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#the tilt kick without releve???
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Can’t wait to be sore for like all of spring break somehow even though it’s like two weeks after tryouts my body will still manage to do it
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giuliettagaltieri · 5 months
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Breath of Spring
Pairing: Young!Gojō x Young!Reader
Chapter Synopsis: Emotional constipation was Gojō Satoru's congenital defect.
Warning: angst, unrequited love, suggested misogyny, arranged marriage, age gap
Word Count: 1060
1 of 9
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Gojō Satoru has known you even before you knew how to walk.  He attended your naming day, he was already five years old then.  The memory is vague and blurred but he was certain of the strong feeling of dislike he had for you.  How is it that everybody was congratulating him, telling him that he is so lucky to be betrothed to you.  The well anticipated daughter of your family, one long awaited after having birthed with boys alone for nearly a decade.  But that does not have anything to do with him.  All you did was drool and suckle on your tiny fingers.
There was nothing particularly special about you, he comes to realize after you attended his 12th birthday.  It was a day he received many gifts, the wrapped packages piled so neatly in the corner by the handmaidens of the estate house.  He is not to touch any of them, lest some were sent by malevolent individuals who seek to bring harm to him and his family.  Not that he can’t see cursed material from a mile away but the elders of his house insisted.  He cannot complain either, it saved him from wearing fake smiles and throwing away forced gratitude.
It was why he was upset that his annual hunt had to come to a pause just so you could hand him your gift.  He eyed you with his much aggravation.  You are never without your nannies and personal guards, being sheltered from the world like a fragile little flower.  You were nearly half his age but you already act like an adult.  Like you were better than him.  It was as if your back had a rod with how straight it always appears to be, your chin always tilted upwards, and eyeing everyone as beneath you, how haughty.  It brought him great satisfaction to see you shy away from him though, your eyes always finding your dainty shoes whenever he is nearby.
Your handmaiden had to usher you forward so you would have the courage to hand him your gift.  The elders looked at his actions carefully, almost awaiting him to make a mistake just to have something to criticize him over.  He mutters a small “thanks”. And you nod at him and retreat back to the arms of your mother who was watching you with much fondness.
As he previously thought, you’re nothing different.  Just another puppet.
Gojō wasn’t in the mood for hunting afterwards.  Simply kicking rocks by the pond as his servitor accompanied him, standing a few meters behind him, still like a statue.
“The young master appears to be upset.”  The servitor says calmly, his voice even and unprovocative.  But young Gojō Satoru whips at him with so much fervor that the servitor nearly breaks into a smile.
“Upset?  For what reason?”  He scowls as he steps closer to the tall man.  He looks about ready to fight anything that moves, his face contorted to a wild scowl.  “Because of her?  That spoiled shrimp?  You think that pipsqueak is relevant enough to upset me?”
The servitor clears his throat to hide the smile as he closes his eyes.  “Perhaps the young master should be kinder to the young lady.” 
Gojō scoffs and looks at the tiny gift that he had in his clutches, never letting go of it ever since you handed it to him.  “Kinder?  She has done nothing but be a nuisance!”  In a fit of anger, he throws the carefully wrapped item to the ground.  A loud shatter of ceramics startles him, and the servitor flinches upon hearing the sound.  They both stare at the still wrapped gift, its shape no longer preserved and it looks nothing more than a heap of oddly shaped objects covered with the intricate fabric.
“Oh my.”  His servitor sighs, disappointed.  “What a shame, the lady was very excited to know how you liked her gift.”
Upon hearing this, Gojō raises his defenses, his teeth gritting as his cheeks flushed.  “You don’t have to do her biddings!”  Yet despite the outburst, the little boy’s eyes cannot leave the heap of your broken gift on the ground.  They have many talented craftsmen in the estate, it can be fixed, he is certain of it.  But then again, why does he need it fixed?  You’re insignificant, your gift is no different.
Or so he tries to convince himself.
His mood has not been better for the next few days.  He was cranky, snapping at anyone who looked his way for too long.  His father, ever so perceptive, asked young Satoru’s servitor about his dramatic, or at least worse than usual, turn of emotions. 
A day later, Satoru finds another wrapped gift atop his nightstand the moment he opens his eyes.  It was familiar, the shape of it.  When he reached for it, the weight of it was something his hand had known.  A small tag was attached and he read it, his still pouting lips moving as he read the words one by one.
To Gojō-sama.  Wishing you a fine day.
He knew the curve of your handwriting too well.  The frown in his brows deepened and deepened as he pulled the ribbon.  And the wrapping came undone and the ceramics figure of him and you, hands intertwined, stared back at him.
It was beautiful, smooth, and greatly detailed.  Even the clothes were made of the finest material.
But it was useless.  It was good to look at but there was no purpose to it. 
A knock in the door startles him, and he nearly drops the figure but he manages to grab hold of your foot, well the sculpture, he did not expect the dress to flip, showing him your bloomers.
Gojō twists the doll right-side up and pulls your dress down until it covers your ankles.  His face is bright red and warm.  It was simply too much for young Satoru.
“Young master, is everything alright?”  The door slid open a fraction but Gojō yelled for them to close it at once!
“Yes!  Everything is alright.”  His face was still aflamed as he clutched the dress tightly around your tiny body.
By the next day, you receive a bouquet of blue roses littered with baby’s breath accompanied by a poorly scribbled note of ‘Thanks’ from the young master of the Gojō estate.
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Where the Blue Roses Grow
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cranberrymoons · 6 months
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peppermint chocolate
prompt: came back wrong (@steddieholidaydrabbles) rated: m word count: 766 words tags: vampire eddie, morning fluff, established relationship
welcome to Day 2 of the fic advent calendar – bite-sized fics posting every day during the month of december. enjoy!
---
So, it turns out vampires can go out in the sun after all, which is… good to know? They just can’t be out in direct sunlight for too long without whining about it, or – that might just be Eddie, actually, but he’s the only vampire who exists, or at least the only one Steve has ever met, so.
Whatever.
Steve never expected for the intricacies of vampire morphology to be relevant to his life. He also never expected to survive hell a half dozen times or get the shit kicked out of him about as often, but – here we are.
“Are you even really a vampire?” he’d asked when he got over the initial shock of Eddie being not dead. “I mean, you don’t fly, you don’t get burned by the sun, you’re eating garlic knots…”
And Eddie had looked up from the pizza he was actively shoveling into his mouth after a week presumed dead in an alternate dimension and just – shrugged. 
Because whatever? Who knows what he really is. 
The demogorgons aren’t actually demogorgons; that’s just what Dustin decided to call them. The Upside Down isn’t really the Upside Down; that’s just the best way to make it make sense in their brains. 
And the vampire currently sliding his arms around Steve’s waist and hooking a chin over his shoulder and yawning with the sharp points of little fangs sticking out is maybe not actually a vampire, but the kiss he presses into the crook of Steve’s neck comes with a little nip that breaks the skin and makes blood bead up to the surface. 
So… vampire. 
Steve is used to it enough by now that he just grunts around his toothbrush and rubs a hand over Eddie’s forearm in morning greeting. He tilts his head to get him to shift his teeth to the skin of his shoulder where he’ll be able to cover it more easily when he goes to work later, lets his eyes fall shut as he feels the familiar pinch and pull of Eddie finding a vein to tap into.
“That’s enough,” he says after a moment. 
He spits foam into the sink, and Eddie bends with him, still latched on. Steve feels his head start to spin with it, and he digs his nails into the back of Eddie’s hand to get his attention.
“Eddie. Enough.”
He feels the sharp points of his teeth pull out of his skin, and then the warm flat of his tongue laving over the pinpricks of the wound, and he takes a deep breath.
“Sorry,” Eddie says quietly. He presses a soft kiss to the mark, already healing over to be replaced by a bruise. “I’m hungry.”
Steve raises his eyebrows at Eddie where their eyes meet in the mirror. “You’ve got to let me eat something first before you take too much,” he reminds him. “There’s a reason they give you cookies when you donate blood.”
Eddie’s arms tighten their hold on his stomach, and Steve can feel the hot, hard press of him behind as he crowds in closer. He’s always like this right after he feeds: all hands and lips and tongue. He still eats normal food, too, but they’d figured out early on that he can’t go more than a few days without getting hungry for… well. 
The other thing.
Steve turns his head to give Eddie what he’s after, lets him push his tongue past his lips into his mouth and lick over the ridges of his teeth. There’s an iron tang in Eddie’s mouth that mixes with the minty toothpaste taste on Steve’s tongue, and it makes him inch closer, letting Eddie nudge him up onto the countertop, crowding between his legs to get closer.
Eddie’s stomach makes a ravenous noise, and Steve pulls back to run a hand over the flushed line of his cheek, pumping warm with his blood.
“Go make breakfast,” he says quietly. He brushes another kiss over Eddie’s mouth. “Please?”
Eddie hums. “Is that the deal? Pancakes for blood?”
“That’s the deal,” Steve says. He raises his eyebrows. “No breakfast for me, no breakfast for you.”
“In that case, maybe I’ll add chocolate chips,” Eddie says. He licks out and lets his tongue catch on the backs of Steve’s teeth. “Or peppermint. Sweeten you up a little more. Stick a straw in you like a juice box.”
Steve just smiles, tweaking the ends of his hair where his elbows are looped over Eddie’s shoulders. 
“If you make me mint chocolate chip pancakes, you can do whatever you want.”
[also on ao3]
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inneedofsupervision · 2 months
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Hey Mister Villain
Finally, I can present you the long-awaited Sequel to No Spilling Secrets. I recommend reading No Spilling Secrets first, as that is relevant for understanding the context of this story.
Summary: After getting out of the claws of Clint, Bucky, and Sam, Peter can finally take a rest. Or can he? A single glance at Mr. Stark is enough to let the teen know his mentor waits for an explanation, and it better be a good one. He really should have thought about how to get out of this one, didn't he?
Read on Ao3
"Care to explain why you hacked Friday, Peter."
Oh fuck.
"Not the words I would use, but that sums it up well enough."
The words had tumbled out before Peter could stop himself. At least May and Steve weren't here to catch that slip-up. Mr. Stark merely raises an eyebrow, leveling the teen with a glance. The man is still waiting for an explanation that Peter is more than dreading to give to his mentor. Heck, Peter endured the dishing out of the bird bros and Bucky. He couldn't fold now just because Mr. Stark came off as a little intimidating. Speaking of Mr. Stark, said man stands stern-faced in front of him, arms crossed over his chest as he stares down at Peter in a voiceless dare to keep silent. 
Okay, cross that. Mr. Stark is more than a little intimidating. 
But still, Peter has come too far to spill. His mentor wouldn't let him live that down, not after creating a whole archive of Peter's embarrassing moments. It is pouring fuel straight into the fire.
Mr. Stark steps closer.
With one hand casually placed in the pocket of his three-piece suit while the other pulls down his glasses, the man glances over the rim. Peter gulps. He has to lean his head back to meet his eyes. Mr. Stark studies him for a moment, and Peter wonders what exactly the man is searching for when the sound of the man sniffing catches his attention.
Mr. Stark straightens, pushing his glasses back up.
"These three didn't manage to, but I know how to make you talk, Parker. Don't let it come to that." Peter lets out a huff in protest when his mentor suddenly pushes him, causing him to lie flat on the bench. The teen stares up at the older man in surprise before Peter's face contorts into a grimace as he finally registers Mr. Stark's words.
"You saw all of that?" Peter asks, hoping Mr. Stark would break out into that smug trademark grin, laughing as he pats him on the shoulder and tells him he was only messing with him. Mr. Stark, of course, didn't give Peter that. Instead, he is met with a slight tilt of the head as Mr. Stark gives him an unimpressed look. 
"This is my tower kid. What did you expect?"
The vigilante lets his shoulder sag in defeat. Of course, Mr. Stark watched the whole spectacle. Where is that hole in the ground to bury yourself? It's never there when you need it.
A finger flicks against his forehead.
"Don't go all kicked-puppy on me, kid. You wouldn't be in this predicament if you hadn't cracked the tower's system and left a security breach as wide as the Brooklyn Bridge. You bought this on yourself."
"Maybe that wouldn't happen if there was a better security system," mutters the teen under his breath. 
"Excuse me, what was that?" Peter's mouth shut instantly at the look Mr. Stark was giving him. How many times did he manage to piss his mentor off today? According to Mr. Starks expression, it was at least one time too many. Sensing that this wasn't going in a favorable direction, Peter made a drastic decision. 
He needs to escape. 
Now.
The man standing in front of the bench raises an eyebrow as the teen suddenly angles his legs up, bringing them close to his chest and bending his back, body forming an alarmingly accurate globular form. Without his trademark suit, the kid always seemed so inconspicuous it was easy to forget his powers and traits, counting in that inhuman flexibility. The kid tilts sideways, beginning to roll down the bench with an easiness that left the man wondering if Peter had done this before, the thought of that being a possibility alone giving him a mild headache.
"What- kid, you are not some overgrown roly-poly. What are you doing?"
Skillfully ignoring the bewildered tone of his mentor, Peter tenses his muscles while bracing for the fall, tilting his arms to avoid landing on his still-bound wrists. Mr. Stark takes off his sunglasses to pinch the bridge of his nose, tired of Peter's antics, before pocketing them in his breast pocket.
"Kid, you're not getting away without talking about this."
The older man rolls his eyes as Peter ignores him, the latter robbing his way forward on the floor, apparently on a mission to put the two super-soldiers in their team to shame. But it still wasn't quick enough. Peter wriggles forward as if his life depended on it, blatantly ignoring the pair of shoes moving at the same pace next to his head as Mr. Stark walks reversely next to him, hands folded behind his back as he looks down at the teen with mild amusement.
"Having fun, kid? How's the air down there?"
The engineer shakes his head when he doesn't get an answer, not even a sarcastic or snappy remark from his mentee. The latter keeps wriggling with a determined look towards the door still ten meters away. "And Rhodey calls me stubborn. Peter, kid, come on. Stop being silly." 
"Upfh!"
A tiny yelp escaped Peter's lips when he fell forward, courtesy of the polished dress shoe that pulled on the leg he had put on the ground in an attempt to stand up, only to fall flat on his stomach. 
"Come one, Peter. This starts to get boring, doesn't it."
The teen doesn't need to see the man know that Mr. Stark is most likely rolling his eyes at him as he continues ignoring him, only to further shuffle forward on the floor. 
"Friday, be a dear and give me and Mr. Parker some privacy."
Peter couldn't decide what let his heart beat faster, Mr. Starks words or the faint click of the door locking shut. 
"Mr. Stark!"
The boy's eyes widen as the dress shoe from before pushes under his stomach. He gets flipped onto his back, gazing up at Mr. Stark standing above him with a raised eyebrow and a corner of his lip turned up in unsuppressed smugness. 
Peter sucks in a breath at the sight.
"Mr. Stark, you look like a supervillain right now."
The man's lips qurik up as he strokes his clean-cut goaty. 
"If it takes a supervillain to end this nonsense, I might as well adapt to that role."
"Mr. Stark, no!"
It doesn't take a lot for the man to kneel and grab the squirming boy's wrists, pinning them over his head with one hand.
"Are you ready to talk, Spiderman?"
Peter feels the adrenaline kicking in as his lips twitch upwards in anticipation, his eyes focused more on Mr. Starks free hand than the man's face. Mr. Stark notices the glance at his hand. 
"You see this, webslinger?" asks Mr. Stark with a cold-toned voice that Peter hasn't heard the man using with anyone other than the press on a few occasions when reporters ask some too-invasive questions. He had even pulled the purple-tinted glasses back out and put them on, jumping at the chance to act like an actual villain, and Peter could only stare up at the man, feeling flabbergasted. 
Sure, Mr. Stark could act playful. 
But those mods were usually portrayed through a headlock with an easy way out, hair ruffling, and tons of jokes and banter. Occasionally, Mr. Stark tickles him during movie nights when Peter gets a little too sassy for the man's liking, ending with the teen nearly rolling down the couch giggling. Those moments usually last only a few seconds before Peter crawls back on the couch with Mr. Starks arm thrown over his shoulder, leaning against the man's side. Therefore, it was hardly surprising that Peter was a tad perplexed at the threat of getting tickled by his mentor. The latter seemed overly confident in getting Peter to talk, which results in the teen being curious and absolutely terrified at once. At least Mr. Stark didn't have super hearing, or he might have known just how effectively nervous his words alone were making Peter, going by how his heart was racing behind his ribcage. 
Unaware of the conflicting emotions Tony has caused to tumble around his mentee's head, he continues playing his villain act with a worryingly amount of perfection. The man holds his free hand up for the teen to see, moving his fingers down one after another in a quick motion like some cheap magician before pulling a bunny out of his top hat.
"This is the only tool needed to get you chirping, Spidey," continues the man, looking at his hand as if it were some weapon he had built and was particularly proud of. It leaves Peter gulping heavily.
"You might ask yourself why this," Mr. Stark waves with his hand, "is the way to break you. Well, let me elaborate, my wall-crawling little friend."
Peter opens his mouth to interrupt the cliche of the villain explaining his evil master plan in front of the bound hero. He gets silenced by a raised eyebrow and quickly clamps his lips shut, letting Mr. Stark have his moment.
"I happen to stumble over some interesting information about you, Spiderling. Some would even say it is a bit of a weakness."
Oh gosh, Peter didn't like the way Mr. Stark was grinning down at him at all. The hairs on his neck begin to rise at the sight. Although his subconsciousness was aware of the lack of a threat, Peter's brain couldn't stop the funny feeling of anticipation from accumulating inside him, leaving his muscles tense as he could do nothing but wait for something to happen. It feels like just before his spidey sense kicks in, but without the wave of anxiety rolling over him. At this point, Peter wishes Mr. Stark would get over it, but the thought of asking the man to do something leaves the tips of his ears red in embarrassment. He feels like a child all over again, becoming flustered over something silly, like the prospect of getting tickled.
"From what I gathered, there are parts of your body which, despite your genetic altering, are rather-" Mr. Stark leaves a short pause between the following words as his lip twitches upward into a smug grin, "delicate."
Mr. Starks free hand shots downward. 
Peter presses out a squeaky "noho!" while bringing his legs up to his chest to block the attack, eyes squeezing shut on instinct. 
But nothing happens. 
Peter lingers in that curled-up position, opening his eyes slightly to squint over his knees. The teen meets the highly amused grin of Mr. Stark, who wears the same expression as he does when he gets the affirmation of one of his more advanced calculations being correct, an expression of pure smugness. 
"A bit skittish, are we?"
Before Peter could even think of an answer, Mr. Stark's hand found a way between his pulled-up legs and his middle, fingers digging without hesitance into his stomach. The sudden attack caught Peter off guard, the laughter pouring out instantly.
"Mr. Stahahark! Thahahahat's plahaying dihirty!"
The man tilts his head at his mentees' words, the latter trying to press his knees closer to his middle, but that did little to hinder the man from tweaking his sides, grinning at the little shriek it earns him. 
"Oh, I didn't know this counts as playing to you. Might as well as much as you are enjoying yourself."
"I'm nohoht enjohohyinh anythIHIHng!" 
Mr. Stark rolls his eyes and switches spots, his fingers working quickly on the teen's stretched-out underarms. Peter kicks his legs out at the ticklish jolt when blunt nails softly scratch over the fabric of his shirt that does little to protect his sensitive armpits. His laughter changes into cackling, and he tugs on his bound arms, actually managing to bring them down. 
He only hears the click of a tongue, having shut his eyes when his armpits got attacked. He rolls on his side as soon as the tickling stops, trying to escape the attack, but gets stopped by a hand on his shoulder, effortlessly pulling him onto his back again. Not a second later, two hands are shoved up into his underarms, and begun to explore the spot, meticulously working on searching for weak spots. As soon as he found them, Mr. Stark kneads with his thumbs into the muscles, letting Peter jump with a squeak before bursting into another wave of loud laughter.
"NOHOO PLEAHAHASE! MR. STAHAHAHARK. Nohohot thehehere! I- I canahahan't ahahaha. I cahahahn't staAHAND ihiht, pleahashe nohohho!"
"That's unfortunate, as I don't show mercy to any of my enemies. And you, Spiderman, earned the privilege to stand on the top of my hit list."
He grins down at the teen who has his arms pressed to his side as much as his tied wrists allow it, body wriggling from side to side to avoid his hands, but Tony's fingers are following, never leaving up to pinch and flutter over all the places that bring out the sound of panic-laced giggles. 
"No! No! Nonononono! ACK NOHO MR. STAHAHARK, NOHOHOHO!"
"Hm? What's this? Spiderman has a ticklish belly?"
Peter manages to sends a glare at his mentor. "I doho nohoht! J-just l leahaheve ihit alohohohne. Mr. Stahark, I sweaAHAHR, I- ohmygohohod dohohohnt!"
Peter lets out a high-pitched squeal as a finger dips into his belly button. His laugh goes silent for a few seconds, during which he arches his back as the ticklish feeling overwhelms him before he deflates into a heap of hiccupy giggles, begging Mr. Stark to do anything but please let his belly button alone. The man smirks down at the blushing teen. Tony would lie if he said he did not find Peter's reaction absolutely endearing. 
"Now, that's just adorable. I almost feel bad having to end you."
