#I actually plan on talking to my doctor in a couple weeks about it

[redjukebox]

Does anyone else feel like they get really defensive of autism when it’s brought up for any reason? Like, idk if that’s the right word but anytime it’s brought up I get really defensive of myself, even if I’m simply watching a video talking about it in some way.

I’m watching a video of someone relating it to dhmis and their talking about their experience growing up with it and I just have this scared defensive feeling.

I don’t really know how to describe it

Like I’m angry, scared, sad and defensive

Maybe it’s because I’ve gone my entire life without a diagnosis and no help so when I hear about people’s experiences (good or bad) I get jealous?? Idk but it’s so weird

Like it’s to the point where I avoid content surrounding autism

Maybe it’s because it’s easy for people (neurotypicals mostly) to get info so wrong and I’m scared the info will be wrong and I’m so tired of info being wrong?? I really don’t know

Does this happen to anyone else (specifically autistic people)??

[staircasetoheaven]

Tw ED talk in the tags.

[foxy-eva]

Prom Night

Summary: After everyone shared their sad (or non-existent) prom stories, Penelope decided to host a BAU Prom Night, giving Spencer the perfect excuse to finally ask out Reader

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader 

Category: Fluff, Smut

Content Warnings: (18+, minors DNI) a bit of miscommunication, jealous Spencer, heavy kissing, fingering, handjob, protected penetrative sex

Author’s Note: This is my entry for @imagining-in-the-margins Office Party Challenge!

Word count: 2.8k

Masterlist

“And that’s how I ended up with a broken heart on prom night,” JJ concluded her story after a couple of other BAU members had shared their prom experiences in their lunch break. 

“Aww, that’s so sad!” Penelope cooed. 

“I didn’t even go to prom,” Spencer chimed in. “I mean, I was twelve, but still…”

Derek looked at you and asked, “What about you, pretty girl? Did anything exciting happen on your prom night?”

You took a moment to think about it and shook your head, “Don’t even get me started.” 

“You know what!” Penelope suddenly exclaimed. “We should throw our very own prom night! This way we can make up for all those miserable experiences.”

“That sounds fun,” JJ agreed. “I would love to take Will to prom.” 

“Yes, that’s perfect. Everyone has to bring a date!” Penelope locked eyes with Spencer and made herself very clear, “No exceptions. Not even for you, doctor.” 

Spencer cleared his voice as a slight rosy shade spread over his cheeks. It made you smile to see him like this and you wondered if he already had someone to ask to go to prom with him. His eyes met yours for a moment and your heart immediately skipped a beat. 

To everyone’s surprise Hotch agreed to have a BAU Prom Night and made sure that you could use one of the function rooms at Quantico. Over the next few days you helped Penelope figure out the details until the date of your big night was set. 

Everything was going as planned except for one detail - you still didn’t have a date. You were sure that you were the only one at this point, even Spencer seemed to have found someone. At least that was what you assumed after you kept catching him and Derek mumbling about something (or someone) and stopping once you got close enough to eavesdrop. 

Three days before the festivities began, you and Penelope were waiting for fresh coffee in the kitchen while talking about the perfect color arrangement for decorations. Spencer approached and noticed that the coffee wasn’t ready yet, so he joined into the conversation by sharing some facts about color theory. 

“Hey, Y/N,” you turned your head to spot Anderson approaching. “I heard you don’t have a date for prom night yet.” 

“You don’t?” Spencer exclaimed. “I thought you had a boyfriend.” 

You flashed him a confused look and muttered, “What? No.”

“But you mentioned this guy a few weeks ago. I overheard you talking about a date with him,” Spencer stammered. 

“I never heard from him again,” you clarified and turned to Anderson. “And no, I don’t have a prom date yet.” 

The man you had never paid any attention to before smiled at you and said, “Well, now you do!” 

Spencer looked shocked at Anderson’s words and stormed out of the room without saying anything. You had never seen him acting this way and watched as he disappeared in the empty conference room. You flashed Anderson an apologetic look before following Spencer to talk to him. 

You found him sitting at the table, pretending to look through a file when you sat down beside him. “Spencer, what’s going on?” 

“I thought you already had a date,” he mumbled without looking at you. “And now you’re going with Anderson.”

Slowly you got a hunch what all of this was about. It made your heart flutter to realize that he wanted to ask you out. 

“I haven’t agreed to go with him, yet,” you told him. 

He finally locked eyes with you and asked, “Do you want to go with him?” 

“I don’t want to go alone. But the guy I actually want to go with hasn’t asked me yet.” 

Spencer didn’t respond, instead his eyes found the file on the desk again. You couldn’t believe how oblivious he was and realized that you had to spell it out for him. “Spencer, I’m talking about you.” 

“Wh..What?” It took a few seconds until he realized the meaning of your words. “Oh.” 

“Are you gonna ask me out now or what?” You giggled. 

“Yes! Yes. Uhm,” he cleared his voice and took a deep breath. “Do you want to go to prom with me?”

You smiled at him and nodded. “I would love to.” 

A wide grin appeared on his face and you noticed a sparkle in his eyes you had never seen before. Spencer seemed genuinely happy. 

“Should I uhm… pick you up at your place?” Spencer wondered. 

“No, I’ll get ready here because I have to help with decorations. But you could pick me up right here and we’ll walk down to the function room together?” 

“That sounds lovely.” 

After you turned down Anderson’s invitation, you and the rest of the team had to get back to your job for the next few days. It was hard to focus on work as your mind kept drifting off to the fact that Spencer had finally asked you out. Anytime that thought crossed your mind, you felt your cheeks heating up and your heart began beating erratically inside your chest. 

For the first time since you started working at the BAU, Spencer didn't look right away whenever your eyes met his. His glances lingered on you and it made you feel like you were the only person in the room with him.

When the big night finally arrived, you spent most of the day preparing the function room for the evening. About thirty minutes before everyone else would arrive, you hastily disappeared in the restroom to change into your dress, fix your hair and put on some make-up. 

Spencer arrived at the conference room just a few minutes after you. He wore suits most days but you had never seen him wearing anything that fancy. He looked incredibly handsome in his black suit, white dress shirt and bow tie. 

Before you had a chance to tell him how gorgeous he looked, he stammered, “Wow… you look stunning.” 

Your fingertips brushed over the soft fabric of your dress as if to straighten out wrinkles that weren’t there. A wide smile spread over your face at the compliment. It was no coincidence that you picked a purple dress, aware that it was Spencer’s favorite color. 

“Thank you. You look very handsome, too.”

A rosy shade spread over Spencer’s cheeks while his lips curled into a coy smile. The two of you stood there in silence for a few moments until he seemed to remember the item he held in his hands. 

“Here, I got you something,” he said as he let you take a look. 

It was a small corsage with white and lavender-colored blossoms. It matched your dress perfectly. You reached out your hand, implicitly telling him to put it over your wrist. 

His fingertips gently brushed over the back of your hand as he placed the corsage on your arm. His touch was innocent but ignited sparks inside your chest nonetheless. He must have felt it too because when his eyes found yours you noticed that warm glimmer in them again. 

As the two of you entered the function room the party had already started. The dance floor was filled with your coworkers, moving in ways you had never seen before. The colors of the balloons matched the rest of the decor and you were more than happy that everything had worked out so wonderfully.

“So, what do you think about your very first prom, boy wonder?” Penelope giggled as she approached the both of you. 

“It’s perfect,” was all he had to say.

Penelope grabbed you both at your arms to pull you onto the dance floor. Spencer protested at first but gave in once you took his hand in yours. You joined the others in their silly little dances and to your surprise, Spencer did too. That was until a slow song came on. 

As if it was the most natural thing in the world, he turned to you and placed his hands on your waist. You let yours rest on his shoulders and began swaying from side to side. 

“Sorry, I have no idea what I’m doing,” he chuckled as he looked down at his feet. 

“You’re doing great, Spencer,” you sincerely responded as you moved a little closer towards him until there barely was any distance left between your bodies. 

“Is this better than your actual prom night?” He wanted to know. “You never actually told us about it.” 

You couldn't stop your hands from moving to the nape of his neck, gently playing with a few loose curls as you purred, “It’s so much better.”

Just when you thought that he was about to lean down to kiss you, you noticed the high-pitched laughter of your female coworkers. 

“Aah, look! They are exactly like those teenagers in every high school romcom!” JJ chirped as she pulled out her phone to snap a picture of the two of you. 

You turned your head to find her face in the crowd, prompting Penelope to chime in, “No, don’t stop, my two lovebirds! Go on, kiss!” 

You felt your cheeks heating up at the realization that you had an audience in this intimate moment.

“Do you wanna try out the photo booth?” Spencer suggested to get away from the curious glances of your work family. 

“That sounds fun!”

And it was fun. You spent a while posing like those typical prom couples before taking a bunch of silly pictures with the props Penelope had bought. 

“Okay, I think we’re done,” you laughed once your cheeks started hurting from smiling so much. 

Spencer shook his head and pressed the button once more. “One last set!” 

Just when the countdown of the camera reached the number zero, you felt Spencer’s lips on your cheek. Your head was spinning after everything that had happened tonight. It seemed like finally being close to the man you had pined after for months gave you the courage to show some initiative. 

You turned your head to find his mouth, capturing it in a soft kiss with no intention to stop even after the last photo was taken. Kissing him then was chaste and sweet and so, so perfect. 

“Busted!” You heard Derek’s voice as he approached the photo booth with his date. “You two should get a room.” 

Almost in unison the both of you responded, “Shut up, Morgan.”

The next few hours flew by quicker than either of you would have liked. Spencer must have noticed how exhausted you were, so he offered, “It’s getting pretty late. I can drive you home if you want?”

Even though you didn't want this night to end, you knew that it was probably for the best. “Yeah, I would like that.”

Spencer nodded and took your hand as he led you out of the room. The way to his car seemed endless and the need to be close to each other was all-consuming. There was no way you could make it without giving into your desperation.

The elevator seemed like the perfect place for your second kiss. Spencer pushed you against one of the walls, his hands cupping your face as he leaned down to find your lips. This time it was far from innocent, the way he instantly deepened the kiss let you know that he must have fantasized about this moment for just as long as you had. 

“You’re so beautiful,” he breathed against your lips. “I’ll never get enough of you.” 

What followed felt like a haze, between longing glances, sweet kisses and bright laughter you somehow made it to your doorstep. Spencer leaned down to find your lips once more before he said, “I would really like to take you out to dinner sometime.”

You kissed him again and mumbled against his lips, “I would like that, too.”

His smile was soft when he purred, “Goodnight. I had a great time tonight.” 

Right when you wanted to respond, you remembered something. Your facial expression must have given it away, because Spencer furrowed his eyebrows and asked, “What’s wrong?” 

