#i played it next to my brother on my laptop who could not join | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

imaginaryf1shots · 9 months

Text

My Girls (|V) | Max Verstappen

Words count: 5K

Driver!oc X Max Verstappen

Platonic!Driver!oc X the grid

Summery: Cecilia Hansson daughter of a Swedish billionaire, a race car driver, with a dream of making it big in Formula 1. However she has a few secrets that may hurt her as women are disliked in the sport.

Series Warnings: google translated french, dutch, cursing, child abandment, absent father, drinking, car accidents, Jos Verstappen, misogyny, Christian horner (tell me if i missed anything)

A/N: This is a secondary blog so I won't be able to respond but I'm adding you all, just send it in the ask me anything if I missed ou by mistake.

Masterlist

Series Masterlist

Previous || Next

Winter love

Finally it’s the end of the year break, a couple of months to have fun and let loose, I mean have fun before Covid hits, but no one knows about that yet.

Lando was back in the UK and he kept asking Cecilia to get on the sim for them to race a little in the F1 2019 game.

Lando(on call)

Come on Cece, why won’t you just get on for a little race?

Cecilia

Lando, I swear to god how many times do I have to tell you that I have a daughter who I haven’t spent-

Lando/Cecilia

Much time with her and like to spend some-

Cecilia

You’re an asshole

They laughed as she shook her head at his antics, to her Lando felt like the little brother she never had.

Lando

Come on, she sleeps at what? 8?

Cecilia

half past seven

Lando

See, besides you need to keep up your hard work, just because you came 5th in the championship and won Rookie of the year doesn’t mean you can slack off.

Cecilia

Piss off Norris, we just finished last week

Lando

So while everyone is slacking you should be having fun with me, we haven’t done a race in a long time

Cecilia

Fine, I’ll text you when I put Nattie to bed

Lando

Cool, now let me talk to my niece, I miss her

Cecilia

I don’t understand you

Lando

You don't have to

Switching to facetime, Lando talked with Nattie for a while before she had to eat.

True to her words that night Cecilia put Nattie to bed, she read her a story and sang her a song, Nattie fell asleep hugging Cecilia and it took everything for her to leave her asleep and not just spend the night in her daughter’s bed.

She texted Lando that she’ll be ready in a couple minutes. Lando got excited and texted her that he’s ready. Turning on her PS5, she got ready and had discord open on her laptop next to her, it seemed like Lando forgot to tell her that they weren’t going to be the only ones, he had some of his friends and Alex as well, she didn’t really mind, she’s met Lando’s friends in the passing before when they came to the paddock.

Everything was going great, they chose the track, who they’d be playing as, Cecilia of course chose herself. But you can’t have everything, not evening a nice game with your friends.

“Cecilia what the fuck?” Lando shouted down the microphone, his voice hurting her ear, her car stopped and wouldn’t move, making him crash into her, they lost their P3 and P2. as their friends laughed and passed them.

“I’m sorry, I don't know what’s going on!” She tried to make her car move but nothing she did made her car move. “I think my paddles are disconnected, I’ll try to reconnect them, you guys continue without me, I’ll join the next round.”

She tried everything she could, connecting and disconnecting, plugging in and out she even restarted her PS5, but nothing seemed to work.

“Something is wrong with my simulator, it’s not working.” Cecilia sounded stressed, she stood back looking at her setup.

“You’re not backing out to spend time with your family are you?” Alex teased her, she knew he meant Nathalie but with Lando’s friends he was careful.

“No, I think I’m the only one awake, it’s not working, the game won’t turn on anymore, I’m getting stressed.” Cecilia said, and logged off not long after, there’s nothing more she can do at the moment.

Apparently she had to get a new one, she had someone come take a look at it, and she had to order a new one, and who knew how long it’ll take for that to happen. When the pandemic hit, she knew there would be no way she'd get her sim for a long time, which was bad for her, not because she couldn't play with her friends, but because it’s something that kept her in a racing mood, and kept her skills sharp in the down season. So she found herself texting Charles to ask him if she could come by sometimes to get on the sim, but he was quarantining with Charlotte and they met with their separate families, which would make it harder for her, since she didn’t want to really get in contact with too many people, so she turned to Max, the only other driver she had in mind. Lewis was in the UK with his family and there wasn’t an abundance of Drivers she was close to who were in Monaco at the moment.

Setting up time with Max was easy since they were quarenting and there wasn't much anyone could do, with her mask on and a short drive later Cecilia made it to Max’s house, she’s never been there before. Walking in she didn't know what to expect, but he had set up his house pretty nicely.

“Thank you so much Max.” Cecilia thanked Max after greeting him with a hug.

“Hey, I'm happy to help a rival out.” He poked at her, she knew at this point they were more friends than anything else, but still they’ve never really been alone before. So that made her a little nervous, seeing Max in his casual clothes and not his team kit made them distance themselves from their work. For her standing there, they were just two friends.

“I think we’re past that.” She placed her clammy hands in the back pockets of her jeans awkwardly.

“I agree, do you want something to drink?” Mask asked and led her through his penthouse and to the kitchen.

“It’s okay, thank you.”

“So what happened with your simulator?” Max asked and took out a tea box and waved it for Cecilia to see, she gave him a nod and he started the kittle.

“I have no idea, I was mid game with Lando and some other people, and suddenly mid race everything stopped working, I tried everything and nothing worked.” She explained leaning onto the island to watch him, he moved around with ease taking out tea cups and sitting the tea bags in. “Dad called someone in to check it out before lockdown and I just couldn't get it in before then.”

“That's weird.”

“It is what it is, I guess we get to hang out now because of it.” She said with a smile and a shrug, Max gave Cecilia her cup before they moved to the room had his simulator sat in, walking in she laughed when she saw two simulators, not one, admittedly one was more advanced with RedBull logo and the other looked like that once she had at home. “Colour me impressed, Mr. Verstappen.”

“Laugh all you want, but now we can race each other, one on one.” Max looked smug with himself. He had no shame, it came in handy now and he didn’t regret it, I mean he lives here all alone, yes he doesn’t stay home a lot but when he does it does get a little lonely.

“I like the way you think.” Patting his back she walked up to the RedBull one and looked at it before she looked at him with a smile, he couldn't say no to her, he let her try it. Max sat everything up for Cecilia and him and they took turns choosing what circuits to play, both playing as themselves. “Is any of your family here in Monaco?”

“No, no, I just came back from the Netherlands when the lockdown started.” Max said and tried to pass the female driver, but she was blocking him very well.

“It must be lonely being here alone.” Cecilia said thinking about how lonely she’d be if she didn't have her family with her, she’d definitely lose her mind.

“It’s alright.” Max didn’t mind it that much, he got used to it, besides he did call his family and check on them to see how things are over there.

“You should come over sometime, as long as you don’t come in contact with anyone, we have a child at home after all.” Cecilia spared him a look before she passed the chequered flag and won the race.

“It’s okay, but I do want to see Nathalie again.”

“Believe me she does too, I don’t know what you two talked about when you found her but she’s been going on and on about you.” Max smiled and turned to look at Cecilia, she was already facing him, they were finished for the day. “And, if you need more convincing, We have a hell of a gym at home, I mean you’d meet my parents, but they’re chill.”

“I didn’t know you had a gym at home.” Max stood up and Cecilia followed suit, they naturally integrated to the sofa in the back of the room, she sat at one end facing him with her legs tucked under her and her back to the armrest.

“We had everything installed after I gave birth, I needed to get in shape and with how small Nathalie was I couldn’t take her with me, and I didnt want to leave her, not even counting feeding her.” Cecilia said fondly, sometimes she feels like Nathalie is growing up too fast. “Sometimes I miss when she was that small, she was so cute.”

“Do you have some pictures?” Cecilia fished out her phone and went to the album on her phone labelled Nathalie 2017, she had her pictures all categorised with the year. Moving closer they both were sitting side by side as she showed him the photos explaining some of the stories behind them. They went so back in the album, there was a photo of Cecilia on the hospital bed with a newborn Nathalie sleeping on her, skin touching skin, Cecilia looked so tired and sweaty in the photos, to Max she looked so young. “You were 18, right?”

“Yeah, I got pregnant at 17 but gave birth after my 18th.” His admiration for the girl just kept growing, he looked at her and noticed how close they were sitting, their thighs touching, he could smell the perfume she had sprayed. He moved his arm to push back her hair to be able to see her face when he stopped himself and cleared his throat.

“I can’t get over how much she looks like you.” Max said trying to distract himself, Cecilia looked up and their eyes met, they were still close she felt like she could see all the shades of blue with flickers of hazel in his eyes.

“My mum says she’s my twin.” Her voice was soft, both their eyes flickered down to their lips, and just as the thought of how his lips would feel on hers passed her mind, she smiled and leaned back creating distance naturally without leaving any awkwardness between them. Soon after Cecilia left with the promise of coming back again later in the week.

The due kept meeting regularly, and Max started hoping her sim would never get delivered. When their meeting time arrived for the week, Cecilia came in with her mask, a backpack on her shoulder, a bag in one arm and her child in the other. The woman was always thankful for her F1 training. Once Nathalie saw the male driver her three year old legs carried her as fast as she could to the driver. Max leaned down and caught her, pulling her up in his arms and giving her a hug.

“Hello, Thalia.” He greets the three year old, stepping back to let her mother move in the house, he took the bag from her hand in a swift motion.

“Hello Max.” Nathalie said with a smile. “We made you cookies!”

“Oh did you?” Max asked her with a smile, he looked at cecilia and she pointed to the bag in his hand, it had tupperware in it, once her mum knew he was here alone, she gave Cecilia some home cooked food, and since she and Nattie made cookies, they decided to bring some.

“Yes, mummy can eat those.” Cecilia shook her head, the cookies they made were okay for her diet, she did make a patch of normal cookies as well.

“I’m sure I’ll love them.” Sitting her down the girl looked around curiously, she started walking around, giving the adults time to greet each other. “Hey.”

“Hey, she’s a bit hyper and had some cookies when we weren’t looking after we gave her some.” Cecilia said and looked at her daughter, she was a mischievous little thing. “I think she talks to Charles too much, I always catch him encouraging her.”

Cecilia sat her bag on the sofa, and took the bag Max held and walked to his kitchen, her daughter and Max followed suit. It made her chuckle. “Mum made you some food, I hope it’s not too much, but she’s a family woman, always wanting to feed people, I think that’s why my brother is her favourite, since I can’t eat everything she makes.”

“It’s okay, thank her for me.”

“Or you can come by like I asked and thank her yourself.”

“Grand-mère makes good food.” Nattie agreed looking up at the duo, Cecilia ruffled her hair thinking how cute her girl is. “Maman! Stop!”

“Yes Cecilia don’t ruffle her hair.” Shaking her head she continued with getting out the tupperware and placing what needed to be placed in the fridge inside of it.

“Mon ange, do you want to watch a movie?” The girl nodded her head and they moved to the sim room, Cecilia gave her daughter her Ipad where she chose to watch cars, ironically. An hour in Max and Cecilia played 8 tracks with 5 laps in each track, all this playing made them aware of the other’s techniques, it was different from real life, but still with similarities, Cecilia would sometimes push cars off track to try and make Max lose, and he may have cursed or gotten mad at other people but not her, he just shook his head and continued on.

They had a late lunch break before Nattie made them play a game with her, the sugar she had in her system took a couple of hours before she crashed, Max slowly got her up from the floor where she fell asleep and carried her to the guest bedroom, after Cecilia tucked her in they moved once more to the living room, they sun had set and they had dim lights on. Max got a bottle of wine with a cheeky look on his face. He only saw Cecilia drink once and that was at her first win, never again, she would get out with them but never drink.

“I drove here.” She whined, wanting a glass of wine.

“Then stay, Nattie is already sleeping.” Max offered and popped open the bottle.

“I don’t know.” She was unsure, she knows that her and Max have gotten closer and she knows where this friendship is heading, she talked to Charles about it once, and told her to trust her instinct and if she felt like it to go for it, but to her the thinking is different, once she became a mother her way of thinking about things changed 180 degrees, she’s not number one anymore it’s her girl. Even if you push that away, Max is amazing with Nattie that is true, but she can’t get him into that, she can’t be sure if he’ll want to be in Nattie’s life, to be a male figure and possibly a father figure. Besides they are colleagues, with jobs that are under the microscope, the moment the public finds out it will be a shit show, and if they ever broke up then what? How can she stare at him 10 months of the year knowing they had something at one point. Too many things could go wrong, and she’s not ready to put herself or her daughter’s hearts on the line.

“Don’t overthink it.” Max could tell that her mind ran with thoughts too fast for either of them to grasp it. He poured her a glass and held it out to her, reluctantly she took it and took a small sip.

“You're a bad influence.”

“Some would beg to differ.” He responded with his own glass, after a moment of silence, he gathered his courage and asked the question he wanted to ask the moment he found out about Nathalie. “Can I ask you something?”

“Yeah sure go ahead, this is good wine by the way.” Cecilia kept her sips small, enjoying the taste.

“Is-is Thalia’s father around?” Cecilia stopped drinking, she just realised that she never talked with Max about it, Max kept his eyes on her, watching her every move waiting for a sign of discomfort.

“He isn’t, he dipped the second I told him I was pregnant.” Cecilia sat with her legs tucked under her once again with her back to the armrest. Her elbow resting on the back of the sofa with her arm holding her head up at her temple, Max also had his back to the end of the sofa. “The fucker left me on my own in a country I know no one in and I only saw his face once since then.”

“What a fucking dickhead.” Max couldn’t understand how some men could just get a girl pregnant and dip, it takes two to tango, knowing that there’s a child out there that is half them and leave them be.

“You can say that again, anyways, he only showed up once with his lawyer, to sign away his rights and told me to keep him out of this, he did try to threaten me.” She laughed remembering the day, Max was confused why she was laughing. “My brother had him almost pissing himself, he’s rich, my ex, extremely so, but my family is richer and more influential so, with one threat to call his dad he had his tail tucked between his legs and left with no fuss.”

“Where does he live?” Max doesn’t know why he asked, maybe he wanted to see if he could find him and maybe just maybe while he’s crossing the road a little something could happen.

“Last I heard in England, he’s British but he has family in Monaco, that’s how we met, he was older than me, thinking back now it was doomed from the start.” Cecilia leaned over and poured herself another glass, and offered to fill Max’s, he too needed another drink. “But you know what, I’d do it again just to have Nathalie, she’s the best thing that ever happened to me, she’s the reason I decided to race again.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was a teen when I got pregnant, and maybe yes I was 18 when I gave birth but I was still a teen at heart then too, you don’t just get older the instant your birthday hits, anyways I felt like a teen when I had her and I thought about quitting everything and just focus on us, but I couldn’t I didn’t want her to look back one day and see me give up when it got hard, I didn’t want her to think that having her ended my dream or that I didn’t work hard for it. No way, my mum is a housewife. Her dream was to have a family of her own, mine was to be an F1 driver.”

“Your dream was hard to achieve when you didn’t even have a child.” Max commented, all he wanted to do now is to pull her in for a long hug, to have her in his arms and protect her to help her like her ex should’ve, who’d let a woman like Cecilia slip through their fingers? A blind man in Max’s books.

“That’s true, and at times I thought that maybe I bit more than I can chew, I mean even now, with me coming fifth in the championship, Mclaren still has me on a yearly contract, and Lando got a three year contract.” Shrugging, it bothered her, Mclaren was applauded for being ‘feminists’ and accepting ‘diversity’ when they didn’t treat their drivers the same.

“That’s not fair.” Max frowned, Cecilia just shrugged. “Well RedBull will always be happy to have you.”

“I don’t know about that, you may hate it but Mercedes is where I wish to be.” Cecilia was honest with him, she hoped to one day be part of Mercedes.

“Because of Toto?”

“Yeah, he’s married to Susie so there’s that, she’s been working for years on including more women in the sport, and he’s always had her back at that.” Cecilia explained.

“But you know he likes Lewis so much, he will place him above you when it comes to priority.”

“Like Christain loves you, every team principal prefers one driver, but I feel like my luck there will be better, that’s why I’m going to prove to everyone that I deserve it next year.”

“I know you do.” Max found himself saying. “I’ve always believed in you.”

“Did you?” Cecilia whispered, Max nodded, her cheeks dusted pink. This is it. This is what Max wanted, he wanted to spend time with her talking, he wanted to talk to her before he fell asleep, to share their feelings and thoughts, talk about everything and anything, share things with each other they never did with anyone else. He wanted… he wants to feel less lonely when it’s late at night and he can’t fall asleep, he wants to have someone who he can speak to about everything, share his secrets with, he wants that.

“Yeah, I did, I do.” His tone matched hers, in the silence of the apartment and dim lights her light blue eyes met his darker ones in an enchanting fight, who’ll give up first, both drivers not used to giving up. Cecilia’s eyes ran down his nose to his lip and instinctively, ran her the tip of her tongue over her bottom lip witting it slightly, the tension in the room rose, Max swallowed and fought with himself to say something, change the subject, but evidently he was the loser between the two of them, he took a swing of his glass and finished it, before he leaned over and took hers placing them on the coffee table, Cecilia watched him with bated breath. Her eyes drew him in they were half closed, Max moved like a predator, a man on a mission, he inclined his face towards hers, it took her only a moment to feel his breath on her face before she pushed up and their lips met is a slow almost lazy kiss, their eyes closed as they lost themselves in the moment, her lips soft and already open, Maxed closed his lips around her bottom one, drawing her in, his nose nudged hers, and her arms moved to his hair holding him in place, afraid he’d pull back. Max’s arms moved to hold her waist and face, with the tip of his tongue he could taste the wine they just drank, deciding then that it tasted better coming from her lips.

It’s been years since Cecilia kissed someone, but she’s sure she’s never been kissed like this before. If kisses are supposed to make you feel like this, then she’s never been kissed before, the warmths of Max enveloped her and consumed her. Moving her head, she wanted more of him, wanted him to-

“Maman!” With a startled jump they pulled away from each other, Cecilia looked at Max like a deer caught in headlights, she didn’t say anything before she moved to see what her daughter wanted. She cursed herself for losing her resolve, for not sticking with her decisions, this just got messy. She hid away in the guest room with her daughter, thankfully she had her phone in her pocket and texted her mum that they’re spending the night.

She isn’t ready to face Max in the morning.

Next morning Cecilia wakes up and she raises her head and looks around for Nathalie but she’s nowhere to be found, slowly getting up, she doesn’t bother looking in the mirror, she slept in her jeans and shirt, yeah it wasn’t a comfortable sleep. Just as she places her hand on the knob to open the door, she remembers what happened last night. Fuck it felt so good, being this close to Max, her heart jumped and she felt all soft and tingly, she placed her forehead on the door and closes her head, reliving the moment once again. Shit, I need to focus. She bites her lip and contemplates what to do. She knows that the mature thing is to talk to Max about it and explain her feelings but she doesn’t really want to, she’s not ready to hear what he thinks.

Opening the door she hears Max talking and Nathalie laughing, following their voices she comes to the kitchen, Max was in a pair of shorts and a shirt. Watching them, Max had Nathalie mixing the eggs in a bowl that is too big, but it made it so she wouldn’t spill any of it, Nathalie was sitting on the counter, Max had one hand beside her, something she did so if Nathalie slipped she’d be able to stop her from falling.

“Like this?” Nathalie asked, looking up at the man for approval.

“Yeah, you’re doing amazing.” She wasn’t, but the answer made Nathalie very proud of herself. “What do you usually drink with breakfast?”

“Juice!” Nattie exclaimed, swinging her legs back and forth, Cecilia rolled her eyes.

“More like milk.” Cecilia interjects, she gives Nattie a look. “Don’t lie mon ange, when do you drink juice?”

“After lunch.” Nathalie answered with a pout, her shoulders dropped and she stopped mixing the eggs.

“Why do we do that?” Cecilia asked her moving closer.

“Too much sugar is bad for you.” Nattie said the words she heard a million times before. Nattie can’t handle sugar well, if there’s no fresh juices they usually give her a small glass after she has lunch, which is her biggest meal of the day.

“That’s right, my smart bébé.” Cecilia kisses the side of her head, and turns to look at Max, he had a smile on his face, it made Cecilia’s heart skip a beat, she looked away. “Good morning.”

“Morning, you sleep okay?” Max takes the eggs turns to the stove before he quickly finishes whisking them without Nathalie noticing, and pours it into the pan.

“Yeah, as good as I could in jeans.” Max noticed her crumpled clothes, and her messy hair matching Nathalie’s, like mother like daughter. Cecilia combed through Nattie’s hair with her fingers taming her hair, the only thing different between them is that Nattie had curls while Cecilia’s straight/wavy.

“I can give you some clothes if you want.” Cecilia declines his offers, she planned to leave after breakfast anyway.

“What can I help with?” Cecilia asked.

“No momie we’re making you breakfast.” Nathalie said startling Cecilia who just raised her hands in surrender, Max laughed. Cecilia still stood by her daughter watching Max move around and give Nathalie things to do.

They had breakfast in the kitchen, Cecilia finished eating first, she wasn’t always a fast eater but when you have a child you need to feed and also feed yourself it made her a fast eater. Max and Nattie were still eating so Cecilia took the moment to rinse the plates and place them in the dishwasher, cleaning up the kitchen.

“Mon ange get your things, we need to leave.” Cecilia called for her daughter once she finished eating, she was washing the pan Max used.

“Are we coming back soon momie?” walking to her mother with her begging look that she always used when she needed something, made Cecilia chuckle.

“Maybe.” with a pointed look the girl turned and left the kitchen with a permanent pout. She knows that Nathalie missed meeting people and just having fun with kids her age. Max is the only person she saw out of her parents and her, her brother was in Sweden, quarenting with his wife, kids and her family.

Max silently leaned his back to the counter next to the sink, his eyes not leaving her. Cecilia tried to act like she didn’t notice, but how could she when he was standing so close, her mind flashed to the taste of his lips on hers.

“Are we going to talk about last night?” Max asked her and Cecilia didn’t answer, it isn’t very mature of her but once again she didn’t want to talk about it. “Cilia.”

“What do we need to talk about?” She decided playing dumb is the best thing to do, maybe she’s really dumb.

“Don’t do that.” Max turned off the tab and moved closer, he was serious, sighing Cecilia turned to look at him. “If you regret it, then say it, but I don’t think that you do.”

“It’s not that simple, Max and you know that.” Cecilia replied, her brows furrowed.

“Then let’s make it simple, Cecilia, I like you, do you like me?” Cecilia’s eyes went wide, her cheeks went red, her mouth got dry and she stood there speechless.

“It’s- max, I-I…” She stuttered feeling flustered and warm, a cocktail of emotions that she wanted to untangle, but if she does then so much would change and she doesn’t know if she's ready for that.

“I’m not asking you to marry me, do you like me? Yes or no?” Max asked once again, this time his tone is softer, full of doubt, maybe he misread the situation, maybe she was drunk(of two glasses of wine?), maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing.

“I do, I like you, but it’s not simple.” Cecilia whispered and closed her eyes, Max moved closer.

“I know that you have to think about Thalia-” She cuts him off.

“I do, but it’s not just that, Max we work together, no not together, against each other.” Cecilia said, trying to prove her point, she thought about this a lot and she talked about it with Charles, and she has a feeling that both Charles and Max saw it like each other.

“I thought about those things too, no let me finish, your jumping to the future, since the season is postponed we have time to figure things out, we’ll take it slow, we won’t say anything to anyone and just keep it to ourselves, it wouldn’t be fair to Nathalie if we got in a relationship and then broke up a while later, as for racing, we keep work separate. You’d be happy if I won right?” Cecilia nodded, not daring to say anything. “I would be happy for you too, and that’s all we need from each other on that point, it’s simpler than you think, we’ll just take one thing at a time, you don’t have to bring Thalia with you until you’re sure we’re going to stay together, or that I’m not just playing with you and leaving, because I’m not, I’m not like your ex.”

