#your sets are always stunning op

[wardenparker]

The King's Queen - chapter 9

Javi Gutierrez x female reader Co-written with @absurdthirst

Prince Javier of the Balearic Islands has always known that one day he would have to follow in his father's footsteps to be the caring and steadfast king that his people deserve. What he did not know is that he would be stepping into the next phase of his life alongside a woman he has never met before - and amidst a rocky sea of unusual circumstances of every kind.

Rating: M for Mature, but this blog is always 18+ Word Count: 10.7k Warnings: *Blanket warnings for this series: arranged marriage, age gap, classicism, cursing, food and alcohol, mentions of American politics, deceased parents* Lots of mystery related content this chapter, so no warnings in order to guard against spoilers! Summary: As the weeks progress, the investigation into King Miguel's death is stalling out. Until an unexpected conversation renews your suspicions about a particular member of court. Notes: We're winding down toward the end of this story, folx and thank you all so, so much for reading! It will probably be one more chapter and an epilogue -- so for now have a gif of Lucas and Javi for ✨atmosphere✨

Ch 1 ~ Ch 2 ~ Ch 3 ~ Ch 4 ~ Ch 5 ~ Ch 6 ~ Ch 7 ~ Ch 8

In the weeks following, the palace falls into a rhythm. The ongoing investigation is the dark cloud that covers the planning of the royal wedding and coronation, but life goes on. You've accompanied Javi on multiple public outings as Crowned Princess now and the press coverage does seem to be reasonably positive. Maisie and Gabriela have made a few gossip headlines along with you, including one tabloid photo of the three of you visiting a recently opened café owned by two young women in downtown Palma. The photo op had been chosen very strategically by your brother working together with the palace's security team, and you had insisted that the business they selected for the three of you to patronize needed to meet certain standards. The small shop had served you one of the most fantastic lunches you had ever had, and you were sure to tell the women so. The photo of you savoring your crema catalana had gone up on your official royal Instagram account that night.

You're settling in, is really what it comes down to, and at Javi's encouragement you've decided to clean up a room in the palace that hasn't been used much in the last few decades to turn into your receiving room. The Queen's office is one thing. That's a separate space in the working wing of the house, and your brother's office is adjacent to it. But a room for you to receive guests in or have meetings in...it's something that the palace hasn't needed since Javi's mother passed away.

“Your Highness, the furniture movers have arrived.” Despite having an abundance of nicknames for you growing up, and being your brother, Sebastian insisted on making sure that during working hours he addresses you by your title rather than any nickname. Wanting there to be no slip ups in protocol, or for visiting dignitaries to believe that they could also address the future Queen so informally.

“Thank you, Sebastian.” The room had been emptied of its former furniture set and divested of its previous rugs and trinkets. The fireplace had been scrubbed and all of that. Curtains taken away to be replaced with the set that you had chosen. Now the team from the palace steward’s office will be bringing in that expansive set of blue velvet upholstered walnut wood pieces, with their silver accents and silver-embroidered curtains to match. It will be your space and yours alone, just the way you like it. Even the paintings that are going up for decor were your choice, and the collection of Spanish impressionists that will hang on the walls is stunning.

"Of course." He smiles slightly and nods his head in deference to your position. "They have also located a rug for the space, I have told them to bring that first for your approval." The storage for the palace holds all of the furnishing through the years.

Just as he defers to your title during working hours, you’ve kept yourself to using his full name during those times as well, not wanting any rumours to build around why you hired your brother for this position — or even fuel the incredibly stupid theory that went around at first that he isn’t your brother at all. Some tabloid had printed that they thought he was your secret lover but thankfully that had gone nowhere with the people. You look far too much alike for anyone to not realize you’re related. “Do we know when Maisie and Gabriela are due back from their appointments?” Your ladies had gone into Palma for something that you hadn’t quite caught the explanation for but you’re hoping they will be back before dinner. The two women really have become you close friends in almost no time at all. And you’ve noticed a little bit of flustering on your brother’s part around Gabriela that is very sweet.

Sebastian looks down at the tablet in his hands and checks the calendar. Any appointments your ladies in waiting have are also kept by him so he can inform you. "They will be returning to the palace in thirty minutes."

“You are a font of useful information.” And you’re so incredibly glad that he’s here. Having someone nearby who just knows you as a person — what makes you tick and what makes you anxious — on staff is so helpful.

He smirks and holds up the tablet. "You just like me for my schedule." He teases playfully.

“Honestly?” You waggle your eyebrows at him, aware that until the movers from the steward’s office come into the room, the only people who will see or hear this interaction are the security officers watching the cameras that have been discreetly installed around the room. “I’m starting to see why so Dad was mad that I stole you away.”

"You understand and appreciate my work." Sebastian smirks, preening slightly. "Dad's new assistant isn't completely incompetent, but apparently he's not me and that infuriates the old man."

“C’est la vie, I guess. That’s why you should always appreciate the people who make your life easier.” As if on cue, a set of four workers from the steward’s office appear. They’re toting an enormous rug with them and look a little apprehensive.

“Y-Your highness?” The first man holding the rug bows his head. “This was – for your approval? If you do not approve, we will carry it back to the storage.”

“I’m sure you’ve made a wonderful choice.” And considering you know next to nothing about rugs, you’re willing to bet that they made a decision far more educated than yours would be. “Will you let it out, please? I’m very excited to see your choice.”

There’s a grateful smile on the third man and they begin to quickly unroll the rug. “It, uh, the blues and silvers in the rug could work with the furniture.” The first man explains.

"Then it will be perfect." You and Sebastian step back to give the men room, and soon enough the enormous Turkish carpet is rolled out to reveal its intricate patterns and subtle colors. It's exactly the right thing to bring warmth to a room that was once stark whites and ladylike pinks and pale greens, and you smile gratefully. Your color palette is slightly more robust than the last queen's, but there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, this piece will be what ties the room together. "Que maravillosa," you hum, seeing it all laid out. "Gentlemen, you have made the perfect selection. I could not have done better myself."

The pride that filters out from the men's faces would make Sebastian think that you had just knighted them. He hides a small smile and nods, stepping forward. "I think that it is safe to say that the Queen will keep the rug that you have chosen with her upmost gratitude." He tells him.

“We will return shortly with the first truck of furniture.” The seeming leader of the group tells you, bowing his head politely before he herds the others out to the hallway. They have two large, motorized hand trucks to bring down the king palace hallway and then they will arrange the pieces to their princess’ satisfaction.

"They chose well." Sebastain comments as he examines the plush rug. "Almost as if they were eager to please the crowned princess or something." He has felt the love the palace staff have started to extend to you, finding less pushback on his requests than he had once expected.

“I’m grateful it hasn’t been difficult,” you admit, smiling softly as your engagement ring winks in the late morning sun. “Javi is already having a hard enough time with the investigation still ongoing. I can’t imagine if he was fighting pushback in the press, too.”

"They still have found nothing substantial, and the King is growing impatient." He nods. glancing around to make sure no one else has come into the morning room.

“Remarkably, the investigation seems to conclude that it may have been accidental.” You keep your voice low as well. “But I still find that conclusion…unsettling.”

"As do I." Your brother hums, even if he agrees quietly.

The men from the steward’s office stay with you for the better part of an hour. It turns out that moving the furniture about takes seemingly no effort at all when it’s done by four men who could probably bench press you, and soon the seams of 1920s artisan-made study furniture is set precisely around the room in the perfect way to make it look nonchalant yet elegant. You didn’t even know furniture could look nonchalant, but now there is an art deco chaise lounge in your morning room ready to prove you wrong.

"Should I have tea and a light snack brough in?" Sebastain asks, knowing that you would want to settle into the room, get a feel for her. "I have some paperwork that needs attending, and you have nothing on your schedule until after lunch."

“Bring me everything you need me to sign,” you sigh dramatically in resignation but flash your brother a grin. “And if you could ask the kitchen for a tea tray, I would be eternally grateful.” In the last few weeks, the palace chef has gotten the contents of your personal tea tray down to a science, and you swore up and down to Javi that night that this is true luxury. Having your favourite snacks on hand at all times is what it’s all about.

"As you wish, your highness." Sebastian bows gracefully and sends you a small wink before sailing out of the room.

The room is better than you had envisioned it would be. The paintings are light and bright and bring a sense of invitation to the art deco furniture. It's a mix of styles so it doesn't feel too stuffy, making the room feel a little bit more personable. You sit down at the writing desk by the fireplace, admiring the elaborate carvings and the personalized touches. The men from the steward's office had also come in with a case of your personal stationary and a set of the pens that had been ordered with the emblem of the Crowned Princess of Mallorca on them. It had all been very overwhelming at first, but you're starting to settle in to it. One sheet of stationery and one of the pens find their way out of their cubbies in and into your hands, deciding that you'll write a note to be delivered to Javi as he goes about his work during the way. Your little notes make him smile, and if even a moment of smiling eases some of his burden, then they are well worth the few minutes they take to write.

He watches you from the shadow, frowning and furious. About to step out and speak when the silly little maid arrives with a tea cart. Making him curl his lip in disgust. You would have everyone believe you were an English queen with your teas and little treats.

You thank the girl and smile when she curtsies, knowing that being on your best manners with the palace staff is everything. The tea tray is laden with a mix of things and you sip your cup with a happy sigh. Until Sebastian comes back with your paperwork, it's just you and your tea and your love note to Javi.

"Well, aren't you just settling in nicely?" The voice comes from the far exit, carrying across the room. "Already changing things, causing disruptions."

If his voice causes a slight twitch in one eye, it isn't your fault. It's just that Lucas has been a needle in your side since the day you met him and there is nothing you can really do about it except be overly kind to the point of making him uncomfortable. "Lucas." You turn your head, setting down your teacup and folding your hands in your lap to offer him the most witheringly perfunctory smile you can manage. "Or shall I start to call you cousin? After all it won't be much longer before the wedding."

“Yes…the wedding.” He walks into the room as if he owns it, sniffing as he looks around the room. “Very…quaint.” He decides. “How fitting.”

"Is there some reason you have sought me out this morning?" He has a tendency to try to bait you into debates or arguments with polite insults, but you are in far too good of a mood today to be bent out of shape by petty words. "Can I offer you a cup of tea?"

“No.” He scoffs the word, almost close to a chuckle as he strolls around the room. Taking pains to touch different things, adjusting them to his own liking. “I have to admit that I’m surprised you are still here.” He glances up at you and then down the small Tiffany music box on a table. His finger running over the gilded lid. “Perhaps the prize is too large to let go?”

“Whatever gave you the impression that I might leave?” There hasn’t really been a serious moment since meeting Javi where you’ve considered it. Is the job difficult? Of course. But Javi makes every single second worth it. And you would never disappoint him by leaving — or so coarsely abandon the man you love.

“The king is dead.” He shrugs slightly. “Unless an arranged marriage is something you actually wished for.”

“King Miguel is dead; may he rest in peace. But King Javier is very much alive and well.” His refusal to accept that his cousin has ascended the throne is something of a curiosity to you. Like there is a full block in his mind that prevents him from accepting it. “And happily I will tell you, as well as anyone else who wishes to hear, how very much in love with my fiancé I truly am.”

“Come now.” He tuts and sends you a pitying look. “No one would be in love with Javier. Expect perhaps my wife.”

“I think it would be more difficult to find someone not at least a little in love with him.” A pinched, derisive smile makes you tilt your head. “The only exception seems to be you, cousin.”

“I have known Javier my entire life, believe me, there is nothing special about him.” Lucas sneers.

"I'm very sorry that you believe that," you reply placidly. Lucas truly has a talent for getting under your skin — and it's really all to do with his attitude toward Javi. He seems to think his cousin is the least remarkable man in the world, which is a thought process that you just can't wrap your head around. Javi's goodness is what will make him a kind and sympathetic leader. "Javi's ability to be kind in the face of an unkind world is one of the most special things I have ever witnessed in a human being. It seems to me that you might not know your cousin as well as you think after all. But that is merely an observation."

There’s a mean little grin on his face, making the classically handsome exterior appear almost rotten because of the evilness inside. “I think you might actually believe that load of horse shit.”

He truly seems to have come to see you just to be cruel today, which is rare, but it isn’t the first time. Lucas taunts and intimidates and spits venom as his surest means of communication. It is who he is. But he is also exceptionally talented at hiding his true nature, which leads to unfortunate circumstances like the group of loyal followers he still has here at the palace. Allowing yourself one more sip from your teacup, you set it down again and give him your patented Senator’s-Daughter placid smile. “Is there something that you needed, Lucas?”

“I was wondering if you had heard anything about the investigation?” He picks up a book that has been strategically placed and smirks as he opens it, glancing up and you and snapping it closed loudly.

"I am not at liberty to discuss the investigation," you remind him, interested in what he might have to say about it. Lucas has been relentlessly present during the investigation.

He rolls his eyes and snorts. “There’s no one here.” He huffs and lifts a brow. “I’ve heard your investigators have been probing, asking very pointed questions.”

“Well of course they are, a king has died.” You don’t say that he was killed, always very careful about your wording with Lucas — but something about his wording strikes you a moment later. ‘There’s no one here’ he says, blatantly encouraging you to speak liberally with him. As though you are entirely in private. Lucas…does not seem to know that your morning room has already been wired for security. “Of course…” you venture, keeping your breathing even and your voice steady so he doesn’t sense any change in your whatsoever even though your heart rate is now racing. “We will all be very glad when the matter is resolved. The country deserves to heal. To move forward.”

“It will, with a new king.” He is very certain of that and straightens slightly. “I understand the pressures of the throne might be too much for my cousin. He has always been a follower. Meek.”

Not so long ago, insulting the king so overtly would have been enough to have Lucas censured or even stripped of his title, but you bite your tongue on that point and simply tilt your head. "Do you really think so little of your own flesh and blood?"

“It is more that I know my own flesh and blood.” Lucas chuckles. “He is not the brightest Gutierrez, unable to figure out what is right under his nose.”

It's like Lucas wants to keep talking. Now that the topic has been breached and you are not shutting him down immediately as you usually do, he seems to be as unstoppable as the enormous boulder that chased Indiana Jones. "King Miguel believed in his son. He named Javi his heir and paved the way for him to take the throne. You think you know things about Javier that his own father did not?"

He smirks and shrugs slightly. “Miguel had to have faith in his son.”

"Had to?" That piques your interest, and you fold your hands in your lap even as you turn toward him a little more fully. There is a camera and microphone built into the clock above the mantel of the fireplace and you want to make sure this entire conversation is very firmly in the line of sight and sound. Though you doubt Lucas would ever overtly incriminate himself, he is being fairly damning if anyone ever called his loyalties into question. "King Miguel could easily have named another heir if he felt it was the best course of action."

“That would never have happened.” He hisses, face twisting into an angry scowl. His fist tightening in fury.

It might be the first time you've ever wanted to reel back from one of Lucas's outbursts, but you hold yourself steady in your chair and try not to make it obvious that you've just swallowed hard out of discomfort. "Never? Then King Miguel must have believed in Javi quite a lot."

“Not because he believed in him.” Lucas sneers. “But because the old bastard wouldn’t stand the shame, the humiliation of having such a weakling for a son.”

There will be time to take umbrage with Lucas's characterization of Javi later on. Right now, you have to stay laser focused on what is being spit out right in front of you. It is absolutely no secret between you and your fiancé that you both believe Lucas had something to do with King Miguel's death. But you still have no idea how to prove it. "And so...you believe that the late king would rather...gamble with the future of his country? Surely he would have wanted Javier to have help if he thought it was necessary."

“He had changed it.” Lucas growls, the fervor in his eyes nearly manic. “I saw. He had changed his directives – but the bastard guarding him refused to let me read it.” He curls his lip in disdain. “More of a lap dog than an assistant.”

"You think that Julius had something to do with the king's death?" That would be a grave accusation if it were true. Or, hell, it's a grave accusation anyway. Thankfully it will never be given any credence because of how hard Julius has worked for Javier.

Lucas barks out a rough laugh, throwing his head back. “You are made for my cousin!” He chortles. “Just as dim witted.”

You have no choice but to swallow the insult, finding your heart beat faster every second you are more and more hellbent on getting himself to cough up something that you can have to the investigators that will incriminate him. "It seems obvious that my mind does not work the same way yours does."

He chuckles, sending you a pitying look. “It’s a shame that you are so wrapped around my cousin’s thumb.” He tells you, “it would be fun to take another of his toys away from him. He’s already lost so much to me.”

"He already has the throne, Lucas." Not dignifying that idle threat with a response is causing you actual physical pain but sitting in your chair is currently taking enormous concentration. Anywhere else in the world and you would rather be wringing Lucas's slimy little neck. "Everything else is a trifle."

“Does he?” Lucas tilts his head and smiles. “Perhaps. Long live the king.” He intones sinisterly.

The irrevocable shiver that his tone sends down your spine is withering, and for a second you almost close your eyes against it but you are somehow convinced that taking your eyes off of him physically for even a second would be a terrible mistake. "He does," you state again, watching Lucas carefully. "And our child will have it after him. That is how the line of succession works. I know that you know this."

“Unless my dear cousin suffers the same fate as his father.” Lucas counters, waving his hand as if offering a solution. “Before you make that child.”

"How do you know we haven't already?" The surety in his voice is chilling, but you have to keep your own tone even.

“Because any child before your vows would be a bastard.” He hums. “Ineligible for the throne. Then the line of succession falls to…” he perks up and feigns excitement. “Well, me.”

"That is only true up to a point," you challenge, pressing the point if only gently. "Javi will not be dying of a heart attack anytime soon."

Lucas only stares at you, his dark eyes lifeless as he stands there quietly for nearly thirty seconds. “Of course not.” He says after that silence is up, his body relaxing and his face shifting into an innocent expression.

It might be the most unsettling and least reassuring ‘reassurance’ of all time, and the sinking feeling in your chest and stomach makes you feel positively sick. “In time,” you swallow bile as it rises in your throat. “You’ll see. Javi’s goodness is what will make him a great king.”

“Perhaps.” He shrugs as if the past few minutes of conversation hadn’t happened, and he shoots you a charming smile. Or it would have been if there wasn’t malice layered under it. “I will leave you to enjoy your new room then. Princess.”

“Good morning, your Grace.” You don’t stand, nod, or give him any other formal acknowledgement, but you definitely breathe easier when he turns and strides from the room. It’s like being in the same space as a cartoon villain, and you’ve found out that that is much more disturbing than you ever imagined.