Without really thinking about it, you told him, “I can’t get out of this dress alone.”

His saccharine smile morphed into a playful smirk. “Is that so?”

“I know that sounds like the lamest excuse to… you know,” you giggled. “But it's true. Penelope had to help me put it on earlier. There’s no way I’ll be able to get it off on my own.” 

Instead of teasing you some more, Spencer simply followed you inside your apartment. You lost the ability to form any coherent thought once you turned around and Spencer touched your back to undo the zipper. He opened it all the way down to the small of your back. The way his knuckles brushed over your exposed skin was intoxicating.

Once the dress dropped to the floor, you turned around again. Spencer let his sight wander over body for a split second before he found your eyes. You noticed how his fingers twitched and he licked over his lips. 

“If you don’t tell me to leave right now I won’t be able to hold back anymore.”

You stepped closer to him and whispered, “Stay.” 

That was all he needed to hear. His hands were on you in an instant, exploring the curves and dips of your body while your bodies melted into one another in a passionate kiss. With joined forces you helped each other shed each piece of clothing as you stumbled into your bedroom. Spencer pushed you onto the mattress and you welcomed him on top of you. 

He began trailing kisses down your neck before biting down on your pulse point. Your whole body felt like it was floating on a cloud as you felt his lips wandering over your skin. 

“Would you have let him take your dress off, too?” He mumbled against your neck.

It took you a moment to realize that he was talking about Anderson. “No,” you sighed. “I’m yours, Spencer.”

He moaned in response to your words and found your lips once more. One of his hands wandered down your body, greedily grabbing at your skin until it found its destination between your legs. The moment he noticed that you were already dripping with desire for him, he groaned, “You’re mine.”

Your whole body felt like it was on fire when he began dragging his fingertips through your slick folds. When he focussed on your little bud, you couldn't help but start to grind your core against his hand. Your own hands became curious and wandered from his shoulders down his body until your fingers could wrap around his hardness. 

The sounds of his pleasure spurred you further on as you moved your hand up and down, letting your thumb glide over his weeping tip. He felt hot and heavy inside your palm and you got impatient to find out how good he’d feel inside of you. 

Spencer's eyes followed your hand when it let go of him to grab a condom from the nightstand instead. He was quick to put it on before kneeling between your legs. The way he took a moment to let his eyes graze over your body almost felt more intimate than anything you had done until then. 

When he leaned over you he reached between your bodies to guide his cock to your opening. Your body welcomed him without any resistance and you relished the sensation of him filling you out perfectly. 

“Fuck!” He groaned as you clenched around him. “I have wanted to do this for so long.” 

With your arms and legs wrapped around his body you brought him impossibly close. 

“Take me,” you demanded before kissing him again.

He began pushing into you, slowly at first but with an accelerated pace once he seemed sure that you could take it. The room filled with the sounds of your shared pleasure and your bodies colliding over and over again. 

When he felt you getting tighter around him, he propped himself up on one arm and  reached down between your bodies with his other hand. When he found your most sensitive spot, he instantly began drawing tight circles around it. 

“Are you gonna come for me?” He sighed as if it hadn’t been obvious. 

You were already too far gone to answer him, your climax taking the both of you by surprise. When he felt your walls pulsing around his hardness he praised you, “Good girl.” 

Just a few moments later he fell over the edge himself, throbbing inside you before collapsing into your arms. He began mumbling sweet nothings into your ear while your fingertips danced over his back. 

After cleaning up, you found your home in each other's arms. 

“I’m really glad I got to experience my first prom with you,” Spencer cooed before placing a soft kiss on your forehead. “I can’t believe you almost went with Anderson though.”

“I can't believe you almost didn’t ask me out,” You snickered in response.

“Fair point.”

Please like, reblog and leave a comment! I need your lovely words to stay motivated to write more stories.

Taglist: @nomajdetective @reidsbookclub @gspenc @samuel-de-champagne-problems @matthew-gray-gubler-lover @malindacath @luredwithpretzels @reidselle @alexxavicry @frickin-bats @spencersprettyslut @sebs-oxygen @happymangospot @cynbx @melifluorei-d @hotchandspencearedilfs @kobaltdragon @castiels-majestic-wings @emiliaserpe @thenerdthatwrites @saturnstringz @missabsey @spencerslove @guacam011y @whoopdy-doo @hugyourlungs @reiderwriter @enamoradax @hales-17 @loaksulluyswife @ecneremili @xserenax-13 @grumpyy-bearr @purpledsky @super-nerd22 @velvetthunder93

[moronkombat]

Hi :) I hope you're doing well. I was hoping if you could write pregnancy and dad headcanons for my hubby, Kenshi. He is ideal father material. I doubt Kenshi could truly settle down with his past coming back to haunt him. My man would stress 24/7.

tw: pregnancy

The pregnancy was unplanned and unexpected

Kenshi was not planning on have children anytime soon with all that is going on in his life

He always practiced safe sex or at least he thought he has but clearly it is not always foolproof

Your symptoms started quickly and you took a test immediately. The test, all the five after that didn't lie. You were pregnant

Telling Kenshi was difficult. Not only because of you nerves but because he is gone frequently. He isn't home when you find out nor is he home for the next couple following weeks

When he returns, Kenshi picks up on your nervousness rather quickly and he begins to pester you to tell him what's bothering you

He thinks you are so nervous because someone has threatened you or found out where you live but then you tell him you are pregnant and Kenshi loses all words

Standing there silently, he cannot move. He cannot speak. He cannot breath. Kenshi can only stand there and feel an emotion he cannot put the name to

It's only when he hears you crying does he act. He takes you into an embrace, cradling the crook of your neck as you cry

He is silent for awhile before he tells you that everything will be alright and that he will take of you and the baby

Kenshi wants to be there every moment of your pregnancy but you both know that is impossible but he still tries

While he may not be able to physically be there, he calls you frequently to check in on you. He will go through a great many burner phones in order to do so

He often worries about if you are on your feet too much, if you're getting enough to eat or if you are feeling sick. Kenshi wants nothing more than to be with you in those moments

To hold your hair back, as you suffer from the dreaded morning sickness or to rub your feet as they grow sore but it is not often he gets those opportunities

When he is home, you are not to lift a finger or be on your feet. He makes sure you are taken care of

He cooks all your meals and takes care of all the housework while he is home with you

Most of the time he cannot be there when you go to the doctor appointments but you often have him listen in over the phone

He is able to make it to one visit to the doctor and its when you find out the sex of the baby

Kenshi is happy with either sex and is mostly just wanting a healthy child and a heathy spouse

Things seem to be well but you enter labor early, about 2 weeks earlier than expected and you're rushed to the hospital

Kenshi is given word of your condition and, despite knowing he shouldn't, rushes to be with you

He doesn't care if someone sees him or if the Yakuza find out. All he cares about is being by your side when your child is born

It's a close call but he makes it and when he holds your baby in his arms, he actually sobs and drops to his knees. He's so happy and so full of love for this small and vulnerable infant

As a Father, he is largely off working and cannot be there often and he hates that

His office is full of pictures of you and your baby

He wants to know how the baby is doing and all the milestones they will go through so he calls and video chats as much as he can

You will put him on the phone with your baby and Kenshi talks to them so sweetly and loving

When Kenshi is home, he is constantly holding your baby. He just can't put them down and so he won't

He reads to them, plays with them and kisses them goodnight. At times he will fall asleep righting up against the crib where your baby is sleeping

Kenshi is a very affectionate father when he can be available but he is often not available for long periods of time

You make a scrapbook about Kenshi that you show and show to your child every day so that they may know him even if they cannot see him

[myseungsunglove]

Love without words | Ksm

Pairing: Seungmin x Reader

Warnings: angst, smut, fluff (specific warnings under the cut)

Word Count: 2.6k

𖠫Summary: There is nothing quite like a night with Seungmin to erase all need for words between you.

✎A/N✎: I hadn’t really intended to pair this concept with Seungmin’s accident, but it seemed a good entry into a more intimate moment. There isn’t really any talk or speculation about the accident itself, just the minor aftermath of emotions that lead to the reader comforting Seungmin on his birthday. Just a soft series of moments that lead to a healing experience for both of them. Please understand this in no way reflects any actual events, obviously. Just felt like I needed to mention that in case anyone gets any ideas.

This is probably one of my favorite pieces I have ever written. So I really hope you guys enjoy it.

◠ ◡ ◠᭚ιαᵕ̈

「© October 13, 2023 by mysweethannie」

✘MDNI✘

smut warnings: unprotected sex, soft & intimate

Generally speaking, you aren’t a particularly loud person. So it came as no surprise to Seungmin that when you reach high levels of pleasure with him, all words escape you. You aren’t really one to scream out in ecstasy either. Instead, it’s like someone has stolen away your ability to utter a sound. You are reduced to breathy sighs and airy whispers that vaguely sound like Seungmin’s name. Not to say that Seungmin can’t make you vocal, but during the more intimate moments and less dominating encounters, quiet passion is your default. Your mind, body, and soul seem to melt into Seungmin. You feel as though you quite literally become one. Every touch and movement of your bodies, no matter how big or small, are all you need to express your deepest feelings for each other.

Seungmin is much like you in that regard. He isn’t all that vocal during your most intimate moments either. The two of you are so much alike in some ways it seems unreal at times. In matters of the bedroom, the two of you are generally much more quiet than a “normal” couple which makes for some really intense moments shared between you.

Tonight is going to be one of those nights.

It is Seungmin’s birthday. He was recently in a minor accident that left him with muscle soreness and a few scrapes and bruises, but no major injuries. Even without major injuries, doctors insisted that he cancel his schedule for the upcoming week and rest to practice the utmost precaution. This means no New York and no birthday celebration with STAYs. You had planned an elaborate evening in New York to celebrate his birthday outside of his schedule for the festival. To say that he was disappointed to be sidelined for his birthday weekend would be a major understatement.

“You could have gone with them,” he laments, his voice low and pouty as he stares out the window. It is a gloomy, rainy day which fits the somber mood. Seungmin is tucked into himself on the couch, his knees up close to his chest, a soft wool blanket draped over his legs, bundled up in an oversized navy blue hoodie and clasping a cup of tea with both hands.

“Seung,” you sigh from your place in the kitchen, as you clean up the birthday breakfast you surprised him with. “I wouldn’t have left you on your birthday, no matter how much you insist that you’re okay,” you say, wiping your hands with a dish towel and folding it back properly to lay it over the handle of the oven door. You turn and face him to see he is still looking out the window.

“You may be physically okay,” you hedge, your face revealing you aren’t entirely sure of that statement. He had slept nearly 15 hours the night after the accident and that was after he had slept most of the day that followed the accident as well. So despite his insistence that he was fine, his body seemed to have a different opinion than his brain.

