#yes it wasn’t great but i was so looking forward to the actual good parts are you kidding meeee

[thebigqueer]

no mourners no funerals my ass. i’m mourning and i’m funeraling

#yes it wasn’t great but i was so looking forward to the actual good parts are you kidding meeee #shadow and bone #grishaverse #leigh bardugo

[freedomfireflies]

Show Me*

Summary: The second part to Teach Me*

Class is in session, and this time, Harry needs a little help exploring his favorite kinks. Like...how to get somebody off underneath a table.

And you're more than happy to lend a helping...hand.

Word Count: 6k

“So…how did she like it?”

Harry laughs as he slips out of his car. “Wow, I think that’s a new record. Waited a whole thirty seconds to ask me.”

“Bite me,” you retort as he makes his way toward where you’re waiting on the sidewalk. “Well?”

He shrugs, hands shoving into his pockets. “Dunno. We never got to it.”

“So, just straight to the fucking, then, huh?” you question. “No foreplay at all? I mean, hey…if that’s what she’s into…great. But, personally, I think the foreplay is the best—”

“All right,” he interjects with a wicked yet amused grin. “That’s not what I meant. She got called into work before we could.”

“Oh.” You offer him a pitiful frown. “Sorry, bud.”

“Bite me,” he mimics as he brushes past you. “S’fine. It’ll happen when it happens.”

“That’s the spirit,” you encourage as you fall in-line beside him. “Gives you more time to find your nerve.”

“Yeah,” he agrees quietly, glancing down at the concrete. “Or more time to practice…other things.”

“Other things?”

“Yeah,” he says again, one brow raising as he looks back over. “You know, like…how to eat ass.”

Finally catching onto his joke, you groan and reach out to shove him away from you, watching as he stumbles with a laugh. “Fucking hilarious.”

“Listen, I was actually looking forward to it,” he continues, hand over his heart as if disappointed. “I bet you really know how to eat some ass.”

“Ha…ha.”

“What? You do, don’t you? Cause of…Eric?”

The familiar but dreaded name sends a shiver down your spine as you recoil away and scrunch your nose in horror. “Ew.”

He looks proud. “Well? Am I wrong?”

“Yes,” you huff before sighing. “…no. But he wasn’t that great of a teacher, anyhow.”

“No fucking kidding,” Harry snorts with a smile. “You’re much better.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course,” he beams, reaching out for the door of the restaurant to swing it open. “After you.”

“As it should be,” you tease, winking to hint at the double entendre, and his eyes roll.

You find your large group of friends already gathered around a table near the back of the room, and quickly make your way over.

For the next few minutes, you all exchange pleasantries, catch-up, and tease Harry about his failed attempt at mating.

He’s a good sport about it, flipping everyone off with a smile before changing the subject. 

Because, despite the jokes, all of you know that Harry could have anybody he wanted. Maybe his experience in the bedroom is lacking but that’s only because it was a personal choice that he made. And everybody knows it. As far as charm and seduction go? Harry Styles is a king.

Perhaps even a God.

…no, that’s giving him too much credit.

You shake your head, clearing the thought away as you listen to your friends gossip about the newest celebrity drama and reality TV scandals.

And you try to care. Really, you do.

But your mind keeps…drifting.

To Eric.

God, you could just kill Harry for re-planting that seed in your subconscious and reminding you of the worst mistake you’ve ever made.

Because there was a time when Eric was everything to you. When you were closer to him than you were to Harry. When you trusted him—completely—with your mind, soul, and body.

And of course, he just had to shit all over the self-growth and progress you’d made.

You feel your phone vibrate from its place on your thigh, and you glance down to see Harry’s name flashing across the screen.

Sneaking a curious sideways peek his way, you swipe up to read his text. 

So…Pete Davidson is Kim Kardashian’s stepfather now? Am I hearing that right?

Confused, your brows pull together as you look over at him.

His explanation is to nod at your friends across the table with a smirk, and you laugh.

I don’t know, you type. I wasn’t listening.

Oh? Why not? This is fascinating stuff.

Idk. Just wasn’t.

Harry’s expression seems to fall as he studies you before his fingers are flying across the screen. You were thinking about Eric, weren’t you?

…nooooooo.

His eyes narrow.

So what if I was?

Bee…you can do better than that. Even in your head.

See, you say that, and yet…here I am.

Because you’re not doing better. You can…you just aren’t.

Yeah? And how exactly would I do better?

You catch the way his lips pull back into a Cheshire-like grin as he begins to type.

Well, you kind of already did do better. With me. The other day.

Swallowing a scoff, you type, That was only because I felt bad for you.

Think you felt a lot of things that day, Bee. But bad wasn’t one of them.

You toss him a playful glare. Are you ever gonna let that go?

Not likely. After all, you did promise me another lesson.

You don’t need another lesson, you just need to stop being so goddamn annoying.

Come on, you can’t deprive me now. Not when I know I have so much to learn.

Google it.

Ouch.

You’ll live.

It’s not living if it’s not with you.

This time, you do groan, and reach over to swat his arm. “Stop,” you hiss. “You really are fucking annoying.”

“Learned from the best,” he retorts, leaning closer to you in an attempt to conceal the conversation. “Learned a lot of things from you, actually.”

“Harry,” you huff again, but you’re smirking. “My god, you don’t really wanna learn how to eat ass do you?”

He shrugs. “I don’t know. I guess I don’t really know what I wanna learn. That’s why I need a teacher. To teach me what I want.”

You know he’s fucking with you. You can see it all over his face and yet, for some reason…your interest is piqued. “Thought that was a one-time deal.”

“It was,” he agrees. “But…the door to knowledge is never closed.”

He follows this up with a devious chuckle to let you know he’s teasing, and you nudge him again. “See? Annoying.”

For a moment, you both put the topic to bed and return to the conversation happening across the table.

But again, your mind wanders.

Wanders all the way back to your bedroom and the image of Harry’s curls wound around your knuckles.

You’d be lying if you said you hadn’t thought about that afternoon quite a few times since it happened. After all, you’re only human. And Harry had done a rather excellent job. Sure, you’ve had a tad better. But for his first time…it wasn’t half bad.

And you’d waited to feel weird about it after the fact…but you never did. Which was strange. The two of you returned to your normal routine as if it had never happened.

And you were certainly glad for that. So why is it that now, as the opportunity for a relapse is placed so obviously in your lap, are you not repulsed by it?

Why is it that you haven’t immediately shut the idea down? Laughed it off? Why is it that you’re…considering it?

Again?

You almost want to shudder at the very thought, but as you look over to the chair beside you and take in Harry’s relaxed smile as he listens to your friends talk…something seems to shift.

You will admit, since your little…experiment…you’ve begun to equate those kinds of memories and feelings with Harry instead of Eric.

And that’s another thing you wouldn’t dare complain about. You like the idea of being able to associate pleasure with someone that makes you feel safe. Secure instead of unhinged.

And perhaps this is a huge mistake…but suddenly, you can’t seem to see the harm?

He gets to learn how to make a woman feel good and you get to erase Eric from your past permanently.

What could possibly be so wrong with that?

Subtly, you clear your throat as you turn your head to him, calling his attention away as he raises a brow. 

“Okay, so…if I were to agree to another lesson…” you begin hesitantly as his eyes grow wide. “I’d need a little…information.”

He angles his body toward you as well, murmuring, “Yeah? Like what?”

You think for a moment. “I don’t know…what kinds of kinks do you have?”

“I don’t know,” he repeats smugly, nodding his chin at you. “Isn’t that what you’re supposed to help me find out?”

You quickly glance across the table to make sure nobody is listening as you lean in and whisper, “Well…I don’t even know where to start with you. You’re a virgin, it’s hard.”

“I’m not a virgin,” he corrects with a scoff. “I just…haven’t done it a lot since the first time.”

“Mhm,” you snort. “Doesn’t change the fact that if you don’t know what you like, there’s no way I’ll know.”

He studies you for a second, seeming to think. “Well…why don’t you tell me what you like? Maybe I’ll get some ideas.”

You hesitate. What do you like? “Uh…okay. I mean, I like pretty much everything, I guess.”

“Yeah? Like what? Name something.”

Well…shit. “Um…I don’t know. Have you ever heard of…exhibitionism?”

He runs his tongue over his teeth in thought, brows lifting up with intrigue. “I’m 27, I’m not dead.”

“Hilarious.”

“Why? S’that something you’re into?”

You swallow but force a relaxed and nonchalant demeanor. “Kind of, yeah. Fun to play with what’s mine when anybody could see.”

He almost seems impressed, leaning back as he looks at you. Really looks at you. “You don’t fucking say.”

“Okay, don’t make it a whole thing,” you whisper urgently, already swatting at him in warning. “It was just an idea. We can always think of something—”

“Show me.”

You pause. “Show you…what?”

He nods his chin at you. “Show me how you’d play with what’s yours when anybody could see.”

Your expression falls. “Seriously?”

“Seriously.” He nods. “I’m a vessel. Show me. Teach me.”

And maybe it’s the glass of wine offering you an extra ounce of courage, or maybe it’s the fact that you’ve already done this once before, or maybe it’s the fact that it’s Harry…

But whatever it is, you reach out, and smooth your palm along his upper thigh, just to watch his breath catch. “Are you sure?” you ask softly, careful to keep beneath the suspicion of the group across the table. “Because I need to know if you can…handle it.”

You feel him tense, his fingers flexing across the tablecloth as he regards you. “I’ll handle anything you want me to.”

Your hand drifts a little higher. “And you’ll sit here? And be a good student?”

He shoots you a coy smile. “The best.”

A little higher. “And you know your safe word?”

“‘Stop,’” he answers, teeth tugging on his bottom lip. “Don’t think I’ll need it, though.”

“You might.”

“Won’t.”

“Maybe.”

“No fucking way.”

You slow to a stop, centimeters away from the rather obvious dip in his pants. “Don’t say that. Just use it. If you need to.”

His expression softens. “I know, Bee. I will. Promise.”

“Good.” So, with that and a deep breath, you take the plunge, ghosting your touch over his covered cock. 

And it’s different this time because it’s you touching him. It’s his body in your hands and this far exceeds your usual high-five.

You aren’t sure what you expected. You kind of already know he’s big from the few times you guys have gone swimming together. And he’s accidently brushed up against you before when scooting past you and worn sweatpants that did absolutely nothing to help him hide an erection (another reason why you’re never watching a Margot Robbie movie with him again). 

But feeling it now…knowing exactly what this man is in possession of…feels forbidden.

You keep your expression stoic, refusing to give him the satisfaction of your awe as you watch the way his lashes flutter.

“Easy,” you warn in a delicate whisper. “Rule number one…make a sound and I stop.”

His teeth grit as he leans back against his seat. “Fine.”

“Good.” You bring your fingers together until you can cup your palm around him, adding just the slightest amount of pressure before glancing back at your friends.

They’re laughing about something, you don’t really know what, but you smile and nod along as if absolutely enthralled.

And as the seconds pass, you feel Harry grow harder in your hand. Needier. He shifts at least three times a minute, clearly struggling to keep from bucking up into your touch.

You’re being as easy on him as you can. A few squeezes, a bit of palming, and some light brushing just to tease him.

He’s gripping onto the edge of the table so tight, you’re surprised it’s not shaking. But he’s restraining himself, as best he can, and you feel oddly…proud.

You maneuver a little closer, head dipping until your lips are close to his ear. To anyone else, it might look like you're merely trying to be heard over the loud music.

But Harry knows better.

"This...is where the fun is," you tell him. "Knowing it would be so easy to have you coming in your pants. Right here, right now. In front of everybody."

You add a bit more pressure and watch the way the veins in his arms begin to strain against his skin. The way the muscles in his jaw constrict and the way his Adam's apple bobs when he swallows.

“You feel it, don’t you?” you murmur as his fingers begin to scratch down the table, desperate to grab onto something. “Feel what it does to you…to be played with. Just like this…exactly like you wanted.”

He sucks in a quiet gasp for air as his head threatens to drop back, little curls falling across his forehead.

He’s not stopping you. And you know he won’t. He’ll happily let himself go right into his trousers, in front of the whole goddamn resturant. Right here, right now.

But that wasn’t apart of the lesson.

So, just when you can feel his resolve begin to crumble…you stop.

He exhales a long, deep breath, slumping into the chair as if completely drained of all energy, and you almost want to laugh.

“So…what did you learn?” you ask softly as you lean back in.

“That Eric’s a fucking ass,” he replies instantly, shooting you a lazy grin. “And that we’re definitely not kids in a tree house anymore.”

“No kidding,” you agree. “Anything else?”

He mulls this over, eyeing you closely. “That I think I’m more of a…hands-on learner.”

Your brow raises. “What does that mean?”

His answer comes in the form of his touch, hand outstretching for your leg, long fingers brushing across the hem of your dress. “It means…I need to see for myself.”

He pauses down by your knee in order to allow you the time to understand and either accept him or reject him. 

But you simply blink, focus falling from his face down to your lap. “Ah…I suppose that makes sense.”

His lips roll into his mouth. “Mhm…what do you say, Teach?”

Your nose scrunches at the nickname but you smile. “I say practice makes perfect.”

And he wastes no more time in slipping beneath the fabric to travel up your thigh and toward your hips.

Now, you’re the one forced into restraint, a gasp immediately hitching in your throat as he brushes his thumb down the front of your underwear.

It instantly brings you back to the last time, and his touch, while familiar and oddly reassuring, makes your head spin.

You slowly look over at him, taking note of the way he’s so goddamn proud of your reaction, and the way he returns his attention to your friends.

Exactly like you had.

Because this is the lesson after all. The concept of teasing and torture and watching somebody come undone so easily.

The idea of getting caught. 

You could tell from the moment you reached for him that this was something he was into. But even when he was trying not to thrust up into your hand, it was obvious that his interest lied with you and your pleasure.

With the idea of putting you under this sort of duress.

He really is a sadist.

Good to know.

"How's this for practice?" you hear him murmur as you become vaguely aware of the way he's scooted his chair closer to you.

You open your mouth, lips parted and ready to respond, but you can feel the beginning of a whimper threatening its escape.

So you swallow—thickly—and nod your head once.

"Good, then?" he asks, and you have to fight the urge to cross your legs over his hand. "Bee...I need you to speak."

But you can't fucking speak. The pressure of his touch has increased, and it feels so...so fucking good. "It's....yeah. Fine. It's fi—"

Suddenly, you gasp, and thankfully, it's lost beneath the jazz music still loudly playing through the restaurant.

But it's not lost on Harry, and you watch his smug smile expand as his teasing begins to slow. "Uh-uh," he tuts softly. "You know the rules. Make a sound...and I stop."

You exhale the singular word, "Har," and he hums.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that. What?"

You have to physically fight the urge to whimper with desperation. Truth be told, he’s hardly even doing anything, but his hands…

You’d fucked up by sneaking a glance down at the tattooed skin disappearing beneath your dress. Because it’s sinful to feel the cold, metal of his rings brush against your warm thighs. Sinful to know he’s pressing his thumb into you just to feel the way you’ve begun to soak the material he’s so effortlessly playing with. 

He…is sinful.

And then suddenly…his touch disappears. Retreats from between your legs as your mouth just about drops open.

And you could cry at the loss of contact because it felt so safe and so exciting. Teasing or not, it was so fucking good, and you hate him for making you go without.

But then…you learn why.

His fingers move to wrap around the edge of your seat, getting a good grip on it…before he yanks.

Your chair is forced closer to his, squeaking against the floor as he begins to smirk victoriously.

“There,” he declares quietly before his hand is returning to your lap. “Much better, don’t you think?”

And it is better because now he’s so much closer, and has so much more room, and you’re so fucking close to just throwing in the towel and hurling yourself at him. Friends be damned.

“Speak, Bee,” he repriminds after a minute of your silence, and instantly, you begin to squirm.

“Har,” you whisper, both begging him for his mercy and for his cruelty.

“What?” he replies evenly. “What do you need, hm?”

You, you think. “Can’t…s’just…”

“Come on,” he tsks. “Think you can do better than that, can’t you?”

But you can’t.

“Please,” you try again, a faint request. 

“Please…what?”

“Har…”

“Uh-uh. Tell me. What?”

Again, you swallow, willing yourself to stay silent. "Har—”

“No.”

“Harry—"

"...Harry?"

This time, it's Charlie calling his name, and immediately, you go deathly still as you turn back toward your friends.

However, Harry is calm as he raises a brow. "Yeah?"

For a moment, the three across from you simply stare, rather curiously before Charlie says, "Oh, I was just asking how Tina is?"

You could almost moan with relief.

“She’s good, yeah,” Harry answers cooly, pointer finger hooking around the edge of the material on your thighs to pull it aside. “Yeah, real good. Been working a lot, so I haven’t seen her much.”

“Aw, that’s too bad,” Jackie offers with a pout. “Is she nice? Will we like her?”

Harry laughs, head shaking with amusement as if he’s not dragging his thumb down your clit while you swallow a rather desperate whine. “She’s nice. I don’t know if we’ll ever make it that far, though.”

Caleb’s head tilts. “What do you mean?” 

He shrugs. “I don’t know. We’ve hung out, like…twice. S’not really that serious yet.”

And you almost snort, because to you…he seemed pretty serious about her.

But you suppose eating pussy doesn’t exactly require an engagement ring, and maybe he just wants a fuck buddy.

“Well…she still needs to pass the approval test,” Jackie argues with a wink. “And the fact that she strung you along for two months is not doing her any favors.”

“She was just making him work for it,” Charlie teases. “And he needs to be humbled, so I say good for her.”

“Please. Look at him,” she snorts. “He’s too pretty to be this dumb. Okay, he can do better than Tammy—”

“Tina,” Harry corrects before slowly easing the tip of his finger in, and your entire body goes rigid.

“—yeah, whatever. The point is…you can do better,” Jackie finishes proudly, shooting a pointed look toward Charlie.

Harry begins to smirk, slowly stealing a glance at you. “Yeah. Maybe we can all do better.”

Now curious, Caleb nods at you, and you do your best to control your reactions as he says, “Yeah, speaking of which…have you heard from…him?”

You shake your head quickly, mentally damning Harry to hell as he pushes in a bit further just to make it harder for you to reply. “Uh…no. Nope. Not since that night.”

“I’ll kill him,” Jackie tells you. “No, really. I will. I’ll hit him with my car and drag his dead body out to the woods, and watch the bears eat him.”

You breathe out a laugh, but it’s outrageously forced, and Harry can tell. “It’s…it’s fine. He’s…you know, we all move on. I’m fine.”

“Sure,” Harry says with a wicked gleam in his eye. “Yeah, you seem fine.”

“Oh, I am,” you murmur through a tight-lipped smile. “Fucking fantastic.”

“Good,” he hums before you can feel him curl upward. “Hope it stays that way.”

Your hands drop to the chair beneath you, and you grip onto the sides for dear life in an attempt to keep from reeling. “Thanks for your…concern.”

“Anytime,” he beams as you feel him slip out. “Just want you to…do and feel the best that you can.”

The wet pad of his finger then returns to your clit as he presses into it just to push it in a teasing circle.

Your eyes just about roll back as you quickly turn your face toward your shoulder and fake a cough. “Fuck…sorry,” you apologize hoarsely as your friends look on.

“Are you all right?” Jackie asks softly. “Sorry, we shouldn’t have brought him up. We can change the subject.”

“No, it’s…it’s fine,” you sigh, hoping to sound casual, despite the fact that you’re teetering on the edge of a wail. “Really, he’s just…a guy. Just some…stupid…sadistic…evil fucking…guy.”

And while the group across the table snorts their agreement, you see that Harry knows that jab was aimed directly at him.

He winks.

“I, uh…I need to go to the bathroom,” you suddenly declare, grabbing onto his wrist to forcefully shove it away before standing to your feet. “Be right back.”

“Feeling all right?” Harry asks innocently as he watches you push your chair in. 

“Just delightful,” you reply before brushing your hands down the front of your dress. “Seriously, keep eating. I won’t be long.”

You leave the table before Harry can make another quippy remark, quickly making your way for the extravagant restroom in the back of the restaurant.

Honestly, you thought you had a little more self-control. You thought it wouldn’t be so easy to get you so on edge, and yet here Harry is, making you clench so hard in your chair, you nearly burst a blood vessel.

You lock the door behind you and make a beeline for the sink. You flip on the cool water and gently trail it down your arms and chest to cool yourself down as you will the ache between your legs to subside.

It’ll be easy to take care of once you get home, but you’re rather impressed with Harry’s commitment to…education.

And something about looking your friends in the eye as he played with your cunt like a toy was oddly invigorating.

Far more invigorating than it ever had been with…Eric.

You’ve no sooner smirked at this thought when your phone begins to buzz from its place on the counter.

Glancing down, you aren’t surprised to see a text from Harry, but it does make you laugh.

How’s it going?

Good. Just getting myself off before I come back, you answer.

Yeah? Texting me while you touch yourself? Hot.

Well, it’s not the first time.

A good minute passes before he responds, and you can easily imagine the way his eyes went wide. 

Seriously?

Seriously. Why, is that weird?

Are you fucking kidding? No, it’s…I mean, it’s hot. Very, very hot.

Your brow raises. Yeah?

Kind of rude you never told me, though. Clearly I would have been of great help.

In my defense, I was a little…busy. It’s already hard enough to type with one hand.

And even if you aren’t exactly touching yourself right now…you aren’t lying about having done it before. Not on purpose, of course. He just happened to text you right in the middle of your alone time and needed an answer ASAP.

So…you’d answered.

Yeah? Do you need an extra hand? he replies next, and you chuckle under your breath as you lean against the sink.

Why, do you know someone?

Funny.

Thank you, I thought so.

Is that a yes, then?

I think I’m managing just fine.

Yeah? So you’re pinching your clit nice and tight for me? 

You feel your breath hitch. This certainly isn’t helping. Obviously.

And you’re clenching around your fingers for me? How many you using? One? Two? Maybe three? Know you like to feel stretched.

“Fucking hell,” you whisper to yourself as you glance off into the bathroom. He’s trying to kill you. 

Can’t really clench around anything when I have to keep answering these texts. Go eat your food and leave me to it.

And what kind of student would I be if I did that?

An obedient one.

And does that sound like me?

“Nope,” you respond aloud, but type, You have been so far.

Think I’d be more obedient if I finished what I started.

I mean…maybe if you knew how.

You wait to watch the bubbles roll across your screen, but when they don’t come, your heart sinks.

And then…there’s a knock.

A rather fervent and determined knock that makes you jump as you look toward the door.

“Bee…let me in.” 

Shit. “I…uh, I’m a little busy.”

“I know,” comes the deep, sultry reply. “So, let me in.”

“Har—”

“Open the goddamn door, Bee, before I break it down.”

Clearing your throat, you put your phone aside and cautiously tiptoe toward the door.

After sliding the lock over, you pull it back just a hair, and peek through the crack. “Uh, hi. Sorry, this bathroom is a little occupied at the moment—”

His large hand comes out to press against the wood as he forces it open and steps inside. “Are you okay?”

You blink at him before scrambling to push it closed and relock it. “Uh…yeah? Why?”

He strides a bit further into the bathroom before turning around to look at you, almost as if suspicious. “Honestly? I kind of thought you came in here to hide from me.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know.” His arms cross over his chest. “I know you didn’t actually come in here to fuck yourself, so I thought…maybe you just felt uncomfortable.”

“Oh, yeah? And how do you know I didn’t come in here to do that?” you retort.

He smirks. “’Cause you always use both hands. And if you were texting me…you weren’t fucking yourself.”

“And how do you know I use both hands?”

He shrugs. “You told me once.”

Oh…right. “Well…maybe I was multi-tasking.”

“You weren’t,” he rejects immediately. “No, I think you either came in here to hide from me…or because you were upset about what they said. You know, about…him.”

An invisible fist snaps closed around your heart as you stare at the man across from you. The devious intentions and teasing from before are long gone as the man you’ve known for years, your best friend…stands before you.

The concern is evident on his face as you take a step closer. “Har…honestly, I’m fine. I wasn’t hiding from you, and I really don’t care about Eric. I came in here to keep myself from coming all over your fucking hand.”

The corner of his mouth twitches with the temptation to smile, but his gaze remains skeptical. “Are you sure?”

“Positive.” You nod, taking another step. “Come on, I think it’s a little late to start questioning me now, don’t you?”

He sucks on his teeth. “Well…I can never tell with you.”

“I feel like I made my enjoyment quite clear.”

“I thought so, too. Until you made me stop.”

Now, only inches away from him, you come to a halt. “Yeah, well, I didn’t exactly feel like explaining why I moaned to our friends, you know?”

