of his overstimulated cock affect him. But eventually he couldn’t hold it out much longer as you kept on aggressively riding his member.

Tears were falling down his eyes, he had never felt this during sex before, but seeing you angrily fuck the life out of him turned him on so much he ended up cumming inside you again as you finally reached your high.

You collapsed on top of him, panting against his neck as his cock continues to throb inside you. He was about to kiss your temple like he always did, but you suddenly pulled away from him and sat at the edge of the bed, wrapping your arms around yourself as you still try to grasp everything that happened.

But before you could even turn around to face him, Younghoon smothers you with a handkerchief making you fall asleep from the drug once again.

The moment you’re knocked out cold, Younghoon gets up to grab his clothes, dressing himself up before placing your clothes back on too. He adjusts the way you’re lying down on his bed, making sure you’re all comfortable before tracing his finger on your jaw. Looking at your face one last time and placing a kiss on your forehead before he leaves.

You wake up in your hotel room in a panic, feeling like everything that had happened was a dream. You hold your head in your hand as you feel it aching. You look around to the room and see a tray of your favorite food on a table alongside the pain medication you needed to drink.

You felt so out of it. Maybe it was a dream after all, you told yourself. As you walk over to tray and sit down, you spot a letter beside the drink. You hold it up to see what it was, but your eyes widen at the familiar gold initials at the front of the envelope.

You hastily rip out the paper to look inside the contents of the letter, slouching your back onto the chair. Your heart starts to ache from the many emotions flooding through you, especially with the words written down,

Until we meet again. -Younghoon

#kim younghoon #younghoon #the boyz smut #the boyz hard hours #tbz scenarios #the boyz fic #the boyz fanfic #tbz drabbles #younghoon smut #younghoon scenarios #tbz smut #the boyz scenarios #kpop smut #tbz hard hours #🔎 — the 007 files

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solar-sunnyside-up · 7 months

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Autumn and winter is a RUBBISH time for my love of solarpunk to be rekindled, because so much of what I can act on is guerrilla gardening. Alas, here I am, getting back to my solarpunk roots.

Do you have any suggestions for solarpunk activities we can work on in the cold months?

God I feel for this!!! Winter always feels like such a festering time to be in love with solarpunk. Not to mention how starved we are for winter content for solarpunk and lunarpunk in general. But yeah!! Here's some ideas to do in winter!!!

Out and about:

There are a lot more social clubs in your city then you'd expect! I know 2 different community associations in my city that have social clubs that go in adult field trips (like to farms and cafes ans boardgame places!!)! And have crafting clubs! And the best part is if their in your community, it's within a decent walk of you but it's almost always walkable!

Using a library!! For anything! Everything! In my provenance we got a saying "Use it or they

Graffiti- leaving kind messages or fun stickers all over the place isn't really a weather restricted activity for the most part. I know someone who made a Playlist filled with union songs and rebellion songs and put a code for it and links to how to unionize on stickers and did that.

Adopt a stop- more cities have these then you might think! But adopt a stop programs basically let you take care of a certain bus stop and this lets you add things (like good benches, shoveling and removing ice, asking the city to add heaters, etc..) you become the advocate for that bus stop. If your city doesn't have a program like it yet you can ask your city or community to start one since it saves a bunch of money on maitance costs!

At home:

Archiving and pirating - highly recommend doing it in a physical sense if you can afford it. Bc then you can give them out as gifts!

Create!! - Sewing, sewing for friends, knitting gloves/scarfs for ppl who might need it, make art to inspire others via writing or drawing or other mediums! Gift economies require gifts after all so make some!

Learn! - learning a new skill, like canning or how to install solarpanels. Researching in general, but also keeping up to date with local politics and what you can do on the ground there. Building up knowledge is such as useful even if it doesn't feel like your doing anything.

Connect! - Shoveling neighbors walkways, or in general connecting with the ppl in your immediate surroundings! They can help you out in ways you couldn't imagine, someone didn't bake often so they gave me 15lbs of flour!! And their extra pair of snow boots, I hadn't had snow boots since I was 12 years old and it meant the world to me. The pizza I taught her daughter to make and a cheap meal for them meant the world for them. These small acts really are what tie each other together.

Plan! - plan for next year, what kind of equipment can you gather? What do you wanna accomplish next growing season? Seed swaps are also a fun thing I know ppl will do in winter as they start preserving food!

#community #sprout guide #solarpunk #activism #direct action #winter #i know reaping week just ended but i also got some stuff prepped for winter time #idk if a winter solstice event is happening yet ill.have to check but god we need more winter content #solarpunk winter #anon #besties #mail

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lightwing-s · 5 months

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𝐁𝐀𝐁𝐘 𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐏𝐒

𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐮𝐞 ; 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧

pairing: jason todd x fem! reader

summary: sometimes you couldn't help yourself from hating everything, sometimes you couldn't help bumping into people, sometimes certain stains were hard to remove

word count: 1,2k

links: next ; series masterlist ; general masterlist

You hated this. The loud music. The crowded rooms. The sweaty bodies hitting against each other, devouring each other with no sense of modesty, dancing to the sound of whatever horrid electronic beat sounded from the many music boxes, scattered around the unnecessarily large house.

You hated the guys, eyeing you up and down like a meal to a starved man, undressing you in their minds and having thoughts you prayed you’d never get to hear. You hated the girls judging you with their unkind eyes. And most of all, tonight you hated your neighbor more than anyone in this entire world.

“C’mon, Yn.” She tugged at the sleeve of your jacket, trying to pull you to the dance floor along with her. “Let’s have some fun!”

“I’m fine, Nessie,” you uttered through gritted teeth. “Just do you.”

Your neighbor and, pending revision, friend rolled her eyes at you, dropping her shoulder before pulling you with her towards a corner. “You can’t let that call stop you from having fun,” she stated, boring her chocolate browns into you e/c ones.

After sighing deeply, you replied. “I’ll be fine.”

You didn’t think so, but you weren’t going to ruin your only friend’s night, even if you so wished to. She had been patient with you all the time since that damned phone call, even though if you were in her place, you’d have certainly snapped at your own stubbornness.

After much insisting, she gave up and let go of your hand to move into the crowd, going to dance or make out with anyone she could find close by. You stood still in the same corner, mopping under the blinking blue, red and purple lights, arms crossed on your chest and pushing away every guy that attempted to approach you with a single hostile glare.

One hour, then two hours had passed, your patience vanishing along with the late hours of the night. You couldn’t stand it anymore, too stressed, too pissed off, to be anywhere but home.

“Nessie!” you screamed after your friend, finding her dancing in the middle of two other people. She clearly didn’t hear you, and you had to take a deep breath before fighting your way through the warzone that was the dance floor.

Pushed from both sides, you had to literally dig your way between the waves of people throwing their sweaty bodies around, receiving one and another elbows to the face and giving some back in return.

Almost approaching your friend’s spot, she noticed you making your way towards her and proceeded to walk to you, a smile spreading on her lips.

“Yn, you came!” she joyfully declared, throwing her arms in the air in celebration, instigating her new companions to join her excitement.

“I wanna go home,” you voiced out and her face instantly fell.

“No!” was her reply. “I’m having fun,” she stood firm.

Widening your eyes and puffing your cheeks with air, you wanted to turn into a five year old just to be able to throw a tantrum and dissipate all the anger you had in yourself without looking crazy. However, you were 22, a college graduate, and thankfully too mature to do so.

“Fine!” you let out instead. “I’m going alone.”

“Go sulk into your boring ass hell hole,” Nessie insulted, clearly intoxicated, and you flipped your middle finger at her before pushing your way through the crowd once more.

Your steps were heavy, weighed down and filled to the brim with your own rage. You pushed people aside, who looked back at you in displeasure, but you were not in the mood to fake an apology to any of them. Or anyone at all. You weren’t going to see them ever again anyways.

When turning a corner, about to step into the foyer as you approach the front door, a great wall bumped into you, sending you a few steps backwards, and the group around you let out shocked gasps. His drink poured over your chest, leaving you soaked in cheap alcohol and stained in red.

“FUCK!” you screamed out, rubbing furiously at your shirt with your jacket’s sleeve, tears slowly forming on your eyes. Your anger, if possible, grew by the minute, and you both wanted to punch the idiot that had done this to you and curl down in a corner and cry.

“Hey, I’m sorry,” said the male voice, apologizing with a little bit too much excitement. Drunk, awesome. “I did not see you there.”

He was kneeling down, picking up his cup and the ice cubes that had fallen to the floor. Gross.

“Obviously,” you whispered, hoping to flee this place as quickly as possible, but the tall man crouched down stopped you from taking any step further.

“Someone is angry,” he joked while standing up, mere inches in front of you. “Would you want to go somewhere where I could calm you down a little?”

He jiggled his thick eyebrows at you, other intentions evident in his offer. Finally getting the chance to stare properly at the clumsy douche that turned your white t-shirt red, you found his bright blue eyes that annoyed you just as much as his eyebrow move did.

“Why the hell would I ever want to go anywhere with someone like you?” Eyeing him up and down, you caught a glimpse at the tattoos decorating his arms, hands and neck. He smelled and looked like trouble, the kind of guy your p… You were always warned about.

“Ooh,” he blew. “Little Miss Stuck Up is angry angry.”

“Fuck off,” you swore, trying to push him away from you, but he didn’t even flinch.

“What? Don’t think we’d make cute babies?” he teased out of nowhere, stepping aside to let you pass.

“Why would I ever want to have a baby with you?” you asked over your shoulder, narrowing your eyes at him.

“Why would I ever want to have my dick inside you in the first place?” he asked back, forgetting his early offer, before you both rolled your eyes and walked in different directions.

You tried to dry the stain on your shirt as you walked away, continuously rubbing your chest as you left the house and on your entire Uber ride. You tried to wash it off when you got home, but the red stain wouldn’t disappear, not in the first, second or third tries of your washing machine, and neither the ones of your desperate hands.

The stranger, whoever he was, made sure he’d leave his mark on you and that pissed you off even more, not because it was your favorite white t-shirt, not because it was new and expensive. But because it wasn’t just the stain he had left you with, as his bright blue eyes stuck to your head the entire weekend, as you sulked on your boring hell hole of an apartment.

As the weekend came to an end and the early morning sun announced the arrival of Monday, you stepped inside your regular gym. Freshly showered, headphones stuck to your ears, as you wished to relieve all your accumulated rage on every machine you could touch.

The gym was your haven, your place to find peace on stressful days and distract yourself from the world around you. You were ready to leave the place feeling refreshed and powered up for a new week of hard work and hustle.

You were gonna be fine, it was all gonna be perfect. If it wasn’t for you crashing into a large back, a water bottle splashing liquid on your face, and the same pair of blue eyes turning around and meeting yours again.

“Fuck!” you two said in unison.

This was going to be one hard stain to get rid of.

tag list: @igotanidea

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#jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd #jason todd x you #jason todd fluff #jason todd x yn #jason todd x y/n #jason todd fanfiction #jason todd au #jason todd imagines

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reikunrei · 22 days

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feeling incredibly averse to posting this but i'm just gonna drop my kofi link here in case anyone wants to help me get out of my increasingly shitty situation living with my parents

more info below ig

after having given my parents nearly $100k over the last four years, i'd love to be able to actually leave. my future job situation is still up in the air (i've submitted for about a dozen positions and the only one i've heard back from and interviewed for hasn't gotten back to me yet), and i haven't been able to build up any savings because, again, i was (and still am) helping my family afford rent and bills, and probably the taxes my parents are behind on, but if i think about that, i'll get too angry. no joke, i've given my family, at the bare minimum, 85% of my income over the last 4 years. the rest of it has gone toward medical stuff and, now, my car

at this point, with the combo of my mom refusing to lower her standards and my dad's seeming refusal to hunt for a new full time job, i don't see how they won't continue to bleed me dry. my dad even has a bad habit of taking money out of my old savings account that he's a joint owner on or whatever from when i got it set up when i was 16, even when i stopped actively putting money in it, so now any time it gets its automated $1 transfer from my checking account, he'll just take that $1 without consulting me. i'm not exaggerating, even if it has $1-2 in it, it'll be gone within a week

i've even put off starting on testosterone because of this. i wanted to start it like 3 years ago, but kept putting it off because of money issues and wanting to save as much as possible. i got really close to actually starting it this year, but because of how messy everything is, i put it off again bc having one more thing on my plate, especially when my parents are already weird about me being trans, was not something i wanted to deal with

not to mention, we're still currently not living under a lease in our house that we're, as far as i'm aware, still tens of thousands of dollars behind in rent on (again, my dad refuses to disclose our financial position honestly with any of us) and it's developed many, many issues bc the landlord, even before we were behind on rent, is shit and refuses to actually fix anything. and my dad loves to just ignore things unless we beg him to do something

i'd love to be on my own (in the, much more affordable, midwest) by the end of summer. i by no means want to rely on donations and i have other avenues i'm working with to make money (i still have my current full time job, but i'm going through my old belongings and selling a lot online), but i'll take any help i can get atp because i'm truly at my wits end. i'd start doing art commissions again if i could, but doing that from 2020-2022, partially on top of my full time job, absolutely wrecked my right hand and i'm still in enough pain that i can't make it a regular activity

idk how much else there is to say. there's more i could say but... i don't really wanna air all my dirty laundry here. i'm miserable in so many ways and it's just become increasingly clear that my dad expects me to constantly cover his ass. my younger brother gives money too, but he manages to go on big cross-country and overseas trips with friends, so i think i've been stuck with the burden of giving the most money. there's so many more things going on in the world rn and everyone is stretched thin so i don't expect much, or anything, but. idk. might as well throw it out there, right?

i’ve also since taken down the gfm i set up last year when we got our first eviction notice bc, while we still need the money, i don’t feel right keeping it up for multiple reasons, including “i don’t want to give any of that money to my family” and it feels too… serious to keep it up when i could just throw out my kofi instead

i just want to make sure i have some sort of safety net to catch me if i move before anything job-wise is finalized. i need to be able to afford a place to live for at least a month so i can job-search while physically being in the area i wanna move to, which would ultimately make it easier for me to find a job at all. i'm working on being more firm with giving less money so i can actually have the means to move and be safe and comfortable, but... that never lasts long in this house

anyway. that's it, i guess. thanks for reading

#i say things #crowdfunding

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rhoorl · 3 months

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Delta Landscaping: Chapter 15 Lucky Strike

Series Masterlist | Chapter 15 A03 Link

Word Count: 4.4k

Previously on As the Mule Falls: The neighbors met at David and Ty’s house for a Fourth of July party. Despite the guys having a lot of anxiety about it, they ended up having a pretty fun time thanks to all of their new friends. We ticked a few boxes off of our bingo card and laughed as David finally let the intrusive thoughts out. We also got a shy, nervous Benny and some meddling from Will and our favorite FBI agent.

