#and somehow while he’s doing that I’m stuck watching his kid for hours at a time without pay

[eatyourdamnpears]

siblings stop being selfish challenge

[krewekreep]

2.6K Words. College AU, Study Partner to Lovers AU, GoldenRetriever!BF, Dumbo Hot Boy needs study help.

When he is the kid in school who just can’t keep up. And not for trying but the fact for whatever reason school just isn’t on his side. You end up being in the class he has the most struggle in. The professor now avoids him cause of all the after class conversation and visits to office hour. He’s more endearing than annoying but his persistance gets grating. He watched over time as you’d receive your results and praise yourself silently. Over time he became curious how well you actually had to be doing for the professor to always smile happily at your raised hand and responses. He began to sit behind you and almost laughed aloud in self contempt seeing your Canvas sitting with a huge 98% in the center. That meant every class you could’ve been signed up for you were practically ace-ing. He knew it best to seek further assistance and the bounce of your breasts at continually doing well made his dick harden the slightest. He mustered up the strength after class and fumbled his way into a conversation you were having with other classmates, shyly scratching the back of his head agreeing with the displeased about how hard it seemed to get higher scores.

He mentioned he just seemed to continually get stuck on three of the topics closest to mid-terms. The defeat in the fall of his head and his almost eerie stare at the ground made you pity him. “Hey, I know that’s stressful, I’ve been doing pretty well with those parts of the curriculum and I’m down to study with you if you wanted?” His entire demeanor switches. “Really!?” He’s a glowing bubbly awkward mess and a flush rises up your neck. You quickly turn into your phone pulling up your messaging app. “Here. Just give me your number and we’ll coordinate a time, okay?” When you look up to pass your phone his smile is ear to ear, eyes squinted, and his hair bouncing. Golden Retriever. Your stomach almost explodes. You shake away the growing feelings of a crush at first site. And lowkey thank whatever God made him this bad at the class work.

When you met up it was the Friday of the same week you both agreed to become study partners. Both of you a bit eager to become acquainted. When you arrived at the library he was leaned against the wall near the entrance asleep. You were able to absorb his physique more with his height extended and his arms crossed. His loose t-shirt flexed around his biceps and torso. You couldn’t say you ever paid much attention to him before but you kinda kicked yourself he had been sitting in class for so long, looking this good, struggling while your ace-ing, and only now you saw the opportune time to see what he was about. You walked up to him and he must’ve sensed you somehow because before you could say anything he slowly opened one eye and stretched groaning loudly as his shirt rose to show his hip bones, lower abs, and belly button. Oh wow.

You guys walked to the study room he reserved and for the first couple sessions you guys just got to know each other and where he had the most trouble. He began to get the hang of things and you realized he’s just the type who has to be more confident in his knowledge. You learned he was an athlete on scholarship and didn’t come from much. He really had had only himself especially for critical moments of development. Everything you learned of him made his frustrated chuckles, flurry of apologies, and tendency to glance over at you for approval all the more heart-melting.

He became your little student. Obedient and ever willing to make you as happy as you wanted. You were never the kind to indulge in that behavior, it seemed belittling and mean. Yet, a sliver of dominance would color your tone when you corrected him. When he’d get too many in a row wrong (more times than not simply his nervousness or psyching himself out) you would reprimand him with a soft hit of your pen against his hand. The little twitch of his fingers turned you on and he wouldn’t admit your commitment to his improvement made him want to prove himself to you more. You weren’t known for initiating much of anything but his willing and nervous energy was something of a turn on you unlocked the more you toyed with him. He got another answer wrong and you both know he knew it. Teasingly you said, “Now you know you know this,” reaching for his thigh and giving it a soft but assertive squeeze. He jumped and his leg began to shake uncontrollably. You laughed aloud at him and he flushed red. “I’m- im sorry.” You rubbed his thigh and his leg was over the moon. You leaned your head into your free hand pouting at him. “Now how are you supposed to pass if you keep doubting yourself?”

Although you were sending him sultry eyes you had to hold your gaze against his as it was no longer nervous or self-conscious. They were lidded and low, peering what seemed farther into you than you could ever do to him. Your stomach rattled and you wanted to falter but without a word he closed the distance with kiss. You gasped a bit before he met your lips and the gap was enough for him to solicit your tongue which you gave him eagerly. Both you wrestled in your seats fighting for dominance until he became frustrated with the conflict. He grabbed your legs firmly lifting them enough be on either of his sides. It caused you to need to support yourself so you wouldn’t fall back. With your hands busy, he pulled you flush to his lower abdomen. You were warm and slightly dazed. His grip on your lower thighs sent hot pulses to your pussy. He was as eager as you letting his grip move closer to your ass. You don’t know how far it would’ve gone had it not been for the attendant that loudly and profusely knocked on the glass showing the both of you to the rest of the lounge. You hid your head in his shoulder as he laughed sheepishly pulling the blinders down. Without a word you packed your things and left together. You weren’t ashamed just embarrassed (and kinda still in the mood). You got a few blocks away before he burst into laughter. You joined him. And as the air cleared he looked over at your disheveled clothes. “Hey,” his dick grew hard (never really went soft) when your doll eyes looked up at him all lusty. “Back to your place?”

After that every study session was had in your respective dorm rooms. Always ending in fucking each other brainless. He was loud and a bit clumsy but you’d come even harder once his thrusts knew how to hit your core bringing you to loud crescendos that made your roommates make last minute plans every time either of you walked through the door. Neither of you had much experience (and for him lowkey too many weird ones) so you ended up studying how to fuck too. His confidence grew immensely as you praised him for how good he fucked you. “Baby—Ah,” your hips rocked together seamlessly. He had a bad habit of staring right into your face wanting to soak in every bit of how gone he had you. “You feel so good. Please keep fucking me like this.” You threw your head back as your pussy began to tingle building towards an orgasm you wanted to achieve badly. “Oh my—please.” His moans grew louder but his gaze on you never wavered. “Tell me how good I feel beautiful.”

He slowed down to position his hips so his dick drove the farthest he had ever been. You yelped clawing into his upper back. “Too much?!” But before he could shift to anything softer you bounced against him. Different feeling than when he moved as your pussy felt sweet gliding up and down his cock. A shock of pleasure caused you to lightly convulse and his abs flexed inwardly so hard it seemed it hurt. “Relax baby.” You repositioned widening your legs, accepting the spread of his girth as your pussy muscled around him abundantly wet and barely able to keep him in. “I got you.” You took hold of his face bringing him into a kiss as you rocked up and down on him. He met your thrusts with his own and a sloppy sound filled the room as he became so undone his groaning and pleading almost drowned you out. “Baby doll I need to cum.” He sounded so innocent and ready. “I really need to cum—uh,” his pace almost stalled as his arms shook, his waist buckled, and he shot his load into you. Feeling his cum squirt all in you made you claw into his back. His cum was so warm it made you feel full and visceral. He went to pull out but you halted him “Baby, can we cuddle?” He beamed so hard at you. “You don’t want me to pull out?” He felt concerned about any roughness and the elephant in the room of him not using protection. “Eh,” you shrugged. “We already have been pretty irresponsible, and I like feeling you in me. Youre…still hard?” He and his entire face and neck went red. “It’s okay,” you laughed. “But I am a bit worn out.”

“Of course, I’m just—I really like this…thing we have going on.” He hid his face with his hair at the admission, turning away futilely. Neither of you mentioned labels out of a deep fear of rejection, only really stalling the inevitable. But in this moment you pulled him to your chest. He had to pull out a bit to readjust and upon inserting himself to the hilt both of you began to slowly rock back. You really did want him again but a sliver of pain pierced you. Your face contorted and he stopped again immediately. “I’m so sorry Y/N.” This time he did pull out, slowly. And pulled you into a cuddle where your head rested on his arm and you felt the fullness of his pillow-like muscle. You began to drift to sleep pretty soon after. Before finally succumbing to your exhaustion he whispered against your neck: “Thank you for everything.” His breath low indicating he also was soon about to fall asleep. “I’ll let you keep me warm another time.” He placed a kiss to the back of your neck sending a sensitive ripple of pleasure through you. You hummed in agreement then you both, bare and fulfilled didn’t awake until his early practice alarm went off.

Midterms came and went. There was no doubt in your mind both of you passed but he sat nerve wracked until the results came in. Not only did he pass he had actually scored higher than you. He felt guilty that you spent so much time worrying about him you didn’t focus on yourself because you obviously deserved the better grade. Upon telling you this you grabbed him by the wrist without a word and led him into a bathroom towards the end of the building. You knew that hey if it wasn’t occupied there’d only be one or two people and you didn’t quite care at all. You brought him into the empty bathroom (thankful something somewhere was okay with you getting your rocks off) and into the farthest, largest stall. He did nothing but submit the entire time and only yelped when you set him against the wall, untying his sweatpants. He grabbed your arm when he saw you beginning to kneel but you looked up at him with an intensity that scared him in the sluttiest way possible. He then assisted you pulling his attire down until his cock somewhat swung up hitting him against his lower sternum. His length was intimidating but you gleefully took him into your mouth.

Although your first time you asked your friends and watched videos. Practicing was a bit embarrassing but you ended up getting into it thinking how well you’d draw all of him into your mouth. You were so excited you had to remember to watch for your teeth but surprisingly he muttered “Mmm what the Fuck. Bite me baby.” You had to swallow a genuine laugh cause this man was really weird sometimes. But you flattened your tongue against the bottom of your mouth bobbing your head with an amateur but passionate pace. “Hey,” you looked up to him peering at you with lust consumed eyes. “Can I help you? Put your hands on my thighs.” You put your hands on either of his thighs, shifting your kneeling to a squat. “Smart girl.” He set his hand reassuringly against the back of your head, leaning his hips up from the wall so his dick was more comfortably set for you. Given he had an angle he knew better than you that continually hitting your cheek like that might become bad feeling. “Take your time, I can be quiet.” With one hand on the back of your head and the fingers on his other hand lovingly gripping either side of your chin he guided you with a knowing pace. He choked on his moans but never broke eye contact.

Something in you expanded as you felt bold enough to reach a hand under to cup his balls. “Waa-where did you learn that?!” You paid him no mind determined to bring him to climax. You’re awkward relationship developments seemed to always lead to public displays of affection. You were especially dismissive towards shame once your eyes soaked up enough of his image, it was almost compulsive how dire you had to get him between your fingers. You finally defeated him as his head fell back and his eyes shut. His Adam’s Apple bulging and flexing as his grip tightened in your hair. You knew he was about to cum. So you bobbed on him with more intensity, letting his tip meet the back of your mouth entering your throat the slightest bit. He became an undone mess of moans. “Y/N you feel so fucking good. So fucking—“ his breath hitched when a rougher mindless thrust had him slip down and gag you ever so slight. A sensation to gag was overcome as he soon came filling the bathroom with expletives and thank you’s.

When you released with a loud pop of your mouth, you looked up at eyes that declared you owned him now. He pulled you up surprisingly aggressive slipping his tongue into your mouth sharing his taste with you. “We need to get out here.” He says with a dark glint in his eye. He threw his hoodie over your head and walked out as if it was nothing. The girls in the bathroom could only snicker and blush, confused and jealous at the hot boy hiding you from exposing yourself. Once out of the bathroom and outside he tells you to keep his hoodie until he sees you again. He kisses you on the forehead. “Umm,” he says rubbing the back of his head. “So we are like? Dating now, right?”

Who: DENJI, NARUTO, Jean, Tamaki, YUUJI, CHOSO, ARMIN (I think him more nervous if anything ), ICHIGO + any other sweet idiots.

[moxfirefly]

I love your writing so much and how you write the turtle just ugh ♥️ So I’ve been in my very angsty mood lately so I’m thinking of Raphael x F!reader? If you don’t mind?

The reader is a anti-hero type of character doesn’t feel like a good influence on Raph who is more of the hero type. Especially since his family are against the relationship because of the reader’s morals so they have her second guessing herself. Raphael disagrees with his family and is a stubborn mofo as usual. Lmao

"Why are you running? Why is it that every time I get close to you, you take off? What are you so scared of?"

"I'm going to kiss you. Okay? Just...just let me kiss you."

Listen I’m having a heart attack at having you in my inbox because I’m a HUGE HUGE fan of yours and like yeah, no pressure, I’m fine, I’m alright,

Rated Mature (suggestive themes)

There were many instances where you could feel Leo burning a hole through the back of your head, the grimace he sported the second he could spot you out on the open was enough to make your eyes roll. You knew having him be anything but pissy wasn’t going to be an option when Raph had told you about him.

The tallest one wasn’t any different, he was subtle sure but you’ve changed enough cellphones in 3 months just paranoid over being tapped. He observed, calculated, probably thought up of ways of his own to sabotage.

The youngest seemed stuck between feeling joy for his older brother but the worry was there, the second guessing resonated in his blue eyes whenever you rode up in your motorcycle looking a little worse for wear. What had you been doing the week you’d gone radio silent? Why could he smell blood on you? Why were your knuckles so bruised?

It was natural for Raphael’s family to want to shield him, Splinter especially, it was normal that you came from the proverbial wrong side of the tracks.

But couldn’t they see?

You cared for him, deeply. Wanted him, desired him, he made the bullshit somehow fade away.

But those cold gazes, the ironic judgment they held the second Raph ran off towards you, you could picture it.

So when Raph ran, so did you.

Somehow keeping a step away to his forward steps.

Because now whenever he reached out you felt a twinge of unworthiness at his touch.

Because maybe you were as bad as they thought you were, maybe you were a bad influence, something sent to break him apart and condemn.

You wrist hurt from holding onto the throttle, the ride back into the city an all too familiar one. You could feel your phone vibrate in the inside pocket of your jacket and while could guess, you tried to ignore it.

Maybe it due time to quietly slip away, Raph was good, he was a genuinely good man who stood for what he did. Why corrupted him (were you?) why give this a death sentence? (Was it?) why hurt yourself more? (Will it hurt more when you leave?)

You pulled into the subterranean garage of the apartment building you’d taken up residence in. You walked the bike towards the spot and sighed. Your hands were shaking, vibrating from the buzzing of the night ride.

“Ya planning on just never answering?” It came from the shadows, the deep baritone you often heard in your brain at all hours of the day.

Raph stepped out of the dark corner of the garage with a tension in his shoulders that must’ve ached. Taking off your helmet and setting it on the bike, you watched from your tousled locks at a man you found peace in.

Leaving peace behind wouldn’t be easy.

“It was a busy night, came back into the city just now.” You kept your gaze adverted, anywhere where it wouldn’t hurt to see worries green eyes staring back.

“It’s been a week, kid…what’s going on?” What did I do?

Was all you could hear deep within the swallowing of his throat.

“Nothing, had a job, did the job, took longer.” You hated how dry you sounded, sandpaper words that could damage those scales of his.

When Raph took a step to greet you, touch you, you took a small one back.

When you chanced a look at him, well it was easier to eat glass than watch that look.

“Raph—“

“Why are you running? Why is it that every time I get close to you, you take off? What are you so scared of?” He was close now, a large mitt reaching for your chin, gently oh so painfully gently caressing the outline of your jaw. You looked up, eyes shaky from finding any way to let him go, to push him away.

“You know why—“

He didn’t let you finish again.

“I don’t fucking care, this is what I want, you, I want you.” He cupped your cheek, small and vulnerable against his large palm.

You drowned in the possibility of leaving him, so when you remained silent, didn’t say anything, Raph leaned down.

“I’m going to kiss you. Okay? Just…Just let me kiss you.” The need in his voice, the want so visceral it made you feel it all the same.

When Raph’s lips met yours, for those little moments you allowed yourself the luxury of greed.

[natalievoncatte]

cw: this ficlet contains some graphic violence and a child in peril, but everyone makes it out okay, except the bad guy.

“Now, Alex? Right now?” Kara demanded, as she laced the room with her phone to her ear. Lena watched her from the bed, hands resting on the dime of her belly, a bemused smile on her face.

“I’m sorry, Kara, but the rampaging supervillain didn’t check your schedule before attacking the city.”

She glanced at Lena, whose smirk had taken on a hint of sadness.

“My wife is about to give birth,” Kara sighed. “Alex… we talked about this. We still need to figure out how to make it work.”

“I know, I know, but I have J’onn on his way there now to keep an eye on Lena. It’ll be fine. You’ll probably be back before they’re done prepping her.”

“Fine, I’m on my way.”

Ending the call, she turned to Lena, cupping her soft cheek with one hand.

“I’ll be back as fast as I can.”

“Kara,” said Lena. “This is a surgical procedure. I don’t think you need to actually watch it anyway.”

“I promised I’d be here.”

Lena sighed. “Go get ‘em, Supergirl.”

Kara hesitated, unable to restrain the frown that twisted her lips as she left. She waited until she was on the roof to whip off her glasses and materialize her suit. Alex had directed her downtown.

Kara flew, and fast. When she landed it was with a bit more of a shockwave than usual, and she spared the usual pleasantries and pleas to surrender peacefully. An eight foot tall, blue, horned alien was engaged in the usual mayhem as she arrived, and paid her little mind.

He opened by throwing a steamroller at her. Kara sidestepped it, sighing. The wind really had left her sails for this. She wanted to be with Lena. She wanted to welcome their baby into the world.

The alien quickly made it apparent that she didn’t need to pull her punches, and she didn’t. Nevertheless, it took half an hour for her to put him in a headlock and knock him out, and there was an interminable wait while Alex had him loaded up into a containment unit.

“Go,” Alex finally told her. “Go see your son.”

Kara took off with renewed vigor, landing a block from the hospital to change into her civilian clothes before rushing in. She moved perhaps a touch too fast for a human as she returned to the maternity ward and walked into a nightmare.

J’onn was standing in the hallway. He seemed indistinct, somehow, like he was in the middle of phasing, and he was frozen as still as a statue. There was something stuck to the chest of his polo shirt, and when Kara reached for the circular device, her hand passed through him.

She jabbed the comms she’d left in her ear.

“Alex,” she whispered, frantic. “Something’s wrong at the hospital. Someone incapacitated J’onn.”

“Wait for me,” Alex replied at once her voice high and tight.

“I can’t.”

“Kara,” Alex began, but Kara ignored her.

She pushed into the surgical ward, slowing when she saw a nurse lying against the wall, clutching a wound in her stomach as a doctor crouched beside her. Lena was still on the table.

The baby, her son, was beside Lena, still covered in amniotic fluid, his cord uncut, crying lustily for his mother.

Standing over him was a man Kara never expected to see again. Ben Lockwood.

“Hello, Kara.”

She froze. Lockwood held a sharp chunk of Kryptonite in his hand, the jagged point aimed down at the child. The other held a gun aimed at Lena’s chest.

The painful burning spread up Kara’s limbs, working its way along her nerves like a thousand hot needles scraping under her skin. Her knees buckled and she fought the pull of gravity.

“Get rid of the kryptonite,” Kara demanded.

“You have to make a choice. The kid or the wife. You’ve got ten seconds. Pick one.”

Kara locked eyes with him, pleasing.

“Me. Not them. Take me instead.”

Lockwood smiled, though his eyes remained cold and dead. “Wrong answer. I guess I’ll just have to pick for you.”

Kara finally started to sink, the collapse imminent. She knew what she had to do. With her dwindling strength, she threw herself at Lockwood, sprinting the distance, and in her weakened state, she could do no more than artlessly crash into him.

The gun spun free, unfired.

The kryptonite slid home, parting the flesh under Kara’s ribs. A fresh agony ripped through her as the jagged point struck her lung. She collapsed on top of Lockwood.

“I’m sorry,” she choked out, foaming blood from her lips falling on Lockwoods face.

With her remaining strength, she clamped her hands on his neck and twisted. It took no more effort than cleaning a chicken. She barely felt the bones part as her hand went numb.

I have to get the Kryptonite away from the baby.