His thumb rubs across the skin of his arm as he peers down at you. “Thought that was the whole point of exhibitionism.”

You shrug, eyes falling across his features. “Yeah…or maybe I just wanted to keep you to myself.”

His brow cocks up. “Yeah?”

“Yeah. You know…like a secret.”

Instantly, he grins, exhaling a laugh at the reminder of the pact you two made when you were younger. “We are good at secrets.”

“The best,” you agree giddily before the laughter dies out, and something seems to shift within his expression.

“Then I think it’s only fair we finish the lesson,” he says quietly, leaning a bit closer as you begin to still. “After all…I still need to show my work.”

Your lashes flutter, the smell of his cologne beginning to overwhelm you. God, why does he always smell so good? “Guess…guess that’s only fair,” you agree faintly, and he seems pleased.

His head dips, nose brushing yours as he works to catch you off guard. “Then tell me what to do, Bee. And I’ll do it.”

It comes out before you can stop it. “Kiss me.”

He’s surprised by this request, going momentarily quiet but you don’t miss the way his focus falls to your lips, as if pondering.

“Kiss me,” you repeat, fingers itching to latch onto the back of his neck. “And this time…do it right.”

He seems impressed as he fights an arrogant smirk. “Right, huh?”

“Yeah.” You straighten up, bringing your mouths a tad closer, but still without contact. “Know you can. Know you know how to be gentle, don’t you?”

And almost as if in retaliation, his hands find your hips, squeezing rather harshly as he begins to back you up toward the wall.

When you collide with it, he grins. “Dunno about that.”

“Try,” you whisper, hands dancing up his chest. “Trust me, you’ll get a lot more points that way. The right kiss can do everything, and I promise…she’ll love it.”

He considers this for a moment, studying you closely before you feel his palm delicately cup your cheek. 

He tilts your head back as he moves in, deliberately slow. “Everything, huh?”

You smile, nodding once. “Yeah,” you breathe. “Everything.”

He kisses you.

Soft, and careful, and sadistically tame. He kisses around your mouth, peppers kisses to your bottom lip, to your cheek, to the line of your jaw. 

He keeps his tongue from you, and you almost huff because after everything, you think you at least deserve a taste.

And finally, once you’re moments away from wilting in his hands, he takes that taste for himself.

Your head spins and your mind goes blank and everything makes sense.

Because kissing him is fun, and it makes you want to laugh, and kiss him forever, and never leave this one spot.

And you’re so enchanted by this revelation that you don’t notice his hand traveling between your bodies to return to its home between your thighs.

But he slips underneath your dress without a moment's delay, fingers returning to their work of pulling your panties aside to finish what he started. And when you gasp into the kiss…he swallows the sound with ease.

“Is that right, hm?” he teases as he slides in. “That good?”

Your lashes flutter closed as he presses his forehead to yours, and you don’t offer a response because he already knows.

His precision just about kills you. In, out, in, curl, twist, pinch, pull. You can feel the drip down your thighs, can hear the sounds he’s making, can taste his desperation in each kiss he gives you.

And when you suddenly whine and squirm in his hold, he smiles. “There it is, yeah? Right there…s’what you needed, isn’t it?”

It is. It’s exactly what you’d needed, and he strokes the spot with fervor and just a touch of wonder.

It’s cruel and it’s wonderful and it feels so fucking good, and nothing else makes sense to you except him.

Just him and the way you’re about to come undone by his hand for a second time.

You nuzzle your face into his neck, lazily kissing under his ear, and he seems to sigh with contentment as he braces you both against the wall to continue. 

“Come on, Bee…know it’s gotta hurt, doesn’t it?” he coos, but his voice is thick. “Know it hurts, so give it to me, yeah? Just give it to me. Let me make it better.”

And it overwhelms you, consumes you, controls you. His smell, his touch, his words. The past, the present, him. Just him. Only him. Right now. Everything.

The sound that rips from your throat feels foreign to you. It’s loud and desperate and eager, and he presses his lips to yours to be a part of it.

It goes for what feels like hours, but time doesn’t have a place here. It could have been ten seconds; it could have been ten minutes. You don’t know, you don’t care.

You just…let it.

And you don’t realize the way you’ve slumped into his embrace as he holds you up, keeps you steady.

You don’t realize he’s speaking to you, murmuring words of encouragement with just a hint of teasing. 

You don’t realize he’s refusing to let go.

But once you do, you realize something else, too:

You don’t want him to let go.

"Think we might have a problem," he whispers after a moment, lips following the curve of your shoulder as he offers a few parting kisses.

Your head falls back against the wall and you take a few deep breaths. "Yeah? And what's that?"

"Well...you kind of fucked up," he begins as he moves to the other side of your neck, sucking on the vein just below your ear. "You gave me a taste, showed me what I've been missing."

You can feel yourself smile through the haze as his hands continue to grope at your waist.

"I mean, just knowing..." he continues, nosing under your jaw, "...you've been keeping so much knowledge from me...this whole time."

Your laugh is airy as you reach up to comb through his curls. "Is that right?"

He hums as he nods, the palm of his hand slowly smoothing up your stomach, pushing the hem of your dress along with it. "And now I don't know if I can go without. Feel so fucking insatiable...just thinking about what else you might be hiding from me."

With this, his fingers delicately ghost under the curve of your tit, forcing you to arch into his touch as he smirks.

"And what is it...you want to know?" you manage to reply, voice soft and nearly inaudible.

He pulls back and meets your eye.

"Everything."

Shit.

"Everything?" you murmur, subtly tugging him closer.

"Everything," he repeats. "Anything. All of it. You. Me. Us. Every fucking second, every fucking way."

You know what he's proposing. Know exactly what this means, but you don't know if a friendship would survive.

And you don't know which is more important.

"So...what do you expect me to do?" you ask breathlessly, still squirming beneath his hold.

He smiles. "I expect you...to show me."

"Show you," you repeat, as if in a trance.

"Show me," he whispers, moving back in to lick at your bottom lip. "Teach me. How to be better. How to be right. How take care of you. Wanna give you everything you need."

"Everything," you breathe.

"Everything." His other hand gently comes up to cradle the back of your neck. "Whatever you want, whatever you need. Tell me and I'll give it to you. Promise."

But what do you need?

"Are you sure?" you ask, softly pushing on his chest to garner his attention. "It's not like teaching you to play pool, Har. Exploring kinks is...delicate. Sacred. It's not a game."

"I know," he replies, sobering ever-so-slightly. "That's why it can't be anybody else. It has to be you."

It has to be you.

"Why?" you challenge.

He simply offers you a knowing look. "Why wouldn't it be?"

You chew on the inside of your cheek, looking for a reason to say no. Looking for the strength to know better.

But maybe you don't know better.

Maybe you just know him.

"Teach me," he says again, thumb stroking your jaw as those familiar eyes bleed right through to your heart. "Make me better."

Better.

Everything.

Nothing else makes sense. Nothing else feels right.

Just him.

"Okay," you agree quietly, and his entire face lights up. "For science."

"For science," he repeats, dipping down to press his lips to your cheek in thanks. "But only if you're sure. I'd never want you to agree just because of me. You know that, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

He leans back. Frowns. He's unconvinced. "I mean it, Bee. I'm not asking just because I can. I’m asking because…it feels like something we both want. But if it's not—"

You kiss him again, stealing the rest of his argument. "I know how to say no to you, Harry. Think you should know that by now."

He smiles against your mouth. "Guess so."

For the next minute or so, you don't speak. He simply takes hold of your face with both hands and paints his gratitude across your tongue.

"So...where do you wanna start?" you ask when he finally allows you a second of reprieve.

"You tell me," he reminds you, and you feel yourself smirk.

"All right," you agree before slipping your fingers through the loops on his pants.

His eyes go wide.

Then, you tug.

"Let's start...with everything."

You bet your ass there’s gonna be a part 3, because now that they’ve opened the door…there’s no closing it 😗 and Harry’s got a long list of new kinks to discover! And I’m strangely excited about it?? This is concerning?? Pray for me???

Next Part:

~ Hurt Me* (Pt. 3)

Previous Part:

~ Teach Me* (Pt. 1)

~ Full Teach Me Masterlist

~ Other Harry Blurbs

~ Full Masterlist

Tags:

@tiaamberxx @harrystylesfan2686

#harry #harry edward styles #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles one shot #harry styles fan #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles smut #harry styles request #harry styles x you #harry styles x reader #harry styles concept #smut #harry styles angst #harry styles best friend #best friend #angst #harry styles blurb #harry styles fanfic #harry styles short story #request #harry and bee

[wannabeschyulersister]

you keep his shirt, he keeps his word

The strong aroma of coffee woke you up that morning. It confused you because you were absolutely sure that your coffee maker was still in a box somewhere. Opening your eyes, it only took you a matter of five seconds to realize that you weren’t in your new apartment.

You were in Carmen Berzatto’s bed.

What started off as a night where you were meeting your best friend’s work friends ended up with you in the bed of one of them.

You never did this kind of thing. You never met a guy at a bar and went back to his place.

There was just something about Carmen.

When Sydney first introduced you to him in that small bar near The Bear, you literally fell in love with his eyes. They were this beautiful shade of blue. You instantly got jealous of him because of them. How ordinary your eyes were compared to his.

You wanted to stay far away from him, scared that you’d do or say something stupid. He eventually made his way back towards you and the rest was history.

Sydney gave you a rundown before you met everyone. She informed you that Carmen was shy as hell and often kept to himself. She also said to not be offended if he did so.

It surprised you when he made his way towards you and struck a conversation. It started off a little slow but there was this unspoken connection that blossomed.

He was shy in a totally adorable way and super charming. Sydney and everyone else that worked with him on a near daily basis was shocked at how he was acting. They didn’t dare think that he’d be the guy to approach a woman and have an actual conversation.

You sat with him in the little corner of the bar and talked about everything. He wanted to know what made you move to Chicago. How you knew Sydney. What your favorite food was.

His last question surprised you, “Would you like to go back to my place?”

Your response surprised you the most, “Yeah, I’d like that.”

Fast forward to eight hours later and you were still tangled up in his sheets. You sat up and looked around for your belongings. You quickly found your phone, purse, jeans and undergarments. The shirt you wore last night was nowhere to be found.

You grabbed the first white shirt that you saw and slipped your clothes back on.

This was all new territory to you. You had no idea what you should do. Thank him for a great evening? Give him a high five? Run out without saying anything?

The door to his bedroom was cracked open. You heard the soft sounds of the radio playing.

As quietly as you could, you walked down the hallway and made your way to the main living area. You spotted Carmen in his kitchen. Shirtless.

He was at the stove. The sizzling of the pan and the smell made your stomach growl. Carmen turned to grab a plate when he saw you standing in the doorway.

“Good morning. Did you sleep well?” He asked you.

You nodded, “Uh, yeah I did surprisingly.”

“Why is that?”

“I’m one of those people that has a hard time falling asleep if it isn’t in my own bed.”

“I’m glad that you were comfortable enough here to where that wasn’t a problem.” He made his way towards you and tugged on your- his shirt, “Looks good on you.”

You looked down and he still had a grip on you, “I normally don’t do this.”

“Don’t do what?”

“Have one night stands. Going back to a guy’s apartment after barely meeting him isn’t really my thing.” You confessed. Part of you hoped he believed you. The other part didn’t want to be ashamed if it was something that you normally did.

One night stands weren’t something to be embarrassed about. You were a single woman who could date/hook up with anyone she wanted.

“Was this just a one night kinda thing to you?” Carmen asked.

You shrugged your shoulders, “What do you think?”

You wanted him to answer before you could. It was killing you inside to figure out what he was thinking.

“I think that last night, I met a woman that I would really like to get to know better.”

You couldn’t help but smile, “Really?”

He nodded and grinned, “Yes, really. Plus, you look great in my clothes and out of them.”

“Well that was a smooth line if I ever heard one.”

“There’s plenty more of that if you stick around with me,” Carmen leaned closer and placed a sweet kiss on your lips, “I made you breakfast.”

“You’re going to spoil me, Berzatto.” You set your purse down before taking a seat at his counter. He served you a delicious looking omelette with a cup of coffee.

“I plan to do so as long as you’ll let me. I’m a man of my word.”

#carmen berzatto imagine #carmen berzatto x reader #carmen berzatto #carmen berzatto x (y/n) #carmen berzatto x you #the bear x reader #carmy x reader #the bear imagine #carmy berzatto

[gentlyweeps-world]

regular occurrence

summary: It was fun being a Sky Sports Interviewer, until you started “seeing” one of the drivers, but it wasn’t going to be a fairytale ending.

pairing: pierre gasly x fem! reader, charles leclerc x fem! reader

warnings: mentions of cheating

requested: yes

notes: it’s a bit short but I hope it was good!!

prev part

LIGHTS OUT AND AWAY WE GO

“Why the fuck would you agree to that?” Pierre hisses out through the other side of the phone. You roll your eyes at his stupid question.

“There's not much I could have said- and hey maybe It’s a good idea I actually go out with someone who isnt in a relationship!”

There was silence from the other line, you could only hear Pierres breathing, then a sigh. “Fine whatever, he’s not as good as me..” He grumbles out, jealousy and anger slowly crawling through him.

“Well first off he’s single, secondly we aren't dating, this was purely supposed to be a hookup, and maybe he’ll actually consider my feelings!” You say with a huff hanging up on Pierre without a final word.

So maybe things with Pierre weren’t going smoothly, that was expected. You liked Pierre, that was the issue.

After almost being caught by Kika you slowly stopped sneaking with Pierre and texting him, but he would always find a way back somehow. He would show up randomly with flowers and your favorite things, promising he would say something to Kika, that he would make it so that you didn't have to be hidden.

Now obviously that wasn't true, you knew that. At some point between heated conversations and sex, he let it slip that he loved you.

It didn’t go very well after he said that because not even ten minutes later you had to rush out of his apartment since Kika would be getting back to his apartment soon. Then twenty minutes later Pierre called you, furious that you agreed to go on a double date with him, Kika and Charles.

So that leaves you here, annoyed and pissed off at Pierre for something, honestly, out of your control. If he wanted you to be his and be fully committed to him, he needed to grow the balls and do it himself, but that didn't seem like something happening anytime soon.

Your phone buzzes to life with a text from Kika with a message for a reservation at 7pm at a very fancy restaurant she's been dying to go to. Guilt washes through you as you send a text back, saying that you’ll be there.

You get another text- this time from Charles, now that piqued your interest, maybe you did need to move on from his French best-friend.

“Hey Y/n, is it alright if I pick you up at 6:30?”

“Sure that sounds perfect Charles!” You text back with a smile.

“Okay great, see you then”

———

It was awkward, at least awkward for you and Pierre. You two had to act normal in front of Kika and Charles.

Now it wasn’t too difficult for you, since you actually were interested in Charles, getting to know him.

Pierre wasn’t a fan of that- he had spent the past twenty minutes or so glaring at you and Charles, his jaw clenched as Kika rambled off about something random to him.

Your gaze snapped to Charles as he spoke. You had been so absorbed in this awkward double date you almost forgot just how absolutely gorgeous your date was.

“I’m sorry Charles..could you repeat yourself I dozed off for a moment..” You say with a sheepish smile, turning to face him a bit better as he talks and to clear your line of sight from Pierre.

"I said, I'm glad you said yes to this. I mean, you should know by now how much I was looking forward to this." Charles chuckled softly and glanced with a brief look at Pierre before returning his eyes back to you, a soft gaze full of admiration and affection.

“Really? I mean I’ve obviously noticed you when I would have to interview, I just wouldn’t have expected you to be interested…” You say with a soft smile, momentarily forgetting about Pierre who was fuming.

"Why wouldn't I?" Charles' face brightened at your question as he laughed softly. He tilted his head to one side with a cheeky grin, looking up and down at your face.

"Well, I'm certainly interested now and I can't wait to learn more about you."

“I feel the same..” You say with a smile. Soon you and Charles are both in another conversation, getting to know each other better.

Pierre suddenly gets up from the table without saying a thing and storms off. You glance at Charles, then Kika. “Is everything alright?” You ask her, even though you knew what was wrong.

Kika's brows furrowed as she tilted her head to the side with concern. "Something definitely isn't right." She looked at you and Charles, then down at her empty plate. She turned back to Pierre's empty seat, as if trying to process what just happened.

"He’s been acting weird lately..I’ll go talk to him..” She says, getting up from her seat and following after Pierre.

Your eyes follow Kika as she walks off to go find Pierre. “Uhm- I’m going to go make sure nothing happens..” You mumble out quickly, ignoring whatever Charles had said.

You quickly get up from your seat and follow in Kikas footsteps, the entire time thoughts were running through your head, was he going to confess? Was he finally going to stop casting you aside?

Rounding one more corner in the restaurant you stop dead in your tracks, your heart drops, eyes widening as you spot right in front of you- Kika and Pierre kissing.

You knew that she’s his girlfriend- you knew that, you’ve seen them kiss before, but this time it felt different.

You actually had hope, that maybe he’d tell her, that maybe he’d change his ways.

But of course he didn’t.

Lost in your thoughts you let out a gasp as an arm wraps around your waist, “Let’s go back to the table cheri..” Charles whispers out to you, gently guiding you away from Pierre and Kika.

You glance over at him, which he returns with a knowing look. At least he knew.

And maybe it was time for you to look for someone else, to stop those regular occurrences with Pierre.

Maybe.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

radio 🪩: wow wow wow I know this has been long awaited!! hope it was good!! sorry it took me so long to do! leave any requests and comments!!💙

permanent taglist: @cixrosie @amajixi @i-wish-this-was-me @nelly187 @hannahwsworld @sltwins @peachbly @minkyungseokie @minseok-smaus @zahhh709 @redcloudedelk

#formula one #formula 1 #formula 1 x reader #f1 #f1 x reader #formula one x reader #f1 imagine #f1 fanfic #f1 x female reader #formula one x y/n #gently weeps fics #pierre gasly x y/n #pierre gasly x reader #pierre gasly #f1 wags #f1 x y/n #f1 x you #formula one x you #formula one blurbs #formula 1 blurb #formula one imagine #formula one fic #formula one fanfiction #bwt alpine f1 team #pierre gasly x you #forumla 1 #gently weeps blurbs #formula 1 x female reader #charles lecrelc #charles leclerc x reader

[tangledinink]

Well! It's not a Monday, and it's been a hot second. BUT!!! :3c Here! Chapter 27 of I'm Sorry, Teenage Mutant What Now? is here! Raph and Casey finally get to have some long overdue bonding time together. Read it on ao3 or below the cut.

[ prev ]

“Why the hell is she ALWAYS HERE?!” Donnie cried in complaint, just barely twisting out of the path of a kunai’s bite, twisting backwards to retreat from his opponent’s assault.

“Great question. Honestly, it seems like you’re kind of obsessed with us. Sort of embarrassing,” Leo chirped in reply, grinning big as he spun into the fray, leaping in defense of his twin. The Foot Ninja easily dodged him and the sweep of his odachi, all but spitting at him in reply.

“DIE.”

“Damn, okay. Touchy,” Leo muttered.

Their opponent shrieked in response, throwing herself at her enemy, but was easily rebuffed by their father, jerking forward to shove her away from his children. Raph would admit she was an impressive fighter, but she was certainly no match for their dad. It took almost no time at all for him to pin her down to the ground, and Raph was just beginning to get a sense of deja vu when Leo heaved a great sigh.

“At least there’s only one of--”

“WHY? WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT?!” Donnie squawked, whipping around to absolutely glare at their twin. 

And god, you would not imagine what happened just a few seconds later.

Raph managed to punch out two Foot Clan ninjas and throw another through a storefront before he came about five centimeters from being knifed, and he was finally forced to seek temporary refuge, ducking behind the cover of a nearby sunglasses kiosk to catch his breath and attempt to get his shit together.

C’mon, Raph, focus. You got this. Everyone’s counting on you. You just gotta keep it together, and figure out where the Dark Armor piece is so we can grab it and get out without anyone getting--

“Raph!” 

His younger brother’s excited, breathless cry severed his frantic train of thoughts, and his head bobbed upward just in time to watch Leo rush over to join him-- nearly skidding out in his rush. “I think I have a plan--”

Raph froze.

He swore he felt his entire body seize for just a second, his heart clenching up tight in his chest as though someone had just reached through him and grabbed it with ice cold hands.

“No,” he snapped in reply.

“What?!” Leo protested. “You didn’t even let me expl—“

“NO,” Raph hissed, harder this time. He didn’t let himself look back over at Leo, because he knew that he would just glare at him. And he knew that it would just make his body freeze up even more.

“Raph, I promise this will work, it’s—“

“Leo, STOP. I said no! What part of that don’t you get!?” Raph snarled and there was this horrendous tickling crawl running up and down his spine like there was a damn millipede under his skin, and he didn’t want to fight with Leo, so he just—

Ran.

He had to get back out into the fray sooner or later, anyway. They couldn’t just hide forever.

He didn’t wanna be angry at Leo. He didn’t wanna take things out on him. It wasn’t… his fault. Exactly. Totally? Maybe? And he didn’t wanna think about who’s fault it was, anyway, so this was easier.

He didn’t have to think about whether or not he was angry at Leo if he was taking it out on someone else.

And luckily, they were literally surrounded by evil ninjas right now. So. That was actually pretty convenient.

And yeah, okay, sure, there were a lot of them. But here’s the thing-- Raph was no scientist, but he had crunched the numbers, and he was pretty sure their dad was badass enough to count as at least two dozen ninjas, which meant their odds were actually pretty good. 

And if their dad was at least two dozen, Raph couldn’t just sit back and let himself be just one.

There were a lot of Foot Clan soldiers, yes. But they had shown up here for a reason, and it was important. And this time, they weren’t just gonna retreat. Raph knew what was at stake-- they were gonna get what they came for.

(That’s what he had told himself at the time, anyway. That was the mantra in his head the entire time-- roaring through the fray alongside his family.)

Raph had been to this mall before. In fact, he’d been to this mall lots of times before. It was overall unremarkable, but the one thing that had always stood out to Raph was the elevator. And this was because Raph had always HATED it.

He didn’t want to say afraid, per se, because that would involve him openly admitting that he was afraid of the elevator. But really, could you blame him? It wasn’t that elevators in general frightened him, it was that THIS elevator frightened him. He remembered visiting this mall back when he was small with the rest of his family and begging his Dad to let them take the escalators instead.

Because how in the world could a glass elevator possibly be safe?! And who the heck would even enjoy that!? Let alone think it was a good idea to build one?!

His first thought he had upon his body careening through the glass, shattering on impact, having been sent flying after a particularly large, brutish member of the Foot slammed into his side, was “see? I was right. This was a bad idea.”

It was pretty much the only thought he had, actually, his brain a bit too caught up in the fact that they had just been thrown through an elevator shaft to really process anything else right away.

Thank god the rest of his body didn’t need his brain in order to react.

He didn’t need conscious thought to tell him to grab onto the remaining metal edge of the elevator, clinging to the closest thing he had to solid ground with his arm as the rest of his body dangled over open air.

(What floor were they on again? The third? The fifth?)

He also didn’t need conscious thought to tell him to grab onto the girl that had been thrown with him— the girl he had been locked into combat with about ten seconds ago.

With his free arm, he bundled her up as close as he possibly could to himself, and he hung on tight.

And for half of a second, they kind of just… hung there. Raph’s feet scrabbled against the smooth surface of the panel of glass below them, surrounded on all sides by thick glass and metal save for the hole just above them that Raph was now hanging onto for dear life.

He could feel little pieces of shattered glass falling down the back of his shirt and tickling at his skin.

He was vaguely aware of screaming from up above him, and while he could pick out his family’s voices amongst that of strangers, he couldn’t quite tell what they were saying. It was hard to hear anything over the heartbeat in his ears.

He glanced down at the girl shoved up against his side. For every bit he was hanging onto her, she was hanging onto him just as desperately, fistfuls of his clothing clenched up in her fingers.

Her eyes were so big.

“Hang on,” he heard himself saying, kind of distantly in the background. “Just hang on. I’ll get us back up.”

And almost as soon as he spoke, her eyes narrowed again.

About four things happened in very quick succession over the following five seconds.

The first was the girl hoisting herself upwards by her grip on him, twisting around with shaking fingers so she could draw a knife from her belt and lunge towards the arm that was not currently wrapped around her.

The second was a flash of crimson light overhead, tickling around the edges of the elevator car that currently sat about three stories above them.

The third thing was a horrific, shrieking groan of metal, followed by a sickening snap.

And the fourth was Raph letting go of his hold on the elevator shaft.

