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misshoneyimhome · 4 months

Note

Hi It's the anon who sent the blazer photo thank you again for using the photo for inspo! I was wondering if you can write something based on the photos and the OC telling him he doesn't have to be gentle with her and that she doesn't break easily and he definitely has a thing for marking her up. The sweden trip will forever lives in head rent free.

Okay okay, so I assume we're still on intern x Willy, since that's where the whole Blazer/lingerie photo started 😅 [Not sure if you wanted me to incluse other photos bb?]

So, yes, we're continuing down the road with another part of the story - AND to the anon about the mirror (you know what I'm talking about) it will come up in the next chapter! 😉🫢 I just needed a little part before that 🤍

Warnings; (why do I even keep writing this... you know me by now🙈) light spanking; briefly fingering; unprotected sex (p in v);

Word count: 3K+

・✶ ｡ﾟ

I feel your love, and I feel it burn I William Nylander 🖋️⚡️ [intern x willy]

It was torture.

William Nylander was nothing short of pure torment as he moved around in his godly form, his handsome face framed by that perfectly styled blonde hair that fell as gracefully as Prince Charming's locks in Shrek.

And he was everywhere.

Well, of course, he was. As a Toronto Maple Leafs player, he was a constantly around. And you? You were an intern at MLSE, which meant you were in close proximity to the players almost every day. You spent hours at the Scotiabank Arena or on the road with the team—before, during, and after games and training sessions. It was practically an all-week affair.

But the worst part?

You and William were secretly involved. What began as friendly banter had evolved into casual sex and hook-ups, eventually leading to both of you acknowledging your deep feelings and agreeing that you were probably in a relationship. Especially after William showed jealousy about you going on a casual coffee date.

And you enjoyed it wholeheartedly. You liked William, and you felt ecstatic about being together officially, well, as official as you could be. Your relationship remained a secret as you both knew that the management wouldn't approve. Only Brad was aware of it, having accidentally stumbled upon your first kiss in the locker room.

And luckily, he’d promised to keep it under wraps, understanding the potential career repercussions if anyone found out.

"Just six more months," you thought, counting down the time until things might change.

And you weren't alone in eagerly awaiting the day when you could openly express your relationship.

Every time William crossed paths with you in the hallway, all he craved was to kiss you, to openly show everyone how you belonged to him. But he couldn't.

Instead, he had to content himself with the sound of your delightful laughter from a distance. He found himself admiring your radiant smile while you passionately engaged in your work around the team.

Yet, despite both of you attempting to maintain distance and keep your love concealed, you weren't doing the best job at it.

It was no secret that William had feelings for you. Even before he’d made a move on you, the team had a hunch that he was completely smitten and didn't hold back from teasing him about it. Auston and Mitch, in particular, relentlessly teased him about not seeing anyone else and how his eyes were always fixated on you whenever you were around.

"Come on, we all know you're into her, Willy," they'd playfully jibe.

"Just get it over with and show her a good time!"

"Yeah, let her experience what it truly means to be part of the Maple Leafs."

And as much as William just wanted to shout out about how he was already sleeping with you, showing you the best time every time, he kept silent. Because he knew that's what you would want.

For him, the concerns didn't hold much weight. While the managers might initially disapprove, what was truly so dreadful about it? After all, you were merely an intern, and soon you wouldn't even be associated with them. Moreover, neither of you could leverage the relationship for personal gain or career advancement. Your bond was consensual and rooted in genuine feelings, much like any other normal relationship.

Except for the necessity to maintain professionalism around each other at all times. Perhaps that was what concerned the managers—that neither of you could focus entirely?

Which did seem plausible. There were indeed moments when it became challenging for both of you to maintain complete focus.

And tonight was one of those times.

As you prepared for the match, wearing an oversized blazer, it triggered memories in him that had nothing to do with hockey. It was the same blazer you'd worn with that alluring piece of lingerie during the trip to Sweden—a combination that had provoked him, leading him to fuck you brains out against the window in his condo.

That blazer.

And as William recalled that incredible night, he felt a stirring in his boxers, imagining what you might be wearing underneath this time. Would it be the same lingerie or perhaps something new that could captivate his mind?

Nevertheless, the blazer looked exceptionally good on you.

Particularly when paired with the delicate golden necklace he had gifted you for Christmas, following his heartfelt confession about his feelings.

"Hey, ready for tonight?" Calle addressed William with a gentle tone, noticing the younger Swede's preoccupied state as they laced up their skates while you engaged in conversation with the marketing team.

"Yeah, sure," William replied with a chuckle, attempting to brush off any further discussion.

However, Calle wasn't ready to let the matter drop entirely. Having formed a close bond with William since joining the Leafs, just like with most of the Swedes, he knew William well enough to discern what was occupying his thoughts. And I t wasn't solely about hockey. Despite witnessing William's dedication to this season, Calle also observed how deeply his friend had fallen.

"Don't let her distract you too much," he offered a soft smile, conveying a hint of concern for William's well-being. Though deep down, he wished for nothing but his happiness. Yet, the situation wasn't entirely straightforward.

"What do you mean?" William inquired.

"Come on, Willy... I know the guys tease you about it, but you'd have to be blind not to notice the way you look at her – and not just because you're interested in sleeping with her," Calle spoke gently in Swedish, prompting a soft expression from William, realising he'd been called out.

"We sort of already are..." William timidly admitted, briefly glancing down at his skates before meeting Calle's gaze once more with a faint smirk. "And it's not just about sex."

Taking a brief moment to contemplate William's confession, Calle responded with a light chuckle. "I fucking knew it. But I'm genuinely happy for you. It seems like she's making you happy, Will."

And to that sentiment, William could only nod in agreement.

You weren't just another casual fling for him; he knew you had him wrapped around your finger.

Though, as much as he loved discussing you, finally revealing the truth to his teammate, the warm-ups for tonight's match were about to begin, compelling him to switch his focus to hockey.

But unfortunately, the game didn't go in the Leafs' favour. Despite scoring two goals in the first period, the Senators came back stronger and concluded the match with a 4-2 victory.

And William felt frustrated. Despite securing an assist, he believed he could have performed better, which, to him, held the utmost importance. Despite a defeat, he knew he'd feel better if he'd at least given his absolute best.

However, tonight, he hadn't. He had made mistakes that he shouldn't have had, leaving him feeling like he let everyone down, including himself.

So as the teammates gradually concluded their post-game routines for the media and gathered their belongings, you couldn't help but feel bed for William.

You understood how hard he could be on himself after a night like this. Yet, you also knew that he simply needed to let off some steam and then he'd be back on track.

In the hallway, as the teammates departed one by one and William caught your gaze, he then approached you with a soft smirk.

"Hey," he greeted casually, your eyes meeting as discreetly as possible.

"Hey, Willy... are you alright?"

"No..." he lightly chuckled. "But I'll be fine."

You stared intensely at him, contemplating speaking your mind, although you were still in a public space. And knowing no one could overhear, you leaned in slightly toward him, whispering in a seductive tone.

"How can I help make you feel better?"

William's eyes widened a bit at your spoke the words, responding with a playful smirk, catching onto your flirtatious suggestion.

"Well, I'm sure you could provide me with some company? At my place..." he gently suggested, meeting your intense gaze as you bit your lower lip, prompting him to delicately run his thumb over it. "Don't do that..." he added with a husky voice. "It turns me on, and we can't have that here..."

Both of you realised it was wise to put a halt to any further escalation before things went too far, so you both subtly coughed and took a step back, fully aware of how the evening was about to evolve.

So after swiftly attending to what was necessary, you found yourselves soon back at his place. Away from the context of work where secrecy was key. Here you could kiss, touch and undress each other, and not just with your eyes.

You could fuck, moan, and scream each other’s’ names as loud as you could.

And already entangled on the sofa, William shirtless and positioned above you, your tongues intertwined in a heated dance. Your hands explored every inch of each other's skin, revelling in the shared warmth and the sheen of sweat.

William's lips trailed to your neck while his hand paid attention on your breast. It was intense, almost eager, as both of you hungered for more. Your fingers tugged gently at his hair as his mouth moved to the other side, his other hand mirroring the same attention to your other breast.

Your breaths became laboured, gasping as his touch sent shivers down your spine, the anticipation building in your throbbing core.

"Willy," you softly murmured, acknowledging that he might still be feeling disheartened about the night's match. Your words prompted him to release his mouth from your skin, gazing at you with a dark, lustful expression. "You know you can let it out on me..."

Your words slipped out almost embarrassingly, meeting William's intense stare. But he offered a gentle shake of his head.

"Babe, it's not necessary," he tried to reassure you, but you remained unconvinced. You knew the impact a game like tonight's could have on him, leaving him feeling awful, and you could sense it.

"Willy, just... do whatever you need to – I want you to release that tension," you flashed him a seductive smile, persisting in your suggestion.

William had a tendency to be a bit rough when the need arose, particularly after a match; it just helped him let go of the emotions simmering beneath the surface.

"Y/n/n, what if I end up hurting you?" His words held a genuine level of concern, but you couldn't help but chuckle softly. He was just so caring.

"Willy, you don’t have to be so gentle with me... I really don’t break that easily, " you reassured him, and your words seemed to turn him on even more. Your willingness to surrender to his touch to help alleviate the post-game tension definitely got to him.

"Alright," he gave you a soft smirk before slowly rising from his position. "But in the bedroom," he demanded. And with a smile on your lips, you then swiftly made your way to the other room, yet you had a little plan in mind.

"Just wait here," you spoke seductively, gesturing for him to sit on the edge in the bed as you sauntered into the bathroom.

William's gaze followed you intensely, wondering what you were up to. But His curiosity was soon satisfied as you returned to the bedroom, clad in nothing but the blazer. It was buttoned across your midriff, barely covering your breasts, and its length just enough to tease the view of your cunt, paired with the necklace.

"Shit, baby... that's incredibly sexy," William breathed heavily as you slowly approached him, his hands finding your lower back.

"I'm all yours, Willy... have your way with me," you whispered softly. And In response, William lifted you up firmly, his lips finding yours once again before he gently placed you on the mattress, unbuttoning your outfit to reveal more of your body.

"God, so damn hot," he murmured huskily, his lips once more exploring your neck, his body pressing against yours.

Loud moans escaped your lips as he worked his magic on you. Your eyes instinctively closed, surrendering completely to his touch. It was intense, passionate, and hungry, fingers entwined in hair as you pulled each other closer.

Then, with a deliberate pause, William withdrew, kneeling as he took in the sight of the messy state, he'd caused you to become, before undressing himself completely, your gaze fixated on his every movement.

And his hard cock was nothing but evident, pulsating from the intense foreplay of kissing and tantalising discussions about what he had in store for you. And His mind was racing with possibilities.

Returning to the bed, he swiftly positioned you onto your knees, propped up on your arms as he lifted your ass in the air.

"You look incredible," he spoke darkly, his hands exploring your cheeks as he contemplated his next move. And Unable to contain himself any longer, his palm forcefully connected with your tender skin, eliciting a mixture of pain and pleasure from you, your reaction a blend of a shriek and a gasp.

The exquisite sound you made, coupled with the faint blush forming on your cheek, only fuelled William's desire for more. So, he spanked you again. And again.

Each strike drew a loud cry from you, a sound that easily blurred the line between pain and pleasure. Which, in essence, it was.

The sensation of pleasure washed over you as William's hand met your skin once more, igniting an unexpected surge of arousal, causing your core to glisten with anticipation.

"Fuck, Willy...yes"

However, William decided to pause, content with the hue he'd created, He turned over again, spreading your legs on either side of him, moistening two fingers in his mouth before trailing them between your folds.

"Baby, you're so ready for me," he murmured softly, sliding his fingers inside your warmth, completely coating them with your juices before withdrawing.

"Yes, Willy, just for you..." you gasped, aching for more than just his touch.

"Such a good girl... You deserve more, don't you?"

And all you could manage was a nod as the tip of his cock teased your entrance. His hands took hold of your wrists, pinning them on either side of your head as he thrust into you.

Moans echoed around the room as William pulled out, then thrust forcefully back in, setting a brisk rhythm while maintaining his grip on your arms.

His actions were intense and forceful, a release of pent-up frustrations that propelled him deeper into your dripping core as He felt the grip of your tight walls around him, and your wetness coating his length.

And it was causing him to get closer to his climax. Having no intentions of holding back, just like you’d encouraged, he just kept on pounding. And you were just as close to an orgasm as his cock stimulated your inside over and over again, hitting you deep and hard. The restrain of your arms causing you to just let your mind go foggy and lungs empty for air as loud sounds continuously sang from your lips.

"I'm close, Willy," you managed to gasp, but then instead of holding your wrist, William shifted his grasp to your throat, not to choke but to just hold down slightly, allowing you gasps of air as he quickened his pace, pushing you towards your climax. Your body tried to arch, curses falling from your lips along with his name, and your eyes shut tightly in sync with the waves of pleasure coursing through you.

And as your body trembled in the throes of an intense orgasm, William followed suit, his climax surging through him, releasing his cum inside you.

"Shit," he exhaled deeply, staying still to ensure every drop remained within you, trying to catch his breath as he released his grip, almost collapsing against you, his head resting on your neck.

The room hung heavy with the scent of sex and sweat as you both gradually returned to reality, easing down from the intense rush of ecstasy. No words were exchanged, both of you breathless, slowly detangling, and William gently pulled out before resting next to you.

You could sense the rhythmic rise and fall of your chest, almost synchronised with William's, as you turned to meet each other's gaze, smiles gently appearing on your lips before breaking the silence.

"So, did it help ease the tension?" you asked softly.

"Yeah, it really did, babe," William responded, mirroring your expression.

Once more, you both settled into a tender moment of intimate silence, nestled against his comforting warmth.

"That's good, I just... I want to be there for you, Willy," you tenderly caressed his cheek.

"I appreciate that," William placed a gentle kiss on your lips. "I'm really glad to have you."

It felt like the outside world had vanished as the two of you lay there together, free from concerns about anyone else's opinions. However, the harsh reality was waiting just hours away, so you cherished the moment for as long as possible.

"You'll stay here tonight, won't you?" William asked softly, his fingers tracing your shoulder's soft skin.

"Of course," you flashed him a sweet smile. And after both of you freshened up in the bathroom, William handed you a spare toothbrush and one of his t-shirts for you to sleep in before you settled in for the night.

It felt like you were genuinely in a serious, committed relationship, and both of you couldn't help but display satisfied smiles as you cuddled, gradually drifting off to sleep.

Yet, the tranquillity only lasted until the following morning when you were both awakened by the sound of your alarm.

William had, of course, forgotten to set his, engrossed in your shared activities in bed last night. But thankfully, as always, you had thought ahead.

However, the calmness shattered at the very moment you stood in front of the mirror.

"Willy!" you exclaimed.

"What?" the Swede asked wearily as he slowly joined you in the bathroom.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, babe..." you shook your head gently as you met his gaze in the mirror's reflection, your hand delicately caressing your neck. Your very colourful neck.

And William couldn't help but find amusement as he observed the artwork he'd unintentionally created on your smooth skin. He'd left quite a mark. During his affectionate kissing and nipping last night, he had been a tad too enthusiastic and ended up leaving visible marks in the form of love bites all over your neck and collarbone.

"Well, what can I say? I seem to have a talent for marking what's mine," he chuckled lightly.

"It's not funny, Will!" you tried to maintain a serious tone, fully aware that this wouldn't go unnoticed by the team tomorrow. "You know people will comment on it!"

William's smirk gradually faded a bit, though not entirely, as he did relish the idea of everyone knowing you weren't exactly available.

"Then let them," he spoke softly, drawing close behind you, gently wrapping his arms around your waist before placing a tender kiss on his vibrant artwork. "They probably know anyway. Might as well make a statement."

You realised there wasn't much you could do about the situation. Perhaps a bit of makeup and a scarf could cover it up, but there was a part of you that also wanted to proudly display it, letting everyone see what William had done to you.

So, you simply released a deep sigh, surrendering to William's touch, attempting to let go of your concerns.

"Let's deal with that tomorrow," you spoke softly, once again meeting his eyes in the mirror. And with that, you decided to release the matter and simply lean into his comforting embrace.

#my asks #intern x willy #18+#william nylander imagine #wn88 imagine #nhl hockey imagine #toronto maple leafs imagine #nhl smut

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nhl-stories · 10 months

Text

I'll Call You Mine – Elias Pettersson

Summary: Elias is sick of being the single guy on the team so he asks his friend with benefits to pretend to be his girlfriend. Good thing pretending to be a girlfriend is her profession.

Author’s Note: Explicit sexual content below, sex work (the two aren’t one in the same)

Word Count: 9.6k

Album Series Masterlist

Break me down And I'll call you mine And I know I've been around

Geena feels a hand press between her legs, her body pushes against the friction by its own volition.

She doesn’t have time for this, she says as much in her grogginess.

“Too worn out for another round?”

“Whatever makes you feel better Casanova,” she removes the hand and throws it behind her.

It doesn’t completely deter him; he moves to kiss her bare shoulder.

“E, seriously I can’t smell like sex at work, and I have just enough time to sleep for 10 more minutes and shower.”

He lets out a heavy sigh and buries his face between her shoulder blades.

“Who gets an escort at 4 pm on a Tuesday?”

Elias always says escort like it’s any other job. Like he’s mentioning a waitress or accountant or something. It is like any other job, but it’s not how most people react.

“It’s my favorite client, once a week he has me hold his hand at an early dinner and wear a sundress.”

“Okay then come back tonight,” he glosses over the details without judgment.

It’s refreshing.

They’re just fucking; she never has to put up with any shit even if he gave her any. If she ever felt slighted in the least, she knows she could find at least ten other guys to put in her sex rotation.

But Elias is the most consistent partner she’s ever had and it would be hard to give up just because he was being a judgmental ass.

She’s spent years putting up with that kind of behavior, she has thick skin. But there’s something nice about not needing to shield herself, let her soft underbelly show.

“I have a second client afterward, that might run pretty late and don’t you fly out tomorrow?”

“No, we just have an optional morning skate tomorrow.”

“So, you’re going to skate? Optional isn’t really your thing,” she smirks even though he can’t see, she knows him so well.

Elias wraps an arm around her waist and pulls her into him, makes sure she can feel his arousal. Makes sure she knows what she’s giving up for some extra sleep and a shower.

