#maybe I shouldn’t underestimate our boy Jack

[imperatorrrrr]

wait so like do you think they’ll make someone from the Devils and someone from the Flyers do a cheesy af commercial for the stadium series? Like do think think they’ll be able to convince Jack to do it? Or like Dougie because Dougie is up for it? Or like will we see the return of actor Nico Hischier?

#New Jersey Devils #Taking bets now as to who will be in the commercial if there is one #Jack Hughes #Dougie Hamilton #Nico Hischier #they want national coverage right #so it has to be a big name like Jack’s right #but can they really convince Jack to do it #maybe I shouldn’t underestimate our boy Jack #maybe Jack will like to perform #he did do the Chipotle commercial #I don’t even know who’s on the Flyers anymore #So no idea who his acting partner would be #Text

[almost-jack]

It’s official. I’m a filthy, Jack-simping fuck monster. Chapter 15 is out and it is a smut bucket.

I just posted the smuttiest chapter that I’ve ever written for public consumption. It doesn’t even really require context (other than basic Borderlands 2 knowledge) to read because it is pure FILTH. I’m pretty proud.

Please enjoy and either leave me a comment here or on AO3 (guest comments and kudos welcome) or wash your eyeballs, depending on how you feel about it.

This chapter on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27921886/chapters/69799560

Or read below:

Chapter 15 : More Than He Bargained For          

Summary: Axton willingly puts himself in Jack’s way and gets fucked. Hard. Oof.

Notes:

Forgive me lord, for I have sinned, but so help me god, I'll fucking do it again. And again. And again...

Thinkin' about changing the fic's title to "The Lion's Den". What do you guys think?

*Warning: Uhhhh....Axton might take a bit of a beating with some mild non-con mixed in there. He likes some it, though. *shrug*

The tower was just a short walk from the bar and the pair was entering the massive living room of the VIP suite within minutes. Rei retrieved a bottle of Jack’s fancy champagne and poured three glasses, setting one down on an end table to wait for Jack, then she sat down on an ornate couch with gold upholstery and patted the seat next to her. Axton joined her, staring around at the lavish, ostentatious suite.

“Wow, this place is uh…”

“Excessive? Yeah, I know. Jack’s aesthetic is something along the lines of, “You can’t afford this,” and, “Is there enough black leather in here?”” she said, laughing.

“Well, you can never have enough black leather, darlin’,” said Axton, reaching out and stroking her cheek.

He leaned in and caught her lips with his own, kissing her firmly, yet gently. Without breaking the kiss, he threw a knee up onto the couch and began crawling forward, crowding her back against the armrest until he was straddling her. Rei ran her hands up his chest, feeling something cold and metallic hanging from his neck. She pulled away to look at the rectangular tags in her hand. Dog tags, and for some reason, a wedding ring. Rei knew better than to ask why.

“A soldier, eh? Your battalion isn’t going to be happy about you fraternizing with Handsome Jack and friends, you know.”

“Don’t have a battalion anymore, I was discharged a while back. I’m a mercenary now, honey. A vault hunter, in fact.”

“You’re a…what?” she said, taken aback.

“He’s a vault hunter. Well, he was a vault hunter. For me,” growled a voice from across the room.

Jack was leaning in the doorway of the suite, arms crossed, brows furrowed in a thunderous scowl. He strode over behind the couch, gripping the edge of the headrest with white knuckles, looming over the pair. Then he sighed, screwing his eyes shut and rubbing his temple.

“Kitten…why? Why do you do this shit to me? It’s like you’re trying to get us both killed.”

“Jack…I don’t understand…”

“I hired this joker as a vault hunter and then tried to kill him. Did you forget that part, Axie? The part where I wanted you dead?”

“Nope, I remember. Crazy bus explosion. Lotta fun,” said Axton, sitting up. Rei slid out from under him and began backing away from the couch, feeling the weight of the grave error she had made.

“So why the hell are you here? Do you need to get fucked by Handsome Jack so badly that you’re willing to risk your life for it? I can’t blame you, but…pretty stupid move, kiddo,” snarled Jack.

“What if that’s exactly why I’m here? Is that so hard to believe?” asked Axton, pouting up at him playfully.

Jack grabbed the burly man by the hair and bent his head back at a painful angle. Axton grimaced but remained still. Jack leaned down so his face was mere inches away, staring at the man in his grasp with fire in his eyes. Rei had seen that expression before, and, although she knew this was about to take an unfortunate turn for Axton, she couldn’t help but feel excited for what was to come. When Jack was at his worst, he always fucked her the best.

Rei sauntered over to the armrest next to Jack and sat, looking quizzically down at Axton.

“I don’t think we believe him, do we, J?” she drawled lazily.

“No, I don’t believe we do. So why don’t you tell us why you’re really here, cupcake?” hissed Jack through clenched teeth.

“Fine, fine, I might have been paid to keep an eye on you two. Uh, do you mind?” he grunted, trying to jerk his head out of Jack’s grip. Jack released him, drawing his pistol and pointing it at Axton’s head instead.

“Well that’s not much better…” mumbled the soldier.

“Who are you working for? I want answers, now,” snarled Jack.

“No can do, big guy. I gave you as much of an answer as you’re gonna get. The rest is classified.”

“Maybe you should fuck it out of him, J.” said Rei, examining her shimmery, black nails disinterestedly.

“Kitten, you always have the best ideas!” crowed Jack, his scowl morphing into a wolfish grin. He tossed her his gun. “Watch him for a minute.” He turned and left the room.

“That was pretty dirty trick, soldier boy,” she said in a low, ominous voice, cocking the gun and aiming between Axton’s eyes.

“I wasn’t trying to trick anyone, just saw an opportunity for some fun on the job and I took it,” he said, shrugging out of his jacket and throwing it over the back of the couch.

“Jack is almost certainly going to kill you once he’s done. Why would you risk that?”

“Ah, darlin’, you underestimate me. I wasn’t a commando for all those years because I’m bad surviving dangerous situations. Jack doesn’t scare me. Also… I wanted to spend a little time with Jack’s girl. See what makes you tick. See if you’re a threat. See…what you have on under that dress,” he said with an impish grin, eyes twinkling up at her.

“Well, you might just get some of what you wanted…and a whole lot you didn’t,” she said, smiling sweetly back.

“Ok kiddos, time for some fun!” announced Jack gleefully, returning to the couch and slipping his gun back into its holster. He held a jumble of straps and chains. Jack separated the tangled items in his hands and flipped a black leather gag over to Rei. “You get his mouth, I’ll get his wrists,” he said, giving Axton a hard shove to the back, forcing him face down on the couch.

Jack yanked Axton’s arms behind him, clinking a pair of thick metal handcuffs around his wrists so quickly that the soldier barely had time to react. Rei snickered at them as she undid the buckle on the gag.

“Yeah, I don’t know about the gag, darli-nghhh!” protested Axton as she stuffed the leather strap in his mouth and fastened it around his head.

“You wanted to see what I have on under my dress, right? Be a good boy and I’ll show you.”

“Oh he said that, did he? Cheeky little bastard,” chuckled Jack, unbuckling his belt. “Kitten, why don’t you come over here and get this party started, hmm? You’re in for a real treat, Axie. Getting to watch my kitten blow me is a real privilege.”

Jack pulled Axton upright by the back of his shirt and plopped down next to him, throwing an arm over his shoulders. He hooked a finger under the chain of the soldier’s dog tags and toyed with it gently, giving him a devilish grin. Rei knelt between Jack’s legs a shoved his pants down, mouthing at the exposed skin of his upper thighs.

“Hmm, I think I have another good idea,” she said softly, pulling a small baggie of purple powder out of her bra.

“Oh you just keep that Eridium concentrate stashed on you at all times, eh, kitten?”

“This stuff is close to my heart. Literally,” she giggled.

She poured a trail of powder down Jack’s thigh and snorted it in one fluid motion. She then tapped a line onto the back of her hand, holding it out to Jack, who sniffed it up appreciatively. He threw back his head and sighed happily, then turned to Axton, positively beaming, and clapped him on the back.

“Holy hell, kiddo. Looks like I’m gonna be fucking you all night long,” he purred in Axton’s ear, pulling himself out of his pants and giving his near instant erection a few assisting strokes.

Rei licked the tip of his cock and Jack’s hand dropped to his side, letting her take over. She sank down on his member, almost to the hilt, making him groan loudly at the hot silkiness of her mouth and her tongue ring gliding over his shaft. She lazily dragged her tongue back up to his cockhead and sucked gently, stroking his slit with the tip of her tongue. Then she picked up her pace and began bobbing her head while pumping his length with a firm grip, getting faster and sloppier with every passing minute. Jack let out another low moan and dug his fingers into Axton’s shoulder with the hand that was still dangling carelessly over it.

“Oh, fuck, kitten. Take it easy, our friend is still waiting for a turn on my dick.”

“I think it’s only fair that I get first dibs, I found him after all. And since I won, shouldn’t I be calling the shots?” she said, sitting back on her heels and wiping her mouth.

Jack raised his eyebrows at her. “Oh yeah, doll? Hey, if that’s what you want…” He shrugged. “That ok with you, buddy?” he said, hooking his arm around Axton’s neck and pulling his head into his chest.

“Mmmph,” came his unintelligible reply. The look on his face was something akin to curiosity with a hint of apprehension, probably at the prospect of being subjected to whatever insane things these two cartoonish villains could think up.

Jack laughed derisively. “Like it even matters what you want at this point, kiddo.”

“Bedroom. Let’s go,” said Rei, snapping her fingers at the two of them.

“You heard that hot little piece of ass, up you get,” said Jack, dragging Axton to his feet and pushing him down the hall.

They followed Rei into the bedroom, Jack hauling Axton onto the bed with him while she waited at the foot, arms crossed. Jack threw an arm over Axton’s shoulders once again, watching her intently. Once she had their full attention, Rei slowly, almost teasingly, unzipped her dress. She let it slide off her body and pool at her feet, revealing black, lacey lingerie with yellow stitching. She bent to remove her silver pumps, but Jack cleared his throat insistently. She stopped and put her hands on her hips, cocking them to one side.

“What?” she said sharply.

“Do me a favor kitten…uhh, boss-kitten…. Leave ‘em on? Please? For daddy?” he pleaded, sticking out his lower lip.

Rei rolled her eyes but couldn’t suppress a crooked smile. “Fine,” she said climbing up onto the bed and crawling towards them, catlike. She knelt between Axton’s legs and reached behind his head to unfasten the gag.

“The hell are you doing that for? I don’t wanna hear this guy complain all night,” whined Jack.

“He’ll be too busy putting that mouth to work to complain, don’t you worry. Isn’t that right, soldier boy?” she purred, grabbing Axton’s chin and stroking his lower lip with her thumb.

“Mmhmm, whatever you want, darlin’, as long as I get to touch you,” he murmured, his eyes raking over her body hungrily.

Rei smacked his cheek lightly, but firmly. “You don’t get to make demands. The cuffs stay on. Trade places with me.”

Axton awkwardly shifted onto his knees and shuffled out of Rei’s way as she took his spot next to Jack.

“Sit right there, lover boy,” she snapped her fingers at him and pointed between her legs.

He quickly obeyed, keeping his head low to avoid letting the pair see his pleased grin. Rei hooked a leg over his shoulder, pressing into his back with the sharp stiletto of her shoe.

“Down.”

He bent slowly and began kissing a trail up her thigh, nipping at her thong when he reached her pubic bone. He looked up at her and raised an eyebrow questioningly. She gave him a nod and he pulled the garment down with his teeth, tenuously inching it down her legs.

“Lemme help you with that, kiddo,” said Jack lazily, shrugging out of his jacket. He fished around in his pants pocket and produced a switchblade, flipped it open, and hooked it under the waistband of Rei’s panties. Before she could protest, Jack had severed both sides with a flick of his wrist.