---

Casey was honestly a bit surprised to find that she had, in fact, not been killed in the ensuing fall.

She didn’t think she was even… hurt. At least not badly.

Now that the world had stopped spinning, she began to take quiet inventory, a soft groan escaping her as she strained to gather her bearings again. When she moved, shards of shattered glass fell off of her like snow, joining the mounds of it underfoot with little clicks and clatters. Upon moving, she also realized that there was still an arm wrapped around her, pressed up so tight around her middle that it was nearly hard to breathe. But it wasn’t quite painful.

She had just fallen about four stories. And yet, she was pretty sure she wasn’t even seriously injured. No broken bones, at least. Everything could still move. She could feel her arms, her legs, her toes. She could still feel all her fingers.

She had heard her clan members yelling before. Heard the command to cut the cable. If the fall didn’t kill her, then being crushed by a falling elevator car really should have. It should have killed them both. It was supposed to kill them both.

But it didn’t. They were both alive.

Because the person she had been attempting to murder, who still had an arm wrapped around her middle, hunched over her as if to shield her, currently had them both shoved into the very corner of the elevator shaft, shoved up against the concrete walls of the lower level they now resided in.

They hadn’t been crushed because he was holding up the elevator car that should have killed them, his arms encrusted in shimmering, crystalline red light.

He was also definitely not a human anymore.

“Are you okay?” He bit out, his voice tight and strained but still soft and wobbling with concern, and Casey gaped rather than answering. He shifted slightly, readjusting his stance. His upper body was braced up against one corner of the metal panel that made up the bottom of the elevator car— creating just enough of a pocket for the two of them to take refuge in, tented beneath the wreckage up above. His long, alligator-like tail shifted as he moved, sweeping through the broken glass.

Shhhh shhhhh.

“Oh my god,” Casey responded, her eyes wide. “… You’re actually a mutant turtle.”

“What?” He bit out, his eyes just barely flickering over to her, and Casey quickly bit her tongue.

“Nothing,” she spat, bristling slightly. Jesus christ, why was she talking to him? What the hell was she even doing…?

Come on, Recruit, get it together. Focus. You’re not dead. You didn’t die. So you still have a job to do.

Though her hands were shaking horribly, she lurched a bit to grab for her belt, only to realize with a dawning horror that her kunai were no longer there. I must have lost them in the fall… She bristled for a moment, wriggling from the other’s grip just enough so that she could back away— pressing herself up against the cold concrete wall. The space they had was incredibly limited, however, and the distance she could put between them was… minimal, to say the least.

She could feel her heart beating in her chest as she patted herself down again, and then a third time, not daring to take her eyes off the enemy but at the same time searching frantically. 

She was unarmed.

And he was… a giant mutant reptile.

(And, look, she hadn’t exactly thought that Draxum was… lying, per se, but oh my lord. Seriously?)

She didn’t take her eyes off of him. And he didn’t take his eyes off of her.

“Hey, uh,” he shifted slightly beneath the weight of the elevator, wincing a bit at the press. Shattered glass shivered softly beneath him as his feet moved. “Can you, uh, not stab Raph, please…? ‘Cause that’s gonna make holding this thing up… a lot harder…”

… Ah. She supposed he had a point.

A little voice in her head said that that didn’t matter. The benefit of eliminating a member of the Hamato Clan weighed far heavier than the loss of her life would to the well-being of the Clan. Killing him, and, in turn, herself would still measure out to be a win at the end of it all.

She should kill him.

And herself.

… But she… didn’t have her kunai anyway, right? So… 

Perhaps she… wouldn’t.

She was still waiting to see if her heart rate was going to slow down any time soon, finding herself a bit annoyed with how rapidly it was still banging away in her ears, the skin there throbbing as blood raced through her veins. She kept sucking in long, steadying, calming breaths, trying to push it down, but the adrenaline had not yet run its course, it seemed. 

“I… Will not stab you,” she finally said, narrowing her eyes suspiciously, her body still tight and tense, muscles coiled. “IF… you do not make any attempts to harm me.”

She had no weapons, but he was one. Even if he was holding up a fucking elevator right now.

“Wasn’t planning on it,” he wheezed, his voice caught somewhere between a shaking grunt and a laugh, and she scowled. “You’re not hurt—?” He prodded once more.

“Don’t ask me that,” she snapped, bristling in response and clenching her jaw. She didn’t understand what benefit he thought he would reap by pretending to be concerned. She wasn’t that stupid.

And if he actually was concerned, and it wasn’t an act, then it simply meant that he was the stupid one, and nothing else.

“Alright, okay…!” He bit out, once again adjusting his grip slightly, rolling one shoulder forward slightly to shift the weight he was carrying from one side over the other. “… It’ll be alright. My family is… gonna come get us. Any second…”

“You don’t know that,” she scoffed.

“They will,” he insisted, though now his eyes shifted away— staring hollow at the corner of the little pocket they were now trapped inside of. Casey could just barely pick out the movement of his lips and tongue, ghosting some sort of whisper to himself in between his heaves of breath. Seven, eight, nine, ten…

Counting. He was counting to himself. From one to ten, and then again, and again.

“You’re hurt,” Casey said— not really asking, but rather stating. 

“’S just heavy,” he deflected. “… ‘M fine. Raph’s sturdy.” 

Raph. Right… Short for Raphael. She knew their names. Of course she did, she just… hadn’t known their nicknames until now.

Or rather, hadn’t thought of them. What would she ever care what they called each other? What they answered to?... 

… But she supposed she couldn’t actually disagree.

He was sturdy before, when he was a human.

She wasn’t sure she could find the words to describe how absolutely immovable he appeared to her now. It was equal parts impressive and absolutely infuriating. 

God. She hated to fucking look at him. Especially now, like this. 

It somehow felt like a goddamn threat. He was holding an elevator up over her head, hunched over to provide a shelter for her body, and it felt like he was fucking threatening her. 

Well, it wouldn’t work.

“I’m not afraid of you, mutant,” she snapped, her lips curling back over her teeth.

“… Alright?” He said, sounding a bit confused, and Casey bristled in offense at the audacity he had to be baffled by her completely rational statement. 

“I could still kill you,” she said.

For a long moment, it was quiet. Aside from her heartbeat. And his ragged breathing.

“… I’m not tryin’ to scare you,” he said. “… Sorry.”

There was another long moment of silence.

“What’s your name?” He asked. Casey stiffened slightly.

“I don’t have a name,” she hissed, narrowing her eyes, and then absolutely snarled when he bit out a bark of laughter in response.

“What do you mean you don’t have a name?” He wheezed. “You… You don’t gotta tell me if you don’t want…!”

“I don’t have a name,” she pressed, harder this time, narrowing her eyes— hesitating for just a second. 

“… The Foot Clan doesn’t have names. We renounce them,” she said after a moment. “…. We only take titles. They reflect our rank and our power. Names make you weaker.”

She didn’t know why she was telling him this. It was stupid. He didn’t deserve to know. Because she was angry that he would look down on her for it…? 

Because she was still mostly convinced that they would both die down here?

“… That’s sad,” he said.

“It’s not,” she said.

“It is,” he said. “… I think it’s sad. You deserve to have a name.”

“I don’t want a name.”

“What’s your title, then?”

“… Recruit.”

“Alright, then, Recruit,” he bit out, a tiny bit of a laugh still coloring his voice. “… I’m Raph. And my family is gonna get us out of here. I promise.”

“You shouldn’t make promises you can’t keep,” she growled in response, narrowing her eyes.

“I don’t,” he assured.

And then, for a while, it was quiet again. 

“Are you actually eighteen?” He said, and Casey scoffed.

“YES!” She yelped in response. “What, you don’t think I am!? I am clearly eighteen! I am very obviously an ADULT!!!”

“No,” he admitted, grinning just the tiniest bit. “Not really.”

“You’re an idiot,” she accused.

“Yeah, people say that sometimes…” He mumbled with a huff. He shifted again, readjusting his grip ever-so-slightly and twisting his feet, and the metal groaned ominously above them. 

Just for a second, his footing slipped, and he jerked— and for just a single moment, the top of the world was falling again, and they were both about to be crushed.

His foot hit the side of the wall, and he braced, tensing all his muscles properly once more and holding steady.

Nothing fell.

The creaking up above quieted.

“… Ow,” he muttered, quietly, to himself, shakily, jerkily moving his foot again after several long seconds of both of them not daring to move or breathe— cautiously inching it away from the wall. A smudge of blood was left behind, Casey noted.

Her heartbeat had never slowed, and she was beginning to think that it never would.

“… You’re standing wrong,” she said.

“… What?” Raph bit out, glancing over at her after a long beat of silence.

“YOUR STANCE IS WRONG,” she spat, scowling slightly and fixing him with a hard glare. This is why she had to yell— no one ever wanted to fucking listen to her when she said things, and the things she said were important. “You’re going to hurt yourself or fall like that, you’re doing everything STUPID. Move your leg this way, and twist this leg out. And bend your knee, and… and move your arm over this way a little if you can. And it’ll spread out the weight better.”

At first, Casey didn’t think he was actually going to listen to her.

And then, very, very slowly, moving at a crawl, he shifted his body— following her instructions and making the corrections until he settled into place again. He was still shaking, and still panting, but just… the tiniest bit less now.

“… This is better,” he finally said.

“Of course it is,” she huffed, shifting just enough to shoot him a glare. “God. Doesn’t the Hamato Clan teach you anything?”

“Kinda,” he laughed. “… Is this what the Foot Clan teaches you? Seems… kinda… kinda niche…”

“The Foot Clan teaches me everything,” she hissed.

“Are they, like, your family?”

And Casey hesitated. Because she wasn’t sure how to answer that.

Yes, her brain said.

No, it said immediately after.

“… They are now,” she finally settled on, squaring her shoulders slightly. “Stop asking me questions.”

“Why?”

“You’re my enemy. I’m not giving you any information.”

“We ain’t got nothin’ better to do.”

“I don’t care.”

“You can ask me questions if you want,” he said. “Raph don’t mind.”

She scowled, and he shot her a weak, shaking, almost pleading sorta grin.

“C’mon,” he bade. “… ’S easier if I got somethin’ to think about.”

She narrowed her eyes, and her frown deepened.

This is to your advantage. You can get information from the enemy, right? This is good. Come on. Focus. Stop getting distracted.

“… Are you cold-blooded?”

“… What?”

“Stop making me repeat myself. ARE. YOU. COLD. BLOODED.”

“I don’t think so?” He said with a soft snort. “… I mean. Maybe? I’m not sure.”

“How do you not know?” Casey hissed.

“Well, I don’t… I don’t usually spend a lot of time in, uh… this body…!” He bit out. 

“You’re stupid.”

“Quit sayin’ that.”

“No.”

He laughed a tiny bit, shaking his head ever-so-slightly. “Why do you wanna know?”

Casey frowned. Why did she want to know?...

“… I’m just curious.”

“How old are you?” Raph asked.

“I’m eighteen. And I told you not to ask me questions.”

“You’re not eighteen.”

“I AM!!! I AM EIGHTEEN!”

“Nah! There’s no way you’re older than me!” He laughed. “You look like you’re in high school or somethin’.”

“I don’t go to school,” she growled, curling her lips with distaste. “And I am eighteen.”

“Why not?”

“I already told you,” she hissed. “I learn everything I need from my clan. Stop asking me questions.”

“Do you do, like… like, homeschooling?”

“I train.”

“You dropped out of high school?”

“I never went to high school, so I did not drop out, so there!” She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. “NOW STOP ASKING ME QUESTIONS. I will not answer them! You are trying to get me to reveal secrets of my clan and it WILL NOT WORK.”

“I’m not! I’m not, I swear!” He insisted. “… Man, you should go to school. I feel like you’d be good at sports--”

A distant clamber of footsteps and a horrid, wrenching cry disrupted their strained conversation.

“RAPH!”

“Dad!” Casey’s companion immediately answered in kind, his head jerking slightly towards the noise. He had sounded so eerily calm up until now. “WE’RE HERE! W-we’re okay--!”

“Oh my god they’re alive--!”

“Raph--!”

“We’re coming, holy shit, it’s okay--”

“We’re gonna get you outta there, big guy, no problem, just hang on for us--!”

Everything moved really fast after that. Casey was sure they were saying other things, all speaking over each other and crying, clambering over each other and clustered about at the very edge of the elevator to peer down at them-- reassuring him, over and over and over,

‘It’ll be okay, we’ll get you out, we’ll save you, you’re okay, we’re here now, you’ll be okay.’

For some reason, everything else was kind of far off and muddy, but those things she could still hear. They sort of echoed, bounced around in her head.

And then a hand was thrust out in front of her.

She jerked back.

“Grab my hand,” the oldest of the group pressed, and it took her a second to hear him properly, but she could if she focused. “I’ll pull you out.” 

Casey bristled, pulling back slightly.

He was the only one not wearing the Hamato symbol-- but she knew he was one. 

“Don’t touch me,” she spat, and again, her hands instinctively moved towards her belt with no weapon in it, as if she had somehow forgotten her early discovery.

“I do not wish to fight you,” The Hamato insisted, his voice softening a bit, gentle and reassuring. Almost paternal in a way that Casey resented. “I just need to get you out. Please.”

“Raph ain’t tryna… complain or nothin’, but do you think you could maybe hurry up so I could get outta here, too? ‘Cause unless you wanna take a turn holdin’ this you really gotta go first--” 

Casey frowned.

She bit her lip.

She looked between the lot of them.

She could still refuse.

She could still attack. Even without a weapon. She could still do damage-- she might even be able to overwhelm the turtle one long enough that he might lose his grip.

She took the Hamato’s hand. It was warm in hers and surprisingly soft, despite the calluses and blisters. He squeezed her tight and firm, his fingers laced together with her own, and with one mighty heave, he yanked her up and out of the elevator shaft. 

And then she was out of the elevator shaft. 

And she was all by herself. Surrounded by the enemy.

There was no Foot Clan here with her. She didn’t have a little button she could press to call them. She had no weapon. It was just her and six enemies. 

Every single one of them had their backs on her, all hunched over the space she had just crawled from, focused on getting Raphael out from under the shattered fragments of the elevator car. No one was paying any attention to her. 

No one was looking at her.

They had all turned their backs.

For just a second, her breath was a stone in her throat. 

And she turned and she ran.

---

Casey sucked in a long, steady breath. And she slowly let it back out. She adjusted her stance, allowed herself half a second to readjust her footing to something slightly more comfortable-- and then mentally scolded herself for doing so. 

Focus. 

Her mother said that the key to success was discipline and repetition. That practice would bring her to where she needed to go. She should have basics like this down by now, her mother had said. “You should be able to do this by now. I don’t know how to help with that.”

Her knuckles hurt, and her body was tired, but she wasn’t weak. And she didn’t give up, either.

100 reps down. 100 more. And then maybe she’d get this right. And if she didn’t-- 100 after that. 

She would keep going until she got it right.

---

The walk home felt long.

Her body was, admittedly, feeling quite wrung-out and sore at this point, and it resented her for dragging it through the streets of New York, but Casey was quite good at tuning out its protests. No one bothered her, as they rarely did-- anyone who looked at her for too long typically thought better of it as soon as she met their eyes. She knew how to convince people to think twice before they approached her.

She was in no mood for pests on the streets.

Coward, she thought bitterly to herself. They were vulnerable, and you ran. Instead of attacking you fled. You could have at least tried. You might have been able to take one or two down, if you actually tried… 

She was certain she would have lost the fight. But at least she would have fought. 

Even managing to injure one of the Hamatos would have been more valuable than her return to the Clan. She hadn’t been surprised to find the rest of the mall devoid of life, the remaining members of her party having long fled the scene. She knew that that was what they would do. That was the correct thing to do. 

She was surprised by how it stung. She thought that she knew better than that by now.

Just a day full of disappointment, then… 

Though she was tempted to make a beeline back to their basecamp, she knew better, and she took the long way to ensure she wasn’t being followed by anyone. It was late by the time she arrived. 

Brute had turned to look at her and gasped loudly, and though Lieutenant had a bit more self-control, she noted the way his eyebrows shot up.

“You’re back!” Brute cried in celebration, immediately moving to her side, clapping her hard on the back. Casey braced herself well enough that she didn’t stumble, though she would admit that it didn’t exactly feel good. “We thought for sure you got squished!--”

“Excellent work, Recruit,” Lieutenant observed, a bit calmer as he approached, as he often was. “We’re glad you made it back in one piece.”

“My apologies, Senseis--” Casey bit out, gritting her teeth and throwing her head down into a deep bow. “I failed to eliminate any of the Hamato Clan members!!! FORGIVE ME!!!”

The two stayed quiet for a moment, and Casey swore she could hear them exchanging looks.

“Yes, well, there’s always next time.” Lieutenant assured, patting her on the head a few times. “We’re just glad you weren’t crushed in an elevator. It is so difficult to find decent ninja trainees these days… So, well done!”

“Yeah. Go hit the showers,” Brute encouraged, offering a thumbs up and a grin.

And that was about the extent of the conversation.

Casey felt oddly numb. But she wasn’t sure why. Or what she expected. 

This was praise. 

She should be pleased. So she was having a hard time figuring out… why she wasn’t. 

Despite this cloudiness, her head still shot up before Baron Draxum even spoke a word to her, turning sharply to meet his eyes. He didn’t flinch, and neither did she.

“I’m relieved to see you made it back to us,” he remarked, cool and thoughtful, tilting his head to the side slightly. “Losing you would have been quite the blow to our organization. It’s a shame that more effort wasn’t put in to retrieve you…”

Casey narrowed her eyes, her hackles raising.

“My senseis put the well-being of the mission first,” she spat in response, wrinkling up her nose.

“Yes, I suppose so… It’s just difficult to watch them not place more value into such a clear asset. It’s quite obvious to me that your experience and talent is… under-utilized here. You have a great deal of potential that doesn’t seem to be being taken advantage of…”

Casey didn’t quite untense, her jaw still held tight beneath her lips. And she frowned.

“...You think I have potential?”

---

Leo has no idea why he did this. Looking back at it later, he thought, what the fuck were you thinking? Not the time or place, moron. They had finally gotten back home, gotten Raph all patched up, and had been assured by him about eight thousand times that he was okay. It was only after eight-thousand-and-one, “no, really, Dad, I’m fine’s,” and a promise from everyone in the room to keep an eye on him while he was gone that their father relented just enough to escort April back to her own apartment, with the reassurance of “I’ll be right back.” Everyone was still pretty spooked, because duh, no shit, and he really should have just kept his mouth shut. That was obvious now.

Maybe he was just still shaken up over the whole evening. His brain wasn’t working right, or whatever. He’s not really sure. It just… it just happened. He just said things.

“How come you didn’t listen to me?”

The words had left his mouth before he had even processed them. Raph paused, glancing over at his brother, all four of them curled up together on the living room couch, and the unsteady peace they had been resting in just a second ago was suddenly gone.

“What?”

“Before, at the mall,” Leo continued, even though what he meant to say was ‘nothing, nevermind.’ “I told you I had a plan, and you wouldn’t listen to me.”

He could feel his brother stiffen next to him. There was a beat of silence, and then Raph heaved out a big, heavy sigh.

“There was-- there was a lot goin’ on, Leo. We can’t always do your plans--”

“But you didn’t even listen to it,” Leo pressed. “You wouldn’t even let me tell you what I was thinking.”

“Leo--”

“I had a plan,” he insisted, his mouth working all on its own. “If we had-- if we had had a plan instead of just rushing in, maybe things would have-- I dunno, have gone better?”

“It’s not--”

“If we had a plan maybe you wouldn’t have gotten hurt. You could have-- you could have gotten for-real hurt, Raph!”

“Leo, st-”

“I don’t understand why you don’t trust me enough to at least list--”

“Trust you?” Raph snapped, whipping around to glare at his younger brother. Up until now, his voice had been strained, but now it was sharp and jagged, and he absolutely bristled. Leo found himself shrinking under his gaze. “Leo, how the hell are you gonna look at me and ask me to trust you right now?! The last time I trusted you, you almost died! You tried to freakin’ kill yourself! And you expect me to trust you!?”

Leo blinked in surprise. For a moment, he floundered, his mouth gaping slightly.

“Look, that was different! And I was the only one with a plan--”

“That doesn’t mean it was okay!” Raph cried.

“I--I mean. That plan went wrong, but I thought I was gonna be--”

“No you didn’t!” Raph bristled. “You didn’t think you were gonna be okay and you know it! You knew it was risky the entire time, so don’t try and tell Raph otherwise! I might’a been dumb enough to go along with it the first time, but I’m not dumb enough to believe that now!!! So just drop it, okay?! I’m not talkin’ about this with you anymore!”

Leo opened his mouth. And then he closed it again.

‘Cause he didn’t really… know what else to say. 

“Alright,” he finally said, looking down at his feet. Raph looked like maybe he still had more, but he bit his tongue, casting a long look at Leo before he finally tore himself away and stalked off. Mikey looked between the two groups, hesitating a moment, before he followed after their eldest brother with a weak ‘wait up.’

And for a moment there, it was just Donnie and him, sitting together in the awkward silence. Eventually, Leo found it in himself to speak again, laughing awkwardly, a bit bitterly, and hunching his shoulders.

“What the hell was that? Is he-- is he seriously not even gonna listen to me anymore?”

“Can you actually blame him?” Donnie said dryly, raising a brow, and Leo gawked.

“What do you mean can you blame him!? I have good ideas--”

“So?” Donnie scoffed, shrugging a bit. “It doesn’t matter if you have good ideas if they lead to you dying.”

Leo groaned loudly, rolling his eyes. “Look, I didn’t try to kill myself--”

“You kind of did,” Donnie cut off. “I mean. I understand that wasn’t your base intention, but we’re not stupid, Leo. You very obviously oversold your ability to get back down safely. You could barely stand after the Battle Nexus, and you thought you were going to be able to aim and land in a little pool of water? Not to mention that at that height, you would have been seriously injured even if the plan was entirely successful. We only went along with it because you were deceptive in what it entailed. And you could have died. Quite easily. And I don’t believe for a second that you didn’t know that,” he accused, though his tone was even and eerily calm, narrowing his eyes at the other.

Leo felt this little shiver run up his spine, and he wrapped his arms around himself. Suddenly, his feet were very interesting.

“I didn’t-- I didn’t think I would die--”

“Doesn’t matter,” Donnie dismissed. “It wasn’t okay. And just because you didn’t think you would die from this crazy, risky, self-sacrifice-y plan doesn’t mean you won’t. Or that you won’t in the next one, or the next one. So look. We’re not playing that game,” he said, his voice cold. “We’re not doing that again. So no. We don’t trust you. Obviously, we don’t trust you. You’re our brother, and we love you dearly. And that’s why we can’t trust you.”

Oh. Ow. Why the fuck did that hurt so bad? Leo’s stomach flip-flopped, and for a second, he bristled in retaliation, giving a soft little scoff.

“As if any of the rest of you wouldn’t try to pull off the same thing if you had the chance! Don’t stand there and pretend like I’m the only one in the family for a penchant for dramatics! You jumped on Angie before, too!” He hissed, throwing up his hands. “You guys would all try to take the bullet, too!”

Donnie shrugged.

“Yeah. Maybe. But I wouldn’t trick the rest of you into setting it up.”

Leo grit his teeth.

“We all trusted you. And we went along with your plan,” Donnie continued, his voice hard. “We helped you. And you almost died. You could have died,” he pressed. “You’re important to us, Leo. How do you think the rest of us would have felt?”

Donnie’s brows furrowed.

“How do you think I would have felt? Or Raph?” He challenged. “How do you think Angie would have felt? Good Galileo, how do you think Angie feels right now?”

Leo kept quiet, considering this for a second, rolling the thought around in his head. And he didn’t like it.

He was suddenly getting the feeling that he had fucked up really bad over a month and a half ago, and it was just now sinking in.

“Look, I know you want to protect us,” Donnie said, crossing his arms over his chest. “We get it. Raph gets it. Of course Raph gets it, have you ever met the guy? He’s basically the world’s number one advocate for any and all ‘protect my brothers’ campaigns,” Donnie scoffed. “But that doesn’t mean that you can just throw yourself around as an expendable variable. If he hadn’t caught you, you know how much that would kill him.”

Leo groaned softly, burying his face in his hands. “Aw, man…” He muttered. “Maybe I do need a therapist…”

---

“Cut it out,” Raph said, hooking out a hand to grab Leo’s ankle as he ran past him, promptly sending his younger brother stumbling down to the ground. Leo squeaked in surprise as he fell, turning to huff and give his brother an annoyed glare.

“Why?!”

