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gnreadergames · 2 months

Text

Weird Science

Egon Spengler x Named FTM!Male Oc

Content warnings: Some sexual tension leading into non-graphic sexual content, mostly sickeningly sweet shit, Egon’s a lil crazy, Alex likes em cooky, doctor kink?? Is that a thing? Idk, either way a PHD title is used in a way no one should use a PHD title. Unless they are freaks like me :3

A/N: Crawling out of my hole I’ve been in for *checks watch* like almost a year to bring you this. I have no excuses guys I just rewatched my favorite movie and wanted to fuck the science man again. Super self indulgent, also for my trans readers because I’ve noticed a lot of yall thirsting after this man are trans. Congratulations my niche little subjects, here’s some food.

Word count: 13,971. - Yes you read that right. I just really wanted to write some gooey porn about the science man okay?

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Egon Spengler sat alone in the firehouse, surrounded by the various specimen he had collected from a bust and the various machines created to catch and contain ghosts. He had just finished running diagnostics on the Proton Packs, fixing a bug that Peter had showed him on his, and was in the process of cataloging and tagging some new samples he had collected on their last bust of a succubus in a hotel.

Alex was quiet about accessing the stairs. The door to the bottom always squeaked but he made sure to pull it open extra slowly this time, and somehow successfully managed to make it all the way up to the top of the 2nd floor completely silently. Egon was perched at the main table in the kitchen up top. Its circular surface was covered with bagged petri-dishes, spore samples, and various robotic gadgets he guessed were for ghost hunting. He deftly approached from behind.

Egon’s head was down, nose intently tucked into whatever journal he was writing in now as Alex tiptoed up behind him and every so suddenly crouched down beside him to ear level and said, in a level inside voice, ‘Whatcha’ up to Spengs’?”.

Egon startled. It was Alex. It was rare for anyone to just come up behind him at the firehouse, but given recent events, he wasn't really surprised. He put down his pen, looking to get a better look at Alex.

"Hm? Oh, just going over the findings from our last bust. And the latest samples. It's all pretty...standard stuff, really. Nothing worth getting excited about."

“Yeah? Thought molds spores and fungi were your type of fun, guy-“ Alex laughed a little at his own joke, hand brushing the back of the chair and inadvertently brushing ever so briefly against Egon’s bare neck. Alex blushed slightly and hoped Egon was too focused to have noticed as he took a seat next to him.

Egon glanced up from his notes. Despite Alex making his presence very obvious, Egon had been so engrossed in his work that he barely noticed. Now, he was caught, and clearly flustered.

"Right. It's not that this sort of stuff isn't interesting. It's just..." He paused, trying to come up with the right words. "It's less exciting than seeing ghosts, you know? There's much less danger to it."

Alex cocked his head, curious. ”So is that why you do it?” He asked.

He thought for a moment, considering how to answer this question.

"In a sense, I suppose. There is always the hope that when I'm out investigating, I might encounter something truly new. Something unexpected and unpredictable. Something that could turn the whole study of ghosts on its head. And believe me, it's been a long time since we've had a true breakthrough in ghost related research."

“Is it the danger or is it the superiority? The control?” Alex blurted out without really thinking. When he realized what he said and how odd of a question it was “I just mean…” he stammered, “Do you think you like the danger, or do you like being in control? Do you like feeling powerful over the ghosts? Do you like the chase and the win? Kinda like a game…” Alex mumbled off, blushing. He felt like he only further incriminated himself into his line of thinking.

Egon laughed quietly. Clearly he wasn't offended by the question, even if it was a rather strange one. He was also more than a little intrigued.

"There is certainly an element of control, I must admit. I do like to think that I know what I'm doing out there." He paused, still smiling. "But at the same time, I'm also just as much at the mercy of the ghosts. There's always a certain...risk that I think I enjoy."

“Hm. You work in interesting ways ‘Spengs…” Alex hummed thoughtfully. His posture became a little more relaxed as he rested forward, chin on his elbow watching Egon tag samples and hum along to a janky radio he had sitting on an adjacent counter of the kitchen.

"Doctor Spengler, if you don't mind," Egon corrected, his tone only half-joking.

He glanced back down at his notes, making a few more small adjustments before finally setting the pen down.

"So you just...came over here to bother me while I work?"

“Mostly. It is my favorite pastime as you know.” Alex smirked, almost cat-like. Egon rolled his eyes, he knew the gentle teasing Alex put him through.

“Also, Doctor Spengler? What am I, one of your patients? Or do you just get a kick out of making people call you that?” Alex teased again, this time dropping his voice a little in a lusty tone that made him laugh trying to get it out in one piece.

Egon smirked, rolling his eyes in return. Alex's teasing was one of the things he actually did kind of enjoy.

”The latter, if I'm being perfectly honest. Not that I'll ever admit it."

He crossed his arms, leaning back in his chair.

"But you have to admit, Doctor is a much nicer title than Mr. Or even Professor. That title's always been a little too pretentious for its own good," he continued to banter.

I like Mr. in…” Alex paused, looking pensively upwards, “certain contexts. Like if you were to get married. Mr. And Mrs. Or er, Mr. And Mr…” Alex said casually. He hadn’t formally come out to Egon but he knew Venkman’s little vermin hands had background checked him enough to know his dating preferences already and his gender. And to be fully honest, he liked Egon more than anybody else here, even if he’d only admit it under extreme duress, or maybe too much alcohol.

So he deserved to know.

Or maybe Alex was a little desperate to share practically anything about himself in hopes of getting closer to the other man.

Egon's eyebrow raised slightly, hearing this. Alex hadn't come out to him directly, but this felt pretty obvious. It wasn't an issue to Egon anyway, but he was curious to know now.

"Alex...are you telling me you're interested in...men?"

He cleared his throat, his tone a bit nervous. He wasn't sure how to react.

“Oh-“ Alex hadn’t expected Egon to ask him so directly. But then again, he never was one for taking hints. “Yeah, I am.”

His face was redder than usual and it was obvious Egon’s bluntness had caught him slightly off guard and flustered him.

“I hope that isn’t a problem with you. I really like…spending time with you Egon.” Alex said. He wanted to leave it vague, for now at least. He didn’t even know if Egon was into men, let alone if Egon considered him a friend let alone a potential romantic interest. He didn’t want to jump the guns too fast here.

Egon looked at him, taking a moment to collect his thoughts.

"Alex...I have no problem with it. I'm very happy to spend time with you as well. I just...wasn't expecting you to say that."

For a moment, he seemed like he was going to say something more. But he held back, thinking better of it, clearly not sure what to actually say right now.

"Just didn't have you pegged as one who...preferred men's company."

“Oh really?” Alex laughed, he could lighten the mood up a bit hopefully. “What did you have me pegged for then, ‘Spengs?” he asked, leaning forward on his elbows curiously.

Egon laughed quietly as well.

"Well, you seem like you'd have an eye for the ladies." He grinned, still in an obviously good-natured way. "If you're into guys, then you're not exactly...what I would call 'typically gay' looking."

“Well…thanks?” Alex laughed. “I’m into women too, so I guess I would be in the middle of whatever spectrum you’re thinking of.”

He crumpled up a loose straw wrapper from Egon’s ginger ale and started to flick it back and forth between his fingers, nervously.

Egon nodded. He didn't seem all that surprised by this; if anything he had always got the sense that Alex was at least a little bit bi-curious, given some of the conversations they'd had.

"Right. The ol' 'bisexual' thing." He joked.

Suddenly he looked at Alex again, with an expression of sudden realization.

"Wait. Wait a minute. Are you...are you saying..."

His eyes widened slightly.

“What? Not so blunt now Egon?” Alex questioned.

“Are you...hitting on me?”

Egon looked at him, and this time his tone seemed to be one of genuine curiosity, mixed with amusement.

“Who said anything about hitting on you? Just thought you should know.” Alex was very clearly red around the apples of his cheeks and ears. He was at least embarrassed, if not caught.

Egon felt something warm and vulnerable flutter underneath one of his ribs. He swallowed.

Alex was stubborn and obviously determined not to be caught this fast in this little game they had been playing, the roughly 3 weeks of back and forth bantering, the casual drink after work when everyone else had already left, and of course, decidedly ignoring whatever happened after the attack on New York when he saw Egon exit the building safely, if not covered in goo.

Even though he, and he’s pretty sure Egon too, both remember it, neither of them have brought it up in a serious manner.

Egon laughed quietly, shaking his head. He was surprised sure, but he certainly wasn't upset. If anything, the opposite.

They were alone together, no one to hear or see anything. No one to interrupt them. Egon took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll be honest," he said, looking Alex directly in the eye. "If you were trying to get me to figure out you're interested in me, then that definitely did the trick."

Alex smiled. It was different from his usually sly cat-like grin. This time, it was a softer, less slick looking smile with some genuine warmth behind it.

“And why would somebody as astute as the doctor Egon Spengler care about such a thing?” Alex asked, feigning being coy.

Egon had to laugh at that, shaking his head. Alex was a lot of things, but one thing he most certainly was not was subtle.

"I care because..." he paused, his smile becoming a bit broader. Despite their teasing back and forth, he was suddenly being completely genuine.

"Actually, this is probably pretty obvious, but..." He let the rest go unsaid for a moment. He didn't know what he wanted to come next. If he actually wanted to stay casual, or if he wanted more.

Alex swallowed audibly with how quiet the room had gotten suddenly.

“Egon….do you….like me?” Alex asked softly. He felt like he was dreaming, like he would wake up at any moment and this would all have been some fevered imagination of a sickly brain, a brain obsessed with this gorgeous brainiac.

Egon's face was a shade of pink now...a very noticeable pink. He shifted in his seat, clearly a bit flustered.

"I..." he said quietly. "...yes." He raised his hands up slightly, as if trying to steady himself.

"I mean...if you're okay with what that means and all that...is it...alright if I'm honest with you?"

“Please” Alex begged, voice wavering. He wanted this so much he didn’t know how to ask with words. He had practiced this scenario a thousand times over in his head as he tried to fall asleep night after night and still, he didn’t know how to respond to this. “Be honest.”

Egon swallowed, trying to gather his thoughts and his breath.

"Okay...well...I...I don't think I could have made it through the last few months without you." His words came out in spurts, each sentence broken up by pauses as he lost himself in his thoughts.

"There's always been something about you. Something I've found...really irresistible. Your mind, your energy...your...your...ahem...your...um...your...looks" He smirked softly as he finished that last sentence.

Alex flushed bright red.

Up until 10 minutes ago he had doubts the doctor even had the capabilities to be attracted to anybody, much less a man, and to hear that he had potentially been being discreetly checked out around the office made a slight sweat break out under his collared shirt and tie.

Not that he hadn’t been doing the same thing to Egon a few times when he worked… who can blame him? He flushed even harder thinking about one specific time and broke eye contact, embarrassed.

Egon couldn't help but chuckle at this. He could tell that he'd caught a very sensitive nerve. A grin spread across his face as he shook his head, still laughing a bit.

"God you're cute when you get like this," Egon said, almost teasingly.

His tone became more serious again, as he leaned forward a bit closer towards Alex.

"Can I ask you something?"

“Y-“ Alex had to swallow, mouth suddenly becoming dry as Egon leaned ever closer. “Yeah.” His eyes couldn’t look anywhere by Egon now, and he was sure his face was visibly red by now if it wasn’t before.

Egon took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he was about to say.

"Before, you said you hadn't formally told me...about...your preferences. Was there a specific reason for this? Because I'd like to know if..."

He stopped there, looking into Alex's warm brown eyes. He took another deep breath.

"Was it because you weren't sure about my preferences?"

Alex caught a nervous laugh. He didn’t want Egon to think he was laughing at him, he was just so relieved they might possibly be on the same page and that this wasn’t another time Alex would be head over heels for another guy that would leave him the first chance he got a hotter woman to look at him.

“Yeah…I was just… curious is all.” Alex looked down at the floor, nervous and a bit embarrassed to be that easy to read. “Took you long enough…I think the others were starting to think I was just weird.”

Egon smirked, letting out an amused sigh.

"Well, they're not necessarily...wrong about that." He said, teasingly as always. But it was clear that he didn't mean it in an offensive way.

When Alex said he was curious, Egon understood. He had always wondered why Alex had never talked much about personal subjects like that. He was starting to see why now.

"Right. Well, I think it's my turn to be honest, yeah?"

“I think it is, doctor.” Alex teased back. Now that he knew Egon liked using that little word he was going to be sure to make it difficult. Especially if this conversation was going the way he thought it was.

Egon grinned, playing along for now.

"Okay. My turn to be honest, then."

He looked at Alex, his expression more serious again.

"I'm still confused on one thing, though. Can I ask you a personal question?"

”Go ahead” Alex said. He supposed he could be honest about it all now since he’d been pretty much found out.

Egon breathed. "Alright. I can't help but notice that after every time we have a bust, something happens between us...how do I say this? More than before. Have you ever...noticed that too?”

Egon paused to take a deep breath, still holding his eye contact. This was the moment of truth. He'd known that for some time now, the two of them were beginning to develop feelings for each other. But he'd held back, not wanting to push it too fast. But now he couldn't hold back anymore. He needed to know if Alex had noticed too.

”I’ve…” Alex had to choose his words carefully. “I’ve noticed it too. When I started working here last year…” Alex shifted nervously and then suddenly became more serious, sitting up and placing his hands on the table. “When I started working here last year I didn’t think much about it. It was supposed to just be a stepping stone to bigger things, being the Ghostbusters official PR manager is nothing to sneeze at and I thought if I just hung out here long enough I could get a job somewhere on Wall Street, bigger things, better pay…” Alex swallowed. “But then I started to like hanging out with you guys. And then we became friends, and suddenly it became a lot harder to see it as just a job. And then after…well to be honest right before the New York attack, that night you walked me home after we were the last two here, I think I sort of thought about you differently than the rest of them.”

Alex didn’t know how to explain it, it was difficult putting it into words. “I think I realized I cared about you more. In a different way I mean. Sure I’m friends with Venkmen and Stanz and Zeddemore, but I didn’t see you like I saw them. I wanted to get to know you more, I knew it when I said goodnight to you and it was snowing on my doorstep. And you smiled at me. I think I knew then. And then of course right after that big attack happened and I thought for sure you were dead, we had no clue how anything was going to play out and I just remembered feeling like I could die of happiness seeing you walk out of that building, and…I guess before I knew it I was already moving to you. I don’t really know why I hugged you, I was just…glad you were okay. I was glad I hadn’t missed my chance with you, I guess. I hadn’t realized how special you were to me.”

Egon's eyes were locked on Alex's every breath, every word. It was like he was seeing him in an entirely different light right now. They'd flirted and teased back and forth before, but everything here sounded so much more genuine and sincere. Like they weren't even playing a game anymore, they were being very real with each other. It was a beautiful thing.

Egon swallowed, his heart pounding inside his chest. He felt like...like this was it.

"Can I be honest with you about something, too?"

“Anything.” Alex breathed. He felt like he was going to explode admitting all of that.

Egon swallowed, his heart pounding even faster. Just like Alex he was ready to explode. But he had to get this off his chest. Now that they'd started, he couldn't think of a reason to stop.

"I've never...I've never felt the way about anyone before the way that I feel about you. I didn't even realize it at first but I've been..." He couldn't believe he was saying all this. "...I've been thinking about you a lot. Too damn much of the time, actually."

Alex smiled, giddy and carefree. He felt a little dizzy with nerves.

“Really?” He breathed, excitedly. “I’m so glad. I can’t stop thinking about you, I felt like I was going crazy. I think even Venkman picked up on it this past month when you went on that blind date Stanz set you up on.”

Egon chuckled, a wide grin on his face.

"Yeah...can't say it was a successful date."

He thought back to the disaster of a date he'd been set up with a few weeks ago. It was pretty damn clear to even Venkman. So maybe they were a little more transparent than they should have been with their feelings of late towards their friend’s attempts to set them up with other people.

"I feel stupid for letting it take this long to acknowledge any of this."

“Maybe we’re both stupid.” Alex thought, dumbly. But he couldn’t let anything dampen his mood right now. He felt like he was floating, almost drunk with happiness.

“So Mr. Scientist,” he said, balancing his chin on his hand and reaching an index finger to fiddle around with the lid of an empty Petri dish in front of him, “tell me about what you think about me. What’s been on that big brain of yours?” He purred.

Egon felt his heart skip a beat when Alex started flirting with him. He wasn't used to it, but he really liked it. What he liked even more was the idea that someone as brilliant and attractive as Alex thought this way about him.

Egon chuckled, his lips curling up into a smirk. "You want me to be honest about what I think about you?"

“Honesty is the best policy” Alex nodded, intrigued.

"Yeah...yeah it definitely is." Egon leaned forward, his gaze even more intense than before.

"I think you're absolutely brilliant. Not just in terms of your science...but your mind itself. That sharp, witty mind of yours is such a...turn on." His smirk became a bit more mischievous as he spoke. "I love it when you try to outwit a person in conversation, when you get all riled up and competitive.... I love even more that I've never seen you lose."

“You have such a way with your stupid words.” Alex giggled. He was sure he was making a fool of himself but he couldn’t believe somebody like the Egon Spengler found him attractive. He could count on one hand the times he’d been this lucky in his entire life.

“You really know how to flatter a guy,” Alex admitted, tracing the rim of the Petri dish with the same finger absentmindedly.

Egon smiled, chuckling at that, but not denying the accuracy.

"I wasn't kidding when I said your mind turns me on."

He leaned in even closer, his gaze burning into Alex's. He looked at the way Alex was tracing the rim of his empty petri dish and had an idea.

"I have a suggestion..."

“Shoot.” Alex said, sharpening the ‘T’ sound, almost bitingly.

Egon swallowed, almost nervous looking. But he thought this would be the perfect way to test the waters, to see just how interested Alex really was before he took it a step further.

"Close your eyes..."

“Okay.” Alex said, cautiously but trusting. He knew Egon wouldn’t hurt him and if anything, not knowing what was coming next and being completely at the will of the other man kind of made him feel safe. It was nice. It made his heart race a little.

He shut his eyes gently, waiting.

Egon smirked, enjoying the game he was playing. He stood up, and slowly started moving behind Alex, his movements very subtle and patient. When he got behind him, he took the same index finger that Alex had been tracing the edge of the Petri dish with and ran it softly, delicately over the back of Alex's neck, sliding it into his hair and slowly running it through.

Alex shivered at the touch.

Christ.

Okay.

He hadn’t been expecting this. Egon wasn’t a touchy person, not even in the throes of victory, so this was new, and honestly thrilling for Alex.

“Egon…” Alex practically purred, keening towards the touch. He liked it. He liked it a lot.

Egon smiled, pleased with the way Alex reacted to it. He decided to go a step further, and slowly, still using only his one index finger, started stroking Alex's hair down his neck, and eventually down his shoulders as he continued to trace a line down Alex's back.

Alex shivered and twitched with every vertebrae that Egon ran his finger past.

“This another one of your experiments, doctor?” Alex teased with a voice lower and slower than normal, but this time the air was thicker with something unspoken and unseen. But it could be very, very felt. Distantly, Alex was glad everyone else had taken this Saturday off.

Egon smirked. He loved that he was making Alex squirm, that he was clearly enjoying this so much. Alex's lower and slower voice made his chest tremble with a mix of emotion. A mix of excitement and fear. He was enjoying this, this flirtatious back and forth, but now he was feeling more daring…

"No experiment...this is something...much more personal."

“And what exactly are you testing here?” Alex asked. He still hadn’t opened his eyes yet, but now he thought he couldn’t bear not being able to see Egon for a second longer. He opened his eyes, and titled his head slightly back and was met with an angled view of his affections.

His heart skipped a beat. He wasn’t expecting Egon to look anything less than well…perfect. But this was new. Egon’s once soft brown eyes looked almost black with how dilated his pupils were, and his olive completion was a richer red tone around his face and ears. He may be more cognitively in control of the situation, but it was good to see that he was just as affected by Alex as he was by Egon.

Egon smirked and stepped even closer, their mouths finally just inches away from one another. He watched as the corners of Alex's lips quivered ever so slightly, and he couldn't help but feel a wave of joy sweep over him.

"My test..." Egon's voice was lower, and more seductive than ever. "...is to see exactly how far I can push it before you can't take it anymore."

As he spoke, he leaned just a tiny bit closer. Their lips were almost touching…

“Egon,” Alex’s voice was barely a whisper but it somehow only came out as a strung out whimper. He titled his head back ever so slightly more and he felt Egon’s breath hot on his lips.

Alex would beg for mercy if he had to. He just wanted Egon. He was so happy he could cry. His entire body felt like it was vibrating with how wired and nervous he was.

Egon knew at this point he couldn't hold back anymore. It was obvious he was just as nervous as Alex was. And in this intense moment, he needed to let him know that. His hands fell to Alex's shoulders and he pulled him even closer, so their chests were pressing sharply up against one another.

Egon's voice was lower than the lowest, as he began to whisper right back.

"God do you know how badly I want you, right now? What I would do to you if I could right this second?"

Alex’s head spun. Who was this? His Egon was quiet and professional, but he couldn’t deny that he hadn’t thought of this side of Egon, better said, dreamed of Egon having a side like this. He knew Egon was a man of control, and rules, but he also knew Egon, like every man, had buttons.

And buttons, could be pressed.

“We’re alone for the day.” Alex reminded. Egon was so close their foreheads were pressed together. Eyes locked.

Egon froze at that, the only sound in the room was their heavy breathing. He felt Alex's body pressed up against him, his heart pounding in his ears. His lips were mere centimeters apart, now. And he was suddenly hit with a wave of...nerve? Fear? Excitement?

Finally, Egon's mind won the war within.

"God damn it, it's taking every ounce of self control I have right now not to just start ripping you apart with my teeth..." he said, eyes darker than before.

Oh.

A little crazy.

Alex could work with a little crazy.

“Please-” let it never be said that Alex was above begging, because he wasn’t. Especially not for Egon. He would beg for Egon to call him worthless and pathetic. He would beg for Egon to spit on him. Egon being nice to him? Practically as strong as cocaine straight to the brain.

Alex leaned forward and clumsily brushed his lips against Egon’s for a mere second before pulling back, mouth slightly open, eyes lidded. He wanted Egon to want this as much as him. He wanted Egon to want him.

