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twig-tea · 3 months

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Communication styles, mirroring, and new relationship growing pains in Cooking Crush

In Cooking Crush ep7 we get a lot of really cute moments and really wonderful plot arcs that fly in the face of BL tropes (Nobly ghosting your crush because you think their life is better without you? Breaking up rather than simply agreeing to take time apart to focus or be in different places? Not clarifying your feelings? Making assumptions about your partner's physical comfort levels? Ten said not today, Satan!).

And! We also got a lot of more subtle goodness that I want to take a second to highlight around the feeling out of their relationship that happens between Ten and Prem in this episode. They each try out ways of showing affection, and of communicating, and it sometimes lands and sometimes doesn't, and they also take turns trying out one another's methods on each other! They slowly start to use more of each other's styles, and they get better and better at understanding one another as a result. I'm mildly obsessed, so let's break it down.

First, after Ten blocks Prem from leaving (communicating that he needs an explanation--first with his actions and then with words), we get Prem trying out the cute nuzzle-y apology in the grocery store, and then going in for a peck kiss (and Ten meeting him immediately and then getting flustered, loved this!). This was such a good moment because Prem uses the kiss in place of words, to indicate his feelings (he says "do you know now? you're not the only one" but doesn't specify he's talking about his feelings). This theme comes back in the episode later.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan; full set here]

At the cafe, Ten lies about having eaten and then not having eaten to appease Prem, and Prem immediately noticing and pinching him about it--this white lie for Prem's peace of mind clearly did not land well.

And then Ten tries to make up with him by mirroring the way Prem did to him in the grocery store (the cute nuzzling). And this seems to land better; Prem eventually gets flustered but tells him it was cute. And then Ten goes to get Prem food, because feeding one another is already an established-effective form of communication for them. Ten comes back and makes a really cheesy pun about sweet food/soulmates and it does not land and he sits a bit ashamedly back down.

[Ignore the two caption formatting styles, that was me being too lazy to go back to WeTV but wanting more screenshots so getting them from YouTube.]

He tries physical touch again instead, by reaching out with his foot. And again, it doesn't land, Prem confusedly asks him what he's doing. And then Prem accidentally (?) reciprocates--awkwardly because he doesn't really get it. And so Ten explains that this was supposed to be a signal that they should kiss some more. He decides to use words, and this works! Prem nods and goes with him to make out against some very unstable bookshelves lol

Ten asks Prem if he wants to continue--using words because that's what has worked best so far--and Prem gives him the green light nod again.

And so they try again, and again get interrupted, and Ten gives up. But this time Prem uses Ten's method--words--to ask if he wants to continue, and Ten gives him the green-light nod back! Again, they continue to mirror one another's styles of communication when they see it works.

[Both this and the previous gif above done by @tenprems, with full gifset of this exchange and the mirrored nods available here]

This next tiny moment was cut from the YouTube version, but in the car, Prem gives Ten another one of the now-established-as-effective green light nods before jumping into his lap lol Loved these continuous check-ins and establishing of mutual interest!

Back in the cafe after giving up on making out--and how much do I love the frustration about not just being able to kiss all the time, and not having a good place to go because they both live with their families, this was so relatable--Ten says his feelings outright (this is the Ten way) and tries cuddling in again, because Prem said he thought it was cute before, and Prem responds positively by verbally saying he feels the same, which gets Ten to pop back up in excitement because this is the first time Prem has said aloud he has feelings!

I love this moment that follows because it establishes just how differently the two of them think about communication. Ten, until now, was unsure about Prem's feelings because Prem never said them aloud. Now that he has, Ten takes that as a signal to ask if they can move to the talking/hitting-on stage. Prem looks at him like he's ridiculous, because they just made out in three separate locations lol and points out that obviously they're already past that stage. To Prem, his actions should have been clear enough to communicate enough of his feelings to Ten. Again, like in the grocery store, Prem thinks actions are explicit and clear, while Ten finds them ambiguous and wants clear and explicit words. And as they continue testing and mirroring communication methods on these dates, Prem starts to use more words and Ten uses more actions, and they understand one another better.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan full set here]

Later in the episode, Prem brings Ten food, because as mentioned this is an established as effective communication method for them. He overhears the fight with Ten and his father, and leaves, because that conversation underscored his worst fears about his relationship with Ten--that he'd make Ten's life worse by being in it. Prem defaults back to his usual methods of communication--avoidance and action--and Ten holds him back and uses his words to describe his feelings. And Prem goes back to meeting him halfway and responds with words! He explains exactly how he feels to Ten.

And in response, Ten goes for action to comfort Prem--he knows this speaks to Prem more by this point.

And then he goes back to words and explains his plan to Prem to stay apart for now so that they can be together in future. Later, Prem runs into Ten at the cafe, and goes to touch him--again, action being his primary language of communication. He goes to leave and Ten asks him to stay, and explains with words that he'll be out of town for the mid-semester break. He asks Prem for a lunchbox for the trip--again, asking for their tried-and-true food in order to get reassurance of Prem's feelings for while they're apart. And Prem, in response, uses his words to confirm that he knows he's in Ten's heart. He then asks Ten for physical affection in return ("recharge my battery").

I love this moment in particular because it does three things:

Establishes that Prem is more interested in Ten's love than his money

Combines their communication styles by both being physical and verbal since Prem explained verbally that this hug was important to him

Confirms in Prem's style (non-verbal communication) that he's still open to physical affection even given their slightly ambiguous status.

And Ten immediately acknolwedges receipt of this message by kissing Prem--again using Prem's preferred communication method and mirroring his actions in the grocery store at the start of the episode--and then following it up with a verbal explanation (because he's Ten).

In the final scene of the episode, Prem brings Ten the food as promised, but explains he also included a written note with the food (more explicit communication!). And Ten responds to that by offering a hug. Every time one of them tries to meet the other halfway, the other does too, and it gives me LIFE.

Prem pulls away, and Ten checks in verbally, but Prem doesn't run off like usual. He stays to explain, because he's learned now that Ten needs that verbal reassurance around what's going on with him. And Ten responds physically, by wiping away Prem's tears.

He then tries this cheesy thing with the glasses as a metaphor, and it does not land, Prem is too practical.

[gif by @gunsatthaphan, full set here]

But he does make another metaphor about seeing only him--again, meeting Ten halfway. And then he tries to make a joke about how he, Prem, would flirt around while Ten is away, and again it does not land lol. He immediately backtracks and instead makes a cheesy pun, mirroring the one that Ten made in the cafe that did not land at all for Prem, and for Ten it clearly lands, he looks quietly really charmed by this. I loved this so much, there's something extra sweet about someone who hates puns making a pun for you because they know you love them.

And then Prem says explicitly and clearly in words, "I promise I will wait for you".

Ten starts his journey and opens the lunchbox, and reads the note from Prem. Unlike the previous (often partially failed) attempts that Prem has made to communicate his feelings through food without explaining what he was trying to say (I'm thinking of when he made that lunchbox full of things that turned out to be food Ten doesn't like, or when he made all of Ten's favourite foods and brought it to school pretending it was leftovers but the fact that Ten had read Prem's deleted text message made Ten understand that it was actually for him), this time Prem has explained with words exactly what he was trying to express with his choice in food.

These forays into feeling out one another's communication styles, styles of humour, finding one another's hard lines (don't lie to make me feel better; don't joke about cheating on me) and just getting a sense of what works and what the other needs, this is bread and butter early relationship stuff, and the show is quietly depicting it so well. I had such a great time watching Ten and Prem not just fall in love, but learn how to effectively be in a relationship with each other this episode!

Huge thanks to the giffers @gunsatthaphan and @tenprems being fast enough to make gifs that I could include in this meta! If anyone gifs any of these other scenes I described, especially the battery recharge and Ten popping up excitedly hearing Prem use his words, please tag me!~

#cooking crush the series #cooking crush #bl meta #typed so that i could stop thinking it

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punchitmrsulu · 1 month

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Hi I'm new to the walking dead for the Rick and michonne show! I want to watch where should I start? Can I ask who is Jessie and why was he miserable? It just seems like such a fun fandom there's so much lore I kinda want to know everything. How far back should I go to get the full story from the actors and everything? I kind of live for the kind of stuff lol. But it's OK if it's a lot to explain. I thought about just spending a few days digging through the tag as far back as I could go. This show and all the gifsets and all the fun everyone is having kinda has me obsessed a little bit. But should I watch the whole series? It's eleven seasons lol.

I'll explain it all to you, no problem! I'll just warn you there will be a few spoilers though, ok? It's kinda hard to explain without them, so if you don't want spoilers, don't read on.

Listen, Rick and Michonne aside (who are awesome, amazing, perfect) The Walking Dead is a REALLY good show all around. It's honestly got some of the best writing I've ever seen on TV. So, if you like TV shows and you're looking for a good one, I'd advise you to watch it all from the beginning. It is indeed a lot but it's gonna go by so fast, because it's so good, you won't even feel it. Seriously, all of the characters, the dynamics between them, the bonds they all forge, the development of the characters, the relationships, the narrative, the found family aspect of it, it's all chef's kiss. And Rick and Michonne is like the cherry on top. It's like, in case you thought we couldn't make things even better, here's the best couple of all time for you, enjoy.

Now, focusing on just Rick and Michonne, I'd still advise you to watch it from the beginning so that you can FULLY appreciate it when they finally get together. Cause we have Rick's relationship with Lori (his dead wife) in the beginning of the show, which was just not good at all, she never had his back, so when he finally meets Michonne and she becomes his partner in every way, even before they fall in love, it's just got a different flavor when it finally happens, you know? Cause everything he has with Michonne is the complete opposite of what he had with Lori, and it's glorious, and you can see why they were made for each other and are soulmates, so unless you see that relationship first, it's not gonna have the same impact in my humble opinion.

As for Jessie, and Andy being miserable about Rick's storyline with her on the panels, Jessie is a character (the most generic character you can possibly think of) that shows up closer to the end of season 5, before Rick and Michonne get together, and she's on the show for 14 episodes. Rick is kind of having a bit of a breakdown at this point and he develops a little thing for her but nothing really happens between them. They only share one very chaste kiss, which is shown from a distance. You see, Jessie's kind of a stand-in for his dead wife at this point in his storyline. Her fragility kinda reminds him of her, her husband is abusive and so she's someone he can save like he couldn't save his wife. She's like a second chance for him to save his dead wife, that was her whole purpose.

