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ruh--roh-raggy · 4 months

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Home Sweet Home (William Afton x Wife! Reader) - Part 6

Hello hello! Part 6 of Home Sweet Home and we get to hear about Will and reader's engagement!!! Super fluffy, super sweet, thank you to @yellowbunnydreams for letting me be insane and for bouncing ideas around with me, you're the best.

WARNINGS: Talk of feeling worthless, 99% fluff

You can find my Masterlist here!

Word Count: 2,089

Part 5 - Part 7 (TBA)

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William held your hand as he drove, his thumb languidly running over your knuckles as a soft tune crackled from the radio. The two of you had almost entirely finished unpacking, your week off together slowly winding down with every discarded cardboard box. You both decided that you were due for a much needed break, neither of you stopping to do so much as take a breather the past couple days. “I'm telling you, I wouldn't risk it. Henry might shoot you if he sees you trying to slip back into parts and services.” You chuckle, giving your husband's hand a soft squeeze.

“Well, unfortunately for him, I need my tools. That leaky sink isn't going to fix itself and I don't have the right size wrench at the house to do it.” He laughs as you pull into the lot. The bright sign of Freddy Fazbear’s Pizzeria welcoming you as the lone beacon in the night. William hops out of the car, walking around to your side in order to open the door for you. He wraps an arm around your shoulders as you stand, pulling you into his side and placing a kiss to the top of your head. This place had become a second home to the both of you, it having played a backdrop for some of the most pivotal moments of your and your husband's relationship, the old building held a very special place in your heart. You're greeted with the familiar sound of arcade machines pinging and the excited screams of children as they race around, fists clamped tightly around their winnings of bright orange tickets.

“Well, howdy you two! Isn't this a nice surprise!” Henry approaches you, arms already open for a hug as he greets you jovially.

“I still owe my girl that pizza.” William chuckles, clapping Henry on the back as he pulls him into a tight hug. Henry turns to you, laughing slightly as he asks.

“Well what toppings would you like on that little lady? I'll gladly pop back into the kitchen and put in a special order just for you.” you can't help but roll her eyes at the sound of his customer service tone breaking through.

“Just pepperoni Henry, thank you.” She smiles.

“We’re just going to pop back to parts and services, I have to fix some stuff at the house.” Will gently takes you by the wrist, tugging you towards the back of the restaurant before Henry has a chance to protest.

“The two of you haven't even been in that house a week and you managed to break something?” He asks with a laugh. “What? Get a little too frisky in the shower and rip the faucet off the wall?” You can't help but giggle at the sight of your husband's cheeks darkening.

“Leaky tap in the kitchen.” You decide to explain the situation before Henry has a chance to tease Will even more. “I promise I won't let him start working.”

“You have ten minutes.” He jokes, waving a finger at both of you before heading towards the kitchen. You smile as a kid rushes past you towards the stage show that was just beginning to start.

“You know, even after all this time I still love watching them perform.” You muse with a small laugh. Your hand slides into William’s, the two of you exchanging a smile as you head towards parts and services. The two of you slipped from the chaos of the pizzeria into the nearly silent hallway, William had always liked to be kept as far away from the main room as possible, he would always argue that it lowered the chance of a kid finding their way down to his workshop and getting hurt, but you knew it was just because he liked the quiet. He pulls his ring of keys from his pocket, unlocking the door without much thought as the two of you head inside. William lets out a sigh of relief as he kicks the door shut.

“Silence at last, I don't know how he stands being out there all day.” He chuckles, sliding an arm around your waist and pulling you to him. “It feels like it's been years since we were in here together.” You roll your eyes, sliding your hands over his chest as you turn yourself to face him.

“I'm sorry, years? I think I remember you having me bent over that work bench a couple weeks ago.” You smirk, making your husband chuckle before he captures your lips in a heated kiss. You let out a soft hum as you melt into him, his beard scratchy against your soft skin as you held each other tightly. He pulls back from you, swiping his thumb over your bottom lip. His hands drop to your hips, lifting you up onto one of the counters that lined the walls with ease. You look around the room with a fond expression, a nostalgic look your husband didn't miss.

“Lots of memories in this room, huh rabbit?” Your eyes snap to your husband, a soft smile on his face as he studies you.

“I guess you could say that.” You giggle, fidgeting with a ratchet you had found by your side. Your smile widens as you watch your wedding ring glint in the golden afternoon light. “Do you remember when we got engaged?” You ask quietly.

“How could I forget?” He chuckles, straightening up and walking over to you. “It was the day the most beautiful woman in the world agreed to be my wife, of course I remember.”

You slammed through the door of parts and services, making William jump and the machine part he had situated in his lap clatter to the floor. “Bunny?” His confused and concerned tone reached your ears and the sound alone was enough to make you break down in tears. The moment he realized the state you were in, William was up out of his chair and rushing to your side. “Honey, what's wrong? Are you hurt?” He wraps his strong arms around you, pulling you into his chest. He shushes you quietly, waiting for your hiccuping and sniffling to quiet down before asking you again. “Baby, what happened? Talk to me.”

“I just… It’s stupid Will, I don't really want to talk about it.” He shakes his head, rubbing his hands up and down your arms to try and keep you calm.

“It's not stupid bunny. If it matters enough to you that it makes you cry it matters to me.” He reminds you in a calm tone. “Tell me what's the matter, baby.” You take a few deep breaths, wiping at your face roughly with your hands.

“I ran into some girls I went to high school with and it just reminded me how far behind all of them I am.” You couldn't meet his eyes. At this point you didn't even know why William still wanted to be with you. He was smart, successful, ungodly handsome. You were just you. Still working the same job at the pizzeria, you weren't married, didn't have any kids, didn't have any accomplishments to show for yourself. “They've all got these big important jobs and drive fancy cars and they have these amazing wonderful lives with their husbands and I… I’m nothing.” Will stood there, staring at you with a slack jawed expression.

Were you being serious? William noticed the way tears pricked at your eyes, the way you crossed your arms over your chest as you leaned against the workbench, your lip trembling in frustration as your gaze looked anywhere but at him. He lets out a huff, his eyes darting around his workshop. He grabbed the mechanism he had been working on, wrapping one of the protruding wires around his hand, tugging it free with a loud snap. He pushes tools around the crowded space, letting out a satisfied noise when he finds the wire strippers he was searching for. He clips them on about halfway down the wire, shucking off the bright red insulated coating with ease to reveal the shining copper underneath. He takes the end of it, twisting the strands together tightly before taking a pair of cutters and snipping off the cable. He takes a ring terminal and crimps it on one side of the cord, on the other end he crimps on a connector, slipping it through the terminals loop before placing a bright yellow plastic cap on it. He carefully forms it into a neater circle before taking long, fast strides in your direction. He grabs your hand in his, sliding the makeshift ring into place on your finger.

“I promise you, tomorrow morning I’m going to go buy you the real thing. But, for right now,” He holds your hands tightly in his, silver eyes locking onto yours as Will poured his heart out to you. “I am in love with you, I have been since the beginning. There isn't a morning that I wake up, or a time where I go to sleep where I don't think about just how goddamn lucky that I am to have you. You are the air in my lungs, the reason my heart keeps beating, bunny you are my entire world. I'm sorry that it took you bursting in here almost in tears for me to finally say all of this but if I'm being entirely honest I was terrified to admit just how deeply in love with you I am. Out of everyone you could have had you somehow chose me and for the life of me I still can't understand why. How could an angel like you ever love someone like me? It doesn't matter where you think you compare to any of those women because I know that you are the most incredible, talented, smartest, most loving woman I have ever met, I could never love someone more than how much I love you.” You felt hot tears streaming down your cheeks, your hands trembling in Will’s strong grip.

“Will you be my wife?”

“Yes.” Your voice comes out barely above a whisper, still not fully believing what you were hearing. You slowly begin to nod your head, slowly shaking it faster as you repeat your answer with growing excitement. “Of course I'll marry you, I love you so much.” You let out a sniffly laugh as you pull him into a passionate kiss.

You twist your wedding ring around your finger, your eyes drifting up to your husband as he steps in front of you. He holds out a recreation of your stand-in engagement ring, a small bashful smile lacing his lips. “And after all this time you're still mine.” He remarks quietly.

“I'd marry you all over again if I could.” You pull your bottom lip between your teeth. His hands slide over your hips, hiking you to the edge of the workbench you had situated yourself on. His eyes scan over your face hungrily, his steely gray eyes darkening as a smirk spreads across his features. He guides your legs around his waist, letting out a groan before his lips crash against yours. He wraps a hand loosely around your throat, angling your jaw to deepen the kiss. You let out a soft gasp as he nips at your bottom lip, allowing him to effortlessly slip his tongue into your mouth. He lets out a soft, satisfied hum against your lips.

The door bursts open behind you, “Oh, for Christ’s sake! Lock the door you animals!” Henry exclaims as he slaps a hand over his eyes. William chuckles as he pulls away from you, leaving you utterly breathless.

“Relax, we’re both fully clothed.” He groans, making you giggle. Henry holds a pizza box in his hand.

“Go home and enjoy this, I don't want to see either of you back in this building until Monday.” He waves a finger at them, you couldn't help but laugh at the fact he still chastised both of you like children. Will motions for you to follow, figuring since he had what he needed you could head out. Henry walks the two of you out to your car, pulling you into a tight hug before you slip into the passenger seat, the pizza tucked safely onto your lap. Will stood outside the car talking to Henry too quietly for you to hear, but from the giddy expression on your husband’s best friend's face you knew they were up to something.

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Tag list: @yellowbunnydreams @zoey5252 @redflowery @loudchaosking @weirdoartist21 @residentevilbeast @lokanda @emmbny @yukkkiki @dij-ology

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littledollll · 1 year

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Quiet time

Larissa weems x none to semi-verbal reader

Warnings: none rly?

Coming back from what you would call a heavy day, most people don’t get it, “Wasnt it fun?”, “I thought you had a good time” some even straight up saying “I don’t get how your brain works” that’s fine. You did have fun, it was a good time, great actually but it’s overwhelming and tiering, surrounded by people and sound everywhere. You just needed to decompress.

You threw your stuff on the nearest surface, that’s for future you to worry about finding, making your way into bed and crashing face-first with a heavy sigh. You didn’t bother picking up your phone you’d just stare at it without actually using it, headphones on but no music playing, they just tuned out background noise that’s all you needed.

You just laid there hugging your pillow, dissociated and humming, to no song nor particular rhythm, you were too busy self soothing when Larissa came in. She actually got it, she’d occasionally enjoy quiet time for at least a few minutes after coming home from a long day. It didn’t always mean that you wanted complete silence, most of the time it was just a few minutes before you were ready to listen just not necessarily talk, and that was alright with her.

Larissa knew you well enough to know that it was quiet time the moment she saw you, and actually it was for her too. She wordlessly moved across the room just getting ready for bed, your unfocused eyes eventually drifted to her and you just watched, there was something oddly soothing about her nighttime routine.

The way she’d sit, how she carefully undid her hair, wipe away her makeup, undress and wrap a robe around herself readying for a bath or shower. Still there were no words said between the two of you, just comfortable silence, and she disappeared off to the showers.

Sometimes words just felt like a chore to get out, sometimes you needed a second to breathe, sleep it off, maybe a whole day, and that was fine with her, after you explained you never got hit with a “are you mad?” or a an angry “so did you have fun at all?”, which made you beyond happy.

Once she was out of the shower you knew her quiet time was officially over٫ she enjoys doing her selfcare in peace٫ who could blame her, which means you now get to happily and silently hear about her day.

“You know about two seconds after you left this morning I got a call that the one and only miss Wednesday Addams was already starting her mission on making my day impossible” You took your headphones off and turned to look at her as she began٫ showing she had your full attention.

She continued on, telling you everything from how she handled Wednesday to what she had for lunch, the coffee she bought that didn’t really taste like coffee which she was very offended at, that made you giggle, she sounded so genuinely insulted about this. “Oh by the way darling I put your keys in the key holder because i knew you were gonna go insane looking for them in the morning, stop just blindly throwing them!”

“mm my bad..” you mumbled out, by now you were both laying in bed, you kinda on top of Larissa, snuggled into her stomach with your arms around her waist. “It’s quite alright, I just don’t want you to stress about finding them later on.” You responded with a hum, playing with the hem of her sleep shirt.

“So when do I get to hear about your day out?” She asked, not really needing an answer just giving you the option of when to talk. You pretended to think about it for a long time with a drawn-out hum. “t’morrow- morning maybe?” She nodded, playing with your hair before she spoke again.

“Darling if you at any point want the blanket to be on top of us you need to move up.” You frown, picking up the blanket and throwing it fully on top of you both successfully reaching her top and hiding you completely. “Are you seriously planning to stay there the whole night?” You nodded. “And if I move?” She turned to her side and you moved along with her, dedicated to your position. “‘m fine here, comfy.”

Larissa sighed, you already decided you’re staying there, there’s nothing that’s going to change your mind, honestly she didn’t mind it, you’re just too far for her to cuddle, correctly anyways. “Goodnight, my darling” you delivered a soft kiss to her stomach. “Night, love.”

#wednesday netflix #Larissa weems #principal larissa weems #larissa x reader #gwendoline christie x reader #gwendoline christie #Spotify

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girlblogger666 · 2 years

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pls drop some cobra kai terry silver x reader dating hcs 🙏 thank you very much <3

Hey anon thank uuuuu saur much for this request I don’t know which Terry you want so I’m just doing cobra Kai Terry aka sugar daddy Terry ✨🌸🐈 oh wait I’m dumb I just realized u specified okay we good 💀🌸

Dating Terry Silver ✨🌸🤍

Meeting Terry at an event or gala, he was naturally charmed by your beauty and personality, so of course he had to get your number. Terry isn’t one to normally be a looker, but when his cobalt blue eyes laid themselves upon you, he knew you were special and would feel an insane amount of regret if he let you go without getting a single word in.

At first, you were very flattered by the fact that he was intrigued by you, but it was the intimidation you felt that made you reconsider before even warming up to the idea that he would be your boyfriend. wealthy, confident, intelligent, Terry was everything you believed you weren’t.

Except Terry wasn’t like that around you at all. Yes, Terry knew how to play a part and to be honest, he knew when to do it—especially if it would benefit him in any way, shape or form. However with you, it was all real. He didn’t need to fake any emotions because the more time he spent time with you, the more you brought out the best of him.

In the early stage of your relationship, there would be a small concern of apprehension due to the age gap between you and Terry. Terry is older and because of that it sparks an interest in terms of people constantly being one to judge the two of you. Are you with him because he just so happens to be a billionaire or do you genuinely love him? A lot of the times that question would flow through peoples thick skulls when they’d take one glance of you as a couple, but you guys never seem to mind because you each share a connection much more stronger than jealousy or disgust.

That being said with terrys age, I believe at some point Terry would feel rather insecure; a feeling he avoids because of its revelation to being weak. So with that unfamiliar feeling being plagued within his mind, Terry would try his best to stay in touch with all the “youthful” things you do. For instance, he was never a man to ever be seen texting someone—why text people if you can just get your receptionist to do it? But then you came along and started messaging him non-stop throughout your relationship

You would text Terry something as simple as “decided to go to a cafe, miss you tho x” and within a matter of seconds you’d receive two notifications. The first one letting you know that your beloved boyfriend sent you $150 through venmo and the second being a text from Terry himself saying “enjoy your delicacies, my darling.”

On the subject of spoiling you, Terry loves to do just that. Wether it’s roses sent to you first thing in the morning or having his chefs prepare your favourite meal on the days you spend in one of his mansions, Terry adores the feeling of showering you in his love. It puts a big, loving smile on his face to see you flourish in the happiness that comes from the things he gives you as well as the internal feeling you receive from him.

Money is no expense for Terry, it really isn’t considering how much of it he has and with so much, it’s only reasonable that he spends it on you. Early on in your relationship it seemed as if terry was stunting—taking you to the most exquisite restaurant in Malibu only to be driven home by him in his red Ferrari. Once you realized that was the normal for terry, you relished with the fact it would soon become yours too. Of course, you never took it for granted and you still tried to live normally until he practically shamed you for ever having to pay for something on your own. He liked having that control and for once, it started to grow on you.

On your more simplistic nights in, it would include you and terry enjoying whatever fancy wine he brought from his cellar while he plays your favourite tune on his grand piano. you’d sit beside him, enjoying the flavours of the wine mixed with his beautiful melodies that surround the atmosphere of his cozy living room. He might even sing too, but for the most part he encourages you instead because he believes you have the voice of an angel, though you’d argue and say he’s the better singer and pianist.

It’s times like that that make you wish you could have that everyday considering the fact that you still don’t live together, but it’s no surprise that even early on in dating he’s already pursuing moves to make it become a daily thing.

“Sweetheart,” he pours the two of you more alcohol, the eagerness in his tone becoming more persistent with each glass you both finish, “move in with me, I promise you, you wont regret it.”

Moving in with him is a dream, you love nothing more than the emotion you feel after awakening from your slumber only to find him right next to you. Sometimes he even wakes you up by kissing you softly on the lips, a wake up call that’s way better than any alarm clock. Other mornings he’s gone because duty calls and work is still his top priority, asides from you. Nonetheless, he’s still Terry and when you do wake up alone, he’s either left you a note along with breakfast being served to you in bed or a simple text that states “sorry, meetings back to back. Be ready for when I come home, I’ll be taking you out to your favourite restaurant. Hope you slept well 🤍”

God I love this man 😍✨😩 ty for the request angel! All of u feel free to send moreeew

#cobra kai #terry silver #terry silver x reader #karate kid #karate kid 3 #thomas ian griffith

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sl0wdiver · 2 years

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footballers as flatmates/roommates headcanon

(imagining them as people with normal jobs + lives btw)

aaron ramsdale - domestic goddess, aggressive style. almost too happy to be cleaning. sets out a fucking cleaning rota for gods sake. drives everyone a bit nuts but whenever you have friends over they always say how nice your house is. has literally the loudest phone calls ever.

kieran tierney - quite content to watch netflix all evening every day of the week. always drinking vodka cokes at pres/party nights. folds his clothes as soon as they’re dry cause he knows his mum would give him a bollocking otherwise. attempts to cook - it sometimes works out. if in doubt, chicken nuggets at least 3 days a week.

michail antonio - house daddy. that man has that kitchen on lockdown. he goes in and comes out with the most insanely good food every single damn time. a complete hoot on nights out. rips the living piss out of everyone but life without him just wouldn’t be right.

ruben dias - quite possibly the most sensible flatmate to live with. amazingly consistent sleep schedule. always asks the group chat ahead of time if he can bring a date over. he is gymming/toning/working out about 23 hours a day mind you. at least he plays his workout music through his headphones.

jarrod bowen - the most reliable housemate ever. bills always paid on time. always down for a late night trip to big tesco. will play playstation with you until 4am. one word answers to anything in the house groupchat - “haha”, “lol”, “yeah”. but, will have the best dmcs with you in the garden when there’s a party.

mason mount - loves it when something breaks cause it means he gets to fix something. cooking skills are hardly world class michelin star restaurant level but he pulls out something every so often that surprises you. always planning what the flat is doing friday and saturday night.

declan rice - believes the antibac wipe can do anything. tells you about all the great discounts he found at wilko today when you get off work. gets waaaay too into the film on flat movie night and cries. hogs the telly whenever there's a golf tournament on. always tries to get a dancefloor going whenever there’s a house party.

martin ødegaard - friendliest face in the house. his room is a marvel of scandi couture. he pretends it's minimalism but it's just ikea's posh range (and that's no bad thing). everyone thinks he's chill cause he likes reading and coffee paraphernalia but he hides a dark secret of playing THE WORST music at houseparties. hugging a cushion/blanket/djungleskog/himself throughout flat movie night.

tammy abraham - interior decor off the scales. the flat is literally glowing with his presence. the throws in the lounge are gorgeous. will defo have the loudest conversation with your flatmates right when you’re just tryna sleep but it’s all worth it. gets the tunes on as soon as he knows everyone is up.

harry kane - definitely in charge of all the bills. whenever he’s on the phone it’s usually because he’s chasing up some utilities company. this man is a provider. he cooks for everyone. wants everyone to be home for tea at the same time so “we can chat and catch up”.

ben chilwell - has the nicest candle collection of anyone in the flat. loves a good houseplant. his dog is the glue that holds the flat together. interior decor choices are questionable but it’s passable. takes his meetings in literally every room whenever he’s working from home.

jadon sancho - panics over any house maintenance or any time he has to set the heating. “nah i can’t get it to work i’ve got no idea” he says to the thermostat. his vibe is always super chill tho, always has his door open and is never in the shower for too long.

kai havertz - if he hasn't already got a house pet, he's strategising how to get one. rarely seen without a hoodie on. definitely rocking the flat's best comfy clothes collection. keeps to himself mainly but at least he doesn't cause any flat drama.

kostas tsimikas - i'm literally not even sure the boy knows how to clean. sleeps in til 2pm and never tells you his plans. will be out of the house for 36 hours and never answers his phone. the greek food he cooks tho? to die for. always ensures there is yoghurt in the fridge.

jack grealish - an unhinged experience. 35 minutes of hair drying everytime he has a shower, which in turn are the longest showers you’ve ever seen someone have. will cook the most astonishingly messy meal and ruin all the pans. secretly quite organised and always gets to work on time.