Kara rolled off of the body and began dragging herself, forcing her way past her screaming son and into the hallway, painting the tiles red for a good fifteen feet until she finally collapsed. She thought she heard Alex calling to her, as blackness came in and swallowed everything.

***

The first thing Kara was aware of was the pleasant, prickling heat of sun lamps on her skin, and shortly after that, the sound of a voice… singing. It was a familiar voice, soft and halting, singing the lullaby as if she might be embarrassed if someone caught her.

Kara opened her eyes and looked over, flooded with a wave of relief as she saw Lena sitting beside her, curled up in a chair with the baby swaddled in her arms, sleeping peacefully.

Joy and relief shattered her more fiercely than sorrow ever could. Kara choked out a pained sob, more following as the sheer weight of it overwhelmed her. Lena looked up and Kara saw she hadn’t slept.

“Is he okay?” Kara said. “Did the kryptonite hurt him?”

“Nothing permanent or serious,” said Lena. “His half-human physiology makes him much less sensitive to it than you are.”

“I’m so sorry,” Kara said, her body shaking with sobs. “Rao, I am so sorry. I left you. I left you.”

Lena shook her head. “Kara, it’s alright. You saved us. Ben Lockwood was as much my enemy as…”

Was.

Kara sat up and plunged her head in her hands. She sobbed harder. She’d done the one thing she swore on her very life never to do. She killed him.

“Kara,” said Lena. “Would you like to hold your son? He wants to meet you.”

Her head snapped up. Kara held back the sobs as she tenderly accepted the bundle from Lena’s arms. Her little boy was at once the lightest and easiest and heaviest burden her arms had ever carried. Tears fell freely as she stared at his tiny sleeping face. He was perfect. Perfect.

“Should you be on your feet so soon after the surgery?”

Lena sighed. “It’s been two weeks, Kara. That kryptonite did a number on you.”

“Oh,” said Kara.

They were quiet for a time, Kara rocking the baby gently in the bed while Lena carded her fingers through Kara’s hair.

“This is it,” said Kara. “This is the end. Supergirl is done. He comes first. You come first. We come first.”

“Yes,” Lena agreed. “Alex and I talked about it while you were out and she told me what you were planning to do, so we took the opportunity. Supergirl died saving me from Ben Lockwood. I gave the eulogy at your public funeral. It was very moving, I’m told.”

“I’m sure it was,” Kara said, absently.

Suddenly, Lena threw her arms around them both, pulling them into a tight embrace. Kara leaned into it, burying her face in the crook of Lena’s shoulder.

“Let’s go home.”

[earthstellar]

crying over Rescue Bots, yes it’s the ghost ship episode, it’s fine

so I’m watching Rescue Bots again because I don’t feel good today lmao 

and the episode where they’re on the ghost ship and TEN WHOLE ASS YEARS GO BY WHILE THEY ARE STUCK ON THE SHIP came up in the playlist 

and even though it’s resolved in the end, it’s like, holy shit 

okay so for those who haven’t seen it: 

halfway through the episode Chief Burns shows up and sees his kids for the first time in TEN YEARS because tl;dr the kids got on the ghost ship to investigate but it vanished back into the fog and it time travelled them at accelerated speed but beyond the ship, time passes normally, so it’s been 10 YEARS from their dad’s point of view since they left, even though for them it has only been one hour 

and him and the Doc and Frankie are visibly older when they land on the ship’s deck 

so naturally Chief’s talking to his kids and probably trying not to fucking have a break down and he’s like okay everyone, let’s go 

and Cody’s like “no we think we figured it out, let us stay and try” 

and the Chief has less than one minute to make this call: do I bring my entire family home after ten years, or do I let them disappear maybe for another ten years based on a hunch they have 

and he lets them stay on the ghost ship because he trusts his kids that much 

ten years lost, maybe ten years more, and how old is he now? how old will he be in another ten years, if they happen to be wrong? what happens to the town if he ages out of rescue work (and so would Doc), which would leave only Frankie to protect the island? 

even the rescue bots themselves openly state that they feel like they’ve abandoned their posts because of their extended absence, even though it’s not their fault (I don’t remember who specifically said this but it was one of them and it makes it sadder lmao) 

but he lets them go after finally seeing them again for five minutes in total, after they have been missing in real time for ten years on this ghost ship 

and IDK the amount of trust Chief has in his kids and his ability to immediately trust them in this way despite what I am sure is an incredible amount of grief and stress over what has been ten fucking years for him is actually so intense 

like this is a show for babbies, so of course they can’t focus on how emotionally fucked this situation is for literally everyone, it would be Too Much for Babbies which is understandable 

but thinking about it for ten seconds is like oh shit!! oh shit, feelings 

I love this episode because the feels are real, both for the Captain of the ship (which is the whole setup, tl;dr stuck in time loop never got to marry girlfriend, it’s sad already) and for Chief Burns because holy shit his fucking entire family has been gone for ten years and he still trusts them enough to let them stay on board and try to solve shit even though he absolutely has to be emotionally trashed in that moment 

10/10 Rescue Bots is a great show, I don’t know why I don’t post about it more tbh the emotional whiplash is so intense lmao 

there’s also that time Optimus turned into a t-rex and freaked out but then in TFP concurrently this was somehow fine and it never came up again in canon or seemingly anywhere else, holy shit I forgot all about that until today LMAO

I love the Aligned Continuity, all of this shit is so good, I’m crying but also laughing 

mostly crying right now though because Chief Burns lost all his kids for TEN YEARS and he immediately let them go again because he loves them and trusts them THAT MUCH 

[darkomoth]

Insomniacs

Chapter 2: Birthday Dinner

Aaron Hotchner x reader

Summary: Pending a full evaluation, you're stuck at home while you heal from your injuries. Hotch is worried and Reid's birthday is around the corner.

Notes: This is sort of a slow burn I guess. Slightly shorter chapter, hope you enjoy! :)

Also uploaded on Ao3 under the same title

Word count: 6.7K

Ch. 1 Ch.3

You were cleared to fly back home but had to spend a little over a week in the hospital while you recovered. They told you that you had a mild concussion, three bruised ribs, and a broken nose. So, ultimately, not as bad as it could have been. 

Still, it didn’t feel awesome. Of course, the doctor recommended that you stay in the hospital for observation for at least 3 weeks, but the sheer thought of being bed-ridden for that long made you pick at your nails. The monotonous hum of the machines and the low volume of the tv combined with the chilly hospital air put you severely on edge. Honestly, they were lucky you made it as long as you did. 

Everyone came to visit you at one point or another, which made you very happy. Penelope had gathered a basket-full of goodies for you which consisted of a teddy bear, many chocolates/candies, a coloring book that was obviously made for children, and three balloons which said, “It’s a Girl!” in pretty pink cursive. 

“They didn’t have any “I’m sorry you were kidnapped and tortured” balloons at CVS...” Garcia had said with a pout. They were appreciated, you assured her.

Spencer had reserved time to read to you, stating that he always felt better when his mom did the same for him as a kid. You’d drift off to the sound of the young doctor's voice who recited line after line from “The Wizard of Oz,” which he knew you loved. 

Derek came by a couple times to drop off food and watch a few episodes of whatever shitty soap opera happened to be on at the time. Somehow, they seemed better quality when he was there. His easy conversation made you relax in the stiff hospital bed and often you found yourself laughing a little too hard, straining your sides and reminding yourself of why you were here to begin with. 

JJ and Emily often visited together, since they were carpooling. They brought personal hygiene items from your apartment and flowers, talked about work and how the team was. “Oh, we’re falling apart without you, for sure.” JJ stated once. It made you smile, though you knew everyone was getting on just fine. 

Rossi wasn’t super talkative, but you were used to that. His company was welcome in the late hours when the ticking clock made you want to rip your hair out. He cooked some really good pasta, but you suspected it may have been take-out. Rossi denied it completely. 

Hotch was there more than anyone else, however. You could hear him pacing outside your door some nights, like he was debating on whether to come in. He always did after knocking gently on your door, which you eagerly answered.  

He’d sit by your side and ask how you were feeling, and you would answer the same way every time with a smile, “Like a million bucks.” It made him scoff and shake his head a little, though you knew he found it a little funny. After several minutes of small talk, his hand would search for yours and you would accept it with a small smile. Hotch wasn’t accustomed to doing nothing either, so he’d fidget. He’d check on your vitals, request an extra blanket, crack open the window for fresh air, or pace whenever you did succumb to sleep. 

Your request to go home was granted, but not to return to work. That would take at least another two weeks. Hotch thought even that was pushing it, though.  

“I’m seriously fine, Hotch. See, look,” You said, crumbling some trash into a ball so that you could toss it into a nearby trash can. You got it in one shot. “Look at that coordination,” You laughed, nudging his side softly. 

Hotch only stared at you, seemingly unamused. “That is not a good measurement of capability.”  

The two of you were walking out of the hospital, and you felt a heaviness lift off your shoulders as you passed though the automatic sliding doors. Finally, you were back to the real world. JJ and Emily brought you your own clothes which made you feel like yourself again and not some lab rat. The sun was warm on your skin, and you took a deep breath the moment you were outside. It made you forget about how you must’ve looked still, with a black eye and purple bruises littered across your cheek and neck.

The team had another case already, but Hotch stated he would be catching up with everyone as soon as he made sure that you got home safe. That set off a feeling of butterflies in your stomach which you tried to push away. That was genuinely the last thing you should be thinking about right now.  

“Well, what is a good measurement?” You ask, turning towards him and looking up into his eyes. They were already trained on you, stoic and resolute as always. 

“Your evaluation is scheduled in 12 days from now.” He says, impassively. 

You don’t try to stop the groan that escapes you, “That’s so long.” The two of you make it to Hotch’s car, he opens the passenger side door for you and holds onto your upper arm to help you inside, it sends a pleasant chill up your arm. You wince in pain as you change from an upright position to sitting, and Hotch notices. 

“Are you alright?” He hovers next to you as you reach for the seatbelt. Your ribs were actually on fire, but you nodded in response, not trusting your voice at the moment. Hotch looks at you skeptically for a second, hands twitching at his sides, before closing the door and making his way to the driver's seat. 

He looked good, you thought. Hotch was in his usual suit, but no jacket or tie, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, and you tried not to let your eyes linger for too long. Halfway through the drive, he speaks again. “You should’ve stayed at the hospital.” 

You look over at him again, his eyes are fixed on the road and his face neutral, but his hand grips the steering wheel tightly. “I couldn’t take another minute of that place.” You say, a little bitterly. 

Hotch glances at you but turns his attention back to driving. “I know... still.” He sighs like he’s resigned to the fact that you’re very stubborn and almost always get your way in the end. “How’s the pain?” 

Over the past week, Hotch has checked in on your pain level. He’d ask where you were from 1-10; 1 meant almost no pain, 10 meant it was unbearable. Typically, you’d say 3/4, maybe 5 on a bad day, but if you were being honest, 4 meant 6 and 5 meant 9. If Hotch noticed that you were lying, he didn’t say anything. 

“Mm, 5.” You mumbled in response. 

He only nodded, making sure to keep his eyes forward. A few seconds pass, as if he’s debating if he should speak again. Eventually he does. “Are you sure?” His voice is tentative and soft now, “You’ve been controlling your breathing and clutching your side.”

You release your side in response and take a deep breath as if to prove a point, “I’m sure.”

Hotch doesn’t say anything for the rest of the drive. When he pulls into the parking lot of your apartment complex, he prevents you from opening your door. “Stop, I’ll get it.”

“Hotch, you really don’t need to-“ You were cut off by the sound of the driver side door shutting closed. When he makes his way around to the passenger side, you were looking at him disapprovingly. “I can open a door.” You mutter as he opens it and offers a hand.

“I’m certain you can.” Is all he says in response, not budging from his spot. With a small sigh and a suppressed smile, you take his hand and hop out of your seat.

You notice how close Hotch is to you, the way he’s put himself between you and the rest of the lot. It’s intimate in a strange way, his hand is still in yours even though you were fully stable now. Your heartbeat quickens in the way that it does when he’s near and you fidget.

Hotch probably noticed your behavior because he lets you go immediately, turning towards the trunk of the car that has your go-bag. He grabs it and starts walking with you to your door. You want to protest again, tell him that you were okay and capable of doing normal, everyday things like carrying your bag, but you decide against it. You know that nothing you say is going to change Hotch’s mind so you allow yourself the moment to enjoy his company. 

“I can handle it from here.” You say once you open your door and step inside. The apartment was fairly empty, save for the sparse furniture and fake plants that sat on your windowsills. As you move to grab your bag from Hotch, a sharp sting shoots up your right side and makes you still. “Ahhh,” You hiss in pain. 

“Y/N?” Hotch asks worriedly, holding his hands out for you to grab onto if you needed. “Are you alright?”

With your hands clutching onto him, you take a second to regain stability and test your breathing, “Mhm… sorry.” You let him go and decide to lean against the island counter in your kitchen instead, but he continues to hover. “It comes and goes.”

“Where’s the painkillers the hospital provided?” Hotch asks, setting down your bag on the counter next to you and rummaging through the side zippers. You don’t have a chance to respond before he finds them. “Here,” He says, as he drops two pills into his hand, “hold onto these, I’ll get some water.”

He hands them to you, and the warmth of his hand is comforting. You hold them and watch as he moves freely around your kitchen, searching for your glassware. It was strange, but not unpleasant, to see your boss inside your home moving around like he’s been here a hundred times. Almost domestic. You shook the thought from your head and took a seat in one of the barstools. Shortly after, Hotch slides over a glass of water across from you.

“Thanks.” You say and down the pills with a gulp of water.

Hotch is looking at you with an unreadable expression, it makes you shift in your seat and take a few more sips of water to distract yourself.

“You need rest and plenty of water…” Hotch trails off, like he wants to say more but doesn’t. Then, like he can’t take it anymore, he moves around the counter to be next to you. “I’m sorry.”

He’s so close again, even taller than usual since you’re sitting. You have to crane your neck to look up at him, his expression has softened from earlier. Confused by what he said you replied, “What are you sorry for?”

Hotch sighs a little, his jaw is tense. “I shouldn’t have sent you away.”

You didn’t know what to say at first, struck by the way he was acting. It was very unlike himself to display any sort of unprofessional behavior, and this was definitely not professional. You furrow your brows and hesitantly reach out to place your hand on his.

“You were doing your job. I shouldn’t have gone to the park, I knew the risks and did it anyway.” You say, trying your best to keep your beating heart under control at Hotch’s proximity.

He looked just past you, not meeting your eyes and shook his head, “I was worried I may never see you again.” Hotch seemed genuinely distraught at his own words, it made your gut twist in an unpleasant way.

“Hotch… Aaron.” The sound of his first name finally made him meet your eyes. You smiled up at him, “You’re not gonna get rid of me that easily.”

It felt tense in the room now, you were used to the team being all together, interrupting moments like these and pulling you back down to reality. But now it was just you and Hotch, and he wasn’t pulling away.

“I-“ Hotch starts, but a loud ringing cuts him off. He closes his eyes for a moment, obviously upset at the interruption, but he answers anyway. “Hotchner.” He pulls back and paces a few feet away from you.

You know that whatever was being said, it wasn’t good and by the look on Hotch’s face and the furrow of his brows, it was probably minutes before he’d be out the door. When he hung up, he looked over at you sympathetically. 

“Go on, boss. I’m good.” You say, trying to ease the stress that was evident in his frown.

Hotch’s hands twitch at his sides again and you make a mental note of it. He tends to do that when he’s considering his next move. Ultimately, he nods and strides to your front door, pausing when his hand lands on the doorknob.

“We’ll be in Pennsylvania. If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to call.” Hotch says, regretfully.

“Can I call even if I don’t need anything?” You ask, trying to lighten the mood.

He gives you one of his rare smiles, “Yes, Agent.”

-

Hotch left Y/N’s apartment with a mix of emotions. He wasn’t sure if she was truly alright. Mentally, maybe, the events with Mazdin didn’t seem to wreck her emotional state, she still joked and smiled at him which was a good sign. Physically, though, was another story. 

One of her tells that Hotch caught early on when she were hired was deflection. He’d ask if she was okay, she'd ask if he was. If she answered, it was quick, as if she were afraid to elaborate too much and make herself seem suspicious. He knew that she was in pain and afraid to show it in case it affected her return to the BAU.

Y/N’s fear was unwarranted, though. Hotch was counting down the days of her return despite knowing she needed time to heal. It was difficult to leave after having spent the last week checking in on her, keeping her company.

One day when he paced outside her hospital door, unable to stay still, Y/N called out his name. “Hotch, just come in, you’re stressing me out. And I need help changing the channel.” Her voice was still strained but he could tell she was smiling. It calmed his worries about intruding on her, and from that point on he didn’t linger outside as much. 

It was still difficult to see her covered in bruises and looking at him like he was the only person she wanted to see. Her black eye was getting better, the swelling had gone down considerably, but she had a dark ring underneath that was an ever-present reminder of what happened. The lines on her neck were barely starting to fade, still an angry-red color, and the bandages surrounding her torso hid the damage beneath, but Hotch knew that bruised ribs were serious injuries. Any time he thought about it, he felt a little sick.

After everything that he’s seen in the BAU, nothing compares to having a teammate go through something that traumatic. Regardless, Hotch knew that she was recovering. Even if it wasn’t at the hospital with trained professionals, he thought bitterly.

His phone rang again as he was driving towards the office, “Hotchner.”

“I had a thought.” Y/N’s voice rang out from his speaker and his frown softened a little.

“Yes?”

“I may not be able to be in the field, but if you send me the case files I can work on it from here.”

Hotch should’ve expected that one. With a shake of his head he responds, “You need to focus on getting better, not causing yourself stress.”

“No, you don’t get it. If I’m left alone with literally nothing to do for longer than 30 minutes, I’ll lose it.” Her voice was coming out rushed, he could tell she was either pacing or tapping her fingers nervously. The image made the corners of his mouth turn up a little.

A few seconds passed with silence, Hotch debating what the best thing to do was in this situation. “If you promise to take care of yourself… I’ll have Garcia send over the paperwork within the hour.”

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Y/N said excitedly. “Oh- also, I wanted to remind you of Reid’s birthday, it’s Friday.”

Hotch laughs at that, “Yes, I did actually remember.”

“Okay great, because I was thinking the team could get together that day and celebrate. Either at the bar or maybe Rossi’s since it’s bigger…” Y/N says, sounding like she’s just thinking out loud.

“I’ll discuss it with everyone, though you really shouldn’t be leaving your home-“

“Yeah, yeah I know but you only turn 29 once and I want to see Reid’s face when I give him his “Happy 30th Birthday” card.” She replies.

Hotch tries his best not to laugh and give her the satisfaction. “Well, in that case. I’ll get back to you about it.”

“Thanks Hotch.”

-

The week actually flies by, to your pleasant surprise. You were often sat on your couch, eating some type of take-out and going over victimology of the team’s case in Lancaster, PA. The unsub was a family annihilator, targeting middle-class families and spending extra time torturing the fathers.

Without being there, you were limited to your access of information, but frequent calls to and from Garcia kept you in the loop. Ultimately, you suggested to the team that the unsub was a father himself and most likely had his children taken away from him at some point.

Of course, you were trying to keep your promise to Hotch and taking care of yourself. That mostly meant drinking at least two cups of water a day and trying your best to fall asleep once the clock read 12:00 am. That second one didn’t work out as well.

Hotch knew that you weren’t sleeping again, given the times you had called him. Since there was no time change between Virginia and Pennsylvania, it was obvious that your insomnia had crept back.

A particular call one night left a bad feeling in your stomach. It was past 1:00 am already, but you knew Hotch would still be up, working. You were proven correct when he answered on the second ring, “Hotchner.”

