#MAY SOMETHING GO WRONG WITH YOUR BOSS AND YOU GET TO GO HOME EARLY

[akkivee]

HEY HEY HEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ITS DOPPO DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[lucyrose191]

NO LONGER HIS| T.WOLFF

Pairing; Toto Wolff x Ex!wife!reader

Summary; Toto now has to face the consequences of his actions that tore your family apart.

Warnings; angst, heartbreak

F1 Master List

You loved him more than anything, supported him through everything and sacrificed way more than you should have.

You had given him your all but it hadn’t been enough.

Your family hadn’t been enough for him.

He had made you feel like a queen the entire time you were married; you couldn’t deny that there were hardships when he was travelling the world and you were left to deal with your own heavily demanding job whilst also raising your son, but even through that you had never expected the heartbreak he had caused you.

You had never in your life thought that Toto could break you the way he did but it was really just a lesson learnt that you don’t really know someone as well as you think you do.

That night when he came home you could immediately tell that something was wrong, that something had happened and so you had put Jack to bed early before going back downstairs to ask him what the problem was.

You would never forget the words he muttered that night, they still replayed in your head over and over again, tormenting you sleep and acting like a rain cloud hovering over your head as you tried to go about your day.

"I slept with Lara."

Your heart had dropped as he spoke those words, it was as though the entire world had came crashing down onto your body.

You knew Lara.

Lara, his assistant that had looked you straight in the eye each time they spoke and treated you with nothing but kindness.

She had been very kind. Kind enough to fuck your husband.

You didn’t speak, simply stared at him as you processed the situation. Strangely, you didn’t feel anger, you felt many things; sadness, disappointment, loads and loads of betrayal but no anger because you were never one to get angry. Seemingly even when the man in front of you had torn your family apart.

The remorse was clear as day on his face but it made you feel nothing, you had no forgiveness for him.

That night, Toto had crawled into your cold bed, his chest heavy when you didn’t subconsciously turn over and cuddle into him, instead you remained facing away for him, body rigid and uncomfortable.

The next morning, Toto had woken to an empty bed and an empty house. You had risen at some point during the night and quietly packed your bags and left, taking Jack with you.

On his nightstand, you had left him a note.

The divorce papers are on the dining table, I don’t want anything so all you need to do is sign. I’ll be in touch about co-parenting schedules.

I hope she was worth breaking our family apart

It had taken four lines for him to realise the severity of what he had done.

It has taken four words for you.

Travelling around the world with your ex husband wasn’t ideal but since your job was flexible, only needing to make the occasional trip back to England to go into the office, it made sense to do it.

It was painful in the beginning, more than painful but it allowed Toto to remain with Jack and you weren’t the type of person to stop your son seeing his father just because of the pain he caused you.

Toto may have committed the ultimate sense of betrayal but that didn’t change the fact that he was the best father in the world to your son.

So here you were, a year later walking into the Mercedes garage, now the ex wife of Toto Wolff; no longer did the team call you Mrs Boss or Mrs Mercedes out of respect to you, it really wasn’t hard for them to understand what had happened since shortly after Toto fired his assistant the news of your divorce became public.

Sometimes members of the team still couldn’t look at him without wanting to punch him in the face or question what the fuck was wrong with his brain to cause him to lose the kindest woman in the world.

It had been shocking to them when they heard the news of the two of you parting ways, after seeing you interact as a couple over the years, they witnessed nothing but unconditional love and happiness but it just shows that you never really know what’s happening behind closed doors.

You were greeted by a series of smiles and hellos, the team loved you to pieces as you always treated them with the utmost respect and politeness, even offering to help with what you had the skill set for.

You glanced around the garage, easily setting your eyes on Toto’s 6ft 5 frame, immediately walking in his direction, Jack resting on your hip with his head on your shoulder.

It still hurt to see him after all of the time spent apart and getting over him, you were aware that you would always love him but even still the heartbreak would possibly never leave and you knew it was time for you to move on from what you thought was a great love, it was time for you to start over and put yourself first.

Bono noticed you walking over and quickly excused himself from his boss to give you privacy.

Toto turned and saw you walking over to him, still as beautiful as ever, even more so with your handsome little boy by your side, his bag on your shoulder.

"Hey," he greeted, reaching his arms out for Jack who leaned forward into him.

Everytime Toto looked at you he was slapped in the face with guilt, knowing he deserved to feel more than that for the pain he caused you.

"Hi, are you positive you’re able to have him here? I know how busy you can get around here." You asked for the hundredth time in the past couple of days.

"Don’t worry, everyone loves him here and I’m not too busy today so we’ll be fine. What are you doing anyways?" You barely asked him to have Jack during her scheduled hours, you always had him when you were meant to have him, unlike Toto who was always rearranging times.

"I’m going on a date and didn’t want to leave him with just anyone, I was going to cancel if you couldn’t so I’m glad you can, I really appreciate it." You smiled, a tad excited for the date, not noticing the way Toto had stiffened because of your words.

I’m going on a date.

I’m going on a date.

I’m going on a date.

"I should really get going, the last thing I want is to be late. I’ll pick him back up straight after, thanks again." He zoned back as he heard your goodbye but was still riddled with shock to say anything and by the time he had registered everything you had already started walking away so all he could do was simply stare until you were out of sight.

He should’ve expected it really, he hadn’t, but he should have.

It had been a year now and no man would turn down the opportunity to be in the company of a woman so rare.

"Who’s shit in your coffee?" Toto jumped, his grip momentarily tightened on Jack as he turned around, coming face to face with Lewis.

"What?" Toto mumbled, way too distracted to listen to his driver’s question.

Lewis tilted his head at his boss. "What’s wrong with you? Was that Y/N I seen earlier?"

Toto nodded.

"Right…" Lewis eyed him weirdly. "Well I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone pull a face like yours after a conversation with her."

"She’s going on a date," there was a bite to his words that wasn’t heard very often but the idea of you with another man made him sick.

"Wow! Good for her!" Toto glared at him. "What? You aren’t jealous, are you?" Lewis laughed.

"I’m not jealous." Toto muttered like a petulant child.

Lewis shook his head in disbelief. "You have no right to be jealous, Toto. Look, you’re a good man and a great friend but what you did to her was unforgivable. She carried your child for nine months, then had to adjust to be a parent by herself in those first five months because you’re always working and you payed her back by sleeping with your assistant. You lost one hell of a woman, she’s one of a kind, you really cannot be surprised that she’s been asked out on a date, any man would want a woman like her."

Lewis was right, Toto knew he was. You were a one of a kind woman and he had no right to be jealous or annoyed by the fact that you were moving on. Especially when it was his fault that you were now divorced.

It was his fault you were seeing another person, he should be happy that you were no longer consumed by the hurt of his actions but all he could think about was the fact that he had officially lost you now and there was most definitely no way back.

You were no longer his to love because loving him had brought you a pain like no other.

[nolita-fairytale]

give you my wild, give you a child | carmen 'carmy' berzatto x pregnant fem!reader oneshot

summary: your second trimester while pregnant with baby bear is way sexier than you expected.

warnings: smut, breeding kink, language, 18+ only, barely proofread.

word count: 3.7k

a/n: hi it's me with the second trimester sexapalooza smut i promised @starbritestarlite and @carmensberzattos. and with this new season, let me know if you want to be added to my carmy taglist!! i wrote this as a companion piece to the 'make my heart heart surrender' universe, specifically for the 'carmy as your baby daddy' headcanon/social media au series. anyways, i've been thoroughly enjoying season 2 and am sitting into the fact that i've created my own universe inside of their universe. god we love fanfic. anyways... this is nsfw so 18+ only.

Today 2:21 pm

Carmy “my baby daddy” Berzatto: On the way home for lunch. 

You: Hurry, baby. 

Carmy “my baby daddy” Berzatto: You good, sweet girl?

Your reply is almost instant, and Carmy wonders what could possibly come next as he sees the three dots appear below your message, indicating that you’re still typing. 

It’s a link, his eyes widening as soon as it appears in his iMessage history with you. 

You: Hottest Sex Positions For Pregnant Women | Cosmopolitan 

Before he can notice that it feels ten degrees hotter in the room, that his face has turned cherry red, that his pants are beginning to feel unbearably tighter, he’s interrupted by the sound of a familiar voice. 

“You good, chef?” Marcus asks, as he passes by, noticing the red tones that have risen to Carmy’s cheeks. 

“Wh-, oh yeah!” Carmy answers, almost too quickly, as if he’s been caught doing something he shouldn’t be doing. 

Marcus shoots him a strange look, examining his boss’ face. 

“Just uh… gotta go home for lunch.”

*

3:03 pm

“What took you so long?” you practically growl as soon as Carmy gets through the door. 

He hasn’t even had a chance to close it properly before you’re on him like a moth to a flame. Dressed in the cutest pair of white shortalls, you’ve been working from home all day – or rather, mindlessly clicking through your e-mail while waiting for Carmy to come home all day, your mind preoccupied with the fact that Carmy hasn’t been home to give you exactly what you want. 

What you need, may be the better description. 

It’s as if the spirit of Eros himself has taken you over, unable to focus properly as your rapidly changing body needs is practically screaming out for one thing and one thing only: 

To be properly and thoroughly fucked by the man that got you here in the first place. 

“I-,” he begins, attempting to explain that he was running a little behind and got caught up giving feedback to one of his new line cooks before your mouth is on his in an all-consuming kiss. 

Now that he’s here, you regret even asking him, careless for the why when it feels this good to have him pressed up against your body. Your lips are desperate, hungry, intense, as you tangle yourself into him. It’s as if you can finally relax, like you can finally take a breath, now that your husband is finally here. 

He lets out a little groan of surprise against your mouth, as if you’ve charged towards him like the sexual equivalent of a tasmanian devil. 

And in his defense, you have.

“Baby,” he whispers against your lips. “Should we-, can we even-, shouldn’t you be working?”

He’s not wrong. 

You should be working. 

But the unbelievable and insatiable need for sex – for sex with Carmy – is the only thing driving you these days, holding you hostage to its unbelievable and all-encompassing power. You’re like a woman possessed as you reluctantly pull away from him to put his mind at ease. Your lust-filled eyes look him over, his curls already wild from a long day at the restaurant, as you shake your head ‘no.’

“I finished all my work for the day and signed off early. Perks of being a start-up sellout,” your well-kissed lips inform him. 

Carmy’s head spins in response to your answer.

Maybe it’s the prospect of the sex. 

Maybe it’s the way it’s the way your mouth feels against him as you kiss down his jawline and his neck.

“Okay, but I gotta be back at the restaurant at 4:15,” he smiles in agreement, more than happy to oblige.

“That’s plenty of time,” you coo, nibbling on his earlobe.

This time it’s Carmy who initiates, using both of his hands to cradle your face before his mouth is over yours again. The kiss starts slowly this time as he inhales deeply, taking you in. You shift closer, pressing your slightly-rounder-these-days belly against his body once more. He moans, his hands immediately traveling down your body, to your hips as he breathes you in again, wanting nothing more than to stay like this with you forever. His touch ignites something in you and you allow yourself to surrender, lost in the feel of his hands against you. His hands are everywhere – your hips, traveling up your belly, dancing across your fuller-than-normal breasts – and finally the drawn-out unrest of your mind can finally find peace.

He’s starting to get used to this. 

And he’ll admit that he really, really likes it. 

Carmy changes positions with you so that he can press you up against the front door as you continue your passionate makeout. 

Your first trimester had been hell – mornings spent on the bathroom floor together while you hurled the contents of your stomach into the toilet, days where you barely had the energy to get out of bed, nights where you were too hot to sleep that all you could do was lay on the cold tile of the bathroom floor, frustrated tears pouring out of the corners of your eyes – your body undergoing the hardest reset of your life. 

So when the fog and tumultuousness of your first trimester subsided, it was a more than welcomed change – and in so many ways. You’ve traded mornings of flat ginger ale, saltines, and sympathetic back rubs, with mornings spent tugging on Carmy’s perfect curls while you cried out his name.

“You smell like sandwiches,” you giggle in between kisses. 

“Ah shit. I should shower,” he sighs, reluctantly. 

He knows your sense of smell has been heightened lately, and he can’t imagine that smelling like a spicy Italian sandwich would be much of a turn on for you. He begins to pull away, but there’s now way in hell you’re letting him go as you grab his hands in yours. 

"No, Carmy, I can't wait,” you whine, the sound of your voice the most needy, beautiful thing Carmy’s ever heard in his life. 

“You could join me,” he offers with a raise of an eyebrow, presenting a solution you can absolutely get behind. 

“Uh huh. Yes please,” you nod eagerly, a girlishness to the way you answer him. 

Please.

Your usage of the word’s got him harder than a rock and he loves this side of you. Your sex life had been great before the pregnancy, but there’s something different about it now. Something about how needy you’ve been – the only thing that can possibly quell the fire inside of you being him – has him unraveling at the seams. 

How could he possibly say no when he’s more than eager to give you exactly (and then some, if it’s up to him) what you want? 

Your fingers are still tangled in his, licking your lips as you add, “My baby daddy thinks of everything.”

Carmy shakes his head, tugging at your hands as he leads you towards the bathroom, mentioning that he still can’t get over the fact that you’ve chosen to call him that in front of everyone you’ve ever known. You remind him that it’s cute, and though he’s not sure he gets it, he lets you do it anyway because it makes you happy.

As you both reach the bathroom, you patiently wait as Carmy turns on the shower, running a hand through the stream of water to check the temperature. One minute he’s focused on the cool water coming down from the showerhead, and then next he’s caging you in between his body and the bathroom sink. 

“You miss me this much, pretty girl?” he murmurs dreamily, his hand trailing up your inner thigh. 

You nod, taking note of how perfectly his top lip fits in between yours. 

“Yes, baby. Thanks for coming home for lunch,” you manage to get out, in between desperate kisses. 

“No need to thank me,” he smirks, a newly-found confidence in his voice. 

His hands are tugging at the hem of your shorts, as if he could slide the overalls down your body this way, a small pang of frustration welling deep in his stomach as he realizes that’s not going to happen. He kisses you with a fervor that makes you dizzy, as Carmy fumbles with the straps of your overalls. Trying his best to unclasp one side, he tosses the strap over your back, a clang sounding out within the four walls of the small room as the metal of the claps hits the porcelain of the sink. 

Carmy lets out a groan as he tugs at the second strap, causing you to giggle. 

“These stupid things,” he huffs, a look of embarrassment running through his brilliant blues. 

“Here, baby,” you say, slipping one of your arms out of the tangled strap. 

He groans as soon as his eyes meet yours again, more than happy to help you out of these damn things.

He pulls the overalls down with a rigor that stops right as the overalls drop to your waist, revealing your white tank top – one that you’re not wearing a bra underneath. 

“Sweetheart,” he groans, his hands ghosting over where your nipples stand erect against the fullness of your breasts. 

