#( setting is vague so we can take it wherever! )

[dhampling]

the sunwalker's gift gn!reader, 3.3k

“What is all of this in aid of, anyway?” He asks in a lazy drawl, seemingly unbothered. “The adventuring stuff. Do we have a destination yet?”

inspired by this ask where the reader finds a ring - after a lot of searching - that allows astarion to walk in the sun, and proposes with it. enjoy! wc: 3.3k cw: none. gn reader, fluff, all good stuff. no use of y/n. like one vague reference to sex. that's it. liberties taken with the idea of the sunwalker's gift.

Tardy.

“Here then, yes?”

A gentle dirt path carries to the town boundary, the marker one of dry wood and old brandish. Windows of amber; smoke rising to the stars, a biting chill settling on the ground as gateclose approaches.

You turn the map in hand to compare against the settlement before you.

“Think so.”

Astarion takes your arm in his, leaving the map hanging free in his wake. 

It takes all the will you can muster not to take his hands in yours and spin him in some sleepy glee-bound whirl in the sheer ecstasy at the thought of what you have planned - instead pulling each other something ragged down the slope in a half-step, half-cant; giddy at the thought of Firewine by a fireplace as your breath clouds the air foggy past your heads.

You’re in a position where - maybe for the first time since the Netherbrain fell - you can see the end. 

And it’s close. Ridiculously close. 

You want nothing more than to drop and do it now. Knees muddied in the dew-thickened dirt clod and breeze heavy with frost under the big pale moon - teeth chittering, looking up to him;-

Gods. You can picture it. His eyes hooplike with uncertainty, the one last drip of doubt teetering on his tongue - is this some kind of cosmic joke? - a quiet whisper under his breath, a little tilt of his head. Hair rippling in the moonlight. A moment of mutability as he reconciles all you are, all you’ve become together. That there’s a future in which sincerity is all he knows moving forward.

No.

Before morning, for sure.

-

The gate welcomes you in one last waning breath as the guards head to their watch turrets until dawn, and it takes a minute to truly come to terms with civilization once more. Your eyes flit to each of the little flickering lanterns and candles in windows; to the railings adorned with browning vines and disused terracotta pots.  

It’s been months since you and Astarion have been somewhat settled anywhere. Since the Absolute fell and you set off for adventures beyond anything you or he could ever imagine. Navigating the Underdark together, treading darkness above ground; wherever, it wasn’t of any real importance. You’d find lodging where you could, eat with whoever welcomed you; and you did it together.

Of course, your ulterior motive has managed to remain a secret. From clandestine discussions with the Society of Brilliance all the way back to the Gate; to fevered exploration in the deepest chasms of Sembia. Nights spent looking over the ferryboats on the Sea of Fallen Stars and discussing so many different futures the two of you could live. 

He is completely disarmed and unsuspecting at your side. Radiant. Hopeful. The world is changed and he wants to see every bit he passes with eyes wide open to good fortune.

“A town called Tardy? Really?” 

He sneers.

You shrug.

“It has a fun ring to it. Tardy.”

The word bounces on your tongue as you taste the mull-soak set between your teeth. 

A wordless mission to stave off the chill now has you settled fireside in the closest inn with mulled Glowfire. The clock ticks and there’s lively chatter a little behind you in the main tavern room.

“The Scoundrel's Cellar, though. Now that’s a good name.’

He takes a small sip. 

‘Why Tardy?”

You turn your head to him with a tight quirk of your upper lip.

“You’re asking me why?”

“Not really.’

Astarion looks at you and smiles.

‘It’s just… nice. To be able to talk at such leisure like this, I think.”

His cheeks are ruddied by the lashings of wind, the hint of a twinkle in his eyes as he reveres you. Hair a little unruly in the mop of curls atop his head but still unbelievably well-kempt for a man who's been on the road for months now. Lost wholly in his sheer exuberance, his joy in living despite the lack of a pulse. His chalice is close to his chest as he warms his hands.

You daren’t linger on your own appearance, thinking a silent prayer that the bathroom has a mirror. 

It’s a long moment before you reply.

“Yes! Yes. Absolutely.”

He throws you a quizzical glance but the smile doesn’t leave his face as he shifts to look down at his drink.

“I sometimes picture having a fireplace, you know. How-’

A brief pause.

‘How nice it’d be to sit by it, on an evening like this. Home.”

Astarion stretches a palm outward to the flame and closes his eyes, basking in the scalding heat. Amber shades. Pallid skin a perfect canvas.

“What would you be doing, by the fire?” You query softly as you watch the gentle flickers of his hand, outstretched.

“I- I’m not sure.”

Something resembling a coy smile creeps onto his face, overrun by a timid quiet uncharacteristic of your long-term lover. You lean over to him and take his nimble fire-warm hand in your own. A small kiss planted firmly on the hot skin.

“Go on.’

The willing smile on your face as you egg him on, chin to palm. He tilts his head coquettishly. 

‘What do you see in that beautiful head of yours? Because I can see it now - a sitting room full of tapestries and hangings; all of your design, of course. Patchwork blankets. Big comfy seats.”

“Ugh. Fine. Yes.’

Any ill-mannered jest fades almost immediately as he looks into your eyes and beams once more. He is safe here. He knows it.

‘I’m thinking big seats. Maybe-’

He brings his arms out wide.

‘Maybe this big? Possibly bigger? Somewhere to lounge, naturally.’

His hand finds yours in the low light once more, a tentative clutch as he maps out the vision in his head. 

‘Soft carpets on stone floors. Incense - none of the dull stuff though, darling; only pure patchouli - and… and lanterns with glass of all colours, so the room glows with light constantly.”

“So we’ve set the scene. Then what?”

Astarion rolls his eyes at you fondly.

“And then… I don’t know. A little cat on the cushions. Books, papers scattered on the carpet as despite the fact we have those big comfy seats; I’m not seeing myself to be inclined to move Her Majesty.”

“After the cat at the Last Light?”

“The very same. But I want a girl cat. Boy cats feel… weird to me. Cats are girls.’

He grimaces and waves his chalice-hand.

‘Anyway. Her Majesty on the lounger, me on the floor. I’m drawing up patterns early into the morning. Big, thick shutters over the windows; but it doesn’t matter because the lantern light is so vivid, and you;-’

There’s a feather-soft look to him when he does look at you.

‘Oh, you.’

You become aware of him drawing small circles with his thumb, eyes unmoving; unblinking. 

‘Always you. My love. Should you decide to join me in long-term domesticity-’

He plants a kiss on your hand as you did his. Your stomach is pure cream as you listen, nodding slowly with lids of honey.

‘Then you. Everywhere. Beside me on the carpet, laughing in that delicious way you do. Astride me in our bed -’

You smirk. He looks at you a little deviously.

‘Well, not just bed. Anywhere, really.”

“Is that what the loungers are for?”

A small grin.

“Maybe.’

You gesture for him to continue with a knowing grin.

‘Anyway. Yes. The future. Us. A townhouse somewhere in the Gate.” He sips slowly while pondering.

“What about younglings? You were fond of Yenna.”

The wine erupts down his pale chin in shock, eyes like saucers.

“I’m sorry?”

“Children.” You repeat, holding his gaze with firm affection. 

He moves to laugh but there’s a wavering indecision in the way his brows crease.

“Is that even possible?”

“I don’t know. But if it is?”

He stops to think for a moment when the call for Grand High Lord Supreme General Admiral Ancunín - his favoured travelling name - comes from the frazzled barmaid at the front of house to signal your rooms are ready, and all discussion overruled by the fact you’re both bone-weary beyond belief.

As your hand moves to your pocket, you feel it.

Sequestered away in the little velvet box you bought from the Night Market months ago and kept for this. 

Later.

-

Hours on and you’re settled. A small room with an adjoining washroom - modest, but surprisingly comfortable; and just as you’d hoped, there’s a balcony. 

Astarion lounges on the bed with a large leatherbound book, looking fondly at you from time to time as you busy yourself with your recent findings, taking inventory and stashing bits away in their respectively labelled bags of holding.

“What is all of this in aid of, anyway?” He asks in a lazy drawl, seemingly unbothered.

“What?”

“This. The adventuring stuff. Do we have a destination yet?”

“No, not in particular.’ You turn to look at him over your shoulder.

‘Why? You’ve not been bothered before?”

“And I’m not now. But I am curious.’

He grins devilishly on the bed and flips the book closed, placing it next to him and sitting straight - legs crossed. 

‘What’s the plan, lover?”

“Who says there’s a plan?”

He’s got you right where he wants you. 

You feel yourself becoming giddy again - heart wholly aflutter. You’re aware that he’s attuned to the regular pitter-patter between your ribs and despite the conscious attempt to regulate yourself back to calm; you almost want him to find you out this way. 

“Nothing. I’m just wondering where we’re - well, wandering. It’s beginning to feel a little aimless”

There’s a moment of silence, prolonged as you fiddle further with your trinkets.

“I-’

You reach for the box in your pocket and run a thumb over it reactively.

‘I’ll tell you later. I promise.”

He looks at you with a curious furrow, trying to eke out a little more information in the quiet din but you’re wise to it at this point in your relationship. You simply yield into his glance with a pleading smile. 

“Okay. Okay. I’ll leave it with you. But I do expect answers!”

You heave a sigh of relief. He’s definitely picked up on it.

Once all of your spoils are packed away you take a trip downstairs to purchase more wine and request a bath to be drawn - after all, you’ve been on the road with rivers as your only source of cleanliness for gods know how long.

There are nerves. Of course there are nerves, small pins prickling from within and setting you ablaze with each new thought of him beside you for life, threads weaving a rich tableau life together. Lilting violins and piano sonatas. Finery for days. Some small townhouse, just as he’d described it downstairs. 

But you found the thing you’d set out to find on your adventures. Where you head next is entirely up to the both of you.

Provided he says yes, that is.

You imagine the worst possible rejection he could give you - “No, darling. Let’s keep things as they are for now.” - and yet the thought of him calling you darling in that syrupy murmur is rousing enough to keep you afloat. 

The bath is tepid, door open whilst Astarion watches from the bed between pages.

“More wine, love?”

“Please.”

Calm. Rain on the thatch roof. 

He perches on the side of the washtub, one leg crossed over the other as he passes you a glass full of red. Hums absent-mindedly as he swirls the perfumed waters with a dainty hand. 

Your mind drifts to the ring. How beautiful it’ll look in place.

He looks at you with that curious glint in his eye, and you roll your head to the back of the tub in an attempt at meek avoidance.

“Pretty.” He quips. 

You laugh quietly.

“Hm?”

“You. Pretty. Hair all mussed like a siren. A vision.”

He lifts your wrist from the water and kisses the back of your hand a few times over, while you squirm in jest. He only retaliates by kissing you harder with a fiendish giggle. 

“You’re one to talk.”

The lantern by the mirror lights the tips of his curls from behind. Angelic.

“Yes, I am beautiful. So are you. My darling.”

It must be late now. Maybe late enough.

As you lift from the water - assisted by your lover’s hand - and enrobe once more, you feel it.

Now.

-

Astarion begins his usual routine of light-proofing the room and blocking the shutters as the threat of sunrise looms on the horizon.

Well. Light.

The rain doesn’t show any sign of ceasing.

Nonetheless, you feel ready. A habit you can’t wait for him to break, checking the shutters for cracks.

“C’mere.” 

He turns to you and looks you over.

“Hm?”

“Come here! Please! I’ve got something for you and it simply can’t wait any longer.”

The box is light in hand, soft. You’ve checked it multiple times for the ring and all is in place.

The way he steps to you is cautious. Catlike.

“Is this the thing? Is it finally time?’

You pull him in next to you on the edge of the bed, taking both hands in yours.

‘I can see that little box. Hopefully a trinket worth the hours of agony I’ve endured waiting for you to reveal your secrets.” He grins, pulling you in for a gentle kiss.

You don’t say anything, freeing one hand to take the box.

“This is-’

A sharp inhale.

‘This is it. Wherever we go from here, it’s mutually agreed. All of it. But this is what I’ve been looking for, hence my leadership skills taking forefront again.”

“Don’t tell me. It’s a Bracing Band!’

You shove him gently and he giggles, reinforcing his clutch on your hand. 

‘Okay, okay. I’m done. Show me.”

He waggles his fingers around your palm and grins expectantly. Gods. You rip the bandage off and open the box to him.

He’s seen a picture of it before - it’s in one of his books, that’s where you got the initial idea - but you know he hasn’t read it or he’d onto you weeks ago.

And he doesn’t recognise it. 

“I- What is this?”

A gentle whisper as his eyes run over the golden rays cast with aged enamel. 

“A ring.’

Astarion’s death glare takes a new form, this time wholly inhibited by the uncertainty in his frozen hunch.

You stand and spin to a kneel on the floor in front of him.

‘A special ring. Really, really special; in fact.’

Plucking it from the velvet, you hover the band over his fingertip.

‘Firstly though. Marry me?”

You don’t think you’ve ever seen him so completely and utterly shocked. 

Mouth firmly agape as red round eyes attempt to scan yours for any sign of deceit, jowls trembling a little in the yellow lantern glow. A small gulp as his lips meet once more.

“You picked an inn called The Scoundrel's Cellar, in a town called Tardy, in the middle of a thunderstorm; to propose marriage to me?”

“Had to be here, had to be now. Couldn’t wait any longer. You’ll understand in a minute, I promise.’

You rise a little to cup his jaw in hand, sinking into a chaste kiss. 

‘Astarion Ancunín, will you marry me?”

“Gods!’

There’s a brief tremor as his lips wobble, then a practised breath as he speaks. One hand reaches for your flushed cheek to mirror the gesture. 

‘Of course I will, you brute. Maybe you could’ve done with a better choice in ring, of course; but I can learn to love it, I’m sur-”

“You are beyond insufferable, Astarion. Kiss me right now.”

The immediately resulting kiss is brimming with yearning. A cup full to spilling as he takes the ring in your hand whilst you put it on him. 

He hunches all the way over to meet you on raised knees, grabbing at body-warmed bedclothes for one another; tenderly, in peals of quiet laughter between breaths and silent shouts.

“Wait. I’m not done.’

He’s giddy now, too. Knee bouncing. 

‘There’s a reason it had to be that ring.”

“It’s hideous, pet. Give me a reason to love it.”

You spin to your feet and to the furthest shutters, opening them a slight as he watches on in guarded curiosity with the biggest smile lingering on his face. 

The first hint of light. 

“C’mere.”

“You’re bossing me around an awful lot today, my darling betrothed.”

The weight of the moment is colossal, ocean deep. Despite his sheer joy he won’t come willingly. The burns from the dock the day the Absolute fell were molten for weeks and you still both have night terrors ringing loud with the sound of his agonising yells. 

A gentle hand extends to him. 

“The Sunwalker’s Gift.”

Then it clicks. Slowly. The final puzzle piece.

“No. Surely.”

“Yes.”

“It can’t be.”

“It had to be.”

“What if it isn’t?”

“Then we have a wedding to plan in the Underdark. But I wouldn’t traipse across the realms on just an inkling, you know.”

“I know you wouldn’t.”

“Well then.’

Your hand waits expectantly, fingers mimicking his waggle.

‘Just a finger. Please.”

He sits on the bed, spinning the ring mindlessly; before he looks at you with a resolute nod.

“I’ve trusted you with far worse, all things considered.”

Astarion approaches slowly and meets your hand, interlinking your ring fingers together and waiting for your word as you position yourself within the light.

“On three?”

Three arrives and nothing happens.

Hands raised, fingers lit in a single low beam of early light. Frozen.

“Astarion? All good?”

He moves your hands wholly into the light. Nothing. Twists the tangled fingers as if examining for damage. Rain careens into the window.

“I- Yes. Yes. All good.”

Dumbfounded.

You erupt into a bubbling grin, pulling him to the balcony doors and planting another soft kiss onto bewildered lips. Looking to the worn bronze handles with a brief head tilt.

A simple, overwhelmed nod. Brows knitted together in a milky daze, mouth slack. He looks like he’s going to collapse. 

The doors edge open and you cautiously step to lead him by arm.

Nothing. Not a single sizzle, no cinders. Forearm, arm, body; head.

No tug on your hand as he races back indoors. No wretched cries of pain nor gasps of hurt.

It’s a few seconds before he speaks. The sun now burns bright enough to see the streets below with razor clarity.

“The rain. My- my hair-’

Barely above a whisper.

‘Looks perfect. As it always does.’

Your eyes don’t leave him. Not once. He’s completely floored, gazing into the middle distance mindlessly. 

‘Love, sit.”

You gently tug an iron-wrought balconette chair over to him and help him to find purchase atop it amongst his overwhelm.

“I- I love you. Thank you.”

“Anything. Anything for you.”

He shakes from his haze once wet through, lightning on the horizon awakening the Astarion you recognise best. Closes his eyes with a soft smile.

“You’re going to catch your death out here, you know.”

His grip on your hand is vicelike, clutching it to his chest with zealous reverence.

“Then we’ll have to have a hot bath later. Right now though, I think a celebration is in order.”

You free yourself from his grasp for two moments, barreling back inside for the last of the wine and the large bedsheet. You place both chalices on the iron table and sit beside Astarion outside in fits of laughter whilst wrapping the sheet over both of your heads. He snatches your hand back and kisses it for an age. Devoted.

“To Tardy?”

He lifts his chalice in his free hand, and you do the same in yours.

“Tardy!”

[totaly-obsessed]

can you write something for mary when she could be having a bad day or something and the reader helps cheer her up

Lucky Gloves

Mary Earps x reader request

-> Mary just needs her girlfriend after a hard day, but it's date night

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

You were late.

Not that you really had somewhere to be, it was more just an annoyance – it was date night. Every Thursday the two of you would go out together, just a little tradition you had carried through two years of dating each other.

“I’m sorry love, let me get changed quickly, and then we can be off.” You rushed into the house, not even seeing Mary anywhere but you were far too stressed to notice.

Ten minutes later, now changed out of your teacher attire you started to look for Mary when she was not read by the door like she usually was. “Mary?” You could not hear an immediate response, furthering your panic. “Baby?”

“Hmm?”

Ah. There she was.

But after following her vague noises you did not find her in a casual-chic outfit ready to wine and dine you like she usually did. “Mary? Love, why are you still wearing your training stuff?”

The goalkeeper did not answer aside from a deep groan as she burrowed her face deeper into your favorite fluffy blanket. Wordlessly you sat down next to the couch on the ground, rubbing her back. “Baby? Are you okay?”

Finally, she turned her head, now facing you. Tired puffy eyes meeting your own. “Sorry love. Let me get dressed.” With cracking bones your girlfriend started sitting up, not expecting you to throw yourself on top of her.

With you straddling her lap, hugging her close to you, she had no way of leaving. Of course, she could just stand up with you on her hip, but she would never use her strength like that, too scared that she would hurt you.

A couple of minutes of careful coaxing and cooing in her ears let the brunette finally relax, nuzzling her face into your warm neck – humming with contentment. “What’s up with you my love, huh?”

Mary would never admit it to her teammates, no matter how much she loved them, but here in your shared home, with you on her lap was the only place that she would ever call home. “Had a really shitty day.”

“Awwh, I’m sorry honey. Why don’t you take a shower and get changed into comfy clothes and I’ll get us some food, huh?”