Egon stared into Alex's eyes, his heart racing a thousand miles a minute. Just seeing Alex's lips meet his, even for just one brief contact, sent a jolt of pure euphoria through his entire body. He'd never realized just how much he'd wanted this...how much he'd wanted Alex, until this very moment.

Finally, he did it. Before he had a chance to second guess his actions, Egon let his instincts take over. He leaned forward and pulled Alex back into him with one firm and quick motion. He then proceeded to take over this kiss…

Alex gasped into the kiss. He wasn’t expecting Egon to be this rough, but he guessed there was a certain aspect of desperation on both of their ends. Egon felt like he was devouring him. Alex’s knees felt like they were going to buckle, and he was lowering slowly, slowly, with pathetic little noises as Egon kissed the breath out of him.

He broke for a second, as Egon leaned over him, pushing his back into the chair, legs straddling it weakly. “Eg-“ he gasped as Egon went in for another kiss, just as hungry as the last. Alex broke away again, more determinedly “I’ve wanted this for so long. So, so, long…” his legs still weak, he leaned into Egon’s chest and arms, holding him.

Egon was in almost as much of a stupor as Alex, that little bit he'd tasted of him before had sent his heart soaring to new heights. His whole body felt alive, every single nerve. He couldn't believe how much he had wanted this, how badly he'd want to take it even further. But right now, was just the two of them, alone, the downstairs door locked.

As Alex spoke, Egon squeezed him harder by instinct alone. It was only making him yearn for much, much more…

“How long?” Alex asked between kisses. His right knee gave out and he felt Egon pull away. He made a weak noise of protest as Egon’s body pulled from his, until he realized he was being pulled with it and spun around. Suddenly, he found himself being picked up by the hips and sat gingerly and quickly onto the edge of the table, legs straddled and Egon standing in between. He kissed Alex again, tongue slipping into his mouth. He obviously didn’t seem content with the position though, too far, as he broke apart again soon after to grab Alex’s hips and yank him toward Egon’s standing ones, legs locking behind his back.

“Since when?” Alex asked again. “When did you know?” He felt drunk as Egon moved to kiss his jawline.

Egon smirked when he realized what Alex was actually asking him. To have someone this sharp, this witty being so...weak in your hands was an incredibly intoxicating experience. But the time to pick was over, now was all about play.

"God I don't know...it's been a while." Egon moved back in to capture Alex's mouth once again, holding onto his hips for dear life. "Since I started to want to see the sides of you that weren't professional, that weren't strictly business...I wanted to see exactly how human you could be."

“I’ve wanted you since that day in January. The one where we had the poltergeist in the-ah!” Alex winced as Egon moved to his neck and bit at a sensitive spot just under his ear, soft tender flesh. “S-since, that day- when- when you came back to the lab in your- your lab clothes all-” Alex’s left hand, the stronger of the two, came up to grasp at the dress shirt stretched over Egon’s back, “and th-they were all singed and dusty, and you were covered in- mmhp- sweat, and you didn’t even look at me when you-you” Egon kissed Alex to shut him up briefly, and for a moment there was nothing but the noise of soft, labored breathing and the creaking of the wooden table as they pressed against one another, but eventually Egon let him go in favor of biting at his neck again. “You- you didn’t even look at me, just rolled, rolled up your sleeves and went to work in your lab. All serious, brow furrowed, covered in grime but still wanting to get data while- ah- it’s fresh-“ Alex smiled remembering it. He still felt fuzzy and the memory was still fresh. “You’re incredibly toned for a scientist did- did you know that?” Alex asked in a breathy voice. “You have a great- great body.”

Egon huffed a laugh against his neck.

Egon couldn't help but feel his ego inflate and his cheek turn red from Alex's compliment. He'd never considered just how toned his body was, especially with his lack of exercise and all his nerdy, intellectual pursuits. As Alex rambled on, Egon couldn't help but get more turned on.

He smirked as he bit down on Alex's neck again and felt his lips twitch against it, as if Alex was moaning.

"I think you might be the first person in a while who's actually taken the time to notice..."

“How could I not?” Alex asked. Egon had momentarily paused his nipping and chewing to lift his head and look up at Alex. His big, dark eyes were even darker than usual and it was hard to see where his pupil and iris even separated.

He looked, almost animal with it.

Alex had never seen a not very methodically, almost scientifically, controlled side of Egon. This made some part of Alex’s hindbrain flicker with a warmth he had only felt on lonely nights he spent fantasizing with his own hand and brain.

Egon smirked and tilted his head up as he looked at Alex's face, that perfect, beautiful, wonderful face that had eluded him and teased him for so long. He just couldn't get enough. Every part of his body was tingling with pleasure and desire. He wanted nothing more than to take Alex right here and right now.

"You look beautiful." Egon said it sincerely, truly believing every word of it. But then he leaned up and whispered, his voice a mischievous and enticing husk. "I'm going to make you even more beautiful..."

Alex complied limply. Whatever Egon wanted. Alex felt himself slipping quietly under into that mindset he loved so much. He didn’t need control. He trusted Egon. Whatever he wanted. He knew best. He wanted to make him proud. He wanted to do whatever would make Egon happy.

Alex reached his neck desperately towards Egon and caught one last desperate kiss with a small sound before he finally gave in and let Egon do whatever he wished.

As he watched Alex willingly yield to him, Egon couldn't help but smirk. The look on his face was just as he pictured: submissive, trusting, almost worshiping. He couldn't wait to push the limits of this power and see just how desperate his new lab assistant and lover was.

So Egon did just that, pushing Alex's shirt up and kissing his collarbone, slowly making his way up to his neck again. He bit and nibbled at his collar bone, all while rubbing his hands along Alex's back and hips.

“Ah!” Alex gasped. He was particularly sensitive on his hips, and once Egon knew, he used it devilishly. His thumb ran a steady back and forth rhythm over a ridge in his V-line, making Alex shiver. Another hand curled possessively over Alex’s back and made him preen with a particularly fiery feeling in his chest. Alex continued making weak and steady noises as Egon worked over his collarbone, biting and kissing everywhere he could reach, hands moving to grasp the skin he couldn’t cover with his mouth.

The power and the control that he was asserting over Alex was making Egon feel like he was in some kind of haze, like he was just floating around in a sea of bliss, a euphoric dream that he didn't want to ever end.

The way Alex reacted to his touch made his own heart skip a beat, hearing him make those soft little sounds as he nibbled just so slightly harder on his neck and collarbone. It was pushing all his buttons, making him want so much more…

“Please-” Alex begged, not entirely sure what exactly he was begging for. Whatever Egon would give him. Whatever Egon thought he deserved. Alex’s hands, at one point limp around Egon’s waist, now were clenched tightly into his shirt and his hair, respectively, as Alex’s body curled into Egon’s.

Egon shivered again as he heard Alex beg him, heard him pleading for more.

This was exactly what he had been dreaming of. A completely submissive Alex, one who would let Egon take control completely, one who would gladly turn over every inch of his body to Egon for...for whatever Egon wanted.

It was such a turn on that Egon couldn't even form whole sentences, his thoughts were getting the best of him and his body was ready to take...no, to take control.

“Whatever you want.” Alex wanted more. Whatever Egon would give him. He laid flat on the table as Egon pulled away and surveyed him quickly, eyes flitting across his body as a whole, flushed, shirt pushed up, hands clutching feverishly at the flat table finding nothing to grab on to.

Egon smirked, loving the look of desperation on Alex's face, knowing that he was completely and utterly at his mercy now. And as Egon looked over him, his eyes trailing up and down his body, it was like Alex's features became bolder, brighter, more handsome. He looked like a perfect specimen to him, to the point where Egon almost couldn't take his eyes off of him.

"I'm going to make your day today..."

“What are you going to do?” Alex asked, although he really didn’t need to know. He was okay with whatever. As long as Egon was happy with him, he’d do it.

Egon brushed a hand along the side of Alex’s stomach and Alex made a little hurt, punched out noise from his gut and curled into the touch, but it was gone almost as fast as it appeared.

"Just...just close your eyes for me and stay still for a minute." Egon's voice was heavy, and slightly out of breath. He was almost desperate himself, he needed this just as much as Alex, and he was willing to do whatever it took to make Alex want him and love him for the rest of his life.

Alex could almost physically feel Egon's desire in the air, his need for more, seeping off from him as it grew with every passing second. Egon's body was trembling, his breath quick and shallow.

”Okay…” Alex swallowed for the first time in a while, finding his mouth dry but his lips slick with spit. He felt slightly debauched, but he preened at the knowledge that it was Egon who made him this way. Only for Egon.

He sat patiently and waited for whatever Egon had next.

Egon watched as Alex closed his eyes, watching him with baited breath and a deep seated hunger his lips were practically quivering with desire. And as he watched, the hunger inside him only grew more intense.

Quickly, his hands traced along the top of Alex's body, down his sides, all the way down to his thighs, caressing and teasing his body, making sure there wasn't a single inch missed.

Alex whimpered. He felt crazed. Egon’s hands felt so large and warm, almost feverish. Everywhere he touched felt like it was melting. Alex was practically drunk off the feeling as he squirmed with every new press into tender flesh that Egon figured out could make him writhe.

Just the sound of Alex's squirms was enough for Egon to get worked up even more, each touch and each squeeze of his body had him trembling with desire, his body quivering with excitement, ready to explode out in a fit of sheer pleasure.

Egon's hands moved faster, his touches more firm. He was determined to tease every last ounce of sound out of him that he could.

“Please, enough teasing!” Alex begged. He was almost crying now. His heart has been racing this entire time. He still had one more secret to tell Egon and the longer the foreplay went on, the more nervous he got about telling him.

Hearing that voice break out in tears in response to his touches only sparked more hunger in Egon's chest, but when he heard the pleading come from Alex's mouth, that was enough to cause the last pieces of resistance to crumble. He had to. No more teasing, no more playing, this was the real deal. He needed him now.

"All right, yes, I will, just...just let me-" Egon said, but his words were cut short by his own mouth coming down hard against Alex's.

Alex moaned loudly. Perhaps the loudest one yet as Egon’s hands grabbed his hips and seared him against his pelvis firm. He could feel…a certain hardness against his leg as Egon’s tongue explored his mouth and practically stole his oxygen away.

Egon groaned into the kiss, the sound rumbling up from deep in his chest. He couldn't hold himself back much longer now, the only thing on his mind was getting more. More of this perfect body, more of the sound of his pleas and whimpers.

Egon's hand moved downwards, squeezing firmly and squeezing Alex tighter against him. It was all he could do to keep himself from pushing him down and taking what he wanted right then and there.

As Egon’s hand moved downward, Alex’s hand suddenly shot out and grabbed his wrist in a moment of blind panic and clarity. It shocked Alex as much as it did Egon and for a moment they both simply stared at one another, panting, flushed.

“Egon…Eg-I’m…” Alex started, trying to word something but seemingly choking on it. “I need to tell you something before…before we do anything else.” Alex’s heart was in his throat. He thought he wouldn’t even get past the admission of him being bisexual, he didn’t know how to breech this. “Egon…I’m transgender.” Alex swallowed, throat tight with want as much as it was with fear.

Egon froze, hand still in mid air when he heard the words coming out of Alex's mouth. His breathing stopped, his heart beating out of his chest, it was a miracle that he didn't fall off of the table he was sitting on. Egon just stared, his mind whirring a million miles a second, trying to process what Alex had just told him.

All movement stopped.

God.

He’d ruined it.

Ruined it.

Alex’s face burned with embarrassment. He knew Egon wouldn’t want him after this. He just thought…he doesn’t know what he thought…that in some miracle Egon would accept him?

His face burns with more than embarrassment, with shame.

He gets ready for Egon to push off and potentially even hit him. For baiting him. For being…a freak.

"Say that again."

It wasn't the reply Alex expected. It wasn't words that expressed disgust or anger or shame, but something deeper- something that spoke volumes to the depth of his emotions for him. Egon was breathless, his mind a million miles a second, but the intensity of the words in his throat were only getting stronger. He needed to hear it one more time to make sure he wasn't just hearing things.

Alex swallowed.

“I’m…I’m transgender.” He said, voice barely above a whisper.

His hand gripped the table’s edge, he could reach it from where Egon had pulled him closer to his hips. He was sweating, both from being hot, so so hot, pressed up against Egon, but also from nerves and anxiety chewing at his gut.

Egon's stomach flipped, his heart racing as blood rushed to every inch of his body. His mind was completely overwhelmed by the news he was just told, and he felt the heat and the intensity growing inside him again. But this time it was mixed with something new, with a hunger that he's never experienced before.

"Just one question..." Egon asked, his voice thick and heavy with desire and love. His body was trembling with need now, his heart ready to explode into sparks and flames.

”Yeah?” Alex whimpered.

Egon reached forward, grabbing Alex's wrist, pulling him closer, almost into a hug so he could whisper something in his ear.

"Are you a man?"

”Yes” Alex squeezed his eyes shut and whispered. Egon was so close.

"That's all I care about."

Egon's breath was so hot and heavy as he spoke, it felt like his words were igniting the room. He finally let go of Alex's wrist, his body trembling uncontrollably as all the desire he felt before seemed to have reached its peak. He was ready to take him, to mold him into whatever shape he found most desirable.

Jesus.

Alex felt like he was going to pass out. Or die. Maybe both.

His head was practically spinning. Egon’s hands grabbed his hips harder and slid down, brushing the waistband of his pants slightly further, exposing his hips and the beginning of a small happy trail.

He could cry.

He was so happy.

He was crying he realized. Tears slipped from his eyes as Egon began biting at his collarbone again.

Egon was like a heat seeking missile, his mouth, his lips, his teeth moving to whatever place he could find that would generate the most response out of Alex. He couldn't get enough of him, his lips trailing down his neck, down to his shoulders, his hand caressing his hips as he slowly pulled him even closer so he could bite, and bite, and scratch, and maul, and love every inch of him like he was a starving animal after the meal that had been denied him for months on end.

”Egon-“ Alex whimpered. His hands clawed at the thin fabric stretched over Egon’s back. He had money to afford the expensive thick type, Alex knew exactly what he was getting paid, but he also knew Egon preferred practical. Something he loved about him. He wasn’t afraid to come back to the lab dripping in ectoplasm or singed with soot.

In fact, maybe now Alex would finally have an excuse to get all those ruined cheap shirts off him.

Alex kissed at Egon’s mouth when he could. Brief, wet, desperate kisses.

Egon's mind was filled with nothing but Alex now, the sweet sound of his cries, the feel of his fingernails digging into his back, the way his body fit so neatly against his own....he couldn't go back, he didn't want to, he didn't intend on letting go of him until he finally saw him broken, broken and his, his alone.

Egon's desire continued to grow with every passing second, his breath getting heavier, his movements becoming more aggressive. He needed more.

“Whatever you want. Do whatever- I Just- ah - I need more” Alex pleaded. He knew it was pathetic. Begging to be taken, especially by someone he admired so much. He wanted Egon to think he was an equal, someone to be taken seriously. Not just some…whore. Something cheap to be broken.

But…maybe…just maybe…

He would like to be Egon’s anything.

He could be Egon’s plaything if he wanted. He’d bend.

He’s submit. He’d even let Egon break him, as long as he put him back together at the end.

And he would.

Because he knew Egon.

He trusted Egon.

So…

“More” he begged.

Egon's mind was just pure adrenaline now, thoughts coming one after another like a machine gun firing. Thoughts of him, of how he made this boy want him so desperately, how he trusted him so much that he'd let him do anything, even let him break him...it was everything he'd ever dreamed of and now that it was actually a reality it was all he could think about.

Egon's hands slid down to his back, gripping him harder, pulling him closer as his breath got heavier and heavier…

Alex bucked his hips against Egon, and the sweet friction that was there for less than a second lit a spark in his mind. He felt like goo. He was a specimen. All for Egon.

Now that he thought about it…he wouldn’t mind being examined like a subject. Put on display for the doctor.

Alex shivered at the thought.

“I really-really want you” Alex breathed, clutching at him.

Egon's movements slowed down as he saw how much he was affecting Alex now, how his actions were making the man absolutely tremble with desire and need. He savored the feeling, enjoying the feeling of his own dominance and the power it gave him. He could make Alex do anything, make him do anything he wanted…

"I want you bad..." Egon breathed, his voice heavy and thick with need as his mouth came down to Alex's neck, kissing and nipping along the way. Egon was trembling all over now.

”Then do something about it,” Alex bit, and leaned back baring his neck to Egon who bit it with a feverish intensity.

Egon moaned, the sound echoing in his ears as he bit and nicked along the sensitive areas on Alex's neck.

"What do you think I'm doing right now?"

Egon's grip on him had begun to loosen, but it was only so he could move one of his hands around to push Alex's hips forward and make him buck even harder against him.

“AH!” Alex jumped as one of Egon’s hands slid down his back and into the back of his pants. It cupped flesh, squeezing. Alex rocked against the touch, his front brushing against Egon’s feeling just how excited he was by this.

“I want more though…” Alex pawed at Egon’s neatly tucked shirt, finally managing to ruck the back up enough to grab skin just on the small of his back. He tried to pull him closer. “There are beds just a few rooms away you know…” Alex bit at Egon’s ear and got an almost growl-like sound in response.

Egon's mouth left his neck as he heard his ear being nipped on, making his grip on him tight again. He'd been thinking the same thing, the pull of their bodies together was too much to pass up.

"You know what? You're right..." Egon murmured, the only sound the deep breathing of the both of them as Egon began to push Alex towards the beds, eager for the chance to give him everything he wanted.

Alex stumbled blindly, stupidly, towards the bunk room. He knew which bed was Egon’s, and was suddenly thankful for the twin size, as it meant they would have to be as close as possible.

“Egon…” Alex breathed as he stumbled backwards onto the bed, Egon’s hands cupping his jaw. Alex begun to work on pulling the front of Egon’s shirt out of his slacks.

Egon's heart was pounding in his chest, the sound just loud and heavy in his head as he watched Alex start to pull down his shirt. His mouth was dry as all of the blood had rushed to his lower half at this point, making his entire body feel hot all over. He was practically shaking with every touch of Alex's hands as he held himself back at the moment. He could let himself go later, he had to wait just a few more seconds…

”Can I?” Alex asked, practically doe eyed as he looked up at Egon, flushed with lips wet with spit.

His hands fumbled with the zipper of Egon’s pants and the buckle of his belt. This was the only time he cursed how perfectly dressed Egon was. It got in his way of what he really wanted right now.

"Oh... oh yes.”

Egon's entire body was trembling in anticipation, his entire being was just craving for anything he could get from Alex and now to think that he was going to let him take off his pants to get to him....he was not going to last long if this continued.

Alex deftly and quickly undid Egon’s belt and zipper with a speed that told Egon he had done this before, and a primal, stupid part of Egon’s brain flared with jealousy. He wanted to kill whoever taught Alex that. Alex was his.

Alex yanked Egon’s slacks down and his briefs along with it. Quickly, he nosed along the V of Egon’s hips with the ferocity of a starved animal. He licked and kissed anywhere he could get his mouth to.

Egon couldn't stop the guttural sound of pleasure that came from his mouth, his legs wobbling with every touch of Alex's tongue and mouth. His breath was heavy and sharp, his body trembling with the intense desire now coursing through him.

Alex’s hands moved to cover whatever he couldn’t get with his mouth. He wanted this to be good for Egon. He wanted to be good for Egon. He made sure to keep his teeth out of the way, using his tongue mostly. He was still shy, new at this despite the fever with which he undressed Egon.

Suddenly, he felt a heavy pressure on the back of his head.

Egon’s hand.

Egon shoved ever so lightly, forcing Alex to go lower. He had to breathe through his nose now, which was new. His eyes watered up again, threatening to spill.

He liked this Egon though. This new, dominant, side. He liked the pressure of his hand, he liked being told what to do.

Egon's breathing was hot and heavy as he pushed Alex lower to him, his breath rushing out of his mouth with a guttural hiss as he pushed him lower and lower and lower. He needed what Alex was giving him now more than anything he had felt before. He wanted it, needed it, his entire body was trembling in a mixture of anticipation and pleasure, he was close, and he was close very very quickly.

Alex could feel Egon tensing up. He didn’t want this to end so soon but he didn’t know whether or not Egon wanted to go…that far with him.

Egon’s hand released up on his head slightly. Gently, the same hand came to brush sweaty hair behind Alex’s ear.

Egon was hot in Alex’s mouth. Like melting velvet. Alex could stay here forever, warm and fuzzy, doing whatever Egon says. Whatever makes him make the sounds he’s making now.

"Stop..." Egon breathed, his voice was thick and heavy as it was hard for him to get the words out. He was too close now, he needed to keep control of himself for just a little longer, to hold back a bit before he blew this early.

"Look at me." Egon hissed through his teeth as he grabbed Alex's hair and pulled him back up to his face like a demanding master grabbing his pet's leash.

Alex almost choked, pulling quickly off of Egon. His hands were strong, and huge compared to Alex’s face. It was a pretty picture for Egon. A flushed and hazed Alex, back arched, shirt ruffled and pushed up, midriff showing.

“Egon-“ Alex’s voice was hoarse. There was still spit connecting him to Egon.

Alex’s hands drifted to Egon’s thighs. He felt bad, he’d have to wash these slacks for Egon later. He was pretty sure he was going to have to wash this entire bed later.

"Put your hair back" Egon demanded, using all his strength to keep himself from grabbing Alex and pulling him back down for more.

He couldn't see anything else right now other than Alex. He wanted him. He needed him to be his.

Alex’s hair was short so he simply tucked it behind his ear. He blinked up at Egon and got the cue as Egon began tearing at the buttons of Alex’s shirt.

“Ah!-“ Alex tried to protest his shirt being destroyed but Egon simply kissed him and pushed him further up the bed towards his pillows.

“I’ll buy you a new one-“ Egon mended as he pulled the scrap off of Alex’s back and began working to undo his pants, still almost fully dressed himself.

Egon was now barely thinking, he'd let his desire take absolute control of him. He was practically ripping off Alex's pants out of the pure desire to be able to see more of his body. It was almost animalistic the way he was moving now, he couldn't even see straight. All he knew was that it was time to take Alex as his own, to possess him completely.

“Please-“ Alex coughed as he broke away from Egon to paw weakly at his pants, slug around his hips.

