#and says other coworkers have told her i’m great. everyone is commenting saying i’ve lost weight and i look well

[fingertipsmp3]

Playing a game called ‘how long can I put off talking about my various mental problems with a medical professional’. It’s going badly. I recommend no one play this game, 0/5 stars

[floraltypes]

lots of innocent and not so innocent touches

With Dwayne Pride if you wright for him if you don't just Gibbs please <3

who - leroy jethro gibbs x reader

an - i’m sorry! i haven’t seen ncis new orleans, so i probably couldn’t write dwayne very well … hope this is okay, for some reason i had trouble writing it :/

please continue to send in asks !!

unedited :/

Blankets surrounded your body, your leg ontop of another while light snores left your mouth. Hair was messed up and a hand was slowly moving to stroke your cheek. The curtains allowed peaks of the sunlight to peak through in your bedroom. A man lying beside you in his sweatpants and old tee.

The grey haired, older, man kept his eyes on your peacefully sleeping face, truly enjoying whatever dream you were imagining. He made no move to remove your leg from the top of his, but did make a move to place his fingers above your face, lightly pushing some stray baby hairs away.

A part of him silently cursed to himself, wishing that he had learned how to work his phone better, then being able to snap a photo of this calming moment for his own purposes.

Gibbs wouldn’t admit it to you, but these moments were more important to him than working on a boat, or the thrill after finally catching a bastard. There was something so domestic, so calming, with these times spent together. Time for him to think to himself, and also have the one he loves so much be so close.

Time to think about the past, and wonder how he got lucky enough for it to land here. Though, he may have lost a lot, and they would never be forgotten, he was grateful for another opportunity at pure happiness.

But his time to enjoy the peacefulness soon ended with a ring of a cellphone, causing you to stir a bit in your sleep. You eventually opened your eyes, staring up at the man who now had the hand that was formally on your face, resting on your chest.

“What’s that?” You questioned, trying to sit up and rub your eyes. “Can you get it?”

“It’s your cellphone,” He answered, missing the warmth of your leg, now having it be moved to lay on the mattress itself.

“Mmk,” You mumbled, reaching over to your side table and grabbing it. Flipping the screen up, you moved it to your ear. “L/n,” You tried to make your morning voice sound more as your own.

“If it isn’t little Y/n!” A cheerful voice spoke loudly on the other line. “Ya miss me?”

“No. What do you need?” You rolled your eyes, getting off of the bed, Gibbs eyes traveling your body as you walked to your dresser, picking out a outfit. “Mhm, okay,” You nodded to yourself. “I’ll be there, text me the address. Oh. Never mind then. Bye.”

Gibbs got out of the bed, going to stand beside you. He silently observed as you rolled your eyes once again, opening another drawer, he snaked his arms around your waist and pulled you into his chest, a small kiss on the inside of your neck.

“Who’s that?”

“A old coworker.” You opened your underwear drawer, picking a pair for the day.

“Purple,” Gibbs commented, as you dropped the blue pair back into the others, reaching for the one he chose.

“Gosh, it’s like we really are married,” You laughed to yourself, looking back at his straight face. “Sorry, you would know too much about that. But that’s not my point, there is a dead marine there and that means we’ve got work.”

“You didn’t seem to happy to hear from him,” Gibbs unwrapped his arms as you moved to your closet, picking out a dress shirt.

“I wasn’t. He’s annoying and almost cost me my job at the time. But, it’s our job, we have to go, so grab your clothes in the bottom drawers,” You turned around and pointed at the dresser that held some of his items, now finding what you needed and beginning to change.

———————-

“If you are all interested to know… I spent the morning watching a old TV show airing about a classic comedic couple who travels the world with their adopted son,” Tony announced to no one in particular, sitting at his desk as the others sat at theirs.

Ziva had her arms crossed, leaning back in her chair a bit. McGee sat in his, rubbing his eyes and looking down at his phone.

“What did you do this morning, McGee?” Ziva looked over to McGee, watching as his eyebrows furrowed.

“Trying to work on my new writing.. but for my character, uh, Miranda, I need a good backstory for her, people are really grasping onto her character from the former story. I’ve read some things saying they think she’ll get with Gibbs, I mean Libbs!”

“Interesting,” Ziva tsked. “I read the story and your Miranda character, who is obviously Y/n, and I don’t see it.”

“You know nothing about romance, Ziva,” Tony waltzed over, his own coffee in hand and his face near hers. “I think no one expects you to think about who would get together. But, no, I don’t see Gibbs getting with someone like L/n who is very, you know-”

“I’m what, DiNozzo?” You walked in, moving straight to your desk as you placed your bag down.

“Amazing! I meant, you’re so great that someone like Gib-” Tony looked at Ziva’s eyes widen. “He’s right behind me, isn’t he?”

“Someone like me, now what’s that, DiNozzo?” Gibbs questioned.

“Uh-” Gibbs smacked the back of DiNozzos head, moving over to his own desk.

“Dead sailor, body is already getting examined by Ducky and some visitors are coming to drop off some of the evidence.” Gibbs informed everyone.

“They think this sailor had something to do with a past robbery and murder, a cold case,” You clarified.

“L/n!” A guy smiled widely, another girl following in pursuit behind him as he walked to you with his arms wide open. “It’s been too long,” He quickly hugged you, tightening his grip around your shoulders and moving his hands to cup your face. “You still look as beautiful as ever!”

“Y/n, is that your boyfriend?” Ziva inquired.

“He looks a little out of her leagu-” You shot DiNozzo a look. “Or not?”

“Ah no,” The man laughed. “Old coworkers, that is Lila and I’m Carson, nice to meet you guys.”

“If your old coworkers, you must have a ton of embarrassing stories about Y/n!” DiNozzo beamed, moving closer to Carson.

“Uh, a few,” He responded. “We only worked together for a year or two, some, but not a ton.”

“Some will do.”

“DiNozzo, we aren’t here to make friends we are here to solve a murder,” Gibbs shot him a look and hit the back of his head.

“Right, sorry, boss.” DiNozzo put his head down like a sad puppy dog and made his way back to his desk. The two visitors looked at the scene that had just happened oddly.

“We brought all of our evidence, not much, but something,” Lila announced, placing the box on the table now and taking some of it out. “Should we get started?”

“I’ll show you to Abby, she is our forensic analysts and will probably want to take a look at this stuff for herself,” McGee told Lila, putting the evidence back in the box and letting her grab it, soon walking towards the elevator.

“You think I could check out the body?” Carson asked you. “It might be good to see what he looked like more and talk with your doctor.”

“That makes sense, I’ll show you to him,” You smiled at your old coworker and took another way to Ducky’s area.

The both of you chatted on the way down, catching up with how things differ since you worked there and a bit about your new workplace here.

“I really thought you would be Jeremy, the one who called me. I was a bit worried,” You laughed, walking into Autopsy with Carson as Ducky moved near you.

“Hello, dear, who’s this?” Ducky questioned, Jimmy moved near his boss.

“Hey, Ducky, this is Carson. Carson, this is Doctor Mallard. He is a old coworker of mine, Ducky,” You told the older man. “That’s Jimmy, he is Ducky’s assistant.”

Ducky began to explain how the man had died, pointing out various things on the body and even putting in a few past experiences of his own into the conversation.

Soon the four of you had heard the doors open, turning around to catch the view of your boyfriend entering into the room and moving to stand right in between you and Carson.

“I just want to hear some of the explanation myself, you can continue, Ducky,” Gibbs commented, all of your eyes turning back onto Ducky who was back to talking.

You felt a warm, larger hand travel to the middle of your back, a thumb softly pressing into the fabric that covered your skin. You turned your head slightly to make eye contact with Gibbs, but he just continued to stare forward ignoring it.

It was like a goosebump went up your spine, yet it wasn’t not encouraged. It was a bit of a energetic feeling, so you rejoiced in the innocent touch, a sign he was there.

Eventually, Ducky was done with his long explanation and you were back to heading upstairs with Carson and Gibbs to do more research regarding the deadman and cold case.

“So, Y/n, I was thinking we could go out to lunch or something soon to really catch up, outside of work,” Carson mentioned while you three were on the elevator ride up.

You were surprised at his somewhat boldness to announce this in front of your boss (and boyfriend), but he was always a very open person, kind and open.

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” You replied.

“We are busy most afternoons.” Gibbs added. “So, if you plan it at some ridiculous time don’t expect my agent to be able to make it.”

The doors soon chimed open and Carson quickly left, making a bee line straight to Lila. Gibbs let you leave first, placing another palm against your back to secretly lead you back to where the desks were, even though you knew where you were going.

———————

The rest of the day was spent with much more working diligently. You all had made some progress but not enough, and you could tell it was really getting to Gibbs. He dismissed everyone and told them to come back in the early hours in the morning.

Gibbs had told you that he was going to stay and work on this some more, so you told him you would stay as well and order some food. Once Carson had heard that, he decided that he would do the same.

A hour later, three burgers arrive and you hand them out to the two other men, soon taking a bite into yours. A bit of the condiment had spewed onto the corners of your mouth, but your hunger caught up with you, continuing to avoid the feeling for a moment and just eat.

Carson caught the look of your messiness, breaking off into a small laugh, and you joining, him then making a joke about how this used to be a regular for you. Gibbs got up from his seat with a napkin and bent over a bit to wipe it away from your mouth.

It was certainly a small gesture, but had caught you and Carson off guard, the both of you quieting. You just stared back at him while he continued to eat with a pride grin on his lips, looking over the papers.

It seemed like a blessing from the sky when Gibbs had finally connected the pieces. Everyone was called back in to look over what he found and to excite a plan on how to continue. You all were able to get the murderer into custody and with old evidence and Ducky’s help you were able to identify he was the killer. With Abby’s help you were able to put him at the scene where your old coworkers cold case took place.

It was a relieving feeling that the case was solved and over. It was easy to tell that your current coworkers were also happy with the fact that your old ones were leaving for good. Having unfamiliar people in a familiar place is always a weird feeling for everyone.

You watched as everyone packed up their things to head home from the tiring few days of work. Standing up, you grabbed your bag and moved to Gibbs desk, chatting with him until Carson came over.

“It was nice working with you again,” He commented, you turned around to face him.

“It was. We make a good team.”

“We really do. I was wondering about that, uh, date?”

“Hm,” That had slipped your mind, and almost did once more when you felt a brush of a hand against your bottom, turning around to make eyes at your boyfriend. “Sorry, I actually have a boyfriend. But if you mean the lunch date to catch up, then I’d love to.”

“The second one,” He nodded, his cheeks brightening a bit at the dejection but also confirmation.

“Great,” You grinned, writing down your phone number and handing it to him. “Talk soon, bye.”

“Goodbye.”

You watched as Carson entered the elevator and soon disappeared, the office area looking very empty with the lights darkened a bit and only you and Gibbs being in the area.

“Glad he’s gone,” Gibbs laughed.

“I figured,” You laughed alongside with him. “I could tell by your touchiness at work, are you trying to let everyone know?”

“If I was, I would do something bolder. Didn’t Ducky ever tell you I used to be like DiNozzo?”

“Yeah, that would be a interesting time to see.”

“I think if I was that same man, we might’ve had sex right o-”

“Let’s get home, now,” You both soon left the workplace, hand in hand, laughing along at stories of the younger Gibbs and his flirty persona.

[dreamerhideout]

i love you so

summary: after recovering from a messy break-up with your high school sweetheart, you’d never expect to find happiness in someone who bumped into you on the subway. but that’s where jake sim comes in.

genre: fluff, hurt/comfort, office!au

characters: jake x reader, mentions of ex-boyfriend!jay

warnings: partially proofread, but besides that, none

word count: 1946

a/n: this was supposed to be an entry for the “and then we met” @enhypenwriters writing event, but i think i lost the muse for this a bit too fast (plus, school swamped me again.) i literally wanted to base it off this song by the walters until it dawned on me that it was a heartbreak song :/ hence i made a few adjustments. i’m not quite sure if i’m fully satisfied with how this turned out, but i hope you still enjoy it~

more under the cut!

your heels clicked on the platform as you weaved your way through the crowd of people. it was a bustling monday morning, and waking up half an hour late was not how you expected to start your week. bingeing on this one political-drama show the night before began to feel like a regrettable choice, but there was no time to dwell on that when you see your train pulling up at the platform.

“oh damn, i’m so sorry.”

maybe it was because of how distracted you were from your surroundings that you hadn’t realized that someone bumped into you. as a result, you barely noticed that your coat had gotten stained from the coffee in their cup.

you gave them an apologetic smile, too rushed to get pissed. “no worries.” pausing for a second, you registered the culprit to be a man with a head of chocolate-brown hair and slightly frantic eyes before jogging towards the open subway cart door. once you got on the nearly-stuffed train, your eyes peered down towards your coat. sighing, you swiped at your coffee-stained coat with your finger; perhaps you’d be able to get it cleaned at the office later on if you weren’t getting your ear chewed off by your manager.

-

“we have a new employee joining us today.”

exiting the bathroom door with a slightly-scrubbed coat in hand, you heard your manager call out, then the chatter in the room subsiding. she was standing beside a man that you wouldn’t have vaguely remembered seeing before if it weren’t for the small smile he gave you.

“hi everyone, i’m jake sim. i’ll be working under the research department starting today. it’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

you recognized that voice a little too well, then glancing at your dampened coat. who knew that the man you hastily bumped into this morning would be working at your office?

“jake will be occupying the desk next to (y/n)’s, and he’ll also be under my supervision as he’s still on trial for the next two weeks.” almost instantly, your manager turned towards you, who was still standing in front of the bathroom door.

“oh, yes,” you replied, eyes widening slightly. you went towards your cubicle and motioned to the empty desk beside you for jake to put his things, “over here.”

he walked over and placed a box filled with his belongings on top of the table, then unpacking. “well, i never thought i’d see you here,” he chuckled, “really sorry for what happened earlier, by the way.”

“eh, it’s no big deal.” you draped your coat over your chair for it to dry, “i managed to scrub off most of the stain, so it should be fine.”

“are you sure it isn’t ruined?” he turned to face you, slightly quirking an eyebrow.

you grinned in response, “positive."

jake had placed some stationery into a pencil holder before extending out a hand towards you. “i know i’ve introduced myself earlier.” he smiled rather awkwardly, “but for the sake of us being desk-mates, i’ll do it again. i’m jake.”

your hand met his for a quick shake, a knowing smile on your face. “(y/n). nice to meet you.”

-

if you were sure about one thing, it’d be that time flies by when you’re drowning in deadlines. the sun had already disappeared, yet you still sat hunched over your laptop, fingers typing away at a report due tomorrow assigned a few hours ago. you would have argued with your manager on the matter, but the glare she gave you as you were about to open your mouth was enough to make you shrink back into your seat.

out of habit, you grabbed your phone and unlocked it, expecting to see a message notification from jay, your boyfriend, who’d usually come to pick you up from work. when you didn’t receive one, however, it only dawned on you once again that you weren’t even with him anymore. he was the reason why your routine for the past few months had been working and binge-watching on repeat, with the occasional cry session if you were feeling really out of it. moving on after said breakup had been difficult, especially when it involved the very person who vowed to marry you on the day of your high school graduation.

“working overtime?”

you peered up from your head in your hands to see jake. he had pushed his chair back and was looking at you past the divider. it was way past office hours and you swore that you heard the last of your coworkers’ chatter out the door a few hours ago, but you must have been mistaken.

“yeah.” you gave him a grim smile, “some stupid report i was told to do today.”

“ouch,” he winced, closing his laptop. jake then studied your expression, picking up on how exhausted you looked. “tell you what.” he stood up and began slipping items into his backpack, “what if we went home together? maybe i could grab you something on the way back to make up for earlier.”

you looked up from your screen to see a cheeky smile on his lips. the offer did seem tempting, but you were ways away from actually completing the report. “oh that really isn’t necessary...” you threw him a small smile as you waved a hand rather dismissively, “i might be here for a long while, and i wouldn’t want to hold you back from going home.”

“i insist, (y/n).” jake zipped up his backpack after tossing in a file, “i wouldn’t mind waiting since i have nothing due tomorrow.” he then propped an elbow up on the divider, leaning on it as he carefully took note of the obvious strain on your eyes as well as how you had a slight pout on your lips when you were focused, “and besides... you kinda look like you could use some company.”

a small hum was heard from your mouth until you finally sighed in defeat; he definitely wasn’t wrong about company. “if you say so, then.” you stretched your arms, turning away from your screen, “maybe having you around will make me work faster?”

“how so?”

“you know how sometimes kids won’t work on their homework unless there’s an adult cowering over them like a hawk? yeah, that.” 

jake brought a hand to his mouth in an attempt to stifle a laugh, which ended in him snorting instead. you could feel a smile creep up your lips.

-

the trip home was the most fun you’ve had in months. it didn’t occur to you that jake would be such an avid chatterbox, but you were sorely mistaken. he always had a conversation topic up his sleeve, whether it was about daily adult struggles to his childhood back in australia. you also noticed how he absolutely could not shut up about his beloved dog, layla; it’s a wonder how he had an entire album filled with hundreds of her pictures on his phone. slowly but surely, you also began juggling the conversation; it was as if you had reverted to your bright, happy self pre-breakup. talking with him really felt like reuniting with a long-lost friend, and it was only a matter of minutes until you had reached your apartment's front door.

jake had wanted to use your bathroom for a bit, but it ended with you suggesting for him to stay for dinner which consisted of microwaved pizza and sweet tea. you placed the pizza on the coffee table in front of the tv, then starting up the series you were bingeing on the other night.

“is that designated survivor?” jake sat on your sofa before grabbing a slice of pizza from the plate.

“mhm,” you replied, mouth stuffed. swallowing first, you then replied to him, “the synopsis made me curious.”

your remark was met with silence as you saw jake’s gazed fixed intently upon the screen. it wouldn’t have occurred to you that you’d be having a coworker (who was insanely attractive, nonetheless) over for dinner, but it didn’t bother you at all when jake made offhand comments about the characters and scenes of the series. it also occurred to you quite late that you hadn’t gotten napkins out for the both of you.

“hold on, lemme grab something.” you stood up and went towards your cabinets in search for napkins. jake’s attention broke from the screen to follow your figure before his gaze momentarily landed on a photo frame by the side of your sofa. it was a picture of you and your ex-boyfriend, with his arm wrapped around you as you both smiled brightly for the camera.

“i didn’t know you had a boyfriend?” the man teased as he saw you walk back towards him, napkins in hand. your expression dropped when you realized that throughout the time you’ve been trying to mend your broken heart, you had forgotten to put away that photo.

“we broke up.”

guilt flashed across jake’s face as he realized he had overstepped. “oh wow, i’m sorry... i shouldn’t have brought that up.”

“it’s fine. i guess i must’ve forgotten to put that away.” you smiled at him and placed the napkins on the table before flipping the frame down. taking a seat, you sighed as you tried to focus on the show playing in front of you; you could feel bits of dread wallow in the bottom of your stomach.

there was a moment of awkward pause as neither of you knew what to say. just as you were about to ask jake to leave since you could feel dread clawing at your insides, he suddenly spoke up, “you’re... really strong, though.”

turning to face him, you stared at him quizzically, “really?”

“yeah.” jake could feel your eyes on him, “i mean, if it weren’t for me finding out, i would’ve never guessed that you were going through that.” he grabbed another piece of pizza before meeting your gaze, “you’re a great person, (y/n). i think you should know that. and if you’d need someone to talk to about him... although i don’t really know the guy, i’m all ears.”

the way he gave you a soft smile at the end made your heart slightly flutter. maybe it was because there was this very charming man consoling you on your last breakup, but it was more on the fact that you knew someone had your back in your times of healing. “thanks, jake.” you smiled back, feeling your heart lighten. “i appreciate it. a lot.”

jake felt his heart flip at the sight of your smile. it wasn’t as if he hadn’t seen you smile the entire day; it was a different kind as he could see some weight visibly lifted from you. you were pretty cute when you smiled, the way your eyes crinkled at the sides when you did, and he wondered how he hadn’t realized that sooner.

“uh... jake?” you waved a hand in front of his face to break him away from his stare. he quickly snapped out of his reverie, ears tinting a shade of pink.

“oh, yeah, sorry about that...” he murmured nervously, scratching the back of his head, “guess i got a bit distracted there?”

“i noticed.” you giggled in response, turning your attention back towards the tv. you saw how he stared at you after you spoke, eyes lost in a dream-like trance, and you felt your heart go fuzzy.

perhaps you were still healing, and you might need a little more time before jumping into something new. but rest assured, you knew that jake would be waiting on the other side no matter what.

[pearl-blue-musings]

Perchance to Meet Final

Hi everyone!!

It’s finally here!! I decided to give you all an early birthday gift with this last installment. I want to thank everyone who liked, commented, and reblogged this story it truly means so much to me! This story is kinda my baby on this blog and I hope I did it justice. I’m excited for the future yall! And thank you for being on this journey with me!

