#it fully engaged my attention and that’s rare

[doctorstarlock]

I’m so mad at y’all for not getting me into Love and Monsters. It has everything you guys want! A post-apocalyptic story that makes fun of the normal genre tropes but still makes them work; a protag who isn’t automatically good at survival skills just because he’s the main character; a rich world of monsters that were clearly created with love because they are all so detailed and exquisite and not just a gauntlet of dangerous creatures to fight but new elements of nature that humans still have responsibility to respect and live beside; excellent vfx, PRACTICAL EFFECTS. I’m talking about PUPPETS, Y’ALL; a love story that turns out to not be about romantic love at all, but about family and community; a hopeful and happy ending instead of a bleak one; an adorable dog — who lives!! And Dylan Obrien’s acting is really good! And the story is well-written and the characters are interesting! It’s just a really refreshing movie compared to a lot of action flicks these days and I highly recommend it

#it fully engaged my attention and that’s rare #also sorry for the spoiler i just had to specify the dog lives #it’s not that kind of movie #it makes you feel good #it was all about love!! #love is the key to survival! #love is what makes it worth staying alive!! #also there was a ROBOT #SHE WAS SO SWEET #and dylan obrien was giving maze runner vibes which I actually missed #JUST WATCH IT OKAY #love and monsters #practical effects

[improbable-outset]

📄 𝐈’𝐦 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫

↳📄 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐈𝐈: 𝐅𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝟎𝟎𝟒 𝐆𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚

{{Part 1}}

Miguel O’Hara x Fem!Reader

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 2.8k

𝐀𝐎𝟑 | 𝐌𝐲 𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐬 | 𝐒𝐩𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭

𝐓𝐖 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐂𝐖: Angst, Pre-break up argument flashbacks, both you and Miguel being pretty hostile to each other lol, pregnancy scare, established relationship with your new man that Miguel hates :(

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲: It’s been over a year since you split up, but unfortunately for Miguel, things are still taking a toll. Even after going your separate ways, you still have to see each other everyday and it was affecting his performance. Meanwhile, your dual life as a loyal lover and as Spider-Woman is putting a lingering strain on your new relationship. The ripple effect of your breakup is coming back to bite you in the ass in the most unexpected way possible.

1 year ago…

It felt like you had been going back and forth for hours but it had only been less than 30 minutes. It might be because you have been holding this grudge for so long and you were finally voicing it out to him.

Though, your argument has been going around in circles with no conclusion or resolution to be found. The room echoed with your voices along with the subtle hum of the monitors around you.

“None of this matters. It never did, it doesn’t matter what we feel and what he want,” Miguel said, back was facing you as he spoke, not fully engaged in the conversation or paying full attention to you right now. This argument seemed to serve no importance to him.

“Are you saying that our relationship means nothing to you,” you quipped.

He sighed, seemingly exhausted from hearing the same thing over and over again. “What I’m saying is…it’s a distraction that I can’t afford to have,” he glanced over at you before his gaze fell back on the monitors— reluctant to maintain eye contact with you. “You are a liability,”

“Liability?!” Your voice almost came out as a screech.

“Yes, a liability. I can’t get comfortable when the responsibility of the multiverse is on my shoulders, I can’t let my guard down…and our relationship is only getting in the way,”

“We’re supposed to make each other be the best version of ourselves, with or without the multiverse. Not be cooped up in one room all day,”

“Right, I keep forgetting that you’re incapable of understanding the magnitude of the situation. This requires undivided attention and I need to keep my head in the game. Not…this. Us,” He snapped back. The last word came out as a snarl, like it was venomous.

Us.

At one point in your relationship, hearing that word made you feel like you had a special connection you both shared.

Us.

Now the word lost its meaning and it felt heavy, like being with you felt like a chore.

“Why did you agree to this relationship if this is all you’re gonna do,”

“That was a mistake, a lapse of judgment in my part for believing this would be a good idea,”

It was hard to believe that this was the same man that opened up to you about his insecurities and leaned on you for emotional support.

He always made you feel reliable, but now given the situation you were in, it was all fickle. All those special moments were thrown back in your face.

Was it all just a rose-tinted illusion just to make you believe that he did value you and your relationship?

“You can’t just leave HQ just for one night?” You left the question hanging even if you already knew the answer. His lack of response was enough to speak volume anyways.

Your line of sight landed on one of the footage of him and Gabriella after her soccer practice. You watched as it displayed Miguel picking up Gabriella, a huge grin flashed on his face, before giving her a hug.

It was hard to believe Miguel even harbored that paternal instinct in him when all you’ve witnessed was his stoic attitude. Even if he did display his vulnerability, it was rare and those moments felt like catching smoke with your bare hands.

After a long moment of silence, you finally remarked, “I don’t think watching Gabriella’s file is healthy,”

There was a micro shift in his demeanor that was so subtle, but you still managed to pick it up. His muscles tenses like he had just been pricked by a thorn.

“Don’t even think about bringing her up,” his voice came out cold and sinister, a warning to prevent you from going deeper. “You don’t know the whole story”

“I know enough,” That was enough for him to finally turn around to look at you, unleashing his inferno of fury in full glory.

“No, you don’t! You don’t know anything about her. You’ve read her reports. You’ve seen the surveillance videos. But that isn’t the whole story,”

“Maybe not but I know it’s the main reason why you’re so driven by guilt, you can barely see what’s in front of you,”

“Oh I see everything that’s in front of me. Everything that matters," he scoffed before continuing on,"I’m doing what I have to do, and here you have the gall to get upset over me not paying attention to you?”

At that moment, your mind reeled back to the night you were experiencing a panic attack because you had a pregnancy scare. You still vividly remembered the taste of bile climbing into your throat from the fear.

It didn’t help that you were alone in that situation. You were in the HQ bathroom because you thought it would be easier for Miguel to be there for you if you were in his dimension, but you were only met with disappointment when he was on another mission.

You remembered gripping onto the pregnancy test tightly, you felt the sweat from your palms while struggling to breathe. For a long while, you were reluctant to take the test, too anxious to see the results.

Thankfully, the test came out negative. The relief that followed was like cool water over your heated body. You didn’t want to imagine how things would’ve unfolded if it was positive— more importantly, you didn’t want to see Miguel’s reaction if you were pregnant with his child.

“I’m not talking about me anymore, I’m talking about a bigger picture,”

By bigger picture, you were talking about the far future and what potential it could hold. Despite being aware of the importance of keeping the Multiverse in balance, you still wanted Miguel to have a fulfilling life— one that wasn’t so heavily influenced by the Spider Society.

But that was practically impossible if he kept himself in his office. It was counterproductive when it came to healing from his grief and guilt by replaying Gabriella’s footage over and over again.

Surely this was going to take a toll soon and you didn’t want to witness him tearing himself apart and let his guilt dictate his life.

“There is no bigger picture than this. This is the picture,” He gestured at the monitors behind him. “This is where my attention should be, everything else is secondary.”

“I’m starting to feel like you’re having tunnel vision,”

“Tunnel vision?!” His voice escalated in pitch and came out harsh, like blade cutting through the mounted tension in the room. “I’m the one who sees more than you ever will!”

His words, even if they were hurtful to hear, were starting to have some weight on them and it made your arguments pale in comparison.

Everything you said seemed to be thrown right back at you in the most ruthless way and you were starting to feel like this was getting pointless.

There’s nothing you could say that could change his mind and you were beginning to accept that.

“You know what, you’re right. It’s not like you’ll ever share with me what you see,” It was time to throw in the towel, this was not going anywhere now.

“What do you mean?”

“That’s not important. But like you said, I’m a liability and in your way so I’ll see myself out,” Your turned your heels and hopped off the platform before you made your way to the exit. “This relationship was a waste of time and effort,”

It was past noon when you heard a soft knock on your door. With a frown, you swung open your door to see that it was Albie in his usual work attire.

“Hey…uhm shouldn’t you be at work?” You asked, surprise evident in your tone.

“I’m on my lunch break,” he replied, holding up a plastic bag and mirroring your smile.

“But you always have lunch in your office,” Even if you were happy to see him during work hours, this change in his routine wasn’t like him. But what added to your confusion was the newfound sparkle in his eyes as he spoke.

“I know but I wanted to see you. Plus, I went to the bodega and picked up your favourites,” It was an odd change seeing him come over to your place to eat. You knew he preferred having his lunch at work so he could maintain the professional atmosphere without any distractions.

Nevertheless, you stepped aside to let him in. You both padded to the living room and he placed the bag on the coffee table. Albie always took pride in his looks, keeping his hair well-groomed that went hand in hand with his sharp attire. The early afternoon sunlight casted over the room through the balcony doors, giving a warm glow.

You couldn’t help but pick up the slight energy in his step as he walked and the grin that was plastered on his face, despite the long hours he spent at work. You watched him take out your sandwich and handed it to you.

The familiar aroma of fresh bread and deli meat immediately overwhelmed you and reminded you how hungry you were. You took the first bite and was immediately filled with the cocktail of flavours and spices from the meat.

“You seem excited,” you pointed out before you took another bite from the sandwich. You haven’t seen him look this ecstatic since the night you confessed that you loved him back.

He rubbed his neck, trying to conceal his enthusiasm. “Heh, am I that obvious?”

You nodded. “Like reading a book. Is there something you want to share?”

He put his hands up in mocking surrender before he said “Okay, okay you got me. Yes, I do have some pretty exciting news. That’s why I came to see you,”

You arched your brow mid-chewing and listening attentively to what he had to say. His lips twitched up, enjoying the suspense of the moment.

“Do you remember how I’ve been working on that project with the major corporation for the past few months?” He asked.

You nodded, still remembering the long hours and the late night calls he got. Albie worked as a cyber security consultant for a reputable firm. He specialised in helping organisations protect their systems and data from cyber threats.

Albie was good at what he did and you can tell he took pride in his work. He would always share news about his career and keep you in the loop as much as possible.

His wide grin from earlier returned as he continued. “Well it’s still in the working progress and so far things are looking pretty promising. But once this project is completed, there’s been talk about a potential promotion. A senior consultant role,”

Your brows raise in pleasant surprise as you were taking in everything he was saying.

“That’s amazing!” You exclaimed, you found yourself leaning forward, eager to hear more.

“Thank you, babe. I’m not there yet but I’m hopeful. There are a lot of perks to this promotion like the salary increase which will give us a stability for a better future, but there’s something else too,”

“What’s that?”

“Well one of the benefit packages comes with a Health and Wellness program which include gym memberships. If I get this promotion, I thought we could maybe start hitting the gyms together after work and make it our thing,”

The moisture in your mouth instantly dried as you tried to swallow another mouthful of your sandwich. Ever since you’ve joined the Spider Society, you’ve only been using the gym back in HQ rather than in your dimension.

You still remember the day Miguel gave you a tour of the gym and how he managed to convince you to use it regularly instead of the gyms back at home because they were not catered for spider people like you.

You knew he just said that just so you would work out with him. But now, you would go there alone and you would much prefer it that way. It felt more comfortable being surrounded by people like you.

But you couldn’t tell Albie that. He wasn’t aware about your secret identity as Spidera-Woman and it should be kept that way. You managed to mask your internal conflict with an encouraging smile.

“Yeah definitely, I just need to check my schedule to see if I can make time fit.” You said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as you could and match his high spirit. You didn’t want to ruin his happiness by being doubtful, this was a huge opportunity for him.

“Great. We can even try out some of the gym fitness classes they offer too. At least then we can spend more time together.” He went on, rambling. It made your stomach flutter knowing that he really wanted to share the benefits with you. “This will be amazing,”

“Yeah…let’s not get too ahead of ourselves though. You still haven’t got the promotion yet,” you tried to reason with him before he made any unattainable plans.

Albie had the tendency to be overly hopeful about things and as much as you appreciated his enthusiasm and his support, he can go overboard without realising it.

“You’re right, speaking of which I’m gonna have to leave for 1. How’s the sandwich?”

You swallowed the mouthful before you answered, “Perfect,”

Later in the evening, you were alone again in your living room. The only source of light came from the screen in front of you, casting a soft glow that illuminated the room.

The only noise that could be heard was the TV in the background. Otherwise, the apartment was quiet enough to hear the low bliss of the traffic outside. Even if you didn’t have company for the night, it was still peaceful.

Amidst the serenity, you couldn’t help but subconsciously reminisce about the stark difference between your evenings with Albie compared to those spent with Miguel.

When he was not working a late shift, nights with Albie would be filled with tranquility and quality moments together. You would often find yourself curled up on the couch while nestled onto his chest.

A stark contrast to the time spent with Miguel, where moments together were rare occurrences. His duties as Spider-man and leader of the Spider Society left little room for personal connections. The fact that he was not from your home dimension added another layer of complexity to your relationship. You’d be lucky if he even left his own dimension just to be with you.

But, you didn’t want to mull over it and open the door to any unnecessary longing of ‘what could’ve been’ and ‘what if’s’ tonight. You had Albie now and every moment left like a treasure trove of warmth and comfort.

Your dinner that you made fresh was sitting on the coffee table in front of you, waiting to be eaten. Just as you were about to pick up your plate to start on your food, you heard a sharp whisper in your ear that sent a chill down your spine.

“Hey,”

You flinched.

That was not something you wanted to hear when you were home alone. You quickly cupped your ear instinctively before you saw a marigold hologram glitch in front of you that was followed by Lyla’s figure.

“Hey girl,” she greeted, fluttering her fingers in a wave.

“Lyla—! Jeez don’t scare me like that,” You exclaimed before signing in both relief and annoyance.

“Sorry, I didn’t want to interrupt your night with a grand entrance,” You didn’t want to admit that she already did just that. She glitched around you, disappearing and reappearing in different directions around you as she spoke. “By the way, Miguel needs you back in HQ,”

“Right now? Can’t he get someone else? I’m supposed to be on my day off,” you protested.

“Actually your days off are on Mondays and Thursdays,” she reminded you. You quickly glanced at your calendar and saw that she was right. You sighed again. So much for enjoying the evening to yourself.

“Alright…tell him I’ll be there in 10,”

“Copy that,” she saluted before she glitched away, leaving alone with the food in front of you.

You watch the steam waltz into the air from your hot meal, almost teasing you. It wouldn’t taste the same when you reheat it in the microwave. Yet, a part of you was glad that you didn’t start eating yet. Dimension traveling on a full stomach always ended in motion sickness.

You took the plate and made your way to the kitchen and covered it with a foil sheet. You then headed to your room to change into your suit and tapped on your watch, activating a colourful whirlwind portal for you to step into.