“You been like this all day?” he mutters against your skin, leaning down to drag his mouth over your still-clothed breasts. 

“Mmmmhm. Needed you,” you moan, your eyes closing as you lose yourself in the pleasure he’s giving you. 

He’s so incredibly hard right now it’s not even funny. 

“Yeah?”

By the time you open your eyes again, Carmy’s on his knees, so gentle, so tender with the way he slides the rest of the piece of clothing over the bump that’s been growing inside of your belly.

“Yeah,” you confirm. 

You shimmy out of your overalls as Carmy jumps back to his feet, removing your tank so that the only thing you have left is the pair of panties you’re still wearing. Before he can kiss you again, you’re tugging off his shirt, a sacrifice, an offering to the bathroom floor. 

“Should be warm enough, yeah?” you ask, gesturing towards the shower. 

“Yeah,” he agrees with a nod, removing his shorts. 

You feel all the blood in your body rush south as you see how hard he is already, swallowing hard. Carmy helps you into the shower, like the gentlemen he is, and you hope that’s where the gentleness ends. 

Before you can say anything else, he’s pulling you towards him, wrapping one of your legs around his waist as the warm water begins to wash over the both of you. 

“I’m so sorry, pretty girl,” he hums as his nimble fingers slip between your legs. He groans as soon as he feels how goddamn wet you are. 

“Fuck, honey.”

“See? I told you I needed you, Carm,” you pant, letting out a high keening moan as he draws lazy circles around your clit. You’re already bucking your hips into his hand and he’s barely started touching you. 

"You're so sensitive. So responsive, sweet girl,” he teases you, as he drags his fingers through your folds. You are so unbelievably wet that he’s not sure how he managed to get so damn lucky. 

"I just want you to fuck me, Carm. I’ve needed it all day. I need you to make me feel good," you beg, completely lost in the way his fingers feel as he slides two into you already. 

It’s like his touch sets fireworks off in your brain, setting your nerves on fire as you cry out. 

"Yeah?” he taunts you, an almost amused tone in his voice as he sets the slowest rhythm. “Think that’s how we got here in the first place, pretty girl.”

"I know,” you whimper, moving your hips against his fingers for any kind of friction. For something more. For something faster. For something deeper. But at this rate, with how much he seems to enjoy teasing you, with how horny you are, you’ll take anything. 

“But nothing feels as good as you, Carm.”

Your words go straight to his dick and he’s not sure he’ll ever be able to leave you alone ever again – might as well quit his day job in exchange for this all-day never-ending second trimester sexapalooza you both seem to be caught inside of. 

He’s practically choking on his words as he manages to ask you:

"What’s that, baby? Did you touch yourself while I was gone?" 

You nod pathetically, moaning as he buries his thick fingers deep inside of you. He pauses, feeling the way your walls pulse around him as he stays inside of you, wanting to memorize this moment forever. 

In any other circumstance, he’d make you fall apart on his fingers, and then his tongue before you even went there, but with your recent admission, he’s decided that he has to have you now. In one swift motion, Carmy pulls his fingers from you, releasing his grip on your leg, eliciting a whine at the loss of him. 

Before you can even protest, he’s turning you around in the shower, and you can feel his hard-on pressing against your backside as he pulls you close.

“Sweetheart, you can’t just say things like this,” he taunts you, playfully, as he drags his cock through your folds a few times. 

“Carm,” you whimper, bracing your hands against the shower wall. “Don’t tease.”

“What’s that?” he coos, pressing his thick tip against your clit. 

“I don’t think I can take it. Please, baby,” you whine, so desperate for him to be inside of you. You push your ass back against him, offering your body to him for the taking. 

“Fuck!” he grunts out, because he just can’t resist you like this. 

You let out a sharp cry, as Carmy pushes himself inside of you, finally giving the thing you’ve wanted all day long. 

Carmy sets a slow pace at first, burying himself all the way to the hilt, so that you can feel all of him – every single ridge, every single vein of his cock with each thrust – and with how sensitive, how turned on you are, you’re already seeing stars. His hands hold onto your waist, controlling the speed of your lovemaking, as you press your hands against the shower wall, bracing yourself. You want him everywhere, all around you, consuming you with every fiber of his being, as if all you can do is hold yourself up and let him know how good he’s making you feel. 

Carmy’s lips are on your neck, leaving love bites across your shoulders, murmuring sweet nothings about how well you take him and how good you feel. And then he’s speeding up the pace of each thrust, pulling you back towards him. His hands are all over you: pressing you back against his chest, squeezing your breasts, pinching your nipples as he takes care of you. 

His wife. 

The mother of his child. 

The love of his life. 

You turn your head just enough so that you can kiss him as Carmy’s hand reaches up to cup your face, making sure that he can kiss you properly too. This time you’re standing up taller, grinding against him, wanting to touch your husband more than you need to hold yourself up against the wall. Your hand slips behind you, grabbing at whatever parts of him that you can, bracing yourself against him, as if you could get Carmy even closer to you, while the other is guiding his across your body, your fingers tangled together. 

He’s perfect. 

This is perfect. 

It’s what you’ve been aching for all damn day. 

“I need you, Carm,” you moan into his mouth, as the consistent feel of him thrusting in and out of you has you delirious. 

"You have all of me, baby,” he reassures you in the tenderest tone of voice he can muster, his other hand resting just underneath your breasts as he fucks you. 

"More." 

"More?" 

He’s not sure what ‘more’ could mean at this moment, but the dirty talk is so hot that he’s more than willing to find out. He slows down his pace, dragging his cock in and out of you and the most delicious pace. 

"Yes,” you pant, pulling away from the searing kiss, your head hanging low. Your hands return to the shower wall as you arch your back, bending at the hips so that you can take him deeper as you add:

“I want to make you a daddy." 

His hips stutter for a second, caught off guard by what you’ve just said. 

"You-you are, sweetheart,” he chuckles, slowing his pace down for a moment as he watches himself disappear inside of you over and over again. 

“Carmy,” you groan, in response to his change pace. 

You’re grinding your ass against him, begging him to speed up, but his hands return to your hips, stopping you. 

The sight alone, and what you’ve just said, he thinks to himself, might kill him. 

You whine as Carmy brings his movements to a halt, trying to get him to fuck you again. But he can’t let what you’ve just said go unrecognized as he stills your hips. 

"What was that? You like walking around like this, hmm? Everyone knowing what I've done to you?" he asks you, holding your hips so that you can’t move.

You’ll give him anything to get what you want. 

Even if it means saying it again. 

“Yes, baby,” you sigh, and Carmy lets out another moan as you squeeze around him. 

“I want to make you a daddy. Just fuck me. Please.”

“Oh fuck,” Carmy mutters, knowing he’s not going to last much longer if you keep that up. 

He pulls out of you, and before you can protest, he’s slamming back into you in a way that makes you sob. He sets a brilliant pace this time, and you're arching your back, pressing your hands against the wall even harder – and all you can do, all you want to do, is take it. Hearing you chant his name over and over takes over him. He’s a man determined, with a single-minded focus on giving you exactly what you want. 

He’s reduced you to a moaning, mumbling mess, as you chase both of your orgasms. 

“Touch me, Carmy,” escapes your lips, and he’s more than happy to oblige, his fingers immediately coming to your clit. 

He’s so goddamn talented, using his cock and his hands to make you fall apart. 

You feel a familiar coil in your belly, and with the way you’re squeezing around him, Carmy can tell your close. 

“Come on, sweet girl. Go ahead and let go for me,” his voice sturdy, confident, strong. 

And seconds later, your eyes slam shut as you’re crying out his name, falling over the edge as your husband pulls the most delicious orgasm from your body. 

“That’s it, sweetheart. That’s it.”

He’s right behind you – literally and figuratively – as Carmy’s thrusts become more erratic, finally letting go after exercising an impossible level of self control. He spills inside of you with a grunt, holding you against him as he pauses. 

Breathless, you throw your head back, grateful that his shoulder is there to catch you. With the slightest turn of your head, you’re able to kiss him, placing the gentlest kiss against the corner of his mouth before Carmy’s hand comes up to lift your chin towards him again, so that he can kiss you properly. 

“Holy shit, Bear,” you sigh, a sense of relief washing over you. 

“Yeah,” he pants, trying to catch his breath with you. 

You both take a beat, a moment to let your brains catch up with your bodies, just holding onto each other – savoring the way it feels to be in each others’ arms. 

“I should uh… I should probably still shower,” Carmy starts, beginning to come back down to earth. 

You turn back towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck, entertaining him with slow, lazy kisses in between words. 

“But why don’t you dry off and get into bed?” Carmy suggests, using a quiet yet direct tone, almost as if it’s an order. 

It’s as if he knows that, though the last orgasm he’d just given you had been world-rocking, there’s no way in hell you’ll be satiated today with just one. 

“Really?” you ask, hopefully with a giggle. 

“Yeah,” he nods. 

“Heard, chef,” you tease him, eliciting a playful eye roll from him. 

He releases you, giving you the time and space to wring out your hair and step out of the shower. 

And as you do what he says, he rewards you for it, spending the rest of the afternoon with his face buried between your legs until he’s ready to go again. 

*

“And we’ve got a special tonight. Lemon chicken piccata. We’re talkin’ major Berzatto family recipe, ok? So let’s make sure we’re talkin’ up, alright?” Richie announces, following it up with a reminder to all of his servers of the main talking point during tonight’s pre-shift meeting. 

Carmy thinks he’s been stealthy as he attempts to sneak back into the restaurant, considering he’s thirty minutes late. He feels lucky that since everyone is preoccupied with the pre-shift meeting that they couldn’t possibly notice him slipping in this late. He hears the meeting end, making a mental note that tonight’s mise has been done right, praying that tonight’s service goes smoothly. 

He has, afterall, been using up a lot of extra energy lately…. 

“Hey, Jeffrey. We were wondering when you’d be in tonight,” Tina comments, as she returns to the kitchen, ready to lead service tonight. 

“Oh uh, yeah. Sorry, got caught up with some stuff,” he mumbles, avoiding her gaze as he doesn’t have an excuse or a cover story. 

“Mmmhhhmmmm,” she sounds, passing him by, because it’s no secret what Carmen Berzatto’s been up to lately. 

“Yo, cousin!” Carmy calls out, in search of Richie. 

Carmy makes his way into the dining room, and as soon as Richie sees him, knowing what time it is – knowing that Carmy’s running late – he smirks. A blush runs over Carmy’s cheeks as Richie shakes his head with a laugh. 

It’s as if Richie can see right through him, and suddenly, Carmy’s feeling incredibly exposed.

Richie wags a finger at his cousin, his laugh beginning to build. 

“Ahhhh man, cousin,” he sighs, an amused look on his face as he continues. “No one warned ya, huh?”

“I-,” Carmy starts, searching for any and all excuses he could make up on the spot, to no avail. 

“Men can’t resist a pregnant woman. Sheesh. Enjoy it while you can, jagoff.”

[navybrat817]

Preliminary

Pairing: Sugar Daddy!Andy Barber x Female Reader Summary: You give Andy a call, but may have more questions than answers. Word Count: Over 1.3k Warnings: No major warnings. Reader is broke (is that a warning?), Andy Barber (he's a warning, okay?) A/N: Follow up to Keep the Change and building this world! Beta read by the lovely @whisperlullaby (thank you!), but any and all mistakes are my own. Moodboard by yours truly, divider by the amazing @firefly-graphics, and warning banner by the wonderful @sgt-seabass. Please follow @navybrat817-sideblog for new fics and notifications. Comments, reblogs, feedback are welcome!

You weren’t sure how you made it through the rest of your shift when all you wanted to do was call Andy. It was late by the time you got home and refused to disturb him at that time. You couldn’t sleep though. Not when your mind raced with the possibilities of what the potential job could be.

Maybe he needs a personal assistant. Could I handle someone that handsome being my boss?

Researching Andy on the internet didn’t calm your thoughts. From what you gathered, he had practiced law before he invested in a friend’s real estate company. When that took off, he invested in additional real estate and a range of various businesses and companies. He did well for himself, but you refused to look at his speculated net worth.

It’s not like he’s going to hand any of his cash directly over to me.

Andy was also single. At least, he wasn't married anymore. A quiet divorce before he made his money. You could only imagine how difficult it had to be for him to date. How many people wanted his money and nothing more?

A man as handsome as him, you couldn't picture him sleeping alone. Was it wrong that your gaze lingered on a few photos of him in his suits? Was his beard as soft as it looked?

You decided to call him the next morning. Normally you would have had your first cup of coffee consumed by then, but you didn’t want to be jittery on the call. Your fingers drummed nervously on the counter anyway as you waited for him to answer. Maybe it was too early. Or maybe he was like you and needed caffeine before he conversed with others.

“This is Andy,” the deep voice rang through the phone once he picked up.

“Hi,” your voice cracked. Cringing, you pulled the phone away to clear your throat. “Sorry about that.”

“Hi, honey. Don’t be sorry. I was expecting your call,” his voice softened, a bashful smile forming on your face when he recognized your voice.

A smile that quickly shifted to a yawn.

This call is off to a wonderful start.

“You didn't just wake up, did you?” he asked. "Did you sleep okay?"

“I'm fine. I just haven’t had my caffeine yet,” you tried to joke.

“I know that feeling,” he chuckled. “I hope it wasn't rude of me to ask. I just want to make sure you’re getting enough rest.”

“So you overtip when someone stiffs me, you want to make sure I’m sleeping enough, and you have a possible job for me?” you asked.

You didn’t want to sound suspicious since he was nothing but kind to you. The question is why he’s so nice. You weren’t naive enough to ignore that he was somewhat of a powerful man. Probably liked being in control. Money could get people like him far. You, on the other hand, didn’t have any. Power, money, anything.

You didn’t want to be a charity case.

“You don’t trust my intentions,” he mused.

You bit the inside of your cheek as you thought of how to respond. Saying the wrong thing could cost you whatever he had to offer. On the other hand, transparency might be the best option.

“I want to trust your intentions. It’s just that most people today don’t display kindness without expecting something in return,” you said carefully, keeping the device at your ear as you grabbed a coffee mug out of the cupboard. “I don’t want to lump you in that category and I hope it doesn’t sound like I am. I think part of me is waiting for the other shoe to drop because my luck hasn’t been so great. I guess I’m being cautiously optimistic.”

Andy hummed on the other end of the line, but didn’t say anything.

You closed your eyes, an apology on the tip of your tongue as your stomach sank. Why did you have to say what you did? It didn't matter. Beneath the nerves, you were proud of yourself for answering truthfully.

Though at this point, you waited for Andy to tell you to get rid of his card and not call again.

Would it be a blessing if he stopped coming into the diner so you could save face, or a curse that you pissed off a great customer and might never see him again?

"I appreciate your honesty."

You opened your eyes and pulled the phone away for a second to look at it. Surely you misheard him. "You do?"