Pairing: Aizawa Shouta x fem!reader

Enjoy the last chapter!

~~~~~~~~

The dim lights of the bookstore provide appropriate background for the employees closing up. Kona and (Y/n), now co-owners, are closing up for the night after a successful day of handling demanding children, strange grandmothers, and eager 20 somethings looking for a new hangout. It was long and tiring but incredible.

After the two of them finish writing up and closing the books and organizing the store for the next day, Kona heads up with (Y/n) into her apartment.

“Just so you don’t forget,” Kona starts, “you’re taking a few days off this upcoming week right?”

(Y/n) nods as they enter the apartment. Right by the door are a couple of suitcases and boxes and the pair pick them up and head back down to the storefront. “Yes Kona I didn’t forget. I’m just staying with Shota for a little bit.”

“And you need half of your life with you because?”

“Oh hush,” she chides, “I’m just moving some of my stuff into his place! Even though he lives at the school…”

Kona chuckles as they load up his car, “right, right. Whatever you say.” She sticks her tongue out at him as she shuts the car trunk. (Y/n) then slides into the passenger seat and she and Kona are on their way to the dorms at U.A.

After a bit of driving, they’re driving past the gate after security let them through. The young woman feels her anxiety skyrocket as things start to connect. This is her first time somewhat moving in with someone, her first time really meeting his students, and the first time she’ll meet his coworkers and learn more about his job. It’s exhilarating but frightening.

Kona looks over to her and places a hand on hers. “Hey, you’re gonna be safe here, otherwise I wouldn’t have allowed it.”

She snickers at him and starts to calm down. Upon entering the grounds, she sees heights alliance and is in awe of the tall buildings and the beauty surrounding them. She never realized just how big the campus was and now seeing it up close is how Shouta described it doesn’t do it justice.

And speaking of Shouta, there he stands right where he said he would be. Her lips upturn naturally at him and she can’t help but smile at her man. He’s hers, and she’s his. His hands are in his pockets as per usual as he sees you pull up, signature snarky grin on his face. When she opens the door, he takes her hand and pulls her into a hug.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

He kisses her then, softly and wraps his arms around her waist not entirely caring who could potentially catch them. Most of his students should be in their dorms and Aizawa had a feeling he’s going to be introducing her to a lot of his coworkers tonight.

“Let me take your luggage for you,” he whispers in her ear and walks to the back of the car. Once he opens it, he stares at her in a deadpan. “Did you really pack all this stuff?”

“I mean, yes? Who knows how long I’ll stay here or if an accident happens. And besides I’ll need extra clothes just in case.”

He scoffs as he picks up your luggage and sees Kona carrying your extra box. “Is this your way of saying you want to move in together?”

That causes (Y/n) to visibly straighten. She had considered it, but maybe now is the right time to talk about it? “I mean, maybe? I’ve been thinking heavily about it. Is that okay?”

He holds her hand and brings it up to his lips and kisses the back of it. “Of course kitty cat,” he whispers huskily, “I’d love to move in with you at some point.”

Unfortunately, this act of intimacy wasn’t missed by wandering eyes. Upon walking up to the faculty dorm, two pairs of eyes were peering by the door in eager anticipation. Blue and green eyes look between themselves and matching sinister grins greet the couple.

“’Zawa she’s here!”

“This is her? She’s gorgeous! How could you keep her away from us for so long?”

“Well I met her first, Nemuri.”

“You don’t have to rub it in, Mic!”

Hearing the two friends banter makes Aizawa roll his eyes and holds onto (Y/n) tighter as they walk past the troublesome twosome. “Hey,” Nemuri steps in front of the couple, “I’m Midnight! But my friends call me Nemuri and I think you and I are going to be great friends!”

The sapphire eyed woman sticks out her hand toward (Y/n) and the latter takes it and smiles at her. Midnight squeals and takes her away from Aizawa, skillfully sneaking in a “I’ll take her to see some of the other teachers,” and the two of them were gone. Aizawa rolls his eyes again, something he figures he’ll be doing a lot of over the next few days, and asks Present Mic to pick up the slack.

The blond man walks with the always tired man and sparks conversation. “You must really love her, huh?”

Shouta hums and nods as they approach his room. The two men put her belongings down and then head back out to the common room. His eyes soften as he sees Nemuri introducing (Y/n) to some of the teachers that weren’t dealing with students freaking out about the festival tomorrow. The large and beautiful smile on her face makes everything they’ve waited for and been through worth it.

“Yeah Hizashi, I really do.”

*************

It had been years since the bookstore owner had set foot on a school campus, let alone for a school festival. Seeing the school at night was one thing, but seeing it in the day time is something else. The courtyard was dressed and set with tents, balloons, stalls and more. Her eyes lit up with childlike joy, but she wasn’t going there just yet. She had to meet her festival touring partner. (Y/n) walks down toward the front of the school and is greeted by a black car and outstep two people. One with a blinding smile, and the other dressed adorably.

“You’re Miss (Y/n) right? I’m Mirio! And I’m sure you already know Eri-chan here.”

She can’t help but smile at the energy the third year exuded. Shouta had told her that he had lost his quirk in the battle, but he is incredibly strong to be here right now smiling. The attachment he has to Eri is one you don’t miss. “It’s nice to meet you Mirio! Eri has told me so much about you.”

He smiles back at her and the three of them walk toward the school. Eri holds onto both of their hands as they walk through the festival. Eri is the first to speak up. “When will I see Midoriya? He’s performing soon right?”

Midoriya?

“Yes he is! And that’s where we’re headed. Do you want to be up front with me or sit in the back near Aizawa-senpai?”

Eri ponders Mirio’s question looking between both adults and then answers, “I wanna see Midoriya up close!”

Her response makes (Y/n) giggle and nod. The three of them speed walk toward the gym where class 1-A is having their music show. Once the trio reaches the gym, Aizawa spots (Y/n) and motions her over, letting Eri and Mirio to find a spot close to the front. The stoic man stands at the back, taking in the large crowd in front of him as he waits for his partner to join him. He does his best to avoid the stares and whispers of students about his class and about the strange woman that was allowed to come onto school grounds.

The entire performance is mesmerizing! Her eyes were blown wide the whole time; she knew they were incredible but to even put on a festival performance like this as first years? Her high school could never compete! To her right, Aizawa watched her in silent amusement at her childlike wonder at his students. He thinks to himself that this was the right way for her to see his students as just students and not victims of tragedy. He wanted the whole school to see it. And he knew his class would do just that.

Once that was over, the couple walked out into the gym lobby and waited for the large crowd to disperse. As they waited, (Y/n)’s mind began to drift off. This is his world and he’s openly sharing it with her. Although schedules had prevented the two of them from truly immersing into each others worlds, it’s nice for it to finally happen. The content woman hadn’t noticed the small smile that graced her features, but Aizawa had caught it. With how close they were, he reaches out his pinky to connect with hers for that little bit of intimacy they could do in public. The touch alone sends electric shocks through her body, finding out the man next to her does enjoy small acts of intimacy like this.

With the students moved on to the next thing, Aizawa leads them into the gym where his students are cleaning up. He spots Eri and Mirio talking with one of his troublemakers and his heart almost stops. He hears a gasp from beside him, most likely in recognition of what he saw.

“Eri,” she starts as happy tears form in her eye creases, “she’s smiling.”

The moment is short lived when Mineta interrupts the trio and begs them to clean up faster. As they finish cleaning up, Aizawa calls his class to his attention. He congratulates them on a job well done gives them their well earned praise. The class is excited but can’t help but keep sparing glances at the beautiful stranger next to their sensei. The only one who knows but is already nervous at the potential questions.

Aizawa lets his students go and is already heading toward the exit before they can bombard him with annoying questions. (Y/n) does her best to stifle her laughs because she can feel the questions lingering in the air as they leave his students confused. She can already hear the questions from different voices asking about who she is to their sensei and if they’ll see her more often. The noise fades when the couple walks outside to the rest of the festival to visit different vendors and stalls. Her ears pick up on something that surprises her is that there’s a fashion show? This school has everything.

She feels a tug on her pinky and looks up to meet unmoving eyes. Shouta directs them to a shaded and covered area that upon first glance, can’t be seen by passersby. He pulls her into the trees, checks for any onlookers, and places a sudden yet passionate kiss on her lips. She leans into his body, wrapping her arms around his neck to bring him closer to her. Their lips move and mesh like the waves crashing upon the shore, natural and effortless. When they pull apart, he places his forehead on hers and intertwines their fingers. “I’ve been wanting to do that all morning,” he breathes over her lips.

A giggle escapes her lips as she pecks his lips in happiness. She wants to deepen the kiss, but knows that Eri is waiting for them. She pulls at his arm for them to rejoin the festival and he huffs, disappointedly. Noticing this, she pulls him close to her mouth in order for her to whisper, “and we can continue this later where we can be as loud as we want, Sir.” She winks and skips toward Eri and Mirio who seemed to be looking for her.

Aizawa is usually a very stoic and composed man, but hearing her whisper that made him not leave the shaded area for a couple of minutes.

*************

The sunset over the edge of campus lit up the sky in beautiful oranges and purples. The festival went off without a hitch and it seemed that Eri had the time of her life. And so did (Y/n). The young girl was taken to the third year dorms to hang out with them and give Aizawa some much deserved alone time. He had finished chatting with Shinsou, his new mentee, while (Y/n) refreshed herself in the ladies’ room. Upon her return, she has to do a double take because she’s certain she’s seeing double. Two pairs of eyes turn to her as she slowly approaches.

“Oh Shinsou, this is (Y/n). You’ll see her from time to time.”

She waves at the lavender haired student and he lifts his eyebrows to acknowledge her. Looking at how close they are he speaks up, “Girlfriend?”

“Yeah.”

“Hm. Well I’ll see you tomorrow sensei and sensei’s girlfriend.”

(Y/n)’s mouth still hung open at the exchange that she was part of but also wasn’t part of. Shouta waves off Shinsou and starts walking in the opposite direction with her. Regaining her composure, she questions the man walking beside her. “So you’re just going around calling me your girlfriend when you haven’t even asked me?”

Aizawa turns his head toward her with his eyebrows furrowed. “I thought we established that back at the hospital.”

She laughs loudly as they approach the stairs leading to the roof. “All you did was tell that student I’m your girlfriend. You never asked me.”

All he does is hum and lead the woman up the stairs and to the rooftop where he had spent many hours before in his youth. With the moon starting to rise, he knew the fireworks commemorating the end of the festival would start soon and he wanted them to have the best view. Once the door is opened, she’s left stunned at the view. With the fire pits below them leaving little flakes and smoke to float into the sky as it transitions from purple to a deep blue.

“Shouta, this view is incredible.”

The awestruck woman doesn’t notice the change in demeanor of the pro-hero beside her as they walk further out onto the roof. Aizawa wants to capture this moment forever, just seeing her in this light on top of a place he can almost call home with fireworks about to start. He checks the time and then walks behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his head on her shoulder.

“Be my girlfriend. Again.”

“That was more of a demand.”

“I’m only gonna ask once.”

She chuckles at his stubbornness and turns her head to kiss his cheek. “See that wasn’t so hard? All you had to do was ask.” He rolls his eyes and holds her tighter as they sway to the music playing in their heads. Maybe it’s the music from the night they met or the music from his student’s performance. The fireworks begin to light up the sky in front of them, decorating the dark night with an array of bright colors.

The show continues as the couple still sways to their own rhythm. Minutes later the show ends and applause can be heard from down below. The couple completely content with each other and the atmosphere they have created ignore the world around them. Aizawa is the first to break the mood by turning his girlfriend around so they’re face to face.

“The night we met, I almost didn’t go out with my friends.” His confession earns an eyebrow raise and a look of realization from his other half in front him. He takes her hand in his and brings it to his lips, grasping her palm and kissing the top of her hand.

“But I’m glad I got the chance to meet you and fall in love with you.” She hadn’t noticed it until it was too late. He was down one knee, at the place that has been a huge part of his life, eyes full of love and adoration for the future despite the trials and tribulations they may endure. He wants nothing more than for her to be part of his life forever.

“Will you marry me?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thank yall so much! Taglist: @kiribaku-queen @shinsouskitten @shinsotired @cupcake-rogue @prk-pyo @therealwalmartjesus @maat-the-prescriptive

[callboxkat]

Second Chances: Virgil’s No Good, Awful, Very Bad Week

Author’s note: Thank you everyone for your patience on this! I’m so sorry I didn’t get this out as quickly as I intended. I hope you enjoy it :)

Summary: Things had really begun to snowball for Virgil in the past week or so. And he was reaching his breaking point. 

It had started with those stupid nails.

Warnings: Food mentions, rude customers, arguing

Word Count: 4735

Second Chances Masterpost!

Writing Masterpost!

...

Virgil had been having a time of it lately. Seemingly everything that could possibly wrong was going wrong, and he desperately needed a me day. He was going to lose it, at this rate.

His new coworker had finally settled in enough to start being actually helpful, rather than slowing everything down and doubling the number of irate customers Virgil had to juggle, and had maybe turned out to actually not be a jerk, and things had been looking up. But of course, Virgil’s life couldn’t have that, and here he was. Things had really begun to snowball in the past week or so. And he was reaching his breaking point.

It had started with those stupid nails.

…

“Are you freaking kidding me,” Virgil groaned.

There was a nail in his tire. A nail, in his tire. The end of it glinted slightly in the weak sunlight, the rest completely embedded in the tire of his car.

He’d had a feeling about what he’d fine, as the low pressure warning had come on and he’d pulled onto the side of the road, although he’d hoped otherwise. This was the third time this had happened in as many months. Virgil swore someone was seeding his driveway with them.

“Great. Just great.” Virgil fished his phone out of his pocket, glanced at the time—he was definitely going to be late for work, since he wasn’t about to let his car sit in the parking lot and leak air from the tire all morning—and dialed Thomas’s number. Apparently, he and Roman would get to start today’s shift alone.

Rain began to fall, pattering the street. Even more perfect. Virgil cast one more glare at the offending tire before he got back in his car. He slammed the door just as the line picked up.

“Hello?”

“Hey T, uh… were you going to go in today?”

“I wasn’t,” Thomas admitted. “Why, do you need me to?”

“Well, I was on my way to the café, but you’ll never guess what I just found in my tire.”

There was a sympathetic groan on the other end of the line. “Oh, no.”

“Yep.”

“But you just got that fixed.”

“Yep.”

“…Are you sure it’s not just a pebble?”

Virgil laughed. “Thomas, I think I know how to tell a nail head from a pebble. If I didn’t before, I sure should now.”

“That’s true.”

“So, uh, hopefully I shouldn’t be too long, but….”

“No, don’t worry about it. Do what you’ve got to do. I’ll go make sure Roman’s not by himself.”

“Yeah. Um, tell Princey I said hi, I guess. And that if he messes anything up while I’m gone, I’m gonna take his name tag and make him wear my Myrtle one.”

“…You don’t have a Myrtle nametag?”

“I’ll make one, then.”

Thomas snorted. “Alright.” He knew Virgil was joking. Which he was. Mostly.

Getting a nail in his tire sucked; but of course, it if were only the nail that he had to deal with, it wouldn’t have been so bad. Virgil could handle a minor inconvenience. A few minor inconveniences. But things only got worse from there.

…

“Medium chai latte with two cherries,” the woman standing in front of the register said, not looking up from her phone.

“Sure,” Virgil said. They typed in the order, then told her the price. The cherries seemed a little odd, as did the specific request for exactly two of them, but they’d put together some pretty strange orders. And it wasn’t exactly difficult to throw in a couple of cherries. It wasn’t a very expensive drink.

The woman frowned anyway and finally looked up from her phone, clearly unhappy. “But the sign says the chai latte is only—"

THUMP! The loud interruption was accompanied by a gasp and a splash. Virgil spun around, their heart immediately racing. There was a yelp from the side—probably Roman.

“Oh, goodness gracious,” Thomas sighed, one hand on the counter, looking down at the mess he’d made. He’d dropped a gallon of milk—which had been nearly full, from the look of it, and which either hadn’t had a cap, or had lost it when the jug fell, hitting the ground hard. It had, of course, tipped onto its side. Now, milk was spreading across the floor, and there were splashes of it across the bottom of the cabinets and their clothes.

Roman, the only one of the three spared from the splatter, quickly set down the pair of drinks he’d just finished before he could drop them. A bit of coffee dripped down the side of one of the cups. His eyes were wide as he looked from the splattered milk on the floor, to Thomas by the counter, to Virgil at the register.

Virgil also took a second to take in the scene, then noticed the damp feeling at the ankles of their leggings. They looked down, and their still frantic heart managed to sink as they took in their skirt. It was new, ankle length, with beading and embroidered skulls. They’d worn it with a stylishly ripped long sleeve shirt under their uniform shirt, as well as a studded choker with a dangling storm cloud pendant, which had been a birthday gift from Thomas. They were also wearing a they/them pin that they’d gotten from Roman, who’d shown up one day with a set of three pins, looking both very nervous and very pleased with himself. Virgil had still been able to see where the clearance sticker had been torn off—not that they were judging saving a little money. Virgil was 100% sure that the gift was Roman’s attempt to help himself, since apparently the name tags were too subtle. Virgil thought it was kind of hilarious—and maybe a little sweet (maybe)—so they wore the pins.

They had loved the look, minus the Sanders Café shirt; and wearing it had really brightened having to go to work so early in the morning; but now the ensemble was rather soured by the milk dripping from the skirt’s hem and splashed across their shoes. They stepped back to avoid the spreading puddle, as if it mattered at that point.

“Huh,” they said, still trying to get their heart rate to calm down.

Thomas sighed as if in agreement. A few people in line either groaned or snickered, depending on how impatient they were feeling on that particular day, but most weren’t that rude. One person whispered to their friend, “Should we go somewhere else?”

Roman, meanwhile, looked like he was waiting for someone to start yelling. He was eyeing the closet where the cleaning supplies were, but he couldn’t get to it without marching through the milk, and he was visibly hesitating. Probably didn’t want to ruin his shoes. Virgil might have been annoyed, but Roman was the only one who hadn’t already gotten milk on them, so they couldn’t really blame him.

Their gaze drifted to Thomas’s hand on the counter, and how much weight he was putting on it, and the fact that Thomas had also made no move to clean up the spill.

“I’ve got this,” Virgil said, leaving the register and the crowd behind it. A soccer mom who was waiting for her drink made a snide comment about professionalism. Virgil decided her drink was getting made last.

“Thanks,” Thomas said. He watched as Virgil righted the jug and picked it up. The side of the jug had cracked, and they quickly moved to hold the jug at an angle to avoid too much more spilling—not that there was all that much left. It continued to drip as they carried it to the sink and set it down. Then, they went to get a mop. Thomas was feigning casualness as Virgil went, clearly preferring to look a bit like a jerk than anything else in front of the customers, who probably assumed he was just a manager taking advantage of the lower ranking employee by forcing them to clean up his mess. Virgil wasn’t going to do anything to ruin that image if that was the one he preferred, although they did keep an eye on Thomas as they started to clean up the spill.

Roman slowly turned back to what he’d been doing, wiping off the side of one of the drinks and sliding the both towards the waiting crowd. He grabbed one of the café’s popular double chocolate cheesecake slices, put it on a plate, and added it to the grouping on the counter before calling the customers’ names.

After a few seconds, Thomas straightened and walked to the register, and sat down on the stool. Chatter resumed a more usual tone in the café, although Virgil did notice a few people taking pictures of the spill.

Thomas smiled brightly at Ms. Chai Latte with Two Cherries. “Sorry about the wait! Let’s see, one chai latte, with two added cherries. That’ll be—”

The woman was already waving her credit card in his direction. “I know, I know. Here.”

Finally, the spill was cleaned up, and Virgil went to put away the mop. They snagged a bag of chips from the display and tossed them to Thomas on their way. And for the rest of their shift, they desperately tried to ignore the milk still stubbornly set into their skirt and leggings.

…

“Sorry,” Virgil said dully, not actually sorry at all, “Would you mind repeating that again?”

The young man grinned and repeated his very, very long order, speaking fast in a way that could only be on purpose. Virgil was pretty sure the order was different this time than the first. They cast a glance at the camera phone the guy was holding up, which was recording the entire thing, as if this was somehow the thrilling content the entire internet was looking for.

“One more time,” they said. “Please,” they added, because their boss would want them to.

The guy chuckled. “A little slow, huh…” he squinted at their shirt “…Alex, are we?”

Virgil only blinked at him.

He repeated the order. He definitely changed it again, but at least he slowed down this time. Slightly. Virgil typed it in, flashed a customer-service smile that didn’t reach their eyes, and went to make the order, taking a copy of the receipt. Roman was technically meant to fill the orders, but no one else was in the café besides a pair of teens waiting for their drinks. And based on the look the other barista cast Virgil, he had no idea where to start with this guy’s order anyway, even if he wasn’t already busy. Everything the man had ordered was ridiculous and often contradictory, like an “americano” with milk and whipped cream, to start. Most of the drinks had about ten customizations each that made their drinkability questionable at best. The order was rounded out by two relatively normal cappuccinos, identical except that one was decaf, and three-quarters of a cookie (he was being charged for the full cookie). It wasn’t a cheap bill, but that didn’t seem to be a concern.

The man filmed Virgil work, making dumb comments and laughing, and calling out various things that he thought that the barista had forgotten even though they hadn’t, or saying that they hadn’t added enough sprinkles or cherries or syrup, or whatever he could think of. Virgil only checked the receipt and kept going.

When the customer clearly didn’t get the reaction he wanted from any of that nonsense, he instead started berating Virgil’s appearance, saying he hadn’t known he was at some kind of freak raccoon zoo.

Roman looked annoyed at that and opened his mouth to respond, but Virgil shook their head. “Don’t, Princey,” they said in a low voice.

Roman hadn’t looked happy, but he had dropped it, instead heading over to the register, so that he could help the newly arriving customers who would otherwise be stuck waiting.

Finally, the monstrous order was done, and Virgil placed each cup on a tray. Two trays, actually. The drinks didn’t all fit on one. They set the dumb three-quarters cookie the customer had ordered on top of the lid of one of the cups.

“Which one’s the full caff cappuccino?” he asked. “You know, with—”

He went on to list all of the specifications it had, which Virgil tuned out because they didn’t care. They calmly pointed at one of the cups.

The guy grinned, took that drink off of the tray, and set it to the side. Then he did his best to fit everything else on one tray, putting his phone in a chest pocket so he could keep filming. He wasn’t going to win any awards for cinematography. Maybe he didn’t have any friends to film for him. It wouldn’t be a surprise.

The man picked up his overflowing tray of drinks, and then he dumped the entire thing in the trash.

Some of the drinks hit the edges of the trash can’s opening, spilling over the sides; but most of the man’s order ended up firmly in the trash. Everything Virgil had spent the past… he didn’t even know how long putting together. The two teenagers in the cafe looked up from their table, their jaws falling open like they couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

Roman looked even more horrified, but as angry as they were, Virgil simply blinked and turned to the drink the guy had set aside. “Oh, wait. Yeah. Sorry, that one’s actually the decaf.”

The wannabe internet star, who’d been watching their reactions smugly, paused. His face went blank with surprise, then contorted in rage. He turned off his camera phone and stormed out of the café without his drink.

Virgil counted to five, to reset, and let out a long, weary sigh. There weren’t many customers who were that horrible, but they were always a pain to deal with on the rare occasion they did show up. They turned to the small line that had collected during the show, held up by how long the one pointless order had taken. “If you all wouldn’t mind, please use the trash can on the other side of the café until further notice.” They pointed at the other trash can. They’d clean up the other once the line was gone, or make Roman do it.

Speaking of Roman, the other barista was still staring at the trashcan full of wasted drinks. Probably his first encounter with someone like that.

“Next customer,” Virgil called.

“He didn’t even… try any of them,” Roman said quietly. He looked down at the solitary, ridiculous drink left on the counter, and picked it up.

Virgil sighed. “Yeah. He was just here to make a mess for views, or whatever. Don’t worry about it. You can just throw that one away, too—we can’t sell it; and I doubt he’s coming back.” They turned and smiled at the customer before them. “So sorry about the wait. What can I get for you?”

They focused on taking the customer’s order, then turned to Roman, only to see that he hadn’t moved, still standing with the abandoned drink. He looked angry.

“Roman?”

“I’m taking my break,” Roman said. Still holding the drink, he left the prep area, walking stiffly towards the back of the café.

Great.

Virgil watched him go, shrugged, and went to make the order herself. She handed the drink off, then paused to switch the pins on her shirt before heading back to the register.

Some time later, once the café’s line was empty and the trash can had been cleaned up, Virgil walked to the break room and leaned on the doorframe. Roman was in there, sitting on the sofa, leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and looking at the floor. The drink he’d taken from the counter sat on a table, half finished.

“You drank it?”

“It was the most normal drink he ordered,” Roman said, not looking up. “And he barely touched it.”

“Yeah, but… it’s decaf.”

Roman huffed, but he didn’t actually seem amused.

“What’s up, Princey?”

Roman shook his head.

“Come on, humor me. I don’t have time to needle it out of you. Someone’s supposed to be out front.”

Roman shook his head, glanced at Virgil, and looked away again. “It’s just a big waste, okay? What that guy did. I don’t—” He shook his head. “People shouldn’t do that.”

“No,” Virgil agreed, still confused about why a few drinks mattered so much to Roman. He wasn’t the one to waste so much time putting them together, and the guy had paid for them. “They shouldn’t.”

Roman took in a shaky breath and sat up, still looking away. “Sorry, just… go back out front. I’ll join you in a second.”

“…Okay.” Virgil hesitated, glancing him up and down, but she did leave.

Roman came back soon after, but he kept acting weird for the rest of their shift.

When she got home that afternoon, Virgil wanted nothing more than to take a long nap and watch some bad television, but someone had backed into her mailbox, and she got to deal with that instead.

…

The next day, the fridge died.  

The freaking. Fridge. Died. They had just gotten a milk delivery!

Virgil and Thomas were stuck with a dead fridge and a crowd of customers who weren’t exactly going to leave and give them space to figure out what to do. At least they knew roughly when it had stopped working, since Virgil had checked it when he got to the café, and they’d noticed something was wrong soon after.

Thomas went to the back to make some calls about getting the fridge fixed, and Virgil went on as normal, since they had some time before this really became a problem.

He tried not to think about it too much—at least, not until Thomas returned, looking annoyed and exasperated.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “That’s the earliest they can come look at it.”

“Everything will go bad way before then,” Virgil pointed out, arching an eyebrow. “The milk.”

“Yep.”

“So? What are we going to do?”

“Bradley told me we could figure that out. He doesn’t care.”

“Um, okay, well….”

Thomas shrugged. “Clearance sale?”

They ended up selling everything that required refrigeration for half of the regular price. Some of the less popular items, or items they had a lot of, were even further discounted. The first few customers to find this out were simply pleasantly surprised to hear the prices. Some of them added more to their orders, since they might as well.

And then, news spread, which created a new problem. Soon, the line was out the door, the café filled with customers clamoring for their discount coffee and pastry fix.

This rush, naturally, created more problems. Many of the customers seemed to be under the impression that everything was half price, and Virgil had the joyous task of dealing with many customers who were angry that their plain black coffee or chocolate chip cookies were full price, and who were unimpressed by Virgil’s suggestion that they make their americano a cappuccino or a latte if they were that set on paying less.

Thomas and Virgil were pushing out orders as fast as they could, and still it seemed like half the shop was filled with people clamoring to get their orders filled.

Mass hysteria rose when the café ran out of the popular double chocolate cheesecake. Virgil was beginning to contemplate simply closing the café for the day, cutting their losses, and hoping he wouldn’t get fired for doing so. Possibly the only reason he didn’t do that was remembering Roman’s reaction to a few (well… relatively few) drinks getting thrown away.

At one point, Thomas pulled Virgil aside. “I might need to go home,” he very reluctantly admitted. “This is… a lot. Would that be okay? I don’t want to leave you alone with all this.”

Virgil bit his lip. “Okay. Just… hold on a minute. Stay on the register. I’ll see if anyone else can come.”

Virgil pulled out his phone (which he was allowed to have in his apron pocket, at least as far as he cared) and stepped away from the crowded front of the café, retreating to the back room. He tapped his painted nails against the black, purple-rhinestone-studded phone case, thinking. Talyn and Joan would both be in class, so they weren’t an option. And he didn’t like most of the other baristas. Really, there was only one option.

Virgil selected Roman’s contact, and waited. He’d have preferred to just text—he hated phone calls—but he couldn’t be sure that a text would get Roman’s attention; and that cheap phone of his probably took forever to type on, anyway.

“Hey, Virgil,” Roman said. “What’s up? It’s my day off, isn’t it?” There was a shuffling noise, like he was scrambling to check that he hadn’t gotten the date wrong.

