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marytvirgin · 1 year

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I like my whiskey the way I like my men

- John Price x f!Reader (Death)

Reader have tatoos... Lots of them.

I'm thinking of using this as a plot for a fic. Tell me what you think.

Be added to the Tag List!

PART TWO!

You didn't expect your night to be like this. But oh boy, this is better than you expected.

Tight black dress with thin straps with an opening on the right thigh that almost shows the strap of your black panties. Loose hair around the face, silver earrings on the ears and dog tags hanging between the neckline of the breasts. High-hein boots stiletto. Bare arms revealing the skin covered in black and white tattoos, some specific spots colored in red – patterns of roses, knives and guns cover the entire length of both arms. On your back, the large "La Muerte" tattoo appeared through the neckline of the dress.

And this type of clothing, which shows so much of what makes you you are not ideal to be close to a superior. But how were you supposed to know he'd be there just that night?

Captain Price.

A living legend.

You didn't notice him at the bar, too distracted by your companions of the night. All old army friends, gathered at a table in the centre of the bar. At this point, some men had already approached your desk trying their luck with any of you. You laughed while listening to them. Beautiful boys, but too young for your preference.

You like those who wouldn't piss you off for minimal and childish things, those who knew how to deal with women, really deal with instead of just trying to wet their dicks. The guy who'd go down on a woman and make her legs tremble; fuck your brain. Yes, that's your type.

And usually that means older men.

"Girl!" Your friend, Dani, poked you with a suspicious smile. "There's a man here who's very much your type!"

"Where?" You asked, smiling too.

Dani was that one type of friend who almost a hundred percent of the time showed you the guys you'd spend one or even a few more nights with. She knew you well enough and seemed to have a radar for good fucks. A sixth sense that benefited you – a lot.

"On your six. He's with some beautiful friends too. You must take a look!"

"Just like that?"

"Just like that. Uh-oh. I'm sure you'll climb him like a fucking spider monkey. "

Shaking your head, you laughed. But the laugh died in your glass when you turned to look.

Jesus fucking Christ.

Sitting two tables behind yours was a group of four men. With his back to you was what appeared to be a mountain of muscles, the hood of the sweatshirt pulled over your head. Next to him was another strong man, fair skin and a mohawk on top of his head – this one was smiling. The other man was the smallest on the table, but still strong. This one has black skin, low cut hair and an extremely fun smile dancing on his lips – as if enjoying an inside joke with the mohawk guy. All extremely familiar to your taste.

But it was the last man you noticed that made you choke on your drink and turn to your friend, your eyes wide while coughing.

He's big, the second largest on the table. Well-combed brown hair, soft beard spread across his face, bright blue eyes, medium lips. The leather jacket makes him look even bigger. Lord, you still remember the serious and soft voice he has.

Dani is right, you could really climb Price – if he let you.

"Fuck!"

"Girl, what-"

"That's Captain Price!" Your voice came out half-shouted, half-whispered. "He leads the task force 141!" Dani eyes go wide as she recognized the name. "That's 141!"

You've been on the field with Captain Price before, the man is a force of nature when leading. You had saved Price two years ago in your first deployment with him, and then worked as the man two more times. Not only that, but you know the big man too, even if you can only see his back. He is Lieutenant Ghost; you had been deployed to him in Al Mazrah three months earlier. Extremely confidential mission, hand-picked team. And he had picked you.

Those are two of the men who had your respect to the maximum level.

"The captain?

"Himself!"

"Oh… "

Wait… oh Lord.

"Were you talking about him?!”

"I think so. Can you judge me? He's your type." She smiled as her eyes were wide-eyed. "Why don't you go there? Say hi, ask him how he's doing..."

"Are you going crazy?!".

"Whoa, I don't see the problem. With all this desperation, it seems like you have a crush on the man… "

You do, but she doesn't need to know that - she already knows, probably. This bitch.

"Dani, he was my captain in three deployments! Not to mention the lieutenant! The man can kill me if I bother him, really! " Ghost is not at all bad, just silent, focused, not so funny. Fucking dangerous.

Dani frowned and stared at you for a moment. You took it as a victory for her to drop the subject.

"In addition, our field of operation is the same. Both of us are SAS. That would go against the rules of our book.”

It's a shame.

A smile opened on Dani's lips, not the kind you like. "I dare you to go there and buy a drink for the captain. In front of him, so he knows it's you."

May God kill you now.

There it was. The word "dare" moved you. You have a problem not knowing how to lose or not proving that you were capable of something. She knows that. Your weakness. You've almost been arrested because of this before, got yourself into so much trouble in your recruiting time because of dares. But...

You think that if you defied death so many times that you've come to the point of being compared to it, you've even won the callsign Death...

You can do that.

"You are a cunt! Challenge accepted. "

Dani's laugh was too high for your taste, attracted looks you didn't want. Drinking your other friend's tequila shot, you got up and started walking to the table of 141. One by one, the men at the table have put their attention on you – it's not their fault, your clothes and tattoos make it very difficult to ignore you.

Fuck, you can't do that!

"Sergeant Death, some time without seeing you." Price greeted you as soon as you got to the table.

"Captain." You nodded lightly. "I've been busy. You know, Laswell loves me." Price opened a smile and pulled the chair free from the table for you to sit on. "Lieutenant Ghost." You waved to the man a little more serious. "Boys." The other two at the table waved, looking shocked.

"To what do I owe the honor?" Price asked, arching one of the eyebrows. Eyes gleaming in the dim lights of the bar.

God.

Help.

"A dare." You said before you could hold it. Better be honest.

"What was the dare?" Price asked, leaning his elbows on the table, leaning slightly towards you.

Oh. That move, you've had guys do it before. Same look, same inclination. God help you not to be misunderstanding the situation.

His left eyebrow rose slightly. The man's movement made a wave of confidence spread through you, a predatory smile opening on your red-painted lips revealing pearly white teeth. Your eyes moved across the table briefly taking in the reactions – all but the lieutenant had a slight glow of surprise in his eyes.

"Buy you a drink and make it clear that I did it."

"Damn it. She really went to this." The mohawk guy whistled softly at the darkened skin guy next to him.

You sat slightly leaning to the captain's side, passing one of the tattooed arms over the back of your own chair. The neckline on the breasts more prominent. Through the corner of your eyes, you saw Dani and the other women at the table spinning their jackets over their heads – Dani let a wolf whistle escape.

"So, what are you drinking, Captain?" Price chuckled as he looked you deep into your eyes.

"Whiskey."

"Hmn... "

With a shake from your hand, you called the waitress to the table and asked for another two doses. The waitress, knowing you well, smiled blinking one eye when you whispered to her what whiskey you wanted. As soon as she put the glass on the table, John picked it up and tried the drink. The man's eyebrows rose in surprise for taste.

"Surprised, sir?" You laughed lightly, really enjoying having impressed the man.

"I didn't expect you to know good whiskeys, I admit."

"You want to know my secret?" You asked, leaning slightly forward as the cup hid your growing smile. Price waved confirming. "I like my whiskey the way I like my men... I like them older."

The rest of the dose went down your throat, burning your stomach along with the tequila. You rose from the chair still smiling like a wolf that cornered his prey and supported a hand on the shoulder of the man looking into his eyes.

"They always taste better."

Price's eyes darkened slightly, his expression shifting to something slightly wild. Fuck, your body's heated up – and maybe it's not the drink responsible.

"See you around, sir."

You left the table, listening to the whistles of the two men you didn't know while they were messing with the captain. Looking over your shoulder, you noticed that John had not turned his gaze away.

Maybe he is the wolf now...

And you're the prey about to be cornered.

Fuck, you can come, Captain. I’m waiting for you.

#john price x reader #captain price x reader #john price x you #captain price imagine #simon ghost riley x reader #kyle garrick x reader #john mactavish x reader #simon riley x reader #cod x reader #ghost x reader

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gummydummy19 · 7 months

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Kinktober day 6: Bondage (Captain Syverson x F reader)

Request: by @jamneuromain

Balance

Summary: Sy loses a bet and you give him a taste of his own medicine

Content Warnings: smut, fluffy ending

A/N: This was very very very fun to write :))

Word count: 1400+

"Please, sugar...FUCK, please please, c'mon!"

He didn't even know what he was begging for.

More? Less? Stop? Don't stop, ever?

"Tut tut! Be a good boy for me, Daddy..." you cooed, pressing more kisses on his chest while lazily jerking his leaking cock with the vibrating stroker toy you got him.

The cockring that sat snug around his balls prevented him from cumming. Tears had been welling in his eyes for at least half an hour, but stubborn as he was, he refused to let them fall.

Logan Syverson was a good lover. He was kind, he was respectful and he had a habit of making you cum so many times you lost count.

Sy was a lot of things, but gentle wasn't one of them.

You knew he loved you, he made sure of that. He told you so every single day. And that was necessary because every single night he fucked you like he didn't.

He would tease you until you cried. He made you beg him to touch you before making you beg him to stop. He was relentless, he was mean.

You didn't mind it, you wouldn't be with him if you did, but sometimes it seemed a little unfair. He got to push your boundaries all the time, but you never got to push his. You wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine. To show him you craved other things sometimes. You were such a good girl, surely he could learn how to be a bit softer...from time to time.

One afternoon, you saw a video on TikTok. It was a girl challenging her boyfriend to do an exercise she was doing, where she leaned down with her hands behind her back. It seemed fairly easy, but no matter what the guy tried, he kept falling over. Apparently, a man's balance point is lower than a woman's, which means there are certain movements they can't do without losing balance.

You decided to challenge Sy to a bet. Whoever fell over first, lost, and the person who kept their balance got to do whatever they wanted in the bedroom.

Sy never lost bets. Which is why he had agreed to make this one. Because he was so incredibly sure he would win.

"So all I have to do is keep my balance?" he raised his brow before chuckling, "easy."

He stood beside you and watched your movements, confidentially copying what you were doing, but to his surprise, when he went to lean over with his hands behind his back he landed straight on his face.

You giggled at his frustrated growl.

"Wh-god damn it that didn't count! Let me try again!" he sputtered, straightening himself

"Nuh-uh! You know the deal." You grinned, shuffling closer to him before wrapping your arms around his broad shoulders, "You're mine Captain Syverson. Mine to do with as I please."

It had been hours.

Sy was a mess. His arms were tied above his head, his face was red and sweaty and his cock was leaking like never before.

You had brought him to the edge countless of times, every single time you promised you'd let him cum, and every single time he fell for it, hope swirling in the pit of his stomach before he got disappointed all over again.

He had a safeword, yet he refused to use it. Insisting he was strong. He was a trained army captain, he could take some teasing. Especially since this was absolutely nothing in comparison with what he did to you...like at all.

Damn...he really was mean.

"Does daddy wanna cum?" , your tone was teasing...taunting even as you looked up at him with the most innocent doe eyes you could manage.

"Fuck yes...please princess...be a good girl and make daddy cum...please!" He whined, bucking his hips upward when he felt your lips lick the drops off his tip.

"M'always a good girl for daddy, but it doesn't matter does it? Daddy punishes me anyway." You stated

"Shit...I'm sorry, Sugar...daddy is so fucking sorry...please?"

Suddenly, you stopped touching him altogether, sliding the toy off his cock and placing it somewhere he couldn't see.

He whipped his head up, staring at you with desperate eyes.

"What are you sorry for, daddy?" You stared at him expectantly

"I...I'm..." he stuttered

Fuck he wasn't good at this.

"I'm sorry for always being mean, baby...I....I love you, I promise I do, I just..."

"I love you too, Sy." You assured, interrupting him to make sure he didn't spiral.

You knew he wasn't used to being in the submissive spot, and as much as you wanted to bring your point across, you didn't wanna overwhelm him either.

"I love it when you're mean, daddy..." you assured him, pressing a soft his on his tummy, "just need some reassurance sometimes....need my sweet n soft daddy every once in a while..."

Your tongue swiped up the fallen drops of pre-cum on his stomach, moaning at the taste.

"Can you do that for me? Pretty please?"

"I'll do anything for you, Princess," he assured you, looking straight into your eyes so you knew he meant it.

"Hmmm...good daddy" you grinned, before taking his throbbing, hard cock into you mouth.

Sy's head fell back again and he yanked at his cuffs, hands itching you guide your movements.

Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore, he heard the familiar buzz of the vibrating stroker, only this time he didn't feel it anywhere.

He peeled his eyes open to what you were doing, and the sight he was met with nearly did him in. His toy was nestled between your legs, pressed perfectly against your clit, making you moan and hum with your mouth still stuffed full of his cock.

'Ah, please! Please let me cum, please! I'm sorry, I'll be good. I'll be so fucking good to you, please. You're such a good girl, such a fucking good girl, please lemme cum baby!" he pleaded.

Having a hard time hearing him beg the way he did, you decided he'd finally had enough. Besides, you were really fucking close to cumming yourself and your submissive nature still wanted to please your daddy,

You quickly removed the cockring from his base, giving him your permission before taking him back in your mouth.

You humped down on the toy a little harder and the second you felt the first surge of Sy's cum hit the back of your throat you tumbled over the edge yourself, moaning around his cock as you swallowed everything he gave you. You road out the faves of your orgasm, relishing in the deep grunts and groans rumbling from Sy's chest.

You made sure to swallow every last drop of Sy's spent before releasing him from your mouth. For a split second, you thought about overstimulating him a little, but when you saw how fucked out and utterly exhausted he looked, you wanted nothing more than to just cuddle up against him.

And that's exactly what you did.

You clumsily crawled up his body, quickly pressing soft kisses up his chest before unlocking the cuffs and tossing them somewhere on the floor.

He was so tired he didn't even move his arms, so you pressed some more kisses on his wrists as you gently put down his arms, snuggling yourself under one of them, nuzzling against his side.

You kept giving him little kisses wherever you could reach, loving the lazy grin that kept growing and growing on his big dumb face.

After a couple minutes, you felt his plush lips against your still-warm cheek. The scruff of his beard made you giggle, and the sound made his heart swell.

Wordlessly, you sat up and grabbed the big bottle of water from your nightstand, handing it over to him.

"You first," he stated, gently pushing it back to you.

Ever the dom, you thought to yourself as you took a couple big gulps before passing it back to him.

The two of you stayed in bed for quite a while after that. Checking in with each other, making sure everything was alright, which it was, more than alright actually.

"I must say, Sugar, I learned a lot today," he sighed, pulling you closer against him.

"Oh, really?" you grinned, pressing a kiss against his beefy shoulder, "Like what?"

He looked at you with a newfound calmness in his eyes before saying,

"How to keep my balance"

Taglist;

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#gummydummy19 #fanfiction #fluff #smut #captain syverson #henry cavill #kinktober #kinktober 2023 #captain Sy smut #captain syverson smut #captain syverson x reader #captain syverson fanfiction #henry cavill characters #syverson #henry cavill fanfic #henry cavill fanfiction

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glow-worms-are-believers · 8 months

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Hitting it off (dp x dc)

I've just started watching the 1975 tv show Wonder Woman, so have a thing:) Diana has just started being Wonder Woman in this.

"I hate this stupid decade and I hate time-travel," Tucker muttered as they snuck around the military warehouse.

"I'll be sure to pass on your dissatisfaction to Vlad," Sam murmured back dryly. "Just, you know, once we stop him from destroying the future as we know it."

"What is his plan, again?" Tucker said as he ducked out of sight of the guards.

"Something about him wanting to found the company that will invent the candies that Danny's mom likes so she'll fall in love with him or some insane shit like that." Sam chanced a look around the corner.

"How is he getting crazier every time, seriously?" Tucker groaned.

"Get ready," Sam said, tapping her friend on the shoulder. "They're about to switch off."

"Why are we doing the sneaking around, when we know a guy who can literally turn invisible?" Tucker muttered.

"Did you want to deal Vlad?"

Tucker's answering grimace was answer enough. They fell silent just in time for two soldiers to come in and talk to the two that were previously there. As they got to talking, Sam and Tucker made a dash for the back of the warehouses, staying low to the ground in an effort not to be seen.

They reached the warehouse successfully without being seen though Tucker was wheezing and leaning heavily on the metal structure they were hiding behind.

"Just... need... a second," Tucker panted out as Sam looked around to make sure they hadn't been spotted.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" A voice came from beside them. Sam had to press a hand on Tucker's mouth to muffle his shriek as she turned towards the sound. She was faced with a woman wearing a red, white and blue costume with bracelets on her wrists and a lasso(?) attached to her hip.

