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bluecollarmcandtf · 2 months

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Dads, Dads, and more Dads

I did something I shouldn't have! My buds all bailed on our night out, so I hit the bar and got hammered by myself. Somehow, I ended up blackout drunk in a fortune teller's shop. I remember crying about how much I wanted a fatherly figure in my life. She did this weird ritual to make me feel better. I thought it was a joke at the time, but I know now it wasn't...

"Buddy, get out of bed! Breakfast is ready!"

A pang of guilt empties my stomach. For a moment, I stare at the ceiling with absolutely no urge to eat. It's been two days since that fortune teller put a curse on me, and I have no idea how to live with myself. I obviously can't pretend her little ritual wasn't real anymore.

"Hey, Josh," I nervously answer, stepping into the kitchen to look at my roommate.

"Can't sleep all day, buddy. Eat up!" Josh gives me an endearing smile that sends shivers down my spine.

A few days ago, Josh was a lazy, rude asshole who was only good for paying his part of the rent. We were chill enough roommates, but he only ever talked to me when he wanted a second opinion on girls he saw at the gym. The guy was easily the biggest douchebag in our friend group, always showing off and making someone else the butt of his joke.

Looking at him now, I'd laugh! If only I didn't feel so guilty for his personality's erasure.

"Look at the time! I better get moving. That yard won't maintain itself!" Josh flashes the brand new watch on his wrist. The thing is clunky and old: the kind of wristwatch you'd expect a dad to wear.

"You know we're only renting this place for the semester, right?" I search his expression for any trace of the slimy old Josh, "The landlord is supposed to take care of the yard!"

Josh just chuckles and mutters something about wanting to impress the neighbors. He even has the audacity to reach out and tussle my hair. My face gets hot as a guy, only a month older than myself, treats me like a child.

That curse really screwed up his brain. When Josh found me the morning after, something just broke in him. He immediately jumped to my side and promised to help me nurse my hangover, and it didn't stop there. After he tucked me in for a nap, he drove straight to the mall, buying a whole new wardrobe of cargo shorts and polos. I thought he was just hitting the gym like usual, so when he came back dressed up like the suburban father he hates, I barely even recognized him.

"Have a good day, buddy!"

Josh ignores my protests and plants a big smooch on the back of my head before marching out of the kitchen. It was bad enough my roommate was calling me buddy! Does he really have to kiss me like that too? It makes me uncomfortable to see my scummiest friend infused with such insane paternal instincts, but this is kind of what I asked for. Right?

I slam the back door shut and look at my rusty old bike. Today is already getting on my nerves and I'm not in the mood to peddle all the way to class. Maybe, that guy next door hasn't left for work yet...

"Oh, hey there, Kiddo!"

The deep voice of my neighbor makes me relax a little. I see all six and a half feet of him climb out of the car and stare at me with the same look Josh had on earlier. He's a father of four, but ever since my night out, he looks at me like I'm him his only real son.

"Hey, Mr. Jones," I mumble back.

"Glad I caught you, Kiddo. I was just about to pull out of the driveway," he explains, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder, "You want a me to drive you to class today?"

I push aside my feelings of guilt and manage a smile, "That'd be great."

Mr. Jones beams back brilliantly. He claps me on the back, which knocks me a bit off balance. Before I know it, he's guiding me into his passenger seat and asking me to hold his briefcase.

"Just let me text work to let them know I'm coming in later than normal," he adds while texting on his flip phone, "How are classes going, kiddo?"

I shrug off the question with a one-word answer. Now that everyone's forced to act like my dad, I get asked about my classes like twenty times a day. My thoughts drift, but Mr. Jones keeps up the conversation, lecturing me about good grades or something. I don't know how a guy who barely knows me can have so many opinions about my academics!

"You know what!" I cut him off just before he starts reminiscing on his own college years, "Just drop me off at this cafe."

Worry lines form on his forehead, "Are you sure you don't want me to drive you the whole way?

"No. Just give me some cash."

Mr. Jones gives me a look of disappointment before shimmying his wallet out of his khakis. He counts off forty dollars and hands it over.

"Can I have a little more?" I press quietly.

Look, I know it's wrong to abuse this bizarre new dynamic between us, but I'm a poor college kid! If he doesn't want to give me his money, he can just say no. It's not like I'm holding a gun to his head!

"Sure thing, kiddo," he gives me a dry smile and pulls out a couple more twenties, "Don't spend it all in one place!"

"Ok, bye," I awkwardly announce and hop out.

"Wait!" his husky baritone calls from the car window, "You want a ride home after class?"

"Nope! Just go back to your own life," I yell stiffly. Even though I don't turn to watch him drive off, I hear his car pull away. It's just a car, but it somehow sounds disappointed in me too. I try to swallow the growing lump in my throat and step into the cafe for some much needed coffee...

"Morning, young man. What can I get you?"

The lump in my throat seems to get bigger when I see the waiter. He's a lot hotter of a man than I expected to find in this little cafe.

Already, the way he looks at me is shifting. That curse is transforming whatever thoughts he'd just had in his head. He's feeling more and more protective and responsible for me with every second he looks at me. At this point, I've grown accustomed to the mysterious effect I have on older guys. It's only been a few days, but I've seen so many random dudes go through this psychological transition. It's like they're discovering a new purpose in life: me.

"Uh yeah, I guess a cappuccino would be nice," I mutter with a dry mouth.

"You got it, young man!" he gives me a friendly wink, "Anything else I can get you?"

I know I shouldn't push my luck, but I can't help myself with this guy, "A hug would be nice! I've been feeling a bit isolated lately..."

The waiter instantly puts his pen and paper down and holds out his arms. His welcoming smile is gone, and a look of genuine concern waits for me, "Come here."

I practically leap into his arms, and he eagerly accepts me, pulling me into his chest like it's where I belong. It feels amazing to be held by this man, even if I don't know him at all. I could stay here all day if he'd let me.

"Seems like you're enjoying the hug," the waiter eventually chuckles into my ear.

For a second, I'm confused, but then I realize I'm fully erect and the waiter can definitely feel it poking into his waist.

"Sorry!" I jump back, searching for any other witnesses.

"Hey, don't be!" he assures me, "It's a completely normal part of life, ok?"

"You're not mad?" my voice comes out more timid than I expected, but I can't help myself. I just accidentally boned up someone who was trying to be nice. What makes it worse, is that he's probably only trying to be nice because of my ridiculous curse.

"Of course not," he affirms, "I can help you take care of it, if that's ok, young man?"

"What do you mean?" My face burns red hot.

"Oh, let me show you," he grabs me by the hand and leads me away from the table, "There's no need to be ashamed of any part of your body! In fact, this part can be a lot of fun."

I'm left speechless as the waiter gives me another fatherly wink, but I can't linger on what he's said. I'm being pulled into the men's restroom. I hear the click of the door locking behind us as he pulls me in front of the mirror, sliding up behind me. I can feel his chest on my back and his thighs against my ass.

If I was hard before, I'm practically bursting now!

"It's time you had the talk, young man," he calmly speaks in my ear like this is a completely normal thing for a waiter to do.

He starts droning on about men, women, sex, and where babies come from, but I'm not listening. I obviously know what sex is, and I think I'm having it right now. His hands slip under my arms and wrap around my waist to unzip my pants. My rock-hard cock bursts out of my jeans the second they're open, and a moan of surprised ecstasy fumbles over my lips just when the waiter gets to his point on male anatomy.

Does the waiter really believe a dad should do this for their sons?

He starts talking me through how to jack off. He must think I've never masturbated before, and I'm sure as hell not telling him that I have! Hearing him narrate every wrist movement, every ball tug, every nipple pinch is just too much fun! Before long, the waiter has me violently shooting on our reflections in the mirror.

"And there you go," he pats me on the back while I stand there stunned. The waiter steps back and looks at me like he's proud of the great life lesson he'd just taught me, "Now you know how to get rid of those boners of yours. Let me go get your coffee started."

I stand in the bathroom, collecting myself, as the waiter finally tends to my coffee order. This dad-curse the fortune teller gave me might be more fun than I originally thought. If I can get one daddy to randomly jack me off, then who knows what else I can do! Rushing out of the bathroom, I already have so many ideas flooding through my head...

