#13 and he already craves retirement

[haystarlight]

You want me to teach you Cosmic Frontier quotes to impress Hunter, don't you?

[whereianonymouslypostfics]

Growing Pains Part 6

Pairing: Wanda Maximoff x reader

Word count: ~9.1k

Summary: Little Nat is almost 13 and school’s a bitch. Retired mob boss turned stay-at-home mom Wanda has to figure out how to deal with bullies at her daughter’s school. 

A/N: Enjoy 😘

Warnings: Fluff, teen angst, injury, reference to previous injury/trauma, bullies, and mentions medicinal drug use

You and Wanda are the only ones who end up eating some dinner. After Natalya was gone for nearly an hour, you went to check on her only to find her asleep in bed. You didn’t want to wake her and despite knowing she’d be up later wanting to eat; you and Wanda didn’t wait around for her. You both felt a little bad about how disappointed your daughter was, but if anything, you supposed this was a learning lesson. A tough learning lesson that you hadn’t wanted her to have to face anytime soon. 

When you and Wanda make it to bed neither of you are feeling very good. Wanda’s stressed about what will happen once Stacy’s back at school, and you’re worried about what Nat’s going to resort to now that her plan didn’t work. You suspected that her friends helped her figure this out because your daughter’s not usually one to break the rules without very good reason, or proper motivation. 

You sigh as you roll over onto your back and try to think about something other than Little Nat right now. You turn to see Wanda on her phone, and it doesn’t take too much thought for you to guess what she’s doing. 

“What did Pietro say?” 

You almost texted Yelena, but you wanted to talk to her in person instead of just being avoided over the phone. You weren’t in the mood to deal with it now anyway, and you needed to give yourself time to calm down before you took out your annoyance on your friend. 

Wanda shakes her head with a sigh as she puts her phone down. Pietro’s not being very cooperative anyway and she needs to go to bed soon. She’s exhausted and it’s almost 11, but both of you were too high strung to sleep. You’re stressed and you want to go upstairs and smoke some, but you’re sure Wanda wouldn’t like it. You consider bringing it up anyway after she tells you what Pietro had said. 

“He’s not taking responsibility. Like that’s a surprise. He won’t be at the game tomorrow either.” 

You frown but say nothing as you reach out to turn off your lamp with a sigh. You want to sleep and forget about today for a little while. You close your eyes and miss your wife turning to you with a frown of her own. She checks the clock on the bedside table before shaking her head and turning off her light too. You wait until Wanda lies down beside you before speaking. You hear one of the dogs shake downstairs, and you briefly wonder what they’re up to before turning your attention to your wife. You don’t exactly disagree with what she’s said today, but you aren’t happy with the outcome. You’re not sure you would have done anything differently, but you’re wishing you’d done more to reassure Natalya that things would work out. 

“I wish we could make this easier for her.” 

Wanda reaches out for your hand and you squeeze it before rolling onto your side so you’re closer to your wife. You focus on the smell of her shampoo and the clean sheets instead of the nagging sense of failure that’s been plaguing you since leaving the office this afternoon. Wanda wraps an arm around your waist before kissing your cheek. She hides her face in your shoulder as she nods in agreement and holds you tighter. 

“Me too, detka, but we’ll take care of her.”

You think about this as you fall asleep, and when you wake up the next morning, you’re already plotting how you two could possibly have as much pull as a PTA president and a rich CEO.

Natalya sulks over her breakfast before she leaves for school with her mom. It’s a quiet car ride and by the time she drops off her daughter, Wanda’s feeling very guilty. She races back home and grabs Rogue before deciding to go out for a bit. She needs to clear her mind and she’s craving a certain kind of pastry that she hasn’t learned to make yet. She feels like stress eating, and she’s jumping back into her car as soon as Rogue’s in the back seat. She sighs heavily before getting buckled and looking at her dog in the rear-view mirror. 

“Ready, bud?” 

Nat barely pays attention in school that day despite her best efforts. She’s glad to have Stacy gone for the rest of the week, but she can’t help but think about how she’ll come back with a vengeance. She barely eats or talks during lunch, and she gives Taylor most of it as a silent thank you for yesterday. The only thing Nat asked her was if she’d gotten in trouble at all for her involvement. She’s been careful not to mention her name, but Nat remembered belatedly that there were cameras in most of the hallways at school. 

It wasn’t until right before the game that Taylor dared to ask Nat how she was feeling. She’d been down all day and she was tired from not having anything to eat all day. She felt like taking a nap, not playing against another team that was more closely matched to them than the one they’d played on Monday. She’s not up for that at the moment, but she’s just going to have to try. She knows that she won’t get pizza today, and she’d already told her friends that the sleepover for this weekend was off because she was grounded. They said that it was fine and that they wouldn’t go either because they didn’t want her to feel left out. She’d insisted it was fine, but the idea of pizza right now made her want to cry. She was so hungry. 

“I’m just disappointed. I thought someone would give a shit, but not even my moms did.” 

Nat frowns when she says this and she considers taking it back when Taylor beats her to it. She shakes her head as she asks the obvious question. Based on what Nat had told her, unsurprisingly her parents had been horrified and angered by the idea that Nat had been dealing with Stacy’s torment for months. However, apparently they’d just gone with the three day suspension, and grounded her for her prank. 

“They give a shit, Nat. They’re probably just working on their plan of attack.” 

Nat shrugs in indifference as she throws the ball back to the other brunette with a heavy sigh. She glances at her watch to see how much time until the other team should arrive, but she picked the worst possible time to do it. Taylor had failed to notice that she wasn’t paying attention, and she threw the ball back to her friend with a huff. She realized that Nat was distracted until she saw the top of her friend’s head instead of her glove. 

“Oh shit!” 

“Ow, fuck!” 

Nat muttered a curse under her breath as her head swam and she fell back onto the grass with a muffled thud.  She just sighs in defeat as she closes her eyes and just waits until she feels a little less dazed. 

“Shit, Nat are you okay?” 

You’re about to leave work to head for Nat’s game when your phone rings as you shut your office door. You frown and stop short to see who’s calling. Wanda. You answer quickly as you continue on your way to grab your dog before heading out. 

“Hey, Wands.” 

Today had been a little difficult for you. Despite mostly doing admin work, you struggled to stay focused given that you weren’t talking to people all day long like usual. Your mind wandered and you found yourself thinking about Nat’s dilemma for a good hour after your lunch had finished. You concluded that the way to get more of a say in this you’d have to throw some money at the issue. Well this was one option, but before you went too far down that path, you wanted to talk to Wanda. You hadn’t expected her to call you before you saw her at the game though. 

Wanda had been finishing up her third pastry when she got a call from an unknown number. She answers it quickly as she takes her last bite and hurries to swallow before speaking. 

“Hello?” 

“Hi Mrs. Maximoff, this is Coach Frost. Have you left for school yet?” 

Wanda’s in the car headed for school before she decides to call you to let you know what happened. She’s still a little suspicious about what happened. Given Natalya’s mood, she wouldn’t be surprised if she’d done something that would get her out of the game this afternoon. She was of course worried when she heard the words ‘possible concussion’, and she had already checked with her doctor to see if she should be worried. So she already knows what to look for, and hopefully how to answer your questions as she presses a couple of buttons on her display. 

“Hi, Y/n, have you left work yet?” 

When you tell Wanda that you’re about to she shakes her head before she stops at a stop sign with a sigh. 

“Well Natalya isn’t going to be playing today. Her coach just called and said she had an accident.” 

You stop in your tracks on your way into the dog runs and you just stand against the door with a frown. You see Boone curled up on his giant bed before you glance back out toward the treatment area. 

“What kind of accident? Is she okay?” 

You think of the several ways that Nat’s been hurt before, and it’s the second one you think of that’s right. 

“She took a ball to the forehead.” 

You scowl at the thought before looking at your watch and realizing that you’re going to leave regardless. You want to get home and see how Nat’s doing, but you’ll probably beat them home if you leave now. You walk into the runs and let Boone out before scratching his head with a smile. 

“Damn, okay. Well, I’ll meet you at home then.” 

Natalya’s holding an ice pack on her forehead when her mom shows up. She’s lying down on the bleachers while the rest of the team continues to warm up for the game. The other team has just arrived, but Natalya doesn’t pay them any mind as she keeps her eyes closed and tries to ignore the pounding of her head. She hears footsteps near her and she opens her eyes only to see the towel obscuring her view. 

“I’m really sorry. I didn’t realize you’d spaced out.” 

Nat’s already shaking her head because she doesn’t blame her friend at all. She’s been so distracted today that even if this hadn’t happened, she could almost guarantee that during the game at some point she would have gotten hurt for her inattention. 

“It’s not your fault. I’m distracted and I barely ate today.” 

Taylor immediately feels guilty about this, but she doesn’t get a chance to apologize for this as well before she hears a familiar voice. She turns toward the parking lot to see Nat’s redhead mom and she tries to resist the urge to flinch guiltily. She tells her friend that her mom’s here, and Nat sits up slowly with a groan before she glances around for her mom. She feels her head swim, and she looks to Taylor with a small smile. 

“Do you have anything to eat?” 

Taylor runs off and is gone by the time Wanda comes up to her with a worried, curious look. She reaches out to help her daughter off the bleachers before wrapping an arm around her shoulders. 

“Are you okay, Natalya? What happened?” 

Taylor’s back before Nat can answer, but the younger Maximoff just shakes her head because the details don’t matter. She smiles as her friend holds out a Gatorade and half of a sandwich with a bag of chips balanced on top of it. 

“It was just an accident, Mama, I’m fine.” 

“Here, Nat.” 

Nat smiles as she reaches out to take what Taylor’s grabbed her with a wide smile. She has to stop herself from tearing it open right now and inhaling it in front of her mom and friend. Instead, she just thanks the other brunette before hugging her and turning toward her mom. She’d like to go home now. 

“Thanks, T. Enjoy the pizza. I’ll see you tomorrow?” 

Wanda frowns as she leads her daughter back to the car to go home. She keeps stealing glances at the younger Maximoff who seems more upset than she was this morning when she left for school. Wanda feels guilty about this and wants to say something to make her feel better, but she’s not sure what she can say. She’d only just started to consider how she can undermine Stacy’s parents influence by gaining her own, and the options aren’t super appealing. One is to resort to blackmail, and that’s not a good idea for several reasons. She doesn’t want to make enemies over this, and she’s not sure how she could even find dirt on them. Another option is to go back to the principal alone and see if she has any advice. Wanda had been too shocked to really ask the appropriate questions earlier, and she needed to at least give her a call later. 

The last and least favorable option that Wanda came up with was having her daughter change schools. She didn’t want to do this because Nat wouldn’t want to leave her friends, and by the time she made it to high school she’d be back at square one. Wanda didn’t want her to have to resort to this, but until she figured out how Stacy was going to act, the option would stay on the table. 

Natalya barely acknowledges her dogs as you open the door when you hear the two of them arrive. Your gaze goes to your wife first who is frowning as she watches Natalya trudge into the house with a frown. 

“Hey, Little Nat. How’s your head?” 

Nat just shrugs before she mutters a response under her breath as she walks further into the house. She doesn’t even turn toward the kitchen and instead goes to sit at the table to work on homework. It’s only once she’s sitting down that she realizes she’s doesn’t even know if she has any homework. She hadn’t paid attention in school today, and she didn’t have her phone to ask her friends. 

“Hi, Mom. It’s fine.” 

You move out of the doorway so Wanda can step inside, and you both frown and watch your daughter fiddle with her backpack. She’s still dressed in her uniform, but it’s a lot cleaner than it usually is. This makes you feel even worse for some reason, and you shut the door behind your wife before following her lead. Wanda’s already headed toward Natalya with an ice pack wrapped in a dish towel and you stop at the fridge for a snack for your daughter. 

“Do you have a lot of homework, milaya?” 

Nat decides to just shake her head because she doesn’t feel like getting into it with them. She puts her bag on the ground to take the ice pack from her mom and hold it to her head with a sigh. She feels exhausted from the day of disappointment, and she’s tempted to just go to bed when she sees you holding her favorite food. She watches carefully as you set it in front of her while ignoring Wanda’s disapproving look. You know she doesn’t want Nat eating dessert before dinner, but you are sure that if you don’t get your daughter’s mood up somehow, she’ll just go to sleep without eating again. 

“How about we work on it a little before dinner?”

Despite not wanting to let you spoil your grounded daughter, Wanda watches from the kitchen as you help Nat get a few assignments done. The dogs are sitting at your feet as you push the empty plate away from the scattered papers in front of you. 

“What next, Little Nat?” 

Wanda’s finishing up the salad as Natalya shakes her head and starts to clear the table for dinner. She wants to go to sleep, but she’s pretty sure that she’s going to have to eat something other than cheesecake tonight. She glances at the clock and realizes it’s a little early to eat, but since she’s not playing a game right now, there’s not much else to do. She isn’t allowed to watch tv or be on her phone, so it’s homework and bed for a while. 

When the table’s set and Natalya’s back in her usual spot, she waits for her mom to bring her a plate. She’d tried to get up, but Wanda had insisted that she sit and drink more water. She’s sure Nat’s going to have a headache soon, if she doesn’t already, and she’s going to give her something for it after dinner. Nat tries not to grimace when she’s given her dinner and she sees her least favorite vegetable in front of her. She knows better than to say anything other than thank you, and she manages to eat most of her dinner without complaint. 

You and Wanda mostly eat in silence as you exchange looks to try and figure out what to do. Today you’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to do about Nat’s predicament. You wanted to help Natalya but you only came up with slightly unethical and otherwise problematic options. Between you and Wanda, you had a feeling that she was going to need to do most of the heavy lifting. Not only were you busy with work, but Wanda had a way with people that made her the better option. You just had to run your idea by your wife a little later. 

“My head hurts.” 

Natalya’s loading the dishwasher when she ducks back down and stops before she can put a plate away. She closes her eyes as she starts to get lightheaded, and you’re quick to grab the plate from her before leading her toward a nearby chair. Wanda sets the rest of the dishes aside as she hurries to grab more water and a couple of pain killers for her daughter. She’s grimacing from where she sits beside you, and Wanda lowers the lights before handing you the medicine. You’re rubbing Nat’s back as you shoot her a concerned look that she misses completely as she squeezes her eyes shut. She’s mad at herself for spacing out earlier, and she wishes she’d seen Taylor throw that ball, but there’s nothing she can do about it now. 

After reassuring her parents that she’s fine, and just needs to rest, she goes upstairs to bed with Rogue on her heels. He decides to hang out with her for a while, and by the time she’s in bed under the covers, he’s curled up on the ground beside her. 

Nat tries to ignore the throbbing in her head as she reaches down to pet her dog with a smile. She taps his head and he sits up and turns to face her before licking her offered hand with a big, slimy tongue. Nat cringes, but continues to pet him as she tries to relax. She’s going to have to face her failure to get anything accomplished yesterday soon, but for now she just shifts closer to the wall so she can cuddle with her dog. She pats the empty space beside her on top of the comforter, and Rogue carefully jumps up to lie down beside her. 

Natalya falls asleep first and Rogue stays with her for almost an hour before he has to go out for his last walk. Wanda sticks her head in the door and waves him over before leading him down the hall. You’re sitting downstairs eating on the couch as you stress over what you and Wanda are going to do. You’ve eaten more carrots than you really want, but you’re just trying to keep busy as you stare blankly at the screen in front of you. You’re not even sure what you’re watching, and Wanda comes to sit beside you after she’s let the dogs out one last time. 

“You’re going to give yourself a stomachache.” 

You drop the half carrot back into the bowl before you sigh in defeat. You set it down on the table in front of you before turning toward your wife with a sheepish look. She smiles at you before reaching out for your hands and squeezing them with a questioning look. 

“What’s on your mind, detka?” 

She has a fairly good idea of what’s been distracting you, so she’s really just asking to talk about it now. It’s the same thing that’s been bothering her, and she wants to get this worked out so you both can start to figure out how to make things right. She wants to do better for your daughter than 3-days suspension for a girl who’s been harassing her for months. It wasn’t going to be easy, but you would do anything for your daughter. The fact that she dealt with this for so long just made you more desperate to figure this out quickly. 

You frown in contemplation before you confirm Wanda’s suspicions.

“I’m plotting. I want to be as influential as Stacy’s parents.” 

Wanda smiles at the fact that you’re both on the same page, and she’s eager to talk this out with you. She reaches for the remote and mutes the television before leaning back against the couch with a sigh. She’d realized what the best option was, and she wanted to run it by you. It seemed a little drastic, and like a lot of work, but she was willing to do it if you didn’t shoot the idea down immediately. Neither of you realized that you were more on the same page than expected until Wanda speaks up. 

“I actually had an idea.” 

You nod as you turn so you’re facing your wife and giving her your full attention. Your gaze darts upstairs to make sure Nat’s door is still shut before propping your elbow on the couch and resting your head on your hand. 

“Hit me with it, Wands.” 

Your wife rolls her eyes, but she tells you what she’d come up with earlier today. She’d done an embarrassing amount of research and tried to figure out if this would be feasible, but she honestly just needed to talk to you. She would commit to anything if it meant Natalya would be free from torment in school. She just wanted to figure out how she should do it. 

“Since I can’t exactly pose as a super-rich CEO, I was thinking I would try for President of the PTA.” 

You had actually thought of this, but you didn’t think that Wanda would go for it. She kept herself busy during the days and despite taking a lot of responsibility for Natalya and her schooling, you didn’t think she’d want to get involved with the PTA. It honestly sounded horrible to you and you’d love to just throw money at any issue the school had instead of sit with in a room with a bunch of other parents trying to negotiate the best way to earn the school money. Wanda however apparently didn’t feel this way, and you were a little surprised. 

“Really? I think you could pull off the hot-shot CEO.” 

You’re smiling teasingly despite believing what you’re saying. Your wife is plenty smart and rich enough to play the part, but you realize that it could quickly become an issue if someone tried to do a background check. Wanda has decided to go the more believable route, and you love her for thinking things through. 

Wanda shakes her head with an amused look as she considers your suggestion. She’d rather take the fight directly to the school and she decided that this was the best way to effectively go after Stacy’s mom. 

“As fun as that sounds, Y/n, I think joining the PTA and running for president will be the better option.” 

You can’t help the pleased smile that tugs at your lips as you think about your wife taking over the PTA. She might not be as well known, but she’s smart and resourceful, and certainly will become a force to be reckoned with. You reach out to take her hand before leaning in to kiss it with a sigh. You’re not sure how Wanda’s going to get started on all of this, but just having a decision makes you feel a little better. You can work out the details later, and you’ll try to help as much as possible. You just aren’t sure you’ll be as present as your wife at the many, many meetings. 

“Sounds like a plan, my love.” 

The next day Wanda spends most of her time outside either in the garden or on the deck with her dog. After getting her reassurance from you, she just needs to figure out what she should do now. She knows that she’s going to have to start going to meetings so she can get acquainted with the many parents she’ll be working with. The idea is a little daunting because she’s gone to maybe a half dozen fundraisers or PTA—run events since Natalya started middle school. She hadn’t felt a need to, and she’d mostly just donated money and left it at that. Now she needed to be a little more proactive if she wanted a chance to become the president. 

Wanda’s little pool project in the basement was going to have to wait. Luckily she wasn’t too attached to the idea right now, and she’s ready to get started. The next PTA meeting is Tuesday evening, so Wanda had a lot of time to catch up on all current issues at school that required funding. She spent a couple of hours doing this while lying upstairs with her dog. She was lounging on the couch with her computer in her lap and Rogue’s head lying on her stomach. He was squished up next to her on the couch and as a result she was only a few inches from falling on the ground. 

“Do you think this is going to work, bud?” 

Wanda reaches out to scratch her dog’s head, and he just turns to her and licks her hand in response. It doesn’t really answer her question, but she smiles anyway as she continues to pet her dog. She sighs before moving to set her laptop on the table beside her and lying flat on the couch so she’s staring up at the sky. It’s nice out today, if a little hot, and she could fall asleep out here if she wasn’t afraid of sleeping past time to pick up Natalya. 

She frowns at the thought of how subdued her daughter was this morning, and she hopes that she’ll be able to help with this soon. She almost wants to tell her that she’s can still have her sleepover this weekend with her   friends but she doesn’t want to go back on this, well she does, but she knows that she should be a good parent and stick it out until Monday. 

You didn’t seem to like the fact that Natalya was being punished, but you hadn’t decided to overrule her yet. You gave your daughter cheesecake, but then immediately served her least favorite vegetable. Wanda wondered how long it would take for her to make any sort of headway at school, but she had a feeling she’d have to tell Natalya of her plan before this happens because she can’t stand the idea of her being so disappointed for much longer. 

She honestly doesn’t understand why Natalya did things the way she did. She takes after you more than she takes after her, and her clear desire to avoid conflict has made it so she let something horrible go on for far too long. You are truly guilty of this too, and she could recall multiple times in the past where you’ve tried to avoid conflict, and only been burnt by it. Wanda didn’t want this for her daughter, and she knew you didn’t either, so they were going to have to be more proactive. 

Wanda decides to go inside once she hears Rogue beginning to pant from where he’s lying at her feet. She also is getting a little warm and wants to figure out dinner before she takes a nap. She’s stressed herself out thinking about all of the steps she’s going to have to take to infiltrate the PTA.

Honestly, the scariest part of it isn’t being in a room with a bunch of parents trying to figure out how to earn money for the school. It doesn’t sound appealing, especially because she won’t know anyone, and she’s not looking forward to it. That said, she’s mostly worried about putting herself out there and being faced with too nosey or suspicious people. 

Since quitting her job, she’s kept a low profile for a good reason. She had dedicated all of her time to raising her daughter and she hadn’t worked so she barely saw people unless she was on an errand. This was always brief and she didn’t have any friends outside of the family for this reason. You knew people from work, and you sometimes went out with them, but Wanda only spent time with the family. She was fine with this, but she wondered if by joining the PTA she would be opening herself up to having to be more social. She feared that the more people she met, the more likely someone would be too curious, recognize her, or stumble upon the truth about her past. 

You didn’t have an issue with being recognized for obvious reasons. Once you thought someone had recognized you and you’d been a little worried about it, but luckily it turned out to be nothing. You and Wanda had been careful, especially when Natalya was young because you didn’t want to risk it. 

Now you used the excuse of being older and further from Wanda’s time with the mob as the main reason for why people didn’t recognize you. You of course had considered the dangers of Wanda becoming more involved in school, but you weren’t sure that anything would really happen. You and Wanda were both more concerned about helping your daughter, so you were willing to take the risk. The worst that could happen is that Wanda and the family is revealed and you have to deal with the fall out of that. It could be messy and undoubtedly expensive but Wanda’s been on the right side of the law for years. 

She’d even stopped getting looked at whenever she was unfortunate enough to walk by a police officer. 