“Yeah—yeah, I know it is. Sorry, but, uh… we kind of have an emergency going on here, and we really need you to come in if you can. The fridge died this morning, so Thomas and I are trying to sell everything we can before it goes bad, and it’s getting crazy. And he’s not feeling well, so it’d just be me here… and—and it won’t like you’ll be losing your day off this week, since I doubt we’ll be able to open tomorrow with no fridge or supplies or anything. It’ll only be a couple of hours.” After that, they’d have to throw everything out.

Roman paused.

“…Please?”

“Wow, you must really be desperate if you’re saying ‘please’.”

Virgil scoffed, but before he could say anything, Roman continued, “Yeah, of course I’ll come in. One sec, I’ll see if I can get a ride.” Roman seemed to freeze, as if he’d misspoken “Uhh—my car’s—it’s in the shop.”

“…Yeah, sure.” That was an obvious lie, but it was neither any of his business nor anything he particularly cared about, especially at that moment. Virgil heard a scuffing noise, then footsteps, then a muffled conversation. Virgil paced the back room impatiently.

“Alright, I’m on my way. Give me like ten minutes, maybe fifteen.”

Virgil heaved a sigh of relief. “Thanks.”

He went out to tell Thomas, who agreed to stay until Roman arrived, although he wasn’t sure how helpful he’d be.

And then a disgruntled guest threw a drink, because apparently it was taking too long to get their wife’s order. Virgil was really going to need a self-care day after the week he was having. Or two. Or ten.

“I’m afraid you’ll have to leave,” Thomas said from the register, looking unimpressed with the display.

“Sure, ma’am, whatever you say,” the customer said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

Thomas frowned.

“Bye,” Virgil said pointedly.

Both customers looked annoyed, but thankfully, they did leave. The next several customers were overly nice, as if trying to make up for them. Virgil was not opposed to that, or to the substantial tips a few of them left.

Just under fifteen minutes later, Roman arrived. Another young man came in with him. Virgil assumed that he was a customer at first, but he looked around the café, grinning, chatting with Roman in a clearly familiar way.

“Wow, Roman,” Virgil heard, “is it always this busy?”

Roman laughed. “No, Pat. This is a little… unusual.”

“Oh, that’s good. It looks like a Black Friday sale in here.”

“That’s accurate,” Thomas commented, looking amused, as they came closer. He was sitting on the stool from the register, no longer taking orders—Virgil had been doing that for a while now. He started to get up, leaning on the counter to talk to Roman. “Thanks for coming in. Virge and I really appreciate it.”

Roman waved him off. “It’s fine, I wasn’t doing anything.”

“Still, thanks,” Thomas repeated. He waved at Virgil, then left the prep area, starting to untie the knot of his apron.

Virgil set down another cluster of drinks and pastries, and called the names on the orders even as hands appeared from the crowd to snatch them. Hopefully they were the right people, but if not, well… not his problem. “Who’s this?” Virgil asked, coming closer to Roman.

“Oh, Virgil, this is Patton. He gave me a ride. He’s, uh….”

“I’m his roommate,” Patton said, smiling. “And a friend.”

“Yeah,” said Roman. “Thanks, Pat. You can go home if you want.”

“Okay. Just text me when I should pick you up!” He smiled at Virgil, then glanced around at the crowded café. “Well, I won’t keep you, but it’s nice to meet you, kiddo.”

“Nice to meet you,” Virgil agreed.

The young man hugged Roman before he left, and then the baristas turned to face the mob.

By the time their clock ran out, very little was left to throw away. Still, Virgil could tell it pained Roman when they had to announce to everyone that the café was closing, and even more so when they threw out what was left. There wasn’t much to do about it, though, which Roman understood.

After their disaster of a morning came to a close, Virgil threw his apron at the hook on the wall in the wall. He missed, and the apron fell to the ground. “At least we get tomorrow off, right?” he sighed.

(Of course, this was before he knew that Bradley would ask him to be there when the repair worker came to look at the fridge)

…

Virgil watched a movie in bed that afternoon, but she burned her popcorn, which happened to be the last in the box; and she wasn’t exactly willing to go out and buy a new one at that moment. And the neighbor’s kids seemed to be having some kind of screaming competition.

She wasn’t having a great week.

…

The next afternoon, after dealing with the fridge situation at the café, Virgil finally got to go home and properly relax. No more nails in his tires, no more angry or entitled customers, and no more neighbors backing into his mailbox.

He had barely closed the front door before he was kicking off his shoes and yanking off his Sanders Café shirt (Why had he worn it, when the café wasn’t even open? The best he could figure was some kind of horrible autopilot.) He put his head back and let out a cry of pent-up frustration.

The week was over. It was finally time for some self-care, before he lost it completely.

He put on his softest pajama pants and was about to flop on the couch to watch The Office when the doorbell rang. He would have ignored it, but it rang again. Virgil threw a pillow in the door’s direction. It fell to the floor. The doorbell rang again.

Reluctantly, Virgil got up and went to answer it, and give whoever stood there a piece of his mind. “What,” he groaned, only to cut himself off when he saw who stood there. “…Oh. Hi, Thomas.”

“Hi,” Thomas said. He held up a case in one hand and smiled. “I brought drinks.”

Strawberry lemonade—Virgil’s favorite.

Virgil leaned on the doorframe and looked at Thomas appraisingly. “…You like The Office, right?” he asked.

Thomas laughed. “Storm Cloud, I introduced you to The Office.”

“Hm.” Virgil stepped back to let him in, cracking a grin. “Fair point.”

They watched a few too many episodes of The Office before Thomas went home, and by then, Virgil was feeling a lot better. Still, once he was alone, Virgil treated himself to a nice soak in the tub (in swim trunks and t-shirt) with a wine glass full of his finest purple Gatorade. He even set out candles (the battery-powered kind), put on some relaxing music, and used a swirling galaxy bath bomb that he’d been saving. A book Thomas had recommended sat on a little table by the tub, along with his cellphone in case it didn’t turn out as to be as good as his friend claimed.

Once everything was ready, Virgil sank into the bath, Gatorade in hand, surrounded by a swirling galaxy, ready to let the stress melt away

It was a nice way to end a very, very sucky week.

[the-sound-of-her-wings]

I Don't Know How to Love Him, Pt. I

Bruce Banner x GenderNeutral!Reader, Set during the entirety of The Avengers. Part I of Unknown- will likely span all of Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Infinity War.

You are a former shield agent who gets dragged back into the business after Loki steals the tesseract. You meet a cast of fun characters along the way, and maybe even fall in love.

Word Count: 2,357

Contains: A reference to Sleipnir, Water-based powers, Meeting for the First time, fluff?, talk of blood pressure

Inspiration: I Don't Know How to Love Him from Jesus Christ, Superstar

Comments and Reblogs are appreciated! Thank you for reading.

You are not surprised when Nick Fury comes to visit you. There had been rumblings about a major incident at a Shield facility from your former colleagues- enough to make you concerned. Enough that Fury would try to drag you back into the life you left. Still, you're concerned when you see him sitting in your area, waiting for his order to be taken.

“My name is y/n, what can I start you with?” You ask, getting out your notepad ready to take his order.

“I’ll start with a coffee, black. And toast sliced diagonally.” He doesn’t look up at you, instead hiding his face behind the menu.

You smile, writing down the order as if it wasn’t code for something else, and reply, “Just a moment!” You walk over to the counter, where one of your coworkers is sitting. She is a teenager, bored out of her mind, waiting at the register for people to come up after they’ve finished eating.

“Hey, Sally. Something came up and I’ve got to run out of town for a bit. Let Karl know some family stuff came up- he’ll understand.”

“Does this mean I’ll have to cover the tables in your area?” She’s looking at you like you’ve just delivered the worst news of her life.

“No, I’m sure Chris can handle it. It’s a slow day. But Julie’s number is by the phone if you need to call in back-up.” You respond, taking off your apron and hanging it behind the counter.

You leave the building, giving a glance to Fury on your way out. You find his car almost immediately- its slick, clean and fortified- nothing like the other cars parked out front. You lean against the driver’s side door, waiting for him to exit. A few minutes later, he does.

“That bad, huh?” You ask

“Worse” He responds, walking towards you. You move out of the way and begin to walk around to the other side of the car.

“Glad you reached out, then.” You say, climbing into the passenger side.

There is silence as he begins to pull out of the parking lot.

“So. Aliens. Asgardian or Kree?” You ask.

“Asgardian, and just the one. Loki.”

“The trickster God? The one who got impregnated by a horse?”

“That’s the one. He’s got the tesseract.” Fury deadpans. You turn your head to look at the man you used to work for, who’s asking for your help.

“Were you doing experiments on the tesseract?” You ask.

He does not respond. You throw your head back and let out a sigh. “I never should’ve left”

“You shouldn’t have. But you did. And now you are back. I hope you enjoyed your time off, Commander.”

“Don’t call me that” You dismiss, “I assume I’m not the only one you’re retrieving for this mission. You didn’t call Carol, did you?”

“For someone who never met her you sure like to act as if you did, “ He retorts,” And no. I didn’t. She’s got bigger fish to fry.”

“So who else is on the team?” You ask again, just as you pull up to the airbase. You can see there is a quinjet waiting for you.

“Why don’t you see for yourself.” You grumble at him, staying silent for the rest of the time it takes to stop the car.

You begin to unbuckle and get out of the car when he adds, “I’ll meet you on the Helicarrier.”

“You have someplace to be, Director?”

“Just a few errands. Now go, or I’ll let the quinjet leave without you.” You roll your eyes at him and shut the door in his face, before making your way over to your new method of transportation.

A familiar face greets you as you step inside.

“Coulson. It’s great to see you, how have you been?” You pull him into a hug before he can respond.

“I’ve been great, Commander. You seem to have done, uh. Well for yourself.” He replies cheerfully but clearly confused by the outfit your wearing. You grimace at the use of that word again.

“New work uniform.” You glance down at yourself to see if it’s really that out of place compared to what he’s wearing- it is.

“Commander? Are you Navy?” Another voice asks. Coulson had been blocking your view up until this point, preventing you from seeing the unfrozen, unaged, and very much alive Steve Rogers. You had heard rumors from your old Shield pals but you weren’t expecting this. You lightly push Coulson out of the way to get closer to him.

“Coast Guard.”

Steve holds out his hand to shake yours. “Captain Steve Rogers.”

You accept and give a firm handshake, “Commander Y/n, though I prefer Y/n.”

“Y/n. Got it. Fury recruit you too?” At this point, both of you are ignoring Coulson, who has moved on to preparing the quinjet for take-off.

“Yes. Plucked me right out of retirement.”

“He brief you on the mission?” Steve’s eyes are examining you, trying to figure out how someone like you, who looks fairly young, could have already retired.

“Yes. Some powerful alien got ahold of the tesseract and plans to destroy the world. Very original.”

“I have some videos for you to watch of the other recruits, then.” Coulson interrupts your conversation to put on a video all about Bruce Banner and The Hulk. You aren’t surprised by his recruitment even if you find it a little dangerous. Bruce seems like a sweet man, but he’s got little control over the other man living inside him. You take a moment to pull Coulson aside while Steve is watching the video to talk about the legend sitting a few feet away from you.

“Were you not going to tell me that you unfroze Steve?” You whisper, indignant.

“I thought I let that leak to you through an old channel” Coulson defends himself.

“Well, ‘we found the ice cube and turned it into water' is not exactly the same as ‘We have defrosted Steve Rogers and he is exactly the same as he was during fucking World War II’”

You glance back at him to see he is still staring at the video. His body language tells you he’s listening to your conversation. You glare at Coulson before composing yourself and sitting back down in your seat. Steve and Coulson converse about the different ways people tried to recreate the Super Soldier serum over the years, and the importance of his old uniform nowadays.

Once the quinjet lands, you are greeted by yet another familiar face.

“Natasha, great to see you.” You do not go in for a hug, as you aren’t sure she’d like that. “Where’s Clint?”

“Loki has him.” The happiness you had deflated like a pierced balloon.

“Fury didn’t tell me that.”

“Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers. And you already know Commander y/n.” Coulson interjects once again. You give him a sideways glance.

“Ma’am?” Steve responds.

“Hi.” Natasha glances at Coulson, “They need you on the bridge. They are starting the face trace.” He nods, “See you there” And walks away.

You see Bruce stumbling around towards the three of you, clearly trying to stay out of everyone’s way, but failing. Whatever Steve and Natasha are talking about, you’ve blocked out.

“Dr. Banner.” You call out to him, and he walks over. You watch as he shakes hands with the other two first, and then shakes your hand. You can feel how nervous he is.

“They told me you’d be coming,” He tells the other two, “but not you.”

“No reason not to. It’s not like I’m the most top-secret thing Fury has under wraps. Though I guess that means he didn’t tell you about me either?” You look at Natasha as you ask her this.

She nods, “I would’ve told Dr. Banner about you had I known”

“I’m starting to remember why I left.” You say, feeling the water beginning to gather on the fingertips of your left hand. You brush past Natasha and head for the bridge.

When you get there, you see Nick Fury standing in his circle of computers, giving commands to start getting the Helicarrier ready to fly. He knows you're there before he sees you- the sounds of your feet are heavy against the tile floors.

“What aren’t you telling me? And more importantly- what aren’t you telling them?” You are confrontational, and the water in your hand has now formed a ball, encircling your fists.

“Is this because I didn’t tell any of them about you?”

The water ball condenses into a ball of ice. He glances down at your hand and back at you and rolls his eyes. “You said not to tell anyone about you, unless-”

“Unless they needed to know. I don’t know about you, Fury, I think my new teammates need to know” His blood pressure has gone up, and so has the blood pressure of every person on the bridge. You sigh, evaporating your ice ball away. You feel everyone’s blood pressure slowly begin to return to normal

“Look,” You say, getting closer to him. “Bruce doesn’t need to think he’s the most dangerous one here. And I certainly don’t need sideways glances from everyone who doesn’t know about me” You whisper.

“Don’t worry, y/n. I’ve got a plan.” He replies loudly, as the others approach.

You grumble under your breath as you back away from him “You wouldn’t have treated Carol like this.”

“A plan for what?” Steve asks.

“Capturing Loki. We’re running facial recognition scans now. I’ll let you know if we find anything.” Fury expertly redirects your previous conversation to fit in with the priorities of the mission.

“For now, you can get comfortable. Explore the ship, find where you’ll be sleeping.” Coulson adds.

The newly formed group of superheroes nod and set off in mostly different directions. You head to your old hang-out spot on the Helicarrier you once called home: The state of the art lab. You always enjoyed the view it had, both of the outside of the ship and the interior. It was a good place to get lost in thought and an even better place to observe the other people on the ship as they walked through the hallway. You take a seat on one of the tables, prepared to get lost in thought and clear your mind when Bruce walks in.

“Oh, are you- I can go.” His face flushes and he nervously scratches the back of his head.

“It’s fine.” You respond.

He hesitates but enters the room, beginning to investigate the various tools now at his disposal. He avoids making any eye contact with you as he walks around the room, looking, but not touching. You can feel that his blood pressure is elevated- and you're pretty certain it’s because of your presence. Eventually, he makes his way to a computer by the large window, overlooking the outside of the Helicarrier.

“Do you know what any of this stuff does?” Bruce inquires.

“No idea. This wasn’t my division when I worked for Shield.”

“Then why come here?”

You shrug, “It’s quiet, and not many other people come in here.”

“So Shield has a state of the art lab on their invisible, flying ship that they don’t utilize?” Bruce is perplexed by this revelation.

“There’s more than one. This one is the smallest, and the most exposed.” You reply, gesturing towards all the windows.

He nods at this, then opens his mouth like he’s about to say something, but closes his mouth again.

“You’re wondering about why I’m here- on this mission.” You guess what he was trying to ask you about.

“Yes.”

“I’m back up. In case one of you dies, or goes off the rails.” You respond.

“So you’re here to make sure the other guy doesn’t go on a rampage” He seems a bit bitter about it, and his increasing blood pressure confirms that.

“That’s not the only reason. I’m also here in case Natasha or Steve kick the bucket, or if they decide to turn on us.” You are apathetic in your explanation.

“And how are you going to do that?”

“Do you want a glass of water?”

“Touchy subject? Don’t want to reveal your secrets?” He’s testing you, but he’s misunderstood why you asked the question.

“Quite the opposite.” You reply, forming a ball of water in your hand. You blow on it, sending it towards his direction. He reaches out to touch it, and you turn it into a ball of ice, which he quickly catches before it falls on the floor.

“How’d that happen?” Bruce is hoping for an interesting answer or a common experience in having an experiment gone wrong. But he would be wrong.

“I was born with it. At least, that’s what the Shield scientists think.” You bring back the ball of ice towards you, before evaporating it.

“So you’ve always had these powers?”

“Nope. They came with puberty.”

“So they think there’s some kind of gene that altered your genetic code giving you these special abilities that activated at puberty?” Bruce asks.

“Pretty much.”

“I’m assuming your life became pretty water-based after that” Bruce surmises.

“Essentially. It’s why I went into the Coast Guard. That’s how Shield discovered me.”

“Why not the Navy?” It’s a valid question, one you’ve fielded since you were a teenager about to graduate from high school.

“Coast Guard helps more with civilian rescue operations, less with tactical military strikes. It’s less prestigious-”

“Which means a lower likelihood of your powers being discovered.” He finished your sentence.

“Exactly. You understand.” By now, his blood pressure has come down and is more even, suggesting he’s calm. His eyebrow furrows in deep thought, as you sit in silence waiting for him to ask an obvious question.

“How do your powers affect the human body?”

“Well, Bruce. You tell me.” You begin, hopping down from the table you’d been sitting on. “The human body is 60% water.” You leave the room, allowing him to figure out for himself what kind of destruction you’d be able to cause. You already know the answer

[soyeahitsmiddleearth]

Dimension Jumping pt. 2

The Fellowship x Reader

Fluffy pants, creepy coworkers, and grocery lists. Fun times

Trigger warning: mentions of stalker.

After that kind of rocky introduction and confusing explanation of their quest and what they were doing exactly (also what happened to their wizard ‘Gandalf’) things began to work out better. 

At first, they were in a kind of panic since they aren’t able to destroy that ring thing if they’re in your world, but then you reminded them that they can’t destroy it, and this Sauron guy can’t get it. 

This seems to ease their worries a bit. 

It was very easy for you to get along with the two blond 'hobbit’ cousins Merry and Pippin, and Samwise is a wonderful help in the kitchen. Mr. Legolas kinda just awkwardly stands around most of the time (he doesn’t sleep apparently), while the 'dwarf’, Gimli, likes to bother said 'elf’ which you find to be quite amusing. The two actual human dudes seem to be the more authoritative figures here, so they help to keep everyone in check and ensure they don’t break anything.

Penny has, quite literally, fallen in love with that brown-haired bastard Aragorn, and you’ve sworn that if he breaks her little fluffy heart you’re going to fucking murder him. Lucky for him, it seems he is quite fond of her in return since he sometimes sits idly on your couch with her laying across his lap. This asshole must have dog treats in his pocket or something because there’s no way she would ditch you for some scraggly handsome stranger like in the movies. 

Of course, you don’t complain about it or anything, rather you just leave it and enjoy the fact that Penny is happy (while silently plotting his painful murder in your mind). 

You also had to show them how to work the bathroom, and after they got over their initial shock and awestruck, they all bathed (thank god for your poor nose) and you offered to go get them more clothes later on so you can figure out how to wash theirs.

Overall, it seems that everything is going smoothly and will continue to do so. 

You have yet to give them a chance to mess with your laptop or phone (or even the TV), but mostly because you’re afraid they’ll die of shock. 

Before you know it a week has passed, and not only are they still in your damn home but they’re so freaking well-behaved and polite you actually find yourself not wanting them to go. 

“Why do you wear those fluffy pants?” The sweet little Pippin asks. 

Everyone insists he and his cousin are mischievous little monsters, but you find them to be nothing but adorable and polite. “Because, my dear boy, they are really freaking comfortable. I’m gonna go to the store later and get all of you a pair. They will change your lives." 

His eyes grow wide at your overly dramatic description of fluffy pants and he suddenly seems excited, "Really? Some for all of us?" 

You nod your head with a bright smile on your face, lifting your leg up for him to touch it. "Feel how nice they are!" 

When Pippin places his hand on the soft, fuzzy fabric he looks surprised, "I don’t think I’ve felt trousers so soft before!" 

"Fluffy pants, Pippin. They’re called fluffy pants." 

"Fluffy pants.” He repeats in confirmation. 

His cousin, Merry, chose then to walk into the room, and when he sees the two of you he looks confused. “Pip, what are you doing?" 

"Oh! Merry, come here and feel these!” He exclaims, not bothering to answer his question. 

Merry does as he says, albeit hesitantly, but when his hands touch that miracle fabric he looks just as shocked, “You’ve got such peculiar clothing… I like it." 

"Well, I was just telling my buddy over here that I’m going to get everyone some and absolutely ruin your wardrobe since you’ll never want to wear anything but these ever again.” You tell him smugly, jumping to your feet suddenly, “Oh, I’ve gotta go do something. Keep an eye on Penny for me, won’t you?" 

Yeah, they don’t need to since she’s busy sleeping on a napping Aragorn, but you ask nonetheless. 

You retreat to another room and begin to organize the things you moved from your guest bedroom, wanting everything to be less cluttered while they stay here. 

The air mattress had to come out and everything because of how many there are, but you don’t mind a little extra work for some companionship in response. Heaven knows you need someone to keep you out of your own head.

While you’re neatening things, the blond elf guy walks in and observes you for a few moments, saying nothing and kinda just standing there. You turn after a minute or so and look at him questioningly, "Is there something I can help you with?" 

He doesn’t say anything right away, and so you grab a couple of books and straighten them while you wait. 

"What are you doing?” He asks instead of answering you (a very Pippin move). 

Despite your heart wanting you to be sarcastic in your reply you answer him seriously, “I’m cleaning up a bit since I had to take all of this stuff out of my guest room. It’s kinda messy if you couldn’t tell." 

You wipe your hands on your fluffy pants and smile at him. "I’m almost done. Did you need me for something?" 

He actually acknowledges your question this time with a shake of his head, "No. I wanted to see if you require any assistance." 

Ah, that makes sense. He definitely seems like the helpful type. 

"Oh, well some help would be nice. Maybe you could move those boxes,” you point to some cardboard boxes in the corner of the closet you shoved everything into, “over there.” You then point to a shelf that is mostly empty. 

He nods again and goes to do just that right away, and you go back to sorting through a box full of papers.

“What made you allow us to stay?” He suddenly inquires, lifting the boxes you asked for help with easily. 

You’re a bit surprised at his engagement in conversation and the topic he chose, but you answer despite that. “Well like I said before, I know a group of sad saps when I see it… I didn’t know you’d lost your friend, but I could tell something wasn’t right. And… I don’t know, your hobbits looked so hungry and tired, I couldn’t kick you all out and keep a clean conscience.” It’s true, but what you leave out is the desire you had for some company. Penny is more than enough, but recently you’ve been feeling lonely and inadequate, so you jumped on the opportunity to be useful in your monotone life. 

“There’s something you’re not saying.” He says it like a statement rather than a question, and while he’s right you only shrug. 

“My reasons are my own, but what I told you is my main explanation. Take it or leave it.” You don’t mean to act so cold and aloof, but the thinking about your flaws and recently depressive state only serves to dampen your mood. 

“I meant not to offend, I apologize if upset you. I was only curious." 

You smile at him over your shoulder apologetically yourself, "No, don’t say sorry. I’m just a bit cranky is all, haven’t been getting much sleep." 

He can tell that’s not the truth, but he nods anyway and lets it drop. 

Suddenly the sound of Penny barking reaches your ears, and you sigh knowing that someone is probably at the door. 

When she abruptly stops, you pause and decide to finish with the last small stack you have before going out to check.

Big mistake.

Once you walk out of the storage closet, you’re met with the sight of two hiding hobbits, and Aragorn at the  freaking  door. Your eyes widen in horror, and you turn and close the door in Legolas’ face before he can exit. 

When the door slams, someone pokes their head around the tall 'ranger’ and smiles. 

"Oh, Y/N there you are!" 

Uh oh, he’s not supposed to be there. 

"B-Brian, hey, what… what are you doing here?” You ask slowly, walking over to try and diffuse whatever situation is going on here. “I didn’t even know you knew my address…" 

He smiles brightly despite that and waves his hand, "Don’t worry about it, the boss gave it to me and told me to check up on you! You haven’t been answering your messages and this is the most work you’ve missed in the past, like, 4 years.” His tone is bright and cheery, but you can see behind that mask of pleasantries is nothing but a prying brat who has to know everything 24/7. 

You ignore your dark thoughts and simply smile at him in return, “Yes, well I’ve been very busy. And, actually, I texted Marissa about my absence for the week ahead of time, so I don’t see why she would send you. She told me that I can work from home until I’m ready to come back.” You never liked Brian. Much too nosy and too much of a snake for your liking.

You pull your phone out of your pocket and see that you have… holy shit, 43 missed messages? All from Brian? Ew, okay, that’s weird. 

But you decide not to comment on it.

“Right, well, who is this? I haven’t seen him before." 

Shoot. 

You look up at the brown-haired man sharply, then back at Brian. "W-Who, him? Oh, this is just my… boy…friend… Ara- Er, Aaron. He’s, uh, staying here because his house burned down.” God, you’re a horrible liar, but you try to keep your face straight either way. “Who he is doesn’t matter, I’m kinda busy right now so if you could just…" 

You go to close the door, but he only steps a bit closer, "Wait-! I didn’t know you have a boyfriend!” His expression is more panic stricken now, and dare I say upset,

Ughhhhh  fucking Brian . 

Suddenly a voice pipes up from behind you, “Is there an issue over here?" 

Oh great, another challenger has appeared, and his name is freaking Boromir. 

"Wait, who is this then?” His countenance goes kinda sour, “Your other boyfriend?" 

You face-palm and slowly drag your hand down your cheek, groaning internally at his horrible timing (also electing to ignore Brian’s bitter comment). "This is… Aaron’s druggie brother, Bo…Beau. He likes meth.”

Brian looks alarmed at your mention of him being a meth head, but you only smile and internally kick yourself for coming up with something like that . “You have crackheads staying at your house?! With how you’ve been recently?! S-Should I-" 

You only shake your head once and slam your hand on the wall, "Brian, I am a big girl, and big girls don’t need their  coworkers  to keep them safe. I’ve been nice, but what I do is literally none of your fucking business, so leave me alone or I’ll call Marissa and tell her about,” you pause and lean forward, whispering with a faux sweet voice, “The janitors closet…" 

His face goes pale at the mention of the horrid sight you’d walked into that one faithful Tuesday, and he nods his head in understanding, "R-Right, sorry to bother you! I’ll uh, get going now then. Enjoy your break!" 

He’s gone before you even close the door. 

You simply stare at the closed door for a few moments, trying to process what the hell just happened.

"Miss Y/N?” Merry calls from behind the couch. “What did he mean by 'how you’ve been’? Are you alright?" 

Unable to keep your cool, you reach up and bury your fingers in your hair and groan loudly from frustration, "Ugh! Fucking Brian! Why did you have to open the door to that loser!?” You yell incredulously, pulling on your hair rather harshly. You don’t even entertain the idea of answering that question.

Aragorn seems surprised by your sudden angry outburst, so much so that he steps back and bumps against the wall. 

“He’s always in my damn business! Acting like I haven’t caught him doing  unmentionable  things in that closet! Why him? Why did you think it was a good idea to open the door?!” You don’t mean to yell or to get so angry, but it’s almost like a splash of cold water in the face. A reminder that things are temporary and unexplainable to outsiders. “He’s such a stalker! God, this is going to come back and bite me in the ass!”

You drag your hands down your face and simply stand there for a moment, ignoring all the people gathering in your living room to stare at their mental brake-down having hostess.

“I apologize, I-I didn’t mean to-” Woah he actually trips over his words.

Before he can finish his apology you raise a hand up in a silencing motion. “No, shut up. Don’t apologize I’m not actually mad at you.” It sounds like you are, but you aren’t.

If you were looking at him, you’d see that he visibly relaxes. 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to yell I just… he frustrates me. I’m not angry at any of you, I promise.” You drop your hands back to your side and stare at the door for a few moments before turning and walking back into the living room.

“You’re kind of scary,” Sam states from Frodo’s side at the entrance of the kitchen. 

You look over at the two and furrow your eyebrows, “Scary? Me? No way. Just a little irritated.” If anything they’re the scary ones, with their swords and evil ring and all that. 

You glance back at the dark-haired man still at the front door and bite your lip, “I’m really sorry." 

A small and forgiving smile creeps onto his face, and you feel relieved right away. "Perhaps I shouldn’t have opened the door." 

This earns a small laugh and nod from you, "Now that freak thinks you’re my homeless male friend and he’s your drugged up brother. Not a very good reputation.” You don’t bother going over calling him your boyfriend in a panic - if they even know what it means in the first place. 

Suddenly ever innocent Pippin asks, “What’s meth?" 

Lord save your soul. 

—

After explaining to everyone what meth is and how you straight up just called Boromir a doped up loser to someone none of them know, you all have a good laugh. And once you’re all done laughing, you join Sam in the kitchen and notice that he’s taken an inventory of your kitchen. 

"Hello, chef Ramsay. What can I do for you?” You ask with a cheery smile, watching him go through your cupboard while literally standing on the counter with Frodo watching from the floor. 

“Who is chef Ramsay?” Sam asks, looking down at you from his leveraged spot on the counter. 

Oh, right, the poor soul doesn’t know the meme. 

“Nobody, what are you up to?” You change the subject quickly, a part of you hoping he approves of your kitchen. 

“Well… your shelves are lacking a lot. And your… what did you call it, fridge? It is basically empty. What do you eat all week?" 