“Jack! I liked those!” she hissed in irritation.

“So I’ll buy you another pair,” he murmured, pocketing the knife and kissing his way up her neck before enveloping her mouth. Their lips moved against each other languidly, tongues intertwining, hands tangled in each other’s hair.

Suddenly Rei broke away, moaning wantonly with her eyes screwed shut as she felt Axton’s mouth descend upon the heat between her legs. He lapped at her folds eagerly, dragging his tongue up to swirl around her clit, then back down to dip into her now dripping entrance, kissing and sucking every part of her along the way. After short while, Rei felt the weight of the bed abruptly shift, then heard the creak of a drawer opening. The weight shifted back and Axton cried out, jerking his head up. Rei whined at the loss of contact and sat up on her elbows to see what was the matter.

“Hey, man, are you serious?! You can’t put that on me!” complained Axton, trying to shake off Jack’s grip around his neck.

In the hand that wasn’t clenched around the back of Axton’s neck, Jack held a black leather collar (a plainer version of the one he had given Rei) connected to a chain-link leash. Rei laughed. Jack definitely had an aesthetic, and that was black leather absolutely everywhere. She sat up and folded her legs under her, reaching down to grab Axton’s face and still him.

“Cooperate, or the gag goes back on,” said Rei silkily.

She clenched his jaw in her palm while simultaneously stroking his cheek with her thumb, as though making both a threat and a titillating promise. He huffed in annoyance but slumped down, dropping his head into her lap and allowing Jack to collar him.

“Good boy,” she praised, stroking his hair.

“Thanks, kitten. So can I have a go at him now, or what? Don’t leave me hanging, here,” said Jack impatiently, gesturing towards his ever present, Eridium enhanced erection, still bobbing out of his open fly.

“Aww, you feeling neglected, J? Sure, have at him,” she cooed, crawling over to where Jack knelt behind Axton and sitting up on her knees to nuzzle and nip at his neck.

Jack wound the leash around his hand, curling it into a fist, and when it was short enough, gave it an experimental yank. Axton jerked backward and sputtered, almost losing his balance and toppling back into Jack’s lap. Jack smirked maliciously, the fire still glinting in his eyes.

“Ok, pumpkin. Let’s see what you’re made of,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.

“I, uh… I mean, it’s not my first time at the rodeo, but uh... Don’t go too hard on me, ok?” said Axton, nervously eyeing Jack’s impressively sized cock.

“We’ll see.”

“That means there’s no fuckin’ chance” Rei whispered in Axton’s ear, undoing his belt and pulling down his fly.

She giggled and smacked his ass, urging him up onto his knees while she pulled his pants and boxer briefs down, before unbuttoning his shirt and sliding it down to his elbows. Jack was busily pulling off Axton’s shoes and kicking off his own, then yanking off his vest and shirt without undoing all the buttons. He reached over to the already open drawer beside the bed and pulled out a bottle of lube, slicking up his throbbing erection, and hungrily descending on Axton, forcing his chest down into the bed with a thud. He pressed a hand to his back and held him there while he adjusted Axton’s hips and slid his pants the rest of the way off. Jack began to teasingly press his achingly hard cock between Axton’s cheeks.

“Aw, hey, come on Jack, at least give him a few fingers first,” said Rei sympathetically, although a wicked grin remained fixed across her face.

“Kitten, I don’t think I can wait much longer. I can’t tell if I want to kill something or fuck something, but if one of those two things doesn’t happen soon, I’m definitely going with kill,” Jack said in a strained tone.

“Oh, fuck, come on man…” mumbled Axton into the sheets. He raised his head to glance over his shoulder at Jack, a pleading look in his eyes. “If I survive this night, don’t you want me to at least tell people you’re a good lay? You know they’re gonna ask what Handsome Jack is like in bed …”

Jack shot him one of his signature “if looks could kill” faces and made an exasperated growl deep in his throat in response.

It was clearly taking every ounce of willpower he had to restrain himself from plunging balls deep into the command splayed out before him, but he begrudgingly lubed up a few fingers and got to work. Axton groaned as Jack pumped one large finger into his tight hole, and after a few pumps, another, far too soon for comfort. Jack worked him open quickly, drawing mostly grunts of pain from Axton as he carelessly fucked his fingers into the cuffed man.

“Think you can fucking take me now, cupcake? Or am I still too big for you?” hissed Jack, still pumping his fingers in and out.

“Shut up and do it already, douchebag,” retorted Axton. Jack abruptly yanked his fingers out, making him shudder in pain.

“You reaaally need to remember your manners, or I’m not going to be able to help you, Ax,” Rei said, her voice soft and sickly sweet. She was hovering next to Jack, her arm draped over one of his broad shoulders, her head resting on top of it.

“Oh, sweetheart, nothing can help him now,” growled Jack, lining his cock up with Axton’s quivering hole.

“Maybe he just needs a good dicking. Go on, J, fuck the shit out of him,” urged Rei, her tone absolutely poisonous.

Jack sank into Axton far too quickly, making the commando yelp and writhe underneath him as Jack pressed the weight of his powerful chest into his back. He fell still as Jack gave him a moment to adjust, his breath coming in heavy pants.

“Thaaaaat’s it, deep breaths. Relax, pumpkin, this is nothing. Things haven’t even begun to get bad for you, yet,” crooned Jack as he started to move his hips.

Jack groaned in relief as he slowly thrust his throbbing cock into Axton, the friction easing his frustration. Axton, on the other hand, was struggling not to whimper as the older man began pounding into him, his rhythm going from gentle and controlled to full on jack-hammering in less than a minute.

“So tell me, Axie, did you really think I’d fuck you nicely? That I’d suddenly change my mind about wanting most of you annoying fuckin’ vault hunters dead? You willingly entered the lions’ den, expecting not to get torn to pieces. What the fuck is wrong with you, kiddo?” Jack laughed and punctuated his sentence with a particularly hard thrust, eliciting a satisfying yelp from the man beneath him.

“Guess I’m just a glutton for punishment,” grunted Axton, a hint of amusement in his voice. It seemed as though he was beginning to enjoy himself, and Jack, while pleased that the commando was getting off on being manhandled and tormented by him, wasn’t about to let him enjoy it without consequence.

“Hey, kitten, why don’t you show our friend that little stunt you pulled on Pandora? The one that nearly broke my face?” said Jack, roughly yanking the leash towards himself, forcing Axton to sit up and lean back into his chest. Jack hooked a few fingers under the collar and slowed his thrusts to keep him anchored in place.

Rei, who had been running her nails down Jack’s back and murmuring words of encouragement in his ear, giggled. She reached into Jack’s thigh holster, still bunched around his thighs with his pants, slid out his gun, and turned it on Axton.

“Woah, woah, hold up, at least make it a fair fight if you’re going to try and kill me,” he rasped against the pressure of Jack’s pull on the collar.

“Don’t worry, hun, safety’s on. Doesn’t make it much safer for you, though,” she said with an amused grin, drawing back her arm. She swung the gun down on him, even harder than she had on Jack, decking him across the face, and causing the commando to cry out in pain and surprise. Both Rei and Jack cackled as Axton spat blood onto the bed.

“That all you got, babe?” he said dazedly, giving her a bloodstained grin.

Jack gave the collar a sharp tug.

“We can go harder if you want, kiddo. Just keep running that mouth of yours, see what happens,” he growled. He shoved Axton back down on the mattress and returned to his punishing pace, pumping in and out of him. Axton let out a low moan, his cuffed hands balling into fists behind his back.

Rei watched Jack begin to pant, the muscles in his back tensing. She moved to his side and leaned over Axton to pull Jack into a heated kiss, burying her hands in his hair and digging her nails roughly into his scalp, drawing a soft moan out of the man. All he needed was a little more pain to push him over the edge. She let her lips glide from his mouth, to his jaw, and then down his chest. Rei dragged her tongue over the firm muscles, stopping to lave over his nipple. Suddenly she bit down hard on the tender bud, sending shudders through his body.

“Ah, fuck, kitten, you’re gonna make me cum…” he groaned desperately. “You hear that, Axie? I’m gonna fill your tight little hole and make a huge mess for ya. Let’s see how well you march after being fucked senseless and filled with cum, soldier boy,” he hissed in Axton’s ear.

“Hey, hey, not in-“

Axton tried to protest, but it was too late. Jack was already hunched over his back, one hand buried in Rei’s hair as she continued sinking her teeth into his pectoral, the other between Axton’s shoulders, crushing him into the mattress with all his weight. Jack threw back his head, eyes screwed shut, and gave a final, brutal thrust, sinking his cock all the way to the hilt and letting go. He groaned loudly as he spilled into the man beneath him, his cock twitching and spurting for what felt like ages, pain and pleasure rippling through his body. Finally, he sank forward to lean on his hands, torso still hunched over Axton’s back, head hung low in exhaustion.

“God…damn…that was good. Really fucking good,” he panted, slowly pulling himself out of the commando. A thick stream of cum trickled out of Axton’s abused hole and dribbled down his thighs.

“Fuck you. What the hell,” grumbled Axton, displeased at the wet, tacky feeling of Jack’s cum dripping between his legs.

“HAH! Nope, pretty sure you’re the one who just got fucked here, princess,” said Jack, descending into peels of laughter. “I’ll tell you what, since you got me off so good, I’m gonna let you fuck kitten and get her off that good, too. If she wants. You want that, kitten?”

“About damn time,” she purred, stroking the hair on his chest.

“Well if I’m going to be doing any actual fucking, these cuffs gotta go…”

“Hmm…I do kind of want to see what you’re capable of… Should we trust him, J?”

“Hell, why not. Kid’s earned it. But just to be safe…” Jack pulled his pants back up to his hips, tucking himself away, but leaving the fly open. He removed his gun from its holster and clicked off the safety. “No funny business, ok, kiddo? One wrong move and I’ll blow brains out. And- trust me- it won’t even ruin the mood.”

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled out a key, then went about unlocking the cuffs. Rei slid up the bed to rest her back against the headboard, waiting in eager anticipation.

“Can I go get cleaned up, at least?” asked Axton, sitting up and rubbing his wrists.

“Here,” said Rei, leaning forward and pulling his shirt, still bunched around his elbows, the rest of the way off. She tossed it at him with a derisive laugh.

Axton grumbled but took the shirt and wiped down his legs and ass. He then turned to Rei and slid close enough to nudge her legs apart with his knee, a hand planted on either side of her hips. A devious smile began to play across his lips. He glanced over his shoulder at Jack, checking to see where the gun and leash were in proximity to himself. Jack had given him some slack on the leash to move around, but still had the gun pointed threateningly at his head. The older man moved to kneel beside Axton, also dropping down to lean on his hands, and pressing the gun into his back.

“That good dicking I just gave ya made you a little hard, huh, Axie? You fuckin’ love the abuse, don’t you?” he said, dipping his head to mutter huskily in his ear. Jack licked a hot stripe up Axton’s neck, sending shivers of pleasure down his spine.

Rei reached for Axton’s semi stiff cock and began giving it slow, languid strokes, pleased when he let out a low moan as he hardened beneath her fingers. He leaned in and kissed her, more aggressively and sloppier than he had earlier, and pulled her down underneath him so their hips were flush. He began to grind his now erect length against her pubic bone, enjoying the way her breasts pressed against his chest. He ran a hand down her leg, then suddenly threw it over his shoulder, ignoring the sting as her stiletto dug into his skin. The commando reached between them and began to rub her clit in small circles, making her arch her back as she squirmed underneath him in pleasure.

“Fuck me, soldier boy,” moaned Rei, rolling her hips up to meet his.

“Go on kid, give it to her,” growled Jack, watching the pair lustfully.