You reach out and grab his chin, slowly turning his gaze up to you.

“But I know you are devastated that you aren’t in New York,” you tell him, your words soft and your eyes caring as you meet his gaze.

“Please don’t pity me, jagia,” he grumbles, trying to pull away from you, his jaw set in frustration, his eyes determined.

You step onto the couch then, your legs crossing in front of you as you sit down in front of Seungmin, one of his legs moving to dangle off the edge of the couch. This leaves room for you to lean into his space and grab both sides of his face with your small, delicate hands and slowly pull his lips to yours.

He groans softly against your mouth. It’s only when he grunts briefly, the sound a little different than usual, that you realize you have partially sat on his leg, which he had felt the most soreness in since the accident.

“Oh my god,” you gasp, pulling away from the kiss. “I’m so sorry, babe,” you say in panic as you move to scramble off of his leg. At some point, Seungmin had set down his tea and his hands were gripping your waist. He held you in place, not allowing you to get away from him. When you look at his face, his eyes are closed and he is gently shaking his head.

“Stay,” he breathes, and if you hadn’t seen his lips move, you may not have heard the next word. “Please.”

“Seungmin,” you whisper, your hands finding purchase in his black hair, your fingers dancing along the nape of his neck as your lips crash together once more. This kiss is more desperate and full of longing as he moves to hover over you, breaking the kiss momentarily as you fall onto the couch, your back resting against the soft cushions, Seungmin’s large hands still firmly planted on your hips, but slowly moving up your torso as he kisses you.

Once settled, he pulls away and looks into your eyes, his walnut colored boba eyes round and dark with desire.

“Happy Birthday, Seungie,” you smile up at him, grasping the bottom of your shirt and pulling it over your head, to reveal your bare chest to him. Without a word, he scrambles off the couch, grabbing your hand and pulling you to a standing position. You don’t have to ask where you are going as he drags you out of the living room.

He leads you down the hallway and into your shared bedroom. Once you cross the threshold of the room, he pulls you ahead of him and guides you to the foot of the bed. The back of your knees hit the mattress at the same moment Seungmin’s lips find yours again, his tongue tangling with yours, eliciting a soft sigh that is expressed more through the rise and fall of your chest than an audible sound.

You grapple with the hem of his hoodie, pulling it and the t-shirt beneath it over his head as he lifts his arms with a small groan, your lips forced to part from his momentarily.

You kiss him quickly and then bend over to rid yourself of your shorts. As you stand, your eyes meet his and he blinks slowly, his eyes roving your body like it is the first time he has ever seen you naked. His pale, broad chest rises slightly with a sigh, his tongue darting out between his lips as he drinks you in.

You move then, crawling onto the bed and coming to rest on the mountain of pillows piled against the headboard, resting on your elbows as you watch him. Seungmin sheds his sweatpants and crawls onto the bed to join you, his body coming to rest on top of yours. He fits perfectly between your legs.

You cradle his face again, looking into his eyes. He holds your gaze long enough for you to know that no words are needed. He needs comfort and right now you need him. You will give him anything in the world to take away the sadness in his eyes. He bends down to kiss you slowly, your chests pressed together and he can’t help but cant his hips against yours as your tongue slips into his mouth, tasting every corner it touches.

Your hands wrap around to the back of his head, your fingers dancing along the now longer strands of hair that are there. His lips leave yours and start a trail along your jaw and down your neck as his now fully hard cock slides through your wet folds. Your hips buck up to meet his movements, your mouth hanging open as you breathe heavily, a reaction to the movement of his lips and hips.

Just when you think you can’t take his teasing anymore, Seungmin retreats from his attention to your neck and grabs his dick in hand, lining it up with your entrance. His eyes watch intently as the thick head of his cock breeches you, your body arching in response, a desperate attempt to draw him deeper into you.

He leans into you, getting the hint that comes without words that you need him. His lips meet yours as he pushes all the way into you, the sweet stretch of his long, hard member pulling a quiet, desperate sigh from your lungs, the smallest hint of a moan present but barely perceptible as his hips finally meet your pelvis. He doesn’t move for what feels like minutes as he kisses you, long and hard, his tongue exploring every inch of your mouth.

It’s not until you bite his bottom lip at the same moment that your hips buck into his, that he realizes he hasn’t moved. He slowly pulls out of you and slides back in with ease, your body following the rhythm he sets. You move slowly like that for a time, the tip of his cock reaching that spongey pleasure spot inside of you as you wrap your legs around his waist to pull him impossibly closer to you.

His hands drift up from your waist and fully encompass your breast as he leans back and pulls his hips away from yours and quickly snaps them back. You can feel his heavy balls slapping against your ass as his movements quicken.

Wanting to take care of Seungmin, you press your hands against his chest that is now glistening with sweat, and push him back so that your positions are switched. He slips out of you, but you are quick to scramble back on top of him, grabbing his cock and lining it back up with you and sliding down onto it, until he is fully inside you once more. Your hands rest on his chest as you take a deep breath. Seungmin’s long fingers are digging into your thighs, his eyes shut tight, his lips closed tightly as he forces himself to breathe through his nose.

You move then, your hips rocking against his, your clit rubbing against his pelvis as his cock moves against your walls. His hands dance up your sides, sending shivers down your spine and causing goosebumps to break out across your skin. You’re hot and cold all at the same time. Both of his large hands grasp your breasts and you lay your small hands on top of his, encouraging his movements as your fingers interlace with his, kneading your soft, ample breasts together.

“Y/n,” Seungmin whispers.

The sensation of his hands on your body and the whisper of your name on his lips causes you to be filled with need. You begin bouncing on his cock, the smack of skin the only sound to be heard in the otherwise quiet room. If you listen closely, you can hear the rain pelting against the window outside.

You feel that familiar coil start to tighten in your gut, your movements becoming more desperate and you clench hard around Seungmin’s cock as you chase your high. No words are necessary for him to understand that you are close so he sits up, his arms sliding around your waist and up your back, pressing your chests firmly together as you ride him fast and hard.

He kisses you fiercely and lifts you at the same moment, your back once again on the bed as he moves relentlessly inside you. Suddenly you aren’t the only one chasing that sweet release.

His hips meet yours with punctuated precision, the need to feel even closer to you growing by the second.

“Seungmin,” you whisper, the quiet signal that you’re close to letting go.

His eyes meet yours and his hips slow, languid and purposeful as he dips down to connect his lips to yours. His tongue slides against yours and that is all it takes for you to explode around him, your walls fluttering frantically and your legs spasming uncontrollably. A small gasp escapes you, your head falling against the pillow, your mouth hung open in a silent cry of pleasure. Seungmin works you through your release, watching you intently as you gasp for air. As your walls’ euphoric contractions dissipate, Seungmin finds his release, burying his face in the dip of your neck, his teeth nipping lightly as he spills into you.

This action prolongs your dissipating orgasim, your hands finding purchase in Seungmin’s soft locks as your bodies quake together.

Seungmin slumps against you, spent. The energy of your releases now gone, your chests both heave against each other, your heavy breathing the only sound to be heard for several long minutes.

As your heart rates slow, Seungmin’s lip travel along the column of your neck and up along your chin. You moan weakly at his feather light kisses before his lips find their home against yours. You smile against his mouth as you hold his face to yours.

“I love you so damn much,” he mumbles against your lips. He slips out of you slowly, earning a whine from you at both the loss of contact and the loss of him. You reach out to him with grabby hands, beckoning him to return to you.

He smiles at you fondly, chuckling quietly. He reaches out and grabs one of your hands, pulling you up and to the edge of the bed.

“Shower first, then cuddle.”

You spring into action and move together to the bathroom to clean up. You're hot and sticky with sweat, so a shower is a pretty wise decision.

With the goal of cuddling in mind, it doesn’t take long to clean up, eager to climb back in bed with Seungmin.

After you dry off, you drop the soft towel and lift the comforter crawling underneath its warmth, closing it quickly and snuggling in. Seungmin takes your towels into the bathroom to hang, and returns naked, a soft sigh leaving your body at the magnificent sight of him. He too lifts the comforter, climbing in after you, his arms wrapping around your waist and pulling your back in close against his body.

“I love you, you know,” you say, turning your face so that you can see his eyes.

“I know,” he says with a slow blink and a small smile.

You turn in his arms and kiss him slowly.

“Happy Birthday, Seungie,” you whisper against his lips. “There is nowhere I’d rather be than here with you.”

He hugs you tighter and kisses your temple softly.

“Me too, love.”

He snuggles into you and you both fall asleep this way, thoughts of the accident and the New York trip the farthest things from your love drunk minds.

It doesn’t matter where you are with Kim Seungmin, as long as you are together, all you’ll ever need is him.

[tree-obsession]

2.2 SPOILERS!! PROCEED AT YOUR OWN RISK

this is a small lore discussion! mostly speculation and theories- i have not seen leaks about 2.3 plot yet, but i have seen a couple about boothill's character stories, so please keep that in mind!

trigger for mentions of suicide(aventurine) and mega corps(the ipc)

we have to talk about the ending cutscene with aventurine and boothill more! i'll start with my fav parts that no one really has brought up yet:

Aventurine intimidating Boothill after mentioning the guards are out- Boothill sounded so offput and hasty while reassuring him they were just knocked out, and we have to talk about aventurine himself just being intimidating more honestly his glare actually did kind of scare me.

Boothill pointing a gun at aventurine was. well. i'm sorry i did actually laugh at that. boothill i think you should research your targets a bit more honestly that guy is NOT afraid of guns. he fully walked into the nihility and pointed at least one gun at himself, and just got out of his own meticulously-planned suicide. threats of death won't work, sorry. also he has good reason to hate oswaldo schneider as well- threats didn't even have to be used, probably! he would kill him too, probably(revenge arc go go go!!)

the convo between aven and jade was. yeah. why he's betting his life again, i don't know (maybe sarcasm? or it was really just banter?) but it does seem like the two of them aren't super close at all, at least from what little i could gather. also if diamond hurts aventurine the entire fandom will kick his ass, emanator or no, so he better be prepared for that too lol. also, it was a pretty common theory aventurine would leave the ipc after exiting nihility, since acheron presumably broke his ties- i wonder why he went back? perhaps he had no plans as to where to go, or he has some ulterior motive?

how did he get out of nihility so unscathed? (for context, i haven't gotten aven's text messages yet, but i'm aware of some of their contents since they've been floating around w/out spoiler tags. the messages are mentioned a bit here if you wanna avoid spoilering!) i know argenti got him out, but 1) why was argenti there, or where did he even find him? and 2) that seems so random- both argenti and jade confirmed it, but plot-wise what's even the point of argenti pulling him out? also argenti said he was in a "woeful state" when he got out, and apparently the stonehearts are willing to give aven a break (which i'm assuming is major, since stonehearts are super important and have a lot of responsibility, plus he just destroyed a cornerstone) so him already being back on his feet when we see the phone call is a bit weird right away. he doesn't even sound sick, and ratio or any other doctor is nowhere in sight! (message spoilers start here) i'm aware the aventurine cornerstone was fully shattered/destroyed while protecting him from nihility- was he really in there for who-knows-how-long without any protection at all? he's apparently having nightmares and the ipc needed to call in a doctor of chaos to treat him, which is concerning considering his mental health and general will to live were extremely low even before walking into the nihility. like he genuinely has some of the worst will to live i've ever seen in a character or human being- walking through the nihility should have utterly destroyed him mentally and physically, but it didn't. 2.3 HAS to give us a whole lotta context, especially with nihility lore (my favorite aeon, i may be biased) and more about the ipc!

anyway, thank you for reading this poorly formatted, stream-of-consciousness word vomit about 2.2's aventurine lore. hope you liked it! drop ur thoughts in replies and reblogs plz they give me life(although i will be very busy next few weeks, so please don't be offended if you want a reply and don't get it, im so sorry!)