Egon kissed him animalistically.

”Baby,” Alex whined. The blood rushed straight to Egon’s lower half.

"Please what?" Egon said, his hands moving to pin down Alex's hands, taking charge of the situation now. He knew a guy like this didn't want to be in charge. The way Alex had been acting so shyly earlier, the way he'd begged Egon to take control made it clear he was just too…overwhelmed to have any kind of power in this situation. Egon let his mouth roam over his neck, gently scratching and biting wherever he thought would get a reaction out of him.

Alex’s breath was coming in shallow puffs now. His eyes rolled back in his head as Egon continued to make dark marks around his neck. He wouldn’t be able to cover them, they’d know. They’d know he was Egon’s.

“Please- doctor!” Alex begged. Egon’s hand roamed up Alex’s lower half, now completely open to him.

Egon stopped, his hands drifting down to his hips again to grip them. He liked how Alex's eyes rolled back into his head as he called him doctor. It made his heart beat to think that Alex would want him to be his doctor, even if it was just for this moment, because that was exactly the title he wanted right now. He wanted to do experiments on him, to see the inside of him, to break him down into all of his pieces, then putting him together again like a puzzle to make him exactly what he needed.

“Take me…” Alex swallowed, mouth dry, “Take me apart…” He finally managed to pull his lovers pants completely off and his shirt as well, leaving him in the same state as Alex.

He was glad the fire house was warm. Hot, even.

Maybe that was just them two.

Egon's entire body shivered at that one sentence. It was as though he could feel the heat radiate off of his own body, his heart beating so quickly that it almost hurt him.

This boy, Alex, he was exactly what Egon needed. Maybe not just for a few nights, but for forever.

"Then I will take you apart..." Egon said, it was almost a threat. No one else was getting him, he was his.

“Please,” Alex kissed Egon as he felt him move. This position was similar to the table, except now Egon towered even more-so over him.

They hadn’t grabbed any sort of…help…for this. It was just them. Bare. Alex hoped Egon was fine with that. He was on the pill after all.

“I want you-“ Egon kissed Alex to shut him up and moved. He felt hot. Much hotter than anything or anybody Alex had been with before. And his body was, larger. He covered Alex’s whole chest, and he could feel one of Egon’s hands tracing one of his top surgery scars.

Egon shivered again, his body shaking with both the desire he was feeling and the thought that there was nothing to stop them from going all the way, no condoms or contraception, nothing at all. He wanted to take Alex and to make him his, on every level.

Alex's scars were just a bonus to him, something he liked to see on another's body as it told more about who they were. He would always appreciate the scars Alex got, because it made him know Alex even more.

“I don’t need…prep,” Alex breathed. He flushed with the admission but it was true. He watched as the realization suck into Egon’s face and he grinned, devilish.

“Yeah?” Egon asked, petting Alex’s side sweetly. It amazed him how even in such heated moments like this Egon could be so sweet and shy.

“Was thinking of you while I…” Alex admitted in a breathy, sort of out of control voice before he could even think about what he was saying.

"You were?" Egon whispered back, his voice full of shock, it seemed almost impossible that Alex would think of him at all when he was alone.

"Just me?"

Egon's hands began to make their way over Alex's body again, stroking down his sides as he watched for his reaction.

“Only you.” Alex moaned as Egon’s hand teased him.

“Wanted to be Yours” Alex purred. He kissed the bridge of Egon’s nose, something he knew the other man was sensitive about, but to Alex, he loved it, it was strong and regal just like the man it was attached to.

"Oh..." Egon breathed as he heard Alex moaning and kissing his nose, he could feel his heart skipping a beat at that admission. No one had ever said anything like that to him before, he didn't expect anyone to ever tell him that they wanted him, let alone only him. His entire body was trembling now as he felt a rush of emotions all at once.

He lowered his face back to Alex's and kissed him deeply, unable to help himself at all.

“Please, please need you now, needed you yesterday,” Alex began to whine, clawing at Egon’s back freely now. He was sure he would leave faint red marks in his wake. He wanted to mark Egon as much as Egon wanted to mark him.

He drew his legs around Egon’s back and pulled him closer into his hips, barely pulling him in.

Alex grit his teeth. He was so hot. He felt like he had a fever.

Egon groaned at that as his grip on Alex tightened, his breath coming out sharp and heavy as he pressed himself into him with everything he had. His heart was racing and he could feel his vision blurring at the heat now, he was so worked up that it was becoming difficult to keep steady because everything that Alex was doing was sending him straight to the breaking point.

Alex’s whines and moans took a sharp turn into a higher register as Egon pushed home. It felt insane. He felt like he was full to his throat. He wanted to spend and entire eon here in Egon’s arms.

Egon’s moans took a lower register however, as he braced one arm bracketing Alex’s head, hair flung widely out onto the pillow behind him. Alex’s arm flew up to claw at Egon’s nape.

It reminded him of how this started, Egon’s finger slowly drawing up and down his head.

Alex felt drunk. Egon felt powerful.

Egon could feel Alex's back arching as he pushed deeper and deeper, each movement making Egon feel more and more dominant, more and more in control of Alex. He could hear the other man growling and moaning with each thrust as it drove him close to his limit, but Egon couldn't stop himself, he wanted even more.

”Egon- Doctor- I’m so close” Alex breathed. His eyes were brimmed with tears as Egon pushed against a spot inside him that made him see stars. His hand gripped into Egon’s back further, and he was sure his nails were breaking skin as he dug into him and pulled him closer, kissing him harder, teeth biting lips and clacking into each other.

Egon's lips were still locked to his, his mouth moving even as his body shivered at the pressure from Alex's hand. He was on the verge of losing it completely, he needed this release more than anything right now because he had come so far. He'd be lying if he said his actions weren't a bit selfish, but no matter what his intentions were, his mind wasn't thinking like that right now, all he could think about was taking more and more.

“Egon.” Alex’s voice tumbled into a softer tone without even meaning to. “I thi-uh-” he made stupid little punched out noises with every movement. Egon gripped his hand that was on his back and pinned it to the pillows behind his head with his own. He felt just as hot as Alex, if not more so.

“I think- think I’m in-“ Alex gasped and made a long pathetic cry as Egon slowly moved and held his position against him. “ITHINKIMINLOVEWITHYOU-” Alex jumbled out in a moment of happiness and haze induced fog as Egon, the man of his dreams, the guy he’s wanted for so so long, holds him and kisses him and presses into him.

Egon shivered at that admission, his chest feeling as though it were being crushed from the sudden rush of emotions that came from Alex's words. He couldn't even think right now, he wasn't thinking of anything other than this moment, this man he had wanted for so long was in his arms telling him that he loved him. Egon squeezed the boy tighter as he finally released him from the pressure and finally allowed himself to just rest his weight on top of Alex, holding him close.

Alex felt Egon tense, and one of his large hands came to grip Alex’s lower half. He pulled, and a few strokes later Alex’s back bowed and his eyes rolled and he made an absolutely pathetic whimper as he folded.

He was Egon’s.

Egon shivered again, his jaw was clenched tight as he tried to get everything under control and stop his entire world from shaking. Now that he had Alex here, he wasn't going to let him go. He was only his, he was finally his and Egon had never felt this good before as he felt a rush of pride flow through him. He would have to wait to ask if it was just a heat-of-the-situation statement or if it was the real thing, but right now it didn't matter. All he could think of was that he had him.

Egon felt heavy on top of Alex as he laid there after the fact. Alex didn’t have the strength to move him. He really didn’t think he wanted to move him. He felt… warm and full and he really had never been happier. He had the man he loved in bed with him…shit, he had just made love to the man he loved. Alex felt like he may explode despite being so wrung out.

He could still feel Egon’s hands rubbing softly at his hips, even despite him being exhausted. Alex felt a different part of him warm, his heart. Even despite everything Egon was still thinking of him first.

Egon didn't try to move either, he felt so incredibly content just laying on top of Alex, his body pressed firmly against him. Egon's fingers were still tracing over his hips, he couldn't get enough of the boy beneath him. He'd never felt like this before, Alex had a hold on him he didn't think he would ever have over anyone, in this moment he had finally been taken by someone, he had finally been possessed and he wanted nothing more than to just fall asleep with Alex in his arms.

”Egon.” Alex whispered a few minutes after their breathing had calmed down. Egon had shifted slightly to get off of Alex’s chest.

“I love you.” Alex breathed as Egon played with his hair.

He felt Egon smile against his shoulder.

"I love you too."

Egon's reply was simple, but he meant it with all his heart as he shifted off of him, laying beside him now. He was so comfortable and so content with him, he wanted to hold him this way for the rest of his life and he honestly didn't want to be anywhere else right now. His arm snaked around and wrapped tightly around him as he brought him closer to himself, holding him close while his finger played with the hair at the back of his head.

Alex nuzzled into Egon’s neck. He shivered as the last of Egon pulled out.

“Do ya’ think we could sleep here?” Alex asked, already sleepy. Egon had tired him out, and he was still partially in that fuzzy state in between conscious and pliable.

Egon’s hand wrapped further around him. He was warm and still slightly tacky with sweat.

Egon shivered as he felt Alex nuzzle into him again, he couldn't help but give a soft chuckle when he heard his request to sleep together, he was already getting used to being Alex's pillow.

"Yes, I do."

He was tired too and he let himself drift off with his body pressed against Alex's, his arm keeping him close even when his eyes were starting to shut and his heart was trying to slow back down.

Alex fell asleep peacefully and quickly that night. It was nice. He felt completely comfortable for once. He had half the mind to pull his boxers and Egon’s shirt on before completely drifting off and forcing Egon to at least pull his boxers on as well.

He was glad he did, because somehow both of them forgot to set any sort of clock beside any bedside table, and by the time Venkman got to the firehouse the next day, they had just enough time to hear the door on the first floor open to be able to wake up and rush to get things ready.

Egon sat up slowly when he heard the firehouse door slam open from the lower floor. He looked around, seeing Alex pull on his boxers next to him.

He had to be dreaming still because Alex had spent the entire night with him. Egon was already slipping on pants by then and Alex was up as well.

They both looked half dressed but it was enough to not raise suspicions that they had been with each other. For all Peter knew, Egon had simply spent the night in the lab and Alex had had a particularly good date. They shuffled blearily into the kitchenette, and belatedly, Alex realized all of Egon’s work was still across the table. He hoped it could survive a night of no refrigeration, he would’ve hated to have ruined all of his hard work. He didn’t look worried, so Alex was not panicked just yet.

Instead, Egon headed to the kitchen and started pulling down some pancake mix and a bowl from a higher shelf than Alex couldn’t usually get to without going on his tip-toes, and grabbing a pan from under the sink.

Alex sat at the same chair he had been accosted in last night and watched intensely. Egon looked so domestic. He had to borrow extra sweats and an old college hoodie in his locker here since his clothes were ruined last night. He was lucky enough to have another work outfit in his locker. So he didn’t have the luxury of pretending like the two of them had truly spent a night together like a real couple.

Even though they did.

Finally.

Instead, he was already internally preparing to make up some story about someone else if Peter asked about his neck. Thankfully, Alex was smart enough to keep any marks he left on Egon where only he could see them.

Egon was focused on his cooking, he'd made pancakes here a few times before but he was determined to make this a good breakfast for Alex, now that they were actually official.

He was too focused on that to notice just how much Alex was staring at him, watching him like a predator would prey.

It was a nice feeling to know he had this kind of attention. He finally looked over at him though and smirked at the sight before going back to cooking.

Alex knew he had to tear his attention away before Venkman came up here and caught on to something. He was half worried that the place still reeked of sex.

He had quickly thrown the sheets of his and every other bed into the washer with the help of Egon, along with their clothes.

In all terms, nothing was left of evidence.

But Alex kinda wanted there to be.

He really, really liked Egon.

Watching him cook pancakes, for him and Alex, providing like this without being asked, warmed his heart a little bit and he had to catch himself before his brain took off with the thought and started imagining 10 years in the future, to mornings just like this, except maybe with a few little feet running around.

Egon was actually feeling warm at the looks Alex was giving him, it made him feel good that Alex was looking at him like this, that he could make this guy so happy. Egon didn't think of the future, he was just focused on this moment, on making these pancakes. Once he had the batter properly mixed he set the bowl down and pulled out the frying pan, beginning to heat it with grease.

Alex didn’t think anything could ruin his mood today.

That was, almost.

After Egon had finished his pancakes, they had both eaten just as Peter finally came upstairs to see them. Apparently he had stopped to check on the car before coming up, so they had more time than they thought.

They conversed casually, and sure enough, as Alex bit into another bite of his pancakes, he watched Peter eye his neck suspiciously.

“WHO gave you those things newsboy?” He asked, smirking.

Alex felt Egon’s leg tense against his, but he didn’t stop eating or show any other sign of being startled, so that was good.

“Just some girl from the bar…” Alex mumbled.

He didn’t know if Egon wanted to be open about it. He wished he had gotten to talk about it with him before everyone had shown up for work the next day. They had a scheduled go over of what they were going to do with the vault and its size soon.

But it was interrupted.

As soon as everyone had crowded around the breakfast nook upstairs, the alarms rang and Janine was yelling from downstairs about some high level poltergeist at the manhattan library. Suddenly, just as fast as they arrived, the boys had taken off in the van, all suited up.

Egon spared him a fleeting glance, and it was packed with a lot, before he had shuffled in and they had flipped the sirens on and pulled off.

Well.

He may as well get some work done for the rest of the day while they were gone.

Egon had caught an expression out of the corner of his eye from Peter and Alex's exchange that he didn't like, his jaw was clenching as they were interrupted, but there was no chance to dwell on it right now. He was more worried about Alex, hoping he wouldn't get into any kind of trouble from the lie he'd told. As Egon was going into the van he gave Alex a glimpse of a look that said 'I'll talk to you about it later' before being shut into the van with the rest of the team.

Alex had busied himself until the van had pulled up again late in the day.

It was a bad bust. At least a rough one.

There was a loud noise of the garage opening and the van pulled in with the boys in tow. They hoped out one by one.

Peter looked tired, already smoking. Ray was talking frantically to Winston who didn’t seem to be paying that much attention, talking about dinner. And finally, Egon folded himself out of the tight door and seemed to be almost…smoking.

Not, like. Attractive-ness wise.

Like, legitimately smoking.

As in on fire.

Alex rushed over to see what was wrong, but as he approached Egon simply held up the smoking ecto-trap, still steaming from a big catch. He smiled tiredly and looked down at Alex.

Egon looked exhausted and in need of a good shower at the moment, sweat and ash covered him and Alex couldn't find a clean spot on him if he tried. He was panting heavily the moment he made it out of the van since the last ghost they had encountered had been one hell of a fight. His eyes immediately locked with Alex's when he started running over towards him and his face lit up with that tired, sweet smile. He was grateful that the one person he actually wanted to see right now was there to see him.

Alex looked towards the rest of the boys. “Okay boys, beds are freshly made. Go shower and while you do that I’ll order your favorite Chinese takeout!” Alex declared and he could practically feel Egon melt under his touch on his back with his words.

With that, everyone scuddled off to busy themselves.

Egon's shoulders sagged the moment he heard that, his expression suddenly becoming much more relaxed and calm. As soon as the rest of the guys left the room he had wrapped his arms tightly around him again, burying his face down into the crook of his neck.

"I don't feel like you give yourself enough credit Alex, I'm always fed well here."

His words were tired and scratchy, but he was still smiling as he squeezed him tight.

Alex nuzzled back, only slightly bothered by the singed smell of his uniform. That would have to be fixed later.

“Go shower, big guy.” Alex shoved Egon gently off him and towards the showers with the rest of the guys. He wanted him to be clean and feeling good before he gave him a warm meal.

Egon reluctantly let himself be pushed away but he still made good use of the rest room as he stripped off his sweaty clothes and headed into the shower. It wasn't easy to wash the thick layer of sweat and ash from his skin this far in but he was able to at least get it to the point where he didn't smell like he'd been standing next to someone on fire. He got out of the shower after about 20 minutes and put on a clean set of clothes he had kept up here.

As he searched for clothes, he realized a sweater from earlier was missing. He’d have to ask Alex if he’d seen where it had gone, maybe in with the clothes that they ruined last night.

Egon smiled smugly at the thought.

And here everyone thought he had no game.

He shook his head.

It was more than that.

He really, really liked Alex. He felt connected to him, on a deeper level than he did with anybody else on the team. He wanted to come home to him after a long day of kicking ass and saving the world, knowing he was safe and happy.

Egon smiled at the thought happily as he appeared back in the kitchenette, empty save for you even though everyone else had gone off to shower before him.

Egon was content with this moment right now, he was home and he didn't have to worry about his team for a little while longer. And even if Alex was still going through his stuff, and stealing it to wear home, he didn't have any concerns.

"I'm back, how have you been holding up here?" He asked, walking into the kitchenette with a small, gentle smile as he leaned up against the counter. Egon just wanted to keep talking with Alex for a little while longer before they had to actually get busy with work things.

Alex opened one of 3 bags of Chinese food he had ordered while the rest of them were showering.

“I’m okay. That bust looked rough. Wanna’ talk about it?”

Alex asked, bumping his hip playfully against Egon’s in an attempt to keep the mood light even though he knew sometimes talking about scary or close-call busts made Egon get antsy.

Egon's face was still a little bit strained after the bust but he couldn't help but smile when he noticed Alex was trying to keep the mood light, Egon liked that part of him. He couldn't help but chuckle as Alex bumped his hip against him, he knew Alex was trying to help. When the topic of the bust came up, Egon tried to dismiss it.

"Oh it was nothing, the ghost was just a bit stronger than expected but it turned out fine. Don't worry about it."

Alex could tell he was dodging him, but he wasn’t going to push. Egon would come to him when he was ready.

Or, he maybe he could take out his stress with busts a different way now.

Either way, Alex didn’t mind for now.

Presently, he focused on getting the food out of the bags and cleaning Egon’s makeshift science lab off the and onto the counter.

Alex was glad. It looked like they had all survived the night and were doing fine. Egon didn’t seem fussed with him moving them either. Just watched, enraptured, leaning over the rest of the kitchen with arms folded as Alex moved methodically.

Egon's eyes kept on moving from his food to Alex and back again, that sweet smile never leaving his face as he admired the way he went about his work. Egon's stomach was rumbling now that that sweet smell was filling the kitchenette, the smell of the fresh food just making his stomach growl. His hand reached out to try and grab a piece of the food but each time he reached his hand out he stopped himself, not wanting to eat until Alex had a chance to eat something too.

Alex playfully batted at his hand. “Let me grab the others, they went to grab beers from the basement freezer.”

Alex swung himself quickly around the fire pole a few yards away and Egon watched him quickly drop out of view rolling his eyes.

Always dramatic.

Alex was the one that used that silly pole the most despite only being a desk jockey and a PR Princess for the team.

Egon chuckled a little bit as he watched Alex take the fire pole, as much as he thought it was a bit much he was more impressed that Alex could actually pull it off. Egon got too lost in his own thoughts to notice that Alex had left until he was back in just a minute or two with the other guys in tow.

Alex bounded up the stairs and gleefully placed a cold 6 pack down in the center. Janine was even in tow behind the rest of the guys.

Egon smiled gently. It was perfect. All his favorite people.

Alex brushed up against him, smiling with a specific warmth meant only for him.

He clapped his hands together happily. “Okay guys!” He addressed everyone and gestured to the wide spread of Chinese food in the center of the table, with the beer as the centerpiece. “Dig in!”

Egon felt like something had suddenly and unexpectedly popped into place in his life. Like something was just ever so slightly out of alignment, and in this particular moment it all became very, blindingly clear.

It was all perfect.

‧˚₊꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒷꒦︶︶︶︶︶꒦꒷‧₊˚⊹

Final notes: woah!! Okay so that was a long story sorry everyone I have brainrot. Not responsible for my own actions but honestly we need more good ftm shit on this website so I took it upon myself. Hope everyone enjoyed but look out for more stuff soon because I finally feel like actually writing yayyyy :333

#x male reader #x male oc #x male character #x transmasc reader #x trans male reader #x trans reader #x reader #egon spengler #Egon Spengler x reader #Egon Spengler x male oc #ghostbusters #ghostbusters x reader #x gn reader #mad scientist #scientist x reader #doctor kink #medical kink #Spoz writes

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camilaxmartin · 1 month

Note

gonna put them emoji’s again💀😭 so it would be: 🥑🍬🌸🐝🎨🍄

I love using these TOTALLY USEFUL emoji’s so I picked em🥰

you don’t use avocado/bee/mushroom everyday? what are you even doing?🙄

BUT ANYWAY

🥑: you accidentally killed somebody, which mutual(s) do you text for help?

probably @bunnylove1 and @blookyag, idk why tho honestly, just getting the vibes they’d help somebody out with hiding the body💀 (it’s a compliment, i swear-)

🍬: post an unpopular opinion about a popular fandom character:

okay uhh- (don’t cancel me plz) i respect with my whole heart that alastor is asexual and (?) aromantic but i don’t get the hate people receive when shipping him with someone? as far as i know being on the spectrum means he can still date? like i know, he doesn’t show any interest in that but if its just for a silly au or for a cool drawing then what’s the fuss about? i’m not talking like about erasing that part of him because that’s a big no no for me, but like…? respecting it but still having fun with his character? i saw a great tiktok explaining my thoughts exactly so maybe i’ll link it here if i can find it (add the link here later camila:) (besides all that i project a lot of myself onto alastor (still debating if im aromantic or not) and i want to explore myself with his character (if i can even phrase it that way) so all the hate and shit really bother me, you know?)

(another thing more about whole thing not a character is that “whatever it takes” is in my top 4 songs and i don’t get the hate it gets?? i love this song?? it’s so great?? two latina (?) girls singing together?? cmon??)

🌸: do you have any pets? if you do, post some pictures of them:

i do actually! i have a dog and three rats:) (also had a rabbit but he died not so long ago and he was like my whole world so i got a tattoo to remember him, i’ll add it as well just because i can)

🐝: tag your biggest supporters and say one nice thing about them:

@kimmyisachiisaiakuma - ugh of course?? like in my head we are already besties fr fr, what can i saaaay😭 idk i love you and how supportive and just friendly you are!!:) and god of course, i love your art?? but i’ve already said it a thousand times??? so here’s one thousand first??

