Ok, but so many feelings about Charlie giving Nick the queer experience he himself never got to have?! 

Charlie outed with no choice about the matter? Unflinchingly keeps Nick’s sexuality a secret, even when it makes things more painful for Charlie himself.

Had an abusive and toxic first relationship? Is the sweetest, most supportive, loving, healthy boyfriend to Nick.

Was horrifically bullied for being gay? Introduces Nick to a diverse, accepting, LGBTQI+ friend group, so he isn’t trapped in his homophobic social circle.

Just…. Charlie freaking Spring.

When Nick called him the kindest, most thoughtful, caring, amazing person? He’s not wrong. 

Strange Comforts

Santiago ‘Pope’ Garcia x OC

Summary: A sequel to ‘Protective Instincts’ and a prequel to ‘Best Laid Plans’ (I wish I could link them here but I’m still figuring that stuff out). With T-minus 10 weeks to go before the baby arrives, Pope discovers that it’s the little things in life that bring the most comfort. *This one’s not based off clarke’s wonderful headcanons, but it’s set in the same universe so that’s where the credit goes!*

Warnings: Pregnancy fic, swearing, references to smut, references PTSD, references to therapy

A/N: Hi everyone! This is part three of who-knows-how-many of my Dad!Pope series. I’m still looking for a series title, and I’m trying to figure out how to create a masterlist for this so I can put them in order for y’all. I hope you enjoy! I loved reading your comments for the last two! Please let me know if you want to be tagged in future installments!

***

“…and, unless someone else wants to share, I think we’ll wrap up for today,” the kind-eyed therapist addressed the group of veterans, shooting a small glance towards Pope out of the corner of his eye.

True to his word, Santiago had been attending group therapy sessions for the last six months, his first session taking place exactly a week after Bex had told him the good news. Will had highly recommended this therapist, having gone to see him himself when his fiancée had left him, and hoped he could shed some light on Pope’s issues so that he wouldn’t walk out on his pregnant girlfriend next time things got hard.

And Pope had been attending the sessions. Listening to what other veterans said, the issues they were going through, it helped. Sure, both Frankie and Will had been fairly vocal about the problems they ran into while trying to adjust to civilian life, and Pope knew that Tom had had massive difficulties when they forced him to retire, and Benny’s issues were plain to see even if he didn’t talk about them, but those were his friends, his brothers, his family. They had all seen the same shit, so, clearly, they would have similar issues. But hearing random strangers, Marines, and Rangers, Navy and Military and Air Force men and women speak about seeing IEDs everywhere, and drinking to forget, and panicking at the sight of blood was…strangely comforting. The only problem was that Pope could never bring himself to speak.

He wanted to. God knew he wanted to. He needed to be okay. For Bex and the baby, for Frankie and Charlie and Mateo, for Benny and Will, for Molly and the girls, and, most importantly, for himself. So he could stop feeling like a major fuck up in every aspect of his life, so he could feel deserving of the life he had inexplicably been blessed with. But whenever he would try to open his mouth, he froze. How could he possibly talk about the shit he had done in the name of freedom? Was there a way to talk about his instincts shutting his emotions down without coming across as a cold-hearted bastard? Why did his tongue stop working whenever he tried to talk about how deathly afraid he was of screwing up this baby’s life, Bex’s life, their life together as a family? How deathly afraid he was that he had already screwed up Frankie’s, Will’s, and Benny’s lives? How he had nightmares of when Tom had died?

Santiago used to think he was a brave man, but now he felt like a coward. He could face down armed sicarios and terrorists without batting an eye, but he couldn’t talk about his emotions to save his family. It was complete and utter bullshit in his mind.

“Alright everyone, I’ll see you next week,” the therapist dismissed the group and Pope shot to his feet, beelining towards the coffee station.

Everyone else stood around talking, chatting about their daily lives or the weather or whatever, but Pope focused on mixing his coffee. He used to take it black, but then Bex started teasing him that only psychopaths took their coffee black, so he started mixing milk and sugar in instead. He liked it, but he needed it to be perfect.

“You actually drink this swill?” the therapist came up behind him and chuckled.

Pope cracked a smile. “I’ve had worse.”

“Haven’t we all,” he murmured. “Question Mark.”

Santiago shook his hand. “Pope.”

“You’re Ironhead’s friend, right?” Pope nodded. “Damn…he’s told me some of the crap you guys have been through. Sounds like holy hell.”

“Something like that, yeah.”

“Shit, man. No wonder you don’t talk during these meetings.”

Pope felt himself flush. “I mean…you know…”

“Hey, it’s fine. This is a no pressure situation. You just had me curious is all. Either you get people who don’t stop talking, or people who never talk in these sessions. But you…you always look like you want to talk but think better of it.”

Pope shrugged. “It’s like you said. Holy hell. Got used to not talking about the bad stuff.”

“So, what changed?”

Pope smiled softly, his eyes taking on a far-off look. “My girl’s pregnant.”

“Congratulations, man,” Question Mark slapped him on the shoulder.

“Thanks…” Pope shook his head slowly, sadly. “I almost screwed it up. Hell, I’m half convinced that I did, and this is all a dream. But when she told me…”

Question Mark was already nodding. “All of your training went haywire? Started imagining the worst?”

Pope cocked his eyebrow grimly. “Basically.”

The therapist nodded understandingly. “I get that. Same thing happened to me when my wife got pregnant with our third. Despite the other two being great kids, something about my last tour made me think that I’d screw the pooch with the new one. Checked myself into a hotel for a few days and drank myself silly until my brother-in-law showed up and told me that my kids were asking about me. That sobered me up pretty quick.”

Pope grinned grimly. “It was my buddy Catfish for me. Called me and reamed me out, and if Ironhead has told you anything about Fish, you know that he’s not the type at all. But it shook me enough to get my ass back to my house and beg for her forgiveness.”

“But you still sometimes think it’s all a dream?”

“I always thought guys like me don’t get the happy ending.” Pope sipped his coffee and shrugged. “But I’ll take it and run with it. She’s the best thing in my life. I’m not gonna let her down again.”

Question Mark smiled and dug into his pocket, pulling out first his wallet, then his card from his wallet. “Listen, Pope. I know how it can feel trying to talk to a room full of strangers. It sucks sometimes. If you ever want to chat, just one on one, give me a call. I’d be happy to help.”

Pope sucked in a deep breath and took the card. “Yeah, man. That would be great. Thank you.”

“No worries, man. Just, do me a favour?” Pope nodded. “Remember that you deserve this, okay?”

With a final clap on the shoulder, Question Mark moved away and began chatting with another member of the group.

Pope guzzled down the rest of his coffee and threw out the cup, heading home after a successful session.

***

Bex giggled to herself at the soft sounds of cursing and arguing emanating from the spare bedroom as she stirred the pitcher of lemonade.

Frankie, Benny and Will had come over to help Pope put together the furniture for the nursery and, based on the echoes she was hearing, it was not going particularly well. She had abandoned her rocking chair in favour of making the team refreshments after Benny had let loose a string of impressive swear words in two different languages. At approximately 30 weeks pregnant, laughing as hard as she did while listening to Ben swear himself blue in the face just made her have to pee, so she dismissed herself knowing that if she didn’t she would have to endure a lifetime of teasing.

“Just a sec!” she called out as the doorbell rang.

Slow and steady footsteps descended the stairs as a call of “I got it, babe!” echoed down the hall. Rebecca came around the corner with her tray of lemonade and potato chips as Pope handed over a few crisp twenty-dollar bills to the pizza delivery guy.

“Thanks man, you have a good day,” he smiled as he closed the door.

“Mmm, what’d you get?” she inhaled deeply. She’d gotten pretty lucky with the cravings so far, but she would not deny that pizza sounded pretty damn good.

“Got us a meat lovers, got you a pepperoni and pineapple since I know you’ve been on a sweet and salty kick lately.” Pope opened the smaller box to reveal the steaming, cheesy pizza and Bex felt her mouth begin to water.

“Have I told you today how much I love you?” she asked, placing her tray of snacks on top of the pizza boxes Pope was holding out to her.

He smirked at her, his eyes drifting up and down her body slowly. “You told me several times this morning, but I’ll never stop you from saying it again.”

Rebecca felt herself flush at the memory. Those second trimester hormones had hit her hard and seemed to be lasting a good long while, and Pope was certainly not complaining. His girl was stunning. She was always stunning to him, but that primal part of his brain told him that she was even more stunning when she had a belly full of his baby. Her bump was prominent, her tits were bigger and more sensitive, her skin was glowing, and that alpha male voice inside his brain crowed every time he woke up to her beautiful face and growing belly that it was all because of him. He had knocked her up and, thank God, she had decided that she loved him enough to want to raise a family with him. She was achy and uncomfortable, but she loved him and wanted his kid, and that meant more to him than he could ever say. Luckily, with the influx of hormones the past few months, he had been able to show her instead.

He watched as she slowly climbed the stairs, taking care to stay a few steps behind her just in case.

“How’s it going up here anyway?”

Pope groaned. “I don’t get it, baby. I can field strip any gun you put in my hands blindfolded. All of us can. How the fuck is this stuff beating us?”

Bex giggled softly as she entered the nursery and absorbed the scene in front of her. What she wouldn’t give for her phone right now so she could take a picture. Benny sat in the middle of the floor, looking like he was about to cry; crib pieces scattered around him. Will was leaning against the wall with a tired hand over his eyes, a half-assembled dresser beside him. Frankie was sitting in her abandoned rocking chair, cap pulled low over his eyes. He looked like he could be asleep, if only his leg wasn’t bouncing up and down anxiously.

“Soups on, fellas,” Pope announced, prompting the team to abandon their projects for paper plates piled high with pizza slices and tall glasses of lemonade.

Bex smiled fondly at her family as Pope, Benny and Will sat against the far wall underneath the bay window, the three men examining the assembly directions for the crib like they were preparing for a siege.

Frankie held out his hand to offer her the rocking chair but she shook her head. “If I sit in that thing any longer, I feel like I’m gonna turn into a grandmother instead of a mom.”

Frankie cracked a small smile. “Fair enough…” he scanned the room quickly before meeting her eyes again. “Do you want me to go grab a chair from the kitchen?”

Again, she shook her head. “The floor is good, Frankie.”

“You sure? I can—”

“As long as you promise to help me up when I inevitably need to pee, I’m positive,” she chuckled.

“You got it, kid,” Frankie held her hands to help her gently lower herself onto the hardwood floor before throwing himself down beside her. “How ya feeling?”

Bex shrugged as she bit into her deliciously sweet and salty slice of pizza. “You know, I’m actually alright. I know I’ve gotten pretty lucky, but I thought this whole pregnancy thing would be a lot tougher.”

Frankie nodded kindly as he chewed on his own slice. “I remember how Charlie was when she was pregnant with Mateo,” he reminisced. “Couldn’t sleep more than ten minutes at a time, constantly had to pee, had to wear these ugly compression socks. She handled it like a champ for the first 30 or so weeks, but by the time he was finally ready to make his entrance, we were both ready for her not to be pregnant anymore.”

“Yeah, she mentioned that,” she murmured. When Frankie had raced over to calm her down after Pope had left, one of the first things he said was that he and Charlie would be there for them, no matter what. And they had been. Charlie in particular had been Bex’s lifeline. She had been so kind and understanding, helping Bex get set up with an OB/GYN, lending her pregnancy and parenting books, and just letting her bitch and cry whenever she needed a female shoulder to cry on. “She said she got to a point where she would’ve given anything to just get Mateo out.”

Frankie nodded. “Oh yeah,” he sighed. “The week before he was born, she was not sleeping. Her emotions were all over the place, she wasn’t hungry, she couldn’t sit still, and she would get angry at me for the littlest things. It got to the point where I didn’t recognize her anymore, you know? Like, where did the woman I love go?”

Bex reached over and rubbed his shoulder comfortingly. “That must’ve been tough.”

Frankie shrugged. “Like I said, she handled it like a champ. And I sure as shit wasn’t about to complain when she was in labor for the better part of three days.”

Bex whistled lowly. “Three days…Jesus…”

“I’m sure it won’t be that way for you,” he backtracked quickly, playing with the back of his cap as he ducked his head. “I dunno the statistics or anything but…”

“Hey, hey, Frankie, chill. It’s okay.” She pulled his hand away from his hat and ran her hand up and down his arm. “You feeling okay, Frankie? You seem…on edge.”

Frankie looked across the room at his brothers, deeply entrenched in the assembly directions, before sighing. “She’s pregnant again,” he whispered.

A bright smile crossed her face. “What? Oh my god, congratulations!” She reached out and wrapped her arms as best she could around his shoulders.

“Thanks…” he sighed.

“Do you…did you not want another baby?” she asked, confused at his dismal attitude. Frankie had been the one to talk Pope off the cliff, telling him how great fatherhood could be. And it was clear through his interactions with Mateo that he was an amazing father. He was one of those dads who flourished under the responsibilities of parenthood, who saw taking care of their child as a joy and a privilege, not as a job or as babysitting. If there was one thing Rebecca knew for sure, it was that Francisco Morales was a family man through and through, so she was a little surprised at the dread in her friend’s eyes. She had expected Frankie to be more…enthusiastic about having a second baby.

“Of course, I do, Bex, I just…” Frankie groaned, doffing his cap for a moment to run a stressed hand through his hair before redonning it. “I’m making jack shit right now at work, and Mateo is almost three, and the pregnancy was so rough on Charlie last time…I just…I can’t let my family down.”