But the whole thing is just very forced and stupid and nobody wanted it, everybody was already shipping Richonne then for a long time, so it made NO sense. And at the time, the marketing for the show was really pushing this whole Jessie thing, so Andy's miserable on all the panels where that storyline is brought up because he had always wanted Rick and Michonne together, even his mom wanted it, both he and Danai (the actress who plays Michonne) have both said they were always playing romance when it came to Rick and Michonne, and it's very clear from the writing that that's where things were headed, so again, this Jessie person made NO sense. So, on the panels, whenever the Jessie storyline was brought up, Andy would usually keep his head down, hiding behind his hat and wouldn't say anything, wouldn't express anything, only the actress playing Jessie talked. He really just wanted to forget that storyline was a thing at all, it was bad enough he had to play it.

But thankfully, like I said, nothing really happens between them, she's in it for just a few episodes and then Michonne becomes his entire world.

Now, if you only want to watch starting from the point where Rick and Michonne meet, that's right at the end of 3x06. And if you only want to watch from when they get together, that's 6x10. It's still gonna be awesome and amazing, but like I explained, you might not get the FULL experience.

It is indeed many seasons but the first one is only 6 episodes long and from then on, each season is about 13-16 episodes long.

I hope I was able to make things clear for you and if you have any other questions, just ask, I'll be more than happy to answer!

#richonne #one couple to rule them all #rick grimes #michonne #michonne grimes #the walking dead #the ones who live #the walking dead the ones who live #twd #towl #twd towl #andrew lincoln #danai gurira #scott gimple #anti jessie anderson #anti lori grimes

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payidaresque · 1 year

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The New Editor tips and tricks (sort of)

So, i got a lot of interesting activity with my recent poll regarding what editor content makers actually use, and i noticed that some people (well, most actually) really struggle while using it. And as i'm using it for some time now, i found some ways or actually making it work better/be less annoying. Please note that this is in no way an attempt to try to force anyne to start using it, this post is desinged to be a help post for those who may not know how some of its functions work, and maybe an informative post for others, and maybe make content maker's life a little bit easier, and that's it!!!

If you're intrested, please read below. And please pass it along so more people can see it! Thank you. Warning: image/gif heavy!!!

Add more images after you already added some This is useful if you want to add a gif to one side only. If your making a comparison gifset, for example. After you added your gifs, click on the space between them until you see a blue line, and then hit enter. This is useful because you don't need to drag your gif all around, and if it's added to one side, it sticks to one side only. The same applies to the other side

Reorder gifs The most handy way would be by dragging them by those 4 squares thingy. The blue lines may be distracting, but think of it as the guides as to where your content will be placed

Double check What I mean by that is this: when i add my gifs, they usually added into text editor itself, so in order to be sure, I take a gif, and drag it one level above, like this:

Obviously, the new editor needs a hell lot of work before getting implemented permanently, but i hope this will be at least of some help for those who strugling. There's a lot of issues with text formatting as well, maybe it's the matter of a habbit that i don't find it very hard as of uploading/rearranging gifs anymore, my main issue with it, personally, is that it makes my content look ugly for others (surprisingly, they look as intended to me, i checked it like several times before). I do understand that staff needs to update the code that was written over a decade ago, and it's important to think of it from the technical side of things too, because it may be that the old code is outdated, so they simply can't use it anymore, even if they wanted to, cause you know, progress is never sleeps, in every aspect of life, especially such a complicated thing as programming and coding

What i'm trying to say is, that as a content maker myself (i've been making content, mainly gifs, for over 7 years on here), i understand the frustration. Trust me, it pisses me off too. What staff can do tho, is fix the existing bugs

Don't just complain. Explain. Angry tags in reblogs won't help the case. Send them feedback/tickets telling what issues you personally have with the new editor, preferably with screenshots/gifs to show off the problem, so they know it's not just words but actually see the problem. And try to be as detailed as possible. The new editor kinda sucks, but it's nothing that can't be fixed And maybe they'll listen to us

#tumblah #userbecca #usermorgan #userburn #userkayjay #userelenagilbert #miatendos #usernat #userlarri #userauds #userauden #usermattz #andremichaux #tuserheidi

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astro-b-o-y-d · 1 year

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Yet another Boyd Drake Propaganda Post from yours truly, specifically for the @eggcrackerbracket tournament this time:

First of all, he’s a robot Pinocchio allusion who decided he was a definitely real boy and then he WAS one. We all know robots and Pinocchio allusions are so trans of gender, and so being both makes him extra trans of gender!

Literally uses the phrase ‘I’m Boyd, a Definitely Real Boy!’ to introduce himself. 🥺🥺🥺

The entirety of Astro BOYD involves him fighting to be seen as a regular boy rather than a killing machine. He even fights against the programming of an evil scientist trying to use him as a weapon and MAKES THE CHOICE to be a real boy. His transgenderism is so strong, he can even fight against evil programming that is trying to control him and WIN.

Astro BOYD as a whole could very well be an allegory for what it’s like to be neurodivergent, in addition to being an allegory for being transgender. Him and Huey Duck are clearly autistic-coded, and the phrase ‘He’s a kid like me, just wired a little differently’ is used.

They’re also best friends and spend a chunk of the episode taking a tour of furry Tokyo to do research for a shared special interest. (Also I like to imagine it doubles as a date for them, because cute 🥺).

Huey also spends the entire episode reaffirming Boyd’s desire to be seen as a real boy. He’s the best triplet for this reason alone.

Less happy fact about the episode, Boyd’s creator ends up misgendering him as ‘it’ for a spell and reject his claims of being a real boy because of some stuff that happens within the episode.

But it’s fine because he’s going up to bat for him by the end and his reaffirmation of Boyd’s chosen identity is what ends up saving the day in the end. (Also Gyro is pretty trans-coded himself so we’ll let it slide but it still took me a while to come around on him as a character 😒).

Even before this episode aired, I already had such a soft spot for Boyd. I literally only started watching the show because I saw GIFsets of a previous episode with him, and he was just so PRECIOUS (and gave me Angus McDonald vibes) so I knew I had to watch the show just so I could get to his debut episode. And then Astro BOYD came along and cemented his place as my absolute favorite character in the show, and probably one of my favorite characters of all time.

Anyway I was lightly dipping my toes into a they/them enby identity before this episode dropped, but after months of having Boyd as a comfort character after the episode aired, a LOT of things began to click for me internally. And now here I am, a he/they transmasc with one of my chosen names being Boyd. (Listen I know technically I was already not-cis before that, but he still absolutely played a big part in delivering the final blow to my egg and helping me settle comfortably into a transmasc identity).

Also one final fact; Scrooge McDuck inspired Astro Boy, the first anime character. And then Ducktales made Boyd, an homage to Astro Boy as a whole. So Boyd is technically only a few steps away from the invention of anime. He deserves some respect for that fact alone from those of you who got their egg cracked by an anime character.

Okay I’m done now. Vote for the boy who cracked my egg because he is so polite and sweet and a definitely real boy and he deserves to at least get past round one 🥺🥺🥺

Also also if you want, watch Ducktales 2017 because it’s pretty fun. Or just watch Astro BOYD, because it’s the best episode. Sorry DWD fans, I know where my loyalties lie.

Also ALSO ALSO in case a DT fan who doesn’t know me might ask why I said Boyd DRAKE:

(Okay now I’m really, REALLY done for now, promise. Mainly bc this post is getting super long and I have a few others drafted before the contest has even started. #BOYDSWEEP)

#Hayley Speaks #Ducktales 2017 #Boyd #Boyd Drake #eggcracketbracket #Long Post #BOYDSWEEP #They gave the okay so LET'S GOOOOO

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writerlyhabits · 1 year

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Panties In A Twist

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x female reader

Word Count: 8.8k

Summary: Jay and Charlie invited your Saturday dancing group over to their place for dinner and drinks. But after New York, you and Bucky have some new developments to explore before you can join your friends.

Ch 14 of the Neighbors Series | Masterlist | Ch. 13 | Ch. 15

Warnings: language, pet names, SMUT [oral- fem rec, fingering, overstimulation? handjob, shower shenanigans], Bucky Barnes is the softest man alive and I want one, a lot of italics, that’s it it’s just filth

AN: I know you see the tags, no I’m not gonna talk about it 😂 @deceiverofgodss thanks for sharing your brain cells, I love you 💛

Gif from @unearthlydust (this whole gifset just fits, okay? its so pretty)

Things had changed in New York. Good things. Great things. This relationship Bucky was in with you, this life with you was nothing short of bliss, and he wanted to soak up every single second of it.

Much to his disappointment, Monday morning brought the reminder that you still had to go into work, putting a damper on his desire to curl up in bed and hide you away from the world. But it didn’t stop him from waking you up softly in the mornings and kiss you languidly as you were walking out the door, which he shouldn’t have been as pleased with himself as he was each time you left a little bit late because of it.

He made up for lost time each afternoon by wrapping you in his overflowing affection when you got home. He could confidently say that you hadn’t gotten through a single meal this week without being pulled into the kitchen to dance, his need to have you close overpowering. And even though you sat down to watch your new show multiple times through the week, you were only about three episodes in since you kept having to rewind it, interrupted by too many impromptu make-out sessions to count.

The hardest part of it all was figuring out what to do with himself during the day while you were at work. He’d made more “progress” on his amends than anticipated – though they weren’t doing shit to improve his nightmares like Raynor kept insisting – and he had accompanied Yori on a handful of different outings, but he only had the stomach to bear those for so long. And Bucky didn’t like lounging around in his own apartment much anymore, finding it too bland and empty. It only served to remind him where he started, and how much your apartment felt like home.

That first day he’d had nothing else to do, he’d emptied the dishwasher. Another day he dusted all of the areas you were too short to reach. And last night after realizing you had laundry to take care of, he’d piped up to offer his help, which had resulted in teaching him how you liked doing your laundry – and subsequently, how to use the machine.

Which led him to where he was now, spending his Friday afternoon folding a basket of your combined laundry with another load in the dryer. And if he was being completely fair, most of this first basket was his. So when he reached into the hamper and pulled out something lacy and delicate and…

Oh.

