#we trying some experimental shit this year

[the-dumpster-fire-of-life]

East Side

When I Was Young, I fell In Love

Bill could always remember the day he met you. Love at first sight was how he would always remember it from then on.

From years on he would remember sitting next to you on those old playground swings, no friends except his older brother by ten minutes, Tom.

"Hi."

Bill looked up, seeing your expantant smile. He could only return with confusion as he felt something fester in his chest.

"I'm (Name)."

He would remember your name for years on, saying it in his sleep and his wedding vows.

We Used To Hold Hands, Man, That Was Enough

"Your hands are nice."

Bill giggled at your words, sitting next to you in the small flower bed in the school courtyard, waiting for your parents to pick you up.

Then We Grew Up, Started To Touch

You sat across from Bill on the couch, leaning closer to one another at a mere fourteen years old.

Your lips were locked with his, deeming and experimental kiss as you both wanted to give each other your first kisses instead of someone else.

Bill's hand went up to your waist, pulling you closer to him as you both broke away for air only to come back for more.

Used To Kiss Underneath The Light On The Back Of The Bus

You leaned your head onto Bill's shoulder on the tour bus, watching the trees flying by.

Bill held your hand in his as you lulled off to sleep, pecking the crown of your head.

You looked up at him through half lidded and sleepy eyes, smiling tiredly as Bill smiled back before locking lips with you under the glow of the back of the bus.

Oh, No, Your Daddy Didn't Like Me Much

"How many times do I have to say, kid, get lost." Your dad scoffed, holding the door open barely as he saw Bill standing on your porch.

You watched from the hall, locking eyes with Bill as he could see your sadness from there.

"Oh, come on, sir! I love your daughter! I swear!" Bill didn't stop, pleading with your father for one chance.

Didn't Believe Me When I said You Were The One

"I don't believe you, Bill." Your father shook his head, a rock in Bill's way to you.

"You think I don't know your kind? Some 'rocker' tryna sleep with my kid?" Your father scoffed once more, about to close the door but Bill held it open abruptly.

Bill looked at your father with wide eyes, barely believing he did it but there was no backing down now.

"Please! I'm not trying to hurt her, I love your daughter!" Bill couldn't say anything else, looking at you with bare tears in his eyes.

"Sorry kid, answer no." Your father said simply, stern and strong before he pulled the door to a close.

Bill was left there for a moment, staring down at his feet with the closed door in front off him.

It didn't take long for him to need to walk off the porch, hands in his jacket pockets before he stopped just in front of the lawn at a tapping sound.

"Bill!"

Bill's head shot up at the familiar and harsh whisper, looking up to see you in your bedroom window.

"I'll meet you later! Be quiet!" You smiled, reassuring Bill in a whisper before your father called you, and with one last smile, you disappeared.

Bill stood for a moment, hope sparking once more in his chest before his face bloomed into a smile, jogging off to his house to get his things.

But Everyday She Found Her Way Out Of The Window To Sneak Out Late

"I'm coming!" You hissed out in a harsh whisper, throwing your legs over the window sill with an expectant Bill waiting below.

"Come on, before your dad kills me!" Your boyfriend laughed, matching your smile as he helped you down by your waist.

"Go, go, go!" You laughed, adrenaline filling your veins as Bill matched your laughter, dragged along with you as your dad and mother's room light lit up as you two ran into the night.

She Used To Meet Me On The East Side

Bill sat in the old recording studio, freshly eighteen and single without you, barely words through the early years of the 2000's.

Until you walked back into his life.

"You look like shit."

Bill froze, hands stopping and completely still on the spinning chair he sat upon at the familiar voice filled with the same love and teasing he remembered.

Bill finally looked up, eyes wide and searching before his eyes fell upon your dazzling smile as he remembered, older and more mature, still as beautiful as the day he left.

"(Name)?" Bill muttered, a smile breaking onto his face as you laughed, nodding and opening your arms.

Bill didn't waste a moment, getting up so fast the chair knocked over, lifting you up off the ground as he hugged you around your waist.

You laughed, yelling as he did so and wrapping your legs around his waist and arms around his neck.

You pushed the hair out of his face as you finally stole a kiss you waited forever for.

In The City Where The Sun Don't Set

You laid nuzzled into Bill's side in the meadows grass, the sun never seeming to fully settle behind you guys as Bill held you.

Bill wouldn't let go, stealing kiss after kiss to makeup for the years behind you guys.

And Everyday You Know That We Ride Through The Backstreets In A Blue Corvette

"You're crazy!" You yelled, head out the window and laughed as Bill laughed along, the empty street in the middle of nowhere as he pushed the gas.

"You were the one who wanted to do this!" Bill protested along, barely missing a bush.

"Yeah, because you guys did this before in an episode! But I just remembered that it was Tom and Georg…"

"I was there too!" Bill yelled out.

"You won a go-kart race!" You yelled back, smacking his hand.

"Still counts!"

And You Know That I Just Wanna Leave Tonight

"Will you come with me?" Bill could barely hear his small voice over the fear of being shut down.

"To LA?" You asked, sitting next to him on the bed as he ran his thumb over the back of your hand in his house, the house he and Tom no longer felt safer in, much less the country.

"We can't stay here. Fans break in, they stole our shit, they're threatening you." Bill listed off, the fear evident in his voice as he looked into your eyes.

"So, yes, to LA. Will you come with me?" Bill said, completely serious and genuine as his eyes practically begged.

You stared into Bill's eyes for a moment, going over it before you came to a conclusion.

You left to be with him.

What's stopping you from leaving with him?

"...okay."

"...alright. lets- let's go."

We Can Go Anywhere We Want

It was almost a ritual, sitting next to Bill with your head on his shoulder no matter in what type of moving vehicle.

This time it was in a plane, watching your old home country disappear from under you as you took off.

But all that Bill could think was how lucky he was.

His hand in yours, your head against his shoulder and his lips kissing the crown of your head, leaving once more to stay with you.

Drive Down To The Coast, Jump In The Seats

"Bill!" You laughed, jumping into the open roofed Corvette that was parked on the beach in the middle of the night.

"What was that?" Bill laughed as you settled into the seat, feet bare and in your swimsuit as you smelled of the coast.

"The Pelicans! They're after me!" You laughed hysterically, Bill's eyes widening in horror and amusement as he finally spotted them.

"Why?!" Bill exclaimed, starting the car as fast as he could.

"I fed them and they want more!"

"There's fifty signs not to for that exact reason!"

My Love Is Yours If You're Willing To Take It

"You're leaving though." You mumbled out sadly, against Bill's chest on the trunk of his car as he broke the news of the tour when you guys were just fifteen, years before.

"I know. I'm sorry…" Bill couldn't help but apologize again for the next time you lost count. Everything to be with you was going down the drain to his career.

But he had to go.

"It's okay. Got to love you while you were here." You sniffled, wiping your tears as you placed your chin on his shoulder, smiling sadly up at him.

"You'll keep all my love, I know you will." Bill smiled back sadly, pushing back a tendril that fell in front of your face.

"...take mine with you?" You said, mumbling out as Bill nodded, kissing your temple with his arm around your shoulder.

"Of course, I'd never leave it behind." Bill laughed softly, his fingers running through the ends of your hair as he kept your legs in his lap.

"Not even when you find someone new?" You joked almost, but Bill shook his head immediately, massaging your thigh before he punched it playfully.

"There'll never be someone new. Can't be after there's already you."

Give Me Your Heart Cause I Ain't Gonna Break It

Bill held your hand with one of his with his other on your waist, relishing in the sound of your laughter as he spun you in the hotel room.

You laughed, tripping over your own feet as he yelped while laughing even more, catching you into his chest as you two collided into a pile of limbs on the floor.

As Bill held you in his arms on the floor with a smile, he couldn't help but admire and share a kid with so much love in his eyes

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@billsjum6ie @bigbootahjudy @ilovebill-and-gustav @r3dheadedw0rld @kiwitsune @V4mpyboyy @novaaisstupid @billybabeskaulitz @yas-v @iischafer @dilfverz @ahswhore0 @graciegizmo3184 @sweetpuffy12 @80s-tingz @ryiana @yuriayato5 @bunnysenpai31 @banshailey @bellastoner420 @victryzvv9 @stxngnr @killed-kiss @stilesandjames @m00nzyblogs @sylisan @lyzit @trixiekaulitz @laylasbunbunny @5hyslv7 @limaswife

#tokio hotel #tokio hotel imagine #tokio hotel x reader #bill kaulitz #bill kaulitz imagines #bill kaulitz x reader #Spotify

[thebibliosphere]

wrt the AI thing, the doom is in what is just good enough to no longer pay people for it. Machine translation isn't good! The sentences are nice and often grammatically correct, but the information hasn't been accurately transferred a lot of the time (genre doesn't matter, but DeepL is pretty good for news articles, less good for other stuff). AI text is sentences that are made of words likely to go together it doesn't understand any of it. Especially if you want to write something a bit experimental, if you want to use specific words to evoke specific things etc etc... true art will not die, no matter how much some people try.

I mean, yeah, but that’s also just a progression of what’s already been happening for years. Publishing houses and companies have been outsourcing to the cheapest bidder for decades now due to lack of labor regulation and the death of unions. That’s what the major Harper Collins strike was about. Even while publishing houses are making record profits, they’re not paying their editors a living wage.

When I worked for a medium sized mainstream publisher back in the late 2000’s to 2010s, they used to remind us daily that if we didn’t hit our editing quota there were people on Freelancer and Fiver who would do it for a lot cheaper— and I was already earning below minimum hourly wage, that you could “make up” by taking on extra work.

(The salaried editors were the only ones with guaranteed income, the rest of us were told we were just lucky to be there.)

And multiple times a month they’d eliminate someone to ‘cut costs’ and the work would land on your desk and you’d be told to get it done because they knew we had no other options. It was this or unemployment at the start of what would be the second global recession of my life.