Charlie shuffled herself closer and wrapped her arm around Frankie, leaning her cheek on his shoulder. “You won’t…” she murmured softly. “Yeah, this kid was unexpected but you and I both know your wife. She wouldn’t be having a second kid if she didn’t want one. Plus, you both know what to expect now. Hopefully she’ll have an easier time this go around, but you also know the signs and what kinds of questions to ask. And yeah, Mateo is young, but that’s okay. You guys can start teaching him responsibility early and, if they both end up being too much, call Benny to take Mateo.” Frankie cocked his eyebrow and Bex laughed. “Well, I was gonna say call Santi, but we’re gonna be a little busy ourselves. Benny’s energy can match a three-year-old easily though.” Frankie chuckled and wrapped his arm around his best friend’s girl. “As for money,” Bex shrugged. “I know Santi could use some help managing the security firm. He wanted you to partner with him anyway, and he’s still holding out hope that you’ll join him, so why not?”

Frankie nodded slowly. “I could help him out a couple of days a week and still teach flying lessons. Yeah, that could work. I’ll talk with him and see what he says.”

Bex chuckled as she shifted uncomfortably. “It’s not gonna be much of a conversation, Frankie, trust me. He’s been hoping you’ll take him up on his offer. Don’t tell him I told you, but he’s missed working with you.”

Frankie smiled softly as he watched Pope grab Benny in a headlock while Will shook his head slowly. “Yeah, I missed him too.”

Bex shifted again and Frankie stood, gently helping her stand, recognizing the signs immediately. The two watched the MMA fighter and the security firm director wrestle on the floor for a minute before Will was able to separate them.

Bex turned to Frankie and smiled. “If you really missed him, can you do me a favour?”

“Anything for you, kid,” he smiled back at her.

“Stop fucking around and help them build the damn furniture please. I know you put together all of Mateo’s furniture on your own, so please, put them out of their misery.”

Frankie’s loud bark of laughter startled everyone. He wrapped his arm around Bex and gave her a quick squeeze. “Sure thing, kid. Hey, idiotas! Let’s get moving. We want this stuff ready before the baby’s first birthday, okay?”

***

Pope sighed contentedly as the golden rays of the setting sun illuminated the dust particles dancing in the air. These moments were quickly turning into his favourite nightly ritual.

The radio droned lowly as he sat in bed, dressed in a pair of shorts, with Bex sitting reclined against his chest. He had just finished applying coco butter to her skin, and now his hands were resting gently on her belly, waiting for their kid to make their presence known.

Bex took a deep breath, allowing the air to escape through her lips as she cuddled further down into bed, resting her head just above her boyfriend’s heart. She loved these moments too, when it was just the two of them. No museum breathing down her neck, no art classes to teach, no security emergencies calling him away from her. Just the two of them, bonding with the baby that was nestled safely within her.

Sometimes, Santiago would talk to the baby when they sat like this. He’d tell stories about his childhood, about their relationship, about the kid’s future aunts and uncles. Sometimes, he would play classical music on his phone and direct the speaker towards her belly. Sometimes, he would talk to her, sharing his thoughts and fears, tell her about the things that he wanted to do with their kid when they were old enough. Most of the time, he would just hold her in silence and wait for the kid to kick or roll inside of her so he could feel it.

“The nursery looks really nice, babe,” she mumbled drowsily, wincing slightly as her skin bulged out against Pope’s palm, the outline of a tiny foot appearing for a brief second.

“That’s all you, sweetheart,” he replied, pressing a gentle kiss to her temple as he soothed his hands up and down her swollen stomach. “The Hundred Acre Woods theme is stunning.”

Originally, Rebecca had wanted a jungle theme for the nursery, but Pope had borderline begged her to do something else, literally anything else, that wouldn’t remind him of crouching in the Colombian jungles next to Tom the day before everything went to shit. So, he hadn’t complained when she announced that she was going to Disney-fy the kid’s room with a mural of the Hundred Acre Woods and all of Christopher Robin’s friends.

“I made it pretty, you made it functional,” she yawned, shifting slightly to lie on her side, her left arm wrapping around his side as she nuzzled into his chest.

Pope snorted. “Yeah, once you convinced Frankie to stop being a prick.”

Under Frankie’s direction, all of the furniture was put together in less than an hour. The solid oak crib, dresser/changing table, shelving unit and rocking chair pulled the room together nicely, and the white bassinet sat in the corner of their bedroom, waiting to be put to use.

Rebecca smiled sleepily. “Not my fault you three didn’t notice that the one dad in the group was sitting around twiddling his thumbs.”

Pope grinned down at her. “We make a pretty good team, huh baby?”

She lifted her droopy eyes to him for a moment and smiled brightly at him. “Forever and always, my love.” She ran a gentle hand over her belly and sighed happily. “You’re stuck with me now.”

It suddenly struck Santiago how badly he wanted that to be true. What wouldn’t he give to wake up next to this beautiful woman every day? To be allowed to love her and spend as much time in her presence as possible? To raise their child together and be a family? To grow old with her by his side?

He ghosted his hand down her side and gently picked up her left hand, running his thumb over the knuckle of her ring finger as she drifted off to sleep.

“Not yet I’m not, mi amor,” he whispered. “But I want to be. If you’ll have me.”

He gently shifted them down the mattress, curling up behind her and resting his hands lovingly on her belly as he settled in to sleep, taking comfort in the knowledge that everyone he loved was safe in his arms that night.

Tags list (open): @darksideofclarke, @writefightandflightclub, @eternallyvenus, @rae-rae-patcha

life as we know it - b.h. chapter 11

here it is chapter 11, sorry it wasn’t posted yesterday i was busy and hadn’t finished writing the chapter until almost maybe 2 am pst

i really hope y’all like this chapter because i have no clue what i wrote if i’m being honest and i didn’t know how to end it

masterlist

summary: when their two best friends die, it’s up to ben and y/n to take care of their goddaughter and face the challenges with it

# of words: 3,922

warnings: fluff, angst, language

taglist: @myfatbottomedgirls , @evemarie05 , @suckerfor-fanfics

 inbox me or message me if you want to be added to the taglist for the series

---

gif credit: @benhardyispretty

while waking up, y/n felt more refreshed than she has ever felt before. it was most likely for the fact that she felt more free now that she was single. although she did love ben, she still couldn’t confide in where her feelings stood for ben. half of her loved her, but the other half knew she couldn’t. she walked down the stairs to find the house empty besides her, charlie, and frankie. when she reached the kitchen, she saw a note that was taped on the coffee pot from him

went to filming, had to leave early, you can come if you’re not busy. extra breakfast is in the fridge as well as coffee in the pot :)

she smiled at his note and his messy handwriting. when she opened the fridge, she saw 

 for her, it was the little things that for her that mattered like remembering a favorite song of the persons or how they like their breakfast in the morning. today was odd though, y/n didn’t know what they were filming today and ben would’ve usually told her what scene they were filming and what it was about without giving too much away that they weren’t exactly supposed to talk about it to others that much.

---

while y/n was loading up her car, she got a text from ben asking where she was. 

“hey are you on your way?”

“yeah we’re just about to leave”

“alright, you’re really gonna like what we’re filming today ;)”

“what are you guys filming?”

“Ben?”

“hello???” 

“asshole”

she gave up on trying to get an answer from him seeing that he probably had to go film. She got into her car and started it and played some soft music for charlie so she wouldn’t be cranky when they got there.

 ben on the other hand was in his trailer chilling until he had to get called into costume and makeup. he was excited to film today but the only problem he had with this costume were his thighs. he tried to get roger’s physique but he played too much rugby growing up. y/n didn’t do sports much growing up, her parents wanted her to try ballet, she tried soccer for a year, swim for a year, then volleyball for another year, until she realized sports weren’t for her. during that time she also did piano for several years and that was pretty much it for her. she snapped out of her thoughts when out of nowhere she started to pull up to the lot at the studio. not understanding how she managed to get there without getting into an accident, she told the security guard her name and told him she was a guest of ben’s and went inside. 

putting charlie in her stroller, and grabbing her diaper bag, she began to walk around until she found someone she recognized or at least found ben’s trailer. she spent what felt like hours but was only minutes, she just decided to ask someone. walking toward someone who had black, maybe shoulder length hair and a pink shirt and black skirt, she tapped on their shoulder. as the person turned around after feeling their shoulder get tapped, y/n immediately lost it. it was rami, dressed as freddie for the i want to break free music video. she covered her mouth as rami turned around giving her the full view.

“oh my god, you look amazing.”

“thank you, darling” rami said in his freddie voice causing her to laugh

“wait does that mean ben?”

“yes it does mean that. i can take you to him right now if you’d like? he’s getting into his outfit and hair in makeup right now.”

“oh please take me. i think we need to see this.” she tells him as rami began showing her the way after putting his robe back on

“so how’s everything?”

“stressful. as much as i love filming and playing freddie, it’s a lot you know? what about you? how are you and ben doing?”

“we’re doing great. charlie’s doing great. her birthday is coming up soon, you and the guys can come if you’re not busy filming that day”

“we’d love too, she’s already a part of the family.” he said smiling at her

when they reached the hair and makeup trailer, rami went in first to tell ben something 

“hey ben, there’s something outside for you?” “what is it?” 

“i’m not sure, i think it’s some sort of package for you.”

“alright, i think you’re done. you can go, i’ll still be on set knowing that all of you will mess it up.” his makeup artist told them

“thanks, now what was it?” 

ben followed rami outside where y/n and charlie were waiting for him with her phone ready to document what she thought was a  legendary moment. as ben stepped out, it took him a moment to realize that it was her.

“Oh wow, this is great. you look like rogerina. holy shit.” she laughed after taking a few pictures

“i look beautiful, don't i?” ben said fluttering his eyes and dramatically flipping the hair from him wig

“oh yes you do.” she said giggling and covering her mouth

ben reached down and picked up charlie who started whining, not recognizing him that well with the full face of makeup. at this point everyone had started to stare at all of them wondering why a baby was on set and why it was crying. he tried to console her and calm her down and making sure that people stopped staring at them before letting out a deep sigh and doing what he knew would be the only thing that would calm her down: singing. he didn’t sing often and would only do it if he were pissed drunk or if he were putting charlie to sleep or calm her down. y/n loved ben’s singing even if he wasn’t the best. 

“you had your time, you had the power

you’ve yet to have, your finest hour, radio

all we hear is radio gaga, radio goo goo

all we hear is radio gaga, radio blah blah

radio what’s new? radio, someone still loves you” 

as ben finished, all eyes were on him and were clapping but all he could focus on charlie and how her head was now laying on his shoulder as she played with the tie on his schoolgirl costume. he kissed her head and handed her back to y/n when the guys were all called on set and she followed them to watch. she loved every second of them trying to act like the band from the music video. she started to laugh at them, especially when ben landed on joe and he started to hit ben’s butt. everyone was thinking the exact same thing and it was that the boys were having too much fun whenever they filmed scenes like this. y/n loved the way they were all so in character and wanted to make sure they live up to the expectations of the band without fully imitating them. 

ben continued to film till the nighttime and y/n had left home early with charlie seeing that they could sense the director was getting annoyed despite her being in ben’s trailer for most of the time so they could film without any distractions bothering all of them. When they got home, the first thing she needed to do was put charlie down and get them both some food. knowing that ben was going to come home late, she ordered take out for them and got out a jar of sweet potatoes and peas with small bits of meat for charlie. while trying to feed her, started to become fussy and began to spit out everything she was given to eat. 

“Come one girl, there isn’t anything you like tonight?” she asked already getting frustrated

“okay, let’s take a walk around the house, you really seem to like that”

after wiping her face from the spilled food, she took charlie out of her chair and put her down so she could walk around, frankie followed close behind them. while charlie walked around there was a knock on the door signaling that her food was here. paying and tipping she quickly put the food in the kitchen and her wallet back before walking around the house to find charlie. almost losing her by finding her halfway up the stairs, she followed her up the stairs and walking to the family room that was upstairs. y/n hasn’t really stepped in the room that much besides only to clean and dust it. ben has been in it a few times but only to look around. while charlie began to climb the couch to get on it, she found something that was in the tv stand; it was a laptop. specifically lennon’s laptop. she recognized the case cover with flowers all over. 

taking it out, she walked over to the couch and sat down with charlie on her left. she took a moment and stared at it for a few moments before taking it out and turning it on. there were lots of memories that were hard for her to look through before sucking it up and typing in the password. the screensaver started to make her tear up. it was a picture of her, lennon, christian, and ben from one of the days they hung out together. she saw all the files that were for her classes and some that were for memories. 

ben walked into the house and it was all quiet. Not even frankie was coming down to greet him and she always did. throwing his jacket on the couch he walked into the kitchen to find bags of takeout but unopened as well as a plate of food for charlie. still confused, he walked up the stairs to find y/n and charlie cuddled up watching what he thought was a movie on the couch. he walked over to them and set next to her and looked over to find them watching videos from the last couple of years.

“hey”

“hi”

“why you up here?’

“charlie wanted to walk around and she came here and i saw the laptop and here we are” she told him as she wiped away a tear that escaped from her eye

“you miss her a lot don’t you?’ he asked her already knowing the answer. she couldn’t talk so she nodded

“i miss chris too. i honestly miss the way he would dramatically sing the national anthem already pissed drunk. he never could hold his drinks and was always a lightweight dickhead”

this caused the both of them to giggle as a video of lennon was playing the day she gave birth. they remember the day vividly. one minute they were arguing on how they were going to paint the room while christian was trying to finish building the crib.

