#hopefully it will be easier after I take level 3 next week and can use my practice question study time on other studies
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
prince-liest · 4 months ago
Text
A little bit of celebratory light in the current political climate: I'm working with a local endocrinologist who is versed in gender-affirming care as well as my local LGBTQ+ resource organization to start a quarterly pride clinic that I'm going to run with and staff with the aforementioned endocrinologist. I don't know yet how successful it will be, but we're in a really under-served area and a lot of the local federally qualified health centers are pulling back their gender affirming care offerings due to the recent federal policies so that they can retain their funding, which after speaking to my residency program directer he seems to believe is unlikely to affect us. So I'm going to be working with our program attendings and this endocrinologist to help refer more queer and especially trans patients to myself and one of my seniors who is also really involved in LGBTQ+ health goals for gender-affirming care.
The clinic itself is only going to be quarterly at this time (hopefully monthly in the future) due to the limitations of patient panel sizes and also residency scheduling, but we're hoping that we can also follow these patients in our actual primary clinic, since it will all be in the same building and part of the same system, and the endocrinologist has said she is willing to co-precept these patients (aka. have us forward her the notes and look over them to make sure the care plans are copacetic, as well as get curbsided by us when needed) when we work on hormone therapy in the primary care clinic. I think the main challenge is going to be 1) making sure we have the resources and access to a good multidisciplinary team (main points are mental health resources (gonna ask one of the psych program attendings, he is both openly queer and invested) and infectious disease specialist options that aren't going to result in bad experiences for the patients that we refer that way) and 2) making sure we have appropriate follow-up for patients, which I think on my end is just going to mean me telling our clinic coordinator, "Hey, if it's for this patient panel specifically, you can book me an extra patient per half-day for continuity."
We're also going to be doing internal-ish referral advertising through the LGBTQ+ org, as well as training through the organization and also just through research done by myself and my senior for our co-residents for things like cancer screening guidelines adjusted for risk factors we see in queer people (anal paps, three-site testing, when to screen for breast cancer in trans women, etc, etc). Waiting on my program director to talk to our clinic coordinator to see if there's any way for people to self-refer straight to the pride clinic (probably insurance-dependent) but otherwise it's just...happening.
I think my main wish is that I had more days to directly work with this endocrinology attending to pick her brain. She said she's game for any [redacted weekday] for the clinic once we get things going and I'm on my endocrinology rotation, but I'm mostly working with another endo and only see her twice this month due to her work schedule. She's a great teacher and next time I see her this month I'm going to see if she has time to give me a crash-course on HRT management that will help me synthesize the gender dysphoria treatment clinical practice guidelines I'm reading through from the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism. My PD actually specifically referred a trans patient to us to see that day because he knows I really want more experience with this (and, y'know, she's a great endo doc) so that will be the perfect opportunity.
Anyway! It's a great time to be working on offering more medical resources to LGBTQ patients.
62 notes · View notes
idkthisisjustforfanfic · 1 year ago
Text
Tumblr media
TEMPORARY THINGS, chapter 3
Your first few weeks on set go by in a blur of learning the ropes. You follow Briony around a lot and listen to her use words you’ve never heard, like striking and dolly grip. You learn the difference between a first assistant camera and second, though it doesn’t seem to make much sense when Maggie points around nonchalantly and gets interrupted by a joke coming from the walkie-talkie on her hip. 
It was going well! Aside from whatever whirring now thumps in your chest when Brett comes up beside you. You’re still in good impression mode for another, like, 3 weeks.
“Hi,” he says, a smile and nod when you look up to see him. “Hopefully you’re liking this lot so far?”
“So far,” you nod, appreciative of his inquiry. “But I also heard it takes a few weeks for you all to turn into divas.”
He pulls a hand to his chest in mock offense. The jacket he’s wearing belongs to his character, but the color suits him well. “I usually wait until at least halfway through!”
“Hellooo,” Maggie sidles up and smiles at both of you. Jason’s right behind her and when the four of you stand in a make-shift circle, you’re acutely aware of the way Jason angles himself toward you. 
“We’ve got a lot to get through today--wanted to have you hear all of this as well,” Jason says this to you in particular before Maggie launches into some sort of schedule. She’s listing numbers and tasks and referencing scenes by shorthand lingo that only makes half sense. 
It’s weird, you realize, that while you’re here on set and working alongside them, your job is different in almost every way: it’s focused entirely on him. Which is maybe a bad thing, seeing as your stomach still does this little flip when you notice the dimple on his cheek that you remember from Day 1. 
Lucky for you, though, most of your time on set is spent in Jason’s office. Scheduling his travel and handling his emails and pulling the strings behind the scenes so his actual job here was easier. You’re in constant contact with his manager, his nanny, even sometimes seeing messages from his ex or his friends come through before you pass them right up the ladder.
Briony pops in and out, often passing messages from Jason to you and then in return. She was the coffee kid, still young enough to be excited by that type of task and good enough to never mess up an order.
Poppy hurries by and after you commit the entire shooting schedule of the day to memory, you return to Jason’s office to actually get your work done. Today, primarily, was to be spent going through emails and calendars, plugging in meetings and finalizing his schedule for the next two weeks before filming really picked up.
But there’s a knock on the door that grabs your attention before your inbox is even open. Brendan’s there, a binder in hand and a hesitant smile when you both realize you’ve never been alone in a room together. 
“Hi,” he says a bit awkwardly. “Y’know where Jason is?”
“He was with Paul and Jenna near Rebecca’s office,” you hoped you were getting the names right, blending real people with characters in the same way that didn’t trip up the rest of them. “Anything I can help with?”
He holds your gaze for a second, almost skeptical, but then decides he’ll at least give it a shot. 
“I’m looking for a list of scenes we’re shooting today. Not the actual schedule that got sent out but the list of ones Jason wants to do if we can move more quickly than everyone thinks we can.” 
You stand from your spot on the couch and nod thoughtfully, walking towards his desk as your eyes start to scan the piles of paper. You’ve learned his system bit by bit: the pile on the left is Lasso-related but not urgent. The pile on the right is more personal, with a higher level of urgency. Work-related urgent things get put on top of his laptop, or, if he seems to think it’s really important, sometimes he takes a picture of it and emails it to himself. 
As of now you find it mostly adorable that a guy in his mid-forties is sending himself emails with picture attachments so he doesn’t forget stuff. You’ll have to give him a crash course in the reminders app at some point.
You locate the piece of paper you saw him scribbling on yesterday, the red ink of the pen he clips into his pocket smudged in the corner. Today’s scenes are listed out in the same shorthand code you’ve heard Maggie use, Jason’s chicken scratch is in the margins in red ink.
You hold it up before you look back towards Brendan. His brows are arched when you take a step over and deliver, what you assume, is exactly what he was looking for. 