Eventually we did all get laid off and they opted for the cheaper, subpar labor. And while it sucked to be unemployed at that time, the relief I felt was real. I was no longer self-medicating with caffeine and alcohol to cope with the work environment. I was no longer churning out 100-200k a week in edits and rewrites to keep a job that treated me like shit. I missed it, because I loved working with my authors and editing and writing was something I loved. But I did not miss the rat race they had us locked into for the sake of profit over quality.

The fact that Harper Collins staff, one of the biggest publishers in the world who contribute to the monopoly that creates that environment, were also not making enough to live, tells me things have only gotten worse inside the industry. Unless, of course, you’re near the top of the corporate ladder. In which case you probably can’t understand why all the peasants are so unhappy.

The machines will not fully replace us—at least probably not in my lifetime. But that doesn’t mean what’s already happening isn’t bad.

AI is just the next wrung on this sordid descent into exploitation and elimination. We need better labor laws. We need better protections. We need fucking respect.

[yandere-daydreams]

Idk why exactly but the thought of Fake Doctor!Gojo and Fake Nurse!Geto remind me of this R-18 drama cd I listened to a few years back. My memory on the plot is shaky but I vaguely recall the Doctor performing experiments on people secretly and then developing an obsession with MC/Fem!Listener. He kidnaps her and like holds her hostage in this abandoned hospital where he subjects them to an experimental drug he’s developed that makes them feel worse with time. It’s very Stockholm syndrome in that he makes MC depend on him for shit, and tries to force them to develop romantic feelings for him. It also feels kinda Harper coded at times. There are ofc noncon and dubcon scenes in it. If I can remember the name of the cd and VA in it I’ll be sure to let y’all know lol. 🫡

anon where do you think we are because that is VERY harper coded. i think if he's unable to (or can't be bothered to) get you into his asylum in a semi-legal way, he'd probably call in a few favors with a few less-savory characters around town and get you all nice and snug in an unused wing of the hospital's basement, where he can look after you without having to worry about things like 'proper regulations' or 'accusations of malpractice'. away from the prying eyes of his staff, he's also be free to be slightly less,,, regulated in his approach to your treatment, which means that, depending on the day, he'll either be painstakingly gaslighting you into thinking that you're just a very sick patient with some very vivid hallucinations about your primary caretaker or fucking you rough on the bare cement floor of your room because he caught you trying to get out of bed on your own and decided he needed to take a more active approach to administering your medicine. bonus points if he can get your brain so fried that you genuinely think all medical injections involve sucking your doctor off for one reason or another. search dutifully and keep us updated anon 🫡

#personal #anon ask #degrees of lewdity #harper the doctor

[hajihiko]

What did you make of DR3's explanation for how the characters became Despairs?

I dont like it. Here's a re-write i was thinking about

Ok note: this is what would have made the School Life thing more enjoyable TO ME. Not gonna fit for everyone obvi

Ok first of all. Junko loses most of her potential if you take away her being sneaky and manipulative, which we barely even got to see in the games, so I want that in ACTION.

Second of all, this takes time. More than just like a single moment of anime hypnotism. Junko was definitely working her suckers for at least a year. I dont know how that reflects on the timeline and I dont super care

-

Chisa's class is full of chaos, these are some of the rowdiest students you'll find. They have potential for getting along, but they're also Very Troubled, and Chisa is a kind soul who tries to help them out with various issues. Actual attention paid to these kids being, like, KIDS, but also having some major red flags in their backgrounds that could escalate out of control very fast.

Among others, she tries to get Chiaki to come out of her shell and interact with the others more. This is hard, because Chiaki is not exactly receptive to it at first, but theres a little bit of unity between all the students anyway and they slowly start becoming friends. Chiaki uses this friendship guidance to befriend a lonely boy who often stares longingly at the school, whom she's noticed by silently sticking to the background when he's around. This will come in handy later.

Until, certain students start hanging out with their junior of 1 year, who always seems to be kind of slinking around and hanging with at least one student a day. Chiaki notices this because a) shes very quiet and mostly goes unnoticed when she's in the background, and b) she only needs half her attention span to play games anyway.

The people Junko hangs around get noticeably worse, though not necessarily more divided; just sort of 10 steps backwards for every 1 step Chisa helped them take. The rude and mean ones stop trying to be kinder, the shy and meek ones retreat even more, etc. Chisa is at a complete loss with this, but Chiaki confides in her that it might be the new student making trouble. Chisa takes over, and encourages Chiaki to keep trying to make friends with the others, which Chiaki does.

(Mahiru gets scared into telling no one what happened / what she suspects happened in Natsumi's murder, and gets rid of the evidence, as advised. The evidence she throws away gets mailed to Fuyuhiko, who is encouraged to avenge his sister. Guess who orchestrated all that?)

Chiaki does not fall into Junko's claws, because she's quiet and unobtrusive and, importantly, less desperate for what Junko can give her than the rest is. Chiaki does, after all, have her teacher who took the reigns and told Chiaki to grab her own oxygen mask first, and her Lonely Boy to confide in, and whenever she starts to lose herself, he gently reminds her to stand firm. That's right, the secret weapon was the friends we made along the way, just like in the ending.

(Hajime is probably just doing things more or less like in the anime, maybe listens to Chiaki's growing worries about her semi-friends, shits getting fucked and the only conceivable way Hajime can help is by agreeing to be a lab rat obviously what else. Biggest downfall is wanting to be there for Chiaki, but not letting her be there for him in return. Because inferiority complex.)

Chisa goes to confront this troubled mystery girl; Junko catches her too and starts working her nasty magic- for example, did you know two of your students were a part of a murder? Aren't you supposed to be guiding them? Do you know what's really happening in this school? Do you wanna see the human experimentation they just started? Did you know your best friend is in love with your crush and you can't confide in either of them anymore actually? Etc.

Chiaki is all alone now. When she finally DOES confront Junko, once the whole class along with the teacher has been sort of indoctrinated and her Lonely Boy has ditched her and she's feeling a bit brave because of it all), Junko kills her horribly in front of everyone as they do nothing. Not because they were hypnotized, but because they choose to. This is what really marks the point of no return for them. Chiaki was a quiet and harmless and mostly very nice girl, and her death was pointless, and they were a part of it, and they got away with it.

Instead of being a practically perfect student council president, Chiaki has more of an NPC theme, falling into the background more but also being honest and nice and willing to work with people. Then later, obviously, she really is an NPC and repeats the process, but this time she manages to save her boy and therefore her class.

(I'm not opposed to Chiaki being JUST an AI and never a part of the class at all, but I havent thought about it as much so idk any good points)

Hajime retains the same themes, but gets to be more of a juxtaposition of Junko, sneaking into everyone's hearts by befriending them and helping them move forward instead of backwards. He wins with the power of friendship and all that jazz.

Everyone else gets way more accountability to take. No hypnotism or brain poking, just digging into the worst parts of themselves and then indulging them entirely (with the help of Ultimate Charismatic Cult Leader Junko). I think the most interesting thing about this whole narrative could be that Anyone is capable of intense cruelty, and Anyone can choose to be a better person moving forward.

anyway in my mind that's what happened differently.

#Not an art #Talky Talky Tuesday #Talky Talky #I hope I wont reread this and find it makes no sense but eh

[sonicasura]

Let's be honest with ourselves that Transformers Earthspark has its issues. It isn't uncommon for the series to have a few messy iterations throughout the years. However those at least have something going for them.

Bayverse is a junk pile yet there's a lot of material you can build off on and some pretty interesting concepts. RiD15 is an awful sequel to Prime but does decently well as a standalone although there are much needed changes to be had. Earthspark... Well, it's just there.

I can be lenient with the plot holes and poor pacing as Nickelodeon is notorious for interfering with any show that isn't SpongeBob to the point of cancellation. The issues truly land on the characters themselves. I'm gonna try to simplify it without devolving into a rant like the previous draft.

Edit: Gonna add some further edits as I wrote this in the middle of the night. Plus my simplified version skipped some key details.

Robby. Somehow they made a human character I actually dislike instead of be neutral about. In the official Transformers wiki, he's labeled as a big brother who cares for his siblings but his actions so far say otherwise. Robby literally ran away in the first episode because they moved then decided to try and hide the Terrans from his parents.

Yet he rarely gets enough consequences for his actions. I think we don't just need less Emberstone saves not just because of plot armor but force actual character growth on him. Like a life changing to one of his siblings as consequences for his actions and strained relationship until he gets his head outta his ass.

Edit: Yes, I know Robby is a teenager but that isn't a decent enough excuse for his behavior. Seen the trope about big brothers who do act closed off or at some points rude but they haven't done shit that put their family in serious danger. No, I didn't try to purposely forget the times he was injured badly.

There honestly needs to be less of those and his consequences be adjusted to it affects someone else badly. *

Next issue is lacking confrontation with Optimus choices alongside the obvious misplaced trust in the 13 Primes. Quintus Prime literally emotionally manipulated and scarred Mo through a fake bad ending reality because she doubted herself. No good person would do that, much less an actual ally. Even moreso on a child.

I seen this shit in Trollhunters but at least Jim, the main character, was a teenager. (It still was wrong though.) We also got remember that Liege Maximo and Megatronus/The Fallen are Primes. Yet somehow it is best to trust them.

Don't get me started with some of Optimus' choices when it comes to GHOST. He probably did it to protect his Autobots but what about the Decepticons who are locked away? Why are there so little of his companions with him especially since Bumblebee had fucking went into hiding before the show began.

There needs to be tension between Optimus with his Autobots. Someone is bound to snap and Bumblebee would have the biggest impact. The man clearly isn't okay as he's doing things that even Megatron admits ain't like him.