“Your highness?” The maid who had been sent to check on your tea hurries into the room and her eyes are glancing around worriedly. She had seen the man most of the staff loved but she loathed walk out with a dark look on his face, one she is well acquainted with, and was concerned.

“Ah, Beatriz.” There is no choice but to shake off your unsettled nerves and pretend everything is fine, even though the sinking feeling in your stomach is sinking that much harder. “What can I do for you?”

“Are you—” she bites her tongue, knowing the question is inappropriate for the Princess. “I am checking to make sure you did not need anything, your highness.”

“I suspect that is not the only question you wish to ask me, Beatriz.” There are some members of the staff who have been more or less assigned to you, like your ladies’ maid and a few of the stewards or other staff, and you have generally been trying to get to know them and have them be comfortable with you within the bounds of what is considered proper. Probably being American fosters some of that in your mind all on its own, but you don’t like the idea of anyone being frightened to come near you in the palace.

“I— the count—” she starts before she stops again. “I saw the count hurry by me looking very unhappy.”

“I’m afraid the count is feeling a bit worse for wear today,” you lie, gracefully not indicating whether you mean he’s in a bad mood or that he’s actually ill. “I’m sure it will pass.”

“He- you are feeling well?” She asks, eyes searching you worriedly.

“I am perfectly fine.” The last thing you or Javi need is anyone on the palace staff spreading word that you might be ill, so you dispel the maid’s fear immediately. “And my tea is wonderful. Thank you for checking. If you would not mind waiting a moment, I am just finishing a note that I would like delivered to the king.”

“Of course, your highness.” She bows her head quickly. It was expected that you would never take her into your confidence, but it’s enough to find that you are…undisturbed. She breathes a quiet sigh of relief as she waits for you to finish writing your missive.

What was once a love note full of encouragement to your fiancé has quickly transformed into a gently coded indication that you have something you need to talk to him about privately. As soon as it is written out you fold the card and slip it into an envelope, sealing it with a small sticker bearing the royal seal of the Crowned Princess. "Please deliver this directly to the king," you instruct her, handing the maid the sealed card. "From my hands, to yours, to his. Is that understood?"

“Yes, your highness.” She nods solemnly, feeling very proud of being tasked with something of such importance. “For the king only.”

"Gracias, Beatriz." She curtsies and you nod, turning back to your desk as she hurries from the room. It's not exactly that you have evidence against Lucas, but at least now you have something solid to hand to the investigators to prove Lucas has a vendetta against Javier. There hasn't been anything besides hearsay until now.

Hurrying through the halls, Beatriz nods at different personnel but doesn’t stop. Not allowing herself to be waylaid on her mission. Once in front of the door to the king’s office, she stops and smooths her uniform out before knocking.

The door to the king’s office opens with a distinct click, and Julius steps out into the hallway. “Sí?” He knows Beatriz, of course, and knows that she tends to you, but does not know why the maid has come here of all places.

“I have a message for the king from her highness.” Beatriz tells him, shaking her head when he holds out his hand for the message. “The Princess said from my hand to King Javier’s.” She insists.

“I see.” Julius purses his lips in amusement. Normally when the king receives a note of that nature it results in copious blushing and clearing his throat. “Very well. You had best deliver it, then.”

It’s an honor to be allowed into the king’s office and she’s well aware of it. Bowing her head, she waits for him to open the door and follows him inside.

“Your Majesty.” Julius hums softly, breaking the king’s concentration as he bends over his desk. “A note from Her Highness.”

“Oh?” His head pops up and his brow furrows as he sees the maid in front of him.

“To be delivered from her hands to yours.” Beatriz tells him, barely stepping up to his desk and curtsying while she holds out the envelope.

“Thank you…Beatriz.” He finally comes up with the maid’s name, having a flurry of new staff being changed around with your arrival, his father’s death and the upcoming wedding.

The maid curtsies and exits promptly once the envelope is in his hands, blushing over the fact that the king knows her name. Julius, for his part, smiles and nods to the door. “Shall I leave you?” He asks, hoping to offer privacy if it is wanted.

“Please.” Javi nods, barely looking up from the closed note in his eagerness to see what you have written. “Give me just a minute and we will continue.”

With a nod Julius is gone, leaving Javier to his reading.

Mi amor, A very interesting conversation with someone we are both interested by may pique your curiosity. If you would like to relive it for yourself, I will show you this evening. M

Javier frowns at the paper and wonders what the hell has happened today. A mystery would once have thrilled him, but he knows this is concerning one particular person and he feels a sense of dread.

******

His busy schedule keeps him occupied until dinner time, but the now-designated one night a week that you and Javi eat alone is proving to be a blessing. The serving cart is wheeled into your chamber and the table on your balcony set with candles, and you’ve taken off your heels to let your aching feet rest for the night in comfortable slippers when the door to your suite opens to let him inside.

Javier feels the mantle of responsibility seemingly lift. Even if he could be interrupted by any manner of emergencies, the idea that for tonight, he’s just your fiancé is a comforting one. The guise of not being responsible for a country needed as he has worried about your note for the rest of the day after receiving it. “Margarita?”

“Javi!” It would be a lot to pretend you aren’t excited to see him, and why would you pretend that at all? Instead, you pad across the sitting room of your suite eagerly and wrap him up in your arms. “How was your day, querido?”

“It was good, but it is better now.” He accepts the easy affection and snuggles close to you, burying his nose in your neck. “How was yours? Beatriz gave me your note.”

“Lucas paid me a rather interesting visit today.” It’s a shame that your dinner together has to be overshadowed by this but there is no way around it. “In the morning room.”

“You just set that up.” In fact, Javi had been put out that there had been no wiggle room in his busy schedule to allow for a visit to the room to see how you had redone it. He had planned to see to it tomorrow, but now he is wondering if it’s been tainted by his cousin.

“It seems he disapproves of my choice of decor.” You roll your eyes to show it does not bother you and place a kiss on his cheek. “Come. Eat with me. I’ll tell you what happened over our supper.”

“It is your space, like my mother’s.” He huffs, but he eagerly lets you lead him out onto the balcony. “The staff loves to make sure our private dinners are romantic.” Javi smiles at the candles on the table.

“They do wonderfully for us.” Tonight there are pink gin tonics in the cocktail pitcher that awaits you, and a beautiful seafood supper with fresh bread and bright vegetables. A feast that won’t make you feel over full or too tired afterward is a gift in its own right.

“Perhaps we should have a party for them.” Javi suggests. “Catered food, nice drinks. They can relax and be served.”

“That would be a very kind thing to do, I think.” You’re not sure if there’s precedent for that kind of thing, but you have to think it’s been done in some form before. “Maybe I can look into what it would take? And include the clean up being done by someone else, of course. It would be useless to give them a party that they have to clean up after themselves.”

“Of course.” Javi nods seriously. “Everything taken care of.”

“But…” You take it upon yourself to pour two glasses and hand him one, inhaling the wonderful scent of the plates he has set down on the table. “Lucas seems…more devious than usual.”

“Is that even possible?” Javi asks, rolling his eyes slightly. Ever since you arrived, it seems as though the blinders have been pulled away. Showing Javi how rotten his cousin’s soul really is.

“I hadn’t thought so.” It’s unfortunate to be wrong on that front, but here you are. “But he came the closest he’s ever come to incriminating himself today and we were standing right in front of the fireplace in the morning room while he was doing his…I hesitate to call it an interrogation of me, but it wasn’t comfortable. Either way he was very candid, and I watched the footage after retrieving the file from palace security. I think it’s damning enough to encourage the investigators to look into him again.”

“Really?” Javi has just sat down, leaning forward and his eyes narrow. “Tell me what he said, Margarita. I want my father’s death explained. I want to know why we lost our king too early.”

As you eat your recount every detail. The conversation is burned into your brain from this morning and though you’ll show the footage to Javi later so he can see it all for himself, you’re confident in your ability to tell the encounter to him completely. “I can’t help but think it all seems…sinister. But that may be my own bias against him showing. It might m be best just to let the investigators decide.”

“That’s what we will do.” Javi nods. “Although, I don’t want you to be alone with Lucas again.” He admits. “Will you keep Sebastian or one of your ladies with you?”

"A rotating witness along with my security detail?" Of course, to Javi's point — the guards who are meant to protect you are usually some small distance away so that you don't feel smothered. Today they had been at the door to the morning room while you were inside. Perhaps it is time to make better friends with them after all. "If that will make you more comfortable, querido, then I will make sure I keep someone with me."

“I just do not wish for my cousin to do something.” Javi admits. “I cannot banish him for any reason, and I cannot risk your safety.” If Lucas is plotting something, he would rather he not have access to you.

“I am not an enormous fan of your cousin trying to do something to either of us,” you reason. It is plenty enough work to run a country without having to worry about your own family trying to sabotage you or worse. “I will keep someone around me and so will you. The only time we should be alone is to be with each other.”

“I can agree with your logic.” Javi nods as he spears a stalk of broccolini. He doesn’t mention that it will give plenty of alibi for anything Lucas tries to cook up. Especially with the extra surveillance that has been discreetly installed under the guise of ‘redecorating’.

"I will have Sebastian contact the investigators first thing in the morning and hand the footage over to them personally, with a full explanation of what they are watching." It won't be fun, but at least it's some kind of progress. And progress desperately needs to be made.

“Perfect.” Javi nods even though it’s painful to admit that this can come from inside his own family. “Make sure that the investigators know that we are more than willing to be interviewed again.”

“I will.” A short reach across the table is all it takes to fit your hand in his, and you squeeze his fingers gently. “We will see this through. Your father deserves to be able to rest peacefully.”

He doesn’t want to monopolize the dinner with talk of his cousin, or his father. It pains him in a way that’s indescribable. “How has Sebastian settled in?” He asks curiously. “Has he had time to explore the country? You should take him, have a driver give you a complete day.”

“It’s probably asking too much to think you could get away for a day?” You know it is, but you still prefer to spend as much time with him as you can.

“I might be able to take half a day.” He would have to double check with Julius, but his schedule wasn’t too taxing the next few days.

“I don’t want to crowd your schedule with more things,” you assure him. “But it would be nice to spend time together.”

“I have relatively light days.” He promises. “I can try to combine the days to block out an afternoon. Or would you rather a morning?”

“I suppose it depends on what you want to show me.” The prospect of spending time together — even in public with cameras flashing and admirers stopping to spot him on the street — is a bit thrilling. While the investigation is ongoing, royal security isn’t keen to let the two of you eat at establishments they cannot control. Very few exceptions have been made and you haven’t been able to begin your date night idea quite yet. “Maybe we ought to consult security if we plan on doing anything besides going for a drive.”

“I will talk to Julius and send you a note?” He asks, knowing that it can’t be tomorrow. “Unless you have some appointments to plan the wedding?”

“Julius and Sebastian share our schedules for exactly this kind of reason.” They’re miraculously well-coordinated, actually, and you continue to be impressed with your brother’s work the longer he is with you. “We’ll ask them to find the day that works best.”

“Perfect.” He nods and smiles. “We are getting closer.”

“We are already very close, mi amor.” A smile even wider than his graces your lips and you hum happily around a bite of your dinner. “Would you like to hear about the wedding preparations?”

“I would love to hear.” He leans forward eagerly. “And anything you would like for me to help with, I will.” He assures you. “Even those little gift bag things. We are having those, right?”

“If you would like to have them, I will make sure they are included.” Javi always lights up when wedding plans are mentioned, so it seemed like a very good topic for lightening the mood of your meal. “I can ask our wedding planner to put together a list of ideas she suggests to fill them and you can pick whichever you like best?”

“Yes.” Javi nods. “Something local. Show off the art and craftsmanship of our people.” He tells you.

“I completely agree.” The more locally made everything at your wedding, the better it all will be. This is going to be a celebration for many more than just you and Javi.

“Local sweets. A handcrafted piece of jewelry that commemorates our day?” He suggests. “I want that to come from my personal wealth and not the budget.”

“Maybe a small pin, as the jewelry?” Something universal would be best, so it does not matter which bag goes to which guest. It will relieve an enormous headache on your wedding planner’s part. “Something symbolic, rather than the typical image of us smiling out from a white background.”

“That would be perfect. Maybe our flag? Made from local stone? Or gems, whatever you think is best.” Javi tells you. “I’ve just always loved the gift bags in wedding movies.”

"I'll see what the wedding planner thinks is doable in a fairly short amount of time and then you'll get a list to choose from," you promise him. After a few more bites in relative and enjoyable quiet, you put your fork down again and take a sip of your drink. "I've...been thinking about something. And I was wondering if I could talk to you about it."

“Anything.” It sounds serious and Javi is immediately giving you his full attention. Fork down and looking into your eyes. “You can talk to me about anything, Margarita.”

“That is actually what I wanted to talk to you about.” You reach across the table to take his hand and leave a kiss on his knuckles for good measure. “I’ve been doing some reading, and I had Bastian pull records. And it seems to me to be a sort of…unofficial Balearican tradition for foreign born spouses of monarchs to take a regnal name.” The whole concept of taking a regnal name — a name you will be known as, as queen — seemed positively odd to you at first. But the tradition seems to stem from taking pride in leading the people of these lively, engaging islands. A way of embracing the place and the people and promising to honor them. “I wondered how you would feel if…I did that, too.”

“What would you like to change it to?” He asks curiously. “I would love whatever you do, but I will still call you Margarita.” He admits with a bashful smile.

“Well…” It seems almost embarrassing, or it would be embarrassing if it were anyone but him, and you feel your cheeks heat as you swallow. “I thought…Margarita might actually be the right choice. I looked it up and it’s not too uncommon of a name. I thought it might be…romantic is the wrong word, but loving.”

“Queen Margarita?” Javi hums as he thinks about it and nods. “It would be a beautiful tribute to our future.”

“I always knew I would come here eventually.” For your whole life, you’ve waited for it. Waited to be summoned, and waited to be married, and waited to be with him. “But I only truly fell in love with this place after I met you.”

“It is easy, no?” He asks with a grin. “Our country is easy to love.”

"Very easy." You can agree to that easily. "But not as easy as it is to love you, querido."

The way Javi blushes makes you smile and he’s happy about that. Nothing is forced, nothing is put on with you and that’s what he loves. If you were just normal people, there would still be these tender affections between the two of you.

“Anyway, I just… I wanted to ask you how you felt about it.” He is blushing and he is adorable when he blushes. You shift a little in your seat and a pleased smile curls your lips. “Because ‘Margarita’ was just your name for me, and now I’m thinking about sharing it with the world. If you aren’t okay with it, I will choose something else.”

“I don’t mind.” He admits quietly, leaning in and staring into your eyes. “As long as we are together, I will happily share you with my country.”

“I’ll always be with you.” That is a promise you will make to him without hesitation. Now that you’re with him, the last thing you want is to be separated from Javi in any meaningful way.

“Hopefully your interaction with my cousin did not ruin your day?” He asks quietly. “How are your ladies doing?”

“Gabriela sat with me for some time this afternoon.” A small, mischievous smile curls your lips as you finish your meal. “My brother mentioned that it might be helpful to have some help in learning the geography and history of the country, as well as cultural tradition. Gabriela volunteered to be my tutor, essentially. And she’s been wonderfully helpful.”

“Good.” His affection for Gabriela will always be there, but it has shifted to a more brotherly love than anything else. Or perhaps it was always meant to be that way and he had been rebelling against his fate. Regardless, he’s happy you and Gabriela have formed a friendship. “She was much better in her studies than I.”

“She and my brother are also getting along very well,” you venture, wondering if that is too sensitive or inappropriate of a topic. True that Gabriela is married, but it’s abundantly clear to anyone with eyes that they are miserable, and she did not make the choice to marry Lucas willingly.

“Do you think there could be something there eventually?” He asks softly, knowing that it would be unlikely unless Lucas were out of the picture. Gabriela was loyal and would never shame the royal family with a divorce, even though she should divorce her husband.

“Maybe?” It’s just theoretical right now. Just a little gossip. But you know that Javi’s comfort level with the situation means a great deal to everyone involved. “Nothing will happen, of course. Not with Lucas in the way. But I think it’s sweet.”

“I want her to be happy.” Javi tells you. “As happy as we are.”

“That’s very admirable.” You admit, knowing that there are a lot of complications in the way of anything realistic. Still, you offer him an encouraging smile. “But I don’t know if anyone is as happy as we are.”

“It is quite a lofty goal.” He teases with a smile. “Perhaps it can be achieved.” He still marvels over how lucky he is and is grateful for it.

“Perhaps.” Just knowing how much he loves you makes your heart soar, and the familiar warmth returns to your cheeks. “Although it is a very lofty goal.”

Javi pauses for a moment, and he frowns as he reaches for your hand. “As long as you are never uncomfortable.” He shakes his head, aware that it’s coming out wrong. “As long as you know my feelings are genuine and I no longer will ever think about any woman the way I think of you.”

“I think the fact that you’ve stayed friends with Gabriela after breaking up speaks volumes about both of you as people. You’re good and kind and deserve to have those things visited back to you. And besides,” you reach out to squeeze his hand reassuringly. “Gabriela is also my friend. I want her to be happy, too. And my brother is a fantastic guy. She’d be lucky to have him.”

“Gabriela would be a wonderful partner to anyone who wishes a partner.” Part of Lucas’s problem is that he thinks he’s better than everyone. He had decided on Gabriela simply to hurt Javi.

“And Lucas deserves a good clobbering.” It’s mumbled, but only slightly, and you definitely mean it. In fact, you’d like a hell of a lot worse than a clobbering to happen to Lucas Gutierrez. A lot of people would.

Javi smirks slightly, hearing you perfectly but he doesn’t comment on that. “And what if Maisie?” He asks. “How is she settling into the role?”

“I think Maisie might have been born for it,” you chuckle. Javi clears away your empty dinner plates and you uncover the slices of Basque cheesecake smothered in cherry rioja sauce that the kitchen made for your dessert tonight. “Her husband is away on business as of this morning so she’s taking the chance to buckle down in helping with wedding and coronation plans.” Sending Javi a smile as you set out the smaller plates, you lean on the banister beside your small table while he pours out the last of your cocktail pitcher. “I think she deserves a very large ‘thank you’ after all this is finished. Gabriela does, too.”

“Perhaps a girl’s weekend on the royal yacht?” Javi asks, wondering what you had in mind.

“I was thinking of a getaway for Maisie and her husband. Something wonderfully romantic where they don’t have to worry about anything but enjoying themselves.” The first bite of cheesecake makes you both groan happily and break out into contented grins. “Maybe by that time Gabriela will be able to spend time with whoever she wishes.”

