#I can budget it in by just eating in the mess instead of ordering anything for a week | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

yandere-daydreams · 3 years

Text

Title: Desperate Measures.

Pairing: Yandere!Kaeya/Reader (Genshin Impact).

Word Count: 2.2k.

TW: Kidnapping, Emotional Manipulation, Implied Stalking, and Delusional Mindsets.

Kaeya was a man, distracted.

Distracted. Divided. Not inattentive, but pulled away from his responsibilities by a force he couldn’t name and couldn’t say he cared for, either. He wasn’t a stranger to romantic inclinations — fantasies, sudden flings, slow-burning inclinations that died the moment his attention was called elsewhere. Predictably, the few relationships he allowed himself were short-lived, at best distasterous at worst, but he didn’t have a problem with that. If anything, Kaeya appreciated it. He’d always thought of company as optional, and what little loneliness he was still capable of feeling could be drowned with a generous glass of wine. He wasn’t one to linger. He tried not to overstay his welcome. He’d been sentimental, once, too emotional for his own good, and he’d learned his lesson. He didn’t intend to change.

He didn’t want to change.

And yet, here he was.

Distracted.

He couldn’t think. He couldn’t focus. It was all he could do to look like he might’ve been trying to read the most recent document left on his desk – this one from Jean, a directive for the younger knights or legislation she needed him to review or another vague, important report that he probably would’ve dealt with weeks ago, if he’d been able to concentrate.

He made a half-hearted effort to straighten his back as the door to his office began to open, but Kaeya dropped the act quickly, abandoning it completely by the time he heard the sound of heeled boots against hollow tile, caught a glimpse of a familiar (albeit, rarely used) catalyst, searched for eyes and found the cover of a thin book, instead, your face still buried in your newest novel as you stepped through the threshold, not bothering to knock. It was you. He should’ve known it would be. Who else did he deserve?

You, Lisa’s new assistant. You, the latest addition to the Knights of Favonius. You, his current, infuriating, unshakable fixation.

You, the new recruit who hadn’t paid him so much as a passing glance since your arrival, much to Kaeya’s frustration.

You didn’t look at him. You rarely ever did, but it hurt more than it usually did, today, as you dropped another form onto his desk, letting it replace the greeting you’d forgotten to offer. “Lisa needs you to sign this,” You started, laying out your priorities clearly, a skill Kaeya was beginning to resent. “It’s just next year’s budget. If you don’t want to read it, I think I’ll be able to look the other way.”

He glanced over the rows of numbers, the messy hand-writing, the columns of meaningless gibberish that blended together into a mess of ink and digits, and took your suggestion, scrawling his name across the only blank line. It was a lost cause, especially with you in the room. Especially with your unoccupied hand resting on his desk, your fingertips idly tapping an unsteady rhythm into the wood, and all he could think about was who he’d be willing to kill to feel that hand pressed against his cheek.

He considered asking you, for a moment, giving you an order and hoping you'd absent-mindedly obey. He thought about touching you, or running his fingers through your hair, or pulling you into his lap and mumbling sweet-nothings into your ear until someone else dragged you away.

He thought about a lot of things. Then, he said, “I take it your silence comes at a price?”

“Do I seem that selfish to you?” You were selfish. You had to be selfish. If you weren’t, then surely you would’ve been kind enough to put him out of his misery months ago. “I like helping people. Just remember this when I need a favor from you.”

“I’m sure we could work something more immediate out,” He went on, but you were already starting towards the door, calling the conversation to a close before Kaeya could begin to finish. In the back of his mind, something flared, the urge to catch your wrist, to go after you, to put himself between you and the only exit and refuse to move until you looked at him, but he forced it down, swallowing the temptation before it could eclipse his common sense. He couldn’t be impulsive. He couldn’t make rash decisions. He wasn’t prepared to deal with how difficult that would make things, not now.

Not yet.

“Join me for a drink?” He tried, again, attempting to sound unbothered. Nonchalant, casual, normal. Like he wasn’t itching to burn every book you’d touched. “I know you don’t have anything better to--”

“Another night, Captain.”

And just like that, you were gone, leaving Kaeya’s muttered response to echo through his empty office.

“Of course.”

Kaeya was a man, desperate.

Like a starving dog. Like a traveler who hadn’t seen water in thirty days. Like a distraught, distressed, disturbed knight, wandering through a maze of a library, cursing the existence of every shelf that separated him from you. He knew where you'd be. You were a creature of habit, and he’d already had more than enough time to memorize your routine. He’d had enough time to memorize everything about you, as ashamed as he was to admit it. It was a testament to his devotion, to how much time he’d spent trying and failing to win your favor.

It was evidence of how pathetic he’d gotten, over the course of his one-sided pursuit.

You were in your usual spot – tucked into the far corner of the library, perched on the edge of a windowsill, your attention monopolized by the tattered scroll spread across your lap. You were still pouring over it by the time he reached you, slumping against the nearest wall, taking in how brilliantly the muted sunlight looked as it danced across your skin. He didn’t try to hide the way he stared, anymore. He was long past worrying that you’d care enough to notice. Your hair was unkempt, proof that’d you slept in the archives again, if you’d slept at all. Your lips were bleeding, too, the lower one chewed raw and split down the middle, but it might’ve been stranger if they weren’t. It must’ve been a nervous tick, but Kaeya found it cute. Kaeya found it endearing. Kaeya found everything about you endearing, and to the archons, he wanted to see those lips wrapped around his co--

And he hated it. He found everything about you endearing, and he hated it. That was all.

He sighed, the sound airy, exhausted. You didn’t look up, but that was fine. It would’ve only hurt him further if someone as simple as that drew out your concern. “I’m in love with you.”

There was a hum, soft and contemplative. A rather generous response, by your standards. “I’ve noticed.”

“You’re all I think about.” It was an awkward confession, one he’d already used a hundred different times. He didn’t care. He’d use it a hundred more, if he had to. “I’m a wreck. I can barely remember my own name, and some days I can’t even do that. I can’t fight, I can’t eat, I can hardly breathe. Every morning, I wonder what it would be like to wake up to your smile, and every night, I stare at my ceiling and loath myself because I’m not holding you in my arms. For fuck’s sake, just yesterday, I almost kissed Albedo because the chemicals he was working with reminded me of the way your favorite kind of flower smells, and I’m just so fucking desperate, I convinced myself that was the closest I’d ever come to kissing you.”

He was rambling, by the end, panting, yelling, but you only blinked when he was done, once, then twice. Your dull nails bit into the edges of your scroll, but you didn’t seem to mind, nor did you move to roll it up as you finally turned to face him, the confusion written clearly across your expression. “You kissed Albedo?”

“You don’t get it,” He said, and you nodded in agreement. “You don’t fucking get it.”

“I think I do,” You admitted, more earnestly. Your gaze dropped back to the ground, and instantly, Kaeya deflated. “I just… I just don’t think it’d work out, if I’m being honest. I’m still new. I still have to give everyone else a reason to trust me, and I don’t think it’s in my best interest to start a relationship with one of my superiors so early on.” You paused, laughing to yourself, and something in Kaeya’s chest tightened. It was the happiest he’d been since he met you, and he still felt like you’d pushed a sword through his heart and twisted. “But, you don’t really want a relationship, do you? You’re just bored, and you need something to fixate on. I’m the most available option, so...” You trailed off, finishing your sentence with a vague, stilted sweeping gesture. “It’ll be easier for both of us, this way. I like you, Captain, but I don’t like you enough to put myself through that.”

It was all he could do to remember how to open his mouth. Once he did, the words came stumbling out on their own.

“Of course.”

Kaeya was a man, determined.

Determined might’ve been the wrong word for it. Too soft, too suggestive, the impression too positive and the meaning too vague. ‘Depraved’ might’ve suited him better, but that was too harsh, too primitive, and he’d like to think he’d been as gentle as anyone could expect him to be, given your stubbornness. He’d tried to be gentle. He’d wanted to be gentle. If he was going to do this to you, he could at least do it gently. You deserved that much, at least.

Or, maybe you didn’t. Maybe you didn’t deserve any of this.

He couldn’t really make up his mind, about that.

“Lisa?”

And he was gentle, more so than he had to be. Sure, you were on the floor, bare stone already beginning to chafe at your skin, but the shackles around your wrists were padded, and he’d given you enough slack to sit down, to ball yourself up, to act like it’d never crossed your mind that he’d resort to something so… easily misinterpreted. The blindfold was, similarly, an act of mercy. You’d panic if you woke up like this, chained to a wall in someone else’s cellar, and Kaeya didn’t want that. You needed time, and he could give you that. He would give you that. Even if it pained him to stay at arm’s length.

“Amber?”

He wanted to touch you. It’d be easy, now, easier than it’d ever been before. You wouldn’t be able to push him away, and even if you tried to, he could always overpower you. Take you by the neck, pin you against the floor, leave you shaking and trembling and begging, pleading with a captor you couldn’t see. He’d find a way to make it up to you, later on. He’d find a way to lie, to smile, to make it better, even if he’d failed to time and time again, out there. But, this would be different. You wouldn’t be able to cling to your excuses, and he’d be able to show you how much he cared, how much he wanted this, how much he loved you. This would be better.

“Kaeya?”

See? You were already coming around.

Your voice was already soft, hesitant, a sliver of a whisper that was constantly on the verge of dying out completely. You were trying not to make noise, trying not to seem as terrified as you really were, but he could hear the way your breath hitched as he took a step forward, your restraints rattling as you curled into yourself. You couldn’t hide from him, but you wanted to. That much was obvious. You didn’t want this.

But, he did. More than you could ever want to run away from it.

He wanted to touch you, but he held himself back. Instead, he only kneeled in front of you, letting himself linger for a moment before he spoke. “I’m here, love.”

“Where are we?” You were afraid, too scared to put the pieces together. Not while you could still hope there was another explanation. Not while you could still deny the apparent. “My head hurts, and I can’t--”

“I know, and I’ll make it up to you.” This time, he let himself reach out, cupping your cheek and chuckling as you tried to shy away. The two of you could work on that, later on. He could live with the guilt if he let himself enjoy it, now. “Just give me a moment, alright? Just a second, then I’ll take care of you.”

You opened your mouth, then you closed it again. Kaeya wondered if you’d be bold enough to refuse if he did try to kiss you, or hold you, or go further than the fleeting touches he’d swore would keep him satisfied, at first, at least. He wondered if he’d care, when you did. “Are… are you going to hurt me?”

He wanted to reassure you. He wanted to promise he’d be patient, that he’d understand if you lashed out, that violence wasn’t an option he was willing to consider, but he couldn’t, like this, could he? He didn’t want to hurt you, but he’d never wanted to kidnap you, either, not until you made it obvious he didn’t have another choice. He didn’t want to stoop so low, he didn’t want you to hate him, but…

But, he was lying again, wasn’t he?

To tell the truth, he couldn’t remember the last time he genuinely cared whether or not you loved him back.

You stifled a scream as his hand dropped to your jaw, his grip tightening as he jerked you forward, just close enough to wrap his arm around your waist, to bury his face in the side of your neck, to get a taste of what you’d deprived him of. It wasn’t enough, he doubted it’d ever be enough, but he had you. He had you, he was close to you, and he had you. That had to be enough, for now.

“We’ll see.”

1K notes · View notes

moldisgoodforyou · 3 years

Text

homework can wait

wordcount: 2.3k

warnings: smut. that's it

______

“Soph, don’t you get tired of that?” Rafe asked as she pulled out leftovers of Kraft mac and cheese from the microwave, freshly reheated. She’d been eating that and ham sandwiches regularly for the past two weeks, unless they went out to eat - at first he assumed she was on her period, but he was starting to get concerned.

She shrugged, ducking her head to hide her blush. “It’s cheap.”

He frowned, sitting back in his chair. “I’ll buy you groceries. You need good food.”

“It’s not about that. I fucked up my budget this month, it’s fine.” She’d purchased a brand-new dress for his senior formal instead of buying it secondhand, without showing Rafe, and was deeply regretting it already. Her food budget was about $60 less that month in order to compensate and her diet was a mess when she wasn’t able to afford fresh produce.

“What’d you buy?”

“A dress.”

He frowned, crossing his arms. “I thought I told you I’d buy your formal dress.”

“Yeah, but I wanted to surprise you.” (She didn’t add that she’d also splurged a little on a lingerie set to wear underneath - stupid, seeing as she could literally wear a trash bag and Rafe would be all over her in a heartbeat.)

“Okay, so let me Venmo you for it or something so you’re not eating like a five-year-old.” When she opened her mouth to make a small noise of protest, he raised his eyebrows and gave her a cool stare. “How much.”

“Hm.”

“Sophie. How much.”

She relented under his gaze. “Fine. It was $120, but there’s extra so that’s why it was so expensive, and I’m going to pay you back next month when I get my next TA check -”

“Absolutely not, you’re not paying me back.”

Sophie glared at him when she saw her phone light up with the Venmo notification for $200. “Rafe. That’s way too much, this feels weird.”

“You only get paid once every month for being a TA, that’s ridiculous. Why’s it weird? You’ve paid for our coffee the last five times. It’s just repayment. With a tiny bit extra.”

“Feels like a weird sugar daddy situation.” She grumbled, shoving another forkful of mac and cheese in her mouth.

He snorted. “Julia’s getting in your head. I don’t think it’s a sugar daddy if we’re the same age.”

“Technically, you’re older.”

“Technically, you’re my girlfriend and I’m allowed to treat you if I want. What’s the extra with the dress? Shoes?”

She blushed bright red, never able to get away with anything. “Yeah. Shoes.”

A slow smirk spread across his face and he grabbed for her phone, unlocking it to go through her email, and she lunged for it across the table. “Rafe no!”

“I want to see -”

“You’ll see later!” She wrestled the phone out of his grasp, somehow having ended up in his lap, inches from his face. “Don’t spoil the surprise!”

“It’s lingerie. Isn’t it? What color is it? You know my favorite on you is black - wait, or pink -”

“You like anything I’m in, horndog.” She accused, moving to get off his lap but he grabbed her around the waist, holding her in place, and reached up her shirt. “What are you wearing now?”

Sophie rolled her eyes and leaned back just enough to flash him, quicker than he could process. “Nothing. I ran earlier, I wasn’t gonna wrestle a sports bra on.”

He just blinked at her for a moment. “You’re beautiful. You know that?”

“And you’re pathetic. All the thoughts just left your head.” She pointed out, laughing at his blank stare as she crawled off of him and returned to her seat.

“Well now that I know what’s under this, yes. Can we go upstairs? I’m not hungry. Well - I am - not for food, if you catch my drift -” He smirked.

She flipped him off and took another slow bite of her mac and cheese, taking her time. “No. Go take care of yourself, I’m still starving.”

“Okay, so let’s go get real dinner. This is shit food.” He argued, scrolling through Postmates. “Pizza? Wings?”

“You think my mac and cheese is shit food and then you offer that? Why are you on Postmates?”

“Because I want time to fuck you before dinner.” He answered without looking up from his phone, making her blush again and her whole body feel warm. Sometimes she wasn’t sure if they’d ever leave the honeymoon stage of the relationship.

“Rafe.” She whined, kicking his shin.

“Sophieee.” He mimicked. “Sushi? We haven’t had that in ages.”

“You can’t just run your mouth like that and get away with it.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You’re too much.”

“Says you, who texted me yesterday afternoon when I was in a meeting with my advisor that ‘your fingers don’t feel the same’ - honestly. What the fuck is up with that, Sophie, that’s a text you should have sent when we were apart for months, not when we’d literally slept together days before.” He shook his head, handing over his phone.

“It’s embarrassing to send when we’re apart. I didn’t wanna seem desperate.” She protested, typing in her sushi order, but paused when she saw a text from a contact saved as ‘BR’ pop up. The text read ‘are we still on for tomorrow?’

“You were desperate, though. Made me send nudes.” He teased, reaching for his phone. “You done?”

“Um. Yeah.” She shook her head and swiped away the text then finished her order, handing the phone back. She pulled her laptop out of her backpack, flicking it open and started typing.

Rafe stood and leaned over, sliding his arms around her from behind and kissed her neck. “They won’t be here for twenty minutes…”

“Good thing you can get yourself off in ten.” She replied, unfazed, but tilted her head to give him better access.

“Homework can wait, can’t it?” He asked, sucking at a spot along her neck until she flicked his forehead.

“Hey! Quit with the marks, Rafe, no one believes me that they’re curling iron burns.” She clamped her hand to her neck, scowling.

He leaned around and kissed the bridge of her nose. “Maybe you should come up with a better lie then, because you don’t ever curl your hair unless we’re getting dressed up. Let’s go upstairs. Possibly get naked too.”

“I’m working.” She replied lamely, though her eyes flicked down to his lips and she subconsciously licked her own. “I’m not turned on.”

“I can see your nipples through your t-shirt.” He raised his eyebrows, slowly closing her laptop. “I’ll eat you out before dinner.”

“It’s cold in here.” She huffed out the excuse, pretending to be annoyed although she wasn’t in the slightest, and pushed away from the table. Sophie got to the base of the stairs before turning around, eyebrows raised. “Well? Are you coming?”

“That’s what she said.” He replied with a grin, striding forward and scooping her up easily.

She squealed, lightly pounding on his chest. “Let me down!”

“No. I have a job to do.” He ignored her, going up the stairs with ease. “Is the lingerie already here?”

“Rafe, I swear to god if you don’t put me down you won’t get to see any of it -”

He pushed open her bedroom door and promptly dropped her onto the bed, then started toward her closet. “Right, where’d you hide this?”

“If you get out early I’m not putting it on. And that’s not nearly as exciting for you.” She argued, tugging off her t-shirt behind his back as she sat on the bed, then threw her shirt at his head.

He caught it easily even from behind, then whirled around with a grin. “Oh, hello. Is this an invitation?”

“Get your ass over here, Cameron.”

He wasted no time in striding over, tossing his shirt to the side as he went. He didn’t miss the way her eyes trailed over his body as she eagerly pulled his hips down to hers, kissing him hard. It didn’t take long for him to tug off her shorts and shove her up the bed as they fell into their familiar routine when they were just getting through a quickie, with him basically manhandling her and Sophie just letting him take control.

She sighed as he kissed down her neck, across her chest. Sophie tangled her fingers in his hair, completely content as he grazed his teeth across her nipples. “Rafe.”

“Mm.” He sucked her nipple into his mouth, making her squirm.

“We’re on a time limit,” she reminded him, tugging a little on his hair.

He laughed, lifting his head and pushed her further up the bed so he could tease two fingers across her clit. “You’re impatient.”

“I’m not, you’re the one that started all this - shit, okay -” She gasped when he slipped a finger inside her curling it toward himself.

He knew he could make her cum in ten minutes, easy - sometimes less if she was in the right mood already - but he loved the teasing game. “Hey, what grade did you get on that test?”

“I - what?” She mumbled, whining as he hit just the right spot inside of her, adding another finger.

“That test, you were worried about it. Art history or something?” He leaned closer and grazed his teeth over her nipple, laughing when she jerked her hips into his hand.

“I don’t remember.” She panted out, whining when he pressed his thumb hard against her clit.

“You don’t remember? We studied together, I quizzed you and everything. I’m pretty sure we even saw some of the art in Italy.” He smirked as she struggled to even think, let alone form a complete sentence.

“Rafe, can you shut the fuck up?” She pleaded, squirming under him.

“S’not very nice.” He raised his eyebrows, slowing his pace with his fingers.

She cursed under her breath, letting her head fall back to the pillow. “Baby, please.”

“Please what?”

“I’m not gonna say it.” She grabbed the front of his shirt, trying to pull him closer to kiss him - and convince him to shut up, goddamnit - and he easily nudged her away, now rubbing impossibly slow circles on her clit.

“I wanna hear your words, Soph.”

“Get me off first and then we can chat, if that’s what you really want.” She was glaring at him now, legs falling a little wider like an invitation.

“I can do this all day, baby.” He grinned, knowing he had the upper hand.

“You’re the worst.” She bit out, not wanting to do anything that’d make him stop.

“Aw, that’s no way to talk to your boyfriend.” He paused, thinking. “Your boyfriend that’s ordered you food...and come to think of it, they should be here soon. What are we gonna do with you?”

“Maybe I should go answer the door and see if the delivery guy will get me off instead.” She muttered, getting further and further away from any chance of an orgasm by the second.

Rafe frowned, his fingers stilling completely inside of her. “That’s mean.”

She had to laugh, a tiny bit - god, he was so sensitive sometimes. Sophie reached up and curled her hand around the back of his neck, bringing him down for a long, bruising kiss. “Finish the job then. You can make me come before they get here, can’t you?”

“You’re gonna make me sit through dinner completely hard?” He started picking up the pace with his fingers again, hitting the perfect spot inside her.

She shook her head, moaning - a little too ostentatiously, but whatever would do the trick. “This was your idea, but we could just fuck and we could both get the reward.” She leaned forward and palmed him through his shorts, squeezing just light enough to make him groan.

“Sophie.”

“Rafe, c’mon. Enough teasing.” She pleaded, gasping when he rubbed a little harder, a little faster.

He considered for a moment just stopping completely, making her sit through dinner with metaphorical blue balls, but knew there was a strong chance she wouldn’t end up having sex with him anyways. He picked up the pace, curling his fingers just so and leaning down to kiss her, something that always helped push her over the edge. He grinned against her lips as she whined, squirming underneath him as she came. Rafe loved the way her cheeks flushed pink and she breathed hard, like she’d just ran for miles.

The doorbell rang just as he pulled his fingers away from her and pressed them to her lips. “Help me out here.”

She accepted them easily, swirling her tongue around his fingers to make sure they were clean, and smirked up at him as he pulled them out and wiped them on his shorts. “Dinner’s here.”

“S’ just sushi. We can eat it cold.” He suggested, pulling on his shirt from the floor. “I can be quick.”

“Go get our food and then we can talk.” She leaned over, halfheartedly kicking at his hip to push him toward the door. “I have cash in my wallet downstairs if you need a tip.”

“I got it, I got it.” He jogged downstairs and paid the delivery driver, then came back up with the bag of food, pleased to see she was still sprawled out naked on the bed, just with a sheet tugged over her. “So…”

She stood, strolling into her bathroom. “I’m going to shower real quick, you’re free to join.”

He scrambled after her - their sushi ended up forgotten until a whole thirty minutes later.

taglist: @drewstarkey @lemur46 @jjmaybanksbaby @edgeofgr8 @quxxnxfhxll @obxtess @hoodpankow @vtgirl802 @outerbankies @messagesinthesky @nicolecarsley @svechnikolan @ilovejjmaybank @obxtess @abbyj1822 @oopsiedoopsie23 @g4bster @jjmaybankzz @freddymaybank @dontjinx-it @illbesafeforyou @moniamaybank @tovvaa @jailcalledlife @sunshineitsfine44 @randomficsandshit @outerbankspreferences @outerbanksbro @karsinner @kkmaybank @whoeveniskendall @lemur46 @outerbankies

#rafe cameron #rafe cameron fanfiction #rafe cameron smut #outer banks smut #outer banks #college rafe #frat rafe #outer banks fanfic #rafe x sophie #mine

249 notes · View notes

kaepop-trash · 4 years

Note

I finished Unintended Consequences two days ago and I still can't get it out of my head. How do you do it? How do you make him playful and funny one moment and sexy the next? I can't get the Epilogue out of my mind!!! This might be too much to ask since you mentioned that you've been working on a few WIPs, but I've been reading your fanfiction for a long time now and I know you sometimes answers asks with small bits of extra plot. I need Daddy Johnny, I can't stop thinking about it.

Please! Ask anything, I love doing these. Finding out someone wants to see more of characters makes me giddy because I focus on characters the most in any story. You can ask about any character from any fic at any point of time in any situation and I will gladly write it. This is maybe on of my favourite things to do, like an excercise in character. If you have more please don't hesitate to ask. But for now, here's daddy Johnny. Enjoy!

Her bottom lip puckered and she look at her feet, crossing her arms over her chest. Johnny laughed softly, changing the gear as the traffic light turned green.

"What has gotten into you today?" He was still chuckling to himself.

Her eyes traced the rain covered streets as they passed by slowly. Taking in the sight of her city, her home.

She turned to face him, devilish intention in her eyes. "A lot of things. Unfortunately, none of them were you." She saw his Adam's apple bob as he swallowed. She took pleasure at the sight of the humour dropping away from his eyes.

She looked out through the windshield, her voice turning back to conversational. "I appreciate that you came to the airport. Though I'm not sure I enjoyed how blatantly Isabelle was eyeing you." She frowned, remembering her colleagues shameless giggles and elbow touches.

"I thought Isabella was married?" He said off handedly.

She resisted the urge to smile, noticing his deliberate effort to mispronounce her name.

"All the more reason to dislike it. Isabelle should laugh at her husband's jokes." Her forehead creased together.

She sighed as they stopped at another red light. New York traffic aged a person more than the pollution.

Johnny turned to face her as he turned off the ignition, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips, "I thought you weren't the jealous type?"

"I am the possesive type, remember?" She pointed a finger at him. "I don't doubt you for a second. But I still don't see why Isabelle needs to stroke my Daddy's arm." She saw his nostrils flare, a sudden fire in his eyes. On her part, she bit back a smile.

