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anisecandy · 10 months

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Why won't you listen

Chapter 1

(continuation of the "Why won't you just take your time" and "Why won’t you just go one step at a time?")

Summary: After Peter’s efforts to learn more about his partners lead to a big quarrel, Eddie and the Symbiote learn some new things about themselves as well.

Rating: T

Words count: 5,242

Genre: Developing Relationship

Parings: Peter Parker/Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote, Eddie Brock/Venom Symbiote

Author's note:

So, two things.

1. You know, I initially wrote this just for myself, with no intention of posting it. I simply wanted to explore a kink I found interesting. But then a mutual of mine mentioned posting a fic with foot fetish annnd I kind of felt less embarrassed of what I wanted to write about here. But that meant I had to scrape... 90% of what I already wrote? Since it was good enough for myself, but way too ooc for anybody else. While changing the concept and polishing it... I ended up with a piece that was way more serious than I planned. So I decided to split it into two chapters! The first is like PG-13, and explores character dynamics. The second is still being written, but is gonna be just kink lol. So the tags and the rating WILL change! But I'm really happy with how that first part turned out and as such I wanted more people to be able to read it ^^

2. The previous works in this series are sort of, therapeutic guilty pleasure for me. "I wish people talked to each other more!!" kind of fics. And I like that about them! But with this one, I tried to do my best to keep the canon level of the characters emotional intelligence, ability to communicate, etc. Which means they act differently than in previous parts! I wrote those like- A year ago...? So I think I understand Eddie and Peter, and, of course Symby, more now!

Link to the work on ao3

“We’re not doing this,” Eddie said for what seemed like the hundredth time and Peter could feel himself losing patience.

"Look, if you're uncomfortable-"

"With the fact that you need exposure therapy to get accustomed to our visage?" The corner of Eddie's mouth twitched. "Maybe a little."

Peter couldn't help but scowl at those words. He crossed his arms.

"Well that's not exactly my fault, is it."

The way Eddie cringed made him feel a bit guilty, but he was in the right here. Which was why it was so frustrating how reluctant his partner(s) was acting right now. Especially since the previous instance of, how he put it, "exposure therapy" was his own idea.

"Why are you being so difficult about this?" He huffed.

Eddie made a face.

"Let us ask you a better question; why did you bring your whole lab to our bedroom?" He pointed accusingly to hills of messy bed sheets, between which shined glass and metal of the instruments Peter set up. There were only six of them, hardly varanting such theatrical descriptions.

"Oh, would you stop that, you melodramatic baby," Peter rolled his eyes. "You can't tell me you're scared of a pair of gloves and a magnifying glass."

"What about those little doohickeys?"

A set of tweezers, syringes and a laboratory scalpel was shoved into his face. Eddie held them like damning evidence, with a look of utter dismay.

"That's for a better examination," he replied smoothly.

"Exami-" Eddie eyed the sharp surgical steel with disbelief. “So you have gotten bored of dissecting frogs with kids and decided to cut us up instead?"

"Of course not," Peter scoffed. "Neither of those is any more dangerous than a spatula at a dentist's office."

As much as Peter would like this to close the discussion, Eddie didn't seem a shard less defensive than he was seconds ago. The way he glared at the tools, you'd think one of them spit on his mother's grave. He threw them back on the bed, sending one of the scalpels flying. Peter's arm shot to catch it on instinct, before it fell to the floor, but his eyes stayed still. Eddie returned his annoyed gaze with an unyielding stare of his own.

"You will put those things back where you got them from and we won't be talking about it anymore," he said eventually, before getting up with the intention of walking away from any further arguments.

A groan left Peter's mouth, as he dragged a hand over his face.

"Come on, it's not like I'm intending to-" he mimicked pulling on gloves and poking around in a pile of gore, dr. Frankenstein's style. "I just want to learn more about you guys!"

"Then invite us for coffee," Eddie snarled over his shoulder. "We're free on friday."

At this point, Peter started to believe he was doing it on purpose, just to spite him. Wouldn't be the first time.

"You know that's not what I mean!"

The only response he got was the click of the lock closing in the frame. His teeth gritted as he chewed on a few choices of adjectives. In the end though, he only let out a huff. Then he stood up and followed through the door.

He found Eddie in the living room, picking up his bag, all but ready to head home. He grabbed one of the handles, before he could turn toward the exit.

"Why are you so against it?"

"Why are you so up for it?" Eddie's eyebrows raised on his forehead in an unimpressed manner.

"I swear to- I want to just do more of what we did last week!" Exasperation couldn't be more apparent in his voice if he tried, as he spread his arms. "Okay? That's it. That's literally it, just minus the sex part. Look-" He paused, to get back his composure. Maybe they were just having a miscommunication happening. Maybe Eddie was just getting something wrong and not being a contrarian for the heck of it. "When we... Sort of broke the transformation in steps and I could like... Understand some things better. Take a closer look at them. That helped, okay? I just want things to work for us. Between us"

Contrary to what he expected, or rather, hoped for, this only seemed to anger Eddie even more. He bent down to properly face him, but his gaze was cold and teeth bared threateningly.

"Those aren't the same," he stated firmly.

"But they are."

"No, Peter," he stressed so much that the words seemed to scratch his throat. "It's nothing alike. That and agreeing to be a specimen for you couldn't be further apart."

"You're not-"

Peter almost choked, as his breath froze in a hard lump just over his lungs. He gaped at them, seeking to see if Eddie, if they actually meant to say this. The ice in his eyes left little room for guessing.

"You're not a specimen," he finished softly. "You're my partners."

"Oh, so you ask all your dates for blood samples?"

The tone of Eddie's voice contrasted sharply against his. It was like a knife to the conversation and Peter found himself glancing away, in spite of himself.

"Thought so," Eddie remarked bitterly, driving the point all the way.

One pull was enough to free his bag from Peter's hand. The grip he held on it before turned incidental at best, making the action closer to untangling it from a branch than fighting a person. Once his fingers were no longer hooked over the fabric, his arms fell listlessly.

And when Eddie turned around and left, he let him.

They avoided Peter for the next few days. If Eddie could have his way, it would be even longer. No matter the excuses his Other provided for Peter's behavior, he found himself rejecting each one. Still, the wednesday after their quarrel (Although, Eddie thought bitterly, it wasn't really "quarreling" as much as one of the sides blatantly disregarding personhood of the other side) they almost ran into him during a night stroll over the rooftops. It wasn't much of a coincidence - the paths of their routines were planned with the intention of staying out of each others' ways most of the time. Their styles of helping people and dealing with the criminals didn't mesh well, to say the least. Even so, there were a few crossing points between them. Just enough to occasionally check on the other, maybe once or twice a week, to ask about the night, exchange iloveyous and a couple of kisses. They took this route so many times that Eddie didn't even register that they were heading to one of the crossings out of habit, until he saw the burning red of Peter's costume less than hundred feet away.

The moment he realized his mistake, he flattened themselves against the wall, hoping the other man didn't see them approach. As the Symbiote began to change colors to blend in with the shadows spreaded among the tenement houses, he let out a quiet hiss.

"I can't believe I was this distracted..." He mumbled and clicked his tongue. "Why didn't you stop us from coming here?"

Hoped to see Peter.

"Well, I did not. I don't want to see him, until he'll apologize to us."

How? Would have to talk for that, first.

"He has a phone," Eddie grumbled.

They both knew Peter wrote over twenty messages asking them to meet up.

Not that it had any bearing on Eddie’s thoughts on the matter.

Unaware of the dispute happening right under his nose, Peter stayed mostly motionless on the roof. He didn’t appear too focused tonight, sitting with his legs casually dangling over the edge instead of his usual crouched down position, allowing him to quickly sprout into the action. A more attentive glance discovered that he even had a thermos standing right beside him. When he reached to drink from it, a cloud of steam escaped from under the cap. Nothing unusual, considering that November was approaching fast. Nonetheless, it didn’t take a genius to figure out that he probably planned to stay in this spot for a longer while.

Seems to be waiting.

"For what? The reckoning?" Eddie hissed grumpily.

Place of meetings, the Symbiote stirred, reminding him. When he didn't react (not counting an eye roll), it gently nudged at his heart. Let's go to him.

"Why?"

Let's talk. Peter's here to talk.

"As if!" He scoffed, ostentatiously looking away.

His first thought was to immediately leave, to which the Symbiote intensely protested. He didn't reply to its insistence. It already knew his stance on the matter well enough. With little hesitation, he got ready to leave, just when a high pitched scream cut through the muffled sounds of the nightlife.

Peter's head jerked up as if tugged by an invisible wire. In a heartbeat he launched himself into the river of lights, circulating under his feet. Their eyes followed him to a point, but he disappeared out of their line of sight the moment they blinked. They stared at the corner store by which it happened for a few seconds, before Eddie turned away.

"Looks like we won't be talking to him either way," he said, seemingly lightly.

The Symbiote was like a small, barely felt tide over his skin. Despite its mellow nature, to his slight surprise he recognized determination in its movements.

Will be back, it said without a trace of doubt.

He wrinkled his nose at it, before glancing back in the corner store's direction.

"Unlikely," he assessed. "Now that a crime has happened, he'll surely relocate, or even go home."

Will be back.

"For the thermos, maybe."

Will resume waiting. Wants to meet.

"He's probably here by chance," he insisted. "I guarantee you, if he'll return here, he'll get moving right away."

But he didn't.

Just like the Symbiote foresighted, Peter soon perched back down by his abandoned drink. He shook his right hand a few times, cracked his fingers and stretched, but that was all the "moving" he appeared to have planned for the closest future, slumping slightly in his seat. After a minute or so, he even started humming.

The two of them observed him from the shadows. Eventually, the Symbiote chimed in.

Will go talk now, right?

That pulled on the strings of Eddie's contrarian nature, making him carefully slide down the wall, with the intention to quietly disappear into the night. But the moment he shot a line of webbing at the nearest building and jumped, following its pull, the web started to melt. With eyes wide and a feeling of betrayal ringing in his chest, he crashed on the balcony below.

The loud thud of body hitting the concrete obviously reached Peter's ears, and he jumped up to a low crouch, scanning his surroundings and ready to pounce into the action. His eyes reached them the moment the Symbiote decided to abandon their camouflage. No honor among super villains. How typical. As soon as he saw their bulky silhouette ungracefully spreaded over the floor, the tension left his shoulders. If it wasn't for the mask he pulled down as soon as he suspected danger, he would be probably sending them now one of his most obnoxious grins.

"Gee, I wanted to ask if it hurt when you fell from heaven, but damn, this looks like one mighty crash," he said cheerfully.

"Oh can it, will you," Eddie grouched, scrambling to his feet.

For a few seconds he stood undecided. He still wasn't in the mood to deal with Peter's overall callousness, not to mention that his Other's treachery left him quite bitter. It was on its behalf that he was angry, and yet... To think that it was so eager to let Peter treat it (both of them) like a curious experiment (to put under a microscope, to test, to prod with needles, to cut up and-).

Peter wouldn't do that...

Despite its words, he could sense hesitation revibrating through its tentacles wrapped around his brain. It was hope rather than certainty and he was baffled that it offered him even that much. Because Peter... Peter was many things. A hero — sure, by a certain definition. Their lover, as of late. Most importantly though, for the time being, a scientist. And they didn't trust scientists one bit.

Peter was still watching them, seemingly nonchalant but vigilant; his arms hanging propped by elbows on his knees. But they knew him well enough to notice the strain in his back and legs. He didn't know what to do either. It was a little funny to think of. He probably waited here for a few hours already. And through all this time, he didn't figure out what to start with.

Maybe that was why eventually Eddie just let out an angry sigh and climbed the wall, to reluctantly sit beside him. Many things, right, but in the end, this was Peter, first and foremost.

Well, that and the fact that he would have felt as if he was running away if they left now. And that just wouldn't do.

"Want some soup?" Peter asked after a minute or so of over-stretched silence , ready to snap.

"So now you're not only providing the adventurous thiefs with clothing, but with food as well?" Eddie tilted their head to the right, letting their tongue fully roll out. "Truly, Spider, your generosity must know no bounds."

The other man shrugged, pouring a portion into the cup anyway, despite receiving no answer.

"I don't always take a thermos with me. I mean, usually I'm on the move, so the cold doesn't get to me, but yesterday my butt nearly froze to the roof, so... Yeah."

They could tell Peter wanted them to ask if he was waiting here yesterday as well. For how long, preferably. If they threw in a few "oh"s and "aw"s regarding the replies, of course accompanied by a look saying "poor you! you've endured for us so much! you're so poor, and sweet and everything else doesn't matter and is in the past!", then he'd probably feel as if everything was right in the world again.

He and Peter couldn't be more different, but the similarities they did share were some of the most annoying traits a human being could possibly have. Not that Eddie ever allowed himself to consciously acknowledge that.

The cap hung in the air, filling it with a steady stream of deliciously smelling steam. Venom eyed it with an unreadable expression. Taking it would mean, while maybe not straight up accepting an olive branch, at the very least willingness to do so, additionally on Peter's terms. The Symbiote wished to reach for it. Eddie would rather eat his own journalist notepad.

"One of Aunt May's best works," Peter almost sang the "o", shifting the weight of the cap in his hand and making the soup shimmer appetizingly.

Well, damn it.

Without a word(or eye-contact), they took the offered food. Again, they could sense Peter was smiling. They took a sip.

"...And here we were, beginning to think your words could actually be trusted," they said under their breath.

Peter raised up his arms defensively.

"Hold on there, I've never specify if I meant she cooked it... Or provided the recipe." The murderous look they sent him only made him laugh. "Come on, it's still pretty good, no?"

"It's...," A grimace formed on their face, but in the end Eddie couldn't find it in himself to lie. "Serviceable."

Another moment passed between them in silence. The Symbiote creeped down Eddie's face, allowing them to blow at the hot soup. While their (Eddie's) eyes stayed fixed on the cap, the whirling biomass "glanced" at Peter. He pulled the mask up for drinking, but the upper half of his face was still obscured, making it impossible to know if he was glancing their way too.

After a few more minutes filled with nothing but the sounds of the city flowing under their feet, Peter cleared his throat. His fingers drummed over the metal of thermos. The hollow sound vibrating through it made the Symbiote tense. Even after all this time, it still stayed a bit wary about the noises reminding it of the chiming bells.

“A pretty calm night we’re having, eh?” Peter prompted carefreely, as if he managed to drain the nervousness off his voice and magazine all of it in his restless hands.

They just stared at him, until he shifted uncomfortably in his place and sat the thermos down, to further wiggle his fingers.

“Right,” he mumbled, before letting out a sigh. “Right.” He put his hands into a small pyramid, tapping its top against his chin, as he rocked slightly back and forth. “Look… I… Well. I didn’t think you would treat my suggestion this seriously. And… get this upset.”

Eddie’s lips stretched down, exposing teeth. The strands of symbiote surrounding his neck like a collar began to draw up, billowing anxiously.

“Is this an exordium to an apology?” Eddie asked sharply.

“A wh-? Well, I guess-”

“Because if so,” he cut him off with a glare. “Then we’d advise you to start over, as this is the worst one we’ve had the displeasure of ever hearing.”

At the very last, they got his full attention. Peter's head snapped to face them. The yellow street lights reached the bottom of the eyes of his mask. Despite all reason, the color didn't seem warm at all, after resting on their mirror-like surface.

“What do you want me to do?” The irritation, previously pushed to the back, now started to bleed through, saturating his voice with a much more familiar hue.

“Well, what do you think?”

“I don’t know! That's why I'm asking!”

“Oh, you don’t?" Eddie's eyes narrowed, and he leaned into Peter's personal space, ultimately breaking the balance keeping the moment from falling into another fighting ring. "Then why won’t you cut a piece of us and put it under a microscope, hm? After all, that’d be the best way to understand us, no?”

Since the bottom of Peter's maska was resting on his nose bridge, they could see how his lips pressed into an almost white line, to the sound of teeth grinding against each other.

“For the- I’ve already said I’m sorry!”

“No, no you didn’t.”

“Yes, I did!”

“All you said was that we’re over-sensitive.”

“I don’t- that’s not what I meant.”

“No?”

“No! I-" Peter paused, to take a deep breath. He rested his palms down, and gripped the edge of the roof, bending down, as if in hope that swallowing the coldness of the night would cool him down. "Just. I’m sorry if you think what I said was… I don’t know, hurtful, alright?”

Hearing those words, the Symbiote let go of Eddie's lungs, to which it was clinging up until now and landed in a pile below his stomach. It bubbled up a little in relief.

Apologized. Okay now, no?

But apparently it was alone in its feelings.

"Hurtful, he says," Eddie let out a curt laugh, startling it. "If isn't that an amusing way to put it." His eyes, when he turned toward Peter were anything but amused. "Just tell it to us straight. You think we're over-reacting."

Eddie! Apologized! No need for this!

Its protests had as much influence on the ongoing scene as the wind blowing over the empty roofs.

"I," Peter forced through clenched teeth, "really don't feel like doing this tonight."

"Do you think we're over-reacting, Peter?" Eddie repeated, placing every word as if he was slamming steel font into paper.

"Maybe I do!" Peter finally snapped. "Maybe I do, in fact, think you're blowing things out of proportion, maybe I do think it's absurd that you're acting as if I want to vivisect you, maybe I am a bit upset that you've been ignoring me and acting as if I did something absolutely unforgivable, when I just asked to take some samples! Yeah, maybe I do!"

When he finished around his fingertips, digging into the cement like curled talons, spread a web of cracks. But Eddie didn't even notice that. He was glaring at Peter with eyes like icicles, and an expression just as cold.

"Unbelievable," he hissed through clenched teeth.

Not giving Peter the time to react, he got up, towering over him like a gigantic gargoyle.

"That's your takeaway? We don't agree to your every whim so suddenly we're the bad guy here?"

"It's not some whim!" Peter almost growled as he jumped to his feet as well. "Sometimes- Sometimes you're insufferable! Did it ever," he stabbed his finger into their chest, "ever, crossed your mind to, I don't know, look at things from other person's point of view?! To maybe consider you're just being selfish?!"

"Oh, so we're the selfish ones?!"

"Well, I wasn't ghosting you for three days, for the immense crime of trying to find any way to make this goddamn mishegas work!" he yelled, throwing his arms to the sides.

"Listen here, you self-entitled brat-!"

But before he could finish, the mass of tendrils up until now nervously flailing around his neck exploded like a geyser, enveloping his head in a tight hood. Peter's mouth opened in a gasp, but he didn't manage to utter even a word, before a tentacle glued it shut as well.

While Eddie pulled at the plasma stuck to his face, it split open, forming a maw going from one of his shoulders to the other. Peter stumbled back, almost falling. Only when the tentacle left his mouth, and the Symbiote streamed down, exposing the offended eyes of Eddie, did he calmed down.

"No more shouting," the alien quietly hissed. "Don't like shouting. Please?"

Eddie scowled, crossing his arms. Peter swallowed hard.

"Uh- Yeah, right, sorry about that," he mumbled, sounding a little taken aback.

"Don't like being hurt."

Peter's lips formed into an "o".

"Ah damn, did we really get this loud? Then, I'm really sorry. Didn't mean to- lose my temper this much." He cleared his throat, rubbing his hands stiffly.

With an unhappy grunt, Eddie's head swung side to side, strung along by his Other.

Its tentacles rested in a comforting manner over Eddie's head, simultaneously wrapping around his hands as well. It wasn't often that it took over the body they shared - but it could feel anger coursing through Eddie's veins and making his heart beat like a war drum. Talking in a state like this, which it could sense Peter sharing too, was bound to only make things worse. And it didn't want to meet with Peter only to further the rift the quarrel was forming between them. It curled inward a bit. It much preferred going along with the current formed by its host's will. When it pushed Eddie into facing Peter, it hoped he would make up with him without any further input of its own. One of its tentacles dripped down his face, caressing his rough features with tenderness and the slightest bit of exasperation.

It loved both of them. But it started to occur to it, that sometimes they acted rather... Stubbornly. Absolutely refusing to engage with each other in an actually productive manner. Which meant, that it probably should eventually start getting involved more. Even if it would prefer not to.

Speaking and acting for itself... Was hard.

Still, it had to at least try.

Peter can't read our mind, it shimmered inward. Humans can't read thoughts.

Eddie tensed and puffed up, taking on a pose of absolute offense and indignation. It petted his head once more.

"Don't like needles. Don't like being cut," the Symbiote said softly.

Letting out a sigh, Peter ran a hand down his face. When he spoke, his voice almost cracked, trying to close the gates on the flooding frustration. He seemed to intend to sound reassuring. What he came off as, brought to the mind a doctor at the end of his shift, explaining to a little kid that the bitter syrup he's prescribing them is absolutely not going to turn their tummy into a swamp.

"Jelly... You know that I would never hurt you. Come on, don't you trust me?"

The Symbiote hesitated, while choosing its next words. Eventually, it pulled its wide maw into just a small opening, before nearly whispering;

"Said don't want to be a specimen. But Peter wants to make us into it anyway"

And with those words, the tiny mouth sank back into its mass. Soon after it followed the collar of tentacles, previously stopping Eddie from interrupting it. He made an exaggerated grimace, and wiped his lips theatrically.

"I would much appreciate it if you didn't do that again," he huffed, receiving no answer.

His Other spread in curls along his organs, too nervous after speaking up to reply verbally. Instead it pushed forward an impression of a clarinet making tiny doots beside a massive, booming tuba. After that it went completely silent.

"That's not true," Eddie scoffed.

He didn't really listen for an answer though. Instead, his eyes wandered to the side, stealing a peak at Peter, who was now sitting slouched. His hands hung like tied in a knot, occasionally jerking up in the beginning of a gesture, before collapsing back down. He seemed to be in quite the conundrum. Which, in a way, was a promising sight and Eddie found himself curious as to what his response to his Other would ultimately be.

"...But I really wouldn't hurt you."

"Oh, you can't be serious!"

All the dimming agitation that was smoldering in his chest arose with twice the strength. And then, they fell, turning into a hissing bundle of tired frustration.

"All I'm saying is just that-" Peter attempted once more, but he silenced him with a gesture.

"That's enough." He crossed his arms, feeling the claws dig a little deeper than they usually would. "I- We just can't do this right now."

The breath they took did little to soothe their nerves. But maybe something like a hot shower would. And a bucket of chocolate ice cream. They turned away, about to jump off the roof. It looked like it was going to be a relatively peaceful night. They might as well spend the rest of it inside.

"Eddie! We're not done talking!" Peter shouted after them.

"We are."

From behind they could hear an annoyed groan that they didn't bother to respond to. While they walked away, their face shifted to sharp fangs and blank eyes. They didn't even look back - and maybe they should have, because before they could put a foot over the edge, they got tugged right back by a strand of web. With a muffled curse between their teeth, Eddie sent a sharp glare over their shoulder. His patience was running thin. If this was to keep on going, he would- He would have to stop themselves from doing something they would regret later. And he would stop themselves. But the longer he could feel the hollow mirrors over themselves, the harder it was going to be.

"Peter," he drawled out. "We're going to say this one more time. We're done. Please. While we're still civil."

They snapped the webline off. Peter didn't send another, but he made a step toward them. Eddie grit their teeth.

"Pe-"

"But this is important!"

The sincerity they didn't expect to resonate through his voice threw them off balance. For a moment, they froze. Peter dragged a hand down his face and then up it, pulling the mask with it. The eyes it exposed looked... Lost. He opened his mouth, taking in a breath, but the words he hoped to say didn't make it past his lips, tripping somewhere along the way and crushing down with a choked sigh. Eventually, he pressed his palms into his eyes, rubbing hard with another groan that grew into a full-on rant of muffled gibberish.

"I want this to work," he forced out finally, looking between his fingers. "This... THIS," he accentuated, pointing to the ground, "Is me trying to make it work. Okay? That's- there's no other motives attached to it. I'm trying to make this work. That's all."

Their heart clenched. Eddie wasn't sure if it was because the Symbiote grabbed onto it or... For some other reason. Maybe both.

For a while, Peter rocked on his heels. As always, his hands were restless, like two separate beings, perhaps, fittingly, a pair of spiders scattering around in twitching spurts. Eventually, one of said spurts sent them to their hands, landing onto them with all the anxiety and all the hope of a crashfall.

"You scare me,” he said, running his thumb over the inches of their claws. “I wish we could be over it, but we're not. Like this... Sometimes I'm still scared of you. But- But if you'd let me- If I could understand you, I know that would help. I know it."

"That's not what we're against," they quietly responded.

"Then what?"

"The -” Eddie squeezed their eyelids shut, overtaken by pure frustration. “Jesus. Peter, it's not that hard to understand!"

"Then explain it to me!” Peter let go of their hand, spreading his arms. “If it's so obvious, explain it to me!"

In this moment, Eddie just really wanted to grab his head between their claws and yell directly into his face, letter by letter enucleating how much of a block headed moron he was being. He didn’t do that. But what he shouted was dripping with the need and intention of it.

"The scalpels, Peter! The syringes, the microscopes-! Turning into a- another science project of yours, treating us like a freak to research and experiment on!"

"How else am I supposed to learn about you then?!" Peter screamed back, matching their exasperation to the t.

"Just be with us!" They grabbed Peter's hand, despite the fact he flinched away the moment they approached, and pressed it against their chest, against their heart. "Look at us! Touch us! That's what we are. " Their voice grew soft and almost begging. Like a plea for Peter to not take his hand away. To meet their eyes and at least try to seek for the humanity in them, even if he was failing to see it. "This." They squeezed his hand. "Not some cells under a microscope. This."

For a while, Peter stood with his head hanging low. He stared at his palm, right beside the head of the white spider symbol. At the tendrils gently reaching up from it, growing past his wrist, past the elbow, to rest on his cheek. His breath hitched. He didn't look up.

But he didn't back away either.

"...okay."

It was uncertain, and rough, and quiet. They almost didn't hear it, as he leaned forward, resting his forehead at the center of their chest. His arms trembled a bit, when he reached up and then even more, when he dug them deep into the Symbiote.

"Okay."

The kiss that came afterward was both the most natural thing and the most possibility awkward. It was their worst yet, probably. Their mouths didn't fit together like that; not when it came to the kisses that were sweet and tender, anyway. It was nice, though. In its own way. And maybe that could be enough of a start.

#spidervenom #eddie brock #peter parker #venom #spider man #venom symbiote #spideyvenom #fanfiction #my writing

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xpeachesncream · 3 years

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bands | thirteen

[ series masterlist ]

summary: jeon jungkook has it all: the looks, the fame, the money, the women. being considered the sexiest man in the industry, he finds no complaints about the way his life is going nor does he find any reason to apologize for the way he approaches it. he is a force to be reckoned with - until he meets you.

pairing: stripper!reader x idol!jjk

genre: (18+) strip club/nightlife au, post grad au | fluff, angst, smut

words: 3.9k

warnings: cussing, mature language/implied sexual content, slight degradation, trouble stirring behind the scenes if you squint, yeonjun and soobin (txt) make an appearance but also as reg 18 yr olds lol

tags: @brightcolorsoffendme @min-nicoleee @eggbutnotyolk @ra-mun-e @miinoongi @jimidol @ppeachyttae @thebeebi @bluesharksandfish @kooafraid @liriaus @thisartemisnevermisses @ggukkieland @preciouschimine @sunniejinnie @cypheruby @cyb3rbab3 @masterlists101 @awhnamjoon @redhedhoseok @wooya1224 @taeismydeath @jikookiekosmos @un2-verse @aynsx @wearenot7withu (please message me if you would like to be added to the taglist!)