"Who are you?" Sam shot back in an attempt to stall.

"My name is Wonder Woman," the woman said. "I am a superhero."

Tucker frowned, now fully recovered from the mini heart attack he'd experienced. "If you're a superhero, why are you sneaking around instead of asking for access, then?"

"I do not like doing paperwork," Wonder Woman answered solemnly.

Sam looked at her blankly, trying to figure out if the woman was joking or not.

"Fair enough," Tucker answered at her side with a nod.

"Now," Wonder Woman started. "Tell me who you are and what is your aim here."

"Well I'm Tucker," the teen started with a hand on his chest before he moved it to indicate his friend. "And this is Sam. We're..."

"We've received a tip that there would be an assassination attempt on Private Essex," Sam took over smoothly. "We were sent to prevent it from happening without causing a commotion."

"I see," Wonder Woman stated earnestly. "That is a worthy goal. I shall do my best to assist you, once I take down the spies."

"Spies?" Tucker asked with an excited gleam in his eyes.

"Yes," the woman said. "Our intelligence says that spies have infiltrated the army. Luckily, we managed to discover that they will be meeting in this warehouse right now to exchange secret documents."

"Why not combine our efforts and help each other with our mission," Tucker offered.

"Very well," Wonder Woman agreed.

Sam nodded before getting the hard-won blueprints of the warehouse out of her bag and flattening it on the ground.

"I have a plan," Sam started, "First, Tucker and I will sneak through the-"

Wonder Woman hadn't even let her finish before she kicked the door off its handles and sent it crashing to the floor with a yell of "Stop right there!"

"Or, we could do that," Sam deadpanned as every head inside the warehouse swivelled towards them. She allowed herself a sigh. "Let's go." Sam grabbed Tucker and hauled them both after Wonder Woman who was carving a path through the soldiers and leaving carnage in her wake. Tucker turned to her and managed to yell in her ear while continuing walking.

"I take it back, Sam! This is great!"

#I'm liking the 1975 TV show quite a bit #There's this one scene where the police is telling Diana she has to fill in paperwork for the robbers she brought in #and she just goes “lol nope” and dips #The lesson here kids is that the real enemy was paperwork all along #I feel like the dynamic here is the meme with one person holding two other person on a leash #In this case it's Sam having to deal with Diana and Tucker #Sam manson #Tucker Foley #diana prince #wonder woman #dc x dp #dp x dc #roxpox #roxpoxwrote

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nevsdoll · 1 year

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wounds | neville longbottom

neville longbottom x gen!reader

summary! after some time y/n gets alone time with their boyfriend and attends his wounds | time line: year 7 at hogwarts before the battle

warnings; cursing, bruises and mentions of violence

a/n: i wrote a smut part 2 of this but i don't know if i should post it because to me it's so bad LOLLL but if you guys want it i'll post it😈

gif by @/dation i just cropped it (⁠.⁠ ⁠❛⁠ ⁠ᴗ⁠ ⁠❛⁠.⁠)

── ⋅ ⋅ ── ✩ ── ⋅ ⋅ ──

you knew neville had been having a hard time dealing with everything that was going on at the time. with harry, hermione and ron gone, he had to take lead place with the dumbledore's army and protect the students now that snape was headmaster.

that day was particularly bad because he had to take another dose of a torturing spell, which not only hurt him physically but also made him think of his parents.

neville clenched at your touch and whined in pain. "i'm sorry, nev, but i really need to cure your wounds or they'll get worse" you smiled trying to comfort him.

"it's fine, i'll just go see mrs. pomfrey." he said still clenching his teeth together.

"i can do it" you answered while slowly covering his arm with a bandage. "also i want to spend time with you, these days it seems i only see you at d.a meetings"

your boyfriend smiled at your words and gave you a small kiss on the lips. "they really fucked me up this time, didn't they?" he said while looking at the bruises on his face reflected on the mirror.

"i think you look hot, though" to be honest, you didn't think before speaking, but even if you did, you would have said that either way. neville looked at you with confused eyes. "you look tough, like a bad guy"

he laughed "me?".

"yes, you." you laughed too. "neville longbottom, the bad boy... how does it sound?"

"terrible!" he said. "i kind of prefer 'neville longbottom, the witless wonder'" he said looking at his now bandaged arm.

"i don't" you responded. "get closer, i need to attend the bruises on your face now" neville did as you said while you carefully touched his face trying to see all the wounds. "do they hurt a lot?"

"not so much now" the boy smiled as you touched his face, enjoying the feeling of your skin on his that he so much missed. "i'm so lucky to have you" you didn't expect him saying something like that and couldn't help but to blush. you didn't even know how to respond and just laughed shyly. "i mean it" you smiled at him and got closer to him trying to reach for a kiss. neville held your face with his hands, kissing you deeply. completely needy. you knew you missed his lips but at the touch of them you flipped. somehow it felt like the first time you kissed. your cheeks turned red again and your stomach went fluttery. the same way it happened when you kissed him for the first time years ago. "what's wrong?" he asked as he saw your nervous look.

"i don't know... i just missed you so much..." neville smiled and gave you a small kiss on your forehead. you smiled back at him and went back to heal his wounds.

#neville longbottom x reader #neville longbottom x y/n #neville longbottom fluff #neville longbottom x you #neville longbottom smut #neville imagine #harry potter imagine #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter

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omgrachwrites · 7 months

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Wicked Game - Chapter One

Pairing: Mattheo Riddle x Weasley!Reader

Summary: When you realise just how bad your parents financial situation is you make a deal with your fathers boss.

Warnings: muggle au, fluff, angst, swearing

A/N: Hope you guys enjoy this! The other chapters are going to be longer and this is going to be a relatively slow burn. Please let me know what you think and let me know if you would like to be tagged! I love you all! xxx

masterlist

Chapter One

You knew that your parents were struggling financially, you had always known, especially when you were at school. They had managed to send all eight of you to an exclusive boarding school so you never minded that your things were second-hand, you thought they added more charm. Now, that you were out of school, it seemed as though your parents were struggling even more, your dad’s boss, Mr Riddle had cut his hours right down.

Arthur and Molly were too proud to ask for help – despite having an array of friends who would drop everything to help – and they had denied your help more than once. You really didn’t want to see your family out on the street so you decided to take drastic measures.

“I’m heading to London today,” you told your mum as you sat down for breakfast on a warm summer’s morning.

Before she could reply, your twin brother spoke up, “Why, what’s in London? I thought you weren’t at the shop today.”

You rolled your eyes, “Ron, just because your nose is enormous doesn’t mean you should be poking it in other people’s business,” you flicked his nose causing him to bat your hand away and he scowled at you, the tips of his ears turning red.

After a quick breakfast, you were out the door and on the way to London, despite being pretty far out in the countryside you only needed one train to get there. The journey seemed to go by so quickly and soon enough you were walking into the lobby of the high rise building. It was so quiet and clean that it seemed clinical. The receptionist looked at you with wide eyes when you told her who you were there to see but you weren’t waiting long until she led you into Mr Riddle’s office.

As you walked in, trying to stop your hands from shaking, the older man looked up at you and took in your appearance, “you’re Arthur Weasley’s daughter,” it wasn’t a question as he gestured for you to sit down.

You nodded as you cleared your throat and sat down, “y-yes, Sir.”

“And what does Arthur Weasley’s daughter want with me?” he asked as he went back to signing the papers on his desk.

“My parents need help,” Mr Riddle glanced up at you with a raised eyebrow and you elaborated, “financial help.”

“Ah,” he had a ghost of a smirk on his face as he dropped his pen on top of his papers and leaned back in his leather wing backed chair, “if your parents hadn’t of had an army of children maybe they’d be in a much more comfortable position.”

It was amazing how quickly your fear turned to anger and you couldn’t stop the next words that fell from your lips, “well maybe if you gave my dad reasonable hours then I wouldn’t be here,” you folded your arms and narrowed your eyes.

Riddle blinked at you before letting out a harsh laugh that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, “my dear, all working hours have been cut since the war ended.”

“Still, there must be something I can do, please I’ll do anything,” you didn’t mean to beg but you were getting desperate now. Why wouldn’t he help you? A man in his position of power was exactly the sort of man who would help you, but he wouldn’t, not for nothing in return.

“You would do anything to save your family from ruin?” when you nodded he smirked and buzzed for the receptionist, “Bella find my son and send him in.”

Moments later, Mattheo Riddle came striding into the room like he owned it, he was even more handsome than he had been in school with the same sullen look on his face. His eyebrows shot up in surprise when he saw you standing in his father’s office but he nodded at you all the same.

“Y/N.”

“Hi, Mattheo.”

“You see, Y/N,” Riddle started “I have been trying to make a marriage for my son and at every turn he has rejected several extraordinary women,” Mattheo flushed and his eyes dropped to the floor at his father’s words, “you see, it’s very difficult for those fools to take me seriously at the Ministry without a marriage. You say you would do anything to save your family? Marry my son.”

Matteo’s eyes widened, “father,” he started but fell silent as Riddle gave him a hard look.

Riddle looked back at you, “accept and your family will want for nothing. Refuse, and I will make their life a living hell.”

This was the last thing you expected – or wanted – your heart was in your throat but you had started all of this and now you had to see it through. Briefly, you wondered why he would ask you, given Riddle’s opinion of your family. But you realised it was to keep you in line, you weren’t an idiot. You glanced at Mattheo who refused to look at you and you turned back to Riddle.

“When you put it that way, how can I refuse? Of course, you leave me no choice but to accept.”

Riddle smirked, “excellent, I’ll make the necessary arrangements. Mattheo, please show our guest out.

The younger Riddle glared at you as he gripped your elbow and steered you out of the room, “what the fuck, Y/N? Why would you do that?!” he hissed.

You managed to shake him off by the time you got to reception, “you heard your dad, I didn’t have a choice!” you conveniently ‘forgot’ to tell him that it was you who had sought Riddle out.

“You’re going to regret this,” there was a fire blazing in his usually cold brown eyes.

“Trust me, I already do,” you scowled.

As you got home, you had a guilty feeling in the pit of your stomach so you decided to shut yourself in your room. Your parents were going to be so disappointed. You were shut in your room all day, even when Hermione came to visit. You didn’t see anyone till later that evening when your dad barged in.

“We need to talk.”

“About?”

“Mattheo Riddle.”

Your heart sank like a rock as you looked at your dad’s disappointed face, “what do you want to know?”

“You’re not marrying him, Y/N.”

“I already accepted.”

“Well unaccept!”

“I can’t!” you sighed, “you guys needed help, I never meant for it to get this far but it’s done. If I refuse he will make our lives hell, you know he will. All I wanted was to help,” but you feared you had made things worse.

“We never wanted this for you, Y/N,” Arthur sighed as he awkwardly lingered in the doorway.

“Look dad, I know and I’m sorry. I’ll try and get out of it somehow.”

Arthur nodded with a sigh as he left the room, knowing the conversation was over and knowing that he wasn’t going to be able to change your mind.

A couple of minutes later, you decided that you needed some air, you all but crept by the living room where Riddle was having a hushed conversation with your parents. As you headed towards the back door, Harry called after you.

“Hey, Y/N.”

You groaned and turned to face him, knowing that he’d have something to say, he always did, “Harry, please. I really don’t need a lecture off you, of all people.”

“Whoa, whoa,” Harry laughed, throwing up his hands in mock defence, “I’m not going to lecture you. It was brave what you did, stupid,” he added “but brave.”

You laughed, “I agree with the stupid part, but thanks Harry,” you grinned.

“I can’t believe you’re gonna be a Riddle though,” he said with a look of distaste on his face.

“Yeah, yeah. It’s a real tragedy,” you laughed, “see you, Harry,” you shot him a wave as you headed outside into the warm summer air.

The air smelled sweet, like honeysuckle and lemon and you gazed around the wild garden, feeling sadness linger in the pit of your stomach. You spotted Mattheo sitting on the garden wall, smoking a cigarette. With a sigh, you walked over to him and sat next to him as he nodded at you.

“It’s nice out here,” he nodded at the strings of fairy lights that had been weaved through the flowering bushes, “you caused quite a stir it seems,” he mumbled as he blew out a plume of smoke, being careful to not let it get in your face.

“Well, it was getting boring around here, so I thought I’d spice it up,” you laugh as Mattheo’s lips almost quirked up into a smirk, “so,” you started, “what’s your reason for agreeing to marry me? What’s in it for you?”

He scoffed as he looked at you with brown eyes so unlike his dad’s cold blue ones, “my father says jump, I ask how high.”

“Oh,” you bit your lip, you couldn’t imagine having that sort of relationship with your family, “I’m sorry,” you hadn’t just ruined your life, you’d ruined his too.

Mattheo pulled a face, “don’t be silly, you don’t have to apologise for anything. Look, Y/N, despite what the papers say about me, I’m not a monster. I’ll treat you how you deserve to be treated but, Y/N, I’m never going to love you. If that’s what you’re looking for, you’re going to be disappointed.”

Personally, you thought love was overrated, people did stupid things when they were in love, “well, I’m never going to love you either.”

“Perfect,” he nodded, flicking the stub of his cigarette away.

“So, when do you take me away from my family?” you joke.

“Not until the wedding, my dad wanted you to move in straight away but I convinced him there was no need.”

“Thank you.”

The handsome boy looked at you in bewilderment, like he didn’t know why you would thank him, “don’t look for any redeeming qualities in me, Y/N. I have none.”

Before you could reply, Riddle was striding across the garden, “we’re leaving, Mattheo.”

“I guess I’ll see you soon,” the boy nodded at you before disappearing up the country lane.

With a sigh, you headed back inside the house to find everyone sitting around the table. As you walked in they all stared at you as you sat down. Sirius looked impressed while Lily looked like she felt sorry for you. You knew that someone was dying to say something.

“Just don’t,” you said, shaking your head as you reached for your glass of juice.

It was silent for a couple of moments before Ginny spoke up, “hey, at least he’s hot,” everyone let out a nervous laugh and fell into an uneasy conversation as they waited for dinner.

#fluff #au #mattheo x weasley!reader #mattheo x reader #mattheo x you #mattheo x y/n #mattheo riddle #reader insert #weasley!reader #tom riddle #arthur weasley #molly weasley #ron weasley #hermione granger #harry potter #ginny weasley #muggle au #everyone lives au

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awkward-tension-art · 7 days

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Bacta and Bandages Chp. 1 (Rex x Reader)

I suppose this is a prequel to Darkness on Umbara. It's mostly going to be lighthearted after the darkness and despair of that series LMAO! Enjoy slow-burn Rex x Reader :)

Chapter 2. Chapter 3. Chapter 4.

Introductions

CW: Reader is gender neutral, no use of (Y/N), reader is a doctor, if I miss a tag LMK!

Minors DNI, and this is NOT proofread!

Assignment: 501st Clone Battalion

General: Anakin Skywalker

Commander: Ahsoka Tano

Admiral: Wullf Yularen

The datapad in your hands was bright. You couldn’t help but smile at the words on the screen.

When the war started, you stepped away from your job as a doctor in one of the hospitals on Coruscant to join the war effort. Your knowledge and experience with more advanced medical procedures gave you the rank of ‘Field Surgeon’ right off the bat. After a few weeks of combat training, army regulation and discipline, you were given a choice.

You could be the doctor of one of the natural born soldier battalions, or you could join a clone battalion.

You didn’t pick the 501st because they’re clones. You actually picked the 501st for their general.

Despite the war only being about a month in, you had gotten reports of all the battalion numbers. Casualties. Injuries. MIA. and other statistics.

Out of all the generals, Anakin Skywalker had the highest injuries, but lowest deaths. After some digging, you found out he was also one of the leaders who would fight at the front, with all of his men.

He’s a good man. You thought as you made the request to be assigned to the 501st.

Within the rotation you said goodbye to your family, friends and colleagues and prepared yourself. You stepped onto the transport ship that would take you to The Resolute, the venator you would be stationed with.

Your eyes roamed over your datapad. First steps would be to report to Admiral Yularen, a stern, hardworking yet patient admiral. He would be located at the command center of the ship, most likely. With luck, General Skywalker would be there.

Be professional. You told yourself, You are a capable doctor. You can handle this.

The ship landed in the hangar and you stepped off. You looked around getting your bearings. There was energy and movement happening around you, as you had come aboard the same time as a resupply of the ship. Troopers and maintenance crews dashed around, adding some chaos to the entire area.

“Alright,” You sighed to yourself, “Find Admiral Yularen.” Despite the new meetings, you felt calm. Collected.