“I was looking over the night that the Clarkson family was murdered and I noticed something off with the children’s position in the house-“

Hotch cut you off before you could finish, “Agent L/N, you need to go to sleep. Now.” His voice was curt and a little angry, you thought.

“Hotch, I will, but listen to me-“

“No. I’ve allowed you to work remotely under the assumption that you would be prioritizing your health. Now that I know that is not your intention, I’m relieving you of this case.”

For a moment, you were speechless. You winced from the pain in your ribs as you shifted your position at the dining table. “Hotch, I am prioritizing and I have been sleeping, it’s just later in the night.” 

“I will not allow you to continuously jeopardize yourself, if need be I can and will suspend you.” His voice was monotone as always, but you sensed irritation in it. 

“Fine.” Was all you said in response, quickly ending the call and slamming your phone down onto the table in front of you. You can’t remember the last time you were this angry at Hotch. Even though it came from a place of concern, he had no idea how much worse it was for you when you had nothing to preoccupy yourself with.

The nightmares returned very soon after the Mazdin incident. In fact, they were even worse. Before, the dreams would consist of you and the team on a typical case, trying to find an unsub before the clock runs out. You would see image after image of decapitated bodies, mutilated corpses, the faces of missing children. Every time it shook you so badly, you’d wake up in a cold sweat, involuntary tears in your eyes.

After your own kidnapping, you’d dream of that basement. How this must’ve been how all those other girls had felt, terrified that they would never see sunlight again, never hug those closest to them, never have the luxury of another boring day. You’d experience the pain of that night over and over and over again. The feel of the strangers fist connecting to your stomach, face, and ribs was so real, you could practically smell the musty air and taste the blood in your mouth. 

When you were in the hospital, hopped up on painkillers and connected to an IV, you had dreamless sleeps. They felt like temporary comas and you were aching to feel that again. You could feel Hotch next to you, holding your hand and talking but you never made out what was actually being said. It was perfect.

Now, back inside your own apartment alone yet again, not even a case to distract you, the thought of sleep petrified you. You made yourself coffee, did laundry, washed dishes, even cleaned out your closet at one point. Nothing could stop the inevitability of you closing your eyes and being transported back to that night.

You were told by Garcia that the team had caught the unsub just before he was able to take out the Williams family and they were flying back Thursday night. You were glad that everyone was safe and on their way home, but it hurt that you didn’t feel like you could even talk with Hotch now.

You wanted to call and check in on him since you knew how hard he took family annihilator cases. Still, you didn’t reach for your phone. You would be seeing them all tomorrow, anyways. It was decided by Reid that Rossi’s place would be better than any public outing, so the team had made a plan to meet there at 6:00 pm Friday night.

Throughout the year, you tended to buy things for the team. Small gifts, anything that stuck out to you that someone may like, and you kept them for birthdays and holidays. So when you came across a dusty antique bookstore during one of your cases in New York several months ago, you knew you had to look around. You found the most incredibly bound and gorgeous hardback copy of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ by Oscar Wilde and just knew it’d make a great gift for boy-genius.

You also happened upon an old collection of classic vinyl records, with dozens of artists varying from Frank Sinatra to Harry Belafonte and you had to get it. Not for you, but you knew one very serious Unit Chief that loved oldies.

-

By the time that Friday morning rolled around, Hotch hadn’t spoken to Y/N in over 48 hours. It put him a little on edge, he was too used to seeing her every day, hearing her voice asking how he was. He knew it was his fault for snapping at her the way he did, but he couldn’t take another night of worrying about her. He had enough to deal with already.

She had called him at least twice a day every day that they were in Pennsylvania, offering some of her insight. It was welcome most of the time, especially after they’d hit a wall in their investigation. Y/N not being on the scene allowed for a unique outside perspective. But Hotch wasn’t going to allow her to compromise her health for the job.

He debated calling her several times and it just never happened. Either he would get busy or he’d rationalize that she didn’t want to hear from him, but they were all excuses. So he decided to bite the bullet and dial her number when he finally settled into his office that morning.

“L/N.” Was all she said when she finally picked up. Usually, when she noticed it was Hotch calling, she would answer the phone with a “Hey Boss” or some variation of it. The change made him look down at his desk with a frown.

“Hey…” Hotch said, completely forgetting the reason he had come up with for calling so early. “I wanted to check in with you, see how you were… will you be coming to Rossi’s tonight?” He scolds himself internally for sounding so unsure of himself.

“Well, yeah, I wouldn’t miss it.” She said as if it were obvious. He supposed it was, seeing as the get-together was her suggestion. “Was there anything else?” She asked after a minute.

Hotch wanted to ask what her pain level was, if she had actually slept since the last time they spoke, and quite a few other things, but instead he shook his head a little, “No. We’ll see you there.” He hung up quickly after that, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

Several hours of paperwork later and Hotch was finally leaving for the day. He arrived at Rossi’s mansion at 5:50 pm, noticing that he was not the first. Morgan and Prentiss’ cars were both there, and he was relieved that Y/N hadn’t shown up just yet. He was still trying to figure out what he was going to say to her.

As he rung the doorbell, he could hear talking and laughing inside. “Answer that, would you?” Rossi’s voice could be heard echoing from the kitchen. A couple seconds later he heard footsteps and then Y/N was there, holding the door open.

She was stunning. Her usual work clothes were nice and complemented her, but Hotch had never seen her like this. She wore a mid-length, off the shoulder gown with long sleeves, it was black with a lace trim. Her makeup was done but it wasn’t a lot, he suspected it was to cover up the remaining discoloration from that night. Her hair was done in a different way that he’d never seen before, and she was so gorgeous.

It took a moment before Hotch could speak, “I brought wine.” He holds the bottle out to her and she takes it with a small smile and nod. As she walks away with it towards the kitchen and he follows, he thinks about what the hell was wrong with him. 

“Ahh, Aaron, this is perfect.” Rossi says as Y/N hands him the bottle of red. “Why don’t you all take a seat, the rest of the team is on their way and the food will be ready shortly.”

Morgan and Prentiss were hovering around the island counter, also dressed up in less than casual outfits.

“What’s up man?” Morgan asks as he makes his way over to Hotch, “Didn’t you bring a gift for wonder boy?”

“Spencer’s gift is all of the paperwork he does not have to do for the next three days.” He responds, shrugging off his blazer.

“Aw, that’s sweet,” Prentiss says, “does that extend to the rest of the team?”

“What you guys get is his workload.” Hotch says with a growing smile.

A collective groan is heard as everyone takes their seats. Y/N is still in the kitchen, helping Rossi with kneading some type of dough. He tries not to glance over too often, but it’s hard not to. She’s laughing at something Rossi’s said and the smile on her face is infectious. 

Hotch notices how she’s still favoring her right side, moving only when she has to. Her breathing is controlled and her posture is purposefully casual. She’s certainly gotten better since the last time he’s seen her, but she’s not fully healed and he resists the urge to go speak to her about it.

“So, what’s for dinner?” Emily asks.

Y/N responds before Rossi can, “Burrata Caprese Gnocchi with balsamic bruschetta and garlic bread.” She shares a look with Rossi who smiles at her.

“Sounds amazing.” Emily says just as the doorbell rings.

JJ, Penelope, and Reid were all at the door, which Hotch answered this time, beating Y/N to it. 

“There’s the birthday boy!” Derek said, getting up to give Spencer a hug.

“I really don’t think the word ‘boy’ accurately describes my age anymore.” He replies, returning the hug a little hesitantly. 

“Ah, come on Spence, you’re still the second youngest agent in the team.” JJ says, pointedly looking at Y/N from where she still stood in the kitchen.

“Hey, I am not much younger than him.” She says defensively. Hotch smiles at the interaction.

“Well, regardless,” Penelope cuts in, taking Reid’s arm in hers, “you are still the residing genius of the BAU, myself excluded.”

“Well, thank you very much.” Hotch hears Spencer mutter as he’s dragged along to the dining room with everyone else.

Rossi commanded that everyone help set the table as the last bit of dinner was being prepared. Y/N was moving around seemingly effortlessly, stirring something in a pot and then pulling bread out of the oven. Hotch thought she looked very graceful, until she must’ve turned the wrong way and she stilled completely.

Y/N clutched the edge of the counter like she had back at her apartment last week and Hotch stopped passing plates around. He watched as she excused herself to the restroom and after a second of deliberating, he followed.

The light underneath the bathroom door was on and Hotch knocked on it lightly, “Y/N?” There was no response for a minute. “Hey, are you okay? Please open the door.”

Another few seconds went by with no sound and he was thinking maybe he should just go back to the dining room when the door unlocked and swung open a fraction. Hotch took that as an invitation to open it fully and walk in.

Y/N was leaning against the bathroom sink, hand on her side and eyes closed. “What do you need?” He asks, hands clenching at his sides, not sure if he should reach out and touch her.

“Um…” Her breath shakes slightly, “If you could, my bag has my medication, I left it out there.”

“Of course. I’ll be right back.” It took Hotch less than a minute to go out into the living area, find her bag with the painkillers and bring them back to the bathroom. He knocks twice before entering, “Here.”

“Thank you.” Y/N says, taking them with a mouthful of tap water.

“How’s the pain?” It’s a long shot that she’ll even continue speaking to him, but Hotch doesn’t feel like leaving her alone like this.

“Uh, a 6.” She looks at him finally, and his frown deepens. She’s never actually gone past 5, and he knew 5 was bad. “It’s okay, really, I think I just strained my side while cooking.”

Hotch nods, but he doesn’t feel reassured. “Well, I’ll help you to the table, and please don’t move again unless you have to.” He thinks that she wants to argue but that would take energy she doesn’t have, so she allows him to wrap an arm around her waist. She leans against him and he inhales her scent, it’s warm and sweet, like cinnamon he thinks.

If anyone noticed the way the two of them walked out together, no one said anything. The team wasn’t oblivious, they knew Y/N was in pain as well, and that she wouldn’t want to speak about it. Especially tonight when it was about celebrating a fellow teammate.

Hotch set her down in a seat directly next to him, his hand lingering where it had been a moment before. Rossi was passing around the main course and the conversation had been redirected to Spencer’s weekend plans.

“I’ll be in Vegas for the next couple days. I’ve been meaning to visit my mom but haven’t really had the time.” He says as he grabs two pieces of garlic bread.

“That’s nice.” Emily says, taking a sip of her wine. “I would rather be working than visit my mother on my birthday.”

“Cheers to that,” Rossi says, also taking a sip.

Everyone raises their glasses, Y/N included. Her face gives no indication that the movement bothers her at all. She takes a sip and rests the glass back down where she starts tapping nervously on it and Hotch knows the meds haven’t kicked in just yet.

“Time for gifts!” Penelope yells excitedly and claps her hands, getting up from her spot after everyone had finished with their meals.

Y/N makes a move to stand up, but Hotch catches her wrist before she can. He shakes his head and says, low enough so that no one else can hear, “Don’t even think about it.”

She gives him a look but doesn’t try to shift out of her seat again. His hand stays on her for a moment longer under the table and she doesn’t try to pull away.

“Well then, would you mind grabbing the gift I brought over on the counter?” Y/N practically whispers.

Hotch has to clear his throat before responding, “Of course.” He’s up in a second, already missing the warm contact. He locates the present with white wrapping paper that was covered in gold stars, attached to it was a card that said “You’re 30!” on the cover with a picture of an cartoon senior citizen underneath the text. The sight made him laugh under his breath.

“Open mine first, please.” JJ says, handing over a rather large bag to Reid.

As he grabs it, Hotch takes his spot back next to Y/N. Spencer is ripping out the tissue paper until he reaches the gift. He pulls it out with a gasp, “Ohhh no way.”

In his hands is a model replica of the USS Enterprise from Star Trek, and by the way he was holding it, it seemed fairly heavy. Hotch smiled at the Doctor’s reaction and noticed that Y/N did too. The corners of her eyes crinkled with her grin and he wanted to lean down, just a few inches so that he could come face-to-face with her. He thought about brushing her hair out of her face, behind her ear. He would tilt her head back until she couldn’t go any further, then lean down closer, closer…

Hotch was snapped out of his thoughts by Y/N’s voice. “That one’s from me and Aaron.”

He looked at Spencer, who had the gift in his hands. “I am not thirty years old.” He tossed the offending card down onto the table and the sound of laughter filled the room from everyone.

“Is there something wrong with being thirty?” Derek asks, feigning offense.

“No, I’m just stating the fact that I am not actually thirty years old, I have another 364 days before I reach that milestone, in fact-“

“Just open the present!” Emily says, laughing.

“Okay.” Reid does as he’s told and unfolds the wrapping paper carefully. When he’s done, a hardcover book lays in his hands, but Hotch can’t make out the title. It seemed to make Spencer very happy though, if his widening smile was any indication. “Where did you find this!”

“New York, that case where we were snowed into our hotel and couldn’t leave for an extra week. Gave us time to look around.” Y/N said, making brief eye contact with Hotch. She was keeping up the ruse that he had helped in picking out Reid’s gift.

“You know, out of all of Oscar Wilde’s books, I’ve read this one the most,” Finally Hotch could make out the title ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ “it’s actually very short but it’s masterfully done, almost no other author compares from this century.”

“You’ve mentioned it a few times.” Y/N says.

“Thank you both, very much. This is great.” Spencer replies. 

Hotch tries not to look at her again, he’s not sure what he’ll do if he does. His professional nature was slipping with each sip of wine.

Another few minutes of Reid opening gifts goes by and they were all very thoughtful. Rossi gave him a new suit jacket, Italian made of course. From Garcia, he received several doctor who related items including the full series on blue-ray. Emily got him an iPod, mostly so that he would stop playing his music out loud on long car rides, she explained. Lastly, Derek stated that his friendship was gift enough. Though, later Hotch discovered Morgan had already given Reid a certificate for an all-expenses paid stay at a resort in the Bahamas which was run by a good friend of his.

The night ended on a good note, everyone was buzzed and in deep conversation. Hotch never left Y/N’s side. She seemed to be doing significantly better than earlier, no longer wincing at every move and engaging with the teams banter.

As everyone started to trickle out, Hotch turned towards her. “Do you need a ride?” He hadn’t noticed her car when he got here and it was unlikely that she could drive home in her state anyway.

“Oh, Emily drove me-“ Y/N said, looking around for their friend, who was nowhere to be found.

“I don’t mind, your apartment’s on the way.” Hotch replied, hoping she would say yes. He needed just a few more minutes with her. She looked up at him like she was debating it, eventually pursing her lips and nodding.

“Okay, thank you.”

The two of them said their goodbyes to those remaining, Y/N gave Spencer a hug and wished him Happy Birthday once more before they made their way outside towards Hotch’s car.

Hotch made sure to keep an eye on the way she moved, ready to support her if she needed, but it was unnecessary, she seemed to be fine. He made his way over to the passenger side door and opened it swiftly.

Y/N laughs a little, “Such a gentleman.”

Hotch smiles back and closes the door after she’s settled. Once they’re on the road, he remembers everything that he’s been meaning to say.

“You didn’t have to do that, you know?” He says lightheartedly.

“Do what?” She asks with that little crease between her brows. His hand tightened around the steering wheel just slightly.

“The gift for Spencer. I had no idea about it.”

“Oh, right… Well the no paperwork thing was nice. I know he appreciates it.” She says with a smile. This is torture, Hotch thinks. She’s so close to him, literally less than a foot but he can’t do anything. 

“About the phone call-“

“Hotch, don’t, I already know.” Y/N says, as if she was expecting this conversation all night. “I know I still have five days until my evaluation and if tonight was any indication, I’m still not really to be in the field yet.”

He was glad that she knew that, at least. But his intention wasn’t to scold her all the way back to her home, “Y/N, please let me… I didn’t mean to insinuate that your help wasn’t appreciated on this last case, it was.” She doesn’t say anything in response, just looks over at him with questioning eyes. “I need you to know that everything I do, everything, is for the well-being of this team.”

“I know that, Hotch-“

“Then you know that I would do anything for you.” He cuts her off, but doesn’t take take his eyes off the road, even for a second.

The tension in the car feels high, but Hotch can’t tell if only he can feel it. The seconds that go by without Y/N’s response is agonizing.

“I do know that.” Her voice is softer, almost far away. “And I would do anything for you.”

The words make his shoulder’s slump in relief, he dares to glance her way. She’s looking at him in a way he’s never seen before, a little sad maybe, but smiling. He’s tempted to pull the car over to the side of the road for a few minutes.

“You just passed my place.” Y/N says then.

“I know.”

[lunarsun12]

Seonghwa Breaking Point

Masterlist

Wooyoung and San were arguing with Seonghwa, in seonghwa and Hongjong room. Something about selling Jongho to Wooyoung friend. This lead to San braking the lock, as he is trying to stop seonghwa leaving the room except he has forgotten that the lock is a bit broken. Leading to the three of them being trapped.

Will Seonghwa will be able to survive before he kills Woosan….

Back At Ateez Family Chat

Today 13:00

Seonghwa🌸: WHEN IS THE STUPID LOCKSMITH COMING!

Seonghwa🌸: I’m about to loose it!!

Hongjong🏴‍☠️: Very funny kids…let your Eomma out! I never seen him so distressed. He has been sending texts non stop asking me to come home!

Yunho🐶: I DIDN’T LOCK EOMMA IN THE CLEANING CUPBOARD AGAIN!!

Yeosang🍗: Appa? Can’t you come home quickly? I genuinely Eomma is about kill someone or two…

Hongjong🏴‍☠️: Ermm I have 5 mins before my meeting start! You know how much I wanted to collab with GD!

Mingi🦄: Has anyone seen Wooyoung? He promised me to play at the pc bar with him!

Jongho🍎: SAN! You liar! You supposed to collect me from school…now I can’t make up an excuse not to go to YangYang home! His werid uncle is creepy!!

Seonghwa🌸: Well…let me tell you where those two are! THEY ARE IN MY ROOM WITH ME!

Seonghwa🌸: THEY KEEP ON ASKING INAPPROPRIATE QUESTIONS ABOUT ME!!

Yeosang🍗: Oooo that is rough Eomma…being stuck with those two…

Wooyoung🐈‍⬛: Eomma? Do you find Appa super sexy?

Seonghwa🌸: HONGJONG! PLEASE PLEASE COME HOME! I’m scared about what will be the next question will be!!

San🐱: I told you wooyoung! Eomma was ignoring us!!

Yunho🐶: Geez…I feel bad for Eomma…being locked together with Woosan…it’s more worse then being locked in the broom closet

Mingi🦄: Eomma I can keep you company! Until the locksmith come!

Seonghwa🌸: NO I WANT OUT NOW!! San just asked about me and Hongjong private stuff!!

Yeosang🍗: Eomma…the locksmith said they are stuck in traffic…it might take a while

Few hours later…

The locksmith came and fix the lock eventually. Seonghwa without hesitation ran out of the room and scolded the locksmith for making him suffer. Leading to Yunho and Yeosang drag Hongjong out of his office…to do damage control.

Hongjong🏴‍☠️: C’mon on hwa! Don’t be so sensitive! It’s sweet they interested in you!

Seonghwa🌸: I SAW THE LITTLE EVIL SMILES! It not to make me feel better!

Seonghwa🌸: I’m taking away their allowance for a month!!

San🐱: HEY NO FAIR! YOU CANNOT DO THAT!

Wooyoung🐈‍⬛: SAN ASK WAY WORSE THEN ME!!

Seonghwa🌸: Watch me!! Be grateful you two are not getting kicked out!!

Hongjong🏴‍☠️: Hey hwa…don’t be rash…I’m sure it won’t happen again…

Yunho🐶: Eomma please please don’t do that…last time it happened…they well wooyoung took me and Yeosang allowance money

Mingi🦄: Just ask Appa to give a talk in his scolding room!!

Seonghwa🌸: Wait great idea! Hongjong please scold them…it somehow always works!