“I know you’re not.” Cecilia mumbled, yes she doesn't want to end up heartbroken, doesn’t want her daughter to be heartbroken, but she knows Max is different.

“Then give us a chance.” Max pleaded, his hands cupping her cheeks softly, their eyes met and Cecilia’s resolve crumpled.

“Okay, yeah, let’s do it.” Max kissed her forehead softly before he let her go. They finished in the kitchen together before she and Nattie left, with a longer hug than usual, Max closed the door behind them.

His house now empty, he looked around and there was no trace of the two, it made him feel lonely, since he spent the last 24 hours with them he now felt like he was on his own, something that didn’t bother him before. When you taste something sweater and go back to how things were, it makes it harder, but he had to give it time. Dating Cecilia will be bringing so many challenges but he wasn’t one to shy away from challenges, he knows what he wants and he works his ass off to get them.

CeciliaHansson15

liked by charles_leclerc, maxverstappen1, Landonoriss and 1,597,999 others

ceciliahansson15 photodump, what is everyone been up to? I can confidently say that the art world is lucky I chose not to be an artis😎

anyway, i hope you're all staying safe ❤️❤️

view all 10,149 comments

username1 how can you look sooooo gooood 🧎‍♀️

username2 mother is mothering so hard right now

Landonoriss I've seen your 'art', it's shit

ceciliahannson15 how dare you 🫵👊 these are lies

georgerussell63 I'll have to agree with Lando on this

ceciliahansson15 how did you see my art @/georgerussell63

georgerussell63 uh... ask @/alex_albon

alex_albon mate, why? 😬

ceciliahansson15 how did YOU see it??!!! @/alex_albon

alex_albon well you see the thing is, it was @/charles_leclerc🏃🏃

charles_leclerc not cool mate

ceciliahansson15 charles....

charles_leclerc it was Lando 🤷

landonoriss I can explain

ceciliahansson15 BLOCKED all of you @/maxverstappen1 congratulations on being my new best friend

maxverstappen1 ...thanks i guess

maxverstappen1 do i need to know what happened?

georgerussell63 no

alex_albon no

charles_leclerc no

landonoriss I'll text you

ceciliahansson15 @/landonoriss 🔫🔫

Pierregasly suddenly I'm glad I havn't checked the groupchat

liked by ceciliahansson15, danielricciardo

username5 I'm living for this comment section 😂

username6 only cecilia can get half the grid in her comments section

username7 the power cecilia holds

Next->

it's 4:45 rn so if there's any mistakes tell me

Taglist:

@luciaexcorvus . @vellicora . @tpwkstiles . @belennasif . @eugene-emt-roe . @fanboyluvr . @fangirl125reader , @christianpulisic10 . @belennasif

#f1 x driver!reader #f1 x reader #max verstappen one shot #max verstappen #f1 fanfic #f1dr #max verstappen imagine #my girls #f1 imagine #f1 scenario #driver oc #max verstappen x oc

332 notes · View notes

bad268 · 3 months

Note

hi I was wondering if you could do a fluff w felipe, where reader is a 02 leclerc, and the whole grid knows that reader has a crush on felipe and felipe on the reader EXCEPT the leclerc boys. one day reader is rambling about school and felipe stares at her lips and eventually leading to kissing (maybe when they kiss you could add like the reader nervously pushing felipes face away w her palm bc she’s nervous, but they kiss) it’s ok if you don’t want to though

Why Are We Killing Clem? (Felipe Drugovich X Leclerc! Reader)

Fandom: RPF/Formula 1

Requested: Clearly (I loved this, I hope you do too <3) Also, yall please vote on this POV poll

Warnings: none.

POV: First Person (I/me)

W.C. 1003

Summary: Overprotective brothers and crushes aren't a good mix.

As always, my requests are OPEN

MASTERLIST // HITLIST

~~(^Pinterest)

I am a pretty open book, any of my friends will tell you that. That’s not to say that subtle isn’t my middle name; it is and I can keep a secret when I need to. I just have nothing to hide.

So that might be a lie.

When you have three overprotective older brothers, it’s only normal to fib a little. Like if I had broken that plate or if I borrowed/stole a hoodie or if I liked anyone. Especially when it came to people I liked. Especially if that hypothetical person I liked was also a racing driver. Especially if that hypothetical person was a racing driver for another team. Especially if that hypothetical person was Felipe Drugovich.

Hence why I don’t say anything to them. I would never be allowed to go to a race again! If they knew that I had a crush on Felipe, I would never be allowed out of their sight on race weekends. As far as they are aware, he is just my best friend, and until I see a clear sign that he likes me back, it will stay that way.

I found out from a few of my F2 friends that they were heading to the next race early to hang out and party before getting back to work since there was a gap week, and it took a little (a lot) of begging before I was allowed to join them. Granted, I am old enough to make my own decisions, but I travel with Charles. It just seemed like the nice thing to do.

During this week, I still had online classes, so I needed to work around my academic obligations when it came to having fun with my friends. One day, in particular, I had an essay to work on, so I brought my computer since the plan was to hang out at the hotel’s pool.

I sat off to the side, typing away while most of my friends played volleyball in the pool. I was not too far away, just enough so the water being splashed between teams would not destroy my laptop.

“Are you going to join the game?” A voice asked, causing me to look up and see Felipe standing beside me. He took a seat toward the end of the lounge chair I was on as he looked at my screen, seeing how far I was. He noticed I was not anywhere close to being done, but something caught his eye, so he asked about it. “What are you working on?”

“An essay for my English class,” I did not delve into it, thinking he would not care. “I decided to relate it to one of the topics in my major since we could choose the topic.”

“Is there a reason you’re being vague?” He joked, leaning forward to read a little bit of the paper. “I’m interested in what you’re doing.”

“You’re just saying that because you don't want to get in the water, and I’m the only one that’s sitting on the deck,” I chuckled nervously. Felipe and I were never this close when we were alone. Even if our friends were not that far away, they were too busy with the game to notice anything happening between us. “You don't have to pretend you’re interested in my academics.”

“Who said I was faking it?” He feigned hurt as he put a hand to his chest. “I’m offended you think so little of me.”

“You are the least offended person I know,” I laughed, setting my laptop aside. “You are the most laid-back, chill person ever. There is no way this offends you.”

“You always listen to me rant about racing. Maybe I want to hear you rant about your interests,” Felipe whispers. “You always give your opinions on the race or our strategies, but we never talk about what you like. Now, we have the chance, and I’m all yours.”

I don’t know if it was the general sincereness of someone being interested in my life or the fact that it was Felipe, but I started rambling. I explained the entire timeline of the topic I chose, going off on tangents as I did so, and throughout the entire spiel, he remained interested. He nodded along, and even provided his own input here and there but left most of the discussion up to me. He also helped me figure out a subtopic I could use for my paper. Maybe I really just needed to talk it out with someone, so I was super appreciative of him.

Felipe, on the other hand, found it endearing. He didn’t even think before he leaned forward, and in the middle of my sentence, he placed his lips on mine. At first, I froze and tried to push him away until I realized.

This is the guy I have been pinning after for who knows how long, and now, he is kissing me.

I moved my hands from his chest to wrap around his neck as I closed my eyes and kissed him back, leaning into his body. It was just like I thought it would be, fireworks exploding between us. It was just us, no one else.

“I’m telling Arthur!” That French fucker.

“Clem, I will kill you!” I shouted as I laughed in embarrassment, knowing that all of our friends just witnessed our first kiss. I leaned against Felipe’s shoulder as we both looked over at our friends who were mocking us until the sound of the pool gate distracted some of them.

“Why are we killing Clem?” A voice I immediately recognized as Arthur said as he walked through the gates to the pool area. My eyes grew wide as I jumped away from Felipe, but by then, I knew he already saw us. He looked confused as he came into my line of sight before pointing at us. “And why are you and Felipe so red? Don’t lie to us.”

