ragebloomed‌:

      𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧. She walked through the parking lot as the red queen. Streaks of blood painted through her hair as she stumbled into the back of a van. The world around them was silent, gunshots ringing her ears as she felt the hot muck of anger float in her system. Fuck, they fucked this mission up and it was all X5-455′s fault. Her fingers laced around the bench, bending the metal with her strength as she tried to tame her rage. They were going to get heat for this. It was his fault, not hers. She didn’t want to take ownership for something she didn’t do. Knowing Manticore, that’s exactly what would happen.

      ❝ I can’t believe you. We were so fucking close if you would have just kept your shit together. ❞ The brunette quaked, loosening her grip against the steel bench. Her gaze rose, eyes red as they locked onto the blood soaked man beside her. Was he even a man? Shit, she wasn’t sure what they were anymore.

^{He could feel the sway of the road underneath them. Missions were almost the only time he was in a vehicle, and it always felt odd to face sideways and move forwards. From beside him, the anger was like a lash. His head snapped towards her, reaction for a moment only a brow’s raise of surprise. She was nearly red, and had to be his mirror. They had death more personally than he was used to, the gore was its result. There was blood streaking through her hair, and the thought of washing it made him glad to not have it.}

 ^{It was the first time X5-455 had looked at her since their mission started. His attention had been more important on the things around them. On a mission, partners should be so in tuned they were one unit. A single melody. He’d been surrounded his entire life by the other X5′s, he knew them like breathing. Though she wasn’t one of them. Not really. The bright painted colours, muted under her skin, made her an exception if still purportedly his peer. There was blood smeared on the dented metal of the bench under her hands. His nostrils flared, eyes tracking back up to meet hers.} 

^{“Our target died. We’re here, alive. Uninjured. That I think is an accomplishment,” he said with a flash of a smile, a baring of teeth, and lifting his shoulders in a shrug, he inclined his head away again to watch the back panel of the van. It was almost possible to see the movement of the road in the breaks of the light coming through its seams. Or at least he could imagine it. The world outside of Manticore was a place he’d only seen in flashes. The blood had starting to dry, crack and flake from his hands when he shifted them in his lap, watching her beside him with half an eye. “It’s done now. What do you care?”}

^{// – @ragebloomed}

^{It was a mission completed, and until the end, line perfect. It was only from there that things ballooned quickly. Sometimes, an exit was necessary, even when the means were messy. Their handler was still at the meeting point, frown pinching a line into his forehead. Gripping the edge of the panel, X5-455 lifted himself past him into the van.} 

^{The lingering whine of gunshots, the rush of blood in his ears, were almost enough to deafen. It made the wail of an alarm and barking voices more distant than they are. The door rolled shut behind them, and in the silence the ringing in his ears was nearly as deafening. The inside of the van was clean. He took his seat carefully as the engine lurched the van into life underneath them, trying to keep from transferring the blood off his clothing.}

geneticexamined:

         𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. Oh, he recognized X6-117 too. The transgenic ducked from his view almost as soon as their eyes connected. She wanted out of the conversation just as badly Ellis would. He almost smirked if his intentions weren’t genuinely somber. He was coming back, hands on his knees with his head bent towards the heavens. He wanted forgiveness – even if he didn’t deserve it. He felt parts of his old self trickle down with each day he wasn’t a part of the administration. Manticore. It was strange to see Ellis and 117 alive. He figured them dead with the lack of any activity in New York. What made them appear so suddenly? Where were they after all this time? Would Ellis provide any sort of input?

        That was when their eyes met. Black against black, dark pools swimming like sharks as his hand tore through the crowd and headed straight for Louis. He was prepared for it. They were still in a public place. It wasn’t as if Ellis could pull his trusty pistol and off him in front of the masses. He was less scared of Ellis than he was of 117. 𝟏𝟏𝟕 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐟 𝐢𝐟 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝. Lou felt his bones quake as the force suddenly had him against the wall, hand laced around his throat like a vice. Christ, even that grin snaked on his lips. He just couldn’t help himself.

@phoenixbracer / 𝙿𝙻𝙾𝚃𝚃𝙴𝙳 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝚁𝚃𝙴𝚁.

New York’s street only kept getting busier. Ellis forgot every time, what the crush of people was like. It pulled his attention in a thousand directions, and set his jaw on edge. He kept Kat  as close as he possibly was able, a hand on her back, or the crook of her elbow and walking at her heel. Ellis could count on his hands how many times he’d visited the city in the past decade. He preferred the country now, the silence and the open space. Here, it was impossible for him to track every face, and every flutter of movement. Or to predict the next source of danger. Every loud noise made him tense, and he saw ghosts in the crowds. 