He scans it. Nods. 
“Three extra scenes sounds ambitious to me,” you try to crack a joke, feeling weird about the fact that you’ve yet to bond with Brendan. 
“You can read his handwriting?” He looks up at you again, more quickly this time, surprise on his face when you nod. 
“Yes--yeah,” you stammer like this is an embarrassing admission. “Should I not be able to?”
“Jessie always complained,” he shrugs, eyes back down to the piece of paper you’d handed over. 
“It’s messy as shit but I figured if I can’t read his handwriting then we’re all fucked.”
The corner of Brendan’s mouth flicks into a smile, a tiny laugh before he salutes you in farewell and his footsteps fade down the hallway.
**
April 2022
The end of March sputtered more rain onto the London streets than you’d ever seen in Los Angeles. Maggie promised it wouldn’t be like this the whole time, but now, on the third rainy Friday in a row, you were beginning to think your friend was a liar. 
“It’s bad luck,” Jason comments as he looks out the window into his backyard, “not bad weather.”
Thunder booms overhead and the British Airways website logo keeps flickering on the page, please be patient while we locate your booking!
“You’re beginning to sound like a London apologist,” you look up at him from your laptop screen, eyebrows arched to challenge his statement. The backyard gets lit up again, the line of trees overhead is visible in the flash of lightning that cracks open the sky.
He smirks at your retort, “forgive me for not wanting you to hate the place you agreed to move.”
His hands are in his pockets but he moves to sit on the couch across from you. You showed up 20-minutes ago, laptop in tow after he heard you mention something on set about your travel plans to Amsterdam. 
“London could have been on fire and I would still have come,” you think aloud as the page blinks back to life. “Okay, here,” you sit up. “Booking 1430-3925-098, business class to Schiphol.”
“Cancel it.”
“You’re sure?” You look up at him now, finger hovering over the trackpad. 
“Positive,” he stands and nods. “Red or white?”
“Hmm?”
You click the button, Yes, I’m Sure!, but then notice he’s waiting for you to reply. 
“Wine,” he laughs. “Red or white?”
You pause, is this a test? Is having a glass of wine with him on a Friday night in his living room crossing a line? No, you decide when he holds your gaze for a moment. If it wasn’t crossing a line with Kyle or Reese or any other boss you’ve had, it’s not crossing a line with him. 
And besides, he’s not your boss, technically. 
“Red.”
He smiles at your answer and makes his way towards the kitchen. “So why would a fiery London not be a deterrent?” 
You set your laptop on the coffee table, a few steps over to stand in the doorway as he pursues his wine rack.
“Sorry?” You’re confused now, still watching when he scans the label of a bottle before he sets it on the Island. 
It was a long week. You’d been on set every morning at 6:30am. Most days you left work around 4 or 5, and Jason was good about making sure you took lunch breaks and had enough coffee and knew all the good places to hide for five minutes of quiet when the set got too crowded. 
“You said London could have been on fire and you would have moved here still,” he reminds you, his eyes watching for your reaction as you lean against the door frame. 
You nod slowly and let your eyes flutter shut in embarrassment. What’s the most professional way to say: I got dumped and fired in the span of two weeks and my life felt like a living hell, so surely London ablaze would be manageable?
You decide there isn’t one, so you bend the truth as he searches for a wine opener. “I was in desperate need of a change of scenery.”
“Christmas in LA does suck,” he nods. 
“Luckily I didn’t have to withstand that torture,” you walk over to the drawer on his right, the one that Jessie’s binder said had miscellaneous kitchen tools and utensils. You open it and pull out an opener and hand it over. “I was in New York for the holidays, left LA right after Thanksgiving.”
He opens the bottle and nods sympathetically. “Something about December in LA always feels…depressing.”
“Yeah,” you let out a breath at that word, one that circled and swirled in your brain for days and weeks before you figured out what the fuck you were going to do. Your parents were worried and your sister was three-seconds and a text message away from booking a flight out there to beat the shit of your ex, as she so kindly offered.
He pours the first glass, stealing a peek in your direction when he thinks you aren’t looking. You are. 
“So--yeah, Los Angeles, change of scenery, back to New York. Now London.” He pours his own and then brings them both over, clinks his wine glass against yours before you both take a quiet sip in the kitchen. “What on earth made you take this job?”
You smirk, sure you can’t say what pops into your mind: a new city, a penchant for spontaneity after a crisis, the chance to work for your friend’s hot boss…
“Oh god,” he laughs, taking in your expression when your cheeks flush. “Did someone make you come here? Have you been kidnapped? Forced against your will?”
“No,” you roll your eyes at his playfulness and laugh. “I just--I really needed a job and a fresh start, I guess.”
He nods in understanding, takes another sip in the quiet. “Yeah, I get that.”
You’re not sure why it suddenly comes out, honest, blunt, a thud on the fancy tile of his kitchen. 
“My boyfriend and I broke up--we lived together--then my job kind of exploded, well, Kyle’s life did too, so, Maggie took pity, I guess, when she realized my life was a shit show.”
He’s a little caught off guard by your confession, his eyebrows are slightly lifted and you can’t read: is it curiosity or concern? Like, did I hire a psychopath concern. 
But that must not be it, because when you take a loud slurp of wine to drown out the awkward silence, he swallows and nods. 
“Just because it feels like a shit show doesn’t mean it is,” he offers, a small smile before he continues. “My fiancé of a decade left me for someone 15 years younger a few years ago and then decided to give a fuck ton of interviews about it,” he smirks. “So--I get the whole shit show feeling.”
Your lips pull into a smile at his show of humanity, but then he gestures for you to follow him back to the living room. You’d known about his failed relationship, saw headlines and heard murmurs but didn’t pay much mind. You didn’t think in a few years time you’d be drinking wine on his couch on a rainy Friday.
“And now you’re single?” He asks over his shoulder, more of a follow up on your recent disclosure than the flirtation you wish it was. He sits down and you watch the way his knees knock together in khakis. 
“First time in 6 years,” you say over the rim of your glass, returning to your spot on the sofa. 
He’s watching you, like you’re throwing him off somehow or he’s intrigued. You realize you like it.
And then you remember why you’re here, tonight, in the first place: Amsterdam. The location shoot for the temp gig. Your temp gig job. Your job, him sitting across the room from you as not the man who writes your checks but still the one who generates them. Your laptop on the coffee table pulls you back to reality. You should probably not flirt with him.
“It’s canceled,” you nod towards the computer and then lift your Apple Watch as proof. “Confirmation email came through a few minutes ago.”
He shakes his head but smiles. “I can’t believe you thought I’d make you fly business class if I’m on a jet!”
You remember Maggie’s words from January, facetime a thousand miles away. Something along the lines of he’s amazing, Y/N, he’s so chill!