There was a moment when he just watched her like a predator sizing their prey up while her breathing hitched with every passing second.

Then a horn blared behind them.

Johnny peeled his eyes from her, looking back at the road. His jaw set tight.

She turned back to the road as well, going back to filling him in on her work trip. "I did manage to squeeze in an amendment in the budget bill. Though I had to corner a senator in a bar for it. How was your week?" She questioned.

It took more than two hours, but they finally drove into the garage. Johnny got out and took out her suitcase, still mostly silent.

She tapped her feet on the ground as they waited for the elevator.

"Is there any food? I'm famished." She sighed as her stomach growled.

His eyes widened the smallest bit, "There's some cold pizza on the counter. I think there's an orange in the fridge." He thought over it.

She sighed, her head falling. "I leave for seven days and you've already given up food? Johnny Seo I've told you to at least have a decent dinner." She shook her head.

"I missed you too, (Y/N)." He said it absent-mindedly, practically fluent in her habit of missing what was really bothering her.

She was so deep in love with this man.

"What are you in the mood to eat?" He asked as the elevator dinged open. He lifted her suitcase and placed it inside as the elevator closed them both in.

Without too much of a malicious intent, her lips tugged at the corners.

"Jesus fucking Christ, baby." He huffed, "You need to stop." He warned.

"Why?" She lifted her chin in defiance. "I can say what I want to you. You're my boyfriend." She smiled at the word, still not used to the butterflies it gave her after almost three years.

"Wait till we get home." He sighed.

"But this is more fun." Her lower lip puckered up again, "Look at how impossibly red your cheeks are right now. I wouldn't miss it for the world."

"What should I do to your cheeks when we get back then?" He raised a brow, a flick of a switch for heat to pool in between her legs.

"Kiss them lovingly." She smirked, ignoring the intentional play on words.

His lips tugged on one corner, shaking his head as a chuckle slipped out his lips and looking away to the screen as they rose through the floors.

"Cold pizza is fine." She spoke, earning a distracted hum from him.

Johnny stood at the edge of the bed, a smirk on his face as he looked down to lock his gaze on hers. She sat on her knees at the edge of the bed, looking up at him with big, eager eyes. Wearing lingerie he once bought for her, the sight milking every last reserve he had.

The delicate cream-beige silk was thin despite being opaque, teasing his senses as her nipples currently stretched against the fabric.

He knew she wore it on purpose.

"Did you enjoy it? Constantly saying things that almost made the car crash?" He clicked his tongue.

"You aren't crashing any cars at 12 miles an hour." She mumbled.

His fingers grabbed her chin, raising her eyes to meet his. Humour dancing in his eyes, but a deliberate frown on his face.

"Look at me when you speak, princess." His voice impassive. "We're feeling very brave today, are we?" She blinked, batting her lashes in a slow deliberate move that made him groan.

"You always have more self-control than I do." She pouted. "All week I craved you. I just wanted to see some of that in your eyes."

His thumb brushed against her lower lips, pulling on the skin and letting his gaze linger on the plump flesh, before bringing it back to her eyes. "I'm always craving you." He bit the inside of his cheek when her lips parted to wrap around his thumb, flicking small licks against the pad of his thumb.

He clasped her jaw, "Wretched girl." He groaned.

"I missed you so much." She whined against his thump, letting it fall from her now wet lips with a soft 'pop'. "I was even sitting in a conference room before a meeting looking at your pictures. That bitch Isabelle peeked in and then would not stop asking who you were." She frowned.

His eyes danced with amusement. "What did you do then?" He dragged his thumb down her throat, dragging his wet finger down the skin.

"I told her exactly who you were." She sounded indignant.

"And what is that?" His fingers brushed over her breasts with a feather light touch, enjoying the sensation of the soft silk under his knuckles.

"Mine."

His eyes snapped back to hers, his lips parting.

She continued like her words didn't knock the ground from under his feet, "She looked like she didn't even want to believe me." She rolled her eyes.

Johnny raised a brow, "Is that why you grabbed my ass in the middle of the airport?" The smirk that lifted the corner of her lips drove him insane.

"Maybe." She bated her eyelashes. "Isabelle needs to pay more attention to her own husband." She frowned again.

"Can we not talk about Isabelle in our bed?" He snapped.

She gave him a soft nod, looking to the floor. Johnny grazed his lower lip with his teeth till the skin broke.

He lifted her chin to look at him, "Say it again." He demanded.

She scoffed, "You just said–"

"You know what I mean, princess." He narrowed his gaze at her. Her lips tugged. Otherwise patronising nicknames sounded like filthy praises when they came from his lips.

She looked up, unfaltering ease in her eyes. "You're mine."

"Again." He growled, his breathing down to a shallow mess of strong effort.

She sat up on her knees, coming up to make her eyes level to his, "Johnny Seo you belong to me."

He presses his lips to hers. She wrapped an arm around his neck and used the other to grab his sweater, pulling him till he was over her.

He pulled away from the kiss, lips still pressed on hers, "Turn over." He ordered.

She obeyed, lying on her stomach on the mattress, looking back to watch him do quick work of undressing.

"Did you miss me?" She questioned, knowing the answer already.

"Every fucking hour." The words filled her with pride anyway.

"Hmm. You don't seem like it. Telling me off like you are." She hid her smile in the pillow. He dragged a stray finger down her spine, the air in her lungs stuttering on it's way out.

"You've become a little tease do you know that?" His fingers lingered on the curve of her ass. She pressed it further up in the air, enjoying the sound of his soft exhale.

"Learning from the best." Her voice was softer.

When the first smack landed on her ass she gasped from shock. He rubbed the flesh softly, soothing the sting from a second ago.

"Anything else to say?" He questioned. She pictured the raise of a single brow, the challenge in his eyes. She sucked in her breath and parted her lips to speak.

The second smack landed on the other cheek, making a moan leave through her lips instead. She buried her face in the pillow, feeling like she'd go mad with desire.

"That's what I thought." He hummed, "My precious brat needs a little encouragement once in a while, doesn't she?" He kneaded the flesh of her ass. "Speak." He demanded.

"Yes, Daddy." She spoke through her teeth.

The third made her wince, his palm landing in the middle, impossibly close to her increasingly wet hole. She jumped, burying her face further and whining.

"Are we good?" He questioned, stroking her behind again.

"Yes." She lifted her head to gasp out.

Johnny was so good at pushing her till the very brink of desire, but never pain. His touch was stern but never harsh. And he was foremost gentle.

She turned her head to press her cheek into the pillow instead of her face. "I love you."

"I love you too, (Y/N)." His voice was soft. "I'm crazy about you." He huffed.

Two of his fingers stroked down her clothed slit. When he pressed her folds right above her clit she bit down on her lip.

"You're so wet." He growled, pressing a finger through the silk of her underwear into her.

Her leg jerked at the sensation.

"Absolutely soaked." His voice was dangerously low, "Turn over." He took his finger away too quick.

She turned over, lifting her torso on her elbows to look at him.

Her lips parted as she finally realised that he was completely naked. She was certain she could see it everyday and still not get used to how he looked without clothes.

Johnny bit his lip, "Do you know how beautiful you look right now? Flushed and needy for me. In that beautiful lingerie that I'm trying my best not to tear off of you." He groaned, eyes drifting all over her body.

"Johnny." She whined, his breath caught in his throat at the plea, "Come here. Touch me, please." She shivered.

He gave her a gentle smile, one full of love. That one thing, she thought, despite everything else at hand, could move her to tears.

He crawled up to her, eyes meeting hers as he cupped a cheek in his hand. "I don't know what life would have been without you, my love." He whispered.

Her heart picked up so fast that she was sure she saw spots in her vision. Her face turned red and she covered her face in her hands, groaning.

Johnny laughed, kissing her fingers. "That makes you blush?" He chuckled.

Unintended Consequences

#nct johnny #johnny smut #nct smut #nct scenarios #miscellaneous #unintended consequences #nct #johnny #nct 127

150 notes · View notes

rachelbethhines · 4 years

Text

Tangled Salt Marathon - No Time Like the Past

While I wouldn’t call this the worst episode of the series, there are several others I dislike more, I would call this the most ill conceived story in the show.

All the other bad episodes have potential but are let down by poor presentation, boring predictability, or sloppy planning. This one however, is fundamentally flawed in it’s very basic premise and so ranks in the bottom of most fans lists. Even people who are far more forgiving of season three and than I am, and are hardcore New Dream stans, still dislike this episode. That’s how bad it is.

Summary: Rapunzel discovers Old Lady Crowley tossing out Cassandra's things. She is upset and demands that they be left alone. She then has Lance and Eugene help her save all of Cassandra's mementos and personal belongings, but she becomes saddened when Eugene reminds her that Cassandra turned her back on "her". Rapunzel takes a box of her things along with, unknowingly, a mysterious hourglass. As she examines it, she accidentally drops and smashes it and she and Pascal find themselves sent back into the past. They run into a teenage Eugene and Lance who keep calling Rapunzel "Sideburns". Rapunzel realizes that she and Pascal have inhabited the bodies of the Stabbington Brothers and decide to recruit the young thieves in getting the hourglass from the castle back.

Fun Fact! That Dummy is Rapunzel’s Doing

Minor nitpick here, but Cass had nothing to do with putting Eugene’s face on her sparring dummy. Rapunzel voluntarily did that back in Under Raps. Cas never requested it nor even expressed any joy over receiving said ‘gift’.

Basically the show is attributing one of Rapunzel’s mistakes/flaws to Cassandra in order to introduce a very nonsensical plot point later. So I need ya’ll to keep that in mind as we go along.

Lets Talk About the Episode’s Ordering

We don't have production codes for season three like we did for the previous two seasons. So we can’t know for sure what order everything was originally planned in, but I would argue that this episode should have came before Return of the King.

For starters this is a “bottle” episode; it takes place mostly in the past and the only present day characters who show up are Eugene, Raps, Lance, and Crowely. As such you could potentially slot this episode in anywhere before Cassandra’s Revenge. You can’t really do that with most of the other episodes so it could have been easily moved around when airing.

Therefore, I would argue that it should have been the first episode after Rapunzel’s Return for three key reasons.

It would have given Edmund time to travel to Corona and give Raps time to start up big building projects like fixing Old Corona. In fact she’s already approving building plans for the capitol city at the start of the episode. Which could even explain why she took so long getting to the castle repairs if she was taking care of the stuff that the Saporians messed up else where.

Rapunzel’s stance over wanting to keep Cassandra’s things makes more sense early on, both in universe and in a meta context. Raps would still have hope if Cass has only been gone for a month or two instead what would now be four or five months down the line. It also makes sense that Crowely wouldn’t wait around for that long. And from a meta standpoint, the audience would still be oblivious to what the heck Cass was up to and could theoretically side with Raps better; or at least empathize with her view point more, even while disagreeing with her.

Events in this episode better explains Eugene’s decisions in Return of the King and gives the audience more context for certain stuff.

So Why Is There a Random Magical Time Traveling Hourglass in the Storage Vault?

Slowly but surely the series has abandoned all pretense that there’s any logical world building in the show. Magical things just appear randomly now without any explanation whatsoever. Worse than that, things like the hourglass and map to the cursed tomb are treated as if they were always there, unlike the magical beings that they happened to run into in past seasons.

The problem with this is a lack of consistency. You can’t have sceptics like Eugene and Varian if magic is so common and wide spread that anyone can run into it at anytime. Not to mention it diminishes the specialness and importance of the sundrop and moonstone if powerful magical items can be so easily found and stirred, undermining important plot points and the tension surrounding them.

But most frustrating of all, is that this could have been easily fixed by just stating on screen at some point that magic attracts other magic. Meaning it’s only Rapunzel herself who routinely runs into these things and not just everybody and anybody.

None of This Stuff Holds Any Meaning

Show don’t tell!

At several points through out season three, both Raps and Cass morn over Cassandra’s left behind things. They tell us constantly that these objects hold significant meaning to them, but I, the viewer, have no damn clue as to why.

We were never shown on screen what was so special about these things other than the fact that it was junk Cass collected. There’s no story attacked to these assortment of objects nor any previous indication that Cassandra valued them beyond their usefulness. As such, any scenes involving her stuff fall emotionally flat.

Eugene is the One in the Right Here.

Eugene’s right.

Any well adjust and mature adult will tell you he’s right.

If someone doesn’t want a relationship with you, than that’s it. There is nothing you can do but to move on. It sucks, but its life. To ignore that is to ignore someone else’s boundaries and personal autonomy; while also devaluing yourself and you’re own needs.

In a competent show this would be a set up for Rapunzel to learn something about letting go and taking care of oneself emotionally.

But this isn’t a competent show.

But Lobster is for Poor Folk

Food history time!

Lobster, and shellfish in general, have been considered low class food for centuries. Especially around costal areas like Corona. It’s easy to attain, cheap, and not regulated like hunting was in much of Europe. In America, specifically, lobster was fed to prisoners and there’s historical accounts of riots being started over it.

Heck, less than forty years ago, no one lived on the coast but poor people. That’s why there’s historical communities of black people living on the southeastern islands in the US and why my father grew up in the swamps of Alabama during the 50s and 60s.

The gentrification of coastal property and seafood, like lobster, is a very recent phenomenon in human history, starting in the late 70s early 80s with the booming tourism industry and increasing globalization.

So while I understand that the joke here is meant to be reflective of our current understanding of lobster being a status symbol, in universe, it’s the equivalent of Eugene getting excited for chicken nuggets instead of his usual bowl of cereal because the story takes place before the 20th century.

This means that these kids are so poor that fucking mcdonald’s fast food would be considered a rare treat compared to the slop they usually eat. Yet again what is meant to be a lighthearted joke turns suddenly dark when you stop to think about it for all of two seconds all because the writers are so flippant about their world and characters.

This Wasn’t Planned Out, So the Timeline Doesn’t Add Up Anymore and Resources are Wasted

Remember the flashback in The Return of Strongbow?

Now I need you to remember that season three is two years later from season one and the movie. Eight years ago then, would be ten years ago now.

The Eugene and Lance in the bottom picture is suppose to be roughly the same age as the Eugene and Lance in the top picture; give or take a few months.

I know teenage boys can grow fast, but not that fast.

Eugene at 16 looks the same as he does at 26. All because the writers were too lazy to preplan things out ahead of time.

We should have seen the teen models with recasted voices back during that first flashback if they were going to tell this story later. Or the previous plot point should have been less than eight years ago.

In fact the first flashback no longer makes any sense being so many years ago given Eugene’s engagement and recent breakup with Stalyan, and the later reveal that he was working for the Baron during the original movie.

Sloppy planning like this not only makes for a confusing timeline but it also wastes limited resources. I like the new models, I like the actors cast for these younger roles, and I do like the concept of seeing more of Eugene’s past. But going through all of that trouble and money for what amounts to one throw away episode is mismanagement of the budget and work schedule.

Baby Varian Is the Episode’s Only Saving Grace

I know people are divided on the deign here. Some love it and some hate it, but that’s a personal taste thing. The actual scene itself is golden either way, because it’s such a funny eater egg. Fans on both sides made memes out of this for days. It’s legendary.

Personally I’m more in the ‘love it’ camp, though I can see the issues people have with the design. My main defense of it is more the fact that we got kid designs for the other OCs in the show and it’s only fair Varian got one as well. The fact that he’s in smaller versions of the S1 clothes doesn’t bother me anymore than when Lance ran around for two seasons in the same outfit, including when he was a kid.

So if I like it, then why am I talking about it a salt review?

Cause the most memorable part of an episode shouldn’t be a throw away gag!

People bring up baby Varian way more than they do about anything else in the episode, and no it’s not just because the character popular. It’s because most would like to forget what comes after this scene.

Where is Quirin, by the Way?

Why is your six year old son running around the big city unsupervised?

This wouldn’t get talk about as much it wasn’t for the fact that Quirin being neglectful in season one was a motivating factor in his conflict with Varian. A conflict that was suppose to be resolved back in Rapunzel’s Return but we the audience have yet to visually see any difference in behavior since then.

Quirin’s absence here in the past highlights his absence in the present day and reminds the audience aware that we’ve not been given a satisfying conclusion to one of the most important arcs in the series.

Lets Talk About Wasted Potential

Like I said, I like the idea of exploring Eugene’s past. But we should have gotten that back in season two when it was more relevant. Part of why this episode fails is because Eugene has reached the end of his original character development. He’s now on an identity crisis arc which has nothing to do with this episode.

But you know who still hasn’t finished developing? Rapunzel.

Rapunzel has lots to still learn and viewing her past through outside eyes could have turned this story into something really special. Especially with the ‘inhabiting another body’ plot point.

You have no end of options here,

Have Raps inhabit Cassandra’s body for a day and gain insight into what motivates her. It could have been either before or after they met, both offers up possibilities.

Have Raps inhabit Eugene’s body and experience what he had to deal with growing up and come to see his point of view. (This could have also worked with the Sabbingtons set up had the writers not been stupid.)

And my personal favorite, send her back to right after Queen for a Day and have her stuck in either Varian’s or Ruddiger’s bodies. Force her to see what she did to him and have her acknowledge she was wrong.

And those are just the most obvious choices, there’s other more out of left field things you can do that would still work with good writing. Like exploring Lady Caine’s past, inhabiting Arianna’s body and learning how to be a real queen, get dumped into actual young Gothel and lay out clues to the future Zhan Tiri plot, or possess one of the Brotherhood and experience the final days of the Dark Kingdom; the list just goes on and on and on.

But I Thought You Didn’t Put Kids in Jail Frederic?

Remember that Raps and Pascal are possessing the Stabbingtons who are still teenagers here. They can’t be much older than Varian.

This means that Varian isn’t some special case. Teens have received harsh and deadly punishments in the past for non-violent crimes like theft.

Also teens are called kids still by the majority of the cast. They’re aren’t considered adults with the same rights as someone in say their twenties, yet they can be punished the same as an adult would. Which is horrendous in any time period.

So in conclusion, Frederic is a fucking liar!

Tangled the Series can’t decide if it’s in the far past or a reflection of the modern day. As such it winds up supporting the worst of both worlds. Barbaric practices like hanging for minor crimes and prison slave labor are treated as the norm and never called out for the horrific things that they are; treated as a joke even, but we’re suppose to accept that this world also somehow views adolescence through the lens of late 20th century sensibilities even as it forces minors to go through such atrocities.

Like what are you trying to say show? What is your message on the transition of adolescence to adulthood regarding rights and responsibilities? And don’t tell me ‘it’s not that deep’ because this is suppose to be a coming of age show! That’s the entire premise of the series!

So How Old Are Stan and Pete Again?

I was always under the impression that Pete was a newbie guard, closer to Cass and Eugene’s age than say Cap or Frederic. That’s why he screws up so much because he’s inexperienced, why he seemed to be the closest thing to a equal colleague Cass had in the guard when she was also just starting out, and why I assumed those braided girls from the movie were his sisters.

I mean there was nothing on screen previously that would necessarily contradict this reveal, it just doesn’t feel right, that’s all. I guess he could be like 20 here and be 30 in the show. That would make him only a few years older than Eugene, but still doesn’t explain why he’s so useless a decade later.

I’m fine with Stan being here though. I always thought of him being the older of the two. In fact I headcannon Willow as his mysterious wife that he talked about back in Monty’s episode during season one. (She’s Stan and Pete’s beard, and they’re totally in a open poly relationship. That’s why they’re allowed to stay in the royal guard despite being so incompetent cause they’re technically Ferderic’s in-laws and Rapunzel’s uncles. Just no one ever talks about it cause it’s a minor sandal for a princess to marry lower class and Willow’s hardly ever there.)

And Why Does Xavier Have All Those Plot McGuffins?

I know we’ll never get an answer, but at this point Xavier’s exposition fairy powers border upon ridiculousness. It’s just lazy and a waste of character.

So How Does Time Travel Work In This?

There are three types of time travel stories in fiction.

First is the ‘Changeable Past, Changeable Future’. You see this in Back to the Future. What you do in the past will change the future, i.e. your present. You may or may not remember that you did it, but be warned you could change things too much and break stuff. Like erasing yourself from existence, or ruining your love life ect. The only way to fix it is to go back in time again and change stuff again. But beware of paradoxes or you may destroy the universe altogether.

The second is the ‘Alternate Timeline’, where changing things creates new realties and it’s a matter of finding the right reality again. The tv show Sliders is a great example of this. Each new timeline is a different dimension. What you do in one won’t effect your original point of origin, only that particular world. The challenge if often getting home again because the probable diverging timelines are infinite and the changes of getting back are a zillion to one.

Third is the ‘Closed Time Loop’. No matter what you do nothing will change. The future is inevitable and whatever you do in the past was always meant to happen anyways. Gargoyles handles this really well. You can also have ‘fix points’ where certain important things are set in stone but small things can be changed like in several Doctor Who episodes. Braking a fix point breaks the universe once again, while paradoxes are often the solution rather than the threat.

So which type of time travel is Tangled dealing with here?

Scenes like the conversation regarding Pete’s and Stan’s mustache or the ones involving Eugene working on his smolder suggest a closed time loop. Yet the ending to this episode reveals a changed future. Further still the grandfather paradox revolving around the hourglass would make you think an alternate timeline yet, we’ve no indication that anything else changed other then Eugene’s opinions on Cass, and Raps shows no concern about getting back to her original point in time indicating that it actually isn’t another dimension.... so what is it then?

You don’t have to have a tightly plotted time travel story to have an entertaining piece of media. Endgame is riddled with plot holes and contradicts itself constantly, but what it lacks in coherent plot it makes for with fun characters, emotional story beats, and good pacing that manages to balance the action with the drama while hiding the cracks just enough that you don’t lose immersion.

Tangled however fails at even this because it gets the character beats so fundamentally wrong. Like you may dislike where the characters ended up in Endgame, but can’t say that those developments didn’t match the characters’ previous storylines and logical trajectory. Tony finally becomes the selfless hero by committing the ultimate sacrifice, Steve learns self care as a mirror to Tony’s arc as they were always parallels to each other, Bruce learns to accept himself, Thor processes his grief and lets go of the role he was assigned at birth but never truly fit into, and Nat becomes the leader she was destined to be rather than the sidekick.

What happens to the characters in this episode however makes no sense.

This is Another Missed Opportunity to Explore Eugene’s Past

The other problem behind the episode is that we don’t actually learn anything new. If you’re going to promise a story focusing on Eugene’s past then I expect to actually glean some new insights.

We still don’t know why he’s working with Baron or how he fell in/fell out with him, what his relationship with Stalyan is like, how he became so cynical; not just the general basics, like the orphanage, but that point in his life where decided that survival meant giving up his morals and ethics; where did he first learn his better ethics that he originally suppressed (cause it sure as heck wasn’t Rapunzel), and when did he and Lance become separated?

This are questions that series decides to raise by making allusions to them and building conflicts off of them but never wants to explain the details of where they originated from. It’s super frustrating and wholly unnecessary. If you didn’t think the story of Eugene’s past worth telling then why did up repeatedly bring it up Chris?

Why Are You Surprised by This Rapunzel?

Rapunzel you know Eugene’s past. You know what he used to be like. You were literally there in the movie and saw him being an ass before this. You didn’t start to like him until he dropped his guard down in the flooded cave back when you both where about to die.

You fell in love with him when he showed you his real self and he fell in love with you when you proved that you were accepting of that. You earned each others’ trust. This here; angrily yelling at him and judging him, when you’re already hiding who you really are from him both literally and figuratively, is a breaking of that trust.

Who the fuck are you any more, Rapunzel?

Cause you’re not the same character from the movie. You’re not even the same character from season one. But whoever hell you are now, it’s not an improvement I can tell ya that.

So How Did The Hourglass Go From the Treasury to the Basement Storage, and How Would Raps Know It Was There At This Point and Time?

I’m guessing the implication here is that Crowley put Cass’s stuff in the vault, but like why the fuck would she do that? We’re not talking about a family attic here, but the royal safe. The most heavily guarded room in the castle with the kingdom’s most priceless treasures and antiques. Nothing Cass owned was that valuable.

Rapunzel Is Full of Shit

Oh let me count the numerous ways in which this whole lecture is stupid.

Rapunzel left Varian behind. Rapunzel left Varian behind multiple times, including that time he was thrown in jail. She was not a good friend, and no, this is not a case of her learning from her past because not once has she ever admitted that she was wrong to do that. So this scene just makes Raps look like a hypocrite.

Eugene does not need to relrean a lesson on being a better a person. He did that during the movie and has progressed beyond that point. This ‘lesson’ is a waste of time and a misuse of the characters.

This reframes Rapunzel as being in the right during her argument with older Eugene at the beginning of the episode, even though she’s not. In fact this is such a counterintuitive plot point that it boggles the mind. Who structures a narrative this way? Why so blatantly point out how the main character is wrong if not to have her learn something? Why frame the story to make the person who’s personal conflict isn’t even the episode’s focus, into the one who needs to learn something? Especially if that something is already a lesson that they’ve learned on screen beforehand.