You don’t reply right away, staring holes into him at his obviously spotty memory. "Well, Sam the thing is, I am one woman, and this one woman didn’t think she’d need to buy groceries for 8 men who all eat like they haven’t seen food for the past week… every meal." 

"So then perhaps we should go shopping!” He exclaims, closing the cabinet and hopping back down to the tiled floor. 

Excuse me, did he just say 'we’? Uh, yeah no.

You shake your head quickly, “No, Sam there aren’t people like you in my world. I can’t take you." 

His face falls and he looks around at the kitchen, crestfallen, "But I can’t tell you what to get if I don’t go…" 

Aw… he looks so sad. It makes your heart pang uncomfortably, and you find that you wanna make him smile again. "Here, I’ll tell you what. I’ll get some paper and a pen, and you can write down everything you want me to get on that. How does that sound?”

Almost immediately he perks up and nods his head, “Oh, that sounds wonderful!" 

Bingo. 

"Did you hear that Mr. Frodo? She said she’ll get whatever we want! Come help me make the list!” Okay, maybe this wasn’t a good idea. 

You gather the things you promised from a drawer to your right, then hand them down to him. “Here you are, dear. Take your time, and I’ll go tomorrow. And don’t forget to ask everyone else what they want.”

Hopefully, you won’t live to regret this. 

Without further ado, he rushes out of the kitchen calling for Merry and Pippin. 

These fellas are going to bankrupt you… but if you get to see those happy smiles again, then it’s definitely worth it. 

[sidehowriting]

Crazy

Masterlist in bio!

A/N: Happy new years everyone! I hope 2020 is good to you all. In honor of new years, I went with that theme for the fic! Even if it’s a little late and this was technically for a Secret Santa exchange which implies Christmas but shh...

My Secret Santa is @just-trying-to-survive-marvel! The Challenge was hosted by @bucky-smiles! Like I said, its new years themed and I hope everyone enjoys! 

Italics are the countdown 

Pairings: Steve x reader

Summary: It would be crazy for Steve to be your New Year’s kiss, right? 

Word Count: 1.4k

Warnings:  Fluff, like 1 swear, sipping wine

You had every intention of spending New Year’s Eve alone at home. You weren’t upset about that. What could be better than ringing in the new year being extremely comfortable, with your pet, sipping wine? Well, Tony overheard your plans and thought that was a terrible idea. He insisted you come to the New Year’s Eve party he was throwing.

Begrudgingly, you agreed to go. It wasn’t your first choice, but you thought you could have some fun. At the very least, you would still be able to sip your wine. All the wine you could drink.

“And…” Natasha was doing your hair before the start of the party. She offered to help you and you weren’t about to say no to a little bit of pampering. She always looked great so you knew she would have you looking great too. “You can snag that New Year’s kiss with Steve.”

You rolled your eyes. You would have shaken your head too but didn’t want to mess her up. “Right. Sure.”

She gave your hair an unnecessarily rough tug. You yelped in pain and displeasure, but she ignored you. “Stop acting like he doesn’t want to kiss you because he does.”

“I appreciate your optimism Nat, but you’re wrong.” You were glad she couldn’t see how frazzled her statement made you. You were totally smitten for your captain.

“I’ve known Steve longer than you have. The guy is just so slow at making a move. That doesn’t mean that he’s not staring at you every chance he gets, though. Because he is.” She went back to much nicer, softer tugs on your hair. Trying to get it to do what she wanted.

Arguing with her wouldn’t be worth it. You knew this. So instead you remained quiet and let her do her work on your hair.

//

The party itself wasn’t nearly as bad as you thought it would be. As you had hoped, there was wine for you to sip. The company wasn’t even as obnoxious as you thought it would be either. They were mostly Tony’s people, businessmen and employees. You didn’t really know any of them, but they mostly kept to themselves. Then there were the Avengers, your coworkers. You always enjoyed their company.

Natasha kept pushing you towards Steve, but you were hesitant. You’ve had a crush on the Super Solider since before you were invited to join the Avengers. There was just something about his charming smile and his blue eyes and his desire to save the world. Not to mention he had a great ass.

He was the first one to really welcome you to the group. He’d spend extra time during training to make sure you understood and knew what you were doing. He always made time for you and listened to whatever frivolous story you told. They others were warm and welcoming, sure, but none quite as attentive as Steve.

You had tried on numerous occasions to tell him how you felt, but each time your heart started beating way too fast and your anxiety spiked out of control. With how professional he was around you, you always doubted he shared the same feelings. Questioning his feeling would also put you off of confessing yours. Why possibly ruin such a great friendship?

Within no time, you were on your second glass of wine. As you started to sip it, Steve came up to you, his own alcohol in his hand. “Is that just for show?” You asked, jerking your head to his glass. You knew he couldn’t get drunk because of the Super Soldier serum. A blessing and a curse, really.

He smiled. “Yeah, if I don’t have a glass of something in my hand I’m constantly asked if I want a drink. This keeps them at bay.”

You giggled, taking another sip of your own drink. Thankful (for now) you still had the ability to get drunk. “That’s pretty clever.”

“Thanks,” he said, swirling the drink around in its crystal glass. “Enjoying yourself?” He asked, eyes going from his drink to yours.

You shrugged, avoiding his gaze. “It’s fine. Parties aren’t really my thing. Especially Tony’s fancy ones. I don’t even know half of these people.”

“That’s because you’ve managed to avoid his past few parties. You weren’t forced to mingle with every rich person in the country.” He smiled, almost sounding jealous. His blue eyes were shining brightly, and your heart started to race again. It needed to calm down.

Taking another sip of your wine, you said, “And I had every intention of missing this one, but he, and Nat really, wouldn’t let me.”

“Well, if it means anything, I’m really glad you came.” You could tell he meant it and if you were being honest with yourself, you were happy you came as well.

Talking with him was easy, and it meant you didn’t have to socialize with anyone else. There was just something so nice and familiar about him. Despite your sweaty palms that you kept trying to discreetly wipe on your dress, you didn’t feel anxious. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that you were almost done with your second glass of wine? Whatever the reason, you were happy.

You were so lost in your conversation with Steve that you didn’t notice how much time had passed. “Hey, love birds,” Tony walked up to the two of you, clapping you both on the back. “Got about a minute till midnight. Better pucker up.” As quickly as he came, he disappeared back into the sea of people.

You tried to hide your face in your now finished wine glass, embarrassed by Tony’s comment. A cute pink color ran across Steve’s cheeks too.

“I didn’t realize that much time had gone by,” you said awkwardly.

“Yeah,” he said, “It’s almost New Year’s.”

A silence fell between the two of you that was too painful to keep. “You know,” you said, forcing yourself to chuckle. “Nat has this crazy idea that, maybe, we should kiss on New Year’s?” You weren’t sure how, but it came out as a question that you were suddenly dying to know the answer to.

“You know, Bucky had the same idea,” he replied, and you couldn’t tell if he was agreeing to it or not. “Crazy, right?”

Your heart started to sink. “Yeah, I guess. Crazy.”

But the look in his eyes as he took a step closer to you made you think it wasn’t crazy after all. All around you, you could hear the other’s start counting down to the new year.

Five…

You took a step closer to him as well.

Four…

His eyes were on your lips as yours were on his.

Three…

“This is crazy, right?” You whispered, taking another small step forward. Your blood rushing and pounding in your ears.

Two…

“Crazy,” Steve repeated, his voice barely above a whisper. He started leaning down towards you while you stood up on your tiptoes. Your eyes fluttered shut as the final second ticked away.

One…

As the rest of the crowd cheered for the new year, Steve kissed you. Soft, sweet lips making your mind fuzzy and your nerves light up. It was a chaste kiss that ended a lot sooner than you wanted.

Once you no longer felt his lips against yours you opened your eyes again. Steve was still close to you, his cheeks still tinted pink. “Maybe it’s not so crazy?” You said, biting your lower lip as you locked eyes with him again.

His smile made your heart skip a beat. “Not at all,” he agreed. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a while.”

Your eyes crinkled as you smiled. “Nat did say you tend to take your time.”

“Yeah, she would know.” He kept his eyes trained on you the whole time. “I hope I didn’t wait too long.”

“We’ll just have to make up for the lost time,” you said. Reaching up, you cupped his face, bringing his lips back to your level. You kissed him again, slower, more passionate. His lips fitting so well against yours.

Just before you fully closed your eyes, you could swear you saw Nat and Bucky, right over Steve’s shoulder. They gave each other a quick glance before looking over at you and Steve. Somehow, you had a feeling they set this up. For once, you would have to thank them for not minding their own business.

Tags: @lancsnerd @xxloki81xx @teddybeardoctorr @patzammit

[fuzziekins]

i usually don’t post about my own work because i never think much of it. Even now i feel conflicted about sharing this because i have my own personal and intrusive feelings involving this story. But part of me feels like it should still be shared on some level because it’s not just about working as a cashier, but working as a cashier in the middle of a pandemic. Even though the characters are fictional, the retail stories they go through are very real, directly taken from the ones i have experienced as a cashier. If anyone else does read this, if there’s remotely anyone can possibly take away from this story at any point at all with it, it’s to just please think. Think before you snap at a retail worker. Think before you cause a scene. Think before you do something, like leaving a yogurt by the potato chips. Think before you complain or ask about every little thing. We see and deal with a lot of crap on the job all while dealing with our own crap. It’s hard and sometimes it can be downright abusive. But we try. We do our jobs. And it’s a lot. So please try with us, too. [More under the cut, but it’s primarily personal and also A LOT.]

Frozen 2 has absolutely been the thing helping me through this pandemic. When my store closed early for limited hours i’d be playing the soundtrack on Spotify. Before eventually falling asleep after shifts ending at midnight i’d always listen to a Frozen song on my iPod because after crazy shifts, crazier than usual retail stories, and a hell of a lot of food to either put back on the shelves or discard completely, Frozen helped put me in a slightly better mood before falling asleep. In a time of so much confusion and fear and uncertainty, it’s difficult to find the positivity in everything. Even though i do try to go into work and leave my problems at the door, the Frozen franchise was definitely a light for me. It helped to imagine some of the characters - even other Disney characters like i included in the story - go through similar things i was and wonder how they would handle everything. It started with just a thought: would Elsa sing if she was working this job, too? Would anyone actually hear her? And cue the slow burn between Elsa and Honeymaren. But it’s more than just that.

i am so fortunate to have a great relationship with a lot of my coworkers. We get along; we ask each other how we’re doing; we make conversation when it’s slow; we talk about our lives. It helped me to just be able to go through this with these people. It helped that, yeah i was still getting out even during quarantine and seeing these same people WAY more than usual (and it was already a lot!), but for us to just all have this understanding of each other and for us to be able to support each other. And that was something i wanted to focus on here. A positive working relationship between Elsa, Maren, Nani, Snow (White), and (Cinder)Ella. These very different people being thrown together a hell of a lot more than usual and spending more time together and in their store than with their own families in their own homes. Yeah, they can get on each others’ nerves sometimes. They can drive each other crazy. But they’re ultimately there for and support each other. And i know every job, retail or not, can’t be like that. But sometimes we do spend so much time at work that it not only becomes home but the people we work with become a family. (Although a very dysfunctional one!) That’s something that’s been essential to me as an essential worker and a small piece of the inspiration behind the story.

To have been writing this throughout the pandemic, drawing from my own experiences and stories as a cashier, seeing peoples’ reactions and to have been given the encouragement and support by them has just been mind blowing. i say that i started this as a joke, because i deal with so many unbelievable stories on a daily basis at work that i should really write a retail story. And...this is it. For people to have told me that this helped them with something in the store (chip malfunctions at the pin pad, anyone?) or to see how horrible some customers can actually be, to just read peoples’ reactions at the cruelty of others, while others to their customer service jobs of the past and bringing back memories for them? i did not expect the support, comfort, or acceptance that i received from this. And i did not expect people to just so readily accept the story as a legit Frozen fanfiction.

What blew my mind even more, in the best possible way, was the reaction to how i wrote Elsa. [Minor spoiler here, but not really because it is a tag.] i know this is not the first story to write her as asexual. i know it won’t be the last. And how many of us read Elsa as a queer icon in general? Writing Elsa’s coming out scene to one of her coworkers as an asexual lesbian was directly inspired by an instance where i came out as asexual to one of my coworkers. It was one of the first chapters i wrote long before i knew anything about this story; where it was going to go; how exactly i would write it; or anything that would happen. i just knew that if i was going to write a retail story, that specific story had to be a part of it. To read the reactions of other a-specs reading this and see how seen and represented and validated they feel, to know that while Elsa’s journey may not exactly be theirs nor is it my own there’s still so much relatability, to have the reminder that as many times as i feel like i’m the only ace person i know (even though that was not totally true and it’s absolutely not true now) there are other people out there and that a lot of the things i touched on in the narrative hit so close to home for them.... It’s just been an honor. And that’s something that, when i question what the hell i’m doing or my capabilities as a writer/creative person, i try to think about that. And remind myself that this was something i was able to do and it means so much to the a-specs who read it. And it was something that made me feel apart of something really special; not just the queer community, but also the Frozen fandom.

i have a lot of conflicted feelings with finally finishing this story. And i think a lot of them are because as i finished writing this while also going through multiple edits and rewrites, i was dealing with things in my personal life that took my head out of the story. And while dealing with the craziness at work as usual around Thanksgiving that was only heightened by the still-confusion and uncertainty of the pandemic, though it should have given me so much more material to one day work with, it really just drained me. And part of me still doesn’t feel like i even wrote something worthwhile, let alone something good. i deal with self-confidence issues and intrusive thoughts along with semi-newly-discovered anxiety; and those have no doubt played a part in my own comments on the story as well as some extra self-projection (as if there wasn’t enough of that between the job, the customer stories, and the chocolate addiction but that’s besides the point). But i’m still trying to remind myself of the good that has come from this story. And i want the good of what everyone else has seen in this to far overpower whatever i think about it. As much as a major takeaway i’d like for the story to be to have a better understanding of retail workers, what we’re going through at work and potentially in our lives, and to just think, there are two other things i’d like to stay with people. •In regards to, yes, primarily a-specs, but also to the queer community in general, there is nothing wrong with you. You’re not broken. It takes a lot of time, patience, and understanding to accept yourself. And that’s ok. You will find the label(s) and meanings that work for you. Everyone relates to their orientation differently; but there’s no wrong way. Sometimes it’s hella hard to accept that part of you, regardless of what it is. Unfortunately, yes, there will be people that don’t believe you. But there are also people around you who will accept and love you exactly for who you are. They do it with Elsa in this story; people in real life can do it, too. It just takes a while to find them. You mean something to people and you are absolutely worth it. •One of the best things about creating anything is to take people away. To distract them from the real world for a while. To make them forget about their problems. To make them feel something. To see things through another’s eyes. To experience something. To give them something to enjoy. For all the craziness that i may call my story, it’s still something that’s brought people so much joy. To give them that happiness, to make them feel, to take them away to another world (even if it’s just a fictional modern AU with a couple of useless lesbians/bis/queers). That’s what i want this story to do. That’s what, selfishly, i’d want anything i could ever create to do. No matter what i think, it’s the people who enjoy it that matter. And they are absolutely the motivation behind all of this.

This story has been my outlet through this entire mess of the world. It’s been my outlet, a soapboax, and an escape. Because seeing Frozen 2 just before the pandemic hit, becoming so lost in it, loving so much about the story and the characters and the world, gave me more inspiration to be creative when it’s something i’ve personally struggled on and off with for the past five years. Being immersed in the world of the Frozen franchise is the closest i’ve felt to being happy in years. And i’m so thankful to Disney and the creators of Frozen, Jennifer Lee and Chris Buck, for giving us so much to work with. From the world itself to the relatable characters in Elsa and Anna to the friendships they created to just the pure inspiration that comes from them. And how they can make so many people from so far away feel so close together. And i’m more than grateful to everyone who’s read this story from the beginning, who saw something in it - who saw something in me - and have been the motivation to keep going with it. It’s been absolutely incredible to write for everyone and i hope i get to write more. Please consider this my way of saying thank you to everyone and know how much all of this has meant to me. And thank you so, so much for reading.

[lemoneyesour]

This is going to be long af, this isn’t the whole tea I didn’t want this rant to be too long.

I think the hardest part about being a Libra is learning that I’m not always going to be able to explain my side of situations to people. There are always two sides to a story and sometimes the wrong side is louder. I have to learn to be content with the fact people will perceive me differently because of the words of another.

That sometimes people will dislike me without knowing me. Sometimes it’s better just to be quiet. And since you decided to make our personal affair public in order to gain the sympathy from other and reassurance that you a “good person”. I’ll voice my side of things too, but I choose to do it on a platform where no one know who tf I am, and most likely only 1 person will read this.

Back in December I found out some troubling news and I was lost. My friend lent me $100 to help me out with it (I’m pretty sure she offered the money but I don’t 100% remember) I accepted because she was genuine about it and I figured why not. After everything got taken care of, I became a little distant. I was unemployed, stressed about money and just started a new relationship. I didn’t speak to her as much as I had before. When she reacted out to talk I would reply until I felt the conversation naturally died down. So a lot of times that meant I left her on read after a little bit of talking.

One day she reached out to me and showed her concern. She missed me and wanting to hangout. I told her my situation and that I needed time to heal. When I go through a stressful patch, I like to be alone a lot of the time to self reflect. She told me she unstood and then that would be enough until she would message me saying the exact some things she did last time. I was patient and calm with her.

I was very frustrated because I had even more money problems, I was unable to pay my car insurance which led to my license being suspended. I was unaware that it was suspended so I naturally get Pulled over by a cop because I didn’t have my lights on when it was cloudy. He informed me my insurance wasn’t valid and my license was suspended. So I got a ticket of $160, had to pay off my backed insurance and buy new insurance. Then I had to pay $150 to get my license reinstated. Which I had to paid for two paychecks to do, so I had to get rides from coworkers to work for three weeks, I was late to work serveral times. Then my phone broke, I didn’t have one for a week. So a lot of times I was unable to call my job ahead of time to tell them I was going to be late. While also dealing with bills, stress and the same situation happening AGAIN that caused me to borrow money in the first place.

One day she messages me about how I “obviously do not want to be friends with her and I could have just said something about it instead of ignoring her and that she needs to know when I will pay her back.” She sent messages like this a couple more times, honestly her passive aggressive comments and inability to see the situation wasn’t about her, but rather me and my mental state, made me not want to hangout with her... I didn’t like how she was manipulating things. I decided to open up to her about everything that happened to be in the last month. Maybe if I tell her specifics she will be more understanding. I am kinda private about these things.

So I could try to give her $20 a paycheck Until it’s paid off. I told her how I was mentally drained and couldn’t really carry on a conversation with anyone let alone make the time to hangout. I tried my hardest to express to her that i wasn’t avoiding her, that I simply needed space. My best friend of 8 years randomly stopped talking to me and never explained why, so I understand how it feels to be left In the dark or feel abandoned by someone you love. She told me she understood and hoped I was well.

After about a month, all my bills where paid off, I got my car situation fixed, I was feeling better mentally, I was ready to open up again and hangout. Then I got a message from her saying (this is the exact message)

“OK so I’ve given you six months, and you’ve not really tried to be friends with me or talked to me, so I’m just guessing you do not want to be friends. I understand having to work on yourself but fuck Hannah. I’d rather you just be honest with me. At this point I just need the money for my medicine for my face, plus my car payment. So please get back with me as soon as possible.”

At this time it had only been 4 months, not that it really matters. I had been nothing but honest with her over the last couple of months. I wanted her to feel validated and reassured about my feelings. I explained my side again and even showed her where I had explained it all to her before (she stated I could have just told her things where tough, and she would have understood. I LITERALLY DID 3 TIMES) she replied with “I don’t give a fuck about that lame ass conversation, I want my money”

That’s when I realized it wasn’t about our friendship to begin with, all she cared about was the money. If you aren’t talking about something that is upsetting you, you don’t just randomly blow up on someone one day. (In this situation being if she really missed me, then why did you change tone so quickly and start using the money against me??)

I told her I had no idea me not posting her back when I said I would (because things went to shit so quickly after I told her that) would anger her this much and cause problems in our friendship. I didn’t know money was that important to her. (I know it’s money but to me lending someone money isn’t a big deal. I don’t lend someone money with the expectation of them paying me back because we are friends)

She never communicated that to me.

At this point I was going to pay her back, but when she started coming at me I got mad. When I get mad I get petty. So I just didn’t pat her back, and I know that was peak lt childish.

All she does it talk about how she gets fucked over all the time, or how she is such a great person or friend. Even in our arguments she kept stating that. IF UR A GOOD PERSON U DONT NEED PEOPLE REASURRING YOU ON SOCIAL MEDIA ALL THE TIMEE. I can’t stand immature adults who can’t understand their friends are their own people and they have lives. I don’t always reply to my friends and my friends don’t always reply to me, in my eyes we are friends until one day we tell each other we aren’t. I don’t care if we haven’t talked In year. I guess that’s what I get for befriending a insecure, emotionally underdeveloped paranoid doo doo head.

So the reason I’m posting this is because she reached out to me AGAIN. Demanding I pay her back and then proceeded to make a status about me on Facebook so everyone knew what had happened. I was able to actually talk to her again, express what had actually happened. But come more from a sympathetic approach. Maybe if I do that she will actually be willing to listen to what I had to say. It worked and we sort of patched things up. But she left the status up, she wanted people to know she was hurt and there was a big meanie out there who had her $100. (FYI I haven’t had a job in two minutes this because of COVID and $100 isn’t shit. Sorry it’s not, she’s made that money back so many times now. She’s just trying to get me with whatever leverage she has) 

One thing I can’t stand is having people force feed a biased narrative of my character. They don’t know the other side, and they probably never will. They will only see me as a lair, user, theift. It hurts

I know I didn’t handle the best way possible, but she isn’t as blameless as she is leading people to believe

If anyone actually read all of this and you want to know the rest I’ll definitely tell it 😂



[gotboredwrote]

Hot Space Buns // BHM

Pairing: Brian May x Fem!Reader Word Count: 4.6K Style: One-Shot Warnings: Fluff, swearing Summary: The boys are gaining popularity and are hiring more and more crew in order to prepare them for each show, including a hair/makeup/clothing team. All crew members end up being close friends with the band, including Y/N, the primary hair stylist. One funky photoshoot and one stupid bet later, Y/N gets to have her way with the boys on stage, and the one serious member of the band can’t help but laugh about it, too. Permanent Author’s Note: To clarify, I write because I get bored. Nothing is meant to be professional in any way, nor is meant to offend, cause anxiety, cause anger, cause sadness, or promote disagreement among readers in any sort of (semi)permanent way. A/N: @bensrhapsody and I make a great team wherein she sends me ideas/requests and I write them how I see fit, and this is one of those instances. Lena, you are a dumbass treasure, so I hope you like this (and all future requests of yours to come)! Also, I debated making this a platonic!Queen x Reader fic, but then I was really drawn to Bri for this one and making this about him somehow, so yeah. Also, I know the title is a pun on the Hot Space album and this doesn’t take place then, but the title is cute and they needed to be in the early 70s so their hair was long so get over it lmao.

Masterlist

~

It goes without saying that anyone who starts a band, no matter how much they will deny it, wants to some degree to end up famous. They want people to hear their music and relate to it. Queen was no exception, and despite the fact that half of the band was not egotistic, all four boys were pleased with the success they had been getting. It was becoming too big for just the four of them and a manager to handle, though, so it was time to start hiring teams to help them out with whatever was needed so they could focus on their jobs – the music. Finance teams, roadies, electronics people, security guards. They had to hire everything and everyone. Including a hair, makeup, and costume team to appease Freddie and Roger’s wishes. This team was not a large one, in fact there was only one person for makeup, hair, and costume each. But the three of you made it work. The boys were writing their third studio album at the time, which eventually was titled ‘Sheer Heart Attack,’ and one of your bosses decided that it was time for the album cover shoot. She had a few ideas in mind for you and your companion teams that you were not so sure about, but you had to do what your bosses told you, despite your better judgement. So, the minute the boys walked into yours and the make-up artist’s trailer, you gave them a look of concern and bemusement.

~

“Did anyone actually tell you boys how we have to make you look?” Your coworker, whose name was Angelica, was trying extremely hard to not laugh throughout her sentence. She was the more bemused one in this situation, you were more concerned.

“Frankly, I think what they said is ridiculous, but maybe you lot won’t think so.” You unsuccessfully tried to hid the worry in your words, because Brian chimed in right away.

“What are you two going to do to us?”

You and Angelica gave each other looks, and just pointed at their respective chairs so you two could get started. Freddie and Roger sat down excitedly, seemingly ready for whatever wild idea you two had, while John just moved at his normal pace. Brian, on the other hand, stayed still right where he was, taking your tone of voice to heart more seriously than he probably should have. You decided to walk over to him, since Angelica already started working on Roger’s make-up and Freddie was enthusiastically talking to a very tired-looking John, and check up on him. You did not like the scowl he had plastered onto his face.

“What’s wrong, love? You’re not one to not listen to us.”

“What do we have to wear?”

“You’ve never been concerned before, Bri, what’s this ab—”

“Have I hid how insecure I am that well for you to not notice? Well, I guess I need to explain myself then, but yeah, I… I hate doing these photoshoots. I’ve read the tabloids, Y/N, and while it has nothing to do with yours or Angelica’s abilities, I know that I am the least attractive member of Queen.”

You had trouble comprehending that these words were coming out of Brian’s mouth instead of someone like John’s. Brian never presented himself as shy or insecure, and you were starting to feel dread creeping up on you, because you were being forced to add to this feeling. You took a moment to gaze into his eyes, ones that, at the moment, were filled with dread and insecurity, but held on to the smallest bit of hope that you would say something to him to make it all go away.

“Brian May, you are incredibly smart. You seriously cannot be daft enough to think that those tabloids have any semblance of truth to them, right?”

Brian just continued to look at the ground. Clearly, that was not enough to make him feel like himself again. You took it up a notch.

“Not only are you smart enough to know those idiots are just jealous, but I happen to think that you are very attractive no matter how we end up making you look. I get to see this face and this hair,” as you spoke you fluffed up his curls even closer to high heaven, “every single day, so I know for a fact that it isn’t ugly. Far from it, love. Now, do me a favor and sit in your damn chair so I can get to work on the first hairstyle of yours that might make me take back what I said just now.”

Finally, you had gotten Brian’s attention, and thankfully no one else in the room had seen the exchange, otherwise you know you would have heard some snarky comment from Freddie or Roger, or both. Brian did what you asked of him, and by the time you had started working on his hair, Angelica had finished with Roger’s make-up and began to work on John’s, leaving Freddie to talk to Roger. Except to look at Roger, he had to look past Brian and Freddie saw what it was you were attempting to do with Brian’s hair, and called you out for it.

“Darling, how exactly do you plan to get that mane into a hair tie?”

“I’m sorry, what—”

“A HAIR TIE ARE YOU BLOODY JOKING?!”

~

“This is astounding, Y/N! Look at our masterpieces!”

Angelica snorted so loud at the sight in the mirror in front of you two. She had finished their make-up, which was simply a dark eye-look with natural colored everything else, and you had managed to get all four of the boy’s hair into dual buns on the sides of their heads. It was clearly not the aesthetic of the album, since you had been hearing them play it for the last few months, but like always, you had to listen to your boss. Whatever they wanted was what they got. You did admit, in your head, though, that none of them looked really ugly. It was just completely out of character. Begrudgingly, the boys made their way over to the studio where the black backdrop was set up for the shoot. Your boss looked really happy when she saw what they ended up looking like, but she could also see the cogs turning in your head once the actual shoot started. She was not the biggest fan of you when you had an idea you thought was better than hers, or a fan of yours, period.

