#Til I looked at my reblogs and realised

[imagine-knowing-a-name]

At Your Service

Summary: As a trainee mechanic, you apply for an apprenticeship at Stark Automotives on a whim. What you don't expect is for Tony Stark to reply personally with an offer to train you, and if that wasn't enough, a certain redhead also takes an interest in your sessions.

Word Count: 2303

Pairing: (Mentor/Mentee relationship for both) Natasha Romanoff & Reader; Tony Stark & Reader

Warning: None :)

A/N: Thanks for the response to my last fic, all the comments and reblogs kept me writing even with all my deadlines, and Mechanic!R was the clear winner of the last poll, so here you all go! Enjoy :)

»»————-　★　————-««

You rested centimetres from the cold floor with the sight of oil-covered gears, shafts, and pipes overtaking your vision as you rolled under the automotive.

"Does the axle cover come off?" you said after a short inspection.

"Yeah, those two hex screws, I'll get you the tool. You've worked out the issue?"

"It's meant to be 4-wheel drive and only the front wheels are moving; I'd guess a problem with the connector shaft meeting the rear axle."

"You'd guess or you'd know?"

"I can't know anything 'til the cover's off and I can see inside."

"Good answer," Tony replied. "Hand out."

As instructed, you stretched your arm until your fingers just about reached out from under the car chassis, where a tool handle was placed in your palm.

"One 5/8 hex screwdriver, that's the one you'll need."

"The screws are imperial?"

"'Course, kid, we're in America."

"Yeah, but you sell these cars globally; I just assumed-"

"Dear old dad set up factories all over the globe – allows for some regional differences in the schematics, then each production line just does its own thing. It's easiest for everyone."

You hummed your acceptance of his method, then started to undo the screws, until a light rock to the car paused you. The movement stopped, so you assumed it was just Tony leaning on the car and you moved to continue your work, until the hum of a motorbike -- the sound of which you'd previously ignored -- grew even louder. You jolted when the bike pulled into the garage, causing you to smack your head against the car's underbody and let out a low groan.

"Watch yourself, kid; are you alright under there?" Tony said from above. At your murmur that you were fine, he continued, "roll yourself out, there's someone for you to meet."

"Why's there someone under your car, Tony?" came a woman's voice -- the person to meet, you assumed -- "can't get under the car like the old days, hm?"

When you emerged, the bright light of the outside world temporarily blinded you; you could make out Tony's figure, and as your vision returned, you saw the newcomer's back was turned to you, so only an orange plait could be seen from under her bike helmet.

"Very funny," Tony scoffed, continuing the conversation before he pointed at you. The woman turned and you only just managed to stifle a gasp when you recognised her face. "This is an apprentice, wrote to me a couple months back asking to learn about Stark Automotives, so I've been training them since. Y/N, this is Nat. Nat, Y/N."

From the moment Tony suggested training you here, in the garage of the Avengers Compound, you knew there would be a chance of running into the rest of the team you'd spent your childhood idolising. But truthfully, you were too starstruck that Tony Stark himself had offered to train you to truly believe that moment of meeting the other Avengers would ever come.

Now here you were, facing the Natasha Romanoff, looking effortlessly cool with her white vest, jeans, and leather biker jacket...while you laid on the floor in a Stark branded boiler suit and a definite grease mark where you’d hit your head. Your cheeks burned with embarrassment when you realised that the Black Widow's first perception of you was seeing you smack into an object directly in front of your face. You only hoped the blush didn't show when you finally met her eyes.

"Good to meet you," she said cooly, holding her hand out, but her eyes tracked up and down as if sizing you up.

You took her hand instantly, about to ramble through an introduction before a slight gasp from her shook you back to attention. Your eyes snapped down to where your hands met, and you realised then that you still wore your gloves, coated with oil from working on the vehicle, and now you've smeared it all over her uncovered hand. You instantly broke away -- apologising profusely -- and grabbed sheet after sheet of blue paper roll, offering it to her to help clean her hand.

"I'm so sorry," you repeated again, but she shook her head and smiled at you.

"I've had much worse meetings. I'll happily take a little bit of grease over being shot at."

"Woah-"

"Hey, kid," Tony began. Both your head and Natasha's snap in his direction; you'd honestly forgotten he was still there. "Not to interrupt, but have you ever worked on a motorbike? I made a few modifications to Nat's, and now that she's so kindly brought it to us I can show you how they work."

"Do not lay a finger on my bike, Stark," Natasha growled in a tone that reassured you that if she had actually been angry at the grease before, you would have known.

"I won't," Tony scoffed with a roll of his eyes, "...Y/N will."

You gulped, eyes darting between the two Avengers as you were drawn into the fold. "Me? Tony I'm not sure that's-"

"It's essential learning. We don't just make fancy cars so you have to learn it all. Nat, you wouldn't deprive Y/N of this learning, would you?"

Natasha groaned, but eventually relented, crossing her arms and perching on the counter by the wall. "Okay, but I'm not leaving you alone with it. And Y/N?"

You looked up, fear probably showing on your face. Natasha smiled in return, and allowed you to see a glint of mischief in her eye, "give me a running commentary of what you do. I trust your honesty more than Stark's." She smirked at the last part, rolling her eyes as she pointed to Tony behind his back, an action for you and you alone to see. Something about it put you at ease, so you nodded, smiled back, then got to work, spending the rest of the session under the assassin's watchful eye.

»»————-　★　————-««

You watched the phone in your hand, hoping and waiting for those three little dots. Tony Stark was not a man famously known for his punctuality, but he’d been early to every lesson so far and now, ten minutes after you were due to meet, you’re starting to worry.

The worry wasn’t the lesson being cancelled so much as the worry that one of the other Avengers would walk in and accuse you of trespassing – there were still so many residents you hadn’t met, and without Tony present, you were just a stranger loitering unaccompanied in the Avengers’ garage, surely that looked suspicious. No matter the fact that you were supposed to be there and had gained authorised access with your security card, your anxieties continued to grow and grow.

Your heart rate sped up proportionately to the increasing rumble of an approaching bike. The seconds seemed to elongate when you knew there was no escape to being caught there alone. In the remaining time you had, you pulled your phone back out and, with shaking fingers, messaged Tony one more time – at least then you had proof, you kept your eyes on the device even as you felt the newcomer pull in and dismount from their motorbike.

“Let me guess, Tony didn’t tell you he’s away?” Your head snapped up at the familiar voice, face breaking into a grin as red hair broke free from under the helmet. Natasha had been showing up more and more frequently to your sessions, so her arrival was no surprise, but you were glad to have a friendly figure to justify your presence, lest anyone else appear. Natasha set her headgear to the side and hopped up onto the counter, following her usual routine; you watched her intently until you realised she was watching you too, still waiting for an answer.

"Oh, uh, yeah, no, he didn't- he didn't tell me. He's not coming?"

“He got called on a mission last night. Should be back in a few days, if all goes to plan, but I’ll have a word with him about keeping you informed.”

Her undivided attention unnerved you – Tony had always acted as a buffer before – so you fidgeted, avoided eye contact, and wondered what your next move should be. Thankfully, Natasha answered that last question for you: “It wouldn’t be right to send you home so soon,” she said, “And I am officially a Stark Industries employee still, you know, if you wanted…”

“Yes!” you exclaimed instantly, speaking before you thought. “I mean, yeah, if it’s no trouble. That would be awesome.”

“We both know I’d sit here and watch anyway.” She spoke softly and with a smile that you found yourself drawn to replicate, feeling more at ease in the spy’s presence. “Now then, I know about a lot of things but mechanics is an area where you might already have me beat, so how about something else?”

“Like what?”

“What do you want to know?” she shrugged, “Russian? Latin? Artillery? Archery? Wrestling? Weightlifting?” At your dumbstruck expression, Natasha smiled and realised she would have to make the choice for you, “how about the gym? You can impress Tony with your strength next time he makes you use that scissor jack.”

Your cheeks burn at the memory – neither Natasha nor Tony had said anything at the time, but both of them had needed to jump in and assist when you’d been unable to turn the jack enough for it to actually lift the car and fulfil its purpose. From Natasha’s warm smile, you could tell she still wasn’t mocking you for the incident, but you still nodded quickly and murmured agreement with her plan, before following her through the Compound towards the gym.

“Can I ask why you’re a Stark Industries employee?” you asked on the elevator, as a way to fill the silence and out of curiosity from her earlier words.

She laughed, “It was back in ‘09, we had to get intel on the newly revealed Iron Man, and the man behind the suit-”

“Tony-”

“Exactly. So, S.H.I.E.L.D. made some edits to the employee list, added my cover there, and I successfully infiltrated the company for as long as I needed. I only officially revealed myself at the 2010 Stark Expo – do you remember that? – and in all the chaos afterwards, they never officially took me off it.”

“I think I remember seeing it on TV – you were there?”

“I left before the explosions started, but I was around, trying to make sure as few people were in harm’s way as possible-” Natasha cut herself off as the two of you entered a space larger than any lecture hall, fitted with all sorts of workout machines – the majority of which you’d never seen in your life. “Here we are.”

“You use…all of this?”

She nodded, then paused, before pointing to a section in the corner where the machine structures and weights seem almost treble that of the current area. “That section’s for Steve, or Thor if he ever bothered to train. Us regular humans wouldn't move it an inch if we tried to use those machines.”

Natasha smirked and shook her head again, guiding you towards one of the regular machines: a chest pad adjusted to press against your front as you sat on the stool, while Natasha adjusted the weight and pulled the two handles back for you to grab them. With the position set, you looked up to her for advice,

“Pull the handles towards your chest and push them back to neutral, it'll work out your upper arms. That's where a mechanic will need strength the most, so aim for 10 repeats.”

Natasha watched carefully, adjusting your posture where needed, until you completed the set. You broke into a grin at the realisation that you'd managed it, one which Natasha happily replicated as she held her hands up for a high fives. “You'll be a pro in no time,” she promised, “ready to increase the load?”

The rest of the session continued in much the same manner – Natasha introduced you to different bits of equipment and perfected your form until your phone buzzed with a routine alert to mark the end of a session. 

Natasha accompanied you to the door, smiling, receiving, and occasionally rebuking the many thanks you bombarded her with for stepping up. “It was truly my pleasure,” she said at last, “I'll make sure Tony is back next week, but if you want to do this again, you have my number.”

She squeezed your shoulder, turned, and began to walk back inside – all before you came to the realisation: “I don't actually have your number!” you shouted after her. Natasha didn't respond, but when you checked your phone only seconds later, a message had appeared in your notifications.

‘Yes you do :) 

-N’

She really was some spy.

»»————-　★　————-««

Everything changed from then on: you walked in to Tony and Natasha arguing a week later, their sudden pause at your presence a very good indicator that they were discussing you, something they confirmed only moments later.

Next thing you knew, both Tony and Natasha had taken you on as their mentee, a session with each of them once a week, and neither of them wanted you to leave. Your apprenticeship was extended into the next academic year, where you moved even closer to the Avengers Compound to visit them more often, the two Avengers – not to mention the others they'd introduced you to – always making sure you were well cared for whenever you visited. Eventually, Tony even offered you a full-time job post-graduation as the Avengers' official mechanic, and who were you to refuse? You loved the work just as you loved spending time with your mentors, so you could think of no better job in the world.

»»————-　★　————-««

taglist: @canvascoloredin @fxckmiup @wizardofstories

#natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff & reader #natasha romanoff & y/n #natasha romanoff & you #tony stark #tony stark & reader #tony stark & y/n #tony stark & you #ikan writes #self insert fanfiction #reader insert #marvel #fanfiction #natasha romanoff fluff

[little-diable]

There's just something about you – Professor!Austin Butler (smut)

Well well well, ofc I {as somebody who has a massive prof!crush} had to give in and write this. I think this has potential for a part 2, so please tell me how you feel about that. Please like and reblog if you enjoyed reading this, your comments keep us writers motivated! Enjoy my loves. xxx

Summary: The reader works as Professor Butler's teaching assistant. The two are about to take a trip with his class when she gets sick. While staying with him for the weekend the two finally give in to the pull keeping them chained together.

Warnings: 18+, smut, piv, oral (f), professor x TA relationship, quite fluffy

Pairing: prof!Austin Butler x fem!TA!reader (3k words)

picture credit to the original owner

“Alright, listen up!“ Professor Butler’s voice echoed through the room. His words were followed by instant silence, forcing all eyes towards the handsome professor. She stood close to him, not enough to feel his body heat clashing against her, though just enough to hyperfocus on the scent of his expensive cologne – a scent she’d always pick up on, no matter where she was at.

“As you all know, we’re leaving for our trip next week. (Y/n) was kind enough to take over the bookings, but we need you to find one or two people to share a room with. Please send (y/n) an email til Monday, so we can avoid any confusion when we check in. If you have any further questions about the trip or concerns, feel free to reach out to one of us.”

She had joined the faculty as Professor Butler’s PhD candidate and teaching assistant a while ago, slowly having to adjust to being around a man like him. At first, (y/n) had struggled to focus, fighting against the urge to stare at him at any given chance, but slowly she had gotten more and more relaxed around him, actually getting to enjoy her interactions with the young professor. 

“Please don’t forget your homework, alright? I’ll see you all next week.” The room was filled with loud noises as he ended the class, forcing the students to their feet and out into the hallway. (Y/n) busied herself with his notes, rechecking them before she allowed her gaze to find his bright eyes. “You did good today, (y/n), if you feel comfortable enough you can gladly do next week’s class on your own.” 

“I don’t think I feel ready to do this without you yet.” His big hand found her shoulder, leaving her torn between focusing on the feeling of his thumb softly stroking the fabric of her blouse, and the intense eye contact he now held with her. For a second, neither of them spoke, leaving (y/n) to wonder what he was thinking about. 

“Alright, but you’re by far better than me at catching their attention, I hope one day you’ll realise that.” Professor Butler’s raspy chuckle had an addicting effect to it, leaving her to avert her gaze as he took a step away from her. “Chinese takeout while we grade the essays?” 

……

She woke with a pained whine as her hand reached for her phone, trying to read the time. It was Saturday morning, two days before they’d go on their short trip, but her body was clearly fighting against all plans, making her suffer from a sore throat and a blocked nose. Curses wanted to claw through her, cursing fate for pushing her into her misery. 

(Y/n) had been looking forward to the trip for a while, excited about spending some more time with Professor Butler outside of his office and the room he was teaching in. Secretly she had hoped for some more calmer moments where they could go back to sharing information about one another that had nothing to do with their research or their university work. Hopes that were now evaporating into nothing but cold air. 

For a moment, (y/n) pondered over her choices, but her fingers had already started to move before her mind could protest, opening the email app. With a few quick words she sent her professor a small warning, telling him that she was sick and would most likely not be able to join on Monday. She felt pathetic for the wave of hurt and exhaustion flushing through her, leaving her trembling body to search the warmth of her bed. 

It didn’t take long for her phone to go off, forcing her glassy eyes to read his reply. Simple words told her to give him a call with his added number to the email. Perhaps it was the fault of her cold, perhaps it was the fault of her hazy thoughts, whatever it was, it stopped (y/n) from overthinking, clicking on the number before her anxiety could get the best of her. 

“Morning, (y/n).” His raspy voice shot shudders down her spine, momentarily letting her eyes flutter close. She repeated the greeting while internally cringing at the raspy sound of her voice. “Oh sweetheart, you sound horrible.”

Heat rose to her face at the pet name, having to forcefully stop herself from gasping. She could only let go of a hum, not trusting herself to speak coherent words he could easily pick up on. 

“Are you still living alone?” A while ago (y/n) had told him about her struggles to find a roommate, unsure who to pick as she had high priorities she didn’t want to let go of. Once again she hummed, wondering where he was taking this conversation. “Alright, I want you to pack a bag. I’ll pick you up in a few, you’re spending the weekend with me, I can’t go on that trip without you. We’ll get you back to your healthy self in no time.”

“Professor,” she sat up as she tried to protest, having to drown out the sinful thoughts instantly flushing through her mind. “I don’t want to take up any of your space, and you could also get sick. I’ll be alright here, don’t worry.”

“No, you’re staying with me. I won’t accept any protests, (y/n). What’s your address?”

It hadn’t taken long for them to end the call, for her to take a quick shower and to pack a bag. Her heart kept racing in her chest, urging her to move, to be smart about the things she packed. She barely got any time to overthink as he had arrived at her place rather quickly, but now as she was sitting on his couch, wrapped in a blanket, (y/n)’s thoughts finally caught up with her. 

Austin – as he had asked her to call him – was all too gentle with her, tending to her every need with worry tugging on his features. (Y/n) could only guess that she looked as horrible as she felt, tired eyes barely managing to stay open, and yet she didn’t want to miss a thing, cherishing the chance to be so close to him. 

“How about we watch a movie before I make some soup, huh?” Austin plopped down next to her, tugging on her legs to place them in his lap. (Y/n) allowed herself to study him for a few seconds, his blonde hair had that slightly unruly touch to it, blue eyes focusing on his TV. He wore a simple white shirt that perfectly stuck to his muscles, paired with blue jeans that gave him a different touch to the version of him who always wore suits in class. 

“Sure, I’m good with whatever.” He shot her a quick smile that left her trembling, having to calm her racing heart with her grasp on the blanket growing stronger. She barely managed to pay the opening sequence of the movie any attention, getting lost in her thoughts as his thumb stroked the soft skin of her ankle, holding onto her as if he was scared she could slip right through his fingers. 

For the first time in years, she felt an unfamiliar kind of safety wrapping itself around her, clinging to her like a second skin made to protect her, to cherish her, to perhaps even love her. 

……

Quiet steps carried her towards the big kitchen, engulfed in darkness as (y/n) started the kettle, hoping that another cup of tea could finally lull her to sleep. She was too deep in thought to notice his approaching figure, leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed in front of his naked chest. 

“You alright, sweetheart?” (Y/n) jumped at the sound of his raspy voice, pressing her hand to her chest as she turned towards him. A laugh clawed through Austin, guiding him closer to her with slow steps. “Sorry, I didn’t want to scare you.” 

(Y/n) had to turn from him, trying to focus on the almost boiling water as he came to a halt behind her, reaching for another cup. His naked upper body was pressed against her back, one of his arms found its way around her waist to keep her close to him. Goosebumps covered her limbs, silently whispering to her, guiding her hand to find his. 

No words were spoken between the two as she poured the hot water into the big cups while Austin reached for the teabags. He loosened his hold on her as if he was begging her to turn around, to get lost in the bright eyes that reminded her of warm summer mornings spent at the beach, getting lost in daydreams that felt more real than memories of things she had lived through. Her body urged her to move, to lean against the counter with her eyes finding his features, wandering over his handsome face. 

“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours, (y/n)?” She didn’t trust her voice, knowing that she’d most likely make a fool of herself, but the two hands finding her waist, keeping her caged between his tall frame and the counter, encouraged her to part her lips. (Y/n)’s eyes focused on his neck, on the golden necklace he wore, dangling from his neck like a pendulum about to give her a glimpse into her future. 

“I,” a shaky exhale left (y/n), trusting her mind and heart to guide her. “I keep thinking about how comfortable I feel here. Thank you for letting me stay with you, Austin.” 

She expected him to shoot her his signature smile, to pull away from her to reach for his cup. But he kept close to her, hand slowly moving up to her face, cupping her cold cheek. He forced her to look up at him, making her breath hitch in her chest as she watched his gaze flicker between her eyes and her lips. 

“I tried to stay away from you, but you’re not making it easy for me, sweetheart.” (Y/n) got no chance to reply, silenced by the feeling of his lips finding hers. Ever since she had joined his team, (y/n) had imagined this very moment, wondering how his lips would feel pressed against hers, how he’d hold onto her as they got lost in their kiss. But this was so very different to all these daydreams, more intense, more exciting even. With his hands finding the back of her thighs, he helped her onto the counter, allowing himself to stand between her thighs as they kept kissing. 

“Now you’re definitely getting sick for sure,” (y/n) mumbled the words against his lips as they parted to catch their breaths. Austin’s raspy laugh echoed through the kitchen, bright eyes burning her skin as if she was caught in a wildfire, about to burn to the ground. 

“For you I’ll gladly take on the struggles of being sick.” His words left her heart roaring, lips finding his once again. Their tongues met in a teeth clashing kiss, wordlessly managing to communicate their longing, the desperate need they had fought against these past months. “I need you to be honest with me, do you want this? I don’t want to pressure you, sweetheart.”

“Take me to bed, professor.” (Y/n)’s smirk grew wider as his pupils dilated, picking her up without another warning. She had her legs wrapped around him, face buried in the crook of his neck. Within seconds they found themselves in Austin’s bedroom, he didn’t give her much time to take in the big room, the pictures gracing the walls, fully focused on him as he pressed her down on the mattress. 