"Yes, I do. You wouldn't believe how many people tell me what they think I want to hear instead of the truth. Maybe they do it to spare my feelings or avoid confrontation, but it's a hindrance more than anything."

"So you prefer honesty?" you asked. "Even if it's something you don't want to hear?"

"One thing you'll learn about me is that I value honesty," he said.

You wondered how many other things you'd learn.

"An ex-lawyer who likes to hear the truth."

"You did your research on me," he said.

"I may have a little," you admitted, your cheeks hot when he chuckled again.

I can't think a laugh sounds sexy if I work for him.

"Research is a good thing. I would expect anyone to do so before switching jobs."

"Speaking of that," you began, eager to shift the conversation to work and not about looking him up on the internet. "You still haven't told me what this job is all about. I'm not even sure which business it's for."

"Do you have your resume ready?" he asked.

Why isn't he answering my question?

"I do," you answered, glancing at your printer where your recent copy was sitting. "Though I can't exactly tailor it to the specific job if I don't know what it is, Mr. Barber."

"Call me Andy," he said. It was more a command than a suggestion, but somehow made you feel at ease. "I'd prefer to discuss the details in person."

You took a chance by calling, now you could take it a step further and meet him.

"And where would you like to discuss the details, Andy?"

"Are you free for lunch today? We can meet at The Courthouse at 12pm."

The Courthouse was one of the nicest restaurants in the city. The tip Andy left you the night before could maybe cover the price of an entree. Thankfully you still had a couple of decent outfits from when you had an office job.

"I'm free," you said. Luckily you had the day off. "I didn't know they were open for lunch."

"They usually open at 4pm, but they make exceptions."

What's it like to have that kind of sway over anyone?

"I don't want to go to the trouble of doing that."

"I already did," he said confidently. "I told you I was expecting your call."

"What if I had to work today?" you asked.

"I would have had to find a way to convince you to call in. And if I have my way, you'll be quitting there very soon."

"That's if I accept the job," you said, smiling as you leaned your hip against the counter. "But I'll be happy to discuss the details over lunch."

"I can send a car to pick you up," he offered.

"I'll take a cab, but thank you."

A car was too much for a job discussion and you didn't want his driver to see where you lived.

"I'll cover the cost of the cab and lunch," he said, leaving you no room to protest. "I look forward to seeing you."

You tapped a fingertip against your mug when he hung up. His businesses looked legitimate, so you didn't believe he would ask you to do something illegal. He also didn't seem like the type to waste his time and play games.

You had nothing to lose.

Here's to being cautiously optimistic.

Are we excited to meet Andy for lunch? Love and thanks for reading! 💙

Masterlist ⚓ Andy Barber Masterlist ⚓ Ko-Fi

[darkficsyouneveraskedfor]

If You Can't Dance 7

Warnings: dubcon, noncon, other possible triggers. Proceed with caution.

Note: this is what you get when you encourage me. Please leave any and all feedback! 😍

Part of The Club AU

You spend the rest of the day in a void. Your migraine keeps you hidden beneath a pillow, curtains drawn, unmoving and uncomfortable. When you finally manage to sleep, the dull pain remains, throbbing in your forehead until you wake in a sweat. 

It’s still early, the sun has yet to rise. You push the blankets off of you and put your head on top of the pillow. You don’t move further than that, wary of the shadow of the migraine hovering in your skull. You sink into a daze until your alarm goes off and you sit up stiffly, dreading a new day ahead of you. 

Now that you’re required in office, you have to get up even earlier. You pick out a purple turtleneck and a long pleated skirt with black and white stripes. You throw a necklace of plastic beads around the cowl of the shirt and tuck your feet into a pair of velvet loafers.  

You ready your lunch and a thermos of tea to take with you. You’re running out of time. As your phone vibes, you don’t have time to check it. You’re still trying to shake off the fog from your migraine as you shamble out the door and to your car. 

You drive slow, overly cautious, and tense as a rod. You wish you could just stay home and hide like you always do. You’re sure you can find something else from home but for now, you need to stick with this. Besides, you’ve worked your way up the pay ladder. Starting over isn’t exactly ideal. 

As you pull into the lot, you reach to grab your phone from the little slot between the cupholders. The screen flashes to remind you of your unchecked notifications. It’s a Teams message. Shoot. Jonathan. Your de facto boss. 

You tap the message. 

‘Good morning. I hope you are feeling better. Should you wish to work from home, you may connect to the remote server. Please let me know if I can offer any support’. 

The message is unusually concerned. Typically, you use an automated portal to put in for absences or vacation and if you need to be offline, you email Jensen and rarely get more than a thumbs up in return. It’s too late now anyway. 

You grab your bag and keep your phone clutched tight. You get out and lock the doors, treading heavily over the tarmac. You look up at the shining glass panes that line that outer walls. Everything here is so bright and open. You hate it. 

As you get to the front door, another figure approaches from the other corner of the building. G doesn’t say a word as he opens the door and holds it for you. You thank him and he follows you inside. You note that he hasn’t traded his gray hoodie for a blazer or dress shirt. He doesn’t seem the type to care or the heed warnings. 

He walks at your back as you try to recall your way through the hallways. You stop and he hits your shoulders, putting his hand to your back to still himself. He apologise and pulls away. 

“Sorry, I forgot where I’m going,” you murmur. 

“Mm,” he grumbles, “wish I could help. I hate this place.” 

You want to agree with the sentiment but you wouldn’t want to be overheard. You give him a strained look and shrug. He frowns. 

“Question,” he says sharply. 

“Yes?” You’re suddenly nervous. 

“Do you have other tea suggestions? I like the mint but I want something new.” 

“Oh,” you think and scrunch up your lips, “anything in the same brand is good, I find. They have a toasted coconut flavour but it’s hard to find.” 

“Toasted coconut,” he repeats. “I’ll look out for it.” He looks down the hall and sighs, “see ya ‘round.” 

He stalks off before you can respond. He’s strange like that. Abrupt, awkward, and slightly scary. You peer around and orient yourself according to the breakroom. You think you remember. 

You go to the exact wrong corner of the building and have to turn back before you find the correct door. Your name is the only assurance that you’re not entirely lost. It still says ‘senior developer’. As long as the misplaced title doesn’t come with the extra work, it can’t matter that much. 

“Ah, there you are,” your name draws you back before you can escape into the office. You turn to face Jonathan as he struts down the hall, “you didn’t respond to my message. I assume you are feeling better.” 

“Um, yes, I only just saw it,” you say, “sorry, but appreciate it.” 

“Again, I must apologise about the flowers, if I’d known...” he lifts his hand and shows the paper gift bag hooked around his fingers, “I’ve found a suitable welcome gift this time.” 

You look him in the face then at the bag, “oh, you don’t need to--” 

“It’s what we do here. All our new members received their own welcome. I do feel terrible that yours backfired so egregiously.” 

“No, it’s okay,” you take the bag with some hesitation. “Thanks. Um, I should get settled, I’m probably already behind.” 

“As I said, if you should require any support, you only need message,” he insists, “and please, take care of yourself. Do not put the work above your health.” 

“Mm, okay.” 

“You’ve something in case, for headaches, I mean?” He asks. 

“Uh, tylenol,” you shrug, “really, I’m feeling alright.” 

“Very well, I made certain the cleaners did a thorough scour to be sure no pollen was left behind,” he states proudly. “Oh, and do let me know if there’s anything else? If you need anything for your office? Or perhaps would like to relocate. I know the sun can come in at the wrong angle after noon.” 

“Really, it’s fine,” you say, biting down on your exasperation. You just want to work. You want to be left alone. “Thank you.” 

“A pleasure,” he grins. 

You nod and slowly back away. You turn and enter your office but don’t close the door. That feels like too much. You cross to the desk and put your bag beside the chair and the gift on top. You’ll deal with that once you get signed in. Or maybe when you get caught up. You really don’t care. 

[majorbaby]

Aside from being a Potter hater, I really do think it's a shame we lost Henry because McLean Stevenson was a comedic heavyweight not just as an actor but as a writer, giving us The Trial of Henry Blake and The Army-Navy Game. He was unafraid to commit whole-heartedly to the bit, and while some of Henry's heroism in Trial was probably McLean's positive bias, I think it was nice that we got to see Henry's competence as a doctor shine through despite his incompetence as a CO. On early MASH, this was the sign of a heroic character, so it falls neatly in line with what the narrative was trying to tell us anyway.

"Your boss is not your friend" but Henry didn't want to be anyone's boss and he doesn't appear to be suffering any delusions that he's any good at the job. He wants to hang out with the cool kids, Hawkeye and Trapper and do the things they do: get drunk, fuck around, practice medicine and dream of home. I can't think of a show that's replicated the Henry-Trapper-Hawkeye dynamic.

Any time Henry tries to use his rank, he ends up flat on his ass. Women reject him for it, Hawkeye and Trapper pull fast ones on him, and he never lives up to Burns and Houlihan's expectations anyway.

At one point Henry muses aloud to Hawkeye that he might be getting to do more interesting work as a doctor in the war than he was doing back home. I think this is one time I can actually stand to hear the other side of it. What Henry is expressing here is a disillusionment with comforts of upper-middle-to-upper-class suburban life, a very How did I get here??? moment for him if I may say so. And a pretty normal thing for him to feel.

I like how Larry Gelbart imagined Trapper might've responded to a similar hypothetical:

REPORTER: Do you feel this experience has in any way helped you as a doctor?

TRAPPER JOHN: Let me ask you a question: just how many people you figure’re going to be carried into my office someday with a chunk of shrapnel sticking out of their heads? I don’t know where you live, pal, but where I come from very few folks ever step on a landmine in the middle of trying to cross the street.

Instead of Henry coming to this himself, we have Hawkeye to shoot him down immediately, and good on him for it, but those kinds of initial reflections on the state of one's life are the first step to doing something about one's dissatisfaction. For a character like Henry, who isn't often moved to do anything that pushes him outside of his comfort zone, I like this as some depth for him. And I would've liked to have seen him stay on and be proved wrong, you know, without him dying on the way to his beautiful house, beautiful wife etc.

I also think McLean would've handled the shift from the more comedic to dramatic moments masterfully. We already see pieces of it in Sometimes You Hear the Bullet and Abyssinia Henry.

And most importantly we lost something when the incompetent draftee CO was replaced by the on-my-third-war-ex-cavalry-man-and-damn-proud-of-it guy. There's an assumed 'respect' everyone, even Hawkeye, is expected to afford Potter if not for his rank, then his age. This is the opposite of what was done with Henry, where Hawkeye and Trapper openly flouted the notion that they should respect Henry because of his rank.

Like even if Trapper had stayed on and continued in his unquestioning support of Hawkeye's campaigns, I don't think that would've flown with Potter unless the show was willing to make him the butt of the joke the way that Henry sometimes was and indeed there's not much evidence of it ever happening post season 4. There is that one episode where he gets high and the gang ferry him back and forth to get him to requisition supplies - which was great, and very Henry-like but I can't think of many other examples.

Because MASH was progressive for it's time, it's very interesting to see where it draws the line. It didn't do great with race, it was so-so with women all the way through... but these things seem pretty obvious and to some even forgivable on account of "it's the product of its time". I think another limit for the show was the treatment of the highest-ranking officer on the base in the later years. Henry vs. Potter - Henry who the show had no problem trampling over and Potter who it very politely tip-toed past, resulting in some comparatively lukewarm and dated statements on authority. When it comes to Potter "Your boss is not your friend" is something Hawkeye, BJ, Klinger and Radar all need to hear.

[eclecticqueennerd]

Why Me?

Soldier Boy x reader

*language, mentions of smex, self-doubt/ insecure reader. fluff, comfort*

Anyone can see that Ben is a very attractive man and could easily bag any woman he wants. He’s told you about his past with hot celebrities and other supes, how good of a fuck they were. Which made you question, why did he choose you? You try to not dwell on it, however, that question still lingers in the back of your mind most days. It isn’t until one day Ben comes home early from a mission and finds you on the couch crying.

“What’s wrong doll?” Ben sits down next to you. You turn to him and ask why he’s with you.

“There are other attractive women in the world why the hell would you choose someone like me? I’m nothing like them.” Ben seems taken back by your question. After a few moments to silence, Ben speaks,

“You think I give two shits about those broads? They’re just looking for a quick fuck but once they realize how fucked up I am they’ll get the hell outta dodge. You stayed with me after finding out all the shit I’ve done. You patched me up after fights and you brought me back to earth when I was about to go nuclear. My father, teachers, bosses, they all treated me like shit, said I wouldn’t amount to nothin. Thought I had a sure thing with the Countess, but she was only using me. You were the only one who believed that I could do something good and that I was worth somethin. You made me feel like I matter and not some pawn in somebody’s fucked up game. You saved me from myself. You showed me all this through your kindness, understanding, and patience. You say you’re nothin like those other women? You’re right, you’re not. You’re better. You may not look like them, but fucking hell are you one dynamite gal, inside and out. So, I don’t wanna hear you talk like that again, you hear me?”

You nod your head in agreement, tears streaming down your face at Ben’s declaration. Ben lets out a sigh and reaches to pull you into his lap.

“I know I’m not an emotional guy, it’s just how I was raised. I just want you to know that I love you and will always love you. You mean the world to me y/n, and I’m sorry I didn’t tell you this sooner.” Ben whispers into the shell of your ear. You look at him and he returns your gaze. His eyes, filled with so much love and vulnerability, only reserved for you. “Now come on, let me show you how much I love you.” Ben then lifts you up and takes you into the bedroom.

*credit for the prompt goes to @randalourita who has a great list of prompts for drabbles. Thank you!

[thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch]

Moonlight -x- Sunlight

ch.3 -- Demons' 101 (cw// banner has flashing txt!)

r.kyojuro/f.reader

genre: modern!au, teacher!kyojuro by day/demonslayer by night, izakayaworker!reader, slowburn?, romance, angst

warning(s): slight implications of anxiety, rengoku info-dumps about demons, Taco being Taco

w.count: 6.3k

synopsis: if someone told you that one night you’d find yourself walking down the street at three in the morning before you were running for your life away from a disjointed monster hot on your heels- you’d probably check for fever or intoxication. but, when that actually happens, all you think of is running and praying for a miracle as you stare death in the face. turns out, that miracle comes in the form of reassuring smiles and a red sword beneath a bridge and by the riverside.

-x-x-x-

a/n: hope y'all are ready bc shes back!! read the a/n pt.2 at the end for further instructions heheh (if there's still grammatical errors soz i edited this in chunks and couldn't be bothered to reread everything one more time)

-x-x-x-

You were slouched against your locker in the back room where your aprons and extra clothes are kept by the end of your shift. The izakaya had finally closed, and while it was closed earlier than usual since patrons seemed to have filed out pretty quick tonight, the way your throbbing ankle felt didn't make the early closing any better. You had willed away most of the pain, carrying on as if nothing was wrong, and kept yourself busy with micro-breaks here and there, but now that it was all said and done, well, you’ve felt better. 