He should have been embarrassed by the fact that his cock twitched in his pants at the sight of your underwear… if he could even call them that. But he was just a man. A man from the 1940s no less. The thought of you in nothing but nothing but these tiny, see-through panties, accentuating your already perfect ass… he didn’t stand a chance.

The longer he thought about that sight, painting you up like his own personal pin-up poster in his head, the weaker he got. He’d tried to set them aside and forget about them, bury them in your pile of clothes so they were out of sight entirely, but the boner straining against his jeans didn’t allow him that luxury.

Bucky had managed to finish folding the laundry and setting it aside to put away later, though not without his mind wandering to other places. How often did you wear them? Why hadn’t he noticed you wearing them? Why did you hide it from him? Was it part of a matching set?

He was a goner. He wasn’t going to be able to ignore this one, he would have to do something about it or else he was going to implode. He went to glance at his watch to see how long it would be until you got home, not wanting to risk an awkward situation, but the second he did his phone buzzed in his pocket.

River and I managed to sneak away early, I’m on my way home as we speak!! 🙌

Your timing couldn’t have been more perfect. He could wait until you got home, he could absolutely wait for you. As he went to reply, he saw you typing out another message.

We don’t have to be at Jay and Charlie’s for dinner until later tonight, maybe we could watch a few episodes of our show until we have to go?

That does sound fun, but I have something else in mind.

I’m all ears, whatcha got planned??

You’ll just have to find out when you get here.

…

You were almost giddy in anticipation when you reached the top of the stairs to your apartment, Bucky’s mysterious plans for the evening having spurred your imagination the whole drive home. But as you turned your key in the lock, you still had no clue what he could possibly have up his sleeve, pushing the door open in the hopes that you’d have your answers soon.

But you were coming home to Bucky Barnes. You should have known better.

Stepping into your apartment, you smiled wide when you found the culprit sitting back on the couch waiting for you. God he was a sight… Legs spread wide as he took up as much room as possible, and a smug grin on his face as he watched you take your shoes off at the door.

“Hi, Buck!” you called sweetly as you hung your purse up beside his leather jacket.

“Hey baby,” he replied, his voice deep and velvety. You hoped he couldn’t see the way your body reacted to it, a little bit of his Brooklyn peeking out with the endearment. Turning back around to face him, you saw that he’d leaned a little further back to prop his arms up against the back of the couch, silently inviting you to come join him. You didn’t need to be asked twice. “How was your day?”

“It was good! Nothing too bad,” you answered with a shrug as you maneuvered around the coffee table to step up between his open legs. Now that you were within arms reach, he leaned forward to wrap his hands gently around your thighs, pulling you forward so you could sit in his lap. You settled into the position as his hands trailed up your body, brushing over your ass before resting on your hips while you straddled his lap. It was cozy to say the least.

“That’s good,” he sighed, blue eyes traveling across your features now that you were so close. The low rumble of his husky voice sent a chill down your spine, which he definitely noticed. “How’d you and River accomplish playing hookie?”

“We got everything done for the day. Technically they like us to stay and just work on whatever we can, but y’know…” You made a scrunchy face as you shrugged, earning you a deep chuckle from the man beneath you. He brought one of his hands up to hold your jaw, looking at you reverently as he waited for you to finish. “When they have what they need, they don’t really care to notice when two people slip out an hour early.”

When you finished explaining, he pulled you down to press his soft lips against yours, slow and languid the way he did everytime he wanted to throw off your train of thought. As you kissed him back, you wrapped your arms around his neck and settled further into his lap.

Bucky was the first to break the kiss, lingering mere centimeters away as he donned a mischievous grin, settling back against the couch. He pulled you back with him to keep your bodies pressed together, and the angle of your hips allowed you to finally sit comfortably over his.

And the bulge in his pants. The impressive bulge… how hadn’t you noticed it until now?

You tried to ignore it. “What have you been up to today?”

“Nothing much, cleaned a little here and there. I started doing the laundry, but I found something while I was folding it earlier…” he explained, and you watched him expectantly as one of his hands left you to reach into his pocket. His voice was calm and smooth when he continued. “Do you want to tell me when you wore this lacy little black string and I had no idea?”

Bucky held up his hand, and the lingerie you had worn the week before was dangling from his finger.

You short circuited as you stared at the thong in question.

“I- I didn’t have… I ran out of laundry,” you stammered, not quite as graceful as you’d hoped. “It was before your birthday. We weren’t, we hadn’t…”

“I hadn’t fucked you on my fingers yet?” he rasped with a cocked eyebrow, heat shooting directly to your core. You managed to make a sound in confirmation to his lewd question, nodding weakly as he toyed with the garment in his hand. “Well, since I didn’t get to see it last time, I started thinking about how pretty you must’ve looked in them...”

You felt like your brain was moving in slow motion while it was trying to process the flood of inappropriate thoughts rushing through your head, all of them featuring the man sitting beneath you.

“I was curious if it was part of a set,” he continued, reaching up with his other hand to brush his thumb over your cheek, and you shivered in response. “But I was even more curious if you’d show me.” Your brows shot up on your forehead.

“Are you gonna compare me to that picture you painted in your head?” You asked, trying to catch up to his advances, copying his flirtatious mood now that your body seemed to be waking up from the initial shock.

“I don’t think comparing is a fair way to describe it… I jus’ wanna see how beautiful the real thing is,” he whispered, leaning forward to kiss you again and scrambling any thought in your mind that didn’t revolve around him. “What do you say, baby girl?”

Instead of replying, you pressed one more chaste kiss on his lips before leaning back to watch his expression – dark, focused, and very aroused – before you slid your hands down from around his neck. With one hand resting on his chest next to his dog tags, you wrapped the other one around his extended arm, exploring his muscles until you reached his hand, snatching the thong from his grip.

As you got up out of his lap and stood up from the couch, you could tell that he was in the same state you were just moments ago, mind blank save from you while his eyes remained on your figure. He made to get up and follow you, but you reached back out to push him down.

“You gotta be patient, Sarge,” you murmured, letting your voice drop an octave to help create the illusion of a smooth temptress. Bucky’s brow shot up on his forehead and you watched him swallow as his rank left your lips, the corners of his lips turned up in his signature cocky grin. “I need time to make myself pretty for you.”

“You’re already pretty, sweets,” he sighed, his hands coming up to grab at the one you had on his chest, turning it in his grasp to plant a soft kiss to your palm. You had to retreat before he turned you into a puddle.

“I’ll call for you when I’m ready,” you settled on, letting your hand trail through his grasp as you walked away, and you definitely didn’t put an extra swing in your hips for him to watch as you went.

At first it was hard to remember why you had insisted he stay in the living room while you changed, wanting nothing more than to feel his warm body around you as you did. To feel his soft touches while you slipped out of your clothes, have him pressed up against you while you revived your hair… But as you laid yourself out on the bed, draping yourself against the pillows in just the right position, you realized it was more than worth it when you called him back into the room.

Bucky appeared at your bedroom door mere moments after he heard his name, and you watched his eyes dance across the thin layer of black lace that covered your breasts and wrapped around your ass as he leaned against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. He drank in the sight before him, boyish grin growing gradually on his cheeks as he charted every detail of you he could see

“What do you think?” you asked innocently, unable to keep the smile off your cheeks.

“What do I think?” he asked exasperatedly, shaking his head in disbelief as he crossed the room. “I’ll show you what I think.” You giggled softly as he took long strides, appearing at the foot of the bed in no time and climbing onto the bed to crawl up your body, but you stopped him with pointed toes against his chest. His hands came up to caress your calf as he looked at you expectantly.

“C’mon Barnes, even the playing field a little,” you drawled, dragging the cotton up the ridges of his abs to get your point across.

“Yes ma’am,” he chuckled, and you watched with interest as he set your leg back down onto the bed to pull his shirt over his head. You watched the way his shoulders moved, how his muscles flexed as he tossed it across the room, and the moving plates of his left arm when he did.

“You’re like a work of art,” you groaned, earning a belly laugh from the man towering over you, no stranger to the way you looked at him. When you thought that he’d be back on you, you watched in awe as he stepped back to shed his dark jeans. You gave him a look of surprise when he glanced back up at you, bent over as he unhooked the offending clothing from one of his ankles.

“Thought you wanted me to even the playing field,” he snarked, smirking as he stepped out of his jeans and stood to his full height, and you saw the muscular thighs he always hides. The fact that they filled your head with dirty thoughts on their own probably meant something, but it was a fact nonetheless.

"I don't know if we're playing the same game," you giggled, and he furrowed his brows in confusion as he propped his hands up on his hips, accentuating just how broad his shoulders were.

"What game are you playing?"

“The one where you get back over here.” Bucky’s nose scrunched up the way you loved when he laughed, quickly remedying the situation by climbing back up onto the bed to pick back up where he left off.

His hands made contact with you at your ankles, cool hands leaving goosebumps as they trailed up your legs to slide around your hips, fitting your ass into his large hands to find out just how much your panties didn’t cover. The vibranium sent a chill up your spine as his fingers moved up the small of your back, gliding over your skin to stop just below your breasts, toying with the edge of the lacy band.

Before you could prompt him to keep exploring, Bucky propped himself up to nudge your nose with his, the only warning you got before he connected his lips to yours in a searing kiss. It was charged, hungry, depraved. It didn’t take long before he was teasing your lips with his tongue, begging for entrance.

Right as you let him in, he nudged one of your legs to the side with his knee, making himself cozy between them. You let out a surprised gasp at the feeling of his body slotting so perfectly against yours – the weight of his erection barely concealed with his boxers and your string the only obstacles – but he swallowed the sound before it had a chance to go far, his tongue dominating your mouth with ease.

Your hands instinctively reached up to his hair, raking your nails across his scalp as they traveled down, the vibrations of his near growl making you moan in return. The tips of your fingers trailed down the side of his neck, toying with the chain of his tags while he poured his soul into you. You clung onto his broad shoulders for a moment, the sheer size of them making your head spin, before your hands finally landed on top of his. Finding your grip, you gently urged him to adjust his hold on you, moving slowly until his mismatched hands were cupping your breasts beneath the lingerie.

Bucky groaned, pulling away from the kiss to look between your bodies, his breath ragged as he rested his forehead against yours. He brushed his thumbs over your soft skin, entranced by the handful of your tits in his hands. When he gave a light squeeze, you took a sharp inhale and his gaze snapped up at you, his blue eyes completely lust-blown.