In this Episode: We’re heavy on the Benny in this episode with little sprinkles of Frankie and a flashback of sorts for Santiago. Also, I’m trying to get to fight night so there are some jumps in time. In case you missed it, here is the moodboard for this chapter.

Chapter Warnings: A shoe goes flying at Santiago’s head. There’s some fluff and rom-com vibes and we finish with a little bit of angst with Frankie as he reaches one year of sobriety.

*Cue the theme music and roll opening credits*

Four weeks to fight night

“Good, Ben,” Frankie panted backing away and leaning against the ropes of the boxing ring, “we can take a break.”

“C’mon old man, don’t slow down on me now!” Benny flashed a lopsided grin as he worked the boxing gloves off of his hands.

“It’s not that I’m slowing down…you just seem more…focused.” He eyed Benny with a smirk.

It’s true. Benny had an extra pep in his step today. He got to the gym well before Frankie, claiming he needed to “burn off some energy.” When Frankie arrived, he found Benny in the corner of the gym jumping rope, his shirt discarded nearby on the floor. During today’s sparring session, Benny was on a different level. Every punch connected and he anticipated everything Frankie threw at him, causing Frankie to wince at a few well-placed jabs to the ribs. With the fight only weeks away, Benny was well in ring shape and nearing his peak, which made Frankie breathe a sigh of relief.

Tossing the boxing gloves to the side, Benny reached down to grab his baseball cap, eager to get the hair out of his eyes. “Just feeling good…yesterday was a lot better of a day than I thought it’d be.”

“I’m sure it was,” Frankie crossed his arms in front of his chest, watching as Benny grabbed a towel. “Any word on your date?”

“Thinkin’ Saturday…since we were planning on taking Sunday off anyway, figured I could be out late and it wouldn’t be a problem…” Benny’s eyes didn’t quite meet Frankie’s.

“Ben, we can take whatever day you want off,” Frankie chuckled before furrowing his brow at the sight of Benny chewing on the inside of his cheek. “What? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing I just…I didn’t want you to think I wasn’t taking this seriously and getting distracted or anything…so I was just waiting I guess until a day I already was free.”

“Hermano, do I think Vanessa is a distraction? Yes, but in the best possible way,” he clasped a hand to Benny’s shoulder. “The past week you’ve been a nervous wreck, timid, and not yourself in here. But today? Today man…you’ll whoop anyone’s ass who steps up to you,” he laughed, seeing the corners of Benny’s mouth curl up. “So she’s distracting you from the bullshit in your head and I think that’s great. She seems like a really sweet girl, Ben.”

“Yeah…I…I really like her Fish,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t wanna fuck this up, you know?”

Frankie tilted his head up and laughed, “Trust me, I get it.”

“Oh shit, sorry man. Ah…how’re things with you?”

With a deep breath through his nose, Frankie took off his hat and ran his fingers through his curls, before putting it back on again. “Well, I was actually wanting to see if I could take next weekend off. Had a thought to surprise her and fly up there.”

“Hey isn’t next week….” Benny trailed off seeing Frankie gaze down to his feet. Making the realization, a huge smile came across Benny’s face, “I think that’s a perfect way to celebrate Fish! I’m proud of you man.”

“So, you have a good night last night? You left the party pretty early with Katie,” Santiago’s eyebrows waggled at Will as they loaded up a wheelbarrow with soil. They’d come up with an agreement with Frankie and Benny to work on Melissa’s backyard, executing their design and giving Benny the chance to concentrate on training.

“We’re just friends Pope…and yes we had a good night, did you?” Will looked over as he set down the shovel.

“Just friends? Wow, you know I kinda saw that comin’ not gonna lie,” he shrugged.

“Fuck off, don’t you have a shoe to dodge or something?” Will snapped as he walked into Melissa’s backyard.

“I guess I deserved that,” Santiago muttered to himself, realizing that Frankie must have spilled to Will that Amaryllis was back in the picture.

To say Santiago and Amaryllis had a dramatic situationship would be putting it mildly. They grew up together in New York as family friends. Neither made a move, although they heavily flirted with each other by the time they got to high school. Santiago had to endure her shitty boyfriends who never treated her well and she had to see him run through every girl in their grade and the ones above it too. She’d finally mustered enough courage to tell him she had feelings for him but it ended up being the same night he told her he was enlisting.

They exchanged letters for a few years, but those eventually stopped. He lost track of her, hearing that she’d gone off to Los Angeles to try her hand at acting or modeling. She landed a couple of small roles here and there. A falling out with a boyfriend caused her to move back to the East Coast, where she reconnected with a couple of Santiago’s cousins whom she was close to growing up. They shared that he was back in town and invited her out. It had been years since they'd seen each other, but her heart raced a bit at the thought of seeing him again.

When she walked into the bar, his eyes immediately met hers and he felt like he’d been run over by a train. She was confident, commanding the attention of everyone as she walked over to him. He longed for some comfort and she did too. The two found themselves locked away in her apartment for the next few days getting reacquainted.

Still, they were both too stubborn and headstrong to admit their feelings. What came next was a tumultuous and dramatic series of back and forths, neither one wanting to make that next step, that commitment. Instead, they found it easier to get underneath someone else rather than face their feelings head-on. They did try to have more, but it failed miserably each time with one of them retreating like a scared dog, unsure who to trust.

The pull to Colombia made for a clean break, at least that’s what Santiago thought. When he came back, he went home for a short while to see his mother and couldn’t help but pass by Amaryllis’ apartment. He sat on the stoop for what felt like hours, debating whether to knock on the door or just send a text. A sudden slam of the door made the decision for him.

“Hijo de puta, how fucking dare you show up here. After three fucking years?” She yelled as he got up and backed away from her. He tried to say something but he couldn’t get any sound out. Next thing he knew he was dodging a well-thrown sandal to the head as she continued to call him every name in the book both in English and Spanish. It was the last time he saw her.

But a couple of weeks ago, he noticed a Facebook message. She made the decision to move down to Florida and wanted to see if he was still there. He debated opening up the message or just deleting it but opted to read it and then go to her profile. She seemed happy, really happy. And noticeably single. So one thing led to another and she made the drive over to Tampa so they could meet for coffee and talk. He knew the guys had their opinions so he opted to keep a low profile about it for as long as he could.

“This is good practice Vandy, I get to do the whole dad spiel about being home before midnight and all of tha- ow!” Marcus ducked as Victoria threw a dish rag at him.

“Leave her alone, mi amor. Come back whenever you want Nessa, or don’t,” Victoria winked as her sister rolled her eyes. “So, what did you guys decide on?”

“I suggested Splitsville. Figured we could bowl and maybe eat, I dunno seemed like a good choice. He was excited about it.”

“C’mon admit it, you also picked it because it’s ‘Insta-worthy’!” Marcus chuckled as he made air quotes with his fingers.

“Oh my god, you’re such a dad,” Vanessa groaned. “Please don’t ever say Insta-worthy again, Buck.”

“Ooo, are you starting up your foodie blog again?” Victoria rubbed her hands together. “You always find the best places.”

“Excuse me?” Marcus brought a hand to his chest, “she’s not the only foodie in this family.”

“Of course, mi amor,” she kissed Marcus on the cheek as he plated the kid’s dinner. “Between the two of you, we always have the coolest spots to check out.”

“Are you sure this looks ok Vic? Not too casual?” Vanessa did a little twirl as Mariella clapped in her high chair.

Figuring out what to wear was always a chore for Vanessa, especially in recent years when she didn’t really care to shop for clothes…or look in the mirror for that matter. She’d changed outfits about 15 times, completely ransacking her closet. The final winner was a pair of dark wash jeans and a well-worn Tampa Bay Rays t-shirt, topped with a flannel. Victoria thought it was a bit unnecessary to wear a flannel in the middle of summer, but knew it was a security blanket for her sister.

“I think you look great, Vandy,” Marcus winked with a soft smile.

Will sat on the couch playing a video game, trying to hide his smile as Benny paced around the living room. “You excited?”

Benny stopped and looked over as he finished buttoning up his sleeve. “Yeah. J called a little bit ago…thought he was going to give me shit…” Benny trailed off rubbing the back of his neck.

“We’re excited to see you out there again Bean,” Will paused his game, putting the controller down to walk over and assess his brother’s outfit. “You look like….me…why’re wearing this?” Will grabbed at the front of Benny’s button-down shirt.

“I dunno…I wanted to look nice,” Benny pouted looking down at his outfit.

“Wear what makes you comfortable Ben. C’mon,” with a reassuring pat on his brother’s shoulder, he led him back to the bedroom. He sat on the edge of the bed as Benny went through his hangers.

Without saying a word, Benny changed out of his long-sleeve button-down shirt and slipped on a fresh white crewneck t-shirt and black jean jacket. He switched out his boots, put on some sneakers, and grabbed a baseball cap.

“There’s my Bean,” Will smiled. “Feeling better?” Benny nodded as the corners of his mouth turned up.

“Tia Nessa? I wanna see Bunny!” Mariella waddled over to the couch where Vanessa sat.

“Si mi vida, Bunny is coming over soon,” she moved over so Mariella could work her way onto the couch next to her. It was so cute how quickly her little niece had taken to Benny. The past couple of days she’d managed to get home from picking up the kids around the same time Benny was finishing up his run. Mariella would squeal when she saw him and he’d do something silly to make her laugh.

Nico sat quietly coloring with Victoria as they all heard the doorbell ring. Vanessa went to stand up but Marcus intercepted since he was already up. Opening the door, he found Benny shifting from foot to foot with his hands in his pockets.

“Hey there Benny, good to see you, come on in,” he held the door open for Benny to pass through.

“Bunny!!” Mariella quickly got herself off the couch and rushed over to Benny, nearly tripping over her unsteady legs in the process.

“Hey baby girl,” Benny smiled, whisking the little girl off of her feet as she giggled.

She started to babble and Benny looked around the room in the hopes someone could translate toddler.

“She asked if you’re taking Vanessa ‘bye bye’ in the car,” Victoria’s heart melted seeing Mariella bond so quickly with Benny.

“Ohh ah yeah, I guess. Yeah, we’re going to go ‘bye bye’ in the car. But I’ll bring her back, I promise,” Benny winked.

“You, ah, ready to go?” Vanessa got up, grabbing her crossbody from the counter.

Seeing her about took his breath away. She looked effortlessly beautiful, and he suddenly felt less self-conscious about his casual attire.

“Yeah. I…um…can I put you down so I can take your um…Tia…out?” Benny raised his eyebrows waiting for a response. With an enthusiastic nod, he set Mariella down and she ran to Marcus and hugged his leg. “Ah, after you,” Benny put his arm out, gesturing for Vanessa to pass, while wishing the Pikes a good night. He could feel Marcus’ eyes on him so he tried his best to not let his eyes wander as she walked by him.

“Don’t keep her out too late now,” Marcus winked as Vanessa groaned, grabbing Benny’s hand to quickly lead him out of the house before Marcus had another chance to embarrass her.

“Sorry about him,” Vanessa quickly dropped Benny’s hand once he closed the front door. “Buck looks for any chance to give me shit.” She furrowed her brows as Benny followed her to the passenger side of his car.

“It’s alright, hell I’ve done worse to Will,” he chuckled, opening the door for her.

She quickly got in and sat a bit dumbfounded as he sprinted around to his side of the car. It’s not that she hadn’t ever had a man open a door for her, her sister was married to Marcus “Mr. Romance” Pike after all, but it still gave her butterflies and made her even more excited for the night to come.

“So, I have a confession to make,” Frankie said as he sprawled out on his bed, propping the phone against a pillow.

“Ooo mysterious. Tell me more Morales,” Jo quipped. She was nestled underneath a fluffy blanket on her couch for what had become her favorite part of the day - her nightly FaceTime chat with Frankie.

“So, what would you say if I ah,” he ruffled his hair and took a deep breath, “what if I came up there next weekend? I know you’re busy with work and stuff, but I’ll be out of your hair by Monday. You can drop me off at the airport before you go to work, or I’ll take an Uber.” He waited for what felt like an eternity for her to respond, wondering if his Wi-Fi crapped out because she was stuck looking at him. “What do you say mi cielo? I, I don’t have to, if you already have plans-”

“No! I mean yes….I mean, no I don’t already have plans and yes I would love for you to come up here. Are you sure? Doing this so last minute?” She couldn’t help the huge smile that stretched across her face. Being away from Frankie for the past week was torture and the idea of getting to spend a couple of days with him, being wrapped in his arms and hearing his laugh ring in her ears made her downright giddy.

“I’ve been thinking about doing it since you left, so it’s not as last-minute as you think babe,” he winked.

“Well, I am clearing my entire schedule. We can play tourist for a day and then maybe hang out…be lazy, order some takeout, cuddle, ooo and we can watch movies in person rather than one of us being on a delay,” her eyes twinkled as she started to race through various ideas.

Frankie chuckled, he loved it when she got excited and started to ramble. “Whatever we do, I’ll be happy because I’ll be with you.”