“Perhaps.” Javi frowns slightly. “If – if Lucas is as bad as we think that he might be, we will have to circle the wagons, as that American saying goes, around Gabriela. She will be distraught.”

“I would think she will be glad to be free of him.” You do shake your head, though, and nod. “If his true colors turn out to be as black as we suspect, we will take care of Gabriela. Make sure that she comes out of the thing unscathed.”

“Yes.” He nods seriously. “It will be good for her to be your lady if everything is as bad as we expect.” He admits quietly. “I am so sorry that you have been thrown into such a mess, amor.”

It might surprise him to hear, but the truth comes out of you alarmingly fast as you sit together at the little balcony table. “I don’t care,” you tell him truthfully. “I’m just glad that you didn’t have to go through all of this alone.”

He pauses, in awe of you and picks up your hand. “You are the most gracious and loving woman.” He murmurs softly. “I hope to never take that, or you, for granted.”

******

"Your Highness." Sebastian has been in and out of your office all morning, but this time when he steps inside he has a much more determined set to his face. "Inspector Jefe Blanco is here to see you."

"Oh, good. Excellent. Bring him in, please." Waiting for the Chief Inspector's arrival this morning has had you on edge. It will be good to get all of this out of the way and put the evidence into the hands of professionals. "And Sebastian, will you stay, please? While he's here. I would feel more comfortable."

“Should I order some tea?” He asks, knowing that it might set the tone from the grim talk into a more open conversation.

"I asked the kitchen to prepare a tray this morning. If you could just ring down and ask them to send it up?" His instincts are good and you appreciate your brother's attention to detail, especially in these moments. "I'm sure that will put us all a bit more at ease."

“Good. I will have Flores bring it in so no more staff than necessary needs to come into the room.” Sebastian decides. He will instruct the staff to leave it outside with your personal maid.

"Thank you, Bastian." For one more second, it's just you and your brother in a room, and you flash him a grateful smile before putting your official princess countenance back on. "Please show the Inspector Jefe in."

Sebastian nods and moves to the door, opening it and stepping back to allow the very official visitor in. It’s clear the man has taken special care with his appearance, every medal shined and his uniformed neatly pressed.

"Thank you for making time to come and see me this morning, Inspector Jefe." You stand from your desk and shake the man's hand. He has been very diligent and professional in investigating this case but you have to admit that you have now known the man quite a bit longer than you would prefer. In a perfect world, this case would have been over before it began. "I'm afraid I have some information to share with you, but I do not know how helpful it will end up being."

He frowns slightly, confused as to how you can have more information. “What do you have, Princess?” He asks curiously. “I must confess I am surprised to have been contacted by your office.”

"I had a conversation yesterday with the Count of Ibiza that...unsettled me." Polite wording is necessary here, so that you don't appear to be accusing Lucas of anything outright. "The conversation was videotaped by our security system here in the palace, and I would be very much gratified if you would consent to watch the footage with me and tell me if there is anything to it. If the count's manner seems suspicious, and his threats genuine, as I suspect they are. Or if I am perhaps too sensitive to the topic being touched so deeply by the late king's sudden death."

“The Count has an excellent reputation.” The inspector informs you, a little wary when it comes to potentially implicating members or the royal family. “However, he was slightly evasive during questioning.”

"It is my sincerest hope that my worries are unfounded," you lie as cleanly as you can. It is the only lie you have ever told the inspector and what you do hope is that it stays that way. "But I will not claim any kind of expertise in law enforcement or investigative technique."

“Even though you say there is video evidence of the conversation, I find that it is always helpful to have someone describe the interaction. Posture, tone, facial expressions cannot be accurately displayed at times through a security system.” He explains quietly, pulling out a notebook from his jacket pocket. “Princess, will you please tell me about this conversation with the Count?”

"Besides deeply insulting both myself and King Javier, the Count outright stated that he believed the late King Miguel made the wrong choice as to his successor and expressed anger over not being considered in the choice. Or, rather, not being chosen outright." You pause when Flores brings in your tea tray, thanking her as she pours out three cups and sets one beside each of the three of you seated in the room. "Thank you, Flores. We'll manage from here."

“Yes, your highness.” She bows respectfully as she eyes the inspector. There are many questions as to why he is here, but she won’t voice them.

“So, you see, Inspector,” you continue once the door is shut securely behind your maid. “When outright statements like that are made in the same conversation where the Count also voices his opinions that King Javier is not fit to rule, or that I have some ulterior motivation for being here and accepting my role in his country…it makes me quite worried. That perhaps the Count may not have the most honorable intentions after all.”

“I can see why that would raise your suspicions.” He frowns and flips back through his notes to look at the impressions he had jotted down from the interview with Lucas Gutierrez. While some of the men question his old-fashioned methods and claim that he wants to model his investigative style after American style gumshoes, he finds it good to have those notes easily accessible rather than having to go back to the system computers. “And you say that he felt like he was threatening you?”

“I felt that he was threatening the king.” The clarification is important here, you know that. But you’re very glad to have your brother in the room with you to be an emotional anchor so you don’t end up seeming distraught or too forceful with the inspector. “The Count made it very clear that he did not consider me worth threatening. He appears to regard me as an ornament to His Majesty. Which is insulting, but not threatening.”

“I hope that regardless of what I find, you informed his majesties security team?” He asks seriously. “Another king lost in a short span such as this would throw our small country into chaos.”

“It would.” Especially considering Lucas is the next in line to the throne. A horrible alternative that you can’t even begin to comprehend. “And I have. I informed His Majesty and he has taken it to his team.”

“Good.” Inspector Jefe might have some private concerns about the new king, but he would never dream of making them public.

“With this background, will you be willing to watch the footage that my security team gathered yesterday morning?” Convincing him that it is worth looking into Lucas again is the key here, even though you know it’s a hard sell. As the Count of Ibiza, the people have come to mostly love Lucas Gutierrez. But they do not see his true nature.

“I have learned in my time as an inspector that some people’s true nature is always concealed until they believe they are immune from reproach.” He picks up his tea and takes a polite sip. “Would you be able to provide a copy or would I need to view the footage here only?” Sometimes the security for the palace had certain protocols in place that he would not be able to change.

After discussing it with Javi, Julius, and the head of security, it has been decided that a copy of the footage could be handed over to the police for their own use, and you open your desk drawer to retrieve it. “The copy has been made for your use, but of course I expect you will want to view the original here as well so you can be assured that no changes to the footage have been made.”

“Thank you, Princess.” He nods his head slightly, grateful that you understand the delicate nature of these things. “Once I have reviewed the footage, I may have more questions. Would it be possible to request some time in your schedule if that is the case?”

“Of course.” In fact, you would be concerned if he didn’t have more questions for you. “My assistant will make sure you are afforded access to me when necessary. This investigation remains of the utmost importance.”

“I appreciate that.” He knows that you must be busy, the announcement of your wedding accompanying the coronation had been announced and it wasn’t too far away.

“Just as I appreciate you being available this morning.” The footage is already queued up on the computer display monitor on your desk, and you turn it to face outward so both the Inspector and Sebastian can see. “Cooperation is everything in these matters.”

“The tales of your wisdom have not been underestimated.” He hums, turning to the screen and leaning forward so he can watch.

This is the fourth time you've watched this conversation, not to mention the fact that you lived through it the first time, and while the Inspector Jefe listens to Lucas spit his vitriol, you sip your tea in silence. Every time you listen to him it makes you angry all over again. But you can't afford to show any kind of anger in front of the inspector.

There will be several notes that come from this video, and he frowns as he looks back up at you. “This is very disturbing.” He admits. “The count did not know that he was being recorded, yes?”

"That is correct." It's a relief to hear that the investigation will be taking your conversation into account, but you try not to show it too much. "But I did not make any effort to hide the fact from him. All areas of the palace that are in use by staff and the royal family are protected by surveillance."

“It almost seemed as if the count wished for you to accuse him of something nefarious or to reveal it himself.” Jefe looks around the room, and nods. “Please do not try to be alone with him, Princess, but let him talk if he comes back.” He tells you, standing up. “I will have to review this many more times, but I will be taking a closer look at the Count in my investigation.”

"If you need to speak with me again, please do not hesitate to contact my assistant. And if I have any other information to pass along to you, may I request for you to come in the same way you did today?" You stand along with him, showing the Inspector Jefe the respect that his position is due. "I have already made arrangements to ensure I will not be alone with the Count again. At the king's insistence."

“Absolutely.” He had been brought in through the tunnels under the palace to prevent speculation, and he understands that. “Whatever you wish, your highness.” He bows politely and thinks that you are also as gracious as you are beautiful.

"Have a good day, Inspector Jefe." That might be a fruitless wish, considering the task on his shoulders, but if anything? That is something you can absolutely relate to.

He nods again and quickly walks out of the room to leave you and Sebastian by yourselves.

Once the door shuts, you sit back in your chair and pinch the bridge of your nose between two fingers and sigh. “That went better than I expected.”

“I don’t think the inspector wasn’t too surprised by your claims.” Sebastian admits, curious as to the man’s true feelings about the count. Not that he seems the type to ever say. He seemed to play his cards close to the vest.

“I think he was surprised that Lucas would admit to being so vile, but maybe that’s just me being too American and imagining all these nobles constantly play nice with each other. I can’t tell.” Now that the meeting is over, you refill your teacup and pick up a biscuit gladly. “Well, darling brother. We have an hour to kill before wedding planning overtakes my day.”

“What would you like to do?” He asks, aware that he had blocked out much more time than necessary for the meeting with the inspector.

“Javi and I talked about taking a little driving tour of the islands sometime soon. Do you think that’s something you could coordinate with royal security?” You’re not asking him to do it right now, god knows, but you do rummage in your desk with a mischievous grin on your face while you ask.

“Are we talking about an actual tour?” He asks with a laugh. “Or cordoning off lover’s lane so you can make out with the king like you’re teenagers?” He’s amused by the idea but also happy that you are so happy with your future husband.

“Say what you want, but my fiancé is ridiculously sexy.” And frankly, you’re exceptionally happy about that fact. Not just because you’re glad to be attracted to your partner, but because producing an heir is such a big part of what’s expected of you. It will not be a hardship to fulfill that duty.

He snorts and shoots you a grin. “Most of the world agrees with you.” He admits. “Which is why I’m so confused as to why his cousin is so harsh on him.”

“It’s jealousy, don’t you think?” At least, that’s what you’ve always thought. Javi was graced with looks, and charm, and privilege as well as so many other attributes — and Lucas simply couldn’t stand that his cousin was more beloved. “Lucas doesn’t see that cunning is not the only worthwhile intelligence in the world. That’s the other thing.” A moment later, you extract a travel Scrabble set from your desk drawer with a squeak of triumph. “Spanish Scrabble for an hour?” You suggest, shaking it at him enticingly. “Build that vocabulary like I know you want to?”

Sebastian rolls his eyes but grins. “I don’t know why you claim my Spanish isn’t up to par.” He teases, nodding and sitting down beside you. “I’ll still kick your ass at scrabble, Princess or not.”

______

Master Tags: @pixiedurango @chattychell @winter-fox-queen @lady-himbo @artsymaddie @princess76179 @paintballkid711 @missminkylove @pedrosbrat @ew-erin @sarahjkl82-blog @sharkbait77 @justanotherblonde23 @lv7867 @recklesswit @mylittlesenaar @f0rever15elf @gallowsjoker @steeevienicks @athalien @sherala007 @skvatnavle @thatpinkshirt @jaime1110 @girlimjusttryingtoreadfanfics @goodgriefitsawildworld @greeneyedblondie44 @littlemousedroid @harriedandharassed @churchill356 @ajathegreats-blog @haylzcyon   @beardsanddetectives @kirsteng42 @ladykatakuri @adancedivasmom @madiebear @tanzthompson @emilianamason @bigsdinger @xocalliexo @pedr0swh0r3 @avaleineandafryingpan @charlyrmv @avidreader73 @iceclaw101 @loveslide @elegantduckturtle @becsworld @julesonrecord @its-nebuleuse @itsrubberbisquit @mikeyswifie @guelyury @lizzie-cakes @for-a-longlongtime @vabeachazn @purplerain04 @weho2kcmo @madnessofadaydreamer

TKQ: @storiesofthefandomlovers @mimimarvelingmarvel @patti7dc @missladym1981

My Masterlist!

#Pedro Pascal #Pedro Pascal character fanfiction #Pedro Pascal fanfic #Javi Gutierrez #Javi Gutierrez x reader #Javi Gutierrez x you #Javi Gutierrez x female reader #Javi Gutierrez x f!reader #Javi G #The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent #TUWOMT #royalty au #arranged marriage

[still-not-over-transformers]

“Strictly Professional”

(Knockout x Reader-insert)

Takes place after the events of Season 1 Episode 11: Speed Metal. An event that left Knockout without his driver-side door.

“Do you know how difficult that is to replace!?”

(Y/N) were bored. Painfully bored. Looking outside a mahogany-lined window pane, you had a stunning unobscured view of the sunset. The rolling hills were a lush green, and the sunset painted the sky gradient hues of gold, crimson, and lavender bordered by a tree-line comprised of spruce, pine, and cedar. It was a gorgeous view you had seen again, and again, and…. Again. (Y/N) sighed. Growing up in a stunning villa in upper New York state had its perks, but despite being able to do whatever you wanted you never seemed entertained. You see, money can buy a lot of things: houses, luxury cars, private jets, trips around the world, etc. But it could never seem to stop the ever-constant boredom you often experienced as nothing was ever unexpected. As if something else was missing.

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

*BUZZ*

You looked at your phone to see a reminder you had set for the Exotic Car Show you were attending that evening. You were mostly ready as it was, just touching up your makeup a bit. Then you grabbed your phone and clutch purse before making your way down the spiral staircase to the front doors. You had chosen to dawn an elegant but edgy silver dress with an asymmetrical hem and a single sleeve on the right arm. Your footwear of choice were classic black heels, but with a reasonable pump-height so you didn’t break your ankles. The doors were held open by your family butlers, as you made your way to the curb of the driveway at the front of your family villa.

Your family’s wealth came from a combination of significant shares in various luxury-brand car manufacturers; your father being on the board of directors for Mercedes, and your mother the Logistics Manager also for Mercedes. Obviously the same workplace is how your parents met. Throughout your life, your parents had given you the world, albeit requiring you to maintain a job. So you work alongside your mother as her assistant. For the past month, your mother had been off who knows where in Europe on a business retreat. While you had been invited, you knew it would be nothing but hanging around other snooty rich business-types whom were always dull company. Also, why were rich guys always old and/or ugly?

Your chauffeur was waiting with the car door open. You entered the vehicle and soon you were off to the car expo. On the drive, you had been reading up on the potential reveals and demos that might be at the event. You were primarily excited about the exotic vehicle demos, as you had an appreciation of exotic cars. The horsepower, design, curvatures of the body frame, were nothing short of thrilling.

As your ride pulled up to the event, you exited the vehicle as your chauffeur assisted you. You acknowledged the chauffeur curtly, before entering the event space. There were a few minor celebrities taking photo ops; some wannabe playboys posing near their cars with groupies and models; and then the actual cars themselves scattered about a massive lot. Each vehicle had an attendant to provide information as well as prevent unwanted touching of the cars. You passed a silver Bugatti Chiron, a brand new Corvette Stingray, luxury Jaguar and Cadillac models… But something else caught your eye. A glint of red made you turn and approach a vehicle off to the side.

As you got closer you saw a stunning bright scarlet Aston Martin One-77 with white highlights. You couldn’t deny that this was a sexy-ass car. “Damn…” (Y/N) muttered. You approached the luxury vehicle and drank in its sleek form, the curvature of the design, the stunning richness of the paint job. As you walked around the car, you were jarred at the realization that the driver-side door was completely gone. “What the fuck happened to you?” (Y/N) exclaimed, “Who in their right mind wouldn’t have replaced that by now?” Come to think of it, it was odd that this one car in-particular lacked an attendant which all other cars had present.

With the missing door, the temptation to climb inside was intense. The one thing her family wasn’t big on spending money on were cars. Your parents thought that spending money on lavish vehicles was an unnecessary expense. Fucking ironic. Even if you couldn’t have it, you were going to briefly experience the thrill of having such a stunning vehicle. You climbed into the driver’s seat and drank in the elaborate console, the impeccably clean interior, it even smelled brand new. You gently ran your hands over the steering wheel, imagining what it would feel like to drive it. As you indulged yourself for a moment longer, suddenly you found that the seatbelt was latched around you. “What the fuck? …When did i…?” (Y/N) said in confusion.

Before you knew it, the car shifted into gear and peeled out from its spot. Multiple attendees of the event panicked and flung themselves out of the way. (Y/N) shrieked once before desperately pumping the brakes, but to no avail. When you tried to move the gear shift into neutral, you found that it didn’t budge at all. After a few minutes of sheer terror and panic, you were no longer at the exotic vehicle venue, but instead on the outskirts of the city in a maze of alleyways. As the vehicle finally came to a stop, you heard strange sounds akin to shifting parts and an electronic sound. Before you knew it you were aloft in the air. In the hand of a giant robot who was giving you a highly-offended glare. You were frozen. You struggled to comprehend the situation, wondering if you might have lost your mind.

“Humans have no sense of respect! It’s bad enough that I’m missing a part, but now you decide it’s a bright idea to climb into a vehicle you don’t know” the Decepticon exclaimed. It talked (Y/N) thought. Knockout looked down at the tiny human in his grasp, “I hope you enjoyed the brief joy ride, but I think now I’ll punish you for daring to touch me.” With his free servo, Knockout’s servo transforms into a buzzsaw. You begin to panic, squirming briefly in the grip of the large metal hand around your waist before pausing. “WAIT! WAIT A SECOND AND I CAN HELP YOU!” (Y/N) shouted. The Decepticon raised an optic ridge and paused, “Oh? And how could an insignificant human as yourself possibly help me?” You took a deep breath to compose yourself, clearing your throat before speaking further. “I can replace your missing door. I have resources.”

Knockout was clearly interested in where this was going, as he had been having a nightmare trying to replace that door. “Go on…” You continued, “My job is literally ordering supplies and parts for luxury and exotic cars, I’m pretty sure I can order a replacement for you. Aston Martin One-77 right?” Knockout thought to himself for a moment, wondering when he would have such an opportunity to make himself whole again. The Decepticon turned his helm back towards the helpless human within his grip, “Correct. I see you do know your vehicles, human. If you can indeed supply me with the replacement part I require, I will hold off on exterminating you.”