“God, you’re so beautiful,” he breathed, catching your lips in a quick kiss and pulling away with your bottom lip between his teeth. Then he was diving right back in, his soft lips latching onto your jaw, planting kisses on the spot under your ear and along your neck. “So fucking beautiful.”

You felt like you were floating as Bucky adored – worshiped – you. His lips dragged across your skin, stopping to litter each and every inch of your body with his affection. He kissed the skin where your neck met your shoulder and again across your collarbone, before he sucked on the skin just above your breasts, soft and pillowy enough to get a rise out of you while he left his mark. He glanced up at you as he moved lower, watching your reaction intently as he ever so delicately pushed the lace coverings aside.

When his tongue laved over your nipple, your back arched off the bed to seek him out, feeling his satisfied grin before you saw it. Encouraged by your body’s reaction, he took your tit into his mouth, sucking lightly as he started massaging the other bud with his vibranium thumb. And when you finally looked back down to watch him, you could feel a new wave of arousal leaking out of you at the sight.

Fuck he was hot.

By the time he’d finished giving your other breast equal attention – having sucked, nipped, licked, and pinched both sets of perked nipples – you genuinely thought you might be able to cum just from this. Was that possible? Did it really matter if it was possible for James Barnes to accomplish it?

He managed to drag himself away from them, giving you a sweet smile as he continued kissing down your body, hands caressing your sides as his lips ghosted over your sternum and traveled down to your stomach. And then there was a shift… where he had been cocky and sure, now he seemed to have lost some of that bravado, though no less eager as he adjusted his position.

“What’s wrong, Buck?” you asked softly, your tone still smooth and seductive as you checked in. He gave you a quick smile as he inched down the bed so he could lay on the mattress and ease your ankles over his shoulders.

“Nothing! Nothing… I just…” he trailed off, but you could tell there very clearly was something on his mind.

“We don’t have to do anything.”

“I want to do everything,” he rasped, and you took a second to let the shiver run though your body in reaction.

“Mmm… like what?” you tested, and he placed a gentle kiss to the inside of your leg as he contemplated his answer.

“Like burying my face between these pretty thighs,” he murmured, and in any other circumstance it would have ruined you. But he still wasn’t giving you a solid answer as to what was wrong.

“What’s stopping you?” His eyes danced across your body as he mulled over whatever was plaguing him, and you reached down to comb his hair back soothingly, relaxing a little as he leaned into your touch.

“I uh… it’s been a really long time…” he whispered in admittance. “I just, I might be a bit rusty,” he laughed nervously, and you gave him a reassuring smile.

“You’re already doing better than most,” you cooed, and when one eyebrow shot up on his forehead, you knew your words had exactly the effect you hoped they would. Because if there was one thing you knew about James Barnes, it’s that he was a giver, come hell or high water.

And maybe the best way to make him forget about his insecurities is to tap into his giving nature.

“Seriously?” he asked incredulously, and when you only nodded, he sighed in indignation. “Oh baby… I can make it so much better.”

“Why don’t you show me?” you lilted, and it was like you had flipped a switch, watching the eager grin grow on his cheeks.

Bucky took his eyes off of you to focus them at your core, swallowing hard when he was met with the see-through lace panties sitting in his way without blocking the view. You could tell that he was still nervous, even if just in the back of his mind. But he took his time tracing soothing patterns into the skin of your thighs before he took his right hand and hooked a finger into the delicate material, devastatingly slow as he pulled it off to the side.

His warm tongue licked up through your folds, and you were only vaguely aware of the low moan that left your body of its own accord. You could feel the hesitation leave his body, finding his confidence the second he had his mouth on you. He attached his lips to your clit and groaned as he began lightly sucking on your bundle of nerves, the vibrations of his deep voice shooting just as much pleasure through you as his attention to your sex. Licking and sucking and teasing…

“Fuck, James…” you breathed, your legs instinctively shuttering closed as he continued to work. He adjusted his grip on your body without detaching himself, sliding his arms underneath your ass so that he could reach up and slowly stretch your legs open as much as you would allow, giving him a better angle to admire your weeping pussy.

You whined when he released your clit and began lapping at your juices like a man starved. It was hard trying to keep your eyes open to watch him, but you didn’t dare look away, not when his expert tongue was making you feel like you were floating.

“You taste so good baby, I could live between your legs,” he rambled as he adjusted, flattening his tongue against you and licking one long stripe up your core. When he shot his tongue through your entrance you couldn’t hold in your gasp, hands flying to his hair as the sensation rippled through your body, only encouraged by the groan he let out in response.

Bucky was your only tether to reality, finding it hard to focus on anything but the pleasure he brought you as he was properly fucking you on his tongue. He licked just the right spot against your walls and buried himself even further to add the tip of his nose into the equation, nudging at your clit as he devoured you, and you could say with confidence that you had never felt this good in your life.

The familiar coil tightening in your belly came far sooner than you ever could have anticipated, building rapidly when he didn’t let up. His tongue licked up inside you and your legs began to shake, but he held them open with his firm grip, and you wondered whether his fingers would leave marks there in the morning.

“Bucky,” you whined, reeling when your entire body tingled, tightening your grip on his hair ever so slightly as he continued to work.

“Easy sweets, I got you,” he cooed as he came up for air. “Relax for me, just let me take care of you.” When he went back down for more, burying his nose into your folds as his tongue continued teasing your entrance, your mouth hung open as your eyes rolled back.

The sensation was overwhelming, and the thought that he knew what he was doing to you somehow made it that much better. He flicked his tongue against your sensitive walls, pressed his nose against your clit with just the right amount of pressure, and the burn of his stubble against the soft skin of your folds as he rubbed his jaw against you made your head spin.

With one more stroke of his tongue, the only warning you could give was another sharp tug on his scalp before he sent you hurtling over the edge, bathing in the immense pleasure of your climax while he drank from you. Your blood felt like fire, lighting you up from the inside, and you swore your body was teetering on the line between this universe and the next.

When your soul finally descended back to your body where it was sprawled out across the bed, you cracked your eyes open to glance down at the man who was still holding your legs open, watching you intently as he gently licked the mess from your sensitive pussy.

“How’re you feelin’?” he rasped, only pausing from his ministrations to check in with you. You smiled sheepishly as you gave a pleased hum in reply, and he chuckled under his breath.

You laid like that for a few moments, silently basking in his attention as you caught your breath. But the longer you did, the more he started to tease you. The tip of his tongue dancing around your entrance without going in, swirling around your clit just enough to make you jolt, pausing every few moments to press sweet kisses to the inside of your thighs – which were now wet with your release.

And your traitorous body was acting of its own accord, clearly having decided that you were in no place to be taking the reins. Every intentional lick of his was met with an involuntary reaction from you, husky groans were met with weak moans, and his hand caressing your thigh was rewarded with another scratch of your fingernails across his scalp.

“Gonna be the death of me,” he murmured into your skin, taking another pause to litter kisses up the expanse of your leg. Bucky’s eyes finally met yours, and you took account of the lingering lust filling his gaze, followed by a cocky grin.

In those few seconds, you came to the realization that he wasn’t done with you. Not by a long shot.

When his thick fingers began massaging your folds, your eyes shut as your head hit the pillow, clenching around nothing as the feeling hit you. There hadn’t been time to recover from your first climax thanks to Bucky’s careful attention, and your pussy was very reactive to even the slightest of his touches.

You didn’t imagine it took long for him to coat his fingers in your juices, but when he slowly pushed one finger inside your puffy walls, you were still surprised at how effortless he’d done it. And if the groan he let out was any indication, it had taken him by surprise as well.

“So wet for me, sweets,” he whispered, and when you managed to lift your head enough to look at him, you found his eyes trained on your pussy, watching in awe as he began to pump his finger in and out of you. It was making you squirm, the feeling too much and not enough all at the same time.

“I can’t- Buck, I need-” you whimpered, unsure how to communicate the intensity of what you were feeling. But before you could try to get any other word out he managed to read your mind, perfectly tuned in to your body as he inserted one more finger, and your jaw fell open at the stretch.

“There you go baby, doin’ so good for me.” The words had barely left his lips before he was leaning down again, and you cried out when he was licking at your clit, never slowing the rhythm of his digits.

The more you squirmed, the harder he sucked on your clit, his tongue circling the bundle of nerves when you started to get too still for his liking. The more you moaned in unintelligible pleasure, the faster he fucked you on his fingers. He was keeping you in a toe curling fog of euphoria, not allowing you a moment's rest before he was igniting new waves of ecstasy through your tired body.

You were still riding the high of your last orgasm when the overwhelming amount of stimulation sent you hurtling towards a second climax. You didn’t even have the time to realize you were approaching it before it hit you like a tidal wave. Only held open by one of his strong hands, your legs snapped shut around his head – which earned a growl that you swore you felt through your veins – the tingling in your body like an electric shock as your jaw dropped, letting out a loud whine.

For a moment, everything was a haze. The world beyond your eyelids was a cloud, foggy sounds dancing around your ears, and you felt vague sensations through your body that you knew you couldn’t count on being able to decipher. For that moment, even before your rapid heartbeat and labored breaths had a chance to reach your consciousness, your mind was peacefully blank of everything but Bucky.

And that’s exactly who brought you out of your trance, your breathing hard as you came back down to earth, and you were only just becoming aware of the feeling of emptiness as he spoke gently.

“You still with me, pretty girl?” You used all of your willpower to be able to open your eyes and look down at him, seeing a handsome smile spread across his face. “There she is,” he sighed, and you smiled back bashfully.

“There I am,” you murmured, and Bucky gave a breathy chuckle. Then he was crawling up your body again, nothing but tenderness in his eyes as he held your gaze, arms sliding underneath your tired body to hold you close while he hovered above you.

“How’d I do?” he asked playfully, and when you gave a very enthusiastic hum in agreement, he laughed again before leaning down to press his lips to yours. You tasted yourself on his tongue, and the images of him devouring you flashed across the back of your eyelids, sending a new chill down your spine.

He kissed you like that a few times, slow and gentle like he often did when he was trying to communicate all the emotions he didn’t know how to voice. He wasn’t trying to push you, or work you up for anything you weren’t ready for. He just wanted you.

He parted from your lips and gave a sweet kiss to your cheek before he nuzzled himself into the crook of your neck, your hands instinctively raising to rest on his back as you spoke.