“Y/N? A word, please.”

If you had not turned your head right at the exact moment you heard your name, you would have seen Brian turn to look directly at you with a look of concern. He knew you and that one particular boss butted heads quite a bit over vision differences, so he made sure he was always around when she was so he could be there for you if you needed to get away. He told himself he did this because all the crew members became good friends with the band, but deep down he knew that there was more to it than that, just like how Roger had a thing for Angelica and John had a thing for Veronica, the costume designer (in this house we support the Deacon’s). He was called back to reality when he heard his name being called for the next photo, so he did not get to see what kind of interaction you had with your boss.

“Look, I’m extremely proud of the work you and Angelica did, so why is it that I feel like I need to be concerned about the look on your face?”

“Magda, look—”

“We have been through this, you do not call me Magda, you call me ma’am or madam. You lost the right to call me by my first name when you disobeyed instruction on the last album.”

The situation she was referring to actually had nothing to do with what you did, it had everything to do with what you did not do. Magda had wanted you to do something extremely drastic to all four of the boy’s hair for the ‘Queen II’ album cover shoot and she wanted you to do it without telling them you were going to. Queen is not what people think of when they think of a hair band, but their hair is extremely iconic nonetheless, so when your boss suggested that you chop all of it off without telling them, you made the choice to not do that because you knew it would kill them, especially Roger and Brian. You ended up telling them that that time around, nothing would be done to their hair, it needed to stay natural, and the boys did not mind. Despite the fact that the cover for the album ended up becoming one of the most beloved images Queen had ever put out, your boss was livid with you. She cared about success, obviously, but she cared about having dominance over her employees more. So, a clear and blatant disrespect to her authority was the last thing she wanted in her life.

“Sorry, ma’am.”

“So, because of that disrespect, I have to repeat myself. What is going on inside your head right now?”

“I’m… not sure if you’ve actually heard any of the album, but this hair that you wanted them to have? I actually think they look pretty good and pull it off, but it-it-it just doesn’t fit with the sound of the album.”

Your boss sighed rather loudly, earning the attention of the cameramen and the band, Brian looking at you wide-eyed out of concern, realizing you had been communicating with your personal she-devil for the last few minutes without him by your side.

“Well then, simple hairdresser; what the hell would you have them do?”

The jab at your profession stung, you could not lie to yourself. You had wanted to do hair ever since you got yours first professionally cut. Something about the atmosphere felt like a place you could be yourself in, and when you got into beauty school, you took that as a sign that this was what you were meant to be doing. It was even more solidified when you booked the job working with one of the biggest bands in the world. At hearing the words your boss said, Angelica and Veronica had sunk into themselves off to the side of the backdrop, Roger, Freddie, and John all stared with wide eyes, and Brian’s eyes narrowed into tight slits indicating that he was just as furious as you. Instead of responding to your boss, you just decided to walk over to the cameraman, asking him if you could make some changes before the next round of photos. He quietly nodded his head, and added a ‘help yourself.’ You nodded back before making your way over to the boys.

“I’m going to take your hair out of these buns, as well as you pull them off, and then add some ruffling to it. Okay? Just give me one minute…”

After your one minute, each of the boys had their hair cascading down their shoulders once again, and you had even added some small volume to it through the use of your hands pulling and fluffing. You did not want to instruct them on how to sit, so once you felt happy with the way their hair looked, you walked backwards so you could see all four of them together, solidifying your feelings towards the new looks. You smiled, trying to force away the tears that were still threatening to spill from your boss’s earlier words. The four boys could see you were struggling to keep yourself together, and the other three looked at Brian knowingly. They all knew about their schoolkid-like crushes on the crew members, so they were attempting to egg him on to make you feel better. You started to turn away to allow the cameraman to reposition them, but before you had turned around fully, you saw Brian jolt upward, almost hurting and locking his knees in the process. You looked back and up at him with doe-like eyes as he slowly walked toward you. When he was face-to-face with you, he placed both hands tightly on your shoulders, giving each of them a tight squeeze before speaking.

“For what it’s worth, love, I didn’t hate the buns.” Then he leaned in and captured you in a loving hug, complete with some back rubbing. Now speaking at a volume loud enough for only you to hear. “But I love that you know us well enough to stand up to that witch, and I admire you for it. Thank you.”

You latched your arms around him desperately, not allowing yourself to speak because you know the words would have just gotten stuck in your throat and you would have looked like an infant with how hard you were starting to sob. But now it wasn’t out of sadness, it was out of gratitude. Brian let you go, offering you a small smile before walking back to his bandmates, who were all staring at him knowingly. You went back behind the camera and made your way to Angelica and Veronica, who opened up the space between them so you could sit between them and you could all watch the boys you loved. In the way that they loved you. And imagine your pride when the photo taken from right after you fixed their hair ended up being the cover of the album. Your boss was fired the same day the image was selected.

~

“Absolutely not, I would never agree to that bloody bet.” Roger’s voice was booming in the back of the tour bus, arguing with you over an idea you had just suggested, riding off the adrenaline still of having your photo be chosen for the second time as the album cover.

“C’mon, Rog, it would be fun! Guys against girls!”

“I may be dumb sometimes, Y/N, but I am smart enough to know that women are smarter than men in general. You lot would win, and then we would just embarrass ourselves.”

Then it was Angelica’s turn to speak up, hoping she could convince Roger to change his mind.

“Rogie, love, I would love to do this, I think you should let us girls join in on your Scrabble competitions every now and then. We are just as much a part of Queen as you are. We want to feel included. What d’you say, lovie?”

You, Angelica, Veronica, and Mary were watching the cogs in Roger’s mind turn around and around before he finally settled on a decision.

“Oi! Lads! Get your arses in here! We got a game to play!”

~

“So. what exactly is the plan here?”

All eight of you crowded up in the back of the tour bus, waiting to hear your explanation of how the bet was going to go. You had explained the basic idea to Roger before anyone else, and then when the other girls heard him pouting, they joined in. And thus began the first ever girls versus guys Scrabble game Queen had ever taken a part of began.

“We’re going to play in teams. Myself and Veronica, Angelica and Mary, Brian and John, Roger and Freddie. Scoring will be by team, but then at the end of the game, the girls team scores will be added together, as will the boy’s teams scores. One game only, unless somehow there is a tie. If we win, on the next show, you lot have to let me do your hair up in the buns again. And you have to stay like that for the whole show. If you boys win, then we will all wear our hair in the buns, and you can choose what outfits we wear as well. No cheating, or the other team wins by default. This is for one show only, as well, none of us gals are that mean. Sound fair?”

With a cacophony of nodding heads, the game ensued. You had hoped what Roger said about women being smarter than men really was true, because you did not want to see what the boys would pick out for you to wear. With the exception of Angelica, all you girls were relatively modest people. You knew that they would want you to wear something scandalous if they won. Initially, everyone was getting small words and just slowly collecting points. No one seemed to pull ahead right away. Then John got a word that was worth over 20 points in one go, and all four of you started to sweat. That skyrocketed his and Brian’s score, you just knew it, and you had no idea how many points Roger and Freddie had racked up yet. You kept playing, worry nagging your mind throughout the game. Then it was time to add together team scores to see who would be wearing buns at the next show, and possibly no clothes.

“Between us lads, we have 145 points.” John spoke calmly and politely, not wanting to give away the fact that he had been planning what he wanted Veronica to wear this whole time.

The four of you girls all turned to look at each other with somewhat neutral expressions, but could not contain your excitement for long. Wide smile’s broke out across all of your faces as you turned back to look at the boys, who’s faces you all could see were breaking watching your smiles spread. As if you had planned it in advance, the four of you simultaneously yelled out your score, proud of the outcome.

“146 points!”

“You’re fucking joking.”

“Dammit, darlings! Who told you could be so good at this game?”

John simply sighed and looked down into his lap, while you and Brian made eye contact. You could see the insecurity flooding back into his brain through the look in his eyes, and without wanting to make it obvious that you felt bad, you offered him a melancholy smile, trying your best to subliminally tell him you were sorry it worked out this way but you would make it up to him somehow. It was your idea, after all, to do this bet. He did not have to agree to it, but something told you he did because it would make you happy. Once the game was put away, it was really late in the evening and everyone just wanted to sleep. When the tour bus with you eight on it pulled into the rest stop, following the other busses touring with you for equipment and other crew members, the three girls went back to their bunks on the other bus, and you told them you would meet them there in a moment, that there was something you had to do first. You gently pulled back the curtain to be met with Brian’s bare back.

“Bri? You awake?” You spoke so quietly you could hardly hear yourself.

“Hmm? Y/N? What… what’re you—”

“Just hush and come sit with me, love.”

After Brian managed to get his lanky form out his bunk to follow you to the table in the back of the bus, you started speaking before he could ask any questions.

“I’m really sorry. I completely forgot about how insecure that hairstyle made you feel, and frankly, I thought of the bet because I saw how annoyed Roger looked with himself with them in and I just thought his temper showing in the show would be funny—”

“Y/N.”

You looked at Brian, hoping that he did not look angry at you for what you had started. He looked tired, sure, but there was no anger hidden in his features. You breathed out a sigh of relief that you had not lost one of your best friends because of a stupid bet.

“I promise it’s okay. It’s not like I’m making the choice alone, the other lads are going to be there doing the same thing. Plus, I could tell you said you’re going to make it up to me later on. Yes, I understand you enough to know that look from earlier.”

You heart swelled twice as big knowing that he knew you as well as you knew him.

“Plus, on the bright side, I think we all know who looked best in those buns anyway. My curls just make it perfect, wouldn’t you agree, love?”

“I couldn’t agree more, Bri.” You smiled sweetly at him, and this time, he sleepily returned the look. “But hey listen. I’m actually really tired and the girls are waiting for me in the other bus, so I’ll just see you tomorrow for the show, okay?”

“I’d like to get back to bed myself, I’m pretty cold now.” He chuckled sweetly. “Goodnight, love.”

~

You and the girls had gotten the guys ready for the show, and once they were in their group dressing room, you scurried off to make a change to your appearance where they would not see you, namely Brian. You figured the least you could do would be to make the whole situation up to him at this show, and get your embarrassment out of the way. You quickly made a beeline for the costume department, Veronica lending you a helping hand, but stopping short at first when she noticed something about your hair.

“Y/N, you do realize we won the bet, right? Your hair doesn’t have to be in buns, too.”

“I know. I made a promise to Brian, don’t worry about it.”

“You starting to feel for him like how I feel about John?”

“I guess you could say something like that, Ronnie, but now is not the time, and I’m not sure I want my heart broken by a literal rock star. Help me find that damn shirt.”

“Okay! Okay! But you’re really playing into what it says, dearie.”

The shirt in question was one that had been tossed at Brian during a show toward the end of the Queen II tour. It was large, even too large for Brian to wear to some extent, and it was solid black. On the front was a rather handsome picture of Brian’s face, and on the back, it read ‘BRIAN MAY’S #1 FAN” with the Queen crest on the bottom. Sometimes as a joke, or on his birthday, one of the boys would prance around with the shirt on when on stage or something to that effect. You decided that you would wear it, with nothing but a small pair of shorts that would not be visible underneath since it came halfway down your thighs, along with your new hairdo during the show and hope to catch his eye. And catch his eye you did. Freddie had decided to start chattering with the audience, something he had gotten into the habit of doing at larger shows now because hearing one random concert-goer shout out a response was never a dull moment for the boys. As Freddie was talking about this and that, the other three boys caught their breaths, readjusted equipment and stuff like that. At one point, Brian had looked up from his guitar off to the side of the stage you were standing on, and locked eyes with you beaming back at him. You raised your arms up in the air to give him a better look at the shirt, then spun around so he could read the back, and turned back to face him. Then you let your arms flop to the side and tilted your head a little aggressively to the side. Your hand then came back up to point at the buns, and your smile turned into a full-blown laugh. Just as you did this, Freddie was telling the audience about the bet and why their hair looked this way, and he asked all the boys a question, Brian completely not hearing him because he was so wrapped up in you. Freddie managed to sneak a peek at just what Brian was looking at, so he decided to make a cheeky comment to all the people in the audience just to embarrass him.

“Brian isn’t listening to me, the boor. He’s too busy staring at the girl who on multiple occasions has called ‘the prettiest damn thing his eyes have ever seen.’”

The audience roared with screams and laughter, while Brian went as red as a tomato, earning more laughing from you. He smiled at you through the embarrassment, because you clearly were not rejecting what Freddie had told the audience. It gave him confidence. After the show, Brian came and found you seated on top of a stack of his guitar cases, yanking out his buns while walking over.

“Freddie made a whole ordeal about pointing you out tonight, why didn’t you come up on stage and embarrass yourself like we did?”

“I said I’d make the bet up to you, not all of your fans. This look is just for you, Bri.”

Brian shyly smiled at you, forcing his face to the ground. His insecurity taking over again. He hated how vulnerable to it he was.

“Was Fred lying on stage?”

“Hm? Lying?”

“About what you called me.”

You saw his Adam’s apple bob. Clearly, that was not the sentence he thought you were going to ask him. But somehow, his confidence came back, and he asked you a question in response.

“I’ll tell you the truth about that if you tell me if your shirt is telling the truth.”

“Deal. The shirt is almost the truth. Well, it is. I am your biggest fan. But I almost wished it said something else.”

“And what is that, love?”

“Brian May’s #1 groupie.”

He almost choked on air. Not what he expected you to say, and not as forward as he expected you to talk, either. You wanted to be his groupie.

“When-when you say… groupie…”

“I think you know what I mean, Bri. Except I wouldn’t want you to forget about me the next day. I would like all the benefits of being a groupie, but with mutual respect involved.”

“So… my girlfriend.”

“If you want to put a label on it, I mean…”

“I think I can arrange that, most ravenous girl I have ever seen.”

“What?”

“Freddie was almost correct on stage. I never said pretty. I always said ravenous.”

“O-oh…”

“And I still mean it, love.”

Brian then closed the space between you with a passionate kiss that was just so Brian. It was not driven by lust, despite the conversation that had just happened. It was soft, gentle, but somehow completely satisfying. Just so Brian. At one point, you felt his hand slide up your side, half expecting him to stop at your chest. He was a man, after all. Except that he did not. His hand kept going up your body till it was on your neck, then your cheek, and made its way all the way to the top of your head. Then you felt it. You felt his large hand take hold of one of the buns on your head and lightly pull it to the side, forcing you to move your head to side so he could deepen the kiss further, showing you his appreciation for how you looked in those buns. His kiss was relentless, so he completely swallowed the moan that left you, signaling that he had made you desperate. He pulled away just enough so he could speak through ragged breaths.

“I think…I could get used to seeing… you in these buns more often, sweetheart. Think you could arrange that?”

“I’ll wear them every damn day if it leads to this, Bri.”

Permanent Taglist: @bensrhapsody @chlobo6 @gardnerlangway @xtrashmammalstefx

Brian May Taglist: @ziggymay

// If you want to be added to either taglist mentioned above, or the one for another character I’ve written for, send me an ask here! //

[calamitynight]

Yosano x Dazai | smut

A/N: I for some reason felt like writing something with this pairing. Ik it's not one of the big talked about ships, it's a rare pair actually, but I think if they actually spoke with one another, they would get along well...anyway this ended up becoming a smut and my first smut at that. I think it came out really well. So I'm nervous, but quite proud of myself, I guess. I can't come up with a title for it. No matter how hard I try and I really want to upload it onto my AO3 and FF...so if anyone has any recommendations for a title please totally comment. If not, I'll eventually figure it out. ANYWAY!...I hope you guys like this...

Words: 4k

Dazai walked into a dim lighted office. He was surprised to see that the building was not empty at such a late hour. He walked over to his coworker that was slouched down onto her desk. Mountains of paperwork resided on each sides of her. He watched quietly as she rapidly wrote on the pages. He could barely make out what the words were saying. She had the script capability that assured you, she is indeed a doctor. He soon leaned in close to her ear and whispered.

"Yosano san"

She moved with great speed, making him lose his balance. Yosano had him pinned down onto the desk behind her. Her fingers wrapped around his throat and the others held a scalpel against his skin. Dazai let out a smug smirk as he watched her eyes open with realization. She let go of him and slammed her scalpel down on the table. She brushed herself off and regained her composure.

"You're completely insane to creep up on someone like this. Still, I apologize"

"You really have it in you. I never get to team up with you, that sure was thrilling" he responded in his giddy tone. He could have moved whenever he wanted to, but he didn't see the fun in that.

"What are you doing here so late at night?" She asked as she sat back down.

"I came to retrieve a book I left behind today" Yosano had rolled herself back toward her desk. She responded with a short hum and processed with her work. "Do you work this late often?"

"Occasionally, I am not a fan of Kunikida's scoldings in the morning. So I get as much as I can done" she looked down to peak at the tittle of the book Dazai was holding. "Poisonous plants, huh-"

"I was thinking about mixing some of these into my tea tonight" he sounded so happy, she just couldn't understand.

"Death by poison, congratulations"

"This might be it. Guess you will know if I don't come in tomorrow"

"You rarely come in as it is" Yosano shot back and he chuckled.

"That is true. See you around, Doctor"

He made it towards the door, his palm grazing the knob before being stopped.

"Wait" she called out. He turned slightly to look at her from the corner of his eyes. She had rolled herself around. He could see her fully underneath the one dim light. "How about we have a drink, before you finally off yourself" she leaned into her desk to take out an unopened bottle of wine with two glasses.

"I suppose, one last drink wouldn't hurt"

He sat on the chair beside her and rolled himself around to face her completely. Handing him a glass she opened the bottle and filled it with ease. "What was the occasion for this bottle suppose to have been?" He asked, never taking his eyes off of her.

"There was none. Sometimes we run out of drinks when we host parties, that's all"

"I always tend to forget how much you adore drinking"

"It's greatly needed sometimes"

He took a sip out of his drink, but still kept his eyes on her. He watched as she softly twirled the glass in her fingers. She stared deeply into the red colored wine. He had clearly guessed that something was weighing on her mind. He just couldn't understand why it was him she had chosen to be around.

"What are you thinking?" He finally asked. It bothered him how he couldn't figure it out.

She looked up at him, she acknowledge his question, it took her some time to answer. She turned up the glass and drank all her wine. Setting the cup down on the desk beside her, away from her work, she sighed.

"Ironically..." she took a pause. "- Suicide"

"Yosano san!" She was taken aback suddenly by Dazai's actions. He had lounged towards her from his seat. His hands gripped on both her arm rest. Their faces were inches apart. "If you're thinking about that, don't do it alone. We could have the most beautiful double suicide together. Of course! this is why you wanted to be alone with me. This drink truly is a celebration" she let out a scuff before busting out into laughter.

The historia has completely taken over her. He dropped his body back down onto his seat as he watched her. She appeared happy, if she were thinking about that, he wondered why? She gleamed as she laughed, tears ran down her face and she whipped them away. She started catching her breath, soon she opened her eyes.

"You are an idiot, honestly" she laughed a little more. "That is not what I meant at all. Still, I'm not surprised in the least with your thought process"

"Then what exactly do you mean by thinking of suicide?" She picked up the wine bottle and tipped it over. She took a big gulp out of it. "No point of the glass, I see"

"There was this job, before the agency..." she drunk again. "I'm sorry, there was this man. I was suppose to save him. I promised him that I would save him, but I didn't make it" Dazai took the bottle as she tried to tip it one more time. "It's hard to sleep at night, sometimes he haunts me. So I come here and I drown myself in work"

"That explains it. You have months of work finished already" he took a sip of the bottle himself. "What happened to him?"

"Turns out I can't save people who want to die-he committed suicide, hanging- he died before I could get to him. I was too late"

"This man, was he a lover? Was he someone precious?"

"He was-my dear friend"

He could see the pain in her eyes. Those words pulled a cord inside of him. Before he knew it he was thinking of his old dear friend too. It may be different lives, but they shared the same sorrow. He never believed something like this could be possible.

"We're the same, you and I" Dazai commented.

"No one knows anything about your life. It's hard to believe that we are in any form equals"

"We all have our dark pass we wish not to speak of. I have lost a dear friend too. I too was too late to save him. I think of him often, but I don't associate him with any form of hauntings"

"Is that why you want to die so badly?"

"Is that why you're always drinking?"

"Ha!- got me there"

Dazai trace his eyes along her body as she threw herself back onto the desk. Her shirt was unbuttoned and he could see the beginning lace of her black bra. Her tie laid on top of her chest, as she unfastened it earlier. Her skin glowed from its pale color, it possessed porcelain smoothness. She breathed softly and he watched as her chest calmly arose up and down. He had never had the pleasure to see her in the act of healing someone. He recalled all the stories he has been told about her. The way she seductively took off her shirt. The way her lips curled into a smile and she chuckled as she cut everyone open. The image of that seemed to truly get him excited. He moved his sight down towards her legs as they crossed on top one another. She always wore a long knee length skirt, but he could only invision the legs she hid underneath. Her black tights wrapped around her legs perfectly. Leaving only a small stretch to show off her skin. The red heels she wore with such a plain elegant outfit showcased a side of her he for some reason wanted to discover. He never bothered to learn much about the agencies Doctor. She was a friend to him and the others, but she couldn't heal him, so there were never any motives to get close to her. She was a beautiful and dangerous woman; Yet she was vulnerable and weak in her own way. He wondered how this night ended up like this. It began with an exciting encountered and twisted into a pit of sorrowful recollections. He looked back up towards her face. Her cheeks had turned red from the warm alcohol. Her neck was long as she stretched it out. Hair softly falling off her shoulders. The lashes of her eyes held a glisten to them, she must have let out a small tear. Her lips were a tint of pink. The sight of her was graceful and he wondered why he never noticed before.

"Forgive me, I've kept you from your plans"

"I appear to be having fun right here and now" Dazai questioned, but it was a true statement. "I talk about how much I wish to die every day, does that bother you?"

"I've grown accustomed to the weirdness of the people who walk past that door. In times like these your words aren't the most comforting, truth be told" she unbutton her shirt a little more and began to fan herself. The alcohol was finally setting within her. "If there was a way to make you want to live for at least one more day, would you consider it?"

"Depends, what are you offering?"

"I wish to know more about you, before you're gone from this world. I want to unlock the mysteries that are Osamu Dazai"

"Why the sudden interest?"

"You said that you and I are alike. I would like to know in which way" she stood up from her seat and walked towards him. She soon caught him off guard as she straddled him. "I'll give you the one pleasure there is in this world, one that can only be attained between two people. Perhaps that'll make you stay just a little while longer"

He gave her a smirk. The smirk of amusement and his eyes stared at her in agreement. She leaned down closing the space between them. She waited for any sign of rejection, but he didn't give her one. Their lips soon pressed against each others. It was a full open mouth kiss. Passionate and seductive, he could taste the mixture of sweet and bitter cherry wine on her tongue. The way she clinged onto him reflected how starved she was for this. She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and she grind herself softly against him. She tasted delicious and he couldn't resist the temptation that was above him. The friction was beginning to get a reaction from him. It turned her on, he felt the vibrations go down his throat as she let out a moan. She was a beautiful woman, an older and more experienced woman. These thoughts alone made him want to hear her even more. What kind of sounds would she make for him. What kind of screams could he make her release. She moved her hands underneath his jacket and took it off. They soon grabbed a hold of his bolo tie. The sound of it echoed as it hit the floor and she began to unbutton his shirt. He pulled her tie off from around her neck. Holding it in one hand, he grabbed a hold of her wrist with the other. She pulled away and looked at him. Her eyes were blurred from the excitement. He smirked once again and tied her wrist up with her tie.

"I dont want you getting too ahead of yourself" he commented as he looked at her full revealed cleavage.

She let out a chuckle. "Then please, lead the way" she shoved him fully back against the chair for him to get a better view.

He let go of his grab on her wrist and softly planted his hands on her waist. Her shirt unraveled from behind as he gripped and untucked it from her skirt. His imagination has been driving him crazy since the beginning. As his cold hands landed onto her warm soft bare back, he knew he wouldn't be able to control himself much longer. Dazai slid his hand straight up her back and she trembled underneath his touch. He felt the goosebumps form on her skin and the shiver vibrations on his crotch. He slid them to the front and began to unbutton her shirt one by one. He began with the bottom button and worked himself up. As he watched the last button come out of its hole he noticed this view was not enough. He wanted, no he needed her spread out, he needed a more open view. Landing his palms on her thighs he gripped them and carried her up. She threw her arms around his shoulders in surprise. She felt light as he carried her. She wrapped her legs around him, which made him twitch. He was considerate enough of her work and moved her towards another table. Surely only one table was unoccupied from any type of work and that would be his. He dropped her off on top of it and watched her lay down. This was it, as she threw her hands over her head everything was now in hindsight. Her shirt opened and revealed her black laced bra. The choosing of her under clothing made him think she was waiting on something like this to happen. Grabbing a hold of her knees he spread her legs open. Even underneath her tights he could see her matching panties. Pushing himself in between her legs he leaned down to kiss her. She sucked him in immediately, she was hungry and couldn't wait any longer. He began to trail himself down from her chin to her neck. She ran her fingers through her hair and her heavy breathing began. That wasn't enough, not for him. Grabbing the middle of her bra he pulled it up. Her breast softly fell out of the cups. He moved his lips down towards her pink colored nipples. He bit gently and listened to every reaction he received. He sucked and licked until he felt them rise. Moving his hand down towards the inside of her skirt he grabbed a hold of her inner tigh. Yosano let out a moan when he unexpectedly pinched her. Soon leading to him ripping the fabric of her tights. Dazai began to rub his finger on her labia from the thinnest of her panties. It amazes him how wet she's gotten from such little contact. Thrusting herself upward Yosano proclaimed she couldn't wait any longer.

"Someone is quite inpatient"

"Come now, being teased by a man younger than me" he pinched and rubbed at her clit. She shivered and moan. "Sleeping with me must be a dream-You're surely taking advantage of"

"I'm a man that enjoys the pleasures in life. I want to view every part of you"

Yosano covered her red shaded face from embarrassment. He snickered as he began to plant kisses down her body. He rubbed and teased at her clit as she shivered from his touch. He inserted the first finger. She jolted up and her moans let out louder. That's it, indulge him inside of this room with your sounds. That was what Dazai wanted. Her walls clench on his finger as he thrusts in and out of her. Licking and biting on her inner thigh, the once hidden legs now belonged to him. As he inserted the second finger he slipped his tongue on her clitoris. With no hesitation she grabbed at his hair. She melted from the movements of his tongue. He could feel her toes curling as her legs rested over his shoulders. She was getting louder and louder, so his fingers penetrated her faster. That was until she covered her mouth. He stopped once he heard the muffled sounds of her moans. Causing her to whimper and look down at him.

"D-Dazai" she called out with a pant. Her chest elevating up and down with rapid speed. His brown eyes had a darker tint shes never seen before. A switch of dominance had turned active on the man before her.

"Don't cover your mouth. I want to hear every sound"

"What if someone hears us"

"We're all alone here" he slowly pushed his fingers in. "I want to hear the sounds as I take over your body" he went in further. With a whimper she nodded her head in agreement. His lips curled up in a smile. "That's it, wouldn't want to keep our good doctor unsatisfied"

