Tumgik
#most of the time its 'oh horse big scary' and that's it
ganymede-princess · 6 months
Text
The Crimson King | Rhaegar Targaryen
Tumblr media
ship: rhaegar targeryen x fem!oc
warnings: I really don't think there is any? jaime is a little scary i guess. OH and cannon divergence. Big ol' TW for that.
summary: a young crannogman girl meets the crowned prince on a very special occasion.
word count: 3298
a/n: phew! this was a long time coming. I hope you like it! (and if you don't fuck with the romance, there's a more interesting scene at the end!) There will be a part 2, just by the way ;)
written by @ganymedeprincess
The thick, hot air in the royal ballroom carried the scent of a thousand perfumed bodies. Long tables lined the room, piled high with foods from across the Seven Kingdoms. Among the dishes Frida spied fat frogs legs and water lily syrup from her home in the Neck, next to crabs and succulent fried fish from Lannisport, sweet pastries made from the honey of Highgarden, and bowls of flakey pink rock salt from Dragonstone. Despite the sight of countless exotic delicacies, her stomach churned.
Hundreds of highborn folk all milled around, laughing, dancing, talking, each one dressed more lavishly than the last. Frida had never seen so much silk in one place. Bewitched as she was with the nightlife of King's Landing, she found herself growing into the wall like an unsightly mushroom. She was acutely aware that she did not blend in with the royal aesthetics. Her unruly hair could only be half tamed and her mauve linen gown looked miserly next to the lavish satins and velvets that garbed the ruling class. Frida could feel a hundred sets of eyes boring into her, though when she glanced around, there were none there to meet. She thought there must be hearths burning somewhere. If there were no hearths, why did the air feel so heavy?
Frida searched the room for the face of her brother to no avail. Ewyn had no struggles with making friends in spite of his Crannogman roots and noticeable limp. Frida guessed he would be engaged by the end of the night. With no respite in sight and her breath coming shallower by the second, she made a hasty escape. She slipped around the edge of the ballroom, narrowly avoiding several dancing couples, at least three stray cats, and a drunken septon, before emerging onto a small rampart with stairs at either end. Frida thought it wise to take a quick turn around the rose garden below to calm herself, but once she reached a shadowed corner she could contain her exhaustion no longer and fell to her knees between two sweet smelling bushes. She did not cry, just breathed deeply, content in the knowledge that she was far away from prying eyes. Until she heard a sniffle from behind the rosebush to her left.
"Hello?" Frida's voice caught in her throat. There came no answer, just another quieter sniffle. "Who's there?"
"Nobody." Said the invisible man in a voice thick with sorrow. "Leave me."
"What's the matter?" The leaves rustled gently as Frida shifted awkwardly, trying her best to see through the thick bushes.
"Worry not."
"But you're crying."
"No." His voice cracked. "I am the- I am a man."
"What's that got to do with it?" Frida corrected. "My brother cries all the time, and he's already one and twenty."
There was a brief rustling in the bush and the clearing of a throat.
"What brings him to cry?" The voice seemed to settle a little.
"Oh everything!" Frida murmured. "Books, flowers, pretty sunsets. He cries almost every time he rides a horse. He has an injury to one of his legs, you see. A lizard-lion took his knee in its jaws and damn near tore his leg off! He used to love running, so riding is a real joy for him."
"A lizard-lion? You are from the Neck?"
Fuck. Frida thought. The voice carried the accent of King's Landing and she knew very well that folk from the capital were the most prejudiced against Crannogmen out of anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms. He was sure to send her away now, or worse.
"Yes."
"Tell me, what is it like there?"
"Oh- um. Wet." She babbled. "Very wet and slippery."
"I hear that beautiful flowers grow there." The man mused, his mild voice easing Frida's apprehension slightly.
"Yes. Ghost orchids, swamp arums, blue-eyed Bessies that grow on the trunks of trees; all of them beautiful." In a hushed voice she added, "But, do you know which is the most beautiful flower of all?"
"No, tell me."
"Black water lilies. My house has bred them to perfection."
"Your house?"
"I belong to House Fenn, Ser."
"Ah." There was a moment of surprisingly comfortable silence between them. "What brings you to the garden, my lady?"
"You take me for a lady?" Frida giggled.
"Are you not?" She could hear the smile return to his voice. "You take me for a Knight."
"Are you not?"
"I am, yes, but there is more to me than a knighthood."
"Such as?"
The man paused for a moment.
"You didn't answer my question."
Frida hesitated, searching for a way to put it lightly.
"The feast is full of beautiful people. I worried that my being there would ruin things."
"Why?"
"Well... I am ugly, Ser."
"Ugly?" His voice was curt with indignation. "Who led you to believe this?"
"My mother always told me that other folks look down on Crannogmen and that they find us ugly." In the anonymity of darkness, words tumbled out of her. "Though she also said I am ugly for a Crannogman."
A thick silence stood between them.
"How could a mother say such a thing to her child?"
"She's very sick, she doesn't think-"
"She's well enough that you believe her." The truth silenced Frida. "Come here so that I might see you for myself."
"You won't like it." She warned him and prepared herself to move, though she was unsure in which direction.
Frida heard the tink tink of flint against flint, then a warm glow began to shine through the rose bush. Her ears roared with the pounding of her heart, but she knew she had to show herself. She had to see the face of the man with the handsome voice, and more so she had to know what he thought of her. Trembling, she revealed herself. A black hood shrouded his face in shadow, but Frida could see his deep blue eyes widen, almost purple in the firelight.
"My lady-" His voice came in an urgent, breathy whisper.
"Don't."
She turned away from him, already humiliated, until she felt a hand gently guide her face back to him. She resisted, gripping his forearm.
"Please, look at me." Though his voice cracked in desperation, it was commanding enough that she turned to him again. The light caught his arrow-straight nose, and the soft pillow of his lips. Frida's breath hitched.
"I must take your mother for a liar, my lady."
"She said... people like you would think I look like a toad."
"No." He smiled. "But if you did, you would be a very beautiful toad indeed."
"Thank you." She blushed, somewhat sceptical. "Let me see you too."
"I can't, my-"
"Your Grace!" A tall, golden-haired man wearing a glittering white cloak and armour came careening around the corner of the hedge. "Gods, I thought I'd lost you. Avast, wench! Rise in the name of your king!"
The kingsguard drew his ornate longsword and pointed the sharp tip at Frida's face. Aghast, she cringed away from him and crawled a few paces back with him keeping pace.
"Enough, Jaime!" The shadowed man leapt to his feet and lunged forward to push the blade away, toppling over the lantern. "Can't you see she's harmless?"
"Kingslayer." The word was out of her mouth before Frida knew what she was saying. Jaime Lannister swung the sword back around to her.
"It's treason to disrespect a Kingsguard." The young man's eyes glittered with rage. "Say it once more and I'll cut the head from your shoulders, girl."
"Enough!" The shadowed man commanded, and grimacing, the Whitecloak stayed his blade. "Leave us."
"But, Your Grace-"
"Leave us. Alert Ser Barriston that the ceremony will take place as we discussed."
"Your Grace, I cannot leave you undefended."
"I have a sword on my hip and the skill to wield it. Leave us. You will not defy me again."
"Your Grace." Ser Jaime stalked off in a huff, his white cloak billowing behind him.
"Please," The shadowed man looked down at Frida, face creased with embarrassment. "Ser Jaime prefers the title The White Lion."
Frida gaped, wide eyed; knowing the truth but not believing it. As he picked up the lantern with his ungloved hand, Frida thought he would burn his fingers to the bone, but he simply dusted them on his coat, stamped out the fire in the grass with a black leather boot, and shed his hood to reveal a mop of hair that glimmered like spun silver. His eyes were wide and glassy, and Frida saw then that they truly were as purple as morning glory. He held out his hand, and for a moment all Frida could do was stare at it.
"My king." Frida could not keep the astonishment from her voice. "I'm sorry."
"For what reason?"
"I've spoken ill and disrespected you." She looked away. "I'm sure I have."
"I have heard no disrespect from you, lady, I am not so easily wounded. Please, take my hand." He pressed closer, a smile taking over his tear-streaked face when she let him pull her to her feet. "I appreciate your honest words, please do not dull your voice for the sake of my title. Besides, I ought to apologise for the behaviour of my protector. Please forgive him, he is young and still has much to learn."
"My king." Frida found herself without words.
"Go back to the feast, lady." The young dragon sighed and pressed a kiss against her palm. "I must prepare in my chambers. Thank you... for your kindness."
Without the wit to respond, Frida curtseyed clumsily and hurried back to the hall. Her head and heart were reeling with the urge to tell The Bloodmaid, her favourite weirwood from home, and she felt suddenly and starkly alone without the comfort of her red timber eyes. As she tumbled back into the ballroom, her gaze fell on her brother who leaned on a giant stone pillar, surrounded with a number of laughing Riverlander knights. Heart sinking, Frida took a steadying breath and marched up to the group.
"Ewyn, brother," Frida took him by the upper arm, silence falling on the group. "May I have a word, just for a moment?"
"Frida," Ewyn stumbled over his words. "Don't you see I'm busy?"
"Come, have a word with us, fair lady." Grinned a young man with red hair and a speckled face. "There is wine enough for another."
"Ed," Ewyn turned on him, scowling viciously. "Mind you don't drown in it, will you? Come on, Frida, let's talk."
He took her by the hand and limped away with impressive speed. When the pair were out of earshot, he frowned down at her.
"What is it?" Frida could smell the beer on his breath as he spoke.
"You're not going to believe me." She scratched her wrist, the sleeves on her dress suddenly feeling too close to her skin.
"I always believe you." Ewyn cocked an eyebrow, leaning against his mangrove cane.
"Well..." Frida chewed her fingers.
"You've been in the grass." He tutted derisively, green eyes alight with amusement.
She noticed that green stains marred her hem, along with her knees, and she assumed her buttocks too.
"Shit!" She muttered.
"Tsk tsk tsk, is that any way for a lady of the court to be speaking?"
"Oh, sod off." She aimed a half-hearted smack at his arm. "I'll have you know, it wasn't my fault. A Kingsguard knocked me over."
"A Kingsguard? Well, I suppose this is the place for it."
"Well... he was guarding the king."
Ewyn narrowed his eyes.
"What did you do? Spit on him?"
"No!" Frida pressed a hand against her cheek, trying to stave off the heat. "I just spoke to him, is all."
"You- you spoke to him?" His eyes were round as lily pads. "The king?"
"I didn't know it was him to start with. He was behind a bush with a cloak on, he could have been anybody."
"Yes, but-" He squinted, baffled. "He really spoke to you?"
"Yes-"
The trill of a lone trumpeter silenced them, and they turned to see a herald on the mezzanine above the ballroom.
"Make way to the Throne Room!" Though the herald was tall enough to be a man, his voice rang out high and clear as a child's. "The ceremony will begin presently!"
As the Goldcloaks pulled open the huge doors at the far end of the ballroom, Frida and Ewyn exchanged a glance, silently agreeing to discuss things later. They followed the snaking crowd down the long hallway until it opened into the cavernous throne room which was already teeming with smallfolk. A pair of enormous candelabras were suspended over the crowd, washing the blood red walls in firelight. Frida wondered how they kept the wax from dripping down on the folk below.
As they passed by the jostling throng of peasants and workers to take their places in front of the ornate barrier, she felt ashamed to be separated from them. Since childhood she had felt the earth on bare feet and worked hard to sustain her House; to be dressed in any kind of finery and placed above the common people felt farcical. Goldcloaks lined the edges of the passageway through the crowd, and Frida noticed they stood two abreast in the peasants' section at the back, and single file from the vassal and cadet houses, all the way to the lords and ladies of the great houses at the very front.
"What was he like?" Ewyn whispered.
"Sad." Frida sighed.
"Sad?" He raised an eyebrow, then nodded wisely. "It's the only way to feel in his position."
"Very lovely, though." She admitted. "He'll be a good king."
Her brother's eyes crinkled in amusement, then he jumped as the heralds rang out a triumphant cry from the back of the room. Silence fell over the crowd as every man, woman, and child turned at once. Frida peered through the crowd, barely able to see a thing. She could see a Targaryen flag bobbing over the crowd, sending an odd lump into her throat as it came closer, and closer. The entire room was silent except for the footsteps growing ever closer. No cheering or jeering, no coughing. Then, through the gap between the two Goldcloaks by her side she saw Ser Barristan Selmy stride through, holding a long staff with a red dragon flag of black silk, glorious in his white armour. Next was the crown prince himself, dressed in mournful black velvet finery and a heavy black cloak that dragged along the ground behind him. The sadness on his face seemed carved into stone, but he held his back straight and walked with the grace and strength of a king. Behind him, his remaining two Kingsguard marched beside each other, their heads held high in pride. Ser Jaime supported the tawny Dornishman Lewyn Martell, who limped along with one leg in a splint, their arms around each other in solidarity. Once the tiny party climbed all the way up the steps to the Iron Throne, Frida caught a glimpse of four men in white who stood a little ways down the steps, new blood waiting to be sworn into the Kingsguard: three fresh faced young warriors, and a grizzled man of middle age with deep auburn hair streaked with grey.
Selmy, Lannister, and Martell took their places beside their soon-to-be brothers, while Rhaegar stood before the Iron Throne, its silver blades forming rippling shadows on the massive horned dragon skull behind them. Frida imagined hundreds of fallen soldiers watching down on the man they had died for, using Balerion's great hollow eyes to see. If their loss weighed him down, he did not show it, standing strong as a giant on the steps where his father's blood once formed a crimson tide. The High Septon stood beside him, hands clasped in solemnity beneath dagged sleeves, heavy with jewels; and beside him stood the little prince Viserys, milk white curls almost to his waist, dutifully clutching a red lacquer box. Rhaegar's eyes swept across the crowd, burning with pride, grief... perhaps even fear; then he knelt, his black velvet cloak folding around his frame like a pair of wings.
"By the light of the Seven, we gather this night to welcome a new king. Let us pray." Every faithful soul in the crowd placed hand over heart at the septon's words. Even for Frida, who's gods were cold and wild, it was hard not to be moved. "May the Warrior lend him the courage of his ancestors, that he might lead us with a bold heart through the harshest of winters; and may the Smith guide him to mend the divisions of our realm. May the Maiden warm his bed with a fitting bride and many sons; and the Crone bless him with wisdom to pass on to his heirs. May the Father Above guide him to justice, and the Mother protect him from harm. And the Stranger- when he must come- may he take him kindly."
The Septon turned, and Little Viserys fumbled to open the box. Frida heart swelled when she spotted an encouraging smile on Rhaegar's face, which seemed to grant the toddler enough strength to get the lid off. He tottered forward and held it up above his head, and the Septon took out a plain gold circlet and nestled it into the King's pale curls.
"Under seven sets of watchful eyes, I name King Rhaegar of House Targaryen, the first of his name, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, and Protector of the Realm. Long may he reign."
"Long may he reign." The crowd echoed as one.
Rhaegar rose to face them, and as he did, Frida saw that his crown was adorned with a single glimmering ruby that sat just above his eyes on a fine gold chain. He thrust his fist to the sky, and the room filled with the thunder of cheers and feet drumming on the stone floor. He seemed to drink in the praise, determination steeling his gaze. He dropped his fist to his side, silencing the crowd.
"From childhood, I knew the day my reign began would be marred with grief, but I could never have dreamt of the loss the realm has suffered for my coronation. I know that every soul in the Seven Kingdoms grieves for someone lost to this bloody rebellion, or my father's madness. King Aerys saw enemies in every shadow, and would have razed this city to the ground just to flood it with light and annihilate his mummer's adversaries. I saw smallfolk treated worse than dogs; children whipped by Goldcloaks in the street. How could a man see such tyranny and not rebel? Robert Baratheon's courage was admirable, and in another life I might have fought beside him and called him 'brother;' but his war was not the answer, and now we are left with the consequence. As I stand here now with you as my witnesses, I promise to usher in a new age of the Targaryen dynasty. An age of peace and unity, of prosperity and change. The House of the Dragon will reforge, and the realm along with it."
He stood in silence a moment, eyes ablaze. Then as the crowd erupted once more, he turned, his cloak billowing a red dragon on black, and stepped up to the Iron Throne on a stair forged from a giant warhammer. The heralds blared, Frida applauded until her hands burned with the effort and her heart hammered in her chest, and when she was done she felt her face wet with tears.
83 notes · View notes
invisibleraven · 13 days
Note
"Be gentle, please." for Rulie plz and thank you
Julie swiped her forehead, feeling the sweat gathering there, as she was unused to the humid air that seemed to permeate the Georgia air. It was so different from the heat of LA that she had grown up with, but Reggie had asked her to come, meet his MeeMaw, see where he grew up, and well, she was unable to deny him anything.
"You ready?"
Julie turned and she wasn't sure how she didn't swoon-there he was in all his cowboy glory. From the hat to the boots, looking like something out of a Western and her fantasies all wrapped together. She gave an exaggerated whistle, causing Reggie to blush, tipping his hat as if to hide it.
"Lookin' pretty good yourself there darlin'."
Julie grinned-the jeans were tight, the shirt one of his old flannels and the hat one MeeMaw had pressed on her head. She felt kind of silly, but the mirror had proved she could pull it off.
"Let's go meet some horses."
The stables were a bit cooler and shaded, a minor relief from the warm day, though the smell left something to be desired, making Julie wrinkle her nose as it hit her. But then she saw the horses and froze. "Oh wow, I didn't realize they were so...big."