Austin kissed his way down her throat as if he was following the trail of a treasure hunt, high on the adrenaline of the search. (Y/n) trembled beneath him while her fingers tugged on the hairs at the nape of his neck before moving down to his muscular shoulders. Somehow it felt as if they had done this numerous times before, knowing exactly how and where to touch one another. 

He parted from her to pull her shirt over her head, focus instantly drawn to her naked chest. The way Austin was staring at her made (y/n) feel as if he was marvelling at a masterpiece, a creation of old times the human mind barely managed to understand. Carefully he cupped her breasts, groaning at the feeling of her soft skin pressing against his. They held eye contact as he brought his lips back to her skin, sucking on both nipples before kissing his way down her stomach. 

“Austin,” (y/n) choked on his name, begging him to keep on moving, to touch her where she needed him the most. 

“Talk to me, sweetheart, what do you want?” His voice grew lower with every spoken syllable, pushing heat down to her core. She felt her walls clench around nothing, begging him to finally fuck her. 

“You, all of you. Please, I need you so badly.” Without speaking another word, he ripped her panties from her hips, letting his fingers explore her arousal-covered folds. His name rolled off her tongue, she arched her back at the careful touches, trying to shuffle even closer. Austin could do whatever he wanted to her at that very moment, she was putty in his hands, his to toy with, his to use for his own pleasure. Whatever he wanted, she’d do it, if he kept on touching her like this. 

“Will you let me taste you? I’ve been wanting to do this for a while.” (Y/n) could only nod her head, letting go of a breathless gasp the second his rough tongue brushed through her folds. Austin moaned at her taste, he wrapped one arm around her thigh, keeping her pressed to him while the other hand found her clit, rubbing the bundle of nerves with his fingers. Within the first seconds of him touching her, (y/n) had known that she wouldn’t be able to hold on for long, overstimulated by his touches. 

No longer could she spare her hurting throat any attention, no longer did she struggle to breathe on, all she could do was focus on him, on the way he dipped his tongue into her tightness, how he added more speed to his movements, pushing her closer and closer to the edge.

“You taste so sweet, I could stay like that forever, if you’ll let me.” She moaned at his praise, fingernails scratching at his skin to try and hold on. Her legs were trembling from the strength she used to curl her toes, unsure how much longer she could stop herself from giving in to an intense orgasm. 

“It’s alright, cum for me, show me how pretty you look when you cum for me.” Austin’s words pushed her into the open arms of her orgasm, calling out his name as he kept circling her clit with a smirk glued to his lips. He watched her every move, every micro-expression he could pick up on, fully mesmerised by the beautiful woman he had wanted to pull closer for months. 

“Oh god,” (y/n) panted the words, drawing gleeful chuckles from Austin as he let go of her. Her glassy eyes watched him undress, gaze wandering down his muscular upper body, past his six-pack to his sweatpants. His cock sprang free as he stepped out of his clothes, a sight that pushed heat straight down to her cunt, needing to feel him buried inside of her. “I need you to fuck me now, I can’t wait any longer, Austin.”

“Mhm, such a desperate girl, we should teach you some patience one day.” He reached for a condom, rolled it down his cock and positioned himself between her thighs. With her hand finding the back of his neck, (y/n) pulled him back down for a kiss, distracting herself from the slight pain as he pushed into her, having to adjust to his size. For a second, they held still, clinging to one another to let go of a few deep exhales, fingers interlaced to try and keep themselves grounded. 

“Move, please, professor.” Austin let go of a growl at the use of the title, building a comfortable rhythm that allowed one another to get used to the sensation. He was careful with her, not daring to hurt her when she was still sick, not fully able to guide her body. But the blissful expression tugging on her features was enough to calm his racing heart, finding enjoyment in the way she clung to him, how she seemingly felt the same pull he did.

They were a mess of tangled limbs, of moans blurring together, of hearts beating in sync, a match so perfect neither of them wanted to break out of their very own bubble. Their bodies met with every thrust, bringing them closer and closer together, while their eyes found back together. 

“My pretty girl, I don’t want to let you go again.” He murmured the words against her lips, luring a soft chuckle out of (y/n). 

“Don’t let me go, don’t you dare.” Her head rolled back as his cock nudged her swollen spot, leaving him grinning in success. Austin kept staring down at her, trying to burn every passing second into his mind, praying that he won’t ever forget about this night. 

“Touch yourself, make yourself cum on my cock, sweetheart.” With a gasp leaving her, her fingers found her pulsing clit, moving quickly to give her the needed push. He fucked her through her second orgasm, letting go himself as she relaxed beneath him. 

Austin clung to her as they both tried to catch their breaths, only parting as they managed to break through the hazy fog wrapping itself around the two lovers. He threw away the condom before he returned to her, cupping her now warm cheek to pull her in for another kiss. 

“How about a bath?” She could only nod as he picked her up and carried her into his bathroom, while making the silent promise to cherish her for as long as she’ll let him.

#Austin Butler smut #Austin Butler x reader #professor fic #Austin Butler imagine #professor crush

[totally-bogus-timelady]

18+ only!! Oneshot fwb!Steve Harrington x Fem!reader

A/N this is my first fic on tumblr. Had a concept so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I'm hoping to make this into a series at some point, but I'll see how it's received first. Comments and reblogs are appreciated, I'd love to know what you guys think.

Warnings: Pure smut, filth but kinda sweet. It's fwb!Steve what'd you expect 🤷🏼‍♀️

P.s: If I have used your gif and you'd like me to either take it down or give credit, please let me know as I have so many Steve/Eddie gifs saved and I have no idea where they originally came from 😅💕

Your hand runs slowly up his abdomen, feeling the taught muscles there tensing up in anticipation of what you're about to do. You scratch lightly through his chest hair as he pushes you slightly deeper into the mattress. His mattress that you've been on now more times than you can count. He buries his head into your neck, lightly kissing a path up to your jaw and then lifts his head, big brown eyes deeply searching yours as he hikes your leg higher on his hip and gently squeezes your thigh.

"You ready for me?" Steve asks. In a second your other leg grips over his hip and you push, flipping you both over. You smirk, Steve now under you gawking up in surprise, mouth ajar and lashes fluttering in that beautifully dumbstruck expression that only Steve could make look so pretty.

"Question is pretty boy, are you ready for me?" You tease your hips, grinding ever so gently against his hardening erection.

Steve makes a small gasping sound before quickly recovering from your ministrations. "You think I'm pretty?" He smirks coyly at you and starts to cant up into your gentle grinding, filling you both with pleasure and anticipation. You lean forward and start to mouth at his chest, sucking and kissing, leaving marks that only you get to see. A deep, loud groan resounds from deep within his chest. You move up to that spot between his shoulder and his neck and start to suckle at it, nipping and licking to soothe your hard work as Steve moans in utter bliss, the sound hitting your ear and wetting between your own legs even more.

Your hand slides down through the hair on his chest, teasing along the trail, past his bellybutton and finally reaches his firm cock. You palm at it as Steve's moans climb higher up the rungs of pleasure. You sit back a little, still palming at him and look at his half lidded, blissed out eye's.

"Now I do," You snicker.

"Oh god... Please... y/n, please."

You kiss up his chest again til you reach his jaw, giving it a small peck before you look into the dark, lust-filled hazel of his eyes. Your free hand threads itself into Steve's hair, other hand now moving faster over his pulsing cock. You tug gently at his thick, dark locks. Steve breathes your name against your lips as his hands travel underneath the shirt you slept in. He realises now that it's actually one of his shirts. He's not sure why but this makes him smile into your kiss.

"What're you grinning about Dingus?"

Steve looks up at you, your hand slowing slightly over his boxers. "Nothing, I'm just... I'm glad that we do this. You know, it's nice to have someone to just... blow off some steam with. Someone that you trust and... Well, you know what I mean."

You smile sweetly at your friend. Steve Harrington. The guy who you now struggle to think of not being in your life like this. Steve who you've now been under, on top of, wrapped around in the most intimate of ways. All the ways that you never got to be with Eddie.

Eddie.

Your heart stutters for a moment as you realise you haven't thought about Eddie much lately. A surge of guilt pulses through you as your smile drops, just a little. Eddie's not here anymore. Steve is. Steve's here, hot and all consuming and gazing into your eyes waiting for some kind of response. You decide that you won't let your grief ruin this moment for either of you.

"I'm glad that we do this too," You whisper. "Your a good friend Steve."

Steve's smile falters, unsure as to why those words bother him. But then your hand quickens it's pace again and the moments gone.

Steve becomes a moaning mess, grinding into your hand, hushed praises falling from his lips.

It's then that you hear footsteps through the open window of Steve's bedroom. Deciding to ignore it you pull at the band of his boxers and delicately slide your hand in, using the precum dribbling out of his angry tip to lube up the rest of his shaft. You stroke up and down, twisting your hand a little as you go. The only sounds in the room now being the 'shlick' of your hand on his cock and Steve's pathetic whimpers.

"Oh," He pants. "Oh, god. Y/N! Ugh."

His hands grip your hips again as you begin kissing and sucking at his chest.

Suddenly a loud 'Bang, Bang Bang' sounds against Steve's front door followed by the sound of Robin's voice.

"Hey, Steve! You almost ready to go?"

It's then that you look across at the clock on Steve's bedside table and realise that the three of you have thirty minutes to get to your Saturday morning shift at Family Video.

Steve's eyes widen as he looks down at you in panic after hearing Robin's voice.

"Oh Shit," You whisper against Steve's chest. "Sorry big boy, looks like it's gonna have to just be a quickie for now."

"Wha- OH! OH FUCK YES!" His fingers bruise into your side as his grip on you tightens. Your hand griping him tighter, working faster, harder on his leaking shaft.

"Shhh! Do you want Robin to hear you?" You whisper, now back at his lips.

"Hey Dingus! You coming or what!" Robin shouts again. You and Steve share a small chuckle at the pun your friend has unwittingly made.

Steve turns his head and calls out, "I'll be there in a minute Robin!" Then he turns back to you, his hips now thrusting into your hand, chasing his high now that he has to be quick anyway.

You brush his hair back with the hand not already occupied with his throbbing, hot cock. You can tell he's getting close, his movements getting sloppier. You lean in to kiss him, tongues tangling together. Hand still running softly through his hair, you lean back and whisper to him.

"Well Harrington? You heard her, you Cumming or what?"

His hips stutter as his load spills over into your hand. Steve's jaw clenches as his mouth is screwed shut tight. Aware that he can't make too much noise, Steve let's out a series of the most beautifully pathetic whimpers you think you've ever heard.

You stare at the pure euphoria in his eyes, his lips parted and realise that he's still cumming. You look down to see his cock still spurting out thick loads of white hot cum. Pouring out of the tip and making a creamy lake on his belly. It continues to throb and leak until finally, he goes soft in your hand and Steve, thoroughly spent, sighs in relief, sits up a little and looks down at the mess you've made of him.

His eyes go wide.

"Oh my god, was that all me?"

You laugh, "Yup," You look at his belly, "Well, I haven't had breakfast yet."

Steve looks at you puzzled, "Wha-" he's stopped by the sight of you licking and slurping up his cum and he whimpers again. You lick your tongue up his cock and fit the whole shaft into your mouth, cleansing him of his own cum. His cock jolts in your mouth in overstimulation and leaks a tiny bead as you pop off of him with one last lick at the salty droplet.

"STEVE! We have twenty-three minutes til work, what's taking you so long!" Robin shouts from outside again.

"Oh shit, I forgot she was there," Steve sighs.

You laugh at his expression, "Look, you go and clean yourself up, I'll get dressed, tell Robin your in the shower and that you'll meet us in the car."

"But what about-"

"If anyone asks, we watched a movie last night and I fell asleep before you could drive me home okay?"

Steve breathes a sigh of relief at your brief but not unusual explanation as to why you would've spent the night here.

"Okay, I'll meet you guys in the car in ten. Its a good job FV isn't a long drive," Steve huffs out a laugh. He looks over at you, now standing up from his bed, still wearing his shirt, your hair tousled from last nights and this mornings activities. "Hey," He leans into you, "I'll pay you back for this morning later, don't think I didn't notice that you didn't get yours."

Steve winks, gives you a short kiss on the lips and sends a quick slap to your arse as he heads towards his en-suite.

You stand there, heart thumping in your chest and slightly stunned at how quickly Steve had managed to have you blushing after the mess you'd made of him only minutes ago. But before you could dwell on it much longer you hear Robin hollering again.

"Seriously Steve! Are you masturbating or something! What's taking you so long?!"

Slipping on your own clothes over one of Steve's tighter fitted pairs of boxers, you go downstairs and prepare yourself to face Robin.

#stranger things #steve harrington #steve harrington masterlist #fwb steve harrington #fwb steve #family video steve #st4 #post season 4 #steve harrington x fem!reader #steve harrington x you #steve harrington fic #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington smut #smut

[shininglikeyoursmile]

My favourite melody

Pairing: Lloyd Hansen x female reader

Word count: around 500

Summary : Lloyd realises how far he'd fallen for you and he doesn't wish to stop it anytime soon maybe never.(This is from his pov)

Warning: Soft Lloyd, 😌, feels ,🥺. Fluff!!!!!🥰😊😇 . As always no minors. 18+ only.

A/n: WHY HE'S FICTIONAL! 😭😭😭. I want my own llyod to take care of me . Liiiike please🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺. I just love him 🥹🥹🥹

There is no actual description of reader. No use of y/n.

All mistakes are my own. No beta read. ❤️❤️❤️❤️

As always my beloved, comments, feedback and reblog are SO MUCH APPRECIATED!!!!! please leave some feedback!!!!!🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩

Lots of love! ❤️

Lloyd POV:

I used to think the world revolved around me until she came storming in my life ,and for once I wasn't complaining.

The realisation hit me after a while, that my world revolved around her. She sets my soul on fire and the warmth soothes the very reason of my being. I don't want the fire to ever be put out because it makes me feel alive. I trace my fingertips along her cheek and it's more than enough that she's in my arms . More than anything it's enough for me, for a lifetime but maybe I am greedy and I want her for eternity. Her sleeping form moves closer to seek more of my warmth and my heart feels like it can burst out of my chest at the next second but instead it beats so hard that it makes a melody which my ears only hear. I love her and God, I love her. "I've never asked for anything, Cupcake. But for you," he leans down and his lips dance along your forehead "for you I will beg to God." . He lets the words hang in the air. It's like a warm blanket settled over his cold heart. A heart he used to think which can't love. But then there are you making him feel every single thing. His hand seetles on your waist and he pulls you closer and you let out a sigh of contentment. His words from earlier echo in his head and he feels the reality of how far he has fallen for you. His Cupcake. He tilts your chin to get a better look at your sleeping face. My sunshine " he whispers and his lips brush along your jaw . His gaze moves to your close eyes and he thinks, the colour of your eyes is his favourite and he makes a promise to himself to keep it like that till his last breath and for eternity if that's what is waiting for you both. "I want you in a way I can't explain Sunshine. But let me try to explain it"he sighs and his lips turn in a grin"If someone asked me to choose between the world and you, and I had two chances , i will choose you twice so the world better know you are mine and I am yours' ' . The evening is turning colder ,he notices as he gazes at the window . "I will choose your warmth if everything I've achieved is winter "he continues ,"I need you more than air ."

"Lloyd " your sleepy voice makes his eyes meet yours "yeah, sunshine?" He replies with a smile. "I am sleepy" you say in a baby-like tone and he smiles, genuinely smiles. A type of smile which makes his eyes twinkle in the dark night. "And nothing is stopping you from sleeping more " he says in a soft tone and then you are back to sleep. It's like his presence has that calming effect on your soul which makes you fall asleep easily and moreover fall in love with him. He pulls up the warm blanket more til it's touching your chin and that's the last thing you both remember when the deep slumber of sleep pulls you in a sea of dreams. And for the nth time he isn't complaining.

**

Aggghh my heart 🥺🥺🥺🥹🥹🥹🥹🥹

#lloyd hansen #the gray man #lloyd hansen x reader #lloyd hansen x you #lloyd hansen x fic #lloyd hansen x female reader #Lloyd hansen x gn reader #chris evans fanfiction #lloyd hansen fluff #chris evans characters #chris evans character x reader #chris evans character fanfiction #pearl posts #chris evans fandom

[kykyluvrr]

Hi!

I don't know if your taking requests like this, but I'd love to read some Kylian Mbappe x reader smut. Maybe readers first time? 🙈

↻ K. MBAPPÉ ...

✽ content: first time with kylian (SMUT), unprotected sex cause i forgot to add the condom into the story, my first time writing smut

✽ pairing(s): kylian mbappé x reader

✽ a/n: so so sorry for the delay i was sick asf but im feeling better, i was like half asleep while writing this so if you see some crazy grammar/spelling error, no you didn't anyways thank you sm for all reblogs and likes and follows you guys are the sweetest im working on other requests too, ill try to upload daily OKOK enjoyyyy,,,♡

first time with kylian.

you two had just arrived home from a fancy restaurant. kylian had been acting weird ever since he saw you in the pretty white dress you wore to the restaurant. he had been staring at you, and spaced out while looking at you. he confessed that he admired how the dress looked on your body, but truth is, he had other thoughts in mind…

“kylian!” you said. trying to wake him up into reality, he had spaced out again while looking at you. he snapped back into reality and looked at you confusingly then slightly smiled. “sorry, you are absolutely stunning” he stated while looking away, scratching his neck.

you both had dinner and it was getting late, so kylian suggested to drive home so that you guys could wake up early tomorrow. you agreed on it and with that you both were on the way home.

you and your boyfriend arrived to the hotel and he opened the hotel room door for you, you thanked him and walked inside, him following you from behind. “i’ll go take a shower” he said and immediately went to the bathroom. you found it so cute, was he nervous? he had been acting so strange in an adorable way.

you walked to the master bedroom you had with kylian and started changing clothes to a red silk set, consisting a red shirt and a pair of red shorts, you removed your makeup, applied your skin care and threw yourself with your phone on to the bed, waiting for kylian to finish using the bathroom so you could brush your teeth.

you were relaxing and scrolling through your phone til you could hear the door open. your eyes turned to the door and out you saw a steam, but no one there.

“kyky?”

no answer.

your eyebrows furrowed. what was up with kylian today? you rose up from the bed and walked into the steamy bathroom. you could smell the scent of kylian’s shampoo. and so you saw kylian applying lotion on his body.

“why didn’t you answer when i called your name? is everything alright baby?” you asked concern in your voice. he snapped into reality once again. “im sorry, i didn’t hear you” he stated, looking at you with his brown gentle puppy eyes.

you just slowly nodded. you were NOT focused on what he had to say, only thing you could see was the tall, muscular, toned body he had with just a white towel wrapped around his waist. water dripping around his abs. you had an unknown feeling in your stomach, but you liked it.

kylian smirked. “like what you see?” he said teasingly. you realised what you were doing immediately started blushing, while covering your face with your hands. “oh my god” you whispered to yourself. you walked out of the bathroom and into the bedroom. “tell me when you’re done using the bathroom” you half-yelled. kylian laughed and gave you an “okay”

he had finished his night routine and walked to you and threw himself onto the bed, right next to you. “can we cuddle?” he asked, and you nodded. you were laying on his chest, still using your phone. he was watching your phone too. he became touchy and placed his hand on your waist, rubbing it. he brushed his nose against your neck and gave you a few kisses. still no reaction from you.

kylian wasn’t having it. “not this type of cuddling mon amour, i want kisses” he stated, you felt butterflies in your stomach. teasing him was entertaining, especially when he was being so needy. you turned off your phone and looked at him with a smile.

“what are you thinking about?” you asked him. he just shook his head. “we are thinking about the same thing, aren’t we?” he asked. he kept looking up and down, from your lips to your eyes as he spoke.

“are we though?” you asked him, tease in your tone. you smirked. “you’re teasing me, i know you are” he said with annoyance in his voice. he let out a sigh. you loved teasing kylian, especially when he was being needy.

he then gave you a quick peck on your cheek. “goodnight mon amour” he said and turned around, covering himself with a blanket.

you wouldn’t let him sleep though. you and him were thinking about the exact thing, you were just teasing him.

“turn over to my side baby” you ordered and he did, looking at you with confuse. that’s when you immediately smashed your lips onto his sofy lips. you could feel his lips forming a smile which made you smile too. this kiss was not like every other kisses. he kissed you gently and kind, yet hungrily and filled with lust.

he sat up and he instantly placed his hands all over your body, worshipping every centimetre of yours. you both had been waiting for this moment.

he then suddenly broke the kiss, leaving you confused. you were looking into his brown eyes, that were now filled with lust. “what do you want to do?” he asked you which caught you by surprise.

you were unable to speak, thousands of butterflies flying around your organs. feeling joy rush through your blood.

“talk to me mon amour, use your words”

there was something in that sentence that was so hot, making you even more unable to speak. you felt nervous around him.