2.2 was peak- a bit slow, but the story was some of the best, if not the best stuff hoyo has given us in terms of writing quality. so great! i cried for sure, and that boss battle was just everything- especially the music. robin my lesbian queen if i didn't have to pull for firefly i would get your lightcone for sure...

see you all next time! thx for sticking around (:

[poisonousquinzel]

It's not surprising that Batman: Gotham Adventures #43 is one of the BTAS comics that I really appreciate, I will always love a good Working With Bats plot, but I wanna talk about the background they gave for the "Villain" that includes Harleen. I've found that while Harley definitely gets mischaracterized a lot ((looking at you Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti))

Harleen is rarely written well and in character.

The actual "Harleen" comic is an outlier and I appreciate how it handles their sessions, Joker's manipulation and her fall is shown outright. There is no doubt that this is not a Love Story, and the followup bits that the creator has posted over the years lays out the relationship and Harley's mindset. It's a good read before "Harleen: Red" [Harley Quinn: Black + White + Red #1]

So, I wanted to talk about the issue with how she's written in this specific plot line.

"Wha..."

"Hello, Doctor Quinzel. Remember me?"

"How could I forget? Heh...So...Whatcha been up to?"

"Studying you. Plotting, planning...All those times we were locked up in Arkham together. You, of course, going in and out while I stayed...and stayed...and stayed...

You never even glanced in my direction. And you never stopped talking. It was so easy to find out all your plans, your secret hideouts. I've thought about nothing but getting revenge on you."

"Hey, give a girl a break, willya! It was my first day on the job!"

"It wasn't just your first day! You saw me every day for weeks! I kept saying I was innocent! But you didn't listen to a word I said--All you wanted to talk about was The Joker!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing! Who wouldn't want to talk about him all day long? He's dreamy! Besides, everyone in there says they're innocent. Heh...I should know..."

"That's exactly what I mean! You ignored me, kept me locked up in there...All because you had a crush on some sick lunatic!"

Harley hasn't appeared more than maybe 10 times in comics at this point, her origin is an episode itself. Having part of her background so egregiously mistold is absolutely beyond me.

It feels as if the creators were forbidden from reading previous material I stg 😭

Truly, it's not that hard, it's one comic. Why would you include something tied to Harleen and then not bother to read the origin comic where we see her.

It wouldn't even be that hard to keep it aligned with what we'd already been shown.

Have it so Miss Smith was in there during her first few weeks of having him as a patient, when she started her sessions with Joker.

While at first she had hope that Dr. Quinzel was going to help her and get the situation sorted out, and at first it did seem that way, but... something...changed in the doctor during the weeks that followed.

then in the days right before Harleen was to finish the paperwork that'd sign off on her release, Joker escaped and he got recaptured by Batman after a couple days. He got brought back like this.

And it caused something to crack in Dr. Quinzel.

The paperwork went onto sit unfinished and unsubmitted on the former desk of a now wanted criminal accomplice. When she gets reassigned, she hopes things will be able to go quickly since Dr. Quinzel had been seeing her and logged her info, but goes on to find that a lot of her latter entries were incomplete. The hand copies of her notes had been confiscated as evidence or destroyed during the events of her break in.

Hell, even just have it so when Harleen was frantic in her rush back to her office after they took Joker to the hospital ward

in her haste to get her car keys, she knocked over the now cold cup of coffee from that morning and didn't care that it spilled over her desk & papers because Dr. Quinzel was never going to step foot inside these walls again.

Because this plot line taking place during her first few weeks at Arkham is plainly just impossible. With the way Harleen is written, it's apparent she's already falling.

But it took 3 months until she was able to have a session with Joker. Am I supposed to believe that Harleen, from the very start, was a lovesick fan and was so open about it that it would have became common knowledge within Arkham? Something she talks to patients about??

"It took nearly three months of pleading before Dr. Leland finally gave in and let me do a session with The Joker.

She told me he was an animal, plain and simple. A fiend who enjoyed twisting the minds of those stupid enough to trust him.

I was determined not to be taken unaware, and studied up on all his jokes, tricks and gimmicks."

That's three months of her reputation, her first impression, being formed into "Kinda Real Lovesick For The Joker".

That would get back to Dr. Leland. There's no way in hell she'd ever have approved of sessions between them if she didn't have faith in Harleen's abilities as a psychiatrist and her passion for helping the patients.

I doubt Harleen would have kept her job longer than a few weeks, frankly, if she was like she's written here. Because that's a liability??? It would be beyond careless for Dr. Leland to have not fired her immediately upon finding out she was so enamored and in love with one of the most dangerous people in there.

Cause there's a chance she'll break him out,,,,, like she did.

-

Also, as a bit of a side note:

"All those times we were locked up in Arkham together. You, of course, going in and out while I stayed...and stayed...and stayed..."

This comic is after this & this, Harley has broken out certainly, but she has also been released.

If someone with a record like her can be rehabilitated, then why the fuck was this poor woman still in there?

It's mistaken identity with a ridiculously common first & last name. It's a criminal who is going "back" to Arkham.

So why in the years she "I stayed...and stayed...and stayed..." not include basic patient identification? Like finger prints? a headshot picture? a description of what the woman they're looking for looks like?

It's been years, why would this woman be ignored and left to rot in there? This comic isn't even trying to make Arkham out to be horrendously incompetent.

But that's how it is???

What possible crime could the woman they're looking for have committed to justify this? To justify them, seemingly, overlooking her solely because the original psychiatrist [who left in an outlandish way] did not sign off that she needed to be released?

It says that she was stopped for speeding and taken back to Arkham for that. Why on earth would someone be taken to Arkham Asylum for a fucking speeding ticket?

If the Criminal Jenny Smith is a bad enough dangerous criminal that it warrants an immediate arrest and incarceration, then it's outright neglectful for there to be such a lack of fucking documentation about her!??? Like a basic description? Or photo? Or finger prints at least??

Its said she's released because they caught the real Jenny Smith, so they had to have had something to go on besides the damned name?? To prove that this was the real one they'd actually previously had in Arkham and that it was a mix-up.

-

uhhhhh so anyway <333 just an example of the inconsistency with Harleen's characterization that I noticed and wanted to make a post about<33

this is my energy trying to read her appearances sometimes ✌️

Comics: Batman: Gotham Adventures #43, The Batman Adventures: Mad Love

[slvt4em1lyprenti2s]

Nurses United Against Mark Sloan

Originally posted on my Wattpad @MayaBishop_is_myWife

Warning: Implied NSFW, nothing more Word count: 725 (including A/N)

Marks POV: Oh wow. They really do hate me. I've just been introduced to a club called 'Nurses United Against Mark Sloan' I thought they liked the sex? Oh well, I have my eyes on one nurse and one nurse only. Y/n y/l/n. She's beautiful and amazing with patients, double whammy. Rumour had it she's single as well so, I'm gunna try get her to fall for me. Notice how I said fall for me and not get in bed with me? See, I'm a changed man.

As I'm walking to my surgery I see my favourite nurse, y/l/n.  Mark - "Hey y/n, quick question your not a part of that club are you? The uhm Nurses Hate Mark Sloan or something?" Y/N - "First of all, it's Nurses United Against Mark Sloan and no, I am not. How could I hate you, come on?" Mark - "See, and that's why your my favourite." Y/N - "Aww, I'm your favourite nurse? How cute." Mark - "Don't be a tease, anyway I've got a surgery to get to but I expect to see you at rounds." Y/N - "Yes Doctor." Mark - "I like it when you call me Doctor." Y/N - "Oh do you?" Mark - "Yeah I do, I really do but, I've got a surgery to get to so, I'll see you at rounds." I flash her a smile before I leave. God, I'm practically in love with a woman i've barley shared 4 full conversations with. This could go wrong.

Y/N POV: I've been feeling a pair of eyes on me all day but I keep brushing it off because I think I know exactly who it is. We've been on and off flirting and stealing glances and touches for weeks now but he never makes a move. In a way i'm glad because hopefully that means he want me, like actually wants me, not just the sex. So, I'm planning on asking him out after rounds and hopefully get a date.

Time skip

I've just finished rounding with Dr. Sloan and now I'm filling out charts trying to get a word in when he's rambling about the surgery he just did. If I'm completely honest, it's adorable. I love seeing him get excited about his job, it shows he cares. Once he realises I'm not really listening he speaks up. Mark - "Okay, I know, not that interesting to you I'll stop talking now." Y/N - "No! Please keep going I just need to ask you something once your finished." Mark - "Is it something about post-op treatment?" Y/N - "No more of a personal question." Mark - "Shoot." Y/N - "Wanna grab a drink at Joe's after your shift?" His face went through the five stages of grief in 5 seconds I swear. He looked shocked at first but then more confused and then just really happy. Like smiling ear to ear happy. Now he's just got a smug smirk plastered across his face. Mark - "You want to go out with me? Like get in my pants?" Y/N "No, like an actual date. If you want to of course just because we've been kinda close these past couple weeks and you know I just thought maybe you might wanna go." As I was rambling and trying to explain myself he put his hand on my arm to calm me down. Mark - "Hey, hey, hey slow down. I didn't say no did I?" At this point I was the one grinning like an idiot. I looked deep into his eyes looking for any signs that he was lying but I found none. He pulled me into his warm embrace and I just stood there for a bit with his arms wrapped around my torso and my head in his chest. He pulled away slightly so he could see my face. Mark - "You're cute when you're nervous. My shift finishes in 10, I'll meet you in the lobby?" Y/N - "Of course."