Hold onto Albie for me 🥹🤞🏼 he’s a stable man (for now)

𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐬: @femaholicc @keepitreal001 @risararelywrites @jadeloverxd @cl3stevu

@scaleniusrm @smartyren @homewreckingwreck @indecisive-capricorn @toyfortoji

Lmk if you wanna be tagged for this series (i didn’t know who to tag here so I tagged whoever commented on part 1)

Part 3…data loading ⏳

#★— ayrus writes #˖ ݁𖥔.☁︎.𖥔 ݁ ˖ i’m loving you from a distance #miguel o'hara #miguel o'hara x reader #miguel o’hara x reader #miguel ohara x reader #miguel x reader #miguel o’hara imagine #miguel o’hara x you #miguel o’hara fanfiction #miguel o'hara imagine #miguel ohara #miguel spiderman #spiderman 2099 spiderverse #spiderman 2099 #spiderman 2099 x reader #miguel o’hara spiderman 2099 #spiderman 2099 x you #atsv miguel #spider man 2099 #miguel spiderverse

[deathbecomesthem]

Gone, Baby, Gone

Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader | 2.2K

Minors DNI - +18 ONLY on this blog

Contains smut with someone that has a vagina. A bit of Steve Harrington slander. Eddie decides to bust a myth.

---

Eddie hears everything. It’s a remarkable thing that you’ve never gotten used to. The other guys you’ve been with had selective hearing, when you were with your friends, they’d tune it out. But not Eddie. He can be fully engaged in a conversation with Steve and still hear exactly what you and Nancy are talking about. 

You’re feeling loose tonight, the wine went straight to your head. You and Nancy are sitting on the floor of Steve’s living room, your heads together while Eddie and Jonathan sit on the couch behind the two of you and pass the bong back and forth. Nancy is tipsier than you are, and she has no control over her loose lips. It’s fun, you love it when she gets like this, it’s so rare to see her act her age and be able to chill.

“You know, before Jon I never-” Nancy looks behind her to make sure the boys are occupied before continuing, “I never had an orgasm.”

You snort into your glass of wine while you take a sip, “Oh no.” You lower your voice and bring your face even closer to Nancy’s, “Not even with Steven?”

Nancy shakes her head and puts her hands on your shoulders. Her forehead is pressed against yours, “But Jon, it’s unbelievable,” Nancy brings her lips to your ear before saying, “I thought the g-spot was a myth, but oh my god. It’s definitely not.”

You can’t help it, you gasp out a laugh at the serious way Nancy is looking directly into your eyes and divulging this important secret information. You look back and ensure that the boys are still occupied before whispering back to Nancy, your head close to hers, “I think it’s a myth, at least for me. I mean, it feels good, but I’ve never felt any fireworks.”

As soon as you finish talking, you feel a hand on the back of your neck. A thumb rubbing against your spine. Eddie. Nancy is already distracted by Robin calling her name from the kitchen, and you’re left there alone, while Eddie’s fingers run along the vertebrae in your neck, never diverting his attention from his conversation with Jonathan.

The ride home is silent. You’re embarrassed. You’re afraid Eddie’s embarrassed. You shouldn’t have said that, it was too personal. The two of you are so new, it’s only been a couple of weeks since you started seeing each other, and a feeling of dread sits deep in your gut. You find your mouth opening to say something, and then closing. Over and over. And Eddie’s not helping. His hands are gripped firmly to the steering wheel, eyes fixed on the road in front of him. No fingers wandering to your knee to play with the frayed fabric of your jeans.

You’re surprised when he takes a left instead of a right on Main Street. The plan was that you’d be spending the night at his place, and now it appears to be that he’s taking you back to your apartment. You say nothing, and let the silence swallow you. In those brief minutes between the light at the center of town, and the entrance to your apartment building, you feel more alone than you’ve ever felt in the presence of Eddie. When he pulls into a spot across the parking lot from your front door, he puts the van in park and turns off the ignition. 

“Wayne’s coming home in a few hours, I thought it’d be better to stay here tonight, I hope that’s ok.” Eddie doesn’t turn to look at you until he’s done speaking, and you see it. His eyes are dark and hungry, he looks like the big bad wolf ready to eat you alive. Your pulse picks up, the air in the cabin of his van is thick.

“Uh, sure. You want to stay here tonight?” You can’t stop the tremble in your voice, you’re trying to not let on that you notice the way he’s looking at your mouth while you speak. “I can’t guarantee that Mr. Simpson won’t wake us up when he gets up for work at 4.” Your middle-aged downstairs neighbor is loud when he gets up in the morning, something that’s been driving you to stay at the trailer most nights since you and Eddie started sleeping together a few weeks ago.

Eddie nods and mutters under his breath as he gets out of the car, “We won’t be sleeping anyway.”

Eddie puts his arm around your shoulder and holds you close to him while the two of you make your way to the door of your apartment. He smells like weed and leather, and your head feels like it’s full of helium. You’re afraid you might float away, but he’s got you. His fingers feeling the exposed skin of your waist keep you firmly in the parking lot with him. He’s grounding you. He’s holding you here. He’s the only thing in the world right now, Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

You move up the stairs still being held in Eddie’s arm. He’s not letting you go until the two of you are inside your place, and he’s taking off his jacket. You can feel his eyes on you as you untie your sneakers and put your jacket on the coat rack. You’re along for the ride at this point, and excited to find out what’s happening inside of his head. He can set the pace tonight. Your body is screaming for it. You want him to do whatever it is that’s got him hard under the denim of his jeans. You see it now, and you can’t believe you didn’t notice on the ride over.

“You thirsty or hungry?” Eddie asks. He doesn’t wait for an answer, “Go grab a couple of glasses of water and meet me in the bedroom.” You watch him walk back towards the end of the short hallway in front of you while you digest his words. You’re happy to oblige, and find yourself robotically moving into your kitchen to fill up two glasses of water before padding your way back to meet him in your bedroom.

Eddie is already in his boxers when you use your hip to push open the halfway closed door. He’s setting his rings on the bedside table, and you think, God, he’s so beautiful. His hair is brushing against his shoulders, and you see the black ink dancing across his pale skin under the low light of the desk lamp next to your bed. You feel the familiar ache you feel every time you see him like this, only now it’s accompanied by a tingle at the top of your scalp and at the tips of your toes and fingers.

“Sweetheart, set those down. I want you to get undressed and get in the bed please.” His dark eyes are on you again, “I wanna show you that it’s not a myth, and I don’t care if it takes all night.”

Your mouth opens to speak, and closes again. Your legs are jelly, but you have no choice but to trust them. You set the water down on the table next to him before giving him a kiss on his shoulder to tell him that this is good. This is what you want. You keep your eyes fixed on his while you take off each item of clothing. Eddie’s breathing is steady, but heavy while he scans your body. He follows your hands as you unbutton your jeans and unhook your bra. You get in the bed and push the blankets to the side so that he can see you while he climbs in next to you. 

“Tell me everything you feel, can you do that?” Eddie whispers against your ear before taking your earlobe between his teeth. 

“Yes. I can do that.” You answer with a gasp. Your legs rub together at the knees, an involuntary soothing motion while his fingers run from your neck to your hip, missing your nipple on the way. A teasing touch that makes you ache.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, do you know that?” Eddie’s mouth is on your neck now, he’s speaking directly into the skin while the tips of his fingers dance across the hair of your mound. “And you’re so good. So, amazing. You deserve to feel so good, Sweetheart. I’m gonna make you feel so good. I’ll do anything you want.”

“Ok. I trust you, Ed. I want you to make me feel good.” You don’t recognize your own voice, it’s placid and quiet, ready for him.

“Good Sweetheart. You’re so perfect, all the time. Do you think you can make them nice and wet for me?” Eddie’s voice is everywhere. He’s in your head. He’s all around your body. It’s the only sound you can hear. You feel the rough calluses of his fingertips against your lips, and you open to take them in. All of them, letting the spit dribble from the side of your lips while you feel every ridge of the tips of each finger. “Mmmm, your mouth is so sweet.”

Your hips are rocking already, even with Eddie’s body sitting next to you. It’s lifting to find nothing to touch, until you feel his wet fingers spreading the lips of your cunt. Opening you up. You find yourself planting your legs against the mattress and spreading them wide for him while he brushes against your clit and dips down to feel the way your wetness is gathering in answer to his voice.

“Oh, look at her, she’s ready. How about you, Sweetheart, do you think you’re ready for me?” Eddie’s at your chest now, you didn’t notice him move away from your neck. His words are being breathed against the peak of your nipple.

“Please, Eddie. Please.” Your answer is a cry, pathetic, but his answer to it is to put his perfect lips against that soft peak at your chest and suck. His warm tongue flicks at it, tastes it. And it responds by tightening even harder due to his efforts.

Those fingers, devilish and clever, are breaching your aching hole. Circling gently before you feel one push inside of you. Your hips continue to rock, it’s out of your control. It feels good to have him inside of you, any of him. And then you hear the sound of a pop, his mouth releasing your nipple from his mouth.

“Words, Baby. Tell me if it’s good.” Eddie’s voice brings you back.

“It feels real nice, Eddie.” Your voice is breathy, and he hums against your chest. He rests his head there before adding another finger. “Oh, mmm. Yeah, that’s -” you give a little cry of discomfort, “too deep, Ed.” Eddie hums again and changes the way his fingers are moving.

It’s then that you feel it. It's deep inside of you, a place you’ve never been able to touch. Eddie has the right angle, his fingers are just right. He’s touching that spot, and you can almost feel the ridges of his fingertips in the same way your tongue could. And then he adds a third finger.

“How are we feeling about this?” Eddie's lips are on your nipple again, and you want to answer him. You really want to tell him that you’ve never felt like this before. That’s he’s touching a part of you that no one has ever been able to reach before. But the words are gone, your mind doesn’t have them.

Your hips move to meet his hand, and that’s the answer he’s looking for. His thumb, that beautiful digit that is so brilliant, begins to move against your hard nub. It circles it while his fingers work against that spot inside of you. It’s a symphony of pleasure, and Eddie knows the score. 

You hear his words circling around you, “Oh, look at you. You’re feeling so good, aren’t you? Oh my god, you’re so hot. Fuck me. Baby, baby, baby, look at you. Are you gonna cum? Oh, you’re gonna give me the prettiest orgasm, aren’t you? You’re incredible.”

You hear the noises your body is making against Eddie’s fingers. You hear his hand working against his cock. Eddie’s fucking his fist while he fucks you with his fingers. These are things you know, but you’re gone. You’re somewhere else. You’re out of your body and feeling things that humans are incapable of. Gone, baby, gone.

It’s a crash of lightning. A scream into the night. Your body is not your own, but you’re in every single cell. You’re right fucking there when you feel it, tingles fromm head to toe while your limbs shake and a warm flood of ecstasy leaves you. 

You’re whining, almost a cry of overwhelming pleasure while Eddie - your man - brings you into his chest. He holds you close and hushes those weak noises coming from your mouth. You find your body, and it’s sweaty and wet, but you smell Eddie. You feel his warm skin against your cheek. He’s holding you, in your bed. Your shared release cools rapidly while you both catch your breath. Kisses against vast expanses of skin. Fingers brushing against cheeks.

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson imagine

[themeatpit37]

Something’s Wrong With Sunny Day Jack Random Assorted Headcanons

This is just a fun little collection of random headcanons I got! Mostly showing these since I have been wanting to write for a while but either haven’t had the energy or any idea of what to write. Enjoy!

❤️💛💙☀️Sunny Day Jack☀️❤️💛💙

I have a lot of headcanons for Jack but one of them is that he LOVES it when people run their fingers through his hair. He will practically melt into their touch like he was starved of attention and hold your arms so they don’t stop. His hair is VERY soft too so it’s heavenly to touch! A win win scenario!

Jack is very much a physical guy. If anyone gives him permission, he will absolutely take the opportunity. It also has to do with his need to be seen since you can’t really forget someone who practically clings onto you! But seriously please let him hold onto you, he needs physical contact.

HE. LOVES. KISSES. Doesn’t matter where, when, or why just give them to him. He does prefer giving passionate and soft kisses though because to him they show how much he loves whoever he’s kissing.

Very much prefers honey on his pancakes over syrup. He’ll still use syrup but will use honey when it’s available. The natural taste honey has fits better on pancakes than maple or pancake syrup does. He does love a good blueberry syrup though!

🖤💀Shaun💀🖤

Shaun is very easily excitable in my eyes. You’re hyped about something? He is immediately hyped too! You could be explaining the history behind the creation of dishwashers or something and as long as you are happy, he is fully listening and engaging as much as he can all while hyping you up!

Attends furry conventions whenever he can. Is he a furry? No one knows anymore but he does know a few too many inside jokes though.

Canonically, I am pretty sure he is a monsterfucker but in my opinion I feel he likes “weird” monsters the most. Like yeah werewolves and demons are cool but he’d be lying if he said he didn’t have at least one erotic dream about Seth from The Fly.

His favorite fall drink is apple cider! Hot cocoa is nice but a warm mug of spiced apple cider just hits different especially with a squirt of whipped cream!

🧡🌿Ian🌿🧡

To me, I always read Ian as a very emotional guy. Wears his heart on his sleeve type. It’s kind of a side effect of his home life and the way people treated him as he got older.

His favorite flavors are cinnamon, brown sugar, matcha, and pistachio. Flavors for what? Anything really. But mostly in either baked goods or drinks. Speaking of, his favorite milk flavor is a tie between strawberry milk and banana milk.

I get the vibe that on social media, he follows mostly cute animal accounts, food blogs, and aesthetic pages of many varieties. His favorites are the ones that post outfits or accessories for outfit ideas.

One of his biggest fears is spiders and most insects! Something about them just makes him freak out, especially if they got lots of legs like a centipede. Even caterpillars freak him out sometimes, but he rarely ever kills them. Most of the time they get put under a cup and released.

🩶🩵👾Nick👾🩵🩶

Due to us not knowing much about him, most of this is based off nothing but vibes. He is 100% a collector though. He has a whole binder of Pokémon cards, multiple blind bag toys of his favorite games and expensive figurines sit on his shelf, posters are all over his room walls, and his collection is constantly growing.

Very superstitious. If he learns about an urban legend from another country, it becomes part of his beliefs like hiding your thumbs in your pockets while passing cemeteries to keep your parents safe or throwing salt over your shoulder after spilling a salt shaker.

Sometimes when he is alone with his dogs, Pico and Cheese, he’ll have full on conversations with them like they’re people who know what he’s talking about. Usually it’s a rant about someone annoying he had to deal with or explaining what happened at work that day.

Naps often. If you give him an opportunity to nap, he will take it. Even if he gets the best night of sleep in the whole universe, he’ll always be ready to take a nap. Bonus points if it’s with someone he likes or if his dogs are there.

#sunny day jack #something’s wrong with sunny day jack #somethings wrong with sunny day jack #sdj #swwsdj

[jadeazora]

A bit of review/overall thoughts for the Teal Mask.