“i want you. i need you, kylian”

was all you could say and oh boy was that more than enough for him. he smirked, and that’s when you realised you and him were going to have a long night.

he somehow flipped you into another position. you were now sitting on his lap. he placed his hands around your waist, squeezing you lightly. you then kissed him, wrapping your arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

with his hands he started grinding your butt on his dick, which made him leave a light moan into your mouth. the kisses got more sloppier and more wet, you both were so needy for each other it’s crazy.

he then, then moved his hands to your breats, massaging them while kissing. you were grinding on him by your own. everything felt so good, this was your first time being so intimate with someone and you were more than happy that it was with kylian.

“i need to be inside you right now, i can’t wait anymore”

you smiled at his words, you nodded and started stripping off your clothes. as the last piece off of you dropped to the floor, you covered up, feeling extremely shy.

“don’t cover up, i have never seen such a gorgeous woman as you” with a husky voice that drove you crazy. you helped him slid off his shorts and then slid off his shirt, throwing it against the wall.

“are you sure about this? it’s your first time and i want to make it special for you-“

was all kylian could say before you pressed your lips against his lips. “i’m more than ready baby, im so grateful that you could wait til i was ready, i love you so much” you said and he smiled before kissing you. “i love you too” he whispered.

he flipped you over again, making you lay on the bed, he was kneeling infront of you and that’s when you realised how massive he was. so, you gasped.

he looked at you quickly with concern. “kylian you’re gigantic! im going to break” you said and his face faded into a smile, a nervous one. “don’t say stuff like that..” he said shyly.

kylian slid a finger between your folds and you grabbed the sheet instantly, the way his warm finger connected to your womanhood was a feeling you had never felt before.

“you’re so wet, mon amour” he said in a low tone. “please, i need you right now” you begged. kylian was enjoying it to 100%. you begging for him made his dick twitch. you both needed each other.

kylian grabbed his dick and positioned himself right in front of you, he used his dick to slide down to the shape of you womanhood, causing small moans leaving your mouth. you were so done with the teasing, but before you knew it,,,

kylian very slowly slid down his dick into the tight walls of yours, causing both of you quickly close your eyes and the sound of groans filling the room. you could hear kylian saying something in french but you didn’t know what he was saying.

kylian of course didn’t slid his whole dick into you. he knew it was your first time so he wanted to be gentle and caring. “are you okay? does it hurt?” he asked, making sure you’re comfortable.

“im good, you’re so big kyky, it doesn’t hurt but it stings a bit” you explained. he nodded, “it’s okay, i’ll wait for you to adjust” he stated and began kissing your neck, leaving a few lovebites. you loved having him on top, all you could see was his chest and abs and his red tinted face, the whole package. you loved it beneath him. you loved how he always wanted to make sure you’re comfortable around him and he makes you feel like a princess every time. you wrapped your arms around his neck once again and let him kiss and suck on your neck.

“can i?”

he asked, and you nodded. he started to thrust very lightly, always making sure you’re okay. he kept showering you with kisses to make you feel comfortable while he was enjoying the pleasure. he loved the noises you left, it was like music to his ears, and because it was his first time hearing you like this as well.

he could feel himself get closer to climax, but he absolutely didn’t wanna come before you, so he held it in and kept going, making sure you felt good too, and so you did. 

“you're mine, only mine”

was what he said in french while looking at your pretty face, you both enjoying the moment. he started thrusting deeper and faster and you could feel a clump forming into your stomach. 

“baby i think im-” was all you said before he interrupted you. 

“you finish first, i'll finish right after” he said between moans. you felt your lower belly tighten. your back arched automatically and with the deep and fast thrusts you received from your boyfriend, you came, you came so hard you were seeing stars, with a loud “kylian!!” escaping your mouth, your nails dug onto the bedsheet.  

he kept going and then quickly took his dick out and finished on your stomach. you felt warm seed spreading on your belly. kylian fell onto the bed right next to you, you both panting out loud.

“that was-” you said but kylian interrupted you again. 

“i love you so much mon amour. no one has ever made feel this way. you're my bestfriend, lover, girlfriend, and soon to be wife” he said while wrapping his arms around your neck. “i love you too kyky” was all you could say to his kind and warming words. you both were laying like that for a while but not too soon, kylian rose up. 

“let's wash up and head to sleep so that we can get enough sleep for round 2 tomorrow morning,” he said with a smirk,,,♡

#kyky #kmbappe #kylian imagines #kylianmbappe #kylian mbappe #kylian mbappe psg #kylian psg #football x reader #football one shot #kylian mbappe x you #kylian mbappe fanfic #you x kylian

[late-to-the-party-81]

Meet, Greet, Indiscreet - Chapter 1

AN: I’m back again trying to shoe-horn in a few more bingo fills before the end of the month, so I have a three part Shrunkyclunks for you. Thanks to @endlesstwanted who had to deal with my tired brain not aligning my tenses when they were beta-ing.

Likes are loved, reblogs are golden.

Mood board by me and dividers by @firefly-graphics

Join my tag list here

Master list | Stucky Bingo Master List | SRB Master list

Summary: When Captain America, Steve Rogers, and his boyfriend, YouTuber Bucky Barnes’ private relationship gets accidentally made public, they end up being interviewed about the romance between them as part of the PR repair. How did these two love-birds meet, and what happened to make hot gossip for the media?

Relationships: Modern Bucky Barnes x Cap! Steve Rogers

WC: 2.3k

CW: Modern Bucky Barnes, Cap! Steve Rogers, Anxiety, Fluff, TV Interview, Flashback, Canon typical violence, meet cute/ugly, flirting, flirting at an inappropriate time, brief non-consensual kiss.

Bingo Fills and Challenges

Stucky Bingo- Flashbacks

Steve Rogers Bingo - Battle of New York

The lights were shining bright and hot on his face and the buzz of people moving around was loud in his ears. Steve sucked in a deep breath. He could do this, he had been in front of the cameras numerous times. However, this was different. On all of those occasions he’d been doing it as ‘Captain America’. Today, while he was still that, sort of, he was having to let a bit more of his private self - a bit more of Steve - show.

The host, a genial man in his late fifties with dark hair and glasses, flashed him a sympathetic smile, if somehow knowing the internal struggle he was dealing with.

“It’s gonna be fine,” the host placated. “I’m not gonna go off piste with the questions. Try and think of this like any other interview you’ve done, but with a different focus. Not so stern and stiff. And you’re not here alone, either.” He gestured towards Steve’s companion on the plush sofa.

Bucky grinned at him, leaning nonchalantly against the soft fabric, arms draped along its back. Steve wished he could be that relaxed. However, as he and Bucky were here more out of a PR need than any real want to be interviewed, he thought he could be forgiven for his stiffness.

Various crew members bustled around the stage, measuring the light levels, checking that microphones were attached properly, and dusting powder onto the host’s forehead, when Steve felt Bucky lean across to him. “I’m right here.”

Such a short phrase, but one that immediately helped to lessen the anxiety building inside him. Which was good, because at that moment the director stood up.

“10 seconds ‘til we’re on air, people. 4. 3.” He went silent for the last two seconds, holding up his fingers instead. The host immediately seemed to morph into someone else, right before Steve’s eyes.

“Welcome back. It’s time for our next guests, who need very little introduction. It’s Steve Rogers - Captain America, and YouTube and gaming sensation, Bucky Barnes!” An applause track started to play and Steve felt his face morph into a rictus grin, which made it difficult to get out his greeting. Now he knew what a deer caught in headlamps felt like. But then Bucky, his sweet, silly and loving boyfriend, slipped his hand into Steve’s where it lay between them and started to brush his thumb back and forward over Steve’s knuckles. His anxiety lessened even more and he managed to tune back in to where he was, realising that Bucky and the host had exchanged some silly pleasantries while he’d been sitting looking like the most awkward human to have ever existed.

“So,” the host continued, getting into his script, “you’ve come here today to talk about your relationship, which you had been keeping private until it came to light in an unexpected way a few weeks back. I know there was some speculation - some rumours - about the two of you after a previous incident a year ago, but I don’t think anyone was expecting your announcement, or the form it took.”

Steve felt his pale Irish skin betraying him as he felt a hot wave of embarrassment rush up his neck. “Well - I -” His tongue felt thick in his mouth. The words didn’t want to come and then he felt Bucky pressing his leg against him as well, grounding him. “I’m quite a private person, at least compared to Buck, so we weren’t really trying to hide it, but I will say that we didn’t ever plan to announce it like we did.”

Both the host and Bucky chuckled at Steve’s choice of words. ‘Announce’ was really the right word. ‘Unveil’ would have been more appropriate.

“Well, before we get to that part of the story, let’s start at the beginning. The first incident - the one that sparked the initial rumours - was after you met at a Stark Gala, is that right?”

Bucky grinned. “It was definitely where we were first introduced, but it wasn’t where, or when, we first met.”

“Ooh!” said the host, with such genuine interest Steve almost forgot that it was at least partially scripted. They, or rather their PR team, had divulged there was more of a story to tell, but not what it was, only assuring the TV executives that it was safe to be aired and would add an extra aspect of romanticism. “Tell me more!”

Steve couldn’t help but smile as he looked over at Bucky, forgetting for a moment he was being recorded live on national TV, mooning over his boyfriend. “Yes - it was totally unexpected. Apparently fate had an agenda we weren’t even aware of….”

Flashback - New York 2011

It was utter chaos on the streets of Manhattan. Steve was pressed to the ground, on his back, as one of the aliens that had come through the portal opened by Loki was trying to push its bladed weapon into his face. With a sharp and desperate wrench, he managed to twist the glowing edge aside, giving him room to backhand the creature and then follow it up with a jab. His assailant flew to the floor, unmoving. Steve assumed he’d broken its neck. 

As he staggered back to his feet, the voice of Clint, positioned up on the rooftops as Steve had asked, sounded in his ear. “Cap - the Bank on 42nd, passed Madison. They’ve caught a lot of civilians in there.”

“I’m on it,” Steve replied and set off running. As he reached the bank, he could see army and police standing outside, unsure as to what to do. It wasn’t as though there were protocols for this sort of thing. Going in through the front door would probably be a bad idea - that would be too obvious and he’d be shot at as soon as he made it through. However, looking up, he could see the open windows on the second floor and a plan coalesced inside his brain.

Taking a run up, and using an abandoned car as a ramp, he launched himself up into the air, the shield in front of him to protect his eyes. He burst through the opening and, as hoped, he had the element of surprise. Five of the alien creatures were standing up on this mezzanine, gesturing threateningly with their energy weapons. He rolled across the floor, and as he came to his feet, Steve launched his shield at the closest, incapacitating him immediately.

He dived across the space, slamming into a coffee table as two of them opened fire, before engaging one of them in hand to hand combat. Almost effortlessly, he broke its neck and threw it over the balcony onto the floor below, the hostages gasping as they got out of the way.

“Everyone! Clear out!” he shouted, but suddenly another alien grabbed him from behind, its clawed hand grasping at his face and snagging on his cowl. He jabbed it in the ribs - or where ribs would be if it was human - and backflipped over its shoulder, able to turn it and use it as a shield as one of its comrades fired. Dropping the body to the floor, he realised something. That first one - it had been holding a device in his hand that had dropped to the floor. A device that was now beeping louding. Beeps that were getting faster and faster.

The last alien standing picked up the device - the bomb -, raising its arm to throw it at him. Steve rolled over the floor, picking up his shield on the way. He jumped into the air, curling up as small as possible behind his shield just as the device was thrown at him. It exploded, taking out the last alien, but the shock wave also sent Steve shooting back through the window he’d come through, out into the air above the street.

Time seemed to slow down, and for a moment he was floating. However, the world soon sped up again and he was falling, landing face down onto the car he’d used to get in, crushing the roof with his ribs taking most of the impact.

With his ears ringing, he got to his feet, trying not to wince, and in that instant he really took in what was going on around him. The scale of the destruction, the complete hopelessness of the situation hit him. How on earth were they going to get through this? Survive this? Off to the side, the police were evacuating all of the civilians from the bank, trying to get them to a safe place somewhere underground. All Steve could do was try to breathe.

From the corner of his eyes he saw someone duck under the arms of the first responders, and he turned, worried. It was a young man, maybe only 20 years old. He had shaggy dark hair poking out from beneath a baseball cap, and he wore a bright orange T-shirt and knee-length shorts. It was definitely a look. As he got closer, Steve could see he had ice blue eyes, plump lips and a bottle of water in his hand.  He stopped in front of Steve, the bottle extended in his hand, and Steve took it with a nod.

“Are you okay?” the guy asked. “You just got blown out of a window!” His face was doing a strange thing, where he was obviously excited but trying not to look like it.

Steve finished drinking the water and looked around for a trash can, trying not to grin at the guy’s demeanor.

“It takes a lot more than that to stop me,” he chirped back, and launched the empty water bottle across the street and into a can that was tilted at an angle. As the plastic thunked in, he wondered what on earth he was doing. He was in the middle of a catastrophic event, and somehow he was flirting. Now was definitely not the time or the place, even if the young man was extremely cute.

With a cough, he squared his shoulders and tried to put on his best ‘Captain America’ face.

“You’d best go back and join the others. Get to safety.”

His new fan opened his mouth to say something in response, but Steve didn’t even get the chance to wonder what it was going to be, because in the next instant all the blood drained from his cute face and he grabbed hold of Steve’s forearm, yanking him down. 

“Look out!” he cried, and Steve ducked his head as he allowed himself to be pulled down. A shot from an alien weapon zipped across where his head had been, fizzling into the lamp post behind him.

Almost immediately, he shook off the young man, stood and threw his shield at the creature that had shot at him. The vibranium ricocheted off the alien, knocking it to the ground where it twitched for a moment and then went still. Reaching down, he pulled the man who’d now saved his life back to his feet. “Thanks for the assist,” he said, not even trying to keep the smile from reaching his eyes. 

The young man looked back at him, his own eyes wide and his mouth hanging open, before blurting out, ”Woah! You just keep going, don’t you?”

He didn’t know where it came from, but he let out a chuckle and then gave him a wink that could only be described as flirty. “I can do this all day,” he intoned, more than a small note of amusement in his voice.

”Cap!” Clint’s voice sounded in his ear again. “Are you taking a nap? We need you.” Despite the fact that he should have turned all of his attention to the information Clint was giving him, he couldn’t help but drink in the sight of the beautiful young man out of the corner of his eye. With all the directions memorised, Steve turned with reluctance to say goodbye.

”I gotta go. Stay safe, please.”

He was about to turn away, about to start running back down the street, when a pair of arms twined around his neck and a pair of soft lips pressed briefly against his own. “For good luck,” the stranger said as he stepped back. “Go save New York.”

Steve raised his fingers to his lips as he watched the young man return to the group of civilians being ushered to safety, his mind reeling on what had just happened.

“Cap! For Thor’s sake, get over here!” Clint shouted at him over the comms. With a shake of his head, Steve turned and ran back into the fray.

The present

The show host looked utterly enraptured, his elbows resting on his desk and his face cupped in his hands. Steve was also certain the man was making goo-goo eyes at him. At his side, Bucky was grinning while hanging on his arm and resting his head on his shoulder.

”And you didn’t see each other again for over 10 years?” 

Before Steve could open his mouth, Bucky interjected. “No, but obviously I never forgot him. Who would forget being saved by Captain America?”

“Seems to me that you saved him in return,” the host replied.

Now it was Steve’s turn to butt back in “He certainly did. And despite the intervening years, I never forgot him either, even if I honestly thought I’d never see him again. I hadn’t been out of the ice for long. Hadn’t really gotten a hand on this century and its freedoms compared to what I was used to. Bucky here made a lasting impression.”

“So the years went by and then came your fame, Bucky, and an invitation to Tony Stark’s Nouveau Tech Gala. Were you nervous, knowing that you were probably going to see your hero again?”

“So nervous,” Bucky said with an emphatic nod. “I thought I was going to look like some kind of mad stalker because I was sure that he had forgotten almost as soon as he’d gone back into the fight and I knew I’d end up fangirling over him.”

“But I hadn’t forgotten,” commented Steve, placing his free hand on top of their joined ones.

“And I’m forever thankful.”

Chapter 2

Tag list: @km-ffluv, @wheezy-stucky, @kmc1989, @kombatfather1796, @christywrites, @alexakeyloveloki, @doasyoudesireandlive, @galactusdevourerofworlds, @crayongirl-linz, @mightstill, @nicoline1998enilocin, @starrkermarvel

#Stucky fic #shrunkyclunks #steve rogers x bucky barnes #steve x bucky #stucky bingo #steve rogers bingo

[thesherrinfordfacility]

the reading comprehension on this godforsaken website is genuinely insane. it's such shit ppl went after you for responding. fwiw you singlehandedly restored my faith in the GO fandom a little while back, some of the only well thought-out takes for miles (til i started clicking on the reblogs n found more). there was nothing wrong with defending yourself from people who didn't even read the meta. for something you put this much effort into, it'd be weirder not to be defensive

ive sat on the whole thing over the last dozen or so hours now, with a good mixture of upset, anger, some kind of numbness, and incredible amounts of anxiety. i posted that response out of the second; i was really angry, and i flew off the handle. whilst i don't appreciate being told by the other anon that i shouldn't be so attached/shouldn't have been so upset, they have a point, and were right to highlight (intentionally or not) at the very least that that is the root of the problem. i likened the fiasco to some secondary school bullshit, but i didn't realise - or want to acknowledge - that that applied to me too. the whole thing has reawakened ancient history that i thought i had gotten over years ago - more than a decade ago, even - and it very much turns out that that isn't the case, and was simply buried. the uncomfortable thing i also ran into is that the incident has made me re-examine myself with a little more, and definitely overdue, scrutiny - the post attacked at what i now think was my ego, and my over-confidence, and sense of entitlement. that's so uncomfortable to admit, but here we are.

i don't mind people disagreeing with me, but i still stand firm that i don't think sending an ask ridiculing someone, or adding tags that equally can be interpreted as being plain unkind, is a nice thing to do. it's shit - i felt humiliated, and self-conscious in a fandom that until this point, for all my controversial takes 😂 - had made me feel that i had a space to share them, and whilst may not be agreed with, would still be valued by nature of them belonging to a person. i have no doubt that everything on that post wasn't at all personal, but it still felt that what i had spent a lot of time, excitement, and joy writing was worthy of being laughed at, as if i were stupid for writing it (let me be clear - idc if people think the original post and the take within it is wrong, that's absolutely fair enough). it then called into question - what else have people been nice to me about, politely interacting with me about, and yet elsewhere those same people are being horrible about it?

that line of overthinking is entirely my issue, that's noone else's fault, but i do think that had these people just simply kept their opinion to a DM, or somewhere else where the original poster is unlikely/not going to see it, it might have all been avoided. people are entitled to share their opinion, i have no issues with that fact, but it can have consequences... just like the consequences of me rb'ing it once the anger had set in, and i ceased to think rationally. i am sorry that i reacted out of anger, without much - if any - rational thought; that it was bitchy as fuck, and - without the maelstrom of emotion attached to it, as it was from my perspective - it was objectively uncalled for. im embarrassed i reacted like that, and im aware that its only served to make me come across as even more ridiculous than the original post ever could 😂 but i want to settle in with what this has brought up, especially the shitty stuff that i thought i had long gotten over, and look at why i reacted the way i did - i think i was right to defend myself, but perhaps not in the way that i did.

as a separate note, and just really as a PSA to anyone waiting on me in my ask box or has sent me messages - im going to halt on posting any original posts/asks for a while (knowing me, because i can't help myself, a 'while' will probably be like a day). that's in part because im shitting bricks about posting anything in general (this ask response included), but also because - like i said before - i don't want to continue posting stuff when im now wondering how much is coming from a less-than-humble place - im worried that it's a lot more than i ever thought, which is vulnerable, but that's how it goes.

#ask #idk

[torturedcoveydepartment]

ok so i read your reblog about how you wanted some stories in your inbox and i thought this could be an interesting story: when i was in 5th grade (ten), due to covid we didn't go to school most of the year. at the end of year, we did ended up going back to school because the covid cases in melbourne went down. but we had staggered entry and exit, meaning you had specific times for people to come to school and go home. my friend, her brother, and i went home at the same time. my friend lived close to my house, so i basically decided to walk over to her house. she lived on long road that connected to other streets (idk how to explain stuff). it wasn't very busy that day, and we were just slowly walking to her house. when i was walking with her, i realised that a disheveled man was staring at us. ike intensely. everytime i looked at this man, he was just staring at us. it didn't feel right at the time. i still remember how he looked, he had a dark blue hoodie and had grey sweatpants. l this man was standing right where i had to cross the street to go to my house. my friend later on realised how silent i was, and she asked me what happened. i told them both about the man staring at us. being stupid little kids, we kept on looking back at the man. when we reached to my friend's house, we told their parents and they kind of brushed it off, but my friend's dad followed behind us while my friend and i (she held my hand for support) ended up crossing the street to my house. this man starts walking towards us. he had his arms in his pockets, like he was hiding something. right as he was about to get to us, im pretty sure he realised that my friend's dad was behind us. right after the man crossed us, this white sudan pops up, he hops in it, and rode of. til this day, i dont know if this was a coincidence or if i was about to get kidnapped. because the weirdest part for me was how he just hopped in that car and drove off. he didn't talk to the driver, he didn't hesitate to enter the car. he just hopped in and went off. sorry if this was a bit dark but ye.