I walked to the locker room beaming. I really just got a date with McSteamy. At that point I didn't realise this but, that man was a smitten kitten and would ask me to marry him one day. I love Mark, my Mark.

[denimbex1986]

'...Mr. Arnold is tempted into the ball by a Doctor Who Annual and is playing the theme in the music shop scene – are you a fan of Doctor Who in real life? And what was it like making those jokes and references in front of the Tenth Doctor David Tennant?

“I’ve always dipped in and out of Doctor Who over the years since Sylvestor McCoy, who was doing it when I first became aware of it when I was growing up. Even if you’re not a fan it’s one of those shows you can’t really get away from, so doing that particular scene in front of David was really fun, and of course Douglas had directed Doctor Who as well. Apart from the amusing situation of two supposed Doctor Who fans talking about Doctor Who without realising they’re in the company of a Doctor Who, I also seem to remember Michael being the one to suggest that he would deliver his “due to problems at the BBC” line directly to David.

Oh, and I think it was actually my idea to grab the annual off the harpsichord before joining the queue behind Crowley at the end of the ballroom scene (which we’d shot weeks earlier at this point). When we were blocking it out and rehearsing I knew I had to leave my position and get to the front for my “surrender the angle” line, and then later it just felt like I wouldn’t leave without the annual so I ran back through everyone to grab it. Nobody seemed to have a problem with me doing that so I just carried on doing it when we shot it! I do remember it being a fun set with Douglas and the team being very open to suggestions.”

How did you balance filming both Good Omens and BBC Ghosts at the same time?

“Luckily both shows were a joy to work on, and everyone seems to know about both of them. We were shooting them in early 2022 and I also had a little part in an ITV drama called ‘Stonehouse’, starring Matthew Macfadyen. I usually never know when I’m working next so to have three great TV jobs at once was very unusual. There was all this date juggling and I actually almost had to turn down Ghosts due to clashes. Luckily both shows had to move some dates so it worked out. But yes, I spent two weeks up in Scotland shooting all that Good Omens ballroom stuff, then I came back down to London to do Ghosts, knowing I’d be back up to shoot my scenes in the music shop in a couple of weeks. Now, when I found out who was playing my wife in Ghosts I couldn’t believe it: Caroline Sheen – Michael Sheen’s cousin! She was amazing and that was another great set in general. I say “set”, but it’s all filmed in that house which surprised me. I’d worked with Kiell [Smith-Bynoe] and Jim [Howick] before, and Charlotte [Ritchie] was in the Good Omens radio play a few years ago and a big fan of the book. Charlotte’s very musical of course and we got talking about my folding keyboard I had for practising my Good Omens stuff, and she ended up setting it up in the house for us to have a play on!

Now, when we’d shot all our internal scenes there was this big storm forecast, and our external scenes were scheduled for the day of the storm, so that had to be moved into the next week. It meant I ended up shooting those scenes outside the house, then going straight back up to Scotland to shoot the Good Omens music shop scene the next day! When I mentioned to Michael I’d just worked with Caroline he said “ooh she’s in Ghosts is she!” and revealed that she’d texted him about me which was rather surreal. Then later after the Ghosts wrap party Kiell gave me a part in his Channel 4 Blap, so at the time I felt like I was killing it career wise, but the industry quietened a bit after that and my workload eased off over the year so I was in my overdraft by November.”

What are your plans for the future – can we expect to see you in something else soon?

“This year, after a bit of a quiet start, I was very fortunate to work on a Disney+ show called Rivals which stars… David Tennant! I think I’m allowed to say my character is called Brian, and I shot five episodes so that was another really amazing job, and great to work with David again (I told him he must be my good luck charm, although I hope he’s not sick of me). That should be out at some point in late 2024. Other than that I’ve filmed a few other bits I presume will be out next year, one of which is called Truelove on Channel 4 which actually looks really good. That starts early January. Of course now Season 3 of Good Omens has been greenlit, I would love Neil and the gang to have me back on that… but I can only keep my fingers crossed!”

[lurafita]

Mundane AU with supportive Maryse

If talking mundane au where Maryse wasn't the worst more accepting of her son's sexuality

Maryse: "You know, my friend Ethel, you know Ethel, right? She used to come over every sunday and play a round of cards with me while your father taught you how to throw a ball." Alec: "Yes, I remember Ethel. How is she?" Maryse: "Oh, she is just splendid! Her daughter is coming to visit her soon. Cynthia. You remember Cynthia, right?" Alec: "Yes, I remember Cynthia. Look, mom, the reason I came to visit today,-" Maryse: "Ethel is so excited! And Cynthia has grown into a lovely woman. I saw some pictures. Did you know she just finished her doctorate?" Alec: "No. That's really good for her. But, uhm, you see, what I was gonna talk to you about-" Maryse: "And, according to Ethel, Cynthia had a bit of a shine on you back when you were both teens." Alec: "Well, it's a small town, not like she had a lot to choose from. But what I was trying-" Maryse: "Oh pish posh! You were such a sweet and smart and nice boy! Cynthia clearly knew a good catch when she saw one, so don't sell yourself short. Maybe you two could reconnect a bit when she comes to visit. She is single, too." Alec: "Mom, I'm gay." Maryse: "… Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Just last week I met with Janine. You remember Janine, right? She used to babysit you when you were young. She has a brother who is gay. I could have gotten his number for you" Alec: "Mom-" Maryse: "Oh, and then there is this couple who moved in the old Byers house across the street. You remember the Byers, right dear? Old man Byers would always shout about stray dogs on his lawn, even though there were never any stray dogs anywhere!" Alec: "Mom-" Maryse: "Anyway, this new couple? Lovely people. Two gay men, married for 2 years now. They surely have some friends they could introduce you to."

Alec: "Mom, I'm not looking to meet anyone right now." Maryse: "Oh, that's fine, too. But you know, it doesn't hurt to look. You aren't getting any younger. And weddings take such a long time to plan." Alec: "Mom, I'm not even in a relationship yet. There is no wedding." Maryse: "And adoption takes some time too, you know? You still want kids, right?" Alec: "Of course I do, but-" Maryse: "Oh, I know! Old Dale, you remember Dale, right? He runs the local autoshop. He just hired a few new mechanics. And they like working shirtless when it's hot. We could go have a look. Make it a Mother Son outing." Alec: "MOM!" Maryse: "What? I'm old, not dead. I appreciate the sight of some big, muscly men from time to time." Alec: "Oh my god!" Maryse: "A mechanic actually would be a nice match for you. They are bound to be handy with their… tools." Alec: "… I'm gonna forget this conversation ever happened."

[oatsa-the-humanoid]

Surviving the Trials (part 1)

Days had merged into weeks, weeks had merged into months, and months had merged into an endless supply of an unknown amount of time. 

My fellow Reagents and I (Paul, Marie, and David) had almost refused to leave the sleep rooms during “Bring Your Baby to Work Week.” We had seen the carnage that was brought in daily through the medical window, and that was far enough to tell us to stay away from the Trials. Reagents with missing limbs, Reagents with blood and holes all over their clothing, and dead Reagents whose injuries were so vile that the doctors didn’t dare remove their shrouds. 

David was especially terrified of the Trials. He had heard the rumors of this so-called “Bambino” through the Reagents that had somehow survived, and he hasn’t been sleeping since. His eyes bore dark circles and he grew gaunt from a lack of eating. He knew it was a matter of time before the doctors forced the four of us into a Trial against our will.

Paul and Marie were the most experienced Reagents out of our group. What scared me the most is that the two veterans didn’t dare volunteer to go into the Bambino Trials even once. Something “just didn’t feel right” as Marie put it.

Marie was the oldest of our group. She had long, gray hair that went slightly past her shoulders and deep wrinkles on her forehead. As “old” as she seemed, she was a pretty good fighter, very strong, too. I’ve seen her fight off multiple pouncers at once with such a rageful strength that was genuinely terrifying to witness come out of such a brittle body. She even managed to get a couple strikes off on Coyle, which I found impossible.

Paul is very fond of Marie, not romantically, but almost as if he was her son. He may actually be her son, but whenever I asked about it, he shrugged off the question by bringing up some alternative topic. Paul was more fond of the trials than all of us combined. He used them as an excuse to throw bricks and bottles at some unfortunate Expop. He always went into the Trials when he was upset, so he could use them like a Rage Room. However, he never dared to actually finish a Trial. He was too terrified of the main assets of the Trials, especially Gooseberry. He almost got gored by Futterman’s vicious drill way too many times to count. He eventually swore to himself that he would never finish a Trial again unless his life absolutely depended on it.

I, like most others, was not fond of the Trials in any aspect. I found the Trials to be grotesque, unholy experiments made for the pleasure of the doctors and Murkoff officials. I was almost bold enough to swear that I would never finish a Trial again like Paul, but that was until I overheard some discussion between the guards of the sleep room. I heard them mention that they were going to force my friends and I into a Trial. That we had been leeching off their sleep room resources for long enough and that we needed to work for our meals. 

When I heard this news, I was petrified. I brought my three friends into my room during the “Sleep Hours” and told them about our unfortunate turn of events. They couldn’t believe their ears, especially David. 

“I TOLD YOU!” He yelled, crumbling into a chair and weeping. “I told you they’d do this. I freakin’ told you.” 

We were all in distress at this information. We tried our best to comfort each other in my quarters by talking over the situation.

“Well, hopefully they pick a short Trial, maybe even one without this ‘Bambino’ fella,” Marie said quietly, rubbing David’s back. 

“You could even stay by the shuttle if you want. We won’t mind.” I replied.

David wiped the wetness from his eyes.

“I’m sorry for crying, it’s just that I’m so worried. The chances of us living, all of us, are…so damn slim.” He frowned and looked at me.

“Janie, maybe we should…make a plan? Just…some sort of groundwork. Something to help get an edge.”

“It’s hard to do that when we don’t even know what Trial we’re gonna’ get.” Explained Paul. “I think maybe if we stick together, we will have a better chance of survival.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, mainly to myself. “But what if we happen to get separated?”

My question was rhetorical, but it lingered on our minds. We sat in silence for many, dreadful minutes, keeping our eyes on our twiddling thumbs.

“I love you guys. You are some fine fellas.” Announced David after a while. “You guys really have been the light in my dreary life.”

“We love you too,” whispered Marie, giving him a crinkled smile. “Everything’s gonna’ work out. I promise.”

I hope you guys enjoyed part 1 of the little story I'm making about Outlast Trials! Let me know if you wanna' read more!💚

If anyone has any tips on how to properly post stories on Tumblr, please tell me. I beg of you. 😭

[merrybloomwrites]

You Can Start a Family (Chapter 2)

Summary: Movie night with the Rowland family shifts gears for the trio.

