#and it's now 4am but I actually might be sleepy

[4giorno]

listen the geo construct, the flower, that albedo puts down is called the solar isotoma and the damage it emits is called transient blossom and youd best remember it 😤

[strawberry-cowmilk]

the brothers when they find mc awake late at night

-> you can't sleep and the brothers find you at 2am

my sleep pattern has been horrible lately (may or may not be due to the smart choice of drinking double espressos at 10pm) so I came up with this idea :))

mc's gender is not mentioned, not proof read

content warnings: (implied) difficulty to sleep, casino mention, maybe a little based on my actions because it's implied mc is awake because of caffeine in some parts

-----

Lucifer

he leaves his office and finds you sitting on the living room couch while everyone should be asleep

hons lectures you a bit as if he didn't sleep an average of 5 minutes every day these past few weeks

it's all because he's concerned though (and he might ban you from the coffee maker after 4pm as if he doesn't drink a cup every hour)

lucifer is weak for you if you'd ask him to sing to you or hold you so you can sleep, he'd do it

Mammon

mammon just came back from sneaking off to the casino and his heart dropped when he heard a noise (he thought it was lucifer but it was just you)

he's like why are you awake and you are thinking the same thing so you two are like that spider man meme where they point at each other

anyways after mammon got a chance to take off his shoes and jacket he offers to go to bed with you but 'only because it would help you, not because he wants to be close'

Leviathan

his average bed time is like 4am and he feels fine so he doesn't make a big deal out of spotting you awake late at night one time

if you want you can come play games with him in his room until you feel tired enough to fall asleep, he recently got this new multiplayer one too

if you don't feel sleepy after a few hours levi will think it's time to sleep anyways, there's rad tomorrow and you have to wake up before beel eats all the breakfast

Satan

satan's average bed time is pretty late too, though not as late as levi's

he actually found you in the kitchen right before he was going to sleep, he was about to brush his teeth and you were just scrolling through devilgram at 2am on a tuesday morning

can't sleep? he offers to let you read one of his books, because they make him fall asleep easier so it might work for you too

if you ask nicely satan might read the book to you and even cuddle you

Asmodeus

he has the least terrible sleep pattern out of all the brothers but this night he had some event to attend, which made him arrive home very late, he just wants to sleep asap now

asmo had a whole heart attack when he saw you on the couch near the entrance, he instantly tried to convince you to go to sleep

like you can do your nighttime routine with him and then he'll hug you until you fall asleep if you'd like

Beelzebub

he was just heading to the kitchen for a snack but you were already there enjoying leftovers from dinner

beel is actually happy you're there, you two can share food and talk, but what are you doing awake at 2am? he's a little worried honestly

after you're done with your snack, beel offers to help you fall asleep if you'd like

you can sleep in his room with him (and belphie too but that man has been sleeping since 5 hours ago)

Belphegor

he actually doesn't find you at 2am because he's already sleeping and won't wake up until maybe 11am

he finds out you were awake because you told him you slept like 5 hours last night

if you told him why, he'll side eye you every time he catches you with anything that has caffeine in it when it's not the morning

anyways he likes you enough to tolerate you waking him up next time you have trouble sleeping, he'll gladly help you fall asleep and see a nice dream

[owliellder]

The Finer Details

Post DI! Leon Kennedy x Painter fem! Reader

MDNI 18+

(Session 1, Session 2, Session 3, Session 4, Session 5, The Reveal)

Description: Leon realizes that retirement is in his best interest now that he's getting older. All of his accomplishments as an agent mean he's truly earned a painting to commemorate..

Warnings: Not Proofread, Age gap! (reader is anywhere between mid-late 20's and Leon is 40), Porn w/ Plot, Use of she/her pronouns, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Alcoholism, mentions of trauma/PTSD/depression, P in V smut (wrap it NEOW), Leon cries during sex 💔

Tags: Older Leon Kennedy, Younger afab!Reader, Leon is SAD but he is your muse, Crying, mentions of Leon masturbating, starts off with Dom! Leon and Sub! Reader, falls into switch territory because that man needs some serious TLC, Praise kink, Hickeys, Handjob, Nipple play, Oral sex (m! and f! receiving), and a heavy dose of Aftercare

Author Note: I'm actually thinking I might be doing one chapter every other night, but I would also like to draw on my comically large art tablet at some point this week, so I might skip a day or two.

Cross posted onto AO3

Session 2: Color Matching

You partially regret just agreeing to "tomorrow", seeing as this man decided that he wanted to show up at 4am.

It was the original time set for yesterday's session, and you guess he felt bad for being late, but god damn he texted you an hour earlier telling you he'd be there by 4am. Dragging yourself out of the comfort of your bed was difficult, but in the end it was worth it to draw such a stunner.

You had to get there before Leon did, so there you were; half awake, dressed in a pair of fuzzy pants and a loose t-shirt, and a small cup of tea in your right hand while the other fumbled with the keys to your little work room.

That was the greatest part about your job as a professional painter. You didn't have a dress code.

Though most days you did try to look your best, some days it was just easier to be comfortable. Besides, it's not like tons of people come and see you everyday, it was usually just one person at a time.

It was 3:47am by the time you'd gotten to your workspace and settled, sitting on one of the many floor pillows in the living area you put together away from the actual painting setup. The tea was warm, it was keeping you sleepy, but you couldn't stop taking small sips. It was in your hands, there wasn't much you could do to stop yourself.

You told Leon to just come on in when he arrived, not wanting to walk all the way back down just to lead him back up. The stiffness from sleep was still in parts of your body, so you knew it would be difficult to get up, even when he did finally stride through that door. He dressed nicely today, just what you needed him to do.

Wanting to relish in the dim yet warm lighting of your various lamps for as long as possible, you beckoned the man to come over and sit with you, which confused him slightly. He thought you would be ready to get started once he showed up, but he wasn't one to argue so early in the morning. Instead, he shrugged and slowly sauntered over to you, taking a seat on a floor pillow across from yours.

"Good morning." Leon grumbled quietly, his voice barely hiding the fact that he wasn't quite awake either. That rumble in his chest made your stomach flutter. "Good morning to you, too." You responded, closing your eyes for a moment to take another sip of your tea.

"When uh-" He cleared his throat, putting a fist up to his mouth as he did so. "When are we gonna get started?"

You furrowed your eyebrows, moving the cup away from your lips to stare at him. "I wasn't expecting to be up so early, so just give me a few more minutes to wake up and then we can turn my main lights on."

Leon sucked on his teeth as he thought, turning his head to look over out one of the windows as he rested his wrists on his knees. "Oh, yeah, sorry. Just wanted to make up for being late yesterday."

You laughed softly before letting out a quiet sigh, setting your tea down on the low coffee table sitting behind you.

"Don't worry about it, but also don't make me get up so early again, old man." You attempted to joke, immediately noticing the wince on his face at the nickname. To divert, you stood up and stretched, patting his shoulder as you walked by him. "Alright, let me pull my stuff out and then we can get started."

Leon followed you with his head, taking a few seconds before standing up himself, pressing his hands onto his knees to help get up from the floor pillow.

"I'm just going to be color matching your tones today. I won't do all of it since obviously lighting changes throughout the day, buuuut..." You trailed off, beginning to rummage through a drawer in one of your desks before pulling out handfuls of paint tubes. "I just need to pull out the basic colors I'll be using."

It was still pretty dim in the room which caused you to have to squint to see the names of the colors on the tubes. Leon found that partially amusing, his chuckle causing you to glare playfully over at him. "Something funny?"

"As funny as it is to watch you go cross-eyed looking at those," he smiled, gesturing with his thumb to the light switches near the door. "I feel like it'd be easier to just turn the lights on."

"My retinas will be fried if those get turned on-" You were cut off by your own shout when Leon took the liberty of turning the lights on himself, laughing as you quickly moved to cover your eyes.