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cinemastyles-blog · 1 year

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Summary: Just a short blurb about being in the shower jamming out to music and an old one direction song comes on and Harry joins.

Warnings: Super cute. Fluff. Not really any warnings.

I’ve been on a Wolves kick lately, so that’s the song that inspired this.

Master List

∘₊✧── 𝑒𝓃𝒿𝑜𝓎 ──✧₊∘

It’s a Saturday night and you and Harry decided to stay in and have a relaxing night after not seeing each other for a few days.

“I’m going to go get a shower while you make dinner.” You lean in and kiss his cheek. He smiles and nods, “Okay. With how long your showers are, it might be cold by the time you’re done.”

He laughs and you flick him off with a giggle.

You walk into the bathroom and scroll through your music, tapping on one of Harry’s songs from his new album.

Humming along to Daydreaming, you strip down and toss your clothes on the floor, “Livin' in a daydream, She said, "Love me like you paid me".” You sing as you step into the shower.

As you get your body wet and continue to sing along, Harry is standing outside the door, smiling as you sing his song. He’s proud to have you. He loves that you support him and love the music he puts out.

“When you give me all of your love, give me something to dream about..” you start to wash your hair, dancing slightly as you hum to the tune.

You rinse your hair and let the water run over your body as you listen for what the next song will be.

You smile and shake your head as one of his old songs with the boys start to play.

“I hear them calling for you..I hear them calling for you..” you sing with a smile and away your hips side to side. You reach out and turn the music up, partly so you can hear it better and also so Harry can hear it.

You close your eyes and continue to dance under the water, “Your friends all talkin' 'bout me..They say I got no chance at all..”

You smile and look over your shoulder as you hear the door open. You continue to sing as you turn around to face Harry.

He is smiling and shaking his head, “Really? This song?”

You keep smiling and point to him as you sing his chorus, “In the middle of the night when the wolves come out. They head straight for your heart. Like a bullet in the dark.”

Harry laughs and jumps in, singing with you as he places his hands on your hips. You move your hips to the beat of the song and hold up the shampoo bottle as a fake microphone and Harry sings into it, “They come straight for your heart. I hear them calling for you. I hear them calling for you.”

You smile as you listen to him sing and bob your head to the music.

You hold the bottle up to your lips, “I ain't up for debating. Ain't in it for the taking. We got the world shaking..”

He laughs and pulls you close to him, moving his body with yours. Dancing in the shower with you and he hums with you as you continue to sing.

You turn towards him and look up at him with a huge smile. He pushes your wet hair out of your face and rubs your cheek with his thumb, “You’re insane.”

You laugh slightly and shake your head, “We can run and hide, ain't goin' down without a fight. I hear them calling for you.”

He smiles and watches you, falling in love with you all over again.

The song ends and you lay a hand on his chest, “I may be insane but I am your number one fan so..” you smile and stand on your tip toes to kiss him.

“And I am forever grateful for you.” He whispers against your lips, smiling into the kiss, “Forever grateful.”

He pulls you in and wraps his arms around you, “I like these concerts. Gives me a break from running around like a mad man.”

“Yeah, and you don’t have to fight like hell to get a ticket to this show.” You laugh and look up at him.

He furrows his brows and laughs. “You do have to do that with my shows either.” You smile and shrug, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

Cinema starts playing and you slowly smile, “Get ready did this one, Styles.” He smiles and shakes his head.

——

I thought this was the cutest thing. If you have any cute blurb ideas, send them my way!

This will be added to my fluff one shot collection on Wattpad!

If you would like a part 2 SMUT version, let me know!

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timaeusterrored · 1 year

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(Mmmmmm Mechanic Venus time. Thank you @vincentmatthews for putting the image into my head it won’t leave!!)

Kerry and Vax were shameless, and Kerry was 100% sure he and Johnny had both rubbed off on Vax with the way he stared at Venus over his coffee cup, drinking some tea he picked up from Misty’s shop yesterday.

Both of Kerry’s partners knew cars like the back of their hands, which was probably a good thing considering Kerry drove like a fucking maniac and needed his car tuned every now and then. But Venus really loved cars. Kerry was willing to bet he considered car his second love, or maybe he and Vax were second and cars were first.

But god sometimes Kerry forgot Venus was a nomad through and through. The city made him anxious, he begged Vax for jobs that got him back into the Badlands, he was always up before either of them were awake and ready to kickass at six am. Vax had grown up in the city and had the same odd love for it as Kerry did, and the luxury life rubbed off a bit because he slept in more often than not now and took his sweet time in the morning.

“You think he knows we’ve been watching him?” Vax asked, still shamelessly staring at Venus bent over his car.

“No, he’s on a date with his first love. We’ll be lucky if he talks to us before dinner with that level of concentration.” Kerry teased, nudging his husband. “You’ve turned shameless.”

“Not my fault we’re dating the dictionary definition of Eros. I’ve got amazing taste in men, what can I say?” Vax shrugged, Kerry rolled his eyes. When he turned back, Venus was looking back at them, smiling with a toothpick hanging out of his mouth.

This kid was going to be the death of them. And he knew it too, Venus was fully aware of the power he had over them. And Kerry wasn’t about to stand by and let him be smug about it.

Vax laughed as Kerry walked outside with a purpose. Venus was already wiping his hands off, still grinning as he was pulled closer once Kerry was close enough, sweat and oil be damned.

“One of these days you’re gonna drive us insane.” Kerry heard the footsteps his husband behind him, Venus still grinning at him.

“What if that’s what I want? To have two attractive, rich, and powerful men fawnin’ over me like I’m some pretty thing.” Venus took the toothpick out so he didn’t stab Kerry (something he’s done several times on accident) to give him a kiss.

Unlike himself and Vax, Venus didn’t smoke regularly. He’s smoke weed with the two of them and maybe steal a cigarette at a party but other than that, he didn’t regularly smoke. He tasted purely of the cinnamon toothpicks he chewed on while he worked, adding to his charm. Kerry couldn’t even smell cinnamon without thinking of Venus immediately.

Kerry wished he could’ve been warned before two gorgeous men entered his life at high speeds, he barely knew what to do with the first one and now here he was, he and Vax dating Venus together as the gods intended.

Venus groaned a bit and Kerry pulled back to look down at him. Their height differences were slight, Vax only an inch taller than he was, and Venus two inches shorter than Kerry.

“Hey boss?” Venus only ever called Vax that now to tease him and get him riled up. Kerry turned to his husband to see him leaned against the open garage door, head tilted to watch.

“Yes, Venus?” God his voice made Kerry knees weak.

“I don’t have a job today do I?” Venus already knew the answer, but liked asking to watch Vax struggle with his answer of ‘I’m your boss’ and ‘I wanna make you unable to walk the rest of the day’.

“Mmmmm not that I know of. I could probably find something-“

“You wouldn’t dare.” Venus narrowed his eyes at him, making V grin.

“You’re showering before you step foot in bed.” Vax started his walk back to the Villa, Kerry laughing as he adjusted his pants on his way in and looked back at Venus. “You heard the boss, shower first.”

Venus groaned again, but his tune changed when Kerry picked him up and carried him back inside.

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yourdreamsyourwish-2 · 1 year

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Chapter Two

Word Count: 1,753

Soo-Mi's POV

For the first in a while, I didn’t know what to do. He seemed to feel it as well, his emotions coming back hitting me with a wave of confusion, anxiety, and a small sense of joy. Both of us for a while just stood there, starring. I watched him try to lift his paw but it wouldn’t budge from the ground. I blinked, removing the tether I had to him before sitting down myself. My head started to pound, at the new sense of magic washing over. He moved his paws a little before stretching his legs and taking his first paw forward that began to shift slowly into a hand. His head down, as he began to shake away the magic, his bones reconstructing into his human form, until he fully emerged from the shift. Normally it wouldn't be so long, but it seems the connection threw his magic off as well.

“How did you do that?” His voice felt like a song threw my ears, a tune I felt I had heard all my life, yet never quite right until now.

“Do what?” I kept my gaze locked onto his. I could sense he felt no discomfort about being fully naked, yet he seemed fragile in the moment. Like the wrong thing would make him run away.

“Make me unable to move?” I blinked, again. Wondering how he couldn’t see it, feel it even. It’s easy for me to forget that normal creatures couldn’t. Just something that is normal to me, is abnormal to them.

“The earth’s magic web. I used it to immobilize you.”

“Earth's magic web?”

“There's a layer of magic within the earth, within all of nature actually. I just tapped into it.” I shrugged, wringing my hands together. “That’s what you’re curious about?” I questioned watching him move to sit in front of me, yet at a safe distance.

“Well, I know what happened between us. That’s something expected, hoped for actually. Not being able to move isn’t something that is normal for me.” I nodded, keeping my gaze on his eyes. There were flecks of gold mixed within, that when the sun shone it reflected back like amber, yet they were still too dark to fully see it, unless at certain moments when the light came through. “You’re one of them?”

“Them?” I questioned, tilting my head a little.

“One of the witches from the coven. The ones they kept locked up.”

“Yes.” For the first time his eyes darted away, to the ground. He picked up a piece of grass, pulling it slowly, while I watched his movements.

“Are you dangerous?”

“Quite.” I imagined what flashed through his mind in the moment. Whether or not he thought about abandoning me, but there was no leaving me without going insane himself. He knew that. Wherever he went, I would follow. I had too, his madness would destroy his life, mine would destroy the world.

“I-”

“Would you happen to have a shower?” I asked. “It’s been a long time since I had running water available.” I stood up, ending whatever he was going to say.

“Shower?” I nodded, trying to put on a small smile. It always seemed to disarm others swiftly.

“We would use water collected from the rain or water I could pull off the stone. I missed showers the most.” He stood up, giving me a once over. His emotions that were coming through were a mess, this took him by surprise, more so than I believe he thought possible.

“I need to shift back to let them know. Our link is still too new for you to communicate.” He dropped the grass he had been playing with.

“That’s fine. They won’t hurt me.” He looked at me, the question on the edge, one I knew before he even asked. “I won’t hurt them, as long as they don’t hurt you.” I had the urge to touch him, the bond already set pulling us together, tethering each other to more than just the world anymore. He nodded, taking a step back before I could think about reaching out and touching him again. Shifting quicker this time, the gray-brown wolf stared back at me before moving to go towards the forest. He walked slowly, making sure he wasn’t too far behind. The closer we got to his home, the more his anxiety level rose. For the first time in a long time, I felt peaceful walking through the forest. There was a new sense of being, a new sense of purpose to my life. I knew the gods had brought us together for their own desires, but for the moment, I wanted to be selfish and claim it all for me instead. He paused at the treeline of the forest that laid out in front of a giant mansion. The modern building looked like a mix of greek and old colonial style, the back of the house faced a big open field, where in the distance to the front, I noticed a long driveway leading through another set of trees. Shifting back to his human form, he grabbed the clothes on the ground, getting dressed quickly while he kept his gaze on the back door. It didn’t take long for a girl who looked like him to run out, followed closely behind by two of the werewolves I had seen earlier and a third I had not.

“A-ra stay back.” The one Yeon-a labeled as Chanyeol, grabbed her elbow and dragged her behind him. Kyungsoo seemed more pissed at seeing me again, while the other walked closer.

“Minseok!” He called, walking over to us, while Minseok played with the shirt in his hands. Minseok, I liked how the name fit him well. I mouthed it, smiling at the way it formed on my lips. “Are you alright?” The werewolf asked the moment they got closer. Kyungsoo continued to glare at me, while I merely stood there unshaken by his disdain.

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“They think I placed you under a spell. Probably so I could finish off the werewolves from the fight earlier.” I answered, smiling at Kyungsoo, my gaze turning to the other one.

“They know why you’re here.”

“I watched her kill 8 vampires with just a wave of a hand. She tore down a building without even blinking.” Kyungsoo

“I blinked…” I shrugged, smirking at him. “There was dust.” I chuckled at my own joke, only for Kyungsoo to step forward, his claws extended already. Minseok blocked his path, placing his hand on his chest.

“She stays.” He said, looking at the other one. It didn’t take a genius to guess who was in charge.

“He knows. Soo, go tell the girls we have a guest.” With a shake of his head, he made his way back inside, dragging the other two in the house as well. “A-ra's been having a fit since she heard Min.”

“She’ll get over it.” He grumbled, sliding his shirt over his head. Minseok looked back at me before looking back at his pack leader. “My sister.”

“I assumed. You have the same facial structure.” I merely shrugged.

“Well…this is an interesting turn of events. I’m Kim Junmyeon, Exodus pack leader. I was also there when you…Well, let’s just say it’s impressive. The other two-”

“Are not around. Mi-na went west and Yeon-a went south. Sorry about them, their methods are slower than my own.” He nodded.

“That being said, the others are a little bit on edge around witches. Including their mates, it would be best if you didn’t linger long downstairs, at least for today.”

“I understand…will there be windows?” I asked. “If not, I can stay out here.”

“Windows?” Junmyeon looked confused. Minseok turned fully to me, grabbing my hand. It was the first time he touched me since the link began and my breath immediately hitched. For the first time in several 100 years, my heart rate increased and I felt a blush come on. He seemingly searched through my mind, I could feel him trying to understand the question.

“You will be staying in my room. See the spiral? I live in that section, it overlooks the garden. It has a nice terrace as well.” Minseok smiled, threading his fingers with mine. Junmyeon seemed to understand his explanation.

“We don’t have dungeons here. The basement is more like a game room anyway.” He turned his body to allow Minseok to guide me to the house. The air smelled like cookies, the moment I stepped in. This was the back entrance that led to the kitchen, where a fresh batch laid on the counter. My eyes darted to the sweet treat, then caught a slight movement by the doorframe leading out. Minseok tugged on my hand, his eyes soft, as he led me to the stairs on the opposite side. Looking back, I caught the eyes of two women who peaked around, one of which was his sister.

“I’ll introduce you later.” He whispered, with a smile. I nodded, following him up the stairs and into his own little private section. I expected his room to be somewhat messy, but the moment I stepped in, everything was in order and straight. The only thing not done was his bed. A computer laid out on the desk, a notepad next to it, along with several books. He let go of my hand. For a second, I felt like reaching out again and not letting go. I could still feel his anxiety about everything, his world had shifted just as mine had.

“I will get you a couple of towels and see about a change of clothes, the bathroom is behind that door.” I nodded, watching him walk over to the door.

“Minseok.” I called out his name for the first time. I watched his back grow rigid, his hand on the door handle. “Thank you.”

“It’s the least I could do…”

“Soo-mi.” I ventured out, his eyes snapping to look at me. “That’s what my sisters call me.” His head began to move up and down, his lips seemingly trying to mouth the name as mine had done earlier.

“Soo-mi…it’s pretty.” With that, he opened the door, leaving me alone for the first time since the bond had started. I walked over to the window to gaze out, where I could see a garden down below.

“Minseok.” I whispered, a smile coming at the sound of his name on my lips.

The Next two chapters will be in Minseok's POV

Fated Masterlist

Universe Masterlist

Masterlist

#exo #exo minseok #exo werewolf au #exo fanfic #exo xiumin #minseok #xiumin #werewolf au #werewolf #witches #werewolf x witch

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icyschreviews · 6 months

Text

A Review of Need for Speed Heat

Back to the Streets

EA, are you trying to become my favorite evil corpo? Come on, don’t be shy. Just admit it. You’ve stopped the production of live-service games, you’re releasing rich single-player experiences, you haven’t laid off an entire studio in a while. Wait, don’t tell me. Do you have a crush on me?

Why, EA, I am flattered. Truly. But I must say, I’m not much into the whole corporate type. All those fancy business suits and trunks full of cash aren’t really my thing. I’m more of an indie sort of girl. So while I do appreciate your efforts, I think I’ll have to turn you do—

Hold on, what was that sound? Is that an engine revving up? Did I just hear police sirens in the distance? Whoa, where are all these neon lights coming from? And the smell of burning tires, good lord! Is it? Could it be? No. Oh, no.

Fuck me.

I’m a millennial, alright? However I grew up in a household without any gaming consoles and our first PC came in sometime in the early 00s. Need for Speed: Underground was one of the first games I laid my hands on (not counting Flipper). I’m pretty sure my dumb ass didn’t know what Lil Jon was rapping about, but it sure sounded cool! And the cars, they go vroom vroom!

You know where this is going. The Fast and the Furious movies were just coming out and the hype around street racing was at its peek. Underground laid the foundation for my love of the series and by the time Carbon came out I was an outright zealot. I was in love with tacky decals and the flare of nitrous long before I learned how to drive. Long before I realized I was a bad driver!

However as the 00s neared their end, my adoration slowly died down. EA being EA thought it would be a grand idea to keep releasing one Need for Speed game per year, while continuously molesting its studios. What bugged me even more than the sameness of it all was the direction they decided to take the series in.

In 2010 Hot Pursuit came out. An homage to the series’ roots, the game was praised by both fans and critics alike. It bored me out of my fucking mind. Someone has to sit me down one day and try to explain the appeal of this game. A multitude of sequels followed in its wake, but I just couldn’t be bothered.

I know what you’re going to say. Trends change and franchises need to grow. Need for Speed can’t just be about street racing. Even I would have eventually grown bored with it. However, dear reader, change is not what I’m advocating against. Case in point, Pro Street. That game didn’t have open worlds or cop chases, and it didn’t need to. What it did have was crisp controls, colorful tracks, diverse challenges, an insane customization system, and all of that spray-painted with graffiti and in tune to some electro-pop. What I’m saying is that it had character, a concept none of its successors really understood.

So, yes, Hot Pursuit was boring. No, the constant showering of high-performance cars does not turn me on. No, I don’t want to keep driving along the same generic mountain roads. I need a sense of place, a context! I need a game that has it’s own identity, not just photo-realistic graphics. I need a progression system that’s palpable, not a conveyor belt of super cars that all handle the same.

With as many NFS games as it was churning out, EA didn’t really care about preserving the older titles, as long as you were buying the new ones. Underground, Most Wanted (2005), Carbon, all fell to the wayside. I hung up the keys of my Toyota Supra and looked into buying a public transport card. Long gone were my street racing days, occasionally coming back to mind like flashes of neon glimpsed from the corner of the eye.

Until…

I’m getting to Heat in a moment, I swear.

Behold, a new challenger steps on to the scene! After half-bludgeoning its studios to death, EA decided to groom the upcoming Ghost Games as its main Need for Speed studio. Some middling games (and years full of torture) later, Ghost Games revealed its new NFS game in 2019. But this wasn’t going to be just another NFS game. No, no, we’re going back to the streets, for real this time. Back to being an aspiring nobody behind the wheel of some battered Civic looking to score it with the big league. Yes, street racing is making its long-awaited comeback to the series!

At least that’s what they were saying. Oh, believe me, I was skeptical. It’s been so long since EA did Need for Speed right that I took every announcement with a pound of salt. But beggars can’t be choosers, and since we certainly aren’t getting any re-releases of the old games, I might as well give Heat a try. So I did.

