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drakulana · 24 days

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Hi there! I have a angst/comfort writing about Law x y/n so far and I want to muster up the courage to ask you about this:

Its a bit complicated and rather long, Reader's strugling with trust issues due to her past betrayal and exploitation. Law once despite everything saved her from danger and cured her, even though she really loves him, but when she was mentally unstable, she broke down and confided that he was just taking advantage of her, taking advantage of her feelings, denying how genuine his feelings for her were.

I want to see you write his reaction and everything that happens after that! Hope you have a great day💖

Thank you so much for the request! I'm sorry it took my so long to answer, life has been so crazy! I hope you enjoy it!! @hana-san

late night envy - law x reader

ᯓ★wc: 2.1k

ᯓ★content: angst/comfort, fighting, alcohol consumption

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It was a clear night. You could see every star in the sky. Your captain had given the crew the privilege of surfacing for the night due to a breakthrough on a research project everyone had been working on together. Earlier, all of the crew had been partying and drinking amongst one another. It wasn’t every night that they got to see the night sky, and breathe in the salty air. It was a nice change of scenery apart from the steel walls that kept them so close.

The party that ensued was one that Penguin and Shachi had referred to as a “rager” consisting of loud music and drinking games that were only ever fun if you were intoxicated. Luckily, everyone was. It had been a while since the crew had got to drink together like this. Everyone was on the top deck, all except for one person. The captain, of course. It wasn’t uncommon for the captain not to indulge in their festivities, but he always showed his face for at least the first half hour. Tonight, to the dismay of everyone on the crew, he was not. Well, everyone except for you. The party was doing its job at distracting you from the burden of the situationship you held with the absent captain, more so the fight you had with him almost half a week ago.

The relationship between you and Law was never supposed to happen. It blossomed out of the heat of the moment. Like two magnets, you couldn’t help but to gravitate towards one another. However recent events had made you fear that your polarity towards one another had been reversed. These days, Law was scarce. He had a lot on his plate, you knew that, but sometimes you couldn’t help but to feel as if it were personal. He was planning a solo mission soon, and cut you out of the whole research aspect all together. Anytime you would come into his office, he’d dismiss you soon after. Anytime you would try to aid him with any type of research, he would tell you that he could handle it on his own, giving you another task to uphold somewhere on the other side of the ship. How could you not take something like that personal? A few nights ago, you had confronted Law ending in a screaming match between the two of you. You asked him why he was avoiding you, and he denied it. You asked if he was no longer interested in you, and he said that you were reading too much into the situation. I am a captain, and a warlord. I have things on my plate you couldn’t possibly begin to understand. You can’t come in here and disrupt my work, trying to find petty answers to your own insecurities. The words that were said that night had stung, and Law knew he had overstepped. Before an apology could even leave his mouth, you had turned on your heel walking out of the office, slamming the door behind you. Law didn’t follow you, he never did.

It was now half past two, and your crewmates had finally decided to start turning in for the night. It wasn’t long before the stragglers had left the deck to return back to their bunks. A few crewmates asked you if you were coming inside too, and you waved them off with a dismissive I’ll be there, soon. You didn’t want to turn in just yet, you wanted to sit with the ocean and it’s stars for a little longer. If you were lucky, you’d be able to see the sunrise. It was very rare to be able to see the morning hues of soft pinks, and oranges. A cool breeze wafted over your face, and you took a deep inhale in. It was quiet out here. You couldn’t hear the incessant buzzing of the lights, or the never ending humming of the engines below you. You didn’t feel confined between cold metal walls, and you felt like you could finally breathe. You had a lot on your mind tonight, and to feel just a little less claustrophobic helped ease your tormented mind. You were hoping to find some solace in the waves sloshing against the metal of the ship, and a bottle of sake you had hidden away earlier in the night.

It had been almost four days since you had last talked to Law. Any time you would see him in the halls, or during mealtimes, you would turn the other way. You weren’t going to chase after him, either. The way he made you feel that night was something you hadn’t felt in a long time. The argument made you feel unseen, unheard. All those times that you and Law had shared behind closed doors. All the deep personal talks you had with him, all the sweetness you had saved just for him, felt meaningless.

A waft of cold air hit your face, bringing you back to reality. The quiet black ocean aided you in your spiral. You felt as if he didn’t want you anymore. You didn’t know what you possibly could have done to deserve this cold shoulder from him. You took another swig from the bottle of sake that had set next to you on the cold steel deck. You were about half way through the bottle now. You didn’t know what time it was, or how long you had been out here. There were no signs of morning for the next few hours. The sky and the ocean were now just one vast darkness speckled with stars. Everyone inside was probably already asleep in their bunks by now. All but one person, your captain. He never slept the way he was supposed to. You knew he wasn’t asleep, and a small part of you tugged to go see him, but you knew with Law you could never come to him first. He would have to come to you, and usually he did within a day or so, but it had been almost four days now. You took a deep breath, you could feel the alcohol setting into your system. It weighed you down to your chair, slowly creeping into your legs.

You concentrated on the sloshing of the water against the sides of the ship, trying to pry your thoughts away from the earlier events from the week. It was to no avail, though. You couldn’t help the whirlwind of memories, and the emotions attached to them from setting fire to your brain. Like a movie behind your intoxicated eyes, it played. All the people you had met before you had been involved with the Heart Pirates, all the places you had gone. Everyone who had ever scorned you was now at the forefront of your mind. nasty words that you had been called, the mistreatment from all of your previous peers echoed against the walls of your skull. It was the creaking of a metal door that had transported you back into the present. You didn’t look behind you to know who it was, you could pick out those footsteps from anywhere. It was Law. You didn’t move, you just stared ahead holding your now almost empty sake bottle against you. You didn’t want to have the conversation you knew was pending in this state, so you simply did not engage.

Law’s deep voice cut through the sloshing, “It’s late,” he simply stated. You rolled your eyes at the sound of his tone. The way Law spoke always held an assured certainty that only he could make sound natural, but now his words tasted bitter in your mouth and the certainty was replaced with a cockiness that you found unbecoming of Law. You usually didn’t think like this, you were intoxicated. Another reason you wished he would just turn around and go back to his chambers, maybe even go to sleep for once. Law approached behind you, “Still ignoring me?” You scoffed at his audacity. You ignoring him? He practically begged for it the way he talked to you four nights ago. Still, you didn’t let up. You didn’t even give him a word. He walked around into your view. He was wearing a long jacket, his usual jeans, and a white tee. Your eyes studied him. He didn’t look like he had slept, but that wasn’t surprising, he never slept. His hat was unusually missing, leaving his messy black hair ruffling in the slight breeze. It was dark out here, but the moon had lit up the sky enough for you to see him. You made eye contact with him, and you could see something behind his eyes that wasn’t typically there, remorse. Usually that remorse would eat away at your soul, and make you cave, but not tonight. You tore your eyes away from the man standing in front of you, as he let out a sigh. He took a seat next to you, eyeing the bottle in your lap. “You’ve drank… a lot,” He reached over, taking the bottle from your grasp before setting it down on the other side of him. Again, the audacity. If you hadn’t been so drunk, you would’ve snatched it back, but there was no physical fight left in you at this point.

The two of you sat in silence for a minute, before you heard Law take a huge breath, “Listen, you can’t just ignore-” he didn’t even finish the rest of his sentence before you had snapped your head towards him, cutting him off. “No, Law, you listen to me,” a surge of pain rushed to behind your eyes, only fueling your anger. A painful knot swelled up in your throat, “I understand that you are a warlord with a lot on your plate. I understand that the weight you pull is heavy, but that does not give you the right to be such a dick. If it’s space you need, then you got it, but don’t come out here badgering me about ignoring you when I can’t possibly begin to understand the things you have going on-” Law’s protest started to cut you off, but you didn’t give in, “No, don’t talk. I’m not finished. You had no place sitting there calling me insecure about your neglect whenever we hav-had some sort of relationship. I feel taken advantage of. Then you want to come out here and say that I’ve been ignoring you when I’m actually just giving you the space you so badly wanted? No,” at this point, you could feel the bile rising up in your throat, burning its way up your esophagus. It felt as if all the words that you had wanted to say were crawling up your throat pushing themselves out. You pushed yourself out of your seat, making a beeline to bend yourself over the side of the rails. Before you knew it, you were face to face with the black water emptying all of your stomach’s contents. Your legs shook underneath you, and you could feel Law behind you with his hands on your hips steadying your balance. You wanted to push him back away from you, but you hardly had the strength to hold yourself up anymore. It was frustrating feeling this weak in front of him after you had chewed him out, drunkenly. Once you were done, Law pulled you back up turning you to face him. “Let’s go inside, okay?” He asked you softly. It didn’t matter the protests you gave him, he was dragging you behind him staggering your way back into the ship.

Once you were inside, Law led you back into his quarters. You were still mad at Law, and he knew that. He sat you down onto the bed digging out some clothes from his dresser laying them beside you, “Get changed, I’ll be right back,” He told you before shutting the door behind him. He returned when you were dressed with a bottle of water and two small white pills in his hand. “Take these, we’ll talk more in the morning,” He told you. You huffed and layed down in his bed, covering yourself with the blankets. Law looked at your figure before taking his jacket and his shoes off, “Can I lay with you?” He asked you, earning a small nod from you. Although you were mad, you couldn’t deny the comfort Law’s presence brought you. He crawled under the blankets, wrapping an arm around your drunken drowsy body, “You know I’m sorry, right?” He whispered to you, “I didn’t mean any of those things I said,” His hand trailed up and down your spine, putting pressure on certain places where he could tell knots were forming. Low hums fell from your mouth as he rubbed your back. You could feel your trepidation melting away as his fingers worked their way up to your shoulders. You finally let your eyes close, and let the heaviness of sleep take you. You would talk to Law in the morning, but for right now, the both of you were okay.

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@drakulana 2024 // i do not give permission to copy, translate, or repost, any of my content without my consent

#one piece #trafalgar law #law x reader #one piece x reader #trafalgar d water law #one piece fan fic #trafalgar law x reader #one piece fan fiction #inbox ask #fic request

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elliesstrapon · 7 months

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-------✯¸.•´*¨`*•✿˗ˏˋ ´ˎ˗✿•*`¨*`•.¸✯-------

˚ ༘♡ ⋆｡“ Birthday Sex „ ♪°

.・゜-: ✿ :-

✧ Pairings: Ellie Williams x Reader

✧Summary: Ellie wants nothing more than for you to have an amazing birthday; she shows you the time of your life 🤭

✧Warnings: nsfw, smut, (r! receiving/ fingering), Ellie is a sucker for teasing, oral, alcohol, swearing, dom Ellie, flirty reader, I will TRY not to use Y/n please hear me out. Also not very good at writing this stuff so you know.. Anyways enjoy :))

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Ever since you'd turned 17, your birthday hadn't really meant much to you, the presents were cool, the cards were alright, it just wasn't anything new to you, it was the same thing time after time again.

And of course today was no different, you were 20 years old. And reasonably so; you weren't doing anything, at all.

Or.. so you thought. Since you'd moved to Jackson (two years prior), your friends insisted on making every day special. Something about "making every day count," and, "You never know what could happen" is typically what Dina and Jesse would say. You'd told them repeatedly you couldn't care less even though you appreciated it, and up until now Ellie never cared what you did for your birthday, she just followed, stayed quiet, sometimes you thought she didn't even like you at all. You guys didn't have anything special and you only hung out because of Jesse, you never talked, nor walked together or went out, when you thought about it really hard, you didn't even know if you really had an opinion on Ellie; she was just there.

Clearly, you were much more than you thought.

"Jesse, has Ellie told you anything?" You asked him, you guys were walking through Jackson, getting fresh air. "Uh.. Depends, like what?" He averted his gaze to the mountains in the distance. "She asked to see me.. like later.. at her place." You let out in disbelief. "I mean, I don't even think she LIKES me, Jesse, she never even spares a single glance at me unless absolutely necessary."

"Okay, well now, I don't think that's true" Jesse chuckled, rolling his eyes and paused in his tracks, bringing you to an abrupt stop as well. "She stares at you all the time, what the hell are you talking about?!" He laughs. "Jesse, no offense, but you're the LAST person I trust with this.. not even going to lie." You sighed. "Remember at the dance, you thought Dina'd dance with you, and just like that it was ELLIE she grabbed? Can you imagine the second hand embarrassment I felt? I had to leave." You joked. "Okay stop, I'm serious." He furrowed his brows. "In any case, she doesn't not like you, trust me, I see her looking at you all the time. You could ask any other person in Jackson and they'd tell you." He assured you.

"Whatever... Thanks." You smiled. "Anything for you" He winked jokingly. "When did she want you over? What'd she even say?" He suddenly brought up.

"Uh, I don't know, it was something like; 'Come over later, wear something nice, don't be late', type shit, it felt kinda rushed if I'm honest." You huffed.

"Weird, I haven't heard any special events round' town for tonight." He thought, watching the horizon absent mindidly. "Yeah.. Whatever she just said I had to be there at like, what? Maybe 7:30?" You tried to recall. "Well you might wanna get ready then, it's 6:00" he checked his watch. "Oh! Shit!" You gasped. "Ugh I had no idea.." You groaned. "Thanks Jesse, I'll update you tomorrow?" You tapped his shoulder, not giving him a chance to respond. "K, bye!"

You raced home, not too far from where you and Jesse had been and decided to get ready, you still weren't sure what the deal was, why suddenly your birthday mattered to her, or why you had to look nice; you just went along with it.

In the depths of your closet you found a black off the shoulder dress. You weren't aware why, or how long you had it. But regardless you slipped it on, it was slim, and fell just beneath your thighs, it assentuated your hips, it was soft, comfortable, you couldn't see yourself wearing anything else 'nicer' than that.

You slipped on your bracelets and a random silver chain necklace and tied your hair how you always did. And checked the time one more time.

‘ 7:00 ’, the clock read. You decided if you were going over, you might as well be a bit early. You left your home locking the doors and made your way to her place.

As you got closer, your heart began to pound. Anything was about to happen, good or bad, suddenly everything you thought about Ellie before had changed. You were repeating how you'd say hi to her, or how she'd react when you got there early, and suddenly that snow ball of thoughts stopped.

Ellies door. You didn't know whether you wanted to knock or just run back home. You breathed deapily, raising your hand to the door, you finally knocked a tune, like in those movies you'd watched with Dina and Jesse.. and Ellie.

Your heart began to race again, as you heard the door knob shake, you let out an equally as Shakey breath when the door opened to an oh so attractive Ellie Williams, standing— no towering over you, with her hooded green eyes and soft looking hair just barley covering her eye brow slit, you couldn't stop, just her muscular arms, and exposed collar bone, to her tattoo, that you had no backstory on what so ever, all you knew was just how she was so fucking hot right now.

"Hmmh.." she hummed. "you're early." Her voice was raspy. "Happy birthday, beautiful." She said taking a long sip from the moonshine bottle you hadn't even noticed she'd been holding the whole time.

Your face began to heat up, you suddenly felt very dizzy, "uh, thanks" you mumbled. She set the bottle of moonshine on what you assumed was a dresser next to the door. "Well? Are you coming inside or not?" She sarcastically said; as if she wasn't smack-dab in the center of the door way. She moved to the side allowing you to enter before closing the door quickly behind you.

It was a open concept type of thing, her bedroom was also her living room, her living room was her kitchen, on the contrary, it was still spacious, she had posters across the walls, her guitar by her couch, she had fairy lights hanging above her bed and a few video games by her TV at the foot of her bed on the right. "Sit where you'd like" she husked. "okay," you breathed, at this point you didn't know how to breathe at all and your words came out without any articulation.

You sat on the couch by the window, taking in the rest of her room, her decor, she sat beside you.

"So.." You started. "Uhm.. why'd you want me over..?" You trailed off and your eyes wandererd, too scared to look into her eyes in fear you'd freeze then and there. "I mean, I got all dressed up, and I don't see anything special" you joked, attempting to lift the awkwardness you casted upon yourself on your own. "Really?" She chuckled. "Yes, really" you rolled your eyes, "Who invites someone over telling them to dress up with no intention of putting in effort yourself?" You furrowed your brows at her "no cake, no decorations, what was the point?" You finally kept eye contact, counting the freckles across her cheeks like constellations, and taking in every hue in her eyes.