@bunnylove1 - just how supportive you are towards my stuff and how with exactly one request i felt like we also became besties? maybe it’s just me but yeah😭

@blookyag - liking my every post and responding to every single one of them!!! she’s a treasure, really. i’m surprised someone cares about my rambling this much💀

@informist - i’ve noticed that she’s also reacting to a lot of my stuff and she’s so quick with it like?? idk it makes my heart jump okay? i love attention from people even when it’s just my stupid rambling😭 (#iamanattentionwhore 😗😗)

@rougecreator1 - liked a lot of my posts as well, and somehow i feel like they enjoy my stuff? idk tho?😭😭 yeah just noticed interactions in my activities:)

@riveramorylunar - i feel like we were more active on each other’s accounts when i was still in my lady lesso era, but idk i really liked you then and i still love seeing your stuff pop up on my main page:)

and of course, all of my lovely anons who send me their ideas that i can’t wait to write!!:)

🎨: link your favourite piece of fanart and explain why you like it:

okay so like it changes every day?? but for now i must say this one:

click!

why? simple. a. brokerdoll b. the marvellous style? c. i want to draw like that d. just… just look at it okay? e. lesbians.

(and a special mention for THIS as well, as it’s the first time someone ever drawn my oc and besides the fact that she looks so pretty here it’s just… idk i just love it okay, she stole my heart)

🍄: share a headcanon for one of your favourite ships or pairings:

let’s start with the fact that i even have a favourite account for all the headcanons about brokerdoll which is @vypridae (adore all the hcs, really)

buut! my personal headcanon is:

• carmilla didn’t really expect to fall for velvette, i mean in my head she just saw her as so… respectless and dumb and stupid and careless and carefree and wild and free and pretty- wait

yeah, so in my head velvette was the first to initiate anything and at first carmilla was like “ha! no way, you stupid girl” but then she started to think more and more about velvette as the time went on and one day she just got along the fact that she might be attracted to the young overlord and somehow… went with it? like she didn’t make a big deal out of it… but velvette definitely did, despite the fact she was actually the first one to say or act on her attraction in any way.

(i need to write more headcanons for them, they’re literally eating up my brain)

#camilarambles #ask camila!#camilaanswersasks #brokerdoll

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fionajames · 7 months

Text

my OCs

Sorry this took so long guys! It was long to type out and I also have a good excuse: I was at basketball and cut my big-toe-nail in half horizontally so had to clean and bandage and what not.

My puppy says hi, btw! (She sat on my lap as I typed this. She was for once not hyper and when she's like that I cuddle her as close as possible.)

@skellymom you asked to be tagged when I posted this so here you go! :D

I rlly hope y'all like this: I've had these guys for a while but never typed up all this stuff.

ALSO IF SOMEONE WANTS TO DRAW THESE GUYS (IDK WHY YOU WOULD CAUSE IM LIKE, IDK, I JUST DONT THINK PEOPLE CARE ABOUT ME AND MY STUFF) THEN GO AHEAD I WOULD LITERALLY CRY OF APPRECIATION

Enjoy!

Request things please!!!

STUFF BELOW THE CUT ITS JUST SUPER LONG!!!!!

OCs included:

Dhole

Vector

Menace

Dice

Bloodshot

Mit

Vick

Meerrt

Dhole (CT-8019)

Dhole is a member of the Coruscant Guard and has curly black hair with the ends dyed the same red as the red armour. His helmet is designed with striking resemblance to both Wolffe and Fox’s.

He has the trademark tan skin as the rest of the clones as well as dark brown eyes and two obvious scars; one on his chest and the other covering his entire left arm.

Dhole is a literal ray of sunshine and when he was a cadet, he constantly followed Wolffe and Fox around - which gave him his name. My idea is that Dholes do exist in Star Wars but they are rare and only live on one planet. Dholes look like a combination of a fox and wolf.

Everyone in the Coruscant Guard is super protective of Dhole because he’s so sweet and literally cheers up everyone. The 104th thought Wolffe was like the scariest person ever and wasn’t soft to anyone until one day they got back from a mission and their Commander was barrelled over by an energetic ray of sunshine and the entire 104th gasped when Wolffe smiled. Their reaction was priceless.

Dhole makes friends with basically everyone, even Senators he’s in charge of watching over. One time, he befriended and saved Bail Organa who then told Fox if Fox didn’t promote Dhole, Bail would join the Separatists. Fox gladly gave Dhole the rank of ARC Trooper.

Dhole befriended Ahsoka once and when he heard about how Tarkin was being sexist and racist he grabbed his pistols to go kill him without a moments hesitation. It took Fox, Thorn and Vector holding him back to stop him.

He did the same thing when he heard Palpatine denying Fox time off work, but overall loves his job. Dhole is very sweet, but also protective in a strange way. He won’t hesitate to hurt/kill someone if they’ve hurt his friends or brothers and most likely will get away with whatever he’s done.

He’s the sunshine of the Coruscant Guard and you hurt him, you die.

Vector (CT-8124)

Vector is a member of the Coruscant Guard and best buds with Dhole. They are quite similar as they are both kind and sweet except Vector is a lot shier. Vector got his name from a little boy he saved as a shiny. The boy asked what his name was and Vector had to explain he didn’t have a name. The boy almost cried before telling Vector that they could share a name - and dubbed him Vector as that was also the boy’s name.

He is the definition of ‘the poet’ from ‘soldier, poet, king’ by the oh hellos. His smart and quiet, but when he speaks up, everyone listens. No one but Dhole really knows his opinion on his work - but he really isn’t bothered by it. The only thing Vector hates doing is paperwork because whilst he’s the best out of the Guard in getting it done fast and well, he finds it boring and time-consuming.

Vector has the same tan skin as the rest of the clones and honey gold eyes. He has brown hair that's dyed blonde on the ends. He has a scar that goes from his right eye, over his nose and then down to the base of his neck. He got the scar from a piece of shrapnel during the First Battle of Geonosis - as all clones (apart from those still on Kamino) participated in the battle.

Everyone in the Guard loves Vector - although in a different way to the way they adore Dhole - and it’s well-known that wherever Dhole is, Vector will be hiding behind him quietly in the shadows.

Vector’s helmet is the same as the regular Corrie helmet except he has a little sun emblem on the forehead - whether it's a nod to Dhole’s sunny nature or not, no one really knows.

Because Vector is so quiet and introverted, he mostly just hangs around with Dhole - and their inseparable - but he also loves Cody, as his Ori’vod respects his silence and is the only other person to figure out a type of communication Vector is okay with.

Menace (CT-7874)

Menace is like Hardcase combined with Fives as a Coruscant Guard member. He’s caff addicted because he loves the energy hit and would probs do drugs if Fox didn’t yell at him so much every time he thought out-loud what it would be like to take them. He’s done deathsticks several times but isn’t addicted cause he’s smart in how he takes them.

Menace got his name because that's what he is - a menace. He’s moody and smart, daring and proud but overall he causes enough chaos that he should be a 501st trooper. He’s best friends with Dice and Bloodshot, and is the bad influence of everyone. He’s got the classic look of a clone trooper except dark brown hair instead of black hair. Menace has a scar covering his left eyebrow from being attacked by an assassin who was trying to kill a senator. Although Menace is chaotic and stupid and fun, he’s devoted to his work and does work very well. He’s kind of like the Jake Peralta (Brooklyn Nine Nine) of the Coruscant Guard. Menace is the ‘soldier’ again from ‘soldier, poet, king’ by the oh hellos. He’s strong and dedicated, and too determined to be knocked down.

Him, Hardcase and Fives get along like a house on fire and have collectively taken days of sleep from Rex and Fox. His helmet is the classic Corrie helmet although the top left side is completely painted black with licking ginger flames around it - to symbolise Menace’s first helmet which got destroyed in a bombing.

Dice (CT-6346)

Dice has short black hair, tan skin and brown eyes - like the classic clone look. He��s never bothered to change his hair or anything. He has a burn scar that covers his right eye and eyebrow, and a torso scar from his left ankle all the way up his leg and back that ends at his collarbone. Dice is also a member of the Coruscant Guard. He’s the definition of the moon personality - very private about his anxieties and such.

Captain Rex met Dice when he was a shiny and gave him his name upon witnessing the clone bargain his way out of a situation. Dice is a legend and board/card games and is incredibly smart. When dealing with a particularly hard case, Fox always turns to Dice for help. He’s smart, thoughtful and calculating, but he’s a really nice person too. He’s not introverted or extroverted and is just happy to help. Dice loves his work because he loves the challenges different cases provide and finds them interesting to explore.

Dice has the classic Corrie clone trooper helmet except a red dice simple in the middle of the forehead.

Whilst Dice is best friends with Menace and Bloodshot, he’s really close with Rex because he’s the one who gave him his name. Dice can be a little chaotic but he’s usually pretty chill - but always chill with Rex. They get along so well because Rex seems him as a combination of Fives and Echo - smart, funny, kind and everything else.

Bloodshot (CT-3496)

Bloodshot is the ‘king’ of ‘soldier, poet, king’ by the oh hellos, and he’s the most serious of the group. He and Fox get along like a house on fire because their both so tired of the Guard’s antics. He’s a sweet and kind guy and quiet but not in a shy way. Quiet in a menacing way.

Bloodshot has short light brown hair, tan skin and brown eyes, and he’s extremely fit. He has a going from his stomach up his chest, over his neck that hooks around his right ear. He got the scar when he was attacked by an assassin - crazy similar to Menace. He’s dedicated to his work because its his work and no one really knows his other thoughts on the topic.

Bloodshot’s helmet is a regular Corrie helmet with splotches of red over the eyes and a red ‘blood-drop’ on the forehead.

Bloodshot got his name because he drinks a lot of caff - religiously, like man must drink caff - and that causes his eyes to go bloodshot quite a lot. He’s humble about how talented he is as a fighter and extremely quick-witted. When Bloodshot yells ‘Shut up!’ everyone freezes. He’s not the eagerest to do things, but isn’t lazy in the slightest.

If someone is upset you can count on Bloodshot and Dhole going to hunt down and kill whoever hurt their Vod.

No one really understands why Menace, Dice and Bloodshot are so close but they click in a way that you can tell means their platonic soulmates and the truest of brothers.

Bloodshot managed to gain Plo Koon’s love when he rescued a stray-runaway-Youngling and returned her to the Kel Dor. He’s the Ori’vod of the group and is the only possible (apart from Dhole) who can convince Fox to sleep, and takes his responsibility with pride. Although, he probably needs sleep just as much as the Commander.

Xi (CT-5113)

Xi is a member of the 501st and has wavy black hair that falls to just below his ears, brown eyes, tan skin and a small Republic symbol tattooed on his nose. He also has a scar from the tip of his middle finger on his right hand that travels up to his elbow that he got from a crash-landing.

Xi is sort of a combination between the soldier and king from (yet again) ‘soldier, poet, king’ by the oh hellos. He’s funny and kind yet courageous and loyal. Rex is extremely proud of Xi because he’s done many things that have rightfully earned him his ARC Trooper status. Although many people don’t believe it at first, Xi is a strangely good mechanic - and is often the one to fix things in time-ticking situations.

He’s best friends with Mit and is absolutely obsessed with music. Like, most listen to music.

Other than Rex and Mit, Xi gets on with Jesse and Fives amazingly as they share several similar personality traits. They once had a bit too much to drink and got lost on Coruscant but that's a story for another time.

Ahsoka and Xi also get along because Xi is always by her side - no matter what. He would be crushed if anything happened to her. Like his Padawan, Anakin and Xi are friends because of their loyalty, but also love for mechanics. It’s not rare to find them ranting about mechanics together.

Xi’s helmet is similar to Fives except he has painted a blue ‘scar’ over the right eye to match Anakin’s and the left half of the face has Ahsoka’s face markings except in blue. There are two ‘teardrops’ underneath the right eye - which Tup later copied.

Xi is slightly more extroverted then he is introverted but he hides his emotions a lot because he fears that he is being weak and that others have bigger problems than him so he shouldn’t complain. One time, he bottled his emotions up for so long he eventually shattered and Rex spent hours with him calming him down.

Mit (CT-5114)

Mit has a black buzzcut, tan skin and gold eyes with several small scars but none extremely big or noticeable. He’s a member of the 501st and was promoted to ARC Trooper at the same time as Xi for an amazing mission they completed all by themselves. His helmet is the ARC Trooper helmet - like Fives’ - but he has the visor outlined in blue - like Rex’s - and two matching teardrops to Xi’s under the right eye. He has a star personality as he is fun to be around and focuses on enjoying life. Mit’s funny, soft, gentle and brave and contrasts Xi in several ways. Mit is more of a rules-follower than Xi and gets along with Echo well because of it. He and Kix also get along for reasons they don’t really understand.

Mit’s a bit more introverted than extroverted, which contrasts well with Xi, who’s the opposite. Whilst Xi bottles up his emotions, Mit is a lot calmer than that, and very in control of his negative emotions. If he really needs to vent, he will go to Xi or Kix.

Mit really loves reading, and will basically read anything he can get his hands on. It’s not rare to find him dangling from his bed with a datapad scrolling through a book too deeply fixated to hear anything anyone else is saying.

Because he loves to read so much, Mit is the resident clone-translator, and together he and Obi-Wan have translated many things for the others. Sometimes, the two will have conversations in front of others in a different language just to annoy them, and that's where their friendship formed. Mit once saved a small Nautolan boy who only spoke Nautila and managed to get him home. Whilst Xi is good at mechanics, Mit is smart in languages and random knowledge, and the pair use those skills to help the 501st get out of a lot of difficult situations.

Vick (CT-2323)

Vick has neatly cut black hair, tan skin and brown eyes - the classic clone look, just like Dice. He has three triangular scars on his right arm and a scar covering his stomach that he earned when he was attacked by a beast during a mission. He’s a member of the 212th. Vick is the soul/heart as he is very upfront with his beliefs and heart-strong instead of head-strong. He’s sarcastic, brave and kind with everything he does and Cody adores him for it.

Vick’s helmet is the classic 212th clone trooper helmet with two yellow triangles - points facing down - on the cheeks. He’s best friends with Meerrt as they balance each other out extremely well.

Vick is close with Cody as they share the same stupid recklessness but love for the others of their troops and their General. Obi-Wan and Vick get along very well after Vick, Cody, Meerrt and Obi-Wan once got stranded together on a mission and they all discovered Vick’s strange talent in tea-brewing. Now, when they want tea, they hunt down Vick and beg him to make them the drink.

Vick hates drugs and deathsticks but likes to drink on the occasion, as it helps numb the constant reminder of the war. Cody and him sometimes barricade themselves in the barracks and drink till they can’t remember their names in sorrow, side by side for comfort.

When the 212th were on Ryloth, Vick befriended a Twi’lek boy who he constantly denies having a crush on - but most of the 212th don’t believe him. They manage to catch up occasionally and Vick always comes back grinning.

Vick absolutely adores learning about new and different cultures - not the food, as Meerrt has asked several times, no, he loves learning about their non-food-culture. Upon going to new planets, he sticks with Obi-Wan if they don’t speak the same language and asks for translations, which the General happily does.

Meerrt (CT-2361)

Meerrt looks the same as Vick although his hair is slightly longer and scruffier. There is a burn scar covering his left ear and as a result the hair around it was singed slightly so he buzzed it and also has weaker hearing in that ear.

When Vick, Obi-Wan, Cody and him were stranded and they discovered Vick’s tea-making skills, Meerrt got burned in the crash that led to his scar.

He has the classic 212th helmet with a yellow sun emblem on the forehead - similar to Vector’s - and yellow stars on the sides.

Meerrt loves astronomy deeply and endlessly, and spends hours researching it. He has a sun personality meaning he’s slightly more extroverted and bubbly, all smiles for days. He’s encouraging, sweet and funny and the kinda guy you go to for a hug.

Meerrt gets on with Cody because he can cuddle up to the Commander and not get reprimanded or teased for it. Sometimes a clone needs sleep and affection. He also gets along well with Waxer as they both met little kids they sheltered and protected for a bit.

Meerrt met a little Togrutan boy whilst on a mission - who later turned out to be Force-sensitive and was taken to the Temple - who he immediately bonded with. Meerrt had a breakdown when they were separated and stayed gloomy for weeks.

Meerrt doesn’t really like alcohol, deathsticks or anything of the sort but juice like its water. Whenever he can, Meerrt buys as much juice as possible to keep and savour.

Meerrt is a really heavy sleeper and - like most other clones - often has night terrors. He’s mostly silent during these - unlike Vick who screams and thrashes like he’s being attacked and makes everyone pity him - but often seeks comfort from either Vick or Cody afterwards and have a cup of hot chocolate.

Meerrt’s favourite planet they’ve been to is Naboo - where he first participated in the Blue Shadow Virus mission - and he’s visited several times. He once met Padme who showed him around her planet and they built a sweet friendship because of it.

*sighs* that was VERY long and I apologise to anyone who read all of that.

Thoughts on my ocs, please share?!

If anyone wants oneshots/headcanons with these guys (or not!) please please please pleasseeeee tell me!!!!!!

Have a lovely day/night/whatever your time is!!!

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nirikeehan · 6 months

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20 questions for fic writers

thank you @rowanisawriter for the tag!

1. how many works do you have on ao3?

*gulp* 60!!! HOW DID THAT HAPPEN???

2. what’s your total ao3 word count?

348,147. I repeat the question. (Almost a third is one fic, though.)

3. what fandoms do you write for?

I have written for Dragon Age, the Star Wars sequels, a teensy bit of the Witcher... and I GUESs now an obscure actual play DND podcast no one has heard of 🤷‍♀️

4. what are your top five fics by kudos?

The Force's Will (Star Wars sequels, Reylo)

Tactical Maneuvers (Dragon Age, Thalia x Cullen)

Through a Glass, Darkly (Dragon Age, Thalia x Cullen, Thalia x Samson)

Stealing the Light (Star Wars sequels, Reylo)

Forbearance (Dragon Age, Cullen & Dorian)

5. do you respond to comments?

Always!

6. what’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

Bold of you to assume I finish fics. But among the one-shots Hiraeth (Cullen x Thalia) and Save Me a Dance (Blackwall x Thalia x Cullen love triangle) are sure in the running.

7. what’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Lmao idk. Maybe License to Lick (Cullen x Thalia)? It's very silly and I was deliberately trying to write fluff. (It's hard!)

8. do you get hate on fics?

Not yet, fingers crossed! I did get a spam comment once about one of my chapters of Through a Glass, Darkly supposedly being AI generated and just laughed. I was like, joke's on you, you WISH AI could come up with shit this weird. I think that was just (ironically) a bot programmed to hit any new updates at a certain point in time, though, because scores of people were getting them at once.

9. do you write smut? if so, what kind?

I guess so. The kind that's often awkward and imperfect, but hopefully still satisfying?

10. do you write crossovers? what’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I wrote a Dragon Age/Witcher crossover exchange fic once where Cassandra Pentaghast kissed Geralt of Rivia. And um, I am currently *checks notes* writing a Dragon Age OC adventure crossover with the DND campaign Curse of Strahd, also featuring at least one character from Curse of Strahd: Twice Bitten, that aforementioned obscure actual play DND podcast. Because Metrion is fucking amazing and there's nO FIC ABOUT THIS SERIES AT ALL AND IT'S MURDEIRNG ME DEAD

I had the idea while high on drugs. Sue me.

(Literally. I wish I could say they were the fun kind but I was prescribed some allergy meds that really FUCKED ME UP for awhile.)

11. have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I know of!

12. have you ever had a fic translated?

Not that I know of!

13. have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sort of! Pravinquisition AU is a collaborative series between me and @monocytogenes, but we generally write different fics in the same timeline, not like, one fic together.

14. what’s your all-time favorite ship?

*blank stare* I have to pick one?

15. what’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

The Star Wars ones, currently. Once I started running a Star Wars ttrpg campaign, all my SW mojo went toward that, unfortunately.

16. what are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, plot-heavy stuff, coming up with weird af canon divergence aus, writing relatable characters and campy villains

17. what are your writing weaknesses?

Finishing literally anything

18. thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

hot take maybe but I think there's almost never a good reason to do so. you're basically just othering whatever culture it is you're trying to represent.

19. first fandom you wrote for?

Ironically, Star Wars.......... when I was 10. Unless you count Barbie as a fandom (which, maybe we are now?). Then I was doing that when I was like 7.

20. favorite fic you’ve ever written?

I'm a broken record when it comes to this, but it's probably A Little Grace, and Some Elegance. Cullen has a near-death experience overdosing on lyrium and then tells Thalia some key backstory between him and Samson via flashback. Started my Cullen & Samson doomed friendship obsession, and is probably some of the whumpiest whump I've ever whumped.

#writing nonsense #tag games

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electric-soulja-boy-porygon · 5 months

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Writing fic meme

Tagged by @chronicdelusionist tagging @tiacat11

1. "How many fics do you have?": 25 published, many more unpublished OC stuff lol

2. "What's your total word count": 55,221. A lot of the stuff I'm working on will probably shoot that up haha

3. "What fandoms do you write for": A little bit of whatever strikes my fancy lol. Mega man is a big one, but I'm on a Sonic kick lately

4. "What are your top 5 fics by kudos": Instead of answering that, I'm going to keep checking the 20xx AO3 tag. How am I the only guy who made a 20xx fic....

5. "Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?": I don't get many comments, so I respond to each one! Getting a comment can make my week ^_^

6. "What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending": Definitely the one where everyone gets turned into zombies! I don't tend to like sad endings though haha

7. "What Is the fic you wrote with the happiest ending": Not sure! I have a contender in my WIPs but I don't like to count my chickens before they hatch

8. "Do you get hate on fic?": I'm not popular enough for that thankfully! I don't think that would bother me much though, I think the kind of person who would comment that they didn't like a story instead of just not reading it anymore isn't very impressive to me

9. "Do you write smut": Nothing I've posted. I didn't really get much out of it, but it was fun to take a stab at it

10. "Do you write crossovers": Not really, unless you count taking aspects from one part of a property and putting it in side stuff? I'm currently writing a Sonic Underground fic with some characters from the games, that's as much as you'll get from me haha

11. "Have you ever had a fic stolen": Once again, blessed by not being popular lol. The idea is very amusing to me though

12/13. "Have you ever had a fic translated/Have you ever co-written a fic before": No haha

14. "What's your all time favorite ship": That's a hard one! I think I've been coming around to romance more, as a kid I hated shipping! Sonic X Amy, Studio Ghibli relationships, X/Zero, various Pokemon ships... I don't have that one blorbo ship, but I enjoy shipping!