I’ll give Heat one point straight away - it knows its target audience. It does just about everything it can during its 10 minute intro to milk your nostalgia to the last drop. You start the game behind the wheel of some overpowered monster of a car, one whose likeness you won’t be seeing again till late game. The race goes awry (as it always does), the cops bust the average Joe you were playing as, leaving him to limp back to town with his pride shattered. It’s all pre-rendered footage, but what we can’t have in FMVs, we can make up later in stupidity, right Heat?

Then the game cuts and you’re in some garage inhabiting the floating body of an FPS camera. You turn around to meet papi— I mean, Lucas the owner, and then bam! Heat hits you with a character selection screen. Come on, champ, you didn’t seriously think you were playing as Joe?

Heat lets you pick from a roster of 12 characters which is diverse enough, I guess. I certainly wasn’t expecting EA to license MetaHuman just for Need for Speed. I’m here to customize cars, not people, however I was still pleasantly surprised by the addition. Seeing your character interact with others on screen feels more natural than viewing everything from the lenses of your bobbing camera body.

Then I spent the next 20 minutes picking out bucket hats. Unashamedly. No, Ghost Games didn’t have time to develop a character creator, but an outfit picker? Man, we gotta have that! It’s a silly little indulgence, probably there just for EA to strike some deals with clothing brands, but one I liked none the less. Any game that lets me make my character look like a complete idiot gets points from me.

Lucas lets you pick from 3 cars, and of course there’s one American muscle, one Japanese import and one European classic. Oh, I can feel the Carbon tingles come over me again! I must say, I was tempted by the BMW, but just couldn’t resist the Mustang. One paint job and two white strips along the center of the car later, and we were ready to go!

This is peak fashion right here.

This is where I really start to judge Heat - the moment those wheels hit the tarmac and the game lets me loose behind the steering wheel. The world is something that can make or break a Need for Speed game and Palm City certainly had a lot to prove. Thankfully it did.

This is a superbly crafted map. I like just about everything it has to offer. Palm City itself is more than just a mesh of copy-pasted buildings. It feels like an actual place people could live in, with its sprawling boulevards, long overpasses connecting the beach to the glistening downtown, seaside walkways and quiet suburbs hidden in between.

Although at the beginning the game only generates races in Palm City itself, the map extends much further than that. Heat doesn’t wall off parts of the world behind progression. All of it is available to you at once, so you are free to ditch the campaign and go cruise around the countryside by yourself. However if you do decide to follow the breadcrumbs laid out for you, Heat will slowly introduce you to Palm City before it starts fanning out. It’s a seamless way to get you accustomed to the game without caging you in, and there’s a lot to discover once you do get going. There’s a huge raceway behind your safe house, a space shuttle launch site, a forest recently devastated by a fire, an abandoned quarry, etc.

What’s equally important is the size of the map. Modern triple-A games have developed a wearisome habit of stretching their maps into oblivion, but Heat got the balance right. There’s not too much content if you want to make it into a 20h experience, but more than enough if you’re eager to dig in. There’s a huge quantity of events and together they make use of just about every tight corner, every mountain slope, every bare piece of highway the map has to offer. The variety is excellent and Heat makes sure you get to experience all of it.

Just your average view of Palm City.

And of course it’s pretty. I feel that statement might be redundant at this point. EA’s studios have been polishing the franchise’s graphics for years now. However it’s not the graphics, but the different weather effects that give the world a whole new level of depth. Port Murphy feels a lot different when you come up to it on a sunny morning than on a murky afternoon. Likewise, are you climbing up Cloudbank on a dry midday or is the pouring rain making your night ride even more treacherous? Couple this with the choice to switch between night and day and all of a sudden each location has multiple facets for you to experience.

This is what Need for Speed games are all about for me - pulling up my BMW in front of the safe house on a bright summer day, as sea gulls coast in the distance and “Tu Manera” fires up the radio. I relished exploring every bit of this world. Instead of fast traveling, I’d take my time driving from one race to another. That’s how I fell in love with Carbon in the first place, slowly learning different parts of the world and eventually being able to find my way without the assistance of the mini-map. I could still navigate parts of Palmount City to this day. There’s nothing more satisfying in these games than realizing you recognize a street corner and knowing exactly where to go from there.

If there’s one aspect of the exploration I must criticize, it’s the mini-map. As much of an expert on Palm City as you might become, you’re still clueless at the beginning of the game and need the mini-map to guide you to your destination. This is one of the essential features of these games. What bothers me is that the mini-map is the only thing you can rely on for navigation. If you want to know where to go, you have to keep glancing at that bottom-left corner of the screen. This is an awful way to play the game. Instead of having both your eyes on the road and savoring the world around you, you’re forced to avert your gaze from the content that actually matters.

The game sort of offers an alternative. Quest markers and manual waypoints exist as permanent banners that float in the sky. You can make your way to them, in theory, by driving long enough in their general direction. However they are fundamentally inaccurate and can have you driving in circles, not to mention that Ana’s face looming in the distance is nothing short of terrifying.

What I would have liked is something that doesn’t break your immersion and is equally reliable. How about an arrow at the center of the screen which points to where you need to go according to the route computed by the mini-map? Or anything else you can come up with. Keep the mini-map by all means, it still needs to be there to resolve ambiguities, but give me more natural way-finders that don’t take me out of the experience.

A perfect day to fire up the engine.

Heat fills its world with an ample amount of events to keep you busy. There are more or less 4 types of events for you to engage with: race, drift, off-road and time trials. Races are your standard affair - fight your way up a pack of 8 and finish in 1st place. They come in two varieties: circuit and sprint. None of this is new, but I do find it interesting how these races are distributed. Circuit races are almost exclusive to the day, while sprints make up most of your night events.

It took me a while to truly appreciate this detail. In the context of the game, day races are legal and sponsored events attended by professionals. If you want to win, you have to master every corner, and that’s when the nature of the race comes into place. Of course it’s a circuit race, the game is giving you more than one chance to learn and overcome the track.

On the other hand, night races are illegal. You don’t have the luxury of barricades; a pickup truck could come at you from any corner. Also, you’ll probably have the police breathing down your neck, so it doesn’t make sense to race in a circuit. Everyone involved just wants to rush to the finish line and disappear around the nearest street corner. These races aren’t about mastery. They are about survival.

All together races make up close to 70% of the game’s overall events. This is an absurd ratio considering that Heat had more variety at its disposal, so it’s good that plain old racing never gets old. One of the reasons for this is car handling. Being the billionth NFS entry, Heat boasts some nuance in this regard. None of the cars I drove felt quite the same on the road. I would charge my Mustang into corners and slam the handbrake to slide through the competition, where my BMW would require more gracious handling to squeeze its way through.

The second reason has to do with difficulty and, boy, does this game have some crazy difficulty spikes. I started the game on hard and had no troubles until I hit performance rating 200. That’s when things started getting out of hand. Before if I botched a corner, I could always count on catching up with the competition on the next straight. You can forget about that after rating 200. If you’re not driving pitch perfect corners, every corner, then you’re not driving to win. I’d have to enter a race with a rating 30 above the minimum requirement just to have a chance, and still feel like the opponents’ cars were the ones 30 ratings above mine.

This caught me off guard at first, however I have to admit I grew to love it later on. I’m not playing Need for Speed games for realistic driving mechanics, but I do love me some challenge. Some of my favorite tracks in the entire game are the once I had to attempt over and over again, until I finally got to experience the triumph of finishing in 1st place.

The problem that eventually becomes apparent is that the difficulty is far from well-balanced. As you fight your way up to performance rating 300, you’ll notice the difficulty slowly receding to what it was at the start of the game. You’ll occasionally run into a couple more teeth-grinders, but not much more than that. What’s worse is that two races with the same performance rating often present different levels of challenge. You never know what you’re up against. Even more bizarrely, this difficulty phenomenon only applies to race events. I would regularly enter drift and off-road events under-leveled and get out on top without feeling I was overreaching.

Out of my way!

Time trial events are exactly what they appear to be. You have to complete a course in a set amount of time to earn bank. You race alone with a ghost car following behind you, re-enacting the time you have to beat. However what makes these events truly special is that the tracks are insane. The courses are narrow, winding, demanding your full concentration and meticulous braking. None of the standard race events test your ability to control a car as much as these do. Some time trials, like “Up Up and Away”, made me fear for my car’s suspension.

Off-road events are the awkward newcomer to the series. Quite evidently, Heat isn’t a Colin McRae game, so I was curious what it had in store. The answer is not much. Don’t expect to find a self-contained version of Dirt in here. The physics simulations are no where near a true rally game. The cars fly over the terrain without much obstruction, and you have a higher chance of losing control of your standard racer driving down wet tarmac than of your jeep sliding through mud.

Still… As much of a gimmick as they are, off-road events can be loads of fun. They are few and far between, enough to be considered a palette cleanser. Driving off-road in Heat made me feel like I was given the cheat codes for the game. I’d send my Subaru storming down paths that would make all my other vehicles crawl to a halt and laugh as a madman as the scenery flew by.

Moreover, off-road events are some of the more inspired ones. The game has you racing across beaches, under bridges going through wetland, down forest paths you didn’t even know were there, all while intersecting bits and pieces of tarmac just so you could remember what civilization looks like. Lots of collectibles and additional activities are only accessible off-road giving you even more of an incentive to snoop around. The mini-map also handles itself beautifully. While in other vehicles it will never lead you off road, but switch over to your designated mud collector and all of a sudden it’s guiding you across hills and meadows.

If I were to complain about one thing, it’s that off-road events are way too easy. Admittedly, this is one of the reasons why they work so well for unwinding, but I wish Heat twisted my arm just a little. I would sometimes finish a race with the next person being 1-2 km behind me. I got so used to beefing up my car for race events that I’d enter off-road ones obliviously over-leveled. It’s only when I intentionally started skipping engine upgrades that I felt the competition slowly catching up with me.

Even though I enjoyed them, I don’t know if off-road events have much of a place in the series. They seem like an awful lot of effort for what is ultimately a bite-sized piece of entertainment. I have no idea how much the physics engine would need to be revamped to support more nuance, nor how that would impact the arcade-style handling that makes up the rest of the game. Then again, if Forza can do it…

Aw, I didn’t bring my swimsuit.

Unlike off-road, drift events feel right at home in the series. Although not present in every installment, they have still undergone a significant journey from where they started off in Underground. I can’t say I was much of a fan of those earlier renditions, but my mind was thoroughly changed by Pro Street. That was the first game in the series to introduce a more realistic drifting model and I loved it to pieces. Thankfully Heat continues exactly where Pro Street left off.

I admit, that introductory tutorial was quite rough for me. It took me some time to get back into the groove of things, but afterwards I found Heat’s drifting to be some of the most satisfying I’ve had the pleasure to engage with. To pull off a continuous drift, especially around those long U corners, requires meticulous handling of the both the gas and the steering. There’s more technique on display here than on all of the other events combined.

So after the tutorial ended, I gleefully hopped over to the dealership and got myself an RX7 (like the basic bitch that I am). I equipped it with drifting gear back at the safe house, rolled it out of the garage and set it out on the streets… Only to find out I could barely get a hold of it. It had none of the restraint of the tutorial car and it kept miserably over-steering in each corner. That other RX7 performed just fine, so it must be me, right? I went online to search for help.

Turns out you shouldn’t equip your drift car with drift gear. No, no, instead you should put on showcase gear. What’s showcase gear, you ask? Well, it’s somewhere in between your pure race and pure drift gear. How are you supposed to know that? Beats me! This all terribly reminds me of wheelies in Pro Street. To get any lift out of your car, you had to go into the advance settings and tweak your suspension accordingly. Did the game indicate that you needed to do this in any way? Of course not, fuck you.

Unfortunately, Heat’s bullshit doesn’t end there. God forbid, next you have to exit the garage and open up the special numpad menu. I repeat, the special numpad menu. Inside there are additional car tuning options which are not available in the garage. What the actual fuck, Heat? Why are these particular options only available once you’re in the open world? Was this menu patched in later? Sure enough, when you make your way through the very intuitive n u m p a d m e n u and tune your steering sensitivity and down force, you’ll be able to drift. Hooray!

Thank you internet, imagine if I had to sit there and figure out what the different suspension and tire kits were for. Like what the hell is speedcross? Or what’s the actual difference between race and on-road gear? Or why would I ever equip drag— Drag? Wait a minute, Heat, do I smell cut content?

Whenever you preview an event from the map, you’ll be presented with a quartered rectangle indicating the type of car you should bring along: race, drift, off-road and, yes, the ill-fated drag. This is only one of the many signs pointing to Heat’s unfinished state. I’ve no idea why drag events were cut, but you can see their ghostly remnants all over the game, from the unused gear to the long stretches of road begging to be burned upon. Considering the race events’ unquestionable dominance, I would have appreciated one more event type to play around with.

It’s like I’m in the canyons again.

Heat has a simple, yet effective progression system tying into its events - two currencies and a day and night cycle. During the day participating in events earns you cash which you can use to buy everything from cars, to upgrades, to those illustrious bucket hats. On the other hand, racing during night grants you reputation or, as the game likes to call it, rep. It works the same as XP, unlocking higher level events, more powerful parts and meaner cars.

I understand Ghost Games did something similar in Most Wanted (2015) where rep was gained by performing special activities and used to unlock additional car parts. This works so much better in Heat. The day and night cycle feed back into each other, with both currencies essential for your progression, and that’s not mentioning how perfectly they fit within the larger context of game.

Up until the end of the main quest, which comes at you around rep level 30, I had absolutely no need to grind. If you follow newly generated events as they appear on the map, you’ll slowly rise through the ranks as intended. However Heat does take the possibility of grinding into account. At some point I started noticing exclamation marks over events I already completed. Turns out you can compete in them again with a higher performance rating, granting a higher reward to go along. This is a pretty good fail-safe if you don’t want to be bothered with some of the nutcracker races I mentioned before.

Once you approach rep level 40 and start tackling end-game content, you’ll do have to engage with some amount of grinding. On one hand, it seems the devs didn’t bother putting that much content into later parts of the game. On the other hand, your super car spendings won’t cover themselves. Thankfully those exclamation marks are there to save the day and cause of the overall abundance of events, I didn’t mind jumping into old ones. As you repeat an event more and more, Heat does gradually decrease the winnings, meaning you can’t theoretically grind your way into infinity. This is alright as you’ll never need to go that far, and cash and rep are plenty even if you get busted a lot. Speaking of which…

Suck it, losers.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a couple of differences between day and night events. Most importantly, night events are illegal, meaning there are no barricades blocking you off from the traffic. Passers-by become bowling pins and ambulance cars start looking like bull's eyes, so of courses those polite officers eventually come after your ass. I laughed when I saw my first cop in Heat. Look at that precious thing in its tiny patrol car! Let’s see what sound it makes when I give it a little crack. Except I was the one to receive all the cracking.

I’ll tell you, dear reader, the shock was immeasurable. I got so used to smashing cops in Carbon like empty beer cans that I just couldn’t get my head around what was going on. What do you mean I’m not doing any damage to them? Did they steel those patrol cars against concrete walls before they came after me? What do you mean my car’s at critical health already? There’s no way I’m getting busted, I just got started. Wait, don’t push me into that building. Wait, where did that other cop come from? No, don’t you box me in, you mother fu—

Yeah, I got my ass handed to me by the cops. Multiple times. It became a regular occurrence, to be frank. Heat instilled the fear of law and order into me. It was something I was actively worried about in the beginning. I couldn’t just go rampaging around town willy-nilly. I had to keep peeking around every corner for any sign of those rotating lights. And you know what? That’s how it should be. You should have the fear of the cops etched deep into your bones. They shouldn’t be laughable piñata dolls. They should be the force of reckoning raining down upon you. And my god, in Heat, do they.

Eventually I learned how to handle them. No, you can’t face off with a cop, you idiot. Fold your tail between your legs and run! Managing cops in Heat is a game of crowd control. You have to be aware of how many there are around you and how many are about to pop around the next corner. You have to be smart about how you evade them. Don’t smash into them, don’t let them make you smash into something else, don’t let yourself be boxed in. Keep a lookout on your surroundings. Jump pads are your best friend. Go where the cops can’t follow you. If your car is fast enough, try to ditch them on the highway. And know your nearest gas station, for the love of god!

Get chased enough times and you’ll eventually start noticing the patterns. That doesn’t mean that heat 5 chases start being any less vicious, they always are, but you will be able to predict your way out of some predicaments. E.g. right after you’ve evaded them, the game will spawn columns of cops patrolling around your last known location. It’s easy to spot their trajectory on the map and slip by undetected in the opposite direction. Likewise, cops are polite enough to announce when they’re going to ram you, so you can use that to pull off a sharp turn or hit the breaks as hard as you can.

The algorithm can be annoying at times. After heat level 4, the game just keeps throwing them at you. Sometimes this is called for. You can farm heat by buzzing back and forth the same speed trap, but the game doesn’t let you enjoy exploits like that for long. You’ll eventually aggravate the operator, making her use her otherworldly powers to conjure up a patrol car right in front you. However at other times this happens at random, spawning cops out of the blue and forcing you to swerve off the road into the nearest ditch just to avoid being spotted.

Some nights you win…

High heat events are a beast of their own. You’re not really meant to engage with them early on. Heat 3 cops and higher are not to be trifled with and best avoided by your low rating vehicle. Enter late game though and you’ll need to get your hands dirty if you want to top off your super car. Building up heat level 3 is sure enough, but heat level 5 is not so easily achieved and requires a considerable time investment. Things don’t get easy once you’re there as the events match your current performance rating and the cops are at your throat the moment you launch.

When it comes to the best gear I don’t mind that the game walls off the cream of the crop, but high heat events are nothing if not unforgivable. As I said, you need to grind heat just to get a chance to compete, but you can’t simply crash through cops to do so. You need to conserve your health and items for the big event, meaning that grinding needs to be conducted slowly and methodically further increasing the downtime. The events themselves are ruthless, both from the perspective of your unwavering opponents and the merciless cops. If you lose or get caught, you have to repeat the entire process all over again. What’s worse, you’re not allowed to restart the event even when you’re not being chased, as you can with all others in the game. Come on, Heat, give me a break!

The only time I considered the cops to be a nightmare, and not an excellently crafted challenge, is during nightly drift events. Heat, this is not ok. As I said, the best tactic against the cops is to run, but you can’t do that while drifting. Performing a successful drift means pulling off a continuous uninterrupted slide around a curve. Sliding is not akin to running away, not in the least. You won’t be loosing anyone at that speed. What’s worse, a lucky cop (or more likely two) will be able to trail behind you at ease and keep knocking at your rear, breaking your drift combo over and over again.

Not only can’t you win the event at pace, you have to lose the police afterwards as well. Do you know what it’s like to lose cops in a drift car, Heat? It’s a fucking nightmare! It’s a drift car, it slides! It slides if the wind blows against it a little harder, not to mention if some asshole is ramming into it. You can’t even reliably retry the event with a bruised ego. The game always spawns patrol cars along particular curves, meaning some events are doomed from the start. If the track goes by a gas station, be sure a cop will be waiting for you to show up. Why aren’t there any off-road races during nights? I’d love to see those mother fucking Corvettes try to chase me through the forest.

…some nights you lose.

It’s good that the gameplay throws such a strong emphasis on the cops as they also present the main conflict of the story. We’re introduced to our antagonists right from the start, lieutenant Frank Mercer and his ruthless squad of deputies, keen on abusing all their might to rid the streets of those pesky—

Hold on, Heat, what are we doing? I know police violence is a serious issue in the States and I’m certainly not here to defend the cops. However, Heat, is this really the hill you want to die on? Oh no, the honest tax-paying street racer is getting harassed by the police again! Will these fascist pigs ever let me enjoy my fundamental rights to crash through everything that isn’t a solid wall? Most of you probably don’t think that police violence is a laughing matter, and I’m with you 100%. That’s why I find it particularly troubling that Heat tries to look at it from the moral high-ground of street racing.

