#i could not stop laughing at rhett with his head on the ceiling

[link-sans-specs]

A couple of Mythical Love Sponges. 💚💙

Mythical Society

BTM- Mythicon 2022!

#mythical society #behind the mythicality #mythicon #link neal #rhett mclaughlin #link avec specs #ocean blues #basil leaf #good gracious #the eyes on these boys #silver wings and golden curls #2 pretty best friends #pink cowboy hat 🤠 #i could not stop laughing at rhett with his head on the ceiling #his face 😂 #i could do a whole set of them on the bus #the light was so pretty #just need link to take off those pesky specs 😜 #blue-tiful boys #🥰🥰🥰 #my edit

[robyn-118]

Unspoken (Part 2)

It had been a long, agonizing week since Link left Rhett standing in the dorm room. Tensions were high between the two; Link avoided all eye contact with Rhett and it seemed as though Rhett was doing nothing but looking over at Link. 

They hadn't said more than a few words to each other. Link was on the verge of tears every time Rhett spoke or moved or even breathed. 

He was so sure that it was better this way but it was getting harder and harder to convince himself of that. 

He'd laid awake in bed countless nights, thinking about going to the bed underneath him and giving in to the temptation. Crawling on top of Rhett and taking what he wanted, regardless of the consequences.  

‘Just one more time,’ he’d tell himself. But it would never end with one more time. He was addicted and Rhett was his drug. 

Link walked down the path on his way back from the library when it started to sprinkle, he hoped he could make it home before it came a downpour but a few seconds later that thought was flushed away when big rain drops pelted him as he started to run down the sidewalk. 

He finally made it to the dorm room, shielding himself under the narrow awning from the brunt of the rain as he made his way to the door at the end of the building. 

He opened the door, the squeak from it broke the almost palpable tension in the room. Link's skin prickled in goosebumps as soon as he entered. 

Rhett was standing in the middle of the room, his hair damp from an obvious shower with nothing on except a towel tied loosely around his waist. 

Link audibly swallowed around the lump in his throat. It was hard enough fighting the need to be close to Rhett when he was fully clothed, much less half naked and on display. 

"Wh -" he cleared his throat when the words came out as a high squeak. He tried again, "What's, uh, going on?" 

The room was chilly, but it was probably the fact that the rain had soaked through to the deepest layer of Link's clothes, his hoodie hanging heavy on his shoulders from the weight of the water.  

Rhett gave him a casual shrug, "Just got done getting a shower." he said innocently but his gaze being everything but. "Looks like you could use one, too." 

Link was frozen in place, he thought maybe he could step back outside, go back into the storm but he couldn't get his feet to make any sort of move. 

Rhett walked over to Link, damn near sashaying across the room. "You're all wet." Rhett whispered, almost growling the last word. 

"Rhett," Link said in warning, as much to himself as the taller boy. 

Rhett hummed as he brought his hands up and removed Link's backpack, sliding it slowly off his shoulder and letting it fall to the floor with a thud. 

“We shouldn’t…” Link said, though not convincing - even to himself. 

Rhett inched closer, his eyes falling away from Link’s. “Can we just have this? One more time, please?”

Link fell silent, feeling Rhett's warm breath against his cool skin, he gave Rhett a slight nod. Rhett craned his neck down, burying his face in Link’s neck and licking the rain from his throat slowly, ending by his earlobe and teasingly nipping at the soft flesh before backing off again. 

Link’s breath caught in his throat at the action, his skin flushed with heat despite the chill in the room. He looked up to Rhett’s eyes, blown black with lust. How was he ever going to say no to this?

Rhett reached for his jacket, unzipping it slowly and ridding Link of it before peeling the shirt up and over his head, Link let him do what he wanted. If this was the last time, he could at least enjoy it. 

Rhett went for his neck again, quickly traveling in the opposite direction. He sucked and licked and nipped at sensitive skin until the taller boy was almost on his knees in front of Link. 

“Rhett, wait,” Link said suddenly, his shame getting the better of him. Rhett got up from his position on the floor. “I can’t. I’m sorry.” he pressed his hands hard to his face, shielding himself from the look of pity that would surely follow his confession. “It won’t just be one time. I won’t be able to stop.” 

"We don't have to stop," he heard Rhett whisper, big hands pulling his own away from his face and crowding in closer to Link, his mouth barely ghosting over soft lips. 

Rhett’s hands framed Link’s face, his scent filling the air around him, Link drew in a deep breath trying to center himself. It was all so familiar, he couldn’t help himself. Before he made the conscious decision, Link was on him, falling into his arms, their mouths connecting with a hunger he hadn’t felt in too long. 

Somehow, Rhett got them both maneuvered beside the set of bunk beds in the corner of the room. He hurriedly undid Link's wet jeans, reaching a hand in and cupping his half hard cock. 

"Fuck, I missed you, bo." Rhett huffed, his other hand grabbing onto whatever he could, warming Link's cool skin under his touch. 

Link bit his tongue, wanting so bad to tell Rhett how he never wanted any of this to stop. Link peeled himself out of his pants and boxers, discarding them onto the floor. He pushed Rhett onto the bed, his back against the wall and Link climbed onto his lap. 

Rhett's hands gripped at his slim waist as Link balanced himself on Rhett's shoulder, his other hand wrapping around both their cocks, working them in unison. 

Rhett groaned, pulling Link to him and capturing his lips in a rough kiss.  

"Say it. Please, Link." Rhett begged, Link's throat going dry at his desperation. 

"I missed you, Rhett. So much." Link couldn't help the words falling out, all it took was a little coaxing from Rhett and he was saying things he thought he would never be brave enough to speak into existence. But, if this was the last time, he should make it count.  

He worked their shared excitement around, his thumb flicking over the tip in just the right way, drawing a growl from Rhett each time. Rhett's hands venture behind Link, spreading him apart and teasing his hole. 

"I don't want to stop, Link. I can’t stop. This is the only thing that's ever felt right; being here with you." Rhett said, all the words tumbling out at once.  

Link's mind was growing fuzzy. The throbbing deep in his gut pushing him closer and closer to the edge, he couldn't make sense of what Rhett was saying. 

He let out a shameful moan as Rhett's finger breached his tight ring of muscles, barely able to keep his hand moving as he painted Rhett's stomach and cock with come. 

"I love you," Link whispered, Rhett pulling him in and swallowing each of his moans, aftershocks of pleasure pulsing through him. Rhett wrapped his hand around Link's hand, keeping it going until Link felt new warmth spill over onto his fist and felt the tremble of the boy underneath him. 

Link collapsed onto Rhett's shoulder, his heart speeding up as he realized what he’d said. 

"That wasn’t ‘middle of sex I love you’." Rhett said, breaking the silence as their breathing calmed. 

Link lifted himself from Rhett's chest, his mind working a little slower than normal in his blissed out state. “What?” 

“I - “ he looked up to the ceiling like he was trying to remember the word. “ - ‘caught feelings.’ And given what just happened - so did you.”

Link couldn’t help his mouth from falling open. He struggled to put together exactly what Rhett was saying. “Wait, you…” Link stopped himself, certain he must be dreaming. “You meant it?” 

Rhett laughed, “Well, I always meant it,” he chuckled, staring at Link fondly. “But, yes. I love you, Link Neal.”

#rhink fic #unspoken #i had to give them a happy ending #it just took a minute #rhett mclaughlin #link neal #rhink

[cellard0ors]

Fic: Movement (3/?)

For @peachworthy (The tale continues!) Part 1 here, Part 2 here

Link’s doing his best to tip toe in. It was a long night at the café he’s currently working at and he doesn’t want to wake Rhett. True, his roommate’s hours are strange (to say the least) but it’s always been ingrained in Link to be as respectful as possible.

Mrs. Neal raised her boy to be polite and one of the heights of good manners is not charging into the house you share with someone else in the middle of the night, raising a ruckus.

But as Link edges towards his room, he notices a glow coming from the living room and finds himself unable to not take a peek. Maybe Rhett left the television on?

Yet when he gets closer he sees that while yes, the television is on, it’s not because Rhett forgot about it. Rhett is actually in front of it, but not watching it. Instead his eyes are downcast and…wet.

A light sniffle comes from him and he runs the back of his right hand beneath his nose as if to wipe at it. Link can just barely make out a paper in his left hand when Rhett senses him.

Rhett turns and blinks, folding the paper up and clearing his throat, doing his best to sound amiable even despite the clear note of tears in his voice, “Oh! Hey, man! Didn’t know you were home.”

“Yeah,” Link says softly, “Had to stay late. Boss wanted to do a deep clean on the place after we closed,” he then adds cautiously, “You okay?”

Rhett looks back to his letter than to Link again as if internally debating something. Finally he comes back with, “Yeah. Kinda.”

He holds the letter up, “Got a message from my Momma.”

Link can only offer a sound of acknowledgement, not certain where to go from here. Rhett shifts about on the couch and Link takes it as a signal for him to come over, so he does, sitting across from his friend.

Rhett lowers the letter, but plays around with it, turning the carefully folded rectangle of paper over and over in his hands, “First time I’ve heard from her in a long time.”

“Good?” Link feels stupid and kind of helpless, but he’s trying and this is the only thing he can think to offer. Rhett sniffs again, but his lips twitch as if to smile, as if he recognizes that Link is doing his best, “I suppose. Looks like my brother got married awhile ago. Dad’s alright, stuff like that.”

“I see.”

“They’re still living in the same place. Mom changed jobs, but she likes the new one more. They adopted a dog and-and…” he sighs and just tosses the letter on the nearby coffee table, linking his fingers together to tuck his hands behind his head.

He lets out shaky breath, eyes directing upwards towards the ceiling as if to stave off more potential tears, “They’re fine…”

Link licks his lips, feels awkward and awful, and can only manage to say Rhett’s name before Rhett’s hands lower and he curls in on himself – his tall lanky form growing small as he whispers to the floor, “…totally fine…without me.”

That alone breaks Link. Without a second thought he moves over, draws Rhett close and hugs him tight. The bigger man lets himself be held, lets Link gather him up like a small child and rock him as he silently weeps.

Link murmurs nonsense into his hair for a while, little things like ‘it’s alright’ and ‘it’ll be okay’ and he doesn’t know if he’s doing more harm than good until he feels Rhett’s tense body begin to uncoil, begins to hear his breathing smoothing out.

Once he feels like Rhett’s doing better, he releases him – gets up and finds some tissues, a wet warm washcloth and a glass of water. He offers it all silently to Rhett, who takes it – using the washcloth to wipe his face clean, the tissues to finish up the job. He finishes more than half the glasses of water before he mumbles, “Sorry about that.”

“You ain’t got nothing to be sorry for, bo.” Link doesn’t know where the endearment comes from. He hasn’t used it in ages and just as he’s about to explain it, Rhett lets out a broken bubble of laughter, “‘Bo’? Oh, man…haven’t heard that in an age.”

Link offers an apology but Rhett waves it off, “Nah, Link. I…I like it. I’ll be your ‘bo’.”

And then he turns vulnerable green eyes on him as he asks quietly, “Mean…if you’ll be mine.”

This is, of course, when Link knows his crush is over. It’s over because he’s now completely and totally in love with Rhett and he swallows thickly, even as he nods, “Yeah. Of course.”

“Good.” Rhett nods to himself as if they’ve just made a blood pact or something and he looks at the television which is just showing some random commercials. He gestures to it, “How’s about we watch something, huh? Get our minds on something else.”

By ‘our’ Link recognizes he probably means himself in particular, because Rhett can’t possibly know about the revelation Link’s just had, yet he feels a little too…seen. He bites his bottom lip hard and – even though he knows he shouldn’t – finds himself playing the part of devil’s advocate, “We can – or you can tell me if you plan on writing back.”

Rhett sits up straight, eyes wide, and Link wouldn’t be surprised if the man snaps at him. Link feels like a total jerk – just because he’s realized he’s in love with Rhett doesn’t mean he should hurt him this way, and, he knows that’s the real reason he said what he did. A sort of, ‘please-push-me-away’ move.

But he did anyway and now he braces for an argument, an insult – something. But then, much to his surprise, Rhett says hollowly, “I don’t know.”

Link presses his luck, “Mean, if she wrote you…think it means she misses you…”

Rhett snorts, “Doubt it. Probably just felt a bout of guilt. Thought she should reach out to her black sheep son.”

“Or maybe she wants to hear from you,” Link offers, “Know you’re alright.”

“Yeah and what am I supposed to write?” Rhett grumbles, “‘Hey Ma, I’m doing good. I filmed a three way yesterday – how ‘bout you?’”

“…a three way?” Link repeats, but Rhett continues on as if he didn’t hear him, “It’s not like I can tell her or-or any of them what I’ve been up to. I don’t think many parents like to brag about their kid’s accomplishments when that accomplishment is DPing a woman while making out with a guy at the same time.”

Link wants to ask what ‘DPing’ is, but he thinks he has an idea and it’s probably best not to get too in depth (pun not intended) on that, as he instead takes a different route, “It’s not like you have to tell her about your job. You can just say you’re in LA, you’re healthy, you got a fantastically handsome roommate named Link…”

That makes Rhett laugh, but in a good way, some of his ire easing, “‘Fantastically handsome’, huh?”

Link spreads his hands out, “What can I say? I’m truthful.”

Rhett chuckles some more and shakes his head, “Nah, I mean – sure, I can tell her all that, but if we…if we do reconnect, I’m just-? I’m afraid it’s going to come up.”

“Thought you said you aren’t ashamed of what you do.”

“I’m not,” Rhett affirms, “But she’s my mom. They’re my family. You know that and I know you get why it’s not something I want them to know about…”

“Well, I mean, I could tell you to get another job, but if this is what you like doing-!”

Rhett gets up from the couch and starts pacing, “It’s not that I like doing it. It’s that I’m good at it. And, like I’ve told you – good money, good co-workers,” he sighs and his pacing picks up pace, “I mean, granted, I’m getting on in years and I can’t do this forever and I always did plan on getting out when I, y’know, found someone.”

Someone not you, a thought hisses in Link’s ear and he almost physically swats out at it as Rhett continues, “‘Cause it’s not like I’d want to be in a relationship and do…what I do. It’d feel sorta unfaithful to me, albeit I know some people in the biz who are married and their partners are fine with it, but for me…”

Rhett stops pacing and flops down on the couch, groaning, “…and it’s not even like I can show off. I can’t show someone one of my films with pride and be like ‘look what I did’! Not my folks, not my theoretical other half, not-!”

“Me,” the word leaves Link’s mouth and he’s sort of shocked it left him. Rhett is shocked too, head whipping in his direction at the declaration and Link’s mouth just keeps working on its own, disconnected from his brain, “You…you can show me. If…if you want.”

The last comes out almost silent.

And Rhett just…keeps looking at him.

Link can hear everything. His breath. Rhett’s breath. The ticking of a clock some place. The television show whispering some medical mumbo jumbo. The air conditioning. His heart beat. All of it. He hears it all and then he hears a tentative, “Yeah?”

And Link just nods.

*I swear the next part will have some kind of sex. I know it’s weird that I’ve had 3 parts of a fic now about pornstar!Rhett and no porn but it’s coming. I just…got lost in feels here.

#rhink #randl #my writing #peachworthy

[apparentlynotreallyfinnish]

Experiments - Part 8

If you want to start from the beginning:

Experiments on Ao3

---

Link hopped down from the counter and took Rhett’s hand, intertwining their fingers. Rhett followed him into the middle room, unabashedly staring at Link’s ass swaying in his tight jeans. 

“There’s um…” Link said with an uncertain chuckle. Rhett turned to look at their nap corner and let out a low whistle.

“Wow. Christy really went above and beyond.”

The bed was made with new, cream-colored sheets that shone in the soft lamplight filtering through the thin linen curtain. There was a new, fluffy blanket neatly folded at the foot of the bed and a few plump pillows thrown on top of the old ones. The shelf over the head of the bed, where they usually kept their phones—or in Link’s case, his glasses—was filled with chunky candles. 

A small basket was tucked between the pillows. Rhett reached for it and curiously rummaged through the contents. A lighter, two types of lube, one of them flavored—what does she expect us to do with that?!—condoms, tissues, and a Gatorade.

Rhett burst into laughter and picked up the bottle.

“Really? Does she think we’re gonna need this?”

Link shrugged and smiled sheepishly. “I think it’s a joke,” he said. Rhett shook his head, still laughing and set the basket on the floor next to the bed. He eyed the row of candles.

“Do you wanna light those or is that gonna be a fire hazard?” he asked, rubbing his beard. 

“I don’t know. Isn’t that a bit too…?”

“Too what?” 

“Romantic?” Link blurted out, blushing.

“Oh, don’t you mean cinematic?” Rhett asked with a wink but continued. “I think it would be nice. The ceiling light is kinda annoyingly bright.” 