Overall, a much better attempt compared to DLC1 of SwSh. The Isle of Armor was pretty cool, but the storyline was pretty bland overall. I found the story much more engaging here, especially when we get the true story of what happened between the "Loyal" Three and Ogerpon.

Speaking of the new Legendaries, the L3 are interesting with how much intelligence they show (from knowing how valuable the masks are and traveling across regions to get to Kitakami to clearly planning their revenge on Ogerpon right in front of you and Carmine) and how they might have been corrupted by the Toxic Chain. Ogerpon is also really cute with how much personality she shows. I feel SV really did a great job with bonding us with our Legendary partners overall.

Also with the Loyal Three, there's a number of interesting guesses about how they came back to life. My initial assumption was that it was something like them feeding on Kieran's anger and resentment to reawaken themselves, but there's also the theories that he was possessed by the Toxic Chain (we do see a purple glow travel up his arm during the scene if you pay very close attention, so it's possible this is where he would be possessed) and the rumors of the crystals from the Crystal Pool possibly bringing the dead back to life, since Carmine mentions a rumor where people have met those who have passed away there, and Kieran was hanging around with the Mask that had been imbued with those crystals.

(As an aside, SV has very much of a corrupted wishes vibe, from the Professor and their vision of a utopia would cause an ecological disaster to Paldea, to the Loyal Three wishing for beauty/power/intelligence when they made contact with the Toxic Chain at the possible cost of their morality, and how Kieran wishes to become stronger than the player but falls into his obsession at the end.)

Honestly, Kieran's launched himself into being one of my favorite rivals with the game seemingly building him up as a problem for the Indigo Disk storyline, but it's neat how the siblings undergo a complete reversal with how they view the protagonist. He's also a pretty decent challenge, with a fully-evolved team of six in the low-mid Lv70s all packing held items. (If you're doing this after you completed the main story of SV.) He puts up a much better fight than Geeta does, for sure, and I hope he gets to meet your base-game rivals in the next storyline.

Carmine is also really fun, especially when she starts warming up to us, but I do hope she gets called out for her earlier treatment of her brother, and how she started this whole mess by lying to him. Like, I don't think he would have felt left out by us just randomly running into Ogerpon. We thought it was a child until it dropped its mask, we could have just explained that to him. We're the new kid, how would we know any better or what the ogre looks like? I guess she might have been worried that two little kids would just climb up this dangerous mountain at night, but it still lead to more problems.

I loved Perrin's sidequest too, and hope we see her again in the Indigo Disk! Bloodmoon Ursaluna is so cool (already one of my fave Gen9 Pokemon and regional variants), and can actually give you a pretty fierce battle if you go in with a new team.

Kitakami still feels a little empty imo, just like the base game, but there's a good amount of small caves that sometimes have rare Pokemon inside, and places like the Chilling Waterhead that I wouldn't even know was there if not for Fezandipiti. Some other areas are also visually cool, like the Crystal Pool (interesting to see those crystals from Area Zero are showing up in other regions as well) and the Fellhorn Gorge.

I'm really excited for the Indigo Disk now, like full-on brainrot mode rn, and feel the Teal Mask really does a pretty good job of building up the second part of the DLC with all the little teasers we get. (In comparison, SwSh's DLC felt more separate between the two halves.) I feel they haven't shown much of the story aside (from the BB League/battling stuff), so things are probably going to get pretty crazy, especially with certain things the datamine has given us, in Pt2, and I really can't wait to see what happens next!

#pokemon scarlet and violet #pokemon sv #pokemon sv spoilers #pokemon sv dlc #pokemon kieran #rival kieran #rival carmine #pokemon carmine #loyal three #fezandipiti #munkidori #okidogi #the teal mask #the hidden treasure of area zero #ogerpon

[katy-l-wood]

Okay, finished the whole season. Thoughts on the new ATLA under the cut. (They're positive, so if that's not your jam that's fine. But I'd like to keep this post positive. Discussion is welcome, bashing is not.)

I fucking loved it. This is easily the best adaption of something I have ever seen. They got the tone so well, and the way they mixed in 1 to 1 stuff from the original show with their new stuff worked so, so well. That addition of the division Zuko saved being assigned as his crew? Chef's kiss. Chef's fucking kiss.

I think the biggest marker of success for me, though, is that I didn't have to do anything else while I was watching and I didn't WANT to. My attention was fully, 100% on the show 95% of the time, which is so, so fucking rare for me as someone with ADHD. I don't even remember the last time I watched a show and didn't have to also be drawing or doing a puzzle or playing a game on my phone to stay engaged. But with this I didn't.

Also, the COLORS. It was such a fucking pretty show. And IT WASN'T FUCKING BLACK. There was LIGHT. I watched 80% of it during the day in my relatively bright livingroom and I could always see everything clearly, even during the night scenes. And the siege of the North with the limited hues and blasts of fire? Perfect.

And Azula! The way they added her to this season was so damn good. Sets up her character so fucking well. Just. Ugh. Yes.

They also aged it up just right. It really feels like a WAR is going on in a way it didn't in the original (which is not a critique of the original at all, just what worked for telling the story that way). But it also doesn't revel in that darkness constantly, which is refreshing.

As for the changes they made to Sokka, I think the warrior narrative works really well, and they rounded it out nicely. I can't wait to see his eventually reunion with his dad now. Would it have been more true to his character to include the sexism as well? Yeah. But I think, with the way they streamlined the narrative overall, having him go on a journey of learning better about his sexism AND struggling with being a warrior would've made things feel bloated. Focusing on just the warrior narrative, to me, just works better with everything else they did in the live action.

Can't wait to see what they do in season 2! (And we better get a season 2. And 3.)

Also.

Queer ladies Oma and Shu FTW.

#Avatar the Last Airbender #Live Action Avatar the Last Airbender #Live Action Avatar the Last Airbender Spoilers #Avatar the Last Airbender Spoilers #Spoilers

[justanisabelakinnie]

Rare smart person on Tumblr: Yk I just think it's wrong to completely and constantly sideline/hate female characters in favor of male ones, I know that female representation in media isn't where it should be right about now, but surely you can find SOME female characters that you like??? More than you can count on both hands and feet, perhaps? Even if you have to reshape them to have actual depth in fanfiction??? I mean we do it all the time for male characters, so why not female ones? There are plenty of already good female characters that you could enjoy and ship together and write fanfics and thinkpieces about too, why don't they get any of the attention that they deserve?

The rest of the idiots on the so-called "SJW" site: HAHAHAAA! Silly rare smart person on Tumblr, don't you know that it's impossible to care about female characters in any capacity??? I mean, I'm a straight woman/gay man, I'm fundamentally incapable of giving a shit about characters that I can't envision myself fucking. Besides, everyone knows that female characters are never anything other than flat cardboard cutouts(unlike the male cardboard cutout that I've fleshed out in fanfiction and made my blorbo) or sex objects for the male gaze, and even if they're not, what if I don't want to engage in media where the female characters are written as fully-fledged people??? Huh??? What about it??? Are you gonna stop me from consuming the media that I love??? I'm not sexist, it's just that women are written so terribly in every single piece of media that I choose to watch out there so obviously the logical conclusion is to give up on female characters altogether and just focus on male ones, because everyone knows the solution to misogyny in media is to remove the women from the equation, hip hip hooray!!! And also jsyk I DO have female characters that I enjoy! Sure they're all canonically dudes who I headcanon as transfem and he/him lesbians, and sure I consider them "like a girl to me" because they're weak and scared of the dark and cry easily, but that's gotta count for something, right??? I just care about girls so much! Anyway giving a shit about girls is too much work, I'd rather just ship these men who don't talk to each other together while claiming the girlfriend is abusive or a mean lesbian bestie, and there's nothing you can do to stop me!!!

#sexism #misogyny #androcentrism #lesbophobia #fandom sexism #fandom misogyny #fandom androcentrism #fandom lesbophobia #double standards #hypocrisy #my post #transmisogyny #fandom transmisogyny

[muffinsin]

Thank you so much for all these great posts. They've been really helping me while my dog is really sick.

I don't know if you've written something like this already, but maybe you could write one where the sisters fall in love with one of the maids from afar but they're afraid to talk to her because she might be scared of them?

Of course! I’m glad you’re enjoying them & I hope your dog will be better soon! :( (give us doggo updates?👀). I’ve mentioned them being worried in a couple of posts, though never fully elaborated I think

Let’s get into it! :)

Masterlists

Bela

She’s had her eye on you for a while already now

Never has she dared approach you

Much less talk to you!

Bela’s a nervous wreck when you do as much as look at her

Having discovered you originally after you cleaned her office, she immediately felt intrigued

Bela is, some might say, a difficult person

When maidens clean her room or office, it’s even more dangerous than with her sisters. This is her private area

And she has a very, very specific order and pattern of placing her things. Pencils must be right where she left them, papers even more so

Often the staff mistakes these things. Pencils she left out, shoes she left out, papers meant to be easily taken are moved back to the stash of papers on her desk

Has she hates it! She feels, she must reorganise her entire room after it’s been cleaned

You don’t make these mistakes, though

You clean, and only clean. You respect her enough to view what seems like clutter to others as precision

Pencils are right where they’re left. Clothing is re-folded, and put right where she left them

This is bound to catch her attention. You stand out

Yet, Bela starts to fall in love long after she’s made you her private maiden, the one appointed to only her and all her needs

For when you clean her bookshelf and put finished books- neatly piled so you won’t move those she wants untouched- back in the shelf. Perfectly organised, of course

It’s as if you understand her

And yet, she’s too scared to face you

Bela feels flustered when she once finds a note next to her pile of unfinished books

Recommendations…

She didn’t think any maid really took to reading. Even knew how to. And much less did she assume anybody would share her taste

But, upon following your recommendations, she finds they’re very good!

She leaves them out subtly, to show you she’s read through each and every one of them

To ask you, without having to face you, for more

And you keep making recommendations

Bela catches herself falling for you, and tests you

Sometimes she leaves slips of papers containing quotes

She falls back on her bed with a large grin when you pass her tests, writing the books they’re from, or promising you will read them

Your handwriting is neat too, she notices

Yet, Bela wonders and adores from afar

She watches you work, and eagerly takes in all you do. She gazes, stares maybe even, but never engages

What if you too, will see her as a monster?

Cassandra

Cassandra is intrigued by you the moment you’re sent to the castle for work

The blacksmith. You’re to make her weapons

She’s thrilled! She goes to visit you immediately, having a full list of what she’d like

But-

She’s almost shrieking at you when she comes inside and almost swarms face first into your muscular back

It’s rare she sees someone with muscles at the castle! Though she knows your work technically demand some

She’s by far more flustered than she’d like to admit, and when you begin turning around, she’s quick to swarm away, leaving only flies and the list falling to the floor

Behind a wall and out of sight, she face palms herself

So much for being menacing…

She admires as you work, even if she never allows you to see her

That’s right, the sadistic little middle child of Alcina Dimitrescu is smitten, laying on one of the wooden foundations of the wall, far above you as she watches you work the furnace

Large muscles glistening with sweat…

Cassandra basks in it all, and the warmth of the furnace

She watches wide eyed as you craft her a sickle and dagger, eyes wide when you add a little bit of something to it

No previous blacksmith has ever dared swat from her exact orders

But- it’s beautiful

A pattern at the grip, a beautiful one resembling her swarm

She nearly falls from her lounging position as she tries to get a closer look, and the thought of falling, halfway swarming and landing in your arms is enough to fluster her already

She scolds herself for being this way. Daniela would act like this, not her!

But, she just can’t help it around you. She feels by far too careless and by far sweeter than she is

Then, you start gifting her things

She finds random, little things of metal crafted to her- things she has not commissions

Things that make her stony heart melt

You craft her beautiful daggers with a gemstone as gold as her choker’s gemstone at the bottom

And, something particular that makes her breath hitch

A silver platter, with silver, bronze and copper hearts, beautifully crafted just for her

Not the cliché, sweet hearts. Realistic ones. With a dark metal serving as blood at the top

She swoons at the sight

And still, she can’t bring herself to talk to you for a second reason:

What if you’re scared of her?

While she feels like a flustered maiden merely watching you, this is a harsh contrast to her behaviour around everybody else

She knows her reputation

A monster

The sadistic one, it’s best to stay out of sight

The mistress of torture

She knows, these things are all right. And she’s proud of these titles, of the fear she strikes in all but her family

Yet, she can’t help but feel worried you also see her as such

What if the little gifts and addition you make her are nothing but a way, an attempt, to stay on her good side and alive?

What if you too are trying to save yourself from her clutches?

Daniela

Our sweet Daniela, delusional and naive, yet so fast to fall in love

Or what she calls love, at least

She’s been watching you, love evident in her eyes as she dreamily watches you from her window

You’re the gardener, watering the flowers she loves so much. Oh, she wishes she could go outside and pick some!

But the cold temperature suggests otherwise, and locks her inside the warmth of the castle

Oh, but she watches, head held up and resting against her palms, a dreamy expression on her face as she watches you tend to the plants and hedges growing in winter

White and purple flowers on the ground

You’re wrapped into many layers to keep warm, and she wishes she could merely copy you

Daniela watches every day, sighing dreamily and smiling lovingly as you tend to it all

Her cheeks warm when you look up, yet she knows she is too far up and in the distance for you to make her figure out at the window

What she doesn’t mind is, however, that you are very capable of seeing her when she does not glance at you from her room, high above the ground in the castle’s tower, but from the library

You feel the youngest Dimitrescu daughter stare at the back of your head when you work, and you can’t help but feel flustered

She’s very…adamant on watching you

She stares every day

Oh, and she admires every day

And sometimes, sweet Daniela gets so lost in her daydreams, she doesn’t even notice you look back at her and catch her staring

She blushes wild pink when she, one day, wakes up to flowers set outside her door

The white and light pink ones from the garden, with two purple ones in the bouquet!

She falls even more for you,

Each day she receives another flower, and each day she folds them into a beautiful flower crown

Daniela is sad when they die- she wishes she could just go outside

And her sadness is apparent when she plays with the dead flower petals between her petite hands, sitting once again at her seat at the window of the library

You understand the Lady’s sadness, and Daniela finds herself grinning again when instead of flowers, you bring her a slip of paper folded like a flower each day

You get her!

She yearns to feel your touch. A knight to her, the princess

Yet, she fears- what if she is not the princess, but the monster? And her knight?

What if you are not hers, but a knight sent to slay the beast that is her?