She lets out an airy sigh that borders on moan. Instead of leaning into that desire she rolls over and out of the bed.

“I’m not humoring you on this,” Geena laughs so Elias knows she’s not actually angry, “but I don’t work tomorrow so I guess I can come back tonight.”

It doesn’t quite appease Elias, who grabs her arm and pulls her back into a kiss. It’s simple, no demands behind it, but it still makes Geena second guess leaving. She has just enough will power to pull away and go to the bathroom, not giving Elias a second glance.

She comes back out already dressed; a blue sundress that brushes her mid-thighs, her hair tied into a single braid hanging over her shoulder. It’s the picture of innocence, but it sets something on fire in Elias. He kind of understands now why the man wants her to dress like this.

Geena seems to notice the flash of lust in his eyes and blows him a kiss, worried what will happen if she gets too close, “don’t wait up.”

Elias waits up, not entirely on purpose. He’s playing video games with some friends in Sweden when he hears the apartment door open. He’d given her a key so she could come and go when they meet up late for booty calls, her words not his.

“You’re not streaming, are you?” He hears her whisper from the doorway.

“No, but I’ll be done in a minute.”

He continues to play and Geena comes and wraps her arms gently around his shoulders, careful to not jostle him. She gives him a couple of soft kisses along his jaw and he feels something cold press against the back of his neck.

He turns to see the outfit change Geena made since he last saw her. The braid is replaced with a mane of wild waves and she’s wearing a virginal white dress that almost glows, even more so against the leather harness she’s wearing over it.

He mumbles something in Swedish before turning off the game and turning towards her.

“This is new,” he plays with the metal ring that sits between her clavicles.

She rolls her eyes, suddenly looking exhausted.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she runs her hands over his shoulders until they link together behind him, “but I could use some help taking it off.”

“I think I could lend a hand.”

Elias stands up and kisses her, she tastes like gin; he wraps his fingers under the straps to pull her closer.

She’s on her tip toes to reach his lips, leaving her unbalanced or maybe that’s the feverish pace of the kisses.

“Wall… bed… flat surface,” Geena breaths out between kisses.

Elias smirks against her lips and pushes her towards the nearest wall slotting his knee between her legs.

“I’m glad you came back,” he bunches up her skirt and rubs her through her lacy underwear, a patch of wetness already forming, “I guess you are, too.”

“Just do something,” she bucks against his hand.

He moves to kiss down her neck, but doesn’t make any forward progress with his fingers. If anything, his touch becomes lighter, only ghosting over Geena even as he moves her underwear down her legs.

The frustrated groan Geena makes has his cock twitching.

She pushes him away with some force, enough to give her space to kick of her panties and pull Elias back by his waistband. His thigh is pressed back against her and she moves rhythmically against him, desperate for friction. Her hand reaching in his shorts and gripping his cock, stroking it to full attention with expert quickness.

“Fuck G,” he groans and pulls her back into a kiss, desperate to find some leverage.

Her hips circle more erratically, like she’s close to finding her climax just rubbing against his leg like an animal. As hot as that is, Elias wants more.

He moves his hands down her body, over her ass and to the back of her thighs, lifting her further up the wall and off her feet.

She gasps, half in displeasure at the loss of contact when she’s so close to falling over the edge and half in excited anticipation.

Geena helps line him up while he holds her against the wall; she doesn’t have time to waste, knowing she won’t last long.

Elias shows his control and strength as he slowly lowers her down his length. It’s too much, but it’s perfect. They feel every centimeter on the way down, until he bottoms out.

He looks up and sees her pupils blown out looking back down at him. Geena opens her mouth like she has something to say, but a strangled sound comes out instead.

She leans down to kiss him, mouth hot and tongue clashing against his. She grips his shoulders and pushes herself up, aching for Elias to move. He gets the hint and jackhammers his hips up towards her.

He keeps up the brutal and unrelenting pace, he can’t keep his lips working at the same time and leans his head forward on her chest. Geena digs her nails into the back of his neck, digging crescents so deep they might draw blood.

He bites into one of the leather straps of her harness, his movements becoming more irregular, wilder.

“Babe, I’m close, just keep going.”

Geena leans back into the wall, changing the angle just enough. Everything feels hotter and tighter, and Elias bites harder into the leather as he feels her milk his orgasm out of him.

Still, he doesn’t slow his pace even as it becomes almost too much, too overstimulating. He thrusts until Geena lets out a whimper and goes nearly limp in his arms. Elias suddenly aware of her weight and the burning in his arms and thighs.

He slides her down the wall until her feet touch the ground again. Her legs wobbles and he has to hook his fingers under the straps to help hold her up.

Elias pulls her along to his bedroom, sitting her down in her post-orgasm haze. He gently undoes the straps of the harness and slides it off her body. He moves to her dress, pulling the garment over her head. She’s pliant and dazed, but gives him a soft smile before she scoots up the bed.

He goes to the bathroom and gets a washcloth and runs it under warm water. He gently washes the mess between her thighs, where her juices and his come are leaking out of her, running down her thighs.

“Sorry, I should have showered,” she says sleepily, giving his bicep a gentle squeeze.

He doesn’t respond, just removes his own clothes that never came off and joins her in the bed. He gently kisses below her breasts, her sternum, her shoulders where deep red marks from the too-tight straps of the harness scream out red and raw.

Elias wants to say something, ask her questions but it’s not his place to ask. He doesn’t fully understand the intricacies of her job, but they’re just fucking and she doesn’t owe him any answers or explanations.

He kisses her shoulders once more and then her lips, hoping his actions speak a little bit of what he really wants to say. She cups his face like she understands and curls into his side before closing her eyes.

His fingers rub gently over the indentations around her back until sleep takes him too.

\\\

Geena is cooking eggs when he comes back. Elias has never hated his closet full of baggy clothes more than right now; Geena is swimming in one of his shirts making her look like she’s more of a blob than a tantalizing, half-naked woman.

“I thought you going to be ready and waiting for me in bed?”

“I got hungry,” she plates her food before she turns around, “definitely needed to refuel if there was a repeat performance.”

She hops up onto the counter and Elias hates his baggy shirt a little less when it rides up her thighs.

“Before we get back to it…” Elias places a hand on her thigh, “there’s this team event…” he doesn’t know why he’s so nervous.

“Like right now? You could have just texted if you needed to do something.”

“No, there’s this get-together this weekend and I wanted to know if you would… escort me?”

“Escort you…?”

“I’m sick of going alone to these things and wives trying to find me dates while everyone else has significant others.”

“I thought Quinn was single cause he broke up with that girl with the stripper name?”

Elias laughs, ignoring the giddiness he feels when Geena remembers even the most mundane things he brings up between their benefits.

“Lux?”

“Yeah, where was that name when I was a stripper? It’s perfect, you can go with Luxxx with three Xs or Lux Luxury; she’s sitting on a gold mine.”

“Yeah, well Quinn has a new girlfriend.”

“Wow, good for Huggy,” she grins to herself before going back to her food.

“So, what do you think?” Elias tries to get back on subject but is a little embarrassed to say the words again.

“You want me to be your date to get people off your back because you’re fine with having casual sex and don’t need a real relationship, but clearly saying that isn’t working?”

“More or less yeah.”

“I mean I am a professional dater…” she has a devious little grin, knowing she’s making him squirm a bit.

“A big part of why I’m asking you and not one of my other hookups,” he smirks like he actually has a list of other hookups.

She sets aside her now empty plate and runs her nails over his scalp and the buzzcut she’s grown to love.

She lets out a heavy sigh, “I don’t know E, we’re having sex.”

“Not at this exact moment,” he can’t help himself in the moment, being in her proximity brings it out of him.

She rolls her eyes but can’t stop the smile, “I don’t have sex with clients so it would be kind of weird and wrong to make you sign a contract or something.”

“I’m not asking for this to be a big official thing.”

“Elias, you’re thinking this is just a one and done thing, but if you want these people off your back I can’t just show up once and then fuck off.”

She cups his face, wants to make herself crystal clear.

“It means I will have to show up a few times, which makes this a time commitment, and some of those times will be during my prime working hours, which means I’ll be doing my job without making money and that makes the whole thing like an unpaid internship.”

“Okay, then let’s do this under the table,” he kisses up her jawline towards her lips, “and I pay you in sexual favors.”

“In an attempt to avoid me becoming a prostitute for you, you’re suggesting I become a prostitute for you,” she shoves him back a little bit, but he’s between the vee of her thighs and can’t go too far.

“I think the correct term is sex worker.”

Geena lets out a surprised snort.

“I appreciate your nuanced terminology, but I’m technically kind of a sex worker as an escort, so I’m just using it to differentiate. Also, I’m legally allowed to sell sex but it’s illegal to buy sex in Canada so we’re entering a real murky area here.”

She hooks her ankles behind him and pulls him close, “Will you give me a bit to think about it, like a day max.”

“Yeah of course,” he gives her a quick peck, “are you still gonna stick around for the day?”

“Yeah, you properly using the term sex worker weirdly does it for me.”

\\\

She ends up agreeing, there wasn’t really any doubt. She likes making Elias happy.

Geena rolls into Elias’ apartment two hours before he says to come over with a suitcase in tow.

Elias is watching TV in his boxer briefs and looks almost embarrassed to be caught being lazy and disheveled. Even though Geena knows he got in late from a road game in Winnipeg, where the plane had been delayed due to weather.

“Why are you here so early?”

“You gave me like no information about tonight, so I brought some outfit options for any occasion from super casual to full black tie.”

Elias just blinks, not sure how to respond as Geena starts opening the suitcase.

“G, we haven’t even discussed how I would,” he rubs the back of his neck, “pay you.”

He’s getting second thoughts about the whole thing.

“I decided the first one is free, see if I fit in and it feels natural then we’ll discuss payment plan,” she winks and continues pulling out outfits.

“This is a little overwhelming.”

“You’re getting the full Ruby experience. You can still call me Geena though, since we know each other intimately, going with my escort name might be confusing.”

He feels a bit nauseous. He assumes it’s showing on his face because Geena stops what she’s doing and joins him on the couch.

“E, this is literally my profession, I’m taking charge here so you don’t have to worry about stuff. But I have to get some information so you can relax and follow my lead.”

She gives him a quick kiss as a form of reassurance.

“It’s in a private room at a nice-ish restaurant.”

“Great start,” she gets up and holds up a black jumpsuit and a blue dress.

“Uhhh, the dress.”

“Excellent choice, now how do you want me to be?”

“What?”

“How do you want me to act? Cheery? Cerebral? Demure? Mysterious?”

“I just thought you’d act like yourself; I like how you are.”

Geena feels her face heat up.

“And PDA? Are we a little handsy–“

Elias laughs at the irony of that.

“I said handsy not hand job Elias,” she puts a stop to this tangent immediately, “but let’s say casual touching, nothing below the waist.”

“What if I want to grab your ass?” Geena quickly making him calmer about the whole thing.

“Okay, we’ll play the PDA stuff by ear.”

Geena knows the PDA situation the moment the hostess starts leading them to the private room in the back of the restaurant. The confidence Elias had thought he built up immediately crumbles and his whole body tenses up beside hers.

She grabs his hand, knowing she’ll probably be a calming touch away the whole night.

Were he any other client she wouldn’t say the next thought out loud, “Loosen your grip E, you don’t want them to think you have to physically force a woman to go on a date with you.”

“No, I just have to pay one,” he whispers with a smirk.

She squeezes his hand, reminds him to stay this loose.

The tension comes back almost instantly. Apparently, Geena is the first date Elias has ever brought around, so meeting her is the main event of the evening.

Tension ratchets up further when the obvious question comes up, “how did you two meet?”

His eyes widen and he starts to stutter for a response. Geena has to practically pry her hand loose so she can wrap an arm around his waist and tuck herself into his side. His grip on her shoulder is only a little too tight.

“I was supposed to be meeting a guy in his building for a date,” Elias is shocked that Geena is telling the real story.

“And I’ve been waiting for 15 minutes already and this dude is not answering his buzzer and of course my phone has died in the meantime so I can’t call him or a car to leave. And obviously at this point the weather also has to be terrible and it starts pouring rain and I happen to be standing in front of the only luxury apartment building that has no overhang to stand under.”

She’s a natural conversationalist, Elias looks around, everybody is already enthralled just by the way she talks.

“So, I’m getting absolutely soaked while I’m thinking about what to do next, when Elias comes running from a car that just dropped him off and he lets me into the lobby because I must look too pathetic to be a thief or something.”

“I thought you were a wet dog when I saw you out of the corner of my eye,” he jokes and squeezes her tighter as she gives him a playful bat.

“Okay, I guess he let this wet dog in the lobby and I explained what happened with this other guy, and Elias offers to call me a car but makes me give him my number so I can text him that I made it home safely, which was clearly just a way to get my number– “

“Hey, there are security cameras in the lobby I didn’t want to be the last person on camera to see you if you got murdered.”

Elias feels his face heating up, he’s glad his teammates think it’s because he’s being called out for using a cheesy line. Because while the night really did end that way, Elias had actually invited Geena up to his place to charge her phone and take a dry sweatshirt first.

They ended up having sex on his couch while her phone charged.

“Uh-huh, sure, that’s the reason,” she rolls her eyes before kissing his cheek, he heats up even more.

Suddenly, Elias is relaxed. It’s like Geena passed a test and integrated into the group. She stays a touch away while they mingle until dinner starts.

Elias keeps a casual arm on the back of her chair during dinner, Geena working the room so well he has no idea why he was so nervous.

Then he notices the way Garland is looking at her, like he knows something. He pushes the feeling down and focuses on the warmth of Geena’s body against his palm. Garland spends most of the dinner looking like he wants to ask something, which keeps Elias on edge for most of dinner.

Eventually he gets the courage to ask, “Sorry Geena, you look so familiar, have we met before or do you just have one of those faces?”

Elias stiffens and Geena places a hand on his thigh and rubs it, telling him not to worry.

“I think I have one of those faces. Last time I heard that, someone told me I looked like some woman from pornos, so maybe I have porno face.”

She has big, innocent doe eyes when she says it while other people snort on their drinks. Conor turns pink as his fiancée is torn between laughing and being grossed out. She breaks the tension with a laugh and the topic is dropped.

Geena wouldn’t be surprised if he recognized her, her days as a stripper brought a lot of NHL teams to the club. Even some of the Canucks had made an appearance now and then, no judgement with what adults want to do, just facts.

Many a rookie party wrapped up in the strip club, when most people were too far gone to think about their inhibitions any longer. One of the rookies, usually the most or least sober, would be handed a stack of ones and shoved towards a back room.

She remembers bringing one rookie back herself. When he sat down, she finally realized he was really a boy just playing dress up as a man. Then he burst into tears, words garbled up through sobs and intoxication, something about this not being who he is.

They were about the same age, but Geena felt maternal in the moment.

Geena rubbed his back and assured him she didn’t need to do anything; they could sit until he calmed down. When he finally stopped, she got ice cubes to help get rid of the puffiness around his eyes, a trick of the trade. Once he looked presentable, she slipped him a pair of underwear into his back pocket, a very Sixteen Candles move.

“Oh my god you were incredible,” Elias says as they get into his car after dinner, “no wonder you do this for a living.”

“And you’re so quick on your feet! That porno line, I thought Garly was going to swallow his tongue,” he continues.

“Customer service is the most important part of sex work,” she gives a soft smile.

Normally, after a date with a client she’d have a joint or an edible and if she was still feeling wired, she’d call someone for a hook up. But Elias is her go-to hook up and it makes her whole routine feel out of whack.

She wants to go home with him, have a night cap and at least make out a little, but everything is different and that feels like a boundary she can’t cross. Even with her lover turned sort of client.

“Hey E, can you take me back to my place?”

His foot stutters on the brake, bringing them to a jerky stop and go.

“It’s just I’m tired and since we’re treating this like a real job it feels wrong. I wouldn’t go home with a client; I wouldn’t even get in a car with them.”

“Oh right, of course. That makes perfect sense.”

The car is silent as the lights of Vancouver flash by, Geena slouching further into her seat. The weight of everything seeping into her bones.

Elias pulls up in front of Geena’s building, “Thanks for tonight, I really owe you. But we can discuss my payment later,” he gives devilish smirk and Geena can’t help but smile back.

“Cool, let me know the gossip about me in the group chat later.”

She leans in for kiss, but even though that’s their norm it feels like a violation to her own code of conduct. She bails last minute for an awkward kiss on the cheek which ends up with Elias kissing her right below her eye.

She scampers away before she can see his reaction.

\\\

The weird feeling doesn’t go away after her joint. Not after a boiling hot shower or the cold shower she takes afterwards.

It still doesn’t go away when she texts u up? to the contact ‘For a Good Time 💦’ and she lets him fuck her throat until she’s a mess of tears and snot and can barely talk, let alone think.

After a good night’s sleep, the feeling is still crawling under her skin. It makes Geena want to rub it raw. Since the weirdness isn’t going away any time soon, she pulls up her wish list she sends to some clients, she usually calls it tipping, and sends it to Elias.

Ten minutes later she realizes without context the list seems weird and follows up with: For payment after our next date, leaving what and how much up to you, think of it as my friends discount lmk where and when you need me next

Geena turns off her phone and tries to enjoy her day off, the weird feeling settling like a pair of glasses, still there but no longer aware of them.

It helps that the Canucks are on an East coast road trip. They’ve been hooking up for almost two years but don’t really keep tabs on each other. It’s like the moment either of them leave the greater Vancouver area they become strangers.

So, she’s not surprised that she just has a thumbs up as a response when she turns her phone back on. But she is surprised when two days later there’s a large package at her PO box. She wasn’t actually expecting Elias to work so fast, to be thinking of her on his work trip.

She opens the package at home, there’s a note on top of the tissue: To keep my snack warm, E.

Geena rolls her eyes, but gasps when she pulls out a slate blue cashmere coat. It’s the kind of expensive thing she puts on her wish list without expecting to ever get it. Like putting something too fancy on a wedding registry hoping some rich, distant relative will actually go for it.

She does a grossed-out shiver thinking about Elias as a rich, distant relative.

But it doesn’t stop her from stroking the luxurious coat with awe. She puts it on and it fits perfectly, she thinks she might live in it from now on. It’s too much for one date that was supposed to be complimentary, too grand a gesture. Still, she loves it too much to care.