Hongjong🏴‍☠️: After the experience Hwa has experienced…I’m not even gonna to play with that idea…they will use their heights against me…

Captain Hongjong Went Offline

[unorthodoxsavvy]

The Philver Scream

The American Nightmare

Chapter 7

Word Count: 75k

Rated: R

Genre: Horror

“Jake said he’s on his way.”

Dan peaked his head into the car. He’d unlocked the driver’s side door with his key and stuck his head in to talk to Phil, who was still staring at the back seat.

“Dan, we missed something.”

Dan’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“Whaddya mean?” he asked.

“The man. His face. It was a mask.”

Dan pursed his lips and thought back to the dream Phil had shared with him.

“No,” he finally said, shaking his head. “That was his face.”

“No,” Phil argued, shaking his own head. “It was a mask. They said it was a mask. We can’t believe everything in the dreams.”

Dan glanced in the back seat. 

“They’re here?” he asked.

Phil shook his head again.

“No. They’re gone now. But they said it was a mask. A mask with the number nine on it.”

Dan thought for a moment and then climbed in the driver’s seat. His back was starting to become sore from leaning down into the car.

“You said the first killer had a mask on.”

“Yeah. Some sort of weird mask with holes in it,” Phil described.

“Well did it have a nine on it?”

“I don’t know. I don’t remember. I don’t think so.”

“You talked to Dominic there on the beach. Did he say anything about a nine on the mask?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t have a reason to ask.”

Dan glanced out the diver’s side window.

“The bodies from the camp. They didn’t have the marks on them like these did.”

“Neither did these ones until I touched them,” Phil countered.

Dan took a slow, deep breath.

“That doesn’t mean you did this,” he said again.

“No,” Phil agreed. “I didn’t do this. But I’m connected somehow. I don’t know why.”

Dan titled his head from side to side. “No. We don’t know why. But we’ll get through this.”

Phil didn’t say anything.

“You want to go back to Texas,” Dan said.

“Yes, I do.”

“Those bodies are buried already. Those kids have already had their funerals.”

“We might not have to do that,” Phil argued.

Dan puffed his cheeks out.

“You’re right. Let’s cross that bridge when we get there. In the meantime, can we agree to wait here until Jake arrives?”

“Yeah,” Phil mumbled.

*-*-*-*-*

Dan drove Phil back to the motel room where he sat on the bed he’d slept in the night before. 

“Are you hungry?” Dan asked.

He was, but Phil shook his head anyway. The thought of eating wasn’t one that appealed to him at the moment. He could wait until Jake got there in a few hours. For now, he scrolled through his social media feed to try and take his mind off of things.

Dan looked around the motel room. There wasn’t a point in trying to get anything done while they waited for Jake, not that there was really much else for them to do. He supposed they could go look at the crime scenes to get a better idea of things, but once again that seemed like something they should wait for Jake to do. And besides, Phil didn’t really seem like he wanted anything more to do with the case right now. Dan wanted to reach out, to try and comfort him somehow, but he just didn’t know what to do. 

“Did ya want to watch something on the TV?” Dan asked, but even as he was saying it it sounded like the most lame attempt at trying to make things better.

“Um, sure,” Phil replied. Dan could tell Phil was also trying to make an attempt.

Dan grabbed the remote and walked over to Phil’s bed. Phil scooted over and Dan sat down next to him and thumbed the power button.

Dan was able to find the channel guide and they glanced through it.

“The Exorcist is on,” Dan noted, gesturing towards the tv with the remote.

“Odd time for The Exorcist to be on,” Phil commented, but nodded, and Dan started scrolling back through the channels.

“Did you hear about the new ouija board?” Dan asked.

“No?” Phil replied, confused.

“Apparently it’s supposed to talk to Jesus.”

Phil let out a chuckle. There was a pause of silence between them.

“I’m not sure I get the punchline,” Phil finally admitted as he watched Regan throw things around her bedroom with her mind- not all that unlike him.

“Hmm? Oh, no, there’s no punch line, I was being serious.”

“Wait, really?” Phil asked, chuckling a little harder.

“Yeah, seriously.” Dan pulled out his phone and did a quick search on his browser app, tilting the phone towards Phil.

Phil reached over with his far hand and grabbed Dan’s phone from him and scrolled through the search result. He clicked over to the images tab and handed the phone back.

“Wild. Isn’t that, like, kind of sacrilegious?” 

“You would think.”

“I’m not sure I know anyone who uses a ouija board that’s going to be trying to get a direct link to Jesus.”

“No? You don’t think you’ll be picking one up for your next seance?” Dan joked.

“No, I doubt they’ll sell these ones at Walmart,” Phil countered.

Dan punched him playfully. “Ugh, shut UP about that!”

“Did you know that the ouija board named itself?” Phil asked.

“No, lol,” Dan said, the word rolling off his tongue.

“Yeah, apparently the guys who patented it, who didn’t believe in ghosts themselves, brought it to a local medium, and her first question was what the board should be named, and it spelled out ouija.”

“And people have been mispronouncing it ever since,” Dan reminisced.

“Oh my god, I love that video,” Phil smiled.

“Oh, yeah, that and the ‘pregnant’ one?”

“Love it,” Phil repeated. “Anyway, then they brought it to a company to get the patent, and I guess the guy said something like ‘well, I can’t consider this a tool or whatever because I also don’t believe in ghosts, so unless the board can spell out my name then I won’t be patenting it’, and apparently the same medium was able to get the board to spell out his name so that’s how it got patented.”

“Supposedly none of them knew his name?” Dan clarified.

“Yeah, I guess.”

“It was probably on his shirt or on the wall behind him on some framed certificate or something and the medium was like ‘oh perfect’ or some stupid shit.”

“Literally,” Phil agreed.

“Honestly any person worth their salt trying to get their invention patented would probably research who they’re meeting with first, right? Like is that not a normal and polite business transaction?”

“Yeah, probably, I don’t know, I’ve never patented anything. Never invented anything.”

“You mean you didn’t invent the Jesus Ouija Board?” Dan asked, feigning shock.

“Can you believe?” Phil played along. “No, I didn’t. Can’t imagine why I didn’t think of it.”

“Honestly. What a moron.”

“Yup, sure am.”

“When does her head spin around?” Dan asked, turning the conversation back to the movie.

“Not for another few scenes. Have you ever seen the extended version?”

“No, I haven’t.”

“That’s where they have the backwards stair scene.”

“Holy shit, how did I never realize that wasn’t in this movie?”

“I don’t know, how many times have you seen it?”

“Maybe two or three times. Why? How many times have you seen it?”

“Probably more times than was healthy for a child my age.”

“Did Martyn watch it with you?”

“Oh yeah, he was always watching horror movies and shit with me when I was a kid.”

“That’s great.”

“Yeah, I miss it.”

“Still haven’t heard from him?”

“No,” Phil shook his head. “That’s alright. I still don’t know how the whole thing works, you know? Is there really an ‘other side’ they can cross to where I can’t reach them?”

“Have you asked?”

“Yeah, they don’t really seem to understand it themselves.”

“Do you think you’ll have a better understanding of what happens after you die than most people?”

“Oh, yeah, totally. How could I not?”

“How many times do you have trouble connecting to ghosts when people call for them?”

“Not often, but more than I’d like, ideally. I guess ‘ideally’ it’d be none at all. I issue a full refund if no contact is met.”

“And do like, your customers, seem happy, most of the time?”

“With, like, my seances?”

“Yeah.”

“I’d say so. Otherwise I’d doubt I’d keep it up.”

“You shouldn’t let negative people get you down.”

“If I let negative people get me down I wouldn’t be here,” Phil jested.

“Ha ha, very funny,” Dan replied, rolling his eyes. “You’re the one that’s been a Debby Downer lately.”

“A ‘Debby Downer’?” Phil smirked, trying to steer away from how he’d been feeling.

“Yeah.”

“Well, I’m sorry. I don’t mean to be.”

“You gonna speak to someone eventually?”

Phil glanced at Dan. It was the same question he’d asked a month ago in the bathroom at Quantico.

“Yeah,” Phil finally agreed. “I guess I don’t have to bring up the ghost stuff.”

“That’s good,” Dan commented.

“What about you?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

Phil huffed.

“Fine. Maybe.”

“We need couple’s counseling,” Phil joked, feeling relaxed enough to make the comment.

“Probably. Pretty sure the FBI offers services for that.”

“Really? You wanna see a fed shrink?”

“I am a fed- and so are you!”

Phil scrunched his face up and rolled his eyes. “No I’m not.”

“Whatever,” Dan laughed.

He continued to stare at the screen. 

“Finally! She’s spinning her head!”

“Uh-huh,” Phil pretended to feign amusement.

“Why can’t you do that?” Dan joked.

“Gee, I never thought to try,” Phil replied back dryly.

“You should.”

“I’ll get on it,” Phil nodded seriously.

They turned their attention back to the movie again.

“Wanna play with the ouija board?” Phil joked.

“You don’t have one,” Dan pointed out.

“No, but I could make one again.”

“Right. No, I’ll pass.”

Phil smirked.

“It is weird to you that people use the word ‘play’ with a ouija board instead of like, ‘use’ a ouija board?”

Phil shrugged. “I guess not really. At the end of the day it is a board game. It’s just got some supernatural elements. It’s a tool in the same way monopoly is a tool for when they have little operations in movies and they pick what monopoly piece represents them and they move it around the little map to plan out their elaborate plan,” Phil compared.

Dan frowned.

“Hmm, no, I don’t think it’s like that at all, but okay.”

*-*-*-*-*

The movie wrapped up while Jake was still on his way up from Quantico to New Jersey. By now Phil’s hunger had increased past the point of wanting to wait around for Jake to land and drive all the way out to picturesque Blairstown to meet them, so Dan agreed they should head over sooner and find a place to eat while they waited.

They piled into Dan’s car and made the drive back out to Blairstown along scenic New Jersey byways. 

Driving slowly down the same main street they’d arrived in on and parked to survey the town when they first arrived they spotted a local diner a few buildings down from the police station. It had red and white checkered awnings and a cow statue on the roof. The lettering on the front read “Rozzie’s”.

“Whaddya think?” Dan asked, squinting against the afternoon sun.

“Can’t go wrong with a cow on the roof,” Phil made a case.

“Can’t go wrong with a burger and fries,” Dan countered, pulling into the parking lot.

The lunch rush had passed and only a few tables inside held patrons. The decor was farmy, and it had a quaint local small-town New England feel, the same as the rest of the town, and the same as where each of them had grown up.

The menu was standard for a small town diner, serving burgers and fries, salads, sandwiches, chicken tenders, pizza, and more.

Pil ordered a lemonade and Dan elected to try the coffee, even though it was well past noon.

Phil sucked down his lemonade happily as the two chatted waiting for their orders to come out, while Dan slowly sipped from his mug of hot coffee.

“Gotta stay sharp,” he said. “It’s gonna be a long day once Jake gets here.”

The food was good and they left a tip. Jake’s plane landed right as they were finishing up, so the two of them decided to head out and walk around the town some more.

“It’d be nice if I wasn’t privy to the fact that there were four brutal homicides committed here just days ago,” Dan mentioned, sipping a cup of coffee he’d taken to-go from the diner.

“It’s almost like being on vacation, except there’s really no reason for me to vacation in a residential New England town considering I don’t know anyone here and I live in one myself,” Phil agreed.

“How are things back at the bakery?” Dan asked, making conversation. They hadn’t spoken in the month between Phil’s dreams since they hadn’t been on the best of terms. Logically, Phil knew it was his fault, but somehow he felt like blaming it on Dan for making Phil feel the way he felt about him.

“It’s been alright. Business has been slow, but I guess that’s kind of on me. It hasn’t been a bad thing. I haven’t really been pushing my marketing because I haven’t really been feeling the best. Just. Not sleeping. Feeling confused about things. Feeling hurt. And scared.”

“I’m sorry,” Dan blew on his coffee. “I should have been there for you.”

“I scared you off,” Phil said. “I was scared, and I had these feelings, and I still have them, and I didn’t know how to handle it on top of the murder of these poor kids.”

“There’s nothing between me and Jake, you know. I mean, he has a wife and a kid. A little girl. Sarah. She seems like a great little kid, as far as kids go, you know? I met them once when they came to visit him. He lives out west, so he doesn’t get to see them much. That’s gotta be pretty hard.”

“It’s been hard having you gone.”

Dan glanced over at Phil quickly but turned away as Phil turned to meet his gaze.

“I’m sorry. I was busy. But I still should have made more time to call or text you.”

Phil shrugged. “I’m not your boyfriend.”

“No, but you’re my friend, probably my only one besides Jake. And from what I’ve gathered, I’m probably your only friend too.”

Phil shrugged again but didn’t say anything.

“We’re going to get through this. And we’ll see where we stand when it’s over. But for now we’ve got to keep our heads down and focus. I know that it’s hard for you to focus with all these unanswered questions between us, but I can’t think about that right now. I need to focus on my job right now. And that includes keeping you safe from whatever this is. You understand?”

Phil nodded. He so desperately wanted to ask “But do you like me? Do you have feelings for me? Do you like me in the same way that I like you?” but he didn’t. He’d been selfish enough as it was. He didn’t need to add to it. He know he thought it loud enough for Dan to hear though, without even trying, but still, Dan didn’t respond. They just kept walking.

“Seems like a nice place to live,” Dan commented, changing the subject back to the town.

“Yeah, I guess. A lot nicer than where I live.”

“Really? I like your town,” Dan commented.

“Well, yeah, I guess it’s just not as…”

“Upper middle class?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, this is Main Street.”

“That’s true.”

“I’m sure there’s some more moderate neighborhoods once you get out of the main area of town here and out into the woods and stuff.”

“Yeah, you’re right.”

Dan felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he pulled it out.

“Jake should be on his way here in about twenty minutes. He’s taken a cab from the airport.”

“No private jet this time?” Phil joked.

“Unfortunately not.”

They turned around and started to walk back the way they came in anticipation of meeting Jake at Rozzie’s, where Dan’s car was still parked in the tiny parking lot.

“At least we got to walk off some of that lunch,” Dan feigned holding a large stomach.

“Was some good shit,” Phil nodded, looking straight ahead at the sidewalk in front of them as they walked.

“Sure was. What did I say, can’t go wrong with a burger and fries.”

“Can’t go wrong with a cow on the roof.”

*-*-*-*-*

Dan and Phil were leaning on the side of Dan’s car shoulder-to-shoulder with their arms crossed when Jake’s taxi pulled into the parking lot at Rozzie’s. They watched him in silence as he thanked the driver and handed him a tip, grabbing his overnight bag and making his way over to Dan’s car.

Dan pushed off from the car and walked around to the trunk, popping it open so Jake could throw his duffle bag in.

“Have you already eaten?” he asked, glancing between them.

“Yeah, we did. Did you?”

“I did.”

“Then let’s get this party started.”

*-*-*-*-*

“I want to hear directly from you what happened.”

They were sitting in Rozzie’s again anyway, even though none of them were hungry. Dan ordered another cup of coffee, making it his third in a row. Unbeknownst to him or Phil, this was also Jake’s third cup of coffee in a row. Phil ordered another lemonade.

“What? Sugar is just as good as caffeine,” he’d argued when they’d given him raised-eyebrowed looks.

Now Dan and Phil were sitting on one side of a booth while Jake sat on the other side facing them. 

“How in the hell did you get the police chief to change his ruling?” Jake asked.

Phil turned to Dan.

“Can I order desert?” he asked, seemingly ignoring Jake.

Dan looked at him in confusion.

“Phil you’re thirty-one you can do whatever the fuck you want. Just answer the question.”

Phil shrugged and turned back to Jake.

“We were able to talk the sheriff into taking another look at the bodies. We were able to level with him and he agreed to change it back to murder after we called him out on his bullshit and threatened to send the full force of the FBI down on this little town if he didn’t cooperate, so he let us head down to the morgue in the basement where we got to look at the bodies. They were covered in slashes. I knew that we needed some sort of evidence so I took a look at the bodies hoping that my psychic instincts or whatever could ‘reveal’ some sort of link, and somehow I ‘revealed’ the roman numeral nine that had been carved on the back of their necks that wasn’t there before. When I talked to Maria and Tony, they said the killer had been wearing a mask, which is something neither Dan nor I caught in the dream. The dreams I’m having, they’re not perfect or exact, but they’re enough to go on. They said on the mask was the number nine in roman numerals. I want to go down to Texas and see if any of the ghosts there can tell us if there was a number nine that we might have missed in the dream I had before on the killer down there’s mask.”

“And you don’t want to exhume any of the bodies to see if they also have this ‘nine’ on them?” Jake confirmed.

“No,” Phil stated deliberately. “I do not want to exhume any of those kids’ bodies.”

“And you didn’t put the mark there on purpose?”

“No. I revealed it. It was already there. Hidden.”

“How was it hidden?”

Phil shook his head. “I’m sorry. I don’t know.”

Jake dropped his head in his hands and massaged his forehead.

The waitress came over and Phil ordered a slice of chocolate mouse cake from the ice chest displayed by the register.

“I know you think we’re too close to this-”

“You are too close to this,” Jake interjected, cutting Dan off. “But I understand that Phil is our best lead and we have a responsibility to solve this case. I just don’t know how much I can justify going off such an unreliable lead. It’s not that I doubt Phil’s integrity, or think that Phil is lying in any way, but, well, Phil, you said it yourself: you were worried that you were doing this. That you put those marks there. How is this going to hold up in court? When the defense attorney asks me how I got the link between the case in Texas and the case here, what am I supposed to say? This guy, when we catch him- and we will catch him, I promise- he could walk if we’re not VERY careful about how we state we’re obtaining these leads and this information, and very thorough about our process. Look, I don’t mind stretching the truth here and there or wording things a little more scientifically or maybe changing the order of events to make things look more legit in court, and to protect you, Phil. But I really don’t know how to say that you somehow managed to convince a sheriff that was willing to cover up a quadruple homicide to come clean about it and then while not under order from the FBI you managed to “find” these marks, these calling cards that the serial killer left, if you will, that the coroner somehow missed, and then get both of those parties to agree to go on the witness stand and not completely discredit everything that we’ve put forward with their version of events.”

The waitress came back with Phil’s plate and Dan reached for it, passing it over to Phil, who was sitting on the inside of the booth.

Phil unwrapped the silverware from the napkin it’d been wrapped in on his spot and stabbed at the edge of the cake with his fork, scooping it up and placing the bite into his mouth.

“This is delicious, by the way, if anyone wants some.”

Neither Jake nor Dan said anything.

Phil swallowed his bite.

“I understand, Jake. I don’t think you don’t want to solve these murders. I promise. I don’t think you’re harassing me. I promise. I understand you need to think about this outside of solving the case. I understand you have to think about the trial and the evidence and I don’t. I guess that’s a blessing for me, in a way. I don’t work that way. I’m a do-first-and-explain-it-later kind of guy. I don’t have procedures and protocols to follow. How could I? There’s no rulebook that was ever meant for me. That would take someone like me into account. And I want it that way. I don’t want people to know what I can do. People thinking I’m a crackpot nutjob keeps me safe. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t ask to be involved with these murders. But I am. I understand we are on the same side here. I do not consider us opposing forces. I’ll default to you on how you want to go about this. I’m just trying to provide you with the best information I can. Information you can’t get anywhere else. Information that you shouldn’t have.”

Jake nodded. “I’m glad you understand where I’m coming from. I have to act like you’re an unreliable source, or, like you said, like I don’t have the information you’re giving me at all. I just need to think, okay?”

“Okay. I’m going to eat this cake. Are you sure you don’t want some?”

“We’re sure,” Dan responded.

Jake turned to watch the patrons of the restaurant as they sat and talked and moved around.

Seemingly changing the subject, he asked “What can you do, Phil?”