Reggie chuckled. "Yeah, they're all a few hands high. Good stock too-MeeMaw prides herself on that. You wanna meet them?"
"They're friendly right?" Julie asked, clinging to Reggie's arms as he lead her to the stalls.
"Most of them are," Reggie replied, then nodded at a stall with a large black stallion was huffing at them. "Not Boxer there though, but we won't be riding him."
Julie whimpered and then let Reggie lead her further away, taking in the large horse before here. Watching as Reggie offered it an apple, leaning his forehead against its nose.
"This here is Old Red-he was mine when I was a kid. He's retired now, but I still gotta spoil him a little." Then a roan mare. "This here is Sugarfoot-she's yours today. Sweetest filly there is. And over there is Jake, my new horse. You wanna give them some sugar?"
Julie looked at Reggie who was biting back a laugh then held out some sugar cubes for her to offer the horse. Julie glared at him before holding an open palm up to her horse, giggling as she ate the sugar.
She rubbed the horse's nose after the sugar was gone, finding Sugarfoot much less scary as she nuzzled her mane. But the prospect of riding her was still slightly terrifying.
But Reggie assured her that he would be right there, they were only going for a short trot, and if she really didn't like it, she never had to do it again.
Assurances aside, she still clung to the reins as they exited the barn. "Okay Sugarfoot, I'm new to this, so...be gentle please?"
"Darlin' she couldn't be anything else," Reggie assured her. "Not with you."
"So just like you?"
Reggie blushed again at her teasing, then coughed and gave her instruction on how to steer, speed up, slow down, and stop with noises and using the reins. Julie caught on fairly quick, giving a delighted laugh when she went around the paddock a few times with success.
"Alright, let's go."
They left the paddock, and Julie shivered as a breeze blew through her curls, feeling a bit freer without the fences, but also a little scared to know she was going forth on the whims of the wild beast between her thighs. But Reggie was right there, grinning madly as he pointed out scenery, telling her stories, and humming as they went, so that eased her mind a little.
Not enough to let go of her death grip on the reins, but enough that she wasn't hyperventilating.
"You wanna go a little faster?" Reggie asked.
Julie bit her bottom lip, but gave a hesitant nod-"Not too fast right?"
"Cantor, not gallop."
They sped up, and Julie laughed as the wind made her curls fly behind her, cooling her down, and made her feel like she was flying.
"That was fun!" she exclaimed as they slowed, coming to a stop by a small pond near a willow tree.
"Told ya so," Reggie quipped, helping her down, letting the horses graze as they sat in the shade, trading a water bottle back and forth whilst cuddling.
"It's so beautiful here," she sighed, nuzzling into Reggie. "You must miss it so much."
"Some days," he admitted. "But I do love Cali too. It's our home, it's where we met. I couldn't imagine living anywhere else. But maybe we could come back here more often?"
"I'd like that," Julie admitted. "How else are we gonna teach the kids how to ride a horse?"
"Kids?"
"One day," Julie shrugged.
"I like the sound of that," Reggie whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple. "I'll ask MeeMaw to set aside a foal when we get there."
"Think they make the hats that small?"
Reggie tilted her chin up, giving her that infamous grin of his. "Darlin', I know they do." Before pulling her into a kiss that rivalled the heat of the day and the feeling of riding all at once.
13 notes · View notes
clay-pidgeon · 3 months
Text
post title pending. my weird swap au
this is the post im making for scratchswap, my au where i switch the post-scratch kids with the post-scratch trolls sharing their aspect (dirk-nepeta, roxy-equius, jake-eridan, and jane-feferi) and then the pre scratch dudes get swapped accordingly. yes this bc of the Parallels between feferi and jane and then i got a whole Thing out of it. im working on classpects/ages. characters under the cut
pre-scratch trolls
note for the record i did not think much about these guys
johune peixes: i have done 0 thinking on johune so sorry. theyre swapped w meenah and everyones really confused about how that funny little guy was a huge scary empress in every other universe
rozela zahhak: the sorcerer wooooo! pretty similar to canon rose shes just really fucking strong. good friends w aranea
dayves leijon: im still not 100% sure how to go about this one tbh but he does like romance in some form. also i got in in my head hes skittish. no idea where that came from. capitalizes b (glasses) and maybe something else?
jaidli ampora: oh i actually thought about this one a little! fashion is sorta fifties inspired like cronus but shes not a greaser thats his schtick. you dont steal a mans shtick. is there a c in that word or not
post scratch trolls
jaynce peixes: feels like i should work on that name huh. anyways jaynce does Not want to be the heiress (for reasons both transgender and not) at all and is in a little bit of denial about this. i lied actually a lot of denial. may or may not be moirails w jayque havent decided. replaces e and o with -E and -O forks and spoons!
roxxie zahhak: a little more into robots n shit than coding but still does that. bit of a jack of all trades! thinks deyirks lusus (its. kity) is the most special boy in the whole wide world. probably moirails w deyirk now that i think abt it but maybe not. im on the fence abt a lot of stuff here. uses some kind of prefix, emoticons have X for eyes, replaces x sounds with x, y (as a vowel) with ie, and s w z
deyirk leijon: WORLDS MOST NORMAL MAN (lying) lives in a cave in the middle of the woods not for catgirl reasons but because this guy is going insane in solitude works best when isolated. also uses some kind of prefix for a quirk. roxxie drops off robot parts at his house every few weeks and they make a day of it theyre Pals
jayque ampora: he helps feed gloybsub or whatever her name is and hes so normal about the deaths on his conscience. really hes so normal guys cmon. normal
pre scratch kids
mimi egbert: token cis friend sorry meenah. or not idc. more mellow because dad egbert is just a normal guy and isnt raising her to be the literal queen of the world. still meenah tho
hans lalonde: i am unsure about the name but i think its fine. the ultimate horse girl (therian). keeps maplehoof in the foyer. if he had to interact with his dad for more than 20 seconds they would both implode from the sheer awkwardness. the house is big as shit they just gesture to each other when they see each other and thats fine for both of them
manu strider: wears heart shades everywhere as a sort of joke. he doesnt actually know. caps lock is broken and refuses to fix it + uses kaomoji a lot. fujoshi to transmasc pipeline haha who said that
crow harley: im stilling working on which animal to furrify cronus with. watches a bunch of old movies and picked up those speaking habits. other shit pending
post scratch kids
fifi crocker: she wants to be crockercorps new ceo sosososo bad she would make up for all of their horrible crimes against humanity by uh. shes working on it ok?
neta strider: the she/her to she/they to they/them to he/they to he/him to he/they to she/he/they to The Creature pipeline. percentage of their diet that is fish he caught w her own bare hands has been steadily increasing. is trying to buff up on history but keeps on going down wikipedia rabbit holes and rereading the nyan cat article for the thousandth time. would still do the detective pony rewrite but would get sidetracked by the lolcat metaphor for way longer
eqis lalonde: do you know how hard it is to smush equius down to four letters? i just made this name up man. anyways i dunno what to do with her but shes a girl of the horse variety
dani english: diversity win this sickly victorian orphan child is genderfluid! fucking terrified of the lusi on the island. fancies herself sort of a romantic poet
the entirety of this was brainstormed while i was bored in class for the record. still brainstorming so im gonna edit this when more shit arises
17 notes · View notes
Text
Those Blue Eyes
Tumblr media
(Dieter x horror loving female)
Words: 857
Summary: @cevans-is-classic has decided that Dieter is a fan of Ethan Hawke and I agree, so we’ve decided to write our own stories based on this subject, check out their story here!
Warnings: pregnant reader, some swearing, talk of scary films with jump scares, so much talk of Ethan Hawke and some adorable fluffy goodness
Check out masterlist here
The call of the horror film was strong this afternoon. It wasn’t dark enough for something unsettling but light enough that any jump scares would feel like they were not coming at you from all sides like the best surround sound. For some reason you felt like watching something with creepy children and Sinister was the answer to that. The warm glow of the sun revealed a looming figure standing there, looking grumpy.
“Are you watching an Ethan Hawke film?” Dieter asked.
“Yeah”
“Without me?” He came and sat down next to you on the couch, and he looked so hurt and dejected, it was adorable.
“Do you have a crush on him?”
“Who wouldn’t?” he almost scoffed like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “Those blue eyes, I could happily get lost swimming in them.”
“You would totally leave me for him, wouldn’t you?”
“What? No, never. It depends,” you gave a little pout which greatly affected him, “I don’t think I’m his type anyways. And I love you too much. Even if he came riding up on a horse and declared his undying love for me, I’d…” he drifted off, almost like he was hypnotised by his own imagination.
“Dieter?”
“Sorry, I was imagining him riding a horse. And he’s shirtless. And sweaty. And…” once again he’d hypnotised himself.
“Dieter,” you said a bit more firmly this time.”
“Sorry, I have this little fantasy where we’re cowboys.”
You couldn’t help but chuckle, “Aw, that’s sweet.”
“No, but seriously, I do love you.”
“More than Ethan Hawke?”
“More than Ethan Hawke.”
“I know you’re ridiculously disgustingly in love with me that not even the power of Ethan Hawke’s blue eyes will tempt you away. Also, there is The Thing.”
“You mean our baby that’s growing inside of you?”
“Yeah, that.”
He snuggled up to you and rubbed your stomach, “You don’t have to answer me but, why do you call it The Thing?”
You put your hand on top of his, “No one ever tells you how weird pregnancy is. If you had to explain it to an alien race that something is going to grow inside of you and then once it forces its way out, you’ll have to look after this creature then it will sound horrible to them.”
“Almost like a horror film?”
“Exactly.”
“Speaking of which…” you picked up the remote, “I don’t think you’ll like this film.” It was a quiet, jump scare free scene, so Dieter was unaware of the horrors about to come.
“But it’s Ethan Hawke.”
“It’s a horror film.”
“He does horror films?”
“He has the range. And great actors can go into any genre. I mean, you’ve done a horror series.”
“Yeah, but that was at the advice of the most wonderful woman in the world,” he leaned his head on your shoulder, “It’s you by the way.”
“I know,” you ran your fingers through his hair and pressed play, “I should warn you; you won’t like this one.”
“Nonsense.”
And he was right. Right until it got to the ‘Lawn work 86’ scene to which he promptly shrieked and leapt behind the couch. Literally. You paused the film and looked to where Dieter was peering over from behind the couch.
“I’m sorry I forgot about the volume.”
Dieter mumbled out a small “That’s okay,” but stayed behind the couch.
“I can put another film on if you want.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“You wouldn’t like the rest of it. And there’s one big jump scare at the end,” he seemed unconvinced, “And there’s creepy children.”
“Yeah okay, you can change the film,” he finally moved to the front of the couch and sat back next to you.
“Any film you had in mind?”
“Ever heard of Maudie?” you shook your head, “Obviously it’s Ethan Hawke. And that woman who eloped with the fish guy.”
You furrowed your brows for a second, “Oh, you mean Sally Hawkins. I enjoy anything she’s in.”
Dieter acted as your pillow as he put on the film. The only problem with Dieter was that he was so warm and soft that you were slowly being seduced by the sweet temptation of slumber. You must have dozed off because you woke up to the gentle murmur of your husband’s voice. It took you a second to realise that he was talking to your stomach, to the life that was growing inside of you.”
“Are you talking to The Thing again?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.”
“No, it’s okay. I think it likes the sound of your voice?”
“Really?”
“Really really. Well it stops squirming around at your voice.”
Dieter gave your stomach a slight frown, “Are you giving your sexy mama a hard time?”
You couldn’t help but fall in love with him all over again, seeing the love that he already had for this creature neither of you had met. He looked up at you, “You know if it’s a boy…”
“No.”
“But…”
“We are not naming our child after Ethan Hawke.”
“But…”
“It will be too weird.”
He sighed, “Yeah, you’re right.”
Films referenced: Sinister (2012), Strange Way of Life (2023), The Thing (1982), Maudie (2016), The Shape of Water (2017)
Lovingly tagging @boliv-jenta @simpingcowboy @ellenmunn @o-sacra-virgo-laudes-tibi @brilliantopposite187 @chaithetics @myloveistoolittle
19 notes · View notes
Text
ROLLER DERBY AU!
Creator: @alkalineleak
Links:
Summary!
its a silly unpowered au.bc please god i want them to be happys..So basically most of these guys have been on and off meeting at like. Yknow those summer activity club things where during the summer theres trips and weekly if not daily events.YEAH SO IT STARTS WITH THAT Nothing big. for some its just to burn off excess energy during summer time (dakota), for others it was to get familiar with new environments after moving (vyncent and Eventually ashe), and for others its just to get them Out of the house and Out of the Scary woods (ud never guess: william) and its very focused on skating and all that Right right.
And like the thing is mainly focused towards kids so at some point they stop going But the silly thing about it is that that happens around end of middleschool start of highschool. Which means they already go to the same school at this point.Girls when Two of these kids dont know anyone bc theyre new or dont talk to new people and then this one kid whos peppy and and hyper energetic. I just think hopelessly following the Few guys you know and then Oh shit we r close. SMILEYS !!!!!!
Additional Propaganda
another bonus Dakota and ashe are the only ones who actively like Do stuff for their interests (rollerskating -> derbies, skating and then getting Increasingly more silly About skating) since theyre the only ones who have the MEANS to continue (as opposed to vyncent) as well as Want to (as opposed to william)
None of them r doing it like.Professionally but BY GOD do at least TWO of them do stuff a lot Ones a horsegirl who Might also be a girl and one has a chicken
henny is just williams chicken.She is much cooler than him at everything its great. i like to think shes a Big fucking sturdy guy like the brahma.
its important to note that whenver ashe n dakota do their tournament things they have a little cheer squad and they r annoying.Slash Love
vyncent's a horse girl
4 notes · View notes
someone-give-me-a-hug · 10 months
Text
update timeeee
Ello there guvnor! tis I! Huzzah! 
Yeah i dont know what that was either. hello hello! much better. it has been a little longer than expected to update but i wanted to wait until after my exams finished to give you a reply! 
first of all, i think I've only ever had a tomato once. my grandma gave me one and i felt too bad to say no after absolutely hating it. But hey maybe I’ll try it again! Beans however? well i could live off of beans on toast, which granted aren’t the beans you are probably on about but omg maybe its that British in me but beans on toast is an absolute banger of a meal (and was the first thing to come to mind after Bean Crock, which we eat in the winter, another classic).
To answer your very valid question about the number of exams i had, it was 21. 21 exams :) In all fairness exams sorted out my sleep schedule like a charm. i decided to get up at 6am everyday i had an exam so i could have breakfast and revise the content. which then meant i went to bed earlier (around 23:00) and slept like a log the whole night! the longest exam was 2 hours and 30 minutes. and let me tell you, i made a big fat mistake; i decided to take my friends advice and go through the paper backwards. what an oopsie that was. I ended up forgetting that the outside world even existed during that exam, it felt like lifetime! but honestly, oh well too late to change it now. 
We had a BAV (Beliefs and values) exam (3 actually, catholic christianity, judaism and then philosphy and ethic) becuase it’s required to learn. we needed to use a source of wisdom and authority in most answers and the one i mustve used a hundred times was ‘Love thy neighbour’. I’m also pretty sure I made a few up but hey ho it’s done now. 
It’s officially the summer holidays and school doesn’t start again until September so I’ve got so much time on my hands I have no clue what I’m gonna do! when I go back though I’m doing my Level 3 certifications (A-levels) in history, English lit and philosophy and ethics!
on the note of wildlife, there are so many birds in my garden it’s insane. I’m starting to think they’re building an army to come hunt me down and peck out my brains. although i doubt they eat brains, maybe I’ll have to stuff my pockets with seeds as a sacrifice. Also i had to search up what a bull moose was but oh good heavens THEY ARE HUGE!? I swear i’d literally cosplay Jesus and ascend to heaven if i saw one of them. I love the fact that you get to see wildlife, it’s so cool! I once got chased by a flock of geese and that was scary enough. I think geese talk to each other because they always seem to stare me down. Now listen, I may have a seriously moody resting face but come on! I just want to go about my day and here I am getting glared at by the most viscous bird ever. unfair if you ask me. 
Oh oh oh! about the tumble drier situation, I have been known to lack common sense at times. For example, when i start a task and don’t plan ahead. Imagine I’m baking something and as I wash up i haven't got out a tea- towel to dry my stuff. i will freeze like a moose in headlights (see what i did there? eheh funny). It’s like i have no issue remembering what the emergency quota act did during the red scare in USA history yet if something is missing or new my brain just grows legs and goes on holiday. 
In the words of my grandmother, if brains were made of dynamite i wouldn’t have enough to blow my cap off. 
Random thought I had the other day to finish off: the saying ‘Hold you horses’ comes from literally slowing down a horse. like ‘stop, slow down’ ‘Hold your horses!’. it has taken me an unbelievably long time to realise that. like what else was ti meant to mean?! I’m literally as thick as a plank of wood sometimes. 
Anyway, I hope you are well! I hope everything is good and that you’re good! 
Love ya! Little sib!
2 notes · View notes
apocalypse-gang · 2 years
Note
are you worried about whether netflix' promo tactics for tua vs st4 ??? ppl have been saying that tua is gonna be cancelled after season 3 and i really hope thats not the case. any thoughts??