"Excuse me, sir!"

"Sorry!" I shout.

In my excitement, I almost crash into the cafe's porter. A little less graceful, and I would have sent every single dish crashing to the floor. Glancing at the face of my would-be victim, I almost moan when I see get a good look at him. I can tell his head is already filling up with the same artificial need to be my father.

"No damage done," he assures me, lingering back to stare at me like I'm some lost puppy.

"Don't you...um...have to bus some tables or something," I breath nervously.

"Oh yeah," he frowns, "Sorry to get in your way."

He shakes his head like he's trying to lose the strange new thoughts in his brain. I stand there frozen like a deer in headlights as he walks away. He glances back at me before turning his attention to a cluttered table.

"Wait!" I yell, "Come back!"

The busboy drops the tub of dirty dishes and rushes back over like his life depends on it. The sight of this worried hunk running back to me makes me hard all over again.

I grab him and pull him into a hug, but his arms quickly take over and support me. Once again, my boner is rock hard and poking into the body of some random guy I just met!

"You have a car?" I ask.

"Yeah."

"You want to drive me around?"

"Of course!" he yanks off his apron and puts a hand on my back.

The waiter comes back around and hands me my coffee, looking at his coworker in utter confusion.

"Cover his shift," I demand, "He's driving me to school."

The waiter nods with an open mouth. He does look completely confused, but there's also a hint of jealousy in his stare. I think he's mad the busser gets to chauffeur me around: poor guy.

The porter doesn't seem bothered to be walking out of his job. He's busy smiling at me like I'm his whole world. I slide into his humble car and tell him where my class is. Before long, he's pulling out of the parking lot and driving me to school. I use our time to get to know him. I'm honestly not all that interested in learning about his life, but I do enjoy watching him talk. It doesn't take a while for us to get to campus, but before I get out I grab his hand and put on my best puppy dog eyes.

"I don't know when you get off work, but I'd love it if you came by my apartment. My roommate is trying to clean it up, but he could really use the help of someone more experienced."

"I love housework!" he just answers, "I'll be there!"

I snicker and slam the car door shut. I might be an hour late, but I'm finally here for class. It's time to give my professor a visit...

"Yeah, I can unbutton my shirt!"

My professor fell under my spell just as fast as the others. He had a look of anger when I walked in; probably from me skipping his class, but that expression quickly warped as he looked at me. Within seconds he was rounding his desk to give me a big old hug. Apparently, he "forgave" me for being so late.

"You like what you see?" he asks, gesturing to his hairy chest, "Trying to check out your old man?"

"You're my old man?" I ask, kind of surprised by the goofy smile on his face.

"Well, no," he bumbles, "But I am a strong male influence in your life! I'm like your dad!"

I nod my head like he's just made a really good point, "Oh. Then you probably want to treat me like your son. Right?"

"Yeah!" he holds his arms out to animate his enthusiasm.

Professor Reid has a reputation for being stiff and demanding in the classroom, so his new personality completely contradicts his true character. The man I know would never smile at a student, let alone bare his chest to them.

"So, I'm off the hook for missing today's class right?"

"Well," he pauses, "Sure."

"Can I skip the rest of the semester?"

"What, no. I want you to have a good education, my boy!"

I creep up to him and place my hands on his hairy torso, feeling the fur and the weight of his body. Professor Reid sure has a lot to hide under all those dress shirts he always wears.

"I'm just so lucky to have a daddy like you," I purr, "A daddy who's willing to do everything he can for me."

My professor grabs my arm and stares into my eyes. With a serious tone, "I am willing to do everything for you, my boy."

"Alright," I smile, "You should give me private lessons then..."

"What a great idea," he's back to grinning like an idiot.

"...and you should always do it in your underwear!"

"I can do that. From now on, I'll be stripped and ready before you come in!" He smiles at me like this is the best decision he's ever made in his life.

"Alright, now pull the rest of your clothes off," I command, "I want to see what the rest of my daddy looks like."

Mr. Reid doesn't hesitate to start stripping in front of his favorite student. I could probably get this guy to do anything now. I can already imagine our private lessons; me lounging in his leather armchair and him on his knees with his mouth full. Maybe that curse isn't a curse at all. Maybe it's actually a gift...

"Hey, buddy! How was class today?"

Josh looks tired from a long day of yardwork, but he still seems excited for me to come home. The lawn looks immaculate compared to our neighbors', and I have my roommate to thank for that.

"The grass looks great, dad."

"Dad! Woah!" Josh yells ecstatically, "Buddy, I can't tell you how much it means to hear you say that."

Josh sweeps me up in his arms. Apparently, it doesn't bother him to be the father figure of a guy only a few months younger than himself. It doesn't bother me anymore either. I kind of like that he smells like aftershave and bacon now instead of weed and sweat.

"Let's go inside, buddy. I'll cook something up for dinner," Josh says with a hand on my back. I'm already growing so accustomed to being guided around everywhere.

"Actually, I invited a guy to come over," I admit, "He can cook. You should relax. You got a lot of work done today, dad."

"I did, didn't I?" he smiles proudly, "Let me grab a beer, then. We can watch TV."

"Actually, I thought there might be something else you'd enjoy."

"You know me so well, buddy. What are you thinking?"

"You could bend over the couch..."

Josh cringes and shakes his head. Once again, it's like he's fighting the foreign thoughts entering his head.

"...I know how much you like to make me happy, and I really want to pound ass right now."

For a second, a look of horror flashes over his face, but it's gone in an instant. A bright fatherly smile spreads between his cheeks.

"That sounds perfect, buddy. Enjoy yourself."

Josh doesn't look away as he unbuttons his cargo shorts, smiling at me with love and devotion the entire time. He seems completely relaxed as he bends over the couch, and he only seems to become more comfortable as he spreads his cheeks apart.

Once again, I'm rock hard as I stare at one of my dads. This curse might have made me feel guilty before, but Josh said it himself.

I think I will enjoy myself.

Thanks for the ASK, Vebrendos

#hypno story #gay mind control #gay hypnosis #hypnotized #gay ai art #gay dad and son

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bixels · 11 days

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Hey, big fan of your art, especially your Grand Galloping 20s AU! I’m sorry if this is kind of a weird question, but I’ve been trying to figure it out and I just can’t place what GGG Applejack and fluttershy’s ethnicity is. Sorry if this is weird I just adore headcanons about a character’s ethnicities and languages bc I’m a child of immigrants and love seeing diversity in media. Anyways, keep up the great work!

Ok, but in all seriousness.

In this AU, AJ is White Anglo-Saxon Protestant (but she has one branch in the family tree who're Hispanic. Rosita is technically a very distant cousin). Félicie's parents are white French immigrants, which is why she speaks both English and French.

I bold the first phrase because I know this is not a common head canon for these two (I really love Arab Fluttershy). I hope people don't interpret this as some sorta head canon or representation erasure.

#ask me #anon #i hope this isn't disappointing to you. all interpretations of these horses are valid but especially bipoc ones #i just chose not to make aj or fluttershy bipoc for this particular au

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differenteagletragedy · 5 months

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Our Life headcannons

-- Cove has at least one child who is autistic and nonverbal. He becomes a master at communicating with this baby, and whenever they are able to use their words he absolutely loses his mind. The first time he hears an "I love you"? Crying, screaming, flat on the ground, bawling his eyes out. Let someone in public try to make any kind of remark if the kid has a meltdown. They will not survive.

-- Derek asked you to prom "as friends." He asked you what you were wearing so his tux could match you, and he got you a corsage too, "as friends." Did it seem kind of like a date? Of course it did, he'd had a crush on you for years. But he was very insistent on the "as friends" part and even if you had a crush on him too, it kind of made you think he couldn't ever see you that way at all.

-- Going to watch a movie with Baxter? Lol, no you're not. Boy runs his mouth trying to be cute and you can never follow the plot because he's sitting beside you with that little smirk, trying to make you laugh and look all adorable. If you really want to see something, leave him home or at least learn how to tune him out -- even if you do he'll keep going.