And why, oh good heavens why, would you teach children such a toxic message? Like on the surface it sounds like something you’d hear in a children's show, but the context of it is justifying harmful behavior where you selfishly ignore other people’s wishes and boundaries just to satisfy you’re own personal desires.

And finally, Eugene and Lance do not work as a parallel to Raps and Cass. Cassandra is an adult who left of own free will. Lance is a teenager who was arrested due to Rapunzel’s own actions. Eugene isn’t the one who is responsible here, its Rapunzel. Who also left them both behind in her carelessness. Secondly, Eugene’s decisions are spurned by years of trauma and a healthy fear of dying, while Rapunzel’s is wrapped up in her own need to always be right and to keep her immature and fanciful outlook of the world intact. As harsh as it seems, what Eugene did was based off a predetermine agreement and presumably Lance would have acted the same way or been pressured to act the same way by Eugene. In short, Eugene’s cynical world view as a teen is not the source of his disagreement with Rapunzel but an adult perspective back by common sense and a respect of others choices. It makes no sense for present day Eugene to ‘learn’ anything from this misadventure that he didn’t already know and for Rapunzel to not learn anything that would actually tie the parallel together.

Locking Another Teen Inside a Jail Cell With Another Adult as a Joke, Does Not Erase the Inappropriateness of Varian’s Story

The episode tries to add another joke about Shorty sneaking into the prison without the guard knowing, but that still doesn’t excuse the fact someone had to have tossed Lance in there with him on purpose. Otherwise Lance wouldn’t have assumed Shorty was a fellow prisoner if he or the guard that locked him up saw Shorty sneak in before then.

Furthermore Lance’s nonchalant response suggests this is not an out of the ordinary occurrence. Nor do any of the other guard comment upon the irregularly of teens being jailed with an adult. Now add in the fact that the show fails to clarify that previous ‘cellmate’ line from Rapunzel’s Return and now gives us more confirmation that Varian was underfed and malnourished for a year with that gruel joke and you have a horrifying picture.

Shorty might be non-threating, but that doesn’t mean Andrew, a known attempted murderer and manipulator, is too. Nor any other adult who previously was housed with a teen before then. This is still very much not okay and no amount of ‘jokes’ will suddenly make it right.

Raps, Who is an Adult, Just Physically Threatened Two Teenaged Boys and It’s Played as a Joke....

How many times do I have to say it? Humor does not fix bad writing. I’m not laughing when a heroine at age 20, threatens a couple of kids for merely annoying her. Especially when said heroine has a history of abusing children; because let me repeat once again, neglect is abuse!

This is a Lie

No you wont.

Rapunzel never tells Eugene what happens on screen. I suspect that if she ever did, they would no longer be together, because what she wound up doing here was a violation of trust and boundaries in the worst possible way.

And This is Now a Time Paradox

A Grandfather Paradox to be specific. How can Rapunzel be here in the past to break the hourglass if the hourglass that sent her here is broken?

In a competent series this would be the point of a future conflict and not the actual resolution. It’s not a closed time loop because of the paradox and the changes we’ll see in the future.

So either she’s in an alternate timeline/dimension and just doesn’t gives a shit; leaving the real Eugene, Lance, Cass, ect. to go on without her; or she’s just broke the universe and everything is slowly unraveling around her; galaxies are dying as she whines about being dumped, people in the future are being eased from existence, and God is cursing her name for ruining his creation, all the while she carries on oblivious to the destruction in her wake, as usual.

That’s it. Those are you’re only two options now. Is everyone from here on a fake copy or is Rapunzel the damned destroyer of worlds? You decide.

So This Confirms That the Stabbingtons are Indeed “Family”

Another reason why I place this before Return of the King; it explains why Eugene considers the Stabbingtons ‘family’. Though if it was Rapunzel he actually bonded with and not the real Sideburns, then how much of his feelings are real and how much of them were fabricated by her? How much agency did this episode steal from him?

So What Exactly Did We All Change?

Well the dummy no longer has Eugene’s face, but Cass’s painting of the three of them still has him ripped out of the photo, soo... Keeping in mind that Raps painted the dummy anyways and considering that Moonandra tries to kill him later on; I’m going to guess that Cass’s feelings weren’t actually altered. If anything their relationship might actually be worse now, cause Cassandra keeps acting like she’s never had friends and Eugene has taken up Rapunzel’s blind devotion.

All that development in season one is just, poof, gone. Also it’s quite possible that the first movie as well has now it has been erased from existence as Eugene got his needed character development eight years too early. How the hell that’s suppose to work, I don’t know.

Outside of the that we get no confirmation how anybody else was effected, even though a more brainwashed Eugene running around would undoubtedly have caused a butterfly effect. Don’t expect that to be explored anytime soon.

Though, it would explain why he’s suddenly such a doormat in season three, if this was the second episode as theorized.

No! This is the Wrong Lesson!!!

Let me explain narrative promises.

Everyone, on some basic fundamental level, understands how stories work. We hear them recounted to us over and over again from the day we're born to the day we die. It’s integral to how we communicate as human beings. Everyone knows innately how to tell a story even if that person couldn’t tell you how stories or structured or what certain literary terms mean, but they do it every day just through speaking. And while most audiences can’t always pin point what upsets them about a story they can for sure notice when things are off and not satisfying to experience.

Now that doesn’t mean that everyone can write an awarding winning novel, that study of a craft isn’t important, nor that every amateurish critique thrown at any given media is valid. But it does mean that people have come to expect certain storytelling practices and can pick up on narrative cues. We’ve familiarized ourselves with the language of film, novels, comics, ect, into order to comprehend what’s going on.

Rules of writing are just following that established language so that the audience can keep up. You can break these rules, sure, but unless you know what you’re doing and have a good narrative reason to do so, then you can easily lose you’re audience. And if you’re making money off said audience that’s something you want to avoid.

A narrative promise is a cue; a set up that lets the audience know that ‘hey this is important, pay attention to this cause it’ll come back into play later’. Now that the audience has been alerted to the plot point they expect fulfillment of the promise. If you break that promise, either through poor set up, lack of follow through, or by breaking an established convention of writing for no other reason then because you just wanted to, your audience is going to walk away unsatisfied.

The argument at the beginning of the episode was a narrative promise. It was a cue that set up the interpersonal conflict of the main character. For add context, I know that this is a coming of age story. Convention would dictate that the protagonist would resolve this conflict by learning they were wrong.

That’s not what happened here.

Convention was subverted. It wasn’t the protagonist who grew and change, it was the person they were in conflict with who did. And it wasn’t subverted because of any greater narrative reason, or future pay off, or even as effort to be shallowly ‘clever’; it was subverted because the author just didn’t want to hold the main character accountable for anything. Because said character has now become his avatar for his wish fulfillment fantasy and having the main character admit fault would be to admit fault in ones own self. Rapunzel doesn’t feel like Rapunzel this season because she’s just Chris in a wig.

The episode broke a narrative promise to the audience; both within the episode and in the greater premise of the story, because of ego.

I don’t claim this episode is bad just because of personal taste nor because I find it morally repulsive (even though both those things are true), I call it bad because it exhibits bad writing. Plain and simple.

Way To Undermine The Entire Point of the Original Movie, Show

Speaking of breaking narrative promises....

TTS is suppose to be a squeal to the original movie. It’s even in the title of the show; both of them. In one fell swoop, the series has managed to sabotage it’s very reason for existing, as it erases Eugene’s motivation and the inciting incident that kick started the film.

Way to fucking go.

To further twist the knife, it diminishes the duel protagonist of said film in order to prop up a series original character, who isn't even present in the episode itself.

I don’t mind Cassandra’s existence. I don’t even mind her being the new deuteragonist and one of the main villains; even though she wouldn’t have been my first pick to fulfill those roles given her lack of set up. But I do fucking mind it if she upstages other characters and/or derails their character arcs in the process.

This is the Death of New Dream

I was still in denial when this episode first aired. I honestly believed that this and The Return of the King was build up to a third “betrayal” where Eugene finally became fed up with Rapunzel’s bullshit and joined forces with Zhan Tiri. I thought the end of the series would have Rapunzel apologize to everyone she did wrong, Varian, Cass, and Eugene, in order to break ZT’s hold on them, and that true love’s kiss would reunite the sundrop and the moonstone and that would just tie everything together into a neat little bow and give us a truly daring character study of a Disney hero.

Oh dear merciful heavens, was I ever wrong.

How did we go from season one’s challenging and mature storyline, complete with Disney’s first real anti-villian, to this?!

What the hell happened!?

Rapunzel not only disrespects Eugene’s opinions, violates his privacy and trust as she manipulates him as a teen, and then brainwashes him to think like her (even if accidentally), but doesn’t even have good grace to tell him. She instead has the audacity to look all happy and self congratulatory because she got want she wanted. She, and the show at large, doesn’t care what evil thing she does to get the desired outcome Rapunzel wants.

Rapunzel in this show is a spoiled brat. And the image of her and her now lobotomized boyfriend staring dead eyed at a picture of the creator’s previous waifu OC with plastic smiles on their faces, sums up this series perfectly.

Conclusion

This isn’t even the worst episode of the series guys. I don’t know if it would even make it onto a bottom five list. That’s how much crap I have to wade through when it comes to this show. This is however the most damaging episode to the franchise as a whole.

Not even the most hardcore of New Dream fans want to acknowledge the existence of that final scene, and Rapunzel stans won’t defend her beyond, ’well she didn’t mean too, it’s the writing that’s bad.’ Yeah, the writing is bad, that’s why the character can’t and shouldn’t be defended, not here and not in other badly written episodes where she also does bad things and never makes up for it.

Anyways I’m finally caught up to where I left off, before the move, though sadly I don't think I’ll get this series done by the end of the month like I had originally hoped. But if you would like to help out I have a ko-fi you can drop a tip into if ya want.

https://ko-fi.com/rachelbethhines

#tangled #tangled the series #rapunzel's tangled adventure #Eugene #anti-rapunzel #anti-tangled

93 notes · View notes

tchallasbabymama · 4 years

Text

M’Baku’s Love Chapter 7

Hey lovelies! I originally wanted to get this done by Valentines day so y’all could get a double update. Close enough, right?

Anyways, check out my masterlist HERE to catch up and check out my other stories.

Word count: ~5500

CW: smut, drug use

Monae’s heart started beating out of her chest the moment he turned and left her at her apartment door. She hadn’t been on a date with someone new in seven years and had just started to panic when she remembered that she and M’Baku had already gone on what most people would consider dates. The only exception was that now they were both free to express their feelings for eachother.

Her buzzer rang out as she finished the sharp point of her eyeliner, and suddenly all of her nerves vanished. It's just M’Baku, she told herself, chill out. Just the thought of him made her giddy and she ran to the living room to buzz him up. She bit her lip in anticipation and waited for the knock on her door.

It didn’t come when she thought it would, so she looked out the peephole and saw him fidgeting with his hands, pacing back and forth before he turned to knock on the door. She couldn’t get over how handsome he looked, but she wanted to play it cool. She waited a few seconds before opening the door so he wouldn’t think she was standing there waiting for him the whole time...even though she definitely was. His eyes trailed up and down her physique and she was thankful her brown skin hid her blushing. Her outfit was doing exactly what she had intended.

“Hi”

“Hi, yourself,” her eyes raked up and down his body, too.

They stared at each other for a moment before she moved aside so he could come in. The moment the door closed he pulled her in for a kiss.

“You look amazing,” he held her hand and twirled her around so he could get the full view.

“And you look like a whole snack. You sure you don’t want to just stay in?”

He laughed and snaked his arms around her waist, “I’m sure.” He kissed her forehead and let her go right as Juju came over to say hello to her new favorite person.

“Can I get you anything? Water, juice, whiskey?”

“Water would be great, thank you.”

“So about this art festival, have you ever been to one?” she asked as she poured him a glass of cold water and handed it to him.

“Of course, we have them at home all the time,” he sat on the couch with Juju and let her curl up in his lap. “We Jabari are very talented people.”

Monae loved how prideful he could be when it came to his tribe, but it was always accompanied by a bittersweet feeling deep inside her. As much as she loved that about him, it always hurt to think about him returning home to rule over his people.

“Well, I’m almost done getting ready, so just give me like five more minutes.”

“No rush, I will just be here with my new best friend, Juju,” he said, partially to Monae and partially to the cat.

Monae playfully rolled her eyes and shuffled back to her room to put the finishing touches on her makeup. She put her shoes on while she let the liquid lipstick dry on her lips, and grabbed her purse before heading back to her living room to find M’Baku on the floor trying to get Juju to play with a cat toy. She snuck a quick picture on her phone before she made her presence known.

“Having fun?”

“I was trying to, but someone will not cooperate,” he looked up before turning back to the cat, “I thought we were friends.”

Monae couldn’t help but laugh at his antics, bringing a smile to his face as well. He dropped the cat toy and hopped up, pulling her in by her waist and kissing her cheek so as not to mess up her lipstick.

“Ready?”

“Let’s go!”

M’Baku went to wash his hands as Monae searched for her keys.

“Where the- oh, duh, there they are. Ok now I’m actually ready,” she said excitedly before turning to her fur baby, “Be good, Juju.”

The cat meowed and the two humans were out the door.

When they arrived at the festival, Monae’s eyes lit up at all the sights and sounds and he couldn't help but stare at her face as it brightened.

“So where to first?” he asked, looking around at all the vendors and stages set up around the park.

Monae looked up and saw someone pass by eating elote that looked like it tasted like heaven.

“Excuse me, where’d you get that?” she stopped a lady walking by.

M’Baku simply stared at Monae’s beauty as the stranger directed them to the food truck.

“Thank you!” she said excitedly before pulling M’Baku over in the direction of the food court section of the park.

“You’re hungry already?”

“The food is like half the fun of these things, come on!”

Monae found the elote truck and gladly waited in the quickly-moving line. M’Baku’s arms wrapped around her waist and he rested his head on top of hers as they slowly swayed to the music coming from the stage on the other side of the food trucks. She loved when he did that, he made her feel safe and secure.

When they finally made it to the front of the line she ordered two elotes, one for both of them. The vendor handed them to her and she took a bite of hers, doing her usual little food dance as she handed M’Baku his.

“Ohhh my god, this is so good. Try it.”

M’Baku bit into it and his eyes widened, “Hanuman, that is good.”

“Told you! Ok now that we’ve taken in some of the culinary arts, lets see what else there is. Visual art, vendors, or performance art/music?”

“Let us start with visual art, then performance, then vendors.”

“Deal,” she rose to her tiptoes and pecked his lips. He smiled and held out his arm for her as they walked towards the visual art section of the festival. They both enjoyed the small art galleries, but yet again M’Baku mostly found himself staring at her as her eyes examined the pieces. Whenever she had the opportunity she would always stop and talk to the artists, some she knew some she didn’t. She even suggested a couple apply for positions at the center.

“Stop working and just enjoy the festival,” he whispered in her ear after she handed a sculptor her business card.

“I’m not-” she was cut off by him giving her the look with one of his bushy eyebrows raised, “Ok fine. It’s hard to turn it off sometimes.” She shrugged and he grabbed her hand, bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

“Ready to see some of the performances?”

“Of course.”

“Without scouting for talent.”

She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms.

“Fine.”

M’Baku chuckled at her attitude, he’d have something for that later.

They arrived at one of the stages just in time to catch the beginnings of an interpretive dance to “Whitey’s on the Moon.”

M’Baku hung onto Gil Scott-Heron’s words as the dancer moved across the stage in a hauntingly beautiful display of his raw talent. When he finished to a standing ovation and left the stage, making room for the next performer, M'Baku and Monae decided to stay there for a while until their stomachs rumbled again, reminding them that all they’d had to eat that day was breakfast and elote.

“Damn, I heard that all the way over here,” she joked as they got up to go find more food. This time M’Baku found a vegan food truck and they fell in love with their seitan Philly cheese steaks before heading back into the festival. The sounds of a popular local spoken word artist reciting a poem about gentrification filled their ears as they made their way over to the vendors.

M’Baku and Monae walked through the crowded marketplace hand in hand, stopping periodically to take a look at what the artists had to offer. He noticed Monae had stopped at the booth of an old man with salt and pepper locs down his back to check out a delicate handmade amethyst necklace. He smiled when he saw how her eyes lit up when she looked at it, but she put the necklace back and walked towards M’Baku, grabbing his hand so they could head to the next booth. He stopped her and pulled her back into him.

“You changed your mind about the necklace?”

“It’s a little out of my budget right now, I just gave Jazz her tuition money for the fall.”

“But you want it?”

“Well, yeah, but-”

“Then it is yours, love,” he turned to the artist. “Excuse me, could we purchase this necklace along with the matching bracelet and earrings.”

“M’Baku!”

He leaned down and tilted her chin up to peck her on the lips, “Hush, you are getting the set.”

Monae blushed and tried to fight the smile creeping up her face. While she wanted to protest, she had never had a man spoil her before and she found that she liked the feeling. Sure Derrick had money, but he was Ebenezer Scrooge when it came to spending it, so this...this was new.

“Did you want to wear them out or should I wrap it up?” the older man asked Monae.

“Um, I’ll wear it out.”

M’Baku reached for the necklace and she turned around so he could place it on her. The cool metal of the gold chain shocked her skin as his hands dusted over her collarbone and carefully clasped the necklace together. He bent down and planted a soft kiss on her shoulder before turning her around to get a good look at the necklace that contrasted so beautifully against her brown skin.

She had goosebumps all over as she slid on the bracelet and popped her earrings off. She put her new earrings in and modeled them for M’Baku.

“Lookin good, miss!” said the jewelry-maker.

“Thanks!” she responded excitedly and M’Baku chuckled at how adorable she could be sometimes. “And thank you.” she turned around and planted a kiss on his lips

“No problem, love. You forget I am rich,” he winked at her and she stood there shocked for a moment before he led her to the next tent. He bought her a handwoven basket, and at the next tent he bought her the most beautiful painting she had ever seen. She was really enjoying the sugar baby treatment and he loved spoiling her. The whole day he barely bought anything for himself, instead just spending money on his lady.

-------

When they couldn’t carry any more they decided it was time to go back to her place for the next part of their date. Monae had convinced him to smoke with her tonight and watch Friday, and she couldn’t wait to see how he would be while high. Would he be talkative? Would he have a panic attack? Would he get the munchies? She would soon find out.

When they got to her place they set her loot down in the living room and she immediately jumped on him.

“Thank you for everything,” she said between open-mouth kisses. He grunted in response and pushed her back into the wall, hands gripping under her thighs as her legs wrapped tight around him. His lips traveled to her neck and he bit down.

“Please just fuck me already, M’Baku,” she moaned out.

That was all he needed to hear and he walked them down the hall to her bedroom with his face still partially buried in her neck.

When he made it to her room he laid her down on the bed and crawled on top of her.

“I had to watch you walking around in these shorts all day, getting jealous when they would get stuck between your thighs...watching your ass jiggle. You did that on purpose.” His hand traveled down and unzipped her vintage high-waisted denim shorts, sneaking it’s way into her underwear and teasing the soft patch of hair above her pussy. His fingers travelled even lower and she let out a moan as he circled her clit.

“I did.”

“Tell me why.”

“Because I wanted you to w-want me. I wanted you to watch my hips move so you could see what they can do to you.”

“Oh I’ve seen what they can do,” he thought back to when he played drums for her as she danced. Her hips were mesmerizing and even then he imagined how they would feel grinding on him with his dick buried deep inside her.

His fingers found their way even lower to her dripping pussy and lightly trailed up and down her lips.

“Show me again.” He commanded as he pulled her up off the bed and undressed her slowly, planting kisses on every new visible patch of skin. When he got to her thong, he grabbed it with his teeth and pulled it down and off her legs. He dove into her pussy like he was starving for her and his fingers found their way inside her. His tongue lapped at her pussy and twirled around her clit before he sucked it into his mouth, tongue still swirling around her pearl as he sucked and she moaned louder and louder. His fingers sped up inside her and he rolled his neck from side to side, moaning into her pussy. The movements of his head and the deep vibration of his voice made her legs tremble. The repeated “Mhmm” coming from between her legs sent her over the edge and her body convulsed before letting out a deluge of her juices onto his eager tongue.

M’Baku licked her sensitive pussy clean, teasing her with his thumb lightly circling her clit.

“M’Baku, baby, please.” her voice was soft as she begged for his dick to stretch her wide open.

“I like how you sound when you beg. Do it again,” he said with a devilish smirk on his face.

She sat up on her knees and crawled to him, making sure to keep the deep arch in her back as she moved. When she reached him she sat back on her heels and looked at him with her best puppy dog eyes.

“Please, M’Baku. I need you inside me.”

His already hard dick got increasingly uncomfortable behind his zipper, so he reached down and freed the monster, laughing as he stepped out of his pants at the stunned look on Monae’s face.

“I knew it was big, but...damn, that’s a lot,” she said with her eyes wide and barely blinking.

He moved closer to the bed and stuck his tongue out as he leaned down. She did the same and their tongues met in a wet and nasty kiss right as she reached out to feel his velvety smooth dick. She traced the vein along the bottom of his shaft and he moaned, rutting into her hand.

“Please,” she begged against his lips. Before she could register what was happening M’Baku had her on her back and his head was rubbing against her entrance as he kissed her deeply.

He pushed in slightly and she let out a sharp moan so he pulled back out.

“Relax, babygirl.” he cooed, “This is going to take some time but you have to work with me, ok?”

She nodded and bit her lip, “Ok. It’s just...a lot.”

“I know, but you can take it,” he kissed her deeply again, pushing in a little deeper, then pulling back out. He repeated this over and over until he bottomed out and she was a moaning mess. He stayed still inside her, just reveling in how she fit around him and allowing her to feel every inch of him as he stretched her out. Her hips started grinding up into his and he took that as her sign to start moving.

He pulled his hips back and rolled them forward, pulling a deep moan out of her and making her nails dig deeper into his back. He slow-stroked her until she had tears in her eyes and was begging to cum, but he wouldn’t let her. He wanted her out of her mind when she came, and she wasn’t quite to that point yet. He grabbed her legs and flipped her over on her stomach without pulling out and pulled her hips up towards him. She threw her ass back on him and he met every thrust with a deep stroke of his own, slapping her ass and adding to the clapping sounds they made with their bodies. His balls hung at the perfect height to stimulate her clit at that angle and as his thick uncut dick slipped and slid deep inside her, her eyes rolled back in her head at the overstimulation.

“Mmmm’Bakuu!”

“You like that?”

“Y-yes!”

“Mmm, I know you do.” his hand wrapped around her neck and pulled her face around to kiss him as he plowed even harder into her.

“Oh my god! M’Baku, Mmm’Baku, ooh baby right there. Yesssss, yes, yes, yes.” she cried out as he slowed down and stirred his dick inside her, whining his hips as he held her down by the back of her neck. Just as she had gotten used to his flow he slowly sped his thrusts back up and the bed slammed against the wall. Monae worried about her neighbors for a moment but the thought left her mind as soon as his fingers found their way to her clit.

“I need you to cum for me so I can cum on this pretty ass of yours.”

Monae loved the thought of him cumming all over her ass and allowed the rising tension to take over her body.

“Mmm, I feel you tightening around me. Cum for me, babygirl.”

Her body convulsed again as her orgasm washed over her, leading him into his. He pulled out just in time and his warm seed covered her round ass cheeks.

She pushed her legs back and laid flat on her stomach before breaking out into a fit of giggles. He soon joined her and the two of them revelled in their afterglow giddiness.

“Let me get you a towel, where do you keep them?”

“Hallway closet,” she said dreamily.

He found the linens and grabbed a washcloth before lumbering back into the room, dick swinging and ready for more.

“Ready for round 2?” he shouted as he ran warm water on the rag and made his way back into the room. He wiped her down as she scoffed.

“You’re gonna have to let me recuperate a little, that was...intense.”

His brows furrowed.

“Intense, as in…?”

“In a good way! Intense as in I’ve never had sex feel like that before. I’ve never cried from it feeling so good.”

“I’m glad I could do that for you,” he smirked, the cocky side of him satisfied in knowing he was the best she’s had.

“I bet,” she chuckled, head still laying on her arms.

“I tell you what, how about we watch Friday and you get me high?”

“Honestly, that’s one of the sexiest things you’ve said all night.”

They laughed as he helped Monae up off the bed. He leaned in to kiss her lightly and she pulled him in for more.

“I thought you were too tired for round 2,” he said against her lips between kisses.

“I am.”

“Then stop kissing me like that,” he chuckled as he placed a soft kiss in the crook of her neck.

“Fine,” she said with an eyeroll and he slapped her on the ass. “Ow!”

“Watch the attitude,” he warned.

She felt a chill go down her spine at the deepening of his voice, but she felt the need to listen to what he had to say.

“Yes sir.”

“Mmm, I like that,” he bit his lips and kissed her one more time before tearing himself away from her to keep himself from getting all worked up again. His dick was still hard and he didn’t want to make it worse. He grabbed his underwear and slid it back on while Monae wrapped herself in her short satin robe and walked in front of him on the way to the living room, ass bouncing and thick thighs peeking out underneath. He sent a quick prayer up to Hanuman for self-control.