Axton positioned himself at Rei’s entrance and sank into her slowly while sucking kisses onto her ankle. He drew himself out almost entirely, just his cockhead teasing her lips, then slowly slid back into her warm, wet heat and repeated the motion.

“Come on soldier, I know you want it rougher than that. We just beat the crap out of you, aren’t you gonna give it right back to us? “ Jack hissed in his ear, as if he was the devil on Axton’s shoulder.

Axton ignored him, opting instead to lean down and suck Rei’s nipple. She moaned and dragged her fingers through his short cropped hair.

“Let’s go kid, if you don’t fuck her proper then I will,” snarled Jack, hooking a finger under his collar and giving it a sharp, warning tug. He was already hard again, waiting, wanting, and aching.

Axton wheezed and glared over at him, but slightly picked up his pace. Rei responded with a pleased little mewl, bringing her hips up to meet his in synchronized rhythm. Axton groaned hotly into her ear, surprised at how close to finishing he already was. He loved danger, and apparently his cock loved it, too.

Suddenly Jack was wrenching him back, sending him toppling to the side.

“Sorry, kid. You had your chance and I’m fuckin’ tired of waiting,” Jack said, shoving his pants off the rest of the way.

Jack pounced upon Rei with a feverish hunger, pulling her legs around his waist and roughly thrusting into her, making her gasp.

“Hang on tight, kitten,” he murmured in her ear, before dropping to his elbows and begging to slam his cock into her at a brutal pace. She gripped his back, her nails digging in deep enough to cause tiny pinpricks of blood to form on the surface of his skin.

Rei was moaning desperately at full volume, unable to control the sounds that Jack was wrenching out of her as he pounded away. Jack himself wasn’t much better, groaning huskily in her ear between heavy breaths, lost in a haze of chemically enhanced arousal.

Rei alternated between moans and whines and whispering filthy things in his ear, egging him on. She dragged her teeth down his neck, biting down hard when she reached the juncture of his neck and shoulder. Jack shuddered in pain and pleasure, feeling a familiar heat pooling in his groin.

“Jack, oh fuck, I’m so close,” she whispered breathily in his ear, eliciting a low, sinful groan from the man.

“Scream my name, baby. You know how I like it. Scream my name while you cum for me, kitten,” he growled.

And in moments, Rei was writhing underneath him, her hips bucking up into his, howling his name in a breathy, high pitched whine. Jack sucked in his breath as her pussy clenched around him, milking his cock, dragging him to the edge. He gave a few more uneven, hitching thrusts and came, slamming his cock into her and spilling inside her with a roar. He continued to press himself as deeply as he could, giving little thrusts, while he rode out the throbbing, twitching spurts of his orgasm, nuzzling her neck and groaning in ecstasy.

After several minutes, Jack raised himself up on his hands, shoulders hunched and panting hard.

“Well,” he said, sounding winded, “that’s how ya do it, kiddo.”

He looked over at Axton, who was leaning against the headboard next to them, one arm behind his head and the other being used to leisurely stroke his very hard cock.

“So, uh… You gonna get out of the way or what?” asked Axton gruffly, his eyes dark with lust.

Jack raised his eyebrows skeptically at him, then sat up and gently maneuvered Rei’s legs to the side. He turned to face Axton.

“Come ‘ere, kid,” Jack ordered, curling a finger at the other man.

Axton shuffled forward obediently, thoughts only focused on getting the relief he so desperately needed.

“Yeah, I’m done sharing,” Jack breathed huskily, “but I’ll tell ya what…” He licked his palm and reached down between them to grab Axton’s cock. The commando grunted and bucked his hips at the contact.

“Ooh, are you gonna help him out, J?” giggled Rei, coming up behind Axton and draping herself over his shoulders.

“I sure am, kitten. I’m just a real nice guy, what can I say?” said Jack cheerfully, beginning to stroke Axton’s leaking cock. He reached up and curled the other hand around Axton’s jaw, holding it firmly.

“Look at me,” he ordered.

Axton kept his eyes shut, not wanting to ruin the sensations coursing through his groin by being eye to eye with the man who once tried to kill him.

“I said look at me,” Jack hissed dangerously.

Axton grudgingly opened his eyes and was met with the manic, fiery glare of one blue eye, one green. Jack’s stare chilled him to the core.

“Don’t forget who’s jerking you off right now, kid. When you’re beating it to this later in whatever shitty, filthy part of the galaxy you came from, just remember that it was Handsome Jack making you cum all over your stupid, pathetic self. Remember that I can kill you just as easily as I can get you off because you’re weak, Axton. You could try to stop me, if you wanted to. But you don’t want to. You’re like putty in my hands. Now cum for me, soldier boy,” said Jack in an unnervingly calm and measured tone, as if he wasn’t jerking off a man he’d just tortured for hours.

Axton screwed his eyes shut again, trying to ignore Jack’s order, willing himself not to give in… But it was all too much. The fast, rough friction of Jack’s hand, Rei’s tongue gliding up his neck and over his jaw, her nails scraping across his chest, and Jack’s words, combined with his dominating presence, his face mere inches from Axton’s own, were all too much. Before he could stop himself, Axton was shooting rope after rope of warm, sticky finish all over his own stomach. He jerked and moaned in Jack’s hand, finally slumping forward, his head hanging low, breath coming in pants. Jack wiped his hand on Axton’s shoulder, grinning maliciously, then went to retrieve his pants and slip them on.

“So now that we’re all squared away here, let’s get down to business. What do we do with you, hmm, Axie? Does he live, or does he die? That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it?” mused Jack, pulling his gun from its holster and spinning it around his finger.

“Maybe he’s ready to tell us who sent him. That might improve his odds, don’t you think?” said Rei sweetly.

“How about it, kid? You ready to talk, or would you rather take your chances?”

“I’m a gambling man. Love that adrenaline rush. So, in other words… you’re not getting shit out of me, old man,” laughed Axton, tauntingly.

Jack stopped spinning his gun, face suddenly contorted with rage.

“Oooh. Ok. Uh-oh. You just-” Rei began.

Jack drew back his fist and slugged Axton squarely in the gut with all his might, knocking the wind of him. The commando bent double, clutching his stomach and gasping for breath.

“-made things worse for yourself.” she said with a sigh.

“Good…arm..." wheezed Axton.

"Yeah. The age thing is kind of a sore spot for Jack."

"Not as sore as he's about to be," muttered Jack under his breath, quietly fuming.

“Ok, ok. Missteps aside, what are we going to do with him?”

“Well, first of all…”

Jack snatched the abandoned handcuffs from the foot of the bed, and, taking advantage of the soldier’s momentary vulnerability after getting punched by what felt like a wrecking ball, wrenched Axton’s arms behind him and slapped the cuffs back on without much of a struggle.

“And now obviously I’m going to beat the ever-loving shit out of him until he gives me useful information, or he dies. We can do this the easy way, or we can do this the blah-blah-blah, too late, tough shit, you already chose, pal,” sneered Jack.

A sudden chiming came from Axton’s discarded pants on the floor. Jack cocked an eyebrow and slid off the bed to retrieve them, pulling the commando’s Echo from his pocket.

“Well I’ll be damned…” he breathed.

“Don’t answer tha-“ Axton began.

“Lilith! To what do I owe the pleasure? Have a nice nap?” said Jack cheerfully, picking up the call.

“Oh what the hell, why do you have Axton’s Echo, you prick?” said Lilith’s scowling hologram.

“I don’t know; why don’t you ask him? Axie, baby, say hello.” Jack turned the Echo’s camera towards him, still naked, collared, and cuffed on the bed.

“AXTON! NOT. AGAIN,” yelled Lilith in frustration. She pressed her finger tips between her eyes, squeezing them shut momentarily.

He hung his head sheepishly, avoiding the hologram’s fierce glare.

“Sorry, Lil.”

“You had one job. ONE. Kill them. Not fuck them. KILL THEM. You couldn’t even stop them from drugging me and Roland! Is it too much to ask that you keep it in your pants for just one night? JESUS!”

“I mean, come on Lil, we both knew this would probably wind up just being a scouting mission, unless an opportunity presented itself. And it did!”

“And you still fucked it up,” she hissed.

“Woah, woah, woah, can we go back to the part about this little shit stain trying to kill us? You hired sweet cheeks here to be your assassin?” asked Jack incredulously.

“Yeah, what of it, Jack?” grumbled Lilith.

He was silent a moment, staring at the hologram in surprise. Suddenly he burst out laughing, cackling so hard that he bent double and clutched his sides.

“Nice work, cupcake! You really know how to pick ‘em,” he said, wiping a tear of mirth away from his eye. Then his voice dropped about two octaves, the laughter abruptly disappearing from his face. “I think we’ll keep him,” he said, his voice quiet and deadly.

“What? No! You can’t-“

“Eye for an eye, sweetheart. You try to fuck us, we try to fuck you… And then we all just end up fucking poor Axton. Well, mostly just me, actually.”

“No, Jack, wait, we’re willing to negotiate.”

“You got a vault key, princess?”

“No…”

“Well then you’ve got nothing I want. And I suggest you don’t come anywhere near the VIP floor unless you want to tango with fifty Badass Loader Bots, ten turrets, and my main man, Wilhelm. He’s around here somewhere. Who knows, maybe he’s even on his way down to you already! Cia!”

“Wait! What about-“

Jack hung up the call.

“So much for that truce, huh? What a cunt,” he said, turning to Rei.

She had pulled a pack of cigarettes from the bedside table and had one dangling from her mouth, and was now sitting with her back against the headboard, arms crossed, glowering. She pulled a lighter from the pack and lit her cigarette, inhaling deeply, then exhaled a slow, steady stream of swirling smoke.

“That bitch. I made sure you didn’t kill her, or even harm her, just so she could send an assassin after us? Un-fucking-believable.”

“That’s what people do, kiddo. They’ll smile to your face while stabbing you in the back. Although… this guy wasn’t much of an assassin, now, was he?” he said, ruffling Axton’s hair.

“You two gonna kill me, or what?” grunted Axton.

“Honestly? Haven’t decided yet. Make yourself useful, and who knows, maybe there’s a job for you at the Rhysie Pole. You definitely won’t be a free man ever again, though, that’s for sure. Now, as much as I want to stay and play, we should probably put some distance between us and the fire-bitch. Get dressed, kitten.”

“Back to Helios?” she asked, flicking her cigarette.

“Yep. Looks like we’ve got some work to do,” he said, cracking the leash over Axton’s back like a whip and cackling as the commando howled in pain.

#Handsome Jack #Axton #Borderlands #fan fiction #fan fic #ao3 #borderlands 2 #sex drugs & space chaos #handsome jack x axton #moxxi's heist of the handsome jackpot #smut #handsome jack smut #borderlands smut #action/adventure fic #smut fic #fanfic #borderlands fanfic #borderlands fan fiction #borderlands 3 #handsome jack x oc #oc

[iphoenixrising]

Dr!Tim: Missing Scene from London Bridge is Falling

@poison-basil needed this to finish off the bridge thing, and well, I can’t tell my babe no. @the-sky-is-a-lie def did the beta-ing because wow, sleep dep. Warning, you might get some feels.

 **

He was pretty sure this was going to be a...thing. But, he could not have predicted it would be this bad.

“C’mon, Tim,” Dick is hanging effortlessly from the light fixture in the bedroom, clutching his scrub top like a lifeline, “they said you could have another week. You don’t...you shouldn’t go in yet. You need more time!”

From the floor, the annoyed doctor is standing shirtless with his arms crossed over his bare chest and his mussed hair all up in his face. The fact he’s frowning like a disapproving Dad should really tip off his vigilante boyfriends on how now is not the time.

“My leg is fine. There’s no need to wait,” he snaps back for what feels like the tenth time today. “Dick, we already talked about this.”