She shows up at Elias’ place after his first home game back. They won; she knew because the buzz on her phone from the NHL app kept going off during her date with a client. He turned out to be a big Canucks fan, but still it made her mind preoccupied on the job. Always a bad thing in her line of work.

Geena knocks on his door, worried that he isn’t alone. He’s a star Canuck who just won a game in a pretty rough season. He would deserve it and it wouldn’t be hard to find someone for him. Still, Geena ain’t no cock block.

His jacket is off and tie loosened when he opens the door, like he just got home.

“Hey G, the coat looks nice,” Elias smirks as he lets his eyes rake up and down her body, he doesn’t move aside to let her in

“Thank you, it was way too much, but it’s nice.”

Geena tries to casually peer around him, making sure he’s alone. He immediately catches on.

“Are you here for business or pleasure?” his tone cocky.

She shrugs, “I haven’t decided yet.”

Elias makes a show of moving out of the way, revealing for certain he’s alone.

Geena makes a show of walking past him and taking off her coat, revealing her burgundy slip dress with a dangerously high slit.

“Had a client tonight?” Elias moves closer to her.

She nods and takes a step back, “a business man who was a big Canucks fan.”

“That make you think of me?”

“Yeah, and that’s not great for business, I was so distracted I don’t think he’ll give me a good tip,” Geena pouts.

“That’s too bad, you love a good tip.”

The game of sexual tension chicken continues, slowly making their way towards the bedroom. A strap of her dress falls down her shoulder. She has to tense her muscles to not shiver under Elias’ gaze. Before she knows it, she’s falling back onto the bed and Elias is caging her in.

He kisses up her bare shoulder, up her neck, and nips under her ear.

“I guess you’re here for pleasure,” she feels his low voice rumble against her, vibrating her bones.

He starts to suck a mark into her neck and she can’t let that happen. He’s so focused on the task, she takes advantage of the moment to flip him over so she’s on top.

“I guess I am,” she smirks down at him before pulling off her dress and tossing it off the bed.

Elias rubs his hands up her sides, over her silky matching set, “This for your client, too?”

She wants to lie because the truth is boring, this underwear happened to work with the best with the dress. But the truth is also scary, she did think of how Elias would react when she picked them

“No, just for you,” she rolls her hips and Elias groans.

“Next time just wear this under the coat,” he sits up and captures her lips.

She bites his bottom lip and tries to work the buttons on his shirt, “You need less buttons on your shirt.”

Elias laughs and pulls her along as he lays back down. Pulling her body up his, her legs bracketing his shoulders. She’s about to question what’s happening as he kisses the insides of her thighs, moving towards her vagina. He grips her hips to holds her in place as she squirms at the sensations.

She’s so used to giving, this makes her feel off-kilter. She never knows quite what to do when it’s one way towards her, but it should feel good. Biologically her body is reacting like it should, she gasps when he mouths at her through the silky material.

“E,” she tries to push her body up but he doesn’t let her get far, “you don’t have to do this.”

His grip loosens and she’s able to sit back a bit, fully see his face.

“How many times do I have to tell you I want to do this, I like doing this,” his fingers dip below her waistline while he waits for a response.

“Okay,” her voice is smaller than he’s ever heard it, “if you’re sure.”

“I’m sure,” he pulls the waistband of her panties down, “now take these off and sit on my face.”

She does as she’s told, gripping at the headboard and riding his face to an orgasm that makes the blood slosh in her ears. Elias has to tap her thigh to get her to move in the stupor.

“Sorry,” she mumbles and starts to do only thing she know how, return the favor.

Geena moves down his body, but Elias stops her. Instead, he maneuvers her to his side, wrapping an arm around her.

“I’m kind of tired,” he kisses the top of her head, “let’s just sleep.”

“In your clothes?” She’s hoping that will be enough to start something, she hates feeling like they’re on uneven ground.

He rolls his eyes and then out of bed, taking off his clothes as he makes his way to the bathroom. Any of their heat from earlier dissipates as Geena watches him start brushing his teeth through the open door.

He rummages through a drawer and holds out a toothbrush, the green one he bought for her when she started staying over. She hesitantly gets up and joins him at the counter; Elias has his and hers sinks and they each stand in front of one and silently brush their teeth.

Elias keeps making faces in the mirror trying to get Geena to look and laugh, he’s pretty close despite her trying to avoid looking. Then he fakes a blow job: pushing it into the inside of his cheek, then gagging and spitting out the the white foam. Geena can’t help but let out a belly laugh and chokes on her own toothpaste.

“Don’t try and kill me for a bit,” she gives him a shove after she rinses her mouth.

He just smiles and plucks her toothbrush out of her hand and places it in the cup next to his. There’s a swooping in her stomach, when did being so domestic become so normal?

She lets herself get pulled back into his side when they get back into bed, and she pretends she doesn’t sleep more soundly in his grasp.

\\\

Geena wakes up the next morning in an empty bed. It’s oddly comforting even if she’s not in her own home. She gets up and digs through Elias’ dresser finding a pair of shorts and a shirt, she doesn’t feel like trying to shimmy back into a constricting dress.

She pads out into the living room, gathering her coat and purse, shoving the dress into the tiny bag.

“Morning,” Geena nearly jumps out of her skin.

“Fuck me,” she takes a deep breath and finds Elias holding a mug of coffee and a plate with a croissant.

“I can do that, but maybe you want to eat first,” he smirks before noticing her holding her stuff, “you heading out?”

“I- uh- I thought you left so, yeah,” she still kind of wants to leave now.

“I just went out to pick up coffee, I would have invited you, but thought you could sleep and I’d bring you breakfast in bed.”

Geena isn’t exactly sure what her face does, but Elias frowns.

“Do you need to leave?” His voice is soft.

“No breakfast is good, maybe we could sit outside, it’s actually nice,” that seems to appease him.

Elias has a smoothie with his coffee and Geena gingerly picks at the pastry.

“The team has been asking about you, you were a big hit,” he finally speaks up.

“So, I need to make another sparkling appearance?” she’s grinning but doesn’t look up at him, staring at her toes in the sunlight.

“They were wondering if you wanted to sit with them at a game, and if we win, we can go out after.”

“Like hang out with them when you’re not there?”

“If it’s too weird then don’t worry about it, but you can see a free game and you can even show up late if you want to avoid that much time with them.”

“No, I can do it, it’s fine.”

She pulls her feet up onto the chair, curls her toes into the cushion. Flexing and unflexing, something to remind her she’s not lost at sea, she’s on solid ground.

“Great, would Friday work for you?”

“I’ll have to check my schedule, but that should work.”

She knows she’ll have to cancel with a client, it’s last minute on a weekend night. But she doesn’t want to disappoint Elias.

His smile grows twice in size.

“And in return could you get me reservations at Kissa Tanto?”

He scrunches his eyebrows.

“It’s like impossible to get good reservations there, so use your pretty boy Canuck connections and squeeze me in on like a Saturday.”

“Oh. Yeah, I can probably swing that.”

“I know you can,” she pops the rest of the croissant in her mouth and downs her coffee, “I do have to go now, but I’ll see you later.”

She’s more nervous about the game than she cares to admit. Changing her outfit about four times, stalking WAGs on Instagram just to make sure she’ll mostly fit in. She doesn’t even know why she cares so much, it’s not the first time she’s had to fit in and schmooze a group of significant other, but it is the first time she’s done it without her date.

She shows up during the second period, trying to limit the amount of time she’ll have to spend without hockey going on. Geena knows she can survive one intermission.

As soon as she gets to the seats Samantha pulls Geena to sit next to her.

“Thank god you’re here.”

Geena laughs nervously, wondering why this girl she talked to for maybe 30 minutes is so excited to see her.

“I’m new here too, so it’s nice to have some back up. This whole world is new to me.”

Samantha is smiling, but Geena can read the self-consciousness on her face. She knows what it’s like, back when she was new to a higher class of living, she always felt like people would know she’s some kind of dirty whore, that she didn’t belong and never would.

She soon learned pretending to be confident could go a long way.

“If it makes you feel better this is the fourth outfit I tried on,” Samantha squeezes her arm in response.

The game is fun, it’s the first time she’s seen a hockey game while not on a job in a long time. Though technically she’s still on a job, she doesn’t need to entertain someone else. She forgot how fun it could be. And she finally gets to focus on Elias, how gracefully he skates, the power of his shot; it’s kind of beautiful.

Elias scores a goal and Geena goes nuts, she didn’t know she had that kind of excitement in her.

One of the girlfriend’s films the reaction and the rest of the crowd cheering before Geena can slink out of view.

“What’s your handle Geena?”

“Oh, I don’t do social media,” she shrugs, she does but it’s under the name Ruby and definitely not for all audiences.

There’s a chorus of shock that follows.

“I’ll tag Petey in it then,” she smirks and types away on her phone.

The goal turns out to be the game winner and the group is buzzing, Geena is almost excited to go out with them, like they’re just a group of her friends.

It’s as if she’s in a drunken haze as they make their way into the depths of the arena to greet the players, then she’s pulled into a hug and obligatory kiss with Elias. Suddenly she’s piling into the back of a car that’s so crowded she’s half on Elias’ lap.

It all happens so fast she doesn’t even notice what bar they’re going to until she’s in the door and it’s too late to turn around. She definitely can’t make a scene, so she tries to hide behind the bigger hockey bodies as they go to the VIP section.

She drinks a little too much a little too fast. It loosens her up enough to go out onto the dance floor with some of the other ladies without a second thought. It’s when they go to the bar for some water that reality sets in again.

“Ruby”

Geena is pretty good at compartmentalizing her double life, so she doesn’t react to her alter ego name at first.

“Ruby!”

“I think that guy is trying to talk to you,” Samantha nudges her, making her finally look over to acknowledge the man.

She mumbles an expletive under her breath when she sees her manager, Michael. He likes to keep an eye on the escorts when they’re in a bar, it always seems to be where incidents happen.

“It’s some guy I gave a fake name then ghosted. I’ll go talk to him then meet you guys back at the tables,” she tries to shake the confused stares as she walks over.

“I thought you were taking the night off Ruby?”

“I’m here as Geena, I didn’t realize I was coming here until it was too late.”

“Shit, well Sam is here and he’s not too pleased with his replacement, so you might want to get out of here before you lose one of your best clients.”

“Fuck, I’ll get out as soon as I can. Sorry.”

“Geena, you’re allowed to have a life, just maybe not here of all places,” Michael gives her a sad smile.

She weaves her way back to the group, trying to blend in with the crowd. She clearly looks concerned when she sits back down next to Elias, who hands her his drink.

“You okay?” He leans in close, warm breath on her neck.

"I have a lot of dates here and the client I cancelled on for you is here,” she doesn’t mean to let that last bit of information slip but she’s nervous.

She leans back to look at Elias reaction, she’s not quite sure if he’s worried or happy. She gives him a long kiss in response before moving back to his ear again.

“So, if we get a bit handsy, so you can sort of hide my face and make it so it seems like we’re leaving to go bang that would be great.”

She kisses the spot below his ear, “we can also actually leave and go bang, too.”

Geena’s throwing out her rules of not sleeping with her faux-client after a date, anything to get out of here sooner rather than later.

“Yeah, sure,” he pulls her closer, “I think I can do that.”

They’re in a darkest corner of the table with his teammates, but the moment Elias’ tongue slips its way into Geena’s mouth there’s some cat calling from the boys. She can feel Elias’ hand move off of her, assumably to flip them off.

“I think they’ve had enough of a show,” he whispers and yanks her into a standing position.

There are some obligatory waves to the team before he’s pulling her into his side, hiding her a bit under his shoulder, leaning down to kiss her a bit as they walk to cover her whole face until they’re outside.

Her skin is on fire and the burst of cold air is doing nothing to change that. Geena feels the sudden urge to pull Elias into an alley and get on her knees for him, but she knows that has to wait until they’re as far away from this bar and any prying eyes as possible.

“Thanks E,” she can’t stop from kissing him again, with a little less heat this time.

“No problem, I was promised we’d go bang so not really a problem for me.”

He smirks and grabs her arms and pins them to her side to avoid the playful smack that was sure to come, and kisses her until her knees are weak.

\\\

Elias shows up at Geena’s apartment on a Saturday.

A woman in a silky robe answers the door and Elias worries he’s at the wrong place.

He’s only been inside her apartment once: taking Geena home when she arrived at his place for a booty call a little too drunk. He brought her home and practically carried her into her room, thinking it was best if she slept it off in her own bed.

“Hi, sorry I must be at the wrong apartment–“

“Baby Slut, your lover is here!” The woman shouts back over her shoulder and leans on the doorframe with a smirk.

“What are you talking ab– oh shit E, what are you doing here?”

Geena is also in silk robe holding a mascara wand.

“The Kissa Tanto reservation? It’s tonight.”

She blinks a few times before seeming to come back online.

“Oh, you made them for us,” she points between the two of them, “I was gonna take Xa,” she points to the woman in the doorway.

“I shouldn’t have assumed I was your plus one. You two should go together.”

Elias tries to hide his disappointment and embarrassment but apparently does a bad job.

“No, you two go have a cute little date,” Xa smiles a bit conspiratorially.

“But we’ve been wanting to go there forever,” Geena pouts, Elias hates that he feels like he’s being rejected.

“And I’m sure we can make that happen another time,” Xa give Elias a wink, “Would you be able to do that for us.”

“Uh- yeah of course,” Elias smiles back, “sorry about ruining your plans.”

“Don’t worry about, I can always go to the club make a quick buck,” she’s moving aside so Elias can come in, “someone’s gotta keep Baby Slut here in the life she’s grown accustomed to. Since you’re monopolizing all her billing hours.”

Elias feels his cheeks heat up.

“Let me throw on clothes real quick,” Geena cuts in, “behave yourself Xa.”

As soon as she seems out of earshot Elias asks, “Baby Slut?”

“I took her under my wing when she first started stripping, showed her the ropes. Barely legal girl who could barely get on stage without shaking. She didn’t have anyone taking care of her, so she became my little baby and well–“

She waves her hand implying all the things that could be associated with sex work, making slut seem like low hanging fruit.

It’s a reminder that Geena has already lived hundreds of lives in her short time on Earth. While Elias had only lived his solitary, safe life.

“I wasn’t legal,” Geena is dressed in record time, probably to avoid Xa sharing any embarrassing stories.

“Shhh, I don’t know how long the statute of limitations lasts on abetting a minor in her crimes.”

Geena rolls her, grabbing her coat and shoving Elias towards the door.

“Nice meeting you,” Elias calls over his shoulder.

“You too, have fun and don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

“Wow, that really narrows it down,” Geena flips her off as she slams the door.

Both parties are desperately trying to decipher dinner’s meaning, is it a date? A real one? With no prying eyes of teammates or payments?

It makes it a little awkward.

They’re staring at their menus in silence like they can’t think of a single thing to talk about, which is absurd for two people who have spent so much time together. Most of it was in throes of passion, but there was always time between rounds or during mornings after lazing in bed or while munching on midnight snacks.

They talk enough that one dinner with no expectations should be easy.

The waiter comes by and takes their orders and they’re both grateful when their drinks arrive.

“Well cheers to our first date, I guess,” Geena makes a goofy face, which make Elias laugh despite the confusion it causes.

“You look really beautiful.”

Geena blushes like no one has ever told her that before. Elias realizes he never has, not without some kind of heat behind it, some innuendo. He wonders if anyone has ever sincerely said it to her.

She starts to nervously gnaw on her lip and Elias knows he needs to change the subject.

“I didn’t realize you had a roommate, Xa seems nice.”

Her face nearly splits with excitement.

“Yeah, she’s the best. I wouldn’t be anything without her. I would still have the pseudonym Buttercup if it wasn’t for her.”

“Buttercup?”

“Don’t laugh!” She kicks his shin, “I was 16 and thought it was all ‘I’m innocent but sexy’, which I was neither.”

“It’s a really terrible stripper name.”

“Like 16-year-old Elias could’ve thought of something better.”

“I think it would at least be a step better than Buttercup.”

Suddenly, the ice is broken. They’re joking and talking like normal, the location is different, but it’s still comfortable. So, Elias takes a calculated risk and reaches across the table to hold Geena’s hand while they finish their drinks after dinner. She doesn’t pull away.

“That was fun,” Geena smiles as she settles in his passenger seat, reaching across the console to put a hand on his thigh, “want to keep it going?”

And of course, he does, he always does. But tonight feels different, so he wants to treat it differently.

“I’m gonna drop you off at home…”

Geena scoffs but doesn’t remove her hand from his thigh, if anything she moves it higher.

“And I’m gonna walk you to your door and kiss you goodnight. Like a respectful date.”

“Your dick has been in like all of my orifices, I think we’re kind of past respectful first date bullshit.”

“So, this was a first date?” he keeps his eyes forward but grins as Geena gives his thigh slap.

“I’ll send you the bill later,” he can hear her rolling her eyes.

“Worth it.”

\\\

“Are you dating Elias Pettersson?”

Geena almost chokes on her champagne.

Her date pats her back as she sputters, she kind of hopes she just chokes to death.

“Am I what?”

They’re standing out on the patio, a black-tie event happening inside. Just her and a long-term client getting some air. She’ll usually do some playful touches let him giver her his jacket to warm her against the chill; anything to make his coworkers think the heat is still alive between them after years together.

But this is new. He’s never asked Ruby about her life outside of their arrangement. He didn’t need to, he just needed arm candy while he wined and dined other rich business men that did something Geena never fully understood.

“Are you dating Elias Pettersson, the Vancouver Canuck?”

Geena feels lightheaded.

“My assistant saw some pictures of you with him. You were at a game with the wives and then out at a restaurant. You looked pretty cozy.”

“We’re not dating.”

“So, he’s a client?”

“I can’t tell you that, you wouldn’t want me telling people about us.”

“No, but I can’t risk looking like a fool because you’re out with someone in the public eye.”

A lump forms thick in her throat. She can’t speak around the feeling.

“So, you’ll understand why this has to be our last date.”

She nods while she tries to find her voice.

“Do you want me to make a scene? I can go a little crazy, make you get a little sympathy for dealing with your crazy girlfriend?”

“I was just going to tell people it didn’t work out because you wanted kids.”

“Very dignified,” she straightens her posture, trying to remain professional.