You managed to get about seven steps through the hanger before you heard a yelp and were crashed into by someone. You hit the ground and the heavy weight on top of you knocked the wind out of your lungs.

“Sorry!” That weight, a body clad in plastoid, scrambled to get off of you, “I didn’t see you, I was moving some medical supplies and-”

“Hardcase!” A pair of hands were helping you sit up, “I told you to be careful! Now you’ve hurt someone!” The voices were almost the exact same. A glance at the both of them told you all you needed to know.

Clone troopers. Not rookies, since their armor was painted blue.

“I’m alright,” You rubbed the side of your head. These two guys must be embarrassed, and there was no point in making a big deal of an accident.

“I am so sorry about Hardcase,” One of them, head shaved in a unique pattern, helped you stand, “He was let out of his tube too early and he’s been a moron ever since.” You spotted a flash of red on his shoulder plate.

Medic.

You were about to respond when another voice, this one holding more authority, cut above them.

“What have the both of you done?”

The two troopers scrambled, straightening. They saluted the approaching soldier.

Blonde hair. Blue paulron on one shoulder. Kama. ARC trooper? He has rank, clearly.

“Captain Rex, sir! We were moving supplies and-”

“Hardcase ran into this bystander.”

“Kix!”

The soldier, Captain Rex, looked over to you, “Are you alright?” He was standing in front of you, brown eyes roaming your form for injuries.

“Yes, Captain,” You slipped into professionalism, “It was an accident, nothing more.”

“Who are you? Are you authorized to be here?” His gaze was critical, most likely clocking you in as a potential threat.

“I’m your new field surgeon, sir.” You turned your datapad to face him. The screen held your credentials. You introduced yourself and continued, “I’m supposed to report to Admiral Yularen. Inform him I’m here and go to the medical bay.”

“Hm, alright doctor.” Rex handed you your datapad, “I’m on my way to the command deck, I’ll show you the way.”

You maintained your respect and professionalism, “Thank you, sir.”

“Both of you, get back to work. Now.” He snapped to both Kix and Hardcase before he began to lead you out of the hangar.

Captain Rex of the 501st. Who would have thought you’d meet him so soon?

Well, if you had questions about the troopers, he was the one to ask, “Captain, may I ask you something about the soldiers?”

“Go ahead, doctor.” He nodded to you, allowing you to continue.

“How is morale among the men?”

You’d need to be prepared for potential mental and emotional issues. Yes, clones were made to be resistant to the stresses of war, but they could still develop PTSD, depression, anxiety….

“It’s good, Doctor.” The captain responded, “With a leader like General Skywalker, the men are always in high spirits.”

Oh, that's a relief.

“That's good.” You looked down as you kept walking, “Do you know if any of the soldiers have chronic issues? I’d like to know if anyone needs extra or unique care.”

You didn’t miss how surprised he looked, but after a second he shook his head, “No. No issues that I’m aware of.”

You just got here, and already you were ready to work.

“That's good to know,” You looked down at your datapad, you wanted to take notes. Make sure you know these soldiers. You would be their doctor, their caregiver. You’d be treating their wounds and illnesses.

They go to you in their most vulnerable states.

Rex led you through the metal hallways. The venator was a large ship, and it would take a few minutes to get to Admiral Yularen.

“May I ask, Doctor,” His voice had taken a quieter, but still respectful tone, “Why join the 501st? There are non-clone battalions that could use a doctor, I’m sure.”

You smiled softly, “I wanted to help as many people as I can.” you responded honestly, “And based on the reports i’ve read, General Skywalker seems like a great leader.”

The captain seemed to accept your answer easily, “He is a fierce general. Reckless sometimes, but he cares for his soldiers. He won’t ask us to take risks that he himself wouldn’t take”

Ah, a good man indeed.

“I can’t wait to meet him, then.” You took in your surroundings. The halls of The Resolute were well lit. The metal of the floors and walls were protective and clean. The entire ship looked to be in great shape, indicating the maintenance crew were on top of everything.

The small talk you made with Rex was pleasant and polite. You could tell he was a hardworking soldier, and his men respected him.

It’s going to be pleasant working with him. You thought to yourself.

The double doors to the command center opened, revealing the heart and brains of the venator. Officers were walking around, discussing and planning for their next mission. At the center was a navigation table with a hologram of a planet with 5 moons.

In front of you was a young man, with lovely blue eyes and brown hair. He was clad in black armored robes. Beside him was a smaller togruta looking at you in curiously, her skin was orange, and she wore deep crimson clothing. At their hips were lightsabers.

Jedi.

The male jedi was listening as another officer, an Admiral, based on his uniform.

That must be Admiral Yularen.

Rex nodded and you followed, “General, sorry to interrupt, but someone needs to speak with the Admiral.”

The Jedi looked at you, tilting his head slightly, “And you are?”

You cleared your throat and introduced yourself, “I am your new field surgeon. I was told to report to Admiral Yularen.”

“Ah yes!” The older gentleman perked up, “You were the doctor who made a specific request to join the 501st. Welcome aboard.”

“Thank you, sir.” You nodded, “Happy to be here.”

“Well, Doctor.” The Jedi crossed his arms with a smirk, “I’m Anakin Skywalker, this is my Padawan Ahsoka Tano,” The young girl gave you a friendly smile and a nod, “I have to ask, why join my battalion? I’m sure there are non-clone legions that can use a doctor.”

“I wanted to help people,” You responded, “and since you have the fewest fatalities out of all the Generals…I thought your battalion was the best way to help.”

You’ve been repeating yourself a lot today…well, it was all part of introductions, you suppose.

General Skywalker seemed to perk up and look at you, “Fewest fatalities?”

Has no one told him?

“Yes sir.” You informed him, “You're the General with the fewest fatalities in your troopers. Injuries are high, but more men are surviving.”

“Huh.” His face practically beamed in pride, “I didn’t know that. But…well, good to know.”

“He’s going to brag to Obiwan about it.” Ahoska leaned forward slightly to make her snide remark, “We’re never going to hear the end of it.”

“Watch it, Snips.” He snapped, though there was no anger in his words, “I get to rub it in Obi-Wan's face that I’m a better leader.”

“More risky, I’d say.”

The two began to tease and taunt each other. They reminded you of siblings bickering. But, at the end of the day, they’d have eachothers back.

“Do they…uhhh,” You turned to Rex, “Do they do this often?”

“Yes.” He sighed, “They do.”

Admiral Yularen then addressed you as the two Jedi poked one another, “I’m sure you’ve had a long day. Your quarters are attached to the medical bay. Captain Rex, is it alright if you show our new doctor where they will be staying?”

“Of course, Admiral.” Rex saluted. He nodded to you to follow him.

You kept pace.There was something you wanted to ask, but you weren’t entirely sure how to ask it. As a doctor, you had to be sensitive to those of unique backgrounds. And the clones were certainly unique.

The clones were humans. But…how were they being treated by nat-borns such as yourself? They were an anomaly in the medical community right now. How are doctors handling their health?

“Captain Rex, may I ask a question of a…sensitive nature?” fuck it. May as well rip the patch off.

He paused and looked at you curiously, “I suppose so, doctor.”

“I will do my best to treat everyone on this ship equally and with respect,” You started, feeling as though you needed to explain yourself, “And I want to ask if there are any…boundaries, or lines I shouldn't cross when speaking to the soldiers. Everyone is unique of course, but I don’t want to unintentionally come across as rude or insensitive to clones.”

His eyes widened slightly. He looked at you as if trying to figure you out, “Us clones put loyalty above all else,” he answered honestly, “As for being rude and insensitive…well, just treat everyone how you would treat any other patient.”

Your smile was small but grateful, “Right. Thank you, Captain Rex.”

“Just Rex.” He responded, continuing to walk, “When there's no need for protocol, just Rex is fine.”

You nodded, “Then the feeling is mutual. When it's just us, you don’t need to use my title.”

Rex gave you an honest smile.

What a lovely smile, you thought to yourself.

#reader insert #captain rex x reader #tcw x reader #captain rex #star wars x reader #my writing #rex x reader #tcw #the clone wars #clones #star wars the clone wars #star wars tcw #clone troopers

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heythrrdelilah · 4 months

Text

Choose

Summary: New York City life gets a little lonely until you have too many choices

Pairings: timothee chalamet x F!reader, Austin Bütlér x F!reader

Warnings: honestly expect pure filth. Mmf but the males are straight and don't interact

Word count: 2,925

Authors note: it's been a while and this may or may not be loosely based on a random detailed dream I had the night before last also please know I'm not usually a smut writer and it's been ages so bare with me please

The dim lit bar was roaring with voices as the rush hour for bars came. You regretted letting your friend talk you into coming out. You would much rather be sitting on your couch with a fantasy novel and a cup of lavender tea, but your best friend and roommate was persistent. “See! Lavender vodka cocktails! I told you you could still get lavender tea!” She pulled you by your wrist to the bar. This was one of the many popular bars in New York so you had to squeeze between shoulders to even reach the counter. “You know it's not the same thing, right? It's important for me to know that you know that,” you questioned your friend with a brow raised, she threw her hair over one shoulder and rolled her eyes. Instead of responding she just ordered a lavender vodka lemonade for you and a planters punch for herself.

“Just don't leave me tonight. I didn't feel like coming but if you leave me alone this is the last time,” you sternly state as you wait for your drinks. After people had their orders in, the crowd around the bar became smaller and people were now gathered around tables and leather couches. The bar theme was modern chic. Crystal dim lighting, black leather couches around marble tables. You and your roommate definitely could not afford to drink here, especially on a regular basis, but she insisted that the only way to find a decent man was in high end bars. Not that you were looking.

“It will be fun! Go find a table, I'll wait for the drinks,” she instructed, clearly scouting the crowd. You pushed off of your elbows and looked around for an empty table. It was no surprise when every table and couch were full. You found an empty spot on a wall and leaned up against it.

“This should cheer you up, I got that guy to pay for our drinks,” meg, your roommate and best friend, handed you your glass and nodded towards a blonde man in an army green jacket who was staring in their direction. He had a nice smile and tilted his glass to Meg with a wink. It was painfully obvious that you were going to be left alone at some point tonight. “go for it,” you sighed. She shook her head, her red hair swaying with every turn, “he can wait for it. I need to let the anticipation build. For now, let's talk about your day, drink up and dance.” There wasn't much to dance to as today's rap hits played low level. “my day is never as interesting as yours. I just work at an unknown radio station. You're the celebrity photographer,” you say with a bit of laughter.

“You're just getting your start. Besides I'm just the photographer for BuzzFeed. it's my start too. But okay,” she began talking about the shoot she had just done for the cast of the Dune series. Meg was good about making the biggest celebrities sound like just a group of co-workers. The Dune cast had some of the biggest names in Hollywood but here she was talking about how Batista couldn't stay serious the entire shoot.

You moved on to her plans next week to shoot a rom com cast on Monday when a group walked into the bar and heads were turning from every direction. “meg, isn't thats the Dune cast,” you pointed out the obvious. You tried to keep your composure as Timothee chalamet was your biggest celebrity crush and he was walking in the doors. People brought out there phones and snapped a few pictures with it being a high class bar in New York City, it wasn't a huge deal.

Meg smiled wide and waved at the group. They spotted her and waved back as they began walking towards us. “what up?” Timothee shouted playfully as he hugged Meg. “If we had known you were coming to the same bar when you said you were going out later, we could have just left the office together!” Zendaya laughed giving Meg a one armed hug. Meg pointed to me, “this one needed a Friday night out so I had to stop home anyways.”

Florence smiled, “I needed to change anyways. That was probably one of the most fun shoots I've had for an interview though. Can we buy you girls drinks?” Florence looked to you and put her hand gently on your shoulder, “I'm so sorry, I'm Florence what's your name?” You told the group your name and Zendaya was laughing wrapping her arm around Florence, “yeah Flo she was standing herebthe whole time and we didn't even ask her name. No wonder people think celebrities are rude as hell. I'm Z this is Timothee and Austin.” You waved smiling, “it's nice to meet you all. I promise I'm not the loser I just sounded like I just prefer staying home.” They all nodded. Florence laughed, “I feel that heavily. Alright let's get some drinks at the bar and come back. the waiters here are too busy.”

While the cast walked off to get their drinks, a Waitress brought us two drinks we didn't order, the same ones we had as a first round. “they're from that gentlemen. Don't worry I prepared them and came right back this way,” she winked, obviously referring to how awful the world was. Meg blushed, her blue eyes wandering over to the blonde man from earlier. He was looking adoringly at her, blushing, he smiled and took a drink of his.

The group came back with their assortment of drinks in hand. After a few short minutes of sharing fun memories of the photoshoot earlier, Meg took a step back from your now formed circle, “you have no idea how much I want to stay and chat but I've been working on that,” she motioned to the blonde man, “for the past hour and I think it's time I stop his longing and say hi. You guys are amazing. Glad you're here to keep my bestie entertained, if you want of course okay bye!” She rambled, took a deep breath, and smoothly turned around with a look of curiosity.

“Shes good,” Florence complimented with a smile of approval and admiration. “so, where are you from?” Timothee immediately asked after taking a shit of his dark and smokey. His green eyes were fixed on yours, seemingly genuinely interested as one of his brows was up. You told him, and without hesitation asked another question, “what brings you to the city?” You didn't want to tell him the entire story about how you are a 24 year old divorcee so you just said work. “I wouldnt think someone who looks like you would be doing radio. A face like yours deserves to be seen,” Austin suddenly chimed in, saying the first words he's said all night. You blushed. Anyone would at those words spoken with his deep raspy voice.

You bit the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from showing your blushing. You took a sip of your drink. “Oh come on Austin you started off too strong,” Timothee chuckled. You didn't know what was happening. Zendaya and Florence burst out with laughter before wrapping one arm around each other, “too much testosterone. (Y/n) we will be over here people watching if you find this,” Zendaya used her hand to motion the guys, “disturbing.” Then they walked away. Both guys took a step forward, causing your to take a step back, placing your back against the wall. They were standing in front of you just a ruler length away.

You felt nervous. A tingling sensation overcame your stomach among other places. “do you guys have a bet or something?” You didn't want to fall for it if it was some joke. They were two of the biggest celebrities at this time and they were seemingly coming onto you. Both with girlfriends. “yeah, a bet of who could bring home the most beautiful woman in the room,” Austin stated, looking into your eyes intensely. The bar suddenly felt like a heater was turned up. You held your composure. “You both have girlfriends if the news sources are correct,” you retorted. They shook their heads, “PR” they said simultaneously. They could be lying. It was almost as if they read your mind, contracts between manages about it. Weird they just have it ready but they most likely had to do it often.

You played it cool and finished your drink without saying a word, or tasting it as you chugged it. “I'm going to grab another drink, go check on Meg and go home. You two can decide who is coming with me,” you would never have had the confidence to say the last part without liquid courage. Good thing you were at a bar. You walked between them as if they were saloon doors and tried your best not to look back. You saw Zendaya and Florence applauding and nodding with approval. Zendaya even pumped her fist mouthing “hell yeah.”

You leaned both of your elbows against the bar and flagged down the bartender. You ordered a long island iced tea with a lemon and a lavender garnish. You were going to need all the confidence you could muster up. However you could.

You told the bartender you would be back for it after freshening up. You walked swiftly to the bathroom and looked at yourself in the mirror. You regretted not going for a bit of a glam look but your “clean girl aesthetic” makeup would have to do. You looked to the other woman in the mirror who was fixing her mascara. Your expression must have been easy to read because she smiled big saying, “girl I got you!” The raven haired woman who looked at least 5 inches taller than you, reached into her clutch and pulled out a mini contour kit. “I saw you talking to the cast of Dune? Do you know them?” She questioned. You shook your head, “my best friend, practically sister does.” The woman brushed some highlight powder lightly across your cheeks,” Just enough to make some features pop, you don't want to change too much because it will look like you changed for them since they've already seen you.” she closed the kit, “good luck you are my hero.” She fixed my sweater so that it drapes over one shoulder, taking my academia look up a notch since my flowy long skirt couldn't be helped.

You weren't in the bathroom long because your drink was just being made when you got back to the counter. You took your drink and looked for Meg. Thankfully she was still there, giggling and caressing the mans bicep. She definitely wasn't coming home alone tonight. You walked over and dipped your drink, “I didn't want to interrupt but I'm headed home will you be okay?” You waited for the code word in case of danger, it never came. “I think we might stay out a bit. This is Taron. Taron this is, (y/n). Please stay out with us! You might meet someone!” She was glowing. Whatever this guy was saying to her was the cause of said glow. You smirked, shaking your head, “who said I'm going home alone?” Megs brows raised and she nodded, “okay go ahead.” She hugged you then whispered, “proud of you.” You took a breath and walked back to the guys. They were chuckling but stopped and went back to having swagger or as the kids would call it these days “rizz” which you learned meant charisma.