"BTS' Jeon Jungkook rumored to be dating stripper from nightclub!"

"Jungkook is no longer single, ladies!"

"Jeon Jungkook is dating a stripper? Why the hell is he doing that?"

"Who the hell does she think she is? I bet she's not even pretty."

"Jungkook fell for a stripper? Out of all people? Damn, and I thought he was better than that."

Jungkook has been tired, the rumors constantly being spread day in and day out. But, it still didn't mean he was gonna say shit to prove himself to people out there. He didn't need to give anybody answers. Hell, this was strictly between you and him and that's how he wants to keep it.

Fuck every single one of you who didn't wanna be behind him and support him. Don't even think about calling yourself a fan of his if that's your mindset.

He could truly care less. He was happy and he felt ten times better than he has in a really long time. It's unfortunate how people love to stay narrow minded. The only thing that bothered him was the fact that it was so unfair for you - how they stuck to that stripper image, rather than really getting to know you beneath the surface.

But it's not like anyone else deserved to know the real you, not after all this shit. And he was gonna keep it that way, and protect you.

"Hey, don't listen to any of that shit, okay?" Jungkook says as he meets you in your car in the BigHit building garage. "None of that matters to me."

"I know, but Kook." You look at him. "Your career, BigHit literally might not even want me here and-and—"

"Then I'll make sure they understand it's not an issue, because it's really fucking not." He says, getting irritated only at the thought of the company giving him issues over you. He watches as you slightly frown, causing him to sigh and soften his own facial expression. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get worked up like that. It's just annoying how people are narrow-minded. This has absolutely nothing to do with you." You give him a small smile. "Come on, I'll walk you." You silently nod and hop out of your car. You follow beside him, your stomach in knots having to meet with their performance director. This meant you'd also most likely run into the rest of Bangtan.

In which happens to turn true pretty quickly.

"Jungkookie!" Hoseok says loudly down the hallway as he approaches the both of you. He does nothing besides smile, curiosity definitely filling his eyes.

"This is Y/N. Y/N, Hoseok hyung." He holds out his hand for you to shake, his head tilting ever so slightly because you know he's familiar with your face. He's just trying to remember from where. Or, he has recognized you, but he's trying his hardest not to say anything.

Cause they have seen all of you, especially in that fishnet bodysuit.

"Hi! Nice to meet you! You can call me Hobi for short. Are you meeting with someone?" You nod.

"Yeah." Is all you can reply with as you shyly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear.

"Nice, goodluck!"

"Is everyone else here?" Jungkook asks, making Hobi nod.

"Yeah, but they're still running through some stuff in the dance studio. I just ran off to take a break."

"Okay." Jungkook looks at you. "Follow me, he's in one of the private studio rooms." You both part ways from Hoseok, the need to clutch onto Jungkook's arm immensely strong right now. You hold yourself off though, because even with passing a few female staff members, you catch them looking at you oddly with the way you're walking side by side with Jungkook.

Nope. Don't even think about it, Y/N. It doesn't matter.

Jungkook knocks softly on a door, the middle of it being made up of entirely frosted glass so it's difficult to see inside. Their performance director opens the door swiftly and welcomes you in with a warm smile, stepping aside to let you in.

"I've got it from here, Jungkookie. Thank you." Jungkook nods but tries to peek through the door to get one last glimpse of your face before he shuts it fully. "How are you doing, Y/N?" He sits in front of you, leaning onto his knees with his hands fully clasped together.

"I'm good. How are you?"

"Good, tired." He chuckles. "Thanks for taking my call earlier and for meeting at such short notice on a weekend. I had a couple of things come up and didn't want to push things off until later." You smile.

"It's no problem."

"Jungkook tells me a lot about you."

"Does he now?" You chuckle and tilt your head to the side.

"Says you're a really good person. Super hardworking. Told me a little bit about your situation with your brother."

"Mmyeah, it's a little complicated."

"It's alright, no need to get into the details." He smiles before letting out a small sigh. "It's incredibly rare for me to hear Jungkook speak like that. In general. He's usually very closed off, doesn't like to let people in much. He really respects you, you know? Cares about you a whole lot." You slightly blush.

"I'm still getting used to it." He chuckled.

"Look, I know you've been worrying because of where you've been and all that, but I want to reassure you that none of it matters. I don't like to focus on all that. You're here as you, not her." He says, putting another pronoun to your stripper persona.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." He nods. There's a small pause before he begins to speak again.

"I could really use some help around here if you're still interested? The boys are becoming a lot for me to handle."

"Ah-uh, yeah! Of course I am." You found yourself stuttering at the sudden offer. Was this fucking real?! "But, you are aware of where me and Jungkook are at, right?" You ask, trying to be completely transparent and honest about their relationship. He nods and waves his hand out.

"As long as you keep it professional here, right?" You nod.

"Right."

"Come, let me show you around really quickly and have you formally meet the boys." You swallowed the lump in your throat. Fucking great. He definitely didn't know they've all seen your titties and pussy out during Yoongi's birthday, and now here you were - about to meet them again in this environment. Hobi was awkward enough even though he tried not to be.

Surprisingly, Jungkook wasn't waiting outside in the hallway like you thought he would be, but the tour commences and the PD is taking you around pretty quickly. You feel even more awkward and somewhat alone [even though you weren't] without Jungkook nearby, but you chug along and say your hello's to the people you're introduced to. He finally brings you into the dance studio, where there's loud ass music blasting, Jungkook, the boys and some backup dancers in front of the mirrors fooling around.

"Aye boys, come here real quick." You and Jimin lock eyes and your body suddenly gets tense. The room feels 10x hotter than it already is, especially when he slowly walks over and clenches his jaw. He is literally seeping with hate right now, maybe actually disgust, and he doesn't even try to hide it. Most of them for sure recognize you, but they seem to brush it off and give you a big wave/smile anyway.

"Last, that's Jimin - Jimin, Y/N." You give Jimin a fake smile, and the only thing his ass can reciprocate is the smallest, tight-lipped smile you have ever seen. You've never even seen your mom do that when she got mad or upset with you.

"Hi." Is all you can say.

"Sup." He looks at you before turning on his heel and walking away.

"Ooookay?" Namjoon furrows his brows as he watches Jimin walk away so rudely. "The hell was that about?"

"I knew that was Kookie's girlfriend! Maybe Jiminie remembers seeing her titties and shit too, needs to walk away before he gets his ass beat by him." Yoongi says lowly behind Namjoon.

"Yeah, like you're any better." Namjoon says, looking at Yoongi weirdly.

"I mean, we did see her practically naked." Jin says, chiming into the discussion.

"I touched her." Yoongi's mouth slightly hangs down. "I touched her."

"Go ahead, say it louder so Kookie can hear you." Jin nods sarcastically. "Go, say it!"

"No, stop." Yoongi's cheeks turn red while shaking his head and laughing. "He'll literally launch me out the window with one hand."

"Good."

"You asked for her to sit on your lap too, bro!"

"I was joking, and it's not like she did it anyway!"

"Whatever, I'm keeping my birthday deep in my memory storage."

"Clean slate for her so it should be for you too, my guy." Namjoon says as he has enough of their conversation.

You look at Jungkook who is silently standing there, looking like a big dork with a huge smile on his face and his thumbs up. You give him the tiniest nod before proceeding to follow the PD out.

"So?!" Jungkook dashes to meet you in their waiting room area, where an abnormally large picture of Jimin posing oddly hung up.

"He said he'll send me all the info and papers and stuff!" You respond excitedly as Kook hugs you and quickly swings you around.

"See, I knew it would work out!" He puts you down. "Are you gonna tell Kai?" You shook your head.

"Not today at least, it's his birthday and I don't wanna take away from that. It's his day." Jungkook smiles at you.

"Text me when you've picked him up? I should be home by then."

"Okay." You blush and back away, making Jungkook look at you with confusion. "I have to keep it professional here, duh."

"Ah I see." He chuckles. "That won't last very long."

"Jungkook." You whine.

"There's a lot of private rooms here and—"

"I'm not listening, sorry. I think Kai is suddenly calling me." You cover your ears as you begin to walk away, giving him one last smile before leaving him to the rest of rehearsals and whatever else they're doing. He laughs to himself as he waves you off, excited to get through the day so he can just spend time with you and Kai.

As the hours go on and it's about time for you to pick Kai up, you quickly stop by the store because you're a procrastinator and didn't buy Kai's birthday gift any earlier. You felt bad you weren't able to find the shoes he wanted, but you at least snagged the video game he had been talking about for a couple of days now. Before walking into the arcade, you made sure to write your birthday card and slip some more money into it before shoving it in your bag to give to him later.

"Your pretty sister is here." Yeonjun grabs Kai by the shoulder as he finishes up a game.

"Yeah, and you're too young for her."

"Age is nothing but a number. It's only like.. 6 years apart."

"Besides, she's taken, dude. Sorry." Kai snorts as he watches Yeonjun's smile fade. "You would have never had the chance."

"You're mean."

"I'm mean, or you just have really high, unrealistic expectations?" The rest of their friends laugh as they follow Kai over to you.

"Hey!" You smile at all his friends.

"Hiiiiii Y/N." They all say in unison, some waving in awe, while the others shyly dug their hands into their pockets. "Birthday boy, you all good to go? Got some good Loco Moco waiting for you."

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Happy birthday again, Kai! Get online later!" Soobin yells out.

"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving them off as he follows you out to your car.

"You guys run through the entire arcade?" Kai laughs.

"Pretty much." He sinks into his seat, legs damn near touching the glove compartment with how long he is. "I'm honestly so excited for Loco Moco. It's been years!"

"It has not been that long." You laughed.

"You're right, it's been months." Kai looks out the window. "Wait, you're passing the road to get to our go-to shop though?"

"Cause I found a better place."

"How is there a better place when that one was already supreme?!"

"Hey, trust me on this okay?" You laugh. Kai starts telling you about his day and how so many people he knew from school had been messaging him happy birthday. He truly looked his happiest today and it was all you could ask for. Though at the same time, your heart slightly sank at the fact that he'd be going off to uni soon and staying at the dorms. He was just growing up way too fast, and you wanted to spend as much time as you could with him now before he was too occupied being a college boy.

You slipped yourself past Jungkook's security, parking in the one guest spot they have in the garage that's closest to the elevator. Kai doesn't really question it and hops out anyway, his hands in his pockets as he follows you into the elevator and onto Jungkook's floor.

"You ready, kid?"

"Is this some like, Michelin Star Loco Moco restaurant?"

"Ah, I guess you could say that." You knocked on the door, hearing music playing in the background. Jungkook opens the door and Kai's eyes widen.

"Oh shit, that's Jungkook?" Kook laughs and steps aside to let you both in. "Sis why—what—how come you didn't tell me we were seeing your boyfriend? I look like a mess!" He says lowly.

"You don't!"

"Hey Kai! Happy Birthday!" Jungkook says smiling, making Kai actually blush. He's cheeks are tinted with a rosy color and he suddenly gets all shy.

"Thanks."

"Your brother's tall." Jungkook looks at him up and down.

"Looking at an 18 year old 6 footer."

"Must be nice."

"Go sit." Kai silently nods as he sits awkwardly on Kook's couch, while you go and check in on him in the kitchen.

"Is he always that shy?"

"No. Just with you, apparently. He's not even that shy around girls." You chuckle as he places a quick kiss on your head. "Need my help?" You still ask even though the plates are neatly prepared already.

"Not really." He smiles down at you. "You hungry though?"

"Starving, actually." Your eyes light up at the plates. "Ouuuuuu, yum."

"Honestly, I think this batch might be better than my first."

"Still honored to be your guinea pig." You carry a plate over to Jungkook's coffee table in the living room.

"Oh shit, that looks amazing." Kai says, slipping himself down from the couch to the floor so he could get a good whiff of the plate. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook hands you the remote before walking into his room. "Pick something."

"Here, birthday boy. Help me choose."

"Let's watch Soul on Disney+." At this point, Jungkook comes out of his room with a wrapped present, his eyes locked on the TV.

"Ooh, I keep seeing this everywhere! Niceeeee." Jungkook says, smiling with Kai nodding and already digging into his plate. "By the way, this is for you." You shoot him a look as he sits on the floor by you, watching as Kai unwraps the present. Kai's eyes light up as he sees a shoebox underneath the wrapping, quickly flipping the lid open to reveal those blue Air Jordans he wanted.

"Kook?!" You say lowly, making him smile at you and gently pinch your side.

"Holy shit!" He holds out a shoe, only for him to immediately shake his head and close the box again. "Jungkook, I can't take this." Kai says.

"No, it's your birthday."

"Yeah, but isn't this expensive? You've already done so much for me and my sister, I-I don't want to—"

"Kai, it's cool. If it's one thing you can do to repay me, it's to take my present." You literally want to cry at how sweet Jungkook is being with your brother. He had been good to you, no doubt, but this was one thing you didn't expect from him at all. Quite frankly, you had forgotten you mentioned the shoes to him. The fact that he actually remembered and kept his word.

"Okay." Kai says, gently setting the box down aside before looking at Jungkook with a small smile on his face. "Thank you. I really appreciate it. Like, even with the food and everything. It means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." You give him a soft smile before digging into your food while Soul was already off to a start. Kai and Jungkook devour their food together, with you following shortly behind as Jungkook brings over a small ice cream cake from his fridge for Kai to blow his candles on. After the boys had helped themselves to a good serving of the cake, they started getting hyper and pulled up Smash Bros on Kook's Nintendo Switch [as if Kai hadn't played enough games today]. It started to get intense; the boys jumping and yelling everywhere, bouncing off of the walls, with you getting pulled into the competition every now and then. Even though you knew you'd lost over and over again, you happily joined in anyway, seeing how excited your brother was - plus, it was always a bonus to hear Jungkook's loudly obnoxious, nerdy laugh.

"I WIN!"

"Hey, hey, hey. I let you win because it's your birthday." Jungkook said, making Kai laugh as he crashed to the floor.

"Sure." Kai huffed and puffed. "Crap, I'm tired. What time is it?"

"Almost midnight. We should start heading out, bubba." You patted Kai's chest gently.

"What? No, it's late. Why don't you two just stay here?" You suddenly remembered you've had Kai's shit in your trunk since you dropped him off at Yeonjun's this morning. You didn't have any change of clothes, but that could easily be fixed with Jungkook's closet.

"Only if the queen wants, she's driving."

"It's late, baby." Jungkook says to you softly. "No way I'm letting you two head out there."

"Okay." You give him a small smile before handing your keys. "Can you do me a favor?" He chuckles.

"What is it?"

"Kai's duffle bag is in my trunk." He nods and takes your keys.

"I got it. Kai, you can take the guest room or my office room." Jungkook says with his 3-bedroom apartment having ass. "I have my computer in my office room though, and a pull out bed. I don't know how comfy you'll be."

"It's cool, I'll just take your guest room. I always bring my laptop and switch whenever I sleep at my sister's." Kai says getting up. "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Jungkook says, toothlessly smiling at the both of you, completely endeared at how alike you two were - even down to the fact that you both said thank you for every little thing. If this was a result of Kai being close to you and having you as pretty much his mother figure, then Jungkook wouldn't know what to do with his feelings. He felt butterflies every time he thought about how cute and sweet you were, and he was always excited to be around you.

Jungkook does a quick jog to your car, grabbing Kai's Nike duffle from your trunk before jogging back to the elevator and back to his apartment. He walks in to see Kai helping you clean up the remaining dishes in the sink, tidying the rest of the things in his kitchen.

"Thank you." Jungkook says himself, a little unfamiliar with saying such a thing to be completely honest.

"You're welcome." You say softly, wiping your hands on his hand towel. "Off to bed, or are you gonna go online with your friends?"

"I'll see what they're up to, but I'm pretty beat. Today was fun." Kai smiles at the both of you. "I really appreciate it." You ruffle his hair a bit before gently pushing him towards his bedroom for the night.

"Bathroom's right over there, help yourself to anything you need."

"Don't stay up too late."

"Only if you aren't too loud." You gasp while Jungkook laughs out loud.

"Kai!"

"Hey, I'm just being honest. Please remember that I'm right in this room."

"Oh my god, go to bed." You shove him inside the room and shut his door. "Don't even say a word." You look at Jungkook shyly as you hurriedly brush past him to get into his room - even though Jungkook is literally right behind you with those long ass legs of his, making every stride so much easier for him to catch up to you.

"What's your outfit of choice tonight, pretty lady?" He shuts his door behind him as you start to make your way into his closet.

"Hm, I'll just wear this plain black--" You unfold it. "Balenciaga? Okay, I definitely can't just wear this to sleep."

"Why not?"

"Because this is like, name brand and everything."

"So?" He shrugs. "Just wear it, babygirl. It's not gonna make much of a difference, you're wearing it either way." You do a slight pout before you start to slip out of your clothes to get into his shirt. You make his way to his bathroom to take a little tinkle when you notice another toothbrush sitting next to his. A pink toothbrush, next to his blue one.

"Why do you have two toothbrushes?" You wash your hands as he comes in to the bathroom to start getting ready for bed.

"That's yours." Your eyes light up at his statement.

"Mine?"

"I figured since you'd be over more, it'd be easier for you." He furrows his brows lightly. "Unless.. you didn't want--" You press a kiss against his lips, his hands resting on your arms to keep you close.

"No, I did want that. Thank you."

"Of course, baby." He pecks your forehead.

"By the way, way to make me look like such a bad sister!" You say as you start getting your toothbrush ready.

"Why? The shoes?"

"The shoes, the Loco Moco, the games, the ice cream cake." You laughed. "I literally got him a video game and some money."

"I mean, he is turning 18. I wanted to help make it as memorable as possible."

"I appreciate you a lot. Really."

"I appreciate you too." Your eyes widen as you brush your teeth.

"Waaaaow, say thaht wun mohr tiyme." You say, pulling a Jungkook while brushing your teeth.

"Eye apprushiate yoh toh." You giggle. The both of you finish getting ready for bed before slipping into his warm sheets. Jungkook never goes to sleep early, however, he makes sure all the lights are off and that the show he's watching isn't too loud. You have no idea what's going on in his show, but you lay on his chest to watch for a little bit until you feel yourself getting a little more sleepy. He's holding you close, his hand brushing through your hair softly, causing tingles to ripple through your body.

"Kook."

"Yes, baby?"

"You make me happy." You say sleepily as you hung him tighter. He smiles down at you, your eyes now shut close as you slowly start to drift into a deep sleep. He presses a light kiss against your head, fingers still in your hair.

"You make me happy too, sweetheart."

556 notes · View notes

cloveroctobers · 3 years

Text

LEVEL 1 — Perception

A/n: to make things easier due to my hectic work schedule...I’m deciding on writing blurbs or short fics for right now, to get content out in a timely manner. I’m open to writing pairings but I notice those don’t get that much attention but I’m attempting to do so anyways...at least at the start of this series which is absolutely inspired by we’re not really strangers. I love the game, it’s very personal and intense so if you have the chance, get it if you’re open to connecting with the people you care about in a passionate way. I’ve also decided to make the characters a little bit older...college wise/around the actors ages based on these questions lol even tho these teens are already dramatic + have a lot going on.

Synopsis: a interviewer that Spencer is very familiar with, Rochelle Mosley has resurfaced to complete her senior year project at Claremont as a journalist. Rochelle is all about going big and never going home, so the first person on her list is one of the guy’s that intrigued her the most not so long ago. So she reached out to Thee Spencer James and to put the word out to anyone else that might be interested. And here we are!

::: S. James + O. Baker ::: All to me

Rochelle is seen running her finger over her pearly whites, making sure they’re squeaky clean after eating her brunch which consisted of a poached egg, an açaí bowl, served with lemon water. She already spent twenty minutes brushing her teeth and whitening them last night to prepare for this moment. She knew this idea would guarantee her nothing but a A+. She had friends from the film department around helping her with the equipment and due to this Panasonic it made things chaotic opposed to having this interview face to face.

Rochelle knew that she could have at least met with Spencer for his half but decided to do what he was comfortable with. She wouldn’t push any boundaries...yet. Regardless it would have to be a video call since Olivia attended MassArt and appeared that she would not be coming back to California any time soon, according to her insta stories that is.

Nonetheless Rochelle knew how to negotiate so here she was working on their terms. With a sigh, she straightened out her posture, fixed the waves in her hair, reapplied some matte lipstick—again, glanced around her to make sure she liked her set up and eyed her friends to make sure they were doing what they were getting paid for, and plastered on a commercial smile as she connected the video call waiting on her two guests.

It only took a minute for Spencer’s face to pop in.

“Spencer!” Rochelle greeted which he replied with slight raised brows and a smile at her volume, “so glad you can be here and punctual at that.”

Spencer answered, “well you know, if I agreed to be something I don’t want to waste anybody’s time ya know?”

“Always the wise one aren’t you?” Rochelle commented before continuing on, “how are things? How is UCLA?”

“I really like it here, uh. I’m almost done with my sophomore year, but with the way things are looking right now? Might have to switch to remote this spring semester...we’re all basically on standby at the moment. It’s crazy times but we gon’ get through it, I know it.” Spencer chatted with ease.

Rochelle was multitasking looking to the side at her phone to keep track of time. Olivia Baker was five minutes late now, which was slowly working Rochelle’s nerves. The girl had her number and although they didn’t talk much through texts or through anything really, it was common courtesy to let someone know if you were going to be late or couldn’t make it.

“Yes! We have to keep a optimistic attitude as best as we can. I hope you’re being safe out there?” Rochelle met Spencer’s eyes, after silently debating if she should send Miss. Olivia a text.

Spencer dipped his head, “absolutely. And yourself?”

“Oh yes, honey. This thing is ruining lives unexpectedly but it’s insane to me that people believe this isn’t real. It’s the denial for me. Especially here in California! Then when they catch it, it’s suddenly a different tune. Sure the numbers might be a little questionable but not too much is a lie. Read the facts, do the research. But—

Olivia showed up. Eight minutes later...

Rochelle forced a smile, “Olivia Baker! How nice of you to join us.”

“I know, I know. I’m super late and I’m sure you don’t want to hear the excuses so let’s just dive right into this social experiment project thing you have going on. Sorry by the way.” Olivia rambled which Spencer chuckled at.

Olivia paused, “hey, Spencer.”

“Hey, Liv.”

Rochelle picked up on the chemistry or tension or whatever you want to name it. It was all still there and oh so fresh. She knew this would be good and knew they had to be the first on her list. Sure Rochelle maybe a year or two older than these two but she also had friends that were younger and gossipers like her so she always had the inside scoop when she needed it. So yes, she knew all about spelivia.

“How’s Boston?” Rochelle asked politely, breaking the two’s stare contest.

Olivia inhaled, “it’s better than California, that’s for sure. It feels like I’m getting a fresh new start and it’s just what I needed.”

“Yeah i see you’re at your best there. You seem to be thriving.”

“well yeah, because it’s new. Sometimes you need to get away, I mean I’ve been in California for eighteen years of my life. I always knew I wanted to be somewhere else...don’t get me wrong, California is still very much my home.”

Nice save there, Olivia.

Rochelle clasped her hands together with a wide smile after a small silence filled the air after Olivia’s statement.

“Moving right along, I’ve sent the both of you a series of questions that you both should have received correct?”

Spencer pulled the padded envelope from the side and waved it in front of camera. Rochelle smiled at how organized this guy was and shifted her glance to Olivia who widened her doe brown eyes.

“Ah, yeah I’ve got that. It should be around here somewhere? Hopefully. If it’s not then it’s definitely in the car.” Olivia pointed.

Rochelle sighed, “very well. Please proceed on retrieving the envelope, it’s crucial to this interview.”

Olivia scooted back from the desk and held up a finger as she disappeared from the screen. Rochelle turned back to the brown boy who was toying with the tan object.

“Have you read any of the questions, Spencer James?”

“I really haven’t had the time to, no.”

“Great!” Rochelle quipped, “this will make this experience truly authentic.”

Spencer thought about what was said, wondering where this would get him. He understood what Rochelle informed him in the email and she answered all of his questions. He knew this wouldn’t strictly be about him and Olivia since he invited his friends along for the ride as well.

“Please open the envelope as we wait on Olivia. BUT only read the first question on the first card, we don’t want you to get too far ahead of yourself since that wouldn’t be fair to Olivia.” Rochelle instructed while Spencer took a small inhale before doing so.

Spencer read over the card, his eyes flying over the words as he read them pretty quickly. He hummed at that which Rochelle began to question him on but Olivia announced her presence.

“I’ve got it!” She let out in a sang-song voice.

“Olivia, please open the envelope but only read your first card’s question. Spencer has already done so while we were waiting for you,” Rochelle instructed before turning back to the sophomore, “Spencer, whenever you’re ready please read the question and answer.”

How would the person closest to you describe you in three words?

Olivia halted as she pulled out her own card as Spencer showed the card while reading it from the side.

“I’d think they would say I’m...compassionate, hardworking, and...loving?” Spencer announced, taking his time on thinking that over.

It was Rochelle’s turn to hum as she asked, “Do you agree with his choices, Olivia?”

Olivia was confused. “W-what?”

“Would you say Spencer is: compassionate, hardworking, and loving?”

Olivia quickly recovered, “we don’t know if Spencer is referring to me on that question.”

“Spencer, when answering this question who are you saying is the closet person to you?”

“I—uh—I consider a handful of people that are close to me.” Spencer expressed, “but I’d be lying if I didn’t say Olivia isn’t the first person that came to mind. Even though there’s a shift right now in our...relationship due to the distance—among other things...we’re still the closest and that speaks for itself.”

Rochelle gave a smug smile as she looked at Olivia who opened and closed her mouth. Before Rochelle could encourage Olivia to read her question, she already went forth after clearing her throat a few times.

What reality show do you think I’m most likely to binge watch? Explain.

Olivia peered up at Spencer.

“Oh? I’m supposed to answer this about her now? Aight. Lemme see...i don’t know you seem to find a lot of free time to watch things...maybe it’s a film major thing? Months ago you were watching ‘I love New York, then you told me you and Simone were watching ‘Love is Blind’ or—

“It was actually ‘married at first sight’.” Olivia cut in.

Spencer widened his eyes and pointed at the screen with a small laugh, “that makes sense.”

“Why?” Rochelle wanted to know.

Spencer’s answer was firm, “that’s not our business to tell.”

Rochelle scribbled a quick note on that, ruling these two out on that question to ask later. She made sure to circle Simone’s name and put a question mark next to it.

“To answer your previous question,” Spencer redirected the interview back, “since a lot of these were love reality shows...I know that’s not the only genre you watch and you listen to a lot of podcasts. So I’m gonna say this show called, ‘alone.’”

Olivia blinked.

Rochelle waved her hands as she signaled for one of her friends to find the show on the laptop they were on, “have you watched this show, Spencer? And please elaborate on why you chose this show for Olivia?”