#cassandra dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #bela dimitrescu #resident evil village #get well soon doggo

[gilded-fern]

Kratos x Reader Relationship Ramblings

A/N: Hello! God of War Ragnarok has quickly become one of my favorite games and Kratos is one of my favorite characters. These are some thoughts on what a relationship with Kratos would be like along with a brief mention of Mimir and Atreus at the end.  Meant to take place before God of War Ragnarok but after 2018 God of War. Was written with the intent of the reader being female but I don’t think I use any gendered language (correct me if I’m wrong tho!). Enjoy! 

Word Count: 541

Warnings: None

The beginning of your relationship is rocky and met with hesitance. Kratos has grieved Faye properly, and he does miss her dearly. At night the man wonders if Faye saw Kratos falling in love again after her death, was she mad about it? Would she be happy? These are only a handful of the doubts and concerns he has, don't even mention how he truly feels about being with you. 

Kratos does not think he is worthy of love again. The man is still haunted by the blood on his hands and the ash that stains his skin. Kratos has lost so very much, especially those he loves romantically. 

Kratos is quiet and not the most physically affectionate person out there. Kratos' main love languages when you first start a romantic relationship are acts of service and gifts. You offhandedly mention you need to chop more firewood or need a specific item. Next thing you know, the item is conveniently placed nearby and the wood pile is fully stocked. 

When Kratos begins to feel more secure in the relationship, his anxieties and fears are soothed by your love. Expect the stoic man to engage in physical affection a bit more. It's small, Kratos resting a hand on the small of your back as he leans over you to see whatever little hobby you are doing. You’ll wake up in the morning to being securely wrapped up in his arms, his head resting in the crook of your neck. But that's on the rare chance you even wake up earlier than him, Kratos wakes up before the sun has even risen.

I believe Kratos would appreciate a lover who is capable and can take care of themself but not a fighter. If the situation called for you to defend yourself, you could but you don’t seek fights. 

Your daily routine consists of normal household chores, you usually cook, clean, and fix the hole Atreus created in his shirt for the 3rd time that week. Not because Kratos is unable to but because the man thinks of food as just sustenance and you prefer your stews to not being plain with just deer meat. 

 Kratos spends his days' training, hunting, and doing physical upkeep around the home. The spartan is constantly finding something to fix, whether it be a hole in the roof or he refuses to believe his axe is sharpened enough Kratos is always doing something. It's impossible to get this man to do nothing for a moment. 

You take Kratos's workaholic nature as a challenge, often distracting the man during the day. Atreus finds it entertaining as you playfully jump on the man's back, Kratos knows the second you walk out of the cabin you can’t scare him, pestering him until he stops whatever task he’s obsessed with and gives you attention. 

Mimir enjoys your company, the head telling you stories to fill the silence as you work. Changing the book he is ready when he finishes. 

Atreus adores you, you add calmer and warmer energy into the home which is a nice change of pace for the young man. Atreus is happy to see a softer side of his father with you, one he’s never really been able to see.

#kratos x reader #kratos #god of war #reader insert

[starcrossedxwriter]

Built for Love Part 12 (MBJ x Famous Black OC)

A/N: Our favs are back!! And trying to recover from everything. Enjoy!!

***

“You know you don’t gotta hide looking at it, right?” Michael leaned over to mutter in her ear as he rounded their island to the sink. 

Charlotte’s gaze fell to the side as she bowed her head in slight embarrassment at being caught examining the perfect rock on her finger. 

It had been days since the proposal and she was still unaccustomed to it, the weight of it on her finger and the weight of what it meant to them both. She had spent countless nights fantasizing of what a life with Michael could be and now her fantasies were coming true. She constantly found her eyes drawn to it throughout the day as she questioned whether the proposal was really real or merely a dream. 

They had not told a soul about their engagement yet, not even their families. While they wanted to share the exciting news with everyone, they felt this was not something they wanted to share over the phone. And they planned to go home to LA at the end of the month for Easter weekend as Charlotte had some time off. They also knew once they told their families, there was no guarantee they would be able to keep it secret for long. And they were not ready to tell the world just yet. Charlotte was still healing and reeling from Shaun’s attack and not used to being the center of social media debates and conversation or a hot topic on talk shows. And they knew their engagement would only draw more attention to her and them that they did not want just yet. 

Tomorrow would be her first day back at work, and really her first time leaving their house for more than a walk around their neighborhood. Throughout the entire day, Michael would have been lying if he said a significant part of him had not hoped she would wake up and realize she needed more time to recover. And while skillful makeup and the facade of a performer would earn her praise on social media and in the media for returning to normal so quickly, in private things were still far from normal. 

“Sorry,” she laughed. “I feel crazy but I can’t take my eyes off it, it’s fuckin’ gorgeous.” 

Michael’s face lit up at her praise. He had picked well. “I know, I’ve caught you staring at it nonstop for the last couple days.” 

“Well you did good.” She stood and kissed him on the cheek before walking over toward the couch to grab the remote. “Wanna watch another episode of Housewives before we head to bed? We’re so far behind on this season,” she grumbled to herself as she turned on their tv. 

“Sure but first, we need to talk.” 

Charlotte groaned, those were words no person in a relationship ever wanted to hear. And she knew exactly what he wanted to talk about. She and Michael rarely argued, she could count the number of them on one hand. However, she knew this one had been brewing slowly as her return to work drew closer. She was honestly surprised he let it go this long. Wishful thinking, she supposed, that he would not say anything at all. 

“If it’s about what I think it’s about, then we already talked about it days ago and came to an agreement, Bakari. Hence the very scary former special forces white man that’s gonna play my shadow for months,” she mumbled in annoyance. 

It was not that she did not understand the point of security, she did. But that did not stop her from resenting the fact that she needed it, this human barrier that sat her apart from the masses as if she were too important or too fragile. It felt unnecessary and ridiculous but acquiescing to this request was the only way Michael would agree to let go back to the theater so early. So her frustration seemed to double at the idea that he wanted to revisit this conversation after she already compromised.  

“Well, I’d like to reopen the discussion.” 

Charlotte rolled her eyes as she settled on the couch, her movements were still stiff, her body not fully healed but she felt well enough to perform. Unfortunately, her fiancée did not share her opinions on her healing process. 

“I’m fine and I’m going back to work tomorrow. I agreed to have security at your insistence. There’s really nothing to discuss.” 

“I disagree.” Michael’s arms were folded and his face stern as he perched on the arm of their sectional. “You’re still having nightmares and you’re still in pain. I mean can you even dance?” 

Truth be told, he was shocked he was even having to fight her on this. He just knew she would get to the weekend and see how little her healing had progressed and ask for more time off. That she had taken his concerns for her well being and safety seriously and was going to change how she pushed herself to the limit. However, instead he found that she was dead set on it, rehearsing and preparing for work as if nothing was wrong. But in his opinion, everything was wrong. 

While he would admit she was handling it better than he would have expected, she was still not ok. She was still in pain despite her attempts to hide it from him. She was far more jumpy than she ever was before. And aside from the night he proposed, she woke them both up with nightmares every single night. Some were marginally better than others but they were a reminder that while her physical injuries would heal in a linear fashion, her trauma would not. They were in for months of steps forward and steps backwards. And though he knew she could not realistically take months off, he wanted her to consider, at least, taking another week to get on stronger footing. 

The engagement helped them both, provided some light and hope at the end of the tunnel and they both clung to it for dear life in their own ways. But he knew that was a fleeting feeling, the happiness and joy of the engagement would not be enough to overshadow the trauma and pain she felt forever, no matter how much she focused on that. 

She sucked her teeth. “You know before you, I danced through a hell of a lot worse than a few bruises and a concussion. I’m fine.” 

“That ain’t the sellin’ point you think it is. Your body needs rest. The doctors said you’re lucky he didn’t damage your vocal chords from choking you, you don’t need to be singing for 2 hours a night. Also you don’t even know what effect going back there will have on you.”

Charlotte scoffed. “One, my voice is fine. I practiced last night.” Though she wasn’t going to admit that it was extremely hard and painful to sing. “I’ll be fine! He what? Scared me a couple of times there? It’s not like he attacked me in the theater. It’s not a big deal.”

“Not a big deal?? You almost dying isn’t a big deal??” 

“You know what I mean! Look, I think I have a bit more experience dealing with PTSD than you do. I feel well enough to perform so I’m gonna. That’s that.”

“So I don’t even get a say? Get to give you my opinion at all?” 

Charlotte crossed her arms like a petulant child, her annoyance at having this discussion again shutting down any opportunity for her to hear his side or perspective. In her opinion, the time for his opinions had passed. “Well, it’s my career, not yours. It’s my body, not yours. I am the victim of a stalking, sociopath, not you. Why would you get a say in it? I know we’re engaged but that doesn’t mean I���m not my own person anymore.” 

“I know you’re your own person. But you also don’t get to make unilateral decisions, Charlotte! You making unilateral decisions is why we’re in this situation!” 

Charlotte scoffed. “And there it is… if you want me to take your opinion seriously, then admit what’s really going on here. This isn’t about me o-or my injuries or any stupid shit like that. You know I can perform just fine. You don’t trust me to take care of myself, you’re pissed that I took away your opportunity to save me and now you don't want me out of your sight.” 

“Well in my sight, he can’t fuckin’ try to kill you again.” 

She threw her hands up in the air. “Well, between the special forces nigga you forced me to hire and the venue security, I don’t see that happening! Also despite what you clearly think, I can take care of myself!” 

Michael’s eyes almost bugged out of his head. “You can take care of yourself? So that bruise on your side? On your face? Your concussion and stint in the hospital, were you just warming up during all those fights? Because I sure as fuck ain’t gonna forgot having to pull him off you while he tried to choke the life out of you any time soon! He’s out on bail and out in the world and I love you but no, you can’t defend yourself against him. You ain’t gonna act like I’m crazy for being worried.” 

“‘I can’t defend myself??’ So you think I’m weak?” For some reason, that struck a nerve so deep in her that she felt herself quickly transitioning from annoyance and frustration to full blown rage. 

“No that’s no-” 

“Well that’s exactly what you just said! I’m weak and defenseless and need you to take care of me. I mean, is that what you really think of me? Because if so, why would you even want to date, let alone marry, someone you think so little of?” 

“That’s not what I think!” He yelled, his frustration getting the better of him as he abruptly stood up from his seat and threw his hands in the air. He turned away from Charlotte to take a deep breath and collect his thoughts. 

However, when he turned around, he felt his heart break slightly as he took in her form. He would take a hundred versions of her yelling at him over the petrified woman who sat before him now. Her entire body trembled with fear as she avoided his eyes and moved herself to the edge of the couch as if she was ready to escape at a moment’s notice. Her ragged breathes filled their living room as she tried to calm down. 

Michael could not figure out what happened until he replayed the last 30 seconds in his own head, quickly realizing that she was fearful that he was going to strike her. 

And these were the moments that made all of this so hard for him. This was not the first time in their relationship that something triggered her, but her reactions were so visceral now that they knocked the wind out of him. He hated himself for letting his anger get the best of him to the point that he forgot to prioritize her healing and health. He never wanted her to think he would ever do something to hurt her, never wanted her to think he was like Shaun in the slightest. 

He desperately wanted to rush to her side and envelope her in a hug, assure her that he would never - no matter what - raise a hand to her. But he had enough experience with this to know that she had to choose to come to him, had to choose to trust that his touch was gentle and safe. That was not something he could force on her. So he steered himself to the cushion of the couch and sat down. 

“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to scare you. You know I’d never hurt you. Just take a few deep breaths and when you’re ready to talk, let me know.” 

Charlotte just nodded as she buried her face in her hands for a few moments. She repeated the same mantra she did after nightmares and when she was feeling like there was no safety or security anywhere for her. Her therapist had told her to make a list of everything and everyone who made her feel safe and the very short list had Michael at the top. 

Michael is safe. Michael is home. Michael is safe. He doesn’t hurt you, he makes you feel protected and whole.

It was a small thing but it had become an anchor after nightmares or when memories flooded her mind. Michael was safe and he would never harm her. She would not claim to know everything but she certainly knew that. It took a few minutes as she repeated those words over and over under her breath, and her fingers twisted her engagement ring on her finger. Another coping mechanism she had turned to. That ring meant so much, representing the depths of his love for her. And that was another anchor to her reality, and a reminder that Shaun could invade her sleep and her mind but he could not take anything away from her if she did not let him. 

“I-I’m s-sorry,” she whispered. “I k-know you wouldn’t… I just…” she struggled to find the words to express the chaotic jumbled up mess that was her own mind. But now, she did not even care about the show anymore, part of her just wanted him to not be upset with her. “I d-don’t want you to be mad. I-If you want me to stay, I’ll stay. Ok? I’ll call Chris and I’ll stay.”

Michael immediately shook his head and moved to sit by her, unable to keep his distance. He tentatively touched her bare knee, rubbing it gently as she relaxed into his touch. “I’m sorry, Els. I’m not mad at you. And I don’t want you not to go just to appease me. I’m just… fuckin’ terrified. If you go back and something else happens to you, I’ll never forgive myself. And security or not, the only person I trust with your safety right now is me and I know I can’t be there every day to protect you. But here? I can protect you, I can…” he sighed. “I’m just having a hard time l-letting go.” 

She wiped away a few falling tears. “I know… I get it. Going isn’t easy for me either,” she clarified. “I just… know I have to. I would happily stay in this house with you forever. But I know I can’t… I h-have to go and prove to the world and myself that he didn’t destroy me… that I’m not weak. I’m terrified he’ll be there o-or pop up somehow. But I might feel that way for a long time and I can’t stay here with you forever. That’s what he wants, power over us and our lives and I can’t give him that. But I can’t do that if the one person who knows me better than everyone else thinks I’m too weak to do it.”

“You’re right. You’re right. You’re strong and if you feel like you’re ready, I don’t get to argue with that. I’m sorry… this is just… harder than I thought it’d be.” 

Charlotte shook her head and turned to him. “No, don’t apologize for being overprotective. You’re dealing with trauma just as much as I am. We got a bit caught up in the engagement and… planning for the future doesn’t mean we don’t have to deal with what’s going on right now. I know it’s hard for you too.” 

“Sorry… I don’t wanna be overbearing. I just want to keep you safe.”  

She chuckled. “You’ve barely let me out of this apartment in a week… the overbearing ship has sailed. But that doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate it. But I have to do this tomorrow, and I hope you can respect that.”

Michael leaned in and kissed her softly, cupping her face with his hand. He felt her slightly flinch beneath him as he accidentally grazed a healing bruise. However, she did not pull away and returned his kiss earnestly. 

“They’ll go away,” she whispered against his lips, kissing his cheek as his eyes darkened. “I’ve gotten used to them.” It was as if her body was so used to it, the bruises and pain barely phased her. 

“I’ll never get used to seeing bruises on you, baby.” He pushed her wild curls behind her ear. “You’re the strongest person I know, by the way. I don’t think you’re weak and you shouldn’t either. It takes so much strength to survive all you have.” 