-- Cove doesn't like to drink but when he does he will not. Shut. Up. He's not like Movie Baxter, he just keeps saying whatever comes to mind, no filter. No real memory on how to properly structure sentences either. He just really needs you to know literally every single thought that pops into his head so please just listen to him, hey, are you listening?

-- Do you want a dog? You better if you end up with Derek, because y'all are getting a dog. It doesn't matter what kind it is, he'll be taking that dog on runs with him, he'll be doing research to get it the best kind of food and to figure out what kind of environment it thrives in. Did he just get another subscription box for the dog even though he already gets one? Yup. That's his dog.

-- Do you like makeup? Cool, Baxter likes you to put makeup on him too, thanks. Not to go out, that's not really his thing, but it's a nice relaxing activity to do at home. He gets you all close to him (once you get back together he's not gonna let you go lol), and he gets to feel pretty. Don't skimp on the mascara, he likes his lashes, and be sure to play up his best features. Maybe try a dark lipstick this time, he'd like to see how that looks. And when you're done having fun, you better get to thoroughly removing everything and then following up with his skincare routine.

-- Sorry, let's double up on Baxter while we're here -- do you have a skin routine too? Because that's a shared interest and he's gonna want to talk about it. What's your favorite cleanser? Do you want to do face masks together? There's this new moisturizer he's interested in that's stupid expensive but he still wants to try it, want to split it? You share a Sephora rewards account so you can get more points. Oops, you accidentally put on too much of your lip mask and your lips are all goofy -- just give him a kiss, he hasn't put his on yet. It's weird how much I could go on about this.

-- You can also put makeup on Cove, but maybe stick to powders so he can rinse it all off easy after. And you can do whatever to Derek, he doesn't care, he's just happy to be there.

-- Everybody makes a big deal about Baxter's dancing, but this is actually another case of Derek Erasure, because he can do stuff too. His dad taught him and his brothers how to properly dance with a partner, and he was too shy to do it if you took him to the Summer Soiree, but if you end up with him? He can hold his own for sure.

-- If Cove doesn't end up with you, he ends up with Xavier. That's it. That's how it goes.

-- Not one of the main boys, but if you and Cove have babies then Cliff absolutely thrives on his GILF status. He tells everyone that he's a grandfather, literally every single person, and he's def proud of Cove and loves his grandbaby to bits, but also, like, look at him. Crazy hot grandpa, right?

#cove holden #derek suarez #baxter ward #our life beginnings and always #our life #olba #olba cove #olba derek #olba baxter #our life headcannons #olba mc #cove holden x mc #derek suarez x mc #baxter ward x mc #grandpa cliff

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box-dwelling · 7 months

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Honestly one of my biggest Wrightworth fanfic pet peeves is people erasing Phoenix's bisexuality. There's kinda two flavours.

There's saying he isn't attracted to women and only dated Dahlia/Iris which closeted, which is just incorrect. He constantly makes jokes about sex with women. He's often shown to be attracted to them. I honestly don't think there's much to this take beyond bi erasure and maybe some people projecting which I can understand but still its a shame.

Then there's saying that the only man he's ever been into is Edgeworth and this one just really rubs me the wrong way because that's just not really how sexuality works. It's kind of a weird trope that has a weird purity complex around it and while I don't think it would be in anyway inaccurate to say he was likely his awakening, I think it's kind of naive to think Phoenix's never had any inclination towards other men especially as we get later in the game timeline. Like feenie era, absolutely a possibility. Trilogy era, maybe but only because he had hard Edgeworth blinders on and was completely unwilling to consider anyone else. But 7yg and beyond? No fucking way. I will not believe for a single second that Beanix was not being a queer little bitch. Not even just as my krisnix properganda. Just look at him. Chaotic Bisexuality incarnate.

The later trope does play a little better for Edgeworth because that attorney does definitely seem ace and if we presume he's on the demi side of things then given this is Miles god damn Edgeworth who does not do particularly well in personal relationships with many people other than Phoenix, it could well be that he actually hasn't felt any sexual or romantic feelings for anyone else before.

Idk just let him be bi. He can just be bi.

#ace attorney #wrightworth #narumitsu #miles edgeworth #phoenix wright #beanix

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absurdthirst · 11 months

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Simple As That {Marcus Pike x F!Reader}

Rating: Mature

Word Count: 2.2k

Warnings: Internalized homophobia/bi-erasure, actually homophobia, mentions of cheating, divorce, anxiety, panic, self doubt, Marcus being the best

Comments: Telling your boyfriend that you're bisexual when Pride month comes around isn't easy, especially when a friend is going through a horrible time because of their own sexual identity.

A/N: Happy Pride Month! 🌈 I know that I've had my own moments of panic and self-erasure and I'm sure a lot of you have as well. Be authentic to yourself. Live, laugh, love whoever you wish. Just know that I love you for who you are.

**Follow @absurdthirst-writes and turn on notifications to stay up to date on all new fics.

|| MasterList || Marcus Pike MasterList ||

Click Keep Reading only if you have read the Rating and Warnings and understand the warnings may not be complete to avoid listing spoilers. As AO3 says 'creator chooses not to use warnings'. You also agree that you're the right age to be consuming anything here.

You’ve talked yourself out of this conversation for so long, you wonder if it’s even necessary. After all, what does it matter? You are with a man who is bright, funny, thoughtful and caring. One who is empathetic to your hectic life, because he has his own full plate, and never seems to mind when you just don’t have the social battery to go out. He even asks if you have the energy to let him take care of you, or if he should spend the night at his own apartment. In short, Marcus Pike is perfect.

Still, guilt hangs over you like a shroud, weighing you down and making you bite your lip when the topic is brought up or even represented on tv. Like there is a big neon sign flashing over your head that screams ‘LIAR!!’ in a pink, blue and purple hues.

You tell yourself that it doesn’t matter if you're bisexual. You are in a relationship with a man. Even though younger you would be completely pissed off by the fact that you are self-erasing a part of yourself that seemed so central to who you are.

You’re scared. You can admit that. You’ve seen how some of your friends' relationships have imploded when their sexuality was used against them. Hell, even now, Anthony’s marriage is dead, going through the nastiest divorce that you’ve ever seen with Charlotte accusing him of sleeping with every single one of his friends. Apparently the gym was code for a gang bang in the locker room, and he called her ‘Charlie’ because he wanted to pretend his wife was a man. It didn’t matter that she was the one who offered that nickname when they met three years ago, it was being used against him now as some sort of weird, homophobic proof of his infidelity.

Personally, you think she’s crazy and it was unlikely that the marriage would have lasted even five more years, but the viciousness of her accusations managed to dig into you. Permeate under your skin when you had heard what she had accused him of, how immediately Anthony was untrustworthy around anyone and everyone, all because he was bisexual. The fact that she had known this before they got married was irrelevant. It mattered now and it was crushing your friend.

Tapping your nail on the desktop calendar, you try to ignore the date. June first. The beginning of Pride Month. A month to celebrate who you are authentically. This month is different from the rest since you have gotten serious with a gorgeous FBI agent with a boyish smile.

Instead of some kind of Pride event, you’ve penciled in a date with him. Knowing that he will be eager to see you since the latest case had taken him out of town for nearly two weeks. Two weeks of self doubt and second guessing. Two weeks of dealing with the fallout of Anthony’s marriage crumbling, since he is sleeping on your couch - even though it’s ironic she’s not accusing him of sleeping with you. Two weeks of deciding that you should never tell Marcus about that side of yourself and then chastising yourself in the same single breath.

It doesn’t matter if you never kiss another girl again. Never sleep with one. That Marcus is the only person that you are intimate with for the rest of your life. You are bisexual. You are sexually and romantically attracted to both men and women. It doesn’t matter that on the outside you appear as a heteronormative couple, you’re not. Because you’re not. To deny that would be to deny a huge part of yourself.

You sigh softly and consider canceling. Hiding away for the next few days, hell, maybe even the entire month. Just so you don’t have to be out with Marcus around the flags or the events that were planned throughout the city for the entire month. Pretending it doesn’t exist.