He only had to squint for a second before his eyes adjusted. You, however, were not expecting the sudden change, so you got an eyeful of bright white light. Complete and utter agony that lasted for a full five seconds.

By the time you moved your hands away from your eyes, they were watering and you had to squint for awhile longer. "Give me a warning next time you decide you want to try and murder me like that." You said, wiping away the few stray tears you'd produced from the light sensitivity. "You might live in the light, but I don't!"

The man shook his head and crossed his arms, smile still plastered to his face as he slowly made his way over to the chair in front of your easel. "That's payback for calling me an old man."

You twisted your head around to the chair so you could give him an indignant look, catching a glance as he was putting his hands up in defense with a small "what?" before you turned to look down at the tubes of paint sitting next to your hands on top of the desk.

"Nothing, just wasn't expecting to work with a toddler, that's all.." You mumbled, smile creeping onto your face as you heard him click his tongue from behind you. "I was an old man not five minutes ago and now I'm a toddler?" Leon asked, voice peaking dramatically.

"Yes, you have quite the range, Mr. Kennedy." You began sifting through the various paints you'd pulled out, humming softly as you contemplated what route you wanted to take with them. Stick to primaries? Add secondaries? Should I just use every color I need? Hmmm..

Leon watched as you stared at the paint tubes you'd picked up, tilting his head to the side slightly to try and get a better look. He snapped his head back upright when you started to speak again. "I'm trying to decide whether or not to use a lot of different colors, or just stick to a minimum.."

It was almost as if you knew what he was wondering. "Uhh... what's the difference...?" The man questioned, raising an eyebrow as you turned around, seemingly having made your decision already.

"Using just the main 6 colors-" You turned around and were faced with his very confused stare, causing you to explain a little better. "The main colors you see in a rainbow."

He breathed out a quiet "ahh" at that. Okay, good. He knows his basics. Cute...

"I can mix just red, blue, and yellow at varying degrees to get any color I need. Adding green, purple, and orange will help even more." You pursed your lips, lightly tossing the paint tubes in your hands before setting them down away from the other tubes. "I need white also. Damn.."

"What's wrong with white?" Leon asked, leaning forward a bit to watch you dig in the drawer for a tube of white oil paint.

"Nothin'. Just forgot, is all. Trying to keep this as authentic as possible..." You mumble, quickly closing the drawer with a slam after pulling out the paint you were looking for.

Silently nodding his head in acknowledgment, Leon turned his focus to his surroundings again, admiring your choice in decor once more. He bought a nice decorative pillow for his couch yesterday after being here the first time.

You grabbed a few strips of thick white paper, running your thumb along its textured surface before setting them down. You told him to stay where he was as you set up a small art palette, little dollops of the paints sitting neatly in the circular grooves.

"I'm gonna make color swatches of your skin for myself." You spoke up as you suddenly turned and walked towards him, holding the palette in your left hand while holding the strips of paper and a small yet flat paintbrush in the right. "Also, I'll need to get a picture of you in the position you want, but I'll do that after all of-" you waved everything you're currently holding in a small circle. "-this."

Leon simply responded with an "oh, okay", his knee beginning to bounce as you quickly began to mix little bits of your paint together to get a simple pale skin tone down before you even attempted to match his.

As you worked, you were starting to grow nervous with the silence, and clearly the man in front of you was as well, given he had started to sweat slightly on his forehead. He wasn't nearly as conversational as the last two agents you painted.

"So.. you've earned yourself a portrait..." You smiled slightly, holding up the strip of paper you'd brushed your mixed paint on to see what colors to mix in next. "What'd you do to earn one?"

Leon hummed. It was hard to think about every mission he's gone on, all the horrors he bore witness to, the people he saved, the people he couldn't save, how it all started, and now the fact that he's done-

"Hey, woah, I'm sorry." The sound of your voice drew him away from his thoughts. "I didn't know that would be a.. sore subject for you." He blinked at you a few times, furrowing his eyebrows soon after. "What?"

You pulled the strip of paper away from his face, pulling your lips tight with a shrug of your shoulders at his response. "You suddenly looked mad. Like... really really mad. I thought you were gonna snap at me or-"

"No. It's just bittersweet, is all." Leon cut you off, waving his hand dismissively at you before nodding once down to the paint palette in your hand. "You can keep going."

You stayed frozen in your crouched position for a few seconds longer before continuing to swatch your paint. You kept silent, not wanting to seem like you were antagonizing him.

"I used to be just a cop." The man suddenly said, causing you to look up from where you were mixing your paints together. "Only for a single day, but I was a cop. Simple as can be."

You nodded, beckoning him to continue with a small smile, which he did. "I'm sure you've heard about some of that already though, since you worked with Claire not too long ago."

His comment caused you to let out a small "ohh" in sudden recognition, nodding your head again. "Yeah, that's right! She mentioned you on that, okay.."

Leon continued to talk about all of his missions vaguely, still having to keep confidentiality in mind. You let him drone on, having gotten his skin tone matched in a few different areas now. You stopped to scribble on the papers with the paint swatches, making sure to label where each tone came from on his face and hands.

You took note of how he circled back to his single day as a cop and to certain missions. His mention of saving the president's daughter had you immediately smiling. That was a straight ticket to earning his own portrait in that hall of the White House, he could've done just that his entire life and he still would've been seeing you at some point.

You focused on mixing your paint for a little while before noticing he had grown quiet, looking up to see him staring out the window, a faint orange glow from the sun rising highlighting his features. And his tears.

Growing concerned once again, you set down the paintbrush on the palette so you could place a gentle hand on his shoulder. It seemed he didn't notice that, too lost in his head to notice anything at this point.

"Hey..." You asked with a soft voice, your eyebrows furrowing with worry. "We don't have to talk about it anymore, you know..."

Finally, Leon looked back at you, eyes widening once he realized how watery his eyes were. He turned his head away so you didn't watch him wipe the tears that had fallen down his cheeks and use his sleeve to dry his eyes. It wasn't like him to be so easily bothered by this stuff.

"I just need one more color swatch and then you can go, okay? We can save the photo for another day." You gave the man a weak smile, one he didn't reciprocate. You understood.

He looked like he wanted to say something, but you filled in for him. "Seriously, it's no trouble at all. If you need more time then you need more time." Standing up from your crouched position, you left your half-finished color match swatch with the finished ones before walking over to set everything down on the desk.

You didn't want to crowd the poor man. That was probably the last thing he needed. Despite having only painted for a select few, you've learned to just step away from these retired agents when things would go awry. It was akin to a war veteran suffering from PTSD; they did almost have the same experiences as far as you could tell.

"I'm sorry."

Leon finally managed to say to you, his hands anxiously rubbing up and down on the tops of his thighs. Must be a nervous tick.

You angled yourself so you could see him while your body still faced the desk, smiling at him while your hands worked to neatly stack the strips of paper before clipping them together with a paper clip.

"There's absolutely no reason for you to apologize." You kept your smile as you responded to Leon, looking back down at your hands to make sure everything was put together properly. "You forget I strictly work with agents like yourself. From all the vague tellings, I know that the job is tough on you guys; body and mind."

It was weird having someone outside of the agency talk to him about this kind of stuff. It was weird for him to be bringing it up in the first place. Or, at least he felt like it was.

"Still, I should know better than to do that." Leon sighed, rubbing his hand along the side of his face before stroking his chin, scratching at the stubble growing.

"Know better than to do what? Let yourself process everything you've been through?" You spoke in almost a whisper. If your tone was any louder, you fear you'd come off as accusatory.

"I get it. Really, I do." Leon groaned quietly at your words, causing you to click your tongue. You grabbed your swivel chair and scooted it over so you could sit in front of him, and when you did, you brought your legs up to sit criss-cross just like yesterday, only there wasn't a table separating the two of you. You looked solemn. He didn't like where this was going.