It was true, but not the reason why Rhett suggested lighting the candles. It probably wouldn’t have occurred to him on his own, but now that the candles were here, fucking Link in candlelight sounded more than appealing. 

“Okay, I’ll light ‘em,” Link said, reaching for the lighter. Rhett grabbed it before he could. “Tsk, tsk. No fire-starting objects for you.” He climbed on the bed and lit the candles as Link mumbled something about Rhett being ridiculous.

When Rhett was done and the room was bathed in a soft, flickering light, Rhett sat on the bed, with his back against the wall and beckoned Link over with a crooked finger. Link was already crawling towards him and settled on Rhett’s lap, straddling his thighs. His arms wrapped around Rhett’s shoulders and he dove into a kiss so fast that Rhett’s head thumped against the wall. They giggled into each other's mouths but kept going.

Now that they were kissing, Rhett realized he never wanted to stop. Link’s mouth was warm and responsive and his tongue did things Rhett could have never even attempted with his own. It didn’t take long for both of them to be breathless and impossibly hard.

Rhett’s hands were under Link’s shirt, climbing up to feel the ripple of his muscled back as he moved against Rhett. Link’s hips tilted and swirled and rubbed them together. The sweet friction dulled by their jeans was the worst tease Rhett had encountered in years. He needed to feel Link, feel his skin against his own—warm and slippery and real—but he couldn’t stop kissing him long enough to undress. 

“You look so fucking hot in this shirt,” Link muttered against Rhett’s lips—words partially muffled by Rhett’s inability to stop kissing him—and started popping open the buttons. His hands were trembling as he fumbled against Rhett’s heaving stomach, too close to Rhett’s aching cock not to be touching him there. Rhett bucked against him and groaned a needy “get it off!” 

Link pried their lips apart, trying to concentrate on the buttons, but Rhett kept reaching to suck and lick Link’s neck, distracting him. A button ripped off and pinged somewhere on the floor. Rhett couldn’t have cared less because the shirt was finally open and Link’s soft hands were rubbing up and down his chest and stomach and tickling his sides.

Rhett squirmed under Link’s exploration, eyes screwed closed, mouth open to draw in quick breaths. 

“I need more. Need to feel you,” Rhett mumbled and reached blindly for the hem of Link’s t-shirt. “Off,” he pleaded, yanking on it. Link lifted his hands and twisted and turned as Rhett tried to pull the shirt over his head. It caught on Link’s glasses, whipping them off and onto the bed. 

“Shit,” Link gasped, reaching for them, but Rhett snatched them and set them on the shelf above. 

“Wanna see those pretty eyes when I fuck you,” Rhett said, trying to ignore the tremble in his voice. Link made a desperate throaty sound, surging down to kiss him fiercely.

There was a short scrimmage over who got to open the other one’s fly first. Link won and dragged down both Rhett’s jeans and his underwear low enough to fish out Rhett’s touch-starved cock. The waistband of Rhett’s boxer briefs dug in uncomfortably to the root of his dick, but he barely noticed, because Link had spit on his hands and was double-fisting Rhett with slow, tight strokes that sent jolts of pleasure all the way down to his toes. Rhett’s head fell back and he let out a rumbling groan, rolling his hips to fuck himself into Link’s magical touch.

But it wasn’t Link’s fists he’d come here to fuck. Even though it pained him, he pulled Link’s hands away from his dick. Link let out an annoyed huff and reached for him again, but Rhett gently slapped his hands away.

“No, baby, it’s your turn,” he murmured and pushed Link off of his lap. Link fell backwards on the bed and started fumbling at the buttons of his jeans. Rhett hopped out of the bed, shrugged off his open shirt and peeled off his pants. 

Link had gotten his jeans open and was on his back, shimmying out of them when Rhett leaned over to help. Link’s swollen cock smacked against his navel as his underwear slipped down his legs and Rhett’s mouth watered. Link’s clothes joined the pile with Rhett’s on the floor, and Rhett crawled on top of him. 

Link’s breathing was fast and shallow and he was staring up at Rhett with wide eyes. Warmth filled Rhett’s chest and he brushed off a stray curl of hair from Link’s forehead before ducking down to kiss his neck. Link’s head fell to the side, revealing more taut skin for Rhett to nibble on. He could feel the vibrations of Link’s moans on his lips.

“Feels good.” Link’s voice rumbled from above. His hands were trailing along Rhett’s back, fingers caressing the length of his spine and finally, digging into his waist to pull them closer. Rhett sunk his teeth into Link’s shoulder and rolled his hips against Link’s. Link cried out as Rhett’s wet cockhead rubbed along his hard shaft. Link’s cock was like an iron rod straight from the furnace, it felt almost too hot against Rhett’s skin.

“Holy fuck,” Rhett muttered against Link’s neck as his vision blurred from the pleasure.   

“Do that again,” Link begged, squirming under Rhett, trying desperately to replicate his move. Rhett gladly obeyed, slowly rocking his hardness against Link’s. Link whimpered with every roll of Rhett’s hips. Rhett spread his wetness over Link’s cock and for a few sweet moments, they enjoyed the delicious friction created by their cocks sliding against each other. 

Rhett got lost in the motion, burning pleasure filling his gut. He could easily come like this, he realized just in time and eased off. Link let out a disappointed whine. His hands left Rhett’s waist and dipped down to squeeze his ass—hard.

“Hands off,” Rhett ordered playfully. “Yours is the one getting ravaged tonight.”

Link ignored Rhett and kept kneading his ass, a teasing smirk ghosting on his lips.

“Oh, is that how you wanna play this?” Rhett said and then he was moving. Link yelped and giggled as Rhett grabbed his hands with a growl and pushed them over Link’s head. Without much effort, he held onto Link’s wrists with one hand, pressing them against the mattress. They were almost nose to nose when he saw Link’s eyes glazing over and felt the air escaping his lungs.

“Oh.” Rhett’s lips quirked into a wicked grin. “Is this what you like? You want me to manhandle you? Makes sense. You did always love wrestling with me…”

Link’s face turned crimson and he moaned out a humiliated, whimpery “please”. Grinning, Rhett snaked his other hand between their bodies. He wrapped his fingers around Link’s shaft and squeezed. Link’s hips rose to his touch and in a fit of blinding lust Rhett flipped him over. Even though Rhett had let go of his hands, Link didn’t move them, he just pressed his face against the sheets and trembled beneath Rhett’s rough hands.

Rhett rose up to straddle Link’s thighs and stared greedily at his bare bottom. 

“Let’s get that rump up, shall we?” He dug an arm under Link’s hips and lifted his ass up, settling him onto his knees, face still pressed against the bed. Link was breathing hard enough for Rhett to hear it, but he didn’t move from the position Rhett had arranged him in. Heat pooled into Rhett’s gut as he stepped down from the bed, grabbed the lube bottle from the basket and returned to admire Link’s perfectly pert little ass.

“Isn’t that a pretty sight?” Rhett muttered, voice rough with want. He reached to stroke Link’s lower back, making Link jerk at the sudden touch.

“Rhett,” Link moaned against the sheets. Rhett’s hand moved to his ass and squeezed. He let out an appreciative hum when he got a glimpse of Link’s rosy-colored, clean-shaven pucker. Does he always wax his ass or did he do that just for me? 

Rhett’s cock was throbbing and he gave it a few slow strokes before squeezing himself hard, hoping to calm his raging erection at least a little. He wasn’t about to blow his load before he got onto the field. 

“I really should’ve made you put a plug in before coming tonight. Coulda just popped that off and go straight into fucking you hard.” The thought made Rhett’s cock leak and smear pre-cum onto his thigh.

“Rhett.” Link’s voice came again, smaller this time and somehow strangled. 

Rhett’s lust cleared at the strange cadence of Link’s voice. Now that he wasn’t so single-mindedly concentrated on getting inside that sweet ass, Rhett realized that Link’s thighs were shaking.

“Link?” he asked tentatively. There was no answer.

Rhett leaned over him, propping his knee on the bed and touching Link’s back lightly. “You okay?”

Link turned his head, facing away from Rhett. Worry pressed down on Rhett’s chest and he pulled his hand away. But that seemed to be the wrong move because Link let out a hurt whimper and tucked his knees against his chest and turned onto his side.

Rhett got down on the bed next to Link, inched closer to him until they were front to back and wrapped his arm around Link’s chest.

“Hey, bo. What happened? Did I hurt you?” Rhett asked, desperately hoping for a no. He caressed Link’s arm with his fingertips and waited with his heart in his throat.

Slowly, Link relaxed into Rhett’s touch and let Rhett gently coax him around.

“No, you didn’t.” Link’s small voice finally put Rhett out of his misery and he let out a relieved breath. But Link’s eyes were still screwed closed and he wrapped his arms around Rhett, clinging onto him, hiding his face onto the crook of Rhett’s neck.

“I’m sorry if I got carried away,” Rhett said quietly and held him tightly.

“No, it was—” Link sighed against Rhett’s skin. His breathing was slowing down. “You did everything right. It was like straight out of one of my fantasies. I just…”

“Tell me,” Rhett pleaded, slowly petting Link’s hair.

“I freaked out. I’m not… I don’t even know if— Damn it! It’s stupid.” Link fell silent for a beat. Rhett let him take a moment and just kept threading his fingers through Link’s hair to soothe him.

“Are you just faking this?” Link finally asked so quietly, Rhett almost missed it.

“What?” 

Link burrowed deeper into Rhett’s embrace and let out a shaky breath. 

“I’m worried that you don’t actually want me. That you’re just acting because I asked you to do this for me.” 

“I—” Rhett started. He paused to nudge Link out of his hiding place. When the blue eyes were watching him warily, Rhett continued:

“Link, I want you. You asked me if I was into guys. And honestly, I still don’t have an answer for that, but what I do know… I am into you.”

Link bit his lip. He still didn’t seem convinced so Rhett gently pushed him onto his back and propped up on his elbow. Link’s body stretched out next to Rhett, lean and taut, skin colored warm orange by the candlelight. He was a masterpiece of hard angles and soft curves, and Rhett had to take a shuddering breath before he could continue talking. Link was staring up at him, studying Rhett’s features, trying to read if he was serious. 

“You are…” Rhett whispered and started at Link’s jawline, caressing it with his fingertips before curving down to his neck, etching along his clavicles and then down, down, down, all the way to the trail of soft hair guiding him between Link’s legs. Rhett made a note of Link’s arm hair raising into goosebumps. Link took a shaky breath as his whole body quivered under Rhett’s wandering touch.

“…a gift. I mean, Jesus fucking Christ, this body of yours is a gift and I still can’t believe you’ve given me the chance— That you trust me enough to let me experience it like this. That I get to touch you like this—” Rhett’s fingers wrapped around Link’s shaft and stroked slowly. Link’s mouth opened to a silent moan and his back arched off the bed. Rhett licked his lips, feeling the need that had plagued him for days.

“I got to taste you. Got to make you come. And that was… Fuck, I’ll never stop thinking about that. Everything about that is permanently etched in my memory. How you felt on my tongue, silky smooth and soft and hard and filling me so fucking perfectly. How you touched me to guide me—so adorably nervous and still somehow determined to take what you needed from me. The way you sounded when you came. God. I’ll take that sound to the grave with me.”

The small—almost shy—smile Link gave Rhett made something in his chest flutter. He ducked down to kiss along the same path his fingers had traveled. Link’s chest heaved under his lips and Rhett stopped to slowly lick and suck on his nipple, reveling in the noises his mouth was capable of pulling from Link. The softness of Link’s belly invited Rhett to nuzzle into it and he breathed in the faint tropical scent of his body wash. 

“Mmmh. I want this. I might even want this more than you do,” Rhett muttered against Link’s warm skin as he nibbled his way down to the base of his cock. Rhett’s stomach clenched as the thought occurred to him. This was like research for Link. Something he’d decided he wanted to experience once and then he’d be done with it. Done with Rhett. Rhett tried to ignore the pain stabbing at his chest as he wrapped his lips around the head of Link’s cock and swirled his tongue around it, tasting the pre-cum.

“Rhett,” Link gasped, fingers already tangling into Rhett’s hair. Rhett backed up an inch, freeing his mouth.

“Shhh, let me take care of you. Let me make sure you’ll remember this with fondness.”

Link had no time to answer in words, only in pleasured moans, as Rhett dove to suck on his dripping cock. He took his time, palm gently placed on Link’s stomach to feel his abs tighten and release. Rhett closed his eyes and concentrated on the feel of Link inside his mouth. His softness against Rhett’s tongue. The taste of him that still made Rhett dizzy and aching. It was like someone had turned sex and lust and joy into something tangible and glazed Link’s dick with it. Rhett salivated as the taste coated his tongue and he dove further and further until his nose brushed against the hairs at the base of Link’s cock. Link’s hips trembled as he clearly fought the need to thrust deeper into Rhett’s throat.  

Rhett released him with slow, soft kisses and waited for Link to lift his head and peek down at him to see why he’d stopped. When he did, Rhett slipped two fingers into his mouth and pulled them out dripping with saliva. Link’s eyes widened as he reached for a pillow to tuck under his lower back and Rhett pushed Link’s legs wider apart for better access.

“There you are,” he murmured and circled Link’s rim with the pads of his slicked-up fingers. Link’s legs twitched at the soft touch and he let out a small gasp. Rhett peppered sweet kisses along the inside of Link’s thigh and kept teasing Link with his fingers. He was soon glistening-wet and looked almost good enough to eat. Link’s breath quickened audibly and his hips started shifting, rolling against Rhett’s exploring fingers.

“Come on,” he finally moaned. “Need you in me.”

Rhett smiled and bit his lip not to laugh from sheer happiness. The elation he felt as he slowly pushed one finger inside Link’s ass made him light-headed. 

“This okay?” Rhett asked and got a firm nod as a reply before Link’s head thudded back against the sheets. Slowly, Rhett moved deeper, coaxing Link to relax both with small rubbing motions he hoped would feel pleasant and a litany of encouragement whispered against Link’s thigh, where he’d laid his head down.

“You feel amazing.”

“You’re so fucking beautiful.”

“Come on, baby, moan for me. Tell me when it’s good.”

Link was tight—tighter than anything Rhett had ever experienced and he couldn’t help but let worry flash across his mind. What if this doesn’t work? What if I hurt him? What if he hates it? He tried to push away his fears and concentrate on studying how Link’s body responded to him. Link was panting and moving his hips in needy rolls. There was the odd curse word, but mostly, he didn’t speak much.  

It took a little while and a good amount of lube, but eventually, Rhett was fucking Link with two fingers. He’d found a spot that seemed to elicit more enthusiastic wriggling and nodding and soft, little yeahs repeated under Link’s breath. Rhett was so intensely fixated on gathering more and more of those little breathy begs and pleas, that when Link suddenly spoke, he startled. 

“I gotta tell you something,” Link said, voice hoarse. Rhett’s heart missed a beat and all of his worries jumped back onto the center stage of his mind.

“Yeah?” he asked tentatively.

“I don’t know if you’ve noticed—” Link groaned and took a deep breath. “But your fingers are inside my ass.”

As relief flushed through him, Rhett burst into a belly-wobbling laughter. Link was smirking at the ceiling with his eyes closed.

“Well, would you look at that. How did this happen?” Rhett said, feigning surprise and giving Link’s thigh a playful nibble that made him squeak and shiver.

“And you know what?” Link said, arching his back and pressing harder against Rhett’s fingers, effectively fucking himself onto them.

“What?”

“It feels fucking amazing.”

Rhett’s face flushed hot and he pressed it against Link’s leg, smiling like an idiot. 

“Yeah?” he confirmed.

“Oh, yeah.”

The need to kiss Link took over so suddenly it left Rhett faint and aching. All Rhett could think about was getting his lips on Link’s. He crawled up the bed, fingers still firmly lodged inside Link, pulling Link closer. Thankfully, Link caught on quickly and pulled Rhett in with both hands. 

It was the kind of kiss that starts slow and turns urgent. They burned bright against each other, heads in the clouds and minds comfortably numb to anything else than each other.

Their arms tangled as Link found his way between Rhett’s legs and stroked his forgotten cock back to life. They breathed in each other’s thirst and somehow, without them really trying, their bodies slotted together and started moving in sync, grinding against each other. 

“I want you so bad,” Link mumbled against Rhett’s lips. Rhett was sucking on Link’s bottom lip and only let go of it to whisper back, “me too.” His unoccupied hand groped around the bed for the lube he’d left behind when he’d rushed to kiss Link.

“What are you doing?” Link whined when Rhett’s fruitless search made his fingers slip out of Link. 

“Need to add lube,” Rhett murmured and kissed him gently in apology. 

“No more fingers,” Link gasped and pulled Rhett on top of himself. “Fuck me.”