Mandroid needs to be written differently. He has the making of a sympathetic villain but oh boy. First off it is clear that his depiction is ableist aligned since the reason he doesn't like Cybertronians is because he lost his arm. Major thing to change right there.

Give him a narrative where his interest been genuine but slowly declines as the Autobot/Decepticon war increases the number of destroyed lives. Let him become a victim to this than just 'I lost my arm so death alongside experimentation to all Cybertronians'. Also don't make Mandroid ignore the obvious fact that the Transformers parts he puts into his body is slowly poisoning and instead come up with ways to fight the infection. Kinda like in Ironman 2 where Tony's arc reactor began to do the same thing.

Edit: Mandroid's negative views on Cybertronians are about the war and he's aware of the Energon poisoning. It is just that it is poorly portrayed to the point you rarely see it over his Arachnamechs/his ruined life.

Have the man present various evidence of destruction the war caused by both sides at the Malto children or anonymously spread such info around town to sew discontent with the townsfolk. 'These are the people who you consider heroes. Who you see as family and friends. Or should these tragedies be forgotten?'

Do a Baxter Stockman where you frequently see him try to fix the Energon poisoning than just simple dialogue. Even have testing on organic subjects to see how they react and find ways to counter it. Don't keep these key points as simple dialogue. *

I don't think Karen needs much changes either. 'But her taking over Cybertron doesn't make sense!' It actually does for one reason: hubris. Have you ever seen what happens when you give a control freak power? Their behavior becomes more erratic as they begin to think they deserve more. She is xenophobic in nature so imprisoning Decepticons and ordering around the Autobots is a drug to her.

Karen wants to treat them like slaves so the next step in her mind is Cybertron. Her death is well deserved and well played. Just like Icarus, the bitch flew too close to the sun.

I think the last major issue, other than out of character racist Shockwave, is the Terrans. No offense but they need a bit less screentime so the rest of the cast can shine. We barely see Alex and there's unclarified issues involving Bumblebee with Arcee if he's uncomfortable around her.

I also want their flaws to be at the forefront. Thrash is the only one who gotten such character development from his encounter with Swindle. We need more of that! Like Hashtag's overreliance on the Internet biting her back as she is forced to use real world skills.

Edit: I accidentally put in Terrans when I really meant Twitch. The screentime for everyone needs to be balanced mainly for the Malto family. Alex alongside the three younger Terrans rarely get involved or their characters further build upon. Twitch needs to get benched more.

Also the Dad Number 2 should really be addressed. Wheeljack was clearly uncomfortable when it been brought up. Plus it is way too fast to even consider such ideas unless you plan to have it addressed properly. Like 'Kid. We barely know each other yet somehow I became a father figure in an instant? It's best not to do that until you truly certain "Dad Number 2" doesn't mean harm or feels comfortable with it.' *

Earthspark clearly has potential but these problems need to be handled better. Addong the deleted scenes help add some clarification but canon needs to present it. We are supposed to get a second season so hopefully some of these are addressed.

#sonicasura #maccadam #transformers #transformers series #transformers earthspark #tf #tf series #tf es #tfes #personal idea #rambles #tv shows #slight rant #personal review #fixing canon #canon divergence #character flaws

[fandomsnstuff]

Look at me posting before 10pm (i work evenings lmao) anyway,

@taznovembercelebration

Day 8: super au/cooking

Angus McDonald is Spiderman. It's a pretty new gig, but he thinks he's doing okay. His secret identity is totally intact, so that's a win.

Read it on AO3

Angus lands in the street on his feet, the criminals he was pursuing trapped against the brick wall in front of him with an obscene amount of web. He wants nothing more than to take his mask off and get a breath of fresh air, but the wail of sirens is already on top of him. Cpt. Captain Bane steps out of the first car and says, "what the hell happened here?" 

"Just me doing your job for you," he quips. "Same old song and dance." 

Bane sneers at him. "I don't need a child to do my job for me." 

"Then you need to be faster," he tosses and catches the vial he retrieved, "crime isn't going to wait for you." 

Angus can see him eyeing it, the corrupt motherfucker. "What've you got there, Spiderman?" 

He knows exactly what it is, but he shrugs. "Some project the Institute's working on." He jabs his thumb towards the perpetrators that the other cops are cutting down from the webs, "pinky and the brain back there don't even know what it is. They just took the first thing they saw and ran." 

It's a highly experimental elixir that's supposed to allow the person who drinks it to become a powerful specter if their meat body dies. Lup and Barry aren't supposed to talk about it, but they really can't help themselves when they're in good company. 

Bane holds out a hand, "hand it over." 

"Uh," the last thing he wants to do is give him something from the Institute. Let alone something like this. Angus has been on Bane's case for years, well before he became Spiderman a few weeks back. "You know I think I better return it myself." 

Bane opens his mouth to respond, but is interrupted by a shout of, "holy shit!" 

They look, and Lup stands just down the street, her hair wild and face flushed. She's out of breath as she walks up to them and says, "I just ran… like five blocks…" she looks at Angus, "I only caught some of that fight, but that was amazing." 

"Thank-" he clears his throat and tries to subtly deepen his voice, "thank you Dr.- uh- ma'am." Spiderman's never met Lup, he shouldn't know her last name. Although she has been in the paper, so maybe it would've been fine. Anyway, "I believe this belongs to you," he holds the vial out to her. 

She smiles wide and grabs it, "it's intact!" 

Barry catches up to her, huffing and puffing. "I can't run a city block like I used to," he groans. 

Lup pats him on the back and says, "bear, look," showing him the vial. 

"No way," he looks at Angus, "you got it back in one piece." 

"I'm nothing if not careful, sir," he says, still trying to modify his voice. If they recognize him, he's so fucked. 

"Dr. Bluejeans," Bane says, "I'm going to need you to hand that over," he reaches for the vial, "it's evidence." 

Barry draws his hand back, "it's top secret Institute research. It's not going anywhere but back to the lab." 

"It's been involved in a crime, it needs to come back to the precinct."

"Why?" Lup takes half a step in front of Barry. "You've got the criminals wrapped up in a bow. You didn't even need to do anything." 

"Ma'am-" 

"Dr. Taaco." 

He sighs irritably. "Dr. Taaco, we're required to do a full investigation, which includes gathering evidence. That vial was stolen, so it's evidence." 

"And you can come to the Institute on Monday with a warrant for it. For now, we need to take it back." 

Bane clenches his fists. "Let me escort you," Angus interrupts. The adults all look at him. "You know," he says, "just in case." 

Bane says, "absolutely not-" 

"Sure," Lup says, "you can escort us." 

"He's a child," Bane protests.

"He's Spiderman," Barry says. "He rescued our research while chasing criminals through the city, I'm sure he can protect it while we're just walking up the street." 

Lup slings an arm around his shoulders and starts leading him away before Bane can argue any further. As they walk up the street back towards the lab, she and Barry talk about how the whole night shook down for them. They were working late, and had taken a break. They didn't hear the thieves enter or break anything, but the alarms started blaring, and they saw them running out. They gave chase, and saw him, Spiderman, swing in and apprehend them. 

"Which reminds me," Lup says once they reach the Institute, "are you okay?" 

"I'm fine." They got a few good hits on him, but nothing that won't heal by morning (thank you, nuclear spider powers). "You two should put that vial back and head home. It's late." 

"We could say the same to you," Barry says. "What are you, like, fifteen?" 

"I'm eighteen." He's super not eighteen, he's exactly two weeks away from his sixteenth birthday. 

"Right." Neither of them look convinced. 

"Well you're safe back at your lab," he laughs nervously, "I should be going. Stay safe!" He blindly shoots a web and takes off in whatever direction it takes him. He swings a good way down a random street before stopping on top of a building to get his bearings, and he heads home. 

He lands on the fire escape just outside his window, and opens it slowly. It cooperates tonight, and doesn't screech too loudly as the old wood slides up. He crawls into his bedroom and tears his mask off, taking a deep breath of fresh air. He creeps to his door and cracks it open, listening for any activity within the apartment. It's quiet, and all the lights are off. He shuts the door again. He doesn't bother to turn on a light as he peels his suit off, he's found that he can see quite well in the dark nowadays. 

He changes into pajamas. He longs to take a shower, but it's nearing 1am, and Taako's a pretty light sleeper. He doesn't want him to question why he's taking a shower so late. 

His stomach grumbles, and he sees visions of the leftover pizza he knows is in the fridge. He creeps out of his room and down the hall to the main living area. His attention is zeroed in on the fridge, so he jumps out of his skin when a light suddenly turns on. 

"You know, if you were going to be a vigilante, the least you could've done is tell me first." 

"Taako, I- what-" 

Taako's sitting in an armchair, arms crossed, looking very displeased. "It's polite to tell your guardian what you're up to, Angus."

He laughs nervously. "I'm not-" 

"Oh, you're not? You start acting all sketchy and sneaking out, and a masked spider-themed vigilante shows up not even a week after you visited Lup and Barry's lab that, among other things, works with what?" 

Angus knows when he's been had. "...spiders?" 

"Spiders!" 

Silences stretches between them, and Angus hangs his head. "I'm sorry, Taako." 

Taako sighs and stands. "I'm not mad. I just need to know where you go. Because if–" his fist clenches, "if you don't come home, or if you get hurt, I need to know." 

"I'm sorry," he tries to blink away the burn of tears in his eyes, "I just wanted to protect you. All of you." 

Taako puts a hand on his shoulder, and he meets his eyes. "You don't need to protect us. We can protect ourselves just fine." 

"Okay," he whispers. 

"Are you hungry?" 

His lip quivers, "I'm so hungry." 

Taako smiles and squeezes his shoulder. "It takes a lot of energy to be a superhero and a growing boy. Sit, I'll make you a couple grilled cheeses." 

"I wanted-" 

"The pizza, I know. You can have that while you wait." 