"The whole point of painting you a portrait is to honor you and your work as an agent, but it's not just about getting yourself painted." You leaned forward in your chair, elbows resting on your knees, all the while keeping your voice hushed and gentle. "Seeing the portrait once it's finished is going to be an incredibly emotional ordeal. It's a reminder that this is truly the end of an era for you, Mr. Kennedy..."

Your words were really starting to strike a chord for Leon. He hadn't given it much thought. He didn't want to give it any thought at all. All he thought was "I'm just going to get myself a nice fancy portrait and be done with it". He didn't even consider what the portrait of him would actually symbolize.

"Oh." Was all Leon could muster, letting his gaze fall into his lap where his hands now sat clasped together. If it weren't for the comfortable environment you had set up here, he probably would've bolted ages ago.

You let him think everything over for awhile, wanting to give him all the time in the world. Clearly he needed something, but he wasn't allowing himself any sort of leeway.

It took some courage building internally, but you decided to stand up, taking the one step closer to him before placing your hand on his shoulder once more. You squeezed it a bit, bringing his attention back to you as he lifted his head up.

You attempted to smile at him, moving your hand off his shoulder so you could hold your arms out slightly. This man needed a hug and you were more than willing to offer the leeway he wasn't granting himself.

Leon stood up rather quickly which surprised you, and startled you just a bit, before feeling his large arms tightly wrap around you. It was a little awkward since he had to bend a bit to hug you properly, but it worked out in his favor, and yours too, since he got a better opportunity to bury his face into the crook of your neck.

He sighed happily when he felt your arms slowly wrap around his chest, doing your best to squeeze him for that extra bit of comfort, even rubbing up and down on his back. It had been so long since he had a real hug. It felt good.

You let him hug you for as long as he needed, which was longer than expected, but definitely not unwelcome by any means. Though, his warm breath against your neck and the smell of his cologne was causing you to blush. That's really the last thing you needed him to see after being so vulnerable and open with you.

You felt him start to pull his head away, prompting you to pat his back gently as an end to the hug. Despite the fact that it was faint, it was clear to you that he was blushing when you were finally able to look up at him.

You wanted to remain calm for Leon, letting out your nervousness through a quiet cough. "I know we've only met up twice, but if you ever need a change in scenery, just know that my workspace here is always open to you. I'm always open to you, okay?"

Your words were making him feel weird. Something he hasn't felt in a long time was creeping up his chest. Your smell lingering on his coat wasn't helping, either.

"Yeah-.. yeah, okay." Leon huffed through his nose, reaching up to scratch at the stubble underneath his jawline as he averted his gaze to the floor.

The sun was fully up now, so you walked over to where the light switches were next to the door, flipping them off. All your other ambient lights could be turned off later. For now, you needed to focus on the man still standing in front of that maroon chair.

"You can stay if you feel you need to, but I just want you to relax." You said, looking over at him as you heard his footsteps slowly walk past you to the living space.

"I'll head out." Leon bent over and grabbed his motorcycle helmet from where he'd set it down on the rug near the floor pillows. He placed his on his head as he walked over to where you stood next to the door, not really wanting anyone to look at his tear-stricken and red face any longer.

Once he finished fiddling with his helmet, you reached out and took his hand in both of yours, patting the top of it softly. "Text me when you're ready to come back over."

You couldn't see Leon's face anymore since he'd put the visor down, but you could definitely see him nod his head. He opened the door and let himself out, touching the side of the doorframe as he rounded the sharp corner and walked down the stairs.

After closing the door behind him, you started walking around your workspace to turn off all the lamps and other ambient lighting, pausing to listen to the sound of his motorcycle start up and drive off.

[glastly]

my personal mp100 facial headcanon rambles with no structure whatsoever:

When it comes to headcanons for characters, I generally mostly have facial headcanons.. like for example when I think of Serizawa I always picture him to have a very strong nose, like I feel like he has a prominent bump at the upper bridge of his nose that tapers downwards and is slightly hooked or just straight. Basically anything that isn't a tiny little button nose. Not that it's bad to draw him with one!! but I just personally think it suits him to have a more prominent nose. I also see a large portion of artists draw Seri with this kind of facial feature, so I'm sure some might agree.

(Add-on: this doesn't rlly count as a headcanon but I like how he has bushy eyebrows!! it's cute :3)

Also like now that I'm on the topic of nose & face headcanons I guess I'll just mention the rest of the characters I also have headcanons for ermm

So for Reigen, I feel like I personally kinda see him with a very pointy ass nose like I really dunno why. I see fanart of him in styles where they make his nose very long and pointy, and every time I'm like "ah, cool" I CAN'T EXPLAIN IT maybe it's the whole "ah he's a fraud/liar therefore he is Pinocchio irl and has a long nose because he's full of shit" connection I'm making subconsciously but yeah I think Reigen is pointy. Pointy and upturned specifically.

In terms of Reigen's other facial features, I feel like I really don't have much else in mind other than the fact that I imagine his eyes to look perpetually fatigued. I picture him having hooded eyelids (not to be mistaken for monolids) which sort of play into his sleepy face look. His hooded eyelids would make the top portion of his eyes look more angular/flat in comparison to the bottom portion that would appear more rounded in contrast.. He would also have a large amount of sclera/white space in between his pupil and lower waterline... if that makes sense..

Reigen is sorta one of the only characters that is actually drawn with an eyelid crease now that I think about it.. (image for reference) I'm sure there are other characters but I just haven't paid enough attention to the others probably.

Now that I'm on the topic of eyelids, I'd like to mention that Serizawa actually does have hooded eyelids with epicanthic folds (where the eyelid is basically more lidded in the inner corners and taper outwards sorta) which I think is a cewl detail. This is a really goofy image, but you can get what I'm talking about.

Umm for Mob, I feel like it's pretty clear that he has a very softly-featured face without any striking features like aggressively angular eyebrows or anything like that. He totally has monolids and eyes that are more on the shallow-set end. I also think that he has (relatively) thin lashes that are downturned and longer in the outer corners of his eyes. They sorta drape over his eyes a bit in a way where if he were to focus on them, he'd be able to stare at his lashes. In terms of the rest of his face, I feel like he has very squishy cheeks and thin eyebrows :3

Thanks for listening to the rambles, it is 4am and I've been fighting the sleepydemon to type this so it's probably incoherent but yes I am very fixated on eyes and noses and like assigning them to characters :3 I wouldve written more but im slepy so goodnight thank you agajn

[fuckingstrange]

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| Day13: Warming you up |

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WARNINGS: Cuddling n kissing, uhhh nothing else?, being cold?

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WORDS: 527

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PAIRINGS: Spencer Reid x gn!reader

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Fuckmkkkkkfkdjdjd I have a better fic coming out later for day 14

You and Spencer were busy working a case, one that was urgent enough that you were busy working till incredibly late hours just to get to a crowded police station at incredibly early hours . Well, it wasn't needed that you stay there so late, actually discouraged so you didn't have to walk back to the hotel, but you wouldn't listen.

You make it into the hotel at around 4am, taking off your thick coat, drizzled in snow and stepping out of your boots.

You turn to the bed when you hear stirring, finding Spencer to be sitting up, the most adorable bedhead sprouting all around. He waves at you before opening his arms, mumbling a hoarse “Come. You're gonna cuddle me.”. It sounds like a threat, and it might even be, but you don't think on it too much before you're walking over and crawling into his arms.

Spencer winces from how cold you are, pushing you to hover over him so that he can feel around your icy skin. “Did you not wear a coat or something? Christ.” He mutters, the concern evident in his sleepy voice. You smile and shake your head, saying “No, I wore a coat. Big one.”, to assure him.

He just hums in response, grabbing your arms and rubbing them, trying to warm you up. Your smile grows, your head slipping to rest on his chest. He groans in frustration, rubbing your arms with more pressure to try and warm you up better. “I swear, you don't hold heat, how the hell do you get so cold? You're like.. that blue guy from adventure time. You don't.. you feel like a literal piece of ice.” He babbles, making you chuckle.