“I’m so excited! This next week is going to go by even slower now that I have something to look forward to,” she beamed.

“Are you serious?” Vanessa shook her head, dumbfounded that Benny casually threw a perfect game. Trick shot after trick shot, it didn’t matter, he always got a strike.

Benny didn’t even watch his last shot. He had his eyes on Vanessa as he put his back to the lane and released the ball behind him. Hearing the pins knocked down, he sauntered back over, flashing a boyish grin.

“Ooo yay, the food is here,” he rubbed his hands together, looking at the spread. All of his training had made him build up quite the appetite these days, so he wasn’t shy about ordering his fair share.

“Wait wait!” Vanessa put her hands up to stop him from taking a mozzarella stick. “Sorry, I um…one sec,” She bit her bottom lip, pulling out her phone and then rearranging the plates. Benny looked on confused but also amused, admiring how her brows furrowed as she concentrated on getting everything to look just right.

Pleased with her setup, she started snapping photos. “Sorry…I am one of those people, annoying I know, but I figured tonight was a good excuse to start up my account again,” she didn’t look up from her phone as she took a couple of videos too. “Phone eats first,” she winked before motioning that the coast was clear.

“What kind of account you have?”

“Oh, it’s just on Instagram…I started it a few years back…it’s a fun way to explore the food scene and…sorry this is all boring I’ll stop,” she laughed to herself as she grabbed a few nachos.

“No, no, it’s not boring, I like it. I like food, clearly,” he motioned to the four plates in front of him and she snorted. “Lemme see, I wanna follow.” He motioned toward her phone with his chin.

She reluctantly handed him the phone and watched as he scrolled her account. After a few moments, she saw his forehead scrunch.

“What? I know, I don’t always have the best lighting, I’ve been meaning to buy myself a little light thing and - “

“No, hey,” he put his hand on her forearm, which sent an electric pulse up her body. She suddenly felt like it was way too warm for her flannel. “No this is great, these photos are beautiful…I just was wondering where you were.”

“What?”

“I don’t see you in any of these photos. Maybe your hands every once in a while, but how come you’re not in these?” He shook the phone as he turned it back to her.

“Oh…I…um…I dunno I guess I’d rather have the focus be on the food,” she looked down, playing with the straw of her water. The truth of the matter was she was tired of dealing with the random trolls who would end up making a comment about her body or how much she went out to eat. She deleted everything off of her account that had her face in it, opting to showcase the food instead.

“Hmm…” Benny nodded, handing back her phone. He pulled his out and started typing as she looked on with inquiring eyes. “There, you have a new follower,” he winked.

She looked at the notification, trying to steady her breath at how hot he looked in his profile picture. “Holy shit, are you like an influencer or something?!”

Benny looked a bit sheepish, “I started the account when I got into fighting…a way to promote them…and then I just kept posting gym stuff and it grew from there.”

“Well, you have a lot of very loyal fans it seems,” Vanessa smirked as she scrolled through some particularly thirsty comments on his account. Normally something like this would be a complete red flag, especially given her ex’s history, but there was something about Benny’s shy smile that put her mind a little more at ease.

“Pope used to date a girl who did social media stuff for her job so she set it up for me. I don’t post a ton, but it’s there. I’m mostly on there to help keep an eye on my niece, lord knows her dad is a lost cause when it comes to anything on his phone that’s more than making a call,” he chuckled to himself. “But now I’m excited to see your food stuff on my feed,” he smiled.

“Well thanks…I started the account when I lived in Charlotte…gave me an excuse to get around and explore,” she gave a tight smile as she bit into a slider.

“Maybe we can explore some stuff…together?” Benny’s hopeful eyes found hers as she slowed her chewing.

“Um…ok, yeah sure, that’d be fun,” she smiled back. “Although you may regret what you’re signing yourself up for,” she winked.

He regarded her with a lopsided grin. “Oh, I don’t think I’m gonna regret it at all, boss lady.”

Three weeks to fight night

Things around Mule Fall Court settled into an easy routine the following week. Benny and Frankie kept a consistent schedule at the gym. Sometimes Connor would tag along too, although he was trying to soak up the last bits of summer before he and Aria had to head back to school. Meanwhile, Will and Santiago were nearly done with Melissa’s backyard and already looking for their next project. One day as they were cleaning up, Victoria stopped over and they talked about her lawn. They all agreed that it would be a good project to tackle once Benny’s fight was done.

Will found himself hanging out with Katie a few nights so they could finish up the last season of The Mandalorian. He had to admit, he actually really enjoyed it as much as the company he had while watching it. Ever since they established their boundaries as friends, it felt like a weight was lifted off. They were able to just relax and found themselves opening up in ways they hadn’t with another person in years, or ever. Will also decided to treat himself a bit and got a motorcycle. He found riding around, feeling the wind in his face, to be calming.

Katie and Megan made a vow to restart their weekly wine night, adding the usual suspects to the mix. New to the group was Katie’s coworker, Miranda. Like Megan, she was a single mother and rarely took time to do anything for herself. It had taken a few weeks of coaxing but Katie finally convinced her to take Aria up on the babysitting offer and come over for a night of laughs and girl talk – yes, David included himself in that.

Benny and Vanessa hung out a few more times. Thanks to some good-intentioned meddling from Marcus, he recruited Benny to come over and keep Vanessa company while he and Victoria enjoyed a night out to celebrate their anniversary. They played with the kids all night and ordered pizza. Vanessa was thankful to have Benny there since he was able to run around and tire the kids out.

Mariella was adamant that Benny tucked her into her crib and Benny and Vanessa stayed in her room for a while until she went to sleep. Vanessa learned that Benny had a beautiful voice. He sang a lullaby to Mariella to finally get her to close her eyes and drift off to sleep. Settling back on the couch, Benny dutifully listened as Vanessa showed him a few restaurants that recently caught her eye online.

He was still nervous about pushing things too far, but couldn't help but flirt with her. What made him even more nervous was he felt like she was flirting back. He so badly wanted to kiss her, trying his hardest to keep his eyes from drifting to her lips. She moved closer to him, crossing a leg on the couch to face him, laughing at a joke he made. When the laughter died down, she looked at him, trying to steady her breathing. He licked his bottom lip and her eyes betrayed her, looking down as she sucked a breath in. At the same time, they both leaned forward, he brought his hand up to cup her cheek. His lips were near to hers when they heard the garage door, pulling them both away from each other like two teenagers who had gotten caught almost making out by their parents.

With a deep breath, Frankie looked at the calendar hanging on his fridge by a single magnet. This date was one he’d been equally dreading and looking forward to – a year since he flushed the last bit of his stash down the toilet and decided to start the journey of putting all of the broken pieces back together again. It hadn’t been an easy year by any stretch of the imagination, but quietly and steadily he made it to milestone after milestone.

Valeria was the first person to text him this morning. She knew her brother shied away from attention, so she acknowledged the day with a simple I’m proud of you Paco. Love you. She followed that up with a picture of his niece and nephew smiling at the camera, Antonio proudly showing off the gap from the tooth he lost this week.

Jo texted him this morning none the wiser about the significance of this day other than the fact that it meant she was going to see Frankie. It had only been two weeks since their shared flight down to Tampa. Lucille and Valeria had both separately referred to it as the “flight that changed your life” but Frankie hadn't fully embraced that moniker. It had been so long since he’d opened up his heart in this way. He battled with a constant inner struggle between wanting to guard his heart and wanting to jump head-first into this.

This weekend’s trip felt momentous for several reasons, but the biggest was that Frankie planned to tell Jo everything about his past. Although it was under different circumstances, opening up to Lucille and having her embrace him with love and compassion did wonders for him. For so long he’d been in a spiral of self-loathing, thinking that everyone was disappointed by him and that he was a failure. But Lucille cracked the door open and shined some light and he was hopeful that Jo would kick it wide open. The idea of sharing the darkest parts of himself and his past terrified him more than crash-landing a helicopter, but it was something he had to do. He wanted more with Jo and if he had any chance at it, he had to be honest with her.

Next Time on As the Mule Falls: We get closer and closer to fight night. The neighbors host a party to welcome the Pikes to the neighborhood. A little bit of pining and angst. More Cousin Joel phone calls.

A/N: Hi! First, I hope you are still enjoying this series. We have SO many storylines in play with several more to come, I do have a plan for all of this I promise. And all of those eagerly awaiting Cousin Joel (me included), he’s on his way soon. That’s part of the reason why we had some time jumps in this episode. With that being said, I’m going to try something new and do some extras in addition to the episodes. Consider it your extended or deleted scenes if we were watching the box set of DVDs of the season (dating myself with that reference). I’m already planning an extra to show more of Benny and Vanessa’s bowling date along with a one-shot of Frankie’s trip to Atlanta.

Thank you as always for reading, sharing, or sending me a message about this story!

Taglist: @goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @noxturnalpascal / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beboldbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @pimosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain / @partyofone3414 / @inthedarkestnight / @millennial-teenybopper / @csarab615 / @darkheartgatita / @southernbe / @weho2kcmo / @itspdameronthings / @mclibs23

#triple frontier fic #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier #benny miller #frankie morales #will miller #santiago pope garcia

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melodygatesauthor · 1 year

Text

Worth the Risk - Part 1: The Dishwasher

bfd!Santiago "Pope" Garcia X f!Reader

Series Masterlist - AO3 LINK

Summary

You're visiting your home town on college break and you are staying overnight at your best friend's house. You never realized how attractive her dad was until that night. You wonder if he feels the same.

Tags/Warnings

NSFW, forbidden relationship, reader is in her 20s, best friend's dad!Santi, Santiago is a dirty man y'all, not much else to say, smut, depraved, corruption kink

Word Count: 3.7k

Also, this tied in with a request from @romanarose <3 thank you bb for requesting!

“It’s been so long.” You said, wrapping your arms around your friend tightly.

You took in her smell, so happy to see her again after so much time had gone by. It had only been a few months, but it felt like years sometimes.

“I know!” She yelled in your ear before pulling back to look you up and down. “How have you been?”

You sighed, “I’ve been pretty good, wanted to make sure I came to see you for the night before going back to school.”

“I’m sorry about Cody.” She gave you a sympathetic look.

“It’s fine I-” you started, but then you caught her father out of the corner of your eye.

“Hey…!” Mr. Garcia said, coming up behind Maria with a smile

“Hey Mr. Garcia.” You said, wrapping your arms around him.

“How long is it going to take for you to start calling me Santi? Or at least Santiago?” He smirked. “You make me feel old.”

“You are old, dad.” Maria said, chuckling. “Come on, let’s go to my room.” Your friend grabbed your hand and tugged you along.

Goodness you’ve grown, Santi thought, watching you run off with Maria. Over the last couple years, since you’d started going to college, your schedule didn’t line up with the times Maria had been at his house, and he hadn’t seen you in a long time. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed.

Maria’s room hadn’t changed since you last saw it. It was still pink and bubbly, matching her personality perfectly. You always thought she had the coolest window, fit with a reading nook and big sheer curtains. You sat down on her bed, dropped your duffle bag on the floor, and she went to her desk, opening her laptop. She put on some pop music in the background and then turned to you.

“So, spill it, what happened with Cody?” She asked, giving you a devilish smirk. “Tell me all the dirty details. I wanna know how you fucked him over.”

You rolled your eyes. “I already told you over the phone. He cheated on me.” You sighed, “can we please just not do this right now? I…I don’t really wanna talk about him. He’s a loser.”

“With his ex? What’s her name?” You watched her open a browser and get onto her social media account.

“I really don’t want to do this Maria, can we just forget about it? Please?” You begged.

She looked at you, her eyes said she was ignoring your request to stop and wanted you to tell her anyway, but eventually she gave up, closing the browser.

“You’re so boring. Fine.” She groaned. “So other than that, what have you been up to?”

You told her everything you’d done over the last few months. You talked about your parents, any cute professors you had, and new friends you’d met. The conversation moved on to her talking about a new guy she met at her school. She’d stayed more local than you had, but you were only a few hours away. She then told you about how she was madly in love with him before she got on talking about how annoying her father could be.

“You know how he is. When the guy came over for dinner the other night dad got all, you’d better take good care of her.” She scoffed. “He’s such an old man.”

“He just worries about you.” You reminded her. “And he’s not that old. My dad is old.” You chuckled. “Your dad is like forty.”

“Yeah.” She said looking at you incredulously, “old.”

“Girls! Come on down, it’s time for dinner!” He called up.

You followed Maria down the stairs and to the kitchen. Santi always made the best meals when you would come over during your high school days, and now was no different. You sat down to his right and thanked him for dinner, a soft smirk spread across his lips. You took a sip of your water.

Santiago tried to keep his eyes on your face, but your tank top left little to the imagination. Weren’t you too young to be dressing like that? No, of course not, you were an adult now. His throat bobbed when he gulped, blinking and trying to peel his gaze away from the beautiful way your breasts pushed together. Were you even wearing a bra? Did he forget to turn the heat up?

“Dad?”

You saw Santi visibly jump when he looked over at Maria. Had he been staring at you? You didn’t realize until you looked up and thought you’d seen his eyes on you. Heat rose to your cheeks.

“Yeah baby?” He asked, raising his eyebrows toward Maria.

“Can you pass the butter?” He sucked in a deep breath, “yeah, here you go.” He handed it to her. “So…” he said your name, “Maria tells me that you’re going through a breakup?” He raised his dark brows when he looked at you.

“Um…” You felt awkward talking about it in front of him. You didn’t know why she always had to make your business everyone’s business. “Yeah. I’d rather not talk about it though.”

“Those boys your age are the worst. Trust me.” He bit into his food, and you did the same.

You smirked, “yeah, I think the next guy I date should be someone older. I’m sick of boys.”