“How long did we…?” You trailed off, and you felt him smile against your neck as he eased his right hand out from under you to glance at the very nice black and gold watch on his wrist – a parting gift from the Wakandan princess he’d told you once.

“Long enough that we took up the entire hour you stole from work,” he teased, wrapping himself back around you and giving you a tight squeeze. You, on the other hand, only groaned.

“That means we’re gonna have to get ready to go to Jay and Charlie’s soon,” you sighed in defeat as you started playing with his hair, wanting nothing more than to just cuddle up with your super soldier for eternity.

“What is it that we’re doing again?” You heard, muffled as he spoke into your skin. “I know you told me, but I was… preoccupied.” He pressed a light kiss to your neck as you remembered trying to tell him about the text you’d gotten from Charlie, being interrupted a handful of times when he would grab your face and cut you off with a kiss.

“They invited us over to their place for dinner and drinks so we could all catch up, since some of us have been missing Saturday nights at Morelli’s,” you answered pointedly. After kitchen makeouts that lasted longer than they should have and birthday trips to New York, you and Bucky had only made it to a handful of nights at the diner, and you were at risk of becoming notorious for ditching to do… other things at home.

“Were those her exact words?” he asked, and you giggled as you nodded in reply. “That’s- the diner is where we hang out, if some of us don’t make it, we wait until next week. We’re gonna be there tomorrow night anyway,” he defended, very much playing the part of the grumpy old recluse.

“Oh, okay… so you don’t want to see them?” He hesitated a moment before he answered, and you couldn’t help the knowing grin that crept onto your face.

“I didn’t say that,” he grumbled, shaking his head against you, tickling your skin with his nose. “They’re great, good people, we have a fun time… But maybe I don’t exactly want to have to share you so soon after you get home on Friday nights.”

“Buck, I’ve been home for an entire hour,” you giggled. “And we took advantage of it,” you added suggestively, and he smiled mischievously as his lips migrated down to your collarbone.

“Not long enough,” he husked, starting to press more kisses there. “How long until we need to leave?”

“Maybe another hour?”

“Perfect,” he sighed. Before you could question him, he sucked lightly on your neck, a gasp sneaking up out of you at the sensation. “Gives us just enough time to have a little bit more fun…” He laved over your skin with his tongue before placing a kiss there, leaning back so that he could look to you for your answer.

You wished you could have said yes. You really really did.

“If we start, you and I both know we won’t stop anytime soon, and I’ve still got to take a shower,” you reasoned, hoping you could communicate how much you wanted to keep going. But he read you like a book, like he always did, and his gaze softened as his eyes danced over your features.

“Then let’s get you that shower,” he grinned, and before you could process his statement he was already lifting you up into his arms, keeping your legs wrapped around his hips as he rose to his knees.

You laughed the whole way as he crossed your small bedroom, your practically naked body clinging to his equally exposed one. One hand cupped your ass and squeezed it playfully, and the other ran soothing patterns up your back as he walked you through the small apartment. When he walked into the bathroom, you were instantly pressed up against the wall. The hand that had been on your back was now cradling your jaw, the pad of his thumb brushing your cheek as he took a moment to admire you, running his tongue over his pink lips.

He leaned in to kiss you again, physically unable to hold himself back. You should have been disappointed in your lack of self-control, but it was so hard to be mad at how good it felt when you kissed him back. Especially when he was pressing you further into the wall behind you, his hips coming into very close contact with yours, allowing you to feel the erection that was still very present beneath his boxers.

You gave an experimental roll of your hips, delighted by the grunt that escaped him in response. His hands were quick as they flew to your waist, inching up to slide under the black lace that was still covering your breasts, and you wasted no time in lifting your hands so that he could delicately slide the material off of your body.

But when you expected him to lean in to continue kissing you, he stayed back. His hands traveled down to your thighs, easing your legs from around his waist to set you gently on the floor. His fingers dipped underneath the thin band of your thong, dropping to his knees before you as he started sliding the material down your legs. And you had never felt so treasured, so adored as when he took each of your ankles in his hands, and gently slid the lingerie off of each foot before returning them back to the tile floor.

When he stood back up to his full height, he only left you with a chaste kiss to your lips before he pulled away again, moving towards the shower to start turning on the water. And while goosebumps appeared on your skin, no longer having his warm body to heat you, he did leave you with a nice view. Back muscles sculpted by an artist, muscular legs that stood strong and steady, and his boxers only helped accentuate his ass, tempting that little goblin voice in the back of your head that wanted to reach out and smack it…

He turned around after having tested the water, smiling sweetly as he took your face in his hands, kissing your cheek. “D’you want me to go set your clothes out while you get showered?” he asked, and you scrunched your nose in disappointment.

“You’re not gonna come with me?” His brows shot up on his head and he swallowed hard, clearly not having expected that question. “My legs are so shaky, I don’t think I’ll be able to stand up by myself,” you whined playfully, your cheap trick at least earning you a grin.

He let out a breath in exasperation as he debated his answer. “You’re trouble,” he whispered, and you only giggled in response. “Alright, c’mon.”

You were maybe a little bit too giddy when you kissed him excitedly, reaching for his hand to try and pull him behind you as you scurried up to the shower. Bucky stood rooted to the spot, and when you turned to ask why, he was grinning as he cocked one eyebrow up in question.

“My legs are shaky, I can’t stand up by myself,” he taunted, and you scoffed as you tried to come up with another excuse.

“I- just for a few steps, thank you very much,” you shot back, and he laughed as he let your hand go.

“Go on,” he smiled, nodding towards the shower. “I’ll follow after you.” You looked at him for another moment, taking note of his almost antsy manner, and it probably shouldn’t have taken you so long to realize your request came with another first….

Those boxers were coming off.

You smiled sweetly as you turned to step through the sliding door into the shower, thoughts swarming your head about what was about to happen. Was he nervous? Was he eager? Was he big?

Stop it.

As you got settled underneath the warm stream of water, your legs began to tremble beneath you – both with anticipation of what was coming, but also from exertion. Your body was just barely managing to keep you upright with all the … exercise.

There was enough of a pause that you began to wonder what to do with yourself. You could only see a vague shape of him from the other side of the pebbled glass, but it wasn’t enough to be able to determine what he might be doing – or wearing, for that matter. You didn’t want to start washing yet, wanting to at least preserve your makeup until he had a chance to get in and get… situated. Instead you waited patiently, if not awkwardly, as the water beat against your chest.

Your heart almost leapt out of your chest when you heard him slide the shower door back just enough to let himself in, and you could feel the presence of his large frame entering the small space behind you.

Before you even had a moment to overthink anything, you felt him run his knuckles up your spine, and you shivered despite his warm touch. He fit both of his hands around your waist, his firm grip kneading your muscles as they wandered soothingly up your body. He slid them around your middle before leaning closer, kissing your shoulder before tucking into the crook of your neck.

Then his chest met your back. His broad shoulders crowded around yours, his body caging you in and wrapping you up in his body heat… and his boner rested against the small of your back as he closed in around you.

Fuck… this wasn’t going to be a quick shower.

“Hi” his deep voice broke the silence. You hummed in amusement as you leaned into him, resting one hand over his and lifting the other to play with the stubble on his jaw.

“Hi,” you lilted back, capable of little else. You rested your head against his shoulder, and you soaked up the feeling of having him so close to you, tangled in each other. It was domestic, peaceful even.

Except for the fact that you were already working yourself up again with his dick pressed into your back.

“I uh, I just want to say that this isn’t- I’ve been like this since before you got home, so…” he started, nudging the tip of his nose into your skin, and couldn’t help the smile that rose to your cheeks. “We can just ignore it, I don’t want you to think that… I- it’ll go away eventually.”

“Bucky, have you been hard for over an hour?” you asked, your voice smooth and silky. You couldn’t help yourself… He nodded gently as he continued kissing your neck, sucking lightly just under your jaw.

“I found that string and I just… I couldn’t stop thinking about you,” he murmured, and you could feel your already swollen center start lighting up again, slick with another round of arousal.

“Why didn’t we do anything about it?” you asked seductively, leaning back and rolling your hips to try and rub up against him. His grip tightened on you – which meant that you had accomplished exactly what you tried to – and he stood back up to his full height, keeping you close to his chest as he looked down at you with a cocked brow.

“I’m sorry, what do you think we’ve been doing?” he sassed, and you scoffed.

“That was just for me, you didn’t get anything out of it,” you retorted, but where you expected him to agree with you, he only grinned.

“I would beg to differ,” he whispered, bringing goosebumps to your skin. The thought of him getting off on eating you out, rutting into the mattress while he had his head between your legs…

You turned in his grasp so you could wrap your arms around his neck, pressing your wet, naked bodies together as you pulled him down for a kiss. You could tell you’d caught him by surprise, but he was quick to catch up to your hungry advances, and you let him in the second his tongue licked at your lips. As your mouths moved together desperately, your bodies did as well, your hips rocking against him as the weight of his erection pressed into your stomach.

His hands gripped your hips firmly again, pulling you with him as he took a step back, leaning against the back wall of your small shower. Your legs slotted together, intertwining with his as the two of you got as close to each other as physically possible, putting most of your weight in his hands.

He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against yours, taking a moment to calm his heavy breathing before he spoke. “I thought you said we didn’t have time for anything else,” he breathed, the blue of his eyes only a thin rim surrounding his lust-blown pupils. You shrugged your shoulders in response, and he grinned as he shook his head. “We’re gonna be late,” he reasoned.

“They can wait for us, they’ll manage,” you countered, sliding one hand from around his neck and trailing down the planes of his body. Over his large pecs – which, with your remaining willpower, you did not smack – and down the hard ridges of his abs. “You’ve waited long enough.” His eyelids fluttered as he watched your hand move across his body, and when you looked down to meet his gaze, you probably should have been embarrassed by the sound that left you.

Bucky was big.

His cock was long and thick, enough that you knew it would be a comfortably wonderful stretch, and his uncut tip was practically begging for attention. You took your time bringing the hand that had explored his body to his shaft, giving him plenty of time to stop you, but he simply watched as you wrapped your fingers just beneath his head to pull away the foreskin.

Bucky took a sharp breath as you revealed the red, leaking tip, swollen with his need for release. Your gaze snapped up to his face when he did, taking great pleasure in watching his eyes shut, his head softly hitting the shower wall as you brushed your thumb under the sensitive spot below his head.