The biggest concern honestly was Natalya. You didn’t want Natalya to know about what her mother did for nearly 2 decades. It would raise a lot of questions, and knowing how bad your daughter’s anxiety could get, you would worry about how she might react. So you and Wanda had talked about it more last night after you woke up to find that your wife was fretting. You’d sat up so you wouldn’t fall back asleep, and you and Wanda had talked for about an hour. You wanted to make sure that she felt comfortable doing this, and you also made sure that she knew how grateful you were that she was willing to do this for Natalya. You knew she was putting herself out of her comfort zone, but she wanted to help her daughter. 

Neither of you wanted Natalya to have to deal with something like this again. 

You curse under your breath as you barely escape being bitten by a cat who really doesn’t want you to brush out the mats on her back. She’s fearful mostly, but she’s certainly not afraid to strike at anything that’s close. She’s already scratched her owner and your assistant, so you decided to take over holding her while someone else brushes. You take the towel loosely wrapped around her, and make sure she’s nice and secure in a kitty burrito before taking a deep breath.

“Let’s try this one more time.” 

You didn’t like to push cats when they weren’t feeling up to something, but this owner was being very insistent. You’d told him that you’d try your best, and as long as no one else got hurt you were just going to push through it. You were almost done, and then you would get to eat lunch. 

Luckily a few minutes later, you were done and no one else was injured. Now you just have to send home the pissed off cat and hope that she doesn’t resent her owner forever. As you make your way up the stairs to grab your lunch, you feel your phone vibrate in your pocket. You glance at your watch and see a text from your brother-in-law. You frown slightly but then you see what it says and you can’t help but laugh. 

Do you think that Little Nat would want to go on a camping trip for her birthday? You and Wanda are invited as well, of course.

You’re mostly laughing because you know that Wanda will not want to go on this trip. As much as she loves you, she does not love camping and no amount of begging will get her to go with you and Natalya. You honestly aren’t a huge fan either, and you know that you’ll pass on this opportunity as well because you want Natalya to have some time with her uncle. 

Despite being a little sketchy at times with his less than stellar decisions, you thought that Pietro was a good uncle. He loved his niece and would do anything she asked of him. That said, he made sure to double check when the request seemed a little unadvisable because he’d faced his sister’s wrath enough to know that he didn’t want to do it again. When he’d taken Natalya to an amusement park one day instead of going to school, Wanda had raised hell and promised him that he would be banned from seeing Natalya for months if he ever did something like that again. 

You consider asking Wanda if she’s okay with Pietro taking Natalya out, but you figure she won’t complain. The brunette’s birthday is only a couple of months away, and you and Wanda honestly haven’t talked about it much. Your daughter is not one who likes to have parties. She gets overwhelmed by having too much attention on her, and she prefers to have a night at home with family and a very special dinner. She enjoys having an excuse to eat her favorites and cook with her moms. Last year you let her watch a horror movie that Wanda had to sit through too, and that had been an experience in itself. 

After telling Pietro that you think Nat would enjoy it, you sit down in your office with a sigh. You take out your food and stare at it for a bit before shaking your head. You’re not really hungry anymore for some reason, and you glance out the window with a small smile when you see how nice out it is. You decide sit outside for a while until you feel hungry, and you grab your phone before heading back downstairs. 

You’re hoping the rest of the day will fly by because you can’t wait to get home. 

Natalya’s waiting for her mom to pick her up from practice when she decides that she’s going to stand up to Stacy. It might just be because she’s angry and not in the presence of the blonde at the moment, but Nat thinks she can do it. She knows she can’t be like Taylor and threaten bullies without batting an eye, but she wants to try. She doesn’t really care if she gets in trouble at this point because what was going to happen to her? Now that the principal knew that Stacy had been bothering her for months, would she really be kicked out for retaliating?

As long as she didn’t do anything too extreme, and she didn’t instigate anything, she would be fine. Right? Taylor had left practice before she could ask her opinion, but she was almost sold on her idea by the time she sees her mom’s car pull up. 

“Hi Natalya, how was practice?”

The entire ride home is spent chattering as Natalya just says anything that comes to mind. Everything but her new plan. She is almost done with 8th grade, and pretty soon she’ll be in high school. She doesn’t want to start those four years with Stacy still being on her ass. She’s not going to put up with it anymore. She’ll face her tormenter head on, even if it kills her. 

“Mom’s home already?” 

Wanda is a little surprised to see that you’re home before them, and she frowns when she realizes you’re not in the kitchen. Boone must be with you because Rogue is the only pet downstairs waiting for them when they arrive. Natalya pets him with a smile as she looks around curiously for her other mom. Wanda notes the few things of yours lying around that tell her that you were in a hurry. Your bag’s hanging on the hook by the door that only she and Nat use, you might put the dogs’ leashes there, but never any of your things. Next, she sees your shoes discarded behind the couch with Boone’s leash and his bed that you usually take with you to work.  

“I’ll be right back to start dinner.” 

Nat just nods as she sits down at the table and takes out her planner. She luckily only has a couple of assignments to complete tonight, and she’s hoping that she can get them done before dinner. She doesn’t notice as her redheaded mom goes upstairs and sticks her head in the bedroom. When she doesn’t find you taking a nap or in the bathroom, she figures that she knows where you are. 

The stiffness in your back that started midday was still bothering you when you arrived home. It wasn’t your normal pain, at least not the same intensity, but the tingly feeling you got made you decide to try the weed that Yelena had gotten you. You head upstairs with Boone and go directly for the safe. A few minutes later, you have a joint and a lighter and you lead Boone to the third-floor deck where you can stretch out and try to feel better. 

You know that Wanda will be back with Natalya soon, so you try to make it quick. This of course doesn’t happen, and even after almost half an hour you don’t feel like getting up and heading back downstairs. Once you finish the weed, you lie back down and let Boone jump up to sit on your feet. Your back still aches, but the drugs are definitely helping and you are almost asleep when your wife comes to find you. 

Wanda notices the smell immediately after she opens the door to the deck on the third floor that you’ve taken to smoking on. She doesn’t see you immediately, but she can tell where you are by the appearance of Boone’s head over the couch when she opens the door. She quickly rounds the couch and sees that you’re sleeping curled up in a fetal position with a pillow held in your arms. She notices the lighter that tells her that her suspicions were right. 

She’s reluctant to wake you, but she doesn’t want you to sleep too long now and then have trouble tonight. She also wants you at dinner so she gently reaches out for your shoulder after greeting Boone with a quick scratch. 

“Y/n? Are you awake?” 

By how fast your eyes open, Wanda realizes that you must not have been asleep yet and you’re quickly smiling as you roll onto your back and look up at your wife. You feel pleasantly high, but not overly so as you stare up at Wanda without making any effort to stand up. 

“Hi, Wands. You’re back.” 

Wanda just smiles at you as she nods and holds out her hand to help you sit up. You take it gratefully, and manage not to cringe as she helps pull you up so you’re leaning back against the couch. Your feet meet the floor and you turn to your dog with a smile before taking a deep breath. 

“Is it dinner time?” 

Wanda nods and you’re getting to your feet before she even opens her mouth. You are the kind of high that makes you very hungry, and you are willing to help however you can if it ensures that you eat sooner rather than later. Wanda isn’t in as much of a hurry though, and she catches your arm as you try to head back inside. You know what’s coming and you are glad that you can say that you’re feeling a little better. You’re hoping this will improve as the weed circulates through your system, but there’s only one way to find out. 

“Are you feeling okay, detka?” 

You take Wanda’s hand before kissing her cheek and then lips briefly as you try to lead her inside. 

“Yeah, I’m fine, Wands. Just a little sore from earlier today, but I already feel better.”

Wanda just nods and she pays close attention to you as you walk inside with no obvious signs of pain. She’s happy with this for now, but she’ll continue to watch you as the night goes on. You stop at your bedroom on the way downstairs because you at least want to change clothes and brush your teeth so you don’t smell so badly of pot. 

Natalya knows that you smoke because you didn’t see a reason to hide it from her. Wanda didn’t like the idea of lying to her about something that she could have to help you with at some point, so you both agreed to be open with your daughter. The brunette remembers when you were first diagnosed with your condition as well as the years after when you were going between various meds with limited success. Since starting on your most recent regimen, you’ve been doing much better, and Natalya has been able to relax a little. 

She couldn’t help but be worried about her mom’s condition, and she easily picked up on when you were having good or bad days. She realized that today might be something in between because her redhead mom came downstairs alone first, but you appear only a few minutes later. Wanda is already in the kitchen heating up dinner when you head over toward your daughter to greet her.

“Hey, Little Nat, how was your day?” 

Natalya’s careful as she hugs you back, and she smiles as you kiss the top of her head with a sigh. You’re so lucky to have such a wonderful and caring daughter and you are reminded of this once again as you briefly sit down next to her with a sigh. 

“It was good. I caught everything in practice.” 

You pat your daughter on the back with a proud smile before you glance to your wife in the kitchen. She’ll probably not need your help, but you’re against making her do everything all the time. You’re about to stand up when Natalya catches your attention with a quiet question. She looks to you with a frown as she drops her pencil and starts to put up her homework. She’s all finished, and she wanted to help make dinner since she was in a slightly better mood today. 

“Feeling okay, Mom?” 

When you nod and reassure Little Nat that you’re feeling good, you lead her to the kitchen to where Wanda’s putting something in the oven. She shoots both of you a wary look because you are one in the same when it comes to cooking. You can be very helpful, or you can be very hungry and try to sneak some snacks when Wanda’s back is turned. She can tell what mood you’re both in, and she heads to the fridge to grab some appetizers that she’d made just in case. 

More often than not, she’ll have something for you, well mostly Natalya given you’re usually still at work, to tide her over until dinner. She can’t help but smile at your matching expressions, and she laughs before encouraging you both to eat. 

“Go on. Once you’re finished you can help make the dessert.” 

When both of your eyes light up in excitement, Wanda has to stop herself from teasing you two. She finds your obsession with food adorable even if it sometimes makes it difficult for her to keep your attention. You both nod, but only you respond with a mouthful of bruschetta. 

“’ounds, good.”

When you and Wanda make it to bed that night, both dogs have opted to sleep downstairs so you’re completely alone. You are exhausted from your long day and the pain that you’d just gotten rid of, so you just want to go to sleep. That said, you can’t help but want to take advantage of the alone time you have with your wife. She’s sitting up in bed as she reads a book she’s been working on for a week. You smile up at her and how beautiful she looks from this angle in the lamplight. You’re already lying down because you’re near sleep, but your wife’s voice wakes you up a bit. 

“I can feel you staring.” 

Wanda continues to read as she says this and she waits until you roll over onto your stomach with a groan before shrugging in indifference. 

“Sorry. You’re distracting me.” 

Wanda frowns at this as she meets your bright, mischievous gaze with a skeptical one. She’s just been reading for the past 15 minutes because she wanted to finish this chapter before going to bed. She’s behind what she’d wanted to read for this week, but when she feels your hands sneak up her sides, she realizes she might have to catch up later. 

“Really? How is that?” 

Your hands have started to wander, and you sigh appreciatively at the feeling of your wife’s skin beneath your fingers. You slide closer to her so you can kiss where her shirt’s ridden up, and you respond between admiring the faint stretch marks. Your mind wanders to the time when your wife was pregnant years ago, and you can’t help but hum at the memory of how she’d looked. The sight of her round stomach and her thick thighs had practically turned you feral, and you’re suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to touch. 

“You’re just so pretty, my love. It’s really not fair.” 

Any response Wanda has is lost as her breath hitches at the feeling of you kissing her stomach as your hands drift down to squeeze her thighs. Over the years she’d learned to accept her post-pregnancy body for what it was. At times you’d made her appreciate, even like it when you continued to love her and treat her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world. She’d only pouted about her new stretch marks or her fuller thighs for a couple of months before you’d convinced her that you loved her just the same, if not more because of how she looked. She tries to focus on your adoring hands and mouth as she sets her book on the bedside table and grasps for the lamp to turn it off. 

“No, I want to see you.” 

Wanda would argue if it weren’t for the fact that your whiny plea convinced her that you were serious. She takes a deep breath before reaching out to run a hand through your hair. Her nails tickle your scalp and you sit up with a smile before leaning in to meet her lips. You moan into the kiss as you consider how you’ll be able to please your wife while watching her every move. You bite your lip as you pull away and fiddle with the waist band of your wife’s shorts. 

“Can I touch you, please?” 

Wanda groans in response before she nods and spreads her legs a little so you can have better access. You don’t do what she expects, and you tug at her shirt with a smile before deciding that you want it off. You’re being a little greedy tonight, but your wife appeases you as always and slips her shirt off and tosses it aside with a knowing look. She smirks as she watches you take in the sight of her, and you groan under your breath before slipping your hand down her shorts. 

“Ah, shit!”

Wanda takes a deep breath to try and keep quiet as your fingers tease her wet folds. Her hips jump as you circle her clit before you’re leaning in to kiss her breathless. Wanda’s hands go to your face to pull you close as you dip two fingers into her only to pull them out quickly. You smile against her lips when you hear her whine, but you only continue to tease her as her breath starts to quicken. 

“Y/n.” 

Her breathless tone takes away from her demand a bit, and you just smile before moving away to kiss your wife’s neck and chest until she’s squirming beneath you. Wanda’s face is flushed and she’s considering shoving your face between her legs when you wrap your lips around one of her nipples. She moans and arches her back as she squeezes her eyes shut and begs you to get on with it. 

“Detka, please. Stop teasing.” 

You only have to think about Wanda’s revenge for a second to acquiesce with an obedient nod of your head. You keep your mouth on her breasts as you finally push two fingers deep inside of your wife. You both moan in unison, and you quickly start curling them with each thrust to bring Wanda higher, faster. She starts to tremble as you insistently rub against the sensitive spot that makes her toes curl and her arousal pool into your hand. You curse in the brief moment that your mouth is unoccupied as you continue to kiss your wife’s heaving chest. 

“Fuck, Wands.” 

The sight of your wife laid out beneath you, back arched in pleasure as you continue to tease her is one you want to commit to memory. You’d consider recording her if you had a free hand, but you know Wanda might be too self-conscious to do this. Instead, you focus on her pinched features and her beautiful moans as you start to press your thumb against her clit. 

“God, I’m—fuck!” 

Wanda’s entire body twitches as she tries to close her legs when her pleasure becomes almost painful. She tenses in anticipation as you curl your fingers deeper and focus on the soft spot that makes your wife practically scream. She bites her lip and bucks her hips frantically as she starts to teeter over the edge. She gasps and starts shaking violently as you make her come so hard, she sees stars. She doesn’t realize she’s soaked your hand and the sheets, but you groan at the sight, and the sound of your wife’s strangled moan. You are glad that your daughter is a deep sleeper because you’re certain that Wanda would have woken her up otherwise.

You smile as you lean in to kiss your beautiful wife who’s still trembling from the aftershocks of her orgasm. You pull your hand free and she shivers at the feeling but you just keep her focus on you as you moan into your wife’s mouth. 

“Fuck, you’re perfect. I’m so fucking lucky.” 

Wanda grasps at your arms and her hand falls to your wrist before she brings your hand toward her. You’re left a little dazed as your wife flips you over and straddles your waist. You grip at her hips with your free hand, but the other is in Wanda’s hold as she holds it against her lips. You moan and shift impatiently as Wanda sucks your fingers clean and your head swims at the sound of her moaning around them. 

“I’m the lucky one, Y/n.” 

Wanda is certain that she lucked out when she met you. Despite there being plenty of things in her past that she didn’t care for, she wouldn’t change any of them if there was even a small chance of losing you. All of her reckless, desperate decisions early on had led her to you one way or another, and she couldn’t be more grateful. She’s convinced that she wouldn’t have found anyone to settle down with if she hadn’t run into you that day. She still doesn’t think she deserves you, but after so many years of bringing her so much happiness, she’d be damned if she lost you. 

Wanda kisses your palm before she runs her free hand under your shirt. You squirm at the feeling of her warm hand on your stomach and you’re about to ask her to take off your shirt when she starts to tug it over your head. You sigh in relief when it’s finally off, and you’re about to reach back out to your wife, but she grabs your hands and pins them above your head. 

“What-?” 

“It’s my turn now, detka, and I want you to keep your hands right here, okay?” 

After having her way with you for over an hour, you’re barely able to move from the exhaustion you feel. It’s late you’re sure, but you can’t be bothered to glance at the clock as you hold tight to your wife. After a quick clean up, you two fell back into bed and you immediately pulled Wanda into your arms. She whined when you slid her toward the middle of the bed, but she settled quickly when you pulled her flush against your front and kissed her cheek.

The two of you fell asleep to the sound of rain hitting the window, and your last thought before losing consciousness was mud. Tomorrow’s game would be a muddy one. 

Masterlist

[indelen]

This is my reread of the Lockwood and Co. Books, organized by @blue-boxes-magic-and-tea, I'll make a general summary of several chapters and then post bits and pieces that jumped out at me.

Part II, Chapters 7-8:

35 Portland Row is such a perfect home base. An urban Hobbit Hole. Magician’s nephew townhouse. Familiar and homey, yet exiting and unusual. Just the right amount of familiar and unfamiliar things that would appeal to a kid. The tantalizing fantasy of independence mixed with the fear of the outside world that the young target audience first starts to comprehend at that age. The dream of living with your crush and all your friends, eating donuts for breakfast, staying up to all hours of the night, being dashing, running things, having swords, being better at something than the adults who are an arbitrary force you put on a façade and appease and try to get rid of as soon as possible. Your challenge being comprehending mortality, coming to terms that death is a part of life and can happen to anyone around you, even your most loved ones. And your enemy being corrupt adults who run corporations that already traded your future, all your hopes and dreams, all your potential for just a bit more money, prestige, life they desire. It says something that a book for a modern teenager is one about kids just trying to survive in a world adults ruined and how difficult it is to keep a place of your own and your integrity safe and in one piece.

Miscellaneous:

It's sweet that Lockwood sees Portland Row as being not just "his" but belonging to anyone who is part of the agency. This is his home, legally he is the sole owner of it, but he views the house as Lucy's and George's in equal measure because they are part of Lockwood and Co. He opens his home to people not in the manner of a landlord (we don't really ever find out if he charges Geroge or Lucy any rent, I suspect he doesn't although informally they all probably pitch in on maintenance). What I love about Lockwood is he's such a paradox, he's extremely inviting and yet intensely closed off. He both opens his home to friends and craves a family and is also deeply emotionally stunted and detached.

George has lived with Lockwood for only maybe a year or so and the agency has only been registered three months and yet he gives off such intense "Elizabeth from Accounts Payable whose been with the company for twenty years and has weathered every kind of bullshit and is counting down to retirement" vibes like, Sir, how do you sound so 50 at 15?

Lockwood is so funny because one moment he's actually being a good boss and agency head – conducting good interviews, watching for emotional responses, making background checks on potential hires, giving a tour to new employee where he firmly but politely draws boundaries - and then the next moment he's absolutely peacocking to a cute girl like "look, look, I'm also powerful and a big deal!"

I also think it's funny that Lockwood strikes out with Lucy a lot more from the beginning then we realize. Lucy is traumatized, emotionally immature and has not been socialized properly. Her self-confidence has been worn away by her "prettiness is not your job" mother and having to be the breadwinner for her family so early in life. There are these moments early on where someone more adept at flirting would have picked up on Lockwood being a showoff and maybe played with it, but bless her she's 13 going on 14 here, literally no one can flirt at that age so she's just incapable of seeing what is going on or give it any time of day. It's no wonder that it takes them literal years to get anywhere.

Also, who let Lockwood keep that watch? no one right? He stole it. He told the cops there's a shitload of death glows in a garden and they probably brought him along to raid the home of a serial killer to help look evidence or whatever and there was a watch lying around and Lockwood was like “ooooooh for my murder scrapbook!” and swiped it.

The mention of an uncle early on is such a clever thing because it’s relevant to the plot during the interview to show how sensitive Lucy really is, but it’s also a red herring. When George mentions Lockwood losing his parents young and him being “in care” of some relative, the reader immediately thinks "ah yes, that must have been that nice uncle!" It lets us assume that whatever mystery there is about the room it must be about his parents. It's why the reveal at the end of Whispering Skull is such a surprise and shows just how little we know about him.

Yea she's gone.

It took less than a week for her to go from describing Lockwood as looking like "a priest on a toilet" to this teenage horniness. My disaster crush in Gr.7 had about the same trajectory. Also reminds me of Mei's completely realistically portrayed crush on Some Convenience Store Guy in "Turning Red". Flips on like a switch and before you know it, you're doodling the most mortifying thing ever conceived my man. 13 is such a cursed age, my god.

I’ve mentioned this before in a post, but Lucy lashes out at people for things she hates about herself. Her internal gripes about Geroge are not that he’s rude (even though he definitely is to her) she’s not mean about him being objectively less Talented then her, she’s never makes fun of him for being smarter or better educated than she is. Lucy can handle outright hostility pretty well and she’s not self-conscious about her talent or lack of education. But she is, I think, deeply insecure about her appearance. And like so many girls her age it’s the chink in her armor she knows to hide and wallpaper over with dismissal and disdain. She pretends she doesn’t care but she does, and the more her feelings for Lockwood grow the more it shows in how she talks about herself and how she talks about others.

Sometimes you’re reading a book and oooh there’s a romance subplot and A falls for B (often instead of C or D) and you think … but why? why is A in love with B actually? What is it about them that makes the attraction click? But with Lucy it’s so obvious why she is almost immediately taken with Lockwood, but also why she doesn’t realize it. From Lucy’s POV, for all his flaws Lockwood is the opposite of what Jacobs was. He enters with the teams and he’s the last to leave (he even jumps out the burning building last). She doesn’t feel alone and unsupported. He takes accountability for any error on the case, easily and without any shifting of blame. Sure he’s vainglorious and a bit irresponsible and impulsive and all that. He’s 14-15 at most - that’s normal enough and she’s a kid like him, she gets it. But Lockwood is also a kid burdened with a lot of responsibly and I think Lucy is in a unique position to appreciate this and admire him for taking it on as he does. And that admiration neatly tricks her into thinking that’s all there is to her feelings for a long, long time because she can’t tell her feels apart worth a damn.

I’m going to start a Lucy describes Lockwood’s smile count: 6

[gubler-me-up]

Give Me Hallmark

Request: hii can you like do a spencer reid one shot with a fem bau reader and it's christmas, everyone's still working and at the end of the day the reader asks if anyone wants to grab dinner for christmas but almost everyone has plans except for reid so they go out and eat then they walk around with all christmas lights and there's couples everywhere and spencer just confesses his love for her under a mistletoe.

A/N: Thank you for the request, @euphoricdumpsterfire​! We love a cute Christmas fic and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to post this exactly on Christmas but December 26th works too imo! Hope everyone who celebrated had a Merry Christmas and for those who don’t celebrate I hope you had a fantastic, relaxation day ❤️ Hope you enjoy!

Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!reader

Category: Fluff

Content warning: A small mention of alcohol but nothing else 

Word count: 3.5k

————-

Nothing was worse than working during Christmas. For most people that is but you didn’t mind. Your family had decided to go on a cruise for the holiday. They asked you to join but the day you were going to tell them your decision the team had a case in Wyoming. You insisted they go without you and you would visit them as soon they came back.

Christmas’s charm had faded away in your eyes as soon as you reached adulthood. Spending it alone had nearly become a habit of yours. Last year you spent it with a couple of friends and did a cute secret Santa exchange. The Christmas’ before that consisted of just you, a bottle of wine and reruns of your favourite hallmark movies.

As you worked diligently at your desk you couldn’t help notice walk down the steps towards where the four of you were working. You looked up and saw a sight that proved to you Christmas miracles were real. Hotch was smiling and whenever he smiled you knew there was extremely good news to proceed.

“Merry Christmas everyone. You’re off the clock,” he said.

“Off the clock? Hotch, we’ve only been working for five hours,” Spencer said.

“Reid, are you serious right now? A late start and an early finish? Sounds like a deal I’m going to take,” Morgan said as he started to pack up his stuff.

“Have a good rest of your day everyone,” Hotch said before retreating to his office.

You started packing up your stuff as well. You could already hear the opening scene of A Royal Christmas playing in your head. Before you could make your way home, cuddle up on your couch and lose your heart to movies you’ve watched for the past five years, you had to eat.

You looked around at everyone packing up their things to leave as soon as they possibly could. You wanted to eat at your fave Chinese spot instead of ordering takeout this year. You didn’t mind sitting in and dining on your own but you could already anticipate the looks of people dining in and seeing you eating alone. The last time that happened a man in his 70s insisted on joining you to eat and told you how much you reminded him of his wife who had passed away five years earlier.

“Does anyone wanna grab something to eat?” You asked.

“I would love to, Y/N, but I have a ticket to the Bahamas that’s calling my name. I’ll send plenty of pictures,” Emily said as she picked up her purse.

“Make sure you keep them PG-rated,” Morgan joked.

Emily playfully rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t give you a PG-13 picture even if you paid me.”

“Ouch,” he said.

Emily laughed as she told everyone goodbye. As soon as she walked out of the bullpen you knew there was no chance of getting her back. You turned your attention over to Morgan. He saw your gaze and immediately stood up to get out of your sight. You didn’t let him get too far though.

“How about you, Derek? You want to grab some Chinese?” You asked.

“Y/N, Y/N, Y/N. If it was a regular, shmegular day I wouldn’t even think twice about it but since it’s Christmas I have plans I must attend,” he said.

“Oh? And those plans would be?” You inquired.

He shook his head and wiggled his finger at you. “We’re keeping it PG-rated remember? Have a Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

Before you could stop him for another question, he wished everyone a Merry Christmas and bolted out the bullpen. Now there was only you, JJ and Spencer. You saw JJ get up to leave next. She saw you looking at her and gave you a sympathetic smile but you knew her answer already.

“Kids?” You asked.

She nodded. “And husband. Sorry, we’ll go another time for sure.”

You smiled. “Of course. Merry Christmas, J.”

“Merry Christmas, Y/N.”

With that she was out of the bullpen. You sighed as you looked over at Spencer. He stood up from his desk and swung his satchel on his shoulder. You were nervous to even ask anyone else let alone  him if he was free to go out to eat with you. You knew he would probably be busy with his mother. He had been so stressed out lately about her health you didn’t want to bother him with your loneliness.

You then saw Garcia scurrying out of her office down into the bullpen area. You smiled as you saw her walking your way. You stepped in front of her with a huge smile. You were disappointed to not see the same enthusiasm on her face. Your smile instantly dropped.

“Too busy to get something to eat with me?” You asked.

“Unfortunately I am, my little sugar plum, but I will definitely go with you after the holiday,” she said before embracing you in a big hug.

You sighed and hugged her back. “Merry Christmas, P.”

“Merry Christmas, sweet stuff,” she said before scurrying past you.

You turned around to watch her leave like the rest. You sighed as you were starting to realize you probably were the only one without plans this Christmas. It made you quite sad to think about but you did it to yourself every year. What was one more year of sitting alone at a restaurant and having an old man tell you about his dead wife?

“I can go with you if you’d like, Y/N,” you heard Spencer say.

You looked back around to see him standing just a foot away from you. You were in shock he wasn’t busy as you thought he was going to be. You were even more shocked that he wanted to spend a few hours on Christmas day with you.

“You sure? I thought you’d go to Vegas to spend some time with your mom because of her health,” you said.

“I’m flying out tomorrow morning and I’m already packed, so I have time,” he said.

You stood there still in shock. You didn’t think you would be spending your evening with Spencer especially since it was only the two of you. Your look of shock must have made him weary because he furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

“Unless you’ve changed your mind then I’ll just go home,” he said.

You shook your head. “No, no, sorry. We can definitely go together. I’d love to spend my evening having you as my dinner companion.”

He sheepishly smiled. “Great. Should we ask Hotch and Rossi if they want to tag along?”

You chuckled. “Spence, when you reach their age all you want to do with your Christmas is cuddle up with a glass of scotch or whisky.”

He nodded in agreement. “Fair.”

You smiled as you picked up your purse off of your desk. Like the gentleman he was, he offered out his arm for you to hook onto. You didn’t hesitate to grab hold of his bicep and you swore he was flexing for you but that could have been your imagination.

Your favourite Chinese restaurant wasn’t too far from the BAU headquarters. It was only a few blocks down but it took a little longer for you two to get there than it would have been if you were walking by yourself. You enjoyed talking to Spencer and would get lost in every word he would say. From the time you two had left the office, he was talking about some recent discovery in the galaxy and the amount of passion in his voice was admirable.

He was naturally a slower walker compared to your need to fast walk but him talking to you allowed you to bear the brisk winter air for a little longer. The cold didn’t seem to bother him much because he kept looking your way when he was talking to you even though the wind was blowing that way. The way he was smiling at you throughout could have been the reason he was warm because his smile could warm the coldest of nights.

He held the door open to let you in. You blushed and thanked him as you stepped in. Everything he did felt so intimate to you. It felt as if you were at the beginning of your own little Hallmark movie but it could have been your overly active imagination at work again. Maybe it was time for you to retire the Hallmark movies if they were making you think this way.

“For two?” The host asked.

You nodded. “Yes, please.”

“Follow me this way,” she said as she led the way.

She led you both to a booth near the back corner of the restaurant. You both thanked her as she put down your menus. You took off your purse and jacket and tossed them on your seat before scooting in. Spencer followed suit.

As you looked at the menu you couldn’t help but notice Spencer smiling as he looked down at his. You looked up at him with a puzzled look. He looked up from his menu to see your full confused look.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

“Why are you smiling to yourself?” You asked.

“Uh, well, I just find it kind of funny,” he said.

“Find what kind of funny?” You asked.

“Out of all the things you could have done on Christmas you wanted to eat at a Chinese restaurant,” he said with a soft chuckle.

“Well, if I’m keeping it honest I’ve been craving Chinese for a while and this is one of my favourite spots. I found out a few days ago they have a deal where if you and someone else come in on Christmas Day, you get 50 percent off your meal,” you said.

“Ah, is that why you were asking everyone to tag along?” He asked.

You nodded. “Yeah. It’s probably the lamest way to spend Christmas but I love a good meal and a good price point.”

“I don’t think it’s a lame way to spend Christmas at all. I do this with my mom on most years but instead of Chinese we go eat at Binion’s and indulge in chicken fried lobster.”

You giggled. “I love that. My family went on a cruise I had to miss out on but I’ll see them in a week.”

“Well, if you’re eating on a budget on Christmas Day then you definitely saved yourself some major cash from missing that cruise if that makes you feel better. On average, during a seven-to-eight day cruise passengers spend $212 daily.”

“The way my dad eats he’s probably spending near $300.”

Spencer cracked a wider smile which automatically made you laugh. He broke into a small chuckle once you started it off. You saw the server walking up and automatically calmed down before picking up the menu again. Spencer turned to see the server approach your table. She placed two glasses of water down before taking out her pen and notepad.

“Welcome and Merry Christmas. I would like to start off by mentioning on Christmas we do a special where if two people come in their meal is half off,” she said.

“Oh, I’ve heard,” Spencer said as he looked at you.

You slightly blushed. You didn’t know if it was from the way he looked at you or if it was because you were way too excited about this deal.

“Amazing. Do you two know what you’d like?” She asked.

“Can we get a few more minutes please?” You asked.

“Of course. Would you like any other drink besides water?” She asked.

“No thank you,” you both said in unison.

Your server smiled and nodded before leaving the two of you to look over your menus. It seemed as if he couldn’t keep his eyes on his menu long enough to look over it. His eyes kept wandering up to look at you. Naturally, your eyes wanted to look into his.

“What now?” You giggled.

“How do you feel about looking at Christmas lights?” He asked.

“I love looking at Christmas lights,” you said.

“Awesome. There’s this street in downtown Washington full of them. I think they looked extremely pretty and I thought you’d like them,” he said.

“You thought I’d like them?” You said.

He nodded. “Yeah. I know how much you love Christmas lights, so when I walked by them last night I thought of you.”

“You did?” You asked.

“Yeah. Sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. I didn’t-”

“No, no, I’m not uncomfortable at all. I’d really love to go with you, Spence,” you assured him.

He smiled and you could see the small fade-in of blush appear on his cheeks. If this was the universe’s way of telling you your Hallmark dreams had come true, it was the best possible way to let you know. You could have never imagined your Christmas would be spent with someone you had a crush on and you loved every second of it. You wanted it to become a Christmas tradition every year.

Once you two were done eating, Spencer paid even after you insisted you would. Before you could even take out your card, he had already paid in cash. You hated how he was always one step ahead of the game but it’s one of many things you adored about him.

It had become pitch dark outside as you two waited outside for a taxi to pass by. When you saw the first one come down the street you waved your arms like a maniac. You being the clumsy person you were nearly lost your balance and fell into the road. Spencer quickly grabbed onto your arm to keep you balanced.

As you two rode in the back of the taxi, you were already admiring the Christmas lights on houses and buildings. Spencer would point out ones on his side and you would look out in amazement. He chuckled every time your face would show any form of excitement or wonder. The drive alone was 45 minutes long but it felt like 10 as Spencer preoccupied your time.

When you reached downtown Washington, Spencer opened your door to let you out. He held out his hand to help you get out. He probably didn’t trust your legs holding you up after your little incident. You closed the door behind you and you two started your journey through the city.

“I think blue Christmas lights are my favourite,” you said.

“How come?” He asked.

“They’re the prettiest colour. It’s bright enough to catch your attention but not too overpowering to hurt your eyes,” you said.

“That’s a good reason to like it,” he said.

You giggled. “No fact to go along with my analysis, doctor?”

He chuckled. “I was trying to hold back but blue is a rare colour in nature but the most preferred colour by choice. Throughout history, it has been a top colour associated with relaxation and lowering blood pressure.”

“Amazing. I was struggling with my blood pressure, you know,” you joked.

He looked at you concerned. “What? Y/N, are you okay? If work is stressing you out, I don’t mind taking some of your workload.”

You laughed. “I’m kidding, Spence, but I might take you up on that offer if I ever do feel stressed out at work. What’s your favourite Christmas light colour?”

He pointed to the Christmas lights to his left. You looked and saw green lights hanging off of a storefront. You widened your eyes at how beautiful they looked. Spencer looked at you and smiled at your expression.

“They’re pretty, huh?” He asked.

“Pretty? They’re gorgeous. I didn’t even realize how beautiful the green lights were until they stood alone,” you said.

“Green’s actually the second most popular colour after blue,” he said.

You smiled. “Seems fitting.”

“Oh and in China green jade symbolizes virtue and beauty,” he said.

“Also very fitting,” you said.

You bit your bottom lip as you realized what you had said. You looked to your right to avoid eye contact with him. You couldn’t bear him asking about what you meant. You pointed to your side at another business that had strung green lights all over their store.

“You were right about green being a second favourite next to blue,” you said.

“George Washington’s favourite colour was green,” he said.

“Maybe there’s an ode to George going on in these streets,” you said.

He chuckled. “Possibly even though he was born in February.”

You laughed at his joke even though he didn’t know it was one. As you two continued walking you couldn’t help but notice all the couples populating the streets. Young couples, old couples, couples with kids. You looked over at Spencer to see his gaze looking from couple to couple as well.

You stared up at him wondering if he too wished they were those couples. Not that you wished you were any couple specifically but just a couple in general. You thought you two would look cute together especially on Christmas.

You soon noticed couples walking past you two smiling. You politely smiled back and so did Spencer. You weren’t sure if they were doing it to be polite or doing it because they thought you two were also a couple. Maybe they also saw the potential you two had together.

You sighed and decided it was best to turn your attention back to the lights. Again you saw green Christmas lights brighten a toy store’s front display. You don’t think you’ve ever seen so many green lights in your life. You started to think he had set this up.

“Spence, everyone has green lights up. I think they surpass blue in popularity now,” you said.

“Where do you see them?” He asked.

“Oh, you poor thing. I forgot you’re not wearing your glasses. They’re kind of small and on the inside showcase,” you said as you dragged him by his hand to the toy store.

As you two walked up to the store you could see his face lighten up when he saw the lights. You smiled at how excited he was to see all these green lights. As you recalled green and purple were his favourite colours so seeing all this green probably made him overly excited.

“Everywhere’s green for you, Spence,” you said.

“You know, many people don’t know this but green is the colour of love since it’s associated with Venus,” he said.

“Someone on this street must love you a lot then if they’re hanging up all these green lights,” you said.

“If you didn’t do it then I don’t want whoever did,” he said.

You looked at him in shock. You gave him a second to correct himself or at least elaborate for you but he didn’t. Once he said what he had to say, he stayed quiet as if he was waiting for you to say the next few words.

“Wait, repeat that and please say it with your chest this time so I know I heard you correctly,” you said in disbelief.

“I like you a lot, Y/N. More than words could ever express. I know you might not feel the same way but I just had to get it off my chest,” he said.

As he said that it felt as if the whole world went silent. You took in every word he said and it still didn’t feel real to you. You looked up at him as he waited anxiously for you to respond. You then looked up to see a stream of mistletoe hanging above you two. You looked back at him.

“You wanna know how I really feel?” You asked.

“Ye-”

Before he could fully respond to you, you wrapped your arms around his neck and nearly jumped into him to kiss his soft lips. He grabbed you by your waist to keep you close to him as your tongues exchanged names. You didn’t want to stop but you were curious to see his reaction to what you just did. It was priceless.

He stared at you in a mix of confusion, happiness and love. You uncontrollably giggled at his expression. You don’t think you’ve ever seen someone express three different emotions in one go before.

“You know, I did always want to star in my own Hallmark movie,” you joked.

“I’m glad I could give that to you,” he said.

“I think there’s one more thing you could give to me,” you said.

“Anything. What is it?” He asked.

“Another kiss,” you said.

He chuckled. “I’d kiss you forever.”

He leaned in and you didn’t hesitate to latch onto his lips. Even though the cold breeze was shaking you to the core, your happiness kept you going. You couldn’t possibly go back to watching Hallmark movies after getting the real thing. Besides you felt after this moment your next Christmas’ would be spent in Vegas at Binion’s eating chicken fried lobster.

—–

MASTERLIST

Tagged: @shadyladyperfection, @slutforthegubes, @pinkdiamond1016, @spencerreidsthings, @itsmyblogandillreblogifiwantto, @slutforsr @bxtchboy69, @fallinallinmendes @haihappen5 @mgg-theprettiestboy @siltuz-png @ptrs-prkrs @tclaerh @agentadhd @alexmarie29 @closetedreidstan @mac99martin @blxckhearthood @jesspavlik0vsky @katexrichardson @keniaasf @reidbuck @corishirogane3 @thegoddamncrazycatlady @keniaasf @pastelbabygirl19 @shadybagelsludgecolor @bootycrackraisinjuice @vintagebeauty1496 @bluerose512​ @laneybobeczko-g​ @averyhotchner​ @littlewierdalien @cynbx

[totallynotashs]

A Scar Means You Survived - AU

Based on Headcanon #17

I am calling this AU "A Scar Means You Survived" aka ASMYS because it focuses on both seen and unseen scars of those inflicted pain and trauma by William Afton.

William kills Gabriel, Jeremy, Susie, Fritz, and Cassidy. He tries to kill Charlotte but is caught by Michael. All evidence points to Willy for the previous children’s murder and he is sentenced to life in prison. Charlie has a slash scar on her shoulder. It would have been deep had Michael not pulled her away.

Michael is old enough to take Evan on as a dependent so Henry does not “adopt” them. However, Michael never went to university because of this.

While in High School, Michael dates Jeremy (in secret because it's the 80s). They also worked together until the bite of ‘87 which leave Jeremy in a vegetative state.

Flash forward a few years, Michael still visits Jeremy but not as often...

Charlie and Sammy have both gone and returned from university. Charlie has a dual degree in Business and Marketing with a minor in Engineering and Sammy has a dual degree in Robotics and Coding.

Out of pure luck, Charlie and Michael run into each other. Charlie invites him and Evan over for dinner at Henry’s house and they catch up. As time goes on, they find that they are still struggling with the trauma William has inflicted on them. This pulls them even closer together.

They start dating. After a year, they are engaged. In another five months, they are married. Michael hyphenates his name to Afton-Emily. Charlie keeps her surname.

Henry retires and passes the business on to Charlotte and Sammy. Charlotte shares her half of the business with Michael since they are now married (but only a small percentage since Michael doesn’t really want a huge part of it).

Five months after their honeymoon, Charlie learns she is pregnant. Four months later, Lauren Elizabeth Afton-Emily is born. They call her Lori for short.

After Lori is born, the business begins pulling Charlie away from home more and more often. So Michael ends up being the stay-at-home dad while Charlie travels.

Once Lori is old enough to go to preschool, Michael begins working again, mainly to help out at the Pizzeria in Hurricane while Charlie travels around opening up more locations.

Since Evan is attending the local University, he lives at home with Michael and Charlie. Whenever he isn’t busy, he cares for Lori. Sammy does too because he doesn’t want Lori to be constantly going to daycare (because have you seen how they treat those kids?? It's so sad!) Lori grows very close to both her uncles and has developed interests in them: drawing and robotics. Despite this, she still craves her parents' attention. (Lori picks up drawing because Evan told her that Michael used to draw).

For her 13th birthday, Lori has a party hosted by Michael, her uncles, and her grandfather. Charlie isn’t able to come home. Lori doesn’t enjoy the party as a bunch of random kids from her school were invited. Lori ends up hiding away in her closet while the others make fun of her for “being weird.”

When Henry realizes that she didn’t have a good time after the kids leave, he gifts her Helpy so that she’ll never be lonely. 

Shortly after turning 13, Lori begins trying to make attempts at being around her father by making him dinner and taking it to him. This becomes the norm for a year.

After Lori’s 14th birthday, Sammy shows her some of the animatronics and really sparks her interest in robotics. Michael hates this and tries to keep her away from them.

News breaks: William has escaped prison. Michael tells Lori to stay home at all times but doesn’t tell her why. Lori has never met William and the others have refused to talk about him around her.

Lori ignores Michael’s command to stay home and brings him dinner one night. Unbeknownst to everyone, William is already inside the Pizzeria and has dawned on the old Spring Bonnie suit.

William tries to kill Lori, not knowing that she is his granddaughter (it's not like he would have not tried to anyway, let’s be honest). Michael tries to protect Lori but William knocks him out. Miraculously, Charlie returns home after a long trip and saves Lori. William gets Spring Trapped. They don’t save him. William bleeds out.

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Physical Scars:

Charlie has two on one shoulder. One from childhood, one from saving Lori. She has permanent damage to her nerves now.

Michael has one just over his brow where he got knocked out.

Lori has one on her leg where Willy cut her.

Traumatic Scars:

Henry was betrayed by his best friend.

Michael has abandonment issues and often thinks of himself as a bad parent. He wants what's best for Lori but is unsure how to provide for her.

Evan never sees himself being a parent.

Charlie has nightmares regularly and is fearful of knives.

Sammy blames himself for nearly getting Charlie killed.

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Special thanks to all my mutuals that helped me get the brain juices going to think of this.

[bunneechan]

One of the themes of Attack on Titan is freedom and it is a big deal for most of the characters. So here is a list of what kind of freedom the remaining characters deserve.

All titan shifters deserve to be free of their curse. Because it is a chance to start over.

Annie - it would be nice if she gets to make up for lost time with her father. She doesn't seem to be very angry at him. But she does want to see him. Also, she and Armin have a lot to talk about.

Armin - being free from the curse would mean he gets to have more time to explore the world. Wouldn't it be cool to see Armin make something of himself?

Falco - one reason I really want the curse to end is because of Falco. He was just a kid trying to do something nice for someone. He deserves to live a long life.

Pieck - she deserves to see her father and spend his remaining time with her. That was the only reason she drafted. She also deserves a new purpose.

Reiner - maybe he deserves to go back to his family but honestly, I wish he also gets to live his own life away from his mother. He's been used and manipulated for so long, it would nice to see him do something for himself. Not under orders or not because of his family.

The warriors need to retire and live their own lives. Falco and Gabi deserve to live their remaining time as children and not as expendable child soldiers. Gabi already lost two of her friends. I'm sure she doesn't want to lose Falco in 13 years.

Connie - if breaking the curse somehow reverts his mother back to human, then Connie really deserves to be free of grief and loneliness. Imagine after all of the war is over and you go back home to a ruined village with a titan for a mother.

Historia - I have covered this in some of my posts about her and although we haven't seen her in so long, I think Historia deserves to live her own life without any higher authority controlling her. That was the point of her development. It wasn't about survival, it was about living.

Jean - I believe his goal in the beginning was to live safely and in luxury. But he's done the opposite and has experienced so many times where it could have been over for him. Jean may be strong but he also needs to be free of that burden. It's time he retires.

Levi - I know many people would rather see him die to relieve himself of pain but there is a better alternative for that. Levi has been through so much since he was a kid. He has witnessed so many deaths. It's not too late for Levi. He deserves recovery and a life free of grief and loneliness. He deserves another chance to find a new purpose.

Mikasa - the anime made me realize that being Hizuru's Hope just meant another burden for her. I don't think she wants it given how they only used her as an excuse for some other matter. I think if she frees herself from Eren, then she should also be free from being tied to a clan that only cares about money.

Eren's goals are too controversial and too much for me to understand lol. I am not even sure if he's still alive..?? But he did crave freedom for the people in Paradis and hated how they were discriminated against so I guess the Eldians do deserve to be free of hate.

[blouisparadise]

Upon request, we’ve added to our friends to lovers rec list. You can find part one here and there will also be a part three (and possibly a part four!) up eventually, which will be linked here when it’s been posted. We hope you enjoy these fics! Happy reading.