His eyes slipped past Lou’s face almost without looking twice. Not possible that he could have survived, and would have no reason now to be hunting them. Then Kat vanished from his side. Ellis’ gaze snapped back Lou, and felt the recognition of their eyes meeting. He was connecting bodily with Lou almost before he was aware of what he was doing, walking him backwards, and slamming him against the wall. From the street, it was difficult to tell what was happening. Ellis’ body mostly covered Lou’s unless you looked closely, and people in New York didn’t like to. It was very satisfying to close his hand over Lou’s throat and squeeze. It felt good, even when he saw that stupid grin spreading over his face. Maybe he wanted to die. Maybe he expected it. Ellis had too many questions. Reluctantly, his grip relaxed. Barring his arm across Lou’s chest, he leaned forward to speak against Lou’s ear, his voice low. “You have one try to come up with a reason I shouldn’t drag you into the alley and execute you. Why are you following us?” 

ofghostings‌:

     𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤. It was a beautiful sight, festering a warmth in her belly that she couldn’t ignore. It just took one look and she was mistaken as head over heels. ❝ Don’t worry about it, honestly. I had so much to do after that party for clean up that I’m sure my maid wanted to kill me. ❞ The brunette brushed off the worried tone with a breezy grin. It was easy to speak up, puff her chest out and walk around as if she owned the place. Well, her father had to at least own one of the buildings around them. She walked on air and Brynn deserved to feel the same – even though she came from a modest house. When asked how she was, the brunette paused. Wow, she didn’t even consider that for a question. It was so standard, so poise, so polite. Her tongue pressed against her cheek as she shrugged. ❝ Burying myself with shifts lately. Nothing’s better than coming home after a long shift. I think I have another tonight, if you want to come visit me. ❞

^{Parker’s expression lit with a smile, and Brynn returned it bright, and automatic. Just in her presence, Brynn’s heart beat too quick against her ribs, and was loud as rushing water in her ears. The intensity left her almost breathless.} 

^{“Oh no. That sucks she got stuck cleaning up after us,” Brynn said. Us, though the party had been mostly strangers to her. Parker was the only reason she’d attended. It would have been anyone’s lie to claim she wasn’t beautiful, but her energy was what had struck Brynn. They had spoken briefly for a shared project, conversations too small for Parker to even recall. From then on, Brynn hadn’t been able to clear the other girl from her head. With the party, it had only gotten worse. Brynn had caught herself back there too often, mind in Parker’s bedroom, and staring blankly at the blackboard.}

^{“Yeah? I mean, I don’t think I’m doing anything tonight, so I could probably swing by. Where do you work?”} 

ragebloomed‌:

     𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐨𝐟𝐟. She wanted it to feel better, be better, but the night had already taken a sour turn. It was her own fault, getting wrapped around in her own head over what this meant and what she meant to him. She wanted to be something more, but didn’t have the capacity to admit that openly. He was married. It didn’t matter if they were divorcing – It was clear as day that he wasn’t over her. The drunken lisp and phone calls when they hung out after sex was evidence enough. He liked her for a warm body and that was supposed to be fine. It was what they agreed to unconditionally. He shifted his belt over his jeans again and positioned himself. They pulled up slowly to his modest apartment. She didn’t say a word until they were inside. Her fingers slowly slid along his jawline as she walked backwards into the recently unlocked apartment. 

     ❝ I want you to only focus on me tonight.❞ The brunette murmured, voice barely above a whisper. It was as if she was sharing a secret with him, something brutal and violent. Her fingers slid over the line of his throat and pulled him down to a tense and adoring kiss. Her other hand threaded through his hair, tugging the ends as her back hit against the wall as she pulled him as close as possible against her. Her legs parted, skirt hiked up enough to reveal the lack of panties. She slid her hand from his hair to his hand, guiding his hand to touch against the flesh.  ❝ Got it?❞  

^{Silence fell around them like a shroud. Ellis tipped well, though they hadn’t left a mess, letting their cab drive away and following Kat into his building. She knew the way already, there was no need to wait for him to lead her. Though the words to do it caught in his throat, Ellis couldn’t break the silence between them. When he turned his head to catch her eyes, there was something behind Kat’s that he couldn’t understand, and he was too cowardly to ask. She drew him back into his apartment, once he’d unlocked the door for them, and the spell was broken by the threshold. She cut the silence only to give him a directive, but the kiss she gave with it spoke far more than her words.}