Look, Need for Speed just isn’t the franchise to tackle this topic. You simply cannot make a case for street racing in real life. If this were the real world, my MC would have had her driver’s license revoked the first time she got busted. The only thing she would have been allowed to drive afterwards is a tricycle. This is why the franchise has always been camp as hell, with dumb story lines that never took themselves too seriously. Street racing is something that’s only allowed to exist and look cool in fantasy land. So bringing in the sensitive matter of police brutality into it… Ugh.

Ok, at least it’s not saying anything that I fundamentally disagree with. Cops equal bad, alright, let’s move on. Heat, what else do you have in store for me? Who is this character I’m supposed to be building up a crew with? Ana? You cool, Ana? She’s not cool, she’s not!

The Rivera siblings hold the emotional core of the story: Ana, the racer who appears in the intro, and Lucas, the mechanic who treats you to your first car. Ana is all fired up about making it into the big league, while Lucas is done with his reckless past and would just like to grease his hands on my a— on some cylinders. Naturally the game couples you with Ana, her being the like-minded street racer who’ll help you tear up the town.

Tear up my brain cells more likely. Dear lord, this woman is a car crash. She pulls you into her street racing scheme without so much a second thought and continues to batter you with her ludicrous ideas to get acclaimed. She constantly calls you up to whine about whatnot. She harasses you even while you’re trying to save her from the cops. At one point she makes a grand speech about making something of her life with street racing. I was waiting for her to divulge how we’re going to save this town using the power of street racing and friendship, but alas. Seriously, what hellish mind thought up this woman? Why can’t we hang out with Lucas more? Is he single? Did I ask that already?

What’s up for tonight, Ana? Breaking the law, you don’t say.

When you think about it, it’s weird how your MC doesn’t really have any emotional ties to the Riveras. You’re just an outsider to all of their drama, an accidental tag-along that occasionally comes up with vague encouragements. I should have minded the disconnect, but strangely I didn’t. There’s something about the female voice actress, Jamie Gray Hyder, that clicked with me. To my ears she managed to perfectly convey the barely concealed sarcasm of someone who deals with idiots on a daily basis, all while wearing sunglasses and a bucket hat indoors. What’s worse, I’m not even sure I’m imagining it.

There were times where I was honest to god convinced the MC was low-key making fun of Ana. E.g. there’s a piece of banter that becomes available after you’ve beaten the main quest. Ana calls you up to tell you how she triumphantly humiliated her ex, only for the conversation to reveal that the aforementioned humiliation consisted of one text message and that she dropped and broke her phone afterwards. Your MC patiently nods along and cheers her up as if talking to a child. I couldn’t help but laugh my ass off.

On another occasion you get to hear all about her chicken burger induced diarrhea. The writers must have been having a laugh, right? Then again, even Lucas catches the idiot disease eventually. He starts off as a former hotshot, now a sensible and restrained mechanic, only to give in to Ana’s bullshit. By the end he’s the goofy guy who can’t drive a car no more, so he calls you up hoping you’ll distribute fliers for his shop to your cool new big league friends (who you never get to meet btw).

Look at these three geniuses.

The game throws in some side characters to give you a break from the Riveras, with middling results. Dex is the first from the bunch and the only thing you can make out about him is his undeniable crush for sexy garage man. Lucas and Lucas’ daddy issues are all Dex ever talks about, so much so that even me, another one of Lucas’ fangirls, couldn’t take it any more. That said, I was surprisingly pleased to see him pop up again after the last story mission. Proximity breeds familiarity, I guess, and I found the last couple of races he organized with the Riveras to be absolutely adorable. Although it would have been nice if the three of them didn’t always fight for last place, but maybe I’m asking too much.

The drift guy (whose name I can’t remember, so let’s just call him that) goes by remarkably fast. He comes off quite likeable after that initial drifting tutorial and continues to be so even as you destroy all of his high scores. Following Dex’s reappearance, I was waiting for drift guy to make a comeback as well, but to no avail. It’s a shame, considering he’s the most down-to-earth of the entire cast and someone I’d actually want to grab a beer with. I mean, imagine sitting over a drink with Ana, Jesus.

That just leaves me with one more guest driver to cover. By the time the elusive hacker chick rolled up in her pickup truck, I was already used to the game’s feeble attempts to portray more believable characters. I was certainly not ready for FBI cross-country dodgery. My girl looks like she never got out her Matrix phase, and sadly I can relate. If this were any other NFS game, her kind of buffoonery would fit right in. Unfortunately as a follow up to drift guy, she sticks out like a clown at a funeral. In some other game I would have loved listening to her signature deadpan and watching her evade the Feds using her mythical off-road powers.

I’m not sure the cop characters deserve much recognition. Shaw’s your stereotypical psycho cop, there to laugh maniacally and do all of the worst shit you expect of him. Torres might have been a good secret villain if the plot made any (less) sense. Frank Mercer though, I’ll never forget. At the climax of the final mission you have to chase the man down in his stolen M3. Yes, it’s that M3. A bit of a weird place for a cameo, but maybe I’m missing the larger context of the franchise’s ongoing story (if there is such a thing). Anyway, in a moment of utter madness, Mercer launched the M3 up a ramp from the top of a hill and flew over a valley like Icarus taking his very last breaths. What’s worse, I’m not even sure it was scripted. We were just racing down the mountain when the poor bastard decided his best chance of losing me was skydiving.

Hold on, Captain Niobe, while I put on my Trinity cosplay.

Although I’m critical of it, Heat’s story ended sooner than I would have wanted. The game tried to emphasize the Riveras’ crusade against the cops, but all I could see hanging was the juicy carrot of racing with the big league. Say Ana, what are these crews I keep hearing about? When are we going up against them? Can we form our own crew, minus you of course? Then it unceremoniously ends and all that’s left of “the big league” are glowing arrows pointing towards the multiplayer. Oh, ok…

To the game’s credit, there’s quite a bit of content after the final story mission. For starters, there are those Dex + Rivera races I already mentioned. Hacker chick comes back for one last race before she escapes the Feds into the underbrush. There’s a series of so-called Discovery events which take you along the outskirts of the map and those heat 5 events only make sense once you’ve gotten your hands on a super car. The banter is also surprisingly good, with characters no longer barraging you with quest reminders, but actually checking in with sometimes hilarious pieces of dialogue.

What stole the show, to my surprise, were activities and collectibles. It’s been a while sine I played a game that handles these so well as Heat does. Usually when you reach the point where you have to collect an X amount of Y to get an achievement, the game becomes a slog. Thankfully Heat found a way to avoid that. Instead of making them available all at once, the game slowly unlocks new activities/collectibles as you level up. Although this is meant to prevent you from feeling overwhelmed, I still did at first glancing at all the markers muddling the map. Relief came in when I actually started poking around the world. You’ll clear most of them just by driving from race to race and encountering them alongside the road. When you get to mopping them up in late game, the leftovers are significantly less formidable.

Both activities and collectibles come in 3 varieties, the former consisting of speed traps, drift zone and long jumps, while the latter is made up of billboards, flamingos and street art. There’s some culling to be made here, for sure. The only one I’d call objectively shit content are the flamingos, being nothing more than purposeless pick-ups. Graffiti might seem like the same thing, but I beg to differ. Not only do they exist as actual pieces of art inside the world, but upon being found, they are unlocked and added to your decals repertoire. They are all beautiful and unique pieces of art you would gladly put up on your car. Billboards and long jumps are, again, kind of the same thing, billboards providing the mindless satisfaction of pure destruction, with long jumps requiring some more thought and build-up to a perfect lift-off.

The ones I enjoyed the most were drift zones and speed traps. Drift zones make up for a lack of actual drift events, with a staggering 35 to 16 ratio. Each zone encompasses a couple of curves which is nowhere near a full-on event, but what they lack in quantity they make up for in challenge. To get 3 stars on some of these you need to spend time perfecting your corners, figuring out the best ways in and out of a curve and learning how to drift close to edges for that sweet proximity bonus.

Speed traps sound basic in theory, but check the global achievements chart and you’ll see that they are the ones people struggle with the most. For starters, yes, 3-starring them requires the investment of a super car, but that’s only the beginning. Not only do you need to develop ridiculous speeds, but the lead-up to some of these is particularly tricky. A 120 degree corner doesn’t seem all that intimidating if you’re going into it driving 200 km/h, but bump that speed up above 300 km/h, and all of a sudden every twitch of the steering wheel could send you flying off the road.

What is that? A bird?

Now all of those drift zones and speed traps would have been fine and dandy if it weren’t for one thing - the fucking traffic. Oh, I understand why it needs to be there. First, from a believably perspective, you can’t be driving around a ghost town. Second, you need a couple of wild cards to spice things up. Racing around night wouldn’t be nearly as exciting if there weren’t any occasional passers-by to look out for. However we’re not talking about a couple of vehicles here and there. The streets are littered with these vermin.

If you’re trying to 3-star some of the more difficult activities, you’ll get all too familiar with the spawning algorithm. I’ve had some of the nastiest car crashes doing speed traps. A good chuck of them are nigh impossible when the game consistently keeps generating 5 vehicles on the same stretch of road. How can I hit 338 km/h if my passage is essentially blocked?

Driving in the opposite lane is generally a recipe for disaster. Over-passing even a single car can be a gambler’s game. Dead angles, sharp corners, elevation differences - these are all instances where you can expect someone to pop up from the opposite direction, as they most often do. I flew over inclines and slammed straight into lorries, I got knocked over by incoming traffic, I watched helplessly as my car drifted sideways into unsuspecting vans. No wonder there are so many ambulance cars driving around - someone needs to mop up after your street racing brethren!

Intersections are your worst enemy. Not only do cars come at you out of nowhere, they also stop in the middle of an intersection like a deer caught by headlights. What are you doing, friend? You don’t just block intersections like that! Am I missing something? Is this an American thing? Did the same driving school also teach you to suddenly switch lanes when someone’s approaching from behind? Bitch, do you ever check your review mirrors? Who’s issuing driver’s licenses to these people? And I thought I was the hooligan.

Son of a—

After some time with the game, I realized none of the activities and collectibles were initially visible on the map. No, a DLC came out a couple months after launch allowing you to reveal their locations. I’m sorry, but how exactly did people live without this feature? Did those poor pioneers have to check behind every fence in the game in search of flamingos?

Speaking of DLC, Heat offers two so called Black Market DLCs. One gives you an Aston Martin DB11, while the other a McLaren F1. You have to complete 6 contracts with each car, each contract consisting of 2 series, and each series of multiple challenges and events. The events can be race or drift, while the challenges usually involve completing certain activities with certain requirements. Later contracts even make use of high heat races, meaning you’ll have loads more content on your hands.

I got the DB11 as part of a discount I was buying the game at, which would be considered a pretty generous offer if it weren’t for the fact that the DB11 is a shit car. Aston Martin, I sure hope this model handles better in real life, cause in the game it’s stiffer than my grandmother’s back! I had to equip drift tires just so I could get a little slide out of the corners.

Considering Black Market events are so varied, you’ll often have to re-spec that DB11, which is a bit tedious, if not a considerable money spender. What bothered me more is that Heat genuinely expects you to be able to drift in this goddamn car. Remember how I told you I had to tone down my RX7 so it wouldn’t over-steer? Well, for the DB11 it’s quite the opposite. Either you’re maxing out those drifting configurations or you’re not drifting at all. For me, the hardest drifting event in the entire game was with the Aston through the shipping yard. As if it weren’t hard enough tightly squeezing the DB11’s fat ass between piles of containers and not scratching a single one, the event also demanded a ludicrous score in order to complete it. Afterwards, I spent restless nights wondering if the game would try to make me tune the car for off-road as well.

I ended up not getting the McLaren F1 DLC, as I concluded I already milked more out of the game than was intended, though maybe that was a mistake considering they named the DLC “The Greatest Car in the World”. That might be so, but I have to wonder if these people ever drove the Ford GT. Watching the GT’s precious little spoiler go up and down on its own invigorates my soul more than baby seal videos. Does the F1 have an automatic spoiler? No? Didn’t think so.

I like to think Aston Martin paid for this endorsement.

Heat boasts around 127 cars for you to call your own. While the number feels more than sufficient, the initial choice between a muscle, a tuner and an exotic might give you a false impression of variety. If you were wondering who the main sponsors were, there are 14 BMWs, 13 Porsches, 11 Lamborghinis and 8 Ferraris in this game. Unless you’re a car aficionado, you won’t know, nor care about the nuances between the many different BMW M-whatnots and Porsche 911-who-gives-a-fuck. They’ll just appear as copy-pastes taking up space in the dealership. I did register a fair choice of old-school muscle cars, but the Japanese selection is quite meager, with the exception of Nissan’s strong 14 car line-up.

Before buying a car the game lets you know how much you’ll be able to customize it on a scale of 1 to 10, from a vanity point of view. I appreciate this kind of upfront information. A car with a higher score will have loads of spoilers and bumpers and side skirts at its disposable, while ones with a lower score will only allow limited tinkering. For those looking for more detailed customization options, there’s no such thing as body sculpting, but the game does offer additional quirks like neon lights, coloring tire smoke, adjusting the sound of the exhaust, etc.

The one editor which reigns supreme above all others is the decals editor. We’re talking Pro Street levels of depth here. The editor divides your car into regions: front, hood, roof, sides and rear. You can slam an insane amount of decals on each region, scale them, rotate them, move them around, adjust layers. If you’ve got the imagination, the sky’s the limit. It’s only tricky if you want your design to span more than one region, but even that’s manageable. Trust me, I’ve sprinkled a galaxy’s worth of stars across my BMW.

The best aspect of the decals editor are the community wraps. Each time you edit decals on your car, the game bundles and saves those changes into a so-called wrap. All wraps created by all users are automatically visible to the entire community. You can browse through them and apply any one on your car. This is an amazing feature, especially if you don’t feel like doing your own paint job or you saw a particularly cool design online. What’s more, the game can be modded to replace existing decals with whatever image you desire. This can be a daunting task, requiring the use of both Photoshop and the Frosty Editor. Luckily, modded decals get saved into wraps as well, meaning you can apply someone else’s unabashed anime homage (and defile your car for all eternity).

Performance parts could have been a simple affair, but Heat decided to throw in some curve balls. Most parts are easy enough to pick, but you’ll have to make up your mind regarding other ones. Suspensions, tires and differentials are the ones that lean your car towards a specific handling profile, but you don’t have to invest all 3 in the same category, rather construct whatever hybrid suits you best. Swapping a turbo makes your car feel noticeably different, and there’s even some nuance to picking a gearbox if you’re interested in fine-tuning your acceleration and top speed.

The one addition I found confusing were the engine swaps. There’s a ton of videos online comparing different engine models, but generally you just want to buy the most expensive one. I say the addition is confusing because it seemingly only exists as a money sink. Performance parts for one engine model don’t match another, so you have to equip your car anew each time you swap an engine.

Besides that, there are 2 slots for auxiliary items divided into actives and passives. Most of these are cop related: take less damage from cops, do more damage to cops, etc. Repair kits were a must have for me, as well as the radar disruptor which I found to be absolutely OP. It severely limits the detection range of the police’s radar, meaning you’ll not only be harder to detect, but will also be able to slip away more easily. Pair that with a fast enough car and, heat 5, you’re on!

Some of the auxiliary items are related to nitrous and, I have to ask, does nitrous serve any purpose in this game? It certainly didn’t feel so at the beginning. The starter packs are miserably useless, and not just objectively. Whenever you hit that nitrous switch, the camera zooms out, making it seem like you’re lagging even more behind your opponents. Nitrous only starts being handy ones you’ve unlocked the ultimate parts. The 5 x 3lb tanks are plentiful enough to be abused and switching on the 15lb big boy made me fear for my life.

Come on, Cupcake, smile for mama.

I wouldn’t have much more to say about the customization options if it weren’t for one thing tripping them over - the UI. My god, is it a mess. The key bindings are an arrangement of oddities you’ll get all too familiar with. I know I’m approaching this critique from a keyboard perspective, but still! Ghost Games, at least some of your staff must have played games with a mouse and keyboard before. They must have, right?

I already mentioned the insanity of the numpad menu. Other than additional configuration options, it also holds a list of on-going quests. This is the only place in the UI where you can find this information. Heat, couldn’t you have put it like anywhere else? I swear, some chief creative director must have gotten a full sized keyboard for the first time in his life and been blown out of his mind with it. Who the fuck else would think the numpad menu to be intuitive?

I also talked about the exclamation marks which pop up above old races when they become available for higher performance ratings. When this first happened, I had no idea what was going on. No, Heat, I don’t keep track of all of the event markers on the map. When I see an event standing out like that, my first assumption is that it’s a special kind of encounter and not an old one I already completed. Maybe I could have figured it out hadn’t my mind completely glossed over the goddamn N U M P A D prompts instructing you to cycle through the different variations of the event.

But why am I holding myself back? Let me bring out my mighty friend, the bullet list:

The first time I wanted to pause the game, I kept smashing the Esc key, just like any other sane person. Except, no, if you want to bring up the menu, you need to press Tab. Tab? The fuck?

There are absolutely no options for sorting or filtering. Each time you want to look through clothes, cars, rims, graffiti, etc. you’ll be forced to go down the same elongated lists, over and over again.

The game keeps track of how many specific performance parts you own. Whenever you want to equip one, it asks you if you want to buy a new or re-equip an existing one. However, it never tells you from which car it’s stealing the performance part from, nor does it give you any convenient shortcuts for swapping entire suits of gear from one car to another.

The same applies for vanity parts. I.e. you don’t have to buy new parts, just equip old ones. However, the interface is completely different. Not only does the game not tell you if you already own a vanity part, it also lets you buy a duplicate that you’ve already got equipped at the moment! If you want to check which vanity items you’ve got on you, you need to press Q and then X to remove any given item. Very intuitive, yes.

Some cosmetic changes, like neon lights, aren’t displayed during customization, but only once you’ve exited the garage.

When tuning the sound of the exhaust, you’re able to rev up the engine to hear the results. However, holding the arrow up key also moves your cursor in the customization list. Every. Single. Time.

Keyboard shortcuts make the otherwise excellent decals editor into a frightening experience. The bottom bar shows a dizzying array of commands at all times. It’s incredibly easy to mistake controls and do something unintended. Thank god Ctrl + Z works. If only holding down Ctrl wouldn’t also pan the camera within the editor…

The X key is the placebo for everything. You press X to remove vanity items. You press X to add new decals. You press X to exit the game from the main menu. You press X to scratch that itch deep up your ass. No, Ghost Games, the X key on the keyboard is not equivalent to the A/Cross button on the gamepad.

Press X to pay re— no, wait, to add decals.

When stripped of the incomprehensible UI, there are parts of this game’s presentation that are worth applauding. The loading screen, for example, is one of the best I’ve ever seen in a game. Each time you exit the garage, your car is seamlessly transported to a dark room with lights pulsing along the walls and the ceiling. The music you were listening to a moment ago kicks in even harder. The camera pans around your car showing off your design under the changing lights. Then, right as its about to end, the camera centers behind your car. The mirage of the loading screen pops like a bubble, and all of a sudden you’re parked in front of the garage in the open world. It never gets old.

Similarly, while you’re out in the world, you’re able to switch from day to night on the click of a button. When you do that, the camera pulls back and rolls around your car, transporting you back to the imaginary room with the throbbing neon lights. It doesn’t linger there for long before rolling one more time and putting you back where you were, changing the time of day in the process. Whenever you end the night, either by returning safely to the garage or getting caught by the cops, the transition is accompanied by equally elaborate sequences. Either you have the pleasure of watching your rep fill up with your earnings or you’re forced to swallow the bitter pill of being escorted by a cop away from your wrecked vehicle.

No less important to the overall feel of the game is the soundtrack. If there’s one thing EA has a good reputation for, it’s their taste in music. Whoever’s been working in their music licensing department for all these years needs another raise. I love Need for Speed soundtracks, I play them all the time. They’re filled with music I wouldn’t usually listen to, but that inevitably grows on me over the course of the game.