(Y/N) breathed a sigh of relief, “I can make the call right away, if I would be allowed to reach my phone? And t-trust me, I’m not stupid enough to try to run in these heels.” “So now you make wise decisions. Very well.” Knockout chided before slowly lowering (Y/N) to the ground and releasing you. You briefly adjusted your dress and hair before opening your phone and making a call. You didn’t attempt any funny business, and reached out to one of your business contacts at Aston Martin Works. After a brief amount of small talk, you ordered the part and arranged its delivery. As you ended the phone call, you returned your gaze to the massive robot before you. “Alright I had the part ordered for you. And With express shipping.”

Knockout looked down at you, surprised you hadn’t soiled yourself as most humans would have by now. “And how am I supposed to receive this part? For all I know, if I let you out of my sight you’ll disappear and I’ll be left high and dry” he mused. Finding your confidence you replied to him calmly, “The part will be shipped to my home address at 11am sharp tomorrow. To prove I’m good for it, you can drive me home so you’ll know where to knock if I’m lying.” The Decepticon scientist was taken aback by this human. Giving up her home address so willingly confounded him. Knockout could easily decimate her and her entire home, yet this human was so willing to cooperate despite her best interest. “…You are a very strange human. You do understand I will squash you if you’re lying?” He placed a servo on his hip sassily. You watched his mannerisms and couldn’t help but grin slightly, he was so sassy.

“You are a giant transforming robot with a buzzsaw hand, and I’m not an idiot. I’ll keep my word. Besides, you’ll know exactly where I am since you’ll be taking me home. And stop calling me ‘human’ my name is (Y/N)” you smirked. Knockout raised an optic ridge, albeit impressed with this strange human. “Very well… but touch anything and I will crush you” he said before transforming back into vehicle-form. You took a pause before climbing into the driver’s seat, being careful not to touch anything. As the engine starts, you had expected the same aggressive driving as your previous abduction. To your surprise, the drive was fast but smooth. You tried to avoid speaking as much as possible, not wanting to push your luck, so instead you thought. You thought about the events prior to your encounter and pinched yourself to make sure you weren’t dreaming. It could’ve been worse to be honest. You could’ve been kidnapped by an ugly white pedophile van. At least you were taken by a sexy Aston Martin.

After what felt like brief moments, your captor arrived at the gates of your family estate. You punched in the security code in the keypad and the gates opened. Knockout pulled up to the front doors and parked. As you tried to exit the vehicle, the seatbelt wouldn’t unlatch and you looked back. “Remember, I’ll be close-by until our deal is seen through” Knockout hummed. You paused, “You sure are untrusting for a robot. I don’t have a car of my own so no worries on me going anywhere.” With that, the seatbelt released and you were able to make it inside of your home. As you climbed the staircase towards your room, you couldn’t help but clutch her chest. You felt a surge of adrenaline and you knew it wasn’t fear. No, this felt more like butterflies… You went into your room and immediately climbed into your bed. As your eyelids felt heavy, your only thoughts were of the intoxicating voice replaying in your mind. Until you fell asleep….

You felt slightly groggy as you awoke the next morning. Slowly as you climbed out of bed you remembered the last night’s events. Just to be sure you hadn’t dreamt it, you rushed to your window to look at the driveway. Sure enough, you saw the red and white Aston Martin parked there. A brief double-honk was audible, and you realized the robot could see you from the window. Your phone buzzed and as you opened it, you saw a security notification from the gates. You approved access and a delivery vehicle made its way up the driveway and delivered the part you had ordered. You made your way outside and signed for the delivery and the delivery employees carefully loaded the part into the Knockout’s trunk. As soon as the delivery men had departed from the property, you approached the driver’s side door and leaned forwards, “Looks like I came through on my promise. Think that makes us square?”

Knockout hesitated briefly before replying, “We shall see. After all you are technically a loose end, knowing of my existence and all. We will see if you’re worth more alive than dead.” As you lingered a moment longer, you couldn’t help but ask a question that had been burning within, “Just in case you do decide to continue doing business with me, may I at least know your name?” Dead silence was the initial response and it lingered in the air for what felt like an eternity. “You may address me as Knockout.” With that, Knockout revved his engine and quickly drove down the driveway and onto the main road. As he gained more distance between himself and the villa, Knockout questioned what he was to do about this human. He could’ve just killed her and be done with it, after all he did have the part he had needed. But a part of him didn’t want to end this odd human. He brushed it off as a start to a strictly professional relationship, and a potential supplier if he needed any more replacement parts in the future.

A couple months later….

After your first encounter with Knockout, you felt reinvigorated. That fateful encounter provided you with more excitement and adrenaline than you had ever experienced. After you had provided Knockout with the spare part, you were certain you would never lay eyes upon that robot again. To your surprise, you would have many more encounters with him. Apparently there were other giant robots whom Knockout would get into battles with, and would result in him needing replacement parts. With each encounter, you found yourself enjoying his company more and more. Finding both yourself and him to be fellow automobile enthusiasts. Your conversations even included some witty banter and jokes here and there. More than anything else, you found that your heart fluttered every time you laid eyes on him. You weren’t quite sure why, but nonetheless you enjoyed being around Knockout.

It was a Thursday afternoon and you had met with Knockout at your villa to provide another spare part, as Knockout had lost a side-view mirror in a scuffle with what you knew as “Autobots.” You had wanted to attempt a more friendly relationship with Knockout, but never wanted to risk it. Today was the day you decided to be bold. After all, you had sent the staff home early. You approached Knockout at the curb of your driveway, “You know, there is an International Auto Show being held in New York tomorrow night that will consist of the most expensive and luxurious vehicles from across the planet. I’ve got a ticket, but I’m afraid I’m short on a stunning ride to show up with.”

Knockout transformed from his vehicle mode and towered over you. He raised his optic ridge, wondering what on earth she was getting at, “You do understand I’m a highly advanced cybernetic being, not a taxi service? Besides, our relationship is strictly… professional and exists because I’ve chosen not to squash you. Yet.” You nod your head as you watch his body language. “Mhm. Mhm. All true, except for the fact I don’t think you’d want to squash me. I think you’ve gotten fond of our “professional” relationship,” she uses air quotes and smirks. “That and I don’t think a vehicle enthusiast such as yourself would want to miss out on an exclusive reveal of new models before the rest of the planet. A shame you’ll squash me and never experience it,” she says with an open smirk.

Knockout turns towards (Y/N) and gives her a look, a servo on his hip in his sassy mannerism, “Now now, I didn’t say no. Honestly it would be embarrassing if you showed up in anything less stylish than yours truly.” You could feel your heart skip a beat as you tried to reply in a nonchalant manner, “So you’re saying yes? I guess it’s a date then. The event starts at 7, so we should get an early start since it’s an hour drive.”

Knockout chuckles briefly before replying, “I’ll be here at 7. Always best to be fashionably late.” He smirks before transforming, the shine from his polished chassis gleaming in the light of the setting sun. He dramatically peels out of the expansive and large driveway before leaving the property. As the Decepticon’s frame disappeared from view, (Y/N) sighed softly to herself, “Always so dramatic…”

As Knockout began his drive back to the pickup coordinated for the Nemesis, he couldn’t help but have his gaze linger at the quickly disappearing villa in his rear view mirror. Perhaps the relationship between him and this human was a bit more than… strictly professional.

⭐️

⭐️

⭐️

If you enjoyed this please give it a like. If you want a continuation, lemme know! ❤️

#transformersprime #transformers one shots #transformers #transformers prime #TFP #tfp knockout #knockout #transformers oneshot #transformers fanfiction #x reader #reader insert #transformersreaderinsert #transformers knockout #oneshot #knockout x reader

[i-know-you-wanna-kiss-me]

hi angel!! could you possibly do a ballerina off duty style guide/look book? i’ve really been into that aesthetic lately.

of course!!

ballerina off-duty style guide

wrap tops

starting off simple, we have classis wrap tops. i love wearing mine around the house when i'm not practising

how to style:

leggings and legwarmers for a laid back, at home look. mini skirts and uggs for going out

wrap skirts

style with tank top and uggs

uggs

perfect coquette staple. i have quite a few pairs and i love them so much ♡♡

pleated skirts

goes perfectly with the aforementioned wrap tops.

ballet flats

similarly to uggs, i also wear these all the time

athleisure

some cute workout fits

more outfits

style tips

uggs

small bags

bodysuits

legwarmers

bows and ribbons in hair

yoga pants

tennis shoes

mini skirts

random tip: if you're wearing a wrap skirts, have a body suit or shorts underneath it. also, make sure that it's not a windy day, i've made that mistake before after practice

where to shop

motel rocks

frankies bikinis

asos

favourite child

brandy melville

actual ballet/dance shops

repetto

ugg

hollister

hope you like it @bamb1baby444 ♡♡ i really enjoyed making it!!

currently working on natasha romanoff, layla from buffalo 66 and luna lovegood

as always, if you want a style guide, just send it into the ask box or the comments of any of my other style posts and i'll get to it ♡

#feminine beauty #dollette #styleinspo #coquette #just girly things #this is a girlblog #divine feminine #girlblogging #just girly posts #coquette community #model off duty #style guide #fashion guide #fashion blog #girly blog #it girl #girly girl #hyperfemininity

[binint]

Dance with you Tonight (Ace Trappola x GN! Reader)

"You're a charmer that's for sure, but I can't stand anymore. Shame I would've danced with you tonight..."

Word Count: 2.5k

Not proofread

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

It was finally the day of the prom and everyone was excited, well besides you. Like always, Crowley had piled all of the work onto you and the other responsible students of the school were too busy to help you out so the past couple of weeks have been planning for one, if not the biggest nights of the year.

This event was a bit strange though, with everyone on the island being invited and not just a school-only event. Even more on your plate! How fun for you. During the actual night, you were able to get some students to help you out with check in, food, etc...things that you didn't want to worry about.

Thankfully you had gone out and set up the whole night perfectly with just an hour to get ready before it actually started. The theme of "underneath the stars" might not have been the most original idea, being outside and all, but hey, it was a one student team.

"Do I have to go?" Grim muttered while you were searching for your outfit.

"Yes," you glanced at him before adjusting your hair and accessories. "There is no way that I have been working my ass off for the past few weeks for you not to come and admire the masterpiece that will be tonight."

"Okay fine, but just for the food!" He drooled a bit imagining the platter of tuna he knew you ordered just for him. "I get admiring your work but don't you need a date or something?"

"Well yeah, but I got to make sure that this night goes perfectly and that no problems arise. I might go crazier if I find out that something went wrong."

You finished getting ready and got a brush to start taming whatever was going on with Grim. Sitting on your bed, he crawled over and surprising was pretty calm about it, probably doing so out of pity at your current state.

A little ding went off from your phone, glancing over it and looking at the picture that your friends had sent you with their dates. Ace and Deuce were doing the iconic "prom-train" poses with their dates. Jack and Epel were trying to ruin the picture by making funny faces and Sebek was the one who took the picture.

There was a little heart pang felt when you looked at Ace and his date. They looked cute together! Can't blame him though, you were the one who encouraged him to ask someone out.

Ace: cute aren't we :3

Y/N: Very. How is everyone so far?

Deuce: pretty good! Jack and Epel are taking their pictures now so we are almost done.

Sebek: WE HOPE TO CATCH YOU THERE HUMAN!!! :D

Y/N: Mhm. See ya in a few! :) <3

You sighed and put your phone down finishing your business with Grim. Once done, you gently put him down and looked in the mirror inspecting your appearance. To be completely honest, you were feeling yourself, twirling around and gushing internally about how good you looked. Grim yelled out from downstairs and told you that it was time to go. How Responsible of him <3

The ghosts came out, scaring you a bit but they were quick to apologize and compliment you.

"You look amazing!"

"Oh they grow up so fast don't they!"

"Oh c'here real quick we have to take a photo before you go!"

You playfully rolled your eyes and posed for a picture. They quickly took photos of you and Grim and a few selfies before sending you out. Your pace had started to quicken, almost forgetting the walk from Ramshackle to the venue you had picked. It was truly beautiful, a nice area away from the main city of the island but not too far out from the school. The main venue was nice and roomy, with an elegant dance floor and lighting. Outside was nice and cool with many photo-ops and food lined up yards beyond yards.

Before you even knew it, you had arrived, and just on time. People had just started to come in and you walked up to the entrance, Azul and the Leech twins greeting you.

"Why hello perfect, you look quite stunning," Azul greeted and you smiled back reciprocating the compliment.

"You too look quite attractive yourself Ashengrotto-"

"What about me Shimpy!!!" Floyd had begun whining before clinging onto you.

You had smiled and hugged him. "You're very handsome Floyd, you too Jade!"

"Get off the perfect Floyd, I'm sure that they have a lot to attend to," Jade had explained.

You let go of Floyd and quietly thanked Jade before going in, looking for wherever Grim had snuck off to. Once you spotted him gnawing on the tuna you had placed, you grinned and went to walk around a bit more.

Thunk!

"Oh my gosh I am so sorry!!" You exclaimed looking up at a familiar green haired 1st year. "Sebek! You guys are here already?"

"Hello Human!! It is quite alright do not worry about bumping into me!! I actually just came here alone! I did not want to leave you alone here since I knew that the others would take quite some time to take photos!" He exclaimed. You couldn't help but smile at the nickname "human" that he had given you. Yeah it seemed a bit degrading in the beginning, but the more you hung out with him, the more it became a name of endearment.

"You are quite the gentleman! Could you help me move those boxes over there?"

Without a word he had put the boxes just where you had wanted them. If he were here while you were planning the prom, life would've been so much easier.

"Right here?"

"Yes, thank you Seb."

More people had started to come in and you could hear the music from the ballroom playing and how wonderful it was to hear. Sebek had noticed you humming and took your hand while walking over to the ballroom.

"Human! Will you have this dance with me?" Sebek smiled in a sort of dorkish way and you had grinned back.

"Of course Seb."

You had put you hands around his neck and he put his hands around your waist and together you two followed the rhythm of the music and danced harmoniously. It was nice. After the stress that you've been through the past few weeks, it was nice to relax and dance. Other couples had started to dance as well giving you a signal that the night was starting off well.

What more could you ask for right now? Here you were with your best friend without a care in the world-

"Y/N!!" You heard your name and whipped your head around to look at Azul.

You quickly apologized for the interruption but Sebek quickly brushed off and pushed you away, understanding you still had work to do for the night. A familiar group had started to come in and a certain red-head had been staring at you and Sebek for a bit while you two were dancing. Azul had grabbed your arm and quickly dragged you outside.

"Where do you have the extra wristbands? The line outside is getting longer and there isn't anymore at the front table."

"Oh geez, um, I think they're over here-" Despite trying to act calm, you were starting to panic but its okay! Is what you told yourself. You began to walk over the the storage closet, hoping there had been extras. You quickly looked through the room and grabbed a small boxed filled with the wrist bands. Sighing in relief you quickly retrieve them and hand them to Azul. He responds with a quick thank you before running out to give them out.

Your knees had almost begun to give out and the night had barely even started. Maybe you just needed something to eat. Walking out of the closet, you stepped outside with the hair and all the food, looking delicious as ever. You took a deep breathe before continuing to walk before a few of the hanging lights had gone out. Perfect.

You grumbled before going to the closet and grabbing a box of the extra light bulbs you had and started to replace the few dead ones.

"How's it going Y/N?"

You finished screwing in the last bulb before looking down at Ace, Deuce and his date.

"It's going great!" You were trying to keep your cool, if not in public you probably would've ended up balling your eyes out.

"Need any help there-?" Ace had asked, before you had started to walk away, making sure there were no other bulbs needed to be replaced. It sounded so backhanded, like Ace couldn't believe that like somehow you wouldn't be able to handle everything yourself.

Maybe you were just being dramatic and overwhelmed but either way, you would continue to brush him off throughout the night. Everytime he would try and spark some kind of conversation, you were dealing with something or were being called to deal with something. You were always saying,

"Enjoy the night!"

"I got this! Don't worry!"

"Go out and dance with your date!"

Totally ignoring the lack of a date that Ace appeared to have.

The night went more smooth than you had expected and next thing you knew it was almost the end of the night and time for you announce prom royalty. As you stepped up onto the stage, you looked out to the audience and noticed that everyone was together except for Ace. You two had locked eyes but he quickly broke it, stuffing his hands in his pockets and walking out.

You frowned. Why was he alone? Where was his date? Is he okay-?

Forgetting you were on stage, you quickly announced royalty, gave them their crown and walked down, heading out to find your best friend.

Prom night was almost over, and people were starting to leave. You were hoping that Ace hadn't left yet. As more people started to leave, it became harderto move around to try and find him. You ended up just standing there near the entrance greeting everyone a safe walk home. Many compliments were given to you during this moment about your job and your appearance.

Once the majority of the student body had left, you continued to walk around going outside if you could try and spot your red-headed friend. You approached a slumped figure, on the grass and leaning against the large tree overseeing the venue.

"Hey there stranger. You look quite handsome."

Smiling, you sat next to him admiring his suit. It was a deep red with black accents around the hems. Through the starlight and faint lighting from the venue, you could spot a faint blush on his cheeks.

"Hello to ya too stranger. Do you come here often?"

You hummed "Hm, no but I couldn't pass the chance to talk to someone so handsome."

He began to laugh and threw his head back. "The feeling is mutual," he grabbed your hand and kissed it lightly.

"You are a charmer that's for sure."

The night was quiet and relaxing, and with everyone now gone it really did feel like you two were the only people in the whole world. Not a care in the world anymore.

"You okay there? I saw you walk out," you questioned, "Didn't look too happy."

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be fine? Tonight has been amazing all thanks to you."

"What about your date? What happened?"

There was a pause. The environment filled with silence like if one of you spoke, something terrible would happen. It was tense and despite being outside, you felt like you were suffocating. It wasn't until Ace spoke until you could breathe again.

"It's stupid. If I say it out loud you're gonna make fun of me I know that for sure."

"Oh please, you've seen me at my worst there is so judgment here."

You looked at him and held his hands, the moonlight lighting both of your faces. And you were sincere, there would be no judgement for whatever he did. If he did something dumb to offend them, yes you would be a little ticked off but overall, no judgement.

"I lied. They weren't really a date. It was just one of Epels' friends that wanted to come. I wanted to ask someone out but they were just so busy, I couldn't find the time to talk to them."