Here's the thing. Umbrella Academy is one of their most popular shows, but Stranger Things is the most popular show. It's from an era of netflix gone by, where Netflix was the platform with all the new and unique shows. And now Netflix is struggling, so of course they're gonna be promoting ST a lot, it's gonna be a big focus.
And I think TUA got caught in the crossfire, unfortunately.
It absolutely sucks because this is supposed to be their biggest season yet but the promotions feel like peanuts compared to last season. The promotions are actually a pretty normal amount, but we got so much during season two. But TUA s2 was the biggest thing coming out that summer, so they were putting more into like they are eith Stranger Things. And, unlike tua s3, the promos weren't being photographed/filmed during a spike in the pandemic.
I think it's either thinking "oh it'll be fine on it's own" or "oh it'll get people from Stranger Things"
Logically, it wouldn't really make sense for them to pit their own shows, on the same platform, against each other beyond a sorta light hearted way.
All this said, I don't think this will cancel TUA or that Netflix is trying to cancel the show because of TUA, they'll cancel it because Netlfix is struggling. I imagine right now they're waiting to renew just to see the numbers first, which are gonna be fine no matter what. TUA has always had a lot of viewers, getting huge numbers since s1 and then breaking recordings during s2. And if somehow they werent able to get big numebrs again, people are renewing subscriptions for ST, waiting for part 2, they'll likely check out TUA since it's has a new season. And if TUA was ever cancelled? They'll get picked up again, literally no doubt about it. TUA isn't just a Netflix property, Dark Horse and Universal will probably move it to another streaming services, as it's a hit show for them too and I don't think they'll want to lose those millions of viewers.
Honestly thinking about it, cancelling TUA would be detrimental to Netflix. TUA is less expensive than ST yet it's raking in atleast 40 million viewers. If they're cancelling TUA, one of their biggest hits, then Netflix is dead dead.
I don't know. It's all sort of ridiculous and I'm trying not to worry since there isnt tech icslly anything to worry about. I feel like people on this fandom tend to jump the gun on stuff like this. It's nice that people care about that show so deeply, but this isn't the first time people have started worrying when there really isnt anything official to worry about. Again, it has a tons and tons of viewers, ST will more likely help than hurt. And if you're really worried? Keep watching season 3. Have the show on in the background while you do work. That'll atleast help the Neilson numbers. And also remember that no news is good news.
This is supposed to be an exciting time, not a scary one. This isnt the end of TUA, its another beginning. Don't be so worried about the ending that you forget to experience the joy of a new beginning and another season
14 notes · View notes
jaymgates · 1 year
Text
Antares Log - 10-15-22
Horses are wonderful, challenging creatures which require flexibility, humility, and a sense of humor. You can fiddle with a problem for *months* without success, then suddenly just blaze through major issues all at once.
Antares is a lot of horse. He's big - his withers are even with the top of my head, topped with a very high-set neck. He's fast - winning $700,000 in his career means he was one of the fastest, for a while. He's agile, with fast reflexes. He's constantly examining and engaging with his world, relentlessly curious and involved. And he's plenty smart, which is its own trial.
We had one of those leap-forward, dizzying progress days, our first.
Today was a Seattle Knights horseback training event. Originally, the plan was for me to be riding in it, but the long string of events means that we haven't even tried riding yet.
Flexibility and sense of humor.
So, instead, we spent some time walking around, learning about a very different kind of life - snapping flags, clashing armor, swinging swords, that kind of thing.
The farm was set up with a super challenging skills course that included a narrow bridge, a slalom, trot poles, a spooky forest (trash bags and a skeleton hanging from a tree), a princess to rescue (a stuffed bear), a tarp to walk across, and some agility challenges. (Constance made an AMAZING course that everyone wants to keep playing on.)
It also has the "Veil Between Worlds", a tall arch filled with long, metallic streamers. Horses have to walk through it, which is a big challenge. It also waves in the breeze and is REALLY noticeable.
In the arena, the joust lines were set up - flappy flag lines forming a narrow corridor.
Antares calmly walked past the troll cave (carport roof) that he's been snorty at for a while, strolled into the arena...and let out an explosive SNORT of "Oh HELL no" when he saw the lines.
He's gorgeous when he's 'spooky': fully up on his toes and collected, that long neck tightly arched, ears on alert, eyes and nostrils wide. He *stares* at something and snorfles these long, rattly snorts. He'll dance a little, back up, check in with me, snort at it again.
Always aware of me, never running me over.
Most horses, when they're spooking at something, need a break. It's smart to walk them away to reduce pressure and let them decompress, then bring them back to look at it again.
Antares doesn't do that. He'd back up, and then move forward on his own. When I tried to circle away, he hauled me forward because he wanted to get closer. He isn't *afraid*, he's just snorty.
He snorted at it for a few minutes, then I took him into the round pen and let him roll and walk for a few minutes. Once he'd turned himself into a dust bunny, we went back out...and calmly walked down the line, past the flags. We did that a couple of times...and then walked up the center, in the narrow chute. He kept a suspicious ear on it, but he was relaxed and chill.
And then he saw the Veil Between Worlds and let out an absolute machine-gun snort. He let me lead him past it (about fifteen feet away), but I decided not to push him after he'd done so well with the joust line.
He also met Dylan's horse Connal, and Ann's horse Ash, and was very polite, so hopefully we can set up a buddy system soon.
I put him back into his paddock for a while, and he spent some time running when he saw the other horses doing quintain and joust runs - tail flagged, head high, he's stunning when he's excited.
But after everything settled, I went back out to his paddock. He saw me coming and came toward the gate. He seems to like being kissed on the nose, and he stood quietly next to me, then followed me around, checking in whenever I stopped.
We worked with a scary stick - and when he got over being snorty, he put his nose against it and just *pop pop pop pop* with the silly lip smack as he expressed his opinion.
I found the magic itchy spot on his shoulders, and when I dug in with both hands, he leaned so hard he nearly fell over. His healing leg was itchy, so I scratched it, and I could almost see the lightbulb. He twisted up, lifted his leg, waved it in the air, poked at it with his nose, and looked at me.
Obediently, I gently scratched around the healing scuffs. When I stopped, he asked again.
He also likes playing in water, and while he doesn't like fly spray, he isn't spooky about it. He has excellent manners around being handled and fed, and is beginning to feel safe and at home.
I may have adopted this guy sight unseen, but he's turning out to have been very worth the gamble.
1 note · View note
realbacchus · 3 years
Text
Listening to what Adolin says about riding Dalinar's horse and not his own... The mane feeling slightly different, expecting different movements... I've had my fair share of horses throughout my life and between the 5 I've been comfortable with and felt familiar with... That feeling of a different horse was just put into words correctly. For the first time in my life I've felt seen by a fictional characters reaction to a horse.
2 notes · View notes
caravelmp3 · 3 years
Text
UNDER THE CANYON MOON
pairing: josh kiszka x female!reader warning(s): mostly fluff, just brief mentions of alcohol and sex  word(s): 2k note: hi hi hi !! this is just a little something i wrote up the last couple of days with the inspiration of light my love, canyon moon by harry styles, and the interview where josh talked about road-tripping the u.s. last summer <3 i don’t write one shots often but let me know what you all think bc i might shuffle some more out soon lol. hope you all enjoy !! :) 
The Los Angeles sun was hot, beating down onto the city basking in its late-summer hues. You parked your car on the street in Silver Lake and carried a bag of food and drink tray to the door of a recording studio, more than prepared to be swarmed by hungry boys who had been cooped up in the studio since five a.m. on the dot that morning. They had a breakthrough the night before with a new song, and after getting home and going to bed for a few hours, the creative juices started flowing again and they were back in the booth. 
A windchime on the door sang as you pulled the door open and walked inside, greeting their manager who was at a table by the door. 
“The boys here?” 
“Down the hall,” he nodded, pointing a finger in the direction of the hallway. “They’re more rowdy than usual so be prepared,” 
You laughed and turned down the hall, walking towards the studio. The walls were decorated with memorabilia of rock and roll greats and record plaques, and among them, you spotted a picture of the four boys with their Grammy award. It seemed like time had passed so quickly. They won the award for the first album and they were already working on their third, shooting them further into stardom. 
“Coffee’s here!” You shouted in a really bad New England accent when you noticed the recording light was flipped off above the door. 
You stepped into the room to a chorus of cheers and “thank god you're here”’s that made you laugh while sitting the food and drinks down on the table and they all rushed over. You handed out the specific orders and pointed to which drinks was theirs when they got handsy and tried to grab everything from her out of both excitement and some desperation for caffeine. 
“Our savior,” Jake said, reaching out and grabbing your shoulders to give them a gentle shake before taking the coffee you were holding out to him, and then you handed Danny’s to him, too. 
“Just the coffee girl here,” 
“Well, you’re a little bit more than that,” Josh said, walking over to the table to grab his full cup. 
You pressed a hand against the table, leaning over to him. “Just a little?” 
“A little bit,” he shot you a wink before swiftly pressing a kiss to your cheek. 
You were more than just a “little more” than the coffee girl, you were typically their designated drunk driver, the one who took all of their candid photos, the mediator in times of need, and well, the girlfriend of the lead singer, too. 
Everyone in the studio took their food and drinks and scattered among the seating area in a break from recording. Instead of one tiny room with all of them cramped together, they had a wide open space with booths for the different instruments and bean bag chairs and big comfy, velvet sofas, and there was dim lighting with deep toned rugs that gave off the vibe of a more relaxed feel rather than the fluorescent-light, tiled-floor feeling that made them feel rushed and confined by rules they didn’t set themselves. 
You liked the studio, too, and often took naps on the sofa while listening to them play instruments individually in the recording booths and while they were writing. One night they had found you at two a.m., bundled up with a blanket on the bean bag chair after they spent the night writing in the front room on the piano, but it wasn’t the first time as you often napped in their Nashville recording offices, too. 
“You guys been busy today?” You asked jokingly while lowering onto the sofa armrest, receiving nothing but glares shot in your direction. “Okay, okay, touchy subject,” 
With a mouthful of bread, Sam pointed to Josh, “Josh finished a song, didn’t you?” He was grinning. 
You hummed in joy and surprise, grabbing Josh’s knee as he sat next to you. “Really?” 
It had been a rough few days for all of them as they tried to shuffle out a few more additions to the new album. It felt incomplete with something missing, but they couldn’t quite put their finger on what it was exactly, so they attempted to bring back and revamp old songs, write and record new ones, but nothing seemed to stick, until now. 
“Yeah, wanted to wait and show you later, but someone can’t keep his trap shut.” Josh said, pretending to be serious before cracking a smile and taking a sip of his coffee. “Just wanted it to be a surprise,” 
“Well it can still be a surprise, I’m surprised now,” you said. “Can I hear it? Or read what you got?” 
Josh nodded and stood, grabbing your hand and pulling you with him. There was a little recording room fit with a piano inside, his writing journal placed on the music stand where he had scribbled notes and keys and melodies in pen. He picked it up and handed it to you. 
“Nothing seemed to click until last night, when I started putting it together.” He said. 
“Is that why you wouldn’t tell me what it was when you all got back to the house?” 
Josh shrugged, pinching his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. “Yeah, yeah, I wanted it to be special when you first heard it.”
You sat the coffee cup down onto the floor while lowering into the small chair in the corner, holding the journal like it was the most delicate piece of art in the world. In silence, while Josh watched on anxiously, you read the words he had splayed across the blank page. 
     Can you light my love?      Flames glowing bright as the sun      Deeper than oceans you run      Watch as our world has begun 
     Your mind is a stream of colors      Extending beyond our sky      A land of infinite wonders      A billion lightyears from here now
You felt your throat tighten, tears tempted your eyes. 
It was a love song. 
“Josh-” 
“Oh god you hate it don’t you, you dread it, despise it,” 
“Oh shut up, I’m in tears right now, you know I love it.” You looked up at him with a smile and a sniffle. 
His words across the page were sloppy, some cursive, written in different pens of different colors, some lines crossed and scribbled out, others underlined. 
“Your mind is something I will never fully understand.” You told him as he sat down on the chair next to you. “How the fuck did you come up with this-” 
“I was thinking about our trip out here, the week we spent driving out and all of the stuff we did… and how I think I fell more in love with you.” His voice softened. 
You reached out, placing your arm on his shoulder, fingers playing with his curls. “I can’t put it into words how much I love it, how much I love you,” you said, “and you make me sound so lovely when in reality I know I was a pain in the ass that entire trip.” 
“Yeah, but my pain in the ass,” he kissed the inside of your arm. 
Two weeks before the boys left Nashville to head to Los Angeles, Josh called you at midnight with an idea in mind – the two of you renting a camper to drive out to L.A., falling into all of the tourist traps along the way and stopping in random small towns to sleep while exploring the in between, which would definitely beat the boring four-hour flight. And you, half asleep and across the country, agreed. 
It would be fun. Right? 
And it was. Every time someone asked how it went, you called it “the most magical week of my life.” 
While the others waited behind for their flights the next week, you and Josh set off from Nashville, heading west with only the destination in mind and a trusty map in hand. Everything else just came to you both. 
The first stop was three hours in the trip, in Memphis. You and Josh roamed Graceland on Elvis Presley Boulevard and had lunch near Sun Studio before taking in the mementos and relics at the Blues Hall of Fame where Josh talked your ear off, rattling off more details about each band and singer than was on the info-cards on the wall. 
Then it was two hours to Little Rock, falling asleep in the back of the camper after a take-out dinner outside of a random supermarket. Sitting in lawn chairs in the middle of a parking lot, you held Josh’s hand under a blanket and watched the pink sunrise over the hills, and then it was back on the road again. 
From Oklahoma City to Amarillo, you fiddled with the map when Josh got lost after a wrong turn in a small town where he insisted on seeing the giant 66-foot LED soda bottle sculpture, and in the middle of northern Texas, he made it up to you by cooking your favorite dinner. You thanked him in a quiet whisper as you crawled into the bed with him that night, sliding under the covers where he greeted you with warm hands and kisses against your neck that made you squeal with the tickle of his mustache and he grinned against your lips. 
Josh got to choose the music all the way through New Mexico – Neil Young and Crazy Horse to John Denver’s Thank God I’m A Country Boy, and you were only able to squeeze in Joan Baez every hour when you stopped to stretch your legs on the side of the road, belting the words to him while he laughed at your voice cracks. 
And after you both pitched the tent in the Petrified Forest in Arizona, Josh hummed the tune to some new song while you two sat under the midnight stars in the canyon with a roaring fire, his arm around you, his sweatshirt draped over your shoulders. When he tried to start telling you a scary story after you heard a weird noise outside the tent, you blindly hit him in the dark and accidentally hit his nose, causing you both to burst into laughter after the initial panic left. He laughed loudly into your shoulder as you held his face in shock, catching the scent of your lavender lotion, and his body relaxed when the laughter died down, feeling so at peace in his life with you there. 
It was the tail end of the trip, but the excitement hadn’t died down yet. After showers in the camper in the middle-of-nowhere-Arizona and five hours west, you and Josh found a bar outside of Las Vegas that resembled Coyote Ugly, so you both had a round of tequila sodas and margaritas before walking around the small town that evening and sleeping off the tipsy-headaches in the air conditioning. On top of the covers, you looked at Josh napping in the sunshine, cheeks flushed red, curls poofy from the wind, and you felt your heart grow in your chest before falling asleep next to him. 
And then came Los Angeles, the final stop, the dreaded one. But you and Josh didn’t tell anyone that either of you were sad to be back with them in L.A. when they asked, and instead, you two smiled and hugged everyone after piling out of the camper in the drive-way of the Silver Lake house. 
Cleaning out the camper, tossing cheesy novelty t-shirts at each other and laughing at how many socks you two managed to lose along the way and how many bug bites were added, watching the developed clips Josh had filmed of scenes in the desert and you asleep in the passenger seat, you both were nostalgic about a trip that just ended. 
It was so easy, so freeing to just be together on the road, with only the destination in mind. It revealed a part of them that the other didn’t see often, like your tendencies to get your lefts and rights mixed up while giving directions, and Josh’s equally awful sense of direction didn’t exactly pair with the fact that he was a maniac while driving in the first place. 
But those parts were just added to the long list of why you and him loved each other in the first place. So you became the designated driver after Amarillo and Josh stuck to telling you “left or right” for the rest of the time. It was a compromise, another reason why you two worked so well together. 
It was a form of love in itself. 
“We’ll have to drive all the way back to Nashville then, so you can write more songs about me.” You teased. 
Josh rolled his eyes but cracked into a grin a second later. “Let’s not get too carried away,” but he would be lying if he said he wasn’t always mentally reliving the night under the canyon moon.
162 notes · View notes
arlert-angel · 3 years
Text
love fast, die young ☪
Tumblr media
♡ jean x fem!reader
❥ you know that at any moment your life could be cut short as a scout, and the last thing you want is to die a virgin, so why not ask your best friend that you’re in love with for some help?
❥ wc: 5.8k
❥ cw: near death experience (reader), virgin!reader and virigin!jean, cannonverse but no plot, loss of virginity, slight size kink, cream pie, aftercare, fluff
❥ note: i was invested in the story of this one lol, it's a lot more romantic than i initially intended. they’re aged up, but the cannonverse details don’t make sense for the plot, so let’s pretend it does yay.
Tumblr media
Arriving back from expeditions was always an exhausting feat within itself, sometimes more so than the actual expedition. 