Thank you to everyone who read part one! I could not believe how many notes that received in just one day! If you haven't read it yet you can find chapter 1 here

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

Tammy’s next two surgeries also went as planned and left her family breathing a sigh of relief. She spiked a post-op fever after the final surgery which extended her hospital stay by a few days, but once she became stable again, she was able to go home to finish recovering. She would be assessed to see if there were any more abnormal cells in her labs. If there were, she would likely begin a course of treatment but if not, she would be considered cured.

You had started to see Mitch and Sarah around more often. Once Tammy came home, they would all sit out on the front porch, since the fresh air made her feel better. Any time you were outside with Ryan you would pop over to say hi. You hadn’t met Mark and Tammy previously but were now very invested in her recovery. You would occasionally bring over more baked goods and sometimes a tray of food for their dinner. It had always been ingrained in you to help take care of the people around you.

You no longer fangirled when you saw Mitch and Sarah. After just a few quick conversations you were very comfortable with them, and they felt just like any of the other neighbors on the street. You actually felt closer to them than anyone else you had met in town. In the year you lived there you hadn’t had a lot of opportunities to meet people. Plus, the area you were in was home mostly to retirees. If you went to the center of town you were surrounded by the local college students who seemed so young. Even though Mitch and Sarah were a bit older than you and were pretty famous musicians, you felt like you got along with them quite well.

They felt the same way around you. Each time you stopped by they found themselves smiling, excited to talk to you and hear how your day has been going. They always invited you to stay for dinner when you brought them food, and after declining a couple of times you decided to take them up on the offer. While you didn’t eat with them all the time, you had been to their house on a few occasions over the past couple weeks. You enjoyed everyone’s company, and it was nice to have people to share a meal with again.

One evening about a month after first meeting Mitch and Sarah you were helping get dinner ready while Tammy and Mark were at a doctors appointment. Just as you were putting the last dish on the table they walked in the door. “I’m officially cancer free!” Tammy shouted immediately.

There was a second of processing time and the next thing you knew everyone was cheering and laughing out of pure relief. You found yourself hugging each member of the family. Each hug was fleeting, and after they ended you found yourself craving more. Aside from the occasional cuddle from baby Ryan, you rarely had any physical contact with anyone. Before that moment you hadn’t realized how starved you were for human affection.

You pushed that thought aside and focused on the conversation around you as everyone sat down for dinner. They all complimented you on the meal, as it was one you hadn’t made for them before.

“Thank you! It was always one of my favorites that my mom made. Took me a few tries to get it right, but I think I finally figured out all of the ingredients.” Sarah was watching you closely as you mentioned your mother and noticed how you once again spoke of your family in past tense. It had happened a couple of times, but Sarah had yet to ask any personal questions that would confirm her suspicions.

After dinner everyone moved into the living room to watch The Princess Bride since it was one of Tammy’s favorite movies. She and Mark sat on the loveseat and Sarah took the right end of the couch. You sat on the other cushion while Mitch set up the DVD player to start the movie. Once it was playing, he walked back to the couch, and you realized you were in the middle of the open space. You went to slide to the other edge, but Mitch sat there before you could move that way, pushing you to the middle between him and Sarah. It wasn’t exactly a large couch and you tried to make yourself as small as possible but that didn’t stop their limbs from occasionally brushing against yours.

Each point of contact sent a feeling of warmth through you that seemed to stay even after they moved away. You really thought you had gotten over your nervousness around the couple, but you were definitely feeling it again tonight. Shortly into the movie you started to think that this specific tension you were feeling had less to do with the fact that they were celebrities, and more to do with the fact that they were two people you found quite attractive.

It would be a lie to say you hadn’t formed slight crushes on both of them, even before you all had met. It was impossible not to, they’re incredibly talented and very easy on the eyes. You actively tried to squash out the crush now that they were real people in your life rather than individuals who just existed in videos on the internet. But in this moment, you simply couldn’t ignore the way they were making you feel.

Seeing you shiver, both from the feeling of Sarah’s thigh rubbing against yours and because you were legitimately a little cold, Mitch got up and grabbed a large blanket. He sat back down even closer than before in order to lay the blanket across the three of you.

In an effort to keep from freaking out about the now constant contact, you glance over at Mitch’s parents and realize Mark is very busy with something on his phone. A few minutes later the movie ends, and you immediately learn why.

Mark turns to his wife and says, “I’ve been texting with Susan and Jim. If you’re feeling up to it, they’d love for us to spend the weekend at the cabin with them. You could tell them the good news, and we can celebrate together.”

“I would absolutely love that! Thank you so much for coordinating this, dear,” Tammy replies and leans in to give her husband a kiss.

"And you're sure you feel up to it?"

"I can sit around the cabin resting just as well as I can sit around here resting. As long as you're not planning for us to hike a waterfall I'll be fine."

“Well if that's the case they'll pick us up tomorrow morning around 10.” “Oh gosh then we’d better pack and get to bed. It’s been too long since we’ve had a weekend away. And even longer since we’ve hung out with Sue and Jim. This is such a wonderful surprise.”

They walk over to the stairs and Tammy turns around saying, “Good night kids. Don’t stay up too late!”

“Mom, we're adults, I think we can handle a later bedtime on a Friday night.” Mitch replied with a smirk.

“I know, I know. A mother’s habits never go away. Y/N, feel free to stay over if it gets too late. These roads are terrible at night.”

You all finish saying good night and Mark and Tammy head upstairs. Mitch picks the remote up and starts playing Schitt’s Creek. You had seen it a couple of times before and it had quickly become one of your favorites. Upon learning that Mitch and Sarah hadn’t watched it yet you insisted that it be the next show they start.

The second episode of the night started playing and Sarah shifted next to you, putting her arm on the couch behind you. At first you thought she was just readjusting to be more comfortable, but a minute later you felt her fingers start to comb through your hair. You tensed at first but quickly relaxed, allowing yourself to enjoy the attention. After a few minutes of her fingers playing with the ends of your hair, she slid her hand to the left side of your head. You felt her put pressure on the side of your head, pushing you gently towards herself. Hoping you were guessing correctly, you leaned your head onto Sarah’s shoulder. She immediately placed her head gently on top of yours and began to scratch at your scalp. It felt heavenly and you practically melted at the attention.

Mitch was watching very carefully out of the corner of his eye to see your reactions to all of this. So far everything seemed to be accepted and welcomed. Mitch and Sarah shared a look communicating that it was time for the next test. You reacted positively to friendly touch, but what about something a little more intimate?

At the start of the next episode, Mitch slid his hand to rest on your knee as casually as he could. You again immediately tensed, first due to the surprise of the sudden contact, then because no one had ever touched you like that before, and finally because you realized this attention was coming from a married man. You had a brief moment of panic, wondering what he was doing. You looked down at your leg and realized it was a rather thin blanket, and you could easily see that his hand was resting on your knee. Which meant that Sarah could also see what was happening and chose that moment to place a soft kiss against the top of your head. It felt like a signal that everything was fine.

You once again relaxed, allowing yourself to simply be present in that moment and forced yourself not to overthink what was happening. Clearly Mitch and Sarah had some sort of agreement where this kind of physical touch with another person was okay.

You focused on the way Sarah’s head rested so gently on yours and on the shapes Mitch was drawing on your leg as he casually ran fingers back and forth. You knew this was all platonic, but you couldn’t stop the passing thought wondering what it would be like if his hand moved higher on your thigh. You tried not to think of that and instead got lost in the sensations once again.

You were no longer paying attention to the show, practically falling asleep as Mitch and Sarah lulled you into a mindset of peace, comfort, and safety. Suddenly the trumpets from the credits’ music jolted you awake, and you lifted your head off Sarah’s shoulder as Mitch’s hand slipped off of your leg. You looked at the clock on the wall and realized it had gotten quite late.

“I should probably be getting home,” you said, choosing to look at your own hands rather than at either of them yet.

“Like my mom said, you’re welcome to stay here. It's so dark on these streets and everyone drives like idiots.”

“Thanks, but if I don’t get home and feed the cats, they’ll poop on my pillow to teach me a lesson.” As much as you wanted to stay, you needed time alone to process whatever it was that just happened.

Sarah stood up from the couch first, grabbing the blanket to fold it and put it back in the basket.

As they walked you to the door Sarah asked, “Are you busy this weekend?”

“Aside from my normal weekend tasks of cleaning and going to the grocery store, my schedule is wide open.”

“Would you like to spend the weekend here with us? It’ll be pretty quiet with Tammy and Mark away,” Sarah continued. Mitch suspected what she was up to but kept his thoughts to himself for the time being, curious to see how you would respond.

After a brief pause you replied, “Yea, that sounds nice!”

“Great! Why don’t you come by around noon? We can start with lunch and see where the day takes us. Oh, and make sure to pack a bag, I’m thinking a slumber party could be quite fun.”

“Okay, but only if I get to braid Mitch’s hair,” you replied cheekily, causing Sarah to laugh and Mitch to roll his eyes with a hint of a small smile.

“Sounds like a plan,” Sarah states before pulling you in for a hug. Your arms wrap around her waist while hers tighten around your shoulders before she gently rubs your back. It was a longer hug than you were expecting, one that you had been craving since dinnertime. “Sleep well darling,” she says softly before giving a final squeeze and letting go. Mitch pulls you in next, holding you in a tight embrace that again goes on for longer than you expect. He places a kiss to the top of your head before saying a quiet “Get home safe.”

You blush and duck your head before glancing back up to say goodbye. You finally turn and walk to your car, your head full of confusing, but ultimately happy thoughts.

As they watch you leave, Mitch stands behind Sarah and wraps his arms around her waist. He leans down, pressing a kiss to her neck before leaning to her ear and saying in a low voice, “Are you plotting something?”

“You make me sound so devious Mitchell. I’m simply creating an opportunity for something to happen naturally.”

“And what exactly is this something that you hope will happen?”

“I guess we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to find out.” With that, Sarah turns around and pulls Mitch in for a deep kiss, breaking apart before they get too heated. After all, their room was directly next to his parents. That would simply have to wait until Tammy and Mark were out of town.   

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A/N: Thank you for reading chapter 2! The next chapter should be out in a day or two.

I've seen other people do tag lists so readers can get notified when new chapters are out. Would anyone want that? LMK!

[kingdomvel]

Assisted Reproduction AU

This was inspired by my experience in the lab this week (so I may get a bit sciency, sorry) and developed between @somethingsteff (some words here are directly hers, I can’t take credit for all) and yours truly through messages.

So in this au, Obi-Wan and Satine are friends, and Satine wants to have a son, or daughter, she doesn't care, but she wants to have a child and either she is a lesbian or she doesn’t have a partner, so she talks about it with Obi-Wan. They decide that, even if they are 100% not interested in a relationship with each other, this is 2024, times have changed, and they are not getting any younger, and both of them have wanted to be parents for a while, and Obi-Wan can’t imagine finding someone he wants to be a parent with in the near future, so they decide to be coparents.