“I am so dead.”

~~~~~

134 notes · View notes

underground-secret · 6 months

Text

The Hunter and the Witch~ Dean Winchester x f!reader

Description: Sam confronts Y/N on her feelings for his brother.

Warnings: basically none but it is a little angsty. Sam playing cupid. Also Sam might be ooc- sorry

Tag list: @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @okayiamkassandra ,

@fablesrose , @ada--44

A/N: Hi! To start off thank you so much for all the support recently I’m truly grateful for you all and i’m so happy to say I have people who seem to enjoy my writing. But on the writing note I just wanted to acknowledge a sort of plot hole:

if you have read the series up to now you probably know that it was said Y/N has a job and kept it (just doing it basically on her laptop alone) even when she went with the boys to find their Dad. I did this because I wanted a sense of independence for her as I felt like this made sense, would she drop anything to help them yes but I also don’t think she would be so quick to give up her life since she had her own house and didn’t hunt 24/7. Now as we are a little bit further into the story I don’t think she would have this job anymore but I also don’t know how to write it into the story and i don’t think i want to write a half chapter just on it (tho this might change). So for the sake of the story you can decide why she dosnt have this writing job anymore,for me I see it as she secretly quit after the skin walker hunt because she realized where her focus needed to go and how tiring hunting full time was. I also don’t think she ever brought it up to the boys out of fear of making them feel guilty, tho they probably figured it out and didn’t say anything either.

Anyways sorry for the rant i’ll let you read this now! And Happy thanksgiving to any and all who celebrate

Word Count: 819

A fool in love

(Master list, Previous Ch, Next Ch)

“Here you go” Sam says, placing a cup of tea in front of me having picked up our drinks from some local place as we sat in the library trying to find a new hunt or any clues to where his Dad could be.

He didn’t have a third cup with him, Dean having not joined us deciding instead to go find a “lead” in a bar.

“Thanks” I mumble before bringing the hot drink to my lips.

He sits down in front of me, shuffling in his chair awkwardly. “Are you okay?” I laugh lightly at his odd movements. He clears his throat, “Yeah, I, uh…can we talk?”

“Of course” I smiled at him, my eyebrows scrunched together slightly.

“Promise you won’t get annoyed” He starts off. I laugh, “Okay? But I don’t know if I can exactly promise anything when I don’t know what you’re gonna say.”

“Just…promise” He held out his pinky to me, something he knew I took very seriously. I smile harder, linking my pinky with his, the very sacred promise now in effect. He studies my face carefully as if to see if I was really serious even with the pinky promise.

He bites the inside of his cheek going silent for a beat before finally speaking, “Why don’t you just tell Dean you love him?”

“Sam-“ I sigh, not knowing what to say. We’ve had this conversation before, years ago, where it was established that Sam knew my feelings for his brother.

“Why would I confess to someone who doesn't feel the same way?” I finally say.

“But he does!” He practically yells, getting weird looks from those who sat around us- library rules and all that. His face flushes a deep pink with embarrassment, “Why is it so hard for you to believe that someone loves you, that he loves you?

“Look where he is right now, at a bar probably getting some girl's number or even leaving with her to hook up. He clearly doesn't feel the same for me as I do him.” I explained, a little frustrated. He doesn't say anything for a while again, “I think he does that to avoid his feelings for you.”

“Yes you think but you do not know and I…” I sigh, “I don’t want to get my hopes up.”

“Don’t you notice the way he stares at you? He couldn’t keep his hands off of you” He points out, referring to the Hook Man case. “That was for a cover” I answer simply.

“There were a lot of times where there wasn’t an excuse for a cover up, like the armchair.” The mere mention of me sitting on Dean's lap makes my face feel hot.

I don’t have anything to counter that, I mean it was just to amplify me being his girlfriend for a cover. That’s what it was.

He becomes all sassy and self assured as he speaks, “See! Deep down you know I'm right, you just don’t wanna admit it. And you know what I noticed?”

“What?” I humor him, making eye contact.

“Every time you get hurt or there’s even a little bit of concern towards you he stops hiding his feelings. It’s like suddenly no other woman exists, only you.

You have to have noticed that at least.”

I bit on my bottom lip in thought, he’s right. I can think of numerous occasions where Dean had ignored very attractive women when I was hurt or in the prospect of danger, exactly as Sam said.

No.

Nope.

Dean Winchester is not in love with me, it isn’t true.

“You know a couple months back” I begin, “I forget which hunt it was. But it was only like a month of being on the road with you guys and through that whole time it hadn’t mattered the circumstance, even when we were in the middle of hunting, or where we were, either way Dean was flirting or hooking up with some girl. And every single time I would feel this…this…pang in my heart or maybe like my heart had dropped into my stomach. Which only made me feel more like a fool.

So it got to a point where I just decided, you know what, I'm gonna force myself. I'm going to pretend that I don’t have feelings for him. That it doesn't pain me to see him like that with other women.

“Did it work?” He asks me, his eyes having a certain solemn look to them.

I sigh for the upteenth time, “No. For some stupid reason I can’t stop loving your brother.” He turns his eyes down towards the table.

I try to catch his eyes, “Do you get what I’m saying?”

He looks back up at me, “Yeah. My brother’s an idiot.”

I choke on my laugh, taking a deep breath before I speak, “Maybe. Or…maybe it just isn’t meant to be.”

88 notes · View notes

pandulce135 · 6 months

Note

I'm the anon who asked for the Rise boys (Donnie especially) with a S/O who is bashful about singing. Thank you so much for your response! It was amazing and so detailed! I would love to see Leo, Mikey and Raph's reactions too, but even if you decide not to I'm still super grateful. It made my night!

Singing in the Kitchen (Raph)

A/N: Guess who finally had time to write! I'm probably going to take another long break just to focus on the rest of the semester before winter break. This is different than the previous approaches to this prompt and you can kind of tell there was a time skip from when I first started writing it. I hope you all still enjoy it ;

Warnings: none? Kind of rushed, Hardly proofread

Word count: 1.4k

You weren’t allowed to join the four brothers on their mission this time around. Raph, the oldest of the bunch and therefore the leader, made the call before they left. You would have protested if Donnie, Leo, Mikey wouldn’t have agreed with him. You had turned away with an angry frown all while muttering something about how they didn’t trust you and departed the main living area with the huge skate ramps to go to the kitchen.

In the kitchen was your school bag, packed with your laptop and schoolwork that needed to get done. You supposed it was a good thing that the brothers denied your request to go on the mission with them. Your late assignments were beginning to pile up and you only had a few more days to turn them in before the late work deadline. Your teachers were generous enough to set extra time in place for the students and you were oh-so grateful.

With a glass of water in hand, you settled down at the kitchen table to plop on your headphones and begin your pile of homework and let out a heavy breath. It was a lot of work, but you could do it. You opened your laptop, got out your spirals and textbooks and began. All the while, soothing music that pushed you through your work blasted through your ears. Maybe a good playlist and time was all you needed to work through your various units of work.

Unit four of math: statistics? Done.

Unit three of English: homework relating to the Greek tragedy Antigone? Done.

Unit five of biology: DNA? Done.

Were you working quickly and probably got a few questions wrong? Maybe. But it was work that you would be able to turn in and get credit on so you couldn’t be too upset.

It wasn’t until you leaned back and stretched that you started playing attention to the music playing through your headphones again. With a smile, you began to hum along softly to the melody, your head swaying from side to side following the rhythm of the song. It wasn’t until the chorus finally hit that you really began to sing along.

*“Doomsday is close at hand

I’ll book the marching band to play as you speak

I’ll feel like throwing up

You’ll sit and stare like a goddamn machine*

*I’d like to plan out my part in this

But you’re such a narcissist

You’ll probably do it next week*

*I don’t get a choice in the matter

Why would I? It’s only the death of me

Only the death of me.”*

You didn’t hear the commotion coming from the other room with how loud your music was blasting from your headphones, directly into your ears. The guitars, the piano, the vocals all mixing together to form a beautiful song that was sure to be stuck in your head for the next few days.

“Do you think they got mad and left?” Mikey asked, his wide frown evident in his voice as his eyes scanned the living room.

“Nonsense, dearest brother, they can’t be too mad,” Donnie interjected, his green finger raised to help make a point. “They had too much homework piling up, most of it being late work.”

Leo let out a chuckle. “Then if anything, we did them a favor.” His hands settled on his waist as he smiled smugly at his brothers.

“Still, Raph can’t help but feel bad…” The oldest of the four spoke up. “But it did give them time to work on their homework…” Raph tried to reason with himself. He played with his hands absentmindedly. He glanced over at the other three again. “I’m gonna get some water, you guys want anything?”

A chorus of yeses followed by ‘water’ followed his question and Raph suddenly had his new mission: grab water from the kitchen for him and his bros. However, he paused in the doorway leading to the kitchen as his eyes landed on you leaned back in your chair, singing along to whatever song was playing through your bulky headphones. How you didn’t hear the team come in was beyond him. You probably left the noise canceling setting on your headphone active again.

Yet your voice kept him in a trance as you tackled the notes with ease.

*“It’s only

The death of me was so quiet

No friends and family allowed

Only my murderer, you, and the priest who you told you to go to hell*

*And the funny thing is I would’ve married you

If you’d have stuck around

I feel more free than I have in years

Six feet in the ground.”*

He didn’t know the song you were listening to but he enjoyed it, at least from your voice. The subject matter could definitely be a little bit more positive, but to each their own. Your voice got quieter and he felt the vulnerability as you sung. He could stand there for the show for hours, but he was on a mission! He had to get him and his brothers some water! He steeled his resolve and zeroed in on the case of water in the counter.

You began to sing the chorus again and suddenly Raph felt his chest tighten. He paused again, this time further into the kitchen, nearly to the water bottles. His face began to feel hot and his palms sweaty as he looked at you again. He *really* looked at you. Your eyes were shut and you were passionately singing along with the song in your ears. Something in Raph knew your were nearing the end of the song. He had to hurry.

Why?

He didn’t know. Probably so you both would avoid feeling the panic followed by the awkwardness of the situation that would follow you opening your eyes. The potential of that was enough to get him moving again, all the while he was able to hear his own heartbeat and feel the heat creeping down his neck.

*“Doomsday is close at hand

I booked the marching band to play as you speak

I feel like throwing up

You sit and stare like a goddamn machine.”*

He nearly melted as you sung a small riff in your soft head voice. He was finally at the case of water. Your voice was just so pretty to him. He didn’t have much more time and he knew it. He really put his stealth to action as he quickly and quietly made his way back to the doorway of the kitchen and paused. Raph turned back to look at you. You were blissfully unaware of his presence that entire time while he got to hear you sing with your gorgeous voice. He wanted to hear the end of it.

*“I’d have like to plan out my part in this

But you’re such a narcissist

That you did it on Halloween.”*

Yeah, Raph really had no clue what this song was about, but he couldn’t care less as your vocals shook in a vibrato.

“*I had no choice in the matter

Why would I? It’s only the death of me.”*

You opened your eyes after you finished up the last note. The kitchen still empty. You slid off your headphones to finally hear the voices of the four brothers in the next room over.

“What took so long, Raph?” Mikey’s voice came from the other side of the doorway.

“Uhh, nothing.” Raph’s voice came out uncertain, as if he was hiding something.

“I feel like you’re keeping something from us.” Leo’s voice sounded from the other room. “He’s keeping something from us,” he announced in a whisper.

A soft smile grew on your lips as you listened to their conversation.

“It’s nothing, guys. Now, who’s down to watch some Lou Jitzu?” Raph deflected, a weary confidence seeping through his voice.

“Now you’re speaking my language, brother!” Leo spoke up again, the other two shouting in agreement. It seemed as if the previous discussion topic was completely replaced by Lou Jitzu. “And thanks for the water, I’m parched.”

Ah, Raph got them all water. Meaning he had to come into the kitchen to get said water. You were sitting in the kitchen. Meaning…

Your face flushed bright red at the realization that you sung in front of him without realizing and didn’t even notice him come in and out for water for him and his brothers. With a sigh, you let your head fall on the table with a soft thump.

You were such a dummy.

#tmnt #rottmnt #writing #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #fanfic #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #fanfiction #x reader #raph x reader #tmnt raphael #tmnt raph x reader #tmnt raph #rot #rottmnt raph #rottmnt raph x reader #ask #prompt #singing in the kitchen

21 notes · View notes

studio-dreamie · 5 months

Text

chapter 7: tiktok advice

Jaemin opened the apartment door as y/n rushed in. She beelines straight to Jisung's room only to see him on the floor rocking back and forth against the wall. She couldn’t help but feel sad at the sight. “Jisung,” she said softly, she walked towards the frantic boy. She sits down next to him and puts her hand on his arm, rubbing circles with her thumb. “Can I try something Jisung?” she asks. He looks at her surprised but hesitantly nods as he tries to control his breathing (somewhat failing). She reaches down into her pocket to find her white wired headphones that were connected to her phone from the walk (more like run) here. She took her hand off and put the headphones on jisung. She played a playlist named steady. “Why did you do that?” Jaemin asked as he hovered over the boy and the girl from the door. “I saw a TikTok saying it helps with panic attacks so I wanted to see if it would work” she responded. Jaemin’s mouth couldn’t help but fall open, “so you put the fate of our son in the hands of TikTok” Jaemin said. Y/n rolled her eyes and she moved closer to Jisung. He eyes her but then gives her a small nod. His chest slows down and his movements become less frantic in the next few minutes. She goes back to her original position except this time she wraps her arms around his left, pressing it against her like a teddy bear. Once the frantic moments stopped, y/n laid her head on the boy’s shoulder. Jaemin decided to come close and sit beside them, rubbing circles reassuringly on Jisung’s knee. They stay in this position until he falls asleep.

side story: hw assignment #2 (jisungs pov)

It felt childish to do a homework assignment like this in college. Worksheets were being passed around the class like we were back in high school. The big black bold letters sat on top of the paper in a font that seemed fitting for kindergartners. “Who is your hero?”. I couldn’t help but internally sigh, of course an English elective has to do the most. I looked at the paper with a straight face; who the fuck do i write about? Iron man? I thought about it for a second but then pushed the idea away. There was no way I could write a 2000 word paper on my emotional connection with Iron Man. I overhear everyone around me talking. “Oh this is easy” “Who are you gonna do?” “My mom for sure” “Hmm probably my dad or brother not too sure”. I continue to stare at my paper; there’s no way I’m writing a paper on my deadbeat family members, maybe iron man really is the best option. I stare deeply at the paper, god someone, anyone, why can’t I think, why does everybody gotta put their family member, who the hell do I put, what the fuck. My thoughts become interrupted as I get a text on laptop screen. hello my offspring it read. I softly smiled, I guess I know who to write about now.

prev//masterlist//next

pairing: renjun x fem!reader

synopsis: the ultimate college friend group that does not escape the trials of suffering, love, drama, and weed. join y/n and her friends as they go through their third year of college together, they have no idea what's going on or what they're doing, but isn't that the fun of it?

genre: social media au, college au, friends to lovers, fluff, angst, comedy, coming of age

note: so i fully understand that this is a renjun x reader but like i really want to put emphasis on the other relationships she has, i want it to really be like you’re in college with all ur friends, and im a firm believer that side characters are main characters in their own story so i like to give them spotlight, if yall don’t fw that idk what to tell yall fr. in the character description i said jaemin and y/n are jisungs co-parents and i fr mean it

taglist: @she-is-dreaming @wavesandkisses @jenobubbles @finnydraws @snflwrhaerecs4u @sexygrass @miniature-tragedy @sweetcandycum @fae-renjun

16 notes · View notes

msbarrows · 4 months

Text

So now that the laptop has been repaired and returned, I've been very happily updating and backing up everything again. When I reached the point of doing anything with The Sims 4 yesterday, I found myself thinking about how, prior to going down to Toronto, I was considering resetting TS4 entirely so it was back in a default state, and starting over from scratch. Which I felt even more like doing as I was playing my most recent sim at a horse ranch and just... not really enjoying it. And then during the couple weeks of waiting for the repair, not knowing if I'd have to reinstall all my programs or not, I found myself thinking "...I could just not restore my saves game for that" and kind of liking the idea. Among other things, it'll allow me to tweak the MCCC settings to (hopefully) prevent the pruning of family trees, so I'll always be able to see how they interconnect.

So, yesterday afternoon I moved my TS4 directory off to a backup location, which forced the game to recreate the save game files from scratch. Reinstalled my preferred mods. And created a new starter sim, Teresa Abbotsford.

Once I was able to get in-game and go to Manage Worlds, I also dug around on the Galery to re-obtain the MaxisCreates TS4 versions of the Grunt, Spectre, Curious, and Smith families from TS2, as well as a reasonably decent version of the Beakers (whom MaxisCreates seems to have missed). Also grabbed versions of their houses that different people created (mostly the versions by XQueenOfHe4rtsX). Decided to squeeze them all into StrangerVille, as it vibes the closest with the old Strangetown, though for reasons of space the Smiths have ended up over in Oasis Springs instead. I've done some minimal editing to the houses, mostly things like replacing observatories with telescopes, or tweaking some of the wall textures. The Curious brothers' house came with a bonus structure in one corner of the lot that had a lot of the scientific equipment available in-game, with a rocket kit staging area on the roof. I moved and rebuilt that slightly so that it fits into the layout of where the lot is in-game a little better (mostly just rotating it 90 degrees and changing it from a fenced-in area to an actual outbuilding).

And I built a starter house for Teresa. She's beginning the family line in San Sequoia, a neighbourhood I haven't had anyone playable live in yet, since there was a nice 20x40 empty lot there that gives her plenty of elbow room to grow. Literally - she's in the gardener career and has the Freelance Botanist nature aspiration. Though I think I need to rotate the house; it fits better on the lot facing the short end, but the zone-in point is partway along one of the long edges. But I digress.

Her house is currently pretty minimally furnished, though that's slowly improving over time. She has the option of working from home with her current job, and since the tasks required for that tend to take very little time (read a book, research gardening on the computer, give someone produce from your garden) I've mostly been choosing that and spending a lot of her time working on assorted skills and going out and about to meet people. I'm playing her as a much more gregarious sim than I usually do, as a result of which she's been following up on a lot of invitations to attend events, go on dates, and go out dinner as friends. She's also joined the Partihouse social club, where she's finally met someone she clicks with who isn't already married or engaged - Paolo Rocca, one of the Partihouse household members.

I think the main thing I may work on the next few play sessions is things like editing commercial lots so I that like them better, making sure all marriage venues have washrooms, adding houses to Newcrest (since by default it's entirely empty lots), and the like. Basically re-doing some of the changes I'd made over the years.

#The Sims #TS4 #Starting from scratch #Teresa Abbotsford

3 notes · View notes

foreveralwaysanauthor · 1 year

Text

Scattered Screams (Part 7/12)

January 25, 2023

Notes - I really want to post the next part, but I have to write part 9 first and, to do that, I need my laptop, so just picture me screaming nonsensically at my currently dead laptop and you'll get the gist of how I'm feeling today lmao

The more you love, the more you suffer.

The lights of the Capitol will only highlight every tear that threatens to burn past my glittering eyelashes, so I try to take slow, deep breaths as I fight back the thoughts of my untimely demise and the sinking feeling that, even if I were to make it out of the arena with Riven and Royce, my love story with Royce could never work. I’m not from the Capitol where love can pass district lines. Mick and Butchy’s relationship is a prime example of that. Even before Mick’s supposed death in the arena, they couldn’t even talk to each other outside of radio broadcasts and the train deliveries Butchy made every week. Even if Royce did love me and even if we did make it out of the arena alive, a love like ours could never survive under the scrutinous eyes of the Capitol’s resident assholes. We would have eyes on us for as long as we live. I wouldn’t want that for him. He deserves far better than that.

Despite my inner turmoil, I have to sit patiently and politely through the rest of the tributes and their little falsehoods, watching them play one angle or another while I still desperately try to keep up appearances. I hardly pay attention as Lexi, our supposed ally from District 7, rambles on about some girl she likes, but I still try to pay attention since she’s potentially one of the few people who won’t be aiming for my head in the arena. As Lexi takes her seat and her twelve-year-old fellow tribute, Rigg, takes the stage, I spare a glance at Juliet, who smiles back at me before turning back to Carrie to say something. I squeeze Riven’s hand and send him a small grin that he answers by rubbing his thumb in circles on my hand and smiling back at me. Now and then, I distract myself by leaning forward just enough to see Royce past the tributes that separate us, but he only returns my glance once with a beaming smile. From what I can see, Royce isn’t wearing the earbuds from his brother, which I suppose is a good thing since the Gamemakers supposedly believe they’re noise-canceling, but his perfectly coiled curls could easily hide them if he wanted to wear them.

I hardly pay attention as the rest of the tributes go about their interviews since none of them are particularly noteworthy anyway, but I do note that Erica makes herself favored as the only girl from one of the lower-ranking districts to have a lot of confidence, showing that she isn’t afraid of anything the stronger, faster tributes could throw her way. She did earn herself an eight, after all, and I doubt they would have given her that for nothing. After the rest of the tributes finish playing up their assigned roles and the male tribute from District 12 returns to his seat, everyone on the stage and in the audience stands for Panem’s national anthem. I can’t help spotting a few screens that show either me and Riven or me and Royce. It isn’t hard to tell that we’ve become their newest fantasy; the young lovers and their faithful protector. The little love story Royce and I now share, no matter how unrequited it may be, is now all anybody will talk about, even after our untimely deaths in the arena. Once the anthem is finally over, the tributes file off the stage in the order of our districts and we flood the Training Center’s lobby.

Erica and Jade come over to me with identical smirks, applauding me on a job well done. While Jade stands aside with a proud grin, Erica cackles mischievously and teases me nearly as much as I suspect Riven will once he gets the chance, but her jokes subside as Lexi joins the group. She doesn’t say much other than mentioning how I even took her by surprise with my accidental confession, but she tells me she was glad my feelings were reciprocated so quickly. I don’t think quickly enough to tell her anything other than a quick thank you and, before I know it, she’s called over to the elevator by her escort.

“Sorry about her,” Jade sighs as the doors to the elevator close. “Lexi’s got a lot on her mind lately.”

A genuine look of confusion floods Erica’s face as she turns to Jade and asks, “Since when? She’s been like that since we met.”

Jade looks ready to answer, but chooses to shake her head and turn back to me and Riven with a sigh, “Good luck tomorrow, you two. I wish you all the best.”

“Same to you,” Riven nods.

“Yeah,” I tack on, “good luck.”

Jade nods and heads for the elevator after wishing Erica a good night, but Erica doesn’t follow. Instead, she turns to us and sighs, “I don’t know about her sometimes.”

“Which one?” I try to joke.

“Either, honestly,” Erica chuckles. “Lexi wants to be with us, yet she refuses to let us get close. Jade is hot as hell, but is far more people smart than she is book smart.”

“Guess that comes with the territory of being a Career,” Riven says with a shrug. “Most of the Careers this year aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed.”

“You can say that again,” Erica says with a smirk.

I slap a hand over Riven’s mouth before he gets the chance to literally repeat himself. Mischief blossoms in Riven’s eyes and, under my hand, I can feel his mouth tugging into a smile. “Don’t you dare,” I snarl. Riven’s hot breath hits the palm of my hand before the wetness of his tongue does, but his childish move is effective as I quickly pull away with a noise of disgust. “Ugh, you absolute ass!”

Riven and Erica laugh at me as I swipe my slobbered hand on Riven’s shirt. Riven taunts, “Well, you shouldn’t have dared me, you little shit.”

“That was such a dick move,” I huff. “I’ve never done anything bad to you.”

“Says the one who dyed my dog pink by bathing him in ketchup.”

“He was sprayed by a skunk, what else was I supposed to do?!” I ask incredulously.

“Oh, I don’t know,” Riven begins, mimicking my tone, “use the tomato juice like I told you to!”

Before I can fire back, Erica laughs at our petty argument. With a look in her eyes I find difficult to decipher, Erica smiles and says, “I’ll see you guys in the arena. Have a good night.” Confused by her sudden departure, Riven and I wish her goodnight and watch as she joins the rest of her team in the elevator. I glance around the lobby to see who is still lurking around and find that, as Serena from District 4 stomps her way into an elevator, we are just a couple of the handful of people still waiting around.

It isn’t long before Royce joins us, looking particularly exhausted. Riven chuckles, “What happened to you? Get mauled by the paparazzi or something?”

Royce shakes his head, sighing as we head toward the only elevator nobody has occupied yet, “Serena happened.”

I don’t bother disguising the eye roll that begs to be seen, “What did she want now?”

The smirk on Royce’s face is enough to tell me the redhead did something stupid, but the way he pitches his voice to mimic Serena’s high-pitched, whiny tone only makes the situation that much more hilarious. “To tell me I’m not in love with you and that I must be confused.”

Riven and I don’t bother hiding our laughter as the elevator begins to move. As the lobby below us begins to shrink, Riven asks, “You think she had a crush on you or something?”

“Most likely,” Royce shrugs. “She was always trying to hang around me and acted like she was the best in training whenever I was near her. I don’t see why she would pick me, of all people.”

My mouth works faster than my brain and I don’t stop myself before the words just start tumbling out, “Probably for the same reasons I like you.” Royce’s eyebrow raises and, deciding to just continue as though nothing happened, I shrug and add, “You’re smart, kind, you handled yourself really well in training, you’re connected to your mentors and the tributes from last year, and, to top it all off, you’re cute. She’s probably just mad she didn’t get to play her story around having a crush on you like I did.”

Riven is quick to mask the smirk on his face with a hum of agreement as the elevator slows to a stop and we reach our floor. He places a hand between my shoulder blades and gives me a gentle push toward the door as Royce and I just stand there like a pair of idiots, staring at each other wordlessly. “You’re probably right, Pip,” Riven says, guiding me out of the elevator with a smile before turning back to Royce. “We’ll see you tomorrow, kid.”

Royce seems to snap back to his senses as the elevator dings, forcing him to nod back at Riven. “Yeah, see you tomorrow.”

Once the doors close and Royce is rocketed up another three floors, I allow my head to thump against Riven’s chest as he wraps an arm around my shoulders. “That was so stupid.”

“It was,” Riven agrees with a soft chuckle, “but the way you said it could come off as something a friend would say. Don’t beat yourself up just yet.”

As Riven leads me to the living room, I sigh, “Easy for you to say. You didn’t just confess you liked someone before heading into a death match.”

“True,” he says with a smirk, “but I’ve done my fair share of stupid shit and stupid shit is almost always forgotten after a few days.”

With a scoff, I shake my head, “Well, one of us will probably be dead in a few days, so let’s hope you’re right.”

I feel Riven’s gaze on me and I don’t dare meet his eyes as he lets out a heavy sigh, “What happened to making it out together and getting some horses?”

“I’m still holding out hope,” I quietly tell him. “It just feels like our chances of the three of us getting out alive are getting slimmer as we get closer to going into the arena.”

Distantly, I hear the elevator ding as we sit on the couch, telling me the others have arrived in the corridor as Riven takes the opportunity to quickly kiss the top of my head. “We’ll make it out just fine. You just need to relax and trust that I’ll be there for you.”

Meeting Riven’s gaze is difficult since I’m so ready to prattle off about all the muddled thoughts that fill my head, but the confidence and sincerity in his hazel eyes seem to dull the tsunami that rages on in my head. He’s right and, as much as I hate to admit it, I know he is. I need to relax and trust that he can handle whatever comes our way. With Riven’s calm, collected eyes still locked on mine, I give him a nod and say, “I’ll always trust you, Riv.”

With a beaming smile, Riven squeezes me to his side and says, “That’s my Pip.”

We don’t get the chance to say anything else to each other as Halo enters from the other room with a smile so blindingly white that I’m sure her teeth must be fake. “There you two are!” she giggles, making her way to us and perching herself on the coffee table. “Dinner will be served in a little bit, are you going to change into something more comfortable before we eat?”

I peer up at Riven and we share a shrug before nodding to Halo who smiles as Riven says, “Wouldn’t want to get such fancy outfits all covered in food.”

“How right you are,” Halo chirps, clapping her hands together and offering us each a hand up as she rises from the small table. Once we’re on our feet, she all but shoves us toward the hallway and it isn’t long until I’m handing Riven the jacket I’ve had around my shoulders and disappearing into my room.

My shoes end up kicked aside by the end of the bed and my feet sing in relief once they’re gone. The hair is easy to untangle once Bissette’s stick is out of the way, but I’m surprised by just how many pins it took to hold together the ends of my braids. -Once my hair is down and I’ve shaken it loose, I move onto my dress which, sadly has no instruction manual to help me figure out how to take it off. It’s difficult to see what’s behind me on the dress and feeling around blindly does nothing to help me get the laces of the dress out, but once I settle in front of the mirror, I’m able to untie the bow that rests against the bottom of my spine. Thankfully, Juliet enters before I get too tangled in the strings that have held the gown together the entire night, taking the silky strands from my hands and loosening their hold on me with expertly quick fingers. In the mirror, I can see Juliet smile behind me as she says, “You were incredible tonight. From what I heard, you and Riven have earned a bunch of potential sponsors.”