^{“I get it,” Ellis promised, lips hovering above hers in the barest breath of a kiss. Slowly, he ran his fingers along the length of her, breath catching as the image rose of sinking into the heat of her. It was easy to imagine, fantasy knitted over with the memory of her hot and slick around him. His fingers settling over her clit, rubbing small circles against it as he pressed more firmly into their kiss. Trapped between him and the wall, Ellis could feel the reverberations of what touch felt good with every shudder of her body against his. Her command had been to focus, but Ellis found difficulty ignoring the base urge to grind against her hip, breath still heavy against her lips.}

ragebloomed‌:

      he craned his neck forward, dipping down to kiss her gently. A flutter rose in her heart as Kathryn felt the waves of bitter envy soon fell in place. She broke the kiss, turning her head and keeping her mouth on his skin. Her lips were on his throat, hand wrapped around his cock. She pumped her hand as quickly as she could without notifying the driver. Her cheek rested against his narrow shoulder as she focused on the tense throbbing between her fingers. Anger still welled in the pit of her stomach, festering with each waking moment between them. She tried to focus on her hand and not how she wanted to slap away the hand that crept up her thigh. It should have been easy. Kat had done this several times before with him without the gentle quake of her heart, but the fact that he lied to her face rubbed her worse than she originally figured. She could tell he was close with the way his hips buckled up and breath shakily fumbled past his lips. And she wasn’t going to give him that sense of satisfaction. Her fingers slowed, pumping him teasingly slow before letting go completely. 

^{Despite the familiar actors, the energy different. He could feel its current buzzing through the cab, though Ellis wasn’t sure he could understand it. Her legs didn’t part to his touch, or hips arch towards the weight of his hand. Her lips had fixed to his throat, but turned away when he tried to meet them. There was nothing inviting in her body language. Her hand moving over his cock made it easy enough to let anything else slip away. Focusing on the touch, and her lips on his throat, and the soft sounds of his own breathing. She pulled him higher, edging him towards the precipice. Ellis swallowed around the groan rising in his chest as her touch turned teasing, and his eyes fluttered closed. His end, abruptly, didn’t come. Kat’s hand slipped away, and Ellis felt his breath escape him in a rush. Eyes open again, his head tilted towards her, frown a question he didn’t ask. A long, slow inhale steadied him, hips shifting as he tried to fumble the fly of his pants closed again. Lifting his head told him they were almost to his place, a longer ride than Ellis had realized. Easier probably, that she hadn’t let him cum in the backseat of their cab, though the pressure built made that reason difficult to see.}

ofghostings:

     ❝ hey, ❞ Parker said, hand placed on the shoulder of the girl from the other day. They met at her party, yes. The brunette barely remembered the haze of heated sighs and red wine. It was hard, however, to forget the orange curls attached to her skull. She could recognize them anywhere now. With a smirk, she withdrew her hand from her shoulder and stood awkwardly apart.  ❝ It’s good seeing you again. ❞

starter call / @phoenixbracer for brynn 

^{The sudden hand on her shoulder and a voice behind her, were enough to make Brynn jump. Her hand pressed against her heart, breath catching in her chest as she whirled around, and met Parker’s eyes. Brynn’s shoulders dropped. A heat prickled over her skin, the warm flush blooming across the back of her neck.  “Hey! Hey, I’m sorry I slipped out after the party. I meant to text you, things at home just got kind of-” Brynn broke off, tugging her bottom lip between her teeth, and shrugged quickly, tucking her hair back behind her ear. “How have you been?”}

ragebloomed‌:

    her throat burned. She felt the warmth spread from her chest and outward. All four shots were taking their hit at once. The brunette wanted to order another round, but the idea of a bottle at home held her attention. So, he planned to find her that night. At least, planned to milk the bottle with her while he settled over whatever woes plagued his skull. She didn’t mind being a distraction, in fact, she relished it. 

    Ah, but he didn’t want her to know about his tragedy. She was better a fuck. That was fine. She was used to that, after all, they never defined what they were. It was better to assume just sex rather than attaching feelings onto it. So, she bowed her head and smiled like a good girl she was supposed to be. She ran her hand up further on his thigh and dug her fingers into his waistband as he downed the rest of his drink. 