Even before Carbon cemented things, earlier games unofficially divided their cars into 3 categories: tuners, muscles and exotics. Along with these 3 types of cars there were also 3 music genres accompanying them: rap, rock and electronic. Pro Street started muddling the water a bit, and after that, it’s a blank slate for me. I was curious what Heat had in store after all these years. The initial car selection made me think we were going back to Carbon’s way of things, but, boy, was I wrong. Rap and electronic are still there, but rock has been swapped out by latin music. Imagine my surprise at hearing Inna out of people! Now, my knowledge of Spanish starts and ends with por favor, meaning I’m not much of a fan of latin music. However, this is Need for Speed, so it didn’t take long for me to start acquiring some new tastes.

Instead of dividing songs by car types, Heat divides them according to the time of day. The daily playlist is filled up by most of the latin music, meaning it’s fervently upbeat, while the nightly one is more gloomy and aggressive, matching the constant threat of the police. There’s also a playlist for the garage, which is laid-back and soothing, helping you wind down from the pressure. Each playlist perfectly accentuates the mood their respective setting is striving for. Besides that, there are tons of tracks to get hooked on. During the day I’d patiently wait for that one Cardie B verse, while the night had me chanting to Machine Gun Kelly out of all people.

Now, I know what most of you are going to say. Who listens to Need for Speed soundtracks when you can just play Spotify? How long is this game anyway? You’re not going to keep listening to the same 50 songs, are you? I get what you’re saying, however I find the soundtrack to be an essential part of a game’s identity. If you’re gonna swap out the music, you might as well do that with the entire art style. I don’t mind the repetition, besides, you loose a lot of the little touches when you forgo the in-game music. There’s no automatic volume change when hopping in and out of menus. There’s no switching of tracks when you enter an event, start being chased by cops or go back to the garage. All of this makes the music diegetic, firmly grounding you within Heat’s world.

Now this speaks class.

Gee, I’m so glad EA has gotten a hold of itself. Finally, we can receive high quality games that aren’t infected by any of the plagues of modern monetization. Sure, Heat is rough around the edges. It has gaping holes were content should have been, but we can fix that. What’s important is that we’ve found the right formula and know where to go from there.

Right, Ghost Games? You did so well, EA might even give you more leeway with the next Need for Speed. Imagine that! Ghost Games? Your there? Where have they run off to? They must be busy working on the next game, those rascals. Let’s see what Google says. Ghost Games studios…

Disbanded!? EA! No! We said we wouldn’t do that any more. Bad, EA! Bad! What do you mean you couldn’t find enough talent to build a studio in Sweden? Don’t you bullshit me, EA, all of the kids want to make games nowadays. You just can’t be pleased, can you? Make a good game, disband a studio, make a bad game, disband a studio. What’s that? I shouldn’t be worried because Criterion will continue working on the franchise? Sure, EA, go ahead and let Criterion parade Ghost Games’ limp body across the streets. That’ll make things better.

Oh, I feel so filthy now. Why did I indulge in your flattery even for a little? That’s it, down you go. You heard me, down to the bottom of the list of existing game publishers. Yes, even bellow Ubisoft. Ok, maybe not bellow Activision-Blizzard, but don’t you take that as a compliment! No, I won’t be bought with an anime Need for Speed. Why don’t you pump that cell-shaded tire smoke up your ass! Now if you’ll excuse me, I feel the need to wash myself.

Rum-dum-dum…

#game review #review #need for speed #need for speed heat

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chronic-claire-universe · 2 years

Text

Tokyo Revengers: Without You

It has been in the air till sometime, I tried to resist, but the urge to write about it was unbearable, that’s why my dust bunnies here the first tokrev dads angst.

Don’t worry I’m not so cruel to let their kids suffer, but I felt like this could be a good scenario with a great tenderness. @moon-mars-ikemen huge thanks for providing a good amount of courage and a help for the plot development.

How do our favorite dads manage parenthood after they lost you?

Characthers: Haruchiyo Sanzu, Ran Haitani, Manjiro Sano

Warnings: Angst, Reader’s Death, Tears, Tons of Tears

Listen to the song that inspired these stories

“There there princess, stay calm for a while” Sanzu says while tenderly smiling at his daughter, translucent blue eyes stare at their copy, “A-ayame” the pinkette says in between sobs taking his precious daughter on his chest.

FLASHBACK

“Haru leave her be, she must sleep!” you say while taking your daughter and lull her to sleep, “That song” he says while lovingly looking at the girls of his life, “Yeah what?” you say while humming the tune making your daughter calmly drift to sleep, “Mother used to sing it to me or Senju…” Sanzu says looking at the floor with an unrecognizable expression, “Haru, you know they would be happy to meet her?” you say while crouching in front of him and giving him a smile, “Don’t need that, I have you, it’s enough!” he mutters almost afraid to face your angry expression, “I’ll be with you don’t worry, you will know that you needed this just like you did with us” you say before kissing him and going to your daughter’s bedroom to put her to sleep.

“You promised we were gonna go together” Sanzu says, fighting the urge to cry in front of your lifeless body, “What am I going to do alone? THIS IS NOT RIGHT Y/N!” Sanzu was insane, and for the first time they weren't pills. He was insane with the dead walking man who hit you with his car, he was insane towards his fucked up life, “I CAN’T DO ANYTHING WITHOUT YOU!” he shouts, punching the metallic material that was supporting your purpled body. Cries of his daughter were heard outside the morgue room, almost like she understood what was happening, “I’m going to take that fucker and give hi-” Ran puts a hand to alt his steps, “Everything as being taken care of, you’ll have him before they will arrive to him” he says making Sanzu wide his eyes, “Now go take a shower, try to calm down, I’m going to take care of Ayame if you need t-” Ran continues with calm, “No! She comes with me!” he says taking his daughter, calming her almost as it’s the most natural thing to do, “I know baby, cry as much as you need to! We deserve to be angry” he says while finally letting his tears fall down his cheeks.

PRESENT

“Mama said you should have met aunt Senju, think it’s time princess?” he says finally taking the clean diaper and snuggling his nose with his daughter’s one, “Yes, she’s going to love you, seems like we went back to when I was a kid” “PAA PAAA” Ayame says trying to reach Sanzu and she takes her smiling, as he finally found peace.

“Water lily, it's your day finally!” Ran says with tired eyes looking at his daughter who gave him a sleepless night, almost knowing what was happening.

“Now should we get a bath and dress you properly? Or you prefer your gift before?” he says while looking at their reflection in the bathroom mirror, “Bath, you stink!” he says mocking a stink making the blonde baby giggle.

“Ren, it’s mama, guess you’re asking yourself where I finished! I miss you a lot” your voice peaks through the lcd display in the living room, “Happy birthday my precious daughter! Two years old aren’t enough to understand that’s why I’m going to sing the lullaby you and daddy really like” the words echoes in the room, Ran falters and with lucid eyes he looks at his daughter who bounce on his lap and suddenly give him the first proof of the silent battle as a single parent, “Dadda” the toddler says looking at her father with a smile, and pointing towards the tv she says “Mamaa” and giggle almost like you were there and never left them alone a year before in that clinic struggling until your last breath against a monster that not even Ran Haitani could win over: cancer.

“That’s right water lily, that’s our precious mama, do you miss her right?” Ran says while starting to cry, confusing his daughter, “That’s why uncle Rin came with her favorite cake? Happy birthday little rascal!” He says taking his niece and giving his brother a pat on the back he says with a smile, “Go to your bedroom, take your time! We will not disturb” he says with a devoted smile.

“My love, I know you would have peeked through the box. But I said you have to be patient! Next one will be for her first day of kindergarten! Anyway-” you say in the dvd before a sob escape from your livid face, “It’s the first tape I’m recording and I’m still not used to think that I’m not there to witness Ren’s growth, I already miss you -fuck-” Ran stare at your angry expression, even when facing your death sentence you got angry towards yourself, “I miss you, I wanted to get old with you, I wanted to give you more than this, I left you alone. I know you don’t need my advice, you know better than me what to do!-” the video finally stops, to finally present Ran a calmer version of yourself, same clothes but with an orange light towards your face, he recognizes the place to be your studio, “Sorry got a bit emotional, I have still to cope up with this story” and continuing your words you say “Are you having sex? I hope you’re not forcing yourself to stop. I know you can’t live without it for some weeks, I don-” but a stop by the remote control makes the man exhale a breath, letting out endless tears “I can’t even touch one because I think I’m getting dirty myself. Don’t worry my love I don’t need that to be happy, Ren is enough and I know that with time everything will be settled” he chuckles drying his tears and opening the door he goes towards his brother and daughter with a smile, knowing you gave him your benediction as a good father, “Blow the candles water lily!” he says taking her from his brother and smiling towards the camera that snaps towards this little family he will always be blessed for.

A tuffle of blonde hair running around the living room, “Daddy daddy! You’re at home! HOME!” the enthusiastic child says while going towards his father.

Manjiro Sano isn’t a young man to easily get a smile from, but here he finds himself arching his lips welcoming his son after a long absence, “Welcome home!” the kid opens his arms, signaling his father that he wants to be held, “I’m home Daichiro” he says snuggling towards his son cheek giving him a rasp, making his carbon copy smile.

“Cmon let dad go, he needs a shower!” he says putting him on the floor and going towards his bedroom, ignoring his son's question.

“Who’s this?” he finally says, opening the bedroom’s door, seeing his father only with a towel on, “Mmm doesn’t she resemble someone?” Manjiro says taking the kid who intensely stares to the photo portrait, he got the day you were five month pregnant, “Mmm why is her belly like that?” the kid says trying to understand why those eyes resemble his, “Cause you were inside her” he calmly says caressing his son's hair, “That’s my mama?” he says, making Manjiro nodd, “Where is she dad?” he asks innocently, “Let’s go, it’s time to visit her!” he says taking the first pair of clothes and hopping on them.

“Hi y/n, I’m sorry it took me a while” he says burning the incense and clapping his hands towards the grave, “Is mama in the sky?” Daichiro says not seeing anything beside the grave, a strange ideogram he can’t understand, “Yep, she is. When you were inside mom she got hurt by mean people but she gifted me the best I could ask for. That’s why dad wrote in here: Fly and watch us never falling down” he says pointing to the ideograms in the stone, “Then we should pay her more visit since she has a lot of work to do dad”. Manjiro smiles adjusting his pale blond hair and says “You’re right little man, next week we’re going to take her favorite flowers and eat together”, “Yeah! She’ll be happy!” he says with a smile that blessed his mind, making him finally remember the good memories you left for him.

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#tokyo revengers #sanzu haruchiyo #ran haitani #manjiro sano #sanzu x reader #ran haitani x reader #sano manjiro x reader #tokyo revengers angst #tok rev angst #tok rev sanzu #tok rev ran haitani #tok rev mikey #tok rev x reader #tokyo revengers x reader #ran haitani angst #sanzu angst #manjiro angst #Spotify

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subspencer · 3 years

Text

the to-do list

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!Reader

Summary: Reader is worried that she’s not adventurous enough in bed. So, she makes a secret checklist of things to try with Spencer. Based on this request.

Category: Smut, 18+ ONLY, minors dni

Warnings/Includes: switch!Spencer, (sort of?) corruption kink, exhibitionism, mile high club, brief description of oral, unprotected sex, creampie, brief mentions of other stuff but no descriptions

Word Count: 3k

Spencer’s girlfriend has a secret checklist. It could be called a bucket list, of some sort, but really all of the items on it pertain to sexual acts to perform with Spencer, on Spencer, or in front of Spencer. So checklist is a more appropriate term.

The list came into existence after a girl’s night game of Never Have I Ever, in which she discovered there was an embarrassing number of things she’d never done. Some of them seemed nearly impossible to have gone twenty-something years without doing, especially when in a committed relationship. That was made abundantly clear to her when the girls pointed it out, teasing her — and by association, Spencer — for being more than vanilla.

There was no real reason she hadn’t tried those certain things — she wasn’t adverse to the idea of most of them at all. Really, it was just that she never bothered to dip her toes beyond what was familiar.

When Emily, Penelope, and Tara had nearly all ten of their fingers down after a couple rounds, she finally realized she might’ve been coming up short in the sex department. She figured it was about time to find out what she’s missing, so she made a list of everything she needed to try. And one by one, she and Spencer checked the items off.

One of the more simple things on the list, and perhaps her favorite, was giving her first blowjob. It wasn’t something she felt compelled to try with any of the guys she’s been with before, and Spencer, though he was very curious about it, was too much of a gentleman to ask for one.

So when she asked him to sit on the edge of his bed and dropped to her knees in front of him, he didn’t stop to ask questions. His mind went blank the second her fingers undid his zipper. It was Spencer’s first, too, and his fingers knotted in her hair as she took him in as deep as she could, hollowing her cheeks around his cock and swirling her tongue as her head bobbed up and down. Spencer always made pretty sounds in bed, but in this instance she envied his memory because she wished she could replay his moans and gasps from that first blowjob all over again in her mind.

Another favorite was allowing the favor to be reciprocated until completion. She figured she might just be someone who couldn’t get off from oral, because though she always welcomed Spencer to go down, she got impatient every time and pulled his head up by his hair, demanding him to fuck her already. Spencer was one to oblige every request, but he couldn’t pretend that he wasn’t overjoyed when one time she never stopped him short.

There were no interruptions, no hands shoving his face away from its rightful place against her, just increasing moans and shaking legs as Spencer was encouraged to give more. She can still remember the half-moon shapes his nails left on her thighs from where he had to grip them so tightly as she rode out her high. And she definitely remembers the almost feral look in his eyes after, because since that first time he insists on doing it again nearly every day.

There were more or less a dozen other items that slowly but surely got ticked off the list.

Handcuffs in the bedroom — fun, but perhaps better saved for special occasions. Or if Spencer was being extra good and deserved a treat.

Various new positions — a reminder to stretch more. And that sixty-nine is not as easy as it sounds on paper.

She let Spencer put a blindfold on her — it was decided they both prefer it more when the blindfold is on him. It keeps him guessing.

Spanking — both of them like this one, either giving or receiving. Surprisingly, she thinks she might like receiving it a little more, and Spencer is always excited to give.

Shower sex — a bit of a logistical nightmare, yet still a weekly staple. It’s slippery, yes, but it’s also relaxing and intimate. And Spencer just enjoys putting his hands on her wet, soapy body.

Sending dirty texts — great, but Spencer prefers taking nude polaroids of her instead. He keeps a few in his wallet for easy access. And because he knows Garcia can’t hack his wallet and find them.

And there were more items that went in the same tune until there was just one left. The one she was most nervous to attempt.

She wondered if joining the mile high club was better or worse if it was on the BAU jet. They’d have ample opportunities to do it, but they’d also be surrounded by their colleagues, and there is no coming back from getting caught.

But the main challenge was convincing Spencer to do it in the first place.

The initial plan of attack was to drop some “subtle” hints. She brought it up for the first time one night in their shared hotel room, right after Spencer fucked her against the bathroom counter, her legs wrapped around his waist.

“We could totally do that in the jet bathroom.”

“Yeah, I guess the basics are the same. Cramped space and a ledge to lean on.” Spencer was completely aloof as he picked up the scattered articles of clothing from the floor, rattling off about the size and dimensions of the airplane bathroom and missing the entire point of the comment.

She mentioned it again a little later, hoping the repetition may help him catch the drift.

“What’s the craziest place you’ve had sex?” she asked, completely catching him off guard as he ate a breakfast of frosted flakes in his kitchen.

“Um.. I don’t know? You tell me,” he shrugged, knowing that whatever the craziest place was, it was definitely with her.

“What about doing it on the jet?” It couldn’t get more obvious.

“We haven’t done that, silly. OH! I’m gonna say it was in my car,” he nodded with a wide grin, confident in his answer that unfortunately brushed past the proposition far too quickly.

It was time to change methods.

The new plan was to see if she could get him turned on enough on the jet to motivate him to do something about it right then and there. It seemed easy enough.

She sat next to him on the small couch, as she always did, and cuddled up to his side as he read his book.

Once everyone was distracted, she snaked a hand onto his thigh, allowing it to rest there long enough for Spencer to get over his initial shock and relax into her touch. As soon as he let his guard down, she moved her hand up another inch or two, watching him squirm again as he fought his mind from wandering. She repeated that cycle every five minutes until it drove him insane, his willpower diminishing in tandem with the proximity of her hand.

When everyone finally fell asleep, she craned her head to press small kisses on his neck, alternating between quick pecks and lingering ones, sucking warm and wet little flecks onto his skin that drew soft sighs without fail.

“What are you doing?” his breath was raspy and low as he muttered into her ear.

“Nothing.” She kept her tone innocent and sweet as she continued to sprinkle the teasing kisses across the column of his throat.

Her hand finally found its way directly on top of the bulge straining against his slacks and gave it a gentle squeeze. Spencer grinded himself into her palm, desperate to feel some friction, his jaw slacked and pupils wide. She dragged a thumb across his length, stopping to rub slow circles over the sensitive tip, drawing out a wet spot at the front of his trousers.

But even with his skin flushed red and his cock leaking and half-near orgasm, Spencer still found the restraint to stop her from jerking him off right on the jet and ripped her hand away, placing it in her lap as if the action could permanently force her to keep her hands to herself.

“I can’t go to the crime scene with cum in my pants,” he hissed, squeezing her wrist tighter.

She smirked at the opportunity, wrapping her warm lips around his ear lobe and tugging with her teeth before whispering with hot breath. “Then put it in me.”

For a second she saw him consider it. His eyes had a dark cast, gaze flickering between her eyes and lips as he swallowed the thick lump in his throat. But then Emily woke up and it was yet another failed attempt.

She resigned to the fact that it just wouldn’t happen, and that the item might remain unchecked on the secret list. So she cleared the idea from her mind, not wanting to keep pushing Spencer toward something he clearly didn’t have an interest in, or to keep embarrassing herself by trying.

And then a couple weeks later, as the team wrapped another case up, she came back to their hotel room to find Spencer sitting on the bed, facing away from the door.

“Hey, baby,” she greeted. When Spencer didn’t respond, she crawled onto the bed behind him, placing both hands on his shoulders and attacking the side of his face with kisses, giggling into his messy curls. “I said hey.”

Still nothing. Her eyes followed his line of sight down to his hands and went wide with realization.

“Spencer, where did you get that!?” She tried to snatch the crumpled piece of paper from him, but he was too quick to pull it away.

“I was looking for gum in your purse,” he explained, reading the sheet over again in complete amusement, “but I found something better.”

Spencer was much too excited about it, bordering on smug, and she rolled off the bed away from him in annoyance.

“Is this what I think it is?” She remained silent, suddenly feeling very insecure about the note. “Did you... did you make a list of things to do in bed?”

“You weren’t supposed to see that, it’s so stupid.”

“Hey, who said it’s stupid?” He tugged on her fingers, pulling her back onto the bed next to him. “I just wanna know where it came from.”

“Well... when I went out with the girls, we started talking about all the things we’ve done…” she paused to see if Spencer could guess where this was going, and of course he didn’t, “... in bed. And I hadn’t even done half of what they have, so I wrote some of them down. I — I wanted to try them with you.”

“So you… you’ve never done these with anyone else?” Spencer’s eyes widened as he pieced the puzzle together. He looked down again at the discarded sheet laying on pillows, his pride swelling at how long the list was. “I’m the first?”

She nodded in assent and no sooner was Spencer pushing her back flat against the mattress, settling his body on top of hers.

“God, that’s so hot,” he spoke into her neck as he sucked purple bruises into it, allowing his hands to roam freely under her shirt. His nimble fingers made quick work of her bra clasp, pulling the hem of the top up to attach his lips to her exposed nipple. He rolled the other in his fingers, tugging gently as she arched into his touch, rolling her hips up to grind against his. He groaned and pushed back, nestling himself perfectly between her legs.

Suddenly his motions halted and he popped his head up, looking at her with wide eyes and freshly ruffled hair. “We haven’t finished the list yet!”

“I — I didn’t think you were interested in the last one.”

“If my girlfriend makes a list of ways she wants to fuck me, I’m interested.”

A devilish grin took over her face. “Well, we fly home tomorrow.”