You were a little shocked. He had wanted to ask someone out and hadn't told you? That bothered you a little since you two were best friends but then again, you had been busy planning the prom.

"Hello? Who did you want to ask? I could've totally help you out!"

"No, it's okay, I'm sure they don't even think of me that way. Honestly, I try and flirt with them but they just think I'm being friendly. But when Sebek does it-"

"Bek?"

"Yes!" He had suddenly raised his voice and you flinched a bit, not expecting such a tone coming from him. Ace stared at you before getting up towering above you.

"I tried to find the time to ask you. But you were always so busy and never had the time to even really say hi. A-And even today! When I kept trying to find a way to talk to you or get you to dance with me, it was like you were avoiding me. You had the time to talk to Zigvolt and dance with him so why not me! What's the difference between us? What makes him so much more worthy of your attention-"

flick!

You had flicked him hard in the forehead almost bursting out into tears.

"Y/N! What the hell was that for!" He had started rubbing the spot where you had flicked him.

"Y'know, you really are an idiot, but I won't hold it against you."

Ace had stared at you confused before you had took his hand and walked inside the venue. You had ended up leading him to the middle of the ballroom and quickly dimmed the lights and turned on a song going back to him. You had bowed and held you hand out to him.

"May I have this dance?"

Starting to take the lead, you had interlocked your hands together and started to dance.

"I'm sorry if I've been busy, but I would've made time for you if I had known you were going to ask me out."

You sent him a grin laughing at his confused expression

"What?" He tilted his head looking as if he were in his own world.

"I like you too dumbass."

"Oh okay. Thanks."

"Thanks?"

Ace had groaned and tried to hide his face, nervously laughing.

"So you don't like Sebek?"

"Love him as a little brother like figure but I can't see him as a romantic partner."

"Hm..."

Ace had lightly kissed the top of your head and you two continued to dance. The soft jazz was filling up the room with light blues and purples, and you had never felt more in place than you did now. Here you were dancing with your long time crush, alone, without a care in the world. Few other words were spoken throughout the night because what else was needed besides two awkward teens in love dancing while the night was young.

(fin).

masterlist

#ace trappola #ace trapolla x reader #ace trapolla x yuu #twst #twst x reader #twst x y/n #twst x yuu

[percervall]

I'll be your hideaway

Pairing: Kostas Tsimikas x fem!reader Words: 2324 Warnings: Mentions of teammates leaving and the dreadful 22/23 season, talk of insecurities and worries, smut, porn w/feelings, public sex, outdoor sex, oral (f receiving), p in v, unprotected sex, cockwarming, Google translated Greek

In which Kostas takes you on holiday to get away from the abysmal 22/23 season

---

It always takes him a few days to shake off the last dregs of a harrowing season. You don’t mind, the country he has whisked you away to is beautiful and after a gruelling six months at work, you are more than happy to let your boyfriend sort through his thoughts and emotions while you finally catch up on some reading. He spends most mornings in the gym on the resort and has met up with a few of the other Liverpool boys who are staying at the same place for some tennis. And while you’re meant to be on holiday together, you are so grateful for his friends to help him work through the tangles of grief and frustration, because slowly but surely you see the Kostas you fell in love with reemerge; you can tell by the change in his body language and the reappearance of that glimmer in his eye that your Kos, your sunshine boy, is slowly coming back to you. 

Kicking off your shoes, you walk outside as Kostas heads into the lounge to phone his family. The sun has already started setting and for a moment you feel like you’re the only person on the planet as you stare out over the Indian ocean. The water calmly laps against the pillars holding up the villa. You had planned to finish your book while Kostas was on the phone, but you can’t tear your eyes away from the way the sky is now tinged with different shades of pinks and purples. A stillness washes over you as you make yourself comfortable on the large daybed on the deck and watch the sunset. Right now, in this moment, life feels so good that it almost makes you choke up. Pulling your knees up, you rest your chin on them and take a deep breath, exhaling the last bits of stress about your shared future. 

This is how Kostas finds you when he joins you after his phone call. The feeling of his lips against the nape of your neck breaks you from the trance the view had put you under.

“You were miles away, agápi mou,” he murmurs against your hair as he settles behind you. You can’t help but smile at the term of endearment and lean back against him. 

“Was just thinking..” you say, lacing your fingers with his as they rest on your stomach. Kostas lifts your entwined hands and kisses the back of yours.

“About what?” 

You’re quiet for a moment, trying to sort through all the emotions filling your chest.

“About us. The future. How lucky we are to witness this,” you murmur, turning your face to look at him, “About how much I love you, how happy it makes me to see you smile again.” 

Kostas’ eyes search your face and for the faintest of moments you see a flicker of sadness in those stunning brown eyes that always tell you exactly how he’s feeling even if he might not have the words to tell you himself. Before Kostas can apologise, you kiss him.

“No need, my love. For better or worse, you have me –all of me.” 

“I know, but still… I shouldn’t take your support or your love for granted. I’ve been so in my head lately that I never stopped to think about how you must feel,” Kostas says, smiling wistfully as he brushes back a strand of your hair. You lean into his touch, kissing his wrist as he rests his hand against your cheek.

“I feel that this season has been brutal. I feel that you have every right to be upset about your teammates leaving. I feel that you will come to me when you’re ready to talk things through. I feel worried for you and your future, this limbo of uncertainty that always comes up at the end of a season is-... It’s hard seeing someone you love so much doubt their worth to a team and a city that loves them so unconditionally in return.” 

The words just tumble out, but perhaps it’s this honesty –this open dialogue– that the both of you need. Kostas is quiet for a moment as he mulls over what you said. He pulls you back against his chest as he lays down on the daybed, absentmindedly rubbing circles over your shoulder as he stares out over the ocean. 

“I know that I am loved by the city, and sometimes it worries me whether it’ll be enough… I knew when I signed I would never be first choice. And I just wonder if I will know, y’know? Like James, Bobby; will I know it’s time to move on or will my love for the city cloud that?” Kostas breaks the silence. You move to sit up slightly so you can look at him properly.

“I know you, my love, you will know. And I will be there every step of the way to help you make that call when the time comes.” Kostas smiles up at you, and you see flashes of the younger man you fell in love with appear in the way his eyes twinkle with adoration and an almost renewed zest for life. He pulls you on top of him, kissing you deeply.

“What did I ever do in all my past lives to deserve you?” he murmurs, more to himself really, but you can’t help but feel butterflies in your stomach and a lump in your throat.

“I wonder the same thing,” you reply and kiss him again while tears threaten to spill. You can’t even put into words really how incandescently happy he makes you, how full your heart is with love for him. 

“S'agapó,” he whispers as he rolls you onto your back. Your hands slide up his arms, to his broad shoulders. 

“I love you, too,” you whisper back, pulling his face down to yours and kissing him once more. Kostas hums into the kiss, you can feel him smile against your lips before his tongue seeks entrance. More than happy to oblige, you part your lips to allow him to explore your mouth, tasting the cocktails he’s had with dinner on his tongue. Kostas’ hand wanders up the flowy skirt of your dress, caressing the outside of your thigh. The kiss changes from slow and loving to urgent. A heat climbs up your spine as you feel him harden against your hip. 

“Wanna show you just how much, sweetheart,” he murmurs. Kostas sits back on his haunches and pulls at the bow at your waist. The fabric gives way easily to his eager hands and hungry eyes, leaving you in a mismatched set of cotton panties and a bralette. Had you been anywhere else, you would have been worried about people seeing you like this, but the deck of the villa is shielded from any prying eyes. It feels liberating, in a sense. 

You’re quick to pull the bralette over your head, dropping it next to you on the floor. Kostas slowly pulls your panties down, taking his time to kiss the skin of your hips and thighs, his lips following the path of his hands until you’re completely naked. He looks up at you from where he’s lying between your thighs, his gaze half rapture, half reverence, and it leaves you feeling so unbelievably adored, it has you choking up. Kostas presses a tender kiss to where you’re aching for him with need, his hands holding your thighs open for him. His tongue licks a stripe up your pussy before he flicks it over your clit, drawing a low moan from you. Kostas looks up at you, eyes dark and the look of equal parts love and lust in them leaves you breathless. He draws slow circles around your clit, enough to build you up but not enough to send you flying –not yet at least. 

“Kostas…” you sigh, back arching as you shamelessly grind against his face. He hums against your cunt, sucking that bundle of nerves into his mouth. The sensation has your body vibrating with want. Your eyes flutter closed, lips parted, as you melt into his touch. The last coherent thoughts seem to evaporate as you give in to the feeling of Kostas’ mouth on you. An ocean breeze caresses your skin, causing your nipples to harden. Quiet moans and sighs leave your open mouth as your fingers try desperately to hold onto something while Kostas plays you like a goddamn fiddle. He reaches a hand up, intertwining his fingers with yours. 

“Yes… Kos…” you all but whisper. A slow heat is dancing its way up your body, starting in the pit of your stomach and you feel like you might combust –with need, with love, with emotion; it’s all a mess, a delicious mess, swirling around in your body as Kostas flicks just the tip of his tongue over that already swollen bud in such a way that it has you crying out as your orgasm wrecks through you, leaving your body trembling with the aftershocks. 

Kostas takes his time, kissing his way up your body, as you come down from your high. Your body has melted into the cushions of the daybed, eyes half-lidded, and you swallow hard. Kostas smiles this boyish grin that sends your heart into a frenzy as you take in your slick smeared across his lips and chin. He pulls off his shirt before leaning down to kiss you. Tasting yourself on his tongue makes you moan, your fingers idly tracing the tattoo on the nape of his neck. Kostas rolls the both of you onto your side and makes quick work of his shorts and underwear. He slides a hand, palm up, between your legs and wraps it around the back of your thigh to pull you closer to him. You can’t help the giggle that bubbles up as he does so. Kostas grins back at you, wrapping your leg around his hip. You can feel his cock twitch where it is trapped between your bodies and it has you clenching around nothing. The breeze hits your skin and you can feel just how wet you are for him; it has you rolling your hips against him in anticipation and desperation. Kostas brushes his lips against yours, kissing you so tenderly as he guides his cock to where you need him most. He enters you so slowly, so agonisingly slow. The stretch has you panting, eyes closed as you almost lose yourself in the feeling of him. 

“So good.. Always so good..” he murmurs, forehead pressed against yours as he stills his movements. The weight of him inside of you is a familiar one, offering a closeness you’ve craved. During the season the two of you had to make do with stolen moments, but right now Kostas takes all the time in the world. 

His hand follows the planes of your body, reacquainting himself with every curve and birthmark across your skin. You can’t help but gently rock your hips against him, needing something to alleviate the ache between your legs. Kostas groans, fingers digging into your hip. 

“Need you.. Need you to move.. Kos..” you whisper. You feel him smile against your skin as he lavishes your neck with kisses. He slowly begins to move, setting a languid pace that allows you to feel each drag of his cock against your walls. 

“Fuck…” he moans when when you squeeze around him. 

“More…” you all but whimper. Kostas holds you against his body as he rolls you onto your back, hiking up the leg already around his hip. The change in position allows him to enter you even deeper, and your eyes flutter closed at the feeling. You wrap your arms around him, gasping and moaning as Kostas fucks into you with a tenderness that has you tearing up. He supports his weight with one hand, resting the other against your cheek.

“Look at me,” he whispers. You lick your lips, opening your eyes and trying to focus on his face but the pleasure you feel coiling low in your stomach makes it harder to do so. You let out a noise that’s part whimper, part moan as that coil keeps tightening.

“Kos-..”

“I know sweetheart, fuck.. Me too. I need you to cum for me,” he murmurs. You gasp at his request; it has you shuddering underneath him, coming undone in the most glorious of ways. Throwing your head back, your spine arches and your lips part with a silent scream as your orgasm hits you with such force, it knocks the air from your lungs. Kostas’ thrusts begin to falter and he stills inside of you, burying his face in your shoulder as he follows you over the edge. 

Every muscle in your body has turned to jelly and you sigh contently. Kostas chuckles and gently rolls the two of you back onto your side. You can feel him soften inside of you but neither of you want to leave this bubble just yet. Kostas brushes your hair back, kissing your forehead, your cheekbones, the tip of your nose, before settling on your lips. 

“I love you so much, Kos,” you mumble, snuggling into him and tucking your head against his chest.

“I love you more,” he whispers back, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. You know you should probably get up, but you’re so sleepy and your Kostas is so warm. He keeps murmuring sweet nothings against your hair and you let yourself be lulled to sleep by it. In an hour or so, when you wake up, he will carry you inside and get you all cleaned up before cuddling you all night. And in the morning he will remind you just how much he loves and cherishes you. Whatever the future may hold, of this you are certain: you will face it together.

This was meant to be a flirty, sexy fic about Kostas reacquainting himself with his girl while on holiday, but apparently my brain decided to go down the heartbreak route. Why do I do this to myself?

A big thank you to @kostasstsimikass & @emilielfc for always feeding the fic brain rot and listening to me talk things through on discord, and @footballffbarbiex for being my beta reader. This fic wouldn't have seen the light of day without you three. @moneyymaseyy hope it lives up to the hype!

Please let me know what you think! Your comments mean the world to me

#football fanfic #football oneshot #kostas tsimikas fanfic #kostas tsimikas oneshot #kostas tsimikas x reader #kostas tsimikas x you #kostas tsimikas smut

[withlove-amber]

Photoshoots

alden parker x reader

(Y/F/F) = (Your favorite flavor)

Hope I spelled “güey” correctly tbh

“¡No mames güey!” (Y/N) said, cursing in Spanish when she saw the email on her personal computer. “What? What’s going on?” Torres said, slightly intrigued as to why (Y/N) swore in Spanish, rather than English. He looked over at her personal computer, and saw an invite from a wedding dress company, asking if (Y/N) would be interested in advertising their gowns. “They want me?” (Y/N) asked, skeptical if the email was actually from the company, or if she was just being punked. “Well, who wouldn’t want you?” Torres replied, trying to help her growing skepticism. “I’m going to take this to Kasie. See if it’s real.” (Y/N) said, speed walking to Kasie’s office. 

“Hey Kasie, do you have a second?” “Sure, (Y/N), what’s up?” Kasie replied, noting (Y/N)’s wide eyes. “I got this email this afternoon and I’m not sure if it’s real or not.” (Y/N) said, handing Kasie her laptop. “No way!” Kasie said when she saw who the email was from. “Sure, I can verify it. I just need a minute.” (Y/N) nodded in response. After the longest 60 seconds of (Y/N)’s life, Kasie smiled at (Y/N), and said, “It’s real, beautiful.” “But why me? How did they even find me? I’m not a model.” “You remember that show you were in, undercover? They were probably talent scouts there.” Kasie said after a minute of putting the pieces together. (Y/N) blushed at the thought of the undercover op she was a part of. “What are you going to tell them? Yes or no?” Kasie asked, seeing the shocked expression on (Y/N)’s face. (Y/N) thought it over for a minute, but in a moment of bravery said, “Tell ‘em yes.” 

In the weeks leading up to the photoshoot, pretty much the whole team knew, including Director Vance. (Y/N) had suspected Torres and Jessica were telling people, much to (Y/N)’s chagrin. When (Y/N) got back from Autopsy for an update, she noticed there was a small white box on her desk, and for a moment, she hoped it was from Parker. “I’m pretty sure it’s from Knight.” Parker piped up when he saw the confused look on (Y/N)’s face. (Y/N) sat down at her desk and opened the box. Inside was a (Y/F/F) cupcake with vanilla icing. As if on cue, Jessica popped up in front of (Y/N)’s desk and asked, “Can I visit you on set?” “Sure, Jessica, but you didn’t need to bring me a cupcake to ask. But thank you. ” (Y/N) replied, grateful for the sweet treat. “It’s an added bonus.” Jessica replied, heading back to her desk. 

(Y/N) had already invited Kasie and Jessica to the shoot, but what she didn’t know was that Jessica had invited the whole team. So when the team showed up to the set, and not just Kasie and Jessica, (Y/N) was slightly irritated. She was only irritated because she wanted to keep things as low-key as possible, not wanting to be the laughing stock of the group. And in case (Y/N) wasn’t blushing enough, Parker was there too. The man she’s had a crush on since he started as team lead, just saw her in a wedding dress. 

But what (Y/N) didn’t realize, because she was faced with her own embarrassment, was that Parker liked what he saw. A lot. When (Y/N) was talking to Jessica who immediately said, “You look stunning!” Kasie looked up and saw the look of absolute love in Parker’s eyes. Even though (Y/N) didn’t say anything, Kasie knew (Y/N) had a crush on Parker. It was the way her attention was always on him whenever he spoke, it was in the way she always “happened” to be near him, it was in the way she looked at him, with eyes full of love and admiration. 

It wasn’t until (Y/N) took a small break, did Kasie say anything. “So, (Y/N), having fun?” “Actually, yeah. I didn’t think I would ever say that, but it’s cool. I can’t wait to see the finished photos.” (Y/N) replied, smiling at the thought that her photo could be published. “You see Parker yet today? He’s wearing that suit you like.” Kasie asked, hoping to start a much-needed conversation. “Which one?” (Y/N) replied with a slight smirk. “Speaking of seeing him… did you see the way he looked at you earlier? When we all arrived?” Kasie said, hoping it was a good segue. “What do you mean Kasie? He looked at me the way he always looks at me. Like a friend.” (Y/N) heartbrokenly replied. “I’m not so sure about that, (Y/N). Dare I say, there was love in his eyes?” Kasie said, hoping her friend would get the hint. “If it was love, that would be beyond fine by me. But that’s a big if, Kase.” “Sure, (Y/N), whatever you say. But just to be sure, you should talk to him about it.” 

After the photoshoot was over, (Y/N) decided to take Kasie’s advice. Right before everyone left, she asked if her and Alden could talk. ‘Great way to start this conversation, (Y/N), give him a heart attack by asking to talk.’ (Y/N) thought, as she and Alden were walking away from the team. “So what’s up, (Y/N)?” Alden asked, gently putting his hand on her shoulder. She wasn’t sure on how to say it, so (Y/N) just said, “I love you, Alden. A lot. I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want to ruin what we have, but I’m in love with you. And it’s okay if you don’t feel the same, I just wanted to-” (Y/N) was cut off by the feeling of his lips crashing to hers, and she very enthusiastically returned the kiss, and the two stayed like that for the next minute. 