Santi almost choked on his food, having to remind himself to chew before he swallowed his piece of steak whole. He passed a glance at you, your eyes met. You could see what was happening. It had never occurred to you, having an interest in your best friend’s dad, but he was very handsome. You licked your lips before breaking eye contact and looking back down at your plate.

Maria took the conversation away, going on about her new business class, which she hadn’t had a chance to tell you about earlier. Neither you or Santiago were listening. You were thinking about this weird feeling you had. You’d never thought about him like that before, but now you were remembering all the times you’d seen him at the pool, or coming out of the shower with nothing but a towel around his waist.

Mr. Garcia…

At some point during the meal, you looked over and noticed Santi looking at you, and you quickly looked away, not sure what he was looking at you for. There was no way that he felt the same, right? This was just a silly crush forming, nothing serious. This was one of those things that young adults did right? It was just foolish.

You gulped down some more water, trying to clear your thoughts, but then clumsily dropped it on the table, and the water trailed off into Santi’s lap.

“Shit.” You muttered, grabbing your napkin and quickly rushing over.

You had been so worried about the fact that you spilled the liquid on him, that you didn’t think about how inappropriate it probably was to be patting your friend’s dad’s thigh. Santi was in shock, sitting there immobile at your quick hands patting over his lap in repetition. His thoughts were dirty, filthy even. You were so sweet, not realizing the effect you had on him at that moment.

All at once you felt the heat rise to your cheeks and you dropped the towel in his lap.

“I’m-uh-I’m really sorry.” You stepped back, finally realizing the awkwardness you’d caused.

“No it’s…” He caught your gaze with an intense stare. “It’s fine.” His eyes lingered on yours for a second too long before he looked back down at his lap. “I’m gonna go change.” He dropped the towel on the table.

“Mr. Gar-I mean, Santi, I’m really-”

“It’s fine, it’s just water. Maria, clean up please.” He stood up and rushed away quickly.

He ran to his room and slammed the door behind him, pressing his back to the wall. His breathing was staggered and heavy. He locked the door and unbuttoned his wet pants. When you’d spilled the water and then rushed over, pressing your hands and towel to his thigh, you’d brushed up along his cock. He always thought you were a pretty girl, but he also always stopped it at that. Any further thought would have been downright inappropriate.

He couldn’t help himself now though. He pulled down his boxer-briefs and jeans and stepped out of them. His cock was aching, standing erect, already leaking from the head. His hand fisted around it. You’d hardly touched him, but then again, it had been so long since he’d felt anyone’s grip besides his own. He spit into his hand, lubricating his palm so it would glide over the length of his member. For a second he thought about you, and how much he’d love to feel you-

“Fuck.” He said to himself alone.

He removed his hand from himself, and stood there for a while letting his cock soften. He couldn’t go on thinking like that. He couldn’t possibly imagine himself jerking to completion at the thought of his daughter’s best friend. Yes, you were an adult, but you were so much younger than him, it wasn’t right. He couldn’t bear what his daughter would think\ if she found out. She would hate him. Not to mention, a girl like you, who looked the way you did, probably wouldn’t even be interested in someone like him, nevermind the fact that he was your friend’s dad.

“I’m gonna go check on him.” Maria said to you when Santi had been gone for quite some time. “Do you mind putting the dishes in the dishwasher? You can come up to my room when you’re done.”

“Yeah sure.” You said, starting to clear the table.

He was changed and in the hall by the time Maria came up. He asked where you were, and she told him you were loading the dishwasher. All too eagerly, he trekked down the stairs and headed for the kitchen. He was prepared to tell you that you didn’t have to finish and you could go right up to hang out with Maria, but when he saw you, or rather, your prominent rear, he couldn’t speak.

You were bent down, the bottoms of your cheeks were peeking out through the hem of your shorts. He ran a hand over his mouth while he stared shamelessly at you. The work he’d done to focus his cock into softening was all for nothing now. You were really testing his self control.

When you spun around, you saw Santi standing there. He jumped nearly five feet when you saw him, and you did the same. You grabbed the kitchen counter and breathed heavily.

“Jesus, Santi, I didn’t see you there.” You chuckled nervously. “You scared the shit out of me.”

He chuckled too, “likewise. You don’t have to do that, the dishes, I can finish up. Maria always finds a way to get out of doing the shit I ask her to.”

“Oh, it’s not a problem.” You said turning back around, slowly bending over and then standing to lift the dishwasher door closed. You were playing with fire. “Just tell me what button to-”

You felt his chest nearly touching you. He was close enough that the fabric of his shirt could be felt on the back of your bare arms. He reached over from behind you and pushed the buttons on the dishwasher to start it. You turned around, Santi was standing close to you. Your heart was thumping in your ears, deafening you.

Santiago looked down at your perfect chest, tits perky, nipples nearly grazing his shirt. You leaned in, he started leaning too. His fingers brushed over your cheek and he reached his hand behind the back of your head.

You heard your name called over the top of the stairs, “...are you coming?”

Santiago let out a sigh of defeat, and so did you. He dropped his arm to his side.

“I-I’d better go.” You breathed heavily, staring up at Santi’s eyes for a second before skirting around him and heading to the stairs.

What the fuck are you doing Santi? He asked himself.

Just ten minutes ago he had given himself a pep-talk about letting those thoughts go. When he saw your delicious ass on display when he came down those stairs though, he’d lost all semblance of reason. This wasn’t like him, but…you were looking at him like that, you were bending over like that.

Your brain was a mess while Maria rambled to you. You thought you were out of your mind when you scrambled to clean the water off of Santi’s lap at dinner and he looked into your eyes. You’d thought for sure that you made up the connection he had with you, but now you were certain. He was into you. There was no other reason for him to have been staring at you like that right? If he had just come down the stairs, he wouldn’t have jumped when you turned around, he’d been looking at you. Further, he had no reason to come up behind you like that to start the dishwasher, chest brushing against your spine. He’d leaned in, almost kissing you, right?

There was only one real way to confirm. It was eleven on the dot, and Maria was snoring to your left. You silently got out of her bed and left the room. You couldn’t be so bold as to go knocking on his bedroom door, you had to be more careful than that. Your throat felt a little dry, so you thought about getting a glass of water.

You couldn’t believe you were actually doing this in the hopes that Santiago Garcia, your best friend’s dad, would come down there and fuck you senseless. Surely you were mistaken. The more you thought about it, the more foolish it started to sound. That is, until you had a half full glass of water and a daring hand snaking around your hip.

He’d heard you sneak from Maria’s bedroom, and hoped that by making his move you wouldn’t scream or push him away. It was possible that you were into it, that you were just as desperate as he was. If that were the case, it wouldn’t be hard to just keep this little thing a secret, if that’s what he had to do to have you, even if only for one night.

“Having a hard time sleeping?” He asked, lips against your neck.

You gulped, letting out a short breath. “Y-yes.” You said softly.

His cock was pressing against your rear in a gentle churning motion, just enough to feel some friction. You didn’t move, you didn’t dare. Part of you was still trying to comprehend that this was real, and that your friend’s dad really wanted you. When you thought about him, his eyes, his lips, he was so good looking, you realized that you really did want him. That’s why you went down there in the first place, right? You put the glass down on the counter and gripped the granite surface for support.

“You can push me away. I know this is wrong.” He whispered.

“Mr. Garcia…” You said breathlessly.

All the times he told you to call him Santi, he had done it for Maria’s sake. He always loved hearing you call him Mr. Garcia. Maybe it was some weird kink in his head, but it made his cock pulsate with a fierce need whenever you said it.

His hand, large against your abdomen, trekked down into your shorts, you were soaked. He circled over your clitoris. You’d never been with someone his age, but you’d heard that older men knew what they were doing. His left hand reached up and cupped your breast.

“Did you forget your bra sweetheart?” He continued his circling motion around your sensitive bundle of nerves.

“N-no, I…oh…I didn’t wear one on purpose.” You said in a playful tone.

He snickered, “of course you didn’t, such a tease.”

He rutted his hips against you. There was still part of him telling him how wrong this was, but it felt so good he couldn’t stop himself. His middle finger slipped into the folds of your cunt, immediately drowning in the juices that had been leaking there since putting the dishes away. The way he kissed your neck, and the way his finger worked into you made you wish you’d slept with more men his age.

“You really know what you’re doing…” You said in between your needy panting.

“Yes, hermosa, I’ll take care of you.”

You threw your head back against his shoulder and gripped the edge of the counter so hard your knuckles ached. His lips latched on to your throat, sucking the skin there tenderly. You felt another one of his thick fingers slip into your hole, pumping in and out of you. You were trying to keep yourself from making too much noise, but it felt too good.

“Sh, you want us to get caught?” He said through clenched teeth.

“No Mr. Garcia.” You managed to choke out.

“Then you’d better learn to keep that pretty little mouth quiet cariño.”

He was fingering you fast now, so fast that you were struggling to hold on to the countertop anymore and so you let go, allowing his strong arms to keep you in place. You felt full, but not full enough. You wanted more. You needed more.

“I want you to fuck me Mr. Garcia, please.” You begged. “Fuck me.”

Though he was thoroughly enjoying fingering you, he was glad you said something, because he was seconds from losing it in his sweats, and he would rather lose himself in your sweet cunt. He turned you around to the island counter and bent you over the granite. You quickly pulled your shorts down around your thighs, and you felt his thick cock as he wasted no time readying it at your hole.

“Are you sure about this sweetheart?” He asked, holding the head there at your entrance.

“Yes, please, I need it.” You said desperately.

“It might hurt a little, just say something if it does, ok?” He pressed a hand over your back and then pushed himself through until his hips were flush against your rear.

You reached and grabbed the other side of the island counter for stability.

“That’s a good girl, just hold on tight like that.” He brought both of his hands down to land a bruising grip on your hips.

“S-Santi.” You moaned, “You’re so big, holy-”

It wasn’t painful, and it felt good to have him gliding over your walls. He looked down, reveling in the way your hole split over his cock. He grunted, thrusting into you, his skin slapped against your rear. Nothing had ever felt like you did, so warm, so tight, it didn’t even matter to him that you were his kid’s friend anymore. He just wanted to hear you screaming his name until you could hardly breathe.

“Fuck, cariño, you have such a nice little pussy. So wet and ready for me. Have you been thinking about me all night?” He said in a whisper between his deep moans.

“Y-yes.” You admitted. “I wanted to feel your cock Mr. Garcia.”

“Of course you did sweetheart.” His thrusts were getting faster. “Is that why you bent over doing those dishes like that? Huh? Were you hoping your best friend’s dad would come down the stairs and catch you shaking your ass like a little tease?”

“Fuck, yes.” You felt your core heating as your climax closed in.

“You’re such a naughty little girl, gonna fill you with my cum sweetheart.” His thrusting became jagged and stuttering, and his breathing turned into hushed grunts as he started to shoot his hot ropes into you.

“Yes…” You said, feeling your own orgasm peak.

You gushed over him, cunt squeezing the life from his hard length. It was hard to keep quiet, despite knowing you should. Maria was right upstairs and as long as she was still sleeping, she wouldn’t have heard your whimpering cries while your pussy contracted over her dad’s thick cock. She wouldn’t have heard your cracked voice say his name like a prayer while your knuckles strained over the countertop.

He stepped back, letting his cock and cum spill out of you. You heard some shuffling and then felt him using a towel to clean your cunt and your thighs.

“Squeeze it out for me sweetheart.” He demanded.

You did, feeling gobs of hot white ejaculate falling out into the paper towel Santi held between your thighs. Your legs were still shaking while you held on to the granite tightly. You couldn’t believe you had actually done that with him. It’s not like you hadn’t had the opportunity to do it many times during visits before, this time was different though, this time he had been so bold and desperate. He was irresistible.

“There’s a good girl.” He said as he finished cleaning you up.

You pulled your shorts up and turned to him. His face was flush with color, curls disheveled. He placed a soft kiss on your lips. His eyes looked at you with a near drunken hooded gaze. You wished that you could be held now, even for a few moments before having to leave, but you knew your time together was over, for now.

“Run to bed now.” He said.

When you turned, you were met with a quick smack on your rear before you bounded over the stairs to join your friend in her bed once again. You could only hope, with breath-stilling anticipation, that you would get to spend more time with him again some day.