Of course, Rhett had known that this was the next step. He wasn’t that stupid. This is where this whole night had been aiming for. But when Link said those words, it actually hit him. 

He was about to have sex with Link—with his best friend. The man he’d grown up with. The man he’d shared his family and his work and his creativity with. The man who’d moved across the country with him. The man he’d cried and laughed and fought with. And now, they would share this too. 

He stared down at Link’s lust-filled, half-lidded eyes in awe, fighting the wave of panic crashing over him.

“O-okay,” he stammered and tried to climb out of the bed. Link clung to him.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he growled, eyes almost entirely black and so striking Rhett’s stomach lurched and his hand started to tremble.

“We need a—” Rhett muttered, blushing and feeling like an awkward teenager at his first hook-up. 

“We don’t need a condom. Despite what the fanfic writers dream up, I ain’t getting pregnant. Just fuck me.”

“But what about…?” Rhett asked, feeling even more awkward.

“I’m clean. You?”

“Yeah.”

“Good,” Link groaned, writhing under Rhett in a way that made his dick really fucking happy. “Now stop stalling and stick that thick dick inside me.”

“So crude,” Rhett murmured, smiling to hide his nerves. He’d finally found the lube and was on his knees between Link’s legs, slathering his dick with it, ignoring the shaking of his hands and thighs.

“Gonna go slow,” he said as he pressed his cock against the rim of Link’s asshole. 

“No. Just do it. Like a band-aid,” Link panted and rolled his hips against Rhett. 

Rhett huffed out a laugh at his impatience and shook his head. “You’re so fucking tight, bo. I don’t think I could do that even if I wanted to.”

Link let out an annoyed whine and huffed, “well, do your best.”

That Rhett could do. He guided his cock in with one hand and held onto Link’s waist with the other. It took more force than he’d expected to penetrate him, and when the head of his cock finally slipped inside Link’s tight, wet heat they both gasped out a solemn “fuck”. Rhett’s gaze whipped to Link’s face and he found Link’s eyes twinkling with mirth like he imagined his were as well.

“Like I said, kind of a tight fit,” Rhett husked, smiling. Link’s eyes fluttered closed and he nodded emphatically.

“You good?” Rhett asked, before going deeper.

“We’re still good,” Link replied with a lopsided grin. He was no longer pressing against Rhett, though, which told Rhett that he was at least a little bit affected by the increase in size.

Rhett stared at Link’s face as his dick sunk further in. Link’s eyebrows were furrowed and his lips were parted, his bottom lip quivering faintly with every breath. Rhett moved his hand on Link’s stomach and slowly rubbed it to ease the tension as he thrust into Link’s impossible tightness.

“Doing so good, baby. A little more. Can you relax for me, just a little bit.”

Link let out a small pained huff and reached for Rhett.

“Hold me,” he pleaded, voice small and strained. 

Rhett leaned over and took Link’s hand, pressing it against the mattress next to his head, their fingers intertwined. He balanced himself on his elbow, settling chest to chest with Link who wrapped his legs around Rhett’s body. Their breathing synced and Rhett pressed a soft kiss onto Link’s jawline.

“Open your eyes,” he whispered, voice heavy with emotion. “I wanna see those baby blues.”

Link’s eyes opened slowly. Rhett waited for his eyes to focus on him and smiled. Then he pressed himself all the way inside. Link’s mouth opened to a moan and Rhett swallowed down a growl of pleasure. He was totally enveloped by a tight silken heat. Link’s heat. 

They stared at each other for a beat, breathing heavy, eyes wide and amazed.

“I know I’ve never done this before, but I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to move,” Link muttered, a smile tugging at the corner of his lips. Rhett huffed out a laugh.

“Smartass,” he whispered, smiling and started to move. It was slow and measured, only small movements at first—partly because he didn’t want to hurt Link and partly because he was afraid he was gonna come at any second. But little by little, Link relaxed under him. The tension left his body and the Link that remained was a moaning, boneless mess under Rhett. Rhett was delighted to find that when Link got going, he got verbal.

“Oh, god, yes,” he moaned. “Just like that. Fuck, right there. You’re so big. Gonna rip me in half with that thick cock. Feels so good... Baby, oh god, baby! More. Kiss me. Fuck me. Harder. Need it. Wanna be sore tomorrow. Rhett, please!”

Rhett couldn’t have gotten a word in even if he’d tried. But he didn’t mind. He listened to Link babble in ecstasy and fought his impending orgasm. He needed this to go on forever. He wanted to be inside Link forever. He belonged there. The realization burned inside his heart and made him feel weak, made him feel bittersweet. They were always meant to do this.  

Eventually, Link lost his ability to form words. He just whimpered against Rhett’s open mouth. They were nose to nose, rocking into each other. Hands tangled in hair and cupping cheeks and caressing toned arms. Rhett had found a rhythm and an angle that pushed the air out of Link’s lungs with every thrust.

“Oh, god, Rhett. You’re gonna make me come!” Link gasped. 

“Please, I’m so close. I need to—” Rhett moaned at the same time.

“Yes! Fuck, yes, please. Fill me up. Mark me. Make me yours,” Link groaned, rolling his hips desperately against Rhett. 

“You’re mine?” Rhett choked out and pressed his forehead against Link’s. Link’s eyes opened and he stared straight into Rhett’s soul as he started to pump cum between their stomachs.

“I’m yours. I’m yours. I’m yours. I’m yours…” Link chanted, almost sobbing, with every twitch of his body, with every spurt of sticky wetness spreading between them. 

Rhett came with a desperate growl. Link’s orgasm squeezed him over and over and over again, making his toes curl, his thighs tremble and his vision swim with stars. Rhett pressed his lips against Link’s and kissed him hard, drinking up the last of his pleasured whimpers.

They shivered in each other’s arms, sweat and cum gluing their bodies together. The candlelight made the shadows on Link’s face flicker ethereal. Rhett stared at him as their breathing slowly returned to normal. 

The crooked smile. The sharp jawline. The long, inky-black eyelashes. The lips he’d kissed raw. The soft pink in his cheeks. The salt-and-pepper hair sticking this way and that.

I love him.

I’m in love with him.

I need to get out of here. Now!

#Appa writes fic #rhink #rhink fic #experiments fic #part 8 #and I thought this was gonna be a six parter #ha! #ns*w

[rhinkthreeways]

High (angsty version)

Link’s office was on the corner of the top floor of the building. A building he owned. He owned a few of them actually, but this one was the highest and he chosen this room to be his office purely because of the view. It was magnificent. Two floor-to-ceiling windows, meeting at the corner, giving him a panoramic view of the skyline. 

When the company first moved into the new building Link started and ended every day with an almost meditative moment staring out at the city below.

But that was many years ago and the view no longer affected him. He barely noticed it. To be fair, he barely noticed anything except his laptop and occasionally his phone. That was the price to pay, for heading one of the country’s most successful companies. At least that’s what he told himself on the rare occasion he stopped to think about his life—or the lack thereof.

“Mr. Neal,” a chirpy voice called from the door. Link didn’t lift his gaze from the proposal.

“What?!” He hadn’t meant to bark like that; sometimes the tightness in his chest just sprang out. From the corner of his eye he saw the assistant flinch. Her smile didn’t falter, though.

“You have a visitor.”

“I don’t have any meetings today,” Link murmured, annoyed.

“It’s not a business meeting. He said you know him. Rhett McLaughlin?”

Link’s heart missed a beat. His head snapped up.

“Wha—?”

And there he was. Standing tall behind Link’s assistant, smirking at him over her head. Link swallowed around the lump that had suddenly lodged in his throat. He hadn’t seen Rhett since… No. Don’t think about that night.

“Hey there, Mr. Big shot,” Rhett greeted him, stepping into the office, eyeing around curiously. Link’s assistant threw a questioning glance at Link and he waved her away.

“Hi,” he said when the door closed behind her. “What are y—? I mean, great to see you. It’s been a while.”

Rhett glanced at him with an unreadable half-smile. The pang Link felt in his chest was almost like a punch. There had been a time when he’d known what Rhett was thinking without looking at him. They’d been inseparable. In sync. Best friends. Brothers. 

And then there had been the possibility of more. One tequila-fueled night had changed everything. 

But Link had to go and mess it all up.

Rhett sat down on a chair next to the door. Link frowned.

“You can come and sit here,” he offered, pointing at the sitting area next to his desk. Rhett laughed and Link could easily read the discomfort on his face.

“I’ll rather stay here. Scared of heights, remember?”

“Ah. Yeah. Sorry,” Link muttered, cheeks flushing. He did remember.

“So, what brings you to town?” Link asked and sat on the edge of his desk, trying to fight need to walk up to Rhett and sink on his knees in front of him. Beg. He could beg for forgiveness.

“Networking or some bullshit. There’s a trade show. Stevie made me do it.”

Link knew Rhett had a small furniture shop back home. He made all the pieces himself. Wood, of course. They were beautiful. Link had a few in his home, bought under pseudonyms. 

“Is Stevie your—?” Link couldn’t get the word boyfriend out. It got stuck in his throat, tacky and disquieting.

“Business partner,” Rhett said, voice level.

They stared at each other for a moment. Link wanted to look away. Rhett’s appraising gaze made him ache all over. But he couldn’t. Rhett was here and Link would be damned if he didn’t soak up every second they were in the same space together.

“You’ve done well,” Rhett finally said, waving his hand in a long arc over the office. Link nodded slowly. 

Had he? Had he really done well? Yes, he had money now and respect in his field. He’d been able to buy his Mama a proper house and there wasn’t much Link couldn’t buy.

But the thing he most wanted in life… That was something that wasn’t for sale.  

Suddenly, Rhett stood up. Link moved too as if pulled by him.

“I don’t know why I came…” Rhett said, reaching for the door. “Maybe I should just—”

“No!” Link’s voice broke. 

Rhett turned to look at him. The air was thick with unspoken words. Decades of regret weighed upon them. Link’s heart hammered in his chest and his palms were sweaty when he reached towards Rhett.

“I’m sorry. I—I fucked up…everything. What I said…” Link drew a deep breath, fighting the tears. “Unacceptable. Horrific. I have no excuse and I— If I could, I’d go back in time and do it all over again.”

Rhett’s head tilted to the side and he took a tentative step towards Link. “And what would you say? If you had that chance?” he asked, voice hoarse and quiet. Link stepped towards him.

“I’d say… That I’m scared. I’m so fucking scared of how I feel. How much I feel. It consumes me. The love I feel for y—”

Link didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence. Rhett bridged the gap between them. Link’s face was cradled in Rhett’s hands and Rhett’s lips were pressed against Link’s. The kiss was soft and searching. Link’s lips parted and he whimpered when Rhett’s tongue swiped against his own. 

The sound made Rhett groan and Link was pushed backwards until his back hit the window. He was pressed between the glass and the love of his life, and his head was in the clouds when Rhett kissed him again—more insistent and needy.

“I thought you were afraid of heights,” Link whispered between kisses.

“The only high I’m concerned right now is the one I get from kissing you,” Rhett murmured against his lips. 

Link blushed.

The city sprawled into the horizon below them and once again, Link couldn’t see it’s splendor.  

He only had eyes for the man he loved.

#rhink #rhink fic #rtw: angst #writer: apparentlynotreallyfinnish #prompt: high #angst with a happy ending

[bleakcreek]

sleep tight

(nothing prompted this except for my own brain. this is 1.5k words of mostly-platonic bed-sharing. it is tooth-rottingly fluffy. this has not been beta’d and it’s almost 1 am so i can’t promise there are no errors.)

--

“Do you remember when we used to do this as kids?”

Rhett’s patting his freshly washed face dry with a hand-towel when Link says it, and he glances sidelong at the hotel mirror to get a good look at him where he’s fluffing up the pillows on his side of the bed. When his eyes meet Rhett’s, his glasses are already off. 

Rhett raises an eyebrow at him. “What, you mean when you came on vacation with my family?”

He tosses the damp towel back onto the bathroom counter before turning off the bathroom light, leaving the lamp on the bedside table as the only light in the room. With the room’s only light source streaming directly onto Link, his hair looks even more silver than usual. 

“Not that,” Link continues. He’s in joggers and t-shirt as he climbs into the room’s single bed.

It occurs to Rhett that when the concierge informed them that they’d been booked in a single, neither of them had even thought to ask about getting a second room.

“I mean when we used to have sleepovers.” 

He turns over on his pillow to face Rhett as he slides in beside him, and it occurs to him how much younger Link looks without his glasses, how vulnerable. “D’you remember — I think it was maybe the fourth time you’d come over? Or maybe it was the fifth. It was definitely at least the third though—”

“Light,” Rhett interrupts, as he rolls onto his side. He glances up at the lamp. 

Link seems to take the hint, because he moves immediately to turn it off, even as he keeps talking. “—Anyway, I think it was maybe a little after Halloween, ‘cause we had that big bag of candy that I hid under my bed, so my mama came in to make sure we’d brushed out teeth an’ weren’t eatin’ candy in bed.”

“And then Mama Sue told me she didn’t like me sleeping on the floor, so she put my pillow at the end of your bed—”

“—And then you thought it was funny to kick me all night!” Link’s voice ticks up at the end like he’s still irritated about it, but even in the dark, Rhett can see the corners of his mouth twitching like he’s trying to fight a smile.

Rhett gives him a gentle little kick, barely more than a bump of his foot against Link’s, and says, “Yeah, I remember that.”

He expects Link to retaliate, to kick him back, to continue the story, to… something.

Instead, Link is quiet. He shifts closer to Rhett, so that only a few inches are separating them, and rolls around to face the ceiling. 

He’s so uncharacteristically silent for so long Rhett would think he was asleep, if he didn’t see the occasional fluttering of his open eyes against the darkness.

At last, barely audible, he says, “Why’d we stop?”

“The sleepovers? ‘Cause we were roommates, man.”

“Not that. I mean the,” he gestures vaguely at the air above his head, “the sleeping in the same bed thing. It felt like one minute it was okay and then the next it was like — it was only okay if we had to, and only if we pretended to hate it.”

Rhett remembers being eleven years old, remembers Cole tugging him aside in the hallway after Link’s mama came to take him home, remembers him telling him you oughta stop letting letting another boy sleep in his bed before people start sayin’ you two ain’t right. 

He didn’t know what his brother meant by that back then, but it was still enough to scare him back into bringing a sleeping bag over to Link’s house.

“Just outgrew it, I guess,” Rhett says instead.

“Mm,” is Link’s noncommittal reply. “Guess so.”

After thirty-five years of friendship with him, Rhett likes to think he’s gotten pretty good at reading Link. More importantly, he knows that on the rare occasion he’s gotten something wrong, they’ve always bounced back from it.

So when Rhett scoots in, closing the last few inches between them, and lifts an arm to give Link a chance to cuddle in closer, he figures — at the absolute worst — Link might get indignant and tell him to get back on his side of the bed, might maybe assume Rhett is just messing with him. Might even kill the conversation for the rest of the night, but nothing worse than that.

It turns out, thought, Rhett’s Link-related instincts are perfect this time, because he immediately feels the warm, solid press of another body next to his. One of Link’s hands lands lightly on Rhett’s chest, right over his heart.

Link makes an indignant noise at the back of his throat. “Man, why ain’t ‘chu wearin’ a shirt?” He doesn’t move to pull away, though, and even hooks one ankle over Rhett’s. 

“‘Cause I get overheated, man.” Rhett curls his arm to brush the pads of his fingers through the soft hair at the nape of his neck. “It’s hot in here.”

“You are basically a furnace,” Link grumbles. It sounds like he’s complaining, but from the way he turns his face into Rhett’s chest and presses his cold nose into Rhett’s collarbone, he has a feeling Link doesn’t mind it too much. 

“You like it,” Rhett counters mildly. “Otherwise you wouldn’t’ve kept tryin’ to spoon me while you were sleepin’.” He can feel the last of the tension eke out of Link’s shoulders as he keeps combing his fingers through Link’s hair. 

“...Wasn’t always asleep,” Link says. “That time I latched onto you and you said you couldn’t get me to let go so I just stayed stuck to you all night? I was awake for that one.”

“You coulda just told me you wanted to snuggle,” Rhett teases, he knows it’s a mistake the second the words leave his lips.

Right on cue, Link’s whole body locks up. “Yeah, I’m sure that woulda gone great back in our Campus Crusade days,” he snaps. “Or maybe you mean back when we were teenagers, when the only time we could touch without your dad or Cole shooting us dirty look was when we wrestled?”

“Hey, I’m sorry—”

“Screw you, you’re sorry.”

Rhett feels Link start to roll away and immediately locks his arms around him, pinning him in place against his side. Link’s legs go to move next, and Rhett immediately wraps one of his long legs around Link’s, his ankle tucked around the other man’s shin to keep him from pulling away. 