“No I haven’t. I only saw the trailer for it randomly when I was on YouTube watching lebron’s greatest moments clips.” Spencer replied earning a snort from Olivia and a eye-roll from Rochelle, “I picked that show because Liv feels that way, always. Like she’s never been seen before, truly seen. And this show tests these guys to survive on their own in the wilderness, putting not only their bodies but their minds through a lot. It’s mainly about survival that much I gained from the trailer. Liv’s always been a loner for as long as I’ve known her and feels that’s how she knows how to survive by doing it all on her own when she doesn’t have to. I see that and I understood that from my first day at Beverly.”

...

#all american #spelivia #Spencer James #Olivia Baker #all american cw #spencer x olivia

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killmongerkink · 5 years

Text

11:37 PM - Part 3.

Summary: Erik and you meet up at an unlikely location.

Pairing: Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens X Black!Reader

Warning: oral sex & fluff.

Length: 5k

BTW: i really wasn't planning on continuing this series. i kinda fell out of love with it, but then i reread my work and it made me want to write all over again lol. i’ll try not to take so long with writing these next few parts :/. enjoy and sorry for any typos!

CATCH UP: part 1 / part 2

MASTERLIST

"So, who's that broad you been chillin' with?"

Erik's attention was momentarily pulled from the game as Aaron questioned him. Him and his boys had been in the house for most of the day, deciding to meet up and chill since they didn't have shit else to do on a Saturday. It was Erik's day off at Acuity Brands where he was the lead data engineer, Lo had pulled a double shift to get the day off and Aaron didn't know the definition of a job, so it was a unanimous decision to link up.

"Chill with that broad shit man, she got a name."

"Well you won't tell us her name, so what the fuck else are we supposed to call her?" Lo replied, his head still stuck in his phone as he watched some rap battle on Twitter.

"Y'all ain't got to know her name, just know it ain't broad. Have some respect."

Aaron gave Lo a look in which Lo returned, before they both busted out laughing. Erik sat back, unamused by the two men. They had been questioning him since they got to his crib about the new girl he had been seen walking home a few times. He should've known niggas on the block couldn't mind their damn business. It's not that he had a problem with people seeing you with him, he just didn't want others knowing about what he had going on or trying to get to know you. You were the only thing in his life that he didn't have to share. When it came to his job, he shared that with his co-workers and uptight boss. When it came to his apartment, he shared that with the few close friends he had. When it came to you .. you were his. Not in the sense of you being his girl or anything like that, but he appreciated the fact that he was the only person you really knew here besides your Uncle and classmates. He was the one that got to walk you home, take you to all the dope mom and pops shops and show you the hidden foot spots around Harlem. The last thing he wanted was you getting close to someone else because then he'd be on the back burner. No longer would you need him to walk you home and he wouldn’t be able to see your face light up when he showed you something new due to someone else beating him to it. He'd be damned if that happened. His eyes shifted over to Aaron doing a broke down version of the woah and Lo hyping him up, especially not these niggas.

Erik wasted no time pulling out his phone and searching for your Instagram. It had been a while since he saw you, a week and a half to be exact. He didn't hit up the gas station these past couple days because he didn't really have anything to get, and he could only eat so many donuts and snickers before his body would start paying for it. During those days, he kept up with you via social media which wasn't much since you barely posted. Neither did he, but shit ... he wanted to know what you were up to. He could've just DM'd you since he didn't have your number. The realization making him pause, why didn't he have your number? He was gonna make sure he got that shit the next time he saw you. He could see you now, being all shy and awkward after he asked and the thought made him chuckle.

"What's so funny? Yo' ass being all quiet and shit. You lookin' at titties?" Aaron eyed Erik suspiciously, leaning back and craning his neck to look at his phone screen.

"Yo, you ever mind your business?" Lo quipped back. "Now you know E private. I'm surprised his ass even got us in his crib, you know he be acting like he got the secret formula and shit in here." Lo shook his head, eyes still glued to his phone.

Since Lo had been cool with Erik before Aaron, he knew him better. Erik didn't like people in his personal business or space, close friend or not, and if you began to ask one too many questions, he'd get suspicious quickly. Everyone knew that, but there were some people that just couldn't get the hint or just didn't give a damn and that was Aaron.

"Y'all so sensitive, acting like my gotdamn momma. I just know y'all better change them attitudes by tonight. You know his girl Tae having a kickback and we gotta be in there.” He pointed towards E, a quick “she ain’t my girl” leaving Erik’s lips. “She bringing all her homegirls from her campus and you know what that means." Aaron rubbed his hands together, a sly grin on his face as all three men exchanged a blur of ayeeeee's and yeeerrrrrr's.

The apartment was pretty packed when Erik and his boys arrived. Most people already had drinks or a blunt in their hand, some boo'd up on the couch while others played dice and beer pong. When a few eyes noticed their presence, they were met with daps and laughs. A few random girls came up, offering to make them drinks and they nodded along, not dumb enough to refuse being served.

They all made their way through the numerous bodies, standing by the kitchen entrance where Tae was talking loudly to a few friends. Erik had met her at a party a year or so back, and since then she’d been around. He threw her one of his signature smiles, knowing that it would make up for him curving her for these past couple weeks. It wasn't as if he was doing it on purpose, he just had more important shit to do with more important people. She acknowledged his smile by rolling her eyes and turned back to her conversation. He stayed put, knowing that she was trying hard not to walk over to him. He was pretty sure she already dogged him out to her friends, hence why they were all trying to look at him without being obvious. All it took was one of the randoms to hand him a drink before Tae was walking up.

"Hey Neicy, the girls in there need some help. Would you mind?" Her eyebrow rose, silently challenging the girl to not obey.

"Uh, sure thing." She nodded, looking at Erik one last time before shuffling back into the kitchen.

Tae turned to him, sighing heavily as if the last place she wanted to be was here. While she was busy putting on a show, he took the opportunity to really look at her. It was easy to write her off since she was away at school, but now that she was back for the weekend he was planning on making it up to her. It didn't hurt that she looked even better than the last time he saw her.

"You been giving my shit away?"

Tae gave him a confused look before catching onto to his comment. Her shoulders bounced, her drink sloshing in her red solo cup. She knew that he wasn't one that was fond of someone else being in his shit, something he had made known when they first fucked. Word got around quick here and since he hadn't heard anything, he figured she was behaving herself at college. Tae looked over her shoulder, pleased that everyone was occupied in their own little world and looked back at Erik, saying nothing as she grabbed his hand and walked him back towards her bedroom.

Erik relaxed at the end of the bed, careful not to spill his drink on himself while he leaned back and rested his weight on his elbows. He stared up at the ceiling for a second, wondering what you were doing. Probably home, catching up on work or watching Netflix. Tae's hands made quick work of his belt and jeans, pulling them down to his knees along with his boxers. A few seconds later, she made herself busy by licking a broad stripe along the length of his dick, going back and forth with no hands. She craned her neck to the side, using her tongue to lift the weight of his head before his dick was sinking into her warmth. Releasing a sigh, he felt tension flow from his body and into her mouth. It had been a minute since he got some head. He wasn't one to just lay down with anybody, so he kept a select few around that he could depend on. One of his favorites was Tae, but that changed when she started handing out ultimatums. She knew what it was since the beginning and that he wasn't in the correct mindspace for anything too serious. All Erik wanted was a girl he could chill with and fuck, all that extra shit didn't interest him. When he was told "either you cuff me or I'm not fucking with you anymore", he took that as his hint to dip on her, but it wasn't long before she was right back where she always was - on her knees.

Erik wondered if you were the type to do that, force someone into something that you knew they weren't interested in ... nah. If anything, you would be the one getting pushed to do something. Your quiet and shy nature was enough evidence to prove that, but he did notice that more of your personality was starting to show. Maybe it was because you were finally getting comfortable around him, maybe it was because he didn't allow you to shut down and crawl back into your hole when you were with him. He could see that you were goofy as hell, true to yourself and actually educated on various topics. He was just waiting for you to realize that.

His attention was brought back to Tae when he felt her by his balls, her hand resting underneath them and her fingers wrapping around his dick, holding the two together in one hand. Her attempts to deep throat caused his hips to raise on their own, his girth making it nearly impossible for her to swallow it all, let alone get his nuts. That didn't deter her from making sure to give an adequate amount of attention to all of him though. He appreciated her efforts and enthusiasm, her watery eyes proving that she was really trying to go all out tonight. She dragged her mouth up his length, a loud pop resonating in the dark room before her hand jerked him slowly, Erik's low grunts mixing with the sounds of squelching due to a mixture of his pre-cum and her excessive amount of saliva.

The image of you replacing Tae's form popped into his head and he felt his body jerk. Had you ever even done this before? He wouldn't be surprised if you hadn't, but the thought of you eagerly wanting to prove yourself as you kneeled in front of him had him ready to bust. Your lips were always glistening with that damn lipgloss he would see you use every now and again. And he could tell you had a long ass tongue from the times you would randomly stick it out after saying something funny. Shit would probably feel like heaven.

"Erik, what's wrong? Why are you being so nice?" She pouted, sticking her tongue out and slapping his head against it hard before sucking it to her mouth, only paying attention to his tip as if it was a lollipop.

Her comment made him freeze, looking off to the side and realizing what she was saying was true. Usually, he was rough when it came to anything sexual. He got off to it, taking control and spitting out obscenities. There was no time to be soft and sweet, it just made the nut take longer to come in his opinion. So why the fuck was he being so laid back all of a sudden? A part of him was ticked off as he thought about it, raising up from the bed and gripping Tae's hair in his fist, earning a cry from her.

"Ow Erik, that hurts.." Obviously not enough since seconds later she was back to doing her job.

Now he was annoyed. He didn't even know why he bothered coming in here with her. He wasn't feeling it anymore and he just wanted to go for a drive, maybe stop by a place that he hadn't been in a couple of days. But he couldn’t pass up on some quick head so he sat back and let her do her thing, calling her out her name and holding her head in place so he could fuck her mouth. He ignored her hands trying to push against his thighs and watery eyes, his dick staying in the back of her throat as he fed her, dick draining his kids into her mouth before letting her go. With a deep sigh, he leaned back against the bed and relaxed. Tae quietly walked off to the adjoining bathroom, the water running filling the relatively quiet room except for the heavy bass vibrating through the walls. A few minutes later she was back, a warm feeling casing his dick as she wiped him carefully, planting a kiss on his head when she was done.

“You must’ve really missed me huh? That was a big one.”

Erik ignored her question, raising from the bed and setting his cup on the dresser before pulling back up his clothes, Ferragamo belt buckled as he checked himself out in the mirror quickly. He chugged the alcohol down, discarding his cup back on the dresser for her to clean up.

“You know, you could visit me at school sometimes. My roommates are always out so we could have the place to ourselves. I hate that we only see each other when I come back home.” She shuffled out the door behind him, huffing when she realized she was being ignored.

Before they could reach the main area where the party was being held, he turned around and backed her into the wall. She looked up at him with desire in her eyes, hands smoothing his shirt across his chest as she eagerly waited for him to continue. Erik knew the hold he had over her, he could throw her to the side and she’d still come running back. Some would say he was trash for playing with her heart, but Tae knew what it was and she could make her own choices. Since she was going to be around for a couple of days, he wanted to keep things between them on a good note. He was way overdue for a good fuck and wanted to hit it at least twice before she went back to campus. He looked at her for a moment, her eyes slightly wet and still red from her tears earlier.

“How long you gon’ be in town again?”

“Until Tuesday. That gives us four whole days to do whatever we want. I could come over one day, maybe cook for you?”

Yeah, that wasn’t about to happen, but Erik wasn’t that much of an asshole to turn her down so bluntly at her own party. He just rose his brows, acting like he was thinking it over before shrugging, letting her know that he’d think about it. As he walked away, he knew the only way they were gonna meet up was if he came to her place. No one knew where he stayed except for family and those he considered family, and he was trying to keep it that way. He really just wanted to know how many days he had left until he could link up with you. With Tae in town, it would be next to impossible so he had to play it smart. He didn’t want you knowing about her and damn sure didn’t want her knowing about you.

The house party had got crowded in the time they were away, more bodies littering the living room and kitchen. Erik made his way through the few people standing in the hallway, head turning slightly to his left when he saw some new people that wasn’t there when he came. It was a couple of girls and he didn’t really pay them any attention until a certain one caught his eye. Her hair was down in front of her face, slightly hiding her from his view. She looked good from the side, not as dolled up as the rest of the females surrounding her, but that just made her stand out more. He liked that she wasn’t trying too hard, she was just chillin’. Oversized baby blue t-shirt, black biker shorts and some Jordan 1 UNC patents on her feet. He nodded his head to himself, silently approving her fit.

Fly lil thing. Ass fat too.

If it wasn’t for Tae on his heels, then he would’ve tried to shoot his shot. Just as he was about to keep it pushing, Tae’s loud shrieking made his face screw up as he looked back her, confused at her loud ass outburst. She told him to wait there for her and brushed past him, running up to the new group and wrapping her arms around their shoulders. He begrudgingly listened, hands stuffed in his jean pockets as he looked on. She turned around and skipped over to him, wrapping her hands around his forearm and pulling him over to where she was once standing.

“Guys, this is Erik. Erik, these are my friends from school.”

He nodded his head and went to reply until baby blue turned her head in his direction, the room around him pausing briefly as his eyebrows lowered in confusion before raising in disbelief.

The last thing you expected was to see Erik at Tae's party.

Tae had invited you about a week or so ago, along with a few others girls from your sociology class. She was having it at her cousin's apartment, which was where she stayed when she wasn't on campus, and made sure to make all the girls promise that they would come. Claims of it being the best party you’d ever go to and not wanting to come off rude, you decided to go. You could tell early on that keeping up with appearances was a big deal for her. You couldn't recall a day where she wasn't looking her best or even seemed stressed. How she did it? It was above you. There were moments where you saw the real her, but they were few and far between. Whenever she would realize she was dropping this 'confident bad bitch' persona she liked to put on, she would quickly tighten up and go back to being the girl everyone knew her as. On campus, she was the IT girl. Guys wanted her, girls either wanted to be her or fight her. She was one of those people that you would rather have as a friend than an enemy for sure. So you knew you had to show your face, she’d feel some type of way if you didn’t.

You didn't know if you should say hi to Erik or not with the way Tae was holding onto him. It was very territorial and knowing her, she wouldn't appreciate the fact that you two already knew each other. The girls all said hi after she introduced him, yours coming out a little later than everyone else's as you looked at him a little confused. Were they dating? He hadn't pushed her off or said anything since she brought him over and with the way she was going on and on about him, they obviously had some type of relationship. He nodded his head and mumbled a low "wassup" back, his eyes passing over your classmates before resting back on you. So this was why you hadn't seen him lately. He was spending all his time with her.

"You guys having a good time? Happy you came?" Tae smiled brightly, eagerly looking at you all and waiting for a response.

"It's lit, your cousin is so cool for letting you have it at her place." "Girl duh and you got some fine ass friends, introduce me to some." "Hell yes. If not, I would've been stuck in the house being bored." Everyone spoke over one another.

She nodded her head, catching on that you hadn't spoke yet and looked at you, raising her eyebrow.

"It's great." You smiled brightly. "I’m happy I came."

"Uh, I'm so happy you guys are having a good time. Well, I need to go make a couple more rounds. Someone here was occupying my time and I couldn't say hi to everyone." The smirk she threw Erik when she looked up at him had your eyes desperately wanting to roll, but you stopped yourself.

There was no reason for you to be mad. It's not like you guys were close friends or anything. He was just a regular that you'd ring up. The same regular that made it a routine to walk you home from work. The same regular that had been introducing you to some of the best food spots that you ever could've imagined. You couldn't even begin to think about all the good food that you'd scarfed down in the past week. Either way, it was obvious that the Erik standing before you and the Erik at those times were different people. You could feel his energy and it wasn't the same sweet flirty one that you were used to. Instead, he had this confident air that was clouding over him and you would've thought it was attractive if it wasn't for him standing next to Tae.

You all nodded and told her you'd catch up afterwards, your eyes not bothering to look back at the man before you started to make your way into the kitchen. A red solo cup later, you were perched on one of the barstools and listening to some funny story that Marissa was telling, or at least trying to. From where you were sitting, you could see Erik and Tae perfectly. She was sitting on his lap as she talked to some people, his hand on the couch armrest before she was pulling it around her. He kept his arm around her waist, his head slowly looking around the apartment until he was looking at you. Making eye contact was inevitable, since you were too slow to look away or play off your obvious staring. You gave him a small smile, the corner of your lip raising quickly before going back down. He returned it, eyes casting downward before he was turning back to those around him.

The next hour and a half flew by. The company of your friends mixed with some of your favorite songs and a funny ass dance battle between some guys had you enjoying yourself. Somehow you ended up joining a group of people playing Never Have I Ever and you felt a little left out as everyone knocked back shots while you just held yours. The questions started off fun, but quickly turned sexual, making your lack of experience obvious when you could do nothing but watch everyone drink. You lied on a few, and laughed off others, all while unknowingly being watched. When you realized it was around 1:30 am, you decided it was time to dip. It was pretty late and you had work tomorrow, along with an essay to type up. You didn't want to regret it in the morning, so you bid your friends a goodbye and promised to text them when you made it home.

As you got up and hugged them all, you made eye contact with Erik’s back as he laughed loudly at something. Surprisingly you didn’t spot Tae anywhere near him. You didn't really want to talk to him, annoyed that he hadn't spoken to you the entire night and instead decided to stick to Tae as if he was on a leash. It seemed like he was fine when it came to walking you home in the dead of night, but couldn’t be bothered with a simple “how are you?” now. You couldn’t even lie to yourself and say this was shocking. This wasn’t the first time a guy had ignored you around his friends and you were sure it wouldn’t be the last.

The walk home was going to take you about 15 minutes, which wasn’t too bad you guessed. It was late so the sun was long gone now and there’d be a nice breeze to accompany you. You had your little pepper spray if anything went down and a baby taser your Uncle pretty much forced you to carry. Exiting out the building, the lights from neighboring apartments and the corner stores kept the block lit for you. You were happy that you decided to get out a little, but couldn’t deny that being alone was ten times better. You could finally breathe and walk freely without worrying about bumping into somebody or vice versa.

After 6 blocks, you were starting to feel the repercussions of walking in shoes that weren’t broken in. Your heel was starting to throb, but you did your best to ignore it and adjusted your bag over your shoulder. The sounds of cars here and there weren’t out of norm, but you started to get nervous when you realized that one was driving suspiciously slow for no good reason. You hadn’t been paying attention so you had no clue how long they’d been there, but as you heard the slow and steady rumble of the engine trail behind you, you began to wish you had stayed at the party. Or at least gotten an Uber. Nonetheless, you kept walking and looking forward. It wasn’t until you stopped to let a car pass that a deep voice met your ears.

“You know I could’ve kidnapped your ass if I really wanted to right?”

You clicked your tongue, head shaking slowly as you recognized who it was. Of course it was him. With your arms crossed over your chest, you turned your body towards the car and slowly walked over. This was the first time you had actually seen it and it actually fit him, intimidating and sexy. You held back your smile as you watched him tilt his head at you, before knocking his head back, inviting you to get in without words. As much as you wanted to, thoughts of him and Tae together held you in place. They had something going on, you were sure of it, so you didn’t want to continue getting too close to him just to end up with your feelings hurt. You were also still salty that this was the first time he was speaking to you this night.

“Shouldn’t you be getting back to Tae’s? I’m sure she’s probably wondering where you went.”

“Who says she doesn’t know already?”

“Based on the fact that she wouldn’t let you out her sight, I highly doubt that.”

Before Erik could respond, his phone started ringing. As he was going to answer it, he whispered a quick "get in" that you didn't obey. You could tell he was getting annoyed, but it was funny watching him roll his eyes like a spoiled child. The noise around you guys unfortunately prevented you from hearing his conversation, so you were stuck using your context clues to figure out what was going on.

"Sup?"

"My bad bro, I had to dip out real quick. Something came up."

His thumb pointed towards the passenger seat and you shook your head, amused as he sucked his teeth and sat back. He stared at you as he continued to talk and you tried your best to look everywhere but him. At the stop light, at the LED open signs that blinked in the business windows, even at the empty trash bag that was currently rolling down the sidewalk. Literally anything to stop your eyes from landing on him.

"Catch a fucking Uber my nigga, the fuck?"

"Not tonight. I got important shit to handle. I'll hit you tomorrow."

From your peripheral, you watched him hang up and stick his hand out the window, reaching for you. He was definitely trying to be cute, small pout on his face as his fingers finally brushed against your arm.

"Why you playing hard to get?"

"I'm not. I'm just trying to figure out why you're so adamant about me getting in your car when I'm literally like 5 blocks from my place."

"A lot can happen in 5 blocks and if you don't get in, I'm just gonna follow you the rest of the way."

"That's really ... stalkerish."

"I don't care." He said bluntly, shrugging his shoulders.

After some time, you finally listened and got inside. Deep down you wanted to hop in as soon as you saw him, but you wanted to see if he was gonna be persistent. His eyes followed you as you slipped inside, purse now in your lap as you protectively held it against you. It was being lifted off you and onto the floor with a huff seconds later, Erik’s hand pulling the seatbelt around you, unaware of how his knuckles were brushing against your breasts. He was too busy going on about how you shouldn't be walking late at night to notice. You stayed quiet, stomach now in knots as he tried to find the buckle that your thighs were hiding. You lifted up some, assisting him and trying not to overthink when you felt his hands on your hips. Finally he clicked it in and you were able to breath, relaxing into the seat as he took the car out of park and rolled up to the now red light.

"So, what important shit do you have to handle?" You questioned innocently.

"You."

* * * * *

taglist: those below are people that asked to be tagged, i saw in my notes on part 1/2 or mutuals :). if you don’t wanna be tagged in future updates then please let me know!

@hearteyes-for-killmonger @erikaintdead @chaneajoyyy @james-heaven-barnes @iamrheaspeaks @raysunshine78 @kimpossible1977 @twistedcharismaaa @janelledarling @thadelightfulone @thehomierobbstark @purple-apricots @yoyolovesbucky @journeytomeee @wakanda-inspired @l-auteuse @ghostfacekill-monger @hidden-treasures21 @eye-raq @enigmaticaphrodite @junesbride @scrumptiouslytenaciouscrusade @werkoutbliss @imagine-n-shit @honeytoffee @michaelsgoldengurl @theblackblackwidow @destinio1 @eriksprincess @blowmymbackout @melaninmarvelgirl62 @savagescorpion @blackgirlreadsfanfic @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @vikkidc @maddiestundentwritergaines

412 notes · View notes

yeats-infection · 4 years

Text

@sqvalors tagged me in a lil writing meme... if you’d like to participate please do and tag me!

ao3 name: fluorescentgrey but i also post some things as drglass (dr. glass is the second song on the fluorescent grey EP by deerhunter, so if i make another pseud it will be likenew, then washoff, etc.)

fandoms: about two thirds of my fics are harry potter or star wars but there are a lot of random little goodies. currently i have shifted into the terror (2018) mode.

number of fics: 59 right now... i will throw a party when i get to 69...

fic i spent the most time on: this is funny because some of these technically took me like six months or more of working on them extremely intermittently... namely, bone machine. the series in the garden has taken me the most time generally... and in that, minuet did take me several months of working really hard while i had a schedule / commute that was not conducive to having a creative practice...

fic i spent the least amount of time on: hilariously, literally my most popular fic by ninety miles, the witcher PWP that i wrote out of spite in two or three hours.

longest fic: the source codes series... particularly heelstone which is 102k. i wrote these two stories in a single summer like a crazy person and i hate talking about them because i find them WAY too gooey. honestly, that’s why they are so long. it’s all the gooeyness!!!!!!

shortest fic: yes, the answer is the witcher porn again (this silly thing is going to be the answer for many other questions in this little meme but i’m just going to stop talking about it while i’m ahead). the west end is just about 50 words longer and is much better and is a much better and more interesting story.

most hits: we’re just going to pretend it’s sex and dying in high society, which has the second most hits. this is certainly due to the fact that @wolfstarwarehouse hypes this story a lot for which i am endlessly grateful!

most kudos: recovery position has the second most kudos so let’s go with that one! i have been very touched by the response to this story, though i do personally like the sequel beachcoma a little more... i understand why not everyone wants to read it because it is a little more bittersweet. but it also comes from my soul.

most comment threads: the two stories in the source codes series are leading here, because i only posted two chapters at a time so that i would get maximal validation, lol.

most bookmarks: in order to talk about a story i haven’t talked about yet, the rosary has the fourth-most. i think this fic is truly my r/s swan song... i said everything i wanted to say and did everything i wanted to do. it’s a really good mystery/noir story that i didn’t think i could pull off until i did! and i love the OCs in it who have sort of manifested these secret headcanons for me that i may expostulate upon someday. thank you to @piovascosimo for the inspiration to write it.

total word count: 1,000,478. lol!

favorite fic i wrote: cannot possibly choose but probably the top five in order of date posted are: desperado, a handful of dust, doom town, beachcoma, jump into the fire

fic i’d rewrite / expand on: i already said all of source codes because it’s way too gooey, i also could make hard time killing floor blues a lot tighter, and a memoir of the flesh deserves a way better ending because i was rushing to make the yuletide deadline...

share a bit of a WIP: i was trying for a while to write a band of brothers AU where they are vietnam vets who start growing cannabis... based on the steve earle song “copperhead road.” this could have been SO good but the plot was too huge and unwieldy so i gave up. my roommate is obsessed with this idea and keeps asking me how it’s going so i may yet finish. but there’s a bit below the cut.

The knock at the door in the night was a sharp shock, bright as lightning, that sent them both back to Khe Sanh and before. Nix ducked. Dick went behind the doorframe. They kept low into the kitchen, where Nix took his old officer’s pistol out from where he kept it hidden behind the fridge. Then they went to the door, keeping to the edges of the hallways.

On the porch was Liebgott. He could have made his own way in likely right onto the couch without either of them noticing, so it was something that he had knocked on the goddamn door. It was particularly something given that none of the boys from Easy should have known about the grow operation, or even about Dick’s farm, being as Dick’s address on file at the V.A. was a post office box in town and Nix’s was still in Jersey. These considerations were nil to somebody who had spent the better part of five years in the bush of Vietnam. He took a last draw from his cigarette and put it out against the rubber sole of his boot, then he put the butt in his pocket. As far as Nix knew, he hadn’t said a word since January 1970.

“Joe,” said Dick diplomatically. He put his hand out and Liebgott took it. Then he took Nix’s. He had handsome dark eyes, but they were full of a wall. You could tell he saw you, but it was like nothing followed the necessary channels to the brain to spur emotional response. It had been like this even while he was still talking, and after a while you got used to it.

“You comin' in,” said Nix, knowing he probably would even if he wasn’t invited.

Inside, they all three sat at the kitchen table in silence nobody was about to break. Finally Dick got up and went to the drawer where they kept the rollies and their share of the product. He passed a sheaf of papers and a film canister full of bud to Liebgott across the table. Nix understood as well as Dick apparently did that there would be no getting anything over on this kid, who had eyes in the back and sides of his head. He’d probably had a nice tour of the property before coming inside. “You hungry, son,” Dick said.

Liebgott shook his head. He extracted one of the buds from the canister and inspected it. They did look mighty good if Nix said so himself. They looked artful in Liebgott’s hand. There were black scabs across his knuckles and a dark rime of filth under those fingernails which still existed. He seemed satisfied enough with what he saw to take a paper out of the sheaf and start shredding the flower into it.