As good as that sounded, it was Thursday, and it was the goalkeeper's turn to choose the place to eat, and she didn’t want to disappoint you. You, who had shitty days all the time and never needed to be treated like a baby. “But it’s Thursday baby. It’s my tu-“

The blonde couldn’t whine further as she was shut up with her favorite lips giving her a soft kiss. “Nonsense love – quiet night in. Doctor’s order!”

A soft laugh escaped her chest, letting you relax just a little. “Who’s my doctor then?”

“Me of course – silly girl!” Your blatant lie of being a doctor only made the older woman laugh harder, pushing you off her lap. “Alright then.”

Twenty minutes later you were changed into one of Mary’s ‘MAE27’ shirts, fuzzy socks, and some shorts that definitely weren’t yours either. “Supporting me, I see.”

Warm arms wrapped themselves around your waist, Mary’s head finding its favorite place in the crook of your neck, peppering kisses wherever she could. “I’ll always support you, baby.” And she knew you meant it, even without the deep kiss that followed your silent promise – but she was thankful for it either way.

Mary laid the cutlery down on the couch table, ignoring your perfectly made dining space, opting for comfort instead.

So here you were, each a bowl of your favorite soup in your lap while the goalkeeper’s feet kept digging into your sides.

“So, you wanna tell me what’s made your day so bad then, love?” You had both finished your bowls, so Mary took it upon herself to steal yours from you, setting them both down on the table before laying back on the couch – pulling you on top of her.

Your front pressed snuggly against yours as her prize-winning hands found their place in your hair, giving you a massage.

“This morning I woke up without you – bad enough. Then I couldn’t find my lucky gloves and spilled my coffee. So I wanted to go to that tiny shop down the road, yeah? I get there – closed! Can you imagine? So I get to training and all Mark did was yell at me, fucking hate that prick. And then Ella – goddamn Tooney goes and fucking lobs me. The cheek the girl has! And, oh my god, she didn’t shut up about it!”

Mary’s rant continued for a while, finally getting everything off her chest. But no matter how shitty her day was, here in your arms life was perfect.

[herrscherofinsanity]

Yours Truly

Fluff (angst if you squint)

Yu Jimin x fem!reader

Word count: 10.1k (haha oops)

You had known Yu Jimin even before your career as a singer was officially launched. You two were inseparable; wherever you went, Jimin was sure to follow, but did she actually care about you or were you simply a job to her?

______________________

You sat inside one of the conference rooms FT Entertainment had to offer, bouncing your leg and fighting the urge to bite your nails as anxiety threatened to take over your body.

The higher ups had called you to discuss some details regarding your debut as a soloist. You had been working hard for the past four years, and they had finally given you the green light, but you knew very well that nothing was set in stone, hence your uncontrollable nerves.

As you waited for everyone else involved to arrive, you couldn't help but wonder what exactly was about to be discussed. The single had already been chosen, concept and music video were already brought up, the songs for the album were approved, the schedule was ready, everything was settled; or at least, that's what you thought.

Just then, the doors of the conference room made way for a group of people. You recognized a few of them from previous meetings, perhaps this meeting was simply to go over everything you had planned already one more time.

While you waited for them to settle down, your attention was caught by the person taking the seat right by your side. You turned towards the new occupant of the chair, trying to get a good look at them when you realized you had a vague idea of who it was. Maybe you passed by each other in the busy hallways of the company?

The young woman sitting beside you had a cold exterior, at first glance she was very intimidating. You first noticed the mole right by her lips, then her long black hair which framed her small face perfectly, her calculating eyes looked everywhere but in your direction. What truly caught your attention though, was the fact that under the table, concealed to the rest of the people in the room, she was picking at the skin around her nails.

A nervous habit, you thought to yourself.

You wanted to reach out and tell her to stop for she would end up hurting herself, but you brushed off the idea, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.

You sighed, and that was what finally made her look directly at you. As you locked eyes, you gave her a small smile, trying to ease her nerves despite the fact that you were ready to combust any second now.

She didn't return your smile, but she gave you a slight nod in acknowledgement. Before you could muster up the courage to say something to your companion, someone else at the table cleared their throat.

"Good evening, everyone" the man sitting at the head of the table spoke, everyone else echoed the pleasantries before he continued "we're here today to go over the details regarding our new soloist's debut one last time, and also fix anything that might have been left behind. Please, proceed".

Another man present in the meeting went on and on about things you had already memorized. Trying your best to hide your boredom, you snuck a glance towards the girl sitting beside you only to realize she was dutifully taking notes of your schedule.

"y/n?" the man called out.

"Yes sir?"

"As you can see, there's only one thing missing from everything we have discussed so far" he paused, as if waiting for you to say something. When that didn't happen, he kept going "you can't just go gallivanting around without any type of supervision, which is why we've finally chosen the perfect person for the job".

You were confused, to say the least. He made it sound like you needed a babysitter and no one wanted to take the job.

"Are you talking about my manager, sir?" you cautiously asked.

"Correct. Don't worry, she might be on the younger side, but she has plenty of experience and she's already proven her worth" he had a pleased smile on his face, you noticed the girl beside you shifting a bit. "Coincidentally, she's sitting right beside you".

You, once again, turned to give the girl on your right your full attention. This time, she also did the same. You stared at each other for what felt like ages, you weren't sure what to think of your new manager, but you knew one thing. You can't make an enemy out of her unless you want her to make your life miserable. With that in mind, you tried to smile at her once more, you gave her the practiced smile you had been praised for by your media trainers before, but the girl beside you slightly furrowed her eyebrows before returning your smile hesitantly.

"I'm y/n y/l/n, it's very nice to meet you".

"My name is Yu Jimin, I look forward to working with you".

______________________

Yu Jimin had always been considered some sort of prodigy. Ever since she uttered her first words, everyone expected her to get far in life. Despite the pressure, Jimin lived a happy life growing up. She enjoyed school, had great friends, her parents were supportive of her dreams and her older sister was nice enough.

When Jimin told her parents she wanted to be a part of the entertainment industry they supported her decision. They thought their daughter wanted to be up on the stage, but that was far from what she wanted.

Jimin was interested in the entertainment world, sure, but she was more interested in how it worked, in the behind the scenes of it all. Jimin wanted to be a manager, she wanted to help out the artists, she wanted to be a part of the process. She aimed for a business management degree with a minor in marketing in the best university she could find.

During her senior year in college, she had an opportunity to work as a junior manager right there in FT Entertainment. The whole experience left a bittersweet feeling in Jimin's life, her client was far from pleasant and the senior manager was also far from being an ideal mentor. Nevertheless, Jimin wasn't ready to give up yet, she had never given up on anything in her life and she wasn't going to start now. So when FTE offered her a permanent position and a chance to be an official manager she took it without hesitation.

That's what brought her to you.

In truth, Jimin already knew you, or at least, she had an idea of who you were. She had seen you walking down the hallways of FTE, a smile always present on your face despite the grueling training you were going through. Jimin always thought you had a pretty smile, and you seemed to gather attention wherever you went, that was a good sign. Jimin had heard from the higher ups how incredible your skills were, and how it was the right time for your debut. They offered Jimin a chance to be your manager and she accepted the opportunity with much excitement.

Jimin's opinion on you shifted a bit when you threw that obviously manufactured smile her way. It wasn't the same pretty smile she had witnessed so many times in the hallways, it wasn't that genuine smile that gave others hope. Jimin didn't like it, not one bit.

She sighed, you were glued to each other now thanks to the contract, she just hoped you could get along.

______________________

After the introductions were made the meeting didn't last for much longer. You made your way to your newly assigned apartment, your schedule was officially starting tomorrow morning and you needed to get some sleep.

As you made your way through your night routine, you thought back to your interactions with your new manager. They were mostly limited to nods and hums here and there.

"Be ready by 5:30am, I'll come by to pick you up". That was the most the other woman had said to you.

You sighed. It's not that you were expecting to be besties with your manager, you were actually expecting some middle aged man with little to no patience whatsoever, but a spark of excitement spread through your body when you found out your manager was barely two years older than you were.

That spark was quickly put out when it was made clear by her that things between you were simply meant to be professional. So much for team work makes the dream work.

You were just about ready to close your eyes and get some sleep when your phone buzzed on your nightstand. Cursing whoever was texting you this late, you reached for your phone, puzzled as you realized it was an unknown number.

[10:45pm] unknown: Good night, Ms. y/l/n, this is your manager Ms. Yu.

[10:45pm] unknown: I'm just texting you so you can save my number. Don't forget to be ready by 5:30am. That's all, good night.

You sent her a simple reply, you didn't want to engage in further conversation and you were sure she wouldn't want to either. You set your alarm for 3:45am, internally crying when you saw the amount of time you would be able to sleep. Boy, it's going to be a long day.

When you awoke next morning, you seriously didn't feel like getting up, but you were in too deep in this whole thing now. Plus your manager looked like she would literally drag you to your next schedule, you had no choice.

As you stepped out of the comfort of your room to get something for breakfast, you almost had a heart attack when you saw a figure making its way through your living room. You let out the loudest scream you could muster as you made your way to turn the light switch on. The figure was clearly startled by both your shrieks and the light.

"What are you screaming for? It's just me, geez" your manager said, an annoyed look on her face.

"Oh my good god! What on earth are you doing here!?" she's the one breaking into your apartment and she still has the audacity to look mad? "We agreed to leave at 5:30am, what's going on?"

"I came to wake you up..." she replied, you noticed her picking the skin around her fingernails once again. Huh.

"I don't want to be ungrateful or rude, Ms. Yu, but I'm perfectly capable of waking up by myself" you huffed, but you felt some of your annoyance leaving your body when you noticed the girl before you looking embarrassed.

"I'm really sorry about that, I never meant to scare you" she looked down in shame, "my past client would never do anything at the arranged time, and it was my job to wake her up".

Your annoyance completely left your body when you heard that, poor thing really didn't mean any harm. You made a mental note to have better communication with your manager. You made your way to the kitchen without saying anything, she followed you curiously.

"What time did you wake up to get here so early?" you asked as you went through the fridge.

Jimin cleared her throat before responding "I have a feeling you're going to scream again if I tell you, let's just say very early".

You turned towards the girl and gave her a sympathetic look. "I appreciate the effort, Ms. Yu, but please don't sacrifice something as important as sleep for something so insignificant. Did you even eat before coming here?". Your manager shook her head and you sighed.

"Okay, we're gonna have breakfast together, and then you'll have to wait for me to get ready".

"Ms. y/l/n, that's not really-"

"It's not up for discussion, Ms. Yu" you cut her off. "Take a sit, I'll cook something up real quick".

Jimin reluctantly took a seat at the kitchen table as she watched you work. She's not at all what I expected.

"Again, I am very sorry for what happened" Jimin said, trying to break the silence that had enveloped you.

You sighed as you turned to face her "Don't worry about it, I know it's your job to take care of me, but what about you, huh?".

Your answer puzzled Jimin, "what do you mean by that?".

"You're gonna be taking care of me, so I will be taking care of you. It's only fair, don't you think? We're a team after all" you smiled at her, and this time she didn't reject your smile.

There it is, she thought, that beautiful smile.

______________________

The rest of the day was packed with activities, you and Jimin ran around the city barely getting any time to catch a break. When everything was over, it was almost midnight. Your manager dropped you off at your apartment, reminding you how you had to be ready to leave at 5:30am again.

You woke up the next morning and immediately made your way to the kitchen. As you were crossing the living room, you caught Jimin quietly closing the front door.

"Good morning, Ms. Yu" your greeting startled the other girl, she turned with a sheepish smile on her face.

"Good morning, Ms. y/l/n" she sighed "you don't seem surprised to see me".

"I had a feeling you weren't going to listen to me" you motioned for her to follow you to the kitchen "you're the stubborn type, aren't you?"

She blushed, that wasn't the impression she wanted you to have of her. "I'd prefer if you thought of me as... diligent".

"Diligent? Right." you chuckled "Anyway, breakfast for two?".

______________________

Months went by and as your debut was drawing near, your relationship with your manager had taken a turn for the better. She was much friendlier now, you found out she just needed a little time to open up.

Regardless of that, your schedules were still driving you crazy. You still had to get up incredibly early, and got home insanely late. You weren't the only one who was barely keeping it together though. Your manager would still get to your place way earlier than it was necessary and she would go back to her place even later because she insisted on dropping you off herself.

It was clearly taking a toll on her, you often caught her trying to take naps in between some of your schedules that didn't demand much of her attention. You were worried about her, she probably worked harder than you did and she wasn't going to receive as much credit as she deserved when the debut finally happened.

You were currently on a water break, your dance practice was almost over yet they allowed you a few minutes to breathe. You were sitting with your back against the wall, Jimin, as always, wasn't far away. She was sitting at a couch placed in the dance studio, lazily scrolling on her phone.

"Hey, Jimin?" you called out to her, feeling a little giddy. You still found it hard to believe sometimes how you got the rather standoffish girl to be your friend.

"What's up?" she turned to look at you with anticipation.

"So, I've been thinking-"

"Uh oh"

"Shush you, don't be mean" you playfully rolled your eyes as she laughed at her little joke "As I was saying, I've been thinking about our current situation".

"Don't tell me you're just realizing you're going to debut" she teased.

"Be serious for a second" you huffed "It's just, I've been thinking about how tired we both are, especially you".

"It's part of the job" Jimin shrugged.

"Right, I get that" you got up and walked over to where she was sitting "but things could be a little better, at least for you".

She stared at you for a second as you sat down across from her. "How so?".

"Why don't you move in with me?" you said casually. Jimin froze for a second not knowing how to react.

"What?" she said quietly.

"Jimin, think about it for a second. You only sleep for like an hour because you insist on coming over at 3am when you've barely dropped me off less than three hours ago. Also, you and I spend 24/7 together, we've known each other for a while now, it won't be weird".

Jimin sat quietly for a second, she was considering your offer. "Wouldn't I be bothering you?"

"I'm more bothered by the fact that you could collapse any second from exhaustion. Plus, I wouldn't be offering if it was a problem". You could see the gears turning in her head, she picked at the skin around her nails as she silently debated what to do.

"I can see you're not convinced so let's find a way to compromise" you suggested.

"Go on, I'm listening"

"Okay first, stop doing that, you're going to hurt yourself" you said, pointing at her hands. She blushed, but listened to you. "You move in with me, but it will be temporary. We'll live together until we have a decent schedule and you can get enough sleep at your own place".

Jimin considered your words and slowly nodded her head. "Yeah... yeah, okay. That sounds reasonable enough, let's do it" she smiled at you, and in that moment, it looked like all of her exhaustion was washed away.

______________________

("Ms. Yu?"

"Yes Ms. y/l/n?"

"Would you say we're friends?"

A pause.

"I don't see why we wouldn't be".

"Then... would it be okay if I were to call you Jimin?"

"It would be an honor if you did, y/n".)

______________________

The following days went off without a hitch. Jimin had temporarily moved into your apartment, and although your schedules were still insane your manager looked less like a zombie and more like your friend. Living with her wasn’t unpleasant, you both had your own rooms and bathrooms, and neither of you had displayed any annoying habits. Jimin was surprised, she didn’t expect you to be so organized; you were also surprised, you never expected the other girl to be so laid back when she got a chance to relax.

The universe had mercy on the two of you and granted you with three free days, you had planned to sleep through the entirety of your break, but Jimin had something else in mind.

“I hate grocery shopping! It’s boring and it takes too long” you whined, Jimin had never seen you resemble a child so much as in that exact moment.

“But we’re almost out of food” Jimin reasoned. If she had known you were going to complain so much, she would’ve tricked you into going instead of out right asking. I’ll just have to do that next month.

“Can’t we order something?”

“We don’t have that much money either” Jimin sighed. “Why don’t we make a deal?”

That caught your attention, you ceased your whining to hear her out. “Go on, I’m listening”.

“If you come with me and help out with the groceries, I’ll get you any snacks you want” you wanted to act like a child, she would treat you like one.

“Are you trying to bribe me? With snacks?” you arched one of your eyebrows “Jimin, I know damn well you’re older than me, but I’m not six”.

“Then stop acting like you’re six” she huffed. “Okay, let’s try that again. What do you want in exchange for a trip to the grocery store?”

Jimin saw the smirk that was slowly spreading through your face, and she swore she had never felt more nervous in her life.

“Anything I want?” you said, a suggestive look on your face.

“Try to be reasonable” she gulped “please?”.

“I want to spend some quality time with you”.

What?

“Huh?” she wasn’t sure she heard you right. She wasn’t expecting something so simple, she fully expected you to ask her for something ridiculous.

“Let’s have a movie night, we’ll sit back and relax, I think we’ve earned it” you smiled sweetly at her.

Jimin thought about it for a second, you weren’t asking for much and you both really needed those groceries. Plus, spending a little quality time together wouldn’t be so bad, you two would be working together for many years to come, it was the best course of action to try to get along as much as possible.

“Okay, but under one condition” she said, her voice taking a teasing tone, you shot her a look, waiting for her to continue “I get to pick the movie”.

“As long as it’s not horror I’m totally game” you shrugged.

“Fine by me, I don’t like horror anyway”.

“You and I are going to be the best of friends; I just know it!” you smiled brightly at her.

______________________

(“You chose a rom-com?”

“Yeah, is there something wrong?”

“…Are you trying to tell me something, Ms Yu?”

“Be quiet and watch the movie, y/n”

"Bossy... I like that"

"y/n!")

______________________

Time kept moving forward, and soon everything was ready for your debut. The album was completely recorded, the music video had already been edited, and you had perfected the choreography for your first live performance. Everyone at the company was beyond excited to finally launch the project, but no one seemed more excited than your manager. Jimin claimed she was a big fan of the album and she would buy a copy when it was available. You thanked her, but didn’t take it to heart; your roommate was always nice with you, you thought she was simply trying to spare your feelings.

When the long-awaited day came around, FTE hosted a party to celebrate the rise of their new star. The debut had been a success; the general public loved the music video and fresh concept; they praised your vocal skills and loved the choreography. You spent the major part of the gathering talking to the higher ups and trading fake, business smiles rather than enjoying yourself like any young woman would. Jimin, on the other hand, was stuck in a similar situation. She was being praised left and right for her diligence and all the effort she put into this project. They even offered her a bigger opportunity, managing a bigger artist in the company; Jimin didn’t have to think twice before rejecting the offer. She understood that her place was by your side.

As the party died down, you and Jimin made your way to your shared apartment. Your schedules became a bit more decent about a month ago, but Jimin insisted on staying there with you.

It will be way more efficient to keep working like this, she had said when you asked if she wanted to go back to her own place.

Making your way through the apartment, Jimin stopped you before you could step foot in your room.

“Hey, y/n?” she softly called out to you.

“Yes, Jimin?” she walked over to you and wrapped you in a long hug. It was something rather new, you had just recently become “touchier” with each other if you could even call it that. Brief hugs, hand holding to express support, leaning your head against her shoulder when you were having your ‘absolutely mandatory’ movie night, needless to say, you both had developed a bond along the way.

“I’m extremely proud of you” she whispered.

“Thanks, coming from you… it means way more than you realize” you whispered back to her.

She finally let go of you, and with one last smile she made her way into her room.

Jimin laughed to herself when she noticed the object that was waiting for her on her bed. A copy of your album with a note on top of it.

“To my biggest fan, thank you for your unconditional support. I wouldn’t have made it this far without you.