15. "What's a WIP you want to finish but probably won't": I've been trying not to think of it like that lately, although I wouldn't mind being able to better organize a RS fic that I want to write!

16. "What are your writing strengths": Honestly, idk, I just like doing it! I'm trying to focus on that, because I'm a terrible perfectionist who will never let something see the light of day if it doesn't live up to my standards. But being good takes practice, so I have to keep writing!

17. "What are your writing weaknesses": I write basically whenever I'm in the mood for it. I struggle to pace myself because of that. There's a very long story I want to write, and I want to have it's outline done before I publish the first chapter. It doesn't have to be perfect, but I do want to not fly by the seat of my pants

18. "Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language": It's cool, I guess? I'm not experienced with it tbh, but it's a good thing

19. "First fanfic you wrote for": Xiaolin Showdown!

20. "Favorite fic you've written": Honestly? Writing something for a friend's character. It felt good to do... But Stormchasers is a lot of fun right now as well, especially since it's kind of helping me reconnect to a childhood fandom. It's the kind of story I would have wanted to read when I was 10, and that's nice, you know?

Thanks for the questions!

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confusionyx · 6 months

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introductory post!!

hi! im nixen, or just nyx. ive been lurking on here for like, a year or so, and decided to finally do something and fill this empty blog with stuff! ill mostly reblog stuff, and probably wont really do any posts of my own ''^_^

first off, my pronoun page! definitely check this first, it's got some important info about me

now uh. some fun facts about me! :]

I have autism and have a hard time deciphering tone over text; tone tags help out a lot!

i almost exclusively listen to my liked songs on spotify. i have many. too many

i like making ocs n stuff! theres so much information held in my brain that i just havent gotten to really type out,,,i also like writing stuff sometimes! drabbles about my ocs and interps/headcanons about existing media are prominent examples

i get very anxious interacting with people both online and irl

i rlly like moths and mushrooms and koalas. and the color blue. idk why i feel like saying this but whatever

i usually lurk around here, done it for like. a year or so

I have autism and have a hard time deciphering tone over text; tone tags help out a lot!

i almost exclusively listen to my liked songs on spotify. i have many. too many

uhhh. yeah, i think that's it. ill update this if i ever need to in the future. ill leave you with a picture of my koala plush that i've had for so long and love so so so much :)

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binickandros · 6 months

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Twenty Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @staceymcgillicuddy. Thanks!!

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

42! I have more on ff.net.

2. What's your total AO3 word count?

1,612,657. She a chatty bjtxh.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

rn just Stranger Things, but in the past I've written for Criminal Minds (that's sort of...ongoing, I guess), L&O:SVU, The X-Files, Sailor Moon, Doctor Who, Supernatural, Sons of Anarchy, The Stand, and Homicide: Life on the Street. Also there's my roosthoard crackfic.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Sharp as Nails, Soft as Honey (hellcheer)

You've Earned It (Barba/Carisi from SVU)

Longing (Juice/Chibs from SoA)

Come With Me Tonight (Juice/OC, SoA)

The Space Between (hellcheer)

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I try to! Sometimes I forget and then I feel awkward replying like ages later. I never replied to a bunch on Space Between and feel bad about it. :/ So now I try to respond right away bc I want ppl to know how much I appreciate their support.

6. What is a fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

None of my fics end angstily. They might have angsty events, but everything always resolves happily. I write fic to fix shit, not to make it worse!!

7. What's the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

Ummmmm...lol! Probably the sort-of crackish sequel to Come WIth Me Tonight, Under My Skin. Juice, Chibs, and my OC move to a Greek island and raise goats and bees and have sex all the time. What could be better??

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Not lately, but Come With Me did get some bullshit, mostly bc the SoA fandom didn't like the idea of a more submissive Juice Ortiz (dumb, frankly), and they just in general like to hate on OCs.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

Yup. Didn't start until my spn fic, Half of Something Else, but since then yeah. Most of them have had smut. Sometimes it's more vanilla, but I usually do prefer to play with power dynamics. Some have outright D/s stuff goin on, but I usually don't get that "formal" with it.

10. Do you write crossovers? What's the craziest one you've written?

I've got the crack-ish roosthoard fic, which I plan on turning into a series, and once I tried to write an X-Files/CriMi but couldn't really get anywhere with it. So usually no, I don't.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not as far as I know. I'm not popular enough, which is fine w me.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

I was about to say no, but then I remembered back in the day someone translated my Sailor Moon fics. So yes!

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before?

Sort of? Like, not officially, but nearly everything I write these days is at least partially co-written with @tonybourdain

14. What's your all-time favorite ship?

Oh gosh. Ummmm...okay, either Jon/Aryn from Farscape or Jaime/Claire from Outlander.

15. What's a wip you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

Oh geez. I want to finish my Stand fic SO badly, but idk if it's gonna happen. Also my SoA fic Get You In. I know what I want to happen, but writing it is the hard part. :/ But the one I know I'll probably never finish is Collide, my SVU fic. Like the other two could get finished some day, but that one? Prob not.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Dialogue, esp banter. I think I'm pretty funny. Also giving my sentences and paragraph a certain rhythm. I have a good ear.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

I get stuck in ruts. Like repeating myself a lot.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I've done bits and pieces of other languages in my fic, but if I needed anything more complex or longer, I'd get someone who spoke whatever language to help me.

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Homicide: Life on the Street, I think. Then very shortly after that, The X-Files. Or maybe vice versa I don't remember.

20. Favorite fic you've written?

I really really love my spn fic Half of Something Else. There's this whole bit that takes place near a swamp that I just adore. But also my SoA magnum opus, Come With Me Tonight. I poured my blood, sweat, and tears into that baby.

Right now I'm really enjoying my current hellcheer WiP, With Teeth. I think it's gonna be good.

I'm gonna tag @anniecrestaodairs, @prosopopeya, and @lightsaroundyourvanity

#tag games #musings of a writer

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wonderingduke · 1 year

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𝐆𝐄𝐓 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐔𝐍.

— BASICS

NAME : Vinny/Vincent

PRONOUNS : any tbgh but people usually use he/they

ZODIAC SIGN : Libra but I was born at like the right time at night that Scorpio was also in the sky so I consider myself a cusp of the two

TAKEN OR SINGLE : taken but I am poly and pan!

— THREE FACTS

I've always loved dinosaurs and history ever since I was kid, I ate up those fact books on ancient histories and animals like nothing else mattered!

I was a practicing pagan for awhile but due to mental health and living situation I've had to put on hold but, I've been told the few times I've done tarot and oracle card readings for people they were well done and correct! Ive been told by a few that I have good natural talent for it KLHKLJH

For Spotify wrapped I've been in the top 1% for Mika and Orville peck I love these two a lot as well as the indie band Rare Americans. music fills me with so much joy and I love applying it to ocs and muses.

— EXPERIENCE

PLATFORMS USED : discord and tumblr I honestly don't have much experience rp I'm not like those people who have been doing it for years I mostly write and developed ocs and talk about events and headcannons for them mostly wasn't until the last five years I've picked up rping way more.

PLOTTING / WINGING IT / MEMES : I honestly don't mind whatever but I do love writing up replies for prompts and stuff it's a fun thing and I enjoy it.

—MUSE PREFERENCE

GENDER : mostly end up doing masc characters but it's not by much I have pretty much equal fem and masc muses

MULTI OR SINGLE : I do have a few single blogs but, my need to rp so many characters and such caused me to make a multi as well (current my most active single muse blogs are @wonderingduke and @hauntedmoonstone

LEAST FAVOURITE FACECLAIM(S) : Idc as long as it isn't like you know racist homophobic etc people from real life and shit.

— FLUFF / ANGST / SMUT

FLUFF: I do like fluff but mostly for shorter rps there has to be a lil more than sickly sweet fluff for it to go on for a long time for me.

ANGST: LOVE it haven't rped it much but Im constantly thinking about it KLHKLJh

SMUT: IDK honestly I'll rp it I don't mind a lot of my muses are lowkey easy to get into that mood KJHJKLH but I haven't rped smut before other than with my boyfriend and an old close friend.

tagged by @imposingclaymore tagging: anyone who wants to do this I can't think of anyone right now who either a) hasn't done this yet or b) would actually do this KL;HJJKLh

#ooc

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merotm · 2 years

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you know .... ever since i remade + switched from being t//wst main to fandomless i’ve had some things i wanted to get off my chest about it all. and i think i’m gonna do it now because it does affect my ability sometimes to get on and write on this blog. pls go ahead and blacklist ‘vent.’ if ur not interested in seeing this post but i just have had enough of thinking on it.

this is like a rpc callout tbh

for me, personally, i can’t enjoy the series or writing in the verse as much as i did before bc of things that go on in this rpc sometimes (not all the time or at least not that i’m aware of nor do i wanted to be made aware of more than i already know).

first of all, the division in this place is terrible for lack of a better term. if u end up being ostracized from one group you’ve essentially lost like half of the potential writing partners in this space. if this fandom were bigger, getting pushed out or cut off or what have you wouldn’t be so bad but it’s not a big fandom so it’s like ‘ oh well ’ if that happens. secondly - and idk if it’s just bc i only talk to like two or three people consistently enough so i’m out of the loop or whatever - the amount of ooc shit talking that goes on behind the scenes away from the public eye is frankly appalling. there is no reason why there are little groups dedicated to talking shit about other rpers in the fandom. if you have a problem with someone, you can go talk to them.

if you don’t like someone, just block them or blacklist their tag or whatever you need to do to have a peace of mind. that’s what i do when my mutuals interact with ppl i don’t like or i have blocked. i just move on. y’know, like a normal person. literally no excuse to be in dms saying awful things about people or making people feel shitty like they might get blocked just because they disagree with you on something or for whatever other silly little reason that may be ( like you just talk to someone they don’t like or have a problem with ).

why is there always this constant feeling of walking on egg shells ??? the tumblr rpc can be toxic; i know i’ve been here since like 2012. but this is on a different level since i’ve been on this platform.

regarding the pro vs. anti stuff that goes on in this rpc ( i literally never came into contact with this stuff much until i got here ). now, i am personally someone who adheres to the ‘you do you’ mentality. i have content i won’t write and that i wouldn’t be fine seeing from my mutuals hence why i either unfollow or block someone if they write said content; i leave people alone to write what they write. THAT ALL BEING SAID, this is a public platform, so when you write stuff that is publicly frowned upon, you really shouldn’t be that surprised when people have issues with it or give it attention bc, you know, you’re putting it out there. people being rightfully uncomfortable when you write sensitive subjects isn’t “”harassment”” and certainly doesn’t make you a victim.

on the flip side, i personally think that you can’t just jump to conclusions based on what someone writes right off the bat since quite a few of us also write for fandoms that are violent or have darker topics woven into the narrative and doing so can come across as being bad faith and lacking nuance. a lot of my evaluation is based on the intention of the writer ( why are you writing this ? are you doing it respectfully ? do you really HAVE to incorporate this into your character / story - if it’s original for an oc or hc for a canon ). frankly, if you’re writing downright terrible things because you get off on it then it shouldn’t come as a surprise that people will criticize or ostracize you; you’re not treating the subject matter with the appropriate time and respect it deserves. and not only that, instead of writing such a thing privately, by writing it on a public platform you are subjecting it to people who could potentially read it and judge it.

saying that i support murder because i have a character that kills someone is downright stupid and it takes away any nuance in this line of thinking.

everyone does have a responsibility to curate their own space to navigate the internet as much as possible but they also have a responsibility to not subject others to unwarranted, unwanted and potentially triggering content ( either through having a proper tagging system or writing this stuff privately or on another website ).

the pressure to have labels in this rpc is dumb imo because they really don’t explain everything that person is thinking or what they actually support. you can be an ‘ anti ‘ but still be okay with writing a toxic dynamic between two characters provided it’s done right. you can be ‘ pro ‘ but not support certain things like CP or n*ncon. it’s dumb. it’s pointless. idk why this rpc is rampant with this issue in particular but it’s one of the main reasons that so much shit goes on.

#「 ♕ 」 —— ❝ i am crazy but i am free ❞ » ooc.#vent.#( i'm leaving the read more on but if you want to reblog this just let me know and i will remove the read more so you can do it )#long post /#anyway. back to writing starters.

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a-tiny-speck-of-dust · 1 month

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have you ever wondered what the sound of a broken heart is like?

Word count: 1,8K

Note: I've been keeping this fic locked in my basement for idk how long at this point. This supposed to be the backstory of one of my ocs for a personal writing project I'm currently working on. But, later on, I read it and was like "Hey, this isn't so bad! I think we can post it somewhere" so I decided to post it here on my dusty tumblr. Please be nice bcs this is the first fic I ever posted here, and do tell me just in case there are any tw that I missed and/or should be added to the tags. Also, English is not my first language, so I apologize in advance in case there are any mistakes. I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I do and everyone has a great day/night ahead. Love, Lan ❤️

---

ps: Since I briefly mention the term Handlers and Entities from my personal writing project, I'd explain it shortly here:

Handler - a human with supernatural power under an organization specialized in dealing with malevolent Entities.

Entities - the umbrella term I used to call supernatural being.

---

The life of an immortal is a life of boredom. At least, that’s what I thought after witnessing countless sunsets and sunrises my whole life as a shrine guardian.

I have served the gods and helped humans with their seemingly endless problems. I gained a few tails for bringing honor to the gods by helping humans and lost some for playing tricks on them.

Good times.

But, people come and go. Time has changed and the gods are long forgotten, while I’m trapped in time and remain the same.

These days it feels easier to live as a fox. Food has never been a problem and having an entire shrine to myself isn't as bad as I once imagined. Things get quiet, though, when the youngsters decide that it is not a good time for a ghost-hunting night. They're all pretty amusing.

Old people visit the shrine occasionally, trying their best to preserve a tradition that is beyond saving. Some bring their grandchildren, but that’s most likely to be their first and last time visiting.

I did remember one kid. A little girl who seemed interested in everything around the shrine. There was a time when her grandmother took her to the shrine every weekend for a few years. Then one day they left and never came back. Shortly after, I heard that the grandmother passed away and the girl returned to the city with her parents.

We immortals were accustomed to losing something or someone permanently. So, I never thought I would ever see you walk into my shrine's gate again.

But, you did.

You looked different. How long has it been since your last visit? I wanted to ask, but I didn’t dare to scare you away. Not when the gods gave me a chance to see you once again.

The curiosity in your eyes was still the same as before. But I can see more than just curiosity in there. I just don't know what it is.

Despair? Hope?

Your eyes lit up when our eyes met and you smiled at me. I had no idea that I was going to miss your smile so much.

“Good morning, Mr. Fox.” You said, reaching for something from your pocket. “Would you like some treats?”

Some cat food.

“Sorry, I only have that with me right now.”

What are you apologizing for? I thought, munching the food happily as if I hadn’t finished a whole pigeon for breakfast a few hours ago.

“I hope you don’t mind if I take a look inside.” You told me before you bowed toward the gate and walked through it.

There’s nothing left in this shrine besides the hall of worship and some stuff that hasn’t been stolen yet. You can’t even do the cleansing ritual because the water has dried out. But, you make sure to do whatever you can to be respectful. Your grandmother would be so proud of you.

The last time I saw someone pray in my shrine, they asked for so many things all at once. I wonder if the gods even remembered all of it. There were also those people who came just to ask for one thing but felt the need to repeat it many times for the prayer to be answered.

You, on the other hand, wish for nothing. You might look like you did on the outside, but you just stood there to pay your respect to the gods and nothing else.

When you turned around, I expected another goodbye and centuries of guilt for not even trying to talk to you. Instead, you waved at me and told me you’ll be back tomorrow with better food.

I don't usually expect much, but at that time I really hoped it wasn't just meaningless pleasantries.

But, you kept your promise and came back with food and some tools.

“I asked the neighborhood association if I could fix this place and they told me to do whatever I want. So I did.” You were crouching in front of me with a big grin. “I hope you didn’t mind that too.”

This place needs a little renovation anyway. I thought as I finished the food you brought for me.

From that day, you started to come almost every day. Sometimes you brought a friend, but most of the time you came by yourself.

For the first time in a very long time, I was waiting for the sun to rise so I could see you and listen to your stories.

Only to lose you again as a result of my carelessness.

The painful memory is engraved in my head. The day I left to find you a parting gift and returned late.

If you ever wondered what a broken heart sounds like, mine rang in my ears. Like two small bells held together by a thread. Clattered to the ground as it slipped from my mouth when I saw you laying on the ground, under the sacred tree where I used to wait for you to come.

There were cuts and bruises all over your body. Your clothes were torn in several places and stained with blood.

I have lived as a fox for so long I thought I had forgotten how to return to my human form. But, I remembered sprinting across the narrow path to you with fear creeping up my spine like a static shock when I pulled you into my arms.

I didn’t know how I turned back my hind legs to a pair of human legs and how my claws turned back to a pair of hands. All I know is your cold and limp body with your heartbeat so faint I could barely feel it.

“Mr. Fox?” You whispered hopefully.

I nodded. “I was late, please forgive me.”

Your pale lips curved into a teasing grin, looking as beautiful as ever even when your soul slowly left your body. “I always knew you weren’t just an ordinary fox.”

Anger tightened my chest as I caressed your cheek where I could see the color of life fade away from you in slow motion. Who dared to do such a heinous thing to you in my shrine?

“I’ll save you, please stay with me.” My voice was hoarse and shaky. I haven’t heard my voice for ages, but I’m glad I can finally use it to talk to you.

“No need, Mr. Fox.” Your brown eyes glowed under the sunlight as you tried to preserve every detail of my face in your memory. “It wouldn’t work the way you wanted.”

It was painful to look into your eyes. How come they were so full of life even on the verge of death?

“It’s a shame that I can only see the real you at times like this.” You slowly reached towards me, touching my face with the tips of your cold fingers as hot tears streamed down my cheeks.

“I shouldn’t have left you alone,” I sobbed, holding your hand close to my cheek. “I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be.” You replied with another faint smile. “My departure won’t be permanent. You should have known that better than me.”

“But, how long should I wait?” My voice cracked as I cried, the thought of living my old life without you makes my heart ache. “What if … what if you don’t—”

I cursed myself for not being born a human. I cursed the gods who brought us together just to take you away from me and forced me to live a very long life just to lose everything I ever had.

“I’ll be back,” you assured me. “And you’ll wait for me, won’t you?”

Your pretty smile faded away from your face as the last drop of your soul left me alone in my shrine with your lifeless body.

“I will,” I replied, kissing your knuckles. Wondering if you were still around to hear me.

I embraced you for the last time and buried you under the same tree. I spent days mourning for you, pouring out all my grief until there was only anger left.

Once the rage took over me, I searched the whole village to avenge your death. But, killing the culprit didn’t ease the pain like I thought it would.

So, I made the entire shrine your grave and put curses on anyone who dared to enter. I lashed my anger at the trespasser just to feel something that I hoped could fill the space you left in my heart.

I created quite a riot since you left me.

Until a young boy came to the shrine one day. He was an 18-year-old boy from the city. Even though he looked like a mere human, I knew better that he wasn’t.

A Handler always smells different from humans.

“You have caused a lot of trouble to the neighbors, don’t you know?” He asked politely, far more mature than any other grown-ups I ever encountered.

“They deserved it,” I told him. “And you would too if you don’t leave this place immediately.”

The boy ignored my threats and turned to look at your grave. A shiver ran down my spine as he took a step closer to you.

“Don’t you dare come near her!” I warned him. A Handler would be hard to kill, but I won’t let him mess with you too.

The boy stopped before he reached your grave and kneeled in front of it. He lowered his head and mumbled a prayer that I hadn't heard in a long time.

A prayer that wishes you a safe journey.

“I’ve met a lot of Entities like you, Mr. Fox.” He said afterward, still on his knees. “But, you can’t just wait here and hurt people until her return. Don’t you want to tell her your stories too?”

His words linger in my ears for a moment. I wonder how the thought of your return can instantly soothe my anger.

“The world is cruel, I admitted it.” The boy added as he stood up. “I know for sure I would probably be long gone myself once my parents returned from their departure, but you? You will be around once she comes back, won’t you?”

A gentle breeze caresses my cheek. For a moment, I think I can feel your presence around me.

“Come with me to the city.” The boy said. “So that you won't run out of stories to tell when she finally returns.”

And that’s the story of how a young boy saved me from my grief. I still have a lot of stories to tell you. How I met my friends and my newfound family. The city indeed has a lot of stories.

I can’t wait to sit by your side again once you return. Until then, I will pray for you to have a safe journey too.

-AN END TO A NEW BEGINNING

---

#atinyspeckofdust #writeblr #original writing #WIP #fiction #urban fantasy #angst #reincarnation #nameless ocs #tw blood #tw death

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grimescum · 3 months

Text

other oc development thoughts (raymond, pam & fran, a little bit of jerry and a wip oc named mike)

raymond,

- debating having him be from new york, the accent doesn't really suit him. he's definitely a city boy but probably from somewhere a lot smaller

- has glasses, doesn't wear them (unless absolutely necessary) due to him getting teased for them as a kid

- definitely did some sports in his youth. he was the dorkiest jock you'd ever meet ngl

- slightly insecure about a lot of things. namely his nose, his guitar skills and his tendency to be a pushover. he gets a little defensive when teased about them but plays it off as a joke

- his confidence rises by 500% whenever he's on stage for some reason. he's wrecked a few guitars before because of it

- he's very scared of doing things that're potentially dangerous. he'd love to ride a motorcycle if they weren't so scary. he actually used to skate when he was younger, but he stopped after hurting his ankle

- he was a bit more rowdy in his youth, trying to play tough to combat his insecurities. he actually knows how to throw a punch or two because of this, but he'd never fight anyone again

- he gets his softness from both of his parents. loves them both dearly. they supported him throughout his school years and continue to do so through his endeavors in music

- don't know if I've mentioned it before, but jerry is his boss. he's kinda like a weird grandpa to him. jerry thinks he's a fucking badass and raymonds just kinda like eeeuh?!?! jerry is an honorary band member because he'll tag along to their rehearsals and offer advice, encouragement or background vocals. they dont take his advice. he sucks at advice.