After a doctor meeting to talk about their options Obi-Wan comes back to the hospital alone, because Satine was busy and it’s not like she is needed. This appointment is for Obi-Wan to take a semen sample, the first of many, so they can check the number, quality and mobility of his sperm cells to better assess their options. And while he is there at the doctor’s office, answering questions about how no, it’s not that they have been trying and couldn’t conceive, they are just friends and no, he doesn’t have any previous children, there is one boy sitting behind the doctor all through it. The badge on his lab coat marks him as a student but he is not paying attention to what the doctor is saying – which Obi-Wan is pretty sure he should be doing – he is looking at Obi-Wan. His eyes don’t stray for one second from Obi-Wan, his gaze intense to the point Obi-Wan should be uncomfortable, but he can’t find himself not appreciating the attention.

When it’s time to take the sample Obi-Wan is taking long, too long. Anakin is waiting in the lab for the hot man who for some divine reason hasn’t come here married and wishing to have a baby with his wife but is single to bring his sample, but the man is not coming (in every sense of the word, Anakin guesses). It’s been 45 minutes and from experience, Anakin knows that people normally take between 15 to 20 minutes, so either this man has some incredible stamina (and isn’t that a thought) or there is something wrong. There are some people that get nervous, Anakin guesses not everyone is comfortable jerking off in a setting where everyone knows you are masturbating a couple of rooms away and is then going to judge your sperm. The moment the doctor mentions that they should probably check that everything’s alright with Obi-Wan, Anakin jumps out from his chair. He says that he was planning to go to the cafeteria for some coffee, so he will just stop by to check on him on the way.

Anakin goes to the place where Obi-Wan is currently trying to take the sample, to masturbate, the door thankfully hidden from privy eyes inside another room, and knocks on the door.

“hey, are you alright in there?”

“Yes, everything is fine.”

“Are you sure? You can go take a walk to clear your head if you need, or I can get you some visual help?”

Obi-Wan is completely mortified because this should be the easy part of the process, he just needs to masturbate and come inside a tube, nothing complicated, and he is failing enough that the student intern is asking him if he should get some porn for him. “No, I am fine, don’t worry, I will be out in no time.”

“Do you want some… actual help?”

That startles Obi-Wan enough that he opens the door. “Excuse me?”

“I can help you, you know, if you need me to.”

“Isn’t that completely illegal?”

“Maybe, but I’m only a student, and you are very hot, and you said you are single so…” he smirks and comes in the room, closing the door behind him, “why? You thinking of taking up my offer?”

So Anakin helps Obi-Wan take the sample, and then comes back to the lab all smug before Obi-Wan comes to leave his sample, equal parts mortified and smug/satisfied/flirty because damn, Anakin is hot, and he feels lucky he got a hand job from him.

The next time Obi-Wan has to see the doctor, he insists Satine doesn’t need to come with him, and Satine looks at him with a bit of suspicion but she agrees. The moment it’s time for him to take the sample, Anakin makes his excuses and makes his way to Obi-Wan again. Maybe this time he gets a hand job himself in return.

In between doctor visits and Anakin maybe very illegally getting Obi-Wan’s number, they start dating, and Anakin becomes the third parent of a very non-traditional family.

Years down the line, when the baby is now a sixteen? Seventeen? Year old boy called Korkie, Anakin makes an off comment of “of course, you’re my kid after all”.

“Uh, Uncle Anakin, I know this is a non-traditional family but that’s not really true.”

“Sure it is, I was there when you were conceived.”

Obi-Wan and Satine - because Obi-Wan told her about how the samples were obtained a few months down his relationship with Anakin after one too many glasses of wine because Satine insisted he had to drink for the both of them, and they both agreed to never tell Korkie about that – immediately think about the hand jobs and exclaim “ANAKIN” “ANAKIN YOU CAN’T TELL HIM THAT”

Obi-Wan, “and that’s not exactly true.”

Satine, “I met Anakin AFTER I was pregnant with you.”

And Anakin, who had never told Obi-Wan and Satine that he had helped with the in vitro in the lab because he thought it was obvious that he did is like, “what? But I WAS there”

“That doesn’t count”

“What do you mean it doesn’t count, I saw his fertilization, I took care of him before he was inside you, I am like his second mum.”

And everyone else in the room is like “wot”

“I thought you were just a student?”

“Yeah? That’s why I was doing all that stuff? I had to learn the whole process, I even picked him out for you -you are welcome - and thanks to Obi-Wan I saw every. Single. Step.” He finishes with a smirk.

“ANAKIN”

(Korkie catches the meaning of that and promptly gets out of the room)

Whenever Korkie acts up, Anakin just tells him “when you were a clump of cells you didn’t give me this attitude.”

[indynerdgirl]

[Image Text: Please, please, please, if you even so much as glance at this post - share it for us and help us storm heaven!!! Our little girl needs a miracle and I beg any and every one of you to pray, pray, pray! Even if you don't know how to pray, please just ask God to heal Vianney’s brain. Now is the time for her miracle. We are devastated. Ever since we first found out about her diagnosis of left hemimegalencephaly, we have been praying and asking you all to pray that her right brain be spared. And you have shown up and helped us pray for this intention! All along the doctors have told us how strong and beautiful her right brain looked. However, this all changed sometime in the night between Friday and Saturday. At a time when we thought we were in the clear and were actually making plans to go home in a couple of weeks (!), something happened. The doctors can't explain it, they are looking into every avenue, as this was completely unexpected and unexplainable. She was awake. She was breathing on her own. She was moving. Shad was with her Friday night and video chatted me and I could not wait to see her the next day, finally alert! But suddenly very early that morning she took a turn and stopped responding. That's when her seizures started and they were indeed coming from the right side this time, due to whatever injury the right side sustained. They said her injury looks consistent with hypoxic-ischemic encephalopathy but none of her vitals ever changed and her labs have remained great. There is truly no explanation at this time. My heart is broken. I cry out to God to understand why, in this final moment, when we were so close to her recovery, did this happen? I am trusting in Him with all my might and KNOW in my heart and soul that He is loving her far greater than I, but oh man I am absolutely broken. She has lost 40-60% of function in her right brain. Even typing it out and reading it in this post is too cruel to bear. They don't expect that she is in dire life threatening circumstances yet but they also can't say that her brain won't be injured further - since we still don't have a cause. Even if she survives all of this and is able to come home, we don't yet know what kind of life our little, beautiful perfect girl will have with only 25% of her brain. At this point, the most basic expectation is that she will not be able to walk or talk along with many other difficulties. She is outside of what they can do (other than trying to prevent more damage) and is truly in God's hands now. I told our priest yesterday before we got the full news - perhaps God is giving us the most dire of circumstances to give us the most miraculous of recoveries. In a world that needs to witness a miracle more than ever, I am praying to God that He show us one now. Please, please, please, keep praying for our Vianney - that her brain is completely healed and she can defy all medical expectations. And if now is the time for a miracle, then we are asking you to also beg for the prayers of the Blessed Ulma family. Soon I will share more about this incredible family, but for now we are asking them to pray along with us for our little Vianney’s miracle!]

Please storm heaven for my friend's little girl! 🙏

You can follow their GiveSendGo for updates

Prayer for the Intercession of the Ulma Family

Almighty and eternal God,

We thank You for the testimony of the heroic love of the spouses Józef and Wiktoria with their children, who gave their lives to save persecuted Jews.

May their prayers and example support families in Christian life and help everyone to follow the true path of holiness.

Lord, if it is in accordance with Your will, kindly grant the grace for the complete healing of little Vianney, for which we are asking You through their intercession and count them among the Blessed.

Through Christ Our Lord

Amen

Our Father…, Hail Mary…, Glory Be…

[honey-on-your-tongue]

All That Could Be

Series masterlist

Part three

Word count: 2.3k

As you're doing clinic duty, House approaches you and demands, “Well? Have you gotten him to fall in love with you?”

You give him a look before glancing around, ensuring no one hears you. “It's only been a week,” you point out.

He stares at you blankly. “So?”

“So it's going to take longer,” you reply, turning away from him and to one of the exam rooms. House follows in after you, much to your despair.

A mother and her child are in the room. The little kid is red-faced and sweaty, and his breathing is labored. You haven't even gotten a word in when House blurts, “Common cold. Give him some ibuprofen for the fever and the cold will go away on its own.”

The mother stares at House and then glances at you. You grimace. “I'm sorry. This is Dr. House, my...assistant doctor.”

“And her secret lover,” he adds in a fake whisper, leaning on his cane and winking at the woman.

You just sigh, filling out the prescription of rest and ibuprofen. “Here you go,” you tell the woman, handing her the paper. “Have a good day.” You turn to House. “My office, now.”

He turns to the woman. “Looks like I'm going to get punished,” he says, his words clearly a double entendre.

You pinch the bridge of your nose but ignore him, walking towards the elevator. He walks beside you, popping more Vicodin.

You step into the elevator and the moment the doors close, you turn to him. “It's going to take more time, House. People don't fall in love in a week.”

He rolls his eyes. “You're stalling,” he snaps. “Don't waste your time. Or mine.”

You frown. “What about Wilson's time?” You then frown and correct yourself, “What about his feelings? What about the fact that this is an odd, twisted, immoral plan?”

He exhales sharply. “Who the fuck cares?” he says as you two reach your floor. You begin walking towards your office, and he follows. “I thought we already had this conversation?”

You sigh. “Yeah, I know. This is for the greater good,” you murmur. “But I...What if it goes wrong?”

“We'll cross that bridge when we get to it,” he replies simply, shrugging. “For the time being, just focus on the plan.”

“Fine,” you sigh, knowing that arguing with House is impossible. You reach your office and tell him, “If anything happens, I'm putting this on you.”

He shrugs. “I've got more than enough guilt to keep me up at night, but I'm heartless so I don't care. Blame me for this, it won't make a difference.”

You roll your eyes. “See you later,” you murmur, swinging your office door open only to find Wilson asleep on the sofa.

You blink. You turn back to see if House is seeing the same, but he's already turned around and is walking away.

You walk into your office, quietly shutting the door after yourself. You make your way to the sofa and kneel beside it. You stare at Wilson for a moment, his brown hair messy and strewn over his face, his eyes closed, his lips slightly parted.

You almost feel bad about waking him up. But he can't stay here.

“James,” you whisper, placing a hand on his shoulder gently. “James.”

He groans, stirring awake, and then his eyes flutter open. When he sees you, he slowly sits up, looking around and frowning a little, disoriented.

“What are you doing here?” you ask, still kneeling on the floor.

“Uh,” he says, his voice rough and thick with sleep. “I was looking for you. Waiting for you.”