You quickly took off your apron and tossed it in your locker and grabbed your purse, slinging it over your shoulder. Snatching your crutch, you placed it under your shoulder and sighed when you lifted your foot and relieved it of your weight. 

“Christ,” you mutter to yourself before you’re hobbling your way out of the locker room, through the main lobby all the way to the entrance. You shouted to whoever may be around still, be it lingering coworkers or your boss, before you slid open the door and left. With a small show of your balance, you pushed the door shut with your crutch as you stood on your one good leg before bringing the crutch back down where it needed to be. 

You sidle to the right away from the entrance, just out of reach for the hanging lamps to cast a shadow over you when you take a shaky breath. You found yourself paranoid in the early morning hours- but, you couldn’t blame yourself. The last time you were out this late after a shift, you almost died. You took a deep breath, then another… then another. You try calming yourself down, convincing yourself that what happened was a once-in-a-lifetime freak accident and there was no way you’d be unlucky enough to get caught up in something like that again. 

“It’s fine,” you tell yourself. “I’m fine,” you repeat. The palm you used to grab the handle of your crutch felt sweaty, so you took it off for a moment and furiously wiped it on your shirt before returning it.  “You’re going to be fine,” you hiss to yourself, looking down at your feet, one uninjured and the other replaced with a crutch foot. The same feet that still wouldn’t move despite your pep talk. 

Stuck in your mental battle on when you’re finally going to get your limbs to start taking you home, you completely miss the person walking up behind you until they call out to you. 

“Is your ankle in much pain?” 

You squawk, your crutch jumping out away from your leg and making your teeter before correcting yourself and using your other arm to reach across your body and grab onto the medical addition to your body in further stability. Whipping your head up, you once again come face to face with Rengoku. Still smiling, even if there’s a hint of concern in his wide eyes since he didn’t exactly mean to spook you. You also took notice of his arms that were outstretched and ready to catch you if you began careening down to the pavement.

You correct your posture and face him, feeling embarrassed for a number of reasons. 

“I’m slated to never have a normal greeting with you, am I?” You speak more to yourself than him since every time you’ve encountered him so far- not including when he was a paying customer not so long ago- has been riddled with embarrassment or fear. You’ve come face to face with him three times now, and you conducted yourself better in front of Kocho who you had met once and stripped down to your bones in front of. “What are you still doing out at this hour?” 

“I am doing a simple round of patrols for this sector of the city,” he tells you and your eyes finally drift down to see the white sheath on his hip supported by the harness he wore on his chest and over his shoulders- the same items he had when you first saw him. Seeing them again made a lump form in your throat that you tried to choke down. You felt a bit stupid for the question because what else would he be doing out this late when you’ve seen first hand what could happen. 

“Yeah, sorry,” you shake your head and scoff at yourself, “I could’ve guessed.” 

“No need to apologize!” That didn’t exactly reassure you. Rengoku was good at reading people, he spent a lot of time doing so among his years, so your unsteady and somewhat jittery presence did not fly over his head. “Are you heading home?” 

“Planning on it, yeah.” 

“It’s much earlier than last time, that is good!” 

“It was a slow night so we closed down earlier.” 

“Would you like an escort home?” 

“An escort?” Your words were short as you confirm what he’s just asked you. Part of you hates that he basically just told you that he can see your paranoia and anxiousness as clear as day. You glance away and gnaw at your lip, conflicted. You most certainly didn’t want to walk home alone, the nightmarish memories haunting you like a... well like a demon. But you also didn’t want to appear fragile because you couldn’t walk home like you had a thousand times before. 

You take a deep, shaky breath as Rengoku steps closer to you, his hair lighting up further as he gets closer to the hanging lanterns behind you. The colors and shades nearing the light resembling a warm campfire to keep woodland terrors at bay. A safe beacon.

“It is not wrong to be afraid.” 

“I'm not!” You instinctively argue back, but immediately bite your own tongue realizing that raising your voice at his kindness was most certainly rude. However, even a two year old could tell that your words were clearly a lie. You sigh again, apologizing for your outburst. “Yes, I am,” you admit more to yourself than to him.

Rengoku just smiles down at your averted eyes and moves to stand beside you before gently slipping your purse off your shoulder and slotting it up his arm to rest on his own. He outstretched his opposite arm as he caught your eyes again and gently signaled you to start moving at your own pace. 

“Allow me to walk you home then.” With him already having taken your purse and gestured his intent to not be swayed on his decision, you smirk teasing up at him and chuckle. 

“Arguing won’t get me anywhere, will it?” 

Not that you really wanted it to.

“It will not!” Well, at least he was honest. 

The walk back was relatively quiet, save for the nighttime crickets that chirped along with the toads hidden away in corners. The sounds of the cicadas had lessened from this afternoon to a dull buzz instead of mind-numbing shrills. You kept taking glances at Rengoku, your purse hanging off the shoulder closest to you as you hobbled along on your crutches. You could barely see the tip of his sword's hilt from around him without being too obvious you were even looking to begin with. He must’ve kept it as horizontal to his leg as possible to avoid catching whatever riff-raff attention could be mangling around. 

“Does something interest you?” Apparently, you weren’t as sneaky as you thought. You shoot your gaze forwards, nearly stumbling on your set of extra rubber feet and clearing your throat, the summer air suddenly way too dry for the humid season. 

“I just, well, I didn’t think you’d notice?” You tell him honestly. He chuckles at your words and you feel a little better since he doesn’t sound freaked out by your clearly awkward behavior. “I guess I was a little curious about your, what do you call it, second job? The whole,” you lift one of your crutches, stopping your movements momentarily as you whip it around and grunt (rather embarrassingly) before putting it back down, “sword job thing?” 

He laughs before letting out a small “Ah!” in recognition of your curiosity. Maybe it was because of the early hours, but part of you feared an apartment window flicking on in response to his boisterous laughter. Still, you easily admitting to yourself that it was a lovely sound. 

“Curiosity may not be the wisest decision when it is about what goes on after the sun sets. Sometimes, it’s best that people believe demon’s are nothing but fictional stories made up simply to spook children.” 

“Oh,” you were a little disappointed. You had already been attacked and injured, it’s not like you’d call him a liar if he told you. “I see.” You still wanted to know more, even if it was terrifying. With your crestfallen expression and new goal to just get home without creating an uncomfortable atmosphere, you missed the small look the flame-haired man gave you. 

“Regardless of my skills, being out so late at night can be dangerous for anyone,” he starts, eyes casting forwards once more as he continues to lead you home. “There are many kinds of demons under the moon, and some can be more ferocious than others. If one catches sight of myself or another of my…” he pauses to find a decent word. “... coworkers,” he decides on, “chances are split that they flee from us, or do the opposite and begin a confrontation if they’re feeling particularly omnipotent.” 

That small piece of information made you feel a little better about his choice to stay quiet about it all, his choice to disclose that even he wasn’t always 100% safe was bone chilling. Still, it did not soothe your curiousity completely. You decided to shake it off, you were acting like a child- it wasn’t your business and this man was nothing more than a stranger you’ve run into a couple times. The fact he literally saved your life had nothing to do with it- you had to let it go. 

It was rude to pry. 

“Perhaps when we get to your home I can answer your questions there.” You stop in your limping steps as you look at him. He was smiling at you, something warm and comforting and you seemed to light up. “That is if I would be allowed inside a young woman’s house at this hour.” 

“Of course!” Perhaps you were too loud because you immediately covered your mouth with one hand, nearly dropping one of your crutches. You look around, seeing no light flick on and no windows opening to yell for you to keep it down. You lower your hand, a small smile on your face as you clear your throat. “Of course,” you repeat, much more quietly this time. “As long as you don’t mind a temporarily handicapped host and one obnxiously sassy cat.” 

He laughs loudly again. “I happen to be fond of cats and your company as well!” 

“We’ve met twice, and one of those times I was covered in grass stains, dirt, and sweat.”

“I am a very good judge of character!” You roll your eyes, but somehow, you believe him. 

-x-x-x-

“Um, just take your shoes off at the door please.” You tell Rengoku as you sit yourself on the small stool you’ve set up by the front door so you can take your shoes off without much fuss. He easily complies, as he steps into your house only to turn and patiently wait for you to finish up. As you drop your shoes, he offers his arm as you gratefully take it and hoist yourself up with the use of the cane you keep at your door in exchange for your crutches. 

In the comfort of your own home that you could maneuver through blindfolded, you greatly preferred the short, ease of use of a cane. You kept it a secret from Kocho though, who knows if she’d scold you for the unprompted buy since she was probably the most professional and strict doctor you’ve been the patient of. 

Luckily, since Rengoku had been in your home this much before, he let you use his arm with your free hand all the way until you got into the living room. Much like how he carried you in before. You slip your palm off his forearm and step around him, much less clunky without your crutches. 

“Have a seat. I don’t have much to offer, but I do have cold bottled water I can promise hasn't been opened,” you joke as he laughs. 

“I appreciate the hospitality, however you do not need to-” 

“Ah-tata,” you cut him off, “just because my foot isn’t at peak recovery doesn’t mean I can’t get you a small bottle of water. The kitchen isn’t far anyways.” Rengoku relented. Just as it was impossible to argue with him, it seemed to go both ways. He smiled. 

He liked that. 

As you disappeared into the kitchen, a small meow and curious tap against his shin caught his attention as he stood by the couch. He smiled down at the black cat as he slid his sword out of the harness he wore and set it gently against the couch so as to not startle your pet. He knelt, offering his hand out as Taco’s little nose bumped against it, sniffing before rubbing his head against the warm knuckles of Rengoku. 

“Aren’t you cute,” he mumbles to himself. 

“Only around guests,” you add, coming back into the living room to see Rengoku loving on your cat. “He’s cute now, but he’s a big pain in my butt when he wants to be.” You offer him a cold bottle of some random brand of water you bought on sale.

“Aren’t many animals that way?” He graciously takes the plastic bottle from you, the chill of it is a welcome change in his warm palm. 

“I think it’s because I spoil him too much. He was a very unprompted rescue, so I went a little overboard raising him.” 

“There is nothing wrong with raising an animal with so much care! He seems very happy!” 

You plop yourself on the couch and Taco was quick to abandon Rengoku’s side in favor of yourself as he jumped on the cushions and stepped onto your lap where he folded his legs and lay himself down. You scratch at his back, making him stretch and roll before he’s trying to play and swipe at your hand and fingers. 

The small little tag that read ‘TACO’ in engraved letters caught Rengoku’s eye and he chuckled at the name. Indeed, that was a very happy and loved cat, he had no doubt. 

“You’re welcome to sit on the couch,” you lightly joke at his still kneeling form on your livingroom floor. He does as you suggest, thanking you before sitting a cushion away from you as to not push personal boundaries or opposingly seem too standoff-ish. It was quiet for a bit as you fiddle with your own waterbottle in your hand. “I hope I’m not causing any trouble,” you announce bashfully. 

“Pardon?” 

“Well,” you breathe, untwisting, then retwisting, just to untwist your bottle cap again to try and focus on something other than your sudden anxiety. “I just sort of dragged you here. I dunno, I feel like I’m pulling you away from your job? I know how important it is.” 

“Worry not,” he quells. “There are many others like myself who also patrol the streets when the sun sets! I am not the only one, so my company here is no trouble at all!” 

“Oh, right, you mentioned other coworkers. Are there a lot of you?” 

“There is! We’re an organization of many people, but since we’re unrecognized by the government and since people do not believe in demon’s unless they survive an encounter with one, we are very scarcely known.” You nod at him. You feel a little sad at the fact he, and others like him, were risking their safety and no one even knew. “In fact, there are even a few of my students who work along side me as well!” 

“Students?” You whip your full attention to him at mention of children. “You’re a teacher?” 

“I am!” 

“And you all just, what? Let children into your little demon-slaying job?” 

“Well, not exactly, no.” Rengoku worried he wold break into a sweat at your accusatory tone of getting children involved in clearly dangerous work. “Although it is dangerous, younger slayers are put through rigirous training and must past a very specific qualification test before they can even take to the field like I do. We of higher ranking always make sure to watch out for our young underlings. They are our future after all!” 

The idea of kids fighting those… things still didn’t sit quite right with you, but it wasn’t like you could do anything about it. And if Rengoku says that they’re well taken care of, and skillful above that, then surely they weren’t in too much danger. You wanted to trust his words so you shut your eyes and willed yourself to do so.

“Plus, we are not so reckless as to just assign anything to anyone. No demon is slain by a slayer who is weaker than the task at hand. We’re very meticulous about such things.” 

“I understand.” You open your eyes and glance over at your cane for a moment then speak up again. “So, what are demons exactly?” 

“Demons are former humans who have either been killed and revived by demon blood, or made a deal with another demon for power.” 

“Former humans?” Your mind flashed back to the spindly, disfigured, skeletal demon that attacked you. “So, that thing that attacked me? That was once a person?” Rengoku nodded and a chill ran violently down your spine. 

“At some point, yes it was. However, based on its appearance, it must’ve been a demon for a very long time to change that much.” That didn’t exactly make you feel better about it. “You must understand that demons are dangerous creatures regardless of what they used to be. They will not hesitate to attack and slaughter humans. We do not kill demons for sport, it is necessary to protect future victims.” 

“I believe you and I understand- I do, it’s just… a lot to process, I guess?” You blow a harsh breath out of your lips. “So, how do you kill them? I mean with your sword I guess, but is there any other way?” 

Rengoku nodded, grabbing his sword’s scabbard and hilt before drawing it. The red blade you had gotten a glimpse of the night of the attack shone brilliantly in your well-lit living room. It was truly a beautiful blade to look at and the sword guard in the shape of flames was very fitting to its wielder. 

“To kill a demon it must be done with a very specific sword with a blade made out of a specific mineral that’s been bathed in sunlight for many years. This is a nichirin sword, a sword that has a color changing blade.” 

“So, a regular sword wouldn’t work?” 

“Correct!” He offers his sword over for you to hold and inspect it. You gently take it from him after you move Taco out of the way so that he wouldn’t start playing with it like it was a toy. “You can hack a demon into pieces with a regular blade, but it will always regenerate. A demon must be decapitated with a nichirin sword or it will continue to wreck havoc.” You hand the sword back to him and he easily sheaths it with practiced ease. “However, there are ways to defend yourself from demons, if you’d like to hear?” 

You nod, intrigued by the entirely new concept of the world you had been so oblivious to for so many years of your life. You wanted to know more, to understand more. It was captivating and if he was willing to tell, you were willing to listen. 

“There are special guns forged in our line of work that have crafted bullets that cause great harm to demons! Among other ways to deter them, demons are unable to stand wisteria.” 

“Wistera? Like the flower?” 