He sits at the dining table as Taako moves about the kitchen. He slides the box with half a pizza still in it to him, then works on making two grilled cheese sandwiches. Angus devours the pizza and is halfway through his first sandwich when he asks, "does anyone else know?" 

"Oh yeah, we all suspected." 

"So Lup and Barry talking to me tonight like they didn't know me was total bullshit." 

Taako laughs, "she called me as soon as you left them, pumpkin. Told me she was one-hundo percent sure that you're Spiderman."

He sighs in exaggerated  annoyance. "No one can have a damn secret in this family!" 

#taz fic #angus mcdonald #taako #taz #lup #lup and barry were taking a break to either sleep or make out #but either way their ghost gunk still got stolen #but never fear #angus is here

[geekfanficwriter]

Caught Somewhere in Time- Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader Part 1/?

Summary: You end up in the 80s, 20 years earlier than it should be luckily a certain metalhead is about to make your time in the 80s much easier Words: 2.8k Warnings: Violence, injuries, mentions of kidnapping and experimentation

Part 2

Masterlist

Author's Note: This is more of a prologue than a first part and does not include Eddie but don't worry, he appears in part 2. Also while the character does not have any physical description, she does have descriptions of her life and family which are OC.

November 12th 1983

You ran through the woods in a hospital gown. You had finally escaped from the facility that you’d been held in. Whatever major disaster had occurred that caused everyone to completely ignore you was to your advantage cause were able to use that opportunity to run as fast as you could get away from that hellhole. It had taken you nearly a week to figure out a plan, but now here you were outside for the first time in over a year. But you knew you weren’t safe yet. They’d been searching for the other girl, number 11 as they had called her since she had disappeared, so you knew you were going to have to vanish and fast. No going back to your family, your friends, or home. You didn’t even know how far you were from home. Pretty far considering you had grown up in Vegas and this definitely wasn’t a desert. You continued running as fast as you could, even as your lungs and legs screamed at you to stop. You just needed to put some distance between you and the facility before you stopped, settling down for the night. You could use the trees as cover and then find some clothes and food before continuing on to wherever the hell you were going. All of a sudden you were flying, pain flowing through your entire body. You hit the ground and stared at the beams of the car that had just hit you. You didn’t even realise you’d reached a road, as you were too focused on running away to pay attention to your surroundings. You groaned in pain trying to get up, but the exhaustion of running plus the bruises and cuts now littering your body kept you down. ‘Shit! Oh shit!’ You heard the driver of the car yell, running over to you. You looked up at him, blinking a few times. His face was covered in cuts and bruises that clearly hadn’t come from the accident which had just occurred. ‘Are you okay?’ He asked, helping you up off the ground. ‘I’m fine.’ You groaned at the pain which continued to pulse through you. ‘Shit, shit. I’ll drive you to the hospital.’ ‘No! No hospital.’ You yelled. If you went to the hospital, you would immediately be taken back to the facility, and that was the exact opposite of what you wanted. ‘I’ll be fine.’ You took one step and the pain in your ankle got a million times worse. Your ankle wasn’t broken, but it was definitely sprained and you knew you weren’t making it far on it. You sighed, wondering what the hell you were going to do now. You looked at the guy, realising that you were going to have to ask him for help. ‘Can you just take me to the nearest town?’ You asked in defeat. You would go to the nearest town, and steal some medical supplies, food, and clothes before finding a place to hide. ‘Umm, yeah sure. Are you sure you don’t want to go to the hospital?’ He said while wrapping his arm around you to support you over to his car. ‘I’ll be fine. Just take me to the nearest town.’ You sighed, opening the door and swinging yourself in. You looked at the car properly as he walked round to the driver's side. It looked like the old car your parents had driven when you were a kid, before giving it to your older brother for his 16th birthday. It made sense this guy would drive an older car as he seemed to just be older than you and who gives a teenager a brand new car? He started the car, and you two drove in silence for a few moments before he spoke up. ‘Actually, is it alright if we stop somewhere first? It’ll just be quick.’ ‘Yeah, whatever.’ You slumped in your seat, an awkward silence following your half-assed response. You thought about where to go. Your brother was in New York, having just started law school and getting engaged. You could go there but then again you’d probably be found pretty quickly, plus you and your brother had never been close, what with the 10-year age gap and your complete opposing personalities. Maybe Canada or Alaska, you had always loved the cold, but how would you get across the border? ‘I’m Steve.’ He spoke, breaking you out of your thoughts. ‘Y/N.’ You responded, you then started to worry. You should have probably given a fake name, but it was too late for that. ‘What happened to your face?’ You didn’t care if you came across as rude, you just wanted to know. ‘Got in a fight, yesterday, over a girl.’ Ah, so he was one of those types. You were happy you didn’t have to spend that much time with him. ‘Where exactly are we?’ You asked him. If you knew exactly where you were, that would make it easier to figure out where to go. ‘Umm… Hawkins, Indiana.’ He looked at you with confusion, as though you were insane for not knowing where you were. You figured you could excuse any stupid questions on a head injury. Indiana. So you were definitely going to Canada. You could probably find a bus or something to Michigan and then sneak over the border. Although you didn’t have any money, so maybe that was out of the question. ‘What exactly is the date?’ You questioned. You had been taken on May 25th, 2001 and it had been a year, maybe a year and a half. You didn’t know exactly how long, all the days merging into one another. ‘November 12th.’ November 12th. ‘Wow, nearly 2003.’ You didn’t realise it had been that long. You thought it was maybe July or August. ‘It’s 1983.’ He looked at you like you’d gone completely insane. And you looked at him the same way. It was not 1983. That made no sense. If you were taken in 2001, how could it be 18 years earlier? I mean, time travel didn’t exist and although you had powers, it certainly wasn’t something you could. Your powers were controlling the elements; earth, air, fire, and water. Time travel made no sense. They had tried to awaken other powers within you, to see if there was anything else you could do in order to turn you into a weapon, but nothing had ever happened aside from a lot of pain. ‘It can’t be 1983, it was 2001.’ You muttered. He must be making a joke or something. ‘Okay, you definitely need a hospital. Once we’ve been to Jonathan’s. I’m taking you straight there.’ He spoke, clearly freaked out. His reaction told you all you needed to know. He wasn’t lying or joking. It was 1983. You had no idea how, but you were somehow in a time before you were born. Unless…

You had been taken a few days ago, grabbed on the street near your home. Knocked unconscious by some drug and when you had woken up, you found yourself in a facility. You had tried to run but had been immediately injected with the same drug and this time you’d woken up strapped to the bed. You didn’t know how long you’d been strapped there, staring at the singular lightbulb dangling above your head, but eventually, some doctors in white clothing entered the room. You were taken through to a room where you saw a doctor's bed with a bunch of wires and other stuff that looked out of a sci-fi movie around it. You realised their plan was to do some experiments on you using that equipment and you immediately started struggling against the hands holding you. You didn’t want to be a part of some M.K. Ultra type bullshit. You tried to use your powers, but you didn’t know how to control them, having mostly been able to knock over cans with gusts of air or create small fires. You didn’t have the skills to use the surrounding air to push them off you. ‘No.’ You said, struggling against them as they pushed you towards the equipment. ‘No, no, no!’ You started yelling, kicking, and scratching anyone you could. You felt power swelling inside you as you screamed and struggled. You felt a sudden rush around you as everything swirled. The next thing you knew, you were alone. The hospital bed was still there but all the equipment had changed, looking dated. You heard alarms start blaring, and people started rushing into the room. You knew you couldn’t harness your powers, but you had to try, so you focused on the air around you trying to imagine yourself pushing it away. You don’t know how but you managed to do it but you did and all the people around you went flying, being pushed back by the air around them. You started running, trying to find an exit, but you didn’t know where you were going and you could hear footsteps gaining behind you. You pushed doors open, trying to get out when some men rounded a corner and appeared in front of you. You tried to turn back, but there were men all around you. You tried again to use your powers, but you just couldn’t control them this time. You felt the men around you start grabbing you and you struggled, but a needle went into your neck causing you to lose consciousness.

That had been when it had happened. When you’d found yourself in that empty room, you had somehow travelled back to 1982 and had spent the last year and a half in the 80s. Well, that made not going home easier. Not like you could show up on your parents' doorstep and tell them you’re their child from the future who wouldn’t even be born for another 4 years. Even if that did seem like a good idea, your parents didn’t move to Vegas until 1990 and you definitely didn’t remember the address of the apartment in New York you’d lived in for your first 3 years of life. ‘Hey, I’ll just be a minute. Just stay in the car.’ The guy who had driven you- Steve- said. You didn’t realise you had stopped outside a house until he spoke. ‘Yeah, I’ll wait.’ You spoke, not looking at him. You saw him walk up to the door and start knocking. He spoke to someone at the door for a little bit before shoving his way in. The second you saw him go inside you opened the car door and got out of the car. There is no way you were going to wait for him. You knew he was going to drive you to a hospital- probably a mental hospital considering you had been claiming to come from the future- and that wasn’t safe for you. You would make your own way into town. It probably wasn’t too far away from here. Just as you turned to walk away, you heard some gunshots from behind you followed by loud yelling. You continued walking before you sighed, turning back to walk into the house. You didn’t like or trust that guy, but you couldn’t leave him to be murdered by the people who lived inside that house. You opened the door to the house to hear Steve yelling to a guy- who you guessed was the Jonathan he had mentioned earlier- and a girl. ‘This is crazy! This shit plus some crazy girl who I hit with my car whose claiming to be from the future is outside.’ ‘I’m not crazy.’ You spoke from the doorway. ‘That thing is going to come back, so you both need to leave now!’ The girl spoke. Before she could continue, some creature appeared from nowhere and attacked the guy. She started shooting at it and it got off Jonathan advancing towards her instead before it could reach her. Steve approached it with a bat, hitting it continuously. It ran away towards a corridor before getting caught in a bear trap. You decided now was your time to act. You walked closer to it with your hand raised. You felt a heat flow through your hand as flame shot out, burning up the creature in front of you. You might not have been able to control your powers a year and a half ago, but the one good thing about their continuous experimentation was that you had learnt how to harness your powers. You heard the monster scream and start to burn up before disappearing in front of your eyes. You called the flames back to your hand, them extinguishing instantly before turning to the others who were staring at you wide-eyed. ‘Now me being from the future doesn’t seem that weird, does it?’ You said, looking at Steve.

