it's not an act of love if you make her

persephone blake. 30. not taking interviews.

[killianford]

↳INSTAGRAM: @killianford posted to their Instagram story.

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: the father who stepped up twice

[levibehindthelens]

↳INSTAGRAM: @levimchell posted a photo to their story:

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: oh lol cute

[roberrys]

↳INSTAGRAM: @rowanberry uploaded a photo:

Tofu is spayed, house-trained, cuddly, insanely lovely and in need of a good home. Her previous owners moved overseas and I want her to find a new forever family. Give me a message if you’re interested!

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: holy shit, look at her. this is so freaking cute. i swear, grantaire does NOT need a new friend...

[levibehindthelens]

↳INSTAGRAM: @levimchell posted to their close friends story.

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: oh this is so

@sephyblake: she’s a cutie

[bwprestwick]

Bradley was still dazed to a degree that might have been embarrassing if he had ever considered the concept of pride before in his life. He blinked stupidly as his brain tried to catch up with the reality of Sephy kissing him, something that only happened in his wildest imaginings and several noughties-era sex-comedy movies where the hot girl miraculously took a chance on the nerdy guy.

He couldn’t quite work out how they’d gotten from point A to point B. He and Sephy being friends had been unbelievable enough for some people - Maggie Chance, if he wanted to name one name out of many - and he’d even struggled to reconcile himself with the truth of it himself. Somehow, in between their bickering and his visits to the bake shop and his little sister’s unrelenting adoration of the blonde sitting next to him, something had shifted in their relationship. They’d become friends and now, apparently, something else had grown out of that.

Despite everything, dread stirred in the pit of Bradley’s stomach. Here he was, kissing the girl of his dreams, and he couldn’t help but think he didn’t really deserve it.

Tell her the truth then, idiot, he scolded himself. Blinking rapidly, he stared at Sephy in naked shock, mouth opening and closing as if he was gearing up to say something, when she beat him to the punch. Apparently that wasn’t the surprise.

“Wait, what?” he asked, confused. If the kiss wasn’t the surprise, then what had it been? Just an every day occurrence for him and Sephy that he’d somehow forgotten due to a bad case of sudden onset retrograde amnesia? His mind flicked through various Star Trek episodes for something similar happening so he could have a point of reference for how to deal with this.

“Do you mean there’s something more?” He tilted his head to the side, a wrinkle of confusion appearing between his eyebrows. “Was the kiss a distraction before like, Jackson Otto appears from nowhere to knock me out or something? Did you kiss me the same way you see videos online of dogs getting pup cups and trips to the beach before they’re taken to the vet to be put down?”

Oh, he needed to shut up right now. Word vomit was a Bradley Prestwick specialty but he really did need to absolutely can it, especially when Sephy dared him to rise to the challenge of kissing her back.

As soon as she leaned back in, he quickly readied himself and met her halfway, their mouths gently colliding in a proper kiss this time. Read: a kiss where both people were aware it was actually happening.

His hand slid up to her shoulder, which wasn’t the most sexy of positions, but he was learning on the spot here. Carefully, he kissed Sephy back, growing more confident when he realised that, for some reason, whether it be down to a miracle or pure lunacy on her part, she was just as into it as he was. 

His hand slid into her hair as they kissed, soft blonde locks falling through his fingers as he moved his mouth against hers, their tongues exploring the seam of each other’s lips.

“‘Kay, wow,” he mumbled in the shortest sentence of his life before leaning back in.

[persephoneacts]

Persephone should have known something had shifted between her and Bradley long before today. Aside from her newfound, glaring desire to stick her tongue down his throat, she should have known something was different when she found herself actively looking forward to his long, nonsensical tirades as he rambled incessantly firing out the first and most bizarre string of words in whatever order he saw fit. She no longer looked at him like he needed a psychiatric evaluation, but instead with great fondness. 

Right now, however, she needed him to shut up and kiss her. 

“Uhuh, yeah. That’s it, I’m giving you a good send-off,” she laughed, sweetly parting his lips with her tongue and swallowing the rest of his words. 

This time, he met her pace and the two were wrapped up in each other in perfect synchronicity, Persephone humming sweetly as she felt his hand slide into her hair. They were positioned awkwardly, with Persephone perched between his knees while he remained seated – though, admittedly, his obscene height meant they weren’t entirely unmatched. All the same, she decided to take advantage of how pliant he was being by lowering herself down to perch on his knee as she curled in and against his body. Her arm curled around his neck as she used it as leverage to pull herself in against him, her chest now plush against his. 

When she heard his gentle utterance of wow, a whimper spilled from Sephy’s lips and she immediately blushed, eyes widening as she pulled back to break the kiss. 