“Captain Nixon calls it Easy Diesel,” said Dick, like he was trying to pretend it wasn’t the funniest thing in the world.

Liebgott looked up and a smile flashed across his face like the savage golden light of a flare falling over the far hills. His smile was sort of brutal, like the edge of a knife in a barfight, or like a seething animal. Luckily it went away as quickly as it had come. He rolled the joint with a quick grace and lit the business end with his old silver Zippo Nixon hadn’t seen since the war. There was a skull engraved on one side and on the other it read IF YOU ARE RECOVERING MY BODY, FUCK YOU.

“I don’t know how you found us, Joe,” Dick said thoughtfully. “You don’t have to… tell us. But we ain’t exactly keen to have just anybody here.” He paused and looked quickly to Nix, who tried to make it abundantly clear by means of eyebrows that he wasn’t sure they ought to go down this road, wherever it was leading. Dick ignored him. Liebgott was watching them, fully understanding their attempted clandestine exchange. “We ain’t exactly keen to have the DEA here,” Dick said at last.

The cherry at the end of the joint atomized with a crackling hiss. Liebgott looked between Dick and Nix with extreme seriousness sullied only by his exhaling a dignified white cloud out his nose. Then he nodded, once, curtly, demonstrating he understood his orders as they had been relayed.

Nix flashed Dick what he thought was a what have you done type look. But Dick looked totally unbothered. He should have gone into this business years ago for how violently unflappable he was. He said to Liebgott, “I’ll get some blankets and you can make up the couch.”

Liebgott shook his head to say no need. He got up, careful not to scrape the chair against the floor, shook each of their hands again, and in less than a minute’s time he was back out the door with nothing more than what he’d come in with except the joint.

Nix and Dick, on the porch, listening to the crickets, watched him disappear into the darkness.

“Are we hallucinating,” said Nix eventually.

“I sure as hell hope not,” Dick replied. “We’ve got to ship all that product or we’ll starve.”

In the morning Nix was in the field, inspecting the plants. Liebgott was standing there at his quarter for god knew how long before he cleared his throat and Nix jumped about six feet in the air. There was a smirk shifting across Liebgott’s face that he would have been better about hiding when Nix had been his commanding officer. He looked like he hadn't slept. Back over there he had looked like that a lot, but it had been different, because of all the uppers they were taking. He cocked his head back over toward the long driveway and then he was off across the dew-wet grass which had already soaked through the hems of his canvas pants and his destroyed shoes.

Nix followed, like a duckling behind a hen. Liebgott still walked as though there were eyes in all sides of his head quickly processing information as he moved. Nix doubted you ever lost that kind of skill, even if in the real world it made you look like a mental patient. He caught up so they could walk side by side through the dew-wet grass. “What did you think,” he asked Liebgott.

Liebgott passed Nix the universal sign of furrowed brow that meant please clarify.

Nix gestured with pinched fingers to his own mouth as though Liebgott were also deaf. “The grass.”

He shaped his hand into an a-ok sign.

“You get any sleep?”

He nodded an infinitesimal nod, like the answer was a secret just for Nix to know.

“Well if you think it could be better just tell me how.”

Nix had had a high school friend whose sister was deaf from scarlet fever and whom he had watched on occasion communicate with her by means of sign language. Early on, back over there, he had sent off to command for a book, but by the time it came he understood it wasn’t that Liebgott couldn’t speak, he just didn’t want to. It was something like how people’s hair supposedly turned white if they witnessed some evil thing, or how people became ascetics in the name of god. If you were really fucked up on drugs or fear or otherwise, or if the natural magical thinking from childhood hadn’t been fully beaten out of you, you might have seen it as the sacrifice he had given to the forest for letting him out without a scratch so many goddamn times. It had been a bit of a trial to explain this to Spiers, who was practical almost to a fault, sometimes.

Liebgott showed another a-ok sign. Then he did a thumbs up which Nix knew meant it was good.

All in all it was smart. If he was still talking, Nix might have asked him, what have you been up to? You been sleeping on the street? You been to the V.A.? What did they tell you? And the answer would’ve been nothing good. Instead they just walked in the cool grass together in the sunshine and the morning was beautiful, and the air was sweet. It was all lovely until Liebgott had to physically stop him, laughing, somehow silently but also hysterically, from stepping right onto the razor-thin tripwire stretched invisibly across the dark gravel.

In the kitchen, Dick was doing the numbers. He took his glasses off when Nix came in and put the coffee on. “He learned a thing or two from Charlie,” Nix said, leaning against the counters.

“Who, Joe?”

“Our driveway is thoroughly ratfucked.”

“Hmm,” said Dick. He put the glasses back on and turned back to the accounting book. He was going to do this whole thing as above board as was humanly possible. The vivid daylight came through the window and struck the lens of his unstylish Ray-Bans and threw a kind of prism of color upon the white paper and the chicken-scratch sums. Nix felt like maybe this was something you would paint if you had the necessary implements and artistic ability. “Maybe we should see if we can get any more help.”

He was mildly ashamed to say it, but the doc had always kind of creeped Nix out. He imagined a hypothetical conversation with Dick, who he knew loved the kid, almost like a son: Listen, don’t get me wrong, he’s a good kid, I owe him my life, yadda yadda. But either he’s dropped the brown acid one too many times or the voodoo exorcism went FUBAR.

The doc had arrived on the farm on the heels of Sunshine and Rainbows, aka Mr. Bright Eyed and Bushy Tailed, aka one Edward “Babe” Heffron. Nix had written Babe in South Philly, being as he was a connoisseur of bud and once upon a time had been famed among their company for smoking anything anyone put in his hand, often to his own detriment. The operation was getting big enough that Nix needed another pair of hands, other than Liebgott, of course, who was still fortifying the long driveway whilst giving away his cover by playing Led Zeppelin IV as loudly as was possible. It was a tough calculation, because Babe was a genius of pot, but he couldn’t keep a damn secret, and lo and behold he had dragged along with him a dark shadow in the human form of Eugene Roe. They came up the driveway in a big old Ford pickup that rattled its rust off in the potholes. Liebgott had dismantled the traps specially for their arrival when they had called from Williamsport to say they were an hour out.

“I figured we could use a medical professional to lend some credibility to the operation,” said Babe thoughtfully, sparking a joint on the porch over sweating jam jars of iced tea.

Roe snorted or something but it wasn’t really a normal person’s self-effacing laugh. Winters clapped his back. Nixon knew Roe had dropped out of medical school after two years but there was no need to say anything. Everyone knew that. Now he was working construction and Babe claimed to be working as a mechanic in a garage, but this seemed suspect given the state of the car they had driven up in.

“Well we sure as hell are glad you boys are here,” said Dick magnanimously.

Babe exhaled an opaque cloud that rivaled Nix’s own father’s ability with a stogie. “Can we see the bush?”

They went out all together to the field and ducked between the rows of corn. Babe knelt in the soil. It was damp with dew and quiet in here. It would have been almost like over there except it smelled good. “What’s the cross,” Babe said, inspecting the plants.

“It’s an indica blend…”

“Well, I can tell that,” he said.

“So you’re an expert on the plant now too?”

“I’ve just smoked an awful lot of joints in my life, Captain Nixon.”

Roe snorted again. When they all looked to him he said, “You said in the letter there was some kind of altruistic reason for all this.”

“It’s medicine, Gene,” Babe said gently, but also like they had had this conversation thirty thousand times. Nix filed away for later the intimation that Roe had read the letter he’d sent Babe at home in South Philadelphia.

“I guess you don’t remember the psychic break you had at the Do Lung Bridge.”

Babe waved this remark off, even though Nix remembered it too. It threw a chill down his back, like a water balloon had hit him at the base of his neck. “That was laced,” Babe said.

“With what!”

“I don’t know! Something bad!” Babe turned to Dick and Nix. “Gene’s teetotal,” he said, like this was a big old point of contention.

So that counted out the bad acid. Maybe he was just like this. Maybe he had had those big sad bug eyes as a child or an infant or a fetus in the womb. “Good on you, Doc,” Nix said.

“I ain’t trying it,” Roe said, folding his arms over his narrow chest, “no matter what it does.”

The doc was a tough cookie. Babe had claimed, over there, about as high as the Byrds song, that the doc came from a long line of the kind of folks described in Dr. John’s “Gris-Gris Gumbo Ya Ya” and that, as such, he could heal wounds with his mind. When it didn’t work, as on the night when Jackson died, or the night when Hoobler died, or in the forest when Muck and Penkala died, or the night when Liebgott stopped speaking, he went to sit for a while on the edge of camp until Dick went over and made him eat something. Nix watched them in a state of confused envy, and then he went to write the letters to the families, so that Dick wouldn’t have to.

At dusk, after they ate a light dinner of corn on the cob and rice and beans, he took the boys up into the hayloft with an armful of blankets. “Sorry this is the best we got,” he said. He had said that about a hundred god damn times since they got here.

Roe looked like he wanted to say, you’ve got to stop apologizing for everything. Instead he said, “Where does Lieb sleep.”

Babe perked up. “Joe’s here?”

“You didn’t see him in the driveway?”

Nix sighed. “He’s gonna want to know what he did wrong that you saw him,” he said.

“Does he still — ”

Nix shook his head. “Not a peep.”

In a couple days time, he couldn’t take it anymore, and he was hot and tired and stoned, up to his elbows in earth in the field, showing Babe how to replant the hatchlings he’d grown from seed. “You guys room together or what?”

“Me and Gene?” Babe’s eyes were red in the corners from smoking and from the sun. “What about you and Dick?”

Dick, who had the radio on inside turned up as loud as it would go, so that they would hear it in the field, playing Crosby Stills and Nash doing “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes.” “What about me and Dick?” said Nix.

Babe was a smart kid. He realized this was going nowhere. With muddy hands he popped one of the seedlings out of its little pot and cradled it into the ground. “Well, I think he thinks he’s looking after me, but in actuality, I am looking after him.”

#my fic #asks

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unproduciblesmackdown · 4 years

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ok-yikes replied to your post: diefordarkseid replied to your post: ...

ok but like thank u sm for the link i’ve been vaguely following your winston/billions content and ive been trying to find the context without having to watch the whole thing lmao so now i can fully understand ur analysis and art that i already enjoy!!

oh first of aw!!!! that’s such a compliment lol ty and yes s/o to @winstonthequant for posting that compilation for 5.5k+ people to partake in, it’s super useful

yeah we Jest that all anyone needs to know to understand the Spirit Of Wynnstanning is to have seen those scenes with winston and taylor from kompenso, ep 3x11 lol.....i mean it’s partially a joke but it’s also partially true, that’s pretty much the Cause of the group of us going “oh my god” and becoming Invested in all of this. winnie n tay baby.......their Dynamique...they are way too good Ugh

and yeah the Broadest Of Strokes of this series overall is that the Central Theme is "insufferable bastard hedge fund ceo damian lewis [aka axe] man Versus insufferable bastard attorney general paul giamatti man [aka chuck],” just these corrupt assholes having a back and forth slapfight power struggle every season. nobody cares what happens in season 1 but taylor is introduced at the start of season 2 as a just-out-of-undergrad intern at axe’s hedge fund. turns out they’re amazing at hedge funding (they have some goddamn sense and strategy and awareness, whereas axe is 100% beholden to the whims of his own Delicate Temper and Ego and is a continually self-sabotaging idiot, nbd) and by season 3, while axe is doing a bit of jail time over insider trading (see: previous parenthetical) taylor is left effectively in charge of axe’s hedge fund, which btw is called axe capital

Our Beloved Quant Winston enters the picture 3 eps into this situation, where taylor is attempting to start a quant team at axe cap, hence interviewing him, then only known as “quant kid 2″ in the credits. [not-that-informed explanation of What Is A Quant: where the Traditional Financial Analysts in a hedge fund try to make profitable stonk trades just via like, reacting to The News and other publically available info / whipping up Strategies / intuiting shit and making judgment calls or whatever the hell they do, a Quantitative Analyst (a more recent development in the high finance world) is taking a more mathematical approach to the whole legal gambling operation which is The Stock Market and might, as winston does, use An Algorithm to analyze finance info and make trades in response. is the vague idea here] Quant Kid 2 was not Originally meant to ever reappear, hence him just messing up the interview and getting sent off after like 30 seconds, but they wrote him in further when William Roland showed up and actually filmed the scene.

when “i’m a shitty bastard driven by my shitty ego and will self-sabotage if my Pride asks for it on a whim” axe shows back up, tl;dr, he spends the rest of s3 being terrible and unappreciative to taylor, who you might imagine is Threatening That Delicate Ego of his by capably taking care of his hedge fund while he was indisposed. for example, he needlessly wrecks taylor’s relationship with a guy they were having a nice time dating (and will, we’re pretty sure, talk to again in s5ep2!! hoorayy) and does basically the opposite of apologizing, sweeps taylor’s Quant Project into the trash, gets mad at them for failing to land a certain investor which he said they did on purpose which idk they May Have lol i think this was later in the season, and won’t give them the raise they want, and that’s just A Few of the bullet points in this topic. but oops, turns out that taylor has been secretly taking steps to put together their own entirely separate hedge fund! which is where winston comes back in, aka their meeting him in that empty classroom only to summon him to a random basement. that algorithm he ends up creating for them (which he’d Assumed was for axe cap purposes) was used by taylor to entice a Big Investor at axe cap to invest in their own hedge fund, taylor mason capital, which exists by the end of season 3, which obviously axe is not happy about and of course it’s a whole ~betrayal~ even though he did it to himself but no, he decides taylor is his Nemesis, b/c in so many ways he is a dumbass. god

season 4 has winston as taylor’s Main Quant (the one time we hear his name spoken aloud is taylor saying “winston and the quant team). taylor spends the season dealing with all the problems of having a Brand New Hedge Fund and having a Well Established Hedge Fund With An Asshole At The Helm constantly trying to sabotage their fund, which we also call tmc / mase cap for short, just for reference lmao, the latter being how they shorten it in the show’s actual dialogue. the Front Running mentioned in that one clip was an instance of such sabotage. and by the time winston shows up 5 eps later, that Fracking Subplot (lmao...this fucking show) was about taylor being reeeeal sick of axe cap’s sabotage b/c they kinda made it personal, and thus spending the whole episode Completely playing axe for a fool, which was kinda fun, b/c it’s not that hard and he has it coming. it gets a little involved with what’s going on in ep 4x11 with the bonuses lmfao but it's nbd, just know that winston was right, we went frantic about him being Bullied and are still indignant about it, and taylor talking to Everyone in that 4x12 clip does seem to address what winston had said, compare and contrast 4 yourselves, even if this apparently went totally over the heads of any Regular Billions Viewers lmao. and then in 4x12 A Lot Happens b/c it’s the finale but axe manages to self-sabotage himself in a way that does a lot of damage for mase cap though, and axe thinks that he’s successfully blackmailed taylor into returning to axe cap with mase cap as a Supposedly Temporary subsidiary of axe cap, which sucks, but taylor is not as blackmailed as he thinks, which is a secret, Drama and Twists and Shifting / Dubious Loyalties and Stonks are just constant themes here and who cares. we are here for the quant, who is there with taylor

We Have Many Ideas / wise concepts and headcanons, seeing as canon is a nightmare and there’s not That much material re: winston and precious few details about him / he spends sooo much time offscreen and unmentioned and it leaves us plenty of blanks to fill in. for example, maybe u noticed we think he should kiss taylor and also get railed by them, there are extensive ideas about that relationship wherein we happily ignore Finance. also, there is an unusually kind and reasonable analyst over at axe cap named ben kim who we also think should kiss winston, so yeah That idea is sure around as well lol, they have enough Parallels and complementary Similarities and Contrasts and also just like, a normal nice person is a rarity on this show, so ben does Not have a world of competition in our [list of people who’d be Okay to kiss winston, b/c someone should, b/c he deserves that cuz we love him]

yeah that’s my Quick Basic Context summary lmao we hate it here but also we have fun, and really at any time (extending this to anyone lol) feel free to Send An Ask about anything at all b/c i am Not annoyed by random / unprompted asks from anybody, i love interaction! who knows if i’ll answer promptly (for example: sorry @ the person who’s asked for deh/bmc hcs who i havent answered yet lol) but yeah. it’s totally nice that you were already interested even without any Context lmao like. i mean yeah basically the joke still stands that the only context u truly need is that one scene from Kompenso but. yeah #Stonks

#ok-yikes #i've 100% been appreciating all ur Likes btw ty ty #winston billions

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puffmamaa · 5 years

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Elbow Deep: Part 2

Hey, everybody! So here is Part 2. Finally! After racking my brain for daaayss, I was able to find some inspiration to write this. It will be a series btw. My first, so be gracious. I’m sensitive about my shit.

CATCH UP: Part 1.

Pairing: Erik ‘Killmonger’ Stevens x Black, Dark-Skin, Plus Size OC. (Always💛)

Summary: It all started with a plate of hot wings, y’all.

Word Count: 4.1k

Warnings: Cussing. Use of the N-word. Mention of the death of a parent. Mention of emotional abuse, fatphobia, & cheating in a romantic relationship. And a small mention of Steve Harvey, just in case the thought of his mustache triggers anybody. 🙃

A/N: I had to make some changes. One big one is that Erik isn’t the director of the Wakandan Outreach Center like what was mentioned in Part 1. He actually doesn’t work with it at all. But it’ll all be explained as we go along. Hopefully, it’ll makes sense. If not, I’ma need y’all to just roll with it anyways lol.

Bold, Italic font is inner dialogue.

——

Janessa moved through the gala hall towards her sit, her thick hips swaying between the tables.

“Girl, where the hell did you go? Leaving me here all by myself,” Chantelle, Janessa’s best friend, scowled lowly. She was a tall, fluffy-thick with sepia brown skin that was complimented well by her long, navy gown. Her fluffy burgundy twist was pinned in a cute updo.

“You’re the one who nearly begged to be my plus one. I figured you wouldn’t mind,” Janessa whispered back, tossing her black, waist length locs over her shoulder as she sat down. “Plus, I was hungry and had to find something actually edible.”

“Heffa, you ate without me? What kind of friend…” Chantelle gave her a betrayed look.

“You looked fine picking at that bird food early. Kiki-ing real hard with whoever that guy was.”

“That’s because he looked like he had a little money. But he was a whole cornball. Going on about Steve Harvey being his role model or something. I couldn’t hear shit else after that.”

Janessa scoffed. “You better leave them bootstrappin’ negros alone.”

“I know. I usually wouldn’t even entertain…” Chantelle trailed off. “Who is that guy staring at you?”

“What?” Janessa replied, looking in the same direction as Chantelle. “Oh. I meet him earlier in the kitchen. We had some wings together.”

“You sure all he wanted was the wings? Cause he’s looking at you like you’re a bowl of gravy. And he’s the biscuit.”

“Girl,” Janessa huffed.

“Uh, uh. He FINE fine.” She squinted her dark brown eyes. “Did you at least give him your number?”

“Hell no. I didn’t come here for all tha—OW!” She yelped.

Chantelle had given her one of those big mama church pinches.

“What the fuck was that for?”

“Letting his delectable ass get away. I should do worse but we in public so I’ll let you live,” she half joked.

Janessa rubbed the sore spot on her thigh and looked over towards Erik. He was staring. And he was fine. It’s not like she didn’t notice before. She definitely did. His smooth brown skin and dark amber eyes. The way his meticulously sculpted facial hair framed his deep dimples. And those lips. She could feel herself starting to overheat. Uh, uh. No Ma’am. To her, a man like that couldn’t be nothing but trouble.

“Girl, I’m good,” Janessa said.

“Nah. You trippin’, is what you is,” Chantelle huffed, turning her attention back to the stage.

—

“And now for a particularly special part the evening. My favorite, I might I add...”

Erik tuned out the sound of T’Challa’s voice. All he could focus on was the beautiful woman in white and the way her dark, umber colored skin glistened against her bright dress. Janessa. The woman he’d just spent over half an hour eating hot wings with. The woman he’d felt oddly comfortable with in such a short period of time. The same woman he let leave his presence without asking her out or at very least, getting her number.

To be honest, Erik didn’t usually have to ask. Women would sell their panties for a chance to get at him. He even had to keep a few beckies at arm’s distance throughout the night. But not her. She actually walked her fine, plump ass out of the kitchen without so much as a second glance back. It hit him in his ego, he’d had to admit. But it also made him more interested in her.

Erik moved from his spot on the wall, eying a way to get over to her.

“Hey—Wait a minute, aren’t you from Wakanda? A short, thin-lipped white man asked.

“No.” Erik said blankly, attempting to move past him.

“Yes! I remember seeing you with the King before. Wa...W’kabi, isn’t it?

“Hell nah,” Erik flared his nostrils. “Ain’t nobody ever tell you it’s rude to talk during presentations?”

“Oh! Well, I didn’t me—“

“Yeah, uh huh,” Erik said inching away. He scanned the room. I just had my eyes on her...

“...so let’s give a round of applause to our honoree, The 2019 Most Influential Community Leader of the Year, Janessa James!”

Erik snapped his neck around so fast he swore he heard it crack. He looked up to see Janessa on stage exchanging a handshake and hug with T’Challa.

—

“I’m so proud of my baby!” Chantelle squeezed her arms around Janessa’s neck. “The best Director East Oakland Community Outreach Center has ever seen and now being honored by the King? My bestie is a bad boosh!”

“Thanks, girl!” Janessa hugged her back just as tight. “But you know we all put in hella work for the community. What would I do without my Assistant Director, holding me down?”

“Well, shit let me hold the award then.” She said taking the plaque from her bestie.

“Congratulations, Janessa!” Shuri hugged her from behind. “I’m so glad you and the center are getting the exposure you deserve!”

“I should be thanking you too. All you’ve done with helping us start the STEM program,” Janessa beamed at the teenage genius.

Shuri shot her a big smile. She had spent the last year partnering with the East Oakland Community Outreach Center. Her work introduced the youth in the community to STEM education they wouldn’t regularly have access to in their underfunded school system. She loved the center and had built meaningful relationships with so many of the people there.

“You are too kind. You know, I...” Shuri turned around slowly, feeling a large yet familiar presence behind her.

“Congratulations. I didn’t know you were being awarded tonight,” Erik said to Janessa, slowly moving his cousin out of the way.

“How do you two know each other?” Shuri questioned.

“We met earlier,” Erik replied, not taking his eyes off Janessa.

“There he goes with that staring again,” Chantelle teased as she moved to greet him. “I’m Chantelle. Janessa’s best friend.” She extended a hand to him.

He smiled and took it. “Erik.”

“MMhmmp! Look at those dimples. Deep enough to hide from the police in,” She chirped.

Janessa chuckled. Her friend was so damn extra.

Erik turned his attention back to Janessa. He look her over slowly and licked his juicy lips. “I was thinking, since we had such a good time earlier, how about I treat you to a real meal?” He ran his knuckle down the length of her arm.

Janessa raised an eyebrow at him, flicking his finger off of her. “Uh, no. I’m good,” she scoffed.

Erik and Chantelle both cocked their necks back.

“You good?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean, are you busy or something? Cause I can do lunch too.”

“No. Well, I am a busy woman. But that’s not why I’m not interested. I just...don’t want to.”

“You don’t want to? Why?” Erik was genuinely confused. He did not expect her to turn him down. “I thought we were vibin’ back there.”

“We had a nice little conversation. A cute time. But that doesn’t mean I owe you a date.” Janessa said in a harsh tone.

“And I—oop.” Shuri yelped.

Chantelle’s jaw damn near hit the floor. She knew her friend to pull no punches with men but she was laying it on extra thick with Erik.

“Come on, baby girl.” Erik ran a hand over his hair. “You serious right now?”

“As a heart attack, baby boy.”

Erik furrowed his brows.

“Well, we’ve got to get going. Bye Shuri. I’ll see you later,” Janessa gave Shuri a quick hug.

She gave Erik a cold once over and turned back at Shuri. “Enjoy the rest of your evening.”

She grabbed Chantelle, whose mouth was still wide open, and headed towards to exit. Erik stood there, still thrown off at the scene that just played out.

Shuri exploded with laughter. “Now, N’Jadaka. I thought you said you had ‘the juice’.”

She patted her baffled cousin on the back and walked away, still giggling.

—

“BITCH, what the hell?” Chantelle pressed hand to Janessa’s forehead. “Did you bump your head or some shit? That fine ass man just asked you out. Not only did you decline, but you left that poor baby with half his face on the floor,” She laid her head back against the seat, still in shock at her friends actions.

“He’s a grown ass man. He’ll be just fine. And like I said to you and him, I’m good,” Janessa bent down to remove her heels. “I know his type. Arrogant. Smooth. And rude as fuck. Talking about ‘Let me treat you to a meal.’ Because I’m a big girl, I must want to eat? Tuh! And did you see him touch me? Uh, uh. He’s probably used to having his way with women.”

“If I were you, I would have let him have his way with me,” Chantelle retorted.

“I’d rather not be number ‘umpeenth’ on his hit it and quit it list.”

“That‘s a damn shame,” Chantelle shook her head. “He look like he got good dick. The kind you need right about now. That ‘let him drop you off at your job in your car’ kind of dick.”

“Well, I guess we’ll never find out.”

“Speak for yourself. I’ma see if his ass is on BLK.” Chantelle pulled out her phone and stated swiping through her apps.

Janessa gave her a vicious side-eye.

“OKAY. I’m was just playing, damn.” Chantelle said as putting her phone away. She pulled out the parking lot and headed back towards their neighborhood.

—

Janessa pushed her large black rimmed glasses further up her face and streched her body in her plush office chair. She rubbed her hands down her high waisted olive colored pants and adjusted her long-sleeved, cream colored wrap top. She sighed as she pulled her long ponytail of locs over her shoulder. The center was preparing for its Annual Juneteenth Celebration. Which meant more work added to her already full schedule. But she couldn’t complain too much. It was her favorite event of the year. The whole block came out; youth, elders, and everyone in between. They’d have spades and uno games going. Basketball and baseball competitions. And a huge cookout, where the women would argue over who made the best potato salad while the men drank Coronas and grilled meat. But the best part was the ending ceremony. Everyone would meet in the basement of the center. One of the griots would tell stories of their ancestors and their survival through middle passage and slavery. The youth would give dance performances and skits, inspired by the favorite Black icons and moments in history. At the end, they would pray and sing songs to pay respect and homage to those that came before them. It was a beautiful day and never failed to bring Janessa to tears. Seeing her culture celebrated so proudly across generations really touched her heart.

A small knock at her door shook her out of her thoughts.

“Come in.”

“Hey, boss lady,” Chantelle smiled, walking into the office. She sat down in one of the chairs in front her friend’s crowded desk.

“Hey, Channy,” Janessa said, “What’s up?”

“Derek just checked today’s delivery. The order for the sports equipment was short.”

“Short? That’s not possible. I doubled checked the numbers myself,” Janessa furrowed her brows. “Did they mix up the order or something.”

“Nope. We both checked the invoice. I wasn’t a mistake on their end.”

“That can’t be right…” Janessa let out a deep sigh. She pressed a button on her office phone, buzzing her assistant. “Tandy, can you come here for a second?”

She was met with low giggles and whispers from the other end.