"Youhuhu ahahre eheh- evil!"
"I beg to differ, Spidey. This -" Tony worms his finger into Peter's navel, wriggling it around teasingly and earning himself a snort followed by feet drumming against the floor behind him as the kid trashes around madly 
"isn't evil. I'll show you what's really evil."
Out of breath and lying on his side, Peter, at first, didn't register what was happening, too busy to get back to pumping air into his lungs. When he finally glances up at what Mr. Stark is doing, the man is already gathering his feet in a headlock and pulling his tie around his ankles. Peter's eyes widened. He was about to yank his legs out of the hold, and he certainly would have managed to, but at that moment, Mr. Stark had already tightened the piece of clothing, successfully binding his legs. After giving it a closer thought, Peter's panic begins to subdue. A tie was no match for his strength. He could easily snap it if he wanted to. 
"Before I forget it, that tie is a Christmas present from Pepper's parents."
Mr. Stark broke out in loud laughter at the sheer look of betrayal Peter sent his way.
"You are a monster, Mr. Stark."
Peter regrets the words as soon as his mentor grins at him before pushing him over, forcing the teen to lay on his stomach and pull his feet facing upward onto his lap.
"Finally, you are aware of the gravity of the situation, Spidey."
While talking, he let a single finger run down the arch of Peter's foot, grinning at the teen's toes curling up and the whole-body jolt the action brought. He repeats the action on Peter's other foot, getting the same reaction, which only encourages the man to let all his fingers, at once, drag over the wiggling soles. The feet in his lap squirm just as the rest of the teen trashes on the floor like an angry caterpillar, laughing his head off, occasionally shrieking when Tony pulls his toes back to scribble under them. 
"NO! Nohohot the toes! Pleahase, anythihing buhut thahat."
Mr. Stark let up, giving the teen a short break.
"Not the toes, you say? Do you mean these toes? These ticklish little toes right here?" He takes one of them between his fingers, shaking them a little while speaking, but that is apparently enough to throw Peter into a giggle fit and try kicking him. 
"Well, then I have to let these toes be. And tickle these instead."
True to his word, Mr. Stark left Peter's right foot in peace, only to jump onto the left one, resuming his relentless attack.
"ACK! I sahahaid NOT the toehes!"
"And since when do I listen to what my enemy tells me? Huh, Spidey, since when do we do that?" he teases the kid, letting up from his feet to pinch above his kneecaps. Peter shrieks and kicks his legs out as he laughs loudly, managing to roll onto his back. He quickly sets his legs up to press his soles against the gym floor, preventing Tony from getting a hold of them.
"You're trying to be smart about this? Well, what do you do about this then?"
Without pausing, Mr. Stark takes hold of the teen's wrist and softly but firmly presses them against the teen's chest to get them out of the way before pulling his shirt up, revealing his tummy. 
Peter's eyes widen. He couldn't move much with his feet sticking to prevent whatever Mr. Stark was planning. He had an idea, but surely Mr. Stark wouldn't do something as childish as that.
Right?
Peter screams before hysterical giggles take over after the first raspberry is placed on his stomach.
"Nahaha, stahahahap. Nohot fahair, ihihihi thihihs isn't fahahahahair Mr. Stark!"
"Anything is fair in a fight with your enemy. Even this."
Mr. Stark places another long-lasting raspberry, making sure to shake his face into Peter's stomach as that elicits just the most adorable squeal he had ever witnessed from the teen.
"Now, what do you say, Spidey? Are you ready to fess up?"
Mr. Stark takes in the sight of his red-faced mentee with something akin to fondness. Peter's hair is messy from shaking his head from side to side, his chest heaving from laughing, and a wide grin spreads over his features. The teen surprises him as he squints at him from a position on the ground, a determined look on his face.
"Is that all you've got?"
Mr. Stark raises an eyebrow.
"Well, you brought this on yourself."
His head rushes down again, sending the teen into another ticklish frenzy. By the end of it, tears of mirth are gathering in the corner of Peter's eyes, which were Tony's clue to give up. Apparently, Peter didn't think his mentor would give up just yet, as he couldn't believe it when his hands and feet were free to move again.
"You're letting this go?" Peter stares wide-eyed at his free hands before directing his puzzled look at Mr. Stark, who flattens the wrinkles in his suit. 
"As you are so determined to not let a word lose about it, I will let it slide." He sighs at the bewildered expression Peter sends him.
"I trust you, Peter. Whatever you have done must have been important, and I trust you would tell me if it wasn't, alright?"
Oh wow, now Peter feels like an idiot. 
"Ehm, Mr Stark?"
The man in question glances at the teen, the latter rubbing the back of his neck with his eyes cast on the ground. Peter pulls his legs to his chest, biting on his lips as he wraps his arms around his knees, wanting nothing more than to be swallowed by the ground. He made such a big deal out of nothing, and now he has to admit to that and no other than Mr. Stark too. 
His fingers tighten into the fabric of his pants before he finally finds the courage to confess to the man.
"I did it because I was embarrassed."
The words came out mumbled as Peter pressed his face into his knees.
"I didn't quite catch that, Peter."
Using his name and not some nickname meant Mr. Stark had caught onto the mood. The man slowly steps closer, making only a bit of a show of sitting beside Peter and muttering about his joints.
Peter licks his lips, glancing at Mr. Stark before directing his eyes onto a stain on his jeans before repeating himself.
"I was embarrassed. Do you remember that folder, emh, the- the one where you let Friday save all that dumb stuff that I did? In the lab? Well, I know you like to tease me about that, and I usually don't mind, and I don't want to come off as whiny. I know everyone teases everyone on the team, and that's cool, yeah. But, you know, sometimes, I-" Peter stops to take a deep breath. Mr. Stark keeps sitting next to him, listening in silence, and while Peter is thankful for it, he still can't look at the man.
"Sometimes I get this fear that you'll show that stuff to the others, and they'll make fun of me. I know that shouldn't bother me. I'm not a little kid or anything. But this stuff that happens in the lab, I don't mind you seeing me do dumb stuff because, well, that's you Mr. Stark, and I trust you, like sure you'll think I'm silly, but when it's you, I kinda don't mind that? But if the others know I blow up the lap three times a week, that makes me kinda uncomfortable because everyone always calls you, Dr. Banner, and me the smart ones, but what will they think of me when they see all the messes I produce daily? I'm supposed to be smart and not blow stuff up and- and stumble over stuff when I'm literally Spiderman and yeah, I guess I'm insecure about that. I'm really sorry I hacked into Friday to prevent more footage from being taken, Mr. Stark. That was dumb, and I should have known that it was a bad idea, really."
Peter lifts his head, finally meeting Mr. Starks eyes, who had been patiently waiting for him, witnessing him stumble over his words. 
"I'm really sorry, Mr. Stark." Peter's voice grew quiet, close to a whisper. 
He watches Mr. Stark running a hand over his face, a sigh escaping the man, and it causes Peter to tighten to hold on to his knees. He is taken by surprise at the weight of an arm thrown over his shoulder before he gets pressed into a warm body, melting into Mr. Starks side as the older man pulls him closer.
"Peter, I want to apologize for making you feel that way."
Peter opens his mouth to protest but gets cut off by a hand squeezing his shoulder.
"Uh uh, broadcast break for the Spiderling." The teen huffs in light amusement, and Tony takes it as his sign to go on. 
"I want to apologize for taking it as far as it causes you to feel like you had to do something on your own rather than talk to me about it. I would have never shown it to anyone, but I should have considered that it could make you uncomfortable. I'll delete everything and stop Friday from saving further videos, alright?"
"You would do that for me, Mr. Stark?"
"Of course. I might be an asshole most of the time,"
"Language."
Tony raises an eyebrow at the rude interjection. His hand slips down to poke the teen in the side as a warning, which earns him a giggle.
"but I want you to feel comfortable and know you can trust me. That you can trust anybody on the team, okay?"
Peter nods with a small smile playing on his lips.
"Hey, Mr. Stark?"
"Yes?"
Peter grins up at the man.
"I'm really glad you're not a villain."
Mr. Stark squints at him before a sly smirk appears on his face.
"I wouldn't be so sure about that, Peter. We still haven't talked about the consequences of you creating a giant security breach."
Before Peter could crawl away, Mr. Stark had already slung an arm around the teen's middle, and for a third time that day, Peter's laughter echoed throughout the gym, this time a little brighter than before.
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effervescentdragon · 1 year
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sewis + hugs that linger for just a second too long 🥺💜
katie beloved im so sorry xD im feeling cunty these days and your prompts are just too good for it 😅 dont read this one either, maybe ❤️
Nico watches Lewis.
Of course he fucking does. Some habits can't just be kicked easily, especially when the time spent doing them was longer than the time spent not doing them. And it doesn't matter how much time passess, or how many times Jenson calls him out on it, or how easy it was for him not to reach for cocaine every time he felt down in 2017. You don't spend over twenty years with Lewis Hamilton, half of those being his teammate, without getting into the habit of watching him.
Lewis was good at hiding things from everyone. He's had to be. Any weakness was exploited, and if he showed any hurt, it doubled back on him three times worse. Nico knows this, because by the end, he was the one who caused it. But Lewis was very good at hiding things from people, except if those people knew how to read him. Then, sometimes, one could find out if Lewis' car specs weren't to his liking by the way his face scrunched before the race and use it, or see when a comment affected Lewis more than he let on and press on the already tender flesh to distract him enough to make a mistake. But those things only happened if one knew where to look, and Nico always knew.
Namely, Nico used to watch him for other reasons too, but those reasons haven't been relevant for a while. And even if they were relevant, it wouldn't matter, because Lewis refused to look back.
Nico sometimes thought it was his greatest victory, making Lewis go out of his way to pretend Nico didn't exist.
Sometimes, though, it just felt like his biggest defeat.
So Nico watches Lewis in the paddock sometimes. It's hard not to, when he's so sure of himself, walking around with an easy expectation that the path before him will clear itself. The annoying thing is that it does, always. It makes Nico smile every time he sees reporters scatter, aware they won't be getting anything from Lewis, except some good pictures if they position themselves right.
It's happening now, too. Lewis is walking through the paddock, Angela in tow, and Nico has to admit that his styling today is good. Sometimes Lewis missess in his fashion expression, but as more time passess, the less it happens. These days, his styling is almost impeccable. A Sky reporter goes to intercept him, but Lewis doesn't even register him. He just walks past, unbothered, an easy smile on his face. The reporter's face sours. Nico knows he's been aiming for a soundbite about the latest war, hoping to provoke Lewis into saying something stupid, like only a rich sportsman can. It's fouble points if it's Lewis, though, because of course it is, and now they will have nothing.
Good boy, Nico thinks. Give them nothing. They'll make something up anyway.
Lewis' smile widens suddenly, and Nico looks ahead at what has caught his eye. He tilts his head when he sees Sebastian walking towards Lewis, Britta talking at him rapidly as he nods.
Nico leans back on the column and fixes his sunglasses. This will be good.
Sebastian doesn't spot Lewis until Britta elbows him almost imperceptibly. The moment he sees Lewis he grins, and they do the handshake-then-a-half-hug thing befor ethey separate and start talking animatedly. Except; Nico knows Lewis.
Lewis lingers for just a moment too long after the hug.
Nico grins. He can spot how off Lewis will be in his time after not hitting the curb right up to the thousandth of a second. He can damn well spot when Lewis lingers too long in a hug.
He leans his head back as he watches Lewis and Sebastian. He thinks they are talking about the GPDA meeting, if the way they're standing close and speaking lowly is any indication. The biggest giveaway is the subtle anger in Sebastian's face, though. It's been a long time since that expression was caused by racing; human rights it must be, then. He shakes his head and tucks a stray curl of his too long hair behind his ear. Nico thinks how he should get a conditioner, but that doesn't prevent him from seeing the way Lewis' fingers twitch.
"Oh," he gasps. "Oh, Lewis, you idiot."
It's good that nobody's near him, because that was a slip he can't afford. Not for his sake, and not for Lewis'. He shakes his head. He'll berate himself later; he has to watch now. He has to know for sure.
It's really in the small things, that's the fact. How Lewis doesn't stop smiling. How he brushes some non-existent lint from Sebastian's sleeve. How he mirrors Sebastian's posture. How Britta looks at him without him noticing, with pity in her eyes. How Angela doesn't, looking everywhere else to see if anyone is watching.
Nico pulls out his phone and pretends to type when Angela looks in his direction. He gives it ten seconds more before he looks up again than he would if it was anyone else looking, because Angela doesn't trust him, and she never did. He respects her a bit for that. Not much, but a bit.
He keeps looking until they part ways with a clasp of hands and wide smiles. Lewis' back is turned to him, so Nico can't watch him anymore, but Sebastian's face is now fully visible as he turns to Britta and continues talking.
It hits Nico immediately. Sebastian doesn't know.
That's... not quite surprising. Sebastian was always very good at ignoring certain things that were very obvious to people around him, always focused on racing first and foremost on race weekends. With the way his career has been going, Nico is pretty sure Sebastian has no time to think about anything else. Nico can't help a small smile at that. He's pretty sure Sebastian won't be racing for much longer. Nico doesn't know how to read Sebastian that well anymore, but some feelings are universal, and once you see them in the mirror, you never forget them.
What Nico doesn't know is how long has it been like this, and that bothers him. He has to know; has to figure out when it happened. He's missed it somehow, the moment Lewis' feelings changed, and that doesn't sit well with him. He doesn't know when it happened, but he knows Lewis.
Lewis is competitive. Lewis doesn't like to lose. Lewis likes a challenge. Lewis doesn't go for the easy option. Lewis leaves enough room on track to avoid collisions. Lewis doesn't back off, except when he does. Lewis doesn't trust easily anymore. Lewis will overtake first before he allows himself to be overtaken.
As Nico watches Sebastian, Charles Leclerc steps into his path with his media officer. The smile on his face is the perfectly polite, Monegasque born-and-bred blandness that still shows off his dimples. Sebastian stops, and says something that makes Charles laugh, and then pulls him into a hug.
They both linger just a moment too long.
Nico can't help but grin.
"Well," Nico mutters to himself. "Yes. That would do it."
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dustedmagazine · 2 years
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The Mountain Goats—Bleed Out (Merge)
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Bleed Out by The Mountain Goats
John Darnielle spent the COVID lockdown watching action movies, obsessing, as he has in the past, on the mythic qualities of male violence. Bleed Out, as a result, is even more than usually rife with desperate characters — tough guys, militia men, mercenaries, special forces dudes, muscle for hire — all the more frightening because of their absolute certainty. Whether training for the knock-out round or ordering bullet-proof armor on Amazon, every one of his guys is a hero, at least in his own estimation. “We’re going to need more bandages,” shrills Darnielle late in the album, and indeed, the potential for collateral damage is very, very high.
It's at least tangentially interesting that this paean to/send-up of/commentary on toxic masculinity was produced by a woman, Alicia Bognanno of Bully. But maybe it’s more relevant that it was helmed by a rocker. This 21st Mountain Goats studio album is a stripped down, punch-drunk, rock ‘n roll affair, less suave and slinky than the Stax-infused Dark in Here, more brutally forceful than Knives Out.  The band—as always Darnielle, plus Peter Hughes on bass and other instruments, reedist Matt Douglas and Jon Wurster on drums—is especially tight and emphatic.  “Training Montage” begins, as Mountain Goats songs often do, with the tense staccato of guitar strums, the barked-out litany of well-chosen details, but it explodes like a footballer’s bicycle kick after Darnielle declares, “I’m doing this for revenge.” 
We can argue all day about why men are the way they are right now (or ever), whether it’s economic anxiety or thwarted supremacy that’s pushed them to load up on ammo. But there’s no question that a thread of violence runs through every place where the male sex gathers, from the trading desk to the factory floor to the gun show. It’s not just in the movies that Darnielle has been watching. There’s an every-man-for-himself tilt to the world, where even the soccer dads and middle-management types might find themselves nodding along to lyrics like, “It’s losers all the way down, stay undefeated.” That’s from the album’s flat-out banger, “Wage Wars, Get Rich, Die Handsome,” a sing-along celebration of nihilism that pounds and punches and exults in itself. The song is not exactly uncomplicated — its lyrics are typically oblique and astute — but it reads that way. 
The best of these noir-ish vignettes, however, is to my ears “Guys on Every Corner.” With a squall of sax and a sledge-hammer bass riff, it moves with a sleek assurance. It’s a decadent, polished kind of boogie, and it is layered over with terse, precise lyrics that build up an entire world between the ellipses. As Darnielle yelps out lines about tabloid stars and unmarked cars, special forces and inside sources, and mounted police in riot gear, the song turns lurid with threat. 
These songs aren’t exactly ripped from the headlines, but you can’t hear the line “We may run out of bullets/we’re never going to run out of hostages” (from “Hostages”) without thinking of Uvalde and Buffalo and whatever mass shooting occurs between now and when you read this review. Darnielle never mentions January 6, but how can you hear “Need More Bandages” without flashing on the Oath Keepers. What I mean to say is that the imagery may have come from forgotten 1970s films, but it’s everywhere around us now, and we all know what happens to the minor characters in action movies.  
Jennifer Kelly
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The quartermaster who relaxed me
Chapter 3
(^ link to ao3)
Q sat on the edge of their lounge, laptop on his lap while James laid down on his back with his feel closest to Q's thigh and held a pillow over his chest. They were enjoying a rare quiet night in together, both dressed in shirts and tracksuit pants, a rare thing for James. They had no missions to run and no injuries to recover from. Though, Q still felt he needed to work, going through emails, updating weapon developments, looking at upcoming assignments etc. James, however, did not appreciate this, given how he started to nudge his partner's thigh with a foot.
"Yes Bond?" Q asked in a distracted sort of tone as he looked over a document he was sent.
"It's our first night off in ages Q, can't that wait until tomorrow?" James huffed as it was easy to see he didn't have Q's full attention.
Q looked away from his laptop at this to smile softly at James, "I promise I'll be finished really soon, I've just got to approve this document and then I'm completely yours for the rest of the night." He told him, "ten minutes max."
James sighed and nodded and went back to staring at the ceiling and Q went back to working on his laptop.
However, when ten minutes went past and Q showed no signs of stopping, James nudged his thigh again, this time a little harder.
"Sorry, sorry," Q said to him while staring intently at the screen, "something mission relevant for 008 just came through, I'll be five more minutes."
Five minutes went past and again when Q showed no signs of stopping James pushed at his thigh even harder than before, this time making the laptop move as well.
"Bond!" Q barked as he quickly clutched his laptop, least it fall to the floor, and snapped his head to his partner "what the fuck?"
James looked at him with a small glare, "You promised me you'd be done quickly, but it looks like you're just getting caught up in your work like you usually do in the office," his expression now softening, "I love how involved you get, you know I do, it's just that it's so rare for us to have a night together without any issues and I don't want to waste it."
Q closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the lounge and sighed. He put his fingers through his thick dark hair and gripped tight against the strands, "You're right James," he said softly, "I'm sorry." And he closed his laptop, placing it on the table on front of him and turned himself around on the lounge to look at James head on, pulling his bare feet onto his lap and rubbed them up and down.
James pouted slightly and looked back up at the ceiling. "I'll make it up to you," Q said to him, "I'll give you all the attention you want and deserve, I promise James." James only hummed in reply.
Q sighed, knowing that he really would have to make up for this and while thinking deeply of what to do, he started to absentmindedly trail his fingers lightly over the top and bottom of James's feet instead of rubbing them as he'd been doing. Maybe they could try out the new toy Q bought that had just come in, it rated highly and many reviewers said that they had never experienced an orgasm so strong when using it.
It was a sharp kick on his shin that got Q out of his mind, causing him to still his hands and focus back on James, who's face was half covered by the pillow he was now holding very tightly and his shoulders were shrugged up almost to his ears, ears that looked a little... red?
Q tilted his head to the side, "James, what's wrong?"
James cleared his throat and after a few seconds he lifted his head up and replied, "your hands." He sounded out of breath, almost like he had just run a marathon.
"My hands?" Q repeated and looked down at where his hands layed on James' feet and in a instant he realised what happened. He flashed his head up to grin sharply at James who muttered "oh shit."
"Oh shit is right Bond," Q said, still grinning and placed one arm across James' ankles and used his free hand to drag up and down the bottom of his feet. James flinched back with a sharp bark of laughter before he immediately stuffed his face in his pillow, muffling any further noise he made. Of course, he couldn't hide how much he was being affected, with how tightly he clenched the pillow and how he was kicking and squirming his feet in Q's arms.
Q stopped his attack for a second, letting James breathe, and with a keen eye, waited for the moment when James lifted his head entirely away from the pillow before he attacked again, dancing his fingers all around the wriggling feet in his grasp.
James, again, gripped the pillow tight to his chest and this time arched his head back, a big toothy grin bright on his bright red face and eyes crinkled shut. He was huffing air sharply out of his nose, almost producing snorts several times. Q looked at him, while still keeping half a mind on the kicking feet he held in his hands, and thought how glad he was that he kept his glasses on because he had never seen something more beautiful and precious than James, especially in this moment and it would have been such a shame to not see him this clearly.
"Could this be the sort of attention you were looking for James?" Q asked, smirking.