OH MY. I felt like I was reading a snippet of a horror book? My mouth HANG OPEN. But this is all very interesting tbh. Using the paranoia and realistic/pessimistic logic of mine, it tells me that he could DEFINITELY be waiting to try something. As the car drove by just as he realized the presence of her dad, making him turn and perhaps the thing he had a hold onto was some sort of communication between the driver and himself. I’m SO SO SO THANKFUL nothing happened, but it’s disgusting how this is actually reality in every part & corner of the world!! Stay safe everyone <3

#MY MOUTH DROPPED #THIS WAS A THRILLER IN ITSELF #asks

[barbiewritesstuff]

Church Encounters: Chapter 17

-- OMG I have been so excited for this chapter y'all have no idea!!! Also sorry this one is like 11k words again, oops

ALSO We will be taking a small hiatus til the 4th of October so we won't post Church Encounters for a while but pinky promise there will be more chapters in the future!!

This fic was written in collabpration with @lgg5989 who will be posting this to her AO3 and her tumblr! She also made the lovely moodboard below!

Comments and reblogs are appreciated and we take blurb requests!

Previous Part

Taglist: @acarboni21 @unsurebuttrying @dempy @peaches-1998 @bbooks-and-teas @roosterscock @positivelyholland --

Jake’s hand had been killing him for a few days now, ever since your vigorous activities on Saturday night. He had gone to the med bay on base, and to his humiliation had to explain to the nurse how punching a wall had split one knuckle and bruised the rest. Not even the good Lord could save him from the blush that spread up his cheeks when the nurse realised that he had put his fist through the drywall during a rather pleasurable encounter with his wife. 

“Well you haven’t broken anything Lieutenant Commander, but in the future I would try to…um…restrain yourself from fighting anymore drywall,” she said, a knowing smile on her face. She was a little older, probably around his mother’s age, and she almost teased him about how he was injured, something he found rather funny. The other nurses in the ward had been damn near fighting over who would get to attend to him, but she had picked the file off the stack and sent them scurrying away with a loud barrage of disappointed sighs. 

“Yes, ma’am. Am I going to be grounded?” he asked, looking at her nervously. Their team had just been tasked with a new mission, and he didn’t want to risk sending them out without him. 

“I don’t think so, just keep icing it like you have been and it’ll be good as new in about a week or so. I would advise against participating in any other strenuous activities for the next few weeks though, we wouldn’t want you to reinjure it,” she finished, handing him a cool ice pack to place on his hand. 

“Thank you, ma’am,” Jake said as he stood from the examination table giving her a small smile before exiting the office. 

Pulling his phone out, he scrolled through the contacts until he came across Bob’s. Clicking the call button, he brought the phone up to his ear, waiting on Bob to pick up. 

“Hello?” his voice said, sounding a bit out of breath. 

“Hey,” Jake said, “I was wondering if I could have some help with something this weekend?” he asked. 

“Sure, what’s up?” Bob asked, his words broken up by sharp pants. 

“You good man?” Jake asked, concerned. 

Bob let out a breathless laugh, “Yeah, Phoenix is kicking my ass, treadmill is at like a seven incline step.”  

“Alright I’ll be quick then. I…um…I put a hole in the wall in my living room, and I’ve injured my hand…I need someone to help me patch it. Can you come by on Friday evening, say around dinnertime? Y/n’s making some kind of pasta dish, you can join us.”

“Sounds good, I’ll be there,” Bob said, “Got to go.” 

“Don’t let her beat you too bad Bobby,” Jake said, laughing a bit before hanging up the phone. 

Friday night came sooner than Jake anticipated, and he had forgotten to stop and pick up the materials he and Bob were going to need to fix the wall. By the time he pulled his truck into the driveway, Bob’s Astra was parked on the street, and the sun was beginning to set. 

Walking inside, he called out, “Sorry I’m late, I forgot to get the damn supplies to fix the wall.” 

“That’s alright,” Bob called back, “Y/n is trying to teach me how to cook, I don’t know how well I’m doing.” 

“You’re doing great,” you said with a smile, patting Bob on the back as he stood over the stove, “And how are you doing my dear, injured husband?” you inquired, stepping in front of Jake to take his lunch box and press a kiss to his cheek. 

“I’m alright, hand is feeling less sore so that’s good,” he said, smiling down at you and brushing a piece of hair behind your ear. 

“How did you injure your hand?” Bob asked from his place at the stove.

You tried to hold back your laugh as you watched Jake flounder at the question, “Well, I…um…I was coming in and tripped, yeah, I tripped and my hand went through the wall,” he said, unconvincingly. 

Bob looked at Jake, took a step to look at the wall in question, and then looked back at Jake, “Suuuure you did,” he said with a laugh.

Jake could feel the embarrassed blush from earlier come over his face, and before he could restrain himself he said, “Hey, I can’t be held responsible for what my hot wife does to me.” 

Bob let out a groan, “Never mind, I don’t want to know what happened. As far as I’m concerned you closed your hand in the door of your truck or something.” 

The three of you had a nice dinner before Jake and Bob set about patching the wall. Jake looked on as Bob screwed in a small piece of wood before fitting in a new panel of drywall that they cut to fit the fist sized hole. Finally finishing it with some fast curing drywall putty, the men waited an hour before digging the can of paint from the basement and rolling a coat over the new section of wall. I looked great, and you couldn’t even tell where the hole had been. 

“Damn Bob, you’re practically a professional,” Jake said, impressed at the WSO’s home project abilities. 

“Yeah, I had a lot of practice,” Bob said, “I used to work a construction job in high school, making extra money for mom to use on groceries,” he let out a small laugh before continuing, “That’s actually where my callsign comes from, I’m Bob the builder,” he finished laughing at the surprised look that came over Jake’s face. 

“So not Baby On Board then?” Jake asked him, his face red with laughter. 

“Definitely not,” Bob replied, “Maybe one day though.” 

“Bob, that's my sister you’re talking about!” Jake said, slapping the man on the back of the head with his good hand, “Besides, the two of you aren’t even married yet, you can’t be thinking shit like that.” 

“Tell me you didn’t and I’ll stop,” Bob said, raising one eyebrow at Jake before looking back at the wall they just finished painting. 

Jake let out a sigh, grumbling something under his breath as he turned around and picked up the gallon of paint, bringing it out to the garage. Bob just laughed, he was going to be in so much trouble if Jake ever found out how far he had toed the line with Maria. 

---

Jake had been working on the room you had decided would be the nursery. The two of you had been talking about having a baby for a few months and with your family’s history of having trouble conceiving, you had decided to try sooner than originally planned, figuring that you were unlikely to get pregnant on the first go anyway.  

You walked into the nursery, dressed in a casual jersey dress, feeling a little down.He stepped away from the crib he was putting together and pulled you into his arms, “Hello, maybe-momma.” 

“Hi there, almost-daddy,” you said back, laughing a little at the different versions of future mom he had been calling you, “How’s it coming?” 

“As well as expected, what man has ever read the directions,” he stated playfully, winking at you before pressing a kiss to your lips, “How about you? Any good news?” 

You frowned, producing the pregnancy test from behind your back, “No, still negative.” 

Jake pulled you to him in a hug, “It’ll happen baby, don’t worry. God will bless us when he thinks we are ready.” 

You nodded, the disappointment still cutting deeply into your heart. It didn’t help that you had been feeling strange for weeks now, with a weird assortment of symptoms that you had tried to google. Doctor Internet was as unhelpful as ever, telling you there were only three possible causes for your sudden bouts of sickness: pregnancy, cancer, or the flu. You could scratch off pregnancy as every test you had taken came back negative, which left only two things on Google’s list and a few thousands on your own list of completely ordinary causes for your aches and pains.

“I think I need to see a dentist,” you said, “I keep tasting blood.”

“It could just be working out,” Jake offered, trying to ease your worries. He knew how much you hated the dentist and how much losing or damaging your teeth freaked you out. 

Besides, they weren’t empty reassurances, it was well known that working out could cause a metallic taste in the mouth. Jake vaguely remembered his biology teacher explaining that a very high pressure of blood moving into a person’s lungs through their membranous tissues could make someone taste blood although he couldn’t for the life of him remember why. You had just started a new workout regimen, helped by Phoenix who was known amongst the squad for going hard at the gym. Your body simply wasn’t used to the new intensity. 

You nodded, ready to accept that as the answer when the alternative was so frightening to you.

“Or,” Jake said carefully, not wanting to hurt you any more than necessary, “It could be your monthlies…”

You sighed, on the verge of tears. Jake knew how much you had come to dread it, but it was undeniably going to happen at some point.

“I know honey,” he said, pulling you close to him in a comforting hug, “But we can’t deny it, yeah? You’ve been having hot flushes, you feel dizzy, you’ve been… emotional,” he explained

“And sleepy,” you added, nuzzling into his chest in the hopes that the fabric of his shirt would sponge up any tears should they fall, “You’re probably right,” you whispered, “It’s just periods.”

“I’m sorry honey,” 

“No, it’s fine. We expected this. We knew it would take a while,” you replied, rubbing your eyes and giving him a sad smile, “The Lord will bless us when we’re ready,” you repeated back to him, patting his chest before turning around and leaving for the kitchen.

You dropped a pod of Jake’s favourite coffee into the machine and pressed pour, fitting a large mug underneath the spout. Jake was right, periods would explain a lot of your symptoms but there were a couple you just couldn’t explain away. You couldn’t for the life of you find a satisfactory explanation as to why you were always so damn itchy, or why you suddenly got so clumsy, or why you kept getting nosebleeds, or even why you were getting strangely vivid dreams. But strangest of them all was your sudden and very acute disgust at the mere concept of coffee.

---

Lizzie: You free next week? Beau is taking the kids out and we need to catch up. I want to see the pictures from your honeymoon.

Jake’s out of the house next Saturday, I can make lunch? You texted back, excited at the prospect of seeing Elisabeth again. 

You had seen Beau at work since your return but his wife had remained elusive. She was always so busy running around taking care of the kids, organising meal trains for people around the parish and otherwise volunteering her services as a birth doula to mothers who couldn’t afford it. 

Lizzie: Perfect! Looking forward to it!

You immediately set to work, leaving the house to buy ingredients. When you came home an hour later you placed a pot on the hob, tipping in two litres of water and adding salt, sugar, saltpetre, a cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, peppercorns, cloves, allspice, juniper berries, bay leaves and ginger. You let it cook on high until the sugar dissolved, then, you removed it from the heat and stirred in some ice before checking the temperature. Once at the desired 7C, you placed your two kilo beef brisket into a bag and filled it with the brine, covering the meat, sealing it well and putting it into the refrigerator where it would stay for the next ten days. 

Once Saturday came around you removed the brisket from the bag and rinsed it under cool water. You placed it into a large pot, adding onions, carrots and celery and covered with water. After boiling it, you reduced the temperature from high to low and left it to simmer for three hours. 

You cut a few slices to test, making them thin enough to place on Jake’s sandwich which you packed in a lunchbox and set aside for him to take on his trip. He was joining his fellow Youth Ministers for a weekend in Joshua Tree National Park, requested by Freddie and Matt in an effort to bond more as a team. Jake was less than enthused by the idea, not keen to leave you home alone when you had been feeling ill for so long. 

He ran around the house trying to pack, taking more breaks than necessary to check his phone, drink some coffee and kiss your cheeks as you cooked. Eventually, he could no longer delay his departure and was forced to bring the bags to his truck, forcing the guitar into the passenger seat and unceremoniously dumping the duffel bag into the truck bed. 

“Honey?” Jake called from the kitchen, after remembering he’d bought some snacks for the trip. You hummed from the sofa where you were sat reading your bible, acknowledging that you had heard him, “Honey, why do we have pickles?” he asked, holding up the jar to show you.

“I don’t know, I saw them at the shop and they looked good,” you replied, shrugging your shoulders.

Jake hesitated, “Sweetheart, I thought you didn’t like pickles?” 

“I know but -- I don’t know, I’ve been craving them… I made you a sandwich! It’s on the table” you said, pointing towards the blue lunchbox on the kitchen table. Jake picked it up and lifted the lid, “It was supposed to be a reuben sandwich, but I swapped out the sauerkraut for pickles,” you explained. 

“Thank you, honey,” Jake said, picking up the lunchbox before making his way to you. 

“You have to go now though, or you’ll be late,” you chastised him. 

“Yes, that would truly be a shame, wouldn’t it… It’s weird, I suddenly don’t feel so good anymore, do you think I could stay home?” he asked, making a pouting face and pulling his collar away from his neck. 

“No,” you laughed, “Go! It’ll be fun.”

Jake snorted, “Says the woman who doesn’t have to share a cabin with Henry Greuvel, the loudest snorer this side of the equator.”

“It’s only for one night!” you giggled, pushing him towards the door. 

“Fine, but text me, okay? I wanna know how you’re feeling. If it doesn’t get better by Monday, I’ll take you to the doctor’s,” Jake said, he leaned down to kiss the top of your forehead and when you looked up at him, he kissed your lips too, “Have fun at church. I love you, see you tomorrow evening!” he shouted as he walked out of the house. 

An hour later, with Elisabeth’s arrival imminent, you got up from your seat and walked to the kitchen again where you switched on the kettle and prepped a mug with a homemade anti-nausea ginger and lemon tea bag. You poured the water in as soon as the kettle clicked and drank a few sips before pulling the ingredients for a russian dressing out of the fridge. You spread the mixture generously on two large slices of toasted rye bread, adding a few thin slices of still warm brisket, as much cheese as you could cram on and topping it all with a large helping of sauerkraut before closing the sandwich with another slice of bread. You had just plated it all when the doorbell rang. 

“Oh goodness, it smells amazing!” 

“It’s ready to serve,” you laughed,

“Good, because I am starving!” she said, walking into the living room where you had dressed the dining table and put the plates, “It is so nice not to have to cook for once,” 

“Dad doesn’t cook?” you asked, sounding confused. 

Elisabeth scoffed, “Beau isn’t allowed to cook.”

You looked at her, concern written on your face, “He’s not bad, I’ve had his homemade pizza before.”

“And therein lies the problem, my dear, it’s better than mine! I can’t take that kind of defeat,” she said with a wink.

You walked back to the kitchen, picking up the pickle jar that Jake hadn’t placed back in the cupboard, and relieved for once as you had started to feel a little dizzy and didn’t feel confident about reaching for the highest shelf. You carried it back to the dining table and twisted the lid open, picking two long slices of pickled cucumber and placing them on top of your open sandwich.

“I thought you didn’t like pickles?” Elisabeth remarked.

“I think they’re growing on me,” you replied with a small smile. 

The sandwich was delicious. You had never tried that recipe before but with each bite it earned itself a higher spot on the leaderboard of all your favourite dishes. You collected the plates and placed them in the sink, running some water over them before walking back to the coffee pot. 

“Would you like a cup of coffee Liz?” you asked her from across the kitchen. 

There was a moment’s pause before she answered, “That sounds great, maybe with a splash of milk?” 

Before even approaching the coffee pot, you popped a ginger candy into your mouth, taking a few good swallows of the sweet ginger flavour before approaching the pot with a mug ready. You poured the coffee into the mug and stirred in a little milk with minimal gagging before bringing the cup to Elisabeth. 

“Here we are,” you said, placing it down in front of her. 

“Aren’t you going to have one too?” she asked, looking at you confused. 

You grimaced, “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to,” you said, “The smell of coffee recently has been making me nauseous.” 

“Are you…” she asked, an excited smile growing on her face. It fell almost immediately when she saw you grow sad.

“No, women in my family have a history of struggles when it comes to conceiving. We’ve started trying but as much as we want it to happen, we know it’s unlikely to happen right now,” you explained, “The waiting is agony though,” you added. 

Elisabeth nodded. You stayed quiet for a moment while she seemed to be thinking of something.

“Beau and I struggled too. We had Peter without an issue but Matthew was a little harder, then when we went to the doctor’s to see if we could have a third, they told us it was unlikely we’d conceive again. We were heartbroken but we held on to the fact that they said it was unlikely, not impossible. We tried for years after that and nothing happened, so we gave up. It was a really dark time in our lives, we stopped going to church, I quit my job, and Beau and I seemed to fight every other night,” she said, pausing for a moment,

“And then one night, I was packing up our shrine to throw most of it away when I knocked something off of a shelf. I don’t know, maybe it was coincidence, or maybe it was the Lord trying to show us the way, but I had knocked Peter’s bible down to the floor and it opened on Luke Chapter one. The first thing I saw was, oh I remember it as though it happened an hour ago,” she said, wiping tears from her eyes, 

“The first thing I saw was ‘Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John.’ I called Beau immediately, even though he was playing baseball with buddies, and I told him to get his ass home because we were going to church,” she laughed, “He didn’t argue, even though I never told him about the verse or the Bible. And two months after that I went to the doctor’s for some unrelated health issues, and they told me I was pregnant. I was convinced we’d have a boy, obviously, and we were going to call him John. But then the three little ladies arrived and Beau asked me if we could name one ‘Joanna’, he said he didn’t know why but he felt it was right to use that name, as if he was fulfilling his end of a promise.”

You looked at Elizabeth for a moment, unable to think of what to say. She placed her hands on yours, gently squeezing, “All I’m saying is the Lord provides, but He does so in His own time and for His own reasons. We can’t understand them, nor should we want to but we can trust Him. And I trust He will bless you with your own bundle of joy soon, but in the meantime, you must listen when He tells you things about yourself and your life, even if they’re things you would rather not hear. While Beau and I waited to be blessed again, I ignored when the Lord tried to tell me I was impatient, quick to anger and jealous, I blamed others when I should have looked at myself. Instead of laying my worries and anxieties on God, I tried to deal with them myself, and if I had just left my heart open to His guidance, I could have let all that go sooner. And since I have, I have been a better wife, and a much better mother,” she finished.

You had often looked to Elisabeth for help and guidance when you had trouble hearing the Lord, and you valued her experience immensely. You were so relieved to finally be able to talk to Lizzie and air your worries, the experience only somewhat marred as your head kept spinning and you felt a little dizzy.

“You okay?” She asked, as a hot flush washed over you and you felt the colour drain from your face as soon as it departed.

“I feel funny,” you replied, your speech slurred by the speed at which the room had started spinning

Elisabeth grabbed a hold of your arm to ground you, “Hey, don’t faint on me, sweetheart,” she said, “Have you had much to eat today?”

You shook your head, instantly regretting it as it made your head spin faster. You felt Elisabeth move and you grabbed the edge of the table in an effort to keep yourself upright.

“You need sugar,” Elisabeth said, standing up to look through your cupboards.

“I have some in the pantry,” you told her, dropping your head down into your hands in an effort to stay conscious. Lizzie jogged down the corridor and came back into the room with a bag of sugar. She dumped two large tea spoons into a cup of freshly brewed coffee. 

“Drink, you’ll feel better,” she said, moving the cup closer to you. The smell overpowered your senses and you stood, trying to escape or at least turn away as your stomach lurched, but you didn’t have the time to be sick because as soon as you stood, your vision faded to black and you hit the floor with a heavy thud. 

When you came to, Elisabeth was kneeling beside you, fanning your face with a notepad she had found somewhere, “Y/n can you hear me? Are you okay?” she asked, you tried to get off of the floor but she stopped you with her hand, “Take it easy.”

“It’s okay, it’s happened a few times, I’ll be fine,” you said, placing a hand on the coffee table and trying to pull yourself up. 

Elisabeth stopped you again, “A few times?! And Jake leaves you home alone like that?”

“No, I -- I haven’t told him. It’s nothing, just my periods,” you mumbled out, suddenly feeling a bit stupid for not telling him. 

“Y/n, this isn’t normal. You need to see a doctor,” Elisabeth said, pulling you up and sitting you carefully on the couch before getting her purse from the door, fishing her car keys out of the side pocket. 

You let out a sigh, “Liz --”

“Do not make me play the ‘mom’-card, Y/n. Do as you’re told,” she said sternly, using the same tone of voice that she used whenever she needed to make Beau do something he didn’t want to do. 

---

The ride to urgent care was short and tense, Lizzie looking over at you every couple of seconds to make sure that you were still okay. 

“I’m fine Liz, I’m not going to keel over,” you said, raising an eyebrow at her. 

She sighed, “You might not keel over but that doesn’t mean I’m not still worried about you.” 