Part 2

Triple Frontier Masterlist

bfd!Santi Masterlist

AO3 LINK:

TAGLIST (please let me know if you would like to be added or removed): @my-secret-shame-but-fanfiction, @my-secret-shame, @thatmomwitchfriend, @alexxavicry, @welcometostayingawake, @jake-g-lockley, @campingwiththecharmings, @steven-grants-world, @lia275, @minigirl87, @ahookedheroespureheart, @in-between-the-cafes

#triple frontier #santiago garcia #santiago pope garcia #triple frontier fanfiction #santiago garcia x reader #santi x reader #santiago #garcia #santiago garcia x you #santi garcia x reader #santi garcia x you #santiago garcia smut #santi garcia smut #bfd!santiago garcia

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dylan-duke · 4 months

Note

Nora first day of preschool

"daddy," nora whimpers clutching quinns hand as she looks back and forth between the classroom and her dad. quinn kneels down and gives her as reassuring of a smile as he can muster,

"it's ok bug," he says softly, "you're gonna have so much fun and make so many new friends!" nora looks into the room watching her classmates carefully,

"i dont wanna daddy. wanna stay with you," the four year old cries tears beginning to fall,

"oh baby," quinn coos pulling her into a tight hug, "it's ok doll. remember you get to play all day! then daddy and bubbe will come pick you up and you can choose what we do for snack!" nora's death grip on quinn loosens,

"promise?" she asks. quinn smiles kissing her cheek,

"pinky promise," he says as he holds his pinky up. nora giggles and links hers with her dads. once the promise is solidified, nora looks into the classroom,

"you stay daddy?" she asks. quinns eyebrows furrow, "stay till I'm ok?" quinn smiles nodding,

"of course darling," the pair then looks up when a pair of feet come into sight,

"and you must be nora!" a sweet voice says, "it's so good to have you sweetie, do you want to come inside? i have some coloring you can do!" nora's eyes light up at the mention of her favorite activity,

"with dinos and unicorns?" she asks,

"yep!" the teacher says, "why don't you go sit at a table and when I'm done talking to your dad I'll bring you some materials!" nora nods enthusiastically and takes off into the classroom, immediately finding a spot to sit and talking to the girl sitting next to her.

quinn straightens up smiling at noras teacher,

"thank you," he says, "i don't think I could've gotten her inside," the teacher chuckles,

"thats why i'm here!" she then holds a hand out to quinn, "i'm sarah. I'll be nora's teacher this year," quinn smiles shaking her hand,

"i'm quinn, uh did you get my email. I travel for work a lot and wanted to make sure everything was set with approved pick up and things," sarah nods,

"yes. it appears that you have a nice village set up for her," quinn nods looking past the teacher at nora who has managed to get her own coloring page and is happily chatting with her new friends,

"yah. i'm a little nervous," quinn admits, "she usually travels with me but because shes getting older it's just not possible anymore," sarah nods,

"of course. she's going to be great you don't have to worry," quinn lets out a breath and hands over nora's backpack,

"her lunch is in here with her epi-pen and allergy action plan. i know i went over it in the email, but its still new and she gets really scared, but doesn't completely understand it," sarah smiles taking the backpack gently from the nervous dad,

"don't worry mr.hughes we have plenty of allergies and your daughter is not the first with a severe nut allergy. she will be just fine," quinn takes in a deep breath,

"right sorry," he mumbles, "well i'll let you get back to it," the teacher nods,

"thank you again mr.hughes, and i'll see you at the end of the day on the playground," she then turns and walks to another parent who is saying goodbye to there kid. quinn peaks one more look at nora, who looks up and beams at him before waving and turning back to her task.

#nora hughes #quinn hughes #dad! quinn hughes #dad! quinn

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svnflower-writes · 1 month

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i wanna find out

part one. ao3 | series masterlist

description: james is confused, but no less confused as he was when he was a high school student and denying his infatuation with his best friend's brother. now, regulus is a regular at the cafe he works in, and james doesn't know what to do.

warnings: none it's fluffy james is so cute

note: (reblog and comment please please please i need the validation) HI HELLO I AM BACK OKAY SO i heard the new gracie song and i went insane bc its so jegulus and wrote this in one hour in english class and its unedited. anyway this is a series, the masterlist is linked at the top. this chapter has been on ao3 since yesterday but i didn't get around to posting it here. lowkey think this is terrible but oh wellll

taglist: (i included the people on my marauders taglist so lmk if you don't wanna be on this one) @thestarslittleking @chaserofstars11 @gu1lty-as-sin @dandelions-fly-in-summer-skies @a-beautiful-fool @optimizedchaos @star-ch4ser @qwerty-keysmash @lost-in-reveriie @tulips-best @nqds

Upon his first week at high school, James Potter had come to the conclusion that he would end up with Lily Evans if it was the last thing he did. She was exactly the kind of girl he liked, she was pretty and opinionated and she seemed like the sweetest person he’d ever met. Remus had chuckled at his lovesick pining, not having the heart to tell the messy haired boy that your crush when you’re eleven years old is never your soulmate.

He pined after Lily for two years, with no clear progression other than Lily awkwardly smiling at him each time they passed in the hallways. Safe to say, James’ feelings were not reciprocated, and Marelne had grown a habit of snickering at the way his eyes followed her down the hall.

A few students at school had thought he was overdoing it slightly, but he really wasn’t. He wasn’t overly pushy, and he had only asked her out once or twice. He was clear about his feelings, but wasn't going to make her uncomfortable. James Potter was a gentleman in the truest sense of the word, but that didn’t mean he didn’t feel an undeniable feeling of heartache when she walked past and ignored his presence.

Now, however, James was in university. He was as over Lily as he had ever been, and he had escaped the inherent unpleasantries that come with being a teen going through the heartache of growing up. He felt undeniably free, and not to mention his psychology course was helping him understand himself better than ever. He was happier than ever, saying otherwise would be a blatant understatement. He was living in a flat with Sirius, Remus, and Peter, which had been his dream since primary school.

Lily was now one of his closest friends, and she worked at the flower shop that had a door into the coffee shop James worked in. Lily’s law degree and James’ psychology one made them a perfect pair, and much to Remus’ surprise, the two studied together regularly. The fact that James’ attention span and motivation had changed since high school was something no one had expected, and although he still struggled, he had his tactics to get back on track.

Some things never change, though, and James still hated quiet, slow paced days more than death itself. He could deal with stressful, busy days, but the mundane was his greatest oppressor, the repetitiveness of a quiet day driving him to the edge of his sanity. Today happened to be one of those days, he sat behind the counter at the small coffee shop he worked in as customers filtered in once every half an hour.

He sat, watching the slow ticking of the clock as the time went by as slow as it possibly could. It was 12:38pm, and 12:20 felt like hours ago. Blankly staring at the wall, the coffee he’d made himself had been discarded on the counter next to him and he didn’t bother picking it up, knowing that after half an hour of it sitting there, it would surely be cold. Each time someone walked past the door of the shop, James perked up—only to sigh as they walked past without a second thought. James’ tendency to romanticise everything that life had to offer often left him disappointed.

Finally, he heard the bell signalling that someone had opened the door sound, and his head snapped up in relief. ‘ My saviour, love of my life, thank god you’re here.’ his brain sung as he sprung up from his seated position, standing at the counter within seconds of the boy walking into the shop. His signature smile appeared on his face, “hi, how’s your day going?”

The boy seemed to falter, as if his carefully planned interaction of simply ordering what he wanted and leaving had been disrupted by a simple question. His dull blue eyes widened, and his lips fell open in a dumbfounded expression before he picked himself up and showed James a tight lipped smile. “Uh, I’m good.”

James noticed that this small interaction had absolutely foiled his carefully planned coffee order, and the boy had entirely forgotten to say what he wanted. James smiled softly, chuckling in his head. He always thought it was interesting how common these interactions seemed to be when you worked in a coffee shop. The psychology major in him couldn’t help but psychoanalyse these interactions, which made working in hospitality both intriguing and perplexing. He found that you could get a pretty good idea of someone’s mindset and what their day to day life is like by doing this, and it almost acted as revision for his upcoming exam.

“What can I get you today?”

Embarrassment flushed over the dark haired boy’s face, and he automatically sent another tight lipped smile to try and compensate for his forgetfulness. A strand of his soft black curls fell over his eyes, and James could tell just by his body language and the look in his eyes that it annoyed him to no end. “A black coffee, please.”

That was fitting, James thought. With the tidy (almost obnoxiously so) outfit and the carefully styled short black hair, a black coffee was the only thing that really made sense for him.

“And can I have a name for that?”

Stupid boy, you know his name.

“Regulus.”

James knew how to spell it.

He knew how to spell it and he hated that. Regulus was his best friend’s brother, and things between Sirius and his younger brother were rough. They got along until they didn’t. Sirius had spent more evenings than James could count frantically ranting about him on evenings at James’ house after school. When Sirius had left for high school, Regulus had distanced himself from Sirius more than he ever had before. Regulus had always been detatched, and James knew this from Sirius’ extensive complaints.

James he knew he shouldn’t have been so enamoured with Regulus in his high school years as he was, but when James fell for someone he fell for them. He fell for them intensly and irreversably and everyone he had ever loved lived in his heart for eternity. It may seem like James was feeling too insensely, but for him to not love so deeply and fully would mean he was not James Potter. He could not be in any sort of relationship without loving them to the end of the earth. His mother had always told him to cherish this, that his way of loving was incredibly pure and a love that many people would give anything to be the recipient of. But based off his past relationships, his love was not something to be cherished.

“Alright, I’ll have that ready for you soon.”

While he was making the coffee, James allowed himself to watch Regulus, noticing the way his hair was slightly more inclined to falling to the right side of his forehead, the way his greyish-blue eyes fixed on one spot of the wall and didn’t seem to move. He watched as his hands anxiously clasped together in his lap and his foot tapped.

James was a master of the art of noticing, and he tended to read into what people did, more so than was probably helpful. But James had always been observant, even as a toddler he had had an integral interest in people. He understood when people said that the human race was done for, but he was compelled to disagree. He had a sense of optimism that many thought was overbearing, but in the same way, James sometimes found their pessimism slightly disheartening.

Regulus intrigued him, although the boy was made of very few words and made him fiddle with his hands behind the counter and cause his eyes to flutter around the room to look anywhere other than his eyes. Regulus was pretty. He was the definition of pretty, with his wavy black hair and his grey eyes that shone with something James couldn’t quite place. James felt an intense urge to sink into the ground and never reappear. Unsure of what this was, he played it off as simply nervousness around someone new—not that it was common for James to ever feel nervous around new people. Regulus had this aura about him, one that James couldn’t figure out. It was undeniable that Regulus made James shy, but James would deny the reason for this nervousness for as long as he possibly could—and longer. This was merely a customer that would show up to the coffee shop once and never again—after all, he hadn’t seen Regulus in the shop at all earlier in the year.

For a reason James couldn’t quite place, there was a hint of awkwardness between him and Regulus. They respected each other, sure, but when they were alone, without Sirius or Remus, James felt an intense urge to sink into the ground and never reappear. He played it off as simply nervousness around someone new—not that it was common for James to ever feel nervous around new people. Regulus had this aura about him, one that James couldn’t quite place. It was undeniable that Regulus made James nervous, but James would deny the reason for this nervousness for as long as he possibly could—and longer. Regulus didn’t speak much, and James tried but failed to match this. The silence felt awkward, and he couldn’t go for long sitting in silence with him until he overshared, making the situation more awkward than it had been beforehand.

“Long black for Regulus?”

He says his name, although there is no one else in the shop to mistake the coffee as their own. But James likes the way his name sounds on his lips, as horrifically cheesy as that may sound.

Stop it. Stop it, stop it, stop it. He’s off-limits and you know that.

Looking up, Regulus looked up and flashed a small, awkward smile, walking to the counter and reaching for the coffee. As his fingers wrapped around the cup, they brushed James’ fingers, and his grey eyes flickered up to meet James’ deep brown ones. “Thank you,” he looked away quickly and was out of the shop before James could even respond.

Okay, James thought, okay, this is okay. He just has to make it out of the shop and then I’ll never see him again.

But then Regulus stops halfway out of the door, sending James a wonky smile and a soft “I’ll see you around.” His eyes are twinkling with something unrecognisable, and once he leaves James allows himself to breathe and forces the dorky smile off his face as he swears under his breath.

Stupid, stupid boy.

#series: you're the risk i'm gonna take it #luc writes #luc posts #jegulus #james potter x regulus black #james potter #regulus black #james and regulus #james x regulus #coffee shop au #university au #no magic au

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nekrofyle · 2 months

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SO WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? ANGEL(O) - 24 YEARS OLD - HE/THEY ANY MINORS OR AGELESS BIOS WILL BE BLOCKED.

RIGHT, COOL. WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO DO FOR FUN? I LOVE TO CREATE ART AND LITERATURE WHEN I'M NOT AT MY JOB. NICE! WHAT'S ON YOUR MIND LATELY? MOSTLY MY PARTNERS, BUT ASIDE FROM THAT? I'VE BEEN THINKING A LOT ABOUT VISUAL NOVELS, SPECIFICALLY THE BTD AND TPOF SERIES, ANYTHING ALONG THOSE LINES IS ONE WAY TO GET MY ATTENTION, HORROR MOVIES ARE PRETTY SICK TOO. MY MEMORY IS KIND OF SHIT SO I'LL HAVE TO GET BACK TO YOU ON THAT ONE. IF YOU GOT ANY COOL MEDIA YOU WANNA SHARE, TELL ME ABOUT IT! ANY COMMON THEMES IN THIS BLOG? YEAH, I MEAN LOOK AT THE NAME! C'MON. BUT SERIOUSLY... THERE WILL BE ADULT CONTENT HERE, POTENTIAL WARNING FOR NSFW CONTENT, KINK CONTENT BOTH SOFT AND HARD, BL00D WARNING, WHO KNOWS WHAT THE FUTURE HOLDS!

CAN ANYONE REACH OUT TO YOU? ABSOLUTELY! I LOVE MAKING NEW FRIENDS! LET ME LINK UP SOME USERS REAL FAST. DISCORD - .angel.o RP ACCOUNT - @vanderbrook MUSIC!

#my post #my art #intro #bio #rp #rp blog #tpof rp #tpof #btd #btd2 #btd oc #btd rp #tpof oc #visual novel #horror #Spotify

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rosiesdisneydrama · 9 months

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Android Donald AU Idea

I was hit by a variant of an Android Donald au I've seen on here (this one, to be specific) while at work and I wanna share it. This is pre-dt17/in the same universe. Potentially pre-Spear of Selene as well.

Basically, Donald gets hurt really bad while out fighting. Like really, really bad. He manages to drag himself back to Ducklair Tower, but he's basically in critical condition. Uno isn't as ready as he would have liked for this, but he does have something that can help.

It's basically a healing pod that Ducklair (or maybe Uno himself) had made that wasn't any good for commercial/hospital use because of how much the material cost was and took a lot of time to do its job. But it would take a long time and Donald's family would notice if he just- went missing for a year (or likely longer). It could buy him, buy them, some time to figure out a more efficient way to heal Donald.

But he knows Scrooge and Della are off on an adventure at the moment (Donald had mentioned that it seemed like a long one this time), so he has roughly a month to come up with a plan.

He also has Layla and a tremendous laboratory at his disposal (and he's a supercomputer).

And he hits on something that should allow Donald's body the time it needs to heal as well as keep anyone from getting suspicious.

It's honestly a simple plan overall.

He makes an android body that looks like Donald and (through handwaved science things) he transfers the duck's consciousness to it and makes a link to his own servers with it. Even connecting himself to the body to make sure he can help/make sure he's alright at any time while this is set up.