"What makes you think there was a point?" She grimaced before every so slightly shuffling towards you. Making your heart skip 2 beats in a second. "I don't know, you don't talk to me" your voice was low, "doesn't mean I don't wanna see you." She started. "With a pretty face like yours, who wouldn't wanna see you?" She whispered. The room began to feel warm. You couldn't think of or look at anything but Ellie, her lips, her neck, you couldn't unfocus yourself from her breath which smelled like alcohol, and yet you still wanted to kiss her more.

"You don't mean that" you lightly sighed out back, starting to feel the sweat form at your neck and forehead.

She shuffled closer to you, leaving you about 3 inches apart, her breath and body both warm. "I do" she smiled. Her arm had appeared at your side all of a sudden, you didn't even know how long it'd been there, and her words were starting to be engraved in your mind. "So what? What're you trying to say?" You raised your brow, trying to stay confident, but the space that was so quickly closing between you was making your heart beat faster and faster by each passing second. "I don't know, what do you think?" She whispered back to you, her smile never dropping; it was the prettiest, you found yourself longing for something to happen already, for her to kiss you? Maybe scootch closer to you? If that was even possible, you were an inch and a half apart, you needed her to lean in already, her strong moonshine scent coming from her small breaths, her body radiating so much heat was almost unreal. If you kept looking into her eyes any longer, you thought you'd get lost in them. "Ellie.." you huffed. You didn't know what to say, or do, you wanted to beg for her to finally do something.

She began to lean in closer, taking that as the green light and she only smiled brighter, you thought how could she be so hot and so cute at the same time? When did the tension become so high. " 'm gonna make you feel so good." She whispered before finally kissing you, so gently yet so roughly; like she'd been waiting for the moment she got to ruin you from inside and out, her lips were wet, and soft, her hands found there way up to your cheeks to cup them, every part of her was just so soft. You held onto her waist as you kissed back. Nothing filled the room but your desperate need for breath and your small whines, she bit on your bottom lip, causing you to spread them, taking the opportunity ever so quickly, she inserted her tongue, you began to moan into the kiss, her hands were roaming your body, feeling every single part of you, and all you could do was grip at her hips harder.

Your tongues danced around, sliding against eachother, if heaven were a person; you'd one the lottery, you were seeing stars, the gates of heaven themselves.

She'd started to pin you down, her knee centered between your legs causing the slightest ever contact, you felt so weak. "Shit.." you moaned, breaking the sloppy kiss. She left kisses around your lips, taking in every breath you took, her kisses started to be left from the corner of your lips to your neck, she nipped and sucked at it, every hickey she'd left was the vague image of almost a butterfly. "You're doing so good, princess" she grinned against your skin, the kisses tracing along your collar bone, "mmhn" you let out, her hands made there way up your dress, playing with your thigh and circling her thumb, out of all that'd been happening, it was the most comforting.

"Take it off" she demanded. "What?" You breathed. "Your dress, take it off" she commended again, you obeyed, you sat up slightly beginning to slide the dress off you put on not even more than an hour ago. "Fuck" she whispered. The last bit of ease you had was gone. You felt exposed.

Her kisses continued from your collar bone to your chest, "fuck you're so beautiful" she gasped against your sweaty hickey stained skin. Your hand played in her hair, roughly keeping her head in place as she left thousands more of wet kisses on your breasts. "Look who's talking" you winced at her hand cupping one of your boobs, her hand soft and gently playing with them. She smiled at your remark. She left another bruise against your skin once more, moving on to your stomach, she licked and traced kisses down your happy trail, "mmhn, god.." your whines and needy moans filled the room. "If you were any louder, Jackson'd here you" she teased, getting close to your clit, her hand was still rubbing circles up your inner thigh. Your pussy was throbbing in your own wetness, you hadn't even realized had stained your panties. "Wet already?" She smirked looking up at you, "who knew you were so turned on?" Her hooded eyes darkened. You swore you could see the amount of unresolved lust behind them now. "Who's not turned on by you?" You flirted back, spreading your legs more so she wouldn't have to ask. "You have no idea what you're doing" her voice was low, leaving kisses inside your thigh near your entrance. She was testing you.

Her kisses become long hard bites, leaving and sucking on the hickeys. "Ellie..." You whined. She looked up at you once more before grabbing the hem of your panties, sliding them off so slowly the throbbing only quickened, she had barley done anything to you and your climax wasn't far off. "I'm gonna ruin every last organ in your body" she seductively smiled.

She raised her hand towards your mouth, "suck" she said, her ring finger and middle finger near your mouth.

You agreed to her request, sucking on both, leaving a string of salvia around them. "Fuck" she groaned. Looking up at you still, "You're doing so good, babe." She whispered, she felt so weak, it almost made her angry. "Mm" you hummed still sucking down her fingers with your warm liquids. "Good" she smirked at you.

She lined her fingers up with your entrance. "You ready?" She looked to you with consent. "Mhm" you heaved.

She started rubbing your clit, her pace slow, "Ellie what the fuck, please—" you begged. "Desperate?" She smiled up at you, her pace increasing just the slightest bit, if she wasn't so slow you probably wouldn't have noticed the sudden quickness. "You listened" you said inbetween irregular breaths. "Maybe I shouldn't have" she teased again before rubbing her fingers faster.

She finally slid them in your entrance, swiftly, it caught you by surprise. "Shit!" You cried, the pleasure washing over the pain, you arched your back, trying to create more friction, somehow get her deeper inside you. "Shh, it's okay" she kissed your neck, your face, everywhere, calming you down so she could adjust her long slender fingers inside you. She kissed you one last time before moving her fingers in and out of you slowly. "You okay?" She asked concerningly, "yes, go— please" you begged, the tears pairing with the beads of sweat on your forehead. Her pace quickened, filling you to the max, "mmnh! God, Ellie, shit-" you cried again as she hit your g-spot so much it felt illegal how good she was at it. "You're doing so well" she kissed your shoulder as she pounded her fingers in and out of you much like how much your heart'd been pounding an hour ago. But much better, she scissored, and pumped her fingers in and out of you so fast, and hard, you could nearly see the end of the world. Every inch of you was trembling, your finishing near and her kisses sweet, it was so much better than a cake, or birthday presents.

"E-ellie, I'm close" you cried, your legs shaking and her fingers doing you so hard it was other worldly. "Don't" she said, suddenly pulling out. "What?" You gasped "Ellie please.." you pleaded. You needed it so bad. "Please just let me" you begged. "I'm not done, gorgeous. You think I'd let you finish without letting me eat you out?" She smirked.

"Shit" you whispered, "don't worry, I'll let you" she smiled "I just need you so bad" she started kissing you inner thigh once more, trailing up sloppy kisses until your clit again, giving the same treatment she'd did your bruised skin, she began to suck at your pussy, sucking it occasionally, her tongue circled, and ate at you, her saliva leaking from you. "God.. mmhn.." you whined as she licked and sucked faster, the circles she was leaving with her tongue turning just as lazy and needy as her wet kisses previously. "Fuck. You taste so good.." she whispered, eating you out like a full course buffay. "Ellie please" you trembled, you legs couldn't stay still, her tongue still licking your clit. "I'm so.." you trailed off catching your breath. "I'm so fucking close" you finished. You could feel it hitting your stomach so low. "Even better" she smirked, she began rubbing your pussy with her fingers as she ate you out, swirling her tongue over and over again, you were wet, and covered in sweat and hickeys.

"Ellie!—shit oh my— fuck of my god" you cried, cumming inside her mouth, "good girl" she said, swallowing every single last bit of it, "Ugh" you sighed. Catching the breath you'd missed the whole time.

"you did so good" she said, lifting her head from your pussy. "Ellie, shit." You breathed. "What'd you think I was trying to say?" She pinned her arms above you, looking down on you, she smiled at the mess she'd made. "Shut up" you sighed. "That's how you wanted to tell me?" You raised a brow, your hair completely undone. "Happy birthday" she joked. "Sorry" she apologized. "Did it work though?" She smirked. "Fuck yes" you smiled. "I'd do it all over again" you fluttered your lashes, grabbing her tatted arm, leaving a trail of kisses.

"Fuck"

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Round 2 but REVERSED. Sorry it was so rushed this is not my best and it was so difficult I'm never writing smut again (I definitely will) sorry it sucked though😕✋

#ellie tlou #ellie williams #reading #the last of us #tlou #tlou2 #ellie smut #ellie x reader #ellie x fem reader #smut

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smartycvnt · 7 months

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Hung Up

Title: Hung Up Pairing: Rhea Ripley x Reader Prompt: 4. "You care for the people you love." R WC: 1139

The arena went silent as they all stared over to where Y/n had just been knocked down. Almost everybody looked absolutely shocked by the events that had transpired. Damian had charged at Seth, who moved out of the way at the last second, causing Damian to suicide dive into Y/n. That spot had been planned and worked over for weeks, but the arena's set up had been wrong, so Y/n hit the back of her head as she went down. There was a sickening crack, and Y/n thought for a moment that she was dead. She couldn't hear or feel a thing, but within a few moments, the feeling returned to her in waves of pain.

Damian looked down at Y/n in horror at what he had accidentally done to her. Finn and Dom came sprinting around to check on Y/n without crowding her. Seth had been the first by Y/n's side, holding her hand while the medics rushed down to ringside. Inside the ring, Rhea stood there screaming at the referee to count Y/n and Seth out of the match. Y/n watched curiously as Rhea seemed completely unbothered by the entire situation. She only seemed to want to get Damian his title shot against Seth without him having to use his cash in. Y/n was glad that she was already crying from the physical pain because she couldn't have explained the wave of tears from Rhea's behavior.

"Hey kid, you're doing great. They're going to take you to the hospital. Do you want me to ride with you?" Seth asked as he squeezed Y/n's hand. She turned her neck towards him and opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Is it okay if I come with her?"

"Come on." Seth climbed into the ambulance alongside Y/n. He was determined not to leave her side as she went through all of the stupid tests and scans they needed before letting her go home. The verdict was a concussion, Y/n's first of her career. It wasn't good news, but Y/n was grateful that it wasn't a broken neck or anything along those lines. The concussion was bad, and she had to be monitored, but Y/n didn't mind getting the company. Several of her fellow superstars stopped by her hotel room to check up on her, but Rhea wasn't among them. In fact, Y/n had been checking her phone periodically throughout the night for a text or tweet or something from Rhea, only to come up with nothing.

Even Rhea's usual messages were absent while Y/n was stuck at home with an injury. Y/n was at Seth's side for a few backstage promos, but she wasn't cleared to go back into the ring for months. Y/n hated being stuck on the sidelines, but she hated Rhea ignoring her even more. It began to make more sense why Rhea had suddenly started paying attention to her whenever Y/n switched brands over to Raw with Seth. She had immediately sided up with her mentor and teacher as his right hand. Rhea had never cared about Y/n as a person, she just wanted to get one of her guys closer to his championship title. It was hard, but by the time that Y/n came back, she had accepted it as the truth.

"What has gotten into you lately?" Seth asked as he ran his hands along Y/n's arms to smooth out her sleeves. Y/n had learned long ago not to try and fight his dad instincts, but to instead just go along with them. It was sort of nice to have that figure in her life that had been missing for so long. There had been a time when she mistook his actions for romantic, and thankfully, Seth and Becky had never held it against her. Instead, they took her in as if she was one of their own.

"I'm tired of being the underdog. Tonight, I'm making Rhea feel like the underdog," Y/n answered. Seth took note of the intense look in her eye and recognized it as that of heartbreak. There was more to Y/n's issues with Rhea than she was letting on, but Seth was certain that it'd all come out in good time. He trusted that Y/n wouldn't hold it in until it destroyed her, she was smarter than that.

"Good luck out there," Seth said. Y/n went out without a cue to interrupt Rhea's championship match. There wasn't really anything that Y/n could actually do since Rhea was in a cage match, but just her presence proved to be a good enough distraction. Rhea let herself get caught off guard at the sight of Y/n after a few months of no contact at all. Y/n had gone dead on social media as she worked on bettering herself and creating her new gimmick. She was all about revenge and vendettas. She would right the wrongs that she felt had been committed against her, starting with taking away the title that Rhea had worked so hard to earn, which would go over as well as she expected it to.

"Hey! Hey! Why did you do that to me?" Rhea had chased Y/n down in the parking lot after the show. Y/n looked smug as she stared Rhea down. They had never been close to equals before, but now Rhea seemed smaller than ever. She had lost her title, and with that, a great deal of her confidence. "What the hell was that about? Now, I have to win my title back in a rematch."

"Man, that really sucks, but you can't expect them to take the title off of Liv that quickly, can you? I mean, you heard how pumped the crowd was. Hunter likes you, but he's not stupid enough to just pluck it out of her hands so quickly. It looks like you'll either have to run back to Raw or go to the end of the line," Y/n told her. Rhea growled in anger at the teasing undertone in Y/n's voice. "If you don't mind, I have a date with the new champion at the hotel."

"What if I would have needed you tonight? Don't you care about me anymore?" Rhea asked. "I thought you loved me."

"You care for the people you love. I'm just showing you the same love and care you showed for me when I got hurt." With that, Y/n was able to walk away from Rhea without a fight. She pulled her phone out as she went to shoot a text to Liv to confirm their meeting in the hotel bar when she got there.

#my writing #one shot #wwe x reader #wwe #rhea ripley x reader #rhea ripley

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thepastisalreadywritten · 3 months

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By Simmone Shah

29 February 2024

While Catherine Middleton has been absent from royal duties for two months due to a “planned abdominal surgery,” the British public has been full of speculation about what's going on with their future Queen Consort.

But the royal family has always held a fine line between balancing private health matters with disclosure to the public they serve.

“You could argue that details about a head of state are in the public interest,” says Richard Fitzwilliams, an expert on the royal family.

“But on the other hand, to what extent does a public figure have a right to privacy?”

Catherine's absence fits into a long and evolving history of how royals have chosen to handle health issues.

Past generations often shrouded them in secrecy. Perhaps most famously, in the 1950s, the British public was not told when King George VI had lung cancer.

In 1951, he had his left lung removed because of what was vaguely described as “structural abnormalities," and cancer was not mentioned in his death announcement.

Occasionally, past generations would be more open about less significant problems.

Once in 1982, when Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, had to visit the hospital after nearly choking to death on a fishbone, she issued a statement to the press, joking, “It was only the salmon getting its own back."

“The fishbone is quite revealing because they tended to be more open about minor instances,” says Gareth Russell, a historian and author who focuses on the British royal family.

“Britain was a much more reserved society in the 20th century, and in families across the land and across the social spectrum, cancer or fatal illnesses often weren't discussed.”

Catherine and William’s approach has proved to be starkly different, as they’ve addressed private matters with far more candor.

“Catherine and William are members of a different generation, so they feel no shame in being open about challenges,” says Clare McHugh, a royal historian and author.

Neither Catherine or William have shied away in the past from speaking out about health matters.

Prince William has spoken extensively about the importance of mental health, and Catherine spoke about the difficult morning sickness she faced during her pregnancies.

She also revealed her postpartum baby bump in photos hours after giving birth to her son, Prince George.

In part, it’s a necessary tactic for the internet age in which secrets are much harder to keep.

“I think they do recognize that in order to survive and flourish in a modern era they need to be honest about what is going on with them,” says McHugh.

“It’s better for them to be candid up front rather than let internet rumors fly.”

That they have previously been somewhat transparent only makes their current silence stand out, experts say.

“That’s why William and Catherine’s reticence about what's going on with them is odd,” says McHugh.

As Kathryn Lamontagne, a lecturer in Social Science at Boston University says, sometimes saying nothing causes more of a stir than addressing the problem head on, a lesson the Royal Family learned when Queen Elizabeth II missed parts of a major event in the months before her death.

“For Royal followers, her absence from the Platinum Jubilee celebrations in 2022 was a glaring sign of how unwell she was and a clear indicator of a serious issue on the horizon,” Lamontagne said in an email.

Still, despite her candor in the past, in many ways the Duchess of Cambridge’s silence is simply following tradition.

“This dance between private and public information nudges the line of medical privacy and a public clamoring for details, but it still follows the pattern of giving very few medical details of a certain kind to the public,” says Lamontagne.

“‘Never complain, never explain,’ in the words of the late Queen.”