Commanding officers had to count their losses, healers had to tend to the wounded, and everyone who was good enough to stand had to report their kills and assists. Of course that was the immediate tasks that needed to take place, but then came the grief. Friends looked for one another, many people cried, and names could be heard shouted all around as everyone arrived at headquarters. 
You weren't that different, but you were silent as you scanned the crowd looking for your tall best friend. You knew he was with the best of the best in Levi's squad, so you weren't too worried. However, you also knew the previous best had been wiped out before the new group came. 
Anything could happen which made you all the more anxious. 
You and Jean were not on the same squad. You first were offered a position on the Levi squad with the rest of your friends, but then Hange handed picked you to help them with their experiments, claiming they needed your mind to work with them. Hange is very likeable and now one of your closest friends, and at the time it seemed impossible to say no to them.
Hange's and Levi's squad tended to work together a lot and definitely trained together, so you didn't miss your friends too much. It was only when expeditions approached and new formations were made, when you had to be separated from the rest of your 104th pals. 
You never complained about the separation. It wouldn't last forever, maybe a couple days at most, and then you return to laughing and working with the rest of your friends. You had no complaints until this particular expedition.
You had a close call.
In fact, so close, you might as well have kissed Death on the lips while you were so close to the afterlife. 
The mission was going according to plan. It was a simple scouting mission in the mountains that were, for the most part, titan free. Your squad was on the left flank of the formation, near the edge of the mountains. The cliff sides surrounding you guys held a beautiful, yet slightly scary view. The drop had to be at least 300 feet.
You should've known something bad was going to happen as soon as Hange called out, "Hey, Y/N, check it out!" But you weren't thinking that hard, for the day had been so peaceful. 
The path you all had taken was so close to the cliffs that the squad was riding single file for safety. There was enough room to pass one another, but you had to do so very carefully. 
You rode ahead, passing Moblit. You sent him a questioning look as went by, but he only shrugged, not knowing what Hange was raving over. When you slid off your horse and next to Hange you saw what they did.
A very large cave.
"Should we go inside?" Hange looked at you, clearly excited, but it was an awful idea.
"No!" You tried to sound stern, knowing how they needed a firm rejection or they'd always get what they wanted, "Do you see the size of the thing? This looks like a comfy home for a 10 meter titan, maybe even 15 meter class if they hunched over."
"Do you think they'd crawl around in there?!" Their eyes widened and the familiar look that you've seen so many times on their face appeared. It was their usual expression they had when you conducted experiments with them. You swore to yourself how you fed their curiosity on accident.
"What's going on?" Moblit now arrived, wondering what the hold up was about.
"They want to go inside that death trap," You pointed at the ominous cavern in front of you all. 
"You cannot be serious!" Moblit exclaimed in surprise, the volume echoing down the stone and dirt walls. Moblit continued his rant, stating the obvious, but you tuned their debate out. You just stared into what looked like an abyss. 
There was no movement, no noise, not even the breeze seemed to reach here.
But for some reason you had a gut feeling. A gut feeling that saved all of your lives.
"Move!" You shoved Hange into Moblit which effectively knocked them both to the side of the cave and used your ODM gear to swing yourself to the opposite side. 
The large hand reached out as you tried to get out of the way, but because you helped the others you weren't quick enough.
Luckily, the titan's grasp only managed to get tangled in your ODM wire and couldn’t quite reach your actual body. 
Unluckily, the titan was managing to drag you like a ragdoll and if you didn't do anything quickly you would be engulfed in the darkness where it was hidden, and then probably engulfed in it’s stomach. 
You had to think quick on your feet and so you drew your blades and slashed the wire on your gear all together. You could've attempted to slash at it's hands, but that was no guarantee. The wire was sliced with a clean snip.
Now you were free, you stumbled back at the loss of momentum. You took one two many steps back, and that last step didn't hit the gravely earth that the others had. 
Your foot didn't hit anything at all. 
You were about to fall off a cliff. 
Ironic to escape death one way only to quite literally fall into its clutches another way. 
But, you didn't fall. 
Your eyes were squeezed shut in absolute terror, and when you opened them at the lack of free fall, you saw Hange.
They had managed to save you by the front of your shirt, yanking you back on solid ground. Moblit had been keeping the titan at bay, and continued to do so as you and everyone else turned their horses carefully around. 
Thanks were shared by yourself, Hange, and Moblit at the different lucky saves. They praised your quick thinking and response. None of you actually saw the titan coming. You just knew. You seemed to recognize the familiar feeling of dread from the presence of a titan that wanted to eat you. Even if you couldn’t see it. 
Hange continuously apologized on the way back, but it wasn’t really their fault. It’s not like you actually entered the cave like they wanted. And it was probably a good thing you guys stopped when you did. If the group rode past the cave something worse might have happened.  
After that close call you wanted nothing more to find your best friend and have his familiar comfort.
"Y/N? Whatcha still doing out here?" You spun around quickly and saw Connie. 
“Oh, hey! I’m just looking for Jean, have you seen him?” You didn’t want to panic, but it was weird to see Connie without Jean. 
“Yeah! Mikasa killed this titan that had snuck up right above us and it’s blood got all over Jean it was so funny he screamed like a girl. But yeah, he went to the showers immediately,” Connie explained laughing at the memory. You laughed along and wished you could see it yourself.
“That’s funny, I should probably shower too, this mission felt particularly long,” You grumbled more to yourself than Connie, but he picked up on your off tone.
“Did something happen?” He asked genuinely concerned. You might’ve been closest to Jean, but Connie and Sasha were also very close to you. The four you always had the most fun together, and got in the most trouble. 
“Kind of, a titan snuck up on us too, but we were near the cliffs so there wasn’t all lot of room to work with. I almost fell, but on the bright side I overcame my fear of heights,” You laughed, but it was more anxious than joyful.
“Oh shit, that’s awful!” Connie’s eyes widened in horror, “I'll tell Jean to come find you when I see him.”
“What why?”
“You were looking for him right? He’d definitely want to know that you’re okay after that. He worries a lot, you know? It’s always: I hope Y/N okay, where’s Hange’s squad again, I wish Y/N was here, Y/N would love this view. Someone has to tell him to shut up at least once every expedition.” Connie actually did an okay Jean impression as he ranted to you, but you didn’t comment on it. 
You were too surprised. You didn’t know Jean worried about you. He never once came to you with any fears about expeditions. He always asked you what happened, but that’s just a normal conversation. It wasn’t too strange for someone’s best friend to think about them when apart. What was strange was the happy feeling you got knowing that Jean couldn’t shut up about you. A weird fluttery feeling danced in your stomach and you felt almost giddy.  
Connie noticed your lack of response and noticeably paled. 
“Fuck, wait, I didn’t tell you that! Jean’s gonna kill me, Y/N please don’t tell him I told you!” He grabbed onto you, begging. He shook you enough that it got you out of your confusing thoughts.
“Um, okay? I don't see what the big deal is. I think about Jean on expeditions too, that’s not weird right?” You smiled reassuringly and Connie’s whole body sagged in relief.
“Not at all! Have a nice shower!” Connie ran away, actually ran, trying to separate himself from that conversation. He thanked the Walls that you couldn’t read between the lines. 
After that odd conversation you got a change of clothes and towel, and then headed towards the showers. You passed Sasha and Mikasa on the way in and they both gave you pleasant greetings, all parties glad to see each other alive and well.
You tried not to overthink, but the hot shower gave you all the time to do so.
Your thoughts jumped from almost dying, to Jean, to these overwhelming feelings you seemed to harbor.
You knew you loved Jean. You both even told each other sometimes. Your mind never wandered further than viewing Jean as your best friend only because you didn’t think that’s what he’d want. 
When you first met Jean you had a small crush on him, admiring him from afar until Marco introduced the two of you. Once you grew closer and noticed his infatuation with Mikasa your feelings sizzled out in a bitter simmer. Your bitterness didn’t last long though, you were happy you had someone to rely on no matter what. After Marco passed, Jean was your crutch and vise versa. Romance would only make things confusing and besides you didn’t have any experience in the matter. 
But now as you think more and more about him you wondered if those feelings ever went away. You thought about his laugh and stupid tone he gets when he tries to act cocky. You thought about his eyes and how pretty they look in the sunlight. You thought about his ability to read your mind without you having to tell him something’s wrong. He was your person. 
You came to the conclusion that there definitely was something more than platonic there, but there was no certainty he felt the same. He would’ve said something by now. When he liked Mikasa he was so obvious, openly talking about her to everyone. You would’ve known something by now if it were the case, right? You knew he didn’t like Mikasa now, he told you explicitly for some reason, stating you needed to know. He also didn’t talk about liking anybody new. 
Sighing in frustration, you turned off the shower, now squeaky clean. What was supposed to be a relaxing shower just stressed you out because of your stupid brain’s overthinking. 
And it didn’t stop. As you dropped your messy uniform in the laundry, it reminded you of the day.   
Today proved that any moment could be your last. Being in the scouts has always been dangerous, and you knew you were a disposable soldier. You didn’t mind it much, but now you realized how little you had experienced. You had never been drunk, your only kiss was with Marco in a game of truth or dare, and you were a virgin. 
You didn’t want to die a virgin.
You thought of Jean. You wanted to be with him at least once before you died. You didn’t want to die without knowing how it felt to have everything with Jean. Your love for him definitely wasn’t platonic. You didn’t want to die without him knowing.
Your mind made up, you walked the halls with a little more determination than usual. You wandered around for only a couple minutes before running into Eren.
“Horseface is looking for you,” He pointed around the corner. You gave a quick thanks before quickly going in that direction only to collide with the person you were searching for.
“Y/N!” Jean surprised you by pulling you in a tight hug. As he pulled away he took note of the blush that was now on your cheeks, but didn’t comment. He also didn’t let you go completely, leaving his hands on your shoulders. Unable to help himself.
“Hey, I was looking for you,” You smiled genuinely, only slightly nervous now. Even with the giddiness he gave you, he still managed to calm you down.
“Me too, Connie said something happened with your squad, so I asked Hange about it and they told me everything,” His eyebrows were pulled into a worried furrow, “I wish you were in our squad.”
“Me too, but I like being with Hange too,” You stated honestly, “But it’s alright, everything worked out in the end.” 
“Yeah, but you almost fell off a cliff! Y/N if I lost you I’d…” He cleared his throat before shaking himself out of his thoughts, “I’m just glad you’re okay. You said you were looking for me, what for?”
“Oh! Um…” You looked around and saw Eren eavesdropping blatantly with a knowing look, causing you to quickly turn back around, “Can I talk to you in my room about something?” You shift your weight from side to side, visibly jittery. 
“Sure?” Jean was confused and noted you looked more flustered than before, but he couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong like he usually could. 
You walked side by side, passing Eren along the way who gave you both a smug wave. When Jean wasn’t looking you turned around and gave him the finger. The walk was silent and your hands brushed each other softly.
Once you were behind closed doors you felt yourself relax a little more. It was just Jean, you hyped yourself up. Even if he did reject you the worst thing that could happen is him make a stupid joke out of everything, but you doubt he would. You knew he at least respected you.
“So, what’s so serious that you needed to be away from nosy Yeager?” So he did see that ass listening, you thought. 
“Well… You know about my close call today… It got me thinking,” You started safely.
“You can think? Like, there’s a brain in there?” Jean acted surprised and grabbed your head teasingly.
“Shut up,” You laughed and slapped his hands away before adding, “It’s serious.”
“Okay,” He took a seat on your bed comfortably, an action that was not unusual, you hung out in each other’s room all the time. He gave you his full attention, no longer joking around.
“I thought about how at any moment we can die, that sounds morbid, but it’s true. And then I thought about all the stuff I haven’t done and all the things I haven’t said,” You explained further, still not getting to the point. 
“So, you want to make a bucket list?” Jean tilted his head, trying to follow, “That’d be fun.”
“No,” You rolled your eyes lovingly, “I, more specifically, thought about all the stuff we haven’t done together.” 
“Oh, you want to make a bucket list together!” Jean perked up.
“Jean stop trying to guess and let me explain,” You laughed and he complied, pretending to zip his lips shut.
“Jean,” You approached the man, invading his personal space, “I don’t want to die a virgin, do you?”
“No…” Jean blushed at the sudden topic change, wondering why on earth you were bringing that up right now.
“And…  I love you, and I know you'd treat me right,” You cupped his cheeks in your hands. You were standing in between his legs now, him leaning back on his hands looking up at you. He was tall, so he didn’t have to tilt his neck that much. 
“I love you too, what are you going on about?” His face was drawn in clear confusion, a cute expression, if he wasn’t being so frustrating. 
“No, Jean,” You leaned impossibly close, your face right in front of his, “I’m in love with you.” 
Then you boldly straddled him before you planted your lips on him.
You were shy, unsure if he would reciprocate the kiss, and it seemed like he wasn’t.  You panicked instantly. Your heart was pounding and you pulled away. You were terrified you screwed everything up. You looked at him and he seemed to be frozen.
“Jean?” You worriedly looked at your catatonic friend whose eyes were wide in shock, “I made you uncomfortable, I’m sorry! Please don’t hate me!” You began to try to climb off him, but his hands shot to your hips, holding you in place.
“Y/N, you’re in love with me?” He still seemed to be stunned, or maybe he didn’t believe you, but he held your gaze with serious eyes. 
“Yes,” You made sure to keep eye contact despite the heat that rose to your cheeks, to make sure he knew you were dead serious. 
“Good,” One of his hands left your hips to your cheek. He guided your mouth back to his.
He was kissing you. He was actually kissing you. It was slow and sweet at first. He stroked your cheek lovingly and your lips slowly moved in sync. It was when you repositioned yourself on his lap, accidently grinding into him, when the kisses started to become more feverish. He groaned into your mouth and the hand left your face and found it’s new home on your ass. He squeezed it harshly, making you gasp. He took the opportunity to introduce his tongue to yours. He surprised you when he sucked on your tongue, making a small whimper escape you. 
Jean pulled away, taking in your flustered state with blown pupils of his own. Both of your lips were swollen and you both needed to catch your breath. 
“I love you too, you know?” Jean pushed some of your hair out of your face with a soft smile, “I figured you didn’t feel the same and wanted to just be friends, so I didn’t say anything.”
“I thought the same, or that you might still like Mikasa,” You admitted shyly, looking down where your bodies met.
“Hey,” He tilted your chin so you held eye contact again, “That was a stupid crush when I was kid, and I told you that ended a long time ago, didn't I? I’m in love with you.”
“We were so stupid keeping it to ourselves,” You laughed and Jean openly admired you in what looked like awe. His gaze made you feel bashful, almost wanting to hide your face with your hands.
“We were, I could have been kissing you so much sooner,” Jean mumbled, already leaning back to you. This time when your lips met your tongues danced together immediately. You knew Jean also didn't have much experience, but with the way he kissed it seemed like he did. 
"Did you mean what you said?" Jean pulled away only for a moment to ask before returning right back to your lips. 
You pulled away, trying to decipher what he was referring to. "Wha–" Your breath hitched when you felt Jean kiss your pulse on your neck. He began sucking on a particular spot that made you moan, surprising both of you. 
"You're so beautiful," He commented then explained, "Did you mean what you said about that virgin stuff?" He seemed shy all of sudden, his hands were sliding from your hips to your thighs, almost like he was trying to soothe himself.
"I meant every word," You said honestly, "I want to experience all of you."
"God," Jean seemed to like that statement, "I don't know what I'm doing, so just know I'm learning as I go. Just tell me what you like and don't like."
"Of course," You gave him a reassuring smile, "I'm not worried, I trust you."
"Good," He said again before spinning you around and lightly throwing you on your bed. He hovered over you, not putting much, if any weight on you. He resumed the make out session, but this time letting his hands wander.
He first tugged at your shirt, which you helped him quickly pull over your head. You hadn't worn a bra, assuming your plans for this evening were eating then just passing out. 
Jean seemed to drink your body in, just staring in lust and awe. 
"You can touch me," You tried to sound reassuring, but it sounded more like a beg. 
Jean took your breasts in his large hands and just felt you. You almost laughed at how mesmerized he looked, but that was when he latched his mouth on your nipple. That action seemed to send a current of electricity straight to the heat in between your legs. You arched your back and let out a surprised moan which made Jean quickly pull away. 
"Did I hurt you?" He looked scared.
"No, it feels good," You murmured as you unconsciously rolled your hips wanting friction.
"Oh, that's good," He shot you a grin before throwing his own shirt to the side. He went back to kissing your chest, this time his hand tweaked the nipple he wasn't sucking on, causing even more pleasure. You bit your lip only letting out whimpers, a little embarrassed of moaning so loudly again. 
"J-Jean," You stuttered out, gripping his broad shoulders.
"Hmm?" He hummed, he had been having fun leaving purple marks across your tits.
"I-I need…" You didn't finish.
"What do you need, princess?" He asked genuinely, but his deep tone sent shivers down your spine.
"More, I don't know," You admitted.
"Okay, don't worry," He gave you a peck, "I'll take care of you."
He began taking off your pants, helping you get them off your ankles. He stood to take off his own pants as you admired him. His body was so toned from the life of being a soldier. As you took him all in your eyes landed on the bulge that was very prominent in his briefs and for the first time you felt nerves about having sex with him. 
"Jean, how the hell is that supposed to fit in me?" You didn't even see it out of it's cage, you couldn't imagine that monster in action. 