‘These are some of my mom’s clothes.’ Jonathan said, handing you a pile of clothes. ‘The bathroom’s down the hall.’ He said, pointing. ‘Thanks.’ You glanced down at the stuff in front of you. ‘Can I get a towel too? So I can take a shower.’ You asked. ‘Yeah sure.’ He said, grabbing you one from a cupboard. ‘Thanks.’ You walked into the bathroom and glanced at yourself in the mirror. It was the first time you’d seen yourself since you’d been taken into the facility. You definitely looked older, it made sense considering you’d been fourteen when you’d been taken and now you were close to sixteen. Your hair was disgusting and full of twigs and leaves and your face looked sickly. You had cuts and bruises covering your face, alongside dirt. You could see why Steve thought you were crazy. You certainly looked the part. You sighed and took off the hospital gown, turning on the shower and waiting for it to warm up. You climbed in and sighed, feeling your muscles start to relax. You scrubbed yourself and washed your hair before climbing out. You put on the clothes you’d been given and looked at yourself again. You didn’t look good, but you certainly looked better than before. You limped out of the bathroom and saw the other three sitting around the kitchen table whispering. ‘Do you have a bandage or something I can wrap around my ankle?’ You asked Jonathan, sitting down next to Steve. ‘Umm yeah, I’ll go grab the first aid kit.’ He said, standing up. ‘Here’s a sandwich and a glass of water.’ Steve said, pushing a plate and glass in front of you. ‘Thanks.’ You replied, nibbling at the sandwich before taking a sip of the water. You wanted to just devour the food down considering you hadn’t been fed properly in ages, but you knew if you did you’d be sick. Jonathan placed a first aid kit in front of you and you opened it up, pulling out a bandage and started to wrap it around your ankle. ‘Are you really from the future?’ Steve asked. ‘Yep, and now I’m stuck in the past, just like the movie.’ ‘The movie?’ ‘Back to the Future?’ He looked at you with confusion. ‘Come on, it’s a huge movie and it came out in 198…5, which isn’t for another two years. I guess it makes sense you don’t know about it.’ ‘Were you in the Hawkins Lab? Did you see another girl there, Eleven?’ The girl, who you’d learnt was called Nancy, asked. ‘I guess so if that’s the creepy facility nearby. I know Eleven but I was kept apart from the others in there.’ ‘Why?’ ‘I’m guessing cause they’d all been there from birth or at least since they were little kids so saw nothing wrong with everything that was happening whereas I was taken as a teenager so I was harder to control and they couldn’t have me influencing the others.’ You shrugged. It was true, you were kept isolated in your room most of the time unless you were being taken out for an experiment. ‘Won’t they be looking for you?’ ‘Definitely, which is why I need to get out of here as soon as possible.’ ‘Where are you going to go? I mean you don’t really have anywhere to go.’ Jonathan asked. ‘I’ll figure it out.’ You shrugged. ‘You could hide out at my place.’ Steve suggested. ‘And what about your parents? Won’t they be a bit freaked out when they find some random girl living in your house?’ He slumped his shoulders, realising that it would never work. ‘You can stay here. My mom already knows about everything that’s going on with the facility and she wouldn’t want you running around alone.’ You thought about it for a moment. If she already knew that would be easier, plus this didn’t seem like a bad place to stay. ‘Yeah. That could work.’

#stranger things #stranger things x reader #eddie munson #eddie munson x reader #stranger things fanfiction #eddie munson x oc #eddie munson fanfic #joseph quinn #joseph quinn x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you

[andydrysdalerogers]

Your Submissively - Flirtation

Steve Rogers X OFC Isabella Davis

Summary: Five Years after the events of Civil War, Steve Rogers has moved on from avenging and has started his own business, Grant Inc. He has a secret that would turn his world upside down. And he's good at keep that secret. Until he meets the woman with violet eyes that could bring him to his knees. Now his mission is to make her, his. But she is the key that could bring the world into balance... or chaos.

And she has no idea.

Series Warnings: slow burn at the beginning, smut, angst, sexual themes of BDSM, dom/sub dynamics, kidnapping, loss of virginity, (and a bunch of others that will come up)

A/N: the taglist is open!

Dividers by @firefly-graphics

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site, even if you give me credit. DO NOT REPOST MY FICS. Reblogs, comments, likes, and feedback ALWAYS appreciated

Previous: Experimentation

Series Masterlist ~ Main Masterlist

Steve woke before Belle.  He watched her sleep, hands folded under head, like an angel.  He smiled and softly kiss to her, trying not to wake her.  He pulled on some sweats and went to the kitchen.  He made them a coffee and heard Bucky come in. “Hey Buck.”  

“Hey Steve.”  Bucky looked over Steve and noticed the soft smile.  “You look happy.”  

Steve shrugged.  “It was a good night.”  

“Did she talk to you?” 

“A lot.  Think we can make arrangements for the university on Wednesday?” 

“Oh, so she actually talked to you.”  

“What do you mean?” 

“She was hiding.  The valedictorian thing.  Lila outed her.”  

“Why?” 

“Steve, she has no family, remember? She doesn’t want to be celebrated when she has no one to celebrate with.  I told her we were her family, but she was really scared.”  Bucky sighed. “I’ve been digging but her adoption is not on record anywhere.  I have no idea who this Phil guy is.”  He pulled out a picture and offered it to Steve.  

“Where did you get that?  No, don’t show me. That would violate her trust. If she wanted to share that with me, she will. Put it back.”  

“Alright, alright.” Bucky put the picture back in his bag.  “So we’re going to a luncheon.”  

“I guess so. I need to work on a gift for her.”  Steve poured the coffees and handed Bucky his.  “I need to wake her.  We got stuff to do.”  

“What stuff?” 

“I want to take her to a shop for decorations for her room.”  

“This is a new one.  Fine, I’ll look at one we can go to.”  Bucky sipped his coffee.  “After breakfast.”  

Steve smirked.  “She won you over with food.”  

“Hell yeah she did. She should open a restaurant.  I would be the first customer.  And she hasn’t even made dinner yet.  That could be epic.”  

“Bucky please don’t make me punch you out.  Stop falling in love with my girl ya?” 

Bucky snickered. “I’ll stop but no guarantees if she makes a roast like Ma used to make.”  

“I think that could be arranged.”  Steve and Bucky spun to see Belle in the doorway, Steve’s shirt down to her knees.   

“Belle,” Steve breathed.  “Sweet pea, no pants again?” 

“Relax Steve.  I have shorts on.  Everything is covered.”  Belle offered her own smirk.  “I was thinking omelets this morning.”  

“Yes,” Bucky said under breath.  Steve punched him in the shoulder.  “Shit, Cap, really?  Its not like I asked.  She offered,” as he rubbed her shoulder.  

“Steve, be nice,” Belle admonished him.  She moved towards the kitchen, leaning up on her tip toes to kiss Steve before grabbing ingredients from the fridge.  

“I’m going to talk to Bucky for a minute.  Call me if you need me sweet pea.”  

“Okie dokie, hot shot.” She turned back to the counter to start chopping.  

Steve came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. “Hot shot?” 

“Hey, I get a nickname, you get one too.” She smiled up at him and he leaned down to kiss her. “I could have made it worse you know.”  

“Really? How so?” 

“Another time.” She smiled. “Now go away, need to concentrate.”  

Steve laughed but made his way out. Bucky had his feet up in his study, looking over the paper.  “Put that picture back.”  

“I got it. Sheesh, relax Cap. Anything else I need to know?” 

“No, are you staying here tonight?” 

“Yeah, Li is going to her parents tonight. Is that ok?” 

“It’s fine.   Just want to make sure things are ready.”    

“Whatever Cap.   Not like I haven’t heard it before.” Bucky smirked.   

“I swear Barnes, I will end you,” Steve says playfully.  He checks his emails as Bucky continues reading when Belle came in. “Breakfast is almost ready.”  

“Thanks, sweet pea.  I’ll be right in.” He sees an email from Tony and frowns.  

From: [email protected]  To: [email protected]  Subject: Innocent  Steve, please reconsider your relationship with Isabella. She doesn’t need to become a target.   For her sake and yours.   Tony Stark  President  Stark Industries 

Steve was fuming.   What was Tony playing at? Steve stormed into the dining room. “Belle, why the hell is Tony emailing me about our relationship?” 

Bucky and Belle froze. Bucky looked at her and she gulped.  “He saw that last email you send me at work and he asked if we were still seeing each other.  I said yes and called you my boyfriend.”  

“I thought we talked about this.  Discretion and privacy.”  

“I know we did but then you shouldn’t have emailed me at work.”  Belle fought to maintain control of her emotions.   

Bucky started to back away when Steve turned to him. “Did you know about this?  You picked her up yesterday.” 

“Ok, well I told her to talk to you about it and I guess that didn’t happen.”  Bucky looked at Belle who looked to the ground. “All I said was that you would do anything for her. I didn’t want to make it worse.”  

Steve looked at Belle.   “Isabella, why do you stop communicating with me?  We promised each other you would talk to me.”  

“Because I didn’t want you mad at me or Tony.  He doesn’t know anything ok.  Just that we’re dating, that’s it.  I don’t know why he’s acting the way he does. I’m sorry.”  Belle exited the room and went up to her room, closing and locking the door.  The emotions of yesterday started to catch up with her and she cried.  