Charlotte felt her eyes go a bit teary. She did not know why the words mattered so much coming from him but they did. Perhaps, it was just the way she wanted him to see her and everything they were going through threatened that image of perfection and strength she always strived for, that image of deservedness she felt she had to maintain to keep him. She needed him to see her as the woman he would want to spend the rest of his life with, not a traumatized broken thing he had to put back together. 

“Thank you for saying that.” 

He opened his arms and she quickly settled into them, immediately feeling more at ease than she had before. He leaned back on the couch and turned the tv on to their mindless favorite show, the Real Housewives of Atlanta. It was mainly Charlotte’s guilty pleasure but Michael could not deny that it had sucked him in too. 

“Thank you,” she whispered as they watched the show. 

“For what?” 

She smiled. “For caring enough about me and my health to be overbearing. I w-wouldn’t have survived all this without you.” 

She shifted into his lap to kiss him deeply. However, before she could take it too far, he stopped her and broke their kiss. 

“You have an early day tomorrow. Not tonight.” 

Charlotte opened her mouth to retort but Michael’s attention had already shifted away from her and back to the antics of the housewives. She hoped the night of their engagement had not been some odd anomaly and that they were truly back on track. Sex was not the end all be all of their relationship but she knew how important it was to both of them. And it did not bode well to her that they had only been intimate once in a week, injuries or no injuries. But she also knew she was not up for another difficult conversation tonight and she knew that that was one she would most certainly lose so she merely settled against his chest to watch their show, tucking the information away for discussion later.  

***

“I-I guess I should leave this here?” She mused, a sad expression on her face as she examined her ring. “I can’t wear it on stage.”  

Michael raised an eyebrow as he studied her and the expression on her face. “You don’t gotta take it off if you don’t wanna.” 

She shook her head. “Chris texted, the paparazzi and reporters are already at the theater so it’ll be all over the gossip sites before lunch if I wear it. It just feels weird to take it off.”

“You sure you gotta go this early?” 

She nodded. “Yea I haven’t done the choreo or anything in almost a week. Gotta practice, make sure I can actually move fully and everything.” She glanced over to him and offered him a suggestive wink. “I could be persuaded to go a little later if you help me warm up.” She grabbed his sweater and pulled him in for a kiss. 

He chuckled and kissed her. “You’re still injured.” 

She wrinkled her nose in confusion. “That wasn’t a problem the other night?”

“Well… we both had an emotional day and were caught up in the moment and shit. I’d feel better if we waited till you heal fully. Just like I’d feel better if you take it easy today.” 

Saying no to her was easily the hardest thing Michael ever had to do. But after seeing her last night, seeing her genuinely afraid that he was going to hurt her, he could not risk doing anything that could trigger her again, at least not until he was sure she was healed emotionally and physically. It sucked and it would mean many cold showers in his future but it was for the best. 

However, Charlotte was not a mind reader. All she felt was the cold slap of rejection from the man she loved. Charlotte found his response odd but she decided not to press it. She supposed the night of their engagement was just a heat of the moment sort of thing. This was, after all, not her most attractive state. 

“I’ll be fine, Bakari.” 

“I could come with you?” 

Charlotte bit her lip as she stifled the immediate yes that bubbled to the surface. As she watched him yawn, she suddenly felt the weight of how much of a burden she was to him. All he had done was adjust his life to hers so she could heal. She just wanted to feel like his equal again and that meant she could not rely on him for everything. 

“Thanks for the offer but I’m good. I’ll be fine.” She tried to make her voice sound sure and decisive, despite the doubt on his face. “Besides, let me worry about you for once. You need sleep without me screaming you awake, babe. You’re exhausted.” 

Michael could not disagree more but something in her tone made him want to acquiesce to her words, despite his reservations. She was not wrong that he could use some true uninterrupted rest. 

“You sure? I really don’t mind coming, nothing wrong with needing some extra support.” 

Charlotte stopped herself from taking him up on the offer. “I know… But I got Adam and we’ll be just fine.”

“You sure?” He walked over and tilted her chin up to examine the bruising on her face. 

She had not finished putting on her make up yet. They were looking better and better each day, though they were not healing fast enough for Michael’s liking. His eyes darkened slightly, Charlotte rubbing his bare arm. 

“I’ll be back to my perfect flawless self soon, promise.” She pecked him on the nose. “And yes, I promise. I know you got shit to do.” 

She walked back to their master bathroom to finish her routine. She took extra care to ensure every bruise and cut was adequately covered before she finished getting dressed. It was like riding a bike, remembering all the techniques to hide the damage he caused. By the time she was done, her skin looked unblemished enough to pass the test with any photographer. 

As she walked around their bedroom, gathering all of her things for the show, she forced herself to think positively as images of Shaun flashed in her mind. She refused to give in to them though. He had taken so much, she refused to let him take this too. 

“Got everything? Baby?” Michael called, pulling Charlotte out of her thoughts, putting his hand on the small of her back when she did not register him. . 

She jumped slightly at his touch. She tried to play it off but she could tell he noticed in how his eyes softened slightly.  

“Yea, yea sorry. Was in my own head. I’m ready. Adam’s been waiting for me downstairs, I should go.” 

She kissed him on the cheek and threw him a soft smile before heading toward the door. She grabbed her keys and her bag as she moved through the living room. However, the ding of the elevator as it opened left her paralyzed, unable to force herself to cross the threshold out of her cocoon and into the real world again. A wave of panic washed over her at leaving for the first time alone and going back there, where he was. She tried to remind herself that he was not there but then all the nightmares of the last week came rushing back. She did not talk about them, particularly not to Michael, because she knew he would never have let her leave if she did. But she could not stop herself from thinking of the worst case scenario now. 

Was she a complete fool for leaving her one and only safe space to give him another opportunity to hurt her? She got lucky twice but she had a sickening feeling Shaun would not error a third time if given the chance to finish the job. All week, had she been completely deluded for believing he would not be so foolish as to try to hurt her again? But when had he ever cared about restraining orders or police? The law had not once stopped him for exercising his control, power, and revenge over her when he really wanted to. Why would it now? 

A voice rang out loudly in her head, encouraging her to turn right around and retreat into her bed with Michael where it was safe. But another voice demanded she put one foot in front of the other and face him head on again. She did not cower before, she could not now. It was all just too much, too scary, too much to consider for one person. 

“Els, baby… Focus on me.” 

She glanced up from the floor to find Michael standing in front of her, his face twisted up in concern. She did not understand what was wrong until she heard them, the shallow quick breaths that filled their quiet foyer that belonged to her.

“That’s it, breathe. You’re ok. Just got a little overwhelmed,” he whispered to her as he took slow deep breaths with her. He knew it was too much too fast. But when it came to her career, Charlotte was the first person he had ever met that was more stubborn than him. 

He cradled her head into the space between his neck and shoulder, Charlotte taking deep breaths of his cologne and natural scent. His arms were tightly wrapped around her. She would have thought it would be suffocating during a panic attack but it was grounding to her, his touch, his soft whispers in her ear.

“I-I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I-I can do it… I can do it.” 

“Hey, look at me, honeybee.” He waited until her glossy eyes were on him before he said, “I know nothing I can say will stop you from going today. But it’s ok if you’re not ok yet, Charlotte. Being scared and honest about that doesn’t make you weak and it doesn’t mean he wins. It doesn’t tell the world you're powerless. It tells them you’re human. And it’s ok to need and want extra support. All you gotta do is ask, baby.” He kissed her ring finger, which was now bare as she had taken it off in their room. “You never gotta do anything alone again. Understand?”

Charlotte glanced up at the ceiling to stop the floodgates from opening. “I j-just feel like such a burden to you these last few days. You’ve done nothing b-but take care of me,” she whispered. “I need to go… I know I do. I have to go, Bakari. B-but I don’t think I c-can go without you. With you is the only place I f-feel safe right now.” 

He kissed her temple. “You’ve never been and will never be a burden to me, love. Give me five minutes.” And with that, he disappeared back into their bedroom.

Charlotte sat down in one of their living room chairs and placed her head in her hands. She hated how quickly she caved. She could not even make it out of their house, let alone to work. She choked back a small sob, this was not how she saw her triumphant return going down. She felt ashamed of herself for not being stronger, for not holding it together better. She just wanted to be strong again, herself again, but that felt farther away than she would have liked. 

“Whatever you’re thinking, Els, stop it. You’re going, that’s what matters… not what support you need to do it. This isn’t a bad thing.” 

She wiped her tears away and took a deep breath before nodding. She was doing the best she could. And that would have to be enough. 

“You’re right, you’re right. Let’s go.” 

Michael interlocked his fingers with hers as he led her back to the elevator. With his presence by her side, stepping into the elevator and the ride down seemed for less jarring, though she could feel her heart racing slightly. She was thankful to find their street void of paparazzi and cameras when they exited. 

Michael, a saint, used the car ride to distract her, sharing updates on Black Panther prep he was about to start. She listened intently as he explained the new diet and workout regime he would have to follow to get the build required for the character. He had no insight to the plot but he shared some directions he thought they might go in based on the comic lore. Listening to him talk about work for 20 minutes was the exact distraction she needed and she was thankful to him for it. 

His musings carried them the entire 20 minute ride to the theater, Charlotte not surprised but annoyed to find a crowd of cameras and people right outside the entrance staff used. 

“Shit. Is almost dying really that interesting to anyone??” She remarked to Michael as Adam asked them to pause while he studied the terrain. He had explained to them yesterday that he had already gone to the theater and done his usual recon. Charlotte could not help but roll her eyes at that. She was not the damn pope or Queen Charlotte herself… she was just Charlie. 

“Well, being attacked on the opening night of your show is shocking so it’s newsworthy to someone.”  

“It’s weird,” she decided. Charlotte liked that her star was a small one. She did not want or care for fame, never wanted to be one of those celebrities that called the paparazzi to follow their every move. She wanted to do what she loved but she also wanted a quiet life, one with some modicum of privacy. 

“Ready when you are, Ms. Bennett.” 

She took a deep breath, sliding her shades onto her face. Michael pressed his lips to her hand, which was still interlaced into his. He had only let her go once to get in the car. 

“I’m right beside you.” 

“I know you are,” she responded sweetly. “Ready.” 

Adam jumped out of the car first and opened their door, Michael sliding out before Charlotte. She focused on Michael’s hand in hers as she ignored the loud calls and flashes of the cameras. The only thing that made her pause was a pack of fans that gathered on the opposite side, most of them young women and holding signs of support for her that made her heart swell. She originally had no intention of stopping or talking to anyone when she thought it was just reporters and express. But those girls added a detour to her journey, much to Adam and Michael’s annoyance. 

All of them held bright smiles as she pushed her shades onto the top of her head. Many of them had Playbills from the show, clearly having gone in the last week and others just had pieces of paper and signs that they asked her to sign. She tried her best to sign every Playbill and paper shoved in her face and smile in the direction of every camera for every selfie. 

Charlotte still found the idea that she had fans to be jarring. It was one aspect of her job that she was not used to at all, that people would camp out anywhere on a cold NYC morning for the chance to get a glimpse of her. 

One of the girls standing there asked for a selfie and as she took it, she said, “Could you sign this? We,” she gestured at the girl next to her that carried such a striking resemblance that she had to have been her twin. “Wanted to get tickets for tonight too but…”

“The ones that were left were so expensive.” The other girl jumped in. “Guess we aren’t the only ones desperate to see you on stage.” 

“We’re here visiting our parents and heading back to Yale tomorrow but figured we could try to get a glimpse of you,” the first girl admitted. “I… just want to say thank you.” 

Charlotte raised an eyebrow. “For what?”

“For showing that leaving is hard but it's never the wrong choice. And that if you’re lucky, maybe you’ll find better,” she glanced at Michael who was quietly standing beside her. 

Charlotte clenched her eyes shut to stop a tear from falling. This girl could not have been a day over 18 or 19. 

“What’s your name?” 

“Chantal and this is my sister, Courtney.” 

She nodded. “Adam,” she called over to the stoic man who had been standing between her and the crowd on the other side of the walkway. “Can you bring Chantal and Courtney around the barrier and inside?” 

“Yes ma’am.” 

Both girls were the picture of shock as they made their way around the steel barriers and followed Charlotte and Michael inside. The young woman marched them around to the General Manager’s office upstairs, both girls utterly perplexed and confused. 

“Charlie! It’s so good to have you back! Chris has been a pain in the ass without you,” Simon remarked as he stood up and wrapped her in a tight hug. 

Charlotte laughed. “Thank you, and I can only imagine.” She flashed him her award-winning bright smile. “Your favorite actress needs a favor?” 

“You name it.” 

“Four front row seats for tonight for my friends here,” she gestured to the two girls, whose mouths had fallen open behind her. 

“You got it. What are your names?” 

Both girls stammered out their full government names while Simon tapped away at his computer. 

“Done. Tickets’ll be waiting for you at will call tonight.” 

“Thank you! You’re the best.” She retreated from his office before walking the girls back to the front to head outside. 

 “W-wait, that w-wasn’t a joke right?” 

Charlotte laughed. “No, not a joke at all. I hope your parents enjoy musicals too. Either way, I hope you both enjoy the show tonight at least.” 

Both girls squealed and threw themselves into her arms, causing Charlotte to laugh. She hugged them both before stepping back. 

“Well, I gotta go rehearse. Make sure I can give y’all the best show possible.” 

“Thank you SO much! You’re amazing and we love you.” 

“No thanks necessary at all. See you tonight.” As the girls scurried off, Charlotte turned to stop them. “Chantal!” 

The young girl turned around as Charlotte closed the space between them.

“You will… find better. The road might be long as fuck,” she admitted, causing the two girls to laugh. “And you’ll take a lot of steps back to take them forward. But it’s not about luck. It’s about knowing you deserve it and being… willing to accept it when it comes. I,” she glanced behind her at Michael who was waiting. “I struggled with that. But I deserved better and you do too, no matter what someone else made you believe.” 

She reached into her purse and grabbed a pen and a spare piece of paper from her notebook. She jotted down her name and phone number and held it out to the young girl who seemed like her jaw might completely detach itself from her face. 

“I know how hard it is… and lonely it is at first. If you need anything, don’t hesitate. And I mean that, truly.” 

“Thank you.” She squeezed her hand before rushing back to her sister, both girls leaving with a bit more pep in their steps. 

She walked back over to Michael who was sporting a look of pure shock. 

“What?” 

“I am just constantly in awe of you.” He pulled her into his arms and wrapped one arm around her waist. “How’d I get so lucky?” 

She smiled. “Pretty sure I’m the lucky one, baby.” 