“‘Cause I said,” Raph replied easily, a teeny little grin growing on his face. “And I’m in charge.”

And it was true.

I mean, really, he had been ‘in charge’ lots of times in the past, frequently tasked with ensuring his little brothers didn’t wander off or do anything dumb. But he hadn’t ever, in all his memories, been in charge like this. Never all by himself.

He wasn’t the only one excited, he knew. All three of his brothers were nearly bouncing off the walls with joy at the prospect of being left home alone for the first time. Finally! At long last! The day every pre-teen waited for… they had the house all to themselves for the whole evening with no supervision. No babysitter or neighbor watching them for the night while their Dad was out… Just him and his brothers with a whole empty house to themselves. They could do whatever they wanted, and they had every intention of taking full advantage of the situation, like a reasonable child might.

“That’s not a good reason!” Leo protested with a scoff. 

“Well, the other reason is you’re startin’ to piss Donnie off,” he hummed, releasing his grip on the other’s leg, allowing him to squirm away. Donnie was happy for the reprieve of being chased by his twin, climbing over Raph and hopping up onto the couch behind him, grabbing the nearest blanket to wrap around himself like a shield and sulk. Leo sighed loudly, rolling his eyes, clearly displeased with the end of his game, but he didn’t protest either, sitting himself back up. 

“I got snacks!” Mikey announced proudly as he came bounding down the basement stairs, his arms filled with just about every form of junk food that they had in the house, and even some that Raph hadn’t even known that they had in the house. He dumped the loot down on the coffee table, and the brothers all immediately dug in, each grabbing at chips, Capri Suns, and ice cream containers and laying their claim.

“What are we gonna watch?” Mikey asked excitedly, curling up on the couch, bouncing up and down in place.

“Whatever we want,” Raph replied smugly from his own placing on the floor, continuing to scroll through the channels, remote in hand. “We just gotta find somethin’ that looks--”

“OH!” Leo gasped from the couch, jumping slightly and pointing at the TV. “Let’s watch the new Batman movie!!! Look! It’s barely even started!!!”

Mikey hesitated for a second, his brows knitting. “But Dad said we’re not allowed to watch that,” he fret.

“Which is exactly why we should!” Leo had countered. “We’re home alone. We can watch whatever we want. Besides, Batman is cool!”

“Do you think we’d get along with him if we met him?” Mikey questioned with a thoughtful sigh.

“Maybe,” Donnie said, shrugging a bit.

Raph furrowed his brows just a bit as he deliberated. Hm. Well. Leo did make a pretty compelling argument. They were home alone. Therefore, they could do whatever they wanted! Besides, he wasn’t afraid of a dumb movie, especially not a superhero movie. 

“Alright. Batman it is!” He agreed, clicking definitively on the remote to select the channel before tossing it aside. 

And goddamn, did he feel cool.

That lasted for maybe about forty minutes.

And the movie was cool! I mean. At first. But then evening had turned into night, and it had gotten dark outside. Even worse-- it had begun to rain. It rained hard, too, and Raph heard thunder rumble off in the distance, shaking the house ever so slightly. And the further into the plot of the movie they got, the more Raph began to understand why it was rated “R.”

They watched the whole thing, with all four of them frozen in place the whole time. It wasn’t until the credits rolled that Raph finally swallowed, turning his head slightly to glance at his younger brothers.

He was almost relieved to see that they were about as terrified as him. It wasn’t a scary movie, per se, there were no jump scares, it was just…

That was really messed up, what the Joker did to those people!!! Okay!?

Mikey was absolutely clinging to Leo for dear life, his eyes lined with tears, and Donnie had all but disappeared under his blanket, peering out cautiously from within. Even Leo looked shaken, even as he swallowed, forcing a very shaky, half-hearted laugh.

“Whoa. That was… cool,” he forced, even though he looked sort of like he was going to throw up. “Right, guys--?”

Thunder cracked outside and all four of them jumped. Mikey straight up shrieked, burying his face against Leo’s shoulder, and Raph had half a mind to leap up and throw himself into a pile with his brothers and hide there. 

But he steeled himself, just barely catching his nerves before they launched him into a panic, his hands curling into determined fists. 

He was in charge. Remember?

“It’s-- it’s just the storm, guys. It’s alright,” he tried to soothe, fighting to keep his voice steady. “It’s fine--!”

“THEY BURNED A GUY’S FACE OFF!” Mikey wailed tearfully in response, and Raph winced.

“Mikey, chill! It’s just a movie!” Leo insisted, a nervous grin on his face. “I mean. N-none of it’s, like, real, or anything!”

“What if it was?!” Mikey squeaked. “What if it’s based on a true story or something!? Or what if someone else watches it and it inspires them to break into people’s houses and put bombs in their chests!? And what if they come here and cut us open and put bombs in our chests!?”

“That’s… Highly improbable,” Donnie bit out, and Mikey whimpered.

“But it could happen!!!”

Raph grit his teeth, inhaling deeply, and then slowly letting the breath back out.

“It’s gonna be fine, Mikey. Leo’s right. It was just a movie. You don’t gotta be scared,” he insisted. He could tell his brothers weren’t quite convinced. He scooped up the TV remote again, switching the television over the cartoons. It was just re-runs of something they had seen before, but what did it matter? “Here. Hang on. I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going!?” Mikey squealed.

“Raph’ll go double-check to make sure no one can get in,” he said. “So you guys know for sure we’re safe. Alright? I’ll be right back.”

Mikey whimpered, but none of them had protested, watching with wide eyes as he approached the stairs. And if Raph was being totally honest with himself…? He really didn’t wanna go up there.

‘Specially not by himself.

But he had little brothers to protect. A part of him told him that they weren’t in any danger, but another bit said what if they were?! What if Mikey was right and someone came and broke into the house or something!? 

He was in charge. Dad left him in charge. And he had to make sure that they were all safe and could handle anything that came their way.

So that meant he had to go double-check. 

Biting the insides of his cheeks, he made his way up the stairs.

Somehow, the house seemed darker than usual, even though it was just the same as it always was. Rushing slightly, Raph hurriedly made his way to the front door to check it. And, just as he had expected, it was locked. Just like it was supposed to be. The back door was locked, too, and Raph sighed softly in relief. 

He checked all the windows, all the way up to the attic on the fourth floor. He checked every single room to make sure there was no one hiding inside, either. He grabbed blankets from each of their beds, as well as one of his stuffed teddy bears, and did a final sweep on his way back down to the Lair.

“It’s okay!” He assured as he made his way back down the stairs, re-joining his younger brothers. “I checked everything, and there’s no way anybody could get in!”

“Are you sure!?” Mikey questioned, his eyes wide. “What if someone tries to break in or something?”

“I’m sure,” Raph assured firmly. “Raph checked all the locks. And the windows! And look. I got extra blankets and stuff, too,” he added, tossing the covers over the couch and over top of his brothers. “Here. You guys scoot over, and we can play Mario Kart until Dad gets home,” he said, glancing down at his siblings with a grin. “And once he’s here, no one would be dumb enough to mess with us anyway! So don’t worry.”

---

For the thousandth time in this day alone, Yoshi wondered if it would be wiser to pull his children out of school, out of all their various sports and extracurriculars, and keep them home instead, with him, where it was safe. Or at least safer. Where he could keep his eyes on them and know that, if nothing else, he could act should anything happen. They would have more time for training, too, he sometimes noted, but that thought alone made every nerve in his body twist in on itself. 

How could he do that to them? The thought of keeping them here, away from school and from friends and from hobbies, and training instead made him feel sick to his stomach. The idea of training alone made him sick. Every time he closed his eyes, all he could see was his eldest child falling away from him.

He had tried at least a dozen times now to say, “no, no more of this, I won’t allow you to be involved any longer,” and every time his (darling, wonderful, beloved) bullheaded children resolutely denied him and insisted that they would find a way to be involved whether he liked it or not. And while he hemmed and hawed over somehow taking more drastic measures to keep them safe, over how he could possibly achieve this and if it was possible to do so without them resenting him for the rest of their lives, time marched on with the same degree of stubbornness. 

It was impossible not to feel like he was running out of time.

The apartment was too quiet. He resented himself for being in the safety of it when his children were not, even if they left of their own volition. 

Yoshi sighed deeply, and found himself sinking down into his reclining chair before he even knew he was doing it. Internally, he scolded himself. There were things that needed to be done; housework that needed doing, phone calls that needed to be placed, and children out in the world that he had to keep track of, even if they weren’t home at the moment… (All the more reason to stay on his toes…) but honestly, he was just…

Tired.

It had been some time since he had been able to sleep at night, and he was beginning to think that melatonin was a scam or something. How could he sleep? How was he meant to sleep at night with everything looming over him, dripping wetly down his spine, burning and hot and threatening…? When the safety of both the world and his family hung in the balance, and each were equally as precious…? He grumbled softly to himself, leaning his head back and staring up at the ceiling, glowering at it as though it were personally responsible for the current state of his world.

He had only intended to sit for a while. Just to take a moment to rest, to get a chance to breathe before he got up again and continued with all the things he still had to be on top of… 

But he must have fallen asleep.

Because the next thought he had was,

Oh. This hasn’t been familiar for a while.

Not just the place-- he hadn’t been here in many, many years. This long, endless expanse of inky darkness, somehow warm and cozy despite the utter, infinite darkness of it all. He could hear whispers off in the distance, just barely tickling up against the edges of his brain. He hadn’t been in this place in a long time.

But it was also him. Looking down at his own hands, outlined in this soft white light, he noted the differing shape to him. How the wrinkles were gone from his knuckles, and each digit instead extended out smooth and slender, calloused but confident, and yet perfectly manicured.

He didn’t have to look to know that the rest of him was this way, too.

It almost felt odd to be back in the body he had inhabited in his twenties; to look like Lou Jitsu the Actor again, to feel like him. Back before the mutation. Back before the Nexus-- to feel like a young man with a career and dreams and ambitions, to be that person once more who had broken away from their family and escaped, and who held onto all the hurt and guilt of it, but who kept moving anyway. That person that he used to be, but couldn’t be anymore.

It almost felt odd. But somehow, it didn’t-- not quite. He noted it, was aware of it, and thought to himself, hm. This is certainly interesting… But really, it didn’t feel all that strange to him. It felt completely natural. 

He felt so calm. He was sitting here, surrounded by nothing but darkness and his own aura, a halo of snow white silhouetting him. His body was different from what it had been a few moments ago, but he felt completely at peace. That almost felt odd, too, but still didn’t quite. It didn’t bother him that his body was different now. If anything, it was a comfort.

He wondered for a second why in the world he was here again, after so much time, when a voice rang out from behind him.

“Welcome back, Yoshi.”

Blinking in surprise, Yoshi turned to face the other occupant of his dream.

[ next ]

#tw mention of suicide #sorrywhatnowau #sorrywhatnowau fic #sorrywhatnowau fanfic #rottmnt #rise of the teenage mutant ninja turtles #rise of the tmnt #tmnt #tmnt 2018 #tmnt 2k18 #rottmnt raph #rottmnt casey jones #rise casey #rise cassandra #rise raph #rottmnt human au #rottmnt fanfiction #rottmnt fanart #tw suicide mention #fidgetwing

[writingsfromhome]

Impossibly Real II

Y’all loved Part 1 and honestly were so sweet about it. I had to wrap up their story in return 💗

——————————————————

Harry knocks on my door and I open it before he's even done. I was excited for this date, I really think this was going to be a good one.

That didn’t stop me, however, from having mad jitters while getting ready. In the end I settled on wearing a silky pink skirt and with a fuzzy pastel pink sweater that was my favourite go-to. I paired it with white boots (still heeled) and some gold accessories. I was feeling myself.

As soon as Harry sees me in the doorway he takes a step back. “Wow. You look…stunning.”

I feel my cheeks heat, unused to this kind of attention from Harry. And I could tell he meant it—it wasn’t just a cheap compliment to get in my pants. I try not to show my internal squirming. “Thank you. You look very handsome!”

“Ah,” he waves the compliment away. “You see me wear this sort of thing to work all the time.”

“I know but you shaved,” I reach out to touch his face and then think better of it. We hadn’t even gone further than my door yet.

“I did,” he rubs his face like I wanted to.

“I like the smell of your aftershave,” I say as we get onto the lift and the smell bounces off the four walls.

He leans all the way down so that his neck is beside my face. I giggle—god, I actually giggle. I feel an overwhelming desire to rub my nose against the heat of his skin but I keep my freak hidden and fake an exaggerated whiff instead.

“C’mon,” Harry holds his hand out and we head out to the tube, my hand securely wrapped in his; I feel giddy just holding his hand.

This was going to be the best date ever.

I mean, it was still weird going on a date with my neighbour. For one, he had to only close the door to his home, turn around, and knock on my door to pick me up. For another, I'd seen Harry a million times since I moved in last year and not once did I ever think we would be doing this.

Harry and I talk all the way to the place about a new Netflix show we were both watching. It's light conversation, we don't acknowledge the fact that we're actually doing a proper date. That we were both mega into each other. It's almost like we were simply traveling into work and casually chatting 'til we reached our destination.

The restaurant—Harry’s pick, is tucked onto a street corner near Soho, the window shades are blackened except for a fancy script. Island X.

“I’ve never heard of the place.”

“It just opened a couple months ago,” Harry holds the door open for me; who said chivalry was dead.

“Wow,” I marvel at the interiors. It’s like someone took the Great Gatsby and worked it with wood tones and orange lighting. And monstera plants.

“That’s a lot of monsteras.”

“What?” Harry asks.

“Monsteras?” I wave my hand at all the ginormous planters but Harry’s attention is to the front of the line.

“Monsteras?” He asks, eyes still forward. “Like. The Lil Nas x song?”

“What?” I crinkle my brow. But then it clicks and I can’t help but laugh. “Oh my god you think I’m talking about-“

“Hiya!” The hostess interrupts me and I cover my mouth.

“Are you laughing at me?” Harry whispers as we follow to our table.

“Yes,” I wipe my tears as we’re lead to a cozy corner. I’m even tucked into my seat!

“Wow I’ve never been to someplace as fancy as this?”

“Really?” Harry’s face flits with a microsecond of an emotion I can’t read. “I thought maybe this was your scene.”

“Oh no,” I shake my head. “This is very fancy. I’m kinda low brow.”

“Oh,” his eyebrows knit together and he fiddles with his napkin. “Some woman at work suggested it.”

“Oh who?” I ask. Harry’s spoken to me about work before, I thought maybe it was a coworker I knew.

“Just someone that works on the same floor.” He pulls his glass of water close to him. “She’s just a friend.”

“Oh I didn’t mean it like…” I trail off. Why would he think I was being jealous?

Suddenly the awkwardness of the situation washes over me. I was on a date. With my neighbour. If this didn't end well we were screwed. I would lose my only friend in the entire neighbourhood! It would be painful to live next door to each other! At least until one of us found a partner or one of us moved out of the complex.

The pressure of it all makes my ears ring.

“Right,” Harry clears his throat as the waiter approaches and starts to scan the wines. “Any of the wines look good to you?”

I stare at Harry while he buries his nose in the menu. Somehow I felt like I already messed up. Maybe all of these bad dates had one thing in common: me.

God, I couldn’t even make it work with a friend.

Harry glances up. I guess I forgot to respond. Before he could notice I’d been too busy staring I start to scan the menu.

“D’you mind red?” I ask.

“Sure. Which red do you recommend?” Harry asks the waiter. I think it’s cute he asks. Dates in the past have pretended to know the difference between all the names and then ordered something that usually tasted like dog shite.

They discuss the wine and I pretend to nod here and there while I browse the dinner menu. Obviously I had studied it after getting dressed tonight. I knew what was safe for me to get (pasta or seafood) and what would cause a big mess (burgers).

“I’m gonna guess what you’ll order.” Harry says once we’re alone again.

“You really think you know me well enough?”

“Yeah. I think I know you well enough.”

“I don’t think so.” He might have a lucky guess but we hadn’t eaten out together enough for him to know my taste. Plus what I wanted and what I was going to order tonight would be two different things.

“I bet you I know. I’m so confident I’m not even going to say it right now. I’ll just order for you when the waiter comes back.”

“Are we confident or cocky?” I tease.

“Confident,” he says but he drapes his arms back against his chair and relaxes, giving an f-boy cocky pose. I laugh, grateful for the reprieve of living in my thoughts.

“Ready to order?” The waiter asks after pouring our wine. It was a nice balanced wine that was helping me relax.

Harry orders his meal and then looks up at me, “She’ll get the Organic Highland Prime Burg-“

“Actually,” I cut him off. Harry looks at me with his sure smile but I shake my head. It falls immediately.

I feel bad but I just couldn’t eat a burger at a fancy place like this on a first date. I’d done it before and it had not gone over well. Think White Chicks but instead of a Terry Crews it was a Ben Shapiro.

“Sorry,” I point to the safe item. “I’ll do the Blackened Lobster Lasagna.”

“Great choice.” The waiter says something else but I’m too preoccupied with how much worse I was making the date.

“Really?” Harry asks. The waiter pauses as he looks between Harry and I and I start to flush.

“Yeah. I’m fine.” It comes out more curt than I intended and Harry just nods.

“Sorry.” I apologize to Harry again once the waiter leaves. “I didn’t really want something messy.”

“Oh. Yeah it’s alright.” He smiles but it doesn’t reach his eyes. "The lasagna does sound really good.”

“Right? I think it'll be really good.” I hear myself talking and want to stab myself. Really. Because this king of small talk was what I fell back on talking about when a date was going bad.

I had to redeem this. This couldn’t be a bad date. This was just Harry.

“This wine’s good too,” Harry says as he puts his glass down on the edge just as I yank my foot out from under the table to show him my shoes, yanking the table cloth in the process.

“So my shoes-“

“Shit!”

His wine tips over onto my white boots and we stare at them as the stain spreads.

“Napkin-“ Harry’s voice snaps me out of the spiral I’d found myself in as I watched wine seep into my coveted shoes.

Harry’s leaning over patting it down but I yank my foot away. This was incredibly embarrassing; everyone around us was watching the scene we were making.

“We need water-“

“I’m going to the toilet,” I announce. Harry looks up sharply, his face is panicked.

“I’m sorry yn I-“

“S’cuse,” I don’t mean to brush him away but with all the eyes on me and the fact that I kept finding ways to ruin this date—this date that was supposed to be perfect, my eyes were pricking with tears. I needed a breather.

“Shite,” I sigh as I balance on one foot in the toilets and try to wipe the stain in the sink. But red wine stained badly just like my performance on every date I’ve ever been on.

“Get yourself together,” I say to myself in the mirror. “Harry is amazing and you’re fucking all this up! Shoes are temporary, finding a good man can take forever! Snap! Out! Of! It!”

I do some deep breaths and one last attempt at cleaning my shoe before I make my way out.

“Yn I’m so sorry,” Harry stands as I return. “I’m so clumsy tonight I didn’t mean to-“

“Harry it’s fine,” I put my hand on his arm. “Honestly.”

“The stain didn’t come out!” He notices the shoes. “I’ll replace them—send me a bill or…”

I don’t have the heart to tell them he couldn’t replace my £400 Acne boots that easily. I’d bought them a couple seasons ago to celebrate the fact that I’d finally gone out with a guy, and hadn’t thought about my ex once. They were I’m-officially-over-my-ex boots.

Now that I thought about it though, it was stupid to wear them on a date with Harry. They were soaked in the bad luck of all the dates they’d been on since.

Agh!

“I’m serious Har,” I cut him off from his plans to replace them. I take a deep breath and motion he should do the same. “Look, it’s really fine. Plus they’re my favourite colour now. They’ll go with the rest of my wardrobe.”

He stops apologizing and looks down at the splotch of pink on the white. “In that case. We’ll have to take the bottle home and stain the other one.”

“Deal,” I say and he smiles at me softly and it feels like things might go better now. Maybe we really had a chance.

When our food arrives Harry’s steak isn’t done how he asked, and they take it back. I awkwardly push around the food on my plate, not wanting to eat until he had his food too.

“You can eat,” Harry reminds me. “I’m sure it’ll be out any minute.”

“We can share for no-“

“Just eat,” Harry says but now all the focus is on me eating and I feel tense and awkward and quite frankly, frustrated.

I shouldn’t have piled so much hope on this date going perfectly.

We wave the waiter over when too much time has passed by, and he seems confused about the steak.

“D’you think they forgot?” I ask Harry.

“Maybe,” he looks frustrated, two spots of pink have taken residence on his cheeks. I feel bad. This date wasn’t turning out for both of us.

It takes another 10 minutes for his plate to come back out. By then my plate looks like I hated it but tried to eat it to be polite. Harry tries to ask if it can be heated but I’m way too non-confrontational in restaurants to let that happen so I shovel a mouthful of room temperature food and give the waiter a thumbs up.

I just wanted to go home.

By the time Harry pays the bill (it was expensive, even though we agreed to skip dessert. He insisted on paying) I was ready to call an uber to whiz us home. But he suggests we walk off the food to another station and it sounds like a good idea so I follow along. Maybe now we could have a nice time.

The walk was supposed to help clear our heads and be romantic but somehow the mood had soured beyond repair. We don’t talk the whole time, both of us lost in our own heads. Neither of us holds hands, or even loop arms.

And somehow it gets worse when we arrive at my door.

"Well this is me," Harry points to his door beside mine in an attempt at a joke. I throw a polite smile.

"Thanks for the date," I say. I feel like it's a little curt but I didn't really know how to act. Did we hug? Shake hands? We liked each other but clearly this date was proving we didn't belong together. Kissing each other goodnight felt like the opposite direction of tonight's vibe.

"No, thank you. And sorry. Again." Harry looks embarrassed as he glances down at my shoes.

"Harry, honestly it's okay," I try to reassure him. I would take walking ten miles in heels I had yet to break in than this awkward air that stifled us. It was never supposed to be like this!

"No it's not," Harry huffs. "I ruined your shoes."

"They're shoes. Just shoes."

"It's a first date, I don't want you thinking I'm a clumsy mess."

"Harry," I lean my back against my door. He looked so good tonight, I was so excited when I opened my door to him a few hours ago and everything had gone tits up. I didn't want him to feel this way. It was my fault, not his.

"I just," he rubs his face and then sighs.

"It wasn't that bad," I lie. The night had gone so badly.

"Yes it is!" He throws his hands up and the movement makes me flinch. "Fuck. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. God, everything's just..."

I blink and my eyes start to sting. It was the end of the night and we'd officially decided this wasn't going anywhere. It wasn't a shock, but still it was upsetting. I really liked him. I really thought things would work out between us, especially after that night with my heels in his bathroom. I had to call it.

"I should go in. I'll see you later Harry."

His brows scrunch up, he opens his mouth and then closes it. "G'night yn."

"G'night." I whisper. He stays there like he always does as I go into my flat. I peek through the peephole and catch him mouth a fuck before opening his own door.

Still in my outfit, my shoes kicked off to the side, I start to pace. I can't do anything except go over the date in my head.

Was there a particular moment I fucked up? Should I have said something differently? How did Harry and I go from having amazing chemistry and an honest friendship to this?

Maybe I was trying too hard. I should have just ordered the burger like he’d guessed, should have gone along with what he talked about. I should have been a better date.

That was it. I couldn't go to bed like this.

The fact that every time I had a shot at a date, a real chance, something had to go wrong and it was always me. I had to fix this.

I grab the doorknob, and pause. I was about to march right into Harry's flat and ask why the date went so terribly. But what was the point? It would just make things even more awkward.

I think about the last time we hung out. There was beer. Maybe we just need beer—no hundred pound dish or fancy red wine. We just needed to be us. Lowbrow beers and a relaxed environment.

I grab a jacket to throw over my outfit and slip into my Stan Smiths. I head downstairs and in the direction of the local shop for a 6-pack. We would drink beer in our flat and get over this awful date. This couldn't be the last of us.

As I cash out a familiar head of hair in the closest aisle catches my attention.

"Harry?"

"Yn?" He's dressed down in joggers and a jumper.

"What are you doing here?" I ask.

"Grabbing dessert," he shakes the plastic container with donuts inside. "What are you doing here?"

I hold my box up. His eyes widen slightly, a frown touches his lips for a mere second before he arranges his face into a neutral expression.

"All for yourself?" He asks.

"No actually-“ I'm about to launch into what I was going to do but the cashier clears his throat and stares pointedly at Harry. He was holding up the line now.

"Oh sorry," he walks up to the counter and pays for his items. I stand off to the side and we walk out together.

"So you were saying?" He asks.

"Well. I was coming to your place with these."

"You were?" He stops in the middle of the sidewalk to ask.

"Yeah!"

"You're not joking?"