“You’d be really disappointed to hear what it’s like to work for Tom Cruise, then.”
He laughs, shifts on the couch and takes another sip. “I think it’s really shitty when people treat their EAs like regular assistants,” he shrugs. “Here’s this person who manages your whole life…arguably that means you’re more competent than I am,” he thinks aloud, a playful glance in your direction. A compliment? Maybe. Flirting? You hope.
Is that shitty? Is that weird and inappropriate or—worst of all—are you fully delusional? 
“I’m going to pocket that for future reference,” you admit with a smirk. 
He sips his wine and smiles, eyes you seriously from behind the glasses he puts on at the end of the day. “Just…know from here on out that you can book yourself as nice of a hotel room as you want, you know, within reason.”
You let your eyes bug out of your head. “Reason, like, the Presidential Suite at a Ritz Carlton, or?”
“Jesus,” a short laugh escapes, a comedic hint of suspicion is his eyes after he checks a text on his phone. “Maggie wasn’t kidding when she said you’ve been primarily A-list.”
“I would never,” you call back, a quick confession to make sure he knows you’re not that type of…employee? Temp? Whatever.
“Great, but still--we’re there for work, but you deserve to enjoy Amsterdam,” he gestures toward your laptop, like the British Airways website itself was a symbol of the upcoming business trip. 
Maggie’s been excited for weeks. She babbled about it in the car on the way from Heathrow and Poppy’s been shouting out nightclubs and restaurants and places she wants to go most mornings in the makeup trailer. 
You’ve never been to Amsterdam, but you’re excited nonetheless for a chance to see a new city in a new country. The last time you and Maggie were in Europe together was on your study abroad trip when you were both 21. Now it’s ten years later.
She bounces in one April morning to Poppy’s trailer while you’re sipping a hot coffee. One from the catering table because the one you sipped on your way here wasn’t enough. 
“You’re exactly who I wanted to see,” her face lights up when she spots you in a chair beside Juno. 
“Good morning,” you coo, grateful that Poppy’s trailer has become a bit of reprieve for you. You were right, a few weeks ago when you went out for your first Friday in London: Maggie and Poppy are tight, Juno and Briony and Hannah and the rest of the make up crew seem to be their own little friend group within the larger cast and crew. Ladies who stuck together.
Luckily, you were beginning to feel like a part of it. 
“I’m thinking pubs and clubs,” she dumps a tote bag on the counter, contents spill out but Poppy doesn’t seem to mind. 
“What?”
“We need to start planning for Amsterdam, babe.”
“It’s a work trip, babe,” you remind her with narrowed eyes, a quick glance around the room to see if anyone else was aware of Maggie’s scheming. 
“Work trip, hah!” Juno pipes up from her chair. She’s got curlers in, eyes still sleepy since the sun’s just made it above the horizon. “Someone tell Y/N about Lasso work trips.”
“Work trips,” Poppy turns to see you--she’s getting a palette ready for Juno, all of her brushes and tubes of lip gloss are organized sociopathically by color, size, and brand. “Are only half work.”
A woman after your own heart, though the results of your organizing episodes usually only last a few weeks. 
“Half work? How does that…work?” You ask, thankful that you don’t have to get mascara swiped on your lashes before your eyes are fully open. 
“We shoot long days and we’re busy,” Maggie nods honestly, she’s strapping her walkie-talkie onto her waist, snaking the wire of her headset up and behind her ear. “But when work is over, it’s playtime.”
You watch your oldest friend closely. “Sounds oddly sexual,” you comment around another slurp of coffee. 
“It can be sexual if you want it to be,” Maggie wiggles her eyebrows now. “If you’re feeling up for getting down and dirty!”
Oh boy. You blink at her a few times, memories of your last trip to Europe come flooding back. Maggie writing your number on the bathroom stall of a club in Rome, encouragement at every hour of the day to get loose and get laid. Unfortunately for you, this trip might be oddly reminiscent. 
“Yeah?” This pique’s Juno’s interest. “Someone in need of a little hanky-panky?”
They all giggle, you choke down more coffee but wipe your mouth when there’s a knock on the door. It opens, the whole trailer goes quiet when Jason’s on the other side.
“Morning,” he nods, a few steps in before he slinks down to the chair next to Poppy with an amused smile. “You know the gossip’s good when it goes completely silent.”
“Not gossip,” Maggie locks eyes with you in the mirror and smirks. “Just some chatter about Y/N’s lack of a love life,” she smiles, an apologetic but excited one.
“I work more than I sleep,” you defend loud enough for the whole trailer to hear—-all six of you in there.
True. Until, about, six months ago.
“Lack?” Jason’s eyebrows are arched in the mirror.
You hope Maggie doesn’t see the way your cheeks flush, a moment where his eyes find yours in the reflection above Poppy’s drawers and drawers of makeup. You wish you could vanish into thin air.
How—in only a few weeks—does it feel like you and Jason are in on your own little secret? 
“This is only my second cup of coffee so why don’t we talk about Maggie’s childhood obsession with webkinz?” You propose, a loud slurp and a ghoulish look in her direction to show her you mean business.
You had just as many years of ammunition as she did. If embarrassing each other was the goal, you could at least play the game. 
“Weren’t you a bit old for that, babe?” Poppy asks with a teasing smile, fingers focused on the curlers in Juno’s hair. 
“I didn’t give a shit that I was 16 and still into it,” Maggie defends, a dismissive eye roll when she picks up her phone from the counter. “The heart wants what it wants.”
A dodged bullet, for sure. You’re able to excuse yourself shortly thereafter to make sure Jason’s got what he needs for the day. Briony did the check of his office, grabbed breakfast and delivered a bagel to the makeup trailer. Which means you’re free to move about in search of the people you need today.
Joan from the location department, Tom from Post-Production—Maggie said he’d be easy to find because he always wears hats but is impeccably bald. 
You get the write-up you need from Joan and that’s when Briony falls into step beside you. She shows you the way down the maze of halls and through the lot to an office where Tom sits at a desk. Once you’ve got what you need from him (a firm answer to a question of Jason’s he’s been dodging all week), Briony sits with you on the sidelines of a scene in the locker room. 
Jason, Phil, Brendan, and Brett are shooting, the set’s loud before someone calls for quiet. 
Briony silently breaks her granola bar in half and offers you some, Greg--who works in sound--offers you both a warning glare: I better not hear rubbish. 
So you munch quietly side by side, feeling somewhat mesmerized by the way that when the camera’s rolling, Jason and his scene partners feel like the only people in the room. The scripted jokes they’re cracking are so good, it makes you regret never finishing season 1. 
You don’t remember finding him nearly as attractive back then as you do now, sitting behind the cameras and the boom, a walkie-talkie on your own hip and a pit in your stomach when you realize this isn’t even a thought you should be having.