“Hmm?” Phil replied, caught off guard with a bite full of his mousse cake in his mouth.

“You said you don’t want people to know what you can do, and when we were on the beach in Texas when you were talking to Domonic, Dan said he’d seen you do things he didn’t think was possible. So what can you do?”

“Well,” Phil thought. “I can see ghosts. I’ve always been able to see and talk to ghosts. And I can summon them, even without any tools, though the tools make it easier. I can… feel things. People’s emotions. I can tell when they’re lying, and I can tell what they’re thinking in a way. And I can send people thoughts. Well, Dan. I can talk to Dan with my mind. I haven’t really tried it with anyone else, I guess. I can move things with my mind. I can convince people to do things. If I’m being honest we didn’t level with the sheriff and come to an agreement. I convinced him to change it to a homicide.”

“Of course,” Jake sighed.

“It didn’t use to be all of that. A lot of it picked up when Dan and I were hunting down Martyn’s killers. It’s attached to my emotions, a lot of it. The stress of being in danger every day really heightened things. And when we were in imminent danger is when I was able to start moving things. To deflect the bullet and save us.”

Jake nodded along but didn’t say anything.

“It’s like you see in the movies pretty much.”

“Can you show me?” Jake asked.

Phil shrugged. “I guess.”

Phil placed his fork down on the table and stared at it, concentrating. With his mind, he started building it’s momentum, letting it spin as if it’s been twirled by someone’s fingers on the table top. When it’d reached a peak speed he let it simmer and slow down on its own.

“It gets more uncontrollable with emotions.”

“Fascinating. Just like Eleven in Stranger Things.”

“So I’ve been told,” Phil grumbled.

“Alright, are we ready to head over to the police station?” Dan asked.

“Let’s,” Jake agreed, shuffling out of the booth.

“Are you going to pay for that?” Dan asked, nodding at Phil’s empty plate.

“I didn’t bring my wallet,” Phil smiled.

“Jesus Christ.”

*-*-*-*-*

They made their way over to the police office in Dan’s car after Jake paid for Phil’s slice of cake. Together the three of them made their way down into the morgue basement after being okayed by the officer on duty.

“Back again?” Dr. Cadwell asked dryly. “Well, you suits are nothing if not efficient. It’d be nice if things moved that quickly around here.”

“Well, what can we say? How often does a quadruple homicide happen in such a lovely town like this?” Jake asked, flashing a smile.

Dr. Cadwell shrugged. “Probably more often than we’d like to think.”

He turned back to his paper work.

“Cheerful man,” Jake mentioned quietly.

“I guess we just help ourselves?” Dan asked, shooting a glance over at Dr. Cadwell, who seemed altogether uninterested in them and their business.

“Perhaps that’s not such a bad thing,” Jake suggested, grabbing hold of one of the freezer doors after reading the tag on it. He turned the handle and pulled the door open, reaching for the steel slab inside and pulling it out on its wheels.

It was the body of Maria, the only female victim in the murders.

“Such a pretty girl,” Jake mumbled absentmindedly, gazing down at her cold, dead body. Phil could feel Jake thinking about his own girl at home- Sarah, he’d thought Dan had said was her name. He reached out with his mind and sent some comforting feelings Jake’s way. From what Phil had gathered over time was that the feelings he pushed on other people were never strong enough for them to really notice on their own. It was only when he became closer with people like Martyn and Dan that they started to recognize when Phil was influencing their feelings. He liked being able to silently help people this way. He was sure some people would find it manipulative, but, then again, so did a lot of people about the psychic and seance business in general, especially these days.

Jake smiled quietly to himself and grabbed some gloves on a near by rolling tray table. He pulled them on and rolled the girl over for himself, gently brushing her hair aside from the back of her neck, probably as her parents had done many times while she grew up, and perhaps the body in the freezer next to her when it was still living.

He saw for himself the mark Phil had revealed.

Jake rolled her body back over and pushed her back into the freezer, closing the door behind her and locking her back into the darkness. From there, he looked at the other three bodies, one by one. When he was done he moved into the entrance way of Dr. Cadwell’s office, hovering until the man looked up at him.

“Might I view the files on these victims?”

Dr. Cadwell waved a hand towards his file drawer.

“Be my guest.”

“Mm.”

Jake took it upon himself to open the top filed drawer and leave through the files inside, pulling out the four files on the teenagers.

“You don’t have to work on updating these?” Jake asked.

Dr. Cadwell shrugged half a shoulder. “Not right now. I’ll wait ‘til you guys are done for the day.”

Jake shrugged in return and returned to where Dan and Phil lingered.

“Let’s take these upstairs and have a look at them,” Jake suggested. He followed the two younger men up the stairs where they met with the same officer on duty who’d cleared them.

“Do you have a room we could borrow to take a look at your files?”

“Sure thing,” the officer, who seemed much more friendly than Dr. Cadwell and the police chief. 

He led them around a corner and guided them into the first room on the right.

“Come find me if you need anything,” he smiled, and closed the door behind him on the way out.

“Nice to see a friendly face in here,” Jake commented pointedly.

“They can’t all be winners,” Dan smiled back.

Jake spread the four files out on the table and pulled photos of the autopsy from each of them.

He grabbed each photo of the bodies facing prone and placed them closer to him. He picked each up and studied it briefly before setting it down again.

“No marks.”

“No marks,” Phil repeated.

Jake picked up the photo of the first victim, Chris, laying face-down on the autopsy table and again looked at it.

“And you’re sure-”

“I’m sure,” Phil interrupted.

Jake stared at the photo continuing to think.

“And you don’t want to exhume the bodies?”

Phil shook his head. “I want to solve this case for the victims, and part of that is respecting them as much as I can. We should talk to them first. See if their stories match up with Tony and Maria’s. And when the killer strikes again, then we’ll know what to look for.”

“We don’t know that the killer’s going to strike again,” Jake enforced. 

Phil shook his head in disagreement. 

“No, we don’t, but why wouldn’t he? What does he have to lose? ‘We’ll catch him eventually’? How many other killers out there have remained uncaught? Whose to say we’ll ever catch this guy?”

“We will,” Dan assured him.

“How do you know, though?” Phil sighed, overwhelmed.

“Because we have you,” Jake said, looking Phil in the eyes.

“And we’re smarter than him,” Dan promised, taking Phil’s hand in his own. “We can do this Phil. And besides, we have another big advantage: we know about him but he doesn’t know about us. He has no reason to think anyone suspects these cases being linked.”

Dan watched as Jake’s eyes flickered between Dan, Phil, and their hands clasped together, but Phil seemed to absorbed with what Dan was saying to notice. He nodded and squeezed Dan’s hand just a little. Dan smiled, and when he looked at Jake, Jake smiled back at him.

*-*-*-*-*

Phil sat in the back seat with his earbuds in looking out the window as Dan drove the three of them back to the motel Dan and Phil were staying at. Jake had offered to let Phil ride shot gun, but Phil said he didn’t mind being in the back seat, so Jake had climbed in the passenger seat instead.

“I’m happy for you,” he said quietly enough that Phil wouldn’t hear over his music.

“What do you mean?” Dan asked, feigning ignorance.

Jake gave him a knowing sideways glance.

“There’s nothing between us,” Dan stated.

“If that’s the case then you better say something soon before you break that boy’s heart.”

“I can’t break his heart right now,” Dan said. “I need him. We need him. For the case.”

“Is losing a friendship really worth this case?” Jake asked.

“People are dying. Kids. No one knows that better than Phil does. I’m playing the part I am to get what needs to get done done. I told him we’d talk about it when the case is over.”

“Well I hope you're putting your best effort in to solving this case, then, instead of pushing off a hard conversation under the guise of a serial killer looming in the back of his mind.”

“It’s because of the case that I’m pushing this off. I’m doing it so that I can focus. I can’t tell Phil what he doesn’t want to hear. He’ll lose focus. He’s a ticking time bomb. Sure, his party tricks are fun, but it’s not so fun when he’s yanking the steering wheel with his mind while you’re trying to drive. How long before he really goes off and gets someone hurt?”

“He saved your life,” Jake reminded him.

“Back then. This is different. He’s losing focus.”

“He was searching for his brother’s killer back then. It’s different.”

“Well, he might as well be searching for his own killer now, the way he has these dreams. He was right, when it said it felt like we- he- really died. It felt real. It was real. He was there.”

“So what after this, then? Hmm? You go back to Quantico, you leave him behind, things fade away between you two?”

“That was the plan. And it was working, too, until this case popped up.”

“You’re lucky you have any friends, Daniel Howell.”

“I don’t, and I don’t need any.”

*-*-*-*-*

When they got back to the motel Dan and Phil waited in the lobby while Jake booked himself a room for the night.

“So what’s the plan?” Phil asked.

“What do you mean?” Dan replied, cocking his head ever so slightly to the side.

“I thought you guys were planning our next move on the way over here.”

“Oh,” Dan glanced down at his shoes. “No, um. No. Maybe we can reconvene in our room once Jake gets settled, yeah?”

“And then we can go back to Texas?” Phil asked, sounding like a little kid begging his parents to take him back on another vacation after just arriving home.

Dan sighed. “We’ll see.”

Jake started to head away from the front desk so Dan and Phil started down the hall to the rooms, merging with Jake as he kept a slower pace waiting for them to catch up.

“Once you get settled did you want to meet us in our room?” Dan asked, mostly to humor Phil. Phil was right though: they needed a better plan than sitting around and waiting for the killer to strike again- especially because Dan knew Phil was also right on that- in a few weeks the killer was due to be back with another batch of dead kids, and they were merely waiting for the bodies to turn up instead of trying to get ahead of him at this point in time.

“Of course. I’ll meet you guys in there.”

They came up on Dan and Phil’s room. Dan pulled the keycard from his pocket and tapped it lightly against the electronic keypad, causing it to beep quietly as the light blinked green and the lock clicked open.

“I’m glad these things are touch now. I’m lousy with keys. Takes me forever to get it in the keyhole and turn it just right.”

“Shocking,” Dan replied dryly, letting them in.

“I guess I’ll take a shower now before we get back on the road again,” Phil smiled, walking over to his bed and rooting through his suitcase for some clean clothes.

“Remember your goddamn clothes this time, okay?” 

Phil looked up at him and met his eyes with a glare.

“And what exactly does it look like I’m doing now?” he asked dryly.

“Digging your way to Texas,” Dan shot back, pulling out the desk chair and plopping himself down in it.

Phil rolled his eyes and carried his clothes into the bathroom, shutting the door behind it.

Dan turned to face the desk and placed his head in his hands, thinking back on the conversation he’d had with Jake on the drive over to the motel.

What he’d said was true, to a degree. He had expected things to move on between him and Phil. He had been busy at Quantico, and while he hadn’t purposefully let things slip between them, he also hadn’t put as much effort into keeping in touch with Phil. As close at they’d become during and after the first case they’d worked, Dan just couldn’t really see them working together that much after the fact. It wasn’t anything personal against Phil. It’d been great for the FBI to retain Phil as an on-call psychic. But, how many cases were the FBI really using a psychic on in this day and age? Dan had assumed he’d be put on assignments with other FBI agents, start making more friends in the FBI department, and that his and Phil’s working relationship would turn into a more personal one like it had after they’d solved Martyn’s murder. And Dan was happy to have a friend like Phil during that period in his life where he’d been transitioning from being the rookie in his force to an FBI agent in a class of his own, making friends with his peers. And it’d been nice to have someone with him when his mom died, and someone to come with him during the funeral down in West Virginia. But Dan never kept friends for very long. A few years here and there, but everyone in his life had come and gone, either by their hands, his hands, or both. It was just a fact Dan had come to accept. It was easier to let people go when you never expected them to stay in the first place.

Besides, Dan’d been out of the dating scene for a long time. He’d had a few casual boyfriends here and there, a lot of flings and one night stands- if there was one thing he could say for himself, it was that he seemed to be a catch. Maybe it was his sarcastic nature, or his warm brown eyes, or dimply smile, or something, but Dan’d always been able to crank up the charm. It just wasn’t something he did anymore. He guessed somewhere down the line he’d become numb enough that the joy that came from entertaining people didn’t outweigh the effort it took and the empty feeling inside that came when it was all over. He guessed that was what growing up did to you.

No, he’d never planned on leaving Phil, per say. But he also didn’t expect him and Phil to be friends for life. They were friends now, in this moment, and Dan was happy with that. But he couldn’t rely on Phil- and he didn’t- not outside this case, anyway.

And honestly, after the way they’d left things in Texas, Dan had assumed that’d been it. And yeah, he was upset about the way things ended, if he was being honest. He’d had a few more drinks than normal during that month and had picked smoking back up again, though he’d stopped cold turkey when things got going again.

And that was just it: things had gotten going again. Suddenly Phil was back in his life again. Suddenly Phil had feelings for him- or, he guessed, Phil had had feelings for him this whole time, or at some point a lot longer again than Dan had realized. It’d been so long since Dan was with anyone romantically that he must’ve missed the signs. Or maybe, he told himself, he’d ignored them.

And now what? What happened when this was all over? What happened when the bad guy was caught, and they’d saved the day again? Well… it was back to square one, wasn’t it? Dan was going to be busy in the FBI. He didn’t anticipate working with Phil, and he didn’t anticipate having much of a social life outside of his work. This was his career. What he’d been working towards. He went from the rookie cop in a rinky-dink podunk New England town to a real bonafide FBI agent in under a year. I mean, talk about an underdog story. And where did Phil fit in to all of that? The truth was, he didn’t… not to Dan at least. Not back then. But things had changed. They always do, it seems.

Dan lifted his head from where he rested it in his arms and looked at the bathroom door, listening to the water running and remembering last time Phil’d been in there, how he’d come out, looking like that, making Dan feel like that…

Dand shook his head and placed it back down in his folded arms. He didn’t know. And he needed to push it out of his head and focus.

He’d been exaggerating a little when he told Jake he was planning on leaving Phil forever, telling them there was nothing between them. Dan knew it and Dan knew Jake knew it too. The truth was he was scared. Because what if there was room for Phil in Dan’s life? What then?

Suddenly a knock at the door roused Dan from his thoughts. He got up and answered the door.

“Oh,” Jake said, after taking one look at Dan’s face.

Jake sighed, and pulled his keycard out of his pocket.

“The room number’s on the keycard. I’ll leave a note.”

Dan wasn’t too sure what Jake was talking about but he glanced at the keycard as he headed out the door down the hall and found Jake’s room. He tapped the keycard, thinking about Phil’s comment from before. He turned the knob and pushed the door open. Everything came back to Phil.

Dan sat on the empty bed and Jake followed in behind him. Jake grabbed the chair from his own motel room’s desk and pulled it out, swinging his legs open and stradling the back of the chair, leaning on it like Dan always did.

“Talk to me.”

Dan shrugged.

“What are you, five? This is like pulling teeth,” Jake joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Dan didn’t say anything so instead Jake started.

“I know you didn’t mean what you said in the car to me. So what is it, then?”

“I don’t know,” Dan started. “I guess I just thought that I was going to join the FBI, and Phil and I were going to drift apart, and that would be that. I would have friends in the FBI, and he would go back to doing his own things, and that would be that.”

“Why did it have to end?” Jake asked, sounding for all the world like a therapist. Dan supposed he might as well be in this moment.

“I don’t know. My life is in Quantico now. I was thinking about moving to be closer, or seeing if they might reassign me somewhere else. There’s nothing left for me in Massachusetts.”

“Alright. And is there now?”

Dan shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. I guess I just never thought of Phil that way until… that dream felt so real. But it was a dream. And you heard what Phil said. We can’t trust them. What if we give this a shot and then I realize the feelings weren’t real? They were all just part of the dream…”

“There’s nothing wrong with waiting until all this is over with and see how you feel after.”

“That’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to not let it distract me from what’s going on now. And hopefully when all this is over I can put effort into deciding how I feel.”

“There’s such thing as a life outside the bureau too, you know,” Jake reminded him. “A lot of us do manage that work-life balance.”

“I know, it’s just. I’m starting somewhere new.”

“I understand. Just because you’re starting a new life doesn’t mean you have to leave everything in the old one behind. Besides, how long have you known him, really? Isn’t he still new?”

“I guess,” Dan agreed.

“You said yourself you don’t know what he’s capable of. I think he can really surprise you.”

Dan shrugged.

“Listen, Dan. It’s time for you to grow out of that puppy crush you have on me and look around you and see what you’ve really got. He really likes you. You’re lucky to have a friend like him.”

“I know,” Dan agreed, turning red at the acknowledgment of his feelings towards Jake. “But do I really deserve that?”

Jake cocked his head to the side in confusion. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Well, like I said. I’m focused on my work. Phil deserves someone who can give him the time and attention he deserves. Besides. I never keep people around for long. I’m sure there’s a reason for that.”

Jake waved Dan’s concerns away.

“You’re overthinking it. It’s hard not to. Why don’t you cross that bridge when you get there. Work on the case. See how you feel. Let yourself feel. I know you feel like you can’t focus if you let yourself think and feel on these things, but you can’t focus worrying about it so much either and not acknowledging that it’s eating you up inside. Learn to balance acknowledging your feelings without stifling them and not letting them distract you.”

Dan was reminded of how he’d compared himself to how Phil thought about things. It was true they did have some sort of connection, beyond whatever was in Phil’s dreams. They wouldn’t have made it this far without that.

“I think Phil makes you a better agent, anyway. Keep that in mind.”

Dan hadn't thought of it that way, but Jake was his mentor, and he took his advice to heart.

“Now, we’ve left poor Phil stranded alone in that room without an explanation. Let’s get back to him, shall we?”

“At least he remembered his clothes this time.”

Jake gave Dan a look. “Is there something you want to share? Actually, no, don’t. I’d really rather not.”

*-*-*-*-*

Phil answered the door with his earbuds in, pulling them out with his other hand as he held the door open for two of them.

“All good?” was all he asked when Jake and Dan had both made it out of the hall and into the motel room.

“All good,” Jake agreed, and he went to sit in the desk chair while Dan sat on his bed and Phil sat on his.

“I wish they’d make these chairs a bit more comfortable,” Jake remarked, shifting himself in the wooden chair.

“Guess we can’t have it all,” Phil joked. Jake smiled at him.

“Anyway, we need to plan our next move, as Phil so kindly pointed out. Phil wants to go down to Texas to reinvestigate the previous murders down there.”

“He wants to talk to ghosts,” Dan clarified.

“He wants to talk to ghosts,” Jake clarified, “and reinvestigate the previous murders down there. Does anyone have any objection to that?”

None did.

“Question, Phil.”

“Mm?”

“Could you not just summon the ghosts here?” Jake asked.

“I could, but considering this is an official, or, well, somewhat official FBI case, I figured it would be best to do my- our- investigating at the source. As someone so kindly pointed out, doing this as by-the-book as possible is what’s best for the paperwork and the trial.”

“Ah, yes,” Jake remarked. “Thank you for that clarification.”

“Since you guys drove here you’ll have to drive back somewhere. I guess Phil’s house would be the closest place, no?”

“Yeah, I’m about two hours from here,” Phil agreed.

“Alright, so tomorrow morning we’ll head out to park at Phil’s place and from there we’ll work on getting a flight out to Texas. I’ll try and make the arrangements tonight so that we’ll have transportation out to the plane and a plane waiting for us. I suppose worse come to worse we could catch an Uber or a Lyft and take a passenger plane like the rest of the population. The horror.”

Phil chuckled.

“Well, if that’s all then I suppose we can plan out the rest of the details of what we’re doing on the drive there and the plane ride back down to Texas. Does that sounds fair?” Jake asked.

“Sounds good to me,” Dan agreed.

“Well, then I’ll leave you two lovely gentlemen to your evening and bid you adieu.”