Donald can pilot the droid body to keep his family from knowing that he'd been hurt while his real body is in the healing pod recovering. And, with the direct link to Uno, he can basically have his partner at a moment's call and even just- Have another person "with" him while dealing with his family. (Also, finances. Uno is a godsend for dealing with all the numbers that Donald just doesn't have a head for.)

The two of them continue this charade for a while, sometimes with Uno actually being with/in Donald's head for a few adventures.

Until Ducklair comes back and (unknowingly) royally screws up the previously smoothly working plan before vanishing into the aether again.

When he shuts down Uno and locks down the tower, Uno actually has part of his AI in Donald. So he's not gone, but he is cut off from his main network. He is still able to get data for the healing pod which is still working, thank the stars. But they can't get to it now since it's locked behind the security of Ducklair Tower.

Both of them are Stressed:tm: about this but there isn't much they can do. So they make do with what they have to work with and keep going. And things mostly go well.

Then the Spear of Selene happens and the duo have a whole new pot of issues to deal with.

Raising triplets is hard, but Uno and the scanners built into the android body make it easier. And Uno is down to help out with more than just that. So things are fairly good, if not as good as either of them would have liked.

Huey, Dewy, and Louie don't know that their Uncle is an android but they do know about Uno.

Since the two shared a body, it was impossible for the boys to never learn about Uno. But since they're really young, Donald and Uno agree that they probably won't understand that Uno is an AI. Advanced computer engineering and robotics are a bit beyond the understanding of a trio of four-year-olds.

The boys end up thinking that Uno is the ghost of a really smart scientist-friend of their Unlce that's possessing him now because he was locked out of his house by his wizard dad. (It wasn't explained in those words, but that was what the boys came away from the conversation thinking.) They have to keep Uncle Uno a secret because otherwise someone might think he was hurting Uncle Donald and would try to make him go away. And their Uncle Uno is cool and knows all kinds of cool things and they don't want someone to make him leave. So they promise to help keep him a secret.

Fast forward to the start of dt17.

I have more, but my brain is tired (it's 10 p.m. rn) so I will continue this later.

#donald duck #uno ducklair #android donald au #duno #ducktales 2017 #dt17 #ducktales #paperinik #paperinik new adventures #pkne #duck avenger #disney duckverse #rosie rambles #rosies aus

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mountain-in-springtime · 1 year

Text

in a song

pairing: jake x reader | word count: ~3.3k | warnings: kissing??? | my masterlist

summary: jake and the reader have been best friends for years, but when they realize that their feelings may go beyond that, will they confess their love, or will the fear of losing their friendship get in the way?

author’s note: okay so i’ve been having the idea for this fic in my mind for at least a year or two so i’m thrilled to finally have it written out and share it with you guys. i’m overall really proud of how it came out, and i hope you guys really enjoy it! <3 also it's based off of the song "i'll have to say i love you in a song" by jim croce, which i have linked below.

*******************************************************

You and Jake became best friends in middle school. Your family had just moved to Frankenmuth, and it was hard for you to meet new people. Sure, you had talked to a few kids between classes, but it was nothing that went beyond a couple of questions about where you were from or what’s for homework. It wasn’t that your classmates ignored you or weren’t interested or anything, you were just a really shy kid who had a hard time adjusting. Until you met Jake.

You remember it like it was yesterday. You were bored out of your mind, listening to your math teacher drone on through problem after problem when you felt a tap on your shoulder. You turned to see your soon-to-be best friend leaning over his desk, staring up at you with big brown eyes.

“Hey,” he whispered, “I really like your button.” He pointed at the small image of Jimi Hendrix pinned to your bookbag. You quickly glanced down at it, and then looked back at him.

“Oh, thanks.” You replied with a smile. You began to turn back towards the front of the class when his hand shot out to your shoulder again.

“Me and my brothers are gonna listen to a bunch of my dad’s old records after school. You wanna come?” He looked up at you, waiting for an answer. When you looked a bit indecisive, he quickly added, “we have some Hendrix records. And some Zeppelin and Beatles ones too if you listen to that.”

You thought it over for a moment. You didn’t know the boy, but then again, you didn’t really know anybody yet. He seemed nice enough, and you needed to make friends at some point, so why not now? You shrugged and finally answered. “Sure. Where do you guys live?”

“Just meet me out in front of the school after the last bell. We can walk there together,” he responded. You nodded and went to turn around again but were stopped when the boy held out his hand. “I’m Jake, by the way. The dork sitting behind Carly over there is my twin brother Josh. You’ll get to meet him after school.” You took his hand, shaking it and telling him your name. Jake smiled and gave you a quick, “Cool. See you after class,” before leaning back in his desk and scribbling down the answers from the board.

From that day on, you and Jake were attached at the hip. You spent all of your free time hanging out with him and his brothers, and they quickly became a second family to you. They were part of all of your favorite memories just as you were a part of theirs. And as you grew together, so did your friendship. Jake got to see you come out of your shell, and you got to see him chase his dreams with his brothers at his side. You could be seen at the front row of every gig, singing along and supporting your friends. You were their number one fan.

Things inevitably changed a bit when their careers really started to take off, though. It was great to see your boys making a name for themselves, but it was hard to be away from them so often. It was especially difficult to not have Jake around. You made the most of it though, traveling to see him whenever you could and going to whatever shows you could make it to. Still, nothing beat having your best friend at home, especially when it became an increasingly rare occurrence. That’s why you were so happy when he told you that he would be back in Frankenmuth for the next two months. The band had wrapped up their tour, and their newest album was finally finished, so they were headed home for a well-deserved break. You could hardly wait to see them.

You had gone with Jake’s family to pick him and the boys up at the airport. The minute you two locked eyes, you sprinted over, pulling him into a hug so strong it nearly knocked him to the ground. You wordlessly held him for a few moments until he let go and looked at you, a huge smile plastered across his face. “So I guess you missed me, huh?” he joked.

“Eh, maybe a little bit,” you answered with a shrug and roll of your eyes. The two of you burst into a fit of laughter, which was soon interrupted by Josh slinging his arm over your shoulder.

“Geez, and what am I, chopped liver?” he said with feigned jealousy.

You giggled, throwing your arms around him. “Of course not, Joshy. I missed all of you guys.”

He hugged you back. “Good, because we missed you, too. Besides, you can’t go around giving Jakey all of the attention. It goes to his head, you know,” he lowered his voice to a loud whisper, “I think this rockstar lifestyle is starting to change him.”

You smiled softly and turned to see Jake hugging his parents, clearly thrilled to see them again. “Nah,” you responded, “he’s always the same Jake.”

Josh simply nodded in agreement and gave you one last hug before joining his twin. Sam and Danny soon arrived, and you greeted them with an embrace that more closely resembled a tackle, telling them how much you missed them. They returned the sentiment and after a bit of catching up, everyone piled into Karen’s vehicle, ready to go home. The boys entertained you with stories from the tour and recording studio the whole car ride, and everyone was still talking and laughing as you poured out of the car and into the Kiszka home.

After the three Kiszka boys unpacked their suitcases, you made a quick stop at the Wagners’, allowing Danny to drop off his bags and greet his family. Once that was all done, you headed down to a local diner for lunch. The conversation seemed to flow between you in a never-ending stream as the boys tried to share every detail of their time away with you and you tried to catch them up on everything they had missed in Frankenmuth.

You eventually left the diner, and everyone began to figure out their plans for the afternoon. Danny was going to head to his parents’ house so that he could spend some time with his family. Josh and Sam were both going to hang out with some old friends before coming back to dinner at their house. That meant you and Jake had the next few hours to yourself, which you were equally excited for and nervous about, in all honesty.

It wasn’t that you felt uncomfortable around Jake. That probably isn’t even possible at this point. You felt so comfortable with Jake. You knew him better than you knew yourself, and he knew you better than anyone else. But as you both got older, you noticed a change in how you felt toward Jake. Where he used to just be your awkward best friend who made you laugh and shared his music with you, he now became a cool, confident guitarist who was setting the world on fire with his talent. He was the same sweet, lovable guy you always knew, but now he was a ridiculously handsome rockstar to boot. He’s practically perfect. How could you not fall in love with him? And that was the problem. You were desperately trying to not fall in love with Jake, and it was proving impossible.

It was easier when the other guys were around. All the noise and chaos that they brought along with them could keep you distracted from how Jake’s eyes were enough to make you weak in the knees or how his smile could make you swoon at the drop of a hat. But when you and Jake were alone, there were fewer distractions. Actually, there were none at all.

So here you are, sitting on the Kiszkas’ couch, watching a movie with your best friend, and trying your hardest not to think about how close he is or how much you love the way his nose crinkles when he laughs or any of the other things that made him absolutely irresistible.

After a while, you started to get more invested in the movie, finally letting your feelings for Jake slip your mind, at least for a little while. You subconsciously sank deeper into the couch, getting more comfortable as the film went on, and as the credits rolled, you realized that you were securely nestled into Jake’s side. Your head was resting on his chest, and his arm was slung across your shoulders. You felt your cheeks heat up as you slowly turned your head to look at him. To your surprise, he was already looking at you, a lazy smile painted across his features. Too afraid to break the silence, you didn’t say a word, opting to just hold his gaze and attempt a weak smile. It was then that Jake finally spoke up.

“Hey,” he said in a near-whisper, “I really missed you.”

Your smile grew as you answered, “I missed you too.”

Jake continued to look at you, his eyes roaming your face and seemingly scanning every feature as if he were committing them to memory. “Have I ever told you how pretty your eyes are?” he finally asked, a hint of shyness in his voice.

You slowly shook your head in response and felt yourself lean in closer, and you could almost swear Jake was doing the same. But just before you could close the gap between you, the door opened, making the two of you jump apart. Josh and Sam came into the room, too caught up in laughing at whatever conversation they were having to notice how close you and Jake were mere seconds ago. You mentally thanked them for that.

“Hey, guys!” Sam said, walking over and plopping down on the couch between you and Jake. You both mumbled quiet greetings, making Sam raise an eyebrow. “Wait did we interrupt something? Because I’m getting a weird vibe right now.” You and Jake quickly answered in the negative, but Sam still seemed skeptical. “You sure?” he asked.

“Yeah, we were just trying to decide if we wanted to watch another movie,” you replied, hoping that your explanation was convincing enough. It must have been, because Sam changed the subject, filling you and Jake in on the events of his afternoon. Josh was soon chiming in, sharing how he spent the last few hours and cracking his usual cheesy jokes. The four of you fell into comfortable conversation, and you were honestly glad to have the extra company. The tension between you and Jake had felt thicker than ever earlier, and it terrified you. Tension that thick had the potential to turn into something that could change your friendship forever, and that was too special to lose.

As these thoughts took over your mind, you were soon brought back to reality by Jake’s voice paired with his hand waving in front of your face. “Hello?” he called, “anybody home?” You gave your head a quick shake before meeting his eyes. He let out a small chuckle. “There you are. C’mon, dinner’s ready,” he told you, beckoning for you to follow him into the dining room.

You joined Jake and his family at the table, which was filled with plates of the boys’ favorite foods. It was all delicious, and you could tell that Karen had worked hard to make a special meal for her sons. The dinner table was silent, a rare occurrence for the Kiszka home, as everyone was too busy scarfing down their food to attempt a real conversation. After everyone had finished eating, you and Jake helped clean up, washing the dishes and saving up any leftovers that remained. You mostly worked in silence, simply content to be in each other’s company. Occasionally, you would make eye contact and share a small smile or crack a joke and give in to a small fit of giggles. As you were finishing up the dishes, Jake tapped your shoulder. “Do you want me to drive you home?” he asked, reaching for his keys.

You nodded, drying your hands, “Sure, just let me say goodbye to everyone.” He gave you a thumbs up, and you made your way around the house, hugging everybody and promising to come over for breakfast in the morning. You waved one last goodbye before walking out the door, Jake following close behind.

You let out a contented sigh as you began the ride home, and a comfortable silence fell between you for a few moments until Jake cleared his throat and began to speak. “Hey, uh, about what happened after the movie today-”

“It’s fine, Jake,” you cut him off, “I really don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Well, wait, I just wanted to tell you-” he tried to start, but you stopped him again.

“Jake, I’m serious. I’d rather not talk about it, okay?”

“Okay,” he resigned, looking a bit defeated, “I’m sorry I brought it up.” He turned the vehicle into your driveway.

“It’s okay,” you said, opening up the door and hopping out of the car, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, sounds good” He nodded and gave you a weak smile as you shut the door. You walked to your front door and gave him one last wave goodbye before going inside. You felt terrible. Why’d you have to be so dismissive? He clearly wanted to talk to you, and you didn’t even hear him out. But then again, what good would it have done? Unless what he had to say was along the lines of, “I’m madly in love with you. Let’s be together forever,” your friendship would never be the same, and you definitely didn’t want that. You didn’t know what to do. It was like a million voices and thoughts were flying around your mind in a million different directions. All you could think to do was try your hardest to not think about it at all. You tried to do just about everything you could to distract yourself. You scrolled on your phone, listened to music, and even tried to start reading a new book. But no matter what you did, all of your thoughts traveled back to Jake. You couldn’t shake him even if you wanted to. Admitting your defeat, you decided to just go to bed and hope to fall asleep as quickly as possible. Thankfully, your prayers were answered, and your eyes drifted closed not long after your head hit the pillow.

After only a couple of hours of rest, you were woken up by a light tapping noise. You sat up, looking for the source of the sound. It repeated, this time louder, and you whipped your head in its direction. It seemed to be coming from your window. You reluctantly climbed out of bed and went to investigate. Once you had reached the glass, you immediately saw what was making the noise. Standing there at your window, at nearly midnight, was your best friend. He shot you a small wave as you came to open the window.

“Jake, it’s almost midnight; what are you doing here?” you asked, your voice still raspy with sleep.