“Yes! Clusters of Wisteria trees are always a safe place to run to in the event one is close by. Even wisteria-scented charms and poisons are toxic and painful to their kind, they actively avoid anything to do with it. In fact, Kocho is a demon slayer, the same as I!” 

“Really?!” Rengoku laughs loudly at your shock, but after a moment it did make sense. She was specifically referred by him and knew everything about what you experienced and believed it easily. If you had stopped to think about it, it was pretty easy to assume she was involved somehow, but a fighter? That was a bit of a shock considering her stature.

“Though she does not have the strength to cut a demon’s head off its shoulders, she’s developed a technique that incorporates poisons in her duty that are lethal upon injection.”

“Wow,” you awe. She was more impressive by the day. 

“Of course, it helps that she’s also a very skilled doctor!” 

“That’s true,” you lightly giggle. There’s silence in your living room once more as you glance over at the blond haired man. “So,” you start and gain his attention, “you’re a teacher?” You already knew the answer, he answered you earlier but it was the best ice breaker you could think of.  

“That is correct.” 

“I feel like I could’ve guessed if you didn’t already tell me. You explain things well. Your students must like you.” 

“I cannot say how well I am at teaching in particular, but my student’s grades never drop to failing marks! You must keep the children interested in the lesson if you wish for them to grow. I do my best to achieve nothing less!” 

“What do you teach?” 

“History! I find it very fascinating- the past that is.” You nod. “Not to mention, I have been teaching my younger brother many things since we were young and I always enjoyed doing so. So, the profession grew on me. I very quickly knew what I wanted to do with my life during the time the sun is in the sky.” 

“A younger brother? How old is he?” 

“He’s currently in high school. Despite our age gap, we get along very well!” 

“That’s great that you both get along. I’m an only child myself, but I do have a younger cousin. He feels more like a kid brother though, so I can sort of understand. The school’s he’s attending right now has dorm buildings for it’s students, so we don’t visit much,” you reminisce as you comfortably cross your arms. 

“I’m sure you miss him.” 

“Sometimes,” you chuckle. “Then there are times I’m glad he’s not actually my brother, as horrible as that sounds.” 

“Regardless, I’m sure he feels the same!” 

Thankfully, before the conversation took a turn for the mushy, Taco started to meow at you. He had jumped onto the floor earlier after being taken off your lap and roamed before coming back to paw at your leg. You leaned down and scratched under his chin as you felt him purr. 

“I know, you need to be fed,” you tell him as you start coddling him. You excuse yourself as Rengoku got off the couch to help you to your feet before you were off to the kitchen again, Taco trotting eagerly behind you. 

In the silence of your living room alone again, Kyojuro Rengoku looked around the room at all the decorations. Some frames on the wall here, some dry plants there, a couple cat toys scattered around the floor that was no doubt Taco’s doing, and a grey cat tower was close to the main window in the room where the dark curtains were drawn for the night. Despite all that he was visually taking in, he was stuck in his thoughts.  

Kyojuro was always a people person, he enjoyed chatting and making connections, it was another reason he loved teaching so much.  Something about tonight felt different to him though. Like this one experience with this one person- you- was something out of the ordinary. LIke it was something special. 

When you came back from feeding Taco, you carried random conversation topics before an ill-timed alarm went off on his phone that had been stuffed in his pocket this whole time. The sudden sound startled you and Rengoku was quick to apologize before realizing how late it was. If he didn’t get home and get at least some sleep, tomorrow’s lesson would surely be a lackadaisical one. 

You saw him out, despite how much he insisted you not be on your feet, and before you knew it he was outside your door and then gone. 

“He’s fast,” you muttered to the air he used to occupy before shutting your door and double-checking to make sure you did in fact lock it. You looked at both sides of your front door devoid of any decorations. “Maybe I should get some tables or something to put some flowers on so the front entrance isn’t so boring.” 

With that last thought, you called for Taco because you needed to get to bed yourself. Sleep found you easily as opposed to the last few nights, and with it brought nothing but calm darkness. You were grateful for a night of sleep without nightmares.

-x-x-x-

Another week had passed and a small part of you was disappointed that you hadn’t heard or seen heads or tails of Rengoku again. He hadn’t been by the izakaya with his friend or anyone else for that matter, and you haven’t had the pleasure of running into him in the streets. Of course, the moment the feeling of disappointment nagged at you, you immediately tried to squash it down.

Despite the fact that he was A) someone who saved your life and B) a man you allowed into your home a grand total of two times didn’t erase the fact that he was still practically a stranger. A stranger who spilled his guts about his profession and gave a brief history lesson about demons in your living room, but a stranger nonetheless. 

Your foot had improved drastically since a week ago and you could now walk without dragging a crutch or cane around with you. The pain would still sometimes ebb at the joint, but you’d always try and find a place for a pitstop to rest and take any on-hand pain medication before it got too bad. 

Your current pitstop? Your local library. 

You didn’t really have any explanation why you decided to come here on your spare time, furthermore why you were nosing around in the historical section. Granted, the books you picked up weren’t full of information you didn’t already know- but you still flipped through the pages standing in the empty isle regardless completely engrossed in the material.

After your skip around history, you made sure to replace all the books from where you got them (or the best you could remember) and moved to make your way out into the open space between sections. The library attendant's desk with a single employee sitting behind it with their nose in a book to pass by the shift was within sight of the wide open space. 

The day was slowly starting to wane and you sat yourself at an unoccupied table close to a window that showed the streets that were starting the transformation of throngs of people to freckles of bodies. You push your chin into your palm as you watch out the window mindlessly. You didn’t have a shift tonight that demanded your attendance and you felt restless. It was strange, normally you’d have no issues just spending a lazy day inside on the time you didn’t have plans or work. 

Now? Now you felt like any free moment you spent inside was wasted. You felt bad about it since you were leaving Taco alone, but you promised that you’d take your beloved cat out on more walks if this new behavior keeps up. It wasn’t like he didn’t have a harness and leash for walking, it was purely because finding the right time to take him out never worked in your favor. 

You blew air out your lips as you lay your head down on the table. Maybe it was the fact that you experienced a near-death experience and were recovering from it that made you not want to take time for granted. You cringed at your cliche thinking. 

You didn’t sit at the table long, grabbing your purse and making sure you didn’t leave anything behind before you left the library entirely- it was getting close to closing hours anyways. The last thing you needed was a staff member chasing you out. 

The sky bathed the concrete jungle that was the thinning streets a warm orange as you felt the simmering of heat stick uncomfortably to your skin and under yout clothes. The walk back home felt shorter than it was and when Taco didn’t come running to the sound of the opening and closing door, you felt confusion morph your face. Was he sleeping? Normally, he would be rushing to the door before you managed to slam it shut and lock it while he cried at his once again failure to bolt out the door. 

His escape artistry isn’t as honed as other alley cats and he had a hard time accepting that if it wasn’t obvious by the fits he throws. 

Toeing your shoes off, you stepped inside and as you got closer to your living room you could hear rattling. Rattling? You speed up your steps thinking your nosey cat had gotten into or broken something and was foolishly playing with the pieces, but when you come into the living room with the waning sunlight forcing your to turn on the house lights, you gasp at what you see. 

It was Taco, your beloved cat, yes, but he hadn’t knocked anything down or broken anything that your eye could see. Instead, he was sitting on his cat tower that sat by the large window of your living room you would normally decorate for holidays pawing at the glass as a large black bird sat opposite of him behind the pane. 

The bird, you couldn’t tell what kind from your shock and slight panic-blinded eyes, was sat perfectly still on the outside of the window, knocking its beak lightly against the glass every time Taco mewled or pawed. Its head turned and cocked when it noticed the light flick on and you swore you saw its dark eyes zero in on you before its wings spread out wide spooking Taco off of his tower and onto the floor where he made a less than gracious landing. 

Its wings flapped and then folded back in before tapping two more times on the window. You swallowed the lump in your throat before you slowly treaded up to the window. The bird's beak and eyes followed you, lifting higher to keep its sight on your face the closer you got before you were standing next to Taco’s tower. The black cat himself had seemingly forgotten about the mysterious bird and instead took purchase weaving between your ankles and rubbing his fur over you, soaking in your scent of outside. 

“Are you stuck,” you lightly ask the bird as if he could answer you. Maybe he had flown into your window by mistake- that happens sometimes in tall buildings right? Birds not telling the difference between open space and glass? But, when you looked at his taloned feet there was nothing constriction him and his body was free of anything binding him too, the evidence was in the way his wings would still occasional expand then fold again. It was like he was inviting you to do something. 

Unfortunately for you, you didn’t speak bird. 

You jumped when its beak opened and a sharp, quick nose came out. A muffled caw! catching you by surprise as you nearly tripped over Taco’s still-weaving body. Then, the bird’s beak came to tap at the metal frame where the lock was. 

Did it want inside? Could you really do that? Let some random bird inside your house after it’s been sitting outside your livingroom window for god knows how long just entertaining your cat while you were gone? 

All probability flew out the proverbial window when you, without thinking, unlatched the window and slid it open allowing the big blackbird to fly right in. You screamed, not in terror, but in more shock as it flew inside and the flap of its wings was louder than you were expecting. 

The bird flew a lap around your living room before coming around to you and landing on Taco’s tower beside your shoulder. It was staring at you at eye level now and you could finally identify the bird as a crow. You knew that crows were intelligent birds, but this was clearly a trained bird, not just some random bird who decided to make a nest in your home for no good reason. 

You flinched for the umptheeth time when the crow’s left wing expanded and exposed half of it’s body. You were fully expecting it to folded up again, but it didn’t. Then you noticed it, a small crimson thread tied around it’s leg with a small dark capsule attached to it. 

You relaxed your shoulders and chuckled. 

“What are you, a messenger pigeon?” You wondered if crows could get offended by the way they can remember faces and whatnot. “That was a joke,” you followed yourself just in case. “Is that for me?” You ask hesitantly and when the crow did not move or make any indication of disagreement, you slowly and as carefully as possible unscrewed the bottom of the capsule and a small rolled-up piece of paper slid out of it. The crow softly folded its wing back up once you screwed the bottom piece back on. 

The paper was thin and rolled expertly like a scroll. You walked over to the coffee table and knelt to unfold it to read. 

My apologies for sending word to you this way! It must have been quite the shock to find a crow hanging around your home, however, I have neglected to ask of any other means of connection to you in our few encounters! If appropriate, how many I contact you from here on out? -K.Rengoku

You re-read the well-written note- scroll? -about three times before you broke down into a fit of laughter, kicking your still-healing foot into the table leg and wincing as the dull throb brought you back to your mind. 

You looked over your shoulder at the crow still perched on the tower and used your hand to pat an empty space on your table. 

“Come down here,” you invite and the crow listened well. Fluttering down easily and its talons clacking satisfyingly on your wooden table. You curled your finger, letting the back of your knuckles run over the bird's feathers careful not to accidentally pluck one. “So, you’re Rengoku’s bir-er-crow?” You corrected yourself midword thinking that just calling the crow ‘bird’ would be a bit demeaning. A soft caw was your answer. 

You looked around your coffee table but found nothing close enough to resemble a piece of paper small enough like his to send on the crows return back. Flipping the tiny-scroll over you decided to just use the back side and the nearest pen you had laying around. 

I knew you were into history, but a messenger crow? Now that’s old school. Does he have a name? 

Beside your short messaged reply, you scribbled your number down in the best handwriting you could muster so there was no way the numbers could be confused with another number. You then tried rolling it back up as expecrtly as it was put in- and failed- before you ended up folding the paper into small enough rectangles it fit inside the capsule just as well as when it was rolled up. You then pet the crow one more time before you walked back toyour window and called for it to sit on the sill. 

“You fly back home safely, okay?” The sun had declared the last lights of dusk before the sky covered your section of the world in a dark blanket and the crow’s dark eyes shimmered in earnest before it cawed once more and took off like a friendly goodbye! to its newfound friend. 

You were practically giddy the rest of the night, skipping around and giving Taco an extra treat or two in your good mood. You couldn’t remember the last time you had this feeling in your stomach, butterflies. As you lay in bed you wonder why it was you were feeling those butterflies that took you back to your high school days with flings and crushes and unrealistic romantic daydreams that would make even the most Christmas-y Hallmark movie plot to shame. 

Followed by the intriguing thought of it was all because of the still semi-stranger man named Rengoku who taught history and also happened to kill demons, the feeling of being on some pranked tv show with hidden cameras felt less and less likely the more time passed. But still- it all sounded so unreal when you thought about it all. 

The next morning, after not remembering when you even fell asleep, you checked your phone to see you had an unread text from an unknown number. You smiled at it, not even bothering to shut off the alarm clock that had woken you up as you quickly saved the number into your contacts. 

(Rengoku) His name is Kaname!

-x-x-x-

a/n pt2) DID YOU MISS ME? I know after such a long wait it's a pretty slow boring chapter, but I think the soft pacing was a good ease back into things.

I dunno where the inspo to finish this chapter even came from, but you won't see me complaining. Lemme know what you guys thought, I know it's been a while since I updated much of anything really, so the feedback is critical!!! and ofc im always up for any ideas y'all could have for the future since we all know how touch and go I am with inspiration lol

if you dont tell me anything, you're fired

[miloscat]

[Review] Sonic Forces (PS4)

An underrated Sonic game...?

After Sonic Generations in 2011, Sonic Team experimented with a different format in Lost World. 2017's Forces is then a follow-up of sorts to Generations with the Classic and Modern versions of Sonic in the game bringing their respective gameplay styles. They are joined by a third gameplay style in Forces... and now I must convey to you a conspiracy theory, and the reason I'm playing this immediately after the Boom games (also I finished watching the show, it's very good).

The timing of Boom as a high-profile spinoff and some 2016 promotional artwork depicting the three Sonics together may suggest that at some point in development Boom's Sonic was to appear alongside the other two. There is some evidence in the final product to support this: the third element in Forces is the custom character, who has swappable Wisp-powered weapons and... a grappling hook, which is not dissimilar to Boom's Enerbeam. Some lines in the script about Classic Sonic being from another dimension have led people to assume they were repurposed from referencing Boom's Sonic; I consider this a red herring due to the timeline of scripting and early drafts we have access to, but I could be wrong. More convincing is the final boss—the "Death Egg Robot"—having a suspiciously similar appearance to Lyric's mech suit, perhaps leftover assets being reused. Boom Sonic's scarf and sports-tape bedecked gloves and shoes are available as Avatar cosmetics, so it's not like Boom was totally memory-holed either way. There's never been any official statements about this, so we have to piece together what information we have, but it seems plausible enough to me. Now with that out of the way...

On the surface Forces seems to be taking a "darker and grittier" angle on the Sonic universe (although I'd argue that many games in the series have been trying this to various degrees since Adventure). The characters talk about war sometimes and the "Eggman has taken over 99.99% of Mobius while Sonic has been tortured in space prison for six months" plot sounds absurdly melodramatic, but once the game gets going it's mostly pretty light on in its tone and themes, not much different to other Sonic games. A handful of Sonic's friends do stuff off-screen and chat to you over the radio; I wish they'd pulled out all the stops for character appearances given the stakes of the story, but oh well. No Blaze, again.