“I’ll still pay your full rate, but if you want to sneak out early that’s okay too.”

Her eyes burn with tears. She’s never cried in front of client, at least not if they weren’t paying for it. When it’s clear she won’t be able to hold them back for long, she slinks off in shame.

Her first thought is to go to Elias, seek comfort in his arms. She doesn’t even want anything sexual and her shame is replaced with unease. Geena’s not sure which she hates more. So, she takes to her bed like some Victorian maiden and hopes this is all some kind of nightmare.

It’s not.

Xa lets her stay in bed for two days before telling her she has to move on.

“Life happens, shit happens. You of all people should know that,” Xa says as she brushes her hair, a little intimacy that Geena never wants to admit she craves.

Her first outing is to the strip club, which maybe isn’t her best idea. Because being in a strip club at 1 pm on a weekday is never a good look. It’s just her and four men around the main stage. They keep sending her drinks as if she’ll go home with them or give them a lap dance.

She’s drunk by 2:30.

“You coming back to the club, Buttercup?”

Geena’s getting a lap dance from a dancer she used to work with, Sasha, who can only talk to Geena if she keeps dancing.

“If I came back, it would not be as Buttercup,” she’s basically talking to her tits.

“Fine, is Ruby coming out of retirement?”

“Ruby only retired from the stage, but she may be retiring entirely soon,” she slips some money Sasha’s her G-string.

“Shit, another whore going to the good side?”

“I don’t want to, I love what I do, I’m good at it. Just things are getting complicated. How do you live a normal life and do this?”

“It’s not easy, I have to work this shift now so I can see my kids. Money’s not as good but it’s worth being able to have dinner with them and go to their soccer games and shit.”

Geena furrows her brows.

“There’s nothing wrong with living this kind of life if you like it. But that doesn’t mean you have to give up the normal things. You don’t have to live in the shadows just because people make you feel seedy or dirty about your job.”

Sasha gives her forehead a kiss, which is weird after she was grinding into Geena’s crotch.

“You’re not baby Buttercup anymore, you’re badass Ruby and she can do whatever the fuck she wants. And if you don’t believe me Xa will kick your ass into believing. Now get out of here before the night girls come and make you get on stage.”

Geena stumbles out of the club, smelling of thick perfume and booze. Like she used to most nights. It feels like a safety blanket.

In her drunken stupor she calls an Uber to her most common destination, Elias’.

She generally tries to avoid showing up completely unannounced, but she’s too tipsy to think about that and lets herself in without a second thought.

And sitting at the table are two people, who are clearly Elias’ parents.

“Oh shit,” she says it too loud, both heads whip towards her, she can’t sneak out now.

Instead, she stands there frozen, mouth agape, probably looking like a fool.

“You must be Geena, Elias didn’t say you’d be coming by,” Elias’ mom smiles

“Oh yeah,” Geena returns a dopey smile, her brain is about five steps behind.

“I’m Irene and this is Torbjörn,” she stands up and walks toward Geena, “are you a hugger?”

“Nice to meet you and um yeah,” Geena holds out her arm and accepts the hug.

Irene pulls away a smile still on her face. She’s either great at hiding her judgement or doesn’t care Geena reeks of liquor. Knowing Elias’ inability to hide his judgement, she’s guessing the latter.

“Elias should be back from practice any minute.”

“Okay, I’ll just go freshen up really quick.”

She scurries to Elias’ room, hearing Swedish behind her. She hopes they’re not saying anything too bad, hoping it wasn’t too bad of a first impression. She flops on the bed, squeezing her eyes shut when the room starts to spin.

Why does she even care? It’s not like she’s actually Elias’ girlfriend, she’s just convenient, in every kind of way. Nothing more.

But he told his parents about her. His mom was excited to meet her. It felt nice. Like someone stuck around long enough to break through the hard shell around her heart. And maybe she is allowed to have that.

Elias comes in and flops down next to her. Geena finally opens her eyes, turning her head to the side to look at him. His smile is so nice she can’t stop herself from kissing him.

“You smell like a strip club.”

She lets out an airy laugh, “do your parents know that?”

“I don’t think so, they know you’re drunk though. I wanted to give you more warning before you met them, so, sorry.”

“Why would you introduce me to your parents? Did one of your teammates let it slip that you have a girlfriend?” She uses air quotes around the last word.

Elias sits up to get a better look at her, “no, I wanted – we went on a real first date – I thought…“

“E, are we dating now? You want to date me?”

“Of course, I do G! I didn’t realize how much until we started to fake date. But I like spending time with you outside of sex.”

“Even though I’m a dirty sex worker?”

“I wouldn’t call you dirty, unless you wanted me to,” he smirks.

“I just lost a big client because he saw a picture of us together. What happens if more people find out, on either side? I don’t want to quit my job because you’re in the public eye.”

“I’m not asking you to do that, you like what you do and from what I saw firsthand you’re really good at it. So, if you want to tell people what you do, I don’t care. I’ll do whatever you need me to, I just want you to be mine.”

“You really don’t care?”

“What you do doesn't change who you are or what I feel or want to give you.”

“So, you’re kind of mine then?”

He nods and pulls her up for a kiss.

“We should probably leave my bedroom before my parents think we’re having sex.”

“If they already think it…” Geena waggles her brows and playfully bites his shoulder.

He gives her a playful shove back onto the mattress before grabbing her hand, interlocking their fingers and pulling her towards the door, and the future.

#elias pettersson #elias pettersson fic #elias pettersson imagine #vancouver canucks #vancouver canucks fics #vancouver canucks imagines #nhl #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #hockey fics #hockey #nhl stories #nhl fic

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heavyhitterheaux · 1 year

Text

Lightweight

A Ballerina's Tale Fic

AN: Jack is the absolute cutest when it comes to his girlfriend and will always be there for her

Synopsis: Jack tells you that he has to miss opening night and one of the biggest performances of your career. Little do you know he has a surprise for you.

Pairing: Jack Harlow x Dancer!Reader

Requested by: My ❤ anon

A Ballerina's Tale Masterlist

Please Do Not Repost My Content Anywhere

You had just left the theater after a four hour rehearsal for a series of upcoming shows and you were exhausted. Today was the shortest of all of the days that you had been rehearsing since they were usually eight hours and the only thing you wanted to do was get some food, take a shower, and lay in your king-sized bed.

Too bad that bed wasn’t going to have your boyfriend in it seeing as he had a demanding career himself and was flying all over the country for multiple appearances, concerts, and award shows.

It had been a few weeks since the two of you saw each other, however, you made it a priority to facetime each other every single day to check on one another and to make sure that everything was okay.

You were in New York, while you think Jack told you he would be in Sweden so there was a little bit of a time difference.

Six hours to be exact

It was around four in the afternoon so you were doing your best to get home and call Jack since you knew that he needed all the rest that he could get

After taking your shower and ordering your food, you climbed up onto the bed and turned on hulu in the hopes of catching up on Abbott Elementary until you finished eating and then you would call your boyfriend

Except he must have had the same idea because he called you first

And you quickly answered

“Hey pretty girl.”

“Hey, I was just about to call you.” You said while propping yourself on one of your many pillows.

“How did rehearsal go today?” Jack curiously asked before smiling at you.

“It went fine, I’m exhausted but I know that this is going to be worth it. Today was a short day though, only four hours.”

“And how long until opening night?”

“Exactly one week from today. I am so nervous.”

“No reason to be nervous, my baby kills it every time. You are the principal dancer for a reason.”

“I know, but I still get nervous. I just want to do a good job. I have little girls and boys looking up to me now and the last thing that I want to do is disappoint them.”

“Baby, you could never disappoint anyone. Especially me.”

“You are too good to me.” You said while taking a sip of your sparkling water.

“I call it like I see it.”

“But, how are you? Are you sleeping okay?” You asked while taking in his tired eyes. He looked exhausted.

Just then Jack broke eye contact with you and looked to the left.

“Jackman….”

“Um, not sleeping the best, but I am sleeping….”

“We talked about this.”

“I know, I know. And the time difference doesn’t really help.”

“I can’t wait until you can get an actual break. I worry about you a lot.”

“I know and I don’t want you to worry, I’m okay.”

“You know even with you telling me not to worry, that I’m going to worry, right?”

“I know.”

“So, you’ll be back in a week for opening night right?”

“Um, babe…. I’ve been meaning to talk to you about that.”

“Jack…. You promised.” He could not be serious right now.

“I know, baby, I know. It’s just that my schedule is so tight and something was just added for that day.”

“Okay.” You quietly said and Jack could hear the disappointment in your voice and he immediately felt like shit.

“But it’s not okay, because I know how big this is for you and I….”

“It’s okay. You have a career too and I know how demanding that it can be.”

Jack immediately knew that your mood had changed and you were doing everything to not look at him and focused on your food that was in front of you.

“I promise to make it up to you when I get back.”

“Don’t even worry about it. There will be other shows.”

“Baby…”

“Get some rest, I love you.”

You didn’t even wait for Jack to respond to you and immediately ended the facetime call so that he wouldn’t see the few tears that had now slipped out.

This was one of the most if not the most important performances of your career and the fact that one of your biggest supporters wasn’t going to be there hurt you to no end.

After wiping away your tears, you finished your food and finished up the last episode that you were watching before putting the leftovers away and going back to your bedroom.

You then noticed how you had a text from Jack.

Jack- I love you so much and like I said, I promise to make it up to you

You- Love you too

By now even though it was barely 8 pm you decided that you needed all of the sleep that you could possibly get.

There was now only one day left until opening night and all you did was relax for the entire day. It started with breakfast at one of your favorite cafes in the city, a mani-pedi appointment, a hair appointment, tacos for lunch, and now you were taking a walk not too far from your condo in the hopes of clearing your head.

Even though this definitely wasn’t your first time dancing in front of an audience, something about it just felt different.

You don’t know if it was the more complex moves, the fact that you were dancing with individuals who were new to the theater, or the fact that your boyfriend wouldn’t be able to be there.

Either way, you were going to do your best and if that came with making mistakes, you would do better next time.

There was less than 24 hours until you hit the stage so there damn sure wasn’t anything that you could do about it now.

The good thing is that your mom, grandmother, and both of your brothers would be there tomorrow since she was able to get a few days off from work.

Your mom told you all the time how proud she was of you for finally putting yourself first and making your dreams come true despite the circumstances and the hand that you were dealt.

Their flight would be coming in tomorrow morning and they told you that they would meet you at the theater when it was time for the show to start.

A lot came with being the principal dancer and of course there were people who didn’t think that you deserved to have that title.

But you did your best to ignore them because you knew that you deserved it and you had worked your ass off in order to make this a reality.

After getting back to your condo, you noticed a missed call from Jack. You had put your phone on DND earlier and probably should have told him, but you just needed a day for yourself.

You immediately called him back and smiled when you saw his blue eyes and curly hair come into view.

“Hi.”

“I thought you were so pissed at me that you were ignoring me.” Jack said and it looked like he was actually a little nervous.

“My phone was on DND.” You said while shrugging and then proceeded to take your jacket off.

“You never do that.”

“I just wanted a day to myself without any distractions. I should have told you, sorry about that.”

“You know I would do anything to be there tomorrow, right?”

“I know, you don’t have to tell me. We talked about this, it’s okay.”

“You’re putting on a front right now. Don’t you think I know you better than that?”

All you did was sigh before responding.

“Can we just drop it? I’m already sad enough that you won’t be here so that’s not what I want to think about right now.”

“I do have a surprise for you tomorrow.”

“Oh?”

“You just have to be patient and wait and see what it is.”

—

You let out a sigh of relief as soon as the curtain went down separating you from the view of the audience. You and the other dancers congratulated each other on how well the opening night went.

Just two months or so of the show to go.

You made your way backstage and was surprised at who was sitting in your dressing room the minute that you opened the door.

“SERIOUSLY?!”

“Now did you honestly think that I was going to miss my baby’s opening night?” Jack asked as you made your way towards him and he immediately brought you into a hug and kissed your forehead.

You couldn’t help but to let a few tears slip out as you held onto him tighter.

“You did absolutely amazing and I knew that you had no reason to worry.” Jack said while massaging small circles on your back.

“I think I held my breath the entire time I was dancing.”

“Babe, if that was the case we would be sitting in the emergency room right now.”

You lightly hit his arm and laughed.

“You know what I mean.”

“Oh, and I almost forgot.” Jack broke away from you to hand you the flowers that he had brought for you and you immediately smiled.

“Pretty flowers for a pretty girl.”

“I can’t believe you told me you weren’t coming.”

“And I can’t believe that you actually believed me. When have I ever missed opening night for you?” Jack said while sitting down and sliding you onto his lap.

“You haven’t. But you were very convincing.”

“Well, I did say that I had a surprise for you.”

“And did you happen to bring any more surprises with you?” You curiously asked and Jack knew immediately what you were referring to.

“Oh, that’s not a surprise. You knew that you were about to get me in you anyway. How long has it been?”

“Almost a month.”

“Change out of that outfit so we can go back to the condo so you can get this work.”

“Or you can give it to me here.” You said while kissing the side of Jack’s mouth.

“Shit, say less.”

Liked by jackharlow, kehlani, sza, debbieallen, urbanwyatt, dojacat, and 1,294,056 others

yournameonpointe: opening night complete 💕

jackharlow: you killed it, just like I knew you would. proud of my baby 💖

kehlani: I'm coming next week! I can't wait

yournameonpointe: thank you my love and thank you for surprising me

jackharlow: yournameonpointe you know I'm always showing up for my girl

druski2funny: yournameonpointe now why in the world did you settle for jackharlow when you could have had me?

lilnasx: here his ass goes 🙄

jackharlow: druski2funny square the fuck up right now

yournameonpointe: druski2funny I have eyes for jackharlow and him only, nice try though

sza: I already know my girl ATE!

yournameonpointe: sza 😭

sza: yournameonpointe you do not give yourself enough credit

urbanwyatt: sza she doesn't, she's amazing at what she does

yournameonpointe: yall are too good to me, I swear

neelamthadhani: yournameonpointe we call it like we see it

saweetie: my girl is the SHIT! Okay Ms. principal dancer!!!

yournameonpointe: the first opening night of many more to come 💖

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#jack harlow #jack harlow fic #jack harlow fanfic #jack harlow x reader #jack harlow x black reader #jack harlow angst #jack harlow fluff #jack harlow x you #jack harlow concepts

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overtrred28 · 4 months

Text

Stargirl | matildas x original character fic [part thirteen]

Words; 1.8k

Pairings; matildas team x astrid taylor (OC)

Warnings; swearing

A/N; Hi all. Hope you're enjoying this story. Just wanted to apologise for such a late update and a really short chapter but I started a second job and I've got less time to write so updates may take a little longer sorry. But I will try to keep it within two weeks of each other and write when I can so you guys can keep reading. Love you all xx

masterlist

The next morning after breakfast the team assembled for their pre match meeting where they would do last minute reviews of their opponents style of play, and plan their own around the starting lineup Tony was going to reveal.

Astrid’s prediction from the night before was proved right when Kyra’s name appeared in the midfield, a smile donning both of their faces as Astrid lightly punched Kyra’s shoulder. The rest of the line up was almost the same as it always was but with Cortnee replacing Sam’s usual position as the left forward and Charli staying in that back right in replace of Ellie who was still out with her ACL injury.

Although Astrid had yet to be named again in the starting XI since that Phillipines game, the plan involved her coming on later in the game and continuing her super sub reputation.

Arriving at Kingsmeadow again the energy was high and the team were ready for what was to come. They got ready and headed onto the pitch for the warm up, Astrid, Charli and Kyra trailing at the back of the group.

“Will you three hurry up? Otherwise you’re not part of the rondos.” Alanna turned around, yelling at the three of them who were still slowly walking out of the tunnel.

“How dare you!” Astrid dropped her mouth in shock, separating from her friends as she ran to join the team, rather ditching her friends than missing out on the only fun part of warm up.

“Rude.” Charli called out as Kyra scoffed beside her, watching the youngest player run out of the tunnel to the team on the pitch, jogging to catch up behind her.

Training like always was full of laughter and fun, slightly distracting them before the tough match but still focused on the drills ahead of them. When it began time to partner up, Astrid began walking towards Charli but was pulled away before she could even process what was happening.

“You’re with me today, chicken.” Steph finally spoke as she walked with Astrid further away from the younger of the Matildas. Astrid was confused but not complaining as she had begun to form a stronger bond with Steph through these camps and over long distance while at clubs.

“Cool with me.” Astrid shrugged her shoulders as they began their partnered drills and passing skills.

“So, how’s Hammarby?” Steph asked, looking over at the younger player.

“It’s really good, I think I’ve finally settled back into the team and the rhythm again.” Astrid smiled as she talked about her club.

“That’s good. You always want to feel good at your club and comfortable in that environment.” Steph nodded at her, happy she was content in her current club and team. “What about Sweden though? How’s living there treating you?”

“It’s fine, I’m glad I have Kyra and Nevs with me, and Charli not far away.” Astrid drifted off slightly and looked back up at Steph instead of the ball they were sending between each other.

“But?” Steph quizzed, looking her softly in the eye, Astrid pausing to think before responding.

“I don’t know. Something’s missing or off, I think. It’s just not what I’ve been used to, you know. Especially with a whole different language and customs and lifestyle; it’s just different.” Astrid shrugged casually. “But I’ll get used to it, and the weather.” She laughed with Steph who also missed the Australian sun whilst living away.

“It’ll get better, that feeling of being misplaced sorta. I promise.” Steph pulled Astrid into her side as they began to walk back to the group who were finishing up their warm ups as well.

They all returned to the locker room, changing from their training gear to their game jerseys, Astrid donning her 31 proudly as the subs exited the room, hyping up the starting line up as they went past.

Courtney and Astrid sat beside each other on the bench as they waited for the match to start. The whistle blew and the ball was taken into quick and easy possession by the Australian side, keeping it close to them and weaving through the South Africa defence. A few chances were made within early minutes, almost getting Astrid out of her seat ready to celebrate, but it wasn’t till Steph took a corner at the fifth minute that she was able to.

Steph struck with her left foot and the ball headed straight to Mary who attempted to head it in but struck the post, Cortnee saw it and quickly knocked it into the net, scoring her first international goal on the senior team.