But you can’t help that warmth pools in your belly when he rolls up his sleeves or laughs from across the room. Okay, so, maybe this isn’t just jet lag. 
CUT!--the room buzzes back into motion, Maggie’s zipping around the set and shouts to Greg, can we start again at line 47? Poppy goes to powder Brendan’s forehead, Briony’s on her feet and then the whole thing starts again. 
That happens another three times before there’s actually a break. Props weren’t delivered on time and so a different scene is getting staged but it doesn’t mean much to you. You’ve checked your own inbox eight times today and Jason’s twelve. 
But today was quiet. Showing up and making a stellar impression in the first few weeks was definitely a good thing, but had you been…too productive? Had you accidentally fucked yourself over because now you’re sitting here looking like a moron because you didn’t have something to do?
You booked a zoo tour for him and his kids next month, finalized the rest of his schedule for this week, arranged his travel to see friends in Spain later this summer. You’d organized his home office last week, updated his business accounts spreadsheet and even managed to book him an appointment with an eye doctor after he told you it’d been three years (ridiculous). 
Jason walks up and says something to Greg, who’s pretending to give Briony shit about the granola bar. Briony’s smiling up at him like he’s just told her Christmas is coming early.
“Hey,” you greet Jason with a smile, hand him his cell phone that’s been tucked into the bum bag around your shoulders. 
“I saw the tickets to the zoo at Battersea Park--thanks for putting that together.”
You nod, glad you were able to come up with something he could do with his kids next weekend when they’d be in town. An advertisement on the tube is what led you to buying three tickets on a whim, just in case.
You smile and look to your left, for some reason nervous that someone will see how awkward you’re being and misread it. It doesn’t matter, though, because he reaches forward and his hand’s on your elbow in a way that makes your face feel warm. 
“I mean it,” he says, a nod to himself and to you, one that lets you know he’s touched by the gesture. 
“Yes, yeah, sure,” you nod like an idiot, immediately embarrassed by the way his touch leaves your mouth unable to form consonants or vowels.
“Jason, go talk to Mark about camera angles,” Maggie appears and slaps him on the shoulder, a smile on her face when she playfully barks the order. 
Phil’s hand is outstretched suddenly, a reminder that time on set moved faster than anywhere else. “Y/N, could you take a picture of me in this for my mum?” 
You accept the phone and snap a photo, Maggie’s answering a text and then gets tugged away by a PA.
You turn to face Jason when Phil walks away, you’re ready for a request or a task or anything. But he just holds your gaze for a second, a pleased smirk spreads across his face. 
“Anything I can get you?”
He shrugs, “I’m good.”
It dawns on you, right then, that he walked over here to talk to you. Well, maybe not you. Maybe you were just in his way. Maybe he was looking for someone else but he saw you and it reminded him to say thanks. 
But either way, right now it’s just you and Jason standing here and it feels good to think that maybe he just likes being around you. Maybe the smirk on his face is because he sees the way your brain is short-circuiting. Luckily, he pulls you out of your crisis. 
“Can you come to my trailer later, around 3? Before I have to help them shoot at Keeley’s office later? I can text you.”
You’re nodding and agreeing to it as you visualize your own calendar in your head. You’re supposed to get off at 4pm today, an evening to yourself and the idea of a glass of wine on the couch sounds especially nice now that you’ve realized your social skills are such shit. 
“Perfect, great,” he says. “Apparently I have to go talk to Mark.”
You nod, he nods, and then he turns to leave you by the huddle of sound guys handling wires and knobs. You meet him in his trailer and handle the emails and errands he needs, grab a tea on the way home and you’re in the door at 4:49pm--and that’s with afternoon traffic. 
London’s been sunny this week, you had wine with Maggie and Brett and Phil one night and you didn’t feel new. You felt normal.
Winter was fading into spring over the last ten days, it was starting to feel like you were your own little piece in the big puzzle you got thrown into. Brendan knew he could always count on you to laugh at his jokes--especially and specifically when they were aimed at Jason. Brett knows your childhood nickname and threatens to tell Phil every time you get dangerously close to calling him out for flirting with Maggie. 
You don’t always feel like a transplant anymore, you feel like someone who’s starting to have a place. A tiny one, maybe off in the corner, but still, a place.
And when you left Jason’s trailer that afternoon, you thought it’d be the last time you saw him. 
So, naturally, your eyes go wide when you find him beneath the light of your front door this evening. You’re in a sweatshirt and bike shorts, completely unprepared for company. 
“Hi!” he says quickly, almost like he’s startled by the opening of the door, like he didn’t know if you’d be home or expected someone else on the other side of the knob. There’s a smile on his face that mirrors yours almost immediately. “Hey, sorry—to just show up here, like this.”
“How do you know where I live?” You narrow your eyes, a teasing but confident tone. All that does is give him a cheerful smugness that you regret immediately, one that makes his eyes scan your face before he shrugs.
“I know I’m not your boss, but I’m, like, not not your boss at the same time.”
You hold back a laugh and watch him, “what a blurred and confusing boundary…”
He smiles, “Which, all I mean by that is that Maggie sent the listing to me when she found it, I’ve actually known where you live since before you lived here,” he admits casually.
“Got it,” you step aside and he comes in, shuts the door behind himself before he meets your eyes again. 
“How are you?” You ask, intrigued by his surprise visit but also not wanting to scare him off. You like the way he’s looking at you, your heart does a flip at the thought that he wants to be around you. Just like earlier today. Fuck.
“I’m good,” he says, you walk towards the kitchen and wave a bottle of wine in the air and he nods. “I got stuck late at work, I was walking and it started to rain.”
“You live like, two minutes from here…” you’re smiling despite the challenging statement, you grab a glass from an overhead cabinet.
He shrugs when he slinks into a barstool at your counter, apparently unfazed by your accusation when he comes off it easily: “yeah, I just wanted to say hi.”
You reach for a glass in the cupboard overhead and tease him over your shoulder. “Curious to see how Maggie allocated the living stipend?”
He sits up straighter now and plays into the bit, pushing his lips out in thought when he looks around your open concept kitchen and living room. “That and…”
He looks around the room again, his words hang in the air as he buys time. But his hair’s a mess and his watch isn’t on--so you know something’s up.
It clicks. He’s got something on his mind or something and he’s…trying to talk about it? To you? 
Men! Sheesh. You try to relax your forehead as you pour him a glass so your confusion and shock isn’t misread as displeasure. Realistically, you’re touched he feels comfortable enough and the thumping in your chest is a dead giveaway if he can hear it when you deliver the wine.
“Shit day?” You ask, watching as his fingers wrap around the step. He takes a sip and shrugs. 
“Yeah, shit day…shit month, shit year.”
You giggle into your own glass, take your first sip before nodding. “I know the feeling.”