She always figured he was out of her league. (Y/N) never thought he would ever share her feelings. Both in each other’s warm embrace, one of his hands on her waist, the other hand caressing her jaw, she had one hand on his chest, and the other hand tangled in his silver hair. They only grew apart when the need for oxygen became too great to ignore. He had the look of pure infatuation with a dash of lust in his eyes. “Oh, (Y/N), I have been wanting to do that since the moment I started at NCIS.” Alden said, with a smile growing on his beautiful face. “Likewise, Alden.” (Y/N) responded, her voice much more sultry than normal. When they leaned in for another, they could hear Torres say “Finally! Took ya both long enough!” Their attention was diverted to Kasie who was snapping a picture of the two, still in each other’s embrace. “Give the camera another one!” shouted Kasie. So that’s what they did. And that picture quickly became (Y/N)’s and Alden’s favorite.

#ncis #alden parker x reader #alden parker #tim mcgee #jessica knight #nick torres #kasie hines

[dirtydragonthoughts]

Transformers Yuletide Literary Fest - Day 10

Welcome to the Transformers Yuletide Literary Fest! I’ll be recommending one or two fics every day until Christmas. Feel free to join in if you’d like (I’m using the tag #tylf2023 for this.) All fics are complete!

(If I can easily find a Tumblr account for the author I’ll tag them. If you know of an author who has a Tumblr account and I didn’t tag them, please let me know so I can add it! )

Fics in my recommendations will come in two different flavours: tangy and spicy. 😄 As always, curate your own online reading experience, and mind the tags if necessary for your own safety. ♥

Tangy

Title: Spec Ops Mission 98: Jazz's Interrogation at Soundwave's Pedes

Author: @kc-anathema

Rating: Teen (contains plug-n-play interfacing)

Wordcount: 195, 290

Summary: Surrounded by the torrid fiction of his fellow Autobots, Jazz uncovers a Decepticon plot hidden amidst their written fantasies. Can the Spec Ops commander turn this plot of high treason into a narrative…of love? OR Jazz is surrounded by a bunch of perverted writers, and wouldn't you know it, one of them is a Decepticon.

Why I love it: This story left me stunned... in a good way. I started reading it as a WIP because the premise sounded hilarious (hahaha, the bots and cons are writing RPF fanfic about each other, hahaha). But as the story went on, it turned into a LOT more. It became a story about love and trust, and forgiveness and boundaries, set against the backdrop of a brutal war. And then when it ended and we got the wrap-up of all the threads that we hadn't even known existed... Wow. This was an amazing story, and I will definitely read it again someday.

Spicy

Title: The Angel Breaker

Author: @altraviolet

Rating: Explicit

Wordcount: 62,452

Summary: Mysterious, deadly creatures descend on the population of Cybertron, spreading a disfiguring, brainwashing disease. The wealthy retreat underground while the rest try to survive a dangerous and disrupted aboveground society.

Years after suffering a great personal loss, Drift works for Flatline doing menial tasks. But when Flatline sends him to find someone who has done the impossible – survive an attack – Drift finds himself swept up in a continent-spanning plot. To save the Cybertron they love, Drift and his allies must find out what these creatures are, who made them, and if they can be stopped.

Why I love it: One thing that I've always loved about Altraviolet's work is the worldbuilding. (If you've been paying attention at all to my recommendations over the past 10 days, you'll know that I LOVE me some good worldbuilding. 😄) This story has a wonderful amount, specifically focused on geology and botany, and their relation to culture. BUT ALSO it has a gripping story that sits on top of all that worldbuilding, with a "rare trio" that I never would have thought of myself, but it really works well here. The author has an excellent way of making sure each character has their own voice, and motivations, and hopes and fears, and then wraps it all up in story that somehow wouldn't feel out of place in a Mythology of Cybertron collection.

#tylf2023

[asskickedbygirl]

Hii I just wanted to say I absolutely love your writing it’s so good and I was wondering if you could write something with Steve-o on how a new girl comes to the set of jackass and he starts ignoring you and always around her but when he sees you hanging out with someone else (maybe Ryan or Bam) he gets really jealous

The Workplace Flirt

[Steve-o x F!Reader]

Desc: combined two requests for this one! set during early 2000s so MTV steve-o

A/n: hope this ends the steve-o drought for you guys <3 also ik steph was never really new but i wasn’t bothered to make an oc so the loml will suffice. also i don’t really love writing steve-o so sorry if it’s a bit shit lmao i don’t think i really hit the last request that well…

Warnings: smut (18+), p in v, mentions of alcohol

2.2k words

⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒ ⭒

You and Steve-O had a... complicated relationship. By ‘relationship’ you meant being coworkers and by ‘complicated’ you mean him trying to get in your pants every minute. He was persistent, you’d give him that but eventually it would just get pretty irritating. His relentless flirting drove you up the walls and would only get worse when he was drinking which was pretty much all of the time.

“Hey pretty lady.” He’d slur, beer in one hand as his other arm slid sleazily around your shoulder.

“Leave me alone Steve, I’m trying to work.” 

“Now why are you the only one who calls me Steve?” He’d spit the last word out like it was some disgusting piece of food.

“Cause’ that’s your name.” 

He’d roll his eyes.

“You should loosen up a bit. Always got something up your ass.”

“That’s rich coming from the dude that constantly has something up his.” 

He laughed at that.

“See, you can be funny when you wanna be. You gotta get in front of the camera now.” 

You just shook your head, still attempting to shove his arm off of you.

“Not happening.”

“Well I know I’d definitely want you in front of a camera, doing other things.” 

“Alright that’s enough.” Finally he’d be shoved off of you.

“Sex stuff.” 

“Yeah I gathered that much Steve.”

You had to admit, having a little admirer on set did make things a little more interesting. Every day you’d come in curious as to what outlandish thing Steve-o would say to you to desperately try to pull you. It wasn’t that he was ugly or anything, in fact you actually found him pretty cute but rejecting his advances just felt like principle after doing it a million times. After all, you were only a camera op trying to do your job. 

However the routine you were used to was flipped on its head when you returned to set after a new addition was added to the cast. Stephanie Hodge was a model friend of Johnny’s whom he invited to join the show when it became too much of a sausage fest. She was super sweet and kind and you guys hit it off right away but one thing was, she was absolutely stunning so naturally caught the eye of practically every guy on set. Every guy including Steve-o...

 It’s not like you were jealous or resentful of her or anything like that but a little part of you seethed at the fact your usual work lover was no longer falling over his feet over you. You never thought you’d miss the idiot bugging you as you tried to set up your camera every morning, whispering stupid things in your ear and trying his damndest to take you out but alas, here you were grinding your teeth and tapping your foot looking over at the drunk talking animatedly at the new girl in town.

“You alright there?” 

You were snapped out of your daze by a familiar voice.

“Oh, uh yeah I’m just uh- setting up.” 

Ryan tried to hide his smirk but failed at doing so as you noticed the slight upturn of his lips.

“What?”

He shook his head, smiling.

“Oh nothing. So what d’ya think of Steph?”

“Oh she’s great! She’s gonna be really funny I already know it.” 

Ryan nodded, still smirking.

“What?!” You punched him in the arm, trying to squeeze out whatever he was obviously hiding from you.

“No, nothing! It’s just... you seem sort of jealous is all.” 

You paused for a moment before scoffing dramatically.

“Jealous?! Of- of who?!” 

Ryan shook his head again, grinning.

“Dunno, just seems like maybe you’re missing your little Steve-O following you around like a lost puppy.”

You rolled your eyes as over the top as you could.

“Miss?! God no, if anything it’s a relief not having him here. We’re gonna be like way ahead today cause’ I’ll actually be ready to shoot on time.” 

Ryan bit his lip, still grinning from ear to ear.

“Whatever you say.”

He walked off, leaving you to dwell in your thoughts of brewing jealousy. 

Once lunch arrived you ended up at the catering table at the same time as your ‘ex’ admirer. The whole morning he’d been laughing and chatting to Steph who actually seemed kind enough to give him the time of day. He barely looked up when you brushed elbows, focusing too heavily on piling two plates up with food.

“Hey.” You spoke, possibly the first time you’d ever initiated conversation with Steve, just out of curiosity you supposed. 

“Hey.” 

He didn’t even bother making eye contact when he responded, almost as if it was deliberate.

“Who’s the other plate for?” 

You weren’t really sure why you were asking, you already knew the answer.

“Steph.” is all he said before walking off in the opposite direction, leaving you slightly bewildered at this sudden swap of character. 

How had he managed to make you the one desperate for his attention? 

As the days passed your resentment only grew, the other guys beginning to notice how you would shoot daggers with your eyes at the two love birds from across set, not on purpose of course. You couldn’t help but feel almost neglected, change not being your favourite thing to deal with. Well, only change in some ways as the newest shift in your life was rather welcomed.

Since your loss of the buzzcut-having idiot, a new person had strolled in to fill in his shoes as the one to annoy you as you worked. Well, not necessarily annoy, you rather enjoyed having Ryan around to talk to you. He wasn’t trying quite as desperately to get in your pants, in fact his flirting was far more subtle. 

The more Ryan was around, the less you seemed to care about Steve-O and Steph. Every morning he’d head over to where you were setting up and start talking.

“Hey, I listened to that band you were telling me about the other day, they’re really great actually.” Ryan told you, handing over a cup of coffee he got.

“See I told you they’d be your thing! If they come to LA or Philly we should go.” 

As you chatted away you began to notice a pair of eyes trained on you, an angry glare glazed over them. Steve-O had his fists clenched tightly as well as his jaw, looking as pissed as ever. You tried to ignore him and continue your conversation but you still found yourself getting distracted as the man-child stormed off in a huff.

‘What the fuck is he so mad for?’ You thought. All this time he appeared to have completely moved on from you and now suddenly he was all bitter about you simply talking with Ryan?! That doesn't seem fucking fair! You had always passed Steve-O off as the one jackass who would consistently ‘harass’ you but now after these games were going on it dawned on you; was there something there? Underneath this simple little routine you had formerly developed, had there always been some real emotions? You swallowed that down like a large pill, uncomfortably stuck in your throat. Fuck.

Before you knew it, filming was over and Tremaine was hosting the wrap party at his house, inviting the entire cast and crew. You dressed up pretty nice for it, sporting a short skirt and low cut top, if it wasn’t to impress Ryan it may have been for... you know who. 

The night was pretty great, getting to be intoxicated with your co-workers is always a privilege and you and Ryan were pretty much stuck together for the whole night. You also took notice to Steve glued to Steph as per usual but even still after all this time it didn't seem like either of you had actually gotten anywhere with your new partners. In fact a lot of the conversations you were having seemed to be held while your eyes were drifting in search of the other.

“I really fucked up my back on that one, which was stupid cause’ it was already fucked up.”

You nodded along to Ryan’s story while sipping your vodka coke, Steve-O and Steph in the corner of your eye sitting on the other couch. You chewed at your straw absentmindedly, the jealousy simmering in your heart as he slung his arm around her. 

“Go talk to him.”

Your attention was taken away.

“What?”

Ryan shook his head, smirking.

“To Steve-O. This is what it’s been all about, just get it over with already before you don’t see him for another six months.”

You shook your head in disbelief.

“I don't-”

“Its fine, really, I get it.” He gave you a genuine smile before getting off the couch towards Bam and the others. You sat in silence for a moment before looking up towards Steve-O, his eyes already boring into you even with Stephanie chatting away. Fuck it. 

You pushed yourself off the couch and beelined straight towards the man who was already looking at you, a puzzled expression on his face. 

“Sorry Steph could I talk to Steve for a second?” 

You stood in front of the pair, the alcohol making everything a little less daunting.

“Yeah, of course.” 

You smiled politely back at Steph before beckoning her partner to follow you. 

“What do you want?” He tried asking you but you had no response, only booming through Jeff’s house searching for a vacant room. 

Eventually you found a guest bedroom and guided Steve inside, closing the door behind him.

“What is going-” He was cut off by your lips slamming onto his, hands clutching at his face as you did what sober you could never dream of. 

It took Steve-O a moment to register what the hell had happened, but when he did he did not hold back. His mouth moved equally as eagerly, hands already gripping your waist and pushing you against the door. You pulled away for a moment just to take off your top, going right back to it afterwards, slowly edging towards the bed. 

Once the back of Steve’s legs hit the mattress you both fell onto it, him settling you to straddle him, his hands slyly moving up to your tits. Everything following moved fast, the remainder of your clothes were off and on the floor in a matter of minutes and before you knew it your legs were straddling over his crotch, him slowly pushing up into you.

You winced as he did so, eyes flashing up to meet his, the first time you had actually done that during your whole encounter. You were met with a look of almost adoration as he finally felt you, about a years worth of pent up hunger being fulfilled right then. You shut your eyes and brought your forehead up to rest against his own, his hands ghosting over your flesh. 

“What changed?” Steve-O whispered as you bottomed out, low whimpers leaving your lips.

You smiled, lifting your head up to look at him, beginning to move.

“Maybe I missed you trying to get into my pants, had to let you in myself.”

He laughed too.

“Good to know my hard work paid off.” 

You shook your head as you moved yourself up and down, laughing while panting. Steve helped you out, holding your waist and bucking his own hips forward, in time with your movements.

Soon you were properly fucking, both of you exchanging moans and low noises while you tried to keep quiet as there was a work party going on right outside the unlocked door. Something about the riskiness of it all excited you, egging you on to be a little louder to add to the thrill. He tried to keep you quiet with his lips but you continued to pull away and smirk as you moaned quite outwardly.

“You want us to get caught?” He muttered and you smiled.

“Would that be so terrible?” 

Steve-O just shook his head.

“One minute you're trying to get rid of me when I'm flirting with you and next you want everyone on set to hear you moan while I fuck you”

You laughed.

“I think it's more me fucking you.” 

“Oh fuck off.” 

You both laughed before Steve grabbed your hips and began moving you faster. You continued to let out noises of pleasure before you felt that feeling in your stomach begin to tighten. You gave no warning before you were coming on his cock, the tightening of your cunt urging Steve to the edge as well. 

“Fuck, where do you want me to come?”

“I’m on the pill.” You whispered.

Steve held onto your hips tightly, pushing you down before finishing inside of you with a loud moan. A moan that could’ve been heard from outside. 

By the time you had gotten off of Steve-O and put your clothes back on he was still oogling you as he remained on the bed.

“What?” You laughed, fixing your shoes.

“Oh nothing, I just never thought that would actually happen.”

You both shared a chuckle.

“So all that stuff with Steph...”

He shook his head.

“I was just trying to make you jealous, she’d never go out with me anyways.”

“Well I guess it worked.” You smiled and Steve did too.

“And Ryan?”

You shook your head in the same way.

“I like him but he knew it was gonna be you.”

The two of you sat in silence for a moment.

“So you actually wanna go out sometime?” 

You both laughed.

“Looks like we skipped a few steps.”

End.

@jackussy420 @gnarkillknoxville @lovexjoe @steve-osahottie @jackassvivalabam03 @kristinee

#steve o #steve o fic #steve o x reader #steve o x you #steve o x f!reader #jackass #jackass fic #jackass ff #jackass smut #steve o smut #steve o fan fic #steve o fan fiction #jackass fan fiction #ryan dunn #stephanie hodge #johnny knoxville #bam margera #wildboyz #wildboyz ff #wildboyz fic #mtv

[softquietsteadylove]

For the 2nd part: The angst starts here...Gil visiting and also brought some lunch for them but Thena just give him a cold shoulder. But he couldn't figure out why and she's all snappy and sarcastic suddenly saying that she thinks he's liking his new team now to be considering to be there permanently. And Gil addressed it calmly that he never considered it and he wanted to be back immediately on her team. But she just asked him to leave even though she doesn't want him to.

What Thena didn't know is Gil was there to talk to her before leaving for a mission, a mission that is very risky and dangerous but he never got to tell it to Thena.

"Boss?"

Gil stepped into Thena's hurricane of an office. She always kept it neat, although sometimes if he opened up her desk drawers they would be an absolute disaster. But currently she had files sitting everywhere, some open, some closed, some jamming her paper shredder.

It wasn't like her to be so out of sorts.

"Thena?" he tried again, stepping in and pulling the door closed behind him. He set down the lunch he brought her on the desk.

"Not now."

He frowned at the sharp tone of her voice. It wasn't like her to be snappy. Cold, sure--terrifying, to some. But she wasn't usually like this with him. "You okay?"

She finally turned to look at him, but she seemed...angry. Not necessarily pissed off, but...annoyed? There was a mix of a few things in those stunning eyes of hers.

Gil sighed as he adjusted his bag strap on his shoulder. He knew she had a meeting with the brass, and he was sure his transfer had come up as a topic. But he wasn't allowed to ask directly about it until his probation was up. "Did things go well?"

"Ask Minerva."

Gil raised a brow at that. Thena was many things, but petty?--no. Passive-aggressive wasn't really the Goddess of War's style.

"She was singing your praises," Thena finally said more than a few words to him, although she still seemed agitated. She slapped some files down on her desk. "Thinks you're really liking Extrication."

"Like is probably a strong word," he shrugged. He hadn't screwed anything up, yet. Not that he did much of anything other than follow orders and fill out paperwork.

"Really?" Thena examined him in a way that made him feel like they were strangers. "She's quite in favour of your transfer being permanent."

"What?" Gil leaned forward on her desk as well, matching her rather combative stance. "No one brought that up to me."

Thena looked like she was about to say something but bit down on the inside of her lip. She looked down at her desk, her ponytail falling over her shoulder. "It was a surprise to me too."

Gil melted a little. She seemed so...downtrodden. He had asked Kingo at length how she was doing since he had been transferred. Kingo was certainly at his wit's end about it, but he still obliged him and told him every time Thena had a bad day, or tried to stay late in the office, or forgot to eat lunch.

"Is it-" Thena started and the paused, dropping her rigid posture until she was all but slouching. She looked down at the desk, "is that something you want?"

No. No, he wanted to be back in Special Ops--he wanted to be with her, again. "No, and I didn't think-"

"Well, Minerva thinks," Thena cut him off, and he could feel herself trying to saw off the feelings of hers he was getting too close to discovering. "And the Chief thinks so, too."

"Well, I don't care what they think," Gil said gently, trying to get a look at that face that brought him more peace than he thought possible in a line of work like this one. She avoided his eyes. "I want to be here."

"Gil," Thena looked up, again seeming on the brink of something before swallowing it. And it seemed like a big pill to swallow. "I...I'm sorry, I can't do lunch today."