-Yours truly, y/n”

Jimin smiled to herself, every day she thanked her lucky stars for giving her this opportunity, she really couldn’t have asked for a better client. When she first met you, she had thought you were a diva in the making, a fake, but you proved her wrong every single day and she had learned to love every moment she got to spend by your side. So, when the time came for her to go back to her “home”, as you had called it, she had thrown an excuse regarding efficiency and didn’t look back. However, Jimin was too shy to admit that wasn’t the real reason for her now permanent stay at your place.

It’s doesn’t feel like home without you.

_____________________

(“Okay, I need your honest opinion”.

“Uh huh”

“What do you think of this outfit?”

“It’s very nice, I think it suits the concept”.

“…My eyes are up here, Jimin”.

“I was checking out the pattern!”

“Pinocchio was a better liar than you”)

______________________

Years went by, you’ve become one of the biggest artists in the industry, and Jimin was been there with you every step of the way. From the existential crisis and the hate comments to winning awards and breaking records, Jimin has never left your side. You could say, without a doubt that she’s your best friend.

Aside from her, you’ve managed to make some pretty good friends in the industry, one of your closest friends being a member from a famous band, Miyeon. The two of you had met at a variety show and immediately hit it off, you shared a lot of the same interests which made your connection almost instant. Miyeon understood you in a way that even Jimin couldn’t, you were very grateful to have a friend that was as famous as you were.

Jimin, on the other hand, didn’t like Miyeon.

Jimin felt threatened by Miyeon. For the longest time, it had been just you and her, but then Miyeon came along. Jimin was happy that you found a friend, but she didn’t like how that friend was the only thing you wanted to talk about, she didn’t like the way your eyes seemed to sparkle anytime the other girl was around. Jimin hated it. Although, she didn’t fully understand just why she felt like that.

It was one of your off days, Jimin was lazing around in the living room, wondering what to do with her free time when you walked out of your room looking ready to step out of your shared home.

(How come you and I don’t have nicknames for each other?)

“Hey babe, where are you going?” she asked.

(Is it necessary? Scratch that, is it important?)

“I’m going shopping!” you said, walking over to where she was sitting. “Do you want me to bring something back for you?”.

(Of course it is! How else are we supposed to showcase our amazing bond?)

“Mm nah, I think I’m good, thanks though” she paused, considering something “are you going by yourself?”.

(Okay then, I’ll try to come up with something. What are you going to call me?)

“You know I don’t like shopping by myself, it gets boring” you said dramatically, making your friend laugh “Miyeon is coming with me, she’s actually picking me up”. You finished with a smile, Jimin’s laughter quickly died down, her smile replaced with a scowl.

Jimin took a deep breath, trying to calm herself before she said something she shouldn’t. “Have fun, be careful, don’t get into a scandal, you know the drill”. she shrugged her shoulders sighing defeatedly.

“Looks like someone’s in a bad mood” before you could question her sudden change in attitude, your phone buzzed in your hand “saved by the bell” you gave her a look, she simply rolled her eyes.

Would it be too much if I chained her to the kitchen table? Jimin thought to herself.

(I’ve actually been thinking about it. What do you think of Yuji? You know, as in Yu Ji-min. I think it’s cute.)

“She’s here, I gotta go” you gave Jimin a long look before continuing “how about you and I watch a movie when I get back?”.

“Tonight isn’t movie night though” she said in her ‘I know better’ voice.

“Stop being difficult, let’s hang out, please” you shot her your wounded puppy look and she immediately felt her resolve crumble. “We can do something else if you want, I just want to spend some time with you”.

If you actually wanted to spend time with me, you wouldn’t be leaving with her right now. “Okay fine, let’s hang out when you get back” she admitted defeat.

“You’re the best!” you quickly gave her a kiss on the cheek and rushed to the front door “See you later, Yuji!” and with that final exclamation you left.

(Yuji… no one’s ever called me that before. I like it.)

Jimin sighed for what felt like the umpteenth time. She couldn’t possibly stay on the couch simply waiting for you to get back, she wasn’t a pet. She opted for calling her own friends, maybe they wanted to hang out with her, she thought rather bitterly.

You had been out for around four hours now, you and Miyeon had gone through every store and felt the exhaustion starting to hit, hence why you decided to stop by the food court to get something to snack on.

Laughter filled the table you two shared as you traded stories from your respective schedules. Miyeon had been casted for a drama and she kept complaining about how her co-star was ‘a literal man-child’. You, in return, told her about the different people you had met at your recent job as an MC for a music show. However, your laughter was soon interrupted by your phone.

You furrowed your eyebrows when you saw the name that was flashing across the screen.

Manager Yu.

Jimin had two phones; one which she used exclusively for work, and the other she used for her own entertainment. Business and pleasure shouldn’t mix, she had stated when you asked her about it. That rule applied even for you, she used her work phone whenever she had to notify you about an upcoming schedule, and she used her personal phone whenever she wanted to share something completely unrelated to work. The fact that she was calling from her work phone only meant that you were probably needed somewhere.

“Excuse me for a second, Miyeon, I need to take this” you smiled at your friend apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it, take your time” she returned your smile as she got up from the table “I’ll go to the restroom meanwhile”.

You watched her walk away, before sighing and bringing the phone up to your ear. As soon as you picked up, Jimin’s voice could be heard through the speaker.

“Hey baby!” she exclaimed.

“Um… hey, Yuji? Did something come up?” you bit your lip in anticipation.

“Huh? No, today’s our free day, they know better than to bother us” she stated, it only left you even more confused.

“Then why are you using this phone?” you asked incredulously.

“Well, I just really wanted you to pick up, I knew you wouldn’t ignore a work call” she said simply, you could literally hear the smirk on her face.

“I knew you were obsessed with me” you sighed “can’t even go a few hours without my wonderful presence”.

“You’re too full of yourself” she huffed indignantly “I just wanted to ask you if you could bring back pizza for dinner”.

You had a feeling that wasn’t the only reason she was calling. You were aware of the fact that Jimin wasn’t too fond of your friend, but you didn’t know why. She was probably calling to play monitor, nevertheless, you didn’t want to call her out on her odd behavior and make her feel embarrassed so you played along. “Alright, whatever you want”.

“Thank you, baby, you’re the best!” she cheered, you giggled at that. Jimin, at first glance, was incredibly intimidating, but once she managed to grow comfortable with someone the huge dork she hid perfectly to the rest of the world would come out. You often teased her about how adorable she was.

“Anything for my biggest fan” you said softly.

“I remember you said you were ‘truly mine’ the first time you called me that” your manager said in a low voice. Oh.

“I did say that” you felt your heart beating faster. What was she getting at? She has never said something like this, it usually goes the other way around.

“Did you mean it?”

“Of course I did” before you could say something else, Miyeon came back from the bathroom. “Listen, I got to go. We’ll continue this when I get back” you heard Jimin laughing before you hung up.

“Is everything okay?” Miyeon asked, a bit of concern lacing her question “you’re blushing”.

“Yes, everything’s fine, don’t worry about it”.

______________________

[1:27pm] Manager Yu: Meeting tomorrow with Music Bank staff, don’t forget.

[2:53pm] Yuji ❤️: babyyy check out this tik tok

______________________

 “I’m home” you called out as you stepped into your shared apartment. You heard multiple voices coming from the living room; had Jimin really spent this whole-time watching TV on the couch?

You made your way to the living room with Jimin’s favorite pizza in one hand, shopping bags in the other, you were about to complain to your manager about how she had tricked you earlier when you realized the other voices you heard weren’t coming from the TV. You froze when you noticed four girls lounging around your living room. Two of them were sprawled on the couch, but your attention was entirely on the two girls that were occupying the floor.

Jimin sat there, her back resting against the couch as she cuddled with another girl you failed to recognize. You felt your blood boiling, while you were out getting Jimin her favorite pizza she was here with another girl in her arms? You clenched your jaw at the sight, but bit your tongue, knowing full well as a celebrity you couldn’t exactly go off and insult random girls.

“Oh my god! It’s really her!” one of the girls on the couch exclaimed at the sight of you.

“She’s even more beautiful in person” the other occupant of the couch said, a smirk on her face.

You couldn’t really pay attention to the girls, your focus zeroed in on the way Jimin’s arms were wrapped around the third stranger’s waist. Jimin cleared her throat before speaking.

“Hey y/n, how was your day?” y/n? What happened to baby? Jimin rarely used your name, reserving it for times you two were in a professional environment, she hadn’t really called you that in years outside of conference rooms. You furrowed your eyebrows at that, and she immediately sensed your displeasure.

“It was fine, Yuji” you sighed, realizing your anger was out of place. You had no right to be mad at her for being with another girl, you two were simply friends; the thought didn’t help to ease how much it hurt though. “So, am I interrupting?”

“Not at all!” one of the girls on the couch said “you should join us!”

“Please excuse my friend’s excitement, y/n”. Ouch. “These are my best friends. That one’s Yizhuo, she’s a big fan of yours, next to her is Aeri, and this one’s Minjeong” Jimin introduced each of her friends.

“Come on, Jimin, I’m also a big fan” the girl who was introduced as Aeri said with a smirk. “It’s an honor to meet you, gorgeous”. You giggled at her obvious attempt; your reaction fueling her confidence.

“Thank you” you gave them your practiced smile, Jimin furrowed her eyebrows “it’s a pleasure, I love meeting fans, especially the cute ones” you winked at Aeri.

“Do you want to watch a movie with us?” Yizhuo asked, you swore you saw stars in her eyes.

You moved to place the pizza on the coffee table before answering “Don’t worry about it, enjoy your time together, I’ll be in my room”. Yizhuo pouted and you laughed “Maybe next time, okay?”. You smiled at the girls before making your way to your room, ready to collapse in your bed and be sad in peace, completely missing the way Jimin’s eyes followed your retreating figure.

Dinner time came around, you were debating whether you should step out and cook something up or just skip your meal altogether and sleep when the door to your room opened. Jimin stepped inside cautiously, holding a plate with two slices of pizza resting on it.

“Here, I saved some for you” she offered you a soft smile, and you felt your heart aching even more.

You accepted the meal with a soft thank you, not daring to meet her eyes. Jimin was concerned, she felt your sad state the second she locked eyes with you when you stepped into the apartment. She didn’t know what was causing your sadness, but she would do anything in her power to make you feel better.

“Baby” she softly called out, you huffed at her choice of words “what’s wrong? Did Miyeon do something to you?”.

That immediately made you look at her, surprise written all over your face “What are you talking about? Miyeon wouldn’t do anything”. She took note of the anger swimming in your eyes, there was something else there, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.

“Are you sure? You’ve been upset since you came back, don’t think for a second that I didn’t notice” she stated.

“I don’t want to talk about it” you rolled your eyes. You knew you were being unfair, but you also weren’t ready to go there with Jimin, your anger was still fresh, you knew you were bound to say something hurtful if you kept going.

Jimin felt herself growing more and more frustrated with you; she knew you like the back of her hand, one look into your eyes and she knew what was going through your head, she knew you often got stressed and took it out on the world, but you had never taken it out on her. Jimin couldn’t figure out what was wrong with you.

“Okay, you don’t want to talk? That’s fine” you stared at her suspiciously, she continued “we were supposed to hang out when you came back. Scoot over and make room for me, we’re watching a movie”.

“Weren’t you just watching movies with your friends?” you shot back rather bitterly, Jimin got a vague idea of what was bothering you.

“So? I want to watch a movie with my girl” she said as she climbed your bed, wrapping her arms around your waist and pulling you close to her.

“Your what?” you managed to squeak out, making her laugh in the process.

“You said so yourself. The first time you did was four years ago on that note you left, and you’ve been calling yourself that every single time you leave a note, no matter what the contents are, you always sign it like that” she held you tighter, her voice growing sultrier with every word she spoke.

“I have never referred to myself as ‘your girl’” you said indignantly.

“No?” she chuckled “You always sign your notes with ‘yours truly’ at the end, and I know very well you don’t do that for anyone else. Doesn’t that mean you’re mine?” she whispered in your ear.

You sighed, trying to calm yourself down. “What game are you playing, Jimin?”.

“Me?” she tried to ignore the way her heart dropped when you referred to her by her name instead of the nickname you always insisted on using “I’m not doing anything. I told you, I want to watch a movie with you”. When you didn’t say anything, Jimin counted this little moment as a victory for herself and chose a movie.

You settled down in Jimin’s arms trying to pay attention to the movie she had chosen; the key word being trying. Your mind kept going back to the girl that had previously occupied your current position. Jimin was a very touchy person, she was very into physical contact and you never complained, you enjoyed the attention. Cuddling wasn’t something new for the two of you, it happened rather often, but you made the mistake of thinking this behavior was something she saved just for you. Turns out she cuddles all of her friends, you thought bitterly.

Jimin could sense your inner turmoil, and it made her feel sad not knowing how to help you. She pressed a kiss to your head as she held you tighter, wishing to protect you from whatever it was that was causing you such distress. What Jimin didn’t know was that her actions made your heart ache even more.

______________________

(“Hi y/n! It’s so amazing to have you here with us today!”

“Thank you, the pleasure’s all mine!”

“Your manager is here with you today, isn’t she?”

“Yes, she is. Why do you ask?”

“We know your fans are also fond of her, they have this ongoing joke that you two are like an old married couple.”

You laughed rather loudly. Jimin, backstage, caught herself staring.

“What do you think of that, y/n?”

“Well, I don’t mind, I honestly think it’s cute.”)

______________________

About a week had gone by since your jealousy had gotten the better of you, and there has been a certain tension between you and Jimin ever since. Jimin had grown bolder with you, she used to make a few flirtatious comments here and there, but they’ve become more frequent. Her touches have also changed, as if she’s feeling more confident around you now. You weren’t sure how to react.

You walked out of your room wanting to get a snack when you ran into Jimin loitering in the living room couch. She smiled when she saw you, but it seemed rather forced. You walked up to her wanting to see what was wrong when she surprised you by pulling you into her lap, she nuzzled your neck as her arms made their way around your waist. You giggled at the sensation.

“That tickles…” you said, she hummed. “You seem upset, what’s wrong?” you asked as you played with her hair.

“I don’t want you to feel bad, don’t worry about it, baby” she mumbled.

You frowned at her words “what do you mean? Did I do something wrong?”.

“Not exactly” she sighed, wondering if she should really tell you, but one look into your concerned eyes was enough to make her crack. “You know how my birthday’s coming up? I wanted to spend it with my parents since it was a free day, I even thought of bringing you along so I could introduce you, but now that’s not going to happen”. She finished with a pout and you felt your heart melting at the sight.

“I’m almost to afraid to ask, but why isn’t it going to happen?” you bit your lip nervously.

“I got a call this morning, you have three interviews lined up that day and who knows if something else is going to pop off” she said, resting her head on your shoulder.

“I’m really sorry about that, Yuji. Maybe I could call the company and ask for someone else to go with me? That way you’ll get to spend your special day with your family”. You suggested but she quickly shook her head.

“Don’t bother, I wanted to bring you with me, it won’t be the same without you there”.

“Why did you want to bring me along?” you asked quietly, if Jimin wasn’t so close she probably wouldn’t have heard you.

“You’re the most important person in my life” she said as if it was nothing “of course I wanted them to meet you”.

You cursed everyone involved in booking those interviews in your head, maybe now would be a good time to retire. You mumbled a soft thank you to Jimin and settled in her arms without saying anything else. She leaned back into a more comfortable position; both of you staying there, simply enjoying each other’s presence.

I don’t know how, but I will make sure Jimin has the best birthday she’s ever had.

______________________

(‘y/n, what’s your most prized possession?’ Mm, that’s a good question, let me think about it.

Instagram live, you sat there reading through the many questions pouring in. Jimin was sitting a few feet away.

“Jimin and I went to this workshop a few months ago where we learned how to make bracelets, we ended up making bracelets for each other. See?”

You showed your bracelet to the camera.

“That’s my most prized possession, the bracelet Jimin worked so hard on because she loves me so much!”

Jimin rolled her eyes but still laughed, a fond look in her eyes.)

______________________

Jimin’s birthday rolled around and you pulled all the stops since the moment you woke up. Jimin had a routine she always had to follow, so you knew it by heart. You made sure to wake up before she did so you could surprise her properly. Honestly you had no idea if Jimin wanted to spend whatever free time remained with her friends, but she didn’t mention anything so for your sake and sanity you assumed she doesn’t have anything planned.

As you cooked breakfast for your manager, you went through the plan once again. You’d wake her up with breakfast in bed, while she showered, you’d leave everything ready so you could surprise her once you came back from today’s schedules. She could call her friends up if she wanted to after she received your gift, you wanted that moment to be only for the two of you.

Once you were done with her breakfast you made your way to her room with the tray in your hands. You tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting her to wake up before you could put everything into place. You carefully placed the tray on her bedside table, took a deep breath and exclaimed:

“Wake up! Wake up! Wake up!”

Jimin jolted awake feeling completely disoriented, she tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes while she attempted to figure out what was going on. The first thing she noticed was the smell of food, she turned to her bedside table and found a tray lying there containing a plate with pancakes, a cup of coffee, and a note that read:

 Breakfast in bed for the birthday girl :)

-Yours truly, y/n

Jimin felt her heart melt at the sight, you clearly had woken up extra early to surprise her. She turned to you and opened her arms, silently asking you for a hug. You laughed but complied with her request.

“Happy birthday to the best manager in the world” you whispered.

“Thank you for doing this, baby. It means the world to me, really” she said fondly while she hugged you tighter. You let the embrace linger for a few seconds before making a move to get up, Jimin whined. “Where are you going? Aren’t we eating together?” she pouted, sometimes you found it hard to believe she was the older one between you two.

“I need to get ready, we have a job, remember?” you laughed at her expression. “Eat up before your food gets cold, there’s no time to waste!” and before she could keep complaining you rushed out her room. You had to make sure everything was perfect for her.

While you maneuvered through interviews and photoshoots, Jimin kept answering calls and texts from different people trying to wish her a happy birthday. At some point during the day, she had admitted it was overwhelming, but you countered that by claiming it was actually endearing how much others cared for her; the next time she answered a call her smile seemed more relaxed.

It was around 5pm when you two made it back home, Jimin quickly hugged you from behind, not wasting any time.

“You’re always so clingy after a photoshoot” you teased.

“I don’t like the way they look at you, sue me” she huffed.

You laughed but quickly changed the subject, there was no need for you two to get into a fight or something along those lines, at least not today. “Don’t you want to call your friends and invite them over?”

She hummed, letting you go so you could face her. “Minjeong called to say they would be here for dinner time. Is that okay with you?”.

You felt the jealousy bubbling in your chest when Jimin mentioned the other girl, but you tried your best to control yourself. “Yuji, it’s your birthday, you’re in charge today”. A pause “actually scratch that, you’re in charge every day, but you know what I mean”.

Jimin laughed “Do you want to do something together before they get here?”.

“Actually yes, I have a surprise for you. Sit on the couch, I’ll be right back” you said as you began to make your way to the fridge.

“Are you going to dance for me?” she said, wiggling her eyebrows and laughing.

“In your dreams, buddy!” you yelled form the kitchen, you could hear her laughter growing louder at that.

“Hey! It’s my birthday! All of my dreams are supposed to come true today”. You rolled your eyes not wanting to answer to that. You made your way back to the living room with a cake box in your hands, you placed the box in the coffee table before addressing Jimin.

“I have to get something from my room, give me a second” you began to walk away, before turning to look at her with a raised eyebrow “don’t open the box while I’m gone”. Jimin laughed and agreed to wait for you to get back. You rushed to your room as quickly as possible, not trusting Jimin enough with the surprise.