#Princess of Wales #Catherine Princess of Wales #Catherine Middleton #Kate Middleton #British Royal Family #health issues #abdominal surgery #right to privacy #King George VI #Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother #Prince William #Prince of Wales #Queen Elizabeth II #medical privacy

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daisyswift3 · 1 year

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Meet Me at Midnight—The Complete Guidebook

So I just had several epiphanies at once…..I think Taylor might’ve given us a guidebook for her entire plan this yr (and possible coming out?) several months in advance w the release of Midnights (very mastermind of her). Looking at the vinyls and bejeweled mv again this becomes evident. I’ll explain (Also please see this excellent analysis as it provides lots of context and evidence that aligns w this theory).

The moonstone vinyl is obviously related to bejeweled and is a light blue representing the 1989 era. Others have pointed out the numerous 1989 references in the bejeweled mv: rising to the 5th floor, 2013 vsfs aesthetic, lots of light blue, short hair, NYC vibes, her ghosting the prince and living her best single life, etc.

Moonstone symbolizes light and hope and new beginnings. These things have been shown symbolically in the recent pap walks. Light and hope: the sunshine rings. New beginnings: 🦋 on the jeans and no beard. There’s also the connection to the feminine: the girl squad. Cyclical change: her returning to the 1989 era w her squad boyfriend-free; the tides, moon, and sun also undergo cyclical change (blood moon lunar eclipse?).

A clock can also be thought to undergo cyclical change and Taylor chose to use this as the main symbol that represents Midnights. Taylor has said multiple times "It's a clock, it can help you tell time" which now I'm thinking means it can literally help you know when she's gonna make certain moves, like dropping the beard and returning to the 1989 era for example. TN posted this during the Midnights promo. The clock is split into 4 quarters. The moonstone/bejeweled vinyl is the first quarter which I believe we have just exited and I'll explain why shortly. This vinyl contains the numbers 12, 1, 2, 3 which could be related to "exile ends in 3...2..."

Going clockwise we end up in the 2nd quarter—blood moon or glitch. If the 12 hrs represent 12 months, then each vinyl or quarter of the clock would represent approximately 3 months (Jan-March, 1-3 for the moonstone vinyl which adds up bc the toe breakup was said to have happened mid March). I know the pap walks were done in April so this might be more of a rough outline for events. This means a “glitch” would happen roughly April-June…A blood moon represents chaos, disruption, and change, hidden information rising to the surface (gee kinda sounds like what’s happening right now 🧐). The lavender vinyl is also in the 1st quarter and seeing that it’s a song abt bearding it makes sense. But it also seems like this vinyl is supposed to be completely separate from the main 4 vinyls so it could have a different meaning. There are a bunch of great posts analyzing the blood moon/glitch, see here and here.

Sidenote: More on the bejeweled mv numerology and symbolism—she enters the moonstone vsfs-esque room on the 3rd floor. The clock Taylor’s sitting on is pointed at 3. There’s a ton of speak now easter eggs bc 3rd album. There’s 3 step sisters instead of 2 like in the original Cinderella story. The Queen Pat scene shows multiple motifs we’re all familiar w—angels, lions, a queen/royalty, an eye?? There’s probs a ton I’m missing. But yeah all that to say it seems she’s trying to connect bejeweled/1989 era 2.0 to the number 3 or March and to one leo VS supermodel angel woman. So it’s almost as if KK was still a part of this new 1989 era despite being absent from the pap pics.

Next vinyl is mahogany which would presumably take place from July-Sept. The last date scheduled for the eras tour is in Aug which would fall in this quarter. Strength and resilience are needed during this time? There have been a ton of exile, 8/3 references lately.

The last quarter/vinyl is jade green (Oct-Dec). It represents serenity and tranquility, perhaps symbolizing the peaceful acceptance of any ensuing consequences of making a life altering decision? Dec would be the 12th hr on the clock. So could New Years be the “last page” where we finally meet the real Taylor? I mean it is one of the most important midnights of the yr. In that post I mentioned earlier others pointed out how the Cinderella story fits into the general themes of Midnights. I think Taylor keeps using Cinderella imagery bc once the clock strikes “Midnight” on New Years the facade will be gone—“Shred my evening gown” // “Dappled w the flickers of light from the dress I wore at midnight leave it all behind” // “Spring breaks loose the time is near…moments that we stole on begged and borrowed time” // “You know when it’s time to go” // “If you wish to romanticize the woman I became then say you’ll remember me standing in a nice dress.” She’s telling her fans that the Taylor they love is a carefully crafted persona and the real her is not nearly as pretty and will be disillusioning to look at.

Furthermore, Taylor has really emphasized that she rejects the notion of a picture perfect 1950s life. "She would've made such a lovely bride what a shame she's fucked in the head" // "He wanted a bride I was making my own name" // "Picture perfect shiny family holiday peppermint candy" // "All they keep asking me is if I'm gonna be your bride.” Also think of all the wedding imagery she has used lately. "The bride was willing to risk it all." This video of her in a wedding dress singing champagne problems. The countless speak now easter eggs which would be overkill if she was just simply trying to tease a re-record. "Don't say yes run away now." I think she's saying that she's going to shred her wedding dress and the heteronormative fantasy swifties want for her and burn her house, a symbol of her life’s work, past selves, and closet, to the ground. Bringing it back to the serenity/tranquility symbolism, others pointed out in this post that in the eras tour wildest dreams visuals she looks perfectly content, peacefully sleeping while the world burns around her. She’s finally ready to shatter her glass closet and break free from her cage.

Jade is also the “Gem Supreme”: king of my heart; “Jewel of Heaven”: angels roll their eyes, no rules in breakable heaven, halo hiding my obsession, etc you get it; stone of the heart: again king of my heart, lover. This vinyl could be related to snow on the beach—“I searched aurora borealis green….your eyes are flying saucers from another planet.” Perhaps a reminder that she’s setting off but not without her muse?

With all this in mind I think it’d be good to revisit the Midnights prologue.

Of course this could be completely wrong and if she tours internationally and into next yr then it wouldn’t really make sense to come out yet. It could also be the case that the clock is meant to be read a different way or represent a 2 yr period rather than 1 yr. And maybe sometimes it’s meant to be read backwards instead since there have been some references lately to things being reversed? Idk what do you all think? Please feel free to add onto this !!

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greatunironic · 3 months

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got tagged by @sharpbutsoft for the first lines of the writing patterns, and @jewishrat420 for the last lines of the writing patterns, so just gonna smush them all together here!

(also not gonna tag anyone because, as usual, i've been absent + idk who's done what -- so if you haven't, and you want to, consider you're self tagged!!)

Writing Patterns 🏁

rules: list the first line of your last 10 (posted) fics and see if there’s a pattern! / list the last line of the same 10 fics you shared opening lines for and see if there's a pattern!

“So, you gonna put out tonight or what?” asked Robin from where she was reclined on his bed, painting her toenails and drinking his pop. // “Yeah,” said Eddie. He kissed him again, even softer, sweeter. “Yeah, a promise.” (the valentine experience)

It started when Eddie said, “Seems kind of like a lot of bullshit that I’m about to die a virgin, man,” and Steve’s brain sort of spun out — because what? How? Eddie? He was a what? — as they sat in the middle of the woods, hotboxing the beemer in the late afternoon of what very well might be the day they died. // Eddie pressed his thumb to the corner of Steve’s mouth, said, “Guess we’d better live then, if we’re gonna go to Nationals or whatever,” and Steve said back, “Cool,” and then, smiling, Eddie replaced his thumb with his mouth. (in the backseat of your (boy)friend's car)

Eddie wakes up to sixty-eight unread text messages in his group chat with the boys. // “I mean,” says Eddie, and rolls him, laughing, over into his sheets for round two. (they're going to send us to prison for jerks)

At this point, Eddie’s life had really just sort of become an Aristotelian confluence of events. // “So gimme a sec, baby, and we’ll see if we can’t get this migraine sorted, okay?” (i give myself to you (as long as we move on the floor))

There’s laughter coming from the living room still as Eddie ushers Steve through the open door with a gentle hand at the small of his back. // For now, Eddie tucks his face into the soft, quiet juncture of Steve’s neck and shoulder, holds him close, and breathes, and it’s enough. It’s perfect. (your house is waiting)

On July Fifth — though she learns that after — Heather wakes up in a hospital bed. // “Yeah,” she says, and she means it. “I think we did.” (saint of ongoingness)

Hop buys a house in the Berkshires, after. // He thinks he’s going to like him. (these traces of available light)

November 1st, 1986 | Eddie, Well, man, you fuckin called it: fully got “gang-pressed” or whatever into hosting a Halloween party for the twerps last night. // “Well,” he repeats, the sun on his skin, the future like the ocean stretching out before them, way out and past the horizon. “Here’s to firsts then.” (scheming on a thing)

Ever since they walked out of Hawkins Middle for the last time in June, Lucas has been thinking about what high school is going to be like. // Maybe Max will show up for it, if he asks, he thinks. Maybe they all will. (zen, and the art of three point throws)

Getting shot, Eddie thinks, sucks balls, and not in the fun way. // With his hand still on his wrist, and Steve’s smile small and warm across from him, he’s kind of leaning towards a happy ending. Why not hope for the best for once? (three inches above the floor)

#fic #stranger things #tag games #first lines #last lines #apparently i like some in medias res #and ending on some dialogue #also hopeful open endings i think

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hum-suffer · 7 months

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@kanhapriya you were very excited for this. I hope you don't mind me tagging you and hope this reaches your expectations

=================================

It all started on late afternoon a week ago when Lakshmi got a call from Ram.

"Do you have holi appropriate clothing for Dhuleti celebration?" He'd asked her after all the pleasantries.

And so had begun the lecture on the huge difference between Holi and Dhuleti and how her husband loathes wearing white on Holi and how it's reductive to wear a whole new spotless white outfit only for it to get drenched in colours of all kinds. Lakshmi had agreed, obviously, he was being very logical about it.

And thus began the search for ratty-but-respectable clothes for Lakshmi to wear on the Dhuleti celebration which would be held at the palace grounds and would be grander than ever as it is their first celebration after their marriage and Lakshmi's organisation for animals, Shashwat, will be the beneficiary of the event income.

Lakshmi is sure that Veer, Ram's manager, tattled on them to Maharani Radha.

Maa and Ram have been discussing the same with each other for the past ten minutes and now the conversation has shifted to a half Gujarati, half Hindi mix that Lakshmi doesn't even bother to follow.

Matar paneer is a better focal point, in her very humble opinion.

"You both are going to be in the spotlight, that's why I'm trying to shove some sense into you!" Maa says, glaring at Ram. She turns to Lakshmi,"You understand what I'm saying, beta, don't you? Wear your old clothes next year, it's your choice, but forgive me some grey hair this year, please."

"But, Mummy, it's a waste of time and resources to buy new clothes only to wear them once!" Ram replies, absently adding some salt to his matar paneer.

"Then I'll make a pochaa out of your clothes, bloody! Do as your mother says, for once, child!"

Lakshmi snickers and Maa gives her a conspiratory smirk while Ram looks on in betrayal.

Lakshmi shifts the conversation to the previous Dhuleti celebrations and what she should expect from them to save her husband some strife.

She often forgets he is a menace on his own.

____________________________________________________

If she didn't trust him more, Lakshmi would say that Ram is mostly doing this because he's trying to give Veer an aneurysm.

He found some of his old clothes that already have stains on them. The stains are minor, Lakshmi will admit freely. He likely forgot those clothes exist at all after putting them aside and Veer likely hid them away so Ram wouldn't insist on wearing them.

Lakshmi notes that all the stained kurtas are suspiciously floral printed.

She looks at Veer in suspicion, but he's too flustered trying to stop Ram from noticing her look.

"Your highness, please," Veer says, trying hysterically to stop Ram in a way that wouldn't end up with Ram tripping,"Your mother will be furious with me!"

"What is one to do, Veer?" Ram asks dramatically, taking a split second look at Lakshmi as she walks beside him,"My wife and I need clothes for Dhuleti and Mummy wouldn't let us wear our home clothes. I must settle for my older clothes and my darling and most understanding wife must settle for wearing my kurta."

"These are already stained," Lakshmi adds her two cents, absolutely enjoying the feel of a particular chikankari kurta in her hands that she will surely steal for comfort purposes,"This way, we will maintain decorum and also be more environmentally aware!"

Veer's eyes widen. "Not you too, your highness! Please, you know these clothes were set aside for donation."

"Yes, of course," she replies, pretending to be incredulous,"We're not going to wear all of these kurtas together, Veer, come on."

Ram stops in front of a door and pushes it open with his foot, hands loaded with different kurtas and t-shirts.

The people inside the laundry room all freeze as they see the Crown prince, the prince consort, and the crown prince's manager enter the laundry room; of which, the couple have various clothes in their arms.

An older woman comes rushing towards them with two empty baskets. Lakshmi somehow manages to grasp one of the baskets and puts it on the ground, dumping the clothes from her arms to the basket.

"Gently, please!" Ram calls out dramatically again,"I love my clothes as much as I love you!"

Lakshmi raises an eyebrow.

"Not as much, obviously, I misspoke." He corrects himself sheepishly, painstakingly putting the clothes in his arms in the basket one by one. Lakshmi decides to be petty enough to not help him.

"Your highness, you? Here?" The woman doesn't seem to be able to process what exactly is happening and Lakshmi pities her.

"We are so sorry to barge in on your work like that," she says,"We just have some clothes to wash and we'll be out of your hair as soon as possible. I am Lakshmi and you are?"

"Kalpana, your highness. Here, I'll take the clothes and return them to you."

"You don't have to do that at all, Kalpana ji," Ram says, making the poor woman freeze mid motion. "Mahadev has given us a couple of hands each, we can wash the clothes ourselves, if you'd only be so gracious to guide us to an empty washing machine."

Kalpana fumbles and looks at Veer for a split second before moving aside and leading them to a corner with an empty washing machine. Lakshmi smiles at her in thanks. "Thank you, Kalpana ji. You can go back to your work, we shan't delay you anymore."

She nods wordlessly and moves away. Veer continues to look in with trepidation as Ram and Lakshmi push up the sleeves of their tshirts.

Ram gives her a grin that tells her just how much he's enjoying this and Lakshmi, with agreement of the other workers, plays old Bollywood songs while the machine is on.

Ram drags her in a makeshift ballroom dance and she laughs at his dramatics, absolutely besotted with her husband.

____________________________________________________

Ram wears his bleached and washed white shirt and Lakshmi wears one of his floral kurtas for Dhuleti.

Maa sighs and smiles tiredly at the two of them.

#desiblr #suffer ye suhana nahi #desi tumblr #royalty au #royal au #indian royalty #writers on tumblr #original work

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somekindofsentience · 3 months

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through the looking glass, or understanding windows and their relation to colour theory in OMORI

WARNING: MAJOR OMORI SPOILERS. PLEASE PLAY THE GAME FOR YOURSELF IT IS BEAUTIFUL

CONTENT WARNING: REFERENCES TO SUICIDE, DEATH, LOSS, AND GRIEF

READING-THIS WARNING: ITS VERY LONG IM SORRY I AM INCAPABLE OF SHUTTING UP AND I ALSO GO IN TANGENTS ALL THE TIME

I feel as though people miss the smaller symbols in this game.

Obviously it's easy to look at, say, flowers throughout the game, or what Something and Stranger demonstrate, or maybe even mirrors and our understanding of reflection, but there's plenty of symbols that people don't look at or write about, because they feel less relevant. Symbols are easy to overlook when you're no longer studying English Lit.

But I am your certified Wet Rat, and I spend hours overthinking this game, so I'm going to talk about what windows represent in Omori, and how this relates to colour theory.

There are several colours that are designed to remind players of the truth, or at least hint toward it, and these are bright red (light), saturated blue, and monochrome. These are all somewhat relevant here, so I'll go through them, and explain their connections with windows.

Windows as a Foreshadower of Truth, but also Repression

Before we discuss the relevance of red light shining through windows in foreshadowing Truth, we have to understand why they stand out among the rest of the house.

To do this, let's discuss saturated blue.

Saturated blue is a very deliberate choice - we know this from Omocat herself - it is the colour of the Phobias, and Sunny's house during Phobia sequences, as well as Basil's boss fight. The use of saturation conveys intensity and fear, and there is a sense of impending failure - we cannot "beat" any of these boss fights by normal means, but instead are doomed to lose or wait until Mari consoles us. This blue is also deliberately not black - this somewhat disconnects these segments from the Truth, because the ultimate purpose of the Phobia bosses is to provide a comparison between Mari saving Sunny's life and Sunny ending hers. Within the Basil boss fight, more features are monochrome, which ties it more closely with the Truth. (Saturated blue is also the colour of Hellmari, but she's more relevant when I talk about Spirit Mari later down the line.) It's prevalent in the Deeper Well, but notably absent from many Black Space rooms, who choose to use solid monochrome or other colours to convey emotion. It still exists within Black Space despite this.