“Did you decide?” You lifted a brow, finishing your drink. They looked at each other and nodded as if they had some agreement. Austin took a step forward and leaned over to whisper in your ear, his low tone making a shiver to down your spine, “we actually couldn't decide.” Timothee stepped forward, Austin not moving, and leaned over to whisper in your other ear, “so let us both have you. Tonight. Then you will decide which one of us can take you to a dinner tomorrow night.” The last sentence was a demand and it sent your body into a frenzy but you kept your composure. You didn't say anything, you took a step back, put your glass on the counter and kept walking towards the door. You turned around before you got out of ear shot as they were both shrugging off disbelief they were rejected. But they weren't.

“Well? You boys coming or do I have to take care of myself after that?” They both perked up immediately and were practically tripping over their own feet as they said their goodbyes to Z and Flo.

You all stumbled out of the bar. Someone must have alerted the paparazzi and some fans, probably via deuxmoi, because there were cameras flashing outside the bar and you all stopped every few steps for them to take selfies with some fans. Austin finally said to the fans, “sorry guys, we are trying to catch up with an old friend tonight but we will be around tomorrow if we didn't manage to get to you.” we walked swiftly into the nearby metro station, “we are going to our hotel right?” Timmy asked as they managed to keep their heads down going down the steps. “no,” you shook your head, “you don't need to impress me with your 5 star hotels. It's already happening. My place is two blocks away.” They shrugged and followed you to your apartment, keeping their heads down as much as possible.

You reached your two bedroom small apartment quickly and kicked your boots off at the door. They followed suit. “your room, gorgeous?” Austin pointed to the door that had stickers of book titles all over the door. You nod once as he grabs your wrist and leads you slowly to your door timothee following you both and locking your bedroom door behind himself.

Timmy didn't hesitate to move your hair away from your neck and trail kisses down your neck and to your shoulder that was exposed on the one side. Austin gripped your face with his hand gently and kissed you passionately with just the right amount of tongue. Timmys hands went under your sweater, lifting it from your body, breaking your kiss with Austin briefly. When Austin's lips returned to yours his hand was gripping your hair now, you were getting weak in the knees.

Timothee used one ringed finger to trace the outline of your torso and gripped your breasts from under your bra before releasing them using his other hand. Timmy reached his head around you to place a breast in his mouth and push Austin away in one motion. He got down on his knees before you and slowly pulled your skirt and thong off in one go. “Bed. Now,” Austin demanded. He pulled his shirt off and Timmy followed suit. You lay on the bed, your ass aligned with the edge and Austin quickly found his way between them, trailing soft, ticklish kisses down your thighs in a teasing manner. Timmy began unbuttoning his own pants as Austin worked his tongue around your clit. You arched your back and moaned in pleasure with your hand gripping Austin's hair. Timothee got on the bed and kissed you passionately.

“Suck it for me?” Timmy smiled, his bedroom eyes arousing you. You nod and Austin grabs your hips, flips you around and has you in doggy style. He still works his tongue as you place Timothee into your mouth. Timothee groans and Austin inserts himself into you, slowly, teasingly for the first few thrusts. Then hard, causing you to scream in pleasure then slow again.

The two take turns on you, sometimes just watching you with the other but neither interacting with each other minus a few compliments and “damn bro she's loving this” comments. Two men so comfortable with their own sexuality made them even more attractive to you.

When you finished, you realized an hour and a half had passed. Austin lay on your bed staring at the ceiling repeating “wow” and “incredible” timothee pulling his boxers back on. Austin looked like he needed a breath so naturally, “timothee?” You beconed as you stood at your bathroom door naked, “shower with me?” he ripped his shorts off and joined you.

“Decided who you wanted to go to dinner with?” Timmy smirks the next morning, assuming he was the clear winner in his own head. You hadn't decided yet. They both slept on the floor. “leave your numbers on that notebook and I'll call one of you later,” you instructed. The both wrote their numbers down and you all walked out to your kitchen. Meg was sitting there drinking her coffee, which caused you to turn bright red. The guys were blushing too. “‘morning,” timothee blushed and waved to meg. She looked surprisingly well rested and didn't have the blonde with her.

“It was nice seeing you again,” Austin spoke to meg, his cheeks bright red as you moved towards the door. They put their shoes on and you let them out. “you'll actually call right?” Timothee asked with a nervous smile. “I guess you'll see,” you stated before closing the door and joining meg at the counter. “im seeing Taron for a proper date tonight but you…you have some explaining to do,” she stated while pouring your coffee.

#timmy tim #timothee chalamet fanfiction #timothee chalamet imagine #austin butler #austin butler one shot #timothee x y/n #timothee x reader #austin butler x reader #dune part two

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romeulusroy · 1 year

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Arrangement (Roy!Sibling x Lukas Matsson)

((SUCCESSION SPOILERS))

Character/s: Lukas, Kendall, Shiv, Roman, Logan mention

Word Count: 1,732

Requested: hi!! can i request roy!baby sibling being sent to “woo” lukas in favor of the deal? they were indifferent at first but eventually fell for him. (not necessarily needed to be included but i imagine kendall would find out about the blood thing with ebba and try to tank the deal hahaha) - anon

Tag: @locke-writes

A/N: Hope you like it my love!!! This is based off the latest episode, so spoilers ahead for anyone who hasn't seen it!! Thank you for requesting!!! Feedback is always appreciated 💜💜💜

You cleared your throat, following him through the doorway. Your glass was cold, the stem fragile, the red wine disgusting. Something expensive, Tom had poured, swishing around, threatening to spill. You took one last glance back. They stood huddled together, nodding at you, insisting you go in. You would have rolled your eyes if he hadn’t turned to see you, inviting you in. You smiled, cursing your family. Fuck Kendall, fuck Shiv, fuck Roman, and especially fuck Logan. The door shut behind you, making you jump. Don’t worry, I’m not going to try anything. I just want to talk. His hand fell the small of your back, ever so slightly pushing you along to where the living set sat. Fuck all fo them, you added at the end, over and over again until you were sitting across from him. The room was dark except for a few lamps. One wall was floor to ceiling windows. He had his back turned on the view, as if it didn’t matter, as if the only thing you should be focusing on was him. Shiv’s home had so many rooms, so many ins and outs, it was a wonder she didn’t get lost every day. You couldn’t help yourself, letting your eyes wander over him, above him, to the glittering city. It was too dark to see any details, but that didn’t really matter. It stood grand, solid, daunting in the darkness. Your home, for as long as you’ve been alive. It looked its most perfect at its most blurry, shunned from the daylight.

He looked tired. That was the first thing you’d noticed about him when he showed up. He wasn’t some godlike creature they all feared he was. He was just some guy in a gold jacket. The bags under his eyes were puffy, as if he hadn’t slept in a while. He brought Ebba and Oskar with him, making fun of them as if that’s what all bosses did. You weren’t sure if you should laugh or not, so you said nothing. Everyone seemed uncomfortable but him. You had Gerri, Frank, and all of your siblings. An army, and for what? This guy? You tried to hide your smile. This was the guy everyone had been worried about? Leave it to them to be dramatic. Jesus, you could have stayed in the home. It was a last minute invitation. Whose idea, you’re not sure. After everything with dad, you were more than happy to tag along. It was a wanted distraction. The thought sent a shiver through your body. This election party was a nice distraction, even if it meant schmoozing with this guy. He shook hands with your brothers, and attempted to hug your sister, stopping at you. His eyes seemed to light up. You went in for a hug, unsure of what else to do, as Kendall introduced you. Y/n, the baby of the Roy family. You’d never met him before. You weren’t even sure he knew you existed. You were as far removed from the company as possible. You just weren’t interested. You had a life outside of all this. You thought everyone should do the same, though the idea isn’t well liked. He likes you, Roman said while you two followed the rest to a private room. Was that true? He just learned your name, and yet, it seemed like he couldn’t take his gaze off you, even if you were the least significant Roy in the room. You had no idea what the deal was, what you were supposed to be rooting for, only that it was worth a lot and it was keeping your brothers up at night. Shut up, you hissed back, really wishing you’d said no. The deal went well in Norway, so you thought this was just a formality. You had no idea it was falling apart behind the scenes.

It was their plan all along. Kendall and Rome had learned his “type”. He had a weakness for someone who looked like you. It didn’t hurt that you were the youngest, either. Barely legal, Roman always joked, though you were far older than that. They knew bringing you along would help, at least it would offer some sort of distraction, like a parting gift. He gets to talk to you, stare at you, imagine whatever he wanted, and they’d get their deal. All you had to do was stand there and look pretty. You’d figured it out quick enough. You played nice, used your best manners, but they were acting strange about it. They watched your every move, paid close attention to everything you did and said. They waited for him to laugh at your jokes before they found it funny. Lukas seemed distracted by you, too. He lost track of what they were talking about, having to be gently, constantly reminded. Even out on the grass, surrounded by his team, the rest of you left to mingle, he always found his way to you. Rome was right. The more he got to know you, heard your sarcasm, your jokes, your unfiltered thoughts and feelings, the more he seemed to like you. Want you. Over the balcony's edge, he followed you out, stood beside you, asking you questions, needing to know more. What were your interests, your hobbies, why weren't you more involved in the company. They never took their eyes off you, wanting to make sure what you were saying was okay. He wasn’t even supposed to show, but he did, and you were his bait.

Is he always like that? You ask, taking another rancid sip, Oskar I mean. He was high, obviously, and keen on making everyone he came into contact with uncomfortable. He talked about your body in ways you’d never thought at a political party. Lukas came to your defense immediately, seriously, making him and Ebba jump at his tone. You hadn’t expected him to be so offended on your part, but he seemed genuinely upset, leaving the pair in favor of your company. Like an asshole? Most of the time, yes. He chuckles. I am sorry for his behavior. You force a smile. You should hear what they all say. They’re on their best behavior tonight. There were a few Nazis here, it could have been much worse. He nods, understanding, having gotten a warning speech from your sister about how to act and what to say. He asks how you’re doing with your father. You shrug. No one’s asked you since that night. It still feels unreal. He talks about his own father. You can’t help but notice how human he looks all of a sudden, so fragile, so small. You almost feel bad for him. Despite the situation, being offered up to him like a piece of meat, he’s a kid just like you, like your siblings, pretending to know how to handle this niche slice of adulthood. You make a joke about the wine that gets you a smile. You become more comfortable with him, letting your shoulders drop, your spine slouch. He speaks of Sweden, how beautiful it is, how much he misses it. About his past relationships, that they never seemed to work out. About your family, how messy they are. You can’t help but agree. Not just your siblings, though it was a miracle you were all in the same room without fighting, but your father and mother. He was cruel and took pleasure in pinning you against one another. She was absent and yet so needy, unstable. You talk about your past relationships, how hard it was to find someone who wanted you, not your money or your name. An hour has gone by before you know it. You didn’t mean to tell him all of this, to open up, it just happened.

Do you want to go back to the party? He asks, eyeing the door. Not really, you think. You can hear the murmur of guests just outside. All of them trying their best to smile and get along. Tomorrow they’ll be at one another's throats. Do you? He shakes his head no. It’s more fun here. That makes heat rush to your face. The conversation flows without any hiccups. Where you want to travel next, what you wanted to be when you were a kid, all your thoughts about the next presidential candidate, favorite ice cream toppings. You spoke about everything and anything. His laugh came easy, especially at your jokes. It was one of the things he liked most about you, your humor. He told you things he wasn’t proud of, things you’d later realize information your brothers would have killed for. Nothing big, nothing scary, just personal fears. He trusted you with this. You wouldn’t tell another soul. You liked him a hell of a lot more than when you first met. He was more of a person, not just a walking conglomerate. His company was even enjoyable. He had absolutely no filter and said some outrageous things, but in a world like yours, that was normal. The only reason you even stopped was because of a knock at the door. Shiv wore a tight smile, asking if she could speak to Lukas alone. Behind her, Kendall and Rome watched. I’ll see you soon, he promised, don’t stray too far. You nodded, getting up, leaving the room. You couldn’t read your brother's expressions, but it didn’t look good. Wordlessly, they took your arm, leading you far from the room. What the fuck? I was doing what you said to, you said once you were alone, pulling yourself from their tight grips. Roman rolled his eyes. Not everything is about you. Did he tell you about the blood and hair? What the fuck was he talking about? The shock on your face was enough to convince them. They began speaking at the same time. Fucking Matsson has been sending. . . stuff to his ex-girlfriend. I don’t want you going near him again. His numbers are all wrong, they’re all made up. Never should have used you like this. Fraud. Deal. Freak. What were they talking about? You looked down the hall, through the open doorway, where Shiv is talking to him. She looked angry, upset. He seemed content, even jovial, laughing at himself. Was this true? You wouldn't believe it. He seemed like such a nice guy.

#requested #lukas matsson #lukas matsson imagine #lukas matsson x reader #kendall roy #kendall roy imagine #kendall roy x reader #shiv roy #shiv roy imagine #shiv roy x reader #roman roy #roman roy x reader #roman roy imagine #succession #succession imagine #succession x reader

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honeybeezgobzzzzz · 1 month

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⛰️ Whiskey Lullaby

Whiskey Lullaby: You have been blasted by the past. The childhood best friend of the Miller brothers, you will soon have to deal with the reasons for the explosive argument that split you and Ben all those years ago in high school. Fists fly and you finally learn the reason for your emotional pain: Ben Miller is an idiot.

Warning: Angst, Language, Explicit Material (Unprotected Sex is a No No).

To Note: Ben Miller x NAMED!Female!Reader, Inspired by the song ‘Whiskey Lullaby’ by Brad Paisley, No Infidelity they’re just idiots.

Word Count: ~8.1k

You had been best friends with the Miller boys since you and Benny had been in diapers, and up until high school, you had been inseparable. It was a brother/sister type of thing that everyone in the town ran with because you seemed to be the happiest kids on the planet. But then Will went off to the army and a little thing called puberty hit one summer before high school got back into session, and you and Benny had gotten into a massive fight.

Call it what you will, teenagers just being teenagers, puberty highs, it had only taken one hormone fueled fight for you to go your separate ways. You didn’t even remember why you had fought. You only remember the crushing heartbreak and miserable defeat of over a decades worth of friendship. Ben Miller had long since left you life and you had done your best to try and not think about him since.

Which was hard because the little charm bracelet he and Will had gotten you on your sixteenth birthday still hung from your wrist… but you had done it. You had made it all these years without completely breaking down over a boy. You had even gotten yourself out of the small Colorado town you grew up in. So why were you thinking about Benjamin Miller right now?

8:00pm Ben Miller vs. Erik Romero

How many men you knew that had the name Ben Miller? One, and you were fairly certain it was the Ben Miller you hadn’t seen since early high school days.

“Viv!” Elaine shouted, drawing your attention away from the two names. “Are you coming or not!? Deanna said she was going to find space for us but it’s filling up fast!”

“No need to get your thong in a twist,” You huffed, moving your heel clad feet over to your impatient friend. “I don’t even know why you want me to go to this fight. It’s just men beating each other up, what’s so great about it?”

Elaine rolled her eyes and grabbed your wrist with her fingers, tugging you after her as she dove into the growing crowd.

“Deanna’s boyfriend is fighting tonight at nine, she wants us to support him and we are good friends so we are here… plus the bar across the street gets filled pretty quickly with hot guys afterward.” Elaine explained. “And since you are still single, you might as well come and see if you can hook a hot guy or two.”

“I have zero interest in any of the guys in this town, Elaine, you have known that for years.” You said, edging around a couple decked out in leather.

“What are you talking about, Viv, we just moved back here… You haven’t had the time to check any of the guys out. What is wrong with your southern charm?”

“I’m from Colorado.” You stated as the announcer started speaking and the crowd’s cheers intensified.

“From Red Feather Lakes, Colorado,” This was going to be a slap in the face, you just knew it. Your eyes flickered to the entryway where the fighters emerged before shooting right back to the ring. “Standing six foot three, weighing in at 195 pounds, I bring you… Ben Miller!”