“Do not let that go to your head,” she laughed, before moving back in. 

This time, her lips peppered along his jaw instead, allowing them both a brief release as Bradley caught his breath. Sephy nipped experimentally at the lobe of his ear, wanting to savour this tiny, playful moment. It was a rare thing that she got to explore another man’s mouth and not feel sick to her stomach after, or that she could allow the press of his hands against her without needing to get high first. It was such a relief to her nervous system that she thought she might cry. 

“Do you still want your gift? Or would that cut into our makeout time?” she teased, lips a breath away from his ear. Heat pooled in the pit of her stomach as she readjusted herself, climbing more firmly into his lap. If he wanted to stop now, she wouldn’t mind, but she also knew she’d be more than content if this was all they did with the rest of their afternoon. 

[playbillmaia]

↳INSTAGRAM: @maiaprestwick uploaded a photo:

Proof that I do leave the house after 8pm when I’m not busy helping to organise a newsboy strike. (Rachel drags me out the apartment and says I can’t enter my grandma era just yet.)

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: you are literally so cute it makes me sick. this is such a great look btw

[bwprestwick]

“Alright, alright, shutting up,” Bradley said, appropriately mollified for now. He wasn’t too good at taking cues from other people, with only his mom and Maia being the ones who could successfully get them to do their bidding. Mei was close, but sometimes he enjoyed the rankled look on his best friend’s face way too much to not make her work for his obedience just a little bit.

Sephy had, somehow, managed to swoop in and wrap him around her little finger. It would be too generous for Bradley’s reputation to claim it was because of the charm and charisma she’d managed to hone over the years in the acting industry. In reality, it had everything to do with Bradley’s big, stinking, ill-advised crush on her. 

He wanted to reach up and rub a little at his nose, as if to heal himself from the slight ache that had flared up when he’d collided with Sephy. But he couldn’t see if Sephy was doing the same thing or not, and he didn’t want to be the only one grousing about it hurting. If Sephy wasn’t going to be a wimp then, by all laws invested in the first guy to ever declare that showing pain in front of the girl you were crushing on made you a pussy, Bradley just had to grin and bear it. It was a feat made easier when he heard Sephy’s musical laugh.

They’d fallen into a pattern lately where Sephy, who had scowled at him on their first meeting, now liked to laugh at him and with him. The significant thing to note was that Bradley really didn’t mind which one it ended up being. If cackling at his own misfortune was what brought a smile to Sephy’s face then Bradley would voluntarily start looking around for banana peels to slip on Looney Tunes-style.

He felt his smile stretch like elastic across his face, up until his mouth was suddenly preoccupied with being covered by Sephy’s own.

Immediately, Bradley broke his promise to keep his eyes shut. Like an absolute idiot, he allowed them to fly open, just to ascertain that Sephy was actually kissing him and hadn’t fainted then fallen on him, mouth first. Blinking as she allowed her lips to linger there for a second, his heart felt the way John Hurt’s surely must have in Alien before the xenomorph burst right out of his chest. 

Before he even had a chance to process what was happening or, heck, kiss Sephy back you absolute fucking buffoon Bradley Prestwick, the blonde had pulled back. But only just.

A pathetic noise crawled its way up the back of Bradley’s throat as she tried to swallow her words by clumsily kissing her again. It was a quick peck, and did nothing to satisfy Badley’s newfound craving.

“Was that the surprise… or…?” he asked, words slurring together as he displayed a degree of speechlessness, the likes of which had never been seen by anyone who clapped eyes on Bradley in years.

[persephoneacts]

It occurred to Persephone, in a strange sort of sad realisation, that maybe she’d never been kissed in the way she should have been. Not until now, not until Bradley. She wasn’t naive, obviously, nor was she deep in the throes of denial as she’d once been. She knew her history with men was murky, and that her earlier sexual experiences in life had been marred by years of abuse and violence, but she’d thought that there had been times in between that had to have counted for something. Charlie had always been kind to her, tender even, and she would never say their kisses were bad. They were sweet and loving, but there had always been a shared trauma tucked away behind those kisses. They were a safe space for one another, but that was all, just two fucked up people finding solace in another addict, another user who could understand their plight when it seemed like the odds were stacked against them. Kissing Jax, of course, had been mechanical. He was lovely and gorgeous and she thought the world of him, but she knew how painstaking it was for him to have to pretend. And then there was Maggie, and their strange and messy excuse for a relationship. Whatever it was that Maggie was dealing with, whatever stage of denial she’d buried herself deep inside of, Persephone had been nothing but an anchor to the girl. She’d been a soft place to land, somebody that she could trust with her wildest fantasies without ever having to unpack them for what they were. And for Persephone, she’d shamefully allowed herself to fall into bed with a girl she bore no real physical attraction to, somebody she could kiss and methodically ply open with her fingers, making her cum just enough to appease both their needs in ways that didn’t feel dangerous or frightening. 