“First, we should order food because I don’t know about you, but I just worked up an appetite and I already know I’ll have the munchies after we smoke this.” She pulled a pre-rolled joint and a lighter from the hand-carved wooden box on her coffee table.

“What do you have a taste for?”

Her eyes traveled down his body to his half hard dick and her pussy jumped at the thought of slobbering all up and down his shaft, “Don’t ask me that right now.”

“You are making this very difficult, I hope you know that.”

“Payback’s a bitch,” she shrugged. “How about cauliflower hot wings and vegan nachos?”

“Perfect.”

They made their way to the couch and sat down while Monae ordered the food from a local shop. “Damn, they don’t do delivery. Next idea?”

“It’s right by my building, how about I run home and grab some comfortable clothes just in case I end up staying the night? I can pick it up on the way back,” M’Baku offered.

“You know you’re staying the night,” Monae said matter of factly, making her favorite gap-toothed smile appear across his face.

“Oh I know,” he winked and stood up to go put his clothes on.

-------

When M’Baku returned she had their plates and napkins all set up, and the movie was pulled up on pause, ready to go. For some reason she had placed huge glasses of water on the table as well.

“Ok, so here’s the plan: we’re gonna smoke a little of this joint, then watch the movie, then start smoking the rest halfway through. Cool?”

“Cool, where do you want the food?”

She gestured to the cleared off coffee table and they settled into the couch. Monae lit the joint and took a hit, showing him how it’s done. She took another before passing it to him.

M’Baku put it to his lips and inhaled, prompting his lungs to spasm and throw him into a coughing fit.

“And that’s what the water is for,” she handed his glass to him and he took a few sips.

“That was very unpleasant,” the chief complained as he continued to cough lightly.

“Because you’re not used to it yet. It gets easier to control your lungs, but even I still cough sometimes.”

“So how long have you been smoking?” M’Baku asked, his eyes reddening as he passed the joint back to her.

“I started pretty late, junior year of college. I don’t like feeling out of control of my own body, so I was scared to try it.” she took a hit and blew the smoke out her nose. “Eventually I made some friends who smoked and I got a few contact highs hanging with them, so I figured I might as well try the real thing and voila, now I’m a smoker. All the propaganda really worked on me.”

“Yes, I have read about that. It is one of many things that confuses me about this country,” he said, taking the joint back and trying a second time. This time went smoother, but he still coughed a little.

“There you go, getting better already. How do you feel?”

He looked at her with low bloodshot eyes and she fought to contain a smile, losing terribly.

“What is it?”

“You look high as shit!” She busted out laughing and he followed suit, both laughing until tears fell down their faces. When they calmed down Monae took a couple more hits off the still-burning joint and passed it back to M’Baku.

“Ok, last one then we start the movie.”

He took one last hit and sat back into the couch, leaning into the corner with his plate of “wings”. Monae pressed play and grabbed some nachos and a couple wings of her own before getting comfortable right next to him.

She turned to him and recited the opening monologue with a smile on her face, “I know you don’t smoke weed. I know this, but I’m gonna get you high today,” she pointed at M’Baku, “ ‘Cause it’s Friday, you ain't got no job, and you ain’t got shit to do.” He snickered as she delivered her performance.

Throughout the movie, M’Baku’s roaring laughter shook the small apartment and for a while there she was seriously concerned about her neighbors filing a complaint.

Around the time that Craig finally got high, she lit the joint and they went back to smoking. After they finished it, M’Baku was floating on cloud nine for the rest of the movie.

When Deebo got knocked the fuck out, Monae looked over at M’Baku’s grey sweatpants and saw the bulge of his dick. She licked her lips, wondering what it tasted like and by the time the credits rolled she was already on her knees pulling his dick from his pants.

“You sure about this, babygirl? You don’t have to,” he slurred.

“I know,” she said as she stuck out her tongue, swiping it along the underside of his dick.”But I want to.” She planted open mouth kisses up and down his shaft and he moaned at the feeling of her lips and tongue on him. She spit on his dick and used it to lubricate his shaft, twisting her hands up and down like a pepper grinder. She pulled back his foreskin and let her spit drip onto the tip of his dick, then stuck her tongue out to twirl around his meaty head. His toes curled as she just sucked on the tip, making it nice and sloppy for him before pushing it deeper into her mouth. Her tongue worked the underside of his shaft as his toes dug into the rug.

His hand made its way to the back of her head and he rolled his hips forward, letting out a deep moan. She increased her suction and the pitch of his moans increased right along with her. She pushed him deeper and let him slide down her throat, closing around it and sucking his dick like her life depended on it. She wasn’t able to take down the whole thing, but she used her hands and a copious amount of spit to handle the rest.

“Hanuman, that feels good,” he groaned out, his head rolling back on the couch. “Mmm Monae, just like that.”

She pulled off of him with a pop and stared into his eyes, “You like the way I suck your dick, baby?” She held eye contact as she took him back in her mouth as deep as she could take him.

“Mmmhm,” he moaned out enthusiastically, unable to form words while her mouth traveled up and down his thick shaft. He clenched and unclenched his fists and his breaths grew ragged. “I-I’m going to cum.”

Monae already knew, she could feel the vein under his dick going crazy. As soon as he finished his declaration, he erupted down her throat and she continued sucking until he gave her every last drop. He had to beg her to stop and she giggled at knowing that she had power over him, too.

The rest of the night was spent talking and giggling at nonsense, with some serious conversation sprinkled throughout. At one point the inevitable conversation about their future was brought up as they laid cuddled up in her bed. They both thought it would be better to rip off the bandaid and talk about it sooner rather than later.

“I know we have an expiration date, but I try not to think about it,” she whispered while tracing her fingers around his broad chest.

“I think about it more than I care to admit.”

“Really?”

“Mhm, the other night I couldn’t sleep so I laid in bed thinking of ways to make it work for us… Would you ever consider moving?”

“To Wakanda? That’s a lot to ask at the beginning of a relationship, M’Baku.”

“I know, but I’d regret it if I never asked,” he kissed her crown and pulled her in closer to him. They sat in silence for a while, both already thinking of their unavoidable goodbye. M’Baku sighed, “I was not planning on falling in love while I was here. I wanted to remain unattached, but you came running in and ruined my plans.”

Monae laughed and he smiled down at her.

“Well then, you’re welcome for running into you that day. Your plans were probably boring anyway.”

“You have certainly made my time here more colorful,” he looked at her maroon colored fade, changing the subject to something lighter. “What color is next?”

“I might just go platinum blonde. I’m actually seeing Keke, the girl that does my hair, next Saturday, so we’ll see if I change my mind by then.”

“Whatever color you get will look beautiful on you.”

“”Thank you, sugardaddy,” she kissed his cheek and he looked down at her in confusion.

“Sugardaddy?”

“Yeah its a term for a guy who buys you nice things and takes care of you. Sometimes they want something in return for the sugar, but some of them just love spending money. You seem like that type.”

“I just enjoy seeing a smile on your face, what type of sugardaddy is that?” he leaned in for a kiss and she obliged.

“That��s the best type, daddy,” she giggled out as he started to tickle her sides.

“Say that again.”

“Ok, ok, stop.” she tried to catch her breath from laughing so hard. “I said ‘that's the best type, daddy’.”

“Mm, now say that last part by itself.”

A smile crept up Monae’s face as she gave him what he wanted. She looked him dead in the eye and put on her sexiest voice.

“Daddy.”

“Mmm.”

“You like when I call you daddy?” She climbed on top of him and pulled his dick out from his sweatpants for the second time that night before carefully sliding down onto him. She stared into his eyes as she took every inch inside her.

“Mmm, yes. Ride me, babygirl.” he slapped both her asscheeks and she let out a scream of pleasure and pain.

“You like how I bounce on it, daddy?” She repeatedly dropped her ass onto his lap and brought it back up again, and he was mesmerized by the way her breasts jiggled in his face. He was able to latch onto one of her nipples and tease her pierced bud as she switched up her rhythm to move her hips back and forth. She held his head to her chest as he ravaged her nipples and she moaned loudly as his dick massaged every spot inside her she could find. Her hips cycloned round and round, making his dick stir her insides like a pot of macaroni.

“Mmmmhmm,” he could barely speak with the way she was putting it on him. Never in his life had he had someone ride him and take him completely in, but Monae fit like a glove.Her hips rose and fell and he could feel her orgasm approaching. Just as it did, she reached down and choked him, eyes rolling back as she released all over him. When she choked him his body reacted involuntarily and he released inside of her. She kept riding as he filled her up and she leaned back to watch his dick throb as it pumped his seed into her.

“Fuck that feels good,” she whispered.

“You like when I fill your pussy up?”

She bit her lip and grinded her clit into him, wanting more, ”Yesss.”

Monae rode him for a few more rounds before she collapsed on the bed, a mixture of their cum spilling from her pussy. He wiped her up with a warm rag again and decided to run a bath for her aching body. He didn’t see her standing in the doorway to the bathroom as she watched him pour in the bath salts and test the temperature of the water. She loved how rough he could be, but it’s the sweet things like this that really made her melt. When he turned around and they locked eyes she blushed as though she had just been caught.

“I hope this helps,” he smirked, “You’re going to be sore tomorrow.”

“I’m already sore now. I don’t want to even think about tomorrow.”

He chuckled and held out his hand to her. She took it and he helped her into the warm water before washing her body with her loofa. She enjoyed his pampering and when she got out he wrapped her in the fluffiest towel he could find before carrying her back to the bed and lotioning her body.

“How do you feel?”

“Relaxed,” she responded, barely awake. He chuckled and kissed her forehead, tucking her in before she drifted off to sleep to dream of her Jabari chief.

Next Chapter

Taglist: @maddeningmayhem , @theblulife, @devnicolee

#cecewritessometimes #black panther fic #m'baku #black!oc #m’baku’s love #m’baku x oc #monae #jada kingdom

61 notes · View notes

cryinginthebackseat · 4 years

Text

initials t.c.

Fandom: Open Heart

Pairing: Tobias Carrick x MC

Words: 7.299 (I’M SO SORRY)

Summary: Tobias Carrick makes Claire an offer she can’t refuse.

Warnings: 50% plot, 50% smut, swear-a-thon, blasphemy

Author’s Note: when the book first introduced us to tobias carrick, the first thing that hit my mind was “okay, but that dude is like the carbon copy of jesse williams and that’s hot” but then, once it reveals who he is and what’s his role in the book i went “interestinggggggg” cause you know, i’m a sucker for morally grey characters and all, and i’m not even ashamed to admit it. also, carrick is shaping up to be such an interesting character with each chapter and maybe one day- okay, maybe this sounds like a pipe dream- but one day, i hope he can be a li (let a girl dream plz) lmao

also if anyone’s interested, i made a PLAYLIST to accompany reading the fic.

the title is inspired by serge gainsbourg’s initials bb

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Cast down off heaven Cast down on my knees I’ve lain with the devil Cursed god above Forsaken heaven

To Bring You My Love - PJ Harvey

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Whenever Claire thinks about Tobias Carrick, admittedly, unfortunately, tragically, she always thinks about his eyes first before remembering what a colossal pain in the ass he is.

It always comes in that order. Like the number 3 always comes before 4, like the seawater dragging back from the shoreline before a tsunami occurs, like pouring milk before the cereal (she honestly didn’t get what the fuss is about until one day Elijah cried ‘oh, hell no you don’t, satan!‘ one morning and proceeded to give her bullet points why pouring the milk before the cereal is considered a sin and more of an abomination than Nephilims’ existence and that there’s a higher probability that she’s a psycho for being a ‘milk first’ kind of person). So apparently, Claire’s a psycho now which explains so many aspects- but she digresses and the point is, the reaction is uncontrollable and she high-key hates how she can’t control her goddamn mind most of the time.

The point is, she needs to stop thinking about him to begin with.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

Claire Castelnuovo was born in the summer, under the sign of Gemini. Marilyn Monroe once said that stands for intellect, being a Gemini, but she was too blissfully unaware of this guerdon that she devoted her adolescent years to being outdoors instead. Too many days she spent trampling along the cornfields with her cousins until the skies faded out with brilliant purple-tinged amber and she was carrying a piece of the sun in her skin and smelled like one, stuffing wildflowers inside her boots as she walked around the neighborhood with her dad’s old stethoscope, napping in a hammock with Oasis’ All Around the World on repeat. By the time she hit 15, her black strands had turned brown from repeated sun exposure. She loved it.

But it was a different time, a different place. Somewhere that only exists on the margins of her memories, lost and hidden.

Now, Claire prefers the night.

It’s 9:30 pm when she arrives at a hotel bar in downtown Boston. A newly christened establishment which has somehow become a regular spot for Hemingway’s enthusiasts once the Boston Globe wrote an article about their Hemingway Daiquiri and how, as they wrote it, ‘probably the only place that’s brave and crazy enough to adhere to the 1930s original recipe’ and bourgeois party birds at wee hours during the weekend.

Her eyes are gritty, dry and strange. Her mind’s much worse for the wear- she feels like shit, like in the middle of watching that scene from The Green Mile shit when all is hopeless and you feel like walking out of the theater, but you’ve spent your last savings just to buy the ticket, so you decide to stick through it.

Claire makes a beeline for the bar, tries to flag down the bartender. She orders an Old Fashioned, making sure to specify to double it because she’s not a regular here and he’s not Reggie and that’s how she’s been taking her drink for years.

She knows well deep in her bones that she should be somewhere else. Somewhere more familiar, somewhere where Tim Mcgraw often plays from the subpar speakers, and the rustic wooden bar countertop is gouging and discoloring from the cheap household cleaners and alcohol stains, and her friends are cramming together in the same booth in the back, reveling and laughing until they close the bar down and make a mess all over. Perhaps it’s a mistake coming here, where no one’s a familiar face and the drinks are a tad overpriced for her budget.

But then, perhaps this is exactly what she needs; the unfamiliarity, the visceral feeling knowing that she doesn’t belong here, where no one knows her name and the huge deal of weight she’s currently carrying on her shoulders. Perhaps, she can’t face her friends after what happened, after what Esme has done. Shit, how could any of this happen? Claire knows this all on Esme’s, but her guilt has grown hopelessly tangled with her anxiety. She’s her intern, for fuck’s sake, Claire’s supposed to prevent this from happening in the first place.

Man, where’s Declan Nash when she feels like punching someone in the face?

Claire makes the mistake of drinking her drink too quickly, because it hasn’t been ten minutes and she’s drained half of the content. Then she reaches for her phone in her bag, fiddles with it, absent-minded, equal parts bored before then settles on watching the band performing Art Pepper’s You Go To My Head and immediately thinks of that time she accidentally dropped her brother’s saxophone in a moment of her rather graceless, wine-soaked self with the whole family present.

Someone plops down on the empty stool next to her. Claire’s now scrolling through her phone- again, bored. Sienna commented on the post Elijah shared to the group chat with a few unnecessary-yet-totally-necessary emojis to the already convoluted series of texts and Claire only reads them in silence, not only because her friends’ texting behaviors are too chaotic for her to follow sometimes but she’s not really feeling like talking to anyone right now.

“Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in.”

Famous last words.

Claire freezes in her seat. Her phone’s still glowing in her hand, alighting her features. She recognizes that voice- too well, that is and it’s enough to set off her flight-or-fight response.

She glances up from her phone, preparing for the worst.

Well, what’s presented before her is literally the worst.

“Of all the gin joints…” she says once her eyes find Tobias Carrick sitting next to her, still in his work shirt, sleeves rolled-up, a few buttons undone, reeking of smoke, soap and antiseptic with a shit-eating grin plastered over his face.

She should have gone to Donahue’s instead.

“Evening to you too, Castelnuovo. Drinking your dinner tonight, I see?”

“What, this? No, this is breakfast. 100% daily value of alcohol and pretty much nothing else. I mean, it’s not the weekend without a bad case of hangover and an aspirin snowglobe in the morning, am I right? You know, like a glass of aspirin? Not a literal snowglobe?” she blabbers, realizing just so by the time she hears him snort. Claire chokes down another sip to shut her mouth up. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“I’m about to commit first-degree murder and burn this whole place to the ground,” he drawls, the ever goddamn sarcastic. “What do you think? I’m trying to get dru-”

“No, I mean what are you doing here, of all places? Can’t you get drunk somewhere else?” she interrupts, her midwest accent does funny things to the vowels and consonants- something that only happens whenever she’s in distress, or at least according to Jackie.

“Last time I heard, this joint’s still owned by the Hilton, not a certain junior member of the Diagnostics Team at Edenbrook hospital.”

“Dude, what do you think of the H in Claire H. Castelnuovo stands for?” Deadpan, trying to keep up with the rolling sarcasm, she retorts. He smirks.

“Horatio?”

“Get the fuck out of here,” she mutters, mid-eye-roll, mid-snickering.

He chuckles, his voice rich and smoky amidst the late-night swing and distant chatters. Carrick doesn’t leave, of course, typically him- if those anecdotes Ethan told her has taught her anything about his character, that is- defying everything, scheming his way to the top, the embodiment of ‘those devilish boys with their heavenly eyes’ type your mother warns you about.

Not that the latter is relevant.

“Or what?” His mouth twitches but there’s a hard, challenging light in his eyes that she knows too well by now.

“Or I’m leaving.“ She shoots him a glare. He’s testing her patience- again, like it’s his finesse. Some things never change, it seems.

“Come on, Castelnuovo, don’t be a sourpuss. The night is young and I can promise you, the last thing I am is a horrible drinking buddy.”

With a touch of irony, she replies: “I’m sure. I bet you asked your friends to fill out a questionnaire every time you went out with them, did you?”

Carrick hums.

“You’re funny.” But he says it in the same tone that someone might say Jesus fuck, you’re probably one of the most frustrating creatures I’ve ever laid eyes on. Also, because the next thing he says is: “A little rough around the edges, but funny nonetheless.”

“That makes one of us then.”

Carrick frowns, which is kind of a surprise because she’s half expected him to flash her that signature cheeky grin of his.

“Listen, I’m just trying to make a friendly conversation here. I know we haven’t really seen eye-to-eye with each othe-”

Claire snorts and crosses her arms over her chest. “That, doctor, is an understatement of the fucking century.”

“Okay so, we’re like Tom and Jerry but sans the background music and a naive little duckling running around calling one of us his momma, but I feel like now’s the time to call out a temporary truce between us.” A beat, then: “I heard about what happened with the intern.”

Something flashes across her face- and Carrick must have noticed it, because his face does this odd thing- it softens, even for a moment. She hates it. He’s not supposed to be looking at her like that, not supposed to see her at her weakest state or saved her ass- And Jesus, why does she have to be indebted to Tobias Carrick, of all people- But god forbid, the last thing she’ll ever do is crying in front of him.

“I don’t want to talk about it,” she mutters, barely audible, trying to temper her fluctuated emotions.

“Then don’t. We can talk about anything else or fall into some sort of endless, meaningless platitudes. Whichever will work.” As if sensing Claire’s lingering hesitation, he adds. “Tell you what, to sweeten the offer, your next drinks are on me.”

She assesses him for a long minute, eyes narrowing. She’s shaking her head, but her mouth, as if against her will, instead says: “Careful, Carrick, there’s a chance I’ll be abusing that offer and run you dry.”

"Hey, if you want to butcher your liver so bad, don’t stop on my account,” he says. “Don’t worry, though, I’ll make sure to save your ass again this time around. Pro bono.”

Claire looks as if she’s just swallowed a dead rat. “Thanks, but no thanks. Death seems more like an appealing choice.”

“Well, I stopped death from interfering then, I’ll stop it again.” Carrick winks, she pretends to gag again yet remains still in her seat, so Carrick waves at the bartender for their order- she orders for a refill and he, a martini and Claire is this close from asking 'shaken or stirred?’ but then remembers who he is and immediately washes the question down with her drink.

“You know, if anyone told me weeks ago that I’d be having a drink with you tonight, I probably would have socked them.“

Carrick is in the middle of lighting his cigarette, but laughs instead. “The Times They Are a-Changin’, as Bob Dylan said.” A puff of smoke escapes his mouth, curling around his fingers. Claire instinctively looks away. “Which reminds me of that one time your mentor sang Ballad of A Thin Man on the fucking subway when we were 20.”

She swivels her head to his direction, on the verge of choking on her drink. “Hold on, hold on, Ethan Jonah Ramsey sings?”

“Give him a dare he couldn’t refuse and a few shots of whiskey, and I promise you he’ll sing like Sinatra on crack.” He grins, his eyes are all crinkled and bright; she thinks that means he’s genuinely amused. “Ah, good times. We were like- wait, who was it he’d like to say we’re like again?”

A small smile pulls at her lips. “Bert and Ernie.”

“Jesus, he really fucking compares us to some Sesame Street characters, huh?” She laughs at that, loud and bright. He does the same. “Personally, I’d always say we were like Butch and Sundance back then- rebels with a cause, a band of misfits, trying to leave our marks on the world. You know those types. We were young, we wanted so much- I still do. I mean, let’s be real, whoever’s wanted to be defeated at their own game?”

A crease forms between her eyebrows, not quite a frown.

“Nobody,” Claire concurs, hating herself for it. “But was it worth it? Betraying the closest thing you had to a brother or a lover…” Carrick coughs on his smoke from the latter. “or whatever in the process just to get what you wanted?” Claire was obviously aiming for that brash, hard-hitting jab, but it lands gloriously too soft.

The bartender finally places their ordered drinks down on the bar. Carrick reaches for it, taking a careful swig, then sets his glass down. He takes a deep breath.

"It’s nothing personal. It never was. I never considered him as my rival.”

“Yeah, but by doing whatever you did, you’ve made an enemy out of him,” she counters. “Look, Carrick, I know we live in a dog-eat-dog world and I know being good sometimes doesn’t get the job done. Perhaps Machiavelli was right. Perhaps, when necessary, you have to be ruthless, dissembling and manoeuvring- what did he say again? ‘The end justifies the means’? But if any worthwhile end can justify the means to attain it, if everyone outright surrenders to their darker side, then what’s left of our humanity?”

For an interminable moment, there is only silence. He simply stares at her, as if she’s a walking, talking Rubik’s cube he can’t solve or a book that he has opened and now he’s got to know so much more and she feels pinned under those warm irises, uneasy.

Suddenly, his mouth begins to take shape; the corners hike up, stretch and then he does the unexpected.

The bastard fucking laughs.

“Excuse me?!” she spits, white-hot anger lacing each word. Carrick laughs harder- the audacity- despite Claire’s growing razor’s edge stare. “Did you just laugh at me? I was being fucking seriou-”

“Sorry, sorry.” Wiping an imaginary tear from his left eye. “I was just remembering Harper’s words. She’s right, you really are on the side of the angels, aren’t you?”

She points at him with her glass, snarling. “And you, mister, are the devil himself with a medical degree and an egg head- and I don’t mean the slang for a highly academic person.”

“Ouch,” Carrick says out loud, still kind of laughing, borderline frowning. “Okay, I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.”

“Damn straight. Though you have a lot to apologize for.”

He groans. “Don’t tell me you’re still pissed about that one patient I stole under your nose?”

“The North remembers, ser,” she says, mean-spirited.

“Then does the North remembers that I saved her life?”

“Oh, so you’re discrediting the efforts of the other doctors that helped you make the cure?”

“Alright, alright. You win.” Carrick holds up his hands, the universal gesture of defeat and takes one final drag of his cigarette. He stubs it out, all the while keeping his gaze on her.

“So, how exactly can I make it up to you?“

Claire blinks- once, twice, thrice, realizing his intent. His voice drops an octave and he’s leaning in, close enough for her to notice the constellations of freckles splaying across his face and the way his brown eyes glinted like two shots of whiskey under a stream of light, intense and all-consuming. She feels her mind races, her brains feel as if they underwent a short-circuit and get caught on fire, and the fact that her mind’s on the precipice of exploring the idea is not helping.

A burst of laughter erupts from her throat, not that it’s funny- there’s nothing funny about the situation, but someone ought to diffuse this shift of tension between them, or that was her aim, at least.

“What, you wanna pay me back?” she asks, trying to keep her voice from cracking but failing miserably. Fingers trembling against her glass as she chugs nearly a quarter of her drink in one go.

He notices that.

"A Lannister always pays his debts, does he? If you think that I owe you one, then I’ll gladly pay.” His eyes flick back to her face, searing into her. The air crackles between them. The band is playing a different song now, a sound that only exists on the margin of her attention. If they’re in, say a mid 2000s rom-com movie, someone would probably interrupt this moment and save her from this. But this isn’t a movie.

Claire licks her lips, a candid reaction which encourages him to inch closer- or is it her? She can’t tell anymore. Tracing odd patterns on the palm of her hand with his finger and oh god, this is Carrick, the bane of her fucking existence, she’d shoot him first before she kisses him. But something about the prospect of fucking this bastard twists her insides deliciously into a confused mess.

“How? By fucking me?” she inquires, feigning scandalized- all that Catholic guilt bullshit.

He grins, all-teeth and wolfish and shrugs as if they’re talking about his life insurance policy or shit. “Well, that’s the idea.”

“But you don’t even like me.” It should come out as I don’t even like you, but even she knows that’ll be just another lie she tells.