Jake got up and headed for the door. He called a “goodnight” over his shoulder and exited Dan and Phil’s shared motel room.

Dan and Phil sat on their respective beds in silence for a moment.

“Do you think The Exorcist is on again?” Phil joked.

Dan chuckled softly. “Yeah, maybe.”

There was another pause of silence.

“I’m not trying to put you off, Phil,” Dan said again. 

Phil frowned slightly, not sure where this was coming from. Perhaps, he figured, this was weighing more on Dan than he’d previously thought. And maybe that had been what Dan and Jake were discussing in Dan’s room. And perhaps in the car ride too.

This, of course, was the truth.

“It’s fine, Dan. I didn’t think you were.”

Dan shrugged.

Phil couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty that’d he’d unintentionally caused all this added stress on Dan. He knew Dan had enough stress with his own life outside of Phil, and now the case they were working on.

“It’s okay, Phil. It’s not your fault.”

“Thanks.”

Another pause of silence.

“So, did you want to see if The Exorcist was on again?” Dan joked.

Phil smiled, glad that they were moving on, as much as he was dying to sort everything out between them.

“I doubt it’s still on, but I’m sure there’s another horror movie playing on some other channel that’s spreading lies and misinformation about ghosts and the afterlife.”

“Oh so The Exorcist is a misinformation campaign now?” Dan joked.

“Yes. I’ve changed my tune. I don’t like it when people say they ‘play’ with ouija boards, there’s no such thing as demons and demonic possession, and this is false ouija board propaganda made to scare kids into a false narrative.”

“Well, considering like all of the eighties, it worked pretty well I’d say.”

“And here we are today. If it’s not demonic possession it’s being gay. The kids really are just never truly safe.”

“Diagnosed gay through the ouija board.”

“Turned gay from demonic possession.”

“Tag yourself.”

Phil snorted.

“Come on, my bed’s closer to the TV,” Dan scooted back of the edge of his bed until his back was up against the wall propped up by some pillows, and patted the empty space next to him.

Phil climbed off his own bed and onto Dan’s bed next to him, trying to ignore the way his heart was beating and the tingling his skin felt in such close proximity to Dan, almost like there was a ghost nearby. Maybe there was. The ghost of something yet to be.

*-*-*-*-*

When Phil woke up he was asleep in Dan’s bed. He guessed he must’ve fallen asleep during one of the movies they’d spent the night watching. Even though it was only September they’d managed to find a horror movie marathon of newer movies than The Exorcist. At some point Phil’d obviously fallen asleep.

Dan was nowhere to be seen, and Phil wondered if he was over in Jake’s room waiting until Phil had woken up before getting ready to head out. They certainly weren’t in a big rush to get out on the road: though time felt pressing, they still didn’t have a solid plan. 

Phil rubbed the sleep from his eyes and rolled over out of the motel bed. He was still dressed in the clothes he’d changed into after his shower yesterday. He supposed if he had known they would just be driving to his apartment this morning he could have waited to take a shower in his own bathroom, but it was what it was. One less thing to worry about.

Phil thought about heading over to Jake’s room to see if they were in there waiting for him to wake up, but he realized he didn’t actually know what room Jake was staying in. Though Jake had left a note for Phil last night saying that’s where they had been, he hadn’t actually put what room number it was on the note.

It didn’t really matter, though, Phil figured. Dan would be back to collect him and his belongings eventually.

Phil finally rolled out of bed. He was glad they’d be stopping off at his apartment even if they weren’t staying. It was always nice to have your own bed, your own food, things like that. 

Plus he was sure the milk was over by now.

As he ruminated while packing up he heard the lock on the door whir and click and heard Jake and Dan enter, chatting away like old pals. He was happy Dan had a helpful role model and mentor in his life. 

“We’re all packed up and ready to go as soon as you are,” Jake directed his attention to Phil as soon as they came into view in the living area of the motel room.

“Sounds good!” Phil replied. “I’ll be ready in about five minutes!”

“Anything we can help with?” Jake asked, shifting into an almost dad role.

“I’m good, thanks.”

True to his word, Phil was packed up and ready to go in roughly five minutes.

“I got us a plane heading in at the airstrip closest to your apartment, we’ll have a driver meet us there and bring us on over to the airstrip,” Jake informed Phil as they walked down the hall towards the front desk in the reception lobby.

“Sounds good,” Phil said again. “How do you know which airstrip is nearest to my apartment?” he asked.

“Dan informed me where you live. He said your apartment was very eclectic.”

Phil turned towards Dan. “I didn’t realize you remember my address,” he commented.

“I do,” was all Dan said.

Dan and Jake took care of checking out at the front desk while Phil looked out one of the windows, people-watching other guests in the parking lot as they loaded up their suitcases in their car. He wondered what they were visiting for. As far as he was aware, there didn’t seem to be many attractions around, so perhaps they were visiting family.

Phil was pulled away from his thoughts as Jake and Dan moved to collect him.

“Ready to go?” Jake asked.

“I suppose,” Phil joked with a soft smile.

“I vote we leave him here,” Dan chimed in.

“Nooo,” Jake smiled back. “I promise we won’t leave you here,” he told Phil.

Together they walked out to the parking lot and climbed into Dan’s car. Jake insisted on Phil riding shotgun this time, so he did. They talked the whole way to Phil’s apartment. It was nice, Phil reflected. He knew a lot of times these days he was lost in his own inner world, with earbuds in, shutting out the rest of the world because it was just too loud. But there were times where he missed the casual conversation of friends, especially in a car where he wasn’t bombarded with the outside world.

When they reached Phil’s apartment, the driver hadn’t arrived yet, so Phil invited them inside to rest. They sat down each with drinks, used the bathroom, and Phil threw away any spoiled food he had. He reflected on how he’d used to care for plants, but even before all the traveling he’d been doing in the last two years he’d killed them dead. He loved the aesthetic, but just couldn’t keep them alive. He asked Jake if he should invest in fake plants, and Jake encouraged him to. The driver arrived and together they rode to the airstrip approximately 45 minutes away.

The flight to Texas was a smooth one, and before they knew it they were touched down and landing in the same area they had only a little over a month ago.

When they arrived to Camp Crystal Lake this time it was almost unnervingly peaceful. Gone was the crime scene tape, the news and crime scene vans and police cars that lined the side of the road, the flurry of activity of reporters and cops. Instead the sunlight filtered through the trees as leaves danced in the wind. Birds chirped and out of the corner of his eye Phil saw a squirrel digging through the fallen foliage. 

None of them said it, but they were all thinking the same thing. It was as if nothing had happened here. Nature had moved on. Nature had healed. The blood that had been spilled had soaked into the ground and was now nourishing the plants to grow. It was like the world had forgotten the lives of the seven teenagers who forever resided within the boundaries of the summer camp, forever kids.

“Do you think they’ll open it up again next year?” Phil asked.

“I don’t know. I hope not.”

They followed the path to the main hall and entered through the unlocked main doors.

“You’d think they’d have locked it,” Phil mumbled.

“Maybe they did, but some kids broke in and didn’t bother to lock it behind them.”

“Maybe.”

The entered the kitchen area.

“So, now what?”

Phil shrugged and looked around.

“This is as good as any place to try and reach out.”

They each pulled out a chair around the kitchen table following Phil’s lead.

Phil held both his hands out towards the two men on either side of him.

Both hesitated, but took Phil’s hand anyway.

“Are you ready?” Phil asked. He looked to Dan.

“Yes,” Dan said.

Phil looked to Jake.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” Jake replied.

Phil closed his eyes. It was only when he reached out he realized how much of his sixth sense he’d been blocking off. The pain of seven children cut down before their time was up nearly suffocated him. It was a dark and heavy contrast to the sunlight and the birds chirping and the trees swaying outside. Phil did his best to divy up the pain between the three of them. He could feel the two men on either side of him recoil as it assaulted their senses, clouded their minds, but he managed to pull them back in to focus. Phil reached out through the pain and the suffering to find the kids, the individuals still here. He felt the hair on the back of his neck raise as one by one he felt them surround them.

“Open your eyes,” Phil whispered.

He watched as Dan and Jake glanced around them in awe. The ghosts of seven kids were visible. Phil dropped the other’s hands.

“Phil?”

Phil heard a familiar voice and turned in his chair behind him.

“Dom,” he smiled.

“Everyone, this is Phil. He talks to ghosts, which we are, and he’s working on solving our murder.”

“Couldn’t have explained it better myself,” Phil smiled and nodded, internally cringing.

“Have you been making any progress?” Dom asked.

Phil’s smile dropped.

“There’s been another four murders. We think they’re connected to your deaths.”

The ghosts of the kids exchanged glances with one another. Phil was waiting for a bombardment of questions from them, and was quite surprised that they didn’t seem to be talking over one another to ask things. He was thankful, though, whatever the reason may be.

“Do any of you remember a mark on the mask of the person that killed you?” Phil asked.

“You think it was one person who killed all of us that night?” Tyler asked, surprised.

“I don’t know for sure yet,” Phil responded.

“I don’t know, it all just happened so fast. Honestly I don’t even know what happened,” Becky chimed in. Phil supposed that made sense, since she was the first to die.

“I had a good look at him,” a voice pipped up. Phil turned. 

It was Jessy, the girl that had died in the shed.

“I watched him come towards me while I tried to get the shotgun shells out of the box and into the gun. I saw some sort of symbol on the top of his mask, but I couldn’t tell what it was.”

Phil waited to see if anyone else chimed in, but they didn’t.

“Dom, I want to check something, if that’s alright with you?”

“Okay,” Dom nodded. “What are you looking for?”

Phil supposed he owed it to the kids here to tell them.

“I found a mark on the back of the other kid’s necks that the coroner missed. It was like. They weren’t there before. But when I touched their bodies, they appeared. One of the other ghosts, she said that she saw a mark on the mask of the man who killed her. I didn’t even know it was a mask in my dream. The dreams I’m having are a good insight, but I missed that vital piece of information from them, which is why we doubled back to talk to you guys. I’m hoping I can do the same with you.”

“But you touched her body, and you’re going to touch our spirits?” Becky asked.

“I’m going to try,” Phil reiterated. 

“Do what you gotta do, man,” Tyler agreed.

Phil turned back to look at Dom.

“Could you turn around and brush your hair aside for me?” Phil asked.

Dom did as he was asked.

Phil reached up and gently placed his fingers on the back of Dom’s neck. It wasn’t a hard surface, like touching a body, but something else Phil couldn’t explain. Suddenly Phil rocked back in his chair. His mind danced with images of Dom’s death. Phil yanked his fingers back.

“Did you see that too?” Dom asked.

“Yeah,” Phil nodded breathlessly. “I’m sorry, that didn’t happen last time.”

“It’s alright,” Dom assured him.

“Can I look at the back of your neck now?”

Dom leaned back a little, bringing the back of his neck closer towards Phil.

“Well?” he asked.

Phil took a glance around the room.

“It’s there now,” he finally said.

“What exactly is it?” Louise asked.

“It’s the roman numeral for the number nine. We don’t know what it means yet though.”

The ghosts looked between each other.

“Is there anything any of you guys might have seen or heard that night that you think might be of any use to us?” Dan asked, finally talking to the ghosts one-on-one.

“Just that it seemed like no matter where we were, he was always right there, either right in front of us or right behind us. I mean, not all the time, of course. But just. None of us escaped. We all split up and none of us escaped,” Tyler reminisced. 

“I’m sorry,” Dan replied.

“He didn’t say anything, either. I’m not sure if I would have expected him to say anything or not, but he didn’t,” Louise mentioned.

“We’ll take that into consideration, thank you,” Jake replied, making eye contact with her spirit.

“You’re gonna catch this son of a bitch, right?” Jessy asked.

“Yes,” Dan said. “We promise.”

*-*-*-*-*

“Now what?” Phil asked on their way back to the car.

Jake and Dan looked at each other, almost as if each was hoping the other would have some bright idea, some next step to take while they counted down the time until the next murder.

“The idea for Tony and Maria was to enter their dream to try and kill the guy after them. Maybe they had the right idea, and that’s how we beat this thing,” Dan suggested.

“Hold on, now,” Jake objected, pulling open the passenger car door and climbing in.

Phil felt weird continuing to have this conversation in front of a third party, that being the driver, but he supposed everything they said was supposedly confidential, and if the other two were fine with discussing it, so was he.

“You want to put yourself in danger of getting killed by this guy, while also waiting around to intercept his next killing spree, if that’s even what’s happened?” Jake asked skeptically.

“Yes,” Dan agreed. “Unless you have a better idea.”

Jake paused. “Well, no,” he finally capitulated.

“We have time to think of something else before we think this guy is going to strike again,” Phil chimed in from behind Jake.

“That’s true…” Jake trailed off, trying his best for the life of him to think of something, anything, better than Dan’s plan.

“Are you sure you really want to do this?” Jake asked.

“I’m sure,” Dan said.

“I’m sure,” Phil agreed.

Jake sighed. “Then may God bless you both.”

[sasuhinasno1fan]

When it all changed - Lukadrien June 2024 Day 1

So I know I technically posted something for Day 1 of @lukadrienmonth but I had written that on my phone, the day of my college reunion when we were all walking around and doing things. I had the hardest time coming up with an idea and I thought the 9-1-1 au would work, but I actually hated it. It didn't have much Lukadrien in it and didn't really feel like it fit the prompt. I thought this went a little better. It's a Legally Blonde au and it's most based off the musical than the movie, which kinda felt fitting. I found the MTV showing of it on the day of my graduation after I got home and this is a fic I'd been working on the day of my reunion. Anyway, Emmett is more present in the musical, helping Elle with tutoring and studying, basically supporting her as she works her way into being a lawyer while also letting her support him in being a good lawyer. I thought since he'd oringally been so focused on making a good impression and doing well enough to work hard for his mom, that Elle's apperance in his life would of been the, well, start of a whole new look on life. Not to mention it being Elle's start on seeing herself as more than just her blonde hair. And as such, we get this. Hopefully you guys like this more. Start of something new

“Welcome to the hallowed halls of Harvard Law. I’m Luka Couffaine, class of the odd 5. I know how hard all of you worked to get here, so why don’t we go around the circle and introduce ourselves?”

Three years ago, Luka was sitting where these guys where, terrified that giving up music was the worst mistake of his life but after hearing how his mom almost made it through law school when she became pregnant with him and watching her stand up for herself against the ticket loving officer in France, Luka wanted to prove himself. People looked at their family, willing to break the rules and supporting each other and thought they’d never amount to anything. Luka was this close to become partner at Barbot’s firm and fully graduating as a lawyer. Being a TA was hard work, not to mention his part time jobs just so his father wouldn’t pay his loans but if he stuck to his routine, it would be ok. Everything would fall into place.

“Hi! Sorry I’m late!” a new voice yelled, interrupting Alya’s long resume of accomplishments – and possible lawsuits, how did she get away with half that stuff?

Americans considered themselves to be contained compared to all the international admissions, but this guy? The wildest thing Luka did was dye his hair blue. The blonde in front of them was dressed, quite fashionably, in pink. Somehow he managed to find a pink Harvard shirt and his newspaper boy hat was a shade of pink plaid Luka hadn’t seen before, not even from Rose. The strangest thing was the long-haired black cat tucked under his arm. Like most cats, he was boneless but not squirming an inch, tail twitching and purring loud enough Luka could hear him from where he sat

Luka didn’t know it then but, that boy was about to change his routine, his constant, his life.

Agreste, Adrien, like most of the students in his orientation group, was from France but he’d been living in the US to attend UCLA. He’d been accepted into top school in France and even Cambridge in England, but Adrien claimed he wanted a different experience. With a fashion designer father and actress mother, no one really told him no. he boasted about being the only male to be allowed in Delta Nu and was president and actually founded a charity for kids to gain an opportunity to go school despite their circumstance called Black Cats. And oh, of course, stopped Mireille Caquet from buying a ‘truly heinous tube top.’ Luka also found out –

“Wait, wait, wait. You caused the campus to close down for half an hour? Security was scrambling all over looking for someone, that was you?”

Adrien shrugged, not looking at all bothered. “Well, I thought my personal essay would be better given in person, instead of my original idea of filming it.”

“And they still let you in?” Alya asked, Prince Ali and even XY looking surprised.

“Well, they didn’t love the singing and dancing,” they didn’t like what? “But! Once I reminded him that getting the whole UCLA marching band and most of the cheer team to come help because of the type of person I saw, they decided to give me a chance. I was homeschooled until I ran away from home enough to just attend school once. I’m stubborn.”

Adrien was, something. A bit ditzy and a little naïve and focused on one girl, Kagami Tsurugi. The teachers had high hopes for her, her own father a famous graduate and when her family weren’t destroying opponents in fencing, they were running Japan as politicians. She could have looked annoyed when she saw Adrien in class with her, more so when he’d been hearing that the girl had a very jealous girlfriend ready to use her claws, but he’d heard the most surprising thing from her.

“Who is he?” Luka asked, after giving Adrien his syllabus for the class.

“My ex. Last I saw him, we were visiting family in France before Spring Break started.”

“Huh.” He said surprised. “he’s either a stalker or determined.”

“He’s actually one of the sweetest people I’ve ever met. The fact my family didn’t like him was I thought the most surprising part, but clearly, I’ve underestimated him. I’m almost looking forward to seeing the look on my mother’s face.”

Most people didn’t look proud of their Exes. Not that it lasted long. Adrien had gotten kicked out of Barbot’s class for not doing the reading, putting him on Marinette’s radar to stay away from her girlfriend, which started a trend. Adrien falling behind, despite how much he seemed to be trying, snarky comments not just from Marinette but everyone who thought the boy who loved pink didn’t belong and the bright smile Adrien had slowly growing dimmer. Plagg, Adrien’s cat, was becoming more of a security blanket than the only animal brave enough to climb onto Barbot’s table and not move after being shoved to go away.

So, Luka didn’t think much of it when he found Adrien crying on a bench on campus after another late night in the library and asked what was wrong. He’ll admit, he was surprised Adrien actually admitted he came to Harvard to follow Kagami, but he was also happy to hear that he wasn’t blind to how his school life had been going.

“So, you came out here to follow a girl and Harvard Law was just part of the plan? What rich romantic planet are you from?” he asked jokingly, pushing the bunny ears further up on Adrien’s head. Luka didn’t want to look in too deep as to why Adrien was dressed as a male Playboy bunny, just thankful he decided to wear a shirt in the East Coast fall weather.

“France? Technically.”

“SO, instead of walking through Parisian streets by the Eiffel Tower, you decide to just follow a girl to an Ivy League school? That’s got to be the weirdest reason-”

“Why’d you come?”

Luka had only ever said it once, during his own orientation. Despite being born in France like Adrien, he’d lived in the States his whole life, so his group had been bigger and most of them had zoned out by the time he spoke.

“Ok.” Luka dropped his bag on the bench and tugged his jacket off, putting it on Adrien’s shoulders. “My mamman was supposed to graduate from law school, but she dropped out to have me. It wasn’t part of my grandparent’s deal with her and when she wouldn’t go back after my first year to finish, they cut her off. So, she moved us here, not wanting anything to do with my dad. She almost got back together with him, but he never changed and he just left her with my sister. Life was hard growing up, but she worked hard to give us what we need, even after my sister’s anxiety got worse and my empathic nature made it hard for me to be around people. Thing was, she’s always been a rebel, so she’s gotten into trouble with the police. Mamman was top of her class though, so she could run rings around them but enough cop cars stopping by and a concerned social worker is enough to start rumours. People thought we wouldn’t amount to anything and I was getting so tired of people saying that to the person who gave everything up to be happy. So, I was going to prove them I could follow in her footsteps and still be better than all of them. when I win my first lucrative trail and can move us back to France so she can get the houseboat she always wanted, that’s when it’ll be worth it. I got through 3 years of law school with two jobs to pay for loans, so you’ll forgive me for not weeping at your tale.”