“If I wore more layers, I'd start to sweat. I wear three on a daily basis because of the suit-” You start, but he cuts you off saying “Three!? And that big ass winter coat? My god, you should be begging to take a dive in a deep pile of snow from how hot you are, but now it feels like we have to bathe you in lava to bring your temperature up by a single degree.”.

You laugh, finding it hilarious how baffled he is by your icy cold temperature. You lean up, pressing a kiss to his cheek, hearing him whisper-yell “Even your lips are cold!”. You grin at the opening, whispering “Why don't you warm them up with yours?”. His face almost immediately flushes red, but he leans down and smacks his lips against yours anyways. The kiss lasts until he's satisfied with the lack of ice cicles coming from the roof of your mouth.

He rolls you onto your side, tucking himself into you, trying to share his body heat. He glances over at the alarm clock, finding it's nearly 5am now, his head whips back around to you. “Go to bed, we need to be up in 2 hours.”

There's zero argument from you, content to finally get a bit of rest before dealing with the shitty local police. You shut your eyes and snuggle into him, hearing him still mumbling about your absurd cold temperature.

[actuallyadhd]

Hi, I wonder if you have any recommendations on sleeping schedules, I always fall asleep way too late (4am) so I end up waking up past noon, it’s a mess for holding a job and being a “functional adult” in general.

I’ve had this issue my whole life, even as a young kid I would struggle with mornings, but now I have to pay rent so I’m running out of options.

Also, any tip about getting to places on time would be super appreciated.

Thanks for all the info <3

Sent September 28, 2023

Sleep can be really hard. I don't usually go to bed until the wee hours myself, but I blame that on menopause more than anything else, since it wasn't a thing before.

When I had trouble with sleep as a young adult, it was usually because I'd gotten hyperfocused on something and forgot that sleep is good.

What I've found is that having a really basic bedtime routine can help a lot, and I try to follow the same sequence of events regardless of what time I finally start heading to bed. This helps remind my brain and my body that sleep is good, and makes it more likely to happen.

You might have to play around a bit to find what works best for you, but mine is as follows:

Realize I'm sleepy

Feed my guinea pigs

Use the bathroom

Change into pyjamas

Do some puzzles (e.g., Sudoku) until I'm falling asleep while trying to solve them

Some people read until they're falling asleep, but I can't read before bed because I hyperfocus on words and will stay up all night reading.

If you really can't figure out a way to get yourself to bed earlier, look for work that will fit into your sleep schedule. Things like night security, convenience store staff, etc. could work really well for you.

Being on time for things is hard, and different strategies work for different people.

When I was struggling most with being on time, I tried all the things everyone says to do: I had a designated spot to keep things like my keys and my wallet, I set alarms, etc. But I was still late.

Eventually, I figured out that it doesn't matter how ready I am, when I need to leave I will putter around for a while before actually walking out the door. There's always "just one more thing" that I "need" to do before I go. I timed myself, and I was puttering for an hour every time.

So I figured out what time I needed to leave in order to arrive on time (I was living in Calgary, Alberta, at the time, and it took about half an hour to drive anywhere I needed to be), and then I added an hour on to that and adjusted my alarms. I had one go off an hour before I needed to be on my way, and another go off when I needed to be in the car.

Another thing that really helped was having someone message me or call me when I should be on my way, particularly if I was giving them a ride.

These days, most of my things are with friends. I message or text them when I'm leaving, since that tells them when to expect me (I live in the country and am half an hour from the city). This helps deal with frustration and lets them know that I do, in fact, value their time. I'm not late because I don't care, I'm late because time isn't real.

Followers, do you have any thoughts on these issues? How do you deal with matters of sleep and timeliness?

-J

[wolpatinga]

what the hell was breakfast with hyde like

okay. it's 4am, probably closer to 5 now, and you drag him back to your sitting room. because he *totally* wailed on this kid, y'all, i swear. you're going to keep an eye on him for the next few hours. just until the banks open

sleepy hyde, nodding off in your sitting room, but he can't sleep because he's just so scared of you three. especially that doctor in the corner, holy shit that dude's out for blood. and hyde's trying so hard to play it cool (augh... my heart... poor hyde...)

is hyde trusted to sit as he is, or do you restrain him? you're no cop, and he's really not putting up a fight. and if he tried anything, there's three of you. so i guess he's fine just sitting there. i guess

are you making conversation? what is there to even say? why's this guy got a check from *doctor henry jekyll*? and a *key* to the back door of jekyll's dissecting room? he's sure not saying anything. like you try to question him but he just sits there. he doesn't like making eye contact

i'm pretty sure he's hiding his face again. do you four sleep? do you trust yourself to sleep around such a brute? do you three take shifts? does he sleep? i don't think he's asleep, he's just got his head down

so you sit there, staring at this check. it looks alright. but it's for coutt's. of course it is, it's jekyll's, supposedly. you haggard four are going to waltz into a *high end* bank with what's probably a fake check. it's a good thing you're dick fucking enfield, the man about town, or that might embarass you

eventually you have to play the good host. like. you've got these three guys, one of which you're holding prisoner. because he totally just trampled this little girl and you're holding him prisoner for $14,000 in today money. a normal amount for an incident where the girl was actually fine

yea, the physician said she was fine. but this guy's just so unsettling, he deserves it. he gave you $1,500 today's money in *gold* already, but he owes the girl the full 100 pounds. whatever. you're hungry, you're all hungry

you breakfast with him and the others. there's still another hour until the banks open. is the mood any lighter now? you sure don't forgive the little bastard. but like. he's been on good behavior. i guess. or hasn't done anything worth noting. you look around the table

okay i understand why the father's still here, he's the one who gets the money. i guess they're at your house because you're dick fucking enfield and you take charge. or your house is near coutt's. you know why you're here

but why's the physician still here? is he just that good of company, or does he just want to see this through? or does he know hyde? it's not lanyon, lanyon doesn't know hyde yet. who is this scot? *does he know hyde's identity*? the banks are open now, soon the affair will be over

you four head over to the bank. the check's good, you handed it in yourself. spot on. you take one final look at the brute. the second the banker verified the check, he turned and left. he leaves so quickly...

anyways. like, two or three years later, you're going for a walk with your cousin, as you always do. as you *always* do. you live for these walks. he seems to be absolutely going through it, but nothing keeps you two from this habit. you ask him why he's so down

and he's tells you that that guy *was* jekyll. and he's dead now. do you think of breakfast? of the key, and the door, and that girl?

do you remember him?

[aramatientediada]

So, I started to use antidepressants

Since depression is the main topic in this site I decided to share my experience here.

My psychologist said to me see a psychiatrist or general physician for medicine prescription. In the public health system we have to talk with the general doc to get a specialist anyway.

I asked for psychiatrist and the doc offered an agreement, he'd give me a medicine and if it don't work in 15 days then he'll refer me to the psychiatrist.

He didn't give any detail about the medicine, besides to take it once a day.

I meet with the psychologist that day. She reacted to the fact that the doc prescribed a whole pill instead half and she make it very clear I have to take it in the morning and only in the morning because it gives me "disposition".

I took it 6 am and then read leaflet (I know I know but I tent to trust the doctors). So, NOBODY WAS GOING TO TELL ME I CAN'T DRIVE OR OPERATE HEAVY MACHINES WHILE USING THAT? I mean, I don't drive, but I have license so... I might.(!)(?)

Don't you hate it when you take a medicine for a thing and the side effects include that thing? I had this experience with others medicines before, but at least with the allergy one it made sense.

Somewhere between 8 and 10 am I started to VERY SLEEPY. Where was my desired disposition? I also felt other foreseen symptoms, like much mental blurriness and a bit of nausea in certain moments.

High, I was high but without the "good part" of feeling high we get with alcohol. Only the bad part.