And true to the plan, they arrived on the jet the next day with at least a vague sense of strategy: wait until everyone is asleep then go at it in the bathroom. It wasn’t the most elaborate of plans, but there wasn’t much else to think of.

Except for the possibility that the others might not go to sleep.

The flight was already halfway through its journey and everyone was still wide awake, and Spencer was growing incredibly impatient. Perhaps even more than his girlfriend, now that he knew this would be part of a long list of things he got to be her first for.

That fact seemed to encourage him, the thrill of forever being her first at something. Never mind that she’d be his firsts, too.

Spencer’s not stupid, he knows that bending her over the bathroom counter while everyone is awake to hear it is a horrible idea. But his willpower doesn’t extend far enough to stop him from dropping his hand to her exposed knee, rubbing it softly just to be able to touch her. It seemed innocent enough in case anyone might see.

He kept his eyes on the open book he was pretending to read as his fingers traced the inside of her thigh, pushing up the hem of her skirt ever so slightly.

He inched his hand up and slowly spread his long fingers apart until they covered the length of her inner thigh. The tips stopping just below her cunt, delicately tracing lines back and forth parallel to the seam of her underwear.

And she quickly discovers there’s no taste worse than your own medicine. There was gentle brushes and concealed touches, all the things that she did to him. But where Spencer would’ve stopped her teasing before it got too far, she wouldn’t have done the same.

She covered up his hands by bringing her own down to her lap, silently encouraging him to continue unseen.

Spencer looked down at her through his thick lashes, bottom lip stuck between his teeth. Looking for more confirmation that she wanted this. The answer came in the form of her shifting subtly down the seat, pressing her clothed pussy firmly against his hand.

His cock twitched against the confines of his slacks when he felt the damp patch on the fabric. His knuckles brushed against her clit and her knees clamped shut, holding him in place as she brought her lips close to his ear to let him hear her soft whines.

He has to put his book over his lap to cover how hard he is, and it almost makes him regret starting this game. Almost.

Because just as she starts desperately grinding against his hand, squirming for more friction, he notices that everyone’s asleep. And then it’s a race to the bathroom, Spencer positioning her directly in front of him to cover his bulge as they stand up.

Their mouths are on each other before the door even closes, her hands wasting little time in going for his zipper. Both desperate to have each other after all the anticipation. She immediately perched herself on the countertop, spreading her legs wide so Spencer could fit in between them, just like in that hotel room. A confused whine fell from her mouth when he lifted her off from the ledge, interrupting her plan.

“No. Like this,” he growled, turning her around and pushing her hips against the edge of the counter, bending her over it. She muttered a “Fuck,” under her breath as he pressed his cock against her backside, knowing he preferred this angle because he could get deeper.

His lips trailed down her neck as he tugged the skirt up to her hips and pulled her panties to the side, running his cock along her folds to gather the wetness that had been pooling there.

“Shit, you’re so fucking wet.”

He quickly inserted his thumb into her mouth to stop any sounds from escaping before lining himself up. Her moans vibrated against the digit as he slowly pushed in, stretching her out and letting her adjust before starting to move. Slowly and deliberately, at first, then quickly gaining speed.

She pushed her hips back to meet his thrusts until he pinned them against the ledge with his own, holding them still so he could set his pace faster.

The hand that was resting on her waist came up to her chest, groping at the flesh over her blouse. Her spine arched into his palm, bending forward to give him more leverage to get deeper to that spot inside her repeatedly.

He alternated between a few quick thrusts followed by a deep one, holding himself there for a moment before repeating.

Her cunt tightened around him as he held still against her, applying firm pressure to her spot with the head of his cock.

“Fuck, do that again, please,” he grunted against her neck, pushing his hips into her ass with bruising force to get impossibly closer. A loud whine nearly escaped her lips as he did so, the motion sending her over the edge.

She sucked harder around his thumb, using it to keep her cries at bay as she reached her climax. Her walls fluttered around him as she did, giving him exactly what he needed.

“Remember what you said before, baby?” he hummed in her ear, “Do you still want me to cum inside you?”

“Please.”

Immediately his thrusts became erratic, hips snapping forward a handful of times before he spilled into her in hot spurts, biting down on her shoulder to stifle his moan as he came.

Still heaving from the comedown, he pulled her panties back on, using the fabric to keep his cum from spilling out.

She turned to feverishly attach her lips to his, panting into the open mouthed kiss. When they finally broke apart, both looked completely wrecked with swollen lips, flushed skin, bruised necks. Still, they tried their best to fix themselves, straightening out their rustled clothes and smoothing knotted hair.

Before Spencer turned the door handle, he pulled her side into him, pressing a kiss onto her forehead. “We should make another list.”

taglist: @suburban--gothic @ssa-sarahsunshine @mercy-burning @reidspurple @mediocre-writer @honeyboysteezy @ssa-m-187 @calm-and-doctor @drayshadow @s1utformgg @you-sunshine @altsvu @reidtheprettyboy @goose-eats-god @sonnydoesrandomshit @rigatonireid @muffin-cup @amoeebaa @reidingmelodies

#spencer reid #spencer reid smut #spencer reid x reader #matthew gray gubler #matthew gray gubler smut #matthew gray gubler x reader #spencer reid fic #spencer reid self insert #spencer reid x y/n #criminal minds #spencer reid x reader smut #criminal minds smut #criminal minds self insert

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harryspet · 4 years

Text

caged bird | s.rogers, p.parker & b.barnes

[Warnings] dark!steve rogers x reader, dark!peter parker x reader, dark!bucky barnes x reader, polyamory, prison au, noncon/dubcon sex, this plot scenario is very unrealistic but oh well, reader makes a deal so she can survive, hella manipulation, dominants/submissive, oral sex (male recieving), hella angst, shower sex, READ AT YOUR OWN RISK

A/N: this is like a really f’d up situation so enjoy :):):) i also wrote this over the span of two weeks so i’m sorry if the pacing is weird and (also x2) this is nowhere near canon

In which you have to make a deal with three devils in order to survive in The Cage.

word count: 4.8k

main masterlist

Your eyelids were heavy though the bright light outside the bus was forcing you awake. Your limbs shackled to the seat, it reminded you that you had lost your freedom so quickly and that you’d probably never have a good night of sleep ever again, “How long?” Your mouth was dry, the heat from the wasteland you were driving through crept through the window.

“Twenty minutes, princess,” Officer Rumlow looked you over for the millionth time like you were fresh meat ready for the slaughter. His perceptions weren’t far off and that’s what scared you the most. You weren’t cut out for a place like the Cage.

A week ago you thought this place was fictional, a nightmare tale that was used to scare the new employees. It was still a nightmare but you were now living in it. You thought your heart might explode out of your chest as the facility finally came into view. Five stories of complete concrete surrounded by two, hundred-foot fences and surrounded by a barren wasteland.

You were the only one on the bus. The Cage rarely received new inmates due to the nature of crimes that the prison was built for. Vigilantes and government traitors. Many used to consider them heroes but they were unregulated and dangerous. That's how they ended up here and, your boss, Alexander Pierce had sold you out to save himself.

“When … W-When am I going to get my phone call?” You asked as the bus entered the gates of the prison, finally stopping at the processing center.

Rumlow chuckled, walking over to unchain your shackles from the floor of the bus, “Who are you going to call, princess? Mommy and Daddy?” He grabbed you roughly by your upper arm, pulling you out of your seat and dragging you down the steps of the bus.

You refused to accept that you had been erased. Your parents probably thought you were only missing, not that you had been wrongly accused of betraying the government and had been thrown into the most dangerous prison in the country.

“They can’t do this,” You winced as your arm stung, “No trial. No jury. T-This is illegal!”

Rumlow ignored you, and you had to pick up your pace in order to not fall down. Your eyes wandered around, the sun nearly blinding you and stinging your skin at the same time. You noticed in the distance a group of male inmates standing behind a wired fence, wearing the same navy jumpsuit as you, and even from far away, you could see cold and hungry glances.

You thought you were lucky for a minute since you were a woman but then you remembered what kind of women probably lived here. As you were brought inside, past several guards, through metal detectors and pat-downs.

When you got to the body cavity search, you expected to part way with Rumlow. Standing in a small, cold room, Rumlow stood in the doorway with his hands casually in the pockets of his pants, “Undress, inmate,” Your eyes widened and you quickly crossed your arms, “Slowly, if you don’t mind.”

“I-I do mind,” You said quickly, “I’m supposed to have a female officer-”

“You don’t get those kinds of privileges in the Cage. We don’t separate inmates by gender,” You shook your head as your eyebrows began to furrow.

“That’s insane-”

“Undress, inmate,” He said more sternly this time, “Or would you like me to do it for you? You’re lucky I don’t make you put on a show for the rest of the guards.”

You shook your head again, tears starting to form in your tired eyes, “Please don’t-” You tried to plead with him but, as you did, you watched him reach for his baton, “Okay, okay!”

Rumlow smiled a wicked smile, “Good. Bend over and cough, inmate. Let me see that cute, little ass of yours.”

When you finally got to see a female officer, she was escorting you to your cell. In your hands, you held the rest of your life which included one more set of clothes, bedding, and a toothbrush. You had to eat what the prison provided and you could only earn extra commissary from working. Hela tried to explain everything to you but you were only latching onto every other world.

You walked along a slim passageway which had cells to the right and a metal railing to the left. There were three floors of cells and they seemed to go all the way around in a circle. Passed the railing and in the middle of the dome was where it seemed most of the inmates were gathered.

The shouting, laughing, and fighting echoed through the dome and you couldn’t help but think those calls were for you. You could barely carry your bag of things and walk straight without stumbling. If they couldn’t send your weakness from your appearance then they’d surely sniff it out soon.

“This can’t be allowed,” You whispered to Officer Hela, though her dark hair mixed with the look of death in her eyes didn’t scream “empathy” to you, “There has to be some sort of rule-”

She stopped in front of an empty, six by eight-foot cell which told you that this would be your new home, “You can sit in solitary if you like,” She spoke coldly, “Your meals get brought to you and you don’t have to deal with the animals in here but there’s no time outside. It’s easy to lose track of the days and forget which voices are real and which ones are inside your head. If you prefer to go insane before you die then I’d recommend that route.”

There wasn’t much of a choice to make and you found your feet moving before your brain could register. You stepped inside the cell, setting down your things on the bottom bunk, “A girl like you is going to need to latch onto a group, pledge your allegiance, and do not let them question your loyalty. They live by a different code here and following it is life or death, do you understand?”

You slowly nodded as you listened and part of you was grateful that she wasn’t completely cold, “T-Thank you-”

She scoffed, “Such a precious little thing … I give you a week,” With that, she turned on her heel and you felt hopeless once again, “I’ll escort you to dinner-”

You shook your head, “I’m not hungry.” You were actually starving but you could not yet face the beast.

She only shrugged and pulled the door closed. The light above you flickered and you stared back down at your bunk. You were holding back your tears as you tried to make up your bed. Staring at the flimsy mattress material only made you more depressed so you decided just to lay down. Facing the wall, your tired eyes roamed over what was scribbled on the walls.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is evil.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is corrupt.

You hated that the words initially sent a wave of anger through you. You hated that you still felt loyal to that group of monsters. You were a low level worker with good standing and they had just sent you to die?

With your face tucked into your arm, you cried yourself to sleep.

The next day you had no choice but to face your fears. You couldn’t go any longer without food and, in a place like this, you needed to keep your energy up. Before the sun was even out, you heard the mechanical click of the cell door. Your favorite officer, Rumlow, made sure to stop by your cell during roll call.

“So you decided on general population,” He popped the gum he was chewing, looking you over, “I’m sad to hear it, I was gonna visit you every day in solitary but I guess we’ll get some alone time soon enough.”

You scowled at him and a shiver went through you as he continued pass your cell. You were now grateful that you had chosen general population.

That feeling didn’t last as inmates started moving from their cells down to breakfast. You stayed back, waiting to slip out of your cell when the crowd had passed. You lingered in the back of the line but no one seemed to notice you until you were in the kitchen line. The first reaction was a quiet murmur that went through the group of (mostly) men at the sight of you.

You didn’t quite match anyone's stature, not even the women. At least they looked like they could take care of themselves. You were sure that your face probably had dark circles and sunken in features. You looked down when you felt someone's eyes on you and you cringed at every word whispered about you.

“If I could just get my hands on her …”

“I wonder what a little girl like that could’ve done to get in here.”

“I’d be real gentle with her …” “I wouldn’t … I’d make her scream …”

“Move along,” Hela barked at the inmates in the line. You tried to tune them out as a staff member handed you your tray of food. A stale piece of toast, plastic-looking eggs, peaches, and what looked like could be oatmeal.

It was when you turned away that you felt a pinch on your bottom. You turned around quickly only to find yourself staring at a chest rather than a face. As you looked up, a man with long, dark black hair stared down at you, “Aren’t you adorable?”

“I said move along, inmates,” You looked towards Hela for some sort of help but didn’t receive any.

When you looked back again, the man had disappeared. You shook it off, figuring that was the least of what you were about to experience today. As you stepped out into the middle of the dome, you remembered the advice that Hela had managed to give you.

There were cliques formed at each circular, metal table and you looked each one over as you walked past them. Again, people stared and said vile things but you spotted a table where two women were sitting. They were much older than you but the look you got from them was not maternal in the least.

“Can I… sit here?” You knew the answer based on their thin-lipped scowls.

You weren’t like any of them … you were fragile. Besides that, you used to work for S.H.I.E.L.D. and the organization was responsible for locking half of these people away. You kept walking, eventually finding an empty table to sit at.

All you could think about now was eating. You picked at your tray with your plastic fork, and with each bite of the food you cringed. The toast was also completely rock hard, “It helps if you dip it in water,” Your head snapped up as you felt a shadow over you before someone took a seat beside you.

You weren’t expecting someone so young and you certainly weren’t expecting a friendly smile. You stared at the handsome man with your mouth agape. You hadn’t realized what he meant until you looked back down at the bread in your hands, “Oh … I doubt anything would make this edible-”

He ran his hand through his light brown hair, before reaching into the pocket of his jumpsuit. On the table in front of you, he placed a twinkie. The entire room seemed to go quiet for a moment and you realized that everyone was watching the two of you.

“I can’t accept this …”

“Of course you can, it’s no big deal,” His brown eyes pierced into yours as he shrugged, “I’m Peter.”

The sugary, process food was calling your name but you still weren’t sure what his deal was, “T-Thank you,” Not wanting to come off rude, you accepted it, unknowingly beginning to seal your fate, “I’m … I’m-”

“Y/N Y/LN,” He finished for you which left your eyes wide with shock, “You’re already famous. The guards like to gossip and it’s rare we get new inmates so people get curious.”

“Oh,” You shifted uncomfortably in your seat.

“Don’t worry, some people in here care about your charges, how you got here, but not me,” He tried to reassure you, a smile tugging at his lips, “S.H.I.E.L.D. screwed us all and I don’t think there’s a point in playing who’s the better bad guy.”

You looked around. Now that you knew that people knew your charges and your history, you were starting to feel unsettled. The only thing keeping you grounded was him reassuring you that he didn’t care, “How long-” Your voice came out in a whisper, “How long have you been here?”

Peter took a breath as he thought for a moment, “Few years. Now I kinda forget that I was a normal teenager when this all started.”

Years. And he was a teenager when they brought him here? Did they have no limits to their cruelty?

“God,” You breathed out, overwhelmed, “I don’t think I can … do this-”

Peter reached out, placing a calm hand on your arm, “Hey, hey, you have to survive here. Whether you were meant to be here or not, you have to live like this is your reality. Looking like you’re about to vomit is not a good look to everyone else. I saw Loki over there … he’s an asshole touching you like that but it’s because he’s already sniffed you out.”

You nodded, trying to stay calm, “But I don’t know how to look … to look less weak.”

“For one, you’re going to have to start eating more and building some muscle,” You could tell by his grip on your arm that he was quite strong, “And the next time someone disrespects you, you have to stand up for yourself. You also can’t just bark like a little chihuahua. Maybe you could pick someone out, someone that you could win in a fight against.”

As Peter started to scan the room, you immediately started shaking your hand, “I can’t just attack someone,” You whisper-shouted, your eyes wide with worry.

Peter chuckled, “Not with that attitude. Maybe you could go for Heather over there,” He eyed a woman who was practically elderly, “She has a cane so even you could probably overpower though I’ve seen here use the thing as a weapon a few times-”

“Peter,” You spoke sharply, “There has to be another way.”

Peter looked into your eyes and you lost hope for a moment until he seemed to perk up, “I have some friends, we kind of run together in this place, looking out for each other,” Peter explained and you listened intently, hoping for a means of survival that didn’t require attacking an old lady, “I could probably convince them to start looking out for you too. But it won’t be easy, we take loyalty very seriously here, and it wouldn’t be without a cost to you.”

“What sort of cost?”

Peter shrugged, “Could be lots of things. They serve plums on Friday and Bucky loves those so maybe you’d show your support to the group by giving him yours. Something like that,” You followed Peter’s finger as he pointed two men out, one with dark hair and the other with light. Both were built like bodybuilders, ��Steve’s a respected leader here and maybe you could help run messages for him.”

You nodded, “T-That sounds fair,” You paused for a moment as the men eyed you, “And for the twinkie? What do you want?”

“Now you’re starting to get it,” Peter grinned, “Eat it and that means you accept our claim. You’re one of us.”

“Can’t I have time to think about it?”

Peter seemed to hesitate for the first time, “I’m sure you won’t get a better offer,” Your face fell, “But sure. I’d be quick about it though. Those big, doe eyes aren’t going to work on everybody.”

The dark-haired one was following you. Loki, Peter called him, hadn’t taken his eyes off you ever since you parted ways with Peter yesterday. He and his greek god, blonde friend were now walking behind you as you made your way through the halls. They were pushing mop buckets, evidently taking a break from their cleaning duty.

You had gotten lost trying to find the hospital wing and now you were paying the consequences.

“Little bird … caged and unprotected,” He taunted you and your heartbeat quickened as you tried to keep from looking back, “Not even the guards want to save her. Poor thing.”

“It seems she’s in need of protecting, brother.”

“Protecting? If I got my hands on her, the last thing I’d think of is being gentle-”

You turned into the first room you passed, expecting to find somewhere to hide but you only seemed to encounter more people. It was the TV room, a staticy old television airing a baseball game was hanging in the corner of the room, and a bunch of men were sitting at different tables.

They all turned their heads to you as you interrupted and you immediately recognized the two men from Peter’s loyal “group”. Bucky and Steve. Your heart was out of your chest at the point and you found yourself whispering a “sorry” before turning back towards the door. Loki and his brother, however, were waiting patiently.

Loki leaned in the doorway, eyeing you like you were fresh meat.

“Is this jackass bothering you, hon?” Your eyes wide with fear, you quickly realized that it wasn’t Loki taunting you. The dark-haired man’s, you remembered Peter calling him Bucky, voice boomed through the room.

You froze.

“Don’t you have toilets to scrub, Laufeyson?” The light hair man with a thick beard spoke, and by the look on his face you could tell he was a man of power. Not so much power-hungry but someone that demanded respect and often received it.

Loki scoffed, looking over you again, “As far as I know, this one is free territory.”

“Well, this room is my territory and guess where she happens to be standing,” Loki’s jaw clenched at Steve’s words.

“C’mere, hon,” Bucky spoke to you, signaling to cross the room. She hesitated but only for a moment as you realized your choices were Peter’s friends or letting Loki, have you. You crossed the room cautiously towards them, everyone now looking at you. You paused awkwardly in front of the table but a small yelp left your lip as Bucky grabbed you by the arm, spinning you into his lap.

“See,” Steve said as you uncomfortably tried your best not to squirm, “Don’t touch things that aren’t yours, Laufeyson.”

You felt a hand clench your thigh and cringed.

“Aye, aye, Captain.”

As soon as Loki stormed away, you stood up, brushing whatever wrinkles had formed in your jumpsuit. Amused, Bucky smiled at you, “You could at least thank us,” Bucky leaned forward and you tried not to scowl.

“Thank you,” You whispered.

“Good girl,” Bucky smirked.