“Excuse me, just because you have some chip on your shoulder,” Adrien started.

“Yeah, and that chip has been the thing to help me through this and makes me driven as hell. Adrien, you’ve been given a chance most people dream of so don’t waste it. in fact,” he said, standing up and pulling his bag back on his shoulder, “think about getting a chip of your own. I want my jacket back.”

He’d given advice before, helped bolster a bit of encouragement into a student, maybe no one like Adrien, but it felt like routine at this point. Nothing should have changed.

Adrien got into Harvard after dragging a marching band and cheerleaders into the admissions office. Luka was starting to learn it was nearly impossible to not get drawn into what Adrien’s world was. So much so, that he was as surprised as his mother was when he told her what he was doing.

“Did you get my package for thanksgiving?”

Luka unlocked the door to his apartment with said package under his arm, using his foot to shut the door behind him.

“Yeah. I thought you weren’t planning on sending anything.”

“Thank Rose. Got flirted by some rich kid. A prince apparently, but he got so enamoured by her, he didn’t care she was dating your sister. Something about how he’ll be back in his country with armoured cars, so might as well make all the pretty girls happy with whatever they want?”

Luka was sent back to the first day of classes when he heard those words. “What’s his name? the ‘prince’?”

“Alibaba? No, that’s a website.”

“Ali. Prince Ali. Was Rose near campus? He goes here.”

“Oh.” His mother sounded surprised, but Luka was used to Rose doing odd things. She was a ray of sunshine dating his shadow of a sister, taken in by their pirate mother. “She was looking for you actually. Wanted to ask for a book to be held at your job and you almost never answer your phone unless you call first so. Where were you Tuesday? She thought you’d be at the library or grading papers.”

“Ah. I was helping tutor someone.”

“You?”

That wasn’t an insult. Luka was a nice person who gave encouragement but he had little patience for teaching people. He tried with Juleka, who snapped at him as much as he did her and the few times he tried during school to try and get paid for it, it ended up with him being paid to do the work because he’d become short with whoever he was teaching.

“There’s this student, a freshman. He’s…different.”

“Different enough that your tutoring him?”

He hadn’t planned it. Adrien dragged him back into conversation that night by asking for advice on how he managed to do it all during his first years, not that he seemed to listen as his main focus was trying to prove he was serious. He’d been invited back to Adrien’s room – all brightly coloured can slightly covered in black cat hair – and when Adrien admitted to studying magazines more than his text books, he sort of, snapped. He thought dismantling the desk turned vanity would annoy Adrien enough that he wouldn’t even try but even with a bit of groaning, Adrien still unearthed his textbooks and let Luka help him. Instead of heading to the library after Barbot’s classes, he’d find himself with Adrien, either dragging him to the library with him, admitting defeat and going to a coffee shop on occasion or to Adrien’s room. Being at his room meant sharing the new desk space with Plagg, Adrien’s cat and quizzing Adrien as he became as addicted to Redbulls as Adrien was. Whenever Adrien had essays or readings, Luka would still find himself in the dorm room working on his own work for classes or whatever Barbot dropped in his lap for work.

He hadn’t realised he’d fallen into new habits since meeting Adrien. It probably explained why when he went to their next study session, after he convinced Adrien to skip going home for Thanksgiving, that he took the whole package his mother had sent him and pushed back their normal video call where he’d eat the food sent with them.

“What’s this?” Adrien asked pulling out the half-thawed pieces of turkey and artichoke dip.

“I know you wanted to see your friends, so I thought we should at least feast on the classics. Unless you were heading home to France and want foir gros.”

“Gross.” Adrien said, scrunching his nose. He looked a picture, dressed down in an oversized pink UCLA hoodie and pyjama pants covered in anime characters. “I hate foir gros. To be honest, I hadn’t decided where I was going. I just planned on figuring it out when I got to the airport. Oh, don’t look at me like that. We don’t celebrate thanksgiving in France but I have good memories of it. one of my older sorority sisters invited me my first year. It was a massive thing, somehow missing all the trashy drama that happens now, but they let me join in their traditions, we watched the Addams Family movies and just eat the food. France just has my family. Though, dad is paying for me to come here, even after he didn’t think I should. I know most of my family doesn’t think I’m all that serious, even after what I did just to go to school in person with people and I’d like to prove to them I am. But they still believed in me. All I had to do was ace the LSATs and all years were paid. I guess passing my first year would prove to them they made the right choice.”

“You will.” Luka promised. “Now, we can steal the oven in the kitchen to warm the food up while I quiz you on famous cases. Remember, Barbot is going to have you justify your case for your test. Think you can keep up?”

Adrien looked nervous, but like everything else – except for when he’d broken down on that bench that fall night – he looked determined.

“I can do it.”

_____________________

The crush? That started to clue in later. His mother would tease him whenever he mentioned he’d been with Adrien, which was nearly every day when he wasn’t busy. The holidays had thankfully slowed the office as many gave up high profile cases for vacations in warmer weathers but Luka filled the time off he’d been given with more shifts at his jobs, going over Adrien’s work and slowly getting Adrien to realise that his desire to get Kagami’s attention was doing more harm than good.

It had clicked for the blonde when Luka came to drop off his present. It had been a joke, the 2-in-1 shampoo and conditioner, mostly to see the disgusted and horrified look on his face when Luka mentioned he used it.

“you have coloured hair! You recently coloured it too.” Luka hadn’t expected Adrien to dig his hands into his hair, messing up his bangs and causing them to fall into his eyes. “how on earth do you use that stuff and your hair is this soft?” Luka should have picked up on something when he noticed that Adrien’s hands, whenever they passed over his ears, were really soft. “You are joking right? Luka, I swear if this is what you actually use.”

Someone clearing their throat reminded them they weren’t alone. Luka pulled Adrien’s hands away to look at the guy smirking at them from Adrien’s bed. “Don’t mind me, just enjoying the show.”

“Ah. Right. Luka, this is Max. he graduated from MIT early and works at the nail salon I go to.”

“Right. With the miniature horse.”

“He’s a trained therapy animal.” Max reassured. Honestly, Luka was doing criminal and divorce law, that was not his problem. “I was helping Adrien study. I think I’ll head out though. Nice to finally meet you Luka. Adrien mentions you all the time.”

“Nothing bad!” Adrien assured as Max disappeared doing something behind Luka’s head that he barely caught. “But seriously, you were joking right?”

“Adrien?” Kagami asked, knocking on the door. The blonde ripped his wrists from Luka’s hands and smiled at his ex. “have you gotten the email from Barbot yet? I wanted to print off the reading he wants us to do to read on the plane home and I still haven’t seen anything.”

“I, uh,” Adrien giggled. “I…um?”

Luka decided to help him out. “I send the readings out. Barbot hasn’t sent me the original documents he wants. It’ll be out soon.”

Kagami seemed surprised to see him there, glancing at Adrien before nodding to herself. She looked set on something before offering her thanks and leaving, Adrien still as incoherent as he’d been when she walked in. he knew this is why Adrien wasn’t doing so well, focused on getting Kagami’s attention. Why it filled him with such hot rage, he had no clue. Watching Adrien put the pieces together and actually win his practise case was amazing, more so when Barbot seriously accepted Adrien’s resume for his internship, even printed on pink paper and scented. When Adrien was one of the 4 names, Luka couldn’t be prouder.

He could have done without him deciding to be a trustworthy lawyer to their client Clara Nightengale by keeping her alibi secret and not budging for anyone. Not even him. It somehow then evolved into Adrien dragging him shopping.

“I don’t need a new suit.” He tried protesting as the entered the department store.

“Luka,” Adrien turned, looking odd in the black suit he was in. it was the first time he wasn’t in any sort of pink. “I know you’ll find a way of winning this without Clara’s alibi or a plea deal, not to mention doing the one thing you’re trying to avoid.”

“Which is?”

“giving people what they want. Luka, come on, you became a lawyer because everyone thought you’d amount to nothing and that your mother was the same. The same woman who raised you to be a rebel and do the right thing.”

“How is clothes going to help with that?”

Adrien actually giggled and bounced in place at the question. “clothes help paint the picture. I love your jean jackets and ripped jeans and I know you’re an amazing lawyer but looking the part would be a massive help in showing what you can do. I know you’re amazing. Now we just need to show everyone else. Come on! god, I love shopping for guys!”

Since dawning the black suit, Adrien seemed to be hiding but the whole experience made him look like the naive freshman who graduated UCLA to follow a girl he’d moved on from. Silly as it sounded, it was the side of Adrien he loved. He didn’t do this, get so involved with a student that they became his best friend, that he wanted to gain their approval, that they’d be so concerned over him not going back on his morals just to gain the approval of a boss to make his life easier.

“Love? It’s the new scent from Calvin Klein.” A department associated offered.

He didn’t fall in love.

But since that first day, where Adrien rushed over to their group decked in pink and carrying Plagg, full of tales and anecdote, unwilling to give up no matter how hard, Luka’s whole life had changed. There was a new routine, a new path. That first day was the start of something new he was never expecting.

And he wouldn’t change it for the world. The things that almost made him lose him after, that he would, but considering it got Adrien back into his signature pink plus bonus heels – a sight that would never get old – he couldn’t be too upset.

[boqvistsbabe]

Ok so fun gossip I heard

- 2 of the hockey boys had been secretly (nothing is actually a secret to me) dating for like 2 years but one is a science god who weightlifts competitively and plays 2/3 other sports very well and the other dropped out to smoke weed so they don't talk anymore and that is almost definitely the stoners fault and the nice really smart one is now stuck with a bunch of assholes because that was his only friend and he doesn't know that the queer femmes would adopt him to carry our bags

- there's a really popular girl who reads like Harry potter and colleen hoover (this is irrelevant I just like slander) exclusively who wants to be a radical politician but has never read any theory and don't follow politics

- the self appointed queen bee who cheated on her decent blonde bf by hooking up with her ex bffs abusive ex and then she left him for blondie and now has an on and off throuple with blondie and his besties, both of them are proclaimed straight and all of the are friends with shithead

- same queen bee and blondie, she posted on her til tok her rice purity score and it said that she had never come during sex, they were together for like 5 years and she has caught him watching porn while they fuck

- the annoying ass conservative dude who is like 6'6 and is the bad bitch lesbians man servant (he says friend but idk) started a fight with a known tiny 14 year old gang member and when a knife got pulled his mom, who works at the school, called the cops, same day a kid got stabbed in the head with a pencil during math but that was unrelated

- the grade 11 gymrat that my friends and I are fairy gay parenting into leftism at the start of the year believed that drug dealers deserve the death sentence (we are canadian???) and his ex gf's brother is in prison for petty drug crimes and his new gf is a scary bisexual weed dealer but I influenced him to be way better and they are a power couple

- all of the boys bathrooms are missing the soap dispenser and the mirrors, sinks and toilet seats are regularly stolen also once a custodian quit after having just walked into the main one

- we had a 3 hour secure school because a girl punched the librarian and the librarian passed out and then the girl hid somewhere in the school

- at a beach party during the summer my favourite random school person (you know what I mean, right?) was super drunk and shot a firework at the police, put his Crocs in sport mode and then ran away, successfully as well

- same dude had a job at an arcade and would break in during the night to just vibe with the lasers and run around drinking and smoking I guess, he also once hid from the cops in a tree, he postef all of this on his snap

I can't think of other big ones but this should do for now

Omg it’s been forever and a day since you sent this but I’m still gonna react to this lol

- okay first of all what a story second of all I feel bad for the one guy 😢

- okay but like that checks out based on the books soooo

- wild absolutely wild. First of all cheating is so bad but somehow who she cheated with made it even worse? Also throuple?!

- NOTHING IN FIVE YEARS?! WHAT IS BRO DOING WRONG (obvi everything but like omg) also while they fuck? 🫢

- man servant I love 💀💀 also hang member? ! And a pencil stabbing? That’s a lot on one day

- death sentence?! Omg?! Literally what? Also ur so slay for that tho

- it’s giving devious licks 💀😭 also that’s so real

- why did she punch the librarian 😭 like what

- (ik what u mean, i love my random people) AT?! Also putting the crocs in sport mode then running is such a funny picture

- this guy sounds like such a vibe tbh

[liveshauntedmoved]

Max had awoken a few days ago, and everyone had agreed to Steve Watch, which was basically at least one person had to be with Steve at all times to make sure he was resting when he wasn’t at his job at Family Video, which he’s somehow managed to keep - maybe it’s because no one else would be applying for a job in this shaken town, not right now anyway so Keith had no choice. They didn’t want Steve passing out anymore, not now that Max was awake and that was a tale to spin - when the doctors had left, Lucas had filled Max in on what everyone had found out about Steve ; about his powers and how he was using it to heal Max.

But, Steve was essentially stuck at home, when not at work - sometimes with the company of someone his own age, sometimes - well, it’s the kids and today was Mike’s day. He had come in to relieve Robin who had slept over after their shift at the Family Video. Now, Mike doesn’t hate Steve, they just never really got along well. Steve having dated Nancy, probably hasn’t helped but, Mike brought a book along with him and Steve just put on the TV as background noise as he really wasn’t paying attention to it. Mike wasn’t either, finding his book interesting. 

Mike’s stomach grumbled, and he looked up from his spot on the couch to not find Steve, brows frown together and he quickly checks outside, no - Steve’s car was still there, and Mike hopes that Steve hadn’t decided to walk. So, Mike decides to look around the house, his heart rate picking up slightly the more time passes as doesn’t see Steve. “Steve!” Mike yells out, as he climbs the stairs, each room, he calls for Steve and nothing comes back, and Mike runs to the phone before dialling home.

“Wheeler Residence,” Nancy’s voice comes through, and a very small wave of relief flickers through Mike.

“Nancy! I can’t find Steve! He... I was just reading on the couch, I... I didn’t see him get up! I...  I looked in his room. Nancy, what if... what if t-”

“Mike! Hey, calm down, take a deep breath and just, have you checked the pool? Remember he told us he can breath underwater, if he’s not there - tell me, and I’ll come over right away. Don’t hang up the phone, I’ll still be here. Check the pool.”

Mike nods his head, even though he doesn’t register that Nancy can’t see him, he lets the phone hang before running out to the pool, it was becoming warmer, so Steve had filled the pool for the kids to use to cool off. When Mike saw Steve at the bottom of the pool, he quickly ran back in, “He’s in the pool. I’m sorry I freaked.”

“It’s okay. Am I free to hang up? Or do you want me to come over?”

“No, I got it. I’ll just sit out by the pool, he’ll come up at some point.”

“He will. Bye Mike.”

“Bye Nancy.”

Mike, grabs his book from the couch before going and sitting on a pool chair at the edge of the pool, the sun beating down on him as he flicked through the pages, waiting for Steve to return to the surface - but, the longer he stayed under, the more Mike wondered if maybe Steve could run out of air to breath while underwater despite his powers. Unable to stop the fear from forming, Mike decides to jump in the pool, pushing at Steve’s shoulder as he had his eyes closed. When Steve opened his eyes, he looked right into Mike’s eyes - Mike’s eyes that held a whole lot of worry and fear in them.

Steve, on instinct, grabbed hold of Mike and pushed them up to the surface, “Mike? What’s wrong?”

“You! You fucking asshole! Y-You disappear on me, and I find you in the pool. Do you know how long you’ve been here? Hours dude! I...” Mike feels tears form in his eyes, because sure he and Steve but heads - but, Mike over the few years has grown to care for Steve, and he knows it’s returned with the way Steve pulls him into a hug, “Don’t.... Don’t do that again, please.”

“Okay.”

@wheelrisms

[crinkled-emotions]

No. 10 please and thank you ❤

10. "We can take a break if you feel unwell. How does that sound?"

I altered it a little bit and it’s not super sickfic-y either, but it’s still there!

This weekend has been a little (lot) hectic lmao. If I haven’t responded to a DM I’m 100% not just avoiding you I’ve been driving a lot the past 48 hours and before that I was acting senior banker at work and it was chaos. So not the vibe.

It’s short but, y’know, that’s generally the vibe with these.

Anyway! On to the fic where Rooster and Hangman are idiots and Maverick and Bob use their common sense.

"Guys, this seems like a really bad idea. We just had, like, a lot of pizza. And ice cream. And pizza. Did I mention pizza?”

“Chill out, Daderick, it’s a roller coaster. We’ve all flown planes on full stomachs and never had issues.”

Hangman dismissed Maverick’s concerns, tossing the stick from his cotton candy into a bin. Bob passed over the last bits of his to Phoenix and she finished it, nudging his side.

Somehow the team had ended up at the local fair, Cyclone under the belief they were doing drills in the simulation suite but Maverick had broken them out to do some team bonding. He was pretty certain he’d get a phone call to be yelled at any minute now. They’d all eaten their weight in fatty fair food and no one was regretting it until Hangman pointed out a rollercoaster and dared everyone to ride it. As per usual with those two, the second Hangman said the dare Rooster was game, Phoenix called him an idiot, Payback was down, then because Payback was going on it Fanboy was hesitant, and then Bob had quietly requested to stay on the ground but no one really picked on him for it. Coyote watched the whole thing go down then went and bought tickets for the team, calling it Dagger Solidarity (tm). Essentially, the first one to puke was going to be relentlessly teased forever.

Maverick had been a hard no on the rollercoaster, firmly leaving his feet on the ground. He claimed it was the first time he was happy to stay on the ground. The others were so surprised they respected his decision then passed over their hats, passes, phones and wallets for him to hold for them. While the others lined up Bob stuck to Maverick’s side. 

“This sounds like a really bad idea,” Phoenix whispered to Rooster in passing. Rooster waved her off.

“Bagman’s right, we all fly jets on a full stomach. What’s the worst that could possibly happen?”

She rolled her eyes.

Men.

-

“They’re all idiots. I swear to god, if someone throws up I’m going to make Jake do 300 push ups.”

“That seems like a bad idea after all the sugar, sir,” Bob replied. Maverick snorted, hand on Bob’s shoulder.

“Good call, kid. I’ll make him do 400 tomorrow.”

The two of them watched the others load on to the roller coaster. Hangman and Rooster sat together, followed by Phoenix and Coyote, then Fanboy and Payback. Bob waved at them as they all got buckled up, leaning over to Maverick.

“This is gonna be interesting. I feel like Rooster’s gonna get two seconds in and puke everywhere.”

“No way, Hangman’s gonna lose it the second the ride starts. Roo has a stomach of steel.”

Maverick and Bob exchanged a look, both bursting out laughing.

“Sir, all due respect, that’s a lie.”

“I think I said it just to convince myself.”

“Yeah, well, I think we all remember last week.”

-

The second the ride was over Hangman frantically shoved at the bar across his and Rooster’s hips, trying to get off the ride as soon as he could. The attendant released them and Rooster leaned over the railing, grimacing as he tried to stop himself from getting sick. Hangman stifled a gag himself, one hand on Rooster’s back.

“C’mon man, we gotta go find Mav.”

“I literally cannot move. The world is spinning.”

“We can stop if you’re gonna hurl again. Okay?”

“Oh god, just leave me here to die.”

“That’s dramatic. C’mon.”

Payback hooked one of Rooster’s arms over his shoulders, Fanboy behind and ready to catch at any point. Hangman burped, low in his throat, then his eyes widened as he covered his mouth.

“He’s gonna blow,” Coyote said, reaching for Jake’s shoulder to hold him steady. Together they all managed to make their way down to the ground, stopping when Rooster and Hangman looked ready to blow chunks (but never did). By the time they got back to Maverick and Bob, Phoenix had managed to get some colour back to her own face and Fanboy didn’t look so dizzy. Rooster was pretty much back to normal by the time Maverick opened his mouth to give him shit, but Hangman beelined for the nearest bin. Everyone grimaced.