“What about Royce?” I ask. “Did Carrie say anything about how he did?”

Juliet’s eyes find mine as her smile turns blinding. “He’s doing just as well as you two are. The way things seem to be going, your districts will have better odds than the Careers for the first time in a long time.”

The smile that blooms on my face doesn’t last long as my floundering thoughts get the better of me. “But there’s still no way to call off the Games, is there?”

I feel the need to apologize as Juliet’s expression falters, but she quickly brushes it off with a shake of her head and helps me out of the dress as silently as she helped me into it earlier. Once I’m free of the emerald fabric, Juliet sits on the end of my bed and allows me to change into a pair of shorts and a loose, flowing shirt as she says, “I don’t think there’s a way to stop the Games until you’re in the arena, but I have some ideas that could help you.”

As soon as I tug the shirt over my head and pull my hair free from under the collar, I make my way over to where Juliet has perched herself and say, “Any help is good help at this point.”

Juliet nods, pulling a thick elastic from her wrist and pulling her hair into a tight ponytail at the crown of her skull. “Well, the Gamemakers almost had to call off the Games last year after the incident with Kona’s tracker. They claim that they’re still investigating what happened, but we all know that isn’t true, so if you can find a way to trigger the cannons by either draining the battery or cutting it out of your arm, there’s no way for them to track your movements in the arena without broadcasting the fact that you’re still alive to all of Panem.”

“Do you really think something like that could work?”

With a shrug, Juliet asks, “Remember the guy from Six a few years ago who started eating the people he killed in the arena?” Of course, I do. I think everyone in Panem remembers him. His name was Titus and they had to electrically stun him a few times to get out the bodies of his victims before the Gamemakers eventually killed him in an avalanche. My parents made my siblings and I go to the other room to play a lot during his time in the arena, but it was impossible to not hear what was going on. With a shudder of disgust, I nod and Juliet continues, “Well, he supposedly killed one of the other tributes by slitting their wrist open, but the cannon went off when the tracker came out.”

“So, it just appeared that they were dead?”

“Exactly.”

The idea of anyone cutting my arm open just to remove my tracker makes my stomach clench and my skin run cold - I don’t handle blood well. “I could always drain it like Kona did, right?”

Juliet shrugs, “I suppose, but I figured that, in the event that there are no devices to drain it with, cutting it out wouldn’t be hard since it sits not far under the skin.”

She’s right, it would be easy. I just don’t want to keep thinking about it. “Makes sense,” I tell her. “Is there anything else?”

“Two more,” Juliet says. “One: if you get to the end with Royce and Riven, use the Capitol’s love for you three against them. The Gamemakers need a victor to keep the people happy, but if the Capitol loves all three of you to the point of protesting the Games, maybe the Gamemakers can make something happen. I’ll work my dad down as much as possible from the outside while you work on the Capitol’s heartstrings on the inside.”

She makes it sound easy. Three out of twenty-four making it out alive would be a slap in the face to the president and all the high-ranking officials that run the Games. The chances of the three of us being crowned are slim to none, but I desperately want it to come true, so I’ll take Juliet’s words at face value. “I can make that work,” I tell her.

Juliet takes my hand in hers and smiles as she says, “I know you can.”

After sharing a small smile with my stylist and friend, I ask, “What else was there?”

“Well,” she begins, “I overheard Mack and Brady talking with Riven about a plan to get you guys out when the time comes.”

That must have been what they got so quiet about when I came into the room. I hadn’t wanted to pry if they were going to tell me eventually, but I didn’t want to think it had anything to do with me. For once, I’m glad for the Capitol’s habit of promoting privileged, unbridled gossip. It’s helpful whether Juliet realizes it or not. Slowly, I bring myself to nod, take in a deep breath, and ask, “Do you have any idea what they were going to do?”

“Not really,” Juliet sheepishly admits. “They were pretty much done talking by the time I joined them, but I know for a fact that Riven said something about a tracker, and Mack and Brady promised him they were going to do whatever it takes, so take that as you will.”

If there’s one thing I know about Mack and Brady, it’s that they’re people of their word. If they promise you something, it’s as good as gold. If they told Riven they would help get us out of there, they’ll do it no matter what the cost. Mack and Brady are like another set of parents to me and Riven, and they have been for years now. I don’t doubt they’ll do whatever it takes to save me, Riven, and possibly Royce from the Capitol’s razor-sharp claws. For the first time in a while, it feels as though the elephant that had stepped on my chest at the reaping is finally lifting its foot. Relief floods through my veins, warming me from the inside like a cup of hot cider on a crisp autumn day and, finally, I feel like I can breathe again. As Riven knocks on the door and asks if we’re coming to dinner, I find the tension in my shoulders lessening and I call back that we’ll be there in a minute.

Turning to Juliet, I bring my arms around her shoulders and hug her tightly. The blonde’s shock doesn’t last long as her arms wind around my waist. We stay there for a while before I softly whisper, “Thank you, Juliet.”

“Of course,” she mutters back.

As I pull away enough to meet Juliet’s eyes, I make sure to get my point across by adding some seriousness to my tone as I repeat myself, “No, seriously. Thank you. You have no idea how much that means to me.”

Even though she seems taken aback by how intense my expression is, Juliet smiles sincerely and tilts her head down before slowly bringing it back up. “You’re welcome, Vivien. I’m not entirely sure how, but I’m glad that could bring you some solace.”

“It did,” I tell her.

“Good,” she softly says before taking my face in her hands and placing a kiss on each of my cheeks - a Capitol gesture I’d seen in movies before. Once she releases my face with a soft smile, Juliet stands from the bed and holds out a hand for me to latch onto before saying, “Now, let’s go eat before it gets cold.”

I let out an all too girly giggle and lace my fingers with Juliet’s before allowing her to pull me out of my bedroom and down to the dining room where everyone else is gathered, preparing to eat some kind of fish meat that I quickly realize is lobster just by taking one look at Riven’s plate from across the table. Our district doesn’t get a lot of lobsters, especially not for the regular citizens like my family, but I’ve had some before with Mick’s family during a sleepover and it was alright, I guess. I just wasn’t fond of having the crustacean looking back at me while I was trying to eat it. This time, thankfully, someone else had gotten to my plate before I sat down, pulled the meat out of the creature, and set it on my plate so I wouldn’t have its beady little eyes staring up at me the whole time. I try to eat my way through the lobster as quickly as possible, but with Riven tossing the shells of his lobster onto my plate after he’s through emptying them of meat and me fighting to not chuck them back at him so the Avoxes don’t have to clean up after us, it takes a lot longer to get through our meal.

After dinner, we watch the replay of the interviews on the television, and Riven’s stylist, Topaz, mentions many times how in love Royce and I seem to be. Now that Riven can see how well he did in his interview, he seems to not only relax, but also puff up with confidence. I’m proud of him and how well he handled himself. His ease with it all makes me feel as though my interview was a stumbling, stuttering mess, but everyone assures me that I came across as innocent and charming. I feel as though I looked more like a little girl looking up to her big sister than anything, but as soon as Royce claims his reciprocation for my feelings, I turn into something extraordinary in the Capitol’s eyes. No longer am I the little girl looking up to a dead girl she saw as an older sister. Now, I am a girl who is faithfully protected by a longtime friend and has been made elegant by her stylist, desirable by a fellow tribute, tragically in love by circumstance, and by all accounts, unforgettable.

Royce’s outcome will be similar. No matter how much his story relied on his bond with Miles, he will now be known as the boy from District 6 who tragically fell in love with a girl from another district before having to go into the arena where one, if not both, of them will eventually die. We have become their real-life Romeo and Juliet - a tragic love story playing out before their very eyes. Regardless of whether our feelings for each other are real or not, we certainly made ourselves memorable to the Capitol and it won’t be long before that all pays off in the arena. If they love us enough, maybe they’ll plead for our release and beg for us to be crowned victors together instead of watching us kill each other off.

When the anthem finishes and the screen goes dark, Halo stands from her seat, takes me and Riven by the hand, and, with tears in her eyes, wishes us well in the arena. She thanks us for being so kind-hearted and tells us we’ve been some of the best tributes she’s had in her time as an escort. Then in a flourish of Capitol theatrics, Halo wipes the tears from her eyes, kisses us both on the cheek, and scurries off to her room, most likely to cry in peace. We won’t be seeing her for the foreseeable future since Riven and I will have to be up at dawn to get ready for the Games, but her little goodbye was nice while it lasted.

Taking a deep breath, I turn my attention to Mick’s parents as they stand from the couch and position themselves so that they’re blocking the television. Brady is the first to speak, a serious tone in his voice that I hardly ever hear, “Now, no more joking around. Is there anything you can think of that would help you in the arena? Weapons, clothing, food, anything?”

Riven is quick to ask, “How about a thermal camera?”

It’s a good idea. We use them back home to see what part of a computer is overheating, but sometimes kids in the district use them for fun, tracking each other around in hide and seek by following the traces of heat they leave behind. It could be useful in the arena since we could track the other tributes by their heat signatures. Mack nods, scribbling out Riven’s answer on a pad of paper as she mutters, “Good thinking.”

“How about some food or water?” I question. “If we’re stuck on a ship in the middle of the ocean, food isn’t going to come easily and I wouldn’t trust half of the stuff the Gamemakers leave for us.”

“Not even the water,” Riven agrees. “There’s nothing those assholes like more than some dead tributes.”

Mack writes down our suggestions as we go, adding some ideas from Juliet and Topaz as well so the list feels more complete. After a while of working on the list, Mack sets down the pad of paper and Brady places an arm around her waist as I ask, “Any last advice for us?”

Brady slowly nods, takes a deep breath, and firmly says, “Once the gong sounds, get something small and the hell out of there unless you can get something big and get out quick. Take what supplies you need while the Careers are off hunting down others later on. Most Career groups go hunting for other tributes on the second or third day in the arena once there are no more easy pickings to kill, but in such a huge arena, they’ll probably only stick it out for a night before they go on a hunting spree.”

“Cruise ships are like mazes,” Mack adds. “The Capitol sent us on one for our honeymoon years ago. It’s easy to get lost, so if you have someone chasing you, it should be easy to hide out or evade them.”

Juliet softly pipes up from the corner of the couch she’s been silently sitting in since we first sat down, “If it’s anything like the ships my dad has brought me on, there are hidden passageways meant for the crew to be able to get from one place to another without being seen by the passengers. If you can find something like that, you might be able to hide out for most of the Games.”

“There are also lifeboat pods on the deck below the last floor of cabins,” Topaz offers. “At least, that’s how it was on the cruise I took last year. Those capsules fit quite a few people in case the ship starts taking on water.”

Brady turns to Mack and the pair share a nod of agreement. “That could be very helpful.”

“Anything else?” Riven asks.

“Stay alive,” the couple replies. If we can escape the bloodbath quickly enough, their advice will be easy to follow. Riven and I can only find it in us to nod at their words, but Riven is the first to stand and accept the hug they offer him. This is the last time we’ll be seeing them until we leave the arena, so we make this time count. Mack’s arms find me first and she holds me even tighter than she had on the train after the reaping. It feels more like the day they came back home after last year’s Games where they both took turns holding me tight and assuring me that everything would be alright sooner or later. One of Brady’s arms encircles my shoulders while the other wraps around his wife, his grasp just as tight as his wife’s. Despite the time they’ve spent in the Capitol, they still feel like home. We stay like that for a while before they finally release me, pressing soft kisses to my forehead before telling me they love me and that they’ll keep an eye on us. I don’t know what else to say, so I thank them for everything they’ve done for me before retiring to my room.

I spend a lot of time in the shower, washing the paint, makeup, and delicately made lines from my skin. By the time I’m done, my skin is red from scrubbing so hard to get the glitter off and all that remains of the prep team’s efforts are the intricate, circuit-board-style lines they’ve painted on my nails. I decide to leave the artwork there as a show of pride for my district and the work I’ve done. Perhaps it will give me something to cling to, a reminder of who I am in the days to come. Once I’m done drying off, I slide into a pair of loose sweatpants and a baggy shirt before trying to get some sleep. To my dismay, it only takes a few minutes to realize I won’t be sleeping anytime soon.

My thoughts fly faster than the hovercraft that will be taking me to the arena, gliding from thoughts of the arena to thoughts of home. I bet my family is just as anxious as I am. Mom is probably trying to keep Dad sane so that he doesn’t make my siblings scared all while fighting fear herself. She’s been the backbone of the family for years, but now that I’m older, I know she just masks her emotions really well. Oliver and I are far more like our dad in that aspect - emotions on display for the world to see. Abby takes after Mom, for the most part, keeping her feelings hidden as best she can, but it hardly ever works out for her. I wonder how they’re doing having Mick in the house. Mick only talked with me while I was waiting during the interviews, but I can attribute that to the training she’s probably endured all day with Oliver and Abigail and the excitement of everything going on in the house once the interviews finished. She hasn’t said a word since then. I wouldn’t be surprised If she only ever talks to me once I’m in the arena or the catacombs under it, but I want nothing more than for her to wish me a good night’s sleep before I go into the arena. Maybe that would encourage my eyelids to grow heavy.

An hour, maybe two passes with no sign of sleep coming. The more I try to chase sleep, the more it seems to elude me. It doesn’t take me too long to figure out that, regardless of how much I toss and turn in the soft blankets, sleep won’t come to a restless soul. It feels as though I’m running a mental marathon. I try getting out of bed and pacing the floor, but the fluffy carpet does nothing to stop the sharp breaths I suck in and helps little to still my racing heart. For the first time, my room begins to feel like a prison cell - a little box the Capitol has left one of its star prisoners in. The confinement gets too much for me to handle and I quietly twist the doorknob to leave, slinking down the hallways until I reach the door to the rooftop. The distance from the third floor to the rooftop is exhausting, but it gives me time to think until I reach the glass dome and pull the door open. Regardless of the energy field enclosing the roof and the metaphorical jail cell of a building I’m in, the air that breezes by has never felt so freeing. The city is loud tonight with raucous parties blaring their music as loud as it can go, car horns honking as they pass celebrations on the streets below, and people chatting at full volume on nearby balconies. Unlike the rest of the city, the Training Center roof isn’t normally lit at night unless someone wants to throw a little party for their district, but nobody is celebrating tonight. Tonight, the roof is only illuminated by the lights that shine endlessly in the Capitol’s skyline, but on the edge of the roof, legs dangling over the side of the building, is a silhouette that I know all too well by the coiled curls alone.

He runs a hand through his hair and I find that I could sneak back inside unnoticed. He’s wearing his brother’s earbuds and talking to someone back home, if the wild hand gestures are anything to go by. But I don’t want to return to the stuffy cage I’ve been confined to, and, for all Royce knows, we’re just friends putting on a show. What does it matter if we talk in private like this? My bare feet move soundlessly across the tiled floor and, when I’m only a yard or so behind him, I teasingly ask, “Don’t you think you should be getting some sleep?”

Royce starts, turning to me with wide eyes before sighing in relief when he sees me, “You scared the shit out of me.”

“You’re welcome,” I chuckle as I take up the empty space next to him.

Instead of saying something back to me, Royce mutters, “Don’t worry, Miles. It’s just Vivien.”

“Tell him I said hello,” I tell Royce.

I know he doesn’t have to relay the message, but Royce still does, returning with a hello from both of his brothers. When he finally relaxes, he asks, “Couldn’t sleep either?”

With a shake of my head, I tell him, “Kind of hard to sleep when we’ll be watching people die tomorrow.”

Royce hums in understanding as he pulls out his earbuds and sets them into a small case, “At least you have a chance at winning.”

“We have a chance at winning,” I correct him. His eyes look nearly black in the dark of the rooftop, but I find them nonetheless as he turns to me. “We’re in this together, Royce.”

“Until it gets to the final three,” he mutters. “Riven would do anything for you to make it out alive.”

“He wants to protect both of us, not just me,” I tell him firmly. “And I would do anything for you and Riven to make it out alive. You deserve to go home to your family.”

“You do too.”

“Then, I suppose we’ll just have to make it out together, no matter what the cost.”

Royce shakes his head minutely before staring out at the city with a sigh, “They’ll never take two victors, let alone three.”

“They’ll have to,” I say with a shrug. “Riven won’t kill either of us, he promised me that ages ago. You won’t kill Riven because-”

“Because he could snap me like a twig,” Royce laughs.

I join him with a soft chuckle, “You said it. I didn’t.”

Royce smiles at me - a real, genuine smile - before softly admitting, “And I won’t kill you because it would break every promise I’ve made myself.”

“You’re a true man of your word, huh?”

“My brothers and I take promises very seriously,” he tells me with a nod.

“I can appreciate that.” I let out a sigh, “Killing you would break a lot of my personal promises, too.”

“Oh yeah?”

With a nod, I clear my throat and say, “It would also go against everything I said in my interview.”

Royce’s gaze falls to his fingers as he picks at the corner of one of his nails. “I guess that’s important too. Gotta keep up appearances and all that.”

Maybe it’s the exhaustion talking or the imminent death waiting around the corner, but I don’t bother to hold my tongue as I turn my gaze to the skyline and find myself admitting, “Yeah, but what I said wasn’t all for appearances.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Royce’s head slowly rise, his golden brown eyes locked on the side of my face as he softly questions, “What do you mean?”

A small, sad grin appears on my face as I slowly turn toward Royce and say, “When I said I fell in love in this city, I wasn’t just saying that to impress the crowd.”

Royce’s eyes widen as he softly breathes, “Oh.”

“Yeah,” I say with a short nod, turning back to the city that, seemingly, never sleeps. “I didn’t realize it until the party after our scores were announced, but I think it started a long time ago.”

Once again, Royce lets out a very soft, “Oh.”

This time, however, he looks away and I feel my heart sink as his honey eyes scan the city as people cheer and party the night away. As much as I want so badly for my feelings to be reciprocated, I know I can’t force him to feel something he doesn’t. I guess it doesn’t really matter anyway. Even if we make it out of the arena alive, we’ll be living in separate districts and be unable to see each other apart from events like the Hunger Games or celebrations in the Capitol. Besides, the Capitol will have people throwing themselves at us for the rest of our lives. We won’t be able to have a simple, cute romance with all the nonsense around us at all times.

Royce turns back to me, looking poised to say something, but I brush him off with a wave of my hand and smile as I say, “You don’t have to say anything, Royce. It just feels good to get it off my chest before the Games begin.”

His mouth closes and I watch his eyes as the gears in his head whir to life, roaring louder than the computers back home when they overheat. I guess eyes really are the windows to the soul in Royce’s case. His thoughts race and I watch for a while before turning back toward the city and letting out a long breath. I try not to let my feelings get the better of me as silence clings to the air that flows by us, but it’s hard to hide my twitching fingers and the shuddering of my shoulders when I try to take in a breath. If Royce notices the minute details that give away how close I am to the verge of tears, he doesn’t say anything about it. Instead, he leans his forehead against one of the railings and sighs heavily. I spare a glance his way and softly ask if he’s alright, but Royce is quick to shake his head.

“No,” Royce mutters as he slowly runs his hands through his once-perfect curls and rests his fingers at the base of his neck. “No, I’m not okay.”

Placing a hand on his back, I softly ask, “What’s wrong?”

Royce’s hands fall to the metal bar as his head lifts from it and he turns to me with a bewildered look in his eyes. “You just told me that you’re in love with me,” he tells me and I nod, not seeing where he’s going with this train of thought.

“It’s not the best circumstances, I know,” I shrug as my hand drops from his back to the floor by my thigh. “But I already said you don’t have to say anything about it, so if you don’t feel the same, that’s fine. I’ll get over it sooner or later.”

Royce’s curls flare in a ring around his head as he quickly, adamantly shakes his head. His eyes, a rich, chocolate brown in the darkness of the rooftop, lock with mine and I can almost feel the warmth and sincerity in them as he sends me a small smile. “That’s just it,” he begins, reaching for the hand I had just moved and taking it in his. His fingers are cold, mostly from being out here longer than I have, but also from the grip he had on the wind-chilled, metal bar. “I don’t want you to get over it, Vivien.”

“Why not?” I question, hoping he can’t feel the racing of my heart as his fingers rest against the pulse point on my wrist.

“Because I feel the same way,” he practically whispers. My skepticism must show as Royce turns toward me and takes my hand in both of his. “You can ask anyone - Butchy, Kona, Carrie, hell, even my brothers - they’ll all tell you the same thing. They’ve been pestering me about it since I ran into you at the Remake Center.”

Deciding I can trust him with my feelings, I slowly turn so that I’m no longer swinging my legs off the side of the building and sheepishly tell Royce, “My teasing began on the train.”

“Really?” he asks me. I nod and tell him about Mick pressing so much to find out my opinion of him, hoping that I’d like him as much as she hoped I would. We spend a while on the roof, talking about how things have unfolded for us and what our plans in the arena are until the door leading onto the roof opens and Royce’s mentor, Butchy, makes an appearance.

“There you are, gattino,” the burly mentor sighs, his hands placed on his hips in the same manner my dad would stand when he was ready to reprimand me or my siblings. “I go to check on you and you’re nowhere to be seen. I had a feeling you’d be up here with the piccola.”

Before I get the chance to question what he called me, Royce speaks, “We both needed to get some air. I was talking to Miles when she came up.”

Butchy eyes us, his gaze lingering on our intertwined fingers as a smirk tugs at his lips. “Sure,” he drawls. “Well, you two should get back inside. You need as much sleep as you can before you hit the arena. Exhaustion-”

“Is basically sending an invitation to death,” Royce grumbles, shoving the case for his earbuds into his pocket and releasing my hand long enough to push himself to his feet before offering me a hand up. It’s evident, to me at least, that he must have heard the phrase a lot since being here. “Yeah, I know.”

“I’m just trying to help, gattino,” Butchy sighs, brushing some of Royce’s curls from his face once he has the curly-haired boy’s attention. “If anything happened to you, I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. And, as much as I’m sure you both love having this alone time, now is not the time for it.”

“I know,” Royce sighs, sounding far more sympathetic toward his mentor as the older man takes Royce’s free hand in his. Royce turns to me and softly apologizes before asking, “Are you going back inside too?”

“I am,” I tell him.

Almost instantly, Royce turns to Butchy and asks, “Can I at least walk her to her floor? You know, like you did for Mick?”

Butchy watches us for a brief moment before nodding. “Go ahead, bud, just come right back to Six, yeah?”

Royce quickly nods and allows Butchy to lead the way back into the building. He stops at his floor and wishes me a good night and good luck before disappearing into the hallway and leaving the door open just enough for Royce to sneak in through later. Royce walks with me until we reach my floor and we reluctantly release the grip we’ve held, but neither of us chooses to wipe the sweat from our hands as we both struggle to find the words to say. It’s a difficult situation to be in, but certainly not a completely uncharted one. Mick and Butchy were in a similar situation last year. In the awkward silence, I take a deep breath and sigh, “I guess I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Royce chuckles, “I’ll be the one running from the Cornucopia.”

The smile that blossoms on my face is hard to fight as I say, “I probably won’t be far behind you.”

With a small smile aimed my way, Royce takes my hand and presses a quick kiss to my knuckles before releasing me and softly saying, “Good night, Vivien.”

“Good night, Royce.”

I push the door open behind me and watch as Royce begins the climb back to his floor before slinking inside the hallway and silently pressing the door closed. The thought of sleep is no longer appealing to me, even though I know I need it, so I make my way to the living room where I find I’m not the only one still pacing the third floor. My mentors get quiet as I enter the room, but Brady is quick to ask, “What are you still doing up, honey?”

“Can’t sleep,” I tell them as I worm my way onto the cushion between them. Just like we’re watching a movie back at their home in Victor’s Village, their arms are secure around me as we settle into place. “I was going to see if sleeping on the couch helped.”

“Sadly, it’s not nearly as cozy as it looks,” Brady whispers. “I’ve slept out here more than once.”

Mack’s hand rests on the side of my head and slots me into place under her arm as I bring a hand around her waist. “Maybe someone just doesn’t want to be alone tonight,” she suggests.

“Maybe,” I mutter.

I hear them both hum in understanding, but as my eyes slide closed, they don’t say more. I try to listen as they talk softly around me, almost as though I’m not there, yet I find it hard to focus as their words bounce from topic to topic as I drift in and out of consciousness. My eyelids slide shut and I take in a deep breath as I hear a deeper, slightly louder voice ask if I’m with Mack and Brady. Riven is awake too, it seems. It’s impossible to comprehend any of what is said around me, but I eventually register the feeling of floating as I’m lifted off the couch by a pair of arms that could easily toss me out of the nearest window if they wanted to. I try to peel my eyes open as my head lulls against the person’s shoulder, but Riven doesn’t seem to notice my eyes on him as he walks back through the halls of our apartment and opens the door to my room. Riven deposits me between the sheets before covering me with my blankets and pausing to push my hair away from my eyes.

In my daze, I find Riven’s hand and hold it as tightly as I can muster, locking him in place for a least a moment. “Sleep, Pip,” he gently orders, kneeling next to the bed and rubbing tiny circles into my hand as he smiles down at me.

“Will you stay with me?” I ask in a yawn.

“I’m not supposed to,” he whispers in the quiet of my room. “We aren’t allowed to stay with each other.”

“But you’re my brother,” is my poor attempt at an argument.

It appears to be effective enough as Riven sighs, showing me that his resolve is wearing thin, “We’re not supposed to see each other before the arena.”

“Then just stay until I fall asleep.” Peering up at Riven, I tighten my hold on his hand and put on my best, teary-eyed gaze before pleading in a soft, overtired voice, “I don’t want to be alone, Riv.”

This is Riven’s undoing and I watch as his head drops and he lets out a prolonged sigh, “You’re really laying it on thick, aren’t you, pipsqueak?”

The giggle that leaves me makes me sound as though I’m no older than maybe six or seven, but in my exhausted haze, I can’t bring myself to care. It doesn’t matter, though, as Riven meets my gaze and I can tell he’ll stay with me for as long as I need him to. Normally, it’s Mick that has to deal with my whining pleas, but Riven dealt with me in this state a lot while Mick was missing in action. He carried me home from work more than once and had to deal with my clingy escapades for so long that it must no longer faze him. Riven runs a hand through his hair and yawns as he rounds the bed and slides into the empty space next to me, lifting an arm so I can find my resting place before relaxing into the mattress.

“Thank you,” I mutter, resting my head against Riven’s chest.

“It’s what family does,” he says, gently running his hand down my back as I curl into him. “Now, get some sleep before I knock you out myself.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I yawn, allowing myself to finally slip into the grasp of sleep.

When my eyes peel open again, Juliet is lightly shaking my shoulders and the sun hasn’t even risen past the horizon. Her presence is warm and welcoming like a fresh cup of coffee on a cool morning and she takes her time with me, brushing my hair out and giving me something simple to wear until we get to the catacombs before ushering me to the roof. My legs are sore from all of the climbing I’ve done on those stairs on the many rooftop trips I’ve taken in the week I’ve been here, but I’m sure that won’t be a problem soon. As we reach the rooftop, a hovercraft appears out of thin air and a ladder drops down from it. Juliet gestures for me to go first and tells me something about not being afraid as I take hold of one of the rungs. My body freezes as I step onto another rung, a mild current of electricity gluing me in place. We have something similar back home for kids who are afraid of needles so that they don’t thrash around while getting shots, so I’m not too taken aback that they’re using similar technology to make sure the tributes can’t run away.

A man in a white coat holding a syringe comes near me once I’m inside, sliding my tracker into my right forearm as he explains that they need me to stay as still as possible for it to be placed correctly. The stinging in my arm from the injection disappears as the ladder releases me and goes back for Juliet, but I continue to rub my arm until my stylist has joined me. An Avox girl comes and directs me and Juliet to a room where breakfast has been laid out. The anxiety of the day has yet to sink in, so I wolf down as much as I can stomach, pounding back cups of coffee with Juliet until I decide I’ve had enough caffeine, and forces me to down some water. Juliet sits across from me as we watch the city below us turn into wilderness. The flight takes a while as we pass over a district - possibly District 1 or 4 - but Juliet keeps me entertained by helping me share stories of home. What she’ll do with the information, I may never know, but she seems keen on knowing everything about me and my family’s situation. In return, Juliet shares stories of her childhood and how different her life was growing up. At one point, she was the Head Gamemaker’s daughter and had grown up with her father teaching her the difference between what the Capitol schools taught and what he felt was right morally. Now, as the daughter to the president of the country, she felt it was her duty to help protect the people from the Capitol’s chaotic mess.