Steve was stunned downstairs.  “Jesus, punk, really?” Bucky looked at his best friend. “This wasn’t her fault.”  

“I know, I got that. Fuck, why every time I think we are in a good place I am very mistaken?” 

“Dunno, but I’m hungry and you are now preventing me from eating.  Go fix it Romeo.” Bucky pushed Steve towards Belle’s room.  Steve went up and tried the door, finding it locked.  He knocked.  “Sweet pea, can I talk to you?” 

“No,” the petulant reply came through.  

“Isabella I’m sorry, ok? This is much my fault as anyone else’s.  You are right, if I wanted to keep it a secret, I should have thought it about better.”  

He heard footsteps and he stepped back.  The door unlocked and violet eyes ringed in red looked at him.  “Oh sweet pea, I’m so sorry.”   

“Steve, I don’t want to make you mad intentionally ok. I tried to tell him to leave me alone, but he said things and I just wanted to shut him up.  I’m sorry.”  

“No don’t be. I’ll talk to Tony.”  He reached for her and she let him hold her.  “Are you ok?” 

“I’m ok.  Just not how I wanted to start the morning.”  

“I know. Me either.”  He tilted her head up and kissed her softly. “ So after we feed Bucky, how about some shopping for your room?”  

She smiled. “Ok.”  She took his hand and they walked together back to the kitchen.  

After breakfast, as promised, Steve took Belle shopping. She picked out decorations and sheets that suited her.  When she dragged a sack over to the cart, Steve raised an eyebrow.  “What is this?” 

“It’s a bean bag chair.  Somewhere for me to read.”  Her eyes sparkled at the chair.  

“Alright.” He kissed the top of her head.  After checking out, he loaded everything into the car with Bucky.  

“Can we stop at the grocery store?” 

“Whatever for?” 

“Dinner.”  

Belle gathered her ingredients and Steve watched, unsure of what she was making.  And an idea came to him.  They finished up and headed back to the apartment.  Bucky and  Steve took all of the bags up  to Belle’s room.  Steve stood in the doorway as Belle unpacked her new things.  The room became her,  muted jewel tones decorating the room. “Do you like what you got, sweet pea?”   

Belle turned and smiled. She went up to him and pressed a kiss to his cheek.  “I  do. “Thank you amore.”  

Steve’s heart swelled.  Amore. Love. She was sweet on him.   

“Steve? Steve?”  

“Sorry sweet pea. Did you need something?” 

“I was trying to let you know that I was going to make dinner.  It will be a couple of hours.”  

“Oh, ok sweet pea. I need to make a  couple of calls.”  

“Do not call Tony,” she said walking away.  

Steve grabbed her.  “And what if  I do,  princess?”  His eyes  blazed slightly. 

“Don’t, sir,” she said with a smile.  

Steve pulled her close and ran his nose in her hair.  “I won’t call him but if I wanted to, I will.  Behave princess, or you will be punished.” He kissed her hard.  “Now, go make dinner and don’t flirt with Bucky.” His eyes twinkled.  

“I don’t flirt with Bucky. He flirts with me.” Belle pouted at him.  

“Ok, so then don’t do anything to make him flirt with you.” He kissed her cheek.  “That’s also the second time today you pouted after I said don’t pout.” Belle sucked in air.  “We’ll take care of that later.” Steve walked away with a smirk on his face.  

Belle tried to calm her heart.  Sweet lord, can I survive this? She made it to the kitchen with wobbly legs to see Bucky sitting at the kitchen island.  She blushed but ignored him as she pulled the ingredients out.  

“So, are you not talking to me?”  

“No, just concentrating.”  

“Oh, whatcha making?” 

“Roast.”  

“Really?” He looked at her ingredients. “Not like how Ma made it.”  

“Nope, my own spin.” She got it into the oven and started with making the sides. She hummed a song in her head, chopping and stirring.  

They chatted while she cooked and when everything was almost ready, she went to change, putting on a comfortable dress.  She poked her head into Steve’s office. “Hey hot shot.  Dinner is ready.”  

“Thanks, sweet pea. I’m almost done.”  

Belle set the table when Bucky came back in. “That smell is amazing,” he said, closing his eyes and sniffing the air.   

“I should hope so.” Belle started to set the plates of food down in the center of the table.  

‘Holy… Belle, you made all of this?”  

“Well, yeah,” she rolled her eyes.  

“Marry me, Belle.  Please, I just need you to cook for me.  Nothing else.”  Bucky smirked at her.  

“Really Bucky?” Steve stood in the doorway looking at his best friend.  

“Pal, just look.  She made potatoes, veggies and I can see dessert.  Only an idiot would let her get away.” Bucky stuck his finger into the potatoes for a taste. “She used real butter.”  

Belle tried not to laugh as Bucky but sobered up when she saw the look on Steve’s face. She swallowed. “I… I didn’t do anything,” she whispered.  

Steve came up to her and cupped her face.  “I know that.  But I also knew what his reaction would be when you decided to cook.  But I warned you. And you let it happen anyway.  So after dinner, get ready in one of those cute lacy outfits in your drawer and meet me in the playroom.  Bucky and I will clean up.” He said all of this in a whisper so Bucky wouldn’t hear much. He kissed her forehead. “Everything looks amazing,” he said out loud.  

Bucky, of course, knew what Steve was aiming at, having overheard the earlier conversation.  He didn’t want to give that away.  As they sat to dinner, Bucky decided not to stop flirting.  “Belle, seriously, run away with me.”  

“Bucky stop,” she replied, red staining her cheeks.  

“I’m serious.  We haven’t food this good since Ma made it, right Steve?” 

“Your ma was an excellent cook.  But sweet pea, this is amazing.” 

“What I wouldn’t give to bathe in this gravy,” Bucky commented as he winked at Belle.  

“Seriously, James, knock it off.”  Belle knew that his comments were going to make things more difficult for her later on.  

“Ooo, got a James out of her.” Bucky smirked again. “Sassy little one, isn’t she?”  

“Buck, enough.” Steve looked at Belle who was looking down at her plate.  He could sense that she was now terrified for what was to come. He was excited to test her limits more but didn’t want to scare her.  Dinner finished and he gave a nod to Belle.  She scurried upstairs as Bucky and Steve cleared the plates. “Wear the headphones, Barnes.”  

“Really? She that much in trouble?” 

“Yeah, and you put her there.” Bucky blanched. “I don’t want you to feel guilty.  I knew what I was doing.” He patted Bucky on the back.  “Besides, I saw you in the hallway. You knew what you were doing too so don’t look at me like that.” Steve smirked and headed up to see Belle.  

He entered the playroom to see Belle standing in blood red lingerie and red fuck me heels.  He licked his lips, enjoying the color on her skin.  He didn’t say a word, heading to the bed and pulling off everything but his boxers.  He pushed a button on a remote and a pole descended from the ceiling.  “Dance,” he ordered. He played a song Nat had introduced him to called Madness.  It was slow but sensual in his mind.  

Belle flushed. Could she do this?  She could barely walk in the heels but to dance. She decided to start slow.  She circled the pole with one hand on it, letting Steve get a glimpse of the entire outfit.  The music had a slow beat but it worked to move her body. She stopped and pressed her back into the pole and sank down, your breast bouncing in the movements. “strip,” he ordered, adjusting himself in the process.  

She stood in front of him and reached to unhook the bra of the babydoll dress she had.  She crossed her arms to push the straps down and let the lace flutter down like a parasol down to her feet.  She hadn’t know how to put on the garter so she had done it first and slid her panties over them. Belle reached to start unhooking the garters. “Stop.”  She looked up to see Steve with his dick in his hand, stroking it slowly, a bead of precum on the tip.  She licked her lips, her mouth dry in anticipation.  

Steve climbed out of the bed.  He pushed her against the pole and lifted her hands above her head.  “I told you not to do anything to make Bucky flirt with you.” 

“I didn’t,” she replied, as Steve starts to kiss her neck.  

“Oh but he did.” Steve smiled.  “So I guess you’ll have to pay for his actions.”  He grasped up to a ring on the pole she hadn’t noticed and handcuffed her to it. She had a little slack until Steve bent down to remove her heels.  Now she was pulled taut to the pole. “Hmm, I like you like this.  I can just…” and he licks her the top of her core.  Belle moans at the sensation.  

“No, you don’t get to cum until I say so.”  Steve takes a step back to admire her in just stocking and garters. Belle is breathing hard, trying to stay calm but can’t with being so exposed. “What I am going to do with my bad little princess?”  Steve starts to circle her.  “First she pouts after I said she couldn’t and then she has to be so sweet and let Bucky flirt with her.  My,  my.  Such a bad princess.”  

“I’m sorry.” Belle cries. “I’m sorry, sir.”  

“Too late princess.  No more talking.”  He take a ball gag and put it to her mouth.  “Bite around it. You’ll be ok.” She opens her jaw to bite and Steve buckles it.  “Can you breathe Isabella?” She nods.  “Good.”  He reached for a riding crop.  He flicked it to her wrist.  “Did that hurt?” She shook her head.  “Good.  Now.  For the pouting, you get five since it was only once.  For the flirting you get 10.” Belle shook her head.  “What’s that?”  She couldn’t speak. “No words Princess?  Aww too bad.”  

Steve circled her again. “Maybe, I should leave you here.  Wanting and waiting for me.  That sounds like a better punishment”. Belle pulled on her arms.  “Don’t sweetheart.  You’ll mark yourself.” He lowered the ring so she couldn’t pull. He flicked the crop against her nipple and she  let out a muffled scream, her nerves electrified.  Steve could see her arousal starting to grow and a drop ran down  her leg.   “Don’t want to waste that,” he said before he took his finger and picked it up, putting the bead in his mouth.  