You sighed, looking at the grey building that appeared in front of you as Liz pulled into the parking lot. She had an arm wrapped around you as she walked you inside and you checked in at the desk. 

When the nurse called you back and brought you into a room, she asked you the routine questions: Have you been in before? Do you have a fever? Are you pregnant?. At the end of their questioning, you sat thinking about the last time you had a period, you’d been having all the usual symptoms but it hadn’t started yet. 

The nurse left, telling you the doctor would be in soon, leaving you and Liz in a comfortable silence. A few minutes later there was a knock on the door and a short woman walked in. 

“Mrs. Seresin?” she asked, looking at you sitting on the table. 

“Yes, that’s me,” you said, smiling a little at your still fairly new title. 

She nodded, coming to stand in front of you to do a basic examination, “I am Dr. Fielding, is there anything specific bothering you today?”

You explained the situation as she examined you and when she was done, and once she had looked over your chart, she said, “I think we need to do a blood test, you have been fainting recently and with the other strange behaviours I would hate to miss something, otherwise, physically, you seem fine.”

“Alright,” you agreed, “Whatever it takes.” 

She nodded at you before leaving the room, “Nurse Amy will be back in soon to do the draw and we should have the results back in about an hour for you.” 

Once your blood was drawn you and Lizzie settled into the uncomfortable waiting room chairs. After only thirty minutes, you were called back into the exam room, Dr. Fielding waiting for you. 

“Mrs. Seresin, I am happy to tell you that you are pregnant, the blood work shows elevated amounts of HCG hormones indicating pregnancy. If I had to guess you are only a few weeks along,” she said, a small smile on your face. 

You felt the world rock, and you were half convinced that there was an earthquake and no one else knew it. The first thing you wanted to do was call Jake, the thought of telling him exciting you and scaring you at the same time. What if he wasn’t happy that you were going to be having a baby so soon? What if he was excited? Then your mind wandered to his family, and how good he was with kids, and your heart stopped in your chest. What if you wouldn’t be a good mom? Jake had wonderful parents to look up to and yours were dead, and a shitty parent at best. What if you were no good? What if– your thoughts were cut off by the doctor speaking. 

“This is a list of recommended prenatal vitamins for you to start taking and I would make an appointment with your gynaecologist or an OBGYN for a better estimate of the development of your baby,” she finished, “I’ll have Amy check you and you you should be good to leave, make sure you keep that blood sugar up.” 

The next half hour felt like it passed you in a daze, Lizzie was excited for you and she chatted animatedly to you the whole ride home. Once she helped you inside and made sure you were settled in, she asked, “Do you want me to stay with you?” 

“No that’s alright, I think I’m going to call Jake,” you said, trying to put a smile on your face for her benefit. 

“Alright dear, well it was wonderful to see you, and I am so happy for you and Jake!” her excitement causing you to smile for a moment longer before you see her out.

As you close the door you called out after her, “Oh Liz?”

“Yeah?” she asked, turning to look at you. 

 

“Will you keep this a secret from Beau for a bit? I want to tell him my own way,” you requested, hoping she would agree. 

She smiled brightly, a devious look in her eye at the thought of surprising her husband, “Oh of course! I wouldn’t want to take that moment from you. Let me know if you need any help planning anything okay?” 

“Okay, I will. Drive safe!” you called out before stepping inside and closing the door. 

Once it was shut you pulled out your phone and wrapped your now shaking frame in the throw blanket that you kept out on the couch. You clicked on Jake’s contact, the icon saved to your home screen under Hubby. You paced in front of the windows of your living room a few times before pressing the call button. 

When you pressed call, it didn’t even ring before being sent to voicemail. Your heart hurt, and tears sprung into your eyes. He probably didn’t have a signal and he didn’t expect you to be pregnant, but there was something inside you that screamed Why didn’t he pick up the phone? Does he know? How could he possibly know? Maybe he- you shook your head, trying to block out the intrusive thoughts that were trying to take over your mind. You tapped on Annie’s number in your contacts, hoping she’d answer. The phone rang three times before finally clicking through, “Hello?” she spoke into the receiver

“Hey, how are you?” you asked. Now that you had made contact, telling her suddenly seemed like a monumentally terrible idea.

“Err, I’m okay, I’m working,” your sister replied, clearly unsettled. You never usually called during the weekend, and certainly not while she was working. The last time anyone had done that it had been to tell her about the passing of your grandmother, “Is everything okay?” she asked, worry laced in her voice. 

You couldn’t back out now, you had to tell her, because she’d never buy that you wanted to catch up and quite frankly, you weren’t sure you would be able to keep yourself from crying much longer. 

“Are you okay?” she asked again, apologising as she made her way through the throngs of children she had been supervising during afternoon garden playtime and into a more private area where she no longer had to strain her ears to listen to you. You heard a door shut behind her and suddenly the ambient noise of the garden, the children and the blowing wind disappeared, much to your relief, you hadn’t realised how much the sound of kids had been making you feel worse.

“I’m okay,” you lied, “I’m pregnant!” you tried to sound excited, but tears bubbled in your throat and your voice came out wobbly and uncertain.

“Oh my goodness! That’s amazing!” she screamed, “I’m so excited! Does Jake know? Ooh! Are you going to do one of those cute Pinterest reveals? Oh my god this is going to be so great! You HAVE to film it and send it to me, I want to see his face! How far along are you? Are you--”

“ANNIE!” you snapped, “Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean -- I’m so sorry,” you sobbed, your legs buckling underneath you and dropping you onto the floor with a painful crack of your knees.

“Is there something wrong with the baby?” she asked. You could practically see her standing there in front of you, one hand clasped in front of her mouth, a horrified expression on her face, it made you feel so much worse.

“No,” you whispered, “There’s something wrong with me.”

“What do you mean? Do you need me to fly over? Is Jake with you?” she asked, her words coming out in a panicked rush, and you could hear her rustling around in the background of the call. 

“Annie, what if I turn out like mum?” you said, “What if I hate them? What if something happens to Jake and I turn out like her?”

Annie was quiet for a second, “Honey, that’s never going to happen,” she whispered into the receiver, “It’ll never happen because if anything happens to my niece or nephew I will come down to California and kill you,” she joked, eliciting a watery laugh from you.

“In all seriousness, Y/n, I think you’re going to be an amazing mom. You’re kind, you’re caring, you’re gentle, and most importantly, you’re willing. This is what you have wanted since you were old enough to understand, mom… Mom became a mom because she thought that was what the world wanted. She had us to become the picture perfect family and when dad died, she couldn’t be bothered with keeping up appearances,” she said, “You wouldn’t know, because we don’t really talk about this, but when dad died, mom didn’t get any worse. The only thing that changed was that she didn’t talk to us anymore. Before then, dad took care of us, brought us to school and helped us with the homework. Her contribution as a parent extended to showing up at PTA meetings, dressing us all nice for school pictures and dishing up punishment whenever she thought we needed it. Mom was never good.”

“What if I find out it’s not what I wanted? What if I hold my baby and I look at it and I realise I made all the good bits up?” you sobbed

“Oh you will. You’ll hold the crying kid in your arms and your ears will ring and you’ll be desperate for sleep and you’ll wonder why on earth you even made the nugget. And then it’ll say ‘mamma’ and it’ll waddle over to you, or wave or smile for the first time, it’ll give you their first drawing and you’ll get it, even if the drawing is terrible, or they fall and hit their head and cry some more. Y/n, every season in life will have regrets, you can’t always be happy. You won’t get everything you want, and that’s good, because if you did you wouldn’t appreciate life as much as you do. Let me put it in terms you understand,” she chuckled, “If humans were awake and energetic all the time, we’d never have invented coffee.”

You laughed a little, “Promise me that if I ever fail at being a mom, you’ll be on the next plane over,” you said, growing a little more serious.

“Pinky promise. If you fail at being a mom, I will personally come and set your head straight. But I won’t need to, because if you were going to fail at being a mom, you wouldn’t have called. And if you were going to fail at being a mom, you wouldn’t have spent so much of your life trying not to be like mom,” she said, “I take it you haven’t told Jake?”

“No, I tried calling but he’s spending the weekend with youth ministry leaders and they’re in Joshua Tree with horrible cell service,” you explained

“Don’t forget he’s there too, yeah? He wants this as much as you and I’m sure he’ll have his own little freakout about being a good dad, so when the time comes, let him. Let him figure things out, let him have a couple of firsts, both good and bad. I know it’ll be hard, but you have nine months more than he does to bond with baby, so let him catch up a little. And he’ll fuck up, just like you will, but if you’re going to expect him to help shoulder all the burdens, he’s gotta go through the learning process too,” she said, “Speaking of learning process, having kids doesn’t come with a manual, but I’ve been a preschool teacher for ten years, so if you have a question, I’m here. And I’ll give you a little more free advice: pray. For the good things, the bad things, for everything. And read the bible, too. I think Proverbs 31 gives you a good blueprint on how to be,” she finished.

You walked up to your shrine and opened up your bible to the book of Proverbs and turned the pages till you hit Proverbs 31, you read through the entire verse twice, your eyes flicking down to the end. "Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her: ‘Many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all.’" 

““Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” you whispered, putting your phone away after hanging up, “Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for me so that I may be the mother my children need. Pray for me so that my children may rise up and call me blessed.”

—

Jake knelt down on the uncomfortable floor of the wooden cabin, the badly hammered nails digging into his legs. He leaned against the bed, hoping to alleviate some of the pain and brought his hands together in front of his head. 

“Our Father, Who art in Heaven, Hallowed be thy name, Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our tresspasses, as we forgive those who have trespassed against us, and Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from Evil,” Jake spoke, his voice echoed by Henry, doing the same behind him. 

He lowered his voice, wanting privacy for the next bit, “Father, I thank you for the opportunities you have given me. Thank you for the people you have brought into my life and thank you for the people you have taken out. Thank you for creating the people I love and for the people I dislike too, I hope all who deserve it feel Your love and obey Your Will. Please keep Y/n safe and healthy. She hasn’t been feeling well these past few weeks, and I worry about her. Please keep Bob, Maria, my team and my parents and friends in your thoughts too,” Jake whispered, 

“I confess, Father, that I have been impatient. I know You will Bless us when we are ready but waiting has been torture, I find myself unable to think about anything other than having a little one of our own and how much happiness it would bring us. I ask that you help me remember Romans 8:25: "But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently." when times become hard,” he continued.

“Lord, I pray that you might guide me, and help me use the gifts you have given me. You know what I need and what I want, Father, and I pray my life may be filled with some of both. Amen,” he finished, using the bed to stand up, rubbing his knees free of the bumps and dips caused by the rough floor of the cabin. 

He climbed into bed, pulling the duvet up to his chest, feeling cramped and claustrophobic on the tiny single bed and terribly lonely without you laying right beside him. He had been tired when the evening had come to a close but now that he was there, sleep wouldn’t come. He seemed to be the only one suffering from insomnia, though, as Henry had begun snoring as soon as his head hit the pillow, causing Jake to wonder how park rangers hadn’t already been called for breaking the 60 decibel noise ordinance. 

He tossed and turned for twenty more minutes, the words he had prayed reverberating in his head so loud that he was getting a headache and finally harmonising with Henry so perfectly that it was slowly driving him insane. 

Unable to take it any longer, Jake stood up and went for a walk. Walking along the main trail until he hit a fork in the road. He had taken this road not even an hour ago, but they had taken flashlights then and Jake had forgotten his phone, in the moonlight, he was entirely incapable of remembering which way to take. He concentrated, trying to hear the gentle noises of the river they had eaten next to but he couldn’t find it in the ambient noise of the forest, moving with the breeze. Then, carried by the wind, the sound of a quiet melody came through from his right. Throwing all caution to the wind, Jake took that path and walked down until he hit a small clearing. 

The bonfire they had made was still going strong, and in the flickering light of the flames, Bob carefully strummed the chords of Jake’s guitar. Seeing him standing there in the shadow of the trees, Bob stopped.

“Couldn’t sleep?” he called out. 

Jake shook his head, “Thinking too loud,” he confessed.

“You’re bunking with Henry and your thoughts are too loud? My, you must really be worried,” Bob chuckled.

“Not worried,” Jake replied, “Okay maybe a little worried,” he admitted, “We’re trying for a baby.”

“I thought you were going to wait a while?” Bob asked, bending over the guitar’s neck to fiddle with the strings, pretending to be doing something to avoid making Jake uncomfortable. He had been his friend long enough to know that showing any emotion except happiness made him intensely uncomfortable, and that Jake seemed to have an easier time talking when Bob pretended not to be listening.

“There’s a history of difficulties with conceiving in Y/n’s family, we figured we’d start trying now, you know… In case it takes a while,” Jake said, his eyes trained on the fire. 

“Ah,” Bob said, “That’s fair. How’s Y/n feeling about it?”

“Well, it’s been two months and we’re both feeling pretty impatient,” he replied, “It’s hard to just … let things happen.. You know?”

“I know,” Bob agreed, leaning back behind him to fish two sodas out of the cooler and giving one to Jake, “I was feeling the same about meeting someone before Maria,” he admitted.

Jake sighed heavily before continuing, “And I’m honestly scared shitless that once we have a kid, we’ll -- I’ll fuck shit up.” 

“If it makes you feel better, the Lord seems pretty forgiving about that,” Bob said, trying to add the shame and the sound of his thumping heart with a nervous chuckle.

“What do you mean?” Jake asked, looking up at Bob, his voice laced with concern, “You haven’t fucked anything up with Maria, I had her on the phone like, this week, she seemed fine.” 

“I fucked up,” Bob replied, “We fucked up,” he added, his voice low enough that it could have been covered up by the crackle of the roaring fire.

“Floyd, what did you do?” Jake asked, his voice almost as threatening as it had been the night of the bar fight. 

“I…nothing, nevermind,” Bob tried, taking a sip of the Sprite he had pulled from the cooler. 

Jake let out a laugh, “It’s too late for that Bobby-boy, tell me what you did.” 

“I don’t know man, you are her brother, I don’t need to get the shit beat out of me on a Church retreat…” Bob said, his voice trailing off on the last word. 

“Should have fucking thought of that before doing anything to my sister,” Jake said, the threat of bodily harm evident in the tone of his voice. 

“Hey, hey, hey! I didn’t do anything she didn’t ask me to do, okay,” Bob exclaimed in outrage at the accusation, “This fuck up is on both of us!” 

Jake heaved out a large sigh before demanding, “Last time. What. Did. You. Do?”

“Nothing… -- We didn’t sleep together,” Bob said nervously, his hands gesturing wildly in front of him, “Qualifies as heavy petting at most.” 

Jake grabbed the collar of his shirt, standing up and lifting Bob up with him. For an agonising minute, Bob thought Jake might punch him but as soon as Jake had lifted up a fist, he had lowered it again, “I can’t really say anything, just -- just take care of her, you know, and keep the rest of it for the wedding night.” 

“I take it y’all did the same?” Bob asked, one hand coming up to run through his hair as Jake let him go and stepped back. 

“Absolutely not,” Jake replied, his voice sounding final. 

Bob winced at the tone, “I didn’t mean to --”

“Got so close though,” Jake chuckled, “And I was the one to stop it, if you’ll believe that.”

Letting out a laugh Bob replied, “Now you’re just making things up.”

“You wound me,” Jake said, raising a hand up to his pec, looking down at it like he was trying to keep himself from bleeding out, “Look at me, wounded,” he joked. 

“So you’re not mad?” Bob asked, his voice nervous. 

“I never said that, but I don’t get to judge,” Jake replied, “Not my job. And if He forgives you for it then there’s no reason I shouldn’t either.”

Bob nodded, staring at the bonfire’s dying flames, “Pray for me and I’ll pray for you?” he offered, “For the baby, I mean.”

“Now?” Jake asked.

Bob shrugged, “Seems as good a time as any…” he said, “I’ll start if you want?”

Jake shook his head, “I think I know the right way to start,” he said. Jake took a deep breath, pausing for a second to gather himself, looking up at Bob, he started into one of his favourite prayers, “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb Jesus. Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death,” he paused, waiting to see if Bob would take it from there. 

“Holy Mary we pray to you today so the Lord may bless Jake and Y/n with the child they desperately want, and that when the time comes and they fall pregnant, that Y/n may be healthy and enjoy every minute of the nine months their blessing will take to arrive. I pray Saint Joseph guides Jake along the path of Fatherhood, and that you, Saint Mary, help Y/n become the mother the child needs and that she would have liked as a girl. I hope the child is healthy and happy, that they learn to follow the Word and that they never stray far from His teachings,” he said, then, stealing a side glance at Jake, he added, “I also pray that Jake and Y/n learn to be more patient, and listen to Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time --” Bob began, his retelling of the verse rudely interrupted by a sharp slap to the back of his head.

“You’re a prick,” Jake said before adding, “Mother, Mary, please watch over Bob and Maria, and remind them of Romans 8:25, “But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.” 

Bob let out a laugh, “I’m the prick?” he asked, before concluding the prayer, “Please guide us both closer to your immaculate self, and let our actions honour God’s will. Amen.” 

“Amen,” Jake said a second later. 

“Well that was interesting,” Bob said with a laugh. 

Jake rolled his eyes, “You are the biggest shit stirrer I’ve ever met, you know that?” 

“Yeah, I do,” Bob said with a smile, “Soon I’ll be your family too, no way of getting rid of me now.” 

“I don’t know, I think I could probably bury you out here somewhere, help Maria move on with….Coyote, yeah Coyote,” Jake said, one brow raised. 

Bob let out a nervous laugh, the colour draining from his face, “You wouldn’t,” he said, his tone contradicting his words. 

Jake just let out a deep laugh, almost falling off the log he was sitting on, “You’re right, I wouldn’t. But that has more to do with the fact that Maria scares me than my self control.”  

Bob nodded, a smile cracking over his face, “She is a little scary, isn’t she?” 

“When she wants to be,” Jake said, “But who do you think taught her that?” 

“It wasn’t you Bagman,” Bob said with a laugh, “I believe wholeheartedly that it was your mom.” 

“You might be right there, she and Nonna have this way about them,” Jake said, shivering slightly at the thought of his mom and grandma’s abilities to scare people. 

Checking his watch, he realised the time, “Well Bobby, we should probably get back to bed.” 

Bob nodded, “Yeah, you gonna be able to sleep?”

“Probably not, but that’s what the coffee is for right?” Jake asked, a tired smile on his face. 

Bob just nodded, “It’ll give you practice for when the baby you’re trying for comes along.” 

Jake just laughed as the two of them stood up and made their way back to the cabins in a comfortable silence. 

—

It started about twenty-five miles outside of Joshua Tree, the ringing. Jake and Bob’s phones were blowing up with notifications all at once. Things they hadn’t seen all weekend due to their lack of service. 

Bob picked up his phone, scrolling through the notifications, “Um..Jake?” he asked. 

“Yeah,” Jake said, glancing over at him, “What’s up?” he asked, upon seeing the concerned look on Bob’s face. 

“There’s an email here, titled, ‘Father John’s Funeral Arrangements’,” he said, sounding confused, “And I have ten missed calls from Cheryl, you know the Church’s scheduling secretary?”

“Are you…Are you serious?” he asked, his attention now solely focused on Bob. 

“Jake, watch the road!” Bob shouted, and Jake cussed as he looked forward and saw a line of stopped traffic, slamming on the brakes and steering the truck off onto the sandy shoulder, he just missed the minivan in front of him. 

Bob looked at him concerned, “You good man?” 

“Yeah, I’m okay. Are you okay?” Jake asked, making sure that the rough stop didn’t cause any damage to any of the cars around him. 

“I’m alright, I think we need to stay here a minute though, call the church,” Bob said quietly. 

Jake just nodded, he and Father John weren’t the closest but he did think that the man was a damn good priest. He heard Bob talking to who he assumed was Cheryl on the phone as he watched Henry’s truck pull up behind him, the man got out and walked to Jake’s window. 

Just as Jake rolled it down, Bob hung up the phone. 

“You boys alright?” Henry asked, “I know you’ve got a new wife Jake but really shouldn’t be on the phone and driving.” 

“I wasn’t,” Jake answered, a little offended that the man thought so little of him. Before he could defend himself further, Bob cut in, “Father John passed away last night,” he said quietly. 

“What?” Henry asked, his eyes growing large as he looked between Bob and Jake. 

“We got emails about it, you’re on them too,” Jake said, grabbing his own phone from the console, he unlocked it to see that you had called him several times and left several messages. There were about a hundred unopened notifications, twenty of them from you.

He closed his eyes, rubbing his head with his baseball cap before placing it snugly back on. Bob and Henry were talking and the rest of the men were probably wondering what was happening, “Alright,” Jake said, interrupting the conversation, “Let’s get home, there’s nothing we can do for anyone stuck three hours away with limited phone service, right?”