“Let go a’ me!” He keeps wriggling, but can’t get enough leverage to get away. Eventually, he settles for pressing his face into the side of Rhett’s neck and huffing. “I don’t wanna cuddle anymore, I’m upset with you.”

It’s a ridiculous sentence, like something Link might say to Jade for peeing on the carpet, and it’s a testament to Rhett’s self-control that he keeps himself from laughing at it. 

“You can cuddle and be mad at me,” Rhett says, voice somewhere between genuine and patronizing, as he reaches the hand not holding onto Link back toward the nightstand.

“Ugh,” Link groans. Still, he seems to have resigned himself to his fate, and starts to relax back into him. “Wait — what are you grabbing?”

“My phone,” Rhett says. He holds it in front of Link, like it will somehow ease any suspicions Link might have about what he’s up to rather than exacerbating them.

“And why—” Link grabs for it, but Rhett just holds it higher, fully out of Link’s reach, as he unlocks it one-handed. “—Do you need your phone?”

Rhett doesn’t answer, just clicks the shutter button once and lets the flash burst into the room, illuminating the blue of Link’s eyes for one brief moment before it disappears again.

In the picture, Link’s face is set into a deep frown, half-buried in the blankets and tucked neatly against Rhett’s chest. He’s never seen any one person look so adorable and pissed off at the same time. 

“What’re you doin’ with that picture?” Link reaches for the phone again, and Rhett holds it out above his head. “If you post that to instagram—” 

“I’m not putting it anywhere public, don’t worry.” Rhett has the New Message box open, gets about two seconds into typing C-H-R when Link starts struggling for the phone again.

“Oh, no, don’t you dare send that to my wife, she’ll never let me life it down—”

“—I was also gonna send it to Jessie—”

“—Oh, so she can post it to twitter to gain clout with our fans? That’s even worse than sending it to my wife!”

“Sent,” Rhett announces, his thumb making contact with the Send Message button just as Link finally manages to grab the phone out of Rhett’s hands. 

Jessie McLaughlin is typing… pops up onto the screen almost as soon as the message enters the cloud.

“Man, therapy has made you into an insufferable ass,” Link grumbles, shoving the phone back into Rhett’s hands before he can see Jessie’s no-doubt delighted response to his predicament. 

“I was already an insufferable ass,” Rhett says evenly. “Therapy just made me into an insufferable ass that’s okay with cuddling with my best friend. Now go to sleep, Link.”

#rhink #my fic #i'll clean this up and post it on ao3 tomorrow probably #this is the first thing i've finished in literally months oops

[miriredsteel]

Through the Looking Glass Pt. 1 - An Old “Friend”

Pain. 

Agony.

Torment.

Darkness…   

Fear. Fear beyond measure. Terror that was so deep it felt infinite, never ending...and ancient.

    The world was blurred, fuzzy...as if awakening from a long night of drinking heady wine. A strange, deep thrumming seemed to constantly be present within the realm of sound, the sort of deep base that reached deep into your guts and set panic to galloping through the blood. And the bite of cold, the sting of copper in the nose, as if surrounded by dried blood...it was all overpowering, and yet it was nearly impossible to drag one’s awareness up from whatever depths she’d fallen into.

    A groan escaped her throat as the fingers of unconsciousness slowly released her, awareness sinking in like a blade into flesh. Confusion joined the strange panic thumping in her veins; where was she? What had happened? She couldn’t-

    With a chink, Miri tried to move, to stand, to roll over but something stopped her. Her arms were held out from her by dark, cold chains, their weight evident upon her delicate wrists. The feel of the cold metal then became apparent around her neck as a great choking collar that sat to keep her head forcibly upright. A large shackle sat around her waist, which was then chained to the ground, keeping her kneeling on the cold, dark stone.

    “Wha….?” She asked groggily to no one, her mind still trying to come back to her.

    As her eyesight adjusted further, she saw bars surrounding her, the same sort of metal as her chains. All around her was that horrible thrumming, like a river, except whatever was rushing was certainly not any water she’d ever heard. And the screams...the screams were the most wretched and tortured sounds she’d ever heard. Each one seemed to shoot through her like an arrow, making her gasp and lurch in physical pain.

    My mental wards- She thought, feeling the panic spike in her chest.

    “Oh you’ll find those chains are quite unbreakable, dearie,” A deep, throaty, voice practically purred from somewhere to the Lady’s right.

    Something in the cadence of speech, in the saccharinely sweet “dearie”, made a shiver spider walk up Miri’s spine. Familiar. It seemed so familiar and yet she couldn’t seem to place where she knew it from. The shackle at her neck kept her from turning to look at the person speaking, causing pain to shoot through her neck when she tried.

    The voice tittered, followed by the soft padding of well made shoes walking across a hard stone floor, accompanied by the gentle swishing of silky fabric.

    “Do try not to struggle too much, dearie. You’ll only hurt yourself further,” The voice was so sweet, so filled with the mimicry of concern you’d almost have believed it. Almost, except for the razor edge that seemed to crawl along the underside of each sugar coated word.

    Giving up on the movement, Miri instead let her eyes dart to her periphery, finally able to glimpse through the bars the figure speaking before her. The figure was tall; much taller than any human she’d have known, with ashen grey skin and long, white hair that had been coiffed up into an elaborately braided updo around their head. Their face was wide and round, like their figure, and almost abundantly so. Long, pointed ears gently peered out from beneath the elaborate hairdo, dangling with gaudy gold and red bangles, while a deep red ruby pendant hung around their throat and into the valley of a ponderous chest. 

    The gown they wore was of dark wine reds, deep coal greys and white ruffles, finely made and perfectly tailored. Their hands were folded neatly at their waist, long dark nails that shone in the strange light, seeming both perfectly manicured and deadly. 

    Familiar…     “It really is quite rude to stare, Lady Redsteel,” The figure chided gently, as if they were a teacher and Miri a naughty student. Something about it made the Lady’s blood boil. “Or is it Clearwater once more? I can hardly keep track these days.”

    “What...do you want with me?” Miri bit at her, regretting even that short question; her throat felt as if she had swallowed sand, dry and scorched.

    The figure tittered again, the sound once more sending chills up Miri’s spine.

    “Oh all in due time, dearie, all in due time.” They answered before reaching through the bars to tilt Miri’s chin upwards.

    The figure -a woman surely- had blood red eyes that bored into Miri in such a way that she was certain she was trying to peer into her very soul. A row of sharp teeth gleamed in the eerie light as she seemed satisfied with what she saw, before releasing the Lady’s face.

    “For now...it is my great honor to welcome you to your new home for the foreseeable future,” The woman purred, the wretched joy eeking out of her feeling like oil over Miri’s flesh. She felt sick. “I do believe you are going to be an excellent addition here.”

    “Where…?” Miri began, again, regretting the question. Light she’d have done anything for-

    A canteen was suddenly pressed roughly to her lips before her head was tilted back and cool, clean water poured down her throat. The relief it brought was short lived as the clawed hand that forced her head back gripped at her hair viciously and forced her to drink without a breath. It wasn’t long before Miri was choking, spitting up the water and coughing it out of her nose, nearly drowning in it.

    “Now now, dearie, you’ve had a very trying journey, you really must save your energy,” The woman cooed, malice dripping in every word. “Can’t have you collapsing from exhaustion before your first session, now can we?”

    Miri could only sputter and cough in an attempt to breathe. The woman laughed; it seemed so childish and yet the sheer joy she took in Miri’s suffering made her flush with fury.

    “As to where you are, well I suppose you were rather addled upon arrival. Didn’t even put up a fight when we shackled you,” The woman gave her chains a shake for good measure, the motion sending waves of pain through Miri’s arms and neck. “And you did put up quite a fight with the Forsworn; they reported that they nearly dropped you five times with how much you were kicking and screaming, till you passed out...oh...somewhere over the Maw? I suppose the change in planes just got to your little head,”

    Miri felt the blood drain from her face. “...the...the Maw?”

    Again, that horrible, high pitched tittering. “Oh you silly little goose. That’s just where you came through, not where you are,”

    The woman seemed to take delight in Miri’s confusion and fear. “I...I don’t-”

    “Where the veil was broken, so now stands a door,” The woman raised her hand with a flourish to the ceilings of whatever horrible place they were in. “A door...to my new existence. And your new home.”

    Once more, those clawed hands tilted her head up so Miri could look the woman eye to eye. The intense malice and hatred she felt in her gaze was painful and it made Miri weak.

    “No…” Miri gasped, feeling tears sting at her tired eyes.

    “Yes!” The woman responded, overjoyed. “Revendreth will surely make good use of you, dearie. And I for one am honored to be your warden.

    “Now, I really must be going, Lord Denathrius is expecting me. But before I do,” The woman stood up to her full height and gave Miri a horrid smile, like that of a predator that was eager to play with their food. “A little taste of what’s to come.”

    She reached out her clawed hand, the ruby pendant at her throat glowing with a horrible, red light. Dark, blood red energy coalesced around her fingers and swirled to a point at Miri’s chest, the Lady helpless to stop its approach. Upon reaching her, Miri lurched, feeling all the air rush out of her.

    Pain.

    Agony.

    Torment.

    Every regret, every mistake, every sorrow she’d ever known was suddenly rendered in painfully stark detail and wrenched from her very soul. A horrible scream rent the air as she saw the look in her children’s eyes as she was spirited away, the last moment Dev walked away from her, the expression on Rhett’s face as he was led away to the gallows, the weight of Aldarion’s body as he died in her arms.

    “Yes, Mirianda,” The woman’s voice seemed to fill her head, purring and cloyed and malicious. “You will relive every single horrible thing you didn’t stop, every mistake you lived to regret. And I will reap that suffering as a scythe reaps the grain.”

    It was only then Miri realized the scream was her own, tearing at her throat with such pain and agony she was certain she would die from it. The woman seemed to be pulling her suffering straight from the center of her soul and into her hands before it seemed to slowly coalesce into the ruby pendant.

    When the pain finally stopped, Miri fought to keep from blacking out, though oblivion would’ve been a relief, a mercy. Instead, she clung to her consciousness, her breath shaky and arduous, trembling from head to toe. Every part of her ached, and a deep throb of despair seemed to have blossomed where her heart was.

    “Aaah...delicious,” The woman hummed, curling her hands and sighing as if she’d just taken a sip of fine wine. “His lordship will be pleased.

    “Do get some rest, dearie,” The woman then turned on her heel with a flourish as two massive metal doors swung open by an unseen force. Miri tried to look outside, to get a bearing on her surroundings, but her head still spun with the attempt to even stay conscious.

    “I want you well rested for your first...real...purging,” Her final words were heavy as the doors shut behind her with a metal clang and Miri was left alone in her cell.

    Reality seemed to be suspended for a few brief moments, before the screams around her once again began to claw at her mind, tearing open her own freshly created pain and exacerbating it. Gritting her teeth, the Lady tried to fight off the sorrow, the despair, the hopelessness.

    But she was so weak...so tired…

    Alone, confused and frightened...Mirianda wept, her cries joining with the countless lost souls within ruins of Revendreth, drowned out in the cacophony of suffering and torment. Just another agonized soul to add to the oppressed creatures within the decaying landscape.

[waterloou]

Helloooo all! I’m bringing back oc Saturday for these trying times to showcase some brilliant ocs! If you’d like to nominate your oc or somebody else’s, feel free to shoot me a msg, ask, or tag #ocextravaganzasaturday ! Also, there’s an option to submit a blurb!

Oc extravaganza Saturday guidelines

Below are links/blurbs for the featured ocs this week! Go check them out!

Amreen Carr created by @emiliachrstine

Headcannons

Headcannons 2

Headcannons 3

“Stay”

Game of Survival

Fluff

Edit 1

Edit 2

Edit 3

Edit 4

Gotta love a kick ass mama to baby yoda. Her and mando and the whole family are just wholesome and cool and please go give them some love! They deserve it!

Belle Sinclair created by @lilhemmo

Multifandom Queen:

5sos:

Sunshine

Soon to be Riverdale

Background:

“her name is belle sinclair - she was kind of a tom boy growing up, but her brother died when she started high school. he died while she was driving him home from a new years eve date and he was drunk so he was distracting her, but then they got t-boned by another drunk driver. however, her whole family blames her for his death and she has extreme survivors guilt.”

“she's a sunshine, little sun drop, sunflower! she's really kind and very forgiving and a people pleaser”

Go show her some love!

Billy Holmes created by @humangrumpycat

Introduction

Mythology moodboard

Playlist

Billy cackles, turning his chair to face an irritated Sweet Pea.

'I'm sorry,' Billy wheezes, wiping the tears from his face.

'You saw some dude spray paint a wall, and when you threatened him, he pulled a gun on you?' he asks, his lips pressed in an attempt to stop laughing.

'Yes,' Sweet Pea grits through his teeth.

'That's the best thing I've heard all week,' Billy smiles. 'Thank you for telling me this.'

Sweet Pea clenches his jaw, taking a deep breath.

'It's not funny,' he hisses.

'It was, though,' Phoenix snickers. 'You should've seen his face,' he says to Billy. 'Dude pulled out an M1911A1.'

'Holy shit,' Billy gasps.

'He pulled out a what?' Fangs asks.

'Colt .45,' Billy explains, followed by Fangs nodding.

'How would you know?' Sweet Pea asks Phoenix. 'You weren't even there.'

'I was right across the street, leaving the candle shop,' he answers.

'Why were you at the candle shop?' Fangs scoffs.

'Buying candles,' Phoenix comments, raising the bag on eye-level. 'I thought that was pretty obvious.'

'Can we focus on my problem?' Sweet Pea interrupts. 'And how I need to take care of it?'

'"Take care of it"?' Billy mocks.

'You got something for me?' Sweet Pea asks, nodding to the closet to his left.

'Oh, NOW you want a new weapon?' Billy scoffs. 'I've been telling you that for years now. I mean, I get the nostalgia bullshit. But like I said: we're big guys, and big guys need big weapons or it'll just look weird.'

'Like he's holding a toothpick,' Phoenix adds, followed by both Phoenix and Billy nodding at each other.

'Shut up, Phoenix, I don't see you carrying a machete around.'

'Don't I?' Phoenix smirks, opening his jacket to show a machete strapped on the inside.

'What the-' Fangs gasps. 'How-'

'Gem sewed in the straps for me,' Phoenix explains with the widest grin.

'So, can you get me something new?' Sweet Pea asks, growing more impatient by the minute.

'I might could,' Billy says. 'But not tonight.'

Both Fangs and Sweet Pea throw up their hands.

'I'm sure y'all can beat him up tomorrow, and I'd love to join,' Billy comments. 'But it's Tequila Tuesday at the LOVE Club downtown, and I'm meeting Ace, Spades, and Snow White in ten, so I'll be a wreck tomorrow.'

'Can I join?' Phoenix begs. 'I can dump my shit at Viper's on the way.'

'Got your fake ID?'

'Always,' Phoenix answers.

'Why the LOVE Club, by the way?' Phoenix asks. 'Don't we normally go to The Maple Leaf?'

'Well,' Billy smirks. 'There's this pretty blonde who sings there every Tuesday, and we've had some "eye-contact" for the last couple of weeks.'

'You mean, real-life Disney princess? Nice!' he chants.

'Also, The Maple Leaf's starting to attract more Ghoulies, and we don't need that shit,' Billy mentions.

Billy is a great bad boy. He’s hilarious, resourceful and it’s just extremely easy to like. Go give him some love!

Oli Parker created by @reggiemantleholdmyhand-tle

Introduction

About ramble

Summer Camp AU

This boy is a hardworking, wholesome, compassionate ray of sunshine! Go give him some love!

Rhett Butler created by @s-s-southsideserpentine

Question

The common room of the boys dormitories was a ghost-town during this time of the night. Usually it was alive with haughty Stonewall Prep males, bragging about the colleges their showboat parents bought their way into, laughing at crude jokes and arguing loudly about theory and theology. Now though, in the late hours of the night after the RA’s were done skulking around the hallways with citations in hand, it was almost peaceful. Rhett Butler liked to sneak out of his dorm room and sit at the piano, basked in the milky color of the moonlight as it streamed in through the large, glass-paned windows. The high archways and ceilings made the soft tinkling of the piano keys sound like they filled the air around him and tucked themselves into every corner. He liked the emptiness of it all, how serene it could be to take comfort in his own loneliness. Rhett would wait until after lights out, way after the final few night owls broke themselves away from their studies, and would tiptoe out into the common room with his composition book in hand, jotting down music notes and time signatures while still trying his best to be quiet. A big anthology of British Literature is wedged in the doorframe, with Rhett trying his best to close himself away to conceal the noise. He’s too busy tinkering away at his next assignment for music class that he doesn’t hear the quiet thunk of the anthology hitting the parquet floor as someone slipped into the room with him.

“What the hell are you doing?” A voice pipes up from behind Rhett’s left shoulder, nearly scaring him out of his wits as he jumps, slamming the piano case down hard onto the keyboard.