1) Roses In The Rain | Mature | 5267 words

“Don’t- I know what you’re going to ask, and I… Harry, I can’t,” he said, his voice cracking. “Please. You know that I can’t.”

Louis had his six siblings and his old house with its falling-apart porch to take care of. This town was where people still approached him, 8 years after high school graduation, to tell him that they loved him as Danny in Grease. This town was where he had his pick of suitors, where he had his first kiss, where he took his first steps, where his mama lived, died, and was buried, and he couldn’t leave just to follow some man that he loved.

Harry, for now, seemed to understand that.

“Okay, baby,” Harry sighed, rubbing his eyes. “Okay.”

2) Candy In Your Mouth (I Know You Love Me) | Explicit | 6937 words

Things have shifted since last Christmas.

3) Glimpse Of The Silhouettes | Explicit | 7181 words

Harry isn't sure what the rules are for this. It's hard to believe that there are any, that's there's a handbook just waiting for him to buy: why is my best mate getting hard in my lap when I touch his arse?

4) Woke Up Feeling Knotty | Explicit | 7903 words

Beta Louis has a kink for knotting and the secret aesthetic porn blog he runs about it is more than proof.  When he accidentally finds out his alpha best friend Harry is one of his biggest fans, he knows he has to come clean after everything that has already happened between them.  Harry just might be willing to help him out anyway.

5) A Love Reaction | Explicit | 9968 words

It's never been a thing. Not until now.

6) Got It Right Such A Long Time Ago | Explicit | 9699 words

Four months into One Direction's hiatus, Louis comes to stay with Harry after a bad breakup.

7) (You're Gonna See Me In A) New Light | Mature | 13631 words

A fake relationship AU where everyone knows it's real but Louis.

8) As A Memento From Me | Explicit | 15817 words

Five lives in which Harry and Louis didn’t end up together, and one in which they did.

9) I Put A Spell On You | Explicit | 17525

A BBC/Secret Santa mashup featuring Captain Niall, our intrepid weatherman/amateur matchmaker, rather clueless sports reporter Liam, charming political analyst Zayn, and cheeky entertainment reporter Louis. Harry is the new fashion correspondent who prefers to dress like a flamingo. And pining. There’s a lot of pining.

10) Oblivious | Explicit | 19095 words

Where Louis gets a little crush on Luke and for some reason Harry starts acting weird.

11) Break Open The Sky | Explicit | 20372 words

Werewolf AU. Harry might be a werewolf, but he still wants to experience Uni like everyone else. Turns out he learns a lot.

12) Runnin’ Like You Did | Explicit | 20061 words

The college AU where Louis knows how to hold a grudge and is definitely not in love with Harry Styles.

13) UN(RE)SOLVED. | Explicit | 20873 words

The ghoul boys are back, but this time around there are some unresolved feelings involved. Harry is a skeptic, Louis is not. Watch them go on their ongoing investigation into the question: are ghosts real?

14) Hats Off To My Distant Hope | Explicit | 20990 words

Harry is in White Eskimo. Louis is in London.

15) The Way The Storms Blow | Explicit | 20649 words

Louis doesn’t have a habit of thinking about Harry’s dick.

That would be weird, seeing as they’re best mates, and they share a flat, and they’ve spent holidays at each other’s family homes. Their friendship hasn’t ever risen to a point where Louis should want to see his mate’s dick, and he’s happy to keep it that way.

Except, all that Louis can think about is exactly that. The size of it. The shape. The amount of people it’s been in.

Maybe it’s the tequila talking, or the fact that Louis’ just recently walked in to an eyeful of Harry taking turns on some slags that he’s never seen before, but. Louis’ mind can’t stop obsessing over the idea.

16) Love Like Wildfire | Explicit | 21774 words

Louis was an Omega and a Prefect. Harry was an Alpha and a little rascal. They were mates, drawn to each other since they first met in the Hogwarts Express. They worked well like that, or at least they tried, which only made their relationship way more interesting.

17) Indestructible | Explicit | 24423 words

“Hi,” Harry murmurs, and Louis hiccups out a sob.

“Hi,” he manages, still clutching onto Harry’s shoulders. Harry’s fingers drift across Louis’ cheeks, and there’s something off about Harry’s expression, but Louis can’t figure out what it is.

“I’m okay,” Harry says, and Louis is going to say something to that, even if he doesn’t know what, except Harry’s kissing him.

Louis freezes.

18) A Whole New World | Not Rated | 24967 words

Louis has moved into his new apartment to start his new job as a teacher. Things would be great. If only his arsehole neighbour didn't wake him up every morning by playing piano.

19) Another Day Gettin’ Into Trouble | Explicit | 25619 words

Harry’s drunk when the idea occurs to him. He’s also a pop star, so sometimes his drunk ideas turn into actual things instead of just ideas. The clone-a-willy kit is one of them.

In Harry’s defense, when he first thinks about it his intention is just to buy the kit and give it to Louis to make his own dildo with, because that’s what he wants anyway, right? To have a penis filling him up?

Then he realizes that it would be weird if Louis made a copy of his own dick to fuck himself with. It’d be super weird. Louis fucking himself? That’s a weird idea. Harry’s pretty sure Louis wouldn’t like that.

Clearly the only solution here is to use his own dick for the mold.

20) Brooklyn Saw Me | Explicit | 28537 words

In the cold and unforgiving city of New York, Louis doesn't have a home and Harry wants to give him one. But as their heartstrings become increasingly intertwined, and the snow continues to fall, home is getting harder and harder to find.

21) Rivers ‘Til I Reach You | Explicit | 29315 words

AU. Louis studies astronomy; Harry studies Louis. They spend their summers on the water and it shouldn't be complicated (spoiler: it is).

22) If Ignorance Be Bliss | Mature | 30429 words

Uni AU: Harry is too experienced, and Louis just wants to get to experience him.

23) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words

"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."

Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.

But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.

Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.

Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.

24) Welcome Back From The Friend Zone | Mature | 32354 words

The one where an idea to create a fake wedding with the sole intent to receive gifts from billionaires took a turn no one, but also everyone, saw coming.

25) The List | Mature | 32074 words

'In the weeks that follow, Harry opens his old journal more than he has in the past two years each time he remembers Venice or thinks about Louis. He always flips to the same random page in the middle of the book, marked by the picture of himself that Louis sent him a few days after they got home. There’s a message on the back that says, ‘Spontaneous looks good on you! See you soon,’ and it makes Harry’s chest warm each time he reads it. He wedges their list out from between the worn pages, and it feels silly staring down at a folded up piece of paper with a strange sense of nostalgia for experiences they’ve yet to have; for places they’ve never even been.'

26) Mark My Word (We Gon’ Be Alright) | Explicit | 35524 words

An A/B/O AU featuring an oblivious Harry as the pack leader, a pining Louis as his second-in-command, and an entourage of friends and family who are a little too good at keeping their mouths shut.

27) The Sun Will Rise With My Name On Your Lips | Explicit | 37927 words

When Eleanor breaks up with Louis he finds it hard to keep pretending that Harry isn’t what he’s wanted since the day he first met him.

28) Runner On Third | Explicit | 39643 words

Note: The sequel to this fic is not BL.

The AU where Louis and Harry were best friends growing up, but lost touch after Harry moved away. Ten years later, Harry has moved back to town, but he and Louis don't pick up where they left off.

29) My Sweetest Downfall | Mature | 42048 words

Louis is a retired guardian angel. After the death of his last charge, he became jaded. Humans die—what use is prolonging the inevitable?

He's more than happy to forget about humanity altogether until one day, when Louis is pulled from his desk job for a new assignment: protect One Direction's Harry Styles. It doesn't help that there's something about Harry that Louis can't resist, and it's making him question everything he's ever known. Humans are strictly off limits, and breaking that rule means risking everything, but Harry just might be worth it.

This is a story about forgiveness and discovery, featuring an angel who wants to be a little more human and a human who is so much more than he seems.

30) For the Sake of Propriety | Mature | 52360 words

Louis Tomlinson is the caretaker of an estate that is not truly his, and when his Uncle calls upon him to take it back, Louis knows he will soon be out on the streets with four overly zealous sisters to care for.  His only solution: wed the eldest two off and pray for the best.  When an even better solution unexpectedly presents itself in the form of the charming Mr. Styles, Louis is faced with a difficult choice.  But as with all things in the regency era, reputation very well may threaten to outweigh the fleeting matters of his heart.

31) The Bachelor | Explicit | 53953 words

The one where Harry dates six other guys and still falls in love with Louis Tomlinson.

32) We’ve Got the World in Our Hands | Explicit | 54964 words

Note: This fic has been locked and can only be read by AO3 users.

A mutants/superpowers AU. Louis and his friends attend the Cowell Institute for General Education and Mutant Training in London; when Louis meets Harry, the newest student at the Cowell Institute, he immediately recruits Harry to help play matchmaker for his friend Zayn. Harry and Louis are so caught up in meddling in Zayn's love life, though, that they don't notice that their own friendship is progressing into something more. Meanwhile, an ominous threat up north grows slowly until suddenly, no mutant - or human - is safe.

33) Waiting For The Tides To Meet | Explicit | 49873 words

Soulmate AU. Everyone is born with heterochromia — one eye is their own eye colour, while the other is the colour of their soulmate's. It's only when they meet their soulmate for the first time that their own eyes match properly. After a hazy night at a frat party, Louis wakes up to blue eyes and the shocking realization that he had met his soulmate, without any sober recollection. Seven years pass where Louis comes to terms with the fact that he'll never know who his soulmate is. Then one fated summer, a beautiful green-eyed photographer arrives at Louis' workplace, with promises of endless laughter and a familiar feeling in Louis' heart.

34) Since I’ve Found You | Mature | 74005 words

Louis woke up on the morning he was meant to volunteer at the Feed the Homeless program at St. Mary's church hoping for an opportunity to give back a little to a city that has given him everything he could ever want. Little did he know, there was one more great thing waiting there for him; a boy with radiant green eyes in a weathered jacket and a beat-up backpack slung over his shoulders.

35) Saving Symphony Hall | Mature | 124766 words

Note: This fic is a sequel to this fic.

“I think I have an idea,” Louis said. Slowly, and reluctantly, but with a growing sense of the inevitable. “God damnit, I think I have a really good idea.”

“Oh christ, that's the problem-solving face,” Babs said. “Last time we saw that face, he sold a company.”

“Wait, what?” Zayn asked.

“Right place, right time,” Louis said. “Also, fuck my life,”

“What?” Zayn repeated. Niall patted his hand.

“I usually just roll with whatever Louis is about to do,” he said. “It’s better for us all.”

“That’s the attitude,” said Louis, “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Tonight, I need to do some research. Zayn, give me your number. I’m gonna save our symphony.”

36) Falling Into You | Mature | 143517 words

In the grand scheme of adolescence and boyhood, Harry was still working himself out, so far with little luck. But four things he could say for certain: 1) he'd been at the top of his class all through primary and secondary school, 2) he was the shittiest alpha to ever walk the earth, 3) Liam Payne never let him forget it, and 4) he’d been in love with this boy, Louis Tomlinson, ever since he was fifteen years old.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

[evangelinelark]

angels, chapter 13 (labyrinth, pt 6)

Needless to say, Nate is upset.

Erik watches warily as his friend clutches at his hair, then looks up and starts yelling from his place perched on the edge of the couch.

“You’ve been stalking her? For a fucking month?! Erik, my dad could have you arrested!”

“Three weeks, and your dad retired last year -”

“Not the point!”

“It’s not like that, I haven’t been stalking her,” Erik says defensively. He starts pacing, restless - he’s tired, craving a high like all hell, and at his wit’s end - and he doesn’t need Nate’s self-righteous judgement layered on top of everything right now. He needs his advice.

But count on Nate to fixate on the semantics of it all.

------------

https://archiveofourown.org/works/25800886/chapters/76417529

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13666660/13/Angels

For reference, I’m anticipating perhaps 5 more chapters of this section of the story, Labyrinth; 2 chapters of Intoxication; 6 chapters of Little Taste of Heaven; 4 chapters of Wishing; 3 chapters of Lotte; 3 chapters of Strange Duet. All are working titles and everything is tentative, though much of the later chapters are already written; but just thought I’d make it clear that this story is by no means close to finished - we’ve a while to go :))

[annepikachu]

MORSE CODE AND CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS (EXO Xiumin × Reader)

(FANFIC)

- Anne (Pikachu)

Note: Reader= Yn (Your name) (female)

13 chapters. Fluff. Lots of beautiful smiles.

(Also, there’s a small reference to Taylor Swift's lyrics because I love her.)

Happy reading!

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

I

Yn sighed and plopped down on the seat in her favorite corner of the library. She has a painful assignment to complete. Yes painful because she has been procrastinating until the day before she has to hand over the assignment.

“Humm, lately this library has been bustling with so many visitors”, she observed. “What’s up? Are they giving out chicken drumsticks for free?” Her eyes wandered around trying to figure out the reason. “Aah, that must be it" as her gaze stopped and hovered over the librarian’s desk. There’s this unrealistically cute guy who joined the post of the librarian a few days back. His predecessor had retired. And since then the library is mostly housefull. “Okay Yn stop staring at him as if you’re looking at a pizza. You look like a creep right now. Do your homework”, she mentally slapped herself and put on her headphones, opened her favorite Playlist and focused on her assignment.

Kim Minseok was surprised at the drastic change in the number of visitors in the library since the third day of his joining. He had heard from his predecessor about the library being usually empty. He was actually relieved by this fact. He was happy to see that a puppy eyed guy and a Yoda eared guy who seem to be a couple, a guy who always wears a bear hoodie and sometimes accompanied by two toddlers, a pair of cute granny and grandpa, and a clumsy handsome young lady are the only daily visitors. But it seems that his relief was short-lived.

The library has turned into Dalian Beach these days. The girls come with the pretext of reading books here but end up gushing about how handsome he is. One of them didn’t even realize that she was ‘reading’ her book upside down and yet another straightaway came up and put a can of coke on his desk. But these don’t bother him much because he is used to the flood of compliments coming from people irrespective of gender and age. Thankfully the library gets quite empty an hour before closing.

“Oh that handsome girl is still writing. She must have a huge assignment. She usually reads some interesting books at this time of day”, he kept looking at her. “Later on I should suggest her some of my favorites as well". He resumed his work but was soon distracted by the sound of a continuous tapping. His eyes narrowed.

Yn was frustrated by the last portion of her assignment and soon found herself tapping her fingers to the beat of the music playing in her headphones. “Screw it, I give up.” She paused. “Oh well I’ll just do the rest after having my supper. Don’t wanna upset Professor Junmyeon.” She slammed shut her notebook and was startled to find the cute librarian standing right in front of her.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

II

“Umm sorry for startling you, but I wanted to ask you something.”

“Yes?” Yn was confused. What could this cute guy possibly want to know?

“Did you miss your lunch? Or are you craving for chicken drumsticks just for the sake of chicken drumsticks?”

“Huh?”

“I mean I heard you saying ‘chicken drumsticks’ over and over just now, tapping, to be precise”

“I did not. Well I had thought about it a few hours ago but not now. What makes you think so?”

“Those tapping sounds you made just now. They kinda translated into ‘chicken drumsticks’ though.”

“Really? Are you talking about Morse code?” Yn replayed that portion of the song and tapped consciously, noting down the codes while Minseok looked at her with amusement. “Holy Guacamole!” She sprang up. “You are right. Wow this is amazing!”

“So you were just tapping to the beat that turned out to be saying chicken drumsticks?”

The next moment they collapsed on the floor laughing at this curious conversation.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

III

Yn couldn’t spare time to go to the library for a week but finally she was back on her usual routine. She waved back at Minseok and broke into a giggle as she remembered the conversation about ‘chicken drumsticks’. After sometime she got up to search for another book and almost bumped into Minseok, shrieked and fell on her butt. She got back on her feet, “Whoa, you really do have a knack for scaring off people”.

“My bad. It was you who bolted in here though.” His pout made Yn's heart go UwU. “Anyway which book are you searching for?...This? Okay. Here you go"

Just as she turned and started walking back to her desk, Minseok suddenly asked “By the way Yn, you didn’t ask me my name yet".

“Oh right.” She proceeded towards him. “What is your name Mr Minseok Kim a.k.a Xiumin?”

“H-How did you know my name? Even Xiumin?” He stuttered.

“Doesn’t everyone in the college? You’re probably the only librarian who has a fan-page dedicated to him.” She chuckled in amusement.

“Wow, I had no idea", he whispered.

“They post your pictures from shooting range so I guess those are already pretty much on public domain. But you can check if they have posted any private picture of yours and maybe hit report", she suggested. “Anyway I’ll borrow this book for a week.”

“Huh? Oh right. I’ll issue it right away.” He was dazed from the information overload.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

IV

“Earth to Minseok. What are you thinking about? And what’s with the occasional smile too? Did you inhale Nitrous Oxide?” Sehun asked puckering his brows.

“Uh just two weird conversations I had with a girl. By the way, do you know I apparently have a fan-page dedicated to me?”

“Really?” It was evident that Sehun was feeling nervous for some reason.

“It seems you know something about this. C’mon spill.” Minseok insisted.

“Err well it was I who created the fan-page. Because you’re undeniably the coolest one here in the range. I even added the tagline ‘that’s right, my type’!"

“You little rascal!” He flicked Sehun's forehead. “I had the shock of my life when I came to know about this!”

“But Xiu, who’s the girl you were talking about?” Sehun had a mischievous glint in his eye. “Is that why you were smiling just now? Tell me more about it!”

“Dude it’s not what you think! She is a regular visitor in the library and we had just two conversations. I was surprised that she knew my arcade name Xiumin. And it was she who told me about the fan-page.”

“You have a crush oh her, don’t you? How is she like? Did you ask her out?”

“Relax Hun. We just talked about Morse code.”

“Ugh that’s such a turn off.”

“But she’s quite interesting. She’s handsome yes. And cute too.”

“I knew it! You’re whipped for her! Ask her out.”

“Calm down Hun. I’m not sure about how I feel and I don’t even know if she has a lover. Or if she is at all interested in me.”

“Don’t you underestimate your charm Xiu. And she isn’t interested in you? You get so many love letters, did you forget that? She might be charmed by your smile but probably doesn’t show it. She has a set boundary maybe?”

“I don’t want to draw inferences” Minseok sighed. “But yes I’d love to keep talking to her.”

“Use Morse code.” Sehun chuckled.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

V

Finally it’s FriYay night and Yn couldn’t be happier staying in her pajamas and being lazy for the next two days. But what the hell! She can’t find her headphones anywhere. And she doesn’t remember where she had last placed them. They were a gift from her cousin. Chanyeol would be upset. She will ask his boyfriend Baekhyun to calm him down and herself buy a new one in the meantime.

Her thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing.

“Hey Yn, Minseok here. I got your number from the library register. Sorry to call your number without your permission but I just found your headphones in the library and thought I should inform you right then.” He sounded sheepish.

“Phew, I’m so relieved! I was searching for them everywhere and almost decided to buy a new one. Thank you Minseok! I’m glad that you found them.”

“Uh it’s okay. I’m relieved too. So do you need these urgently? Then I can wait in front of the library and hand them over to-"

“No no, I don’t need them right at this moment, but… Umm can you please keep them with you until Monday? I visit the library everyday anyway. I’m too lazy to step out now.”

“Hahaha, okay okay. Don’t worry about that. See you on Monday”

Yn rolled back on her bed smiling. “I’ll have to treat him to chicken drumsticks for real.”

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

VI

“Thanks a lot Minseok." Yn took back her headphones and smiled with her heart eyes now making Minseok's heart go UwU. “Even if it’s not a big deal for you, I am really grateful to you and so I got something for you as a token.” She then started tapping on the desk. Minseok looked at her inquiringly but soon started interpreting the codes as she tapped away. “Got a box of chicken drumsticks for you. Hope you like them.”

He looked at her in surprise. “Who does not like drumsticks? You did not really have to do this though. Thank you for this.”

“Bon Appétit”, she said as she gave him the box. “Well, I need to hurry now. See you later.”

“Why is she so adorable?” He wondered while staring at the box in his hands.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

VII

Yn was having several bad days at a stretch now. She spent weeks without sleeping at night and watched FIFA world cup instead. Her favorite team was eliminated in the semifinals. And now the lack of sleep was taking a toll on her. She barely managed to complete all her pending assignments on time. Professor Junmyeon was still upset with her because she omitted a portion of her assignment carelessly. Her neighborhood cat disappeared without a trace. She avoided a freak accident but witnessed several persons getting severely injured. She has grown tired of her menstrual cramps which were being very cruel to her this time. And the last nail in the coffin: she had a quarrel with her bestfriend Jongdae today. Physically and mentally exhausted she placed her hand on her stomach and sat on a bench behind the canteen of the college and started sobbing silently.

Minseok was leaving early today because the library was practically empty today. Even Yn didn’t come. He suddenly spotted someone sitting hunched on a bench at a distance. It seemed that the person was hurt in the stomach. He rushed over there.

“Yn? What happened to you? What’s wrong? Why are you crying? Are you hurt somewhere? Tell me what’s wrong.” Minseok sat beside her worriedly, held her shoulders and turned her towards him. She buried her face in his chest and burst into loud sobs. He instantly engulfed her in his hug and patted her head. “It’s okay Yn. Let it out.” Over the months he grew close to her. They both had a lot of friendly banters and of course some crazy conversations through Morse code. Seeing her cry now tugged at his heartstrings. “Breathe Yn. Take deep breaths. Yes. Do you want to talk about it?”

“I hate crying. I-I don’t want to be like this.” Yn said between her sobs. “I had way too many bad days to handle and-" she paused abruptly. The cramps were back again. She curled up in pain.

“And you are having cramps?” He finished her sentence. “You’ll be fine. Yn. Just endure a bit, okay?” Still holding her tight in his hug he reached out for his bag and took out a heating pad. “Here, Yn. Take this.” He kept on stroking her head and occasionally rubbing her back while she tended to her cramps.

_

“You okay now?”

Yn pulled back from the hug when the cramps subsided. “Thank you Minseok. Yes, I feel better now.”

“I’m glad.” He handed her some tissue paper. “Now wipe your tears and come with me” He led her to the canteen.

“Here, have a cup of hot chocolate. You’ll get relief… That’s right yes. Drink slowly.” He sat beside her and stroked her head. “Done?... Okay"

Yn started sniffling. “Yn, is everything okay?” Minseok panicked.

She nodded her head. “I’m just touched by your gesture. Thanks for making me feel better.”

Minseok smiled. “That’s what friends do. Well, it’s pretty late now. Let me drop you off at your house. Let’s go.”

_

“I have an extra helmet and I drive pretty well and my bike is well maintained.”

“I didn’t say anything.” Yn giggled.

“Well I just made a declaration so you don’t feel threatened. Just don’t fall asleep that’s all.” He was relieved to hear her laugh again.

“Aye aye Master Xiu.”