Bob nodded, “He’s right Henry, Cheryl said that they were following Father John’s wishes and that one of the other priests from our sister church would cover masses until a replacement can be assigned by the diocese.” 

Henry let out a strangled sigh, “You’re right, let’s get home.” 

Jake rolled up his window and merged back into traffic, his phone still in his hand, all the messages from you were increasingly more concerning. 

Saturday 12-noon

Mine <3: Jake, call me when you can.

Mine <3: It’s important. 

Saturday 1 PM

Mine <3: I don’t know what to do, I need to talk to you. 

Saturday 3PM

Mine <3: Not being able to tell you this is making me feel sick.

Mine <3: Please call when you are able. 

Saturday 10PM

Mine <3: Jake, where are you? 

Mine <3: I need to get you a sat phone next time. 

Saturday 12-midnight 

Mine <3: Please call me soon.

Mine <3: I don’t want you to hear this from anyone else. 

Sunday 8AM

Mine <3: No mass this morning

Mine <3: When you get back into range you will know why

Mine <3: Call me when you can. 

Jake didn’t know what to do, when he tried to call, his phone said it didn’t have enough service. The messages weren’t much more descriptive than the texts, just saying that the two of you needed to talk and that you had news. 

He drove on, him and Bob sitting in a tense silence, by the time they had service again, Jake’s nerves were fried. He hit the call button on your contact as soon as he was able and had the phone pressed to his ear, “Come on baby, pick up, pick up, pick up…” he said under his breath. Jake could feel Bob’s eyes on him, but he didn’t care if his friend heard the call, he just had to know that your messages were about what he thought they were and not something to do with you. 

Finally, on the fourth ring, you picked up the phone. Glancing at the dash, Jake realised that you had probably gone back to sleep after the eight o’clock messages, considering it was only eleven now. 

“Jake?” you asked, your voice a little rough from disuse. 

“Baby? What’s wrong?” Jake asked, “I got all of your messages, and a few more. We know about Father John,” he rushed out, “What did you need to talk to me about?”

He heard you take a deep breath on the other side of the line and there was only a moment’s hesitation before you answered, “Oh, that was it. I just wanted to spare you from finding out from someone else is all,” you said. 

“Are you sure that’s it?” Jake asked, “It sounded like there was something else. Have you been to the doctor?” 

Another pause before, “No that’s it. I made an appointment for this week,” you said in reply. 

“Okay, we are on our way back. I’ll be home in a few hours,” he said, still not totally convinced there wasn’t something else wrong. 

“I’ll see you then, do you and Bob want me to make you something for lunch?” you asked, hoping a change in conversation would help distract him from your earlier panicked text messages. 

“Sure, anything you want to make would be great,” he replied, “See you soon honey.” 

“I love you,” he heard you say softly. 

Jake’s mouth quirked up in a small smile, “I love you too.” 

A second after he hung up the phone, Bob asked, “Everything alright?” 

“I think so,” he replied, “I don’t know, she seemed like she was hiding something but I’m not sure what it would be. She has been acting strange recently.” 

“Are you sure she isn’t pregnant?” Bob asked, trying to lighten the mood some. 

Jake shrugged, trying to put the pieces together, “If that’s all it is, I’m going to be the happiest man in the world.”

Bob nodded, “I’m sure she is fine, you’ll know when you get home anyway.” 

“Yeah, maybe she is just waiting to tell me when I get home,” Jake agreed, feeling a little lighter even though his mood was thoroughly soured by the passing of their church’s most trusted guide. 

---

You were sitting in Jake’s truck, waiting for him to come back out of the house. He had been on edge ever since he had received the news about Father John, with his mission coming up at work and you being ‘ill’ he had a lot on his plate. He rushed out of the house, his tie held in his hand, and a few notecards almost falling out of his pocket. He climbed into the driver’s seat of the truck and put it into gear, backing out of the driveway and almost taking out your mailbox in his hurry. 

“Jake!” you chastised, “We are only running a few minutes late and we are still an hour early for the funeral. It’s going to be alright,” you said, taking his hand in yours across the console and gently prying the tie from his grip. “Take a deep breath,” you tried, squeezing his hand in yours. 

He glanced over at you, an annoyed expression on his face. You raised an eyebrow at him, rubbing one thumb over the back of his hand, he turned his attention back to the road for a moment before looking back at you. He took a deep breath, pushing it out and you felt his hand relax in yours. 

“I’m sorry,” he said, his eyes now focused on the road, “I’ve been a bit of an ass haven’t I?” he asked, his mind wandering back through the events of the morning. You hadn’t been feeling well and laid in bed much later than usual. When you struggled out of bed to make breakfast, against Jake’s insistence that he could do it, you had gotten sick at the smell of his coffee. Then Bob called and said that the florist had not yet delivered the flowers from the parish to Father John’s funeral service, then Decan Dan had called him and asked if Jake could give a short eulogy. With the mission coming up and all of the other things piled up on top, Jake hadn’t been in a good mood at all today. He took another deep breath, risking a glance over at you to see if you were mad, he had been rather short with you earlier. 

“It’s alright, you are under a lot of stress right now,” you said, giving him a reassuring smile. While you loved him dearly, you knew that when Jake was feeling overwhelmed he had a tendency to snap out at people, it didn’t happen often and that didn’t make it okay, but in this case you had decided to let it go. The two of you had bigger fish to fry, Jake just didn’t know it yet. 

“Have you been to the doctor yet?” he asked, his brows creasing in the middle as he slowed down to stop for a red light. Turning to look at you he just missed the look of guilt that had settled over you. It had been almost a week since Elizabeth had forced you to the urgent care for a check up where you discovered that you were pregnant. You just hadn’t been able to find a way to tell Jake. 

“I have an appointment for later this week,” you replied, which wasn’t exactly a lie, you did have an appointment at the OBGYN for them to do a preliminary check on the baby. 

“Okay, good,” he said, his brows still creased as he accelerated, the light turning green, “You don’t think there’s anything seriously wrong do you?” he asked quietly, you almost didn’t hear him. 

“I’m sure that I’m fine, probably just too much stress from being in contact with you all the time,” you said, trying to lighten the mood. 

Jake sighed, his face contorting into something that almost resembled anger, “It’s not funny Y/n, what if you have cancer, what if you are dying?” he asked seriously. 

“I feel like I would know if I was dying, Jake,” you tried again, you were starting to get nervous, you were only a few minutes from the church and your goal had been to calm him down not rile him up more. 

He opened his mouth to say something, but you stopped him with a raise of your hand, “I know I’ve had some weird symptoms recently but I think it could just be my hormones since I quit my birth control,” you said, trying to brush over the topic. 

Jake’s mouth snapped shut and he guided the truck into the church’s almost empty parking lot. He flicked the key off and the humm of the engine cut out, leaving the two of you to sit in silence for a moment. You were going to try and say something again but at that moment Jake threw open his door and got out. You watched as he closed it, a little harder than necessary, before he wiped a hand down his face looking frustrated. 

You knew that it would only piss him off further if you opened the door for yourself so you waited for him to come around to your side of the truck. When he opened the door for you, presenting you with his hand, you swung your legs across the seat, taking his hand, you pulled him towards you with a sharp tug. Jake wasn’t expecting it and he moved somewhat surprised towards the truck. 

Reaching out, you tucked the collar of his shirt up, taking the tie you had saved from his grip earlier and slipping it around his neck. Wrapping it around itself and pulling the long end through, you tugged it gently until the knot rose to the top, just under his neck. Tucking the sides of his collar back down, you smoothed your hands over his chest, using the lapels of his suit jacket to pull him into a gentle kiss.

As the two of you parted he let out a quiet sigh, one of his hands resting on your cheek and the other on your thigh playing with the hem of your black dress, “I just don’t understand why you aren’t more worried,” he said, his eyes raising from your lap to your eyes. 

You opened your mouth to respond but he interrupted you, “No you had your turn to talk and now I get mine. You are my wife and I love and respect you dearly, but I am worried about you. Baby you went from drinking seven billion cups of coffee a day to throwing up at the smell of it. You have been acting strangely, eating pickles, and been overly emotional, and I mean that in the nicest way. I just think there is something wrong, and –”

Jake was cut off by you pulling him into a kiss, he tried to pull back from you to say something else, but your grip on him was too tight. When you finally parted, you rested your forehead against his, “You wonderful, stupid, caring man,” you said quietly opening your eyes to look into his.  

You couldn’t wait any longer to tell him, you couldn’t keep him in any more suspense, “I’m pregnant, Jake,” you said, pulling back some so you could watch his face for a reaction, “I found out this weekend, Lizzie made me go to urgent care when I fainted and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, I just didn’t know how and I wanted it to be spec–”

Jake cut you off with another kiss, you could feel him smiling widely, his lips tight against yours. He pulled away with a laugh, taking a few steps away from you and the truck before turning back and pulling you into his arms in a tight hug, “Really?” was all he could think to ask. 

“Yes,” you replied, pulling him tighter to you, “The woman at urgent care said maybe two weeks along, but I have an appointment this week with my doctor to get a better estimate.” 

“Why were you in urgent care?” he asks suddenly concerned, “Wait, did you say that you fainted? Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“I didn’t want you to worry,” you said quietly, the look of joy slowly melting off your face.

“Hey, you’re my wife, you can tell me anything, especially if it has to do with your health, okay?” Jake asked, “Promise me you’ll tell me if something is wrong in the future?” 

You nodded, “I promise,” you said and he pressed a quick kiss to your forehead. 

He helped you down from the truck, one hand braced against your nonexistent bump and the other supporting your back, a huge smile splitting his face. 

“Honey?” you asked him. 

“Yeah?” he replied, taking your hand and locking the truck. 

You hesitated for a moment, not wanting to ruin his fun, “We are about to attend a funeral,” you said rather bluntly. 

Jake looked at you, his face still forming a smile as he said, “Yes I know that,” he replied. 

“Well you might want to try and wipe the smile off of your face then,” you told him with a giggle of your own, “Don’t want anyone thinking you’re glad the good father is dead or anything.” 

Jake spluttered at your comment, the smile still on his face, “I don’t know if I can,” he said, trying his hardest to look sad. You just shook your head at him as you entered the church. 

You helped Jake set up the church for the funeral, placing flower arrangements and pictures around the space, by the time you were done, the church was looking forlorn but brighter. The new priest who was going to be taking over for Father John was supposed to hold the funeral mass for the older priest and Jake was talking him through a few things. By the time people started to file into the church, you had taken a seat in a pew, feeling a bit light headed. 

You pulled out a bottle of Gatorade, taking a sip and closing your eyes, letting the sugary drink work its way into your system. 

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Elisabeth asked, sitting down next to you, placing a hand on your leg.

"A little dizzy," you replied, opening your eyes to see her looking at you with a bright smile, "This is so exciting! Have you thought of how to tell Jake?"

“How to tell Jake what?” Bob asked, scaring the life from you. 

“Um, to tell Jake that…I broke a nail,” you said, your lie as unconvincing as the face you made trying to think of it. You could see Lizzie roll her eyes at your poor attempt at lying over Bob’s shoulder. 

“You’re pregnant aren’t you?” he asked, a knowing look on his face. 

You tried to cover up the shock that struck you but all that could come out of your mouth was, “How did you know?”

“It was the way you talked to Jake on the phone last weekend, and how he’s smiling today. He can’t hide any emotion that crosses his mind can he?” Bob asked, chuckling a little, “Congratulations, I’m really happy for you two.” 

You nibbled your bottom lip, "Thank you, he was so worried and so scared and I just couldn't keep it from him!" you whisper shouted, a small smile etched on your lips.

"You should have, he looks as happy as he did on your wedding day," she giggled, "People will get the wrong idea."

"What's up with Jake," Cyclone asked, joining his wife on the pew next to you.

"Err.." Lizzie offered.

“Jake’s sister-in-law is pregnant, we got the news five minutes ago,” you replied.

“That’s wonderful, but people are starting to notice,” Cyclone said, “Mrs. McCreedy has already asked me if you were pregnant, because that’s the only reason she could think of for him to be smiling.”

“Huh,” Bob said, “Well… That was a fairly close guess…” 

Cyclone hummed, he turned around to wave down Peter and Matthew, the triplets having been left at home with a new babysitter. They were still too young to properly grasp the concept of a funeral and as this one was open casket, as per Father John’s request, The Simpsons’ didn’t really want to have to deal with the questions as well as manage their own grief. 

The boys shimmied into the pew, walking past their parents to sit as close to you as possible. 

“How are you two holding up?” you asked, wrapping your arms around the boys. 

“I’m doing okay, but Matthew hasn’t slept too well since Father John’s falls,” Peter leaned in close to whispered into your ear, “He’s been having nightmares,” 

“I have not!” Matthew protests, a deep blush turning his ears a dark burgundy and slowly creeping down his neck. Behind him, Elisabeth mouthed ‘He has’. You looked at Matthew with a frown, gently running your hand through his hair.

“There’s nothing wrong with having nightmares, it doesn’t make you any less brave. Jake and I have nightmares, and I’m sure Daddy does too,” you said, “And Peter used to have nightmares when he was your age.”

“No I didn’t! You’re a liar,” he exclaimed, jumping up from the seat, attracting looks from the people in the pews around you.

“Oh, so I didn’t have to hold you while you fell asleep after you watched an episode of Thomas The Tank Engine?” you asked him, your tone questioning. 

“No,” he answered too quickly, “I’m not scared of a cartoon,” he added. 

Matthew smiled next to him, “So if I ask to watch it later --”

“If you do that I will hide Mamma’s creepy old doll in your bed,” Peter said quickly. 

The smile vanished from Matthew’s face and the two boys settled down, their parents both giving them harsh looks for drawing attention during the funeral. Jake helped to lead the proceedings and by the end of the services, the smile he was trying so hard to keep off of his face was still there. 

“Mr. Seresin,” Mrs. McCreedy called, “Why is it that you have been smiling this whole service, is there something good you’d like to share with the group.” 

You quickly joined Jake’s side, plastering a smile on your own face before answering, “Well Mrs. McCreedy, just before the service we received word from Texas that our Sister-in-law is expecting another baby,” you said excitedly, “And we are just so thrilled for them.” 

When Jake looked at you, a bit of confusion on his face, you nudged him, hard. He immediately turned back to the older woman, “Oh yes, my brother Tony’s wife is expecting another little one,” he said with a smile. 

“Well,” Mrs. McCreedy said with a smile, “How blessed for them, maybe the two of you will be so lucky soon enough.” 

“We hope so,” you replied. 

Once everyone had a convincing story as to why Jake couldn’t keep the smile off his face, the rest of the day went rather smoothly. On the way home, he looked at you and you could feel the question he was about to ask, “We don’t tell anyone yet but our families,” you said quietly, “I just, I want to keep our little bean a secret a while longer, so they are just ours.” 

Jake nodded, “Alright, if that’s what you want darlin’.”

“I was thinking we could ask Bob and Maria to be the Godparents, what do you think?” you asked him, taking his hand in yours. 

Jake gave you his megawatt smile before answering, “I think that sounds great, I’m sure they will be so honoured.” 

You smiled back at him, bringing his hand down to rest on your still flat stomach for the rest of the drive home. 

#fanfic #top gun fanfiction #top gun maverick #top gun x reader #fanfiction #original fic #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin #jake seresin #hangman top gun

[vaspider]

Just thought of something bc of a post you reblogged about ditching thoughtcrime in favour of looking at people's actions (which I fully agree with btw)

Because I used to be really on the Thoughtcrime Bad train when I was younger, thankfully before it coalesced the way it has now. And a significant part of it was me not realising that I'm very driven to act in line with my principles and others might not be.

My assumption that everyone thought that way meant that I jumped straight to "you can't let people have bad principles or thoughts because people are driven to act in line with them, it's pointless to try and change the behaviour because the bad principles will override it and make them go back to being bad quickly" and it's like — actually that was just a me thing, or at least, it applies to some people but not everyone, and many people are capable of acting out of step with their principles (in ways that are good and bad). You don't actually have to change people at the level of fundamental principles in order to get them to stop doing bad stuff.

I got better about it as I got older, and I'm glad I escaped that kind of thinking before social media got the way it has, but yeah. That was an element that I hadn't clicked was part of it til now!

That's really insightful. 💗

[burnitalldownism]

PSA

Hey everyone. I’m not huge on Tumblr…I’ve a fairly respectable follower count and have had a few posts blow up for the right and/or wrong reasons. I’m also not super interactive on social media generally, my blog/page .etc are very much one-sided conversations.

Doesn’t mean I don’t know who follows me and interacts with my posts. Lotta newbies from a few popular posts in recent months (including the one that got TERFblr mad…thanks for advertising me to new followers ye Matt Walsh simps ✌️) so welcome to you all.

But for all of you. It took a long time for me to cultivate my approach and response to hateful shite in my social media experience. I used to go down rabbit holes and engage engage engage with them. Took a long time for me to reach this point where I can engage and disengage effortlessly while taking the absolute piss out of them. Coz I realised that what they crave is engagement. They need to spread the virus of their “beliefs”. It’s not shared to educate or to uplift, it’s only spread for the furtherance of their desired end result.

So I decided that absolutely yes, the hate must be challenged. The anti-reality, anti-fact, anti-science must be confronted and held up as horseshite. Not for them because they’re Alex Jones Soyppl cultists. But for you folk and anyone else who might stumble across my reblog or the notes on theirs.

But once that’s accomplished? No point. They won’t change their minds til they get a brick to the head. So once it’s been held up and countered…bye-bye 👋

I’m in a good place where I can do this, and it’s easy for me coz I’ve no skin in the game. But if you’re not up for it…if you haven’t the spoons for it…don’t. Just ignore them, or reblog and then block.

Look after yourselves first and foremost my wonderfuls.

Bonus Pirate Kitty 🏴‍☠️ 🐱

[rainbowhouseplant]

List 5 things that make you happy, then put this in the askbox for the last 10 people who liked or reblogged something from you! Get to know your mutuals and followers 💗

oh okay it's my turn? i'm here for this xD

1 -- Good Food. I'm basically a food motivated corgi. But I don't mean like, the same chain resturants or fast food places. I'm a stupid person with food allergies, and I will indeed try things sometimes and forget to look up the ingredients til I feel bad later.

2 -- Adventure. I'm quite fond of the 'play tourist in your own backyard' game, since it's stupid expensive to travel and stupid expensive to get repro organs taken out that would make it less anxiety inducing to travel alone. In my crochety old man age, I've come to realise I don't like travelling with people, but if we meet up and they fuck off after an hour or so, then it's perfectly tolerable. And tho it might be off the table for me this year, doing the 8 hour roadtrip to go medieval style camping with a bunch of anachronistic history nerds is like, top tier adventure. Ate so much food, learnt so much, made a basket, didn't get sunburn somehow but became allergic to sunscreen on-site so that was, uh, fun. ( My fault for using Aveeno. Horrid Brand. )

3 -- Doing Creative Shit. Right now I'm fond of the stare at the wall and imagine AUs for your characters version of creativity, and may have accidentally fallen back asleep for a couple hours because one AU was pretty good. Obviously I like doing the typical "drawn" arts thing, but I've also done jewelry making/basic jewelry repair, scrapbooking, leatherworking, uh, i forget what else of creative hobbies. also there's an instrument i've been meaning to try to learn lmao but because aforementioned roadtrip is probably not happening i have another year to figure it out.

4 -- Playing DnD with those hecking nerds. What was it the illustrious DM said? Something about how there's so much to focus on during a game, you can't think about anything else? I like that. That shut up and focus is uh, a very much needed distraction in days of late.

5 -- When I can find the Orange Dreamsicle Monster in the goddamn stores. It's been like, two years, and I'm still on the it HAS to be orange-vanilla flavoured or it tastes like butt kick. What? They couldn't all be winners.

uh...

a bonus: 6 -- When renn faire attendees and performers know the g-slur is a slur and don't use it. This thought brought to you by the fact that I let a lot of i guess bard-style songs auto play and am always jump scared by that word like excuse you, can you not?

#voidsteeth #that was fun!

[oifaaa]

Do Kyle and Jason ever interact in the comics? Or is just a popular fanon pairing?

Yeah they do interact during countdown to final crisis Jason Kyle and Donna form a small team to look for Iirc Ray palmer (?) which is where all they're main interactions come from but their also gonna interact (maybe) in a comic for the current crisis dark crisis

#Ask #Anon #Not gonna lie friend #Was so confused as to why you were asking me of all people about jaykyle #Til I looked at my reblogs and realised #I queued up some jayklye art lmao #But yeah I love Jason and Kyle's relationship in ctfc #But also Iirc #Jason dresses up as red Robin #And kills the joker #It was a different universe joker #But still #It's great #Go read #Ship jayklye #It's also a great ship

[sstan-hoe]

𝑃𝑟𝑎𝑖𝑠𝑒 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑘 — 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑣𝑒 𝑅𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑟𝑠

𝑃𝑎𝑖𝑟𝑖𝑛𝑔 — Steve Rogers x Fem!reader

𝑊𝑎𝑟𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠 — NO SMUT, praise kink, slight Daddy kink, dd/gl dynamic if you squint

𝑊𝑜𝑟𝑑 — for this one I was going for a way to show it also goes non sexual and we're actually at the point at how I wanted to make the Kinktober with short little fics and no big ass long books haha, *not my gif, reblog and comment!