“Shit,” he sighed, sending heat directly to your core. “That feels- fuck, that feels good.” You smiled sweetly at his words, leaning in to attach your lips to his collarbone to press soft kisses there, collecting some of his precum on your thumb to spread down the length of him.

You started your slow movements, the silky skin of his cock slid through your fingers easily with the help of his arousal, but his hands were restless. The warm hand at your hip was roaming your skin, unsure of where to go while the vibranium of his left hand found your breasts and squeezed. You gasped in response as he let out a long groan, encouraging you to speed up your pace.

You were enchanted by the sounds he was making, his deep voice impossibly sexier when it was laced with blissful pleasure. You twisted your wrist as your grip moved up and down his length, eliciting even more of a reaction out of the super soldier as you worked his erection with careful attention, his rumbling moans as good an indication as any that you were making him feel just as good as when he was devouring you not too long ago.

Bucky’s restless hands continued wandering, his left one now grabbing you behind your neck after massaging your breasts, and lifting you head up so that he could look at you. His right hand slipped around the curve of your ass, using his grip as leverage to pull you closer, and slamming his pink lips against yours again. His tongue danced with yours while his rough hand explored you, traveling lower to wrap your leg around his hip, trailing down the inside of your thigh when he was confident that you weren’t going anywhere.

The hand on his dick stopped momentarily when he slipped one thick finger through your folds, your walls immediately clenching around him. You let out a whimper and he swallowed the sound as he pumped his finger inside you, doing your best to keep jerking him off… But when he pushed a second finger through your slick, you involuntarily tightened your grip, causing him to break the kiss with a grunt.

“It’s been so long, I don’t- shhhhit, I’m not gonna last,” he whined, eliciting another hum as you brushed your thumb over his tip.

“It’s okay, baby,” you assured, using the arm draped around his neck – keeping you upright as he continued fucking you on his fingers – to rub soothing patterns into his skin, leaning up to press a chaste kiss to his cheek. “Just relax, Buck, tell me what you need.”

“I- just faster, please.”

You gripped his cock a little tighter and did exactly as he asked, speeding up your pace and being sure to hit that sweet spot just under his swollen head. The faster you went, the faster he pumped his fingers into you, and after cumming on his tongue twice, it wasn’t going to take long for him to get you there again.

He smashed his lips into yours once more, but you were so drunk on each other that neither of you could manage much more than lingering kisses as you put all of your focus in getting the other off. Grunts, whines, moans, and whimpers of pleasure floated like music around you, unsure of who made what sound. His fingers reached that spot inside you that made you see stars, and you switched to short and fast strokes at his tip.

“Honey, I’m- I-” he warned, his cock throbbing in your hand.

“Cum with me, James,” you whispered, clinging to him like your life depended on it.

He pumped his fingers a little bit faster, you matched his pace, and with a few more strokes both of you were gone. This third climax hit you softer than the other ones, your body only having so much left to give, but it allowed you to watch in awe as the man in your hands fell apart.

Bucky let out a choked cry, his hands stilling inside of you as he rested his forehead against yours, eyes shut tight as he let the sensations consume him. You slowed your hands and kept your fingers circled around his head, prolonging his climax as you leaned forward enough to press your lips to his in a sweet kiss as you rode out your highs together. His dick pulsed in your hand as he shot ropes of cum over your hand and across his heaving chest, a low satisfied hum vibrating through him as the tension left his large frame.

When his spend trickled down at his tip, he slumped against the wall, inadvertently taking you with him. You let go of his already softening dick to cling to his shoulders as you fell into his hold, his fingers sliding out of your tired pussy to wrap his arms around your middle and hold you close.

“We should have done that in New York,” he breathed, making you laugh as you rested your head against his shoulder, feeling the vibration of his amusement through his chest.

“You could have carried me to the shower with you, I would have been more than willing,” you lilted, placing barely there kisses across the base of his neck.

He squeezed you a little bit tighter. “Ohhh don’t tease me like that right now,” he warned. “I’ve discovered the serum gave me a uh… a very quick recovery time. We don’t exactly have time for another round,” he explained, and you had a hard time keeping a straight face at his predicament.

“Oh, but it’s so tempting,” you teased, and when you lifted your head up off of his shoulder you were met with a stern glare. “Alright I won’t… Bit of a blessing and a curse, I take it?”

“Apparently,” he huffed indignantly, rolling eyes as you hummed in amusement. You gave him one more kiss on the cheek before standing back up on your own two feet, and his eyes watched you carefully.

“Well, we’re gonna be super late as it is, let’s not give them too much satisfaction,” you muttered, earning you a cocked grin and a small amused huff. “C’mon, help me reach the shampoo and I’ll wash your hair,” you offered, watching his face soften at your request before he gripped you tight and stood to his full height.

He wasn’t wrong about a quick recovery, already practically back to normal as he walked you back into the stream of hot water. And even though you’d been through more orgasms in the last hour or so than you’d ever had in a single day – at least with a man’s assistance – you wanted to live in this sweet moment for the rest of time. Savoring the feeling of holding him close, being so intimate with each other as you lathered soap into his skin, and relishing in his firm touches as he washed your back.

Showering with Bucky was definitely going on the list of things to start doing more often. That, and a few other things…

Thanks for reading!! If you’d like to be notified when I post a new fic, be sure to follow @writerlyhabits-library + turn on post notifications! 💛

Masterlist | Ch. 13 | Ch. 15

#im beside myself rn #about to reread this a million times #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes smut #bucky barnes x reader smut #james barnes x reader #james bucky barnes #neighbors #neighbors series #neighbor!bucky

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seonghwasblr-moved · 1 year

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An anon asked for a tutorial on how I make gifs, so here we go!

I believe that everyone with a decent computer can learn how to make gifs.

The programs I use are

Vapoursynth

Photoshop

Topaz denoise (a lot of people don’t use this)

This is the gif I will be making in this tutorial!

Step 1. Find what you want to gif!

Download the video you want to gif in the best quality you can find. This is where ts files are really good! Personally I don’t really mind giffing only 1080p videos, but better the quality, better the gif!

Step 2. Crop it using vapoursynth!

Using vapoursynth is a whole tutorial in itself. You can still make gifs without vapoursynth (or avisynth as some people use). You can just crop the gif in photoshop to the size you want. Vapoursynth is just good at doing so without losing a lot of the quality!

The width for tumblr posts are 540px (one gif), 268px (two gifs) and 177px for the outer gifs and 178px for the middle gif, when making three gifs!

This site has everything you need for vapoursynth!

I don’t really have any set settings. I switch it up a lot, but these are my settings for this gif!

Step 3. Import gif to photoshop!

(My photoshop is in Danish, but it should be the same place in any other language).

You do this by going files > import > video frames to layers

Then you choose the video you got from vapoursynth (if you didn’t use vapoursynth, you just choose the part of your original video you wanted!)

Now we have a basic gif!

Step 4. Colouring!

Now the fun part comes! We colour the gif! This is where your gif truly becomes your gif! Every content creator has their own style of colouring and it really just takes time to find what you really like! Just do whatever you like!

These are the ones you use for colouring! Just play around!

Here we have the gif with colour! I’m not going to do a colouring tutorial, because colouring is really just up to the person making the gif!

These are the adjustments I’ve used on this!

Again, sorry for the Danish!

Here are some of my psds (tho I always make a new one every time I do a gifset)! I feel like there’s a lot to learn through looking at other people’s psds! Just have fun with it!

Step 5. Sharpen (and topaz)

I more or less always sharpen the same way on every gif (depending on how sharp it already is).

To sharpen you have to make sure you’re working as a smart object! You have to make the frame animation into a timeline and the layerss into a smart object!

Timeline:

Smart object: Select all layers > filter > convert to smart

(or select all layers > right click > convert to smart)

It has to look like this

To sharpen you go to filter > sharpen > smart sharpen

These are my settings:

Then I go to topaz denoise! I don’t really have any set settings for this, I just do whatever feels right in the moment. Topaz denoise is also a whole other thing, but it’s easy once you figure it out! I made a video on how to use Topaz here (to help someone who asked)

youtube

Because I don’t like my gifs way too sharp, I always add a blur at 20-30% opasity!

Step 6. Save the gif!

Before saving the gif, make sure everything is as you want it to be! You also have to remember to set the frame delay! I usually go for 0.05 or 0.06!

To save go to files > export > save for web

These are my settings!

And there you have it! A finished gif!

If you are more of a visual video learner, here is a video I made of my giffing like over a year ago for a challenge!

youtube

My colouring has changed a lot since then tho! I also didn’t sharpen and use topaz in photoshop (I used a lot in vapoursynth)

I hope this was at least a little helpful! ^8^

#*m.gif #maja talks #ps tutorial #resources #ps resources #photoshop #I am not good with words but here we are

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pharawee · 1 year

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Okay so after 4 gifsets it’s time for my review of Big Dragon ep 4. Just for me. As a treat.

And we’re already halfway through this series. How did this happen? I feel like I spent the whole year just waiting and now it’s all going by so fast. I’m lowkey hoping for StarHunter to continue promoting MosBank together, if only so they’ll do more travel vlogs.

Also, if possible (yep, still biased) this show has become even better. I’m mostly just someone who gets pulled in by the mood of a show, but this time I really tried paying attention to the motifs the director and actors have mentioned before - like the colour coding, cinematography and Mangkorn’s and (especially) Yai’s comfort levels.

And it’s really paying off:

Look how subdued Mangkorn’s signature colour is here. He’s literally fading into the background, with his and Hong’s father taking control over his (and Hong’s) life. I’m glad that it’s immediately established that both mum’s are super uncomfortable with this whole situation. They’re not even indulging their husbands. Mangkorn’s mum even makes it clear later that arranged marriages are a thing of the past (and I’m super glad they put that in) and that if Mangkorn were to speak to his dad he’d back off.

But more on that later.

I’ve read the novel but still, I’m glad Mangkorn and Hong get along so well. I mean, they’re essentially in the same boat (negl their dads get along so well, they should just marry each other ugh). Plus, I’m super tired of the “female rival” trope in BL. It’s distracting and unfair to everyone involved.

And, yeah, maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, but Mangkorn’s colour makes a bit of a return in this scene - even though he’s wearing the same shirt.