As you made your way back, Jimin noticed an even bigger box in your arms this time. You placed the box next to the first one and turned to sit beside her on the couch. “Okay, all done. Go on, open the smaller box first”.

Jimin complied, reaching for the box. When she pulled the lid off, she couldn’t help the gasp that came out of her lips. “A dinosaur themed cake, really?!” she exclaimed, a goofy grin spreading across her face.

You laughed at her reaction, pointing your phone towards her so you could take a picture. “You’re a nerd like that, it was only fitting”.

“I love it, thank you so much for this, babe!” she beamed before pressing a kiss to your cheek.

“Open the next gift, I have a feeling you’re going to love it even more” you said, this time switching your phone to video which made Jimin a bit nervous.

Jimin reached for the next box with trembling hands, once she had it placed on her lap, she paused for a second. She picked at the skin around her fingernails as she tried to relax; you placed your hand over hers and offered her a soft smile, in that moment she knew there was no need to be nervous, it was just you after all, you had never given her any reason to doubt. Jimin carefully opened the box and immediately froze when she saw the contents of it.

“This has to be some sort of dream…” she said quietly, her attention completely zeroed in on the box in her lap.

“Happy birthday, Yuji” you said softly.

Inside the box sat the ten versions of the ‘I Got a Boy’ album by SNSD, aka Jimin’s favorite band.

“How did you manage to get these? They’re almost impossible to find, and you even got all nine members!” she exclaimed.

“I’ve been planning this for months now” you shrugged, a smirk playing at your lips “the Jessica version was incredibly hard to find, but it was definitely worth it”.

Jimin laughed, not really knowing what else to do. “This must have cost a fortune”.

“Not to brag but being a celebrity has some perks, you know?”

Jimin, with extreme care, placed the box back in the coffee table and reached over to pull you into a hug. “Breakfast in bed, the dinosaur cake, my favorite band’s album… why would you go through all this trouble for me?”.

“It’s pretty simple, you’re my absolute favorite person, Yuji” you smiled at her “I would do anything for you”. Jimin held you tighter, never wanting to let go.

“Come on” you called out to her after a few seconds “why don’t we go through your new albums together?”.

______________________

(“For the next scene, we should have y/n on a boat” a man suggested.

 “No, that’s not a good idea” Jimin countered.

“Oh really? And why not? It’s summer, it’s a popular concept”

“That might be true, but y/n has severe motion sickness, she won’t be able to film the music video properly”

“She… does?”

“Yes, one look at the boat and she will be throwing up nonstop. In fact, whenever she gets on a plane-”

“Jimin stop embarrassing me!”)

______________________

In the entirety of her time knowing you, Jimin had never felt this furious towards you. Not only had you been ignoring her, giving her the cold shoulder and just acting like a complete brat, she had caught you in the kitchen of your shared home standing way too close to Aeri for her liking.

She could still picture the horrifying scene every time she closed her eyes. You standing there, giggling and twirling your hair like some school girl while Aeri leaned in close to whisper something in your ear. Jimin saw red as soon as she walked into the kitchen and caught you two like that.

Jimin didn’t know what was worse, the fact that she got into a fight with one of her best friends, that you had locked yourself in your room after the incident and refused to talk to her, that she still couldn’t bring herself to tell you how she felt, or that she had heard Aeri asking for your number right before she left.

Maybe she should go out, find a way to distract herself from this chaos. She was about to get up from her bed when she heard a knock on her door followed by your voice. “Jimin? Can I come in?”.

Jimin considered her options, she wanted to scream, she wanted to ignore you the same way you had ignored her, but her heart ached for you; what she wanted most was to for you to tell her it was all a misunderstanding and you were all hers.

“Okay, come in” you two should fix this mess as soon as possible, you couldn’t go out to work if you refused to talk to each other. You shuffled into Jimin’s room with a conflicted expression on your face, you looked directly into Jimin’s eyes before deciding the floor was more interesting than her face. Jimin sighed, and when you turned to look at her again, she motioned for you to sit with her on the bed.

 “Will you please tell me what the hell that was?” Jimin started, a stern expression on her face. You gulped; you had never seen her this mad.

“Aeri and I were just talking” you said.

“Bullshit!” Jimin exclaimed “I know Aeri very well, but it was clear as day that she was flirting with you”.

“You really want to do this? Fine.” You said defiantly, “I admit we were flirting, but why does that bother you, huh?”.

“Why does that bother me? Because you’re mine, y/n! Excuse me for being bothered when someone else flirts with you!” Jimin raised her voice, but you weren’t going to back down.

“I’m yours, really?” you laughed incredulously “Are you sure not mixing me up with Minjeong?”

“Minjeong? What on earth are you talking about?!”.

“Whenever Minjeong is around you always treat me differently, as if you don’t want her to see anything, and before you try to brush me off again, I know for a fact you two used to date”.

“How do you know that?” but Jimin knew the answer before you said anything.

“Aeri told me” you shrugged “she told me all about how you were each other’s first love and how you’re probably going to start dating again”.

“Minjeong and I are just friends, we’re better off as friends” Jimin huffed.

“I see the way she looks at you, Jimin, I’m not stupid” you got up from the bed, wanting to put some distance between you.

“Oh yeah?” she stood up as well, now you were screaming at each other from opposite sides of the bed “and how does she look at me, huh? Please, enlighten me”.

“She looks at you the exact same way I do, Jimin!” you felt tears threatening to spill form your eyes, but you had to get your point across. “It’s the exact way I wish you would look at me!”.

“If what you say is true, then why the hell were you flirting with Aeri?!” Jimin wasn’t ready to let that one go just yet.

“I wanted your attention! I wanted you to look at me!” you cried out. “Every time Minjeong is around you act as if there’s a wall between us, but whenever it’s just the two of us you treat me like I’m the only one you want. The last time I tried to talk to you about it you called me dramatic, I didn’t know what else to do”.

“…You gave Aeri your phone number” Jimin mumbled.

“Jimin-”

“A-and what about Miyeon, huh?” it looked like Jimin still had some fight in her. “You're practically obsessed with her!”

“What?” you shrieked.

“I’ve been in love with you for the longest time, y/n. I love your laugh; I love the way you scrunch up your nose when you’re trying to concentrate. I love the way you hum along to whatever melody is stuck in your head when you cook; I love how you pretend to like sweets because you know I like them. I love the way you have to take a pill before getting into a car because your stomach is just weak like that, which brings me to how much I love the fact that you’re willing to ride rollercoasters with me even if it means you’ll be puking your guts out for the next hour. I could go on and on, listing every little thing I’ve come to love about you, but it would probably take me decades. I just… feel insecure sometimes. I see how everyone else looks at you, I see these celebrities throwing themselves at you and I just know they could give you a better life than whatever it is that I could offer; but know this one thing, baby, they will never love you the way I do”. Jimin finished her heartfelt speech with tears spilling out of her eyes.

“You stubborn fool” you sniffed “I want to be yours. I don’t care about anyone else; do you have any idea how many celebrities I have rejected because I’m waiting for you to actually ask me to be your girlfriend? Yuji, you’re the most important person in my life, I don’t want anyone else”.

Jimin looked at you as if she couldn’t believe what you were saying. “I thought you wouldn’t feel the same…”

“You’re joking, right?” you laughed despite the tears that were coming out of your eyes. “I honestly thought you were just fooling around”.

Jimin walked over to you, wrapping her arms around your waist and lowered her voice, making you feel weak in the knees. “There’s still a lot of things we need to talk about, but right now?” she placed a kiss on the corner of your mouth. “Right now, I’m going to show you how much I love you”. She placed a kiss on your neck. “And I’m also going to remind you who you belong to”.

Jimin desperately pressed her lips against yours, you sighed melting into the kiss.

“I’ll make sure you never forget just how much I love you”.

______________________

("I just can’t believe how dense you were. I’ve been madly in love with you for ages.”

“You’re one to speak…”

“Excuse me? I wrote a whole album about how much I loved you.”

“Yes, but-”

“I have a song literally called ‘yjm’! You know, as in Yu Jimin?”

“Okay but-”

“We went to Paris for my birthday!”

“Yeah, as friends!”

“The city of love? Really, Jimin?”)

______________________

A/N: It's finally here! I've been working on this one for the longest time, but I never expected it to be this long haha

I hope you guys enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it! If you have any suggestions regarding whatever just let me know.

[mlm-writer]

Daddy/Dearest (Wade Wilson x M!Reader)

Pairing: Wade Wilson/Deadpool x Alien!Cis!M!Reader  Rating: Mature (lowest I can go with a Deadpool fic) Words: 1048 POV: Third Summary: You matched with Deadpool on the intergalactic dating app Starcrossed. After exchanging many dick pics, you decided to visit Earth for your first date... and blow the planet up if the date sucked. Note: Inspired by the song Party Tonight by Joe Hedourix and this prompt. Tags: first date, fluff, idk who Nick Fury really is tbh, 4th wall breaks, romcom and reader’s appearance is a little vague but at some point I started imagining Megamind

“Deadpool! Open up!” Wade groaned at the insistent knocking on his door. He tried to rub his eyes, only to find out that he was still wearing his mask. A quick look down revealed he had fallen asleep on the couch in his PJs. The knocking at his door stopped, so he rested his body on the couch. He had barely closed his eyes, when the door was knocked down. 

He raised his head with a groan, only to be incredibly surprised by his guest. “Wow, Nick Fury, I am not sure if I am even supposed to know who you are, because the writer has seen exactly one movie in which you had a cat, but he supposes you’re an important dude or whatever.” 

“Shut it, motherfucker,” the man wearing a black trenchcoat barked back at Wade. He clearly took note of the dirty white shirt with a butt on it and the blue chequered underwear Wade was wearing, but he did not comment on it. “Do you know the app Starcrossed?” 

Wade laughed, not reading the room that had been filled with armoured men and women because we are inclusive here and women can and will kick your ass if provoked. 

“That app with all the metas on it? Why? Did we match? I’m sorry if I did not reply, but you’re not really my type and you must have been an accidental swipe.” 

“Stop yapping! Does this guy look familiar to you?” From his pocket he unfolded a picture printed on an A4 paper. Wade leaned in and squinted at the picture. He did recognise the person on it. 

“Oh yes that’s my daddy - not my father - but like a sexual daddy you know. You should see his dick.” Nick looked like he was gonna lose it. Wade could tell, but he frankly did not give a shit. 

“Well, your ‘daddy’ is the leader of an alien race, whose armada is in orbit right now to drop him off for a ‘date’ with you. So get dressed, because whether we get blown up or not today is apparently up to you.” That was a lot to take in, but Wade was used to weird days and this was simply just another one of them. 

Now it was common to be nervous for a first date, but the fully armed SWAT team dropping Wade off was not helping. He tried making conversation with them, but they seemed to blame him for possible annihilation before dinner time. 

When he stepped out of the chopper, there was a masculine figure waiting in front of the former military base. He held a large bouquet of iridescent flowers. They seemed either fake or from an alien planet. “Wadey!” The figure called out, waving frantically with all hands that were not holding the bouquet. The inhuman coloured skin seemed to change colour wherever the late morning sun was directly shining on it. 

“Hi daddy,” Wade called back in the same cooing tone. He skipped over to his date. “Are those for me?” He mused, knowing the answer as his date handed them to him. 

“I heard flowers are quite common to bring to a Terran date, so I brought some rare flowers from my planet for you. I am afraid they will not survive as long as they would on my planet though. The sun here is weak.” Wade smelled the flowers. They smelled like butt. Could be worse. At least Wade was familiar with the smell of butt. Wade held the flowers close as he thanked the other for them. “Well then, shall we? Your government was so kind to help me set up an Earth-date.” 

The atmosphere was… weird. There was a very extensive brunch on a beautifully decorated table, but they were surrounded by people keeping them at gunpoint. “You don’t seem bothered by being held at gunpoint,” Wade noted as he rolled up his mask just far enough to shove a croissant into his mouth. 

“Likewise,” his date smirked back at him. He reached out and touched the edges of the mask. “Come on, I already know your dick and ass are covered in scars. Your face cannot possibly scare me.” Wade thought about it. Well, his identity was not really a secret right now anyway. They already knew where he lived. Wade lifted his mask off his face, trying to not show how insecure he was about his fucked up face. However, when he looked at the alien before him, he swore he could see a hunger in his eyes. “If these people were not around, I would fuck your face right now,” the man sighed dreamily, before continuing to clumsily trying to spread butter on a piece of toast. 

Wade reached out and decided to help him. Their fingers briefly touched and Wade saw the other man smile at the contact. It set his body on fire with desire. “I frankly don’t care about the audience, but after writing all those kinktober fics the writer can really use a break from blowjob scenes, so let’s keep this from being E-rated.”

Wade sat back down after buttering his date’s toast. He watched as the alien’s facial features reacted to the taste of Earth food. “Fascinating,” he spoke softly. Wade chatted with his date and those mesmerising eyes and charming smile kept drawing him in. At some point he was sure even Nick Fury could smell his arousal from wherever he was keeping an eye on the situation. There was no more food left, when his date rose from his seat and offered one of his hands. “Let’s get out of here.” 

Wade grabbed his mask and put it back on. “We’ll have to fight our way out of here if we want to do that.” A corona of blue light started surrounding the alien, a devilish smile appearing on his face. The sudden display of power got people loading their guns and Wade’s gun filling up with blood really quickly. 

“Do not worry, dearest, that can be arranged,” the most powerful being that had ever held him spoke, before he blasted a hole in the line of armed people, lighting the way to their future in a flurry of blue. “Let’s have a good time, dearest.”

[connorsnothereeither]

are there any details about Kyr and his story that you haven’t been able to talk about yet? He’s such a neat character I want to know more about him :D

I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS ABOUT KYR

Mostly his part after appearing in Ulysses’ finale. Kyr was designed as a group effort between Heyhay, Ocie, Metta and I as a one off character to be a through-line in the Cydonia stream, that we could follow between temples, so his story in the temples is very much collaborative and intentionally vague, up until the point of being sent to find Ulysses.

I think Kyr tried to come back to the temple after he couldn’t find Ulysses, and found it after everyone had been murdered by the facility guards. When the resets happened and his memories started to erode as Fable messed with history, his main memory was of searching for Ulysses, and that occupied most of his time in the resets. I like to think he was maybe tracing Ulysses movements, and interviewing/threatening the crews he worked with for information.

Post-finding Ulysses, I think they became very close. He became somewhat of a nephew to Ulysses, and I think he accompanied Ulysses on a lot of his journeys, which is how they ended up finding other Telchin.

Specifically, he found his future wife, too. The blue and green Telchin he’s waving to in the photo in Ulysses epilogue. Her name is Penelope (she/they), and they fell in love slowly, as they helped to build the permanent town which would become the Telchin Settlement. She’s a healer, focusing on medicine and alchemy. And together they are the parents of the first Telchin child born post-war! Edaline Circe Cydonia (named after both of their mothers). I think Edaline (or Eda) is probably a year or two younger than Vaeh, timeline wise.

Kyr lives in the Telchin Settlement (wherever that is) for the most part, but makes regular trips to visit Ulysses back in Lodestar Grove (when Ulysses is actually there). I think his penchant for telling stories isn’t quite as good, but he has an excellent memory. Which also extents to muscle-memory. He’s an incredible fighter, particularly in short-distance ranged combat (throwing tridents, and archery specifically) and an extremely competent swimmer.

Post-Ulysses’ death, I think Kyr does his best to keep his memory alive. I think maybe even with Rae’s help, he sets up and exhibition piece to him, in the museum, so that future generations can learn about the work he did. And I think he and his family take regular trips to Elysium to visit Ulysses, and Kyr’s mother too. I think she’d be very proud of all her son was able to accomplish, after escaping the temple.

[imthepunchlord]

With Wish supposed to be a return to good ole fashion Disney villainy, I think they missed a big opportunity. By what we got, there's enough set up I saw for a literal return of old Disney villainy, particularly one of the more iconic.

I could see Maleficent easily fit into the film.

Magnifico could've worked, he had the charisma, fun, and spite. But wound up an awkward flop. The Magnifico we got wasn't really set up as a villain. Everyone is happy in his kingdom, he doesn't tax them, doesn't demand residents to give up their wishes and he safeguards all of them even if not granted, he keeps his people in the know of what's going on, and grants wishes to people free of cost. He crafted a utopia. And I saw people in his kingdom just demanding more and more of him, and saw them as ungrateful. And yeah, by set up, Asha did feel more like a villain in contrast to him, starting a revolution because she was told no, and having a risky belief that all wishes should be granted or returned to people, not even considering that there are just as many dark and selfish wishes as there are pure and selfless ones. I wound up standing more with Magnifico instead of the hero. And it shouldn't be so.

Additionally, he doesn't exactly click with the villain label. Having an ego and being petty is not enough to make someone a villain. It's actions and intentions that do. Which he doesn't have either. He has no ambition as a villain. And despite being petty to Asha, he still promises to safeguard her grandfather's wish. Why, they had to bring out an evil spell book to corrupt him and make him fit the villain label. And that's not good for your villain...

Which just leads to my thought process that maybe Maleficent should've been the villain. And there's just a lot of details I saw in the film that could point to that thought and how it could work.

To start, there's the vagueness of his backstory. We have an unnamed group that destroyed Magnifico's home when he was younger. Also this inspired him to study and learn magic. Maleficent can fit with both details: she does have an army and is a sorceress (and maybe fairy?), and typically it takes magic to fight magic.

Plus, their names can be solid counters to each other and could work off being foils, with Magnifico relating to greatness, noble, and exceptional wonders while Maleficent is great evil and harm.

But, the biggest thing that sells the thought for me, all relates to the mysterious evil book Magnifico has. Where did he get it? Who made it? Why does it have this ability to corrupt anyone who looks into it?

Maleficent is just an easy answer to all of those questions.

She's the Mistress of All Evil. It's plausible she'd make a spell book that would corrupt any that opened it and read through it's pages. And if she's a major threat, it makes sense for Magnifico to think he needs to get this potential source of power and wickedness away from her, keep it under lock and key.

Also, everything tied to the spell book just screams to me Sleeping Beauty references.

From the dragon on the cover.

To the claw-like green magic that reminds me of Maleficent's magic.

To the "thorny vines" take over of the kingdom.

All the details and magic to the book remind me of Maleficent, and it makes me wonder if maybe she should've been the true villain of Wish. Maybe even a surprise twist villain, the true return to Disney villainy.

Even more so, when you introduce a vague threat that shaped one of my your major characters, defining his backstory and reasons for where he went in life and built up, typically that threat comes back. And I would think wherever he got that spell book from, would want it back.

And I can just see Maleficent having the cunning and spite to get Magnifico to destroy the kingdom he built up, having the audacity to stand up to her, thinking he can challenge her power. She could've whispered to him with Star made him scared and nervous, escalate things that he looks into the book and gets corrupted.

You could even go so far to have her be the Queen in disguise, playing a long game.

This film also could've established her rivalry with benevolent fairies and wish granters, especially with fairies tied to stars in older Disney films, which are also tied to wishes.

Maybe it would've been too much, but I do think, over all, it was a missed opportunity not doing more with Maleficent and her potential ties to that book, cause everything about it just reminds me of her and seems like a big Sleeping Beauty reference. Could've been cool for Magnifico to mention he got it from "The Mistress of All Evil", just to give a more definitive origins to this plot device that made him a villain, though not a good one... I will say, concept wise, he was a better villain from what I've seen. I am also bummed that we didn't get our villainous couple. You cowards, Disney.