"No!" I laugh. "Why?"

"I..." he looks down at his box and swallows what he was saying. "Let me guess, was it a bad date?"

When he looks at me it's a cheeky look. I almost want to kiss him there.

"Another bad date yep," I tell him and we start to walk towards home.

"Was it the bloke?"

"Not exactly, I think a lot of it had to do with me."

"You sure the date wasn't an arse?"

"No he was sweet. He was very chivalrous, I really thought it was just going to go smoother."

"What do you reckon happened?" He asks. We were both enjoying playing this game. Quite frankly it was combing out the awkwardness.

"I dunno. For one I really wanted a burger but I got in my head and got lasagna instead. When do I ever eat lasagna!?” Harry laughs unexpectedly and it makes me feel good so I continue. “I started thinking about all of my failed dates and almost-relationship. I tried not to make this one date turn out like them but that was my mistake.”

“Sounds like it’s tough being you,” he teases. I push him lightly.

“Well if you could put yourself in our shoes what do you think happened?"

"I think your date got a bit nervous." He responds. By now we've reached our lobby and we take the lift up. "He's not used to going on dates—didn’t he have a steady girlfriend for 3 years? That's 3 years with 0 first dates. He didn’t want to screw things up and he was so in his head about the fact that he took her to an overly fancy place when that wasn’t her scene-“

“It’s not. But it was a cute place. Just poor service.”

“Yeah it was shite service—or I heard it was.” We glance at each other and grin. "I heard he split wine on your shoes."

"Psh," I laugh. “The pink stains were on the outside this time not the inside.”

The lift lands on our floor and we hover outside our doors. "Yours or mine?"

"Mine?" Harry opens his door and I follow the familiar hall to the couch I'd sat on just a week ago. I pull my legs up and we crack open beers, each biting into the sugary pillows he'd bought.

“I actually bought dessert so I could have an excuse to knock on your door and talk to you after that date.” Harry confesses after we’ve each had our moment with our donuts.

I feel warm inside, we’d both wanted an epilogue after the date. We were determined, and ended up in the same place. I hold my drink up. “Cheers.”

Harry tilts his head and smiles. He’s gonna be the death of me whether this works out or not, the thought pops into my head.

"I feel like I need to apologize," Harry continues. "I didn't want to mess things up and I think I just overthought it all and-"

"Please." I cut him off. "I totally made everything awkward and I think I'm just cursed."

"I don't know why I thought you would like such a fancy place. As soon as you said you're not into it I felt like I was doomed-"

"I didn't mind it! I just wasn't expecting it from you!"

"You don't think I'm a classy man?"

I laugh, "Just not that uppity on a first date."

"I was trying to pull out all the stops."

"Instead we just full stopped."

That gets a laugh from Harry. It dies down as he asks, "So what do you reckon? Is this a sign we're only meant to be neighborly friends?"

I bite my donut, mulling his question over. The beer and donuts were helping. I felt like I was thinking clearer than I had all night.

"I wouldn't say no."

We sit in silence as we think about it until he moves down the couch and rests his knee against mine.

"I really like you.”

"I like you too," I agree with my heart quickening.

"Then why don't we stop dating and just do this. No dates. Just hanging out."

"I don't know," I say. "I don't mind being wined and dined occasionally. Don’t you?”

"Okay, how about we just hang out. And when hanging out gets boring we put on our going out clothes and wine and dine each other. Think about it," he says and I nod, agreeing.

“Only if when we put on our going out clothes you keep wearing that aftershave.”

“Deal. And you wear your favourite colour each time.”

“Done.” I grin.

"So you wanna watch a movie or something?" He asks.

“Is that a euphemism?” I tease. He turns his TV on and turns to me with a disappointed look. I try not to laugh.

“No yn get your head out of the gutter. A movie. An actual movie.”

I stick my tongue out. "Can we just not watch anything romantic or sad though?”

"Toy Story it is," Harry puts on the film and we lean back against his couch, cuddled into each other. His fingers play with my hair in slow movements that feel comforting.

I wake up a few hours later, the movie long over. Harry's snoring softly, his arm wrapped around me.

I smile to myself. Even after the disaster of a date we were alright.

I nuzzle myself into the crook of his neck, feeling the musky heat of his skin, and drift back off.

***

A knock wakes me.

I open my eyes slowly and look around the room. I wasn't in my room. I was still on the couch, the cushions had done wonders for my back but my neck was stiff.

Harry was still fast asleep, his lips parted, and his arm thrown across his face. He looked so kissable then.

There was another knock, and Harry's arm slips off his face. He sits up, and the knocking resumes.

"Coming!" He shouts as he runs his hands over his face and hair.

He stands and looks back at me, and smiles. He's still sleepy but he's smiling at me.

"Morning." He says.

"Good morning."

He stays there with a dazed smile until I point behind him.

"Door?"

He nods and makes his way over to answer the door.

"Harry Sty-?" a voice asks.

“Yep,” Harry mumbles something I can’t hear. He’s asked to sign whatever it was.

"Thanks," his voice is rough and he clears it.

Closing the door behind him, he throws whatever package he'd received to the floor and walks over to me. "We fell asleep."

"I guess so. I'm still in last night's clothing." My skirt was now wrinkled and my top was half untucked and ridden up my midriff. "What time is it?"

Harry glances at his watch. "Half past 8."

"Shit! I've got work in half hour!"

"Work from here," Harry leans over me on the couch and offers his simple solution.

"I'll have to shower."

"You live next door. Just do your business and come back with your work things. It'll be like old times."

He's inches closer to me, and I really want to kiss him. It's funny we'd done none of that on our first date but now I want a re-do.

"Okay," I whisper.

"Okay," Harry whispers and he closes the distance and kisses me. It was better than our first kiss.

When I pull away I have a stupid smile on my face.

"Go get ready love," Harry laughs and pushes me off the couch. "You'll be late."

"See you later," I wave and walk out the door, smiling because he’d called me love again. And he hadn’t even hesitated.

Harry was right, it was a lot like the old days. In between work meetings, and Harry's calls, we had a lot of time to spend together. We chatted shit, snuck in some kisses, and talked about work.

We don’t go on a second date, instead we order pizza and watch Toy Story 2 (even though we'd fallen asleep in the first one).

Our days together are fun, and the nights were even more fun.

It was a Wednesday, a week and a half after the disastrous date. Harry and I had taken most of the week off and we'd spent it together, and tonight we'd gone out.

It was a great date, nothing fancy or high brow. Just a lowkey pub with a bunch of beers and greasy messy food and tons of laughter.

"So," Harry says as we're walking hand in hand back to our flat. "How many more days of leave do you have?"

"I have four and a half weeks total."

"Woah. That’s a lot."

"Why? You're not regretting this are you? Getting bored of me?" I tease him.

"I've had 29 years to prepare for you," he teases back.

"That's a good one. But I don't think you can handle 4.5 weeks.”

"Try me."

"Fine," I bump my hip into his.

We're silent for the rest of the walk. But it’s a good silence. When we reach the building, Harry takes his time unlocking his door.

"What are you doing?"

"Just waiting," he shrugs and I laugh.

"Do you want me to stay the night?"

"Yes," he answers without any hesitation; in the last week I'd slept in my bed once.

He opens the door pretty quickly after that and I follow inside—tomorrow, tomorrow I would sleep in mine. Harry could join me if he wanted.

Tonight I watch him close the door, the second the lock clicks I'm taking his jacket off for him and he's laughing at my eagerness.

"Someone's impatient."

"I'm not," I lie and drop his jacket.

"No?" He wraps his arms around me, pulling me flush against him. He kisses my jaw, and then the corner of my lips. You'd think I'd be used to this by now but it's just as dizzying as the times before.

I shake my head and his mouth hovers over mine, his hot breath tickling me.

"What about now?" He whispers.

"Nope," I breathe out and I push onto my tippy toes to kiss him. What can I say, I was denying it with him but I'd never been good at the slow and steady stuff. Harry's mouth was a drug, and I couldn't help myself.

He's not slow and steady either.

He's quick to lift me up and set me on the island in his kitchen, his fingers trailing over the edge of my skirt, his mouth working against mine.

His hand cups my ass and his fingers inch closer to my heat.

"Yn," his voice is soft and he pulls away.

"Yes?"

"Did I tell you how radiant you looked tonight? I can’t take my eyes off of you any time I see you, especially when you’re so loudly and comfortably you in your coordinated outfits and elaborate hairstyles. I feel like the luckiest guy out there. I think I am the luckiest guy in the whole city. I catch sight of you in public and…you just take my breath away."

"Aw Har. I’m already yours. You don't have to butter me up," I tease him as I pull him back to me but his words make me weaker than any kiss could. I know my eyes are growing watery at all of the nice things he’s saying and I’m grateful when he pretends not to see.

This was the nicest thing a guy has said to me, he was really telling me that he liked me for me. He felt lucky. Well I must have won the lottery if he felt lucky.

"I know I don't have," he doesn't pull back again but whispers this into my neck. A shiver runs up my spine. "But I just want to tell you that you're so beautiful."

His mouth trails over my jaw, and back to the corner of my mouth, he doesn't kiss me and I want him to.

"So beautiful," he whispers and I tilt my head back to invite him to continue the trail his lips were making. "So sweet."

He kisses my collar bone and the strap of my top. "So lovely."

His hands trail over my thighs and I want him so badly.

"You're making me melt," I tell him.

"Good thing we're in the kitchen," he hums.

"You're the worst," I giggle and his hands cup my cheeks and he presses his lips against mine. His tongue swipes over my lips and I allow him entry.

We're a tangle of limbs as we kiss and kiss, until I can't breathe. When we move to the bedroom I hardly have time to catch my breath there too.

"Yn," his voice is rough, his hair wild. His body is hot against mine and the way he says my name is enough to make me transcend this dimension.

"I like you. A lot."

"I like you too. A lot too." I can barely get the words out as I try to worm my way into his skin.

He chuckles at my growing impatience but he’s too far in to hold back again. He gives in to every one of my needs--even ones I didn't realize I had.

I'm a goner.

As we fall asleep, his arm wrapped tightly around me, I know we did the right thing. Despite being neighbours or the awful first date. The fact that we bumped into each other at the shop later that night meant we were supposed to have a second chance.

We worked best like this: warm and tucked away, whispering confessions into each other’s skin, seeing each other and not caring what we aren’t.

He pulls me closer in his sleep, sighing into my hair. This felt impossible before but it was so real now. And I think I really won the lottery; I’d dated a million toads before but I think I finally found my prince.

TAGLIST:

@kuntxrgraudunkelbunt @mellamolayla

#harry styles fic #writingsfromhome #harry styles x reader #harry styles #harry styles fanfic #harry styles imagine #fic #harry styles fluff #harry styles series #i hope this meets everyones expectations #for how things go between these two #harry styles angst #fanfic #i did not do a lot of edits so dont mind any inconsistencies etc

[sinsandsweetness]

(Rick x fem!reader) quick n' smutty Rick drabble <3 (continued )

✩ part 1 here ✩

warnings- 18+ omg. smut, sir kink, handcuffs, hair pulling etc.

“Mmmph” you moaned directly into the pillow. He had you situated in the most vulnerable position imaginable. On your stomach with your hands cuffed behind you. A single pillow underneath your hips, lifting you up slightly, Allowing him a gorgeous view and great access to split you open.

“You like that sweetheart?” 

“Uhuh,” you tried looking back at him as he rammed into you, a steady, hard pace. Hands pushing up on your ass, kneading and clawing at your skin. 

“Words baby. Use your words.” He smacked your ass. The hot sting jolting you forward with a tiny cry.

“Yes sir.” 

His hand came back down to rub the area, soothing your sore skin. Slowly, he trailed his way up your shirt, tickling your spine through the fabric, and landing at your scalp. Gently tugging on the hair at the nape of your neck, earning yet another moan from you. 

He pulled. Not too hard. Always within reason. Always aware of how sensitive you are and how you never know when to tell him if something is too much. It didn't matter really, he could read you like a book. Every sound and movement you make tells him exactly how you feel. Rick grabbed your thigh and patted it twice, prompting you to shift your weight to the other side. He pulled your leg up, bent at the knee, so it was resting at your side, and much closer to your chest. The new angle opening you up even more. 

“How’s that?” His voice was low and gentle. 

“It's-mphm- it’s good.” You were out of breath already. 

He held your leg down, fingers digging into your skin, as he continued pulling on your hair. His tip hitting the exact spot that always makes you crumble. That hot, fiery need building up in your stomach, climbing higher the longer he went. 

You tugged at your wrists, hoping to bring them up to your sides, to grab onto the comforter or his hands. Anything. 

He must have heard you struggling because he chuckled lightly. 

“What? You want em’ off now?”

“Yea…” if your cheeks weren't all red before, they were now.

“Mhm… not happening.” He released the grip on your hair, moving to hold the chain connecting your wrists. You whined out-loud, pulling at them again. 

“Sorry sweetheart, you’re the one who wanted em’ on…” As if he wasn’t the one who corrupted you with the idea to begin with. The one who’d tie you up with his belt to the prison bunkbeds, contorting you into a mess of limbs and moans, never failing to fuck you absolutely stupid. That was all him.

With that memory flashing through your mind, you were more than close, rolling your hips down on the pillow below you, attempting to create any kind of friction against your clit. 

“Sir, can I - can I come please?” 

You could actually feel his smile against you as he kissed the exposed skin in the crook of your neck. 

“Since you asked so nicely,” another kiss, right below your ear. He quickened his pace, fucking you hard enough for the mattress springs to squeak. A mess of moans and incoherent babbles coming from your mouth, half muffled into the floral patterned pillowcase. 

“Rick-” you whined his name as you came. Eyes rolling back, heat flooding down your thighs and up your core. The familiar eruption of pleasure releasing all tension in your body, and sending sweet tingles across your face. 

His hips stuttered as he groaned your own name, holding you firmly against the mattress as he plugged his seed inside of you. Shaky breaths from him and you both as you rode out your highs, moving against each other until it was too much. 

“Fuck baby,” he pulled out of you slowly, cum dribbling down your inner thigh and onto the pillow below. Over your shoulder, you watched him pull his pants back up and situate himself, grabbing the key from his belt and unlocking your cuffs. Gently turning you back around, bringing your palms up to his mouth and kissing them both.

“Think you’ll still make it to that meeting?”

Hah, not a chance. 

He smirked, shaking his head. Dipping down to kiss you as his hand went between your thighs, fingers dragging up your slit, collecting his cum on two digits. He brought them up to your lips, pushing your mouth open and making you suck them clean. 

“Atta girl,” 

You could come again from the sound of his praise alone. 

He leaned back, adjusting his collar, grabbing his jacket and pulling it back on. His tie still perfectly adorned around his neck. 

“Are you gonna be good today?” He asked, handing you a pair of comfy grey sweatpants to put on. 

“Hm?” You asked, innocent doe eyes questioning him as you stood up and pulled the sweats over your ass. The wetness between your thighs, all sticky and begging you to shower. 

“You heard me. You’ll cancel those plans you made, right? And wait patiently for me to get back home?” 

You grinned and planted a kiss on the side of his mouth.

“Yes officer.”

#officer friendly #rick grimes x y/n #rick grimes fanfiction #smut #rick grimes smut #twd fanfiction #sinsandsweetness #rick drabble #drabble #quickn’smutty<3

[softestqueeen]

under the mistletoe

pairing: bruce banner x afab!reader

summary: After a kiss under the mistletoe, you can’t deny the tension between you and your infamous crush Bruce Banner.

warnings: 18+ MDNI!! smut, p in v sex, riding, kissing, breeding, no protection (please in real life wrap it gurl, I’m begging you), mutual pining, fluff, tension

wordcount: 2714 words

a/n: Merry belated Christmas! I wanted to write this earlier but didn’t have enough time. Still, enjoy <3

You were standing in one of the doorways at stark tower, slightly secluded from the rest of the party, talking to you good friend and lab partner Bruce Banner. What you didn’t tell anyone though, was that he wasn’t just a friend to you, but so much more.

To say you had a crush on the shy doctor was putting it lightly.

He was leaning against the doorway, and you were standing just inches from him, the loud christmas music making it harder to understand him. You were holding a martini, while the man in front of you only held a can of coke, scared of losing control under the influence.

You were just about to ask him a question when a certain billionaire appeared next to you.

“I see your having a good time! Oh, and see who is standing under the mistletoe...”, Tony Stark almost sang the word mistletoe with a big smile on his face.

You tilted your head back and looked up, noticing that there was in fact a mistletoe hanging above your heads. Well, that was embarrassing.

You averted your eyes from the leaves hanging above you and turned your attention back to Bruce, who looked just as shocked and unsure as you.

Tonys smile grew even more before he added, “Have fun, you two lovebirds.” And with these words he let the two of you be, only glancing behind him at the two of you to see if you’re kissing or not.

“We don’t have to kiss if you don’t want to.”, you told Bruce with honesty, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. And you were scared that if you kissed him once, you wouldn’t get him out of your head.

“Oh, no it’s alright with me. Only if you want to of course.”, he rushed out the last part.

You were already standing pretty close to each other, so after a short eye contact, you both leaned forward and kissed.

Surprisingly, Bruce had very soft lips and kissed you firmly, with a certain purpose. Even though (to your disappointment) the kiss was short lived, you could tell he was a good kisser. When the two of you pulled away, you just looked into each others’ eyes for a moment.

But of course, the moment couldn’t be perfect, because you could hear Tony whistling even over the noise of the party.

You rolled your eyes and to your surprise, even Bruce had to chuckle a bit.

You continued to talk a bit, but shortly after Natasha interrupted the two of you and whisked you away. She took you to the kitchen, where the music was not as loud, and you could have a normal conversation.

Though you knew that this conversation as not going to be normal.

Natasha looked like a little kid on christmas when she asked you “Did you just kiss Bruce?” The redhead – who was also your best friend – of course knew about your feelings for the doctor and was desperate to hear all the details.

“Yes, I did.”, you answered giddily before adding “It didn’t mean anything though, we were standing under the mistletoe. We didn’t actually notice before Tony pointed it out.”

“Tony, the matchmaker. How was the kiss?”, she asked you cheekily. You already knew that question was going to come up. You couldn’t help the blush that was about to cover your cheeks.

“It felt great, he definitely knew what he was doing. I still don’t think he feels the same.”, you told her. 

Nat just looked at you like you were completely stupid. For her it was clear that that man was head over heels in love with you.

~~

Shortly after Nat pulled you away, Tony joined Bruce with an almost boyish smile on his face.

“You kissed her!”, he told Bruce in a singsongy voice while wiggling his eyebrows.

Bruce just rolled his eyes at the billionaire. “Yes, I did. But only because you practically forced her to kiss me. I don’t feel like she really wanted it. Afterwards she didn’t seem as involved in the conversation anymore. Do you think I overstepped?”

Now it was Tonys turn to roll his eyes. “You know why she was detached from the conversation?”, Bruce only shook his head “Because she is in love with you, dumbass. And she has been for quite some time, so get it together and ask her out or something. The only people who don’t know about your feelings for each other are you two for some reason.”

“Are you really sure?”, Bruce asked one more time. Tony didn’t answer him, just looked at him with a pointed look and walked away.

~~

The two of you had not spoken since the mistletoe incident, but there was definitely a hell of a tension between the two of you. Because even though you didn’t talk to each other, the two of you made eye contact multiple times.

Every time your eyes searched for his, he was already looking at you. At first, he always averted his gaze as fast as he could. But suddenly you could feel a shift. He now held your gaze for a few moments before looked away, making you slightly nervous. What was that shift supposed to mean?

The evening continued with stolen glances and conversations you couldn’t follow, while Nat and Tony sent each other knowing glances.

They’ve been trying to set you and Bruce up for months now, but to no avail. The two of you – even though you had an impressive number of PhDs together – just didn’t realise the other one reciprocated the feelings. Was tonight the night where you finally realised it?

The crowd was slowly starting to thin out, a lot of the guests going home or retreating to their rooms. Most of the Avengers were still hanging around talking, and a few famous actresses and singers were also still there.

You decided to call it a night and bid Nat good night. You went out into the hallway to your room, but when you were about to put your key into the look you heard a familiar voice calling for you.

You pushed the key into the lock before you turned around to see non other than Bruce coming your way with hurried steps. When he was within earshot he asked, “Can we please talk? I need to tell you something.” Your heart skipped a beat. What did he want to say to you? Was it because of the kiss? Even though you were a bit scared of what he would confess, you asked him in.

“Yea, of course. Come in.” Bruce gave you a curt nod and waited patiently for you to open the door and wave him in. You told him to make himself comfortable and he sat down in a chair.

“Is it alright if I get changed before we talk? My heels are killing me”, you asked sheepishly.

“Of course, go on.”, he answered immediately.

You went to your wardrobe and pulled out an oversized sweater and a pair of plait boxer shorts, before disappearing into the bathroom.

While you were in the bathroom Bruces thoughts were running wild. How was he supposed to tell you that he loved you? That that kiss was not just a kiss for him? That he wanted to do more than give you a quick peck. How was he supposed to confess this?

On the other side of the door, you were not doing any better. What did he want to discuss and why was he so nervous? You thought you could talk about everything. You wanted him to know that. Even though your mind was still racing, you tried to calm yourself down and go back into the living space of your small apartment.

Bruce was silent when you entered and you sat down on the couch next to the armchair he was occupying. You looked at him with a shy smile and told him, “Now we can talk. What’s on your mind?”

Bruce was playing with his hands while he was thinking. You noticed it and scooted closer to the arm of the couch. You reached forward, took his hands in yours and shot him a (hopefully) comforting smile.

“You know, you can talk to me about everything. Sometimes it’s good to just let it all out and not overthink it too much.”, you assured him, hoping it would help him to talk about whatever was on his mind.

He seemed hesitant but then suddenly started talking. “I love you. I have- I have loved you almost since the first time I ever saw you. When you came into my lab looking so criminally good and you were so sweet to me. And I’ve had feelings for you ever since and they only have intensified since then. I’ve never had the courage to tell you and honestly, I’m not too sure about myself right now, either. But after you kissed me, it was like something switched inside of me. I knew I had to have you, no matter what. That kiss was better than anything I ever imagined. And you looked so good in your dress, but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or force you, you know. And the other guy, you know, also started to like you and – you’ve probably noticed this at our last missions – he gets so calm around you and then I also feel so safe and-“, all of that came out of him like a wave, crashing down over you. You couldn’t believe it, Bruce Banner actually had feelings for you.

“Sorry, I’m rambling. But essentially, I just wanted you to know that I love you and that I could never love someone the way I love you. I just needed you to know that.” He finished his little speech and was about to stand up, but you still held onto his hands, holding him in place. Of course, you were shocked but not unpleasantly so. You felt the same way.

You leaned forward over the armrest and kissed him, hoping you could put all of the words you couldn’t voice into this kiss, so he would understand that you felt just the same.

Bruce didn’t waste any time and immediately kissed you back, letting go of your hands to cup your face and pull you closer to him. You pulled away and got up, leaving Bruce with a puzzled expression.

He quickly relaxed again when you straddled his lap, took his face into your hands and kissed him again. His calloused hands went to your waist and squeezed it, before he let them wander over your body. His hands on your body felt amazing and when you felt his rough hands against your soft skin as he wandered underneath your sweatshirt, you let out a moan, giving Bruce the perfect opportunity to slip his tongue into your mouth.

He kissed you so well, it made you even more excited for what was to come next.

Now having you in his arms felt like a fever dream to Bruce. He would have never thought it possible for you to feel the same as he did.

Both of you had to pull away for a quick breather.

“Do you want to go further, Bruce?”, you asked him, even though you had a pretty good idea of what he would answer.

“Please.”, was the only answer you received before he pulled you in again and joined your lips with his. You could feel his growing erection between you and rocked down on him, making the man beneath you groan.

“Do you want to go to bed?”, you asked him and put your forehead against his, giving him some time to think. But apparently, he didn’t need any.

“No, I can’t wait any longer.”, he answered without skipping a beat. You got up to pull down your shorts and, in the meantime, he opened up his belt and pulled his trousers down to his mid thigh, just wide enough to release his cock.

When you caught sight of him, you couldn’t do anything but stare. He was long and thick, with a slight curve, already leaking from the bright red tip. He was definitely going to be the biggest one you ever had. You didn’t waste anymore time and straddled him again.

You gave his lips a quick peck before you pulled away again to sink down on his cock. You were so wet just from this make out session, still you were sure that this would not be too comfortable.

You took his cock into your hand and gave him a few pumps, coating his cock with his precum. Bruce threw back his head and let out a deep grown.