Your phone lights up, buzzing as a picture of Marcus pops up. It was one that you had snapped while he was trying, and failing to cook dinner about a month ago. Looking adorably flustered, it had become his contact picture and it makes you smile every time you see it.

You smile this time too, but it’s a nervous smile. Picking up the phone and trying to ignore the way that your stomach rocks and rolls like the waves of a turbulent sea, you answer. “Hey, babe.” You hum, hoping you sound completely normal to your boyfriend.

“Hey.” Marcus always sounds like he’s excited to hear your voice, the warm, buttery sound of his greeting relaxing you a bit and making the smile turn a bit brighter. “I just landed and wondered if I could come over.”

It’s completely Marcus to want to drop everything and rush over to see you. Despite the fact that he might be exhausted from traveling, or working nonstop over the two weeks. Only one of the reasons that he didn’t know about your houseguest. You hadn’t wanted to talk to him about it over the phone since you couldn’t see his face. Watch his eyes as you explain.

“How about I come to your place?” You ask, glancing back at the little flag that Anthony had stuck in your pen organizer. The lines of the damn thing mocking you, although you know why he is stubbornly being prideful about Pride month this year. “We can relax, and you can sleep in your own bed for the first time in two weeks.” Although you might not be sleeping beside him.

Marcus groans, and you can tell that he likes that idea. “I’ll pick up some take out on the way home.” He agrees quickly, so you know that he was offering to come over simply because he felt like it was the right thing to do. “See you in half an hour?”

“Half an hour.” You agree, ending the call and trying not to feel sick about something that should be so easy. It’s not, but you need to tell him.

****

“I’ve really missed you.” Marcus leans in to kiss you softly. Food consumed and he looks infinitely more relaxed after a quick shower and tossing on some of his oldest, comfiest sweats. Leaning into you on the couch and you can see that spark of desire in his eyes. It’s easy to see and you bite your lip, determined to tell him before anything else happens tonight.

“Anthony’s getting divorced.” You blurt out, making him pause as he leans in. “He’s been staying on my couch for the past two weeks.”

“Shit.” Marcus frowns and leans back, his brows pulled in slightly and he sighs. “Is he okay? What happened?”

You don’t want to tell him the details, knowing that it’s not your place to say anything to him about Anthony’s sexuality since you don’t know if it’s ever been brought up before with Marcus around. He knows your friends and likes them, but it’s not like everyone is talking about who they are attracted to. Everyone is in committed relationships except for a few who are serial daters. “They- Charlie thinks Anthony is cheating.”

Marcus’ eyes widen and he shakes his head. “Damn.” He huffs. “I hope that’s not true, I doubt it is, from what I gathered, he seemed pretty damn committed to Charlie.”

“He is- was.” You correct. “But there’s no going back now. Not with what’s been said.” It was sad, the things that were hurled at him in anger or spite and you know it hurt him a lot. “He’s staying on my couch.”

“Okay.” Marcus nods quickly, reaching out and rubbing your arm. “Let me know if I can help in any way. Or…” He shrugs slightly. “I do have another bedroom. He can crash here instead of your couch.” He offers. “No offense to the sofa, it’s comfortable, but a bed is more comfy.”

You smile, shrugging slightly and nod. “I’ll tell him about your offer. It’s sweet, but he might say no.” You hum and Marcus tilts his head curiously but doesn’t ask why. He’s good about not prying. Especially for an FBI agent.

“It’s available.” Is all he offers before he scoots closer to you. “So I want to take you out.” He starts. “But I wanted to make sure that it was okay before I surprise you with it.”

That’s unusual for Marcus. He tends to like grand gestures and this makes you look at him curiously. “Oh?”

“There’s an event this weekend. And I always go to it every year and I was wondering if you would come with me.” He tells you, keeping his dark eyes on yours and you feel the dread that has been in your stomach all afternoon start to slowly ebb under the weight of his soft expression.

“What’s that?” You wonder if it’s some kind of work event. Or even a marathon. Marcus has been groaning about needing to start running again. Apparently he has been running marathons every year, at least one, since he was in college. The beer runs had turned into more respectable 5 and 10ks.

“Pride.” Marcus ventures, his brows raising up and he looks a little nervous. “There’s a pub crawl this weekend and I just always go to something, and I thought that it might not be as….large as the parade and I thought you might like to go…and if you don’t, that’s okay, but-” Marcus is rambling, something that you notice that he does when he is worried about what you might say so he feels the need to provide more details or arguments that back up his ‘case’ so to speak.

Your own sense of having water poured over your head washes over you and you reach out. “Marc.” Touching his hand makes him freeze mid rambling sentence and you let the silence hange between you for a moment. You don’t ask a question, but you’re sure that your eyes are begging him to explain.

“I just- I thought you might like to go since, well, yeah.” He blows out a breath and shakes his head. “I thought that since you are bisexual, you might like to go? Unless you don’t celebrate pride and your boyfriend is being incredibly insensitive? If that’s the case, I’m so sorry.”

“You know?” Your eyes widen and abject horror is probably spreading across your features even though you can’t even feel anything other than your thundering heart. “H-how do you know?” Who told him, how did he find out? Did he go through your phone one night to find the small stash of porn you had saved for those nights when you wanted to think about a woman. Fantasy isn’t cheating, you’ve always believed that, and you know that Marcus has his own porn habit, but how does he know?

Marcus frowns, confusion clouding his face and he shakes his head. “I- was I not supposed to know?” He asks quietly, his hand sliding back to rest on the back of the sofa to give you space if you needed it.

“I just don’t- who told you?” You don’t feel like any of your friends have said anything, but who knows? Your stomach feels like every bite of your dinner is going to come up.

His look of confusion deepens and he shakes his head. “Babe…..you told me.” He tells you, completely confused as to why you seem so upset.

“I told you?” You demand, voice creeping up. “When did I tell you?”

“Our first date.” He shakes his head and holds up his hands. “Babe, what’s wrong?” He asks, obviously confused over your reaction to this conversation.

“I didn’t tell you on our first date.” You argue. “I would never just come out and say ‘oh by the way, I’m bisexual’.” You know that you’re getting emotional, but you can’t help yourself. You’ve been torturing yourself for a long time about this.

“Woah, babe.” Marcus raises his hands and speaks soothingly. “I’m not understanding. On our first date, you told me about breaking up with ‘Sam’.”

“Sam is a boy’s name.”

“You called her Samantha at one point during the story.” He tells you.

Your mouth drops open because Sam was Samatha and you hadn’t even noticed the little slip of the tongue. But he apparently had. “Oh.”

He doesn’t try to make you feel dumb, instead he just waits for you to speak again.

“Why do you go to pride?” You ask quietly, unable to meet his eyes.

Marcus gently cups your chin, tilting your head so you are looking at him again. Smiling softly at you, no judgment in his eyes. “Because I’ve had a lot of friends who are in the community and it’s important for me to support them.” He explains. “Just like it’s important for me to support my girlfriend.”

“Simple as that?” You ask, surprised that he doesn’t have questions, hasn’t questioned you about this before now or voiced doubts about your sexuality or faithfulness. Although maybe you shouldn’t be surprised. Marcus is a very thoughtful, rational man. Suddenly you don’t feel anxious at all, a little sheepish for your internal crisis, but the anxiety has melted away into utter affection for the man in front of you.

“Simple as that.” Marcus promises, leaning in to kiss you softly.

#pedro pascal #marcus pike #marcus pike x f!reader #marcus pike x you #marcus pike x reader #marcus pike fanfiction #marcus pike imagine #marcus pike the mentalist #happy pride 🌈#pride 2023

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myobsessionsspace · 25 days

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hi i need to say this to SOMEONE 😭 but the general fandom is soo weird about jikook. whenever i see tiktoks the vibes of the comments are so different when its jikook. its so normal to see stuff like "thats his baby" "soulmates" "they love each other so much" "i love them together" when its abt any other pairing but for jikook tiktoks its just comment after comment of people emphasizing the word friendship. like fandom cannot interact w jikook content unless they make sure EVERYONE KNOWS that theyre JUST FRIENDS and i do not see this with other pairings and i do not understand why

Hi Lovely,

You can always come say things here 🫶

It’s crazy because I was just talking to a friend today about something similar!!