    ❝ Work has been a little hectic. I can’t say I love working for twelve hours straight, but hey - I knew what I signed up for. ❞ Kat shrugged, letting her hand rest along his inner thigh as she began slow circles in the area. His smile stretched fake across his features. Not only did he not trust her, but he was lying to her face. Her jaw clicked back, dampening the pleasant aura she held before. Now, he wanted to get out of there – to love – to distract. Kat turned her head away for a moment and cleared her throat. She was already calling them a cab, phone pressed to her ear as she slowly stood. 

    Her attention turned towards Ellis once the yellow vehicle rolled forward. Cash rested on the counter where she paid for their drinks. Her neck craned, dipping into the vehicle as she waited for him to join. Once he was in, the brunette leaned forward and closed her lips over the base of his throat. She let him toll out the address while her hand dipped over his belt. She undid it quickly and suddenly. There was only a poorly concealed visor between the driver and her hand wrapped around him. Her thumb rolled over the base of his head as she pressed her lips lightly against his neck. The skin was red and unbruised. She had an idea of changing that. 

^{She’d asked him to buy her a drink but put cash down anyways. Ellis watched her walk away, his smile pinned to her back and slowly softening. She was already dialing them a cab, probably the right call. Even if he still thought he trusted himself behind the wheel, Ellis had a feeling if they were stopped, he would have blown over. His badge afforded some amount of leverage, easy to abuse, but it was a situation better avoided. He closed out their tab, leaving a generous tip from the cash Kat had thrown down, and took the rest to pay their cab fare.}

_{Stepping outside, a crisp breeze was a relief. Ellis couldn’t be sure if the warm flush under his skin was the alcohol or just Kat. He only hesitated long enough to fill his lungs with a long breath of stale air, before following her to the car waiting. The cab door was barely shut behind him, before her lips were at his throat. Ellis was proud his voice didn’t waver while he gave his address to their driver, even when she jerked his belt from its buckle. The man’s eyes flicked up and caught his in the mirror, but didn't linger. Ellis exhaled the breath he was holding as Kat’s hand closed around his dick. He placed a hand under her chin to tilt her face up for a kiss, nose brushing hers before he leaned in to press their lips together. His other hand rested on her thigh, massaging his fingers into the muscle as he ran it upwards.}

ragebloomed‌:

     ❝ cheers. ❞ The brunette raised her glass to the toast, feeling that it was just another to reason to which, she couldn’t complain. Her lips parted to welcome the burn of whiskey down her throat. She downed the clink of ice like a shot. It soon settled on the counter with a rattle as she waved the bartender back before they could even step away. She tapped the side of the plastic cup and smirked up towards him. ❝ Might as well make two of these. ❞ She said, watching the amusement that flickered across their expression from it. 

     It was easy to fall into her chaotic sense of routine. If she was drinking, she was going hard. If she was fucking tonight, she wanted to be as faded as possible to handle it without emotion. Her heart was twisted and fond of the man beside her. It was, perhaps, because he was the only one that treated her with any sense of decency. Clarke was a handful. She almost wanted to spite him with Ellis. Ellis was the perfect distraction from her lukewarm boyfriend. He was water to his hot iron. She wondered what was going through his mind as she stared at him. He seemed worse for wear, wound tightly around his own coil. She moved a hand forward, settling onto his thigh as it neared his crotch. 

     ❝ It’s been a while since we’ve hung out. Do you want to talk about how’ve you been or do you want to take another double and head out? ❞

^{He tipped his head back, let the shot pour past his tongue. The plastic cup didn’t make much sound as he set it down on the bar. Warmth washing through him, and he breathed through the familiar burn. Ellis wiped the back of his hand over his mouth, keeping Kat in the corner of his vision.}

^{The gentle pressure of her hand on his thigh was an offer. It came with another, the chance to talk. Not for her to learn more; he got the impression she knew about as much as she needed to about him. It was for his benefit. Ellis might have been touched by the badly veiled concerned, but he hadn’t realized he was projecting his own misery so openly. Ellis thought of a statistic he’d heard, of men who hired sex workers just for a sympathetic ear and a chance to unburden themselves. Immediately, he felt a rush of guilt for the comparison.} 

^{“I’ve been great. How’s life been treating you?” Ellis had never doubted his own ability to lie, but great might have been overstretching it. He knew his smile didn’t reach all the way to his eyes when he offered it. Kat had plucked out the heart of him, but it wasn’t up to her to hold his hand and lead him forward. She didn’t have any obligation.}

^{“Let’s get out of here. I have a bottle at home I was waiting for company to open,” Ellis said, wondering if he might not still be able to drive if he tempted her away now.}