“So sweet  my princess. That was one.”  He flicked on the other nipple and she cried another muffled moan.  He kept going, never hitting the same place twice. Tiny red marks appeared on her body but they didn’t hurt, just flashed sensations on her body.  The last one, however, that was her undoing.  Steve flicked right at her clit and she came, hard.  Steve kneeled to drink her in.   As she came down, he lifted her to his hips and  thrusted in.  She couldn’t ground herself so she was lost, a doll for him to use.  Her body responded and convulsed around him.  “Cum for me, princess.”  She still couldn’t speak, try as she might.  Steve reached to remove the gag and Belle moaned loud from the pain and the pleasure she was  receiving.   “Steve,” she cried.  

“That’s it my princess.  Let go.”  He thrusted up into her twice before she came, and he followed her. Her head was limp on his neck as he removed the handcuffs. He took her to the sleigh bed and cleaned her up.  She was asleep by the time he came back after cleaning himself.   He picked her up and took her to her room.  After getting her into bed, he kissed her forehead.  “Sweet dream my Belle.”   

NEXT

Taglist:

@patzammit

@texmexdarling

@slutforchrisjamalevans

@jennmurawski13-writes

@firephotogrl74

@tinkerbelle67

@before-we-get-started

@bunnyforhim

@alexakeyloveloki

@amiquette

@whiskeytangofoxtrot555

#andy's hea #andy's shenanigans #yours submissively #chris evans fanfiction #steve rogers au #steve rogers smut #steve rogers fanfiction #Steve Rogers x OFC #Bucky barnes #chris evans #mcu fanfiction #Steve rogers #steve rogers imagine #chris evans au #avengers au

[batmanisagatewaydrug]

hello sex witch

this might be long and ramble a bit but i’ll try to keep it succinct. 

so i’ve always thought that the concept of polyamory and having multiple partners sounded nice in the abstract, i don’t really date a lot so it hasn’t come up but i figured it was sort of a thing that most people would be open to or like the idea of (like me). this was until today when i saw someone objecting to the notion of being in a throuple or polyamorous relationship. i didn’t know that was a thing people did. i just thought we all wanted to date lots of people if given the opportunity. the fact that the other people in the couple were a man and a woman didn’t deter me. i’m now considering the fact that i might not be quite as heterosexual as previously assumed. 

when i considered sexuality before it was always a clear cut “yeah girls because i know i like girls” and also maybe that sex with dick seemed sort of weird, but upon further consideration it might just be that i think all sex is sort of weird. 

and now i’m not sure what to do about this, i don’t think that experimenting with people is right because i would feel so shit about it because they’re people and also the fact that i have some strong anxiety about sex in general. someone seeing my naked body makes me feel a little sick. and also i’ve never had sex so don’t really know how sexual attraction is supposed to feel or what i would do with myself if the occasion (sex) was to arise. i feel sort of similar / the same when thinking about sex with both men and women. 

i’m unsure if it’s all a desire for close male friendship or if i might be a little gay. 

tldr i might be polyamorous and attracted to men after a good 19 years of staunchly Not Thinking About It. would appreciate advice or help. 

i guess this isn’t as much a question as more of a asking for advice. this might not even be in your wheelhouse considering the sort of tangential connection to sex. sorry if not

hey anon,

boy, this one is a real buffet. it's legitimately very hard to decide where to start with this, but I'm going to do my best.

let's get this one out of the way first and foremost: if you're into guys that's totally fine. love that for you. if sex with men is something you ever want to explore I would encourage thinking bigger than the stigma that's currently associated with "experimenting." it has a very dehumanizing connotation, but there's no reason that trying out a new kind of sex has to be a cold or impersonal experience! it's fine to approach someone, either via the apps or in real life (honestly! the latter is better!) and be up-front about what your interests and intent are. people have sex without intending to form long-term partnerships all the time; it's literally fine and a thing that many people enjoy doing. so, like, this is my endorsement for respectful, mutually-informed experimentation lmao.

but hey, listen: I don't think that having sex with men is actually, like, a pressing issue for you, based on everything else you've told me here. it doesn't sound like sex is really a huge part of your life, and honestly that's great! it doesn't seem like sex would be great for you right now! can I point to some reasons why?

i think all sex is sort of weird

i have some strong anxiety about sex in general

someone seeing my naked body makes me feel a little sick

[I] don’t really know how sexual attraction is supposed to feel or what i would do with myself if the occasion (sex) was to arise

all of these are, like, perfectly fine things to feel, and also they are pretty good indicators that it's probably for the best that you're not having sex right now. genuinely I do Not do this lightly, because I have a whole thing in my FAQ about not wanting to tell other people their orientations, but has the possibility occurred to you that you might not experience sexual attraction at all? you can like people of all kinds of genders but not want to have sex with them.

let's maybe just take sex off the table altogether while we explore this "maybe you're a little gay" thing, alright? because it seems like that's just going to stress you out a needless amount. what if instead of thinking about having sex with guys, you give some thought to dating guys, forming romantic connections, doing things together that aren't having sex. would you date a guy? I mean, hell, would you date a girl? would you date anyone? does that sound good to you? it's nice to actually interrogate these things; the worst thing that can happen is that you get to know yourself a little more clearly.

you can date and love people without ever having sex with them. does that sound fun for you?

this is the most important thing: you're not under, like, any obligation to figure this out immediately or even soon. take your time, you know? there's no correct timeline for this and self-discovery is perpetual.

also hey listen this one isn't, like, bad and I'm certainly not addressing it as a problem but PLEASE I have to know where you grew up that you didn't realize that most people are actually not polyamorous. are you perhaps the spawn of the greater Seattle area polycule?

#sex edventures 2023

[greenlantern94to04]

Green Lantern #51 (May 1994)

At last, after months of hype, we've finally reached the official debut of DC's sensational character find of 1994: Ohm! You know, Ohm? The guy who fights (and almost beats) Kyle Rayner in this issue?

Oh yeah, and as of this issue, Kyle Rayner is officially named "Kyle Rayner" and not "the rando who got Hal Jordan's ring."

But, before getting his ass kicked by Ohm, the first thing Kyle does with the ring he got in Green Lantern #50 is visit his ex-girlfriend, Alex, who at first assumes this is some practical joke. I guess she's used to Kyle showing up at her door in the middle of the night wearing tight-fitting costumes? Kyle insists that this is real and explains that he got the power ring from a blue little person in a red dress who materialized in an alley, only he doesn't say "little person."

Apparently, Kyle is a bit immature and irresponsible (hence the "ex-" in "ex-girlfriend"), and his job as a freelance artist doesn't seem to be going anywhere, but he thinks the ring represents a chance to get his shit together and make something of himself. He tells Alex he could become a big shot superhero in New York (they're currently in a small town called "Los Angeles," by the way) while she, a photojournalist, could take photos of him and sell them to the newspapers for big bucks. The ol' Peter Parker gamble.

Alex is eventually persuaded by the idea, though I get the impression she's just humoring him because she wants to go back sleep (without him; he's on the couch). The next morning, Alex wakes Kyle up because some nutjob stole one of those experimental armors S.T.A.R. Labs likes to leave laying around and is trying to use it to siphon all the electrical power in LA. Alex tells Kyle to stay in the car while she takes photos and he assures her he won't do anything stupid like, say, try to fight a supervillain with a power ring he's only used to change his clothes and levitate slightly. We already know how that went. Guess we can add "impulsive" to "immature and irresponsible."

That takes us back to the start of the comic, with the ALL-NEW Green Lantern getting pummeled by the mighty Ohm -- that is, until Alex reminds Kyle that he can create stuff with the ring, like a shield to protect himself from Ohm's attacks or a big... stick thing to knock him down. Thirty years later, I still have no idea what this is:

So, Kyle successfully avoids being murdered on his first mission and saves the day as the crowd cheers for "Green Lantern," with only one guy commenting that his hair looks different now. Perhaps inspired by that, Alex later tells Kyle he should put that Graphic Design degree to use and make himself a new costume that will give him his own identity, resulting in the iconic new look that we'd already seen in the cover, and in the ads for this issue, and at the end of GLCQ #8.

(Note that they're at the beach, which means it's possible Kyle couldn't think of anything for the new mask, looked down, saw a crab in the sand, and said "I've got it!")

Meanwhile, at a maximum security supervillain prison known as "the Slab," some poor guards try and fail to contain the breakout of one of the inmates, who turns out to be... our pal Mongul! As in, the one who broke Hal Jordan's arm (GL #46) and helped break his brain by destroying Coast City. And he wants a rematch with "Green Lantern."

Whelp, hope he's better at remembering hair color than the average LA pedestrian...

Plotline-Watch:

According to the DC wiki, this is Ohm's one and only appearance, which I find really surprising. I'm shocked (pun intended) that he survived that period in the mid-'00s when Geoff Johns and James Robinson were going around murdering obscure DC characters for shock (pun intended again) value.

On the other hand, New Jersey's very own Slabside Penitentiary, which also debuted in this issue, went on to become a recurrent location in various DC stories, most notably the Joker: Last Laugh crossover and the Arrow TV show.

Speaking of the Slab, there are a few villain cameos in that scene: a devil guy I don't recognize (is that Nightcrawler's dad?), Shrapnel from Doom Patrol and Suicide Squad comics, and Captain Atom nemesis Major Force. As a fan of the Captain Atom run where MF was introduced, I was thrilled to see him here and wished DC put him to use more often. (Somewhere, a monkey's paw curled.)

I will echo Neil's comment on the post for GL #48 that the timeline for Kyle and Alex's breakup doesn't make sense. In this issue, Alex says they broke up "last week" and doesn't even wanna let him in, yet they seemed pretty chummy in #48, which seemed to take place only a few hours ago. The only way I can make sense of it is that it took longer than implied for Ganthet to crawl out of that pile of bodies and travel to Earth. Future issues do reveal that he made some other stops before settling for Kyle, so it's possible he spent several days offering the ring to random people in alleys before someone finally said yes.