You stopped stroking him and guided his tip to your entrance. When Bruces cock made contact with your wetness, his head shot back, and he looked at your hand that was guiding him inside of you.

He let out another moan when you started to sink down on him. You pulled away to put steady yourself by putting your hands on his shoulders. The stretch was uncomfortable, but you could already feel the pleasure taking over. With every inch you thought he couldn’t go any deeper and ever time you sank further down on him.

Finally, your ass touched his thighs, and you were completely seated on him. He filled you like you didn’t know was possible. You were both moaning and groaning and by the time he was filling you completely you feel a slight sweat coating your skin. You removed your hands from Bruce’s shoulders for a moment to pull your sweatshirt over your head, leaving you completely naked. Bruce was still fully clothed, only his jacket sat discarded on the floor.

While you were still getting used to the stretch, you started to unbutton Bruce’s shirt and took it off. Your hands roamed his torso and he let out a soft moan as your hands made contact with his chest.

You leaned forward and kissed him again and started to slowly move up and down on him. You put your hands back on his shoulders and Bruce pulled you closer by the waist, so your fronts where touching. The new sensation added to the pleasure, and you started to increase your speed. You were going up and down his thick shaft, his fat tip hitting your g-spot perfectly. You moaned and groaned in each others’ mouths and were clingy to each other, slowly rocking to your orgasms.

You could feel that you were coming closer and by the way Bruces cock was twitching inside you, he wasn’t far either.

“Please, Bruce, cum inside of me. I need to feel you.”, he didn’t answer you, he only nodded and started to fuck into you, meeting your thrusts. You stilled and he took over, drilling his cock into you from beneath you and chasing his release.

“Cum for me and I’ll fill you up. Need to feel you squeezing me with that tight little pussy.” His words tipped you over the edge and you came with a shout, burying your head in his neck, trying to get your breathing under control.

Feeling you spasm around him, made Bruce see stars. He filled you with thick roped of his cum, painting your walls white. He halted inside of you and pulled you onto lap again, holding you down while he filled you up.

He circled his hands around your waist, while you slung yours around his shoulders. For a moment you were just holding each other, bathing in the bliss of finally being together.

After a while Bruce picked you up and laid you on the bed. He went to the bathroom and came back with a washcloth to clean you up. He undressed and joined you under the covers, immediately taking you in his arms and holding you again. He was laying on his back and you had your head on his chest, your arms slang over his torso. Never before had you felt this content.

“Oh, and by the way, Bruce. I love you too. Merry Christmas.”, were your last words, before you finally drifted off into a deep slumber.

a/n: i hope you liked this, if so please leave some notes, likes, reblogs and comments! feedback is very appreciated!

please also consider supporting my ao3: @ softestqueen

taglist: @silvermagnolias @milywatermelon @BigBananaa

#mcu #marvel #love #ao3 #fluff #no y/n #x reader #reader insert #Bruce Banner #bruce banner is underated #Bruce Banner x reader #brucie #christmas #fluffy #fanfiction #fanifc #fic #i love you #feelings #connection #relationship #lovers

[lfghughes]

Me + All Your Reasons

a/n: i had a lot of fun writing this so i hope you guys enjoyed it. if it’s something you would like for me to continue in more parts just let me know!

warnings: anxiety and some heartbreak

Sports had always been a big part of your life and your families life but also social media and creativity were another thing you were good at. So when it came time to pick a field to work in no one was surprised when you wanted to work for a sports team for their media team. That is exactly how you landed your spot working for the New Jersey Devils and yes the deadlines were stressful and the anxiety of thinking people wouldn’t like your work was also in the back of your mind. You had a many different demographics to please and you just wanted to make sure everyone was happy with your work. Aside from the stress though, it was a lot of fun. The traveling was fun, seeing how the team grew over the season was amazing, but also the friendships you made with people. You knew that doing videos for social media wasn’t always something the boys were looking forward to and sometimes you had one who just wasn’t in the mood but most of them had become good enough friends with you that you could bribe them easily. Nico was probably the easiest one to convince to do things and it was probably because he had the biggest heart and couldn’t say no or he felt like as the captain he needed to at least try to help you. You had only really picked up on it potentially being another reason when you were bribing Jack to help you with a video because Nico had been busy. “I’m pretty surprised he didn’t move his schedule around for you.” Jack teased, the boyish grin on his lips. “Why would he do that? He helps out plenty.” You pointed out, not thinking much of it. “Oh come on, why do you think he’s always so willing to help you with those big old puppy dog eyes.” And then it dawned on you what Jack was trying to say. “Whatever you’re thinking, just stop. That’s not what it is.” You told him and he quickly shrugged at you. “Whatever you say.” Both of you wrapped up what you needed to get done but your head had been elsewhere after that. Nico was a great guy, there was no doubt there. He was also attractive, there was no question there but you were not risking your job and also your reputation by getting involved with a player that was a big no no for the company. As weeks passed you noticed what Jack had pointed out and you came to realize that you didn’t just think Nico was a great person but in any other case he would have been someone you would have agreed to go on at least a date with. It didn’t matter though, the season was ending and you would keep your mind off of it all summer and then by the time the season restarted this crush would be gone from both sides. That’s the reasoning that got you through the next few weeks until the end of the season. It was also what got you through every interaction with him. Now it was the end of the season and you had come in for their exit interviews so you could say goodbye (for now) to the boys. Of course you saved one of your biggest hugs for Jack who had kind of become like a brother to you even if he was a pain sometimes. Then it was finally Nicos turn and you were ready for a quick goodbye but after you gave him a quick hug, his hand went to your elbow to hold you there. “We’re all going to Mr. Purple’s if you want to join later. It’s just an end of the season thing, not sure if Jack or one of the other boys mentioned it to you but we all deserve an outing.” He told you with that stupidly cute smile. “Yeah, of course. I’ll be there.” And well you lived up to your promises so you didn’t go and the night was actually fun but once again you were doing that thing of avoiding Nico and these stupid feelings so you spent a good chunk of the night being entertained by Marino, Jack, and Luke. At one point you went to grab a drink and Nico caught you, starting a conversation with you. Both of you had ended up moving to one of those smaller couches and you forgot temporarily how bad of an idea it was to flirt with him. The area was definitely a lot more intimate than where you had been with the whole group before. As your conversation progressed at some point his hand went to your knee and you didn’t move it, if anything you liked it there. “I really have to start heading home, It’s late and I have a lot of end of season editing to do.” “I’ll walk you out to your uber.” Yep, he was perfect, that was confirmed. As he walked you out, once you were away from everyone his hand caught yours “Wait…” He said as he pulled you in for a kiss but before he could it’s like you remembered why you couldn’t. “Nico I’m sorry, I can’t.” A confused look had grown on his face and then realization had hit him. “Oh shit, I’m sorry. It’s Jack, isn’t it? He’s a great guy, I can’t blame you.” You immediately shook your head as if that was the craziest idea you’ve heard. “What no, It’s not Jack. I just can’t do this Nico. I’m so sorry. I like you, it’s just…we can’t.” You pulled your hand away and tried to not look at the pained look on his face. “But why can’t we? If you like me and I like you?” He asked and you put your hands up to stop him. “I just can’t Nico. Goodnight.” And that was how you left him, not wanting to turn back and look at him because you knew you couldn’t handle seeing his face right now and keep saying no. So instead you just kept going, getting into an uber before you let yourself cry about it.

#nico hischier #nico hischier x reader #nico hischier imagine #nico hischier blurb #( me + all your reasons ft nico hischier )

[coconutdays]

Strawberries and Burgers

College AU! Eren Yeager x Reader.

Part 1. Part 2. Part 3.

Warnings: just fluff I think for now T^T and some suggestive themes!

You were so fucking pretty. 

Fuck. 

Every boy Eren knew thirst followed you. He had stalked your Instagram out of curiosity when Connie shared your post on his story. Every guy on fucking campus was on your follower list, the football team from Paradise U, even basketball players from universities two states over. He couldn’t blame them, you were a sight for sore eyes, but it was kind of creepy. 

He wasn’t gonna be a creep over a girl he barely knows. You could be some brat for all he knows. 

Your smile was cute though. 

That was the last thought on his mind about you before now. 

Now you were less than twenty feet away from him at Jean’s party, talking to Ymir and fuck he actually gets it now. 

You’re really fucking pretty. 

“Dude, you couldn’t make it anymore fucking obvious.”

Eren almost dropped the white claw in his hand, eyes wide and startled. 

Connie fell into the seat next to him, “She just became friends with Historia so she’ll be around at our parties more often. I know Jean almost creamed his pants when she asked him where the food was.”

“There’s no food though.” Eren countered, everybody just inhales the alcohol at parties. Sasha was always hungry but she just brought her own snacks most of the time. 

“I know. He’s in his room right now looking for his wallet so he can send her with the girls to go get burgers.”

Eren craned his neck back in confusion, “He’s buying everyone-”

“Just the inner circle.” Connie cut him off

“Who’s driving? All the girls are a bottle of vodka in.”

Connie opened his mouth to answer, but Jean stood before them, the keys to his BMW in hand. 

“I’m gonna drive the girls to go get food, can you–”

Eren stood up, “We can take my SUV.”

Why was he offering to take his car. Fuck. 

Jean looked at the white claw in his hand, gripping the keys in his hand. 

Eren noticed, “I only took one sip, I’m fine.”

“Not taking chances Jeager.” Jean shook his head, about to turn to leave. 

“You can drive. There’s more space for the girls and food in my car.” Eren took his keys out of his pocket and dangled them right in front of Jean. He caught sight of you a couple feet behind Jean. You were giggling at something Historia was telling you. 

Fuck. Your smile. 

Jean slowly took the keys from him. 

“Fine, but don’t backseat drive.”

“I won’t.” Eren handed his white claw to Connie, who was squinting his eyes at him, “We’ll be back in a bit.”

“Watch over the party?” Jean asked Connie, who never tore his sight away from Eren.

“Yeah.”

Eren paid no mind to his quizzical friend and followed Jean, who was heading towards the girls. 

You were with the girls. 

Jean held up his keys, “You guys wanna go get the burgers?”

Your eyes lit up the most as you bunched up your fists in excitement, “YES!” 

You were wearing a cute mini dress. It made the thin necklace you were wearing pop-out and–

He can’t look at your boobs when you don’t even know his name. 

He can’t. 

They’re great boobs. 

Damn it.

Sasha popped up next to you, just as thrilled, “I’M GETTING SHOTGUN!”

"It's not even my car Sasha, we're going in Eren's SUV."

All the girls looked at Eren, including you.

He was really hot.

You had seen him when you asked Jean where the snacks were.

He was wearing a black wife beater, loose jeans, and a black jacket. He was tall too. It made heat rise to your cheeks thinking about it.

Now you knew his name.

Eren.

He held eye contact with you while the others started shuffling forward to leave.

You weren't going to make the first move. He could just want you for sex like every other horny guy.

You tore your eyes away from him and walked behind the rest of the group, nervoulsy tugging at your necklace. In doing so, you brushed past him.

He smells good.

She smells just as fucking sweet.

He walked behind the group, right behind you. His presence was unavoidable. You could feel his overpowering energy behind you and it had your face flaring up as you let your thoughts wander off to think about how having him as your boyfriend would feel if he always trailed after you like this.

You fanned your face in hopes of the heat leaving your cheeks.

She's flustered.

Soon enough, all of you ended up stuffed into his SUV with Armin as a new addition and now riding shotgun and you just so happened to be squished next to him in the back. Historia and Ymir were next to the both of you, already asleep in each other's arms.

Your heart was beating out of your chest and you could feel the bare skin of your arms and thighs touching him. This and the tension of his presence next to you wasn't helping.

Out of panic, you took your phone out of your purse and started to play PvZ. It was weird, the situation that grew out of this.

On the seemingly long drive, you and him both silently acknowledged that he was watching you play the game when you turned to look at him after he laughed at your poor placement of a sunflower in panic at the incoming swarm of zombies.

However neither of you noticed the way the both of you just so happened to now be willingly smushed against the other, cheeks close to touching as you both looked at your phone.

It was comfortable, the silence between you both as you kept passing the levels until a random name popped up on your phone for a call and you jumped to decline it.

You clicked back on the game and waited for it to load while you sheepishly excused yourself, “My bad.”

“Was that your boyfriend?”

No. No. YOU DON’T HAVE A BOYFRIEND. YOU’RE SINGLE. PLEASE.

You were quick to respond because god forbid he thinks you’re taken.

“No! He’s a random dude who ghosted me a long time ago! This is the first time he’s tried calling me in months! I swear!”

You were really adamant on making it clear you were single.

Cute.

“Why’d he ghost you?”

“I said I wanted to be treated out on dates and stuff and be his girlfriend before doing stuff with him. Then poof he was gone. I wasn’t surprised.”

It didn’t bother you a lot, but Eren felt a pang of guilt at your confession.

“I like your standards.” He said, “He didn’t meet them for a reason.”

“Thank you.” You smiled, setting your phone down and mindlessly fiddling with the cover. You wanted to continue talking to him. He seemed nice.

“I like your necklace by the way.” You added

“I like yours.”

This tension was insane.

When was Jean gonna get to the fucking drive-thru.

“Yo guys what burger do you want! Im about to pull up.”

Historia and Ymir started to wake up and the both of you were now looking at the burger place coming into view.

Everybody said their order. Jean even called the boys to get theirs. Eren underestimated yours when he shouldn’t have considering you were the one to ask for food in the first place. You got double the meat and triple the cheese on your burger. Even the fries were huge.

You gave Eren a side-eye, “What?”

“That’s huge for you. Like not in a shameful way, I’m just not sure that’s gonna fit inside your body.”

He was being genuinely concerned really, but you couldn’t help the giggle that escaped you.

He realized how wrong what he said seemed.

“Thank you for the concern, but I think I can handle it.” You smiled, your eyes still crinkling from your previous small laughter.

“You’re a pervert.” He accused

You feigned indignation, “I am not Eren. You’re the one talking about what I can fit into my bodyyy.”

He couldn’t look you in the eye anymore. You were making him flustered. This was really how you got comfortable with him, by teasing him.

Fuck.

He’s so glad that guy ghosted you

Ill continue this I swear I just wanted to release the first part. I hope you guys like it !!!

#eren jaeger #eren x reader #eren x fem!reader #attack on titan #aot x y/n #aot x reader #eren fluff #eren jeager x reader #eren jäger #attack on titan eren #shingeki no kyoujin eren

[collectivecloseness]

I just saw this concept somewhere and immediately thought of robin, so imagine it's a summer day and robin is wearing a tank top, but that's not the important part, she's wearing one of thos candy necklaces and you just go and start eating it, while she's wearing it, might I add you're "just friends" (just friends my ass) and robin is literally dying for very obvious reasons

Bestie you are so right for this, I immediately jumped into this one. The sapphic panic would set in immediately for her.

-Tastes So Sweet

Robin Buckley x reader

It was a super hot week this summer, so you guys had decided to drive a few hours out for the weekend. Well, Robin had. Robin thought a little road trip, a weekend away at the beach, would be great for the two of you! A great place for her to finally buckle up and tell you how she feels. Even if she didn’t actually end up saying it... She knew you liked girls too, so it shouldn’t be that hard! Except it was!! Ugh!!! Robin swore it as a fact that the sapphic curse was real. She could never tell if any of the times she thought you were pretty ‘close’, or flirting, or doing things that surpass the boundaries of friendship, were just you being a nice friend or actually trying to flirt with her! Robin wondered if the same thing was happening on your end. Any awkward attempts at being slightly flirty from her, she knew weren’t exactly big power moves. Maybe you really didn’t know that she was into you? But if you hadn’t picked it up, how was she supposed to tell you! And why did she have to make the first move!?

It’d been a good plan, although when she asked you, as you came to visit her in Family Video like you did nearly every day, Robin had no idea Steve was right behind her too. If she had, she wouldn’t have said it! But Steve was in earshot, and as Robin turned around, she’d eagerly invited him too, for fear of him feeling left out. Which was stupid, because Steve knew, in extensive detail, that Robin had a crush on you, it would’ve been fine! But Robin didn’t really mind once she’d gotten over realising it wouldn’t be a strictly romantic getaway. A weekend away at the beach, with her two best friends, and absolutely zero monsters, or customers, was something she was really looking forward to the rest of the week! And she still loves Steve, she was happy he was coming, she just definitely did not love him in the same way she loved you... Well, at least Steve could drive, and had a car! Honestly Robin hadn’t even thought about that when she invited you. So it all looked like it was coming up Robin!

Robin had told Steve how she thought this was the perfect time and place to finally make a move on you. Steve asked if she was going to make ‘an actual move’ which was slightly annoying, if not very true. What’re friends for? But Steve definitely did not get a moments peace, without Robin raving about how great the weekend would be. Especially because of you.

Although he wasn’t complaining, it made him happy to see Robin so happy. He knew you felt the same, he was so sure. He just wished you two would get on with it! Even if Robin couldn’t exactly ask every babe who came into the store out, like Steve could, he still offered if she needed any of his ‘natural charm and allure’ to be graced with for the weekend, since she was seemingly born lacking. But that just got him with even more tapes stacked in his arms.

Although Steve did give Robin the great idea of making it a three day weekend. Since both of them were owed a shift swap with two other employees, after they both caught them calling in sick to work, only to try and break in after hours to bone in the stock room. You already had the Friday free, so Steve could drive you all that morning! Robin loved having a mom of the group, not that she was gonna take him for granted, but it at least gave her less things to worry about. She’d already had to borrow Steve’s deodorant towards the end of the day, after planning the trip now you’d thankfully said yes. He liked being in charge and on top of things! He at least swore that he’d be a good wingman. Even though he was always, he really wanted you two together. But this time, he’d push his best friend just a little, if she needed it.

But after he’d driven you all a few hours to the motel, Steve started complaining that he didn’t feel well. He still insisted he could carry some of the bags, while Robin grabbed an extra of yours, smiling with a raise of her shoulders. But as Steve collapsed onto his bed in the motel, he started saying he felt sick.

You both wanted to make sure he was okay, Robin checking his forehead as you looked in Steve’s bag for painkillers for his headache. Since Steve had been very meticulous with packing for the 3 day trip, even micromanaging to make sure you two brought essentials. Even though you both knew Steve would have spares for you.

You managed to find a bucket while you were getting Steve some water in the bathroom, bringing it to his bedside where he was curled up, before taking a step back, into Robin’s side, as you asked with the most sympathetic tone you could muster if he felt like he was gonna be sick. Robin grabbed your arm, rubbing it up and down, with your exposed skin since it was so hot outside, and you gave her a thankful look. She knew you hated vomit.

But Steve swore he was fine. Even as you and Robin rubbed his back, he said he was just gonna take a nap. Rest in for the rest of the day, and maybe he could join you two for dinner. But he encouraged you both to go out and have fun. At least it was a good thing you guys had three days.

Robin agreed with you to stay for an extra 15 minutes, just to see if the painkillers kicked in, which you both knew Steve would probably bluff about to stop you both from worrying, even if they didn’t. But as Steve curled up to his new blanket, his eyebrows scrunched up, either in a ‘bleh’ feeling, or simply being tired, Robin shook your wrist gently and asked if you wanted to head out.

Steve still managed to mumble yell about you both taking sunscreen, and you both chuckled as Robin stole some from his bag.

You both tucked him in, Robin fake cooing over the poor baby, as you both left with a sickly sweet “Bye Steve!” But gave him some pats before that, to let him know you meant it.

As you closed the motel door behind you, you both looked to each other and just giggled. Before you took Robin’s hand, and dragged her to the reception desk to go grab a map. Steve clearly must’ve been sick, if he’d forgotten to grab one of them.

Although, Robin didn’t actually know if Steve was faking or not. To let you two have the majority of the day together or something. To be fair, he looked like he really needed that nap either way. And you both would have had to leave him to the room if he napped anyway, since you were all sharing a room together, because it was cheaper. Steve got one bed, and you and Robin shared the other. A fact she was internally freaking at. She’d had sleepovers with you before, but nothing this intimate. Nothing like on this three day getaway. Even if you two were just nearly dozing off accidentally while watching a movie or something, Robin knew you got very cuddly when you were tired. So did she, but it still made her bashful.

You two had visited some of the local stores, before taking a long walk on the beach. Robin had laughed with you, talked about old memories, even shared gossip, but she hadn’t told you her feelings for you yet. To be honest she’d forgotten! Robin was too busy having fun with you, really enjoying her time. She’d forgotten she was supposed to be building up to asking you out by the end of the weekend.

It hadn’t really been that long a walk anyway, because you were desperately complaining of your need for food. So you’d both been trying to find an exit to the beach, that’d lead you back to civilisation. You were on your way to an ice cream stand Robin had spotted, near enough you could tell it sold ice cream by the small statue on top, but not nearly close enough to make out any words on it yet.

But you’d gotten tired, and asked Robin to sit with you for a few minutes. Robin had helped you sit down, worrying you and Steve were actually sick, but you’d just giggled when Robin held your elbow, gently leading you onto the sand at the top of the beach, easily sitting yourself down as you told her “You’re sweet.” Something that did not go over Robin’s head, while you rummaged to get her water bottle out her bag, that you two were sharing. Like usual, because of course you still forgot to pack water for a day out in the sun. Damn Steve for forgetting to mom them on that one, Robin thought.

As she watched you chug at her bottle, Robin was tempted to buy you a drink herself, to be your knight in shining armour that way. ...But, she also kinda liked the domesticity of you two sharing of bottle. Not even in an ‘ooh it’s an indirect kiss way’, although heck yeah she couldn’t help but think about it, it was just sweet to share like that, she thought.

“Ughhhhh. Robbbb, I’m hungry.” You whined, leaning on her chest dramatically. You were both in swimsuits, but with shorts, and low cut tops too. Meaning your head was nowhere near the top of her shirt, as you laid on her.

Robin laughed. “Well I told you, if we went down the boardwalk they had those cute little cafes! But nooo. You-“ Robin flicked her finger against your nose “wanted to go rockpooling first!” Robin couldn’t help but smile the entire time she talked with you. She could never actually be mad at you, she only ever teased you in jest.

You pouted, but your eyes were smiling back. “I only wanted to cause I know you’ve been waiting to all week.”

Robin’s ears started burning. She rubbed her hands on her exposed knees, trying to bite back a smile that’d be too wide. “Thank you.” It made a fire stir in Robins chest that you’d remembered she’d been wanting to do that since you guys planned the trip. She hadn’t been rockpooling since she was a kid, and she wanted to explore them again. Robin also wanted to come back to Hawkins with pockets full of neat rocks, although that was a separate mission.

“Well, the ice cream stand isn’t that far away. We can make it when your legs decide to start working again.” Robin promised, second guessing herself, but deciding to pat your shoulder anyway. It shouldn’t be weird, she’s done that a million times. She’s touched you way more that that! Yeah she was touching your naked shoulder and bikini strap only, since the strap of your flowy shirt had sunk a little... but really it wasn’t that weird, among friends right? You were both girls. You both had bra and bikini straps! Surely you wouldn’t think anything of it, that she touched them? She was just patting your shoulder! Although the whole point of this weekend was supposed to be that you thought about Robin’s actions more, that they were slightly risqué and that Robin actually makes a move!

You hummed, hungry. And then, you looked up a little bit, to see the cute new thing Robin had bought earlier. With a different type of hum this time, you reached up Robin’s chest, and played with her colourful candy accessory. “Your necklace is so pretty Robin.”

Now it was Robin’s whole face that was blushing. She just hoped you couldn’t feel the heat through her chest. “Thank you.” She responded, remembering how you’d tugged on it when Robin first came out of the seaside sweet shop, and how her legs nearly gave out with all the carnal thoughts that ran through her mind when you did that.

She’d also bought a pacifier lolly for poor Steve, and you’d bought a sweet in the shape of a spade. Which’d been all you’d eaten all day, with Steve ushering you to his car since you’d slept in.

Only a few seconds after she’d thanked you, Robin looked on in stupor, as you aimed forward, and chomped down on her. She felt the scrape of your teeth pulling at her necklace, and even more so, your lips, below her collarbone but just above her cleavage. And in a panic, Robin shoved her hand into her chest, blinking in shock as she tried to take in what’d just happened, and how the feeling of your mouth on her chest still lingered. “Errr, what’re you doing?”

You only looked at Robin like what you were doing was normal, and like she was being unreasonable. It was really confusing Robin’s already flustered thoughts.

“What? I told you I was hungry.” You reasoned, before a sigh that blew away a few strands of your cute hair gained Robin’s attention, but not more so than what you did next. “Pleeeeease? I’m dying here!” You collapsed dramtically into Robin’s lap.