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

VIII

Yn saw that Jongdae wasn’t present in the classroom. She decided she’d visit his house later today and sort out the misunderstanding. She walked out of the classroom during recess hour. Suddenly someone hugged her tight. She smiled and hugged him back. She knew it was Jongdae. “I’m sorry Yn. There was a misunderstanding. I shouldn’t have reacted that way. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“It’s okay Dae, I realized that. And I would have anyway barged into your house had you not come to college.”

“So, are we good now?”

“Of course!”

“Okay then pretty please! Help me pick out a pendant for my girlfriend. I’ve selected some of them but couldn’t finally decide among them. Come with me to the shop later today.”

Yn scowled. “This is why you rushed to patch it up with me huh?”

“Gosh! No no no that’s not it! I’ll treat you to ice cream. Okay?”

“Okay. Deal"

Jongdae sighed. “The way you react to food, I’m pretty sure you’ll drop me in a heartbeat if someone offers you food.”

Suddenly Ji-eun appeared out of nowhere and fake punched Jongdae's face. “How dare you make my Yn baby upset? Yes Yn drop him right away. I’ll treat you to a truckload of ice cream.”

“Guys!!” Jongin appeared and walked towards them making the corridor his runway.

Yn couldn’t deny once she had a tiny crush on him.

“Guess what? Kyungsoo cooked Spaghetti for us!” Jongin screamed. And the four of them dashed to the canteen.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

IX

Yixing was already there with Kyungsoo when they reached the canteen. “Dig in guys", Kyungsoo said as they huddled around the table.

“Okay guys! I’ve some tea to spill", Ji-eun announced while looking at Yn intently.

“Spill! Spill! Spill!” They chanted in unison.

“Apparently Yn has gotten herself a boyfriend and decided to conceal the fact".

Yn almost choked. “Wha- when? Even I don’t know I have a boyfriend?”

“Oh yeah? I saw that cute librarian dropping you off at your house yesterday night. You turned to hug him but you seemed shy.” Ji-eun added with a glee “And friends don’t feel shy Yn.”

Yn protested. “I had my reasons. He’s not what you guys think.” She remembered that she hugged Minseok out of gratitude towards him for taking care of her. She had hesitated initially thinking whether it would be appropriate. But she hugged him anyway.

Suddenly someone put their chin on Yn’s left shoulder and yet another put their chin on her right shoulder and both said in unison, “Well well Yn, you never told us anything about this!”

Yn almost fell from her seat. She turned around to see Chanyeol and Baekhyun smiling mischievously at her.

“So is he or is he not-” Chanyeol said while taking a seat. “Your crush?”, added Baekhyun.

Yn shrugged. “I am not sure. I’ve way too many crushes at this point and you guys know that.”

“The most recent crush is our senior Jessi, right", Yixing asked.

“Well yes but I can only admire her from afar”, Yn replied dreamily.

“Anyway get to the point guys.” Chanyeol took the reins. “So apparently it seems he has a soft corner for Yn. I’ve noticed that. And now we must root for Yn and make sure they end up together. So whats our plan?”

“How about kidnapping him and threatening him to date Yn"? Kyungsoo asked excitedly.

“No way!” Jongin protested.

“You’re going to get all of us in trouble, Soo", Baekhyun chuckled.

“Isn’t that the easiest way out?”, Kyungsoo pouted.

“That’s not how things work, Kyungsoo-ah", Jongin said while poking at Kyungsoo's cheek.

Yn could sense that everyone noticed something was brewing between Jongin and Kyungsoo but unsurprisingly they chose to focus on Yn today.

“Well even I agree that’s the easiest way out but we don’t want to get in trouble.” Jongdae said seriously, “so Yn you better speed up and ask him out. And don’t deny that you don’t feel anything for him.”

Yn was again reminded about how she felt fuzzy while being engulfed in Minseok’s hug. He’s definitely a good friend. But she didn’t want to rush things up.

“And Yn if you want to daydream instead of eating that last spoonful of Spaghetti”, Yixing got up and snatched her spoon and finished off the remaining Spaghetti. “Let me have it.”

“I swear to God Yixing!” Yn sprang up. “I’m gonna train Inzaghi to chase you!”

“Now who’s Inzaghi?” Jongin asked suspiciously.

“It’s the Vincenzo effect.” Baekhyun explained. “It’s a neighborhood pigeon and the naming courtesy goes to Yn", Ji-eun added.

“Don’t you guys dare to give out spoilers, some of us are lagging behind an episode or two”, the rest of them warned.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

X

Minseok was standing in the balcony of the library replaying in his head the events of yesterday. He didn’t expect Yn to hug him again and make his heart beat erratically. Sehun was right. He is falling for Yn gradually.

“Hey Minseok are you alright?” Minseok heard Yn’s voice and realized he had zoned out thinking of her. “You seem to have caught a cold.” Yn was worried.

“Oh yes it was raining in my area yesterday and I got drenched".

“Uh oh I’m so sorry. You wouldn’t have gotten drenched had you not accompanied me to drop me off.”

“Well it was raining for quite a long time and I’d have anyway gotten drenched even if I had reached my place earlier. So blame the clouds Yn.” Minseok chuckled making Yn giggle at his explanation.

“But seriously though, you don’t look good. I think you have a fever too.” Yn put her palm on his forehead. Minseok was flustered looking down at her worried face. Yn didn’t realize she was standing at almost zero distance from him. Before he could utter anything Yn grabbed his wrist. “You need to visit the doctor right now", Yn said dragging him downstairs towards the doctor’s room.

_

“He’s running a high fever. I’m giving some medicine.” The doctor took out a file of capsules. “And I think it’s better if you lie down and take rest in the sick room until your fever goes down.”

“But the libr-" Minseok tried to protest but was cut off by Yn’s stern glare.

“Library can wait. Health first Minseok". Yn crossed her arms.

“Tell your assistant about your situation. He can handle the library for sometime.” The doctor suggested.

_

“You should head back to library Yn. You went there to read, right? I’ll stay here until my fever goes down. Don’t worry I won’t run away from here.”

“I can read later. Now you close your eyes and take rest.” Yn said sitting on the chair beside the bed while stroking Minseok’s head absent-mindedly.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

XI

Yn could sense that Minseok was staring at her for a long time. The library was crowded as usual. She mouthed “what happened?” but he just smiled and shook his head and resumed his work. He seemed tensed for some reason.

She heard him tapping on his desk when the crowd thinned. Her eyes grew wide. He- did he tap “will you go on a date with me?” She saw him walk towards her.

Minseok spoke hesitantly, “I know I asked you all of a sudden, but I like you. I’ve been debating whether I should tell you this for weeks but I couldn’t hold back any further. You don’t need to tell me right now about how you feel. Take your time. And it’s absolutely fine if you don’t feel the same way. But can we maybe go on a friend date atleast?”

Yn thought for a while. “Sure. Let’s have a friend date.” She smiled. “Where are we going then?”

“I was thinking of taking you to my shooting range. We can play some rounds and have snacks later on there. How about this Sunday afternoon?”

“Sounds great!” Her eyes lit up. “But! On one condition.”

“And what’s that?” He asked cautiously.

“Bring me a bouquet of chicken drumsticks that day.” Yn replied with a wide grin.

“As you wish.” He smiled widely as he touched her nose-tip with his forefinger.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

XII

“This is such a cool place!” Yn ran around inside the shooting range, looking at everything in awe. Minseok watched her with an amused smile. Yn picked up a gun and aimed at the target.

“Wait.” Minseok came up behind her and held her arms. She felt her back against his chest. Her heart started thumping. “Focus Yn. Keep your arm straight while holding the gun. You don’t wanna hurt yourself when the gun recoils.” He adjusted her arms. “Now fire.” She hit the target.

Yn was ecstatic. “Minseok let’s play a round then. I’ll go first.”

He kept on smiling and hyped her up every time she aimed with the gun. She was just unbelievably adorable. And a sharpshooter too. She missed the target only once. He fell for her deeper every time she flashed an adorable smile at him after hitting the target.

“It’s my turn now. And I’m going to beat you in this round.” He winked at her.

Yn gaped at him while he shot the targets one by one. He looked darn sexy in that pose. He got ready for the last target and was just about to press the trigger. “I like you too, Minseok!” She blurted out. Minseok was shocked and turned his face towards Yn. The trigger went off and he missed the target.

“It’s a draw! It’s a draw! You didn’t beat me!” Yn jumped and danced gleefully around him.

“So, you- you said that just to make me miss my target? And nothing more?” Minseok looked at her sadly and turned his back to her.

“No! Oh no no you got the wrong idea.” She tugged at his sleeve. “I really meant it when I said I like you.” Minseok turned towards Yn in surprise. She went on, “I have been thinking about it ever since you told me about your feelings. I had already decided I’d tell you about my feelings today. But I couldn’t just suppress the urge to fool around a bit when I got the opportunity to.”

“You’re such a cheeky girl!” Minseok exclaimed and chased her.

“You won’t catch me that easily! I run fast.” Yn shouted while running ahead of him.

“Well not faster than I!” Minseok wrapped his arms around her waist, lifted her off the ground and spun round, making her blush.

_

“It’s getting late, Yn, let’s go now.” Minseok said tugging at her.

“I’m not able to handle this gun properly.” Yn pouted.

“It’s okay, I’ll show you how to. But later, okay? It’s getting really late now.” Minseok couldn’t stop chuckling at her antics.

_

Minseok and Yn bumped into Sehun outside the shooting range. “Yn, this is Sehun, one of my teammates in the shooting range. And a TMI, he’s the one who created that fan-page.” Minseok gave Sehun a fake glare. “And Sehun, this is Yn, my date.”

“Nice to meet you, Yn.” Sehun gave her a warm handshake. “Do you like this place and my bro here?”

“I love it here! I’m gonna come here often now.” Yn replied. “And yes I like him too.” She said looking at Minseok shyly.

Minseok blushed. “I’m dropping her off at her house. I’ll see you tomorrow Hun.”

Sehun smirked and managed to whisper into Minseok’s ear, “you are lucky that she’s into Morse code. So did you confess to her using Morse code?”

“Don’t give me that look you cheesy little brat.” Minseok whisper-yelled at him.

_

Yn stopped by her gate. “I really had a great time with you. Thank you for today Minseok.”

“I’m also glad to spend some time with you. See you tomorrow.” Minseok stopped before turning back to his bike. “So are we dating officially now Yn?”

“Yes. A thousand times yes.” Yn smiled.

He walked closer to her, leaned close to her lips and locked his eyes with hers seeking permission. She nodded nervously while standing on her tiptoes and placed her hands on his shoulders. Wrapping his arms around her he pulled her in and she was a little more brave. It’s the first kiss, it’s flawless, really something. It’s fearless. Yn didn’t care now if Ji-eun was sitting by her window and keeping an eye on her. Yn would tell her group of friends everything tomorrow.

But the thing is, Ji-eun really saw Yn with Minseok. She had a triumphant smile on her lips.

^_^ ^_^ ^_^

XIII

Yn saw that everyone in her squad was giving her a cheeky smile while swarming towards her. “Guys, I can explain. I wanted to tell everything face to face. That’s why I didn’t text anyone.”

“And I saw them kissing too!” Ji-eun said excitedly and made a kissing gesture towards Yn.

Yn had a flashback of yesterday. He was very gentle with her. She absolutely melted in his kiss.

“I bet Yn is having flashbacks of that moment.” Jongdae smirked. “Look at her. Her face is a beetroot now.”

“You guys!” Yn stomped her feet.

“Okay, okay calm down Yn. Let’s have a lunch together today, shall we? Tell Minseok to join us.” Chanyeol spoke.

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, call him.” Everyone shouted in unison.

“Okay. Okay. Chill.” Yn giggled while dialing Minseok’s number.

_

Minseok blended well with Yn’s noisy and cheeky friends. Yn was glad how things turned out.

“So, Yn and Minseok. Tell us how did you two end up together. What was the catalyst? The squad wants to know.” Yixing said holding up a spoon as if it were a mic.

The couple turned to each other and smiled. They both knew what they were about to say. Minseok and Yn turned again towards the squad and said, “not just one. There were two catalysts. Morse code and Chicken drumsticks.”

-----(The end)-----

_____________________________________________________________

P.S. Those who are wondering how did Minseok know Yn’s name (in chapter III), I leave it to your imagination. ;-)

He might have seen the library register, or might have noticed the name on her notebook when she shut it, or maybe her headphones were customised to bear her name on them and he noticed that. The choice is yours. And why did Yn not get surprised? Well she’s quick-witted too.

I hope this wasn’t too boring. This is my first time writing a story. Thank you for reading :-)

If you wish you can take a look at my fanart account on Instagram. Here's the link.

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Thank you Ayushee for hyping me up. She has written a fanfic too. Check it out.

[inevitably-johnlocked]

hi steph, is there any mycroft-centric fic?? i just have mycroft feelings recently

Hi Nonny!

Ahhhh, most, if not all, of my recs are Johnlock centred :( BUT do have some where Mycroft is in the fic or plays a part in Johnlock, so I shall direct you to this list below, AND take an opportunity to update another Mycroft List I have had ready-to-go for awhile now, Pt. 2 to my “Mycroft Plays a Role” list :) 

Here are the ones more focussed on Mycroft:

Mycroft Flirts With John

Matchmaker Mycroft 

Big-Brother Mycroft 

Big Brother Mycroft Pt 2 

Whereas in this list below, Mycroft helps Sherlock as a character to move along a plot or helps Johnlock happen (hence the difference in Big Brother and Playing a Role... it makes sense in my head lol). I hope it’s okay I’m using your ask to launch this part 2! <3 I just really like having excuses to post lists I already have done LOL.

As always gang, if you have a fic that Mycroft plays a significant role to help move the plot along, please add them below! I genuinely like Mycroft in fics as the deus ex Mycroft, LOL. :D Enjoy!

MYCROFT PLAYS A ROLE Pt. 2

See also: Mycroft Plays a Role in This Fic

Black Cars by johnsarmylady (T, 1,186 w., 5 Ch. || Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-TRF) – John is getting on with his life...if only he didn't see black cars everywhere! A short Post Reichenbach tale in 221B style in 5 parts.

3:00 in the Morning is a Great Time to Talk by Aztecwarfareandcrumping (K+, 1,775 w., 1 Ch. || Hurt / Comfort, Friendship, Bed Sharing, First Person POV John, Cuddling, Worried Sherlock, Comforting John, Platonic Affection/Love) – "Are you trying to talk your way into my bed?" "Obviously."

Crisis Averted by Spartangal22 (T, 2,188 w., 1 Ch. || HLV Fic, Missing Scene After Confronting Mary, Canon Compliant, Sherlock Whump / Mary Shot Sherlock, Family / Friendship, Hospitalization, Sherlock POV, Holmes Brothers) – Lying in the hospital, Sherlock receives some surprising visitors, and manages to deal with two problems he's been having lately. A missing scene from HLV about a formal introduction that was never made and a visit that was never shown.

As You Wish by PipMer (K, 3,311 w., 1 Ch. || Bromance/Pre-Slash/Epic Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, John Whump, Hospitals) – When John woke from his coma, he wasn't at all surprised to see the wrong Holmes brother sitting at his bedside. Disappointed, but not surprised.

Caffeine and Adaptive Programming by DemonicSymphony (E, 5,540 w., 1 Ch. || Androids AU / Bond Fusion || Android Sherlock, Coffee Shop AU, Pining John Hinted Bond / Q, Toplock) – Sherlock is a coffee shop android slowly falling for a regular customer. But he's not supposed to be able to feel emotions.

Hide and Seek by Arwen Jade Kenobi (T, 6,934 w., 1 Ch. || Angst, Rev. Reich-ish, Mycroft is a Dick, Depression, Case Fic-ish, Friendship, Reunion) – Pseudo sequel to "The Refining Fire." "You owe him the truth, and you owe me the proof that will convince him that I had no part in this."

What Did I Do Wrong? by Starlight05 (T, 7,880 w., 5 Ch. || Hurt Comfort, Angst, John Whump, Hospitalization, Worried Sherlock, Emotional Turmoil, Nightmares, Sherlock Being Dumb) - After John almost dies on a case, Sherlock disappears. So John is left to figure out what he can do to get his best friend back. Meanwhile Sherlock, guilt-ridden and willingly alone, is doing everything he can to stay away.

There's So Much Labour Just in Breathing Lately by Susan (E, 12,708 w., 1 Ch. || Post-TRF / Mentions of S3 Events, Romance, Angst, Grief/Mourning, Grieving John, Mutual Pining, Meddling Mycroft, Therapy, Ambiguous Hopeful Ending, Infidelity) – The dreams he hated most – the ones that left him a sweating, shaking mess when he woke – were the ones in which Sherlock was just Sherlock. Laughing or drinking tea. Sitting across the table from him at Angelo’s eating pasta. Trailing his open hand behind him on the way to the bedroom. “C’mon, John. I’m about to have my way with you.”

Shuteye Shenanigans by Ayakae (K+, 13,263 w., 8 Ch. || Post-TRF, Friendship / Epic Bromance, John’s Nightmares, Angsty Fluff, Bed Sharing, Humour, Cuddles, Taking Care of Each Other, Domestics) – John Watson has never slept with Sherlock Holmes. Never ever ever. And never will, thank you very much. Well, there was that one time, but John didn't count that. It was completely different, just like the second time it happened. And the third. And the fourth. Epic bromance, but it can be read as pre-slash if you wish.

The Palmyra Atoll by elwinglyre (E, 16,609 w., 3 Ch. || TSo3 Divergence / Episode Fix-It, Stockholm Syndrome, Kidnapped John Watson, John Whump, Evil Mary, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Toplock, Limited 3rd John POV) – As John's preparing for the wedding, Sherlock is preparing to have his heart broken, and Mary is prepared to do the unthinkable. Intervention required. Enter Sherlock. Set before Sign of Three with a far different outcome. John is drugged, kidnapped, and left on an island, but not just any old island.

Hope for Heroes by Richefic (K+, 16,887 w., 5 Ch. || Post-TGG Fic, Introspection / Flashbacks, Friendship/Epic Bromance, Hurt/Comfort, Worried/Anxious Sherlock, Sherlock Admires John, BAMF John, John Deduces, Fancy Party, John’s Self Esteem, Domestics) – In the final moments of "The Great Game" Holmes hopes he will have the chance to tell his flatmate that he was wrong. Heroes do exist after all and the one in front of him is called Dr John Watson.

I Think I've Come A Long Long Way To Sit Before You Here Today by ArwenKenobi (T, 18,251 w., 3 Ch. || Grief/Mourning, Passage of Time, Major Character Death, Alternating POV, Sherlock Whump, Pining Sherlock, Hospitalization, Coma, Revenge Murders, Hallucinations, Love Confessions, Brutal Accident, Mystrade, Ghost John) – One year after John is killed Sherlock starts to wonder whether John has actually gone anywhere.

The Kepler Problem by kinklock (E, 24,270 w., 1 Ch. || Sci-Fi AU, Alien Sherlock, Space Repairman John, Alien Biology, Horny John) – Working in uncharted space exploration was not as exciting as John had hoped, especially when it turned out to be mostly bot maintenance on uninhabited planets. However, the mystery of the repeated, unexplained malfunctions on planet BAK 2212 might turn out to be exactly the kind of adventure he'd been craving.

The Winter Garden by Callie4180 (T, 31,213 w., 13 Ch. || Post-S4, Retirement, Christmas, Slow Burn, Grown-Up Rosie, Parenthood, Rosie’s Cat, Angst with Happy Ending, Holidays, Beekeeping, Magical Realism, Sherlock POV, Sherlock’s Violin, Future Fic, Sussex, Honey, Magical Healing Honey, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Scar, First Kiss, Touching, Mycroft is Dying) – As Sherlock nears the end of his career, he's given the gift of a cottage in Sussex. The honey from the beehives out back is amazing. Almost...magical.

The Whore of Babylon Was a Perfectly Nice Girl by out_there (E, 32,897 w., 1 Ch. || Past Drug Use, Blowjobs, Toplock, Mentions of Switching, Rough Sex, Background Cases, Sherlock’s Past, Sherlock’s Sexual History, Experienced Sherlock, Past One Night Stands, Fingering, Cuddling, Possessive Sherlock, Paris Holiday, Bed Sharing, Naked Lie-Ins, Bathing Together, Confessions, Worried Sherlock, Laying in Bed All Day, Meddling Mycroft, Naked Lazy Day) – Sherlock walks into a room and takes all the space right out of it. He does the same inside John's head.

carrying up his morning tea by darcylindbergh (E, 34,504 w., 5 Ch. || Post S3, Minor Character Death, Grief/Mourning, Wakes/Funerals, Estranged John, Pining Sherlock, Depression/Insecurity, Slow Burn, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Chronic Pain/Injury, Reconciliation, Awkwardness, Loneliness, Scars, Angst With Happy Ending) – His fingers tremble as he dials and he can’t force them steady. Familiar number, even though he hasn’t used it in two years. He isn’t even sure he should be calling it now, but she’d asked. She’d made him promise.

we have never seen a greater day than this by Lediona (T, 36,420 w., 7 Ch. || A Royal Night Out AU || WWII / VE Day, Prince Sherlock, Soldier John, Alternating POV, First Kiss, Bittersweet Ending, Homophobia, Dancing) – Peace. At long last. It’s VE Day and Prince William desires to join the celebrations. It is a night of excitement, danger and the first flutters of romance.

A Week is Just Seven Days Isn't It? by scifigrl47 (T, 39,906 w., 4 Ch. || Humour, Friendship/Bromance, Stroppy/Bored Sherlock, Undercover/Army John, Texting, Pining-ish Sherlock, John Whump) – When John heads overseas for a week, Sherlock's forced to fend for himself. It goes about as well as anyone could have anticipated. Which is to say, very, very poorly. Don't worry, things'll be fine in just seven days.

(Never) Turn Your Back to the Sea by DiscordantWords (M, 39,968 w., 7 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It || Grief / Mourning, Victor Trevor, Friendship, Sherlock is Not Okay, Nightmares/Flashbacks/Panic Attacks, Parentlock, Pining Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, John Comes Home) – Baker Street is very much the same. Only different. And Sherlock is just trying not to drown.

Guidelines by WithLoweredVoices (M, 43,018 w., 15 Ch. || Winglock || Angels, Fantasy, Angst, BAMF! John, War, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Jealous John, Falling in Various Ways, Needy Sherlock, Wings) – The Good Soldier, one of the oldest and strongest of the fallen, is offered a bargain: to live as John Watson and to Guide a fledgling archangel so that he will stay on the path of good. Of course, Sherlock Holmes has different ideas about his destiny. Fantasy AU. Warnings for violence, occasional gore, and a whole load of hurt and angst.