Yosano tightly wrapped her legs around him as he went back down on her. Her body arched itself as it prepared for its release. She let out a sound of total satisfaction. Dazai took all of it in, every last bit of her. He pulled himself up, bridging on top of her body. The red color of her cheeks and chest, he could feel the heat emitting from her. He couldn't help but grin at her. In a slow motion he decided to untie her. Her hands quickly grabbed a hold of his pants. The sound of his zipper being pulled down was all he needed. As his pants fell down she took in the size of his bulge into her hands. Her eyes came back at him as she began to play with him. The sensation made him whimper, he had held back for too long. She pulled him out, showcasing her joy with his size. She began to stroke him, but she was holding back as she began with the thumb and index finger. It wasn't enough so he pushed himself forward. Yosano smirked, was it her time to tease him? That wouldn't do, but he let her continue. Slowly adding more pressure with the addition of her other fingers she stroke with a faster pace. She hit every nerve of his soft spots. She toyed with him with the knowledge she controlled. He felt himself about to give out. He felt himself becoming weak to her touch. Dazai grabbed her hand and pinned her down. He breathed heavily as he stared at her. The satisfaction was radiant on her face.

"Heh- you damn doctor"

Now standing straight before her, she licked her lips of the thought of him inside her. He pulled off her ripped tights and her panties came off with them. His eyes lingered on her for a couple seconds. He was falling victim to a witch doctors body. Taking himself into his hand he put himself in position. His tip barely touched her vulva before she let out her begging moans. He pushed through and entered her, she arched up once more. Letting go of her hands he slammed his down above her shoulders and beside her head. He began to move slowly, pleasure filling both of their expressions. Wrapping her arms around him, she clinged on to him. As she moaned into his ear he thrust faster into her. She pulled at the back of his shirt, tugged at it as he penetrated her. It began to slip down his shoulders and the cool breeze caused him to shiver. Her fingers found their way underneath his bandages, she felt him grow inside her as her nails dug into his skin. He accelerated from the sensation of brief pain. Yosano smirked and chuckled at the knowledge, it was nothing to be amazed about. Shoving her face into his neck she used her teeth to losen his bandage. He slowed down a bit, but processed as she began to leave bites on him. The harder she bite, the harder he thrusted. The room filled with moans from the both of them. Sweat dripped from their faces as they stared into each others eyes. This was a paring that no one could ever see happen, but it was a paring made for each other. Dazai was too zoned in with the feeling of pleasure. He felt himself on the brink, but was brought back as his bandages slid from his shoulders. He pushed the both of them down towards the desk. Pulling out of her, she whimpered once more. Without warning he flipped her around, she let out a moaning scream as he slipped back into her from behind. Her hands gripped at the edges of his desk. The creaking of the desk left behind scratch marks on the wooden floor. She pushed herself back up against his chest. She panted as her lips pressed against his. One arm wrapped around his neck, holding him towards her. She moaned into him, he wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Yo-sano-san" he tightened against her as her walls clenched one last time. He dug his face into her neck as she released one last screaming moan.

Her body dropped onto the desk, moans were exchanged by her deep breathing. He pulled out of her slowly, his warm semen following suit. He watched her privates pulse and a satisfied smirk stained his lips. Pushing her body up and away from the desk, her skirt fell, covering her legs. He watched as she pulled her bra back down in place and her shirt laid perfectly on her shoulders. Her tie went into her pocket, and she bent down to retrieve her underwear and torn off tights. Dazai followed behind her as he pulled his pants up and fixed his shirt. Some of his bandages fell lose from his skin. He cleared his throat as Yosano began to walk towards her desk. Grabbing her wine bottle and cups, she put them back into their hiding spot.

"So, do you accept my offer?" Her voice was now calm and collected, but he could no longer imagine anything else than her broken underneath him. She pressed his hard covered book against his chest. "It's your choice"

He couldn't believe such a trivial thing could make him stray away from what he wanted most. At this moment he was feeling more alive than usual. He had learned much from the doctor out of this act of intimacy. She smiled at him as she began to walk to the door. That smile was sly and brilliant.

"Lock up behind me, will you?" Opening the door wide, she slipped right out.

Without hesitation Dazai dumped his book in her bin, soon following Yosano out the door.

Extended ending:

"Looks like you didn't manage to kill yourself this time, Dazai" Kunikida spoke as he took off Dazai's headphones. "You're even here early, must be the end of the world"

"I guess so, I slept pretty well last night" he smiled widely.

"Dazai san, I found your book in Yosano's trash bin" Atsushi put the book down before him.

"Thank you, Atsushi. Speaking of our dear doctor, is she here yet?"

"She's in the infirmary"

"Great!" Jumping up with glee he headed to the infirmary. He watched her as she organized everything in complete silence. She didn't feel his presence and a part of him wanted her to feel more than just that. As she finished wrapping up, she jumped once she saw him. "Good morning, Yosano san"

"Ha, looks like you didn't go along with it"

"Did you expect me to?" He pouted.

"There's no telling with you, but this is still just as good"

"I'm here quite early, how about a little pick me up?" He slowly began to close the door, but was stopped as she grabbed a hold of it. Smiling up at him, with a pity stare, he knew the meaning of her expression.

"I'm sorry, but I have a lot of work to get done"

"It's early in the morning, how much work could you possibly have?"

"I would like to inform you that most of us do work when we're here" she chuckled at his defeated behavior. "Besides today is-"

"AKIKOOO-" Ranpo could be heard calling out for her. "Akiko where are you!? I'm already out of snacks!"

"It's grocery day, so I can't be slacking off or else our dear Ranpo will die" she walked out, leaving Dazai alone in her infirmary. After a couple seconds he heard the sound of her heals walk back to the door way. "I wouldn't mind some help. Care for a little adventure?" She smirked connivingly as she walked out once again, with Dazai joyfully behind her.

A/N: I added an extended ending cause I feel like I could do more stuff with them :p

[persephonealmana]

My Thoughts On The Vic Situation

I’m aware that I’m going to be called a “cunt”, “bitch” and other vile names for speaking my opinion but this is just my thoughts on the whole situation. 

~*~*~*~*~*

Considering that I'm more caught up with Overwatch VA's these days, but I have sadly learned of a situation with a VA that I loved.

Read the journal for more information:

There are some journals about this.

I never thought that the #metoo movement was going to be a problem movement. It was originally combating against Sexual Harassment, but I guess there are people out there to twist it for their own agenda. Like Monica and Jamie did. They twisted it to fit their own agenda to take a person down, just like anyone that uses this movement to twist it for their own personal gain. These fucking idiots felt like using it as a weapon to ruin people's lives JUST for the hell of it. Susan B. Anthony must be rolling in her grave right about now, I can't blame her though. Since all of her female descendants are poisoning the feminist movement and forgetting about equality.

I also forgot that Vic was accused of sexually assaulting girls at cons, which there is no EVIDENCE of him doing that.

Both Monica and Jamie DON'T have evidence that Vic did this to them. Allegations like this require evidence and so far Monica & Jamie show none of it.  It's all a hearsay.

These people basically don't know what sexual harassment is! They never met anyone or experienced what sexual harassment is like or how to feel. They decided to say; well I was sexually harassed by this person, but I don't know what it's like being sexually harassed anyways.

Was Vic being inappropriate? No. But yes, he is a bit of a touchy guy but he doesn't mean to be touchy it's just who he is. He always asked permission before giving hugs and kisses on cheeks, but there are at times where he does it without consent. The fans are ok with that. But what was his crime? Being Overly-friendly to people. Being too nice to people even his co-workers, now he's going to be afraid to hug his fans again after this situation, he's going to be afraid to give out his hugs and kiss on the cheeks to fans. Since he won't know if they will sue him or file harassment against him. Studying Vic's body language, tone, and speech during his apology he displays textbook remorse, sorrow, and self-awareness.  From what I have seen he clearly got comfortable with treating everyone fairly, assuming everyone wanted to be hugged, kissed or fan serviced with a scene of one of his popular characters. The man has already apologized for becoming too lazy about hugs which display self-awareness and remorse.

They, Monica and Jaimie, think hugging and kissing on the cheek is sexual harassment. Which is not! Vic is very affectionate to his friends and fans, he's not afraid to hide that. Even they should go to some European countries that are big on giving hugs and kisses on the cheeks.

The fact that the voice actors of DBZ are throwing Vic under the bus to save face makes me sick to my stomach even their comments, don't get me started on the comments some made. Personally, they have a personal vendetta against him, which I'll explain at the end, they know Monica and just want to defend her of all this BS. Then again the majority of these voice actors at Funimation are narcissistic Leftists.

Funimation dropped Vic without hearing his side, cons banned him and now he's left with nothing. He's banned from Cons and fired for doing a job that he loves and a community that he adores.

It's funny that they dropped Vic without evidence, but remember the incident where another VA of FUNimation was accused of Child Pornography? FUNimation decided to wait until the evidence comes out. But with Vic? Nope, sorry bud you are cut from the scene.

The only voice actor that is on Vic's side is Todd. He is standing by Vic's side, which I praise him for.

I literally lost respect for Funimation, which I haven't watched them for years, they fired Vic without evidence shown. While Funimation said that they don't condone harassment, they still have Monica, Jaimie, and Sean who openly harass fans who question them over the lack of evidence.

Monica is basically acting like a bully who constantly says that they are going to tell on you but with her, it's like "I'm gonna screenshot this to show my lawyer!" She obviously now thinks she can sue people for disagreeing with her. Can I say that those who were sexually harassed sure as hell won't go online to tell the whole world what happened!

I’d say if you’re accusing someone of something serious you are OBLIGATED to provide evidence. Where has the mentality come from where you accuse someone of something horrible and serious and you expect people to go off nothing but word of mouth alone and treat the accused as 100% confirmed guilty? That’s a disgusting backward way of thinking.

Especially with screenshots being capped of people wanting to edit photos of Vic to make him look guilty because of their twisted sense of justice. The people who felt uncomfortable exist, but don’t you dare sweep under the rug the proven false allegations still circulating and people with malicious intent trying to lie to make things worse.

You can’t accuse people and when someone asks you to bring more info and proof to the table you essentially say “I don’t owe you proof, you’re supposed to just believe me completely.”

NO. That’s not how things should ever work in real life. It’s illogical and illogical to expect that of people.

Does she not realize serious allegations like this can lead Vic to depression and suicide? But then again she doesn't care nor does SJW's care about whose career was destroyed. Which I hope Vic doesn't consider even doing. No one wants that.

Monica Rial has officially gone on a complete meltdown on twitter. She's showing her true colors: she's a textbook narcissist with false victimization tendencies.  She displays compulsory to lying, passive aggressiveness to hold herself accountable. She doesn't want to stop the harassment on Twitter, she's fueling it. She said that she had to be far from social network because of her lawyer's advice (which is the best solution honestly), and now she keeps threatening people like that. She threatens those that question her for evidence and to show proof. How can she still work at Funimation after this, this is unacceptable. She didn't give us any PROPER photo evidence, video or audio evidence to back it up these claims. Now if there was evidence I'll happily change my mind but this is all just a hearsay. When Monica threatened to sue anyone who simply makes a video that has a different opinion than her, it showed a guilty conscious. She bragged about getting his job after this, she claimed he didn't have the right of innocence before being guilty outside of court. Can I just say it's funny that I know two people that are treating Twitter like a courthouse? Monica Rial & Timethy Heller? Both are treating Twitter like it's their personal courthouse just to be sided with.

And FUNimation is basically defending her through this BS. Monica personally LIED to take Vic's job away from him.

Also, how can fans follow this VA that constantly harasses people that asks for evidence? Like, how can you still support her after what she's doing? She has no video evidence, no anything to prove her point that Vic did this to her, it's all a hearsay!

But now let's take a look at this at another angle, this is just a thought: If Monica Rial and other coworkers apparently knew that Vic Mignogna had been this “sexual predator” for years, why didn’t anybody do anything about it beforehand? Why didn't they report his behavior to HR(Human Resources) if he was sexually harassing them? Or even try to talk with him to curb his behavior.

How were they still working with him that whole time? No investigation, no police report, no credible evidence, nothing? And she’s saying she doesn’t owe any sort of explanation? Yes, she does! She OWES an explanation to fans about him. She and others put fans in danger because of him if he was a "Sexual predator".

Especially if she’s trying to make claims against someone regarding sexual assault or sexual harassment. Those are serious offenses that should be reported to law enforcement immediately, not some angry Tweet to vent to some fans and subscribers about on social media years after the supposed offense.

If Vic is proven guilty (which I doubt cause I've yet to see hard solid proof but there hasn't been any) then they should be held accountable as well cause they let a predator on the loose and turned a blind eye to his wrongdoings and all the people he "sexually harassed" after that are because of them cause they knew but didn't stop him.

Thanks to them they banned someone who's the most sweetest VA anyone has met, a lot of people had met Vic and they literally said he's the sweetest person.  Vic also defended the LGBT+ community and told off a bunch of Christians in front of the building where the con was being held to leave so that those that were attending can enjoy.

To those who say he's "homophobic", he supports the LGBT. He might be Christian but he defends and supports the LGBT+ community.

Much to the saying says; Rethink your heroes and never met your heroes. Since you may not like who you meet. It's like a punch to the gut for fans to realize that these VA's of DBZ are shitty people.  All respect that fans had for them, they lost their respect for them.

But I'm also saying that there are friendly VA's that you should meet and that you should have a great experience with. Just remember that VA's are humans too and they can have emotions just like us.

Continuing,

I need to add that Sean Schemmel, Goku's VA. Funny enough, I liked Sean since he seemed like a cool guy but after this situation (probably from the youtube videos that make him look like a cool guy).  I stopped liking him as a person, I love him as a VA but not a person, he's also coming to Wisconsin Comic Convention so a lot of fans will give him shit about this situation. I bet that no fans would ever wanna meet him in person anymore and avoid him because he turns out to be such a rude, disrespectful douche. A fan talked about Sean that he's a mixed bag, he can be nice & Friendly but he stresses a lot, another said he has Bipolar Disorder.

He basically defended Monica and Jaimie after this situation, he absolutely has lost my respect by his behavior to some people. Some people like myself are trying to stay neutral and objective about this, but Sean is making it personal by tweeting this out.

Only, I think Sean jumped into the Vic situation because he doesn't like him. Maybe that he has a fear that he's not going to be FUNimations poster boy anymore since Vic is a very talented Voice Actor. People give Monica, Sean Schemmel, Chris Sabat and so on way too much credit. They've been planning to get rid of Vic for years, ever since Vic stepped into the studio. Now that the Super Broly movie has gotten so much praise, it was the perfect opportunity to get Vic in trouble with false accusations. Vic is a white European male who has strong Christian ties - it's exactly who the Leftists love to side against. This man is literally one of the nicest guys out there. And there's also proof that was leaked of people planning to stage evidence against Vic, such as photoshopped pictures to accuse him of something he didn't do.

Monica is one of many threats. There's also Chris Sabot, who stated only the so-called 'survivors' know the truth and that we should listen to them. Sonny Strait is also attempted to back up Monica's claims. And there's that Neil, who openly admits he's always hated, Vic. He posted a video of Vic riding on the guy's shoulders at convection. Almost like a damn parody, he tried using that video as evidence, claiming he felt assaulted. Which wasn't an assault, he got on his shoulders and was having himself a good time, Neil looked like he was having fun too.

Then there's Jamie, who stated she basically wants Vic dead. How psychotic do you have to be? Jamie is an absolute psycho, just like that Marzbitch(Who started the whole kickvic campaign). Even Jamie has a lot of nerve to tell Vic to apologize to her. What for, Jamie?! If you ask me, Jamie Marchi needs to apologize to him for the death threats, name-calling treating him like shit. She needs to apologize, but she won't because she'll refuse too. Every FUNimation VA's chose a side, some have remained silent on the matter, but some have decided to add fuel to the flames making it bigger.

Anyway back to Sean, he is dragging us through the mud throughout all of this bullshit. Fans want answers. Monica made this public on twitter. It is our business now. Which it shouldn't.

If they wanted to handle this professionally and privately, they would have done so. They did not do so. They are acting like children. Monica took to twitter, she made it public and now it's the fans business now. She's treating Twitter like a courthouse so that she can be believed and have fans turn against Vic, she's manipulating them into thinking that Vic is this monster, which he isn't. Those that want evidence, they know what's going on and they don't believe her. There is more proof coming out of the woodwork.

To everyone defending Monica, stop. You have fallen for her lies. This woman, instead of going to the authorities, staying neutral til proof was presented, choose to talk about something this serious on Twitter. She wants attention and she got it. Hell, her withholding information like this alone makes her a shitty person because of she alone, for those who believe that Vic is a monster, put more people in danger.

She knew that saying she was a victim would get everyone on her side because she voices Bulma, a very well-known and loved anime character. And you believed her. No questions asked just “Omg not you too!” “I’m so sorry you had to go through that!” “NoT mOnIcA!”

Doesn't take much to win y'all over huh? Anyone could say that Vic touched them inappropriately at this point and you’d immediately believe them without proof or a bit of an explanation on what happened, and no, saying “He was creepy” isn’t good enough. Not when it comes to accusations like this.

If they didn't want any of this to happen, they should not have gotten their fans involved. Now some people could be in serious danger because of these FUNimation VA's releasing private information. Do they think about their fans? No. This just shows their true colors, they don’t care about them. They don't care that they put their fans in a serious situation because they couldn't keep their mouth shut.

The swatting incident is absolutely awful and I hope whoever did it is found and charged with attempted murder. Sean talked about this in a tweet. This has already happened several times in the gaming community and has even lead to someone being killed. Swatting is a very serious matter and should not be done on any side. I know that a voice actor almost getting killed is terrible (it's a relief Reuben is alright and alive), but scapegoating the Vic supporters into this is just idiotic. We have nothing to do it with it and even if were someone who supports Vic, he's not doing a good job and we disassociate that person from us. If Vic is innocent, this is not how you prove it.

He's digging his grave ever deeper, just like Monica is. He's ruining his reputation more. He's showing more of how much of a douche he is. He's making more of his fans losing respect to him.

All of it is his fault, not the fans.  He's dragging the fans down with him.

He said he was going to "stay off of twitter" but he decides not too. Why is it that hard for him to comprehend that?! If you want to "stay off of twitter" then do what you said before and not do a freakin' 180. All he had to do was say nothing. Stay out of this shit show, but no, he just had to take a side and add his fuel to the flames.  

All of this SHOULN'T HAVE BEEN MADE PUBLIC. There are reasons why lawyers tell you to stay off the media to avoid letting people know about this. When this goes to court, these tweets can and will be used against them.   Monica obviously should've listened to her lawyer's advice but nope, she refused to listen and threatened anyone who wants proof since "she has a lawyer". Obviously, Vic has a lawyer so he's doing a good job of laying low and not saying anything until they go to court.

Then what would Funimation do if these tweets are used against Monica? They would face an option on firing her,  then try to find someone to voice Bulma or just keep defending Monica once everything was revealed.

In the end, if Vic is found innocent. Then we can all say karma played her sweet role in this.  That still won't recover Vic's career sadly, since it's already been tarnished because of these allegations and it won't be the same. I even doubt he would even want to step foot in FUNimation ever again, due to all of them stabbed him in the back and ruined his career for good.

[quicksilversquared]

How to Fake a Marriage: Ch. 34

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(AO3) (FF.net)

--(quick note: there was a time skip between ch. 33 and 34 of several months)--

"Shoot, I'm gonna be late!"

Abbey laughed as Marinette frantically shuffled papers around, trying to get everything into some semblance of order before she left. An embroidery sample tumbled off of the desk and onto the floor, and she scooped it up to hand back to Marinette. "You could just watch the vlog later, you know. Like the rest of us non-Frenchy people."

"Alya would know, and Alya would end me." Marinette found the last of the papers she needed and shoved them into her bag. "And she was hinting something about doing something special since Adrien's birthday is coming up, either during the vlog itself or later in the week."

Abbey grinned at her. "Are you doing anything special for your boy's birthday?"

"Of course. You saw what I was making for him." Abbey had been kind enough to let Marinette use her apartment- well, the balcony on her apartment- when she was screenprinting Adrien's gift, so that Adrien wouldn't suspect anything. "And I'll be baking a cake tonight, and then his birthday dinner on Saturday. He didn't want anything too crazy, since he's got schoolwork to focus on." Marinette glanced at the clock again and eeped. "I gotta go! See you later!"

Marinette raced out of the building, waving to her other coworkers as she passed. She slung the strap of her bag over her head as she headed down the road, just barely on the edge of running. There were probably a few people staring, but that didn't matter.

Alya's fifth travel vlog was going to start in seven minutes, and Marinette was not going to miss it.

There was a minute left before the start by the time Marinette had raced up the last of the stairs and burst into her and Adrien's apartment. At the table, Adrien glanced up from the computer and lit up when he saw her.

"I was starting to think that you wouldn't make it!"

"I got in a designing groove and lost track of time," Marinette apologized. She plopped down in the chair next to Adrien. "Tikki was the one to remind me that it was time to go."

"Good job, Tikki," Adrien said with a laugh. He grinned at the small god as she popped out of Marinette's purse. "Otherwise, I bet Marinette wouldn't have remembered until Alya texted her wondering what she thought of the vlog."

Marinette spluttered. "You could have reminded me too, you know!"

Adrien shrugged. "Sure, I could have. But I figured that you were probably on a design kick, and I didn't want to interrupt you. Besides, the vlog will get posted later on. You could have watched it then, and Alya would have just had to wait for your reply."

Marinette just shrugged. She knew that Alya always posted the vlogs once the livestream had ended (and then she would give them English subtitles once she had the time, which usually meant while she was traveling). "I know. But I wanted- oh! Here she goes!"

"Welcome, everyone!" Alya exclaimed as the screen came to life and showed her sitting in a small room. She was wearing a new outfit- a light, loose top with wide sleeves and gorgeous designs on it, probably something that she had just bought. For once, her long hair was tied up, presumably because of the heat. "And hello from Egypt! I've been here for the past week, learning more about the Egyptian Ladybug. And the first thing to know- she was known as the Goddess Ladybug! Like our current-day Ladybug, she had a yo-yo as a weapon. And as you might know from one of my earliest Ladyblog videos, she kept the king at the time from sacrificing an innocent person in order to try to bring back his dead love. She also kept her community safe from wildlife and any attackers. Very cool!"

"She also kept the community safe from evil spirits that looked like animals to normal people," Tikki piped up. "Most of the time, wildlife didn't come particularly close to where the people were! There was too much activity for them."

"She was the sworn enemy of the king after she kept him from completing his attempt to bring back Nefertiti, but guards were very reluctant to go after someone who was seen as a goddess!" Alya continued. "I've got some photos of some of the papers describing her and what she did. I'll post those later. But first, let me catch everyone up on what I've been doing!"

"I'm glad she's enjoying herself," Adrien said as Alya chattered on about the tours she had gone on and the experts she had talked to (through her translator, of course). "And I'm glad the newspaper is letting her post these on the Ladyblog instead of limiting her. I suppose it reaches a slightly different audience than her newspaper blurbs?"

Marinette shrugged. "Maybe? Actually- yeah, I think you're right. The pieces she does for the newspaper tend to be more cultural pieces, instead of strictly focused on her research. And not everyone looks at the Ladyblog, so it won't conflict with her piece at the end."

Marinette had to admit that it was a great way to keep the Ladyblog active and relevant now that she and Adrien- and by extension, Ladybug and Chat Noir- were out of the country. It was fresh content with new holders, and as a bonus the renewed traffic meant that Alya could get a decent amount of money from advertising on the Ladyblog. That could either go towards her savings, or be earmarked for helping with the cost of any future Miraculous research.

"Can you say hi from us?" Marinette asked as Alya started flipping through the comments for questions to answer. "And tell her not to get kidnapped by anyone wanting to use her for a sacrifice this time."

Adrien laughed as he typed exactly that. "She's going to complain and say that that's not her fault, you know."

"It was entirely her fault. She should have stayed hidden instead of running out and then getting distracted when we arrived."

"Okay, it was not my fault that I got kidnapped, Adrien and Marinette," Alya said only seconds later, and they both snickered. "Okay, maybe I could have paid a little more attention to my surroundings and- okay, okay, yeah, maybe I could have left a little more space between myself and the fight, but how else was I supposed to get good footage? And I was fourteen, so stop bugging me about it. Anyway, on to the next question, from Lindsay-"

"It's always about the good footage with her," Marinette sighed. "I'm just glad that Lucky Charm always fixed things. Otherwise, she would have been in serious trouble."

Adrien nodded in agreement.

Five minutes later, Alya signed off. "I have a meeting and dinner with a local historian that's going to tell me even more about what other kinds of things the Goddess Ladybug did," she told the audience. "Feel free to leave any more burning questions, and I'll see if I can find the time to make and post a short video answering as many of them as I can! No promises, though, since I have a lot on my schedule, and I also need to get some cool stuff posted, in honor of my friend Adrien's birthday coming up. Stay Miraculous, everyone! Bye!"

"That was nice," Tikki said. She swallowed the rest of the cookie that she had grabbed from the kitchen halfway through the webcast and wiped the crumbs from her mouth. "Some of the details aren't exactly correct, but it was a long time ago and my holder didn't exactly share everything with her people. In fact, she never even corrected the idea that she was a goddess. She just said that she was needed elsewhere and then retired once the last of the demons were driven from the area and the king had died."

Adrien grinned. "That's clever. I think everyone figured out that we're not immortal gods, though."

Plagg, who had been napping in the sun, squinted over at Adrien. "Speak for yourself, kid."

"He was," Tikki said in exasperation. "Really, Plagg, if you listened-"

Adrien put the computer away as Marinette headed into their kitchen to start dinner, both of them ignoring the bickering kwamis. She stepped out of Adrien's way automatically as he joined her, reaching past her to grab a knife to cut up an onion.

It made her smile to think about how comfortable they were together. Even out of the suits and in a non-fighting environment, they were truly a team. Part of her had been a little worried when they first officially moved in together that somehow they would run into problems that they hadn't had when they had her apartment as a backup, but so far, those fears seemed unfounded.

Subleasing her apartment to Abbey and then turning it over completely once the end of her lease hit at the start of the fall had been a great decision.

"Should I get this browning?" Adrien asked. He shook the cutting board filled with sliced onion at her. "Or is the meat not ready yet?"

"It's ready!" Marinette grabbed her own cutting board and made a few more quick cuts. "Or close enough, at least. But it'll need garlic, too."

"Got it!"

  "Adrien, fingers away from the frosting."

Caught, Adrien's hand retracted from the bowl. He pouted at her.

"Not even a little taste?"

"Not until I'm done frosting the cake, you can't!"

"But Tikki has!"

Marinette spun around to see a pouting Tikki flying after Adrien. "You told! I told you not to tell on me!"

"That was only valid if I got some frosting, too!"

"Both of you, out of the kitchen," Marinette ordered. "Plagg is the only one allowed, since he isn't stealing anything."

Adrien snorted, even as he stepped out of the kitchen area and Plagg smugly zipped in, carrying his rice heating bag. "Princess, Plagg steals from us whenever we're making anything with cheese in it."

"But I'm not making anything with cheese in it right now, am I?" Marinette took the bag from Plagg and popped it in the microwave to heat it up for him before he could start to whine. "So he's allowed. You two will get any leftovers, but you have to wait. And Adrien, don't you have stuff to work on anyway?"

"Yeah, I guess. But the siren call of sugar summoned me to the kitchen when I started working on it."

Marinette hastily muffled a laugh before Adrien could interpret it as an invitation to return to the kitchen. She returned to trimming her cakes and cutting them in half to fill with frosting and chunks of chocolate. The microwave dinged and she removed Plagg's heat pack, setting it where he would be out of the way. Plagg let out a delighted little trill and settled down, smirking at a pouting Adrien and Tikki.

Adrien's birthday cake was a two-tiered chocolate cake with vanilla buttercream, with chunks of chocolate between the layers. He had insisted that she didn't have to go all-out decorating it, but, well...

It was something Marinette enjoyed doing, and besides, she wasn't exactly running short on time now that she only had one commission to work on. She could spare the entire evening to make and decorate a cake for Adrien.