“No, I shouldn’t--” he pauses and stumbles for a second, “I don’t mean to complain or sound like a dick.”
You shrug and offer a smirk. “You’re not a dick if you have a human emotion.”
He nods, watches the wine in his glass as a smirk crawls onto his face. He looks up at you. “My ex could argue that statement for two hours.”
“Could she?” You smile, nodding when you tell him: “I’m a pretty patient person.”
“Are you?” 
“I am,” you laugh, “I like to think so.”
He lets out a tiny laugh at your comment, quiet for a second before he lets out an exhale. “I’m just stressed, really. Being showrunner this season is harder than I thought and it’s not even hard, it’s just more than I’m used to.”
You nod immediately. That makes sense and you see the fatigue on his face. You’d heard Maggie talk about it before: long hours, late nights, location shoots, freezing days, rewrites and props changes. TV wasn’t easy and you were already aware of that, only a few weeks in.
“I get that��but I think it’s normal to notice the learning curve when you’re doing something new.” 
He nods, accepts it and holds his breath for a second. “Yeah, that’s…a good way to say it.”
He smiles at you softly, eyes coming up to meet yours quickly before he shrugs. “I know I’ll survive, it’s just—been a rough go of it, lately.” 
“So what’s your release?” You ask.
His brows furrow together and the crease in his forehead lights something up inside you.
He says it like this hasn’t occurred to him at all. “My release?”
“How are you dealing with your stress?” 
The confusion on his face turns into amusement when the corner of his mouth twitches toward your ceiling. 
“So, nothing?”
He laughs. “I hadn’t thought about—doing anything, really.”
“Men,” you roll your eyes, moving towards the couch with your wine in hand. “The wine’s a nice place to start, but certainly not enough.”
He makes a face for a second, like he’s judging himself or imagining the terrible things you must think about him now that you’ve heard his feelings, but he stands to follow and listens intently when you almost open up.
“When my boyfriend dumped me and Kyle let me go, I stayed in bed for a good���two weeks,” you admit, a grimace on your face because you know it makes you sound like a loser. “But then my sister suggested I go to a rage room and it was amazing.”
“A rage room?” He laughs. “One of those places where you just break shit?”
“Smashing a TV to pieces is surprisingly therapeutic,” you tell him seriously.
He thinks on it for a second, nodding like he’s giving it real thought when he plucks at his lower lip. You can see the smirk he’s fighting, a sip of wine when your eyes dare him to say whatever he’s thinking.
“You don’t have to tell me--”
“But,” you say at the same time as he says it. A flash of embarrassment on his face when you raise your brows, reading him like a book,  just spit it out. 
“Why’d you get fired?”
Right. You knew it would come up at some point and even if Jason wasn’t really your boss, he definitely had the right to be curious. 
“I only ask because I read her reference letter--she loves you.”
“She does love me,” you nod. “But she was having family issues and I wanted a raise and then I found out that her daughter was sleeping with my boyfriend.”
His lips form an ‘o’ involuntarily, the response you got from most people when they hear how the dominoes all fell at the same time.
“Yeah,” you shrug. “Fired might be a strong word, but, certainly how it felt.”
“Well, her loss,” he nods confidently. “I’ve seen the way you organized my desk drawers and it’s either witchcraft or psychoticism and I’m okay with either if it’s always this easy to find shit.”
“I’ll keep it up then,” you smile and take another sip. 
“Sorry to just…show up, by the way,” he looks down at his own glass in hand, “and drink your wine.”
You had been looking forward to a shower and a night of watching trashy reality TV (though now you’d sworn off all of the Real Housewives). Other than that, your night was likely to consist of facetiming your mom and plucking your eyebrows. 
Jason sitting at your counter with a smirk on his face didn’t bother you at all, but you certainly couldn’t tell him you were flattered that he came here.
You nodded to let him know it was no nuisance. “I’m always up for a glass of wine and talking you off the ledge.”
“That shouldn’t be part of your job description, though.”
“Do you know how many times I listened to Kyle complain about her friends or had to send gift baskets to them after fights?”
“I’m guessing a lot?”
“You venting about work stress is a walk in the park,” you reassure.
“Well, I’m glad,” he says solemnly, a moment when he holds your eyes and you feel your cheeks get warm. 
You clear your throat, don’t be stupid, and force out a joke to act like whatever moment this was wasn’t problematic or weird or worse, enticing.
“So unless you have a daughter that will sleep with my boyfriend, we’re probably good.”
“My daughter’s seven,” a beat when he shrugs a single shoulder. “And you don’t have a boyfriend.”
You take a loud slurp from your wine--partly for comedic effect and party out of your own awkwardness--and smirk over the rim to match his. “Right.”
table of contents | talk to me + join the tag list
AN: WOW! HI! It's been a hot minute. I'm so glad to be posting this chappie and so appreciative of everyone's patience as my life evolves and writing has taken up a smaller portion of my time. I would love love love to hear what you think of this chapter and the story so far, I've been writing a lot the last few days as feb turns into march and I'm excited to share more!!!!
taglist: @babysugar02 @daydreamgoddess14 @endlessblasphemy @hart-kinsella @shanefilan @bookoffracturedghosts @cavillsim @the-fanfic-fangirl @tegan8314
52 notes · View notes
we-were-beautiful · 2 years ago
Text
The Fox and The Hounds pt. 3
Tumblr media
A/N: I did switch up the writing style just a little bit and I am sorry if that throws people off. It is much easier for me to write in this style than the other but hopefully y’all will still like it. Also this fic takes place before the first war so there are some references to keeping humans as slaves which we know most of the high fae did  so heads up on that. Also I realize I worked myself into a corner and now have to come up with names for 17 doggos so please leave any suggestions  for names as I am drawing a blank on this. I will also accept people who want to beta read this for me to help me find silly mistakes that I know I miss
Summary: Its autumn court tradition to give your mate a fox kit before your ceremony. after years of knowing the Vanserra’s a mating bond snaps between the Autumn Heir and a well known smoke hound breeder
Warning: Brief mention of slavery 
 WC: 2.3k 
A month had passed since the mating bond had snapped between Eris and myself, and  since that fateful morning so much has happened since. Paprika has grown quite a bit and is an adventurous little creature. The hounds tolerate this new fox in the household but tend to ignore the small creature that nips at them. I had spent much of my time at the forest house with the Vanserras and Eris. This time has given Eris and I a chance to get to know one another on a more personal level rather than just the surface level friendship that we had previously had. However the last month had also been a never ending calendar of events that the two of us had been forced to attend. Balls, parties, and dinners; if there was an event with the nobility  Eris and I were to be in attendance. 