The Real Great Perfumers by shelleysprometheus (E, 45,355 w., 68 Ch. || Case Fic, Alternating POV, Gay Sherlock / Bi John, Canon Compliant with Divergence at TRF, Friends to Lovers, Oral / Anal, Pining, First Kiss / Time, Dev. Rel., Drugging, Body Worship, Bathing, Love Confessions, Travelling, Bottomlock, Cranky Sherlock, BJ’s, Alternating POV, Jealous John) – The case, this case. This extraordinary, fascinating, scintillating case. A house. Designed entirely by its eccentric owner, built by no less than five hundred expert tradesmen in the heart of Marrakesh. A house that had, seemingly not only driven its owner out, but also to his quite unpleasant death. And a perfumer, a chemist no less, the very thought of the secrets that house could reveal, would reveal was irresistible. Sherlock had to have this case ... and it seems, he also had to have John! Part 1 of the Forethought and Fire series

Impossible to Feign by achray (M, 49,204 w., 12 Ch. || TRF Rewrite / Reverse Reichenbach, Suicidal Ideations / Discussions, Drug Use/Abuse, Mutual Pining, Friends With Benefits, John Accepts his Sexuality, Anxious Sherlock, Meddling Mycroft, Depression, Hallucinations, Secret Agent John, BAMF John, Reunion, Make-Up Sex, Ambiguous Ending) – Sherlock leant forward, his long fingers curving round to grip John’s.“I won’t let him win,” he said, eyes hard. “I will do whatever it takes to get you out.”

Anchor Point by trickybonmot (E, 49,856 w., 80 Ch. || Truman Show AU || Psychological Drama, Suspense, Slow Burn, Dark Characters / Fic, Alternating First/Third Person, Protective John, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Tender Moments, Love Confessions, Hand/Blow Jobs, Cuddling, Jealous John, First Kiss/Time) – The world tunes in nightly for Sherlock, the ultimate in reality TV: Sherlock Holmes, a real person with a legendary name, unknowingly lives out his life in a staged setting contrived by his brother. Things get complicated when a retired army doctor joins the show to play the part of Sherlock's closest friend. This fic borrows its concept from the 1998 film, the Truman Show. However, you don't need to have any knowledge of the movie to enjoy this story.

Repairing the Broken Things by BakerTumblings (M, 75,252 w., 15 Ch. || S4 Compliant, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Medical Trauma, Hospitals, Big Brother Mycroft, Misunderstandings, Realizations, Severe Accident, John Whump, Pneumonia, Medical Procedures, Bed Sharing, First Time, Healing, Happy Ending) – "I'm calling today to notify you that there's been an accident."

Points by lifeonmars (E, 53,791 w., 42 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || HLV Rewrite / Canon Divergence, Married Life, Pregnancy / Baby Watson, Drinking to Cope, Boxing / Fisticuffs, Clueless John, Angst, Minor Medical Drama, Tattoos, Christmas, First Kiss/Time, Eventual Happy Ending, Love Confessions, Doctor John, Sexuality Crisis, Slow Burn, Case Fic, Drugging, Blow/Hand Job, Emotional Love Making, Parenthood, Passage of Time) – What if His Last Vow never happened? This fic picks up a few months after John and Mary's wedding, in an alternate universe where Magnussen doesn't exist, but Mary is still pregnant. Life continues -- just in a different direction. And slowly, Sherlock and John find their way to each other.

Never Change a Running System by Lorelei_Lee (E, 54,246 w., 18 Ch. || Pre-TRF, Romance, Humour, Drama, Sex Toys, Anal, Rimming, Masturbation, Frottage, Blow Jobs, Public Sex, First Kiss / Time, Virgin Sherlock / Loss of Virginity, Accidental Voyeurism, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Experiments, Naive Sherlock, Pining Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Possessive Sherlock, Straight With an Exception John, Hand Jobs) – Sherlock discovers his sexuality – with far-reaching consequences for John.

A Hundred Crimson Sols by elldotsee (E, 55,536 w., 16 Ch. || Astronauts AU || Mars Exploration / Space Travel, Slow Burn, Shy Sherlock, Scientist Sherlock / Biomed Engineer John, Alternating POV, Mutual Pining, UST, Angst with Happy Ending, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Injuries, Suicidal Ideation, Zero-G Sex) – Will Holmes is a chemical researcher recognized widely for his contributions to the new Mars exploration program. Thanks to his ground-breaking developments, the IMMC (International Mars Mission Corporation) is one step closer to Martian colonization. Will and his team of scientists are headed out on the first of three manned missions before the first group of settlers arrive. Three days before launch, one of the crew has to be replaced. Will panics because...new people. The replacement is of course one John Watson, biomedical engineer and space hottie who was pretty sure he had retired from actual space exploration and was now content to work in the nice, quiet research lab. Can the crew survive this TOTALLY ROUTINE trip? Will they be able to endure each other for the looooooong trip in close quarters? Gonna be a wild ride... prepare for blast off. Part 1 of the SpaceBois go to Space series

The Thing Is by TSylvestris (E, 56,743 w., 21 Ch. || Case Fic, Dev. Rel., Anal/Oral, Blow Jobs, Meddling Mycroft, Drama, Romance, Humour, Casual Encounters, Pining Idiots, Possessive Sherlock, Orgasm Delay, Rough / Alley Sex, Public Sex, John Whump, Drugged John, Emotional Love Making, Awkward Relationship, Marriage of Convenience, Switchlock, BAMF John) – The problem with living with Sherlock, John thought, was that you never, never, ever knew the significance of anything. Like your flatmate's nose buried in your hair. Whilst you're in bed. Part 1 of Nitroglycerine

Lunar Landscapes by J_Baillier (M, 57,046 w., 21 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || S3/TAB Fix-It, Slow Burn Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Confessions, Drugs, Pain, Medical, Injury, Sherlock Whump, Mental Health Issues, Panic Attacks, Romance, Secrets,  Tragedy, Trauma, BAMF John, Doctor!John, Drug Addict Sherlock, Injured Sherlock, Grieving John, Idiots In Love, Protective John, POV John Watson, PTSD Sherlock, Sherlock is a Mess, Medical Realism) – An accident forces John to face the fact that Sherlock's downward spiral had started long before his flight to exile even left the tarmac.

The Burning by SrebrnaFH (M, 60,658 w., 24 Ch. || Reverse Reichenbach, Suicide, Depression, Hurt Sherlock / John, Separation, BAMF John, Good Big Brother Mycroft, Angst, Implied/Referenced Torture, Fake Character Death, Rescue Mission, Reconciliation / Reunion, Hospitalization, Marriage Proposal, Illnesses, Physical Therapy, Happily Ever After) – Something went very, very wrong. John had seemed, if not happy, then reasonably content with his life. Sherlock had never predicted something like THIS might have happened. Not in his worst nightmares. He was the lousiest friend ever, apparently. At least Mycroft found him something to occupy his mind with, so that he didn't have to go back to 221B and stare at the walls and the chair, where John Watson would never sit again.

The Bells of King's College by SilentAuror (E, 64,019 w., 5 Ch. || Post-S4, Missed Opportunities, Angst, Fake Relationship, Case Fic, John POV, Jealous John, John in Denial, Travelling / Holidays) – It's only been two weeks since Eurus Holmes disrupted their lives when Mycroft sends John and Sherlock to Cambridge to pose as an engaged couple at a wedding show in the hopes of solving six unsolved deaths...

Hell Sent, Heaven Bound by ConsultingHound (M, 64,381 w, 16 Ch. || Angels / Demons AU ||  Fallen Angel Sherlock / Angel Cop John, Alternate First Meeting, Slow Burn, Case Fic, John & Lestrade are Friends Before Sherlock, BAMF John, Mind Palace John, Friends to Lovers, John in Denial, Sherlock Picks Out John’s Clothing, Clubbing / Dancing, Mildly Jealous John, Awkwardness, Kidnapping, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Sacrifice, Worried / Anxious Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Immortal to Mortal) – Ex-War healer and current angelic guard John Watson is not having the best day. He overslept, he’s underpaid, and now there’s someone tagging the Council’s building walls. However things may be about to get interesting: there’s an unusual stranger hanging around (the definition of tall, dark, and handsome), a literal underground cult is brewing, and rumblings are coming from hell. Can he keep his neighbourhood safe, how and why is he being connected to all this, and who the hell is Sherlock Holmes?

Being John Watson-ish by elwinglyre (E, 69,902 w., 17 Ch. || Bodysnatcher AU || Author John, Cranky Sherlock, Angst, Sexual Tension, First Kiss / Time, Falling in Love, BAMF John, Past Soldier John, Feelings, Inside Someone’s Brain, Shy Sherlock, Sherlock Loves John, POV Sherlock, Switchlock, Slow Burn, Internal Dialogue, Mental Turmoil) – When consulting detective Sherlock Holmes steps on one toe too many at a crime scene, he's consigned to a desk job in an archaic office on the seventh-and-a-half floor of the New Scotland Yard. It’s in this bleak office that Sherlock discovers a portal into the mind of renowned author John Watson. Grander than his mind palace, this new wonderland affords Sherlock new vistas of experimentation. To learn more about the mystery behind the portal, Sherlock seeks out and befriends Watson. But then it all goes wrong when others find the secret portal door—including the man whose brain he visits.

The Vapor Variant by 88thParallel (CanadaHolm) (M, 72,684 w., 18 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-THoB, John Whump, Protective Sherlock, Guilty Sherlock, Anxious/Worried Sherlock, Virgin Sherlock, Angst with Happy Ending, Hurt/Comfort, PTSD John, Slow Burn, Mutual Pining, Suspense, Virus, Sick Fic, Big Brother Mycroft) – They stood face to face in the middle of a clearing. The dim light of the moon barely allowed Sherlock to see the glassy terror in John’s eyes and the sweat that glistened off his forehead. His nose was bleeding again, blood dripping in a slow stream from his right nostril. They were both gasping for air, John’s eyes locked on Sherlock’s. There was no recognition there, just wild animal fear. Time stood still for an eternal few seconds, and Sherlock took a shaky breath. “John—”Spell broken, John spun and bolted back into the woods. Still heaving for air, Sherlock took off after him.

The Monument of Memory by J_Baillier (M, 79,663 w., 14 Ch. || Post S4 Fix It Fic / S4 is Canon, Angst, Family Drama, Guilt, Case Fic, John Loves Sherlock, Complicated Feelings, Mentalism / Hypnosis, Murder, Grieving John, Sherlock is a Bit Not Good, Team Work, Trust Issues, BAMF John, Psychological Trauma, Protective John, Autistic-Spectrum Sherlock, Parentlock, John POV) –  A genius traumatised by a past he's only beginning to recall. The psychopath sister that time forgot. A missing woman and a mentalist who may or may not be a murderer. And, in the middle of it all, stands John Watson.

The Summer Boy by khorazir (T, 94,706 w., 6 Ch. || Post S3/Post TAB/Alternate S4, Friends to Lovers, Asexual Sherlock, POV Sherlock, Flashbacks, Bullying, 1980′s Kid Sherlock, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Inexperienced Sherlock, Grief/Mourning, Pining Sherlock, Case Fic, Sherlock’s Past, Awkward Conversations, Anxious Sherlock, Mycroft Involved with Baby’s Separation from John) – About half a year after the fateful events at Appledore, Sherlock and John embark on a private case in Sussex. For Sherlock, it’s a journey into his past, bringing up memories both happy and sad that he has locked away for almost thirty years. For John, it means coming to terms with the present – and a potential future with Sherlock. Part 1 of the The Summer Boy series

Northwest Passage by Kryptaria (E, 95,157 w., 27 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Canadian AU ||  BAMF!John, Canadian John, PTSD, Anal / Oral Sex, Rimming, Emotional Hurt / Comfort, Drug Rehab, Falling in Love, Pining Sherlock, Love Confessions, Sherlock’s Violin, Panic Attacks, Switching, Anxious / Protective Sherlock, Hugs for Comfort, Suicide Mentions, Healing Each Other) – Seven years ago, Captain John Watson of the Canadian Forces Medical Service withdrew from society, seeking a simple, isolated life in the distant northern wilderness of Canada. Though he survives from one day to the next, he doesn't truly live until someone from his dark past calls in a favor and turns his world upside-down with the introduction of Sherlock Holmes." Part 1 of Tales from the Northwest

Given In Evidence by verityburns (M, 97,884 w., 19 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Post-TRF, Angst, Drama, Case Fic, Romance, BAMF!John, Submissive Sherlock, First Kiss, Humour) – Coming back from the dead can be a complicated business. With a new case on the horizon, rebuilding a life is one thing... rebuilding a friendship quite another. For Sherlock and John, things may never be just the same...

The Cost of a Wish by slashscribe (E, 102,493 w., 12 Ch. || xxxHolic Fusion || Spirits / Ghosts and Magic, Love Confessions, Slow Burn, Soul Mates / Fated Lovers, Adventure, Immortal Sherlock, Powerful John, POV John, Frottage, Wish Granting, Angst with Happy Ending, Nightmares) – John has been plagued by a secret his entire life that has made him feel hopeless until he meets a mysterious, seemingly omniscient man named Sherlock Holmes who owns a wish-granting shop. Their meeting sets off a series of inevitable events that will change the course of both of their lives forever.

Two Two One Bravo Baker by abundantlyqueer (E, 114,574 w., 27 Ch. || Military AU || Afghanistan, War Story, Thriller, Switchlock, Rimming, Emotional Lovemaking, Lots of Sex, HJ/BJ’s) – Captain John Watson of 40 Commando, the Royal Marines, is assigned to protect and assist Sherlock Holmes as he investigates what appears to be a simple war atrocity in Afghanistan. An intense attraction ignites between the two men as they uncover a conspiracy that threatens everything they’ve ever known, but Sherlock is as much hunted as hunter, and everyone close to him is in deadly danger. Can he solve the case in time to save himself and John? Part 1 of Two Two One Bravo Baker Universe

The Bang and the Clatter by earlgreytea68 (M, 137,049 w., 37 Ch. || PODFIC AVAILABLE || Baseball AU || Slow Burn / Dev. Rel., Possessive/Obsessive Sherlock, Jealous Sherlock, Mutual Pining, Body Appreciation, Depression, Closeted Sexuality, Family, Sherlock’s Mind Palace, Ogling Each Other, Anxious Sherlock, Panic Attack, Drunkenness, Talk of Forever, Big Feelings™) – Sherlock Holmes is a pitcher and John Watson is a catcher. No, no, no, it's a baseball AU. Part 1 of Baseball

Proving A Point by elldotsee & J_Baillier (E, 186,270 w., 28 Ch. || Me Before You Fusion || Medical Realism, Insecure John, Depression, Romance, Angst, POV John, Sherlock Whump, Serious Illness, Doctor John, Injury Recovery, Assisted Suicide, Sherlock’s Violin, Awkward Sexual Situations, Alcoholism, Drugs, Idiots in Love, Slow Burn, Body Image, Friends to Lovers, Hurt / Comfort, Pain, Big Brother Mycroft, Intimacy, Anxiety, PTSD, Family Issues, Psychological Trauma, John Whump, Case Fics, Loneliness, Pain) – Invalided home from Afghanistan, running out of funds and convinced that his surgical career is over, John Watson accepts a mysterious job offer to provide care and companionship for a disabled person. Little does he know how much hangs in the balance of his performance as he settles into his new life at Musgrave Court.

[bellamyblake]

this maybe really selfish but I really love the way you write especially when it comes to bellamy and I'm always craving for more of your fics. so if you could share what new fic you've been writing?? what it's about? mayhaps?? I'd be so so happy

Aww, that is not selfish! It’s very sweet actually. I still after all these years I’ve been writing, can’t believe that someone enjoys my writing. But I do love writing Bellamy the most as well, especially hurt!bell. 

Well I won’t post it cause I’m sure it won’t be of any interest to anyone plus I’ve written kind of extreme whumpy fics that I’ve posted before and it’ll probably just be repetitive. I’m kind of writing it for my own enjoyment and entertainment.

It’s more of a family fic about Kane and Bellamy + Bellarke on the side. Bellamy and Kane are ex-soldiers, veterans. Kane has been a family friend of the Blakes since he was a child himself-he and Aurora were neighbours and they almost had a thing going but they were mostly good friends. She was a great student but with time she got in with the wrong crowd and got pregnant with Bellamy at eighteen. Her mom kicked her out of the house and Kane promised to take care of her and the baby, welcomed her in his home. But he had his dreams of joining the Army and when his mom got sick he decided he has to because he had no money to pay for her health care. So he had to leave and meanwhile Aurora’s mom died, she moved back into her homeplace and had Bellamy. 

Kane was very attached to the kid and even sent them some money whenever he could but when he came back home from his first tour, he found Aurora had kind of went back to her bad path with the alcohol, the drugs and the bad men. He tried to talk to her, wanted to help her but she kind of kicked him off.

And then on and off they connected, he watched Bellamy grow and then Aurora had Octavia from a random man and practically left Bellamy in charge of her while she kept working as a waitress and buying herself drugs and alcohol and finding shitty boyfriends. 

Kane would hang with Bellamy and Octavia every time he was home, he’d feed them, because Bellamy especailly was very malnourished from taking care of his sister and giving it all to her. He’d take them places and try to make things a little better. Then as they grew he got Bellamy his first job (at 13) and on and off like this. Bellamy suffered a lot of abuse from Aurora’s boyfriends. 

And then when Bellamy was sixteen, Aurora died and Bellamy and Octavia who was ten at the time, were taken away. Bellamy was too old to be adopted and ended up in a group home kind of place but O was young and a family in another state down south (Indra, Gaia and Indra’s husband) wanted to adopt her.

By that time Kane had decided to retire having done four tours but deciding to still do military stuff like teaching cadets so he came home and Bellamy had decided to get himself emancipated and let Octavia be adopted because he belived that he couldn’t possibly give her a good future no matter how hard he tries. That and he also after looking up to Kane all these years, wanted to join the Army. 

So Octavia got adopted (and felt betrayed) and Kane took Bellamy to his house after he emancipated himself so he could help him graduate school and join in. He did, they obviously formed a special bond that was already there but it solidified with time. Bellamy joined and then he did three tours before his team up was blown up in battle and he was the only one that somehow miraculously survived.

He came home but he was practically in pieces and at first they told Kane that they’re not sure he’ll make it at all but that even if he does with the extends of his injuries he won’t live longer than five or so years. He had lots of shrapnel in his back and leg, many surgeries, lost hearing and sight to one side that left him half blind and half deaf, could barely move, his heart was fucked up all of it. 

And the story starts with Kane and Bellamy at THIS point. Kane however refuses to accept that his kid can ever die and he wants to help Bell who’s sad and depressed and also recently and here a TRIGGER WARNING tried to kms. 

But kane takes him to Clarke who he’s heard is a great physio therapist, like the best in the state and begs her to take them in her busy schedule.

She does and from there on it all kind of ensues but it’s still a family story more than a bellarke story, like it’s mostly Kane and Bell. And lots of hurt! Bellamy.

And Lincoln is also one of the nurses at the hospital and Kane and Bellamy both figure out that his fiance is actually Octavia who hasn’t shared anything about her past and now I’m kind of at that point where they see each other again after so many years.

So yeah.

Practically, that’s it LOL

[nellie-elizabeth]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: The End Is at Hand/What We're Fighting For (7x12/13)

And so we're at the end! Let's dive in.

Cons:

I wish I could give a different response, but a lot of this finale had me feeling a little cold. It's not that it was bad, but all the time spent on Kora and Garrett and on other characters who I don't give a shit about... it felt wasted to me. Kora showing up, and the whole "hello sister" thing, like she's Damon from The Vampire Diaries or some shit... and the redemption arc... all of it felt so telegraphed, and so unsatisfying, seeing as Kora is a new character who we haven't had time to get to know. Daisy's emotional arc ends up being about two characters who were only introduced in this season: Daniel and Kora. I liked the stuff with Sousa, but come on! It's supposed to be about family or whatever... Kora is brand new, there was no time to make it land.

The fact that the whole plan hinges on Kora, and on connecting with Daisy... I loved what Daisy said in last week's episode, about how Simmons is her sister and that's where her focus should be. Found Family > A stranger that you just met who happens to share blood with you. Yikes.

And then I thought about the characters they chose to bring back, and the characters that didn't get even a mention. What about Bobbi and Hunter, for goodness' sake?!

Now that I've seen the whole season, I feel like May's character was really wasted here at the end. I like the idea behind her journey, of coming to terms with her emotions through this new lens. That stuff is all well and good. But I can't help feeling a little bit like she just hung out in the background being blank-faced and then at the end she has some good talks with Coulson about how she's really changed and grown, and that's it? Sure, they gave the Chronicoms "empathy" but that felt more like May was a Chekov's gun, not a satisfying character growth moment for her.

"This is the team's last mission" and "this is the last time we'll all be in the same room"... literally why, though? Okay, sure, the band is breaking up, the team is disbanding, people are moving on to new phases of their lives. That's fine. But nothing about how this show ended made it seem like they'd actually never be in the same room together. Why can't they have real in-person reunions?

And speaking of? I feel like I'm going to be in the minority here, but I hated the epilogue stuff. Like... truly, intensely, hated. The facts of the situation are fine. Daisy and Sousa are off in space with Kora. That's fine. May is teaching. Cool. Fitz and Simmons have retired and are just focusing on their family. Love it. Coulson is seeing the world. Mack and Yo-Yo are still at work. All of that makes sense.

But remember when Daisy got all choked up, talking about how she didn't want them to become people who used to be close, who would catch up every once in a while and that was it? Well... that scene, where they all holograph in for a meeting, was exactly that. It wasn't bittersweet, it was just awkward and bitter. The conversation felt incredibly stilted, and everyone was being so wistful and weird and saying awkward dramatic stuff to one another. I think a much better tone would have been set if instead of this "one year later" awkward sit-down, we'd had a bunch of rapid-fire little moment showing their connection, like Simmons saying to Fitz, "oh, don't let me forget to send that research to Daisy," and then Daisy could be in the middle of something and conference in to ask May a question about something, and May could casually mention that Coulson was going to be stopping by soon, and Daisy should conference in to see him, and then Mack could be on the phone with Yo-Yo when he gets a text message from Fitz... like just moments to show that they've all moved on to new things in their lives, but their worlds are still connected. Instead we got something that felt incredibly staged, incredibly sentimental, and read more like a bunch of actors sitting around saying goodbye to a TV show they were on, instead of characters being their authentic selves.

Pros:

Fitzsimmons backstory was appropriately sweet, of course. I mean, everyone knew Fitzsimmons had a secret baby, but it was still adorable and I loved the little actress and the backstory, and Fitz walking Simmons through her memories to help build a bridge back to their family was really sweet and very authentically them. I also loved Piper and Flint guarding the kid while Fitz and Simmons were off saving the world.