The new co-antagonist is Infinite, the try-hard-iest edgelord you've ever seen with the dumbest, most awesome metal theme song. His illusion powers make for one or two cool level concepts, but often they are just a simple plot device. These powers also enable the reuse of previous antagonists like Zavok (snore) and Shadow... also Chaos is there in one cutscene and then proceeds to do sweet bugger all for the rest of the game. Some missed opportunities here.

Forces lifts the Classic Sonic crossover concept from Generations without much interrogation. He just shows up through a portal for no reason and since he’s one of those silent protagonists for no reason, he isn’t even able to tell anyone about the Phantom Ruby (the source of Infinite’s powers) also appearing in Mania, which none of the other characters remember for no reason (something something other dimension??). His sidescrolling Classic-style levels were my least favourite but I’m glad they were included for a change of pace. He’s also been given Mania’s drop-dash which is a great snappy movement upgrade.

Modern Sonic is your standard boosting 3D corridors / 2D sections / rail grinding gameplay with homing attacks and stomps. The really interesting new addition is of course the Avatar, whose gameplay is a little slower paced and includes swinging and the Wispon. You choose from various weapons between stages and some are much more useful in certain levels; I wish the game indicated a recommendation. But most of them have powerful attacks for smashing groups of badniks as well as fun movement tech. A fourth level style has Modern Sonic team up with the Avatar, combining their abilities.

The story plays out across a world map, going back and forth sporadically over the eight or so different environments. Of course many of these are throwback biomes, but with fun twists like a desertified Green Hill or a casino/jungle, and they invariably look colourful and detailed. The 30 levels are quite short on average (and some are even reused wholesale between characters), but I don’t mind this. It makes revisiting them for collectibles and missions breezier, and I ended up 100%ing the game thanks to this. Free DLC added three new Shadow levels plus the ability to play as Shadow in parts of the main game, as well as the option for Super Sonic which made those repeat runs even more painless. I believe this is also the first big Sonic game to do away with the concept of extra lives entirely, which I must applaud wholeheartedly.

I’ve gone too long now without really getting into the Avatar/Rookie/Buddy, which really is a genius feature. People have been making their own Sonic OCs for forever, so integrating that in the game is an easy win. I loved creating characters that aren’t otherwise in the game, like Blaze, Sticks, or Fang, characters from other Sonic media like Tekno, Bunnie, or Sally, and even other furry-type characters like Krystal or Bubsy. I then adored unlocking more and more costume parts and dressing them up! It’s a great incentive to engage with the mission structure. It’s too bad you’re locked to one type until you beat the story, so I picked Tekno as my primary for the bird’s double jump ability. Truly this concept is powerful, and I’d love to see it expanded in future games since the options for customisation can feel limited. This definitely needs another pass.

My final point is about what I think is one of Forces’ greatest strengths: the soundtrack. While still grinding out Avatar levels and mission unlocks, I sought out the game’s music to listen to at work. I used to think I disliked vocal tracks playing over gameplay but I was wrong! (Maybe I just don’t like Crush 40, but don’t tell the Sonic fans I said that.) Whenever the main theme Fist Bump kicked into the chorus during a double boost, I got hype every time, that song is sick as hell! The Classic Sonic Mega Drive-style tracks rock, Infinite’s theme is a banger, even the jingles are a joy... the game is just infused with track after track of cool techno-symphonic music in different tones. Truly I developed a deep respect for lead composer Tomoya Ohtani playing this game (even though I already thought he did a great job on Rush Adventure and Unleashed).

Before playing Forces for myself, I just knew that fans thought of it as "one of the bad ones", that it was supposedly farmed out to a B-team and half-baked to mediocrity. Sure it's got flaws and weaknesses, the story is dumb, the bosses aren't great... but it's solid, stylish, and I thought it had such a fun energy and so much cool stuff; now it's my favourite 3D Sonic game! To be fair I haven't played that many of them, so I'm going to work on that. Either way I've learned by now that my feelings on Sonic often go directly against the grain of mainstream opinion, and I'm so totally fine with that if it means I can listen to Fist Bump on repeat over here in the corner. It's a brand new day...!

[running-on-narrativium]

Little Shop of Horrors Lyric Starters

(Feel free to change to fit your muse.)

“On the twenty-third day of the month of September, in an early year of a decade not too long before our own, the human race suddenly encountered a deadly threat to its very existence.”

“this terrifying enemy surfaced, as such enemies often do, in the seemingly most innocent and unlikely of places.”

“What a creepy thing to be happening!”

“Stop right where you are. Don't you move a thing.”

“Best believe it something's come to get 'cha.”

“Alarm goes off at seven.”

“Then you go downtown.”

“Uptown you cater to a million jerks.”

“The bosses take your money and they break your hearts.”

“Your morning's tribulation, afternoon's a curse and five o'clock is even worse.”

“Poor! All my life I've always been poor.”

“I keep asking God what I'm for, and he tells me "Gee, I'm not sure.”

“Oh, I started life as an orphan, a child of the street.”

“Someone show me a way to get outta here.”

“Please, won't somebody say I'll get outta here.”

“Someone gimme my shot or I'll rot here.”

“I was walkin' in the wholesale flower district that day I passed by this place where this old man-he sometimes sells me weird and exotic cuttings.”

“He knows, you see, that strange plants are my hobby.”

“Suddenly, and without warning, there was this total eclipse of the sun.”

“And when the light came back this weird plant was just sitting there.”

“You've given me nothing but heartache and hurt.”

“I'm beggin' you sweetly. I'm down on my knees.”

“What do you want from me- Blood?”

“Looks like you're not happy, 'less I open a vein.”

“I know (Name’s) the greatest.”

“I'm dating a semi-sadist.”

“So I've got a black eye and my arm's in a cast.”

“Well, if not, he's got inner beauty.”

“I dream of a place where we could be together at last…”

“I cook like Betty Crocker and I look like Donna Reed.”

“There's plastic on the furniture to keep it neat and clean.”

“A picture out of Better Homes and Gardens magazine.”

“I dream we'll go somewhere that's green.”

“When I was younger, just a bad little kid my mama noticed funny things I did.”

“My boy, I think someday you'll find a way to make your natural tendencies pay.”

“You have a talent for causing things pain!”

“Your temperament's wrong for the priesthood and teaching would suit you still less.

“Son, be a dentist, you'll be a success!”

“Who wants their teeth done by the Marquis de Sade?”

“And though it may cause my patients distress, somewhere in heaven above me, I know that my mama's proud of me.”

“Feed me!”

“Would you like a Cadillac car?”

“Would you like to be a big wheel, dinin' out for every meal?”

“I'm the one that can make it all real!

“You gonna git it!”

“I'm your genie, I'm your friend! I'm your willin' slave...”

“I don't know…I have so... so many strong... reservations…”

“Should I go... and perform... mutilations?”

“If you wanna be profound...If you really gotta justify...take a breath and look around... A lot of folks deserve to die...”

“The guy sure looks like plant food to me!”

“He's so nasty treatin' her rough!”

“You need blood and he's got more than enough!”

“He's got your number now.”

“You've got no place to hide, you've got nowhere to run…”

“I think it's suppertime.”

“Come on, come on, think about all those offers.”

“Ain't no time to turn squeamish.”

“Lift up your head. Wash off your mascara,here, take my Kleenex, wipe that lipstick away.”

“I know things were bad, but now they're okay.”

“Nobody ever treated me kindly.”

“Daddy left early…Mama was poor.”

“I'd meet a man and I'd follow him blindly. He'd snap his fingers, me, I'd say "sure."”

“Tell me this feelin'll last till forever…”

“Please understand that it's still strange and frightening.”

“Suddenly (Name) is standin' beside me.”

“(Name), so finally we meet you!”

“You're gonna host it, you lucky kid, sign.”

“Yes darling, we're sending photographers Thursday, so get the plant ready and wear a clean shirt.”

“They say the meek shall inherit.”

“It's not a question of merit.”

“You’re a meek little guy.”

“You know the meek are gonna get what's comin' to 'em by and by.”

“My future's starting, I've got to let it.”

“I take these offers, that means more killing! Who knew success would come with messy, nasty strings?”

“I sign these contracts, that means I'm willing to keep on doing bloody, awful, evil things.”

“No! No! There's only so far you can bend!”

“No! No! This nightmare must come to an end!”

“It's the only solution. It can't be avoided. The vegetable must be destroyed.”

“But then there's (Name), lovely (Name)…”

“Without my plant, she might not love me anymore.”

“Better wait a minute! Ya better hold the phone!”

“Better mind your manners! Better change your tone!”

“Don't you threaten me, son!”

“We gonna do things my way or we won't do things at all!”

“Ya don't know what you're messin' with. You got no idea.”

“Ya don't know what you're up against, no, no way, no how!”

“I'm just a mean green mother from outer space and I'm bad.”

“You've got me fightin' mad!”

“You think he's the worst, well, you're thinkin' wrong.”

“He got a temper, ha! He ain't got mine.”

“I'm from past the stars and beyond the moon.”

“You can keep The Thing, keep The It,keep The Creature, they don't mean shit.”

“I got the stuff and I think that proves, you better move it out.”

“I'm gonna bust your balls.”

“It's all over, ace.”

“Subsequent to the events you have just witnessed, similar events in cities across America, events which bore a striking resemblance, to the ones you have just seen began occurring.”

“Unsuspecting jerks from Maine to California made the acquaintance of a new breed of flytrap and got sweet-talked into feeding it blood.”

“Thus the plants worked their terrible will...”

“And the plants proceeded to grow and grow, and begin what they came here to do. Which was essentially to eat Cleveland and Des Moines and Peoria and New York… and this theater!”

“They may offer you fortune and fame, love and money and instant acclaim. But whatever they offer you, don't feed the plants!”

“Look out! Here comes (Name)!”

“Here I come for you!”

“Hold your hat and hang on to your soul!”

“Something's coming to eat the world whole!”

“If we fight it we've still got a chance!”

[felixcosm]

Transcript under cut

I do all of these by ear and I have a habit of not always understanding british accents very well, so some things may not be 100% accurate. There's also a lot of stuttering in this scene, which I didn't transcribe to a T

[CAR NOISES]

FELIX

I really like Disneyland Paris, I mean - it's not like 'proper Disney' but it's still 'really fun Disney'? And it's still got the rides and you still get to cuddle Goofy? And I really love Goofy. And…amazingly I told Ty that I wanted a day at Euro Disney and he said 'why not have two? Go and explore, Fe!' - Felix FELIX my name is FELIX, Ty! - 'Go and explore, Fe! Have a lovely time!'

So I did. And, and it was marvelous. Today will be less marvelous. After the M25, I have to drive down the A320 to go past six ways roundabout, down wood lane, and then down a little side road is my mother's house.

And in four minutes time, my mother is going to set out for the news agent. Because she believes the very greatest news is fresh news. She likes to be the first person through the door, getting the paper. And then she likes to call me about it for an hour. And then complains that I haven't read the paper yet.

So I got that to look forward to. But, first. I am six minutes away from Mum's house and she's going to leave the house in three minutes time. So I'm going to call her and tell her I am nearby. Tell her to stick the kettle on. And tell her the news couldn't wait. And we will have a lovely chat. /Oh boy, sure/.

Let's see how we go* (not sure if this is 100% accurate)

[PHONE RINGS FOUR TIMES, THEN SOMEONE PICKS UP. A MALE VOICE ANSWERS]

MAN

8732, good morning?

FELIX

Oh sorry, I am, I think I got the um, the wrong number. Um, it's- sorry, what number did you say?

MAN

8732, hang- hang on, is that Fe?

FELIX

Fe? This is Felix?

MAN

Fe. Fe what are you doing (Felix begins saying 'who' but is cut off), it's nearly six o'clock in the morning, why're you calling so early?

FELIX

Sorry who's who's that? Who's that?

MAN

(incredulous laugh) Fe, Fe it's Dad.

FELIX

Dad? (he tries to say something else a few times but fails)

FELIX'S DAD

Fe, is everything okay? You sound… you don't sound yourself.

[FELIX COUGHS AND KEEPS STAMMERING. HE SOUNDS BOTH DISTRESSED AND INCREDLOUS AS HE KEEPS TALKING]

FELIX

I am- I- I am- I've- I've got the… I've got the day off. I'm- I'm nearly home!

FELIX'S DAD

Sorry, you're nearly home? As in, as in this home?

FELIX

I'm nearly- I'm nearly…there with… there with you, Dad! Um, sorry-

FELIX'S DAD

That's great, Fe, um, I'll put the kettle on. It'll be lovely to see you, I haven't seen you for a while now, uh… I'm glad you're coming, actually, because I was woken up about five minutes ago by this very odd chap called Ty, I believe his name was-

FELIX (INTERRUPTING)

Ty- TY?!

FELIX'S DAD

He said he was your boss? I was hoping you'd be able to shed some light on what he said to me. Very, very odd guy-

FELIX

He called you- he called you five minutes ago? Five minutes ago, he called you? He called you?

FELIX'S DAD

…that's right, yes? …is everything okay?

FELIX

(after some more stammering) It's fine- no, it's fine, Dad, it's fine, I, um, I… (he doesn't bring the words out)

FELIX'S DAD

Fe, do you, you sound very distressed, are you, are you okay, are you driving?

FELIX

I'm fine I'm five minutes away, Dad … (his dad begins to say something but Felix cuts him off) Is Mum there, Dad?

FELIX'S DAD

…Fe, what do you mean?

FELIX

Mum, is she there? Is she with you?

FELIX'S DAD

(sighs) Fe-… Fe, Mum's dead, you know this. I'm very worried about you, you- you really don't sound well. If you're driving, please be safe. Please get here soon.

FELIX

(more stammering) I- I'll be there- I'm five minutes away, Dad. I- I've got to go, I- Dad, I love you, I'll see you soon, okay? Bye (he repeats this several times)

FELIX'S DAD

(overlapping) I love you too, be careful, okay?

FELIX

(is clearly upset, starts sobbing after he hangs up)

Ty- Ty, what on Earth have you done?!

[nialav]

Character :Eren Yeager x reader

Genre-Smut/Fluff

Prompt:When your husband Eren comes back home early you go to wonder why. Your wondering turns into something a little mischievous.😏

It was a beautiful spring evening when you heard something.You then realized you heard your door open and you knew it could it only be one person. Although you were curious as to why he was home so early today.

You and Eren had been married for about 6 years now. Both of you met at the paradis college and just hit it off. Since you and Eren also we're studying the same Major it was easy to hang out. Sasha,Jean,and Marco were the number one supporters.