"Oh," he blinked, deflating some. He reached slowly for the lunch he had brought her before pulling his hand back. Maybe she would eat it once she sorted out whatever had her so mad.

She turned again, shaking her head and drawing her shoulders up. She swiped at something on her face before rifling through her files again, "later?"

"Uh," he gulped, looking down at his phone, "yeah. Yeah--later."

"Hm."

He walked out of her office slowly, hoping to get another look from her. But she was focused in front of her. He closed the door again just as quietly.

Gil, you on your way?

He sighed. The operation was big; high risk and high reward. It was so big that even he was being dragged into it, minimal experience and everything.

I'll be there.

#Thenamesh Special Forces AU #pt 2 #I hope you like it! #I know you might have imagined something a little different #but these two #they know each other #and I think they would still be civil even with emotions running high #or maybe I'm just soft hearted #but I still promised you some drama and some angst! #Thena is already putting some distance between herself and what's going on #because if she clings to Gil and he still gets taken away #it will break something inside of her #they have been having lunch together when at all possible #not that it's that often but it still happened #and even when it couldn't #he was texting Kingo 24/7 about how Thena was doing #Kingo had to silence Gil's notifications on his phone

[hockenheim]

thank you @mickschumachergf @usersewis @brawn-gp and @lewisrises for the tags! you guys are amazing and i love your creations <3

1. which drivers do you mainly make gifs for?

my main three are charles, lewis and seb! they also happen to be my favourite drivers on this blog. i love giffing them individually and as a pairing.

2. out of the above (if more than one) who’s your fav to make gifs for and why?

i can’t possibly choose between them. charles’ expressions and mannerisms are to die for. lewis is beautiful and super stylish. i enjoy seb’s quips and wholesome personality. i love them all equally!

3. link the favourite gifset you’ve made and tell me a little about it.

currently, it’s this one of lewis and all his 2020 championship-winning races!

from making the poster template from scratch and adding in all the little details to colouring each gif and tweaking the colour palette, i’m proud of the effort i put in this one. there was a lot i learned from the creation of this set — although there were some stuff i had to fix — and i’m incredibly satisfied with the end result. i wanted to make something as vibrant and radiant as lewis was, and to achieve that self-set goal is liberating. now i'm tempted to rewatch his 2020 season!

i also like my seb x ferrari x red gifset. it’s the second set i made and i learned a lot about colouring from it! i got my hands dirty tweaking the different colouring layers and was genuinely surprised by how well the gifs turned out.

4. link your fav gifset from another creator.

oh this is very very hard because there’s so many i really love. @josefnewgayden's lewis x fashion designers gifset is simply incredible when it comes to their use of blending and layout. @brawn-gp's lewis' 100th win in f1 set has stunning, astoundingly good typography and colouring. @ivettel’s latest seb set is a gfx masterclass; their creations tag also features lots of sets with rotoscoping and other advanced gif effects!

5. off the top of your head, tell me about the most memorable tag you've received.

there are a lot that i love and laugh about in equal measure, like "op i love your colouring!" "op this is insane!" and "OUCHHH!" but one that really stood out to me recently was "op i don't watch racing but your gifset is really nice, the design and colours are really beautiful" which made my heart ache in the best of ways.

6. which f1 media source (post race interviews, sf full accesses, no brakes, etc) is your fav to make gifs from?

honestly anything that is in good quality (1080p and above) and have downloadable links on youtube/other websites is great for me! don't really like torrenting (too much fuss) and screen recording (only for race weekends, otherwise no due to questionable quality). sf full accesses are great, i also like mercedes' videos and f1 compilations (top tens etc) featuring certain drivers.

7. tag someone else!

not entirely sure who's been tagged and who hasn't but @hakkinens @vandoornevettel @goatseb @umflowers @localoptimist if you all want to or have not done it yet <3 as always, no pressure!

#this was so long LMAO but was fun to fill out! #tag game #kym.txt

[celiaelise]

Saw a post talking about a live-action adaptation of a book, and how op understood that the cgi budget was limited, and there were other more important elements that it was going to, but they were still really disappointed that certain aspects of the source material were being left out.

And I feel like I've seen so many similar posts about so many things!! Especially fantasy-flavored things. It really just once again begs the question: what about 2d animation??? Like, these limits are being artificially imposed!!!

Or not even only that? CGI that's more stylized, or a combination of live-action and one, or more, forms of animation. Like, I know we tend to read live-action characters surround by 2d cartoons as goofy and silly, but they don't have to be! The beauty of art and storytelling is that you can use the tools at your disposal to convey literally any emotion, if you know what you're doing. I know all of us here on tumblr, at least, have found ourselves moved by ridiculous-looking comics, or short stories based on the jokiest of premises.

Which isn't even getting into the possibilities of puppetry and practical effects!!! 😭 Ugh!!! Like...some colored lights shining on an actor's face and a miniature in the foreground of the shot could absolutely have as much emotional impact as a painstakingly-rendered digital dragon breathing fire. I feel like we all know this??? Or at least we used to?

I know I'm really not qualified to talk about this, given that I almost never watch anything anyway, and film is certainly not my medium. But storytelling and art definitely are, and they are so, so important to me, and it's upsetting to think about just how much corporations have commodified them and boxed them in.

You know how we did fight scenes in one of the plays I was most recently in? (At my community theater with no budget, where ticket sales don't always even cover rent.) We used toy swords, which I bought at Spirit Halloween, and all of which I returned for a full refund once the show done, except for the one that fell apart while I was using it. Our fight choreographer set it up so the audience wouldn't hear the plastic blades hitting each other, more for the sake of eliminating the distraction than actually hiding that they were, very clearly, plastic.

And I'm not saying the effect was blockbuster-worthy, but I will tell you that many people gasped and at least a couple got misty-eyed when my character got "stabbed", despite the cheap weapons, and the lack of fake blood, and the fact that we didn't even bother to use a spring-loaded knife, and just slid the thing under my arm. (the ones we can afford always have a very audible rattle anyway, so that's probably for the best.)

And honestly, I'm still unlearning the need to cling to realism myself! (but community theater has been an excellent teacher for that) Also, I think I'm getting off topic. My point is, people have always been able to create compelling stories without the need for anything fancy. But we want to create stunning and immersive visual spectacles now, too, right!? There are literally countless ways to achieve that goal, but our culture seems to have latched onto, like, two of them. I'd love to see mass media produce the kind of imaginative innovation that I've seen webcomic creators produce out of their homes for free.

#of course there's also the whole driven by capitalism thing #and the question of whether anything can be as meaningful when it's meant to be consumed by so many people #but I'm running out of steam and this post is long enough :P #uhhh i have no idea what to tag this #cgi #animation #theater #acting #community theater #special effects #practical effects #movies #idk lol #also i wasn't thinking of h*mestuck at all when writing this but in hindsight it definitely could be relevant #my life #by elise #this of course isn't too imply that NO creativity or innovation comes from high budget productions #but they don't need me defending them

[numbregrets]

   　　   　　　    　　　　 𝒻𝓁𝑜𝓇𝒶 𝒶𝒹𝒶𝓂𝓈

flora adams is based on flora from sleeping beauty. she is a 25 year old fairy, ballet teacher, and uses she/her pronouns. she has the power of spell casting, beauty shifting and aesthetic manipulation.

penned by HARPER

reflection

face claim: zaria simone sexuality: heterosexual height: 5'3 eye color: brown hair color: brown piercings: ear lobes tattoos: n/a

attitude

positive traits: loyal, determined, honest, self-aware, constructive, nurturing, protective negative traits: confrontational, can be a bit controlling at times, perfectionist, overdramatic, a know-it-all likes: the color pink, aesthetics, lipstick, the perfect cream blush, gucci flora, when the weather is warm but not too warm, perfectly worn-in pointe shoes, wearing ribbons in her hair, designer brands, being the 'mom' friend, fashion magazines, romance novels, orchids dislikes: players, aggressive house music, her fave products being discontinued, smelling bad, the patriarchy, scary movies, eating red meat, the smell of gasoline, itchy sweaters, the idea of having to settle, not being able to find an outfit phobias: n/a hobbies:  shopping, splurging on high-end beauty products, collecting perfume like trophies, dressing up for every occasion- even if it's to go to the grocery store, watching reality TV, buying her and her friends matching pajama sets, going on nature walks (for the photo ops), drinking red wine, tending to her little garden on her balcony. aesthetic: stopping to smell the roses, the swirling of a thick red wine in a wide glass, the sound of point shoes on a wooden floor, ballerina core, the gentle spritz of perfume in the bathroom, gold jewelry, the feeling of sliding into satin sheets, femineity personified, the sound of a bell chiming as you walk into a shop, the wings of a butterfly brushing against your cheek.

relations

mother: tbd father: tbd sibling(s): n/a pet(s): n/a

headcanons

❀ flora refuses to eat the crust on her sandwiches. grilled cheese?? no crust. turkey sandwich?? no crust. crust is not compatible with her pallet, nor her aesthetic, but she ALWAYS makes sure to share with others… such as the squirrels.  ❀ her favorite flower is an orchid because they are the most sensitive and docile plant that require a lot of time, attention and nurturing. her apartment is full of orchids.  ❀ meri, fallon, and aurora are everything to her and she’ll drop the elegant poise to rough house anyone who even breathes negatively in their direction. those are the three people flora would walk to the ends of the earth with. there is no doubt in her mind that if they needed her, she'd be there before they could even ask her for help. ❀ flora is not a very trusting person, she has a lot of walls up due to how protective she is of herself and her friends. she doesn't remember much about her life before evermore, but she listens to her gut. when it tells her something isn't right... she listens. most of the time. ❀ flora is a sucker for a romcom, a romance novel, cheesy cliches and hopeless romantic tropes; the idea of love is the most beautiful thing in the entire world for her.  ❀ pink is her security blanket; she feels empowered by its pleasant and feminine association. it makes her smile to see things in the color pink that aren’t normally hued that way; pink hammers ?? beautiful. razors that are pink ?? stunning. the only pink she doesn’t agree with is the pink tax; down with the patriarchy !!  ❀ flora is a swiftie for sure, and her favorite album is lover. she’s choreographed a dance for every song on the album. ❀ ballet slippers are her emotional support shoe; if she can’t figure something out, she puts on her slippers.  ❀ she tries to avoid using her magic unless she absolutely has to, not knowing enough about this world to know the kind of impact it could have. she DOES us it on her flowers though, if they need a little extra help.

#& intro

[kiruuuuu]

Kiru's Advent Calendar, Day 1 🍝

As promised, here is some of the content I've produced throughout the past year - and hopefully some new as well! I've always liked the idea of Ace cooking together with various ops and with varying success, so here's him filming an episode with none other than the master himself. (Ace and Maestro, Rating T, fluffy chaos, ~2.2k words)

.

Saying Ace was nervous would be an exaggeration, but claiming he was completely at ease not quite accurate either. To suppress some of the restlessness, he checks whether everything is ready: various cameras are set up around the kitchen, he’s all mic’d up and has the second one ready, props are strategically placed on the spotless and tidy surfaces (he re-potted a basil plant even though he knows from first hand experience how fickle they are – this one will survive two, maybe three weeks). Ingredients are partly lined up on the counter, partly still in the fridge and freezer for maximum freshness, and he’s set aside the utensils they’ll need.

One stipulation his new apartment had to meet was a large kitchen, and he got lucky: not only is it brand new following recent renovations, it’s also extremely spacious with a proper kitchen island in the middle. He’s paying half a fortune to live here, but following the sharp increase in quality to his videos came a proportional increase in viewers, followers, sponsors and therefore income.

He stands in front of the fresh tomatoes, a little lost and a little anxious, and waits. One o’clock was the agreed time, and it’s 12:59 right now, so there should be -

His heart jumps into his throat when the doorbell rings. Not denying himself the whimsical joy of sliding through his corridor on slippery socks, he comes to a halt right in front of his apartment door and rips it open to reveal none other than his jovial Italian colleague.

Who is inexplicably carrying a large box of what looks to be groceries.

“Help me carry, there’s more in the car”, he greets Ace curtly yet with a friendly tone – all business already – and hands the box over (and why is it so heavy) before turning around and clattering back down the stairs to the ground floor.

Ace notices two things: 1) Maestro looks utterly stunning, and it’s wholly unclear whether he always dresses this well in his spare time or has dolled himself up for the occasion. 2) If he himself is heading back down, it means he’s got enough stuff to warrant two strong men to carry it. Which… is a tad worrying. Just a bit.

But Ace isn’t worried. He wouldn’t worry about it. He’s not worrying.

Quickly, he deposits the crate in the kitchen and nearly collides with his guest on the way down the stairs. A flashy Alfa Romeo is badly parked on the opposite side of the street, its trunk revealing two more boxes.

He’s beginning to worry.

Maestro seems to sense his bewilderment and, as soon as everything he brought occupies all horizontal surfaces in the kitchen, booms: “I know you said you’d take care of the ingredients, but I was sure you wouldn’t get enough, ragazotto, and I was right. You couldn’t feed a small family with these, look at how puny the aubergines are!”

Mildly, in case he’d upset the loud man, Ace replies: “We’re not trying to feed a small family.”

“Come now, don’t put yourself down – I’ve heard you have quite a few people who watch your funny little videos, you can’t let them go hungry.”

Oh. Ace’s eyes widen. Oh no. “We’re… we’re not cooking for my viewers.” Funny little videos?

Confused, Maestro turns around, eyeing the cameras with suspicion. “But …”

“Okay. Look. We are cooking for my viewers, but only digitally. We will cook and film ourselves doing so, and later they will watch the video. They don’t… visit me to eat. They live all over the world, actually.” Belatedly, he adds: “And it’s far too many anyway, my subscriber count is -”

“I see”, the loud Italian interrupts him like it comes to him naturally (and he really seems to enjoy hearing himself speak), “even then, you can freeze food if you must. Time to show your people how to feed someone.” He starts unpacking the second he finishes his sentence and frowns in dissatisfaction when Ace stops him.

“Before we start, you need a mic or else nobody will be able to -”

Aaaaand Maestro’s shirt is already unbuttoned. Revealing his bulky torso, pronounced muscles under the tan skin, just enough coarse, curled hairs adorning his chest… and Ace feels like it’s going to be a long Sunday.

.

After the first fifteen minutes he finally understands how recipe blogs became what they are now. To every ingredient, Maestro has a backstory ready, ever-increasing on the impressiveness scale – this herb he already loved as a kid and climbed over his neighbour’s fence to steal some from their garden, his niece once choked on this vegetable and he barely managed to save her, this one was apparently used in chemical warfare in the 1920s, that one would literally kill them if prepared wrong. Ace barely gets a word in edgewise and eventually resigns to just standing there, listening to the epic tale of Maestro’s entire life laid out in association with specific types of food while mentally apologising to his editor. She’ll have to suffer through all this herself as well.

… she’s going to strangle him.

Halfway through a recount of how lentils single-handedly won the American Civil War, Maestro’s broad hands conjure up an expensive-looking wine bottle as well as an expensive-looking corkscrew. Ace is past the point of self doubt as he’s pretty sure he went over all the rules before the other man agreed to join him, therefore he simply cuts in: “No alcohol. We can drink after, but not now.”

The Italian looks at him like he just snapped a handful of spaghetti in half. “Mi scusi, I thought you were joking? How am I supposed to get into the flow when I can’t lubricate the gears? How do I get into the state where everything comes together, salt flutters out of my sleeve, my ancestors guide my seasoning and the sun itself shines out of the dish?”

Ace stares. And wonders whether Maestro is used to finishing a whole bottle by himself. “Later”, he emphasises after he’s regained his composure. “I appreciate the gesture though.”

His guest grumbles something and Ace believes he makes out the word dittatore at some point, but at least the wine is placed out of sight.

.

What then transpires is an absolute rollercoaster.

Ace has never experienced this many emotions in such short periods of time – one second, Maestro confidently crushes garlic cloves with the heel of his palm like the world’s first cooking supermodel, the next he agonises over Ace’s carrot cutting technique so sincerely Ace may as well have stabbed his brother, and what follows is a salacious anecdote involving several military officials, a horse mask, copious amounts of hay and too many Cowboy boots, the entirety of which Ace’s editor will have to either cut out or bleep for as long as Maestro is talking.

Trying to clean up after his guest so the background isn’t cluttered or dirty is a Sisyphean task and at no point does Ace feel in control – Maestro takes over every horizontal surface to either cut vegetables at lightning speed or roll picture-perfect Gnocchi with his arms floured up to his elbows (be still my heart), he samples nearly every ingredient at some point and even tries to feed Ace repeatedly, and he won’t. Stop. Talking.

During close-ups of the sizzling dishes, while Ace adjusts clothes and hair, with his mouth full, in the middle of Ace’s sentences.

And honestly? It’s not even that bad. Ace gets to exist in the background for once, not having to make awkward small talk or come up with funny remarks on the spot, try to keep the conversation flowing to evoke a friendly and warm atmosphere so his viewers feel comfortable – all he has to do is stare at this beast of a man decimating a heap of vegetables into a soup divided into several pots because no single one Ace owns would be large enough to contain it. It’s obvious Maestro is having the time of his life, visibly enjoying leaving a trail of destruction behind him, knowing Ace will tidy after him; he didn’t even need the alcohol. But before Ace can wallow in the positivity of it all, Maestro drops a swear so obscene Ace instinctively twitches towards the nearest camera in the instinct of turning it off. He doesn’t, though.

He doesn’t have the time.

“… and here we are, bambini”, Maestro eventually roars not unlike a ringmaster announcing the next act – at some point, he got it in his head that Ace’s viewership was comprised entirely of children and he didn’t feel like correcting him, not like Maestro would listen anyway, “a three-course meal worthy of the gods! A hearty Minestrone to warm your bones first, then Gnocchi al Gorgonzola to satisfy your stomach and a light Affogato al caffè to bring it all together. Perfect for a light family dinner.”

“… of fifteen”, Ace adds quietly. He has to admit, the end result is inviting – not on the same level as professional food photography, presentation wise, but just the right kind of homely to assure you it’s been cooked with love, while seeming very appetising. “Let’s dig in! I let you do all the seasoning so I’m excited how it turned out.” Ace dips a spoon in the small bowl of soup and prays inwardly that it at least taste good. When the word about their collaboration spread in Rainbow, he garnered a vast range of reactions which still concern him a little, but credible sources have claimed Maestro is actually good at this. He lifts the utensil up and closes his mouth around it, careful to let the camera see his face.