“That ain’t necessarily accurate, Sweetheart,” Jason drawls out from the doorway. His tactic is somewhat more...subtle. He’s mostly awake from a few hours of sleep after a night of vigilante-ing it up, had made sweet love with his boys before passing the fuck out for a few hours of well-deserved unconsciousness. Timmy getting out of the shower woke the both of them immediately because they still aren’t really on board with this, yeah?

So he knows the picture he presents, hair mussed and eyes half-mast with the remnants of sleep, warm and soft from blankets. His chest is bare, dotted with bruises, fine white lines of his scars breaking up the sleek and powerful muscle. The black briefs are heavy in the front while hugging the slight curve of his ass in the back. He knows when he talks, Tim’s eyes come back to him slouching against the frame, takes him all in.

(He sees the way his boy swallows before his cheeks get just a little pink. Such a good look on their Doc.)

So he straightens up, walks in their bedroom with his easy stride, all those muscles working in a terribly effective sync. His eyes are soft and fond when he wraps up their boy from behind, automatically rubbing over the healed bruises on Tim’s ribs and sides from the bridge attack. He gives no fucks about shit like being a dirty goddamned cheat when he presses against his boy’s bare back, just a reminder of how good it feels to be pressed close.

(Tim can feel the heat of skin and oh God does he feel amazing.)

“Pretty sure ya tol’ us y’ were good ‘nuff ta be on yer game.” Shamelessly, Jay leans down just a little to snuffle at the base of Tim’s neck sleepily.

“You both knew I planned on going back today.” Tim just has to keep his resolve. He absolutely cannot let these idiots think he needs to be (protected) coddled just because he’s a civilian. It’s really a good thing he’s never really told them about the crazy situations he got into long before he found Nightwing on his fire escape bleeding out (a very, very good thing, there’s only so much mother-henning anyone can take).

Dick finally jumps down to the ground, the move smooth and effortless.  His hands tighten when Tim goes to take the scrub top from him, those electric blue eyes beseeching. “We’d feel so much better if you didn’t push yourself, Baby. You were right in the middle of a collapsing bridge. You almost died.”

What now? Seriously?

“When is that any different from what you two face every night?” He demands hotly, pulling the top out of Dick’s curiously suddenly-lax grip. “It’s Gotham, Dick. Bad things happen to good people all the time, but it’s people like us that have to keep up the effort.”

“Not at ‘cher expense, Sweetheart,” Jay contradicts softly against his throat while Dick’s eyes get mysteriously shiny.

“I said I’m okay, and I mean it,” he argues soft and firm, “it’s time for me to go back and get to work.”

“There are hundreds of doctors—” Dick tries haltingly.

“I’m not having this argument,” Tim comes back, reluctant but decidedly pulling out of Jay’s mesmerizing hold. “Because there is nothing to argue about.”

He steps away, moves out of the bedroom because it is just too easy for them to convince him there. The t-shirt to go under the top is there, and he throws it on fast in an attempt to save himself from the very hot and pouty vigilantes following him. He’s struggling into the scrub top, pulling it down over his t-shirt (it’s about the computations behind unicorns. Yeah, yeah, it’s a great shirt), picks up his badge off the kitchen table to clip to the pocket, and has the vigilante only medical bag ready for things like just incase.

When he turns around, his boyfriends are blocking the way to the door, giving him the look. Tim keeps himself from sighing, but just barely.

“Sweetheart,” Jay starts out, seeming almost hesitant for a man that usually has no qualms tellin’ it how it is, “ya don’t got nothing ta prove ta us, you feel me?”

He tilts his head, blinking.

Dick picks up before he can deny anything, taking a step forward and reaching out a hand, “it’s fine to take as much time as you need, Timmy. We’re not...we’re not going to judge you, okay?”

So he inhales slowly, counts to ten.

Not helping.

He repeats the process.

“I really appreciate it,” he starts, “how much you care. But—”

“But nothing,” Jay finally raises his voice a little, his arms getting tight, “you ain’t gotta do that shit, Tim. We do what we do ‘cause there ain’t nothing else, but that don’t mean jack-fuckin’-squat that cha gotta keep up with us!”

“That is not what this is about,” he snaps back, starting to feel anger curl up his spine. “This has nothing to do with Nightwing or the Red Hood or any of the night life!”

“The hell it don’t—” Jay comes back heatedly, taking a step closer.

“This is about my life,” Tim interrupts viciously, “it’s about how I do what I have to do, and it’s no less important than the Red Hood or Nightwing or Batman or anyone else!”

He sees Jason gritting his back teeth, but they’re too far into it to stop now.

“Tim,” Dick is firm, resolute, “we push ourselves because if we don’t, then—”

“People die, Dick?” He comes back, turning to the older vigilante, “if Nightwing isn’t in Gotham, people might die? How is that any different than what I—”

“Because it’s you,” both of them yell back at him in an eerie kind of sync, startling him out of the snarling knot in his lower belly.

“God, fuck, Tim,” Jason yells at the ceiling, throwing up his goddamned hands, “don’tcha think we paid enough f’ karma ta just stop fuckin’ wid us? Well, we apparently ain’t.”

Dick’s hand on his shoulder makes Jay ease back, just a bit.

“Being with us is always going to mean you’re in danger, do you understand that, Tim?” And the torture is right there in Dick’s eyes, in the tight draw of muscle and fine tremble of his hand. “And one of these days, just like on that bridge, we’re going to be too far away. We won’t...we won’t be able to make it in time.”

Oh.

Oh.

And because he hadn’t seen this before, hadn’t realized this is why the two of them were so crazy about things, he blames shock for the obvious malfunction in his brain.

“If I wasn’t in love with you two, I’d seriously beat the shit out of you for underestimating me,” but his voice is hoarse with emotion. “And for the shitty double-standard. There have been times when I almost haven’t made it to either of you and if you think for one second-”

But he stops because Dick and Jason are staring at him wide-eyed and slack-jawed.

Jay has a hand out, like he was reaching for Tim and just froze. Dick has a hand splayed over his chest, staring with his mouth hanging open.

And Tim blinks back whatever rigamarole he was going to come out with because—

Oh God. He said it.

The little epiphany he had while the world was crumbling under him, everything falling away, when he thought this is the end, and I didn’t even get to tell them good-bye.

It’s like one of those Hallmark movies where realizing how much you love someone is finally so crystal clear it’s amazing how you ever could have missed it.

And he just threw it out there like a complete dumbass without even thinking because Dick and Jay probably didn’t feel that way, couldn’t right? There was no way they could be as invested, and he’d probably made them extremely uncomfortable, maybe even enough that they—

Please don’t be gone by the time I get back. Please don’t pack up your things and try to let me down easy. Please, please be able to pass that off as a fluke.

“I’m sorry I said that,” he rushes before they can come out of shock, “I shouldn’t have. Put that on you two, I mean. Forget I said it and let’s just keep being us. How we’re-we’re comfortable. I shouldn’t haven’t… That was wrong of me, but a-anyway,” he keeps on talking, literally pushing between the two of them, able to move them easily, carefully not thinking about how the fight has just suddenly gone out of them. “It’s...it’s what our lives are. So...so, I’m not going to let it hold me back,” and God, his throat feels scratchy and his tongue too thick, stuttering out. His hands are minutely shaking by the time he manages to get the front door open, ready to just run.

“I’m...I’m going to work and do what I do. Tonight, you guys do the same, and we’ll...we’ll have dinner and everything is going to be fine, okay? It’s-it’s fine. It’s all going to be fine.”

And he can’t even look at them when he darts out, closing the door tightly behind him.

**

The welcome backs are nice. The hustle and bustle is business-as-usual familiar and just enough to keep his brain busy so he doesn’t have to think too hard about other things (like Dick and Jay having a conversation after he left, about them thinking maybe they should pull back a little, give him some space to get a handle on his apparent feelings. God, what if they’re moving their stuff back to Dick’s apartment right now? Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, don’t think about it).

His leg starts aching up halfway through the shift and he manages to duck into one of the supply closets to massage the muscle out for a few minutes before he goes back on the floor for the next round of patients coming into his ER.

The second time a hard shock of pain shoot up into his hip and makes the leg almost give out on him. The Chief of Staff is very not happy about it.

“I can’t believe you,” Lucas Trent shoves him down in a chair while the healing muscle twitches and spasms, kneeling down to shove Tim’s scrub pant leg up and look at the injury. “Anyone else and you would have thrown them the hell out the second they came through the door. Seriously Tim, you had another week.”

“I was bored,” he grits out as those hands massage out the painful cramp. “I needed to come back to work.”

Luke looks back up at him with a frown, “the muscle is still traumatised, Tim. It’s not healed enough for you to take the longer shifts. I’m giving you straight eights for a while, so you’re out of here immediately. I’m calling you a cab, you’re going home, and taking care of this leg as soon as possible. Understand?”

Tim closes his eyes a little, shudders when he thinks about going home. “Yeah, yeah, okay.”

Trent stands back up and lays a hand on his shoulder, “Tim are you okay?”

“It hurts a little,” he comes back too quickly, not looking up. He busies himself by rubbing the leg out a little more and pulling his pant leg back down.

The Chief of Staff huffs out a sigh since he really likes Drake, but the guy can be a pain-in-the-ass. While Tim’s head is bent, a flash of something makes Luke look up quickly, catching a flash of white in the window. His eyes narrow at the flash of black and blue, but he schools his expression into neutral lines while Drake stands up and gives him a half-hearted, watered-down version of his usual grin.

“Thanks, Luke. I’ll take the shifts, try not to kill myself.”

“Everyone would appreciate that, Tim. Now go home! Don’t make me call in Stephanie and Layla or you’ll be in real trouble.”

The effect is immediate, Tim’s hands coming up in a no, no, anything but that. “No need for that. Like, at all, I’m going. See? This is me leaving.”

Nodding in approval, the Chief of Staff’s eyes slide back to the empty window, thoughtful on why one of Gotham’s premiere vigilantes would be outside his hospital at this time of night when it should be close to time for all Bats to turn in for the day. He hums to himself on the way back to his office, wondering if one of his best people might be of interest.

As Luke Trent heads back to the mounds of paperwork sitting on his desk, Tim half-limps into the break room to pull his bag out of his locker. He’s got one earbud in while he waves to everyone and takes a few minutes to update the replacement attending about the night’s activities. He’s numb by the time he gets outside in the crisp air, shivering automatically in his oversized hoody, listening to Imagine Dragons in one ear while the other keeps him from getting snatched into crazy vans (again). The burn in his calf is a secondary owfuck while he takes familiar back alleys and passes by the all-night bakery six blocks from his penthouse.

He gets about two blocks away, just has to make a left and he’ll be home in a few minutes, when his heart gives a hard thump in his chest and his feet won’t carry him any farther. The horrible indecision lingers in his brain pan, the possibilities, the what-ifs he’s tried not to focus on hitting him right where he’s about to make that damn turn and potentially unlock the door to see the familiar sights, Dick’s uniform shirt laid out over a chair, Jason’s holsters beside the couch, the mountain of DVDs, the clothes in his closet that are perpetually too big, the Superman and Wonder Woman toothbrushes on his sink, all of it—

Gone.

Instead of taking the left, Tim lets himself fall back against the brick and mortar of the old Soda Pop stand long out of business, lets his hands splay over the coarse brick, abrading his fingertips as he tries to pull himself out of the quaking fear and nausea low in his belly. But really, it’s his own fault anyway.

He’d gone into this relationship with Dick and Jay knowing they could never commit to anything long-term, not with the lives they lead, the duties that lay heavily on the two of them. He’d always know this thing they had was living on borrowed time.

It was okay because he understood that’s how it had to be, how they had to be. There could be no promises or I love yous because their lives didn’t allow for that (or because the two of them weren’t there. They cared, yes, they were with him as much as they could be, but to love him? That...that’s asking so much when Gotham, the world, already takes so much of them every fucking night). Saying it out loud was just a selfish thing on his part, a stupid, selfish mistake.