"It has to fit right? People have sex all the time," Jean looked down at his own dick before looking at your panties with a frown, "I'll make sure to stretch you out with my fingers to help."
"What do you mean?" You blushed as Jean returned his body on top of you, giving you warmth again. This time putting a little more weight than last time. You could feel his restrained cock against you this time. 
"You know, fingering, you've done it to yourself before right?" Jean asked curiously. 
"I've tried, but I couldn't reach any particular spots that made me feel good, so I mostly just got off with my clit," You explained, a little embarrassed. 
"Well, I have long fingers," Jean began to slip off your last item of clothing. You gulped nervously, you now were exposed completely to him.
"So pretty, and you're wet," He groaned and looked back up to you, "Open your mouth."
You almost asked why, but you didn't want to kill the mood, so you complied. Jean slid two fingers into your mouth and you got the message. You wrapped your lips around his fingers and hollowed your cheeks, sucking on them. 
"Fuck," He sighed out and you felt him twitch against you. 
He pulled his fingers out and moved them back between your legs. He first slowly thrusted one finger inside you, to get you used to the unfamiliar feeling. The stretch wasn't too painful, and he was definitely right. His fingers were longer. 
He moved the one finger in and out of you slowly at first, picking up the pace as he continued. When he felt you relax completely he added a second finger. This time the stretch was a little more, making you tense.
"You're so tight," Jean was watching your pussy in wonder and slid his body down, so his face was near it. 
"What are you– Oh my God," Jean's lips sucked on your clit softly, then continuously kitten licked it, all while maintaining his finger thrusts.
"You taste good," Jean said it so casually, you'd think he was talking about the weather. He removed his fingers for a moment to get a better taste. He kissed you directly on your cunt before penetrating you with his tongue. He moaned against you, sending vibrations into you. You tried to unconsciously escape the pleasure, your thighs attempting to close, but Jean's large hands held you down. 
He returned his fingers inside you and this time adding a third. It stung more than before, but Jean's mouth on your clit made you forget all about the uncomfortableness. He began curling his fingers inside you reaching a spot that instantly had a knot forming in your stomach. Your hands shot around you, one gripping the sheets and the other in Jean's hair. 
He latched onto clit again and you gave up on trying to quiet your moans, embarrassment be damned, it felt too good.
"Jean," You moaned his name, which only made him moan back in return, "I-I'm going to…" You whined a little, not quite there yet, but right on the edge.
"You're going to cum?" Jean asked, not even completely pulled away from your clit to do so, "Go ahead and cum on my fingers, baby." He quickened his strokes and returned to your clit. It was just enough to send you over.
You grinded into his hand and cried out. Jean moaned too as if he was being pleasured just at the sight of you or maybe it was because of the sensation of your tight pussy clamping around his fingers. He couldn't help himself and licked up some of your release, making you jump. 
He moved back up to you with a content smile, "Did that feel good?" 
"Yeah," You smiled back through half lidded eyes, still buzzing from the pleasure.
He gave you a deep kiss and you could taste yourself on him. Tasting your own saccharine flavor was strangely erotic. 
Jean pulled away, "Is it alright if I take my cock out?" He asked beforehand just in case you changed your mind. 
"Yeah, of course, I want to see the monster that's going to destroy me," You joked and earned yourself a cocky smirk.
Jean took off the only clothing that was separating the two of you. You glanced down and saw his size more visibly now. You were right to be intimidated before, he was huge. Jean seemed to take note of your apprehensive expression so he returned to giving you some kisses in order to soothe you. 
“We’ll take it slow and if it’s too much just tell me,” Jean assured you which helped calm you down. 
“Okay, I’m ready,” Your eyes met as he began to rub the head up and down between your folds, collecting its wetness. He rubbed it over your clit and back down, making you feel particularly tingly. When he started pushing the head inside you had to remind yourself to not tense up, but it was hard. He was stretching a lot more than his fingers did. His cock added an unfamiliar pressure inside you that his fingers didn’t.
“God, that’s just the head and you're already squeezing me,” Jean threw his head back trying to regain composure. It was also his first time and he did not want to embarrass himself by finishing quickly. Also the gentlemen inside him wanted to feel you cum around him first.
He slowly continued to push further in as you grabbed his arms to brace yourself. When he finally bottomed out you swore you could see the bulge on your tummy. He kept still and waited for you to give him the go ahead even though he had the incredible urge to just thrust forward.
“You alright?” Jean's voice was more strained than usual.
“Yeah, why the fuck you gotta be so big, Jean,” Which only made Jean smile and give an apology kiss. You took a few more moments getting used to the stretch when the pleasure overtook the pain. You felt the veins on his cock inside you. You felt so full, but so good. You grinded into him trying to feel more and Jean noticed.
“I’m going to start moving now,” Jean warned and began pulling back before snapping his hips forward. You both cried out how he filled you up, your walls fluttering around him.
The pace was unrushed and steady to begin with. He withdrew his cock only to plunge it back into you, hitting you deep, in a repetitive matter. You felt the pleasure everywhere, all the way in your toes. 
You started meeting his thrusts, moving your hips in order to do so. Jean hitched your leg higher which only made you feel him deeper, hitting a sweet spot that caused you to gasp.
“You can go faster,” You said breathlessly, “Please, Jean, it feels so good.”
“Fuck,” Jean moaned back, his slow deep thrusts turned into a quick pounding. He continuously hit that new spot every time. Your whimpers turned into uncontrollable moans. Not wanting to make too much noise you buried yourself into the crook of his neck, sucking and biting his skin. 
You briefly looked down where your bodies met and saw him pumping out of you, your slick covering his cock and your thighs. The sight made your eyes roll back into your head.
“Please,” You moaned into Jean who brought his hand to your chin, forcing you to look at him.
“Please, what? What do you want, princess?” He grunted a bit after, not once did he lose his pace.
“I want… Ah… Please, I don’t know,” You felt like you could cry, you were right on the edge. You didn’t know what you needed, but you felt too good to try to figure it out. You figured he was close too by the way he was twitching inside your pussy and his thrusts became a little more desperate. 
“Open,” Jean brought his fingers back to your mouth, groaning at the sensation. He kept them there for a few more moments than necessary, just enjoying the way you looked with your pretty lips wrapped around him. 
Then he brought them between your legs and began rubbing your clit at the same pace he was thrusting into you.
“J-Jean, I’m gonna cum,” You grabbed his wrist, almost overwhelmed by the feeling. 
You cried out his name as your pussy milked him, triggering his own release. He groaned your name as he came. You felt the warmth of him spill deep inside you and it made your pussy tremble all the more. He gave a few final thrusts before slumping on top of you.
“Look at me while you cum, princess, come on, cum on my cock,” He encouraged you. You held eye contact for as long as you could, but when that coil in your tummy snapped you had to squeeze your eyes shut in absolute bliss.
“We definitely should’ve done that sooner,” He mumbled into your hair, making you giggle.
“Definitely,” You echoed back.
He slid out of you after that, making both of your bodies shudder at the loss of connection. You pussy still trying to pulse around something.
“I just showered,” You commented with a frown, looking at the mess between your legs. 
“I’ll go get a towel?” Jean offered, and you gave him a nod. He redressed quickly, kissed you deeply, then stated he would be back soon.
You threw your shirt back on while you waited. You felt so sleepy after that. Even though you wanted to feel clean, you wished you cuddled with Jean some more, already missing him.
After a couple more minutes the silence was broken.
 “I knew it!” You heard Eren’s familiar voice shout from outside your door and you sat up confused.
“Shut the fuck up before I hit you!” You heard Jean’s voice shout back and then a few more quieter exchanges that you couldn’t make out from the two men. Then your door opened fast, Jean slipping quickly inside, locking it behind him. In one hand he had a warm towel and in the other he had a new set of sheets. 
“What happened?” You pointed at the door and Jean scowled.
“Apparently those assholes bet on when we’d finally hook up,” Jean explained before cleaning you up. You blushed as he took care of you. Despite what just took place you still felt embarrassed. Jean noticed and just pecked your cheeks.
“That’s kind of funny, we should’ve placed our own bets,” You hummed and stood shakily, grabbing a new pair of underwear as Jean changed your sheets for you. 
“I can’t believe Eren won,” Jean frowned, but when your arms wrapped around him from behind he couldn’t help but smile.
“Will you stay with me? I kind of want to nap,” You mumbled into his back.
“Of course,” You both returned to your bed this time with more innocent intentions.
Jean laid on his back and you threw your arm around his chest and your leg over his, snuggling up into his side.
“I don’t want to die,” You murmured sleepily.
“You won’t,” Jean stated firmly.
“How do you know?” You looked up at him.
“Because we both have something to live for,” He met your gaze softly, before kissing your head again.
You told each other you loved another once again before you both fell asleep. It was a sleep where neither of you had the common nightmare about your untimely deaths. 
Instead it was a sleep where you both dreamt of the future you now could have with one another.
360 notes · View notes
smutty-ki113r · 3 years
Text
🎠Laughing Jack🎠|| Carousel
Fluff one-shot x gn!reader— only warning is angst (2.6k)
Inspired by: Melanie Martinez
Tumblr media
After months of endless nagging you finally convinced Laughing Jack to let you visit his amusement park. He had claimed it was too scary and you would get creeped out but you weren’t one to take no for an answer.
Giving you a piece of candy so the trans-dementional trip wouldn’t be too hard on you. Tasting the sour lemon taffy he gave you and making a tense face as the flavor pulled at your taste buds and stuck to your teeth.
Your head getting dizzy as your surroundings warped and his room became red and white vertical stripes. Blinking a couple times as he leaned into your face, “are you alright?”
“I’m fine!” You told him, almost falling back at how close he was. As soon as your perception adjusted you looked for the exit to the tent you were inside. “Onward!” You said excited, marching comedically to the entrance flap.
“This isn’t exactly the safest place”, he called from behind, catching up with ease because his legs were so long. “You need to stay close to me at all times” you smiled at him, it’s not like you were complaining, “got that?”
Giving him a keen nod you stepped out of the grand tent. Squinting at the sky, which was tainted a dusty gray, swirly clouds amber of scattered around in the background. The carnival was beautifully revolting, with littered attractions as far as the eye could see.
The place looked somewhat abandoned, if you get past the faint cries of children, from their souls stored in toys. Rides that once colored a vibrant red had paint chipped, specks of dull metal flaked over the bars.
Game stands broken down and leaning unsteadily, disturbing toys with eyes and limbs missing hanging from the top. It looked like it might fall down at any minute, but you couldn’t help but notice the newer looking boxes of supplies lying around next to the stands.
Fairy lights hung from the tilted signs, decorating the food court. A fresh trail had been made between the rides.
It warmed your heart that he had made subtle efforts to fix the place up, he certainly didn’t think you would notice.
Looking back at his nervous smile, Jack was terrified you would hate the place. You thought all but the opposite, giving him a big grin. Your expression relaxed him, assuring him that you wouldn’t think he was a freak and leave. His whole demeanor shifting, making him more comfortable and even enthusiastic.
Straightening out and giving you jazz hands, “what are you waiting for?” putting one hand on his hip to motion you to the park with the other “lets go have fun!”
Following behind you with a giggle as you approached the carnival games. The ring toss looking somewhat appealing in between the other activities, so you told him you wanted to play.
“Basically you get 5 rings, if you get at least 3 in the pins you win a prize” he explained.
“Alright alright lemme try” you waved him off, snatching the rings and giving one a toss. It missed, you brushed it off. The second one made it in and Jack gave a little cheer, it still wasn’t enough.
Hyperfocusing on the pin in the middle make a soft throw upward, the edge hitting the top of the pin and falling to the side. You gave a groan, calculating your last two throws.
Your forth throw made the pin to the side, and you only had one more try left. Aiming for another pin at the side to release, the ring clanging against it and falling to the floor.
You went to look at Jack with a frown but he wore a happy expression, “you won!” He exclaimed. Confused you turned back, finding the ring you had just tossed around the last pin. You were completely certain you had missed it, racking your mind for an explanation as jack handed you a small purple bunny that was missing an arm.
Realizing that Jack had manipulating the game so you could win, throwing him a knowing glance. He just happened to be looking away, whistling guiltily.
Squeezing the bunny you moved onto the next game, it was ballon dart toss. The stand had pale red and black balloons scattered across a board. Excitement was written all over his face, you cocked an eyebrow in question.
“It’s a two person game!” He said, “whoever pops more balloons wins!”
He handed you four darts and kept four for himself, “you can go first” he motioned with a grin. Pacing the dart in two fingers a couple times before throwing at a balloon. Giving a groan when you missed and waiting for him to go.
Being as skilled as he was he managed to land one in a bullseye. “Oh it’s on” you dared, getting one point yourself. LJ got the second one too, staring at you intensely as you evened out the score.
Giving him a small smile as the dart broke the surface of the balloon with a sharp noise “pop goes the weasel right?” You laughed, referring to his famous song.
He looked at you almost in shock, taken aback by your joke. Shaking himself into reality he broke out in a light blush, a part of him touched, as if you were accepting him for who he was.
Too distracted by your eyes on him to play the game with concentration. Missing the third one with a growl he waited for you to take your turn, which you lost. It was the last point and Jack was a shoe in, so obviously he took the victory.
You were happy for him, passing along a “good job!” as he retrieved the big brown teddy bear that was half his size, and all of yours. It was missing an eye, thin stands of makeshift fur pulled out and a silky red bow around it’s neck.
“Here” he said, dangling it in front of you.
“For me?” You asked, “but you won”, trying to look up at him but the bear blocked most of your view, only letting you see above his nose.
“Just take it” he practically pushed it into you, making you blow out an oof.
Holding it to the side at the torso with one hand you broke out in a grin “thank you for the plushie” you said, hugging him from the side and squeezing his torso “but I want you to be my teddy” you laughed. He looked incredibly flustered, frozen as you broke away.
“You’re big and tall” you tippy toed up to give his shoulder pad feathers a ruffle “and fluffy”
The man looked like he was about to faint so you decided to knock it off, laughing and telling him you wanted to go on the carousel next. Quickly, LJ happily led you too it, skipping in front of you (mostly to hide his blush).
Standing at the controls to cue a round, watching you walk around to find a pretty horse. Given, all of them had dark spots and chipped paint, but they worked all the same. Leaving the bear on another horse and climbing onto a white one that had a yellow saddle, intricate lacy designs patterned on the sides. Royal blue reigns across it’s chest and a lion on a crest.
It was beautiful, and you traced your fingers on the drawing. It must have been stunning, but the weathering of time and agony had gotten to it. A painful reminder of what was, a mere reflection of the chipping away of a joyful being.
Prying away from your thoughts as you felt the vibrations of Jack stepping onto the walkway- with one of his big smiles. Even after everything, he still wore a smile. It made you want to tear up, he really needed all the love he could get.
He was too tall to get on a horse, so he just stood by you. His big hand gracing the golden pole and holding on, watching as you peeked up at him. Even though his eyes were constantly bright he displayed something…deeper. It was a sort of shine, a sparkle if you will, luminosity glazed over in such a way that one can only get lost in its vastness.
The looped music in the background was secondary as you rose up and down with the horse, giving Jack a little smile and thanking him for bringing you here. “I’m having a lot of fun with you” you noted.
“Well of course you are! It’s a carnival” he said with joy.
“No I mean with you” you clarified “you’re pretty great Jack”. This time he didn’t avoid your gaze, his mouth open slightly, not knowing how to react to the sincerity of the compliment.
The ride slowly came to a stop, and you were feeling slightly tingly. Maybe it was the air, or the loss of focus. “How about a roller coaster?” You dared, to which he gave a tense face.
“Those are pretty broken, you’ll probably die riding one and that’s not what we want” he said, stepping off the carousel. “How about some cotton candy instead?”
You nodded your head vigorously, following him in the pursuit for the fairy floss, the bear falling behind forgotten. Passing by more unused rides that had long past rusted and a house of mirrors to get to the food court.
Jack humming happily as he dipped a paper cone into the bowl of revolving fibers of sugar. Whipping up a swirly pink and blue cotton candy and handing it to you with a proud smile.
He went to make another treat until you spoke, “I’m not that hungry so we can share” you proposed. “If you want”
“Are you sure?” He asked, concerned that you didn’t have much appetite. “Do you want some candy or maybe a funnel cake?”
You shook him off, taking a bite out of the cloud-like dessert. It was absolutely delicious, honeyed and saccharine on your tongue in a blend of flavor you had never tasted had before.
Soft as it disintegrated onto your mouth, leaving behind a remanence of something too sweet. Bringing it up to Jack, who was so tall you had to extend your arm fully to get it to his mouth.
He simply laughed at your struggle, taking a bite before giving you a thin smile and taking it from your hand. Sitting down at a bench so that you could both share comfortably.
By the time the candy had finished you noticed little bits of the silky texture stuck on his nose. Painfully stifling a laugh you turned away.
“What’s so funny?” He asked with a genuine smile.
When you didn’t answer his tone changed, “what’s so funny huh?” he sounded a bit angered.
Hiccuping through your laughter you faced him, leaning in real close to his face, enough so that you could feel the heat emanating from it; taking a bite of the pink woven candy on his nose and holding it in your teeth.
His face went red at the sight, embarrassed that he had cotton candy on his nose. Well, that and for a moment he thought you were going to kiss him.
Noticing your hands were all sticky you asked him if there was a sink somewhere. After both of you washed your hands you sat back down at the bench.