“Holy hell” He chuckles, trying his best to recover and even out his breathing. His spindly fingers are shaking as he turns around to see the new scholarship student, Bianca something, in her pajamas, her curly hair dented and pressed from where her head pressed into her pillow.

Rhett had seen her around before, he sat in on the advanced writing seminar on the right day, he guessed, because he heard the girl make a snarky remark to that asshole Bret. It cost her an after-school detention but she gained Rhett’s respect immediately, and he had been intrigued by her ever since. Everyone knew about the scholarship kids, it was kind of hard not to. There were only a handful of them, a losers club of their own. But most of them kept their heads down and cowered at the taunts being thrown by their snooty classmates, making remarks about their thrifted textbooks and not-so-pristine school uniforms. Not this girl, though; it was a strange twist of fate, how he had wondered about her and now she was here.

“You know what time it is?” She asks with a raised eyebrow that doesn’t seem malicious, but Rhett doesn’t know how to take it.

Rhett palms the top of the upright piano until he finds where he tossed his phone, he clicks the home button, 3:13 am. “The witching hour” He muses, running a hand though his hair.

“Are you the one who’s always out here?” She asks again with that same hint of mischief. “That girl Donna’s convinced a bunch of freshman that there’s a ghost.”

“S’just me” Rhett mumbles, feeling embarrassed at the idea that his late-night musicalities weren’t as secret as he thought.

The girl walks across the room and sits on the other side of the piano bench next to Rhett. There was a funny sort of confidence she had, giving him an all-teeth smile as she says “So you’re the ghost”. Rhett smiles, excitement brewing in his stomach.

“Name’s Rhett Butler” He offers his skinny hand for the girl to shake and she does.

Gotta love a good, malnourished, take no bs academic boy. And he’s musically talented??? King. Give him some love!

#oc community #ocextravaganzasaturday #ocappreciation #friends ocs #star wars oc #riverdale oc #5sos oc #5sos #riverdale #star wars #oc: amreen carr #oc: rhett butler #oc: billy holmes #oc: oli parker #oc: belle sinclair

[naturallytom]

Marry Me (Tom Holland x reader)

a/n: based off the song marry me by thomas rhett!! it makes my heart hurt so of course i had to write something based off it :’) also this is for @spideypeach & @astrospideys writing challenge!! this can be read as a stand alone one shot or the third (and final) part to good enough//happier, which you can find in my masterlist in my bio!!

please reblog/leave feedback!! 

bold + italics= song lyrics, italics= flashback 

warnings: big sad, idek man this is pretty much all angst wHOOPS

prompt: “After all this time, you still can’t look me in the eye?”

_______________________________________________________________________

She wants to get married, she wants it perfect

You wanted the perfect wedding. Something Tom knew you had dreamed about since you were little. He knew you planned it all out and he knew what you wanted. The perfect hair. The perfect makeup. The perfect venue. The perfect dress. And he knew that as he looked around the outdoor venue, that you were going to have your perfect wedding. 

 Yeah, she wants magnolias out in the country

Magnolias were your favorite flower. Tom knew you wanted loads of them for your perfect wedding and he couldn’t help but smile as he noticed all of them around the venue. It was a beautiful spring evening, not too hot but not too cold either. He noticed all the small details and couldn’t help but think of when you had told him all of those details lots of times late at night when the two of you would just lay in bed, talking about anything and everything. 

 “What’s your favorite flower?” Tom asked, turning his head to face you. The two of you were laying on your backs on Tom’s bed, looking up at the ceiling. 

 “Magnolia.” You replied, glancing over at him. “I want them at my wedding.” 

 “You’re already thinking of your wedding?” Tom’s eyes widened- he could barely think ahead to the next day, nevermind years down the road to marriage. 

 “I’ve been thinking of it since I was a little girl, you know that.” You nudged him gently with your shoulder. “You’re my best friend and roommate. You of all people should know this.” 

 “Alright, alright, I guess you’re right.” Tom chuckled while you rolled your eyes. He couldn’t help but look over and admire how beautiful you looked, the moonlight outlining your figure perfectly. His heart beat faster in his chest, though he tried to ignore it. He had a girlfriend, Ava. He loved her. But he also loved you, and he couldn’t have both. Besides, he wasn’t even sure if you still had feelings for him. So he chose to do what you did: bottle it up and keep it to himself. 

 Not too many people, save her daddy some money

“Tell me all about your dream wedding.” Tom insisted, switching to lay on his stomach to get a better view of you while you spoke. 

 “Again?” You raised your eyebrow, surprised he’d want to hear you ramble about this again. 

 “Again.” Tom confirmed, smiling when he saw you smile. 

 “Well,” You started, your eyes lighting up. “I want a small, spring wedding. Not too many people. Family and close friends. I want my dress to be long sleeve and the skirt to be poofy, like in the movies or on Pintrest. Lots of magnolias. I don’t even know- I just want magnolias and I want a lot of them.” 

 You kept speaking, but Tom zoned out. He was too caught up in how the moonlight reflected so clearly in your eyes and how passionate you were about your wedding. 

 Tom had heard this so many times. But he couldn’t help but ask again because a) if he was being totally honest, he forgot all about it and b) he just loved to see the smile on your face when asked about your dream wedding and to see how into it you got. 

 I remember the night when I almost kissed her

Yeah, I kinda freaked out, we'd been friends for forever 

And I always wondered if she felt the same way

When I got the invite, I knew it was too late

You and Tom had gone to a party and after a few drinks, had found yourselves sitting outside the house, gazing up at the stars to escape the crowd of drunk people. 

“This was a fun party.” Tom mumbled, his brown eyes fixated on the clear night sky. 

“Would it have been more fun with Ava?” You asked, teasing him. Him and Ava had gotten into a fight right before you came to the party with him and Tom was currently trying to forget all about it. He wasn’t even sure where their relationship was worth saving. 

“Stop that.” He groaned, making you chuckle. 

“Sensitive topic?” You laughed, making him roll his eyes. 

The two of you sat in silence, you moving to rest your head on Tom’s shoulder. This wasn’t uncommon for you, it was nice for you to be able to display your affection to your best friend. Tom glanced down at you and smiled softly, wishing he could give you a kiss on your forehead and mumble ‘i love you’ against your skin. 

Tom hummed and you picked up your head, thinking he had said something.

“Did you say something?” You asked, your face inches from his.

“Nope.” He whispered in response, eyes focused on your lips. Before he knew was he was doing, he was slowly moving in to close the gap between you, brushing his lips against yours. But before he could finish it, his brain caught up to his heart and set off alarms, reminding him that he had a girlfriend and you were his best friend. 

He pulled away suddenly, mumbling ‘I have to go,’ getting up and walking away, leaving you alone in the grass. 

He was freaking out, you were his best friend, he had a girlfriend, and he nearly kissed you. He didn’t even know if you still felt the same way towards him, but how would he even bring that up? So he didn’t. He didn’t say anything at all for years and then one day he got an invitation in his mail and he knew he was too late. 

 Bet she got on her dress now, welcoming the guests now

I could try to find her, get it off of my chest now

But I ain't gonna mess it up, so I'll wish her the best now

Tom entered the venue, placing his present down before finding a seat quickly. He knew you must be in your dress by now, the wedding was going to start soon and guests like him were beginning to pile in to celebrate love. 

Taking a deep breath, he rose from his seat, going to where you said you’d be before the wedding. He figured it was now or never to tell you how he feels, even if the timing was incredibly shitty. He hadn’t seen you in months, although you had invited him to dinners with Eric and yourself, he couldn’t bring himself to go when it should’ve been him in Eric’s position. 

The two of you had gotten into a huge fight and while you had just put it behind you, there was always an awkward tension between the two of you since then. 

Tom let out a shaky breath before knocking on the door, the nerves in his stomach nearly making him throw up. 

You opened the door, a smile on your face as you prepared for your big day. 

“Tommy! You made it!” You squealed, throwing your arms around his neck excitedly. 

“Yeah, I did, love.” He chuckled softly, his arms going around your waist as he hugged you for the first time in what felt like forever. You pulled away and Tom’s gaze stayed on the ground, unable to look you in the eyes. 

“After all this time, you still can’t look me in the eye?” You asked softly. 

“Sorry.” He mumbled, his eyes flickering up to meet yours. You looked so beautiful in your dress- long sleeves of lace with a poofy skirt, just like you wanted. 

“I, uh, have something to tell you.” He muttered, playing with his fingers- something he did when he was nervous. 

“What is it?” You asked, your eyes looking at his innocently. 

It was in that moment that Tom realized he couldn’t do it, he couldn’t fuck up your big day because of his feelings. So once again, he buried them deep within. 

“You look beautiful, Y/N. I’m really happy for you.” He finally let out, making you smile even more and bring him into another hug. 

“Thanks Tommy.” You smiled into his neck. 

“No problem, love. ’M gonna find my seat. Good luck out there.” He told you, pulling away from your hug as you once again thanked him and told him you were looking forward to seeing him out there, to which he simply nodded in response. 

So I'm in my black suit, black tie, hiding out in the back

Doing a strong shot of whiskey straight out the flask

I'll try to make it through without crying so nobody sees

Tom stood off to the side, a part of the beautiful outdoor venue where he knew no one could see him taking a sip of whiskey out of a flask. He knew he couldn’t do it and he knew was selfish. But he couldn’t sit there and watch you get married without crying and breaking down. He knew this day was coming but now it felt all too real and it all came crashing down on Tom. 

Little did he know, you did still feel the same way all those years ago at the party when he almost kissed you. You did still love him when you laid in bed and told him all about your dream wedding, hell you wanted it to be Tom at the end of the aisle. It was Tom you wanted to marry. But you told him how you felt once before and it didn’t go so well, so you just buried your feelings and moved on. 

Now you were getting married. You had the perfect husband-to-be, the perfect venue, the perfect dress. And as you walked down the aisle, your guests watching with adoration, you felt your heart sink because the one person you wanted to be there more than anything was missing. 

Yeah, she gonna get married

But she ain't gonna marry me

_______________________________________________________________________

tags: @boredombesson @spidermansmj14 @calum-hoodwinked-me @karlitabi-rrito @tomhaz @i-ship-it-okay @holland-osterfieldx @you-makemethisway @xxtomxo @shadowyartcutebiscuit @spideyyypeter @xxxxdelenaxxxx @tomzfrog @sparklyhomeworklovecloud @sunshinehollandd @spiderboytotherescue @hollandroos @spideypeach @mcuspidey @importantfireeaglefish @astrospideys @hawkinsholland

#astropeachcelebration #tom holland #tom holland x reader #tom holland x you #tom holland x fem!reader #tom holland x female!reader #tom holland x y/n #tom holland imagine #tom holland fanfiction #tom holland fanfic #tom holland fic #tom holland oneshot #tom holland angst #spiderman: hoco #spiderman homecoming

[cockymclaughlin]

what’re your feelings about the jolly rancher bath?

He thinks, even as he’s doing it, that the bit is coming off a bit hysterical. It’s that same weird feeling as a panic attack without actually getting that bad. 

Adrenaline, he supposes. It always hits him at the strangest times, and he’s not-- 

Look, he’s not an idiot, okay? He knows when too much is too much and when too much is maybe not enough for what they’re going for. This is leaning more and more into the too much area. He’s going on and on about the mob of all things, like they’ve got anything to actually be afraid of, and he can-- 

Oh, now he hears Link. 

He’s just talking. 

Calm and serious and guiding Rhett away from his own frantic thought process, the joke that’s not really feeling like a joke anymore. And it’s weird how that’s working. It’s weird how Link just keeps barreling through this whole thing without laughing even a little, staying calm and serious. 

His voice never changes pitch or tone. He just directs Rhett’s attention away until he’s asking what color he wants, and Rhett’s never been one to turn down food. 

So he says, “Blue.” 

That’s his favorite one, so of course he listens when Link motions to lean his head back, opens his mouth for the candy. Of course he does. Why wouldn’t he? 

Why does this feel so weird? 

Not bad. Not bad weird at all. Just weird. 

He hears a, “Good work, Rhett,” Link’s face not changing, and the cameras are still rolling when he says, “Feel better?” 

It’s almost tender. It’s definitely comforting. So Rhett nods, doesn’t make eye-contact because he doesn’t want to know what’ll happen if he does. 

But Link must catch on because he says, “Hey, hey. Look at me, yeah?” 

So Rhett does, not feeling much like talking for some reason. And Link still looks serious and calm, like he’s in charge of something Rhett’s not privy to. He asks, “Do you feel better?” 

When Rhett nods again, Link furrows his brow. “Can you talk?” And that’s a weird-- 

That’s weird. Of course Rhett can talk, he just doesn’t want to right now. He feels better when he doesn’t think about talking, about using his head for anything other than listening and eating this candy. He feels better like this. 

So he shrugs. 

And Link signals for them to cut the cameras, says they’re going to take a break, and Rhett’s a little fuzzy on the rest of it all, if he’s honest. He knows Link walks with him to the office, a firm hand on the small of his back the whole way. He also knows nobody in the crew really looks at him while they leave, focus more on the equipment and their phones than anything. 

But he couldn’t tell you why. He couldn’t tell you what’s so weird or why not talking is helping that fluttering feeling in his chest go away. Honestly, he couldn’t even tell you what that fluttering feeling was. 

Is. 

It’s still there, just, just less intense. An afterthought. 

Link’s hand is still on the small of his back, and Rhett’s almost done with the candy. He pulls a face of annoyance when they walk through the office doors and he crunches down on the tiny sliver of candy still on his tongue. 

“Here,” Link is saying, unwrapping another candy and handing it out for Rhett to take. 

When he goes to grab it with his fingers, though, he moves it and tsks in a way that blooms with heat in Rhett’s stomach. 

“Didn’t say you could use your hands, man,” Link says. It’s weird. 

Why wouldn’t Rhett use his hands? Why would he need permission? And-- 

Oh. Oh, shit. Fuck. 

Fuck, that’s. 

There are tears in his eyes before he realizes he’s feeling like that, and Link hums, lifts the candy to Rhett’s mouth for him, grins a little when he opens his mouth for it. 

And then he’s saying, “Cry if you gotta cry, Rhett.” 

But he doesn’t, so he shakes his head, sniffs hard to prove his point. He just doesn’t feel like talking. He doesn’t feel like having to explain what he’s feeling because he doesn’t know. It’s just chaos, mostly.  

“I think that was probably too much for you, man,” Link says, and he sounds a little concerned. Like this seriously messed Rhett up or something. 

It was just jolly ranchers. 

It was candy. 

He’s fine. 

But then Link says, “Compression’s your thing, huh?” and it might be a joke, but Rhett can’t tell. “Come here,” and he’s walking to the couch. 

Maybe he shouldn’t. Maybe he should open his mouth and say a single damn thing, but instead he listens. When he sits on the couch, it feels a little bit like he’s giving permission, and he’d be worried if it weren’t Link he was looking at. He’d be worried if he didn’t sort of feel like everything in him was shaking loose all at once. 

“Lie down,” Link murmurs, and he he listens then, too. 

Face up on the couch, he watches the ceiling expand and contract around him in time with his breathing. He feels so small, like this, exposed and raw, and there’s a beat before Link is saying, “I need you to tell me if you don’t want this. Doesn’t gotta be words, but squeeze my hand if you need me to stop.” 

And before Rhett can process what’s happening, he’s got Link on top of him, chest-to-chest, resting his head on Rhett’s chest a bit hesitantly. His hair tickles Rhett’s neck, and then everything settles. 

This is different than the jolly ranchers. 

That was overwhelming, he thinks. All of it at once, the panic of not being able to get up as he sat. This is better. 

This is more distributed, something warm and heavy and across the entirety of him as opposed to being rained down on top of him in waves of pressure. And there’s something about the weight that’s good, that’s settling whatever chaos had built in his chest. He doesn’t feel like talking yet, but he thinks maybe he will in a bit. 

He thinks maybe Link is just settling whatever panic the whole jolly rancher bath brought on. 

Eyes falling shut, he focuses on the way Link is breathing with him, how both of them expand and contract with the ceiling now. It’s nice. His thoughts go soft around the edges, feel a little less extreme than they did. 

The storm building under his skin subsides. It takes probably ten minutes, but Link doesn’t move, doesn’t talk or shift or do anything but rest on top of Rhett, letting those feeling s eek out of him. 

“Okay,” Rhett finally says, his voice soft and small and cracking around the edges. 

“Okay?” Link asks, and he sounds dreary, quiet and curious. Rhett can hear his grin, but that’s okay. He doesn’t mind. 

He feels better. 

“Yeah,” Rhett says. It’s the best he can do right now, but Link gets it and sits up, avoids putting too much pressure on Rhett as they shift so they can share the couch. 