“YES VINEY!” Astrid screamed from the bench, cheering loudly as the players on the field celebrated Cortnee’s goal; Tony also cheering loudly from his place in the tactical box.

And it wasn’t long until they were celebrating again, Cortnee knocking the ball into the net just 10 minutes later, bringing the Matildas to an easy 2-0 and getting herself a brace. Polkinghorn further advanced their lead just before halftime with a header from another one of Steph’s corners, letting the Matildas leave halftime 3-0 as they retreated down the tunnel.

While the starting XI were having their halftime meeting with Tony, Astrid took this time to practise her shots with Macca and Courtney for a few minutes before the two younger players were called over to the bench again. They discussed the tactics again for the second half and when they were both going to come on to make a difference in the game, not that there was anything wrong with how it was panning out so far.

The second half began with the kick from Vine, the Matildas once again taking quick possession and earning corners as they stayed down near the box. Caitlin was the one to give them their next goal, taking a long ball from Aivi to Steph and dancing around the defenders to send it to the right side of the net.

Astrid and Courtney got up not long after that to warm up once again, running up and down the sidelines as they watched the game progress.

At 70 minutes the Australian side made three substitutions, taking off Steph, Caitlin and Charli and bringing on Courtney, Astrid and Larissa as their replacements; the three of them quickly settled into the rhythm of the game and added to the dynamics of the players on the field.

Astrid came into the left forward position, slightly further up to where Caitlin had been playing before but somewhere she was more comfortable and was now working with Hayley and Larissa up front. It didn’t take long for Astrid to get her feet on the ball, running ahead of Chidiac who delivered it to her in open space and she slotted it past the South African goalkeeper into the bottom right corner.

The team were thrilled with her contribution so early after coming on, bringing them to 5-0 at 75 minutes in; but it’s not like they were surprised, it’s what she’s known to do.

Only 3 minutes later and the ball had landed at her feet just outside the box, but she was surrounded by defenders, all eagerly watching her feet to see where she might go. Astrid paused, lifting her eyes up to the defender in front of her before shifting it in the direction of Hayley who was free to the right of her.

She moved her left foot, indicating to go right where her eyeline was, the defender turning over her left shoulder but Astrid quickly rolled the ball under her foot and went around her other shoulder. She could hear the defender groan as she tricked her, running closer to the goal, jumping over an outstretched leg from South Africa and continuing the ball towards the goal. Striking with her right foot hard, she aimed for top bins as the keeper bent down to block a low shot, missing it completely. 6-0 to Australia.

The small Australian crowd who had gathered cheered and so did the girls as they surrounded Astrid who made her way to Kyra first like always. As they parted Kyra pointed to her mouthing, “You owe me lunch.” with a smirk. She was right so far; but so was Astrid as Kyra didn’t seem to be coming off anytime soon and they were inching closer and closer to full time.

Chloe and Sam joined the field with only 7 minutes of regulation time remaining and just minutes after South Africa scored their first goal of the match in the 87th minute after a terrific lob from Hilda Magaia.

Three minutes of injury time were given and Astrid was not ready to finish up, neither were any of the Matildas subs who felt like they had just begun to play.

And with only 40 seconds of time remaining, Courtney delivered the ball to Kyra who then shot it up the field in the direction of Astrid who had made her way into the box, watching as the ball flew in the air. There were a few defenders closing in on her but she had plenty of space, jumping into the air and joining her head with the ball, steering it hard to her left and hoping the keeper was just away from her.

She landed and looked into the net, finding the ball rolling on the ground and the net still rippling from the impact; she scored another goal and earned herself a hattrick for the first time on the international stage. A wide smile donned her face as she spotted Sam, Hayley and the rest of the team running towards her, screaming and cheering for the youngest player.

It’s a late goal and a hattrick from number 31 Astrid Taylor, the 18 year old in her 8th appearance for the Matildas.

Play resumed but not for long as the whistle blew and the game ended 7-1 to Australia, both teams immediately shaking hands with one another and their own teammates. Charli ran over to Astrid when she was free, almost tackling her to the ground.

“Just casually scores a hattrick within the last like 20 minutes of the game. Are you even human?” Charli squeezed Astrid who laughed at her.

“Fuck off.” Astrid playfully pushed her away as they began their victory lap, clapping to the crowd that had gathered for the match and waving to the Matildas fans.

“You just had to be the only one right huh?” Kyra had caught up to Astrid who walked behind everyone else taking in the post-match feeling.

“I guess I did.” Astrid casually shrugged her shoulders as she turned to Kyra with a smile.

“I’m proud of you.” Kyra unexpectedly pulled Astrid into a hug but she quickly reciprocated.

“Thank you, I’m proud of you too.” Astrid spoke as they parted, both with blushed cheeks and large smiles. “So,” They began walking again. “When are you taking me out for my free lunch?”

to be continued....

---------------

#auswnt #kyra cooney cross #matildas #alanna kennedy #auswnt x reader #caitlin foord #charli grant #mackenzie arnold #sam kerr #steph catley #matildas x reader #cortnee vine #courtney nevin

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prettyqueerwitch · 2 months

Text

Weave The Liminal

a review

im back ♡ was very depressed for a bit, and then i was in sweden for a while! this is my first read of 2024, and i quite enjoyed it, honestly.

Weave the Liminal by Laura Tempest Zakroff is a wonderful book for beginners and seasoned practitioners. It may not be for everyone, but I think it's a good book for when you're learning/wanting to formulate your path and practice.

Table of Contents

I found that Zakroff had very insightful points throughout the book. While I felt the book could be shortened a bit, I also found myself finding pieces of information I'd love to use in my practice throughout the entirety of the book.

Zakroff begins the book with her experiences in her path and practice, then going on to explain modern and traditional witchcraft. She has 3 keys to "The Witches Path" (Know Thyself, Maintain Balance, and Accept Responsibility).

She defines the witch and goes through the origin of witchcraft, which I plan on rereading as I found it educational and I wanna look into it more.

The third chapter is the one I found the most important, in my opinion, of course. She talks about RITES (Roots, Inspiration, Time, Environment, Star). These are different things to consider when formulating your path, and I found it so incredibly useful and will be utilizing it in my practice.

Now, while I really resonated with the first half of the book, the second half, specifically the last third, did not resonate with me as much as it was stuff I already knew or already had my own opinion on.

I did enjoy the parts of this talking about 3 sets of 2 keywords. Observe and obscure, listen and speak, and change and rest.

I enjoyed her different definitions of each type of dead (the familiar decreased, the ancestors, the mighty dead, other people's dead, psychopomp, and ghost and residual energy).

She also has what she calls "A Witches Guide to essential etiquette" towards the end of the book.

That sums up the parts I personally enjoyed and/or considered/am considering when relating to my practice.

Zakroff has a very pick what resonates with you and leave what doesn't as you define your own practice vibe, which I agree with. I never felt like I had to change my practice a specific way or be a certain way throughout this book.

She uses her own practice for examples throughout the book, which I enjoyed as I feel it adds to the book and furthers the information.

Her view on Gods and mythology is quite interesting. I enjoy the concept of humanity and culture, always intersecting and changing. She mentions her 'chicken or egg' question about the gods, did they create us, or did we create them.

She works with gods and does not consider herself to worship them, which is how she decides to label it, and I find thats a very valid way of labeling it. There is no pressure to work with deities in this book, which I always found refreshing considering the need to work with deities being a hot topic recent, especially the past 4 years.

I would recommend this book to anyone in the witchcraft or occult community, even if it ends up not resonating with you or if you're like me and only some parts resonated with you, I feel it could be a good read.

☆Ares☆

#witch community #witchblr #witches of tumblr #witchythings #magick #witchcraft #beginner witch #witch books #books #book review

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aevallare · 4 months

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Hi! Hope you're well :) weird question maybe, but how is it moving to Denmark and living there as a foreigner? I've been a couple times, loved the country and am thinking of maybe moving there. Are people welcoming? I've have great experience there, but I've heard from others that it may be hard to make friends/know new people, and I'd be moving there on my own so that's kinda something I'd need 😆 thanks for all the great content!

yo!

my feelings on denmark are complicated. before anything else, i love it here. the climate and culture (generally speaking) are just about perfect for what i want out of life. there's very little emphasis on hierarchy and a good balance between collectivistic and individualistic values. this is a great country for a queer person to live in. taxes are high, but i find that that's a very small price to pay for free healthcare, education, and subsidized childcare among other things.

as a foreigner... eh. the first thing to keep in mind is that denmark has some of the strictest immigration rules in europe, so if you're looking to move here, make sure you look into whether it's a realistic venture. a lot of people (especially those with danish spouses) actually move to sweden and commute to copenhagen from there because sweden's rules are less uh... tyrannical. lol.

and there are other issues, of course. i miss diversity a lot. there's a racism issue that very few people seem to want to engage with or even acknowledge. i love the summers because the days are so long but the winters are so so so dark.

as far as if people are welcoming or not, it's kind of a mixed bag. my experience is colored by the fact that i came here via marriage to a native dane who already had his social network (and i also don't really need many friends/social interaction). i think, personally, unless you were going to university, it can be very hard to make friends without an in-road. it's not that danes aren't friendly, because they definitely can be (particularly in nordjylland, where i live), but they often stick with the connections they had from childhood. they aren't really looking for friends past that.

that being said, i think once you truly manage to make friends with a dane, you have one for life.

that's not to be a hater entirely. obviously every country has its own problems. but if you're thinking of moving here (particularly as a poc), i would keep these things in mind. i've lived here for years now. i speak the language fluently. i would consider myself well-integrated.

but i think i'll always be considered a foreigner in denmark, even if i get citizenship someday.

all that being said, if you do end up here, drop me a line. there's a guest room in aalborg for you, if you'd like. <3

#asks #obviously i'm speaking in generalizations

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blueberrypancakesworld · 3 months

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Hi there! As someone who really enjoys your Lords Of Chaos content, do you think you could write a male reader who’s Oystein’s identical, more introverted and less metal crazed artsy twin brother catching feelings for Pelle, the pretty boy from Sweden who likes dead things lol? I’ve seen the twin fic ideas done with Rory’s other characters, so I’m putting a lil spin on it. The two managed to bound over drawing and enjoying each others works. And one day, reader works up the courage to drive out to Mayhem’s practice place/house for Pelle’s birthday with a dead rabbit he found the road as a gift and just blurts out his feelings for him quickly. Then tries to leave out of embarrassment, but Pelle stops him and tells him he likes him too? They share a kiss, only to realize the rest of the band was watching the whole time. Who are very happy they don’t have to witness the two of them pinning for each other anymore, and Oystein jokingly threatens Pelle to not hurt his brother or else, cause we love good protective siblings in this house. Reading your fics have helped brighten my day when I’m feeling down, and I hope you have a good 2024 :)

- Two artists -

warning ; fluff, comfort, kiss

Info : Thank you dear anon for the request I know I had it for a few months but now I had finally time writing it. Have fun reading and have a good day too ;)

masterlist

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They were more different than sun and moon than day and night than anything they both were. The family got used to joking around in the early years, even allowing the kids to pretend to be each other and enjoying their little jokes when it worked.

But the older they got the more obvious it became how they developed Euronymous as he would call her summoned himself to the devil, to metal music, dyed his hair black and drifted off into something none of his family really understood.

What everyone initially thought was a phase quickly turned out to be something he was absorbed in, something he would do his whole life.

In contrast, his twin brother's natural brown hair was not loud, but quiet, almost leisured, not extroverted, but introverted and not into loud music. His creativity is in painting and not in music.

But the two quickly realized that they would both make something in their field that would change the world, or at least Norway, in one way or another,

When Euronymous moved out of the house and left the room to his brother, he knew that he needed it more for painting. He devoted himself to his art studio and only saw his older twin from time to time. He won a painting competition in the city after a night out and Euronymous got one gig after the next, slowly but surely, with his band.

They both continued to develop and yet they always stayed in touch. If it wasn't phone calls, it was the brown-haired one's semester break meeting, who, when he wasn't visiting their shared family, visited his twin in the light wasteland.

The red quarry they had acquired was a little artistically stimulating, at least in one way or another. A view shared by someone from Mayhen's band. The blond singer Dead, who had joined the band just before the vacations and seemed to be the dark angel of music.

At least for Euronymous it was something that could take him to the top of the world. But for his brother, the blond was more not only on an artistic level as his muse but also as someone who painted himself, someone who shared such a passion.

That when they all met, they got into one or two discussions about drawing, painting and the most diverse motifs. Motifs that were close to the heart, like the blonde in the brown-haired man's heart. Something he didn't want to admit at first, something he didn't want to admit to himself. But in the end he had to realize that he had lost his heart to the singer and artist.

A fact he tried to keep secret but beyond his knowledge the black circle already had a hunch. Every time they met, they saw the blond drawing a portrait of something that was not his friend and band founder as they initially thought.

While Euronymous caught his brother reading occult books about death, which was not only extremely unusual but also true books that belonged to Dead.

But all this culminated in one thing the brown-haired man knew he had to do. The birthday of the blond singer and the one he had lost his heart to.

The silver car drove along the country road towards the house, fingers tapping nervously on the steering wheel, ,,A present," he muttered over and over, thinking of something to give the blond. Around one of the few bends and then his eyes caught sight of the snow-white rabbit lying on the road in front of him.

Hastily getting out of the car and picking up a blanket, he took the cold, stiff animal and put it in his trunk, a satisfied grin playing around his lips, ,,That's perfect," he muttered before pushing the accelerator and driving towards the house at a rapid pace.

It was only moments later when he found himself in the party that the music rang in his ears and he would have preferred to run out again rather than stay here. The quieter, more classical music was much more appealing to him, but the blonde liked the voice in the song and that was why he was here for Dead.

Moving forward, he pushed his way through the crowds of people who welcomed him and his grinning twin who pushed him towards the rehearsal room with a slap on the shoulder before the door closed behind him. ,,Dead? All the best-I've got something for you," he mumbled and saw the blond look up from the gift table, body color adorning his pale face and a slight smile playing around his lips.

,,You're here... thank you," he murmured and approached the brown-haired man who held out the gift to him, his gaze searching for his love. Before he took a shaky breath there was no other way, he had to do it now or he would never dare and would end up embarrassing Dead.

,,De-Dead I have to tell you something the gift, the painting the conversations I like it and I like...you what I want to say...I love you" he stammered his feelings for the blond his heart was beating up to his neck and he was afraid he would choke on it, his cheeks were heating up and he wanted to run out.

Dead, who looked from the rabbits to the other, seemed overwhelmed by both gifts. He was about to run to the door out of fear when he was suddenly held fast, the white rabbit still clutching Dead's hand.

The bright eyes full of devotion suddenly came true, ,,I-I like you too!" he shouted over the music as a smile appeared on the other's lips. He loved him too, loved him back and returned his feelings.

Dead gave the rabbit a grin that seemed genuinely pleased with the gift before pulling the brown-haired man into a careful kiss. He tasted the alcohol, the beer the blond had drunk, the sweetness of the snack it was sweet and intimate.

Suddenly a giggle was heard before the door opened and the band stumbled in at their feet. ,,At last!" Euronymous shouted to his twin and his singer and the others in the band congratulated them and only now did it come out that apparently they had all just been waiting for the moment. The moment when they had to strike.

As they extended a congratulatory beer to the brown-haired one, the black-haired one took the blond one aside. ,,You know that I value my little brother and you too, but I hope you know that I wouldn't hesitate to shoot you sooner than necessary," he warned with a smile before he put the blond in a headlock and rubbed him over the head until he protested and broke away.

,,Come on, let my muse live!" The brown-haired man shouted and patted his brother gently on the shoulder before he pulled Dead close again and gave him another soft kiss while the band had an even bigger party. A party in which satanic powers met two artists united in love - there had never been anything more unequal and epic.

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@icarus-star

#lords of chaos movie #lords of chaos #loc 2018 #lords of chaos 2018 #loc dead x reader #jack kilmer

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veronicaphoenix · 3 months

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Chapter tags & trigger warnings: angst, sickness, best friends’ comfort, alcohol intake, implied depression. | Word count: 3.5k | Cross posted on AO3. | Series masterpost. ✧.*

General trigger warnings: This work addresses and depicts issues related to addiction and violence, contains explicit sexual content, and explores themes of childhood trauma. Reader discretion is advised. +18

Over the past two hours, my fever had spiked, signaling that I was getting worse.

Although I had enjoyed a good night's sleep, as soon as I woke up, an unexpected wave of fatigue enveloped me. This sensation was different from the occasional bouts of coughing that would sporadically afflict me.

By mid-morning, it became evident that I had caught some viral infection.

As the day unfolded, my throat began to ache, and by lunchtime, my condition had deteriorated to the point where I couldn't muster the energy to prepare a meal. With Jolly off exploring San Francisco with friends from Sweden and Jesse away on tour with ERRA, I was alone, left to mend for myself.

Struggling through a meager breakfast, I made it to noon feeling like I’d been hit by a truck.

I lay on the couch with the back of my right hand on my forehead. I was sure I had a fever, but I didn't have a thermometer to confirm it. If Lia had been home, we probably would have had a box with one and some medicines, as had been the case when we lived together during our early twenties. Since she had moved into her apartment and Jolly, Jesse, and I had moved into a slightly smaller house, there were aspects of my life that had been somewhat neglected, and having medication at home just in case was one of them.

Lia was the one always ready and prepared to deal with any inconvenience and unexpected event. That’s why some times, besides managing the merch, she also helped with the logistic aspects of the band. She helped in the coordination of transportation, accommodations, and venue bookings, ensuring everything was in order.

During times like these, I longed to call her for comfort and assistance. I knew she would be able to alleviate my discomfort. However, those days seemed to be a relic of the past. Lia was now committed to a relationship with Mitch, and she had started spending more and more time in his house, which signaled that this was more serious than I had hoped.

I hesitated to reach out to her, afraid of intruding in whatever she was doing or, worse, being ignored. I would feel like shit knowing that she was with another man to whom she was giving more priority than me. I knew that she was in her own right and these feelings of mine were unnecesary, but I couldn’t help them. I knew she was at Mitch’s place. They had been together for over a year, but I was still not used to sharing her. Well, not that exactly. I wasn’t used to letting her go. I hated having to restrain myself every time I wanted her company.