“remember how much we used to hate each other?”

“i felt like our constant fighting was driving them insane.” 

“lennon felt like she’s seen more fighting from us than she’s seen while teaching.” ben laughed as he picked up charlie and put her on his lap

the video continued to play before it cut to lennon and christian in the hospital as she was trying to control her breathing

“and here we have your mother, looking beautiful as always. we can’t wait to meet you babygirl.” “hopefully you’re not as stubborn as your father.”

“well that’s something she got wrong” ben said as he blew a raspberry onto charlie’s cheek causing her giggle

“that’s your mama and dada sweetie. you would’ve loved them so much. your mama was the craziest person we knew but still grounded and your dada could talk and argue his way out of everything for days. they kept each other grounded and sane.” y/n whispered

“da”

this caused ben and y/n to stop what they were watching and look at her and to each other

“did she just?”

“i think she did. can you say that again baby? dada?’

“da..da”

“oh my god she did it! she said her first word!”

“she really did! christian would be over the moon and bragging that her first words were about him” ben said picking her up and spinning her around

the rest of the night was spent eating their dinner and watching a movie before charlie was nearly passed out. ben took her to bed while y/n cleaned the area up. she knew she was hurting herself by watching more of the videos before she landed on a one that involved lennon, christian, and charlie. it was a few days after charlie was born and they were back home and in her room. lennon and christian had started to argue because she could still smell the paint on the walls and was concerned that charlie would breathe them in. christian had told her that the windows had been opened so it could get the smell out and that he wouldn’t have had charlie in the room if it still have paint fumes. Ben walked in to find her with the laptop again and watched with her.

“you know, we loved playing rugby all the time and i kept getting injured and became bored with it and christian told me about the local drama club and spent almost all the time practicing with me until i went off to drama school. even then he would still practice with me during our exam seasons. he never got a full chance to study because of me and knew that i would make it as an actor and he still managed to be one of the best lawyers in london while still in his 20’s. he didn’t care how cheesy the scene was and always came to support me at my shows whenever he could. i can’t leave him alone when he needs me. and he never left me alone when i needed him. even if he’s gone.”

“i started watching these because i just wanted to hear their voices, see them for a minute you know? when you were putting her down, i found this one” she said pressing play

“ta-da! pretty great, huh? We went with the lavender and the blue sky. When y/n and ben were at the hospital with you, i finished some few touches”

“when did you paint this room?”

“like i said, i finished it the second day at the hospital.i wanted to surprise you.”

“i can still smell the fumes chris” lennon said trying to cover charlie’s nose so she didn’t breathe it all in

“it’s been dry for days now l-” christian tried arguing

“it hasn’t been drying long enough”

“we’re really getting so critical right now. it’s not even wet paint.”

“she’s not sleeping in the bedroom tonight”

“i wouldn’t bring a baby, let alone ours, into wet paint room”

“of course it’s not wet but does it smell for days afterwards?”

“no, it doesn’t. it’s totally aired out. do you know how much work y/n, ben, and i put into this?”

“you didn't do any of this, when have you painted a flower or a cloud this detailed?”

“okay, i oversaw what y/n was doing-”

“she can’t sleep in here, move her crib”

“Of course she can, this is her room!” christian said following lennon out

she then paused the video and ben began to speak again

“so what you’re saying is, that it’s okay that we’re horrible parents and that we want to kill each other half the time but also tend to make out every now and then?”

“Two-thirds, actually. i feel like we should keep doing what you said before. that we stop trying and stop trying to fit ourselves into their lives.” she said

“i actually hate this place. it’s like a mausoleum. there’s pictures of them everywhere. and i really hate that painting up there.” ben told her as he pointed to the cowboy on the wall.

“yeah, he’s really creepy right?” she stated pulling a face of disgust

“if we’re going to live here, we have to stop tiptoeing around like they’re coming back soon.

“well then, let’s get to work.” ben said as he got up and offered his hand for her to take

the first thing they did when they got up was take down the cowboy painting and ben went and put it the garage, specifically where they can’t see it whenever they go down there. y/n looked for pictures of her and ben that they could hang up in replace of the ones of chris and lennon. ben was with her until he found one of them together at the wedding. that was one of the few times they complied and took pictures together. one of them in particular, ben was staring at her like she was the only girl in the world. they both hung up a picture of them at the hospital with charlie when she was first born.

“wait, a little to the left--no no no, a little back to the right--wait right there. perfect” 

ben went back to y/n and put his arm around her shoulder and she leaned in while he kissed her head. they stood there for a few minutes admiring it before deciding to head off to bed. they had a lot to do before a party on the weekend which meant planning and making sure that they knew what they were going to do and it was all scheduled and ready to go. 

---

it was the weekend. which meant a birthday party for a now 1 year old. y/n had make a small cake for charlie in the morning so she could have some fun with it before the actual party. everyone in the neighborhood and joe, gwilym, rami, allen, and lucy were coming according to ben. she felt close with the cast after being introduced to them. she hadn’t met allen until a few days before when they had made a visit to the set. 

“here comes the birthday girl” ben said while he walked into the kitchen as she finished icing the small cupcake for her

“who’s the pretty birthday girl right in front of my own eyes?” y/n asked putting the pipping bag down

ben grabbed a small candle from the cabinet and his lighter and put it on the cupcake and set it on the tray. he took out his phone and began videoing as him and y/n began to sing her happy birthday. he sent the video to her when they finished and posted it on instagram. once he posted it, comments began flooding in wishing her a happy birthday. 

“so what is on the agenda today?” ben asked drinking his coffee

“well, we need to definitely give her a shower because she has frosting all over her. then, we have a couple hours to set up before everyone comes over  at 2, tyler is bringing the cake over around the same time, the face painter is coming over around 1:30 to set everything up, jack and melissa’s flight landed last night and they are going to be here to help soon.” she told him

“wow we are going to properly pass out tonight. this is going to be a lot. is there at least going to be some booze?” 

“yeah, it’ll be somewhere where the other kids don’t mistake it for their drinks-” she began talking before getting cut off by the door opening and closing

“hello? is anyone awake?” a voice yelled

the two adults recognized the man’s voice as jack before melissa scolded him

“be quiet, they could still be sleeping” melissa told them taking off their coats

“no, we’re not asleep. we’re wide awake. Hi jack, hi melissa”

“hi sweetheart. how ya doing” melissa asked rubbing the sides of y/n’s arms

“i’m good, how are you guys? how was the flight?”

“it was good, the both of you really didn’t need to put us in a really fancy hotel, others would’ve been fine.”

“we don’t want to hear it, you both deserve the best after all you’ve done for us and charlie. how are you jack?” ben asked shaking his hand

“good, still retired, still down at the golf course. here’s the birthday girl. my is she getting big.” jack said as ben handed her to him

“she is. she actually started walking and said her first words this month.” she told them as they all moved to the living room and  brought out some coffee for them

the fours adults continued to talk as they recounted memories over time of lennon’s and y/n’s birthdays including the time where she ended up roller skating into the cake. in her defense, she didn’t know how to stop at the time. jack and ben went to set up the grill while melissa started to decorate so charlie could get cleaned up. the weather was fortunate enough for it to be nice and sunny that day instead of cloudiness and rain. 

“y/n sweetie, i need to ask you something.”

“what is it?”

“how are things between you and ben?”

she knew that this question was going to come up sooner than later before everyone came. y/n knew in her heart that it was always ben that she was supposed to be with but her brain was telling her otherwise

“things...are going great. We’ve managed to work some things out. he was with me when i broke up with sean.”

“listen to your heart. your brain will tell you otherwise but it’s truly what your heart wants. if he doesn’t see what a great person you are, it’s on him and i know he’ll regret it later.” 

“thanks mel. i wish i had what you and jack have.”

“please, married 30 years and he always forgets when our anniversary is” melissa mentioned as she chopped up the lettuce for the salad

“men, what would we do without them?” she remarked causing the both of them to laugh

--

the party went better than they thought it would go. the only problem was ben not liking the idea of getting matching face paints but only doing it for y/n and charlie. joe had managed to get a picture of them and posted it. they had convinced jack and melissa to go back to their hotel and told them they could deal with the cleaning. it was quiet in the house now and they felt like they could just pass out and never wake up. she found ben outside smoking and nursing a beer before she went and wrapped her arms around him. he got rid of the cigarette and turned around and kissed her forehead.

“i thought you were going to quit.”

“i am, as soon as filming is over.” he announced before continuing

“’s nice out. wish it would be like this all the time” 

“it is. today was good, i’m glad people enjoyed themselves even after she went to sleep” “yeah the guys seemed to enjoy themselves. same with you tiger.” y/n laughed seeing the paint smudging off of his face 

“hey take a look at yourself too. The things we do for her.”

“i know i make a pretty sexy tiger” 

this caused ben to turn red and start stuttering over his words. all she could was just laugh it off and walk off

“c’mon, let’s go to bed. you have filming tomorrow”

Masterpiece (one-shot)

Synopsys: As an actress, the Reader has to kiss a lot of people, but after one particular time, her boyfriend Ben gets a bit jealous. And the only thing she can do is remind him how much he means to her.

Pairing: Ben Hardy x f!Reader

Genre: tiny bit of angst, SMUT, lil bit of floof

Warnings: SMUT (unprotected sex (wrap it up you guys before doing the devil’s tango); fingering etc,), swearing... y’all, this is filth. Like it starts off all nice and cute but holy shit, I was legit sweating while writing :D

Word count: 3350

   “Steve, it’s okay,” Y/N said, looking up at Steve Harrington, or rather Joe Keery as Steve Harrington. “You didn’t do anything wrong. Completely opposite actually.”    The man rubbed his neck nervously, just like the script said and he looked down at the girl.    “I love you," Y/N whispered. "In fact, I’ve been in love with you for quite a while now.”    “Y-You have?”    She bashfully smiled, looking down at the ground. “Is that so hard to believe?”    “Yes, well, no, I…” Joe perfectly stumbled over his lines and sighed, bringing a finger to run along the prosthetic cut on her forehead. “It’s just that I’ve known you for so long, and I’ve loved you for such a long time, it almost seems unreal that you feel the same.”    And Y/N, right on cue, pushed back that mop of Farrah Fawcett spray filled hair and leaned up to kiss him, before saying the last line of the scene. "Just please don't wait to kiss me until we're both about to die."    “Cut!” the director yelled, and cheers erupted all around set. “And that is a wrap on Y/N Y/L/N, everybody!”    The claps and whoops only grew in noise, most of them coming from Joe, Charlie and Nat, which made Y/N only laugh harder. But then certain green eyes and blond hair caught her gaze.    “No,” she muttered, still sitting on the ground of where they’d fought off the imagined Demogorgon’s. “It- you- Ben?”    The man only shrugged, standing behind some crewmen and gave her a small smile. Y/N was up like lightning, and she practically flew over the set, launching her body into her boyfriend’s arms. She could still faintly smell cigarettes, no doubt he’d smoked at least two before coming and seeing her finish her final scene, but that was all overpowered, by the smell of home.    “You’re here,” Y/N’s voice was full of awe and love, and she was about to have a breakdown when Ben’s arms tightened around her waist as if trying to fuse their bodies together. 