James shook his head and opened his mouth to reply, but at the same time he did, Q clawed sharp lines in the soft arches of his feet and instead of words coming out of his mouth, deep loud laughter came instead.
"You could easily over power me if you really wanted to, experienced and tough agent that you are." Q said, having to speak loudly over James's laughter.
The only sign that showed James heard him was his face going a little redder and he started to squirm just a little bit more.
Q honestly felt that he had never been more glad to be kicked off his computer in his life.
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dzpenumbra · 11 months
Text
6/12/23
Starting to feel a bit run-down now at the end of the day, but today wasn't half bad. A big change from the big waves of physical anxiety shit I've been dealing with the past few days.
I slept through an entire sleep cycle (I think). I improvised yoga again since I just... hopped right back into RP streams again. I did a workout that I was kinda dreading because I was worried it was going to be the one that kicked my ass. 3 sets with 2 minutes rest in between - 10 sit-ups, 20 punches at the peak of a sit up, 10 flutter kicks (x2 per set) So, that was a total of 60 sit ups in one workout today, plus all the other shit. And I'm not even that sore, like... just a little on my sides. I'm actually surprised. I did get that thing where my muscles just wouldn't pull me up, so I'd have to kick my legs a tiny bit, but only towards the last few sit ups. I remember doing this exact routine before and really struggling with the ab stuff, to the point of actually just quitting the exercise early. So, I guess lately I've been putting on weight a little, but I've also been getting stronger. I'm okay with that.
I spent some time looking at diet stuff. It's still weird, but I'm trying to see the good in it, specifically by trying to get myself excited about cooking again. It was actually the first thing I did today, still in bed. I came to the conclusion that fiber = good and animal fat = bad. And I'm kinda piggybacking off this dietary thing to just... go ahead and trim meat out of my diet. I might as well, I barely consume it anyway. That's the long-term plan, anyway. Wouldn't be the first time, I was vegetarian for 3 years in the past. For right now, I'm re-introducing more homemade chinese food to the menu. I actually stopped making my fried rice when I stopped getting chinese takeout from the place next to my building. It was just too goddamn expensive. I can't be shelling out $50 for takeout for one fucking person. And I was making my fried rice from the rice they gave me, so... that went on hold for a bit. Hoping to make a comeback here.
The new additions to the diet? Cold Sesame Noodles, Chicken and Broccoli, and Rice + Bean Burritos. Should be good additions, I don't think there's really anything bad in there besides cheese and maybe sour cream. I guess the big no-no's are... cream-based stuff and animal fats, that's what I'm kinda gathering. So like... fatty meat cuts, butter, sour cream, whole milk, stuff like that. 3 of those things are in my fridge right now... XD So, gonna fix the milk thing soon enough, which is not really the end of the world honestly. Cheese is my fucking vice though, that's the one I really do NOT like the idea of parting with. I will part ways with ice cream way before I get rid of cheese.
On that note, I made 3 baked potatoes with pepper jack, about 1/3 the butter I normally use, a tiny dab of sour cream and a bunch of scallions. Really good. Probably not a regular meal from here forward though, we'll see. Quantity is relevant.
I should probably talk about this. I am trying to balance out... taking these test results seriously... and freaking out and becoming a paranoid health nut. Because I have a very clear genetic and habitual predisposition that leans me towards that specific obsession. My dad has been obsessed with his fitness and nutrition as far back as I can remember. I think my mom told me that it started around when they had kids, around when he was my age. Maybe he even got a test like this, and he just went full-tilt obsessed with it. That and work, of course. And... because he spent all of his time and brainpower fixated on work 24/7 and his own fitness and nutrition... my brothers and I grew up without a father. So... despite not having kids myself, I know the toll that can be taken from having good intentions that are rooted in obsessive fear. And one of the first things I did was let my therapist know that stuff about my dad, so that if I start rabbit-holing and freaking out... he'll know why. It's so relieving to have someone understanding on deck who I can just give a heads up like that, even if it's not necessary. Very glad I took giant swan dives of faith with my vulnerabilities and shameful stuff in the past so that now... it's pretty damn easy to just go - "hey, just letting you know that I have a really deep-rooted insecurity around that thing we talked about today, and it's because of _____. Just for the record, in case it becomes relevant in the future. Have a nice weekend!" Shallow "friends" and emotionally detached people hate it when I do that, they even see it as aggressive (somehow?), but being able to share openly and honestly is an invaluable social asset, I think.
I am pretty proud to say that I didn't work today. I took the day off. I started up a new Rimworld colony because... fuck it... and just kinda chilled and watched streams and played Rimworld. I was so fucking locked in on work yesterday and I got so much more done than I expected that I thought it would be a good idea. I really do think it was, I feel a lot more calm and recharged. Even tired at 4 AM.
Honestly, that's pretty much been the day. Chill Sunday, throwing together recipes, playing Rimworld, throwing together a grocery list that I'll hopefully get delivered tomorrow. Lots of exercise, and now... I'm a bit run down. My stomach's upset, which doesn't happen often for me, so my body is just like... "what the fuck is happening, PANIC!"
Luckily it's right at the end of the night, so I can just finish up here and just go curl up and pass out and all should be well. I'll wrap up with some tarot, of course.
Past - Eight of Swords (Feeling trapped and powerless. Being conditioned and complacent, not being able to see objectively.  But if you can, this is an opportunity to remove yourself from that trap.) Present - Four of Swords (Rest.  Taking time to recover and seek respite.) Future - Three of Pentacles, inverted (Teamwork, accomplishing more together.)
Alright, these are all new cards tonight, so that's a big accomplishment in itself. Some surprisingly simple and easy to interpret ones, as well.
The thread starts with the Eight of Swords. The symbol immediately struck me powerfully, because the card is an image of a bound woman surrounded by swords. In the image, she is bound by ribbons. This struck me because... I used to have a recurring image that stuck with me - in dreams, in intuitive sketches, in inspiration - of a bound woman... but the binding was sorta... coming undone. In my... I never really evolved the language to communicate what these... flashes of images that just come to me and then I turn them into art, what to call them... I often just call that inspiration. So, in that... the woman is bound with black ribbon or electrical tape, something like that. And she is bound usually in a manner that aesthetically resembles clothing, so around her breasts and hips. And the ends of the binding material sorta flap in the wind. And she was often being pulled up towards the moon by her heart, and levitating with outstretched arms. I ended up adapting this character into a tattoo that takes up the entirety of the outside of my calf - she has long hair and a fire tattoo on the side of her torso, and is armed with a handgun. A lot of... let's just generously use the term "sex-positive people"... have looked at this image and superimposed sexuality onto it... which has upset me a lot over the years, but... you know how people are. The binding is very directly symbolic of being trapped and constrained, and yet that constraint being something that keeps you safe from vulnerability to the world, being symbolically naked. Most of that symbolism I speculate to be emotional vulnerability. And due to that trap, she developed the need for self-protection. But her gun is lowered, and her face is calm. She was always a sorta... guardian angel figure to me. I don't really know how to describe that fully, but that's always been my attachment to her and that tattoo; she's a protector, a guardian. Maybe she remains bound... so that I no longer have to be.
Huge backstory to say... this image in Eight of Swords is a very similar and familiar figure. But the gist of Eight of Swords is... from my understanding... that this is something that appears to be a trap or constraint... but from other perspectives actually is not. An illusion, of sorts. And perspective can set you free.
This image is connected to the Four of Swords. This is, quite simply... rest and recovery. Plain and simple.
And this is connected to... inverted Three of Pentacles, which is a representation of teamwork. Many hands making light work that benefits everyone. But... that's in disorder.
So... in short... a shift of perspective that breaks a trap or illusion that I am (or was) stuck in... leads to a state where I can finally recover... but that creates the snag where I'm disconnected from others, and won't have helping hands. Something to prepare for. And this definitely seems to be a cycle I fall in a lot. I finally realize I'm stuck in this Chinese Finger Trap situation where I realize "oh, I can just walk away from this toxicity"... and then I finally get the balls to do it... and I revel in the bliss of peace and rest and recovery, and take care of myself alone... and then the second I realize I can't survive in this world alone and look around for a helping hand? No one to be found. Yeah. So... this is a good reminder of that.
Birds are chirpin, time for bed. Imma take a short relaxing bath first. Have a good one!
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imaginedreamwrite · 2 years
Text
Soldier’s Doll: Part 2
Hours turned to days; days turned to weeks. And the weeks bled into a month before you were finally feeling the dredging of the realities stop in haste.
Hours, days and weeks of trying to navigate the changes between the reality you came from and the reality you were in had generally left you tired and without energy. More so after you had learned the approximate reason why you had been pulled here, which Dr. Strange had told you and no one else.
In this reality, you’d died. In this reality, your life had been stripped from you by a faction of Hydra who was displeased with their most significant asset, their captain, having a fascination that revolved around something other than them.
You had been killed.
And someone had pulled you through another reality, setting you into this one. And once you’d made the shift, you were returned to the moment in time where the truth was most stable.
Hours turned to days; days turned to weeks; weeks turned into a solid month before you felt ready to succumb to the state you’d found yourself in.
Strange had his suspicions on who managed to pull you through, but he couldn’t confirm them. Even if he could, he had no way to send you back.
He was a great sorcerer, but even he didn’t have the key to the reality you were from. It seemed that in this case, only the person who had pulled you through could send you back.
And this particular door was locked tight.
When you started to adjust to the differences, Tony being alive and having three kids, Steve working for Hydra and Bucky being Captain America, Natasha active but retired, Clint sacrificing himself, Bruce permanently stuck as the Hulk, you were granted better access to the Avengers Compound.
It wasn’t that they hadn’t trusted you, the avengers, but instead, you were proven to be in a critical state that would trigger your fight or flight, and given the “memory loss” that stemmed from the “concussion” you suffered, they thought you would activate flight rather than fight. And having you leave the compound would only stir up trouble for Bucky and make you an easier target for Captain Hydra.
Your complaints about the month stuck close to home weren’t very relevant or particularly strong. Not when Bucky made the month go by quicker than you expected. He was granted a temporary stay from missions to help you adjust, to help settle you into the month where you were essentially on a restricted access lockdown.
The Bucky you knew was a shell of the Bucky you were getting to know. The Bucky, who had become Captain America, was untouched by hydra, and that meant his charm and his charisma weren’t clipped like the Bucky from your actual reality.
This Bucky was charming and flirtatious by nature, but he spared it on everyone else and focused everything he had on you. During the month lockdown, he had kept you occupied by giving you his company.
The two of you would have dinner and drinks; you would stay up for hours talking or watching whatever brand movie was being broadcast on TV. He had taught you how to beat Tony at chess and had delivered company with ease that hadn’t naturally come from the Bucky you had known.
James Buchanan Barnes, Captain America, had made you fall in love with him in a manner of weeks. He had become everything you never knew you needed.
Things back home with Steve had ended before you even had a chance to tell him how you felt. He went back to Peggy and took half your heart with him. Bucky was scrambling to find himself and his identity after being reformed.
Neither one of them could be what you wanted. Not in that reality.
But in this one…it was perfect. He was excellent, and he made you feel flawless.
Even training. Even when you were sweaty and tired.
“You’re gonna get your ass kicked by a chick, Cap!” Sam heckled from the sidelines, watching the two of you train together.
“And it’s nice a nice ass too,” you tilt your head and smirk, feeling beads of sweat rolling down the back of your neck.
“Not as nice as yours, doll.” He flirts back; his blue eyes crinkled at the corners when his smile met his eyes.
“Are you going to fight or flirt?”
“I’m a good multitasker.” You rolled your shoulders back before you turned your head to the left and the right, hearing satisfying cracks.
“None of us want to see it!”
You dug your heels in as Bucky started charging toward you, missing his swing with his right hand, ducking beneath his arm. You landed one kick to the back of his legs, catching him off guard at just the right moment to make him stumble. You celebrated your victory too soon, missing the hand that shot out from behind and grabbed your arm. You squeaked when he flipped you to the mat and slammed his fist to space behind your head.
“Nice try, doll-“ you smirked and twisted your body, driving your knee in his side before you rolled out of the way.
Bucky had been caught off guard again, only this time he had stumbled to the mat. When he had one knee down on the carpet and the other bent, you took his moment of surprise and used it as an opportunity to attach the disarmed circular taser you’d kept in the pocket of your compression leggings and threw it toward his left arm.
“Damn,” Bucky grinned appreciatively over his shoulder, “you’re getting good.”
“You let me win,” you moved toward him, ripping the device from his arm and slipping it back in his pocket, “or at the very least, you didn’t try as hard as you could’ve.”
“I don’t wanna hurt you, doll.” Bucky stood and wiped the sweat from his brow, “I’m a super-soldier.”
“I know,” you stood on your tippy-toes and kissed his cheek, “you owe Sam a hundred bucks.”
You slipped past him and moved toward the small bag you’d set on the ground. You picked it up and flung it over your shoulder, glancing back at Bucky.
“Dammit,” he cursed over the bet and rubbed the back of his neck.
“You’re not getting out this one asshole,” Sam approached the training floor, “pay up, or you’ll have your ass kicked again.”
“Don’t play too rough, boys!” You grinned and called over your shoulder. “I’ll see you back home, Bucky?”
“Be right there, babe,” He called after you, watching you walk through the doors before he dealt with Sam.
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The moment you fell onto your back on the bed, the hair on your arms stood up. It was a sinking feeling, a sense of dread that something or someone was watching you.
The way your heart fell to the pit of your stomach and your hands started to get clammy the longer you felt unseen eyes on you was increasing your sense of fear. It was rolling off you in thick waves, creating this sourness to the room.
“I’m losing it,” you mumbled, pushing yourself up to sit, your arms extended behind you, “I’m okay.”
The room was hardly dark, despite the lights being off. The room was cast in subtle and soft light from the blinds left open and the moon’s bright glow. Shadows were rising and falling between the breeze blowing branches outside your window, but nothing could’ve caused this kind of anxiety.
“I’m just tired,” regardless of the fact; you scurried answer scampered from your bed when you heard a noise coming from the living room of your place in the Avengers Compound.
You got off the bed and ran your fingers along the bottom edge of the frame until you felt a small notch. Once you found the space, you pushed in and heard the click before you reached in and grabbed the gun stashed inside, clicking the safety off.
“Just in case,” you closed the compartment and stood, moving from the bedroom out to the small hall, the gun by your side.
You took slow steps out of the room, your heartbeat pounding in your ears. Every step you took had you feeling uneasy and on edge, but at least you would have a chance to defend yourself if anyone was here.
“I’m fine. I see things,” you muttered, the hair standing on the back of your neck, again, when you saw a small wrapped box sitting on the centre of the couch in the living room.
Your eyebrows furrowed, and your lips pursed. You inched forward toward the wrapped box and slowly sat your gun down by the box before you lift it to your head. You studied the black laces wrapped box with a red silk ribbon wrapped around the entire package.
You lifted it from the couch and turned to sit on the cushion. You tugged on the silk ribbon, watching it fall from the black lace and not the floor. You unwrapped the lace and let it fall as well before you lift the top from the box.
You reached inside and pulled out a round, red and black box with gold trim, three pedestal legs attached to the bottom, giving balance. You slowly opened the lid, your eyes glued to the delicate-looking ballerina spinning in the centre as the dance of the sugar plum fairy began playing.
“A music box,” despite the ominous signs you were choosing to ignore, a tiny flicker of a smile crossed your face, “I love this ballet.”
You sat, watching and listening to the music box until the front door opened and Bucky entered, yet he placed, his eyes immediately falling to the music box in your hand. You locked eyes, the tension in the room rising again.
“Put it down and step away,” he was trying not to be commanding, but you could see the tension in his shoulders, “now, doll.”
You set the music box down and backed away as Bucky placed himself between you and the box. He picked up the red ribbon and ran his thumb over the silk before tossing it onto the couch, moving on to the black lace. He picked it up, and like the ribbon, analyzed it before tossing it aside.
“Where did you find this?” Bucky gazed at the gun sitting on the couch before he reached for it and clicked the safety back on.
“I thought I heard something-“
“You heard something?” His head snapped, his eyes narrowed in your direction though his anger wasn’t with you. “You heard something inside?”
“Yeah,” you frowned, wrapping your arms around yourself, “I felt like…I was being…watched.”
“We’re leaving,” his answer was immediate as he tucked the gun in the waistband of his pants and grabbed your hand, “we need to get you somewhere safe.”
“Bucky,” you stopped walking and glanced at him, “is this-“
“He was here, Y/N. That gift was from him. We’re getting you someplace safe. We’re moving you someplace far from here.”
Bucky saw the apprehension on your face, and he immediately snaked his arm around your waist and drew you to his chest. Bucky couldn’t spare much time, but you needed comfort.
“I promised I was going to keep you safe,” he mumbled into your ear, “I’m keeping that promise.”
He started leasing you toward the exit of your place, making sure to grab the shield before he did. As he held the security in one hand, he used the other to have one of yours. The two of you made haste as you left the place, moving toward the elevator with Bucky keeping a watchful eye.
“He wouldn’t do anything.” You were trying to reassure yourself. “Not with this many agents and avengers nearby.”
“Don’t underestimate him, Y/N.” You and Bucky had just stepped off the elevator and onto one of the lower floors when he had pushed you behind him.
“Stay down,” he had ordered, keeping his shield in front of him, “and if I say run, you run.”
“Bucky-“
“No arguments-“
A loud and roar ding booming sound had come after a shockwave neither of you had been prepared for. You both went flying away from the elevator, landing harshly on the ground as the glass broke as structures collapsed.
The entire floor seemed to be destroyed, with rubble and marred metal, burnt materials scattered throughout the room.
“Bucky-“
“I’m here,” he scrambled to his feet, and toward you, his thick arm was keeping you to his body, and the shield in his hand was before you both.
You lifted your head when you heard footsteps walking over the chunks of broken glass lying on the floor. A phantom of a man with wide shoulders leading to a broad chest, massive biceps trapped beneath a black tactical suit with a bone-chilling red symbol etched onto the front.
“I don’t like it when you play with my things,” his voice was deep and husky, a threat lingering onto every beat.
“She’s not yours.” Bucky, this version of Bucky as Captain America, had grabbed the shield and lift you to your feet, placing you further behind him.
“That’s what you think, soldier.” The closer the man got, the easier you could make out the details of his face beneath the mask, but it was eyes that told all.
It was Steve. A part of you didn’t want to admit it, yet…there he was.
“This can’t be happening,” you mumbled and gripped onto Bucky’s back, your fingernails digging into the red, white and blue suit, “that can’t be Steve….”
“Give me back my doll, and I won’t snap your neck.” The wanting came once, and Bucky had shift himself, angling himself to block every inch of your from view.
“She’s not yours,” Bucky growled, “she’s mine.”
Steve tilts his head, his eyes boring into you, through the shield and Bucky. His lips were tugged into an arrogant smirk that you wanted to beat off his face.
“You can give her to me,” he warned, taking a step further, “or I can take her from you. What will it be, sergeant?”
“Bucky-“ you gripped his shirt.
“You’re not taking her,” Bucky reached for the gun, knowing it wouldn’t stop Steve, but hopefully, it would slow him down.
“You won’t win, Barnes.” His blue-green eyes were narrowed, his jaw clenching. The uniform he wore was similar to Bucky’s, yet it was dark as the night and red like blood. Hydra’s symbol is in the centre of his chest, and the same symbol is etched into the shoulders.
“Get the hell out of here!” Bucky reached out to squeeze your hand, offering you comfort.
“Give it a minute,” Steve smirked as another explosion was heard, this one much smaller, “just one minute, princess, then we’re going home.”
“She’s not-“ Steve reached into the pocket of his tactical suit and grabbed a small round object, the grooves cut into the metal, emitting a slight glow.
He tossed it toward Bucky and despite him knocking it away with the shield, gas started to exude from the round object. It was thick, and it was heavy. It hung around the air like a dense fog.
“Cover your mouth,” Bucky covered his mouth, “don’t breathe it in.”
“It’s no use,” Steve stalked toward you, “SHIELD May have heard the explosion, and you may be thinking they’ll reach you in time, but they’ve been sent to a secondary location.”
Bucky started to sway, and you reached out to help stabilize him, easing him down to the floor. His blue eyes were glossy, losing consciousness.
“What did you do?!” You hissed at him, reaching for the gun he discarded, your hand just wrapping around the grip before it was kicked away.
“I came to take my toy home.” He approached you, acting quickly before you could react before you could fight.
“I am not your toy-“ Steve plunged a needle into your neck, and the moment the plunger was pushed down, your eyes rolled back into your head.
And you fell right where he wanted you.
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razorblade180 · 3 years
Text
Actor AU 3
The previous one<-
Penny:*dancing on set*
Nora:Someone seems happy.
Penny:🎶First episode I don’t have to wear props! 🎶 This is so liberating!
Nora:You read the script right?
Penny:Just let me vibe!
xxxx
Neo:*hanging off ledge*
Cinder:.....Long live queen. *pushes her off*
Ruby:Yo! Let’s add a lion king character!
Director:No!
xxxx
Ironwood,Broadcasting:.....
Everyone:.....
Ironwood:*leans it closely* You have one hour...or I poison Gotham Harbor.