“You alright, man?” he asks, putting a hand on Rhett’s thigh. 

“Mm,” Rhett hums, nodding his head. 

“No more of that. I’ll let them know, okay? We won’t do that again,” he promises, and Rhett lets his eyes fall shut again. 

He scrubs over his face with his hands. 

When he nods, it feels like he’s admitting something, but that’s okay, too. 

He’s okay. 

#i do the writing thing sometimes #uhhh more soft bdsm? of the non-sexual variety? #welcome everyone #i think about the jolly rancher bath literally all the time #it's very good to watch rhett's very quick descent into whatever headspace that was #vs link's realizing he's very obviously not okay #so he just feeds him instead #this series should just be called 'rhett's an eater' #but anyway i'm rambling and i'm drunk and i love you #Anonymous

[moonlight-ghoulette]

Happy birthday @arentiaclevergirl! As promised, here is your fake relationship ficlet as my gift to you :)

“A work party?” Rhett asked incredulously, mouth full of toast, eyebrows pulled together in confusion. Link crumpled down into the chair at the opposite end of the table. “I thought you said you weren’t ever going to bother going to any of ‘em, and now suddenly I have to go too?”

“I know, I know. I just, I kind of have to go now.” Link sighed, arms splayed over the table in front of him.

“But what’s that got to do with me then?”

Link dropped his head to the table between his outstretched arms.

“I dug myself into a hole and I need your help. Just this once”

Rhett paused, putting his toast down, staring hard at Link. Link wearily lifted his head, grimacing apologetically at his roommate and best friend of too many years to count, inhaling deeply in preparation for his monologue that he was sure was only going to piss Rhett off.

“I’ve told you about Caitlyn, yeah?”

Rhett nodded slowly, his face still twisted in confusion.

“How she’s been non-stop tryin’ to get me to go out to lunch together on break, inviting me out for drinks after work, constantly touching me when we talk, breathin’ down my neck any moment she can? Well, I… I told her I was gay?”

Rhett nearly choked on his orange juice.

“So you skip over telling her you’re not interested, and go straight to ‘I’m gay’?!”

Link shrugged, letting his arms drop heavily back onto the table in defeat.

“I panicked, okay?”

Rhett shook his head in disbelief, standing up from the table to put his plate in the sink.

“So what, you want me to accompany you to your work party to masquerade as your boyfriend so you--”

“Husband,” Link interrupted, muttering under his breath. He flinched as the plate was dropped hard into the sink. He turned in time to see Rhett slowly and menacingly turn around to face him.

“You’re kidding.”

Link shook his head, covering his face and his bright red blush of embarrassment with his hands.

“She apparently didn’t care that I was gay. ‘Gay,’” Link ephasized with finger quotes. “Or she didn’t believe me, I don’t know. Guess I don’t blame her. So I told her I was married to cover my ass. Of course then word got out and everyone was curious, and I became an enigma. Everyone wanted to know his name, why I didn’t have a wedding band, why I never talk about him, how long I’ve been gay, who wears the pants in the relationship, where we went for our honeymoon,”

Rhett carefully sat back down across from Link, his face frozen in bewilderment.

“So now everyone is dying to meet my husband who they’ve heard so much about.”

“That’s not a hole you dug yourself there, Brother. That’s a canyon.”

Link slouched back down onto the table, nodding in agreement. They sat in silence for a minute, processing it all. Link glanced up when Rhett shifted in his seat, clearing his throat.

“Okay. I’ll do it. But you owe me big time for this.”

Link’s solemn expression cracked, a faint glimmer of a hopeful smile peeking through.

“So I guess I should know a little more about myself then, right? What’s my name?”

Link paused, his eyes widening, the blush coming back with a vengeance.

“R-Rhett.”

Rhett rolled his eyes, leaning onto his elbows.

“I know my own name dumbnut, what’s my alias?”

Link sputtered, his fingers nervously rapping the table’s surface.

“It’s Rhett.”

Rhett leaned in further, his eyebrows furrowing.

“You named your fake husband after me?”

Link nodded into his hands. He was sure he was going to implode right then and there.

Rhett stood up and walked off towards his bedroom, feigning an irritated sigh, turning back before he was out of view.

“You really owe me big time for this.”

°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°

The ride to the venue that night was surprisingly not as tense as either of them had anticipated. They went back and forth quizzing each other on Rhett’s alias; They met 6 years ago in their senior year of college, married 2 years ago in a small courthouse ceremony. Their beliefs didn’t require wedding bands so they just didn’t bother. They honeymooned in Boulder, Colorado and it was very nice, thank you for asking. Don’t answer the pants question.

Link fidgeted with his blazer in the passenger seat, flipping open the visor to check his hair one too many times. Rhett glanced over, letting out a short chuckle.

“You look fine, babe.” Rhett said with almost not enough emphasis on the pet name. Link froze, slowly closing the visor as he turned his head towards Rhett in the driver’s seat. Rhett glanced over, laughing at Link’s sheepish expression.

“What? If you really want Caitlyn to hop off your dick, it needs to be convincing, right? I’m not gonna mack on you for the sake of saving you from your own lies, so we need something to make it seem real.”

Link nodded, turning back into his seat. His cheeks flushed as his lips silently echoed the term of endearment to himself.

Link was sure that one way or another, this night was going to be the death of him.

They strode into the quaint, dimly lit banquet hall and took in their surroundings. Balloons and crepe paper lined the walls and upbeat pop music played from ceiling-mounted speakers at a modest volume. Small groups of colleagues huddled together, cheerily conversing and laughing over unknown beverages in red solo cups. A few couples mingled on the small wooden dance floor in the middle of the room, bobbing their heads as they engaged in small talk. Rhett’s eyes scanned across the modest crowd, suddenly catching those of a young blonde female. Her eyes flitted between the two of them for a moment before her face lit up in excitement. Before Rhett could ask Link if that was his not so secret admirer, she was already jogging over. Link stiffened up when the woman neared, his hand racing to grab onto Rhett’s in the most awkward, rushed fashion.

“Charles! You’ve finally decided to be part of the team for once!” the woman quipped, her hand brushing along the collar of Link’s blazer. Rhett quickly concluded this was the girl in question. Link side-stepped closer to Rhett, his hand gripping tighter, his fingers trembling.

“Ha ha, funny. Anyway, Caitlyn,” Link said with the slightest emphasis for Rhett’s sake, “this is my, uh. My husband, Rhett. Rhett, this is my coworker, Caitlyn.”

Caitlyn smirked, her eyes scanning Rhett up and down as if inspecting the quality of a new appliance.

“Well well, he does exist after all. Nice to finally meet you, Rhett. You sure are a lucky man for finding Charles when you did.” Caitlyn said with a wink directly aimed towards Link.

Rhett felt an immediate twinge of offense and possession. He wrapped his arm around Link’s waist, pulling him into his side a little harder than he initially intended.

“Sure am.” Rhett beamed, aiming for a polite smile but achieving more of a shit-eating grin.

“You know, Charles just would not shut up about you! Once he finally opened up, it was like the floodgates burst open. You should see his face when he talks about you, oh I’ve never seen someone so smitten--”

“Rhett, honey, we should introduce you to everyone else before they run off!” Link loudly interrupted, his feet scuffing the floor as he leaned his weight into Rhett, shuffling them off and away from Caitlyn’s rambling as fast as he could. Rhett looked down at Caitlyn’s surprised face as he was pushed away, his proud grin still plastered on his face. Rhett chuckled, drinking in Link’s flustered face as he leaned into him, prompting him to keep walking.

“You talk about me a lot, huh?” Rhett said down towards Link with an air of arrogance, earning him a slap to his upper arm.

“Don’t drown in your ego.”

“Oh, come on Linkster. I’m just giving you a hard time.”

“I did it for the act, Rhett. Talkin’ about you just… It came easier to me. It was easier to pretend I was in love with you and not some imaginary person because, I mean...” Link said, his voice dropping low. Rhett could almost make out a hint of pain in his tone. Rhett planted his feet and stopped them in place, turning to face Link.

“Is it, though?” Rhett asked, craning his neck down to catch Link’s eyes with his own. Link blinked back in confusion, his face flushing pink with the close proximity.

“Is it really all just an act?” Rhett clarified, his voice soft, a reassuring smile peeking out from under his beard. Link’s eyes flicked between Rhett’s, a deluge of emotions present in one single, long gaze. Link shut his eyes tight and dove into Rhett’s chest, wrapping his arms tightly around his chest, burying his face tight into Rhett’s shirt.

Rhett smiled sweetly as he held Link close. His feelings for Link were always there, but never dwelled upon for long. But now, they were finally justified. It was a quick, unextraordinary spark from a life-long fuse, a simple and calm justification of his feelings after years of tamping them below the surface. He loved Link. He’d always loved Link, but he was never sure if the feelings were completely mutual and never worked up the courage to test the theory in fear of damaging what they already had. Sure, they’d shared a bed before. There were many nights they’d share a blanket during a movie, pressed closer together than what would normally be considered “platonic male friend” friendly. They’ve undressed in the same room, bared their deepest emotions with each other, have held gazes longer than socially appropriate. But Rhett never had an official verification.

Until today. Rhett felt sure of it. It was all too personalized to be an act on Link’s part. Link could have easily come up with a completely different human and have him play the part. Instead, he spoke of Rhett utterly as he was, and he did it truthfully and with passion. This moment of justification may not have been filled with a dramatic swelling of violins and a choir of angels as he’d imagined something like this may have been, but it made Rhett no less ecstatic.

After a long minute Link slowly released his tight grip, his eyes slowly trailing up to Rhett’s, shinier than before with the slightest pool of tears gathered on his lower lid. His smile was modest, but he was still absolutely beaming as he looked up to Rhett. His expression was radiating love and hope and relief and bliss. All the same feelings Rhett was experiencing. He hoped it showed through just as much in his smile. Rhett gave Link a final squeeze before taking hold of his hand, leading them back into the throng, both with a pep in their step that wasn’t there before.

They nearly made it to the wet bar when a small group of colleagues called Link over, unsurprisingly inquiring about Rhett. Rhett stood tall next to Link, a hand held tight to his narrow waist after shaking hands with the group. He nodded and added a few words here and there, confirming Link’s generated backstory for the both of them. They stood closer now, unafraid of crossing any imaginary boundaries now that the dam had broke loose. Rhett was truly enjoying himself at this point. Most of the credit as owed to the way Link unabashedly gushed about how wonderful their relationship was to save face, the stories coming easier now as if they had actually happened and weren’t just daydreams. Rhett’s mind floated off to the possibilities of making these charades into actual memories as Link continued to chat with his coworkers.

It wasn’t long before Rhett’s attention was quickly pulled back to reality when he felt a hand clap him on his shoulder, excited shouts of “Go! Go!” and excited faces beaming at him from Link’s colleagues. Rhett’s eyes settled down onto Link’s coy expression as he raised his eyebrows in question. Link nodded his head towards the dancefloor.

“It’s a slow song, for a couple’s dance.” Link answered shyly, his smile growing wider.

Rhett’s expression softened as he took Link’s hand, giving a nod to the group as they walked off towards the middle of the venue. A small handful of couples were already swaying together to the sweet tune as they stepped onto the smooth wooden floor. 

Rhett turned towards Link, first placing his hands on his shoulders, then slowly pulling him in, his arms draping over Link’s back. Link wrapped his hands around Rhett’s waist, his body flush with Rhett’s. They gazed at each other, lost in the endorphin rush that never left from the moment they silently admitted their feelings, wide smiles unable to be dulled if they tried.

“Husbands, huh?” Rhett joked softly, his head cocking to the side as he smiled sweetly down at Link. “I think this is a new record for fastest relationship.”

Link giggled softly, pressing his forehead to Rhett’s chest for a moment, inhaling his scent.

“We were basically an old married couple anyway,” Link quipped, looking back up at Rhett. “But really Rhett. I mean, I’m not saying we have to, especially if you don’t want to or change your mind down the line. I mean I don’t even fully know what’s happening right now, like what we are or what we’re going to be from here on but, gosh. I don’t know. I think we need to earn that title, you know? Work up to it? Is that okay? Did I just ruin the moment?”

Link was stopped in his tracks when he felt a hand cup his cheek and soft lips pressed to his own. He instantly melted into the kiss, his hold on Rhett tightening as he closed his eyes, sinking into the wonderful, new feeling. He blinked back to reality as Rhett pulled away, pure love pouring out of his expression.

“You’re not getting rid of me if you try, Link. I’ve been yours since the day I met you, and I’ll wait as long as you need. A slip of paper and a piece of metal won’t change nothin’ about how I feel about you.”

Link’s eyes suddenly went blurry as he smiled so wide it hurt, reaching up on his toes to dive into another kiss; The second kiss of tens of thousands to come.

#Okay so it's 5:30am #and this isn't betad #and I wrote it in one go #So I'm really sorry if it's not that great #It's also like #a reeeeeeaaaaallly quick burn #Like super quick #so I'm sorry if that's weird? #idk it's almost sunrise I can't think straight lmao #I hope it's okayfdhsufhsufis #Happy birthday Lora #you sweet peach #I hope you have the best day today! #rhink #ficlet #fake relationship #fluff

[mythicalsecretsanta]

What Once Was Lost (G)

This gift is for: Veronica (AKA @theveronicaco) Merry Christmas, Veronica!! I hope you’ll enjoy this little, fluffy fic I put together for you. Have a happy holiday season and a wonderful new year! From your Secret Santa, Annie (AKA @celestial-link) 

Link to AO3, or read below:

1996

The hot summer sun beat down on Link as soon as he stepped out of his red 1987 Nissan pickup. The gravel driveway crunched under his shoes as he jogged to the front door of his house and stepped inside. His home was empty, his mother away at work as usual. It was a Saturday afternoon and he had just come back from a trip down to the river with Rhett.

The lanky boy walked to his room on the other side of the house and tossed his keys on his bed. The end of summer was rapidly approaching, and Link knew he should have started storing away his old things like his mother asked. The time to leave for college with Rhett was only a few short weeks away, and his mother wanted him to store whatever he wasn’t going to bring with him in the attic. So he got to work, packing away some of the clothes he didn’t wear often. He changed into a pair of sweats and threw the old, torn and frayed jeans he had been wearing into the bin. It was soon stored away, and the wallet that he had accidentally left in the pocket, was seemingly lost forever. The Neals has turned their house upside down, searching for Link’s misplaced wallet in vain. Link didn’t care so much about the $20 bill, or even his license, that could be replaced, and $20, while still a loss, wasn’t the end of the world.

But what did matter to him, was the irreplaceable piece of paper he had kept in that wallet for the past few years. It was his blood oath with Rhett. Their promise to create something together. And he had lost it.

2019

Rhett and Link were back home in North Carolina, visiting Buies Creek together for the first time in many years. They were filming a documentary for their novel, The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek. But when they weren’t filming, they visited family.

Link walked back into his old home, his mom having asked that he go through all his old stores away items and see what could be donated.

“Link!” Sue exclaimed happily. She wrapped her arms around her son with a wide smile. “Here to get rid of some of that old junk in my attic?”

Link rolled his eyes with a chuckle. “Hey, my old stuff isn’t junk. But yeah, that’s exactly what I’m here to do. I doubt I could fit any of the old clothes, so I’m sure all of that will go.”

Link walked up the pullout ladder to the attic and climbed up. The air was stale and dry, and a heavy coat of dust was on everything. Sunlight streamed through a small window in the wall, but all else was dark.

Outstretching his arms to feel for the dangling cord that turned on the light, Link began to wander through the old attic. The wood creaked and groaned beneath his feet. It was clear no one had been up here in quite some time.

When he finally found the cord, he pulled it and the lightbulb on the ceiling flickered on. The attic was illuminating in a yellow glow. Boxes with the words “Link’s things” were stacked against the walls. He approached one and took it down. Opening it up, a putrid, moldy smell penetrated his senses. He gagged and pushed the smelly box away.

“Geez.. Guess that’s all gonna have to be thrown away,” Link sighed and grabbed the next box. Opening that, he was met with the smell of mothballs, but thankfully, not mold. He pulled out some of the clothes and found some to be salvageable. But then he grabbed a pair of his old jeans and noticed something in the pocket. He reached in and pulled out his old wallet.

“No, no, no! No way!! It can’t be…” Link quickly opened the wallet, his fingers fumbling against the worn leather. Amongst several cards and bills, he saw a small, folded piece of paper. He stared at it for a moment, almost afraid to take it and see if it was what he was praying it was.

Gently, he grasped the paper and took it out as cautiously as possible. He cradled it in his hands as though it was his newborn child. His hands began to shake and he swallowed a nervous gulp before unfolding the faded paper. And then he screamed, cheered, hollered.

“I FOUND IT! I FOUND IT!” Link laughed in amazement and grabbed his phone from his pocket. He called Rhett, eyes wide and heart racing.