They shared a chaste but sweet kiss when they heard a couple wolf whistles. Charlotte laughed as she took in Chris and Marcus both staring at them. 

“The queen is back! Thank the good lord,” Chris remarked as he closed the space between them. “Between this damn ulcer and the nightmares, Jason and my doctor will be sending you a fruit basket and flowers.” 

“My understudy wasn’t that bad,” she remarked. The young woman was green to be sure but she was good. 

“Yes but she is no you, my dear. You are one of one.”

“How are you feeling?” Marcus asked as he pulled her into a hug, he examined her with the same quizzical eye Michael often did which made her laugh. 

“She’s fine. Been here five minutes and already giving away four of my most expensive seats in the house. Typical altruistic Charlie.” At Charlotte’s shocked face, Chris shrugged. “I know everything that happens round here.”

“Don’t worry, I’ll pay for them.” 

He shook his head. “Don’t stress about it. We have a block of tickets we budget to give away for one reason or another.” He glanced at Michael beside her. “I see you brought our favorite eye candy back with you.” 

Charlotte laughed and rolled her eyes. “Well, leaving the house was harder than I thought it’d be so Michael offered to come hang out for a bit. Hope that’s ok?” 

“Girl, whatever you need to get your ass back on that stage, I’m fine with. Rehearsal starts in 10.” 

He waved at all of them before leaving Charlotte, Michael, Malcolm and her shadow alone. 

“How are you? Really?” 

While she adored Chris, Malcolm was who she was closest to in the show and was the only one who truly knew her. 

“We’re taking it hour by hour,” she admitted. “And today started off rough but it’s turning around. I’m gonna be ok, I know that much.” 

“That’s what we like to hear.” 

They walked into the theater, the entire company giving Charlotte applause as she walked in. Michael took his seat as she got on stage and did a quick round of hugs to everyone. And then they jumped right into rehearsal. 

Michael spent part of the time doing his own work, answering emails that he had neglected over the last week. He did not regret that but his inbox was abysmal. He knew Charlotte’s was exactly the same. She had talked to her manager once or twice but no work had been accomplished in a week. 

Then he started reviewing the script for his upcoming project. He had been excited originally to play the role but now, he was merely annoyed because it meant he had to return to LA in late June. He did not want a renewal of their argument from the previous night but he knew there was absolutely no way he could convince Charlotte to cut her run short and return with him. And June was Tony’s season and nominated or not, Charlotte would never miss that. However, all of those reasons did not change the simple fact that Michael was fucking terrified. 

This was the love of his life, his future wife, the future mother of his children. Would work ever be more important to him than her safety? And it was not that he did not trust Adam, after all he picked him. But Adam did not love her like he did, did not understand her like he did. Even though it was months away, leaving felt utterly and completely wrong now. And he could not shake the feeling that it was not only a bad idea, it was the worst mistake he could ever make. He knew he could not drop out but he toyed with the probability of getting them to push the filming back, even just a month or two. He decided he’d reach out to his manager and see if it was a possibility. 

He found himself often distracted by Charlotte as she rehearsed. She was a bit stiff at first but she loosened up and fell back into the choreo with ease. This was truly her element, everyone on that stage looked to her for guidance, advice, and support. He could see why Chris was so determined to have her back as soon as possible. She was the glue. 

In between rehearsal and the show, she did interviews that she had not had the chance to do after the premiere. Michael sat next to the young girls they met earlier and their parents and they were utterly in awe of her as she performed. Despite everything, she was better than she was opening night, perhaps because she felt she had more to prove. She left her heart and soul on that stage. 

So much so that she quite literally fell asleep as soon as they got into the SUV to head home. She was utterly beat. She had held it together pretty well most of the day from Michael’s perspective, only having one panic attack when she went back to her dressing room for the first time.

She felt like the ghost of him loomed in the space in a weird way. So much so that she avoided the space until the last possible second and could not enter it alone. She questioned how she would do it every day when Malcolm offered to switch spaces with her. She objected at first, naturally, not wanting to feel like she needed accommodations from anyone. But Michael insisted and she could not deny that it eased some of her panic. 

However, when they got home, she was fairly silent and seemed upset. Michael did not understand why, she had done exactly what she had wanted to today: she had proved he could not take this away from her. 

“You were great today,” Michael offered as they settled into bed. “On all counts.” 

She chuckled humorlessly. “I couldn’t even walk into my own dressing room, Bakari. Couldn’t leave this fuckin’ house without…” She shook her head as she looked up at the ceiling. “I saw him everywhere… like a fuckin’ ghost haunting me every second. And the only thing that stopped me from literally falling apart was being able to look over and see you. If I can’t keep it together on my own, then I can’t…” she clenched her eyes shut. “And then I come here and I try to sleep and he’s there too. J-Just… don’t get a fucking break.”  

She frustratedly wiped a tear from her cheek and flipped onto her side to look away from him. 

Michael sighed and shifted closer to her, spooning her. She tensed up at the unexpected touch before softening into him.

“I know today was hard. But Els, baby… you did it. You left the house, you got on stage, you got a new dressing room, you gave interviews and did everything you needed to do without skipping a beat. That’s not nothing. It’s ok to not be able to hold it together all by yourself. Lean on me, lean on Malcolm and Chris and your castmates to get through the day.” 

“I don’t want special treatment… I don’t want people to see me as their traumatized coworker. I don’t wanna be the weak person he made me forever. It took me years to get over what he did the first time a-and I don’t have years. You aren’t gonna wait years, the world isn’t gonna wait years. I just… want to be ok again now.” 

“Didn’t you tell that girl earlier that it would be a lot of steps back to go forward?” 

She groaned, annoyed that he was throwing her own words back at her. 

“Yes but-“ 

“No buts. You gotta give yourself some grace, baby. You’re gonna have good days when you feel invincible and you’re gonna have days when it feels like you can’t hold it together on your own. And you don’t have to. You’re not broken,” he pressed his lips to her shoulder. “You never were and you certainly aren’t now. It’s gonna be a long road but you aren’t walkin’ it alone.”

“I just…” her words failed her but something in her told her to put on a brave face. She knew she was not walking it alone but she also knew she could not keep bearing all her weight on MIchael. She had to start carrying some of it on her own. Even if he currently felt like she was not a burden, there was no telling how long that feeling would last. 

So she nodded and turned over to face him. “You’re right. It was a good first step and tomorrow’ll be even better. Thanks for today.” 

“Of course. I can come with you tomorrow too?” he offered. 

Charlotte chucked. “Nah, don’t worry about it. I know spending all day in that theater is not fun.” 

Michael shrugged. “Being there for you is fun. I insist.” 

“Bu-” she started to say when Michael pulled her into his chest and kissed her on the forehead, cutting her off. 

“Get some rest. Night, baby.” 

***

“So how are you, Charlie? Really?” Michael’s mom called down the long dining room table as they all enjoyed Easter Sunday dinner.

She was thankful to have a couple days off so she and Michael returned to LA to visit family and escape New York for a bit. Their trip, which had been intended to be an adventure for the pair, had turned into anything but. And there was a safety to returning home, to Michael’s house and to his bed, even if it was only for a long weekend. 

Given that her nieces and nephews were all on Spring Break, it was the perfect time to get the families together. So it was the first time her dad, sister and CJ were meeting Michael’s family. The evening had been perfect so far, she decided, both groups blending as if they were destined to be family. 

“I’m ok… really,” she emphasized at the skeptical glances from everyone at the table, including her fiance. “He’s been out on bail, hasn’t tried anything. He’ll go to prison and that’ll be the end of it,” she assured them. She would never admit it out loud, particularly not within earshot of Michael, but those words were merely for their benefit. Not even 50% of her mind actually believed it. Shaun proved that he was not above biding his time for as long as it took. She would be a fool to believe his obsession with her was over simply because he got caught. But that was not a truth or fear she was in a place to admit to anyone. 

“You’re still havin’ nightmares though…” Michael offered quietly. 

Charlotte cut her eyes toward him with a quick glare that most of the table, thankfully, did not see. It silently said “what the fuck?” to which he merely shrugged as if he did not see the problem with detailing her weaknesses to her entire family. 

It’s the truth, his eyes seemed to shoot back at her.

“Are you ok?” 

“Do you need to increase your therapy sessions?” 

Charlotte immediately groaned internally, overwhelmed by the barrage of questions and concerns. This was exactly what she wanted to avoid. 

“Guys, guys… calm down. Michael is exaggerating,” she answered with a reassuring and calming smile. “I still have nightmares but they are far less than they were at first. It’s progress, but it’s slow. And it’s just been a few weeks. It’s not like last time,” she promised, her eyes trained on Jackson who was most invested in her recovery, aside from Michael. He called her damn near every day twice a day.

“Well, as long as you feel like you’re getting better.” 

“I am, really.” 

“You gonna be ok when Michael comes back this way for his movie this summer?” 

Charlotte nodded immediately, though she was dreading it inside. However, that was not something she could admit either. “Yea it’s gon-“ 

“I actually asked them if we could push filming back,” Michael interrupted. “To the fall when Els’ run is over. Just waiting to hear what they say.” 

Charlotte glanced up from her plate in surprise, that was the first she had heard of this. “What? When did you do that? Why did you do that?” 

“I called my agent and asked her to look into it Thursday before we left New York. Just figured a family emergency and needin’ to be there for you was hard to argue with.” 

Charlotte could not stop the confusion and anger that bubbled under the surface at him. She understood the intention behind his gesture but she did not ask him to do that and to be frank, she did not want it. It was not that she wanted to be alone in New York but she also had worked so hard in the last few weeks to stop burdening him, to heal and move forward. But this was the literal opposite of that. 

“But the summer is several months away. It’ll hardly be an emergency by then. I’m fine.”

He shrugged. “I disagree.” 

“You dis-” she started to say when Jackson interrupted, her sweet but slightly oblivious brother not picking up on the mounting tension between the couple. 

“I think it’s a good thing. Not like you don’t need the extra protection, it’s better this way, Charlie.” 

“Better for who?” She mumbled under her breath before stabbing her piece of ham with her fork. 

“The real question is when are you gonna be free for the bachelorette party?” Jazzmine asked from across the table with a smile. “Lo and I are already starting to plan.” 

Charlotte rolled her eyes as everyone smirked. “Nothing crazy, Jazz… please. I don’t know what time I’m gonna have off so we could legit just get the girls together for a fun weekend in New York. Have the wild NYC nights we didn’t get to have back in the old days,” she teased. 

Lo’s face lit up as she turned to Jazz. “Oh that would be so much fun. I’ll do some research on restaurants and Jazz, can you find us some lounges that we can go out to? Maybe in like July?” 

“You sure you wanna do New York?” Michael asked quietly, pulling Charlotte’s attention away from her girlfriends as they chatted away about her party. 

“Yea, it’s lowkey and easy. Inexpensive for everyone to get to and everything. Don’t need a big fuss. Why?” 

Michael shifted in his seat uncomfortably, Charlotte could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he thought of the right words to say whatever was on his mind. 

“Just don’t think it’s safe for you to be going out to clubs and lounges late like that. You know… least not until after his trial.” His voice was low as to not draw attention to the couple. However, before she could respond, he glanced up at Lauren and Jazz and said, “Plan somethin’ outside the US. My treat, of course. Go wild.”

“God, I love him,” Jazz not-so-quietly muttered under her breath causing the entire table to laugh, except Charlotte. “You sure you wanna marry him, girl? Cause I’ll fight you for him.” 

Charlotte forced a light chuckle from her lips before returning to her food, frustration coursing through her body like a roaring river. She was virtually silent as their families interacted for the rest of the night. She barely spoke, only offering one or two words to Michael’s nonstop chatter when they returned to their bedroom to get ready for bed. 

She wanted to say something to him but she did not know how, nor was she sure which issue to tackle first because for the first time in their relationship, there were several. 

They were still them in the ways that mattered most, still loving and caring and invested in their relationship. But something, or rather several somethings, were simply off track and causing fissures to grow between them. And tonight, she realized that they had gotten too big to ignore any longer.  

Originally, she had thought the lack of physical intimacy was their most pressing issue. Gone were the casual touches and sexual playfulness that they developed in their relationship. They had sex one time since their engagement and it was their worst time together by far. Michael spent the entire time checking in and asking her if she was ok or needed him to stop so much so that Charlotte could not even get into the moment or enjoy the experience. As the incident got further in their rearview, she tried to initiate a couple more times but he always found an excuse so finally, she stopped asking altogether. 

And that was concerning in and of itself, the crumpling of the one area of their relationship that had always been strong. But dinner proved that they were also having serious communication issues that she had been actively ignoring. It was so unlike Michael to make such a giant career decision without consulting her first, without taking into account her own feelings and opinions about her recovery.

Was she completely healed? Were things perfect? Definitely not. But was she moving in the right direction? Was she doing the best she could? Yes and still, she felt like it was not enough to get her fiance to stop treating her like the broken woman he found in that bathroom, battered, bruised and half dead. Even telling her she could not go out in New York with her friends was so on brand for him at the present moment but so unlike anything she was used to from him. And that had not been the first time. They got invited to parties and events and the like in New York and Michael found excuse after excuse for them not to go. She blamed herself for not being more vocal about wanting to go out and be who they used to be so she put all of her efforts into getting better to prove she could handle it, prove she was still the woman he wanted. However, nothing seemed to work. She wanted to move on with their lives and his mind was firmly stuck on who she was on March 1. 

And that made her doubt whether they would. All the things Michael once valued in her, he clearly did not see anymore… why else would he treat her so differently?

“You ok? Want me to make you some tea? Anything hurt?” Michael asked as they got ready for bed. 

Their nighttime routine was typically filled with laughter and conversation but tonight, Charlotte was stuck in her own head, wrestling with why her relationship seemed to be falling apart when they were both so clearly trying their hardest to keep it together. 

“No, I’m fine.” 

“You don’t seem fine.” He sighed, misreading her sour attitude for something else. “I don’t know why you feel the need to pretend like you’re ok with me when you aren’t. It’s just been a few weeks, Els. No one but you expects you to be ok.” 

Charlotte’s knuckles could’ve turned white at the way she gripped the edge of their counter in anger. “You know not every negative emotion I feel is about Shaun, right? Like I’m allowed to just be mad and annoyed at you every once in a while?” 

Michael’s eyes grew wide. “Mad at me?? What did I do?” 

“How about the fact that you made this major decision and didn’t tell me?” 

“What major decision??” 

Charlotte threw her hands up in the air. “Moving your movie schedule, Michael!” 

Michael could tell she was legitimately upset given that she used his first name and not Bakari or another pet name. However, for the life of him, he could not understand the issue. 

“That’s not a big deal tho. I just asked them to push back a couple months.”

“That is a big deal! Asking for an entire movie to be rearranged so you can play the fucking overseer.” 