Yang:Pay up Weiss! I told you he’d say it!
Weiss:Damn it!
Ruby:*laughing hysterically.
xxxx
Adam:*sips tea* Now you’re probably wondering why I’m on set for V8 when I have not scene or relevance. The answer is simple.
Neo:*hits Yang of the edge*
Blake:Yaaaaang-
*faint laughing offset*
Blake.....*snickers* You asshole, I was in the zone!
Adam:I’m just adding to the tension!
Yang:*hanging from harness* You should’ve yelled “Lionized!!!!!”
Adam:Oh that would’ve been great!
Blake:You two are the worst!
xxxx
Right after Cinder stabs Penny
Jaune:Penny!!!! H-Hold on!
Penny:J-Jaune? I don’t...I don’t feel so g-good... hehe, this...*tearing up* this really hurts...
Jaune:*crying* Don’t speak! My semblance, I’ll...I
Penny:No...don’t. No time, but....there’s still something I need you t-to do. Cinder...can’t get the power and the relics. *reaches for blade*
Jaune:W-What?! No, I....I can’t-
Penny:It’s okay Jaune. *smiles* Everything is...gonna be okay.
Jaune:*raising bl-
Director:Cut!
Jaune:Huh?
Penny:Hmm? *sits up* Oh no, did I miss a line?
Director:*points to Cinder*
They turn to see Weiss comforting the the woman with a hug while trying not to laugh at the situation.
Penny:What happened!?
Weiss:She’s crying over the scene!
Penny:What!? *runs over*
Cinder:I am so sorry I ruined take! You were doing so well. Too well! Ugh, god damnit!
Penny:Awww you know I’m fine right? Come here! *hugs her*
Weiss:Cinder fall everyone, the biggest teddy bear around. *wipping eyes*
Jaune:You’re crying too!?
Weiss:I am the second biggest teddy bear around.
xxxx
Jaune:We have to go!!!
Winter:*points at Cinder*....Sleep with one eye open.
Director:Cut! Why!?
Cinder:Hahahaha!
Winter:I couldn’t help myself.
Director:Be angry!
Bloop!
Winter:*glares* The next time I see you I swear, I’ll have your head!
Director:Less angry!
Cinder:That one actually kinda scared me. Haha geez, Winter giving chills!
Bloop!
Winter:Can I curse?
Director:We’re already at the limit before we’d have change ratings.
Winter:Dang it! I just one F bomb!
Director:We’ll put it the gag reel.
Bloop!
Jaune:We need to go!
Winter: Tsk, *points sword* You are going to pay for everything you’ve done! So watch you fucking back...
Director:Happy?
Winter:*grinning* Yeah that felt great!
xxxxx
Bomb starts sliding slowly.
Qrow:*clenches Clover’s pin*
Bomb falls off plan set
.....
Vine and Elm:.....
Harriet:Well...boom! I guess!? For the love of- *face palms*
Qrow:....Uhhh I haha, I think hahaha- hahaha! Can we maybe tilt the plan a little less!? Oh boy! I guess someone should’ve grabbed that.
Harriet:You know what, can we keep this ending!?
Robyn: Rename the whole episode haha. “Adults watch bomb slowly fall”
Vine:Okay but I like how we’re all just waiting for it to stop, and then just tips right over! The moment it started moving I knew it was going way too fast!
Elm:Mission failed everyone. We’ll get em next time.
xxxxx
Interviewer:How do you think fans will react to this finale?
Penny:Well I can’t spoil anything for obvious reasons but I hope it resonates well. It’s fun having my character be around for a finale for once, and with so many other roles she doesn’t get interact with much. It’s been really fun.
Interviewer:Oh yeah? Who’s been best to work with?
Penny:Oooo that’s tough. My cousin, Nora, she’s been fun to interact with this volume. But uhhh I think I’ll give it to Jaune. We don’t have many scenes overall together but...it’s hard explain. I feel like between my character and his, there’s this kinda mutal headspace they have for their friends. If I had to pick a person I would say Jaune would have the ability to open up Penny in a way nobody else could.
Interviewing:Interesting, well I hope you both get more interactions and that this finale debuts well.
Penny:Thank you!
xxxxx
Winter:*dragging Ironwood off*
Emerald:....Wait, I know I do illusions, but how did the Ironwood not hear or feel the wind coming from an airship several feet away? I kicked up dirt and alerted Amber in volume 3.
Director:....Do we have time to rewri- no? Okay... just don’t think about it!
xxxxx
Nora:Someone cut the signal!
Watts: *playing Galaga* Hehehe all according to plan.
Neo:Change the tab! It’s- we see it in camera! Haha!
Watts:*strokes mustache* I know. That’s how genius I am. Cracking codes and high-scores! Muhahaha!
xxxx
Ruby:Fun fact, we have two Hound costumes. One where he’s mainly doglike and the other when he’s beating up people. But I you wonder who’s playing him under all that? *takes mask off*
Cardin:Sup.
Ruby:Forever a bully, even behind the set.
Cardin:Pfft am not.
Penny:You had a laugh tossing me!
Cardin:You don’t count, you’re family!
Penny:Ah!?
xxxxxx
Yang:*holding camera* Pssst!
Ren:*sipping coffee*???
Yang:Ready for our fight in the snow?
Ren:I can’t feel my toes! I’m gonna yell at you and then walk away.
Yang:I’ll mess up so we’ll stay here longer.
Ren:Yang! We can have a real fight in the snow right now!
Yang:Heheh, kidding. Mostly.
xxxxx
Ruby:Blake have you heard of Among Us?
Blake:Wh-what?
Ruby:Among Us. You gotta do tasks without an imposter killing you. I only bring it up because we’re rebooting the power. Someone always dies in electrical.
Blake:Ruby this is real life. Besides this way more Resident Evil, but with no- Tyrant!
Hound:*busts through window*
Ruby:Wny is it always electrical!!!?
xxxxx
Ironwood:*doing shirtless pull-ups*
Ozpin:He’s getting ready for his fight scenes. Trying to look winded but a little bulkier in the moment.
Winter:*watching Ironwood*
Ozpin:*snickering* Winter is trying to get into the mindset of having to a play a character who has to go against all that. The agony of fighting someone you looked at for so long.
Winter:You can call it like it is. I’m gawking a little.
Ozpin:She’s gawking a little.
xxxxx
Hazel:*grabs Salem*
Salem:*squeezing his biceps* Its like my entire torso. You eat a bear for breakfast?
Hazel:Oh my god.
Salem:You know this isn’t the worst way to go out. I had a good run. At least you hold me, unlike Ozma! Why didn’t you hold me like this!?
Hazel:You’re so ridiculous.
xxxxx
Set crew adjusting lighting in manor. All but one stays on.
Oscar and Penny:*waltzing underneath it*
Nora:...I like how on or off camera I personally lose the dating game while another redhead wins.
Ozpin:Which pair you talking about?
Nora:Huh?
Yang and Adam:*cracking jokes*
Nora:This is nonsense! Where’s Jaune!?
Weiss:Food run with Ruby.
Nora:Aaaaaggghhh!
455 notes · View notes
01solarsmiles · 3 years
Text
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synopsis: you’ve been at jaehyun’s “secret” flat for a while now. you’re not quite sure how long, he says time passes differently here. not that you mind. you’re healing and there’s nothing you have wrong with that. having been away form everything that was bad for you, you’re coming to realise that things really were better with jaehyun. and no matter how many times he tries to tell you, he knows you have to come to that conclusion yourself.
tl;dr: you heal under jaehyun’s caring gaze.
genre: fantasy!au, kind of domestic!au, magic!jaehyun, fluff, smut, fem!reader
warnings: smut in the forms of kissing, titplay, basically motorboats oc, brief nipple play, heavy petting/fondling, grinding (?), oral (male recieving), jaehyun can’t hold his load oops, unprotected sex (wrap it b4 u tap it), creampie, brief cumplay lmao jaehyun is the teeniest bit kinky
other: jaehyun is my soft boi, wanna smooch and cuddle in his pastel coloured sweats, i’m british so he lives in a flat, soft smut… almost r*mantic,,, jaehyun is a boob man; do what you will with that B), jaehyun uses pet names bc i think it would be sickly sweet leaving his lips, time is relevant so i can do what i want with this thanks xox
wordcount: 8.5k
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a/n: this is a continuation from the last chapter. i split it bc i needed inspo lmao so once again, not happy with how it ended previously so i had to write more. admittedly, it was origianlly one long piece but i realised i wanted to add more depth to when they’re living together (basically) so i split it therefore enabling me to write what i wanted about them being cute and stuff. yeah.
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You had been given a wheelchair by the hospital but had refused to use it, wanting to prove that you were okay, to yourself and Jaehyun. He had convinced you to stay in it as you left the hospital to please the staff on your way out but you had point-blank refused when you made it to the small block of flats he said he lived in. After walking two steps from the car you let out a whimper and gave in to his incessant pleas to get you to sit in the wheelchair.
Oddly, there had been no one in the foyer and you hadn’t bumped into anyone in the hallway in front of the lift. He had helped you when you made it into the flat, moving you over to the sofa where you melted into the plush cushions of the seat.
On the way here, the two of you had already argued about where you were going to stay, him insisting on not leaving you alone and you insisting that you’d be okay at a friends place. In the end, he promised to contact your friends and family to tell them you were spending a little time away (you wouldn’t let him tell them you had been to the hospital). After all, he had saved you when you needed it most.
Your cracked lips remained tightly sealed as he folded the wheelchair away and tucked it behind a cupboard where it wasn’t in your direct line of sight.
You decide to look around, wanting to take up some time and to avoid looking him directly in the eye.
The flat was… cosy. It looked lived in, all the trinkets and small collages stuck up on the walls drawing your attention away from the shelves stacked with potted plants. Everything about the room seemed to tie together with another aspect of the flat. You couldn’t help but wonder why he had a place like this.
He notices your inquisitive look, “It’s supposed to be a secret. Though almost everyone important knows this is where they’ll find me if I disappear without an explanation.” Jaehyun moves towards the small kitchenette, fetching a glass of water befoer placing it on a coaster on the glass coffee table by your legs.
You wait for a second, acknolwedging the glass of iced water, then look up, meeting his hesitant gaze, “Everything’s green.”
It wasn’t a deep green either, more like a soft earthy green. Maybe a sage colour, but you were mostly going off of the presence of the plants and the colour of the sofa. Some of the counters in his one-person kitchen were a soft green, accented with wood countertops and a pastel fridge. It was soothing on your eyes, you had to admit.
He nods, unsure what you’re getting at, “Yeah…?”
“The first and second time I met you, you exclusively wore red. And it was glittery,” you point out, one wordlessly eyebrow raised.
He tilts his head, dimples appearing in his cheeks as he stuffs his hands in his jogging bottom pockets, rattling his keys in his pockets, “Just because I wear red doesn’t mean my whole life revolves around that primary colour.”
You roll your eyes and lean back into the sofa cushion, tenderly crossing your arms, “Well, no. I guess not,” you let your headrest on a pillow he slips behind your neck discreetly, “I suppose… I just assumed that you did,” you shrug your shoulders, “wasn’t something I gave much thought to.”
Jaehyun kicks off his trainers and throws his keys into a bowl on the kitchen counter. You could probably stick your arm over the back of the sofa and touch the pillar that separated the two areas if you tried hard enough adn weren’t brusied all over. He’s got a small smile on his face that brings his dimples out as he makes his way over to sit on the sofa with you, letting himself fall haphazardly onto the cushions. “So you thought about me, even a little.”
Ignoring his comment, you take in his flat to its fullest. You weren’t wrong, this man lived in a green, cottagecore aesthetic in his off-time. Admittedly you were a big fan of the wall of shelves stacked with different plants, mostly succulents and cactus -- the odd spine of a book eeking through -- and you even enjoyed the small desk that was home to a few depictions of watercolour flowers. Your eyes fall on the black figure, slinking under the legs of the glass coffee table pitched in front of you, making you flinch as you suppressed your reflex to jump; it was only a cat.
A cat man. Of course, he was.
Jaehyun’s eyes follow yours, “That’s Prim. She likes to keep to herself. Occasionally she curls up with me.”
“You made it sound like you rarely come here.”
“Mhm.”
“You have a cat.”
“I have a cat,” he affirms.
Prim disappears around the pillar into the kitchen. Jaehyun must’ve put down some food for her because you can hear her softly eating followed briefly by the sound of her lapping at a bowl of water.
“And plants.”
“Those too.” He’s not sure where you’re going with this, neither were you, but he was humouring it, seeing it through to the end if he got ot be in your presence longer.
Your eyes go back to wandering around the room, watching how the sun dips in between the curtains and cascades through the room. You had sat in the seat closest to the entrance, meaning Jaehyun’s back was to the window as he faced you while you were talking. He was still dressed in the outfit you assumed he slept in at the hospital. You were dressed in the same clothes you had gone in with, having had to change out of the gown they had provided when you left.
He looked so effortlessly pretty. It made you want to cry.
You suck in a breath and say, “I’m a little tired. Can I sleep… anywhere?”
He nods and jumpts to his feet before helping you to yours. Slowly, you make your way down the hall, almost all of your weight is beared on Jaehyun. He’s practically carrying you but neither of you mention it. It was only a small flat, something you couldn’t wrap your head around when he could probably have anything he liked, and so it only had one bedroom.
Initially, you had put up a fight but he simply said he wasn’t tired and there was a box room he could get a bed into if the sofa wasn’t comfortable enough (it was but you weren’t okay with the fact that he was giving up his bed). You lay on your side, a body pillow supporting your small frame. You were so tense, worried about Soobin and Dan-ah and Mina and your Mum and Dad and Hyejin as she was probably the only friend of yours who regularly checked in. There was so much running through your mind and you almost don’t notice Jaehyun’s soft palm gripping yours, his thumb rubbing over the back of your hand. Unbeknownst to you, he had seen the anxious look on your face and had guessed that you were psychoanalysing everything in your head, cogs turning. He wanted to subtly draw you out from your thoughts... so he let a little of his power surge through his fingertips and into your palm, hoping it was enough to make you woozy.
Without much thought to it, you rested your head on his pillow and fell asleep.
Jaehyun stays, for a minute or two, holding your hand until your grip weakens, your breathing becomes heavier and your chest goes into a steady rise and fall. He watches, as you lay, unbothered by the world outside. You looked at peace. At home.
Was this the first time you had been able to wind down like this?
He sighs, wriggling his hand from under yours and gets up to leave before he pulls a brown monochrome blanket over your frame. A slight frown etches itself on your forehead as your fingers twitch, looking for the hand Jaehyun had slipped away, before you subconsciously grip the blanket and curl into it instead, the frown erasing itself from your face, leaving you looking at peace once again.
You wake up to the sun going down outside, a blanket covering your body and pillows squished underneath to support your body.
You’re tender. That’s safe to say.
The room was airy; Jaehyun had left the window on the latch and the door cracked open so as to not make it stuffy. Glancing around, you notice the simplicity of it. Bed, side table, lamp and wardrobe. It differed massively from the rest of his flat. Maybe he hadn’t gotten around to decorating substantially in here.
You get up, perching yourself on the edge of the bed before making your way out of the room. Shuffling along, you cling to the wall as you know full well you shouldn’t be venturing around by yourself and make your way to the living room, “Jaehyun?” you call. The calling stops when you spot Jaehyun with an open book lying in his lap while he snores lightly, passed out on the sofa. The corners of your mouth twitch, curling into a smile at the sight of him so peaceful.
You hold out your arm, inspecting the bandage on it. You sigh, “I need a shower.”
You turn back, headed towards what you assumed was the bathroom. The door creaks open; thankfully, you were correct. There are fresh towels hanging on the rack and a laundry basket sits tucked into the corner. Stripping from your clothes gingerly, you turn on the shower. While it warms up you unwrap your bandages and softly poke the back of your head. You’re probably not supposed to submerge it yet so you work with what you can. The shower itself was a standalone that had frosted glass wrapped around it, hiding what was on the inside if anyone were to look in.
The whole ordeal was a show in itself, you carefully moving things about, trying not to knock anything all while trying to do your best with what you’ve got. It wasn’t the best situation in the world but it was the best out of the hand you were dealt. Having not been back to your flat to get anything, you didn’t have any of your usual hair products so you used the products that were already there and a lemon body wash that had been sitting patiently.
Eventually, you finish up with half-washed hair and a mostly clean body. Your fingers had pruned long ago and you took that as a sign to get out of the shower to stop using all the hot water.
You stepped out, and grabbed the towel off of the rack, wrapping yourself in them. They were so soft against your skin. Holding it tightly against your skin you move to stand in the middle of the bathroom. It wasn’t big but it had an oval mirror hanging above the sink. Staring at your reflection for a little, you internally pick apart everything you don’t like.
Staring with the obvious bruises. “I’ll heal,” you tell your reflection, “I won’t degrade myself like that again.” Your fingers brush against your towel-covered ribs, making you flinch. “He won’t do this to me again; I won’t let him,” you pause before whispering, “I’m not going back to him.”
By now, your eyes are watering a little so you sniffle and wipe the forming tears away before they’re given the chance to fall. You deserve better. You know this. “I deserve better. I am worth better.”
In the middle of this, Prim slinks through the crack of the door, making you jump a little. With your hand on your heart, you take deep breaths, watching as she jumps onto the closed toilet seat and sits down on a pile of clothes. A pile of clothes you don’t remember putting there. Your eyes widen at the thought of Jaehyun seeing you naked but then you whip your head to the shower walls, reminding yourself that they’re frosted and he would’ve only been able to see an outline at the most.
Prim purrs, drawing your attention back to her.
She blinks at you. She’s so calm. You reach the backside of your hand out so she can sniff it. After a quick sniff, she turns her head and rubs it into the palm of your hand. You gratefully accept her and let her continue to rub herself on you as you alternate between scratching the underside of her chin and the back of her head. She purrs in content and you let out a quiet giggle.
Jaehyun had been awake for the past ten minutes or so. He’d dug through his drawers, pulling out an old pair of jogging bottoms that he’d bulked out of but never gotten around to throwing out, a pair of clean underwear and a jumper that was currently his size but probably oversized on you. He’d slipped them onto the toilet seat (thank god it was so close to the door) without peeping past the sink and must’ve forgotten to pull the door up all the way on his way out.
He listens to Prim purring and you giggling softly from the safety of his sofa in the living room, a smile making its way onto his face. He had flicked on the table lamp on the end table by the sofa, continuing to read his book – A natural history of Dragons. Not as accurate as he remembers but a little light reading never did anyone any harm.
When you stepped out of the bathroom, you looked fresh. Swamped in his jumper and bare feet padding across the panelled flooring. He looks up from his book, noticing you gradually making your way over to him, he jumps up, trying to help you. You looked cute with your sweater paw leaned up against the wall.
He tucks a hand under your armpit for leverage, you turn, a little surprised and open your mouth to say something but can’t bring yourself to when you realise how close your faces are. Jaehyun either doesn’t notice or pretends to not know, making you feel more embarrassed than you thought possible. His musk engulfs you, overriding your senses and you hesitate in your step.
“Oh,” you say, face hot to which you can only pray he doesn’t sense how he caught you off-guard, “you don’t have to–”
“It’s okay,” he whispers softly, hands pulling you into him so he can use his body strength to help too. You feel goosebumps from his caring touch and you wonder about the last time someone treated you like this.
Since when did he become so domestic?
You brush it off and he helps lower you down to the sofa and Prim follows suit, helping herself to your lap as she curls into a ball, letting you run your fingers down her back in a soothing motion.
You could feel the heat rising up your neck at how close the two of you had been, your mind running to months before when you had been close to him. Before, you had been embarrassed about yourself as he was helping you out of the hospital but he had reassured you that you had nothing to worry about – the gentleman that he was – he didn’t want you to feel ashamed. So, you let yourself relax on his plush sofa cushions while he went about making something to eat for the both of you with a grin on his face, knowing all too well what he had inflicted upon you moments ago.
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That’s how the next month or so went by. You pushed yourself to your limits, all of your minor injuries healed (somehow), and followed Jaehyun around while Prim followed you. As promised, Jaehyun brought home a bed for the box room to which you insisted on sleeping in since you were the one who was the guest but he had none of it. In the end, he dressed the room up nicely and it ended up looking like it had been there all along.
At first, Jaehyun hadn’t let you do any of the things you offered to do, especially the cooking. He had a large repertoire of recipes up his sleeve and wasn’t letting you do anything to strain yourself.
Your phone had briefly glitched the first time you turned it on, which was odd on a good day.
“Time passes differently here,” he had explained, “Einstein was right about that one; time is relevant. He almost caught us out one time with his research into it but Yuta turned him around and set him back on track again.”
To which he then had to explain to you who Yuta was. He sounded nice, harmless but what got you was the fact that there were more people like Jaehyun. You had yet to meet more than the man who stood in front of you as he explained that to you.
Weeks into your stay, he took you round to your place, helped you pick up your things and also helped you leave a thick layer of red glitter all over your now ex-boyfriend’s penthouse. He deserved it. According to Jaehyun, your ex was in the process of moving out, as per Jaehyun’s convincing argumentative skills.