“Lang, get Y/N a chair,” Steve ordered another man in the room. He was quick to obey the command and, even though you were in a new place, you felt you’d been transported into an entirely new planet.

“You don’t have to-”

“Sit,” Steve said as the chair was placed beside you, “You can leave when you give us an answer to the offer Peter mentioned yesterday.”

You had thought long and hard about Peter’s offer and decided last night that you wanted to reject it. It wasn’t until now that you realized your decision was a mistake. There was no telling when you’d be getting out of this place, Peter had been here for years, and it seemed you were already a target.

You’d even heard a rumor that the guards placed bets on how long you’d survive in here.

“Yes …” You nodded your head, “That’s my answer.”

Steve's lips pulled into a small grin as he eyed his friend across the table, “Good choice, doll.”

A week later and you were still alive and relatively untouched. Bucky was quite handsy but Peter reminded you that it was just protocol. Everyone had to know that you were a part of their group and that, if you were harmed, they’d have to deal with Steve and his minions.

Like Peter said, there were quite a few sacrifices you had to make. Your new job in the kitchen allowed you to provide the group with all the food they wanted and when you weren’t working, you were running errands for Steve. You got an idea of all the inmate leaders and how they functioned as a society.

Steve seemed to be at the very top and you realized the possible consequences of crossing someone like him. Still, you felt more pampered than like you were a part of some elaborate prison gang. Most of your wishes were theirs to grant.

They let you watch whatever you wanted in the TV room. Bucky always called you pet names that you were starting to grow fond of. Steve had some pull with the guards so Rumlow was never around to bother you anymore. Peter even found you a set of paints to occupy your time in your cell. As long as you followed them around like their cute little puppy, they were quite nice to you.

“C’mon, run a lap with me. You gotta build your strength,” Peter asked you, his face sweaty and shining under the baking sun. He was shirtless, the shirtsleeves of his uniform wrapped around his waist, and his magnificent physique was on display just like Steve and Bucky’s. During rec time in the courtyard, you’d become accustomed to standing by the fence and watching them lift weights.

“I’m good, thanks,” You smiled awkwardly, “I get tired just from watching you guys.”

“Peter’s right,” Steve let out a breath as he dropped his hundred-pound dumbbell.

“I just …” Your voice trailed off as Steve eyed you with his strong gaze. You knew that what he said goes but you were growing nervous, “I don’t want to get sweaty.”

“You’re serious?” Bucky chimed in, a curious look on his face.

“Is that like a girl thing I don’t know about?” Peter flashed you an amused look and your cheeks began to heat with embarrassment.

“Y/N?” Steve could see that you were hiding something.

You crossed your arms, sighing, “I just don’t want to have to shower, okay?”

“You haven’t showered since you’ve been here?” Peter asked incredulously.

“I have!” You quickly defended yourself, “I mean, I’ve just been using the sink in my cell.”

“I see what this is about,” Bucky had a knowing look on his face, “Dollface is scared of the communal showers.”

Peter’s mouth formed the shape of an “o” as he realized what was going on. You still felt so embarrassed. It was yet another thing that made you seem totally defenseless.

“Is that true?” Steve asked and you were beginning to feel overwhelmed by their concerned gazes, “Why didn’t you tell us? Next time, one of us will keep watch for you. No one’s gonna bother you.”

Maybe it was the isolation or the fact that your life would never be the same again. Maybe it was the fact that you’d never see your family again or that you cried yourself to sleep every night. That might be the reason you felt that they genuinely cared for you and why you wanted to fully embrace the comfort that they were providing.

Maybe that was why you wanted to belong to them.

For the first time, you were reminded of your old life. You weren’t sure how long you’d lost yourself under the water, letting time get away from you, as the warm water cascaded along your skin. The showers had a sorry excuse for water pressure and, despite the creepiness of the beige tiles and flickering light above, when you closed your eyes you were in paradise.

“All clean, beautiful?” Bucky’s voice brought you out of your trance. Suddenly you were back in the square room with showerheads lining each wall. You wiped the water from your eyes before turning off the water.

“Y-Yes, I’m almost done!” You shouted back, grabbing your towel from off the hook. You pressed it to your face, drying your skin. You were quite grateful that they’d taken the extra steps to make you feel protected, “Bucky-”

As you turned around, that feeling of gratitude quickly turned to something resembling fear. He was supposed to wait for you outside the bathroom and yet, there he was, only three feet away from you.

“What are you-”

He looked over you hungrily and you pressed your towel closer to your body, “You have no idea how long it's been since I’ve been with a beautiful woman like you … Steve too. And Peter, he’s just learning the ropes.”

You took a step back, towards the wall, and as you did you caught a glimpse behind Bucky’s towering figure. Both Steve and Peter were here, stalking closer.

“You said you’d protect me…” Your voice cracked, your hands beginning to shake.

“We will,” Steve spoke, determined, “No one else but us will touch you.”

“Nothing in here is without a cost, Y/N,” Peter seemed a bit solemn like his current life was not what he wanted it to be but he was just as hungry, if not more, as Bucky.

Bucky grabbed you then, his eyes impatient, and you wrestled for your towel for only a moment before he easily snatched it away from you. A helpless squeal left your mouth as he grabbed you by the arm with one hand and placed his other hand between your legs. He grabbed your thigh tightly and as his hand moved further up, you found yourself paralyzed.

“Good girl. You’re going to take all of us,” Bucky spoke quietly, shushing you, his grip growing tighter and tighter. Before you knew it, all three of them were surrounding you, their curious hands wandering over your wet skin. Grabbing your breast, your thighs, turning your face to bite at your neck.

“Get on your knees,” Steve grunted against your ear, growing impatient like his friend.

When you didn’t move, Peter was the one to push you down onto the cold floor. You hiccuped, trying not to hyperventilate as they overwhelmed you from each side. As they all started to pull down their clothes, you made one final attempt at trying to crawl away.

Steve grabbed you by your throat, making your efforts futile, pushing your face towards his crotch. You felt it, hard and throbbing against your cheek, “Open up, don’t make this hard, doll,” Through the corner of your eye, you saw Bucky stroking his own length, waiting patiently for his turn.

Steve grabbed you by your hair next, pressing your closed lips against his tip. He forced himself in your mouth, “There you go,” Steve grunted, pushing himself deeper, “Move that tongue around.”

Steve Rogers could make your life a living hell in the Cage. Was this really the price you had to pay in order to survive here? You couldn’t imagine it being any worse than this but Steve could make that possible. That’s why you started to swirl your tongue like he said, deciding that their orgasms would end your pain.

Bucky was much rougher than Steve, pinching your nose closed and enjoying watching your eyes widen and water. He practically touched the back of your throat and still commanded you to stroke Peter and Steve’s cocks with your hands while you took him in your mouth. Somehow, you managed.

Peter was much more gentle and you were grateful for that. His hands rested softly on the back of your head, guiding your mouth slowly up and down his length, “God, this is awesome,” He cursed, his head tilting back as he enjoyed the stimulation. When he finally finished, his warmth filled your mouth and before you could spit or catch your breath, Bucky grabbed you again.

He came so far down your throat that you were forced to swallow it but, unlike him, Steve took his time, “This little mouth. Is ours. Every single hole. Is ours. No one else, do you understand?” With each sentence, he thrust hard until he filled your mouth. You leaned over, coughing as you felt the stinging of your sore throat.

You were about to collapse onto the dirty cold floor when gentle arms lifted you up into a broad chest. You found yourself not fighting, only pressing your face into Bucky’s chest as you began to sob.

Steve didn’t have to say anything more. You understand your new position and there wasn’t anyone else there to save you from that fate.

That night you learned there was a change to your cell assignment. You’d sleep in Steve’s arms, a little bird that was safe and protected in it’s cage.

hope you enjoyed!! i’m posting this instead of sleeping because I have class in this morning :)

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brookecuzyes · 2 years

Text

three years of you. — good 4 u.

Damiano David x GN!Musician!Reader

Main Masterlist — 3yrs Masterlist

Summary: it wasn’t alright, but it was great to be able to find the good in the situation.

Word Count: ≈1.4k

Warnings: angst

A/N: this is short as hell, but i promise that it’ll get better lmaoo

———————————————————————-

Just keep going. You have no reason to feel bad.

The crowd was invested. They were into it. They wanted to know the whole story.

You made it a whole story, and it was beautiful.

Not to him, though. He felt… guilty.

“Well, you should, because you fucked this up!”

——

One Month Later…

“And it’s done!”

After a month of trying to get the music just right and recording the same song over and over again, the first song was finally finished. The band and you had just listened to the song entirely— without stopping it to fix something, and it was absolute perfection. As soon as the song was over, Luke started cheering. Julie laughed at his enthusiastic antics.

“That was a nice run, guys. I cannot wait to finish the next song,” Flynn said, summoning her inner manager.

The band decided to take a break for the rest of the day, as a celebration for finishing the next song. However, they wouldn’t actually be celebrating. They were going home to get sleep, since their sleep schedule was bound to change over the upcoming months. When you got home, the first thing you did was take a warm shower to relax. After that, you went straight to your room, not wanting to leave for the rest of the day.

You turned on a show, though it ended up serving as background noise. You got an idea for that tune you came up with. The main problem you had writing it was that you had absolutely no inspiration for the song.

As you were writing down the music, you got a notification on your phone. You put down your pencil and picked up your phone. Someone tagged you in a photo. Assuming it was probably one of the band members, you opened the notification. You saw the comments before you saw the photo. People (fans) were tagging you in the post left and right.

Why the hell…

You realized why once you saw the photo and its caption.

Måneskin’s Damiano David was seen with a new girl last night, which is raising questions over his and singer Y/N Y/L/N relationship status as of late.

You had to re-read the caption twice. He’s already with someone new? You looked at the picture, and it was Damiano out with another girl.

Wait, why do you look familiar? You went online and searched up anything that could be related to this girl and Måneskin. It took a minute, but you found out that this girl was the same one Damiano had been talking about, Giorgia. And you must’ve forgotten her name, because you recognized her immediately. You liked some of her work, but hated that your opinion was bound to change about her over a boy.

“I can’t believe it,” you whispered to yourself. “Couldn’t wait, could ya?”

You knew it would be stupid to read the article attached… but it was so tempting. What would be the harm in it?

So, you clicked on the link and read the article. Two weeks after you left Italy, Damiano was spotted with his new girl— and you remembered her name: Giorgia— walking the streets side-by-side, laughing and smiling. You looked at the date the photos were taken; almost exactly two weeks after you left, give or take.

To save yourself from going insane, you closed out the apps, and turned off your phone. You lay down on the bed, and just stare at the ceiling, unsure of what to do next. Not like there’s much I could do…

Or, maybe…

——

“That’s a wrap!”

The band cheered. Months of hard work, and they finally finished the album. Hugs went around, along with smiles and laughter.

“Hey, now you can actually go to sleep now,” Thomas joked to Damiano, patting his back.

“Yeah, yeah,” he replied.

“As much as I want to celebrate this, I think that we all need to get some rest first. We’ll plan something for the weekend?” Victoria suggested, grabbing her phone from the couch in the studio.

“I think that’s a great idea,” Ethan said.

“Ok, now, everyone, go home! Get some sleep. Especially you Dami,” Victoria said, practically pushing everyone out of the studio.

Once everyone got outside and people were heading to their vehicles, Damiano walked over to Victoria.

“Hey, Vic,” Damiano said, walking up to her.

“Dami.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure,” she said, closing the door of her car.

“Do you know why everyone kept telling me to get sleep?” He asked, crossing his arms.

“Well, you work very hard, especially on this project. Plus, with everything that’s going on right now, you deserve to take a break,” Victoria explained.

“So, this is about Y/N and I?”

“Never said it was.” Damiano stared at her for a second before talking again.

“There’s pictures.”

“Of…?” Victoria questioned, not following where he was going.

“Giorgia and I.”

“Ok. Are you worried that Y/N will see them?”

“If they haven’t seen them yet. Wouldn’t be surprised; with social media, and all.” Damiano looked at his feet.

“Don’t let it get to you. It’ll all work out okay.”

“I would’ve figured that you’d be on Y/N’s side?”

“Not necessarily. I don’t want to ‘choose sides’, but you’re both my friends. I want to help you both, but I don’t want to get in the middle of it.”

“That’s understandable.”

“Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going home now. I haven’t seen Chili all day, and she’s probably hungry. Goodbye, Dami. Have a great rest of your day.” Victoria got in her car and shut the door. Damiano started walking back towards his car.

Once he got in, he sat there for a minute, thinking over everything. He took out his phone and opened up Twitter, scrolling for a second before going back to what he wanted to do. He searched up your name. A lot popped up, but he came across some articles over you and him. He clicked on one, and started reading it. It was talking about a lot of things, but specifically your relationship status. Then, there was him and Giorgia, and the pictures.

“Shit. Y/N’s gonna know,” he whispered to himself. He went back to Twitter and saw a lot more; Damiano stopped liking Y/N’s photos. Y/N left Italy, and is back in LA. Y/N is with the band, Julie and The Phantoms. Are they recording a new album? Damiano was seen with model Giorgia Soleri, and hasn’t been seen with Y/N for weeks.

Honestly, the shit that people talked about had no relevance to their lives, it only invaded his and yours. It made him feel bad, because he knows how much you value your privacy. He couldn’t DM you since you blocked him, and wasn’t sure about texting you directly. He wanted to apologize but didn’t want to make you mad.

All of a sudden, his phone started ringing. It was Giorgia. Fuck, he whispered. He hesitated to answer. Should I, should I not? He took a deep breath, and sighed.

“Hey, babe.”

——

“Oh.” Alex’s reaction wasn’t exactly what you wanted it to be. “That- that… I’m sorry, that must really suck.” You nodded, but then took a step back from where he was sitting in disbelief.

“You already knew, didn’t you?” You asked softly.

“I-I did. I just didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want to see you hurt,” he replied.

“Well, the jokes on you Mercer, this is actually great!”

Confused out of his mind, he asked, “How is any of that great?”

You walked over to his table and got your notebook out of the bag you brought. “Remember that tune I came up with a few months back?” You asked.

“Yeah, the one you couldn’t finish because nothing was coming to you?” You hummed in response. You walked closer to where Alex was, flipping pages to find your spot. Once you found it, you gave the notebook for Alex to look at it.

“I think I’ve got something,” you said, watching as he read the music.

“Wow, Y/N, this could be really good. You should record it,” Alex complimented, handing the notebook back to you when he finished.

“I will, I’m just gonna wait until we’re done with the album.”

“Why not now?”

“Because I’ll need your help. Alex, I can play the guitar, piano, and I can sing, but I need drums too. So… what do you say? I’ll get the others to jump on this, if they want.”

“I would absolutely love to!” He responded, excitedly.

“Great! Now, do you want to help me with the lyrics?”

———————————————————————-

Taglist — (i’m so sorry if i couldn’t tag you!)

@mywritingonlyfans @nientedaridere @pingpongchamps @fairysums @kkjk @blackbluerose666 @thatmeganthing @teenyweenynightghost @ccweasley @lilchickie @katyldamusic @fanfictioncafe @tiaamberxx @butkutee @aboredassho @story-scribbler

(Please make sure you have things posted to your account, and make sure that your account isn’t censored so I can tag you if you want!)

#three years of you.#three years of you: good 4 u #damiano david måneskin #damiano david fanfiction #damiano david x y/n #damiano david x reader #damiano david maneskin #damiano david x gn!reader #damiano david angst #damiano david x you #angst #måneskin #maneskin #damiano david x musician!reader #damiano david x gn!musician!reader #3yrs #jatp

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cinnamonest · 3 years

Note

I am loving all these "Bitter Albedo getting revenge and doing as he wants with the reader"— but also, equally as bitter Creator! Reader growing resentful towards Albedo and wanting to do to him what he's done to her, or even _worse_. Anything to take him out of her life, so she half bakes a plan to "finetune" later, first starting off by building up some trust to get on Albedo's good side, she "gives in", plays nice and gets to work on alchemy with him.

She follows this routine, playing the loving glorified "housepet". But all the while, she's been fine-tuning her escape plan. It would either put him in an equal disadvantage to him, or it might kill her. At this point, either outcome would be mercy. She tells him there's still things from the Art of Khemia she hadn't taught him.

Things she'd learned in her travels while experimenting, not long after they'd gone their separate ways.

It starts out with gathering ingredients for tamer recipes, and just like she'd promised

New techniques, new creations and new knowledge was gained.

She makes him believe that she's adapting to his existence, maybe even tolerating him, but he didn't expect for her to only grow more and more bitter as time went on. The only thing growing in her heart was the resentment she harbored for him, any sort of admiration or genuine adoration she held for her creation all but crushed. She wanted nothing of him ever again, he had gone too far, miscalculated even, in his theory that reluctant "love" would follow his treatment.

Over the course of a few weeks, she has him carefully wrapped around his finger, unknown to him that she would show him just how much mercy she showed him when she sent him his own separate way. He was suspicious at first, of course, but in his moment of weakness, in his need for the approval she had been "showering" him in, he pushes the thoughts aside when he sees that her claims seem to be "valid enough".

He follows her instructions, and each time he gains new information on old, or even lost, techniques. Raging from little things she'd kept to herself so that he wouldn't have to interact with him when they worked together, To combinations only a mad woman who's challenged nature would dare think up.

and one day, she's telling him that she thinks he's ready to try the last thing she had managed to research on her own. He mixes the ingredients according to her instructions, everything seems to be going fine until he adds the last thing— and it's immediately reacted in a messy blast.

Albedo finds himself blinded by the fallout, as well as finding a surprising lack of digits on where his hands should be. His ears are ringing, obviously, such a blast would deafen anyone.

It's the creator's way of getting her own vengeance for the position he's put her in, at least this way, maybe, _maybe_, she can have a chance to finally put her failed created behind her. After all, he was always her most _disappointing_ creation.

AHHHHHH anon that took me aback at the last bit I was not expecting that. Poor little thing, how could master be so cruel...?

After the obvious resulting chaos (and agony), he'd be quiet for a long time. He ties you to the bed with what's left of his hands, having to use his mouth to tie the knot, and... leaves. Usually he's good about leaving you food when he goes out for the day, but not this time. He doesn't say a word as he leaves, even if you call out to him.

And he's gone for several days. You're starving, but even when he comes back, he doesn't say a word at first. Doesn't acknowledge your presence, no matter how many times you call out to him. It goes on like that for hours until eventually, without prompting, after you've given up calling for him, he just simply states a few thoughts.

He was... too kind. He understands that now. You didn't deserve it. You didn't appreciate it properly. So now, you will earn your way back to the way things were.

For starters, he takes the legs off at the scar. No real reason other than to hurt you. To see your horror when you fully wake up, pain, having to adjust. He pulls the same shit where he makes you beg for anesthetic and painkiller, but it's infinitely more painful this time. He keeps you just a little bit awake for the whole thing, even if you beg enough to be given some anesthetic during the procedure.

And after that, he stops talking to you. For good.

He himself is learning to adjust, having been given a prosthetics for fingers (literally Fullmetal Alchemist lmao) that he can make do with. You can learn how to adjust, too. Having *no* legs is actually different than just having numb ones, and learning to live without them is harder than you thought it would be -- your center of gravity and sense of balance changes, you have to avoid certain positions or risk a sharp shooting pain, etc. But even when you stumble and fall, and call out for help... nothing happens. You have to fix it on your own, or, if stuck too far to move, wait until he comes by up to hours later and silently sets you upright. If you call out in what sounds like high distress, he might come running over to make sure you're not in immediate danger, but after looking you up and down and ascertaining you're just uncomfortable and/or stuck, he slowly turns back, deciding he'll help you when he feels like it later.

You don't eat together anymore. He feeds you in a bowl on the ground. The first time, you turn your nose up and fold your arms in disgust... even though you haven't eaten the entire time he was gone. You're just that stubborn. No matter. Eventually, you cave, maybe the second day, maybe the third or fourth. He doesn't say anything the whole time, just takes the food when you make it clear you won't eat it, and puts it out each night, until you give in.

You sleep on the floor. Chained by the neck to the bedpost. You understand the message without needing to be asked out loud. You hated him so much, didn't you? You'd much rather be on the cold, hard floor than in bed, since he's in it, wouldn't you? Since you hate him so much?