I was saying to her that I don’t even want the general public or all of the fandom to ship Jikook. I just want them to acknowledge them as close.

To be honest there are unhinged shippers in everytime subsection, Jikookers included. It’s understandable people that want no parts in shipping because it can go really left of the field, from the hyper feminisation of Jimin, the hyper masculinisation of Jungkook, the a/b/o tropes that people want to fit into everything they do, the hyper sexualisation of them, trying to make their every breath about the ship etc.

It’s understandable that lots of people want to just enjoy the members without all that extra.

What’s not understandable is the total erasure of Jikook even being BFFs, the super focus on certain duos that are not as volatile territory like ‘woah, thighs’, and how it’s fun to trend ‘rapper’s girlfriend’ but crickets from the fandom as a whole and only real noise from jikookers when ‘Jimin Hyung can handle it’ ‘I’m not that easy’ happed in front of our salad?!

That’s not US taking it there, that’s THEM 😩

My friend and I were saying that there are people that do see more when it comes to Jikook but because there aren’t enough big spaces that embrace the unique aspects of Jikook they try shipping spaces, but it’s not for the weak hearted. Some just see Jikook as interesting but not down to the #jikookisreal level and so when they dip their toes in they dip right back out.

Becca aka @wingzie did a post on how there are more jikookers than we may have thought:

I do get you anon, but I’m not so bothered if Jikook were to be acknowledged as ‘just friends’, heck I rarely see Jimin and Jungkook’s names in the same sentence unless it’s with the inclusion of other members or their musical records.

To be real, I care more that they’re not acknowledged as BEST FRIENDS, as closer than close. I see a lot of ‘that’s his baby brother’ ‘that’s just Jimin, he’s like that with all of them’, don’t even get me started on the pass around Jimin narrative that some use 😑.

I too see on a whole some actions that Jimin & Jungkook do that jikookers think is just for Jikook that truthfully isn’t, that can be seen with all seven. More jikookers do need to start dispelling those misguided Jikook lores in addition to dispelling anti Jikook narratives.

BUT I also see when there are things just Jikook that get skilfully ignored.

It’s super frustrating but at the same time it’s not. Because, really, do we want millions upon millions trending every little thing about Jikook if they are real and not explicitly out? I’d rather have the ones that can’t see anything because they have underlying prejudices to stay not seeing anything, because do Jikook need those kind of eyes on them?

Maybe a smaller bubble of jikookers being convinced and spotting their moments, in comparison to the fandom as a whole acknowledging something different with Jikook vs other ships, allows for jikookers to to keep jikooking ‘safely’.

The majority of people that DO see Jikook, see them for the unique softness, fondness, adoration, sweet words and actions, fun and spicy bond they have and want to celebrate it and protect it.

Appreciating Jikook doesn’t need to have millions of people. To be honest with or without us watching, Jikook will keep Jikooking. So let those that see them, enjoy and let those that don’t see them, miss out on a beautiful thing.

Thank you for being comfortable enough to send me your ask.

💜

#Jikook #Jungkook #Jimin #Kookmin #Minkook #Anonymous Asks

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the-delta-quadrant · 6 months

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i refuse to misgender myself and to tolerate being misgendered for a movement that doesn't care for people like me beyond bringing us up as a gotcha to mspec lesbian exclusionists or as queer label 101 posts. i refuse to let people misgender me for a movement that forcibly applies an identity in the name of politics to people (it's what TERFs do too, maybe don't copy them). i refuse to compromise on my real gender for a movement that's only allying with people without binary privilege who at least somewhat fit their criteria. i refuse to be misgendered for "simplicity". i refuse to be misgendered so "cis people get us". i refuse to be misgendered just so you all can go "nonbinary people don't owe you androgyny" like you too don't throw us into masculine or feminine boxes too, like everyone else. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement too lazy to add two words in order to not be misgendering. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that only cares about me if i happen to share a certain identity, rather than lived experience. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that does the same thing to nonbinary people that cis people do to trans people but thinks its progressive. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that feels like a circlejerk of people validating their binary (adjacent) identity. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that insists only people with a certain identity can experience a kind of oppression and everyone else is lying and needs to be silenced. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that will dogpile a nonbinary person and spread lies for speaking up about said misgendering and erasure. i refuse to be misgendered for politics. i refuse to be misgendered based on my lived experience. i refuse to be misgendered because being abinary is too much, too weird, too complicated to consider. i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that gives up on inclusivity before even trying because it's "too hard". i refuse to be misgendered for a movement that goes "got mine" and thinks that's good enough. i refuse to be misgenderee for a movement that sees my identity and inclusion as inherently less casual than binary ones. i refuse to be misgendered for people trying to relate to me through their binary privilege and miss the entire point of me not wanting to be called masculine. i refuse to be misgendered.

i refuse to give up my own liberation so more privileged people have theirs.

#queer #mogai #lgbt #lgbtq #lgbtqia #nonbinary #trans

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swallowtailed · 6 months

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so i decided to relisten to marielda, now with the context of autumn. (pretty nearly a calendar year after i first listened to it, as it happens.) the first couple arcs hit pretty much the same, aside from a few early surprises, like the weirdness of the quiet year worldbuilding and the hitchcocks being from nacre. however: the final arc is completely different in context with autumn. it isn’t just being able to recognize the callbacks—the mask, kindrali, the sword (HELLA’S SWORD)—but those references contribute to the overall, uh, reconfiguration of the narrative. the stakes of autumn are so much clearer and so much higher, and the mysteries are deeper and stranger. and what’s the line from samot—if he makes a change to time, it’s as though it had always been true? really solid prequel work.

and the ending strikes me as more hopeful. samol’s nihilism is more understandable, imo, alongside the bleakness of autumn (nacre, hadrian)—i’d already been wondering whether hieron was simply doomed. but then the theme from autumn comes back in, almost in reply. and to me it sounds like a refutation: even when the gods are silent and the erasure has begun and the heat and the dark encroach, even after lifetimes pass, there will still be some kind of mortal survival. we’ve seen it. and the story remains to be told. so that feels very hopeful, in a way.

#hello world #fatt lb #marielda #hieron #fatt #winter next >:)

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ecoamerica · 21 days

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youtube

Watch the American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 now: https://youtu.be/bWiW4Rp8vF0?feature=shared

The American Climate Leadership Awards 2024 broadcast recording is now available on ecoAmerica's YouTube channel for viewers to be inspired by active climate leaders. Watch to find out which finalist received the $50,000 grand prize! Hosted by Vanessa Hauc and featuring Bill McKibben and Katharine Hayhoe!

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bloodynereid · 6 months

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Reapers & Ravens

<< prev | chapter v | next >>

pairings: jordan li x oc

tw: mentions of rape (i kept it the same as in the show btw), mentions of experimental pills, erasure of memories, canon typical violence, mentions of sex, mentions of drinking, a whole lot of swearing, death/murder, RUFUS

description: the story of a girl. a girl cursed by compound v to live a life without touch.

a/n: so... this one is slightly lazier than normal sorry about that, my brain is not functioning at it's best right now... so you'll notice that i borrowed a bit more of the show's dialogue/scenes than normal. i'm going to try and be more creative next chapter i swear. hope you enjoy this chapter and lmk ur thoughts <3 asks are always open & lmk if you want to be added to the taglist.

As lightly as I possibly could I pushed Jordan slightly off me and sat up, clutching the sheet to my chest. Okay so never been in this kind of situation. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out. Fuck yeah definitely freaking out.

I brought my hand up to my face to examine the diamond casing once again. It wasn’t fading. There was also the foreign feeling of a second power invading my brain. It felt spiky, like walking over pine needles with bare feet. I gently moved my finger over Jordan’s skin. Nothing. I felt actual skin under my nerves. Woah. The familial thrum of my power seemed to be dulled and less… itchy?

As I was examining my hand the door slammed open with a bang and two shocked faces appeared, corresponding to Andre and Cate. I felt Jordan jump up in bed next to me and clutch the sheet to their chest.

“Fuck sorry! Sorry. Wait Vic?”