• KINKTOBER

„Good girl.“ Steve smirked as you drank the full glass of medicine. A cough left you’re your mouth caused by the disgusting taste of the medicine.

“That tastes like an old shoe!” You complained as you crouched your nose. “And it smells like it.” You added, Steve chuckled at your reaction. Like a little child getting a cold.

“You’re doing so good for me sweetheart.” He told with a kind smile, taking your hand in his hand his thumb caressed the knuckles.

A few day back Steve took you on a walk around the central park, it was a cold day and he told you to put on something with more warmth than the lazy red sweater he gifted you to Christmas.

“Stop the sweet talk. Its’s your fault I’m sick!” You accused him with pointed finger. Steve raised his eyebrows in warning manner which you did not even realise he had until meeting his gaze that held proving glint in them.

“My fault…?” He trailed of his grip on your hand tightening. “Say that again.” Demanding laced in his voice.

“Sorry daddy, you’re right it was my fault I wouldn’t listen.” You mumbled not having the confidence to meet his eyes as he still had the proving look that hid the disapointment perfectly.

“That’s right you are at fault, and you know good girls only tell the truth.” Steve finger slipped under your chin raising it up. “I am sorry daddy.” The apology rolled over your tounge as easy a sharp knife cutting paper.

“Good girl, you were doing so good for me. You don’t want to disappoint me again do you love?” Steve softly questioned and you instantly shook your head. “No, of course not daddy.”

“Good, you’re gonna be such a good perfectly girl for me because you listen to me so well.”

𝑇𝑎𝑔𝑠 —

@adventurer1789 @slut-for-bucky-barnes @thehuntresswolf @wandalosthervision @til-my-feet-are-wet @tomhoelland01 @kaiparker-avengerssmut @cyeh1123 @evans-cavill @emmygrey21 @disappointmentofthefam @learning-howto-be-myselfx3 @buckyxxrogers @anythingandeverything97 @wydtrina @buckysbabydolldude @poetic-heart @iambeeee @browneyedgirl365 @satzukim @xealia @patzammit @jeeperky @everything-burns-down @liz-owl @honeyyxashes @bluemoonyumi @slutforchrisjamalevans @buckysbae @lewisjada03 @queenofthepouges @harrysthiccthighss @melissad1974 @znylxcevans @iwannabekilledtwice @thats-a-little-fruity @hallecarey1 @maybe-a-bi-witch @nostxlgia18 @slutforchrisjamalevans @multixfandomwriter @sunflowerfive @bunnyrecs @wednesdayaddamsmood @idfkgabby @miniaturesuitcasevoidstudent @yourssincerelytae @ambrosia-bloom @oliviabelova

#chris evans x reader #ransom drysdale x reader #andy barber x reader #chris evans smut #bucky barnes x reader #chris evans imagine #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #chris evans x wife!reader #sebastian stan x reader #steve rogers x you #steve rogers x y/n #steve rogers x stark!reader #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers x reader #steve rogers #steve rogers x black!reader #steve rogers x black female reader #steve rogers fandom #steve rogers fanfiction #steve rogers angst #steve rogers and reader #steve rogers au #celests kinktober #steve rogers smut #steve rogers x female reader #steve rogers x f!reader #steve rogers x woc!reader #steve rogers x wife!reader #steve rogers imagine

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

Sleepover

Warnings: noncon, fingering, oral, somniphilia, unprotected sex, pre-existing relationship

This is dark!Steve Rogers x reader (side of Sam Wilson x reader) in an established relationship and explicit. 18+ only.

Summary: The reader stops at a safe house but isn’t as safe as she thinks.

Note: Pretty much I wanted to make the trope “there was only one bed” dark, so I did. Reading the warnings. Last chance.

Also saw that @mcudarklibrary​ was having a somniphilia theme for August and September so thought this could be a contribution!

I hope y’all enjoy!

Let me know what you think! (Like, reblog, reply, leave some words, a gif, nonsensical emojis)

The safe house was small but it would do. It was just you for the night until you headed to the rendezvous and found your way back to New York. A week of reconnaissance and several days of retreat and you could have slept in the grass. Well, it wasn’t much better.

A double mattress on the floor between the narrow counter and table that folded into the wall. The bathroom was barely more than a closet. A tight shower and a floating sink beside the small toilet. You weren’t entirely sure why this was on the list of assigned safe points but it had been the closest.

You set your bag on the counter and unzipped it as you flipped on the light in the bathroom. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you answered as you pulled out the cotton tank and sweats you’d wear after a hot shower. The clothes you had on were better off burned than washed.

“Baby, I’ve been tryna call all day.” Sam didn’t even give you a chance to say hello.

“You know I’m on a mission, right?” You asked as you went into the bathroom and dropped your clothes on the closed toilet seat. “I can’t be on my phone all day.”

“Thought you were headed to the safe house?”

“I’m there now but it took a while,” You reached for the shower faucet but paused as you heard a rumble in the distance.

“I miss you, baby,” Sam purred. “Maybe we could have a little fun on the phone tonight… Facetime?”

“What the--” You went to the window as the roaring of the motor grew louder. You pulled back the thick curtain and peered out. You sighed. “Sam.”

“What?” He asked innocently.

“How much fun are we gonna have with my chaperone here?” You sneered.

“What do you--”

“Steve.” You said plainly as you watched Steve killed the engine and wheel his bike around the back of the house. “I can’t believe you.”

“I swear it wasn’t me, baby.”

“Mhmm, and you also didn’t tell him to tail me in Rome.” You huffed.

“That was different.” Sam argued. “I promise, it’s nothing to do with me.”

“You have fun alone.” You said. “Distance makes the heart grow… fonder, is it?”

“Baby--”

“Love you.” You sang and hung up before he could respond.

You really did love Sam but he could be overbearing. At first, being fellow agents had been fun and dangerous. But as things grew more serious, he acted more and more like a babysitter. You both took the same risks, you didn’t understand why he was anymore worried about you than himself.

You placed your phone on your duffel as you carefully stepped around the mattress that took up much of the space. You opened the door a crack as footfalls crept around the side. You pushed it open entirely as Steve came into site.

“Steve,” You greeted as you crossed your arms.

“Oh,” He looked genuinely surprised. “I didn’t see your… car?”

“In the trees,” You nodded to the nearby forest. “Precautionary.”

“I… shit, I didn’t know you were here. I was just in the area on intelligence and needed somewhere to crash.”

“Mhmm,” You held open the door for him as he approached. “You sure someone didn’t tip you off?”

He blinked at you and turned back as he entered. You followed and locked the door.

“You mean Sam? Come on, after Rome, he can deal with his own paranoia.”

You squinted at him and sighed.

“Well, if you can’t tell, there isn’t much room.” You waved to the small space. “More a shed than a house.”

“Geez, yeah,” He looked around. “Well, I can--”

“It’s fine. These things happen. I’m sure you’ve slept on worse.” You shrugged. “Almost thought I’d be in my car for the night.”

“As long as it’s not too much of a bother.” He rubbed his neck. “I didn’t mean to barge in.”

“It’s one night. Won’t hurt anyone.” You said. “I’m just gonna get cleaned up and lay down. I’ll try to stay out of your way as much as I can.”

“Alright,” He put his bag down next to yours. “I’ll try to do the same.” He unzipped his bag. “Save some hot water for me.”

You gave a thin laugh and went back into the bathroom. You closed the door but it didn’t click. You tried several times and found the latch broken. You huffed and cranked the faucet. The shower whined and the water pattered down against the old porcelain.

You undressed, careful to keep an eye on the small space between the door and the frame as you did. You stepped behind the curtain and the rings rang against the rod as you pulled it into place. 

You sighed as you melted beneath the hot water. You let the steam swallow you up and scrubbed your skin clean. You stepped out and took one of the half-dozen towels hidden away in the cupboard.

You let out a ‘whew’ as you dried off and dressed quickly. You walked out with the towel and draped it from a knob on the counter. 

Steve turned away from the window. It was dark outside already. He smiled awkwardly. 

“You done in there?” He asked.

“Mhmm,” You nodded and grabbed your phone as you let him past. The place was even smaller with him there.

You dropped down onto the bed and your screen it up with a notification. It was Sam. ‘Babe? Hello?’ You unlocked the phone and found several other messages.

‘Was in the shower. Looks like a long night with the old captain.’ You replied.

‘Hey, nothing to do with me. Promise. I’d check in myself ;)’

‘Sure, sure.’

‘Come on, baby, don’t be like that.’

‘Even if it wasn’t, night’s kinda ruined.’

‘Just don’t let him see ;P’

You shook your head and lowered the phone. The shower groaned in the next room and your stomach fluttered. It would be difficult but you did miss Sam terribly; in many ways.

‘I can’t.’ You typed as you listened to the stream of water. The door hadn’t caught for Steve either and upon a glance you saw his blurry silhouette behind the curtain. Sam was quick to respond.

‘You’ve done worse, baby. You remember Rio ;P’

‘I regret Rio’. You giggled under your breath, the memory of the humid hideaway and your little escape with Sam as Bucky kept watch. You were still certain he’d spotted you on his surveillance.

‘He’s an old man. He’ll probably sleep early.’ 

‘You realise this house is tiny. I’m surprised he fit through the door.’

‘But I miss you :)’

‘Don’t do that.’

‘I know you miss me more. Can’t wait for this sugar.’

You barely stifled your laughter as the shower stopped and you texted Sam a heart eye emoji before flipping to another app. You knew Sam wasn’t going to let up but it would be awkward enough spending the night here in such close confines with Steve. You and him were rarely alone; you usually had the buffer of Bucky or Sam. You’d always found the First Avenger a little stringent; tight-lipped and a bit of a hard ass.

Your eyes flicked up as the door opened all the way and Steve stepped through. You cleared your throat and glanced back at your phone. He only had the towel around his waist. You crossed your legs and scrolled through your timeline.

“Forgot my clothes out here,” He said. “It’s been such a long day, it’s all slipping my mind.”

“No worries,” You kept your eyes on your phone as he gathered up a bundle from his bag and fled back to the bathroom. 

You blinked and finally lifted your head. Your phone buzzed and you looked down. ‘You got me all worked up.’ Sam included an eggplant at the end and you quickly swept away the bubble. Steve emerged in a pair of track pants and an A shirt that did little to conceal his muscular torso as the fabric was stretched taut.

He shoved his dirty gear in his bag and fished around for his own phone. He neared the other side of the mattress and gave a doubtful look at the space beside you.

“Um, sorry if it’s a bit cramped.” He lowered himself carefully. “You know, about seventy-odd years ago, you wouldn’t even have noticed me.”

You chuckled and shimmied over to give him more space as he leaned against the wall next to you.

“It’s fine. Sam’s a bed hog. I’m used to it.” You assured him.

“Oh, yeah, I learned that once.” Steve scoffed. “This place in Germany. A lot like this one. He’s not very accommodating.”

“No, not when it comes to sleep,” You muttered.

“Chatterbox,” Steve remarked as he unlocked his phone. “As is Bucky today… uncharacteristically.”

Your own phone buzzed as Steve opened up his messages. You lifted your own screen and cautiously swiped up. ‘How long til he’s asleep? I’m so hard it hurts.’ Sam’s message had you framing the phone with your hand in shame.

‘Don’t get me worked up,’ You warned as you shifted beside Steve.

‘I was just looking at those photos you sent on Valentines. I can’t help myself.’

‘Stop :/’

‘You know I can’t. That little outfit was too much. Tell me you still have it.’

‘He’s going to see. Stop.’

You coughed and flipped your phone as you sensed movement along your peripheral. You peeked over at Steve but he just stared at his phone as he typed with his thumbs slowly. Maybe you were overly paranoid. You looked at your screen again.

‘You look just as good without it.’ Sam’s text made your stomach knot.

‘You never seemed too picky :P’

‘I bet you look just as good now. What are you wearing, baby?’ 

You wanted to laugh at him. You weren’t exactly dressed to the nines. ‘Sweats and a tank. Very sexy.’

‘Oo u know I love ur ass in sweats’.

‘Haha, sure’.

You heard a growl from beside you and quickly lowered your phone. You looked at Steve as he shook his head at his own cell.

“Sorry, Bucky’s just… being Bucky.” He blackened his phone and sat up. He tucked it under his pillow and yawned. “I think I’m just going to sleep. I’ve been on the road all day.”

“Sure,” You said. “I’ll get the light.”

“You don’t have to sleep yet.” He slid down onto his back. “I don’t mind.”

“Nah, I’m pretty tired myself.” You said.

You left your phone on the mattress as you stood and pulled the string of the hanging bulb. The space went black and you carefully toed your way back to the bed. As you got onto the mattress you nearly landed on Steve and apologized as you righted yourself. You fished out your phone as you laid atop the covers.

“Night,” You said as you held your phone to your stomach.

“Night,” He echoed.

You rolled onto your side, your back to him, and dimmed your screen. You unlocked your phone again. ‘When you get home, I’m taking you to dinner and you’re not wearing panties.’

‘Ur so bad.’

‘Not as bad as you, baby’.

'You really gotta stop. I need sleep.'

'I'll leave you alone if you send me something to tide me over ;)'

'Steve is right here'.

'When he's asleep. Trust me, he's out like a light after dark.'

'I'll try… no promises.'

You hid your phone and listened. Steve barely moved and you could only hear his breath as it slowed to a steady lull. 

You rolled onto your back an glanced over at him. His eyes were closed and no tension marred his face. You bit the tip of your tongue and sat up. 

You kept watch over him as you opened your camera. You turned on your flash and flipped it around. You had one shot in the dark. You pulled down your tank top, goosebumps as the fear of getting caught tickled your skin. You lined up your finger and clicked as you gave as coy a look as you could manage.

Flash, snap, you quickly laid back down and pulled up your shirt. You were on your side as you checked the pic. Not bad… you sent it and held in a giggle. Your phone buzzed not long after.

'Oh baby that will def get me thru the nite'. You sent a heart and a kissy emoji in reply and told him you had to go to sleep. 

He returned the sentiment and you set your phone on the floor, content to wait until your homecoming for a release of the heat pooling in your core.

You closed your eyes and yawned. You really were tired.

💤

Steve sighed. She was asleep. He could tell as her heart slowed and her breaths evened out. He had fought to keep still until she did; as she had continued her texting, and even as she had chanced to take that naughty photo. And right beside him!

It was hard to keep his cool as he laid next to her. As she got out of the shower, he’d chanced to look up and see her through the crack of the door before she wrapped herself in a towel. And then he had barely been able to keep his eyes on her face as her nipples stuck out beneath the cotton of her tank. 

And next to her. Her warmth seeping into him. He could sense her nerves as Sam goaded her through her phone. As she did a poor job at hiding her screen and he pretended to be distracted by her own. She had completely missed that he’d open the tracking app with the little dot that blipped right over them. The very one that told her where she was at all times.

It’s how he found her all alone in the safe house. Convenient that it was so small but he had a plan either way. He’d been fantasizing about this very moment for months. Close to a year. Every time he saw her it got harder to act normal. Often he just shut down and went quiet. And seeing her with Sam…

His hand was on the waist of his track pants, fingertips picking at the elastic. He’d been hard all night, at this point, throbbing. He flinched as his hand brushed his erection through his pants. He let out a strained breath through his teeth and shivered.

He peeked over at her. In her sleep, she’d turned on her side to face him. She looked peaceful and yet a shadow of that naughty grin she’d given to her phone remained. Steve began to rub himself through the thin crotch of his track pants. He groaned. Looking at her, it felt even better. Her airy snores, just a hiss between her pouted lips, kept time as he stoked himself.

His other hand grasped hers. What was he doing? He dragged her hand from where it laid bent before her chest and he pushed it down until it was next to his. He slid it beneath and held it to his hard dick as it twitched. He swallowed a grunt as he used her palm to pleasure himself.

She murmured and he let go of her. Her hand fell between them but she didn’t wake. She fell onto her back and brought her arm up over her head, her elbow barely missing his temple. She grumbled and her breaths petered out once more. He watched her for a moment and admired the way her tank top had been pulled askew and her sweats had rolled lower on her hips.

He couldn’t help but trace the elastic with his fingers, grazing the skin bared just above. She didn’t react, didn’t move, didn’t make a noise. He pushed beneath her pants, just a little. He felt the smooth skin of her pelvis as he watched her face. Her eyes didn’t flutter open and she didn’t stir to stop him. He tickled the trimmed hair further down and he let out a long shaky breath.

He traced the line of her cunt and carefully dipped his finger between her folds. She was wet despite her unconsciousness. His fingertip slid over her clit and she let out a moan that ended in a nasally snore. He watched her cheek twitch but she still didn’t wake. He pressed another finger down and flicked down and back up. He dragged his fingers along until she began to slicken.

He withdrew his hand and kept his eyes on her. She pushed her arm down over her face and arched her back as she stretched, a sleep grumble as she wiggled beside him. He brushed his fingers along his lips and tasted her. He looked her over and felt the deep pain of his arousal. It was more than that, it was an insatiable and overwhelming need.

He sat up, careful no to jostle her. His hand crawled down her thigh and he sidled over as he inched her legs apart. He lifted himself onto his knees and turned to climb between hers. He stopped as he knelt above her and she still was completely unaware. 

He waited a moment before he grasped the waist of her sweats. His hands slipped around and he eased them past her ass as he lifted her. She was putty in his hands. Dead weight as her chest rose and fell without disturbance.

He rolled her pants down a little more. And more. And more. He stared at the soft outlines of her nudity as he bared her and drew her pants down her legs. He backed off the mattress and untangled her feet. He got back between her knees and ran his palms along her naked legs. Goosebumps rose at his touch and she moaned but her arm remained over her eyes and she only muttered between snores.

He paused and leaned over his side of the mattress. He grabbed his phone from under his pillow and quickly swiped it open. He clicked on the camera and turned the flash on. He grasped the top of the tank top and pulled until the straps slid down her arms and her chest came free. He snapped a picture, then another with his hand on her tit. Then he bent to take her nipple in his mouth and suckled until his cock was sore.

He pulled back and looked over her as he set his phone aside. His little doll. 

Steve slid his hands down onto the mattress and bent over her. His nose grazed her tuft of hair and he inhaled her scent. He hummed in delight. He nuzzled her closer and poked his tongue out along her folds. He delved deeper and teased her clit and a sharp breath had him frozen. He glanced up but she was still asleep. 

He flicked his tongue and she squeaked again. He loved that sound. He remembered that sound, dreamt of it since he’d first heard. Her and Sam never seemed to have much shame or perhaps it was a lack of awareness. That day in the training room when they thought they were alone; when they didn’t know he was just outside the door, kept from his own workout as they wrestled on the mats.

He brought his hand up to feel along her entrance. He poked a finger inside her and felt how tight she was. He added another finger and imagined her around his cock as he had a hundred times before. He lapped at her hungrily and curled his fingers inside her. Her walls constricted as her orgasm built and he guided her through it. He felt it and heard the stifled pattern of her breath as she crested the peak.

He slowed and peeked up at her. He withdrew his hand and reluctantly parted as he sat up. Her arm had slipped from her face and bent around her pillow. He could hear her heartbeat as it raced and yet she was asleep still. How could she not have woken?

Steve gripped the top of his pants. He looked down at his hands as if they weren't his own. He rose and stepped out of his track pants and swiped his shirt over his head. His hands glossed over his hot torso and his chest threatened to burst as every sense was magnified. He needed her. He could have her. Like this.

He bent and took his phone again. He switched to record and the flash bloomed to life. He angled the lens over every inch of her as he watched the screen. He backed up and went to the counter. He propped his phone up against the side of the bag, adjusting it until it focused on the mattress. He wanted to remember it even if she didn’t.

His fingers wrapped around his cock and he stroked himself and neared the bed. He groaned and lowered himself before her. He bent her legs around him as he bent over her. He slid his arm beneath her head and it lolled into the crook of his elbow. He pressed his tip to her folds and slickened himself with her arousal.

He prodded at her entrance and held his breath. He watched her face in the dark as he pushed into her. She stretched around his tip and her breath rushed along his thick bicep. He went deeper, unable to stop as her warmth beckoned to him. He was halfway in and felt as if he couldn’t go any further. She was so tight and yet he had too. He wanted all of her.

He held his breath and thrust to his limit. She gasped and her head turned suddenly as her eyes snapped open. The shock in her face was startling and somehow intoxicating. She blinked as she mumbled in confusion and she brought her hands up against his chest as she tried to shove him off. He jerked his hips and she cried out.