Rock music started playing, and forcing your eyes away from the wired fence in front of you, you looked at Ben. You don’t think your brain had quite caught up to what the announcer had said because your eyes nearly bulged at how tall Ben had become. He was over six foot, and not by a slim margin.

Benjamin Miller had grown to be a giant.

While Deanna and Elise gushed over both Ben and the other fighter as they got ready for their match, your stomach twisted and a bitter taste settled in the back of your throat. Even after all these years, and misplaced teenage anger, old feelings surfaced. Worst timing ever.

The match started and with it, the bloody noses and red faces came, making you wince every time Ben’s opponent landed a hit in. But with each hit he took, Ben hit back, harder. You had heard that he had gone into the military, following his brothers footsteps. The military had taught him well.

He was going at a pretty even pace, listening to what William was shouting from the other side of the cage. You had finally gotten desensitized to the sounds of the punches and was staring into the cage with an unimpressed look on your face. Your initial shock was over, now you were questioning if men really beat each up for a living. Apparently they did.

While the two duked it out in the cage, you could have sworn Will’s eyes connected with yours from across the cage. But he couldn’t have recognized you, could he? It had been years since you had last seen each other.

The Miller boys were seriously fucking with your brain, and you didn’t like it.

“Better make mine a double,” You told Deanna. She was getting the first round of shots, and as a woman who traditionally didn’t do shots, asking for a double was trouble. But after a night of being under the scrutiny of Will, and the brief but most definitely eye contact, moment you had with Ben, you were feeling the need for alcohol.

So while you tried not to wallow in self misery, you listened to Elise talk about her latest sexcapade with a man named Renaldo. In all honesty, you were trying to pay attention, but the most you did was rest your chin in your hand and blankly stare at her while she rambled on.

“So when Jessica called with news, I just…” Deanna came back over with the drinks, and set two shot glasses in front of you. She shimmied her way into the booth next to you and you each picked up and shot.

“Alright, to Elise’s Renaldo, hope that Vivian’s sex life turns around soon, and Tanks hot ass!” Deanna crowed. The three of you clicked your drinks together and knocked back the shots. The alcohol burned its way down your throat, and with a grimace, you set the little glass back on the counter top.

“Whoo! Let’s get this party started!” Elise sang out. Hopefully the alcohol that you had just knocked back would soon help the growing headache you could feel. While Elise and Deanna giggled and gossiped their way through the first hour of the night, you were content to sit there and stew in old memories.

“Ooh! Hotties at one o’clock! There’s a whole group of them!” Deanna chirped next to you. Feeling inclined to lift your gaze to whoever she had spotted. Three men all crowded around the same table, talking with each other… and you knew one of them, and where Will went, Benny always followed. Which meant he was floating around here somewhere… Now was a good time for your second shot…

Grumbling to yourself, your hand reached for the shot you had left waiting an hour ago and you quickly knocked it back.

“Planning on making a move?” Deanna asked, wiggling her eyebrows at you. “Cause I could’ve sworn I caught them looking over here a few times. We have some attention!”

“No,” You said sternly, rubbing your forehead. “Don’t even think about it, Deanna. I did not come here looking for anyone and I am not interested in one night stands or hook ups.”

“It’s called living, Vivian, you should try it some time.” You rolled your eyes at her and turned your gaze to the dance floor where Elise was shimmying with who had to be Renaldo. At least she looked like she was having fun.

“That reminds me, how did you end up dating someone named Tank?” You asked loudly over the music. Deanna waved her hand at you while sipping her latest drink.

“It’s a nickname!” She responded loudly. “He was in the army, you know how those things go!”

No, you did not, but you nodded in agreement anyway. Stirring the melting ice in your ice water, you took a big gulp of it. You never were a fan of alcohol, and certainly didn’t like the effects of it. Hangovers were a bitch and college was a lesson well learned.

“So how serious are they?” You questioned Deanna. “Because the drama I’ve heard through the vine hasn’t been good… and what is it even like dating an MMA fighter?”

“Summer fling?”

“It’s November, Deanna.” You reminded her while tapping your heel on the floor.

“So a Winter fling then, who cares, she’s having fun and that’s what matters.”

“Do you really want to deal with a heart broken Elise at the end of this? Because after her last break, I know for a fact it is going to be a nightmare!” Deanna was waving you off again. There was no point in arguing with her about flings so you let it drop. Picking up your water, you drank the rest of it before gesturing to the back of the bar. “I’m going to go to the bathroom, don’t get into any trouble while I’m gone.”

“I make no promises” Deanna sang. You slipped from the booth, shouldering your purse and keeping it close to your body, you headed for the back of the bar. You had to weave around half drunk patrons and party goers from the MMA matches, and dodge wandering hands from men and woman a like who had one too many drinks already.

“This is exactly why I don’t go to these things.” You muttered while slapping a set of hands away from your ass. Just because your ass looked good in these black jeans, does not mean that the goods were open to touch. Managing to make it to the quieter back, you flittered your into the woman’s bathroom.

It was mostly empty and after you had relieved your bladder, you had space to sidle on up to the counter in front of mirror to wash your hands and redo the red lipstick you had smeared since lunch. Leaning forwards, you untwisted the lipstick tube and reapplied the intense red lipstick.

It had been a bitch to keep your white blouse clean and free of any color, so the fact that you had made it all the way to this hour with it still nice and white was pretty impressive if you must say. Your choice in a black and white outfit this morning hadn’t been planned, but it sure made for an interesting day at the office. You had been dodging pens, flying coffee, and whiteboard markers all day.

At least you looked good in black jeans and a white blouse, no need to run home and change before getting dragged to the MMA matches. You tucked the lipstick back into your purse and took one last look at your makeup from this morning. Other than your lipstick getting smudged off throughout the day, it had survived quite well.

Now you just needed to survive a night at a bar, and hopefully come out with minimal staining on your shirt.

Your heels clicked on the tile as you headed back to the door, and emerging from the woman’s bathroom, you were blasted with the latest song playing over the radio.

“Hey there Vivian! Didn’t know you liked to party!” Your eye twitched as you came to a stop and turned partway on your heel.

“Hi, Glenn,” You said, trying not to sound annoyed by his mere presence. The older man from work came slinking over, beer bottle in his hand. He had a bad habit of flirting with any female he came across and you had the unfortunate circumstance of having an office near his.

“What brings you by?” Glenn asked, leaning against the wall.

“I’m with Deanna and Elise, they convinced me to go to the MMA matches tonight.” You explained shortly, hoping that you could cut this off as quickly as possible.

“MMA, living on the wild side, Vivian,” Glenn said while wiggling his eyebrows. “How bout I buy you a drink? You look like you aren’t having any fun.”

“I think I’ve had enough to drink tonight, but thank you for the offer,” You told him, turning back to the main room.

“Come on, Viv, I won’t talk about work, promise!”

“My answer is no, Glenn, I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.” You took two steps toward the table only to be stopped by a harsh grip on your wrist. Your head snapped around so fast you might have given yourself whiplash as your eyes landed on the meaty fingers holding your wrist captive.

“One drink, don’t tell me you won’t even have one drink.” Glenn huffed. Your gaze narrowed and you tugged at your wrist. He gripped it tighter.

“I said no, Glenn.” You repeated evenly. “Now let me go, and leave me be before you do something you’re going to regret.”

He snorted.

“Are you threatening me?” His grip tightened to the point where you felt pain, that was crossing a line and you were only going to give him one last chance to leave.

“No, I’m telling you that you need to remove your hand from my wrist and leave me alone.” Your even tone only seemed to piss him off more, because a few seconds after you had spoken and his intoxicated brain registered what you had said, he was giving your wrist a hard squeeze.

Pulling your right hand back, your fingers curled into a fist and you were throwing it forward, nailing Glenn right in the nose. Your wrist was released and he fell straight back onto his ass, dropping his beer and clutching at his now bleeding nose.

“You fucking broke my nose!” Glenn howled, trying to stem the blood dripping between his fingers. It had gotten quiet, the music blaring throughout the bar, but you were more concerned about getting your point across than onlookers.

“Stop bitching, your nose is fine,” You said as you shook your hand out, your knuckles stinging slightly. “That was a warning, Glenn. Don’t push me, because next time? I will break your nose.”

Glenn scrambled to his feet, spitting out curses. His hate filled eyes glared at you as he went to hurry past you, slamming his shoulder into yours as he went. He muttered one last insult before disappearing into the crowd.

“Fucking prude bitch.” Childish name calling. You had hurt his pride and certainly made a fool of him in front of the entire bar. But hopefully he got your point loud and clear.

“Glad to see you didn’t forget how to throw a punch.” Your head twisted to see Will leaning against the end of the bar.

“William,” You greeted before looking down your red knuckles. It had been ages since you had done any boxing, and your knuckles had gone soft.

“William? You only call me that when I’ve pissed you off.” Rolling your eyes, you set your eyes on his. “What’ve I done this time?”

“Hi Will,” You said, readjusting your greeting. “Is that better?”

“Yeah, you still sound pissed off at me and I haven’t seen you since I shipped out.” He said while crossing his arms across his wide chest. You stared at each other for a few seconds more. Will nodded his chin at you. “Why’d you drop off the end of the earth, Viv? You and Benny were inseparable, but then I hear that you two got into a fight and stopped talking. Over a decade is an awfully long time to ignore your other half.”

“He’s not my other half,” You huffed underneath your breath. Will snorted in disagreement.

“Yeah, he is. Don’t argue with me, Vivian, I just want to know what happened.”

“We got into an argument, didn’t speak for the rest of high school. Benny went chasing after you. I got out of Colorado and moved on.” Will had his eyebrow up at you. You sighed and rolled your eyes, pinching your forehead. “I can’t even remember why we were arguing.”

“It was probably over something stupid, like your boyfriend.” You let out a chuckle and shook your head. “Come on, Vivian, my friends have been nagging me since they found out about you, put me out of my misery?”

“Since when do you need to be put out of your misery?” You asked him, your eyebrow popping up.

“I’ll buy you a beer, and don’t refuse, after that punch you deserve one.”

“As long as you’re paying.” You replied, your lips twitching. Will ordered a beer and handed you the bottle before leading you over to his friends. Walking up to them, you eyed Will. “Are all of your friends freakishly big?”

“You’re just tiny, Viv, this is Santiago Garcia or Pope, and Fransisco Morales better known as Catfish,” Will said, gesturing to the two men. “Guys, this is Vivian, my best friend, so stop giving me shit about her.”

“Vivian with the badass punch…” Pope spoke before grinning. “Who taught you how to punch like that?”

“Benny and I did,” Will answered with a wide smile. “Spent an entire summer teaching Viv how to box. Seems it finally came in handy.”

“Glenn flirts with anything that has tits,” You huffed before taking a drink of your beer. “It was only a matter of time before I had to knock him on his ass.”

“So how do you know our boys? Will won’t tell us anything.” Catfish asked, fishing for information. You and Will exchanged looks.

“We were neighbors in Colorado,” You answered. “Been best friends with the Miller brothers since I was in diapers.”

“So why did you split then? You aren’t completely cut off in the army.” Your beer bottle paused on its way to your lips and you found yourself staring off into space, your mind reliving the verbal clash you and Benny had. It was the last time either of you spoke to each other.

“Ben and I got into an explosive argument early on in high school.” You said softly, looking down at your fingers gripping the beer bottle. “It was probably over something stupid like my then boyfriend. Benny never liked any of the boys I dated. Didn’t speak to each other for the rest of school, and haven’t spoken since then.”

“Of course he didn’t like any of your boyfriends,” Will huffed out. “He wanted you all to himself.”

“Hmm,” You sounded, drumming your fingernails on glass. There was no way Benny had ever liked you like that. Not once had he ever indicated that he liked you more than as his best friend. There was also no point in trying to get your hopes up. “If that’s what you want to believe.”

“You think I’m lying, Viv?” Will asked, raising his eyebrow at you. “I know my brother.”

“So do I, Will.” You reminded him. “That’s why I stopped dating.”

“Oh no, you’re much too lovely to be alone, Chiquita.” Pope stated. You shrugged at him.

“It’s easier, can’t get hurt if you don’t get attached.”

“You ever tried drinking your problems away? I know your mother was an alcoholic and that is the last thing I want to see you turn into.” Will asked, concern now on his face. You looked to him and shook your head.

“Getting drunk never chased the tears or memories away, so why bother?” You said before giggling. “My friends like to joke that I’m emotionally constipated. That’s probably true.”

“You are not emotionally constipated, Viv.”

“We’ll agree to disagree,” You said, shrugging before setting your empty beer bottle down. “Haven’t had a relationship since high school and my friends tell me that I need to loosen up, get laid or something along the lines. Hence why they brought me along tonight.”

“You gonna hook up with anyone then? You’ve been getting looks all night, even I know you grew up beautiful, kid.”

“Not a kid anymore, Willy,” You snipped back at him, poking fun at him by using your childhood nickname. He winced at the leering looks from Pope and Catfish. “And no, not my thing. I’m just here to make sure my friends get their Uber without killing themselves. Which reminds me…” You looked down at your watch. “I’ve got to pack those two up, they’ve got a work event tomorrow at twelve.”

“Work on the weekend?” Pope asked, his eyebrow rising.

“They are in the marketing department.” You explained as you re-shouldered your purse and checked that you had everything. “Weekend gigs are their thing.”

Heading over to the two giggling and clearly drunk woman, you checked their phones and saw that the pre ordered Ubers were less than a minute away.

“Alright, time to go,” You announced, steering them towards the bar doors. Deanna was controllable, Elise, however, was slinging her arm around your neck.

“Viv! You seriously need to find a hot man to date! Haven’t you been single long enough!” She practically shouted in your ear.

“No need to shout, Elise, I can hear you perfectly fine.” You told her while holding the door open for her. “Now, you see that red car? That’s your Uber, she’ll take you home.”

Elise tottered towards the red car while you turned back to Deanna.

“Viv, Viv we haven’t paid our tab,” She slurred, lurching slightly.

“I’m covering it, don’t worry about.” You told her. “Just go home and get some rest, okay?”

Deanna bobbed her head before looking around with wide eyes. When she was drunk, she wasn’t as hard to handle as Elise, which made it far easier to get her home.

“Which—which one is mine?”

“The silver one,” You pointed out, directing her to the next car waiting. “I’ll see you Monday, okay?”

With both Deanna and Elise shipped off to their homes, you went back to the bar and paid for the tab. It wasn’t that bad since the two were more interested in dancing with hot men. Everything had been paid for, and you had left nothing behind, so you started for the doors.

“Hey Viv,” You briefly paused and looked back at the corner the three men were tucked away in. “You gonna leave me your number so we don’t go another ten plus years without talking?”

You studied Will for a moment before pressing your lips together and looking down at your feet. Giving him your number, that meant Benny might have access to it, which meant you might have another explosive fight… which you wouldn’t be able to take.

“I think it might be best if I didn’t, I’d like to leave on good terms.” You spoke out slowly. “It was nice to see you again Will, I’ll see you around.”

You headed for the doors, pulling out your phone to check to see if any remaining Uber’s were in the area.

The three men watched as you quietly left the bar, a cloud of sadness and repression hanging over her head.

“I swear to God if you don’t go after her, Benny, I will.” Pope spoke up, shooting his sulky friend, who had spent the night in a dark corner of the bar, a look. Benny, who had admittedly hidden himself away just so he could watch you relax for the night, rubbed his aching face in indecisiveness.

“Ben,” Will spoke up. “Either you go after her now, or you lose her forever.”

Benny shot his brother a look before lurching to his feet.

“She might break my nose for this.” Benny huffed as he quickly passed his brother and friends.

Squinting at your phone in the darkness of night, you ignored the little dribbles of rain from the skies. All the Uber’s seemed to be in use right now… you could probably go and check Lyft, see anyone is out an about there. Just as you opened the Lyft app, you heard the bar door open and the crunch of gravel. You already knew who it was.

“Seriously Will,” You spoke up before turning halfway around. “I told you that I—“

That wasn’t Will.

Your heart fluttered nervously in your chest while your red lips trembled slightly. You pressed them together to stop their shaking.

“Benny,” You greeted in a whisper.

“Hi Vivian,” Benny responded. “Noticed you didn’t give Will your number, you mad at him too?”

“Mad?” You repeated in question. Letting out a wilted chuckle, you shook your head. “No, not mad, never was, except maybe for like an hour after that conversation.”

“Yeah, but you still stayed away.”

“So did you,” You countered. You were at an impasse once again, and the moody dark skies overhead were only getting worse, the rain drops increasing their pace. “Truth be told, Benny, I can’t even remember why we had that explosive argument. I’m assuming it probably had to do with one of my boyfriends.”