“On the contrary, I enjoy our rivalry far more than I should, Castelnuovo,” he purrs and places a hand on her knee. Her throat bobs. She’s wearing a skirt, it didn’t seem important then, but now his hand feels warm against her skin, dangling on the edge of impropriety. Like gravity, all it takes is a little push for him to cross that line.

“I should be disliking the way you talk to me, challenging me and putting me on the back foot every goddamn time. I should be focusing on taking you down a peg, but the more I see you, the more I realize you have an attractive kind of power. And I’m just one man. And if there’s anything I learned, the only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.”

But then his movement suddenly ceases. Claire almost asks why.

"However…”

“What?” she stares up at him, eyes wide, breath hitching.

“However if you only accept alcohol as the currency for transactions, then I’ll tell the bartender to get us another round instead,“ he tells her, offering her one last chance to back out from this, from making this mistake with him.

Claire stares into her drink, actually mulling this over. Her mind tells her no, but the other part- the alcohol-infused part of her mind- whispers otherwise. She imagines if Ethan or any of her friends are here, they would probably grab her shoulder and shake the living hell out of her for even reconsidering his offer.

But then again, intelligence, alcohol and desperation have always had a bad history of getting along together.

“What about June?” Claire asks against her better judgement, after a long, considerable pause. Carrick raises a confused brow.

“What about her?”

“I thought you guys…” she trails off, makes a face, feeling all-kind of flustered and aroused and wow, she’s really doing this, huh? “I mean, I don’t know- I don’t wanna get in between you guys.”

“Nah. It was only a three time thing, but there’s never been anything between us.” He chuckles at Claire’s askance look. “If you don’t believe me, you can fact-check it with the woman herself,” Carrick adds, looking at her dead-on with his eyes like he wants to get the message across.

She regards him silently for a long second, and maybe she’s a touch drunk now, maybe the bartender put something in her drink, or maybe she just needs to blow off some steam after what’s been happening in these past few weeks and Carrick happens to be a decent warm body for the occasion, but Claire finds herself shifting closer.

"Then I want you to pay me back.”

“You sure about that?”

“Yeah,” she answers, more sure this time, more determined.

Her nose bumps his, his breath fanning across her face all the while Carrick’s slightly pushing her skirt up, letting his fingertips travel higher. His eyes keep darting back and forth from her eyes and lips, checking for her reaction. There is no inhibition here, not anymore. People might be watching- heck, they could be already watching and it terrifies her that she doesn’t give a damn about it.

“But if you tell anyone about this, I swear to god… ” she warns and a shadow of mirth passes across his eyes, making her almost regretting this. Almost.

“Claire, darling.” It’s the first time he’s ever said her name and her stomach does a tango. “Your secret is safe with me.“ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

He gets them a room in the hotel, it’s on the twentieth floor. Carrick handles the accommodation- he can afford it, apparently, which is not really surprising and the nuisating check-in procedure while Claire only waits in the lobby like a beautiful, agitated china doll amidst the turbulent sea the whole time until he comes back, flashes the room key at her and beckons her to follow.

She goes ahead of him, but he catches up. His body heat sends her anxiety rocketing sky-high through the roof as they walk next to each other, hands briefly brushing against one another but she ignores that (or at least she tries).

They are silent in the elevator, they are silent even once they reach the designated floor and walk down the hall to their room where the dim and shadowed lights follow their steps like vultures.

Carrick holds open the door for her and she enters, taking in the windows and the striking view of Boston skyline peeking behind the curtains, the TV and the queen-sized bed. The latter does nothing to assuage the anticipation that’s bubbling in the pit of her stomach, by the way.

Claire hears him shut the door, locking both bolts. She peers at him over her shoulder, half-turned, one eye on him. Their eyes meet, neither speaks. He’s taking off his black peacoat, back against the door, he’s looking at her as if wanting her is his full-time occupation and the realizations comes in like a mule kick, how that tiny voice inside her head, the one that tells her that this is a bad idea and she’s better off leaving never comes.

The room is not considerably huge (with $110 per night, you would have expected you’d get a bigger room), he could easily have her in six large steps, yet he stands there. Sizing her up, smirking rather devilishly, handsomely as if challenging her to make the first move. It’s another fucking game with him. A display of power, waiting who would fall first.

Claire finally turns around to face him. With a renowned determination, she removes her coat, letting it fall unceremoniously onto the carpeted floor. Her blouse follows next and her skirt, which she tugs it oh so slowly down her legs.

Carrick’s eyes widen, if she doesn’t know better, she thinks he’s speechless. He takes a deep breath, his gaze religiously following every movement as she twirls around once more to unhook her bra. His jaw clenches and unclenches. He’s having a hard time keeping himself in check which she takes an immense pleasure in. Claire just wants to see the man squirm for a change, even if she has to shed every article of clothing she wears.

By the time she slips off of her underwear, she is breathing raggedly. He hasn’t yet approached her so she crawls onto the bed, lying on her back with one elbow props her up, legs crossed. She kicks off her heels, rolls down her stockings with a bit of that noir come-hither, Lauren Bacall-esque heavy bedroom eyes.

Finally, Carrick steps closer until he’s only a hair’s breadth away, like a target, filling her line of sight. The tension in the room is hot enough to send the thermometer reaching its maximum limit and she’s burning, burning, burning right through the core.

Claire cranes her head up to meet his gaze, noticing the way he’s drinking in her body like a pirate ogling a bottle of rum. High-strung, tense, Carrick lowers his head to her, his fingers carding through her long hair. Dimness consumes him raw, his silhouette is starting to find its place amongst the shadows except for his eyes. Never does the fire in his eyes falter, merely alight.

They are already nose-to-nose when Claire suddenly raises her hand over his lips. He withdraws from her, looking confused and hot and bothered.

“Take a seat over there, will you?” She motions to the settee near the bed, her tone leaving no room for argument.

He smirks, but she can see his bravado if faltering. “Ordering me around in the bed now, are we?”

“Didn’t you say tonight is about you making it up to me?”

“Touche, touche.” Carrick straightens his posture and makes his way to the settee across from her, shifting uncomfortably in his seat given the growing issue in his pants.

With eyes still trained to his, Claire cups her own breast, fingers pinching her pebbled nipple before the same hand travels lower down her stomach, her thighs. Carrick leans forward in his seat, obviously liking where this is going before Claire slowly and teasingly part her legs for him to see.

A surprised groan escapes him.

“Jesus, Claire,” Carrick hisses. “Fuck, I didn’t know you’re a goddamn tease.”

She doesn’t bother replying to him, but a winning grin finds its way across her face as she lays on her back, her shame and modesty are distant, knees pulled up so he can have a clear view of her. With two fingers, she runs them along her folds, dragging them slowly up to her clit. Claire imagines they are his fingers- which once upon a time would have horrified her, but tonight, as she repeats the motion over and over, knowing that he’s sitting there, watching her without being able to get his hands on her, she decides to submit to this newfound fantasy.

A rustle pulls her back to reality. He’s undoing his own pants, palming his cock, runs his fingers over the leaking head.

A low moan catches in her throat at that, her gaze snapping up from his erection to his face where his irises have darkened and pupils dilated. He wants to show her, that’s he’s as depraved as her when it comes to wanting, that he fucking wants her and in spades and she fails to think like a normal human being anymore.

Claire uses that image to work on herself harder, faster, feeling the intense pressure beginning to build beneath her fingers. She’s so wet now, despite him being able to see that, she wants him to hear it as well as she uses her idle hand to tap against herself. Carrick growls, his pace matching the rhythm she’s setting.

She slips her fingers inside her, drops her head back against the mattress and bites a loud moan that threatens to escape her lips. Flushing scarlet all over her abdomen, her breasts and up to her neck. Her blood thumping louder than bombs in her ears, her breaths begin to come in gasps.

Another fast and hard thrust from fingers, and Claire finds herself sighing his name.

“Tobias…”

And every last bit of his self-restraint snaps.

In just a blink of an eye, Carrick is already on his feet, grabs her waist, harshly, and tugs her down onto the edge of the bed where he’s now kneeling before her. He doesn’t bother with the teasings or soft kisses or caresses, and even before Claire has the time to register what’s happening, he crushes his face between her parted legs and eats her out.

She gasps, high and fleeting, twisting the bed sheet between her fists while his tongue flicks over her, moving back up, back down, lapping along her folds in the same motions she showed him with her hand, how she likes it. Claire forgets how to breathe. It just occurs to her just how arousing the sight of him on his knees like this, sending her mind hitchhiking into outer space.

“Oh, fuck.” She breathes, back arching on the bed with a drawn-out moan. “Fuck, Tobias!” Her hips gyrate over his mouth and she presses her heels against his shoulder blades. She’s so close. All she needs is a little push to send her careening into oblivion and it seems that Carrick can sense it because he brings two digits to her entrance and slides easily inside her, setting a ruthless pace.

With her hands reaching out to the back of his head, Claire cries out his name and trembles violently. Encouraged, Carrick curves his fingers inside her, hitting that exact spot that finally undoes her as she comes, long and hard, around his mouth and fingers- the kind of orgasm that you can feel deep in your bones- and watches as fireworks dance behind her lids.

When she finally comes down from her high, everything is hazy. It’s like waking up from a deep slumber after a decadent soak in a scented bath and she loses all orientation, until she feels him nipping the inside of her thighs. She hisses, glances down, heavy-lidded eyes finding Carrick is leaving bruises after bruises all over her skin like some kind of a lewd memento of his work, like he wants her to remember this the next time she wakes up in her own bed and he’s not there.

"Are you trying to turn me into a Na'vi, doctor?” She asks, still kinda breathless, feeling surprisingly conversational despite having just experienced, if not, one of the best orgasms in her life. He smiles against her thigh and withdraws from her, only after her thighs are sufficiently bruised enough, licks his fingers clean and stands up at the end of the bed.

“Maybe. You’d make a cute blue extraterrestrial creature, though,” he replies cheekily, then undoes the button of his shirt, showcasing his naked torso.

Claire feels her cheeks heating up again, but forces herself to stare; eyes following his pectoral muscles, down to the toned lines of his abdomen while he slides off of his pants. The man is one fine specimen, alright, and he knows- smug bastard- and she thinks it’s such a shame that Carrick is… well, Carrick. If the man learns how to shut up for one minute or avoid trying to sabotage everyone’s career at Edenbrook altogether, maybe, just maybe, she’d consider him.

“But honestly, I just wanted to hear you say my name again,” Carrick continues, crawling his way up to her, pulling her out of her musings. He settles between her thighs. His lips finding her ear and nibbling at the lobe while his fingers pinching and pulling at her nipple. Claire shivers. Nails scraping along his skin, raising angry marks that would certainly be there tomorrow.

When they kiss, it’s so good that she can’t help but curl her toes. He kisses her like he’s trying to steal her breath or her name. She can taste herself in his mouth, which sparks so many feelings inside her. Her mind’s foggy, sweat pooling on her forehead. Carrick is but shoves his tongue into her mouth, lapping at her, biting, sucking and she leans hard into the kiss, retaliates by scraping her teeth against his bottom lip. It spurs him on. Making his cock twitch against her thigh and Claire decides she can’t wait anymore.

Claire rolls her hips at him. He takes the hint and rolls over to grab a condom from his pants. Then he’s back on top of her, his weight and heat crushing her most deliciously and brings her body further up the bed with him; she drapes her legs around his hips, hands gripping his arms. Her lust and anticipation collaborate to the point of near madness.

Carrick nips the taut line of her jaw and drives himself into her.

They both groan in unison.

“Oh, fuck.” Carrick mumbles between shaky breaths, his face pressed against her throat. “Fucking hell, Claire, you feel so warm.”

Claire, on the other hand, goes rigid under him. Her mouth hangs open and her world narrows down to the feeling of his cock inside her and the pleasure that builds up again in her abdomen.

This is happening, she thinks, he’s inside her and it feels so amazing. She might as well be crazy for agreeing to do this with him in the first place, but the promise of the thrill beats the doubts.

He starts slow, just the smallest fraction of hips, gently thrusting back and forth in shallow motions. She whines, frustrated and impatient, raising her own hips to meet his, but Carrick’s weight pins her onto the mattress and she can’t fucking move.

“F-faster,” Claire stammers, her molars grinding like toothache.

The bastard smirks, like he’s been anticipating the word coming out of her mouth.

“Beg for it.” His words are punctuated with every unhurried stroke he’s giving her, teasing her and if she’s not in the middle of being fucked right now, she would have kicked him in the balls.

Growling, she swallows her plea by pulling Carrick down for another kiss. This time, she’s the one who does the biting and the sucking, making sure he’s distracted enough and then just like with all the things she does in her life, she takes the matter into her own hands.

With all her strength, she scrambles up, pushes him off of her and knocks him onto his back flat on the bed. When she swings her legs to straddle him, his eyes pop.

“Holy shit, you are feisty.”

“Only cause I’m angry and horny,” she bites off. Angling herself above him and with one hand, guides his shaft back to her opening. “And you- you weren’t doing a proper job fucking me.”

He smirks. “I was trying to wind you up.”

“Fuck you.”

She lowers herself and sinks back onto his cock, relishing in his moans and growls.

“Baby, you’re doing it.” His hands curling around her waist, his head falls back onto the bed, exposing his throat and Claire is so hard-pressed not to bite him there.

Claire ignores his smartassness, naturally, and lifts herself, drops back down. Slamming her hips into his until she’s bouncing on him. Nails clawing at his chest. Finally be able to set a pace she desperately craves for, finally wiping that smirk off of his face.

Under her, Carrick is biting his lip in an effort to not to lose control. His hands are everywhere now; her stomach, her breasts, her neck, her cheeks. Leaving fire on its wake. She might still hate him after this is strange, little arrangement is over but at this juncture, he’s exactly the remedy she needs after everything.

Then Carrick wraps his arms around her and picks up the pace, thrusting into her hard and fast. Claire shakes. She can’t catch her breath, her forehead pressed on his shoulder, her teeth latching onto his skin. Breathing a string of 'fuckfuckfuck’ while he squeezes her ass and continues to fuck her with careless abandon.

"Tobias.” Her moans amplify. She’s close to climaxing again, her legs quivering. Eyes wide shut. “Please, please.” So much for not begging.

He pulls her to him so their foreheads meet. Their lips brush against each other, but they aren’t kissing, merely trading breaths. A hand touches her cheek and her lids flutter open, finding his eyes- those depthless, amber eyes that pretty much lead her to this point, are watching her, pulling her in.

“Say it again,” he encourages darkly, face twists in pleasure. “My name. Say it again.”

She does it again, it comes out as a groaned whisper, repeating it over and over again like a sacred mantra.

Her second orgasm sweeps through her, making her spine arches, it tears a winded moan from her throat and it’s more than enough to trigger Carrick’s own release; fingers digging into the soft flesh of her hips, groaning gutturally.

Panting, sore but sated, Claire collapses on top of his chest, his arm still drapes around her. The rise and fall of his breath lull her to sleep. Before she knows it, he gently rolls her to his side, pulling the covers for them and kisses her on the shoulder, which comes out as… odd for her.

The bed moves and she feels him leaving.

He’s leaving.

She doesn’t know why it stings, but it does. But also Claire opts not to pay no mind to it and forces her mind to surrender to sleep that once again tries to take hold.

Claire wishes she doesn’t dream of him that night, but she does.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

It’s way past midnight when she wakes up. The room is dark. The curtains are closed. She’s still naked and sore under the covers, mind reeling in from what has just transpired.

One might ask in which universe does Claire Castelnuovo agree to sleep with Tobias Carrick? Well, apparently they did it in this one and oddly still, she doesn’t regret it. Though she’s still low-key sad that he left her straight after sex, but hey, what can she do about it? This arrangement itself is nothing but a means to an end, anyway, a perverse alternative for him to pay back what he allegedly owes her, she shouldn’t be surprised if he left after the ‘debt’ is paid.

Feeling her mood somehow takes an unexpected dip, she gets us from the bed and gathers her clothes on the floor.

She’s in the middle of zipping up her skirt when the bedside lamp flickers and comes on.

Claire turns around. Carrick, rousing from sleep, looks at her, rubbing his eyes and stifles a yawn. His lips still tinged from her kisses and bites.

“Leaving so soon?” he asks, voice still raspy from sleep and Claire thinks her mouth is hanging open, standing rooted to the spot like a spider on an icicle; frozen in time.

For a moment, she does nothing but stares at him, being rendered speechless. For many times, Tobias Carrick never fails to surprise her. Just when she thinks she has him all figured out, he comes sneaking in through her windows like a thief in the night and it just strikes her, how he really is an uncharted territory for her. Despite her having him pinned under her, exploring the hard planes of his body under the touches just a few hours ago.

The man is like a fucking myth, at this point. She knows him only from stories and her limited time around him, but who is exactly Tobias Carrick? Is he the competitive doctor at Mass Kenmore, the Machiavellian asshole that severed his friendship/relationship with Ethan for the sake of his greed and ambition? Or is he, Tobias Carrick, the man who saves her life, makes her laugh and kisses her shoulder in the afterglow?

She’ll probably never know.

“Yeah, my roommates will probably deploy a search party if I don’t come home tonight,” she replies, distracted, finally finding her own voice back. He nods, feigning disappointment- or is he not? She clears her throat and continues putting on her clothes. “I thought you left.”

He chuckles at the absurdity of her deduction. “And without saying goodbye?” Carrick rolls off of the bed and rises to his feet. He’s already wearing his pants- thank fuck for that- and approaches her. “I may be an asshole, Castelnuovo, but just so you know, my mother raised me better than that.”

So they’re back to their usual last name basis perimeter. That’s good, right? After all of this, she thinks a little familiarity would be nice for her sanity.

“Good to know, then.”

Silence encompasses the room. It’s awkward and overwhelming and it throws her a little off-balance. At the bar, they seemed to know exactly what to say to each other- especially him; but now, even she can sense the hesitation in his gait, at the way he’s looking at her and a faint alarm is trilling her head. Because if he’s making this awkward, she can do a whole lot of worse.

"Oh, before you ask, that makes up for pretty much everything, yeah. I mean, it’s alright.” You fucking dumbass, she thinks to herself, averting his gaze while a smile blooms on his face.

“Good to know, then.” He parrots her words and she huffs a laugh, freely and sweetly, like she’s currently not knee-deep in her problems or she’s just fucked the most incorrigible man that ever exists. He does too, but his gaze lands on her mouth before going back to her eyes.

Another silence passes. It’s time to go.

“I have to go now.”

He nods mutely and moves away so Claire can step past him.

She wears her coat. In the mirror, she still looks thoroughly fucked; her hair’s dishevelled, she smells like him now, but she really needs to go. She promises herself that this will be a one time thing because, Jesus fuck, she’s supposed to be smarter than this. She’s not fifteen anymore, and this is not the summer where she can watch the sunset from the cornfields with her cousins even though his eyes possess the same color.

Yet she walks toward the door in a daze, like she’s forgetting something but can’t pinpoint what it is.

“Can I-”

“Hey, do you-”

She stops, mid-turning, and closes her mouth. She doesn’t realize she’s interrupting him.

“Oh, sorry,” Claire says, embarrassed. “You go first, it’s alright.”

“Can I have your number?” he asks, uncharacteristically hesitant.

She thinks he’s joking or maybe he’s just feigning interest, but one look at his eyes and she can tell that this isn’t smoke and mirrors.

The eyes, chico. They never lie. It’s dumb, but that line from Scarface is the first thing that comes to her mind. That’s why when she hands him her phone, her hand is shaking slightly. She has to bite her lip to stop herself from grinning like a maniac.

Claire takes a cursory glance at her phone once he returns it. He saved his number solely as t.c. with the water drop, the syringe, the ghost, the eggplant, the firework emoji and she chuckles endearingly, questioning the universe how he can easily get both a rise and a laugh out of her.

“I’ll text you?” Carrick asks again and she nods a little too enthusiastically at it, but what the hell?

“Sure.”

“Alright.” He takes one look at her, steps closer and for a moment, she thinks he might be going to kiss her.

“Goodnight, Claire,” Carrick says instead and she nods, admitting the fact that he’s not going to do it.

“Goodnight to you too, Tobias.” Then pauses at the doorway, feeling surprisingly bold. “I gotta give it to you, though, for someone who’s become the bane of my existence for months, you’re a damn good lay.”

He barks out a laugh, obviously, that Claire can hear all the way down the hall. And she thinks she can get used to the sound.

fin.

Tag list: @villain-fuckarooni @beckaroo @arfeiniel @this-person-is-busy @colossalpainintheass @drethanramslay @hatescapsicum @theeccentricbibliophile

#playchoices #open heart #tobias carrick #tobias carrick x mc #open heart mc #oh mc #pixelberry #choices stories you play

150 notes · View notes

innermort · 3 years

Text

*** disclaimer: this is a very long diary type of entry that is probably quite boring for everyone else and may be ignored. it's merely a very lenghty epiphany I just had about my life and myself and I had to type it out for me, to lock in the thoughts, if you will. it was pretty therapeutic tho. 🙃 ***

10/Sept/2021

I just had the realization that I'm in the process of redefining every aspect of my self and my life.

I quit smoking cigarettes from one day to another exactly 2 months ago tomorrow and went from a heavy to a casual party smoker.

I rarely ever smoke weed anymore (plus when I did since quitting tabacco, I rolled with herbs) and now made the conscious decision to take another long break, so it doesn't interfere with my weight loss again. I get the worst munchies and have no self control when I'm stoned. I'm talking "5000+ cals in one sitting" type of binges. I'm not tolerating this kind of self sabotage anymore.

I re-discovered edblr. Yes. I know. Not the healthiest habit to get back into but it's the only thing that has actually helped me gain the motivation and willpower to put a stop to my raging sugar addiction and instead, an actual effort into losing weight again. Besides, I'm doing it in a much more careful and "responsible" way now (high restricting, taking supplements, no strict/exact calorie limit, very light to no exercise (okay, to be fair the reason for that is mainly my injured knee but still), letting myself eat/drink more than planned if I feel my body needs it). And let's not forget that I've literally been binging every day for the past 2 or 3 months. My diet nearly exclusively consisted of chocolate, pastries and pizza. Literally. I've gained 10 kgs (22lbs) during that time. That lifestyle was just as unhealthy, if not unhealthier.

I finally got to hang up and use my calender. Due to my ADHD (self diagnosed for now), I'm very forgetful and unorganized - at least in my private life. That's why I made the decision to get a big calender which I can use as a semi To Do/Buy list and appointment/meeting/bill reminder. Since I'm glueing a sticker to each day I got through without binging, I'm looking at it pretty much every day anyways. Plus, it's a motivater to not binge (reward that inner child)! Overall, it's helping me become more organized and put together which are two areas I've been lacking in in the past years. So far, I've been mostly using my phone notes but I usually write something down and immediately forget about it if it's not a grocery list or a To Do list I'm actively working through on that same day.

I have my first appointment at a psych ward since I was a teen. It's just a phone call and first get to know conversation but it's better than nothing and more than overdue. I'm finally taking the first steps towards getting diagnosed and being eligible for therapy. I'm sick of feeling like a victim of my own brain, I just want to be better. I deserve to be better.

I'm hungry for knowledge again. I deleted Tiktok from my phone because of how big of a distraction it was and because I realized that even though I'm being bombarded with new information everyday, I'm not learning anything. Our brains can't even comprehend the amount of information given in that short time span. Nothing sticks. Sure, you find out about some pretty cool stuff on TT depending on what kinda fyp you have but for me personally, it was just hours and hours of mindless scrolling in the end. It's crazy how addictive it is, too. Even despite the fact that I was already at a point where it didn't even give me that quick dopamine quick anymore. It felt boring and repetitive and I was merely doing it out of habit.

So, I got rid off the app. I started watching documentaries again. Mostly about gut health and mental illnesses like ADHD, Autism, BPD, Narcissm etc. Like TED talks or interviews/discussions by and with professionals/experts/diagnosed people. I'm back to not just craving but actually consuming something with substance, something that gives me more knowledge and insight on a topic. Something I actually want to know more about.

I realized and accepted that even though I am a creative mind, a fully creative job might just not be for me. I'm learning that maybe I'm the type of person who does something entirely different in their free time than what they do at work. And that that's very much okay. I noticed that at my job (this was the case for every job I ever had), my mind seems to work differently. When people expect me to do something, I have the needed pressure and motivation to get it done. I could also observe in myself that at work, I enjoy organizing/sorting stuff, I'm a fast and independent learner while I'm also excellent at training new employees, I'm much more detail oriented than in my private life - overall, it came to my attention that I might not actually be the ever chaotic forgetful mess who can't form a logic thought - or I can at least recognize that this is merely a part of me and not what defines and limits me as a person. I realized I actually like straightforward work, I like working alone and I like working precisely. When I was younger I would have never used any of these traits to describe my dream career. I would gag at the idea of working an office job and now I feel like this would actually suit me very well. Especially the working alone part would mean feeling less drained at the end of a work day and still having the energy to hang out with people I actually want to see. This is an extremely valuable lesson about myself that I finally seem to have learned.