For all those reason, I eventually sent her a text message. I anxiously waited for the blue ticks that indicated she had received and read my words to appear in the screen.

"I think I caught something. I feel like crap, and I don't even have a thermometer. Can you come by and grab something from the pharmacy on the way?"

She replied not later than fifteen minutes.

“What’s wrong?”

“No idea. A virus, I guess. I feel powerless, my head feels heavy, and I think I have a fever.”

“Give me thirty minutes. I’ll be on my way.”

With the relief of knowing she would be here in less than half hour, I closed my eyes, reclining myself on the sofa.

I drifted into a sort of dreamy trance, a state that blurred the lines between reality and the dream world. The urban symphony of cars passing by, a few people chatting, and an occasional dog barking felt like a distant backdrop. Although the house maintained an ideal temperature, my body stubbornly swung between feeling freezing cold one moment and uncomfortably hot the next.

By the time Lia showed up, I had already put on and taken off my sweatshirt more times than I could count. I greeted her at the door, and there she stood with a bag full of medicine and food. Despite the weariness also apparent in her eyes and the dark circles beneath them, to me Lia was a a ray of sunshine breaking through days of darkness.

As she entered, I couldn't help but smile. Lia dropped her backpack and stood on her tiptoes to peck my cheek. The gesture was met with a fit of coughing that made my shoulders shake. Lia shot a worried glance over her shoulder as she placed the supplies on the kitchen island. I closed the door.

"You look paler than usual," she observed, concern etched on her face. Before taking off her jacket, she returned to me, gently touching my cheek with one hand and then placing the back of her hand against my forehead. "And you're hot."

“Thanks,” I replied, smiling widely.

She frowned and then slapped my chest. “Idiot.”

"No, you're right,” I conceded. “I'm a mess."

Despite how groggy I felt, I managed to sketch a smile that she tried to copy despite the concern that framed her face.

"How long have you been like this?" she asked.

"Since this morning" I replied. "I was fine last night. I don't know what the hell I caught."

"Are you coughing up flowers this time?"

"Nope. Just feeling weak as shit, head is heavy, and throat is itchy."

"Okay. Well, sit down. I'll see what we can do."

I made my way to the couch and plopped down with a huff. I leaned back, resting my head on the headrest. Lia followed me with her eyes as she took off her jacket and started looking for something in the paper bag she had brought with her.

"I stopped by the pharmacy before I came here. I wasn't sure what you’d need, but something will do. The rest you can keep in the bathroom or wherever you keep your meds."

I looked at her with a guilty expression, and she was quick to transcribe it.

"You don't have anything, do you?"

I shook my head.

"I think Jolly has some ibuprofen blisters in his room, but given how messy he is, before you find it I'll probably start feeling better."

"Fantastic," she mused, rolling her eyes. From the bag hse pulled out several small boxes of medication and a couple of foil-wrapped packages. "You haven't eaten either, have you?"

I shook my head again. Lia shook the two foil packets in the air.

"You're lucky. I brought burritos."

"Have I told you yet that you're an angel?"

She sat next to me on the couch two minutes later, scooping one leg over the rest of her body. She had taken the burritos out of their wrappers and separated them into two plates that now lay on the little table between the couch and the TV. After thanking her, I took one of the plates. Before placing it on my lap, Lia pulled a thermometer out of one of the back pockets of her jeans.

She flicked on the thermometer and handed it over without a word. There was no need for instructions; we had been through this routine countless times, sometimes with the roles reversed. We sat in quiet anticipation, waiting for the thermometer to signal that it had done its job. I removed it from under my armpit, and instead of checking it myself, I instinctively passed it to her.

"You've got a light fever," she said, looking away from the thermometer and back at me. Worry etched her expression as she brushed a strand of hair from my forehead.

The only sounds in the house were the distant white noise from outside, occasionally interrupted by more dogs barking, and then the rhythmic ticking coming from the kitchen clock.

"Nothing that can't be fixed now that you're here," I grinned at her.

She shot me a reproachful look.

"Don't get too comfortable. It's not right for you to be so dependent on me. We talked about this the other day, Noah..."

"Bah, I have no idea what you're talking about," I retorted, shifting my focus to the burrito.

"All right, eat up. I don't want to give you meds on an empty stomach."

We ate in near silence, interspersed with occasional questions about her day and work. Lia usually spent hours in the studio with me and the boys, but there were times when she worked from home, focusing on her merchandising job, or went to the label's offices where logistics were handled. Lia was one of the hardest-working people I knew, and I admired her for it, knowing the challenges she had overcome while growing up. We had supported each other on our journeys, but the dedication each of us had shown to reach our goals was something that never ceased to amaze me.

Lia's drive and passion, despite her challenging past, left me in awe every day. She never took anything for granted, continually pushing herself towards her goals. However, I couldn't help but worry about her health. I knew that sometimes she sacrificed sleep and worked over-hours. It was a concern I had kept to myself, contemplating whether I should encourage her to ease up a bit or not, considering that I was just as much a workholic as she was.

After finishing our meal, Lia brought me a glass of water and a couple of pills, which I swallowed without complaint. She suggested I lie down in the bed, but I insisted on staying on the couch, which led her to sit with me and deciding on watching a movie.

By the time the film concluded, I had dozed off, and Lia had made sure I wasn’t cold by drapping one of the blankets stacked in the corner of the couch over me.

I woke up to the clinking of cups. When I half-opened my eyes, I saw Lia in the kitchen, holding two cups by the handles with two fingers of her left hand. Two cabinets were open on her right.

"Lia? What are you doing?" I asked with a slightly hoarse voice, my eyes still adjusting to the intensity of the light.

Lia turned her head to look at me in surprise over her shoulder, and the first thing she muttered was an apology.

"I didn’t mean to wake you. I'm rearranging the cabinets."

If she was already finishing, it meant I had been asleep for almost an hour. Since Jolly, Jesse, and I had moved into that little house, we hadn't cleaned the cabinets even once, and they must have been loaded with dust and cereals scattered like rocks everywhere, among other things.

"You didn’t have to," I replied, sitting up and pulling my arms from under the blanket to stretch them like a cat. I felt somewhat better. The stiffness that had kept me on the couch for most of the day seemed to have dissipated a bit, and I felt like getting up and flexing my knees.

"How are you feeling?" Lia asked, closing the cabinets. She had tied her hair in a poorly made bun and had taken off her boots.

I threw the blanket off and stood up, taking with me the glass of water I had left on the table earlier and took a couple of sips.

"Better. Thanks," I replied after swallowing.

On my way to the kitchen, my eyes glanced over Lia's backpack, and I deduced that she only had the essentials with her. I felt a tug in my chest. I didn't want her to leave.

"Are you staying tonight?"

Her hesitation didn't go unnoticed. However, she approached me and checked my temperature again with the back of her hand on my forehead.

I chuckled.

"What?" she asked, pulling her hand away.

"You’re tiny."

She looked at me with a frown.

"I'm not. You're a giraffe, which is totally different."

She was right, but when she was barefoot and so close, I once again realized our height difference, and Lia seemed like a little creature I could hide in my chest by wrapping my arms around her and squeezing.

I continued smiling because I couldn't help it. Clearly, her presence and the pills had taken effect.

"You're better," she concluded, "although you should take another pill before going to bed, just in case. And you should have a good dinner."

"Stay," I pleaded. "We can order a couple of pizzas and watch Spirited Away or a horror movie. What do you say?"

"I said have a proper dinner. Besides, I didn't bring anything. I don't have my MacBook, and I don't have any pjs here."

"As if that was an excuse… You have already slept in half of the t-shirts in my closet,” I rolled my eyes. "About the MacBook, nothing will happen if you don't work for a day. Come on, stay. Jolly won't be back for a few days, and I need a nurse."

"You don't need a nurse," she replied, letting out a smile.

But it wasn't hard to convince her. The difficult part was dealing with the sensation that invaded me when I saw her appear down the hallway before dinner, wearing my t-shirt and only a pair of long socks. It wasn't the first time (nor would it be the last) that I saw her like that. The feeling wasn't exactly unfamiliar either.

Before preparing dinner, we sat together on the couch for another while. Lia had taken a notebook from her backpack and showed me various drawings she had done in the past weeks. Most of them featured flowers, all the ones she knew (which were a lot), and also dark stuff where skeleatons, bats, and distorted faces were featured. The myriad of emotions expressed on paper always left me feeling overwhelmed.

"Hey, how is Black-Eyed Susan?" I asked when I remembered about the last plant I’d given her.

"Growing healthy and beautiful,” she said proudly, with a fucking beautiful smile.

I felt a tug at my heart, knowing that I had pulled her away from the comfort of being with her boyfriend and the other little things that made her happy.

"I'm sorry I made you come," I said after a while. "Did I ruin your day?"

Lia shook her head slowly, her expression unchanged. Concern, impatience... She extended an arm and took my hand, giving it a squeeze and then offering a warm but weak smile.

"I have no problem spending the day here taking care of you."

We continued talking, at times with few words and in a low voice. Midway through the conversation, her phone, which she had left on the kitchen island, buzzed silently multiple times, lighting up. Lia glanced at it disinterestedly over her shoulder. I sensed a wave of unease passing through her, but I didn't press to find out the reason because telling me about her weekend activities with her yoga class friends seemed to keep her away from any dark clouds.

When an ugly cough shook my body, Lia sat up and patted my thigh. She went to the kitchen and brought me a hot mug of lemon and ginger tea. After drinking a few sips, I let out a long sigh.

Lia knelt on the rug in front of me.

"Let's hope you get better by tomorrow. We'll see what to do then. I'll take care of preparing dinner, okay?"

"Mhmh,” I mumbled with my eyes closed. She made a move to get up, but I stopped her. "You know, it's easy not to miss you when you're here.”

Her features shifted to a tender expression.

"I know."

She kissed my forehead.

After dinner (an avocado and hummus salad, and some fruit for dessert), we started watching a series on HBO and ended up falling asleep halfway through. When I woke up, it was already pitch black outside. Lia had her head resting on my shoulder, and her breathing was calm. I brushed the tip of my nose against her hair. That woke her up. She opened her eyes in time for her iPhone to light up, announcing a call from Mitch from the coffee table. Her eyes widened, and she muttered a curse, straightening up tiredly.

Right in front of me, she rejected the call. I couldn’t help but notice a bunch of unread messages from Mitch on her screen.

"Does he know you're here?" I couldn't resist asking.

"No," she replied, serious, still not looking at me. "We had an argument this morning," she said, pretending to be busy checking something else on her phone. "I told him I was going back to my place.”

She dropped the phone on the table like it was no big deal and flopped back on the couch.

“You should’ve told him you’re here,” I said.

"No, I don't think that would have been a good idea..." she muttered, resting her head against the cushions, the sleep not fully gone from her bones.

"Why not? Lia, if you're serious about him, Mitch needs to learn to be okay with our friendship,” I insisted, throwing in some serious concern. I was also feeling sleepy and I looked forward to going back to my bed, letting the hours pass and waking up the next morning with this virus gone from my body.

But I was more concerned about her than myself.

Lia let out a long sigh and turned her head to face me.

"Mitch says friends don't behave the way you and I do."

The sentence hung in the air. For a fraction of a second, my eyes wandered down to her lips.

“Well,” I continued with a shrug of my shoulders, “not all friends have known each other since childhood. We’re different than other’s for that reason, don’t you think?”

Lia’s reply came after a while. It was just a sigh and her eyebrows raising and dropping, as if she was too tired to discuss the topic.

"Is he very jealous?" I found myself asking. I leaned forward, resting my elbows on my knees, my hands too close to Lia’s bare legs.

"To a fair extent," she admitted, not sounding entirely convinced herself. “But I’m not ready to sacrifice our friendship.”

Unable to restrain myself, I touched her cheek and smiled at her with tenderness, grateful for her words but at the same time conflicted by the problems it might cause her in her relationship with that idiot Mitch.

“Does this have anything to do with the call from the other day?” I inquired. Her voice on the other side of the line hadn’t left my head ever since. She had me truly concerned, but she was adamant on not telling me what happened exactly that night.

It didn’t surprise me to see her tensing at its mention. She diverted her gaze. It pained me to see her like that. There was something she was not telling me, and the distance growing between us, the wall she seemed to be putting up, was keeping me from pushing in, reaching to her heart and finding the truth.

“Lia?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she finally responded. Abruptly, the back of her palm was back on my forehead, catching me off guard. “You’re heating up again. Take another pill before you go to bed, yeah?”

“Lia…” I insisted when she stood up.

“Noah, really,” she looked so tired now, the circles under her eyes more pronounced. There was no noise at all coming from the streets and the atmosphere inside of the house seemed to be charged with something unwelcome. “Can we just not talk about it now?”

“I just want to know if you’re okay. You seem tired than usual. I’m just cheking in on you the same way you’re here checking in on me.”

“And I appreciate that, but I’m fine, all right? If there’s something going on with me and my boyfriend, I’ll take care of it.”

Raising an eyebrow, I added a hint of mock concern. Lia didn't take kindly to it, her shoulders slumping, resembling a six-year-old on the verge of pouting.

“I can take your word on that, right?” I asked, totally unconvinced.

It took her a moment of hesitation before she nodded. Stepping closer, I placed a hand on her shoulder and pulled her into my chest.

“Omff,” she let out when she crashed against my body.

“That’s what you get if you give me those sad looks.”

“I’m not sad. I’m actually pretty happy being here with you.”

“I knew you liked playing nurse.”

She retaliated by pinching my side, prompting a loud ‘ouch’ from me, and I released her. Her soft laughter filled the living room, the house, and the last image etched in my mind that night was her figure siappearing into the dark shadows of the hallway, a small private smile reserved just for me drawn on her face. However, there was something else. Maybe it was the fact that the smile didn’t reach her eyes, or perhaps the fact that her eyes were not lighting up when she was smiling.

I stood motionless in the living room, my heart pounding a slow melody in my chest, still echoing the presence of Lia’s face just minutes ago. I felt unsettled, and in a futile attempt to seek reassurance, my fingers instinctively brushed against the tattoo on my neck, the one that read her name.

#noah sebastian #bad omens #noah sebastian fic #noah sebastian x ofc #noah sebastian fanfic #bad omens fanfic #bad omens fic

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theculturedmarxist · 1 year

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Contrary to the myth that socialists have always ignored gender oppression, full women’s suffrage was first won by socialist feminists — and working-class revolt.

There are a lot of different ways to discredit working-class politics. As the continued promotion of the “Bernie Bro” myth illustrates, one of the most popular today is to claim that socialists ignore women’s oppression. Elaborate versions of this argument fill the news-media, Twitter, and academia. By focusing only on economic issues and class, we are told, the socialist movement has always marginalized women and their specific demands for equality.

Like all good liberal myths, these arguments rely on bad history. Working-class feminism has a long and rich legacy. For over a century working women fought for their own liberation through the socialist movement.

Few cases better illustrate this point (or have been more buried by history) than that of turn-of-the-century Finland. In 1906, through a mass general strike and working-class insurgency against the Russian Empire, it became the first nation in the world to grant full universal suffrage — i.e. the right to vote and run for office. Socialists were at the forefront.

The Finnish Buildup

Of all the lands of the tsarist empire, Finland had throughout the nineteenth century been allowed the most self-government and political freedom. Annexing Finland from Sweden in 1809, the Tsar granted its new dominion extensive autonomy, though the Russian regime maintained ultimate authority. Finland preserved its own constitution and most state functions were governed by Finns through their autonomous Senate. In 1863, a new Finnish parliament was established, though only a small percentage of the population was allowed to participate in its election.

A crucial turning point in Finnish history came in 1899. In February, the Tsar began to eliminate Finland’s special autonomous status, attempting to bring it under the same forms of administration as the rest of the empire. Soon a major Finnish national protest movement emerged against this “Russification.”

1899 also marked the emergence of the Finnish labor movement as an independent political force. After a string of labor strikes, the Finnish Workers Party was founded in July 1899. Whereas socialist parties across the Russian empire were banned and forced underground, the relative political freedom prevailing in Finland allowed the Workers Party to exist as a legal organization.

Though virtually all labor leaders in Finland supported the reestablishment of Finnish autonomy, the question of whether to collaborate, and on what basis, with the Finnish liberal “constitutionalists” against Russification became a major debate. While the constitutionalists essentially fought for a return to the pre-1899 status quo, the labor movement tied the national struggle to popular demands, such as improved conditions for urban and rural workers, the prohibition of alcohol, and the expansion of the vote.

One of the central points of contention between workers and constitutionalists was the issue of suffrage, from which all working people — both men and women — were excluded at that time. Constitutionalists refused to support universal suffrage. The conservative Association of Finnish Women led by women’s rights activist Alexandra Gripenberg, for example, argued that lower-class women were ignorant and prone to vice, therefore they had to be guided by their morally superior upper-class sisters.

In contrast, the Workers Party from its inception demanded suffrage for all: the right to vote and to run for office irrespective of wealth, gender, or nationality. In 1900, it helped found the socialist-led League of Working Women to involve working-class women in the labor movement, to develop their leadership capacity, and to help raise their demands.

Socialist leader Hilja Pärssinen, the working-women movement’s main theoretician, advocated a strict class-against-class perspective along the lines set out by the German Marxists August Bebel and Clara Zetkin. Pärssinen’s 1903 pamphlet on women and the vote made the case for irreconcilable class conflict: bourgeois women wanted only equality with upper-class men, while women workers wanted the vote to pass laws to improve their material conditions.

That same year, the Workers Party adopted a Marxist program, renamed itself the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and announced that if its suffrage demands were not met, it would resort to a general strike to win them.

The Great Strike of 1905

The Bloody Sunday massacre of unarmed protestors in St Petersburg on January 9, 1905 sparked revolt across the entire empire. This upheaval, more often than not under socialist leadership or influence, demanded better working conditions, political freedom, and a democratic republic — and it came close to toppling the increasingly discredited tsarist regime.

The revolution arrived relatively late in Finland. Inspired by the general strike in central Russia, Finnish railway workers walked off the job on October 29, 1905, setting into motion the “Great Strike.” By October 30, all of Finland was on strike, and effective power passed into the hands of strike committees and armed guards. The event radically transformed the consciousness of urban and rural working people. And perhaps nowhere was this transformation more pronounced than among women workers.