“Tandy?” She said a little louder.

“Oh! Hey, what‘s up?”

“I asked if can you come into my office.”

“Um yeah, hold on.”

Tandy entered Janessa office holding her cell in her hand. She was tall, slim and light-brown skin with a short brown TWA.

“You rang?” She said in a sing-songy voice.

Chantelle groaned.

“You ordered the sports equipment, right?”

“Yeah, I did. Why?”

“Well, only about half came. And based on the invoice, it’s because the wrong order was placed. Did you order thirty, like I asked?”

“Thirty? Girl, I thought you said thirteen. My bad.”

Janessa rubbed the bridge of her nose.

Chantelle gave Tandy a wide-eyed look.

“Tandy. I sent it in an email. And I told you in person. Twice.”

“Ohh, Pffhhtt! I don’t be checking that email like that,” Tandy let out a short laugh. “You want me to order more?”

“No, Tandy,” Janessa tried to remain calm and professional. “They wouldn’t be here in time anyways. I’ll take care of it.”

She shrugged. “Okaay. Well, do you need anything else from me?”

“No, that’s all.”

“Cool. I’ma go head and take my lunch then,” She exited the office, giggling at something on her phone as she closed the door.

Janessa threw her head back and let out a loud groan.

“I swear that girl is gonna be the death of me.”

“I don’t know how you deal with it. Between all the attitude and incompetence. Girl I can’t,” Chantelle shook her head in disbelief.

“Who you telling? If it’s not her constantly messing something up, she’s flirting with any breathing body that walk through the door,” Janessa rolled her eyes. “Last week I caught her getting fresh with the damn UPS man. And don’t get me started on the volunteer sign up. She ‘forgot’ to update the dates on the form and now we’re short-handed for this weekend.”

“Two words: New Assistant.”

Janessa sighed, “I know, I know. But I’m trying to give her a chance, you know? She’s young and needs experience. And you know it’s hard for us. What’s the point of me being in this position if not to put other Black women on?”

“I hear you. But for one, she’s not that much younger than us. And for two, she obviously doesn’t take her job seriously. I get your trying be patient and understanding, but you got to consider the big picture. It seems like she’s adding more stress to your load than anything.”

“Yeah, you’ve got a point,” Janessa rolled her lips, looking off into the distance.

“Listen,” Chantelle rubbed her hands over her knee-length black dress. “There’s something else I needed to talk to you about.”

“Okay. What is it?”

“That whole scene the other night, at the gala.”

“Girl, I know you’re not still on that.”

“Yeah, well you were kind of doing the most, friend. What was up with that?”

“I told you. I don’t trust guys like him.”

“But you don’t know him,” Chantelle said. “He could be a decent guy. I mean, he was cool enough for you to eat chicken wings with. What could a date hurt?”

“Why are you defending him? You don’t know him either.”

“I’m not defending him. I’m looking out for you,” She scooted closer to the desk, looking Janessa in the eyes. “I’ve seen you shut down almost ever guy who shows any kind of interest in you. I know men can be trash but you don’t have to give up on all of them. Everybody isn’t Andrew.”

Janessa shifted uncomfortably at the sound of her ex-boyfriend’s name. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“I mean you haven’t really dated anyone seriously since him. And it’s been years now.”

“So what? Being single is a problem? Turning down some stupid ass niggas who just want to waste my time is wrong?” She scowled in a defensive tone.

“No. It’s just...I worry about you sometimes. I know between dealing with Drew and what happened with you dad, it’s been hard for you to—.”

“I said, I’m fine. Okay?” Janessa fingered the sun-shaped pendant on her necklace. ”Look, I need to pick up this equipment while I have some extra time.”

“Nessa, I’m didn’t mean to upset you,” Chantelle grabbed her hand.

“I’m cool,” Janessa snatched her hand back. She stood up, grabbing her denim jacket and purse. “I’ll see you when I get back.”

Chantelle sighed, walking out of the office with her. “Okay.”

—

Janessa rushed through Joyner’s Sporting Goods, one of the only Black-owned sporting good stores in the city. She hated last minute shopping. But she obviously couldn’t trust her assistant with a simple task. Plus, she needed to get out the office. Chantelle’s comments had gotten to her. She knew she meant well, but her relationship with Andrew was a sensitive topic for her. He was her first everything, including her first heartbreak. She met him right after her father passed. He took advantage of her vulnerability and insecurity, always insinuating she wasn’t pretty enough or needed to lose weight. In the end, he winded up leaving her for some chick he was sleeping with while they were still together. Janessa was a complete mess after that. Chantelle was the one who helped her keep it all together. She didn’t have any other family around since her father was basically a single parent. Chantelle was even the one who encouraged her to start volunteering at the center in the first place. She was all Janessa had.

“Damn. I should have gotten a cart.” Janessa said as she felt her phone vibrating in her pocket. She shifted the stuff in her arms around to answer.

“Hello?”

“Hey. Just checking your ETA. We still have some details we need you to finalize for this weekend.” Chantelle said through the phone.

“I’m still in Joyner’s but I should be finished soon,” Janessa sighed, shuffling her weight between her feet. “Channy, I’m sorry about earlier. I know I was a little rude. It’s just all that stuff...I don’t have time for it right now.”

“Yeah, I probably shouldn’t have brought it up while you were working. I was just concerned,” she said.

“I know. And I appreciate it. You’re always looking out for me.”

“And you know this,” Chantelle joked. “For both you and your lil nani, at this point. Because I’m concerned for her too.”

Janessa let out a loud laugh. She turned around to continue her shopping and smacked right into a shelf, knocking everything out of her arms.

“Shit,” Janessa yelped.

“You okay?” Chantelle asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Janessa sighed, trying to balance her phone between her shoulder and ear as she kneeled down. “I just need to hurry up and get out of here.“

“You need some help?”

Janessa looked up in the direction of a familiar voice. Standing there was Erik, with a smug little smirk on his handsome face. He wore a black hoodie that read ‘Lost Tribe’, black basketball shorts, and all black Air Max 90’s. His locs hung loosely to one side.

“Aw hell,” She whispered, still crouched down. “Not you.”

“Look Too Tough, I’m just trying to help. With your short, little arms I don’t think you can hold all that and run ya mouth on the phone at the same time,” He teased, leaning on his shopping cart.

“Huh? Who was that?” Chantelle questioned.

“Nobody. I’ll talk to you later,” Janessa quickly hung up and turned her attention back to Erik. “Too tough? Really nigga?”

“Yea, cause that’s how you was acting the other night,” He grinned, his gold slugs gleaming.

“Whatever,” She tried to grab some of her stuff off the floor. “I’m good, I got it.”

“You good,” Erik mocked, squatting down to help her. “What you need with all these toys, anyways? You got kids?”

“And if I do? Will that get you to leave me alone?”

“Nah. Kids love me,” He placed a couple of baseball bats in the cart.

Janessa rolled her eyes and pursed her lips. “Well, for your information, nosey. I don’t have any kids. These are for the center I work at.”

“Riight. Director of the East Oakland Community Outreach Center. Most Influential Community Leader of the Year.”

“You’ve been stalking me or something?”

Erik chuckled, “No, but I do tend to research things that interest me.”

Janessa snorted, rolling her eyes harder. “You’re laying it on pretty thick there, sir.”

”I could say the same for you and all your attitude, ma’am.”

Janessa let out a long sigh. This nigga got an answer for everything.

“Look, I still have more shopping to get done and other places to be. So, I can’t stand here and chat with you all day.”

“Cool, me too. Let’s go.” Erik grabbed the cart, and turned around. He pushed it towards the next aisle. Janessa reluctantly followed. She didn’t really need a shopping buddy but that didn’t stop Erik from grabbing her shopping list and picking things out. She attempted to regain control over her shopping trip but Erik wasn’t having it. Eventually she relented, figuring it was easier to let him take over instead of fighting him in the middle of the store. She tried to keep the conversation at a minimum but that was damn near impossible with all the questions he asked. Eventually, she told him more about her work at the center, including the Juneteenth Celebration. He told her that he owned and operated his own fitness studio, which made sense as to why he seem to know the store like back of his hand. And why he was built like a fucking brick wall. Janessa had to catch herself from staring at his body every time he turned away or bent down. But before she realized it, she found herself actually enjoying his company. Well, for a second time.

They both checked out and headed towards the parking lot. Janessa unlocked her car and popped the trunk. Erik pulled the shopping cart towards it and loaded her bags inside.

“Thanks,” she said jingling her keys in her hands.

“No problem,” Erik closed the trunk. “Honestly, I’m surprised you’re letting me help you, Too Tough.”

Janessa laughed at the nickname this time. “Are you always this corny?”

“You could find out if you let me take you on a proper date.”

“Haven’t we done this already?”

“Yeah, when you shot me down in front of all those people and left me heartbroken in the middle of the floor. Only to twirl away and out the door with your friend,” Erik recited, dramatically flaring his hands. “Yet here I am, brave enough to try again. You gonna go easy on a nigga this time?”

Janessa rolled her eyes. “That was me being easy on you.”

Erik let out a light laugh, “I couldn’t tell. I mean damn, ma. You act like I got the cooties or something.”

Janessa noticed his face soften a little. She sighed. “Listen, I got a lot going on right now. Things have been crazy hectic at work. And this weekend is approaching fast. I have tons of things to do. Paperwork to review. Hella meetings to attend. And I still have to figure out how to replace the volunteers we lost,” Janessa took a long breath to stop her ranting. “I don’t have the time for this.”

“Volunteers?”

“Yeah, we’re short a bunch of volunteers for the celebration.”

“Hmm,” Erik rub his hand through his beard. “You know, I’m free this weekend.”

“What?”

“I’m saying, I can stop by and help out. Whatever you need.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. On one condition, though.” Erik moved closer and lowered himself to meet her height, his nose almost touching hers. The scent of his cologne teased Janessa’s nostrils. Damnit, he smells good.

“And what’s that?” She said, bringing herself back to the conversation.

“You agree to go out with me.”

Janessa squinted her eyes at him. She wasn’t in a position to turn down volunteers, especially if she wanted this event to go off without a hitch.

Erik raised an eyebrow at her, a smirk dancing on his lips.

“Fine. I’m sure your brolic ass could help with some of the heavy lifting.”

Erik shot her a big grin and licked his lips. “Perfect.”

Janessa gave him the center’s contact information and a copy of the event flyer before getting into her car.

“Aight, Too Tough. I’ll see you this weekend.” Erik said.

She pursed her lips lightly. “See you, Erik.”

He winked and jogged off in the opposite direction.

Janessa started her car and pulled out the lot. As she drove, her thoughts drifted to Erik. His persistence was annoying as fuck. But at the same time, kind of cute? She thought about what Chantelle said earlier. Maybe she could give him a chance. It’s just one date.

She let out a deep sigh. The whole thing still made her feel uneasy. Erik was a charming motherfucker. She knew that too much of him and she’d be like Jill Scott, singing about grits and shit.

She clutched her necklace, fiddling with the sun-shaped pendant.

It was going to be an interesting weekend.

——

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candyheartharry · 5 years

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Fall Apart - Part II: Bewitched

Author’s note: Hi dolls! 💘 Sorry it took me forever to get the second part up and ready, it took a while to get some inspiration for it, but of course as soon as I got it, I had it done in one day lol. Once again our series playlist can be found here, and if you’d like to be added to the tag list at the end drop me a message and let me know, feedback is EXTREMELY appreciated, happy reading ✨ PART I

Although you and Calum had shared friends, it wasn’t until the two of you started spending more time together that these two groups began to intertwine, but it was going to be just you while he and the band were all around the world on a small promo tour. You’d kept up with him a little while he was away, receiving occasional texts and snapchat videos from wherever he was, usually either a nice picture of the scenery or a video of him and the other guys doing something funny.

It had been a little while since he was away, and you really weren’t too sure when he was supposed to be back due to a few commitments they hadn’t quite confirmed before they left, so the most he could give you before he left was a two week window on when he might possibly be back home again.

In the meantime, one of your friends who worked for an art museum downtown had invited you to an early preview party for a new temporary exhibition that was opening at the museum, so since you had nothing better to do on a Wednesday evening, you got dressed up enough to try to not look out of place among donors to the museum and fancy people who had memberships. Since she worked there she had to be there early, so you were going to be arriving by yourself and meeting her there. As you made your way through the entrance after presenting your guest pass card to the attendant at the welcome desk, you promptly made your way to the bar to help yourself to your one complimentary drink of the evening.

You had tried texting your friend to let her know you were there, but knew that since this was technically a work event for her it might be a little while before she could respond and come say hello. Until then, you decided to take a look around the exhibit that everyone had come to see. Since it was an early preview, it was obviously packed full of people who you never would’ve imagined yourself at a party with. Many people who were leading discussions in small groups crowded around the ornate frames on the wall gave off the obvious vibes that they were professors of some sort, mostly due to their use of words like “tone”, “depth”, and conversations about color choices. Others seemed like doctors, or lawyers, or stockbrokers, or maybe multi-million dollar luxury real estate agents who had so much money they decided to make very large annual donations to the museum in the name of charitable giving. There were of course others who you could tell were just membership holders out for a nice evening, and now that you think about it, you were a little surprised you hadn’t run into any of your other friends, assuming that you weren’t the only one your friend Cora who worked there had invited.

After a while of doing your best to see what types of painting and small sculptures were in this new exhibit over everyone else crowded closely around them, you still hadn’t heard from your friend, so you decided to take a break from listening to conversations about “what this shade of blue here means versus the other shade of blue in this area” and made your way out of the gallery over to the elevators that brought you upstairs earlier. Once you entered the glass elevator, you decided on going up one level to the contemporary floor. When the doors opened one floor above, there was instantly a difference in the atmosphere, not just because this area felt more spacious and open, and the pieces were much larger and not in ornate gold frames, but the first room of the gallery was completely empty with the exception of two security guards who welcomed you once they realized they were no longer alone.

After admiring a few pieces near the entrance, you followed a distant noise across the first room into the next to see where it was coming from. The only sound in the otherwise quiet gallery came from a massive mountain of speakers stacked from the floor to the ceiling, playing very quietly, but playing slightly ominous music overlapped with a few various sound effects and dialogue from movies and TV shows every now and then. Something about how gigantic and illusive this mountain of speakers was drew you in, and you found yourself wanting to stop and listen rather than explore the rest of the empty gallery. Of course, since the gallery was empty due to everyone else being downstairs, the bench across from this colossal structure was empty as well. You decided to take up a seat across from the speakers and recorded a quick video of the scene for your Instagram story. After posting, you put your phone away in the small clutch purse you brought, and decide to enjoy the peace and quiet compared to the party full of people you don’t know that you had just left.

It was nice in its own way, the quiet accented by the almost white noise coming from the speakers. It should be unsettling, but it was almost calming. Something about it felt like it was putting you in a trance, it was something so monumental, it almost felt like it had a secret that if you watched and waited long enough it would let you in on what it knew.

“Mind if I join you?” a familiar voice interrupts your from your thoughts. You look up to your right to see Calum grinning down at you, dressed in a black and white striped shirt that looked very nice on him, and a drink in his own hand. “Oh my god, Calum, hi!” you exclaimed while you instantly broke into a smile of your own after you realized who it was speaking, and rushed to set your drink down on the bench to your left before turning back to open your arms up to him.

He accepted your invitation into your open arms, starting out for a hug before he was even properly seated yet, both of your arms wrapping around his broad back and he squirmed to set his drink next to yours behind your back so he didn’t spill it on you. Once his hands were free they wrapped carefully around you, pulling you closer into him.

“Oh my god, you’re the last person I ever expected to be here, when did you get back?!” you ask once you both pull apart.

“I got back pretty late yesterday! Did you come with anybody else?” he asks as he leans around behind you for the two drinks, handing yours back to you as he holds onto his own.

“No, it’s just me. I didn’t know anybody downstairs so I just came up here,” you told him. It was still just the two of you in the gallery with the speakers, which have gotten his attention. The backing track its playing almost sounds like music that should be playing in a horror movie when the antagonist is introduced, but the overlapping track is a scene from Pride and Prejudice.

“Damn, what’s the first song you’d want to play on these if you got to pick?” he asks, turning to you before he takes a sip of his drink. You look away from him and back up at the towering mountain of speakers across from you both and think about your answer.

“Are we choosing loud songs or sad songs?” you ask, needing to narrow down what type of answer he wants to know.

“Well my answer is by Cigarettes After Sex, so pick something different for variety’s sake.”

“Can I be super cliché and go with The Less I Know The Better, Tame Impala. You said your band, but what’s your song?” you ask, shifting your position a little so that you’re facing him a little more.

“Nothing’s Gonna Hurt You Baby,” he replies, and even though it’s just the name of the song, for some reason hearing the way he says ‘baby’ gives you chills.

“So what brings you up to the contemporary floor in the first place? Didn’t want to hang out with all the art critics downstairs?” you ask to change the subject. “Oh, you posted on your Instagram, so I came to find you,” he replies casually, sending your heart into your throat, so you take a sip of your drink to try to calm down. “Plus some of the Picasso’s downstairs looked like they could’ve also been villains on Courage the Cowardly Dog, so,” he adds with a shrug, making you laugh.

Neither of you said anything for a moment, even though there was so much you both wanted to say. He wanted to tell you every detail about his time away: the cities they went to, the people they got to meet, how he spent time with his mother which made him feel the most like himself he had felt in a while, but he probably wouldn’t tell you about how about halfway into the trip he realized he missed you a little more than he normally missed his friends when he was away. You wanted to ask him all about what he saw in the countries he had left, he always had such a more interesting life than you did, but that wasn’t all you wanted to talk about. You wanted to tell him about how mundane your life was here back at home while he was gone, and that the most interesting thing you had done was meet up with an old friend from your hometown who was passing through on a business trip. You wanted to tell him how ever since he had been gone, you had been hearing his new song on the radio nearly every time you started your car, so it almost felt like his way of saying hello even when he wasn’t around. You wanted to tell him how the barista at the coffee shop inside the bookstore you both liked had asked where your friend was the last time you went, and how you realized you actually felt kind of lonely when you told her that he was out of town. Instead you both just sat in the silence for a little while more, and listened to the mountain of speakers play a scene from the 1996 Romeo and Juliet overlapped with organ music that sounds like it could be in a haunted house.

“I missed you,” he admits after a moment’s silence. Out of the corner of your eye, you notice that his left hand is resting on the bench in the space between you two, and when he feels you noticed it he moves his hand ever so slightly closer towards you almost in an invitation that he wants you to take it.

“Sorry, I cant help it that I’m just so charming,” you tease him, nudging him with your shoulder, which makes him laugh and shake his head. When he stops laughing and is just smiling softly at you still, you place your hand on top of his.

“I missed you, too,” you continue more seriously, giving him a soft smile of your own. “The stripes are a nice look, by the way,” you add after not so subtly checking him out. You’d be lying if you said he didn’t look fucking amazing, but telling him that word for word would very likely get to his head.

He slides his hand out from underneath yours to properly hold your hand now, leaning down to place his drink on the floor before he guides you to stand up from the bench you had been seated at. “Do you want do dance with me?” he asks once you both are standing.

“Calum, this is literally a sample of a Pink Floyd song and dialogue from Titanic,” you try to oppose, setting your own now empty glass on the bench where you had been sitting. Instead, he guides you into a twirl while he shrugs his own shoulders.

“I know what I said,” he continues, reaching for your other hand and pulling you in so that you both are standing with your elbows bent and your joined hands are level with his chest, so close that if you were to let go you could reach out and touch him, but you knew better than to give in so you kept them safely joined in his in the space between you both.

In the daytime, the gallery is lit up from the natural lighting that the skylights allow, but in the evening, the darkness casts an inky blue across the room, with just a little light coming from the moon and from the occasional spotlights that illuminate certain pieces of the artwork.

“You’re supposed to say that I look nice too, you know,” you playfully point out as Calum guides you both around in a circle in the empty gallery in front of the speakers. He grins down at you before he extends his arm and lets go of your hand to guide you into a twirl again. After he spins you around he doesn’t join both your hands again, and places his free hand on your waist to pull you just a touch closer than you were standing before.

“You know I always think you look nice,” he replies. ‘Nice’ isn’t the word he wants to use, he wants to use amazing, incredible, entrancing, beautiful, captivating, but just ‘nice’ will have to do for now. Distance must have made you both a little bolder, because this evening there seems to have been an unspoken, but mutually recognized tension between you two. Staring into his eyes is almost too intense, even more so once you catch him looking away to glance at your lips for a moment, so you look away yourself to admire another piece in the gallery across the room.

You notice you’ve been in the gallery for so long now that the track on the speakers has looped back to the beginning, when you hear the same scene from Pride and Prejudice playing again. “You have bewitched me, body and soul,” is the first line you notice has started playing back, and you notice as well that Calum has started to look around the room at the other art. You take the moment to admire how he looks in the shadows of the darkness, searching to see if he’s any different now than when you left him. His hair looks like it was recently cut a little shorter, and he’s gone back to black instead of a silvery blonde. You’ve always thought the contrast of the two reminded you of night and day, and now he’s gone back to night.

“You have bewitched me, body and soul,” repeats again, now mixed over the bridge of a Lana Del Rey song you both like. He notices the song and meets your gaze again. He almost asks why you’re staring, but lets it slide in hopes you’ll return the favor eventually and let him do the same someday without questions. This time he’s the one who notices your gaze down to his lips, seeing if his smile still starts on the same side of his mouth that you remember.

He inches his face just a little closer to yours, embracing the boldness he seems to have found in the time he was gone. “Hey,” he says softly in attempt to get your attention. Your eyes flash back up to his, and he notices how where you’re standing allows you to be lit up perfectly in the moonlight.

“Sorry to interrupt, but it’s unfortunately time to call it a night. Everything wrapped up downstairs a little while ago,” a security guard announces from the archway, causing you to both nearly jump out of your skin in surprise. “Okay, thank you,” Calum nods to the guard. He drops his hand from your waist and takes a few steps back to the bench to pick up your discarded cups. You reach for your clutch purse and hold it in both hands in front of you, following his lead back to the elevators once he asks if you’re ready.

He throws away the cups in a trashcan by the doors after pressing the call button, and shoves his hands into his pockets while you wait. When the doors open, he extends an arm in gesture for you to enter first, and he follows behind before pressing the button for the main floor. In the process, you notice the time on the silver watch on his wrist reads that it’s nearly 11:00 PM, meaning you and him must’ve been up there alone for nearly an hour and a half, and neither of you had realized. You press your back against the glass to try to ground yourself again after whatever that was between you that had just happened back upstairs. He doesn’t turn to you, and instead stays just a step ahead with his back facing you the entire short ride four floors down.

“Did you drive yourself or do you want a ride?” he asks as you two exit the building through the lobby. You both fall in step side by side across the courtyard outside. “Oh, no, it’s fine, I drove myself. Did you park in the deck across the street?” you ask in return.

“Yeah, I’m over in that one, Cora gave me a pass for a reserved spot on the first level with my invite, did she give one to you too?” he replies, referring to your friend who had invited you both in the first place, and ended up never seeing the entire night. You nod in reply as you both make your way to the crossing. You had thought for a moment upstairs he might’ve been about to kiss you or say something at least before you were interrupted, but if he was going to act like everything was normal, so were you.

As you make your way into the parking deck across the street, you notice your cars are both just a few spaces apart from each other. You both stop in the empty spaces between to say goodbye before going your separate ways. “Let me know when you want to get coffee at the bookstore again, it’s been too long since I’ve been able to go,” he says after a moment.

“I’m ready whenever you want to go! The girl who always rings us up was asking about you the last time I was there,” you tell him, which makes him smile. It’s always nice to hear the home misses him just as much as he misses home whenever he’s away.

After you get your keys out of your purse, he holds open his arms to wrap you in a hug before you go, and you step into the space you’ve missed so much while he was gone. You close your eyes as he buries his head against your neck, pulling you in for the most proper hug you’ve had in a long time. You don’t realize it at the time, but the last time you’ve felt so secure and safe while wrapped in someone’s arms was his own the last time you saw him at his house the day before he left for the airport.

“Get home safe,” he requests, rubbing his hand across your shoulders before he lets go. You still feel so electrified from whatever sort of trance you both must’ve fell under in front of the speakers earlier that you can’t let him leave before giving a quick, still friendly and as casual as you can make it kiss to his cheek before you step away from him. You tried to act as if was an old habit between you both, your usual routine whenever you part ways, but you’ve never kissed his cheek before, and you both know it no matter how hard you try to not acknowledge it. Once you’ve stepped back, he doesn’t know what to say, and all he can do is blink at you for a moment.

“Be safe, I’ll see you soon. Let me know once you get home,” he requests again in attempt to snap himself out of it while he takes a step backwards towards his own car. You nod and ask him to do the same, heading around to the driver’s side of your own car in the process. Once you’re both safely in your own cars, you give each other a quick wave from the window before you go your separate ways.

You were all he could think about while he was gone, and now that he’s back it seems that you’ll be all he thinks about while he’s home as well.

tag list: @yessii-i @rexorangecouny @calssunflower @notsooperfect @outofmylimitcal @ayee-style @madbomb

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vivalaskristie · 5 years

Text

Chapter 9 Just Killing Time

Book: The Royal Romance (AU)

Series Premise: Parallel, behind the scenes, Madeleine and Bastien

A/N: This is my first series, my first AU, because Madeleine and Bastien needed to smash. I posted and then pulled it because it wasn’t quite right. It’s still a work in progress.

Warnings for this series: The first sex scenes I’ve ever written, bad language, sneaking around, alcohol, general mischief and the occasional academic symposium.

Chapter 1 Prelude

Chapter 2 Drinks on a Yacht

Chapter 3 A Dark and Stormy Night

Chapter 4 Meanwhile, Back At The Palace

Chapter 5 She’s Gone

Chapter 6 All The Single Ladies

Chapter 7 The Game is Afoot

Chapter 8 It’s A Farce

Permatags: @speedyoperarascalparty @burnsoslow @dcbbw @emceesynonymroll @stopforamoment

The palace released one additional announcement that day. The competition to become Liam’s bride was officially cancelled, citing an acknowledgement that the entire premise was demeaning to women and that it devalued the entire idea of marriage. The participants were thanked profusely for their efforts and devotion to Cordonia’s advancement. The palace made it clear that the media would be required to respect their privacy, and a formal apology was issued to all involved. Future events that focused on Cordonia’s rich history and culture were in development, and all would be welcome.

Bastien spent the day overseeing the evolving palace security protocols. There was really no way to know how the people of Cordonia would respond to what was going on. Everyone was on high alert. The residents, staff, and guests were discouraged from leaving the safety of the palace, and nobody was allowed in.

Olivia, Penelope, Kiara, Hana, and Riley were all in Madeleine’s suite. There wasn’t anywhere for them to be, so they took advantage of the down time to watch movies and daydrink. By mid-afternoon, Madeleine started texting Bastien.

At the end of one of the longest days of his career, Bastien got cleaned up in his own room, in case Madeleine’s was still full of her friends. He saw no reason to stay away now that everybody knew about them, though, so he let himself into her suite through the front door. Someone was asleep on the couch, but the fall of long dark hair showed that it wasn’t Madeleine. Kiara. Another form was curled into a chair. Red hair and clenched fists. Olivia.