- speaking of their band, right now it's compromised only of billie (the drummer) and another oc i've yet to flesh out but is up on my toyhouse. i might add more but idk how bands work really. no name as of yet, and they do all their rehearsals in raymond's garage

pam,

- very shady businesswoman, but doesn't actively scam people unless she's in dire need of money.

- doesn't have an actual business either. she just sells stuff she finds at a higher price. her sister, fran, is largely unaware of this, but if she knew she'd scold her and tell her to just let her do all the work. pam's only doing it to help support fran since she's basically the man of the household and very overworked

- hates the taste of cigarettes but wouldn't deny one if offered

- hasn't had a stable relationship in years. she mostly takes part in one night stands to quench her thirst for intimacy. she's very sleazy with how she goes about it, too. sees is like a game that you need a strategy for.

- she does have one friend though. mike steel (an oc that's still a work in progress) from the bar she frequents. they've sworn not to date, knowing the both of them were horribly unprepared, but it's debatable how much they really plan to uphold that promise

- she's okay friends with the bartender. fran actually sought out the bartender and very politely demanded that he bring fran home, had she ever passed out drunk, and that he keep an eye on her. she also very politely threatened legal action if he didn't

- pam was always pretty social and had a habit of dumping her problems onto others even as a kid. her friends would leave because they thought of her as a leech and a complete bummer. rather than working on changing this part of her, though, she blames herself and drinks herself into a stupor almost every night. assumes that that's just the way she was made.

fran,

- habitually masks her southern accent for business related reasons (wanting to be taken seriously) and for personal reasons (it reminds her of her parents)

- horrible anger issues that haven't been treated in the slightest. not even pam is safe, but she at least knows that fran doesn't mean whatever she says or does when she's mad. fran feels horribly guilty whenever she has an outburst and will isolate herself in her work for days at a time.

- may or may not have accidentally severely injured someone in a fit of rage before

- she's actually the youngest. pam used to care for her when her parents didn't, and now fran feels obligated to return the favor. even if pam is a freeloader. she still loves her regardless :'o)

- she may act like it, but she's not actually that much of a bitch. just incredibly awkward and socially constipated. doesn't know how to react to casual comments outside of talking to her sister, so she either doesn't say anything at all or responds in a very matter of fact business talk kind of way

- she has to remember pam's birthday for her, but she won't tell her since pam gets depressed and uses it as an excuse to get completely sloshed. fran will still give her a gift, but under the guise of something else

- hates alcohol but, with encouragement from her sister, will dabble in it every once in a while. she's a sad and sensitive kind of drunk.

- fran was quiet, shy. she never told anyone about her issues and hardly does to this day. kinda had to carry pam through school, but she ended up failing regardless. fran sees her success as an obligation so that she can care for her sister.

- idk what her job is still. i was thinking accounting? but still idk man i dont have a job im a freeloader /j

#flea's ocs #oc: raymond simmons #oc: pam baker #oc: fran baker #flea talks

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biffhofosho · 2 years

Text

Another Year Wilder | Part One

Fandom: Monsta X

Genre: Smut, natch.

Word Count: 12k (The whole thing is about 30k, but I don’t love the idea of posting a oneshot that long, so it’s two parts.)

Pairing: OT7 x OC (you read that right)

Trope: Coworkers to lovers

Synopsis: At 36, things haven’t exactly panned out the way Jordana had hoped. Sure, she has a great job with a great group of guys, but her personal life is a disaster area. Of course, it wasn’t like she’d planned on wasting the prime of her youth on a crappy ex who left her in the lurch, but she had. Now, birthdays feel like a jab in the gut as she realizes she’s still single and aging out of all her prospects. Lucky for her, her seven adoring coworkers are here to remind her she’s still got it.

Part One | Part Two

The Vibe: Gamer nerd/entrepreneur Monsta X, New York state of mind with Brazilian flavor, OC’s feeling pretty sorry for herself and needs a pick-me-up, supportive coworker friends with secret crushes swoop in to the rescue, spoiled on her birthday, after-hours partying at the office, lighthearted humor with loads of innuendo, inappropriate games, lots of hidden agendas, romance under layers of raunchy smut, guys who won’t quit until they make a woman incandescently happy, devious Minhyuk always, Shownu and Kihyun are forever in control (or are they?), respect, adoration, love love love, shared power, new experiences, and a look to the future we’d all die to have.

A/N: WARNING! THIS FIC IS NOT SAFE FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION. THIS IS UTTER TRASH AND IS MEANT ONLY FOR TRASH TROLLS LIKE MYSELF. (If that’s you, hi! Let’s be friends!)

It’s probably the kind of fic people like on their side blogs with the likes hidden so you don’t have to admit to being so damn thirsty on main. :D

This is all @starlightfantasy‘s fault. She makes one damned spicy comment, and the next thing I know, I’ve got tens of thousands of words on the page and sky-high blood pressure.

I’m not going to try and dress this one up with nonsense words like “eightsome” or whatever makes it seem less seedy—sometimes a garbage scow is just a garbage scow. This is a good ol’ fashioned, wildly irresponsible, completely unbelievable office gangbang. Or maybe more aptly, a gangbang with feelings? IDK, whatever you want to call this mess other than just de-fucking-praved. Like, no one should probably ever read it, it’s such dumpster fire.

Too much fucking insanity for the tags so let’s gooooooo: group sex/gangbang, boss(es)/employee relations, nothing but unprotected sex, blindfolds, spitroasting, blowjobs, facials, handjobs, fingering, multiple multiple creampies, just generally showered in cum omgwhy, dumbification, competitive fucking because why the fuck not, exhibitionism and voyeurism elements, manhandling, dom/sub elements, orgasm denial, possessiveness, sir kink, restrained by others (but most def not dubcon), so much fucking dirty talk, so so so much fucking praise, mild self-inflicted degradation lol, body worship, the loveliest aftercare (hey, she works fucking hard in this—she deserves it), probably other stuff because this is a shitshow.

Jordana prodded the chocolate curly-cue on the top of the cupcake in front of her before Hoseok jabbed a candle into it. She recoiled with a scowl and tsked. “Tell me again why you people are making me celebrate today.”

“Because it’s your birthday?” Jooheon reminded with a roll of his eyes. “Happens every year on this day, you know.”

“I know, smartass. Every year for 36 years. I wish you wouldn’t remind me.”

As Hoseok dug for the matches in the breakroom drawer, Kihyun stared at the sulking woman across from him. “What’s the matter, Jordana? You’ve never had a problem with your birthday before.”

“Maybe because the last 35 didn’t remind me that I’m old, single, and likely to stay that way forever.” She poked the frosting again, and this time when her finger came back with a hunk of chocolate on it, she smeared a streak on an unsuspecting Jooheon beside her, who blustered and snarled while Changkyun chuckled.

“Thirty-six’s a little young to be throwing in the towel, don’t you think?” Hyunwoo chastised from his lean against the counter. “Since when is that old?”

“Yeah, if 36’s old, a few of us will be knocking on Death’s door soon, too,” Hoseok observed before he found the matches and thrust them in the air with a victorious fist.

Jordana pursed her thick lips and challenged the company president with her sharpest glower, though Hyunwoo only quirked an eyebrow. “It’s old since I started working for a bunch of baby-faced entrepreneurs. I could have rocked all your cradles, you know.”

“Settle down and blow out your candle,” admonished Kihyun.

Someone flicked off the lights in the breakroom before a chorus of seven voices broke into a spirited round of “Happy Birthday,” with Minhyuk belting his usual over-the-top flourish of “AND MANY MORE!” at the end. Jordana puffed out the candle, and the light came back on along with a round of cheers.

“Did you make a wish?” asked Minhyuk.

“Yeah, for seven new coworkers who don’t make me celebrate my birthday anymore,” she retorted.

Jooheon nudged her shoulder with his, and when she looked over, she found that obnoxiously handsome tiger’s grin bracketed by two of the deepest dimples known to man. “You told us your wish. Now, it won’t come true, and you’re stuck with us.”

“Damnit,” she grumbled.

“Oh, eat your cupcake and be grateful,” Kihyun said as he dug into his own.

Changkyun tugged out a chair and kicked back, his spindly legs stretched out to showcase the huge holes in his designer ripped jeans and his toned thighs tensing beneath them. It might have stuck out as unprofessional if Jooheon wasn’t also sporting a similar pair while Hoseok flaunted his hard-earned upper body in a far-too-revealing compression crew and Minhyuk and Hyungwon cozied up in hoodies. The only professionally dressed people in the office on any given day were the president and vice president. Hyunwoo and Kihyun sported their usual button-ups and slacks, and if Jordana hadn’t been working for them for the last five years, looking around, she would have thought this was some kind of survey group picked at random off the street.

Of course, if she had started a gaming company with friends, too, she supposed she would have had the guts to wear her favorite hoody to work. As it was, she’d been a necessary hire, so she was dressed in business casual as usual since that’s what the bosses wore. It felt too weird to dress down even if she’d been told a hundred times she was allowed.

“Are you eating your cupcake, Hyungwon, or are you inhaling it?” scolded Kihyun as he watched the tallest employee open his mouth like some deep-sea monster and shove the dessert in with a few desperate gasps for air around it.

Through a mouth full of crumbs, Hyungwon garbled, “The day I let Yoo Kihyun tell me how to eat is the day I die. You want a knife and fork for yours, Grandma?”

Jordana couldn’t hide her smile at the pair of frenemies’ latest round of bickering while Jooheon leaned close to her ear. “Enjoying yourself a little now?”

She did her best to shrug indifferently while she peeled off her cupcake wrapper. “The chocolate helps.”

“Are you really serious about this whole anti-birthday agenda?” asked Hoseok.

Jordana picked the wrong time to look at him. The raven-haired beast of a man was sucking his fingertips clean of frosting one-by-one, and it wasn’t an easy image to ignore. She forced her attention back to her birthday treat instead and said, “You’re just worried about getting one less cake out of a year.”

“Hey, you know I like cake, but I like you more, and we all really love celebrating the girl who takes care of all of us all year long.”

“It’s true,” echoed Minhyuk from behind her. Jordana jumped, not realizing he had snuck up beside her other ear.

She sighed and abandoned her cupcake to slouch in her chair. “Listen, guys, I appreciate you always going out of your way to do such nice things for me, seriously, but I don’t know—I’m kind of over it. Guess I’m just going through some shit—stuff. Sorry, boss.”

Even though they were all off the clock at this point in the evening, Jordana targeted her apology for the curse word to Hyunwoo, but the big man was as unflappable as ever. He polished off the last of his dessert and brushed his hands over the meat of his thighs, and she returned her attention to rolling and unrolling her cupcake wrapper.

“At least you guys didn’t go overboard like last year,” she said. Hyungwon and Hoseok exchanged looks, and Jordana groaned. “What did you do?”

Hoseok offered a sheepish grin and nodded toward the corridor. “It’s better if you just see it.”

Everyone filed into the hallway, with Kihyun taking point and Hyunwoo bringing up the rear as usual, as the vice president led them into the conference room. On any normal day, it was a cool, austere space featuring an oversized table with a dozen high-end gaming chairs, three huge screens, and a water cooler, but today wasn’t a normal day.

Tacky cardboard birthday banners drooped across the ceiling, and someone (she suspected Hoseok) had hung copious amounts of metallic fringe around the entire perimeter of the room. Someone else (Jooheon, she thought) had put a party hat on the water cooler. Meanwhile, each screen cycled through picture after picture of Jordana’s toothy smile, umber skin, and sloppy brown bun almost always pierced with a pen.

Most of the shots had at least one or two of the boys in it, too, although the middle screen was a solo headshot of hers, up close and spontaneous, just like Minhyuk liked to take them. She vaguely remembered him surprising her in the parking lot one day to take the shot. Her smile was lopsided, her eyes were pinched high in laughter, and her hair flung loose mid-spin.

“Oh my god, you guys didn’t,” Jordana groaned.

“Oh, yes, we did,” sing-songed Minhyuk as he jiggled several bottles of beer in his hand before adding them to the line of liquor on the table. “So, enjoy it and get plastered with us. Uber’s on us.”

He shoved a bottle of her favorite IPA into her face, and Jordana had no choice but to take a deep swig. Before she knew it, she’d downed the bottle as the boys stared wide-eyed at her.

“Seriously, what’s up with you and this birthday?” Changkyun probed as he took a seat and crossed his arms. His trademark intense stare penetrated even Jordana’s thick hide, and she relented.

She sank onto the edge of the table and cracked open another beer as uncomfortable emotions swirled with the booze in her stomach. “Ugh, you’re making a bigger deal of this than it is. I mean, you guys know I broke up with Carlos last year, so that wasn’t awesome…”

“What are you talking about!” interjected Jooheon. “He was the worst.”

“The actual worst,” echoed Hyungwon.

“Yeah, well, he was somebody. For five years, he was somebody, and for at least four of those years, I figured he’d be the somebody. And since then, nobody, not even a bite. I can’t even get a blind date—blind! I mean, I’m not ugly, right? I don’t think I am at least? So it’s got to be how old I’m getting. Unless maybe I am ugly…”

Hoseok was at her side in a second, his body glued along hers as his arm wrapped around her shoulder and cemented her even tighter to him. His strength was astounding, his muscles warm but his eyes stern. “Don’t ever say things like that. Ever.”

“O-okay.”

She hadn’t been fishing for compliments, more like confessing her very real feelings, but the look he was giving her bordered on outraged, and even Jordana’s sassy side cowered a little. But Hoseok’s fury disappeared with her concession, and his broad, beaming smile turned his face boyish again. “Good. Glad you agree. And as for all those losers, they’re just too afraid of a woman like you.”

Jordana laughed, feeling less and less anxious with his arm around her shoulder, like he was her weighted blanket back at home. “Oh, so they’re afraid?”

“Terrified.”

“Because I have Resting Bitch Face?”

“Because you can break a man’s heart with one word.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Vegetarian?”

“No,” Hoseok said simply, ignoring her joke. “The word is ‘no.’ You’re out of every guy’s league, and they know it.”

Jordana turned to scoff at him, but Hoseok was looking at her so sincerely that her rebuttal fell dead on her lips. When she finally remembered where she was, she glanced around the room, but every other man was just as silent and sincere as his friend. She cleared her throat and reached for another beer, relishing the way the cap resounded like a gunshot and startled her coworkers out of their weird intensity.

“Hey, look, guys, I’m not looking for pity. I just want everyone to forget my birthday entirely. Cool?”

Hyungwon frowned and crossed his arms. “No, not cool. Nobody here pities you, YoYo. That’s not what this is.”

“Oh, so it’s an intervention?” she retorted around the mouth of her beer bottle, realizing the irony too late.

Her lanky coworker threw his hands in the air and turned to his nearest neighbor, Changkyun. “She doesn’t get it.”

“None of us are dating either,” Changkyun reminded her.

“That’s not because you couldn’t. That’s because you’re too wrapped up in your work,” she replied.

“Not Minhyuk,” laughed Hyungwon.

“No, he’s too wrapped up in himself,” Jordana teased.

“Hey!” the caramel-haired man shouted.

“What about me?” asked Kihyun. “What’s my excuse?”

Jordana brought a finger to her lips and considered for a moment. “You don’t trust anybody.”

“That’s not true,” the vice president protested. “You think I would give these guys an equal share in the company if I didn’t trust them?”

“No, but you came up with everybody here. I’ve known you for years, and you still won’t let me proofread your pitches even though my degree’s in public relations.”

Kihyun looked wounded, his strong cheeks softened by downturned eyes. “That’s not because I don’t trust you.”

Jordana hummed. “You’re right. That’s the wrong word here. I guess it’s that you like all the control.”

“You’re making me out to be one of those BDSM guys.”

She quirked an eyebrow and hid behind the lip of her bottle. “I always assumed you were.”

Minhyuk and Hyungwon laughed, but Kihyun stared back at her blankly.

When the vice president’s gaze got too intense, Jordana cleared her throat. “Look, guys, let’s just forget the whole thing, okay? This is all really great, and you guys are great, so let’s just hang out. Deal?”

Jooheon raised one charismatic eyebrow. “Beer’s already hitting you, isn’t it?”

“Shut up, Lee,” she volleyed back, and they both laughed.

Jordana could hold her liquor like a champ—she’d had enough practice, especially the last several months post-Carlos—but there was no denying that warm buzz radiating from her stomach and tickling her fingers and toes. With the help of seven handsome faces and teasing smiles, the alcohol had singed off the edges of creeping doom, and once again, she was feeling more like herself.

Feeling cocky, she said, “So, where’s my present?”

“What makes you think you get one?” challenged Kihyun.

“Other than the fact that you guys give me one every year? Well, for starters, Hoseok just said I take care of you all year long. I think that warrants something.”

“Way to go, Buffbunny,” clucked Hyungwon, using Hoseok’s gamer handle. “Now we have to get her something.”

Hoseok pretended to pout as Jooheon and Minhyuk shoved him out the door, the dimpled blonde shouting after him, “Steal something from the boss’s office. She’ll never know.”

Jooheon turned and shot a wink to Minhyuk, who didn’t even try to hide his sly fox smile.

“You guys are so extra,” Jordana said. Her legs swung freely over the edge of the conference table. It was safe to say she was leaning into her buzz, and she was grateful she wasn’t doing it alone again on her crappy couch.

While Hyungwon livened up the party with a little music, Hoseok trotted back in, hiding his face behind an opened Amazon box. He peeked around the edge, his eyes pinched up into little slashes, before he thrust it into her hands and grinned at the others from ear to ear.

Jordana glanced at the box with a smirk. Another year, another present with no wrapping paper except the bubble wrap it came in. Boys, she thought with a laugh.

It only took a second to unspool the wrapping and find a stapler—a dented, chipped, circa 1992 stapler. Confused, she looked around the sea of eager faces and said, “Wow, you really did go shopping in Hyunwoo’s office.”

“You don't know that,” teased Minhyuk.

“Uh, yeah, I do. You don't forget a hunk of junk like this.”

“Hey,” the president objected, “that's a perfectly functional hunk of junk.”

“I thought we agreed on the tape dispenser?” Kihyun snapped.

Hoseok shrugged. “She doesn't need a tape dispenser. She said she needs a stapler.”

“That’s sweet,” Jordana said with a hand on the shoulder of the hard-bodied but soft-hearted gamer, “but not this World War I cannon that thunders next to my office all day.”

“You blew our cover,” scolded Jooheon.

“And the tape dispenser would have been funnier how?” Hoseok said.

“It ruined the joke!” Kihyun exclaimed. “Everybody knows that stupid stapler.”

“I repeat: hey,” Shownu grumbled in his ever-hushed voice.

“I didn't ruin anything,” persisted Hoseok. “I enhanced it while simultaneously showing I listen to YoYo.”

“Lay off Hoseok,” Hyungwon said. “It's even funnier now because everyone hates Hyunwoo’s stapler.”

The president’s thick lips pursed while the buff bunny slung his arm around his tall friend’s shoulder. “Thanks, man.”

Changkyun rolled his eyes. “If you don't finish laying it on so thick, you're going to miss it.”

“I resent—” started Hoseok before he was cut off by a high-pitched squeal.

Everyone turned to the girl in the center of the room who was now holding a bouquet of long-stemmed orchids in one hand and a piece of paper in the other. Her brown eyes were wide and her mouth was hanging open.

“You guys,” Jordana said quietly, “this is a ticket to IZA.”

Hyunwoo shook his head. “Actually, those are two tickets to IZA.”

“One for you and one for your sister,” interjected Minhyuk.

“You said you wanted to take her because that’s her favorite singer, right?” Jooheon echoed, his elbow propped on Minhyuk’s shoulder.

“But—but they only had floor seats left,” Jordana insisted, her brain barely comprehending the paper in her hand. Then her eyebrows ticked up a few notches. “These are floor seats! Guys, they're so expensive!”

“Not if we all chipped in,” Hoseok said with another one of his thousand-watt grins.

Kihyun, the young flexer of the office, added, “And we did, especially your very generous bosses.”

Jordana looked at her friends still just as shocked as when she’d found the flowers and paper hidden behind her on the table, no doubt slipped there when Hoseok and his squabbling coworkers had commanded all her attention. “Porra! I can’t believe I’ll be able to take Adriana to see her. You don’t even know—this is going to land me Sister-of-the-Year.”

“The way it’s landed us Coworkers-of-the-Year?” suggested Hyungwon.

“Coworkers-of-the-Century, honestly. I don’t even know what to say. Seriously, I’m— Just… thanks for making this birthday worth celebrating, guys. I mean it. This is awesome. You’re awesome. I can’t believe I get to work here with people that care this much about me.”

“We definitely do,” Hyunwoo reinforced, and Jordana bit her lip.

The boys looked at one another with proud smiles, exchanging pats on the back and fist bumps, and it shook some sense back into her.

“Don’t go getting big heads now. You’ve just set a bar for the rest of the time I work here. Good luck topping this.” Hands sagged and grins drooped before she belted out a long laugh. “Just teasing. Maybe.”

Changkyun jumped up on the table beside her, swinging his legs in sync with hers. He toyed with one of the orchid stems, brushing the velvety petals along her jaw. “What about the flowers, huh? They’re nice, right?”

Jordana laughed. “Gorgeous. Did you pick them?”

“I did, after a lot of research.”

“Hey!” barked Jooheon. “I helped, too.”

“Not that much. You just picked them up.”

Jooheon sported his best scowl before Minhyuk swooped in to rub his back.

Jordana turned her attention back to the vibrant pink petals and thumbed a few of them idly. She bumped Changkyun’s shoulder with hers and said, “Okay, let’s test how much research you’ve done. Why orchids?”

“Because they would remind you of home?”

“You sound like you’re second-guessing yourself, Kyun…” she teased.

“I’m not,” he declared though he stole a glance at Jooheon.

The dimpled man put his hands on his hips and shook his head at his friend. “Don’t look at me. You already took all the credit. You’re on your own.”