“That’s not fair. I was tryin’ to help you.” 

Charlotte scoffed. “Help me? Oh and is flashing your wallet around to convince my friends to plan a different party than the one I want helping me too??” 

Michael walked out of their bathroom, the two facing off at the foot of the bed. 

“You aren’t gonna get fuckin’ mad at me for telling you shit is unsafe. No, you don’t need to be fuckin’ around in the middle of the night drunk in New York while he’s still out there. You can be mad all you want.” 

Michael felt no shame or guilt for drawing the line in the sand somewhere. He saw no issue in keeping Charlotte at home. She went to work, they occasionally went to dinner - though he preferred just ordering them take out these days - and that was virtually it. He went to the theater with her almost every day, only leaving around show time and returning with the car to pick her up. It was a sacrifice to be sure. But what did it matter if she was safe and had extra layers of protection? 

“If you had your way, I’d never leave our fucking apartment!” She hurled at him. “You wanna help me? Stop treating me like a fragile doll that’ll break if you aren’t around. Stop… stop denying me affection and love and just admit the truth!” 

“What truth??” 

“You don’t want me anymore!” Charlotte exploded, her own insecurities compounded by her perceptions of her fiancé’s behavior. “You proposed and you regret it and you don’t want me.” 

“That’s the farthest thing from the truth in this world, Charlotte.” 

She closed the space between them as she shouted. “Then why don’t you touch me like you used to? Why don’t you make love to me or fuck me or literally anything anymore? Our relationship is void of physical intimacy that I know both of us need. So tell me. What other reason could it be other than you can’t get the image of what he did out of your head and I’m not the woman you thought I was o-or want anymore? Tell me!” 

Michael’s mouth opened and closed several times, unsure of what exactly to say. He had never seen her so upset, particularly directed at him, over something that was simply not true. However, despite the anger she displayed, something stopped him from telling her the truth. It was foolish to not trust her with his own fears and vulnerabilities but it was unfair to make her healing about him. 

“I promise you it’s not because I don’t want you.” 

Charlotte stared at him, waiting for something… anything to signal to her what the true reason was. But he gave her nothing. 

Charlotte let out a breath that sounded like a cold laugh before nodding and  stalking over to her side of the bed to grab her pillow and favorite blanket, one that Michael used often and carried his scent. 

“I don’t want promises, Michael. I want you to be honest. And until you are ready to admit whatever has you treating me like a patient instead of your future wire, I’ll be in the guest room.” She paused. “Here and in New York.” 

“You shouldn’t sleep alone, Charlotte.” 

“I dealt with nightmares before you, Michael and I can deal with them now. If you really want to help me,” she clenched her eyes shut to stop the tears that welled in them, tears that she knew would not help her case. She was just so tired, tired of everyone in her life and in the media and everywhere she turned fawning over her. She just wanted someone to treat her like nothing had changed and she had hoped that would be Michael. But he could not do it either. “Then start treating me like someone you believe is actually capable of healing. Cause right now, all you treat me like is a woman who's too broken to be put back together again. And if that’s all you see when you look at me, we aren’t gonna make it.” 

And with that, she raced out of their bedroom and down the hallway toward one of the guest rooms, leaving Michael alone. He felt as if he had whiplash, the argument happening so fast over something he felt was so insignificant, he could not fully understand what to do. 

A knock at the door pulled him out of his thoughts. He swung it open to find his father standing in the hallway, two glasses of scotch in his hands. 

“Heard some raised voices. You good, son?” 

“Not really,” he muttered as he took the drink out of his dad’s hand and ushered him inside.

“Feel like I’m tryin’ to do right by Els, give her what she needs and she’s actin’ like it’s too much… or not enough of the right thing… or I dunno. We’ve never,” he flopped down on the edge of their bed, his hand rubbing his head. “We’ve never been like this before.” 

Michael Sr sat down in the arm chair across from his son. “Well, you ain’t been together long enough to be like much. I think you two were made for each other, don’t get me wrong. But marriage ain’t easy ‘n you two are gonna hit more than a couple rough patches where it seems like it just ain’t workin’. And that’s to be expected given what you both went through. You need to talk.” 

“I try to talk to her, pops. Get her to tell me what she's feelin’, how she’s doin’. She just wants to act like everything’s fine when I know it isn’t. I mean, you take care of ma… her health. She doesn’t fault you for being protective. What am I doing wrong right now?” 

His father let out a low chuckle before taking a long sip of his drink. “Bold to assume your momma didn’t cuss me out more than once too. I raised you ‘n your brother the way I was raised. To be a provider, protector, fixer. And I did the same thing you’re doin’ when your momma first started havin’ health issues. Constantly checkin’ in, assuming I knew what she needed or how she was feelin’ better than she did. And just doin’ it cause I thought I knew best. And all I was really doin’ is creating resentment.”

“What you mean?” 

“I mean… your mom didn’t and still doesn’t want a doctor, she has a doctor. She didn’t need a therapist. She wanted her husband, a safe spot to land ‘n know I was gonna treat her like her when the days were good ‘n jump in ‘n pull the extra weight on the bad days. But that I was still gonna let her be her, not treat her like a sick person who can’t take care of herself. But I felt so outta control as a protector and fixer that I went overboard tryin’ to fix somethin’ that couldn’t be. Took a lot of counseling to get outta that.”  

Michael raised his eyebrow in shock. His parents were not of a generation that typically had a positive outlook on therapists and counseling. He also would have never thought their marriage ever required it. His parents’ marriage, in his mind, was the blueprint. 

“Really?” 

“Yea… I mean it was different than what you kids do now with licensed therapists. But yea, we went to counseling with our pastor ‘n it helped. Helped both of us admit what we needed, helped us find common ground. N now, I protect your mother while respecting her boundaries. I know you. You’re tryin’ to fix something that only Charlotte and time can fix. And if you hold on too tight, try to fix too much cause you’re afraid of losing her, you’re just gonna lose her in a different way. This is your first taste of marriage, son. Shit ain’t easy but it’s worth it.” 

His dad stood up and patted him on the shoulder before walking toward the door. However, as he opened it, he stopped and turned. 

“Another piece of hard-earned advice?” Michael nodded for him to continue. “You just learned how short life is, how precious every minute is. You don’t go to bed alone or angry ever. You ain’t gotta fix it tonight, you ain’t even gotta talk about it tonight. But don’t let her fall asleep down that hall thinkin’ you don’t wanna fix whatever this is. Understand?” 

“Yea I gotchu. Thanks pops.” 

“Anytime, son.” 

Michael downed the rest of his drink before grabbing his own pillow and walking down the hallway to the guest room he knew Charlotte would be in. The door was not closed all the way so he peeked through the crack for a moment, studying her form which was curled into a tight ball in the middle of the bed. Her light sniffles reached his ears and immediately propelled him forward. 

He knocked on the door.

“Come in,” she called, her voice broken and small. She forced herself into a seated position, wiping her tear-stained cheeks as she sat up. 

They stared at each other expectantly for a few moments before Michael stepped forward. 

“I know I’ve been… distant in a lot of ways the last few weeks. And probably overbearing and controlling, which isn’t what I want you to feel. And I’m sorry for that. And if I had the right words to explain why, I would. But I don’t. I don’t know what this feeling is o-or how to describe it to you. And I can assure you it’s not because I don’t want you. I’ll always want you. But I know this isn’t what you need and this isn’t the relationship I want for us. I know you’re already working with your therapist but maybe we can try couple’s counseling? For a couple weeks? Maybe we can get back on track sooner rather than later.” 

“Really?” she asked. Michael had never expressed anti-therapist sentiments and supported her journey wholeheartedly but he always said he never considered going himself, never thought he would need one. “I thought about suggesting it for us… after everything. I just figured you wouldn’t be into it.” 

Michael meandered over to her side of the bed and sat down, his hand rubbing her leg. 

“I’m into whatever you and I need to do to get back on the same page. I love you and I want you and I know I haven’t been myself lately,” he admitted. “But I hear you and I’m willing to figure it out so I can support you how you need me to.” 

“Thank you… for that. And I’m sorry for blowing up at you. I just… I just want to be me again. I want us again,” she mumbled, bringing her knees to her chest. 

“I know. And we’ll get there. I promise. I’m in it for the long haul, even if we gotta go to so many sessions we fund a beach house for your therapist.” 

Charlotte let out a cackling laugh. “I mean I’ve definitely already funded her beach house… maybe a like cabin in the woods next… she loves that type of stuff.” Charlotte rolled her eyes with a chuckle before her face returned to it’s more solemn expression. She stared at him for a few minutes before grabbing her pillow. “Will it completely ruin my street cred next argument if I come back to our room? This bed sucks,” she muttered. It was harder than their bed and more uncomfortable but the reality was, she had no interest in sleeping alone even if she was still upset. 

Michael kissed her on the forehead and gestured toward the door. “A very small ding in street cred,” he joked. “But,” he lifted up his own pillow. “I lose some too for coming in here like a lost damn puppy.” He joked, both of them laughing. 

“God, we can’t even do one night mad at each other right.” 

“I think that’s a good sign,” Michael remarked. “Think that means we’re gonna be just fine.” 

“Yea… we will be.”

Tag List: @certifiedlesbianbaddie @bangtanxmegan @reelwriter19 @prettyisasprettydoes1306 @hi888888sworld @msniaimani @destinio1 @lynaye1993 @chaoticevilbakugo @blackerthings @pipsqueak-98 @miyuhpapayuh @passionxwrites @gopaperless @injerafiend @ari17

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Drop a comment and let me know what you think and how therapy's gonna go for our favs. This'll be the last update till December!

Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list!

#black writers #michael b jordan #michael b jordan x oc #mbjordanedit #michael b jordan x reader #black panther #michael b jordan fanfic #creed 3 #adonis creed #creed iii

[residenthughes]

shushhhh 🤫 this was in my drafts and considering we just hit 101 followers, i decided it was a cause for celebration 😈 this is nowhere near being finished, but i really wanted to post something to thank y'all for all the love & support that you give me :) thanks again for 101 followers and we shall celebrate with a big BANG soon! 🥰

You’re exactly where you meant to be. There’s no plain, no event - not a sliver of the Earth that requires your being right now. Limbs tangled and heart full of joy. It’s your favourite feeling in the world. 

Like every other Sunday, midday brings a halt to any and every activity that requires your attention. For two hours a week, you curl up on your favourite person’s lap, eyes gazing up at Leon as your legs stretch across the expanse of your couch, the occasional graze of your scalp lulling you to sleep as Leon reads to you. You’re not sure how this all started. Perhaps this was a result of your endless ranting - going on and on about the book Leon just had to read. Maybe it was that one time you mentioned in passing how sweet and intimate it was for lovers to read to another, because Leon is just like that. Remembers the small things and does them with such ease. Does them because he cares, and because he loves you.  

It’s something pulled from fiction, his love. 

So, here you lay, seven Sundays in and still overjoyed with your most cherished hours of the week. Leon seems to enjoy it too. Rarely spared the opportunity to fully unwind, his shoulders raised with apprehension - Leon finally gives himself just these two hours to let go. Lose himself in the words of make believe with you right by his side. He considers it a gift, both to you and himself. The one luxury he’ll allow himself to indulge in (besides yourself, of course.)

You’ve gotten around to reading Benjamin Alire Sáenz’s beloved story, ‘Aristotle and Dante Discover The Secrets Of The Universe’ and despite you having read it before, you could never pass up the opportunity to turn back time and flick through those pages again. It’s Leon’s first time ever reading it and he remains just as engaged as you were, voice just above a whisper as he reads those words that engulf your heart with a warm fondness.

You’re somewhere in the middle of the second book, ‘Aristotle & Dante Dive into The Waters of the World’ and your heart feels hollow. Despite the tenderness of your shared activity with Leon, the pain and suffering that seeps through the pages hangs heavy in the air. You grip onto Leon’s trousers just a bit tighter when the heartache is too much, teeth sinking into the flesh of your lips to bar the cries that want to leave. Leon notices - he always does. Soothes your pain away with a warm hand that goes up and down your arm. You see his Adam's apple bob and his eyelashes flutter - this is painful for him too. 

There’s something so inexplicably intimate about the moment. 

Leon lends his voice to you, pools of blue skimming over words that hold so much weight and fondness in your heart. A brand-new experience intertwined with the ever euphoric nostalgia. 

“Your father was the only man I ever loved. And I was the only woman he ever wanted to love.”

Your heart shatters all over again. You knew this part was coming, anticipated it with the nervous heartache building in your chest. But, it still hurts the same. A loss in love can do that to you.

“Baby,” Leon calls, calm and soothing. His thumb, with all the tenderness in the world, swipes the tear escaping your eyes. You hadn’t realised you started crying.

“Wanna take a break?” he hunches over, eyes filled with his own heartbreak yet still gives you his undivided attention. 

Your lips wobble and tears fill your vision. They escape with a quick blink and Leon’s shutting the book, long gone from his grasp as your bodies mould into each other, arms circling around one another as you collect yourself.

#leon kennedy #leon kennedy x reader #leon kennedy fanfic #leon kennedy fluff #leon kennedy imagine #resident evil 4 remake #re4r #re4r leon #my fics #resident evil fanfic #resident evil

[jainiss]

hello!

bringing reactions from members of straw hat pirates and cia, (zoro, luffy, ace, robin, nami) from one piece, when they gradually fall in love with you.

Ps: forgive me if there are english mistakes. English is not my native language.

Ps2: these are guesses at what I think it would be. all fictional.

Zoro's love would be marked by his quiet yet steadfast devotion. At first, he might not even realize his own feelings, being so focused on his goals and training. However, he would start to notice you more, paying attention to your presence and opinions.

As his feelings grow, Zoro would become subtly more protective of you. He'd keep an eye on you during battles and missions, making sure you are safe without drawing too much attention to it. He might also become more mindful of your well-being and offer his support whenever needed.

Zoro's way of showing affection would be through actions rather than words. He might share some of his personal philosophies with you, offering insights into his dedication and determination. He'd also appreciate your strengths and might even seek your advice in moments of doubt.

Despite his gruff exterior, Zoro might let slip a small smile or a rare moment of vulnerability when he's around you. He'd engage in conversations that go beyond his usual curt responses, and he'd be more inclined to spend his downtime in your company.

However, Zoro's commitment to his training and goals might also create a sense of conflict within him. He might struggle with the idea of balancing his responsibilities as a swordsman with his growing feelings for you. Nonetheless, his loyalty and protective instincts would drive him to be a reliable and unwavering presence in your life.

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

Luffy's love would be characterized by his straightforward and genuine nature. At first, he might not fully understand what he's feeling, but he'd definitely want to spend more time with you because you make him happy. He'd invite you on adventures, and his excitement would be contagious.