Sufficed to say, kissing Bradley was like nothing she’d ever experienced before. 

Admittedly, he hadn’t quite kissed her back, but the sensation of his mouth against her own, combined with the adrenaline that was now coursing through her veins, were enough to tell her she’d enjoyed even that brief delight. She pulled back, daring to place some distance between them so she could gauge his reaction, only for a burst of laughter to spill from her lips as Bradley finally caught up, his long gangly limbs seemingly locked into place as he bobbed his head after her, catching her lips in a clumsy, though this time reciprocated kiss. 

“No, dummy. That wasn’t the surprise,” she smiled, suddenly feeling elated at just how gormlessly dumbfounded her looked. She’d been hoping to shut him up, of course, but she hadn’t anticipated such quick results. 

It did mean, however, that she was too charmed by his dorky demeanor right now for the comic book to even to be a thought in her mind. Instead, she found herself bravely inching forward, her knee bumping his as she parted his legs, creating a gentle space for her to step in between them as she took his face into her hands again, this time more deliberately. Her thumb gently scraped along the meagre stubble along his jaw as she dipped her face down to meet his, a soft question of “You wanna try and kiss me back this time?” playing on her lips as her mouth met his. 

[dungeonsanddale]

↳INSTAGRAM: @dalehudson uploaded a photo:

Hi (said with the intention of letting you be the shark when we play the Jaws board game 😘)

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: ok hotty!

[littlemaggiechance]

↳INSTAGRAM: @maggiemeichance uploaded a photo:

and i feel likе i might throw up, left hook, right punch to the gut. you’re so, so prеtty, i’m paranoid i made you up !!! 💕🫧 new single drop dead is out now

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: omg BABE!!!!!! killing it. I literally love this so much.

[staygoldgoose]

↳INSTAGRAM: @goosewoodrow uploaded a photo:

drew me n cherry 🙂

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: The way every comment here is telling you how adorable you are and i'm mad I wasn't first to the punch but also. Shit. They right

[levibehindthelens]

↳INSTAGRAM: @levimchell uploaded a photo:

Working hard or hardly working?

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: Guy who wants you to know he's tatted up

[ariadnebyanyothername]

↳INSTAGRAM: @stageyhalliday uploaded a photo:

Addie and I spent the day picking flowers for the future Silly wedding. How do we feel about Spring, @billymchale?

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: He's getting married?

[taptapbuddy]

↳INSTAGRAM: @buddyclevenofficial uploaded a photo:

Robbie just accused me of ‘going celebrity’ because I wrapped up like this for the day. Robbie, we’re in a blizzard!

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: Babe! Obsessed

[littlemaggiechance]

↳INSTAGRAM: @maggiemeichance uploaded a photo:

it’s giving dream girl <3

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: Cutest girl in the whole school

[bwprestwick]

Bradley narrowed his eyes at Sephy’s sudden bout of nervous energy. Whatever this ‘surprise’ was, it was clearly something bigger than a joke gift, which was a realisation that threatened to open up a whole new can of heart-eating worms for Bradley. Why had Sephy bought him, of all people, a gift? Especially one that she seemed to be both excited and anxious about giving him.

His curiosity was greater than his delusion and so he sat where he was on the sofa as she went to go fetch it. Under strict instructions to keep his eyes shut, Bradley naturally did the opposite. He craned his neck to see if he could follow Sephy as she moved through her apartment, only for a sharp pair of claws to sink through the material of his jeans.

“Ouch!” he hissed. He winced, sharply looking down at the scornful amber-eyed gaze of Grantaire, only retracting his claws, it seemed, when Bradley was no longer looking at Sephy.

“Narc,” he muttered, sorely rubbing his leg. 

He heard Sephy come back his way, the floorboards of her apartment creaking underneath her in warning. Quickly, he slammed his eyes shut and obediently held out his hands.

“Alright, alright, bossy,” he grumbled, keeping his eyes scrunched close. If it hadn’t been for Sephy darting around like she actually had something genuine to hide, he might have thought that, any minute now, he’d end up with a handful of plastic spiders. Maia had pulled that trick on him one too many times when he was little and he didn’t trust himself to be man enough about the situation, knowing he’d end up rocketing off the sofa in a completely emasculating way, shrieking to a decibel someone like Jackson Otto surely never would.