“Andre! Come on. Sorry about him.” Cate said with an apologetic smile on her face as she shoved Andre away from the door and closed it behind her.

“Uh- wait Vic? What the fuck happened to your skin?” Jordan asked as she turned to me and looked at me all strangely.

“I have no idea! Look, touch me.”

“Uh, I don't think that’s a good idea.”

“Oh don’t worry I’m not going to absorb you. Here.” I offered my forearm to them and she just raised her eyebrows before slightly poking the casing with their finger.

“Woah.”

“I know right!” I said giddily and smiled up at them.

“Uh, we should probably get changed.”

“Right yup.” I turned my back to them before hearing her also shuffling in the bed. Wait… I had been so caught up with this whole weird skin deal that I didn’t realize I have no idea how I got here. I can’t even remember if I slept with Jordan or not… I mean that one is self explanatory actually.

As I felt the fear and worry start to creep up on me I also felt the tingly feeling in my brain recede and the familiar signature of my power starting to take over. Shit what had I done to keep this power this long? Wait, how did I know I could do this? The… uh something to do with Cate and Luke? Who’s Luke? I rubbed my temple with my now very normal skin.

What the fuck was going on?

“Hey Vic I think- woah what did you do to your skin?” I slightly turned to see that Jordan was now fully dressed and was holding my pair of leather gloves in their hand. She had a slightly horrified look on her face and I looked down to my hand to confirm their suspicions. The power had faded and now I could just feel glimmers of it in my brain.

“Oh, I think the power faded.”

“Huh?”

“Honestly no fucking idea. Could you pass me my shirt from over there?” I asked, pointing to the white long sleeve shirt I don’t even remember putting on.

“Yup sure.” They tossed it over to me and I sent her a grateful smile before turning back around and resuming my silent freakout.

“Uh, Jordan?”

“Yup?”

“Not to be awkward or anything but I don’t remember anything from last night.”

“Oh thank god. I don’t either.”

“Really?”

“Yes really.”

“I’m not going insane then?”

“Not unless we are both going crazy.”

“I guess we uh.” I shift my gaze back to the bed and look back at them with a smile growing on my face. A similar little smile blooms on theirs when she catches my eyes again.

“Yeah.”

I picked my way through mounds of discarded things from the party. After getting changed and having a kind of awkward goodbye with Jordan, I was trying (and failing) to find Gemma. If she even was at this party. God, how much did I have to drink last night?

Not finding Gemma anywhere I decided that the next best thing was to try and find Emma or Marie. The crisp September air bit at my exposed cheeks as I ran my hand through my messy hair. Everything seemed to be overloading my senses but strangely enough my powers were almost tamed. They weren’t desperately seeking out life forces like they usually did. Huh.

“Holy fuck Emma?” I exclaimed when I ran over to where Marie was staring similarly astonished at a, well, giant Emma who was covered by a tarp in the pool.

“Heyyy Vic.”

“Are you okay…?”

“Huh oh fine. Just need to find a place to puke.” I turned so I was staring at Marie and shrugged my shoulders.

“I think I have an idea.”

After getting Emma to a relatively normal size and getting her all cleaned up, with a bunch of random clothes and stuff we found lying around, we started scrolling through TikTok. Well Emma did most of the scrolling since my phone seemed to have disappeared from existence.

“Oh my god! You kissed Jordan!”

“Right yup.”

“And you didn’t tell us?” Marie exclaimed in an overly dramatized offended tone. Emma had a similar look of exaggerated betrayal all over her face before we all dissolved into laughter.

“Fuck off, as you’ve seen we were a little busy. And where were you last night huh Marie?”

“I was about to ask the same question.” Emma and I both stare Marie down with some of the most intense stares we can muster.

“Not answering that question.”

“Aww come on.” Emma continued scrolling as I leaned over the side of the couch, stretching my arms and making the vertebrae in my spine crack.

“Oh… shit.” I look over to where Emma had another TikTok on except this one was of her… naked. Chugging beer.

“At least you’re… trending.” Marie said in a gentle tone, trying to comfort Emma.

“For flashing my giant white ass to the world.”

“Did you know… that you could like do that?” I asked as I started picking at the clasp of my gloves. I was starting to feel restless and fidgety, something was off. It was like my power was trying to speak to me.

“Yeah I was wondering the same thing.”

“Oh uh yeah ever since the Buster Beaver incident.”

“The what? You know what, that's none of my business.”

“Trust me you do not want to know. My mom called me a monster and then made me swear to never do it again… which is why this is going straight to voicemail.” Emma answered as she held up her ringing phone and pressed decline.

“That’s really fucked Emma, I’m sorry.” I said as I leaned in and rubbed her forearm. “Welcome to the horrible parents club.” I added as she just rolled her eyes playfully and smacked my hand away. Then we proceeded to try and coerce Marie into telling us what she did last night but she quickly refuted any and all advances.

“Emma!”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” I exclaimed as I jumped slightly from my seat, in the window to the porch thing stood someone who felt vaguely familiar. He had curly brown hair and was wearing a gray jumpsuit.

“Are- are you okay?” He stuttered out before he went around the window and into the little enclosed area we were all sitting- well I was sitting in, Emma and Marie both jumped up when they realized he was coming in.

“I was totally out of line and I’m so sorry that I left, especially after you literally stopped me from doing something absolutely horrible. I-I’m fine now though, and I know this sounds kind of creepy but I was so happy to smell your vomit because it meant you got away-” He stopped in the middle of his rant when he realized that none of us had a single inkling about what he was talking about.

I felt like I could trust him though so when his gaze shifted from Emma to me, I gave him a little smile which he must have taken as an invitation that I remembered him.

“Vic? You know who I am right? We spent months together, I literally saw you last night.”

“Months? Look umm dude, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I don’t remember you at all.”

“Vic? Emma? It’s me, Sam. From Th- The Woods. You saved me.”

“Look, Sam, hey. That’s your name right? Maybe you saw us on the news, TikTok or something? Right?” Marie said, as calmly as she possibly could even though her undertone was very clearly ‘I AM SEVERELY FREAKED OUT RIGHT NOW.’

“TikTok?”

“You don’t actually know us.”

“Marie… I don’t think that’s totally true.”

“What?” Everyone turned to look at me with wide eyes, except for Sam who actually looked grateful.

“I don’t know about you two but there’s definitely something there.”

“They got to you, they made you forget.” Sam exclaimed as realization enveloped his face, but now it was my turn to be confused.

“Who are they?”

“Sam, are you running from someone? Is someone after you?” Emma asked cautiously.

“There are people at that school. People that don’t want you to know about me or the truth and you can’t trust anyone.” Why did I have a feeling that I have had this conversation before? Something was definitely up and it wasn’t a hangover.

“But we can trust you…?” I heard Marie ask incredulously.

“No, no you’re right. I’ll figure out a way for you to remember.”

“Remember what?”

“That you’re a hero. A real one.” Sam said to Emma before he disappeared as quickly as he came back in.

“Well that was fucking crazy.” Marie uttered into the now nearly silent room.

“Definitely. He’s kind of cute though.”

“You guys ready to head out then?” Marie asked as she started gathering her stuff from around the room.

“Uh not yet, you guys go ahead. I have to go find my phone.”

“Ok cool. Byeee.” They both called out as they made their way around the house and I just started looking under random piles that kind of smelt. Ugh.

The whole room contained multiple phones but none of them were mine. Fuck! I then decided to continue my search out in the woods… maybe that’s what that Sam guy was talking about. The minutes dragged on and still I couldn’t find anything. I mean it was quite literally near impossible to find- wait.

Behind what looked like a bush were a pair of sneakers sticking out, kind of like if the Wicked Witch of the East wore Converse and my phone was lying right next to one of the shoes. Ok so that’s fucking weird. I quickly jogged over, grabbed my phone and was about to turn to go when I caught a weird sparkle in the corner of my eye.

Turning around I crouched down next to the body which I had just assumed was some drunk dude who had crashed after the party. What I didn’t expect was that the man was not only not breathing but also covered in the same diamond shell that had covered my body just an hour ago.