“I had to come see you,” he replied, “I have something to show you.” He raised his arm to reveal the acoustic guitar he had brought with him.

You let out a sigh. “Jake, I’m glad that you want to share your songs with me, but I’d rather you show me what you’ve been writing in the morning, okay?” you said in a slightly frustrated tone.

“This isn’t one of my new songs,” he corrected, “It’s something different. Just please let me in. I have to show you.”

You stood there for a moment and then moved to the side, letting him climb in through the window. “I do have a front door, y’know. You don’t have to climb in here like a teenager,” you quipped.

He grabbed his guitar and sat at the edge of your bed before replying, “Oh please, I’m bringing a sense of youthful adventure to your life.”

“Yeah,” you retorted, “like that’s something I need. Now what’s this big important thing you had to show me, mister?” You plopped onto your bed and looked at Jake expectantly.

You couldn’t be sure in the dark, but you could swear his cheeks reddened. “Oh,” he started, “it’s, um, it’s a song. It’s not one that I wrote, but I just need to show it to you. So, uh, here goes I guess.” He took a deep breath and cleared his throat before beginning to strum. As annoyed as you were to be woken up in the middle of the night, you had to admit that you loved hearing Jake play. He was so talented, and it always put you at peace to hear him gently plucking away at the strings. After a few bars, Jake began to sing, and you felt your heart drop into your stomach and tears form in your eyes.

Well, I know it’s kinda late

I hope I didn’t wake you

But what I got to say can’t wait

I know you’d understand

‘Cause every time I tried to tell you

The words just came out wrong

So I’ll have to say “I love you” in a song

It was one of your favorite songs, and coming from Jake it sounded infinitely beautiful and more true and alive than ever before. He played with his eyes closed, almost as if he were scared to open them. His hands moved across the guitar, and his voice filled your room until the song was over. Then he slowly opened his eyes to see your reaction.

Completely overcome, all you could muster was a teary, “Oh, Jake.”

He quickly averted his eyes and began to get up. “That was weird, right?” he asked. “I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have-” But before he could continue you grabbed his shirt, pulling him into you and connecting your lips with his. Your hands moved up to comb through his hair as his travelled to the small of your back, pulling you close to him with all the desperation in his being. The two of you slowly moved to lay against your bed, continuing to trace your hands across each other as you finally unleashed the love you had been holding back for so many years. When you came up for air, you rested your foreheads together, giddy smiles spread across your faces. Jake passed his thumb across your cheek, wiping away your remaining tears. Then he breathed out the words you’d been waiting to hear your entire life: “I love you.” You could hardly believe it. Jake, your Jake, your handsome, perfect Jake, loved you. He really loved you.

You let out a soft giggle, “I love you, too. I think I always have.”

His smile grew even wider as he pulled you in for another quick, but no less meaningful kiss. “Me too,” he said in a near-whisper, “Ever since we first met. You’ve always been the one for me.”

Your face broke into the biggest smile as you threw your arms around him and buried your face into his chest, letting out a muffled, “I’m so glad you’re back, Jakey.”

He let out a chuckle, pulling you closer and pressing a kiss to your forehead. You let out a contented hum, nuzzling your head into his chest and eventually falling asleep. Jake wasn’t far behind, whispering another “I love you,” before drifting off to sleep with the love of his life in his arms. Finally.

tags: @bowievanfleet (anyone who wants to be tagged in future fics, please let me know!)

#jake kiszka #jake kiszka x reader #jake x reader #jake kiszka x y/n #jake x y/n #jake gvf #jake <3 #gvf #jake kiszka fanfic #Spotify #mal writes

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al-andrice · 1 year

Text

Future Days

Spoilers for TLOU PART I & II

Series: Hymn for the Weekend

Joel Miller x Female Reader

(Edited on 12/06/23)

Abstract: Joel and Ellie settle into Jackson with the help from you - a great shot, smart and reliable (according to Maria).

Contents: Reader has she/her pronouns, former counsellor, second person, Ellie's got jokes, maybe a little teeny bit of pining but we like a friends to lovers in this household, Joel smiles!

Rating: Teen

WC: 1.6K

Listen to Future Days by Joel Miller

Author's notes: Here I am, back with the writing bug. It's been a long time since I've wanted to write something. As TLOU has dominated my whole life with the games that I've loved for years and the HBO series, it's no surprise that I have a whole fantasy in my head that I needed to write fanfiction about.

Hope you guys enjoy reading this! Please do comment and reblog, anything that helps to get this around.

Troy singing Future Days always gets me in the feels. If Pedro ends up singing...I am DONE (unless he sings La Bamba LMAO). Or if Bella sings Take On Me...TEARS. I love listening to the Part II covers.

not to be thirsty on here, but praise naughty dog for making joel miller so...mmmm yeah. i wanna marry this man. even pedro says he's hot

GIF by vera-kozhemiakina

Everything I've found here, I've not found by myself.

Winter was coming which meant heavy snow and slower starts to days with the later sunrise and the numbing morning air. Jackson had started preparations for it - checking that its residents had everything to keep warm in their homes, protecting the allotments and making any repairs to maintain buildings.

Sweeping through the long patrol routes was the biggest task. Maria had to be sure that the people assigned to them could handle potential Infected and any people they may meet on the way. Past encounters have mostly gone smoothly, with trading links made between communities, like Jackson, and also helping any travellers who just needed a good night of sleep and food in their system, setting off the next morning. This was something that the residents of Jackson were incredibly grateful for - to be able to say that they were safe and had warm beds to greet every night, as well as being able to provide aid and supplies to people who come through was a privilege.

The few not-so-pleasant meetings with bandits ended with minor injuries and increased security at the power plant as a precaution.

Joel and Ellie settled in as well as they could after the hell of a journey they completed. You lived a road away from their new home, so you had seen them integrate into the community and get used to living instead of surviving.

Maria was the one responsible for your first interaction with Joel, who was getting to know the different patrol routes on the map. "She's one of our best. A great shot, smart, reliable. Expect to be on patrol with her if Tommy isn't around. She's a busy woman in this town."

"Wow." You leaned forward onto the desk of her office with your hands. "A great shot, smart and reliable? You flatter me, Maria," you joked with a smirk on your face.

That was the first time you had seen Joel Miller smile. Even if it may have been a small one.

In the few months since the older Miller brother and the 14 year-old had arrived, you've had the opportunity to introduce (and re-introduce to the man) the different parts of the town to them.

"Woah, you have art classes? FEDRA school was never like this." Ellie wandered around the empty classroom that was decorated with paintings and drawings made by the young Jackson residents. Her fingers trailed along the row of paintbrushes and stained palettes.

"If you want, we can enrol you in some of the classes? I know you said that you wanted to take up patrols, but you're still young. We've even got Spanish. Try bilingualism to stimulate that brain of yours," you suggested.

You would never forget the way she looked up to you with widened eyes and an excited smile. "Really?" You nodded. "Didn't you say you teach a class, too? Maybe I could join yours as well?"

You sat on a desk with a warmed heart for the kid who wanted to go to school and learn. "I teach some psychology. Not that it means anything now, but there was blood, sweat and tears working for my PhD and training, so I might as well put it to good use to fill in the time and help anyone who wants it."

"What's a PhD?" Ellie asked in confusion.

You chuckled to yourself and started to explain. "It's basically a way to get people to call you Doctor."

Then, Ellie took her chance.

"Why is a doctor always calm?" She asked with her legs swinging back and forth under the table she was sitting on.

You shrugged.

A smirk found its way to her lips. "Because they have a lot of patients."

Joel was standing a few feet away from the door, taking in the sounds of laughter before calling out for the jokester.

Your house was one of the smaller ones on your road; just enough for one person. I'm just lucky to even have a home. Only a short walk away from Joel and Ellie's, you hugged a small pile of books to your chest and with a bag hung from your shoulder, dressed in a well-worn pair of jeans and a thick jumper.

The house came into view at the end of the street. It was not unusual to find yourself walking up the steps to their front door to bring Ellie some things that you thought she might like.

Taking a deep breath, you knocked. Footsteps thumped through the door, the locks were undone and the man of the house greeted you. "Hey." He widened the opening as an invite into the home. "Lookin' for Ellie, Santa Claus?" He eyed the the books and the bag you were holding.

"I am, yes." You stepped inside and pushed the door closed with your shoulder. "As you can see, she's made it onto the nice list and is owed a lot of presents." He started to lead you through the hallway and the kitchen where the backdoor led to the garden where Ellie lived in her converted garage.

"Know anything 'bout me being on that list?" He sent a teasing grin over his shoulder and stepped out into the grassy area.

(That was a loaded question.)

"Oh, Joel Miller, wouldn't you like to know? Too impatient to wait for December, are we?" An eyebrow raised at him.

"No, I'm patient." Just as he was about to call Ellie's name, he faced you. "When I need to be."

"Woah!" Ellie inspected the orange glowing lamp in her hands. "It looks kind of like a rocket."

"Yeah, that's why I brought it over. Thought you'd like it," you said while she made rocket launching sounds and waved it around. "And to go with your journey to the stars," you placed the books on her coffee table, "these are photos from the NASA Archive."

Her eyes widened and she instantly started to flick through the pages without another word except 'look' when she tilted the pages towards you, completely mesmerised by what had been discovered.

Joel, who was sitting on the couch beside you, hadn't said anything since you showed her the lava lamp. Looking over your shoulder, you glanced at him. Shoulders and eyebrows relaxed, no tension shown.

He looked...content, as if he just had a day off work and stayed at home.

Then, his eyes met yours. A small smile of gratitude was sent to you before you both went back to watching Ellie get excited at all her new gifts.

This is what I saved her for.

When you and Joel finally left Ellie's garage, the sun was setting which left a warm filter on everything within its reach. She was left marvelling over her newly acquired 'space hub' as she called it - a new poster of Neil Armstrong on her wall, a collection of books that were not in the FEDRA school library and an 'alien spaceship' as a lamp.

"Thank you for doing this for her." His hands were stuffed in his pockets while the two of you stood by the gate that you would eventually walk out of to go home. "You didn't have to. Here, she gets to be a kid an’-"

"I know, and I wanted to." Letting out an exhale, you decided to just lay everything out. "Look, Ellie's so young and has been through so much shit. Definitely more than what we experienced her age. Death and survivor's guilt come by so easily now, and I do what I can to help people cope with it whenever they ask." Joel dipped his head down and leaned his elbow on the wooden fence. "But the children here don't have to face those things because we keep them safe and we have a responsibility to teach them how to be. I like her happy and I also like seeing you happy for her, Joel."

The next thing he knew, he felt your hand's light squeeze on his forearm. "It's a good look on you." Just before you pulled back, he patted and laid his hand on yours (maybe for a second longer than he intended), squeezing back.

"Thank you."

"You say that a lot. Might have to start collecting money from you." He laughed and shook his head.

"Tell me how much and I'll pay it. 'M feeling generous today," he went on. A few seconds of silence fell. "I don't want to keep you out for too long. I'm sure you want to get home soon." He stood up, preparing to unlock the gate for you.

"Yeah." Bringing down the bag from your shoulder, you reached to the bottom and extended the package to him. "I actually did get you something, though." He took it, unwrapping the paper. Guitar strings. "My attic had a load of junk when I moved in and there was some music stuff there, too. I remember Tommy telling me stories of him and his big brother going to see live music-"

"And we'd mess around on the guitars at the end of the shows," he finished. "I haven't touched one since then." His eyes stayed locked on the bag of strings between his fingers.

"I'm pretty sure they have a few in the old music shop." Taking small steps to the gate, Joel followed. "I put all the treasure from my attic in the back room. Go raid it sometime."

"I will," he replied. You both stopped and you turned to him, with a soft grin. "Again, thank you."

You sighed at that. "You're welcome." A few steps out, you faced him. "Again."

Quick shots of his breath lightly hit your face and you looked up at him. "Sun’s setting now, Joel, so I think that’s my cue to get home.”

He nodded. “See you tomorrow, then.”

“See you tomorrow, Joel.”

Unknown to you and the man, who stayed by the gate until you turned the corner, there was a curious set of eyes peeking through the curtains of their little converted garage.

A/N: what did you guys think of this?? tell me if there are any mistakes like spelling, grammar, switching tenses bc i didn't read it properly, etc.

this is the lava lamp that was gifted to Ellie if you just zoom in...

and he got guitar strings from santa!!!! since joel will eventually make his own gee-tars, he can have some strings that may hold sentimental value later.

i am planning to write more on this timeline, but work is piling. it'll be a while before i can really build on hymn for the weekend

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she-posts-nerdy-stuff · 1 month

Text

Don't Go Blindly Into the Dark

Summary:

To hide that he can't read, Jan Van Eck has been forcing his son to pretend he's blind since he was eight years old. Wylan is now attending Ketterdam University, and meeting Jesper Fahey may very well be about to change his life. But is he safe to tell Jesper the truth? And what will Jesper say if he does?

Jesper is struggling to weigh up his life in the Barrel and his life at the University of Ketterdam, and there's a good chance that his growing debt is about to make the decision for him. He hasn't attended class consecutively for months, but maybe that will change when his newest project includes partnering up with Wylan Van Eck. But can he really leave the Barrel behind him? And how long can he keep up the pretence of who he thinks Wylan wants him to be?

Tags: @justalunaticfangirl @lunarthecorvus

If anyone else would like to be tagged let me know :)

Content warnings for this chapter: ptsd, loss of a parent, implied child abuse references

AO3 link

Chapter 8 - Jesper

“Hey, merchling. It’s Jesper,”

Wylan looked up.

“You don’t have to announce yourself every time, you know. I know it’s you,”

“Really?” asked Jesper, in spite of himself.

“Well for starter’s no-one else calls me merchling,” Wylan would have been glaring at him if his focus wasn’t ever so slightly too far to the left, “But also I can recognise your voice,”

“Wow, you can already recognise my voice? You must be smitten,”

Wylan’s cheeks heated, and Jesper grinned.