I’m unsure if Juliet’s storytelling is for my benefit or if she simply needs to get things off her chest, but I still listen to every word as though it’s the most important thing in my life. The conversation only lulls when the windows next to us black out after about an hour or so of flying, alerting us to the fact that we’re close to the arena. The hovercraft seems to only hover above the arena as Juliet and I are brought back to the ladder that now brings us into a tube leading into the catacombs. Juliet takes my hand as we follow the path leading us to my Launch Room, reminding me that I’m not alone in any of this. Although many districts call the preparation rooms the Stockyards, District 3 still calls it the Launch Room as a reminder of all the space explorations we helped create technology for. Granted, nobody in Panem thinks that stuff is important anymore, but we still care about it all the same.

Juliet busies herself with preparations for my hair and my token while I shower and brush my teeth, but she refuses to tell me what token Mack and Brady turned in for me until after my clothing arrives. I must emulate a statue by how still I sit while Juliet weaves my hair into braids, but once she shows me the four braids that connect into two ponytails on top of the rest of my loosened hair, I have to question her on it. “Wouldn’t it be better if my hair was all up?”

“Leaving your hair down makes it harder for people to grab you, but I wanted to keep some of it out of your way,” Juliet answers. “Besides, the four braids are for the people you love.”

“How?”

Juliet hovers a hand above each respective braid as she lists off, “One for your family, one for your friends, once for Riven, and one for Royce.”

The thought of something so simple meaning something so significant makes me smile, but it soon disappears as the clothing arrives and Juliet goes through the package with a hesitance that makes me nervous. Going into this, she has no clue what outfit I’ll be given which must suck as a stylist, but she plays off her surprise fairly well as she lays out the clothing on the only table in the room so we both can see it. My outfit consists of a black, one-piece swimsuit with long sleeves, a zipper up the front, and a leafy print on it that Juliet claims looks like the fronds of a palm tree, a pair of loose, emerald shorts to match the leafy pattern, a thick, adjustable belt, and a pair of sneakers that will come just above my ankle and are in the same emerald color as everything else.

Juliet helps me into the outfit, rattling off about how she could have done a much better job picking out the clothing as we go. I have no doubt that she could have, if given a chance. While the outfit suits the theme we went with for the interview, Juliet and I both feel the dark color scheme makes me a lot look paler than it would have if the outfit included more golden tones. Once everything is on and Juliet feels as though we can’t make it look any better, she heads over to where she’s left her small bag of things and digs around before returning with a small box and my glasses.

“The hair stick from your friend wouldn’t have passed because it could have been used as a weapon and I had to fight with the Gamemakers to let you keep these since I believe they’re a medical necessity,” Juliet sighs as she slides my glasses onto my face. “It wasn’t until my dad stepped in that they finally gave in and allowed them as well as your token.”

“You didn’t have to fight so hard for that,” I softly laugh. “I would’ve been fine with just the glasses.”

“I know you would’ve,” she insists, “but that doesn’t make it right.”

Knowing better than to argue with Juliet at this point, I simply smile and say, “Thanks, Juliet.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Juliet giggles. With a dramatic hand gesture, she presents the little box to me with a flourish and I find that my mom’s necklace with my parent’s wedding rings on it has been laid inside. “Ta-da!” Juliet sings as she sets the box in my hand.

She must have taken it from my nightstand back in the Training Center and gotten it approved when I was in training at some point. I pull the necklace from the box and allow Juliet to help me clasp it around my neck before slipping it under the neck of the swimsuit and zipping it up to my clavicle. I thank her too many times to count, pulling her into a tight hug as time ticks by. After a while, Juliet offers me some food and I make sure to eat enough to feed an army and drain at least a liter of water since there’s no telling when I’ll get more. My tracker sits not far under the skin and it doesn’t take long for Juliet and me to discover that I have a tendency to pick at things that don’t belong in my body since I keep poking at the hard little bump on my arm, almost willing it to poke back through my skin so I can be done with this whole thing. Eventually, Juliet gets tired of my constant fidgeting and takes my hands in hers, giving me words of encouragement until an all too calm female voice announces that it’s time to prepare for launch.

“I feel like I’m more afraid than you are right now,” Juliet tells me as we stand and she leads me to the circular metal plate in the corner of the room.

“I have Riven for protection and faith that our mentors will help us just as much as you will,” I tell Juliet as she brings me into the last squeeze we’ll share for the time being. “It’s also a shit-ton of caffeine and adrenaline.”

Juliet and I share a laugh as I step onto the metal plate, but her expression turns serious as she says, “I’m getting you three out of there one way or another.”

Giving her a solid nod, I say, “I know. I trust you.”

“Good,” Juliet smiles as a glass cylinder begins lowering around me. “I’ll see you in a few days.”

“In a few days,” I echo.

Juliet nods back at me before rolling her shoulders back and tapping the back of her hand under her chin. Perfect your posture and hold your head high. As the cylinder begins to push me upward like a syringe full of medicine, I push my shoulders back and tip my head up slightly, hoping to look at least the littlest bit confident as the distinct smell of saltwater fills my nostrils and a breeze blows the scent of fresh paint in my direction as my eyes adjust to the light beaming down on us from above. Then, as I survey the area around us, I hear the legendary announcer, Claudius Templesmith, as his voice echoes through the area.

“Ladies and gentlemen, let the Sixty-third annual Hunger Games begin!”

#Scattered Screams #Vivien #Royce #Riven

8 notes · View notes

your-resident-boat-person · 1 year

Text

Story Time.

I was over my friends house, and I could hear his younger brother playing minecraft. He was playing with like, four of his friends who were voice chatting. Me, being the despicable person that I am, get an idea. I open my laptop, open minecraft, and see the option to join his world. I immediately join, and my scheming is already rewarded when I hear from the other room "who just joined?" When I spawned into this world, I was in the middle of nowhere and presumably far away from wherever they were. I decide to wreak some havoc. I typed in chat, "I AM THE INTERLOPER." Again, from the other room, I hear "who is the interloper?". They squabble about it for a few minutes before deciding to ignore it. A few minutes later, I hear him mention that he found 17 iron. I type in chat "17 IRON? THE INTERLOPER DESIRES IT. " Now they really begin to argue and try to unmask the interloper like a fucked up game of among us. Before it gets too bad, I type in chat "THE INTERLOPER HAS BECOME BORED. PEACE OUT" and left the game. For the next couple of days, my friend and I were able to hear him bickering with his friends about which of them they think the interloper is. I sowed seeds of distrust into this friend group. I didn't mean it. I just thought it would be funny to spook them by joining their world. Now, the interloper inside me is talking to me like the Green Goblin mask every time my friends brother gets on minecraft. I don't know how he didn't figure out it was me, considering my first name is in my minecraft username. The funniest part of this whole thing? None of them knew what the word interloper meant.

#this was funnier in person trust me

5 notes · View notes

ausetkmt · 2 years

Text

Oct. 5, 2022

Suzan-Lori Parks is drawn to archways. Early on in her New York life, long before she became one of the nation’s most acclaimed playwrights, she lived above a McDonald’s on Sixth Avenue — the Golden Arches. Then she moved out by Brooklyn’s Grand Army Plaza, with its triumphal Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Arch. Now she lives in an apartment overlooking the marble monument honoring the nation’s first president at the entrance to Washington Square Park.

“It’s very symbolic,” Parks told me. “I’m always orienting myself to arches.”

Arches, of course, are gateways, portals between one world and another, and Parks is endlessly thinking about other worlds.

This season, audiences will have ample opportunity to join her.

A starry 20th-anniversary revival of “Topdog/Underdog,” her Pulitzer Prize-winning fable about two brothers, three-card monte and one troubling inheritance, is in previews on Broadway. “Sally & Tom,” a new play about Parks’s two favorite subjects, history and theater, but also about Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings, has just begun performances at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. “Plays for the Plague Year,” Parks’s diaristic musings on the first year of the Covid-19 pandemic and a coincident string of deaths, including those of Black Americans killed by police officers, is to be presented next month at Joe’s Pub, with Parks onstage singing and starring. And “The Harder They Come,” her musical adaptation of the 1972 outlaw film with a reggae score, will be staged at the Public Theater early next year.

“I’m like a bard,” she said. “I want to sing the songs for the people, and have them remember who they are.”

At this point in her career, Parks, who in 2002 became the first African American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize in drama, is a revered figure, regularly described as one of the greatest contemporary playwrights.

“She occupies pretty hallowed air: She’s the one who walks among us,” said the playwright Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, who teaches playwriting and performance studies at Yale.

“She’s the reigning empress of the Black and weird in theater,” he said. “And she really is the most successful dramatist of the avant-garde working today.”

PARKS HAS BEEN TELLING STORIES since she was a child. She wrote songs. She tried writing a novel. There was a period when she made her own newspaper, called The Daily Daily, reporting on what she saw through a Vermont attic window. (She was born in Kentucky, and moved frequently because her father was in the military.)

While an undergraduate at Mount Holyoke, she had the good fortune to take a creative-writing class at nearby Hampshire College with James Baldwin, who suggested she try playwriting, and, even though she feared he was just trying to politely steer her away from prose, she did. “That’s what I’m doing still,” she said. “Trying theater.”

Her apartment is filled with evidence of a furiously busy creative life: shelves heaving with plastic crates containing thoughts on pending and possible projects; elements of a second novel marinating on a wallboard cloaked by a blanket; index cards in Ziploc bags; a laptop perched on a crate atop the dining table; lyric revisions in notebooks on a music stand by an ever-at-the-ready guitar. (She is a songwriter who occasionally performs with a band; this season’s four productions all feature music she wrote.)

“Writing, I think, is related to being kind of like a witch,” she said as she showed me around. “Writing is magical. I loved mythology, and folk tales, and I could hear them — old stories — not in a recording of something that somebody living in my presence had told me, but if you listen, you can hear organizational principles of nature, which includes the history of people, which is narrative.”

Sign up for the Theater Update Newsletter Every week, stay on top of the top-grossing Broadway shows, recent reviews, Critics’ Picks and more.

So writing is listening? “Not in a passive way,” she said. “I’m on the hunt.” By this point, she was on her feet, pantomiming the stalking stance of a wild cat, preparing to pounce. “You’re being drawn toward it, and you’re reeling it in at the same time, like a fisher.”

As she talked, she kept cutting herself off, reaching for ways to differentiate her craft. “There’s a lot of writers who have ideas, and they have an agenda, and that’s cool,” she said. “I think I’m something else.”

Digging in to the question of why she writes, she became more and more expansive, reflecting on the songlines of Indigenous Australians, which connect geography and mythology.

“We have our songlines too — we just forgot them a long time ago,” she said. “They’re encoded in all the religious texts. They’re in African folk tales. They’re in the stories that your mom or your grandmother taught you. They’re there, and I can’t get them out of my head.”

“If you can hear the world singing,” she added, “it’s your job to write it down, because that’s the calling.”

PARKS IS NOW 59, and her work has been in production for 35 years. In 1989, the first time The New York Times reviewed her work, the critic Mel Gussow declared her “the year’s most promising new playwright.” In 2018, my critic colleagues at The Times declared “Topdog/Underdog” the best American play of the previous quarter century; explaining the choice, Ben Brantley, who was then the paper’s co-chief theater critic, described Parks as “a specialist in the warping weight of American history,” and declared, “Suzan-Lori Parks has emerged as the most consistently inventive, and venturesome, American dramatist working today.”

“She is a genre in and of herself,” said the playwright James Ijames, who won this year’s Pulitzer Prize in drama for “Fat Ham.” And what is that genre? “It is formally really dazzling, in terms of how she structures the play; there is humor underpinned with horror and political satire; there’s this real thread of the blues and folkways and things that are just root Black American signifiers; it’s musical, it’s whimsical, it’s playful, and it’s dangerous — all of the stuff that’s so exciting to see onstage.”

Her early plays were experimental (“opaque,” Brantley once wrote). The recent plays have been more accessible, for which Parks makes no apologies.

“People — not you, but people — when they ask that question, they’re like, ‘Oh, so now you’re selling out! You’re getting more mainstream and you’re not being true to your roots!’” she said. “Oh, no. I’m becoming more and more and more true. Trust me on this one: I’m following the spirit, no doubt. So, yeah, ‘Plays for the Plague Year’ looks like real life, cause it is. So maybe we ought to think about what am I writing about, and if I’m true to what I’m writing about.”

Reflecting her singular stature, Parks has an unusual perch from which to work: She is a writer in residence at the Public Theater, where she receives a full-time salary and benefits. At the Public, she also conducts one of her great ongoing experiments, “Watch Me Work,” a series of events, in-person before the pandemic and online now, at which anyone can work on their own writing while she works on hers, and then they talk about creativity. Early in the pandemic, Parks held such sessions online every day.

“Her great subject,” said the Public’s artistic director, Oskar Eustis, “is freedom. It’s both what she writes about, and how she writes.”

As part of her arrangement with the Public, Parks is also an arts professor at N.Y.U., which is how she wound up across from Washington Square Park, where she lives in faculty housing with her husband, Christian Konopka, and their 11-year-old son. For years, they shared one bedroom; this summer, they finally scored an upgrade, just 70 steps down the hall (their son counted), but now with a bit more space and that archward view.

She has surrounded herself with a striking number of good-luck charms: not only the pink unicorn balance board on which she stands while typing, but also a tray of unicorn plushies; James Baldwin and Frida Kahlo votive candles; a hamsa wall hanging she picked up at a flea market; milagro hearts from Mexico; Buddha, Ganesh, rabbit and turtle figurines; and a deck of tarot cards (yes, she did a basic reading for me; I drew the high priestess card). Also: she has tattooed into one arm, three times, a yoga sutra in Sanskrit that she translated as “submit your will to the will of God.” (She calls herself a “faith-based, spiritual-based person,” and is also a longtime practitioner of Ashtanga yoga, which she does every morning, after meditation and before writing.)

“All the help I can get, baby,” she said.

THE MANY ARTIFACTS on display in her apartment include a shelf set up as a shrine to Baldwin, a dollar bill Parks collected when, feeling the need to perform, she tried busking in a subway station, and a “Black Lives Matter” placard she held at protests during the summer of 2020, when she also signed the “We See You White American Theater” petition, written by an anonymous collective, calling for changes in the industry.

“Hey, I’m angry as the next Black woman,” she said. “And yet, to get through this, we need to also listen — listen to the voice of anger, listen to the voice of love, listen to the voice of wisdom, listen to the voice of history.”

She added, “Let’s not just stand around telling people that they suck. At least where I come from, that’s not a conversation, and, at least where I come from, that’s not good dialogue.”

The tone of some of the conversation around diversity in theater is clearly a concern of hers — that’s obvious in “Plays for the Plague Year,” which, in the most recent draft, contains a playlet called “The Black Police,” in which three “Black Cops” approach a “writer,” played by Parks, and say, “We’re here to talk with you about your blackness/Why you work with who you work with.”

In our interview, Parks said she was troubled by “the policing of Black people by Black people, and not just in the arts,” adding, “we have to wake up to the ways we are policing each other to our detriment.”

“No more trauma-based writing!” she said. “These are rules. And Suzan-Lori Parks does not like to be policed. Any policing cuts me off from hearing the spirit. Sometimes the spirit sings a song of trauma. I’m not supposed to extend my hand to that spirit that is hurting because it’s no longer marketable, or because I should be only extending my hand to the spirits who are singing a song of joy? That’s not how I want to conduct my artistic life.”

She also said she is troubled by how much anger, at the Public Theater and elsewhere, has been directed at white women. “Not to say that Karen doesn’t exist. Yes, yes, yes. But it’s interesting that on our mission to dismantle the patriarchy, we sure did go after a lot of white women. If you talk about it, it’s ‘You’re supporting white supremacy.’ No, I’m not. I’m supporting nuanced conversation. And I think a lot of that got lost, and lot of times we just stayed silent when the loudest voice in the room was talking, and the loudest voice in the room is not always the voice of wisdom.”

THIS SEASON, SHE’S PIVOTING back toward the stage after a stretch of film work in which she wrote the screenplay for “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” and was a writer, showrunner and executive producer of “Genius: Aretha,” both of which were released last year.

At the start of the pandemic, she assigned herself the project that became “Plays for the Plague Year,” writing one short play each day for 13 months. The discipline was a familiar one: In 2002, after winning the Pulitzer, she began “365 Days/365 Plays,” then she did another daily playwriting exercise during the first 100 days of the Trump presidency. The pandemic play is part personal history — how the coronavirus affected Parks and her family — and part requiem for those who died during that period, from George Floyd to Parks’s first husband. The play, like much of Parks’s work, features songs she wrote. “I was moved into other states, where I wasn’t just documenting what happened that day, but I wanted to sing,” she said.

She’s got plenty still to come — she’s still polishing “The Harder They Come,” which will feature songs by Jimmy Cliff and others, including Parks, who said the story, set in Jamaica, “really captures a beautiful people in their struggle.” She’s then hoping to turn to that second novel (a first, “Getting Mother’s Body,” was published in 2003).

She is planning a screen adaptation of “Topdog,” as well as a new segment of her Civil War drama “Father Comes Home From the Wars” (so far, three parts have been staged; she said she expects to write nine or 12). Also: she’s writing the book, music and lyrics for an Afrofuturist musical, “Jubilee,” that she’s developing with Bard College; “Jubilee,” inspired by “Treemonisha,” a Scott Joplin opera that was staged on Broadway in 1975, is about a woman who establishes a new society on the site of a former plantation.

On a recent afternoon in Minneapolis, Parks settled in behind a folding table to watch a stumble-through of “Sally & Tom,” which is being developed in association with the Public, where it is expected to be staged next fall. The work, directed by Steve H. Broadnax III, is structured as a play-within-a-play — it depicts a contemporary New York theater company in the final days of rehearsing a new play about Jefferson’s relationship with Hemings, an enslaved woman. Parks has had a longtime interest in Jefferson and Hemings, and at one point had worked on a television project about the relationship that never got made; the play, she said, is not a straight historical drama, but “about how the world is made, and how we live in this country.”

The protagonist is a playwright who, like Parks, is warm but exacting, and is rewriting and restructuring the show as opening night nears. When I asked Joseph Haj, the Guthrie’s artistic director, how much he thought the play was about Parks, he at first shrugged it off, saying artists are always present in their work. After the run-through, he grabbed me to amend his remarks. “I take back everything I said,” he said. “I see her all over this.”

Kristen Ariza, who is playing the playwright as well as Hemings (the fictional playwright stars in her own play) said “the play is full of humor, until it’s not.”

“It feels so meta, because we’re doing the play, within the play, and we’re doing all these things like within the play,” she said. “She’s constantly questioning, ‘Does this fit? Is it working? Is it flowing correctly? She’s hearing our voices and adding things and making things work better as we go.”

A few days later, Parks was in Times Square, watching an invited dress rehearsal for “Topdog/Underdog.” The set is draped in a floor-to-ceiling gold-dipped American flag, meant, the director, Kenny Leon, told me, to reflect the way commerce infuses the culture.

Two actors who have enjoyed success onscreen, Corey Hawkins (“In the Heights”) and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (“Watchmen,” “Aquaman”), play the story’s brothers, mischievously named Lincoln and Booth. They share a shabby apartment; Lincoln, fatefully, works as a Lincoln impersonator at an amusement park where patrons pretend to assassinate him, while Booth makes ends meet by shoplifting. Their relationship to each other, to truth-telling, and to their shared history is at the heart of the story.

Both actors encountered the play as undergraduates; Hawkins was a stagehand on a production at Juilliard, and Abdul-Mateen read a few scenes as Booth while at Berkeley. “It’s the first piece of material that I ever performed on a stage that I felt like was written for someone like me,” Abdul-Mateen said.

Like many people I spoke with, Abdul-Mateen was particularly struck by Parks’s ear for dialogue. “It’s as if she eavesdropped on these two characters,” he said, “and just wrote everything down as she heard it.”

Hawkins called the play “an ode to young Black men who don’t always get to live out loud.” And he is embracing that opportunity — one night, he called Parks at 2 a.m. to discuss a section of the play; she has also helped him learn the guitar, which he had not played before getting this role. “There’s something very grounding about that peace that she carries,” he said. “When she walks in the room, she carries the ancestors, the people we’re trying to honor, with her.”

Shortly after we hung up, my phone rang: Hawkins again, this time with a reverential plea. “Make us proud, man,” he said. “She’s a national treasure for us.”

#Suzan-Lori Parks Is on Broadway #Off Broadway and Everywhere Else #Suzan-Lori Parks #Broadway #Black Actors #African American Playwriters

3 notes · View notes

celineytumbles · 5 months

Text

It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

"With the kids jingle belling and everyone telling you 'Be of good cheer!'" - Andy Williams 🔔

So, who still uses Tumblr these days?

Apparently I do. It's 'cause this is my only personal blog page still existing. I have a devotional blog. Just wanna plug that 'cause Jesus deserves it.

Speaking of the Lord, it's His time of the year. For Christians, the rest of their lives is God's, but for most of the world, December 25 is His day.

This year, to save me from tears… Sorry. The sentence started with "This year," so I had to continue the lyrics. OK, so this year, I'm writing a blog entry here on Tumblr as my birthday gift to Jesus and my Christmas gift to the world. I actually planned to record myself singing a Christmas song while playing the piano, but we couldn't find our webcam. It has a good video quality and a very capable mic, and with it, I can shoot from an angle I want, so I couldn't film without it.

So here we are in Tumblr, and it's fitting because this is a throwback post. I was reminiscing on what I've been doing for Christmas through the years beside the gift giving to classmates and teachers as a student and the festive family dinners. What I was thinking about was the things I do, like a Christmas project of my own. I had to go back to my saved files of my deleted Facebook account that got hacked. Then I thought I could go further back to the very first blog I had because I had those posts saved too. The blogs were removed and, unfortunately, the site was shut down in 2021.

Let me take you to a walk down my memory lane of Christmas projects.

It was the year 2007. I wanted to know about the episodes of Disney's The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, and poof! I discovered TV.com, a website like IMDB where there are forums and users can blog. I started blogging, and I made some online friends.

Here was my Christmas post there. It's a poem.

"My Christmas Gift For You"

Happy Christmas This poem's for you Though it may not last These words stay true

This Christmas season Let us commemorate For the real reason It's Jesus Christ that we celebrate

He came to this world with humility He said goodbye to save our sins He'll come again for all humanity That's what Christmas means

I just want to give you something In a way that is different I chose to do this rhyming I hope you like this simple present

I can't give expensive things But I can still share what I have I share my blessings I spread the love

I was 14 years old when I wrote this. I think I didn't make it clear enough that Jesus' goodbye there was when He died on the cross, not when He ascended to heaven.

The next year, I made a picture greeting. I had to recreate it because the image in the saved file has watermarks.

Counterclockwise from the top left, that's Aly & AJ's Christmas album, the main cast of The Suite Life of Zack and Cody, Jessica Simpson's Rejoyce Christmas album, and of course, the Jonas Brothers.

In 2009, celebrities joined Twitter, so I did too. I connected my Twitter and Facebook accounts so that my tweets get posted on FB as well.

I tweeted one of my favorite Christmas songs. (How do we say that for X now? I x'd 💀) That Twitter account got suspended, so I generated this picture. I got the tweet from the FB posts saved.

In 2011, we had this laptop where you can draw on the screen, so I made the 5 squares you see here that are made digitally. The other 4 are drawn on paper.

2013 was the year I started writing many poems throughout the year, so, naturally, my Christmas greeting was another poem.

2014 had a miserable Christmas for me because I had school on Christmas day. We were in the Middle East.

I got severely depressed in 2015, so I wasn't using social media. But, of course, I still celebrated it with my family.

In 2016, my FB got hacked. That's why all the FB post pics above are just generated images.

I made a comeback in 2017.

In 2018, my family was all together in our Church's multi-generational choir. Obviously, this isn't a personal project, but I want to include it here anyway.

That year, I also started playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp.

Our last Christmas in Bahrain was in 2019. It was our last time singing with the choir as a family.

2020 was our comeback to our home country, and after we got settled in our new house, COVID-19 was a widespread pandemic. It was a year of playing video games, making YouTube videos, and watching TikToks.

The posts below are from my Instagram. That's why there are hashtags.

2021 was a year of productivity. I released music videos of songs I composed and produced, started my Bible devotional blog, and joined a Bible study group.

youtube

I made this vid using Animal Crossing. This song's Phil Wickham's, not mine.

This is a screenshot of this blog post.

In November of 2022, God granted my desire to buy myself a piano.

youtube

There weren't any more new updates for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, so my greeting for 2022 was from its ever-updated mobile game.

This year 2023, Blackpink released its mobile game, so here's my greeting:

I thought I would just be looking back at Christmases, but it turned out to be looking back at my life. The Lord has been truly faithful. He keeps on sustaining me and my loved ones. I'm just glad the world recognizes this holiday where we can all celebrate love, which they may not fully understand it's of God. We enjoy the season together whether it's through music, gaming, or even literature like poetry or books, which I haven't done yet, but I just recently finished listening to the audiobook of The Nutcracker and the Mouse King. Now it has become a new dream of mine to publish a Christmas book.

So, I ended up sharing myself. But what I want you to see is how Christ is the most important that I make effort every December to do something special.

"For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

- Isaiah 9:6, NJKV

A blessed Noël to us all!

With sugar plum love, Celine ❤️

#christmas #disney #animal crossing #the sims #blackpink #poetry #carol of the bells #little drummer boy #celiney blogs about

0 notes

bubbledumbbinch · 3 years

Text

Yandere! Idia Shroud x Camgirl! Reader SMUT

A/N: Hello! This is my first fic I've posted on tumblr, and I'm not used to using it at all. I hope this turned out okay and you enjoy! This is a College AU, implied magicless world, and reader is a camgirl.

This fic is purely 18+, minors do not interact.

Word Count: ~4.4k

Warnings: dubcon, brief mention of blood, non consensual drug use (aphrodisiacs)

Friday night, 11:24pm, 6 minutes before your scheduled time to start “work”. You had just finished putting on your makeup and outfit, now trying to hype yourself up in the mirror.

'I can do this. This is gonna be a great show!' You told yourself, while staring at your reflection wearing the revealing outfit. Tonight’s choice was a catgirl maid costume; the maid dress just barely covering your body and showing a large amount of chest. A choker with a bell on it, cat ears, and thigh high socks.

Giving yourself a nod of encouragement, you sat down in the chair in front of your desk, where your laptop and webcam were situated, along with your ring lights, one at each side of the desk so you were well lit for the camera. Making sure you were logged into the site, your camera angle looked good, and your laptop was charging, you waited.

You loved your side gig as a camgirl. You were able to appeal to multiple people’s sexual desires while also being able to bring yourself to pleasure, sometimes more than once per stream, if there were enough donations of course. You were also able to make a decent amount of money while doing this side job, paying for college while having fun was a pretty big plus. And, if you were gonna be honest, the validation of being attractive to so many people really made you feel a lot better about yourself.

You quickly noticed your clock switch to 11:30pm. Time to start. You clicked on the set of buttons you pretty much knew by heart to get the show started. Once it did, you started up some music to fill the silence. Just some cute electronic music to dance in your chair to while you wait for the viewers to come in. You didn’t really have as many as the big camgirls but you had a few loyal people come and watch your streams, which set your heart at ease.

5 viewers

cay-kun @ 11:31pm: wooow y/n-chan, you look so cute! excited for tonight’s show~

User18535 @ 11:32pm: fuck you’re so goddamn cute, i love your tits. can’t wait to see what that pussy looks like

10 viewers

You playfully giggled while reading the last message, winking and sticking your tongue out while flashing the camera your panties from under your skirt. While waiting for more people to join, you also made a point to talk to your viewers, asking about their day and what they’ve been up to recently, which they loved you for.

25 viewers

User58273 @ 11:34pm: You look so kawaii, I wish I could have you service me.

40 viewers

Glancing at the viewer count, you decide to officially start.

“Hi hiii~ I’m so happy to see you all here tonight! Let’s have some fun, hmm?” you started playfully. “Do you guys like my outfit?” Messages of “yes” and “yeah baby”s began flooding the chat and you grinned. “Well, I have something that will be a real treat for you all~”

You reached over to grab something that couldn’t be seen by the camera or the viewers.