The sky was going dark, the poofs of dusty cloud fading in with the night but still managing to remain visible. You heard a whirr as Jack turned on all the rides at the carnival, lighting the whole thing up.
You sat in awe, a mere spectator in the empty yet live amusement park. Admiring the music that added to the ambiance, watching Jack approach you.
“Wanna take a walk?” He asked, but there was something…off. LJ seemed nervous as you got up and walked next to him.
He had been thinking about it for a while now, probably even before he brought you to the carnival. Even though he had washed the gooey candy from his hands they were still sticky, but it was from sweat. Giving you side glances as you paced the trail with him.
Debating to himself whether or not he should do it, if you would hate him for it. Telling himself that he would regret it if he didn’t, but thinking about the potential negative reactions you could give.
Passing the carousel once again as you noticed the usually loud and happy clown was silent, lost in thought as he stared into the distance, his lips forming a tensing line.
Wondering if he was ok, but brining up the topic might make him uneasy. Perhaps you being there at his haunted amusement park was ticking him off, or if you taking that cotton floss off his nose was too much, or if you were pushing your luck, or worse what if you triggered hi-
All thoughts faded from your mind the moment you felt a slow, shaky hand grasp onto yours. You had to look to where he held you because he was so gentile you thought it was the wind. Holding onto you softly enough that it felt like a feather, somehow still creating a little pocket of warmth between you.
A glowing thump of heat pulsing inside your chest, happiness digging into your cells and giving you the confidence to squeeze his hand.
He let out a sharp inhale at the feel, still avoiding your gaze as he relaxed into your touch. Not daring to move his hand too much or he might risk ruining the moment, afraid of hurting you with his claws.
Approaching the Ferris wheel he finally spoke, “this is probably the one ride that won’t break”, not a peep about holding you. “Do you want to go on?”
You finally caught his gaze, absolutely melting at the smile in his eyes. Responding with a ‘yes’ and letting him open the door for you. Sustaining his grip with you as he helped you on, not letting go even after you sat.
The cart wasn’t exactly small, but with a guy the size of Jack it was pretty compacted. It’s not like you minded, the lack of space gave you an excuse to bunch up alongside him. The feathers from his pads tickling your face as you rested on him.
Watching the view as the cart took you higher and higher, it was perfect. The evening set in the rich obscurity of the night, lights of the festival blinking as if they had a life of their own. The bulbs on the stands making z’s as they illuminated the red and white drapes of the far off tents.
Jack held your hand with such care and caress, you gave him a reassuring press to let him know it was ok. He was so enveloped with the passionate act that he squeezed as well. Letting you feel all the dips and curves of his hand. Clutching onto you, as if you might disappear too.
Facing him to cup his cheek with your free hand, caressing him and tucking a stand of hair behind his ear. Trailing your thumb across his skin and feeling him lean into your touch, swearing that between the lines on the pad of your finger there was a tear that you had wiped away.
Getting lost in the breaths you shared as you inched closer to his lips, giving him a second of warmth longer to prove that you weren’t going anywhere.
265 notes · View notes
Note
Stargate?
blorbo (favorite character, character I think about the most)
hmmm sam ig? and teal'c, 1000/10 guy, killer eyeshadow, i would commit so many crimes for him also his comic timing is better than anyone on the show and he KNOWS it <33
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
aaaah and especially their friendship 🥰🥰
which reminds me i gotta finish my sam is aro post bc it is the most correct thing ive ever written xx
from atlantis i'd say teyla, vital part of my bi awakening 😳 and ronon, what a pair they are 🥰
scrunkly (my “baby”, character that gives me cuteness aggression, character that is So Shaped)
JONAS. BABIEST BOI TO EVER BABY, AND ACTUAL PUPPY, STARGATE WRITERS I'M GOIGN TO KILL U, ETC ETC
Tumblr media
also janet, even though she's such a mom friend and very scary and phenomenal she is still tiny 🥺🥺🥺
scrimblo bimblo (underrated/underappreciated fave)
LIEUTENANT FORD i am so so sorry baby 😭😭😭😭
Tumblr media
glup shitto (obscure fave, character that can appear in the background for 0.2 seconds and I won’t shut up about it for a week)
BRA'TAC AND JACOB. teal'c and sam rlly both have space dads who they'll run into on su*cide sissions and they'll flip the FUCK out like what are you kids doing out here you IDIOT CHILDREN like teal'c isn't an 80+ year old ex war criminal and sam isn't an air force major and super genius godbless xx
Tumblr media Tumblr media
tbf bra'tac is a 100+ year old ex war criminal and jacob is an ex air force general but still. its hilarious and adorable 🤣
oH and todd. weird ass chaotic neutral uncle. JOHN SHEPPARD
Tumblr media
poor little meow meow (“problematic”/unpopular/controversial/otherwise pathetic fave)
Zalenka. Angery lil pigeon man. Bless him :')
Tumblr media
also walter and siler. stargate has a lot of background techs who are just here to suffer 🤣
horse plinko (character I would torment for fun, for whatever reason)
imean. it's gotta be daniel right? Hes literally the REASON the word whump was invented, that man exists for torment :') also sheppard. Same reasons :'))
eeby deeby (character I would send to superhell)
Cameron. Mitchell. I have a grudge that can burn for centuries. We could've had sam leading an sg1 made up of her big bro teal'c, lil bro jonas, and twin bro daniel, but nOoOo. God forbid we don't have a white man in charge!! He is all that is bad or mediocre about jack's character with none of what makes him awesome. He is POINTLESS and the fact that they made him so central in both movies is an unforgivable travesty. He's not even that bad and his friendshop with sam can be cute but alas. No.
also the ori, hathor, kinsey, all the classics 🔥🔥
I have an automatic hatred for almsot all things s9 and 10 but i don't think it actually extends to vala. How could it?
Tumblr media
she has adhd. her actress has adhd. she is the actual spiritual successor to jack o'neill. i will never watch your seasons again but i mostly respect you ma'am :D
Thank youuuu mumble 💛
25 notes · View notes
qqueenofhades · 4 years
Note
Re: the post you reblogged about Bush. I'm 21 and tbh feel like I can only vote for Bernie, can you explain if/why I shouldn't? Thanks and sorry if this is dumb or anything.
Oh boy. Okay, I’ll do my best here. Note that a) this will get long, and b) I’m old, Tired, and I‘m pretty sure my brain tried to kill me last night. Since by nature I am sure I will say something Controversial ™, if anyone reads this and feels a deep urge to inform me that I am Wrong, just… mark it down as me being Wrong and move on with your life. But also, really, you should read this and hopefully think about it. Because while I’m glad you asked this question, it feels like there’s a lot in your cohort who won’t, and that worries me. A lot.
First, not to sound utterly old-woman-in-a-rocking-chair ancient, people who came of age/are only old enough to have Obama be the first president that they really remember have no idea how good they had it. The world was falling the fuck apart in 2008 (not coincidentally, after 8 years of Bush). We came within a flicker of the permanent collapse of the global economy. The War on Terror was in full roar, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan were at their height, we had Dick Cheney as the cartoon supervillain before we had any of Trump’s cohort, and this was before Chelsea Manning or Edward Snowden had exposed the extent of NSA/CIA intelligence-gathering/American excesses or there was any kind of public debate around the fact that we were all surveilled all the time. And the fact that a brown guy named Barack Hussein Obama was elected in this climate seems, and still seems tbh, kind of amazing. And Obama was certainly not a Perfect President ™. He had to scale back a lot of planned initiatives, he is notorious for expanding the drone strike/extrajudicial assassination program, he still subscribed to the overall principles of neoliberalism and American exceptionalism, etc etc. There is valid criticism to be made as to how the hopey-changey optimistic rhetoric stacked up against the hard realities of political office. And yet…. at this point, given what we’re seeing from the White House on a daily basis, the depth of the parallel universe/double standards is absurd.
Because here’s the thing. Obama, his entire family, and his entire administration had to be personally/ethically flawless the whole time (and they managed that – not one scandal or arrest in eight years, against the legions of Trumpistas now being convicted) because of the absolute frothing depths of Republican hatred, racial conspiracy theories, and obstruction against him. (Remember Merrick Garland and how Mitch McConnell got away with that, and now we have Gorsuch and Kavanaugh on the Supreme Court? Because I remember that). If Obama had pulled one-tenth of the shit, one-twentieth of the shit that the Trump administration does every day, he would be gone. It also meant that people who only remember Obama think he was typical for an American president, and he wasn’t. Since about… Jimmy Carter, and definitely since Ronald Reagan, the American people have gone for the Trump model a lot more than the Obama model. Whatever your opinion on his politics or character, Obama was a constitutional law professor, a community activist, a neighborhood organizer and brilliant Ivy League intellectual who used to randomly lie awake at night thinking about income inequality. Americans don’t value intellectualism in their politicians; they just don’t. They don’t like thinking that “the elites” are smarter than them. They like the folksy populist who seems fun to have a beer with, and Reagan/Bush Senior/Clinton/Bush Junior sold this persona as hard as they possibly could. As noted in said post, Bush Junior (or Shrub as the late, great Molly Ivins memorably dubbed him) was Trump Lite but from a long-established political family who could operate like an outwardly civilized human.
The point is: when you think Obama was relatively normal (which, again, he wasn’t, for any number of reasons) and not the outlier in a much larger pattern of catastrophic damage that has been accelerated since, again, the 1980s (oh Ronnie Raygun, how you lastingly fucked us!), you miss the overall context in which this, and which Trump, happened. Like most left-wingers, I don’t agree with Obama’s recent and baffling decision to insert himself into the 2020 race and warn the Democratic candidates against being too progressive or whatever he was on about. I think he was giving into the same fear that appears to be motivating the remaining chunk of Joe Biden’s support: that middle/working-class white America won’t go for anything too wild or that might sniff of Socialism, and that Uncle Joe, recalled fondly as said folksy populist and the internet’s favorite meme grandfather from his time as VP, could pick up the votes that went to Trump last time. And that by nature, no one else can.
The underlying belief is that these white voters just can’t support anything too “un-American,” and that by pushing too hard left, Democratic candidates risk handing Trump a second term. Again: I don’t agree and I think he was mistaken in saying it. But I also can’t say that Obama of all people doesn’t know exactly the strength of the political machine operating against the Democratic Party and the progressive agenda as a whole, because he ran headfirst into it for eight years. The fact that he managed to pass any of his legislative agenda, usually before the Tea Party became a thing in 2010, is because Democrats controlled the House and Senate for the first two years of his first term. He was not perfect, but it was clear that he really did care (just look up the pictures of him with kids). He installed smart, efficient, and scandal-free people to do jobs they were qualified for. He gave us Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor to join RBG on the Supreme Court. All of this seems… like a dream.
That said: here we are in a place where Biden, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren are the front-runners for the Democratic nomination (and apparently Pete Buttigieg is getting some airplay as a dark horse candidate, which… whatever). The appeal of Biden is discussed above, and he sure as hell is not my favored candidate (frankly, I wish he’d just quit). But Sanders and Warren are 85% - 95% similar in their policy platforms. The fact that Michael “50 Billion Dollar Fortune” Bloomberg started rattling his chains about running for president is because either a Sanders or Warren presidency terrifies the outrageously exploitative billionaire capitalist oligarchy that runs this country and has been allowed to proceed essentially however the fuck they like since… you guessed it, the 1980s, the era of voodoo economics, deregulation, and the free market above all. Warren just happens to be ten years younger than Sanders and female, and Sanders’ age is not insignificant. He’s 80 years old and just had a heart attack, and there’s still a year to go to the election. It’s also more than a little eye-rolling to describe him as the only progressive candidate in the race, when he’s an old white man (however much we like and approve of his policy positions). And here’s the thing, which I think is a big part of the reason why this polarized ideological purity internet leftist culture mistrusts Warren:
She may have changed her mind on things in the past.
Scary, right? I sound like I’m being facetious, but I’m not. An argument I had to read with my own two eyes on this godforsaken hellsite was that since Warren became a Democrat around the time Clinton signed Don’t Ask Don’t Tell, she sekritly hated gay people and might still be a corporate sellout, so on and etcetera. (And don’t even get me STARTED on the fact that DADT, coming a few years after the height of the AIDS crisis which was considered God’s Judgment of the Icky Gays, was the best Clinton could realistically hope to achieve, but this smacks of White Gay Syndrome anyway and that is a whole other kettle of fish.) Bernie has always demonstrably been a democratic socialist, and: good for him. I’m serious. But because there’s the chance that Warren might not have thought exactly as she does now at any point in her life, the hysterical and paranoid left-wing elements don’t trust that she might not still secretly do so. (Zomgz!) It’s the same element that’s feeding cancel culture and “wokeness.” Nobody can be allowed to have shifted or grown in their opinions or, like a functional, thoughtful, non-insane adult, changed their beliefs when presented with compelling evidence to the contrary. To the ideological hordes, any hint of uncertainty or past failure to completely toe the line is tantamount to heresy. Any evidence of any other belief except The Correct One means that this person is functionally as bad as Trump. And frankly, it’s only the Sanders supporters who, just as in 2016, are threatening to withhold their vote in the general election if their preferred candidate doesn’t win the primary, and indeed seem weirdly proud about it.
OK, boomer Bernie or Buster.
Here’s the thing, the thing, the thing: there is never going to be an American president free of the deeply toxic elements of American ideology. There just won’t be. This country has been built how it has for 250 years, and it’s not gonna change. You are never going to have, at least not in the current system, some dream candidate who gets up there and parrots the left-wing talking points and attacks American imperialism, exceptionalism, ravaging global capitalism, military and oil addiction, etc. They want to be elected as leader of a country that has deeply internalized and taken these things to heart for its entire existence, and most of them believe it to some degree themselves. So this groupthink white liberal mentality where the only acceptable candidate is this Perfect Non-Problematic robot who has only ever had one belief their entire lives and has never ever wavered in their devotion to doctrine has really gotten bad. The Democratic Party would be considered… maybe center/mild left in most other developed countries. It’s not even really left-wing by general standards, and Sanders and Warren are the only two candidates for the nomination who are even willing to go there and explicitly put out policy proposals that challenge the systematic structure of power, oppression, and exploitation of the late-stage capitalist 21st century. Warren has the billionaires fussed, and instead of backing down, she’s doubling down. That’s part of why they’re so scared of her. (And also misogyny, because the world is depressing like that.) She is going head-on after picking a fight with some of the worst people on the planet, who are actively killing the rest of us, and I don’t know about you, but I like that.
Of course: none of this will mean squat if she (or the eventual Democratic winner, who I will vote for regardless of who it is, but as you can probably tell, she’s my ride or die) don’t a) win the White House and then do as they promised on the campaign trail, and b) don’t have a Democratic House and Senate willing to have a backbone and pass the laws. Even Nancy Pelosi, much as she’s otherwise a badass, held off on opening a formal impeachment inquiry into Trump for months out of fear it would benefit him, until the Ukraine thing fell into everyone’s laps. The Democrats are really horrible at sticking together and voting the party line the way Republicans do consistently, because Democrats are big-tent people who like to think of themselves as accepting and tolerant of other views and unwilling to force their members’ hands. The Republicans have no such qualms (and indeed, judging by their enabling of Trump, have no qualms at all). 
The modern American Republican party has become a vehicle for no-holds-barred power for rich white men at the expense of absolutely everything and everyone else, and if your rationale is that you can’t vote for the person opposing Donald Goddamn Trump is that you’re just not vibing with them on the language of that one policy proposal… well, I’m glad that you, White Middle Class Liberal, feel relatively safe that the consequences of that decision won’t affect you personally. Even if we’re due to be out of the Paris Climate Accords one day after the 2020 election, and the issue of climate change now has the most visibility it’s ever had after years of big-business, Republican-led efforts to deny and discredit the science, hey, Secret Corporate Shill, am I right? Can’t trust ‘er. Let’s go have a craft beer.
As has been said before: vote as far left as you want in the primary. Vote your ideology, vote whatever candidate you want, because the only way to make actual, real-world change is to do that. The huge, embedded, all-consuming and horrible system in which we operate is not just going to suddenly be run by fairy dust and happy thoughts overnight. Select candidates that reflect your values exactly, be as picky and ideologically militant as you want. That’s the time to do that! Then when it comes to the general election:
America is a two-party system. It sucks, but that’s the case. Third-party votes, or refraining from voting because “it doesn’t matter” are functionally useless at best and actively harmful at worst.
Either the Democratic candidate or Donald Trump will win the 2020 election.
There is absolutely no length that the Republican/GOP machine, and its malevolent allies elsewhere, will not go to in order to secure a Trump victory. None.
Any talk whatsoever about “progressive values” or any kind of liberal activism, coupled with a course of action that increases the possibility of a Trump victory, is hypocritical at best and actively malicious at worst.
This is why I found the Democratic response to Obama’s “don’t go too wild” comments interesting. Bernie doubled down on the fact that his plans have widespread public support, and he’s right. (Frankly, the fact that Sanders and Warren are polling at the top, and the fact that they’re politicians and would not be crafting these campaign messages if they didn’t know that they were being positively received, says plenty on its own). Warren cleverly highlighted and praised Obama’s accomplishments in office (i.e. the Affordable Care Act) and didn’t say squat about whether she agreed or disagreed with him, then went right back to campaigning about why billionaires suck. And some guy named Julian Castro basically blew Obama off and claimed that “any Democrat” could beat Trump in 2020, just by nature of existing and being non-insane.