“I recognise everyone’s voices,” he snapped, defensively.

“Relax, I’m teasing. Anyway, can I sit with you?”

Wylan blinked. For a brief moment no-one said anything, and then Wylan quickly nodded and shuffled slightly further along the otherwise empty bench so Jesper could take a seat. It was a new phenomena for Jesper to arrive at a lecture on time; to decide where he wanted to sit instead of hastily perching on the end of anywhere where a space was free. And he’d come to the recent realisation that, other than Helena Dente and a couple of others, rowdy groups he’d been to the Barrel with or pretty almost strangers he probably shouldn’t just sit back down next to without explanation of awkward conversations, Wylan was pretty much the only person round here he knew. He hadn’t hung around long enough to make any real friends. Somehow though, he trusted Wylan. Maybe that was stupid of him - how good was his track record with trust? Then again, how much of that was his own fault?

The lecture began and droned on for what felt like an awful lot longer than the hour that actually passed. Jesper fidgeted, twisting his rings and drumming his fingers against the desk. When the class finally drew to a close and people began to file out, he turned back to Wylan.

“Okay I’m not insane right, we’ve been in here for like five years?”

Wylan smiled, laughing softly.

“It wasn’t… the most interesting lecture we’ve ever had,”

Jesper laughed in agreement, like he’d know.

“We’re both free the rest of the day, right? Do you wanna go to the library to work on the-?”

“I can’t,” Wylan breathed, almost nervously, his smile dropping “Sorry. I have to get home,”

“Fancy dinner party?” teased Jesper, “Journeying to a royal wedding, perhaps?”

Wylan didn’t laugh.

“I just… I’m not supposed to stay out too long,”

Jesper raised an eyebrow, but he didn’t say anything.

They walked out into the corridor together, and Jesper found himself watching the end of Wylan’s cane tapping from side to side against the glossy wooden boards so distractedly that he almost walked straight into a wall. He spent the evening on a job with Kaz - nothing big, intercepting some shipment of jurda so Kaz could sell it on; they’d repackage it, line the boxes with coffee grounds to hide the scent, and move it out in their own illegal shipments, but that would be someone else’s job - and the night solidly losing at Three Man Bramble and buying drinks he couldn’t afford. He missed his whatever-subject-it-was-supposed-to-be lecture the next morning, but managed to run back to the University District in time to meet Wylan.

“So come one then,” Jesper said, at some point, tapping the end of his fountain pen against the table, “You had to take the business class, but what do you actually want to do?”

Wylan shrugged.

“I’m good at chemistry,”

“But do you like chemistry?”

“What does it matter?” asked Wylan, shaking his head, “Just doing something I like won’t get me anywhere,”

“You don’t need to get anywhere,” Jesper couldn’t help but reply, “You could sit around your fancy house doing nothing for the rest of time, if you wanted to. So why are you here?”

Wylan flushed.

“I wanted to learn,”

“Learn what?”

“Anything. Everything,”

He looked almost earnest in it. Almost.

“Come on, there has to be something specific you want to do,”

“Well why are you here?” asked Wylan, “You said you hate economics, but it’s the only subject we’ve ever talked about. What else do you study?”

Jesper wasn’t actually even sure.

“I’m in the midst of switching around my classes,” he admitted, remembering suddenly that he was supposed to meet the dean tomorrow with his new ideas, “Everything I’ve ever tried wasn’t for me - on the farm, at a gunsmith. I was supposed to come to Kerch to find my direction,”

Wylan nodded, slowly.

“And… have you?”

“Saints, no. I don’t know what I want to do - what else do you study?”

“Chemistry, mathematics, biology,”

Jesper sighed.

“Well they all sound boring as hell. I have to volunteer some ideas of what to study by tomorrow, and at this rate it’s gonna be absolutely nothing,”

When Jesper did show up to his meeting - ten minutes late, but at least that was a considerable improvement on last time - he didn’t actually know what he was planning to say until it came out of his mouth. But then the next morning there he was, sitting next to Wylan at the back of a biology classroom.

“What happened to this being boring as hell?”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it will be,” said Jesper, lightly, “But you’re smart, and I’m sitting next to you,”

Wylan shuffled and Jesper was trying to figure out if he’d said something wrong, when the figure of Nina Zenik appeared in the doorway. He grinned as she waved and sauntered over. He hadn’t noticed that Wylan had all but completely frozen.

“Hey gorgeous,” he moved along a little so she could sit down, “Where’s Inej?”

“Doesn’t take bio,” said Nina, at the same time that Wylan said:

“You know Inej?”

Jesper used the second he needed to process that question to introduce Wylan and Nina to each other. Uncomfortable wasn’t a strong enough word to describe how Wylan looked, but Jesper couldn’t tell why.

“Nina and Inej just moved here from Ravka,” said Jesper, smoothly, “We met the other day. But you know Inej?”

“She’s in my chemistry class,”

Wylan fidgeted with his sleeve whilst Jesper gave Nina a furious, questioning look that she pointedly ignored. What were they doing honing in on Wylan? Jesper definitely didn’t trust that Kaz had any kind of good intentions, and he didn’t want them to get the kid mixed up in whatever scheme he’d concocted this time.

It also turned out to be pretty annoying to sit in between Wylan and Nina during a biology class, because they both cared. The professor was apparently a big fan of making everyone discuss the topic with each other and they seemed to have to do it every ten minutes, which meant that every ten minutes Jesper had to sit there trying to wrap his head around the size differences between DNA and genes and alleles and chromosomes he was also stuck listening to them both going on about the action of RNA polymerase in the process of transcription. Eventually, he murmured to Wylan:

“I don’t get it; what does the enzyme do?”

“Enzymes are like natural catalysts,” Wylan replied, “The DNA helicase enzyme catalyses a reaction that unwinds the two strands of DNA, and the DNA polymerase enzyme catalyses a reaction that forms a new phosphodiester bond to make a new strand. That one’s like welding; the two pieces of metal you want to connect are the bases, the backbone is what you’re going to use to form the link, and the enzyme is the torch,”

It was like he knew exactly how to explain it in a way Jesper understood. He didn’t know how he did that. Jesper smiled.

“Okay, so when they make the protein it's like welding again, right? Just between amino acids, instead of bases,”

Wylan nodded.

“With peptide bonds, instead of phosphodiester,”

“Well, that’s kind of interesting,” said Jesper, in spite of himself, “It’s just like metalwork. And if you unwound it all without damaging it - that’s what the helicase does, right? - you’d be able to know what all the bases were. So it’s like a code, you could figure out any protein the DNA can make just by reading the bases,”

“Yeah,” Wylan smiled, “That’s the proteome,”

Jesper did his best to listen to the rest of the lecture, trying to follow along with the descriptions of mutations in the order of the bases and what they could lead to. It was an overview, the professor told them, of what they’d be studying in a lot more detail over the coming weeks. As the lecture drew to a close and the students began to file out, he called:

“Do we have a Miss Zenik, in here? Might I have a word?”

Nina glanced back towards Jesper and Wylan, frustrated, but then smiled her way to the front of the room. Jesper looked at Wylan.

“Do you, er… do you think that maybe we could meet up some time to talk about some of the biology stuff from earlier this year?

“Yeah,” Wylan smiled a little nervously, “Yeah, we could do that. Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow. I guess in the morning again?”

There was a pause, and then Wylan ventured:

“I guess it couldn’t hurt to be late home one night, right? We could go to the library after lunch,”

Jesper grinned.

“Sounds like a plan,”

His good mood lasted him all the way to the door. He waited alone in the corridor for Nina to leave the lecture hall, and soon as her foot was over the doorstep he pounced.

“What the hell are you doing with Wylan?”

“My job, Jesper,” she said lightly, tossing her hair over her shoulder as they began to walk down the hallway together, “And anyway what do you care?”

“Don’t turn this around on me. We both know there’s no good intentions behind this, and I’m telling you to leave him alone,”

“Well if you want to take it up with Kaz then be my guest,” she replied, “But I think we all know how that conversation would go,”

Jesper didn’t realise how long he and Wylan had been in the library until they left and discovered the sunset was waiting for them. They’d sat downstairs on some of the comfortable sofas beneath the towering bookshelves in a far corner, opposite each other, Jesper cross-legged with a notebook open in his lap. Wylan started by describing mitosis, which Jesper already vaguely knew was how cells replicated. He didn’t stop Wylan though, even when he was going through topics that Jesper already understood. There was something wonderful about watching him explain it.

“The entire world is a puzzle,” Wylan said, “And sometimes you get to learn one bit of it, you solve one piece or one equation, and it’s like it’s clicked into place. Like you won something, by figuring out this tiny piece of the puzzle. I feel like I’ll never know enough about anything, there’s always something new,”

Jesper smiled slowly, watching him, the sunlight warm through the window and drifting over them.

“Like when I went to the Ice Court,” Wylan was still saying, “All I could think about was the Ice Moat.It’s just a layer of ice over water, but the court is on top of a hill and there’s no aqueduct - where does the moat come from?”

“You went to the Ice Court and that’s what you were thinking about?” Jesper shook his head, “What were you even doing there?”

“I went to an embassy dinner,” Wylan’s voice drifted a little, like he regretted bringing it up in the first place, “When I was a kid,”

Jesper didn’t know why he asked, but his curiosity was piqued so he continued:

“You travel a lot?”

“I used to. Before…” he gestured vaguely towards his eyes, and Jesper found himself wondering again about the little scar above his cheekbone.

“Where did you go?”

“Lots of places; my father used to take me everywhere with him. We went to the Shu oil fields, Elling, the jurda fields near Shrifport,”

“They’re beautiful,” Jesper murmured, thinking of the orange fields at home and forgetting what a stupid thing that was to say, “I mean - sorry,”

“It’s okay. And anyway, that was before the accident. They were beautiful. I’m glad I got to see them. But we don’t really go anywhere anymore, not anywhere that isn’t in Kerch anyway,”

“Why not?”

“This, mostly,” he shrugged, gesturing to his eyes again. Jesper wasn’t sure why that should stop them, “But we lost my mother not long before the accident, and I guess… I guess my father just felt like he was losing us both,”

Jesper wanted to say that was stupid; he hadn’t lost Wylan, Wylan was sitting right there and maybe if his father didn’t suddenly start treating him differently than he used to then l it wouldn’t feel like they’d lost anything at all. But all he said was:

“I’m sorry. I…” he breathed, “I lost my mother too, when I was a kid,”

For a strange, stupid moment Jesper reached out and tried to take Wylan’s hand. He didn’t even really know why. But as soon as they touched Wylan flinched near on violently and Jesper drew away.

“Sorry,”

“No - sorry, I -” Wylan fidgeted with his sleeve, “I can’t see it coming; you took me by surprise,”

There was a pause.

“Biology?”

“Biology,”

“Right,” Wylan smiled, “So, erm, meiosis has two specific mechanisms that add more to the daughter cells not being identical. The first is where the homologous pairs cross over each other…”

And on he went.

Jesper could hardly believe how late it was when they stepped outside, the sky above turned a thousand shades of pink and orange as the sun began to sink over the horizon.

“Gorgeous sunset,” he said, eyes focused above him as he hopped down the last few steps.

He turned back and realised Wylan was still a short way behind him, with one hand on the railing and the other keeping up the rhythmic beat of his cane as he searched for the edge of each step. Jesper was slightly glad he could see him blushing as he bit his tongue and said:

“Oh. Sorry,”

There was a long silence, even after Wylan had reached the the base of the stairs and stood for a moment beside Jesper, before he murmured:

“What does it look like?”

“I don’t…”

Jesper swallowed.

“Okay here, can-” he hesitated, thinking of Wylan flinching away in the library, “Can I take your hand?”

A brief moment passed before Wylan nodded. Jesper closed his hand slowly over Wylan’s, giving the merchling time to pull away if he wanted to. He didn’t. Jesper lifted his arm and pulled Wylan’s gently with him, and pointed out to the horizon.

“Right here, this is soft pink - like spring and cherry blossom, when you can kind of feel it in the air. Then this bit,” he moved their hands slowly, “This is like the jurda fields, and over here it’s a kind of gentle warmth, like late summer evening sitting outside. When the air starts to cool but it’s still comfortable and light. But then here - this is like sitting in front of the fireplace in winter. It’s warm, and you need it to be warm, and it makes you feel…” Jesper looked down at Wylan, and realised that if Wylan could have been staring straight up at him he would have been, pale lashes caught in the light and curls glowing ever so softly. His voice had somehow become a whisper when he finished: “safe,”

Jesper’s breath caught in his throat. He studied Wylan for a moment; those eyes that should have been a slightly brighter shade of blue but were dazzling even as they were, the freckles scattered across his cheeks like lost stars, the curls still shimmering in what was left of the sunlight. It took him a long moment to realise that they were still holding hands.

“Safe?” Wylan whispered, tilting his chin up slightly.

Jesper let his hand trace slowly higher up Wylan’s arm, ready to move away if he stopped him. But he didn’t stop him. Jesper breathed slowly, leaning in, his free hand moving to push one of Wylan’s curls away from his face.

“It’s a pity you don’t know how beautiful your eyes are,”

Wylan blushed as Jesper ran a hand over his cheek and gently tilted his hace up towards his own. He leaned forwards, reading to close the space between them, but Wylan squirmed and Jesper tensed as he pulled his hands away.

“And me, of course,” he added, letting his voice take on a teasing lilt to brush past the moment, “It’s a shame you don’t know how gorgeous I am,”

Wylan almost smiled, but he had stepped away.

“I - erm,” he brushed his fingers through the lock of hair Jesper had moved and cleared his throat, “Excuse me,”

And then he was gone, and Jesper was standing alone at the bottom of the stone steps, the sunset above his head continuing on impassively.

Dammit, Jesper. What have you done this time?

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