[vanessafaron]

I feel like I am truly getting in my own way. I understand the law to the point I can explain it to a beginner but when it comes to applying it as part of my own practice, I can never seem to trust myself.

Each time I decide to go all in and change my state of being, I am in constant doubt that I'm not doing it right. There is this sinking feeling that I have not successfully changed self. I end up being hyperaware of what I'm feeling. I read other experiences and they talk about this deep knowing that comes when you change your state of being but I don't feel that and I keep checking the outer world (despite knowing that it is a reflection of my past state) I have been studying Neville and Edward Art for a while now (like 4 years) and I've tried to fulfill the inner man and everything but you might have guessed-nothing changed.

I know this is because I didn't change SELF successfully (I don't doubt the law at all). But after such a long time, I'm kinda tired and I just want to escape. Can you pls advise me on what to do Vanessa:(

Firstly, I want to make it clear that you are not doing anything wrong. I know it's hard to trust yourself but I need you to know that you are the operant power. There is nothing outwith you that you cannot control and there is no set rules for how to apply the Law, what it comes down to is your assumptions. That's why it's called the Law of Assumption.

It seems to me like you are comparing your journey to others and I sympathize, because I used to do the same. I used to look at "successful shifters/manifesters" and think that I was doing something wrong just because my journey didn't look exactly like theirs. If you know this is something you do, I would advise against being on social media for the moment or at least wherever you see Law of Assumption content. I know that's easier said than done but the mental break can give you so much clarity, I really recommend it.

If you do this, the next thing to realise is that, like I said, there's no rules for how you apply. As long as you assume that what you're doing is right, you're doing it right. The only thing is to know you have what you want. You said you don't think you feel that inner fulfillment and knowing but in my experience, it's more of a decision rather than a feeling. I would have days where I would overthink if what I was doing was correct because the way people describe the "feeling" is so vague, but all it really is, is making a decision and sticking to it. Even in your bad days where you feel like you're doing it wrong, persist in the decision that you have what you desire. And just keep persisting.

If you find yourself getting upset/bothered by 3D circumstances and feeling like you reacting to it is going to affect your manifestations, don't. You have the choice of separating those negative feelings from the inner self. You can feel frustrated, I still get frustrated a lot, but I've learned that my feelings and I (self) are different. I know that I (self) have everything I desire, even if I (3D) feel awful.

I would say as well that persisting can feel uncomfortable at first, because your subconscious wants to revert back to what's comfortable to you, which for most people is misery and helplessness. Because we are used to it. But the more you do it, the easier it becomes. You really just need to know you're doing it right. Why? Because you said so. You are the operant power. You can make the rules.

If you assume that you manifest every time you eat cereal, guess what? That's going to be true. A ridiculous example, but one that shows that you make the rules.

If it helps also, maybe take a break from manifestation content or feeling the pressure to control every single thought, don't exhaust yourself. Manifestation doesn't have to be exhausting. Be kind to yourself.

I'm not sure if this helps but I hope so.

I truly wish you the best and I appreciate you reaching out for help.

[hotchnerobsessed]

Think About You

This one was requested by @ssamorganhotchner 🥰

Based on “The Touching Yourself Song” by Noah Davis

Fem!Reader x Hotch | Being away from Aaron is never easy, but you always find ways of getting by.. sometimes with his help.

Warnings: 🥵+🤭 Smut [praise kink, slight choking kink, fem!masturbation, phone sex, mirror play, protected sex] with a few little moments of domestic life with Aaron sprinkled throughout.

Word Count: 8080

Masterlist

I think we can all agree that Aaron is an old fashioned kind of guy, so the pictures are Polaroids rather than digital photos 🫣

**********

“I've got a man, but he's always out of town.”

Being apart never got any easier. It didn’t matter if he was gone for a couple days, or a couple weeks, knowing you wouldn’t be falling asleep in his arms for an undetermined amount of time made your chest ache. Add to that the fact that he might get hurt, or worse, he might never come home, made it almost unbearable sometimes.

But you never held it against him. You knew what you’d signed up for when you’d agreed to spend the rest of your lives together. You accepted him for who he was, job and all. Truthfully, it’s what had drawn you to him in the first place, there was always an air of safety around him. You knew that no matter what happened, you would be okay as long as you had him by your side; your fierce protector.

As you sat at the empty dining room table, you’d hardly touched the meal you’d prepared for yourself. Jack was at a friend’s for the weekend, so you were on your own for two and a half days. You enjoyed your time alone as much as the next person, but when Aaron was gone, some nights were more difficult than others. The fork in your hand was mindlessly pushing food around your plate, before you finally set it down with a heavy sigh.

Glancing out the window, you stared at the beautiful sunset that filled the sky, and couldn’t help but wonder what the sky looked like wherever he was. That was the hardest part, the not knowing exactly where he was. It was always so vague, simply, “Alabama,” or, “Nebraska.”

As the brilliant colours reflected in the clouds began to fade, you found yourself fidgeting with the rings around your finger. Your mind instantly flooded with memories of your special day, saying “I do,” to your best friend, followed by cheers erupting from all of your loved ones.

It didn’t take long for your mind to wander even farther, to the end of the night, and everything that followed. The way he’d looked, kneeling in front of you, tux still in tact, as he pushed your dress up your legs. The smirk that crossed his face before he ducked his head under the material and connected his lips to your core still made a chill run down your spine. He’d stayed right there for even longer than he normally did, wanting to “make sure my wife is taken care of.”

You hadn’t noticed it at first, the way you’d mindlessly crossed your legs while you were still seated in that dining room chair, with your eyes still focused on the clouds, still spinning your rings around your finger. The slight rocking motion of your foot relieved some of the pressure that was beginning to build deep within you, but it wasn’t enough.

It wasn’t long before the memory of him finally pulling himself out from under your wedding dress was front and centre; his hair was a complete mess, his chin glistened thanks to your multiple climaxes, and a huge grin was spread across his face. That was a sight you knew you would never forget; it had seared itself into the deepest parts of your mind.

“Feel like an addict, you come on my mind, all of a sudden I'm wetting through the sheets like aquafina.”

By now, you’d acknowledged the aching between your legs, and you wanted to get more comfortable. You quickly packaged up your untouched meal and stuck it in the fridge, before making your way to the bedroom. As you crossed the soft carpeted floor, losing articles of clothing along the way, you finally found yourself lying on your back in the middle of the bed.

You didn’t waste any time, sliding your hands along your body, cupping one of your breasts in one hand, while continuing farther down with the other. You weren’t surprised at all by just how wet you already were, it didn’t take much when Aaron was on your mind.

Your now slick fingers slid effortlessly along your folds, gently teasing yourself. It was a sad attempt at building up to your climax, even though you knew you were already teetering on the edge. You decided to just let yourself have this one, as you brought your fingers up to your sensitive bud.

The feeling was euphoric, as your eyes slipped closed and more memories began flashing through your mind. One in particular was of a time he’d informed you that he wanted to have you for breakfast, as his strong hands helped lift you onto the kitchen counter before he dropped to his knees in front of you. With every swipe of your fingers, you imagined his tongue on you, caressing you up and down, drawing out every last ounce of pleasure he could.

It was one look in particular that he always gave you that finally did you in; the way he would glance up at you, lips still attached to your clit, as he raised those strong eyebrows of his as if asking permission, before sliding two fingers inside you.

One last brush of your fingertips against your swollen bud had your body shaking. Your hips writhed against the sheets, a moan of his name escaping your lips, as your grip on your breast tightened. Your chest was still heaving, but you desperately wanted more.

“Using his pics when I'm missing his dick, I do it at night, with him on my mind.”

After allowing yourself some time to catch your breath, you slipped your legs over the side of the bed before kneeling on the floor and pulling open the very bottom drawer of your shared dresser. You’d both agreed to make it your special drawer, and you’d filled it with all of your lingerie, sex toys, and (just what you were looking for) a stack of Polaroid photos.

Glancing down at the tiny photos between your fingertips, you felt a warmth spread through your body as you recalled the passion of that night. You’d been digging through some old boxes in the garage when you found the camera, at which point you’d completely forgotten what you’d even been looking for in the first place. What started as an innocent, “look what I found!” quickly turned into him suggesting that he had, “an idea of what we could take pictures of..”

You flipped through the stack, everything from photos of you going down on each other, to photos of you riding him, and a close up of his large hand grasping your throat, to find one specific photo that seemed to have a death grip on your mind. You simply couldn’t help it, it was one you always kept going back to.

Taken from his point of view, looking down at you lying on your back, the very top of the frame showed your breasts cupped in your hands. The very bottom of the frame showed a glorious view of his stomach, with the centre of the photo capturing his cum painted flawlessly across your chest and stomach. Your bodies were impossibly close, your legs draped over his thighs, with his still hard length resting against your lower abdomen. You loved the photo because it showed off his size beautifully, with his tip reaching past your belly button.

“When I go solo I'm never by myself, we fuck in my mind when I can't have that dick in real life. It's like you never leave mе, it's all in my head, but I still feel that shit in my spine.”

Simply looking at the photo seemed to have a visceral affect on your body, as your thighs squeezed closer together. If you closed your eyes, you swore you could still feel just how deep he always reached. With your toes curling at the thought, you knew you needed to do something about the throbbing that had returned between your legs. Sliding the drawer shut, you made your way back to the bed, lying down and spreading your legs once more.

Your eyes scanned the photo, and you mimicked the way you were cupping your breasts in the photo with your free hand. Running your thumb across your nipple made your back arch, as your eyes slipped shut and you imagined it was his hands making you feel good.

As your fingers trailed farther down your body, you made a point of laying your hand flat against your lower abdomen, right where his cock had been in the photo. Your eyes flickered open momentarily, and your gaze lingered on his impressive length in the photo, as everything came rushing back.

“When I close my eyes, that muscle stay with me. That muscle memory.”

Moments before the photo was taken, you’d felt your entire body shudder, a wave of pleasure consuming your mind. You’d come to realize that it would never matter how many times you experienced it, the feeling of him deep inside you as an orgasm ripped through your body, it wasn’t something that would become seemingly mundane. As much as you craved a simple, domestic life with him, these moments, with both of your bodies connected, isn’t something you would ever take for granted.

With your eyes closed once again, you allowed your hand to travel between your thighs. You could still see the look of pleasure on his face clear as day as he wrapped his hand around his hard length. You could still hear the deep groans rumbling through his chest and escaping his lips as incoherent moans. As much as it turned you on, watching as he fucked his own fist and spilled his release across your body, it also made your heart swell in your chest. You could remember lying on your back in that moment, staring up at him and thinking to yourself how lucky you were to see him this vulnerable, this unravelled, this spent.

Reaching your hand even farther down, you slipped your fingers between your wet lips and into your heat. It wasn’t the same as his fingers, and nowhere near the same as his cock, but it would have to do for now. Carefully setting the photo on the bed beside you, you slid your other hand down to meet the other, and your fingers danced around your clit.

With a firm curling motion, you began massaging that glorious spot inside of you, all while rubbing tight circles against your swollen bud. Hitting the rewind button in your mind, you focused back on the moments leading up to your climax in that photo; the way he whispered encouragement in your ear, the way his pelvis rubbed perfectly against your clit, and the way his tip hit all the right spots inside you.

In no time at all, you felt your body crest the wave again, that same feeling of euphoria consuming your mind. With a few final strokes of your fingers, you’d reached your limit and pulled your hands away, letting yourself breathe through it. As your chest rose and fell, slowing with every deep breath in shaky breath out, you felt a calm settle itself deep within you. Even when Aaron wasn’t there with you, he was still more than capable of making you come undone in the best way.

Though your body still craved more, you craved him, you were more than happy to end the night there, and after cleaning yourself up, you simply curled up in bed. Wearing one of Aaron’s sweaters, breathing in the familiar scent of him, you slowly drifted off to sleep.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

The next morning, things hadn’t changed, you still wanted more. You wanted him there with you, touching you, inside you, his body weight pinning you against the mattress. Throughout the day, you did your best to ignore it, but by the time the evening rolled around, you couldn’t deny it any longer.

You’d finally finished your leftovers from the night before, when you decided you were going to text him; you just wanted him to know he was on your mind. Though you knew your chances of getting a response were slim, you were going to try anyway. He was more than likely wrapped up with something, but later at night like this was better than midday.

Reaching for your phone, you selected his name from the top of your screen and typed out a message. Most times you would have started by asking how his day had been, and how everyone was doing, but you were too focused on how empty your arms felt without him there to hold at night. You decided that a simple statement, getting straight to the point, would be best.

📲 I miss you so much.

Once you hit send, you locked your phone and set it on the table beside you. You weren’t expecting a reply any time soon, so you stood from the table and brought your dishes to the sink. Much to your surprise, seconds later you heard the chime of your phone.

📲 I miss you too, sweetheart. Are you alright?

You smiled softly to yourself; you should have known he’d be able to tell that something was off. Not wanting to waste his time, you decided once again that being honest was best.

📲 Just feeling a little more lonely than usual.. Call me when you have a few minutes?

On the other side of the phone, hundreds of miles away, Hotch stood in a room full of his colleagues, his eyebrows drawn together. He was attempting to push past the guilt he felt in that moment; he knew you understood the job, the life he chose, but something he didn’t always acknowledge was the fact that when he was away, he was surrounded by his team every day. Meanwhile, you were usually left alone, especially when Jack wasn’t around so you could be each other’s emotional support buddies.

While all this was running though his mind, most everyone else had dispersed, leaving him and Morgan alone in the room. “Hotch,” Derek had clocked the sudden change in his demeanour, “everything okay?” he asked gently, nodding towards the phone in Aaron’s hand.

“Yeah, I.. I think so..” he hesitated before tucking his phone back into his pocket, “it’s Y/N.” Pausing once more, sliding a few papers into his briefcase before finally looking up at the man across the room, “why don’t you all take a quick break, you should get something to eat. We’ll meet back here in 15.” If you’d been there in person, he knew you would have said something about the fact that he should be eating, too. But right now all he cared about was making sure you were okay.

Derek simply nodded and turned to leave the conference room they’d set up in, before wrangling the rest of the team for a quick meal. Not wanting to disturb anyone, or have your call interrupted, Aaron made his way out of the room as well. It wasn’t long before he was climbing into the front seat of one of the black SUVs and dialling your number.

It had been only 3, maybe 4 minutes since you’d sent your last message when you heard your phone ring, his name lighting up the screen. You were quick to answer, “hi!” the relief in your voice evident.

A soft smile creased the corners of his eyes; he couldn’t deny how good it felt to hear your voice. “Hi sweetheart, everything okay?”

Your laugh was soft, as his soothing tone crept right through the phone and calmed every anxiety in your mind, “I think I just needed to hear your voice..”

His smile grew even wider, knowing he had the same affect on you. “Well I’m here now, alright? I’m right here,” his voice was low and comforting, “tell me about your day.”

A flustered smile graced your lips, it was the tiny moments like this that made you fall even deeper in love with him every day. As you filled him in on what you’d been up to that day, he absorbed it all; you were the sliver of light shining through the darkness of his day. If it was up to him, he’d sit right in that spot and keep you on the phone for the rest of the evening.

“Good, that’s good.” You could hear the smile on his face clear as day. “And how’s Jack?”

“Oh he’s doing great. I spoke to him this morning. He’s always happy to spend time with the puppy over at their house..”

As Aaron laughed, you couldn’t help but laugh right along with him. This had been a discussion between the three of you for quite some time now, and he was finally starting to come around. “I bet he’s having the time of his life,” he teased.

“It sure sounded like it,” you added playfully.

“So baby don't worry, I'm going to be fine. Touching myself in the night, while I’ve got you on my mind.”

There was a short pause before he spoke again, “and you? What’s going on in that beautiful head of yours?”

Your sigh was barely audible, but he could feel it in his chest, too. “I just.. miss you..”

His sigh matched yours, “I know, sweetheart, I miss you too. I’m sorry you were on your own all weekend.”

Shaking your head in an attempt to move past the longing you felt for him, you simply stated, “it’s okay, I’m okay. But I can’t wait for you to come home.”

He smiled quietly to himself, “I’ll be home before you know it.” He was trying to make you feel better, and you loved him for it, but both of you knew there was just no telling how long he’d be gone.

“Promise?” you whispered.

“Promise.” He smirked before continuing, “but until then.. are you..” he hesitated, heat rising in his cheeks before he even said the words out loud, “is my girl taking care of herself?”

You exhaled hard, his words catching you completely by surprise. It was almost as if he knew that’s why you’d texted in the first place, and he’d figured you were too reluctant to say anything. “I’m.. yes..” you admitted softly.

He chuckled, the arousal in your voice clear already. He just couldn’t help himself, “good girl.”

A deep groan formed in your throat, “oh Aaron.. I miss you so much..”

“I miss you too, sweetheart.. fuck, I wish I was there right now..” he admitted, that low voice of his gripping your chest.

“Yeah?” Your voice was shaky.

“Yes..” A stark contrast to the uneven tone of your voice, his was firm and unwavering. He knew he couldn’t get himself too worked up right now, not when he had to return to work in a mere 9 minutes. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t give you what you needed. “I wish I was there so I could kiss your neck, my hands on your back, pulling you close.”

You hummed contentedly, sensations slowly beginning to grow deep within you. As much as you wanted this, you knew he was at work, and you didn’t want to be a burden. “Where.. where are you right now?” you asked between deep breaths, “we can’t do this.. you’re working..”

“Don’t worry about that, sweetheart,” he cooed.

You tried your best to get your mind past the fact that he was technically on the clock right now, “but..”

He cut you off, “you trust me, right? Just let me take care of you.”

Another deep breath escaped your lungs, “okay..”

“Okay,” he repeated through a smile, before inquiring, “are you in our bedroom?”

You simply shook your head at first, momentarily forgetting that he couldn’t actually see that response. You finally replied, “the couch..” When you’d heard the phone ringing, you’d picked it up and quickly made your way to the living room, getting comfortable in your favourite spot on the couch.

“I think we can work with that.” You could hear the smirk in his voice, and you exhaled deep once more. “Lay back,” he could hear a faint shuffling over the phone, “and spread your legs for me.”

“Okay..” you moaned.

“You know I was thinking about you last night, it’s not the same without you here. But I'll be okay until you get home, beause I love the way you love me from afar.”

“That’s my good girl.” The smooth velvety tone of his voice sent chills down your spine. “When’s the last time you made yourself cum?” He wanted to hear all about it.

“Last night..” you confessed.

He smiled again, “ohhh, such a needy girl.”

“I couldn’t help it,” you whined, your hand finding it’s way between your legs, “I was thinking about you.”

Your words made pride well in his chest; even though he wasn’t there with you, he was still able to make you feel good. And he was going to prove that once more. “Oh yeah? And what was I doing?”

You moaned, “I was.. looking at that photo..”

That was as descriptive as your mind would allow you to be in that moment, but he still knew exactly what photo you were talking about. “Ahh yes.. You always look so pretty with my cum all over you.”

“Fuck..” You were already breathless, as the circles you were rubbing against your throbbing clit began increasing in speed.

He grinned once more, taking a moment to be silent and listen to the sounds of your heavy breathing; he wished he could be there with you so bad. “Put me on speaker, sweetheart.” Without hesitation, you had it switched to speaker phone and was resting it carefully on your chest.