~~~~~

Idia was browsing through the site full of nude streamers, trying to find a person to watch so he could relieve his tension from this week. It was midterms season and his Computer Science teachers were giving him hell by making him do in person presentations, exams, and assignments that kept piling up. It took a lot of time away from gaming and side projects of coding his own programs. He also unfortunately didn’t have his little brother Ortho with him in college, as the university didn’t allow them both to attend “as one student”. Ortho definitely eased some stress as someone he could trust and talk to, but Idia’s parents decided to keep Ortho at home to “prevent Idia from being distracted”, much to his dismay.

Idia was at least blessed to not have a roommate, so he could at least have his own privacy for nights like this. Idia’s eyes landed on a thumbnail of a girl that was dressed in cat ears and a lewd maid outfit and was intrigued. He clicked on the video icon and was met with your figure bent so that your ass was up and legs were spread on the chair you were previously sitting on. The girl on the stream had her panties down to her knees and was currently lubing up a cat tail butt plug.

“Ah, I’ve never used this before so, bear with me, please!” She pleaded, eyes looking directly at the camera. Idia was intrigued now this was her first time using it. He felt like this was perfect timing, almost like she was doing it just for him. Until he saw the comments flooding in from different people who were probably thinking the same way.

“Put it in already”

“Go slow okay~”

“don’t force yourself if you don’t want to! >//<”

“Tch,” Idia scoffed to himself. “Seems like she has simps already. No use in being interested in someo-“

“H- here it goes!” You moaned, starting to slowly shove the length and girth of the butt plug into your tight hole. “Aaanh~ it’s stretching me out...” Your eyes pricked with tears while your face contorted into pure pleasure with a hint of pain, all while staring at the camera. Every so often he could hear the little jingle from the bell on your choker.

Idia felt his pants getting tighter and his palms were starting to sweat. The face you made at him was just too unreal and he needed more. He palmed at his growing erection while you shivered at the feeling of being filled by the toy. Pulling his sweatpants down to his ankles, he started stroking his cock lightly.

cay-kun @ 11:38pm: oh y/n-chan the way that stretches out your hole is so sexy~ definitely taking a screenshot for later!

User39748 @ 11:38pm: SHIT i wish i was there fucking you with that in your ass

Blushing, you turned around so that one of your legs were in the chair while your other was up, effectively showing the camera a view of your pussy and butt plug. “What do you want me to do? I’ll just play with myself until someone makes a donation and tells me what I should do! Highest bidder within the next minute~.” With that, you looked into the camera again while soaking your middle and ring fingers with saliva and bringing them to your clit, rubbing small circles into it.

Idia realized that, even now, he wanted to have some kind of control over you. He had a lot of disposable income, being from a pretty rich family. The blue haired boy grabbed his credit card and began to type.

Ignia has donated $100!

Your eyes widened and you gasped slightly. Idia bit his bottom lip at the sight. “Ah, Ignia! Thank you for the donation, you’re new here! Welcome, what would you like to see me do~?” You smiled while looking at the camera. Idia felt like you were staring into his soul and he was sweating profusely. He thought for a minute, gulped, and decided to send a message.

Ignia @ 11:43pm: I want you to keep watching my messages and do what I say, kitten. First I want you to grab a vibrating dildo if you have one and put it at the lowest setting, then fuck yourself slowly with it.

Idia would never have the balls to be this bold with anybody. But this is the internet, so fuck it, he’ll be truthful and just say what he wanted.

You nodded and proceeded to grab one from the table of toys you had next to your desk, lubed it slightly, and did what he told you to. You moaned at the intrusion and the feeling of being filled. “Mmh, it feels so good..!” You cried out.

Ignia has donated $50!

Ignia @ 11:45pm: And by the way, call me Master. You don’t get to cum until I say so.

You shivered at this stranger’s boldness and quietly spoke, “Yes, master...” you looked away shyly from the camera and closed your eyes for a minute, thrusting the vibrating device in and out of your wetness. A couple of moans slipped through your mouth as you felt your juices spreading onto your legs.

Ignia @ 11:47pm: Faster. Fuck yourself faster for me, kitten, and put it on the medium setting for me.

You did as you were told, fingers trembling to follow what the stranger had told you. Your (h/c) hair was starting to feel moist from your layer of sweat and your body was heating up, causing your breasts to stick to the costume.

Ignia @ 11:49pm: Take your tits out and play with your nipples

You panted heavily and lowered your chest area’s covering, revealing the sheen of sweat around your tits. Flicking your left nipple while working the dildo with your right, your hands were occupied with pleasing yourself as this stranger commanded, moaning out. “Aah, m-master, f-feels so go-ood~!”

Idia was smirking, stroking hard at his cock at the sight and idea of you actually doing what he said almost made him cum then and there, but he stopped himself. He couldn’t help the rapid beating of his heart when you said the last sentence. Idia felt special. The power he had over you was addicting and he wanted to see you push yourself over the edge under his command.

65 viewers

User58273: Fuck this is so hot, I wish I could be your master too

Seeing this comment somehow made Idia seethe. He didn’t want to share you, even though this was his first stream with you. You made him feel special. He started typing out his draft of what to reply to the thirsty viewers.

Draft: Ignia: You stupid bastards, no, I’m not going to share her.

Before Idia could send the message you spoke up in a moaning voice. “*pant* N-no, my master tonight is I-Ignia, haanh~”. You were still playing with your nipples while fucking yourself well with the dildo, a light blush decorated your face and beads of sweat starting to form on the sides of your face and your body.

Idia’s jaw dropped. ‘Does she actually really want me?’ He was getting hot, too hot for his own comfort. Usually he wouldn’t last this long during his sessions but he really wanted to see you fall apart under his command. He paid for it, after all.

“Master~ I’m getting close, I- I wanna cum soon!” You whined, pleading (e/c) orbs staring into the camera with your mouth open from panting heavily.

“Cum already, don’t hold yourself back”

“Just keep going babygirl”

“Let yourself cum”

Once again, Idia scoffed in annoyance, but he noticed you never acknowledged any of the other commenters, waiting patiently for the words to come from him.

Ignia @ 11:55pm: put the toy at the highest setting, fuck yourself til you cum, then keep pumping it while you ride out your climax.

Upon seeing those words, your fingers work to put your toy at the highest setting inside your dripping cunt. You closed your eyes while you try to imagine the user who was giving out the commands, imagining them slapping your ass and fucking you until you could see stars. The feeling of both of your holes being filled was overwhelming now, and the hot feeling built up in your core faster than you realized. Idia could see it too, the heaving of your chest was picking up rapidly.

“M-,, ma- master.! I’m cumming!!!” You shrieked. Closing your eyes with your tongue unintentionally lolling out, you released a silent scream as soon as your orgasm hit. It felt like a knot inside of your body had come undone suddenly. Your orgasm had your pussy clenching around the toy that was still vibrating intensely inside of you, stimulating you longer and making you release high pitched screams.

Hearing your words before cumming had Idia teetering on the edge, but watching your facial expressions and your moans made him finish suddenly with a grunt, his pale cock spurting thick white cum all over his hand. Still, Idia kept stroking his length while you were riding out your high, overstimulating himself to match your actions on the stream.

You pulled out the toy weakly and turned it off, putting it down on a towel next to your desk.

Ignia has donated $5!

Ignia @ 11:59pm: Spread your pussy lips babygirl, I wanna see your tight hole.

User39748 @ 11:59pm: I agree with Ignia

cay-kun @ 12:00am: ah~ I also agree. Let’s see you spread it, hmm~? Oh, can you also do a lil ‘nya!’?

You checked the chat and blushed heavily, post-orgasm shyness now taking over your mind. You hesitantly shifted in the chair while spreading yourself open with your pointer and middle finger, showing off your glistening folds with your lightly abused hole. “Nya...” you held up your other hand to do the signature “catgirl” pose, playfully sticking your tongue out too.

Idia was cleaning himself off but he could feel himself twitch again, staring at your meek form. You were so gorgeous and he really wanted to see more of you, making sure to press the “Follow” button, so he wouldn’t miss another stream.

After a few seconds, you decide to end your show, feeling extremely tired and needing a shower from sweating so much. “Thank you so so much for joining me tonight! I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your evening~ take care and I hope to see you all soon!”

Small tips ranging between $1-$10 started to flow in along with messages of “take care~” “see you soon!” “great show baby ;)”.

You clicked off and you sighed deeply. Looking at your earnings tonight, you made around $200. This was probably the most you’ve made in one single stream, and $155 of that was from Ignia, a new follower and the one who pretty much commanded your entire show tonight. It really turned you on to have someone do that for you and it was the first time a viewer made you do something that felt so lewd that made you cum so quickly.

You stood up from the chair, cleaned up your desk and toys, and headed for the bathroom. Taking off your makeup in the sink, you jumped into the shower to clean yourself up.

~~~~~

Idia tentatively bit his shirt sleeve, his blue locks framing his face. Something inside of him told him that he needed to talk to you more. He had already typed out a message to send along with his friend request. He was scared - scared of being rejected by someone as pretty as you, especially now that he had already felt so attached to you, or rather, what he’s seen from the stream tonight.

Yellow eyes closed tightly as he clicked to send the friend request to you.

~~~~~

Jumping out of the shower, you throw on a head and body towel and started to brush your teeth. Walking around the room you realized your laptop was still on, and there was a notification box front and center. Curious, you clicked on it.

“One new friend request and message”.

“Friend Request: Ignia

Message: Hey, this is the user from your stream earlier. I just wanted to say I really enjoyed your stream tonight. You seem nice too, so I’d like to get to know you more. If you’re interested just feel free to add me back, no pressure ofc.

Thx

Ignia”

You blinked a few times, pondering what you should do. You had gotten messages from guys before but they only said cheap compliments and asking for private shows. You were single so there wasn’t anybody holding you down and this guy didn’t seem to radiate any bad vibes. His dominant nature over chat really turned you on and you were curious about him, so you decided to accept his friend request and send a reply.

“From: y/n-kitty-cat

Hi there :) I decided to accept your message, cause why not? You shouldn’t be that creepy, right? ;P anyway, I’m glad you enjoyed my stream tonight <3 I hope you can come to future ones too!! I’d like to see you around more ;)

❤️

y/n”

You sent the message and went to the bathroom to finish brushing your teeth and your other nightly routines.

Idia couldn’t believe his eyes - you had actually messaged him back and you were really flirtatious!! That meant he was different in your eyes, right? It has to be true! He was determined to meet up with you, eventually. His dick throbbed at the idea of having you to himself, pleasing him with your mouth, doing all those lewd faces you made on the stream... his mind wandered while he pushed his pants down once again and thought of his muse who was now his “friend”.

~~~~~

After a few days of messaging back and forth, you and Ignia had ended up exchanging numbers and using text to communicate almost daily. You found out things like what your majors in college were, finding out his real name was Idia, which was a pretty unique name, and realizing you were both from the same city. Well, it’s not like Idia hadn’t already done his research - the night he became your friend he had stalked all of your social medias under a throwaway account and scrolled through every photo and bit of information he could find about you. He was becoming so hyper fixated on you he needed to know more, who could blame him? Idia just hoped he would be seeing more of you in your streams so he could watch you get off again, maybe with his assistance.

Unfortunately for you though, you realized you couldn’t stream as much because midterms were also kicking your ass. You apologized to your viewers with a blog post who luckily understood and wished you luck, saying they looked forward to your next show.

Idia couldn’t see your pretty face from the stream, which made him yearn. He told Ortho about his crush on you and when the small boy told Idia to “just tell you the truth and meet up with you!” he wanted to shut down completely. But, he wasn’t completely opposed to the idea of you being in his room, exactly where he wanted you. Sighing, he picked up his phone to send you a text.

Idia: “hey”

Y/n: “hey there! 😉”

Idia: “soo i was wondering if you wanted to hang out sometime”

Y/n: “omg 😱 like irl? I’ve never even heard your voice before lol”

Idia: “ik, i’m a bit shy in person.”

Y/n: “i see, so is the life of a gamer and a shut in?😏😂”

Idia: “hah, yeah i guess lol”

Y/n: “soo, what did you wanna do?”

Idia: “idk, anything you want. Except go outside. And be in public.”

Y/n: “pfft, that takes away like any idea at this point HAHA”

Idia: “ya lol i prefer gaming in my room tbh”

Y/n: “oh, then maybe we can just hang out and play games or something like that?”

Idia: “Yeah, why don’t you come over to my dorm, we could game and eat snacks”

Y/n: “Sounds great! This Friday then, 6pm?”

Idia: “Sure i’ll text you the details later”

Y/n: “Awesome :) see you in a couple days then ;)”

Idia: “cool”

Idia threw himself on his bed and screamed silently into the pillow. Idia wanted more than to just be your friend but unfortunately was also extremely shy, especially when talking to new people in person. But as he was sexually attracted to you, he knew he would have a hard time hiding it from you. He had hoped to initiate some kind of sexual interaction when you met up, wanting to indulge in your sinful reactions himself. He didn’t even want to think about anybody else seeing you like that. Idia was growing possessive and realized that if he were to get you where he wanted you, he needed to do a little bit of digging. Which meant searching the web for something that would help make you more agreeable to something sexual. He knew he himself couldn’t make you agree to it, he was too nervous to initiate that! He knew what he needed - an aphrodisiac.

Composing himself, he got onto his computer and compared his options as well as looking for advice on how to please a woman. His eyes widened and lips trembled as he realized he was definitely way too shy to initiate as much as other men do, but he was determined to try anything if it meant your attention.

~~~~~

Today was finally Friday, and the current time was 5:30pm. You styled your (h/c) locks and put on a light amount of makeup, not as much as you would when you streamed but enough to make yourself feel pretty. You also decided that you still wanted to be cute, even if you and Idia were just friends at this point, and wore a tight crop top, a high waisted black skirt, and some thigh high socks since it was a bit breezy outside. You topped it all off with a (f/c) cardigan so you could at least feel comfortable in the sleeves. Packing your bag, you took one last look at yourself in the mirror, did a little peace sign and smiled, feeling cute as hell. You grabbed your keys and walked out of your dorm, heading towards Idia’s campus.

You parked at the place he told you to and gotten out of your car, looking around for him. Shit, you just realized you didn’t even ask him what he was gonna wear or what he really looked like, which was pretty dumb in hindsight. You did catch a glimpse of a tall lanky guy with fluffy blue hair and a striped t-shirt, who was fumbling around on his phone and didn’t realize you was standing right by him.

“Excuse me,” you interrupted his peace softly, causing him to jump up and squeal in fear. “Oh!! I’n so sorry, I’m just looking for someone and I didn’t know if I was in the right place?”

Idia froze. It really was you, in the flesh, looking at him and taking his appearance in. You were gorgeous, even more so than he would have ever thought, and your voice brought tingles to his spine that made him shudder. Idia realized he was being quiet for a longer than acceptable time and he looked away. “H-hi,, y/n...” he mumbled barely even audible.

“Oh!! Idia? Is that you? Hi!!!” You exclaimed, seemingly really excited. Your mouth was curved into a wide smile too.

“Huh, you sound really enthusiastic...” Idia whispered, thinking he really said it in his own mind instead of out loud.

“Of course I am! I’m finally done with midterms and now I can relax and have fun with my new friend!” You said, bumping your shoulder with him, causing him to hold his breath.

Idia gulped when he realized what you said. Friend. Right, that’s all he was to you. At least for now. But hopefully that would change soon, right?

“Y-yeah. Let’s go inside.” Idia muttered, turning his back and walking.

Based on his demeanor, you almost forgot that Idia was the one who was so dominant during your stream the other week, since his attitude was so shy in real life. But, you pushed that thought to the back of your head, today was gonna be a fun day with a new friend, and that was strictly it. You didn’t really want to make your side job as a sex worker into a big thing that would make real life friendships difficult.

~~~~~

After he led you through the halls of the dorm, he brought you to a door and opened it up. Inside it was a bit messy, but an organized mess, one where the owner definitely knew where everything was. He had a pc setup with multiple monitors, RGB lighting which was mostly set to shades of blue, and a really nice gaming chair to go along with it. He also had a shelf with different manga series along it and other consoles for gaming, a bed, a door that led to a bathroom, and a mini fridge. Pretty nice for someone who lived without a roommate, you thought.

You walked over to his bed and flopped down onto it. Idia couldn’t help but think about the many times he had masturbated to you on those sheets that you were now sitting on. He was wondering what kind of panties you were wearing too, when he was suddenly interrupted.

“So! I guess we should get started on some games, yeah? I think I wanna play a fighting one against you! I’m totally gonna win~” You smiled up at him playfully.

Idia let his personality slip when games were brought up. “Tch, you really think you’re gonna win against me ? Think again.” The blue haired boy smirked down at you, which lit up the fire of competition in your heart.

“Let’s go then, dude.”

~~~~~

After about 15 minutes of close battles but still losing every one, you groaned and put the controller down on the floor where you and Idia were positioned in front of a monitor. You had developed a small sheen of sweat on your face from the stress. “Hey Idia, do you have anything to drink? I’m so thirstyy~” You looked at him and pouted, hoping he would maybe have some soda or water for you.

“A-ah, yes I do...” he stuttered a bit, seemingly nervous about something. He shuffled over to a mini fridge near his desk and brought out a cooler bottle. “Here, I made this sweet tea yesterday and you can drink from it...” Idia handed you the cool bottle and you observed it suspiciously. He was starting to feel his breath hitch and wondered if you had caught on.

“Hm~? Drinking from the same bottle already? So intimate!” You teased him, lightly elbowing his side. “Well, here goes nothing.” You tipped the bottle into your mouth and the tea tasted like sweet peach, with a slightly bitter aftertaste.

“Hm, it’s... interesting. What kind of tea is it?” You inquired, looking at the contents and sniffing it.

“I-it’s a recipe I found online! It looked good so, I decided to make it, I- I thought you would like it...” he shyly put down his head, trying to hide his suspicious nervousness from you.

“Okay... well it’s pretty good! I’ll drink some more, thanks for thinking of me~” you said as you gulped down the drink for a few more seconds. “Mmh! I think that cooled me down, let’s play more rounds!”