“Probably, I hated all of them.” Benny snorted, shrugging his broad shoulders.

“Which I never understood, Benny, it’s not like they treated me badly,” You said while waving your hand. You really never could figure out why he hated them so much, all your boyfriends had been nice enough and your break ups didn’t hurt nearly as much as when you and Benny had fought and broken your friendship.

“I know, I was a dick and I can’t take that back.” He explained, rubbing jaw. “So if you wanna break my nose, go ahead. I just don’t wanna lose you again.”

Lose me?

“Benny, why did you hate them?” His grey eyes stared into yours like that of a puppy. A six foot three, giant puppy.

“I hated them because I love you, and not like a sister.” Benny admitted. “Fell in love when you drop kicked the older Seamus twin for yanking on Marcie Blake’s pig tails and got suspended. You are a hard girl to forget, Vivian.”

Benny… was in love with you.

You were marching right up to him, and for the second time that night, your fist was flying. Your knuckles stung as they connected with Benny’s jaw, and while his head snapped to the side and he took a step back, you waved out your now really hurting hand, cursing a blue streak.

“I deserved that.” Benny said while wrinkling his nose and tenderly touching it.

“You are the biggest idiot in the world, Benjamin Miller!” You hissed at him, clutching your pulsating hand to your chest. “I’ve loved you since kindergarten, you idiot!”

“What?” Benny asked dumbly, which for a man who had taken all AP courses and was a pretty much a genius, was surprising. Usually he was quick to the draw with his words. Grabbing the front of his KISS shirt with your non injured hand, you yanked the giant down to your level.

“I’ve. Loved. You. Since. Kindergarten. You. Idiot!” You shouted at him, enunciating each word. You then jabbed your finger at the windows of the bar. “Even Will knows!”

“Okay, I’m an idiot, and I forgiven?” He questioned, his grey eyes boring into yours. He certainly had mastered the puppy eyed look in the last decade because you caved instantly beneath his pleading gaze. Your anger melted like ice cream in one hundred degree weather.

“Benny, I forgave you years ago.” You whispered breathlessly.

“Thank fuck,” Benny breathed out before raising his hands and sliding his fingers across your cheeks. His fingers dug into your loose bun and with the skies quickly opening up to a typical Florida storm, Benny pulled your face up and smashed his lips against yours.

Your eyes were instantly falling shut while Benny’s hot lips kissed you with the intention of making up all those years you had missed. His mouth was just as commanding as his gaze and his body pressed against yours seared through your rain soaked blouse. Fingers that had been grasping at fabric loosened and without direction traveled up until you had them sinking into his hair.

Even with Benny towering over you with all his threatening muscles, you never felt safer than you did right now in his arms. You always felt safe with him, that hadn’t changed one bit. He released his hold in your hair and ran his hands down your back, quickly hoisted your body off the ground and further against his chest. Water was collecting your eyelashes and running off the ends, but even with all the rain pouring down Benny wasn’t deterred in the slightest.

He let out a sigh.

“I really wanna keep kissing you, but your shirt is completely see through now and the guys are watching.” Benny mumbled against your lips, moving his own to press a kiss on your nose. You let out small giggle.

“Jealous that they might get a view of the goods?” You countered.

“Fuck yes.” He huffed back. “You’re for my eyes, and my eyes only, Viv.”

“Well I don’t have a shirt to change into and I took a cab here…”

“My place…?” Benny offered.

“Only if you want.” He snorted and dropped you back to your feet before carefully spinning you around and leading you towards the parked cars.

“Yes, I want.” Benny’s muttered words brought a smile to your lips and while he made sure that you were completely hidden by his figure, his hand reached for yours and your fingers tangled together. He led you to his truck and leading you to the passengers side, helped you up into the cab before quickly skirting around the front and getting into the drivers side.

Benny turned the car on and got the heat blasting before reaching around the back of his seat and grabbing a hoodie.

“Put this on.” Your eyebrow popped up at his three worded demand, but you did as he asked because you were cold and wet. But rather than put it on over your wet blouse, your hands reached down for the hem of your soaked white shirt and you pulled it over your head. Benny’s eyes widened as he watched every movement you made, and dropping your wet shirt to the floor, you pulled the soft and warm sweatshirt over your bra.

“Happy?” You asked. Benny blinked at you.

“Damn you look hot wearing my sweatshirt.” Your eyebrow popped up in confusion.

“How? I’m completely covered…” Benny shrugged his shoulders with side grin.

“You don’t have to be showing the goods to be hot, Vivian.” That was… surprisingly mature. Your lips curved upwards into a gentle smile as you propped your elbow on the window and leaned your head into your palm. While Benny started driving, you took a moment to study him. Or at least studied the features you could see in the dark.

He had grown up, but he hadn’t changed, not one little bit. He still had that lovable smile and those glittering eyes filled with mischief. Did his hugs still feel just as safe and comforting as they had in middle school? Would time with him still feel just as effortless as it had when you were kids?

“I can tell you’re thinking hard.” Benny said, glancing at you.

“Just wondering if your hugs would still feel just as safe and comforting as I remember them being. I’ve missed the feeling.” You answered quietly. Benny didn’t automatically respond to your words.

“Fuckkkkkk, babe,” Benny finally sighed out, his fingers wrapping around the steering wheel in a tighter grip. “You are killing me…”

“How?” You asked. Benny came to a stop at a red light and looked at you.

“It is taking all of my will power not to pull over, drag you onto my lap, and hug you right now. If I could keep you in my arms for every second of the day, I would.” You stared at each other until the glow of red turned green, and Benny continued driving. “You can have all the fucking hugs you want, Vivian.”

“Careful, I might exploit that.”

“You won’t hear me complaining.”

It had been a mad dash from where Benny parked to his apartment, and even then you still had gotten soaked with rain by the time the two of you got to the safety of his apartment. Your hair had become wet again and your shivers more pronounced.

“Where did my Colorado girl go?” Benny teased, water dripping from his hair. You sent him a playful glare. “Kidding, come ere’.”

You stepped up to Benny and he reached for the hem of the rain soaked sweatshirt you wore. He pulled it up over your body, leaving you shivering in your bra, before reaching for his own shirt. Benny’s KISS shirt was off his body and thrown to the side, and before you knew it he had his muscular arms wrapped around your body and was tugging against his chest.

A sated moan left your lips the moment his incredibly warm skin touched your chilled one, and you were immediately leaning into his embrace, your own arms reaching up to wrap your own arms around his waist.

“Ohmygod, you’re so warm,” You sighed out, pressing your face into his chest. “That is so unfair.”

“How?” Benny chuckled, his face nuzzling the crown of your hair. “I get to have you this close, seems pretty fair to me.”

Snorting at him, you shifted your head so your cheek was pressed over the skin covering his heart. It still felt like a dream that he was right here with his arms around your body.

“Next time the two of us get into a fight, can we please just sit down like responsible adults and talk about it?” You asked hoarsely. “Because I can’t go through another decade without you.”

“Promise, but I have a feeling Will would kick my ass if I ever hurt you again.” Giggling, you pulled back and settled your hand on his cheek.

“Good, it’s painful fighting with my best friend.” You said softly while running your thumb along his jaw line. Benny stared down at you with an infectious look of adoration and self-content that made your heart swell with warmth.

“Can I kiss you again?” Your heart, which was already dripping, completely melted.

“You don’t need to ask to kiss me, Benny,” You told him.

“I don’t want to upset you any more than I already have.” Benny said with an indiscernible look in his eye.

“What will upset me is you not kissing me,” You retorted, an eyebrow raised in challenge.

“Well, I can’t have that,” He breathed out, sliding a hand up your side to take your face in hand. He was then swooping in to capture your mouth once more as you giggled. Benny’s mouth was instantly searching for that silent intimacy which burned like wild fire.

Even as your own fingers reached up and tangled in his hair, curling around the strands, you could feel Benny’s wide grin against your lips and the happiness that exuded from every pore in his body. God this man was adorable, a certified puppy.

With Benny’s hand pressing into your back, you felt his fingers softly tailing over your muscles and tracing your spine. Shuddering in his arms from both the feel of his mouth and his touch you would have completely melted if there hadn’t been a crack of thunder that rattled your bones. While you jumped in place, startled by the sudden noise, the lights in Benny’s apartment flickered and turned off.

Benny groaned against your lips before leaning his head back with a sigh.

“You have got to be kidding me.” He complained, letting out most dramatic moan you had ever heard. Laughing, you stroked your fingers down his jaw.

“This happen a lot?” You asked, giving Benny a soft, reassuring smile.

“On occasion,” Benny huffed out, his annoyance still clear on his face despite the lack of light. “Manager has been telling us that they’ll get the wires fixed but in reality he’s just bull shitting us tenants into freezing our asses off during the winter.”

“Think positively, Ben,” You reminded him with a teasing grin. “It means you get to keep me warm with your body heat.”

He blinked down at you for a moment. Then a sly smirk was stretching across his lips.

“You’re a naughty woman, Vivian.” Benny said as your grin turned devious.

“Naughty woman is also cold,” You ever so helpfully added.

Hook. Line. Sinker.

For a six foot three man build of solid muscle, he sure moved silently and quickly. You were lifted up against his chest and Benny was swiftly moving through his apartment. You didn’t know how he could see through the darkness, but he made it to his bedroom without trouble and deposited you on his bed.

You let out another laugh before finding it smothered by his hungry lips. While your hands held his face and your fingers slowly slipped into his hair, your lips eagerly fed Benny’s ravenous ones. His hands slipped down your naked sides and then fingers loped in the belt loops of your jeans. Benny unapologetically jerked on the belt loops, lifting your hips up so your waists clashed together.

Your lips separated as you softly groaned and pressed your head back into bedsheets. Good lord this man felt divine and you both still had pants on. Benny let out a chuckle, dipping his head down and running his sinful lips along your neck, his fingers slowly stroking the skin just above your jeans.

“Benny,” You moaned out, dragging one of your hands through his fluffy locks and down his neck. “Stop teasing,”

Teeth scraped against your neck and hot breath tickled your chilled skin while Benny’s mouth made sure every inch of your neck got a taste of his teasing. You squirmed beneath him, your body arching into his while your fingers dug into the planes of his shoulders.

“D’you know how many years I’ve been dreamin’ about this? About you?” Benny murmured, running his lips along your collar bone. “M’ bein’ thorough.”

“Thorough my ass,” You huffed out. “You can pick me apart later. Right now I am so wet I feel like I need to scream, fix that before I fix it myself.”

Benny paused for a second and looked you in the eye, his eyebrow raised. You gave him a look that only made the smirk on his face widen. But Benny didn’t leave you hanging and pulled back, his fingers slipping down your body to the buttons of your jeans. Your eyes remained connected with his as he unbuttoned your jeans and as Benny started pulling them down your legs, you lifted your hips.

As the black jeans were pulled from your legs, you wiggled your ankles in his grasp, loving the way his hands felt against your skin. With your jeans dropped to the floor, Benny started working on his own to which you happily enjoyed watching every little movement. Your eyes watched his hands push his jeans down his hips and as Benny kicked his jeans to the side you raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘continue’. Benny, being the teasing ass he was, took his sweet damn time and when he was finally naked you could have sworn you started drooling.

But your view disappeared quickly as Benny was back on you, tugging on your own underwear. You didn’t even have time to feel self conscious about your body because Benny had your underwear off your body and disappearing faster than you could blink. At least the power was out which meant he could only see so much. While your skin prickled from the cold air, Benny dipped down and pressed his lips against your knee and then up your inner thigh as he traveled his way up your body.

Benny’s nose brushed across your pelvic bone and you twitched in place while letting out a small squeal when he lazily flicked his tongue threw your folds.

“Benny!” You gasped out, your back arching off the bed for a moment. Benny let out a chuckle and pressed one last sweltering kiss to your hip before moving on. His eyes met yours once more.

“Come on, Viv, I just wanted a taste.” Benny teased, swiping his tongue across his lower lip. You didn’t even have time to be flustered because Benny’s hands slipped around your sides and unhooked your bra. You were completely naked in seconds and Benny’s mouth was back on yours. You were melting like Icarus’s wings beneath sinfully addictive lips and yet you couldn’t help but fly closer to the sun.

Your hands slipped across Benny’s shoulders and you tugged him closer. Benny’s own hands started running across your body, exploring the curves and dips until you were shivering in anticipation rather than chill.

“Would you fuck me already?” You huffed out against his lips. Benny’s lips curved against mine and his hands slipped across your skin until he was gripping your hips.

“Pushy, pushy,” Benny teased you and you scowled at him, but your scowl didn’t stay on your face for long. With a few quick shifts of your bodies, Benny was sliding himself into you all too easily. The breath rushed out of your body in seconds as your body took every single inch Benny had to offer all to easily. His hands slid upwards once more, so slowly in fact that a small whine slipped from your lips. Benny was quick to remedy by cupping the side of your face and sealing his mouth back over yours.

You were happy to return the nips and tugs, chasing after Benny’s kisses with sharp ones of your own. Your bodies seemed to melt together and that heat you so wanted now burned in your body, rather than against your skin. Benny’s lips finally separated from your lips and trailed down your neck, he reached your chest and sealed his lips over a nipple. You gasped and grabbed fistfuls of his hair.

Benny’s mouth was torture and between his hot lips and his cock repeatedly thrusting into your body, you were quickly squirming beneath Benny’s body. You hadn’t been lying when you said you were wet and Benny was taking care of your need more than adequately. Sliding your fingers through his hair, you shifted a hand down his neck and began digging your nails into his back.

You were probably leaving marks, but then again, Benny was leaving marks on your breasts like a man on a mission to stake his territory. You jerked in place again, this time feeling electricity fire through your veins when Benny managed to hit a spot within you that made your back arch straight off the bed. Breathing heavily and knowing you were close to the pleasure you both wanted, you pushed Benny’s further against your skin and closed your eyes.

You listened to the sounds coming from him and only felt yourself becoming more alive from them. Benny let out a groan, shifting his head so his lips were now pressed against your neck. Benny’s thrusts started to falter and with one final one that you felt straight to your spine, you both passed and groaned in an ecstasy of shivers and warmth.

Benny’s body partially slumped against yours and you began stroking your fingers through his hair, out of breath. Despite the cold temperature of the room, you felt like you were sweltering from the inside out.

“Vivian,” Benny groaned against your neck. “Why do you have to be so fuckin’ perfect?”

You snorted at his words.

“I’d argue with you but I’m really tired at the moment.” Benny hummed against your skin.

“Tired? Well you better rest up sweetheart because I am only just getting started.” You moan at the thought because if Benny was thinking what you were pretty sure he was thinking, you were in for a long night.

Last night had been equal parts over-whelming and satisfying. You weren’t sure how many rounds you and Benny had partook, but by the end you were exhausted and content to fall asleep in his arms. Which you had. Come morning you found yourself tucked away in his bed, by yourself. At some point you were vaguely aware of Benny getting up and tucking the blankets around your body to save off the chill.

No you were on your back staring at the ceiling and trying to decide if you wanted to get out of your little bubble of heat for the heavenly scent of freshly brewed coffee. Worth it. Sighing out, you dragged the covers away from your body and moved yourself into a sitting position. Looking down at yourself, you didn’t even have the energy to be embarrassed by the number of marks on your skin from Benny’s mouth. He was possessive by nature.

Standing up, you found that Benny had picked up your discarded clothes and neatly folded and placed them on his dresser. The first thing you did was pull on your underwear, but that was the extend of your clothing you bothered to wear. No, you wanted to stay comfortable so you raided Benny’s dresser until you found a nice soft shirt you could wear. You pulled the shirt on over your head and ventured out of the bedroom to get a cup of coffee.

Benny’s apartment wasn’t large and it was easy to find the kitchen, so while you made a bee line for the coffee maker and started fixing yourself a mug, you started picking up on the fact that there were voices coming from the living room. At least you recognized the voices from last night.

Stirring in the creamer into your coffee, you walked from the kitchen to the living room entrance and leaned against the wall. Will, Pope, and Catfish were over, and no doubt giving Benny shit just because that’s what military men did to each other.

“No, that’s—“ Benny sighed from where he sat on his couch, rubbing his chin.

“She flat out punched you in the face, man.” Catfish snorted while shaking his head. “Was that before or after you cleared things with her?”