Robin laughed, a little, as she tried to push down her feelings of you laying on her there. You’ve rested your head there before, of fucking course, you guys were good friends, but it was different right now. Especially as you wriggled around a little, cradling the side of Robin’s hips to do so, and you looked up at her, with those puppy eyes. “Please?” You begged again. And Robin was dying with you peering way up at her like that from below.

Robin was bowled over, and all she could do was watch, as you seemingly tested your limits, climbing up her gently, moving onto her lap, as you moved your mouth to another piece of her necklace. Robin held her breath as you, while keeping eye contact with her, slowly mouthed around a piece near her neck, picking at it. “-taste so sweet...” you mumbled against her skin, with the candy in your mouth. But Robin could not tell if you said ‘they’ or ‘she’ tastes so sweet... If Robin was pink before, now she was entirely red.

“Y-Yeah. Okay then.”

When you smiled against her chest like that, Robin felt like she could breathe again, even though it came out sharp through her closed off mouth.

She could see it moving your hair. Although she didn’t know that secretly, you actually thought her breath smelt really nice right now too.

You didn’t thank her out loud. Instead, you thanked her with a kiss to her cheek.

Robin didn’t know how she held down her squeal at that. She didn’t think she consciously stopped herself anyway. Maybe she was just too overwhelmed. But then you bent down again, scanning her neck, and her chest, something that made Robin feel like a piece of meat. And for the only time in her life, when being looked at that way... she liked it. She never knew she would like that look, but you looking at her in that way... fuck...

You placed your hands on either side of her ribs. Holding her gently. Like she was precious. And then one hand slipped down to cradle the curve of her waist, as you finally went at it. Eating the sweet candy.

Robin pressed her legs together. Squeezing them. She hoped you couldn’t tell, since you were still sitting in her lap. And she felt almost dirty for even feeling that way. But she couldn’t help it. Not when you were holding her like this... not when your breath, and lips, and teeth, and drool, and tongue were at her neck, and her chest. Thank god she picked the longer necklace. She had to squeeze her legs together or she thought she was going to burst. Excitement rushed through her body, making her feel even more sensitive than she already was.

You picked up one piece of candy delicately, and slowly, scooping it up with your tongue, against her skin. Robin thought she might actually faint. At least she could blame it on the sun. Not the way a moan nearly slipped out her lips though. That was something Robin was thinking real hard about. Biting her lips intently as she just stared down at you, almost pained with holding back.

As a sound left her neck like you were sucking on the skin there, as well as the pink treat, you peered up at Robin again. “Will you rub sun cream into me after this? On my back, and shoulders, all those nasty places I can’t reach.”

She didn’t mean nasty places like that, don’t be a freak Robin!!!

“Yeah...” Robin promised, although she had to swallow first. Holy shit!

Mentioning Robin touching you though, made her react, because now, Robin really felt the want to touch you. The idea had been planted in her mind and it would not move on. She raised her hand, with a shaky breath she was sure was moving your head, as your cheek was lightly resting against it, while she moved her ringed hand, and softly began stroking through your hair. Caressing your head, and your soft locks, as you kept at Robin’s upper torso.

You, sucking around Robin’s chest, as she nestles her hand over the back of your head, must’ve looked so intimate, Robin thought. Only to shake that thought away, finding it going to some very unchaste places. When in reality, Robin was happy just like this. With stroking your hair.

For a few peaceful seconds both of you were only looking out at the golden beach. Glancing with no thought, at the far off horizon, the sea line crashing into the shore.

Then you placed your hand on Robin’s thigh, and you leaned your chin against her actual chest. And all that tranquility was thrown out the window. Robin still stroked her hand through your hair, but she felt like she was about to explode now. Holy shit, how do you not realise what you do to her? How is it fair to have you like this, only for her to be too scared to tell you, and possibly never be able to actually have you in that official way? Robin desperately wants nothing more than to touch you right now, even though she is already touching you. She wants to kiss you! She thinks about it. Quite hard, as she watches your lips go, against her chest. She wants to touch your own thigh. Just to be able to place her hand on your leg, as you two sit together, and have it be just normal for you two! She wants to be able to hug you close as you lay against her like this, to be able to kiss your head, and for you to feel happy enough to snuggle into her chest, as she speaks softly to you. Loving words. To be able to swap positions, and have you hold her like she’s your everything... And your hand squeezes once more over her thigh as she feels slight dampness against her chest, and she’s set off into those instinctual and physical feelings again. She’s surprised you can’t hear her heartbeat hammering against her rib cage, as you’re laying against her.

Although maybe you can. Or maybe she’s just acting weird. Because that’s apparently why your chin is on her chest and your hand is holding her thigh more securely, as you look up at her with gentle eyes. “Is something wrong? Are you okay?”

You’re asking her so affectionately, and Robin can’t help but stare at your lips. They’re glistening, with the effort you’ve been putting in all this time. And Robin really wants to taste your lips. To taste just how sweet they are right now.

“Nope. Nothing’s wrong. I’m really good.” She promises, unsure how she sounds so cool. Probably from years of lying about her feelings. Something she hardly ever did with you, except for her primary one.

You seem to pick up on something though, because you shuffle more into a sitting position, much to Robin’s dismay, but you still stay on her lap, which she sees as a win. Circling her arms around your own lap, as she holds you.

“Well here, have some. I don’t wanna steal all of it.” You smiled, playing with Robin’s half eaten necklace, as you extended the invitation.

It also meant Robin had to pick up the necklace to eat some of it, instead of having you grazing lightly into her skin the entire time, but Robin didn’t really mind it. She ate a few beads of her treat, enjoying the sweet taste, and realising how you got so addicted into just zoning out and sucking- oh my god Robin stop thinking of that shit!- but another thought was swimming around the brain cell she’d managed to borrow from Steve now he was unconscious. One she was thinking about the entire time you both gnawed on the same piece of string, faces inches away. Until it finally just blurted out of her like word vomit, only half being able to come out as a flirty joke.

“Hey! Uhhh, you know! You know what- you know Lady and the Tramp? This, wel-uhmm, this kinda reminds me. Of that. Do you know?” Robin stammered over that statement/question.

You didn’t respond. Robin gulping, which you would’ve been able to hear from this distance. But instead, you sped up on the three beads that were in your way. And, with a nervous pace, and no thoughts, Robin ate the last one on her side. Only able to sit there and breathe, in anxious shock, until you finally made your way closer, and, after eating the final bead that was pressed against Robin’s lips, you kissed her.

Gently dipping yourself into her mouth, you took Robin’s lips into your own. And Robin’s nerves were quickly replaced by a love she’d needed for so long. Eyes slipping shut as she took in this moment fully, at what she’d been waiting and longing for, Robin quickly kissed you back. The kiss was nothing but even, and deep, and full of love.

She moved her lips against your own, the thick feeling of your lips making Robin feel full, as she moved from hanging onto your bottom lip, to brushing your top one. You tasted just like she dreamed. Robin kissed you back with the same paced ardour as you both moved around. The smallest kissing sound coming as you both barely moved your lips away, only escaping as you moved around. Robin takes your cheek in her hand, as she’s wanted to do for so long, the other picking up your hand that she finds even blind, to hold it. Rubbing it, feeling you, as your other hand goes to her neck. Your thumb rubs Robin’s jaw, and she sighs into your kiss. That sound, finally causing her lips to stutter. And she opens her eyes as you two only just pull your lips away.

Robin’s eyes brush up and down your face. Her hand shuffling to hold your cheek more, nervous but knowing you weren’t going to move away, wanting to hold you like she’d wanted for so long. You raised your held hand to Robin’s own cheek, caressing her warm skin as you kept her hand with your own, and watched as Robin’s eyes fluttered shut, leaning cravingly into your palm, eyes open as she searched yours. Finding that hooded and finally resolved look in them.

Robin always fantasised what her first words would be after she kissed you. But she should’ve known she’d never have been able to be that cool after. “I... I’ve wanted to... I mean, do you- do you feel the same way? I’ve wanted to do that for so long.” She asked, eyes crinkling with tears she dared herself not to come. She didn’t know if she could handle it if you didn’t feel the same way. Not after this. If she’d just thrown herself out there, only to get rejected now.

Only Robin was met with your hands cradling her face so lovingly, so... domestically, that she couldn’t help but sigh against your face. “Robin. I’ve been flirting with you since the day we met. Did you really not notice?”

Robin didn’t know whether to smile or cry. She was afraid she’d do both. Although she didn’t think the snot and sweat combination would do great for her second kiss. “But- I’ve been flirting with you too! I mean, well... I’ve been trying.” Robin’s head bowed down, her freckled cheeks heated. “I thought- I just thought you didn’t...”

“Robin, sweetheart.” You gently lifted her head up, and any shame Robin felt dissipated at hearing you call her that. Her blue eyes watery as she searched yours.

“I get it. I wasn’t sure too... But I could never not love you. I mean... how would that even be possible!” You cracked a smile, trying to make it big, although you felt your eyes stinging now too. Especially when Robin laughed, and a few tears finally spilled down her rosy cheeks. You just thought she looked so beautiful.

“Damn that sapphic curse.” Robin joked, wiping her tears with the back of her hand, only to feel her heart thud in shock when you suddenly leaned forward, and kissed that tear stain right off her cheek. Although she gussed she shouldn’t be shocked by it anymore. ...The thought made her smile even greater.

“Damn right. How could you think I’d want to be any less than your girlfriend? What a ridiculous thought. Glad we broke that damn curse.”

And this time, Robin wasn’t going to be caught rambling. She did the thing she’d planned to do this entire weekend, that she’d wanted to do the first time you walked into her store. She made that big definite move, as Robin pulled your cheeks close, and kissed you first.

#also wahoo my first (on her own) Robin post! been waiting for this day bwaha #let’s just say Steve’s going to have to be the one leaving the motel room for a little while on the rest of the trip ☺️ #also is rockpooling a thing in the us? I tried to look it up legit could not find any good sources #Robin Buckley x reader #Robin Buckley fluff #Robin Buckley #fic #Robin Buckley fic #ask #anon #stranger things #Steve Harrington #platonic stobin #wingman Steve #bff Steve Harrington #4.4K #Robin Buckley/reader

[marlynnofmany]

Where Wormholes Come From

As much as I was enjoying my Engine Rings™ cheesy snacks — and that was a great deal, since I’d just discovered them on a human-run space station — it wasn’t so much of a distraction that I didn’t notice worried voices as I walked past the cockpit.

I paused in the doorway to see Wio in her chair, tentacles adjusting the controls with nervous speed while Kavlae stood and pointed at one of the displays. I had no idea what that screen showed. But the two pilots sure seemed to, and it didn’t look good.

“Are you sure it’s organic?” Wio was asking.

“It has to be!” Kavlae said, head frills flaring. “I’ve never seen this kind of reading on anything else. Not even new technology.”

Wio muttered something unintelligible, tapping buttons and turning dials. She didn’t react when I folded my bag of crunchy snacks and shoved it in a pocket.

I leaned into the room. “Is something wrong?”

Kavlae looked up at that, the picture of blue-skinned concern. “Possibly,” she admitted. “Dangerous, at any rate. I was making a final sweep for the end of my shift, and I think I’ve found a fresh wormhole.”

I waited for more information, but didn’t get any. “Why is that bad?”

“Because it clearly wasn’t made with any technology I’ve seen,” Kavlae said with a melodramatic sweep of a hand. “There are organic traces and rough edges. This is fresh.”

Before I could repeat my question, Wio chimed in. “And a fresh wormhole might mean the worm is still around, among other things.”

“Uh,” I said. Apparently my Earth-bound education about space travel had missed a key point. “I did not know wormholes are made by actual worms. I thought people built them? Or they just happen?”

“People do build them,” Wio said. She finished messing with the controls and twisted her tentacles around each other. “And the way they ‘just happen’ is because of the space worms. Which we don’t want to get anywhere near.”

Kavlae waved me forward. “You’ve got good color vision, right? See if anything long and wiggly shows up on these scans. It’ll be subtle; they’re probably in deep.”

I stepped up to the row of small screens under the main one, full of questions. “Deep in what, hyperspace? Why do we want to avoid them? Are they predatory? Or territorial, or easily startled?” The main screen just showed the usual stars, but the little ones were a riot of charts and diagrams. Kavlae pointed at the one that was an incomprehensible swirl of yellow and green.

“Yes, hyperspace,” Wio said.

“They’re not predatory,” Kavlae said with certainty.

“Well, how do we know?” Wio countered.

“There have been studies!” Kavlae said. “They eat the fabric of space-time itself, not spaceships.”

“What about the chewy center of those spaceships?” Wio retorted.

“There have been studies,” Kavlae insisted.

Part of the green image did look a little wormy. I wondered whether I should interrupt, not sure if I was imagining it, then I remembered Eggskin the medic’s offhand comment on how good human eyesight was in picking out shades of green — just like edible vs non-edible plants back home. Maybe the two pilots really couldn’t see something that I could.

“Is that—” I started.

“Anyways, it’s not the space worms you need to worry about,” Wio spoke over me. “It’s the space moles that follow.”

The universe has perfect timing, because that was the moment a clear green line appeared on the chart, straight as an arrow and moving fast.

Kavlae squeaked, pointing at the screen.

Wio made a popping noise that I recognized as a swear word, and pressed several buttons at once.

A snakelike shape the color of starlight erupted into sight on the main screen, glowing as it curled back down a brand new wormhole, right in front of our ship. Which stopped in its tracks, all three of us yelling in surprise.

But that was nothing compared to the enormous black shape that clawed its way out of the starfield in hot pursuit. It was a different shade of black from the void of space, but I couldn’t say which. All I made out in that adrenaline-filled moment was claws, teeth, and terrifyingly large.

We screamed in three different octaves as the ripples in space hit the ship, rocking it even with the artificial gravity. I heard something crash down the hall. Other people were yelling. They didn’t matter.

The space mole really was going after the worm, not us — it plowed back down into the surface of reality, digging in a way that shouldn’t have been possible. And it was so, so fast.

The mole disappeared with one last kick of a barely-seen foot or tail or something else. The starfield rippled and shook like the surface of a pond. I realized I was clutching the back of Wio’s chair. Alarms were going off on the console.

After a moment in which nothing else jumped out at us, I managed to convince my fingers to let go. Kavlae collapsed into her own chair. The little screen was calm yellow. Without a word, Wio changed our course to somewhere presumably safer.

Running footsteps sounded in the hall, leading to a traffic jam of concern in the doorway: all tentacles and frills and very wide eyes. A calm but stern voice cut through the chatter. The crowd parted to let Captain Sunlight through, every inch the levelheaded and unflappable role model who wasn’t about to let some turbulence and screaming rattle her. She was wiping what looked like orange soup off one yellow-scaled hand. But she did it with dignity.

“What happened?” she asked.

I answered first. “Space worm and a space mole.”

“Really,” the captain said while the hallway exploded into conversation.

“They almost hit us!” Kavlae exclaimed, waving arms and frills from where she sat slumped in her chair.

“Any damage?” Captain Sunlight asked.

“Nope,” Wio said, with surprising cheer. “And I have better news.” She manipulated the controls some more, then sat back as a framed image appeared in the middle of the main screen. “I got a recording.”

Everyone exclaimed about that while the captured footage played. I was torn between watching it again because it was amazing, and watching the little yellow screen for more hints of green. I tried to do both.

“Well done,” Captain Sunlight said. “I know just the scientists to give first shot at that recording. And knowing them, this may end up in a very lucrative bidding war. You just make sure you get us to our destination safely!”

“Absolutely, Captain!” Wio said with a twirl of a tentacle. “I will keep a close eye on all the readouts.”

“I’ll help,” I volunteered, eyeing a suspicious green tinge that was probably nothing.

“I will take a nap,” Kavlae declared. “Then come back early.”

Wio waved her toward the crowded doorway. “Take your time! You need some rest after that. Don’t worry; we’ll scream if there’s anything important.”

“I’ll remind you that we do have an intercom,” said the captain drily.

I replied, “Screaming’s faster.”

Wio said at the same time, “We’ll scream over the intercom if there’s anything important.”

Captain Sunlight huffed in amusement. “Of course you will. Right! Everyone else, go check the ship for damaged items. Mur, help Mimi in the engine room. Paint, go with Eggskin; medbay first, then kitchen.” She rattled off more assignments to make sure all the important rooms were looked into. Then she ushered everyone on their way, and headed back to whatever she’d been doing. Probably cleaning up spilled soup.

With a glance at Wio, I took Kavlae’s chair, hands folded carefully in my lap. The snacks in my pocket crinkled. I left them there — I wasn’t about to make a mess in the cockpit, nor would I touch a single thing.