Idia looked back at you and sighed in relief. “Y-yeah, let’s do that.” He didn’t know how long it would take to work but at least he could distract his nerves by playing some games.

~~~~~

You started to sweat and feel hot. Unbearably hot. You cleared your throat and pulled off your cardigan and folded it to the side, but it wasn’t enough. The heat spread from your head, to your torso, and to your lower regions. Feeling hot and a deep... itch that you couldn't quite reach, in your crotch, you decide to change the position in which you were sitting, from crossing your legs to having them right underneath you, to feel some sort of friction in that area. You could feel yourself blushing intensely while the blue haired man next to you was still immersed in the game you both were supposed to play.

Watching him, you couldn’t help but notice the way his fingers moved on the controller, his thumbs and pointers expertly moving across it. You started thinking about how they would feel playing with your nipples and clit - wait. ‘What am I even thinking about?! Snap out of it!’ But, you also couldn’t help but think about when you were close to beating him during a round, his voice changed to a lower, frustrated one, and he even let out a little growl. Even now you noticed the way his eyes were so glued to the monitor with a small scowl on his face. Thinking about that sent throbs and heat to your growing wetness.

WINNER: PLAYER 1!

“Fuhehe, I knew I could beat you again~ but for some reason it felt like you weren’t trying as hard this round.” Idia put down his controller, finally took a glance at you, and his breath was caught in his throat.

Your (s/c) body was covered with a layer of sweat, cheeks burning and your eyes looked glossy. You were also panting slightly, rubbing your legs together softly to try to create more friction. “A-ah,, hey... do you think you could lower the temperature in here? It- it’s getting really hot. Maybe I could have more of that cold tea?” You breathed, trying to sound more stable than you were.

Idia was dumbfounded for a second and totally forgot you had drank the tea that he mixed with the aphrodisiacs. He gulped as he leaned closer to your face, observing you. “Is... is there anything else I can help you, w-with?” Idia placed a hand on the floor near your thigh and watched as you tried to scoot away from it.

“D-don’t do that... it’s...,” you whimpered, back now touching the side of his bed as you leaned away from his touch. Since when did he smell so good? His scent radiating from his proximity sent tingles across your body.

“Do what?” Idia experimentally reached out to touch your arm, fingers grazing your back slightly. You couldn’t fight back the moan that slipped out of your mouth. “Haah~ I-Idia...” you breathed, looking at him with pleading eyes. You really weren’t planning on doing anything with your new friend, so why was your body disobeying your mind?

“Y/n... you know you can tell me if there’s a-anything you need.. I’ll help you.” Idia’s eyes were still wide and the way he looked at you made you start craving. You wanted him - no, you NEEDED him to touch you more. You never really thought about it, but, Idia really was attractive. It’s not because of your hazy mindset that you realized it, but the way the blue lights illuminated his pale skin and make his hair almost glow, you were just focusing on it more. He was... cute.

“I-...” you started, looking down at his hand on your arm, and then back at him. Staring at his lips, you felt your arms move around his neck as you pulled him closer. Your lips smashed against each others messily and you released a soft whimper against his mouth. The reality hitting you, you moved your head back suddenly breaking the kiss. Your body was still hot.

“F-first...” Idia was stuttering. “First... kiss...” Idia stared wide eyed at you, lips still trembling. He blushed and turned away, his brows tilted upwards as if he were troubled.

“Oh, oh god, I’m so sorry....” you breathed out, scared you had fucked it up with your friend.

“Haah.. more...” his eyes suddenly turned back to you, seemingly darker than before. “I want more of you, y/n...” with that, he brought his lips to yours again and moved them sloppily against your own. He even took the liberty to bite your bottom lip with his sharp teeth, causing you to yelp. Idia used this opportunity to shove his tongue past your mouth and moved it against your own, causing you to moan in pleasure while you could feel your panties starting to drench.

Idia pulled away from you, cheeks tinted pink. Both of you panted for breath, your clothes now feeling sticky due to sweat. He scanned your blushing figure and saw an opening of your skirt that had shown off your lacy panties. Idia gulped and dove his head towards your clothed pussy, breathing in the essence and shuddering loudly, which made you gasp.

“Idiia, no... we, we shouldn’t...” you whined. But you could feel your body was not agreeing with your words. When the tip of his nose grazed your clit you bucked your hips against his head, letting out a moan at the contact.

He lifted up your skirt to your waist so he could see your facial expressions. Suddenly, his wet tongue experimentally slid up your clothed pussy, piercing yellow eyes locked onto your glazed over eyes. You shrieked at the sensation and felt embarrassed that he could get you like this, and you were still wearing your panties.

“Hhn, you wore these for me, didn’t you..?” Idia said, which made you blush. “No, I- I didn’t...” you muttered weakly, trying to avoid his gaze

Idia’s grip on your thighs suddenly got tighter and he looked up at you with furrowed brows. “Don’t lie to me, kitten. I know you want me, like how you did on the night we met, on your stream.” Idia firmly told you. It seemed like it was more like he was convincing himself. "N-no Idia, I... I don't want to-" you started, until you were interrupted.

Idia’s teeth bit suddenly into your soft thigh, causing it to bleed a bit. You knew it would leave a big mark later. “AH!! F-fuck!!” You grabbed onto his blue hair and felt your pussy clench onto nothing. Why, why are you enjoying this? It was like Idia’s personality had changed, from the shy person you met outside his dorm to a more possessive and rough one. You were a bit scared of him but why was he making you feel so good?

You didn’t have time to think as you felt him move the fabric of your panties to the side so your drenched cunt was fully visible to him. He stared in awe and took in everything - the shape, size, and how wet you were. You brought the back of your hand up to your head and panted with embarrassment. “Idia... mmh...”, tears pricking the corners of your eyes. Your body was still wanting more and after your mind was fighting the feeling so much, you decided to let it be. “Please...”

Idia met your eyes and saw how glossy they were. He lifted your body onto the bed so that you were now lying on your back while he was still in front of your crotch. You softly breathed in and out, causing your chest to rise and fall in your sweat soaked top. He snaked a pale hand under your shirt to grope your breast in your lacy bra, cold fingers sending shivers through your hot body. Idia couldn’t resist any longer, he suddenly shoved his wet muscle onto your pussy with fervor. You gasped and threw your head back onto Idia’s plush pillow, and shoved your hand on the back of his head pushing it deeper into your legs. Idia couldn’t contain himself and moaned into your heat, sending vibrations through it. “Oh- aaanh~ Idi-aaa~....” you sighed and whined. He took this opportunity to lower the cup of your bra below your breast and pinch your pert nipple in his fingers.

“Fuck~!” you screamed, feeling hot tears flowing down your face. Your body couldn’t take it much longer. Your core was building a familiar sensation but it was all too overwhelming and coming too fast. “It feels so good!!” You squealed, squeezing your thighs together so you were caging his head. Idia focused his energy lapping hungrily at your clit and then pushed two digits of his free hand through your wet hole, pumping them in and out. Your panting breaths were becoming shorter with each pump.

“Idia~ I’m close!! I’m gonna cum..!” You looked at him between your legs, and he lifted his mouth off of your cunt for a brief second. He stared into your eyes with his yellow ones, which stared at you intensely, licked his lips, and spoke.

“Cum for me then, kitten. Don’t hold back, cum all over my face.” With that, he dove back in and pumped his fingers into your core and flicked his tongue on your sensitive pearl even faster than before. Idia’s hips were rutting on his mattress, precum wetting his undergarments.

“Oh god - I’m cumming, I’m cumming~!!” You screeched and squeezed his head with your thighs, squirting his face and sheets with your cum. His tongue darted around your pussy licking off your juices. You breathed heavily, riding out your high. It took everything in him to stop himself from cumming right then and there - he wanted to save that for later.

Idia leaned up to where you were and kissed you passionately, and you could taste yourself all over his mouth. You moaned at the taste of your own juices on his tongue. Still exhausted from Idia eating you out, your body somehow craved the feeling of being filled. You sat up and got up from the bed and for a second he was afraid you were getting ready to leave. You removed your drenched shirt in front of him as well as your skirt, underwear, and bra. Still wearing your thigh high socks, he stopped you before you could remove them. “I, I want you to keep those on...” he licked his lips as he stared at your socks squeezing your plush thighs, the mark he made earlier with his teeth was visible and bruising now.

Following your lead, Idia was removing his own garments, tossing his shirt to the side. He was lean, not too skinny but not muscular either, pale all over. He also removed his pants and swung them over to the floor. Idia avoided your gaze as his erection was now very much so noticeable in his boxers, and you could even see a dark spot where his precum had made a mark. You felt your vagina tremble at the sight of it. It’s been a long time since you’ve had a partner and the anticipation was starting to get to you. As for Idia, well, everything was his first.

You knelt down in front of his bed and his legs and reached out to touch the head of his penis through the boxers, making him twitch and breathe out. “Mmh,...” you pulled down his underwear to reveal his lengthy cock. He wasn’t extremely girthy but he made up for that in length. The head of it was a shade of pale pink and dripped with clear liquid. You took some of the clear liquid in your hand and began teasing the head of his dick. Opening your mouth, you also gave it a few kitten licks while you pumped the base. Idia let out a few grunts and threw his head back, causing you to grow wet again.

Idia felt himself getting too close to orgasm which made him grab your head to stop you from going further. He lifted you up again and placed you on his lap, your dripping cunt hovering over his standing cock. Your body was hot again as you stared into Idia’s yellow eyes, a pink haze dusting his pale cheeks. Remembering he was a virgin, you looked at him hesitantly. ‘I- I don’t know, are you sure you want to lose your virginity right now?’ was what you were planning on saying, until he spoke up.

“Y/n... I need you. I’ve been wanting to do this to you for a while. I- I'm gonna put it in...” Idia whispered, panting slightly. As he was lowering your hips, you couldn't say anything as you felt his tip graze your wetness and you whimpered at the feeling. He kept bringing your hips down until you felt him all the way inside, head of his dick kissing your cervix. You threw your arms around his neck and moaned into his ear, causing a grunt from your partner. Not giving you time to adjust, Idia started thrusting in and out sloppily into your hole, squelching and moaning sounds filling the air of his usually quiet dorm.

“Oh Idia, please, pleasepleaseplease-!” You screamed, not even knowing what you were pleading for. Your (h/c) hair was sweaty and you felt your eye makeup starting to run with every tear you shed. Idia’s loud grunts filled your ear, causing your heat to build up.

“*pant* Mmh, y/n...” he paused and started thrusting into you slowly but hard, pulling you back so his forehead could touch with yours, blue hair still frayed in his face. “You have, *pant* no idea... I would masturbate to your pictures every. Single. Night. I jerked off on these sheets and used your photos of you smiling, you weren’t even *pant* n-naked... Does that, *pant* make me a sick pervert? No matter, you're here with me now, and I'm mmh, making you feel good, right?” Idia confessed, yellow eyes staring into yours with infatuation and obsession. You felt your breath hitch in a feeling familiar to fear. He was lovesick. Not the same person you thought you were messaging for the past few days or gaming with earlier. He looked deranged.

“I... Aaanh~!” You were cut off by a particularly hard thrust into your cervix. Idia licked your neck while thrusting into your abused hole. “I’m gonna breed you, kitten. W-wanna see you drip with my cum.. mmh, you want that?”

You were so close to your release that you didn’t even care about what he was saying. “More Idia, more!!” You breathed. Closing your eyes and now using your own hips to grind into his cock.

Remembering a particular position that grabbed Idia’s attention, he lifted you up, dick still hard inside of you. He placed your back on the bed, your head on his pillow while he brought your legs up to your chest. Idia continued to thrust into you, your face now in full view. He held your wrists in one hand above your head so you couldn’t hide your face from his eyes.

“Idia...” you breathed out. “I- Idia!!!!” You felt your orgasm approaching fast while he pounded into you relentlessly. “Haaanh~ I’m close!!” You moaned shamelessly.

“Hnnh, that’s r-right, y/n... mm, cum for me...” Idia breathed out in between his panting. With that, Idia thrusted faster until the knot that was building in your lower regions finally released. “Aaanh~!! I’m cumming, Idia, c-cumming all over your cock!!” Your face contorted into one of full bliss, eyes looking straight into his with your mouth in an o-shape. The walls around Idia’s length clenched tightly, milking him of his seed. Idia came suddenly with a groan, pumping it deep within you while riding out his high. "Fuck, y/n!!"

Idia rolled you both to your sides, his dick softening inside you. You both panted hard as you faced one another. You opened your eyes to find him with his eyes closed, blushing at the sight of your naked bodies still intertwined even after your climaxes. “We, we actually did it...” he whispered and opened his eyes. “!!!!” He made a mildly surprised noise, eyes widening and turning away.

“Eeh?! What’s wrong!?” You said, wondering if something was on your face. “N-nothing it’s just.... I’m surprised we... you.. you’re staring at me... I’m sorry, I’m still not used to people doing that...” Idia said shamefully, darting his yellow eyes to and from you periodically.

You couldn’t help but giggle. “Eek!! Why,, are you laughing at me?” Idia frowned and hid his face in the pillow. “Well.. your personality is different when you’re having sex versus not. It's interesting.” you told him, tracing a finger along his arm.

Idia blushed intensely, throwing his arms around your neck and hid his pale face in your neck. "Mmph..! I-, I like you, y/n..." he breathed into your neck. "I wouldn't be able to handle you doing this with another person so... will you be mine?" Idia pulled back to watch your face as you contemplated.

Idia's words from earlier suddenly flooded your memories. He looked insane when he confessed to his perverted actions and it evoked an uncertain emotion akin to fear. Your body felt paralyzed. But in the moment, with Idia's lightly pink tinged skin and unsure eyes, you had to admit it made your heart flutter, too. "Yes, Idia..."

#idia shroud #twst idia #twisted wonderland smut #twst smut #ignihyde #twisted wonderland lemon #twst lemon #idia shroud x reader #idia x reader #twst x reader #yandere twisted wonderland #yandere twst #yandere idia shroud #idia x mc #yandere x reader #twisted wonderland #twst imagines #twst scenarios #twisted wonderland x reader

1K notes · View notes

struggling-with-time · 3 years

Text

Does your father know? [Sapnap x reader]

Paring: Sapnap x Gender neutral!reader

Summary: A couple of nights out, that the local adults certainly aren't supposed to know about. But definitely does. And the things that happen at those parties. College AU SBI!reader.

Warnings: Fluff, so much fluff

Words: 4.6K

Masterlist: Sapnap's Masterlist - SBI Masterlist - Full Masterlist

A/N: This has been brewing in my head for days, so here it is. Please request if you feel like it. REQUESTS ARE OPEN. Request here.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

You are casually chatting along with Karl, and a very drunk Quackity. The music is loud in the house. You don’t remember whose parents own the house, it's more likely it's an involuntary frat house. But it sure isn’t a place you are used to coming to. You can spot Sapnap as he makes his way over to the three of you, and before you know it.

Sapnap pulls you along onto the dance floor, barely giving you time to put your drink down. You are already a good few drinks down and can’t help but feel like floating as he drags you along. A giggle passes your lips as you make your way into the dancefloor.

The music is loud, and while you have never heard this song before, you feel like you know the lyrics to it.

Sapnap places his hands on your hips as the two of you dance.

It’s nice, it’s fun.

It’s not what you are supposed to be doing.

Because as far as your family is aware, you are sleeping nice and soundly at home, and not out drinking and partying.

Well, most of your family, you could have sworn you saw your brother, Wilbur, in the crowd earlier. But what he doesn’t know. Won’t hurt him.

“Having fun tonight?” Sapnap’s voice breaks you away from your though. His face is suddenly a lot closer than before. His warm breath hitting your ear as he whispered. A grin works its way onto your own face.

“With you? Of course.”

It’s loud. It’s warm. It’s crowded.

Yet there is nowhere else you would want to be for the night.

Sapnap pulls away from your ear again, mouthing along to the song that’s playing. And the two of you dance, losing yourself to the crowd. Losing yourself to the music. Losing yourself to each other.

None of you have count on the number of songs that pass by. Each one seemingly bleeding into the next, and your energy never-ending. Your dancing ever the fun.

You can feel his hands as they glided over your body, seemingly exploring all of it. And you enjoy it, egging him on as you dance. You dance only for him. Matching your hips to the rhythm. Your eyes locked on his. His hands locked on you.

A cheeky wink from you timed to the music, is all Sapnap needs for him to pull you close against him once again. His lips ghost over your ear.

“You look great in blue.”

His touch goes from warm to hot, seemingly setting you ablaze. His lips trailing over your neck. Down to your shoulder. From your shoulder back to your neck. His teeth grazing over your neck lightly before he continues back up to your ear.

You can feel him whisper something to you, but you have lost most senses. Only able to focus on his touch. As his fingers grip you tighter.

He pulls his face back, and you lock eyes with him. A smirk is eminent on his face.

It’s clear to him, it’s clear to anyone taking a glance at you. He is driving you wild.

His left-hand leaves your side to cup your face. He pulls you in slowly, and you more than willingly follow along. His lips ghosting over yours once more. For a second, it’s just the two of you. Just for a second. But only for a second. Then the spell breaks.

“Fuck.” Sapnap mutters and pulls away. His hands letting go of you completely, and suddenly you are forced to stand on your own. You feel a bit disorientated at the sudden pull back to reality.

Sapnaps eyes are locked on something a bit behind you, a string of curse words seemingly leaving his mouth. You’re unsure if he’s muttering or talking. The music overpowering them either way.

You turn around to find what has brought him to pull away.

And there in the outskirt of the dancefloor stands a tall pink-haired guy, holding a brunette slumped against the pink guy. Or as you formerly know them, your older brothers Techno and Wilbur. They seem to be looking for someone, as Techno seems to be looking through the crowd that has assembled on the makeshift dancefloor.

Sapnap leans over to your ear once again.

“Does your dad know that you are out?” This time he’s yelling, no longer intimate or secretive whispers.

“No!” You yell back to him.

“Do you think they’re looking for you?”

Techno catches your eyes and raises a hand. Answering Sapnaps question for you.

You manoeuvred your way through the dancing crowd, leaving Sapnap alone. Approaching your brothers. You cast a glance back to where you stood, Sapnap already gone in the crowd. You try not to look disappointed, as you look back at your brother, but one raised eyebrow from Techno is enough to tell you, you failed to do so.

“Drunk?”

“Drunk.”

You sigh, as you guide Wilburs arm over your shoulder, and the three of you head into the night and down the street. A couple of minutes passes, and Wilbur starts to mumble about his big plans for the future.

You and Techno share a laugh at your brother's expense in the night. The inevitable scolding from Phil far away in the future.

It takes you exactly three weeks before you have done enough chores to get ungrounded. Although all three of you had snuck out in the middle of the night. You and Techno had been responsible enough to bring Wilbur home without trying to drive, and you had even woken Phil up yourself when you got home. Although you were pretty sure he had heard you from the moment you had stepped through the door. And Wilbur had decided that the hallway would be a perfectly good place to take a nap.

But that was three weeks ago, and now is now.

You have the clothes you want to wear in your backpack, along with your laptop and a physics book to make it believable.

While you don’t pride yourself on being a party animal, it doesn’t hurt to participate when invited. And especially not when Sapnap himself invites you.

“Bye Dad!” You yell out as you pass the kitchen. Phil sitting on his laptop, with Tommy beside him looking close to crying in frustration over homework, and Wilbur seemingly trying to cook something up. Keyword trying.

“Wait up!” Phil yells out, making you stop in your track. “Come in here.” You slowly backtrack your steps, making you stand in the doorway of the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” He squints his eyes at you, before looking you up and down. Tommy mouths ‘someone is in trouble’ to you. And you resist against, in all better judgement, to hit him.

Instead, you lift your backpack, “Study session at Karls, remember? I’m staying over for the night.”

Wilbur decides now is the perfect time to join the conversation, a playful look on his face. He knows exactly what’s going to be happening at Karls place tonight. Despite still being grounded, you know you will see him there later tonight.

“Study session huh? I thought you had study group on Wednesdays?” Wilbur brings a hand up to mimic a thinking position.

Fuck.

“I do!” Was that too quick? You look back at Phil, “I do.” You repeat yourself, “It’s just for my physics lecture, got a test on Monday.” Phil seems to not completely buy it. “Besides Dad, I am ungrounded after all, you said so yourself yesterday.”

Phil hums. “I did say that…” He looks you over once more. “Alright. At least let Techno or Wil drive you.”

That decision is easy enough for you.

“TECHNO! DAD SAYS YOU HAVE TO DRIVE ME!” You yell into the house. You swear you can hear your brother grumble about having to drive you from upstairs. But you elect to ignore it.

You look back over at Wilbur who is now discarding his apron in favour of getting out of the house. He knows if he can play his cards right, he can make Techno stop at the music store. And he might just be able to catch his totally secret girlfriend Sally for a couple of minutes. Not like he won’t be seeing her tonight.

You listen as Techno walks down the stairs. Now audibly complaining about being the only responsible driver in the house.

You would drive yourself, but having one car for four people to share isn’t exactly great. You tried having a driving plan once that you could put yourself on when you needed to borrow the car. It ended up with a month of Wilbur hogging the car. So now instead, you all just always drive each other around like soccer moms.

Techno looks annoyed at you as he passes the kitchen. But you know if he was truly annoyed he just wouldn’t have come down at all.

You turn to follow Techno into the hallway but are still able to overhear Phil questioning Wilbur on where he is going.

“To drive with them of course.”

“You’re still grounded.”

“C’mon Dad, Phil, Philza, it’s just a drive, it’s not like I would be seeing anyone.”

“Fine.” Despite not being able to see Phil, you know your dad is trying his best not to smile at Wilbur’s antics. “Just a drive. You probably need to get out of the house anyway.”

And that’s enough for him to end in the backseat of the car. Tagging along.

You automatically go for the AUX, as the designated DJ in the front seat. You barely get to press play, before Wilbur has started a conversation. A conversation that is closer to an interrogation.

“So Karl’s place to study, huh? Nothing to do with what’s going to happen tonight at all?”

“Oh please.” You turn your head to look back at Wilbur. “As if you won’t be there too.”

“Techno is gonna be there too!” Wilbur whines, as if it would make the situation any better.

“Wait, really?” You look over at Techno, turning forward in your seat once more.

“Yeah, Dream won at practice the other day.”

“How?” “You lost?” You and Wilbur speak at the same time.

“The guy put oil on my sword, so I dropped it.”

You snort, and Wilbur laughs. “So much for Techno Blade never loses.”

“Oh, shut up the two of you. At least I’m not grounded.”

“Hey!” Wilbur shouts.

The car ride passes with sibling banter, and a couple more jabs at each other before you are pulling up to Karls house. You quickly get out and yell a quick “See you later!” before heading over to the front door. You smile to yourself as you overhear Wilbur asking if they can stop by the music store as he changes from the back seat to the front seat.

You listen as the car pulls away, and you get to ring the doorbell.

A flustered Karl throws open the door. Loudly greeting you, before pulling you into a hug.

“You made it! I didn’t think you would, but then again Sapnap did invite you. But you did say no the other couple of times and-”

“I get it Karl, but I’m here now.” You smile at him, letting him breathe. He giggles. “Can I come in?”

“Oh yes! Of course! Of course! Come in.” Karl guides you into the living room, closing the door after you. You stand awkwardly in the doorway until Karl grabs your wrist and leads you over to the sofa telling you to sit down.

You kinda expected more people to be here. But instead, you are met with the familiar faces of Karl and yours friend group. Not to mention a couple of Wilburs friends. Not that the small town is big enough for everyone close in age to not already know each other. The community college isn't exactly helping either.

You can already feel tonight will have a different feeling than last time. Way more down to earth, and way more chill.

Quackity falls into the seat beside you and offers you a drink, which you happily take. “It’s nice to see you not all dressed up you know.” He tells you. Suddenly you’re happy you didn’t change at home, not that you had much of a choice.

“Yeah, it’s nice not to be all dressed up.” You say, taking a sip, as you eye your backpack that was placed against the wall in the living room.

“I hear both your brothers are gonna be here later. I can’t believe Phil just lets you guys go out. My mom thinks we are studying for English class.” Quackity complains. "I hate still living at home."

“Oh no, you have it all wrong, Phil doesn’t.” You laugh, a bit dry, but it is what it is. “He thinks I’m here for a study session for my physics lecture, Wilbur is still grounded for the last time the three of us was out, and Techno is only coming because he apparently lost to Dream at fencing practice.”

Quackity snorts, “Techno lost to Dream?”

“I know! That was my reaction too.” The two of you share a laugh.

“I can’t believe the Minecraft household is filled with degenerates.” He feigns a disappointed tone.

“You aren’t that much better.” Sapnap buts into your conversation. You hadn’t noticed him walking in. Quackity lifts his hands in defeat and gets up from the couch. Only for Sapnap to quickly takes his place.

“I’m guessing by that your dad doesn’t know about tonight either.” He teases you, and you look away for a moment, your purple drink suddenly very interesting.

“He does, sorta, not. He thinks we are here to study.” You give Sapnap a weak smile, and he chuckles at your antics.

You barely miss him muttering, “Cute.” Underneath his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

And then silence falls upon the two of you. You want to keep him talking, of course, you do. How could you not want to? It’s Sapnap.

Every time he speaks, you want to cling to each word and hold it dearly. Instead, you flash him a smile, and he smiles back. Before looking away, and you can’t help but feel a bit defeated at that.

However, you are saved by Karl hooking up his phone to a speaker and way too loud music blasts into the living room.

It takes a good half-minute before the volume is lowered enough for it to be background music, and it takes even longer for anyone to agree on what playlist to be put on.

The afternoon bleeds into the late afternoon, and more people have decided to join. You now share the three-person couch with two more people, leading to you being pressed up again Sapnap. Not that you are complaining.

Wilbur and Sally have arrived too, already sitting on the floor together. Already - as your youngest brother Tommy would say - already sucking each other’s faces dry.

Techno seems to be the last person to join the gathering, bringing beer too. Of course, you can’t help but think. Of all the people he’s the only one of the three of you, that could ever make Phil buy any of you beer.

"Techno is the most responsible of you four."

"C'mon on dad! This isn't fair!"

"Exactly! I understand her, but daaaad we're both 20 why do you want to help him but not me?"

"Shut up Wilbur."

You are in a heated conversation with Karl about the right way to read document history. When you notice a touch on your left side. You stop midsentence, Karl doesn’t notice and keep arguing his side. But Sapnap does.

You can feel a pair of eyes on you, as you look down to see his hand around your waist. Neither of you have talked to each other since the quick conversation. Then Dream and George had each pulled up a chair nearby the couch and the three of them had talked since then.