"I'm so glad that I don't have quite as many papers and other writing things to do this semester," Adrien said as Marinette finished trimming and crumb coating the bottom layer, which promptly went into the fridge. She had to push a few things out of the way, but it would work. "And Ben said that next semester should be similar."

"I still don't fully understand why they couldn't have balanced the writing-heavy classes out more." Adrien had explained it before, about how some classes were prerequisites for others and how they got more into the research-y classes later in the program. But she still thought that something could have been done to keep Adrien from practically drowning under papers for two semesters. "Or at least have the professors talk to each other and adjust assignments accordingly."

Adrien just shrugged. "I learned a lot, though. It's all important stuff to know and I don't know if I can really think of much anything that could have been dropped or scaled back at all without affecting how much I learned. I'm just glad that year is over." He grinned. "And more electives this year! I like getting a little more freedom to choose my classes."

"Yeah, that was my favorite part of uni, too." Marinette started stacking the second layer of cakes, slightly smaller than the first. She had chocolate chunks left over, which she dumped in the bowl with all of the cake trimmings. With the layers stacked, she started trimming the edges to make them more even. "I took some costume-making courses just for fun, since I had space in my schedule thanks to the summer courses I took. Those were absolutely great, and I learned some techniques that I've been using on my commissions."

"Ooh! Did you have outfits that you actually made during those, then?"

Marinette glanced over. Adrien had apparently forgotten his homework in favor of watching her. Either that, or he was deliberately procrastinating. She was rather suspecting the latter. "Yeah, of course. I'll show you next time we're back in Paris. Most were tailored to my size, since I didn't really know anyone going to any costume parties or anything." She was surprised that she hadn't shown Adrien her costumes already, but maybe he had been busy when she modeled them for Nino and Alya. "It's too bad we didn't talk about this before we went back to Paris in September. I think the next time we'll both be in Paris will be- what? Christmas, probably?"

"Probably."

Marinette made a face as she started to crumb-coat the second layer. They had gone back to Paris several times over the summer- twice before Alya left, once shortly after, and once right before Adrien had to start his next semester. The first two had, of course, been to visit Alya before she took off for six months. The third visit had been to visit Nino, to distract him from Alya's absence, and the forth had been for Adrien's now-annual end-of-summer photoshoot for his father. Marinette had tagged along for part of the time, and they both visited with Nino and their other friends while they were there. Adrien had gone over to her family's house several times, and it would have been the perfect time to show him all of the costume pieces she had made while in university.

Ah, well. It would have to wait until Christmas, then.

They both worked in silence for a few minutes. The second layer of the cake went in the fridge while Marinette colored some of the frosting for piping. The layers came out for a final coat of buttercream, then they got stacked. Marinette felt Adrien's presence come up behind her again as she considered the cake, trying to decide where to start with the decorations.

"I'm not done yet, kitty," she chided playfully. "No trying to steal anything. Plagg, keep an eye on him."

"Turning my own kwami against me!" Adrien exclaimed in mock offence. "And no trust, to boot. I just wanted to watch you work your magic."

"Uh-huh. So why are your fingers creeping towards my frosting bowl again?"

"I thought it was the scraps!"

Marinette just shook her head and grinned as she turned back to work, starting to frost the first flower on the lower tier. She would have to use the short step stool she had bought to be able to decorate the top of the cake properly, but that could come later. She kept the corner of one eye on Adrien, making sure he didn't try to sneak any of the frosting.

She would have some left over, she already knew that. But she had been planning on mixing it together with the cake scraps for another treat that they could have before Adrien's birthday dinner. Adrien just had to be patient first.

Adrien was yawning by the time Marinette had piped the last flower onto the top of the cake. His arms snaked around her waist as she stepped back from the cake. "That looks incredible, Bug. Need any help putting it away?"

"No, I just have to cover it and then it'll be fine." Marinette picked up the large cake box she had grabbed earlier in the week and opened it, carefully lowering it over her work until it reached the table. "We'd be in trouble if I had to keep it in the fridge. We have no space."

"Haven't you kept other cakes in the fridge before?"

Marinette had to think about it for a second. "Maybe, yeah? I think I've put fruit in between the layers before and then it has to go in or the fruit will spoil. But this just has the buttercream and chocolate."

"Ah." Adrien yawned again. "I think I'm going to go get ready for bed." He shot a hopeful look at the frosting bags on the counter. "Unless I could have some frosting first?"

Marinette giggled. "How about you go get ready and then come back out here before brushing your teeth? Then the frosting will be ready for your tasting."

Adrien grinned. He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek, then obediently dashed off towards their bedroom. Marinette tried to smother her grin as she started to clean up, fondness for her boyfriend welling up as she giggled over his childlike eagerness.

As soon as Adrien was gone, Tikki popped over. "Ooh! Leftovers!"

Marinette snatched the bowl of scraps away before Tikki could dive in. "Patience! Let me finish mixing this up first, and then you and Adrien can have some."

Tikki let out a little squeal of excitement and went to perch on the fridge, watching Marinette as she carefully squeezed and scraped all of the extra frosting into the scraps bowl. The rest of the dishes got washed up, and then Marinette turned her attention back to the leftovers. The bits of cake got broken up as she stirred, working until it was only a little bit chunky. She pulled out an ice-cream scoop and made up a bowl for herself and Adrien, and a smaller bowl for Tikki. Plagg got a chunk of Camembert.

"Oh, I love you," Adrien said happily as soon as he returned to the kitchen and was handed his bowl of cake and frosting mix. "This is amazing, Marinette. Never mind the actual cake, this is great."

Marinette laughed at Adrien's contented expression. "Ah-hah! So that's the real reason that you're dating me, for the sweets!"

"Mm-hmm." Adrien leaned over to kiss her. "And you're the sweetest of them all. The treats are just a bonus."

Her cheeks turned red at that and she ducked her head. Adrien just grinned.

  Adrien was having a very, very good day. He had had a lie-in that morning- Saturdays were the best- his favorite dish for lunch, and now his friends from school (plus a few of Marinette's co-workers that he knew well) were coming over for dinner. The weather had been lovely, and he had spent part of the afternoon reading out on the balcony.

In short, it was the perfect way to spend his birthday, and it wasn't even over yet.

Adrien set the table as Marinette worked on adding the finishing touches to dinner and a few appetizers. It would be a tight fit with six of them at a table meant for four, but they would make it work. He and Marinette were used to being up in each other's space all the time anyway, so they would be together on one of the cramped sides.

"Oh, there were two packages for you in the mail today," Marinette called over. "One from Nino, and one from Alya."

Adrien perked up. "Birthday presents?"

"I assume so."

It wasn't long before Ben arrived, followed by Paul. Sarah and Abbey, the two of Marinette's coworkers that Adrien knew best and was friends with, arrived five minutes later. They were grinning and giggling over something.

"I'm not even going to ask," Adrien said dryly as he greeted them. He knew both of the women knew about his relationship with Marinette, and they were likely giggling over some sort of joke about it. "I'm glad you could make it."

Sarah grinned. "We heard that Marinette would be baking and we didn't want to miss it," she told him. "And I suppose we wanted to wish you a happy birthday, too."

Adrien just grinned. He couldn't lie- he wouldn't turn down an opportunity to have Marinette's baking, either, even if he had to sit through something boring in order to eat.

Not that his birthday dinner would be boring, per say. Just that he wouldn't blame them for coming just for the cake. Adrien could definitely confirm that the cake would make pretty much anything fully worth it. They had sampled the leftovers mix again after lunch, and it was every bit as delicious as Adrien remembered.

He was going to have to hit up the gym at the university after this if he wanted to stay in modelling shape, but again- so worth it.

"I'll have snacks out in a minute," Marinette called from the kitchen. "I just have a few more things to get ready."

Adrien promptly trotted over to check on Marinette. She had only just pulled a few cheeses out of the fridge. She was sliding a round of Brie into the oven and rolling a chunk of goat cheese in a mix of dried cranberries and nuts. Adrien could see where the cheeses would go- there were crackers and apples on a platter, with a shallow dish for the Brie to go on once it came out.

It was also obvious why she hadn't gotten it started earlier. With their guests there, Plagg couldn't venture out to steal the cheese. If Marinette had pulled the cheese out before, there would be chunks missing before it ever reached the table. With the goat cheese, it probably wouldn't ever reach the table.

"Anything I can do to help?" Adrien asked. "Or is it a matter of just waiting for the Brie at this point?"

"It's just the waiting, mostly." Marinette placed the goat cheese log on the platter. "I have a few things to cut up yet, but I can get it done in under ten minutes."

"I can help, and then you can come out and socialize." Adrien stepped around Marinette to reach for some pita bread. She had made it earlier in the day, and Adrien had been itching to get his hands on it ever since. "How many pieces to a round?"

"I was thinking six."

Adrien nodded and started cutting as Marinette put the finishing touches on the other trays. Soon enough, only the Brie was left, with six minutes left before it could come out. Adrien and Marinette stepped out of the kitchen, Adrien heading over to where Paul and Ben were standing and Marinette going to join her coworkers.

"-so I'll have to go back for a Masters to get much higher in the lab, but for now it's a great way to put everything I learned to use and really see it in action properly. I also get to see what kinds of research are going on and what new ideas are being thought up- y'know, what kind of questions are being asked. It's interesting to hear about, and it really gets me thinking about what kind of things I might want to look into, if there are any questions I want to answer." Ben shrugged. "Right now, it seems most everything I come up with is already answered or being looked into, but that's fine. I'm still learning the ropes."

"I wish I could have gotten an internship at one of the Physics research labs over the summer. It sounds like a great experience." Paul looked envious. "But I guess there's next year. I'll just fix up my resume in the meantime."

"There's people in the Tutoring Center that can help you with that, you know."

Paul looked interested. "Really?"

"Is that where you picked up all of those formatting tips?" Adrien asked, joining their conversation. Ben had helped him with his resume the previous year, polishing it up and making it look properly professional instead of, well, a beginning uni student's resume. "They really helped make mine look a whole lot better. Before, it was just kind of meh."

"Same with mine," Ben told him. "But yeah, it was something I learned there. It's funny how a few changes can make something like that go from boring to crisp and professional, huh? They're not even big changes."

"Oh, my god. Are they seriously talking resumes right now?"

All three of them glanced up to see Marinette, Sarah, and Abbey giving them an exasperated look. Adrien just grinned.

"What, and you three weren't talking fashion two minutes ago?" he teased. He raised an eyebrow when all three shook their heads. "Really?"

"We talk about other stuff, too," Abbey informed him, still grinning. "Sarah was telling us about how her father decided to dig up a stump in front of their house. Apparently it's a little more work than he was anticipating."

Paul looked puzzled. "Wait, why are they digging it up?"

"They want to plant another tree, and there's not enough space to plant it elsewhere." Sarah shrugged, looking amused. "And my dad wanted to make sure that the old roots wouldn't get in the way, so he dug out this giant pit to try to get all of the roots that he could from the top meter or so. And it was a big tree when it died, so it had pretty large roots, too. My uncle decided to turn a couple of them into cutting boards, since the wood was still good."

"Why did the tree come down in the first place?"

Sarah made a face. "It died. Or it was on the way out, at least. There was one really large branch that was dead and the rest was really skimpy on the leaves, so my parents had it cut down before it could come down in a storm and damage the house or something. And now they can plant a new tree sooner and get it growing."

"And they couldn't hire someone to dig it out...why?"

Sarah laughed. "My dad figured he could do it himself," she told them as the timer went off in the kitchen and Marinette let out a yelp and dashed off. "And he did, to be fair. It was just more work than he was expecting."

Paul looked incredulous. "How could he not expect digging up a bunch of tree roots to be a lot of work?"

Conversation petered off a bit as snacks were brought out ant everybody moved over to fill up a plate. Adrien helped himself to several crackers heaped with melted Brie, relishing in the flavor. It was a simple snack he rarely got to have, since Plagg refused to share his baked cheeses at all and any attempts to make it for himself resulted in Plagg claiming the cheese within seconds of it coming out of the oven and eating half of it before Adrien could open the bag of crackers to go with it.

Maybe they would just have to have snacks like this every time they had people over. Plagg would sulk later on about it, but he would manage.

"So you've gotten assigned a new tutor, right?" Ben asked after everyone had been eating for a few minutes. "I think I remember you telling me something about that."

Adrien nodded. He had gotten a new tutor, since it had worked out so well the previous year. "Yeah. I've only had a few meetings with him so far, but it seems to be working out all right. Except he's a grad student, and he already said that he can't edit my papers since he TAs for a couple of the courses and it would be a conflict of interest or something."

"I can look at your papers if you want," Ben assured him. "It's no problem, as usual. And I think he might just be misunderstanding what you want. It's not the content that you need a second set of eyes for, it's the writing."

"I think he's just trying to dodge out of the work," Paul chimed in. "I know the guy Adrien's talking about, and he hates teaching others. He'd rather just spend the time on his own project."

"He does a decent job with the teaching, though," Adrien objected. Sure, he was no Ben and Adrien didn't think they would ever develop the same rapport that he and Ben had, but his grad student tutor did do a good job of tutoring.

With him, at least. Ben had mentioned before that it was easy to tutor Adrien, so perhaps it was a matter of Adrien's learning style just working well with the way his tutor taught.

"Again, I'm guessing that he thinks there would be some fairly heavy edits needed," Ben told them. "Like step-by-step walking through, even if you are in your final year and should be past that. If he knew it was just grammar and checking the bibliography-"

"He's never going to let me forget that," Adrien complained half-heartedly. "Once I messed that up. Once."

"-then he probably wouldn't mind doing it, but I really don't mind reading stuff over," Ben finished. "It's a good excuse to see you, at any rate. It's strange not seeing you at work."

"It's quieter now with the summer interns gone, I bet," Adrien commented. He and Ben had somehow ended up at the same place over the summer- Ben in a permanent entry-level position, and Adrien as a summer student intern- without realizing it beforehand. They hadn't worked together, really, but they ran into each other a lot. "Fewer people bumbling around being lost."

Ben grinned at the memory. Adrien had gotten lost on his second day, getting completely turned around on the wrong floor and having to be escorted back down to the right lab by an amused senior physicist. Ben had been nearby to see the whole thing. "Hey, at least when I started there were other people being lost. If I had started during the school year, then I would be the one weirdo new guy that couldn't find my way around."

"Like I was, since I started a week after everyone else." Even with an actual job in his field, Adrien hadn't been able to get out of this start-of-summer photoshoot. His job had been understanding and accommodating of his other work, enough that Adrien wondered if Nathalie had perhaps reached out to them.

He hoped not. He didn't want Nathalie and his father trying to interfere with his other jobs in the future, especially considering that he wanted to quit modeling once he had gotten a permanent Physics job back in Paris.

"We were trying to get Adrien over at Madam Rosalie's place last summer, but no luck," Sarah told the others. She was grinning. "We had to go with some other blond model for the latest ad campaign, but they weren't half as fun as Adrien. Absolutely no sense of humor, that guy."

The evening continued, dinner coming out after people stopped refilling their plate with appetizers as much. Once they had stuffed themselves, Adrien opened the presents he had received. Paul and Ben had both gotten him a book- Ben on a Physics study, Paul a book of puns in English- while Sarah and Abbey had brought him a gift card for a flower shop in the neighborhood. Nino had sent a CD with new music mixes, and Alya had sent several fun key chains that she had bought during her travels. His father (well, Nathalie, probably) had sent a pen.

That left Marinette's present.

"I honestly don't know what it might be," Adrien said with a laugh as he held the box by his ear, shaking it slightly. "You would think I might have at least a clue, but..."

"Okay, stop trying to guess and just open the present already," Sarah said with a laugh. "I know what it is, but then again Marinette wasn't trying to keep it a secret from me."

Adrien grinned and pulled the paper off, revealing a plain box. He opened the box and saw a t-shirt sitting on top, light green with printing across the front, reading:

√(-1) 2^3 Σ π

and it was delicious!

Adrien laughed. "Oh, I like this one," He said happily, pulling the shirt out. It was clearly screenprinted, something Marinette had designed and made. Under it was a second shirt, this one light blue. It read Where does bad light go? and then under it in a and a picture of a prism.

"Oh, that must have been hard to print," Sarah said, leaning forward. "With that many colors? Wow. I wouldn't even touch a design like that."

"It was fun to watch her do that one," Abbey told Sarah. "Lots of painter's tape was involved. That and a hairdryer."

Adrien pulled out three more shirts, all adorned with different math and science jokes. His grin got wider with each one. The last shirt had a cat pun, and he laughed and pressed an impulsive kiss to the top of Marinette's head. "Thanks, Mari. I love them!"

He was going to wear them every day. They were the best shirts he had ever owned. They weren't meant to be the height of fashion, which made them even better. They were meant to be fun.

Adrien was still grinning over his shirts when Marinette went to get the cake. The oohs and ahhs pulled Adrien's attention back to the table. Marinette was bringing the cake out slowly, candles lit and shining. She didn't seem to be struggling under the weight at all, which was impressive considering just how much cake there was. Paul and Ben dove out of the way so she could set the cake down on the table.

"Man, I normally just get a plain round cake for my birthdays," Paul said, entirely impressed. "If my parents are feeling fancy, then maybe there's sprinkles or something on top."

"My parents taught me how to decorate cakes," Marinette told him. She got the cake settled and stepped back. "They run a bakery-patisserie. My mom is even better at the delicate decorations than I am. You should see some of her creations, when she has a good amount of time to work on it."

Their guests looked suitably impressed.

Adrien blew out the candles, plucking a couple of them out and licking the frosting and cake crumbs off of them. Marinette started cutting generous slices, serving them up onto plates and passing them around the table until everyone had a piece.

"Oh, this is heaven," Sarah said happily after she had taken her first bite. "I don't know how you two stay as skinny as you are if Marinette can make stuff like this. It's so good."

"Genetic lottery," Adrien suggested. He licked a generous dollop of frosting off of his fork. "And running in the gym at school."

"Or running late, probably," Abbey joked. She grinned at Marinette. "How many days have we seen Marinette dashing in minutes before a meeting? She can move impressively fast. She just flies up the stairs."

It didn't take long for them to finish up their cake. Adrien brought plates into the kitchen while Marinette cut pieces for their guests to take home, so that they wouldn't be completely drowning under the amount of cake left. Ben helped gather up the wrapping paper for them, piling it neatly on his chair so they could throw it away later.

"Thank you all for coming," Marinette told them, handing everyone a Tupperware of cake. "We enjoyed having you over!"

"We enjoyed eating your food," Sarah told her with a laugh. "And thank you for having us."

The others nodded. One by one they left, with Abbey leaving last. She waved a cheery good-night and headed across the hall, carrying her cake. As soon as the door was closed, the kwamis materialized out of nowhere.

"I smelled cheese," Plagg complained, sniffing dramatically and floating towards the kitchen. "And no one offered any to me. Is there any left?"

"Some. I think there's a bit of Brie and a lot of the rind left-" Marinette started. Plagg let out a cheer and zipped off before she could finish.

"So much for leftovers from that," Adrien said dryly. He hadn't been expecting the leftover cheese to last, of course- cheese rarely did with Plagg in the house- but he hadn't expected Plagg to finish it up tonight.

Oh, well. At least that would mean that they wouldn't have to get any containers dirty from storing the cheese overnight. And Plagg would probably lick the plates clean, which would make them easier to wash.

Tikki blinked up at them more politely than her counterpart. "May I have some cake?"

Marinette laughed. "You didn't have enough earlier?" Still, she led the way back into the kitchen. "I'll cut you a small slice."

"If any slice could be considered small with that cake," Adrien commented with a laugh. The tiers were tall enough that even a thin slice contained a good deal of cake, which was the best way for cake to be, in Adrien's opinion. "I'll start loading the dishwasher."

Plagg was noisily slurping up the remaining bits of Brie and rind when they got to the kitchen. Adrien opened the dishwasher and started loading in their used plates while Marinette cut a bit of cake for Tikki, moved the rest of the cake back to its place in the kitchen, and covered it. Between the two of them, they got the kitchen back in shape and everything put away before long.

"Well, that went well," Adrien said around a yawn. He stretched, grinning when Marinette's eyes slid down to the exposed skin of his stomach. "Bedtime?"

"Sounds good." Marinette flicked off the lights in the kitchen and dining area, ignoring their kwamis passed out on their respective cheese and cake plates. Adrien scooped up his gifts as he passed the pile. Unsurprisingly, the t-shirts from Marinette were on top. Adrien grinned down at them again, snickering to himself a little as he noticed the little cat paws ambling around the words on the cat-pun shirt.

It was so. cute.

"I can't decide if I want to wear one of these to bed just so I can put it on right away, or if I want to save them and wear them out all week."

Marinette laughed as she followed him back to their bedroom. "I'm glad you like them."

"I love them. I'm not going to wear anything else, ever." Adrien grinned down at his shirts. Even when he got clothes from his father, they weren't unique, just one piece that was pulled before it went to stores and given to Adrien. But these were unique pieces, made just for him, handmade by his amazing, fabulous girlfriend.

Seriously. Best. Birthday. Ever.

[whattoreadinsteadofdrinking]

birthday party/week recap aka this post is long af

This week was really intense for a lot of reasons, and despite having slept for 12 hours last night I woke up tired and cranky and full of the bad kind of regret feelings that usually I associate with drinking, only now I am associating them with other things, like being honest and vulnerable, so I’m gonna write it all out.  Heads up that this will be long, boring, and you probably don’t want or need to read all of this since it’s just a bunch of rambling and my attempt to get my thoughts straight so I can have a more balanced day.

I knew this week was coming up and I knew it would be a long one.  On Thursday, I was scheduled to be a guest speaker at a fundraising banquet for a program that gets scholarships for low income students so they can leave our public school system (which in my area, is basically a systematic way to keep poor kids poor) and into private schools where they have a great chance of success.  I was chosen to speak because I used to work for the public schools here, and while I believe wholeheartedly in public schooling, it only works if the wealthy actually pay their goddamn taxes instead of opting out of it.  Our schools in the public sector here are so bad that I had 8th grade students who could not read.  I mean really could not read at all.   I could write a lot about that but I won’t.  

I’ve been practicing my speech but the thing is that it’s a topic I’m really passionate about and it makes me emotional.  As I’ve written about on here before, I began really drinking when I began teaching, so in the past, the way I dealt with the emotions this brought up was to have a beer (read: 5 beers).  Talking about my experience in the public school system over and over, to myself, and then preparing to do it in front of a hundred people, was A Whole Lot.  And then on Thursday when it was time to do it, I almost cried at the end when I was sharing about the progress one of my kiddos has made in my current (private) school.  It was a good speech and was received well, and I don’t feel bad about getting that “oohhhh she’s close to tears” voice in front of people because let’s be honest people CRY SOMETIMES, but my boss made a weird comment about it at work the next day and now I am paranoid that I sounded like an ass who couldn’t get it together.  Her comment singlehandedly took what felt like a victory and turned it into something I am a little embarrassed by.  I am aware that I am the one letting her comment have that much weight but I can’t seem to un-feel it. I can think through it and realize it doesn’t matter and her opinion doesn’t matter but I can’t un-feel how unhappy it made me to hear that, if that makes sense.

The theme of “being vulnerable in front of others” from that night was just a huge carry-over from Wednesday, when I shared some really upsetting and frank truths about my journey in group.  It was hard but needed.  I don’t regret it, and everyone else was sharing, and honestly it felt like a huge weight off my shoulders to be that honest with people about where I’m at, but like.  Telling people you’re an addict is hard.  And you can’t take it back.  They will never un-know it now.  They will know that about me forever.  I feel good about having said what I said and simultaneously I feel like Toby from the Office during that scene when he accidentally touches Pam’s leg, realizes he’s exposed himself in a humiliating way, and announces that he’s moving to Costa Rica.  Then runs and jumps the fence of the office park and runs away into the night.  I want to jump the fence and run into the night and move to Costa Rica.  That’s how being vulnerable with others makes me feel.

So Wednesday, vulnerable at group, Thursday, vulnerable in a speech in front of a hundred people (many of whom are my coworkers, friends, and superiors at work), and yesterday was my birthday.  I planned a birthday that I wanted rather than the one I thought I should have-- i.e, I didn’t invite some people from my friend group who upset me or who I feel do not respect my boundaries.  I also invited people from a bunch of different areas of my life, which, while not a big deal in itself, felt a little like taking the compartments out of my social scene because many of them have not met each other before.  I was feeling good about it until my one friend asked when J was coming and if I’d had a text from him asking about where we were.  I replied that J hadn’t texted me.  He kept asking questions til I said, “well, I didn’t invite him.  It’s nothing personal, we just aren’t that close.”  My friend looked really taken aback because this guy is a close part of our mutual friend group.  What he doesn’t know is that J is a creep who continues to infringe on my boundaries by asking me personal and inappropriate questions, sharing things with me that I do not wish to know, and not taking “no” for an answer when he asks me on a date (I wrote a REALLY long post about this situation a while ago.  It continues to be sucky and terrible.) Our other friend, who is basically the most smiley human being on this planet, began frowning at me, so I clarified by saying that when you have a lot of friends, the downside is that you have to choose who to invite to your birthday party out of a big group and so I only invited people I felt closest to. 

I want to just tell my friends that this guy is a creep but they are men, and no offense to them, but I already know that they are the kind of dudes who are not going to understand why having to repeat “no” to a guy over and over can be triggering.  And I don’t owe them an explanation for that or for any reason why a man may be unsettling to me.  I am not Gandalf, I do not need to be their wise guide through the lands of “This is What Misogyny Is And How It Complicates Women’s Lives” Middle Earth.

Anyway they gave me some weird looks and now I am nervous because they told me they told this dude about the party.  So I’m waiting for him to confront me on that. Yay.

Then I was dancing with my friend and she spun me around and I accidentally lost my footing and fell fully backwards onto the guy behind me.  It hurt my back.  Everyone saw.  It was embarrassing. Dancing has been a way for me to practice being more in my body and vulnerable, a thing I chose to do as I started this sobriety thing, both to take up time and connect with others. Falling over while dancing, in front of literally all my closest friends, felt like a metaphor for this entire week.  Because it turns out that being vulnerable sometimes feels awesome and works out great, and sometimes ends up with you looking like an idiot in front of people who matter to you, and the hard thing about being vulnerable is that you have to accept both outcomes.  You have to be ready to fall on your ass, in public, on your birthday.  You can’t just have the sunshine-y smiley fun times, and have those mean anything, without risking looking like a fool.

I used to cover up the times I felt like a fool by drinking.  Or, I would drink to feel connected to others and not lonely and disengaged enough that I didn’t feel the need to share who I was, and avoid ever feeling foolish at all.  Now it’s Saturday, I slept for 12 hours, I am fed and hydrated and ready for the day, and my brain is just running in cirlces inside my head shouting “YOU LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT! EVERYONE THINKS YOU’RE AN IDIOT!  GOOD LUCK FACING PEOPLE NEXT WEEK!  JUMP THE FENCE AND MOVE TO COSTA RICA! ABORT SOBRIETY, ABORT FRIENDSHIPS, DON’T GO DANCE CLASS TOMORROW, STAY QUIET ABOUT THAT RUDE GUY AND APOLOGIZE TO EVERYONE TIL THEY REALLY CAN’T STAND YOU! WOOOOOO!”

But. but.  I am gonna quiet my brain down.  I am gonna cook stir fry and listen to a Beatles album.  I am gonna post this long-ass post, and truly may God bless you if you’ve read this far because for heaven’s sake I can’t imagine how bored you are, and let all the feelings go.  I am gonna call my sister and go for a long walk. I  am gonna continue to see my friends and not apologize for anything I’ve done this week because you know what?  I DO NOT NEED TO BE SORRY FOR BEING A HUMAN BEING.  I don’t need to be sorry for sharing my story of teaching, and having an emotional reaction to what is a huge horrifying injustice that keeps poor people of color from having the same chances in life as white suburban kids.  I don’t need to apologize for sharing my story in a group that is specifically about sharing our stories.  I don’t need to apologize for keeping space between me and people who refuse to respect boundaries.  I don’t need to apologize for falling down while dancing (except to the dude I landed on, lol.) I don’t need to live life being sorry for being me.  I may FEEL sorry and like I owe people a debt for being in their life or taking up their time or whatever, but I know that that feeling isn’t based on truth. and a part of getting that truth to feel real is, letting myself be human, sober, and move on.