Shit. Not again. How the fuck did I even do that? Goddammit. I pull out my phone and start dialing the number of the “clean-up” crew my dad had given me.

“Hi? Is this Bob?”

“Yes, how can we help you today?”

“There’s a mess outside of Dusty Warren’s house near Godolkin University.”

“Very well, Miss. The mess should be taken care of in the next few hours.”

“Wonderful. Thank you.”

“Of course.” The line clicks off and I take a deep breath in before my phone starts vibrating in my hand, making my already seared nerves jump.

I quickly tap the accept call button and Jordan’s voice fills my ear as I start trekking back to the house. Leaving the body with an anxious look behind me.

“Yes you answered! You found your phone then?”

“Yup, anything you need?”

“Yeah we figured something out, just wondering where you had disappeared off to.”

“Aww you don’t have to worry about me.”

“I’ll always worry about you, sweetheart.” The pet name made stupid little butterflies explode in my stomach, especially when it was said in that tone of voice.

“Flirt.” I laugh out when I suddenly spot the group all gathered, looking all serious about something. “Hey you guys.” I said as I stopped the call and everyone turned to look at me.

“Vic! I’m in awe that you’re still standing up.”

“Hey Dusty! Good to see you man.”

“You too, I’ll leave you all to it.”

“How do you know Dusty?” Andre asked as I walked over to stand next to Jordan, who looked at me with their sparkling eyes and a charming smile.

“Connections.”

“Right…”

“So what exactly have you found out?” I asked as I swapped Jordan’s drink from his hand and took a sip as they looked at me mockingly offended.

“You blacked out last night right?”

“Yup… and this has to do with what?”

“Well we all blacked out, and not just last night but the past few days as well.”

“Fuck you’re right! I literally know all of these random things but I don’t know how I got to knowing them.”

“Exactly! And look what I found.” Cate held up her phone and showed us the video of the creepy guy from…

“Isn’t that Rufus?” I asked and looked closer at the phone screen. “The dick explosion dude?” I turned to Marie who had a slightly sheepish look on her face.

“Yeah.”

“Well it’s not like he didn’t deserve it. So what’s our plan?” I say as I rub Marie’s shoulder through her shirt, she gives me a grateful smile as we make our way to the variety of chairs littering the back patio.

“Nothing really, just find the fucker and…” Jordan said as they settled down next to me on the couch.

“I- uh met him in Intro to Psych. He said he liked my gloves and… I woke up three days later in a random bed with a camera pointed at me. He saw I was awake, smiled and said: ‘Make this weird and I’ll wipe you again.’” My heart fell, of course I had had my handful of experiences with men like Rufus, as many people have but those were times that my powers protected me. God Cate.

“Holy fucking shit. Cate, did you tell anybody?” Marie asked as I saw Jordan’s hands tighten into fists on their jeans, quietly I slipped one of my hands to entwine our fingers. They rewarded me with a squeeze back and I zoned back into the conversation.

“... Rufus had me on tape consenting. It doesn’t matter, I don’t even remember it so…” I saw a few tears start coming down Cate’s face and I felt that I could fucking kill that bastard in that very moment.

“Your body fucking remembers.”

“Are you okay?” I asked as I titled my head to look at Cate more directly. Her eyes looked void, like all emotion surrounding the situation was being pushed down.

“I should have known better… and now I do. This is exactly what he does.”

“I get that he’s coming back for me for revenge but what about you guys?”

“I mean we did help…” I said as I motioned between me and Jordan, before turning to look at… Andre who wasn’t in his chair anymore.

“Where’s Andre?” Jordan asked.

“Oh shit he’s going to kill Rufus.”

“I say we let him.”

“Vic!”

“What?”

“So look I know we kind of well you know.” I smirked mischievously at Jordan as the sunlight hit their stuttering face just right. Even in the current situation he always made me feel all sparkly? Yeah, sparkly.

“You mean the fact that you said you wanted to kiss me and then we slept together?”

“Uh yeah. All I’m trying to say is that I don’t want to make this weird.”

“What do you mean by making it weird?” I asked as the smile dropped from my face. Oh no.

“Well we were high and the douchebag totally mindfucked with us.” Oh so they’re breaking up - wait no that isn’t the right word for it. We were barely in any kind of relationship!

“No god you’re totally right. Wait… that’s Rufus right? Is he talking to the dean?” I felt a strange scratching in my left shoulder, one that definitely wasn’t associated with my power because that was mostly hyperactive in my hands at the moment. Weird.

“We should go talk to her right… explain the situation?”

“Jordan, I don’t think we should talk to Shetty.”

“What do you mean?”

“I have a feeling okay? Shit.” I look down at my phone and see the familiar digits of the clean up crew. I spy Marie walking over to us and look at Jordan apologetically. “Look, why don’t you go to him with Marie, I have something I need to take care of.”

“You okay?” Jordan asked as they eyed my phone, I quickly hid the screen and smiled tightly. Today was not my day. Honestly, this week has not been my week.

“Yeah. See you in a bit? I was going to hang out with Cate later if you want you to join?” If they were going to friendzone me at least I’ll be nice about it.

“Oh sure.”

“Cool bye.” I turn and start jogging over to one of the secluded shadowed corners of the building, but not before I hear Jordan uttering a string of curses before waving Marie down.

“Yes?”

“It’s done. Payment can be sent to the established Venmo.”

“Thank you.”

“No, thank you.” The line clicks off and I start figuring out the charges with a sigh. I wish things were different.

I walk into my dorm room with a defeated goran and sink down into Gemma’s bean bag as she looks up from where she was doing her nails.

“Finally. I thought you died or something.”

“Why didn’t you text me?”

“Because I knew you lost your phone after you went all diamondy.” She said as I cracked open my eyelids to look at her now black hair.

“Your hair?”

“Yeah I change it a lot, you should probably get used to that.”

“Honestly I think any hair you choose would look good on you.”

“Aww thank you. So how was your night?”

“You didn’t stay?”

“Nah, parties are like my thing usually but with the whole Emma thing I’ve kind of been exhausted.”

“Wait what Emma thing?”

“Uh I actually have no idea. Wait, I wanted to ask about that. Do you also have weird ass gaps in your memory?” She asks as she brings up her hand to scratch at her left shoulder.

“Yeah we all do.”

“We as in…”

“Cate, Jordan, Andre, Marie and Emma. We think it was Rufus.”

“Eww that guy?”

“Yeah that guy.”

“Fucking hell.”

“So… I thought you should know that I slept with Jordan.”

“WHAT?” I jumped from her insanely loud shriek and let out a laugh when my heart beat went back to normal.

“Yeah… but then they kind of got all friendzoney with me this morning. I don’t know what to do.”

“Well, do you like them?”

“Yes, of course I do. They’re like my first actual crush in a while, but now I’m thinking that maybe it’s about my powers. Like what if they don’t want to be with me cause I might accidentally kill them? We also can’t really do physical intimacy! I have no idea how I did that last night.”

“Woah, that’s a lot and maybe you should unpack some of that in therapy but did you ever think that maybe it’s also something that they are dealing with. Have you explicitly told them that you like them?”

“Well not really. I did tell them that I really wanted to kiss them though.”

“Jesus Christ, Jordan isn’t a mind reader! At least I don’t think they are, you never really know with supes. Anyway… what I mean is that you need to tell them or else how will you ever get out of whatever situationship you currently have going on.”

“God Gem you’re literally the best. Thank you.”

“Of course! That’s what best friends are for. Plus I’m just that great.”

“Yeah you are.”

I sat cuddled up next to Cate under a mound of blankets as we watched some of Soldier Boy’s old movies. It was nice to just have a moment to stop in the midst of all this fucking chaos.

“Ok you have to say, even if he did kill Queen Maeve, Soldier Boy is one fine ass man.” Cate said as she took a sip of the wine bottle we were passing between us.

“Yes, thank you, someone agrees!. I mean those muscles and that face.”

“I know right. I’m so glad Andre and Jordan aren’t here to hear us right now.” We burst out laughing and focused back on the movie when the door was harshly pulled open and I looked back to see Marie with a frantic look painted all over her face.