Yai’s family crisis, meanwhile, lies in the past and I’m really glad his sister tells him so outright. I mean, it’s immediately clear that the death of his mother is something that’s deeply troubling to Yai and has shaped him as a person - to the point were he refuses to move on. To him the house is empty and I totally get why he doesn’t want to stay for long. His sister, in contrast, finds it peaceful and relaxing out in the garden, even at night (and with about 300 mosquitos around 🥴).

Only then, of course, Yai makes the “female rival” a thing. You do it to yourself, Yai (I mean, with good reason - seeing as they’re both known womanizers). I’m glad that the show subverts this whole trope early on and makes it all about Yai’s insecurities. There’s only 8 episodes, nobody’s got time for that. In the novel it wasn’t as clear because Hong turned up much later when Mangkorn had already explained the whole thing. Yai only had breadcrumbs and suspicions to go on and of course he drew the wrong conclusions.

And because Mangkorn has lost access to his LINE ID (possibly because *someone* decided to destroy his phone) he decides to wait for Yai in front of his faculty building. For hours. That’s some dedication.

And, honestly, pouting back at someone who’s pouting might be the most valid strategy I’ve ever seen. Put that UNO reverse card away or so help me!! 😤

I really, really love Mangkorn’s shirt. And I love how their individual colours get more similar when they’re not fighting/testing their boundaries and just being themselves. It’s like they’re on neutral ground here.

And, holy shit, every second of that scene was so adorable, from their playful banter to their not-so hidden smiles.

Oh, how the turntables. This time it’s Mangkorn’s turn to ask if Yai has been to supervise the pub’s renovations today (he hasn’t because it’s boring without Mangkorn).

Which brings us to my favourite scene of this week.

Just look how soft these two are 🥺

And they’re in neutral colours again, on neutral territory, with Mangkorn dispensing a piece of wisdom that rings rather hollow considering that this “sacrifice” he mentions is impossible to achieve in his own case (unless at this point in the story he actually considers marrying Hong out of filial piety).

We also catch a glimpse of Yai’s family ring. Surprise - there’s a tiger on it.

Kissing Yai (and it was such a sweet kiss - I just wish it hadn’t been in slow motion) doesn’t really bring the closure Mangkorn probably hoped for - if he planned for any of this at all. Because as dominant (with a small d - I’m talking personality traits because I’ve no idea about any of the rest) as he might seem, I feel like he’s just as much out of his depth as Yai is. He’s just much better at keeping his cool (and the upper hand).

This is one of the pics Yai stares at as he masturbates and negl, that’s kind of touching (full pun intended 🤡)

But apart from the fact that he’s still wearing his ring while he goes to town (ouch??) it struck me how lonely and unsatisfying this whole scene felt. He’s in this big bed and occupying only one side of it. It just feels like something’s missing.

Oh ffs, show 😂

Anyway.

Finally. 🫠

No but seriously if at any point in the future you don’t find me stanning Big Thanakorn then please assume I’ve been replaced by an impostor and call the police.

I’m totally with Yai on this one.

Bank has said that when Yai is with Nine he’s in his comfort zone and it really shows. I don’t think Nine is any serious competition, though, even if Mangkorn weren’t in the picture. It’s like Yai is on this fixed trajectory now and that has everything to do with Mangkorn.

Oh well, looks like Big’s character will end up alone again. Why must you hurt me so, StarHunter? 🥲

Aand we’re back to Mangkorn wearing a red shirt (with red back-lighting uh-oh) and... how do you even explain this, Mangkorn? The girl slipped? She wanted to see your tattoo up close? You actually caught a glimpse of Yai talking to Nine and this is your revenge?

“How could you do that?”, indeed.

Feels like they’re both blaming and deflecting here (ah, yes, how could you do this to poor Hong??) and I’m pretty sure we’ll see Mangkorn’s side of the story next week because they wouldn’t just leave it like that...

But Mangkorn’s “Are you mad because you like me?” really felt like a gamechanger because it seems like up until this point Yai didn’t even realise. He doesn’t even look defensive or angry, he’s just shocked and hurt (with a side of confusion).

Also, I love how Yai’s background is all cold blues, and Mangkorn’s side is earthy browns/reds. Something’s about to go down next week ( and it’s exactly what it sounds like 🤡)

Meanwhile, the bodyguards have monkey-pawed their relationship into existence and now I want some Tao Kae Noi 😭

#big dragon #big dragon the series #jane watches stuff #ok so this got really long #but it's ok it's daylight saving time tonight #and i have an extra hour to waste #also was it just me or was there some choppy editing this week?#bd meta

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hoodharlow · 2 years

Text

Nico’s Berry First Birthday

part 1

AN: idk what to say lol. This was supposed to be posted MONTHS ago and I never did lol. Gif from @calmfolklore from this gifset

Requested? No

Warnings: sad dad!Cal and mentions of abandonment, Mitchy Collins ruining our baby's birthday

Word Count: 3.1k words

“Nico, c’mon, go with grandma I’m not going to be long.” Calum said, trying to pry off his now one year old daughter.

But she wouldn’t budge. She tightened her grip around his neck, nearly choking him. He tried everything, even tickling her. But that only annoyed her, and the last thing he wanted to do was get her upset on her birthday. On the other hand he didn’t want to bring her to the interviews he had to do. One thing he learned from last week’s promo was that even Nico can get annoyed with watching Encanto ten times in a row. He also doesn’t want Nico anywhere near James Cordon because he knew that James would annoy his kid and ruin her mood for the rest of the day.

“Bring the little demon, we’re already late.” Ashton called from the driveway gate.

“Ah!” Nico frowned when she heard Ashton call her a demon. She leaned over and smacked the top of his head.

Calum rolled his eyes. “Shit like that is why she doesn’t like you mate.” He told Ashton as he unlocked the car to get Nico in. He buckled her in and whispered to her, “You know he doesn’t mean it.”

The one year old looked up at the sun roof, annoyed. It was her version of rolling her eyes since she hadn’t mastered her eye rolls yet. For Calum’s sake he hoped she didn’t until she was at least fifty.

He turned to his mom. “We’ll be back in a few. Think you can hold down the fort?” He asked her.

“Of course, darlin'." Joy said.

“I left a list of all the people that are gonna come by. If anything happens or something gets mixed up just call me. I also left—”

“Just go. We’ll be fine.”

Calum nodded and gave Joy a side hug. He rounded over to the driver’s side. He opened the gate and back out of the gate. He waved to his mom as he followed Micheal’s car to James’ studio. They lucked out and were able to push back recording because the guests had something else to do in the evening.

For which Calum was grateful because after the band’s appearance, they had to do another interview, and after that interview he had to rush home to get him and Nico ready for her birthday party. Though he silently cursed at the band’s management for getting them interviews on Nico’s birthday.

A familiar olive green Jeep was parked in the studio.

It was Alexis Ximena’s.

Calum rested his head on the steering wheel when he parked next to Michael. He wasn’t ready to see her. Last night ended on an awkward note. When they decided to take things to her bedroom, they didn’t go as far as they hoped. Dr. Manny walked in on them while Calum’s face was buried in between Alexis Ximena’s thighs. It was the most awkward moment of his life. And to make matters worse Dr. Manny was carrying Nico. Not only did his daughter’s pediatrician see him doing things with HIS daughter, but Calum managed to traumatize his own daughter.

Ashton knocked on his window, making him look up. He tapped his wrist, as if he had a watch, motioning Calum to hurry up. Calum flipped him off and begrudgingly got out of the car. He unbuckled Nico and handed her to Ashton, so he could get her things from the trunk.

They both shared an uncomfortable look, but Nico allowed Ashton to hold her. They watched Calum grab the stroller and place everything the one year old could need, stuffing it in the bottom basket of the stroller. Ashton passed Nico back to him so he could buckle her in her stroller.

He draped her blanket over the stroller, blocking the bright sun for Nico. He pushed the stroller and followed Ashton where Michael and Luke were. A backstage crew member approached them and guided them to their greenroom.

Calum had never been so happy to see goldfish snacks. He grabbed all of the packets and some of the snacks provided and stuffed them in Nico’s backpack because he didn’t pack any for her since she was supposed to stay with his parents and Mali. He also grabbed a few water bottles in case she got thirsty.

He unfastened Nico from her stroller and sat her down next to him. He dug in her backpack, thankful that he had packed her an extra pair of shoes because they left without putting on shoes on her. He pulled out a pair of white Nike Cortez with a pink swish that matched her pink Nike tracksuit.

“You have some fucking nerve showing you’re face here.” Calum heard Michael say.

He looked over his shoulder and found Alexis Ximena standing at the entrance wide eyed and confused.

“What did I do?” She asked, surprised.

“You were in The Batman!” Michael exclaimed.

“I never said I wasn’t.”

“But you never said you were.”

Alexis Ximena rolled her eyes and pushed past him, making her way to Nico. The one year excitedly made grabby hands at her. Alexis Ximena picked her up and kissed her cheeks.

“Happy birthday!” she sang to her. She turned to Calum. “Why is your daughter dressed like Ruth Rose?”

“Who?” He asked, taking Nico back in his arms because she took her shoe off.

“From the ‘A-Z Mysteries’, she’s one of the main characters and she always wore monochromatic outfits.” she explained.

Calum furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, not knowing what she was talking about.

“Forget it.” she waved him off. She looked down at Nico and giggled. “She took her other shoe off.”

Calum shook his head, “you’ve got to be shitting me Nico.”

By 2pm, Nico’s party was in full swing. Calum felt proud that the party came out pretty nicely. He had gone all out with strawberry decorations as it was Nico’s favorite fruit. From strawberry balloon arches to strawberry based desserts. There was a taquero stationed next to the makeshift bar and dessert table. Michael was in the backyard manning the DJ booth playing various genres of kids songs.

“No,” Calum told Nico sternly, pushing the fresas con crema out of her reach.

The one year old frowned. Nico bent sideways trying to get off her high chair. But she couldn’t. Out of anger, she leaned forward and swiped the plate of tacos Calum got for them to share on the ground. She clapped happily when Duke trotted over and ate the food. She stopped then looked at him, making pleading eyes and gesturing to the cup of fresas con crema.

"No." He repeated. He got up from the stool next to her and went to grab a beer.

"Has she eaten?" Joy asked him as she fixed the gift table when he passed her.