   “Was missing my girl too much, so what else could I do?”    Y/N didn’t deign to reply, only closed her eyes and turned her head to the side, pressing their lips together. She was pretty sure there was some wolf-whistling going around and through a haze, she heard someone yell ‘there are children still on the set’ but she couldn’t care less. Her Ben was with her. It was all that mattered.    Reluctantly, Y/N untangled herself from him but intertwined their hands as she led him around and introduced the man to the cast and crew.    “And this is Joe,” she said, widely smiling at the man, still in the 80s clothing.    The brunet extended a palm which Ben grasped, but Y/N noticed a weird tension fill the air, and saw his muscles go a bit tauter than they had been previously.    “You know, it’s great to finally meet the person she can’t shut up about.”    Ben threw Y/N a smirk, to which she just rolled her eyes and gently pushed Joe’s shoulder with hers. “Thanks, bud. Really appreciate it.”    “Anytime, darling,” Joe responded and pressed a quick kiss to her head before slipping away. “You coming to the get together right?”    “We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Y/N said, grinning. Though when she looked up to Ben, a sour grimace that was dangerously close to looking murderous was on his face, angry green eyes following the other actor.    Gently she brought his gaze back to her. “Love, you okay?”    It was like he snapped out of a dream once Y/N’s features were in view, his expression softening and a tired smile appearing on his face. “Now that I’m with you, nothing could be better."    But things weren’t alright. He was acting off all throughout the whole cast get together, as they celebrated Y/N’s final shot of the season, but she just brushed it off. It was probably due to jet lag and having to fly for such a long time since he himself had only just now finished the press tour for ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’. Except, as the pair had settled themselves in Y/N’s trailer, her head laying on top of Ben’s chest, her legs covered only in a pair of shorts and her body adorned by one of his large shirts, she couldn’t help but listen to that nagging voice inside her head.    “Ben are you alright?”    Big emerald eyes looked down at her before returning to the computer that was playing some movie neither was really paying any attention to.    “Ben, you know, you can talk to me,” Y/N took his jaw between her fingers. “About anything.”    But still, he just kept watching the show, not bothering to look at the girl and that’s when she got mad.    “Fine,” Y/N said, standing up and out of Ben’s embrace. Without a word she took off her sleeping shorts and pulled on sweatpants, throwing over her frame a big hoodie. “You wanna act like a child and not talk to me, be my guest.”    “Wait, no, Y/N,” Ben called out a second before she could slam the trailer’s door closed. He’d watched with a dazed mind, as she had gotten ready, not really understanding what was happening until she grabbed her phone and bag. “Please,” he hung his head. “Don’t leave.”    “Then talk to me!” Y/N exasperated, cupping Ben’s face. “I can’t read your mind, so I need you to talk to me.”    “I- I can’t!” he threw his hands up and ran one of the palms through the blond hair. It was Y/N’s favourite habit and she knew he himself quite enjoyed it when the girl tugged on the longer locks at the top.    “Why? What is so bad to you can’t discuss it with me?” Immediately her mind went to the worst-case scenario. “Do you wanna break up?”    When Y/N said those words, Ben snapped his head to the side so much, he thought he had whiplash. “No! No, no, no, no, no! Don’t you ever dare say that, no…. I love you,” he quickly kissed Y/N, quenching the rising panic he saw on her face. “Always. It’s just… stupid and dumb and I can’t talk to you about it, cause I know it’s stupid and dumb.”    Her voice was low and soft as if soothing a child after a nightmare. “Love, if it’s made you upset, it’s valid. No matter how insignificant you think it is, it’s important to me, cause you’re hurting.”    The amount of affection shining in those Y/E/C eyes Ben loved to get lost in, made him choke up. “I don’t deserve you,” he said through a tearful chuckle. “I love you so much.”    Instantly, Y/N brought him in her embrace. “You deserve the world and so much more.” Her hands rubbed up and down his back, relaxing the tense muscles, and Ben could actually feel the ropes of anxiety releasing.    “I was jealous,” he mumbled in the crook of Y/N’s neck, nose hidden in her Y/H/C hair. “I was jealous of Joe and Joe’s character. I was jealous that he got to kiss you like I do, and say that he loved you as I do… but mostly I was jealous that you said it back and I know,” Ben emphasised the last word, as he felt Y/N about to retaliate, “it’s your job and I know you didn’t mean it like that. It was your character saying it. But I just couldn’t help but remember all those times we shared, how happy you made me and still do... but now… seeing someone else, acting or otherwise, in my spot… it just made me realize how fragile what we have is. That any moment could be the last one we spend together, and I didn’t want my last one to be watching you confess your love to someone else…”    It was like a boulder had dropped from Ben’s heart as he finished the rant. He almost expected Y/N to start laughing, or at least start chuckling. She always dealt with the heavy stuff through humour, which was one of the things that had made the Brit fall for her. Y/N’s ability to find the silver lining in any situation had been so endearing, he couldn’t help his heart.    But instead of laughter, he felt wetness slide down his shoulders and chest. With furrowed brows, he pulled back to see Y/N crying.    “There is no one in the whole world who I love more than I love you. You’re it for me, Ben,” she said, pulling their foreheads together. “You’re my future in all shapes and sizes. You’re the one that gets my heart racing, the one that makes it soar when we kiss. You’re the one that makes me smile and laugh even at the dumbest things. You’re a masterpiece, Ben Hardy and you make me feel like one too.”    A pure laugh bubbled up in Ben’s chest and his lips widened in a grin, but soon enough it slowly disappeared as his pupils dilated at Y/N’s words.    “You’re the one who sets my body aflame anytime you touch me,” her voice was a husk now, and she was looking at him through half-hooded eyes. “You’re the one that can make me crumble apart in a matter of minutes, and you’re the one I think of when we’re months apart. When I can’t touch you… when you can’t touch me… I always imagine your lips and fingers, your chest hovering above mine as you repeatedly kiss my neck, before I can do nothing else but beg…”    And in a bold move, Y/N grabbed Ben’s wrist and slid his hand inside of her pants, letting him feel the mess she’d already made.    “This is what you do to me,” she whispered in his ear, as a groan rumbled through his chest. She could feel his member hardening with every second that they stood pressed together. “All day, every day, this is what you reduce me to.” Ben let his fingers get coated by Y/N’s slick, as his other arm wove around her waist to pull the girl’s body closer. It took him less than half a second to have his mouth pressed against hers, tongue viciously asking for permission to enter and when she granted him his wish, Ben could have come from the kiss and the feeling of Y/N’s wetness alone.    “Me?” the word was a ragged intake of breath before he attached his lips to her neck and sucked on her sweet spot. He had her body memorized like a map. “I do this to you?”    “Fuck, my fingers could never do what yours can,” Y/N moaned feeling him skim one of the slender digits right over her core. “Was always left unsatisfied, cause they couldn’t get in as deep.”    Ben somehow lead them to the small bed in the trailer without detaching his lips or fingers from their work, though once the back of his knees hit the edge and he fell back on his ass, he roughly pulled Y/N with, slipping his middle finger inside of her.    He relished in the shocked gasp that escaped her mouth and greedily wanted more. Tenderly, as to not hurt the girl, for it had been a while, he could feel by the way her walls clenched around him, Ben eased another finger.    Looking up, his mouth hung open at the view, as Y/N succumbed to pleasure. Her forehead was already covered by a sheer layer of sweat, eyes closed, lashes casting long shadows down her cheekbones and he could see how desperately she tried to gulp down air.    “You’re so beautiful,” Ben mumbled, trailing his nose down Y/N’s neck to her collarbones, where he let his lips do the magic and leave a blooming purple flower.    She felt like she was suffocating but in the most amazing way. Her veins were on fire, and Y/N was pretty sure her lungs were pulling in flames. Pushing Ben’s head away, Y/N pulled off the hoodie and the shirt underneath in one swift motion, still rolling her hips against his palm, his thumb slowly circling the little bundle of nerves, that had been left untouched up until that point.    “Fucking hell,” Ben cursed as he dove in, mouth attaching to a nipple while the thrusts of his fingers became harsher. Soon enough, he’d marked her chest all over, and as she was just about to beg, when he slid his ring finger inside of her as well, prompting Y/N to clamp down on his wrist.    Her head fell to the crook of Ben’s neck, hot breath fanning over his sensitive skin. She made him feel alive in every sense of the word, and when he curled his digits upward, gently scraping along that spot that made Y/N see white, Ben swore he was in heaven.    A loud, shameless moan could be heard all throughout the trailer and, they were pretty sure in the neighbouring ones as well. Ben grinned like a madman, knowing it was all his doing. Her breathless, blissed out whining state was all him.    “Need more,” Y/N chocked out, opening her eyes, and grabbing at his shirt to pull it off. “Need you, Ben, fuck, I need you.”    Hearing her so desperate for him, made the man painfully hard, so at the same time as he was ridding himself from the offensive piece of clothing that separated his chiselled chest from Y/N, she was pulling down both her sweats and his boxers.    Instantly her lips were on his collarbones, neck, everywhere they could get to, while her hand expertly moved up and down his shaft.    If Ben hadn’t been so consumed by Y/N and everything going on at the moment, he would be shameful to admit, how many times, during the three months apart, while he was doing press for his movie and she was filming, did he imagine her hands and mouth wrapped around him.    Of course, those fantasies were healthy, they were a couple, they were in love, but holy shit was his desire for the girl insatiable.    Laying down on the soft sheets, Ben was instantly wrapped by Y/N’s scent even more so than previously. His grip on her waist was bruising. She was just about to trail down a path across his pecks, but he was too impatient.    “In the morning,” Ben kissed Y/N harshly, teeth clashing together as her palms cradled his cheeks. “Have to be in you now.”    But when he grasped his member at the base and was ready to let her slide down, a thick drop of her slick dripped down and slowly glid along the purplish tip, that was swollen from being so neglected, all the way down to his pubic bone and then between his legs and onto the sheets.    “Fucking hell,” Ben’s eyes were wide, and he grabbed Y/N’s body in both his arms, turning so she was the one on the pillows. Her face was the epitome of confusion, but all that was wiped away when he leaned down and placed his lips on her centre.    Y/N’s back arched up, and he had to use quite a lot of strength to get her back down, hands wrapping around her hips, and pulling her core even closer to his mouth. The sounds were obscene, and if anyone walked past the trailer, she’d die from the mortification, though at that moment the outside world didn’t exist.    Ben had gone down on Y/N on multiple occasions, it was one of his favourite hobbies, but there had been something to erotic, so intimate about seeing her already dripping like that, his primal side had completely taken over every sensible thought.    The pornographic moans that escaped from Y/N were his motivators to go on. The harder he sucked and flicked his tongue against the little nub, the louder she got. And Ben wanted the whole fucking cosmos to know who made her feel that way.    Without a warning, for Y/N simply couldn’t speak, the knot in her belly snapped and she released all of herself on Ben’s tongue. He stayed like that, head buried between her thighs until he was sure she had come back to Earth and there was not a single drop left to lick up.    Once he was satisfied, he leaned up and kissed Y/N, this time much more tenderly, letting their tongues intertwine and dance around, before he leaned back on his heels, bringing the girl to sit up, so they could resume their previous position.    Still not detaching from the kiss, Ben laid his head on Y/N’s pillow and caressed her body as she adjusted herself above his member and inch by inch, taking her time and enjoying the feeling of being so filled up, she slid down until there was nothing separating them, but skin.    He was buried deep inside of her and Y/N knew she wouldn’t last long. The last orgasm was still rippling through her bones as her arms weakly braced themselves on Ben’s chest. He looked thoroughly fucked out already, even though it had been her who experienced two orgasms.    First, she rolled her hips, once, twice, her clit dragging along Ben’s soft skin and it made her moan, before she found the angle that would consistently hit her G-spot. And then she was off to the races.    Obviously, Ben tried to help Y/N, palms gripping her waist, his own hips snapping up to meet her, but he absolutely loved it when she just let herself go, taking him in any way she liked to. Though now, it seemed that both were in equal control, Y/N��s nails digging and scraping along his chest and abs as Ben himself was pretty sure there’d be bruises on her sides after this.    Y/N was already tightening around him, walls clenching more and more with every thrust, and it was when she barely had a second to warm Ben, she was about to cum, he licked his thumb and pressed it against her clit.    The girl fell forward, hands grabbing onto the pillow the actor’s head had been resting on, and she bit down on his shoulder, muffling the scream tearing her throat apart. It was her release that brought upon his own.    Ben’s eyes rolled to the back of his head, as his body made the final movements on its own. He groaned, as he felt Y/N tighten around him even more, as thick hot spurts of cum painted her on the inside. It was like her walls were milking him for all he had, body and soul.        She could feel his thighs spasm and shake, the same way her own quivered, face desperately pressed against Ben’s collarbone. Her body was limp, and Y/N felt like every bone had turned to jelly and her muscles were made from silly strings.    His large palms detached from the girl’s sides and in slow, soothing motions, they moved from the curve of her spine up to her shoulder blades, attempting to ease the aftershocks that still ravaged Y/N’s frame a good couple of minutes after they were done.    Their breathing had somewhat stabilized and Ben pressed a kiss to Y/N’s temple.    “I should get jealous more often if this is what it leads to.”    Weakly, she turned her head to the side, cheek practically melting into his chest and she smiled, eyelids still heavy. “Next time it won’t work, cause you’ve told me your plan now.”    Ben’s frame rumbled with laughter, even though it was the most exhausted he’d felt in years.    “But you do have to apologize to Joe. I think you scared the man half to death when he said he enjoyed working with me and couldn’t wait for the next season.”    “Fine,” Ben kissed Y/N’s lips. “If that is what’ll make you happy.”    “You make me happy,” she sleepily replied, a pleasant ache already appearing all over her body and especially between her legs. “A bloody masterpiece is what you are. So how could I be anything but happy?”

Tags (crossed out wouldn’t take): @thiccio-and-thicciet @roseslovedreams @vesoleil @gloomybisexualemo @kostyaownsmyheart @lumelgy @palaiasaurus64 @supernaturalbaesduh @breezy1415 @crazy--me @thatawkwardlittlefangirl @sea040561 @staryeyedgirl @deathbyarabbit @s-c-a-r-e-d-po-t-t-e-r @reblogger-not-a-blogger @m-a-t-91 @dalilx @i-need-a-hero-i-need-a-loki @maladaptive-ninja-returns @averyrogers83 @in-the-end-im-still-trash @gallifreyansass @dewy-biitch @avxgers @unlikelygalaxygiver @sweet-ladyy @perriwiinkle @16wiishes @wanderingsami

A/N: *fans myself* well, this came out of completely left field :D, sweet lord, I need help :D

Also, no Misconstrued, I’m sorry, but I had to get this out of my system :D 

‘Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’ from Teen Beach Movie is such a bop lol :D

P.S. what did you think?

P.S.S. my tags are always open, so if you wanna be tagged in future stories, drop me a message :)

That IS hilarious! What do you think about Bella and Edward? How that whole thing started, whether it's unhealthy or not. Got any analysis there?

Where do I even start?

Okay, so I can see where it’s coming from. Edward being fascinated with not being able to read someone’s mind and wanting to know more despite her being his singer. They have a lot in common- taste in music (kinda), books, etc. It makes sense for them to get close and to fall in love. They’re falling in love for the first time and it makes sense for them not to know anything about relationships or how they work.