This is very dangerous! Do not be Julian Castro!
As I said in my tags on the Bush post: everyone assumed that sensible people would vote for Kerry in 2004. Guess what happened? Yeah, he got Swift Boated. The race between Obama and McCain in 2008, even after those said nightmare years of Bush, was very close until the global crash broke it open in Obama’s favor, and Sarah Palin was an actual disqualifier for a politician being brazenly incompetent and unprepared. (Then again, she was a woman from a remote backwater state, not a billionaire businessman.) In 2012, we thought Corporate MormonBot Mitt Fuggin’ Romney was somehow the worst and most dangerous candidate the Republicans could offer. In 2016, up until Election Day itself, everyone assumed that HRC was a badly flawed candidate but would win anyway. And… we saw how that worked out. Complacency is literally deadly.
I was born when Reagan was still president. I’m just old enough to remember the efforts to impeach Clinton over forcing an intern to give him a BJ in the Oval Office (This led by the same Republicans making Donald Trump into a darling of the evangelical Christian right wing.) I’m definitely old enough to remember 9/11 and how America lost its mind after that, and I remember the Bush years. And, obviously, the contrast with Obama, the swing back toward Trump, and everything that has happened since. We can’t afford to do this again. We’re hanging by a thread as it is, and not just America, but the entire planet.
So yes. By all means, vote for Sanders in the primary. Then when November 3, 2020 rolls around, if you care about literally any of this at all, hold your nose if necessary and vote straight-ticket Democrat, from the president, to the House and Senate, to the state and local offices. I cannot put it more strongly than that.
20K notes · View notes
weirdochick56 · 3 years
Text
The Bodyguard 2- Bucky Barnes AU
Bodyguard!Bucky Barnes x Princess!Reader
Warnings: Explicit language, insults, snark, and sassy!Buckster sexy times (ok, so maybe only slightly sexy)
Disclaimers: I don’t own any MCU plots or Characters mentioned
Word Count: 5, 173 words
Summary: The Reader and Bucky’s hate for eachother is at an all time high; she can’t seem to rid herself of him and he, well he can’t seem to get her to cooperate with him. But as their frustrations grow, a late-night outing might just be what they both need to see other parts of eachother. 
A/n: This has been a long time in the making, but I finally felt inspired enough to continue the story. Hope you enjoy it!
~The Bodyguard 1~
***
Tumblr media
“You can stop following me now,” you grumble with thorny irritation, rolling your eyes at the tall persistent shadow staying hot on your tail. 
It was in vain to ask him to leave, you knew. Agent Brainless was ridiculously adamant about following you around the moment you stepped foot outside of the palace and he was -infuriatingly so- a stubborn man.
How he knew that you were leaving even when you had concocted what you considered a genius plan to evade those infuriatingly pretty grey irises was beyond you.
He sighs at your words, and you can see the annoyance bubbling to the surface of his cold professional exterior, though he tries his hardest to keep a straight face. 
“Your highness, I think we both know I won’t do that,” he responds simply. “Now if you would please stop being so stubborn and simply do as I ask and come with me to the car so that this is easier for us both...” 
You can tell his patience is wearing thin because, in the past few weeks of having him follow you everywhere you went, you had made it a point to figure out his exact breaking point. 
And as you continue making your escape to town like he isn’t even there, you know that so is yours. If there’s anything that can give you that deep burning satisfaction you sought with everything you did, it was pissing Agent Barnes off.
He had patiently asked you to retreat back the way you came so he could “safely” transport you in a castle-owned car, but you refused redundantly because your friend was already waiting for you, but maybe also because you loved the little twitch of his eye every time you refused to listen to his directions.
If you were being completely honest, he really should’ve been asking you to come back to the castle and not go to a club in town at all- as per your father’s orders. But you weren’t fond of said orders and you definitely didn’t want some dark and mysterious shadow following you around during a night of fun with friends. 
“No,” is all you say because in the few minutes you’ve spent talking to him you’ve noticed he’s the most infuriated when your responses are curt and nonchalant. 
You want to see him snap oh so bad...seeing those steely grays lose their cool? Gold. 
“Princess...” he growls in warning, daring you to cut that little thread of control he had left in him with your sharp tongue. 
You don’t look back at him even once enjoying the thrill that travels up your spine at his low-timbre words and the way his voice travels straight to your core, tugging at your short black dress lightly. 
You wanted to see what he would do should he be pushed over the edge. It was fun.
“I already told you, I’m not listening to you. My friend is already waiting for me. And I’m sorry if you have an issue with- Ahh!” Your words choke back into your throat and morph into a shocked yelp when big rough hands grip your hips, spinning you around and without much of a warning, lifting you with incredible ease.
Before you know it, you’re being carelessly thrown over a broad, strong shoulder.
You let out a small ‘oomph’ when the wind gets knocked out of you and all you see is a firm ass, the blood rushing to your head. 
“What the hell do your think you’re doing you absolute buffoon?!” You screech hysterically, wriggling aggressively against his hold on your thighs. 
He barely flinches, only wrapping his muscular arm tighter around your legs and adjusting you on his shoulder like it was a mere midnight stroll for him and you weighed no more than what a feather did. 
“I’m taking you to the car,” he informs as if it’s obvious, voice full with obnoxious satisfaction. 
“Get your filthy hands off me this instant you utter and complete idiot!” You growl, twisting harshly but he doesn’t let go so you start pounding on his firm back with your fists, fighting to free yourself of him. “WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!”
He just laughs at what seems to be your weak attempts to break away. He laughs.
You gasp at the absolute and complete audacity he has of laughing when he’s treating you, the single heir to the Androvian throne, like a sack of potatoes. 
“You ass!” You wriggle around some more, tugging at his hands to try to pry them off your legs but all he does is smack them away as if they were mere pesky flies. 
“I may be,” he chokes back a small snort but only barely. “But at least I’m the only ass trying to keep your reckless self in check, princess.”
Indignation, humiliation, and utter vexation all burn deep inside you like a thrumming fire ready to ravage everything in its way when it got the chance to escape your body as you slowly fall limp against him. 
Resignation comes hand in hand with the deep desire for revenge and you fist your hands in deep ache to somehow exercise it. 
He carries you all the way to the garage of cars in the back part of the castle, walks over to a black SUV out of all the expensive cars to choose from, opens it and all but throws you into the back leather seats like you’re not a fucking human, much less the princess of the land he’s currently stepping in. 
You land flat on your back in the smooth leather interior of the luxury SUV with a small thud and instantly sit up to glare at him heatedly. “Do you have any idea who I am? Be gentle, you brute!” 
Annoyingly enough, he simply ignores you and leans over your body. His heat floods through your bare skin and feels good for a second and you subtly inhale his musky scent as he tugs on the seatbelt, roughly pulling it over you. 
You forget about your hatred for him for a split second and that only makes you angrier when it comes back full force. 
You fucking idiot, Y/n. 
In a last and desperate attempt of defiance, you try to push his hands away to which he responds by firmly pressing you back by your shoulder into your seat and staring you dead in the eye with blazing grey eyes. 
The fire that swirls in them is...something. Not necessarily scary, but intimidating and...something else.
Something that makes your skin flush and your nerves throb to life. 
You stare right back, tilting your chin up to show him you weren’t backing down or scared of him and his brute force. He got too under your skin and you knew you got under his which only offered you only a limited amount of comfort. 
He clenches his jaw as he clicks the seatbelt into place, never looking away from your challenging gaze. As if to stick another dagger into your burning insides. As if to reassert his power here. 
Your labored breaths are all that can be heard for miles to come in the calm night air and he leans close for a second, your heaving chests gently brushing.
Not meaning for it to happen, you feel your nipples harden beneath the flimsy fabric of your black party dress and you wonder if you imagine his hands clenching around your shoulder -his fingers digging into your flesh with suppression- or the sly flick of his eyes from your eyes to your lips. 
You wonder if you imagine the look of heat that passes over his eyes when your breaths mix the second time seems to stop and an overwhelming emotion washes over you. 
But then it’s gone as soon as it came and hatred burns deep in your belly once more. So deep that it hurts and brings painful tears to your eyes, your nose burning so hard you can’t focus through your blurry vision.
You lean in closer, so close your nose is brushing just barely against his and pause for a second. A second of torture for him, a second of uncertainty, a second where his breath catches and his pupils dilate. 
Then you speak, voice trembling with overwhelming anger. 
“I have never,” you whisper, licking your lips. “Been treated with such disrespect.” You swallow hard, cheeks red with humiliation. 
You see a flash of guilt in his eyes but it’s quickly replaced by his usual look of cool professionalism- not even anger anymore. Not even that.
And he leans right back into you, a wave of heat passing over both of you. “Then learn to listen next time. It’s for your safety.” 
And just like that he’s drawing back, slamming the passenger door closed and climbing into the driver’s seat- leaving you cold and angry beyond reason.
A moment of tense silence passes before he releases a tiny sigh and breaks it by turning on the ignition. 
“Where are we going?”
*
BUCKY’S POV
I watch her laugh at something one of her friends says from a dark corner of the club and it’s hard not to stare for reasons other than my duty being just that...to look after her. 
The club was a luxurious one, with high ceilings, intricate designs and a VIP section where we were immediately escorted to.
Her Highness’s friends, a blonde guy and girl who had nodded at me in polite acknowledgment were already waiting for her there and I assumed that the few seconds when she had stopped her sulking and taken out her phone from her clutch were the seconds she was texting her friends to meet her there instead. 
I would never admit it, but I enjoyed watching her cave. It was like taming a wild horse, even if momentarily. 
Princess Y/n was a brat, plain and simple. Selfish, childish, and feisty as hell, I had never met anyone as completely and utterly vexing as her and to say these past few weeks had been hell would be an understatement. 
If I wasn’t so good at my job, I would’ve lost her already. She threw me for a loop any chance she got, cutting corners and doing everything she could to avoid my protection. 
As I stared at her with that pretty ass smile on her annoyingly beautiful face, it’s hard to imagine that that was the same person pushing every single one of my buttons just a few minutes before. 
She actually looked relaxed and...nice?
God, she infuriated me in ways I had no idea I could be infuriated, discovered buttons I didn’t know I had and pushed them to the point I had to throw her over my damn shoulder like a sack of flour.
I was a professional, for God’s sake. Had always been one with every single one of the cases I was assigned, so why was she the one to get under my skin?
...And why did I enjoy having her perfectly round ass so close to my face? Why did I keep thinking about the defiance in those stupidly big eyes over and over like I....craved it?
I wondered to myself as I watched her take down a shot by the bar. She glanced at me over her shoulder, still smiling, but it quickly melted away when our gazes clashed and my own mood soured instantly. 
I grimaced when she looked away as if I had burnt her with my eyes and quickly pulled my head out of the gutter. 
The fact that she was utterly gorgeous didn’t change how annoying she was. Not to mention I was here on a job. 
One I fully intended to complete, no matter how fucking difficult the client was.
*
The night moves on at a slow pace for me. The princess parties and I watch her like a hawk, making sure not to let her get too wild. 
So far I had pried off five guys who were trying their luck with her. From what I’d read on her file and the extensive research I’d done online, her face wasn’t really well known. 
She was always kept  secret and would be until she was crowned queen of Androvia- some weird old belief or something- so not many people knew what she looked like. 
Meaning, these guys probably didn’t know who they were trying to get all handsy with on the dance floor and would only assume was some rich daddy’s girl once my towering form appeared and nicely escorted them away. 
For the most part nicely, anyway. Some I had to get a little rougher with. 
I make sure to keep my eyes glued on her form, ignoring the way she moved her hips in that tiny black dress. It hugged her alluring curves like a glove and I swallowed hard as she grinded on her female friend, head thrown back and a free smile on her face. 
“She is...beautiful, isn’t she?” 
I calmly turn towards the voice as it hums out from beside me, turning to see the guy she came with. He takes a sip of his drink, smirking as his eyes remain on the way the princess waves her hands in the air to the beat of the song, sensually shaking her hips as if she was one with the sexy R&B song I had no idea the name of. 
I clear my throat, remaining stock still in my bodyguard pose. “Sir, I”m only here to protect her Highness. I really don’t-”
“Oh don’t even try to hide it. She’s easily the most beautiful woman in this whole club.”
He takes my silence as confirmation, it seems, because he proceeds to speak on as if I’ve agreed.
“But it’s not just her physical appearance is it? It’s something else. Something...inside,” he whispers. 
When I don’t respond, he continues bitterly. “I’m warning you; don’t fall for her. It’ll only bring you a world of pain, trust me.”
I catch the pain in his voice and stiffen. “I would never fall for one of my subjects, sir,” I assure him.
He laughs sourly. “Sure bud. You keep telling yourself that.”
“I don’t know what you mean,” I insist, swallowing thickly as she laughs, beautiful smile wide and her laughter too melodious to be coming out of such a wretched little urchin. 
“Well,” he coughs suddenly, clapping me in the shoulder. “I think I need another drink. Want one?”
I eye his hand which he slowly pries off and shake my head with a slightly clenched jaw.
“I’m on the job, sir,” I remain calm and professional despite the fact that all I wanted to do was break that hand for putting stupid thoughts in my head. 
Because for a second there, as the bright club lights shun down on her, I could see what he talked about when he said there was something inside. In that smile, those eyes, that laugh...
But then she made eye contact with me and the feeling turned bitter so quick it’s a miracle I didn’t get whiplash. 
She was a brat. Nothing more.
*
YOUR POV
Sometime late into the night, you had found myself fairly buzzed. Not enough to fall on your face, but enough that walking- well, stumbling over to Agent Asshole only seemed more and more attractive an action.
He glances at you with those eyes and you can’t help the anger the bubbles within you. “Do you plan on staring me down the entire night?”
“It’s my job,” is all he says. 
You scowl fiercely at him. “I hate you,” you seethe.
He raises a dark brow but otherwise keeps that stoic expression on his face. “Do you want to leave, your Highness?”
His neutral tone and complete lack of reaction only angers you more and you shake your head furiously. “No, I don’t want to leave. I want you to leave though.”
He presses his lips firmly together. “I’m sorry-“
“No, you’re not.”
“Huh?” He cocks his side slightly to the side and you lean closer to him, craning your neck to look him in the eye.
“I said; you’re not sorry. If you were sorry, you WOULD LEAVE ME THE FUCK ALONE!” You feel your drunken emotions deep in your chest and without much effort, your voice quickly escalates.
He sighs heavily. “Okay, your highness, I think it’s time I take you back to the castle. C’mon,” he waves a hand toward the door.
You laugh at him coldly, shaking your head. “Who do you think you are, ordering me around? Know your place asshole, you are below me- never forget,” you growl snarkily, leaning right into his face.
You feel his breathing quicken against your cheeks the longer you defiantly smirk up at him, his calm eyes darkening.
You realized you enjoyed pushing him to the edge, that you craved this look on his face...
He smirks mockingly down at you, staring you down. “You can come willingly, your highness, or I can throw you over my shoulder like last time.” He leans straight into your ear, whispering hotly. “I’m sure you would rather not go through the embarrassment.”
You swallow thickly, your heart hammering against your chest and you’re not sure it’s from anger anymore. With disgust, you jerk away from him, glaring holes into his head.
“Let’s go.”
*
“You can go, Agent Obnoxious,” you mumble drunkenly, waving a dismissive hand at him as you stumble into your warm room, practically ripping off your heels.
You throw them somewhere in the corner of the large room, sighing with relief when you feel your bare feet touching the soft carpeted floor. 
Your knees shake slightly and buckle and you end up tripping forward.
You land on the ground with a soft grunt and for some reason, laughter bubbles deep in your chest.
“Your Highness!”
A few seconds later, you feel strong warm hands wrapping around your body to heave you up. You place your hands on his strong arms for support and look up at Agent Barnes.
The laughter immediately dies on your lips when you see a beautiful concerned frown of engraved deep in his face. It looks so sincere and his arms are so strong...
Before you know what you’re doing, a small mumble is leaving your lips. “You...” you cut yourself off abruptly when his eyes meet yours.
His hands now rest lightly on your waist, and you’re so close you can smell him. His scent is deep and rich and manly, so unlike the scent of those rich assholes you were forced to mingle with on a daily basis.
And his hands, are strong and resilient. The callouses on them tells you that he’s worked his entire life. Those hands, the ones holding you right now, They’ve probably handled a gun, they’ve probably saved so many lives...
You bite your lip, thinking about the way those hands felt on the skin of your arm and how heavenly it would feel if it traveled all over.
Goosebumps rise on your skin as you crane up your neck to stare up at him.
He stares down at you, and even when your room is dark, the light of the moonlight that filters in from the huge window highlights the heavy tension in his gaze.
You’re both unmoving and you wonder if he enjoys touching you as much as you enjoy his touch.
He inhaled deeply, his eyes flickering to your lips and eyes and then back.
You want to ask him what he’s thinking. You want to tell him to just do it -to just kiss you because you wouldn’t dare push him away- not in this state, not when the alcohol and his scent and eyes were clogging every single sense and reason you had, but you’re afraid to break the spell of whatever this was. 
So instead, you wait on abated breath, feeling like you’re both on the verge of something utterly earth-shattering, for him to move.
Finally, he speaks a few seconds later and it’s a quiet murmur. “Let’s get you to bed, princess.”
You ignore the sharp sting of his rejection when you were so clearly begging him to kiss you and step away from his touch as if he’s burnt you.