A mistake that might have costed him the best thing he’s ever found.

So when his eyes get hot, it makes Tim even angrier at his own selfish feelings because really he did this to himself.

With a hand out for balance, he limps back to the narrow alleyway between the two dilapidated buildings and lets himself sink down to the dirty ground, his other hand slapped over his mouth tight. Deep breaths through his nose, the twitching, twinging muscle in his leg radiating thumping pain in tune to his heartbeat, his chest shuddering when he attempts to just get himself under control again, to steel himself for whatever he might have to go home to face.

(But he could just keep walking straight instead, keep walking until he gets to Ives’ or Steph’s, to be there instead of the crazily empty apartment where the memory of being sat on the counter by big hands, of being sandwiched between two warm bodies on the couch, of stitching up broken skin and wrapping painful muscle damage, of throwing popcorn at the TV screen, and holding on tight enough to make his arms ache when memories were inescapable.)

Instead of standing up, he stays there, head in his hands, and lets himself shake apart for a few long and painful minutes.

The soft sigh in the night, the boots on concrete are lost in his silent self-recriminations, in berating he gives himself in the deep parts of his brain where he still can’t believe these two ever even considered someone like him worth their time.

(And he fucking ruined it all, didn’t he?)

“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay. I’m here.”

He jerks before Nightwing ever touches him, lurching to the side, gasping in a breath with his eyes still spilling over.

Staring up into the whiteouts is just another fucking dammit he really doesn’t need.

“What—” he tries hoarsely, quickly looking away to scrub at his face, “why aren’t you on patrol?”

The hands on him, the fingerstripes against his wrist, all so familiar and soothing, torturing him without the intent.

“I stopped by the hospital to check on you,” N admits without a hitch, “I was worried you’d push too hard. You...you always give everything you have no matter what. Timmy, Jay and I—”

“Don’t,” he moves away, out of those hands, manages to get his feet under him, “it’s—I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. If you’re-if you’re leaving, I...I get it. I get it, and it’s fine.”

But his eyes are filling up again because no matter what his mouth might say, it still so fucking painful he feels like his chest is going to close up, going to keep him from getting any air.

“Wait, what?” N follows him, hearing the disgruntled noise over the comm in his ear. “What? Tim, what are you talking about?”

But the doctor is moving toward the mouth of the alley, retreating from this terrible conversation, wondering if he shouldn’t just go right the hell to Ives and stay for a few days.

“Don’t like this, Dickie,” Hood sounds just as disturbed as N feels, “somethin’ ain’t right here.”

With one finger, N taps the comm, “you’re not seeing what I’m seeing. Rendezvous at the nest. ASAP.”

He gets an arm around Tim’s waist before his civilian boyfriend can make good on an escape, already firing a grapple to get them airborne before Tim can try to kick out of his hold.

“Put me down,” is rough, harsh even with the wind whipping back and forth, “I can walk just fine, and Gotham needs you—”

“You need me more right now.” Nightwing replies darkly against his ear. “Stop arguing and hold on.”

And because it’s easier, he actually does, winds an arm around Nightwing’s neck, keeping his face firmly over a broad shoulder so he doesn’t have to look at those whiteouts, so the part that’s apparently coming (“It ain’t that we don’t like ya, Timmers, ain’t that at all—”  “It might be best if we take a...a break, okay? Give us all some time to think.” “It ain’t chu, Tim, it’s us, you feel me?”).

All he has to do is keep his calm, to let them say their piece, and...keep himself together when he has to—

(when he has to let them go)

—let them leave.

Once Nightwing lands it on the roof of his perch, Tim pulls out of the vigilante’s hold and limps his hurt ass right to the fire escape, muscles tight with the struggle to keep his shit together. It’s fine, he reminds himself, nothing lasts forever.

He doesn’t fall through the window, but it isn’t for lack of trying.

His leg feels like a burning point of pain shooting lightening up to his hip when he crosses the living room, pulling the scrub top off, laying his vigilante-only bag down. He doesn’t go for coffee or food, doesn’t look up at whatever message might be left on the fridge from the day while he was gone, doesn’t look too closely at anything in case things are already missing.

Instead, he pulls out a chair from his table and sits his weary ass down, throwing his hurt leg up on the chair beside him, turning to it, hunching over himself to look at the spot where he’d taken the stitches out himself the day before yesterday.

A mug is softly set by him on the table by a gloved hand, but he thumbs a trickle of blood away from his calf and tries resolutely to ignore the very nice gesture.

(Because he knows what’s coming. Everyone leaves him, even Steph did for a while.)

“I’m home, you can go back to patrol,” he tries a little desperately, jaw tight enough that the muscles twitches.

“Slow night,” Nightwing’s voice changes, becomes Dick as the domino comes off. He pulls out the other chair by Tim’s legs, deactivates the gauntlets, pulls them off with the gloves. “I’ve got nowhere else to be, baby, but right here with you.” Bare hand on his ankle, thumb moving over the bone.

Tim opens his mouth, almost blurts out, “for how long though? Can’t we just go back to where we were yesterday?” but closes his mouth so fast his teeth clack together.

The hand on his ankle tightens.

Tim busies himself with wrapping gauze around his calf, eyes focused on what he’s doing, refuses to look up at Dick’s face, Dick’s electric blue eyes, Dick’s I’m so sorry expression. So that’s the situation when the Red Hood hits the window, steps in still fresh from patrol with the scent of gunpowder and brimstone following him like cologne.

“Notcha best idea, yeah Tim?” The vigilante is already stalking across the room, gloved hands working by his sides.

If anything, his baby boy’s shoulders curve further down into himself, and Hood pulls off the helmet, puts it right on the table as he passes by. He looks up at Dick’s worried expression, a silent exchange back and forth since years of being partners have given them every ability to speak volumes without the need to say a single word.

When Dick’s frown deepens, when his brows draw together, Hood gets that all ain’t right in the world.

He pulls at the dom, gives it a toss, and bend down over their doctor. He doesn’t give a fuck what else is doing, winds still gloved fingers in too-long hair and pulls.

Tim’s head goes with the unexpected move, his eyes wide when his throat is exposed at the odd angle of the hold. He is completely unprepared for the mouth slanting down across his, for the lingering, familiar taste of cigarettes and chewing gum when a tongue is pushed into his mouth, slides over his in one hell of a hiya baby, how’s kicks?

Jay gives himself a few minutes to enjoy it. Sucks a little on Timmy’s lower lip, maps out that mouth until he gets a small noise, one that makes him all kinds of satisfied.

When he pulls back, Tim’s eyes flutter open wetly, and just the sight makes Jay straighten with a little dread rolling through his abdomen.

“Aw shit, s’at bad, ain’t it, Sweets?” His gaze goes to the leg Tim’s got propped up on a chair, notes the few splotches of blood on pristine bandages.

“It kind of...hurts. The Chief sent me home,” admitting it doesn’t make him feel bad because, you know, pending truth bombs and such.

“Coulda called,” Jay points out, picks up the mug and puts it in his palm.

Dick follows up, sliding his chair closer so both hands can take over the bandage job.

He sips his coffee since it’s in his hands and gives him a convenient excuse to do something in the ruminating awkward.

Still, it doesn’t take much to roll his eyes up and smirk, “nah. Figured you were busy beating the shit out of the Penguin for his bad life choices. Who wants to break up that?”

It’s enough for Jay to bark out an abrupt laugh, but the follow-up is the younger vigilante leaning down for more, being easy to make it nice n’ sweet.

(Timmy can have certain...tendencies. Running from things that could physically hurt him? Naw. Some things vaguely emotion-shaped? The whole story gets left out, makes you have to read between the lines.)

He keeps up with some slow, drugged kissing until Tim sighs against his mouth and his shoulders ease down. It might be a terrible thing that he keeps their boy distracted so Dick can lift his leg carefully in both hands and slither over the seat, hold the injured leg over his thigh the two of them closing in.

When he finally leans up, gives Timmy a little space, Dick is right there to supplement, nosing behind Tim’s ear before coming back for his turn. And it’s just like Dick to want to give proof with his body, to want to be close and hold on, to have one hand on his jaw, the other gripping his thigh while he drags his mouth over Tim’s until he sneaks inside.

(Apparently they had some things to prove here, Timmy.)

“That’s better,” Dick finally sighs against his mouth and sits back to rub circles in his calf knowledgeably (well, acrobat that is experienced with muscle strains and such).

Tim very pointedly brings up his coffee to hide how stupidly he’s smiling because ugh, boyfriends (yeah, yeah, so sometimes he’s a dumbass, but honestly, they’re going to be nice about it is all, so at least they aren’t going to just up and go. That...that’s fine, he can handle that).

“So, good night? You know, before you might have had to rescue a totally metaphorical damsel in distress?” He sits back too, easing down from the gnawing, yawning pit of fear that they (that everyone) would just—

Disappear.

(Trust him to get the most stubborn, and capable significant others pretty much on Earth.)

Jay hums and goes to the coffee pot with a kiss to the top of his head while Dick continues to work, eyes half-mast and rubbing those soothing little circles rhythmically.

“A few purse snatchers. Maybe a bank robbery if Demon wasn’t such a kiss ass,” Jay’s World’s Best Zombie mug is just the right look.

“Stop calling him Demon Spawn and he might be nice enough to let you in on it next time,” Dick points out serenely, “he’s a good kid once you get to know him.”  

“Unfortunately, avoiding sharp, pointy things to the face is the first steps,” Tim volunteers.

He gets a hum and a laugh, watching Jay pull a chair out and flip it around effortlessly so he and Dick are facing him.

Shit. Here it comes. The let-down.

Jay takes a sip from his mug, but those eyes never leave him, the green flecks barely visible, and Dick sobers, the little circles moving up to his knee.

“About...about ah, earlier—” he scratches the back of his neck while his face gets hot, damn his pale skin.

“I want to hear it again,” Dick interrupts softly, “that. That wasn’t really fair, Timmy. So, you have to say it for us again.”

And if he breathes in too fast, that must be why his chest is suddenly achy and his heart picks up just a little faster.

“Yeah,” Jay echoes, “yeah, Dickie, I feel that. I think maybe ya owe us that much, Baby Bird.”

He swallows a little, mouth suddenly dry, and looks from one to the other, “I’m in love with you two. It’s...it’s not new, but yeah. Without the masks, without the gadgets and the world-saving, that- that wouldn’t change. Robin, not Robin, vigilantes or the guys that lay with me on the couch and Netflix, either way, that’s going to be my answer.”

He blinks abruptly, realizing how fucking stupid that must sound, straightens up and works his hands around his mug.

“It’s...I don’t expect anything back, okay? I mean, that’s not why I...I shouldn’t have just dropped it like that, so I mean, things aren’t going to change or-or—it’s...You two were together before, you know, this, so if that’s how it is, I’m okay with—”

But the hand floats into his peripheral and takes the mug out of his hands. Stupidly, he watches it happen, head moving with the motion to put it on the table. Dick is already standing, grips his biceps to pull him up on his feet, compensating for Tim’s hurt leg, and sit his butt down on the table top. With his thighs spread to accommodate Dick’s hips wrapped up in Nightwing, his face is tilted up with those hands so thumbs can move over his jaw.

“I’m completely, crazily in love with you,” and Dick’s eyes are so fucking blue, darkening with the easily given admission. “The minute I woke up on your couch with my injuries taken care of and you asleep on the floor, I knew I was in trouble. It was...it was so hard on me to stay away in those early days, Tim, but I tried for you. I’m not sorry that it brought us here. I’m sorry every time you get involved in our messes, when you have to patch us up and get angry about it. I’m sorry I can’t promise for one hundred percent I’m always going to come home to you. But I can promise that while I’m still breathing, I’m always going to come back. You’re mine, Tim. For as long as you’ll have me, you’re mine.”