“Diffеrent time zones, but he's still inside me. I’m never alone when I touch myself.”

Seconds later he spoke again, “you’re already touching yourself, aren’t you?”

Once again, you simply nodded, before admitting softly, “yes..”

“Good girl,” he smirked, “now I want you to use your other hand, and slide two fingers inside that beautiful pussy.”

“Okay..” you whined.

He was fighting as hard as he could to stay calm, and not let the arousal rushing through his veins get the better of him. Clearing his throat, he pushed through the tightness that gripped his chest.

“Oh fuck.. it feels so good..” Your voice was strained, and you unintentionally held your breath at the feeling.

“Imagine it’s my fingers, sweet girl, my cock, moving in and out of you, making you feel good.” He still spoke with that deep commanding voice, calm as ever.

“Always..” you admitted, “it’s always you.” It wasn’t long before you felt the knot in your stomach beginning to tighten. “Aaron I’m.. I’m going to cum..” you whined.

“Yeah, that’s it..” he sighed, “be a good girl and cum for me.”

His words of encouragement were all you needed, as your breath caught in your throat and you felt your body crest that wave. With a few shaky strokes of your fingers, you finally pulled them away and exhaled deep. With your chest rising and falling, your breathing heavy, you couldn’t form a single thought. You simply closed your eyes and allowed yourself to revel in the way your body immediately relaxed.

“That’s my girl.” He knew by the way your breathing hitched, and the sigh that rang in his ear, that you’d reached your climax; he’d heard that same rhythm of your body countless times before.

“I love you,” you laughed lightly, nothing but pure bliss clouding your mind. “Fuck, I love you so much.” You could hear his laugh over the phone, and a calm washed over you. Even when you weren’t together, your minds and bodies were still connected.

“I love you, too.” Glancing down at his watch, 3 minutes to go, he cleared his throat once more, “I’m so sorry, sweetheart, I have to get back to work. You’ll be okay until I get home?”

Still slightly out of breath, you spoke quietly, “I’ll be okay.”

“Good,” he smiled once more, “now get some rest. I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

“Okay,” you sighed, “goodnight, Aaron.”

“Goodnight, Y/N.” And with that, he finally hung up the phone, a smile lingering on his lips. With a deep breath in, he assessed himself, and after clearing his throat once more he was opening the door of the SUV and heading back into the building.

The second the door closed behind him, Morgan was at his side, “everything okay with Y/N?”

Hotch gave him a soft nod, “yes, nothing serious.”

Derek narrowed his eyes, unsure of what he was trying to hide, “you sure? You look a little flushed there boss man.”

Giving Morgan the side eye, he fought to keep the heat in his chest from rising any more, “Y/N is fine. Jack is fine.”

Derek opened his mouth to say something, trying to get enough of a reaction out of him so he could read him better, but Hotch cut him off, “Morgan?”

“Yeah?” He responded not-so-innocently.

“Drop it.” Hotch’s tone was firm but not angry, and Derek knew not to push it any farther. Simply throwing his hands up to indicate he understood, the two of them made their way back to the conference room to pick up where they’d left off.

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

It was another 6 days before he’d finally told you he was on his way home to you and Jack, and the joy you both felt was palpable. When you got the call that they’d landed and he was on the way home, you both got everything ready.

A short 15 minutes later, you heard him pulling into the driveway and Jack started jumping up and down with excitement. “Okay buddy, grab your sign, quick!!” You’d helped him as he spent hours working on a sign that had ‘Welcome Home Daddy!!’ written in large print, decorated with stickers and glitter glue. At the bottom, right in the middle, were three stick figures, all labelled as ‘Mommy’, ‘Daddy’, and ‘me’, standing side by side holding hands.. with a puppy drawn beside them.

When you both heard his keys in the door, Jack stood right where you’d rehearsed, a firm grip on both sides of his sign. But that didn’t last long, because the second the front door was open, he was tossing the sign to the side and yelling, “Daddy!!” before bounding across the room towards Aaron.

Dropping everything where he stood, Aaron crouched down and spread his arms open to Jack, “hey little man! I’ve missed you! I love you so much!”

Jack giggled, “I love you, too, Daddy!”

As Jack filled him in on everything he’d missed over the last week and a half, you bent down and picked up the sign that had been tossed aside, knowing he’d want it back soon enough. You smiled softly to yourself, a warmth consuming you as you watched your favourite boys deep in conversation with each other. Every now and then, Aaron would look up at you, a smile creasing his eyes, and you couldn’t help but smile back.

Jack ended his excited rant with, “and then we made you a sign!..” he paused, “oh yeah! My sign!”

You and Aaron both laughed as you handed it to Jack and he turned to hold it up for Aaron to see. As his eyes skimmed over the lettering and he took it all in, he couldn’t help but smile at it all; yes, even at the little doodle of the puppy. “You made this just for me?!” Jack nodded his head furiously, and you heart swelled again as Aaron pulled him into another hug. “Thank you so much! I love it.”

“Mommy helped, too!” he beamed.

“Did she?” Aaron smiled up at you before looking back down at Jack, “well I guess I should probably thank her, too, don’t you think?”

Jack was nodding excitedly once again, as Aaron stood and made his way over to you. As he reached out, you eagerly wrapped your arms around his waist and pulled him close; the relief you felt in finally being able to hold him again was indescribable. As you rested your cheek against his chest, he held you tight with one hand on your lower back, the other carding through your hair gently.

Placing a tender kiss against the top of your head, he whispered a soft, “thank you,” against your hair, before dropping his head beside yours and sighing against your ear, “I love you.”

Catching him completely by surprise, you whispered quietly in his ear, “you can thank me later..” before you pulled back from his embrace nonchalantly, gazing up at him, “I love you, too, Aaron. Welcome home.”

A slight blush rose in his cheeks, and you smiled internally at how his pupils dilated. He just couldn’t help himself, as he leaned forward and placed a tender kiss to your lips. That’s when you both heard Jack immediately speak up with a playful, “ewwww gross!”

Laughing against his lips, you gave him one final peck before you both looked over and Jack. With both of you reaching an arm out to him, he raced towards you and wrapped each of his arms around your legs.

All three of you spent the evening curled up on the couch, enjoying snacks, and watching a movie of Jack’s choosing. He’d picked it out a few days earlier and had been dying for his dad to come home so you could all watch it together. It wasn’t long before you were listening to Aaron read Jack a bedtime story, before putting him to bed.

Before you knew it, you and Aaron were finally alone in your bedroom. Things started out rather innocent, with a few passionate kisses being shared as you both finished your night time routines. That’s how you’d found yourself here, standing in front of your dresser, a full length mirror just off to the side, as you took your earrings out and placed them on your jewelry tray.

Glancing to the side, you saw him in nothing but his boxers, the exhaustion on his face clear as day. You immediately felt a pang of regret at your suggestive comment about thanking you later. Even though you desperately wanted him, needed him, maybe he didn’t have it in him tonight. Truth be told, you were okay with simply curling up in bed together if he needed his rest.

As he took in the glorious sight of you in your favourite sleep set, he slowly made his way behind you. Gently grasping your hips, he placed a tender kiss against the back of your head. “I missed you so much.”

You melted into his touch, immediately resting your head back against his shoulder, “I missed you, too.”

He didn’t hesitate, dropping his head beside yours and placing tender kisses against the soft skin of your neck. You lifted a hand to caress the side of his face, before reaching farther and running your fingers through his hair. It wasn’t long before his kisses got more feverish, and his hands wrapped farther around your body.

“I can't wait for the way he puts it down. He’s so profound, the way he gets me going.”

“Aaron..” you whimpered, and he simply hummed in response. “We don’t have to tonight, if you don’t want to..” his large palms ran along the outside of your tank top. “You just got home.. if you need your sleep that’s okay.”

He brought his hands up to cup your breasts through the thin material. “No.. what I need is my wife.”

A soft moan escaped your lips, and you could feel him smile against your neck. “Okay,” you sighed.

As your body relaxed, you found yourself slowly moving your hips, grinding your backside against him, eliciting a groan from him. Seconds later he was shuffling to the side, and encouraging you to follow suit, until you were both standing in front of the full length mirror.

“The only thing that’s kept me sane this past week is knowing I was one step closer to coming home to you.” A deep sigh escaped your lips at his confession. He never talked about work, at least not in detail. You could only imagine the horrors he had to face on a daily basis. If he wanted to unwind, and needed you to help him do so, who were you to complain?

His cheek was now resting against the side of your head, as you both gazed at each other in the mirror. You used this opportunity to reassure him, “I’m right here,” as you placed your hands overtop of his that were still cupping your breasts, and squeezed gently. The smile that spread across his face made your heart flutter.

With one of his hands staying put, he slowly trailed his other palm down your body. You reached both of your hands behind you and pulled his hips even closer to yours, and could feel his excitement against your backside. He dropped his hand even farther and began massaging your core through your shorts. Releasing the air from your lungs slowly, your eyes drifted shut as you took in the feeling of finally having his hands on you once again.

It wasn’t long before he was sliding one foot between yours, hooking the inside of your ankle and pulling your legs apart for him. Almost simultaneously, he slipped his hand under the waistband of your shorts and underwear, gently running his fingertips along your folds. “You’re already so wet, sweetheart.”

Smiling, you hummed softly as you finally opened your eyes, “I told you I missed you.” The lust in his eyes was evident, as he finally made direct contact with your clit, causing you to gasp. Your breathing grew heavier and heavier by the second, and you found yourself unable to keep your eyes open yet again.

His eyes trailed across your body; the way your back arched, pushing your ass even closer to him, the way your hands grasped each of his arms, your fingertips digging into his flesh, and the way your head tipped back and your mouth dropped open in pleasure. He could watch you all day. You were gorgeous. You were sexy. You were captivating. To him, you were the definition of perfection.

Placing more kisses along your neck, he whispered against your skin, “open your eyes. Look how stunning you are.”

You responded immediately, lifting your heavy lids to trail your eyes along your body the way he had moments earlier. You however, were more focused on him; the way his hand moved effortlessly beneath the material, the muscles in his arm on display with every movement, and the way his chin rested perfectly on your shoulder, as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear.

“Feels.. so good..” you mumbled.

“Yeah?” he cooed, and you nodded enthusiastically, simply humming in response. “Does my girl want more?”

“Fuck.. please..” you moaned.

The smirk on his face was almost enough to do you in, as he reached his hand even farther down and slipped two fingers inside you with ease. The gasp that escaped your lips caused that smirk of his to spread even farther across his face, as you melted under his touch.

With a curling motion of his fingers, the palm of his hand resting right against your swollen bud, he started working you closer and closer to the edge. Grabbing hold of his hand that was still on your breasts, you slowly moved it farther up. He took the hint enthusiastically, as he carefully gripped your throat in his large hand, both of you revelling in the possessive feel of it; you were his and his alone.

“I can feel you, sweetheart,” he hummed against the side of your head, “you’re close aren’t you?”

“Yes.. fuck..” you moaned, “don’t stop.. you’re going to make me cum.”

His smile grew, as he continued with those same movements of his fingers deep within you, and before you knew it, you felt your body shiver as pleasure washed over you. Your knees shook, and your hips writhed under his touch, grinding your body into his once more. He could tell when enough was enough, because your whole body shuddered and a sharp exhale graced your lips.

“That’s my good girl.” Carefully pulling his fingers out from the material, he wrapped his arms around your waist and held you close, giving you all the support you needed as your body recovered. “Such a good girl.” He trailed tender kisses along the side of your neck, and across the top of your shoulder.

“I've got a man, but he's always out of town, I don't mind tho 'cause the pipe be good as fuck when he comes home.”

Opening your eyes slowly, your heart swelled as you watched him peppering your skin with gentle kisses. After soaking it all in for a little longer, you finally turned around in his embrace and wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling his lips to yours passionately. As his skillful tongue slipped past your lips, you let out a gentle groan, with one of your hands finding it’s way into his hair.

Your other hand slowly trailed down the front of his body, your palm brushing against the exposed skin of his chest, before slipping under the waistband of his boxers and wrapping your fingers around his hard length. He exhaled deep against your lips, pulling away slightly to rest his forehead against yours, getting lost in the feeling of your hand finally around him again.

With a slow up and down movement, you took pleasure in the soft grunts that filled your ears, causing the aching between your legs to build once more. “I need you inside me..” your voice was desperate.

He didn’t hesitate, gently grasping your wrist and pulling your hand off him. Breaking away from you, he swiftly made sure the handle on the bedroom door was locked; if Jack got out of bed, you both wanted to avoid the situation you’d been in a few months back when he’d almost walked in on you two. Thankfully Aaron’s spider-like senses had picked up on the tiny footsteps making their way down the hallway before it was too late.

When he turned back around, he saw you already sitting with your legs crossed in the middle of the bed, condom in hand, as you slowly tore the package open. He couldn’t help the smile that formed on his lips, soon spreading across his entire face, the love he felt for you was indescribable. Discarding his boxers, he finally climbed onto the bed with you, sitting back on his heels.

His length stood at attention, as you tossed the foil to the side, before reaching forward and placing the condom on his tip, rolling it down his length. You purposefully took your time, gazing up at him and grinning proudly at the way his head tipped back and his jaw clenched. With your fingers still wrapped around him, you began moving your hand up and down once more, as you shifted so you were also kneeling.

His hands immediately found their way to your hips, as you began placing tender kisses across his chest from one shoulder to the other. You stroked his length a few more times before letting go, as you reached for the hem of your tank top and pulled it over your head. The second it was out of the way, his palms were sliding along your body, until he was cupping your breasts, twirling your nipples gently between his fingers. Your back arched, as you hooked your thumbs in the waistband of your shorts and underwear, shuffling on your knees to allow yourself to pull them off.

Tossing them to the side, both of you now completely exposed to one another, your lips connected passionately. Slipping one hand around your back, he leaned forward and encouraged you to relax against the mattress. You eagerly accepted his assistance, laying back and wrapping your legs around his waist, pulling him impossibly close.

Placing one final kiss against your lips, he reached one hand down between your bodies, running his length through your wet folds. You both shivered at the feeling, knowing you’d both been starved and longing for this contact between you for too long. He looked back into your eyes, and you knew he was asking permission, as you nodded your head gently and he finally pushed his hips forward, filling you in a matter of seconds.

A low and breathy, “fuck,” escaped his lips, causing you to exhale deep, your body relaxing completely. He dropped his head beside yours, trailing sloppy kisses along your neck, as he began rocking his hips back and forth. The feeling was euphoric, the weight of his body on yours, his hot breath on your neck, and his pelvis rubbing perfectly against your clit.

The next thing you knew, he was hooking his arms under your legs effortlessly, pressing your knees against your chest, with your ankles over his shoulders. You gazed up at him, and with your eyes locked on his, he slowly bottomed out once more. Your breath escaped your lungs completely, as you whimpered, “Aaron..” and your eyes squeezed shut; the pleasure overwhelmed you.

This had quickly become one of your favourite positions. With you this spread open for him, both of you found yourselves unable to contain just how extraordinary it felt, and how deep he reached. You whimpered once again, as he slowly began moving in and out, and inch at a time.

“Fuck I missed you..” he breathed out heavy, one of his hands cupping the side of your face, “you feel so damn good..” With each long pull of his length out of your tight walls, he ran his thumb lovingly across your face.

Your eyes slowly opened, and you were met with the most beautiful sight, his face only inches away from yours, his eyebrows drawn together in ecstasy. It wasn’t long before he was also gazing down at you, gauging your reaction as he began picking up speed. The faster he moved, the closer your body got to reaching that peak. “Oh shit, oh fuck, you’re so deep.. Aaron, I can feel you everywhere..”

Your words caused a grin to spread across his face, one that completely captivated you, setting your nerve endings on fire. As your body began reacting to the overwhelming sensations, he could feel your walls clenching around him, “yeah, there you go. That’s my girl.” Your eyes flickered shut, as you focused on the feeling consuming your senses, peppered with his words of praise ringing in your ears. “Are you going to be a good girl cum for me, sweetheart?” He already knew the answer, but he wanted to hear you say it.

Nodding your head feverishly, a strangled, “yes.. fuck.. please don’t stop..”

Another smile pulled at the corners of his lips, clearly pleased with your answer. He took instruction well, not stopping until you’d had more than enough. You’d hardly had the chance to breath out a few strangled words, “I’m.. I’m going to cum..” when the dam finally broke. You felt a blissful fog cloud your mind, as he continued with the long drags of his hard length in and out of your now throbbing walls.

As he spoke, “good girl, you’re squeezing me so tight," your breathing caught in your throat. He still hadn’t stopped, wanting to draw out every ounce of pleasure he could for you. But when you’d finally reached the point of enough, you grasped his hips and pulled his body close to yours, holding him still.

Your legs trembled on either side of his head, as your lips parted and your eyes flickered shut. Breathing deep, you allowed yourself to simply enjoy how it felt finally being intimate with your husband, the love of your life, your person, once again. It didn’t matter how many times you felt him this close to you, you never took it for granted.

Slowly opening your eyes, you were greeted with a warm smile from him, as he placed tender kisses against the inside of your knee. His hand ran along your thigh, softly caressing your skin, eventually he looked back at you and spoke softly, “you’re okay, sweetheart?”

Your heart swelled, because as much as he was checking in on you, he was simultaneously asking if you were ready for more. With a deep exhale, you admitted, “yes.. more, please..”

He couldn’t help but smile at your eagerness, as he placed a gentle kiss to your forehead before finally moving his hips again. With every long stroke of his hard length between your walls, you felt his tip reaching the deepest parts of you, over and over and over again. Before you knew what hit you, that telltale sensation was back, and you felt the tension in your body snap.

After giving your body some time to recover, he did as he had minutes earlier, and asked if you still had more in you, to which you eagerly confirmed you did. As he began rocking his hips back and forth, every thrust pushed you closer and closer to the brink. And in a matter of seconds, he had you coming undone around him once more.

“Fuuuuuck, Aaron,” you whimpered, utterly breathless as your fourth orgasm gripped your body.

With those same tender kisses being placed against the inside of your knee, he caressed the side of your face as you came down from your high. “Shhhh, shh shh, there you go,” he cooed, “such a good girl. My good girl.”

As you let out another deep exhale, you smiled up at him blissfully, your eyelids heavy under the weight of the pleasure still coursing through your veins. You mumbled, “can you.. I want you to hold me..”

He brushed a few stray hairs out of your face, and spoke through a gentle smile, “okay.” Carefully pulling out of you, he helped you rest your legs against the mattress, before you rolled onto your side.

Adjusting himself, he found his way behind you, as he tucked one arm under you, and wrapping it around the front of your body. Using his free hand, he grabbed hold of himself and carefully searched for your entrance, before slowly pushing himself inside you once more. The quiet moan that escaped your lips brought a smile to his face, as he finally bottomed out. Placing a loving kiss against your shoulder, he grasped your hip, his fingertips digging into your soft skin, and began moving his hips against yours.

Nothing quite compared to feeling him inside you like this; the same way you curled up in bed together most nights, his tall frame encompassing you from behind, only now you were on the brink of yet another orgasm. Wrapping your arms around yourself, overtop of his arm, you slid one hand along the back of his, tucking your fingers between his, and squeezing tight.

It wasn’t long before he felt his body reaching the point of release, but he just needed you to get there one more time. Sliding his hand from your hip, around the front of your body, he nuzzled his fingers between your legs and began rubbing circles against your clit.