Red (light, specifically in windows) is symbolic of distortion, but it also foreshadows the Truth creeping into Sunny's life. I am talking about red light in particular - while red is carefully used in the final boss fight, Red Space, several areas of further Black Space and in the Red Hands, red has more complex meanings in this game, where it depends entirely on the other colours around it (red and black represents malicious intention, red and white is more closely tied to repression, and red standing out against the Dreamworld is tied to Truth).

It is designed to feel wrong, the same way the encroaching fog across vast forest feels wrong, and the deeper well's atmosphere feels wrong. This discomfort is very well-captured throughout the game, and the careful use of red contributes to this.

In several segments, red light streaming through a window is shown to represent repression of Truth. We know that the sky was not red when Mari was killed - it was late afternoon, with some light streaming through the trees - so, in some ways, the Truth has already been distorted, being shown as worse and more horrific than the actual events. This is likely a result of Sunny's repression.

There is one particular moment where this glowing red light represents repression. This occurs in the Hikikomori Route, if you wake Sunny up during the night. You see several horror sequences relevant to the truth, and the piano room lit with a red glow. Entering it reveals this...

I'll talk more about the symbolism of that particular window later, but we know that the piano is being repressed here. Instead of the pure red light, we see the combination of black and red - which we know represents malicious intent - showing how Sunny's repression of the Truth has become more powerful than Sunny himself, and Omori is now taking over his mind.

Windows as a Door to the Truth

During the Truth sequence, there are red windows in almost every room, aside from backstage-like areas. We know from the previous section that this foreshadows the Truth, and the increasing number of these windows brings it to the player's attention, standing out more than it did previously. The same glow is also found coming from the TV in the first room. Sunny is notably drawn to this glow, as is the player, and you are also required to interact with (which implies potentially entering) the window in the Hospital sequence to proceed.

To understand windows acting as doors, we need to talk about the sliding glass door.

The sliding glass door in Omori is both a window and a door - letting in the eerie red light, but also letting the player (and Sunny) access it and understand it for the first time. This makes it the ultimate foreshadower of Truth, and we must enter it in order to view the entirety of the Truth photo album.

Sunny never represses the sliding glass door, but will refuse to go outside until forced by his friends in Faraway visiting the Treehouse. In the real world, it is shaded over, making it impossible for the player to see through (save for a short Stranger encounter). This opaque nature is present in the Truth segment as well, except it is glowing red.

You can't see through it, but you can finally enter it.

This door leads us to the peak combination of our colour theory.

To the eyes, this first looks like a fade between red and purple, but the only possible relevance purple would have is its association with Mari.

This colour scheme is actually the result of a fade between red and saturated blue. Combining the colours of the Phobias, fear, as well as Mari's support and safety, and the day of the Phobias' creation; and the Truth, repression, and the fateful day of the recital. Although subtle, this is the game's big comparison, and the main purpose of mentioning the creation of the Phobias at all.

These two days are designed to compare Mari and Sunny, increasing his guilt as he remembers the way his sister generously saved his life, and remembers what he did to kill her.

Windows as a Symbol of Ascension

Monochrome is a key colour associated with Truth in Omori, and it does so in a relatively obviously. It is the colour of White Space, Black Space, Something, Stranger, and, notably, the colours of the photos that show the player the Truth. In this way, monochrome simultaneously represents repression of the Truth and the past; but also the desire to uncover it. Areas and characters that contain more black than they do white tend to represent truth, whereas the opposite tend to represent repression, save for portions of the Final Duet and the Hospital, where white represents acceptance. White also symbolises Sunny, shown in the pinwheels, and it has further meaning in the multiple flowers associated with it.

Spirit Mari is also associated with monochrome, her sprites existing in this colour. We contrast this to Hellmari, who is coloured in the saturated blue beforehand, and we can start to understand the mechanics of Headspace as a whole.

Despite Stranger's quote, Sunny, Basil and Mari are all split in halves, each half with different goals. Sunny, although he doesn't always know it, wants to seek the Truth; but Omori wants to repress it. Stranger wants to free the real world's Basil; but Headspace Basil is a representation of desire, the idea that everything is okay. In a similar way, Spirit Mari wants Sunny to seek forgiveness, and Hellmari is a hallucination of a Mari who would never forgive him.

I personally do not believe that Spirit Mari is Mari's actual spirit trying to communicate with Sunny - as much as that is a nice thought, and even though it is backed up with meaning of the White Egret Orchid, I choose to believe that Spirit Mari is Sunny's own desire for acceptance. As much as Sunny hates himself, the game is about seeking and forgiving yourself for what happened that day, and that requires this hidden desire, which is channeled through Mari.

The window above the piano room is found in several locations in Headspace. It is found in the first Black Space room, just above the first ever key you collect, and Mari is found hallucinated in front of it several times in the Real World. It is an important reminder of the real world, everything Sunny is leaving behind.

Spirit Mari also ascends through the this window during the North Lake sequence, and again during the Final Duet.

The whiteness of the area is highlighted with a light, pastel blue. Unlike the horror of saturation, pastel in-game represents peace and purity, being directly contrasted with each other. Pastel isn't symbolic of repression, although it is the main theme during the happier segments of Headspace. These particular colours - white and pastel blue - are also found in the Hospital, and in the final scene of the good ending. Pastel means acceptance, and it means there is no need to "saturate" the events of the recital day.

Here, the colour gradient, and Mari ascending through the window, are symbols of freedom. Sunny has accepted the Truth, and can now properly grieve his lost sister in peace. Simultaneously, you could argue Mari's spirit is finally free - she isn't tied down by Sunny's repression, and her ascending through the window is symbolic of finally entering the afterlife.

sorry for going so off-topic. as with most of my analyses, the idea came to me at 5am when i was half-asleep and i just had to write it out. lmaooooo.

#omori #omori spoilers #omori analysis #omori game #omori mari #omori sunny #tw: death #tw: suicide #tw: grief #tw: loss #i ramble so much shit #im so sorry genuinely #but i hope you found this interesting #sentience's stuff

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96percentdone · 11 months

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Lately I've started thinking that Furue Jin is so absent from Nirvana Initiative on purpose. Hear me out. Here's a list of things we learn about Jin complete with how we learn it:

He is a CEO of a japan only not-spotify, a businessman and author. Boss and several other characters tell this to us. Riichi mentions that although they're both rich businessmen and he's heard of him, they have not met.

He runs a twitter account! Everyone has a different opinion about this twitter account, from Kagami thinking he's "a brilliant genius who isn't afraid of cutting through bullshit," to Amame thinking he "a pretentious jerk who constantly complains online to draw attention to himself". We never see his twitter account or any of the tweets. He circulates that picture of "himself" online, but we don't see the evidence of that either. It's just told to us.

He spent his whole childhood and teenage years in the hospital, and even went to school there because he was ill. We learn this from Shouma who also remarks how lonely he must have been.

The nurse says that "Jin-chan" was extremely meek and timid, and couldn't even use the restroom alone. She also says he was very meticulous and tidy.

Horadori Chikara called Jin "the almighty" because of a birthmark on his face that resembles a % sign, which is an important cult symbol. To him, Jin is a vehicle for perfection/god. We learn this from Shigure.

At one point, Shigure Tokiko loved him because he was her son and did not want to give him up. She then stopped caring about him or anyone after a suicide attempt when the guilt from kidnapping a child got too real.

Uru accuses Jin of constantly mocking him in the same paragraph he mentions Jin has apologized one million times before in his murder diary. Uru also patently does not understand at all why "Mom" "loves" Jin. Mizuki concludes Jin was not a bad guy at the end of the game and that he meant that apology. We do not see this event in a flashback or have a record of Jin's thoughts before he went down there.

There's a trend here. None of this is first hand. Now, you might think "well he's dead first thing so we can't get too much from him himself" but that's weaksauce look. Renju was dead first thing and we had several flashbacks with him IN it, and this game makes great use of reading journals and diaries. There's no reason they can't have shown us something he wrote, his tweets, his social media, his writing, his thoughts in the hospital—anything! This is deliberate.

It's all other people's recollection and opinions; he's a mirror to project on. With a game about duality, they've made a lot of use of the mirror motif, so here's a guy who exists only in reflections had by other people. In universe, he has half of Uru's body, but in the narrative he has NOTHING of his own. Whatever you make of him is entirely determined by the filters of other characters and then yourself.

I think this is a bold choice, and certainly interesting, but I still can't say I think it's a good one. He's the very first victim and too wrapped up in Uru's trauma to be so missing from the text. The duality motif would be better explored by having him appear to be one way and then revealed another way without all the layers and layers and layers of guesswork and interpretation because of subjective opinions WITHIN THE TEXT by having him also be a mirror guy. It's getting in its own way, and it makes his death have like no emotional impact, which is weird. He's the FIRST VICTIM. I SHOULD CARE MORE THAT HE DIED. It's not really great if at the end of the mystery most players are asking "hey so who even really. Was the dead guy anyway." And there's more interesting story potential in allowing him to BE then in obfuscating him.

#hope.txt #aini #Nirvana Initiative #aitsf #jin furue #furue jin #my meta

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jomiddlemarch · 3 months

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(I measure time by how a body sways)

I. “Thank you for agreeing to see me. You’re the only person I can ask,” Draco said. He’d cast a wandless Silencio that he’d modified to prevent any type of recording, which was, as they said, sending roses to Beaubatons, but he’d been more influenced in his youth by Severus Snape than his own father, and the habit for secrecy and self-reliance died hard. The wards on Bill Weasley’s office were the most robust at the Ministry outside of the Department of Mysteries and on the rare occasions a goblin sought an interview, they merited a brief grimace that indicated respect and recognition of what Bill had learned from studying the first level wards at Gringott’s.

The massive door was shut tight and its three locks (melchior, silver, and shakudo) were properly secured. Bill sat behind his slab of a desk, his eyes on Draco and the only means of egress. Short of casting Fidelius, there was no greater privacy to be had in Wizarding Great Britain.

(Draco had discarded the plan to portkey to Durmstrang and use their Rechevi zatvor chamber. Bill could be late for dinner, but Fleur wouldn’t allow him to miss it entirely just to chat with a colleague.)

“I’m the only person, eh?” Bill said, his expression skeptical. He would have raised an eyebrow, if that were an option, but the scarring on his face had affected the musculature as well. He made do with tone or voice and rubbing a hand along his bearded jaw. Something about the touch of werewolf had darkened his hair to bronzed chestnut, but every once in a while, Draco remembered how richly auburn he’d once been, when he’d looked like a Viking warrior, nearly a match for his half-Veela bride.

“Flitwick doesn’t have the expertise in the Dark Arts, plus he’s overdue to retire and is on the verge of turning into a second Binns,” Draco said. “I need help, not a tranquilizer.”

Bill shrugged in apparent agreement.

“Krum’s sister Vela is in the middle of something with their Unspeakables and is on leave from Durmstrang. Master Zesiro at Uagadou refuses to respond to me and before you ask, I sent Owls, tokens and an emissary. No dice,” Draco said. Bill knew why Zesiro was unwilling to engage, Draco didn’t need to go through the whole rigamarole again and have Bill point out Draco’s myriad unforced errors.

“And so you came to me,” Bill said.

“I knew you’d at least agree to meet with me. And unlike the others, you have a vested interest in my…situation. It could be considered a conflict but I think it’s actually something in favor of you as an advisor,” Draco said.

“Plus, no one else is capable, willing, or available,” Bill replied. “I feel honored, truly, Draco—”

“It’s not like that,” Draco said. Bill was probably the Weasley Draco got along best with, Ron and Ginny still unable to completely move past their schooldays, Percy still too much of a prig, Charlie an unknown, having retreated to his dragon preserve, only emerging for Weasley events of great import, ones which Draco would not be invited to. Draco felt George Weasley had lost his mind along with his twin and kept his distance, knowing Fleur agreed and would back him up if she absolutely had to. He and Bill had worked together on a number of cases and there had been three definitive occasions when Draco had saved Bill’s life, plus Fleur liked Draco’s taste in wine and willingness to linger over a cassoulet. Given all that, Draco struggled with Bill’s wry teasing, though the older man had made it clear that it was much milder than any mockery the Weasleys exchanged among themselves.

“It’s all right. Tell me, what’s happened that has the unflappable Draco Malfoy, well, flapped? Is that even a word?” Bill said, the kindness edging amusement in his blue eyes.

“It’s not. Even if it were, I’m not flapped. I’m…I don’t know what I am. I feel like I’ve lost my bearings, like my magic has slipped from my control, it might be wild or absent or—”

“What happened, Draco?” Bill repeated, serious now, all joking cast aside.

“This,” Draco said, rolling up his sleeve and extending his left forearm. “This bloody well fucking happened.”

“Fuck,” Bill breathed, reaching out to take hold of Draco’s wrist but pausing to catch his eye first in a wordless request for permission. Draco nodded sharply, though he couldn’t help flinching when Bill grasped him firmly and leaned closer. He’d worn iron manacles in Azkaban, though they’d been unnecessary, there to make the prison guards remember he was a prisoner. To slake some of their rage that might otherwise have been channeled into assault. Bill’s touch was much lighter than the metal cuffs, but for a moment, it was unbearable. He took a deep breath and Bill, with a wolf’s acuity, heard him, gripping him less tightly.

“When did you notice it changed?” Bill asked with the curiosity of the scientist examining a new specimen.

“How the fuck did it change, Bill? No one else’s Dark Mark has ever altered, not since Voldemort was destroyed!” Draco exclaimed.

Shortly after Harry had cast the final curse that killed Voldemort, the Dark Mark on all surviving Death-eaters had blurred, as if a noxious fog had consumed the brand. By the next dawn, the tattoos were sharply delineated again but they’d changed from the original serpent and skull. Each person carried an image of what they regretted most; those who remained loyal to Voldemort wore an exquisite rendition of Harry Potter wielding the Elder Wand. Severus Snape’s body showed with a cameo’s perfection Lily Potter’s face in profile, which made Draco wonder how long the man’s spirit had lingered and whether his ghost must haunt the Shrieking Shack. Lucius had the door of the family vault left open, the stacks of Galleons sharply diminished, the Malfoy crest half-destroyed.

Draco had borne the cabinet of mysteries he’d brought into Hogwarts emblazoned against the pale skin of his inner arm, the grain of the wood, the elegance of the scrollwork, the dangling key with its gold tassel all included in precise detail.

Had being the optimal word. Because the cabinet was gone and, in its place, the word Mudblood was carved with in the spiky hand his aunt had used to sign any document, the letters in dusky atramentum. The flesh around them was stained with the angry red streaks of blood poisoning.

It was the mark Hermione Granger still carried fifteen years later after Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her with a cursed blade and repeated Crucios, impervious to any enchantment, potion or balm. Something about the combination of assaults, the raving madness of the caster, her last bit of sanity held like a shard of glass, had rendered the scar beyond the purview of any magical healing, though Potter in particular had been loath to accept it and had spent a decent chunk of his vault’s holdings on attempts.

Now it was on Draco Malfoy’s arm.

Now it was his greatest regret.

Now he had no idea what to do about that.

“You don’t need to bite my head off. I’ll remind you, you came to me for help. Advice. So, again, when did you first notice it had changed?” Bill asked.

“About a week ago, I went to bed early. I’d felt ill the whole day, thought I’d sleep it off with a little Dreamless, whatever it was. I woke in the night with chills and then again, soaked to the skin, but in the morning, I felt all right, if not terribly rested. When I was washing up, that’s when I noticed it,” Draco said. That first moment, the shock had been like that of a curse caught full in the chest, his breath pulled from his lungs, an unearthly cold at the base of his spine. He’d dropped the loose shirt he’d worn to bed without thinking about it, muttering Lumos Lumos Lumos until the bathroom was as bright as an operating theater. He’d never before experienced his body as separate, but his arm had not felt like it belonged to him and he’d touched the tattoo gingerly with a forefinger before he tried to claw it off.

“Has it changed since that first morning?” Bill said.