Palvelijatarlehti (The Maids’ Paper) noted:

The strike week was a wake-up week for the rights of women. … As soon as the strike began, women started to hold special meetings in which they debated their economic position, and these meetings were flooded by people. It was as if it took the breakout of the general strike to make women realize that it would depend on themselves whether the status of women improved or not.

Miina Sillanpää, the influential socialist leader of the maids’ association, noted that the week of the general strike accomplished among the maids “more than what could have been promoted in ten years of peaceful conditions.” Bourgeois society was particularly scandalized by the participation of their servants in the action, which shattered paternalistic notions of maids as members of the host family and represented the direct intrusion of the labor movement into their homes. In daily mass meetings in a Helsinki elementary school courtyard, thousands of servants came together to formulate their demands.

The call for full suffrage was legitimized by this mass female participation in all arenas of the strike, including in its top leadership; the Tampere Strike Committee, initially composed only of men, was quickly reorganized to include ten women and twelve men.

“We live in a wonderful period of time,” wrote Alma Malander in the SDP newspaper Kansan Lehti (The People’s Paper) in December 1905:

Peoples who were humble and satisfied to bear the burden of slavery have suddenly thrown off their yoke. Groups who until now have been eating pine bark, now demand bread. The oppressed demand justice! … Women, who have always been subordinate, suddenly get the idea that they really are equal with the other sex.

Faced with the imminent overthrow of the regime by a paralyzing labor strike, peasant rebellions, and army mutinies, the Tsar was forced on October 30 to promise civil liberties and a parliament for the whole empire. On November 4, the Tsar’s “November Manifesto” repealed the Russification of Finland, reestablishing the pre-1899 status quo — without guaranteeing that the new Finnish Parliament would be elected by the whole population.

Though constitutionalists and socialists had closely collaborated during the first days of the November Great Strike, this tenuous alliance quickly broke down into open conflict. After the Tsar’s “November Manifesto,” the constitutionalists pushed for an end to the strike, as their main demand — the restoration of pre-1899 “constitutional legality” — had been achieved. In contrast, the workers’ movement continued to demand universal suffrage and a unicameral parliament.

Having felt their power to shut down society, Finnish workers were determined to continue mobilizing. Immediately following the strike, the SDP began organizing mass demonstrations and building for a new general strike to ensure their political demands. The next half-year witnessed an unprecedented number of strikes, the rapid spread of socialist influence among tenant farmers and workers in the countryside, the creation of a workers’ Red Guard, and closer Finnish socialist collaboration with Russian Marxists. It was during this upsurge that the campaign for women’s suffrage reached its highest peak.

The Suffrage Struggle

Following the Great Strike, there was considerable and justifiable concern that women would be excluded in the upcoming elections. During the April 1905 suffrage reform bill discussions in the Finnish parliament, only the Peasants Estate had supported women’s suffrage, while other estates and the various constitutionalist parties all favored giving the vote only to men. The chair of the Parliamentary Reform Committee chosen in November 1905 to draft the new suffrage rules was liberal leader Robert Hermanson, an outspoken opponent of women’s suffrage. Women, he felt, were by nature emotional creatures prone to extremism and ill-suited for politics.

In this context, League of Working Women leaders argued that working-class women had to take the initiative to ensure that their demands were met:

We [working women] have to shout to the world that we are demanding the right to vote and to stand for election, and that we are not going to settle for anything less. Now is not the time for compromises, because if we are excluded now, we can be sure that it will remain that way for a long time.

By the end of 1905, the League, with the support of the whole Finnish Social Democracy, had organized 231 suffrage meetings across the nation with 41,333 participants. It called for a new general strike in the case that women were excluded from the vote, and it established a special women’s committee to start preparations.

It was announced that any male party members who opposed women’s suffrage would be denounced as collaborators of the bourgeoisie. Some female workers threatened to go on a cooking strike at home to force skeptical husbands to support their struggle. And there were even public statements made that if women were left out of the vote, women workers would, if necessary, strike on their own, even against the opposition of the other party members.

The influx of women into political life challenged traditional gender roles. Miina Sillanpää called on men to stay at home and watch the children to enable their wives’ participation in political meetings.

Perhaps the most powerful actions of the suffrage campaign were its mass demonstrations. On December 17, 1905, the League organized protests for women’s suffrage in sixty-three towns across the nation, bringing together over 22,000 demonstrators. A “National Women’s Declaration” written by the League’s leadership was sent out to be adopted by each rally.

The fate [of Finland] concerns us just as much as men. Is it any wonder that tens of thousands of us rise up to call for our rights, to demand for ourselves equality with men. A powerful cry is echoing across our country at this moment, from the large cities to the villages, showing that the majority of citizens support the heartfelt wishes of women. The demand of women for the vote and to run in elections will be silenced only when it is granted. The right to vote is a means for us to shut off the flow of alcohol, to raise the proletariat from material and psychological distress, to prepare the way for light and freedom.

The rallies continued into 1906 and the Finnish Social Democratic Party did not waver on demanding suffrage for all. But a new general strike did not ultimately prove necessary to win this demand, as the Parliamentary Reform Committee eventually announced that all women would be allowed to vote and run for office, despite considerable controversy within the Committee over the latter point in particular.

How can we explain this decision by a Finnish political elite that until then had consistently opposed universal suffrage? Put simply, they were forced into it. The pressure of the workers’ upsurge during and following the Great Strike of 1905, and the real threat of a new general strike, proved greater than elite opposition to universal suffrage.

That the suffrage decision had been imposed from below was openly admitted at the time. The influential banker and politician Emil Schybergson told the Parliamentary Reform Committee that the revolution had forced them to rush through a decision that might otherwise have waited another fifty years. Indeed, it took many more decades for other countries to grant full suffrage, including France (1944), Italy (1946), and Switzerland (1971).

The Tsar’s acceptance of the Finnish suffrage proposal on July 20, 1906 was similarly a victory imposed by revolutionary struggle. Such an act would have been inconceivable without ongoing mass rebellion across Russia, which flared up again that summer in a new wave of peasant revolts and army mutinies. Through this concession, the embattled tsarist regime hoped to quell unrest in Finland in order to concentrate its forces on putting down the revolution in the rest of the empire.

The suffrage campaign lasted all the way through 1907. In January, the League sent out a memorandum to its local branches, calling on them to ensure that the SDP electoral slates include a sufficient number of women candidates. By this time, over 18,000 women had joined the party, close to a quarter of the total membership.

The 1907 elections were swept by the Finnish Social Democracy. It won 37 percent of the vote — the highest of any party — and of the nineteen women in the new Parliament, nine were socialists. The latter were a remarkable group, all leaders of the League and most from humble backgrounds. Anni Huotari, Maria Laine, Maria Raunio, and Sandra Reinholdsson were seamstresses; Jenny Kilpianen was a weaver; Mimmi Kanervo was a maid, as had been Miina Sillanpää; Ida Ahlstedt was a baker and boarding-house operator; and Hilja Pärssinen was a school teacher.

Prominent feminists were, at best, ambivalent about the suffrage victory. The Finnish Women’s Association’s top leaders still stressed that Finnish working-class women were too backwards and unprepared for full suffrage. Alexandra Gripenberg declared to a 1907 women’s congress in Vienna that the entry of uneducated, plebeian women into Parliament was a “horrible” embarrassment. Most of the socialist MPs, Gripenberg lamented, were “formerly servants, factory hands, or seamstresses. … It was a mistake that so few really able and suitable women for the work in the Diet [Parliament] were elected. … If we had women lawyers, merchants, physicians, scientists, and so on, women’s words would have weighed more.”

Hilja Pärssinen, in contrast, traveled abroad to present the Finnish struggle as an unqualified victory and a vindication of a strict class-versus-class political perspective. She argued in the British newspaper Justice that “women who have to fight together with their men comrades for the abolition of the present capitalist system and the private ownership of the means of production cannot work together with women who support this very system.” In an interview with the Christian Science Monitor, she declared:

I should very much like through your paper to send a message to the American people, and to ask them why they have not yet granted the suffrage to women, and to urge upon them, out of a considerable practical experience of its value, the importance of making this great, and ultimately necessary, political change.

Pärssinen’s perspective was shared by the workers’ movement in Russia and beyond. For August Bebel, the German SPD leader and author of the influential work Women and Socialism, the events in Finland represented “the triumph of international socialism.” Similarly, Alexandra Kollontai at the 1908 First All-Russian Women’s Congress pointed to Finland to show that “in those countries where unlimited political rights for women have been achieved, this has been done only with the help of the social-democrats.”

#Hilja Pärssinen #finland #women's suffrage #international working women's day #labor history #socialism

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secondhand-snow · 3 days

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Stalker!Lukas has definitely been on Twitter since day one, and he likes to lurk other profiles even if he doesn't follows them because he thinks knowledge is power, so eventually, one day he's on Stewy Hosseini's page and he's going over his whole feed, because Stewy is a private equity investor and well, you should always follow the money, and that's how he learns about reader, she's barely opened her account and hasn't even been verified, but since Stewy reblogs her and has full conversations with her, Lukas just knows she's well connected. Cut to him actually clicking on her profile and seeing her full name, so, he Googles her, back then he really doesn't know who the Roys are because he's in Sweden and it's a completely different world. Of course he spends the whole night reading about the family and their business. He reads her whole feed and finds every social media account she's ever had and reads everything over a few days, he downloads pictures, videos, anything he can get his mitts on, even content from her friends' accounts. He finds a private investigator in the US to follow her and keep him posted on her activities, Lukas basically puts the PI's kids through college with how much money he pays him over the span a few years. He slowly but surely starts scheming how to approach the Roys, since he had that PI on lock he also has so much info on the family that he knows when to attack and how to make it look like it happened naturally, even getting invited to Ken's party seems like it was not something that was years in the making. He knows he has just one chance to get her, so he makes sure he uses all of his knowledge to make her fall for him

this is so good- literally so accurate to his character

I can just imagine Lukas hunched over his desk in a hoodie going through every piece of information he can find on her for days straight. He makes a ton of dummy accounts to keep things from being traced back to him, he goes far enough to use his technology skills to get into her friends private accounts and get more information that way. He has a whole folder on his desktop full of screenshots and photos and videos and articles. But the folder is just labeled with a heart emoji, not even her name (because he’s already that delusional about her.)

He finds a really well connected PI (maybe pn the dark web lol) to keep tabs on her in person, and he puts this man through the wringer. If he finds out she went to an event and the PI didn’t get pictures of her he gets so upset. Full on “WAKE UP ZOMBIES!!” mode. His obsession just grows and grows, to the point that he starts interacting with entertainment companies in America in order to begin entering the same social and business circles as her. He does it so well that things look natural. By the time he gets the invite to Kendall’s birthday party, he’s more than ready to finally seal the deal.

I’d go as far as saying that even their first meeting is ser up by him. He sees the scene that Roman and Shiv cause at not being let into the VIP area, sees you following Kendall up into the treehouse, and perfectly positions himself in what will be your direct line of sight. And he acts all casual and bored, pulling up the first game on his phone that he can find and quickly drinking his beer to make it look half-full. But when he sees you for the first time in person he’s freaking out internally and having to sneakily hide his growing erection.

#stalker!matsson #lukas matsson #asks #succession #a body of impulses #snow’s headcanons

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misshoneyimhome · 5 months

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Loving all of the Willy content! I don’t know if requests are still open 🫣 I can request this smutty prompt “Staying quiet was never your strong suit, wasn’t it?” during the Sweden trip.

Darling, you can always request a smutty prompt 😉 And thank you, by the way 🫶🏻🥰

So this came out more of a blurb - I hope that's ok, and that it's somewhat along the lines of your thoughts 😉 Otherwise, just him me inbox ❤️

Staying quiet was never your strong suit, wasn’t it?

Warnings; 18+ smut; fingering; unprotected sex (p in v); risk of someone knowing?

He was killing you. God! He was killing you, and he was fully aware of it.

The way he appeared so impressive in all those interviews was becoming almost too much for you to handle.

You were accompanying William in Sweden for the Global Series tour and given that he’s a star player for the Leafs, being in what he considered his home country meant he received an incredible amount of attention.

And even though you supported your boyfriend wholeheartedly, you were going crazy over how good he looked doing anything. Even in his hockey gear, you found him incredibly attractive.

Although you had a hotel room where you could spend quality time together, both of you were too affected by the jet lag since your arrival.

And then William had to be up and prepared for the team’s initial training at the rink, followed by an interview, more training, and then further interviews.

So, standing by his side throughout, you simply flashed sweet smiles and showed your support, but inside, you were on the verge of just whisking your boyfriend off to the nearest toilet for a quickie.

But that was unlikely to happen.

Especially when his family turned up.

And as much as you loved spending time with all the Swedes, having his family around wasn’t exactly the most sensual or conducive thing.

Yet, you were suddenly diverted by his sisters and began to have so much fun that you almost forgot about Willy.

Well, that could never truly happen, but now he could focus on his training and interviews while you had some company.

And then again, after a lovely family dinner in the evening, both of you were too drained to do anything.

So, following the second match – not forgetting the second win for the Leafs – you desired nothing more than to congratulate your boyfriend in a way only a girlfriend could.

But then, his family decided for all of you to stay for a couple of days at their expansive house just outside Stockholm before William had to head back to Toronto. And knowing how much he cherished his family, you wanted him to spend as much time as possible with them.

However, by the second night, both of you grew rather impatient.

William yearned to touch you, to have his hands explore your body and satisfy you in ways he knew he could. For days, he'd been gazing at you so tenderly, appreciating how you accompanied him and proudly stood by his side throughout all his responsibilities.

And you’d looked absolutely stunning, as your radiant smile illuminated every room, and your laughter filled the air. You adorned yourself in incredible outfits that perfectly complemented your curvaceous figure, whether deliberately or unintentionally, and your makeup accentuated your natural beauty even more.

And now, you were already in bed, snugly tucked under the covers, spooning and cuddling. Yet, William had something else in mind.

Gently, he began placing soft kisses behind your ear. With his cheeky nature, his hand smoothly ventured to your front, caressing down between your thighs.

"Darling, what are you doing?" you asked hesitantly, as his fingers ventured past the edge of your underwear, drawing closer to your heat.

"I want you," he murmured into your hair, delicately tracing a finger along your folds, eliciting a soft exhale from you.

"Willy, we can't... your family's here," you almost whispered, but that didn't seem to deter him. If anything, he became more eager, as his fingers gently teased your core.

"Mmm, then I suppose you'll just have to keep quiet," he muttered, making a bit more effort to reach your clit and delicately stroke it.

"You know that's not possible," you chuckled softly, but then suddenly William withdrew his hand and instead turned both of you around, hovering above you.

Gently, he planted a tender yet passionate kiss on your lips, his tongue smoothly gliding into your mouth.

You could feel his hard cock pressing against your thigh through his boxers, and you knew it was game over; your cunt was almost dripping, your anticipation building to an almost unbearable level.

"Willy," you attempted to murmur amid the kiss, but William only intensified his movements, drawing your bodies closer together, sharing the warmth between you.

With skill, he used one hand to push aside the fabric of your bottoms and delicately inserted a finger into your entrance, once again evoking an exhale from you.

"Shhh," he hushed you. "You need to stay quiet, remember," he whispered into your ear. While you tried your utmost to remain composed and silent, he added another finger, causing you to twitch under his touch.

William knew precisely what he was doing. He knew your body so well that he could make you squirm with pleasure effortlessly. And he found nothing but satisfaction in it.

It was almost like a playful challenge for him. Yet, he also harboured a profound longing to release the pent-up desires he'd held back for so long.

You'd been around all this time, yet he'd been unable to touch you.

So as his fingers gently moved in and out of your already eager core, and you had to stifle your moans by biting your lower lip, he felt his own throbbing member pulsating in his boxers. He knew he wouldn't last long inside you tonight, so he aimed to ensure he pleasured you thoroughly first.

Perfectly curling his fingers, your hands found their way to his shoulders, and just as he reached that extra sensitive spot, your nails dug into his skin.

"Shit," you hissed, finding it increasingly difficult to contain the moans, your legs beginning to tremble lightly as your orgasm slowly built up. "Willy..."

And yes, William was eager to push you over the edge. His fingers were soaked in your juices, and the faint sounds of your pleasure only spurred him on.

Your nails were sure to leave marks on his skin as you lightly arched your back, breathing heavily through your nose, making no noise as you felt the rush of pleasure coursing through your body, reaching your climax.

"Fuck," you whispered intensely, trying to steady yourself from the high. But William merely chuckled as he gently withdrew his fingers from your core, licking them clean with that endearing smug look of his. "Oh, you find that amusing, huh?" you rasped, as quietly as possible, locking eyes with him and flashing a smirk, propping yourself up on your elbows.

"Mmm hmmm," William simply replied, a far too satisfied grin on his face, knowing this was only the first round.

For the second round, he intended to truly test your ability to remain silent.

Shifting slightly to remove his boxers (soon followed by your knickers), he positioned himself on his knees between your legs once again, hooking your legs over his shoulders.

And after aligning the tip of his member with your entrance, he slowly began to push in.

Settling into the mattress, your body felt as if it were being torn apart. Not just by his member filling you up and stretching your walls, but also because you had to restrain every muscle in order not to make a sound.

You were never the quiet one in bed, and that was something William loved about you. He always aimed to elicit louder moans from you, to have his name escape your beautiful pink lips.

And as he came balls deep, slowly pulling out before thrusting back in, gently rocking his hips to find a steady rhythm, you were seeing stars. He gently leaned forward, supporting himself with outstretched arms, coming deeper into you even more profoundly than before.

"Willy, I can't…," you cried out as he repeatedly hit your special spot, tears welling in your eyes, on the verge of another orgasm.

"Then come for me, baby," William cheekily remarked as his thrusts grew more forceful, eager to drive you further.

He sensed your tightening walls around his member intensifying, and just as you were about to release completely, he placed a hand over your mouth, causing you to muffling your uncontrollable moans into his palm.

"That's it, baby," he chuckled lightly, maintaining his thrusts, while you were completely lost in the moment.

He was nearing his climax, and as your soft moans began again and your walls continued to clench around his cock, he thrusted a little harder, the sound of your bodies meeting filling the room. But he paid no heed. Removing his hand from your mouth and lowering your legs from his shoulders, he penetrated deep into your core, followed by a deep groan as he released his sticky cum into you.