With his warm breath on your neck, his words of encouragement in your ear, you finally felt your body reaching the tipping point. “Ohhh yeah, just like that..” you moaned, “Aaron, you’re going to make me cum again.”

You could hear the smile in his voice, “good girl,” as he placed another kiss against your shoulder, “I’m close, too. Cum for me sweetheart.”

That was all it took, as your body summited that peak for the fifth time. With your legs shaking, and your body squeezing him tight, he held you even closer. With a few final shaky thrusts, he rested his forehead against the back of your head, and soft grunts filled your ears as he spilled himself inside the condom.

As you both caught your breath, he placed more tender kisses across your back, and against the side of your neck. “I love you so much,” he whispered.

You smiled softly, wrapping your arms even tighter around yourself, “I love you more.”

You heard a soft laugh from him, as he placed one more kiss against the back of your head, and slowly pulled himself out of you. You didn’t waste any time, rolling over to face him, and capturing his lips with your passionately. He responded just as eagerly, his tongue skillfully slipping past your lips, causing a soft groan to rumble in your chest.

Finally breaking away from the kiss, he asked through a cheeky smile, “was that a sufficient thank you?”

Letting out an airy laugh, you shook your head teasingly,“I guess it’ll have to do,” before pressing your lips to his once more. You could feel his smile against your lips, and you spoke softly once more, “I’m so happy you’re home.”

Brushing a few stray hairs out of your face, he cupped your cheek in his warm palm and kissed your nose gently, “I know, sweetheart,” another soft peck against your lips, “I am too.”

— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —

Tag List: @ssamorganhotchner ; @ccristata ; @anlin2058 ; @sannunah28 ; @hotchgirlsummer ; @mesnyder ; @red-red-rogue ; @chibsytelford ; @hannahufflepuff

[frickingnerd]

what would i do without you?

pairing: wakana gojo x gn!reader

summary: while taking a break from work with gojo, he reveals to you how much you mean to him…

tags: minor injuries & mentions of blood, flustered gojo & reader, vague confession, holding hands, wholesome fluff

it had been hours since gojo and you had started working on this new outfit together. the sun had already set, but neither of you seemed to have even noticed. you were diligently working together; gojo was sewing together the cloth for the outfit, while you were sketching new concepts, adding details to certain outfits and thinking of how to build the perfect accessories for it.

“ouch–!”

gojo's gasp made you look up from your sketch. the needle he worked with had slipped and he hurt his finger. it wasn't a huge wound, but you still put aside your work and inched closer to him, taking his hand into your own.

“let me take a look at it” you said, shortly smiling at him, before focusing your attention on his finger. he started to bleed a little, so you grabbed your bag with your free hand, roaming through it, until you found some bandages. carefully, you wrapped one of them around his finger.

“does it still hurt?” you asked, after you were done. but gojo shook his head softly.

“no, it's fine. thank you…” he said, his eyes lingering on you for a moment and his gaze softening, before a few more words slipped from his lips. “i… i wouldn't know what i’d do without you.”

“h-huh?” a blush hushed over your cheeks and you chuckled awkwardly, hoping to play off how flustered that bit of praise made you. “i– i didn't do anything, really! it's just a bandage, it's not a big deal…”

“no, i– i didn't just say that because of the bandage. you're just always there to help me, no matter what. buying the materials with me, helping me come up with the concepts, spending your days here and helping me wherever you can. if you weren't here, i don't think my work would be even half as good as it is now. i couldn't imagine doing this without you…”

gojo's kind words didn't necessarily help you to get less flustered. with each sweet and genuine word of praise, your cheeks turned more and more red. until finally, you sunk your face into your hands, in an attempt to hide how flustered you were.

“i-i'm sorry! d-did I say something wrong?” gojo panicked when he noticed you hiding your face. “i-i didn't mean to upset you! you're just really important to me and i… i wanted to let you know! things just don't feel right when you aren't by my side…”

“g-gojo…” you slowly removed the hands from your face, revealing your blushing face to the boy. when he saw that you were all red, a blush hushed over his cheeks as well. “you… you didn't say anything wrong. i feel the same way, actually. i couldn't imagine doing this without you either”

there was a moment of silence, in which gojo seemed to be deep in thought. until suddenly, he felt your hand brushing over his own and a soft “oh” escaped his lips, as his cheeks burned up.

“this doesn't change anything, does it? i mean… we can still work together, right?” you shyly asked, hoping you hadn't ruined things.

“n-no! I mean– YES! we can still work together! i still *want* to work together with you! y-you're my inspiration for all of this, so if you weren't here anymore, i–” gojo caught himself before he could say more, taking a deep breath and sighing softly. he really needed to calm down, but it was so hard when you sat so close to him and held his hand.

“then… shall we get back to work?” you asked, hoping the awkward tension between you two would dissolve once you focused on your work again.

“i…” gojo opened his mouth, only to shut it again right after. he hesitated, before suddenly he tightly held onto your hand. “i'd like to… sit like this for a little bit longer. if you don't mind, that is…”

[dumpster-fire-sapphic-failgirl]

Gotta love the commitment that Steel has to protecting “Bear”

Like, imagine you’re some mid level political weasel or gossip in the citadel

• Suvi, the Apprentice Archmage goes missing on a trip to say goodbye to an “old family friend”

• Steel rushes off to Port Talon ready to do battle (i mean it’s steel so i think she’s ready to do battle wherever she goes)

• Steel returns with a girl in a coma, the missing Suvi, and someone that looks explicitly like her brother

• Steel tells the world that this dude is Bear. Perhaps even that he is allegedly the strongest man in Silbury

• This guy, from a backwater town in the middle of nowhere, with no formal training in sword craft or really any fighting, gets named the Protector of the Archmage Apprentice, adopted kid of the Sword of the Citadel, child of two fallen heroes, the girl on the fastest track to leadership they have

• Instead of putting this “Bear” through his basics like any scrub, Steel personally trains him. The fucking First Sword of the Citadel takes time out of her busy ass day to make sure this country bumpkin can stab things with the pointy end

Steel personally and deliberately set the rumor mill alight. Of course Bear is Soft’s kid. Look at the resemblance. Look at who is looking after him. And Of Course she denies it because she’s still protecting Soft’s good name. And I’d bet good money that she goes out of her way to keep her denials as vague as possible

stuff like “We all know Soft and Stone only had Suvi.” or “I won’t dignify such an ugly rumor with a response” because Steel is a fucking tactician and when you’re the top General of anywhere the tactical maneuvering of politics and people is just as important as on the battlefield

[starions]

end of the line, we finally reached the edge after all this time.

pairing ; miguel o'hara x gn!spider!reader

words ; 2472

summary ; miguel finds himself face-to-face with you—or a dark, twisted version of you.

tags ; angst, reader has hypnosis powers, reader is described with hair long enough to pull, no use of y/n, gender neutral pronouns/use of second person, i kinda don't know how symbiotes work

han's note ; still written with my spidersona in mind but it is very vague still! i recommend reading part one "i didn't find my love, but i still made it this far without it" because it wont make much sense without it. title is still an ethel cain lyric <3

part one

;

As Miguel stepped outside of the portal, he was greeted by you. Not physically, but with your mask covered face plastered on every surface available. It seemed like this Earth—Earth-799—was on track to become similar to his own, with megacorporations feeding advertisements to consumers wherever they looked, influencing them to buy things out of indulgence and not necessity. He wondered, were you a pawn of these capitalists, or were you playing their game right alongside them? He looked around the city, trying to find Jess, but his vision was blocked by either electronic screens or holograms of you advertising some product.

This was his own personal nightmare.

“Jess,” he said to his Gizmo, “where are you?”

A tiny hologram of Jess appeared from his Gizmo, looking rightfully pissed off. “Why did it take you so long to show up?”

“Don't worry about it,” he said. “Where are you?”

“Meet me on top of Stark Coffee on Lexington and 3rd. I’ll fill you in when I see you.” With that, the call ended, and Miguel was left just alone with your smiling face at every angle.

In an instant, Miguel began swinging throughout your New York City, careful not to attract too much attention. The sun was beginning to set, and the twinkling lights of the buildings and advertisements were illuminated off his blue suit. He hoped this would go by quickly, smoothly. Catch the anomaly, return back home. He wouldn’t have to see your face in person, and he definitely wouldn’t have to set foot on this Earth centered around you again. Miguel considered himself rational, and logically, never meeting you again would be a guarantee that your life would continue on, unchanged. He flew with ease, managing to find the rooftop of Stark Coffee in no time at all. Jess stood, arms crossed and face with the beginning signs of bruises. He’d have to send her to the infirmary for a quick check up.

“Are you okay?” Miguel said, landing on his feet and walking over to Jess; he gave her a once over, noticing a few tears in her suit. Miguel tssked, shaking his head. “You need to be more careful.”

“Fine,” Jess said, annoyance in her tone. “Maybe next time, backup will come quicker.”

“Good,” he said, ignoring her quick remark and looking across the rooftop and to the streets below. “What are we looking at here? Where’s the anomaly?”

Jess taps onto her Gizmo, pulling up information about whatever she had been chasing prior to his arrival. “According to Lyla, it's a symbiote from Earth-901220; it’s attached itself to this Earth’s Spidey. They’re incredibly slippery, as you can tell.”

Miguel’s jaw clenched underneath his mask. So much for not seeing you face-to-face. How could this have possibly happened without him noticing? “How long has it been attached?”

“A little under 12 hours.”

“Good, should be easy to detach then, where did you—”

“You brought a friend!” Miguel’s head snapped to the sound of the voice that rang out in the air. He hadn’t heard that voice in person in a long, long time—yet, there was a darkness twisted into it, something chilling, an effect of the symbiote. Standing on the edge of the rooftop, you looked him up and down. Your once red and white Spider-Suit was now tainted black, absorbed by the symbiote. You tilted your head, smiling wildly and showing fangs that rivaled his, and the black mask covering only your eyes crinkled with your smile. “He looks scary,” you teased. “Sorry you had to call for backup,” you said to Jess, “your ego must be bruised.”

She sneered. “Listen, if you just come with us, we can get that thing off of you.”

You crossed your arms over your chest, laughing. “This thing has been the best thing to happen to me in such a long time,” you extend your arms out like wings and tilt your head back, feeling the breeze in your hair. “I haven’t felt this free in so, so long.”

“Enough of this,” Miguel snapped. “You’re coming with us. Now.”

Slowly, you moved your head back toward Miguel, staring at him with dark, unrecognizable eyes and resting your arms back on your sides. You hmmed, as if in deep contemplation. “No. I don’t think I will.” With that, you fell backwards off the roof.

Miguel rushed to the edge, looking around. You were nowhere to be seen. “God damn it!” He turned toward Jess. “Go after them on your bike, I’ll be in the air.”

Miguel leaped off the roof, talons digging into the brick roof for more momentum. He shot neon orange webs out of his forearms, eyes straining to catch a glimpse of your black suit against the illuminated lights of the inner city. Miguel held firmly onto the web-line as he glided across the city, finally catching a glimpse of you haphazardly webbing away, destroying the electronic screens with your face on them as you went.

Miguel followed the trail of destroyed advertisements, calling your name as he etched closer. “Stop!” He yelled, getting close enough to you to grab onto your loose hair.

You yelped from the pain, losing your momentum and falling on top of a taxi cab. “Asshole!” You cried out, back stinking momentarily as you got back to your feet. The driver of the cab jumped out of the cab, yelling profanities, and all you did was point to the blue-and-red suited man chasing after you. “His fault!”

You made a mad dash away from Miguel, running across hoods of cars and cabs as you shoot another web out of your wrist, gaining enough speed to make a pendulum out of yourself. Your web-line attaches onto a nearby billboard, and you propel yourself forward as you maneuver through the city streets. 

Miguel cursed to himself; you were incredibly limber, able to move through this labyrinth of skyscrapers. This is what Miguel hated about traveling to new dimensions—even though it was the same city as his own, the buildings were different; the landmarks were different; everything was different. You had a general sense of where you were going, him on the other hand, he had no idea.

What Miguel did know, however, were your weaknesses. All that time he spent, analyzing your skills and weaknesses, gave him leverage you did not have on him. Judging by what he was seeing now, the symbiote was amplifying your skills, not improving them. That must mean that the same skills you lack were ever present, and Miguel had plans on exploiting them. 

He watched as you landed on top of a rooftop to catch your breath, stopping midswing to land on the rooftop next to it. Hiding from your view, he watched as you wiped sweat from your forehead, looking around for signs of him or Jess. Miguel scoffed at your expression; you seemed disappointed. You liked this game of cat and mouse. Too bad he was about to end it.

As you were getting ready to launch your web again, Miguel leaped into action, taking advantage of the blindspot you had on your left side. You yelped as he grabbed onto your waist, rolling the two of you over a few times before finally pinning your wrists above your head.

“No fair,” you said, shifting in his grip. “I was having fun.”

Miguel ignored you. “Jess,” he said into his Gizmo, “I got them.”

“On it,” Jess replied, the roar of her bike engine in the back, “tracking your location.”

“You’re the boss, right?” You asked from underneath him.

He grunted, tightening the grip on your wrist. What he needed to do was sink his teeth in your neck, paralyzing you like any other anomaly; but he didn’t know the effect of his venom on another Spider-Person, and the thought of hurting you scared him.

“Can you take your mask off?” You asked. “I wanna see the man who captured me.”

“No.”

“Why?” You asked, tilting your head up at him. “Are you ugly?”

He scoffed. “Quite the opposite.”

“Ohh I see, you’re just a tease.” You grinned, a fang poking out of your lip. “Come on, you show me yours, I’ll show you mine. How’s that?”

Miguel hesitated. Everything in him was telling him to ignore them, to web them up and get them back to HQ as quickly as possible, but… he hadn’t seen your face in such a long time. If he could just humor you, once, he could see you in person again. Everything he wished against an hour before. The last image of your face was beaten to a bloody pulp, and he would like to erase that memory.

With a sigh, Miguel nodded, his holographic mask dissipating to reveal his face.

You ooo’d. “Handsome,” you said. “My turn.” In an instant, the symbiote acting as your mask crawled off your face and onto your suit below, uncovering your face to the man pinning you down.

His gaze softened as he took in your features. There was a new scar next to your eyebrow, the mole on your face was on the opposite side, and your eyes were a slightly different color, but it was you. The one he lost, all those years ago.

“Weird reaction,” you said with a quirked eyebrow. “I’ll keep that reaction in my back pocket for later, though.” You looked up at where his large hand still had your wrists pinned down. “This was fun and all, but I’m kinda over it, so…” You looked back at him, staring into his red eyes. “You’re going to let me go now.”

For some reason, Miguel couldn’t break eye contact with you. Your words flooded him with warmth, and all the signals in his brain were turning off one by one. “Let you… go?”

You nodded, smiling softly. “Let me go.”

He did what he was told, his hand released your wrists. As he climbed off you, he made no move to recapture you as he sat on the rooftop, dazed by your words.

“Bye boss man,” you said, as the symbiote mask crawled back on your face. “Tell the cute biker girl I said bye too!”

With that, you propelled yourself off the rooftop, and Miguel sat stumped, entirely confused. After a second, he regained his senses. What the fuck. What the fuck? He didn’t have time to question whether or not that was the symbiote or part of your Spider powers. He immediately called Jess. “Don’t look them in the eyes,” he said, swinging off the rooftop as his mask appeared back on his face. “They have some sort of hypnosis power.”

“I’m assuming they got away?” Jess said over the sound of traffic. “Because I’m looking at them right now.”

Miguel spotted Jess’ bike up ahead, swerving around traffic to get to the symbiote-ridden Spidey wreaking havoc across New York City. “Unintentionally,” he said, making his way toward the two of them.

“Right,” Jess said, as she sped up her bike. She used a nearby ramp to propel her bike upward enough to meet you at the lower height of your swing, hitting you with her bike. You stumbled in mid air, somersaulting before webbing yourself to the nearest building you could find. With a glare towards her, you shot your web at a traffic light, using all your strength to bring it down. In seconds, a collision of cars blocked her path toward you. “You should make sure no one is hurt! You are Spider-Woman, after all.” You called out to Jess, swinging away from the mess you created.

“You deal with that!” Miguel said into his Gizmo. “I got them this time.” He was sure of it too; he wasn’t going to let you make a fool of him again.

Miguel moved hastily, zipping past the waves of people filming the chase on their smartphones and watches. You swung from building from building, using your Spider-Sense to detect the best course to deter the masked man following behind you. You laughed maniacally, enjoying the thrill of being chased, doing spins and twirls as if you were playing some sort of game.

The laughing stopped and was replaced with a grunt of pain as you suddenly glitched, blocks of colors and shapes cutting your web-line mid swing, a reminder that the symbiote that had claimed you was not part of this dimension.

You came crashing down, smashing face first on an electronic billboard advertising some sort of cherry flavored vodka. You slowly slumped down on the catwalk, unmoving as Miguel landed next to you.

He paused, blood running cold. He hoped—prayed—that you would move, that he didn’t just kill you again. When he saw you stir, he felt himself let out a sigh of relief.

Meekly, you sat up, turning on your knees to face him. “I’m gonna feel that in the morning,” you said, rubbing your head. “I bet it will feel like a hangover,” you said, pointing to the billboard and laughing weakly. “Get it?”

“That’s funny,” Miguel said plainly, before using his webs to tie you up. He knelt down, holographic mask coming off so this time, he really could paralyze you. He couldn’t risk you using that power again. His hand found purchase in your hair, yanking your head to the side to expose your neck. His fangs sunk in, and his venom seeped in, ready to attack your veins.

Your eyes widened at the feeling of fangs piercing you, but your lids fluttered lowly as the venom enacted almost immediately. “Didn’t want this…” You said quietly. “Thought I could be… someone else. Not Spider…” You couldn’t finish your words, your head slumping down as your body went still.

Miguel caught you in his arms as you keeled over just as Jess landed on the railing.

“Told you they were slippery,” Jess said, shaking her head. “They gonna be okay?”

“Should be,” Miguel said, looking down at you. He recalled the last time he held you in his arms, right after you had been murdered. He shook the thought out of his head. “I didn’t use enough venom to cause any lasting effects, but that means it should wear off soon. Ready the portal, we’ll get this symbiote off somewhere safe.”

Jess looked at your unmoving body with concern, before tapping a few buttons on her Gizmo.

The yellow portal opened at once, and Miguel scooped you up. He looked down at your features one last time, a thousand questions and fears flooding his head at once. Now wasn’t the time to ponder, or question whether or not taking you with them would be bad for everyone. Right now, his focus was on saving your life. Without a second thought, Miguel stepped into the portal, reluctant to show you his world.

[sunflowervoltwentyeight]

Happy 28th! Here is my October 2023 fic rec, organized by word count, from longest to shortest. Enjoy!

Babydoll Blues by devilinmybrain / @thedevilinmybrain (111k)

Louis is a high profile, filthy rich label executive who has the world at his feet - a music god.. Harry is the sugar baby trying to make a name for himself singing in shady bars and hanging off the arm of Louis’ biggest rival. What Louis wants, Louis gets. But what if the game gets too hot and hits a little too close to the heart?

Little Technicolor Things by scary_crow (72k)

Louis is a poor writer and recent university graduate, depressed, anxious, and living in London when he meets Harry, an artist with a secret who likes to paint sunrises and pretty boys from California.