“Why? Do you need something?”

He kind of just sits there, watching you, his eyes still soft and dozed. “Um.” He blinks a couple of times. “I just...” He sighs. “I actually don't know. I just...wanted to be around you, I guess.”

Fuck, you think to yourself. I'm going to be his rebound, aren't I?

You smile kindly. “Do you want to talk about it?” you offer, eyes on him.

He nods slowly. “I...think so, yeah.”

You nod in return and sit on the sofa beside him. “Alright. What would you like to talk about first?” you ask, studying his reaction.

He avoids your gaze, choosing instead to play with the hem of his lab coat. “Uh. I don't know. I guess I'm just...” He sighs softly. “Not really disappointed but also sort of disappointed? Like I expected her to do something like this but at the same time I hoped she wouldn't.”

“Mhmm,” you say, nodding. “So you started this relationship knowing it would probably end like this.” It's not a question, you're stating the fact.

Wilson takes a long time to respond. “Yes.”

You nod again. “Why?” you ask, voice soft. “Why do you think you got into a relationship you knew would fail?”

He shakes his head. “I was hoping she'd...” He sighs, closing his eyes. Quietly, he says, “She'd change.”

“Did she ever do anything to change?”

“No.”

“Did she ever seem like she intended to change?”

“No.”

“Did she ever say she wanted to change? Ever mention it to you or to someone else?”

“No.” His voice has grown small and quiet, almost like its losing its strength.

“Then why did you think she'd change?” you question, tilting your head slightly, trying to capture his gaze. But he refuses to look into your eyes, still focusing on fumbling with his lab coat.

A long while passes after you ask the question. Wilson sits there, nervously toying with his lab coat, his leg bouncing. You give him his time and space, waiting until he's ready to talk.

You don't really realize he's on the verge of tears until he speaks. “I thought she loved me,” he tells you, his voice breaking. “I thought she would change for me.”

You sigh softly. “Honey,” you say sweetly, “people don't change for others. They change for themselves. What happened has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her. You could've loved her to the moon and back and she still wouldn't have changed.” You gently rub his arm, letting him cry it out. “You can't love someone into changing, James. No matter how hard you try.”

He nods. “I know. I know,” he says, sniffling. “I always know but I keep thinking that maybe next time...”

“No,” you say gently. “It's never going to work. This isn't about perseverance or never giving up. It's simply impossible to get a person to change if they don't intend to. All you do is hurt yourself.”

He wipes his eyes. “I know.” He exhales. “Fuck, I feel so stupid.”

“Why?” you question.

“Because I keep making the same mistake over and over again and I never fucking learn,” he replies, scoffing, raising his voice a little.

“And why is that a bad thing?” you ask. “I think it's wonderful that you have so much hope in people. You always see the best in them, always let yourself believe that everyone can be good on the inside. And it's a wonderful way of seeing the world, Wilson. I don't think that's a bad thing.”

He finally meets your eyes. “I...suppose so, yes.”

It breaks you to see him like this. One of your closest friends all broken and hurt, suffering over someone who didn't deserve him.

Tears start falling down his face and he hastily wipes them away, almost aggressively. You grab his wrist in your hand, stopping him, and then you cup his face in your other hand, gently wiping the tears away with your thumb.

Your eyes lock together. His are wide with surprise and warm with appreciation. Yours are trying to conceal how flustered you are and how wrong it feels to be purposely trying to get him to like you even though he's in this horrible state.

You grab his face in both of your hands and pull him closer. You kiss his forehead softly, tenderly, your lips lingering on his skin for longer than necessary. You get a whiff of his shampoo, his soft hair tickling your nose.

As you pull away, you say, “Don't be so hard on yourself. Be kinder. You've been through a fucking emotional train wreck, and you can't expect yourself to just be fine. It's going to take time to heal.” You're still holding his face in your hands, and you find yourself caressing his cheeks with your thumbs. “And you don't have to do this alone. You know I'm here for you. Always, no matter what.”

He nods softly, his eyes closing as he leans into your touch. Your heart melts at the sight as you recognize the lack of love he's experiencing right now, and you wish you could just help take all the pain away.

He meets your eyes and slowly, almost hesitating, he rises his hands to your waist, studying your face to gauge your reaction.

You feel goosebumps rise on your skin at the contact, but you say nothing and you don't pull away.

He pulls you closer, wrapping his arms around your waist and placing his head on your shoulder. You swear you can feel your heart breaking. You hug him back, your arms around his neck as you hold him close.

“Thank you,” he says quietly against your shoulder.

Don't thank me, you want to say. Don't thank me. I'm going to trick you into falling for me and then I'm going to break your heart. Don't thank me.

You just hug him tighter.

-----

Most of your waking days are now spent thinking on how to get Wilson to like you. You know he's probably not looking for any kind of relationship right now, with him in the midst of his divorce and all, but you know that if you're there for him, he'll probably grow attached to you. And that will make the plan easier in the future.

You can't help but feel a pang of guilt every time you see Wilson. The thought of what you're doing, of having to purposely hurt him...

It's for his own good, you try to convince yourself. This will help him. It'll be good for him.

The guilt haunts you, and you do your best to ignore it.

You fail at that when, as you sit in the doctor's lounge, enjoying your break, Wilson walks in. He sees you and gives you one of those adorable little smiles of his as he sits on the armchair across from you.

“Long day?” he asks softly, loosening his tie a little.

Your eyes follow the movement before you meet his gaze again. “You could say that, yeah.” You nod. All you can think right now is, I'm lying to him, I'm going to hurt him, this is wrong.

“Yeah, me too.” He sighs softly, leaning his head against the back of the armchair and stretching his legs in front of him. “My lawyer keeps calling me about the divorce and I can barely work. I spend more time on the phone with him than I do working. I'm fucking exhausted.”

You hum softly. “What does he keep calling about?”

“The house. The cars. The furniture. Everything.” He shrugs. “I don't care about any of it. She can keep all of it, I just want this to be over already.”

“You'll be okay,” you say softly. “You're not alone in this. You know I'm here for you whenever you need me.”

He smiles at you. “I really appreciate that.”

You hold his gaze for a while, not saying anything. Inside your mind, you're trying to stop yourself from saying what you're going to say, but this is for his own good.

“Are you busy tonight?” you ask him casually, taking a sip from your water bottle.

He blinks at you and echoes, “To-tonight?”

You nod. “Mhmm. Do you have anything going on?”

He frowns slightly. “Uh. No.” He opens his mouth to say something else, but you cut him off.

“Good. I was thinking it would be good for you to get out, you know,” you tell him, feigning innocence. “We could get dinner together. Or a few drinks. Or catch a movie. Whatever keeps you from wallowing in the divorce.” You're nervous, uncomfortable about messing around with his emotions, and you ramble on, “I mean, it's a Friday night. You shouldn't spend it between four walls thinking about your pain, you know.”

He nods softly. “Yeah, you're right,” he says. “That does sound nice.”

You grin. “So, what would you like to do? Where do you wanna go?” you ask.

He grimaces slightly. “I'm terrible at picking places. Why don't you choose? I'll take a chance on this one.”

You scoff playfully. “You'll take a chance on this one?” you laugh. “You saying that you can't trust me to pick a nice place?” You raise an eyebrow.

He smiles softly. “I didn't say that. I'm just not sure if you'll take me somewhere too crazy.”

You laugh. “Trust me, I will.” You smirk softly. “It'll be fun. Unless you prefer going somewhere quieter? More for people your age?” you jest.

He laughs. “People my age? I'm five years older than you,” he tells you. “You're people my age.”

“Not on the inside. I'm still a young soul,” you say, giggling.

He chuckles. “Are you saying I'm an old man on the inside?”

You grin. “Maybe. Unless you're willing to prove otherwise?”

He raises an eyebrow, a smile still on his soft lips. “Are you challenging me?” he questions, resting his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together as he leans forwards.

You lean in as well until you two are only a few inches apart. “I am, yes,” you confirm. “Let's go to the new club downtown, forget about who we are at work or at home or anywhere else. Let's just be other people in there. Let it all loose.”

He studies your eyes carefully, his gaze calculating and precise. “Alright,” he finally agrees. “You're on.”

-----

@acdassenza

[sassyfrassboss]

Harry really wants us to believe that in the 15 minutes that he met with his dad - while his dad was on his way out the door and already getting late - he, Harry, managed to squeeze in the mandatory pleasantries, put forward his demands to be back in the royal fold, propose a basic outline of the pr plan and media strategy, assure his father it would work, coordinated media sound bytes nofor the next 3 weeks, made assurances that he and his missus would behave and not spill secrets at Invictus, also included inquiries about his father's health and diagnosis and managed to secure a firm affirmative for this royal return plan.

Harry, alone, did all of that on his own in 15 mins while he was jetlagged, coming straight from the airport? All that without a shouting match? All that one-on-one with Charles with no one present in the room? And actually succeeded with his mission of secure a temporary royal role for himself? In just 15 mins? Even though he hadn't had a direct face to face conversation with him in over a year? Ha ha ha ... Ya I don't believe it at all.

At the most (giving him the benefit of doubt) he probably Sai, "Pa, you were sick, so I think I'd come back."

Charles said something like "Sure, my boy. Anytime". The same way my dad would "sure" when I used to asked him if we could go to Disneyland in the summer break. That never happened but he always said "sure", and I'd then tell all friends we were going to Disneyland for the summer. This happened right up to highschool too lol.

We finally went 2 years back. As a cheer up present for me because I was getting divorced. I was 32 lol.

HAHA! Congrats!?

My go to is "We'll see..."

As to Harry and Charles. I guess what I want to know is when did these "warm conversations" happen.

In my experience "warm conversations" revolve around pleasantries and happy on-goings in life, not "Pa I want back in because you're sick and I this is how it's gonna go."

There may have been some phone calls in the past couple of weeks where Harry asks how Charles is but also, and people forget this, Charles doesn't have a cell phone. Reaching him requires contacting his staff and making an appointment. It's not as easy as you and I just picking up the phone and calling our parents.

Years ago when my dad announced he had cancer, I immediately asked how bad it was and if it was curable. When he explained that his local/rural doctor gave him six months I gave my dad a hug, walked out the door, went to the store and bought a few bottle of wine, chocolate and Kleenex. Drove back to my house where my dad, mom, husband (at the time), brother and brother's gf were...poured myself a glass of wine and starting talking game plans. A couple days later dad had appointments at one of the most, if not THE most, prestigious cancer research hospitals in the world, located in the city I was living. He is still with us and that was 12 years ago.

But when you find out that type of information that is how you react. You start talking treatments, appointments, logistics, overall outlook, etc. Only a true narcissist would use this as an opportunity to force his way back into a role he abandoned.