After this big sub- and now concious evaluation about myself I'm also finally taking actual steps towards a possible career. I bought a course and worked through the first 2 lectures today, taking notes and writing everything down neatly for 3 - 3 1/2 hours (in total with breaks in between). I even got a notebook specifically for this new life project. I'm excited to learn. I feel scared, too. This is something I've never done before but I'm telling myself that trying won't hurt. I have my main job as a safety net, financially nothing can happen to me. I can only learn, even if I fail. And time will pass anyways, whether I get my ass up and put in the work or continue to be unhappy with what I'm doing without trying to change anything.

Speaking of finances, I also started taking those more seriously now. I stopped using my credit card (I was in negative numbers constantly, big numbers like -300 to -800€ due to constant overspending). I set up standing orders for my monthly fixed costs to make sure bills are always paid on time. Due to my forgetfulness and ADHD freeze I would often forget to pay or postpone paying bills until the reminder came in the mail and led to me having to pay on top or generating debt. I still have a little bit of debt to pay off but it's thankfully not a dramatic amount. I also have a second bank account for savings now where I transfer 200€ to every month. Even the simple act of calculating my fixed costs to see how much I can use for what was something that was desperately overdue. What I still have to do is sort out my receipts and write everything down in a housekeeping/budget book. And my first ever tax return. I am very much dreading both of these. 😃

Anyways. Wow. I really needed to type this out. I have the very harmful tendency to look at all the negative stuff and only focus on what I don't have and don't do. I really needed to take a long, deep look at all the things I've been changing around in the past couple months. A lot of it really passed me by until now. It's crazy but I really feel like a complete failure when my body isn't looking its best and it makes me blind for everything else. So, thank you to myself for reminding me that I am actually making a lot of progress, even if it has been in areas other than my fitness and looks. They're just as important (from a healthy brains point significantly more important, obviously) and deserve to be noticed and celebrated.

Conclusion: ❤️✨YAY, ME✨❤️

8 notes · View notes

good-rwbyaus · 4 years

Text

@honorable-asshole: I need you to know this is absolutely amazing. And for a title might I suggest "rising snow," since the mid is both rising to the occasion and trying to prevent the collapse of what probably amounts to the world economy?

#Rising Snow AU :: Pieces 12-14 :: mod lilac [ first ] [ previous ]

honorable-asshole asked: Au where Whitley has actually been running the bank accounts since he was young and keeping the group financially viable

// This AU’s name is Rising Snow now. xD. Thank you to honorable-asshole, both the AU namer and the AU inspirer. 8). Runner up for title namer is azdfox for Whit and Wit. - lilac

12. Impression

It didn’t take long to get a response. After Klein and he had their discussion about Acacia, he found his scroll ringing the next day despite it being set to ‘do not disturb’. It was from an unknown caller with a nonsensical 22-digit number, but he didn’t need to be a genius to figure out who it was.

Click.

“I see you’re the big bosss now,” said the woman on the line; he could hear a slight electronic hum resonating with her voice, a blatantly obvious attempt at voice modulation. So blatant that it told him that she wanted him to know - suppose that was one form of sincerity. Despite the voice mask though, it couldn’t hide the drunken slur in her words, one that he couldn’t help but be irritated by.

“Only until Father comes back," he still spoke back neutrally, leaning back on his chair and away from the piling paperwork, "so you’re Acacia.”

A long pause. How drunk was this lady?

"I am,” Acacia continued, “so when are you plotttting the hostile -hic- takeover?”

He couldn’t help but snort at that. Come to think of it... that’s what he was doing now, wasn’t he? Undermining his father’s authority and trying to find where all the skeletons lie. Because he had to be the one in control in the end. His father never treated the Schnee Dust Company as a business but as his own personal piggy bank, and now that the bank was running out, the Schnees were in danger of being left with nothing.

And he wouldn’t be surprised if his father left himself an out. What would it be? A private penthouse in Mistral? A couple offshore bank accounts in Vale? Who knows? It ticked him off greatly, but he had more important things to do than indulge in pointless anger.

‘You must not like my Father very much,” he returned.

"I don’t,” the woman said sternly, probably the most sober thing she said. “Your father took everything from me.”

“Then why help his son?” Whitley asked.

"You are you. Your father is your father."

“That’s not enough to reassure me,” Whitley said sharply, “You show up drunk to our first meeting, are using a voice modulator, and don’t even show your face. Are you even taking this seriously? The only reason why I’m entertaining you right now is because of Klein’s assurances that I can trust you.”

He heard something like a choke in the background and then a click. He quickly glanced at his scroll - they weren’t disconnected - she must’ve muted herself.

Another click.

“...Klein’s a good man,” the voice hiccupped out, though her voice sounded more strained - hoarse even.

“He is. But I still don’t trust you. From what I heard, you’re not just a secretary but an expert on technological surveillance,” Whitley replied, “If I let you into the system, I very well may be letting a wolf in.”

“...You can’t keep me out in the firssst placee,” Acacia slurred.

“Prove it,” Whitley said.

The sound of typing filled his ears before it quickly stopped.

“My show of -hic- sincerity,” she quietly said.

His scroll suddenly went dark and turned back on. Numerous video feeds popped into view. The kitchen, his sisters’ bedrooms, Klein in the kitchen, the dining room, the lounge, his own bedroom... Alarmed, he turned towards the bookcase to his side before looking down at the scroll in his hands - it was tracking him.

He hurriedly walked over and quickly pulled out a book that had a pin-sized hole within it. The scroll’s feed followed wherever he pointed. And the Schnee Mansion was covered in these cameras?! It was impossible for it not to be an inside job then. He shook in rage. Was his father seriously that paranoid about maintaining power - that he’d spy on his own family!?

His attention returned to the scroll. He took a few calming breaths.

“I’ve received your sincerity well,” he finally let out, “Another thing that my father will have to answer for.”

Another long quiet moment.

“I... yes," the voice stuttered out quietly, “...you trust me now?”

“I can trust you to put your money where your mouth is,” Whitley corrected, “That’s probably as good a foundation we’re going to get for our working relationship, since you’re clearly not going to reveal your identity. Is Acacia even your real name?”

He then shook his head.

“Actually you know what? It doesn’t matter now. As of right now, you and Klein are the only assets I have,” Whitley said with a long exhale. A loyal butler and a drunk secretary, better than being alone with this mess.

��....Regardless of what happens, I’ll be by youur side,” the voice said, “even if you decide to driiive this company into the ground.”

Acacia... sounded oddly sincere about that, though the effect was somewhat diminished by the fact the woman was completely sloshed.

“I thought you loved the company,” Whitley asked.

“I loved the people in it,” she said mournfully, “I admired your granddad...” She paused, “Since you have his blood, as far as I’m concerned, the company is yours to do as you see fit.”

“You know that Winter and Weiss are the true heiresses, right? If you really wanted to get the company back up, shouldn’t you be asking them?” Whitley questioned.

“Do they -hic- look like they want anything to do with it?”

“Hahaha,” Whitley couldn’t help but laugh at himself. That was true. The prize he always strived for was looked upon as garbage by his older sisters - and what was more ironic was that the company was actually garbage. Was he really the only blind one here? He sighed before he shook his head, banishing the useless self-pity away.

“It’s their loss. I’m going to save this company,” Whitley declared, “I’m going to make sure we’re so entrenched in Atlas - in Remnant - that no one will dare do anything to the Schnees.”

He closed his eyes and looked down at his scroll.

“Will you help me towards that goal?” he asked.

“Like I said, it’s your company,” the voice replied, “I’ll go as far as you want to go, President Schnee.”

He smiled.

President Schnee. He liked the sound of that. But first things first.

“Then since you’ve clearly shown yourself in, let’s begin. I need the budget reports starting from last year...”

---

13. Efficiency

Having Acacia on board for the past several days made his job easier. No longer did he have to sift through unimportant garbage such as meeting schedules or planning dinners or cafeteria food requests. She instead triaged his work, sending documents where they actually needed to go - he suspected she had a digital stamp with his signature on it - and made sure things got done in the background. Despite the questionable legality and hole in oversight, he found it a welcome thing. He could finally focus on more important matters such as where all his company’s money went or the increasing unrest down at the Mantle mining sites.

He’d seen signs of his company’s corruption back when he took a glance at the budget. R & D had been a black hole where money goes in and nothing comes out. Transport and Delivery had been ‘losing’ more and more Dust shipments. Customer Support was full of idiots he’d fired on the first few day of his job. Security has been demanding more funds to deal with the so-called Faunus threat without any actual evidence to their claims.

The only thing that’s made profit at all was Dust Mining and Surveying, which was personally managed by the President. It was literally the only thing that was holding this company together.

He picked up his scroll and sent a voice message.

“Acacia. I’ve gone through the budget. I’ll be requiring your expertise. I’ll need information on the following people before I meet them two days from n-”

Klein walked in, not with a milkshake, but with a bowl of spaghetti.

“Klein, I said I wanted a milkshake, not this.”

“You’ve been drinking milkshakes for two days now, Master Whitley, ” Klein said, “Acacia has again expressed... concern.”

He sighed as he grumpily stared at the bowl, picking up his fork.

“Is she your boss or am I your boss?” he grumbled at both phone and Klein, though no heat was in his tone. He knew Klein was looking out for him, though he was surprised Acacia did too.

He smiled faintly as he began eating the pasta.

His parents might not care for him and his sisters, but at least he still had people willing to stand by his side.

-------

14. Threat

Several men, dressed in suits and blazers, sat inside a large board room; the last chair at the end of the table had yet to be filled. All of them seemed annoyed at being called at this late hour. “What’s going on?”

“Beats me. I was being attended by a masseuse when I got the emergency order.”

“Stop complaining. I was with my mistress when it happened. You know how uncomfortable it is to take that pill and not-”

“Shut it. Isn’t the president supposed to be on vacation?”

“Then how did this emergency meeting get called?”

“Because I called it,” Whitley spoke as he opened the door to the board room. Wearing a navy blue suit complete with a sky blue tie, he adjusted his silver cufflinks slightly and sat down at the end chair. “Gentlemen.”

“Whitley Schnee,” the man to the left of him said in a fawning expression, “haven’t seen you since the last dinn-”

“Shut it, Samson,” he interrupted.

“What?” Samson, the CEO of R&D, questioned blankly before he quickly stood up, yelling “What’d you say you little bra-”

“I told you all to shut it,” Whitley growled as he glared back into the now hostile room, “Do you know what all you scum here have in common?”

“You’ve all stolen money from my company. Hundreds of millions of Lien,” he announced and turned on the projector with a push of the remote. Budget statements with padded numbers crossed out and the corrected ones filled in appeared on the screen, complete with department names. Bank transfers to personal accounts could be seen.

Several members of the company’s board had looks of astonishment while others maintained a perfect poker face.

“You shouldn’t make false accusations.”

“This is all fake!”

“Do you think you’re actually the president?”

“As far as all of you are concerned, I am,” Whitley countered, slowly standing up and turning his back to them, “Klein, please pass my esteemed associates their information packets.”

The butler quietly yet swiftly delivered a manila folder to every one of the room’s inhabitants. Several of them began looking through the contents and immediately became pale.

“Some of you... Most of you - by virtue of your thieving - have committed crimes that could be considered treason to the Kingdom of Atlas,” Whitley quietly spoke to the now silent room.

He turned his head immediately to a balding bespectacled man, “Lexington, the heating coils in Mantle should last for a decade per our agreement with the Kingdom of Atlas, so why did you construct them with material that would only work four or five years at best?” he asked before adding, “That’s pretty shifty, especially in light of your recent purchase of a mansion whose price happens to match the missing portion of the budget. Horrible correlation, right?”

“And Rex, what happened to the protective walls down at Mantle,” he asked in a kind tone, smiling, “They should’ve been finished a year ago, so why are we still two years behind?”

His smile shifted to a disdainful frown, “Tch.”

“As for the rest of you, you should find that my money is not easily taken. The folders will easily show that I know where all your skeletons lie.”

Quiet murmurs filled the room. Some of them clandestinely attempted to use their scrolls, only to find they had no signal - Acacia’s work.

“What do you want us to do?” Samson said, the fastest thinking of the lot. That was why he was the closest ally of his father - ally: his father didn’t have friends.

“At least you’re smart. Not smart enough to stop yourself from stealing from my company, but still...” Whitley replied, which made the man redden with anger, “You will all sign documents to the effect that you are willingly transferring your stocks to me. After confirmation of the transfer, you will then resign,” Whitley calmly said, “If you do those two things, I will keep what I’ve learned under my belt, and we all walk away happy.”

“What?”

“Don’t go too far, kid.”

“You think you’ll survive if you dare take on all of us,” one of the CEOs replied, “Tch. I’m done with this farce.”

Just as the CEO stood up, Whitley delivered his ulitmatum, “should anyone leave here without doing those two things, I release everyone’s information to Atlas.”

“The company won’t survive if you do tha-”

“What you’re doing is a crime. This is blackmai-”

“No, no, no. This isn’t blackmail,” Whitley interrupted with a laugh, “this is simply a business deal, a mere trading of worthless stock for your valuable lives. Now if you think that what I’m doing is a crime...” He shrugged, “I guess I have no choice but to report these things to the proper authorities.”

The room fell silent at that.

“As for the company, you’re right. Losing a lot of important assets at once will impact the company,” he lightly said before glaring at them, “Luckily, all of you are leeches and don’t fall under that category.”

Lexington bristled.

“If you release that information on us, have you not thought about what will happen to your father?”

Whitley chuckled.

“Oh I certainly have. My father will likely go to jail after all this, and I’ll probably have to go on TV and talk about how sorry I am about my father’s crimes and that I’ll work hard to atone in his place,” he replied, “Troublesome things, yes. And of little worth, since I do agree that the Schnees will be a very hated name in the Kingdom for quite some time.”

“But we’ll at least have the opportunity to recover. The rest of you on the other hand...” he chuckled darkly, "...will probably have long met the firing squad.”

“And as for those of you who think they can escape, do you really think your connections will mean anything once General Ironwood gets ahold of you?”

The room became quiet once more as they considered the question.

“I thought so,” Whitley finished with a calm smile, a smile that these ruthless businessmen would be seeing in their nightmares - the smile of a son willing to sacrifice his own father for his goals. Everything that he wanted to show, he let them see.

“So no more objections? Shall we start the transfer of assets then?”

#rising snow au #whitley schnee #klein sieben #rwby au #rwby #rwby fic #mod lilac

76 notes · View notes

hadenodom-stories · 4 years

Text

Clair’s Voyage, Part 1

Clair woke up in a cold sweat. There was no light breaking through her open window, and her heavy dark Navy curtains made no noise as they wavered in the summer wind. It was the 5th of July, and she was freaking out. Have you ever had a dream that stays on your mind and colors your mood for an entire day? Clair had just endured the second such dream in as many nights.

Regardless of the dread her dream had instilled in her, she knew she had to get up and moving. Yesterday's dream had nearly sapped her of all of her energy, and her friend Elaine had noticed at the neighborhood 4th of July cookout. "I've never seen you in such a foul mood", she'd remarked. She couldn't let that happen today. She had a very important interview, and her entire future potentially hinged on it. She couldn't be in a dour, depressed state -- 'Then I'll have to fake a smile', she thought, 'and I'm absolute shit at that'.

Despite a grim determination to force herself into a better mood, she found herself dwelling on the previous day's events as she trudged through the hallways of her quiet house towards the kitchen. By the time she was sitting down, her head full of frizzy auburn hair slumped forward beholding the sight of a depressing bowl of some "healthy" cereal that'd been sitting in the cupboards well past its expiration date, her mind was busy replaying and reliving the most traumatic part of that day. The part that she'd seen before in a nightmare just hours before it happened in real life. The part of the day that was at first clouded in a sense of Déjà vu -- a surreal "I've seen all of these events, in this exact order, before..." sense -- until it burst into traumatic realness. The pops and whizzes of fireworks zooming into the sky. The cheers of the neighborhood kids as one particularly bright, low, and loud firecracker exploded. Her younger brother looking at her with a cheeky "watch this" expression as he prepared to light a cobbled-together collection of old fireworks that he'd taped together and put into a small pipe to launch. His uncomprehending, still-excited face as the spark ran along the fuse far too fast and the pipe began to tilt back towards him. The flash and screams afterwards. And everything going black once she saw the blood and exposed bone. Once she realized how bad it might be...

She neatly placed her spoon back on the table and stood up. 'No way I can fucking eat now', she thought. As she walked out onto the back patio and tossed the now-soggy cereal out into the yard for the local cats to enjoy, she remembered her mom's instructions:

"Look, go home. Just go home. You heard the doctor, honey. He's going to be alright. They're doing their best. We won't be able to see him for quite a while. I'll stay here for now. Just go home and sleep in your own bed. Get you mind off of it and come back when you're able."

Clair slammed the patio door shut behind her, furious now. She understood that her mother wasn't exactly a master of emotional understanding or empathy, but how could she be so fucking stupid? How could her mom just think that she'd be able to go home and be comfortable knowing her brother was in surgery, having seen what happened to him? 'I'm an adult now, but goddamn, how do I even process this on my own? How do I just move on with my life? How can she expect me to just go home, forget all about it, and then get ready for this interview?"

She continued to ruminate and curse her mother's lack of empathy - or at least the kind of empathy Clair expected - as she lazily got ready for her interview. It was only 5 AM and her interview wasn't until 9, but there wasn't anything else to do and she certainly couldn't go back to sleep. She was going to put on a frightfully awful dress - she hated dresses - with a pair of shiny black businesslike pumps - which she also loathed - and apply more makeup than usual, and then go spend a couple of hours at the hospital trying to get an update on her brother's situation. 'I'll go ahead and let mom know that I can't handle this on my own while I'm there', she thought. 'She won't care, but I'll let her know'

In her old, grey Civic hatchback with the paint peeling, she barely focused on the road or on driving. The static-filled dulcet tones of an NPR reporter reciting headlines momentarily calmed her, but she wasn't processing any of the words. She was just busy thinking of what she could remember from last night's dream. It was a mess - all she could remember was some boy she barely recognized (but couldn't place) talking to her mother, and her mother suddenly displaying more emotion than Clair had ever seen from her - but she still wasn't able to actually identify the emotion her mother was feeling in the dream. Something like shock - or confusion - or betrayal - or all of those. Clair tried in vain to figure out who the boy in the dream was - his face looked very familiar, but she couldn't remember where, other than the dream, she'd seen him. And as for what emotion her mother had been reacting with or what the boy had been telling her mother, she was at a complete loss. Her eyes flashed upon a sign and her brakes squealed. Lost in thought, she'd almost missed the exit for the hospital.

The hospital was a tiny rural hospital on the edge of town, a decaying building full of old doctors and young underpaid nurses, kept alive on a shoestring budget despite the exorbitant prices it charged you for the simple privilege of remaining alive. Clair was sure that her mom wasn't ready for any of the financial burden her brother had just incurred -- at least not on the meager retirement checks and alimony they'd subsisted on since her dad had left. Walking into the main waiting room, she was mentally prepared to hit her mom hard with three questions: "How is he?", "When can I see him?", and "You're not going to make me stay at the house by myself for another night". The last one wasn't a question, but she expected, at the very least, her mother's acknowledgement. Instead, she was met by the face from her dream - the unfamiliar boy - walking out of an empty waiting room. She couldn't help but stop in her tracks and stare at him. "You're Micheal's sister, right?", the boy said, seemingly unphased by her glare. "Yes", she finally managed to respond. "He's not here anymore", the boy replied.

"What?"

"They took him to a hospital in Jacksonville. He's stable. Your mom didn't call you and tell you?"

"No..."

"Oh, well. They left about 30 minutes ago. He's stable, but your mom's kind of a wreck. I stayed to meet up with his friend Lisa who wants to ride with me to Jacksonville. He's going to go into another surgery to try to save his face and they said he'll probably be ready for visitors by later tonight."

'This is absurd', Clair thought. 'How can this random boy know more about my brother's situation than me. How could my mom be so detached as to not tell me any of this? And I'll be goddamned if anyone's going to finally visit my brother's hospital room before me'

"You can ride with us if you'd like", the boy offered.

"No, thanks, I actually have to drive to Jacksonville this morning anyways. I have an interview at 9..."

"Say no more... I guess I'll see you there"

With that, the boy walked past her. She turned and followed him outside. "So... who are you?"

"Oh, we've met before I think. I'm Cavill, Micheal's... we're friends. I've been here since last night worried sick about him. I guess your mom wanted you to be home so you wouldn't worry yourself sick like her."

"Fat lot of good that did", Clair replied drearily. "And yeah, we have met... Micheal just never bothers to introduce his friends to us. I guess he gets that from mom, the habit of keeping everyone at a distance"

"Cigarette?" Cavill was holding out a crumpled pack of smokes. It was odd to think that anyone Micheal hung out with smoked -- to Clair, she couldn't think of her brother as anything but a kid. Hell, she had a hard time calling herself an "adult"

"No thanks", she replied, waving sheepishly.

"I quit like a month ago - most on your brother's insistence. But sitting here waiting last night and stressing out... I just couldn't do it. I went and bought a pack of smokes. Micheal would be ashamed of me."

"Don't say that. I've never known Micheal to be anything but supportive"

"Yeah, but he..." Cavill's voice trailed off as he began to choke up. "He's the only person that really ever cared, you know? And I care about him too. I don't want to let him down." A single tear ran down his cheek.

Clair was at a complete loss. She always came to a complete loss when anyone cried or became vulnerable around her. 'I guess I'm not too unlike my mother', she thought.

"You won't. You know he talks about you sometimes? The other day he told me that you're learning guitar and that you're pretty good"

"I'm not, and he knows it. He just..."

She wasn't sure why Cavill was trailing off now. She'd met friends of her brother's before, but something was different in the way Cavill talked about his bond with Micheal. What was it?

Suddenly, some neurons firing in her brain or some semblance of emotional intelligence came to her, and it made sense. Months before, Micheal had confessed to her that he was in a relationship but said it was a secret and refused to give her any more details. It'd annoyed her at the time - she hated secrets in any form and saw them as puzzles or riddles that she needed to solve - but now, with her brother's somewhat-secretive friend quietly crying over a cigarette in front of her, an uncomfortably vulnerable figure, she felt like she was close to unraveling this particular puzzle. She eyed Cavill again, taking him in. He was a bit taller than her brother, and thinner. His hair was golden-brown and jettisoned out from his head at odd angles, like some sort of anime character's. His face didn't quite match it - soft angles, a small button of a nose, and thin lips. Blue eyes. He looked absolutely sad, and she couldn't stand to leave him here on his own.

"You're going to Jacksonville, right?", she said.

"Yeah, but I'm waiting for Lisa, remember? She's my ride"

"Well, you can ride with me if you want. I'm going right now."

"That's probably more convenient. Lisa lives between here and Jacksonville and hasn't even left her house yet".

"Well, I'll make some room in my car. And I have an interview later on, so I won't be able to give you a ride back until after lunch"

"That's okay, I'm staying at the hospital for the day if I can help it"

Clair looked at Cavill, who'd extinguished his cigarette between his fingers and was starting to walk behind her towards her car. "Go wash you hands and splash some water on your face", she said. "I don't want the smell of cigarettes in my car, and besides, you look tired"

Cranking her car, her head disappeared in thought again. What was the meaning of the dream she'd had the night before? What kind of secret life had her brother been living? Who is this Cavill kid she's seen around who's suddenly very attached to her brother? Why would her mom not tell her that her brother had been taken to a hospital an hour's drive south for surgery? What was Cavill telling her mom in the dream she'd just had, and why did it make her mom so... upset?

She couldn't sit there with her thoughts for a second longer, so she reached for the pair of pliers in the center console and used them to twist the metal stub on which her car radio's volume knob had once rested. The dulcet tones of the NPR announcer now filled the silence:

"Next on NPR: We talk to an experimental psychologist about a new study on the phenomenon of apparently precognitive dreams. Can dreams predict the future?"

Not even NPR was going to give her a moment of escapism.

=============================================

This is part one of my unfinished series about a girl named Clair whose dreams begin to mirror reality (sounds fun until it happens to you!), which for now is going to be titled “Clair’s Voyage”. I started writing a story along these lines, with much less detail, a few years ago until it was apparent that I was writing a longer story than I’d set out to write. At that time, I just saved the draft but left it unfinished. Now, I’m adding more details and breaking it out into different parts. It may become a book by the time I’m done. Clair, you see, is an aspiring psychiatrist - she loves studying the mind and how it works - but right now she’s just trying to struggle through community college and get a job as a secretary at the local psychiatric hospital. She’s also trying to struggle with the traumatic events surrounding an eerie July 4th, on which her brother was grievously injured in a scene that played out exactly how it had played out in her nightmare the night before. With her brother’s boyfriend, Cavill, at her side, she’s about to embark on a journey of discovery and empowerment filled with ups and downs and unspeakable trauma. So be sure to tune in for the next Part of Clair’s Voyage.