The first book starts out well, but from the second book onward it goes downhill. He abandons her and she doesn’t recover for months until her friend Jacob comes in and helps. I understand Bella’s selflessness in going all the way to Italy to save her ex-boyfriend from killing himself. She’d probably do that for just about anyone because in the first two books she was actually pretty decent as a character. Had she died in the first book it would’ve been fucking tragic. I digress. It’s super idealistic for her to end up with her first love, but let’s be real, it probably wouldn’t last. You mean to tell me they’re not gonna get sick of each other after that honeymoon phase? Even I with my inexperienced ass ain’t jumping into a marriage after just one year of knowing someone. Idc if she ends up physically older than him- do you really want to be stuck in high school for eternity? And how is him coming into your room in the middle of the night without your knowledge not creepy? It’s grounds to get on anyone’s shit list. Sure, restraining orders can only do so much with vampires above the law, but c’mon now.

Also she gave up time with literally everyone outside of the Cullens and wolf pack (granted once you’re introduced to the supernatural you’re likely to limit their contact with other humans because holy crap, fuck anyone else going through the bull Bella went through after finding out about vampires and shapeshifters). Angela was a fantastic friend and she just spent superficial time with her after starting a relationship with Edward. I get avoiding Mike or some of the other guys that are obviously vying for her attention when she’s taken, but seriously? Once Ben and Angela became a thing they’d hang out more. Plus Jessica really isn’t as bad as people make her out to be. She’s ambitious and young, she’ll end up growing as a person if you give her time. Lauren- meh- it depends. If she sticks with Angela I imagine she’ll grow- especially if she leaves Forks. Again, I digress. It’s understandable to spend as much time as possible with your s/o, but that doesn’t mean you neglect your other relationships.

On top of that, she ignores Charlie- a cop mind you- whose proven again and again to have sound judgement. He right off the bat was reluctant about her relationship with Edward and he didn’t even know about the whole watching his daughter sleep thing. Great family, maybe not great for his daughter. Now I know we ignore a lot of advise our parents give once in a while, but when it comes to Edward after literally being abandoned I imagine there’d be a bit of reluctance in getting back with him after your dad expresses deliberate concern. In New Moon alone she lost weight, had nightmares, faced abandonment issues and she still went back to him. It’s not including the injuries she gets prior to that. Yes, he showed genuine remorse but he didn’t really respect her (misguided) opinion on changing into a vampire or about vampires having souls. You mean to tell me Edward looked at Carlisle, read his mind and saw that compassion and thought “yup, we’re damned with no souls?” Stubborn, close-minded. Just putting that out there.

What I will give them is Edward’s genuine concern with Bella’s health when she’s pregnant with a baby that’s literally killing her. He’s thinking with his head and heart in one accord. When it comes to medical professionals- and correct me if I’m wrong about this- it’s the mother that comes above the baby’s life. They will do everything they can to save the baby, but where would that baby be without their mother to carry them through the rest of the term? Mother and child dead. Also, Bella didn’t even want children, but again abandonment issues. If Edward up and left, she’d at least have a small part of him.

TLDR: Edward and Bella are the super idealistic version of relationships struggling and succeeding in the end, but inevitably it was misguided and wouldn’t work in real life and be really unhealthy.

Reasons to watch “Stardust” (2007)

“Stardust” is one of my absolute favourite fantasy movies and yet it’s supremely underrated? Which is why I want to give everyone reasons to watch it - I’ve tried to leave out massive spoilers but you know, beware if you haven’t seen the film and would like to!

First of all the original book was written by Neil Gaiman, who also wrote Good Omens (well, he wrote it with Sir Terry Pratchett I think) and Coraline.

The cast of this film is incredible; the lead is played by Charlie Cox, who has since gone on to do The Theory of Everything and Marvel’s Daredevil. Claire Danes plays a fallen star called Yvaine, and she’s both beautiful and hilarious. Michelle Pfieffer plays a witch who wants to eat the star’s heart; Robert DeNiro plays a gay sky pirate who likes to cross-dress; David Kelly (Grandpa Joe in Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) plays the old man guarding the wall who somehow knows how to knock people about; the narrator is Ian McKellen; there are 7 princes, some of whom are already dead, some who die in the film, and they’re played by people like David Walliams, Rupert Everett, Mark Strong, etc. Peter O’Toole appears briefly as the dying king, Ben Barnes plays a younger version of Tristan’s father, Sienna Miller plays a spoilt girl called Victoria who Tristan at first wants to marry, and her suitor is played by Henry Cavill. Ricky Gervais plays Ferdy, who’s not in it a lot but is hilarious. Honestly, the list goes on and on!

The basic story is that Tristan is this boy living in a village called Wall, and he wants to marry this spoilt woman called Victoria. One night, when they’re having a picnic together under the stars, they see a falling star; he promises to bring it back to her before her 18th birthday in exchange for her hand in marriage. He then sets out to bring the star back to his village, but the star isn’t a lump of rock, she’s this ethereal woman who is PISSED at being knocked out of the sky. Crossing the wall that borders “Wall” takes you into this Faerie/Fae land. Everyone is looking for the star too in the Fae world because eating the heart of a star will give you beauty and add years to your life. The necklace/gem that knocked Yvaine out of the sky was sent there by the dying king, and his remaining/surviving sons have to find it if they want to be the next king - and Yvaine wears it as a necklace after falling to earth, so they’re after her too. I don’t want to give too much away but there’s so much going on in this film that later ties together so neatly!

Unlike a lot of romance in movies, the romance in this movie is actually not completely cringeworthy. It’s super sweet and romantic, and develops really nicely.

Robert DeNiro dancing whilst wearing a corset/skirt and make-up, whilst also decorated in sailor tattoos, is reason enough to watch this film frankly.

It’s an epic fantasy which is also reason enough to watch it.

This film is a mix of all kinds of genres and it’s epic: fantasy, romance, adventure, a bit of action, comedy...

Charlie Cox? Is really cute??

There’s a scene where Tristan is talking to his dad about how the old man at the wall beat the shit out of him, and his dad is just like “Tristan, he’s 97...?!?” It’s super hilarious!

The soundtrack is STUNNING?! The cinematography is also STUNNING, holy moly...

Prince Septimus (Mark Strong) is literally the shadiest mofo throughout the whole thing and it’s the best.

Yvaine is super sassy and I love her. It’s really hard not to like her, she’s just so amazing

Near the beginning, Tristan mistakenly thinks that Yvaine is his long lost mother 😂

“But of course! Nothing says "romance" like a gift of a kidnapped injured woman!”

The relationship between Tristan and Yvaine is also hilarious, like their banter is honestly so strong

“Close your eyes and think of home...well that was a great plan! You thought of your home and I thought of mine, and now we’re stuck halfway between the two!” “Oh, you stupid cow!”

Yvaine literally glows and shines whenever she’s happy, and if that’s not the cutest thing then I don’t know what is

At one point Tristan gets turned into a mouse and it’s strangely really adorable?? And it helps move the relationship along between the two characters??

Lamia (the Michelle Pfeiffer Witch) starts off really young and pretty but progressively starts to age and look worse and worse gradually, and it’s so cool to see?

Also shoutout to the moment where she goes to remove some wrinkles from her face with magic and it makes her boobs go from perky to saggy 😂

At one point Tristan, thinking he’s talking to the beautiful innkeeper’s daughter, asks “oh what’s your name” and the girl (who’s actually a farm boy that the witch turned into a woman to help with her ruse to lure Yvaine in) just goes “Bernard” in this gruff manly voice 😂

The princes literally have blue blood, I can’t get over that for some reason

Also all the dead princes make appearances as ghosts, and they’re kind all frozen in the way they’ve died? So one got pushed off a tower window and so his face is smushed to one side and his hair is wind blown in one direction. But their banter is also super hilarious

This film is actually super dark when you think about it, like people literally want to cut someone’s heart out of her chest and eat it?? And the princes are all trying to murder each other

I keep saying about Robert DeNiro but he is literally one of the best parts of this whole film, like in front of his crew he puts on the tough “Captain Shakespeare” act but then in private he becomes so flamboyant and it’s both funny and cute??

“Ever tried to get bloodstains out of a silk shirt? Nightmare!”

There’s a scene where the captain is “cutting” Tristan’s hair and his hair is short until this point...but then it suddenly becomes long out of nowhere and it’s so funny??

“It’s alright, Captain...we always knew you were a whoopsie”

“You better be telling the truth, you two faced dog” “I can get you one of them, actually. Very good guard dogs, they can watch the front door and the back door at the same time”

Victoria getting her comeuppance is honestly the most satisfying thing, like I was cackling like crazy because she really deserves it.

“Grow up, and get over yourself” - LITERAL TEARS FLOWING FROM MY EYES LORD ALMIGHTY

The film has really lovely messages about love and true love and all of that, it’s honestly so wonderful

^ There’s also another speech when Tristan is a mouse that Yvaine gives and it’s literally the most beautiful heartfelt love confession I’ve ever heard. Under any other circumstances, in any other film, performed my any other actress or any other character, it would be cheesey - but in Stardust, it’s perfect.

The ending of the book is super sad and bittersweet, but the movie alters that ending slightly so that it’s happier. I won’t give spoilers but the movie definitely has a much happier feeling to it than the end of the book.

The song that plays over the end credits is “Rule the World” by Take That and I literally cannot hear that song without thinking of this film ♥️ even if you don’t watch the film (which please do!), at least listen to the song!

Could I request something with Oliver Wood? Like anything at all!!

Sorry, this isn’t a romantic Oliver x Reader one, but I got another one coming! I just didn’t know what to do so I hope this one works well. I’m still trying to figure out consistencies with the timeline so some imagines may be a bit iffy!

Also the way their robes are laid out are like a symbolism of their personalities (I think Penny is a bit messy and Barnaby’s robe is folded because Andre did that for him lOL) 

Someone should draw Charlie in his headband bc that’d be funny

(H/H) = Hogwarts House

Oliver Wood had just begun his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Although the first years were not allowed on the Quidditch Team, he still enjoyed going out to the training grounds to watch some players practice. Oliver sat on the field, doing Flitwick’s Charms assignment as he watched the older players fly around the area. Their robes were on the ground so they wouldn’t get in the way of their game and were being watched by a nervous Gryffindor boy. There were two Hufflepuff robes thrown together, a folded Ravenclaw robe next to a folded Slytherin one, two rundown Gryffindor robes (one with the prefect badge on it), and two last (H/H) ones, one neatly folded while the other was thrown next to it. “Be careful, (Y/N)!” Ben shouted as his friend spun, almost knocking a boy off his broom. “Hey!” Barnaby yelled, “don’t murder me!” He laughed, swinging his bat around. (Y/N) turned her head and grinned at him as she nose-dived, rushing past Ben and whizzing past Oliver Wood.Oliver caught a glimpse of her, impressed by her reckless moves, just overall intrigued by her. “(Y/N)!” Another girl yelled, “This isn’t a true game of Quidditch!” Rowan exclaimed, holding a quaffle as she flew next to a blonde hair Hufflepuff girl. Oliver took a mental note that the two girls were supposed to be the chasers, but he only noticed one beater.Barnaby Lee laughed as Rowan attempted to calm (Y/N) down, “She’s just having fun!” He exclaimed, knocking one of the bludgers to the sidePenny Haywood hovered in the air as she pulled her thick blonde hair into a ponytail, “She isn’t the only one having fun!” She exclaimed as a flash of pink and yellow flew by at full speed. “Yahoo!” The pink haired girl yelled, swinging her club and hitting the bludger, “This is brilliant!” Tonks yelled.