You rang some of your family and friends, asking after them and telling them you were okay after it was established between you that you and Soobin were no longer together but the most heartbreaking one was between you and your niece. She had been there, she knew now, even if you didn’t want her too, she knew. You could only pray that it slowly faded from her memory, for her sake more than yours, as she grew older.
According to Hyejin (when she rambled to you on the phone as she bawled, bless her), Soobin had been given the sack and lost most of what he owned. He’d also been sporting a black eye for two weeks after you got out of the hospital. She had been the first person you rang but the small detail had slipped your mind until later that night. You tried not to outright weep tears of joy, knowing that he’d had even the tiniest bit of his own medicine fed back to him, followed suit by you quizzing Jaehyun to which he hid his knuckles behind his back as he walked in with a tray of sushi that had been delivered tonight as a treat before your anime marathon.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, I haven’t seen him,” he throws his keys into the bowl on the kitchen counter after toeing off his shoes in the entrance of his flat.
Having had time to heal, you pull yourself to tuck your legs underneath you as you look over the back of the sofa. “Jaehyun,” you warn. Prim materialises from the depths of Jaehyun’s bedsheets, where you had left her earlier, to greet her beloved owner. She purrs against his leg and he leans down to scratch behind her ear.
“Y/n,” he says back, trying his best to match your tone.
Your eyes follow Prim, closely watching as she jumps onto the kitchen counter and paws at the key-bowl. Tucking your bottom lip between your teeth you nibble until you can form a sentence that wouldn’t betray you when it left the corners of your mind.
Thinking about it, you decide against arguing with him on it. If he was lying it wasn’t something that was going to stop you from hanging around him, so why push it? Because you wanted to know why. “You were out a while after you texted me you’d finished food shopping the other day, where’d you go?”
Jaehyun glances at you, his hair stood slightly on end as if he’d been running his hand through it, possibly one too many times. It was shorter than when you had first come into his care – you’d helped him one day to trim it. You’d also insisted that he let you do it because you used to cut your hair in the bathroom mirror. ‘Not the same,’ he had said but he had handed you the scissors all the same. He was still dressing for comfort, something that you appreciated when the evening came and the tv turned on. It was a small flat which meant a small-ish sofa. He wasn’t against wrapping an arm around you and the two of you had been known to fall asleep to a movie or two in recent weeks.
“Went to work, briefly. Gotta make sure everything’s on schedule; they’d practically die without me to ditto everything they’re already sure of,” he flashes you a grin that his dimples can’t escape, “it’s nice to be home.”
You murmur a response.
Scattering away, Jaehyun has a shower after being out and gets dressed quickly to return to you. He walks over to the kitchen, deciding to grab some things for the evening.
His back is turned to you now, he’s grabbing a couple of drinks from the fridge, the glow of the light illuminating his face.
“I missed you.”
You… what?
The pounding of your heart against your ribcage was deafening. Had you just said that out loud? He turns to meet your frantic gaze, waiting for your response. He can barely breathe out the response, “I missed you too.”
He grins, sinking himself into the space next to you and slings his arm over the back, his hand resting close to your neck. “Awh, did you really?”
Your body practically recoils, turning back on itself, “No. I just wanted you to bring ice cream; I’ve been craving it all week.”
Instantly you regret your choice as he frowns slightly and turns away.
You’re forced to think about the countless nights you’d spent curled up in his bed, some of them the result of you weeping into one of his many pastel sweatshirts you adorned about your failed relationship with Soobin, others about how you had neglected to tell your family and friends about the situation you had been in for almost a year by the time Jaehyun had pulled you away from it. Most nights, Jaehyun heard you, upset and alone in the dark. In the beginning, he wasn’t sure what to do about it, part of him knowing that he should leave you to heal but the other part of him screaming that he shouldn’t let you suffer alone – shouldn’t let you think you’re in this alone when you’re most certainly not where he’s concerned.
The first time he had left you, not sure he had heard correct when he came back from work, groggy from the use of his powers and feeling like he needed to faceplant his pillow from the exhaustion. You had stopped, little sniffles being masked by the vibrations of Prim’s purring against your body where she had hopped up on the bed to comfort you, when you thought Jaehyun was listening, hoping that he would leave you to hurt for a short while longer.
He had sensed your hesitation and made his way to the shower, deciding he needed to be fresh for the next morning.
He was oddly caring. Not that it was odd for someone to care but it was odd for someone to care this much and for the person to be Jaehyun was the cherry on top.
Turning back to face you, he grins, “Wanna watch that anime you were telling me about? I googled it last night and read some forums; apparently it’s good.”
Your eyes light up, “Sword Art Online? Yes please.”
Jaehyun shakes his head, chuckling to himself at how eager you are. He loved when you showed interest in things like this. His auburn hair falls into his eyes as he skims through whatever application he had pulled up (Netflix; no chill) while you weren’t looking and he breathes softly through his nose, concentrating on the screen in front of him.
Once again, you were studying him. It had been a long time since you had arrived. Time is relevant, true, but how much time is too much time?
The sun had set an hour or so ago now and you had already eaten some of the takeaway earlier as neither of you had been interested in cooking. You wondered if he knew how the table lamp accentuated his face, the soft hue acting like his usual haze when he was in his suit – which you learned was the reason he practical glowed as he had since told you there was magic twined into the thread it was sewed together with – and made him look angelic. You wondered if he knew the camel sweats he was wearing made you want to cuddle him and nuzzle your nose into his side, somewhere that you felt more than safe to be. You wondered if he knew how much you liked it here and how you were apprehensive about going back to the real world full time.
You’d been out, of course, he couldn’t confine you to his flat even if he wanted to but he always made sure that there were the correct precautions in place. He was always here, anyway, choosing you over everything else so there was rarely a time where you could go out without him. Smiling to yourself, you remind yourself that you don’t think you’d want to go by yourself when there’s a perfectly good Jaehyun waiting for you.
His hair fell in soft waves on his forehead, and his brow furrowed as he tried to figure out why he couldn’t find Sword Art Online for you two to watch. The two of you had fallen into a routine, he pats his leg, signalling for you to lay your head down on his lap as he pulls a pillow from behind him for you to rest your head on.
Shifting your body, careful of your ribs still, you lay down and wrap a hand under his leg for leverage, being sure to keep it closer to the back of his knee than his thigh as it was easier to curl your hand. He didn’t mind because when you sat and watched horror movies you would squeeze his leg in anticipation for a jump scare of sorts. He thought it was cute.
Eventually, he finds it, “Here we go,” he mumbles, clicking on the first episode. You settle in, pushing your face further into the cushion as Jaehyun lets his hand rest on your shoulder, somewhere safe for him to touch. His other hand plays with your hair absentmindedly as the episode begins, showing the people who had been waiting for the game to come out so that they could play it.
It remains like this, you making comments here and there, ooh’s and ah’s coming form both of you as you talk about the episode before it rolls over to the next one. At one point, he says something that makes you sit up completely, throwing him off as your warmth leaves his body.
“Did you just suggest that Kirito could be –”
His eyes widen, “I merely suggested that he –”
You scowl, pout and cross your arms, your cardigan falling off your shoulder at an angle, “No! You said what you said. It’s out there now, in the cosmos, for all to judge. You can’t take it back.”
He’s looking at you, first with shock but then with an expectant look. All you were doing was arguing over anime. You’re not sure you remember seeing him like this, eyes filled with something you cannot describe. Is this what being loved feels like? The flying thought catches you off guard and you hold your breath. He wonders if you know that’s how he’s feeling, how he’s seeing you. The rose-tinted filter settled in and he was determined to keep it that way for a long time.
Jaehyun had got dressed after his shower into a sweatshirt and sweatpants, and joined you on the sofa while you were watching the back end of a drama you had been meaning to watch for months before you had switched over to anime. It was your thing; watching anime together.
His hand reaches to rest on the side of your face, thumb brushing your cheek and fingers splaying down to reach your neck and brings his face closer to yours, making your breath hitch. The last time you had been like this neither of you were thinking in coherent thoughts. At this point, you’d spent months with him, hiding from your family and friends – only partially as you had wanted to gain your confidence back again and go back with a real job.
His hair was still drying on the ends where he hadn’t bothered to towel dry it. It brushed against your forehead as he brought his forehead to rest on yours, savouring the moment.
Breathily, you manage to say his name.
He hums in response, eyes trained diligently on your lips, waiting for your response. He doesn’t notice how you watch him watching you, he’s enamoured. He loved when you looked like this. So carefree. So pure. So… pretty.
“Kiss me.”
He doesn’t wait any longer.
Lips centimetres form yours, he gives you the opportunity to change your mind but you bring your lips to his, not wanting to drag this out any longer. His fingers stay on your face while your hands have yet to find somewhere to be placed – something that Jaehyun notices – so he picks up your hand and curls it around the back of his neck before wrapping his own around the small of your back, a smirk finding its home on his face.
Feeling more confident, you bring your free hand to splay across his cheek, thumb mindlessly rubbing the dip where his dimple becomes prominent. His hair stands on end on the back of his neck, the sensation of your fingers brushing his face so calmly as he pulls your lower lip between his having caused goosebumps to form down his arms.
Secretly, he was glad he was wearing his sweatshirt so that you couldn’t see how sensitive he was to you.
Jaehyun leans gradually away and you chase his lips, not wanting to forget the feeling any time soon. All of the time you had spent with Soobin and yet none of the moments you had shared felt like this. It made your heart pound and the butterflies were making their way up, tickling your diaphragm as you struggle to breathe.
“Y/n,” he begins, lids heavy and forehead pressed to yours. He’s not really sure what he wants to say… how does one express the euphoria they feel from finally doing the right thing and knowing it’s the right thing? Because that’s how Jaehyun felt. You knew he wanted to say something so you lightly prompt him.
“Jae… what are you thinking?”
His lids close and he bumps his nose with yours, lips parted, “I want to kiss you like that more often.”
You giggle, which throws him off, “Do you?” He looks up to meet your wandering gaze through his lashes, “because I want to kiss you like that more often, too.”
He grins, tightening his grip around your waist, pulling you in until you’re straddling his lap. “Oh yeah? How about I do just that, then.” His lips return to yours. You noticed that Jaehyun’s lips tasted of cherry chapstick, and you loved that, deciding to part the seal of his mouth with your tongue to devour the taste further.
The subtle curve of his lips was something you didn’t want to forget – that was for sure. You work on memorising this feature and lightly tug at the tufts of hair at the back of his head, making him moan into your mouth ever so slightly.
“That was adorable,” you mumble against his lips, lowering yourself so your bum is resting on the heels of your feet either side of his thighs.
His face flushes but he pretends to not notice and instead lets his hands roam until they’re palming the globes of your ass.
This shocks you into action a little, the squeezing fingers forcing you to lift and lean on your knees, breasts pushed up against his chin as you continue to kiss him.
As you slipped your tongue to mingle with his, you decided then and there that you were absolutely in love with kissing him. Possibly smitten, just a tiny bit.
You had worn a tank top and a light cardigan for comfort around the flat, not wanting to pull jeans on and a blouse every morning and instead opting for leggings and light-tees regularly. You weren’t sure what kind of man Jaehyun was, an ass or boob man but something igniting inside you and hardening in his sweatpants told you that you were going to find out pretty damn soon.
Pulling away you offer a small smile at him, he grins, like he knows he’s about to get a present he’s been waiting for ages for. Ironic, considering his job profession.
You bite your lip and let your hands fall down to his arms, running your palms up and down his biceps. By now the episode had rolled over and was about 10 minutes into the next but you and Jaehyun were far too distracted, you figured it would have to wait. It would still be there tomorrow when you could rewatch it and continue your marathon.
His own hands rest below the curve or your breasts, thumbing at the swell.
You dip your head, pressing a kiss to the corner of his mouth before letting your tongue peak out and swirl its way down to his neck. Peppering kisses against his tan skin you pick a spot where he makes the most fuss when you reach it and bruise it with your lips. He groans at the feeling of your lips tainting his skin so skillfully and thinks about how you went to waste on someone like your ex before him. His breathing grows heavy and his fingers run up and down your back in a soothing manner, toying with the hem of your tank top every time his fingers brush the bottom.
“Oh my God,” he breathes out when you’re finished.
You giggle, “What?”
You had slipped your cardigan off, letting it fall in a heap on the floor and hooked your fingers under your shirt before throwing it across the room.
Gazing up at you, you can practically see the hearts spinning around his head. You knew that if this was a Looney Toon cartoon, his eyes would’ve been pounding hearts right about now.
“You’re so beautiful,” he sighs as you press a closed mouth kiss to his jaw, “…pretty girl.”
You were left in a dark pair of leggings and your t-shirt bra. It wasn’t anything fancy (you were here for comfort, for god’s sake) but Jaehyun looked at you like you had put all the stars in the sky yourself, something you were unfamiliar with. Pride swells in your chest and lust swells in your core.
“Are you going to keep staring or are you going to do something?” You tease. He merely smirks, enjoying what he hasn’t even done yet, and buries his head between your breasts.
You let out a small “Oof” noise and steady yourself on his shoulders. Leaning on your feet normally would’ve been enough but when he stuck his head between your boobs it had knocked you slightly off balance. Your fingers dig into his shoulder blades, pressing crescetn moons into his skin, but Jaehyun takes no notice as he noses his way to a fleshy spot and attaches his lips.
“Smell so good,” he’s referring to the perfume you had brought with you when you cleaned out your apartment. “Wanna taste,” he mumbles into your boobs. Your panties dampen at the confession, not knowing completely how to respond without crying out a moan.
Unshockingly so, this was one of the few tinmes you had felt like the only girl in the world, not to quote Rihanna, but it was truly a moment you had no desire to forget any time soon.
Instinctively, your hands retire to the back of his head, pulling him closer whilst he goes to town on a hickey he’s suckling into your skin.
Pulling back, he grins, “Perfect.” He’s admiring his handiwork but it still sends the stupid butterflies contained in your abdomemn stir crazy when his gaze meets yours, filled with lust, love, adoration – whatever you want to call it, his eyes contained it. Lids low and mind focused, his hand snakes behind your body to unhook your bra but you stop him.
In fear of pushing you too far he drops his hand and waits, eyes wide for what had stopped you.
“I-I haven’t – no – I don’t…” you struggle to find the correct words in front of Jaehyun, the cool breeze making you shiver in the slightest.
“What is it, angel?” He brings his hands to your waist, rubbing slow circles to calm you.
“Soobin,” you exhale. It was all Jaehyun needed to know so he took a deep breath.
He’s watching you as he says, “I don’t care. That was then… this is now.”
You nod. His features twist into a smile, images of that night coming back to him, “Plus I already fucked you against the –”
Your hand finds itself pressed across his mouth in the blink of an eye, praying he doesn’t finish that sentence, “I know,” you squeak before emphasising, “I was there.”
He tilts his head and offers a mischievous glint, “I thought you didn’t think I was real, simply a figment of your imagination, if I do remember correctly.”
Groaning, you roll your eyes, “Stop with that! You showed up, dressed in red and in the middle of the night after I’d written a letter that only I could know the contents of. Who’s to say you weren’t an incubus, huh?”
A single eyebrow is raised on his part.
“And you were gone before I woke up,” you mumble against his neck, now enticed by his scent again, “I never told anyone because it sounds wild, right? You have to admit that part at the very least.”
That made him take a second to process, “I never thought of it like that,” he mumbles, pressing feather-light kisses up your arm.
“It was something I thought about for a while,” you meekly replied to his unasked question.
“Well,” he begins, “you don’t have to worry any longer,” and presses his lips to your clavicle, fingers unclasping your bra behind you, this time you let him, sighing into his golden touch, boobs pressed against his chest. He groans at the feeling or your unclothed, hardened nipples cutting in on his pecs. You sling your bra across the room, not giving much thought or care towards where it ended up as there were more pressing matters you cared about.
Your neck is tipped back as his tongue dips to the valley of your breasts, he places an endearing kiss to your sternum and sets his sights onto your nipples.
Hand resting on the nape of his neck, you arch into the feeling of his wet mouth latching onto your nipple, peak caught between his tongue and teeth as he teases you, and tug on his hair.
He savours this, moaning before switching to your other nipple, not wanting to leave one without the same amount of attention. At this point, your panties are embarrassingly soaked from all of the stimulation.
“You’re so good to me,” you whine, not talking about just this very moment. You’re reminiscing about the past couple of months you’ve spent in his care too and something tells you that he knows that too.
He releases your nipple from his lips and glances up at you, “Is that so, angel?”
“Mhm,” you mumble, not sure what he wants you to say or what you should say to keep the mood going, “all the time. Miss you so much because of it,” you pout slightly, not wanting to draw too much from the conversation in case things went sideways.
You bring your hands to his cheeks, resting either side and pinch lightly, toying with him. “Keep me happy,” you state before leaning down to kiss him again. His eyes flutter close and you trail your hands down his abdomen, pressing harder with your nails as you slide them down to the hem of his jumper.
“Off,” you mutter against his lips. He gladly complies, you were topless and it was only fair he comes level with your nakedness. When you part momentarily to lift it over his head, your hungry eyes zone in on how constricted his hardened dick was within the confines of his sweatpants.
Jaehyun notices this, ruffled hair askew and mind now clear from the fog you had bestowed upon him when you had kissed him. He knew what he wanted, did you want it too?
Without hesitation, you palm the outline of his dick over the sweatpants, wanting to see his reaction. You were best pleased when he fights the urge to roll his eyes but bites his lip to stop himself from thrusting into your silky touch. Not that he’d felt that today, just yet.
You stifle a giggle, “Eager, pretty boy.”
One kiss is placed to his lips before you slip off of his lap, knees thudding as they land on the floor. You hook your index fingers around the waistband of his sweats and underpants, the tell-tale Tommy band staring back at you, knowing he would comply but you only pull them down just enough to free his weeping cock.
It springs up, slapping against his abdomen, veins prominent from the grining you had been doing earlier. Your mouth waters at the sight and you lick your lips, praying that it lives up to your expectations.
You give him a few slow strokes of your nails up him and one of his hands reaching up to push a few stray strands of hair form your face.
He groans when you finally wrap your slender fingers around his shaft, thumb wiping the leaking tip of his swollen mushroom head. It throbbed a pretty shade of pink, much like his lips, after you pressed a delicate kiss to the top.
“So, so good to me, angel,” are the words that leave his lips when you lick your own before dipping your head to lick up the underside. You offered a devilish smile and lowered your hot mouth onto his throbbing length slowly, wanting to savour every second and push Jaehyun to his limit.
You hum in agreeance to his statement, sending a shiver up his spine and eliciting a moan from him, his hands quickly tangling themselves in your loose hair as he makes a make-shift ponytail to keep your hair out of your face.
Once your jaw has adjusted to the burn of his girth, he helps you bob your head up and down, curling the ponytail around one hand and using that as leverage. Flattening your tongue, you press it to the underneath of his length. You experiment with seeing how much you can take as it’s been a long time since you’ve been intimate with someone like this. One of your manicured hands reaches down to tickle his balls – a trick Hyejin had taught you the last time you were having one of those conversations – and he all but thrusts up into your throat, making you clench your legs and rub them together for some friction as your eyes close tight, forcing tears to run down your face.
“Oh fuck, I don’t think I can ah-” he lifts you off of his dick and brings your mouth to his, pressing hard against your own.
You’re flushed from his abrupt actions but that doesn’t stop you from stripping yourself of your leggings when he practically begs you to. Unsure what he wants next, you fiddle until he instructs you, “Those too,” he gestures to your panties. They weren’t grand but, had you not been about to get it on with possibly the hottest and most caring man you’ve come across, you would’ve been embarrassed about him seeing them in any normal situation.
Once they’re discarded, he stands, shimmys out of his sweats and pants and brings you close to him and guides a leg to wrap around his waist, rock hard dick pressed between your two sweaty bodies.
He kisses you hard, a clash on tongue and teeth; it’s one of the messiest kisses you had ever been on the receiving end of but ultimately still one of the best you’ve been able to experience, and lowers the two of you onto the sofa.
Again, you’re perched on your heels. He breaks the kiss, looking between your bodies to align himself with your entrance. “I’m sorry, angel,” he mutters against the column of your throat.
“Wha-”
He waits no longer before slipping himself into your core impossibly easily, as he sets a killer pace.
Squealing, you let your head fall onto his shoulder as you try your best to thrust down as much as he thrusts up into you but it was proving difficult as he suckled sweetly on the juncture where your neck and shoulder met – sending your senses into overdrive.
“S-so tight,” he breathes out, trickles of sweat forming in his hairline. One of the few brain cells you have working tells you the clench on his next thrust, only making him moan louder than before. In response, he ups the pace, setting his sights on destroying your sweet pussy.
Knowing full-well that he hadn’t tasted your arousal like he had originally intended, he brings his finger to dance across your clit, stimulating the bundle of nerves until you were whining, hips stuttering as your vision hazes, unsure of how to control yourself. Still unable to match his deadly pace, you settle on tensing your legs and hovering above him where he pounds upwards, the sound of skin hitting skin echoing around the room.
You knew that by the time he was going to be finished, your ass was going to be tainted red from where his balls were slapping your underside as he pounds into you.
“Jaehyun,” you barely manage to breathe out, “fu… fuck.” Not what you were going for so you give it another try, “Jae… kiss.”