As it stands I am currently directing my fathers human slaves as they packed my clothing for a weekend away. Apparently Eris had arranged a weekend away for just the two of us with my father and his. To get to know each other away from prying eyes and without chaperones. It was a bit nerve racking; we had never really been on our own, either one of our parents or siblings are always with us or we are surrounded by the nobles of the court. The gentle bump on my hand pulls my attention away from my thought Paprika had hopped into my lap and decided that I needed to pay attention to her. A small smile gently forms on my face as I run my hand across the foxes soft fur “Y/N” my eyes glance to the door as my mother waltzes into the room. The humans give her a bow before returning to their task 
“Mom” I addressed her as she sat down next to me.
“How are you feeling, Darling.” she runs her hand through my hair 
“I’m not sure. We’ve never really been alone together.” I sigh and pick up Paprika to snuggle her to my chest. “And now we are going to be alone for a whole weekend. I don’t even know where to go from there.” 
“Well this is how you get to know each other Darling, if your father didn’t think it was a good idea he and Beron would not have agreed to Eris’ plans.” Mom gently takes one of my hands in hers “You two are mates, the mother deemed you to be his perfect match. Worse comes to worse you can always fall back on your hounds”
True enough Eris had requested that I bring my hounds along. So it will be us and 18 dogs in whatever little cabin that Eris had planned for us to stay in. We had introduced the dogs last week at our home so that they could get to know each other. Thankfully the meeting had gone relatively well. Ramiel was her typical self but didn’t start any fights with Eris’ hounds so we counted that as a small victory. A few servants from the Forest House had come earlier to collect the hounds and bring them to the location. 
The clock on the wall ticks reminding me that the hour grows closer to the time when Eris is going to come and get me. I am hoping that he will be amiable to take a minute out of our trip. Bella’s puppies are now at the stage where we start letting the new families pick out which pup they want. Beron had come by earlier this week to pick out which pup would be his. I figured Eris would like to have an opinion on what pup we should keep as we are going to be sealing the mating bond in a little more than two weeks. A puppy would be a gentle start to see how well we can make decisions together as a pair. 
The gentle brush against my mental shields jolts me out of my thoughts 
“Where did you go Dear?” Mom’s voice breaks the silence. Her soothing tone is as comforting as it has been throughout my whole life. 
“I was wondering if Eris would mind postponing our trip for a little bit so that we can pick out which pup to keep.”  I explain to her 
“That sounds like a wonderful idea darling. I’m sure Eris will not be opposed. Quite frankly I’m surprised he got you a fox and not a puppy.” I had heard about that little bet that my parents had made. She thought for sure that Eris was going to find a smoke hound pup, whereas Father bet that he would go the traditional route with a fox kit. Turns out Father who was born and raised in the Autumn Court and who was Eris Godfather was right about my mate sticking to tradition.
“While I wouldn't have been sad with a puppy I had always dreamed about a fox.” As if knowing that we are talking about her, Paprika lets out a little yip wiggling in my arms to her back wanting her stomach scratched. I gently scritch her soft underbelly. A knock sounds through the door 
“Enter” Mothers voice rings out. One of the butlers head pokes into the room
“Lord Eris is here for Lady Y/N.”  He addresses the two of us. Mom quickly stands offering me one of her hands. I take it and allow her to pull me up off the bed. 
“Thank you.” She dismisses him and he nods and walks away 
“Come my love, your betrothed is waiting for you.” She places a quick kiss to my forehead 
The walk from my room to the foyer seems to take forever. The soft clicks of Ginger and Paprika’s claws on the wooden floor break the unnerving silence. Even though I had gotten to know Eris on a surface level this was a weekend without others to buffer. Sure there would be a servant who would come and prepare our meals, but other than that it would just be the two of us. The thought both filled me with excitement and fear. As we approached the door Cinnamon eyes met mine. There he stood in all his glory. Eris Vanserra always immaculately dressed, somehow managing to seem out of place in our home. A soft smile formed on his face as he turned fully to face us. 
“Lady L/N.” He bows towards my mother, walking over to the two of us. He takes my hand and places a kiss on the back of it. A habit he had started once the engagement was formalized “ My Mate.” 
“Lord Eris.” I curtsy, the hem of my riding dress pooling on the floor before rising. He had told me multiple times that I did not need to bow before him or address him as lord; I was his mate, his equal but life in the court had taught me protocol on how to interact with the highlord's family. Eris releases my hand placing his on my chin gently tilting my head to look at him. 
“How many times must I tell you Mate that you are allowed to call me just by my name.” 
His tone could be read as cocky, his grin doing nothing to dispute that. Something in his eyes however seemed almost sad at the formality 
“At least once every time we meet.” and more if the Highlord was around. I was always cautious around Beron, even though he was my fathers best friend he was notorious for his anger and cruelty. Which I had no desire to experience, hence the formality with my soon to be in-laws. 
“This will change after the wedding “ He cups my chin tilting my head to look at him “you are my mate and equal, I won’t have us going through life with you addressing me formally” 
We stare each other down for a moment seemingly lost in each other. Something that I had noticed in the time we spent together. We tended to get lost in a little bubble of just the two of us even in a room full of people. A small cough from my mother pulls us out of it, making me jump backwards slightly away from the fiery haired male.
“Y/N, the servants have finished packing your things for the weekend.” She laughs at the situation and how easily we got lost in each other forgetting that we had an audience “Didn’t you mention wanting to show Eris something before you left.” 
“Oh, Yes” the puppy I had nearly forgotten. “If it's not too much I would like to gather your opinion on something before we depart for the weekend.” 
“Of course my mate, whatever you need it is never a problem .” He gently holds out his arm for me to take. I thread my arm through his getting ready to lead him towards the kennels Paprika danced between the two of us bumping into our legs to get our attention, the little kit was eager to set out on an adventure and given that her leash had already been attached she was more than ready to get out of the manor. 
“I will leave you two alone then.” Mother walks over and gives me a kiss on the forehead “enjoy your weekend my love.” 
She turns to face Eris and a saccharine smile grows on her face “I trust you will take care of my daughter Eris.” while not a threat the intention was clear as day, hurt my daughter and I will make you wish for a merciful end. 
“Of course lady Charis. It's just a weekend so that we can get to know each other outside of the court. I will make sure she is taken care of and protected.’ He bowed his head towards her not truly understanding that it was more than just a mothers threat to keep her child safe. She had kept her powers hidden from everyone here in Autumn and when I showed similar powers I was taken  to the night court to train and hone these gifts alongside my cousin. 
“Goodbye Mother, I will see you when I return.”  I smile at her before gently pulling Eris towards the door. 
“Goodbye my dear, I love you.” She always told us that when we left it didn’t matter how long we would be gone she always made sure to tell us she loved us. 
“I love you too.” I smile at her over my shoulder as I lead my mate out the door and towards the kennel. 
We walk in silence for a few moments before Eris speaks up. 