This all got some better in the evening, but before the nigh I was very sleepy again. Probably something to do with I woke up before 4am?

Now is the next day. I hold my sleepiness and only went to bed around 9 or 10 pm but wake up by myself before 6. Which now that I look at it was a very good sleep time.

I wake up with residual sleep, but with a bit of "disposition" . Still a bit of that "bad high" feeling and The Confusion™.

Disobeying medical orders I took only half pill today, now lets see how the day goes.

At this moment you must be asking "But what about the intended effect? What about what really matters? Does it work".

Yes... and maybe.

I don't know how far it's actually working or is the placebo effect. I was actually feeling a lil better since my psych said to me ask for medicine. And a lot better having the prescription in hands. It's what Lori Gottlieb mentioned in "Maybe You Should Talk to Someone", the hope for a "cure" that makes us fell better for itself. (Hope actually has great medicinal power according science)

I can say that while physically I'm feeling a lil trash, emotionally I'm... perfectly normal!

Which is a humongous upgrade!

Not more that psychological enormous pain, that despair, that dread of living. Even though all the things in my life that make me fell worthless, in danger, without future, hopeless, powerless are still there!

Now those thing are just bothersome things that exist, but no more thing that make me want to cease exist every time I think about 'em.

I feel as wanting to unalive yourself is not a feeling, neither a desire or any natural part of the brain but a malfunction! Ok ok, we know the depression itself is already a malfunction, but I'm talking about the will to end yourself.

I'm not feeling a super love for live, that sweet feeling of wanting to live, but neither to stop living. And I don't feel that only the feelings and rationalization that give me suicidal intention were vanished, because they weren't (completely), but the intention itself is unable to exist.

Bad though are just bad toughs and nothing else, not triggers.

Is this how normal people feel? Is this how the people who never want to end themselves feel even when everything is terrible in their lives? Is this how they can fight back?

What a delicious feeling, I wish I could have it without the sleepy and nausea.

[syn4k]

Hello I would like to hear you ramble. What’s on your mind?

I care about you so much thank you for doing this one little thing. you are genuinely one of the sweetest people in our life right now and i do not thank you enough for it

i'm thinking about how some of my favorite characters would act while sleepy

naturally of course this means My Usual Set Of Blorbos but ok. let me explain further.

if you fall asleep next to or generally nearby someone, that generally belies that you trust them to not hurt or kill you while you're at your most vulnerable. also a person can be guessed on how generally uptight/anxious they are by how quickly they can get to sleep, with obvious differences and caveats to this of course

some very quick notes on this feat. some of the guys we often have thoughts about

xisuma generally just doesn't have any serious feuds or enemies. like he's just not the sort of guy to start something serious with someone and especially not if they'd like, fuckin' murk him over it while in close proximity (the EX arc in s8 is an outlier here but i might discuss that later. might not. dont have many coherent thoughts on this. idk)

we have held for a while, though, that he Does often stay up late working (paperwork is no joke! it fucking sucks!) and so often falls asleep in random places, like at the table while working or even while standing up a few times in the kitchen. he's just the sort of guy who can do that but also it just sucks like imagine waking up and oh my god how long have i been standing here my legs HURT christ above i didn't even pause my music jeez!

one time doc walked in on him in the "asleep standing up in the kitchen" state at like 4am because doc doesn't sleep being a creeper hybrid and just. carried him to the couch and dropped him off there. doc is one of the only people who can do that sort of thing because he's just built like that physically btw. i like to think that x still has no idea how that happened to this day

(Hmngh,) Pibble Riffs

i think s2 pix also stays up late working but since he also gets a lot of naps during the day this doesn't matter. his sleep schedule is just eternally fucked and he's accepted this. the emperors get a lot of messages sent at 4am from him, but they all know this man is just Like That and don't worry about it too bad

archeologist pix can sleep Anywhere. i mean anywhere. he holds that the ground is actually hella comfortable if you're used to it and he's also been spotted just sleeping on solid rocks in the middle of caves in a place where no mobs can reach him

s1 pix has anxiety and only sleeps during the day due to Desert so usually the nonhuman emperors are on standby to drop by if he has like. an anxiety attack at 2:30 AM or whatever.

jimmy, opening his door: i brought blankets and chocolate pix, curled up in bed in a fetal position: [mumbled] thanks jimmy, pull up a chair: the horrors again? pix: yeah jimmy: you realize you can't eat chocolate lying down right pix, sighing and sitting up: i know

many thoughts. this ramble was sponsored by My Nickname Isn't Sleepy Boy For No Reason, Y'all

[yourgamemasterthewhiterabbit]

The great regular sleep experiment of 2024 day "ghost and spider"

-_- So I slept about from 12:30 ish till idk I woke up sweaty, tried to sleep, couldn't felt way too hot and gross.

Got up, stood in front of the fan, turned the heater in my bathroom off completely that bitch is still trying to run when it's 27 degrees in here...

So my shower is full of drying clothes+, and my hair was oily from sweating, so i washed my hair in the kitchen sink, gave myself a sponge bath and while I was drying I hear my phone go off... For just a single second before turning the alarm off again...

at 2:30 am

An alarm just long enough to wake me up, but not long enough to still be going off once I am awake, or long enough for me to be sure I didn't imagine it...

Except I was awake to hear and see it happen.

At a time when no alarm is set.

I have woken up MANY times in the middle of the night thinking I heard my alarm, only to brush it off as a half sleeping hallucination.

And I might be sleep deprived now. But that was definitely real.

Second long alarms. For no reason, in the middle of the night.

I only have an iphone because it's second hand after a fucking piss-off of a circumstance i could still fuckign stab someone for, so I was already at "fuck iphones forever they are trash" but the more I live with one the more I think I will turn to violence.

I am going to find a CEO to chew on.

OH! And i laid back in bed for almost 2 hours until I opened my eyes to see a spider crawling across the ceiling in front of my fucking face. And yes! It was a real spider, I got up and unalived it because it tried to flee back into my bedding. How did I see it in the darkness at 4am? The ceiling is a foot in front of my face, idk.

This isn't even a normal "ghost alarm" where a really old alarm goes off because the program fucked up and didn't fully delete it.

This is going off for a single fucking second, at a weird non-round time, right when most people would be soundly asleep, and interrupting itself before it can go on long enough to be sure you heard it, with no named purpose.

Maybe it's being on like my 3rd or 4th day -or longer I forgor- of only 3 hours of sleep, but I would NOT put it past apple corp to be running an experiment on its users, especially since they are able to collect sleep data and often heart data and the like to actually get results from it.

I would also like to be clear that at this point the ONLY time of day I am forcing myself not to sleep is between 5 and 10 am. That's it. I have clear license to give up and sleep at any other hour of the day and I am simply not getting sleepy, no matter how tired or sore I am or what kind of sleep deprivation symptoms I am having [mostly an escalating headache]...

I have opened the sleepless hell box and now I am in it.

I am thinking I might try buying actual sleeping pills again? They've never worked on me before, but I need to find some means of actually sleeping. Not sleeping is worse than drugging myself to sleep at this point and I still don't have my health card. Maybe an antihistamine??

Also I need to figure out how to set the time when my computer decides to defrag or whatever it's doing with the hard drive that always starts up at 2 fuckign am, because it wakes me up every time and that's right when I need to be sleeping. I am getting -really- fuckign sick of a computer that just does it's own shit without asking whenever the fuck it feels like doing it, fuck microsoft too btw.

I paid for this copy of windows and I am not in a good place to have linux for my main system but I might just modify and strip down an installation of windows myself at this point to use with my own product key out of pure hatred and spite. I uninstalled edge twice now with revo uninstaller and GUESS WHAT opens up any time I accidentally click something in the windows GUI??? Guess! You get ONE guess.

I never should have started this.