His eyes linger on your disheveled features. You open your eyes and look down at him, worried that he hadn’t heard you. His eyes meet yours; you pout, “Kiss me, p-ah–” one particularly strong thrust ignites inside you, the tell-tale sign of your orgasm about to snap through you; halts your half-hearted attempt at riding him.
He captures your lips with his, nibbling on your lip before licking it as if to heal it. His fingers are still rubbing tiny circles in your clit that send you over the edge and into complete euphoria, spine arching.
Within milliseconds, your vision is blurring and eyes unfocus, switching for white dots across your line of sight to pair with the white hot pleasure ripping through your core. “Ah,” you whine, “oh... Jae-Jaehyun,” your voice breaks, not being able to comprehend the possibility of more thanone thing happening at once.
As you clamp down on him unintentionally, he groans, unable to hold back any longer and empties his load inside your trembling pussy, cursing as he does.
Moments pass before he can bring himself to say anything, “You’re so perfect, angel. So pretty and perfect.”
You lift your head to look at him. At his fucked-out face you melt into him, swety bodies gradually becoming one and sliding off of his softening cock so you can wrap your arms around his neck and nuzzle closer to him. He brings his arms around your waist, pressing his face into the crook of your neck and breathing sharply through his nose.
“You’re so good to me. Can’t remember the last time someone fucked me that good,” you whisper against the shell of his ear. You have one hand raking your fingers through his hair. You breathe out a laugh as he shivers at the feeling.
Knowing that was probably an ego boost enough, you press a languid kiss to the side of his mouth, not really paying much attention to where your lips landed. Continuing to pepper him with kisses, he stirs slightly, not wanting all of this attention to go to waste.
“Hey, c’mere,” he says, holding you from your waist before slowly lowering you onto the sofa beside him so your back is flat.
You’re barely holding it together, Jaehyun’s cum trickling down the side of your leg from your sore hole. He pushes your legs apart, one falls haphazardly off of the sofa and the other is pressed between his side and the back of the sofa. He doesn’t care, though, bringing two fingers up to meet your quivering core.
“What are you doi – ah!”
A lazy grin spreads across Jaehyun’s face, his fingers now covered in yours and his essence as he stuffs it back into you. The overstimulation makes you quiver but he was determined about making you suffer. “So pretty with my cum stuffed inside you, angel, so pretty.”
By now, you’re convinced he’s drunk but you don’t put it past yourself to consider yourself just as drunk on him as he is on you. You squirm, not wanting him to continue as his fingers repeat their actions. “O-oh, too much,” you whimper, “sore, so fucking sore baby.”
You knew you probably could’ve handled a little more but he obliges, not wanting to scare you away (as if that was even possible) and finishes by pushing his fingers past your lips, coaxing you to lick them clean.
Gladly, you do as he was silently suggesting.
He groans, his dick twitching but he ignores it, knowing you’re still healing and by the state of you currently, you probably weren’t up for another round. Instead, he picks you up bridal style and takes you to the bathroom, feet wobbling a few times on the way before getting to the bathroom.
“Gotta clean up, angel.”
You mumble, putting your legs to use and absently moving to switch the shower head on, soaking both of you in the stall. The water is freezing but you make no complaints, wanting to settle the heat radiating from your body. Jaehyun says nothing too. He just helps you clean yourself as you’re making a half-hearted effort – this makes him chuckle.
Twenty minutes later, the both of you are laying on his bed (the one he gave up for you), snuggled into each other.
For the first time in a long time, you slept in the crook on an arm where you felt safe, possibly loved (that would have to be addressed another time).
While you lay, breathing slowly as you listen to his heartbeat, Jaehyun has his head propped up with one arm and his other arm rests on your side, t-shirt that he had lent you riding up on the side, fingers running up and down as he takes in the feel of your smooth skin under his fingertips.
Jaehyun was smitten.
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a/n: hi hello. how, uh, how was it? feel free to leave me some feedback or pop in my ask box. you’re all my angels. i just like posting to post sometimes but interaction is p darn cool too. lyl <3
i follow from @00solarsmiles​
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copyright © 2021, 01solarsmiles on tumblr. please don’t repost or translate.
net: @neowritingsnet
298 notes · View notes
cupidsintern · 3 years
Text
shot thru the heart, pt 3
pt 1 //pt 2
-
Steve staves off actually caving and asking Billy for the notes for as long as he possibly can. Which is like, four days.
He actually needs those notes, for real, because he hasn’t been able to write a single fucking thing except the day’s date on his paper since…. Since Billy started sitting behind him at the beginning of the semester. It’s just been distracting, okay? That’s all.
That’s all.
And if Steve thinks about this anymore his head is going to literally explode so-
“Hey, Hargrove.” Steve catches up to Billy just as they are both leaving class. And he spaces out for a millisecond thinking how every time he thinks about blonde-curls-blue-eyes he thinks Billy, but what he says is ‘Hargrove.’
Billy slows, looks over his shoulder a little like he’s letting Steve know he’s allowed to continue, but he doesn't stop walking. He’s a faster walker than Steve, even though Steve’s legs are longer. Too long- he feels like a fucking. One of those. Desert-deer things. Antelope? No, a gazelle- it’s a gazelle.
“I, uh,” Steve realizes he’s never actually walked anywhere with Billy before, and has never entertained the possibility, but he started talking, so he may as well keep going. “If you’re still cool with it, borrowing your notes would be like, really helpful.” Why does he sound so stilted?
“Sure.” Billy seems so impartial to the whole thing, but Steve grins, a little relieved.
“Great! Uh, thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” Billy nudges past him.
Now Steve’s standing alone on the sidelines of the main hall. And he feels warm all over again.
Steve is sitting at his desk the next day when a small stack of notes gets dropped in front of him- the paper snaps a little against the desk’s wood top.
Steve turns around in time to catch Billy sliding into the seat behind him.
“Hey,” Steve smiles, tries to think of something else to say like ‘thanks again’ when Billy goes,
“That's everything I have from this unit. Don’t write on them cause I want them back.”
“Okay,” Steve thinks Billy seems like he's trying to compensate for something. “Thanks again.”
Billy shrugs. But he does smile a bit. One of his nothing-matters-I'm-cool smiles.
“Maybe we could study together sometime-” Steve says before thinking about it at all, so it comes out way lower than he means it to so he has to clear his throat and go “If you want.”
Steve panics for a split second, something trying to flip over in his chest and he worries Billy’s gonna think he was asking something else, is gonna get him all wrong- but-
“If I didn't know better I’d say you were asking me to hangout, Harrington.” Billy laughs just a little. A little huff, sharp off his tongue.
Steve looks away, then looks back to Billy. “I mean, sure, yeah.”
Steve can swear Billy lights up for a second, smiles a little brighter, sits up more- but then, no. Billy only looks nonchalant again. “Hm. Maybe.” Then he looks back at his own notebook. And Steve takes that as a signal that the conversation is Now Over.
He turns back to his desk. Billy’s notes are still there.
It's days before the test, and Steve is sure that Billy's notes would be super helpful if he was actually reading them for clarity and understanding or whatever, but instead he’s discovered something entirely different, scribbled in the margins of almost every page; commentary. Billy writes literal commentary, more scrawly and casual than the rest of his legible nites.
Shit like; “Incorrect date in lecture but who’s gonna notice that certainly not the guy whos supposed to be fucking teaching us this no sir” and “just saw a bird out the window” and “Five minutes in and you have no idea what’s going on huh?”
That last one seems a little sweeter than the two before it, though. Like Billy’s talking to someone, other than himself.
Steve loves looking at those notes.
Loves the slopes and slants of the writing. Loves the commentary. Loves the little doodles Billy does in the margins. A knife with a spiraly handle. A skull that’s actually pretty good, could make a good tattoo maybe. Roses- lots of them. All different sizes. And a little heart with an arrow shot through it. Steve didn’t know Billy likes to draw. He’s not half bad. Steve smiles to himself a little. Runs his hand over one of the roses absently, wonders if they’re Billy's favorite because they’re Steves favorite, because they’re the classic-
Steve should probably be learning a lot more than he was though.
Steve actually studies for a few days. Like two, but still. He looks at Billy's notes multiple times. Actually invests time and energy into learning shit. So, you know, good for him. Good for him, managing to get good enough with Billy to actually reap the benefits of almost-friendship, because honestly maybe they could be friends, right? Maybe.
Hopefully.
Steve kind of likes sitting near Billy now, kind of likes the banter they have going, likes how Billy never makes him feel dumb, even if he calls him dumb…
But he still leaves class right as the bell rings, quick as a whip crack. Steve can barely even get in a ‘goodbye.’
He’s only a little disappointed, but it’s not like he has any reason to care-
He looks down.
Billy’s notebook. On the ground in the desk aisle.
It must have fallen out of Billy’s backpack on his brisk way out.
Steve scoops it up, shoves it in his backpack, and is out the door without so much as a second thought.
The second thoughts kick in when Steve gets home. When he tosses his backpack on his bed and paces around like that's gonna do anything before walking back over and pulling Billy’s notebook out and just, Holding it. Looking at it. Feeling overcome with.. Something.
He should open it. No, he shouldn’t, it’s not his.
But he wants to.
Billy ripped out pages to give him notes, clearly there’s stuff in here for Billy’s eyes only.
Steve can’t help himself.
He opens it.
And honestly, it’s pretty standard stuff. Old notes. More commentary that Steve relishes with every new word. A doodle of Bugs Bunny holding a joint that’s actually pretty good.
And a half-ripped page in the back that reads:
“Literally so beautiful it’s impossible not to-
But I don’t think you’re a dumbass-
I promise. Which is dumb, bec-
but I can’t help myself. I-
wish you knew how -
wonder if I’m i-
smells good-
Stupid-”
It’s a love letter. Steve’s dumb, but he’s not stupid. No doubt in his mind- this is a love letter.
Steve sits there. Reading the broken up sentences, over and over.
Billy wrote a love letter. Unmistakably his handwriting. Pieces of beautiful ideas about someone Billy is clearly crazy about-
And Steve’s heat sinks. Sinks all the way down from its high-falutin place in his throat, pushing at the back of his tongue down, down, into the darkest pit of his stomach. Immediately he knows-
That warm feeling from before? The all consuming too-hot cinnamon and grease feeling from before was not jealousy.
This is jealousy.
The idea that Billy cares about someone enough to write them a letter in his perfect pretty collected handwriting makes Steve sick with envy. He just sort of figured he was the only person relevant enough to take up Billy's brainspace. Not like anyone else thinks about Steve in any way anymore…
Steve drops the notebook back on his bed like it burned him. He sits on the edge of his bed, tilts his head up to the ceiling, closes his eyes.
Fuck. Fuck please dear god why now.
Steve wished this was the first time this had happened. The first time he'd stumbled his way into thinking about a guy like that.
But it wasn't. God he didn't want to have to think about this. He tries never to think about this shit. It wasn't like it happened all the time, wasn't like he couldn't just wait for it to go away like he had before.
But it did mean he had to stop talking to Billy right the fuck now.
No more copying his notes. No more maybe-hanging out. No more fucking banter in class. Steve needed to crush this… fluke. Before it became anything worse.
But if he was so resolved to not think about Billy like that, then why couldn’t he just get rid of the torn letter?
-
part 4 coming sooon! the thrilling conclusion !!!
162 notes · View notes
hansoulo · 3 years
Text
you’re just a bottomless pit
part one of “Pillar of Salt”
Pairing: Boba Fett/Princess!Reader (she/her pronouns, no Y/N)
Warnings: NSFW - explicit language, allusions to violence, discussions of mild harassment, mentions of being royalty, kissing, choking, light non-descriptive smut, slight elements of dubcon, boba’s a big dick gotta be what you have amirite
Word Count: 3.5k
A/N: this is empire strikes back boba when he was just fucking around and finding out so i took a lot of liberties with canon don’t @ me. i offer u this picture as a helpful visual aid. merry christmas xx
༓ series masterlist ༓ 
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Darth Vader was to be a house guest, and you promptly dunked your head underneath your bathwater.
The perfumed pool burbled for a few seconds while you groaned, listless and in the throes of dramatics, but your attendant only clucked in sympathy. Mila was long accustomed to your disdain for the Imperials who had come to occupy more and more of the palace. So, it seemed, was everyone except the Imperials.
After a long moment you emerged from below the water, droplets of it clinging to your face and trailing into your mouth. “Another Lord?” you asked incredulously, groaning even louder when the servant nodded.
You swam the two short strokes it took to go from one end of the small pool to the other, then floated bare on your back and stared up at the vaulted ceiling. “Is he the one with all the strange…” motioning towards your mouth, you made a vague gesture. “Apparatus?”
“I believe so, your Highness.”
Humming noncommittally, you let your gaze trail off for a moment and stood rightside up again before returning to the bath’s edge. Its intricate tiles were cluttered with bottles, little glass tinctures and oils and soaps that all wrapped themselves around the room in a heady, heavy incense. You inhaled deeply and sighed. Lord Vader with the strange apparatus.
You couldn’t remember a time before your father, the sovereign ruler of Quas Killam, was a puppet for the permanently stationed General and a yes-man for Emperor Palpatine. Then again, you supposed it wasn’t really his fault his planet just happened to be Mid-Rim and full of exactly what the Empire needed. Being a yes-man was probably the only thing keeping his planet intact during the civil war that was supposedly raging right now.
But it was hard to feel sympathy for a man who dressed you up like a paper doll and never let your mother talk.
A soapy sponge was brought up against your back, smelling of lavender. Closing your eyes, you let Mila’s motherly hands scrub at your shoulders and arms until the skin tingled in a pleasant burn.
You picked at the tile grouts with a polished fingernail, head swimming with rows and rows of grey uniforms and white shelled armor. “Wonder why they’re here this time,” you said, speaking softly to no one in particular.
“Princess, if I may...” the older woman began.
“You may.”
“I believe they’re building another weapons factory to supply the Empire, in the north fields. Lord Vader was invited to oversee its induction.”
You kicked your legs lazily in the water, half-asleep and lulled into slowness by the refresher’s warm steam. “And I suppose he’s bringing along an entourage?” you asked, already knowing the answer. They always did, those Imperial sorts. It was just a question of how many and for how long they decided to stay, having taken any real power from your family royalty years ago after they’d discovered the trinium mines your planet was known for.
Your title had rotted of its relevance, made even lesser by the fact that you were the youngest daughter of seven. Your infant brother was being groomed for ventriloquism and you, you were being groomed for obsoletion.
Mila’s hands, roughened by years of laundry and lye soap, rubbed warm oils into your skin. “There was talk of a bounty hunter, your Highness.”
Your eyes shot open.
A bounty hunter?
 ⫸ ——— ——————————————————————————— ⫷
You saw him a few weeks later, in the flurry of transport arrivals and mindless, droning ceremony. It was only a flash of his helmet, but it was enough to keep your imagination spinning for days.
Whispers from entreating servants and talk from stormtroopers that couldn’t keep their mouths shut had informed you of his reputation, his station, and his name. Boba Fett.
A particularly loose-lipped security droid regaled you with rumors of his being hired by Lord Vader, hunting a man named Han out in the Outer Rim. Quas Killam was on their way, apparently, good for information and heavy on the underworld dealings you’d always been shielded from. Truthfully, you didn’t much care. You knew no one got close to the Empire without blood on their hands. Whether they be kings or bounty hunters.
When you actually talked to the man, having been caught trying to eavesdrop on the chamber meeting he happened to be exiting the moment you leaned your ear against the door, any delusions of decorum were shattered the moment he opened his mouth. “Out of the way.”
You bristled, gathering up your skirts in a huff as you stepped away. Rude.
He was taller than you thought he’d be. Taller and broader than he looked before back on the cargo bay, a mere smudge in your peripheral vision. Now that he was alone save for you in the cavernous hallway, his words echoed on the marble tile. So much for espionage.
“My father’s in that meeting,” you replied shortly, putting on airs and doing your best to look like your mother, regal and cold.
Boba only stood there, thumbing the notches of his blaster until he caught the thin sparkle of the diadem crowning your head. A scoff, dismissive. “Then out of the way, princess.”
It wasn’t the title that bothered you. After all, it’s not like he was wrong. It was the way he said it. It was… it was patronizing! Condescending. Absolute inappropriate to a person of your station.
And, if you were being honest with yourself, more than a little attractive.
You shifted your weight onto one hip, scowling. “Don’t call me that.”
A low chuckle rumbled in his chest, static-y and made even rougher by his helmet. “What? Princess.”
Stars, you heard that word a million times a day for a million different reasons. His saying it shouldn’t have felt so warm in your mouth.
Before you could volley back a reply, something equally biting and smarmy, the double doors he stood in front of began to groan open again.
“Better scram, little one.” Boba jerked his head towards the sound of your father’s advancing footsteps. “Daddy’s coming.”
⫸ ——— ——————————————————————————— ⫷
You often dreamed about what it’d be like to leave. Your title. Your station. All the bloody bores that came along with it.
But you had never even been outside the palace grounds. Probably never would, unless your father found someone willing to marry a low-ranking princess and hoisted you over their shoulder, a piece for a game you were never taught and never allowed to play. You’d already resigned yourself to that fact and half-way convinced yourself you were okay with it. But prisons were still prisons. Even if they were made of silk.
On the eve of Lord Vader's departure, everyone in the palace was preoccupied. Your father was most likely schmoozing some Imperial officer. Your mother, in bed with yet another headache. Your governess spent the day preening over your younger brother and your handmaiden was nowhere to be seen. You had a sneaking suspicion she was with one of the guards in a dark hallway.
So you slipped out behind a servant’s entrance and looked for a place to breathe.
Hardly anyone knew about this part of the palace gardens. It was sequestered behind so many winding footpaths and barely-oiled gates that the security droids never bothered patrolling past the main entrance, making it simple to duck underneath the overgrown hedges. The air was quiet; heavy-scented with all the flowers that had been planted and forgotten, left to grow wild across the footpaths and be crushed underneath your feet.
You used to come here quite often, when you were younger and it was easier to slip away. There were long spaces in your memory made of cotton, with hazy sun-soaked afternoons and the fountain that somehow still spouted out streams of cold water from the hands of a statue, some relic of an ancient ruler who had long since died. It was only a small courtyard, made smaller by the thick surrounding hedges and large chunks of cobblestone, but it felt like a whole galaxy to you.
A few minutes passed, then an hour. Two hours. A long, slow, summer stretch of day that just confirmed the fact of your irrelevance. It was filled in only by the mindless reading of your holopad and a few short naps. But better out here alone than stuck back inside, surrounded by those insufferable stormtroopers.
Maybe you spoke too soon, because a few seconds later you were toe-to-toe with Boba Fett, your back pressed to the garden wall. Stars, you didn’t even hear him walk in.
You’d think by now you would have learned to be more careful. Listening and being listened in on.
The helmet tilted up and then down, examining your sour expression. Rolling your eyes, you slumped against the ivy-covered brick, still smarting from your encounter with him a few days prior. “Why are you here?” A haughty, affected wave of your hand. “Were you sent here to fetch me?”
The man straightened out, stepping back from you with a broadening of his already broad shoulders.  Chips in his armor reflected tiny bits of sunlight, little silver speckles on green armor that looked even greener surrounded by wild flora. He hunted people for a living, so the fact that you were made quick work of didn’t really bother you. Still, it was a bit disappointing. Having to go back to the palace was the last thing you wanted.
“The king was concerned for your safety.”
Oh for Maker’s sake. “You mean he was concerned for his reputation.”
“I was told to find you-”
“-and bring me back so I could sit in a parlor and be supervised like a child.”
“Princess,” he sighed.
There was that word again.
A heavy swallow bobbed the lump in your throat, your chest flushed and littering the space between your bodies in a low buzz. You narrowed your eyes, not trusting your own head for something more articulate, and spit the question out. “What?”
He motioned towards the footpath, one hand resting on his belt. “Let’s go.”
You only crossed your arms with a raise of an eyebrow, mind floating an acknowledgement that you were very much acting like a child who needed to be supervised.
“I don’t make a habit of tracking down spoiled royalty.”
No one had ever called you spoiled before.
It was sort of refreshing.
The man cut an imposing figure, you’d give him that. With the helmet and blaster and… armor and such. You weren’t even entirely sure you remembered to put on real shoes before coming out here, still slippered and in stocking feet. What a pair you must’ve made. Incongruous.
You cocked your head and leant against the wall with the fabric of your dress swishing out around your ankles. Caught by warm, humid winds, its layers separated themselves into thin sails before falling down together again. Rhetorical questions were blooming alongside flowers. “Are spoiled royalty below your paygrade, then?”
A tip of his helmet said yes, yes they are.
You supposed as such, with the sort of reputation he had. Skilled bounty hunter. Feared mercenary. Expensive and coveted.
A lap dog.
Maybe there was more in common between you than you thought.
Another breeze whistled past, but the man in front of you was silent. “Well,” you finally spoke, brushing away the imaginary dirt on your dress. “I don’t make a habit of following around strange men, so we’re in a bit of a bind.”
There was an edge in his voice when you moved to walk away, a gloved grip snaking up and resting a deadweight on the back of your neck. You pushed up against him. Lothcat and mouse. You were both, but he was too. “I’m not telling you again, Princess.”