But that yellow-and-green swirl, oh I would be watching that very carefully.

~~~

The ongoing backstory adventures of the main character from this book. More to come!

#I did something similar in another story #but that one's going in a print anthology not here #so if you see something familiar in a few months #in a book I contributed to #no you didn't #it's entirely fresh and original and I don't repeat myself #even when it's a really cool idea #ANYWAY #my writing #The Token Human #humans are weird #haso #hfy #eiad #sci-fi #wormholes #space worms #space moles

[the-random-phan]

Danny Fenton has 1 (One) Nerve Left, and it is Almost Fried

WC: 13,865

Ao3

Summary:

“Boss?” Asked FRIDAY. Tony looked up from the hologram he’d been staring at for the last two hours. “Yes?” He replied. He grabbed a smoothie from DUM-E's waiting claw, checked it for motor oil, and took a sip. It wouldn’t be the first time he made that mistake. “Danny Phantom has entered the building.” She informed. Tony grinned. “Let’s get the show on the road then, yeah?” Tony had a personal intern to coerce to and a tour group to stalk. aka; A re-imagining of the "Stark Industries Trip" trope starring a very anxious half-ghost :)

Read the first chapter below the cut!

“I have great news!” Mr Lancer was unusually cheery for a Monday morning. Danny certainly was not feeling the same.

Danny's feet dragged as he stumbled into class, fifteen minutes after the bell. Desiree had decided to go on a wishing spree during lunch and he had to track her down. She was easy enough to defeat- just wish she would go into the thermos- but this time she had taken to wearing earmuffs so she couldn’t hear him, and he had to knock those off first.

It was a hassle he had not been looking forward to this early on a Monday.

Lancer sent Danny a scathing look, but it was quickly wiped away and replaced by a smile. 

…weird.

Tucker looked concerned as Danny as he took his seat with a slight limp. But Danny waved the concern away. He was fine. Nothing he hadn’t suffered through before. He’d just taken a hard landing. Totally his own fault.

“Well, there is a touch of bad mixed into this news. The senior trip to Washington DC has been canceled.” Lancer announced. A chorus of complaints rang out. Danny was relieved. He hadn’t been looking forward to spending a long weekend away from Amity Park. No, he did not have attachment issues. (Lie.)

“Sh-Shh! That’s not all!” Lancer looked vaguely annoyed. The class barely quieted down at all. He seemed to resign himself to the chaos he’d created.

“It has been replaced.” Oh, no. That couldn’t be good. What, were they gonna go on a field trip to the Ghost Zone or something?

…

No, no. Danny could see that actually happening. He wiped the thought from his recent memory, pretending it had never existed in the first place. Best not to tempt fate, for it was cruel.

“A wondrous chance has arisen.” Said Lancer, sounding like he’d walked right out of one of Shakespear’s poems. Or wait, was he a poet? Or did he write something else?

Danny had sat through far too many of Lancer’s classes with raging concussions to remember such minute details.

”Instead of Washington DC, we are going to New York!” Lancer grinned. The class broke out into whispers yet again. Though they weren’t really whispering anymore. Lancer seemed to have given up. He collapsed into his desk chair, head cradled in his hands. If he was already this defeated, how would he handle this many teenagers in a whole other state?

‘That might be even worse than the Ghost Zone.’

See, Danny (Phantom) and New York did not mix very well.

New York was the home of superheroes, and well, that was really the most accurate title for Danny and his ‘ghostly protector’ MO. It wasn’t really all that likely he’d stumble upon an Avenger on the street, but he didn’t want to chance it. He had no interest in being a part of that band. Or worse, they might think he’s a criminal like the GIW do. His inner, childhood Iron-Man-fanboy wouldn’t be able to handle that.

Maybe with the change of plans Danny could fake an excuse? His parents had already signed the Washington DC permission slip, but they hadn’t checked off on this one yet. He could still weasel his way out.

Paulina raised her hand.

“You mean, like, New York, New York, right? The city that never sleeps?” She asked. Danny could hear the stars in her eyes. Lancer seemed relieved to actually be being paid attention to.

He nodded vigorously. His widened smile was almost disturbing.

“This school has been giving the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to actually tour Stark Tower! The base of operations for Stark Industries in New York!”

‘Oh Ancients, kill me now.’

~linebreak~

“Moooom! Daaaad!” Danny called down the lab stairs. There was no response, but Danny wasn’t really surprised. The GAV was in the driveway, so his parents had to be home. And he could hear their heartbeats in the lab. They probably just had hearing protection on.

Danny’s footsteps echoed heavily as he descended. (On purpose.)

Sure enough, there were his parents. Dad had on a welding mask and earmuffs, and was loudly yelling. On the other side of him was Mom, who sat on a rolling stool that was pulled up to a workstation. Danny could feel that she was buzzing with annoyance.

The portal glowed dimly from the other side of the room. Danny tried his best to avoid staring at it for too long. The eternal swirling and dance of ectoplasm had a mesmerizing effect. He’d lost hours of his life right after The Accident, fixated on the surface of the portal and yearning just to touch-

“Honey!” Mom exclaimed. She slid past Dad and wrapped Danny up in a hug.

“How was your day?” She asked. Which clued Danny in to the fact that something was definitely up. She never asked him anything like that. Usually they just shooed him out of the lab when he paid them a visit. It had been a hassle to get them to sign the original permission slip.

“...what’s going on?” Danny asked. His suspicion was plain to hear.

Dad finally removed his earmuffs.

“Oh,” He chuckled sheepishly. 

“We have good news!” Mom said cheerily. After the day he had, Danny didn’t need any more ‘good news.’ Not to mention that what was ‘good’ for his parents was usually ‘horrifically bad’ for him. Usually it had to do with new inventions. And if they were this happy, it had to be something especially dangerous and/or lethal. (Either worked.)

“We’re chaperoning your trip!” Dad exclaimed. Mom shoved him playfully.

“You weren’t supposed to tell him yet!” She chided. But the smile didn’t leave her face.

Danny’s first thought was, ‘I’m going to die (again) on this trip, aren’t I?’

“The New York trip?” Danny was already traumatized. And they hadn’t even gotten on the bus yet.

Dad nodded his head. His smile was shockingly similar to the one Lancer had been wearing earlier.

“They sent out an email last night, asking parents not to spill the beans. They also asked for any chaperones, since your entire grade is going. So we volunteered!” Mom looked up at Dad and he shared her grin. 

Dad wrapped an arm around her shoulders. Danny begged his knees not to give out under the force. Sometimes his Dad forgot his own strength.

“Aren’t you excited?”

Danny tried not to let the terror show on his face. Not too much, at least. He’d never been very good at telling his face what to do.

“Yeah!” His voice shook.

“Sure- sure am. Can’t wait.” For this to be over already.

~linebreak~

Which was how Danny ended up here.

He and his classmates took up a whole two cars on the Subway. Why the school decided to stuff a bunch of teenagers on public transport was beyond him. Mr. Lancer was having a hell of a time trying to navigate. He squinted down at an app on his phone and tried to figure out where they needed to be going. He’d already led them astray twice. They must’ve traveled under half of New York by now. 

Oh, and they were officially ten minutes late for their tour of Stark Tower. Would they cancel the tour if they were late enough?

Dad stood behind Danny, taking up the entire width of the doorway. He looked queasy, and was holding onto a pole for dear life. Mom was trying to comfort him, but he looked like he was gonna hurl. They drove the GAV over curbs and took out cones like they were bowling pins, how did this make them sick?

The subway car screeched to a stop and Dad’s face turned a sickly shade of green.

“Next up is our stop, everyone!” Lancer announced suddenly. There was about a… 17% chance of him being right. If Danny had to guess. Just picking a random number.

Classmates around him buzzed into action, collecting their things and themselves. Dannywas surrounded by laughter and smiles. Kids happy to be away from their parents and home, with their friends.

It was a stark (heh) contrast to Danny’s own loneliness.

Tucker was having a big family reunion- the first in years- so he couldn’t come. He would’ve been able to go to DC, but there was a date change and he couldn’t just ask all of his family to cancel. And his parents wanted him there to help out and socialize.

Sam’s mother Pamela had just straight-up refused to let her go- “to that rubbish bin of a city! What could happen to my little Sammykins?! So far away from home!”

It probably didn't help that Pamela wasn't allowed to be a chaperone. Not after what happened last time at the Zoo.

Danny shuddered at the memory. Giraffes could be surprisingly vicious.

Valerie was the only familiar face around, but things were still iffy between them. Danny had finally come clean to her about his identity last fall, but ever since then things had been… stiff. Awkward. When they were both out ghost fighting at the same time they’d work together, but aside from some fight banter they’d barely said a word to each other.

Which was fine with Danny, usually, but he was finding himself wanting someone to talk to that wasn’t his parents.

They weren’t very good conversationalists, unless he asked about ghosts. But he wasn’t in the mood to hear about all the ways they’d tear his ghost half apart ‘molecule by molecule.’

Danny had tried to sneak off at the last moment before they got on the bus out of Amity Park, but it was Sam and Tucker who convinced him to go. They had shown up to see him off. Which he greatly appreciated, seeing as the sun hadn't even risen yet. It was a nice gesture. If a little inconvenient, because Tucker showed up with his new-and-improved ‘Foley Gauntlets’ and physically refused to let him go. It was the most evil hand-holding he’d ever experienced.

His best friends- no, traitors- weren’t about to let him dip. They said he needed a break and some time off from being a ghostly protector. But how was spending half a week in another state with his parents supposed to be a break? If anything, it would be more stressful than staying home. But they seemed to be convinced that this was best for his well-being, and they wouldn’t give up.

Sam and Tuck assured him that things would be fine, and they could handle any ghostly threats. Danny wanted to have faith in their abilities. After all, they’d been at this just as long as he had. But he couldn’t help the worry, the nagging feeling at the back of his head.

Danny weaseled them into promising they’d give him a call if things got out of hand. It was only a two-hour flight! He could probably shave off 15 minutes if he really pushed it. But Danny didn’t really trust them to alert him. His idea of safety and theirs were vastly different. And yes, Danny knew how hypocritical that was. But he couldn't find it himself to care enough to change it.

Danny had already checked the Amity Park News a dozen times since he got on the bus.

All of this to say, Danny was alone. Alone and with his parents, to be exact. Danny took a picture of Dad looking ready to puke and sent it to the group chat titled ‘Loser Trio.’

The doors opened and everyone around Danny hopped into action. Welp, here it went. Danny slipped his phone into his pocket. He hoped nothing disastrous happened on the tour.

He probably just jinxed himself there.

Ugh.

~linebreak~

“Boss?” Asked FRIDAY. Tony looked up from the hologram he’d been staring at for the last two hours.

“Yes?” He replied. He grabbed a smoothie from DUM-E's waiting claw, checked it for motor oil, and took a sip. It wouldn’t be the first time he made that mistake.

“Danny Phantom has entered the building.” She informed. Tony grinned.

“Let’s get the show on the road then, yeah?” He clapped. Tony had a personal intern to coerce to and a tour group to stalk.

#invisobang #danny phantom #marvel #mcu #crossover #tony stark #maddie fenton #jack fenton #dp #invisobang 2023

[madsfrank]

'*•.¸♡ 𝕬 𝕾𝖍𝖔𝖙 𝕲𝖑𝖆𝖘𝖘 𝖔𝖋 𝕭𝖔𝖚𝖗𝖇𝖔𝖓 𝕻𝖙. 2 ♡¸.•*'

-ˏˋ Directory ˊˎ -ˏˋ AU ˊˎ -ˏˋ Pt. 1 ˊˎ -ˏˋ Pt. 3 ˊˎ

Pairing II Cowboy! Carlos x Fem! Reader

SFW II Angst, Fluff, City-themed reader

WC II 1.7k

Content II X reader, country motif, ranch, farmland

Synopsis II Living with your relatives in the country wasn’t going to be easy. Your nearest neighbor was a rancher a few miles down and better yet, her cows constantly got loose on your property. Maybe the only plus side was the young ranch hand who came to retrieve them.

Just like you predicted, the muffled caws shook you from your slumber. The rooster had awoken extra early, you think, just for you. How…great.

The sun had barely risen above the horizon as you got up to peer through your blinds. It’s early rays drew everything across the ranch in this pale, golden glow. Almost as if everything was in a haze.

Slipping off your nightgown, you carefully selected a pair of jeans and a flannel you wouldn’t mind getting dirty from one of your traveling bags. Two months here would also mean a new set of ranch clothes soon.

You family was already awake. Making themselves coffee and throwing on their boots. Your uncle offered you some dark roast, which you gladly accepted. Coffee wasn’t always your favorite, but something about the chill of a morning this early and the scent of the land around you made it all the more appealing.

After your core had been warmed, your aunt tossed you a work hat. Your first gift on the ranch. You nearly chuckled, the hat was a cowgirl hat! Did they actually wear these on a daily basis?

The answer was yes, as your aunt slipped on her own and led you to the stables.

Your families ranch had a multitude of building, but the stables had to be the most ornate. They were painted like a classic barn, with a tall roof and heavy oak doors. It was furthest from the house, butting up to old wooden fence post, connecting your property to your neighbors.

“Now I know your excited to meet Rosie, so I figure I’ll start you off by familiarizing you two. Why don’t you take that brush over there,” she pointed to a shelf within the stable, “and giver ‘er a good brushing.”

You nodded, making your way over to Rosie’s part of the stable as your aunt headed off to the chicken coop.

Her sliver coat was impeccable, it was short, but yet wonderfully patterned and you began to wonder how any animal could form something so beautiful.

Taking the brush, you slowly approached her. The Turkoman was gentle as could be, easing down so you could have access to her neck.

She took to you well. You moved slow and calmly. All the while cooing the creature. You had become so invested in caring for her that you failed to realized the bells approaching the nearby fence.

“MMMMMOOOOOOO”

The noise startled you, and made you squeak, earning a neigh from Rosie.

When you moved out from the stable, you saw a caw had made it’s way into your property, you assumed through a break in the fence a few feet down.

“Just who are you now?” You smiled, the cow looked back at your with big, brown doe eyes.

“Hey new-girl!”

A young man was pacing toward you at the fence. Stopping to catch his breath at the post.

“Sorry for bothering you miss, my mama’s cows don’t really listen to our herd dogs.

You looked up at the man. He was young. About your age, with long curly locks that seemed to cover his eyes almost entirely.

He was big too, well-built from years of labor. A pair of leather gloves covered the hands that leaned against your fence.

You stared at the man for a moment, there was a certain charm to him you couldn’t place, almost as if he talked too loosely for a stranger.

“Oh no, it’s alright, I was just taken care of the horses,” you pointed to Rosie.

He leaned forward on the fenced and lifted one of his hands flat in the air.

“Well, it’s still my cow, new-girl. I didn’t want her to cause no trouble,” he chuckled.

“So I guess we’re neighbors, huh?”

“That depends, You livin’ here?”

“For the summer.”

He stood up again, smiling slightly before dipping into thought.

“Not gonna lie new-girl, I feel like I’ve seen you before…” he questioned.

“Well, I used to come around here as a kid. I’m staying with my aunt and uncle.”

“(Y/n)?”

He knew who you were?

“Yeah that’s me.”

The neighbor’s smile then grew warm.

“It’s me, Carlos. Miss Oliveira’s kid. One of ‘em,” he was practically beaming with excitement now, recognizing you almost instantly.

You remembered Carlos now, one of they brothers you sometimes played with as a kid.

“You’re one of the boys then, huh?”

“All that’s left. Rico is still here, we help mama around the ranch. Some of my older brothers got their own place now or went off to work.”

You looked past him into his property. It spanned forth miles. Embracing the large stone and board ranch house. It was much wider than your own, with thick smoke puffing out from the chimney.

Carlos noticed your action and moved out of your line of sight.

“Haven’t changed much. Mama keeps that fire going every mornin’ and night since I was little. You prolly remember that.”

You changed your sight to look back at him.

“I remember you and your brothers would race each other down the hill over there.” You pointed to a long dip into his property, spanning the length of it’s southwest side.

Carlos scoffed a bit, shaking his head like he was remembering his childhood years.

“So where have you been all these years, (y/n)?”

“I’ve been away for collage, back home in New York.”

“Yeah, I remember you being a city girl. Didn’t you once end up hitching a ride on mama’s cows?”

Your face turned beat red from embarrassment and you angled your head to the grass.

“Oh, uh—yeah. That was me. Heh,” your voice was shaky and quiet. Obviously reminded of how embarrassed you were to be cleaned up by your neighbor’s mom.

Carlos could sense he asked something wrong and quickly corrected himself.

“N-no! I mean it was cute…er like, you know, like kids do.” Now he was embarrassed.

You cleared your throat and realized that you were both dodging each others gaze.

“Well I should—”

—get going”

You both spoke at once, apologizing profusely.

He nodded, spoke a quick goodbye and turned on his heel to leave. Meaning you were back to taking care of Rosie. Cooing her once more.

By the time you had finished conversing. Your aunt had come to collect you for more tasks throughout the day. None quite as interesting as your chat with Carlos.

You quickly followed your aunt and uncle across the property, serving for your orientation.

Shoveling shit was the worst. The pitchforks you had to use were old and splintered, but, your aunt had promised you would get to herd afterwords. She said it was just like all those old cowboy movies too.

After piling the goat crap into a bucket and removing it, your uncle met you at the heavy wooden doors.

“Well,” he hummed, “since I reckon you take to Rosie so well, how about you take ‘er out herding. Your aunt will show y’a how.”

You were practically beaming with excitement as uncle Mark led you back to the stables. He began to explain how to saddle her. Taking one of your aunts saddles from off the wall and securing it. He also changed Rosie’s stirrups into a custom set-up that you wouldn’t struggle with.

“Now, you were too little last time you were here, so your aunt will teach you some basics on how to ride. For now…hop on.” He pat Rosie behind the saddle and handed her off to you.

After hooking your leg around the saddle, Rosie began to strut off to the open land, heavy with different kinds of goats all running about.

Clara met you halfway from the house, on an older morgan she called Missy. She thought you how to control Rosie through example, all the while strutting forward into the open field of goats.

“Don’t give her too much pressure on the bit now. Just keep ‘er head up a little…like that, you’re a fast learner, girl!” Your aunt cheered.

You and Rosie were agreeable, it helped that the horse already knew what to do. She wrapped around one side of the field and your aunt took the other.

“Now,” She shouted, “the goal is to get them heading to the barn. Take the side opposite to me, circle ‘em, ‘n turn the herd around.”

The pair of you were off, making quick work of shifting the herd. Rosie already knew what to do, making your work rather simple. Aunt Clara led while you followed. Moving the goats orderly. Returning them to the barn.

Rosie kept to the rear the whole time, up till the barn doors has closed.

“That was fun!” You laughed, cheering for yourself.

Aunt Clara praised you, having learned so quickly. She helped you off the horse right after, and guided you both back to the stables.

“Saw you talking to the neighbors boy,” she prodded, “he’s a cute one, and a hard worker too. Takes care of most of that property for his family.”

You didn’t know why, but you found yourself blushing as you recollected your time spent with Carlos. You found yourself commenting on how nice it was to speak to him.

“I’ll tell you what,” your aunt paused for a moment, “I have some extra goat’s milk…I’ll have you send it down. Give you a chance to catch up with ‘em.”

You found yourself blushing once again and agreed. Had you really enjoyed talking to him that much?

Most of the mornings tasks were over now, leaving you and your aunt to return to the farmhouse while she began packing up goat’s milk in some ribbon.

“Why don’t you go get changed, hon. Can’t have you lookin a mess.” She winked.

A wave of nerves washed over you as you returned to your room to clean yourself up, suddenly worried about meeting his mom and him again. Would She remember you? Your head was spinning with thoughts about what you would say or how you would act when-

“Well hurry up now! Milk ain’t getting any colder!”

#carlos oliveria x reader #carlos x reader #carlos oliveira re3 #carlos re3 #re3 carlos #resident evil #re3 #resident evil 3 remake #carlos oliveira #carlos resident evil #Carlos fanfic #resident evil fanfiction #my works ૮₍˶ •. •⑅₎ა♡

[slimthicksonnett]

2 and 72 with Alexia, if you are still taking requests. Thank you!

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” + “You’re so fucking cute” / Alexia Putellas (1343 words)

Obviously, an ACL injury is painful.

What people tend to not realize is that it is also incredibly annoying. 

“Bebé, I can call a car!” Alexia fussed, limping to her feet as you stood by the doorway with your arms crossed and keys in hand.

“Not a chance, La Reina. If you insist on going to training, I’m driving you.” If the sass in your voice wasn’t evidence enough that you didn’t plan on budging, the nickname certainly was. 

“I can do it myself! I don’t want to be a distraction from your work.” The footballer whined, earning a laugh from you as you watched her try and cross the room. 

She was moving well, already rehabbing the injury at a pace that was beyond impressive. However, she still much resembled a puppy who hadn’t quite grown into its legs with the way she struggled to adjust to the new sensations.

“What work? It’s the weekend!” You smiled at her sweetly, an eyebrow arched in amusement at her attempts of independence. 

“I don’t know, like… grading?” She grumbled, finally reaching where you stood. 

“Lindura…I am an art teacher. Grades are a formality.” Leaning down, you placed a kiss on her forehead as you held back a giggle at her supposed frustrations.

“Fine.” Alexia huffed as you cheered in excitement at the win. 

“Perfect, let’s get you to the field!” 

—

“Are you coming in?” Alexia whispered, poking you gently over the armrest of the car.

You couldn’t help but laugh. Of course the woman who was initially worried about being a burden and taking up your time to drive her to the stadium was now asking you to stay with her.

“I can if you’d like?” You answered, tilting your head to the side as you glanced over at her. 

“Yes please.” Her voice was still soft but enthusiastic as you reached over and squeezed her hand gently before parking the car.

“Alright then, off we go!” Contrary to the usual order of things, you were the one who popped out of the car and opened her door. 

“That’s my job.” She huffed again and you couldn’t help but laugh.

“Not right now it’s not!” You held out a hand reassuringly, helping her to exit. Once she stood up though, her hand immediately dropped from yours.

“Cameras.” Your girlfriend whispered, not missing the hurt look on your face. 

It wasn’t a conversation you had often, but it was one you were in disagreement on for sure. Alexia said she didn’t want everyone to know about your relationship in fear of the way it would affect you. You had told her everytime that you didn’t care.

As you approached the stadium security, Alexia was prepared to argue her way into getting you access into training. 

“She’s w-” But you didn’t let her finish.

“Bon dia, Iker!” You greeted the security guard by the door, who grinned widely when he saw you.

“Y/N! Bon dia! Com estàs?” Giving you a big hug, the older gentleman looked you over as he asked how you were doing, not used to seeing you in non-paint splattered clothing.

“Ahhh bé, gràcies, i tu? How is Maria?” Your response was so informal that Alexia wasn’t sure if it was your words or the hug that caught her more off guard in that moment. 

“We’re good, we’re good! Maria is very excited to have you again this year.” Iker answered, and you smiled at the compliment.

“I’m so excited to have her! She shows great promise. I will see you all soon, yes?” You let your hand fall to Alexia’s lower back, urging her forward gently.

“Of course! You two have a good training!” Iker waved in parting as he stepped aside to let you enter, Alexia still somewhat dumbfounded by the interaction.

“Why do you…” She trailed off, not even sure what to ask.

“My school is just across the street, Ale.” You supplied in lieu of an actual answer, continuing to make your way towards the pitch. 

—

Training went as usual, though your heart ached a bit to watch Alexia captaining the sidelines instead of chasing down a ball. 

You sat contentedly in your normal seat, high enough to see the whole pitch but close enough to still see the detail of your friends at work. Sketchbook sprawled open in your lap, you let the charcoal fly over the page without thought as you watched the girls.

When the team was done for the day, you shouldn’t have been surprised with the plethora of them that clambered up the stands to greet you.

“Y/NN!” A familiar voice called out, earning a squeal of laughter from you when the younger woman threw her arms around you. 

“Mariona!” You laughed, the joyous sound practically filling the stadium. 

“Careful!” A distinctively English voice joined in, as quick hands darted out to grab your art supplies before they could go crashing to the floor. 

“Gràcies.” Your voice was shaky as you spoke, interrupted by bouts of laughter as Mariona continued to rock you side to side with her hug.

“Woah, you did these? They’re incredible.” Lucy whistled, staring down at the sketches on the notebook she held. You felt your face flush at the compliment, thankful for the recognition of something so small.

“Sí, I believe there’s one of you in there if you’d like it?” You responded softly, reaching for the sketchbook and flipping through the pages.

“Of me?” Lucy asked, blinking somewhat dumbfounded. 

Humming sweetly in response, you found the page and tore it out carefully before handing it to her. The Englishwoman stared down at it in awe. It was a simple thing, a quick sketch of her and Keira exiting the tunnel together. But from the look on Lucy’s face, you’d have thought you’d just painted her the Mona Lisa.

“This is beautiful, Y/N. Thank you.” The defender whispered, leaning down to where you sat to place a kiss on your cheek. You smiled at the gesture, cheeks blazing hot, unaware of the now looming presence of your girlfriend. 

The girls filtered away to go change as Alexia settled down beside you.

“Glad to see you’re making more friends.” Alexia said, though you could hear a certain tightness in her tone.

“Yes, that Bronze is a big sweetie.” Smiling, you stared down at where the brunette defender was walking away.

“I bet she is.” Your girlfriend grumbled, gaining your full attention.

“Why the tone?” You questioned, peering at her in interest.

“I don’t have a tone.” Alexia snipped, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked away from your prying eyes and out over the pitch.

“Yes you do! What’s your deal?” Poking her with your charcoal covered finger, the older woman pulled away from you.

“I don’t have a deal! You just seemed very touchy with that Britt.” Her pout was deepened by the admission and your eyes went wide in both understanding and amusement.

“Wait a minute. Are you jealous?” The question normally would’ve seemed absurd. La Reina did not get jealous of most people. But it seemed your closeness with the Englishwoman in particular had crossed an unspoken line.

“No.” Alexia tried to protest, but there wasn’t much to it as she looked at you almost pathetically.

“Oh my god, you are! Ale, bebé, I gave her a drawing of her and Keira! You know, her GIRLFRIEND?” You emphasized, watching the way Alexia turned bright red.

“Yeah, whatever…” She looked off to the distance, a mixture of guilt and embarrassment written across her face.

“You’re so fucking cute.” Laughing, you leaned over and placed a kiss on her cheek. Unlike Lucy’s who had been far up on your cheekbone, you let this kiss settle just on the corner of your girlfriend's lips which was a decidedly more intimate gesture. 

“Shut up…” Alexia muttered, but you could see the smile ticking up on the lips you’d just kissed.

“Never,” You whispered, “Never in a million years.”

#alexia putellas imagine #woso imagine #espwnt imagine #espwnt x reader #slimthickficlets

[royalsweetteaa]

Can you please do a CE characters reactions to reader announcing she’s pregnant?

YES 😩 - I’ll also add how they act after the news are announced because I feel like that will differentiate them better.

18+ ONLY | MINORS DNI

WARNING - the following contains: pregnancy, mention of sex and breeding kink.

Steve Rogers

When you first bring forward the news, he’s over the moon with eagerness.

“Sweetheart, are you serious? Oh my god, this is amazing! I’m going to be a father!”

He has been waiting for this very moment for so long, and you’ll have to deal with his constant strokes around your belly for the next 9 months. Even when you aren’t showing, he can’t seem to stop touching your stomach, because to him it’s a reminder of the bundle of joy it’ll grow to be soon. He is just in full amazement of how you’re glowing when your baby bump starts so show, and he’ll remind you as such.

“Have I told you how amazing you are? Keeping my child, safe and healthy in your womb…you’ll make an amazing mother. I love you so much.”

He will spend all his time with you at the end of your second trimester, taking you out for slow and nice walks in a quiet park while planning on what names you should consider naming your child, and talking about your plans on moving to a nice and secured family house where you can raise your child in peace.

Ransom Drysdale

I think Ransom would be a bit shocked, especially if it wasn’t planned.

“Wait, what? Are you sure? Well damn…- wait no, - I mean that’s great news darling, m’just processing it….”

He’s aware of the heavy responsibility that comes with raising a child and he is unsure of himself if he’s capable of being a good father. You’ll have that talk where you soothe and assure him that everything will be okay, and that he will be a wonderful father if he’s willing to put in the effort.

“Well, if you’re up to raising a brat into the Drysdale family, count me in. M’sure we will manage. Besides, I’m willing to bet you’ll look fucking sexy with your tummy all round with my child.” He will add with seductiveness.

Ransom will take care of your needs, both physical and sexual needs at his best. He will hire maids to take over the chores you used to do, and as for your other needs - it’s left in Ransom’s good hands. Your pregnancy period will also be Ransom’s journey of discovering he has a pregnancy/breeding kink.

Johnny Storm

Johnny would be taken by surprise, and wouldn’t know how to feel right after being given the news.

“You’re pregnant? For real? That’s…wow, I don’t know what to say. Not that it’s bad news or anything, I just didn’t expect it to happen so soon…”

Behind his somewhat excited facade, he’s actually really scared of parenthood. In the beginning, he will resolve into being distant only days after knowing, and go on his own adventures for a temporary escape. Ben, Reed and his sister, Susan will call him out on it as it goes noticed and they will tell him he needs to man up. He’ll realize he’s in the wrong for not being there for you as much as he should be and he will be of full support after the end of your first trimester, dedicating himself for the full life commitment.

“I’ll be here more from now on, I promise, babe. I’m sorry I was distant, - I was being a coward. I love you and can’t wait to meet the little guy.” He’ll say softly, while stroking your baby bump. As you spend more time together, the more excited he is to be a dad - especially since there’s a possibility for his child being born with powers similar to his own.

Ari Levinson

Ari is thrilled when he receives the news, mostly for your behalf because he knows you have wanted to be a mom for some time. He hasn’t had the space in his thoughts to think about kids due to how busy he is being a part of these secret operations of the operation brothers, but he’s happy to know he has something to look forward to.

“No way! You’re pregnant? Now that is some exciting news, sugar!“

While he has huge passion for his line of work, he’s more than willing to take a small break and take care of you during your first pregnancy. He’s also eager to be a father again, with your child nonetheless. Still, he’ll have to be away sometimes but he’ll come back sooner than before.

“I’ll be gone every now and then, but I can’t wait to see you each time, glowing more with our child. You’ll look absolutely stunning, muffin. Call me and update me always, okay? That way I have rest assured over yours and the little one’s well-being.”

Jake Jensen

Jake would be reacting with most physical excitement. When you tell him, you’ll witness his eyes pop out, almost coming through his glasses and his mouth agape. He can’t even remain seated as he rises up from his seat in anticipation.

“What?! We’re having a baby?? Holy shit! - sorry, I’m just - I’m so freaking happy right now! We’re gonna have a baby! We need to celebrate, babe!”

You’ll throw a baby shower and invite his friends, the losers, and later throw a gender reveal party and everything. Jake’s all about going full out on pregnancy celebrations because he thinks they’re fun to arrange while you wait these 9 months due. He’ll buy lots of toys meant for 5+ years kids because he’s so over enthusiastic about it.

“Man, I can’t even contain myself - I know the baby hasn’t even come out yet but we need to buy these action toys. I mean look how cool they are - We should buy them and they’ll be able to play with them after passing year two or something.”

Andy Barber

You were more than nervous to tell Andy as you didn’t know how he would react when he already has a child from his previous marriage. As you tell him the news, he doesn’t react overly excited but far from disappointed either - rather his face will soften with adoration.

“Aww, honey…this is wonderful. We’re finally going to be parents of our very own baby.”

The two of you are already off shopping for baby clothes and supplies because Andy likes being prepared. You haven’t even ended the second trimester and Andy’s already doing arrangements of turning the guest room into your baby’s room. He doesn’t let you lay down a finger as he wants you to keep all your energy till when you give birth.

“Sweetie, put the pan down. I’ll handle dinner. Just relax on the couch, keep our baby comfortable and I’ll soon come over to you with your favorite dish. I’ll make it’s just the way you like it.” He’ll assure you.

Note from author: fuck, to be pregnant with any of these men’s child. Sounds like a dream. - anyway thank you for the suggestion anon! ♥️

Hearts & Reblogs are appreciated! <3

#cevans characters #chris evans character fanfiction #ari levinson #ransom drysdale #steve rogers #johnny storm #jake jensen #andy barber #chris evans #chris evans x reader #jake jensen x reader #andy barber x reader #johnny storm x reader #ari levinson x reader #steve rogers x reader