“Dick…” and dammit, now his eyes are all hot and full again, his voice cracking slightly.

The slow and soft move of their mouths together is that promise burned into his skin, and he’s helpless to do anything other than grip Dick’s wrists and open for his ownership.

An arm sneaks around his waist and he’s held closer, right up against the Kevlar and Nomac weave, his eyes fluttering shut when the kiss deepens and he can let Dick take over.

It never becomes too overwhelming, stays this perfect intensity.

“I’m sorry,” is breathed against his mouth, “I’m sorry I didn’t say so sooner.”

Whatever he might have said is groaned into Dick’s mouth.

It slacks off to just slow, drugged kisses and assurances in between, on how much Dick needs him, how much he makes their lives better, how he fills in this gap they never knew was there. And by the time Dick pulls back to rest their foreheads together and let his fingers ease the muscles in the back of Tim’s neck, the doctor’s mouth is red and wet, lips puffy and eyes soft with something utterly fond.

Those hands finally let him go so Dick can do that thing where his body is literally able to move in any direction at any moment, and slide across the table to bracket him from behind. He gets Jay next, fingers in his hair and the familiar smirk softer than the usual.

“Ain’t all that good with words, Sweets,” and he might breathe out a little harder at the low, syrupy quality of Jason’s baritone sliding across his spine like fingers, “but what I know ‘s real simple. Real easy ta understand.”

The hand tightens a little in his hair, holding him still so he can get the full view of Jay’s eyes, “me n’ Dickie ain’t right wi’out cha. It ain’t me n’ him, it’s us, baby, you feel me? There ain’t no Dick ‘n Jay without Timmy. There ain’t no baddie out there hard enough, mean enough, fucked-up enough ta keep me from comin’ back here ta ya. Not yet. Someday, maybe. Some day, when it’s my goddamned time, and they put me back ina ground, at least I’m gonna be able ta say…” Jay pauses, staring hard, throat bobbing as he swallows, “I’ma gonna be able ta say I fucking loved this little pain in my left nut more n’ anything. That he made alla hard fights n’ long nights worth every goddamned second. Little shit what don’t know how ta run, gotta keep tryin’ ta fucking save me.”

And the volumes behind it, behind Jason’s weary eyes, when the old pain and hurts, when the fears and indecisions, when the Pit and its’ temptations rise out of his soul to devour all the things he fights to keep, when the world should just move the fuck on and leave him where he belongs, it’s all there, laid open, bare to the world.

Tim Drake is one of the few that’s ever been able to see it.

So it’s him, that grips and pulls, that brings Jason closer, wraps his arms around the body suit, uses his leverage to pull so breath on his throat is heavy and wet-sounding, so the warm on his jugular sliding down is just that much evidence on what spectacular dumb assery it is to even think they might just—

Leave.

“Took too long ta figure it out, baby” is so soft he could almost imagine it’s not even there in his skin. “Never gonna give up on me, are ya?”

The laugh bubbles up, spills out of his mouth, cracks just around the edges, “no, you asshole, I’m not.”

“Must be martyrs, you n’ Dick then, yeah?”

Arms wrap around him from behind, Dick sliding a little closer to bracket his body between powerful thighs while Jay finally tilts him back enough to make the kiss just as easy as before, barely any pressure, an invitation that will never be a no.

And it’s crazy how Jason is laughing in his mouth while Dick’s arms tighten slightly and his forehead is pressed into the base of Tim’s neck, how the doctor gets sandwiched between them with the lines of their bodies fitting in this perfectly unperfect kind of puzzle, making a whole picture without the need to slide to the side to make it the right fit.

They’re going to keep him there and trade lazy kisses and easy touches, talking into skin and against lips, laughing and bantering, wallowing in something very comfortably warm.

His leg is eventually unwrapped, held in gentle hands, gets photographed and sent to Alfred because, you know, Bats, rewrapped while something delicious cooks and fills the kitchen with the usual smells of home.

It’s just one of those things when he gets carried to the couch (damn, back to this again?) and they lay all over each other while Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow runs as white noise.

The chemistry probably changes a few minutes in and a hand might sneak down below the waist to start a little something nice.

It progresses to hands running up sides, taking away covering so scars can be traced and sensitive skin brought to life with palms and mouths.

The eventuality is so good, not enough, more, and not yet. It’s how he could possible let this, any of this, any of them, go. It’s the fight to keep them up and moving whenever he can, to be the eye of the storm when the lives they lead come crumbling down but he can still do something even if it is just holding on. And while his body is brought to the peak, when he can’t think in full sentences, when he’s crying out and arching up or back or down because there has to be more, then he can say it without a moment of hesitation.

He can scream it when he explodes and whisper it hoarsely while they’re coming down.

He can say it because he just has to, because they need to hear it as much as he needs to say it.

He whimper it against skin with his eyes wet.

He can say it because he means it.

“I love you...fuck, I love you.” 

#dr!tim #deleted scene #per request #lucas trent is midnighter's pseud #tim drake #dick grayson #jason todd #my fic #my writing

[kravkalackin]

do a post explaining your perfect events

Okay, for reference the changes would only start at Collide and I’m leaving out any personal wish fulfillment that wouldn’t have to do with the actual plot (ships and the like).

Under a readmore because this thing is about 1000 words long and includes pictures and screencaps 

So starting, Vriska’s plan should not have worked! Things looking bad for a minute and jane passing out and dirk being decapitated are not ‘oh no whatever shall our heroes do?’ moments. Vriska’s plan was awful. It refused to acknowledge potential allies (Slick), didn’t take in the characters strengths at all, left huge opponents up to unreliable circumstances (bec noir and PM), tried to eliminate key power players (Jade, GTavsprite), and most importantly, underestimated the felt. 

Now, Jake is powerful, that boy should have his time to shine, but beating the felt was not it. Do you really expect me to believe that all of the felt save for Cans and Clover would stay in one place and all fight the same person at once? Hell no, the second they got out of the oven they should have scattered all across the session. Possibly even before the second because time shenanigans. 

So, the felt immediately run all over the session, and jake ends up fighting maybe eggs, biscuits and doze at most. 

Now, Calliope has the ring of life and not filled in eyes, these are both important. The felt work for Caliborn remember, either Matchsticks or Crowbar would be the one to come across Calliope, Matchsticks because he can travel through fire and she was next to a fireplace, or crowbar because he’s the leader and most intelligent of the bunch. 

Whoever finds her though, would then proceed to say Caliborn’s name. Caliborn gets the ring of void in some way we never see and 

‘In places I have no place fucking with’ sounds like the session to me. Life and Void are clearly one ring, and when Calliope changes to Caliborn via calling the name, the ring changes as well. 

Meanwhile, both Spades and Union Jack refuse to stay and fight Dave, Dirk and Terezi. Union jack has the power to blow up moons! He’s blasting the planet they’re on and leaving, and Slick is following him. And remember that Spades is not an enemy of the trolls! They exiled him yes, but he then proceeded to help guide Karkat, and Jack is an opportunist. He wouldn’t throw away potential allies when he knows the strength of the enemy he’s fighting. He was enemies with the felt, but that didn’t stop him from bringing them in as his new crew the second he got the chance.  

Fighting the Condesce does not go well either. Did we forget what she was capable of in Game Over? Not only that but because of the unpredictable nature of the felt, I doubt GTavsprite will stay quietly asleep either. I do believe they kill her though, and as much of an awesome scene Roxy doing it is, I don’t think she’s the one to do it. 

I think it’s Dirk. 

And he’s the one to inherit the Curse.  

This isn’t because it’s not like the strider’s haven’t done enough in the comic already, but because of what Jujus are, and because as we’ve seen Dirk as a prince of heart can create active Jujus. 

We’ve had two jujus that have explanations for their powers, the House and Lil Cal, both of these things are powered by souls. An evil dirk corrupted and under the control of lord english would absolutely be in a position to create all the jujus we’ve seen. Here’s a handy chart of who I’d think go into what juju instead of writing it all out and the explanations why 

So, while we got Lord Dirk going Juju crazy, we have Jake. The theory for jake is adequately summed up in this image i worked super hard on and will use as many times as possible 

To summarize, Jake gets killed, possessed by Lord English, given Jack hands and the queen’s ring, thus creating caliborn’s totally original character do not steal. 

and thus everything is shit again because as it’s stated in the comic 

bringing back vriska is not going to magically solve all your problems when vriska hasn’t even sorted out her own shit. The kids and trolls left have to sit down and do what they’re fucking good at. Karkat needs a chance to use his ability to lead and make allies, Rose needs to tear the workings of paradox space apart and actually show some growth and complete her quest. Jane needs to… exist!!! Fuck, we she was told to go see her denizen, gets stopped by nanasprite and welp nevermind jane you don’t get to see your denizen that’s not important.  

I think the solution would fall in a third, mixed timeline, a literal combination of the gameover and post retcon timelines. Several things were left unanswered from gameover after all,the most glaring in my opinion being Who Was Dave? 

The Dave we see talking to Kanaya and Karkat is not the Dave we see going through his house. The Dave in that timeline refuses to time travel as well, so it can’t be a fast or future one either, and we never saw the loop anyway. It being a Dave perhaps from the retcon timeline would make some sense. 

I believe the only way for them to truly escape would be to go against the roles that have been laid out for them by paradox space, not fighting enemies like it’s a video game like it wants you to. Fighting can be and would be involved yes! but the important thing to remember is 

They have to exploit and plan and turn paradox space against itself. The masterpiece shouldn’t be the end, just another loop that they can turn in their favor. I wouldn’t say i’m a good enough writer to put out how they would do that like Hussie would, but this time I would have liked if Paradox Space and Lord English were the 

#homestuck #homestuck theory #i could go on #i could go on for /so much more/ #but this is long enough as it is #pretty much my main problem was collide #i was tempted to not put this under a readmore #because i'm kinda proud of it

[cwnerd12]

Autonomy:

Reinhardt briefs Silas, “There’s been no reports of surveillance or arrests of any of our remaining operatives in Gath which makes me believe that our spy did her job and didn’t crack.” Silas, “I don’t care about the other spies, I’m not worried about them. I want to know how Shepherd’s people got ahold of the dead spy. Do you have any information about that?” Reinhardt, looking defeated, “No.” Silas, “Why are you not looking into this, Director? It's a major security breach.” Reinhardt, “I am looking into this, it's just that a proper investigation takes time.” Silas, “Are there double agents in the MSS, or not, Director?” Reinhardt, “If there are, they would have been placed there by Reverend Samuels. Shepherd is just the figurehead here, you have to remember that Samuels is the one who made the plan. Frankly, I don’t even know if Shepherd is capable of leading without Samuels.” Silas, “Do not underestimate what Shepherd is capable of. That’s a mistake someone else can make, but not us.” Reinhardt, “So what should I do in the meantime, sir?” Silas, “Do your fucking job!” he rises out of his chair, “I’m going out.” Reinhardt, “Where are you going?” Silas, “Out!” He opens the door of his office, “Thomasina, go get Seth, we’re going out!”

In the palace firing range, Silas teaches Seth how to shoot. Seth grins widely as his shots hit near the target. Silas pats him on the back, bursting with pride, “Good shot!” Back aways, Reinhardt watches, seething with envy. Thomasina approaches him. She looks at Silas and Seth, and then says to Reinhardt, “It’s useless, you know. For as much as you connive and conspire, Silas is a family man. He would never choose you over his own son, no matter how perfect you are and how much you please him.” Reinhardt shoots her a furious look, “I am good at my job!” Thomasina, “I didn’t say you weren’t.”