[jasperjv]

My circadian rhythm is so entirely fucked up that I was sleepy after getting home from work and went to bed around 10:30pm, then I woke up at 1am as if I had only meant to take a brisk nap. Now it's 4am and I haven't been able to go back to sleep. I took melatonin and clonidine. I have a mild headache. I want to get my shit fixed so badly. But I can't think of a single time in my entire life where I slept like a normal person. It was a result of early childhood neglect and abuse and now I don't know anything else. I might be addicted to chaotic sleep as well, since it makes me feel like I'm not bound by anyone's rules, even when I know damned well that I'm actually completely out of my own control instead, which is much worse.

[handelplayssims]

New day and ta-da! We’re now a paralegal! And one of our promotion things is taking a bar exam! Evidently that was bugged to be impossible to clear. I would not have noticed that at all. Anyway, we’re gonna head into work today. Anyway, I’m glancing over at Meredith’s whims before work and hey, we totally can make a call to chat with someone before work starts. Hooray! And so off to work we go once more!

Haven’t seen this before but then again, haven’t played the Law career much at all. Yeesh. That’s tight. ...let’s go with accuracy, Meredith is a Good Sim, and that probably means a good amount of honor before reason. ...the text says that not reaching those hours means she got scolded and her promotion is a bit more out of reach. Well yeah, we don’t have level 4 research and debate yet! Ahp! But she returned with a familiar sight. The Fear of a Dead-End job is in! Welp! Tense moodlet for now and we’ll see about clearing it. In time.

Markus came home sad from overheating, as he was still in his evidently warm night time pajamas, needing to go to the restroom and having low fun. And sleepy. Poor Markus. Welp, potty and then auto-solve for fun gave us him asking Meredith for flash cards. What a smart kid. And now he’s hungry. Welp. I have some salad leftovers for him. Hmm. Fun need is still low but sleepiness is overpowering. I hope reading him to sleep helps with the fun need.

Man, I would tend to Meredith’s whims by inviting someone over to hang out and being friendly to a non-household sim but she has less than an hour until bedtime. Man that work-life balance is rough with keeping track of this one toddler. I’ll just have her call Moria Fyres, of whom, by the by, their relationship degraded into acquaintances, before heading to bed. Hopefully Meredith will feel better in the morning.

Neighborhood Watch!

Del Sol Valley: The Kay household recently moved in.

Good luck in the uber-rich house!

Today we actually wake up at 4:30 moderately well-rested! Enough to actually look at her whims. Be Friendly to Non-Household Sim again and Invite a Sim Over. ...the problem is that it’s 4AM. I don’t think anyone will actually be around or willing to do that. You know what might be an idea though? A morning jog! To at least delay some of the time. Gets Meredith out. Gets her outside. Gets her to see the sunrise!

We got another early morning jogger behind us. A vampiric one at that! Heh. Anyway, now she needs a shower after all of that jogging so back home we go. Anyway, it’s a work-from-home day. And we got...attending a deposition and filing a legal motion. Let’s head on off to that deposition then and then we can stay home.

...and I actually did the math for a typical day at the nanny. That would come out to 150 per day. Not horribly expensive but at this point, we have to live within our means considering we can’t pay bills for this home.

Oh and remember what I said about staying home? Yeah, Power Conservation is a thing within this neighborhood and today, electronics have been turned off. TO THE LIBRARY! After feeding ourselves, hopefully something in the fridge hasn’t gone bad, and bathing Markus. And feeding him. For he is hungry now as well.

So we’re off to the library. Our usual spot. We file that disposition and Markus busies himself with books. I did want to get his imagination all the way up to 5 but alas, he felt sad. And he was also sleepy so nap time. After that legal motion, I put Meredith on the research machine to skill up her research skill. It’s needed for that promotion, after all! And there we go. Research for finished for Meredith and Markus got his level 5 imagination skill! Now, normally, I would age up a toddler soon after they reach level 5 skills in everything because I find the toddler stage to be a bit boring. But it seems with the infant update, they cut down on the time a toddler is a toddler. He’s only 17 days away from aging up and with my dedicated 15 days per family, he’ll age up next time I visit this household. I’m fine with this! Just another week, or perhaps even less, with this family to go. Anyway, it’s time to put Markus to bed and Meredith to sleep.

Neighborhood Watch!

Adam Vogue in the Vogue household has started a job as a Palette Cleaner in the Painter career.

Strangerville: The McHenry household recently moved in.

New neighbors time!

Henford-on-Bagley: The Ota household recently moved out.

Cierra Wright in the Wright household has died. Cierra stayed in the sun a little too long and overheated.

Oh man, I recognize that name. RIP!

Clifton Kay in the Kay household has died. Clifton got on the bad side of a chicken.

Hang on. ...yep. That’s the person that just moved into Del Sol Valley. I don’t even think there are chickens up there! Alas.

[youremyonlyhope]

.

[milkbreadtoast]

! ur art introduced me to herb/werewolf and its sooo sweet and cute ! ^^ i dont play the games that much but i love the little cookies sm still. . . theres something so hopeful abt that ship !! do u have thoughts, what things they could learn from the other? :3

!!!!!WAAA YAY thank you Im so happy to hear that omg🥺🥺🥺💓... hopeful..!! that's a nice way to put it... herbwolf feels healing🥲... as for what they could learn... I've been trying to think abt how to answer ur ask which is why im answering rly late but it's a hard question KFJKSJ... i'm just gonna ramble and hope that's enough mdbfvdn (also tumblr deleted half my reply and i had to rewrite it💀 srry if this is rly repetitive and incoherent im tired)

i think werewolf is someone who's scared of loving and being loved... in the past when he tried to protect someone he cared deeply about, it went so wrong and he lost everything... (its funny how devsis just never revealed who his friend was 💀kshdjd) He's been hurting so much from being cast out and hated and feared, and it still hurts him every time cookies misunderstand him... But he also knows that he poses a real danger to others; it's implied he's hurt cookies before when transformed, and he doesnt want that to happen at all costs. So he's scared of getting close to others...he tells himself he's better off alone, not only to protect others but to protect his own heart... and he hates and fears the dangerous side of himself he can't control, the "monster", and thus sees himself as unlovable... (But at the same time, he has sm love to give and wants deeply to be loved!!😢)

I think werewolf would fall rly hard for herb, but have mixed feelings abt dating him... Of course he's really really happy, but he's also scared... and that thing of feeling sad even tho you're rly happy? bc u feel like u dont deserve it/like this feeling isnt meant to last... But I think more than anything else, he'd be scared of hurting/endangering someone he loves... he'd never forgive himself if smth happened to herb... so if herb loves him back, he's beyond happy, but he's like is this really ok if i have a chance of hurting him...

I would want werewolf to learn from herb's mindset that it's okay to live in the moment and cherish the small things in life that make you smile and laugh or cry... I think herb would tell him that its okay to cry and feel sad, but also that it's okay to let himself feel happy too?? That he wants to cherish every moment with him, and he wants him to do the same🤧 And that he's not afraid of being hurt... bc being hurt is natural and we all hurt others without meaning to, but what matters is what we do after,, and make it abt plants bc hes plant maniac smfhjd smth like how the sun comes after the rain and new sprouts grow, and smth smth trees become stronger and new life grows after being burned in forest fires IDK u get the picture🥲 BUT YEA!! herb thinks small everyday moments are precious and meant to be cherished, and he wouldn't want werewolf to be afraid and dwell on the possibility of hurting him/being hurt and not let himself feel happy and live in the moment, or think he doesnt deserve to be happy... Even small fleeting happinesses are precious, like rays of sunshine, or flowers that only bloom at night, and rather than focusing on their impermanence or letting them slip u by, let urself soak in their warmth and believe that life is full of these moments, just as the sun is sure to shine again after the rain (im just spouting bullshit now snfksfo&3);£|>~) ...and that it's ok to let himself love and he deserves to be loved!! and that it's okay to admit that ur sad and lonely, and its ok to need other cookies... 🤧