Deke was... the highlight of the finale, for real. When he said "Alright people, I've already made up my mind, let's get to it!" I legitimately got chills and teared up a little bit. This is how you do an epic sacrifice without always making it death. We didn't need a main character to die in this finale in order to make it epic and intense and impactful. Deke staying behind? After all the work he put in, after all he did to belong? It works. It's appropriately tragic, that they'll never see each other again, but it's not too devastating, because Deke is the master of making himself at home wherever he is. He's already a rock god in the eighties, and you just know he'll make it work. The one thing I was bummed about is that he didn't get more of a connection with Fitz there at the end. It felt like he really craved Fitz's approval the whole time, and never really quite got it... and then he spent this last season without seeing him, and then they were separated forever. Kind of a bummer, but I guess you can't have everything!

I know that the "cons" section on this one was pretty long, but that doesn't mean I didn't have fun with this finale. The framing of the epilogue was really bad, in my opinion, but the endgame fates of the characters all worked really nicely for me. I especially liked how Coulson and May are in this comfortable "maybe" place and that's where we end them. Coulson is going to swing by and see May, but they're not a couple, and maybe they won't be, but maybe they will... it works for them. They were never the most showy, dramatic characters in the world, and this soft epilogue for them works so nicely. Ending it with Coulson in the car was... really a perfect button on things.

I also think Daisy and Sousa are sweet. I will never stop being bitter about Peggy Carter, of course, but this actually worked nice, and I love that actor, and Daniel is such a lovely character... so I'm happy he's happy, and I'm happy Daisy is out there with her boyfriend (and her sister), winning at life. Mack and Sousa had a cute little bromance going, and I'm sure they stay in touch and tease Daisy about "Quake" for a long time to come.

Everything about the villains had me YAWNING, but I did like Coulson pulling that final trick on Sybil and the day eventually being saved. There were some good bad-ass moments, like Yo-Yo doing her slow-mo fighting, and May pulling out the Cavalry skills to overpower their enemies.

I feel like I don't have much else to say. A lot of things about this finale didn't quite land with me, and I felt like the sentimental tone didn't have its intended effect. But that being said, all my faves got a happy ending, and I can feel grateful for that!

This finale gets...

7/10

The show overall? Oh boy. I've rarely been more torn. The first season of this show was one of the more bizarre/intense viewing experiences of my life. If you go back and read my reviews, you'll know I was not enjoying myself at ALL. But then the twist with Ward hit, and my veins lit up. Skye went from being one of the most annoying characters on television to a dynamic, empowering woman who I was happy to follow for seven years' worth of story. Fitzsimmons is a genuinely good love story, about people who beat the odds no matter what. The found family vibes are real, and I love them. But that first part of the first season, and these last few seasons, have been disjointed. They've been all over the place. There have been good additions (Flint, Deke, Sousa, Enoch), and there have been bad or lazy ones (Kora, basically every villain in this last season that wasn't a Chronicom). I think at the end of the day I'll give the whole show a grade based on how excited I always was to watch it. There were weeks that I didn't really care to find out what happened next, and weeks where I eagerly counted down the minutes. I guess by definition, that makes this show a mixed bag!

7.5/10

[rosalind-of-arden]

Sword and Pen Reread, chapter 13 part 2

Or: now I babble about Wolfe more.

A bit of superstition: Wolfe thinks of Orpheus as he’s leaving the Necropolis, and not only does he not look back himself, he makes the kids go ahead of him.

In the prison in Smoke and Iron, Wolfe didn’t recognize Troll right away. Here, he does. A sign of just how out of it he was in prison?

Getting into the carrier, Wolfe feels tired. When did Wolfe last sleep?

“It was the gamble of it he loved, more than anything else: the pure will of those ancients who’d understood that without knowledge, there could be no truth.” This is so Wolfe. He likes defying the odds and he values education. This is why he loves the kids so much: they’re doing the same thing.

“he suddenly wished for peace, for the days and nights he’d spent traveling with Nic on the way to some dire crisis or another” Only Christopher Wolfe would define peace as the travel time between war zone missions.

Things Wolfe likes doing: “days they spent talking, or not talking, making love or just lying together, reading. Playing a nightly game of chess, or Egyptian sennet, or the board games of ancient Ur.” I do appreciate that sex is on the list, not only because I write Wolfe/Santi porn, but also because it’s such a completely normal thing that the text treats as completely normal - media tends so often to get weird about sex where gay couples and parents are concerned, so it’s nice to see this. The whole passage is just so sweet, and I am now craving Wolfe/Santi fluff.

Alexandria isn’t built to handle storms, which Wolfe describes as rare. The streets are flooded, and that’s apparently what always happens in weather like this.

Going into the conference room, Wolfe is already uncomfortable. He can tell something is wrong. And he looks to Santi for comfort, taking a brief moment to appreciate seeing Nic, and then addressing him by his first name even though this is obviously a Curia meeting.

A lot of denial once Wolfe hears what happened. “Santi did not fail.” Not admitting to himself why he would be invited to this meeting. Some part of him knows what they’re about to ask, and he’s fighting it.

“He stared at her. His eyes burned, and for a moment, he thought it was with tears, but no, no, it was anger. He couldn’t speak. Could hardly breathe for the pressure of fury building in his chest.” He’s furious, yes. But also, don’t these sound an awful lot like panic attack symptoms?

Wolfe turns to Nic for support, but Nic won’t look at him. Part of that is Nic being caught up in his own distress, but I suspect there’s also an element of not wanting to interfere. Wolfe and Santi have very recently argued about Wolfe being able to make his own choices, and that gives Nic a very strong motivation to stay out of this so that he doesn’t influence Wolfe’s decision.

Wolfe and Vargas were in the same class. They didn’t like each other. Probably because they’re too much alike - Vargas sounds like the cranky snarky sort, too. What I want to know is how Santi and Vargas got along.

Very satisfying to see Wolfe call the Curia out here. He knows they don’t really want him as Archivist, and he’s not mincing words.

Here’s Wolfe’s first moment of considering and rejecting something he wanted in the past. It’s never stated directly that he wanted to be Archivist, but we’ve had hints that he was ambitious. He imagines himself on the throne, but it’s “disorienting”, “it made him want to laugh, but he knew it would come out as half a sob.” He recognizes how much he’s changed since he was young and ambitious, and he’s also grieving what he’s lost.

“What a sour joke this was, that the same colleagues who’d looked the other way when he was dragged off in the night, when his work was scrubbed from the shelves and his body broken in the cells in Rome... those same colleagues wanted him to be their shelter. Their scapegoat.” And here’s why Wolfe rejects his earlier ambition: he can’t stand to work with the people who did nothing when the Library tried to destroy him. In a way, what the Curia is doing here is the same as what they did when Wolfe was arrested. They’re afraid, and they’ll let him be hurt rather than risk their own necks. They let him be tortured and erased rather than speak up for him. They’d rather let him be murdered or take the blame for anything that goes wrong than put themselves in that position. After everything he’s been through, he can’t tolerate that.

Best fucking moment in the book. Wolfe accepting the robe just to put it on Khalila and announce his retirement. Turning things around on the Curia and simultaneously putting leadership in place that won’t stand for the kind of corruption that resulted in his imprisonment. Khalila is young, idealistic, and stubborn enough to handle the Curia’s shit, and Wolfe knows it.

Still calling Nic by his first name. Wolfe doesn’t just want to hear from Lord Commander Santi, he wants to know what Dad Santi thinks of putting their kid on the throne, and this more intimate form of address subtly signals that.

Dad Santi supports Khalila for Archivist, even though he’s worried about her.

Morgan knows how to make an entrance. Does Eskander really agree, or is Morgan doing this on her own, knowing the Curia won’t ask questions?

Wolfe is aware of Morgan’s corruption. This suggests he could sense it in Ash and Quill, too.

“Beautiful, but fading like a winter rose, and seeing that hurt. I failed her, he thought. But he knew he couldn’t have helped her, either. Sometimes there were no good choices to be made. Only costly ones.” Wolfe’s guilt over Morgan’s corruption is very different than his guilt over Jess’s poisoning. What happened to Jess was a mistake that Wolfe could potentially have prevented. Asking Morgan to overuse her power was a more conscious choice on Wolfe’s part, and one that he knew the risks of when he made it. He knows he’s losing both of them, and both losses hurt, but he blames himself less for Morgan.

Apparently, a gold band is the only requirement to be Archivist.

“I agree with Wolfe; he hasn’t the inhuman patience necessary for the job. Neither do I, Christopher.” Vargas, being simultaneously friendly and insulting. Wolfe actually appreciates this, which is interesting, since he’s just expressed a profound distaste for the Curia and he usually prickles when called by his first name by people he dislikes. He may get along with Vargas better than he lets on.

Santi felt guilty enough over losing Murasaki to resign as Lord Commander. Under the circumstances, I really don’t think that’s a rational response. Of course there will be traitors in the ranks right after forcibly removing the old leadership, and it’s impossible to account for everything. But Santi isn’t thinking rationally. In his view, he’s had one failure after another for the past few months: betraying his company in Rome, failing to protect the pack in the Iron Tower and London, being too injured to do anything in Philly, failing to protect Wolfe and the kids in Castle Raby... The current battle isn’t won yet and the outcome is still uncertain. Losing the Archivist to soldiers the thought he could trust was just the last straw for him. But also, potentially, this could be a sign of some kind of pre-series friendship with Murasaki.

Lord Commander is eligible to be Archivist. Not that Nic wants anything to do with it. Under better circumstances, would he feel differently? Probably not; he knows what he’s good at, and that’s military leadership, not politics.

South American Vargas says “gods”, plural. Standard Library rhetorical polytheism or a sign of some form of polytheism being a major religion where she’s from?

Wolfe has a total dad moment, being simultaneously proud that his baby is the Archivist and terrified that he can’t help her.

The Curia stands respectfully for Khalila. “Wolfe leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.” Nice try, Wolfe, but we already know how much you care.

Santi feels better when there’s a job to do. Now that Khalila is Archivist, he needs to protect his kid, and he’s ready to get to work on that.

Wolfe knows Santi’s failure to protect Murasaki “would haunt him forever.” How many other past failures still weigh on Nic?

The only ones who can Translate into or out of the Archives are Morgan and Eskander. She now has equal access to him. They’re effectively sharing the Obscurist Magnus position, really.

Morgan has already planned to copy the Archives. Khalila has researched the Library’s history of making copies and is prepared to argue for it. And neither of them gives a damn what the Curia has to say about it. Wolfe suspects Morgan has already started the copying, and Khalila has no problem wielding her authority as Archivist to authorize it over any objections from the Curia.

As soon as Khalila calls on Santi to start planning defense strategies, Wolfe heads out. Interesting timing. Not being part of the Curia, he’s probably a bit uncomfortable being there, but I think this is also a gesture of trust in Nic’s ability to handle this.

“That was not the voice of his student. It was the voice of his queen.” Love this line. Nice sign of how Khalila inhabits her role. Also, somebody needs to include this in a Wolfe/Khalila fic.

And the chapter ends with Wolfe now having one more kid to worry about. Thomas is missing.

[melyaliz]

Making her laugh

Fandom: DC / Young Justice

Summary: Dick Grayson goes to an old friend for help. He could have asked a million other girls but... she was always his first choice

Pairing: Dick Grayson x OC

Notes: I have been creatively blocked for a while and then this just happened. Thanks to @speedypan for pushing me to write it. I honestly feel better now.

Jen is my OC and you can find most of her stuff here. 

All Masterlists @melyalizarchive

Connect with me! AO3 / Instagram / Pinterest

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bar was in full swing, music loud and the dance floor full, everyone pulsing to the beat as they swung around. It was contrary night so beer was cheap and everyone was very drunk. Dick couldn’t help but smile a little as he looked around the packed bar. Shane had put a lot of work into this place since the last time an underaged Jennifer had dragged him in here.

“Shane, the bartender, is my friend”

“Jen, honestly I have so much work to do.”

She waved away his protests as they walked into the dive bar, “you just quite the team, I’m sure whatever angst you have to do can wait one night.” she giggled excitedly as she waved at the young bartender who flashed her a smile before going back to the cute blonde at the bar. Dick slightly wondered if the bartender was more than just a friend. “ beside its country night and I need a partner.”

It was like she always knew when he got too into his head. Got caught up in the endless war he was fighting. It was moments like this when she would pull him away to some loud music and they would dance away the night. Dance as if they were just any twenty-somethings.

Just soaking up the night and living in the moment.

Maybe that’s why he always came back to her when he needed help. When it all felt like too much she was always the first name on his lips.

It may have also been the reason he could pick her out of any crowd. As if drawn to her no matter what. As if her presence glowed on the dark stormy horizon, drawing him home to safety.

She was in a cute white sundress swinging around the floor in the arms of a much older man. Dick had heard about him, Gary or Larry? He said something to her and Jennifer threw her head back laughing before swinging away from her and then coming back her skirt flaring out with her movements. Dick couldn’t help but notice a few other guys watching from their seats.

But that was Jen when she was happy she seemed to draw people to her. She glowed with a joy and everyone else just seemed to crave.

The music continued and her partner spun her around. Dick gently stepping between her and her next partner in line. He heard -and chose to ignore- a slightly annoyed grunt from the man to his right. He’d get over it.

“May I have this dance Ma’am?”

Her hands gripped his and her turquoise eyes shone up at him. Dick tried to ignore the flutter his heart made as she let out a light breathy laugh. Even now, all these years later, the idea that he could make her laugh gave him so much pride.

“I knew you couldn’t resist Country night.”

“Not when I know there is going to be a beautiful woman there in a white dress.”

Another laugh and they were off. Dancing around the room to the song. Totally in sync. God, he had missed this. Her body moving with his as he lead her around the room. With her dancer’s background and his circus one, they couldn’t help but show off a little. Trying to test the other while just having fun letting everyone else admire their natural talents.

As the tune changed it was Jennifer who led him off the dance floor. That was another thing about her that still seemed to take Dick by surprise. How he couldn’t hide anything from her. He knew as she waved over Shane and ordered two beers that she was about to question his sudden appearance in the small Gotham Bar. Her bright eyes watching him as they took a seat by an open window out looking at the street. She took a long sip of her drink then placed it down hands folding over the table top.

“So?”

“I need your help.”

“Does this have something to do with Gigi missing?”

“Yeah, sort of.”

Gigi and her meta friend Theo had jumped at the mission to go undercover in a meta trafficking ring. Both teens had been sending him messages about a hotel in Dubai where one of the owners Sadeq have some sort of information that Dick needed.

Thanks to Barbara and a very interesting online tinder account, Sadeq had a type. Pretty brunettes with light eyes. And while Dick also fit that description he had a feeling Jennifer would be able to get the sort of information he was looking for.

Sure, there were other girls he could have asked. Several who were already much deeper in the hero life than the retired Falcon but like he had admitted as he walked into this bar drawn to her very presence...

Jennifer would always be his first.  

--------------

“We are right here. So the moment you feel like something is going down just say the code word.”

“Yeah yeah, this isn’t my first undercover mission Nightwing.” Jennifer’s voice said over the coms. Her sister’s voice let out a laugh.

“We just worry civilian.”

“Whatever, I literally get information from people for a living.” Dick’s gaze drifted from his table to the door as he caught sight of Jennifer walking in. she looked amazing. A beautiful gold dress clinging to her just right, showing off every curve. Perfectly classy, yet just the right touch of sexy that said rich girl on vacation looking for some fun. “And fuck for free”

At her last comment, her eyes flickered to Dick for just a moment as she made her way across the room. Dick knew he was gaping at her. Why did she do these things to him?

He always told himself it was over, they were just friends (who occasionally flirted just a little more than they should) but then she would go and dress like that. She would look at him with those beautiful eyes and he felt like he was a 13-year-old boy again.

“Gross sis” Guardian Angel’s voice said over the com pulling Dick from a path he really didn’t want to go down. He needed to focus. Maybe that’s why he had agreed so quickly to take Jennifer’s younger sister on the mission. Sure he had told Barb and even himself that it was because she looked so much like a lost puppy after being sidelined after her accident. But deep down he knew it was because knowing there was someone else watching he couldn’t make a mistake he would regret.

Jennifer took her time going to the bar where the Sadeq was standing. Her gaze roaming around the room smiling at lots of patrons who were swept up in her presence. To the casual observer, she just looked like another vacationer who was enjoying a week away.

Then flipping back a strand of her hair as if she had made her decision she strode up to the bar. Looking over the contents lining the walls.

“What can I get you beautiful?” the bartender asked. Jennifer giggled leaning forward kicking one foot up behind her. Dick had seen this move a million times. Something she always did when she and Shane were scheming the night away.

“Oh man, I don’t even know. What do you suggest?”

The bartender laughed, “Really depends on what you are feeling?”

“Well I just got in from New York and I’m ready for a FUN night.” she winked at him before turning to Sadeq, “What are you having?” Sadeq turned to her. He had been checking her out since she had walked in but now he let himself get a full view of the girl next to him.

“Whiskey.”

Her bubbly personality melted away, “any particular bottle or just Whiskey.” Sadeq looked slightly taken aback by the shift from a party girl to someone who actually may know the difference between a Balvenie and a Knob Creek.

“It’s actually a Glenfiddich ‘68, from my own private stash.”

“You’re own private stash? Isn’t this a hotel?”

“Yes, it is, one that I own.”

Jennifer bit her lip in fake embarrassment as she fluttered her eyes, “whoops my bad,”

“It’s quite alright, are you a Whiskey drinker?”

“A little? I have a friend back in New York who is a mixologist, he’s kind of my guide to the wonders of liquor.” she let out a soft sigh of disappointment letting her eyes wandering around the room as if looking for him, “But he’s not here tonight”

“Well, I wouldn’t mind taking over… for tonight.”

Jennifer smiled up at him through long lashes, he walked right into that one. Dick knew that look all too well, Sadeq was hooked.

------

It didn’t take her long to get him alone in his office. And he really wasn’t a bad kisser. Plus to be fair Jen did have this thing for making out on desks. Something she may have said in passing to Sadeq over their third glass of Whiskey. Just because this was a mission didn’t mean she couldn’t have some fun.

“Can you get him into the bedroom?” she heard her sister’s voice over her ear, “there is one in the door to your right.”

Jennifer scooted back knocking over a glass that on the table. It fell to the ground shattering. “Whoops” Jennifer giggled looking up at her makeout buddy who just shrugged a smug smile on his face.

“It’s fine.”

“Maybe we should go somewhere more...comfortable?” Jennifer asked running her hands up his tie gently tugging at it. Sadeq smiled pulling her off the desk dragging her toward the door Faith had mentioned.

“I have just the place,” he said opening the door which led into a large bedroom.

“Ohhh kinky, a hidden bedroom,” Jennifer said let out another laugh as she jumped onto the bed. Sadeq pounced on top of her, hands all over her. Jennifer’s hands traveled downward. One toward his belt and the other to her waist as if making to pull off her panties. Grabbing the small needle she had taped to her hip.

Pulling him closer she grinded her hips into his as she quickly pricking him with the needle.

He pulled away at the sharp feeling. “Ow”

“Oh sorry,” Jennifer said pulling away putting her hands at her side scooting the needle under her. “This dress is sharp.”

He smiled leaning forward his hand running over the gold sequence, fingers playing with her breast, eyes already starting to glaze over, “In more ways than one… Maybe we should...”

His voice trailed away as he slowly passed out on top of her.

“Uhhh… Starfish?” Jennifer whispered into the dark as she slowly tried to move the dead weight now laying over her. She could hear Dick’s voice laughing over the coms and then coming closer too as he made his way into the bedroom. It was a weird sound really. Like he was surrounding her.

“Your backup has arrived.”

After pushing Sadeq off Jen and arranging him so it looked like he had gotten the fun night he had planned Dick held his hand out for Jennifer to help her off the bed. It was stupid, she knew that even as her heart rate picked up but, the way he looked in his Nightwing costume. That large smile on his face, his hand outstretched. It made her feel like a kid again. Running away with him through Gotham. His hand out leading her on yet an unbelievable adventure.

In many ways, he was still doing that.

As she took his hand she gave him an extra squeeze “that was fun.” she smiled up at him as he helped her descend the bed and handing her her shoes. Ever the gentleman.

As Jen walked back into the office she saw Faith going over the computer following Oracle’s instructions. She felt Dick’s hand gently placed on the small of her back. “We’ll meet you upstairs,” he whispered sending shivers down her back. Cool it, girl, it’s just Dick.

Although that was the problem wasn’t it. It was never “just” Dick.

Nodding she quickly ran her fingers through her hair trying to smooth it just enough to look like she had tried to fix it after getting fucked but failed miserably. Flashing Dick a smile she sent her sister one more glance.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of her,” Dick said catching Jennifer. She knew she had that look on her face. That one that meant she was worried about her sister. But it wasn’t just Faith she worried about. It was him too.

She grabbed his hand for a moment squeezing it again. As if trying to tell him she cared about him too. She wanted him to be safe as well. Then turning she quickly walked out praying they would keep their promise and be up in their hotel rooms that night.

This was the part she hated. The part where she had to walk away and trust them. The two people who mattered most to her. That they would come back to her. That they would be safe.

------

Dick was sitting on his bed going over the files Jennifer had been able to help them acquire from Sadeq. There was so much to go through. And while yes, Barb was probably working on it right now seeing as it was around 1 in the afternoon there, he needed the distraction.

Something, anything, to keep his mind off Jennifer in that gold dress. The way she had looked at him in the bar. The way she had taken his hand in her own and looked up at him. The way she had said, “that was fun.”

“Hey”

He almost jumped out of his skin at the sound of her voice. She was standing in the doorway of his bedroom, dressed in some pajama pants and a black tank. Her hair wet obviously just gotten out of the shower. As beautiful as she looked in that dress there was something special about this. The normal Jennifer. The one without any masks.

“Hey” he scooted over so she could jump onto his bed scooting up next to him looking over his shoulder. She smelled like coconut shampoo. “Where’s the little one?”

“She had to go for a run, you would think after taking out 6 guys, or whatever, she would be tired. I swear she gets MORE energy after she fights.”

Dick chuckled at the memory of the small girl front flip kicking some goon off Sadeq’s desk. They had been caught about 10 minutes after Faith had accidentally set off an alarm on the computer.

They lapsed into silence again Dick just scrolling through the documents all concentration gone. It was all about keeping up the appearance that he wasn’t completely distracted by the girl next to him.

“This is pretty serious huh.” Dick turned to her to see she was looking off at something on the blank bedroom wall. Lost in her own thoughts. “These kids, I mean they could be anyone. They could have been Faith… or…”

She didn’t say it but he knew. They could have been Nichole, Tea, Gigi, Maia, Annabella…. The list goes on and on and on. This was what had gotten her in the mask the first time. To help Nichole get out of the mob. To save Tea from a life on the streets.

“I want to help.” she said turning to him, “Whatever you need.”

He hadn’t meant to, just caught up in the moment really. A million of them leading up to this. Jennifer laughing at the bar, Jennifer in that gold dress, Jennifer sitting next to him with a fire in her eyes he hadn’t seen in years.

Dick kissed her, soft and gentle. He kissed her like he used to. When they were just kids pretending to be adults. So many questions in their minds but one thing they knew for sure.

That they loved each other.