If he called you that again you were sure something would happen. What that something was you had no idea, but the epithet, mocking as it was, felt too good soaking in your sternum for it not to be a catalyst.
A breathy smirk left your lips when your hips canted downward and the gauzed fabric of your dress caught on his cuisse plate. “If I didn’t know any better,” you whispered, reaching to flatten your palms across his chest, “I’d say you almost enjoyed chasing me.”
The hand on your nape tightened and his leather fingerprints dug unspoken threats into your skin that simmered, burning up and down your spine. You faked a pout. “Shame you already caught me, isn’t it?”
The grip surrounding you loosened just slightly, letting your back slide down the garden wall whose ivy-covered stone dragged at your bodice back. A small voice chirped up in the back of your head, chiding you for dirtying the delicate fabric before you willed it away, done with listening.
Boba almost growled. “Don’t push your luck.”
“My, my,” you clucked, shaking your head. Your fingers trailed towards the edges of his helmet and traced stripes where his brow bone would be. They were gold. For vengeance. “Aren’t we feeling insolent today?”
The man underneath the beskar scoffed, the palm that was at the back of your neck now wrapping itself around your outstretched wrist and pulling your hand away. You let out a quiet whine of protest, both at the loss of contact and just to see what it might do to him to hear it. When he stiffened, leaning away with every muscle seeming to tense and release and tense again, you were unreasonably pleased. There was still red blood underneath all that red paint.
Boba’s voice was clipped when he finally replied; the vowels came through strained and raspy. “I could say the same for you.”
Yes, he probably could, couldn’t he?
Then again, maybe your two wrongs could cancel out into being right and not at all compromising.
It’s not like you really did anything erroneous. Well, besides the running away part. But that was par for the course for you. All that was new was… him. And his hands. And his being alone with you. Which could possibly be construed as something wrong and compromising but how wrong could it be, really, if neither of you did anything?
Of course, this all hinged on neither of you doing anything. Compromising.
“Take the helmet off and I’ll go with you,” you offered, knowing how juvenile you sounded. You just wanted to see if he’d hear you. If he’d listen.
He did.
Boot spurs clinked as he stalked towards you, closer than he was before. It was invasive; almost chest to chest with no room for breathing as you were pushed up against the wall again, and you were met with the revelation that whatever you were toying with was probably a really, really bad idea.
Static filled your ears from the husk of his vocoder. “You know I can take you back whether you want to or not.” The roof of your mouth went dry and you remembered how Boba’s palm spanned the entire back of your neck, cradled delicately by leather fingers. He could crush your throat in one hand. Squeeze until you went limp. You wouldn’t be able to stop him. “I don’t need your permission.”
Your thumbs reached up to the lock mechanisms on either side of his head anyway. “I know.”
Fire felt good when you were close enough to be warmed by it. Whether or not you’d be burned was left to be seen.
The helmet lifted with a soft click.
Truth be told, you’re surprised he let you do it.
You dangled the helm almost carelessly by your hip, curling your fingers around the lip of it whilst your other hand stayed hovering near his face. He looked a bit older than you imagined, mid-thirties maybe, scarred and stern-looking. Handsome.
You should’ve stopped while you were ahead but all you wanted—stupid, stubborn, and yearning for a plaything—was to feel the black curls cropped close to his ears. Which probably counted as compromising.
Without the modulator Boba’s voice was deeper, the rumbling kind of richness that was used to giving orders and used to having them followed. It bore down on you as a concrete weight. “I’m not a kind man, princess.”
He forgot that you were used to giving orders too.
The coarse material of his collar chafed your palm as you held it, gripping a lifeline, and tilted your mouth up to his ear. The softness of your voice disguised your intention. It sounded innocent when you whispered it. Gentle, even. “I never said I wanted you to be.”
His lips bruised you and tasted like salt.
It was all tongue, teeth, barely cloaked violence, pressed until your throat felt raw and your heartbeat dropped below the ground to join whatever was left of your dignity. When your knees buckled, a gloved hand settled large between your shoulder blades.
You didn’t think your first kiss would be like this.
Hypothetically it would have been clinical, fumbling and awkward in your own inexperience. Out in front of a crowd somewhere after you met the eyes of a stranger at the altar. Or maybe in secret, like it was now, with a tryst of boyhood and a peck on the cheek.
Boba Fett was a stranger, but he wasn’t a boy. And this wasn’t a peck on the cheek.
You didn’t realize he had lifted you up by your hips until you were placed back down again, his having crossed the few steps from the wall to the nearby fountain with arms firmly wrapped around your middle and not so much as a strain of his hips. His strength should have scared you. It did scare you, a little, but the same hands that had gripped the blaster still at his side were deceptively gentle around your waist. You let yourself be brought down by his bended knees.
“Easy there,” Boba said, still crouching on the ground beside you as you slowly lay back on the lip of the waterwork, white noise burbling from the quiet fixtures. The flat, curved slab surrounding the shallow pool was wide enough that you needn’t worry about balancing, speckled gray stone warmed from weather and soon by skin. There was one moment where Boba allowed you to catch your breath and then it was gone, knocked out of your lungs in another assiduous touch.
“Poor thing,” he mocked, sardonic even as he cooed gently into your open mouth. Your back arched in an unwitting presentation and blood pounded a drumbeat in your ears. All you could see was Boba; his face and his shoulders and his arms braced beside your head, leaning over your horizontal form. Like you were prey. Maybe you were. “What would your father say if he saw you like this?”
He wouldn’t be able to say anything. Would stand there, mouth agape and his eyes doing that strange bulging thing it always did when you did anything besides sew embroidery squares. Fainting wasn’t out of the question. It would be ridiculously fun to watch.
You huffed, chasing Boba’s mouth with your own when he shifted above you. The midday sun hung high, edging the bounty hunter’s tanned face in white. You could see your own eyes in the reflection of his pupils, could smell his warm skin. His canines scraped your collarbones. Everything was fast, blurry, and burning.
Stars above.
The whole situation was ridiculous. Twenty minutes ago you’d never been kissed on the mouth and now you were letting a killer-for-hire grope you like you were a back-alley harlot.
It wouldn’t end well. You’d curse after he left and hate yourself for letting him stay, because his staying would be brief and shallow and cruel, but right now, lying on the edge of a fountain with sunshine on your neck and a low voice in your ear, staying was the only thing you wanted him to do.
What an egregious lapse in judgement.
What a beautiful, electrifying lapse in judgement.
“You’re so—” a slurred pitchiness invaded your vocal chords, coating everything in bitter syrup. Your jaw was starting to numb from unforgiving lips. “—so rude,” you choked out, mind struggling to find footing amid its own dizziness. You felt like an overheating droid, full of bad code and faulty wiring that made your words and your actions discordant because even as you insulted the man, your hands were curling around his shoulders to pull him closer. “Always so rude, so… so mean to me. Makes me want—” you panted, voice breaking off into a whine when a calloused palm slid across the back of your thigh, “...want…”
His accent curled the consonants into a dance. “Want what, Princess?”
Expectant in their heaviness but teasing a smile in their lined corners, Boba’s eyes were the color of charred umber. Squirming in his arms, you nosed your face into the junction of his collarbones. “Want you,” you finally mumbled, admitting it in one long, pathetic exhale.
His promise had sharp teeth.
“You can have me.”
491 notes · View notes
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Destiel Trope Collection 2021 | Day 6: Firsts
24 fics under the cut
Sometimes Things Just Work Out | @vampamber
Rating: General Word Count: 1,027 Main Tags/Warnings: arranged marriage, angel Cas, royalty AU, mistaken identities Summary: Castiel is not looking forward to being forced to marry this Prince Dean person. The angel had never met him, never even laid eyes on him. For all he knew, the marriage would be miserable. Now, this human who's trying to hide in Castiel's room? It made Castiel wish that he wasn't going to be part of an arranged marriage, because he was really starting to like this green eyed stranger.
Through the Night | @smokerdean
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,147 Main Tags/Warnings: Castiel Out of the Empty, Soft Epilogue, First Times, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Sharing a Bed Summary: The motel is the same as thousands of others Dean has stayed in over the course of his life, but it's different, it's better, because he is here with Cas.
The Report Card | @fpwoper
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 1,211 Main Tags/Warnings: First Time, Crack Fic, Blow Jobs Summary: The morning after Dean and Cas first fool around, Dean finds a honest to god report card.
Dragon's Den | @fpwoper
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,280 Main Tags/Warnings: First Date, Dragon!Cas Summary: Dean and Cas's first meeting is in a coffee shop they randomly chose. It's just... a little dragon heavy.
Taking one for Team Free Will | @fellshish
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 1,560 Main Tags/Warnings: First kiss, pov dean winchester Summary: There’s a spell that requires an angel’s kiss to work. Dean takes one for the team.
Cannibal Queen | @one-more-offbeat-anthem
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 1,683 Main Tags/Warnings: creature!Castiel and creature!Dean, first time, porn with plot, virgin Castiel, mild gore Summary: What's a zombie to do when he finds out his (pretty hot) roommate and best friend is a vampire? In the case of Dean Winchester, the plan is to convince said vampire that they should team up and heist slaughterhouses. But when a run goes wrong, there are some unexpected consequences...
A Sign of Affection | @clarrisani
Rating: General Word Count: 2,159 Main Tags/Warnings: First Kiss, Fluff Summary: Castiel learns that different kisses mean different things.
9x06 coda : I'm sorry | @allofmystudentsrunaway
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 2,288 Main Tags/Warnings: Mutual Masturbation, Angst with a Happy Ending, AngstEmotional Hurt/Comfort, fanfic gap Summary: fan fic gap first time.
The blonde-haired witch and the little push | @chaoticdean
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 2,830 Main Tags/Warnings: Case Fic, Witches, Oblivious Castiel/Dean Winchester, Mutual Pining, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Sharing a Bed Summary: It’s not the first time Dean’s ever had to listen to someone referring to Castiel as “his boyfriend”, but it sure as hell is the first time he has to sit through a diner listening to a witch referring to Cas as his husband without even batting an eyelash, like it’s the most normal thing in the world. Which would be fine if it didn’t cause actual shivers to run down his spine. (or the one where a friendly witch gives Dean the little push he needs)
Every Part of You | @the-communist-unicorn
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,097 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe, Panty Kink, Married Dean/Cas, Explicit Sex (but non-penetrative so there's no top or bottom), References to Homophobia Summary: Cas discovered his husband's secret completely by accident, but now that he knew, he wasn't just going to let Dean shove it back in that shoe box like it was something to be ashamed of. Every part of Dean was perfect and beautiful, and Cas might have just discovered a kinky side of himself too.
Whiskey and Wifi | @celipuff
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,401 Main Tags/Warnings: Top!Castiel/Bottom!Dean, Dom Sub Undertones, Neighbors, Castiel Has A Panty Kink Summary: Cas may have lost a WiFi connection, but when he makes his way over to his neighbors house, he ends up gaining something much better.
At Last! | @chaoticdean
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 3,617 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Friends to Lovers, Best Friends, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Airports, First Kiss, 5+1 Things Summary: Five times Dean kept his mouth shut, and one time he didn’t.
OUR FIRST TIME | @cooloddball
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 3,920 Main Tags/Warnings: Fluff and Smut Summary: Dean & Cas' first time together
Ghost Town Saints | @nothing-but-dreams
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4,010 Main Tags/Warnings: College, House Party, Beer Pong, Marijuana, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Friends to Lovers, Trans!Castiel, Supportive Dean, Angst with a Happy Ending Summary: College is out for summer vacation, and that means Cas is back home with his family. Ever since he came out as trans, things have been tense, to say the least. After yet another argument with his parents, Cas needs to clear his head. Luckily, his best friend Dean is just a text away. Dean suggests the two of them escape reality for a bit and hit up a party being held at Ghost Town. As they drink and get high, they realize their feelings for each other run deeper than friendship.
It Started With Arousal | @vampamber
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 4,260 Main Tags/Warnings: ABO, angel Cas, alpha Cas, omega Dean, soul bonds, virgin Cas, porn with plot Summary: It was when Castiel violently slammed the demon into the wall mid-fight that he felt it. The bond he had with Dean ever since he pulled the omega out of Hell had been getting stronger lately, but this was the first time that Castiel truly experienced an emotion that wasn't his own. He had expected something like this to happen eventually, but there was no way he ever would have expected such a feeling at a time like this. Dean was… aroused? He spared a quick glance at the hunter, meeting green eyes but seeing nothing that might cause said arousal. When three more demons kicked through the door to enter the room and the fight, Castiel promptly forgot the confusing emotion. For the time being, at least.
Kiss Me | @peanutbutterjelly-pie
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4,285 Main Tags/Warnings: Canon Compliant, First Kiss, Humor, Friends to Lovers Summary: Dean’s spur-of-the-moment ideas aren’t always the best, as lots of people are able to attest. And his last one really took the cake. Because now he’s unable to forget the taste of Castiel’s lips and he’s got no freaking clue how to deal with this.
Kiss at the Drive-in | @notfunnydean
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 4,380 Main Tags/Warnings: fluff and smut, getting together, drive-in cinema, semi-public sex, car sex, non-penetrative sex, handjobs, shy!Dean, dirty dancing, implied Bottom!Dean Summary: When Dirty Dancing airs in a Drive-in Cinema near the Bunker, Dean really wants to go with Castiel. Of course only because Castiel’s education about movies is still bad. Not like it’s a date. Sadly.
Swayze Always Gets A Pass | @kingdumbass
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 4,766 Main Tags/Warnings: Bunker Fic, First Kiss, Drunk Dean and Cas Summary: After Dean and Cas get into an argument over a case, Dean tries to apologize by asking Cas to Netflix and chill. Featuring: Cas the movie critic, his drunk friend, Dean, and Dean's tired brother, Sam.
Y Tu Dean Tambien | @a-mandala-rose
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 6,909 Main Tags/Warnings: High School AU, Geek Dean, Closeted Bi Dean, Pan/Possibly Demi Cas, Referenced Homo/Biphobia, Low/No Angst, Implied/Referenced Consensual Underage Non-Penetrative Sex, Nothing Explicit, Happy Ending Summary: Dean Winchester has a crush. A great, big, secret, gay crush. Okay, more like a great, big, secret, bisexual crush, if we’re being technical. Either way though, the relevant word here is secret, because Dean lives in Kansas, which isn’t exactly known for its thriving LGBT community. In fact, he’s pretty sure most of his neighbors don’t actually know what LGBT stands for and he’d be willing to bet that if asked, at least a solid 10% would think it’s a sandwich. So yeah, nobody knows that Dean’s spent the past six months crushing on Cas Novak, the sexy junior in his Spanish II class, and it’s damn well going to stay that way. “Hola, Señor Winchester,” murmurs a gravelly voice in Dean’s ear, straight out his dirtiest fantasies and close enough to raise the hairs on the back of his neck, as Dean suppresses a shiver. The smirk on the mouth housing that goddamn sinful voice tells him that while he may have resisted the full-body shudder, his red cheeks did not go unnoticed by the boy sliding fluidly into the desk directly behind him. “Hey, Cas.” Nobody knows about Dean’s crush except for Cas, that is. Cas definitely knows.
Game of Survival | @sorajinsei
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 8,317 Main Tags/Warnings: Suspense, Alternate UniverseThriller,Alternate Universe - Purge, Demonic Possession, Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, Bottom Castiel/Top Dean Winchester, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies Summary: Who's in the shadows? Who's ready to play? Are we the hunters? Or are we the prey? There's no surrender and there's no escape.
Talk Therapy | shara (AO3)
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 9,309 Main Tags/Warnings: Castiel and Dean Winchester Need to Use Their Words, Top Castiel, Bottom Dean Winchester, First Time Bottoming, Rimming, Communication Issues, Self-Esteem Issues, ALL the issues Summary: "Alright fine, you can put a finger in me," Dean says one night while watching Cas go down on him. Cas pops his mouth off Dean’s dick and stares at him. "I never said I wanted to put a finger in you," he says slowly, and then stops and tilts his head. "Do you want me to put a finger in you?" ~~~~ Dean comes to terms with this thing with Cas, and with himself.
Bind Me To You | @imbiowaresbitch
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 18,184 Main Tags/Warnings: Explicit Sexual Content, Public Blow Jobs, Mild Kink, Condoms, Mutual Pining, Switching, Top Castiel/Bottom Dean Winchester, Anal Sex, Rimming, Anal Fingering, Light Bondage, One Night Stands, Strangers to Lovers, Teasing, Happy Ending, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Smut, Masturbation Summary: Dean and Cas meet in a one night stand, but lust, chance and eventually more bind them together.
Tempered Desires | @mattzerella-sticks
Rating: Teen & Up Word Count: 20,013 Main Tags/Warnings: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - Pandemic, Baker Dean, Dean has ADHD, Recreational Drug Use, Meet Cute, First Date Summary: Dating, sex, and finding love were the farthest things on the minds of both Dean and Castiel. There were more important things to worry about - namely the pandemic that swept across the globe and changed everything. Navigating this new environment was hard enough without adding romance. But fate never intervenes when you expect. From first meetings to first dates, we'll see how Dean and Castiel's relationship blossoms despite the circumstances.
Put That On A T-Shirt | @celipuff
Rating: Explicit Word Count: 21,524 Main Tags/Warnings: Dean’s First Time With A Man, Blowjobs, Top!Dean/Bottom!Cas, Semi Public Sex Summary: Getting blindfolded and blown by a random dude his girlfriend knew didn’t exactly sound like an ideal Sunday for Dean, until it actually happened.
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arielana · 3 years
Text
Yeah, I don’t know what this is. It came from the tiny RNM teaser in TV insider - I was grumpy that basically all the info we got was about Liz’s lab partners abs (not that grumpy, but you know).
Anyway, I wrote this, about Liz and Michael bonding. Just really silly. 
A warning that there is drinking.
____
“Michael!”
“Ortecho, seriously why are you calling me at this hour?”
“I need you to take some time off. Come to California.”
“Sure thing, I’ll pack my little overnight bag and swing right by. I’ve been dying to do some sightseeing.”
“Yeah yeah, funny. I don’t have time for all that. Look I’ve discovered something, here in the lab, that might be relevant to your interests. I can’t get a sample out, but if an old friend from Roswell comes to visit I could give them a tour of the lab. So, just get your ass over here.”
***
That had been two days ago. Michael had some work he’d promised Sanders to finish first and he refused to fly (the thought of airport security freaked him out) so he’d set off in his truck after finishing up at Sanders the next day. He’d driven through the night, arrived very early in the morning and checked into a motel Liz had recommended that was close to her work.
After getting some sleep and showering he was now standing in the fancy lobby of the Genoryx building, feeling slightly overwhelmed but doing his best not to show it. His cowboy swagger usually worked in most places so he figured it would do ok here as well. 
Just to test it, he leaned slightly against the counter and threw the receptionist who had told him Liz would be right down a little smile. Judging by the way she blushed, he wouldn’t do too bad here either if he felt like it. Not that he did feel like it. There was really only one person’s company he wanted and since that wasn’t available to him currently, he focused on other things.
“Mikey!”
Liz came bouncing down the stairs, running straight up and jumping into his arms to hug him.
She had a certain energy that always put Michael in a better mood, even the times when she annoyed him. There was never any bullshit with her. 
“Hey Ortecho,” he grinned. “Good to see you.” 
“Good to see you too. Would have been even better if you got here sooner,” she bumped her shoulder lightly into his when he put her down, “but it’s great that you’re here.”
Before Michael could ask what all the fuss was about, he noticed a guy had followed Liz and was now hanging back, waiting to be introduced.
Noticing Michael’s look, Liz spun around, waving the guy forward. 
“Heath, come meet Michael. Michael, meet Heath. He’s my colleague from the lab. We do all our work together.”
Michael thought he picked up a little something in the way Heath looked when Liz said “colleague”, but he wasn’t sure. He was a good looking guy, tall, athletic, not the stereotypical scientist. Not that Michael cared much for stereotypes, so he shouldn’t apply them to others either, he reminded himself. 
“So, we’re just about to go out for lunch,” Liz said. “Do you mind if Heath joins us?”
“Of course not.” 
Michael was pleasantly surprised by how fun and relaxed lunch was. Small talk had never really been his thing, but science small talk was a whole other thing he realised. That’s why he had enjoyed hanging out with Liz back in Roswell, and Heath, despite looking more like an actor or model, turned out to absolutely be able to hold his own in the discussion.
After lunch things didn’t go quite as Liz had planned though. Her boss was apparently giving some other people a tour that afternoon and even if he kindly offered Michael to join them as well, Liz quickly switched gears.
“Actually Michael was yawning his way through lunch,” she ignored Michael’s little huff. “He pretends he’s fine but he’s had a long drive. He’s staying for a couple of days anyway, there’s no rush.”
She grabbed Michael’s arm firmly and dragged him towards the exit. 
“Really Liz, I was planning on going back home tomorrow,” Michael complained, without putting any real force behind it. “This isn't really my scene.”
“Oh knock it off, Michael. You were practically beaming at lunch, don’t tell me you didn’t enjoy yourself. And look, it’s just one more day. Tomorrow’s Friday so there’ll be less people around. We’ll do a tour in the afternoon. I’ll make up something to keep Heath busy, won’t be a problem.”