"Fuck..." William exhaled deeply, descending from his climax, his body collapsing onto yours.

Chuckling, both of you slowly came down from your highs, and William gently withdrew, moving to cuddle beside you. Your chests rose and fell rapidly as you tried to catch your breath, and William tenderly pulled you close, locking eyes with you in the soft room light.

"Staying quiet was never your strong suit, was it?" he softly remarked, prompting another chuckle from you as you shook your head.

"And I suppose it doesn't help that you're as skilled as you are," you flashed him a satisfied smirk before sharing a gentle yet profound romantic kiss.

The following morning at the breakfast table, Stephanie, seated across from you, seemed unusually quiet. Avoiding your gaze, she blushed slightly while you silently savoured the delicious food.

You offered her a gentle, curious expression before she leaned over the table to share a whisper. "You know, as awkward as it is... at least I know he makes you feel good."

A rosy hue tinted your cheeks as you realised what she'd overheard the previous night. And turning to William, he simply offered his usual smug expression, clearly way too satisfied with the situation.

#my asks #18+#william nylander imagine #nhl smut #wn88 imagine

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hasdrubal-gisco · 1 month

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eurovision '24 semifinal 1 early review

content and spoiler warning for croatia, cyprus, ireland, lithuania, poland, serbia, ukraine, australia, azerbaijan, finland, iceland, luxembourg, moldova, portugal, slovenia, germany, sweden, united kingdom

croatia - it's not easy going first but this is a bad way to do it regardless. already the woke agenda has us singing about anxiety attacks. if you are prone to anxiety get off the stage and let real warriors conquer the hearts of evropa. "my presence fades to black" yeah i wish it would. qorban/10

cyprus - many have said this before but i think cypriots should launch missiles at ankara just to see what would happen. singer is very serbian looking with the ironed long hair, very 2008 romcom looking music video (complimentary), forgettable song, thus has got to be someone's niece. mid/10

ireland - thank you god for making our enemies this embarrassing. i just know she had a self harm tumblr blog in 2013. very sincerely sending this to eurovision is comparable in national humiliation to the treaties of trianon and versailles. 30 year old antisemitic pagan themlet/10

lithuania - this is nothing. lithuania/10

poland - kinda of a normal pop song, i can see myself hearing this on the radio while stuck at a red light. good to see a weird looking woman. jeszcze polska nie zginęła/10

serbia - #JUSTICE FOR BRESKVICA. zorja or zejna or breskvica would have mopped the floor with her. this will lose and it will deserve it, hopefully all the PZE jury members including sajsi will be executed in a public square. bad/10

ukraine - hate to say it but the loathsome ruthenians have once again sent a good contestant. if my last name was Shemaieva i would simply not use Heil as an artistic name. i can hardly believe i'm saying this but i think it would be better without the fat girl rapping. critical support for ruthenian autonomous oblast/10

australia - my opinion is colored by the fact that i was viewing the music video, which is a consistent two and a half minute face closeup of the white guy cumming. the song itself is not bad, but i could do without the white guy cumming, actually. australia gets a pass this year/10

azerbaijan - you can always count on the iranic people to sneak in subtle references to sun-worship. oldest trick in the book. considering this was the last song picked, this was maybe not worth the wait. don't want to doxx anyone but one of the backup dancers looks like a beloved tumblr user. eeh/10

finland - random xD WAFFLES. the "what does the fox say" candidate of the year, and of course its from the turbo-autistic finns. total opposite of tact and taste. the west has fallen to its far-easternmost asiatic enemy (the mongols (finns)). beyond repair/10

iceland - based for sending an older woman. this is pretty good, nothing much to add. will maybe listen to the icelandic version. top quartile/10

luxembourg - israeli broad with skinny arms singing in french ? *wiping the sweat from my brow*. finally something worthwhile out of europe's last grand duchy. am yisroel chai/10

moldova - pleasant surprise out of the illegitimate romanian province of moldova. dignified in an atmosphere where others have been deliberately embarrassing. not impaling anyone's heart/10

portugal - this is nothing. portugal would benefit from being brazil's european vassal state. meu curaçao :(/10

slovenia - the best of the three of this exact performer that we've seen, not that that's very high praise. eeh/10

germany - pleasant surprise in an otherwise very mid year. not the worst guderian i know. germany/10

sweden - i can feel the martin x marcus x reader spam in the tags already. usually they at least send something that's listenable under normal circumstances but not eurovision-material,but not even that this time around. as always, marg bar sweden/10

united kingdom - (watching the official music video) lol that's probably 4k/mo in london. nobody cares about the failstate of the united cringedom, they should have been excised from the contest when they left the eu. nice trainspotting references in the clip tho. bleh/10

final conclusion - overall very disappointing year, luxembourg stands in a separate category, even without the ethnonarcissism. germany, moldova, iceland, ukraine are okay but nothing to be thrilled about. the plague of appealing to jury votes at the cost of anything interesting is crushing this competition. seeing what got passed up in serbia instead of teya dora makes one wonder what the situation is like in other countries. help me, zejna. zejna, help me. i hope semi 2 will be better but there's not many heavy hitters

#esc24

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philomenie · 1 month

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Once in a lifetime

Pairing: Jolly x Mina

This is my first story to be published, so I'm very nervous.

i hope i've put all the content warnings, if i've forgotten anything, please let me know.

I would like to mention that English is not my mother tongue.

CN fluff, smut, anxiety, trauma, relationship anxiety, difficult situations, mention of betrayal of trust, cheating, 18+

@valiantroeagleangel

ONE

Mina

The flight to London is delayed, a long delay!

The airport in Stockholm is nice, but not necessarily a place where you want to stay forever.

Frustrated, you stuff your black sweat jacket into your bag. You're in the airport lounge, just like many other passengers.

The table with the semi-circular couch is thankfully yours alone, you unpack your laptop and try to concentrate on your next chapter.

How the hell did you come up with the idea of writing a book?

Plus a textbook on psychotherapy.... Sure, your daily job.... Actually.... You push aside the nagging thought and the panic that creeps up on you and try to concentrate on the words in front of you again.

Your cell phone vibrates on the table next to you, annoyed, you look to see who is interrupting this time, your brother Simon? Or your other brother David?

Or your little sister Ella, who you're actually on your way to see in Willamette, Oregon, where she's currently studying.

It's Ella, she wants to know if you know when you'll be leaving.

You quickly type the answer, "No Sweetie, I don't know what's going on! I'll let you know when I know more!"

The thought of your sister fills you with anticipation, she may be 10 years younger than you, but she was and has always been very close to you.

Your thoughts wander to your childhood, to the beautiful and sad events.

You were always the rational one in the family, you had to be after your parents died in that shitty car accident.

You were 23, in the middle of studying psychology, suddenly, as the eldest, confronted with the harsh reality of looking after your little 13-year-old sister, picking up your brothers, then 17 and 20, who also had the rug pulled out from under them.

Because you simply had no other choice and didn't want to let anyone else into your family.

Somehow, despite everything, you managed to finish your studies, you got a job in a good practice, everything went well.

Too well, in hindsight. That one colleague who quickly became your favorite colleague, then your lover, then your partner.

You never thought he would cheat on you.

How wrong you were.

You still wonder why you were so blind, why you wanted to be blind?

Anyway, a sigh escapes your throat, it's in the past, it's over.

A lot has happened since then that has turned your entire life upside down once again, which is why you are now stuck here at Stockholm airport, waiting for your flight to London.

Stockholm, because you visited your brother, who lives here with his family, or rather, where you lived for almost a year.

Because it was no longer safe for you at home.

Your brothers had decided that it would be best for you to go into hiding in Sweden.

You didn't care about anything at the time, so you went to Sweden, Stockholm.

Ella left for Oregon at almost the same time, planned for a long time, but then your stay couldn't have been better placed.

Your mind wanders back to that day in August, the day that changed everything, more fundamentally and destructively than anything else in your life.

The day you wish you could erase, that it had never happened.

You shake your head, you don't want to think those thoughts, you don't want to relive it, you just want to forget it, bury it, erase it.

You run your fingers through your long, brown curls, adjust your black-rimmed glasses and stand up.

Stretch your long limbs and stretch your aching shoulders.

You pick up your handbag, an old cream-colored Birkin bag that belonged to your mother and is your most precious treasure, and turn towards the counter, a coffee is just the thing for you now.

Joakim

Today, of all days, everything goes wrong!

The flight from Stockholm to London has been delayed for ages, which means there will also be problems with the connecting flight from London to Seattle.

Fuck, if he had known, he would have flown a few days later.

The 4 weeks in Sweden, his old home, after the exhausting European tour were relaxing, actually like always when he is with his family. His old family, his parents, his siblings.

He's just Joakim there, he's just him, not Jolly, not famous and well-known, which is what he always wanted....

The band, the guys he now lives with in LA, are his new family, a surrogate family that is just as important to him as his old family.

Nevertheless, he sometimes feels like he's missing something.

Waiting in the lounge is increasingly annoying him, he has no desire to be recognized, to be harassed by fans, va fangirls, who have been glued to them since the incredible success of Just Pretend.

Not today, today he just wants to be Joakim, a simple guy waiting for his flight.

Joakim pulls his baseball cap lower over his face.

He has tucked his long brown hair under the cap and pulled the hood of his black hoodie over it.

His ankle tattoos are slightly covered with silver rings.

His gaze wanders over the people waiting with him in the lounge....

In the corner where he has tucked himself away, he has a good view of everything.

His gaze lingers on a woman sitting slumped at a table in front of her laptop. Concentrating on the display.

The laptop itself is decorated with various stickers, two of which particularly catch his eye: a black sticker with a white, stylized crown of thorns, exactly the same as the one Nicholas designed for the album Finding God, before God finds Me. And another black sticker with the white symbols of the Deathly Hallows, the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Disguise from Harry Potter.

A fangirl? It shoots through his head.

Resigned, he turns his gaze away, only to look back at you seconds later with a lowered gaze.

She is tall, slim, as far as he can tell from his position, wearing a black, washed-out band longsleeve by the Red Hot Chili Peppers with a white and red emblem, blue jeans, red ankle-high Chucks, comfortable travel clothes.

His gaze sweeps over her face, she is wearing black glasses and no make-up, but her full, red lips immediately catch the eye.... The sight makes a small sigh escape his chest.

Then there's her hair, long brown curls that glow golden, sometimes copper, depending on the light....

Suddenly she stands up, stretches, she is built exactly as he had imagined, slim figure, with curves to match, her movements smooth.

She picks up her handbag and walks towards the counter....

Without having consciously made a decision, Joakim starts moving. He needs to know what her voice sounds like, what she smells like...

Looking down, he stands next to her and orders a coffee.

His eyes wander to her, her hands are adorned with various silver rings, on one hand, between thumb and forefinger, she has a small tattoo, a broken heart.

Her ears are pierced several times, as is her nose, not a ring but a small silver flower.

She brushes a strand of hair out of her face, behind her ear, this small gesture almost makes him weak.

The waitress puts a coffee on the counter, Joakim reaches for it and suddenly their hands touch because she has also reached for it.

Their eyes meet....

Her eyes, a mix of brown and green, suddenly widen in realization.

Fuck, please don't, no OMG, YOU'RE ....

Joakim is about to turn away when he sees a breathtaking smile spread across her face and she turns to him and whispers, "Thank you, for Cologne, the concert was brilliant!!!"

He is totally taken aback by the fact that you speak English first and then switch to Swedish, both with a slight accent that he can't really place.

He clears his throat, grins and then replies "it was a pleasure".

You still smile that smile that makes him weak and nod at him.

"I think that's my coffee, do you mind?" and with that, you reach for the cup and try to turn away.

Joakim is taken aback, he wasn't really expecting that, and before you disappear to your table, he walks quickly behind you and touches you lightly on the shoulder. You turn around questioningly, "Yes?"

"Uhm, so...." Joakim is rarely at a loss for words, but right now he can't think of anything, all he knows is that he wants to keep talking to you, find out your name, where you're from, where you're going.

You look at him calmly, your eyes wander over his face, you raise an eyebrow questioningly.

Joakim rubs his hands, which are suddenly damp, against his trousers and notices that his cheeks are blushing, which he hastily covers with a glance at the floor.

"Would you mind if I sat with you? I mean, I don't want to disturb you if you have something to do...." comes out of his mouth hastily

"Gladly, and no, I don't have anything important to do, the chapter will be written later" is your smiling reply.

Joakim suddenly feels totally relieved at this answer. He grins and quickly grabs his coffee, which is now on the counter, to follow you to your seat.

Mina

Just as you are about to reach for the coffee you ordered, a stranger's hand grabs it too and your fingers touch.

As you look up, you see a familiar face from somewhere.

Suddenly the realization dawns on you WHO is standing in front of you.

Joakim Jolly Karlsson, the guitarist from Bad Omens, one of your favorite bands, who you flew to Cologne to see live once again.

You smile and thank him for the concert and then turn away, only to be stopped shortly afterwards. From him....

You are totally surprised, because you didn't think that was possible, nor did you ask if he could sit with you.

Smiling, you agree, your mind racing.... Wow, the day still has a few surprises in store for you.

As you sit down, there is a silence at first, you look into each other's eyes, God the man has beautiful eyes, only to laugh softly.

"Well," you begin, "you're practically incognito here, judging by your outfit!"

He laughs louder and agrees with your question, "Yes, I spent some time with my family in Sweden after the tour. Today I actually wanted to go back to LA, via London and Seattle, but somehow that doesn't quite seem to be working out! And you? London too?"

"First London, then Seattle, then Portland, I want to visit my little sister who's studying in Willamette," you reply.

His eyes widen with a mixture of joy and caution. "Ahh, then we have almost the same flight route...."

"Would it be presumptuous to ask your name? You know mine...." Joakim points to the Bad Omens sticker on your laptop.

"Mina, Mina Katharina Lamberts, nice to meet you!"

"The pleasure is all mine" Joakim smiles and asks "Lamberts? You're not a native Swede, are you? By the way, I'm grateful that I can sit down with you, standing around was rather tedious!"

"No, not a native Swede, I was visiting my brother who lives here with his family, I'm from XY!"

Joakim nods, "Your Swedish really isn't bad!" "Thank you" you reply in surprise.

Looking at your laptop, he suddenly asks, "Bad Omens AND Harry Potter?"

You laugh, "Yeah, guilty, two of my favorite interests, you got me!"

He joins in the laughter and replies, "What a coincidence, just like me!"

"Oh tell me, who would have thought it?" is your reply and you both giggle away indignantly, earning you a few stares from the people around you.

A warm, cozy feeling spreads through you, something you haven't felt in a while, and you relax more and more as you continue your conversation.

His voice lulls you to sleep and you could have listened to him for hours.

First you talk about your love of Harry Potter, then he wants to know how long you've been listening to Bad Omens and you reply, since 2017, which makes him relax more and more. He grins and asks if you have a favorite song.

Without thinking, you reply "Dethrone, that song has a special meaning for me! My power song now, I love it.... And If I'm there, the unplugged version kills me every damn time I hear it!"

Joakim scrutinizes you closely, "is that so...." which makes you blush a little and lower your eyes.

"Hey, I didn't mean to make you feel insecure, are you okay?" he asks quickly.

"It's all good, I just realized how surreal the situation is. I'm sitting here talking to the guitarist of one of my favorite bands about my favorite songs, it's really crazy!"

"What if you just block out the fact that I'm "The Guitarist"? Just Joakim, a guy you met at the airport who you talk to about all sorts of things?" he looks at you questioningly.

"Just Joakim?" you smile back.

"Yes, just Joakim"

You look into each other's eyes in silence... "Ok, just Joakim, then tell me which song is your favorite from which band!"

"The night does not belong to you, Sleep Token, and of course almost everything by Oasis, Liam's voice is awesome!"

Before you can continue talking, you suddenly hear the call that your flight to London is ready to take off in half an hour.

The people around you start to move, bags are packed, people flock to the gate.

You sit in silence, almost sad that the flight is being called now.'Sad? Why this feeling towards someone you've only just met? But during your conversation, a certain intimacy has built up between you that you can't quite grasp.

You wonder whether it's just you feeling it or whether he feels the same.

You sigh and put your laptop in your bag, pulling out your sweat jacket in return and putting it on.

"Okay, then I should.... Or should we? I mean to the gate, you want to catch the flight to London, don't you?" you say hastily.

"Yeah," he breathes, "go ahead, I have a phone call to make."

You nod, smile at him and say goodbye "Thanks for your company, you've made the wait very entertaining for me!"

He nods silently to you, you turn and walk towards the gate. A knot forms in your stomach and you have to swallow several times, suddenly feeling miserable.

You vigorously tell yourself not to invest any superfluous emotion in this encounter, not to read anything into it, it's a chance meeting that was nice, nothing more.

And with that thought, you move on.

Joakim

His thoughts are racing, damn it, why does the damn flight have to be called now of all times? What the hell, right now.

He could have talked to you for hours, listened to you laugh, looked at your face.

Groaning, he leans back, not expecting someone to awaken something in him that he buried a long time ago. Fuck, how can that be?

He looks after you as you slowly disappear into the crowd.

Probably for the best, he thinks, because of course, you were just having fun, talking about your interests, about God and the world, time flew by. He can't remember the last time that happened to him with a woman.

Sure, there were women after her, after Silja, but never anything serious, sex, mostly one-night stands. Exactly what he wanted. So far, his life has been focused on the band, on success. A relationship was never on the table.

Now this has caught him cold, fuck....

He gets up, goes to the gate, boarding begins, his eyes search for you, he sees you at the front of the queue. His heart makes a little jump, HIS HEART MAKES A JUMP? WTF is wrong with him?

His eyes keep wandering to you, burning into your back. As if you sensed it, you turn around and your eyes meet, captivated.

Joakim swallows, he can't take his eyes off you. His thoughts are racing. He flies business class, a luxury he affords himself on longer routes, long-haul flights. Will they?" it flashes through his mind.

Then it continues, the queue moves towards the plane, as he enters the plane his gaze wanders searchingly through the interior until he spots you in a window seat, next to an older man.

His stomach clenches, she doesn't look happy, he thinks. But at the moment he can do nothing but take his seat at the other end.

His thoughts race during the flight, wandering back to you again and again.

After landing, he has made a plan, hopefully she agrees, is all he can think about.

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