Every Kind of Way by halos_boat / @halohamilton (68k)

"This shouldn't have happened so many times..." Louis trails off, dropping his head into his hands.

He hears Harry shuffle across the mattress until he's behind Louis, forehead meeting Louis' back as he let's out a heavy exhale, his warm breath causing goosebumps to form down his spine.

"He's my best friend," Louis continues, "and you're his ex."

"I know," Harry says quietly.

"Why can't I resist you?" Louis whispers, squeezing his eyes shut.

"For the same reason I can't resist you," Harry says, voice rough and throaty.

The kind-of friends with benefits AU where Harry lands up in the same group of friends as Louis after Louis' best friend dates Harry for a year. The first time they hook up, they agree it won't happen again. But when they do it again and decide on a casual arrangement, feelings start to get involved, and things get complicated.

Adore You by isthatyoularry / @isthatyoularry (66k)

“We invited our new acquaintances from uptown. You’ve simply got to meet their oldest son!” said his mother with a flourish, and suddenly it became abundantly clear as to why his parents had so adamantly demanded he join them in Deansville for the entirety of the summer.

Against his wishes, Harry spends the holidays at his family’s summer estate, and is reluctantly pulled into a courtship he didn’t ask for. Harry doesn’t want to get married, but Louis does. They don’t fit, but then again they really, really do.

Vaguely set in the 1920’s. Headpieces, jazz, fashionable canes, and flapper dresses, and that.

Mirror Touch by pink_heaven19 (58k)

“You know I can see colors in sounds, right?”

Harry nods, confused as Louis knew he would be.

“Well, I have another type of synesthesia, called mirror-touch. Have you heard of it?”

Harry shakes his head, and Louis can feel the tenseness in his shoulders and jaws slacking a little at the unexpected topic.

“It means I feel what other people feel. Literally, all the time.”

OR the one where Harry owns a second-hand clothing store, and Louis is a radio host. Louis has mirror-touch synesthesia, which makes him experience what people around him feel. He feels a lot around Harry.

Where the Tide Takes You, I Will Follow by pinkcords / @pinkcords (53k)

There’s no way around his departure, their inevitable fate. Harry will leave and he will return to London and when he sits in his new flat, wherever it might be, he will think of this summer and the warmth the sun brought him and the way it felt to be loved. He will compare all his future relationships to Louis and when they fall short, he will be disappointed. Harry knows this.

Or, Louis lives in Gloucester and Harry tries to find a way to stay.

Home Calls the Heart by itsmotivatingcara / @itsmotivatingcara (44k)

A series of unfortunate events lands Louis Tomlinson in the heart of Texas. After running from his life in London and a performative marriage, he leaves a scandal in his wake. Home calls the heart, as his Nana always said. Though her words couldn't be truer when he decides to take up her offer to watch over Hyacinth ranch while she travels abroad.

He figured the worst he'd have to deal with would be the meddlesome goats, some repairs and an errant spirit or two. That is, until the gorgeous Cowboy next door makes his presence known.

or

A romcom au.

2 A.M. Texts by everysingleday / @sun-lt (30k)

Harry has just come out and, with his best friend Louis’ support, he might finally be brave enough to go on a date with the guy he’s been chatting with on a dating app. Meanwhile, there’s a cat that wants to murder Louis, a fast-approaching deadline for Harry to find a new place to live, and this minor situation wherein he and Louis can’t seem to stop making out. It’s not a big deal. Louis is just being supportive.

—

aka, a practice kissing fic.

That Shirt You Hate by isthatyoularry / @isthatyoularry (15k)

“Soph,” Louis says to his female executive assistant. “I’m making more money than ever, and I have just realised that I have no one to spend it on.”

At thirty years old, Louis is past halfway to becoming a billionaire, and he needs to find the one. He literally stumbles upon his university sweetheart.

[existslikepristin]

Poll is set to be a week long again because tomorrow through Friday are going to be long work days, but I'll probably screenshot the incomplete results on Saturday and start writing the next part at that point

Tags: NSFW, S.M.U.T., genie, anal

(Story Index)

The top bunk

“Yeah, let’s fuck on the top bunk,” you say, a little unsure of exactly what you meant.

“You have a bunk bed?” Joy asks.

“No.”

“What, uh… what bunk bed then?”

You glare. “Can you make this happen or does it need to be a wish?”

Joy shrugs. “I mean yeah, I can do it. Let’s see…” she taps her chin contemplatively, “Top bunk… top bunk…”

It’s very dark. The first thing you feel is the instant, albeit subtle rise in temperature. You smell something light and floral. Instead of standing up, you’re lying on your stomach on a combination of two soft surfaces (it’s a mattress and Joy’s body. You’re not fucking stupid). You’re sure there was a transition of some sort between your kitchen and wherever you are now, but it feels very vague.

“Top bunk!” Joy chirps. She’s only barely visible in the dark.

“Where are we?” you ask, reasonably.

“Legend says that if you cum in my ass, I’ll tell you.”

Whatever. That’s kind of what you were going for anyway. You pull back and thrust ahead into your sudden missionary position, and hear the clattering of your sturdy-enough plastic mug hitting the slightly distant floor. The bed beneath you creaks and wobbles dangerously.

“Oh fuck. The tea!” Joy whines, but that complainy whine shifts into a needy whine when you lift her legs around you and pound into her ass.

Joy’s body is hot against yours. Maybe a little hotter than you’d expect from a human, and you mean that physically and in the sex way. No human being has any business feeling this good, moaning just right into your ear, teleporting you to unknown locations. Her calves on your lower back, arms thrown around your shoulders, and breasts pressed into your chest. You kiss her neck and her jawline, and she does the same back to you. You can’t help but think her lips are laced with some kind of magical drug designed to arouse you further.

Alternatively, you’re just on the verge of cumming in Joy’s ass. And you do, forgetting about the new location (as if it mattered anyway) and releasing what feels like years worth of cum (as if it worked like that) into her. Much like the last time a few minutes ago, she becomes your world for those few moments. She clenches around you, limbs and asshole alike, in her orgasm… or something like that. You didn't bother to ask. The bed quakes and creaks further, but you're so absorbed in your climax that you don't register the potential consequences of that.

It takes a while for you to finish and come out of your jizz daze. It feels rather liquidy inside Joy's butt, so you briefly wonder if the magic she pulled earlier had some additional effect on the amount of cum you generated, on top of just refreshing your energy.

Joy rubs her legs together on your back, coming down from her own high. She kisses your cheek tenderly until you pull away and look at her. You have adjusted a bit to the new illumination situation, so you can see her smile as she looks into your eyes. There's a little spark of affection on her face.

Suddenly, your eyes are assaulted by a flash of light, and your ears by a woman's shrill scream.

"Who the fuck are you?!"

With your fight or flight response triggered, you look around frantically, regretting it because of the intense light coming through a doorway, but you see a way down from the top bunk you can now visually confirm you're on.

Joy (whose ass your dick is still firmly within) speaks quickly, "Shhh! Heather, it's me!"

There's a pause, and then, "Joy?"

"You know each o—" you cut yourself off, realizing you're naked and fucking in front of a stranger, presumably on her bed.

"Where the fuck is Anya?"

Joy leans out from under you to more properly address this Heather person. "Oh, I don't know."

Heather gasps, "Is this your new master?"

"Sure is."

"Is Anya dead?!"

"What? No. She used her last wish on immortality, so she most definitely is not."

"I thought you told her not to do that."

"I did! She firmly insisted!"

"Okay, well… please get off my bed."

"I thought you used the bottom bunk."

"After Anya graduated, I took the top."

"Oh… well, okay. We can leave."

Your eyes have almost finished adjusting to the light, and you get a good look at this Heather. It's hard to get a read on her height from your vantage point, but you gather that she's a pale, chubby woman with long brown hair, and she's absolutely rocking a blue crop top. Just then, a green smoke floats into your line of sight.

"Wait, Joy! I've been meaning to ask you wh—"

You're in your kitchen again, on your feet, but still with your dick in Joy's butt. She's on her back on the table once again.

"So… Heather?" you ask.

"Last master's college roommate. And no, I don't know why her elbows are so crusty. She says the baby powder helps, but it doesn't."

"And Anya?"

"Last master. She's immortal now."

"I gathered. Why?"

"She wished for immortality like a dipshit."

"No, why did you take us there?"

"It was the first top bunk I could think of. I didn't think it would be a big deal since I've already had so much sex up there with my last master, Heather, and the harem of anime boys they shared."

"Anime boys?"

Joy's butt plug appears in her hand just as your dick goes soft enough to fall out of her ass on its own, and Joy pops it in, holding in what seems to be an unusually large amount of your cum. "Yeah, my last master was a big ol' weeb. I didn't expect to like it, but two-dimensional cock is actually pretty cool. Strangely, it works. They were all such gentlemen, too."

Options:

Holy shit! Wish for your own harem of anime boys!

Wait, wait. Girls. Wish for an anime girl harem.

Go back and figure out Heather's question (and phone number).

Wish for your old bully to know about all the sex you're having.

[incognita-soul]

hey, i saw in your bio that you work on tall ships and i was wondering if u had any advice.

i’ve been on 2 tall ship sailing trips before (+some dinghy sailing) and got my competent crew recently so i’m pretty inexperienced. on those sailing trips i’ve met young adults who were working on the boats as volunteers. i’d like to be able to volunteer on tall ships one day.

do you have any advice for the best way to gain experience and learn stuff? (if possible on a budget). i’m taking a gap year next year and i’d really like to take the chance to go sailing and get better at it. (i’m in the uk if that’s relevant.)

absolutely no pressure to answer and i’m sorry this is so vague and clueless! anyway, thanks for taking the time to read this. your blog is cool :))

Heya! Thank you, and I'd be happy to give you my two cents! All of my boat experience has been in the US so take my advice with a transatlantic grain of salt, but here goes!

Firstly, two trips and some dinghy sailing and a competent crew cert is actually quite a bit in comparison to your average person starting out in the world of boats, so don't worry about feeling too inexperienced! You're already on a good track. I've been working on tall ships in some capacity for over 10 years and I still don't have any specific certifications (I've got a lot of experience and sea time, I just haven't had time to take any of my courses and exams for actual licensing).

Facebook is (unfortunately) still the best place to network, especially for international opportunities. There are a variety of groups that you can join. I'm personally in Schooner Bums, Tall Ship Opportunities, Women Who Sail, Crew Finder, and a few other private groups specific to the organizations I've worked for. A lot of organizations will post to these groups with job opportunities with specific requirements, so it's fairly easy to get the info you need. I'm sure there are a few groups specific to sailing in the UK. In the US, we have Tall Ships America, which is an organization that provides networking, training, and job opportunities for mostly US based sailors and boats. I'm not sure if the UK has an equivalent organization, but I do recommend even though you are UK based you should peruse their website, especially the Billet Bank, which is where job links are posted:

You're in the UK, so there are a shit ton of boats there but as far as I know most of them are museum boats that don't do a lot of sailing. I will say from personal experience that museum boats with a good volunteer maintenance program are great places to start for establishing a strong set of foundational skills (knots, understanding and maintenance of the rig, carpentry, etc.). You might not get much actual sea time with a museum boat, but you will learn the things that will make you a better sailor. I got into tall ships by working as a historical interpreter and then as part of the sailing/maintenance crew here:

https://www.jyfmuseums.org/visit/jamestown-settlement/living-history/ships#ad-image-0

Most tall ship organizations are based around education, both for the public and for the crew, so it's easy to find a boat with some sort of introductory training program relatively near wherever you live. These range from expensive pay-to-play working vacation type experiences, to paying a fee to participate in a structured comprehensive training curriculum after which you can become long-term crew, to volunteering weekends sanding and oiling blocks in exchange for the opportunity to sail.

Since you said you are taking a gap year, my advice is look for a short-term comprehensive live-aboard program that gets your foot in the door for staying on as regular crew, potentially even paid crew. Idk any specific ones in the UK, but here's the one that the last boat I worked on offers as an example of what i mean:

If you've got time before your gap year starts, try to find something local, like volunteering for a mueseum like I mentioned earlier, so that you get used to the vocabulary and foundational knowledge of boats. That way you can really get the most out of a more immersive program later on and you won't feel too much like an oversaturated sponge trying desperately to sop up more information even though your brain is leaking out of your ears.

I'm not sure if you're wanting to do tall ships longer term or just something one-off for the gap year, but if you're in it for the long haul just be prepared that it's a lot of hard work for not much financial return. I don't mean to discourage you, it's just good to know that upfront. On Lady Washington we have a saying that "we work on an 18th century boat for 18th century wages."

Unfortunately the tall ship industry is kind of hard budget wise. Most training programs cost quite a bit of money, most jobs are either volunteer or don't pay very well (industry standard deckhand pay in the US is about $1000/month), and most higher level positions require various levels of certifications (for which course and exam fees can run pretty high). You can do it on a budget, especially since most long term positions are live aboard so you don't have to pay for rent or groceries, but if you want to make a career out or it, it takes a lot of years of working for less money than you're worth before you start earning real money back.

Despite all that, working on tall ships is still an incredible and fulfilling experience that I recommend to anyone with a love of the sea and learning practical skills!

Sorry I couldn't give you more specific information, as I have yet to work on any UK boats. Good luck, and please tell me when you find a program that works for you!

[queen-mabs-revenge]

there is something so exceptional about the audio form and the kind of...meta-narrative (?) of horror it creates that really leapt out at the end of this re: dracula episode (25 Sept).

seeing the runtime of each episode sets the scene - 27:06? ok, i'm in for something here -- we have a few, uhhhhh, long-winded characters in rotation so it might not be an eventful something, but at this point in the story, we've already been gutted by episodes with longer runtimes so just glimpsing the runtime already sets the scene for heightened dread. you might set aside time to experience the dread instead of maybe quickly listening to a minute long episode wherever/whenever you are.

i luckily got to listen through without interruption and so i was only vaguely aware of the passing time in that approximate way one's body clock ever is. so as this episode came to a close, and mina asks van helsing to not reply if he agrees to meet for breakfast, the dread spiked

i didn't know how long was left in the episode -- the music was still lingering. how much time has it been? 27 minutes? it feels like it could be 27 minutes, but it also feels much shorter? can't be sure. and even if the runtime is nearly elapsed, we know from previous episodes that a telegram can take mere seconds, a journal entry just a few words. is van helsing going to be called away? is he going to cancel the meeting? is mina going to be left alone again with no answers and no friends? with the count and the 'bloofer lady' closing in? how long has the music been playing? holding my breath for the morse code. holding my breath for van helsing's voice. holding my breath for 'letter by hand'. holding my breath for 'letter unopened'...

"this episode featured..."

relief

when reading, you have the unread pages in your hand constantly telling you the story of the progress of the narrative's shape. unless every piece of ephemera of an epistolary story is set on its own separate page, you can see the next item in your eyesight. sure, even if they are on separate new pages, you can see through the printed page the shadows of the text on the next, giving you a subconscious hint of expectation.

with a film, you lose the tangibility of the physical object informing the narrative, but you have other sensory cues - something like a fade to black over the lingering music can manipulate your expectations of narrative completion (and either follow through or subvert them). if you're watching on a device, an accidental activation of the screen or cursor might give you a glimpse of the progression bar, again changing your narrative perception.

with an audio drama you're left with just the one sense as your guide. unless you're actively watching the progression bar as you're listening or actively watching a clock, you just don't know beyond your own imperfect perception of time what you're in for and fuck me the added anxiety because of that is just

whew

[spotsandsocks]

🐺The Lost and The Found Update!!🐺 10k

Chapter 5 is done or start from Chapter 1

Cover art by @ronordmann

Eddie steps out of the cab, closes his eyes and breathes in deeply. The sun is warm on his skin, the sounds and smells wrap around him and say home, safe, love.

He only opens his eyes when a beloved and familiar voice calls his name then within moments he’s wrapped in arms that are soft warm and surprisingly strong for a woman her size.

“Mi amor you’ve grown so much!” His abuela sucks in a breath of air another familiar sound and he grins to himself, knowing what will come next. “You’ll be taller than me soon!”

He knows that too and has mixed feelings about it, before very long he will be taller than her which will be cool obviously but mark a certain change in their relationship he’s not really ready for in ways he can’t quite articulate.

As suddenly as he was embraced the person he loves best in all the world holds him out at arms length and studies him closely, brown eyes wrinkling at the corners.

“So handsome” she taps her cheeks and he bestows a kiss in the required spot. Noting that he really is almost as tall as her now.

“Come, it’s time for lunch and then you can meet the new guests, we have three right now.”

Something sad flashes across her face and she looks at him with a thoughtful expression and says, almost to herself , “Maybe having someone younger around will help.”

She doesn’t elaborate and Eddie doesn’t ask, just follows his beloved abuelita towards the ranch he spends his summer holidays at each year. It’s without doubt the best part of his year. And this year, now he’s thirteen he’ll be allowed to run on his own for the first time. Not that he doesn’t enjoy running with the pack but it’ll be fun to have a little more freedom.

Chapt 5 snippet under cut

A few weeks after the camping trip that left Buck upset and angry and constantly checking his phone things start to improve again. Buck hasn’t told him much more about his sister except she’s doing well wherever she is and then Chimney was back hand staying quiet too. Although, Eddie notices with some interest, he’s also spending quite a lot of time on his phone as well, smiling at the screen and taking more calls than he ever used to. Regardless of lingering secrets the tension that’s been in the air is dissipating. 

However something is still going on.  Bobby’s been out of town quite a lot, taking more leave and he’s been extremely vague about where he’s been going. Buck’s being a bit more distant too. He’s been making excuses about why he’ll be round later than usual after work or not be round at all on some days off, he’s hardly seen Chris at all which is unusual. Maybe this is Eddie’s fault, maybe cuddling on the couch had been a bad idea. Is this Buck pulling away, setting some boundaries for them because he doesn’t want what Eddie’s trying so hard not to want.

If it is he can live with boundaries (probably) but Eddie doesn't like  to contemplate the idea that maybe Buck might have started dating someone. Surely he’d have mentioned it. The thought unsettles him. So he doesn’t think about it. He doesn’t think about Buck and someone else out at dinner, in a bar, laughing, fingers touching, kissing because if he does it leaves a bad taste in his mouth. 

Considering how he’s refusing to contemplate it he spends a lot of time thinking about it. He wishes he knew if but dreads the moment he finds out that Buck is actually seeing someone. Even if he’s not right now it’s bound to happen at some point. After all he’s good looking, stunning really, kind, funny, smart and loyal. Who wouldn’t want Buck?

To distract himself from those kinds of thoughts and prepare himself Eddie decides that maybe he needs to build himself a life outside of the team, well outside of Buck specifically. Eddie doesn’t see dating in his own future so he might as well find something to fill the potential Buck shaped void in his world. 

Maybe he should take up golf. The thought fails to excite him. Maybe tennis? He could take up wood work or… he could start running or hiking in the hills. LA’s not Texas but it’s ok and being out in nature again would be nice. Maybe that would help with the increasingly restless feelings he’s having. Running would be a good start at so he decides to ask Buck for some advice on the best running trails around. 

It takes a day for him to remember to ask his friend for his favourite trails and Buck’s response is unexpectedly obstructive.

“Why?” 

There’s a frown on Buck’s face and you might even think he was annoyed by the request. There’s an almost accusatory tone in his voice. 

Having no idea what’s got Buck in a mood today Eddie ignores the tone but rolls his eyes anyway.

“Take a guess. Why do you think I want to know about running trails?”