The youngest of her coworkers looked betrayed, but Jordana was in too good a mood now to let him suffer long. “You’re right, it’s Brazil’s national flower, not quite like these beauties but close. So, in all this very extensive research you did all by yourself, did you come across what they symbolize?”

“Friendship?”

Jordana looked down at the magenta blooms bursting forth like butterflies ready to take flight, and somehow, she felt them fluttering in her stomach. She kept her eyes trained on the petals so the guys couldn’t catch the rush of color at her cheeks. “My mother always said each flower represents a kiss. See the lips here?”

With the tip of her finger, she traced the long, dark mouth of the bloom, and she could feel every pair of eyes on her. Her finger felt heavy, and she dropped it to her lap along with the bouquet.

“So,” Jordana said, clearing her throat, “maybe next year get your coworker something a little less…”

What? Expensive? Colorful?

No. Romantic, she realized. These flowers were too romantic. They were on all the girls’ wrists when dances and date nights came. They were in wedding bouquets and tucked behind ears as ladies sashayed in tight dresses through the streets at Carnival.

“A little more,” she corrected, “coworker-y.”

“You don’t like them?” asked Changkyun. She thought he’d sound disappointed or even annoyed, but instead, he sounded amused.

“Of course, I like them! I love them. That’s not what I’m saying.”

“Ah,” Kihyun said, his cheeks high and smug, “she’s saying she doesn’t want us to give her kisses.”

Flustered, Jordana hid behind the bouquet as she pretended to inspect it. “You’re so annoying, Ki.”

“Is that any way to talk to the Boss-of-the-Century?”

She sighed. “I knew that was going to come back to bite me.”

Minhyuk, however, was grinning like a Cheshire cat. There was a reason his gamer handle was DemonicJester, and just from the way his eyes narrowed, Jordana knew he was coming out to play. His tongue poked the corner of his lips as he appraised her before he said, “So is something else you said earlier...”

The liquid courage bubbling in her stomach brought the challenge to her gaze as the pair squared off. “Yeah? What’s that?”

“When you were bragging how well you knew all of us.”

“About the girlfriend thing? That wasn’t bragging, that was just observation. I spend half my life with you guys. I think I’ve picked up a few things over the years. I know who’s coming down the hall by footsteps alone, I know everybody’s laugh, and I know all your poker tells, especially yours, Min.” Jordana mimicked his head-thrown-back laugh, which she’d seen dozens of times in games he knew he’d win.

“She knows a lot, doesn’t she?” Kihyun said, but there was something else in his voice—something she couldn’t place—a textured darkness that she wasn’t afraid of but enticed by.

The tissue paper crinkled loudly as she clutched her flowers a little tighter.

Minhyuk grinned, his eyes shifting from coworker to coworker. His confidence was as endearing as it was annoying. “Let’s liven up this party, what do you say? Want to put YoYo’s knowledge to the test, guys?”

“What does that mean?” asked Hoseok.

“Yeah, what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jordana demanded.

Minhyuk smiled. “Seems to me you think you’ve got us all figured out.”

Kihyun had been staring hard at her, but now those sharp black eyes narrowed as his chin tipped up. “It does seem that way.”

She was suddenly keenly aware of how close Changkyun was next to her, how broad Hoseok’s shoulders were, and how imposing Hyunwoo looked with his arms crossed over his chest. “Look, guys, I didn’t mean to offend anyone—”

But Minhyuk just cocked his head to the side like a curious puppy. “Now, who said anything about that? I’m just talking about a game. Those are meant to be fun, aren’t they? And didn’t you just get done complaining about how you don’t have any fun anymore?”

“Excuse me if I don’t trust you, Min. Maybe I know that part of you too well.”

The room erupted into a symphony of bark-laughs and cackles, but Minhyuk weathered them all as though he hadn’t heard any of them in the first place. He was too preoccupied with his mischievous showdown with Jordana.

“You’ve got your scheming face on,” she warned.

“This is my game face. So, what do you say? Wanna play with me?”

“Ugh, you’re such a perv.”

Minhyuk just waggled his eyebrows.

Jordana looked to the others for help, but there was no clear consensus in the room. Some looked confused, others as wary as she was, and still others were simply amused. Then there was Hyunwoo, who waited stock still on the edge of the group with a perfectly blank expression. She let out a very long sigh and said, “What’s the game?”

Minhyuk’s warm hair tossed as he bounded between her swinging legs and clapped his hands. He was well inside her personal bubble, but that was nothing new with Minhyuk as everyone in the office could attest. Almost every lunch ended with him feeding someone, and most of the time, when they were gaming, he was thigh-to-thigh with someone on a couch or even wedged in the same chair. It was as much a part of who he was as it was a disarming tactic, and it always fucking worked, just like it was working now.

“All right, picture this,” he said, his hands flailing dramatically, “you claim to know us all by sight, sound, and smell, but—and stick with me on this—what about taste and touch?”

Jordana raised one finely sculpted eyebrow. “What the hell does that mean?”

“Min—” Hyungwon started with this hand on his eager friend’s shoulder, but Minhyuk shook him off without breaking eye contact with Jordana for a second.

“A kiss contest!” the troublemaker declared with his hand in the air. “You close your eyes, and we each give you a kiss, and you see if you can guess who’s who. Sounds like fun, doesn’t it?”

Jordana’s stomach dropped into her feet.

“Sounds like a sexual harassment lawsuit,” Kihyun deadpanned.

But Minhyuk blew a raspberry and shook his head. “Nah! Not if YoYo agrees. It’s all in the name of birthday fun and bragging rights. Besides, it’s not like any of you are going to turn down this chance.”

Minhyuk received a few death glares from Kihyun and Jooheon, but none of it shook his unbridled enthusiasm.

“How much have you had to drink, you chucklehead?” grumbled Changkyun. His arms were tightly stacked across his chest, but his sharp eyes were studying Jordana’s profile now, and she could sense them at her lips before they darted away.

“You can’t just obligate all the other guys to something like that,” Jordana spluttered, her wide brown eyes ping-ponging between the rest of her officemates. “They don’t want to pity-kiss their coworker.”

“Sure, we will! We talk all the time about—”

Hyungwon elbowed Hoseok in the ribs, and the big guy yowled like a surprised cat.

“Talk about what?” she demanded, but Jooheon dove across the room to cover Hoseok’s mouth while Minhyuk tipped forward so the only thing she could see was his handsome, candid face.

“It’s hardly a pity-kiss, YoYo. It’s a game, and we all want to play with you.”

Jordana squinted at him, trying to find the jokester under that imp mask he was sporting, but his charm armor was too strong.

When she didn’t answer, Minhyuk pushed gently, “Don’t you want to play with us?”

“I’m—too old to play these kinds of games.”

Now it was Changkyun, leaning close enough that their shoulders touched while his mouth only hovered a few inches from her ear.

“Enough with that,” he admonished, “seriously. If I ever see that asshole Carlos again, I’ll break his nose.”

“Changkyun!” Jordana said, honestly surprised. Even during his most intense Fortnite runs, she’d never seen the youngest gamer so serious.

“What? I’m not the only one. Hoseok and Jooheon are already honing their Fight Club skills, look.”

She glanced over Minhyuk’s shoulder to where the two friends were punching the air and snarling. She wanted to laugh and just appreciate her coworkers for looking out for her, but Jordana felt weirdly self-conscious about the whole thing.

She waved everybody off and said, “Guys, forget Carlos. Forget my age. Forget I brought any of it up. Let’s just go back to hanging out.”

“Done!” said Minhyuk, but he didn’t step back. Instead, he propped an elbow on her knee and stooped awkwardly against it, all without losing his upbeat grin. “Doesn’t change the game at all though. I still want to play and win.”

“Minhyuk, no.”

“Why not?” he whined.

“For starters, you’d lose. You’d all lose. So there’s no point in playing.”

All at once, all eyes were focused solely on her. These men were gamers to their very core, not just profiting off their own games and accessories but running their own Twitch streams and, more importantly, facing off against each other every minute they could. Jordana knew exactly what she was doing in challenging them, but she also knew she was 100% right. She’d recognize these crazy boys anywhere.

Hoseok smiled and glided over to her free side. She could tell from the way his arms were puffed up by his chest that he was flexing while still trying to look casual, and she braced for his bravado. “Sounds to me like you’re just afraid of the competition, YoYo. Easier to say you’ll win before you have.”

“It does sound like that,” Hyungwon agreed.

“Come on, another year older, another year wilder,” Minhyuk egged on.

Jordana rolled her eyes. “Pretty sure that’s ‘wiser,’ not ‘wilder.’”

“Nah, Min’s definitely right,” agreed Jooheon.

“You’re just saying that because you want a kiss.”

Minhyuk turned and pinched his friend’s cheek as he said, “Aw, don’t give Honey a hard time.”

“What about the hard time he’s giving me!” she wailed.

Jooheon had already wriggled out of Minhyuk’s grip to bully Hoseok out of the way so he could sidle up to Jordana’s side and offer her a flirty smile. He smelled like cedar and leather, like a bad boy with an angel’s grin, and she struggled to look unaffected. “Am I giving you a hard time?”

“Shut up,” she grumbled and chugged the last of her beer.

“Then there’s no problem,” Kihyun clarified from across the room. He stepped forward, looking extra impressive with his hands in his suit pants and his eyes expressionless. “If we’re all in agreement, how about one round, and we’ll see just how good you are.”

Jordana’s skin was bristling now, like the room was charged with static electricity. Her legs automatically tightened, but Minhyuk was still standing between them, and he smiled when her thighs gripped his hips. His fingers brushed lightly against her bare knee as he gauged her expression, but when she didn’t cringe or yelp, he gripped it and pushed it open just enough for him to slip out—and just enough to send a sharp pulse to her core.

“Everybody’s in, right?” the handsome troublemaker trumpeted to the room.

The yeses rolled in fast and furious, and it deepened the color at Jordana’s cheeks as well as the skin at her collar. More than anything, she was shocked when both Hyunwoo and Kihyun joined in the chorus, too.

“This… doesn’t feel like a good idea,” she hedged.

“Why not?” Jooheon complained.

“Because we all have to work together tomorrow?”

“So?” said Hyungwon.

“So, things will be different.”

“Will they?” he pushed.

“Won’t they?”

Maybe it was the self-deprecating headspace she'd already been wallowing in, but now Jordana was just annoyed at the fact that none of them seemed to care that they were going to kiss her. They were making it all about the game, yet it made her want to make them care, and that was a whole other recipe for disaster.

Jordana blew a long raspberry and glanced around the rest of the conference room in a hurry for anything to distract from the number of eyes all trained on her. “Fine, fine, but I need a shot first. We got any soju around here?”

Hyunwoo was quick to pour one for her, and she downed it just as fast, blanching as the liquor stung her throat.

“Beer before liquor, never been sicker,” Changkyun tutted beside her.

“That’s just an urban legend,” Kihyun informed. “They’ve done studies to prove—”

“Oh my god!” Hyungwon griped, covering his ears. “You’re ruining the party vibe.”

Kihyun glowered at his friend but stuffed his diatribe while Jordana polished off the last of Changkyun’s beer, too.

It was Jooheon’s turn to glower. “I’m starting to get a little offended that you need all this booze just to kiss us.”

“It’s a couple of beers and a shot. I can handle a lot more than that. Besides, I do my best work tipsy. It’ll make my gloating celebrations that much more elaborate. I’m fixing to bring Carnival-level festivities in here when I embarrass you all.”

“That’s putting the cart before the horse, don’t you think? First, we have to set some rules,” Kihyun reminded.

Hyungwon elbowed Hoseok and grumbled, “Here he goes with rules now. Wake me up in twenty.”

Kihyun shot a glare over his shoulder but only for a second before he returned his full attention to the brown-skinned woman literally on the edge of her seat. Even with music playing, things felt far too quiet.

Her boss took a step closer, just shy of the gap between her knees where Minhyuk had just stood. “For starters, you'll be blindfolded.”

“Is the blindfold really necessary, Ki?” Jordana asked dramatically, hoping it would cover the quaver in her voice.

“Uh, yeah,” answered Hyungwon. “You’re a total cheater, YoYo. You’ll peek.”

“What the hell are you talking about? When have I ever cheated?”

“Seems to me someone forgot the time we played Overwatch, and you threw on an aimbot and massacred everyone here in seconds.”

Jordana pouted. “That was just for fun.”

“So is this,” said the president from across the conference room in a voice far too deep to be safe. Hyunwoo unspooled his tie from his collar and presented the shimmering silk to his vice president.

Jordana couldn’t take her eyes off limp material draped over Kihyun’s elegant fingers. Somehow, she could already feel its cool kiss against her eyelids, and she shivered.

“If you don't like that rule, you definitely won't like this one,” Kihyun continued. “We can touch you, but you can't touch us.”

“Why the hell not?” she demanded.

Changkyun bumped her shoulder, and she turned to him just in time to catch that cute, close-lipped smile he always did when he was holding something back. Before she had a chance to wonder what it could be, he said, “Because then it won't be the kiss you focus on. You know what each of us is wearing, so you'll know instantly who’s who.”

“I guess that’s fair. Any more rules you tyrants want to impose on the birthday girl?”

Hoseok laughed. “A few minutes ago, she didn’t want anybody saying the word ‘birthday’, and now she wants special consideration. How cute is that?”

“Last rule,” said Kihyun. “One kiss, one guess. You get it wrong—”

“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” Jordana said with a smug smile, and someone in the room made a low growl. She couldn’t tell who, but it set her nerves on edge. Suddenly, her smugness evaporated.

“All the same,” the vice president continued, “if you guess wrong, you have to be that guy’s office assistant exclusively for a week until you get to know him backwards and forwards.”

It didn’t seem terribly unreasonable, though something about it smacked of duplicity. Still, Jordana agreed and Kihyun presented the tie. Hoseok was quick to snatch it from the vice president’s hands despite a very noisy gripe, and the next thing she knew, silk encircled her eyes as Hoseok’s muscles encircled her head to firmly tie the scrap of fabric. Her face was practically buried in his thick neck, and this close to his skin, she could still pick up a whiff almond and warm wood and, under both, a hint of natural masculinity. If she had any less willpower, she might have licked that warm juncture at his shoulder.

Before Hoseok pulled back, his thumb coasted over her cheekbone, and in the new darkness, it blazed bright like fireworks. Jordana couldn’t help it, she exhaled long and low. She heard several rumbles and whispers, but no one said anything to her.

With nothing else to focus on and no one left beside her, the room felt ten degrees colder. The feeling of being watched itched all over her skin, and she stowed her arms tightly across her chest to feel a little more comfortable. Jordana cleared her throat and said, “I can’t win if you don’t play the game, guys.”

“Somebody’s impatient,” Minhyuk sing-songed. “This is almost more fun than the game.”

“I seriously doubt that,” Changkyun said darkly, and a fresh wave of goosebumps blistered across her arms and legs.

“Would somebody just kiss me already?” she barked.

Hoseok laughed. “So damned impatient!”

“All right, everybody, let’s give the lady what she wants,” Kihyun said. “Sudden death kai-bai-bo, winner goes first. No hints, no cheers, no arguing. In fact, I don’t want to hear any commentary at all, Minhyuk.”

“Hey! I can handle myself! This was my great idea anyway. You can all thank me later.”

“Already he can’t shut up,” chided Changkyun before Hyunwoo cleared his throat, and everyone listened again.

There was some shuffling, some light slaps or punches—Jordana couldn’t tell which—and then the muffled sounds of hands flying. Only a minute later, a pair of lips fluttered against hers so fast, her head barely had time to process what had happened.

“I can't tell anything from just a peck!” she shouted.

“I know,” laughed Minhyuk from directly in front of her. “That was just for me. Now, let's make room for the first player.”

“Spread your legs wider now,” Kihyun commanded, and an intense, unexpected tingle surged through her body, settling insistently in her most secret recess.

Jordana’s heart was hammering in her chest so loudly she thought the others might hear it over the soft R&B that now trickled through the stereo (no doubt Changkyun’s playlist now). She scooted to the edge of the table and parted her legs a bit further, blindly fumbling with her skirt to tuck it chastely over the waves of heat radiating from between them.

“You remember my rules, right?” the vice president continued. “You can lean back on your hands or tuck them under your thighs, but if you touch, you’re disqualified from that round, and the consequence still stands.”

Her brow furrowed under Hyunwoo’s tie. “What if I lose my balance?”

“We’ll take care of you, YoYo,” Jooheon promised.

She bit her lip, but someone’s thumb pried it free before soothing the plumped skin.

“Ready?” Hyunwoo asked.

Jordana summoned the last of her bravado and said, “Bring it.”

Fabric brushed between her exposed knees as the first player stepped into their shelter. Her breath ramped up immediately, her rabbit heart thrashing in her ribcage. She thought he would just dive in quick as Minhyuk’s kiss had, but instead, she languished in a pregnant pause filled only by fabric ruffling and short, steady breaths.

Two hands framed the outside of her thighs, applying just enough pressure to remind her that there was a man looming over her. Jordana braced on her wrists as she fought the urge to grab the guy and slam her against her mouth so she could get this over with. Whoever it was, he was taking his sweet time.

At last, she felt the delicious first glaze of freshly balmed lips against her own. They were luscious and broad, matching her full lips with plenty to spare. The pressure was gentle at first, as though ready to recoil at her slightest hesitance, but Jordana had none. She needed him to kiss her harder—she wanted him to. When she didn’t pull away, he moved in, his wrists pressing more firmly against her thighs as he pushed in against her lips. A moment later, they parted, and she felt the tentative gloss of his tongue against the tip of hers.

This, too, was slow and deliberate, chased with a malty tinge of beer and a hint of sweetness from a cupcake. There was something intoxicating about the darkness she now found herself encased in, which gave her the ability to taste and feel this man all the more acutely. She tried to imagine the face on the other side of the blindfold, but it was hard to keep her focus when his tongue was back and deeper in her mouth now, caressing hers as one of his hands now caressed her cheek.

Jordana couldn’t help it: when his mouth pulled back for a breath, hers followed, her tongue sinking between his lips and drawing a surprised sigh from him.

“Hyungwon,” she murmured, and a raucous chorus of groans shattered the moment.

“You idiot!” shouted Kihyun. “You gave it away.”

Hyungwon pulled back much to Jordana’s dismay and left her cold and open-mouthed on the table as he snapped back at his friend, “It’s not as easy as you think, Tin Man. She put her tongue in my mouth!”

A few surprised “oh’s” bubbled around the room, and there was something about the way they said them that made Jordana’s skin charge.

“YoYo’s playing dirty,” Jooheon remarked, and she could hear the hook of his grin.

“I am not! You guys gave me a challenge. I’m just going along with it,” she said. “Nobody said I couldn’t kiss back.”

“She’s right,” Hyunwoo agreed.

“Thanks, boss. And anyway, I would have known that was Hyungwon even if he didn’t make a noise.”

Jordana heard the tall man’s amused laugh before he said, “Yeah?”

“Well, yeah.” She could feel her cheeks blazing, and she wished she had a way to hide them. “You’ve got those great lips and skinny hips, and you kiss lazy, too.”

The boys erupted into laughter, and she could hear the beanpole being jostled around as his friends roughed him up to a chorus of “Lazy! Lazy!”

“Hey, that’s not a bad thing!” Jordana added. “I liked it. It’s really sensual. Made me feel, um, savored…”

Suddenly, it was dead silent. Before she had time to regret her own words, hands were on her again, but this time, instead of chaste, one slid around the small of her back and the other around her neck as another man settled between her legs. He lifted her up as his mouth came down in a clash of teeth and lips. There was no hesitation as he slid his tongue into her mouth and tangled with hers.

His breaths were fast, and hers rose to meet them. There was so much quickness and power in his kiss that it startled her. All his heat rushed into her until her body flushed, too. Jordana could feel the heat of desire creeping above her collar even before the hand at the back of her neck crept under the fabric there, his short nails scratching just enough to tease a hint of possession.

Just when Jordana was running out of breath, he switched direction, puffy lips racing over hers before he dove back in. Unlike Hyungwon’s surprise when she’d returned the favor and tasted his mouth, this man seemed to expect it, and she could feel his desperation in the knot of her shirt at her back. He urged her body tighter against his, and she lost her grip on the table below her. To steady herself, she wrapped her legs around his hips, which brought an unexpected hardness pressing at her through her skirt.

He grunted, and she shouted, “Jooheon!”

She wasn’t sure if she was calling out an answer or her own expectation.

Reluctantly, his fingers unraveled from her hair, and the usually-loudmouthed player stepped back on uneven footing dead silent. Instead of a round of jeers for his inappropriate sound effect, the room remained quiet, too.

“A-aren’t you going to ask me how I knew?” Jordana said through heavy breaths. She wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and waited for an answer, but none came. The silence was so intense, she felt spotlighted by it, and since anything else was better than that, she added, “You’re all about fire, Jooheon, and that was fiery.”

She could still only hear her heaving breaths, and it was starting to get very annoying. She was trussed up like a chicken letting her imagination run absolutely wild, which was only making the increasingly uncomfortable tingles on her lips and between her legs that much more noticeable. She reached for the blindfold as she said, “So, you guys give up already, I take it? Probably for the best.”

Not a second later, the emphatic clack of dress shoes thundered toward her. Jordana felt another body slip between her knees, and she smiled.

“I recognized your footsteps, Ki, sorry,” she admitted, but hands cupped her face all the same as hot breath feathered over her lips.

“I don’t care.”

Kihyun tilted up her chin, so her bottom lip jutted forward, and he captured it immediately, suckling it into his mouth to run his tongue over it. The sensation was like a shockwave, and the tremor continued all the way down Jordana’s body. Her hands shot up to steady herself on the sleeves of his dress shirt only to find he’d rolled them up. Instead, her nails dug into bare skin, and the rumble of her boss’s purr traveled through his mouth and into hers.

He guided her face in every direction he needed to in order to better access the warm recesses of her mouth. There was a dominance to every sweep of his tongue that had her offering herself up to him immediately. Everything he wanted, he took, and this time she did not help herself to him. If he wanted something from her, she knew he’d tell her.

When he was done making his commanding impression, Kihyun pulled back only far enough so she could feel the ghost of his smirk on her mouth.

“If I hadn't given myself away, would you still know it was me?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

His voice was low and perilous. “Tell me how.”

“You're always in control, remember?”

“Hm, you know what? You may be right.”