“What did you want my opinion on Y/N” straight and to the point as he typically was but not in a cruel way but rather inquisitive. As if curious to what his bride might want. 
“Well I plan on keeping one of Bellatrix’s pups, and since our ceremony is in two weeks I figured you might like a say in which puppy we keep.” I open the door to the kennel letting him walk inside. “The Highlord already selected his pup, as promised he did have first pick; I have a few families coming next week to select their pups. By the time of our ceremony the pups will be just about ready for their new homes.”  I led him back towards Bella’s large cage, swiping one of the dog tags embossed with the L/N crest, a simple way of knowing who the hounds belong to. “So we still have 5 pups to choose from.” 
‘I trust your judgment on quality hounds Y/N seeing as you are the most talented breeder in the court, but thank you for wanting my opinion” his voice seemed softer now that the two of us were away from prying eyes. 
Stepping into the cage Bella stands and walks to the two of us nudging my hands with her large head. It is a sight to see Eris drop to his knees to pet the pups, but the smile that he wore showed that he wouldn't want to be anywhere else. I moved to kneel beside him gently petting the pups who were excited to see us. The runt of the litter worms his way into my lap circling around a few times before laying down. I had always been rather fond of this little guy. Even though he is smaller than his siblings he seemed to have inherited Khalid's personality, and if he's anything like Bella he will grow into a formidable hound. Eris reaches over to pet the pup's head playing with his velvety floppy ears. 
“You’re fond of this one.” it's not a question rather a statement. 
“I am, he reminds me so much of Bella when she was a pup. I ran a hand along his soft fur looking over to Bellatrix who had laid down beside me.  
“Does he have a name?” Eris looks to me and then to the pup. 
“No, I don't generally give the pups names, I let the families decide.”  It was a method that kept me from getting attached to the pups and wanting to keep all of them. 
“We can take some time this weekend to pick out a name.” Eris smiles at the pup, “I think he will be a great addition.” 
A smile grew on my face, this pup had weaseled his way into my heart, and I knew I would have chosen him on my own, but to have my mate agree to the runt of the litter made my heart happy. In times like this I can almost forget the whole situation that we are in. Right now we are just a couple picking out a puppy; no courtiers, no parents, just Eris and Y/N.  I clipped the tag onto the collar, the metal cool against my fingers. Eris reaches over and grasps my hand still holding the tag. 
“We will need to get you some different tags for your hounds when we return.” His voice is smooth and calm.
Reality hits me again. We were going to be mated in two weeks and I wouldn’t just be Y/N the daughter to Beron’s most trusted advisor and member of the court. I would be Y/N Vanserra wife and mate to the heir of Autumn. 
Taglist: 
@imma-too-many-fandoms @judig92 @fall-myriad​ @j-brielmalfoy @highlady-ofillyria @percyjacksonspeen @nyctophiliiiiaaa​ @b0xerdancer
130 notes · View notes
fwkei · 4 years ago
Text
Remember...?
Tumblr media
Draken x fem!reader (mainly fluff slight angst)
Finally got my first request yall 🥳 I couldn’t strictly follow the request like i wanted to but i hope thats alright, the gist is still there. anyways thank you sm for it and i hope you enjoy 
TW/CW: Mentions of sex, mentions of alcohol, mentions of sex work
WC: 7k (omg the most ive ever written🙆🏻‍♀️)
Note: I changed my writing style a bit for this request so i hope yall don’t mind! and again i dont read my stuff over so my apologies if theres any mistakes lmao
------------------------------------
You sat on the street, overheating as you watched the ‘heat waves’ coming off the ground. You held your hair up with one of your hands since you had nothing to tie it with, while the other held a lukewarm water bottle. You sighed, you felt so anxious and frustrated.
What now?  
You thought letting your mouth part due to your heavy breathing 
You took things too fast. It had been about 3 weeks since you left your parents ‘home’ and why did you leave? Well there were a number of reasons that are a bit too much to list, but all that matters now is that you’re completely and utterly on your own. 
You only managed to scavenge small jobs here and there to get some money to buy some basic necessities but nothing more. 
“Sorry Y/n, my niece is coming down to Tokyo and I told her she could have a job here and stay at the studio above...I’m gonna have to let go. I’m sorry.” said your boss to you only a couple hours ago, with pity filled eyes 
“...No it’s fine really! I understand.Thank you for taking me in while you could.” you said bowing your head at the man, biting your inner cheek trying to keep a level head 
“I’m happy you understand. You can leave your apron and hat on the cashier. On your way out.” he said patting your shoulder as you slowly brought your head up 
“Right..” you said taking off your apron and hat as you walked slowly to the cashier, placing it down 
You brought your hands to your temples out of stress, trying to figure out what you could do now. You only had very little money, and there was a heat wave striking Japan this week. At least your boss allowed you to live and pay rent in the small studio right above his store, which had an AC, but now that was for his niece.  
This had been the first time in a while where you had no idea what to do. You had always been the type of person to be able to take care of yourself and your problems..on your own. All your life since you can remember, you always had to be the one to take care of others, not that you mind or minded...but you were only so young. You never really had a childhood, at least not that you can remember. You do remember cleaning up after your parents who lost all will just to even... parent. You remember taking jobs as a babysitter at a really young age in your apartment complex to make some money.. You remember being the reliable older kid of your school and complex, where kids would come to you asking for help with things like homework all the way to buying something for them to eat because they were hungry. Not once did you ever say no, because you really did want to be there for those kids who’s parents didn’t give them the care they needed. But it just became too much.. You ended up spending all of your saved up money on them, just so they could have something to play with or something to eat. 
Before you even realized it, you were in your last year of high school, with no money saved over, no scholarships, no one to rely on but yourself. Not even a friend. Was it really the right thing to do? Use all your money that you worked so hard for to help kids he lived next door? Or just plain stupid? You knew you couldn't support them forever...but you tried so hard to. All you wanted was to give them a childhood they never had, and someone to look up too. But now you left them. All because you were frustrated. You felt so unbearably guilty. All the work you put into your studies to get at least some type of scholarship just went to waste because you couldn't handle your life anymore. You were being so so so stupid. 
Before you even knew it, the sun was going down, and you grew even more tired and sleepy. You signed, taking a jacket out of your bag and placing it on the ground so you could rest your head on it. You brought your hands to cushion your cheek as your eyes started to close. The air finally got a little cooler making it easier to breathe and well...do anything. 
As you were falling asleep you could hear chatter and laughing, and finally a tap on your shoulder waking you up. You cringed your eyes before opening them up more to see 2 women. One had blonde hair and the other had pinkish hair. They looked older than you, maybe in their 20’s. One held a bag and the other held a bottle of wine with two glasses, they bent down so their heads could be closer to yours. After examining you for a bit they turned to each other and smiled happily before turning back their gaze to your confused face. 