Then, he felt Sephy’s warm hands wrap around his own and he jumped a little. He felt her thumb press against his palm and the corner of his mouth ticked upwards.

“They’re closed! What do you want me to do, woman? Glue them shut? Come on, you’re making me nervous now. Are you about to throw Grantaire at my face, is that what’s happening right now?” he asked, wrinkling his nose at the thought of getting a furry maniac of a cat tossed at his head.

Absently, he heard the crinkle of something like paper sound from Sephy’s direction and craned his neck closer.

“What is that? Is that my present?” he asked, leaning even closer to try and turn his ear to the source of the noise, only to lean too far and clumsily bash his nose off of Sephy’s.

“Aw, shit, ow,” he whined.

[persephoneacts]

Holy shit. Persephone had a raging crush on a total fucking moron. 

Bradley was being totally ridiculous. All she needed was for him to keep his eyes and mouth shut, but even in that brief reprieve where she revealed her surprise, he couldn’t stop fidgeting. He was prattling on – as was his greatest talent, with photography at a very close second – and creating insane scenarios that were, quite honestly, sounding more and more likely the more he blathered on. Maybe she would launch her feral kitten at his face, if only to see how he’d react. Perhaps she should take on board his suggestion about the glue, only it was his mouth she was thinking of clamping shut. 

Instead, she rolled her eyes, hissed a snippy “oh my God, will you shut up?” and cradled his gift to her chest. She scoffed then, as the crinkle of the plastic wrapper brought another string of questions to his lips, half tempted to smack him over the head with it. Before she could spring her surprise on him, or give further consideration to the act of bludgeoning him, he was shifting forward, his nose bumping against hers in an act of impatience. Her lanky, moron of a friend was already grumbling from the impact, and another string of giggles betrayed Persephone by falling from her lips. 

“Quit being such a big baby,” she laughed, now shaking her head so fondly. 

She stilled for a moment, growing cross-eyed as she tried to get a better look at him with their faces so closely pressed together. Had she found herself positioned across from anyone else, she might have been able to enjoy the serena way that they waited for her, features calm and smooth in that careful, pregnant pause. It could have been a sweet, relaxing moment leading up to the big reveal of her gift, the very thing she’d been giddy to show him. Instead, Bradley was acting like he was several sandwiches short of a picnic and making a spectacle of closing his damn eyes, and Sephy found herself horrendously endeared by the whole display. Maybe it was a sign that she had awful taste in men, or maybe the years of drug and alcohol abuse were finally catching up with her and addling her brain. 

Whatever it was, she hoped she could blame it for what she was about to do. 

Lifting her free hand to cup his cheek, Sephy’s thumb swiped delicately over the bridge of his nose, before tenderly pressing the pad into the tip of his nose, as though soothing his imaginary wound. Then, without pausing to think, she pressed her lips to Bradley’s and kissed him. It was slow and chaste, mouths shut as she grew accustomed to the sensation. It had been so long since Persephone had kissed anybody, she could hardly believe she was doing it now. Her eyes fluttered shut in mimicry of Bradley’s, and she found herself smiling sweetly into the kiss. 

“Does it still hurt, or are you done whining?” she whispered. 

[bwprestwick]

↳INSTAGRAM: @spideybrad uploaded a photo:

For ages now the internet was pretty adamant that Sephy and I aren’t allowed to date because she’s Persephone Blake and I am, amongst other things, silly string if it made a wish to be a human as well as an Appalachian sasquatch the folks in Ohio tell their kids about at night to scare them into sleeping without a peep, but then today we saw that for V-Day, one of Seph’s stan accounts posted ‘happy cupid day to sephy and that lanky white boy she has to hold onto to stop the wind taking flight with him like a kite’ and so this is us finding out that we somehow DO have internet approval after all and our permission slip to date has been signed by Twitter user @snoopysephy. Now we can finally sleep peacefully at night and we’re so fucking psyched it went through and got greenlit on the most sickening and annoying day of the year. Yippee!

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: thank you so much @snoopysephy for your support and also for the killer handle. we see you. we love you. my lanky white boy stays safe for another year. sephy 1 - 0 wind. @sephyblake: also babe stop being a freak on the internet and come make out with me

[marleybosswitch]

↳INSTAGRAM: @marleybosswitch uploaded a photo:

new york winter getting you down? come see ya girl perform her tight five on friday night to make you laugh, giggle, or let out a trademark billy mchale chortle. jokes will be a-plenty although i understand if nothing i say is funnier than thinking diego could land drew blake.

[persephoneacts]

@sephyblake: Oh shit, we're friends with a celebrity