Kihyun released her face and stepped back, and Jordana struggled to regain her senses. Was it still a game? It didn't feel like they were playing even though she definitely felt like she was losing.

“Next!” Kihyun ordered, shattering her peace, and Jordana tensed.

“Wait!” she said.

Minhyuk laughed. “Giving up so soon?”

“Please. I just—”

“Need a minute?” Kihyun said cockily from somewhere still far too close to her.

“Damn it.” Jordana adjusted herself on the table and grumbled, “Fine, fine, who’s next to lose?”

The music turned up just a touch, more chill RnB rhythms piping through the surround sound and effectively drowning out any footsteps. Unfortunately, when two thumbs curled inside her knees and spread her legs a little wider, it wasn’t loud enough to cover her throaty gasp.

Jordana felt warm breath on her neck, the skirt of a nose along her jaw, and then finally, a kiss at the corner of her mouth. The soft musk of rose and patchouli enveloped the couple as lips languidly dragged over lips. The bitter tang of soju swapped between breaths as the tips of their tongues met. He knew just the right angle to taste her while inviting her to return the favor.

Something about the moment made Jordana want to wrap her arms around his neck and hold him tighter. Where she had been the one holding back in her first kiss with Hyungwon, this time, this man was holding back, and she longed to truly open him up. She tried to push into his mouth, but he wouldn’t allow it and spent his time, instead, focusing on tasting her. Just before the intensity could sweep both of them away, he pulled back and waited, his hands still resting on her knees.

“Hi, Changkyun,” she teased with a smile, and he kissed the other corner of her mouth to even her out.

“Good girl,” was all he said in his luscious baritone before he disappeared. He didn’t ask for her explanation, but she hadn’t expected a man like him to either.

Jordana needed the next contestant to step forward before feelings could overwhelm her. She cracked her neck to loosen herself up and proclaimed, “Four for four. You’re running out of time to stump me, boys.”

A light chuckle passed amongst her coworkers as though there were a joke she wasn’t let in on, and her nerves got the better of her again until the next man stepped forward.

“No touching,” reminded Kihyun, and thank God he did considering the man who came next.

Jordana should have known from his deep inhale what was to come, yet she was unprepared for two strong arms to sweep around her and lift her like a doll up toward a plump and expectant mouth. A moment later, he sat her back on the table even as he held her vice-tight, and she had to sit on her hands to keep from clawing at his back.

He kissed harder than anyone else, almost as though he was trying to steal her breath from her. His lips did most of the work with just tantalizing brushes of his tongue to underscore how fucking good he was at making her feel like a woman. His head pivoted from one side to another to make sure he didn’t miss any of her, but with his body pressed this closely, there was no way he could have.

Their chests crushed together along with their hips, and it was such an easy fit, Jordana forgot this wasn’t her lover but her coworker. Before sense could ruin everything though, his hands wandered up and down her back until a few rogue fingers caught on her shirt hem and slipped along her skin. She gasped and arched into him, offering up whatever else he wanted to explore.

“Hyunwoo…” she mewled, and he stopped, though he didn’t let her go.

“How did you know?” he whispered gruffly against her lips.

Jordana cleared her throat and tried to regain any of her faculties, but they were too wrapped up in the taste of waxy lip balm and the spice of clove and vetiver swirling around her head. “I, um, your smell—it’s that damned Boy Toy cologne you always wear.”

“Toy Boy,” Hyunwoo corrected.

“Oh, um,” Jordana stumbled as utter horror washed over her at her Freudian slip, “yeah. Whatever, that—yeah.”

“That’s the only way you could tell?”

Why did he sound disappointed?

“No, no! Not just that, of course not. You, um—” God, she sounded like a total moron in front of her boss, no less. This was mortifying. “You kiss with a lot of power.”

“I do?” There was that hint of a smile in his voice now, coloring his masculine tone with reassuring warmth.

Jordana nodded. “Yeah.”

“Hm.”

With that, Hyunwoo stepped back. Only a few more boys were left in the wings, and she was already lamenting the end of their game.

She recognized her next coworker just from the way his fingers walked up her shoulder to her neck, but she didn’t feel like spoiling his fun—or hers—so soon. His first two kisses were quick, like a middle-school boy stealing them from a girl he has a crush on, but when he centered himself before her and locked one hand in her curly hair and one in the small of her back, things changed dramatically.

He was surprisingly tender, his forehead bumping against Jordana’s, as his lips meshed with hers. He had a playful rhythm of long sweeps and hints of tongue before he switched again to something hungrier and much more intense. The hand in her hair tightened, raising little hills with the electricity it generated. At the same time, the hand at her back moved to her wrist and twisted it behind her enough to make her gasp, and the moment she did, his tongue flooded her mouth in earnest.

The higher he hitched her arm, the higher Jordana’s breath hitched until a moan came out instead. He stopped for a second, his lips poised at hers until her body felt like it was on fire with embarrassment. But he didn’t leave. He just held her like that, wrist high, head tipped back, mouth open and puffing frantic breaths into him until he returned with one final thrust of his tongue against hers. Two more little pecks sealed his turn, and he released her.

Jordana crumpled into herself and shook her head. “You’re a real son-of-a-bitch, Min.”

“Am I?”

“Yeah, but you knew that.”

He laughed. “I also knew you recognized me right away. Thanks for letting me have my fun anyway.”

“Brat,” she spat. “That’s how I knew it was you, you little tease.”

“You have no idea,” he said darkly.

“You realize I’m going to make everyone here pay for this torture later.”

“We’re counting on it,” challenged Jooheon to a score of chuckles.

“So…” she started, clearing her throat. “Does this mean I won the game?”

“You didn’t guess Hoseok,” Hyungwon reminded.

“Process of elimination means I didn’t have to.”

Hoseok huffed. “That doesn’t seem very fair, does it?”

Jordana unleashed a long laugh. When the muscular juggernaut was jealous, he had the saltiest pout of any of her coworkers. “Fine, bring it in, mystery man.”

She opened her arms and spread her knees a little wider in anticipation of the last man with the thick thighs. Only a second later, lips crashed into hers, and right away, she shoved the player back.

“Get out of here, Min!” she scolded to his gleeful cackle at stealing one more kiss. “Selfish ass!”

“Very,” Minhyuk laughed as he stumbled back toward what sounded like a couple of high-fives from her traitorous coworkers. “Too clever for her good, isn’t she?”

“Don’t give her a bigger head,” Changkyun admonished.

“Bad enough as it is,” agreed Hyungwon.

Jordana scowled. “Would everyone shut up and let Hoseok have his turn? You’re very annoying, and I’m getting tired of this blindfold.”

“Sounds like she’s the one with the control issues, eh, Ki?” Minhyuk whispered, and her scowl deepened.

“Heightened senses, remember? Shut up, Minnie, or you’ll find your office rearranged come tomorrow.”

Jordana beckoned Hoseok forward again, and a second later, there was no doubt she had the right man nestled between her thighs. His muscles were rock hard beneath his sweatpants, and his chest was a slab of granite as it crashed against her.

“I was hoping you didn’t forget about me,” he mumbled against her ear lobe, and she shivered, grating her hard nipples against his pecs.

“Never,” she promised with a snarky grin, but that vanished instantly.

The next thing she knew, three quick kisses christened her lips. She beamed against him and decided she’d had enough rules for one night. She flung her arms around his sturdy neck and brought her lips up to meet his. Even with the blindfold, it was easy to tell he was smiling through the kiss until her tongue ventured forward for a real taste, and gone was the sweet, giddy office prankster.

Hoseok pushed back forcefully, nearly sending them onto the table before he caught them just in time. His arms were so strong around her, squeezing her tighter than he no doubt realized, and Jordana had never felt smaller. His excitement overwhelmed as his mouth moved hungrily and his chest squashed hers.

Hoseok was fond of teasing her with his tongue, running it over her bottom lip or massaging all the soft parts of her he could explore, but he wasn’t sloppy. He was sampling her, and as the tip of that determined pink muscle grazed the sensitive roof of her mouth, Jordana couldn’t help but shudder at the thought of it working other forbidden corners of her body.

At last, Hoseok helped her up and straightened out her shirt and skirt before backing off with a chaste pat on her knee like nothing untoward had happened.

“Aw, look, guys!” shouted Jooheon. “Have you ever seen anything cuter than YoYo blushing?”

She pressed her hands against her cheeks, hoping to cool the lush carnelian there, but they were still burning with the feeling of Hoseok’s skin. Instead, she reached for the tie on the blindfold until a couple of the guys shouted, and her brow furrowed. “What the fuck?”

“Ah, hold on, hold on, hold on!” Jooheon said.

Hyungwon echoed his friend’s outburst. “It’s still your birthday.”

Jordana cocked a brow over the tie. “Yeah, so?”

“So,” Changkyun retorted, “we’ve got to keep the party rolling.”

“Can I at least use the bathroom first?”

“You promise to come back?” said Hoseok.

“Uh, yeah, it’s not like I planned on storming out or anything.”

“Because the kisses were good?” Jooheon pressed.

Jordana wrinkled her nose. This was not a discussion she’d ever expected to have with her coworkers. Sheepishly, she admitted, “Yeah, they were good. So can I go to the bathroom now?”

A few of the guys laughed, and Jordana took off the tie from her eyes. She had expected smirks and shit-eating grins, but she didn’t expect seven pairs of very dark eyes and seven sets of swollen lips, not to mention more than a few unexpectedly tight-looking pants.

Jordana cleared her throat and made a beeline for the bathroom, where she liberally splashed her face and neck and cleaned up the very uncomfortable mess between her legs. There wasn’t much she could do about dampness in her underwear, and she cringed when she pulled them back on. Hopefully, the guys didn’t turn this into a dance party because even the slightest friction was sending electric shocks through her core.

Back in the conference room, the guys were waiting quietly for her return. As Jordana took her seat back on the table, Hyungwon offered her a water, which she gratefully downed. She’d thought things were moving back to normal until she saw how intently each man studied her, and she almost choked.

“What?” she demanded, more than a little annoyed.

Hyunwoo held out his tie again, and Jordana scowled.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?” he asked.

“No?”

“You said you wanted to keep the party moving,” reminded Hoseok who grabbed the tie from his friend and brought it back to Jordana’s eyes.

She sighed but let him plunge her back into darkness. “Okay, but why do I still need the blindfold?”

“You’re so good at guessing, let’s experiment some more,” suggested Minhyuk as he always did—the man had the most problematic brain of the group. They could always count on the little devil to up every ante. “There are so many more things you could guess.”

A prickle was slowly making its way down Jordana’s spine to where there was already a fresh set of butterflies deep in her belly.

“Like your colognes?” Jordana asked. “I think I’ve already nailed those. Besides, none of your kisses stumped me, like, even a little, guys. Oh god, wait! Please don’t make me do a taste test of food you’ve cooked. Hyungwon’s might kill me.”

“Hey!” the string bean balked.

Kihyun’s voice hushed any more chuckles at once. “No, beautiful, we’re not trying to kill you. We’re just trying to get everyone a little win here.”

The room was silent except for the unmistakable heavy breaths of everyone in it.

Her throat was bone dry. The nickname was jarring, but the unexpected innuendo had her nearly falling off the edge of the table. Jordana struggled to get her next words out. “What does that mean?”

“You know how competitive all your coworkers are, don’t you?” the vice president continued, his voice as heavy as a teacher’s, and she sat up a little straighter.

“Sure, yeah. I mean, we’re gamers.”

“We are. We don’t like to lose.”

Kihyun’s words were tangled in the birthday pennants fluttering in the air conditioning overhead.

Jordana had to be reading this vibe all wrong. Yeah, they’d all just traded a little spit, but it wasn’t anything she hadn’t done in middle school. Okay, so maybe it was a little more advanced than Spin the Bottle in Fernanda’s basement, but the guys said it was a game, so why should she take it so seriously? Usually, when the boys started getting ultra-competitive in their Overwatch campaigns, humor helped, so she shifted gears.

“Then you better switch games because my record is seven and O.”

She heard a round of chuckles before she heard Kihyun’s silken voice: “I couldn’t agree more.”

“Uh, what—what were you thinking?” asked Jordana with a hard swallow.

“You guessed all our kisses too easily,” Minhyuk interjected. His voice was surprisingly throaty, not at all like the spritely tease he was around the office. Coupled with the husk in Kihyun’s, it was doing all kinds of unfair things to her overwrought mind. “You should guess something else now.”

The breathing was louder now, but Jordana’s heart drowned it all out as blood rushed between her ears and her legs. All she had to do was say no and call an Uber. She could sleep off the booze greasing her lips and the lust greasing her sex, and tomorrow, she could come back to work in sunglasses, a turtleneck, and mom jeans, and they could all forget the fact that her knees were still wide open and her skirt was too high and her nipples were jutting without regard for her demi bra and blouse.

“Okay...”

Did she really just say that! Did she really just further her descent into insanity? Was she this desperate for attention that she would jeopardize her job for this?

Almost as though he could read her mind, Hyunwoo was at her side, his heavy paw on her shoulder. “Jordana, you don’t have to play if you don’t want to. It’s your birthday, and nothing changes here if you don’t want it to.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” she grumbled. “You run the place. You’re all friends, and you’ve been friends forever. Me, you can just get rid of.”

Hyunwoo cleared his throat in that soft, subtle way he always did when he was puzzling over financials or sales statistics but was determined to conquer them. Something about the sound had always thrilled her; it was no different now.

“Take it,” he said quietly to someone, and the next thing Jordana knew, her boss’s lips were smothering hers again, this time with one finger coiling under her chin as his hand grabbed the blindfold knot and finished jerking her head back. All too quickly, the fiery brand of his lips left her mouth singed and aching.

One corner of her blindfold peeled up, and Jordana found the lights dimmed as they often were for gaming sessions. Emerging from darkness into the twilight made it easy to spot the seven slack-jawed but handsome faces all trained on her, but in the end, her attention fell to the glowing beacon in Minhyuk’s hand. He held up her cell phone with the picture he’d just taken.

It looked exactly as it had felt—fierce and overwhelming—with her body limp under her boss as five other faces watched their kiss with narrowed eyes and pressed lips. For all intents and purposes, in the photo, they had total control of their subordinate.

A second later, Minhyuk closed the app, and her lock screen returned.

“No way to delete the incriminating evidence now,” Hyunwoo said with a half-smirk. “Feel free to bring down the whole company if you ever feel like we’re mistreating you.”

“You’re a part of us, Jordana,” Kihyun reassured. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“So, do you still want to play?”

Jordana looked from her two bosses to her five other coworkers behind them. The darkness in their eyes had tempered with sincerity, and there wasn’t a shred of doubt. She trusted them completely. How could she not? She knew everything about them—even their hearts—she’d just proven that. There was no reason to question that now.

Slowly, she nodded. “I do.”

“Okay,” Hyunwoo said with one last wisp of a smile before he pulled his tie back down over her eyes, and already she missed the sight of them. “Not here though.”

“Take care of it, Hoseok,” Kihyun ordered.

Before Jordana’s breath could even catch, she was scooped up, her little yelp puncturing the tension. Strong arms cradled her shoulders and knees like a basket as her arms shot to her muscular taxi’s neck. Just as she knew the men like the back of her hand, so, too, did she know the office. Past four doors on the left and four on the right, they’d come to The Crash Pad, as the boys called it, a rec room made specifically for those late-night coding sessions or intense gaming campaigns. It sported a couple of televisions, of course, and all the usual consoles, but this was ultimately where the guys could zonk out when it was too late to head home. The highlights were the matching twin beds and a pull-out couch.

It was like a library here with just Hoseok and Jordana and their very loud, in-sync breathing. His arms tightened around her as hers responded reflexively around him.

“Want to get a head start on the game?” he asked, and she could hear the smile in his voice.

“I don’t even know what it is yet, Hoseok.”

“I’ll be more than happy to show you the rules.” His thumb stroked the side of her calf, and Jordana wriggled in his grip.

Just then, something dawned on her that made her hands sag from his neck to his chest. “How… How do you all know the rules already when the game hasn’t even been announced?”

“I— You know, maybe it’s best if we wait for the others after all,” Hoseok replied, his lisp more pronounced than usual. He deposited Jordana on the couch and sat beside her.

She didn’t have the benefit of time without sight of a clock, but it felt like it had stretched like putty in the short jaunt down the hall. “Where are the others?”

“Cleaning up, I guess,” he answered. “Don’t worry, none of them can wait much longer either.”

Jordana’s mind was spinning so hard, she was thankful she was already sitting. It felt like there were so many things under the surface, like a whole new world but still shifting and distorted and out of reach.

“HoHo?” she asked, her voice small.

“Yes, YoYo?” he returned, and she swore she could see his grin shining even through the blindfold.

“Is this a good idea?”

He considered for only moment before he pecked her cheek and whispered, “No, it’s the best idea.”

“Hey!” shouted Jooheon from the doorway. “No fair! No head-starts. I’ll tell Kihyun.”

“Tattletale,” Hoseok retorted.

The office’s most competitive employee wheedled in between the pair to loop his arm around Jordana’s shoulder. She nudged Jooheon’s chest and chided, “There’s nothing to tell, Honey, I promise.”

“Knew you should have had a chaperone,” he grumbled anyway as he snuggled her against him.

Jordana sniffed the air and found a fresh scent of mint she didn’t recognize from earlier. She laughed. “Jooheon, did you brush your teeth?”

“What’s the big deal?” he returned, but she’d been flustered enough herself this evening to recognize the same in one of her coworkers.

“Oh nothing, just an observation.”

“Hey, that’s a good idea,” Hoseok said, and she felt him lift from the couch. “Tell them I’ll be just a sec.”

The big guy disappeared, but a moment later, she heard lots of noisy feet replace him. The room felt different now, down to the heaviness of the scent—like warm blankets of musk wrapping around her and dulling her other senses so all she could focus on was a smell as rough and primal as fucking on a cave floor.

“So, um, why are we here?” Jordana asked.

“You’ll be more comfortable here,” Hyunwoo answered.

Posts scraped across the carpet as furniture was moved, and Jordana tried to piece out what they could be moving and why. What exactly did they expect of her?

“Back!” trumpeted Hoseok, and she could smell his fresh breath from her seat. “Oh, that’s smart. Should make things a lot easier.”

“What things? What’s smart?” she begged.

Minhyuk thumbed her puffed bottom lip and chuckled. “Lord, you’re cute when you’re frustrated. So promising.”

“You guys, I’m dying here! Can we please get this game show on the road? Did it ever occur to you I might have plans tonight?”

“Do you?” asked Hyungwon.

“No, but that’s not the point.”

Someone let out a relieved breath.

“That’s not nice, YoYo,” Jooheon scolded, his hand tightening on her shoulder. “You got us all worked up thinking you had a date.”

“That’s not what I was trying to do,” she protested, but it was half-hearted. She was already getting spoiled, and the moment she had felt their attentions fade, her chest had started to pang. She should have been more guarded. It was too easy falling into their charms just as she had their mouths, but this was a game, and she had to start treating it like one.

“Jordana’s right,” Kihyun announced. “We’re burning through the evening. It’s time to put our birthday girl to the real test. Let’s go over the game, shall we?”

Minhyuk let out a small laugh. “I’ve got a better idea.”

“Don’t you always?” groaned Hyungwon.

“Why doesn’t YoYo tell us what she thinks the game is?”

Jordana froze under Jooheon’s arm. It was one thing to be told what they wanted to do with her, but it was another to voice it herself. Her brain was already overreacting in tandem with her libido. If she guessed based off the ache in her sex and she was wrong, she’d be equal parts humiliated and disappointed. It would be easier to hide those things if she’d never been the one to put them on the table.

“I don’t want to, Min,” she protested.

“She doesn’t—”

“Shh, Wonnie,” the charismatic instigator continued. “She knows what it is. She just doesn’t want to say it.”

Jordana bit her bottom lip. Someone grunted. In her sweetest voice, she asked, “Could I at least have a hint?”

“Now who’s not playing fair,” Minhyuk complained. “Who could say no to that face? Go on, Honey, give her a hint.”

Jooheon’s hand moved from her shoulder, the back of his knuckles gliding down her arm to her fingers knotted in her lap. He unspooled one of her hands and placed it on his thigh. Slowly, he slid their hands higher like a planchette on a Ouija board creeping closer and closer toward “yes”. As their hands scudded over the holes in his jeans, Jordana fought the urge to burrow into them and rove about the tender skin there. It was bad enough the way he sucked in gulps of air at every hint of contact. At last, he stopped at the juncture of his legs, leaving her fingertips frozen at the elusive secret she’d already developed a craving for during their kiss.

“What’s your guess, love?” asked Hoseok. His voice was higher, breathier too.

Jordana’s voice matched his identically, but with far more stuttering. “Y-you want me t-to guess the guy based off a part of the body?”

“That’s true,” Minhyuk agreed, “to an extent. But it’s the same part on every guy.”

Her heart was racing. Her mouth was full of cotton.

“His thigh?” she squeaked.

“Honey, she’s being intentionally difficult. If that’s the way she wants to play, then let her go,” Minhyuk said. Jooheon started to balk, but his friend continued, “We all have to be equally committed to the game.”

Reluctantly, Jordana’s seatmate removed his hand from hers, and before she could think, she shouted, “No!”

Kihyun sniffed a laugh, and she heard a clap on a back. “I can’t believe I’m saying this, but good work, Minhyuk.”

“What’s your real answer then, YoYo?” pushed the gamemaster.

“Say it or we’ll end this,” Kihyun underscored.

“Your cocks!” Jordana declared and immediately raced to cover her shame. “Minha nossa Senhora! I’m sorry!”

Jooheon pried her hands from her face and held them in his. His voice was gentle, but she could hear the amusement in it. “Why are you sorry? You got it right.”

She couldn’t see, but she jerked her head around the room all the same as though she were looking for confirmation from each and every man. “What?”

“You got it right,” Hyunwoo repeated.

“You guessed who was kissing you,” said Hyungwon.

“Now, let’s see if you can guess who’s fucking you,” finished Changkyun.

#monsta x smut #shownu smut #wonho smut #minhyuk smut #kihyun smut #hyungwon smut #jooheon smut #changkyun smut #oneshot #office smut #coworkers to lovers #sleeping with the whole damn office #flimsy premise #worshipping a woman because she deserves it

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