And he nearly drops the spoon.

“Bit salty”, Maestro comments, having tried his own portion, and now it’s Ace’s turn to stare at him like he just claimed Sweden and Norway were interchangeable, because what.

He tries some more. Has to almost physically restrain himself not to dump the whole thing down his gullet. It’s one of the best dishes he’s ever eaten. Breathless, he pants: “This is amazing.”

Maestro shoots him a toothy grin. “My nonna’s recipe, pace all’anima sua. Wouldn’t stop smoking till the day she dropped dead, what a woman. Did I ever tell you about how she managed to trade a goose for a car? It started out -”

Tuning him out completely, Ace tries the gnocchi. They’re the perfect consistency, sticky yet not too starchy, the sauce melting in his mouth and complementing the mild base with its strong taste – without being overpowering. The flavour of the blue cheese adds a whole other dimension to the creamy goodness of it all.

Ace is dumbstruck. He couldn’t even choose the better dish, they’re both magnificent in their own particular way.

Because he has to, he spoons a bit of the espresso into his mouth, careful to get some of the vanilla ice cream as well – he’s normally not an espresso fan yet Maestro was insistent and even brought his own moka pot (just like he seemed to have carried along half his kitchen, including his entire spice and knife rack), so it’s worth a try.

And boy is it worth a try.

By now, Maestro is holding a full-fledged monologue straight into the nearest camera, so Ace turns to a different one to mouth delicious before pulling an unashamedly orgasmic face. Not even listening to his guest, he finishes his tiny portions while producing appropriate expressions for the benefit of his viewers, then steals Maestro’s before they get cold(er) and eventually even gets a third serving. Which he finishes long before the Italian is done with his current anecdote. So he just grabs some more.

There is absolutely no way he’s going to share the leftovers with anyone.

.

“And that concludes this week’s episode of ‘kiss the cook’!”, Ace concludes a while later. It’s almost eight in the evening. They were meant to finish at five. “Thank you all so much for watching and please let me know if you actually try out any of the recipes. And thank you, Adriano, for joining me this week and sharing some traditional Italian dishes with us.”

As Maestro says his parting words, Ace reflects on the experience. Was it worth the trashed kitchen, the paint job necessary now that there are stains on the ceiling, the constant panic over whatever Maestro was doing, the constant panic over the way Maestro looks, and the large parts they’ll have to cut out because the man swears like a sailor?

Probably.

… will it be worth the comments he’ll inevitably get when his fans watch him lose his mind in more ways than one? Well. He’ll see.

They wave their goodbyes and Maestro, just as agreed, leans in to make the show live up to its name – only he, uh, must’ve misunderstood, or forgotten what they’d discussed, because he takes Ace’s face in his hands and kisses him right on the lips.

Straight up mouth-to-mouth.

A proper smooch.

For several seconds.

And Ace, reeling and nearly losing his balance when he’s eventually released again, decides that nope, this will definitely not be worth the comments he’ll get.

#rainbow six siege #fanfic #ace #maestro #kac #big gay panic going on there #sample the chef

[conjoinedpubes]

Adventures of Solis - Chapter 6: Revalation and Rethinking

Adventures of Solis - Chapter Index Written between RL 60+12 and 80+17 The whole map is open. A revelation changes the way I think about spells vs weapons. Part 1/? of weapon and spell rambling.

Rethinking the Arsenal

The main goal with Solis was too have as a spellsword playstyle that is smooth, where the spells and weapons complement each other pros and cons.

Started with *very* big assumptions on what/how spells would be used. Now that the playstyle has been "felt out", some updates to the idea.

The "Assassin" Package - Its fun, for a while in PVE. But the aim was not to make a crit-combo build. It also doesn't do anything for PvP.

In the end, we still want the advantage of being a good boss stance breaker - its just not the entire point of the character.

Carian Slicer - Famously OP Spell, but is it good if you're not single-mindedly building to spam it?

Slicer spam characters are built around 1 strat - burst. Using Azur staff + 2x Sorcery damage talismans + full int scaling - you run at something and cut it apart ASAP, fp efficiency be damned.

But, Solis's gameplan is hit things with a big sword, weaving in magic tricks. He simply cannot run the above setup - it eats into defensive talismans and fp endurance; not worth investing so much if the aim is to use Slicer like an off-hand dagger. note: also adding that the other type of build that auto includes Slicer are pure wizards, who lack a melee weapon and use slicer as close range tool - again not the character Solis is.

Slicer still sees use here and there, its just no longer an 'always spell'.

The Revelation

Now that Solis is free from the strict Greatsword Main Hand + Slicer Off Hand combo -what spells and weapons to pair is again open.

As of now, I dont have the answer. But did try some things...

Spells, new and reconsidered

Gavel of Haima - In PVE, the property of an AOE spell with hyper armour doesnt do much when paired with a Greatsword main hand - since those have abundant sweeps and natural hyperamour.

Still, this remains on the table if we swap to a lighter weapon. Additionally, the hyper armour still has PvP use.

Carian Piercer - Same story as above. The lunge is whatever in PVE if we run GS + Impaling Thrust. In PvP, the roll-catch is solid.

Adula's Moonblade - Either using this entirely wrong - or there is nothing about this spell that adds intresting strategy for us. The big sword of cold is a neat spell - but an all-in-one AOE + Status + Ranged attack with a huge windup and fp cost is not something Solis needs.

Zamor Ice Storm - On paper, seems to fill a similar niche to Adula's - but there are 3 distinct properties that make it much better for Solis.

Lingering AOE. Like Magic Glintblade; once set up, it will do its job while you fight.

Stagger + cold buildup in several pulses. Synergizes very well with a cold-infused mainhand, since both ice-storm and your attacks are 'pushing toward' the same goal - stun and frost proc.

3. No aiming needed. Adds the option of 'turn-and-burn' where you retreat and catch pursuing enemies with an ice storm - without the need to face your foe.

Also has the charged option of being that 'big risky windup' you do when a boss staggers - finally something for bosses that cant be critical hit.

Gravity Well/Collapsing Stars - Good on paper, quite redundant in practice. To pull from range - just poke with Swiftshard. A spell that forcibly pulls seems overkill.

Still, a good off-school option for anti-flying (ie. birds).

Shard Spiral - Mostly a gimmick. On paper, a slow moving projectile that pulses damage seems good - but unless its cheesing out damage on giant bosses, most enemies just dont get hit much.

Zamor Storm is just a more intresting option IMO.

Adventures of Solis

Chapter Index

Next | Previous | Beginning

#adventures of solis #build journal #elden ring #elden ring coop #elden ring pvp

[fandomgeek-22]

Raeda: An Owl House Playlist

Spotify Link

This playlist is a combination of songs that suite the ship and the characters as individuals. I love these two so much.

As always, I will probably continue to update this playlist over time, feel free to send me suggestions.

List of songs and quotes/explanations under the cut :)

Your Song from Moulin Rouge! The Musical “And you can tell everybody this is your song; It may be quite simple but now that it's done; I hope you don't mind, I hope you don't mind; That I put down in words; How wonderful life is while you're in the world” I specifically chose this version because it uses strings instead of piano.

 Eda’s Requiem and Raine’s Rhapsody - Epic Orchestral Cover by Kāru It is literally their song, I had to.

Thank You For The Music by ABBA “What would life be? Without a song or a dance, what are we? So I say thank you for the music; For giving it to me” This song is very close to me as a singer, so as a Raine kinnie, I had to.

Love Of My Life by Queen “You will remember when this is blown over; And everything's all by the way; When I grow older, I will be there at your side; To remind you how I still love you (I still love you)” Ouch, here’s the first bit of angst. The part that I quoted in particular I think applies heavily to these two. Also, pretty string in the beginning.

I Hear a Symphony by Cody Fry “I used to hear a simple song; That was until you came along; Now in it's place is something new; I hear it when I look at you” This is an absolutely stunning piece (as is every single song by Cody Fry) and the lyrics fit so well with Raeda.

Bird Set Free by Sia “And I don't care if I sing off key; I find myself in my melodies; I sing for love, I sing for me; I shout it out like a bird set free”

Witch Hunt by VISTA “I'm running like the whole damn world's on a witch hunt; Throwing stones and blaming; Secrets in the closet, send demons on the run; With bloodlust, bloodlust; How am I to know who to trust, who to trust?” I think this song just fits the BATS/CATS really well in general.

Never Love an Anchor by The Crane Wives “There are times when I still wonder about you; You are someone I have loved, but never known; And you'll never see the reasons I had; For keeping my claws away when they were close enough to hurt you” This entire song fits well, with Eda hiding her curse from Raine causing them to break up in the first place. I also blame this animatic for this song being in this playlist.

My Love, My Life by ABBA “I've watched you look away; Tell me, is it really so hard to say? Oh, this has been my longest day; Sitting here close to you; Knowing that maybe tonight we're through” This part is clearly the moment Raine broke up with Eda. “You are still my love and my life; Still my one and only” Yet after all this time, they still love each other.

Songbird by Fleetwood Mac “ And the songbirds are singing, Like they know the score; And I love you, I love you, I love you; Like never before”

In Our Bedroom After The War by Stars “Listen, the birds sing, listen, the bells ring; All the living are dead, and the dead are all living; The war is over and we are beginning”  New beginnings.

Six Pieces, Op, 51, TH 143: VI. Valse sentimentale. Tempo di Valse by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Gorgeous piece by Tchaikovsky, one of my favorites, and it’s a violin version. Valse sentimentale translates to Sentimental Waltz. Take from that what you will.

I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston I think the song title speaks for itself honestly.

I Write the Songs by Barry Manilow “My home lies deep within you; And I've got my own place in your soul; Now when I look out through your eyes; I'm young again, even though I'm very old” As I was making this playlist, I was trying to thing of any music related songs and this came to mind. This particular verse works well.

City Of Stars from La La Land “City of stars; Are you shining just for me? City of stars; There's so much that I can't see”

trust by Christina Perri “Words that hurt the ones you're lovin’; Hatred for who you’re becomin’; I knew better than, yes; I knew better than; To trust myself; To trust someone else” Eda was so determined to hide the truth from Raine.

Take Flight by Lindsey Stirling Another beautiful violin piece. I mostly chose this one for the title, but it in an amazing piece.

Paper Rings by Taylor Swift “I like shiny things, but I'd marry you with paper rings; Uh huh, that's right; Darling, you're the one I want, and I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this; Uh huh, that's right; Darling, you're the one I want” Eda loves shiny things and Raine, what else can I say?

Francis Forever by Mitski “On sunny days I go out walking; I end up on a tree-lined street; I look up at the gaps of sunlight; I miss you more than anything” They really miss each other after the breakup.

Stormy Weather by Etta James “ Don't know why; There's no sun up in the sky; Stormy weather; Since my man and I ain't together; Keeps raining all of the time”

We’ll Meet Again by She & Him “ We'll meet again; Don't know where; Don't know when; But I know we'll meet again some sunny day”

My Heart Is Buried In Venice by Ricky Montgomery “ Now my heart is buried in Venice; Waiting for someone to take it home” “Say, say what you mean; Tell me the truth or tell me you're through”

Ready Now by dodie “Feet firm on the ground; We stood hand in hand; And I told the world; That I have a plan; Together, we sang; "I'm ready, now"”

Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper “After my picture fades and darkness has; Turned to gray; Watching through windows; You're wondering if I'm okay”

Bad Reputation by Joan Jett & the Blackhearts “I don't give a damn 'bout my reputation; Living in the past, it's a new generation; A girl can do what she wants to do and that's what I'm gonna do” This is fully an Eda song.

Right Back Where We Started From by Maxine Nightingale “Do you remember that day (that sunny day); When you first came my way? I said no one could take your place; And if you get hurt (if you get hurt); By the little things I say; I can put that smile back on your face” This is a much more upbeat one, they deserve to be happy after everything.

Demons by Imagine Dragons “ I wanna hide the truth; I wanna shelter you; But with the beast inside; There's nowhere we can hide” The owl beast.

Boys Wanna Be Her by Peaches “The way you rock, don't stop; Girl, you got the chops; Flip-flop, she bops, self-taught; You look so hot” Honestly, who wouldn’t want to be the owl lady?

Cherry Bomb by The Runaways “Can't stay at home, can't stay at school; Old folks say, "You poor little fool"; Down the streets I'm the girl next door; I'm the fox you've been waiting for” Young Eda? Young Eda.

This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) by Natalie Cole “I'm so glad, you found me in time; And I'm so glad that you've rectified my mind; This will be, an everlasting love for me” They get a second chance!

Mary On A Cross by Ghost “You go down just like Holy Mary; Mary on a, Mary on a cross; Your beauty never ever scared me; Mary on a, Mary on a cross”

W.I.T.C.H. by Devon Cole “ She don't wanna be anybody else; She's a woman in total control of herself; It's such a wonder to be under her spell; What a woman, in total control of herself” Honestly, I’m such an Eda simp, I’m not ashamed to say it.

I Put A Spell On You by Nina Simone “I put a spell on you; Because you're mine” I had to include it (I stand by the fact that the Nina version is the superior version.)

Venus Fly Trap by MARINA “ Don't underestimate me; 'Cause one day you're gonna see you're in a losing battle; Babe, you'll never stop me being me; I got the beauty, got the brains; Got the power, hold the reins; I should be motherfuckin' crazy; Nothing in this world could change me” Hell yes, Eda, keep being you.

Roundtable Rival by Lindsey Stirling Violin! It’s my favorite instrument to listen to, I’m so glad Raine plays violin. Also, this song is just really cool.

Thus Always To Tyrants by The Oh Hellos “Let me die, let me drown, lay my bones in the ground; I will still come around when the time for sleep is through; Over hill, over dale, through the valley and vale; Do not weep, do not wail, I am coming home to you”  I love the title of this song.

ilomilo by Billie Eilish “ I tried not to upset you; Let you, rescue, me the day I met you; I just wanted to protect you; But now I'll never get to”

Seven Nation Army by 2CELLOS

Still into You by Paramore “ I should be over all the butterflies; But I'm into you (I'm into you); And baby even on our worst nights; I'm into you (I'm into you); Let 'em wonder how we got this far; 'Cause I don't really need to wonder at all; Yeah, after all this time, I'm still into you”

Dream Sweet in Sea Major by Miracle Musical “She knows you heard her; Staging music murder; In line before the show began; To be where I am; Children born of one emotion; Our devotion's deepest ocean; No division reasoned we'll be free”  This is less to do with the lyrics and more to do with it being an epic piece with lots of strings.

You Found Me by The Fray “In the end, everyone ends up alone; Losin' her, the only one who's ever known; Who I am, who I'm not, and who I wanna be; No way to know how long she will be next to me”

Soldier, Poet, King by The Oh Hellos The lyrics are irrelevant, I just think this is a fun song that they would play and dance to.

Separate Ways (Worlds Apart) by Journey “ Someday love will find you; True love won't desert you; You know I still love you; Though we touched and went our separate ways”

When We Were Young by Adele “Let me photograph you in this light; In case it is the last time; That we might be exactly like we were; Before we realized; We were scared of getting old; It made us restless; It was just like a movie; It was just like a song”

#owl house #toh #raeda #raine whispers #eda clawthorne #eda the owl lady #playlist

[jefferymaples]

Reeling in Memories: Summer Vacation Fun with Family in Myrtle Beach Fishing Charter

As the summer sun dances on the azure waves of Myrtle Beach, families seek the perfect blend of relaxation and adventure. Nestled along the picturesque South Carolina coast, Myrtle Beach offers a treasure trove of experiences for families craving quality time together. Among these, embarking on a fishing charter adventure stands out as a quintessential activity that promises not just a catch of fish but also a bounty of cherished memories.

Setting Sail:

Stepping onto the deck of a Myrtle Beach fishing charter, anticipation crackles in the salty air. Whether seasoned anglers or first-time fishers, families unite in excitement, eager to cast their lines into the depths of the Atlantic. The crew, with their weathered smiles and expert guidance, welcome aboard a diverse crew of adventurers, from young anglers armed with enthusiasm to seasoned grandparents ready to impart wisdom.

Bonding Over Bait:

On a Myrtle Beach fishing charter, every moment becomes an opportunity for bonding. As lines are cast, stories flow effortlessly, weaving a tapestry of shared experiences. Parents cheer on their children as they reel in their first catch, while siblings engage in friendly competitions to land the biggest fish. Amidst the gentle rocking of the boat, laughter rings out, mingling with the rhythmic lullaby of the ocean.

The Thrill of the Catch:

In the waters off Myrtle Beach, anticipation is rewarded with exhilaration as fish begin to bite. The thrill of feeling a tug on the line sends hearts racing and pulses quickening. From feisty flounders to majestic mahi-mahi, each catch adds a vibrant splash of color to the day's adventure. With the guidance of seasoned captains, even the most novice anglers find success, their faces lighting up with pride as they hoist their prizes for a quick photo op before releasing them back into the sea.

Exploring Nature's Bounty:

Beyond the thrill of the catch, a Myrtle Beach fishing charter offers families a front-row seat to nature's spectacle. Dolphins dance in the boat's wake, seabirds swoop and dive, and the occasional sea turtle surfaces, a silent sentinel of the deep. Against the backdrop of the sun-kissed horizon, families immerse themselves in the beauty of the natural world, fostering a deep appreciation for the delicate balance of life at sea.

Culinary Delights:

Back on dry land, the day's bounty becomes the centerpiece of a family feast. From dockside grills to local seafood restaurants, Myrtle Beach offers a tantalizing array of culinary delights sure to satisfy even the most discerning palate. With the day's adventures still fresh in their minds, families gather around the table, savoring the flavors of their freshly caught treasures and recounting the highlights of their fishing excursion.

In the heart of Myrtle Beach, amidst the sun, sea, and sand, families discover the joy of adventure and togetherness on a fishing charter expedition. From the thrill of the catch to the tranquility of nature's embrace, every moment becomes a precious memory etched in the sands of time. As the sun dips below the horizon, casting a golden glow upon the waves, families depart with hearts full and spirits lifted, already dreaming of their next Myrtle Beach fishing charter adventure.

Fishing Charters Myrtle Beach SC- Reel Salty Fishing Charters is a premier fishing guide service located to explore Myrtle Beach/Murrells Inlet South Carolina. We offer trips ranging from inshore creeks to deep sea 40 miles. Book your private fishing adventure on the stunning waters of the Myrtle Beach. We always catch a good time. Fun guaranteed!

#Fishing Charters Myrtle Beach SC