Rose and Helen sit at lunch. Helen, “I’ve been wanting to sit down and talk to you for a while.” Rose punches something into her phone, “I’m putting in an order for lobster roles. I hope you’re okay with that.” Helen, “Well, I’m okay with them, but my deadly shellfish allergy isn’t.” Rose gives Helen a harsh look. Helen laughs awkwardly, “I’m kidding! Lobster roles will be wonderful!” Rose puts down her phone, “Good.” Helen goes on, “I wanted to speak with you because I’m not sure what my role here in the palace is.” Rose, “Your role is to be the mother of the new heir. My role as Silas’s wife and queen remain unchanged.” Helen, looking relieved, “Oh, good, I’m glad. You’re so good at all the royal stuff, and I’d just be absolutely terrible.” Rose, “Well, thank goodness we can be in agreement on that.” Helen smiles awkwardly, “I hope we can also agree that Seth, his well-being and happiness, are what’s most important here.” Rose, “I agree.” Helen, uneasily, “Well, I think it would be a good idea if you spent some time with him.” Rose, “I’m not his mother.” Helen, “I know, but he need to feel welcome here at the palace.” Rose, “He is welcome.” Helen, “He has questions. Questions that I can’t answer.” Rose, “Why can’t Silas answer them?” Helen, “They’re about Jack and Michelle, and Silas prefers to act like they don’t exist.” Rose, “I wouldn’t say anything without consulting Silas first.” Helen, “Then maybe you can just help him be royal!” Rose, “That is Silas’s job, not mine.” The door opens, and a waiter comes in, followed by Thomasina. Rose, without stopping, “Seth is not my child and he is not my responsibility.” The waiter sets two lobster roles out in front of Rose and Helen. They all exchange awkward eye contact. Thomasina, “Ma’am, Florence Duke has been calling you all afternoon. She insists it’s an emergency.” Rose rises, “I’ll see to it, then.” Helen, “Don’t you want your sandwich?” Rose leaves without saying anything. Helen looks back at Thomasina and the waiter, defeated, “Either of you want a lobster roll?” Waiter, “I can bring them back, if you like.” Helen, “I’ll eat mine.” Thomasina, “Go back to the kitchen.” She sits down in Rose’s place. The waiter leaves. Thomasina, “You shouldn’t poke at open wounds.” She takes a bite out of her lobster roll. Helen, “Do you have kids?” Thomasina, “A girl and a boy.” Helen, “How old?” Thomasina, “Sixteen and fourteen.” Helen, “A little old to be friends with Seth, then.” Thomasina, “I can bring them, some time.” Helen, looking hopeful, “Would you do that?” Thomasina, “I don’t know if I can answer some of the big questions for him, but I can tell Seth about Jack and Michelle. He deserves to know what they were like-” she pauses, “What they are like.” Helen, “Thank you. This is so much more than I thought I could get.” Thomasina, “It’s nothing.”

Welcome to Moab:

In Gilboa, Andrew sits at his computer. On the screen is GoDateYourself.com, a dating website. Andrew clicks “create profile.” He uploads a joyless picture of himself, and enters his information: Name: Andrew Cross, Age: 24, Sex : Male, Orientation: straight. In his “About me” section he types in, “I am very rich.” he presses upload, and the profile gets made. Andrew stares at it for a second, and immediately, responses begin to ding in his inbox.

Andrew sits in a fancy restaurant across from Chloe, a very pretty, blonde, and boob-y girl. Chloe, “So, do you like Sushi?” Andrew, “Yes. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t have invited you to a sushi restaurant.” Chloe, "I like sushi, too.” Andrew sighs, annoyed, “Look, Chloe, I’m not very good at small talk, to I’m going to get to the point. Since I acquired the Gilboan operations of my family’s company, I need to move on to the next part of my life, which means I need to get married. I picked you out because I think you are very attractive and your family history has no known hereditary illnesses or signs of infertility. I need a wife who will provide me with a son that I can pass the business on to, especially since my cousins seem to have forsaken the whole viable reproduction thing. We’ll probably get divorced after that, but I’ll make sure you are well-provided for. I need a baby oven and nothing more,” he reaches into his pocket, and reveals an enormous diamond ring in a grey velvet box, “Can you do that?” Chloe looks at the ring for a moment, and then says brightly, “Okay!” 

I am not afraid:

Rose sits in her office, looking at interior design plans. The speaker buzzes, and a secretary’s voice says, “Andrew Cross is here to see you, ma’am.” Rose rolls her eyes, “Let him in.” Andrew enters, “Good afternoon, Aunt Rose.” Rose, “What do you want?” Andrew sits down, “Considering that I haven’t spoken to you since certain events transpired, I thought I should take the time to do so.” Rose, “I’m busy today, so if you want to say anything, please just say it.” Andrew, “I’m getting married?” Rose, “You’re what?” She laughs derisively. Andrew, “I’m getting married to a lovely girl named Chloe. Since my father can’t be at the wedding, I’m inviting you to represent the Cross family there.” Rose, “What are you doing, Andrew?” Andrew, “Since I’ve acquired the Gilboan operations of CrossGen, I believe it’s time that I move on to the next stage of my life. And besides, The Cross family needs an heir. We don’t happen to have any extra children that we can just pull out of hiding.” Rose gives him a dirty look and the sighs, “If this is what you truly want, then I won’t say anything. Even if I did object, I can’t stop you. But perhaps you should take this girl on a few dates before you commit to marriage.” Andrew, “I’ve been frank with Chloe. I laid out for her exactly what I intend to use her for, and she accepts it. I don’t want to create delusions of a romance. That was the mistake my father made.” Rose, “Have you told your father about this?” Andrew, “Not yet, but I will.” Rose, “Before you speak to him, I would like you to do one thing.” Andrew, “Yes?” Rose, “Ask yourself, truly ask yourself, Is this what you really want, or is this what your father has told you that you want?” Andrew glances away, silent for a moment. Rose, “You can have anything, Andrew. Try to choose what will make you happy.” Andrew glances back at Rose. She smiles gently, “A life without love is a very lonely life.” Andrew, suddenly snarling, “But not so terrible that you didn’t hesitate to condemn Jack to it.” The kindness leaves Rose’s face, “The Cross family is not the royal family of Gilboa, no matter how badly my brother wishes it were. It can grant more allowances than the Benjamin family can. If getting married will make you happy, then I welcome it, and I will be at your wedding. But William is a miserable son of a bitch who left you behind to get arrested. It’s a mistake to believe he is worth pleasing.” Andrew, “I’ll send you an invitation, then. It’s a shame my cousins won’t be able to attend.” He gets up and leaves. When the door closes, Rose sniffs angrily for a moment, overcome with anger, but then she composes herself. She gets up and leaves her office. Outside, Helen walks down a hallway of the palace, holding her copy of Elite. Rose approaches and the two make eye contact. Rose looks down, and spots the magazine in Helen’s hands, “There it is! You took it!” Rose grabs the magazine. Helen: “What? I bought that at a newsstand!” Rose: “Then why is my copy missing?!” Rose looks down at the cover and sees David. Her expression goes stone cold, and she stares at the cover for a few moments. She opens the pages, and flicks through to the picture of Jack and Michelle. Her posture stiffens in outrage, but she remains outwardly calm. She looks up at Helen, “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Helen, “Enjoying what?” Rose: “You read everything they had to say about me, didn’t you?” Helen: “I was reading about the person who wants to overthrow the father of my child. Jack and Michelle are interviewed, but, they don’t mention you at all.” Rose glares at Helen. Helen: “If you’ll excuse me, I need to speak with Silas.” Helen takes her copy of the magazine from Rose, and leaves.

#kings

[gaylemccoy972-blog]

Tired of stereotypical girls' clothes, these women did something about it then banded together.

You might remember this photo that went viral back in April:

Original photo by Jason Y. Evans, shared with permission in this Upworthy post.

It was being sold in New York University's campus bookstore. The boys' equivalent to the girls' I hate my thighs baby onesie was I'm super. (I mean, really?! That's some pretty pointed messaging.) After the photo went viral, it was pulled from the shelves with an apology for the oversight.

Or maybe this one that went viral in 2013:

Really, @ChildrensPlace? Really?? pic.twitter.com/7BwnvQ0Wf2 A is For (@AIsForOrg) August 5, 2013

It was a T-shirt for girls that Children's Place was selling. There was no equivalent in the boys' section. After it was brought to the retailer's attention that it was pretty demeaning, they also pulled it from their store shelves. (Why it was printed in the first place remains a mystery.)

These are just a few incidents of extremely stereotypical girls' clothing. But it happens often enough, and a lot of girls' clothing is biased without being blatantly offensive.

Enter: a bunch of moms who were over it.

Done with it. They believe girls are gasp intelligent and capable and should be able to wear clothes that reflect their personalities without having to shop in the boys' section.

Even better, they want to give us clothing options to purchase for our girls that are done right, not just examples of what's gone wrong.

These moms have individually launched small businesses that create girls' clothing that allows girls to express who they are, whatever that may be.

And now, 10 of these small businesses have banded together to start a movement: #ClothesWithoutLimits.

Over the past few years, multiple stories about kids clothing have gone viral, Rebecca Melsky, co-founder of Princess Awesome told me. But they tend to focus on the negative. We wanted to let parents know there are more positive, more inclusive options out there for their children. We thought our voices would be louder together than they are alone.

Dress like a girl? Heck yeah!

The awesome thing about working as a group is that it's shown all of us and our customers how many different ways there are to 'dress like a girl,' Courtney Hartman, founder of Jessy & Jack and Free to Be Kids, shared with me.

The 10 companies that make up #ClothesWithoutILimits. Photo by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Through the campaign, these women are hoping to not only bring attention to the negative impact that clothing with stereotypical messaging can have on girls, but more importantly, to show the positive impact that positive clothing can have.

The messages sure run counter to the ones that many mainstream retailers have offered and they're exactly what our girls need.

This T-shirt, for example, is a nice (and totally opposite) option for girls who aren't so keen on acting like they're only good at shopping, dancing, and music but not math, as with the Children's Place shirt:

T-shirt by Free to Be Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

'Cause here's the thing: Messaging is important. And when our girls are indirectly being told from every angle, including their clothing, that they're incapable of certain things, it starts to wear on them.

Malorie Catchpole of buddingSTEM explains, When girls don't see dinosaurs, space, and other science themes on their clothing, it tells them that things like science and engineering aren't for them.

Not sure messaging matters? Think again!

A study shared by the New York Times, for example, found that many elementary school teachers have unconscious biases about girls' math abilities as compared to boys' and it affects how they interact with them:

The researchers concluded that in math and science, the teachers overestimated the boys' abilities and underestimated the girls', and that this had long-term effects on students' attitudes toward the subjects.

This isn't to place blame on teachers we all have biases we don't realize about a variety of things. Instead, it's to point out those biases and create change. Because the study also highlights how powerful a little encouragement can be for children, as the NYT notes.

And that's why clothing matters, too clothing that lets girls express their interest in robots or dinosaurs or other science subjects, like this one:

T-shirt by Jessy & Jack. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And this one:

T-shirt by Jill and Jack Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can be into anything they find interesting, like this:

T-shirt by Princess Free Zone. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can actually be anything they want, like this:

T-shirt by Handsome in Pink. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And clothing that lets girls express many parts of themselves, like this atomic shells dress because nobody said clothing that's empowering to girls can't also be in a style that's traditionally for girls:

Dress by Princess Awesome. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And there's another message here one that's less apparent but equally important: the strength of women banding together to empower our girls.

Many of these businesses seem to be in competition with one another, selling empowering girls' clothing. But that didn't stop the women from these 10 companies from joining forces and using their voices, which are louder and stronger as a collective, to get the message out there that clothes for girls shouldn't have limits.

Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today, buddingSTEM Co-Founder Jennifer Muhm told me.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today.

We want all kids to be able to find clothes that fit who they are and what they like, but we're small businesses who can't possibly offer every single option on our own. There is definitely room for more than one option for girls who prefer blue, outer space, or dinosaurs. We just want parents to know those options exist, so they can find the one that's right for their child.