“Hey man, what’s up?”

“Rhett!! Rhett!! Get over here right now! I’m at my mom’s get here now!!”

“Link, is something wrong? Or is something very right?” Rhett chuckled a little, not expecting Link to be screaming at him when he answered the call.

“Something amazing happened and I need you to get over here!”

“All right! Okay, I’m coming now. See you in like, ten minutes.” Rhett hung up and shook his head.

“What’s going on, hon?” Diane asked her son, a look of curiosity on her face.

“Link asked me to stop by his Mom’s real quick. He’s excited about something. I won’t be gone long.” He smiled, grabbed his keys, kissed his mother’s cheek, and jogged off to his parent’s car. Within seven minutes, he was knocking on the front door of Link’s mom’s house.

The sound of running footsteps alerted him that Link was coming, and apparently, just as excited as he had been a few minutes ago. The door swung open and he was greeted with the biggest grin on the face of his best friend.

“Rhett! Come in, hurry! I have something to show you.” Link stepped aside for his giant friend and ushered him inside. He hurried off to the living room and came back to Rhett holding the paper. Link placed it in his hands. “Open it.”

Rhett did as he was told and almost immediately his mouth dropped.

“There is no way…” Rhett started.

“Dude! I found it!! I found our blood oath!!”

Rhett looked back up, meeting Link’s joy-filled eyes. Then he threw his arms around his best friend and hugged him so tightly. Link laughed as he hugged back.

“I can’t believe this!!” Rhett exclaimed. “I just can’t believe it! You found it!! You really did… We have it again.. Oh Link, this is amazing!”

“Y-yeah!!” Link laughed. Behind them, Sue was smiling as she watched. They really hadn’t changed much since they were just little boys. And that warmed her heart. The same joy was in their eyes when they were together. And they still knew how to make each other happy, how to make each other laugh. That would never go away.

Their trip had ended far too soon, and they found themselves back in LA, in their studio. But their office had something new displayed on the wall. Framed and preserved, their blood oath, their commitment to create, to work together, and to keep their friendship as close as ever, was now featured in their loft. And there it would remain, safe, and found after being lost for so many years. Yes despite the paper that contained the words and their signatures having been lost, their bond, and the oath itself had lived on, without it. Of course, they didn’t mind having the certificate to show it.

#mythical secret santa 2019 #type: fic #rating: G #gift swap #fandom wishlist #submission

[chibitabathawrites]

Fictober 2019 - Day 02

Fandom: Rhett & Link

Pairing: Rhett McLaughlin/Link Neal

Warnings: Mentions a liquor store

Rating: T

Prompt: “Just follow me, I know the area.”

Moving to a new place is always hard. Away from friends and family. But it's time for college life, to live and let live and experience a drop of adulthood before being thrust into the absurdity and loneliness of true adulthood. Orientation on campus was alright, the whole college and dorms all right there. A grocery store, liquor store and pharmacy all right there across from the dorms, pretty much. No wonder the top floor was considered the "party floor" with such establishments so close. "New year, new place, new me," he looked at himself in the bathroom mirror before heading out the door. His classes were mostly in the B building, the building most notorious for being designed by a prison architect. But how bad could it honestly be? He gave himself an hour and a half extra time. There was a place he wanted to stop at first. Adjusting his backpack on his shoulder, he crossed the street into the newest building. The Student Commons, it was bustling with activity, new students clamouring to meet their friends, the school Starbucks jam-packed with kids willing to pay for the overpriced coffee. Link paid them no mind as he weaved through the crowds. He wasn't from here, didn't have anyone to meet, no point in slowing down on day one. He made his way past a Booster Juice, this line filled with what Link pegged as the 'mature' students or 'returning' students. They had eyes that looked both tired and excited. This wasn't their first rodeo by a long shot. Just near the smoothie place was a room with glass windows and an hour of operation sign. Just behind the windowpane sat a decorated wedding cake, images of students and teachers wearing chef's whites. Peering past the display he could see loaves of bread along the wall near a refrigerated display case. "This is Savoir Fare! The food here is made by the culinary and baking students! It's real affordable!" a friendly woman wearing a black apron called to him from the other side of the open door. "Thank you! I'll come back later!" he called with a wave. The woman flashed him a smile and waved back as he began to move on. From what he remembered from the tour he had taken just the week before, he was passing the school store and the main cafeteria. Both seemed jam packed with more students then he could possibly imagine. A simple boy from a small southern county, south of the border, this was bordering on too much now. He pushed past, tracing his steps from the guided tour. Following the hall past the "Observatory" the restaurant slash campus bar he made a left turn at the 'Four Corners'. At least a lot of the landmarks were recognizable enough. Instead of following the path up the stairs towards the library, he passed by them, following the shape of the courtyard framed by four of the school's buildings. A few students were out in the grass, milling about and chatting with each other with bright smiles. Link smiled, he was going to be like those students soon enough. Having a good time. Having friends just like him. At the end of the hall, Link could see the rainbow striped pillar. It made his heart race as he slowly made his way down the dim hall towards the B building, and towards his first destination. The whole pillar was painted in a rainbow spiralling up, an arrow painted along the wall nearest the ceiling, pointing out the school's 'Pride Center'. Link looked down the short hallway and could hear laughter and chatter from an open door spilling light into the hall. Link shifted his bag again before walking towards the open door. Peering into the small room, he could see only six people in the room. The person behind the desk across from the door piped up, "Hello! Welcome!" They smiled at him before adjusting their own pair of glasses. Link raised his hand nervously, "Hey..." he trailed off into the room. Four of the other occupants seemed to be in deep conversation, paying him no mind. The fifth however, waved at him with a small smile of his own. Sliding up to the desk, he eyed one of the event leaflets on the top of the desk. The person behind the desk smiled up at him, "Hi, I'm Vick, the program coordinator here at the Pride Center. We have tons of resources here if you need them along with some fun events scheduled for later today too." "Thank you," Link murmured before taking one of the leaflets and sliding it into his pocket. "Of course! It's an open space, so go ahead and make yourself comfortable," Vick smiled up at him with a gentle smile. Link looked at the two couches and then to the table filled with coloring pencils, markers and blank sheets. He sat at the table, placing his bag by his feet. The boy who waved at him was also at the table, coloring in a picture of Sleepy Bear from the Care Bears. "Hey," the blond murmured as, link shifted through some of the sheets. "Hi," Link smiled at the blond. The blond who was incredibly Link's type and super hot. "Why don't we all introduce ourselves since we have a few new folks here?" Vick rolled their chair towards the group. "Okay!" one girl with dyed pink hair smiled. "So why don't we say our names, pronouns, and since it's the start of the year, what program you're taking?" Vick smiled and the group nodded. "I'll go first. Hi, i'm Vick. I use they/them pronouns, and I'm the program coordinator here." Vick motioned to the girl with pink hair sitting closest to them. "Hey, I'm Q, I use she/her pronouns, and I'm taking Interior Design," the pink haired girl beamed. "Q? Cool name," Vick smiled at the girl before motioning to the brunette beside her. "'Sup, I'm Georgie. She/her too. I'm taking Horticulture Industries." The third person on the couch piped up, "I'm Matt, he/him, I'm in my second year of Baking and Pastry Arts Management." "Yo, I'm Bobbie, they/them, taking Early Childhood Education." The hot blond looked at the others around the room before smiling, ""M Rhett, he/him, I'm here for Music Industry Arts." Link swallowed, "Hey, I'm Link. He/him. I'm here for Business Administration." Everyone seemed to go back to what they were doing, and Link pulled out his phone to check the time. He still had a bit of time before he had to find his classroom. "Where are your classes, Link?" Rhett smiled at him and it made his heart jam up in his throat. "A lot of them are here in the B building, but I'm nervous about finding them all," he shrugged his shoulders slightly. Rhett beamed, "I can help you find them." "I don't want to impose or anything," Link was quick to try and brush the offer for help off. "C'mon, let's see your schedule," Rhett laughed quietly before tapping his foot against the leg of Link's chair. "Alright, here," Link pulled a folded piece of paper out of his hoodie pocket. "Oh, one of them is just around the corner from here. Let's go now so I can show them all to you," Rhett pushed away from the table. "Ah, wait up," Link scrambled to follow the much taller boy. Holy, Link thought he was tall but his guy made him feel short. "Just follow me, I know the area." Rhett thought a moment before adding, "Like the back of my palm," with a laugh before darting out the door. Link blinked rapidly before chasing after the tall boy down the hall. "Wait up!"

#fictober19 #rhink fic #college au #tw: liquor store mentioned #meet cute

[apparentlynotreallyfinnish]

So I’ve sent this as a prompt to someone before, but I’d like your take on it! The boys meeting on tindr 😏

I already told this to Lora but I have to share with the rest of the class, too. I talked about this exact thing with Mick like a day or two ago. So apparently, Lora and me share a brainwave. :D I ain’t mad. I hope you don’t mind that I changed it a bit. It’s not Tindr. That wouldn’t have been as fun as this. 

—

Link’s phone lit up on his nightstand and cast a bluish glow on the ceiling of his bedroom. He’d just turned the lights off and tucked in but he couldn’t resist checking the notification.

You have (1) new match(es)

Link perked up. He’d downloaded the new dating app Incognito earlier that evening. He hadn’t tried dating through an app before. Not something you wanted to do when you worked in a semi-public profession as an internetainer.

But he’d heard some of the crew talking about Incognito and gotten intrigued. There were no pictures, no real names unless you decided to share them with someone you’d matched with. This was his first match. He’d been picky and he knew it. Everyone’s answers to their bio questions had just felt either boring or felt like they were trying too hard. Link had chosen to like only three men’s profiles and, apparently, one of them had liked him back.

Link wasn’t exactly looking for a relationship in this thing, so he wouldn’t have needed to be so picky. He didn’t have time for one. Right now, work took too much of his time and his brain power. There was also the fact that he wasn’t exactly out of the proverbial closet yet. He’d only recently come to terms with it himself. Bisexual. That was what he was going with right now. He knew the label didn’t mean that much. It might still change but even getting to accept that had been a struggle.

Not even Rhett knew yet. Link wanted to tell him, of course he did, but something was stopping him. That was probably the biggest reason he wasn’t ready for a relationship with a guy. Keeping something like that from Rhett just sounded both exhausting and too wrong.

But he did want to dabble a bit. He’d never been with a guy, so even texting – let alone sexting – with one seemed kind of thrilling. So, he’d chosen the “looking for a hook-up” option when he made his profile.

A message bubble popped on his screen.

PaddleBoardMe: Hey! You still up?

Link’s stomach did a little somersault. This was the profile he had desperately wanted to like him back. Everything this guy had said had either moved Link or made him laugh out loud. Also, his screen name was hilarious. Link wished he’d gone more cutesy and sexy with his own.

BlueEyes78: Hi! Yeah, was just about to go to sleep.

PaddleBoardMe: Oh! So, you’re in bed then. Sounds good. ;)

Link couldn’t help but blush. It was stupid but, suddenly, he felt like a teenager again. How the heck did one flirt with a guy? Link knew the answer was just like you did with a woman but he still felt unsure.

BlueEyes78: Yep, it’s pretty lonely here.

Link sent the message and immediately felt stupid. That was such an obvious answer. He was a writer, goddamn it. He could do better, right?

PaddleBoardMe: Want me to keep you company? 

BlueEyes78: That sounds nice. What do you want to talk about?

Link sighed. That wasn’t any better. Maybe he needed to just forget about this whole thing.

PaddleBoardMe: Early morning tomorrow. Been a real stressful week.

Link eyed the message for a while. Was he trying to talk about it or was this a hint? Link gnawed on his lip and made a decision. Mr. PaddleBoard had chosen the hook-up option as well so Link hoped he wasn’t too far off with his reply.

BlueEyes78: Wanna let out some steam?

PaddleBoardMe: Yes, please. ;) Wanna tell me what you’re wearing?

Link sighed with relief. He wasn’t even sure why he was so worried about upsetting this guy. He didn’t even know him yet. But his profile had really caught Link’s eye and maybe even a tiny bit of his heart. Not that he would confess that to anyone, let alone himself.

BlueEyes78: Just some black boxer briefs. In bed, remember?

PaddleBoardMe: Mmh, sounds perfect. Wanna get hard in them for me?

Link swallowed and shifted on the bed. His boxers were filling up surprisingly quickly. He let his palm rest on his semi and squeezed lightly. His eyes drifted closed for a moment and he hummed from the pleasure.

BlueEyes78: Kinda already am.

PaddleBoardMe: Oh, you’re a needy little thing. Or maybe not that little?

BlueEyes78: I’ve been called big. I wouldn’t really know.

Link froze. Why the hell did he send that? It took a while for Mr. PaddleBoard to answer.

PaddleBoardMe: What do you mean?

BlueEyes78: Nothing. Just forget about it.  

PaddleBoardMe: Kinda sounds like you might be inexperienced.

Link sighed and cursed. He felt like an idiot. He stared at the screen for a bit and then a little smirk crept on his face. Maybe this could still be salvaged.

BlueEyes78: Would that turn you on?

PaddleBoardMe: Hell yeah, baby.

Link cheered silently. He could work with this. It was the truth anyway.

BlueEyes78: I’ve never done this before. Not online, not in real life.

PaddleBoardMe: A virgin! Lovely. I’d be honored to pop your online cherry.

BlueEyes78: You sure? I don’t really know what I’m doing…

PaddleBoardMe: That’s actually kinda hot. Like I’ll be the first guy to ever get you off. Thinking about that is making me all kinds of hard.

Link drew a deep breath. He was really gonna do this. And the guy seemed actually pretty sweet. He wiggled on the bed, leaning against the pillows to better position himself. His left hand drifted back on his cock.

BlueEyes78: You gonna touch yourself and think of me?

PaddleBoardMe: I definitely am. Tell me a bit about yourself, just so I can get a better visual. Are your eyes really blue?

BlueEyes78: Yep. Bright blue. I’m tall, fit enough (for my age lol), dark brown hair with some gray in it but I promise it’s very sexy.

PaddleBoardMe: Oh, fuck me, that’s exactly my type.

BlueEyes78: Yeah? Would you like that then? Me fucking you?

PaddleBoardMe: I’d love that. Thinking about that right now. I’m on all fours and you’re behind me. I can feel your cock press against my hole. Fuck, you’re so big. Not sure I can take it. But I really want to be good for you. Since it’s your first time.

Link read the message twice and, all of a sudden, he was breathing heavy and he was painfully hard. How did this guy do it? How did he, with just a few words, make Link feel like he was actually there? Link slipped his fingers under his waistband and tugged it down enough to release his cock. His hand immediately wrapped around it and started slowly stroking. He moaned out loud.  

BlueEyes78: That sounds amazing. I’m so hard right now. I wanna be inside of you.

PaddleBoardMe: I’m begging you to do it. I want you so bad my thighs are trembling. I’m arching my back, backing up against you. Please. Fuck me.

Link’s hand was a blur on his cock. He wanted so badly to be with this man; he didn’t care what he looked like. He was swept away by his words.

BlueEyes78: Okay, yeah, I’m inching in you now. Fuck, you’re so tight.

PaddleBoardMe: Oh, yeah. You feel so good, filling me up like that. Baby, fuck me hard. Make me feel that big cock. Make me yours.

BlueEyes78: You have no idea how hot this is for me. I’m so close already.

PaddleBoardMe: You’re so sexy. I want you to cum for me. Think about rawing into me while you do it. I’d let you do that. Just take me bareback. Wanna feel all of you.

BlueEyes78: Holy fuck. I want that. Wanna press my fingers into your hips when I pound into you. Wanna make you whimper with my cock. Want to make you plead for more.

PaddleBoardMe: You can leave bruises. I don’t care. Just need you fucking me into a wreck. I’m pleading. Cum into me. Fill me up.

Link groaned and changed his hand position. His head fell back thumping on the headboard and his wrist went on overdrive as he chased his orgasm with low whines and whimpers. His thigh muscles spasmed before his cock did. He came hard, an impressive amount of cum painting his torso all the way to his chest.

BlueEyes78: Fuck.

PaddleBoardMe: Did you u cum for me, baby?

BlueEyes78: Yeah. I don’t think I’ve ever cum this hard in my entire life.

Link was still slowly pumping his cock, enjoying the last shivers of pleasure. He felt exhausted.

PaddleBoardMe: I’m so happy to hear that.

BlueEyes78: Did you get there?

PaddleBoardMe: Oh, yeah. You took me so good. I came all over myself. Wanna see?

BlueEyes78: Okay.