“So for today,” she continued, “how about you get some more sleep, and then we can go out tonight, eat something, have a few drinks. Maybe some dancing,” she winked at him.
“Drinks yes, dancing no, but sure, I don¨t mind checking out the bars here.” Michael gave Liz a considering look. “So tell me, is Heath coming?”
“What, no, why would he?”
Aha, judging by the brief flush of red on her cheeks, there was definitely something going on there, Michael noticed. Maybe something to explore later. He could be a good brother and try to get some more information. Max was certainly asking enough questions about him and Alex, looking at Michael with those big puppy eyes, acting hurt when Michael snapped at him. This could be payback (helping Max out, Michael corrected himself).
**
Dinner continued in the same way as lunch, with them geeking out about new research and theories (careful to steer clear of any alien references while in public) covering everything from global warming to medical advances.
Afterwards they continued on to a bar and after a couple of drinks Michael figured Liz had let down her guard enough for him to do some digging.
“So, Ortecho… tell me about Heath?”
“What?” Liz said with feigned innocence.
“Just wondering, I mean he’s really fit, dark hair, smart, funny, exactly what I look for, in both men and women,” he winked at her.
“Michael!” Liz sounded scandalized
“Unless he’s taken, of course”
Liz twisted uncomfortably in her seat. “It feels weird talking to you about this.”
“Why?” Michael smirked at her, raising his eyebrows. He enjoyed this. He never really got to have a bro moment with anyone growing up. Too busy not letting anyone come too close. But Liz, she got it, she was the same as him in so many ways. 
“Hey. no judgement here. Tell me, is he really as jacked as he looks?”
Liz sighed deeply, before giving up and leaning back with a dreamy expression on her face.
“He really is. Seriously, his abs are amazing. Not that that kind of thing is really important to me of course,” she hurried to add, “but it’s just- nice.”
“So, Valenti,” Michael pulled a face,” Diego, this Heath guy. I see you also prefer dark hair but other than that I really don’t see that many similarities to Max?”
“You know,” Liz took a sip from her drink, clearly deflecting, “from the stories I heard about you before, you know, everything,” she waved her hands vaguely, “I was under the impression it was mainly blondes that you were dragging home from the Pony?”
Michael shrugged. “That was just sex. But then again,” he added consideringly, “I’ve only ever been in two relationships. So they were both dark haired, but that’s not enough to draw a conclusion based on statistics, maybe it’s just coincidence.”
 Liz's gaze sharpened. “Relationships, huh?”
It was Michael's turn to try to deflect. ’Hey, see if you can flag down the waitress, I need another beer.”
“In a minute.” Liz tilted her head questioningly, “I wasn’t aware you considered what you had with Alex an actual relationship?”
Michael hesitated. He knew Liz could probably read him like an open book right now, but he also knew that if he said he didn't want to get into it she’d respect that and let it go. For now at least.
But he’d said more than once that he was tired of keeping secrets. Liz was a friend and it would actually be nice to talk to someone.
“If we’re really going to talk about this I’m going to need another drink.”
“Me too,” Liz thought about it for a second. “Tequila?”
“Tequila.”
**
An hour later they were both just giggly messes.
Michael had shared his and Alex's story over the years, Liz had opened up about the shock of seeing Max again and they had bonded over how no amount of distance or years really made the feelings go away. It had been very emotional once the tequila kicked in. They had both shed some tears and comforted each other. 
At this point in the evening however, they had gone full circle and were back to discussing abs again and both blushing.
“Maybe we should just tell them,” Liz said.
“Yeah, they’d hate that. You’re safe here, but I have to go back. If Alex doesn’t get to me first and give me the ‘Guerin, you’re such a disappointment’ look, Max will give me a lecture about ‘upholding personal boundaries, Michael’. Both a total pain in the ass.”
“Ok, let’s take a selfie and send as well then. If they see our sweet faces they can’t be mad.”
“Ortecho, I think you dropped your logic somewhere on the way here.”
“Come on, you said the two of you are at a stalemate right? Since Alex broke up with Forrest?”
Michael made a face.
“This will give things a nudge,” Liz said. “Plus it’s sent from my phone so you can deny all knowledge of it.”
“Have you met Alex?”
Liz just waved her phone at him. Michael swallowed.
He wasn’t drunk enough not to know that this maybe wasn't the smartest idea, but it was kind of tempting anyway. Just to see how Alex would react.
“Yay,” Liz pulled him in for a selfie, instructing him to make his best puppy eyes before adding the text to the picture and pressing send.
Just so you know, you both have really good abs as well. We love your abs very much. Xoxo, Liz and Mikey
It took no time at all before both their phones started buzzing with an incoming call.
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shadowfae · 3 years
Note
We’re all pretty aware that the tumblr otherkin community is at a huge decline; I was wondering if you have any theories as to why that is?
American Protestantism, the decline of queer oppression in North America and the AIDS crisis, helicopter parenting, web 3.0, morality politics, and  Tumblr’s porn ban; roughly in that order and rolled up into one bombshell that was a few years in the coming but nobody really saw it and understood it until it was far too late.
That was a mouthful and probably only made sense if you follow current cyberpolitical theory. For some of you reading this, as with every other hot take I have this has a chance of being passed around, that alone is enough. But for others who had no idea what I just said and need the ELI5 version, let me explain that. Buckle up, this’ll be a long one, and will go into fandom history a bit as well because it is actually relevant.
As we know, tumblr is a very American-centric platform. Twitter is also this way, but less so, but tumblr has it bad. Now, I’m ‘lucky’ in the fact that I’m Canadian and a twenty minute drive from the American border, so that puts me in the ‘privileged’ majority. (I say privileged because I’m not really sure what else to call it. Most of the information going around about politics either directly affects me or indirectly affects me approximately one or two links of contact away. Someone who’s only influenced by American politics because it makes their sister’s online friends sad is not going to be privileged in that way.)
This means that American politics and their social climate overwhelmingly affects tumblr’s social climate. This also bleeds through into other fandom spaces, on twitter, instagram, and Pixiv to name a few places; but here’s where I spend the majority of my time so here’s what I’ve witnessed.
America’s main religion, as far as I understand (from the raised agnostic and currently neopagan view I have), is some weirdass capitalistic-Protestantism that is so many miles from what the actual Bible says that if I were a betting man and knew more about cults than I did, I’d say it’s some weird fucking cult and never set foot in the country again for any reason that isn’t gaming free shipping through a PO box. If you have no idea what I just said but are at least vaguely familiar with Christianity, this graphic explains it pretty well. So we can see there’s some glaring issues with that ideal.
The decline of queer oppression and the rise of queer rights in North America, which is to tenderly include my own country but we all know when people say ‘in NA’ they mean ‘America, and Canada where it applies because the right-wing Republicans are really good in the propaganda department to convince everyone that Mexico is a drug-lords-and-anarchy wasteland to the point where even I don’t actually know what’s down there other than bad drivers and heat’; means two things. One, it’s a good thing by a long shot and do not mistake this as me thinking queer oppression being lessened is a bad thing. But two, it means that thanks to the AIDS crisis, queer folks lost a lot of first-person sources as history.
The queer elders in NA who survived are typically either a) bitter anarchists who are often POC, probably still dirt poor and do recreational drugs or b) university-tenured TERFs (trans exclusionary radical feminists). Category A are the people who Republicans have deemed worthless in every way, because racism, queerphobia, ableism, and all the other ways to be wrong and different and Evil that they can’t handle, because Jeezus would never want them to actually learn to love someone who wasn’t just like them, and they don’t have the compassion to do better. Category B are the people who want to be different in just a teensie little bit, typically with TERFs they want to be lesbians, but they don’t want to challenge the status quo. They’re fine with the way things work, they just want to be on top oppressing others over ripping the whole damn thing down and building a more forgiving system.
Now, due to all those ‘isms and the cheerfully malicious aid of the Republicans, pun not intended but drives home the cruelty of it all, we also see the rise of helicopter parenting. The invention of the internet did not really help this. Basically what you’ve got is a whole bunch of parents who saw the civil rights movement, just got access to the internet and things going viral, know the world is changing, and like all parents, they’re scared for their children. Now instead of parents knowing one or two people in their classes who just went missing one day and everyone assumed they ran away, they hear about eight homicides in the city of kids going to parks at night and dying. The Satanic Panic was another event around this time that contributed to that, but I’ll let you research that one.
This means that all of these parents, instead of doing what their parents typically did and let their kids wander off for the day so long as they’re back by sundown, they can’t let their children out of their sight. There might be a freak accident where their child is decapitated on the playground swing! Their baby might get murdered by an evil Satanist walking home from school! Their dearest darling might go online and tell their address to someone who’s got a 100% chance of being a pedophile who will show up and kidnap them in the night!
…You get the idea. 
Combine those three things I just established, what we’ve got is a lot of queer kids who have a lot of internalized shame for being different and wrong, because they’re queer, and they can’t find spaces offline to be themselves, because all of the elders who would do that are dead and/or inaccessible and their parents won’t let them go to any clubs that aren’t school-related, which they’ll never find a GSA or queer club because Republicans, ‘isms, propaganda, and the war on Category A queer adults have all done their best to ensure that those spaces don’t exist.
So you have a generation of kids who I am the youngest of. The first generation on the internet. The late Web 1.0 (usenets and Geocities) and early Web 2.0 (livejournal was the big one, ff.net too, also 4chan but fuck those guys) generation. What we were taught was: trust nobody on the internet with your real info no matter how much you like them, this is a wilderness and any crimes that happen won’t be punished or seen so don’t put yourself in a position where you’re going to be the victim of one, and everything you put online is never getting taken down so don’t put anything up that you’re not willing to have on the front page of your local newspaper.
This worked out pretty well, actually! You had kids who knew that if they got in trouble, there was no backup coming to save them. Because the form that backup might take - parents and police - wasn’t going to help. Best case, they’d be banned from their friends and online support groups for being queer. Worst case, they’d be jailed and put in juvie and conversion therapy and turn to drugs and become evil Satanists just like everyone says they secretly are already. So they learned very quickly to take care of themselves. Nobody was going to save them, so they learned to not need saving.
And then, well, Web 2.0 shifted to Web 3.0. Livejournal died because parents - the Warriors for Innocence was the big name - went “gasp how horrible my children are being exposed to the evil pedos and homosexuals they’re going to do drugs and die of AIDS!”. Which is uh. It’s filled with a lot of bigotry, and I’m not excusing them - absolutely I am not - but you can kind of see where they’re coming from, if you tilt your head and squint.
Either way, LJ died, tumblr took its place, Facebook was fast taking off, and the fandom folks who had seen mailing lists go inactive, web admins take their fanfic sites down due to copyright, entire fandoms burnt to the ground in flame wars, said ‘fuck that we’re making our own place’ and that’s how AO3 got made.
That’s important. A lot of folks move to AO3, because well, the rules let them. The rules say ‘you can throw literally anything up here so long as it’s fan content and is not literally illegal, so we don’t get taken down’. It’s a swing for the first generation internet users, those kids who know this place is a wilderness and are carving out our own sanctuary.
But. The children under us. The children for whom AIDS is a nightmarish fairy tale, for whom the ghost stories are conversion therapy, for whom know they can’t really talk to their parents about being queer but can trust they probably won’t get kicked out over it. The children who haven’t spent ten seconds without supervision except online, and their reaction isn’t ‘oh thank god I’m finally free to express myself’ but ‘if I get in trouble, who will protect me?’.
And there’s nobody there. Because we went in knowing there was no backup. And that was fine. But now, the actual adults have figured out that hey uh, maybe we should make cyber laws? Maybe we should make revenge porn and grooming children over the internet crimes? And they grew up with that. They grew up learning that no, even if your parents are suffocating and controlling, they’re always be there for you! Some adult will always be there to protect you!
That isn’t the case. It’s not. But they expect it, because it’s always been done for them. They don’t really want to change the status quo, because that means doing it themselves. They can’t do that, because they don’t know how, they’ve been controlled for every single part of their lives thanks to helicopter parenting and without that control, they don’t know how to keep their lives together, and they demand someone come and control it for them, without restraining them.
Effectively, they want someone to ensure they never face the consequences of their actions. Helicopter parents will rescue you from whatever you did, because you’re their precious baby and it doesn’t matter if you punched a kid, you can do no wrong and the other kid clearly started it.
But being queer is doing wrong. Being queer is something Jeezus doesn’t approve of. So they want to make it something he could approve of! But if it’s too off what they consider to be okay, if it’s too different and weird and wrong and evil, that can’t do, that’s still bad, and they’re precious angels, and children, and minors, why are we the adults not protecting them and letting them see it? Why aren’t we being just like their parents  but queer-friendly, why aren’t we protecting the children?
The adults who taught us were the children of those who died as a result of AIDS. The eldest of my generation knew some of them personally. My therapist’s younger brother died at 20 of AIDS, and she told me what it was like. But they don’t have that. These kids of web 3.0, they don’t have that. What they have is over-controlling parents, and the expectation that someone will always be there to protect them but hopefully in ways that don’t hurt them this time, no real understanding of why Category A queer elders are the way they are, and so much internalized shame that they have to do some pretty fancy logic-leaping to keep them from collapsing entirely.
They can’t turn into Category A queer youngsters, because they don’t know how to unravel the system around them, because they’ve never had to actually make choices in their lives and live with the consequences, because they don’t have the example of how to do it. They can’t unravel their internalized shame because again, that’s hard and they don’t have their parents to take away the consequences and pain. It doesn’t come easy to them, so it may as well not come at all.
But, you ask, if Category A queer elders aren’t around to teach the kids, then how are they learning anything positive at all? Well, Category B, our university-tenured TERFs, who don’t want to change the status quo but want to just be at the top of it instead.
For a lot of kids who don’t know how to make hard choices but want to be queer, this is an extremely attractive option. But when they go online to queer spaces, a lot of them say fuck terfs, we don’t support your hate, and they go ‘yeah okay that makes sense’. They can say fuck terfs without ever actually questioning why terfs are bad. They’re Bad and Evil, just like drug addicts, just like fairytale nazis, just like the evil homophobes.
And we saw them say ‘yeah fuck terfs’ and we were like, ‘aight you got it’ and we never questioned if they actually understood us. They didn’t. They didn’t, and we didn’t do enough to fix it, because not enough of us realized the problem. So terfs got a little sneaky. They hid behind dogwhistles and easy little comments, hiding their rhetoric in queer theory that you’ll absolutely miss if you just memorize it and never actually question it and understand why that point is being made.
This goes back to America sucking, because their school system is far more focused on rote memorization over actual logic and understanding of the text. They’re engaging with queer theory the way they’ve been taught, which is memorize and don’t think, don’t question. Besides, questioning and understanding is hard. Being shown different points of view and asked what they think is not only hard but requires them to go against all of the conditioning that says to just listen and agree and never question it, which goes back to tearing the system and internalized shame down, and we’ve established they can’t do that so naturally they don’t do that.
This begets, then, the rise of exclusionary politics. They’re turning into Category B queer youngsters, because we told them ‘hey that’s a terf talking point what are you doing’ and they never questioned why. They learned you can do all sorts of things, just don’t say X, Y, or Z, because they never thought deeply about it.
The children who have grown on Web 3.0 do not want to do any heavy lifting to make things easier for themselves long-run. They want to do as little as possible and have things get better for them. There isn’t enough of us left in Category A, because Category B terfs are very good at recruiting young folks and Cat. A is overwhelming poor, dead, and easily dismissed in the system as evil and bad, so we can’t exactly convince the young folks to listen. If all of the young kids could agree to tear down the system, a lot more older folks might listen. Change always starts with the young, and there’s a reason for that.
But Republicans have figured out, if you get people fighting, they never put together a force that can actually stop you. TERFs, who want the exact same thing as Republicans but with themselves on top, are doing this to queer youth, and Cat. A elders can’t fight back because there isn’t enough of them and the odds are against them, and the young folk like me who follow their lead.
People can kinda handle gay people. It’s not so far from the acceptable normal that it’s impassable. But you want them to handle kinky people? Gay people of colour? Kinky gay people of colour? Trans people? Those are bridges too far to step across. The original idea was to get the foot in the door with marriage equality and inch our way through with racial equality, sex positivity, dismantling ableism and perisexism (forgive me if that isn’t the word for anti-intersex ‘ism), and see if we can’t patch up the system instead of inciting a civil war over this and have to tear down the system entirely.
Well, we might’ve managed that if not for AIDS being the perfect ‘Jeezus is killing all the evil gay people for being sinners’ propaganda machine. As it stands now, not a chance in hell. So long as Republicans and terfs keep everyone fighting, nobody has the power to dismantle their empire, and they stay in power.
So then, you ask me, “Lu what the fuck does that have to do with the decline of otherkinity on tumblr???” and now that you’ve got all that background knowledge, here is your answer.
Those children who want their experiences curated for them and the evil icky content they don’t like to be gone because it disgusts them and anything that disgusts them is clearly sinful problematic and should be destroyed, are what we call ‘antishippers’, or anti for short.
They like being progressive. Sort of. They learned what Republicans and terfs have honed to a fine talent: keep people fighting, hold them to a bar they have to constantly make or risk being ostracized, and harass the people who don’t play along into getting out of your sight forever. Sound familiar?
They learned of otherkinity, and particularly fictionkind, because web 3.0 means if something goes viral on one site, it doesn’t just go viral on that site, it makes it to worldwide newspapers and twitter and nobody ever, ever fucking forgets it. They realized the following: “Hey wait, if I’m this character for realsies, not only does it help me deal with the internalized shame I’ve done nothing to actually fix because that takes work, I can also tell these people who draw gross content I don’t like they’re hurting me personally, and that actually sounds credible, and I can shame them into stopping”.
If this is your first time here and that sounds sickening, it damn well should, and I am so, so sorry that any of us had to witness this, and I am more sorry I and everyone else who personally witnessed this didn’t realize what was going on and put a stop to it. I answer asks and browse the tags and clear up misinformation and it isn’t just a genuine desire to help. It’s damage control, and my own way of trying to deal with the guilt of not stopping this. I’m well aware I couldn’t have seen it coming, I was a teenager myself still learning and no one person has that much power. I still feel like I should have done more, and I’ll do what I can to fix what’s within my power to fix.
So back to the story. This all culminates around 2016 or so. Trump wins the election, and every queer person ever knows they’re fucked, and the younger generation’s only ever heard horror stories, never seen actual oppression that this could bring. We’re all scared. We all don’t know what to do. Nobody has any answers or any control over the situation.
So they lash out. They attack others for drawing things they don’t like, for challenging them in literally any way, for asking them to reconsider the vile shit they just said, for so much as defending themselves from the harassment they just got. And when challenged, they yell “But I’m a minor! A literal child! How dare you attack me, clearly you get off on this, you evil pedophile!” and they sling around every insult in the book until one sticks. Pedophile is a pretty good one, so is abuser, and sometimes zoophile works out too. Freak is great, everyone gets right pissed off about it.
The fact that Category A queer elders were called pedophiles and freaks is not a fact they know or care about. The fact that they are quickly making every fandom community super toxic is also not a fact they care about. The fact that the ‘kin community has words and terminology and they actually mean shit, and the fact that they’re spreading misinformation faster than we can keep up with, are not facts they care about.
So they come in, take our terms, make it impossible for us to find new folks. They realize our anger is easily a power trip, because we’re already made fun of, so they get off on the little power they can find and make fun of us too, and then when we get rightfully annoyed and pissed off, they can hide behind being minors.
Then tumblr implements their porn ban, because nobody’s stopping them, because it isn’t profitable to have porn on here. Considering most of the otherkin community, and most fandom communities, are full of adults who do occasionally talk about NSFW things, and the fact that they’re just banning everyone who so much as breathes wrong, this begins the start of a mass exodus, scattering already fragile communities to twitter, pillowfort, dreamwidth, and a few other places. Largely, twitter, where you can’t make a post longer than a snappy comeback and where the algorithm is literally designed to piss you off as much as possible.
So community elders have largely left, because they can’t stand the drama and the pain of what’s happened, and that’s if they didn’t get banned for being kinky furries who do talk about how their kintypes merge with their sexuality. Most community members have also left or stopped talking about being ‘kin, because they get associated with antishippers and toxicity and it’s just not worth it. Those of us who are left get drowned out by misinformation and trolls and wishkin and antishippers who appropriate our terminology because it supports them getting a power trip, and whenever we argue, we get called pedophiles and freaks and worse.
And now there isn’t much left. I hope we get to find a better place. Othercon was a good place to talk about it, I did a whole panel (it’s on Youtube!) about what we want to do about it. But I don’t really have any answers. 
But to sum it all up... America’s political climate ultimately culminated in destroying queer spaces, and we survived, and then people who wanted to destroy smaller communities to get on top showed up and we were all but defenseless against something we had never, ever dealt with before on this scale.
One of my twitter mutuals mentioned how kinning and otherkin are now completely separate communities. It’s really the best I can do to keep hoping that continues, until nobody realizes the words are at all connected to each other. It’s the best anyone can hope for, now. I hate it. I hate every part of this. But maybe we can salvage what’s left.
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