As Luffy's feelings deepen, he'd become even more protective of you. He'd make sure you're safe during battles and would go to great lengths to shield you from harm. His determination to keep you out of danger would drive him to be more cautious, which is unusual for him.

Luffy would show his affection through simple gestures and actions. He might share his favorite foods with you or offer you his treasured hat for a moment. He'd be genuinely interested in hearing your stories and would be quick to laugh at your jokes.

Luffy's openness and honesty would be apparent in his interactions. He might express his feelings directly, saying things like, "I really like having you around," without any hint of awkwardness. His loyalty and dedication would be evident as he stands up for you and stands by your side, even if it means challenging powerful opponents.

However, Luffy's straightforwardness might also come with some challenges. He might not grasp the nuances of romance, leading to moments of unintentional bluntness or confusion. Yet, his unwavering friendship and determination to make you happy would be the foundation of his love.

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

Ace's love would be characterized by his protective and devoted nature. He'd start spending more time with you, trying to understand your interests and making an effort to be part of your world. At first, he might act a bit aloof, but he'd gradually open up as he becomes more comfortable around you.

As his feelings deepen, Ace would become fiercely protective of you, always ready to step in and defend you if needed. He'd also showcase his playful side, sharing stories about his adventures and laughing wholeheartedly at your jokes.

Ace might show his affection through small acts of kindness, like bringing you your favorite foods or finding unique treasures during his travels that he thinks you'd like. He'd enjoy your company during quieter moments and wouldn't shy away from sharing his thoughts and feelings with you.

However, Ace's own insecurities and fear of putting loved ones in danger might make him hesitant to fully express his feelings. He'd likely struggle with the idea of potentially losing someone he cares about. Nevertheless, his determination and loyalty would lead him to stand by your side, no matter the challenges you face together.

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

Robin's love would be marked by her subtlety and intellectual approach. At first, she might observe you from a distance, trying to understand your interests and personality. She'd value your opinions and might engage in more thoughtful conversations with you.

As her feelings grow, Robin would become more willing to open up about herself and her past. She'd share her knowledge and experiences with you, allowing you to see different facets of her life. She might even reveal her vulnerability and insecurities, seeking your perspective.

Robin's way of showing affection would involve her unique insights. She might leave small notes with interesting quotes or book recommendations that she thinks you would enjoy. She'd be attentive to your needs and would offer assistance or advice when you need it.

Robin's love would also be expressed through physical gestures, like gentle touches or a comforting presence. She'd stand by your side during challenging moments, providing you with emotional support and reassurance.

However, Robin's past experiences might also make her a bit cautious with her feelings. She'd carefully navigate the complexities of romance, trying to balance her emotions with her sense of independence. Her love would be deep and genuine, with a focus on forming a meaningful and lasting connection.

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

Nami's love would be characterized by a mix of her strong-willed nature and a growing vulnerability. At first, she might not want to admit her feelings, focusing on her responsibilities and goals. However, she'd find herself thinking about you more often and seeking your company.

As Nami's feelings deepen, she might show a more protective side. She'd be attentive to your needs and well-being, making sure you're comfortable and taken care of you during your adventures. She might also involve you in her navigation duties, sharing her passion for cartography and exploration.

Nami's way of expressing affection would involve her practicality. She might prepare thoughtful surprises or useful items for you, showing that she cares about your comfort and happiness. She'd also engage in playful banter, showcasing her teasing side while letting you know she values your presence.

Nami's love would be accompanied by moments of vulnerability, where she might let her guard down and share her deeper thoughts and fears. She'd appreciate your support and might even seek your advice when making important decisions.

However, Nami's past experiences might make her cautious about letting someone into her heart. She'd struggle with the balance between her independence and her feelings for you. Yet, her loyalty and determination would drive her to prioritize your happiness and well-being, even if it means facing her own uncertainties.

Byebye ~

© jainiss ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ

#roronoa zoro #zoro roronoa x reader #anime #reaction #one piece oneshots #one piece imagine #one piece zoro #one piece ace #one piece robin #one piece nami #one piece luffy #one piece #straw hat pirates #straw hat crew #nico robin #robin #nami #cat burglar nami #monkey d. luffy #luffy #ace #portgas d ace #oneshot #reactions

[majaloveschris]

That's what my makes my brain still refuse to abandon ship fully, knowing how much Chris has always valued privacy and HAD privacy pre NYC pap sprint. We didn't have "sources" running to magazines with information only Chris could tell them. If it did, it was rare and nothing as personal as we've gotten. Today's new "source" just adds to that.

I can not imagine knowing of Chris pre SS being OK with someone he shared his "anxiety over becoming a parent" and his super secret private engagement (that he didn't even let his wife to be where her ring in private and on her bachlorette) and his super secret private kinda first wedding ceremony just being handed over with details from fellow celebrities to magazines 12 hours post.

These "sources" - the way they are laying the foundation and with what information - are not people who know Chris on the surface. Or his barber or his Amazon delivery driver or his doctor. These "sources" get told information that Chris trusts them to keep private with. And they don't? And he's OK with that? Justin's dad's post? He's OK with everything? And we're expected to believe Chris has kept thos "close source" around still to have a privacy invasion breach AGAIN in March of 2024 about a subject only his mother, his sisters, his brother in laws, his best best friends would know? No-way.

It's why I'm stuck. 🤣

Yeah, I agree with you. This whole source thing is so weird. Yeah, there were always things coming out about him, but I don't remember this many and this private.    I doubt it would be somebody from his side, because why would they do that? I know I repeat myself, but even DM herself confirmed that she rarely gets anything about Chris because his side is really closed off. I doubt they would start it now.    I also doubt it would be someone from her side, because if this is real, again, why would they do that? Being an anonymous source doesn't give anybody attention since nobody knows who it was. And why wouldn't they try to protect them and their relationship and respect their wishes to be private? Not like they like a private couple with those Instagram stories and pap walks.    And, as you said, why would he be okay with everything? If he wants to keep things private, why would he be okay with people constantly spilling the tea at different outlets?    Chris was always a private person, especially when it came to his relationships. Maybe if you could see that huge love they are trying to sell, I'd get it, but I don't.   The sources are obviously their teams. But why would they want to force down their relationship people's throats if it were real? One of the reasons why I think this is PR is because of this. 

#majaloveschris #chris and alba pr #chris and alba relationship #cevans-love

[zalmoxis-the-great]

Love in full bloom ! - Short story - Orizyn

Trazyn was lying there motionless for the third month in a row. Attention is still fully focused on observing the future La'rua, the forming Tau Fire Warriors team, training under the vigilant, eye of an experienced Shas'Ui.

‘Orikan, I swear on the Galleries, if you get spotted and ruin this for me, I will put you in a tesseract labyrinth next to my Death Guards' attacks strategies displays’, he received from the unmoving overlord.

Orikan flicked his tail, curiosity replacing the anger at the rude, and frankly, disgusting remark.

His divinations found the archivist on a planet next to a battlefield Imotekh was heading to. The astromancer decided to bail on the mandatory activity the Stormlord was dragging him to, by summoning his right to the ancient feud, and rushing off course, before his phaeron decided to use his hekatic power to revoke it.

He found the overlord, covered with field emitters, witnessing what looked like every step of future Fire warrior's training.

Rather than going back to join his dynasty’s fight, a pointless endeavor, We would win this engagement, regardless of my presence. He decided to observe the observer before he deemed that enough time had passed for him to return to his proper studies, without invoking Imotekh’s wrath.

‘They need another full Tau'cyr of training before the commander will no longer call them Shas’Saal, but Shas’La.’ Trazyn explained after another month. ‘I intend to capture the engramatic recording of the whole process. It’s beautiful isn’t it, them growing into their destiny?’.

Orikan moved his focus from the Tau to Trazyn.

The tropical weather on this planet was in its rainy season, with violent winds blowing water droplets everywhere. The emitters did little to protect Trazyn from the elements, and being completely motionless meant he endured the impromptu showers.

What was spectacular was the tiny dust or earth particles carried by the droplets, that, drop by drop, deposited the debris and dead plant matter into every crevice and nook on the archivist’s carapace.

Normally, mud or dirt would be cleaned by scarabs, but Trazyn was in an undercover mission, and dared not bring anything to be read by a passing scan. He looked like a muddy statue.

After another four months of sitting still, small orchid seeds seem to have found their way to those little dirt patches, and the warm, and humid weather allowed the epiphyte plant to grow there.

First, the little white air roots appeared, hugging the living metal, like silver jewelry, and after that a stem appeared.

For the last 3 days all the plants on Trazyn were in full bloom.

Some of them, blossoming with an insane amount of tiny white flowers, that hung heavy from Trazyn’s left arm, covering it like an exotic pelt.

On his torso, the orchids decided to grow horizontally, with beautiful blue flowers, deeper than the archivist's turquoise but similar enough that Orikan could imagine they grew from his necrodermis.

His cape and legs, as the archivist was kneeling to stay low enough to observe, were covered by plants with thick massive leaves, that covered him and gave the impression that Trazyn was sprouting from the earth itself. At first, a few rare red flowers popped up sporadically on his legs and rear, but the closer they were in proximity to the sun, they more they started multiplying. The top of Trazyn's hood looked like it was on fire with these bright red blossoms.

Orikan looked at his deathmask, endlessly fascinated by the yellow flowers, that managed to sneak into his hollowed cheeks and mouth, blooming upwards on their stems so that it looked like Trazyn was wearing a heavy crown made of gold, a noble regal scholar, and an academic so in love with his studies that he became part of it.

‘I agree’, he replied, looking at his colleague.

#last one on tumblr #finally a v-day one ! #Orikan taking 4 months to answer a rhetoric question #necrons #orikan the diviner #trazyn the infinite #warhammer 40k #short story

[adivergentlens]

As an Autistic person with ADHD, navigating the world often feels like wearing a costume that doesn't quite fit. The constant adjustments, the social missteps, and the relentless self-doubt can be exhausting. But there is a sanctuary where I shed this ill-fitting costume and embrace my true self: nature photography.

Photography, especially nature photography, is one of the rare times I feel truly at peace. When I'm behind the lens, capturing the intricate dance of light and shadow, the vibrant hues of a sunset, or the delicate details of a mushroom, I am no longer defined by my neurodivergence. In these moments, I don't feel othered or disabled. The world fades away, and there is just the connection between me and my subject. It's a profound experience where I am not judged or measured by societal standards. Instead, I am an artist, a creator, and an observer, finding beauty and meaning in the world around me.

Imposter syndrome is a constant companion, making me feel like a child in an adult's body, always doubting my place in the world. However, photography is one of the few realms where this insidious feeling loses its grip. When I hold my camera, I am not questioning my worth or abilities. The creative process grounds me, and in these moments, I feel like competent, like I have a clear purpose. Each photograph I take is a testament to my skill, my vision, and my passion. It's a space where my neurodivergent traits become strengths, enhancing my creativity and attention to detail.

Everyday sensory experiences can be overwhelming and debilitating, but nature offers a different kind of sensory input. The rustling leaves, the chirping birds, the gentle breeze—these are not extreme stimuli but soothing symphonies that calm my mind. In nature, my sensory experiences are harmonious, not chaotic. The natural world provides a balanced sensory environment where I can engage fully without feeling overwhelmed. This sensory equilibrium allows me to immerse myself in my photography, capturing the serene beauty that eludes me in everyday life.

Nature photography is more than a hobby; it's a lifeline. It's where I find solace, authenticity, and a respite from the challenges of being neurodivergent. It's where I can express myself without fear, connect with the world in a meaningful way, and experience sensory joy. Through my lens, I not only capture the beauty of the world but also reclaim a part of myself that is often lost in the chaos of everyday life.

#audhd life #adult audhd #audhd brain #audhd artist #actually audhd #adult adhd #living with adhd #actually autistic #autistic adult #autistic artist #autistic experiences #photography #neurodivergent #neurodiversity #philosophy

[sleepingdeath-sapphic]

could you do black raisin cookie dating headcanons please? I really got into her during the golden cheese update!

dating hcs ; cookie run kingdom

thank you for requesting anon <3

this includes black raisin cookie <3

reader is assumed as gender neutral <3

my account is 16+, please interact accordingly <3

though it takes a long time and a lot of patience for her to trust you enough to start dating you, once you’re in a relationship with her you’ll find black raisin cookie to be a partner whose loyalty, dedication, and protectiveness are without equal — of course her protectiveness shouldn’t come as much of a shock given her relationships with the people of her village, but it’s endearing and admirable nonetheless

she does everything in her power to ensure you’re safe and comfortable each day before she even considers turning her attention to her own needs — and this can be anything from ensuring you have the right clothes for the weather and that your tent is properly set up, to refusing to take her serving of food until after she knows you’ve eaten your fill

black raisin cookie isn’t really one for terms of endearment herself and will generally just call you your name, but she finds herself growing increasingly fond of the ‘softer’ and ‘cutesier’ pet names you call her the longer you’re together — even if she does get so flustered that she’s unable to form a full sentence or meet your eyes the first few times you call her ‘honey’, ‘sweetie’, or ‘baby’

it takes her some time to get used to engaging in physical affection with you (and she’ll never be fully comfortable with extreme pda), but eventually she’ll find herself melting into and anticipating your touch — all but running into your arms when she returns to the village after being away for a while, kissing your cheeks and your fingertips, leaning her body against yours when she’s tired after a long night of work, letting her eyes flutter close when you place a reassuring hand on her cheek, etc.

this almost goes without saying, but of course her crows adore you and even seem to enjoy your company more than hers — in fact it’s rare that the two of you actually get to spend any time alone as a couple without at least one or two of her crows lingering around and trying to get your attention for one reason or another (… usually so that you’ll pet or feed them)

the quickest way to her heart is by having a genuine love and desire to help her village because it’s important to her that anyone she courts want to protect and aid her home and the people she cares about — and even after the two of you are together, her heart is always warmed when she catches a glimpse of you helping someone cook, offering a hand to a villager who is unable to walk on their own, volunteering to help gather food, or (especially) playing with the village children

sometimes you’ll be able to catch her staring at you with a small almost soft smile on her face — this usually happens during quiet moments in your shared tent or when you’re sat with others in front of a campfire, when everyone else’s attention is on something else as you’re talking or laughing or smiling, and she gets to quietly admire you and think about how lucky she feels to have found you — and if you ever dare to bring it up to her then she’ll turn her head and vehemently deny any knowledge of what you’re talking about

#sleepingdeath sapphic #sleepingdeath #cookie run x reader #gender neutral reader #cookie run kingdom x reader #crk x reader #fluff hcs #cookie run fluff #crk fluff #cookie run kingdom fluff #black raisin cookie x reader #black raisin cookie fluff