And still, he doesn't talk. Somehow, that hurts the most. He was never very talkative, but he'd comment every now and then, ask you for your thoughts on something, but he now acts like you're not even there. No matter how many times you call out to him, he acts like he doesn't hear it.

It goes on like that for a month or so until you finally break down. Latch onto his leg and sob and plead. You feel like you're going insane, you say. You just want him to acknowledge you exist again.

...But why should he, he asks? It's the first thing he's said to you since the leg removal. He won't turn his head or eyes to look at you. What does he get from talking to you? You were so mean. For the few months leading up to the incident, you were so, so, so mean. He tried to be nice and get you adjusted, and you fought him every step (well... not that you were taking many literal steps) of the way. Remember? You were mean from the moment you woke up then. And then, when you were finally nice -- when he trusted you -- you went and did what you did. What reason does he have to acknowledge you? You'll either be mean to him or plot against him again. And that's all he's willing to say.

A few more weeks. A few more breakdowns. You know the intention -- he wants to truly, completely break you in a way that he never could when he was showing you any kindness. And, you hate it, but it's working. You find yourself begging. Sobbing. Rocking back and forth and clinging to his legs. Utterly pathetic, pitiful, humiliating displays of neediness and weakness. It breaks you down until he finally deems you complete, and one day finally makes eye contact with you for the first time in months.

There's not much left of "you" per se, though. The nasty attitude you had back before is almost completely gone. You're finally happy when he talks to you -- something that, after so many months of going insane from silence, you consider a privilege. After so many breakdowns and humiliation, you don't have much pride left to get in the way of begging, no shame about anything you do. It's perfect.

Not that it doesn't come back, sometimes. Sometimes, when you're having good days, you get a bit too comfortable, you forget what a privilege it is to be like this together, and you almost get mean again. But it's fairly easy to shut down with a very specific look that shuts you up immediately.

Oh, and he finds a way to fix himself, in the end. Being an artificial creation, he has a different compositional makeup than a person, so there are... ways to adjust and repair the body he has. In fact, he might even find one that would work on even an organic human, a miracle regenerative formula.

Not that he'd give it to you. But he makes sure to tell you all about it, showing off just how perfectly it regenerated his hands... just to see the look on your face.

#tw: violence #lena's asks #q #.al #.creator

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gyusbambi · 3 years

Text

humph; han seojun (pt 5)

click here for humph masterlist!

story: frenemies to enemies to lovers, high school au

synopsis: seojun and you have known each other since kindergarten. you’re neighbors and even attended the same singing and piano classes. despite knowing each other for such a long time, you don’t enjoy spending time with seojun. even though you are aware of his unfairness, you keep spending time with him. when will you finally leave your childhood frenemy?

note: this is the last part of the series! i’m thankful for everyone who liked, commented and shared this fanfiction it really means a lot to me! through this series i gained many followers, i never imagined that this would get so many likes! again, hope you enjoy the last part and stay tuned for many other fictions hehe. humph! is a story inspired by pentagon’s “humph! / 접근금지”. originally, this is a seungyeon fanfiction, which i posted on my wattpad. words: ~4k

words cannot describe your current feelings. all you can say is that everything feels unreal and odd. indeed, you’re no longer able to focus on your work. all because of that night. all because of stupidly drunk han seojun.

why did you have to pick him up? why didn’t you just call someone else? thanks to his actions, you feel emotionally confused. not to mention, you are frightened to go to school.

can you imagine how awkward it’s going to be if seojun remembers the night? without doubt, your heart would get broken because you just know he’s going to apologize for kissing you. he’ll tell you it happened because he was drunk and definitely not because he feels anything for you.

memories from that night fill your head and it’s the only thing you can think of for the rest of the weekend.

not until your mother forces you to visit the han’s with her. no wonder you refuse to go, han seojun kissed you! of course, neither your mother nor your brother understand your panicked actions when you drop on your knees, hiding your face in your palms dramatically. both of them end up dragging you to the han’s, ignoring your annoying whines.

seojun’s mum greets you with excitement when you eventually arrive at their front door. stepping in with your trembling body, you look around in paranoia, checking if seojun’s home. while doing so, you fail to notice juyeong giving you a side glance with narrowed eyes.

you: chorong please pick me up from seojun’s house

quickly you type your friend a text message before entering the living room, where gowoon waves at you happily.

kim chorong: you’re at seojun’s?!

kim chorong: can i guess what you’re doing ;)

your phone rings two times in a row, making all eyes land on you. laughing it off, you put your phone on mute before typing chorong a reply.

you: ew no please just save me from here okay?

the conversation between the mums continue and suddenly your brother asks if seojun is home. gowoon replies that he probably got out of the shower just now, which puts you in a panicked situation.

i need to get outta here

but like always, the universes loves playing with you right on time because the next thing you see is seojun walking out of his room, dressed in jeans and a hoodie, hand ruffling his wet hair. trying your best not to make eye contact, your gaze darts around the whole room.

after greeting your mother and juyeong, seojun’s eyes land on your awkward figure. no longer able to avoid his gaze, you look right back at seojun, cheeks turning into a red color. you can’t do anything but blink since you’re extremely nervous. if he does remember everything from that night, you want to get swallowed by the floor beneath you. if he doesn’t, you certainly will try your best to remain calm and unsuspicious.

“do you have a moment?”, without waiting for too long seojun grabs your wrist after putting the towel away.

“f-for what?” you manage to speak as your panicked posture suddenly stiffens.

“science project.”, the boy comes up with an average excuse while trying to ignore the surprised looks everyone is giving him as he practically drags you to his own room.

what if he knows?!

from all the heart racing, you’re sure that you’ll end up in the hospital one day. it technically pounds heavily in your chest when you’re head is going through every possible answer you could give seojun when he asks you about the kiss.

after pulling you into his room, seojun closes the door behind you before pushing your body against it. in only seconds, his palm presses against it, right next to your face. it reminds you of the time when he questioned you about his motorcycle keys in the hallways. thankfully, his face isn’t as close as back then. you’re pretty sure, you would’ve fainted by now.

“so what about the science project, haha?” words finally leave your mouth when you realize seojun isn’t going to say anything but stare at your flustered face.

“about that...”, seojun mutters in a quiet tone as he leans in slowly. the only thing you can do is avoid his gaze while gulping, thinking that he probably remembers the kiss. yet, when he doesn’t stop getting closer, lips almost touching yours, you push him away in a swift move, eyes wide in shock,

“what the hell!”

han seojun doesn’t seem surprised. he only scratches his neck, eyes darting around his room before finally landing on your panicked figure,

“i had to do an experiment.”

“w-what experiment? are you kidding me?”

more confused than ever, you question with a flushed face. however, seojun sighs to reveal his exhaustiveness, hands hiding his face before rubbing his brow to ward off his headache,

“i- something happened friday night and i can’t stop thinking about it.”

acting like you don’t know what happened, you continue to look at him with confusion.

“i drank a little bit too much and can’t really remember anything except for one detail- but apparently someone came to pick me up and brought me home. i asked the worker who it was and he told me it was my neighbor.”

when seojun trails off and shakes his head with furrowed eyebrows you hold yourself back from letting out a relieved sigh.

he doesn’t know it was you. it’s like all the worries leave your body before the boy starts talking again,

“isn’t that weird? i mean why would my neighbor come to get me, it’s not like i’m close to any of them. also, which neighor? he said it was a girl around your height with y/h/c hair. the only neighbor that comes to my mind is lee minji but there’s no chance i could have kissed her.”

“you did what?”, although knowing exactly what he did, your eyes widden in horror when you notice that he remembers the kiss but not the person. seojun realizes what he just said and tries to explain everything in a rushed tone,

“look, i don’t know why i did it. i was drunk! besides that, i’m not even sure if it was her, or anyone! what if it’s just a false memory? or a dream?”

the young boy feels like he needs to justify himself to you when he catches glimpse of the worry hiding in your eyes. han seojun doesn’t want you to think that he would kiss anyone just like that. in fact, he wouldn’t want to kiss anyone but you.

but that’s not what you’re thinking at the moment. the only thing you can focus on is seojun’s statement leaving his mouth a few seconds ago: “i was drunk!”

of course, he was. how could you even have the smallest hope that he kissed you because he wanted to? ashamed of your expectations, you clear your throat and look away, playing with the rings on your fingers.

“oh man, that sucks!”, you chuckle falsely, “don’t worry about it too much. it could happen to anyone, you know?”

“i think about it day and night, thought.”, seojun rubs his neck, eyes fixed on the carpet on the floor.

“why? was it that special for you?”, laughing you push his shoulder playfully.

unexpectedly, seojun looks up to meet your eyes and blinks,

“it was.”

your heart drops. your body freezes on spot. your eyes stare into his.

hearing this shocked you, why was it special to him? without doubt, it was special to you too. precisely, you remember his soft lips on yours, warm touch on your face.

breaking the stare, you shake your head and look around, “just forget about it.”

after a short silence, your eyes finally land on something certain on seojun’s desk. taking a few steps closer, you are able to take a closer look at the item. picking up the polaroid picture, you smile at the photo of you sleeping on seojun’s shoulder in the bus. your arm was wrapped around his torso, his look fixed on you.

“where did you get this?”, turning around with the picture still in your hands, you show it to seojun with a happy face.

“o-oh that? the others took it while you were sleeping.”

“i didn’t know you had this.”

“yeah, i kinda just forgot hahahaha.”

“sure you did!”, suddenly kim chorong bursts into the room with a teasing smile,

“i’m here, y/n. but it seems like you don’t need me anymore.”

“why are you here?”, seojun frowns.

“she told me to come! it’s not always about you.”, sticking out this tongue, your friend shrugs and lets himself fall on seojun’s bed,

“what are we doing today? how about noraebang?”

brushing his fingers over the multiple lipsticks, seojun’s eyes focus on a certain pink one. hesitantly, he picks it up to take a closer look before putting it back to its place.

“do they have strawberry ones?”, he asks his sister who looks for something specific. gowoon asked his brother if they could go to the mall together, since she’s been getting into make up these days and therefore needs more products.

“what?”

“like strawberry lip balms.”

“why do you need one?” she laughs at her brother who seems a little unsure.

“just because!” seojun tries to hide everything when he notices his sister making fun of him.

when she eventually shows him the lip balms and he’s able to smell all of them, seojun gives up. the boy went through several lip balms but couldn’t find the right one. maybe he should just give up looking for signs.

“why is everyone so obsessed with them? y/n owns plenty of them, it‘s insane.“

juyeong, who happened to tag along with gowoon and seojun, lets out a sigh as he watches the older boy.

“she does?“, suddenly seojun is interested in something that juyeong says.

“absolutely. you can ask her, you know?“

“i should ask her as well! she seems to like make up!“, gowoon smiles excitedly.

although juyeong is aware of his sister‘s lack of skills in make up, he still nods almost to quickly,

“definitely, you should! you can come to our house since she‘s always home anyway.“

seojun no longer listens to the younger‘s conversation, but instead thinks about what juyeong said earlier.

running to get in class on time has become a regular thing for you. once again, your legs move in super speed in the empty hallways as you hold tight on your heavy books. not even realizing your open backpack hanging on your right shoulder, you struggle to breathe normally.

you become interested in your untied shoes while running and suddenly bump into someone else, because you didn’t look ahead.

in a swift move the person steadies you to keep you from falling. still, your backpack drops from your shoulder and causes all of your belongings to drop on the floor.

too distracted from the mess that got created, you quickly kneel down to collect your books and folders,

“shoot!” you mutter, extremely stressed from the fact that you’re losing more time.

“running late again, zombie?”

you realize it’s han seojun when he bends down to help you pick up your stuff. after collecting some of your folders and books, his eyes focus on a certain lip balm placed next to your foot. instantly he reaches for it with a frown, your books still in his other hand.

completely stressed out, you rapidly stuff all of your supplies into your backpack and fail to notice seojun observing every small detail of your lip balm. as you finally look up, you take your books away from seojun’s grip and hold them in your hands instead of putting them back in, so that you can save some time,

“thank you.”, before you can leave seojun stands in front of you, holding your strawberry lip balm. after smelling it, he raises his eyebrows at you,

“is this yours?”

“oh, yes! thanks.” unaware of his thoughts, you take the item from his hand with a smile and put it into the pocket of your blazer.

and then seojun just stands there, watching you sprint to your next class.

he’s about to lose his mind.

patting his skin dry with a towel after washing it with cold water, seojun’s gaze darts around the school’s gym. his eyes look for you in the big hall filled with students, who came to watch the basketball game. the young boy is sure to have seen you sitting in the first row with lee suho during the game. however, it seems like you are nowhere to be seen. did you maybe leave with lee suho?

frustrated and tired at the same time, seojun approaches his friend kim chorong only seconds after the game,

“do you know where y/n is?”

“y/n? i’m not quite sure. she was here during the whole game, thought.”, chorong shrugs with a small pout forming on his lips.

“how did she leave so fast?”, seojun sighs annoyed before someone suddenly hits his back forcefully,

“if you’re looking for y/n, she just left with lee suho.”, sua tries to hide her teasing smile.

“with lee suho? why? where did they go?”

“she told me she lost her bracelet and wanted to find it.”, sua crosses her arms,

“they’re probably looking in the hallways or something.”

hearing that, seojun instantly drops his bag and runs out of the gym hall, ignoring his friend’s calls.

“yah, where are you going? we’re gonna celebrate your win!”, kim chorong yells only to turn to sua after seojun is out of his sight. they both share a smile before high fiving,

“good job.”

“taehoon just called me. suho left y/n. she’s alone in the hallways, looking for that bracelet.”

“as expected, cupid team never fails.”

seojun slows down when he turns the next corner. finally reaching the hallway of the third floor, his steps echo in the empty area. it’s dark outside and many students already left the building right after the end of the basketball game, leaving only seojun and you in the dark hallway of the third floor.

eventually the young boy spots you near your classroom, searching for your bracelet with worried eyes. he notices how you run your hand through your hair, upset that you lost something so important. seojun hides behind the wall, still questioning if he should approach you. strangely, suho is not around which makes him question everything.

while thinking about leaving, seojun’s eyes land on a specific item placed right next to the plant on his right side. surprised, he picks up the flower bracelet, which he gifted you after he apologized on the last day of the school trip, and stares at it for a short while.

hesitantly, seojun finally steps out and approaches you with a more relaxed figure.

letting out a yelp, you turn around in a swift move when you feel two hands placing on your shoulders. with widen eyes you face han seojun standing only a few inches away from you. pressing a palm on your chest, you sigh in relief,

“you scared me. again.”

“looking for this?”, ignoring your annoyed eyes, he swings your bracelet in his right hand.

“how- where did you find it? i was looking everywhere!”, quickly you snatch it away from him to place it around your wrist tightly, making sure it won’t slip out this time.

“is it so important that you spend hours searching in this building?” seojun rolls his eyes and crosses his arms over his chest, “you should go home now. it’s really late.”

“yes. it is important to me.” you mutter and glare at the boy in front of you before thanking him.

after that, suddenly silence takes over the room. you are too busy adjusting the bracelet on your wrist, while seojun only watches you with a curious gaze. he seems to be lost in his own thoughts.

it’s true that he’s seen you wear it every single day.

he’s also certain about the smell of your strawberry lip balm. seojun is a little bit angry at himself, for remembering every small detail of the kiss, but not the face of the person he shared it with. maybe he’s just tricking himself about it. maybe it is actually you, who he kissed that night.

thinking of the only way to find out, the boy interrupts the long silence as he puts his hand into the pocket of your blazer, taking out the specific strawberry lip balm. you’re more than surprised and freeze on spot when he places the tip of the container on your bottom lip and applies it on your lips.

absolutely taken aback, you fail to notice seojun taking a few steps closer to you, his body almost attached to yours now. it doesn’t take him long to lift up your chin, enabling your eyes to meet his. they look into yours with so much intensity that your cheeks start glowing from the heat. once again, your heart pounds aggressively in your chest as the young boy nears his face to yours. from all your experiences till now, you feel the most nervous now. not to mention, confused from his sudden actions. (*insert “i’m the mood for dancing” by yuju*)

last time he was drunk and didn’t know what he was doing.

now he’s completely aware of his actions.

instantly you close your eyes shut, waiting impatiently for his lips to touch yours. both of you have been longing feel this feeling again, never able to get rid of the memory from friday night. seojun tilts his head slightly before finally placing his lips on your soft ones.

and in the exact moment, when he tastes the strawberry flavor on your lips, his heart speeds up, his hands hold your warm face, he knows it’s you. he realizes that it was you, who picked him up and you, who he kissed with so much emotion.

firmly you grip onto seojun’s t-shirt when your knees feel weak. as a result the boy only smiles against your lips before his hands move from your face to your waist, pulling you to his body. running one hand up and down your waist, he continues moving his lips against yours.

before you have the chance to move yours arms to wrap them around his neck, seojun slowly pulls away. you open your eyes to see him licking his bottom lip with a small smile. somehow you’re unable to meet his eyes when he lets out a chuckle,

“thought i wouldn’t find out sooner or later?”

“h-how did you know it was me?”, you whisper, grip still tight on his shirt.

“strawberry taste.”

his simple answer surprises you, “oh, right...”

seojun caresses your face in his hands as he notices your shy tone to make you look at him,

“why didn’t you just tell me?”

“i thought you didn’t mean it since you were extremely drunk.”

“ah, y/n. you haven’t changed at all, have you?”

hearing seojun suddenly laugh makes you even more confused,

“what do you mean?”

“you’re always so oblivious about everything like my feelings towards you.” seojun smiles at you adoringly and pushes a few strands of hair behind your ear.

“you-”

“i like you, y/n. have been the whole time.”

“you were always mean to me, how was i supposed to know?”, slighlty pouting, you push his shoulder playfully.

“you’re right and i’m sorry about that. i was so focused on hiding my feelings that i didn’t realize i was hurting you. i didn’t want you to think that i liked you.”

“you succeeded.”

“yeah,” seojun scratches his neck while looking into your eyes, “still haven’t gotten an answer from you, y/n.”

taking his hand, you rub the back of it before kissing his right cheek,

“i like you too, seojun.”

seojun melts. he feels his happiest and his cheeks turn into the shade of a tomato.

“look at us. who would’ve thought?”, you laugh at his shyness.

“not me.”, seojun smiles before pulling you in for another kiss.

the cold hair hits your face as you sit on a swing while seojun pushes you. swinging your feet with a big smile on your face, you glance behind your shoulder quickly to see seojun looking at you with adoring eyes.

“higher!”, you scream, catching the kids’ attention on the playground for a short second.

therefore, your boyfriend pushes you with more force as he tries to hide his amused grin, “as you wish, my highness. but you’re scaring the kids away, don’t you think?”

“feels like we’re kids again.”, you remember your childhood moments with seojun.

“enough for now. when is it my turn?”, seojun pouts playfully, still pushing you on the swings.

“i said ten minutes not five, seojun.”

both of you laugh hysterically at your remark before he firmly grips on the chain of the swing, making it stop abruptly. before you can turn around to look at him with a frown, your boyfriend places a kiss on your left cheek, causing them to turn into a shade of bright pink.

“i love you.”

“i love you too, seojunnie.”

that’s all seojun needs to hear before pushing you on the swing again, heart melting in his chest.

and in the end of the day he knows that you’ll always be there for him. and you know that he’ll be right there too.

the end!

this is the last part of the series “humph; han seojun”. firstly, i hope you liked the ending and the story in total. secondly, i wrote this story because i noticed that there aren’t many han seojun fics! i thank everyone for giving me all the love that i don’t deserve. thirdly, please stay tuned for more fanfictions! be aware that i’m open for requests, feedback and everything nice. love you and stay safe,

your writer renjunes

#the end #humph #frenemies to lovers #han seojun #seojun #han seojun fluff #seojun fluff #han seojun x reader #han seojun imagine #han seojun imagines #seojun imagines #seojun imagine #seojun x reader #true beauty #kdrama #kpop #hwang in yeop #hwang inyeop #fanfiction

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