“No, it hasn’t. It doesn’t feel any different now than it did before either,” Draco said.

“So what you’re most distressed about is that it changed,” Bill said.

“Yes, Bill, that’s what I’m most distressed about,” Draco said, trying to keep himself restrained. He sounded unhinged, even to himself. Or was that only to himself?

“Because I thought maybe you were most upset about it changing to Hermione’s scar from Bellatrix torturing her,” Bill remarked coolly. Hermione’s romantic relationship with Ron Weasley had barely lasted a fortnight, but the Weasley clan still considered her one of theirs and Bill, in particular, having learned what was expected of her by Dumbledore and the rest of the Order of the Phoenix, dating back to her first year at Hogwarts and lasting through the horcrux hunt and the final battle, was inclined to be protective of her in lieu of all the other adults who’d failed her or dismissed the risks to her with the praise that was supposed to sustain her through terror and torture. His reaction was what Draco had meant when he’d mentioned a vested interest, though as per usual, Draco had avoided thinking about what term Bill would have chosen. It would not have been the legal phrase, no matter how icy Bill’s tone turned.

“I can’t—if she knew, I’d never,” he faltered. It had been like this since he’d realized what the brand was, his thoughts fractured, resisting all attempts at coherence. His magic fought him as well, an experience he’d found referenced in only one, quite Dark volume shoved to the back of the Malfoy library, a book they’d kept because it had come with Narcissa’s The Most Noble House of Black dowry. He’d tried Occluding, to no avail, and a half-dozen potions, even that most British panacea, a proper cup of tea, and he still found himself lost when he tried to imagine Hermione’s reaction or why he now carried her curse on his body.

“It’s possible it has nothing to do with her,” Bill said, holding up a hand before Draco could interrupt. “I only mean, that she wouldn’t be aware of it, that the change is something for you to deal with, without telling her. Asking her for her take on it, making it one more iteration of Bellatrix’s torture.”

“I don’t want her hurt. Ever,” Draco said. That’s pretty much the endpoint he’d reached after all his ruminations, the only inviolable truth he’d been able to find, mucking about in his own head.

“I don’t want her hurt ever again. I don’t want to hurt her.”

“Good, because this was going to be a very short conversation otherwise,” Bill said. “For the record, I didn’t think you were so self-absorbed you wouldn’t consider what it could do to her. I know you better than that.”

“You hold me in greater esteem than I do myself,” Draco said.

“Yeah. I know,” Bill said. “What have you tried already? Read already?”

“Flamel, Bao Gu, Senior Zadith, Katherine Dee, Isola Vyvyvan,” Draco said, ticking them off on his fingers. “The obvious choices and I’ve looked through what seemed relevant at the Ministry and the Malfoy library.”

“Hogwarts?”

“Unless Madam Ossett has tampered with the inventory for the Restricted Section, there’s nothing there worth looking at,” Draco said. “Possibly Durmstrang has something, but I’d rather not have anyone there…conjecturing. I’ve taken the potions you’d recommend and tried the Etiologica clarissa.”

“Not clarissima?” Bill said.

“Too Light to risk it,” Draco said. “If I off myself, we’re none the wiser.”

“And you’re dead,” Bill said.

“That too,” Draco said. “Strangely enough, not my chief concern.”

“Not strangely enough. Fleur and I feel you’ve held your life too cheaply since—”

“Since I survived Voldemort and the Final Battle and Azkaban? I should live each day as the gift it is?” Draco said.

“You’re always ready to throw it away, in some sort of penance. It wouldn’t help anyone. Certainly not Hermione,” Bill said.

“Who said it would be for her?”

“Your arm, for one,” Bill replied. “The look in your eyes when someone mentions her. How you say her name if you’re in company, Madam Hermione Nimue Granger. You never leave out either honorific. It’s not like it takes Divination or an eye for poker tells.”

“I suppose I’m giving new meaning to wearing my heart on my sleeve,” Draco said.

“That’s the spirit,” Bill said. “I don’t mean to pry and I’ll remind you that you came to me, but, has something changed between you and Hermione?”

“It must have,” Draco said. If he hadn’t already been sitting, he would have collapsed into a chair. As it was, his shoulder slumped and he sensed that if she’d seen him, his mother would have scolded him for his slovenly posture unbecoming of a Pureblood Wizard. He would have wanted to chuck something at her. “I don’t know how to put it. I guess, I realized, I’ve fallen in love with her.”

“Got it in one. You did know how to put it,” Bill said. He leaned back in his chair, satisfied, as if Draco were his struggling, dunderhead student who had finally gotten a correct answer to the simplest equation. Basically as if he’d been who he’d thought Neville was, until he discovered Longbottom’s steady intelligence and propensity to tend to others instead of seeking glory.

“If you already knew, why didn’t you say?”

Bill had been generous enough not to crow over Draco’s…announcement?

Realization?

Sentence?

Doom?

Because however he felt about her, he couldn’t expect Hermione to return his feelings, not when he considered how he’d treated her when they were in school, when he had allowed himself to become her mortal enemy. When she’d been brought to his home and he’d watched her being tortured and he hadn’t said a word. In the years that followed, he’d sent to formal apologia that was expected of him and made the recompense the Ministry had required, the months at Azkaban, his magic withheld, and he’d focused on making something of himself that was worthwhile, breaking curses, retrieving and restoring magical items that had been stolen, taking whatever cases the Ministry asked. If that meant he was brought into contact, sometimes close contact, with her, he made no complaints. No excuses. After the first time they’d met again, her stubborn chin raised when he greeted her with her title, they’d got on well enough; that had been the moment he’d realized her face was heart-shaped and that her eyes were the brown of an autumn leaf in a brook, a very fine, very dry sherry.

They’d worked cases together and he’d liked her. Went to annual, dull Ministry galas and he’d liked her, admired how she nursed one glass of wine all night, didn’t leave early. They’d ended up at the pub together, with more of her friends than anyone who’d call themselves his and he’d liked her, her sharp wit and her affectionate humor, the way she flushed after the second glass of ale. There had been conferences they both attended, her comments measured, provocative, rarely cruel and he’d liked her, how closely she’d listened to the witch from Uagadou, how she’d made the formal obeisance before launching into an idea for a collaboration, the offer to meet over dinner, the casual way she’d included him.

He liked her smile, her laughter, her solemn expression when Snape was mentioned. He liked her chestnut hair and the silver streak that ran through it, her determined gait, her pretty ankles visible through the swish of her formal robes. He liked the scent of her perfume, something Muggle with bergamot, and the line of her neck when she tilted her head to one side in contemplation. He liked the way she’d looked up at the ceiling of the Great Hall when they’d come back to Hogwarts and turned to him, wonder mixed with grief in her eyes, the gleam of tears that would have made an exquisite potion if she’d let them fall. He liked how she spoke to the students and the faculty, how she was candid, how she kept her secrets. How she lied.

She’d walked with him through the hallway where he’d brought the cabinet. Where he’d been desperate, convinced it wouldn’t work. Wouldn’t be enough if it did. Where he’d told himself he had to and that they wouldn’t kill children. She’d taken his hand in her own and said They let you down, let you go hang, I should’ve done something and he knew if he’d come to her she would not have turned him away. Sorry, she’d said, a little word for an absolution.

A little word to rearrange the world, his world, around her.

Irrevocably.

“At the risk of annoying the fuck out of you, I knew you had to get there on your own. Personal journey, coming to it in your own time, all that shite,” Bill said. “Trite, but true.”

“You’re enjoying this,” Draco said.

“Not as much as you’d think. I owe Fleur fifty Galleons,” Bill said.

“You bet on me? Against me?”

“I was on your side, mate. I thought you’d figure it out sooner. Without the Dark Mark changing part of it,” Bill said. “I didn’t anticipate totally unprecedented magic as the catalyst for your epiphany. And if you’ve a mind to make some snide, superior dig at me, feel free to fuck right off and remember you came to me for help.”

Draco, who had been grappling with the urge to make snide, superior and cutting remark, likely regarding Bill’s intelligence, House, and scholarship, found himself choking on a laugh instead.

“How’d you guess?”

“I have five younger brothers and my family is the poorest of the Sacred Twenty-Eight,” Bill said. Five, which meant he still counted Fred. It was a wonder they were all walking and talking with the degree of loss they’d had to cope with, though Bill’s grief was understandable, acceptable, especially since he hadn’t been fully turned when Greyback savaged him and Fleur hadn’t for a second countenanced leaving him.

“What am I going to do, Bill?” Draco asked.

“I think you know but I’m happy to talk it through,” Bill said.

“You won’t tell her. If I don’t, I’ll have to wear a glamour all the time. I won’t forget to cast it, she wouldn’t find out accidentally. I’ll know though. I’ll think about it every time, this secret, and it’s my body, she’d be the first to say I have autonomy, but it will change things between us. Not for the better,” he said.

“Yeah,” Bill said.

“She’s one of the only people in the world who’d be able to figure out what happened, magically speaking. To my arm. If it had turned into Katie Bell and that bloody necklace, I’d have gone to Hermione, not you. She’d be excited to figure it out. I expect there’d have been a monograph drafted within a fortnight,” Draco said.

“Translated into Bulgarian and Kiswahili,” Bill added.

“If I go to her, she’ll know. What she doesn’t understand right away she’ll ask me about. I won’t lie to her,” he said.

“Never a good idea to lie to her. She can cast wandless, both hands,” Bill said.

“She’ll know I’m in love with her,” Draco said.

“You don’t need to sound so bleak,” Bill said. “If it turns out she doesn’t feel the same, she still cares for you. About you. It’s not the end of the world to be friends, even if you’re also in love with her.”

“You’re happily married to a half-Veela. Excuse me if your reassurance about how great it will be for her to be aware of my unrequited love falls flat,” Draco said.

“I said if, you glib prat,” Bill said. “Let’s just say you don’t have the best perspective on the whole situation.”

“Has she said something to you?”

“If she had, I wouldn’t tell you. That’s why you came to me, for privacy. I have eyes, don’t I? And once a month, I have the acuity of a wolf,” Bill said.

“I have to tell her,” Draco said. “Everything.”

“Yeah,” Bill replied. “Everything’s a good place to start. One suggestion though—”

“What?”

“She doesn’t like Firewhiskey. Bring a good brandy,” Bill said.

#dramione #post-hogwarts #draco malfoy #draco POV #bill weasley #hermione granger #canon au #dark mark #bill/fleur #pining draco #making magic magical #tw: trauma #hurt/comfort #who doesn't love Bill Weasley?#getting advice #hp fanfic #part 1 of 2 #lots of talking #unrequited love...or is it?

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twilightknight17 · 2 months

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Last night on P3R: middle-school SEES, struggling with my social calendar, the Abyss of Time, questionable movie choices, and oh god we finished Sunset and now I’m hitting sad stuff in everything else I’m playing/watching too.

I’m still in Tartarus from last time, so I can knock out a few more floors before we go home. I’ve been introduced to a new thing, though, and it’s a Big Hand!

I kind of love how goofy the hands are. They do a little dance and sometimes it syncs up with the music. ^_^

After that, it’s time for the next gatekeeper floor! And it’s--

...oh. Oh god. Is this it? I’m not ready for this. I’ve got Mitsuru with me, but oh man. Not the Table.

……

...false alarm. This is a Terminal Table, not a Crying Table. We’re safe for a little longer.

That wasn’t so bad.

Also, I got a weapon for Shinji as a quest reward, and it’s a crossing sign from in front of a school. It’s so silly.

I rolled through the next set of floors pretty quick, but I don’t think anyone’s quite prepared to take on another gatekeeper. Everyone is pretty drained in terms of SP. So we’re gonna head home for the night, and go learn some more nonsense from school tomorrow.

...all right, actually an acceptable discussion related to the book we’re reading. But hey, sometimes your soulmate can be your rival! Seven years from now, two rival soulmates are gonna be climbing through a cognitive space station!

This is not a fair discussion when Minato’s soulmate still isn’t here for another month and a half.

Anyway, Mitsuru is very worried about Shinji. He wants to extend his leave of absence from school again even though he’s come back to the dorm. So I guess he’s been absent for two years now? She really wants him to re-enroll, though. She, Akihiko, and Shinji were the only three members of SEES originally, back when the three of them were in middle school.

Apparently they could barely handle the first floor of the tower, which… They were children, so I’m not surprised. No adult supervision, either, and Mitsuru only had minor navi powers. I’m surprised none of them got killed. At least Ken has all of us who’ve already learned to fight to keep him safe.

They promised that they’d all graduate high school together, which explains why Mitsuru is so invested. She clearly cares about both of them a lot.

You can hand over the extension form here, but there’s also the option to hold onto them and go find Shinji to talk again. So… I guess you can literally just end the events there if you choose to not take the form back and go pry.

...there’s nothing we can do?

And any miracles I can make will come too late. If only my sister was here… It’s just a cruel twist of fate that which twin survives the car accident determines whether Shinji can live ten years later.

He says he’s happy to spend time with me, though.

This isn’t fair, you can’t hit me like this after the fic Jade and I finished and the end of MGS4 and the fic my other friend is writing AND--

God. And he doesn’t want to tell anyone.

At least Junpei is happy. He really, really likes Chidori. But he’s willing to go at her pace on everything.

Good for you, my guy.

Let’s go upstairs and check on Ken. He’s banging something around in his room, so probably good to make sure that he hasn’t dropped a box on his head or something.

He’s fine, but he does ask me to come in, because he wants to ask for a favor. Turns out, he’s got a pet hamster!

...you’re gonna be fine, Ken. But okay. What’s the little guy’s name?

……amazing. Yes, I will take care of Hamburger, but I’m also not gonna let anything happen to you. Everyone here is going to take care of you. You’ve noticed, right?

Because you’re the youngest and you’re our collective baby brother/kid. No one wants you to get hurt, and it’s unnerving how you talk like you don’t matter, and like you’re not planning to make it through all this alive.

Maybe school will be less depressing. It’s a good day to go to art club. Apparently Keisuke’s dad is very enthusiastic about him studying art abroad! And he says he’s going to go! But then he immediately says he’s not excited about it, so… Keisuke, seriously. What do you want to do?

Ah, well, I’m sure he’ll figure it out.

And then a box falls on Minato’s head, and everything goes dark.

Keisuke gets Mina to the nurse’s office, and after he wakes up, checks him over. Apparently Minato has dodged a concussion. He blames himself, because apparently he’s the one who put the box on the shelf. He’s not used to cleaning, because the maid does all of that at home.

Right. Sure. Careless at cleaning because of the maid. Cool.

He really seems to like the idea of being a doctor, and he’s afraid that if he goes to become an artist, that’s it, he can never be a doctor.

So… sounds like you made a decision, dude.

Keisuke. What. Do. You. Want. For fuck’s sake.

Anyway. So people have been talking about the culture festival all week. There’s gonna be a haunted house. There’s gonna be fried food. The archery club was gonna do a maid cafe, which I know because Yukari was so mad she was gonna have to wear a maid dress.

But, a typhoon is rolling in, so the festival is canceled, and isn’t gonna be rescheduled despite Mitsuru’s efforts. And after school on Friday, we head straight home, because the wind is starting to really kick up.

But… there’s still one person wandering around Port Island Station.

He’s not worried about the oncoming storm. He wants to talk, specifically about Chidori. He asked if she was okay. If we were taking care of her. If she was being a problem.

...no, you dumb asshole.

He also wants to bitch at me again about how we want to stop the Dark Hour.

Apathy? Maybe if you’d caught me six months ago. I have people I like now, and a reason to care. Meanwhile, you’re sitting there talking about how I don’t understand the ‘true value’ of my powers. What value is that? Wandering around at midnight killing people, like you do?

Minato is drenched by the time we get back to the dorm, because the downpour has kicked in and the typhoon has properly arrived. Everyone is a little cranky about missing the festival (except Yukari), and Minato’s got chills and fatigue from getting soaked, so he opts to go to bed early because he’s not feeling well.

…uh. Hi? Is the elevator about to crash?

Igor says that he hasn’t called me in my dreams in a while, and wants to open up some more special fusions for me to do. Which is great and all, but like… I am trying to sleep because I am sick. Can we do this any other time?

I see. Well, that’s… vague? Are you talking about like… the other Full Moon Shadows? The Clockwork God? Do you know what’s about to happen and won’t tell me? Although I guess you can’t help it, considering who made you.

Even if he wasn’t always like that.