#Clair's Voyage #short story #tumblr fiction #writeblr #writing #creative writing #psychology #dreamscape #dreams #nightmares #amwriting #ya #hadenodom stories

13 notes · View notes

mst3kproject · 4 years

Photo

The Equinox

'Aleczilla51297′ appears to have made a tumblr purely for the purpose of telling me I need to review Equinox and Godzilla vs Hedorah. I decided to do Equinox first because I’ve already seen Godzilla vs Hedorah, which is one of the preachier Godzilla movies but does have that hilarious bit where the big guy flies by using his atomic breath as a rocket. If Equinox turns out to be a #fuck this movie entry, then Godzilla can act as a sort of a palate-cleanser. And so, without further ado:

Something blows up, a woman called Susan dies, and a dude gets run down by a driverless car. My Dad would feel vindicated – he finds the whole idea of self-driving cars untrustworthy. The victim, whose name is David Fielding, ends up in a mental hospital, where he tells his story to a psychiatrist. Seems that Dave, his pal Jim, Jim’s girlfriend Vicky, and Vicky’s friend Susan, headed up into the mountains for a picnic with their old teacher Dr. Waterman. These people are all idiots.

The four young people arrive to find Waterman’s cabin destroyed and a creepy old man living in a cave nearby, who gives them a locked book. Because the characters don’t know they’re in a bad movie, they don’t realize that the book is clearly the fucking Necronomicon, and decide to crack it open and read it while they eat their KFC. To nobody’s surprise, they’re soon being chased around the countryside by dumb stop-motion monsters. At the end everybody’s dead but Dave, who’s in the mental hospital waiting for the fulfillment of a prophecy that said he would die a year and a day after the original events, but that’s not a spoiler because it was the opening scene.

Let’s go over the shit that happens when these four clowns arrive at Dr. Waterman’s. The cabin’s destroyed and the park ranger who discusses it with them says his name is Asmodeus. Does that sound like a signal you should get the hell out of there? No? Okay, how about when they find a castle they can’t remember being there before? Still no? Well then, on their way to the castle (which later vanishes behind a wall of invisibility, probably because they couldn’t afford interior sets), they come across a cave with Green Goblin laughter echoing out of it, and weird velociraptor footprints all around. Would you leave, or would you light up some torches and go check it out? What about when you find a partially-mummified corpse in the cave?

The whole first ten minutes of the flashback that comprises most of the narrative is a litany of things I’m pretty sure anybody would flee from in real life. I don’t believe much in the supernatural but if I saw all that I would be sure that multiple crimes had been committed and that I wanted no part of it. The characters of Equinox, however, insist on investigating themselves, and continue to make stupid, stupid decisions for the entire run time. Yes, let’s all go in a group to check and make sure the monster is dead. Let’s hang around and bury the bodies ourselves instead of getting back to civilization for a police report and a good stiff drink. Let’s collect the picnic stuff before we leave because that basket cost at least $15 at Wal-Mart. It’s the kind of movie where you start to get annoyed that the characters aren’t dying fast enough. When we finally get back to the opening shot I mainly felt relief that the movie was almost over.

The MST3K movie Equinox most reminds me of is The Day Time Ended: there are people in the middle of nowhere and, for some reason, a bunch of random stop-motiony things happen that never actually add up to a story. Stuff comes and goes without serving any purpose other than to be creepy. Who was Crazy Cave Guy? I at first assumed he was the missing Dr. Waterman but Waterman turns up later and immediately dies, so what’s going on with this other guy? What’s about the cave mummy… who was that? Was the man who showed up to snatch the book actually Dr. Waterman or just a demon in his form? Why is there a random graveyard in the middle of the woods? Why does the psychiatrist have a creepy monster mask on his wall? What’s up with Asmodeus apparently trying to rape Susan without even unbuttoning his pants, and later possessing her so that she does the same thing to Vicky?

Dialogue specifies that Dr. Waterman was a geologist, which seems an odd choice for somebody to be translating ancient documents. I mean, there’s no reason why a geologist can’t have a side interest in ancient manuscripts, but when a movie takes the trouble to tell you something like that there’s usually a reason why. Geology is never important to the plot, even tangentially.

It must be said that Equinox makes slightly more sense than The Day Time Ended, in that we’re actually given a reason why these events are happening. Dr. Waterman had acquired and translated the Necronomicon and could not control the demons he summoned (I am convinced that Sam Raimi saw Equinox when he was around twelve and thought, shit, I could make a better movie than this!). A huge tentacle creature destroyed his cabin, and then there’s the sabre-toothed ogre, the giant green caveman, and of course, the devil himself. These creatures have a motivation: they are determined to get the book back, whether through force or persuasion. The events could still happen in any order, but it all has a common core, rather than being just a collection of Concepts.

In capable hands this story could be made to work (see previous parentheses), but sadly none of the hands involved in making Equinox were remotely capable. The acting is abysmal, mostly just people standing around awkwardly reciting their lines. All the dialogue was then dubbed over in post-production, which makes it even more stiff and awkward. There’s a bit where a guy reads a letter as if he has to sound out each word. The direction and music are bland. Even the costumes are awful. You’d think it would be hard to fuck up costumes in a movie set in the present, but it looks like everyone just turned up to set in their street clothes and they went with that. Good costuming can tell us a lot about characters but the outfits here say nothing. Also, both Vicky and Susan are blondes in blue shirts, and once Susan’s hair falls out of its bun they’re basically indistinguishable.

The characters have no discernable personalities. How they react to things changes from scene to scene, with nobody’s motives clear. The only thing that remains constant is Jim wanting to leave while Dave always wants to stay and take care of something or other. Stuff happens that could result in character development but none of it is ever followed up. The most notable example is when Dave feels terrible guilt over having apparently killed Dr. Waterman, but this is forgotten a few minutes later and we never even find out if the dead man were really Dr. Waterman.

The effects are uniformly bad, but not usually enough so to be entertaining in themselves. The castle is an obvious matte painting and the stuff on the other side of the portal, whether it’s Hell or the Dark Dimension or I don’t even know, is just the same spot in the woods with an orange filter over it. There’s a stupid spinning thing used to represent Asmodeus exercising assorted dark powers. The devil and the sabre-toothed ogre are both stiff and shitty stop-motion puppets. The animation is surprisingly competent for a movie with the budget of Jr. High drama club, but they’re still not good. The one exception is the giant green caveman, which looks dumb but is quite convincing as occupying space and interacting with the characters.

One might expect that this movie would be about the temptation of evil. The monsters in it are summoned using a book of dark knowledge, and in trying to get the book back Asmodeus offers Jim anything he wants – money, prestige, women, you name it. Problem is, there’s never any sign that the main characters are in fact tempted. The crazy guy in the cave wants nothing from the book except to get rid of it. He passes it on to Dave and Jim with evident glee. Dr. Waterman’s interest in it, according to his notes, was purely scientific. He summoned demons just to see if he could do it, but he doesn’t appear to have gained anything thereby except the knowledge that it works. The main characters never even attempt to use the book, even to get themselves out of this mess, they just run around trying to keep it out of the hands of the monsters. I’d say it’s like if every character in The Lord of the Rings was book-Faramir, but only a colossal nerd would use an example like that.

Honestly, I think this movie was about the wrong characters. Dr. Waterman’s process of discovering the book and learning to use it, only to realize he’s unleashed things he cannot control, would probably have been a much more interesting story. The characters from this film could have shown up at the end to fish the book out of the mess, with the implication that they will be its next victims. This would have been a much better way to explore the ideas of temptation, making a Faust-like character out of Waterman as he is tempted not by riches or fame, but by knowledge and power.

Equinox is not quite #fuck this movie bad. In order to earn that tag, a film has to be unwatchably dull and/or morally repugnant. I didn’t have any trouble sitting through Equinox but I also didn’t really enjoy the experience. As movies about demonic forces go, it’s pretty bland and nothing much really seems to happen. I guess that means I have to forgive Aleczilla51297 for sending it to me, but I’m still looking really forward to a Godzilla film or two.

#mst3k #reviews #episodes that never were #equinox #tw: rape #70s

20 notes · View notes

itsbenedict · 3 years

Text

Two-Faced Jewel: Session 14

A Ferry Good Experience

A half-elf conwoman (and the moth tasked with keeping her out of trouble) travel the Jewel in search of, uh, whatever a fashionable accessory is pointing them at. [Campaign log]

Last time, the party finally wrapped up their business in the small town of Barley, and headed back to Cauterdale to catch the ferry to Thunderbrush across the Bay of Uneasy Repose. In this session, they make a few more last-minute preparations, and embark on a nautical voyage!

Said nautical voyage is swiftly set upon by a few different kinds of trouble.

Before they leave for the docks, Looseleaf catches Orluthe alone while he's having some trouble with street food. There's some sort of tough overcooked octopus dish he can't quite figure out how to eat.

Looseleaf: "You could, maybe, use a knife?" "Or, I guess, maybe you're not supposed to because overcoming a challenge like extremely overcooked seafood is, like, a triumph or something and you're not supposed to back down from those?" "Is that how the cleric thing works?" Orluthe Chokorov: "Sorry, um..." He looks around nervously. "What, um, makes you say that?" Looseleaf: "Well, you know, the fact that, all your combat cantrips involve you declaring how victory is certain or whatever, the fact that after Oyobi dealt with that bobbledragon you channeled your divine avatar to heal Mr. Cutter and your god was all like 'ah, that great beast you have overcome and slain is a honorable offering and you're super cool for having overcome this challenge my man' or whatever..." "Like, I'm just, puttin' all my cards on the table here, it's pretty obvious?" Orluthe Chokorov: "..." "You, uh..." "That's not... something you can, um, prove," he says, unsure.

Looseleaf manages to talk Orluthe into putting his cards on the table, too. Apparently he's next in line to be the head of the Temple of Diamode in his hometown, and he's been sent to study at Blacksky to prepare. Only problem is- he's not a cleric of Diamode. Or even a cleric, for that matter- he's something else, instead. His disposition is noticeably non-Iska-Peakstrider-Goddess-of-Triumph-ish, you might've noticed.

Remember how Orluthe is a shifter? Apparently he thinks of his other form as a different person, and that person is way more in line with Iska and her obsession with victory and superiority. Iska chose his feral warball champion alter ego- the Alpha Doomhound- and has been helping his more mild-mannered side fake being a cleric of Diamode in order to help him attain the headship of the temple for some reason.

Looseleaf... attempts to pry a little more.

After asking a few more questions about how exactly channeling divinity works and feels (kind of incomprehensible sometimes, since godthoughts connect to godmemories you don't have when the channeling ends), Looseleaf reassures Orluthe she'll keep his secret, and the party sets off for the docks.

At the docks, they meet a few goblins from Cauterdale Harbor Management, who tell them all about the amazing deals! Ferry vouchers (like those provided by Blacksky) are four gold, good for any ferry at the harbor- but some ferries cost extra on top of the voucher. Their options are:

The Satellite Islands Transit Company is the budget option, which will get you across the bay for only the price of the voucher- if you're fine riding a crowded and dubiously-seaworthy old tub.

The Cauterdale Armored Navy operate a smaller and more secure ferry- an armored military vessel with advanced protection against sea monsters, for an extra two gold.

Cabana Jim's Pleasure Cruise is an enormous yacht with an onboard spa, for an extra ten gold on top of the voucher- and comes with a coupon for half-off at Cabana Jim's Luxury Resort and Spa.

Looseleaf sees no reason not to cheap out, so they pick the SITC- except Vayen, who goes for the Armored Navy so as not to be on a crowded boat with the rest of the party. Until... the surprise reveal that oops, they've got fantasy airport security, and in order to go on the SITC ferry, they need to submit to an inspection due to an "elevated maritime threat level".

The inspection is pretty thorough, and Saelhen's sleight-of-hand rolls to conceal her knives fail- which they apparently don't care about. What they care about are the party's magic items. The cloak, rug, and pillow all check out, apparently- too minor, not waterproof.

Unfortunately, Saelhen is unable to conceal her bracer, and as it's apparently an ancestral heirloom. They're going to need to put it in a lead carrying case, which costs extra- and also, oops, it doesn't come off Saelhen's arm, so it's going to cost extra extra to stow her entire body in a lead vault.

Why? Because Darkflame Retribution Everwatchful Black Sapphire, Mistress of Turbulent Waters might be out there, and she has a habit of attacking ships to steal powerful magic items. Unnessie just likes fish, and Krakalackie "plays with boats" but is harmless, but "Darkie" is a genuine threat if she senses a magic item.

So, the party instead springs for the Cauterdale Armored Navy ferry, since they have certain measures in case of dragon attack. They head to the boat and find it manned by Medd Cutter, the guardsman they rescued! Also, they find a rich dwarf, a family of gnomes, and Vayen, who is unpleasantly surprised that the party changed their minds and followed him.

Medd explains the security measures on the ship:

The mess hall inside the cabin, which locks with an airtight seal

The recessed seating area on the deck, featuring seatbelts

The diving-bell helmets under the seats, which have an air supply if they get pulled underwater

The magical water-repelling forcefield that holds out long enough to get everyone's helmets on

The levers on the helmets that switch on to make them soundproof in case of dragon

There's a cacophany of acknowledgment from the load of gnome children, and the ferry gets underway.

As they're traveling, Saelhen and Looseleaf ask Kensa why exactly she's so excited to get to Corolos.

They show Kensa the Anycloak, and she immediately loses her entire got damn mind. She offers to do ANYTHING, ANYTHING to have it! Saelhen... takes this as a teachable moment. Kensa needs to learn to haggle.

She doesn't do a particularly good job, and Saelhen gives her some pointers- and eventually agrees to four conjurations per fashion lesson. With that, she puts on the cloak... and makes the Wisdom save that using the cloak triggers.

She gets a 1.

And what happens is... the last thing the cloak transformed into, a super-opulent fancy armored winged battledress... bleeds into the sundress Kensa imagines up. And those elements of the design, leftover from Looseleaf's imagination, seem to Kensa to have been her idea, somehow.

That's... probably... safe??

And soon after Kensa revises her design again, she looks out at the sea, and points at something in the distance, and asks "What's that?"

It's some sort of huge mutant plesiosaur, sniffing at the SITC ferry.

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Yamatake, I swear to heaven, if you try this again I will tell the dean that you tried to murder me in my sleep for my valuables." Oyobi Yamatake: "Gods, don't freak out. It's not like I could even fight it anyway! It's under the water!"

Then Unnessie cries out in pain and dives back below the water, leaving the SITC ferry alone. Just as a giant tentacle spears out of the water right next to the party.

Everyone scrambles to get on their seatbelts and helmets as the tentacles wrap around the ship and begin pulling it underwater. The gnome kids scream in terror and/or delight as the parents try to corral them, and the dwarf retreats into the cabin. The party stays out on the deck, and the layers of magic forcefield begin to fail as they're pulled underwater.

So, this incomprehensible warball-field-sized eldritch abomination pulls both the CAN and Cabana Jim ferries underwater, and starts swinging them around. Everyone but Saelhen passes their CON save against nausea!

Saelhen du Fishercrown: "I AM A DELICATE FLOWER AND DO NOT DESERVE THIS TREATMENT."

They both roll high on perception, though, and are able to notice...

Benedict I. (GM): After about ten minutes, as promised, the tentacles retract, and the boats begin their ascent back to the surface. The horror retreats back into the depths. Looseleaf: A very timely horror! Most children aren't so fastidious about keeping to their deadline promises. Benedict I. (GM): You break the surface, and after a minute of checks, the magic fields turn off. Water drains out the edges of the boat. Looseleaf: Is this not another example of the marvelous beauty inherent to this world? "That was... actually a lot more- a lot of fun!" "Nobody got hurt, right?" Orluthe Chokorov: "I'm all good!" Oyobi Yamatake: "Oh I have to kill one of those someday." Looseleaf: "Oyobi noooooo. It's just a little baby." Kensa Kanthalga: "That... was fun, right? That was fun? I'm not traumatized?" Saelhen du Fishercrown: "Well, I had a nice time."

And then, because two sea monsters wasn't enough, something huge and made of deep-blue crystal breaches the surface of the water right next to them, and lazily leans its upper body on the deck.

Everyone immediately switches on their soundproof helmets, and the dragon... pulls out from the water a terrified-looking sahuagin dressed in rags, holding a sign reading "Parley". The dragon performs a lip-zipping gesture, and points at the fishman.

Next time: oh my god a DRAGON in this DUNGEONS AND DRAGONS campaign

#twofaced jewel #tfj log

1 note · View note

justanotherlifeff · 4 years

Text

Levi Ackerman × reader

Genre: Angst, Hurt/comfort, Fluff, matured themes, slowburn

Warning: There's mentions and descriptions of underage rape and suicidal themes and self harm.

Levi POV

We just entered Erwin's cabin in the hospital. The horse ride was quiet and formal because we didn't want anyone to figure out that there was anything between us. I watched (Y/N) walk towards the end of the bed and stare at Erwin. I followed her and stood beside her but I was looking at her instead of Erwin. She looked emotionless but I could see the glint of sorrow in her eyes. I decided to put a hand on her shoulder to make her feel better.

Fortunately, she probably did as she looked at me and gave a weak smile. She was a strong woman but I understood why she felt weak at the moment. After all, Erwin was like her family. He was the only family she had left. After seeing Erwin unconscious for a while, we left the cabin and I took (Y/N) to a diner near the hospital. I knew that I had eaten more than half of the stew she cooked and that she didn’t have much for lunch because of that. I also remembered that she skipped breakfast due to waking up late.

The sun was going down and the street lamps were being lit as we sat at the diner and ordered some bread with bacon strips and mashed potatoes. Bacon was relatively cheaper than beef and thus, local diners offered it. (Y/N) was eating like a monster and I chuckled, "At this rate, I will confuse you with Sasha". She gave me a glare and went back into eating. After all, she didn’t eat much the whole day.

When we were done eating, (Y/N) went back to the market to buy clothes with Hanji, who met us at the diner later. I wanted to go with them so that they won't exceed the budget I gave them but I had a meeting to join in Erwin's place to debrief about what happened when Eren was kidnapped and what our next step would be. Erwin usually takes these type of decisions but now its up to myself and Hanji as we are the most capable people after Erwin.

(Y/N) POV

I looked up at the big golden haired man. He looked different from Jacob or the other men that touched me. He almost looked like my dad, only my dad had red hair and green eyes and this man was a blonde with blue eyes. He kneeled on one knee to meet my height and said "Hello, I'm Erwin Smith. Remember me from the court? I will teach you how to beat up all the bad people who may try to hurt you and not get into trouble like last time. This way, the bad people will be scared of you and no one can say that (Y/N) is a bad girl. Is that okay?", with a smile.

His eyes looked kind and trustable. He didn't seem like he was lying to me. I remembered him from the court house. He was the only one who stood up against everyone with my mom and dad to save me from going back to that horrible place. Jacob was wrong about one thing, my parents didn't abandon me. Instead, they said that Jacob was a bad man. I couldn't agree any less. I knew how much I messed up but my parents said that what has happened, has happened. They asked me to let go of the past but deep down, I knew that they were scared of me.

They would get scared if I sneaked in their room at night if I had nightmares. They always got their fear in control once they saw I didn't have anything in my hands. I stopped going to them if I had nightmares ever since. I knew they couldn't always protect me and that I couldn't mess up again. I scanned the blonde's face again to make sure if his intensions were good. When I felt like he didn't have the type of face bad people have, I agreed to train.

Months later

"Come on (Y/N)! Throw the best punch you've got at the dummy" Uncle Erwin shouted. We got close enough for me to start calling him Uncle Erwin. He was one of the very few men I knew who I was comfortable with. He was a really good man and always wanted the best for me. He could be strict during training but he would let me read books from his collection if I did good. I threw my hardest punch but the dummy just vibrated a bit. "I see, you're too light weight to give strong punches. Your height is small too and you have the perfect weight for your age and height. We need to work on your aerobics so that you can use your whole body to make hits stronger. You need to grasp tactical fighting over brute force." he said to me. He assigned a lady from the survey corps to teach me aerobics the next day.

A few years later

This was the last day of training with Uncle Erwin. I was supposed to fight him today. I fought him before but never managed to win because he was an expert in tactical fight, had the height and was stronger than I am. My only benefit here was the aerobics. Ms Mary, the woman who was assigned to teach me aerobics, did a really good job. However, I learned more by myself as I started going to the local library to learn more about aerobics from text books as this was my only lethal weapon against Uncle Erwin. We were starting with hand to hand combat.

I charged at him. I saw him position his hands to use my speed to topple me off. As he caught me, I changed direction of my leg and managed to kick the back of his head. As he was disorientated because of the kick, I took advantage of the situation to hold his hands, jumped and use the wall to change the direction of my leg and kicked his back which made him fall down. I used one of my knees to give pressure on his back and held his hands in place with one leg and two hands. "I surrender" I heard him say as I moved away.

"The first kick was a good delivery. You understood my tactics before I did anything. I’m proud of you (Y/N)." Erwin smiled before grabbing a sword and throwing it to me. It was time for a sword fight. Erwin was the best soldier at fighting with his sword in the whole military. Even humanity's strongest soldier, Levi Ackerman, lost against him multiple times before being trained by him to use swords. Even after being trained, he apparently suffered from occasional defeat from Uncle Erwin. At least that's what he told me. I positioned myself and charged at him again.

These memories came to me when I saw Uncle Erwin unconscious on the bed. I lost that fight in less than five minutes. He said he was proud of me because I held on for that long. I was good with swords but he just was the best. Watching him so defenceless made my stomach turn.

I was sitting inside the hotel room. I had changed into my nightgown which was a white cotton chemise with full sleeves. Hanji bought a lot of things for me and the budget heichou gave me exceeded but Hanji said she will pay for it because apparently I'm a good friend. She was acting like her usual insane self but I didn't find it much irritating because I heard before that's how women do shopping. I figured I should start trying new things in life. After all, dating like a normal person (as normal things can get for me) turned out to be a good idea. "I have to admit that Hanji has a good taste in clothes" I thought as I laid down on the bed and passed out in a matter of a few minutes.

Levi POV

I came back at the hotel after that useless meeting to find (Y/N) sleeping. I brought dinner for the both of us but I didn't want to wake her. I had dinner and kept hers on the dining table so that she could eat it if she wakes up later at night. After getting the coat off, I went to the sofa. I never bothered to change into anything special like night robes because I always felt like it was a waste of time and money. The sofa was small and uncomfortable but it had to do. I didn't sleep much anyway. After what seemed like an eternity, my eyes were closing when I fell off the sofa with a thud. "Stupid sofa..." I grunted and went back up on it.

A moment later, I felt a tug on my sleeves. I opened my eyes to see (Y/N) standing in front of the sofa. "Take the bed" she said. She looked uncomfortable. "It's fine. I can sleep here." I answered. "No. Take the bed. Please" she said to me with a more demanding voice. "Okay then, suit yourself" I said before going to the bed. If she wants to sleep on the sofa, I can't stop her. I heard plates clattering in the living room. She must be having her dinner. As I started feeling drowsy again, I felt a weight come down on the bed. I shot my eyes open to see (Y/N) lying down on the bed beside me. She looked uncomfortable and was shaking.

"Are you okay? Should I go back to the couch?" I asked in panic. I understood why she was uncomfortable but I didn't understand why she was doing it. To answer my question, she whispered, "Stay. I need to fight my past. I need to be as strong as you are. That's what Uncle Erwin taught me to be." She was away from me for a while, adjusting to the fact that she was in bed with me but eventually, she came closer and was hugging me. She was still shaking and I pulled her closer. I patted her head because I didn't know what to say to her. She looked at me suddenly as if to scan my face. She stared at my eyes for a long time until she decided to bury her head in my chest. "She must've found what she was looking for" I assumed. I had a fairly good amount of sleep that night.

(Y/N) POV

Before passing out in heichou's arms, I looked at his face to judge his reaction to this. I didn't want to get intimate and I had to make sure he wouldn't take it in the wrong way. I wasn't ready for anything intimate yet. I didn't see the look that was in my father or Uncle Erwin's eye but I didn't see the look that was in Jacob and those other men's eyes either. Heichou's eyes showed some very different emotions. It showed how much he cared but it wasn't the fatherly care that my father or Uncle Erwin had. This was something different but I trusted it. I didn't see any signs that he might try anything except for holding me and trying to comfort me. My body stopped shaking as I knew that this man wouldn't hurt me. I buried my head in his chest. The sound of his heart beating strongly put me to sleep.

I woke up early the next morning to find heichou snoring softly beside me. His face looked peaceful and really attractive. I blushed at the thought that this man had feelings for me. "So many women would want to be in my place..." I sighed. I went out of bed to brew some tea. A housekeeper came upstairs in a short while to clean the room and I woke heichou up as she entered the room. I brew the tea while watching heichou make the housekeeper suffer by pointing out every speck she missed. I smirked at the scene before me. It was amusing beyond measures.

"The tea is ready" I called out heichou and he left the miserable housekeeper alone. We were both sipping at our tea when the housekeeper was done and heichou ordered for pancakes as breakfast before she left. Heichou and I didn't talk about what happened last night because he probably felt awkward about it and I didn't know how to start talking about it. "So, about last night, are you feeling okay?" heichou asked confidently. If it wasn't myself, no one could've noticed the fact that he had to think long and hard to come up with this sentence. I noticed him trying to work something out while sipping his tea for a while.