As for what herb could learn from werewolf... im sure there a lot of things but my brain is kinda fried after that incoherent wall of text 🤪 so going off topic but one thing i do like abt 🌱🐺 dynamic tho is i think it lets 🌱 get to be more bold and take more initiative?? bc herb is an introvert type but 🐺 is like... has 0 dating experience and wouldnt ever like try to flirt intentionally or advance a romantic relationship... like i think he's the type to do caring and romantic things without realizing/without the intention of being romantic and wouldnt consciously try to get closer... so i think in the early stages 🌱 would be the one to like. make moves... invite him to drink tea as thanks for helping him out or go for a walk together n stuff... i just think herb would have the opportunity to be a bit more active in advancing their relationship dmgnnd (itd def be a slow burn w them tho🤧) And I feel like herb as a partner to werewolf rly brings out herb's strengths... like his outlook on life and his capacity to soothe and heal... i like to see it 🤧

Also semi related but i hc herb as a little older than werewolf.. just by a yr or 2 at most 🥺 it doesnt make a big diff but it's so cute to me... werewolf being the bigger/taller/more muscular one but being (a bit) younger☺️☺️ also i like how its kind of reversed from other dynamics (eg sparkling/herb... sparkling def feels older than herb to me🤧 which is fine ofc but!! herb being the older one in 🐺🌱 is so cute🥺🥰) Also unrelated but... the way herbwolf is literally sun/moon symbolism...... (and both their super epic skins have matching full moon theme... if devsis is going to throw these scraps at me i have no choice but to eat them!😔🤲)

[adrienscroissantx]

MANTAAAA HI <3333 CAN U GIVE ME A JULEROSE OR WHATEVER OTHER SAPPHIC SHIP HC I WOULD LIKE TO WRITE SOMETHING FOR U

AAAAAAAA FRIEND HI HI HI

JULEROSE HC: pre-dating pining sleepovers (lots of cuddling, lots of movies, late night baking when juleka cant sleep, the sleepy mornings at the breakfast table whenever they sleepover on school nights)

And rose scrapbooking their dates (she saves the movie tickets, the concert wristbands, the restaurant receipts, she takes photos and allllll of that stuff so she can keep it close)

Some more Sapphic HCs:

Alya and marinette inside jokes. Alya and marinette getting take out at 4am because they were out late fighting crime and now its too late to get any actual sleep so they MIGHT as well just have a picnic on a rooftop somewhere and watch the sunrise and stay up till school starts. Alya and marinette at the beach. Enough said.

Wlw but also more nblw, alix and chloe at the bowling alley. Chloe gets them matching bowling shirts. Alix buys them slushies. Alix threw the ball wrong once trying to prove something, ended up hitting one of the ceiling tiles, and chloe laughed so hard she threw up in a trash can. Neither of them will let the other live it down.

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Needles & Ink, Pt 2 (NSFW)

Lena slips in the back door of the InkSpot. She pauses just inside, absorbing the utter silence that fills the place. Gone is the thumping music, and buzzing of machines. Gone is the bustle of clients coming and going. It's completely and utterly still.

At nearly 4am, it's well past normal operating hours, even for the night crowd. Lena knows she herself ought to be in bed, catching as many winks as she could before her next morning meeting, but-- even after a day of committees and endless reports, Lena is absolutely wired. She'd known tugging on James' door would be a long shot, but when it opened she'd hoped her fellow night owl might be down for a late tattoo session. 

Looking out across the darkened shop, though, it seems more likely that James has simply forgotten to lock the back door. She pulls out her phone, intent on teasing James into oblivion, but freezes when an odd sound drifts out of James' office.

It sounds almost like a moan, but when it's followed by another, longer moan of a different pitch, Lena realizes someone is humming. Someone in the office is humming a Bonnie Tyler song.

Total Eclipse of the Heart, to be exact. 

Lena saunters silently to the office door and leans against it, taking a moment to observe Kara Danvers humming along to the music playing in her ears. She's bent over paperwork, and despite the hour and the solitude a soft smile graces her lips, pulling one to Lena's own face at the sight of it.

"You look good," she says in a low voice.

Kara jumps violently in her seat, jolting the entire desk with the force of her gasp.

"Oh my sweet baby Jesus!!" she exclaims, pressing a hand to her chest. When she looks up, Kara sags at the sight of Lena. "You scared me!"

Lena watches Kara remove her earbuds, and folds her arms over her chest, still leaning against the door frame. "Sorry," she purrs unapologetically. She smiles. "How are you? It's been a while."

"Good, good. I mean, I'm-- I'm in Metropolis! Wait-- you're in Metropolis! What are you doing here??"

Lena gives a tilt of her head. "Business. I may have moved my company to National City, but it still feels as though I do more business here than there these days."

"Right, um..." Kara suddenly looks nervous, casting a worried look past Lena into the hallway. "Sorry, but um.... we're kind of closed? Actually-- how did you get in here?"

Lena huffs a faint laugh. "Back door. James lets me slip in now and then. I was hoping he would have time for a quick session."

"Oh, um... I'm the only one here. Sorry."

"Don't be," Lena smiles. "It's good to see you. Is James treating you well? I don't need to yell at him, do I?"

"Oh, no! No, no, he's been great-- everyone has been really amazing, truly. I couldn't have asked for better hosts. I've been loving it here."

Lena nods, glad to hear it. Pushing off the door jamb, she lets her arms fall, clasping her hands in front of her. "Well, I won't keep you. It was good to see you--"

"W-wait!" Kara jerks to her feet, slamming into the desk yet again in her haste to keep Lena from leaving. Lena pauses, biting back a smile at her clumsiness. "James isn't here, but I am. Why don't we do some more work on your crane?"

"Oh, it's late--"

"No, I-- I mean, I'll text James to make sure it's okay, but... I'm down if you are."

Lena regards her for a long moment. 

"Okay."

--- 

There’s something ethereal in the moments that follow. James gives his blessing, which Kara barely notices past the distraction that is Lena Luthor unbuttoning her blouse. Backlit by a halo of neon light, she looks like a hazy dream, long and beautiful and full of mystery even as she lays herself bare. 

In deference to the late hour, Kara keeps the overheads off, and simply turns on her worklight. The spill of light pulls Lena’s attention to her, catching her watching. In the shadows, Lena smiles coyly. 

“Like what you see?” Lena asks, casting her shirt aside. She takes a wide stance, presenting herself to Kara’s gaze in all her tattooed glory. Maybe it’s the late hour, but Kara allows her gaze to linger, charting a path from the stylized storm brewing at Lena’s collarbones, to the dragon that disappears down one hip. 

“Always,” she murmurs.

Lena looks aside for a moment-- when she looks back, it’s with a heat that sends a bolt of desire straight to Kara’s core. She takes a breath that quakes in her lungs, and then suddenly Lena is there, tucking a wisp of hair behind Kara’s ear.

“I haven’t stopped thinking about you since our first session,” Lena murmurs. 

A flush heats Kara’s neck and face. “Me either,” she confesses. “I mean. You too--”

Her blunder is swallowed by a kiss. Lena’s lips press against Kara’s, warm and soft and absolutely intoxicating. Kara lifts her hands, framing Lena’s face and pulling her closer to deepen the kiss. She’s rewarded with a muted moan, and Lena’s hands on her hips, thumbs brushing beneath the hem of Kara’s tank top.

“You are so beautiful,” Kara breathes when they part, panting for air. There’s an insistent throbbing between her legs, aching for more. Lena’s hand cups her gently, making her whimper. 

“May I?” Lena whispers against her ear. Biting her lip, Kara nods. Only then does Lena unbutton Kara’s jeans with her long fingers, peeling the denim away to reveal her panties. Kara’s completely forgotten hat she’s wearing until Lena laughs, low and throaty in Kara’s ear.

The pizza panties. Goddammit. 

“I love them,” Lena murmurs, reassuring her. “But I’d love them even better on my bedroom floor.”