Link’s stomach clenched deliciously. He hadn’t thought he was gonna get a picture tonight. It took a moment for it to load. When it did, Link devoured it hungrily with his eyes. It was of a man’s stomach and crotch. He was still holding onto his dick. He was still strikingly hard; the picture had to be taken right after he’d reached his orgasm. His stomach had an impressive spattering of cum on it. But that was not what made Link’s heart miss a beat. What got to him was the fact that he recognized that stomach. He’d seen it many times before. Time stopped.

PaddleBoardMe: Hey, where’d you go?

Link was staring at the photo, jaw hanging slack, hand still wrapped around his cock.

PaddleBoardMe: Everything okay?

It was Rhett’s stomach.

#rhink #rhink ficlet #smut #lemon #prompted ficlet #Appa writes fic #I might continue this #if there is interest

[zrhettnunh-ffxiv-blog]

Retaking the Bones

“She’s back!” Rhett shook his head, groaning at the voice in his dreams. “Cap’n! She’s back!” Rhett’s world began to shake, the fading landscape of his dream rumbling around him. What? Where had he been? Confusion reigned as consciousness slowly returned, accompanied by one hell of a headache. The world was spinning, and the first mate’s hand on his shoulder shaking him wasn’t helping.

“Fuck, Cynric, I’m up. Who’s back?” Rhett sat up slowly, holding his head. Had he drunk that much? Of course he had, to chase Rea out of his mind. “Son of a…” he reached for the flask that he knew would be next to the bed and took a long pull, finally settling his gaze on the excitable man before him.

“The Bones, Cap’n. She floats in the harbor at Moraby right now. Must’ve come in last night.” Cynric held out his captain’s hat and shirt, which Rhett accepted with a nod.

“Everything else is in place?”

“Aye, Cap’n. Just waiting on you to give the order.” Now Cynric was practically hopping from foot to foot in his excitement.

“The order is given, then,” Rhett climbed to his feet and paused a moment for his head to clear. “I will meet you there at midnight. See that the crew is briefed on the plan.”

“Aye, Cap’n!” Cynric turned to go, then stopped and gave his captain an almost sheepish look, hesitating.

“What else, then?” Rhett asked, irritated.

“Miss Abri stopped by this mornin’ to check on you. She didn’t want to wake you, but she left that,” he pointed to a basket on the dresser, from which Rhett could smell the aroma of fresh pastries. He smiled despite the headache.

“Did you tell her about the Bones?” Rhett asked gravely.

“Oh, no, Cap’n,” the man promised. “She has no idea, least not from us.”

Rhett nodded, both in gratitude and as a dismissal. As the first mate left to rouse the crew, Rhett unwrapped the pastries and ate a hasty breakfast. Or was it lunch? Checking out the window, he realized half the day was gone. He would have to move fast if this was going to work. Licking the last of the icing from his fingers, he retrieved his sword and set out for Limsa.

*****

Later that evening, Rhett laid awake in bed, watching the stars out the window. The woman next to him stirred and he tensed, but she did not wake. He had given her enough of one of Rea’s sleeping draughts to make sure that wouldn’t happen until well into the morning. She was pretty enough, for a Maelstrom bitch, which made this part of the plan more tolerable. He still couldn’t believe his fortune, having found a newly promoted captain out celebrating. Getting her upstairs in the inn had been child’s play, and she had already been so drunk that she hadn’t even suspected the odd “new concoction” he’d offered her.

At the appointed hour, a pebble struck the window from outside, and Rhett climbed to his feet, swiftly pulling on his clothes. Throwing open the window, he cast one last look at the sleeping Hyur, then slipped out, dropping lightly to the street below. As he had expected, Cynric waited with a pair of chocobos, and the two were swiftly out of the city and riding hard for Moraby.

*****

“What a beautiful sight,” Rhett murmured, looking across the water at his ship, anchored out in the deep water of the bay. He had removed most of his clothing and, like the rest of his crew, was wading into the ocean for the short swim.

A quarter hour later, he pulled himself up past the rail and dropped onto the deck. Silent as only a seasoned miqo’te sailor could be, he approached the first of the night watchmen. Once the others were in position, he flashed his dagger in the dim light, giving the signal to proceed. The watchman before him didn’t make a sound as he slumped to the deck, his lifeblood gushing from the wound Rhett had gouged in his throat.

A trio of splashes marked the watchmen’s final swim, and the crew of the Rolling Bones began making ready to set sail. Rhett and Cynric hastened below decks as the others weighed the anchor and unfurled the sails. By the time the Bones sailed out of the bay, five other bodies floated in her wake.

Calling the crew together, Rhett stood at the rail of the quarterdeck looking them over. “The time for stealth has passed, we are safely away. On our ship!” he raised his sword over his head and let out a cheer, which the crew eagerly echoed. Once the din of celebration faded, Rhett continued, “You will set sail for Kugane. I have marked the charts that Cynric carries with the best route. Fly the Limsan flag until you leave Eorzean waters, then fly whichever flag you wish.”

Some of the crew appeared confused. “You not comin’ wit’ us, Cap’n?” one asked.

“Tonight was my last act of piracy, my friend,” Rhett answered. “When you come to port, I will fence your hauls, and act as a contact in the city. Eyes and ears, you know?” he shrugged. “I may even take up smuggling.”

“’e’s leavin’ us for those cat sisters,” another crewman laughed.

“Can ye blame ‘im?” Cynric retorted, to which every man present just shrugged, some laughing, others offering lewd comments.

“In Kugane, or whatever port you settle for, refit the Bones with a new name and some other changes, enough to make sure she won’t be recognized upon returning to Limsa,” Rhett cautioned. “When you return, you will have a privateer’s license waiting, and a patron who will finance your operations.” He gestured grandly, “Plenty of marks out there, and tons of gil to line your pockets.”

The crew cheered again. As they talked amongst themselves, bragging of marks and gil and women that would be theirs, Rhett pulled Cynric aside. “This is where I get off,” he told him. “Tomorrow, once they settle down, elect a new captain. I imagine it’ll be you. When you take a mark, hold no shares for me. This is truly the end.” He extended his hand to the man who had been his first mate for nearly five years, and who had sailed with him for a decade. “Take care of her, Cynric. That’s my final order as your captain. You sink the Bones and I’ll come for you,” he told him, half-jokingly.

Cynric nodded and shook his captain’s hand. “Enjoy them ladies, Cap’n,” he added a lewd wink, then checked the shoreline. “Y’need t’ go now if you’re goin’ t’ make the swim in time. The other bird’s there waitin’ f’r you.”

Rhett merely nodded and took a final look around his ship. He sighed, then turned and dove into the water, swimming hard for the shore, starting a race against the dawn.

*****

A short time later, the Maelstrom captain woke briefly as Rhett climbed back into bed, “Mmmm?”

“Chamber pot,” Rhett explained. “Sleep now, Captain.” She smiled at the reminder of her new rank and sank back into deep slumber. Rhett just laid there, awake, staring at the ceiling, wondering if he’d made the right decision.

Later that morning, they were both awakened by a pounding at the door. “Open up in the name of the Admiral!” a stern voice called.

The captain beside him sat up, wrapping the blanket around her naked form as Rhett stood, bare as the day he’d been born, and threw open the door. The Maelstrom lieutenant on the other side blinked in surprise at the naked miqo’te before him, but recovered quickly. “Ze’rhett?” he asked, to which Rhett nodded. “You are under arrest for piracy and theft,” the man held up a set of shackles.

Rhett cocked his head, and looked the lieutenant and his two men over. “And when did I commit this act of piracy?”

“Last night. Your old ship disappeared from the harbor of Moraby,” the lieutenant accused.

Before Rhett could reply, a crisp, commanding voice sounded from behind him. “Rhett was here with me all night, lieutenant,” Rhett turned to see her standing, blanket wrapped around her, with a slim hand poking from the folds, holding her new insignia of rank. “He had nothing to do with any piracy.”

The lieutenant looked from Rhett to the captain, confused. “She’s right, you know,” Rhett said casually, “And she outranks you. It might be best if you just disappeared. Maybe go find who really stole my ship?”

The man frowned, “It’s not your ship. You lost it when you decided to be a pirate.”

Rhett shrugged, “She’ll always be ‘my ship’ to me. Someday I’ll buy her back. So go, lieutenant, and find out what happened.” The captain behind him nodded her assent with his orders, and the junior officer had no choice but to step out of the room.

“Sorry for bothering you, ma’am,” he muttered to her, ignoring Rhett’s triumphant grin.

Shutting the door in the man’s face, Rhett turned to the woman, “Look at you, exercising your new command voice,” he teased. Moving across the room, he pulled the blanket from her shoulders, laying her back on the bed. “We have the room for a while yet. Shall we continue celebrating your promotion?”

*****

[n3rdlif343va]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime) Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Mila Babicheva/Sara Crispino, Mila Babicheva & Sara Crispino, Mila Babicheva & Georgi Popovich, Michele Crispino & Sara Crispino, Sara Crispino/Original Character(s) Characters: Mila Babicheva, Sara Crispino, Georgi Popovich, Michele Crispino, Original Characters Additional Tags: Angst with a Happy Ending, Angst and Feels, Unrequited Love, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Friends to Lovers, Best Friends, First Kiss, Love Confessions, Weddings, Inspired by Music Summary:

Sara gets engaged to a man named Sergi and Mila desperately tries to let go of the love she has always had for her best friend.

Inspired by Marry Me by Thomas Rhett

Or read below the cut: 

Mila met Sara when they were both juniors, still learning the ropes of the professional skating world. Sara with her bright eyes and high-pitched laugh which always tipped over to a squeal when she got too excited. Sara who was almost never without her brother, but who would whisper secrets into Mila’s ear whenever they found themselves alone. Sara who always a little boy crazy and was never shy about the changes happening with her body.

Mila remembered asking Sara one day, as they leaned their elbows on the barrier wall watching the boys warm up, why she liked boys so much. Tilting her head in confusion, Sara asked Mila who else she was supposed to like.

What Mila didn’t realize was that Sara was looking for an answer; she was searching for validation that there was no reason to focus her attraction solely on the boys who circled her like vultures.

It would be the first of the moments that Mila missed. She had worked so hard to shove away her attraction to Sara, telling herself that Sara needed her friendship more than she needed anything else. She held Sara when she cried, from heart break on the ice and off. She turned away when Sara focused those beautiful eyes directly on Mila’s, pretending that she didn’t feel the painful desire to tip their lips together. Mila listened to every rant about Mickey’s over-protectiveness and every excited squeal over Sara’s newest love interest. She pretended it didn’t kill her to love Sara with her whole heart and she let Sara go a little more every day.

The party was loud and all of their friends were there. Sara looked stunning in a dress of lilac which flirted with the curves of her body, her long hair hiding the open back. Like old times they snuck away to Sara’s room, stealing a moment to themselves with a bottle of sangria. Collapsing on Sara’s childhood bed together, Mila rested her head on her bent elbow staring at the goofy glow-in-the-dark stars still stuck to Sara’s ceiling. This was a feeling she would cling to forever, no matter where they went, she would remember the sound of their laughter weaving together in the small bedroom.

“Hey Mila,” Sara was on her side, leaning into Mila’s space, her eyes searching Mila’s face. Mila’s heart stopped beating when Sara’s hand touched her cheek, her eyes fluttering as her best friend lowered herself toward Mila’s lips.

The door banged open, revealing Mickey. Sara sat up with a laugh, pushing her hair back.

“Sergi is looking for you, little sister.” There was a vibration to Mickey’s voice that made Mila’s stomach drop. She had seen Sara’s boyfriend idly playing with something in his pocket for most of the night and she knew that as soon as Sara walked out of the room, all of her worst fears were going to come true.

“Ok,” Sara smiled, with a hint of what Mila thought was sadness, uncurling from Mila’s side and slipping off of the bed. “Mila had a bit too much to drink,” crossing the room, Sara hooked her arm in Mickey’s looking back over her shoulder. “I’m sure she’ll be down in a minute.”

They disappeared as Mila felt the tears well up behind her eyes. Counting backwards from one hundred, she forced herself to breathe. Putting one foot in front of the other, she left Sara’s room, refusing to look back on what could’ve been. Each step brought her closer to the sound of happy screams and celebratory shouts. Finally turning the corner, she saw Sara being swung in the air by Sergi, the sparkle of her brand new diamond impossible to miss. For a moment, Mila caught Sara’s eyes, nodding and giving her a thumbs up.

A flask appeared at Mila’s elbow and she looked up to find Georgi standing next to her, his smile quietly understanding. Accepting the flask, Mila drank to what she had lost, mentally saying her goodbyes to the love of her life.

It had been a year. A year since the moment that Sara had said yes to Sergi’s proposal and slammed the door on the remaining hope that Mila had foolishly held in her heart. A year since they had almost kissed lying on the girly floral of Sara’s childhood bed.

In the course of that year, Mila had steeled herself against her own heart. She had pulled away, relieved when Sara said that her only attendant would be Mickey as her best man. Mila could play the role of best friend, but standing next to her as Sara pledged her love to someone else was too much for Mila to handle.

On the day of the wedding, Mila pulled on her favorite suit, knotting her favorite skinny tie over her dress shirt which she knew was Sara’s favorite color of purple. She slid her feet into her designer heels, straightening her shoulders and staring herself down in the mirror. Mila could see the pain in her own eyes, but she forced a smile on her face, prepared to hide it away one last time.

Flowers hung from every line of chairs, the smell of lavender and lilac dancing through the backyard of Sara’s family home. Memories of playing fairies and having picnics floated through Mila’s mind, crashing painfully against the memories of playing wedding, Sara’s stuffed animals lined up in the same way the guests were seated now. In their game, Sara always married Mila, and Mila felt her heart shatter in her chest at the strength of that memory.

Every time she told herself she could do this was a lie. The weight of those lies settled on Mila’s shoulders as she peered over the wedding guests. Resting her gift on the table with the others, her fingers trailed over the pictures on display. Her hand stalled at the picture of her and Sara, arms thrown over each other’s shoulders at the first Olympic opening ceremony they had shared. Picking the picture up, Mila watched as her single tear splashed on the glass.

She couldn’t do it. No matter how much she loved Sara, she couldn’t stay and watch this happen. Laying the photograph down on the table, Mila walked away, moving around the house and taking off at a sprint toward her car.

She pulled over at the twenty-four hour restaurant, unsure of how she had gotten there. Memories clung to this place too; late night pig out sessions, nursing broken hearts with bread and sweet soda, and recovering from ill-advised nights of too much drinking. Everywhere Mila turned the memory of Sara was going to haunt her. It didn’t matter though, Mila wanted to feel the pain. Slamming her car door shut, she moved blindly toward the restaurant, slumping into their usual table with a sad smile at the waitress.

Somehow she would move on. Today was the last day that she would let her heart hope. In the past year, she had convinced herself that Sara would wake up and realize that Sergi wasn’t the person she was supposed to be with. She had driven herself mad wishing that Mickey had only given them five more minutes in Sara’s room, let her mind whirl around the possibility that a single kiss could have changed everything.

This wasn’t a fairy tale though. In real life, Sara married the rich hockey player who could bench press more than his Neanderthal weight. Mila didn’t get the girl and there was no happily ever after. Accepting the glass of wine from the waitress, Mila tipped it back, consuming the contents of the glass in one move.

The patter of rain against the glass made Mila glance out of the window. Her heart stopped.

A vision in white lace and silk stood on the sidewalk, tears causing makeup-stained streaks across her cheeks. Mila shook her head, pinching her eyes shut to rid herself of the illusion, daring to look back out into the rain. As Sara’s carefully braided up-do began to fail under the assault of the rain, Mila stood up.

They crashed into each other on the sidewalk, arms wrapping around the other’s body. Sobs caused them both to shake as the rain poured down on their faces, blending with their tears.

“I couldn’t do it,” Sara whimpered, clinging to Mila with her head buried against Mila’s shoulder. “All day I have felt sick. All year if I am being honest. Then…” she choked, bringing her face up to peer at Mila. “I had my dad’s arm, we were walking past the tables with all of the pictures and I saw it. Our picture, laying down while the rest still stood. I… I couldn’t marry him…”

“Why?” Mila ran her hands over Sara’s face, wiping away tears and rain drops. The hope was back and it was crushing Mila, but she couldn’t stop herself from asking the question.

“You,” Sara whispered, her voice steadier now as she raised her own hand, pushing Mila’s hair from her face. “I’m in love with you. I always have been. And even if you don’t love me back, I couldn’t…”

Mila moved. Tilting Sara’s head with a simple press of her fingers, Mila moved to kiss her best friend. She kept it soft, even as all the love that Mila had hidden away poured from her, she tried to hold back her desperation. When it ended, Mila lingered near Sara’s lips. “I love you. I always have. Always will.”

As the sun broke through the rain clouds, they entered the restaurant holding hands, ready to face all the feelings that had always existed silently between them.

#yoi #yuri on ice #mila x sara #mila babicheva #sara crispino #angst from the nerd #rare but ends in fluff #because of course it does