He made sure the balcony door was secured, and then silently made his way into the bedroom. A sense of deja vu crossed his mind, and he smiled at the memory of their night on the yacht. I’ve got to get a job where I’m not sneaking into her bed in the middle of the night so much, he thought.

Madeleine was sprawled out across the bed. He marveled at how one so small could take up so much of such a big space. He looked at her for a moment. She let out a decidedly unladylike snore.

“Hottest damn woman on the planet right here,” he said out loud. “Mother of my children.”

“Love,” she murmured through her dreams.

“Love,” he replied.

He made sure she had water and ibuprofen close by, and crawled into bed, curling around her.

***

“Oh god I’m going to die.”

Madeleine’s brain was too big for her head. She opened one eye and closed it again immediately when the room spun around her. She was laying on her stomach, and she felt a warm hand on her lower back. She groaned and leaned up into it.

“Good morning, Icarus. Fly a little close to the sun?”

She smiled in spite of herself as she started remembering the previous day. She’d spent it laughing with friends. It had been forever since she’d had that much fun. But wow, she was paying for it.

“I seem to recall texting you,” she murmured with closed eyes.

“Yeah, about that…”

“I regret nothing.” He laughed and rubbed her back. “Mmmmm, you will keep doing that, please and thank you,” she managed to command and purr all at once. His hand slipped under her tank top and he sat up to get more leverage. Bastien worked through the knotted muscles, feeling the stress she had absorbed in the past weeks loosening up. He made a fist and twisted his knuckles into her shoulder blade.

“Oh that spot right there. Yeah, that’s the good stuff,” she mumbled into her pillow. Inspired, he tugged her shirt over her head. “No no no you stopped. Go back to that thing with the knuckles.”

“Work with me. I need access to all the fun places,” he said as he ran his tongue up her spine to the nape of her neck. He felt her twitch under him as goosebumps covered her skin. He moved her hair out of the way and bit her shoulder. She started to roll over and reach for him, and he pushed her back down. “No, stay there. I like the view.”

He worked up and down her entire body, from her scalp to the soles of her feet. He slid her underwear down her legs. It was sensual and powerful and delicate and she gave herself over to it. She felt his mouth, his scruffy chin, his breath moving over her with his hands. He licked her neck behind her ear and whispered, “Any requests?”

“Potatoes and coffee would be amazing.”

“I’m sorry what?”

Her eyes opened wide as her stomach rumbled. Did she say that out loud? She quickly rolled over onto her back. “I mean, come here baby and show me how manly you are” and she pulled him down for a kiss, pulling his hands back to her body.

“Oh don’t let me get in the way of your breakfast, your Grace, “ he said in mock indignation.

“Shut up and get back to work down here. You missed some key locations.”

“Really? I thought I was pretty thorough. Show me.”

“This whole front part was utterly ignored,” she said in a snooty voice as she ran her index finger down between her breasts.

“Let me jump right on that, milady.” He put his mouth over one nipple and squeezed the other. His free hand traveled down between her legs. “I know it’s not potatoes but it’s the best I have right now.” She gasped out a laugh.

“Cream, madam?”

“Not yet, but keep going….” she jumped as he ran a finger over her clit and slipped it inside her.

“You sure you don’t have a headache?” he murmured, grazing his teeth against her thigh. “You’re not weak from hunger?”

“I am, but I’ll allow you to eat first.” She raised a knee.

He snorted out a laugh. What was with her today? He’d never had so much fun with any woman. “Your wish is my command.” He lowered his head, his low growl of a laugh rumbling against her. He kissed and licked his way back up her body to her mouth and thrust his cock into her. She cried out at the abrupt change in sensation, and dug her nails into his back as she held on to him. He moved faster and faster, drilling into her. They reached a frantic rhythm and she began to shake under him, and he lost control of his senses.

Afterward, They lay together quietly for awhile, staying tangled up around each other.

“HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS THAT SOUNDED AMAZING,” Olivia yelled from the other room.

“LIV WOULD YOU CALL FOR SOME POTATOES I’M STARVING,” Madeleine hollered back. Bastien buried his face in her neck, laughing and holding her tight.

***

As they were enjoying their potatoes and coffee in bed, Madeleine’s phone buzzed on the nightstand.

Family meeting, everybody. Gather in the 2nd floor library 30 min.

Wait who’s that?

We’ve been hacked! Abort!

Who added Liam to the group?

I added myself.

You can’t add yourself to a group chat! #rude How do you even do that? Show me

I’m the mf king. You think I don’t have the authority to slide into your DMs, fool?

I feel like we’re in trouble. Are we in trouble? Should I pack?

GUYS. Relax. Maddie, tell Bastien?

Sure.

Oh like Bastien’s not right there reading over her shoulder #lovahs

Maxwell if you ever manage to get with anybody, remind me to make fun of you for it.

BURN HAHAHAHAAAAAAASavage

Dang girl!

Merde!

LOL pwn

They were all seated in the magnificent main library when Liam walked in and sat down. Everybody knew about Drake & Riley and Bastien & Madeleine. Nobody knew what Liam had planned.

He began without preamble.

“You are my best friends. I’ve been around you all for my entire life, and I’m horrified that you felt pressure to be part of Regina’s … whatever it was. I’m so sorry. Please know that it’s done, and none of you needs to explain it to anyone. The Crown will take all responsibility for any damage inflicted.

“My father was planning to step down in the next few months anyway. He’s been diagnosed with cancer–” he stopped abruptly when he heard the gasps of shock–”and his prognosis is good” –everybody sat back in relief–”but he and I agreed that in the interest of helping Cordonia regain some stability, we’d make the big changes right now.

“Ladies, the fact that you basically organized into a labor union in order to avoid becoming queen reminded me of why you are all so important to me. I would have been lucky, and it would have been my honor, to have been worthy of marrying any of you. Your duty to crown and country is unquestioned.” The women were all smiling, obviously relieved but still utterly unapologetic. “I look forward to implementing policies that empower Cordonia’s girls to grow into strong women like all of you.”

“Riley you are amazing and I’m so glad you’re here. Your happiness is important to me, even if that means you’re not with me.” Drake took Riley’s hand and looked over at Liam in gratitude.

“Guys, you are my brothers. You’ve dealt with a lot because of your friendships with me, and I can never show you how much you all mean to me.” Maxwell had tears rolling down his face.

“I love you bro!”

“Yes Max, love you too, my bro.” They all laughed.

The conversation continued for hours. Liam began to detail his plans for what he wanted for Cordonia. He singled them out for potential cabinet positions and executive offices. He emphasized that these were offers and not commands, and he made no secret of the fact that he wasn’t entirely comfortable with the rapid changes that had happened to him. He’d had plans of his own, and while he hoped to fulfill some of them, he knew he had to let some go. He was asking for their help, and they were glad to give it.

“Madeleine, I’m hoping I can count on you to become Minister of Finance in the future. I know you want to continue your education. Please know that the position is yours when and if you want it. I read your undergraduate thesis, and I want it to be one of the foundational documents for the 50 year strategic plan I’ve started developing. I’d like to work with your team of experts when you return to Oxford, if you’ll let me impose.”

Madeleine was stunned. He’d read her work and saw its real world potential. Her ideas would inspire Cordonians for generations to come.

<FIN>

#trr #trr bastien #trr madeleine

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benhaardy · 5 years

Text

constellation || b.m.

(what a man ^)

REQUEST: Hello! Could u do a college!bri with reader in which she’s like majoring in something completely different than Bri but they have a mutual friend (could be Roger) and Bri is so infatuated with her because her major is more like arts and stuff and idk lots of fluff?

A/N: eeeeee i loved writing this smmmmm i really hope yall like it even though it’s prettttttyyy specific tbh lol but if you don’t like arts or whatever bri is still a cute lil loverboy in this just imagine him but with your own work? writing or music wise or anything else really. i hope you enjoy cause i lovvvveed writing this. absolutely loved it. i use that phrase too much. anyway, i just really really liked this one it took me like two whole days to do it lol sorry that took awhile and to people w other requests i got u im still workingg on yalls.

requests are clooooseeed at the moment and i am currently working on the ones i have. you can still send them in but they will not be done/started until i am finished with this batch.

the “rings” / “halos” mentioned aren’t like an angel halo w the circle floating above. its like the paintings that depict the virgin mary? i’ll link a pic right here.

as always, tried to make this as neutral as possible for the reader, but it is fem!reader. there might be something pertaining to height…? but i doubt its anything substantial lol shoutout to y’all tall peeps.

this can be read as normal queen or borhap!queen.

happy new years folks! hope y’all enjoyed yours as i have enjoyed mine. hope you enjoy this fic like i did too lol :p thanks for sending this request in!

Wordcount: 2.4k

Warnings: one fuck word. fem!reader. p fluffy. was beta’d halfway, but proofread. APOLOGIES i don’t know much about space or the sky or stars… all info i got about constellations were from this website (lifesaver lol i really hope its accurate). i’m writing this at 4 am, all worth it lol i looooved this story. anywhere here’s constellation *pulls out guitar*

You stepped back to observe the basic outline that you drew on the canvas. It was a shell of what you wanted to actually paint, currently, but in a few hours, it would be quite the opposite. You moved the easel and canvas around so it wouldn’t be against the light of the large panels of glass surrounding you in what was supposed to be a breakfast nook which you had converted into your art “room”.

You were ready.

You took a deep breath and went to grab an old shirt that you could put on before painting. Going through the kitchen, then the foyer, then the stairs, you went straight to Roger’s room, a place where you could find a crappy ripped, and possibly faintly sweat-scented top to throw on. Your favourite flatmate wouldn’t mind, now would he?

You rummaged through his drawers, careful not to make a mess of his nice shirts or the ones he wore to gigs. Finally, you found an old Hendrix t-shirt that was already splattered with paint. Perfect. You took off your shirt, threw on the new one and put the old top in the laundry.

As you went down the stairs, you heard a noise that sounded like it came from the kitchen. It was probably one of the dogs messing around with your canvases. Quickly, you jogged towards your art room, where a familiar blonde boy was crouching down, viewing the propped up half-finished painting that was drying. There was a tall, curly-maned man shuffling through your masonites.

“Uhh…hello?” You said, confused. Who was this? Obviously, there was Roger, but he hadn’t brought anybody home except for the occasional girl. Rog stood up from his place and the other man had turned around to look at you, sheepish.

Your best friend came around the easel to hug you around your neck, a cigarette in his fingers and your arms around his waist. “Hello, love,” he said. He let go and moved to face the new guy watching both of you. “Y/N, Brian. Brian, Y/N. Brian, this is my closest friend and she loves painting. Y/N, I’m in his band now! Smile!”

You exclaimed, “Oh my god, Rog! That’s amazing!” You were glad his endless practice and jam sessions were working out. Roger was back to looking at your other paintings. Now, you faced Brian. “Hey, Brian. What do you play?” you noticed his hand still on the hardboards. “What were you looking for?” you questioned.

“Oh, sorry.” Brian took his hand off the boards. “I play the guitar.” You made a mental note of that. “I just noticed this one up on the front here… Is this Rog?” He pointed to the first board, which was a painting of Roger from the shoulders up. He had a halo of fire surrounding his head in a circle and he was looking up above. The background was of the night sky, the constellations Leo, Phoenix, Lynx, Hercules, Draco, Vulpecula, and Auriga around him, multitudes of small stars smattered in the blank spaces.

“Yeah, it is. It’s part of a new series I’m doing. It’s my friends and constellations that relate to them. I saw the stars in a book and I thought it looked great so, yeah. It’s fine if you want to take a look.”

Roger was shuffling through who-knows-what when he added, ”Bri majors in physics and all that—the stars.”

“That’s so cool! I’ve always been interested in space and such but my passion has always been in the arts. I major in fine arts.”

Bri smiled and nodded, still examining the painting of Rog and tracing the constellations. “This is gorgeous,” he whispered to himself as you were distracted by Rog giving his input on one of your other paintings.

You positioned yourself in front of your easel once more, the boys off to the living room to practice with each other. You primed your canvas, mixed your colours, and set out your brushes. A picture of your subject was taped up on the canvas holder of your easel and the book of constellations was set up on the table next to you. Roger and Brian’s session was great background music for your painting time. You found yourself tapping your foot to the beat.

A few hours later, your painting was done. It was modelled after one of your classmates in your European History class. You stood back and put your hands on your hips. You painted her from the side, sitting on her calves. She wasn’t wearing anything, her chest only covered by a wave of water that led up to another halo surrounding her head. She was looking down at her hands, clasped in her lap with the constellations and stars above her. Her curly, caramel brown hair was splayed out behind her and upon her shoulders, droplets of water among them. You were quite pleased with your first (somewhat) nude where you captured the curves of her body true to what she looked like.

You heard Roger and Brian finish up their set and go into the kitchen. The fridge door and cupboard opened and closed. They walked into your space, Roger with a towel around his neck and Brian a little more disheveled than before. Brian’s top buttons were undone, exposing two necklaces. “Hm,” you thought as you watched him drink from his glass of water standing in the doorway, “Hmmmmmmmmmm.”

Your best friend went around and looked at your artwork. “Damn, who is that?” Roger asked, clearly interested in who your painting was of. He took a sip of water.

You took the picture off the easel and replied, ”None of your concern, Rog.” You shook your head, snickering along with Brian.

Brian walked to your other side and viewed your painting himself. You looked for his opinion on his face. “Wow, Y/N,” he mumbled, “Aquarius, Cassiopeia, and Eridanus are they?

“Correct.”

“This is beautiful, absolutely beautiful. The way she looks, so sensual yet innocent. Wow, Y/N. This is great,” he said quietly.

“Thank you, Brian. That means everything.” Brian smiled at you, bashful.

A new friend (and basically, new flatmate) was made that day.

A few months had passed. Smile had been doing great. Roger, Brian, and you were close as ever. Often, you went to their practices and sketched your surroundings, often Roger drumming or Tim singing. You loved seeing Brian’s vibrant smiles but him still paying careful attention to his playing. You would sit at the bar and sketch, or do homework, or just drink. Roger’s cheeky grin and Brian’s reserved but bright twinkle were always there for you up on that stage.

You were at the park with Bri at his invitation while Rog was off with his girl and Tim was somewhere doing something else. He met you with a blanket, his physics textbook, and a few writing utensils and you met him armed with a sketchbook and a bunch of pencils. It was a sunny, British summer day. You greeted each other and found a tree to sit under. Brian spread out the blanket for both of you and you sat down.

Much of your days with him weren’t always so silent. You had helped each other study often. He was often at your side when he was done practicing with Rog, the adrenaline that coursed through him making him seem like a child, a contrast to the calmness of your art process. After shows, he would be so talkative, willing to speak for a long time about anything and everything. You two would frequently be the only two left at the bar after a gig, Roger giving you his customary sly smile behind Bri’s shoulder as you conversed into the late hours.

He loved hearing of your endeavours in art and your classes and never failed to ask to see the new drawings of the new. Usually, you were shy to show other people what you had made but you just had this openness around him. You knew if he had any judgments he would say them in a constructive manner but he never seemed to put too much attention on your mistakes, rather being a “fix it and move on” type of person.

You liked him a lot, really. It didn’t help at all that he was intelligent and attractive and helpful and just a great guy all aro— never mind. Check off all of the boxes for “things you want in a man”. You tried not to pay attention to it too much.

Both of you were off to your own devices, buried in your work. A slight breeze came about, feeling wonderful against your skin. You looked back at Bri sitting against the tree, the wind shifting his hair and his book in his lap. You went back to your own thing.

“Y/N?” Brian spoke up after a while.

“Yeah?” You replied back, still focused on your drawing.

“Could I watch you draw? If that’s alright with you. You pick out the perfect colours and compositions and everything. It’s fascinating. Everything just comes together exemplary.” He spread his hands out at “exemplary.”

“Of course, Bri,” you said, flattered. “Of course.”

Bri moved closer to you, pretty much right behind your shoulder. You flipped to a new page in your book and set to work. He watched your pencil as it flew across the paper, depicting a sleeping dog with a couple that was sitting the next tree over. You could feel his eyes settle upon your face momentarily, heat rising up to your cheeks.

“You know, Y/N. You make a pretty funny face when you’re drawing,” he laughed. Brian played with a piece of grass absentmindedly but still paid attention to your drawings and now your eyes.

“Oh yeah, Bri? What’s that face you’re speaking of?” You took a look at him. He pursed his lips and pushed them out to the left; he drew his eyebrows together and pretended to draw in thin air. You giggled together at his silly (albeit, quite realistic) impression of you.

“To be fair, you have one too, when you’re playing,” you teased.

“How so?” Bri acted like he was offended.

“Well, I can’t really do it and nor is it as severe as mine… but when you play, it’s as if nothing else in the world matters to you but in a good way. It’s like, ‘Who cares about uni? Who cares about anything else?’ You kind of just look like it’s you and your guitar against the world, right? It’s quite nice, watching you play,” you said, voice getting quieter as you continued.

“It is true. Us against the world.”

Two weeks had passed. Rog went out with his girlfriend after a session with Bri so you were left alone with the guitarist. He was in the living room making up his own compositions and writing songs like he normally does while you stayed in your little studio. A little lamp was clamped to the table next to your easel so you could have a soft light on your canvas. You painted until Brian came in, standing at the threshold.

“Hello, love,” you said gently. You set down your brush and stretched.

“Hi, babe,” he replied back, advancing forward.

You remembered what you were going to show him and in a split second, you practically screamed, “No, Bri, wait!” He put his hands up and froze in his spot. “Just stay there, okay? Close your eyes.” The guitarist lowered his hands and obeyed.

You quickly moved to take the painting on your easel and prop it against the wall alongside the other drying ones. You looked through the finished paintings and came across the one you were looking for. After grabbing it, you set it up once more. The finished product after hours of work was finally on display. You came back around Brian and guided his towering self to your normal space in front of your painting spot. “Open your eyes.” He did.

You both looked at the piece of artwork in front of you. There was a large smile on his painting self’s face and his eyes were closed. His head was tilted back, up at the stars surrounding him. Bri’s curls were framing his face, small stars speckled throughout them. A ring of water was around his head. “Cancer, Circinus, Leo Minor, Lyra. Pyxis, Telescopium, Camelopardalis,” he said, so quiet you could barely hear it. You watched as he admired the painting of himself, one that you put so much work into to make special.

You nodded. “It’s you, Bri. That’s what I was drawing in the park. I was just doodling but I looked at you and you just looked so—pretty?” You both laughed at your words, but you continued on. “That’s the word. Pretty. With the sunlight and everything, the grass was so vibrant… you were glowing! I couldn’t help it, so I drew you for reference. And then I painted you,” you said, calm and shrugging your shoulders. “I thought it was fitting, you in space, looking like you were at home. I wanted to incorporate something music and the closest thing I could do was Lyr-“

“Oh my goodness, Y/N. This much thought? You didn’t have to do any of this, I’m so grateful, I love it so much! But I’m just Brian, I don’t deser—”

“I wanted to do this, Bri. Trust me. You listened to me rant on and on and on about how my what I was doing didn’t look good, or what I was drawing, or how I was drawing something. You are so encouraging and attentive and just amazing, Bri, I couldn’t help it. It was really no problem. You deserve it. And there’s-there’s one more thing.” This was it! You weren’t really planning on telling him your feelings after showing him your piece but now here you were.

He asked, oblivious, “What thing?” Bri was beaming at his portrait and now beaming at you.

“I really like you, Bri. A lot. You’ve been there for a lot and we’ve supported each other and I just-” He hadn’t said anything. The same surprised look was still on his face. Fuck. “And I mean, like, you know, I j-“

He seemed extremely taken aback at your declaration but his face melted into tenderness. “I like you too, Y/N.”

You exhaled, “Thank god!” Both of you laughed, the shared relief between the both of you evident.

Brian leaned in and you closed the gap. His lips felt amazing against yours after all this time waiting and the moon shone softly upon you both as you shared this moment.

Brian :

Cancer: The Crab ~ his astrological sun sign

Circinus: The Compass ~ helps people find their way, ever helpful

Pyxis: The Compass ~ mariner’s compass, i feel like he j knows himself really well and he’s a water sign so lol

Telescopium: The Telescope ~ self-explanatory lol

Leo Minor: The Little Lion ~ his hair. roger got the “big” lion by default so i gave bri the little lion!

Lyra: The Harp ~ closest thing to music

Camelopardalis: The Giraffe ~ :pppp

Roger :

Leo: The Lion ~ his astrological sun sign

Phoenix: The Firebird ~ he fiery

Hercules: The Strong Man ~ i’d like to think he would request this himself once he saw the series of pieces you were doing.

Draco: The Dragon ~ why not, plus i feel like he’d like it

Vulpecula: The Little Fox ~ he got the foxy moxy.

Auriga: The Charioteer ~ apollo and his chariot, rog is the sun <3

Lynx: The Lynx ~ not a very easily seen constellation, so you need good eyesight to see it. i thought it was ironic because of rog’s bad eyes LOL

The girl in the painting (you know who you are :)):

Aquarius: The Water Bearer ~ her sun sign

Cassiopeia: The Queen ~ self-explanatory hah

Eridanus: The Celestial River ~ water, relates to sun sign

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popatochisssp · 5 years

Text

Fur a Good Time, Call... 3/15

Series: Undertale, Horrortale Relationship(s): HT!Sans/Reader, HT!Papyrus & Reader Chapter Warnings: none

You work at an animal shelter. You love all your fuzzy buddies and can’t imagine a better job for yourself than looking after cats and dogs all day, even when the work is hard and often gross. What can you say? You’ve got a lot of love to give!

You’re just not quite sure yet how you feel about the new monster who’s been helping out these days, and this riddle wrapped up in an enigma is something you just can’t resist investigating…

AO3 Link

Crushed

Sometimes, you kept weird hours at night.

You had a bad habit of coming home from work and immediately passing out, only to wake up around ten or eleven at night and have some space to fill until you could get back to sleep again.

Occasionally you made do with the slim pickings of nighttime TV or made yourself some food that you probably shouldn’t be eating so late, but mostly you resorted to screwing around on the internet with your phone.

That was how you found out that Sans kept weird hours, too.

You had stumbled across one of those unfortunate neon sign burnouts—one ‘Elmhurst Emergency & Trauma Center’ that became the ‘ Im hur t Emergency & Trauma Center’— and immediately thought of somebody who would appreciate it.

Before you could reason with yourself that it was after midnight and you had literally never sent Sans a text before and this was a hell of an opener with no context, you’d sent off the photo.

A response came not ten minutes later.

PUNbelievable: lol thanks for that, Pap just yelled at me to keep it down.

You: Sorry, not sorry!

And that was the humble beginning of your textual friendship with Sans.

You texted back and forth about a lot of things. Most of it was silly stuff you found online (you’d been right, Sans did appreciate memes) but you were surprised by how many topics could arise from that kind of thing.

You: No way you have that many.

PUNbelievable: you doubt my hoarding ability? [IMG-1]

You: Holy shit, so that’s what 86 rocks looks like. Congrats?

PUNbelievable: and those are just the pretty ones. i got some more in shoeboxes and stuff.

You: You have shoes?!

PUNbelievable: hey hey hey what do you take me for, some kind of fancypants? no shoes, just the boxes.

You’d even started to go a little out of your usual way to find things Sans might get a kick out of. You started following a couple geology-themed blogs just so you’d occasionally find something nerdy to share.

You: [IMG-24]

PUNbelievable: whoa, perfect cleavage, thanks. yours?

You: Not mine. Perfect, though? Really? I just thought it was gneiss.

PUNbelievable: calcite, actually.

You: LOL!

Completely by accident, you’d also discovered his love of cat photos. He sent them to you often as reaction images, some he probably just found online but a lot you recognized as cats from the shelter.

He admitted to you that pretty much whenever he got a free moment at work, he was in the cat room, picking up or poking or otherwise gently harassing somebody.

PUNbelievable: most of them are just chill little dudes, they’re great. i love it when they get happy and start vibrating, that’s the best.

You: You don’t have to convince me, I love every one of those fuzzbutts, especially when they purr! I think I just might be more of a dog-person.

PUNbelievable: really? i thought you were a human-person.

You: Hilarious, spoken like a true cat-person. I should’ve put you as Good@Cats in my phone.

PUNbelievable: what am i now?

You: PUNbelievable.

PUNbelievable: what that’s great!

PUNbelievable: keep it!

PUNbelievable: it’s perfect!

A triple-text and the first time you’d ever seen him use exclamation points: how could you say no to that?

It didn’t take long before you caught yourself thinking of Sans as a friend—not just a work-friend, an actual friend—and you weren’t positive, but you were pretty sure he thought of you the same way.

For one thing, when you talked to him at the shelter, he actually talked back. It was a little thing, but it was so unlike the clipped and stiff replies he gave when other people tried to make conversation that it was a noticeable difference.

Sans’ silence had seemed so antisocial and mysterious back before you knew him. Now that you did, it seemed infinitely obvious that the man was just an awkward dork who wasn’t sure what to say and didn’t want to bug anybody so he split the difference by saying as little as possible.

He smiled a little wider when he saw you, though, and mostly came to you now when he’d finished a task and wasn’t sure what else needed doing. He was always available when you were about ready to go to lunch and happily gushed to you over how well his brother’s schooling was going, and he listened attentively when you talked about your own life, even when it couldn’t have been very interesting to hear about.

Sans had to be a friend: you couldn’t think of anybody else you’d rather send videos at three in the morning, and that was the truest measure of friendship you could think of.

Speaking of which…

You: [LINK: Sad Cat Diary]

PUNbelievable: oh big mood.

You snicker a little at the mental image of Sans, huge and spooky-looking, trying to sneak up on a tiny thumbtack in the wall.

You’re glad you went for it that day when you asked Sans to lunch. It was impulsive and a little nerve-wracking to put yourself out there like that, but it netted you a really good friend.

You couldn’t regret that, not even a little bit.

Buddy was with you again, which seemed superfluous to say at this point, but there he was.

His clicker training had gone incredibly well—the food-motivated little gremlin that he was—and you’d gotten him to pick up all the basic commands that people expected out of their dogs and didn’t want to have to teach them.

He knew sit, stay, drop it (though he was stubborn and sometimes pretended he didn’t), and even shake! He’d also pretty quickly picked up when and where he was supposed to do his business, and after all the socialization you’d been doing with him he didn’t flinch or shy away from being touched by people anymore.

With all that and his clean bill of health from the vet, Buddy was almost ready to go up for adoption.

There was just one small formality left on the list to check off, and it was how Buddy interacted with other animals. Since he spent so much time in the dog room, around other dogs, you already had a pretty good idea of how he was with his own species, so you’d gotten your boy leashed up, asked Sans to snag a couple cats for you, and met in the playroom.

Based on Buddy’s walk awhile back, you had a feeling you knew how this would go, but better to get it all done according to the shelter’s protocols.

Sans was standing there waiting for you when you and Buddy walked in. At your advice, he’d grabbed Snickers and Button, two of the more easygoing cats you currently had with a history of not batting the shit out of curious dog noses.

You had to cover a laugh at the sight of Sans, though. Button was fully latched onto Sans’ arm, all four limbs wrapped around it while she chewed at the cuff of his sleeve, and Snickers had perched herself up on his shoulder to paw at his face while he ineffectively tried to lean away.