“Cate? Vic? Do you know where Andre is?”

“Marie? Holy fuck are you okay? Here come in.” Cate said as she jumped up from her seat and I picked up to pause the remote on the interrogation scene. The door closed behind Marie and I joined the pair after pushing off all the blankets. That’s when I noticed it. There was blood coming down from near Marie’s collarbone.

“I am not okay. Everything has gone to hell! I know how this sounds but… they put trackers in us.” Marie’s distressed voice dropped to a whisper at the end of her statement.

“What the fuck do you mean trackers?” I asked as I subconsciously brought my hand up to my left collarbone.

“Here, sit down. Who the fuck is they? Did Sam come back?” Cate asked as Marie sat down on one of the black cushioned chairs. My head was spinning, something felt way too familiar, almost as if this situation had happened before. Trackers?

“I- I don’t know but…” Marie opened up her hand and in her palm, in a pool of blood laid the tracker. All broken but very recognizably a tracker. Jesus Christ.

“This was in my neck.”

“Oh my god.” Fuck the room was starting to wobble, my power was thrumming in warning. Something was really, really wrong.

“I think this is way bigger than what we thought it was, I think something really fucked happened to us and now… I think Dean Shetty is a part of it.”

“Do I have one too?” Cate asked frantically as she pulled her hair back. Marie extended her arm and started to do whatever she could do with her powers. I was so focused on my own thrumming in my brain that I didn’t notice when Cate enveloped Marie’s forearm with her hand and put her other hand on my cheek. Instead of human skin I felt her power coursing through her, my own was trying to fight against it but it strangely surrendered.

I felt so damn weak, my eyelids fluttered close and I let out a harsh breath before feeling myself collapse. Fuck.

I blinked my eyes open as a yawn left my mouth. The side of my head was nuzzled against Cate’s shoulder and I saw the end credits rolling on Red Thunder.

“Hey you’re awake.”

“Shit I’m sorry I fell asleep on you.”

“Oh don’t worry about it. How are you feeling?”

“Fine, much more relaxed. I can’t believe I didn’t finish the movie though.”

“Eh, even if Soldier Boy is hot, he’s not the greatest actor.”

“Agreed. I’ve got to go meet Jordan but I’ll see you later?”

“Of course.” A sad smile blossomed on Cate’s face that made me furrow my eyebrows.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, fine. I promised to go see Andre so…”

“Oh yeah I’ll leave. Thanks for the movie and nap Cate!” I said as I started exiting into the hallway.

“Anytime.” I smiled and waved as the door shut behind me and I turned to go down the hallway when I realized Jordan popped up from their seat on the floor and smiled over at me.

“Hi.”

“Hi. You really didn’t have to wait for me.”

“What? Of course I did. Plus I was having a good conversation with Maverick.”

“Nice.”

“Yeah.”

“So… I know I said that this whole thing was sort of a big misunderstanding but I was wrong and I would really love to-”

“Wait, backup a minute Jordan. When did we talk about this?”

“What do you mean? When we were looking for Rufus and you had to take a phone call?”

“What phone call? And Rufus?”

“Holy fuck, he fucking wiped you again.”

“Did what again?”

“I’m going to murder that motherfucker.”

“Woah Jordan, not that I’m always willing to help with any murderous tendencies that you may be harboring but what are you talking about?”

“Do you remember today at all?”

“Uh I mean I remember- what the fuck? I remember bits but…”

“Yeah, that's what I thought.” She started walking off down the hallway as I stood there baffled. My power thrummed in warning.

“Wait! Jordan. I’m coming with you.”

We were back at Dusty’s house. This day was feeling really fucking off and strangely cyclical. I followed behind Jordan and was busy texting everyone after Marie had joined our little expedition and somehow took out fucking trackers from our collarbones. When we got to the double set of doors, Jordan, very hotly, pushed through them and strode into the room.

“Rufus… time for a chat.” Marie and I followed behind Jordan and saw a rather terrified looking Rufus standing with a can of something and a slice of pizza in his hands.

“Look I haven’t done shit! Why the fuck do you guys keep stalking me?” Then Rufus decided to do the idiotic thing and tried to start running, Jordan created a force blast that sent him into the wall and Marie pulled him towards us. I started taking off my gloves and crouched down next to him… but not too close, didn’t want to get affected by his fucking pheromones or whatever.

“Hi there Rufus. I heard you decided to fucking wipe me again, which is honestly not a very nice thing to do. So if you don’t mind please answer Jordan’s questions or you will die a slow and painful death as I suck out the living energy out of every single one of your tiny cells one by one.” I said with a saccharine voice and a smirk on my face.

“Why did you wipe Vic and Marie again?” Jordan asked from behind me.

“Ok Jesus, fine, you crazy fucking bitch.”

“Wrong answer.” I start to inch my fingers closer to his face as his eyes grow wider and wider.

“Sorry! Oh god please don’t kill me. I swear I have been here all night, I have no idea how I would have had time to wipe you. My powers involve being close. Please, I swear on my life. Look Dusty! Ask him.” I looked up to see that Dusty was doing a hit of some kind of powder.

“Yeah man, I mean I’m pretty hopped up right now but that seems about right.”

“Fine, that just means I don’t get to kill you tonight.” I said as I stood back up and walked over to Jordan and Marie, who had mirroring looks of awe and in Jordan’s case, maybe a little bit of lust.

“That doesn’t mean you’re innocent though.” Jordan said as she held up the little device we each had in us.

“What the fuck is that?”

“It was implanted in our fucking necks!” We then heard vibrating from Marie’s phone and the second I turn to look at her, I hear Jordan shift behind me and push Rufus back into the fucking wall before ambling towards him.

“Ok wait a second. Jordan chill. Let me do this.” I said as I grabbed the arm of their coat and once seeing his nod, I turned towards Rufus and narrowed my eyes. I lean my hand towards his neck as he tried to get away when-

“It’s not him! It’s Cate.” I pull my hand away from Rufus and look over to Marie who was holding up her phone like a lifeline. Just as I was about to open my mouth to respond a loud bang was heard and a beer cask was thrown through the door and into Rufus. Following the metal cask Andre stormed into the room, making his way directly towards Rufus.

“Andre! Andre!”

“Calm down.”

“Wait, wait, wait.”

“Move the scumbag is mine.” Andre starts throwing a pair of gardening shears towards Rufus as we all try to run in front of him to make him stop.

“It was Cate!” Marie screams, making Andre stop in his tracks and look at us incredulously.

“Bullshit. Cate would never do something like that, she’s not a monster.” He sends a trowel this time and I’m almost tempted to reach out to stop him when I realize I had abandoned my gloves on the carpeted floor.

With so much temptation my power was itching like crazy under my skin, I knew I didn’t have the pills on me since I had left them on my bedside table after taking them a few hours ago. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Andre, they're right.” Cate’s soft voice echoes through the room as we all turn to look at her as she steps through the rubble. Andre has his arm outstretched as he holds a shovel close to Rufus’ throat.

“What?” Andre drops the shovel with a metallic bang and looks back at Cate.

“I’ve only ever wanted to help and protect you, I just wanted to make things better.” She smoothes her hands over Andre’s temples and they stay there for a few seconds before Andre stumbles back and looks at Cate with utmost betrayal.

“Andre, please you have to understand-”

“You are a fucking monster.”

Jordan puts an arm around my shoulders as we watch Andre walk away as Cate stands there crying. My power echoes in warning. Fuck. What did she do to us?

A few hours earlier…

“I want the girl. Marie. She doesn’t know the full scope of her powers yet.”

“You aren’t the only one interested in her, you know? She has a benefactor, which means she is off limits to you.” Shetty starts to walk away from Cardosa when his second request makes her stop.

“What about Victoria? I never finished with her.”

“Huh now that…”

The conversing voices fade into whispers as the sounds of crying and screaming intensify.

this is really not my best work UGH i apologize. also i barely edited this so if there are spelling mistakes pls lmk i will be eternally grateful

taglist: @neapolitantoebeans @scorchedfangirl @losers-club6 @vvyuqi @bubblebuttwade @fix5idiots @ponypickle @nellyboosworld

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