“Before,” You spoke up before Benny could respond. Four heads swirled you way and you couldn’t help but enjoy the way eyes bulged out of their sockets. Catfish at least pulled down his hat while his cheeks turned red. Flickering your eyes to Will you saw him with his eyes closed and knew he was probably counting to ten in his head. Pope was just blatantly staring.

“Vivian,” Benny groaned out. You held up your free hand as you took a sip of your coffee.

“I’m gonna stop you there, Ben,” You told him before addressing the others. You gestured to your face. “The amount of fucks I currently give about my current state of dress is at zero, we can further address it after I’ve had my coffee.”

“I knew I liked her when I met her,” Catfish mumbled, keeping his gaze glued to the floor. Pope let out a snort and then grinned, slapping Benny on the shoulder from where he sat adjacent to him in the lounge chair.

“You know how to pick em’, Benny.” Benny sighed before holding out a hand. You walked over and plopped yourself across his lap, careful not to spill any of your coffee. While sipped your coffee and leaned against Benny’s chest, he placed a hand on your thigh and started stroking your skin with his thumb.

“I’m going to assume you two made up and everything is okay?” Will asked, rubbing his forehead. You and Benny glanced at each other.

“Well considering that Benny now knows he’s been an idiot, yes, I think so.” You stated, giggling slightly as Benny gave your neck a little bite at your jab. You huffed. “Don’t bite me! You know I am right, Benjamin Miller!”

Benny sighed into your neck and you took that as a sign of defeat and smiled before reaching up with your free hand and patted his hair.

“Now that-that is clear, I think I’d like to get to know your friends a little better.”

“You’ll have no arguments there, they haven’t shut up about you since they arrived.” Benny said, continuing to trail his fingers over your leg. Your eyebrow popped up and with a smile, you wrapped your arm around his neck, turning back to the two men, eager to get to know them.

Date Published: 7/3/22

Last Edit: 7/3/22

#benny miller x reader #ben miller #will miller #triple frontier #the triple frontier

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duhragonball · 9 months

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Dragon Ball Super Movie 2: Super Hero (3/5)

"What are any of us doing here? We're not even in this movie!"

So the Red Ribbon Army is trying to stage a comeback with a fresh crop of new androids, and Goku isn't around to stop them, because he's on Beerus' planet training with Vegeta and Broly. While Piccolo figures out what to do without them, the movie just goes ahead and shows us what Goku is up to. For about ten minutes.

I'm pretty sure this part of the movie is a concession to Goku's fans. Let's face it, the people love Goku, and to do a Dragon Ball movie with no Goku at all would be a risky proposition, no matter how good that movie is. Looking back at the old DBZ films, Movies 9, 10, and 11 were mostly Goku-free, but he still put in a brief appearance in each one. But those are also regarded as some of the worst entries in the series, and I don't think that's a coincidence.

Now, I'm a fan of Dragon Ball in general, so the idea of a Piccolo and Gohan movie is not only appealing to me, but I'd say it's long overdue. I'd take a Yamcha/Tien movie any day. Or a Launch standalone film. I sat through GT, so it'd take a lot to keep me out of the theater. But Toei's trying to run a business here, and they can't just depend on die-hards like me to bring in the ticket revenue. So I'm sure the decision to focus on Piccolo was a controversial one in the home office. But they probably reached a compromise by giving Goku a decent chunk of screentime as a make-good.

One thing that makes this movie so good is that they don't just toss out a character for the sake of having them in the movie. They actually take a moment to show what that character is doing these days, even if it doesn't affect the plot that much. That's important, because it lets the viewer come away feeling like they got something out of the cameo they just saw. For example, we've seen Goku and Vegeta on Beerus' planet before. This is nothing new, but this time Goku's trying to help Broly control his power. And Vegeta's trying to meditate so he can learn how to imitate Jiren's power. Goku doesn't really understand his approach, which goes to show that Vegeta's trying to push beyond the scope of the training they've done on Beerus's planet before now. Gohan is studying ants, Videl has her combat sports class, Piccolo's a homeowner, etc.

Compare this to Battle of Gods, for example. Now BoG's a good movie, don't get me wrong, but a lot of the characters who appear in the film are utterly wasted. Tien shows up but he looks and acts exactly the same as he did the last several times we've seen him. Then he shows up in Resurrection F and nothing's changed either. He says he left Chiaotzu and Yamcha behind for the big fight, but would it matter either way? If they showed up, they wouldn't do anything new with those guys either.

The trick is to not just put Ox King in your movie, but to have him mention something that he's gotten up to lately, something Ox King fans can mull over later. "Oh, hey, remember how Ox King said he was going back to school to get a sociology degree?" You can sink your teeth into that, even if that's the only thing that you find out about from him. It's a lot better than "It's Bulma's birthday, and one of the guests is Ox King, a character who certainly exists."

Let's talk about Vegeta's revelation in this movie, since it caused some commotion among the fans. Goku complains that Vegeta had just been sitting still lately, which he thinks is a waste of time. Vegeta explains that he's been studying the way Jiren fought during the Tournament of Power. While he dominated Goku and Vegeta--sometimes both at once-- Vegeta is certain that Jiren isn't that much stronger than they are. What made Jiren so tough to deal with was that he was completely relaxed until the very moment he chose to strike, which allowed him to put all of his power into those brief offensive moments. But since Vegeta can't do that himself, he's trying to train his mind to conceptualize it before he tries to make his body learn how.

So a lot of fans saw this and concluded that the studio hates Goku, or they think Goku's an idiot, or that the studio is stupid for failing to remember that Goku has meditated before in the past. There has always been a subset of the fanbase that tries to turn everything into a Manichean conflict between Goku and Vegeta. In this case, if Vegeta figures something out before Goku does, then it means that Toei or Shueisha or Akira Toriyama himself must hate Goku.

This is stupid on the face of it, because Akira Toriyama literally created the character and he's credited with the screenplay for this movie. If he truly despised Goku, why would he even have Goku in the movie at all? He could have killed him off a long time ago. Why even make a Dragon Ball movie when he could have been working on some Dr. Slump project instead?

All this scene is... and I promise you, it's nothing more to it..., is a exploration of what the boys are doing on Beerus' planet. They train here, of course. We've seen that before, but why are they training here? Well, they need to receive instructions and guidance from Whis, and this is where Whis lives. Okay, and why is Whis so important to the process? Why can't they just stay on Earth and spar like they used to do? Because that only gets them so far. They need to learn new ways of thinking in order to surpass the level they're already at.

And what does that mean exactly? Well, they can't just do a million pushups. It doesn't work that way. There's other things they have to figure out, and that requires them to think of things they hadn't thought of before. And Whis is already beyond them in terms of power, so he knows things that they're still struggling to grasp. But Whis can't just spell it out for them. He can describe what they need to do, but it's still up to Goku and Vegeta to understand and internalize it.

And that's what they're doing here. They're basically brainstorming ways to get stronger. This time, Vegeta had an idea, and he's following it to see where it leads. Whis approves, so he seems to be on the right track. Tomorrow, maybe Goku will have another good idea, and so on.

But it's not always going to be one or the other who has the breakthrough. And it would be stupid for them both to have the same idea at the same time, just so the partisan fans won't feel slighted. Goku seems to think he can get a lot out of working with Broly, but that hasn't paid off just yet. It might prove more productive than what Vegeta is working on at the moment, but there's only one way to find out.

As far as Goku failing to recognize the value of meditation, well, he's had to re-learn that lesson several times. People will point to the time he meditated in Otherworld, or the time he meditated during his training with Mr. Popo, but they forget that this sort of focus and concentration was part of his training with Master Roshi as well. Whis scolded both Goku and Vegeta on this point when they first trained with him in Resurrection F. We can draw one of two conclusions here.

Goku's quest for greater strength is a flat circle. He just keeps re-discovering the same fundamentals, making a big gain in power, and then forgetting how he achieved that improvement.

Akira Toriyama is recycling the same martial arts hokum over and over again, because he only needs to show the characters working for greater strength. He does not need to design a genuine and internally consistent system for fantasy martial arts, any more than the writers of Star Trek need to explain how dilithium crystals make the ship go.

Anyway, Whis proposes a Goku/Broly/Vegeta three-way match, but no one wants Broly to fight in case he flips out and wrecks the entire planet. Then Beerus wakes up and finds out he has new houseguests. Goku explains that this is a good place to hide Broly from Frieza, and before Beerus can object, he meets Lemo and samples his cooking. It's good, so Beerus decides he can stay. Then Cheelai walks by with a bag full of loot she stole from Beerus' home. But Beerus decides he likes Cheelai's looks, so he agrees to let her stay too. So that's decided.

I've also seen some fans gripe about how Cheelai didn't spend much time with Broly in this movie, and Beerus' crush on Cheelai muddies the waters further. Look, none of these characters got a lot of screen time in this movie. This scene could be cut entirely and you wouldn't miss a thing. Half of it is Goku sparring with Vegeta, so of course Broly and Cheelai weren't going to have a whirlwind romance in this thing.

All I know for certain is that Cheelai walked by Broly and went out of her way to say he was "looking good", which is a lot more than she complimented anyone else on this planet. I mean, she's stealing Beerus' stuff, which ought to tell you how much she's into his lanky purple ass.

Moving on, Whis still wants to do that sparring match, if only so Broly can learn to appreciate a high-level battle with the fighters maintaining control of their powers. But Goku wants to eat first and so they stop for lunch.

And yeah, then this movie up and decides to give us Goku/Vegeta III, just like that. I don't want to oversell it, but it's an excellent fight. Whis sets the ground rules to that transformations and ki blasts are forbidden, so in a lot of ways this looks a lot like the kind of battle they might have had at the 25th Budokai before Babidi's henchmen got involved. We only get to see a few minutes of it, but they're so evenly matched that the fight takes a really long time to settle, so maybe it's just as well.

Beerus notes that Vegeta's moves have changed in an almost imperceptible way, due to his recent meditation training. Still, he loses interest in the fight and decides to get ice cream while the boys slug it out. I'm pretty sure Cheelai never cared in the first place, but Broly is enthralled with this action. He's getting to watch two of the greatest Saiyans ever put on a clinic, and he's soaking it up like a sponge.

But the important thing, at least as far as this movie goes, is that Beerus tosses an empty ice cream carton onto Whis' staff, so no one notice it flashing when Bulma tries to call him.

Which means Piccolo's on his own, at least for the time being. He gets the news from Bulma while he's picking up some senzu beans from Korin. The situation looks pretty bad, since Piccolo estimates that the Gammas' power is roughly on par with Goku and Vegeta's. And Dr. Hedo might know 17 and 18's weak spots, so they might not be able to help either. There is Majin Buu, though...

.... ha ha ha! No, did you think this one was going to be any different? Buu's sleeping through this crisis too. Seriously, why did they keep him alive at the end of the Buu Saga if no one had any plans to use him for anything?

So what about Gohan? That's what Korin asks, but Piccolo just says they can't count on Gohan right now, which... ouch.

But Piccolo does have one other idea, and so he flies up to see Dende on the Lookout and asks him to draw out his hidden power. See, the Kami of Planet Namek, Grand Elder Guru, was able to power up Krillin and Gohan way back in the day. Now, Dende is the Kami of Earth, so Piccolo figures Dende could do the same for him.

Only, no, it doesn't work that way. Turns out a Dragon-Type Namekian has to reach a certain age before they can use that sort of ability, and Dende's too young. On the other hand, Dende suggests using the Dragon Balls to solve the problem. They could simply wish away the Red Ribbon Army, but Piccolo doesn't care for that idea. Okay, well what about using Shenron to draw out Piccolo's hidden power? Can Shenron do that? Dende's like "gimme a minute."

So Dende wheels out the cart with the model of Shenron on it, and he powers a flask of water on the model. This makes it glow, and somehow upgrades Shenron so that he can grant a wish to draw out a person's hidden powers. Piccolo remarks that he had no idea any of this was possible when he was Kami. To be fair, when Piccolo was Kami, he didn't even know he was a Namekian, so there's a lot of stuff he was out of the loop for.

Now all Piccolo needs is the Dragon Balls, but Dende tells him that Bulma probably has them already. Ever since Frieza came back, Bulma's been gathering up the Dragon Balls every year, using the wishes up so that they'll be inactive in case any bad guys try to use them. Piccolo calls to ask her and yes, she has the whole set. In the dub, he asks her how many she has and she's like "Oh, uh.... All of them?!" I can't be sure, but I think that's a reference to the "All of them?" line from the dub of Dragon Ball, when Piccolo tried to zap Goku, but he missed all his vital organs. Anyway, Piccolo tells her to hang on to the balls until he gets there.

So they summon Shenron and it works. Piccolo gets stronger, and the Dragon promises that he threw in "a little extra".

That still leaves two wishes to use, so Bulma asks for a nicer ass and slightly longer eyelashes. Then she realizes -- too late-- that they could have wished to bring Goku and Vegeta back to Earth. Whoops.

"Shenron, I wish for you to bring Goku and Vegeta to Earth, so that they might bear witness to all this junk within my trunk."

So Piccolo returns to the Red Ribbon base and just walks right back to the line of soldiers there in Magenta's command room. They're still talking, and Piccolo tells the other soldiers he had to go potty. No one suspects a thing.

Magenta's trying to figure out what to do next. He'd like to target Goku and Vegeta, but no one knows where they are. Mr. Satan is too risky, since no one seems to know what his powers are, exactly. Then Carmine suggests Gohan be the next target. His intel says that it was Gohan who defeated Cell, and he has lots of spy footage of Piccolo going to his house to visit, which suggests that Gohan is a "shadow boss" in Bulma's organization. Magenta likes the idea of taking Gohan out, but he doesn't want Red Ribbon guys operating in the city, since it's too soon to reveal their presence to the wider public.

But if they could kidnap Gohan's daughter and lure him to the Red Ribbon base, then they could fight him on their own turf. Carmine finds that to be a good idea, as it would improve troop morale. Magenta orders a two-man team go to fetch Pan, and Piccolo volunteers, saying that he lives in the same neighborhood and knows Pan's face, because she's the granddaughter of Mr. Satan.

Dr. Hedo objects to the kidnapping angle, but Magenta tells him to mind his own business. Hmmm...

So Piccolo will be picking up Pan from preschool after all, just a bit later than planned. I don't know why Pan can't just run home by herself. She made it all the way here from Piccolo's house, didn't she?

One thing I like about this scene is how there's one other kid here who gets picked up, and that kid's mom apologizes for being late, so it's pretty clear that it's well after 1pm. Pan's been here a while. Her teacher assures here that someone will show up soon, but Pan's still kind of disappointed.

The other Red Ribbon soldier sent to do the kidnapping thinks this will be easy, so he just walks right up to Pan and tells her his mom sent him, but she demolishes him with a single blow.

Then Piccolo reveals himself and Pan recognizes him by his ki and calms down. The teacher already knows Piccolo, so she's cool with him, and Piccolo explains that this was all a security drill arranged by Mr. Satan. Now, in the dub, Piccolo addresses the teacher as "Janet", implying that he knows her as well as she knows him, and I think this is what led to the genesis of the Piccolo/Janet ship. I don't have a lot to say about it that hasn't already been said, but I'm all for Piccolo and Janet getting together. Janet's a fine foxy lady, and Piccolo's reputation speaks for itself.

Of course, Piccolo now has to fly the Red Ribbon airship back to base. He's a pretty crappy pilot, but he manages. I like to think Janet is still impressed, though. "Wow," she thinks as he flies away, crashing into a billboard. "Is there anything he can't do?"

Piccolo's plan is pretty simple. He explains the situation to Pan, and convinces her to play along with the kidnapping. When Gohan shows up to rescue her, he'll kick everyone's ass and that'll take care of everything. Actually, that sounds a little half-baked to me. Piccolo got a power up from Shenron, but is that enough? Anyway, they bring Pan to the base and take a video of her acting scared, then Magenta sends Piccolo and the other guy back to the city to show it to Gohan. Wait, why is that Namekian chair back there? What's that about.

Well, it doesn't matter because Pan sees some cookies and she's like "Don't mind if I do!" but then...

Carmine takes the plate away! BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

You suck, Carmine!

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Pan would probably attack him right there, except Piccolo's behind him trying to calm her down.

So Piccolo and 15 go to Gohan's house, and Piccolo takes him to the window since he knows Gohan won't answer the door. Notably, Gohan doesn't recognize Piccolo through his disguise, even though Pan saw through it immediately. Also, Gohan hasn't bothered to change out of the clothes Piccolo put him in this morning. Those must be fascinating ants he's working on.

15 shows Gohan the video of Pan and RIP the windowsill.