Eren was a well known politician but his campaign manager,Levi, was a grump man. Though we all know he loves Eren like a son since both of Erens parents died and he got Adopted by Levi and his husband Erwin.

Puting your phone down and walking into the kitchen you saw Eren standing there with his hands in hands. Immediately you were worried about him.

"Hey baby"Eren said as he kissed you on the lips with a little bit more aggression then he usually does.

You kissed back immediately but in the back of your mind you were still a little bit worried for your husband.

"Hey" you said in a curious tone.

He could hear the tone in your voice so he made an effort to tell you what was wrong.

Sighing he said "My boss let me off of work early because he saw that I was a little distracted and not paying attention."

Worriedly you put soft warm hand on his cheek. Before you could even ask what was wrong you were pushed up and lifted against the kitchen counter while you felt a large hand holding your thighs.

Flustered,you couldn't get a word out so you just sat there while Eren kept on breathing heavily.Roughly he kissed you again while still touching all over your body.

You moaned as he shoved his wet tongue in your mouth.

Looking down you saw a bulge in his pants and you knew why he was distracted today at work.

You wanted him as much as he wanted you. Slowly but surely he started to kiss up your thighs while looking up at you with his vibrant green eyes that you can't get enough about.

"May I?" he asked while kissing and nipping at your thighs making sure to mark up what was his. You nodded still a tad bit shocked at how fast this was escalating.

He started speeding up his nipping at your body. Since you were wearing a V-lined shirt it was easy access to your boobs. Making sure to be careful he sucked on one of your boobs making more hickeys then he already did.

"Come on Eren stop teasing me" you whined just wanting to be pleasured by your husband already.Slowly he started to take off your underwear.

"Wow so wet for me all ready" He stated with a scoff. Eren started teasing you by putting kitten licks on your clit.

He then fully put in his tongue and started pushing it in and out.

Moaning you started to cling onto his hair with some strength from the sensation you were getting.

What you didn't know what that Eren liked to get his hair pulled.

He started moaning against your p*ssy wich sent vibrations.

The taste of your p*ssy was something Eren could never get enough of.

Licking and tasting the juices he was overjoyed.

As he was eating you out he took his fingers and started to press pressure onto your clit. With your mouth hung open you were a moaning mess.

At this point your were meeting your tipping point.You felt something curl in your stomach.

As you came your legs were shaking and your eyes were rolling back to your head. 

Eren licked up your cum making a slurping sound. He then kissed you and swirled his tongue in your mouth making you taste yourself.

The cold counter was starting to warm up from your thighs being on it for so long.

Eren started to take off his pants. You could tell how long he had to suffer with his hard-on all day.

He then threw his boxers off. Slowly he started moving his hands up and down his shaft just from the sight of you with your legs spread open and thighs on the counter.

Looking at him with lustfull eyes you put your hands around his neck and kissed him while getting closer to his hard shaft.

He started playing with your slit and dragging his ding a ling along it. Eren then spat on your p*ssy.

"You ready?"he asked.

Nodding your head fast you were surprised by how quick he put his **** in. Ramming into you quickly. You moaned in his ear which made him groan against you.

With fast pace you and Erens hips were slamming against each other. You could hear the skin slapping echoing off the walls of your house.

Spitting on your slit he then put two fingers in your p*ssy. He pushed his fingers at the same pace as his hips.

When he saw the bulge that formed in your stomach he then pressed on it to make you moan more.

" You see how deep I am inside you baby?" He questioned while biting his lip.

So taken back with your legs wrapped around his waist you couldn't even make out any words.

"I'm close!" both of you all exclaimed at the same time.

With his **** buried deep inside of you both of you all came at the same time.

Filled with his *** you were panting and trying to catch your breath.

Pulling out he hugged you and kissed your shoulders while still holding onto your waist.

"Don't let any slip out baby." He stated as he pushed the mixture of juices back inside of your ****.

"Thanks for being my stress reliever Hun" He said also panting,trying to catch his breath.

You just nodded tiredly while putting your head on Erens.

Eren chuckled while carrying you to the bathroom.Kissing you on your forehead while he whispered an I love you.

[lightsburnbrite]

What We Keep Secrets For: Part 2

Sam sighed, leaning back against the door to close it.

"Hey!" Sam's roommate, Eva, was working in the kitchen. "Hot date?"

It took Sam a minute to pick up on Eva pointing out that she was home later than normal. "What? Oh, no, just work stuff. But…Lukas is probably going to stop by later."

Eva groaned. "I thought you were finally done with him."

"I know," Sam felt chastised. Her relationship with Lukas had always been complicated and Eva let it be know how much she distrusted him. "I just had a really weird day at work and want to forget it."

Once Lukas had left, Sam knocked on Eva's bedroom door. "He's gone. You can stop hiding now."

After a moment, Eva came to her door. "I wasn't hiding, I just don't want to be around him. For the record, I think he's a creep and I think you can do a lot better than him."

Closing her eyes, Sam gave a slight nod. "Point taken."

The next morning, Sam opted to leave early and stop by the local cafe for coffee and breakfast. Once she made it to her space, she went over her work itinerary for the next few days; Check in on Goretzka's rehab progress, edit and post pictures for wallpaper Wednesday, add footage and pics from US trip.

As soon as she thought of seeing Matthijs again, she smiled before realizing what she was doing and shaking her head as if she could physically remove the thought from her mind. Even if he was actually interested in her, which he probably wasn't, Sam thought the whole thing would be highly unprofessional of her. Of course her plan of avoiding posting something about him went out the window when he scored his first goal in his first game.

When the team returned, things seemed to settle into their normal flow. There was the first home match to prepare for and Oktoberfest was coming up as well. One of the easiest but also most well liked posts were simple shots of the players entering the training pitch, it worked nicely when other things were a bit slow.

This morning, Sam set up the tripod and the players were greeting the camera. Some used gestures while others offered a simple Servus. When Matthijs walked by, he gave Sam a pat on the head.

When Sam took a break for lunch, she was in the canteen getting a cup of coffee when she felt the same pat on her head. Turning around, she saw Matthijs. He smiled at her, prompting Sam to smile back as she let out a little laugh. "Hi."

"Hello, my unofficial tour guide." Matthijs winked and Sam felt her stomach do a flip. "I was hoping you'd be willing to help me out again."

Sam nodded slightly. "So is this a happy accident that you've run into me here or…?"

"A little bird may have told me where to find you." He gave a little bow as if conceding defeat.

Gesturing towards one of the benches, Sam invited Matthijs to sit with her. "Well, now that you've found me, what can I do for you?"

"So what's this Oktoberfest all about?" He gestured vaguely, slightly scrunching his mouth.

Sam laughed open now. "Ok, that's a pretty broad subject. What exactly are asking? About the club's trip or are you looking to go on your free time, are you curious about the food…what exactly?"

He nodded again and pressed his lips together, keeping his gaze straight ahead. "I'd like for you to go with me. Not with the club."

"I don't know if…" Sam hesitated. "The optics of the two of us together might not be appreciated by my boss."

Tilting his head slightly, it looked as though he was processing her answer and coming up with one of his own. "So your boss controls who you can be friends with?"

She hesitated. "Well, no-"

"So…" He shrugged as he stood up. "What's wrong with us hanging out then?"

Resting her elbow on the table, Sam pressed her fingers to her forehead as she laughed. "Ok, I tell you what, go with the team first and if you like, we can go back…together."

"Great." He placed a slip of paper next to her as he walked off. "What about a movie before that? You can let me know later."

Sam looked at the table next to her and saw that he had left her his number on that slip of paper with a little smiley face next to it. She put her hand over her mouth to hide her smile as she took her phone out and entered his number in there.

Matthijs kicked his boots off once they had finished their afternoon session. As soon as he had started the preseason training it was pretty clear that what was considered "match fit" at his old club was quite up to par here and he'd need to put in some extra work to get there. He left today's final session exhausted but happy as the coach had noticed his dedication and progress. Back at his locker, he checked his phone and saw a message from a number he didn't recognize.

Not really interested in any movies out right now but there's a new sushi place I want to try if that works. Come over once you're done training and we'll go

Below that was an address. 

It had been a few days since he gave Sam his number and he hadn't heard anything so he was starting to wonder if he had over stepped. Now that she had replied and they had something set up, he couldn't hide his smile.

Sam had parked the car but not shut it off yet when the sound of an incoming message came through the speaker

New message from Matthijs: See you in about an hour

"Ok," She said to herself. "Ok."

Making a mental list of what she needed to do to get read, and what she didn't have time for, Same practically bolted to the apartment. Inside, she tripped over a bar stool that had been left out from the counter, making all sorts of noise to announce her arrival.

"You could just tell me that you're home." Eva joked as she looked up from the sofa.

"Sorry," Sam crouched down and massaged her big toe. "I'm meeting a guy for dinner and-"

Eva sat up straighter. "A date?"

"No, it's not a date." Even as Sam said it, she wanted to laugh. "Well, he's a player at the club and I said I didn't think it was a good idea so he's insisting that we're just hanging out."

She smirked. "Do you want it to be a date? Does he?"

"He is…I like him and he's very easy to be around." Sam glanced at her watch to check the time. "But that's neither here nor there."

"Whatever you say." Eva dismissed her facetiously with a wave of her hand. "Don't stay out too late lest Loverboy Lukas comes calling."

"Eh," was Sam's only response.

Once she was ready, she watched from the window until she saw Matthijs pull up. She called out a hasty goodbye to Eva and motioned for him to stay in the car.

"So you finally got your company car then?" Sam glanced over at him as she fastened her seatbelt.

Matthijs laughed. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Now, where are we going?"

Once they made it there, they had to wait to be seated, which Sam wasn't expecting. As the waiting area filled up, she found herself moving closer and closer to Matthijs just to be out of everyone's way. A particularly loud party moved in and encroached on Sam's space causing Matthijs to put his arm around her shoulder and move her in closer. Neither of them commented on it.

When they were shown to their table, he placed a hand on the small of her back as if guiding her. Sam took a sip of her water before shrugging. "I didn't realize it would be this crowded."

"S'ok." Matthijs smiled back at her. "Must mean it's good. Hopefully, anyway."

As she was adjusting her leg, Sam bumped into his. "Sorry. Do you want to order some Sake?"

"Oh, yeah, that would be good." He could tell Sam was slightly on edge so now he was curious what she would do next.

Matthijs didn't get a chance to press Sam on why she seemed nervous before they were brought a card to mark down their order on. They both hovered over the card, deciding what rolls they wanted and if they wanted any sashimi or nigiri. They placed their order and their sake was brought out along with some edamame to start. Matthijs held up his cup indicating a toast. "To new friends."

Sam blushed again as they clicked their cups together. "How was your day?"

"Good, good." Matthijs took a moment so that he wasn't talking with food in his mouth. "I really feel like I'm integrating well, my German is coming along. I did know some before so it's not like I'm starting at nothing but still. The only thing I didn't like was that I didn't see you today. Someone else was filming."

Sam nodded quickly. "Yeah, I took the day off. I had an early appointment and then my parents were flying back in from visiting my sister so I picked them up at the airport, we stopped for lunch and then I took them home."

Matthijs saw this as an opportunity to get to know her. "So you have a sister, any other siblings?"

"Three." She took another sip. "Well, three including the sister I mentioned. I'm the youngest of four; two sisters, my brother, then me."

Watching her facial expression change as she spoke of her siblings made him smile. "Yeah? The baby of the family then?"

"Definitely. There are two years between everyone else and then twenty between me and Paul. So Paul is 42, Jenni is 44, and Stef is 46." Sam nodded as if making sure her mental math was correct. 

Matthijs tried to keep his eyes from widening. "Oh. Wow."

Sam laughed, letting him know his response was normal. "Yeah, I was a bit of an oops."

"Are you all close?"

Sam shrugged. "They're all up north, Hamburg and Osnabruck, that's where they were raised but my parens then retired to Tutzing where they bought a little farmhouse and a boat shop. Apparently my father has always wanted to run a boat shop. Anyway, I love them and I know they love me but I think the age gap is a little too big for us to actually be close."

They both stopped as their food was placed in the center of the table and they were given plates and chopsticks. Sam smiled at the waiter while Matthijs thanked him.

"What about you?" Sam nudged him with her foot intentionally now. "What's your family like?"

"One of three." He smiled. "Only I'm the oldest and I have a younger brother and sister, they're both two years younger than me, twins.”

Sam smiled wistfully. “That must be nice to be so close in age. Or, I mean, I guess it could be terrible.”

That made Matthijs laugh openly. “I guess you have a point, but yeah, we get along great. They even play football too. Pretty damn well if I do say.”

"Shit."  Matthijs looked up to see that Sam had dropped half a piece of her alligator maki roll while the other half dangled on her chopsticks. "I'm fine with regular pieces but the big rolls are ridiculous."

"Here," He picked up the lone piece on her plate with his own chopsticks and fed it to her. "Better?"

Sam playfully rolled her eyes while she tried not to laugh with a mouthful of food.

Their conversations continued at an easy pace, a lull coming in every now and then, Sam seeming to have settled in as the evening progressed.

"I don't know about you," Matthijs looked from the empty platter up to Sam. "But I can always eat a ton of sushi but never feel full."

She wasn't sure if it was his idea as well, but she saw the opportunity to extend their time together and took it. "There's this little place down the road that has really good gelato."

"First caprese pizza and aperol spritzes and now gelato." Matthijs winked at her. "It's like you knew I've been feeling a little homesick for Italy."

They walked down the street, their hands occasionally brushing against each other's. Waiting to join the queue until they had their minds made up, Sam moved in closer to Matthijs. He leaned down so that he was closer to her ear. "I don't know what to get."

"The pistachio is good and the lemon can be a nice palate cleanser."She looked up at him and smiled. "But I'm going to get one scoop of the cioccolato and one of the stracciatella." 

They sat by the fountain to finish their gelato before finally returning to his car. Matthijs stood and held his hand out to Sam to help her up, holding on to it for just a moment longer than necessary. They walked back to his car, mostly silent, both aware that their time together would soon be coming to an end.

When he pulled up in front of her apartment, he cut the engine and walked around to open the passenger side door. He walked her to the door but just as she was about to pull out her keys, Sam stopped.

"Do you wanna come in?" She glanced back at him with no real inkling about how he would respond.

Matthijs made a fist with his hand and then rested his forefinger on the bridge of his nose. "I want to, yes, but I have to get an individual session in before the team trains tomorrow so, early morning. I should be getting back."

The little pang of disappointment surprised Sam but she still managed a smile. "Well, I had a lot of fun on our not-date and I would love to do it again sometime."

"I'd kiss you good night but since this wasn't a date…" He scrunched his mouth before placing two fingers against his lips and then pressing them to her forehead. "See you soon, Sami."

[villainship]

[Writing WIP Questionnaire]

Reflecting on my drafts folder w/ the previously-skipped section of the questions I was answering here.

If you read this: . . .don’t look @ me. LOL. (Exposing my secrets -- and also hiding from them.)