I like that not only does the crowd mistake Kyle for Hal, but Kyle himself doesn't even remember the Green Lanterns were a thing until Alex reminds him, and he was already wearing the costume. This acknowledges Green Lantern's status for casual comics fans as a guy you kinda sorta know but don't really care enough to fully remember. That was definitely the case for me, until this run changed it.

No Guy-Watch this time... because he's getting his very own post! Coming soon.

#green lantern #ron marz #darryl banks #romeo tanghal #kyle rayner #alexandra dewitt #ohm #ganthet #the slab #mongul #major force #shrapnel #devil guy who appears to be naked in his cell #guys who never showed up again

[tubborucho]

[the tubburevil au thing]

okok so like. me personally im very very curious about qtubbo's past before the freeze and have Very many hc's abt it. in this specific au, he used to work for the federation, but like not very high level. most fed workers were actually like raised by the federation, unwanted children who were adopted by them at a young age. none of them were given names, just placeholder numbers until they were old/smart enough to work.

C-19 (fred) and C-13 (tubbo) were raised in one group, and (A-1) cucurucho, A-2 (cucurevil) and A-3 (osito bimbo) were raised in another. the A group were supposed to be like the leaders and representatives of the fed, whereas the C group were supposed to be lower-level but still important workers (think machinery, cleaning etc).

by the time they were in their pre-teens, they got to interact. the five of them kinda stuck together instantly. tubbo was really really good at create, but he was also a bit of a troublemaker so most of the caretakers did not like him. he was the most "individual" of them, assigned the rest of the gang names. tubbo for himself, fred for C-19, cloud for A-1, venus for A-2 and skye for A-3. (won't be using those names though, cause it would just cause confusion)

once they all turn 15, they start their actual work at the federation (look the feds are a little Terrible, and everyone wears masks so unless you're exceptionally short no one can actually tell). the 5 all get assigned to the same island, a relatively old one that's still popular enough. this is where tubbo meets phil, tommy, piso, becky, wilbur, and fit (but younger versions ofc, this isn't super relevant but shhhh.)

after meeting various islanders if they come and go, tubbo starts to get Ideas that the feds wouldn't like. he tells these ideas to his friends, who are all a little bit like "uhhh tubbo idk about that one chief". cucurevil and fred hear him out tho and they agree so they start to engage in Rule-breaking.

eventually they start to like, genuinely hate the federation and hatch a plan to run away together. at this point, they've started to grow distant from cucurucho and osito bc those two are like Rule Abiders and might snitch, but since theyre still friends, fred reaches out to them trying to convince the siblings to run away with them. they decline, but don't want to snitch.

fred, cucurevil and tubbo try to run away, but they get caught by guards barely an hour in. they change courses, try to get to this nearby portal to a new experimental island (qsmp) that the federation is working on.

they get to the portal--- cucurucho stands in their way. cucurevil shouts at him to let them pass, but it just stands there for a few moments. then, it turns and runs away.

cucurevil rushes through the portal, but as he jumps in the guards arrive and grab tubbo and fred. she wants to go back to get them but then the next second the guards are running after her, and in the panic she just looks ahead and keeps running.

cucurevil figures, he has to find a place to hide and so he goes underground, to this weird maze where the feds can't reach him. eventually the guards leave it be. at this point, cucurevil could just run on his own, but he doesn't want to leave tubbo and fred (and cucurucho and osito) behind. so he waits.

meanwhile, tubbo and fred have all their memories erased and get frozen for like ,, a year in some facility. they remove fred a little earlier than tubbo because they don't want the two to interact, but then the qsmp islanders find the facility on their own and get tubbo out themselves. at this point, the feds are like "ahh shit well we can't say anything now so uhhhhhhhhh let him go." (im aware the whole fed workers being frozen in the facility thing has Implications for the other new members but ill uhh. ill work on that. later)

is this ask too long fuck i was gonna add more

Oh wow. This is a really interesting idea, and if you ever decide to write a fic on it, pls let me know.

I want to know more:D

#liss writes posts #liss answers asks #qsmp #frubbo

[chacegraves]

El Paso, Elsewhere Review

El Paso, Elsewhere is fucking incredible. All I was expecting was a Halloween flavored Max Payne send up and while I definitely got that I think it's unfair for this game to live in that shadow. It takes so much from that series but rearranges and tweaks those things to achieve it's own identity.

I love urban fantasy. Dresden Files, Vampire The Masquerade, Blackwell. A supernatural underworld just below the surface of humanity. Often treating humans like cattle or at least disposable for their own purposes. I find it so interesting and El Paso is no exception. The little bits of worldbuilding we get paint a similar picture but this one is much more abstract.

You play James Savage who is currently in a three-story motel that just got a 46 story expansion all heading down, courtesy of his ex, Draculae. She's taking part in some sort of ritual that will end the world and has plenty of hostages. Whatever this ritual is doing is causing The Void to warp reality with trauma into a nightmarish thrill ride all the way to the bottom where they'll confront everything that made their relationship come to this.

All supernatural chaos aside their abusive relationship manages to feel very real in the little ways they interact and the voice acting helps this exponentially. It's clear to me the writer knows what this kind of relationship feels like. It's not afraid to poke fun at the melodrama of two ex lovers confronting each other either. These two characters the story revolves around are flawed and fleshed out and I really enjoyed them.

James' descent into this hellish motel feels incredible. Diving past ghouls, rolling through their slashes and slow mo blasting them in the head. Saving hostages in between brief bursts of violence and popping enough pain pills to kill himself 50 times over just to tank through The Void's horde of supernatural horrors. If you hold down the dive button you can stay on the floor until you're out of ammo and need to get up to reload. Like I said it's Max Payne. The one main tweak in the gameplay besides enemy variety is an instant kill stake that you get 5 of and break various pieces of furniture to get more. Break shit, kill people. That's the gameplay loop and god is it addicting.

Which brings me to the music. It's pulse pounding and intense in a way that feeds perfectly into the gameplay. Other times moody or relaxing but always experimental and playful. Any time a track with lyrics comes up feels like a treat. It's one of those total package things where the visuals, sound design, gameplay and music are all working together perfectly. The entire OST has me seriously considering getting the vinyl.

El Paso, Elsewhere is a must play. There's so much I didn't mention because I want you to unravel the rest of this one for yourself. I'll definitely be trying to 100% this in the future and it's safe to say I'll be replaying this for many years to come.

#El Paso Elsewhere #game review #written game review #videogame review #written review #game recommendation #max payne #my reviews

[xiaoluclair]

“What? Are we friends now?“ for lestappen?

lestappen // [ rating: G ]

“So, what.” Charles stares dubiously at the space between him and Max. The faint thing between them that grows more unfocused the longer he stares at it. Like a shadow melting in heat. “Are we friends now?”

Frank O'Sin shrugs, pulls his singeing gloves off. Drops them on the credence table to his left. “Time will tell. As for paymentㅡ"

"It's on its way," says Max, a thumb rubbing over his wrist. "Don't drink them all at once." Then, he seems to consider. Looks stupid while doing so, mouth a puff of pink popcorn. "Or do." Charles walks over to the trestle, slides his rings and bracelets back over the naked feel of his skin. Whatever they just did, it has given him an empty salivation on his tongue. He wants something sweet and slightly bitter. Fizzy.

He says as much, when they're grabbing their coats off the hangars. Max checks for his phone the second the door closes behind them, Frank giving them what could've been a wave. He might have been warding his front door. Or wafting a fly. "Okay," says Max. "What do you want me to do about that?"

Charles huffs. "Not a thing apparently."

"Christian's just asked if it is going well." Max enters the stairwell first, grabs the handle and gives it a tug so it nearly shuts on Charles's foot. He laughs at Charles's scowl. It only deepens.

"Evidently not."

"Maybe it will take some time?" offers Max, thumbs tapping.

"We have given it time," says Charles. Outside, the wind howls rough against the streetlamps. He pulls his hood tighter around his head, hands already feeling raw.

"More time then. Daniel said this guy was the best."

After thirteen years, Charles has gotten pretty good at Max-isms. He swings his head from side to side: "Daniel this, Daniel that, ooh Daniel, tell me everything Danielㅡ"

Max shoves him almost into the road. "Fuck off."

Charles thinks he is about to laugh. Instead there is a sudden well of annoyance eating its way into his stomach. His eyes roll. "Dish it but cannot take it. Like always."

Max glares. "The fuck is that supposed to mean."

"You know what it means."

"I was quicker than you every fucking sectorㅡ"

"So was Iㅡ"

"By point one, maybe, I was faster by one point oneㅡ"

"That is not trueㅡ"

"Itㅡ"

And he is about to continue, his aggravating lisp, tongue over cheek, mouth stuck between folding and pursing. But the sidewalk between them bands so thick so suddenly in a great dark mass, and Charles's feet burn up in his boots.

His head cracks against Max's. Shoulders bang. Ribs ache like they took a few too many baseball bats.

He hears himself groan. "Shit."

Only that is notㅡ

Charles glances down, eyes stinging. Where his TAG Heuer has grown and he now wears two new bracelets, fit snug around his wrist. Where Max's two bracelets have grown and Charles's T.H fits snug around his wrist. Both of their wrists, coat sleeves falling just short. Max gives a reactive, experimental yank. Charles nearly pulls his bicep trying to stop them both falling over into a hibernating boxwood hedge. The drop of his stomach seems twice as far.

"Shit," says Max, again.

"Shit," agrees Charles.

#xiao: writes #writes: mv1.cl16 #eby my beloved #<3333333333333333333 #okay so Ha ik this isn't Exactly what i prbly shoulve written.... #but creative liberties?? 😅😅 #lestappen #f1 rpf