Suddenly you get hit with the thought, that maybe, despite all better judgement, just maybe. What happened a couple of weeks ago wasn’t just because you were the nearest person. Just maybe it was because Sapnap actually looked your way.

You don’t let the thought get to your head too much, because the second you look at him. He’s back in his conversation with Dream and George about something you don’t really care about from the sounds of it. You shake your head; you must have been imagining stuff. He didn’t look at you.

You get two more drinks in you, as the evening passes on, and Sapnaps hand seems to find its way onto your thigh. You have no intention of getting drunk, but the feeling of Sapnaps hand on you seems near addicting.

It’s nearing midnight when a less than sober Dream suggests a game of Truth or Dare.

Techno complains against it as the only one, stating “We aren’t middle schoolers.”

So you play truth or dare.

The first couple of rounds starts innocently enough, the mood is good. Everyone is having fun. You are enjoying yourself, listening to embarrassing stories, to creating new ones alongside your friends. Finding yourself curling into Sapnaps side just a bit more.

He doesn’t protest or say anything against it, so you take it as a win, and keep leaning against him.

Then a drunk Quackity gets his turn and asks George for his worst hook-up. And the energy in the room changes. From then on the innocent truths and even more naïve dares are out the window. For stories about peoples experiences, and dares that seemingly gets riskier and riskier.

You manage to dodge most questions, keeping to the truth after that point on. Until you are unable to.

“Don’t be boring! Choose dare!” George eggs you on, and you give in. Anyone would give in, you swear the guy has pretty privilege. Most of the living room cheers.

“I have a good dare.” Dream says.

“Too bad it’s not your turn to ask then.” You stick your tongue out at him and turn your attention back to George. When you see the guy motioning for Dream to whisper his dare. “Betrayal George, I will never forgive you.”

“Too bad for you then.” His smile widening the longer Dream keeps whispering. Your worry starts to grow, you are already regretting deeply for giving in to the peer pressure.

Dream retreats and looks satisfied with his idea. George takes a moment to think it over, but it’s clear that he has already made up his mind.

“I dare you…” He clicks his tongue. “I dare you to give Sapnap a lap dance!”

“What?”

“You heard me!” George looks proud of himself, or his idea, or Dreams idea. You don’t know. Your stomach is seemingly doing backflips at the idea, while your head is spinning for the exact opposite reason.

“Chicken?” You try, you don’t notice the desperate look Sapnap is giving George.

“Nope,” George pops his ‘p’, “you’ve been boring all evening with only choosing truth. Besides we're all adults here, c'mon it could be a lot worse.”

You look over at Wilbur, who is more than occupied with Sally. Then over at Karl, who has a teasing grin on his lips, as if he knew this would happen. Then to Quackity, who looks like someone who definitely knew this would happen. Then to Techno, who looks like he could murder Dream. And knowing him, there is a 50/50 chance he’s still mad over losing or that it’s about the idea Dream just proposed.

“He didn’t say it had to be here,” Sapnap says to help you out. “We can just leave.” Your head pecks up at that. He’s right. George didn’t specify where. A smile forms on your face, a smile based on relief.

Dream starts to protest, but you have already grabbed Sapnaps wrist and started dragging him into Karls room.

You miss Techno slapping Dream over the head.

You make Sapnap sit on Karls bed, as you make sure the door is locked. You would rather die than anyone walk in on you. You look around for a speaker, and you barely get your phone out of your back pocket before Sapnap has put his hand on your wrist now.

“Hey, you don’t have to do it.”

You look at him, panic still evident in your eyes.

“What?”

“I said you don’t have to do it.”

“What?”

He smiles at you and tugs you over to sit beside him on the bed.

“For the third time, you don’t have to do it.”

His left-hand cups your head, his right hand has moved from your wrist and into your hand.

“It’s just a stupid game of truth or dare anyway. Techno is right, we aren’t middle schoolers. Fuck, we aren't even high schoolers.”

You smile at him, before letting out a quiet chuckle.

“Yeah, you’re right. I thought you would want that, though.”

Sapnap leans his head to the side. Asking you to continue.

“I mean, you’re Sapnap. Oh, c’mon on don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?” he grins at you now. The air suddenly becoming light around you.

“Please, don’t act like you don’t know. Everyone knows.” You look away for a moment, his hand lightly turns your head back to look at him, and you let him. Although the look you are met with is one of confusion and not the cockiness you were expecting.

You sigh once.

Then twice.

Then once more.

You were really about to do this, in the bedroom of your childhood friend. Jesus.

“Sapnap, seriously. This isn’t funny.”

“What? I feel like I lost the thread somewhere here.” His hand falls from your face, and you can’t help but want to chase it.

“I like you, everyone knows that. This isn’t funny. Seriously. Everyone knows I’m absolutely hopeless for thinking you would even look in my direction.”

You fall onto Karls bed, letting yourself sink into the purple bedsheets.

“Well, I can tell you two things.”

Sapnap falls onto the bed beside you. The two of you now staring into the wooden ceiling that’s decorated with glow in the dark stars.

“And what are those two things?”

“You see, one nobody thinks you are hopeless.” He chuckles a bit at that. “If anything, I’m the hopeless one here.”

You turn your head to look at him, and he does the same to you, giving you a kind smile.

“And now why would you be that?”

“Because two, not everyone knows that you like me, I didn’t.” You return his smile, although you feel a need to look away at the words, you keep eye contact with him.

“Well, now you know, making me right.” You tease or try to. You can feel the air has gone from light, to very heavy suddenly. Barely breathable. And you can feel your breath hitch in your throat, you know what words you hope he speaks next. But yet, you can’t stop expecting to get laughed at and rejected right here.

“I guess, but you see, I would say I’m the hopeless one here. Because I’ve been trying to tell you that I like you for months now.” He covers his face with a hand. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, I sound like a cliché.”

You let out a small laugh, “Yeah, you do a bit. But…”

“But…?” he asks, his hand still over his face, but you can see him peaking through his fingers.

“But I don’t mind it, I think it’s cute.” And now it’s his time to laugh.

Then slowly a silence falls over the two of you. Unlike the one from earlier, this one is saying more than a thousand words, while saying absolutely nothing at all. It’s just two people who like each other enjoying a moment.

“We should probably get back to the others again.” Sapnap breaks the silence, and you take a deep breath at the sudden disturbance.

“Oh yeah, the others.”

“The longer we stay here, the more they are going to wonder what we are doing.” You can’t help but laugh at that.

“You are sadly right Sapnap. You are unfortunately right.”

You groan as you sit back up, offering him a hand that he gladly takes, but instead of you helping to pull him up from the bed.

He pulls you down into his lap once more.

"However..." He starts, "They can wonder all they want."

You can feel his hands on your hips now. As he leans in to start trailing kisses over your neck once more.

Your breath hitches.

His teeth grace your shoulder before you can feel him sucking.

His hands exploring you as you lean into the pleasure.

You start squirming in his lap, and he stops.

"No."

You pause, as his hands quickly leave you.

"No?"

"I am not having my first time with you, with your brothers down the hallway, and my best friends absolutely listening in," Sapnap admits to you.

The statement makes your face heat up, and you try to hide away in his neck. He chuckles at the cute gesture.

"We should get going..." He trails off but makes no moves to actually get up. Just basking in the heat you apply to him.

You sigh, as you get off him, his hand now holding yours.

"Sadly you're right."

He gets off the bed and stands beside you.

However, when you prepare to let go, he keeps your hands entangled, and if you’re honest, you don’t mind all that much.

You unlock the door and head back into the living room. All conversation going stale the second the two of you stand in the doorway.

Dream ever the curious, is the one to break the ice. “Sooo…”

Sapnap lifts your entangled hands, and the room breaks into cheers. And you swore you heard a couple of people mutter finally. You hide your head in your hand, trying to hide your embarrassment alongside it.

Leading you to miss Karl throwing Quackity some money, and George doing the same to Dream.

You lift your head from your hand as you hear Wilbur speak.

“Good luck explaining that one to Dad.” Wilbur laughs, but a smile clear on his lips.

"What?" You say, as you can feel Wilburs eyes burning onto your throat. Your hand quickly coming up to try and cover the clearly evident mark.

A glance at Techno tells you that he too is happy for you, but even more clearly he is on the brink of smugness. Knowing you're going to get in trouble tomorrow.

He has been the one on the end of most of your seemingly endless rants about the moment that happened weeks ago at that party. The one that your brothers ruined, so it felt self-explanatory for them to be on the end of your whining.

Sapnap guides you, as the two of you return to your seats on the couch and the night continues.

Nothing has truly changed, yet it feels like everything has changed.

And somewhere along the night, things did change.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

478 notes · View notes

iluvchanniesposts · 2 years

Text

do anything for you

pairings - seungmin x minho

warnings - mentions of insecurities, maybe crying also. mentions of bullying slightly.

this is a tickle fic, if it’s not your thing, please scroll on.

not proof read.

“your smile is so weird.”

“i don’t like your braces.”

“keep covering your mouth.” seungmin’s eyes scanned over the comments over and over again. he knew how shit it made him feel, but he couldn’t tear himself away from it. the bad weigh out the good, not matter how much he tried to ignore it. “thanks for watching guys, byeeee!” he waved to the camera with a phoney smile. the laptop screen slammed against the keyboard as he sat back in his chair. many thoughts wandered his mind, whether he’s actually good enough or if he actually does have a horrible smile. his fingers fiddled with his bottom lip, staring into nothingness. tears welled up slightly, he tilted his head back in order for them to not drop down. a singular tear won the race, reaching his top lip before it dropped off his jaw.

“seungmin?” a familiar voice knocked from outside his door. “give me a second!” he blurted out, trying to rid of his shaky voice. he desperately wiped away any evidence of crying and sadness, allowing minho to join him without worry. “what’s up?” seungmin asked as his older brother entered. “wanted to watch a film with you, your room is the most quiet.” minho giggled as he plonked himself down onto seungmin’s bed. “what’s wrong? you’re usually trying to beat me up by now and telling me to leave.” minho joked half heartedly, he knew something was wrong but couldn’t pin point it. “no i’m good, what film did you want to watch?” the younger asked trying to change the subject. “oh let’s watch that new ryan reynolds film.” he patted the space next to him on the bed for seungmin to join. he noticed seungmin was acting unlikely, being extremely quiet and isolated was a big hint. “i know something is up, so just tell me.” his big brother instincts kicked in as his tone became more strict. “it’s stupid.” seungmin shunned him off once again, growing his frustration even further. “so you’re not going to tell me?” , “no.” minho simply shrugged his shoulders and climbed onto seungmin who was sitting up against the headboard. “what are you doing?” seungmin questioned with a hint of worry in his voice. “seeing what’s wrong with you.” and just like that, his fingers attached to seungmin’s armpits. he instantly tried pushing minho off, but he became weak from the tickles he was enduring. a slight smile played on his lips, trying to fight it away. unfortunately for him, minho knows all of his weak spots. “you going to tell me yet?” his fingers danced down to seungmin’s ribs, making him jolt to the side. “nohoho leave me alohohone!” his laughter now became evident, there’s no going back now. “i’ll just tickle you forever then.” minho stated, switching one hand to squeeze around seungmin’s stomach. “plehehease noooo.” he begged, his body turned limp as his arms could no longer push and he could barely hold his head up any longer. minhos fingers pressed in all the right spots, around his belly button, in his v line, poking around his ribs and scratching just below his armpits. his hands started darting to each spot, not giving seungmin a chance to even know where he’s going next. “oka-HAHA I’ll tell you!” he let out between giggles making minho stop.

he climbed off of seungmin to gain his trust a little and take him more seriously. “did you watch my vlive?” seungmin asked minho in hopes that he did so he wouldn’t have to explain it. minho shook his head no which made seungmin take a deep breath. “well, there were lots of comments about the way i look. mainly my smile. it’s not like i ever liked it in the first place, but it kind of just made me feel worse.” minho nodded sympathetically at his words, rubbing his arm for comfort. he noticed seungmin came uncomfortable like he was going to cry, and immediately engulfed him into a hug. “minnie, it’s okay. people who don’t like you will try and tear you down to the point you can’t even look at yourself anymore. you need to start listening to the compliments instead of the insults, because it’s bullshit. you are perfect the way you are and you don’t need irrelevant people like that to tell you other wise.” his hand rubbed up and down seungmin’s back as he nodded into his shoulder. “now give me a smile, please.” pulling away slightly to see his younger’s face. seungmin shook his head no, but all it took was for minho to put his hands in a claw position and raise and eyebrow to make him flash his pearly whites.

54 notes · View notes

moxfirefly · 3 years

Text

So I’ve been working on this for a little while now after a comment @supershiny-raven left on one of my post. I present to you:

How the others find out you and the turtles are dating.

Raphael entered the Lair with you in his arms. His brothers stumbling by him, Leonardo actually tripping.

The gang had gone to drink at Vern’s fancy penthouse, a round of drinks had turned to four and before anybody had common sense he had broken out his fancy wine collection.

That had truly been everyone’s undoing.

Yours as well.

Raphael the tank had pretty much only gotten buzzed, even more so upon seeing your state he figured he needed to somehow get you and everyone else home safe and in one piece.

“Where do we dump Donnie?” April had one of his arms slung over her shoulder while Mikey had his other, they had quickly found out the purple banded terrapin was a fan of wine. “Whatever is flat and comfortable, you think you can manage him and Leo?” Raphael nudged his older brother who had dozed off while resting against the couch.

“Yeah yeah brah, we totally-“ He unceremoniously let his brother fall on the nearest cot, poor April taken along for the ride. “Shit, sorry girly”

Raph shook his head, you groaned stirring awake and tightening your hold on him. Raph was basically carrying you with one arm beneath your rear. Making his way towards his room he gently placed you on his bed and set about the task of removing your shoes. “Hey hey mister, I got a boyfriend” You squinted at the large terrapin at the end of the bed.

“Yeah I heard, lucky guy gets to put ya drunk ass to bed, where’s your makeup bag baby?” He got up when you half hazardously pointed at the dresser.

Pushing yourself up a little on your elbows you watched him gather your face creams and a pack of makeup wipes. He sat back down but next to you and motioned towards his lap. “C’mere, let’s get your face off” You giggled when he manhandled you onto his thigh and took out the wipes. Slowly and in the most excruciatingly loving way Raphael set out to wipe off your makeup. Each stroke removing foundation and eyeshadow, you mumbled something he somehow understood in your inebriated state. “Yeah yeah I got ya kid” With all the careful dexterity he developed over time, he gently removed your eyelashes.

“Somebody has been paying attention” You giggled, feeling the buzz in your body shift into grogginess. Raphael looked inside the bag, adding some cream to your face to hydrate it. He examined his work, a lazy smile as he caressed your face. It felt bizarre he could actually do this, touch a beautiful girl and do something so silly as help them out with their face routine. The two of you had been rather quiet about your relationship, enjoying it all to yourselves.

“Ya were the cutest drunk at that party” He ran his knuckles across your chin, You smiled sleepily lifting up enough to catch his lips in a languid kiss.

The door creaked open and there stood April, her own slightly drunk face breaking out into a sweet smile. The two pairs of eyes that landed on her read ‘get out’ and ‘keep your mouth shut’ slowly April backed up nodding with a giggle.

Then there was a ruckus of what Raphael only assumed was April tripping and Leo drunkly laughing his ass off.

____________

Michelangelo

Oh he was screwed.

So insanely screwed.

How could he misplace something he kept on his person so diligently?

Mikey turned over everything he could in his room, currently he had done just that with the mattress but to no avail.

His phone was missing.

His phone with that very scandalous polaroid you’d taken for him.

Mikey had nearly passed out when you gifted him the picture and to his delight he had stuck the polaroid on the back of his phone in its clear phone case. He kept his phone on him all the time, sure he’d have to be a little sneaky about placing it down but he could manage.

Now though? He was about to have a coronary.

Okay, currently in this disaster there was no trace of it. This meant he’d have to scavenge the living room.

Where his family was.

Mikey swallowed and scurried out with a silent prayer that it would there.

Raphael and Leonardo were currently watching a basketball game. They seemed pretty engrossed and perhaps wouldn’t notice that he was scouring the ends of the earth for his actual girlfriend’s literal boobs. He peaked aglance at the couch, his large brothers had to take up so much space to make it worse.

“What are you looking for?” Came Donnie’s voice from the kitchen. The orange banded turtle froze, he tried giving him a nonchalant shrug. “Just checking how I can give Raph a wedgie ya know” Donnie raised a brow ridge, mug of coffee to his lips.

“I double dare ya numbnuts, the Knicks are down ten points and I’m pissed” Raph grunted as the opposing team landed another shot and Leo sighed exasperated with the outcome. His eldest brother got up thankfully which allowed him to take a look at the that side of the sofa. To his dread but relief there wasn’t anything.

Where the fuck was his phone?!

“Hey snot face, can ya order a pizza?” Raph grumbled as the game seem to worsen, a pizza could fix up his mood. Mikey frozen, mouthing a series of ‘shit shit shit’ as he frantically looked around.

“Oh man that would fix this terrible game, can you order it with extra bacon too?” Leo went straight to the fridge to grab something to drink. “Order some cheesy sticks too will you?” Donnie asked as he poured himself another mug of coffee.

Yes all of this sounded wonderful and his stomach did grumble but

HIS GIRLFRIENDS BOOBS.

Raph had scooted further to grab his own soda from the coffee table and just as he did he saw his phone. Relief washed over him but to his immense dismay and terror, the back of his phone was facing up. Which means the clear case he had was displaying the infamous polaroid he had been gifted.

You had simply asked him one thing.

‘Please don’t let your brothers see my tits’

It all felt slow motion, his eyes going wide, his hand diving to the couch and just as he did, Raph’s quick reflexes kicked in unfortunately and he turned to grab his youngest brothers wrist. “Ya ain’t giving me a wedgie man!!”

Raph’s eyes followed Mikey’s hand and then his eyes bugged out.

“Why are there titties on the sofa?!” Raph made for the phone but only got a face full of pillow cushion. He snatched the phone before it could be grabbed by anybody else. The red banded brute grinned as his brother hugged the phone to his chest. “Advert your gaze you perv!” Mikey all but shrieked.

“I’m not the one walking around with a titty pic as my phone cover” Raph grinned, just to make matters worse Leo and Donnie had gathered.

“Mikey why are you walking around with a random porn pic on your phone cover” Came Donnie’s disapproving tone.

“It’s a polaroid” Was all Raph needed to say.

The silence that fell was brief, then a series of ‘ooh’s’ sounded off and Mikey all but frowned and felt his cheeks heat up.

“No way! That can’t be...” Leo was incredulous. The relationship between Mike and you had remained rather on the down low. It was fun, a little secret away from the world that could stay between the two of you.

“Mikey, are you and y/n a thing?” Donnie asked exactly what the rest wanted to know but Mikey dreaded to answer. He sighed dramatically and tucked his phone into his pocket, shooting Raph a glare as his green eyes followed the motion.

“Listen dudes she made me promise that nobody would see that picture and I’ve already broken that cardinal rule thanks to this jerk face” He frowned at Raph, who in turn rolled his eyes.

“Well maybe keep the picture in your wallet or your room?” Leo sipped his soda with a matter of fact tone.

“Or as a background on your phone cause honestly man” Donnie smiled to himself when Mikey shot him an incredulous look. “Why’d she give you that?” Raph inquired sneakily with a smirk.

“For our three month anniver- AH YOU DICK” Mikey huffed out as Raph began to laugh, it was so easy to trick Mikey when one played their cards right.

____________

Donatello

Investigating could take a toll on anybody, even if by all means you weren’t a detective it still didn’t mean you wouldn’t find yourself researching and investigating crime. It seems to be part of the job description when you befriend four giant crime fighting terrapins.

In away you could help, you did.

Everyone had huddled around the living room, the coffee table littered with pictures, clues and all sorts of pieces of evidence that could possibly lead to the culprit they were trying to catch. You had set down a stack of papers, eyes already screaming for a break. Leo and Casey were at the kitchen talking, Casey had just clocked out and was reporting back what the nights investigations had gathered. Raph and Mikey were checking out the pictures Casey had brought over and Donnie naturally was researching on a laptop he’d placed there.

You had nudged him to come over and join the huddle, and secretly you just wanted him close. The two of you were dating, quietly and unannounced, but in those first few stages of just wanting to be glued to one another it was a little difficult to do said glueing.

On a few occasions with prying eyes preoccupied with their investigating, you had reached over to rub his cheek, his sleepy eyes spoke greatly of how tired he felt. Donnie had been at this already for a while, you’d been there with him along the way.

With a stretch of his arms, Donnie yawned and rolled his neck. The clock on your phone read 3:45am, he was due for a nap at the very least. “Why don’t you lie down, I can keep helping out here” You reached over again and took off his glasses, he smiled tiredly but shook his head. “I’m fine, I can keep going” Despite his entire body language screaming otherwise, Donnie would always soldier on.

By the time another hour passed, people consumed enough Coffee to give themselves an additional pulse (and somebody committed the mistake of giving Mikey said coffee) the investigation had died down. A few walls were hit but a few leads had come from it as well. Everyone was ready to call it a night (or morning).

Casey yawned, twisting his neck to let out a few pops. “Okay who’s staying and who’s coming with me?” By the sounds of April softly snoring against an equally happily snoring Raph, it seemed she would stay. Casey had a few hours of sleep to catch on before heading for his next shift and you had to preoccupy yourself with the same before tackling a night shift at your job. Donnie’s tired eyes expressed how he wanted you to stay over but he knew work was closer to your place.

“I guess I’m carpooling with you” You told Casey, already grabbing your jacket and bag. A quick hug to Leo and Mikey, a bow to a recently awaken Splinter and you were next to Donnie.

He’d been sitting on the kitchen table, arms crossed and looking closer to being k.o’d.

It was the sleep deprivation honestly, on both your behalves.

Because you had spread your arms for a hug and so had he, but your face had met in the middle and before either of your foggy brains could comprehend what was happening you had smooched him.

On the lips.

For about a minute.

Minute and a half honestly.

You both froze, the awake members of the family staring with raised brows. Donnie furrowed his brows, lips pursed in a thin line, you still had your own in a kissing motion.

“Well at least we solved one mystery tonight” Spoke Mikey with a snicker, Leo nudged him.

Donnie sighed by shrugged. “Not exactly how I wanted to announce this so yup, I’m her boyfriend, she’s my girlfriend, please hold all inquires for a later time when I’m actually awake” He pulled you in again for a hug, and another kiss (greedy boy) and instructed Casey to deliver you home safely.

With a blush but albeit happy look on your face you waved everyone off.

___________

Leonardo

Keeping a relationship quiet had never proven to be so difficult. Truthfully it came easier when the circle of people surrounding you was bigger, but a close knit one? Everyone suddenly had the powers of observation up to God level.

But Leo’s ninja skills were God level too and you knew how to keep your trap shut and not sigh like a love struck teenager every second you saw him. So it had gone good, real good for a while. The thrill of maybe sharing an intimate kiss while others we’re around was a sensation you never expected to enjoy. When it was time to leave, Leo would ‘walk you’ home safely and by ‘miracle’ run into a few thugs on his way back.

Because there’s no reason a brisk ten minute walk to your apartment should turn into an hour and a half.

Raph wasn’t buying but cared little to stick his nose into it. Donnie was too busy to bother. Mikey had an idea but decided due to bro code not to voice it.

His father though?

Splinter knows what’s going on because well, he’s Splinter. You live long enough with four giant sons all with their unique personalities and traits, you pick up a thing or two about parenting pretty easily.

And Splinter is a phenomenal parent.

Both Father and Mother to his sons.

So naturally he’s irked that his eldest is sneaking out at odd hours and trying to conceal his return. Because Splinter feels that out of all four, Leo has always been the most open with him. Once Raph hit those pre-pubescent mood swings, Donnie began to teach himself all matter of subjects and Mikey was too busy trying to set a new record of heart attacks to give his father while skateboarding; Leo always remained the same.

Even with all the acolytes Leo has achieved in his ninjutsu training, he still had his hiccups and his father would never spare the opportunity to turn into a teaching moment.

So when Leo had kissed you passionately on his way out of your window, you still in nothing but the skin that he had dedicated a fair amount of time in kissing and bitting. He thought he was being slick, he thought he was going to ninja his way into the Lair, into the showers and straight to his bed.

What he didn’t account for was his father waiting up on him. A mug of hot tea on the kitchen table and hands clasps together in what Leo recognized all to well as ‘Dad Mode’.

He’d been caught with the proverbial hand in the cookie jar. His gear was half hazardously on, mask slipped down around his neck and for Christ sake he was holding a shoe. It was 6:30am and he smelled like a girl, a pretty girl no less. The jig was up, especially when his dad motioned for him to come forth and seat opposite him at the kitchen table.

“Dad I can ex-“ Splinter held up a finger and pushed the mug of tea towards his disheveled eldest son.

“My son, I am not angry” Which was truthful, he wasn’t, in fact he was ecstatic that Leo had found somebody, somebody good and somebody that loved him for he has. Long ago he had accepted the pain that his sons would not find suitable partners and the ache it would come with for them. But here was Leo, nervous and trying to adjust his clothing because he’d been with a woman, a woman he clearly loved.

“I like y/n, she is kind, thoughtful and caring to us” Splinter emphasized each trait with a tap of a long nail on the table. “She should be treated with respect, I hope I have instilled that teaching unto you, a lady is to be respected Leonardo” Leo nodded at his fathers words, he nodded and prayed that the underwear he had stuffed into his pockets wouldn’t magically transport on the table to further humiliate him.

“So please my son, do not lie to me, do not come home late in this state and not expect me to know what has transpired” Dad voice was on, coupled with the sympathetic eyes though, man Splinter was good at this shit.

Leo hung his head, clearly ashamed of his dishonorable doings. “Hai, sensei” Even as an adult being scolded by his father never stopped hurting.

“And please do tell her that there isn’t anything hide, she is welcomed in our home, I would not mind getting to know my future daughter in law a little bit more” Splinter enjoyed the way his son nearly choked on his tea.

“Perhaps I can tell her a few anecdotes of your growing up” He smiled when Leo looked at him with pleading eyes. “I believe I have a few embarrassing ones she will find most delightful” He stood up and placed a hand on his sons broad shoulder. “I’m sorry dad, sorry for sneaking around and not telling you” He was earnest in his words and Splinter bowed his head.

“I know, thank you Leonardo” He walked away, hands behind his back.

Leo sighed and pulled out his phone, shooting you a quick text.

-so my dad wants to formally meet you... as in introduce you as my girlfriend.

It felt nice to hit send on that message.

#tmnt bayverse #tmnt Leonardo #tmnt Raphael #tmnt Michelangelo #tmnt Donatello #Leonardo #Raphael #Donatello #Michelangelo #tmnt Leo #tmnt Donnie #tmnt Raph #tmnt Mikey #fluff #comedy #slightly ns*w

556 notes · View notes