Well, let’s get a good night’s sleep and see how we feel in the morni--

Minato. Mina. Darling. It’s MONDAY. You slept for TWO DAYS?

So, according to Q, Minato was feeling well enough that the team went to Tartarus last night. And Igor left the Velvet Room at some point, making it unstable enough to crash the elevator into the Abyss of Time. Apparently it’s not just the Abyss that no one remembers. They don’t seem to remember the instigating trip to Tartarus either.

Weird. But understandable I guess.

Anyway I missed two days of possibly playing my MMO all day. You could have at least showed me my teammates checking on me!

I guess I’ll spend my vacation hanging out with Shinji. Senpaiiii, teach me to cook!

...senpai is mean. XD

But apparently I’m a menace in the kitchen, so maybe I deserve it.

Let’s go to the movies, too!

Yes, we’re seeing this. It’s a movie about cute animals!

…….oh fuck me this is Watership Down isn’t it

Shinjiro-senpai I’m so sorry.

He sounds like he’s about to cry. X’’’’D

I thought it was a nice movie!!!!

Well, now someone has wandered into Tartarus again, so let’s head back, and check in with the Velvet Room about those new fusions. I’m not a high enough level for them yet, but it can’t hurt to look.

...why does it get its own fire attack. Why does it inflict charm.

WHY IS ITS LEVEL UP ITEM ITS HEAD. WHAT HEAD.

God.

After buying everyone new weapons and fusing some more personas, we’re probably going to be in Tartarus for a while. Because, well…

I’m broke.

So next time, yeah, we’re gonna save people, but also, time to look for so much money.

#Li plays P3Re

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ask-de-writer · 8 months

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Return to the Master Story Index

Return to CLASSICAL FANTASIES

THE FISHERMAN'S LEG (Part 9 of 20)

A sequel to Dee 1/2 Demon

De Writer (Glen Ten-Eyck)

7763 words (work in progress)

TUMBLR EXEMPTION

Blog holding members of Tumblr.com may freely reblog this story provided that the title, author and copyright information remain intact, unaltered, and are displayed at the head of the story.

Fan art, stories, music, cosplay and other fan activity is actively encouraged.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

New to the story? Read from the beginning HERE.

~~ ~~ ~~ ~~

Later, at the Minami house, Fisherman Minami closed his eyes and took a deep breath before saying anything. Carefully, he bowed his head and apologized to his wife. “Tanira san, I am deeply ashamed of my behavior towards you this day. I can only say that I am used to being the one taking in catch from the other boats and was upset at seeing you and those girls from over at the Shop of Repairs doing it. You do know that they are spies for the evil ones in that shop, do you not?”

Tanira nodded a bow thoughtfully as she replied, “Minami san, I will accept your apology. That you were very upset at the turns of events lately is obvious. I did also expect you to say that last.

“If Minara and Takahara are spies, still, we owe them much. I took the Fish Market as a complete settlement for the golden cash that you stole from my dower rights. Looking at its books, I made a very bad deal. Without the help of those girls, I would not have earned enough to pay for the fish that we got today.

“Even if I tried your criminal trick of only paying for fish after it is sold, the Market's earnings would have been only a few of copper cash. With their alert and pleasant attitudes, they drew in many customers that would have passed us by. Because of them, we earned two of silver cash and three strings sixteen of copper cash after all costs including buying the fish at dockside.”

Slipping a bit from courtesy, Minami snapped, “And then you went to dine with those evil ones!”

“Minami san! After a long day of hard work, Ichuru san and I were invited to share a free dinner in pleasant company!

“On the dock you crowded to the head of the queue in front of those there first! You rudely called me 'woman!' and demanded over three times the value of your catch in front of all the fishermen! You were so completely rude that your own crew threw you into the water for some peace so that they could settle the value of the catch.

“You left such a sour ending to an otherwise excellent day that when Ichuru san and I were offered a pleasant meal in happy surroundings, YES, we took it at once!

“When we came out to come home, you ruined even that! If you are what is good and they are evil, I will take the evil at once!”

Her shoulders slumped and she began to weep. “I am sorry, Minami san. This conversation has gone badly. I wish that you could see why.

“Would you like me to fix you some dinner?”

Minami paused, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. He noticed Ichuru quietly playing with his toy boat on the tatami mats of the floor and his face softened. “Yes, Tanira san, I would appreciate that.”

Taking the small victory of her husband's being courteous with her, she went to the kitchen and began to cook.

For a wonder, it was a quiet meal and when it was done, Minami helped her to clean up.

The next morning both Minami and Ichuru were absent, so she had a quiet breakfast and went to open the Fish Market. Both Minara and Takahara were waiting for her. They had not been idle. All of the sun shades were up and in their proper places. The little ice that had survived the night was waiting.

Takahara bowed politely in greeting and said sadly, “Poor Patsu san was right. There is a lock on the ice house door and a note saying that the key will cost you a cash of silver.”

Concern in face and voice, she asked, “Poor Patsu? What has happened?”

Both Minara and Takahara shook their heads in sorrow. “It was last night sometime, after the tide started to rise. One of Sabo's regular fishing boats, the Chrysanthemum of the Sea tried to fish in the waters near to Dry Island after dark. There is a strong tidal bore that comes out from between Dry Island and the Rocky Eyot. The sudden current caught them and pushed the boat onto some rocks sideways.

“It rolled over and three of the seven men on her drowned. Patsu came out to our dock first thing in the morning and found two of the bodies. In spite of being broken up, she saw the survivors on that dangerous rock beach on Dry Island. She took a small boat and some floats out.

“Not even our boats are safe near that beach. She let the floats out on a long line for them. She pulled all four of them to safety at our dock. On the way in, she found the last of the drowned men. She was really upset by that.

“The ones that she saved went and got a Constable to complain that she should have come for them in a bigger boat that they could ride in, instead of being towed in on floats.

“She had to explain that a bigger boat could not have got close enough to get the floats to them and then snapped that since they were that ungrateful for being saved, she was going to charge them for her work, equipment and time in the rescue.”

Both girls started to giggle. “She did too. Went straight to the Tribunal and filed her claim, pointing out in the bill that if they had not been ingrates and complained to a Constable, she would have charged them nothing.”

Nodding at the ending, and smiling some, Tanira pointed to their cart with the ice chest. “Takahara san, if you would, they told me yesterday that they would see me cared for with ice. Could you please go and get us some?”

Takahara took up the pull bar and trotted over to the Sabo's Better Fish Market. The women there laughed at the idea of Minami trying to blackmail his wife for the ice that she needed as they filled the cart with sparkling clean ice.

Soon the Fish Market was open. The three of them had loaded their display trays and were busily cutting fillets from fish that were still good but getting a little stale. The filets were going into openwork trays that were being put into the sun to dry for commercial trade to the back country areas, far from the sea. Along with those, they were setting up trays of sea water to evaporate for salt, also valuable in both Sabo and the back country.

Besides this happy industry, they were tending to a surprising number of customers! Word had gone out that Minami no longer ran the Fish Market and it was now busy.

In the midst of this, Minami and Ichuru came up from the dock area. Minami had a sourly triumphant lip curled half grin as he announced, “If you want to use the key to the ice house, you must pay me!” He was holding up the key. “It will only take a silver cash each time that you need it opened!”

Takahara snorted, “Really, Minami! You truly should use your eyes before opening your mouth!”

His eyes took in the trays of sparklingly clear clean ice! He instantly snapped, “Where did you steal this from!? You must have forced or picked my lock!”

Tanira had a grim smile of her own as she pointed to the key still upraised in his hand and nodded. Constable Canra who had come up unnoticed during Minami's outburst, plucked the key from his hand!

To be Continued

<==PREVIOUS ~~ NEXT==>

Return to the Master Story Index

Return to CLASSICAL FANTASIES

#THE FISHERMAN'S LEG #Part 9 of ?#Classical Fantasy #sequel to DEE 1/2 DEMON #WORK IN PROGRESS #Written by De Writer

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androgynous-bhajipav · 5 months

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Short story for the Desi Secret Santa Exchange

Blue and lilac melded into a different colour entirely to signal the onset of dusk. Cars, trucks, and motorcycles whooshed past her on the street. The air was light with the sounds of chatter and laughter over a cup of coffee from the adjoining café. Anuja stood in front of the bookshop with a frown, left foot tapping against the pavement in an uncertain manner.

Odd. Their bookshop meets were sacred! Tarun never arrived late to these before. Anuja stared at her surroundings, stared at her white shoes, at her blank phone screen - everywhere. She tried calling a few times to no response.

It had been Anuja's dream to study fashion design in Paris for so long and she was finally here. The first couple of months were like a passing storm cloud. Everything happened all at once- welcome parties, assignment deadlines, one night stands, a life-altering realisation. And she was alone through it all.

Well, not exactly. She'd video-call Naani over Skype every week. Naani would rant about whatever Nanaji's newest peculiar obsession was (dal fry, that one political party, that one sceen from that one Akshay Kumar movie) and Anuja would rant about the latest event of her life (Mireille and Daisy's party, finally visiting the Louvre, finally making a friend). Naani, the badass woman that she was, had been to Paris for studying herself in the early sixties. She'd met Edith Piaf too! And that made it a bit more tolerable, her anecdotes. Anuja would try to do the things her Naani had done decades ago and feel amazing.

But right now, Anuja wasn't thinking about her grandmother. She was thinking about how damn LATE Tarun was! A quick glance at her wrist-watch told her it was almost seven and the probability of Tarun finally showing up, all windswept hair and flushed cheeks, dwindled by the minute.

A couple months ago Anuja had been terribly homesick. The aroma of dum biryani would creep into her dreams unprecedented only for her to absently munched on a random sandwich from her refrigerator the next morning. The yearning to dance manically to Diljit Dosaanjh's new song playing from crappy speakers until her feet gave way was ever-present. Maybe she should've listened to her father and started preparing for NEET. Maybe she should've run away with her friends from Mumbai and started a rock band. And that's when she met Tarun.

God, she was going to lose it whenever Tarun showed up next! He'd stood her up thrice now. Anuja understood when he canceled movie night, and forgot about the study date in the library. But this was the last straw.

Sighing, she retraced her steps and called Naani first thing on reaching her flat. It took a second for the connection to get established, but as soon as she heard the "what's wrong, beta?" all thoughts came tumbling out.

Turns out, every assignment wasn't interesting. But you still had to meet every deadline and hell, Anuja was a scholarship student. She Could. Not. Afford. To get a bad remark. She'd succeeded so far but only barely, spending the night before completing it from start to finish, fuelled by caffeine. There were plenty who got better remarks, wider smiles and more approving nods than her. It was a long road.

"What's wrong, beta?" Naani asked again, once she was done ranting. Damn.

Everything. Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic. Maybe she should maje coffee. Maybe she should hunt all over for Tarun, hold him at gunpoint and ask him why he was canceling stuff. And while she was at it, just ki-

Maybe she could catch the next flight and return to India. Yeah, maybe that'd make things so much better!

"EVERYTHING!" She groaned and her Naani laughed heartily.

"Acquired a flair for the dramatics already, meri choti si jaan has already morphed into a true Parisienne!" Naani exclaimed and Anuja rolled her eyes. (Spoiler alert: she was also smiling wide)

Her grandmother looked above the screen for a second, probably to check on Nanaji, before meeting her eyes. There was an uncertain silence before Naani broke it by asking, "Who's the boy?"

What boy?

"Naani, chalo bhi! I'm not interested in dating. This is a crisis. I kind of want to return to India. Aapka aloo paratha yaad aa raha hai, bhaad mein gaye bell bottoms!"

She meant it as a light comment. But tears had made their way across her cheeks. She had no real friends here, except for Tarun but well that depends. Mireille and Daisy invited her to ONE party and never looked her in the eye again. Same with everyone else. Anuja was alone here, polar opposite of how she was in Mumbai. And she was losing interest in stuff anyway.

"Louvre aur Eiffel Tower toh roj dikh jaata hai, Naani Maa, but there's nothing left for me here. Maybe there never was-"

"Chup kar," Naani said abruptly, crossing her arms. "Ever since you were little, beta, you were obsessed with clothes. I'd take you to the Growels Mall and you'd stare at those mannequins for hours, poetry spinning away in your head. Your arms itching to hold the dresses, to feel its fabrics and study it carefully."

Anuja had stopped crying. She longed to tell Naani that people change, feelings fade, but she remained quiet. Naani had a strange expression on her face, inscrutable.

"I want to you to know that humaare darwaazein hamesha khule hai, Anu, but I want you to think over thus for a week. Don't make any rash decisions you'll regret later-"

She stared at a point above the screen again, eyebrows raised. "Jevaayla vaadhlay, Pakya," she said with barely concealed exasperation.

Anuja laughed. This wad golden- Naani almost never called Nanaji by his name unless she was super irritated and even then, she'd use this nickname his siblings addressed him with!

That's when she decided. She'd been through four months of overwhelming stuff; a week was shorter than the time it took to convince Naani once that there was no lizard in the house. Anuja could manage. Someone chose that moment to ring the doorbell and Anuja greeted her grandmother goodbye.

It was Tarun, with windswept hair and flushed cheeks. About fucking time.

Seven days later.

Tarun was cooking a rather nice-smelling dum biryani in their little flat kitchen using the groceries they'd brought in last night. Anuja was pacing back and forth in the passage, overthinking every little thought she'd been so sure of last night. She was going to tell Naani today. She was going to tell Naani that-

"I want to stay in Paris and complete my education! And then, I want to go to Mumbai to start something of my own," she blurted out, all in one breath.

And the other thing. Well, Anuja had listened to numerous Lata Mangeshkar songs this week and everything else on their Spotify Blend to try and find the right words for this moment. Tarun walked out of the kitchen looking like a greek god and sat next to her on the couch. He and Naani exchanged greetings.

What if Naani thought she wasn't following her heart and only staying in Paris for Tarun? Well, Tarun was certainly a part of it. They made each other better. And maybe getting him to model all the outfits Anuja made was another plus point.

"Something else you'd like to tell me, chhakuli?"

Wait, did she know? Was it that obvious? And most importantly, why was she smiling? Was she seriously okay with it?

Ah, right. She'd been absently holding Tarun's hand the whole time. Naani narrowed her eyes and Anuja's blood ran cold. "You break my granddaughter's heart, you break my heart, clear? And I'd prefer to keep it intact for now."

"Of course, Aunty!"

Anuja was in Paris, living a dream, seeing another one - Mumbai - at midnight. She was certain she'd go far in life. She was certain she'd be okay. Well, home is where the heart is and sometimes that home is a person.

______________________________________________

Hope you liked your Secret Santa @vellhighbandi ! I hope there aren't too many grammatical errors here haha. And I swear the story was MUCH longer than this so if you like, I could send you the deleted scenes separately. And if you hate this, I'll write something else. Wish you a belated Merry Christmas!

#dss2k23 #desisecretsanta2023

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sheerfreesia007 · 1 year

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Win A Date With A Naval Officer pt. 5

Title: Win A Date With A Naval Officer pt. 5

Fandom: Top Gun Maverick

Pairing: Robert ‘Bob’ Floyd x OFC!

Author: @sheerfreesia007

Words: 7,645

Warnings: toxic family dynamic, cursing, steamy make out session

Permanent Tag List: @paintballkid711, @fioccodineveautunnale, @phoenixhalliwell, @linkpk88, @weirdowithnobeardo, @athalien

WADWANO Tag List: @fandom-princess-forevermore

Gif Credit: @skylessnights

The birds were chirping peacefully as the sun hung in the mid morning air while the bees buzzed from blossomed flower to blossomed flower in the perfectly manicured backyard of the Bennett’s home. All of it with the large weeping willow tree created a whimsical scenery for Rachel’s tea party that she was hosting. Unfortunately that peaceful whimsical scenery was shattered as soon as Rachel opened her mouth to shrilly ask about her youngest daughter who was absent from today’s tea party.

“Has anyone heard from Lettie lately? I can never seem to get her on the phone anymore.” Rachel asked like a petulant child as she huffed softly. Viola who sat next to Rachel at the large white painted metal table took a dainty sip of her tea before shaking her head.

“She’s been skipping on some of the charities that I’ve hosted in the past few months. The last one I had to actually hire a bakery to make the desserts for me and the table was done up all wrong by the wait staff!” Viola said disgustedly as she sneered behind her tea cup.