Oliver nodded in acknowledgment as the other beater appeared. “Tonks! Be careful!” Rowan yelled as Penny snatched the Quaffle away from her with a smirk on her face. Rowan flew after her, knocking the Quaffle out of her hand an rushing towards the opposing Keeper.A dark-skinned Ravenclaw boy circled around their makeshift goal, waiting for someone to come near him, “Having fun, Bill? I know I sure am” Andre yelled, with a hint of sarcasm, across the field as Bill hovered over the other goal. “Why wouldn’t I be, Andre?” Bill grinned, “It’s fun watching them fly around!” He laughed, but at that moment, Rowan scored a point. “Don’t get cocky, Andre” Barnaby laughed as Ben added a point to (Y/N)’s team. It wasn’t an actual game of Quidditch because they didn’t have enough players per team, but (Y/N) made a bet with the other team Captain that her team could beat his. (Y/N)’s team consisted of, Bill Weasley, Barnaby Lee, Rowan Khanna, and herselfWhile the other team consisted of, Andre Egwu, Nymphadora Tonks, Penny Haywood, and Charlie Weasley. “Andre!” Charlie yelled, flying in front of his keeper, “We have to win!” Andre gave a shrug as his Captain yelled at him, “I’m just having fun, Charlie” Andre teased making Charlie fly towards (Y/N) with a huff. “Shall we make this more interesting?” Charlie asked raising an eyebrow at her, “Ben’s waiting down there to release it” (Y/N) smiled, pulling down her goggles, “If you can handle it, Weasley” She replied and flew off to her post. “Oh, it’s on” Charlie grinned, flying back, “Ben!” He yelled out and Ben scrambled to the trunk with the Quidditch supplies. “Got it!” Ben replied, carefully waiting for the two seekers to get into their positions. Oliver Wood turned and noticed Ben opening a small hatch.“The snitch!” Oliver yelled excitedly, closing his books to watch the rest of their friendly match. “Prepare to lose, Weasley!” (Y/N) yelled as Charlie furrowed his eyebrows. The snitch quickly flew around their field as the two seekers sped after it. The other players halted their moves as they watched their friends fly around the field, “Better get those sickles out, Andre” Bill grinned and Andre attempted to shove him off his broom. The bet was that the losing team had to hand over five sickles to their player counterparts. Charlie pulled down the goggles that rested over his headband as he flew in front of (Y/N) chasing after the glittering snitch. (Y/N) gritted her teeth as he passed her, diving down to pull up in front of him. Charlie flipped backward as the snitch turned directions, leaving (Y/N) in his dust. He was undeniably Gryffindors best Seeker. Oliver Wood was fascinated by him, but he was also fascinated by the girl named (Y/N). “Ugh!” She yelled as Charlie flew closer and closer to the snitch, but before he could catch it, the snitch dived down, slipping through his fingers. “No!” Charlie yelled, flipping after it, but (Y/N) gripped her broomstick tighter and flew at full speed. Charlie rushed after it, attempting to outspeed his opponent. (Y/N) stretched her hand out, the snitch fluttering away from her fingers as Charlie began gaining up on her. “Come on!” Oliver yelled absentmindedly, but quickly sat down again, giving a sheepish smile. “Charlie! Get the damn snitch already!” Tonks screamed, holding her club up in the air, “I don’t want to give anyone any of my sickles!” Charlie grunted deciding to do something reckless, he jumped up on his broom and began surfing on to get a farther reach. “That’s it!” Tonks yelled, but Rowan began to freak out“CHARLIE, BE CAREFUL!” Rowan screamed, “(Y/N) CATCH THE SNITCH!” (Y/N) turned her head to see her friend with a proud smirk, the snitch almost in his grasp. Jumping on her own broom, she steadied herself and reached out as well. Oliver Wood was awestruck, he had never seen anything like that before, “Bloody hell!” He exclaimed, watching the two with the snitch almost in their hand. However, Charlie Weasley faltered and tumbled off his broom, knocking (Y/N) off her own as they rolled over the grass together. “Holy shit” Tonks muttered as they all flew down to make sure their friends were okay. Charlie rolled off (Y/N), groaning against the ground and she landed in front of the Gryffindor that had been watching their game. “Damn it, Charlie!” She yelled out, “That hurt like mad!” She groaned, sitting up and finally realizing what was in her hand.Charlie turned and saw the glittering snitch in his opponent’s hand, “Damn it” He sighed, pulling his goggles up and taking five sickles out of his pocket, “You win this time” He admitted, handing his friend the coins.Ben rushed over to his friends as the rest of the group followed, throwing their brooms to the side. Oliver Wood grinned as he admired the snitch on the girl’s hand. “That was brilliant!” He exclaimed, “Are you on the (H/H) Quidditch team?! If you’re not you should definitely join!” He rambled excitedly as (Y/N) smiled, “I’m Oliver Wood! I’m a first year Gryffindor and I want to be Captain one day!” “I’m (Y/N) (L/N)” she replied with a smile, “Tell you what, why don’t you keep this? I can get Charlie a replacement one” (Y/N) said, handing him the Golden Snitch she had just caught. Oliver’s eyes lit up as she held out the snitch to him, “Seriously?!” He exclaimed and Charlie gave a nod, “Thank you!” He replied, taking the snitch and putting it in his pocket for safe-keeping, “Do you think you can teach me more about Quidditch?” He asked. “Of course!” Tonks chimed in, throwing her club to rest against her shoulder, “But we’re ruthless” she teased. “More like she’s ruthless” Penny added, giving Oliver a warm smile. Bill walked up to Oliver with a grin on his face, “Charlie and I are both on the Gryffindor team so we’ll teach you everything you need to pass try-outs” Bill said, crossing his arms. Tonks picked up her broom and flew up to catch the bludgers still flying around in the air, “Let’s just hope McGonagall doesn’t find out,” She exclaimed, knocking the erratic balls down so Barnaby could strap them down. “Yes, let’s hope” An older voice chimed in.“Oh shit” Bill muttered and turned to the voice with a smile, “Professor” He said sheepishly as McGonagall stood with her arms crossed. Barnaby quickly strapped the equipment down and Tonks was down in a matter of seconds, joining her nervous friends in the line facing McGonagall. “I suppose this is better than attempting to find the Cursed-Vaults” McGonagall started, sternly addressing the group of students, “But practicing without a teacher’s note is strictly prohibited,” She added on and the group gave a nod, including Oliver who was just as nervous as them. “Detention, tonight, all of you” McGonagall stated, “And clean this up,” She said before walking away. “Detention?!” Oliver exclaimed, “I’ve never gotten detention before” Tonks and Barnaby laughed as they began to carry the two trunks of Quidditch supplies, “See you in the brig, then” Tonks teased as she and Barnaby left the field. “You still owe me five sickles, Nymphadora,” Barnaby grinned and Tonks’s hair suddenly turned from pink to red in a matter of seconds. “Stop calling me that, Lee!” Tonks exclaimed as she chased after Barnaby who had run off in a fit of laughter. “Her hair changed colors!” Oliver exclaimed in surprise and Penny nodded.“She’s a metamorphmagus!” She explained, “It’s one of her abilities, but she can’t control them very well yet” She smiled.Oliver nodded in acknowledgment as he gathered all this information about these students.“I’m Penny Haywood, those two were Nymphadora Tonks and Barnaby Lee” Penny greeted, “Call her Tonks though, she’s very adamant on that” Penny smiled, shaking Oliver’s hand as she returned to her friends. Oliver felt a tad nervous, worried he would call her Nymphadora on accident, but he couldn’t believe how cool this group was. Ben picked up the scoreboard as Penny, Rowan, and Andre picked up the remaining brooms. “Charlie, can you get our robes?” Andre called and Charlie gave a nod, picking up the pile of Hogwarts robes from the ground and following after his friends. “Take off that bloody headband, Charles” Bill muttered, attempting to pull the burgundy and gold knitted headband Charlie had on throughout the game“Bugger off, William!” Charlie exclaimed, attempting to shove his older brother away, “It keeps my hair out of my eyes when I’m playing” He explained, “I haven’t said anything about your braid so leave my headband alone!” Bill huffed, crossing his arms, “(Y/N) braided my hair so I could see during the game!” Bill exclaimed as the two quarreling brothers walked away, “At least I don’t look like Ginny!” (Y/N) sighed and smiled as her friends left, “Sorry about detention, kid” She smiled, “Join us for supper tonight, we can talk about Quidditch and we can all get to know each other” She said, “We have a bit of a reputation so I hope that doesn’t scare you,” (Y/N) smiled and Oliver shook his head. “No! I don’t care what other people might say, you lot are brilliant” He exclaimed happily, “Of course, I’ll join you!” (Y/N) smiled, “Keep that Golden Snitch safe,” She said and ran off to follow her friends, giving Oliver one last goodbye. Oliver Wood was stunned by all the people he had met today and how much he had missed out on since he was only a first year. However, he did know one thing.He wanted to be great friends with them.

reconnaissance

So, it was my birthday the other week. And as a birthday present to me, I thought it would be nice to revisit the AU for Foxtrot, because it’s been a while since I’ve hung out with those particular disasters. So--please enjoy reconnaissance, a Foxtrot one-shot that gives another perspective on the epilogue of Foxtrot Uniform Charlie Kilo.

It contains (mild) spoilers for Foxtrot, but very little context for said spoilers, so it’s not gonna hurt you to read this if you haven’t read that.

Enjoy!

reconnaissance 

(6k, pg-13, contains some drinking, some burlesque, and a pejorative use of the word ‘slut’, courtesy of our resident asshole ginger, who didn’t even lower himself to show up in person)

“Holy fuck, he’s way bigger than he looks in his archive footage.”

Phasma only briefly looks up from her phone. “No, he’s not. And he’s not that big.”

“To you, maybe.” Mitaka takes another drink of his beer, looks across the bar at the behemoth currently leaning against it.  He’s buzzed, and he can hear it in the way the words fall off his tongue, loose and casual. “Look at the stage presence on that fucker. Everyone’s staring at him.”

“Everyone into men is staring at him,” Phasma corrects.

Mitaka looks over at her. She’s still staring at her phone, idly flicking through screens, and absolutely ignoring him. “You’re occasionally into men,” he says, a bit petulantly.

She raises her eyebrow at him without looking up. “I’m only into other people when I tire of giving myself orgasms.” She gestures vaguely toward the bar, red lacquered nails glinting briefly in the light. “I know what he looks like when he’s been fucked into a concrete floor, and I assure you, it’s not as attractive as you think.”

“My opinion may differ,” Mitaka mutters into his drink. He swigs the rest of it down, jerkily pushes his chair back. The room is spinning, a bit—but it’s just a bit, so it’s fine. The show hasn’t started yet; he has enough time to sober up if he feels like it. He balances himself with a hand on the back of his chair, closes his eyes for a moment to get his bearings.

When he opens his eyes, Phasma is watching him.

“I thought you were the responsible one tonight, Doph.”

“I am,” Mitaka says, pushing his empty drink to the edge of the table. “I left all our credit cards back at Citadel and paid for the rooms in advance.” He gestures vaguely in the last direction he saw his boyfriend heading. “Thanisson only has cash—he’ll burn himself out soon enough.”

“Unless he’s on a winning streak,” Phasma says. She drains her gin and tonic, and pushes her empty glass next to Mitaka’s. “You could get me another, while you’re up there.”

“I might,” Mitaka says. He pulls his cash out of his pocket and checks to make sure he still has his phone. Realizes, after a moment, that Phasma is looking rather pointedly at the wad of cash in his hand. He folds. “I will. Get you another, that is.”

“Thank you,” she says, extending her long legs out into the aisle and resuming tapping on her phone.

Mitaka debates not saying anything, but the beer’s loosened his tongue. “You’re going to give Hux a heart attack.”

She lifts one shoulder minutely, raises her phone and snaps a picture of Kylo Ren at the bar. “That’s the hope,” she says.

“This is a vacation,” Mitaka says, more to himself than to anyone. He scoops up the empties, and heads over to the bar. He’s off-duty. So is she. And he doesn’t need to interfere with whatever she’s doing just to protect Hux’s feelings.

It’s not like Hux has any.

 Kylo Ren is still there when Mitaka approaches, sipping at a glass of something clear with a lime perched on the side of it. Mitaka considers saying something, but he’s too drunk to come up with anything even remotely intelligent, so he doesn’t bother opening his mouth. (It’s not like hey, so you’re a legend back at the Citadel, huh? or we heard Hux fucked you into the floor, how was that for you? are good openers for a conversation.) Anyway, Kylo Ren is much bigger than any of them had suspected—easily twice Mitaka’s weight, and towering over him even when he’s leaning up against the bar, so it’s probably in Mitaka’s best interests not to piss the guy off.

Up close, though—Kylo Ren is fucking gorgeous un-masked, even more so than the archive footage at the Knights had indicated. His eyeliner is sharp, winging out past his fake lashes, and he’s wearing deep purple eyeshadow with a gold cut crease and dark lipstick. His hair is effortlessly tousled and falling in waves around his face, longer now than it had been even in the earliest archive footage from his initial recruitment. He’s wearing tight jeans, worn at the crotch and with holes in the knees, and a black tank top cut low in front, exposing a broad muscular chest that’s glittering faintly in the light. There’s an unzipped hoodie slouching down his arms, not doing anything other than exposing his biceps.

Mitaka squeezes his eyes shut for a moment, and then opens them again, glad Kylo seems more engrossed in squeezing his lime into his drink than noticing that Mitaka’s been staring.

“What are you after?” asks the bartender. She’s small, ridiculously so, with thick glasses that dominate her features.

“Uh, another pint of that spiced craft beer, and then a gin and tonic for my friend.”

She stares at him for a moment through those ridiculously thick glasses. Mitaka holds firm—if he can hold firm while Armitage Hux screams at him, he’s not going to crumple under an old lady, even if he is halfway to plastered and she’s being very intense about it.

“I’ll find you a bartender,” she says finally, and she turns, gestures to someone at the other end of the bar.

Mitaka breathes a little easier once she’s turned away.

“Are you here for the show?”

Mitaka does jolt this time. The owner of the voice is remarkably close, the voice itself is remarkably deep, and—oh, fucking hell, of course it’s Kylo fucking Ren.

“Yes,” Mitaka says evenly, all the while trying to school his face so that he doesn’t look as though he nearly jumped out of his boots. “Yes, I am.”

“Ah,” Kylo says. He brings his fingers—nails cut short, filed neatly, a dark purple glitter gel that matches his eyeshadow—up to his straw, twirls it around in the glass for a moment. “It’s a good show,” he says. “You’ll enjoy it. First time at something like this?”

The nervous chuckle escapes before Mitaka can clamp down on it, because what the fuck is he going to say? Actually, I work with Armitage Hux—I believe you’ve met? “No,” he says instead. “I’ve seen burlesque before.”

In the light, Kylo’s lips aren’t the black Mitaka thought they were. They’re actually an ombre—near-black on the edges, fading to purple closer to the middle. The purple becomes obvious when Kylo raises the glass, purses his lips around the straw, and takes a drink. He lets go of the straw, and his lips move for a moment.

“What?” Mitaka says gracelessly, and then immediately frowns. Fucking hell, he’s not drunk enough to be this uncoordinated.

“I was asking where you were sitting,” Kylo says, amused.

“Over there,” Mitaka says, vaguely gesturing into the corner. It’s reasonably dark back there, and a good bit away from the stage.

“Pity,” Kylo says. He takes another drink, and then sets his empty glass back on the counter. “Best view in the house is gonna be those couple tables right front and center, so if I were you, I’d go cozy up to the blonde in the red dress.”