He wasn’t sure if he still loved her that way anymore, time had changed them both but he knew that he still loved her in a way that would never change.

The way you can only love your first.

Jennifer kissed him back gently pushing his laptop away so she could take its place on his lap wrapping herself around him. A soft smile playing on her lips as his hands moved down her back pulling her closer to him grabbing her butt.

Suddenly she pulled away from him, her eyes studying him, “I… we… I have no idea what I can give you.” she mumbled, “I know there is that history.” Dick couldn’t help but smile as he pushed a strand of her wet away from her face and behind her ear.

“Let’s just have some fun ok? If I remember correctly you do fuck for free.”

She laughed then, long and hard curling herself around him her head landing on his shoulder. Her body shaking as she tried to compose herself.

Dick flipped her over so she was on her back with him on top now a huge smile on his face as she looked up at him still giggling.

There really was nothing Dick loved more than having the ability to make her laugh.

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[radiumeater]

Alcoholics Anonymous is famously difficult to study. By necessity, it keeps no records of who attends meetings; members come and go and are, of course, anonymous. No conclusive data exist on how well it works. In 2006, the Cochrane Collaboration, a health-care research group, reviewed studies going back to the 1960s and found that “no experimental studies unequivocally demonstrated the effectiveness of AA or [12-step] approaches for reducing alcohol dependence or problems.”

The Big Book includes an assertion first made in the second edition, which was published in 1955: that AA has worked for 75 percent of people who have gone to meetings and “really tried.” It says that 50 percent got sober right away, and another 25 percent struggled for a while but eventually recovered. According to AA, these figures are based on members’ experiences.

In his recent book, The Sober Truth: Debunking the Bad Science Behind 12-Step Programs and the Rehab Industry, Lance Dodes, a retired psychiatry professor from Harvard Medical School, looked at Alcoholics Anonymous’s retention rates along with studies on sobriety and rates of active involvement (attending meetings regularly and working the program) among AA members. Based on these data, he put AA’s actual success rate somewhere between 5 and 8 percent. That is just a rough estimate, but it’s the most precise one I’ve been able to find.

I spent three years researching a book about women and alcohol, Her Best-Kept Secret: Why Women Drink—And How They Can Regain Control, which was published in 2013. During that time, I encountered disbelief from doctors and psychiatrists every time I mentioned that the Alcoholics Anonymous success rate appears to hover in the single digits. We’ve grown so accustomed to testimonials from those who say AA saved their life that we take the program’s efficacy as an article of faith. Rarely do we hear from those for whom 12-step treatment doesn’t work. But think about it: How many celebrities can you name who bounced in and out of rehab without ever getting better? Why do we assume they failed the program, rather than that the program failed them?

When my book came out, dozens of Alcoholics Anonymous members said that because I had challenged AA’s claim of a 75 percent success rate, I would hurt or even kill people by discouraging attendance at meetings. A few insisted that I must be an “alcoholic in denial.” But most of the people I heard from were desperate to tell me about their experiences in the American treatment industry. Amy Lee Coy, the author of the memoir From Death Do I Part: How I Freed Myself From Addiction, told me about her eight trips to rehab, starting at age 13. “It’s like getting the same antibiotic for a resistant infection—eight times,” she told me. “Does that make sense?”

She and countless others had put their faith in a system they had been led to believe was effective—even though finding treatment centers’ success rates is next to impossible: facilities rarely publish their data or even track their patients after discharging them. “Many will tell you that those who complete the program have a ‘great success rate,’ meaning that most are abstaining from drugs and alcohol while enrolled there,” says Bankole Johnson, an alcohol researcher and the chair of the psychiatry department at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. “Well, no kidding.”

[...]

AA truisms have so infiltrated our culture that many people believe heavy drinkers cannot recover before they “hit bottom.” Researchers I’ve talked with say that’s akin to offering antidepressants only to those who have attempted suicide, or prescribing insulin only after a patient has lapsed into a diabetic coma. “You might as well tell a guy who weighs 250 pounds and has untreated hypertension and cholesterol of 300, ‘Don’t exercise, keep eating fast food, and we’ll give you a triple bypass when you have a heart attack,’ ” Mark Willenbring, a psychiatrist in St. Paul and a former director of treatment and recovery research at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, told me. He threw up his hands. “Absurd.”

Part of the problem is our one-size-fits-all approach. Alcoholics Anonymous was originally intended for chronic, severe drinkers—those who may, indeed, be powerless over alcohol—but its program has since been applied much more broadly. Today, for instance, judges routinely require people to attend meetings after a DUI arrest; fully 12 percent of AA members are there by court order.

Whereas AA teaches that alcoholism is a progressive disease that follows an inevitable trajectory, data from a federally funded survey called the National Epidemiological Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions show that nearly one-fifth of those who have had alcohol dependence go on to drink at low-risk levels with no symptoms of abuse. And a recent survey of nearly 140,000 adults by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nine out of 10 heavy drinkers are not dependent on alcohol and, with the help of a medical professional’s brief intervention, can change unhealthy habits. We once thought about drinking problems in binary terms—you either had control or you didn’t; you were an alcoholic or you weren’t—but experts now describe a spectrum. An estimated 18 million Americans suffer from alcohol-use disorder, as the DSM-5, the latest edition of the American Psychiatric Association’s diagnostic manual, calls it. (The new term replaces the older alcohol abuse and the much more dated alcoholism, which has been out of favor with researchers for decades.) Only about 15 percent of those with alcohol-use disorder are at the severe end of the spectrum. The rest fall somewhere in the mild-to-moderate range, but they have been largely ignored by researchers and clinicians. Both groups—the hard-core abusers and the more moderate overdrinkers—need more-individualized treatment options. The United States already spends about $35 billion a year on alcohol- and substance-abuse treatment, yet heavy drinking causes 88,000 deaths a year—including deaths from car accidents and diseases linked to alcohol. It also costs the country hundreds of billions of dollars in expenses related to health care, criminal justice, motor-vehicle crashes, and lost workplace productivity, according to the CDC. With the Affordable Care Act’s expansion of coverage, it’s time to ask some important questions: Which treatments should we be willing to pay for? Have they been proved effective? And for whom—only those at the extreme end of the spectrum? Or also those in the vast, long-overlooked middle? For a glimpse of how treatment works elsewhere, I traveled to Finland, a country that shares with the United States a history of prohibition (inspired by the American temperance movement, the Finns outlawed alcohol from 1919 to 1932) and a culture of heavy drinking. Finland’s treatment model is based in large part on the work of an American neuroscientist named John David Sinclair. I met with Sinclair in Helsinki in early July. He was battling late-stage prostate cancer, and his thick white hair was cropped short in preparation for chemotherapy. Sinclair has researched alcohol’s effects on the brain since his days as an undergraduate at the University of Cincinnati, where he experimented with rats that had been given alcohol for an extended period. Sinclair expected that after several weeks without booze, the rats would lose their desire for it. Instead, when he gave them alcohol again, they went on week-long benders, drinking far more than they ever had before—more, he says, than any rat had ever been shown to drink. Sinclair called this the alcohol-deprivation effect, and his laboratory results, which have since been confirmed by many other studies, suggested a fundamental flaw in abstinence-based treatment: going cold turkey only intensifies cravings. This discovery helped explain why relapses are common. Sinclair published his findings in a handful of journals and in the early 1970s moved to Finland, drawn by the chance to work in what he considered the best alcohol-research lab in the world, complete with special rats that had been bred to prefer alcohol to water. He spent the next decade researching alcohol and the brain.Sinclair came to believe that people develop drinking problems through a chemical process: each time they drink, the endorphins released in the brain strengthen certain synapses. The stronger these synapses grow, the more likely the person is to think about, and eventually crave, alcohol—until almost anything can trigger a thirst for booze, and drinking becomes compulsive. Sinclair theorized that if you could stop the endorphins from reaching their target, the brain’s opiate receptors, you could gradually weaken the synapses, and the cravings would subside. To test this hypothesis, he administered opioid antagonists—drugs that block opiate receptors—to the specially bred alcohol-loving rats. He found that if the rats took the medication each time they were given alcohol, they gradually drank less and less. He published his findings in peer-reviewed journals beginning in the 1980s. Subsequent studies found that an opioid antagonist called naltrexone was safe and effective for humans, and Sinclair began working with clinicians in Finland. He suggested prescribing naltrexone for patients to take an hour before drinking. As their cravings subsided, they could then learn to control their consumption. Numerous clinical trials have confirmed that the method is effective, and in 2001 Sinclair published a paper in the journal Alcohol and Alcoholism reporting a 78 percent success rate in helping patients reduce their drinking to about 10 drinks a week. Some stopped drinking entirely.I visited one of three private treatment centers, called the Contral Clinics, that Sinclair co-founded in Finland. (There’s an additional one in Spain.) In the past 18 years, more than 5,000 Finns have gone to the Contral Clinics for help with a drinking problem. Seventy-five percent of them have had success reducing their consumption to a safe level. [...] In the United States, doctors generally prescribe naltrexone for daily use and tell patients to avoid alcohol, instead of instructing them to take the drug anytime they plan to drink, as Sinclair would advise. There is disagreement among experts about which approach is better—Sinclair is adamant that American doctors are missing the drug’s full potential—but both seem to work: naltrexone has been found to reduce drinking in more than a dozen clinical trials, including a large-scale one funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that was published in JAMA in 2006. The results have been largely overlooked. Less than 1 percent of people treated for alcohol problems in the United States are prescribed naltrexone or any other drug shown to help control drinking. To understand why, you have to first understand the history. The American approach to treatment for drinking problems has roots in the country’s long-standing love-hate relationship with booze. The first settlers arrived with a great thirst for whiskey and hard cider, and in the early days of the republic, alcohol was one of the few beverages that was reliably safe from contamination. (It was also cheaper than coffee or tea.) The historian W. J. Rorabaugh has estimated that between the 1770s and 1830s, the average American over age 15 consumed at least five gallons of pure alcohol a year—the rough equivalent of three shots of hard liquor a day. Religious fervor, aided by the introduction of public water-filtration systems, helped galvanize the temperance movement, which culminated in 1920 with Prohibition. That experiment ended after 14 years, but the drinking culture it fostered—secrecy and frenzied bingeing—persists.In 1934, just after Prohibition’s repeal, a failed stockbroker named Bill Wilson staggered into a Manhattan hospital. Wilson was known to drink two quarts of whiskey a day, a habit he’d attempted to kick many times. He was given the hallucinogen belladonna, an experimental treatment for addictions, and from his hospital bed he called out to God to loosen alcohol’s grip. He reported seeing a flash of light and feeling a serenity he had never before experienced. He quit booze for good. The next year, he co-founded Alcoholics Anonymous. He based its principles on the beliefs of the evangelical Oxford Group, which taught that people were sinners who, through confession and God’s help, could right their paths. AA filled a vacuum in the medical world, which at the time had few answers for heavy drinkers. In 1956, the American Medical Association named alcoholism a disease, but doctors continued to offer little beyond the standard treatment that had been around for decades: detoxification in state psychiatric wards or private sanatoriums. As Alcoholics Anonymous grew, hospitals began creating “alcoholism wards,” where patients detoxed but were given no other medical treatment. Instead, AA members—who, as part of the 12 steps, pledge to help other alcoholics—appeared at bedsides and invited the newly sober to meetings. A public-relations specialist and early AA member named Marty Mann worked to disseminate the group’s main tenet: that alcoholics had an illness that rendered them powerless over booze. Their drinking was a disease, in other words, not a moral failing. Paradoxically, the prescription for this medical condition was a set of spiritual steps that required accepting a higher power, taking a “fearless moral inventory,” admitting “the exact nature of our wrongs,” and asking God to remove all character defects. Mann helped ensure that these ideas made their way to Hollywood. In 1945’s The Lost Weekend, a struggling novelist tries to loosen his writer’s block with booze, to devastating effect. In Days of Wine and Roses, released in 1962, Jack Lemmon slides into alcoholism along with his wife, played by Lee Remick. He finds help through AA, but she rejects the group and loses her family. Mann also collaborated with a physiologist named E. M. Jellinek. Mann was eager to bolster the scientific claims behind AA, and Jellinek wanted to make a name for himself in the growing field of alcohol research. In 1946, Jellinek published the results of a survey mailed to 1,600 AA members. Only 158 were returned. Jellinek and Mann jettisoned 45 that had been improperly completed and another 15 filled out by women, whose responses were so unlike the men’s that they risked complicating the results. From this small sample—98 men—Jellinek drew sweeping conclusions about the “phases of alcoholism,” which included an unavoidable succession of binges that led to blackouts, “indefinable fears,” and hitting bottom. Though the paper was filled with caveats about its lack of scientific rigor, it became AA gospel. Jellinek, however, later tried to distance himself from this work, and from Alcoholics Anonymous. His ideas came to be illustrated by a chart showing how alcoholics progressed from occasionally drinking for relief, to sneaking drinks, to guilt, and so on until they hit bottom (“complete defeat admitted”) and then recovered. If you could locate yourself even early in the downward trajectory on that curve, you could see where your drinking was headed. In 1952, Jellinek noted that the word alcoholic had been adopted to describe anyone who drank excessively. He warned that overuse of that word would undermine the disease concept. He later beseeched AA to stay out of the way of scientists trying to do objective research. [...] As the rehab industry began expanding in the 1970s, its profit motives dovetailed nicely with AA’s view that counseling could be delivered by people who had themselves struggled with addiction, rather than by highly trained (and highly paid) doctors and mental-health professionals. No other area of medicine or counseling makes such allowances. There is no mandatory national certification exam for addiction counselors. The 2012 Columbia University report on addiction medicine found that only six states required alcohol- and substance-abuse counselors to have at least a bachelor’s degree and that only one state, Vermont, required a master’s degree. Fourteen states had no license requirements whatsoever—not even a GED or an introductory training course was necessary—and yet counselors are often called on by the judicial system and medical boards to give expert opinions on their clients’ prospects for recovery. Mark Willenbring, the St. Paul psychiatrist, winced when I mentioned this. “What’s wrong,” he asked me rhetorically, “with people with no qualifications or talents—other than being recovering alcoholics—being licensed as professionals with decision-making authority over whether you are imprisoned or lose your medical license?

[motheatenscarf]

I didn’t get to answer all of the Tallia and Theron questions I wanted to so I’m gonna cheat and just answer them here BECAUSE I WANT TO. I never talk about them but they’re cute and I love the disaster bi masquerading as functional dating the functional ace desperately trying to keep up a distinguished facade.

1. Who is the most affectionate?

I think they each are, in their own way? I mean, like.... everything I’ve described before this and after is them being affectionate in their own way? I don’t really know what else to say about it unprompted. I guess if you’re talking classical physical PDA, maybe Tallia? If your’e talking taking care of the other one and looking after them and cheering them up and trying to make them feel good or better, then... both of them?

3. Most common argument?

The endless argument on how many pets are considered to be too many and whether or not they should just retire and open a zoo

Arguing which animals could stay with them and which had to go to the zoo they opened and how big does an animal have to be before we legally have to stop calling it a pet

“A KELL DRAGON IS NOT A PET.”

“YES SHE IS BECAUSE I LOVE HER.”

The struggle of earning rights for Warbles, mainly the right for him and his swarm of babies to sleep on the bed

The inevitable and spirited debate of how MANY lizards could sleep on the bed with them at any given point

“SEVEN LIZARDS IS TOO MANY LIZARDS TO LET SLEEP ON THE BED AT ONCE.”

“BUT THEY’LL GET COLD AND LONELY IF WE LEAVE SOME OF THEM OFF :((( “

T H E     H A I R C U T

4. Favorite non-sexual activity?

They really don’t share any hobbies but MAN do they just.... shoot the shit a lot. Tallia will be dropping stitches in her latest attempt to learn space knitting, Theron will be scamming people in online pazaak out of boredom and they’ll both be talking to each other about  “When and why do you think it became evolutionary advantageous for monkey lizards to laugh like that and is it immoral to Just Kill Them All??”

5. Who is most likely to carry the other?

Tallia’s not very big but she can literally toss him around with her mind and also has a lot of core/back/thigh strength so she can and probably does carry him just for funzees. Theron can carry her, probably, he just tends not to because I don’t think Tallia would appreciate being manhandled. Unless of course Tallia got herself stabbed again (she gets stabbed a lot.... marauder problems, I guess) which is more just her leaning her weight on him than actually carrying. He probably wouldn’t have to carry her unless she was knocked the fuck out... which does tend to happen. And Tallia would of course carry him if he got injured.... shit which also happens a lot. God, this is why dps shouldn’t marry other dps. This is basically them:

7. What’s the first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings for the other?

Other than getting bummed the fuck out (Tallia) and probably having a mild panic attack (Theron) they definitely get a lot less guarded with one another. They’ve both got kind of a lot of layers to them so it wasn’t like, complete vulnerability right off the bat but Tallia let Theron start seeing the more compassionate side of her, Theron let Tallia see some of the more uncertain side of him.

8. Nicknames? & if so, how did they originate?

They’re not big on nicknames, and since Tallia is a nickname for Eschatallia, technically, that’s all they really have. Theron tried to call her “Esch” exactly one time just to see if it could be their thing but the horrified look she gave him while just slowly shaking her head ‘No,’ was all he needed to know that it was A Bad One. Tallia found out about “Technoplague” after Theron hears she also had a run-in with the Shroud and uses it when she wants to win an argument, aka, this is how we wound up with seven lizards asleep on the bed with them.

10. Who remembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?

They don’t get to go out that often but if it’s just something from the cantina, Tallia remembers what Theron orders because he’s a bit more a creature of habit and has kind of bland taste buds (modest Jedi upbringing, remember?) but Tallia usually tries to order something different every time unless there’s something she’s just absolutely craving (Vette opened her eyes to MANY new cultures of food from her transient years). So Theron can thankfully usually just point at something he’s pretty sure Tallia’s never had or whatever special they have that week from a new shipment and she’ll be happy with it, he knows she likes savory stuff with lots of spices. 

11. Who tops?

Honestly I think they’re both switches? Tallia’s more dom/top leaning and Theron more sub/bottom but it’s not strict, it’s more circumstantial/depending on who’s feeling what that day.

12. Who initiates kisses?

Depends, tbh? It’s probably 50/50? 

13. Who reaches for the other’s hand first?

Theron. Tallia’s more a “cuddler” in the sense that cats understand the term with like, “I’m just gonna lean my entire body weight on you for a while, if you wanna wrap an arm around me that’s cool but mostly I just wanna be a pancake and you can be the grill.” Theron’s definitely a “hold hands under the table” kind of PDA fan though.

14. Who kisses the hardest?

Tallia, definitely. Sith. Passion. It’s a thing.

19. Who tells their family/friends about their relationship first?

Friends goes to Tallia, Vette immediately knew because she Knows Tallia and can read her like a book and oh man of course Tallia had a crush on the ENEMY SPY, she’s combined her worst habits, terrible taste in dates and a death wish! Then Jaesa found out approximately 5 minutes later when Vette went running to her to tell her about it.

Family unfortunately went to Theron who eventually had to tell Jace about Tallia (like.... 4 years after the fact, but he told him all the same) when he went to go help start up the Alliance. It... did not go over well. I don’t think Satele ever heard from Theron herself that he and Tallia were a thing but probably figured it out because force sensitive, same as Echidna whom Tallia also never told. 

Man, these guys are bad at actually telling their family/friends anything... they probably haven’t even announced their engagement? Does anyone actually know for sure that Theron is Rowan’s father or do they just think the Commander must really trust him to let him walk around with her child in a papoose like that all day? 

God when they do get married they’re gonna invite like maybe 3 people, hand out earplugs, and exchange their vows by handing them over on paper for the other to read and then instructing them to eat the paper once it’s been read so no one will ever know except them.

21. Who is more likely to start dancing with the other?

Oh, Tallia, for sure. For Theron to dance of his own volition, he needs to already be too drunk to dance and it usually ends poorly. They don’t really dance that often because Tallia doesn’t want to make him uncomfortable but she can goad him into it sometimes.

22. Who cooks more/who is better at cooking?

Uhhh, the droid.

...

I’m not kidding.

Theron “Caf is a meal” Shan and Eschatallia “Just Put The Heat On Maximum So It Cooks Faster” Soranus are terrible cooks and should not be allowed to OWN a kitchen, much less set foot in one.

24. Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear during inappropriate times?

Mostly Tallia probably? They’re not TERRIBLE about this because they are fairly private people and both take their jobs pretty seriously but I can see either of them watching and waiting until no one’s paying attention to lean over to the other one to whisper sexy nothings. If they’re just out at some function neither of them wants to be at, tho, you can guarantee this happens. You know the party crashing chapter on Zakuul? Yeah, Tallia kept forgetting that Lana was patched into their comms. She paid for a vacation for Lana after that mission.

25. Who needs more assurance?

Both of them, god. Look at their fucked up families and all the emotional neglect and outright abuse inflicted on them as wee lil nubbins that permanently scarred their psyches. 

Tallia’s got a multi-layered personality, the outermost layer being the “I Am Your Nightmare, Grr” facade, the layer under that being “Oh no, I’m soft, please be nice to me,” and the layer under THAT which is “I’m feral and scared and full of hate.” So she’s worried that Theron fell for Personality Layer number 2 and will one day realize how pervasive and overbearing the deep layer 3 personality is and will be disgusted after realizing she’s a living horror of the dark side and he can’t love that because how could he? No one could.

Theron, however, is an amalgamation of abandonment issues wearing the skin of a man and is worried that something will go wrong, someday Tallia’s gonna realize he’s not that interesting, or funny, or kind, or something, anything. She’ll find him lacking, he won’t be enough somewhere in someway that she’ll realize she doesn’t need him at all and will cast him aside because everyone else has, why not her?

28. What do they do when they’re away from each other?

Well both of them have a criminal twi’lek bff so they can hang out with them and get into trouble, Theron’s always got a huge backlog of work he should be doing, Aerasuni likes to visit them both and hang out (she spars with Tallia and has tea and pleasant conversation LIKE A NORMAL PERSON with Theron), Jaesa’s back now and she’s trying to help Tallia figure out why she’s so bad at knitting, Koth is deeply worried about both of their eating habbits and keeps dragging one of them off to lunch without warning, Warbles always needs to go on walkies, Pargal drops by and likes to hand Theron his ass on a dejarik board, and now there’s like, A BABY who needs to be taken care of and nurtured so they’re not lacking for things to do out of necessity or for fun when the other’s busy. They’ve got surprisingly healthy social lives. 

29. one headcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart

Cross-faction ANGST and their deepest insecurities making it take so fucking long for them to just be honest and open with each other despite their emotional investment in one another being obvious. 

30. one headcanon about this OTP that mends it

They’re both desperately lonely people who come from deeply fucked up families/upbringings and have been forsaken by the people who were supposed to look out for them but they found each other and made their own dumb little family with all of their friends and now their surprisingly well adjusted child and it was hard but their earned their happy ending goddamit.