“She hasn’t hosted a charity event either in a few months.” Anise informed them as she set her own tea cup down on the saucer. “And I don’t think she has any plans to host one anytime soon.” Rachel scowled darkly at that information before huffing angrily.

“It’s all because of her new boyfriend. That naval officer.” Millicent said with a shrug of her shoulders. “I remember when I met Thomas. I didn’t want to do anything besides spend time with him. You can’t fault her for doing that, she’s in love.” Millicent smiled dreamily as she rested her chin in her palm on the table with a far off look in her eyes. Rachel frowned at her second oldest daughter’s words before Viola spoke up once again.

“Yes but she’s not helping out the family when we need her.” Viola said disdainfully and Rachel nodded her head in agreement.

“She’s not acting like a proper southern belle. She’s not giving back to the community-”Rachel stated and Nora spoke up suddenly.

“That’s not true. She’s been working at the food pantries in the city, my girlfriends saw her working a few weeks ago at New Orleans Mission. She was giving out boxes to those less fortunate there and then she worked the food line at the St. John the Baptist Community Center. She’s still giving back, it's just not on your terms.” Nora said with a sharp look in her eye. Rachel sat there quietly for a moment wondering where this defiant attitude had come from in Nora.

“Really Nora, sounds like you agree with what Lettie is doing.” Viola said with a twist of her lips. “What’s the matter is Frank getting into that pretty head of yours?” she asked derisively and everyone at the table all sucked in sharp breaths as their eyes darted over to Nora.

“Better that than just following along like a good little girl.” Nora snipped back as she glared at Viola from across the table. Viola smirked evilly over her tea cup and Rachel knew if she didn’t step in there’d be so damage between the two sisters.

“Well what do you suggest we do to get Lettie back to helping us with our charities?” Rachel asked curiously to Nora who blinked at her owlishly for a moment before shrugging her shoulders.

“She’s happy doing what she’s doing. What’s the harm of leaving her be? She was never going to be a proper southern belle like you wanted her to be anyway, why can’t she just be Lettie?” Nora asked conversationally and Rachel scowled at her questions.

“Because that’s not what I want for her life.” Rachel snapped out hurriedly and Nora waved her hand in the air stopping Rachel from speaking again.

“It’s her life Mom. Just because you want her to be a proper southern belle doesn’t mean that it’s going to happen. In fact I’m pretty sure if you keep pushing for this it’ll end up the exact opposite of what you want.” Nora said knowingly and Rachel shook her head hurriedly at her words.

“You sound just like your father! All of my daughters will be perfect southern belles if I have any say about it. They will emulate the perfect sophisticated woman, a pillar of her community who gives back and shares her wealth in any way that she can. A true, honest role model for everyone else to strive to be.” Rachel said determinedly and Nora scoffed softly at her words.

“Mom, while that’s all well and good it’s unrealistic. Out of your five daughters I’m pretty sure Lettie is the closest to that description.” Nora said with an incredulous chuckle and shake of her head.

“Speak for yourself.” Viola snipped and Nora grinned wolfishly at Viola across the table.

“You’re one to talk.” Nora responded gamely and Rachel sat back in her chair as she felt the air grow cold. “You’re the worst one out of all of us Vi. You treat your maids like garbage and work them until they either collapse or they quit due to being worn out. You can’t keep a nanny employed on your payroll for longer than a month all because your children are absolute hellions. And who are you trying to kid with all those posts on Facebook with your husband? We all know he’s banging your next door neighbor’s wife on the side. What happened with his last secretary huh?” Nora said as her tone and volume rose with incredulity as she continued to talk. Viola snapped her mouth shut angrily and glared hatefully at Nora. “We all have our own vices that we partake in and for you to think that we’d all be perfect southern belles is a joke. It’s all a lie. And Lettie doesn’t deserve your disdain all because she wants to work for a living and not be a stay at home mom. She’s got so much talent in just her little pinky and all you do is tear her down whenever she shows you her talents. It’s disgusting how you treat her!” Nora finished heatedly before standing up from her chair and storming off. The table sat quiet for a moment before Rachel huffed and shook her head.

“Well.” Rachel said haughtily and Viola sat there stunned in silence while Millicent and Anise nodded their head silently along with Rachel. “She’ll regret leaving us. She’ll come crawling back to us and we’ll just tell her no thanks.”

Everyone fell silent then and Viola sighed out a long breath before picking up her tea cup and taking a sip of her tea. The birds still chirped happily and the bees still flew from flower to flower but there was no longer a peaceful whimsical aura. Rachel sat there in her chair staring at her remaining three daughters and wondered if she was doing the right thing by them or if her husband and now daughter were right in telling her that her dream of having all southern belle daughters was a mistake.

*-*-*-*

Lettie sat in one of the outdoor patio chairs at her favorite restaurant Birdy’s Behind the Bower under the white long tent a table tucked away in the corner with Maddie and Charlene. Maddie sat next to her while Charlene sat across from the two of them sipping on a mimosa. The girls had called her up that morning asking if she wanted to go to brunch together since they felt like they hadn’t seen her in a few weeks. Lettie had agreed because she had felt the same way and knew that she’d feel ten times better once she met up with them. It always felt like a breath of fresh air whenever she got together with Maddie and Charlene, it always seemed to ground her when she would start to feel anxious or wound too tight.

“So where have you been hiding lately?” Charlene asked with a knowing smirk and wiggle of her eyebrows causing Maddie and Lettie to chuckle at her antics.

“Working and any time off is spent with Bob.” Lettie confessed with a happy smile on her face.

“As it should be.” Maddie spoke up in confidence as she took a sip of her own mimosa. Charlene nodded her head along with Maddie’s words before speaking up.

“I don’t blame you, he’s a keeper. He’s cute and always looks out for you whenever we’re all out together.” Charlene began to list off Bob’s attributes and Lettie hid her smile behind her glass of sweet tea.

“Not to mention the man is head over heels for you.” Maddie chimed in and Charlene squealed happily at her words.

“Do you remember their first date? I swear I thought Bob was going to swallow his tongue when they were together at the table.” Charlene excitedly relayed and Maddie nodded her head quickly as Lettie began to blush.

“And then that time we were all up on the terrace! You two are lucky I was next to you, otherwise everyone would’ve known.” Maddie said cryptically and Charlene looked at her with a confused look on her face. “Oh you don’t know? These two were screwing like rabbits that night on the terrace. It was actually kinda hot, he had to cover her mouth a few times before they were done.” Maddie informed Charlene who gasped loudly and stared at Lettie in shock before her look morphed into a salacious grin. Lettie blushed from the roots of her hair down to below the neckline of her tank top.

“Lettie you dirty girl!” cried out Charlene who whooped loudly as Lettie ducked her head as other guests of the restaurant looked towards their table. “Oh my, I didn’t think you had it in you for that.”

“She never did until Bob came along.” Maddie teased and Lettie gasped softly causing Maddie and Charlene to burst out into laughter. Lettie ducked her head once again and Maddie took pity on her and gave her a comforting hug. “We only tease because we can see how happy you are with him.” she reassured Lettie who snuggled in her arms for a moment.

“I can’t help it.” Lettie wailed playfully and Maddie chuckled at her pitiful act as she patted Lettie’s head.

“Of course you can’t sweetheart.” she teased Lettie who laughed and playfully shoved Maddie away as Charlene chuckled with them.

“So when’s the wedding?” Charlene teased from her seat and Lettie jolted in her seat causing both Maddie and Charlene to stare at her for a moment. “Did I say something wrong?” Charlene asked cautiously and Lettie shook her head quickly.

“No, no you didn’t. I want to be married to him. Trust me I want it. I want the cute little wedding with all of you there. I want to be Mrs. Leticia Floyd.” Lettie said with passion as Maddie and Charlene stared at her waiting for the rest of her words. “We just haven’t talked about it yet. I don’t know for sure if that’s what he wants and I don’t want to rush something that he might not be even thinking about yet.” Lettie said unsure as she began to fidget with her glass.

“Aww, Lettie. That man is truly smitten with you and if you asked I’m sure he’d drop to one knee tonight when you see him.” Maddie said softly in a reassuring tone.

“Not to mention he’s a service member. They move quickly when it comes to relationships.” Charlene said as she nodded her head while Lettie looked over at her.

“So then why hasn’t he brought up marriage?” Lettie asked insecurely. Just then Lettie’s cellphone, which was sitting in the middle of the table with Charlene’s and Maddie’s, began to vibrate with a slew of text messages. Lettie sighed as she saw that they were all from Viola, her oldest sister and from what she could see on the screen it was all about her charity event that was happening this weekend. Lettie reached forward and silenced her cellphone as she huffed about her sister’s poor timing.

“Maybe because he knows that you’re different he doesn’t want to rush it?” Charlene suggested. “I mean look at it this way Lettie, he’s always in these dangerous situations when he’s deployed and he obviously loves coming home to you. I mean the last time we didn’t hear from you for a week, I swear you were going to tell us you’re pregnant after that week.” Charlene said with a kind smile. “Maybe he doesn’t want to scare you with the way his life is. It’s a hard life being the wife of a service member, heck my mom was one and it nearly put her in her grave a few times waitin’ to hear back if he made it out or not. Gave her so many gray hairs.” Lettie chuckled softly at the mention of Charlene’s mom as she nodded her head slowly.

“The only way you’ll know for sure is if you talk to him about it.” Maddie said gently and Lettie looked at her for a quiet moment.

“You’re absolutely right. I can bring it up to him later tonight when he comes over.” Lettie said with a happy smile. Charlene and Maddie looked at each other over the table and then squealed happily before they began talking rapidly about everything that Lettie would need to start preparing for her wedding to Bob. Lettie sat there grinning from ear to ear happy that her two best friends were so eager and excited for her to get married to him. She sat back in her chair and took another sip of her sweet tea thinking about what her ideal wedding to Bob would look like for her.

*-*-*-*

The knock at the front door had Lettie running down the hallway from the kitchen with a wide grin on her face. Hurriedly she unlocked the door and swung it open to see Bob standing there holding his duffle bag with a smile on his face. Lettie lunged and wrapped her arms around his neck with a happy laugh bubbling up from her chest. Bob teetered backwards a little bit but held her close to him as he dropped his face into her neck.

“I missed you, Lettie girl.” he said softly and Lettie grinned wider.

“I’ve missed you more.” she responded and Bob scoffed softly at her words.

“Not possible.” he countered before pulling his face away and capturing her lips with his in a sweet chaste kiss. He backed her back into her house while still kissing her and kicked the door closed with his foot before dropping his bag to the side. When he had the extra hand free he cupped her cheek and tilted her head to the side while opening his mouth to deepen the kiss while moaning. Lettie squeaked softly when her back collided with the wall and her hands scrambled to get a hold of him while she whimpered against his mouth. Her hands curled around his shoulders and her leg lifted to hook around his hip pulling him in close to her until she felt his flush against her. Bob pulled away slightly and the two of them panted heavily trying to catch their breaths. “Missed you so much sweetheart.” he husked out to her as his hips snapped against hers making Lettie cry out. “Always love coming home to you.” he told her as his mouth dropped to her jaw and began sucking kisses into her skin making Lettie gasp loudly.

Just then the timer on her stove went off and Lettie groaned loudly at the interruption. Bob chuckled against her skin as his tongue darted out leaving a trail of saliva to dry making Lettie shiver in his arms. Bob always knew how to wind Lettie up with kisses and she truly loved it but only when it was uninterrupted. He tapped her ass gently and she lowered her leg slowly while grinding against him to show how much she wanted him. Bob placed both hands on either side of her head and Lettie looked up at him challengingly to see his lustful smirk on his face.

“You’re gonna be in trouble later Lettie girl.” he told her darkly and Lettie grinned while shivering, she’d happily take whatever he gave her. She then took his hand and guided him down the hallway to her kitchen where he took his seat on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Her kitchen island was littered with baking utensils and baking ingredients that she had been using to lock down what desserts she was going to be making for Viola’s charity event this weekend. “So what do we have going on here?” Bob asked as he eyed all the baking mess on the island.

“So I need your help.” Lettie said over her shoulder as she turned off the burner under the large pot of tortellini soup that she had made for dinner for them tonight. She then bent over and opened the oven to take out the garlic bread she had also made for dinner.

“Lettie you bend over like that everytime you ask and I’ll do whatever you want.” Bob groaned out and Lettie laughed at his words. She turned around and faced him then with a wicked grin on her face.

“Is that all it takes to bring Lieutenant Bob Floyd to heel?” she asked sultrily and Bob smirked at her while standing from his stool to walk over to her. He crowded her against the counter and pressed his lips to hers.

“When it involves you all you have to do is breathe and I’m at your mercy.” he whispered against her lips and Lettie moaned prettily for him before capturing his lips with hers. Bob groaned low in his throat and wrapped his arms low around her waist while deepening the kiss. “Fuck, have mercy on me Lettie.” he moaned out to her and she chuckled softly before nipping his lower lip playfully.

“After dinner and dessert we’ll work out this tension in you.” she promised him as her hands glided up and down his biceps causing Bob to flex them much to Lettie’s delight. Lettie kissed him softly before turning to the island with a hand gesture to show him what she had been working on. “So I’ve got that charity event for Viola on Saturday in the morning and I’m in charge of the dessert table again. I wasn’t too sure if I wanted to do cake pops decorated in her theme with large cupcakes to compliment them or if I wanted to do turtle brownies with complimentary cupcakes or even just stick to my beignets. So I’ve made a sampling of each and I’d like for you to pick which one you prefer. The brownies and cupcakes would be the less time consuming option but I like the cake pops and cupcakes idea for her theme of Alice in Wonderland. But then everyone loves my beignets so I’m not sure which one to go with. Plus I’m going to have to do some of the work while you’re here with me so I don’t want to take too much time away from you.” Lettie explained while fidgeting with her hands.

Bob tilted his head while watching her and saw that she was more worried about losing time with him as he walked closer to her. Bob moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist taking a gentle hold of her hands as he rested his chin on her shoulder. He hummed softly and Lettie calmed down almost immediately as she melted in his arms.

“So then let me help you make the desserts. I’m a good helper I swear. Plus we’ll get to spend more time together.” he said softly as he began to sway her back and forth while keeping her pressed to his chest. He stood there swaying with her in his arms and felt her sigh softly before nodding her head at his words.

“Alright, I really appreciate your help. I just don’t like that it’s cutting into our time together. Now I understand why I should be speaking up against my mom and sisters more.” Lettie said softly and Bob wrapped his arms tightly around her body cuddling her close.

“You just need to stand up for yourself a little more. I don’t agree with the way they treat you and I can see how much it brings you down. I don’t want you to ever feel like that and if I can help it I’ll make sure you never feel like that again.” Bob said softly as Lettie turned his arms and wrapped her arms low around his waist as she buried her face in his shirt. “I adore you sweetheart and I only want the best for you.”

Lettie smiled beautifully up at him before raising on her tiptoes to press a sweet kiss to his lips. She hugged him once more before they moved to serve dinner and sit down together to eat. The two of them fell into a familiar routine and Lettie felt her heart soar at the thought that this could be her reality.

*-*-*-*

Lettie burst out into laughter as she turned from the stand mixer to see Bob gazing down into the bowl of dry ingredients with a determined look on his face. Ever since the two of them had set out to make the cake pops and cupcakes Bob was set on making sure he did everything the way she instructed so that they all turned out alright. She grinned at him widely as she moved over to him and gently brushed her thumb across his cheek brushing away the flour that had smeared there. He chuckled softly at her actions before darting his eyes over her face.

“You’re cute when you’re so determined.” she said softly to him and Bob pecked her awaiting lips.

“Gotta make sure these are good. I’m the helper today.” he said solemnly and Lettie laughed brightly at his words.

“I love you.” Lettie said on a soft happy sigh before gasping softly. Bob’s eyes widened before a beaming smile fell upon his lips. She watched silently as Bob almost vibrated with excitement as he reached to cup her face and pulled her to him, capturing her lips with a happy warm kiss.

“I love you too, no take backsies.” Bob muttered against her mouth and Lettie laughed delightedly against his mouth.

“No take backsies.” she murmured to him and Bob kissed her once again as his hands moved up into her hair as the kiss grew heated. Just as Bob was tilting her head to the side to further deepen the kiss Lettie’s cell phone began to ring loudly in the kitchen. Bob groaned softly and pulled away so that Lettie could see her phone. “Why is she calling me?” Lettie asked softly with a weary sigh before picking up her cell phone. “Yes Viola?” Lettie asked wearily and Bob moved to stand behind her while still keeping his arms around her.