“I’ll consider it,” Mitaka says. His voice comes out steady, and he’s very proud of himself for that.

“I’ll cover this round, Maz,” Kylo says. “Put it on my birthday tab?”

“Your funeral,” the old lady responds. She sets a new round of drinks in front of Mitaka.

Kylo grins, and then snags the beer before Mitaka can pick it up. Takes a sip, and then sets the glass down at the bar. “Good choice,” he says, before turning and sauntering away. “Enjoy the show.”

His lipstick has left behind a dark purple print on the rim of Mitaka’s glass.

Mitaka sighs, picks up both drinks, and heads back to his table—which is front, center, and impossible to miss because Phasma is constitutionally incapable of going out somewhere without wearing something memorable.

Tonight, it’s a red dress.

 “This is a public venue,” Phasma is saying when Mitaka walks up. She’s still looking at her phone, even though the dude standing right next to her is staring at her, arms crossed over his chest. “I’ll take whatever pictures I like.”

“I’m saying,” the guy says patiently. “That I’d like you, as a personal favour, to stop taking pictures of Ben.”

The guy looks remarkably familiar for some reason—curly hair, about Mitaka’s height, looks like he’s at least passingly acquainted with the gym—but Mitaka can’t quite place him. He’s definitely seen photos of him before, though, and recently. Within the last few months. The guy looks—

“Who the hell is Ben?” Phasma asks.

“Hey,” Mitaka says. “Brought your drink, Phas.” He sets the glasses down on the table.

The guy turns, and the reason he looks familiar suddenly clicks in Mitaka’s mind. “The lockscreen,” he says, feeling proud for finally figuring it out. “That’s where.”

The guy’s brow furrows. “What?”

“Nothing,” Mitaka says. “It’s just—I’ve seen a picture of you before, that’s all. You’re with the Resistance, aren’t you?”

The guy sighs, extends his hand. “Yeah. Poe Dameron.”

Mitaka shakes out of instinct rather than any actual desire to do it.

“He’s the boss of who takes pictures in public spaces,” Phasma says dryly. “You might want to hand over your phone for inspection.”

Dameron rolls his eyes. “Look, I really don’t need any more shit from you guys. I don��t know what the fuck Snoke is—”

“This has nothing to do with Snoke,” Mitaka and Phasma say in unison.

Dameron frowns. “You are still with the Knights, though? I mean, I don’t recognize you,” he says, gesturing at Mitaka. “But I do recognize you.” He attempts to level another glare at Phasma, but she remains nonplussed.

“We’re not here officially,” Mitaka says, summoning all the diplomacy he can muster. He’s hesitant to sit down, but then, he doesn’t really want Phasma standing up either, so with any luck, she’ll just stay on her phone, and Mitaka can just smooth this over before it gets ugly. “Snoke’s out of town—”

“I know,” Dameron says cryptically.

“—and there’s—there are—just a couple of us here tonight. Blowing off steam.” He cringes the minute the phrase exits his mouth, because fuck, does it ever sound stupid.

“Where’s the rest of you?” Dameron says suspiciously. “Did you bring that ginger—”

“Hell no,” Phasma says.

“It’s just the two of us,” Mitaka says, trying to sound calm. “And my boyfriend, gambling in the back room. Just the three of us.” He sighs, gives up, and sits down. “Hux doesn’t leave Citadel. He’s probably trying to kill himself rehearsing right now.”

“Maybe you’ll be lucky and he’ll succeed,” Dameron says.

“We could always hope,” Phasma says, still not looking up from her phone.

Dameron frowns a little at that. “It’s not like the show was—”

Mitaka surprises himself by interrupting, albeit more plaintively than what he’d intended. “Could we not? Talk about the show?”

“Oh, come now,” Phasma says, and her smile is all teeth. “It was such a lovely followup to Starkiller.”

“Could we not,” Mitaka repeats again. “Please, Phasma. We’re trying to have a day off.”

“And we’re all so very good at it,” Phasma says.

“Look,” Dameron says. “I just need to clarify this, alright? I don’t actually care about whatever internal drama is going on.” He runs his hand back through his hair. “You’re certain that you’re not trying to recruit him back into the Knights?”

Phasma snorts, actually sets her phone down and looks Dameron in the eye. “You think we want Kylo fucking Ren back? Can you imagine the shitshow that would be?”

“I need to sit down,” Mitaka murmurs. Even just the thought of it is making him woozy.

“He’s fucking good,” Dameron says defensively.

“You don’t need to tell us,” Mitaka says, pulling out his chair and sitting down heavily. “We’ve seen literally all of his archive footage—front, back, and sideways. Phasma uses it for training for our dancers, and we showed up tonight, at least in part, because we’d heard the Resistance was performing, and that implied that he would be performing too.” He tips his head toward the backroom. “And because my boyfriend likes to gamble.”

“Well, Maz’s is good for that,” Dameron allows. He hesitates a moment, and then seems to come to a decision. “Look,” he says. “I’m sorry about getting all aggro with you. I’ll make sure your next couple rounds are covered, alright? I just—I just wanted to make sure that Snoke wasn’t pulling some kind of bullshit again.”

“Not that we’re aware of,” Mitaka says. He takes a drink of his beer. The rim of the glass is weirdly sticky, and he regrets not checking it to make sure it was clean in advance of actually drinking. He runs his tongue along his bottom lip, looks down at his apparently filthy glass. The glass is clean—it’s Kylo’s lipstick that’s the problem. “To be honest, we’re hoping we can just wait Snoke out until he dies.”

“Or help him along,” Phasma mutters darkly.

“The contracts are that bad, huh?” Dameron asks.

Phasma looks down at her drink, and then back up at Dameron meaningfully. “I’ll need to be drunker than this to talk shop with you, pretty boy.”

“Noted,” Dameron says. “Next round, coming right up.”

“Thanks,” Mitaka says.

“Gotta ask, though,” Dameron continues, cocking an eyebrow at Mitaka. “The lockscreen picture. How the hell’ve you seen that?”

Mitaka grimaces.

“I’ll ask in a round or two,” Dameron says.

Mitaka nods, knowing that he’s not gonna say a goddamn fucking thing.

 “Shit,” Mitaka says halfway through the show. “That’s one of ours.”

Phasma sets her empty glass down on the table, looks back up at the stage. “Fuck me, it’s Bastian. I thought he’d quit after Black Sun.”

“Apparently not,” Mitaka says. “Technique hasn’t slipped or anything.”

“Even with all the blacklight bullshit.”

“Oh, it’s not that bad,” Mitaka says. He waits until Bastian’s number ends and the lights come back up, claps even though it’s drowned out by the Resistance group hollering, and then shoves his chair back. “Back shortly.”

By the time Mitaka returns, feeling no more sober than he felt when he had initially stood up, Dameron’s bought another round of drinks. Mitaka takes a deep drink from his immediately—he swears he can still taste Kylo’s lipstick on his mouth, and he’d be a fuck of a lot happier if that would stop happening. “Fuck, I’m wasted,” he says.

“Should have paced yourself,” Phasma replies, setting her phone back on her lap. “Moderation is—”

“Oh, like you would know a damn thing about moderation.”

“I’ll have you know I’m spacing my texts to Armitage out by exactly twenty three minutes.” She smirks. “I can just imagine how fucking furious he is right now.”

Mitaka frowns, brings out his phone anyways. Opens up his text messages, finds Hux’s name, and hesitates.

No, fuck it.

He goes back a screen, texts his boyfriend instead.

Mitaka: Assuming your phone is off.

Mitaka: Thinking of you.

Mitaka: Am reasonably drunk.

Mitaka flips his phone off again, looks back up at the stage. There’s an androgynous performer up there in pants and suspenders, blonde hair up in a short glittery mohawk, and lipstick a screaming bright blue. They’re currently sitting on a small stool—wait, no. Mitaka squints at the stage, because it seems ridiculous that they’re sitting on nothing, and also doing a stocking pull—but no, that’s correct, there’s definitely no chair there, and they’re just supporting their own weight with sheer muscle.

“Okay,” Phasma says. “That’s fantastic control.”

“Shit,” Mitaka breathes. “All this talent—and they’re performing here?”

“I don’t know what you could possibly dislike about this place,” Phasma says lightly. “It’s adorably trashy, and my shoes only get stuck to the occasional bit of floor.”

“I mean, the beer is great,” Mitaka says.

“Speaking of which,” Phasma says. She looks over to the tables where the Resistance dancers are, and holds her empty glass up in the air.

“You’re killing me, Phasma,” Mitaka groans.

“Buck up,” she says. “Still more show left, and you can’t tap out before Kylo fucking Ren performs.”

 For a moment, Mitaka’s hopeful that there’s going to be something calmer. Maybe, like, a feather fan piece. A classic striptease. Something that involves long evening gowns and multiple glove reveals, saxophone and violin or maybe some classical piano. Something where he can just drink some water, relax, watch someone get naked—but no. There’s a juggling duo that’s so fast-paced that Mitaka can hardly follow the pins as they tumble, glowing and flashing about four different colours, through the air. It’s followed by a poi piece where the spinning is so fast the performer needs to duck so she doesn’t nail herself in the head with her own poi.

Mitaka pounds a glass of water while his heart is still racing from the poi piece, and somehow, finally, gets to the end of the beers that have continuously been showing up at his table. The next round that shows up is just two gin and tonics, and Mitaka opens his mouth to complain—and then closes his mouth again, because what would be the point? He’s verging on being uncomfortably drunk, and he really doesn’t want to be, because any minute now, Kylo Ren is going to take the stage—

The next piece is a contortion piece. The dancer is small, feminine, and not, under any circumstances, Kylo Ren.

Mitaka sighs, and goes to the bar for another water, trying to ignore the twinge from the headache that’s starting to creep in even though he’s still drunk.

 “Well, well, well,” Phasma says.

Mitaka raises his head off his arms. “Hmm?”

She gestures toward the stage, takes an appreciative sip from her gin and tonic.

Mitaka looks.

Blinks.

Kylo Ren is.

Well.

He’s.

“I’m too drunk for this,” Mitaka murmurs.

“Hux is going to eat his own liver,” Phasma says, grinning. “He’s fucking gorgeous, look at him!”

And, holy shit, Phasma’s right—he fucking is. Tall and broad, sparkling in the light with his hair hanging long around his shoulders, spinning a staff in each hand like it isn’t even a thing. He’s hardly wearing anything—black pleather arm guards that cover his arms from elbows to wrists, coming to a point over the back of his hand, black shorts that look like they’ve been painted on his body, showing off his muscular thighs and round ass, fishnets, and—

“Ugh, dance sneakers?”

“I know,” Phasma says smugly. “I’m getting a picture when he comes over this way, Hux would murder him.”

“I might murder him,” Mitaka says.

Kylo’s over on stage left right now, idly spinning one staff in each hand, looking out at the crowd.

“That’s something different with his mouth,” Phasma says suddenly. “He doesn’t smile like that when he’s performing usually.”

Mitaka would roll his eyes—except that would mean he’d have to take his attention away from Kylo for a moment, and he finds that he doesn’t particularly want to do that.

The staves stop spinning, suddenly, and there’s a pause right before Kylo slams the butt end of each staff, one after the other, down on the stage. Another moment of silence, perfectly aligning to a gap in his music—at least Hux would appreciate the timing—and then the staves light up, brilliant LED rainbows that nearly blind Mitaka for a moment before his eyes adjust.

“Holy shit,” he breathes, because Kylo Ren has started spinning the staves again, and holy fuck, the lights are drawing circles and swirls into the air, the afterimages lingering in brilliant rainbow paths behind him. It’s like the poi piece from earlier—only more, so much more, because Kylo is huge, his stage presence as well as his physicality, and there’s something about the way that he paces the stage as though he owns it, spinning one of the staves above his head and the other at his side as he paces all the way to the back of the stage, and then looks out at the audience—looks out at them—

“Oh bloody hell,” Mitaka says, and he doesn’t even have time to push his chair back before Kylo is running full tilt at them, actually jumping off the stage like a fucking gazelle, landing on the table in front of them, and then just as quickly stepping onto their table—so close to Mitaka that Mitaka could reach up and touch his calf—and then onto the table behind them before stopping, looking up, and—

—holy fucking shit, tossing one of his illuminated staves up into the air, tipping his head back, and feeding the other one right down his fucking throat.

“That’s right,” Phasma says. “Right down your throat, big boy.”

Mitaka watches in shock as Kylo reaches up, catches the other staff as it falls, holding it up above his head. He’s seen the sword-swallowing before on the archive footage, he knew Kylo could do it, but there’s a massive difference between watching something on professionally edited video, and watching it in a weirdly lit bar as the performer in question swallows a staff while standing on a table in fucking dance sneakers.

He’s up on his feet applauding before he’s even consciously decided to do it, watches as Kylo pulls the staff out of his throat, and then bows, table wobbling underneath him. Mitaka can feel his heart pounding, knows he’s short of breath.

“That was fucking phenomenal,” he says as soon as the applause has died down, and Kylo has loped backstage.

Phasma grins at him wickedly. “I think I see what Hux sees in him.”

Mitaka makes a face. “For fuck’s sake, stop taunting him. He’ll be a nightmare—you know that, right?”

She shrugs. “I thought you guys were like this again.” She extends her fingers, middle crossed over first. “I mean, you forgave him.”

“I’ve got a heart,” Mitaka points out. “You, on the other hand.”