He turns Super Saiyan and scares the shit out of 15, who promises Pan will be fine if he just returns with him to the base. Gohan gets so mad he makes a crater in the ground...

... and the house starts to list down into the hole. But Piccolo doesn't mind because his plan is working. Gohan's back in a fighting mood and he can clobber the Gammas!

Or can he...?

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befuddled-calico-whump · 4 months

Text

Total $hit$how: Roses for the Knuckles

in which Hunter doesn't always listen

cw: referenced violence, adult language, implied abuse

previous /// masterlist /// next

×~×~×

“You'll each get one hour. Nowhere near enough time for anything real, but it should serve its purpose.”

Everyone was in the room with the mats, where they should've been running through their morning training. Obstacle courses or fighting or some shit, but instead of doing what they were supposed to, Sahota was following muscle girl's dumb idea.

Hunter knew what its 'purpose' was. Proving them all wrong, demonstrating that he was better than them for the hundredth time. Why was he even gonna bother? Why not just tell them no and be done with it? Why not just do what Vic wanted?

He didn't know what the big deal was anyway. Muscle girl had been in the army or some shit, so hadn't she already killed people? And fucking Manak didn't seem like he gave a shit about anyone else, so why did he care? Hunter didn't care. It wasn't like he knew Finley anyway, and he could just forget about the whole matter after she was dead and they had what they wanted.

If he would’ve told Vic about this last night during their training session, maybe he could’ve put a stop to this bullshit, but the ancient law of snitches get stitches kept his mouth shut. It wasn’t that big a deal anyway. Just a waste of time.

Hunter slouched as Sahota droned on and on about the rules, body and face rigid as he addressed the group. Like a fucking statue.

“I want each of you to come up with some arbitrary information that you want from me, and then I want you to try to extract it. You are permitted to do anything, so long as I can recover from it by tomorrow.”

Whatever that meant. It had been two days since he'd got his face beat in, and he already seemed just fine.

Muscle girl raised her hand. “What's the point?”

“I’ve been in the business for a while,” Sahota replied. “I know a good technique when I see one. If you manage to impress me, you win. I'll let you do it your way.” He thumbed at the scabbed-over cut running through his lip. “But don’t count on it.”

Some of the rest threw in their own questions, but Hunter tuned them out, pinching the skin of a knuckle between two fingernails until flowers started blooming there. No one would want to hear his side of the argument, his ‘we should listen to Vic, not Sahota’. If they didn't hate him already, he'd bet they definitely hated him after the video, after he was the only one who didn't want to go save their asshole trainer. But he'd been right, Vic had been right. Sahota got back just fine, not the slightest shift in his stupid slate-gray color unless you counted the bruises on his face.

He was right, but it seemed like no one wanted to look at him anymore. Not that they had in the first place, but it seemed more on-purpose now. Manak had been just as icy as ever when they'd worked together on the list, a task mostly completed in bitter silence. Hunter hadn't helped much, just kinda leaned back in his chair and looked for new patterns, distracting himself from the red ribbon of irritation that started coiling around the other man as soon as Sahota told them to work together.

And whatever, he didn't care. He didn't need Manak to like him, or Sahota, or muscle girl, or even… even the big guy. No, he didn't need them, not when he had Vic on his side, not when Vic wanted him to stay.

“Cavan, why don't you start us off?” Sahota said, and muscle girl straightened, her neutral blue brightening.

Cavan. Cavan, Cavan, Cavan, he’d try to remember it, but sometimes names were hard.

“I want the rest of you training. Spar for the first hour, then branch off into individual skills.” He gave Cavan a curt nod, and she followed him out, leaving a fading trail of blue behind. Hunter couldn’t tell if she was excited or nervous, and didn’t really care.

Beside him, the big guy let out a heavy sigh. “So… sparring?”

“Dibs on Jericho,” makeup guy said quickly, sidestepping towards the big guy and slipping an arm through the crook of his elbow.

Jericho, Jericho.

That left him with Manak. Whatever. Smug little richboy wasn’t that great with his fists, and Hunter wouldn’t mind breaking his stupid snobby nose. The big guy—Jericho—seemed to catch a whiff of Hunter’s plan though, a brighter flash that was probably alarm arcing through his purple.

“Actually, I think I’ll fight Harbor,” he said, shaking himself free of makeup guy, who put on a pouty expression. Hunter scowled up at him, squaring his shoulders.

“Yeah? What if I don’t wanna fight you?” he challenged, scanning the big guy’s—Jericho, it’s Jericho, fucking dumbass—silhouette for a shift in his color. The purple didn’t change.

“Do you not want to?” A little smile crossed his face. “You’re pretty good. I just want to see what you’ve got.”

Hunter scrunched his nose. He was good, but he knew what was really happening. Just the b–Jericho trying to save Manak’s ass. Whatever. Whatever, a fight was a fight. Training was training and he didn't need to be liked. He didn't need to be chosen for him, not by them.

“Fine.” He lifted his fists. Roses for the knuckles. “Fight me.”

~~~

The first hour went fast. Sparring always went fast, at least for Hunter. Maybe ‘cause it was something he was actually good at. Muscle girl (Cavan) came strolling back in near the end of the matches, and makeup guy (Benny?) took her place. From the dull in her blue, Hunter guessed she hadn't been successful. He coulda told her that.

Jericho spent the next hour looking over the folder with her and Manak, so Hunter spent his time wandering and practicing with patterns.

Find a pen, find a tool, find one of those screws that has an X on top, until makeup guy came back and Manak replaced him and his head was pounding.

He ignored the oncoming migraine.

I want you to come back after.

The next hour passed, the headache dug blunt teeth into his skull, and then it was Hunter's turn.

~~~

Sahota was sitting comfy when he entered, bound in place by ropes that wound around his wrists and the arms of the chair he was planted in. No sign of any blooming colors in his slate-gray, no hint of an expression on his bruise-mottled face.

Like an oil slick, he thought. Guess it's your turn to wear it.

The three who'd gone before him hadn't done shit by the looks of it. If anything, Sahota looked bored. Hunter could change that.

“So what,” he said, lingering in the doorway with his hands stuffed into his jacket pockets. “Do I just start?”

“What information are you pretending to be after?” Sahota asked, hardly shifting in his seat. Hunter wished he'd slouch, or sneeze, or yawn, or do something a normal human would do.

“I dunno,” he said, eyes darting away from the stiff slate shape of him, looking for anything shinier. “Your birthday or whatever.”

“Creative bunch.”

Hunter scowled, pulling his hands from his pockets and pinching a fresh cut that cracked through the back of his hand like a line in a broken plate. A little shower of rose petals started pouring from it in reply. “Can I hit you?”

“Do it.” Sahota rolled his neck, shrugging his shoulders like he was prepping himself for the first blow. “Is that your plan for Finley?”

“I don't have a plan for Finley,” Hunter said. “I didn’t ask to do this. You can just kill her for all I care.” That's what Vic had said to do. Why was Sahota of all people trying something different? He was in the spy shit too, shouldn’t he know better? Didn't he want to follow Vic?

The trainer’s gray sat plain and stony as Hunter talked, not the slightest flash of surprise, or approval, or even just being pissed off that he didn’t want to play along popping up.

“Are you going to participate?” he asked in a flat voice. “Or should I have you send for Davis?”

He'd like that, wouldn't he? Hunter leaving, giving up, going away. What would he think, if he knew that Vic wanted him here, if he knew that maybe, maybe Vic liked him better?

“I’ll play the stupid game,” Hunter said, rubbing his knuckles. “Just wanted you to know that it’s stupid.” A pattern had begun to swirl around them, starting out small and starry and distorting into silvery splatters. They might’ve been a warning, but Hunter didn’t know for what. That Sahota would get pissed and try to beat him up? That he’d try and kick him off the team? Fat chance, not when Vic was here to say otherwise.

“What’s your birthday?” he muttered. Sahota replied with a silent stare, his stupid gray color unchanging, his stupid expression stony and blank. Fuckin' statue.

Hunter hit him. Not hard, or anything. A little backhanded stroke across the face that didn't draw the slightest ripple through Sahota's gray. The back of his hand stung with the blow. Roses.

Sahota planted the even stare on him again, like he was challenging him, saying, ‘is that all you got?’

Hunter’s upper lip pulled back into a snarl. “When’s your birthday?” he said again, practically spitting the words out. The splattering silver whirled around him like a tornado. He tried not to look at it. He didn’t need his headache getting any worse.

Sahota still didn’t answer, so Hunter popped him across the other cheek.

“Do you really think this will get you anywhere?”

“You think I’d fucking know that?” Hunter snapped. “I’m not a psycho like you. I never tortured anyone.”

That seemed to have an effect, the gray getting a few shades darker in the middle of Sahota’s chest. Hunter’s mouth tipped up in a grin.

“S’wrong?” he said, circling the chair in an unhurried stride. “Don't like being called out on it?”

But just as fast, the gray was gone, and Sahota was quiet again. Of fucking course.

“When's your birthday?” Hunter said, this time leaning over the trainer's shoulder to hiss it into his ear.

“You’re sloppy,” Sahota replied, not seeming to care when Hunter popped him in the jaw. Barely even a grimace.

Sloppy. Just like he'd said when they fought the first time. Well who was the one getting hit? Sahota was sloppy, for letting the rest of the team have their way when an easier solution was right in front of them.

“When's your birthday?”

“Is that all you have to say? Does your entire plan revolve around asking the same question on repeat?”

“I told you, I don't have a fucking plan,” Hunter snapped, hitting him a little harder than he'd meant to. Closed fist tangling with the bruises on his cheek, reopening the cut that cracked his knuckles, rose petals.

That got a little gasp from Sahota. A blinking wince that made Hunter hesitate, his fist dropping to swing at his side.

I'm sorry. He wasn't. Sahota asked to do this, Sahota said he could hit him. He could take punches, they could both take punches, it was no big deal.

“I want to listen to Vic,” he said in a small voice. “I want to just… just kill her. If that's the easy way.”

Sahota's eyes narrowed. “You've never killed anyone.”

“Don't pretend you know me,” Hunter said, his voice rising again. “You don't know shit.”

He had, probably. He'd never actually watched them die, but he'd been in enough gunfights and brawls and shit that he'd probably killed someone. “I don't care, anyway,” he said, taking a half step backwards. The silver-spatter pattern swirled faster now, dizzy and bright. “Vic knows best, so if he says that's what we should do…”

“Vic doesn't always know best,” Sahota said. “Not for you.”

There it was. Hunter scowled, scanning the trainer's shape, seeing no sign of the jealous black cracks that had come crawling out of his throat before. Not like that meant shit. Maybe they weren't jealousy. He didn't know fuckall about what they could be because he didn't know fuckall about Sahota.

“What do you know about what's best?” he grumbled. Maybe he should've gone to Vic about this bright idea after all. Maybe this had all been a ploy to trick Hunter into going against Vic’s idea, to highlight him as a problem, to make him another outsider.

“I know this isn't the life you want," Sahota replied. "Finish this job and get out, or you'll end up wishing you had.”

Had Vic told him about the plan? About letting him stay? Was he just spouting this bullshit because he couldn't stand the thought of Hunter sticking around?

“You don't know what I want,” Hunter spat. “There’s nothing else for me. There's nothing else to want.”

Sahota grimaced. His gray was starting to darken at the center again, spreading like black clouds. “Harbor—”

“You want me to get out?” Hunter cut him off. “Fucking fine, I'll get out. Already said this was stupid.”

The green, the burning of chlorine in his nose hit him before he could turn around. Vic.

“Done already?” the handler asked in a voice that was danger-quiet. Like if Hunter answered wrong there'd be trouble. He'd heard it before. With teachers at school, with his dad at home, with Rex and the syndicate.

He froze. Sometimes the best answer was silence.

“I heard you're running them through an impromptu training exercise, Sahota,” Vic said, and Hunter realized the tone wasn't for him. He felt the tension seep away from his shoulders; vines unwinding and hanging there like deadweight limbs.

“Quite an interesting lesson plan today.”

“It's a demonstration, sir.” Sahota’s eyes dropped. “Proof that interrogation doesn't work the way they think.”

“Oh? Do you not think my word is proof enough for them?”

“I didn't mean that.”

Vic clicked his tongue. “I was under the impression that today's training was meant to be a little more standardized. Was that a lie?”

“No, I… it seemed like something too small to bother you with. Once they failed, we'd move on. Nothing would change.”

“So you'd rather keep it from me.”

“No, sir.”

Vic let out a little hm, letting silence sit prickly in the room for what was probably a full minute before he spoke again. “I do apologize for interrupting.”

Sahota didn't lift his gaze. Or even say anything.

“It's fine,” Hunter put in. “This is a waste of time anyway. Right? We should just—”

“No no, it's not my place to swoop in and change the curriculum for the day,” Vic said, letting out a small sigh. “I'm sure it's exactly as beneficial as you say, Sahota.”

Hunter didn't know why the change in his tone wasn't letting him relax, why the splatters in the air were turning razored at the edges, why some anxious color was starting to squeeze him again.

“In fact, why don't I watch the rest of the lesson? It's interrogation, right? You're letting them ask you questions?”

“Yes, sir,” Sahota said in a flat voice.

“Wonderful. Hunter?”

“Yeah?”

“Carry on.”

Hunter shook his hands loose, nervous energy bundling up in his fingers, tiny vines tangling between them like thread. Sticky and annoying. Vic wanted to watch? But what if he fucked it up? What if he wasn't good enough?

“When's your birthday?” he asked, his tone emptier than it had been before. Sahota didn't answer, just like before. Hunter hit him, not like before. This time he was careful to aim for even, unbruised color, to pull back on the blow.

He turned back to face Vic, feet shuffling him away from the man in the chair. “That's what I've been doing, Vi—sir. Pretty much just that.” Nothing to see here, no reason to watch, to find faults.

Vic chuckled. “And this is your idea of an interrogation?”

Hunter shrugged, letting out a quiet, “guess so.” Vic couldn't blame him for being bad at it, right? He'd never done this before, so it wasn't his fault, right? All he had to go off of was movies and the bloodied remains of Rex’s discarded rivals, and at the time he was too busy hoping it would never be him dead on the cement to memorize the fucking injuries.

“Here.” His handler stood, laying a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him so he was standing in front of Sahota again.

Silent, stony, Sahota.

“Let me help you out.” Vic pressed something into his hand. Cold metal, warmed by fingerprints. He didn't want to glance down, but it was from Vic, so he made himself look, eyes confirming the shape that he held. Brass knuckles.

A thought sped through his mind as he looked at them, wondering whether Vic just always had the weapon with him, or if he'd packed it for the occasion, if he knew this would be the outcome before he'd even stepped into the room.

“Try them on.”

Metal slipped past his fingertips to circle his knuckles, the shiny brown quickly choked out by dull green vines. Vic patted him on the shoulder.

“Looks good on you.”

Something pleasant zipped through Hunter at the words, but it felt wrong, out of place

“Go on, Hunter. Hit him again. And this time, don't hold back.” Vic squeezed his shoulder. “Let's show you what a real interrogation can look like.”

Hunter clenched his fist around the metal that enclosed them, letting it pinch the skin on the inside of his fingers. Hit him again, hit him with a weapon, hurt him, why did Vic want him to hurt him? Weren't he and Sahota partners?

“Vic…”

“What are you waiting for?” The handler leaned in, hands on his shoulders, lips on his ear. “Show me you can handle this much. Show me you belong here.”

Hunter tried to steady himself with an inhale, but the chlorine smell was choking him and the room was all dizzy from the spinning silver. He kept upright, locking his gaze on the man in the chair who sat stiff-backed. Unflinching.

He didn't want to hit him, he didn't want to hit him again, he hadn't even wanted to watch him get hit on the video two days ago but it was what Vic wanted.

The black cracks were back, branching out from the pit of Sahota's throat as they met eyes, and Hunter knew then that it wasn't hatred. It wasn't annoyance, or even jealousy.

It was fear.

~~~

@theonewithallthefixations , @violets-whumperflies , @whump-me , @pirefyrelight , @soheavyaburden , @snakebites-and-ink , @whumpsday , @kixngiggles , @echo-goes-aaa

#love when hunter makes casual references to his questionable and Really Pretty Sad past its one of my favorite parts of writing him #anyways this was one of the first scene ideas i had!!#it was originally supposed to be a kinda humorous comic but then i got to hunter's turn and went 😶#total$hit$how #interrogation #angst #stoic whumpee #implied abuse #beating

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