“You good over there?” you asked, just to cover your bases.

“yep. as you can see, i’m a ladies man.”

You bent down, undoing Buddy’s leash and giving him a quick pat. “Would you be offended if I made the obvious ‘drowning in pussy’ joke?”

“yes, i would,” Sans said. “that’s just vulgar. low-brow. have some class, wouldja?”

You laughed, which had clearly been Sans’ intention. He grinned proudly even as he knelt and tried to shoo the cats off his body, a little easier to do now that there was something else for them to focus on.

Buddy, for his part, was reacting pretty much exactly how you’d expected. He was alert and very obviously curious…but also extremely unsure about these small bendy-looking dogs that were fearlessly trotting up to him.

“you think he’ll be alright?”

You shrugged. “I think so,” you decided, “more or less. I wouldn’t put him down as a great choice for homes with other pets, but if they’re friendly like the girls here, I don’t think he’d be in trouble.”

Buddy had mustered enough courage to give Snickers a good sniff…only to recoil a little as she sniffed him, something that was obviously uncalled for and totally unpredictable.

“that’s what this is for, yeah?” Sans asked, and you turned to face him. “you’re seein’ what kinda place he’d be a good fit for?”

“Yeah. I mean, that’s pretty much what we’ve been doing the whole time he’s been here. Adoption’s the goal: we don’t have as many rules and procedures as a rescue, but we still want everybody to end up somewhere good.”

Sans’ red eye moved from you to the animals. Button was trying to loop around Buddy’s feet, which Buddy was not sure he was totally cool with.

“so…what’s ‘somewhere good’ for buddy?”

The question made you consider it. “Well… he’d probably need somebody a little patient. He’s still nervous around new stuff and needs awhile to get used to it.”

“sure.”

“Ideally an only-pet situation,” you added. You gestured to where Snickers was playfully trying to catch Buddy’s tail while Buddy hastily tucked it and scrambled around to keep her in his line of sight. “Can you imagine him having to deal with that all day? Or worse, a territorial cat?”

“nah, he’s a lover, not a fighter.”

“Exactly! Big ol’ marshmallow.” You smiled fondly. “Buddy just needs a place where somebody can be his best friend.”

“so…you, right?”

Cue the mental record-scratch.

“Huh?”

Sans clearly didn’t think he’d said anything unusual. “everything you just described is you. you’re patient, no pets, you’re already his best pal. why can’t you take ‘im?”

“I…” You frowned. “I can’t.”

Sans didn’t say anything, but you felt his eye on you so you turned to watch Buddy again. He’d laid down to keep his underside protected, and the cats were rubbing up against him on either side.

It was adorable.

“I can’t,” you said again. “I…work way too much. I’m always here, y’know? I’d feel awful leaving…a dog,” you pointedly don’t say Buddy’s name, “alone in the house all day long. And then half the time when I get home, I just go straight to bed, so I wouldn’t even be able to play with him or give him the attention he should get.”

You chanced a look at Sans. His expression…wasn’t judgmental. Maybe a little…sad? But he wasn’t judging you.

You sighed. “It just wouldn’t be fair to him,” you say finally. “I’ve always believed you shouldn’t get a pet if you can’t take care of it. Buddy’s a good boy, he’ll go to a good home real fast. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“……if you say so,” Sans replied eventually. “guess i just always wondered why ya didn’t have your own pet when ya take care of ‘em all day. i know i thought havin’ a pet was pretty cool.”

Was? Oh, no.

“Did you…did you lose a pet, Sans?”

You shouldn’t be so surprised. The monsters went through hell underground, it should follow that no one was exempt from it, not even pets… but the thought still hurt your heart.

“yeah,” Sans said, and you ached with sympathy. You reached out to put a comforting hand on his arm when he continued, “Pap and i used to have a pet rock.”

Your expression flattened. “What do you mean, ‘used to’?” you demanded. “You’ve got like a hundred pet rocks.”

“nah, those are just rocks, they’re not pets,” Sans insisted. “not like rocky was.”

“……His name was Rocky.” Sans nodded. “I am…ninety percent sure you’re fucking with me.”

Sans put a hand to his chest, like an affronted southern belle. “would i do that?”

“Yes.”

“i’m hurt,” Sans said. “really. cut deep. rocky was a very important part of our family, i mourn his loss every day.”

“Okay, so what happened to him?” you wondered, suspicion evident.

“ran away.”

“…………”

“Pap blamed me for it,” Sans continued, shaking his head. “he was probably right to. i never fed him his sprinkles on time. didn’t appreciate him the way i should’ve, he was my rock and i just wasn’t there for him…”

“I’m a hundred percent now,” you said. “You’re fucking with me.”

Sans laughed, loudly and unabashedly. It made you laugh a little too, even though you shoved him in the arm right after.

“You’re such a jerk!”

“seriously, though,” he said. “if you ever meet Papyrus, ask ‘im about rocky, he’ll tell ya’.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” you said, tone dripping with sarcasm. You went over to rescue Buddy from his wannabe feline friends and added, “You better hope I don’t meet Papyrus because I’m gonna remember this and ask him and you’re gonna be exposed as a total liar!”

It wasn’t until you’d gotten Buddy’s leash back on and body-blocked your poor dog friend a little from Button and Snickers that you realized your designated cat-wrangler hadn’t answered you.

“Sans?”

He had his phone out and a serious expression on his skull as he penned something in. You’d learned only a week back that he kept a lot of reminders in his phone. He said it had been a major lifesaver to have something with him that could remember important dates and times for him, even when he couldn’t.

“Did you forget something?” you ask him gently.

Sans took a second to reply. “nah, just…remembered something i wanna do later. don’t wanna forget about it.”

“Okay.” You didn’t dwell on it. “Can you get Heckle and Jeckle here for me? I think Buddy’s had enough friendship for today.”

“yeah, sure.”

Sans scooped up the cats for you with only minimal mewing as protest, and you gave Buddy a scratch at his neck.

“Good boy,” you reassured him, leading him back to his kennel.

You were a little distracted, trying to decide how his adoption description should go.

You’d post it on the shelter website before you left work today.

The next day had you feeling…a little annoyed.

A new employee started today, somebody else’s young relative if his last name and obvious resemblance to your coworker were any indication, and no one had ever made you hate nepotism so much in your life.

You tried to rein it in: he was young and it was literally his first day, probably his first ever job and you knew there was always a learning curve. You wanted to respect that!

But… you might feel a little more forgiving if it seemed like he even sorta cared about the shelter and what you all did here.

You couldn’t speak to anyone else’s experience with him, but every time so far you’d tried to show him where something was or what the procedure is for such-and-such, he was looking off into the middle distance and nodding his head when he thought you were looking for an answer.

His phone buzzed once while you were talking and he broke direct eye-contact with you to respond to it.

You knew right then that he was somebody only in it for the paycheck. You didn’t think there was anything wrong with that, a job was a job, but he could at least have some decorum and try to look like he wasn’t bored of being there right in front of the person training him!

It was even worse because today was a day Sans wasn’t working. You couldn’t even complain to him about the new guy, or ask him to cover all the stuff he probably wasn’t doing that you’d have to go do yourself later.

Needless to say, you were already in a not-so-great mood when he came up to you in the middle of litterbox emptying around mid-afternoon asking for your attention—by the wrong name.

You didn’t bother to correct him. “Yeah, I can take a minute. What’s up?”

“The front desk girl called back. She said a guy wants to see a dog?”

…helpful. “Did she say anything else?” you prompted. “We got a lot of dogs here.”

He squinted, seeming to think about it. “Uhhh… I think it was Buddy? Or something like that.”

You weren’t quite prepared for the way your stomach dropped when he said the name. To cover it you spoke quickly, “Okay, thank you, I’ll go handle that. Can you finish cleaning the litterboxes for me?”

He sighed deeply, muttering, “I guess,” but you were already shucking off your gloves and heading to the sink to wash your hands. You could comfort yourself later with the knowledge that this guy couldn’t possibly last long here with an attitude like that. For now…

Oh, god.

You knew this was coming. You’d written up a great description for the website, and Buddy sat for his picture like a professional model: one ear flopped and the other pointed up with his pretty blue eyes and his tongue lolling happily out of his mouth.

He was a good boy and a beautiful dog, you knew he’d get adopted quick.

You just…hadn’t thought it would be so soon.

It’s not like you hadn’t gotten attached to dogs before. It happened a lot, actually, and it hurt a little each time watching them walk out the shelter door, but it had always been a light sting, easily soothed by the knowledge that they were going to a good home with people who’d love them.

But you had a terrible feeling that Buddy was going to hurt a lot more.

“How come you’re different, you little stinker?” you asked him, opening up his kennel and stepping in.

Buddy seemed oblivious to your sudden distress. He all but hopped off his cot when he saw you and the leash in your hand, his tail wagging while he sniffed at your pant leg in greeting and oh stars, this was going to be the last time he ever did that.

You got down on your knees to put his leash on. “C’mon, you gotta be a good boy. We’re gonna go meet your new dad.”

Because really, there wasn’t a question of if. It was like you’d told Sans, there wasn’t really a screening process or applications needed to take home a pet from here.

If you liked a dog, filled out the single sheet of paperwork, and paid the fee, that was your dog—and who wouldn’t like a sweetheart like Buddy once they met him?

You took a deep breath and got back to your feet. “Alright,” you said, mostly to yourself. “Alright. Let’s go, Buddy.”

The walk over to the lobby seemed shorter than it had ever been. You had to force yourself not to stop right before the doorway for ‘just a minute,’ knowing damn well that it wouldn’t be just a minute.

When you got there, there was only one person waiting in the lobby…and the sight of him nearly made you drop the leash.

He was a skeleton.

If you’d thought Sans was a big guy, the sight of this man scrunched into the almost comically small waiting chairs had instantly disabused you of the notion. It was hard to get a bead on exactly how tall he must be, since he was seated so politely with folded hands, but you’d guess he might be actually double your height, if not taller. He at least wasn’t built as broadly as your friend, but his overall length of limb seemed to make up for it and if it weren’t for his obvious good manners the sheer size of him might’ve been enough to make you a little nervous.

Well…his manners, the cobalt-blue squares of his (really cute) braces, and his matching glasses frames that were actually taped to the sides of his skull.

He spotted you almost the moment you walked in and rose to greet you.

“Hello!” he said cheerfully, offering one massive, spindly hand for you to shake. “I’m Papyrus! It’s A Pleasure To Meet You.”

It was…interesting trying to figure out how to shake his hand in return with the obvious size difference, but he took pity on you and helped you make it work. You introduced yourself right back.

“Ah, Of Course,” he said when you told him your name, “Sans’ Human. He’s Told Me A Lot About You, All Good Things, Naturally!”

You laughed a little, feeling just a tiny bit nervous all of a sudden at the thought of Sans talking about you—and at being called ‘Sans’ human.’ “Likewise. Uh, congratulations on acing that test last week!”

Papyrus scoffed, but you couldn’t help but notice the sudden hint of denim-blue on his cheekbones. “Thank You, But Really, I Have No Idea Why Sans Would Brag About That To Anyone! Did He Tell You The Exam Was On The Human Skeletal System?”

“Pfft… No, he left that part out, I think.”

“I Didn’t Even Study, For Obvious Reasons,” he told you, gesturing broadly to himself. You suddenly noticed the vibrant rainbow tie-dye crop-top he was wearing, and the black jacket he had over it with intricately embroidered flowers stitched into the leather.

Sans had been so right: Papyrus was insanely cool.

“We’re Getting Off-Topic,” he declared, bending further from his already hunched position to look at the dog beside you. “This Must Be Buddy. Hello!”

Buddy’s nose went straight into the hand Papyrus reached out to him, sniffing with vigor as always.

“Ah, You Smell My Bone Cologne! You Must Be A Dog Of Excellent Taste, A Connoisseur Of Fine Smells!”

You couldn’t help your smile. “Buddy certainly is that,” you agreed. The cold dread that had pooled in your gut at the thought of Buddy being adopted today had curiously disappeared and it left you feeling lighter than air. “Why don’t we all head to the playroom for a bit? You can interact with him a little better in there than in the lobby.”

“Excellent Suggestion!” Papyrus said. “I Would Be Delighted!”

The skeleton followed you further into the shelter, ducking under door frames blatantly not built with his height in mind. You were glad that the playroom had a high ceiling so everyone would be comfortable there.

As soon as you were all through the door, you unclipped Buddy’s leash and wrapped it up around your hand. “Papyrus, you can go ahead and ask Buddy to bring you a ‘t-o-y,’ he knows what that word means and he’s good at fetch.”

“Oh, So Am I!”

“Really?”

“Yes, Unrivaled At Fetch In All Of Snowdin,” he said proudly before pausing and looking a tad hesitant. You noticed he had the same nervous gesture Sans had, of looking down and to the left, and you found it unspeakably endearing. “Well, I Was, Anyway, For A Time. I, Erm…Worked Quite Closely With The Canine Unit And My Fetch Time Was Always The Best Out Of All Of Them! My Training Regimen Hasn’t Been…As Rigorous As It Was Back Then, Though, So I Suppose I Can’t Say With Certainty That It’s The Same. I’ve Been Busy Lately, Even By My Own Standards!”

“I know the feeling,” you empathized. “Adding Buddy into the mix won’t be too much, will it?”

Papyrus laughed, a bright and booming ‘NYEH-HEH-HEH’ that totally disarmed you.

“I Don’t See How It Could Be,” Papyrus assured you. “Buddy,” the dog focused on him instantly, “Can You Bring Me A Toy?”

Buddy perked right up when he heard the word of fun-times and happily bounced off to pick his favorite, a spiky rubber hedgehog that had seen better days, but its squeaker still worked so it was The Golden Toy to many of the dogs here.

Papyrus seemed pleased to have the slimy thing dropped into his hand and he gave it a gentle lob across the room. Buddy went after it like a shot. Almost as if he knew his performance was being judged, he even jumped a little to snatch it right out of the air.

Papyrus gave a suitably impressed noise and patted Buddy on the head when he returned the hedgehog. “Well,” he said, giving the toy another toss, “He’s Smart And Fast And A Very Handsome Dog—He’s Already Met All My Standards!”

“I can’t say I’m surprised, I’m pretty fond of Buddy myself. I, uh, I have to admit, though, I am curious why…” You frowned, wondering if the thing you were about to ask was presumptive. “Did…Sans tell you? About Buddy?”

“Yes, Of Course!” Buddy brought the hedgehog back again and Papyrus put it to the side, abandoning the play in favor of scratching through Buddy’s black and white fur. “We Don’t Really Keep Secrets. I’ve Known About Buddy For Quite Awhile!”

“Oh. Right.” You cleared your throat. “Then, I guess I don’t have to give you the disclaimer about his one unfortunate biting incident? Which hasn’t been repeated!” you quickly added.

Papyrus didn’t seem concerned. “The Only Thing Unfortunate About That Incident Is That Sans Still Wears That Old Hoodie!” Buddy had rolled over onto his back and if his windmill of a tail was any indication, his new skeleton friend was very good at belly rubs. “It Speaks To Buddy’s Tenacity! I Admire A Dog Who’ll Protect Himself When He’s In Trouble!”

Not many people saw it that way—an aggressive dog was just an aggressive dog, even with extenuating circumstances. Papyrus’ perspective was…refreshing.

“Well… he’s not exactly a guard dog, if that’s what you’re looking for,” you cautioned. “Mostly, he runs away if he’s in trouble, so…”

“That’s Even Better! Unnecessary Conflict Is So…Unnecessary!” Papyrus grinned broadly at you. Even with his braces, it was a totally winning smile. “I Think Buddy Will Fit Right In At Our House!”

“That’s…that’s great!” you said and you sincerely meant it. “If you’re ready to take him home today, we can go back to the front and get everything settled.”

Papyrus agreed immediately.

On the way there, he seemed compelled to assure you that he was well-prepared for Buddy’s arrival. He’d read through as much dog-ownership literature as he could find online last night and purchased all the essentials as soon as the stores had opened this morning: kibble, a bed, a leash and collar set with bones on them—and how fashion-forward was it of dog-accessories to include bones in their designs? Papyrus was very impressed!

“…And Of Course, He’ll Get Plenty Of Exercise, I’ve Been Looking For A Jogging Buddy And He Already Has The Right Name For It!”

You laughed. “Papyrus, I can’t tell you how great that is to hear. I love knowing my dogs are going somewhere good for them. You know half the people who adopt don’t even fill out the form all the way?”

Papyrus looked at the piece of paper you handed to him. He flipped it over to see the blank backside and frowned. “What, Seriously???”

“Seriously. It's not technically required, mostly for record-keeping, so people just don't do it or leave a bunch of blanks. You wouldn’t believe how many of those have no addresses because people couldn’t be bothered to remember what street they lived on.”

“………” Papyrus started snickering. “Oh My God, How Embarrassing… Nyeh-Heh-Heh, I Really Shouldn’t Laugh,” he said, grabbing a pen and jotting down his information. “That Sounds Like Exactly The Kind of Thing Sans Would Do.”

“Does it really?”

“Sadly, Yes. If I’d Left This Up To Him, It Would All Be Blank Except For Maybe His Name. And Then He Wouldn’t Turn It In. And I’d Find It Three Weeks Later Crumpled Up In His Trash-Tornado.”

“That sounds…exactly right, actually.” Sorry, Sans, can’t defend you against completely true accusations!

The lobby was quiet for a few moments, filled only by the sound of Buddy’s panting and the scratching of the pen.

Then Papyrus spoke up again. “Actually… Is…. Feel Free Not To Answer, If It’s Something You Don’t Feel Comfortable Discussing, But… Sans.”

You waited for him to finish his thought, but he didn’t. “Yes?” you prompted.

“He’s Not… Is He Like That Here?” Papyrus asked you, looking concerned. “I Know He’s Not Technically ‘Employed,’ But… He Does Things Here, Right? He Doesn’t Just… I Don’t Know, Sit In The Break Room All Day And Look Busy When Someone Important Walks By?”

You blinked, startled by the thought. “No, he doesn’t do that. He’s a big help around here. Actually,” you added, sheepish and a little quiet in case your voice carried, “I was kind of upset he wasn’t in today, ‘cause I don’t think I’m gonna get as much done without him around to lend a hand.”

You may as well have told Papyrus it was his birthday and every other holiday combined into one.

“Really? Oh, That’s Great!” He pressed a hand to his chest and heaved out a relieved sigh. You weren’t quite sure how that worked with a skeleton, but there it was. “I’m So Glad He’s Being Productive. I Knew This Place Would Be Good For Him! He’s Even Made Two Wonderful Friends!”

Oh, that meant you and Buddy, didn’t it? You think you might be flushing a little, but try to play it cool.

You and Papyrus get the adoption fee and all the other logistical stuff taken care of and soon enough, “That’s it, Buddy’s all yours, free and clear!”

“Thank You So Much For Your Assistance! And Obviously, Call Me Anytime!”

You paused. “Call you?”

“Yes, Of Course! My Number Is On The Form.” Papyrus seemed to notice you were still confused. “Sans Mentioned You May Want To Come Visit Buddy From Time To Time. You Seem Almost As Busy As I Am, We’d Probably Need To Align Schedules At Some Point To Make It Work.”

Sans mentioned…?

You put a pin in your train of thought. Hesitantly, you got out your phone and pulled the piece of paper closer. “Are you sure that’s alright?” you asked, just to make sure. “I, uh… I can’t say I don’t want to see Buddy again sometime, but….”

“Nonsense, Any Friend Of Sans Is Welcome Over Whenever.” Papyrus gave another quick pat to Buddy’s head. “And Any Friend Of Buddy Is Doubly Welcome!”

Good enough for you! You put his number in your contacts, just under ‘Papyrus’ for now. “You know,” you said as you did so, “we could be friends, too. If you wanted.”

When you looked up from your phone, you found Papyrus staring at you like…well, like he didn’t know what to say.

“…Really?”

“Sure?” Offering to be friends with somebody shouldn’t have been able to put a look of such touched elation on their face, but there was Papyrus looking like you’d just offered him the moon in a few short words.

“Oh! Well, That’s! That’s Fantastic! I Accept!” He was blushing blue again even as he laughed that cute laugh of his. “A Friend, Wowie!” He seemed to remember Buddy at his feet. “Two Friends! What A Day! I’m Sorry To Leave So Suddenly, But I Think I Have Some Energy to Run Off Right Now, Do You Mind?”

“Not at all,” you promised. “Go bond with your new dog.”

“I Will, And Thank You Again! Come Along, Buddy!”

Buddy spared a glance at you, seeming to wonder why you weren’t coming with, but he wasn’t concerned enough to hesitate more than a second before trotting after Papyrus out the door.

Buddy didn’t need to worry about never seeing you again, after all. Neither did you, for that matter.

All thanks to a certain meddling skeleton.

A skeleton that you called the second you went off the clock for lunch.

“y’ello?” he answered after a couple rings, sounding a little like you’d just woken him up.

You didn’t waste time feeling guilty about it. “Hey, did you tell your brother to adopt Buddy?”

“heheh, what? no.”

“Really? Because he said—”

“look, i don’t tell Papyrus to do anything,” Sans said flatly. “…but maybe i did mention that the cool dog was up for adoption, the one who tried to eat my terrible jacket that Pap hates. and that my pal at the shelter might be a little, uh… sad if he went real far away and they couldn’t see ‘im anymore. if he decided to go pick buddy up after that, that’s just serendipity, y’know?”

You huffed out an incredulous breath. “I can’t believe you did that.”

“did what?”

“You adopted a dog for me!”

“he’s a good dog. Papyrus can tire ‘im out when he’s not at work or studying and i’m not at the shelter every day, so i got ‘im the rest of the time. that’s what you were worried about, right? buddy gettin’ left alone too much?”

“Well…yeah.”

“so, problem solved, right? plus you can have visitation an’ stuff. long as you pay child support.”

You snorted loudly. “Child support?”

“yeah, child support. he was your son first.”

“He’s not my— what even is ‘child support’ in this scenario?”

Sans sounded like he was thinking it over. “mmm…lunch for a month?”

“…you’re kidding.”

“you’re right, two months.”

“That’s not how haggling works!”

“drivin’ a hard bargain, huh? okay, a week.”

You finally broke down giggling. “Fine,” you laugh, “fine, a week.”

“oh, nice, i didn’t think that would actually work.”

What a goober.

“Oh my god. Okay, sorry to bug you on your day off, you can go back to bed now, I guess.”

“bold of you to assume i ever left it.”

“And Sans?”

“yeah?”

“Thanks.” It seemed weak. Not enough of a word to convey the warm gratitude you felt bubbling up in your chest when you thought about what he’d just done for you—him and his brother both.

It was weak, but it was all you could think to say.

“forget about it,” Sans said simply.

And that was that.

You got on with your day, going to lunch, coming back and dealing with your duties and that damn new guy, but the whole time, in the back of your mind, you were thinking, He adopted a dog for me. He sent Papyrus to adopt Buddy so I wouldn’t be sad.

You were starting to think that maybe you were in trouble here.

Your relationship with your ‘pretty good friend’ was starting to feel an awful lot like a crush.

Later that night, Sans texted you first.

PUNbelievable: hey, sounds like you made my bro real happy today. thanks, he deserves to have more good stuff in his life.

So do you, was your first thought, but something told you Sans might not see it your way.

You: Sure, he’s as cool as you said he was, but don’t think you’re off the hook about that Rocky thing because I forgot earlier. I’m gonna ask him next time and then you’re busted!

PUNbelievable: lol

You had almost mustered enough irritation to be playfully annoyed at him when he sent another message.

PUNbelievable: [IMG-13]

It was picture of Buddy curled up on a bare mattress in a dark room—Sans’ room—with a big bony hand settled on his withers mid-fur-ruffle.

PUNbelievable: somebody’s making himself right at home, guess life over here ain’t so ruff.

…Okay, yep. You were crushing.

Prev Chapter | Next Chapter

#fur a good time call #undertale #fanfiction #sans #sans/reader #horrortale #ht!sans #ht!papyrus #myfic

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decadentboat · 5 years

Text

That replies post again

Lets start with a qt Kirara bc almost nobody liked how she died lol.

I had to log in here in the laptop. Since it’s not mine I don’t feel comfortable... So far I’ve been posting and replying via phone which is an eternal hassle.

Again, thank you from the bottom of my boat heart for your kind messages!!(boat heart emoji bc I can post them here lol)

.....I’m sorry I didn’t realize I had missed so many of them!

@mdlouie No prob!! I think it’s totally OK to start with student grade supplies. I mean, buying artist grade right out of the bat it’s not wise in my own opinion since it doesn’t guarantee their particular propieties will be benefitial to you(Like there are watercolor brands that are super easy to re-wet and very vibrant, but they tend to be kinda lifting so layering may be difficult, other brands are the opposite) There is always a learning curve with art supplies, whatever the grade they are. To me, learning using both of material grades is not a waste of time, new adquired knowledge will never be a waste of time!

Now, what I didn’t come to agree at first but now I have to admit it was a big improvement is to use cotton watercolor paper. In special for characters with dark skin like Chouchou. I struggled so so much with having a flat wash on the skin, and I blamed the watercolors(The pigments, because earth color pigments tend to create granulation) But for example this:

The wash on her face came out really nicely! I think you can have both papers(I def have more of the student grade/not proper watercolor paper than the artist grade/cotton haha)And practice on both.IMO watercolor is a lot about water control but also a lot of learning where to place your brushstrokes. Practicing your brushstrokes in cheaper paper is good bc you don’t have that fear of ruining expensive paper with your practices. Water control is better to be practiced in the expensive one. Uhm I hope I’m making sense!

@letherebewisdom Aw! Thank you!! I defenitely don’t want to stop yet!

@kiagumo Perdón por la gran demora en responderte!! No, no! Muchas gracias a ti por dibujarlos!! Sé que dibujo mas de lo necesario y probablemente alguien piensa que eso me basta pero no...NO! Yo también quiero ver fanart, quiero ver dibujitos lindos de mis OTP!!! Que alegria que uno de tus ships favoritos sea Mitsucho, porque tu arte realmente es muy lindo!!

Por cierto no necesitas pedirme permiso para dibujar algo que te interese de mis dibujos! Si deseas puedo dibujarte un diseño de Metal y Shinki playeros jajaja. Muchas gracias, de verdad fue un dibujo muy precioso!! *bote llorón*!!

@alinakz-97 Well, your guesses could be right. I’m def curious lol!

@mdlouie Yay for them indeed!!

@miss-akimichi It’s Chouchou! I added to much red there haha. Perhaps the sameface syndrome is strong in me. But when I draw Karui I try to make her eyes sharper and her skin darker than Chouchou.

@sugarriene I think I read Choji being scared of lizzards somewhere! Maybe Chouchou is scared of snakes? I still think it was a little weird but 100% sure that’s...all in my head lol.

Now, what I meant with medic...Or perhaps should I have said doctor? Like Sakura or Tsunade being perpetual doctors... In special Sakura that has it as her daily job. I can’t see Inojin like that(Maybe a little with Mitsuki because of the team 7 karma... I’m still unsure of this. The biggest mystery of Boruto is who is going to get the frog and the slug... Since it looks like everyone is getting snakes XD) I wish the Yamanaka flower shop being a cover for the sensing division was brought up sooner in the manga because it’s damn cool(Someone correct me, or was it added after the Pain attack?) The future I see for Inojin is being that handsome guy that runs the flower shop and he is seen painting ocasionally, but it turns out he has this secret agent thing going on.