Phasma grins. “It’s not your heart, it’s the thing where you think you can manipulate him into—”

“Aaaaaand that’s enough of that,” Mitaka says. He shoves his chair. “I’m gonna go talk to their stage manager. You coming?”

“No, I’m going to finish—that fucker,” Phasma says, looking down at the table and then down at the floor. “Bastard kicked over my drink.”

“Maybe he’ll buy you another,” Mitaka suggests.

 “Your stage manager,” Mitaka repeats, once he’s actually found someone he recognizes. “I’d like to talk to your—”

“Heard you the first time,” the girl chirps. “But we don’t have one, not for a show this size.”

“There were eight performances,” Mitaka says. “No, wait. Nine. Sorry, I’m drunk.”

She laughs a little, and then shrugs. “Still doesn’t change the fact that we don’t have one. I mean, Poe likes to pretend like he’s doing it, but honestly, he didn’t need to do shit, he’s just—he’s just here,” she says, as though the end of her sentence wasn’t at all what she’d meant at the beginning. She frowns at him. “Who did you say you were again?”

“Dopheld Mitaka,” he says, extending his hand. “Not here officially,” he adds hurriedly. “Just—personally.”

Her eyes narrow, but she shakes his hand anyway. “Jessika Pava. You a reporter or something?”

“No,” he says, “I stage manage—” And it’s a great time to lie, but he’s drunk, and his mouth just goes ahead and commits to the bullshit coming out of his brain. “The Knights,” he says heavily. “I stage manage the Knights of Ren.”

She stares at him for a moment, and then laughs in his face. “Oh my god,” she says.

“I wasn’t there,” he says tightly. “For the—I wasn’t there.”

She raises her beer at him, takes a swig from her glass. “I mean, that does explain a lot. Oh, and that’s why the blonde lady looks so familiar!” She turns to her right, yells at a group of people. “Karé! You were right!”

“I know!” comes the answering yell. The blue-lipped, mohawked androgynous performer from before swaggers up from where they’d been sitting, drapes an arm around Pava’s shoulders. “He with them too?”

“Stage manager,” Pava says.

Karé’s eyes glint. “Karé Kun,” they say, extending their hand.

“She’s my girlfriend,” Pava says proudly.

“Partner,” Karé corrects, flicking Pava on the nose.

Pava winces, and then grins. Looks over Mitaka’s shoulder. “Hey, Poe, we were just—”

“I fucking lost him,” Dameron gripes, striding over and running his hand back through his hair, still looking around the bar. “He’s probably—no, wait, I see him. Fuck, he’s talking to one of the goddamn Knights again—”

“We weren’t,” Mitaka says. Licks his lips nervously when Dameron turns to him. “Part of the Knights,” he clarifies. “We were separate, before—we’re not—” He sighs, looks over to the bar. Kylo is standing there, leaning in close to Phasma. It’s a disaster waiting to happen. “I’ll just go. I’ll send—I can send—Kylo—” Mitaka stops talking, waves his hand vaguely. “Back this way,” he finishes.

Dameron’s eyes are narrowed. “Are you sure you guys are okay over there?” he asks. “Like, I mean. I don’t care. But.”

“We’re fine,” Mitaka lies. “Everything’s fine.” He smiles like he means it, watches Dameron’s face soften. “Congratulations. It was a good show.”

“Sure,” Dameron says. “I mean—yeah. Of course it was.”

 “I’m just saying,” Kylo slurs to Phasma. “You are so stunning.” He’s dressed now, his hoodie actually on and halfway zipped up. His chest is still exposed via the deep scoop neck of his tank top, and his stage makeup has mostly been washed off, fake eyelashes removed—everything gone except for thick black eyeliner around his eyes, a fresh application of lipstick, and the ever-present glitter. He has the same jeans on as he had before, except after watching him put a staff down his throat with hardly any visible effort, Mitaka wonders at the cause of the wear and tear on the knees of Kylo’s black jeans.

As Mitaka watches, Kylo reaches out, touching Phasma’s face, and for some fucking reason, she actually lets him, appears to be genuinely smiling.

Mitaka slows his pace as he approaches the bar, phenomenally fucking confused and trying to figure out if he’s more drunk than he thinks he is. He carefully and quickly touches the tip of each finger to his thumb, fumbles a bit on the fourth finger, but is otherwise quick and accurate enough to know that he’s not trashed, so—what the fuck is happening?

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Phasma says.

Mitaka blinks.

“But you’re a fucking mess right now,” she continues, and Mitaka relaxes fractionally, continues up to the bar. At this rate, he might as well order another drink, it’s not like sobering up is helping him understand tonight any better.

Kylo grins at her, tips his head to the side. “Have I told you,” he asks. “That it’s my birthday today? So if I’m ever entitled to be a mess—I think it’s today.”

“I don’t know,” Phasma says slyly. “You seem like the type of boy that might be a mess a lot of the time.”

“Maybe I am,” he says. “And maybe I’m not. You could find out, if you wanted.”

She reaches up, pats his cheek lightly. “You’re entirely too drunk for me to even consider that.”

Kylo hesitates a moment, and then grins loosely at her. “Good point. I’m pretty wasted.”

“Last thing I need is a case of a whiskey dick,” Phasma continues, and fucking hell, Mitaka really wishes he’d gone to the bathroom instead of standing by the bar beside the two of them. Like—this can’t be a thing. This can absolutely not be a thing, but he knows damn well if they keep pursuing it, he’s just going to go to the back room and collect Thanisson, and—move, or quit, or try working somewhere where his two closest coworkers aren’t sociopaths.

(He’s not going to do any of those things. He’s going to work until he dies, because that’s who he is as a person.)

“I can get it up for anything,” Kylo confides, probably louder than what he actually meant to.

Mitaka is going to die. He is going to dissolve into a puddle, and he is going to die.

“But I am pretty fucking drunk,” Kylo continues. “And it’s probably better if—yeah.” His face darkens for a moment, and then clears, easy smile reappearing like the sun from behind clouds. “Lemme buy you a drink, though, gorgeous? And I’ll get one for him too.”

Phasma turns. “Oh, Mitaka. You’re back.”

“Wish I’d stayed gone,” he answers ruefully.

Phasma grins viciously at him. “But I’m having such fun right now.”

“Well, that makes one of us.”

“Two of us,” Kylo answers, handing a pint over to Mitaka, and then a gin and tonic to Phasma. “And I bet I can make it three.” He extends his own pint somewhat unsteadily in a toast. “To good drinks, and better company.”

“To an unparallelled ability to deepthroat,” Phasma says, grinning.

Mitaka winces, raises his glass wordlessly, shakes his head minutely when Phasma raises her eyebrows.

Their glasses clink together heavily, and they all drink.

“I think Dameron was looking for you,” Mitaka says after he’s swallowed.

Kylo grins at him. “Thanks, man. I’ll go track him down.” He takes a couple unsteady steps away, and then turns back. “Hey, if y’all are ever in D’Qar—look us up.”

“We’ll see,” Mitaka demurs. He waits until Kylo has—rather drunkenly—wandered off before turning to Phasma. “Seriously?”

She’s still watching Kylo walk away. “He’s really something, isn’t he.”

“Please tell me you weren’t filming that.”

“Of course not,” she says, and she tips her phone toward Mitaka. “Just taking a couple pictures.”

Fuck, the man even looks good in candids.

Mitaka takes another drink of his beer. “Did you bother telling him you’ve been texting pictures of him to Hux all night?”

“Also video,” Phasma says absently, tapping away on her phone. “I managed to get the staff swallowing. And no, I didn’t.”

Mitaka pinches the bridge of his nose. “I’m not even sober and I can feel my hangover happening.”

“Well, isn’t that unfortunate for you.” She glances down at her phone again. “Oh, he’s so pissed. Goddamn, I love how reliably he falls to pieces.” She considers a moment. “Should I bother telling him that Kylo is currently grinding with some girl on top of a table?”

“There’s no need to make things up,” Mitaka mutters into his beer.

“That’s the glory of Kylo Ren,” Phasma says. She gestures to the other side of the bar, where Kylo is—

—oh, for fuck’s sake.

“Those two fucking deserve each other,” Mitaka says. “What the fuck. Don’t tell Hux I said that.”

“Why not?” Phasma asks. “He’s so easy to rile up.”

“That’s nice for you,” Mitaka says. “You just have to put his ribs back into place. I’m the one that actually needs to get him to work with people.”

“He’ll get it sorted out,” Phasma says. “I mean, how much worse could it possibly get?”

There’s a tug at Mitaka’s sleeve.

He turns, just in time for Thanisson to tackle him in a sloppy embrace, sniff heavily into his shoulder.

Apparently gambling hadn’t gone well.

“Aw, sweetheart,” Mitaka says. He nuzzles at the side of Thanisson’s head. “It’s alright, you’ll have better luck next time.”

“I lost everything,” Thanisson says mournfully.

Mitaka does a quick mental calculation, swallows back his sigh. “Alright, we’ll just—”

“Everything except this ten grand!” Thanisson says, stepping back and fanning out a ridiculous wad of cash.

Mitaka can think of about fifteen things to say—things like holy fuck and don’t wave that around in here, we’ll get robbed and how many people did you cheat and, primarily, what the hell—but he doesn’t say any of them, just looks at his boyfriend blankly.

Thanisson grins at him, all dimples and freckles. “I did good, ‘taka! Drinks on me! Let’s get some food! And some shots!” He shoves most of the cash into Mitaka’s hands, and stands there, bouncing on the balls of his feet a moment.

“You did well,” Mitaka manages finally, and Thanisson grins, wide enough to nearly split his face open.

“I’m gonna grab us shots!” Thanisson says, and then he’s off to the other end of the bar.

“Oh my god,” Mitaka says quietly, trying to fold the cash and jam it in one of his pockets. It doesn’t go gracefully, and he fumbles trying to split it into two stacks, regrets that he’s not wearing a jacket with additional pockets. “He’s never won that much before, I’m never going to hear the end of this.”

“Absolutely never,” Phasma says. “How the hell much did you send him in there with?”

“Two grand,” Mitaka says. “I sent him in there with two grand and he made it into ten.”

Phasma grins. “Well, there you go. You’ve got an alternate career—another alternate career—if you—oh, haha. Hux is back at his phone.”

“Do I even want to know?” Mitaka asks.

She chuckles, tips her phone toward him, and it’s just—holy hell, it’s a wall of text, with a series of phrases jumping out at Mitaka.

—fucking knew he was a goddamn slut—

—telling you for years—

—never listen—

—no way I’m getting in touch—

—why would I—

—ruined my career—

—are you fucking high—

Mitaka hands Phasma her phone back. “How long’s that rant been going?”

“Since I sent him the video,” she says. “I’ve got—eighteen minutes left before I send another text. I think this candid, huh?” She tips her phone back toward Mitaka.

It’s a candid of Kylo walking away from them. His ass looks fantastic.

“You know what,” Mitaka says. “I’m just gonna leave you to that. I’ll just … not get involved.”

“Suit yourself,” Phasma says, grinning. “I’m sure the next text is just gonna be more of the same, but it’s only midnight and he doesn’t sleep until four, so there’s all kinds of time for things to devolve.”

Mitaka rolls his eyes, takes the shot Thanisson offers him and sets it down on the bar, where hopefully he’ll just completely forget to drink it.

Thanisson tosses back his own shot and grins at him again, all dimples. His cheeks are slightly flushed. “Oh, hey. Was Kylo Ren any good?”

“Yeah,” Mitaka says. “He was quite good, actually.”

“Magnificant,” Phasma says wickedly, holding her phone up and taking another photo.

Goddamn, does Mitaka’s head hurt—and it’s gonna hurt worse if he goes back to Citadel tomorrow like they’d intended. “Hey, so. Thanisson. How’d you—how would you—feel if we … stayed here a couple extra days?”

“Work thing?” Thanisson asks. He licks some of the salt off the rim of his glass.

“No,” Mitaka says, telling the truth.

The eyebrow Thanisson raises at him indicates that he should have lied.

Phasma looks down at her phone, and chuckles.

Thanisson looks over at Phasma, back to Mitaka, and then to Phasma again—or, more specifically, to Phasma’s phone. “Oh,” he says. “I get it. Phasma’s riling Hux up and you wanna give him a couple days to cool down, so you’re faking that it has nothing to do with work so that I’ll go along with it.”

Mitaka rolls his eyes. “You could just let me pretend I’m giving you a vacation.”

“You don’t take vacations,” Thanisson says. He licks more salt off the rim of his glass, and then leans up against the bar and snuggles up against Mitaka’s side. “Thank you, though.” He leans into Mitaka’s ear. “Daddy.”

Mitaka can feel himself blushing furiously, and does not make eye contact with Phasma, instead looking out across the bar where Kylo Ren has the poi performer up on his shoulders, and glassware be damned because there’s no way she’s not dropping at least one of her pints in the next thirty seconds—

“Wait,” Thanisson says, following Mitaka’s gaze. “That’s the guy Hux fucked?”

“That’s him,” Phasma confirms. “Your boyfriend is into it, incidentally.”

Thanisson makes a face, and a disgusted noise.

Mitaka sighs. “Could we please never discuss Kylo Ren again?”

Phasma looks down at her phone. “Oh, for sure,” she says. “But that would mean I’d have to keep this latest batch of Hux texts to myself …”

Mitaka picks up the shot he’d been trying to abandon, and tosses it back. It burns all the way down his chest into his stomach. “Go ahead,” he says, regretting it already. “Show me.”