We are ten brands, but behind those brands are more than ten women, and we are all strong leaders and really passionate about what we're doing, added Gina Dobson, founder of Sunrise Girl.

We have to be really mindful of making sure everyone's voice is heard and everyone is happy. The great thing is that our relationships with each other developed organically as we discovered each other's brands, and we have a lot of mutual respect.

Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

If one person or company isn't happy with something, or we can't easily arrive at consensus, we pause, get on a group phone call and talk it out until everyone is satisfied with the solution. Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

How's that for the kind of message we want our girls to receive? We're stronger together and we can work alongside one another and be successful. We're in this together.

That's a message, in addition to awesome clothing, that we can all get behind.

Read more: http://www.upworthy.com/tired-of-stereotypical-girls-clothes-these-women-did-something-about-it-then-banded-together?c=tpstream

[bradporter65-blog]

Tired of stereotypical girls' clothes, these women did something about it then banded together.

You might remember this photo that went viral back in April:

Original photo by Jason Y. Evans, shared with permission in this Upworthy post.

It was being sold in New York University's campus bookstore. The boys' equivalent to the girls' I hate my thighs baby onesie was I'm super. (I mean, really?! That's some pretty pointed messaging.) After the photo went viral, it was pulled from the shelves with an apology for the oversight.

Or maybe this one that went viral in 2013:

Really, @ChildrensPlace? Really?? pic.twitter.com/7BwnvQ0Wf2 A is For (@AIsForOrg) August 5, 2013

It was a T-shirt for girls that Children's Place was selling. There was no equivalent in the boys' section. After it was brought to the retailer's attention that it was pretty demeaning, they also pulled it from their store shelves. (Why it was printed in the first place remains a mystery.)

These are just a few incidents of extremely stereotypical girls' clothing. But it happens often enough, and a lot of girls' clothing is biased without being blatantly offensive.

Enter: a bunch of moms who were over it.

Done with it. They believe girls are gasp intelligent and capable and should be able to wear clothes that reflect their personalities without having to shop in the boys' section.

Even better, they want to give us clothing options to purchase for our girls that are done right, not just examples of what's gone wrong.

These moms have individually launched small businesses that create girls' clothing that allows girls to express who they are, whatever that may be.

And now, 10 of these small businesses have banded together to start a movement: #ClothesWithoutLimits.

Over the past few years, multiple stories about kids clothing have gone viral, Rebecca Melsky, co-founder of Princess Awesome told me. But they tend to focus on the negative. We wanted to let parents know there are more positive, more inclusive options out there for their children. We thought our voices would be louder together than they are alone.

Dress like a girl? Heck yeah!

The awesome thing about working as a group is that it's shown all of us and our customers how many different ways there are to 'dress like a girl,' Courtney Hartman, founder of Jessy & Jack and Free to Be Kids, shared with me.

The 10 companies that make up #ClothesWithoutILimits. Photo by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Through the campaign, these women are hoping to not only bring attention to the negative impact that clothing with stereotypical messaging can have on girls, but more importantly, to show the positive impact that positive clothing can have.

The messages sure run counter to the ones that many mainstream retailers have offered and they're exactly what our girls need.

This T-shirt, for example, is a nice (and totally opposite) option for girls who aren't so keen on acting like they're only good at shopping, dancing, and music but not math, as with the Children's Place shirt:

T-shirt by Free to Be Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

'Cause here's the thing: Messaging is important. And when our girls are indirectly being told from every angle, including their clothing, that they're incapable of certain things, it starts to wear on them.

Malorie Catchpole of buddingSTEM explains, When girls don't see dinosaurs, space, and other science themes on their clothing, it tells them that things like science and engineering aren't for them.

Not sure messaging matters? Think again!

A study shared by the New York Times, for example, found that many elementary school teachers have unconscious biases about girls' math abilities as compared to boys' and it affects how they interact with them:

The researchers concluded that in math and science, the teachers overestimated the boys' abilities and underestimated the girls', and that this had long-term effects on students' attitudes toward the subjects.

This isn't to place blame on teachers we all have biases we don't realize about a variety of things. Instead, it's to point out those biases and create change. Because the study also highlights how powerful a little encouragement can be for children, as the NYT notes.

And that's why clothing matters, too clothing that lets girls express their interest in robots or dinosaurs or other science subjects, like this one:

T-shirt by Jessy & Jack. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And this one:

T-shirt by Jill and Jack Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can be into anything they find interesting, like this:

T-shirt by Princess Free Zone. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can actually be anything they want, like this:

T-shirt by Handsome in Pink. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And clothing that lets girls express many parts of themselves, like this atomic shells dress because nobody said clothing that's empowering to girls can't also be in a style that's traditionally for girls:

Dress by Princess Awesome. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And there's another message here one that's less apparent but equally important: the strength of women banding together to empower our girls.

Many of these businesses seem to be in competition with one another, selling empowering girls' clothing. But that didn't stop the women from these 10 companies from joining forces and using their voices, which are louder and stronger as a collective, to get the message out there that clothes for girls shouldn't have limits.

Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today, buddingSTEM Co-Founder Jennifer Muhm told me.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today.

We want all kids to be able to find clothes that fit who they are and what they like, but we're small businesses who can't possibly offer every single option on our own. There is definitely room for more than one option for girls who prefer blue, outer space, or dinosaurs. We just want parents to know those options exist, so they can find the one that's right for their child.

We are ten brands, but behind those brands are more than ten women, and we are all strong leaders and really passionate about what we're doing, added Gina Dobson, founder of Sunrise Girl.

We have to be really mindful of making sure everyone's voice is heard and everyone is happy. The great thing is that our relationships with each other developed organically as we discovered each other's brands, and we have a lot of mutual respect.

Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

If one person or company isn't happy with something, or we can't easily arrive at consensus, we pause, get on a group phone call and talk it out until everyone is satisfied with the solution. Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

How's that for the kind of message we want our girls to receive? We're stronger together and we can work alongside one another and be successful. We're in this together.

That's a message, in addition to awesome clothing, that we can all get behind.

Read more: http://www.upworthy.com/tired-of-stereotypical-girls-clothes-these-women-did-something-about-it-then-banded-together?c=tpstream

[pedrowells24-blog]

Tired of stereotypical girls' clothes, these women did something about it then banded together.

You might remember this photo that went viral back in April:

Original photo by Jason Y. Evans, shared with permission in this Upworthy post.

It was being sold in New York University's campus bookstore. The boys' equivalent to the girls' I hate my thighs baby onesie was I'm super. (I mean, really?! That's some pretty pointed messaging.) After the photo went viral, it was pulled from the shelves with an apology for the oversight.

Or maybe this one that went viral in 2013:

Really, @ChildrensPlace? Really?? pic.twitter.com/7BwnvQ0Wf2 A is For (@AIsForOrg) August 5, 2013

It was a T-shirt for girls that Children's Place was selling. There was no equivalent in the boys' section. After it was brought to the retailer's attention that it was pretty demeaning, they also pulled it from their store shelves. (Why it was printed in the first place remains a mystery.)

These are just a few incidents of extremely stereotypical girls' clothing. But it happens often enough, and a lot of girls' clothing is biased without being blatantly offensive.

Enter: a bunch of moms who were over it.

Done with it. They believe girls are gasp intelligent and capable and should be able to wear clothes that reflect their personalities without having to shop in the boys' section.

Even better, they want to give us clothing options to purchase for our girls that are done right, not just examples of what's gone wrong.

These moms have individually launched small businesses that create girls' clothing that allows girls to express who they are, whatever that may be.

And now, 10 of these small businesses have banded together to start a movement: #ClothesWithoutLimits.

Over the past few years, multiple stories about kids clothing have gone viral, Rebecca Melsky, co-founder of Princess Awesome told me. But they tend to focus on the negative. We wanted to let parents know there are more positive, more inclusive options out there for their children. We thought our voices would be louder together than they are alone.

Dress like a girl? Heck yeah!

The awesome thing about working as a group is that it's shown all of us and our customers how many different ways there are to 'dress like a girl,' Courtney Hartman, founder of Jessy & Jack and Free to Be Kids, shared with me.

The 10 companies that make up #ClothesWithoutILimits. Photo by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Through the campaign, these women are hoping to not only bring attention to the negative impact that clothing with stereotypical messaging can have on girls, but more importantly, to show the positive impact that positive clothing can have.

The messages sure run counter to the ones that many mainstream retailers have offered and they're exactly what our girls need.

This T-shirt, for example, is a nice (and totally opposite) option for girls who aren't so keen on acting like they're only good at shopping, dancing, and music but not math, as with the Children's Place shirt:

T-shirt by Free to Be Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

'Cause here's the thing: Messaging is important. And when our girls are indirectly being told from every angle, including their clothing, that they're incapable of certain things, it starts to wear on them.

Malorie Catchpole of buddingSTEM explains, When girls don't see dinosaurs, space, and other science themes on their clothing, it tells them that things like science and engineering aren't for them.

Not sure messaging matters? Think again!

A study shared by the New York Times, for example, found that many elementary school teachers have unconscious biases about girls' math abilities as compared to boys' and it affects how they interact with them:

The researchers concluded that in math and science, the teachers overestimated the boys' abilities and underestimated the girls', and that this had long-term effects on students' attitudes toward the subjects.

This isn't to place blame on teachers we all have biases we don't realize about a variety of things. Instead, it's to point out those biases and create change. Because the study also highlights how powerful a little encouragement can be for children, as the NYT notes.

And that's why clothing matters, too clothing that lets girls express their interest in robots or dinosaurs or other science subjects, like this one:

T-shirt by Jessy & Jack. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And this one:

T-shirt by Jill and Jack Kids. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can be into anything they find interesting, like this:

T-shirt by Princess Free Zone. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

Clothing that reminds girls they can actually be anything they want, like this:

T-shirt by Handsome in Pink. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And clothing that lets girls express many parts of themselves, like this atomic shells dress because nobody said clothing that's empowering to girls can't also be in a style that's traditionally for girls:

Dress by Princess Awesome. Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

And there's another message here one that's less apparent but equally important: the strength of women banding together to empower our girls.

Many of these businesses seem to be in competition with one another, selling empowering girls' clothing. But that didn't stop the women from these 10 companies from joining forces and using their voices, which are louder and stronger as a collective, to get the message out there that clothes for girls shouldn't have limits.

Photo provided by #ClothesWithoutLimits, used with permission.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today, buddingSTEM Co-Founder Jennifer Muhm told me.

This is an amazing group of like-minded women who care deeply about breaking down the gender stereotypes in kids' clothing today.

We want all kids to be able to find clothes that fit who they are and what they like, but we're small businesses who can't possibly offer every single option on our own. There is definitely room for more than one option for girls who prefer blue, outer space, or dinosaurs. We just want parents to know those options exist, so they can find the one that's right for their child.

We are ten brands, but behind those brands are more than ten women, and we are all strong leaders and really passionate about what we're doing, added Gina Dobson, founder of Sunrise Girl.

We have to be really mindful of making sure everyone's voice is heard and everyone is happy. The great thing is that our relationships with each other developed organically as we discovered each other's brands, and we have a lot of mutual respect.

Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

If one person or company isn't happy with something, or we can't easily arrive at consensus, we pause, get on a group phone call and talk it out until everyone is satisfied with the solution. Working with a big group has its challenges but we know we are stronger as a group, and that working together we can have more of a positive impact.

How's that for the kind of message we want our girls to receive? We're stronger together and we can work alongside one another and be successful. We're in this together.

That's a message, in addition to awesome clothing, that we can all get behind.

Read more: http://www.upworthy.com/tired-of-stereotypical-girls-clothes-these-women-did-something-about-it-then-banded-together?c=tpstream