“I hate to say it,” Phoenix said as she went over to rub his back, “but I think that’s karma.”

“Wow, rude,” Hangman replied.

His head was still in the bin and he was swallowing like his life depended on it. Maverick took one look at his team and blinked.

“Hey, Jake? You good?”

He got the thumbs up in response.

Phoenix gave the thumbs down and mimed throwing up. Payback winced, looking a little unwell himself.

“Oh man, maybe it was the pizza.”

[onceuponastory]

family - sierra six/court gentry x reader

Plot: When Claire is missing her old life and hobbies after everything that happened, Six knows what to do. // Requested by anon. Pairing: Sierra Six/Court Gentry (I use both names in this) x Female!Reader Warnings: Mentions of death, kidnapping, trauma, scarring and nightmares. Also some mentions of reader seeing/hearing things that aren’t there. As always, if I miss any triggers, please let me know. Notes: My Six streak continues! Thanks anon for the request! I hope you like it.

Once again, not beta’d, so any mistakes are my own.

“Morning Claire.” Y/N smiles, dishing up their breakfast as she sits down at the table.

“Morning Y/N. Where’s Six?” Y/N frowns as her brain swims with thoughts. Thoughts on how to tell Claire that Six is outside cleaning up after another assassin tried to break in last night. Then again, Claire probably knows already. She’s a smart kid, and even though she’s tough as nails (especially with her heart condition), Y/N can still tell that this whole thing is upsetting her. Being kidnapped, losing her uncle and then almost losing both her and Court has been tough. On all of them. 

Tenderly, Y/N runs her finger along the scar on her abdomen. The scar left on her by Lloyd Hansen, who still haunts her nightmares to this day. Even though he’s been dead for at least a month now, she’s still terrified of him somehow coming back and finding them again. And especially finishing the job he started. Sometimes, Y/N swears she hears his laugh or his voice when nobody is there. Even though Six always checks each lock before they go to bed, Y/N’s still terrified. Lloyd Hansen infiltrated and corrupted every aspect of their safe, happy lives. And he’s still doing it now, even in death. Like some sort of boogeyman.

“Morning.” Court’s voice sounds as he walks into the room, cutting through her thoughts. Y/N breathes a small sigh of relief. It’s over. It’s just the three of us. Just focus on the good times. He takes her into his arms, gently pecking her on the lips. “You alright?” He whispers, noticing the fear in her expression. Y/N nods. “Y/N….” He trails off, but she shakes her head.

“Not here. I’m okay. Promise.” She murmurs. Reluctantly, Court nods, and the pair sits down with Claire to eat.

“I know what you’re both gonna say….” Claire says suddenly, and Y/N and Court raise a brow. “But I was wondering if we could go see a movie? Instead of being stuck in the house?” Seeing the look on their faces, she sighs. “Or not.” 

“I’m sorry. It’s just not safe yet.” Court sighs as Y/N reaches over to take her hand and give it a reassuring squeeze. Despite her obvious disappointment, Claire fixes a smile on her face, and she nods. Y/N feels her heart breaking. She’d love more than anything to say yes, and for the three of them to spend a day together doing normal family things. But it’s just not possible. Especially since the CIA and everyone else Court pissed off are still hunting them. Being on the run and hiding are the only things that can keep them safe. 

Still, it’s not fair to Claire to be stuck inside, wasting her days in case someone spots them. If Y/N could, she’d take it all away from her and just give her a normal life. Her trauma, her condition, everything. All gone.

If only life worked like that.

“Thanks for breakfast. I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Claire murmurs, pushing her chair out and leaving the room.

“Poor kid.” Y/N sighs as she watches her go. “I wish we could do something.”

“Actually.” Court muses. “I think we can.” Quickly, he gets up, pressing another kiss to her temple. “I have some things to do.” Before she can even ask what he means, or if he wants her to help, he’s gone, and Y/N is left alone at the table, frowning.

What the hell is he planning?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“Claire, sweetheart, are you okay?” Y/N asks a few hours later, knocking on her door. It’s been a while since she went inside and shut her door, and even though she can still hear her records playing, Y/N is getting worried. It’s not like her to be so quiet. “Do you want something to eat? A drink?” No further noise sounds, and Y/N’s heart rate increases as she panics that something bad has happened. Yet, just before she’s about to call Court to break the door down, it opens, and Claire’s head pops out. The red rim around her eyes shows she’s been crying, and Y/N’s heart sinks. “Oh, love.” She soothes, opening her arms out for Claire to come in for a hug, which she does.

“I’m sorry.” She murmurs into Y/N’s sweater, making Y/N’s heart break all over again. It’s not her fault. None of this is. “I’ve just been missing my uncle a lot recently, and with everything that’s happened-” Another sob sounds, and Claire squeezes Y/N a little tighter.

“Sweetheart, it's not your fault. Six and I understand. It’s awful being stuck in here all the time.” Y/N tells her, gently stroking her hair. “But I promise you, we love you very much, and we will always protect you.”

“I love you too.” She replies, and Y/N almost starts crying at that. The girls stay cuddled together for a while, until Court’s voice sounds.

“Hey, what’s-” Without another word, Claire detaches herself from Y/N, and immediately tackles him in a hug, knocking him off guard slightly. Court looks up at Y/N, and when he sees the tears in her eyes, he understands. “Oh.” He murmurs. Wrapping one arm around Claire, he opens his other one, which Y/N cuddles into. The trio stay there for a while, safe in each other’s embrace. “I have a surprise for you.” Court says after a while. “Follow me.” He gestures down the hallway, and the girls do as he asks. He leads them towards the living room, and they gasp when they see what he’s done.

Fairy lights stretch across the room, illuminating it with their soft glow. Blankets and cushions lay across the couch, and bowls of snacks and ice cream sit on the coffee table. A movie, no doubt Claire’s favourite, is set up on the TV. “I know it’s not exactly the same as the movie theatre, but I hope it’s just as good.” A warm feeling, one of love, fills Y/N’s entire body. They’re so lucky to have him. 

“Thank you!” Claire squeals, giving Court another squeeze before running over to the couch and burying herself under the blankets. Y/N squeezes Court’s hand. 

“You’re amazing, you know that?” She whispers, and he smiles.

“Just for you two.” He kisses her softly, and she moans happily, melting into his embrace once more.

“Guys, come on! The movie is about to start!” Claire’s voice sounds, and Y/N and Court break apart, laughing. They join her under the blanket, and all three snuggle in together as the movie plays. In their brief time together, the three have been through a lot, and there’s undoubtedly more to come. Yet, moments like this, spent together and as a family show that maybe things will be alright after all. 

As long as they’re together.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

This is just a reminder that I no longer have a taglist. Please follow @onceuponastory-library​ and turn on my notifications to be notified when I next post.

[yourdeepestfathoms]

Ride the Cyclone Kids and Sleepovers

okay, so i’m gonna do a few headcanons for sleepovers at specific people’s houses (Penny excluded), then general headcanons!

Constance’s house!

Second best place to have sleepovers at

Her parents are SO NICE

Dinner is always THE BEST there

Constance’s little brother sometimes hangs out with them for a bit

You can’t tell me Constance doesn’t own ALL the Just Dance games

So they usually end up having a very fierce dance battle during sleepovers

Constance always gives her bed to someone else, what a sweetheart

They somehow end up binge watching Barbie movies while over at her house

Mischa’s house!

Best place to have a sleepover at because they can do whatever the hell they want in his basement

There’s so much room for activities!

When they go to sleep, they’re usually sprawled out All Over the floor since there’s a lot of space

I feel like Mischa’s basement is the perfect location for playing Twister

Noel’s house!

They can’t be as wild at his house to keep from disturbing his mom, but it’s still really fun over there!

His mom likes seeing Noel hanging out with other kids :)

Catch Ocean out here CONSTANTLY sucking up to Ms. Gruber

Ocean’s house!

Worst place for sleepovers

First of all, it smells like weed and incense, which is just AWFUL

Second of all, her parents are just…really weird

They make everyone Really Uncomfortable

I feel like Ocean’s house has an awesome backyard, though, so they’ll usually hang out outside

Or in her room

She’s always so embarrassed of her house, poor girl

She hides it, though

Ricky’s house!

He definitely owns a Switch, so they’ll usually play games like Mario Kart

Which turns the whole sleepover into a literal WAR (Ocean will pick Rainbow Road Every Single Time)

When over at his house, it’s basically assured that SOMEONE is gonna wake up with a cat on their face

General sleepover shenanigans!

Okay, so, pajamas? (yes, it’s important I provide reference photos, you gotta get the VIBE)

Noel’s got, like, these (fake) silk pajamas, and it’s So Extra

Penny’s in this simple but super cute night gown

Constance has frog pajamas fight me

Meanwhile, Ricky has cat pajamas

Ocean has these weird upcycles pajamas

Mischa is just in some shorts and a muscle shirt

Penny got the Whole Choir animal slippers, and they’re all Legally Required to wear them

Penny has sheep (because of her last name), Ricky has cats (obviously), Noel has rabbits, Mischa has sharks (that look like they’re eating his feet), Constance has hedgehogs, and Ocean has penguins

They all fight over what movie to watch

“Citizen Kane!” “ew, no! we should watch Rear Window!” “i just wanna watch The Lion King 2…” “can we PLEASE watch Encanto” “SAW V!!!!!!!”

Sleepover games? Sleepover games

They do that game where you make the worst concoction of different food/drinks possible and have other people consume it (Ocean almost dies Every Time because you can’t tell me homegirl doesn’t have the weakest stomach ever)

THEY PLAY GARTIC PHONE

Here’s some examples of what they would do from when I played with my own friends

In order of who drew what: Constance, Ocean, Ricky, Penny

In order of who drew what: Ocean, Constance, Noel, Ricky, Penny, Mischa

Noel: Ocean, Kiss, Marry, Kill: Penny, Constance, and Mischa >:)

Ocean: I’m acearo

Noel: Shit my bad

Noel: Ocean, Have As A Lab Partner For A Whole Semester, Be Stuck Inside An Elevator With For Seven Hours, Get Trained By At A Fast Food Restaurant: Penny, Constance, and Mischa >:)

Ocean ALWAYS helps clean up while at someone else’s house (just because she wants the praise from their parents and HAS to be the favorite friend)

Noel: What the fuck are you doing

Ocean, doing the dishes: My part

OR

Mrs. Potts: Ricky, sweetie, why is your ginger friend vacuuming the carpet? How did she even know where the vacuum was??

Ricky, signing: She does that, just let it run its course

Mischa initiates pillow fights

Penny and Ricky would convince the others to make blanket forts with them

Mischa and Noel both like to style/braid the girls’ hair

When it finally falls silent, and they all seem like they’re finally about to go to sleep for the night, one of them will laugh for No Reason and cause all the others to start howling with laughter

If there’s no room on a couch when everyone else is already sitting, Penny will just be like “guess I have to lay on all of you”

And then she lays on all of them

One time while at Constance’s house, SOMEONE yelled for the Alexa to play Roman Holiday and utter MAYHEM broke out after that

Noel and Penny were SINGING

Ricky was jamming out, living his best life

Ocean was DESPERATELY trying to get the Alexa to stop

Constance was like “guys! guys, shh! people are gonna hear you!” (cause hc that the Blackwoods live above the cafe)

Mischa arrived back from the bathroom and was Very Confused

Noel and Penny were using random utensils as microphones and kept trying to get the others to join them (“come on, Mischa!” “this is a spatula”)

Penny, holding a ladle out to Constance: sing it, Constance!

Constance, leaning into the ladle like it’s an actual microphone: i don’t know Roman Holiday

Meanwhile, Ocean was DYING

Ocean, sobbing: Alexa, stop playing Roman Holiday!

Alexa didn’t hear her

Alexa wished for her death

[yamahex]

Reader tattooing eddie?

A/N: Ik the design is basic but I was struggling to think of something (debating if I hate this or not, eh yolo)

“Remind me why I’m letting you do this?”

You halted setting up your equipment and looked up at Eddie from your chair, that was placed next to his bed.

“Because you looooooveeeee me.” Your nose crinkled as you teased. A slight smile appeared on his lips and his eyes rolled.

By the grace of the universe you somehow managed to get Eddie to agree to you tattooing him for practice. He’s let you do a few stick and pokes on him but never a sizable piece. You knew he had a reliable artist already so it came as a surprise when he didn’t put up much of a fight.

“You know, this setup isn’t exactly what I’m used to.”

“Well unfortunately sir, I have yet to get a booth at a studio so I’m stuck doing home calls.” Your hand grabbed his arm, flipping it palm up so you could place your homemade stencil. His eyes watched as you focused.

“So you gonna tell me what you’re putting on my body? Forever, I might add.” You looked up at him once again while

“Oh obviously a big, fat, di-“

“Ha Ha you wouldn’t dare.” You chuckled and pinched the skin of his arm lightly, causing him to hiss and pull away abruptly.

“Trust and believe in me babe.”

You lightly wet his skin with the product then your hands placed the stencil on his bicep. You waited a few seconds before peeling it off then making eye contact with Eddie.

“Ready?” He nodded.

“Have at it.”

After a few hours you wiped away the left over ink with the paper towel then let out a sigh.

“Alright babe, I’m done.”

Eddie stretched his arm, having been stuck in the same position for hours then making his way towards his mirror. His eyes examined the top of his arm.

On his skin laid a freshly done Hellfire logo with the numbers 86’ underneath. His face seemed unamused as you stood next to him, worried of what he could be thinking.

“You hate it.” His eyes looked at you in the mirror then turned around to face you.

“Are you kidding? I love it.”

Your eyes widened.

“Seriously?” He moved to kiss your forehead.

“It’s really good baby, especially for your first real tat.” You smiled brightly as he caressed your cheek.

“Keep practicing and I might make you my new artist.”

[alittlesimp]

Okay so you're doing overdone fanfic tropes. Then you must do the "There's only one bed" trope with Dazai.

a/n: this was so much fun to write, i used to love reading these sm :)) ty! i got rlly tired in the end so i started being vague and emo, my apologies 😔 /hj

warnings: dazai being dazai, fem!reader

too close for comfort - dazai x reader

“You’ve got to be kidding me.”

Your bags fall to the floor dramatically, making your coworker snicker. Or maybe he’s laughing because you’re this worked up? You envy his ability to not freak out over this, but you want to slap him even more. But of course, you couldn’t. The bastard would probably enjoy it.

“What’s wrong? Do you not want to share a bed with me?”

You roll your eyes, not wanting to indulge him in his clownery, and dial the front desk. Maybe they could save you from him. They pick up surprisingly quickly considering the late hour, making you snap out of watching Dazai struggle with taking his shoes off.

“Uhm, hi, we’re in room 205 and I’m afraid there’s an issue. I’m sure we booked a room with two beds, but you gave us a room with only one bed. Is there anything you can do for us?”

It seems his shoe was tougher than he expected. He pulls and pulls until it shoots off and just barely misses a vase. He, however, was less lucky, and lets out a yelp as he falls on his badly cushioned bottom.

“Okay, thank you anyway. Good night.”

You sigh and sit on the bed, hands in your hair. So, summary: the hotel was completely booked, and you had to share a room, no, a bed with this idiot for the rest of your stay. Dazai jumps up.

“Aww, are you stuck with me? Well, look on the bright side, it could have been worse.”

You raise a brow. “How, exactly?”

“Well, you could’ve had to share a room with Kunikida. Who knows how early he would force you to get up…” he says, shuddering.

“That sounds worse for you than it does for me, I think.”

He shoots you a mischievous glance and opens his suitcase. To your surprise (not really), everything was just thrown in with not a single thought behind it.

“Folding is a waste of time if I’m going to wear it anyway.”

Well, can’t argue with that.

He somehow was able to unearth his pajamas and made his way to the bathroom. You sighed again. This man is exhausting to deal with, and you were now completely unable to catch a break? It feels like a nightmare.

After a while of pondering, you hear the door open.

“Jesus, Dazai.” He looks at you, a bit surprised at your exclamation. “Do you seriously sleep with those bandages on?”

His laughter rings through the air, a bit too loud to feel genuine, and while he seems to be enjoying himself, his eyes settle on you for just a second, showing the calculating stare that he usually reserves for only the hardest of cases. Maybe to see if you are buying his little show.

You let out a sigh at the absence of a proper reply, and grab your pajamas. “Don’t come in, I’m getting dressed.”

“But what if someone attacks you in there? I can’t let someone as beautiful as you die alone!”

You huff and turn around, locking the bathroom door behind you. Well, tonight is going to suck.

It’s not that you don’t like him, Dazai is a fun coworker you love working with. He’s clever and you respect him a lot, but sleeping in one bed together? That’s a few steps too far. Who knows what tricks he might play on you? What if he’s a clingy sleeper?

You don’t want to be here.

And the truth is, he don’t want to be here either. He’d much rather be at home right now, maybe drinking a little too much and simply sitting around, wasting time until he finally gets exhausted enough to be able to fall asleep. He’d rather be anywhere but here. Not because of you, or well, not because he hates you.

He hates the way you make him feel. The way you somehow manage to make him consider being vulnerable with you, even though he’s convinced his feelings are just a bother to everyone. To you. He’s so afraid of being open with you, even though he so desperately wants it.

The hotel room is completely dark when you open your eyes. You hear something next to you, but it takes you a minute to recognize it as the sound of pages turning. You drowsily smack your arm on his book, too tired to think about what you’re doing. The man next to you laughs and closes his book. Wait, how was he reading in the dark?

“Ah, you’re awake.”

You grumble and stretch a bit to wake yourself up. A quick look at the alarm clock tells you it’s 4 am. Why couldn’t you just sleep through the night and have it be over? Why did you have to wake up?

“Why are you up?”

He inhales sharply, but doesn’t answer your question. You keep quiet, not willing to brush it off or change the subject. If he doesn’t want to talk, you’d prefer to go back to sleep. Slowly, you sink back into your pillow, ready to go back to dreamland…

“I guess I can’t sleep.”

You felt his eyes on you, gauging your reaction. For some reason, that short sentence carried a heavy weight, and you could feel it. It was just the tip of the iceberg, but he was comfortable enough to tell you. You were aware that if you fucked up right now, he’d close off and never be honest with you again. Thinking of a reply was harder than it should have been with such an innocent little sentence. Pry too much, and he’d laugh it off again, crack a joke and the rare, honest moment would be ruined.

“Do you want to hear a bedtime story?”

It seems you caught him off guard, but after a moment of silence, he started chuckling.

“Please, do go on.”

You clear your throat.

“Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a lonely boy. The boy didn’t want money, power, or a love story out of a fairy tale.”

“Isn’t this a fairy tale though?”

“Shut up and listen. Anyway, what the boy wanted most was a friend, but he thought his sadness was a burden to the people around him. And so, he goes to look for a mask which, according to the legends, makes you appear like the best version of yourself around others. But there is one problem. The mask is guarded by a fierce, fire-breathing dragon, and the boy is not a good fighter.

So, he decides to look for help. He’s embarrassed by his motivation, so he never tells anyone. Eventually, he finds a girl with some fighting experience, and they venture out to look for the mask together.”

Dazai yawns.

“So, they find the mask and live happily ever after?”

A slap finds its way to his chest.

“Yes, they found the mask. But the moment he put it on, he felt something was wrong. All along, he just wanted someone to listen to his heart, but pretending to be someone more pleasant only made it harder for him to share his truest feelings. Deep down, he was still that same, lonely boy. The girl wanted to help him, but because of the mask, he couldn’t open up to her. The boy got what he thought he needed, but by doing so, lost what he actually wanted and already had.”

“This is the most depressing bedtime story I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, maybe it’s not too late for him. Maybe he can throw the mask away and get the girl back.”

“Maybe,” he says as he sinks into a deep sleep. You smile softly.

“I hope he does.”

please comment/reblog if you enjoyed! i’d love to hear what y'all think <3

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