Bob was ecstatic that Lettie had said the words first because he had been dying to tell her how he felt about her for months now and was worried that he would be moving too fast if he said them too soon. He wanted to move at her pace and not scare her away, he wanted this relationship to be the end goal for them. He knew that as a member of the Navy that he was going to be put into dangerous situations that could potentially take him from this world and nothing was ever guaranteed but he wanted to make sure that Lettie had control of the pacing of their relationship. But Bob felt as if he was twenty pounds lighter just from hearing her say the words and being able to say them back. He turned to see her frowning into the phone as her eyebrows furrowed on her forehead and he knew that did not bode well for them this weekend.

“No Vi, I was only planning on setting up the table and laying out the desserts for you and your guests. I didn’t want to come to the event, it’s Bob’s free weekend and we had plans.” Lettie said, dismayed as she huffed loudly. Bob moved closer to her and could hear her sister berating her over the phone. “No Vi. We don’t want to come to the event. We’re just going to set it up and then leave.” Bob felt pride swell inside of him as Lettie told her sister no and stood up for herself. He could see that it was hard for her but he appreciated it nonetheless, she had been working so hard through her therapy and he could see that with the way she spoke to her sister now. “I don’t care if Mom and Dad want us there. I told you no.” Lettie said firmly and Bob tilted his head to the side at the mention of her Dad. He knew Lettie had been missing her Dad like crazy lately since she hadn’t had much time to see him and Bob felt slightly guilty for taking so much of her time.

“Hey, maybe we should go so we can see your Dad.” Bob suggested softly and Lettie looked at him with a confused look on her face. He waved his hand at the phone and Lettie pulled it away from her ear for a moment. Bob pressed the mute button on her screen and looked at her adorably cute face. “I know your whole therapy session is so you can stand up for yourself more. And you’re doing a great job, but your Dad’s going to be there Lettie. And I know you’ve been missing him lately, and I feel a little guilty for taking all of your time away from him. Maybe we can go and spend an hour or two with him at the event and then leave?” he suggested to her. Lettie twisted her lips in thought and Bob could see that she was partial to the idea he presented. “Plus we’re free to leave and come back here to do whatever we want. And I’d love to see you in that floral tea dress that’s hanging in the back of your closet. I’ve dreamt of taking you home in it so that it can wind up on the floor.” he whispered into her ear and Lettie quickly pressed the unmute button.

“Vi we’ll come but only for a little bit. See you tomorrow.” Lettie said quickly before hanging up. She lunged at him eagerly and Bob caught her as her lips crashed to his heatedly. “We’ve got about ten minutes left until we can get all of these into the oven to bake. Keep that thought alive for those ten minutes and you can give me a preview of your idea.” Lettie husked out to him before wrenching away from him and hurriedly moving to the standing mixer. Bob chuckled softly at her antics before moving back to the bowl of dry ingredients eager for the baking to be over so they could get to things they wanted to do.

*-*-*-*

Bob sat in the passenger seat of Lettie’s Volkswagen bug watching out the window as she drove down her parent’s neighborhood street towards their large house. The cake pops and cupcakes had been finished this morning before the two of them had giddily gotten ready together in her bedroom. Bob turned his head to see Lettie in her pretty floral tea dress with the pleated skirt that fell down to her knees with her hair curled and style in flowy train down her back. She had even put on cute little heeled shoes that matched her dress. Shifting in his seat Bob felt himself growing desirous of her as his eyes darted up and down her body hungrily.

“Down Lieutenant.” Lettie chastised him gently and Bob groaned loudly at her words. He slid his hand onto her thigh and felt her jolt in surprise.

“You know what my title does to me and yet you still use it.” He teased her softly, watching eagerly as her tongue peeked out to dart across her lower lip.

“I can’t help it. I love it when you go a little wild.” Lettie said sultrily and Bob sucked in a deep breath to try and calm himself down. He slid his index finger over the skirt of her and dragged it up her thighs until her pretty lacy underwear was showing before letting it fall back to her knees. The breath she let out slowly as her hands adjusted on the steering wheel was very telling of how excited she was as well.

“Didn’t peg you for an exhibitionist. Because that’s what you’ll be once we get out of this car if you keep it up, Lettie girl.” Bob told her and watched as she shivered in her seat. He knew she would calm down as he noticed that she was slowing the car before pulling into her parents’ driveway. What he wasn’t expecting was for Lettie to put her car in park and then grab him by his shirt and plant a kiss right on his mouth hungrily as they sat in the car.

“Maybe later tonight you can go a little wild on me and this dress.” she suggested softly as she breathed against his lips. Bob growled low in his throat and watched as Lettie’s eyes widened slightly at the sound. Bob kissed her once more before the two of them moved away so that they could get out of the car together.

“Hey! You guys made it!” cried out a voice and Bob turned to see Lettie’s Dad walking down the steps of the front porch with a wave of his hand. Lettie grinned over the top of her bug at him before walking around the hood of the car to greet her Dad with a warm hug.

“Hi Dad.” she said softly and fondly, causing Bob to smile at their interaction as he watched.

“Hey kiddo. Glad you’re here. Your sisters and Mom are already upstairs getting ready. You look beautiful!” her Dad greeted her kindly and Lettie beamed at him as Bob watched on. Then her Dad turned to Bob with a happy smile on his face. “Glad to see you again Robert.” he said easily as he stuck his hand out to shake Bob’s. Bob easily and happily shook his hand while nodding his head at him.

“It’s good to see you too, sir.” Bob said kindly and her Dad waved his hand dismissively of his manners.

“Please just call me Michael.” her dad stated and Bob smiled while nodding once at him. “Here let me help you guys with the desserts.” he said eagerly and Lettie stepped in front of him stopping him in his tracks.

“Absolutely not! Those desserts are for the party not for you to sneak.” Lettie scolded him with her index finger in the air. And Bob watched as Michael slumped his shoulders defeatedly as he looked at Lettie with pleading eyes, Bob chuckled at the dynamic between the two of them as he shook his head. “Besides I’ve got a whole container all just for you. It’s in the backseat. Just grab it and take it inside before we start moving all the other stuff.” Lettie told him in confidence and Bob chuckled as he watched Michael light up like a christmas tree as he hurriedly rushed to Lettie’s back seat.

Bob followed a bemused Lettie to her trunk which she opened while chuckling and shaking her head as her Dad rushed into the house with his container of cupcakes and cake pops. Bob nudged her hips with his own when he saw that she was reaching into her trunk to pull out the large containers of desserts before he reached in and grabbed all of the containers for her.

“Just walk me to where you need these.” he said to her kindly and she beamed up at him before shaking her head as she reached into her trunk and pulled out a metal contraption. Bob watched curiously as she unfolded and presented a small hand truck that had enough room for her containers. He chuckled softly at her resilience and she looked proudly up at him.

“I’ve done a few of these before sweetheart. Work smarter not harder.” she told him proudly and Bob smiled at her before placing the containers on the hand truck. He then stood back up and grabbed Lettie around the waist pulling her into him with a surprised gasp.

“Have I ever told you how sexy you are to me when you show off that big brain of yours?” he asked teasingly and Lettie chuckled at his words before kissing him sweetly.

“No, but I love hearing it.” she whispered to him with a smirk.

“Fucking sexy as hell. I can barely control myself around you.” he responded softly to her and Lettie beamed at the praise. She kissed him once more before wiggling out of his arms and turning back to the trunk of her car and pulling out the table cloths she brought as well as the dessert stands that she’d be using today. Bob unabashedly eyed her ass as she bent over into the trunk and had to bite his lip to keep from moaning loudly at the display.

“C’mon let’s go to the backyard and start setting all of this up.” She told him as she closed the trunk and began walking towards the side of the house. Bob obediently followed after her while pulling the hand truck after him, knowing full well that her mother and sisters were at the second story window watching them. He had felt the sensation of someone watching him and had easily seen her mother and sisters peering out of the window upstairs with disdainful looks on their faces. Bob was resolute in keeping Lettie happy today so he hadn’t spoken up about their audience. He knew that today was going to be a struggle no matter what but he had a foreboding feeling that it was going to be bad today.

*-*-*-*

The party was well under way and Bob glanced down at his watch to see that it was already one hour into the party. He wondered if Lettie would get upset if he started hinting that he wanted to leave, so far her mother and sisters had kept their distance from him and Lettie but he could see them starting to inch closer to the two of them. Lettie was standing next to him holding a glass of sweet tea while chatting contently with one of her sisters’ school friends, her bright happy laughter rang through the air and Bob smiled as he watched her tilt her head back with her boisterous laugh.

Bob was absolutely entranced by her, the way she spoke freely and amicably with everyone she met was so alluring to him that it drew him close to her and kept him there. She was such a sociable woman who was able to strike up a conversation with everyone she met. And she always seemed to remember a small tidbit about the other person and would work it into the conversation which made everyone light up with pleasure at the mention. He loved that Lettie was thoughtful to remember these things about people and to bring it up so that they felt seen by her.

Just then Lettie grazed her free hand against his and Bob automatically turned his hand to grab onto hers. He intertwined their fingers and raised her hand to press a soft kiss to the back of her hand making her beam up at him and inch closer to him. Bob smiled softly at her and heard the soft gasp of the school friend.

“You two are absolutely adorable together! How long have you been dating?” she asked excitedly and Lettie beamed happily at the compliment. Bob spotted Lettie’s oldest sister Viola walking over with her Mother and the two middle sisters, he tensed slightly but pulled Lettie closer to him protectively. He had a feeling that this wasn’t going to end well.

“Oh we just celebrated her nine month anniversary last week.” Lettie said fondly as she smiled at the woman.

“Oh! That’s so lovely!” the woman said happily before turning to Viola who had reached them with her mother and sisters right next to her. Bob felt Lettie falter slightly but he gripped her hand tightly once trying to reassure her.

“Nine months? That’s an awful long time and you’re still only dating? That’s a shame.” Viola said disdainfully and Bob sucked in a slow even breath trying not to react to her hurtful words.

“We’ve been enjoying each other’s company for the time being. Haven’t talked about the details yet.” Lettie said dismissively as she smiled up at Bob who winked at her causing her to grin and flush prettily for him. “Getting to know each other completely before we figure out what our next steps are.” Lettie said dreamily as she kept gazing up at Bob. He was internally cheering that she wasn’t getting upset over her sister’s words and choosing to turn her sister’s attempt to attack them around on her.

“You need all that time to get to know him?” her Mother asked curiously as she glared at Lettie. Lettie shrugged her shoulders as she looked over at her Mother with a happy smile.

“Before we move forward I’d like to know him as a person as much as possible. To make sure that we’re compatible to take the next step. There’s nothing wrong with that.” Lettie said dismissively and Bob felt pride surge up inside of him as he listened to her words. He also had a moment of satisfaction as he watched her Mother’s mouth drop open slightly in shock at Lettie’s flippant attitude. He also assumed that she was upset that Lettie was essentially not giving them any information about their relationship.

“Yes, I suppose that’s a good idea. But Lettie, sweetheart-” Viola began to say in a patronizing way that had Lettie straightening her posture next to Bob defensively. Bob could feel it too, Viola was setting something up and he knew it was aimed to upset Lettie. He silently wondered what was Viola’s issue with Lettie and why she was so cruel to her, he wondered if it was due to their Mother. Lettie had spoken about her childhood and how it was mostly spent with her Dad and avoiding her Mother and her southern belle agenda. She had told him that she would take the etiquette classes that her Mother had put all of her daughters through and while she was able to successfully pass the classes she was still clumsy and her Mother would grow impatient and angry with her. Suddenly Bob felt Lettie grip his hand tightly and he focused back on her gazing at her profile as she stared at her sister. “Are you going to continue being only his girlfriend just like Robert is only a WSO?” Viola asked disdainfully and Bob whipped his head to stare at her with narrowed eyes.

He couldn’t believe that those words had just come out of her mouth in regards to his career. She had no idea what he had to go through to become a WSO and while it wasn’t an aviator it was still a key job in the navy. Bob felt his own insecurities rising up as well as his anger as he stood there thinking over her words. He could see her satisfied smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, she knew she had gotten to him. But the silence that had fallen over the group was interrupted by the angry words bursting forth from Lettie’s mouth.

“Excuse me?!” Lettie snapped angrily as she glared hatefully at Viola. Bob turned his head quickly to stare at Lettie in shock, in all of the nine months that they had been dating this was the first time that Bob had ever seen Lettie get truly angry. He’d seen her frustrated, upset and disappointed but he’d never seen her angry. He had to admit it made his heart flutter in his chest as he watched her stance solidify in a protective mode, she was angry for him and she wasn’t going to let her sister degrade him in front of her and all of the guests. “Did you just say only a WSO? Do you even know what WSO stands for Viola?” Lettie spat at distastefully as if the words made her sick. “Let me inform you since you obviously don’t know. It stands for Weapons System Officer, that means he’s the one dropping bombs while his aviator is flying the aircraft. Do you think you could do that job?” Lettie spoke out incredulously as she stared at Viola with raised eyebrows. “The fact that you’re even cruelly judging a Service Member speaks volumes of your character and I’m saddened to find out how hateful you actually are. Bob goes to war just so you can throw these mindless charity events. Get off your high horse Viola you have no right to downplay his accomplishments and achievements when you know nothing about them.” Lettie said heatedly next to Bob and he could see the angry flush forming at the base of her neck and knew that she was truly worked up over her sister’s words.

The guests were all silent after Lettie ripped into Viola about her disdain for Bob’s career and while Bob knew that Lettie would probably feel bad for causing a scene he could only see her in a new light. She was protective of him and didn’t take kindly to others trying to talk badly about him, it made Bob feel all the love that she held for him and he couldn’t wait to get her home to reciprocate it.

Viola scoffed loudly before turning to the woman that Lettie had been talking to before and stopped instantly when she saw the judging look from the woman. Bob watched as Viola turned her head from side to side to see all the rest of the guests looking at her with judgemental looks, Viola’s smirk slowly fading from her mouth as she took in all of her guests staring at her.

“Leticia Ann Bennett!” shouted her Mother loudly and everyone turned to stare at her as she glowered at Lettie while her whole body shook with untamed rage. “This is not how a southern belle behaves!” she shouted and Bob felt Lettie flinch slightly and he steps closer towards her for comfort. “You are a disgrace to this family and I am ashamed of you!” her Mother continued to rant and rave loudly enough for everyone to hear. Lettie’s hand gripped Bob’s tightly and she sucked in a stuttering breath after her Mother’s words rang out in the air.

“Well that’s a shame.” Lettie said calmly as she raised her head to stare squarely at her Mother. “Because I'm a damn good person even though I’m not the perfect southern belle that you want me to be. And if you can’t see that, that's on you Mother.” Lettie said solemnly before shaking her head at her Mother who gaped at her in quiet shock. Lettie then turned to Bob and smiled warmly at him. “Let’s go Bob, I wanna go home.” she said softly and Bob nodded his head eagerly as he wrapped an arm around her waist and began guiding her out of the backyard. Her Mother began shouting after them saying that they couldn’t leave because the party was still going on and she wasn’t done talking to Lettie. Bob continued guiding Lettie out past everyone, when they passed her Dad Bob nodded his head in silence and her Dad reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder for a moment before they passed him.

Bob easily got Lettie out of the backyard and guided her to the passenger side door before taking the keys from her and opening her door. He helped her into the car and rushed around the front of the car to get in on the driver’s side. When he was in the driver’s seat he turned to Lettie and saw that she was staring straight ahead quietly. He wasn’t sure if she wanted to talk about it just now or if she wanted him to just get her straight home. He took a hold of her left hand and raised it to his lips pressing a soft kiss to the back of her hand.

“I know it hurts what your sister and mother tried to do. But you did so well standing up for not only me but yourself as well. I am so proud of you and want you to know that I absolutely love you exactly how you are. I wouldn’t change anything about you.” Bob said softly against the skin of her hand before pressing another kiss to her hand. He then started her car and began driving back to her place, still holding her hand the whole time.

“Thank you.” Lettie said softly in such a quiet voice that it made Bob’s heart ache. He knew he would have his work cut out for him to make Lettie feel better about what happened at the party.

#robert bob floyd x ofc!#robert bob floyd #top gun maverick #wadwano

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