You turn around so he can’t see the hurt in your eyes. “You can go now Agent Brainless,” you say coldly over your shoulder, but you know it’s a lot softer than the other time.
Another second passes. “Princess..” he whispers.
You ignore his barely audible whisper and angrily begin undressing, tugging at the straps of your dress.
“What in the world do you think you’re doing?” He growls lowly as you begin to pull your dress down to your waist.
With a sarcastic smile, your turn towards him, your top half completely naked aside from your black lacy bra.
His gaze immediately falls on your half-naked chest, but aside from the small flicker in his eyes and gulp he takes, he gives no other indication of shock.
You raise a brow. “Are you going to watch me undress now too, Agent Barnes?” You ask mockingly.
His eyes find yours again and they’re darker than you’ve ever seen them. They send shivers through your whole body and you almost give into the urge to look away, but the anger and frustration within you don’t allow your gaze to waver.
“I’m not leaving until you’re safely in bed,” he husks, clearly trying his best to remain professional and cold as his icy stare bores into your eyes- purposefully looking away from your naked form.
You tilt your head up at him innocently, slowly sauntering closer to him. “Oh? Well in that case, do you mind helping me with the zipper of my dress? It’s stuck.”
You turn your back on him and a smirk blossoms in your face as you hear his breathing strain, your ass slightly brushing against his crotch area. 
He blows out a shaky exhale and it blows against your naked back, all hot and angry. 
When he makes no move to help you, you look at him over your shoulder. “Well?” 
His grave expression doesn’t budge. “I can’t do that,” he says lowly. 
But even as he resentfully spits this, he doesn’t budge and his eyes are still tracing over your body, their electric desire leaving goosebumps over wherever they ran over.
You roll your eyes at him. “Then turn around, you idiot.” 
He growls, fisting his hands and clenching his jaw tightly but doesn’t try to fight you on it and turns his broad back to you.
You’re intoxicated, so it’s probably because you’re not thinking straight, but as you quickly slip on a silk night gown and stare at his back, you can’t help the deep heavy sadness that sinks into your chest. 
Why hadn’t he kissed you just now? You could’ve sworn he wanted to and you sure as hell did...it was there, the moment, the split second when you were willing to risk it all, to overlook any and all boundaries, cross all imposing lines- but you lost it. 
Pushing your hair to the side, you convince yourself it was for the best. 
“I’m done,” you say softly, climbing into bed. 
Agent Barnes nods at you stiffly, turning on his heels to leave as you get under the covers. Blaming this on your intoxication, you suddenly find yourself exclaiming. 
“Wait!” 
He pauses right before his foot moves outside the doorframe and turns toward you, eyebrows raised. “You need something, Your Highness?”
You stare at him seriously, pressing your head against your pillow. “Don’t...leave, please,” you whisper softly, curling into a ball at the tenderness of your voice.
“I don’t want to be alone,” you admit quietly. 
He freezes, staring at you as if he’d never seen you before and you avert your gaze, afraid maybe you let on too much. 
“Sorry,” you quickly apologize, but that only flusters you more. “I-I mean not sorry, you asshole. Just- whatever. I’m in bed now, you can go.” 
Feeling embarrassed, you quickly flip over and turn your back to him.  
Seconds later, you hear the door click close and then nothing. A heavy sigh escapes you and you try to suppress the feeling of disappointment that envelops your whole body. 
You didn’t know if it was the drinks or the cold distant dinners you’d been having with your family...but you had never felt more alone. All the clubbing and trying to escape your destiny by trying to pave a life of your own couldn’t fill in that emptiness you couldn’t get rid of no matter how hard you tried.  
You didn’t want to feel like that anymore. Not tonight. 
So even if it was your bodyguard who you hated with everything in you, you needed someone just to be there. Even if it was just to sit in silence with.  
Suddenly, you hear a gentle swish noise and gasp lightly, flipping over. Agent Barnes has thrown his jacket over the chair beside your bed and is loosening his tie and he stares at you. His beautiful gaze sucks you in as you blink up at him in surprise. 
He shrugs. “I can’t just....leave you here alone.” 
Your chest clenches painfully and warmth travels all over your body like warm gooey honey. The feeling of having someone there for you when you need them most is almost overwhelmingly strong. 
“Thank you,” you whisper so quietly, you’re shocked he even hears it. 
He tilts his head at you, frowning with that handsome face of his. “For what? It’s my job.” 
There he goes detaching himself. With a gentle shrug, you nod and curl into a ball under your covers, trying to covet sleep. 
You try this for a few minutes and you’re tired, but you can’t help thinking about Agent Barnes sitting in a hard chair all night. After a while of tossing and turning, you sit up. 
“Oh for fuck’s sake,” you breathe with irritation. 
“What? What happened?” he sits up instantly, and though you could tell he was on the verge of dozing off, his sharp senses are impressive as he reaches for the gun on his ankle frantically. 
You sigh, hating the way your cheeks grow hot and you look away timidly. “Just get into bed,” you say roughly. 
“What?”
You bite your lip, looking at him in the eyes. “I said; get into bed with me. That chair is uncomfortable.” 
He laughs lightly. “Princess, I was trained by the world’s best assassins. I was taught to sleep on a cold concrete ground if need be.” He gives the chair a firm pat. “This chair is a luxury for a guy like me.”
You stare at him for a few seconds more, wondering more about his past before lightly shaking your head. 
“I don’t care. I still feel bad that I made you sleep here on a chair. Just get in already, will you?” You growl at his stubbornness. “The bed is huge, there’ll be enough space for the both of us, if that’s what you’re concerned about,” you add on, softly. 
After a few seconds of intense eye contact, he finally relents with a small sigh. “Fine.” 
Hesitantly, he cuffs his sleeves and perches himself on the edge of the bed- all stiff and tight. “Good?” He asks, glancing at you with raised brows.
You frown. “You’re kidding.”
“What?”
“You’re not actually planning to sleep like that are you?” You snort. 
“I told you-”
“That you were trained by dangerous assassins, yeah yeah. But you’re still a human and a ridiculous one at that,” you scoff before suddenly smirking.  “You’re not afraid of lil old me, are you? I’m tiny- I couldn’t possibly hurt you...too much,” you offer him a faux innocent smile, batting your lashes. 
He stares at you, a small smirk tugging at his lips. “Oh trust me, I’ve met girls like you before. You definitely don’t bite.” 
You raise a brow amusedly. “Girls like me?”
His sexy smirk widens. “Yeah. You’re all bark but no bite,” he replies vaguely.
Feeling partially indignant and partially curious, you decide to probe him for answers. “Oh yeah?”
He can’t resist your subtle challenge and continue speaking. “You’re always in power, constantly being chased after because you’re beautiful and rich and you act like it’s what you want in a guy, but it isn’t, is it?”
Deeply intrigued by his generally accurate analysis, you can’t help but laugh. “Oh?”
“No.” He stares deeply into your eyes and the smile slips off your lips as he says his next words with the intensity of a thousand suns. “You bark out orders and you take on responsibilities like a boss, but what you really want is a man. Not a pushover boy that’ll listen to your every command and constantly try to please you, fall at your feet...But a man that’ll choke slam you on the bed, that’ll make you his, that’ll torture you with the deepest pits of hellish pleasure until he ruins every other man for you. You want to be controlled, brought over the edge so far you won’t ever be able to go there by yourself and then at the last moment get that taken away from you. You want to be used.” 
You openly gape at him but he ignores you and slightly scoots closer, still at a safe distance, but close enough where you can feel his body heat radiating off of him.
“Sleep, Princess,” he whispers. “I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
At first, you’re too shocked to react. Your heart is positively hammering against your ribcage and your cheeks are uncharacteristically red. You were flushed. How had he managed to...’you know what?’ You think. ‘No.’ 
You breathe in deeply. ‘ I’m not going to think about it anymore.’
Because doing so would mean letting him win. And also, never mind the fact that he’s in your bed right now...
Decidedly, you squeeze your eyes shut, begging sleep to come amidst all your stupid, surely drunken thoughts about your stupid bodyguard and kissing him, or simply straddling him right now...
Despite how much you disliked him, you felt safe and protected, like you could let your guard down. And yet...not enough. 
Soon, lulled by the steady beating of his heart and the warmth of his body, you curl into a ball and slowly let your heavy lids close, relaxing completely.
“Oh, and Agent Brainless?” you murmur, on the very verge of sleep. 
“Yes, princess?” He looks at you. 
You manage to send him one last cold smirk before answering.  
“Don’t misinterpret this, right now. I’m merely asking you to do your job.” 
And then darkness takes over.
Before fully giving into the softness of the darkness of slumber, though, you think you hear him laugh softly and say something like “wouldn’t dream of it, brat.” 
****
They’re honestly growing on me. Should I continue?
Tumblr media
ALSO YALL SEE TFATWS????  SEBASTIAN LOOKS SO DARN GOOD PLEASEEEEEE
A special thanks to:
@lilypalmer1987
@jessikared97
@sammykb1994
@mogaruke
@mo-onstarrs
@loveofmychips @juliesland​
277 notes · View notes
bill-y · 3 years
Text
𝐈𝐍𝐔𝐑𝐄
Peeta Mellark x male reader
We all know who Katniss Everdeen is, but what if Primrose hadn’t been chosen but another boy from another unfortunate family? YOUR family.
Info: This is basically a reader insert and I’ve changed a few rules, not ground breaking though. The reader is a bit bland for now but I plan for his actions to be different. Because he has different moral grounds from Katniss and such. Would appreciate feedback! FEEL FREE TO POINT OUT TYPOS. GRAMMARLY SOMETIMES DOESN’T DO MY DYSLEXIC ASS JUSTICE
Part two: Click here, bomburino tortilla pony horse.
Part three: You're here, my guy.
Part four: Click here, amigo
Wattpad acc: L0calxDumbass
Tumblr media
It didn't take long before I came home, my mother and brother was already dressed, and I was right, Kunal has been crying.
He immediately lightened up when he saw the bread, pushing the sleeves of my first reaping outfit (which was now his) back in order to munch on it.
"Don't worry, you only have your name once in the pile, you're safe," I reassured him, as I've done many times before.
I smiled, patting his head. My mother glanced at me, but I pretended to not notice. It's been long since we've talked, the last time was a disagreement, a petty one at that. About two years or so?
I honestly surpised myself, how can I go without talking to her for so long. . .?
Another trait my father passed on to me was a short temper, though I never lose my head and scream, but something about her words made me yell. Her face was full of shock when I did that, almost as if I've betrayed her.
"Don't be stupid like your father!" She told me.
My father isn't a stupid man, he was smart. Lady luck just wasn't on his side that day.
I took a bath, scrubbing the dirt and soot off myself. When I saw my clothing my heart stopped. It was my Father's.
It was simple, just as he liked. A white button up tunic, the hems made of elegant gold lace. The pants were loose, with garters securing on the hip and the hems, he never liked tight clothing, just like me.
My eyes went towards my mother, who simply nodded, "After you get dressed, sit down, won't you? Let me fix your hair," she said.
My mouth opened to protest, only to shut itself when she whispered a small, "please," My eyes softened, her voice sounded so guilty, she regretted her words, just as I did. She knew I could get chosen.
But I'm a coward, I don't like apologizing, something I inherited from her.
I nodded, and got dressed before I sat down, just as she told me. She began to braid tiny sections of my hair. I've never been good at it, really, It would always look messy when I did it. So I just looked messy everyday.
But her hands can do magic, it was like she was weaving silk, her hands full of grace and utmost care as she intertwined every strand of hair. I could feel her hand shake a little, as if scared with one wrong touch, I'd shatter like glass.
She used to sew clothing, make various artworks with whatever was in the house. Her hand was naturally delicate, soft to anything she makes contact with.
I bit my lip, none of us wanted to say it. We we're both thinking the same thing, though.
I never really liked cutting my hair, always kept it atleast neck length at best. I don't think short hair suits me at all, though it does get in the way while hunting from time to time.
Once she finished, without a word she pressed her chapped lips onto my forehead, she then walked away, leaving me with a pit of guilt in my stomach.
Such simple words, why can't I just say it?
I sighed, fixing my tunic and tucking it in, the garter snapping back, making me wince a little. It was stupid of me to let go.
I took a deep breath in, mustering all the courage I had to walk towards my brother, who has devoured the entire loaf. "Good?" I asked.
He nodded, a smile on his face, the crumbs falling down. I chuckled, wiping his mouth with my hand.
"You're like a bird, aren't you, little mocking jay?" I said, patting his head again.
He hummed, nodding aggressively, his hair bouncing up and down. I snickered, holding his head still with both my hands. I squished his cheeks together, making his lips form into a duck beak-shape. "Hey, Y/n,"
I rose my brows, humming. "I won't get chosen, won't I?" he asked. I sniffed, shaking my head as I linked our foreheads. "No, no you wont, Nal," I said. "If they call you, I won't let you go, alright?"
"You promise?"
"Of course,"
Soon it hit one in the afternoon, it was mandatory to attend this "festival", unless you're at death's door, that is. I found myself beside Gale, who patted my shoulder for reassurance.
Maybe it was obvious I'm stressed, tense. I'm not worried about myself, I'm more worried of them, especially Kunal. He's only twelve, yet he can still get chosen.
Some kind of festival this is.
I clenched my fists tighter, palms started to go white as I also clenched my jaw.
On the temporary stage stationed in front of the justice building was a podium, three chairs and two large bowls. The district is divided into two sections, jumbled across those two glass bowls, waiting to be picked up.
Twenty of them contained 'Y/n Greyback', one of them contained 'Kunal Greyback'.
There were also bright banners hung up, though I'm sure it was just there to taunt us, it sure worked for me. Everytime I look at it I start feel sick, hatred bubbling in my stomach.
The feeling of claustrophobia began to settle in as people piled into the square, the late comers having to just watch from a monitor instead.
"You alright?" Gale asked, nudging me. I gulped, sighing, "Course, I just —" I turned back, looking at my brother. "Worry of him,"
He gave me a sympathetic look, "He only has one entry, I'm sure he won't be picked," He said. Something I've been saying for such a long time, it didn't help settle my nerves.
"I know," I answered plainly.
We looked towards Katniss' place, beside her was Mardge, who gave me a curt smile and a wave. Out of politeness, I simply nodded back before turning back to the stage.
My hands grew colder each second, by two, when the mayor finally reached the stage, my hands were as cold as a corpse's.
Beside the mayor was Effie Trinket, District 12’s escort, fresh from the Capitol with her scary white grin, pinkish hair, and spring green suit. It looked quite ghastly.
Everyone murmured in worry, for whom was the empty third seat for?
The mayor stepped in front of the podium, beginning to tell the tale of Panem, how the twelve districts lost in the rebellion and now have to face punishment.
The Hunger games.
It was simple, each district would pick two "tributes" to this little game, and then they either kill like a hungry wolf or die like lost cattle.
I gulped, sweat forming on my forehead as I instinctively reached for the end of Gale's shirt. He held my hand, patting it a few times to let me know it would be alright.
He then began to read the victors in every hunger games. In the past seventy-four years, we have had exactly two.
Only one is still alive. Haymitch Abernathy, a paunchy, middle-aged man, who at this moment appears hollering something unintelligible, staggers onto the stage, and falls into the third chair.
To say he's drunk would be an understatement.
The crowd responds with its token applause, but he’s confused and tries to give Effie Trinket a big hug, which she barely manages to fend off.
The mayor looks distressed. Since all of this is being televised, right now District 12 is the laughingstock of Panem, and he knows it. He quickly tries to pull the attention back to the reaping by introducing Effie Trinket.
Bright and bubbly as ever, she began to talk. I could feel my blood boiling upon hearing her obnoxious, Capitol accent. I tuned her out, gulping as my hands somehow grew even colder.
Please don't let it be my brother, anyone but him.
"Let's have the first pick, shall we?" She said, her voice at the end of the sentence practically sky rocketing up. She pulled a piece of paper from one of the Glass bowls.
My heart pounded, as if trying to escape my chest. I closed my eyes, taking deep breaths in.
"Kunal Greyback,"
My heart stopped. Why couldn't it have been me? I had twenty, TWENTY entries.
I watched as my brother walked past me, his lip quivering, eyes glossy. Oh sweet, sweet Kunal, as delicate as a Lotus.
Kunal, the boy who gathers flowers every morning just for me.
Kunal, the boy who loves pulling on my braids.
Kunal, my dear innocent brother. Afraid of his own shadow.
I felt my own body move, launching myself forward. Gale called for my name, but I didn't care, no. I needed to get to my brother, I made a promise.
"NAL! NAL! NO!" I yelled, desperation evident in my voice as I pushed through the other people. "Y/n!" He screamed back.
Most of then gave me and my brother looks of sympathy, some gossiped. "Greyback," they'd whisper. "Another one bites the dust," they'd continue.
The peace keepers pushed me back, preventing me from reaching my brother.
No, not like this. He's still so young, he still wants to gather lilys by the front of our house, he still wants to create flower crowns for me to wear.
He still wants to breath, to live.
The mayor looked at me, recignizing me almost immediately. He didn't know me, no. Rather, he knew my father, the man he put under the execution block.
Oh mother, I'm sorry it had to be this way. It seems another one of your family members will die at the hands of the Capitol.
"I volunteer!" I gasped, gulping down nothing. My mouth was dry.
"I volunteer as a tribute!"
Tumblr media
Word count: 1.6k
Tags:
@nin3s
:v
154 notes · View notes