"No," he sighed. "She's being a little shit."

"Take one to know one, darling." She said nonchalantly.

"Oi!" He blinked at her, surprised at her comment.

"When you were her age all you wanted to eat was fairy bread and Tiny Teddies."

"Well you did make the best fairy bread."

“I’m aware.” She smiled proudly. She looked around, making sure no one was close.

Calum knew that look. She was about to have a serious talk with him or she was going to interrogate him about something Mali told her.

Her smile softened,“Mali mentioned Alexis was coming.”

Calum blinked in surprise, remembering when Aaliyah introduced them almost two years ago when they were at FireFight Australia. “You remember Alex?”

“Of course I do. She’s a nice girl. She was in Sydney a few months back and I ran into her and she invited me to lunch. So how serious is it?"

The doorbell rang before he could answer her.

"I'll get it." He announced, rushing over to the front door.

Calum got nervous hoping it was Alexis Ximena. He walked inside and did a quick u-turn to the kitchen and took the fresas con crema cup away in case Nico tried to make someone give her the cup. He quickly checked himself in the mirror by the front door. He smiled brightly when he opened the door but quickly dropped his smile when he saw it was just Ashton and Marina.

"Oh it's you." He said, stepping aside to let them in.

"Hello to you too." Ashton grumbled.

"Where's the birthday girl?" Marina asked Calum.

"In the kitchen." he answered

He took the present Marina had in her hand and led her and Ashton to the kitchen. Nico sat sadly on her high chair, but she smiled brightly at Marina. She made grabby hands at her.

“Hi birthday girl.” Marina said softly. She approached Nico and let her touch her growing belly. She giggled when Nico’s eyes widened when the baby kicked her hand. “The baby says happy birthday too.”

He eyed Marina's belly and felt nauseous. It was a reminder of what he missed. It was a part of Nico that he never got to see or experience since he never saw Loli pregnant. He never got to see Nico through the ultrasound or hear her heartbeat or feel her kick Loli's belly. It was almost a whole year that he missed. Part of him wished he could turn back time and be there for Loli, for his daughter, but it was impossible. At least he got to see her now and he wouldn't give that up.

Calum wandered out to the yard and got more food before joining his parents, Mali, Luke, and Elijah were. He fell into conversation, nodding along to whatever they were talking about while he ate. He would look over to the kitchen where Marina had.

"¡Feliz Cumple!" He heard Alexis Ximena tell Nico.

Before he could even turn around to head back inside, Luke pushed past him. He rolled his eyes as his best friend went over to greet Aaliyah's family as if he was the host of the party. He awkwardly waited for Luke to finish greeting Aaliyah’s family when he heard Nico’s giggles. He looked behind him and saw Alexis Ximena showing her a stuffed crocodile.

Nico kicked her feet excitedly as Alexis Ximena made the stuffed crocodile dance on the table of Nico’s high chair. Calum blinked in surprise hearing her speak a nearly perfect Australian accent as she talked to Nico. He smiled to himself when his one year old took the stuffed crocodile and hugged it tightly.

“Ah!” Nico motioned to Alexis Ximena to give her the cup of fresas con crema.

“No, Nico.” Calum said, grabbing the cup. “You haven’t eaten.”

Nico frowned and pushed the crocodile on the ground.

“Nico!” he said sternly, but in a hush tone so he wouldn’t draw attention to them.

Alexis Ximena picked up the stuffed crocodile and handed it back to Nico. She stood up giving Calum a chance to take her in. She was obviously overdressed, dressed to the nines in a short black dress and tall platform heels. She had a good three inches on him in those heels.

“Why is she dressed like Strawberry Shortcake?” She asked him, gesturing to Nico who babbled to her crocodile.

“She’s not dressed like cake?”

“No,” she shook her head. “The cartoon.”

“There’s a cartoon about cake?”

“No menso, hold on.” She pulled out her phone and quickly typed. “You have the worst wi—oh it loaded. Here.” She showed him her phone screen.

There were images of a cartoon little girl dressed in a strawberry hat, denim overalls with a striped pink and white long sleeve under and yellow shoes. Calum looked over to Nico and she wore almost the same thing except, “Nico’s wearing a bucket hat and a denim dress. Not to mention, she has gold Vans. Obviously it’s not the same. Maybe they copied Nico.”

“The show came out in 2003.”

“Oh, good to know they support the LGBTQ community.”

“You’re a fucking smart ass. You and that mouth of yours are a deadly weapon.”

“You would know.” Calum smirked at her.

Clearly flustered, Alexis Ximena announced. “I’m going to get food.”

She turned on her heel almost immediately and went out into the backyard to get in line for food. After she went up where Aaliyah was and greeted Fiona and Marina. They all looked at her with knowing grins.

“What?”

“What?” the three said in unison.

“What was that back there?” Fiona asked, wiggling her eyebrows.

“Where’s Ethan? You usually use him as an excuse to hang out with Michael.” Alexis Ximena smiled innocently.

“Isn’t that what you did with Nico?” Marina asked before dipping her taco in consomé.

Alexis Ximena turned to Aaliyah. “You told them?!”

“Of course I did.” Aaliyah said “Now don’t say anything about sitting on Cal’s face because your future mother in law is walking over.”

“I wasn’t si— Hi Mrs. Hood!”

***

Calum looked around for Alexis Ximena. He overheard Aaliyah tell Luke that she had a work dinner and he hoped that he hadn’t missed her before she left. He was also keeping an eye on Mitchy, who showed up tipsy and crashed Nico’s birthday party.

To say that Mitchy was Nico’s least favorite person was an understatement. The one year old would rather spend the day getting shots than be near him which was why Calum didn’t invite him to the party.

“You didn’t bring Nico a present.” Calum heard Ethan tell Mitchy.

“And what are you the fucking present police?” The grown man snapped at Ethan as he grabbed a beer from the cooler.

“Butthead.” Ethan muttered before grabbing a juicebox.

Calum sighed and walked over to Mitchy. “Mate, you can’t talk to a kid like that.”

“He’s a fucking dick!”

“He’s two!” He snapped, swiping his face in frustration. “This is why I didn’t invite you. You’re ruining my kid’s party. Nico doesn’t even like you.”

“What are you talking about? Nora likes me. Just watch,” Mitchy walked over to Alexis Ximena who was building a puzzle with Nico. “Ayo Nora!”

Mitchy staggered towards them with Calum calling him to stop. He pulled Nico away from Alexis Ximena and tried to pick her up, but he stumbled and fell, nearly falling on top of the one year old.

Calum couldn’t process anything other than Nico’s arms around his legs. She wailed. He picked her up, “Get him out of my fucking house.” he angrily told Luke and Ashton before ducking inside.

He brought them to the living room and sat on the one person couch. He rubbed Nico’s back, trying to calm her down as she cried inconsolably. He held her close, apologizing for not kicking Mitchy out sooner. He heard footsteps approaching them.

“Cal, I’m so sorry.” Alexis Ximena began sitting on the coffee table across from them. “I was caught off guard and next thing I knew that guy was on the ground and Nico ran to you. I should have been more vigilant. This is my—”

“Alex, you didn’t do anything wrong.” Calum said, wiping a few stray tears off Nico’s cheeks. He maneuvered her so she sat facing Alexis Ximena.

“I guess but I really do feel bad. I should have been quicker or… I don’t know. I could have done something.”

“You should have picked up a tree and swung it at him like in that show where you had a little brother who did that.”

“You watched Gone?”

“Yeah a while ago Aaliyah made us watch it. But Nico saw a banner of it and recognized you when I was looking for Sesame Street on HBO Max. So we started watching it.”

“Sure,” Alexis Ximena nodded, playfully rolling her eyes. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked around them. “Where’s Nico?”

Calum cursed and jumped from the couch. Nico’s giggles and Duke’s yips were heard from the study. Him and Alexis Ximena followed the sound and found Nico waddling toward Duke, who was behind the doggy door. She giggled and clapped her hands.

Calum’s hand found Alexis Ximena’s. “She’s walking.” He whispered, almost laughing. A few tears rolled down his cheeks. “My baby is walking.”

Due to their height difference, Alexis Ximena couldn't lean into him, but Calum wrapped his arm around her back as she placed her arm over his shoulders. They stood quietly watching Nico with Duke, but they were soon interrupted by Alexis Ximena’s phone.

“Shit” she said, pulling away from him to rummage through her bag. She pulled it out and answered.

Nico finally realized it wasn’t just her and Duke, so she motioned Calum to play with them. He sat down next to the door frame and reached for a soft ball for her to toss to Duke.

Calum watched Alexis Ximena pace around with an annoyed expression on her face as she listened to whoever was on the other end. She bid them goodbye and sighed frustratedly, shoving her phone back in her bag.

“Everything alright?” Calum asked, handing the ball to Nico, who went to hand it to Alexis Ximena.

“My realtor just called me to say that none of the places I was looking into allowed dogs. If they did, they would have to weigh less than forty pounds. Bernie weighs one-fifteen.” She said, sitting next to him.

“You know I was joking yesterday when I teased you about living with Dr. Manny.”

“I know, I’ve been looking for a place for a while now. Especially with now that Bernie is huge. We don’t fit with my dad. So I'm looking for a place so me and Aaliyah can finally live together like we planned our senior year when I booked ‘Gone.’”

“Or you could move in with us.” He offered. “Our dogs get along, my house is pretty big so you wouldn’t have to worry about Bernie feeling like he has no space.”

“I can’t accept,” she said, shaking her head. “Nico’s grandparents live next door. What would they think about someone that’s not their daughter around their granddaughter.”

“Me letting them near Nico is just a courtesy. Legally speaking, they’re not her grandparents.”

“What do you mean?”

“When Loli dropped off Nico, she signed off any right she had, including her parents claiming her as their grandkid. But I’m not an arsehole, so I let her parents see Nico. Sometimes they watch her when I go run an errand, but Loli is completely out of the picture, especially after what went down a few months back.”

“Oh…”

“So you have nothing to worry about.”

Alexis Ximena nodded. She sat quietly and watched Nico and Calum. She did like spending time with them. Yesterday gave her hope for her and Calum, but she knew better than to get her hopes up. Even more if she was going to live with them.

“Fine, but I’m going to need two rooms.”

“Why two?”

“Where do you think my clothes and shoes are gonna go?”

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