-

Sum up one or more of your wips!

Most aren’t for tumblr-posting, mind u. But:

(Divided up by which character has narration rights)

-a Vette story I keep forgetting abt, where she is trying to figure out TD’s post-binge fate on Nar Shaddaa, having decided she’s actually invested in this weird Sith’s wellbeing.

-Quinn experiencing TD’s response to betrayal (TD: “I’m not mad, I just want you to acknowledge your life is in /my/ hands. Forever.”)

-like 4 separate WIPs of ‘joint midlife crisis’ Zahied & TD engaging in their unsanctioned fraternizing in early times/getting to know each other -- however eagerly (TD) or reluctantly (Zahied). -Alliance-era, mid-50s Zahied thinks hard abt where he is, tells TD he ready to dump him (probably. Soon. --For real, though. NO relapses. When it’s done it’s /done/, 100%. Swearing off this shit- . . . Yes, he’ll still teach ur damn kids their hand-to-hand fighting.)

-Alliance-era TD, fraught with relationship issues/feelings(???) beyond his comprehension (dumped by his boyfriend; wife still touchy that he is hot for his boss; boss ignoring him b/c 1. she has never considered him significant or attractive 2. she’s busy with the happiness of being reunited with her bug husband), takes a team (incl. his Apprentice) to Hoth for a mission, where they lose contact with home base & can’t send an update to confirm they’re still alive. --He thinks that’s fine he didn’t want to hear from anyone there for a While anyway-- (but something else Will go wrong.) -Agent Vensys is assigned as chaperone for traitor-on-probation Sith Lord Liio (going Where? idk) -- which may be AU content, or I might make it canon. . . or I might split off into 2 different versions (one where they potentially makeout a little, & one for sailing the crack ship onward to far-distant horizons that veer OOC for at least 1 of them). Lolll. -(?canon?) Kallir has a nice day. -Kallir runs afoul of a posse of Imperial troops privately harboring anti-Sith sentiments in a garrison on Taris (? question mark). (Visiting pumpkin Agent was witnessed holding hands with a Sith who recently came by) -- I’m evaluating how much violence I’ll include as canon. (Less than I wrote. . . but some. He definitely gets bullied. Punches someone in the throat. Maybe knifes a guy a little bit?? I wrote that scene, but I’m not sure it’ll fit.) -Kallir undergoing an entire ordeal living among space pirates & becoming slightly unhinged. -in AU: Kallir (the Minister of Intelligence), dragged away from the tail end of a formal ball, puts up with Vensys plying his charms at him (again)

-total shipping AU: Kallir, Liio, & Zahied, lonely hearts club, attempt to distract one another from mountains of baggage in the only way that comes to their minds when they recognize everyone else is hot and thirsty. (Fellas. . . you’re a mess. Sorry I’m so into that.)

Which story took the most research?

Well- the extent of research I’m willing to do is stuff like “what’s this place/object look like in SWTOR?”, or “what does the internet say about these star wars aliens?”

Which story has the most lore?

TD going to Hoth to blow up a Star Fortress maybe (regrettably, I don’t know the relevant lore & I’ve been incapable of doing the gameplay I want to do to get there).

Current word count of all your main wips?

I do Not track those stats. . . I think I know which are the longest, though.

-Part 1 of Liio/Kallir/Zahied AU is. . . 54 pages (for. . .3-4 scenes, essentially. dkfshgkjf). -Part 2 combined WIPs are 15 + 6 + 3 + .2 (a paragraph) (split up due to time-jumping mid-draft, starting a new file, & returning to unfinished business when I feel like it)

Fic that isn’t a total departure from character canon: -Part 1 (of the in-depth edition) of Kallir’s pirate story is a 32 page WIP, w/ an 18-page side chapter (which might not get any longer) -Part 2: 6 pages so far.  -Aftermath follow-up: 7 so far.

How many projects do you have going on right now? Are there any that you doubt you’ll ever finish?

(My answer to question 1 is more-or-less my entire list) It’s hard to say I Won’t finish anything, but also--I don’t often finish writings.

What was you first major project? How far along is it?

And I wouldn’t necessarily call any of them ‘major’ projects (pirate fic got pretty big--but. idk). . .

My first SWTOR fic was for TD & Quinn, and I got lost on it. lol. It’s one of those drafts that feels convoluted to look at (there’s a lot of patchwork pieces), & I’m not sure exactly how much of it is worth having in there or what I actually Want to write into it. (Quinn is hilarious to write, though.)

What are some tropes and character dynamics found in your wips?

. . . gay little scene-slice stories of charged & intimate interactions--aggressive or/and soothing. Just people having their emotional problems in various Situations (sometimes amid danger/stress. . . sometimes when they are trying to enjoy themselves. . . Sometimes those mix).

So. . . tame (generally tame.) psychological whump (mainly psychological.) I Guess. H/C-aligned.

Describe the setting of one or more of your wips

All my stories are in settings of Convenience, and usually defined more by who is there than details of the place itself. (eg. I’m picturing “Kallir gets bullied for having a Sith bf” somewhere on Taris b/c it seems like the kind of place where the military doesn’t get a lot of oversight). Nothing too exciting (or original).

What are some things that inspired your stories? Real events? Maybe a dream?

Game events sometimes, of course. ehehh.

I also have. . . not uncommonly come up w/ concepts for scenarios based on outfits. (Pirate fic arose b/c I previewed the Belsavis zap collar on Kallir. Vensys’ formal outfit was the starting point for that AU fic with the formal event)

What story are you the proudest of? Why?

I dunnoooo-- I have. . . a weird relationship w/ my writings. I don’t have consistent feelings about them (whether I think anything is so good or absolutely Unbearably terrible/cringe changes based on my own moods), and. . . A lot of the time I’m ashamed even making some/most of them for various reasons.

. . .BUT. I was (and still am) pretty proud of how I wrote our charas in the pumpkin-meets-Severine mini-story from a While back (which I just re-blogged cuz of the improvement edits last night). hehe. On fire w/ that one, writing a couple of my favorite personalities--successfully (I’d say) channeling a character that’s not even mine. 

And I don’t feel like I wasted my time if it’s a gift 4 a friend & I’ve been able to make their day with it. <3 We luv our charas. hell yeaaaaaaa

[eternitas]

OKAY FINE

Brainham time

Its a warm day in italy and early in the morning. Rena is just sniffling and sneezing and feels sluggish. But the premier is soon and they have still to iron out some scenes and reherse them so even if she hasnt slept that well she will push through!

She sneezes again and Hayato, preparing his coffee and having so far not commented on her snifflinf and sneezing is gettinf a bit agitated

"Are you getting sick or something?"

"No."

"Bullshit, check your temperature!"

"Ugh! Drop it. I gotta go!"

She doesnt but she wants to escape any mention of sickness, nopr she is not getting sick that's stupid. Also she has a premier to get ready for.

So she packs her stuff and goes out to groceryshop.

They dont need a lot but she had to leave.

Its so damn warm on this day. She feels so weak. Probably because she didnt sleep well.

Maybe she should at least take it easy tod--

Her phone rings and she takes the call

There has been an issue with the backdrop for the play and the seamstress is a bit behind and needs some help.

So before her group collects for rehersal she helps out at the theater.

By the time rehersal starts she is a bit wobbly on her feet

Her group notices and they are concerned but she says its fine and she will just not push herself so much.

So she pushes herself too much during rehersal, trying to demonstrate something in full swing when it suddenly gets all black before her eyes.

She wakes up on the floor a few of her members around her and someone is yelling to someone else that she woke up and she can faintly hear someone saying "--yes she just regained consciousness again."

She tries to get up but one of the larger guys gently prevents her from it.

"Don't move so fast or you might hurt yourself."

She feels ashamed to be making a scene but the entire ensemble agrees to stop here and get her home to lay down first. They will just reherse what they have without her and memorize the lines properly.

Rena is mayed to lay down with a wet cold towel on her head. Some wonder if its the heat, others wonder if she is getting sick.

someone mentions to get her a cab home while someone else says to first inform her boyfriend.

Yeah no- she wants to protest and say she will make it home alone when the big guy from before mentions that he has her boyfriends number for emergencies.

She silently curses for ever having given it to him but its also when the fever really kicks in and with it the cramps that make her sweat and writhe in pain. Its different from period cramps. and its painfull.

She knows hayato wont come and get her he is busy with work. Someone says they will quickly go buy some painkillers against the fever and the cramps.

When hayato is called he takes the call and listens, tensing as he looks to tsuna and then presses his lips together. Tsuna frowns confused.

"I... Have to talk with my boss. If I cant make it I will definitely send someone asap." then he hangs up.

"What's wrong?"

"Rena collapsed at the theater, she has a fever and cramps."

Tsuna and Yamamotos eyes widen

"You should go get her home then!"

"But-"

"Gokudera!"

Before he can even start with his counter argument Tsuna nips it in the bud. He is not having that.

"I do not accept being the reason why you do not aid your partner during her time of need. I can handle myself and Yamamoto is still with me."

(a bit further away ava makes a soft "Oooh! :O" and claps into his hands while Sergey whistles. "He really sounds like a boss now!")

Tsunas cheeks turn slightly red at rhe praise feom afar but he stands his ground and Gokudera wirh gritted teeth bows.

"Thank you, Neo Primo. I'll be going then."

And as soon as he has officially clocked out he fucking SPRINTS to get to the cars.

Her ensemble meanwhile worries and debates if to get her a cab after all but then decide to wait at least till their one member returns with the painmeds.

The guy comes back and Rena takes the meds asking ro get a bit more time to relax before she goes home. Ahe will just lay down on the sofa outside. One of rhe girls offers to stay with her just in case and the rest return to rehersal.

Luckily tsuna and co were already close so hayato turns up quickly and parks right in a restricted area.

He rings the bell to the theater and the rehersal stops for a second before someone decides to go open the door.

Rena sits up wondering who it might be bc that was way too fast to be hayato or someone he sent.

So thr door opens and whoop its hayato who quickly moves towards rhe theaterhall to get rena, stopping when he sees her on the sofa right outside.

"Hayato?!"

"Oh yeah, you look aweful."

"Thanks-" she sniffs again and takes a tissue to wipe her nose.

"I'll take her home now." he tells the two members who just nod

"C-can I at least say goodbye to everyone?"

"If its quick."

The other two member tell the ensemble and rhey all stop for a moment to say goodbye at least with the tallest of the guys frowning.

"Some asshole psrked their Maserati on the restricted area." hayato frowns

"That's my work car."

It gets uncomfortably quiet.

"Doesn't change that its a restricted area."

"Don't worry, I'm leaving now." he says in his usual tone and Rena weakly slaps his side.

"Behave."

He wants to retort something but doesnt, for her sake and instead lifts her up in a bridal carry

"I'll take her home now."

"What are--!" Rena blushes but then scrambles foe words asking if anyone has another key for the facility and the tallest holds up his keyring promising to close up when they're done.

Someone holds open the doors for them snd its a short walk to the car.

"If you didnt rush out but listened to me and checked your temo this morning this wouldnt have happened."

"I have s premier to prepare for! You'd drag yourself ro work even if you had gotten your legs chopped off!"

He pauses. "Fair."

At home he lays her down in bed and makes sure she is taken care off, ordering food for the both of them and checking in with Shamal to come by and have a look st her.

of course not without threatening that if the guy does ANYTHING dodgy, Dera will kill him.

Even tho he does return to work the next day he gives her a pager for emergencies and says that chrome said she'd come by to check on rena later.

She recovers well

[bmaxwell]

Dead Cells

Sometimes I get it wrong. 2018 had (at least) two games that missed my top 10 that year but ended up staying with me years later. One was Florence. The other was Dead Cells. I had a hard time placing Florence in my top 10 due to its short (less than an hour) play time. I’ve since removed my head from my ass, at least in this regard. With Dead Cells, I think it may have been a victim of early access for me. I played quite a bit of it before it went 1.0 release, so it had a feeling of “been there, done that” for me.

On a whim, I picked it back up about a year later and it clicked. The platforming is tight, the combat feels right. The hits are impactful, and the game gives you a dodge roll with i-frames. There are also shields and I think you can block maybe? Maybe even parry. But why would you? I’d just roll around like a headless rolly-polly man. 

That’s not an obscure reference, by the way. In Dead Cells you play as a headless prisoner whose body is reanimated again and again to fight because of something. You get a cool glowy head atop your meat body, which is neat. The story is non-existent as far as I can tell. The tone wavers between grim (journal entries detailing prisoners being experimented on) gross (when you start a new run, your corpse slithers out of a sewage pipe, hits the ground with a wet thud, and congeals into a humanoid form) and goofy (your character emotes with exaggerated shrugs and thumbs-ups quite a bit). It misses more than it hits for me, but I don’t care. It’s like a breakfast meal or a porno - I don’t care how you dress it up, up just here for the action. 

And the action is top notch. The platforming feels fluid and natural with a good dodge roll and a good ground pound, so you feel extremely mobile. Daggers sing through the air in a blur, hammers smash the ground, spells feel flashy, and everything feels very impactful. This is a thing many games miss on, but Dead Cells hits a bullseye. The game has rewards for moving through stages quickly, and getting into a flow state is very satisfying. You find yourself tearing through enemies, jumping and rolling and sprinting, acting on instinct and reflex. For someone like me who tends to go slow and analyze things, this is a blissful change of pace.

There are persistent unlocks between runs. You don’t necessarily get more powerful, but you add to the arsenal of weapons, traps, spells, and abilities that may appear on a given run. You can also unlock some outfits to dress your headless prison dolly. The stages are procedurally generated, and there are multiple exits leading to different zones to keep things from getting stale. There is an absolute shitpot of things to unlock: all manner of swords, shields, bows, magic spells, traps as you’d expect, additionally there are weird things like a sandal weapon that lets you kick baddies 300-style, and a frying pan to live out your Grosse Pointe Blank fantasies. 

The game has some fantastic boss fights. There are a few that go from “I will never beat this boss, this is impossible” to “I’m gonna walk in here, close the door behind me, and walk all over this fucker”. Winning a hard-fought boss battle is exhilarating, and Dead Cells is great at this.

The developers have continued to support the game since its 2018 release, in the form of both free updates and $5 DLC updates. When an indie game like this comes along that has this kind of longevity, I am more than happy to support them with DLC purchases - particularly this smaller $5 variety feels like a tip jar while continually bolting onto the game.

I tend to play a game, complete it, and move on. I struggle with the current videogame landscape of ongoing support for games. I can’t be mad at it certainly, but I have a hard time going back to most games. Dead Cells is one of two games (Atomicrops being the other) that has a permanent home on my Xbox. I find myself dipping into Dead Cells every month or two, either when I’m too tired to pick something to play, or when I am between games. I used to think of myself as a platormer fan. I’m not sure that’s true anymore, but I am a Dead Cells fan.