"I'm fine. I think I'm not scared anymore. At least not of you because I figured out that you won't try to hurt me in that way" I answered. "That's good. Well, its the first time I slept in a bed. I usually sleep on the chair at my office." heichou answered. "Well, I've seen your chair in the old survey corps headquarters. It looks quiet comfy... But why didn't you ever sleep on a bed?" I asked the captain. "I don't sleep a lot. I just tend to do my paperworks at night and fall asleep while doing the work." he shrugged.

The pancakes came after a while and while eating I asked him, "What type of women do you prefer?". I was curious about it because clearly, heichou was drawn to my skills and personality than looks. " Well, she has to meet my cleaning standards" he answered. "Well, do I meet your cleaning standards?" I asked with a smirk. "Well, as far as I've noticed, you are the best among the other recruits in case of cleaning duties." he answered with a smirk. "What about looks? Do you have any specifications?" I asked with curiosity overflowing me.

"Well, I suppose I used to find tall women attractive? Now I think short women can be cute too." he said nervously. I tried to keep a calm face but I think my disappointment with the answer could still be shown in my face. "I prefer women who could keep up with me. If I am to be serious about a relationship, I'd not care about looks but about if that person understands me. I won't say looks aren't important but I think anyone can be beautiful. It all just depends on the personality" he corrected himself as he recognised the disappointment on my face. I answered with a simple "hmm".

"Do you want to go see Erwin?" he asked me as we were done with our breakfast. "Well, he's only going to be lying down like a weakling right?" I muttered with a sigh. He wasn't supposed to be like that. "Well, you're right. Why don't we go riding? I won't say no to some clean air" he asked. Was he taking me to a date? "Is this a date?" I asked heichou. "Well, I suppose it is" he answered with a slight almost unnoticeable blush creeping at his face. This man was trying so hard to keep a straight face that it was funny. "Well, sure. We can do that." I told him with a smile. I was smiling often recently because, I suppose, having a companion is nice. It lightens the mood. "I'll get some horses after taking a bath." he answered before getting into the bathroom.

A while later

We were on horse backs going for the interior of wall Rose. Trost district was far too crowded for a good horse ride. I wore a dress that Hanji bought for me. It was a simple one with a bodice, two petticoats, a jacket over the bodice, simple stockings and a riding boot. It's what most working women in the city wore. We bought some sandwiches from Trost and packed it up in a bag on our way.

Heichou was planning to have a picnic without ever mentioning the word "picnic" but I decided to happily oblige. As we got in the interior, and beyond the small town just outside the wall, there were huge grassy field. I looked at heichou and smirked at him for a moment till he saw my expression and then I kicked my horse to run fast. He was taken aback by my sudden action but he kicked his horse and caught up to me. I could see the satisfied smirk on his face and that brought a genuine smile on my face. Instinctively, I let my hands stretch by letting go of the horse and surprisingly, I felt like I was flying. [Author's note: It's like the ride Harry Potter had on Buckbeak. Just on a horse instead. Look it up if you don't know]

"Try this! It feels like flying!" I shouted to Levi heichou. He looked a me confused and followed exactly what I did. I saw his expression change to shock and then I saw a smile forming on his face. His eyes looked lively till he closed them to enjoy the feeling even more. The moment didn't last long for both of us as we almost fell off our horses when the horse started climbing up a mound. Heichou stopped his horse and I stopped mine.

He took out a handkerchief from the pocket of his pants, laid it on the ground and sat on it. I sat on the grass without anything. Heichou was wearing a white shirt and black pants. He looked beautiful. The sun was right above our heads and the warmth was perfect with the cold wind blowing in the meadow. After having our sandwiches in silence while enjoying the view and each other’s presence, we left for Trost again while the sun was going down. As we reached the streets of Trost, I said, "I had fun today". Heichou smirked at me and replied, " Me too"

Two weeks later:

We went on horse rides almost everyday after that except for the times when heichou had meetings. I've been helping him with paperworks every night so that he could get some sleep. Heichou had a meeting today and I went to visit Uncle Erwin at morning with some of Levi heichou's paperworks so that I could finish them off at the hospital. I sat on the sofa beside his bed the whole day finishing off paperworks until the heichou arrived at evening. He noticed my sad expression immediately.

I couldn't deny that I was devastated by Uncle Erwin's condition. I had so much to talk to him about... I had to let him know that I’m second in command now. He would've been proud of me. Heichou looked at me and said, "After he gets up, he is going to pay for making me handle his paperworks and meetings and for making you worry". I chuckled at his response as a smile threatened to come on his face.

As we were leaving the hospital, I whined to heichou, "I think I need a drink. Watching Uncle Erwin like this ruined my mood. And by drink, I meant alcohol". "I thought you hated alcohol?" heichou asked raising his eyebrow. "Well, we got closer the last time I drank. I suppose it isn't such a bad thing" I answered with a matter of fact tone. "The last time, you puked all over the floor too" heichou added. "Relax. I know my limits now." I smiled at him. "Okay, we can go to the bar at the hotel. However, you're not drinking any more than a few sips of whatever I'm ordering for us." heichou told me in a commanding tone. I nodded in answer as we went for the hotel. "We need to take a bath first. We both look like shit" he muttered as we reached the hotel.

After we were done bathing, I had put on a black dress that Hanji and I bought the other day. Heichou wore a white shirt and black pant. When I was done dressing, he took me to the bar attached with the hotel. He mentioned that this hotel keeps things discrete and therefore taking me to this bar won't raise questions among civilians about the relationship between heichou and myself. He made his way to the VIP lounge with me. I could see women dressed vulgarly walking around the bar. I felt uncomfortable seeing that as I got a fair idea about where the overnight guests that heichou mentioned came from.

We sat at a table where a waiter came to take our orders. The captain dealt with it as he mentioned some strange names of drinks that I never heard of. After he was done, he looked at me and said, "I ordered something that isn't very strong. I still want you to only take a few sips." I nodded as an answer. We were talking about the people in the bar, about how great our the horse rides were and about our memories with Uncle Erwin as the drink came along with a beef platter for dinner.

He made me eat dinner first before taking about three sips of the drink. That was enough to get me tipsy. He drank the rest of it and somehow, still remained sober enough. Before going back to the hotel, heichou excused himself to go to use the washroom. I waited for a while before realising that I had to use the washroom too. After asking a waiter, I went towards the female washroom, which was just beside the male washroom and I saw something that I wish I never saw.

Levi POV

The bathroom wasn't clean enough. I still used it somehow and was trying to get out as fast as possible. Just as I got out of the male bathroom, I saw a tall woman get out of the female bathroom. "Darn it. That's Emilia" I cursed as I tried to go past her without her noticing. I slept with her a few times before. She was a paid prostitute in this bar. Unfortunately, she noticed me and called me out. This woman tried to get me into something serious with her for a long time. Probably because of my popularity. I, however was never interested in her in that way.

Before I could react, She pulled me into a hug and said, "You're the one who ordered my service tonight right captain Levi? I bet you missed me.". I could've punched her away from me but that would be considered as an inappropriate behaviour towards women so I tried to gently pull away from her. I had to get out of this situation, however, turns out, I was already late because (Y/N) was standing behind me the whole time.

She had tears in her eyes but her expression had more anger than sadness. She looked like she wanted to rip Emilia in half. "(Y/N), I can explain.." I started but she didn't let me finish and said "I know what happened here. You don't have to explain. I saw the way you pushed her away.". She then slowly walked towards Emilia as if she would pounce at her any moment. " Didn’t you get the message when he was pulling away?" she growled at her with a low menacing voice. I looked at her with shock as she was managing to be almost as intimidating as I am.

Emilia was a stupid woman so she didn't understand the situation she was in and she said, "Men do that a lot. You just gotta keep doing what you do to for them to give in". "Well, I don't know your ways but, Levi heichou here is off limits. Stay away from him." (Y/N) told her. "Off limits? By who? You?" Emilia sneered. That woman had a death wish. "Yes. By me." (Y/N) answered with gritted teeth and it took Emilia by shock. She then smiled and said, "Why would Captain Levi like you? You aren't even his type. He likes tall women like me and you're just the opposite. You don't even have any big breasts. You are almost like a little man yourself" she chuckled.

(Y/N)'s eyes widened in shock. "Enough, Emilia. You had no right to say that to her. And yes, I am in a relationship with her so stop harassing us. I did not ask for your service. You are clearly mistaking me with someone else." I said calmly trying to break the tension because if I didn’t, (Y/N) would knock her dead. I took (Y/N)'s hand to take her out of there but she wouldn't budge. I saw a sadistic smile form on her face. I was really hoping she wouldn't start a bar fight because the last thing we need is attention on ourselves.

"So, you're his type huh? I suppose I can't change that.. Oh wait, maybe I can" she muttered as she looked up at her and suddenly punched her hard. I saw a few teeth flying out of her mouth as she fell to the floor unconscious. She was still shaking with anger when I pulled her out of the bar and to our suite. "I have to appreciate what you did but this is going to get us in a lot of trouble." I told her as we went inside the room. She was still shaking but this time, it didn't feel like anger.

"I want to have sex" she muttered. I knew she was saying these in the heat of the moment so I said, "You don't want that. You're tipsy, angry and scared. You're not going to make good decisions right now". She looked straight at my eyes and said, "I'm not tipsy anymore. I am your second in command for a reason. I can take good decisions even in moments like this". "Then why are you shaking?" I asked her pointing the obvious out. "Because I am not ready. I will never be ready. I will never be your type. I need to know if you'll take responsibility for your actions or run back to some tall whore. I need this" she yelled at me. I analysed what she just said. She wanted this because she didn't trust me. "I can't do this (Y/N). You'll regret it" I told her calmly. However, to my astonishment, she started taking her clothes off.

To be continued...

Taglist: @reality-is-often-disappointing, @kingtamakimurder

#levi aot #shingeki no kyoujin levi #levi x reader #levi attack on titan #levi x fem!reader #levi×reader #levi ackerman #levi smut

10 notes · View notes

binsofchaos · 3 years

Photo

99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice

• That thing that made you weird as a kid could you make great as an adult — if you don’t lose it.

• If you have any doubt at all about being able to carry a load in one trip, do yourself a huge favor and make two trips.

• What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals. At your funeral people will not recall what you did; they will only remember how you made them feel.

• Recipe for success: under-promise and over-deliver.

• It’s not an apology if it comes with an excuse. It is not a compliment if it comes with a request.

• Jesus, Superman, and Mother Teresa never made art. Only imperfect beings can make art because art begins in what is broken.

• If someone is trying to convince you it’s not a pyramid scheme, it’s a pyramid scheme.

• Learn how to tie a bowline knot. Practice in the dark. With one hand. For the rest of your life you’ll use this knot more times than you would ever believe.

• If something fails where you thought it would fail, that is not a failure.

• Be governed not by the tyranny of the urgent but by the elevation of the important.• Leave a gate behind you the way you first found it.

• The greatest rewards come from working on something that nobody has a name for. If you possibly can, work where there are no words for what you do.

• A balcony or porch needs to be at least 6 feet (2m) deep or it won’t be used.

• Don’t create things to make ; make money so you can create things. The reward for good work is more work.

• In all things — except love — start with the exit strategy. Prepare for the ending. Almost anything is easier to get into than out of.

• Train employees well enough they could get another job, but treat them well enough so they never want to.

• Don’t aim to have others like you; aim to have them respect you.

• The foundation of maturity: Just because it’s not your fault doesn’t mean it’s not your responsibility.

• A multitude of bad ideas is necessary for one good idea.

• Being wise means having more questions than answers.

• Compliment people behind their back. It’ll come back to you.

• Most overnight successes — in fact any significant successes — take at least 5 years. Budget your life accordingly.

• You are only as young as the last time you changed your mind.

• Assume anyone asking for your account information for any reason is guilty of scamming you, unless proven innocent. The way to prove innocence is to call them back, or login to your account using numbers or a website that you provide, not them. Don’t release any identifying information while they are contacting you via phone, message or email. You must control the channel.

• Sustained outrage makes you stupid.

• Be strict with yourself and forgiving of others. The reverse is hell for everyone.• Your best response to an insult is “You’re probably right.” Often they are.

• The worst evils in history have always been committed by those who truly believed they were combating evil. Beware of combating evil.

• If you can avoid seeking approval of others, your power is limitless.

• When a child asks an endless string of “why?” questions, the smartest reply is, “I don’t know, what do you think?”

• To be wealthy, accumulate all those things that money can’t buy.

• Be the change you wish to see.

• When brainstorming, improvising, jamming with others, you’ll go much further and deeper if you build upon each contribution with a playful “yes — and” example instead of a deflating “no — but” reply.

• Work to become, not to acquire.

• Don’t loan money to a friend unless you are ready to make it a gift.

• On the way to a grand goal, celebrate the smallest victories as if each one were the final goal. No matter where it ends you are victorious.

• Calm is contagious.

• Even a foolish person can still be right about most things. Most conventional wisdom is true.

• Always cut away from yourself.

• Show me your calendar and I will tell you your priorities. Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you where you’re going.

• When hitchhiking, look like the person you want to pick you up.

• Contemplating the weaknesses of others is easy; contemplating the weaknesses in yourself is hard, but it pays a much higher reward.

• Worth repeating: measure twice, cut once.

• Your passion in life should fit you exactly; but your purpose in life should exceed you. Work for something much larger than yourself.

• If you can’t tell what you desperately need, it’s probably sleep.• When playing Monopoly, spend all you have to buy, barter, or trade for the Orange properties. Don’t bother with Utilities.

• If you borrow something, try to return it in better shape than you received it. Clean it, sharpen it, fill it up.

• Even in the tropics it gets colder at night than you think. Pack warmly.

• To quiet a crowd or a drunk, just whisper.

• Writing down one thing you are grateful for each day is the cheapest possible therapy ever.

• When someone tells you something is wrong, they’re usually right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re usually wrong.

• If you think you saw a mouse, you did. And, if there is one, there are more.

• Money is overrated. Truly new things rarely need an abundance of money. If that was so, billionaires would have a monopoly on inventing new things, and they don’t. Instead almost all breakthroughs are made by those who lack money, because they are forced to rely on their passion, persistence and ingenuity to figure out new ways. Being poor is an advantage in innovation.

• Ignore what others may be thinking of you, because they aren’t.

• Avoid hitting the snooze button. That’s just training you to oversleep.• Always say less than necessary.

• You are given the gift of life in order to discover what your gift *in* life is. You will complete your mission when you figure out what your mission is. This is not a paradox. This is the way.

• Don’t treat people as bad as they are. Treat them as good as you are.

• It is much easier to change how you think by changing your behavior, than it is to change your behavior by changing how you think. Act out the change you seek.

• You can eat any dessert you want if you take only 3 bites.

• Each time you reach out to people, bring them a blessing; then they’ll be happy to see you when you bring them a problem.

• Bad things can happen fast, but almost all good things happen slowly.

• Don’t worry how or where you begin. As long as you keep moving, your success will be far from where you start.

• When you confront a stuck bolt or screw: righty tighty, lefty loosey.

• If you meet a jerk, overlook them. If you meet jerks everywhere everyday, look deeper into yourself.

• Dance with your hips.

• We are not bodies that temporarily have souls. We are souls that temporarily have bodies.

• You can reduce the annoyance of someone’s stupid belief by increasing your understanding of why they believe it.

• If your goal does not have a schedule, it is a dream.

• All the greatest gains in life — in wealth, relationships, or knowledge —come from the magic of compounding interest — amplifying small steady gains. All you need for abundance is to keep adding 1% more than you subtract on a regular basis.

• The greatest breakthroughs are missed because they look like hard work.

• People can’t remember more than 3 points from a speech.

• I have never met a person I admired who did not read more books than I did.

• The greatest teacher is called “doing”.

• Finite games are played to win or lose. Infinite games are played to keep the game going. Seek out infinite games because they yield infinite rewards.

• Everything is hard before it is easy. The day before something is a breakthrough, it’s a stupid idea.

• A problem that can be solved with money is not really a problem.

• When you are stuck, sleep on it. Let your subconscious work for you.

• Your work will be endless, but your time is finite. You cannot limit the work so you must limit your time. Hours are the only thing you can manage.

• To succeed, get other people to pay you; to become wealthy, help other people to succeed.

• Children totally accept — and crave — family rules. “In our family we have a rule for X” is the only excuse a parent needs for setting a family policy. In fact, “I have a rule for X” is the only excuse you need for your own personal policies.

• All guns are loaded.

• Many backward steps are made by standing still.

• This is the best time ever to make something. None of the greatest, coolest creations 20 years from now have been invented yet. You are not late.

• No rain, no rainbow.

• Every person you meet knows an amazing lot about something you know virtually nothing about. Your job is to discover what it is, and it won’t be obvious.

• You don’t marry a person, you marry a family.

• Always give credit, take blame.

• Be frugal in all things, except in your passions splurge.

• When making something, always get a few extras — extra material, extra parts, extra space, extra finishes. The extras serve as backups for mistakes, reduce stress, and fill your inventory for the future. They are the cheapest insurance.

• Something does not need to be perfect to be wonderful. Especially weddings.

• Don’t let your email inbox become your to-do list.

• The best way to untangle a knotty tangle is not to “untie” the knots, but to keep pulling the loops apart wider and wider. Just make the mess as big, loose and open as possible. As you open up the knots they will unravel themselves. Works on cords, strings, hoses, yarns, or electronic cables.

• Be a good ancestor. Do something a future generation will thank you for. A simple thing is to plant a tree.

• To combat an adversary, become their friend.

• Take one simple thing — almost anything — but take it extremely seriously, as if it was the only thing in the world, or maybe the entire world is in it — and by taking it seriously you’ll light up the sky.

• History teaches us that in 100 years from now some of the assumptions you believed will turn out to be wrong. A good question to ask yourself today is “What might I be wrong about?”

• Be nice to your children because they are going to choose your nursing home.

#99 Additional Bits of Unsolicited Advice #kevin kelly #improvised life #philosophy #words of wisdon #unsolicited advice

2 notes · View notes

greekletters · 4 years

Text

it’s been 84 years..

not really, more like a week. but here’s a new one shot! prompt and fic under the cut.

Prompt: There's Something I've Been Meaning To Say

You had everything.

You had made sure to have flowers delivered for Weiss this afternoon. At the office. Because where else would she be. Just like she had been, for every other anniversary the two of you had.

The bottle of wine sits in a bag on the passenger seat of your car as you fight your way through traffic.

You were usually responsible for dinner plans. This year, you had been rushed for time. So you figured you would just make reservations someplace nice. Instead of trying to cook. Although, you always thought it was more intimate to cook.

But if traffic had anything to say about it, the two of you may not make that reservation.

You had sent a few texts, letting Weiss know that you’d left the office, and one to let her know that traffic was worse than usual. She hadn’t answered, so you called, and got no answer. You figured it was safe to assume that she was either still at work herself, or that she was angry you were late.

Wouldn’t be the first time work had kept you apart on an anniversary. One year, Weiss had gotten snowed in when she went to Atlas for a meeting. And the plane was unable to take off. To this day, she was still mad about it. The two of you had ended up having dinner via video chat. Which, while not the best scenario, was still okay with you. As long as Weiss was there in some capacity, you would be okay.

One of your favorite anniversaries had been when you were in college, and you had just moved in together. You had absolutely no furniture, nothing. Not even a lamp. So you ended up eating pizza by candlelight on the floor of your living room. Just the two of you.

It had been perfect. Even if it was a terrible fire hazard, in hindsight.

But now it had been nearly ten years. Not quite yet. But only another two years to go. Seemed like forever and an instant, all at the same time.

You didn’t do gifts for anniversaries. It was too much back in college. Even though she had her family’s money, and your parents would’ve helped you out in any way, the two of you refused to take financial help from anyone. So gifts just never quite made it into the budget. And the older you got, the more you realized the value of company over material possessions.

So no gifts. Just dinner. Flowers were the only thing you got away with.

Probably just because Weiss loved flowers. Even though you would like to believe it was because she just couldn’t tell you no. But you knew that wasn’t the case. Weiss Schnee never let you get away with anything. It was one of the things you loved most about her.

There were many, many things. Like how she touches her hair whenever she’s nervous. Or how she can’t leave any question without an answer. And how whenever she sits next to you, she always sits to your left. So that she can hold your hand under the table. The way she always sits as close as physically possible to you on the couch, and swears it’s because she’s cold.

After over an hour of struggling to get home through horrendous traffic, you open the garage door to find a pearl white car already in its spot. Weird. Weiss rarely ever gets home before you.

Even before you can grab your work bag and wine from the seat beside you, you can hear the muffled sound of an alarm.

As soon as you open the door separating you from the inside of your home, the sound magnifies itself immensely. It is also coupled with the continuous string of curse words that seem to originate from the kitchen. There’s also a not so faint smell of burning food wafting down the hallway as you make your way to the source of the alarm.

Coming to a stop in the doorway of the kitchen, the sight before you is truly one to behold. Unable to be completely sure without gathering more details, it appears that Weiss was trying to cook… something. And was failing miserably.

There was smoke coming out of the oven. Something was boiling over on the stove. There was pasta. Cooked pasta. Just sitting on the countertop. Not in a bowl or on a plate. Just laying, right on the counter. If you had to guess, the fire alarm was going off due to the oven smoking.

Weiss was too busy frantically running back and forth between the stove, the oven and something she was compiling on the countertop to notice you had arrived.

“I know you aren’t typically one to ask.” She freezes at the sound of your voice. “But would you like some help?”

When she turns to fully face you, there are stains all down the front of her clothes. The kitchen itself, well there was basically just food everywhere. It was a mess.

“I’m making dinner.” She holds up her hands as though showcasing her work.

“I can see that.” You set down the wine and your bag and start to roll up your sleeves. “I can also smell it. And hear it.” Pointing up to the alarm above you.

“Yes. I don’t know how to stop that thing. It’s been going off for over half an hour.”

“Usually it stops when the fire and smoke dissipate.” You crack a smile, unable to hide it any longer.

“Very funny. I got your flowers. They were lovely as always. Happy anniversary.” She moves past you, placing a quick kiss to your cheek when she goes by. She grabs a dish towel and moves back to her place at the stove.

“So,” carefully approaching, peering over her shoulder, “what’s on the menu this evening, Chef Schnee?”

“Honestly, I don’t know anymore. I left early today so that I could make us dinner. I had my assistant send me a recipe with very detailed instructions. But I seem to have come up short. I must’ve missed a step.”

“Or twelve, it seems.” You twist the knobs on the stove to turn off all the burners. No need to increase the likelihood of an actual fire.

“I tried.” She places the dish towel on the counter and rests her head against the inside of her hand. “I just wanted to do something nice for you. Every year you get me flowers because I love them. And I know you love our dinners. So I thought I would try to cook for you.”

“You know how they always say ‘it’s the thought that counts?” You nudge her before taking her right hand in your own and kiss the back of it lightly.

“Yeah.”

“This is what they were referring to.”

“Very funny.” A slight smile begins in the corner of her mouth. “Guess we will just starve then.”

“Well, we’ve missed the reservation I made by about an hour. So that’s not an option anymore. But we are never out of options.”

“You can’t seriously think we can eat any of this.”

You begin to carry as many of the pots and pans and utensils over to the sink as you can. Dropping them all down before turning on the hot water.

“Yeah no, we cannot eat any of this. But you know the rules, whoever doesn’t cook does the dishes. So I’ll make you a deal. You can grab my phone and order whatever you want to eat for dinner, and I will clean up this mess.”

“You are too good to me. You know that?”

“I know right? It’s weird. Almost like I love you or something.”

“If I didn’t know better, I would think you did.”

“Oh, you wound me so.” You hold your hand over your heart. “Now go order something so we get to eat some time this evening.”

You shoo her out of the kitchen. And it takes you nearly an hour to clean up the wreckage that Weiss left behind. But it keeps you busy until the real dinner arrives.

“I figured we could do a blast from the past and have pizza.” Weiss slides the box onto the table as you finally pull out a chair and sit down.

“Wine and pizza. My favorite.”

“It is one of mine as well.”

After you finish eating, the two of you are cleaning up your plates and glasses. You can’t help but envelop her in a hug. And you don’t want to let go. It’s your favorite way to end your days.

“Happy anniversary, Weiss.”

You let her go from your grasp and press a kiss to the side of her head before you start to make your way out of the kitchen.

“Oh wait, before I go,” She looks up at you, surprised that you have more to say, “there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.”

“That you love me, and that you couldn’t imagine this world without me. Yes, I know.”

“Well that too. But I was going to say, you have a noodle in your hair.”

“A what?” Shocked, she begins running her fingers through her hair as you laugh.

“But also, I do truly love you. And if you plan on celebrating our anniversary in any way after this, outside of the kitchen, I need you to take all the pasta out of your hair.”

“You let me walk around and eat dinner with you with a fully cooked noodle stuck to my hair! How dare you!” She finally finds the now mushy strand of pasta and flings it at you.

“It was only for a few hours. No big deal.” You shrug your shoulders and wander out of the kitchen towards the bedroom.

“You’re going to pay for this!” She yells after you.

“Oh, I hope I am.”

You hope that you will have to pay for and deal with this for the rest of your life.

#rwby checkmate #rwby monochrome #rwby fanfiction #blake belladonna #weiss schnee

22 notes · View notes