xoxo Sarah

[writinanon]

Against Regulation

Yay! Here is one of my commissions that I finally got completed! I’m still cleaning up @wafflii‘s even though she says she’s happy with what I gave her. This one was for @azm0n and is JoeyXDep/JosephXDep, leaving it up in the air if August gets together with either of them.

  The small building in front of her was both welcoming and intimidating. Recently transferred into Hope County, August Guiterriez was the fresh-faced Junior Deputy Sheriff, having come from large cities she had felt that the rural area would be a good change of pace once she graduated from the academy. She pulled her hair back and straightened her uniform. She felt better in the uniform than she had in her pencil skirt and blouse. She didn’t do feminine very well, in her opinion. It didn’t matter what her friends told her; she knew what she saw when she looked in the mirror. But she liked to try. Because maybe one day, one day she could see what her friends saw too.

 “Well, are you gonna stand there or go inside?” A voice with an Australian accent asked. She turned sharply and there was a man a little taller than her standing there. He had a soft scruff on his face, cinnamon brown hair, and warm brown eyes. He was smiling at her and she realized it was Doctor Lee, the psychiatrist that evaluated criminals to see if they were fit to stand trial as well as offering criminal profiles. He was there at her interview because he also evaluated the members of the department.

 “Just nervous I guess.”

 “Don’t worry mate. Once this probationary period is over, you’ll be an official Deputy and we can drop that stupid ‘Junior’ part.” He chuckled and gently touched her shoulder; she caught the glimpse of a silver wedding band on his finger before he released her and headed for the doors. “But that period can’t even start is ya ain’t in here.” She straightened up and nodded. She needed to meet the other members of the department. She could do this. She passed the academy with flying colors. She walked into the building and was stopped by a kindly elderly woman with greying red hair and soft green eyes.

 “Hello, you must be the new Deputy!” She smiled brightly and nodded. “I’m Nancy and I run the front desk. Nobody in or out without me knowing. Everyone’s waiting for you, go on in honey. Nice to see you Benny!” She felt a little relieved and walked in. Ben gave her a light pat on; Whitehorse was waiting for her with several other people. Ben moved from her shadow her and around to stand beside Whitehorse and a woman with blonde hair pulled up in a bun. Her eyes were a sharp icy blue and though her face was covered in freckles she looked menacing.

 “Everyone, this is our newest member: Augustine Guiterriez. Treat her with respect and make sure you show her the ropes.” Whitehorse called and the other people looked at her. She blushed and fidgeted slightly under the attention.

 “Welcome.” A man with long brown hair said with a grin. “I’m Staci Pratt. The sulky one is Joey Hudson.” August looked over and was blindsided by one of the most beautiful women she had ever seen. Hudson punched Pratt in the arm.

 “I wouldn’t be sulking if someone remembered my coffee.” She hissed before smiling and August swallowed. “Nice to meet you. I’ll be your partner.” She held out her hand and August took it. Her hands weren’t soft but they were oddly gentle in their firm pressure.

 “Please call me August.” She managed and Hudson smiled.

 “Joey then. I’m sure you’ll do great.” There was a strange sort of determination in her voice but the source of it was lost on August. Someone coughed and she turned to see the blonde woman.

 “Name’s Mercy Stein. I’m the leader of the EMT and Search and Rescue branch of the Sheriff’s department.”

 “Aren’t those supposed to be two branches?” August blinked.

 “Oh, you are a city kid.” She chuckled and there was an odd lilt to the way she rolled some of her letters. “’Fraid I ain’t gonna steal her after all then.” She shrugged and motioned in a circle.

 “Everyone you see in this room makes up the law enforcement for the whole of the County. There aren’t any cities out here, there’s only two towns and everything else is villages. Hell, the hospital is in next county over. It’s why I’m a double branch and our station is up in the mountains. And why I’m the only one here. Speaking of I gotta go. It was nice meeting ya. Hope we work well together.” She shook August’s hand and then headed for the door. August turned to face her other coworkers. Ben was smiling warmly at her and gave her a thumbs-up. She felt a lot more tension ease from herself. Then she glanced to where Joey and Pratt were arguing about who was supposed to bring coffee and felt a new tension take its place. She could totally do this. She was a professional.

  August didn’t get to see Mercy very much at work, but that wasn’t surprising. It was nice however to sit in the bar, the Spread Eagle (which she snorted at the title the first time she heard it) and drink with her after a long shift. Sometimes it was easier to ignore her attraction to her partner than others. And sometimes Pratt loved to rag on her and tease her and be a frat boy. She understood that she was low man on the totem pole but sometimes it was a little much.

 “Staci being an ass again?” Mercy mused over the lip of her beer. They were sitting out in the small patio on the side of the bar, fairy lights above them on the wooden bodega they were under.

 “Oh my god yes! Ugh he’s just such a jerk.” August grumbled and took a long swallow from her bottle. “I mean I get it, I’m new but fuck off man. That shit got old three weeks ago.”

 “Look on the bright side, only a little over two months to go.”

 “Yuk don’t remind me.” She settled back into her chair. “At least Joey’s being understanding and standing up for me. She’s a great partner.” She smiled and when there was no following comment she looked over at Mercy.

 “You like Joey? Romantically?” August tensed faintly, recalling that Mercy was from the Rural South. “Ain’t exactly a good idea to date your partner.”

 “There’s nothing wrong with what?” She blinked and looked deeper at the blonde. She gave a faint smirk and pulled a pair of dog tags from around her neck, there was also a wedding band hanging from the chain, it looked like a man’s.

 “I won’t claim it’s a universal thing, but in the platoon of the Marines I was stationed in? No one gave a single fuck who or what you were interested in as long as you didn’t get us in trouble with it. I’ve lived by that motto since I was eighteen.” She settled the chain back down, below her shirt. “But if you were talking to my bible thumping bitch of a mother? Or any of my siblings other than Peter and Simon? You’d be 100 percent right in the stereotype.”

 “I’m sorry.”

 “Don’t be. It took my squad mate taking me down on the mats several times before the mentality stuck because of how I was raised. But back to the issue of you and Joey.” August blushed and hunkered around her beer.

 “I just… I think she’s bright and gorgeous and kind and funny and awesome.”

 “I’m not telling you not to pursue this but maybe you should talk about getting transferred to Ben or me then? Again, it’s not a great idea to date your partner, especially since it would have to be in secret.”

 “Right. Oh shit, that is in the handbook.”

 “If you were to transfer to Ben or me it wouldn’t be against the rules.”

 “I thought you didn’t want me.” August teased. Over the weeks Mercy had come to like her and take her under her wing for living in ‘the sticks’ as she sometimes called it. She had so many words, some of which she’d never heard before, for living in the rural end of nowhere.

 “Eh you ain’t so bad. And you can be taught. That’s the key thing. Some of those flunkies comin’ into my station think they know everything ‘cause they’ve had a little medical trainin’. Shit goes out the window when you gotta perform a tracheotomy in the dark while your partner’s fightin’ off bears and cougars who wanna eat your patient.” Mercy tended to slip into a drawl when she was annoyed or angry. “Shit’s fuckin’ annoying. Cunts oughtta get screened better but probie period gets most of ‘em.”

 “You’ve been spending a lot of time with Ben, huh?” August laughed a bit. That was one of his favorite curse words and he could often be heard grumbling it when he looked at the news. Mercy paused and gave her a confused look before she laughed and almost slammed her drink down. “What?”

 “Oh honey no. No, don’t get offended now. I jus’ realized we ain’t told ya. Benny and I are married. Have been since I got outta the service and he moved here to the states with me. Shit, ain’t I showed you pictures of our little girl?”

 “Dakota? She’s your daughter? I thought she was your niece!”

 “Fuckin’ little shit forced me through goddamned six hours of hard labor. She inherited my family’s dramatic genes.” Mercy chuckled and wiped a tear from her face. “But it does show that a relationship with a coworker is possible. Sure, Ben and I were married before we settled here and before we picked our jobs but we still work closely together. And don’t get sick of each other.”

 “I wow.” August was blown away but now that she looked back on it, Ben always stood beside her, and the wedding band on Mercy’s tags matched Ben’s. “Okay. So, after my probationary period is up you think I might be able to ask her out?”

 “Well I think you should test the waters before then but definitely put in to transfer as soon as you can so you can follow this.” Mercy took a drink. She chuckled faintly. “Can’t believe we didn’t tell you. Shit’s insane.”

 “I’m trying to wrap my head around the pair of you.”

 “We met while I was on vacation in India. You get leave and sometimes it’s not long enough to go home. Or Home isn’t an option.” Her eyes darkened. Mercy didn’t speak much of her family but August did know she didn’t have good relationships with anyone but her twin brother and her youngest brother. “He was there taking a break from studying. Needed to find himself or something. It was a dark time for him. I don’t ask too much just remind him he survived it. But we met because we were in the same hotel and were pretty much the only tourists that spoke English. We spent two weeks hanging out and doing dumb things together. We thought we’d never sea each other again. Until a year later, I took my leave and went to Australia. And it’s a small world apparently. We met up for every one of my leaves after that and kept in contact. It ended up a coin flip that decided he move to America with me. We got married a few months later. Dakota came along after we settled here in Hope.”

 “That’s so romantic. It’s like you were destined.”

 “Maybe. Anyway. We were trying to talk about you.”

 “Yeah but I’m not as interesting as that.”

 “Of course you are! August you’ve got a lot going on for you. But I get it if you feel like you have to hold back. Sometimes it isn’t easy fitting into a department and risks aren’t always worth the reward.” Mercy gave a soft sigh. August looked to her friend and smiled.

 “I think you’re right. I need to test the waters. I shouldn’t jump in without knowing if transferring randomly will be worth it. Or if I’ll lose a friend.”

 “The Spring Equinox Festival is coming up. Ask her to that. Makes for a good casual date.” Mercy offered and finished her drink. “You finished? It’s about that time.” August drained the last of her drink and stood up.

 “Oh my god, it makes so much sense why Ben’s always picking us up.” Mercy snorted and they headed to the bar to settle their tab. There was a man with slicked back hair and nice clothing there, talking with Mary-May. She was glowering at him and turned to look at them as soon as she could.

 “Come to settle your tab?” Her voice was icy.

 “Are you bothering Ms. Fairgrave?” Mercy’s voice had shifted, matching her now tense posture. The man smiled benevolently and wrapped his knuckles on the wood of the bar.

 “Well hello Ms. Stein, I worry about a woman of healing sinning in a place like this. Drink does terrible things to the hands. And mind.” Her voice was velvety, dark, but most importantly contained a familiar accent. It sounded very similar to Mercy’s.

 “Well, bless your heart, John Seed. But there ain’t a thing to worry about with me. See, I believe that a person is defined by their actions and not an outdated book.” She smiled, all teeth. “But since you love to thump those pages you might revisit the chapter on neighbors, wives, and coveting.” The man’s face turned red but his smile never dropped. His bright, bright blue eyes moved around Mercy and pinned August. Those were very intelligent eyes.

 “I don’t believe you’ve introduced me to your friend. Hello I’m John Seed, privet Lawyer.”

 “August Guiterriez, I’m the newest Deputy.” He held out his hand and August would have shaken it if Mercy were still standing between them.

 “I suppose I shall try again tomorrow night then Ms. Fairgrave? When your father’s in?” He lowered his hand and looked to her.

 “He’ll tell you the same damned thing. Now get outta my bar.” He held up his hands in mock surrender and left.

 “What was up with that?”

 “That was John Seed. He’s the youngest of the Seed Brothers. You’ll meet them soon enough. Jacob is the oldest, likes to sulk around the Veteran’s center, then there’s Joseph, he’s the one who brought them here and he’s a preacher. His… Cult of Christianity is known as the Project at Eden’s Gate.”

 “You don’t like them?”

 “It’s not about that. It’s…” Mary-May sighed. “They’ve tried to get my father to close the bar because it’s against their ‘morality’ to have a house of drink. They ran the strip club right out of town. John’s been buying up all the property he can get his hands on and they’re so secretive about what they do. Now look. I ain’t gonna tell someone their version of God is wrong. But when their version of God starts trying to take my livelihood? Then we’re gonna have problems.”

 “There’s been more and more disappearances since they moved in too. Sometimes we find them and they… To be honest it looks like they overdosed on something but we can’t find the usual drugs in their systems.” Mercy looked at the door. “They’re dangerous, try to stay clear okay?” August frowned and nodded but looked towards the door. It didn’t seem right to discount them for some strange circumstances, though their attempts to shut down the Spread Eagle weren’t good. But they had good reasoning, maybe there was a peaceful solution?

  In the following two weeks August didn’t find any time to be alone with Joey, Pratt had figured out what she was doing and was using it against her.

 “If you’re not gonna help then shut up.” She hissed and he grinned at her.

 “I am helping Rookie.”

 “Your definition of helping is strange.” Ben’s voice cut in. Both jumped and turned to look at him.

 “You are so silent man!” He grinned and winked.

 “My wife taught me a thing or two about stealth. Something you might want a lesson in Pratt.” He settled on the edge of August’s desk. “How’s it going?”

 “I just can’t find the right words. Like I don’t wanna sound like I’m pressuring her, I don’t wanna sound like I want a date-date, and I don’t wanna sound too casual.” August groaned softly and put her head on her arms. Ben patted the top of her head.

 “I’m sure you’ll figure it out you’ve got a month and a half to go yet.”

 “Would you mind if I came over and had dinner with you guys and brainstorm with Mercy?”

“Come on Mercy can’t hold your hand the whole time.”

 “Advice and hand holding are two completely different things.” Ben stated stiffly and smiled at her. “I wouldn’t mind and Dakota always enjoys meeting new people.” She grinned and they settled in for another quiet day.

  Dakota, the rambunctious little girl, was just as bright and happy as all the pictures of her and videos implied. She squealed brightly and happily bounced around, showing off her large plush bear named Cheesy. Mercy smiled and welcomed her into their home.

 “And this is the kitchen.” August was given a tour by the tiny girl and Ben and Mercy laughed before Ben scooped the little girl up.

 “It’s time for dinner Kotie!” He teased and tickled her, causing her to shriek with laughter.

 “We’ll talk after dinner since it’ll be Ben’s turn.”

  Mercy and Ben’s home was cozy. Their den was more cordoned off from the living room where Ben and Dakota were working on the Kindergartener’s ‘homework’ of coloring a picture of their home.

 “So?”

 “I just don’t know what to say! How do I not come off as creepy, or too invested, or like a teenager with a crush?” August grumbled and Mercy nodded and settled into her seat.

 “Well I suppose it’s more about phrasing, asking her to go with to the festival definitely implies a deeper relationship wanted but asking to meet implies alone and a much more casual way.”

 “Yeah but how do I open? Hey Joey you wanna go to the Festival that’s like a month away and then possibly date me?”

 “I’d leave the ‘date me’ part off for now. But maybe ripping the bandaid off is the best approach?” The blonde offered.

 “Maybe. I just… What if?”

 “The world would be wasted on what ifs. If it’s meant to be, it’s meant to be. Don’t torture yourself over this, kiddo.” August looked into sharp blue eyes and the friendly warmth there was enough to ease her fears, for the moment. “It’s okay to be nervous but you can’t let it rule you. I mean you got through the police academy and you transferred all the way out here. That takes guts given your city girl nature.” August laughed at the gentle tease.

 “Yeah, yeah country girl. You gotta take care of this city girl and make sure she doesn’t break a nail or something.” They laughed, which was apparently enough to draw the attention of Dakota as she zoomed into the room and bounced on her heels in front of Mercy.

 “Mommy! Mommy can we play outside with the sparklers tonight? Can we? It’s still bright out! I wanna show Ms. August the spinney trick. Please?!” She dragged out the last word and pouted. Mercy sat up and gave a wry smile.

 “Well we’ll have to ask Ms. August about that then huh? You up for going outside for a bit?” It was clearly an out to keep talking or to go home.

 “I’d love to see Dakota’s spinney trick.” She grinned and the little girl punched the air before pulling on Mercy’s hand.

 “Come on Mommy! Daddy said he’d get everything ready!” Once Mercy was standing it was August’s turn to be gently tugged on. She stood and Dakota gripped her hand. “Come on I’ll show you the way!” She rushed forward pulling the Deputy with her. She laughed and heard Mercy chuckling as she followed.

  August finally had everything she wanted to say in order. She had the perfect idea and knew exactly what she wanted to mean. With only a few weeks to the Festival she felt confident that this wouldn’t be seen as something with pressure. She had ‘prettied’ herself up a bit too, wearing a bit more than her standard foundation and neutral lipstick. She highlighted her eyes with some nice wings, she gave a touch of blush, and she tinted her lips pink. She felt more confident than ever. She had this in the bag.

 “Hey.” Joey smiled. Oh no, the words died on her tongue.

 “Hey, what’s up?”

 “Not much, I was wondering if you would like to come out for drinks tomorrow night after work? It’ll be nice to meet up outside of work and I wanted to ask you something important.” August felt her heart stutter and then hit double time.

 “I’d love to. Meet up at the Spread Eagle?”

 “Definitely, best place to get a drink with friends.” Joey grinned and moved to her desk, Whitehorse calling her away after a moment with Mercy at his side, a grave look on her face.

 “Well at least one of you finally bucked up.” Pratt’s voice cut through her happy bubble. She glanced over at him and then shrugged.

 “Sometimes letting the other person come to you is the right thing to do. Forcing yourself on other people isn’t cool.”

 “I never have to force it. The ladies love Staci. Have I told you I can fly a helicopter?”

 “Sure, you can.” She rolled her eyes, still feeling too giddy and excited to let him get her down.

 “I mean maybe it was because you finally put some effort into your look.” Oh, but he was determined, wasn’t he?

 “What do you mean?”

 “I mean the eyes, the lips, looks good. Maybe she finally appreciated something nice to look at.” Happy feeling gone. Nagging cold doubt thy name is August. She couldn’t let him know he got to her though. “I certainly do. It’s nice to know you clean up good.”

 “I don’t dress for you or Joey. I dress for myself.” Half truth but he wouldn’t know it. Pratt scoffed but before he could say anything else Joey was back, looking fuming mad about something. “What’s wrong?”

 “Freaking Seeds. Apparently, someone called in a possible domestic dispute at the Stein-Lee residence. The concerned citizen? John Seed. He apparently heard screaming from his little airfield at his ranch and was ‘concerned’ about them.”

 “What?” She and Pratt blinked.

 “Yeah so Mercy and Ben are tied up explaining that they have a five-year-old and she screams and plays. So, Ben’s gonna be gone until tomorrow so we’re basically on standby for that missing persons case, we’ll have to go over the evidence we have again and wait for his profile tomorrow.”

 “I’m sure he didn’t mean to cause trouble.”

 “Yeah, sure.” Joey grumbled. August rubbed her neck. She gave a small smile.

 “We can cancel drinks tomorrow if you need?”

 “No way!” Joey blinked before grinning. “Let’s not let that asshole keep us from having a good time.”

  August looked at herself in the mirror. Her dress was a soft navy blue with a few splashes of color in the form of pink and white flowers. She had her hair swept back, gently tucked. She’d taken Mercy’s advice and was wearing comfortable sandals and her favorite jewelry. Her makeup was simple, highlighting the deep warm brown of her eyes, making them look like chocolate pools shifting between dark and milk easily, and she darkened her lips a little more. She added a hint of bronzer to her blush, highlighting her cheekbones and making her face look thinner. She looked beautiful. She looked feminine. Her phone started ringing and she noticed it was a Mercy on skype.

 “Hey, looking good August.” She grinned, there was flour on her cheek.

 “That’s a good look for you too. What happened?”

 “I’m making a cobbler and Dakota’s helping.”

 “I said sorry mommy! I didn’t know it would go ‘splode!” Dakota’s voice called from somewhere below the camera. Mercy looked down and her phone shifted as she changed her grip.

 “It’s fine. Just means you get an extra bath tonight.”

 “Nooooooo!”

 “Yesssssss! Hey. You got this.” Mercy’s attention suddenly flipped back to August and her teasing smile widened and she gave a thumbs up. “Call if you need anything okay? I just wanted to check in and make sure you were okay.”

 “Thanks. I’ll let you know when I get there and if I need a ride home.”

 “Don’t worry about the time either. You know Ben and I don’t mind. And Dakota sleeps like a rock.”

 “I’ll be fine. Go back to making your cobbler.”

 “There’ll be a piece waiting for you tomorrow.”

 “Thanks. Thanks again Mercy.”

 “Don’t worry. You got this.” They hung up and August glanced at herself again. She had this. She could do this.

  Joey was already there and waiting for her when she arrived. She grinned and headed over, nodding to Mary-May, feeling her heart beat double time. Joey looked different out of uniform. Her hair was styled in a braid and she was wearing long dangling earrings. She looked lovely in her stylishly ripped jeans and a nice blouse. She perked up seeing August and blinked a bit.

 “Wow I wouldn’t have pegged you for a dressy girl. You look great.”

 “Thanks. Have you ordered yet?”

 “Yeah, Jen’s grabbing our drinks Mary-May said you and Mercy are here enough for her to know your drink order.”

 “…Jen?”

 “Oh, excuse me.” A soft voice said and August turned to move from the way of a woman with three beers in her hands. She set them down but didn’t sit she turned and smiled brilliantly at August. “You must be Joey’s new partner, August! It’s great to finally meet you! She talks about you all the time.” She gave a quick hug before backing off. “Oh sorry. I’m Jenny. Sorry.” She awkwardly stuck out her hand and smiled nervously.

 “Yeah I’m August.” She felt like there was a knife sliding between her ribs but she gently took the woman’s hand and shook it. “it’s nice to meet you. Joey hasn’t said a word about you.” At this Jenny turned and frowned at Joey and Joey blushed.

 “I don’t like to mix my personal life and work.”

 “You could at least tell people I exist.” Jenny mumbled and August felt so fucking awkward. “I know we haven’t been together long but I’d have at least thought you’d have told your partner about me.”

 “It’s no big deal!” August cut in and settled as Jenny looked at her worried. “Really. Did you need me to cover for your paperwork because you’re planning a secret get away? You coulda just asked.” She laughed and felt it managed to sound real. She was shattering inside. She missed her shot. She blew it. Pratt would never let her live this down. And Mercy’s gentle concern and attempts to console her will be worse.

 “Oh uh no. Do you also have a usual food too?”

 “Hm? Oh, Mercy and I eat appetizers, I was pretty hungry earlier though so I grabbed a sandwich at home.” She couldn’t stomach food. Honestly if it wasn’t for the fact that she didn’t want to seem rude she’d be chugging her beer, wanting the alcohol desperately.

 “I’m getting a burger what do you want?”

 “Same babe. Thanks.” Jenny nodded and went back to the bar. “Hey so uh I wanted to ask if this was okay?”

 “Huh? You and Jenny? Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?” Because it was slowly murdering her inside? Did Joey know. Oh god was this her trying to let her down easy with proof? What had August done to make her think that was necessary?

 “I know it feels a little third-wheelie but Jenny’s also new to the area and doesn’t have a lot of friends. I figured I’d introduce you guys and maybe you could give her a hand too?” Joey gave a soft pleading look. August’s heart melted and ached.

 “Yeah sure no problem.” She murmured and then pulled her phone. “Oh, my landlady needs me to come back, she forgot to let her dog out and since she’s out of town she asked if I can do it.” Joey blinked at how fast she spoke but nodded.

 “Hey no problem. I’ll give you a ride there and have Jen keep out table.”

 “Nah it’s okay. Like you said it’s a bit third-wheelie. Have a good night Joey. I’ll see you at work on Monday.” She smiled and sped out waving to Jenny who looked confused but didn’t give chase. She stepped out into the chilly night and took several deep breaths. Trying to hold back the tears. She could feel them streaming down her face and promised herself she wouldn’t sob. She pulled her phone back out and realized she couldn’t see it clearly enough to call Mercy. She was about to flick on voice command when someone cleared their throat.

 “Hello, I’m sorry to bother you but you seem to be in distress.” His voice was soothing and she looked up blinking as gentle blue eyes looked at her in concern. “Is there anything I can do to help you?” She wiped at her face and managed a smile.

 “Not unless you know how to heal a broken heart.” She muttered and he made an understanding sound.

 “I’m Joseph Seed, I’m the Father of the Project at Eden’s Gate, however I don’t have that power. All I can tell you is that the Lord is watching and He sees your suffering.” August blinked and finally took a good look at the man. He was wearing worn jeans and cowboy boots. He had on a nice white dress shirt and a black vest over it. He had scarred and tattooed forearms. His face was covered half with a beard but his eyes were still bright and concerned, peering at her from over the top of yellow sunglasses. His hair was pulled back in a bun but looked like it wouldn’t be too long if it fell free.

 “I’m Deputy August Guiterriez.”

 “Ah, my brother mentioned you looked familiar. Would you mind walking with me Deputy? I would feel much safer with a woman of the law at my side.”

 “Ha, uh I wouldn’t want to burden you with my presence. You should probably get back to your brother.” She sniffed and rubbed at her face again, now able to look down at her phone properly.

 “You are no burden August.” He assured and motioned to the street. “There is a lovely band playing tonight at the park. Please join me for a bit?”

 “You know what? Sure.” She put her phone away and they started walking.

 “It is a lovely evening. Spring is truly beginning.”

 “Yeah. So, what are you doing out?”

 “It’s not important really. What about you? What’s broken your heart Deputy?”

 “I missed my one shot with someone and now… Now I have to watch them be happy with someone else.”

 “I’m sorry to hear that. But perhaps it is for the best. Rumor has it you’re new to Hope and there is still much for you to see.”

 “I’m not that new. I’ve been here for almost half a year!” He chuckled softly and held up his hands as they continued to walk.

 “My apologies. You’re not new. If you might direct me to the Veterans Center some time?” August blushed and frowned at him.

 “Okay so I haven’t been all around the county, yet. But I will. I’m gonna be a Sheriff one day you know.”

 “I believe you.” He assured and they continued on in silence for a beat. “Have you ever thought that you were meant to feel heartbreak so that when the one truly meant for you found you, they would help you heal as you would help them heal?”

 “What do you mean?”

 “Perhaps your lost chance is much like mine. A long time ago I had the chance to have a family with a wonderful woman, whom I loved dearly. But it would have come at the cost of never finding my brothers again. Sadly, that chance passed me by. I have felt her loss and the loss of that family ever since, despite regaining my brothers. I can’t help but wonder if I have truly missed my chance at love, at happiness sometimes.”

 “I’m so sorry.” August paused and gently placed her hand on his arm.

 “All is well. I believe I’ve finally found the right path. I believe we’re all destined for something. I believe that there is a change coming, something we must all be ready for in the end.” He said, ending a bit gravely. “But I feel that there is still time for chances and fate to wave itself into something grand.” They had reached the park. August smiled. She weirdly felt lighter. The faint sounds of a fiddle and drums and guitar drifted lazily over to them.

 “Well we’re here. Safe and sound. I should probably call my friend and ask her to come and pick me up. I don’t really want to go home right now.”

 “Young friend being Ms. Stein? Does she not have a young child? Wouldn’t that wake her?” He asked gently and August blinked. She’d never really thought about it, Mercy always said to call if she needed it but it was probably a forced offer. Not something she wanted to do but would out of duty.

 “Yeah… Yeah she does.”

 “If you don’t want to head home just yet might I ask you to dance? I might not know modern dance but I know a good box step.” He offered his hand and she felt a small laugh bubble out of her before she smiled and accepted.

 “I’d love to.”

  They drifted lazily. Around the well-lit pathways of the park, slowly moving to the beat of the music.

 “You’re a wonderful dancer.”

 “Thanks, so are you.” August hadn’t felt this light in probably years, even when she’d thought that Joey had asked her out. “Have you ever been to the Spring Festival before?”

 “Oh yes. My family and I enjoy visiting and seeing all the vendors and the community come together. It is much more palatable than the other Springtime festival.” He grumbled a bit at the end and she wondered what he was talking about, she’d ask Mercy some other time.

 “Well would you mind if I tagged along with your family this year, it’s still a little new to me?”

 “I thought you weren’t new in Hope.” He teased gently but guided them to a stop.

 “Well maybe I’m looking for someone to guide me.” He smiled, something strange flickering through his eyes before he leaned close and tipped her head up.

 “I shall be happy to be your guide August.” He pressed a soft kiss to her lips and then pulled back. “Might I offer you a ride home?”

 “I’d like that, thanks.” She replied a little breathless.

  Mercy hummed softly and was cautious but August waved her worry off. She was helping to watch Dakota so that the couple could finish packing. They were taking a 6 month sabbatical to not only be part of Mercy’s twin brother’s wedding but also to see Ben’s family back in Australia.

 “You’re gonna miss the Festival.”

 “Sadly, but your twin brother only gets married twice and the munchkin hasn’t seen Nana and Papa since she was a toddler and almost got banned from the Zoo for attempting to ride a crock.”

 “You’re kidding.”

 “I swear she’s part Disney Princess with her animal affinity.” Mercy chuckled before looking at her. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

 “Yeah. I’ve kinda met someone. He talked me down from a near panic attack that I didn’t realize I was having until later when I thought about it. We’re meeting up at the Festival.”

 “And who is this mystery man?”

 “You’ll meet him, when I know this is a solid thing. And not some passing fancy.” It didn’t feel like that. Whenever she saw Joseph something in her felt welcomed, felt right. But Mercy had her qualms with the Seeds and it would take time to smooth things over.

 “Well I ‘spose as long as you’re alright…” Mercy trailed off before motioning to the counter. “The pie ’s for you, peach pear.”

 “Thanks Mercy.”

  August yawned and blinked slowly at the others.

 “Coffee?” Pratt asked, looking a bit like a raccoon himself.

 “Thanks.” He nodded and they waited for Whitehorse to speak, along with the man next to him.

 “There has been video evidence released. It shows that Joseph Seed, is responsible for the death of a man. We’ve issued a warrant for his arrest and he’s hold himself up in his church, surrounded by his cult.” Suddenly August didn’t need any coffee. She was awake and staring at the Sheriff.

 “Marshal Burke is here to help us arrest him given the situation.”

  August stared at the phone in her hand and looked at the images playing, seeing the people and not having it connect to her brain. She felt her heart shatter anew.