“S-Steve…” She gulped as she felt his thick muscles helplessly. “What are you--”

He pulled back and thrust into her again. Her legs tensed against him and her body arched beneath him. He hushed her and smothered her lips with his. She tried to pull away but she was trapped under his weight; in his strength. He liked the way she writhed, the way her tongue tried to force his out, the way her nails dug into the skin of his chest, the frantic noises that he swallowed up.

💤

You were so full it hurt. Your heart beat faster than ever as your eyes searched the dark. All you could see was the shadow of the man atop you, feel his sheer strength as he cradled your head with his thick arm and moved his body atop yours. You clawed at his chest as you squeezed him with your thighs, trying to get him off of you but only seeming to draw him deeper.

You pushed your head to the side as you finally tore your lips from his and gulped at the air. His motion built steadily as his groans seeped into you and made your stomach turn. 

At first, you hadn’t known where you were. It took a moment to recall the safe house and the mission that had led you there. Another to remember Steve’s unexpected arrival and your hasty texts before you resigned to sleep. And another to realise what he was doing to you. To realise that while you were terrified, it felt good. To battle with yourself and your weak body.

“Steve…” You rasped as his wet lips crushed against your cheek and his hips moved steadily against you. “Stop. What are you-- Sam…” You could barely form a thought, let alone speak. “Please--”

“I couldn’t wait any longer.” He growled as he sped up. “You’re so good. So tight.”

“Steve--”

“Mmm, say it again.” His other hand gripped your hip as he tilted into you. “I love my name in your mouth.”

“No, no, no,” You murmured. “Why--”

He impaled you sharply and your voice fizzled in your throat. He rested his weight on you as he sank into you completely and held himself there. Carefully he rolled onto his side and took you with him. He hooked your leg around his side as your other was trapped under him. His arms wrapped around you as he rocked into you.

He grabbed your leg and bent it even higher, straining your muscles as he crashed into you harder and deeper. You beat on his shoulder and threw your head back as you tried to resist the swelling in your core.

“It’s okay,” He purred. “You can cum for me.”

“St-e-ve,” You stuttered and grasped his shoulder. “Why--”

“Can I cum in you?” He asked as he grabbed your head and made you look at him. A light shone from behind him. You hadn’t noticed that before. “I gotta-- I’m gonna fill you up.”

“No, no…” You pushed helplessly. He wasn’t wearing a condom, you could tell. The thought made you sick. “You can’t--”

“I can’t--” He rolled you onto your back once more. 

He pinned your hips down with his large hands as he raised himself on his needs and rutted into you without restraint. You felt as if your pelvis would snap as his grunts filled the small house. You clung to the pillows around your head and your body constricted in an unexpected and unwanted climax.

“That-- It--” He snarled as his motion turned relentless. “I’m-- gonna-- ugh…”

His voice trailed off and his hips snapped harshly against you as he came. You felt his heat as it coated your walls and he eased himself still as he lowered his body back down to yours. He pecked your lips and you turned your head away.

“Why…” Your voice crackled. 

He hummed and nuzzled your cheek. “That was good, wasn’t it?”

“Get off of me,” You sneered. “Steve,” You slapped him and he recoiled. “Off!”

He grunted and pulled out of you as he pushed himself onto his knees. His cum leaked from your cunt as you sat up and he got to his feet. Your entire body tingled and you were shaking. You stood, your legs wobbly, and Steve’s shadow blotted out the bright light the beamed across the space.

“What is that?” You asked as you reached between your legs to wipe the cum smeared on your thighs.

“A keepsake.” The flash on his phone suddenly went out as he tapped the screen. “To look back on.”

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” You stomped towards him and reached for his phone. “How could you--”

“Don’t worry,” He held the phone above him. “Sam will never know… unless I want him too.”

“No…” You stared up at his face shrouded in darkness. “How…” 

You blinked as tears rose and a hollow chill swept through you. You spun away from him and stumbled to the bathroom. You slammed the door as a sob caught in your throat. The damn thing would stay shut. You punched it as you swallowed back your tears.

You flipped on the light and pushed yourself away from the door and it creaked. You turned the sink on, the cold water numbing as you tried to wash away his cum from your cunt. When you finished, you let the tap run and looked into the mirror. You didn’t look like yourself. You didn’t feel like yourself.

And Steve, he couldn’t have been himself.

#steve rogers #dark steve rogers #dark!steve rogers #steve rogers x reader smut #dark steve rogers x reader #dark!steve rogers x reader #fic #dark!fic #dark fic #somniphilia #one shot #sam wilson #sam wilson x reader #mcu #marvel #captain america

[talatomaz]

beautiful | diana prince x fem!reader

a/n: happy new year !! this takes place during 1984 but before the actual plot of the movie happens. this is really long so sorry in advance

warnings: mentions of attempted assault. sexual references

word count: 3.4k

masterlist | request list | request rules

reader is a woc and works at the smithsonian as an antiques realtor. after they receive several artefacts specific to ancient mediterranean culture, she enlists the help of diana prince, a senior anthropologist. reader works closely with her and finds herself starting to develop feelings for her and one day, she’s saved by a mysterious female heroine and figures out diana is not all she claimed to be

i do not give you permission to repost or translate my fics on any platform - likes/reblogs are okay and are much appreciated

“Thank you.”

You smiled to the delivery boy as you showed him where to place the fragile artefacts the museum had just received. It was your job to evaluate whether they were of any value, and if so, whether it was more prudent for them to be sold to someone else or put on display for people to visit.

The moment you were left alone, you’d opened the smallest box in order to determine where these artefacts were from, more specifically, when. You picked up, what appeared to be, a device of some sorts, fit with several random gears. Evaluating the rust and corrosion, you noted on your clipboard that this may have been a Cypriot artefact from the early Bronze Age.

As you made your way through the other boxes, you were about a quarter of the way through when you noticed that all of these antiquities appeared to originate from the Mediterranean. And you knew the perfect person to help explain more about their culture to you.

You gently placed the artefact you were currently examining back in its respective box, locked your office door and made your way to the senior anthropologist who was an expert on the culture.

Lifting a closed fist, you lightly knocked on the door and waited patiently for the door to open, smiling at the person who stood in the door frame when it did.

“Afternoon Miss Prince, are you free for a quick chat?”

You didn’t know Diana Prince all that well, having only interacted on a number of occasions but each time you had, she was incredibly kind and friendly. She had been at the museum longer than you had and was one of the first people to introduce themselves to you and make you feel welcome.

Honestly, there wasn’t much that you knew about her.

She was an enigma.

In the broadest of terms, that was.

By definition, an enigma is someone who is mysterious and difficult to understand.

Now, whilst the brunette was definitely mysterious, she was, by no means, difficult to understand.

One look in her eyes and you immediately saw her for all that she was.

She may not have said more than 5 words to you, but her eyes told you a story. Someone who had gone through immense hurt but remained kind and bright, even in the darkest of times.

Her eyes were beautiful, as was the rest of her. Though that did seem like an oversimplification. She was a goddess, as if sculpted by the Gods themselves - how true that was, you didn’t know yet - and despite that, she never seemed to let her beauty be her one overriding factor. She was extremely smart and intelligent and so much more. Which was why you enlisted her help.

“Of course. Please take a seat.” She said, smiling when you did. “So, how can I help you, Miss L/N?”

“Please, call me y/n. Miss L/N makes me sound like my mother.” You joked.

“Well, then please call me Diana.” She replied in her accent that you couldn’t quite distinguish.

You nodded, “So I’ve just recently come into possession of some ancient artefacts. As you know, I’m required to estimate their value and decide what the museum should do with them. However, it seems that the artefacts I’ve currently examined, all appear to be specific to Mediterranean culture. Now considering you’re our resident expert on that, I figured-”

“That I could come and help you determine it’s authenticity and explain more about them.” Diana finished.

“Exactly. But if you’re too busy, I compl-”

“No, it’s okay.” She interrupted quickly. Clearing her throat, she continued, “I’d be happy to help. I’m glad you came to me, y/n.”

Your lips curved in a smile as you fought to keep the blush that would have certainly risen to your cheeks.

“Shall we?” You asked, standing up, about to head back to your office.

“Lead the way.”

***

For the next month or so, you found yourself working quite closely with the anthropologist, the Smithsonian board having told you both that they wanted you to help create a display for the artefacts to be put on show for the community. Though that meant more work for you, you were secretly grateful because, truth be told, you found yourself developing feelings for the brunette. But you never said a word, knowing she wouldn’t feel the same about you.

You were working late one night, about to leave, before you noticed the light that was on in one of the hallways. Apart from you, you knew that the only person who’d ever stay this late at the museum was Diana. Her, seemingly more committed to her job than you once realised.

Knocking on the door, you waited until you heard a quiet “come in” before entering the office room.

Neatly placed around the room were several boxes, more than likely filled with paperwork and published papers. Her navy leather sofa sat at the far end of the room with a coat draped over one of the arm rests. In front of you, was Diana’s desk. It was as tidy as the rest of the room, papers orderly placed at the ends of the desk, a small lamp placed at the corner and a computer which Diana had been typing on.

Her face softened into a smile when she saw you and she sat up against her chair.

“Hey, y/n. What’s up?”

“Not much. I was just about to head home but since I saw your light on, I figured I’d come by and say goodnight.”

“That’s sweet. Since you’re here, why don’t I walk you out? I was planning on going home myself.”

“Sounds good.”

She grabbed her coat from the sofa and put it on. After locking her door, she walked beside you towards the entrance of the museum.

“You know, it’s a beautiful night and it’s not that late either, why don’t we get dinner?”

You stopped in your path for a brief moment before continuing to walk.

She was asking you to dinner.

Holy shit.

You knew it wasn’t a date since you had had several dinners together whilst working at the artefacts.

But the idea that it could have been still excited you.

And terrified you.

“Yeah, I’d love to.”

You had eaten at this cute restaurant, sitting outdoors so you could both bask in the stars. You’d fallen into easy conversation with the brunette, never experiencing any awkwardness or uncomfortable silences. You talked about nothing and everything; every time you made her laugh, you couldn’t help but smile yourself because her laughter was genuine and brought warmth to you.

“I’ve enjoyed tonight, Diana.”

“Me too. I know you don’t get out much so I figured you deserved a break.”

“Hey! What do you mean ‘I don’t get out much’?” You said, feigning being offended while truthfully, you were failing to hide a laugh.

“I’m not judging. Just...making an observation.” Diana laughed.

“Hmm sure. Well, how about you? Are you out often?”

“No, not really.”

“Wow. Now look who’s not a social butterfly.” You joked.

“Yep, we’re just two peas in a pod, huh y/n?” Diana said, smirking when she saw a light blush of red on your cheeks.

***

After that night, you found yourself regularly going out to dinner with Diana and it was getting harder to hide how you felt.

Sometimes, you had a sliver of hope that she felt the same way because she would make excuses to touch you, whether it be gently brushing her hand against yours or stroking her hand against your arm.

But you immediately quelled those thoughts. There was no way someone as beautiful, sweet and smart as Diana would like you.

Shaking your head, as if to rid the thoughts from your mind once more, you walked through the alley that was a shortcut to your apartment.

Abruptly, you felt yourself pushed up against the brick wall, a knife against your throat. You fought the urge to scream, knowing any movement with the sharp blade that close to you would certainly result in bleeding.

“Good girl. Be quiet and don’t scream. Otherwise the next piece of trash left in this alley will be you.”

The moon allowed for you to get a better look at the man holding himself against you. You only saw his face, however, his mouth curved into a creepy smile, reminiscent of Dr Seuss’ The Grinch.

“You are a pretty one, aren’t you?” Even his voice felt slimy, bringing a look of disgust on your face.

“Fuck off.” You said, showing no fear. Oddly, you found yourself feeling calm. Some people may fight and others may flee. But of course, you taunt and curse.

“Oh, you’re going to be fun.”

You readied yourself for anything that may happen, waiting for the opportunity where the blade’s pressure would lighten, allowing you to kick this guy and run away.

But before you could, you felt all pressure against you immediately leave. Looking up, you caught a glimpse of a woman in armour pulling the man off you with, what appeared to be, a glowing yellow rope. The man still held within the rope, she jumped up on the roof and disappeared.

But not before the moonlight had provided some clarity as to who this mysterious figure was.

It was her eyes.

You had difficulty sleeping that night. It was not the attempted assault that had kept you up though, it was the woman who had saved you. You recognised her eyes but the more you thought about it, the more perplexed you became. There was no way Diana was whoever this woman was. But it was her eyes.

This back and forth continued til sunrise when you finally decided to push it from your mind. Yes, her eyes may have been familiar but you hadn’t seen her face nor heard her voice. And if, and when you did, you would then make an assumption as to who she was.

***

“Morning, y/n.”

You looked up to see Diana standing outside your office door, dressed in a simple pantsuit that she somehow made look glamorous.

“Morning, Diana.”

“How are you? Are you okay?”

You carefully noted the thinly veiled concern in her tone before answering.

“Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” You asked, brow raised in question.

“No reason. Just wondering.” She cleared her throat. “I’ve just been finalising some things for the display tonight.”

Time had flown by and you were disheartened when you realised it meant the two of you wouldn’t be seeing each other as often; the two of you would go back to your own lives and separate work.

“Y/N?”

You blinked, having been broken from your thoughts when you saw real concern on her face.

“Yeah?”

“You went a bit dazed there for a moment. Are you sure you’re okay?” Her head tilted in question, her hand lifting to gently caress your arm.

“Yeah, sorry. Come on, let’s finish off this display.”

You had trouble focusing whilst you worked, eyes constantly glancing over at Diana, your mind wondering. You knew that even if she was who you thought she was, it had no effect on how you felt about her. She was still the same Diana that you knew.

Just...more badass than you’d first thought.

The two of you left the museum early evening so you could get ready for the gala the Smithsonian was putting on to show off their new Mediterranean display.

Whilst you had put quite a few antiques up for sale to various buyers and other museums, the large majority of them you had advised the board to keep; explaining how, in the long run, it’d prove more valuable.

You got dressed in a black dress that was hemmed below your knees, a low but classy ‘v’ cut shaped plunged neckline to reveal a small diamond necklace that matched with your earrings. You rarely wore makeup but tonight was an exception so your lips were painted a deep red that complemented your tanned skin and your hair was left free, light curls bouncing against your back.

Once you had arrived back at the Smithsonian, you made your way to your boss and the rest of the board who complimented yours and Diana’s work.

You looked around, wondering where the latter was.

As if summoned by sheer thought alone, Diana appeared beside you; her appearance leaving your throat dry. She was dressed in a long navy dress, a long slit in the side showing off her toned legs. She wore a gold bracelet around her wrist, her lips painted bright red, her curly hair surrounding her face.

“You look stunning, Diana.”

“Thank you. You look beautiful too.” Her smile reaching her eyes.

The next couple of hours were spent rotating around the guests and several investors who commended the both of you on your work whilst simultaneously making sizeable donations to the museum.

Truth be told, you hated this part of the gala. You believed that people should appreciate the art rather than wanting to line up their own pockets. It was the main reason you often avoided company events such as these but since tonight was something you’d organised, you needed to be there.

You were currently speaking with an older male whom you knew was an avid investor. Diana had been pulled aside by another investor who wanted to know more about a certain piece of art.

As you engaged in a polite conversation with the man, you felt a shift in his tone as he became more untoward with you. His words were slurring slightly, having consumed several glasses of champagne, and he starting to make inappropriate advances by grabbing your hand or saying wildly unprofessional things.

“Mr Woodbury, I appreciate your interest in me but I do not feel the same way and I’d appreciate it if you could stop with the advances.” You explained as politely as you could when, in reality, you were trying to hide your anger.

“Darling, you’re a pretty little thing and I could give you the night of your life.” He leered at you, leaning closer towards you.

A strong hand pushed him back, “she said ‘no’”

There was no need to even face the person enunciating each word; you knew exactly who that voice belonged to.

“Miss Prince, we’re having a private conversation.”

Diana stood beside you, her body turned so she faced the both of you.

“I suggest you leave before I have you removed from the building. And if you ever bother y/n again, I promise you, you will regret it. And a promise is unbreakable.”

The male withered under her stare and slithered away from view. You glanced up at Diana, who towered over you, even more so in her heels, and saw the controlled fury in her eyes.

The way the light of the room shone on her face and illuminated her eyes forced yourself in the memory of the night of your attempted assault.

The realisation hit you like a train.

This was the confirmation that you needed.

It was her.

“Y/N?”

You stared into her eyes, unable to tear yourself from her.

“Y/N?” Diana repeated, resting her hand against your cheek. The warmth of her skin against yours brought you back to reality.

“Y-You. I-”

You stumbled over your words, unable to string any words together to form a coherent sentence.

“Come with me.”

Not waiting for a response, Diana took your hand in hers and led you back to her office. She closed the door, locking it behind her and switching on her lamp so the room wasn’t completely dark.

You stood in front of her, still unsure of what to say.

“Y/N, you’ve been acting weird all day. What’s wrong?” She asked, her concern evident in her tone.

“You’re her.”

“I’m sorry?”

“Her. The one who saved me last night.”

You watched as Diana’s eyes flickered with panic. It was only for a brief moment and you wouldn’t have caught it if you weren’t looking.

Her mouth opened as if ready to disprove any of your thoughts before closing it again when she saw the look on your face.

“How did you know?” She sighed.

“Your eyes.”

“I’m sorry?” She repeated.

“Your eyes. They were the same. Since the moment I met you, the first thing I noticed were your eyes. The way they sparkled with kindness but I could still see the hurt behind it. They’re beautiful.” Your voice faltered as you finished speaking.

“Um, that was inappropriate. I shouldn’t have said that. I-I’ll go.”

As you were about to walk out of her office, she moved to block the door.

“Don’t go.” Her accent came out strong.

“Diana, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. Look, I appreciate you working with me these past couple of months. It’s been a great help. We can just forget this happened and just go back to our lives.” You suggested, walking back to the centre of the room.

“What if I don’t want to?”

Her words came out in a low whisper, the huskiness of her voice sending a shiver down your spine.

“W-what?” You swallowed dryly.

“I said, what if I don’t want to forget?” She repeated, walking closer to you whilst you unconsciously backed away slowly until stopping when your back hit her desk.

“I’ve loved spending time with you, y/n. You’ve become extremely important to me. And seeing that guy trying to hit on you earlier angered me because you’re not his. You’re mine.”

Your eyes widened. Though you’d never seen this side of Diana before, you were extremely turned on; a warmth spreading through you.

Diana continued, smiling at the noticeable effect she had on you.

“I know you feel the same way. I see the way you look at me and the way you blush when I catch you staring. You know me. The other me. You’re beautiful and I like you, y/n. A lot.”

You licked your lips and then lightly bit your bottom lip, once again speechless. Never in a million years did you think she’d like you back.

You decided words weren’t going to be enough and instead, you gathered your courage, the alcohol helping you in that respect, and closed the distance between you.

It was a light kiss, practically a peck, just to test the waters as they say but it still felt right.

You pulled away and leaned back against the desk. There was a look in her eye that you couldn’t quite distinguish but before you had any time to dwell on it, Diana instantly kissed you back, this time with more fervour.

She lifted you onto the desk as if you weighed nothing and with her strength, you probably didn’t. Her hands gripped the sides of your waist, steadying you, as you opened your legs wider so she could move between them.

Your arms wrapped around her neck pulling her deeper into you. She tugged your bottom lip between her teeth, not hard enough to make you wince but definitely enough to make you moan.

You felt her smirk against your lips as her hands moved upwards from bracketing your hips to the side of your breasts. She continued the motion before kissing you one final time and reluctantly pulled away.

Your breath came out in a pant, trying to get as much oxygen back into your lungs as possible.

“That was-”

“Amazing.” Diana finished.

You still sat atop of her desk, not having enough energy to move as of yet, and you were sure your legs wouldn’t be able to hold you up either after that heavy make out session.

Diana rested her hands against your waist once more before tucking a strand of hair behind your ear and cupping your cheek.

How she went from being so full of passion and heat to being so gentle and sweet, you’d never know. You had a feeling she was going to keep you on your toes.

“As much as I didn’t want to stop, we still have people to see. What do you say we talk to a few more guests and then we can go back to my place and finish what we started?”

Diana asked, stroking your cheek with her thumb as her eyes twinkled with mischief.

“I’m never going to figure you out, am I?” You said light-heartedly, as you came to your feet.

Diana held your hand in hers and walked to the door,

“I don’t know. I’d say you know me pretty well already.”

#diana prince #diana prince x reader #wonder woman #wonder woman x reader #wonder woman 1984 #ww84movie #ww84 #ww84 spoilers #gal gadot #gal gadot x reader #dc #dc comics #dceu #c: diana prince #c: wonder woman #s: mine #c: beautiful