Oh god. Kara envisions a clean penthouse apartment, spotless save for the mess of their discarded clothes. But here in the shop? Gross.

“Guess I’ll just have to make do,” Lena says, hitching up the legs of her trousers to kneel between Kara’s legs. In moments, Kara’s pants and panties are both below her hips and a warm tongue sweeps through her folds, collecting the moisture of her arousal in a single taste. Lena hums with pleasure before her thumb gets to work against Kara’s bare clit. 

Kara quivers, nearly staggering as her body reacts. Lena’s hands brace her hips, steadying her. 

“All right there?” she asks, playfully teasing. Kara whimpers with a nod. To her surprise, Lena guides Kara’s leg to rest over her shoulder, until Kara’s stretched and gaping at her very core. “Press against me if you need to.”

Kara nods again. She doesn’t last long. In mere moments she’s moaning and writhing against Lena’s mouth, shuddering as waves of ecstasy roll through her. Lena’s tongue continues to guide her through her orgasm, pressing firmly to calm her through the aftershocks. When she finally pulls away, Kara can’t bend down fast enough to kiss her own taste away from Lena’s lips.

“On the table,” Kara urges, pulling Lena from her knees. She hastily pulls her pants up, but leaves them unfastened as she quickly devotes her attention to the curves of Lena’s body. Lena doesn’t quite make it on top of the table. She settles for leaning against its edge as she kisses Kara soundly, her hands buried in Kara’s hair. 

Kara kisses her messily, wet and sloppy, but Lena can’t seem to get enough. She only pulls her hands away to fumble at the back zipper of her dress pants, until Kara nudges her. “Turn around,” she murmurs.

Lena turns, and Kara carefully unzips her trousers. They fall to her ankles, exposing the rest of Lena’s tattoos. Kara takes a moment to admire them, kneeling to run her hands from Lena’s hip to her ankle, tracing the shape of the tiger clawing up one leg and the dragon coiling down the other. Even in the low light Kara can see the artistry, the mastery of the craft that has been inked into Lena’s skin. And there, curving around Lena’s ribs, a crane peeks out-- Kara’s own offering to the altar that is Lena’s body.

Unlike Kara’s pizza panties, Lena is resplendent in black lace. The fabric hugs Lena’s hips and ass in a tantalizing display. Kara can barely breathe as she stands and runs her fingers across the floral threadwork. Her whimper is eclipsed by a wonton moan from Lena’s throat, her hips pressing out and back against Kara’s hands.

“Kara…”

Lena’s voice is heady, even breathless. It sends a shudder of delirium down Kara’s spine. How is this her life. But Lena’s need is real and evident in the heady utterance, prompting Kara to hook her fingers under the panties and delicately sliding them down Lena’s hips. Every inch of Lena’s inked buttocks steals Kara’s breath, leaving her gasping by the time Lena shifts plaintively in her heels. Finally, Kara cups Lena from behind, and when Kara finds arousal nearly dripping from Lena’s core, she swallows thickly.

“Relax for me, baby girl.”

Lena shudders, sending a gush of fresh warmth into Kara’s palm. Leaning forward, Kara slides one hand down to Lena’s wrist, pressing it against the table as she slips two fingers into Lena’s folds. Gently, she begins to thrust.

“Harder,” Lena gasps almost immediately. She shifts her stance until Kara’s fingers hit a new spot. Kara nods, catching Lena’s gaze when she turns her head to look over one bare shoulder. She increases her speed, adds just a touch more pressure, and is rewarded with a hitch in Lena’s breath. Soon Lena is moaning with every breath, her back glistening with building sweat as her body temperature rises. 

Suddenly, Lena’s body shudders with a piercing moan, her walls clenching tight around Kara’s fingers. Just as she begins to come down, Kara releases Lena’s wrist to slip between her hips and the table to press her thumb against Lena’s clit, rubbing swift, furious circles until Lena crests again with a sharp gasp.

When she recovers, Lena turns against the table to loop her arms around Kara’s neck. Kara wraps herself around Lena’s bare skin, nuzzling against her neck, nibbling at her pulse point. 

“You’re incredible,” Lena murmurs. 

Kara hums against Lena’s neck. 

“I’m not finished yet.”

---

Kara draws back to wipe her hair from her eyes. Lena lays before her on a freshly sterilized table in nothing but her bra and panties, looking sleepy and relaxed despite the blood stippling to the surface of her skin.

“You know,” Kara observes, “not everyone would follow sex with a tattoo chaser.”

Lena smiles. “Their loss,” she murmurs. “I highly recommend it.”

Forgoing the use of a stencil, Kara had freehanded the plumage of the crane directly onto Lena’s skin, and already she could see the bird coming to life.

Kara smirks. “Not everyone is a masochist.”

“Imagine tattooing while having sex,” Lena drawls. “Now that would be kinky.”

A laugh bursts out of Kara, earning a deep grin from Lena. With her hair loose and sweaty, Lena is a veritable dream-- to have her skin under Kara’s needle is an honor on a bed of honors. The atmosphere is slow and silky around them, like the world outside has slowed to a standstill without them. Kara savors every moment, lest it all slip away. 

“So how has Metropolis treated you so far?” Lena asks, watching Kara dip her needle in fresh ink. She relaxes back when Kara approaches, allowing her easy access to the tattoo site. She doesn’t flinch when Kara resumes. “Still taking walk-ins? Besides me, of course.”

Kara grins, even as she focuses on what she’s doing. “You’re the first one I’ve taken in weeks, actually. Most people are looking for big, personal pieces, so the walk ins don’t really happen you know?” She pauses. “I’ve already started booking back at Argo, since my time here is already booked up.”

“Really? Congratulations!”

“Thanks.” Kara can’t help but blush. “But you know… something tells me I probably have you to thank for all this.”

Lena regards her. “Oh? How so?”

“Well, I’m pretty sure you’re the only canvas I’ve worked on that James Olsen would have seen.”

Lena’s lips part in a silent ah. She regards Kara for a long moment, before reaching out a hand to halt Kara’s ministrations. With a single touch, she pulls Kara’s entire attention to her. 

“I didn’t suggest anything, if that’s what you’re afraid of.”

Kara doesn’t respond, and thereby tips her hand: it’s exactly what she’s afraid of. That a top-paying client threatened to withdraw their business unless James agreed to take on an unknown artist from a strip mall in National City.

Lena cups her cheek gently.

“All I did was show James the work you’d done-- as I would for any piece I was proud of.” She holds Kara’s gaze, allowing her to see the truth in Lena’s eyes. “Anything he did after that is entirely on you and your body of work. Do you hear me?”

Kara releases a shaky breath, laughing slightly. “Yeah,” she murmurs. “I hear you.” She wipes her eyes with the back of her arm. “Now lay back so I can finish.”

Lena does so, but her eyes don’t leave Kara. Kara can feel her gaze linger, until she’s too immersed in her art to be aware of anything else. 

---

“This,” Lena says hours later, pressing cash into Kara’s hand, “is for the tattoo. Just to be clear.”

Without even looking at it, Kara tucks it away. “Good to know.”

“Wouldn’t want anyone to get the wrong idea,” Lena winks, earning a chuckle in return.

“Right. Absolutely. But you know…”

“Hmmm?”

Kara tugs Lena closer by the hips, bringing their fronts flush together. Taing advantage of their proximity, Kara kisses her deeply. “You’re going to need some touch ups.”

Lena smiles against her, then kisses her again. 

“Well, then…. I guess I’ll just have to see you again.”

“You will.” Kara creeps her hands playfully up Lena’s shirt, only for Lena to pull away with a good natured laugh.

“I have to go, but, ah… I’ll see you later?”

Kara watches Lena back away towards the rear entrance, a smile ever present on her lips.

“Yeah. You will.”

It’s not until long after Lena leaves that Kara realizes. 

She didn’t get Lena’s phone number.