BTW anybody remembers the Nara being skilled in medicine/pharmaceutics? Why are they never the medics of their teams? In the prev gen it was understandable since Ino’s ability was more in the support side, but the current gen, they are very able to haddle by themselves(Considering both Shikadai and Inojin inherited other techniques like wind release and the beast scroll)

Welp, I didn’t want to write this tldr haha. I may be wrong with this reasoning, I just hope I’m not straying out too much of the facts.

@hotmonkeelove Let’s hope they show more Anko interacting with the kids. I keep thinking there must be a reason why Chouchou and Anko were afiliated aside from “lol chubbies“ I want SP to deliver but they have dissapointed me so many times...

@ascrolluponthemoon I think it would be cool! And honestly I think snakes match their personalities better. Katsuyu for Mitsuki? Their colors match and they are both very polite but it feels wrong xD? Same with Sarada and HOT BLOODED ACTION Gamabunta(Or is it going to be Gamakichi?) Dunno, feels weird, but it is one of the things I’m looking forward to see.

@nite-baron Thank you so much for your hard work!! I’m looking forward to it.

@miss-akimichi Yes!! Defenitely. But you have to babysit the sites and its annoying. If I find cute Mitsuki and Chouchou merchandise, I will let you guys know. Just in case it might interest you alll and you want to get it before it’s sold out lol.

@miss-akimichi No prob! Thanks to you for posting such cute headcanon! I...uh.. I was drawing a comic but I’m unsure of posting it. They came to be a little touchy with each other since they are married adults and stuff(Defenitely it’s not nsfw! But I can see some people be bothered with it haha) Perhaps I will post it under a read more... or simply ask you guys if you want me to post it.

@mdlouie Thank you!! You are very kind! We are def better! At the very least we recovered our voices XD Since it’s a virus, you have to wait for it to pass. But yes, we are better now.

@flyflywingedbear -_- Yeah me too! Its painfully obvious the Mitsuki arc is just an extender for the anime not to catch the manga. Who is popular? Mitsuki? Well, let’s drag the story with this LONG arc that promises to focus on his background but it turns out we will not touch it haha. The max offender was both the OP and the ED XD We got a bunch of cute inoshikacho moments and development tho, I can forgive those parts. But for a “Mitsuki arc” it lacked of the Mitsuki POV. How many episodes had to pass for him to say he felt like he was not reaching his friends? I felt cheated and offended. As expected of a series named Boruto, son of Naruto.

Thank you so much for the cutest messages in the lastest comic! I told you this was going to be very cute XD The only reason why I felt to doing more than the Valentine one(Which is more romantic, also they are a tad older, like 13 to 14)

#replies

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killjoy-loveit · 5 years

Text

Solar World- Part Two

A/N: I would like to clarify that everything written in this story is complete fiction and isn’t to be taken as a true portrayal of reality. Also, this is a story I had started writing but completely forgot about and thought I could convert it to fanfic so that I might actually finish it, lol :) This series has an unknown finish date, as I’m still trying to set up the layout of the series. I’m going to try doing something different, I’ll be including links to the other parts in the notes by a reblog (to access the links I think you might need to click on the reblog itself)

Summary: Sunni and her team have learned Valis Havens did not hold the last of humanity as they thought.

Word Count: 2,170

Genre: Post-Apocalyptic AU

Introduction | Part One | Part Two

Sunlight twists through the branches of trees towering above- at maybe a hundred feet, if I had to guess. The plant life in the area surrounding the hatch seems healthy upon a brief glance, the vibrant foliage leading me to this assumption. It’s so much more beautiful than I imagined, or than anything we have in Valis Haven to give us an idea of what the surface looked like. Nothing could properly give it justice in a mere reproduction, not when it looks like this. I’m even a little short of breath just taking everything in, not because the air is bad but rather my excitement is making it difficult for me to take a deep breath.

It appears as if the hatch opened up in the middle of a forest, one that wasn’t present three hundred and fifty years ago. As my team climb out of the clean room through the hatch one by one, I have a tough time trying to focus on the questions they’re asking. But it’s apparent I’m not the only one enamored with the environment around us. A breeze rustles the leaves resulting in everyone jumping slightly. Reminding us that while this is an exciting experience, we must be cautious and not let our guard down.

“Sunni, it’s… It’s beautiful.” Jae murmured beside me.

His words break me free from the trance I’d been in, and I nod in response. “Yes, it most definitely is beautiful... We can’t just stand around here though, we need to look for a place to set up camp.”

“Sure thing, Sunni. Just lead the way.” Gil replies giddily, his feet bouncing with energy.

I step off the platform that leads to the hatch after sliding it closed. Twigs snap under my feet as I move forward, determining which direction we should go. Based off the fact that a forest wasn’t present before, I’m going to assume that the maps I studied are inaccurate and useless now. Our camp should be near a water source, and if we can find animal tracks they could lead us to the closest body of water.

“Look for animal tracks, shout if you find anything.” I say calmly, wandering farther from the group.

At this we split up, some going in pairs or solo, like myself. I walked to the left of the hatch, going past a few trees to look for tracks. As I searched the ground something in the dirt seemed odd, I crouched to get a better look at it. It was a track, that much I was aware of, but it was unlike any animal I’ve studied. Instead, as I moved leaves to the side to analyze it, the track appeared human. But that can’t be, nobody could have survived those disasters. Could they? I mean, is it possible that somehow people managed to survive and their descendants have been roaming the surface while we’ve been stuck underground?

Shooting to my feet from my crouched position, I move to yell out for the team but a movement in the corner of my eye makes me freeze. It was fleeting, almost imperceptible, but it was enough to bring me pause. Breath frozen in my lungs, I turn my head to where I saw the movement. I scan the trees carefully, and to my disappointment or relief I’m not sure, nothing’s there. Shaking my head to rid myself of intrusive thoughts screaming that I’m not alone, rather, we’re not alone.

These thoughts are proved correct though as a body presses into me from behind, an arm wrapping around my waist to restrain me and a hand moving to cover my mouth. Even knowing it won’t be of much use I try to scream, and as expected the sound is muffled by my assailant’s hand. Twisting and yanking my body in a futile attempt to free myself only results in being held tighter, the arm constricting painfully around my waist. Hot tears start to build in my eyes, threatening to burn their way down my cheeks. I’ve only just made it to the surface and now I’m probably going to be killed by someone we had no clue existed.

Words were spoken into my ear by a low voice in a language I didn’t recognize and the hand was removed from my mouth. A minute passed in silence as the person waited, I assumed it was a male at this point based off the voice. Maybe he was waiting for me to respond. I chew at my lip trying to determine if it’d matter if I told him that I didn’t understand him if he couldn’t understand me either. Screw it, it’s worth a shot.

“I’m sorry, I don’t understand.” I whisper softly.

A huff of breath hits my neck, sending chills down my spine. “Do you understand me now?” My eyes go wide at his words and I nod frantically. “Good. Where did you come from? Why are you here? What are your plans?”

“U-Um, well, I’m from Valis Havens. I’ve been sent up here with a small team to solve a problem. The plan is to find the problem and a solution.”

“What is Valis Havens?”

“It’s an underground facility that houses what we thought was the last of humanity.”

“You said you have a team? All of you are unknown threats on our land, I have to take you to the Superior.”

“Superior? Will-will we be killed?” I stutter out, heart pounding.

“Only if you’re deemed a threat.”

Surely that shouldn’t have comforted me, but for some peculiar reason it did. While, yes, there were those on my team that could pose significant threat for the people that lived here, none of them would do anything unless I gave the go ahead. I wasn’t about to give permission to go to war with people we had no clue existed until now.

“Call your people here.” He demanded.

“Are you sure?” I question. “If I call them here with you holding me hostage, they won’t listen first, they’ll attack. I promise I won’t try to escape, it’s no use when I know nothing about the terrain.”

“Fine.”

With that single word the arms holding me in place released me. Before calling out to my team, I figured I deserved to see the face of the man that had been holding me as leverage. What I saw was not what I was expecting. Although, I’m not really sure what I was expecting, just that this was not it. The man standing before me is handsome, with a sharp jawline, high cheekbones, and rounded lips. His tanned skin shone in the sunlight, and his dark almond shaped eyes held a dimmed fire within them.

“Call them, now.” He ordered, eyes narrowing.

I pause a second longer to regain my composure. “Guys! I need you to come over here.”

In the following minute countless shouts ring out into the air, confirming they’re moving my way, joined by sounds of leaves crunching underfoot. Gil and Nia appear first, followed shortly by Bo and Bren, next comes Jae and Vera, then finally Ves shows up. As each group finds me, they pause in place upon seeing the man standing beside me. Bo’s mouth keeps opening and closing, giving him the appearance of a dumbfounded fish. Ves is the only one to speak up amidst the dead silence surrounding my team.

“There were survivors. Interesting.” She murmurs, a calculating look taking form on her face.

“Yes, and apparently we’re on their territory.” I sigh lightly, glancing at the man beside me. “Now we have to go with him to meet his Superior.”

“Sunni…” Vera draws my name out, her tone showing that she’s uncomfortable with the situation.

I grit my teeth. “We don’t have another option, either we go with him or we start a war. I would prefer not to go to war.”

With these words, any protests that my team had been forming died on their lips. It was evident in their eyes, how they widened in realization and fear, that initiating a war was to be avoided at all costs. None of us had ever lived through anything similar to that, the only wars we knew of were in history books. Each war in those books was devastating, with body counts higher than our population, it was difficult to imagine being okay with such loss.

“We must move out now, so that we aren’t out when the sun sets.” The man beside me spoke up.

A quick head count and we were on our way, following the mysterious guy through the forest. He never really spoke, except for telling us to avoid certain plants. One plant in question being a deep purple, almost black color, with large heart shaped leaves harboring small spikes that contained a deadly poison. If I’m being honest, I truly wanted to take a sample of one and examine it, potentially run a few tests. Maybe if I could figure out it’s genetic makeup, an antidote could be made for the poison, if one already hasn’t been developed that is.

Though it wasn’t just the plant life I was curious of. I mean, how could anybody possibly survive the massive solar flares and tsunamis that happened three hundred and fifty years ago? There’s the potential that maybe if they had a bunker people could survive for a few years before facing the surface again. Except I don’t understand how the radiation wouldn’t have killed them upon surfacing, it certainly should have been deadly at that point. Everything I’ve been taught goes to say that nobody should have been able to survive. Thus, it’s mystifying to find out that people somehow managed to make it through the calamity.

Surely the Earth would have been a mixture of scorched grounds and raised sea levels, which makes it even harder for my brain to comprehend. Quite honestly I would love to learn of their history, what they’ve been taught and how they’ve progressed. Has their society regressed in terms of development? Or has it gone beyond any expectations we may have down in Valis Havens? While I have one member of the society leading us, he is remaining quiet and elusive regarding sharing any information. I do know one thing, they must speak multiple languages, seeing as how he didn’t speak English to me at first. Scratch that, make it two things, because I am certain that the language he spoke first is new or a derivative at the least.

Granted, I am not well versed in linguistics, I only ever managed to learn two other languages fluently. Though I do know basics of a few others, most of which were spread out regionally. Ves and Nia are the best with languages in the team, both speaking upwards of five different languages, not including English. One of them could potentially identify the origins of the language he spoke, if it was a derivative that is. It wouldn’t be surprising if Ves was the one who could identify it, seeing as she is a bit of a wild card.

See, there’s no telling what Ves knows. She’s the type that values secrecy and never shows the world anything but a face of stone. If I’m honest, Ves scares me just a little bit. Not because I feel that she would ever go against the team or harm us, but mainly for the sole fact that you can never guess where her thoughts are. And since she rarely talks, everyone goes quiet when she does.

Everyone else on the team is a bit easier, well, a lot easier, to read in comparison to Ves. Gil’s emotions are always plain as day on his face, he’s probably most like Ves’ polar opposite in that regard. Most of the others tend to have control over their expressions and body language, though there are times when they have an extreme reaction to something and that control slips.

Sometimes I get so lost in thought that I lose track of my surroundings, this was one of those times. I slammed right into the back of the guy- I really should learn his name- that was leading us as a result. Yeah, I’m quite aware that I should’ve been paying attention so that incidents, such as this, wouldn’t occur. Well, it’s too late to remedy the situation. He turns slowly to face me, a blank look on his face. All I manage to do is smile sheepishly and whisper a quick apology.

He shakes head lightly, a small smile appearing briefly. “We have arrived. Stay quiet and try not to attract too much attention. There’s no telling how the others will react, so it’s important to get you to the Superior as quickly as possible.”

I stop him as he turns back to lead us further. “Wait, what’s your name?”

“Minho.” And with that he turned on his heel and continued forth.

At least now I know his name.

#shinee fanfic #shinee scenarios #shinee minho #shinee minho fanfic #shinee minho scenarios #choi minho fanfic #choi minho scenarios

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lioncunt · 6 years

Note

Why do you think Klance will be canon? I read somewhere you though it was the most logical conclusion, could you outline your thoughts? Or if you already have, could you add a link to your post?

I have written about it before but I’ll put down my new thoughts to include season 6. I’ve never been certain of it, keep in mind, it just always has seemed like an inevitable thing based on every single thing we’ve been told about the show and characters, no matter what angle i’ve looked at it from.

So, here’s what we had been given on romance in the show:

-they were planning a slow burn with all romances

-endgame romances couldn’t really happen with all the space plot stuff going on

-lance’s love interest will be someone lance needs, rather than what he wants, and will get him to a place opposite of where he started. they will be self assured and confident, in order to help HIM be more confident and help him with his insecurity. jeremy shada said that lance would fall in love with someone a little bit and like having one person rather than just going all over the place, and he would mature in all ways.

-when asked in a post-season 2 interview about keith and allura’s development, steven yeun replied “I like playing this mystery of where the romance is. I don’t know where it is. It could be between anybody. That’s the natural evolution of this relationship. Even as a friendship, it has fits and turns and ups and downs. I think this is the beginning of a wonderful, wonderful storyline.”

What we get from this is that all the endgame romances will take massive amounts of time to develop properly, and since they are slowburn, it really can’t be with characters introduced far past the halfway point, cause that’s the opposite of slowburn. we also know that they couldn’t really explore ANY romance that wasn’t relevant to the galra plot. lotura is an exception, because it was literally the foundation of the plot in seasons 5 and 6, so they were able to fully go there. but other possible romances have been inching along at a snail’s pace.

Now, in season 6, allura and lance’s relationship has been getting a LOT of focus. i ship this heavily, but in this season I personally was put off by the way their scenes were written and how they reacted to one another. this isn’t evidence that it’s not going to happen, because these are all my subjective opinions and that’s NOT factual, but if you’re interested in why I feel this way, I’ve written about it a lot in the last few days, just do a search on my blog.

so, my opinions aside, there was a lot of focus on their relationship.

but we can look back and see all those keith/allura scenes in season 2, when everyone was certain THEY were going to end up together. in season 1, people were sure it was going to be allura/shiro, before allura was revealed to be in the teen paladins’ age group. it changes literally every season. this is the most it’s ever been, because lance canonically is in love with her, but it’s still just more of the same.

I’ve said it before, but any and all endgame romance in the show will be limited to keith, lance, and allura. pidge is too young for any of them and hasn’t had a single serious one-on-one interaction with any of them, shiro is too old and is seen as a mentor/brother figure, and hunk is linked to shay. any side character hasn’t had enough development, and it’s too late to properly develop a relationship with a brand new character. so, romances are only possible between those 3 – and we’ve already seen this come into play, what with the ship fodder for their various combinations in every single season. and steven yeun even said it himself - “it could be between anyone.”

now, before season 6, I would have said immediately that it would be keith/lance, because allura doesn’t fit the description of lance’s love interest (and he’s the only character confirmed to have one). he’s wanted her since episode 1, so how could she possibly be not what he wants, but what he needs? however, since season 6, you could also read it as that he’s wanted tons of girls, but he really needs just one. this is where one half of my brain is at right now.

the other half of my brain can’t stop thinking about the lgbt rep.

you can cry “queerbaiting!” all you want, but the fact of the matter is that they wouldn’t be so secretive about it if it weren’t happening and if it weren’t main characters. here’s literally everything that’s ever been said on the subject:

Pre season 1 Tim Hedrick (head writer) interview: http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/voltron/256121/creating-voltron-legendary-defender/page/0/1

So you worked on Legend of Korra and that show really broke ground with having Korra and Asami get together at the end of the series. Will we be seeing any LGBT content in Voltron?

“I think I’ll just let that play out as we go. No comment on that question.”

–

Fan interaction with Jeremy Shada right as season 3 came out: http://emerald-trash.tumblr.com/post/163610844403/so-today-i-got-to-meet-jeremy-shada-at-tbcc-i

So today I got to meet Jeremy Shada at TBCC. I made him a little doll of his character just like I did for Josh Keaton. I was so nervous but Jeremy was super nice and friendly! He loved the doll thankfully. I asked him about lgbt representation in voltron and his response was “I can’t say, but don’t worry. You’ll be happy.” Just the hope alone makes me happy lol

–

NYCC post season 3 panel question: https://vld-news.tumblr.com/post/166188210767/nycc-panel-quote

Fan Question: I know you can’t go into any specifics, or name any characters, but I was wondering if we will be seeing any LGBT representation in the Voltron universe before the show ends?

Joaquim: Lauren?

Kimberly: Ah, that’s a good question.

Joaquim: That’s a really good question.

Lauren: I think— You know, I think it’s something that is super important to us.

Joaquim: It’s very important to us. Um, you know, obviously I think what’s great about our community is that, you can pretty much tell whatever story you want to tell and put whatever you want to see into these characters. And just know that, from our perspective, we’re fighting to create as open and as broad a spectrum of characters as we can. So, um, yea. We—

Lauren: We can’t give you any definite answers, but we are super—

Joaquim: We are advocates, and we are fighting for as open and as broad a spectrum of characters as we can create.

–

Shada has also said some things on the subject that were illegally recorded and shouldn’t be repeated, but in short, there IS lgbt rep, it’s between two characters, and it’s apparently such a big deal that it would LITERALLY SPOIL PLOTLINES AND CAN’T BE TALKED ABOUT.

they’ve revealed info about the characters before. they said lance was cuban mere months after season 1 was released, even though that information wouldn’t come up in the show until years later. that could have been considered a spoiler. but no, it didn’t have to do with any actual plotline, so it was easily shared information to make people happy about good rep.

if the lgbt rep weren’t a big deal, they would tell us. they would at least say there’s definitely going to be some. i mean, people ask about it so fucking much, i’m sure they would say what it is if it would get fans to shut up.

and even before there was a fandom, tim hedrick said he would just let it play out as it goes, meaning it’s THERE and he wants people to watch the show and react to it naturally.

something else that i’ve said before – let’s go through the main characters one by one to determine who it could possibly be:

-pidge: has shown no interaction with any girl her age, and the creators have said that “if you want to see her as trans, you can” which is coding, NOT rep. plus, they did that in season 1, and they still won’t talk about the lgbt rep. she’s out.

-shiro: has shown no interaction with any guy his age. i originally thought it would be him and matt, but matt turned out to be younger than him and they haven’t interacted at all since matt came back. a husband back at home wouldn’t be a BIGGGGG SPOILER THAT THEY CAN’T CONFIRM OR DENY. he’s out.

-hunk: linked to shay. out.

-coran: has shown no interaction with any man his age currently. interacted in the past with alfor, but he’s dead, and the lgbt rep is a major plotline that can’t be spoiled. out.

-allura: has shown no interaction with any single girl her age. she interacted with shay, but shay is linked to hunk. unfortunately, i think romelle is too new a character for them to properly develop a relationship between them. out.

-lance: yall know.

-keith: yall know.

LITERALLY who could it possibly be besides keith and lance?? like i said, they wouldn’t be so hush-hush if it weren’t main characters and if it weren’t a huge plotline. i cannot think of a single other option. and anytime anyone’s tried to GIVE me another option, i just immediately disprove it. plus the fact that keith is super insanely self assured and confident now with his additional 2 years, his mom, and his brother safe and sound. he’s exactly what lance needs.

so that’s where the other half of my brain is.

I MEAN i really can’t be sure anymore. if you just go by romance alone it could totally be like allura/lance and keith/romelle or some other terrible het keith ship. or they could go back and rekindle keith/allura and do lance/romelle. but then when you factor in the elusive lgbt rep, there is no other fucking option than keith/lance.

and if one of yall dumbasses comes on this post crying “sh*ith!!” i’ll come to your house and piss on your lawn.

#ask #anonymous #klance #voltron #spoilers #voltron meta #mine

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bevercges · 3 years

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🐭 • Okay so it’s Munday, I’m two days away from my last final (which means that I gotta prepare myself for it), and I have some stuff to do that will prevent me from sitting down and focusing on replies today so: how about I talk about my muses and why did I pick them? Yes, nobody asked, but I don’t care.

So I’m a very, very picky person. There are more chances for me to dislike or to be neutral towards something than to like something. But when I like something I tend to be pretty loyal to it, and it never leaves my side; hence this small multimuse with characters that I have been writing for years now (some of them at least). Yeah, this is just me rambling, so I’ll just go from muse to muse and close it off with a neat little bow.

Okay so, probably for the surprise of nobody, Pip is my most long-lasting muse ever! I’ve been writing him since 2013 and that’s because he has been my favorite character since Day 1.

I like underdog characters and he was the earliest underdog in the series (in my opinion, that is). He was also very different from other characters at the time (before fucking Butters came around), so it was easy to sympathize with him or to dislike him just like the cast did. For me it was the former, I found his misfortune both sad and amusing and I couldn’t help but liking him (was it out of pity tho’? Not sure, it’s been years). I also like gentleman characters a lot (especially the bowties and the suits, I like some well-dressed fellas in my life), so even if his color palette is outrageous (because it is, red, blue and purple shouldn’t be together like that) he looks pretty charming to me!

There is also the fact that, to continue with the unpopular opinions, I enjoy the first four seasons of the show quite a bit, and for me Pip pretty much symbolizes that era since that was when he was a secondary character the most often. Before he died, you know. For me, there is a sense of nostalgia to be had when it comes to Pip in general; he’s an older character, from the oldest seasons, my oldest muse and, well, just OLD in general, he comes from a book from the Victorian period after all.

Speaking of which, as cheesy and extra as this may sound, Pip got me interested in literature. My degree involves a lot of reading and writing about old English and American literature; and I don’t think I would have ever made this career choice had it not been for becoming interested in Great Expectations after I came across the episode and watched it. God, I love that fucking episode even tho’ most people hate it LOL.

Idk, I suppose the reason I still write him is because the show did not give him enough spotlight and I’m willing to take care of that myself. Though, I may admit, sometimes he’s too much for me, but I guess it’s because he’s more on demand than my other muses. He’s just that likable!

With Scott my history doesn’t go as far back, though. Sure, he was there since season 12, but most people probably started showing interested for him in 2017, when Fractured But Whole was released, and that was my case too. Scott couldn’t have had a more solid main character role had it not been for Captain Diabetes; he’s charismatic, excited to participate into the game and he’s a great teammate! He drags you in with his character alone and, taking into account that this was his first main role, he was sort of an underdog as well. Yeah, I guess that’s a running theme with me.

A lot of my characterization and love for him came from FBW and I will be the first one to admit it. Scott has a very strong personality and it shows; I usually write characters that are, for a better word, “softer”, but I honestly liked how he is usually very cool and chill, not losing it whenever Cartman picks on him like Kyle could, but can still stand up for himself and show that he has a backbone, so he became a staple for my private RPing on Discord to the point of becoming one of my favorite muses in general. Though, another reason for him to become one of my main muses was his dynamics with other characters from the show. He’s so easy to write and to have click with other characters it was a breathe of fresh air for me!

Personally, I don’t see Scott as a replacement for Pip or Butters, but he’s still a black sheep character like them. He’s just having an easier time breaking out of that mold, I think? Probably not even on purpose, though, since another thing I like about him is how he seems to be a bit scatterbrained but also really genuine. Idk, I find how simple-minded he is to be adorable... actually, Scott is just adorable. His character design stands out in comparison to other background/secondary characters’? From his hair to his ears, he’s got a lot of uniqueness going on!

I just wish they would give him the spotlight more, I guess, so this is another character I write for that reason. Though, I also started writing Scott because of the pre-established relationships I have with him (at least in private), and I hope I get to have him make more friends for as long as I remain active on this blog.

So as I said before, I first liked Bradley in an ironic manner, then it actually become a genuine feeling and now, pretty sure, he’s ascended beyond being just a favorite character of mine. Idk man, he’s funny. Mintberry Crunch is a hilarious concept and I love it, I have said that in the past, and I suppose this was one of those cases in which you just wanted to insist you were into something ironically and then it went too far.

Anyways, what haven’t I say about Bradley yet? I enjoy how much of a Dennis the Menace kind of unapollogetic twerp he is, his sibling rivalry with Henrietta is one of my favorite things about his character. Sure, it’s an annoying archetype, but it was one of the reasons I had to use MBC in FBW outside of his powers, because of his dynamic with his adoptive sister. It makes me wonder what could have been his dynamic with the other goth kids since it’s canon that he steals stuff related to the occult from them..

I will admit that the reason I like him is because I think he’s a funny character. Bro, he’s hilarious, his entire superhero persona is a cereal mascot that keeps throwing lines akin to a cereal commercial, gotta love the surreality of it. Hell, he’s so surreal, so disconnected from the other kids’ superhero personas, that he was totally the underdog during the Coon & Friends trilogy. Everything was revolving around the Coon and Mysterion? Bam, not anymore, suddenly MBC, the character nobody expected anything from, the most useless concept out of the bunch, is the one who unironically has a backstory and superpowers to boot. Hell, he’s also the best (if not broken) support character in FBW? What is there not to ironically love about the cereal alien child?

Of course, I love the possibilities he brings to the table when it comes to RPing. He’s an alien so he can be in any setting in the galaxy! He can interact with other species and it won’t be weird for him because, hello? He’s an alien himself! Tho’ I also really like to think that he’s a “how do you do fellow humans” kind of alien these days so that’s extra points in the funny department. His personality, overall, makes interacting with him a very entertaining experience to watch.

I haven’t been writing him for long, though, only since around 2018? Yeah, he’s my newest muse, the characters I have been writing for the least time in this blog- but GOD I would defend him with my life. I just think he’s neat! And that’s basically it.

🐭 • So, in conclusion? I like my underdogs a lot. Some of my muses are more popular and loved than others, sure, but I’m attracted to underrated characters, which is something all of my three boys have in common.

Also, before anybody asks: yeah, I only write male characters, so what? I don’t really enjoy most female characters in the show and those I DO like I just don’t think I would ever be able to make em justice. There are people out there that would do a way better job at writing Henrietta or Estella than I ever could, and I shall wait until the day comes in which I get to write with em. ♥

This is basically it, I’m going to go chillax now LOL.

#📁 • OOC.#cw long post #(Just talking about the main three for today; I'm tired.)#(Lately I've been here and there in terms of mood and motivation to work.)#(So this may be quite disorganized and stuff; bear with me.)

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