“Hey?” you said sitting up more, a little startled by the intimate contact they were giving you 
“Hey there, say...what’s a pretty girl like you sleeping on the street for?” asked the girl with pinkish hair that was tied into pigtails 
“I uh..don’t have a place right now so..” you said scratching your head 
“Really? Hmmm.” said he one with blonde hair 
“How old are you? And what’s your name? I think we can help you out! Woman to woman!” said the pink haired girl smiling sweetly making you feel fuzzy at their niceness 
“18, and it’s Y/n.” you said smiling nervously 
“Nice to meet you Y/n, I’m Remi, this is Rema, my twin sister.” said the pink haired girl pointing to the blonde as she waved sweetly 
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you too..!” you said bringing your hands to your thighs smiling 
“So did you just turn 18?” asked Rema 
“Sorta, 2 months ago, why?” you asked 
“Oh good!” they both said 
“Well, it’s your choice really. One of the girls left today, and the boss sent us to scout another girl to take her place, buttt we just went to buy food with no intentions of finding someone but luckily we just found you! It’s perfect!” said Remi 
“Oh? What work?” you asked getting excited 
“Oh silly, we live in a brothel! It’s really not all that bad you know, great pay and rooms...so what do you think?” asked Rema 
“A brothel..” you said under your breath 
Your mind was in a serious state of concentration. 
It can’t be all that bad, right? You just have to please people and go on with your day so… that’s what i've been doing my whole life… plus… there's a bunch of women in those things right? I probably won't get too much attention from customers if there's sweethearts like Remi and Rema walking around...so...just for the time being… I think it could really work out in my favor. 
You thought to yourself 
You brought your head up, giving the girls a closed eyes smile before shaking your head ‘yes’ making them jump in excitement. 
“Oh good!” yelled Remi grabbing your hands 
“I’m so excited! We haven't had a new girl in years! How do you think Ken will react?” asked Rema smiling as you 3 all started to walk 
“Ken?” you asked furrowing your eyebrows at the familiar name 
“Oh right, We’ll have to introduce you to him and everyone else tomorrow. He’s the bosses foster kid..I think you two are actually the same age.” said Rema bringing her pointer finger to her chin 
“Mhm mhm! Oh and since you're new, tomorrow I will take your pictures for the board, you can borrow one of my sets till you can afford to buy one for yourself, how does that sound Y/n?” asked Remi smiling and holding your hand 
“It sounds..great! Thank you so much.” you said bowing your head slightly 
“No worries! Hopefully the boss will take you in.” said Remi patting your head 
“Yeah..” you said as you 3 continued to walk to the brothel 
You couldn't seem to get your mind off of that familiar name..Ken? You swore you knew someone named that. It definitely wasn't a popular name so it’s not like you knew it from some type of T.V program.. After thinking hard your whole way to your new home you couldn't seem to remember them. The person named Ken. And so you decided to brush it off for the time being. 
The brothel was pretty big, and consisted of 12 girls, not including yourself. It was really late so everyone was asleep. Remi and Rema showed you to your room which was much more spacious than your room at home. They told you that you were allowed to decorate it and style it however you wanted. But they told you it was important to know that this was the room where business would be done, and not to leave important things around since some of the men came into brothels for the sole purpose of stealing. Remi even told you a story about how one of her clients tried to steal one of her panites, but then the boy named Ken stopped him by knocking him out with one punch to the stomach.   
“He sounds strong-” you laughed as they gave you a small tour 
“He sure is! Like the bodyguard of this place! He’s a sweetheart!” said Remi smiling 
“I’m sure..!” you smiled 
“Alright that’s about it, you should shower now and get ready for tomorrow. The boss will probably wanna take a look at you before seeing if he wants you. But I'm sure he will! You're pretty so it’ll go smoothly!” said Remi handing you her shower stuff for you to use for tonight and a set 
“Got it, and again...thank you so much. I really appreciate it.” you said again 
“Of course! Remember..we’re neighbors so feel free to knock whenever you need something..Also I can give you some tips before your first client so you know what to do.” she said smiling 
“Right, goodnight then!..” you said feeling your face get hot at how she so easily talked about sex. 
After that, you did exactly as she said, you showered. You thoroughly washed your body, face, and hair. Getting out you looked down at the set Remi gave you. It was just a black bra and matching panties with a silk cover up which made you feel better knowing you could cover up with that.  
You rubbed your mouth as you started to rethink your decision. I mean...you respected sex workers..but was this life what you were willing to settle for? Aimlessly waiting around for some random horny man to choose you and do things with you just for you to get only 40% of the payment? Was this all really worth it? Leaving home to avoid your problems...to end up here? You were grateful, yes, Remi and Rema were so sweet and open with you. You could only hope that the others were just as nice. You really wanted things to go well, and that can only start with some good rest. 
You woke up to a knock on your door, to see Remi and Rema walking in with a smile 
“Morninggg!” they sang as you quickly got out of bed 
“Hi!” you said frantically 
“No need to rush! Usually men start coming in at 10, but since you don't work here officially yet you got to sleep in a bit! But the boss called for you, you should go to the set up room down the hall to get ready, remember it?” asked Rema 
“Yeah I do. Thank you for waking me-!” you said smiling and grabbing your stuff and shoes 
“Course, good luck Y/n!” they said as you quickly walked out of your room to get ready 
As you walked in, there were a few other girls getting ready. You smiled and introduced yourself to them, and them to you. They were all so nice and pretty. It made you feel a little bit better about being here, and less nervous since they complimented your looks. You got ready in about 10 minutes, letting one of the other girls help you out with your hair and stuff like that. You gave yourself one last look in the mirror before stepping out and waving to the girls ‘bye.’ 
You nervously walked to the boss's door. You took a deep breath before knocking. You heard a muffled ‘come in!’ so you walked in smiling while holding your covering close. You gave a nervous closed eyes smile before seeing his office was simple, just a desk with a bunch of papers and a chair on the other side. 
“Y/n, correct?” he asked placing down his paper and taking off his glasses to look at you
“Yes.” you said smiling 
“Pleasure-” he said leaning over the desk to shake your hand 
“Likewise.” you said smiling, shaking his hand firmly before sitting down
“Well, I’m sure Remi and Rema told you just about everything you need to know, I take 60% of your earrings, I use that stuff to pay for rent and bills for you girls and my kid… which usually takes up about 30% of that 60%, meaning you make a profit of 40, while I make only a profit of 30 per girl.” he said 
“Yeah, I was told.” you said smiling nervously fiddling with your hands
“Good good, now that that's over with..” he said getting up ad signing 
“I’m just gonna take a look at you, no need to be nervous I’m not gonna touch you or anything, so please don’t feel worried.” he said smiling 
“Right!” you said getting up 
“Alright just do a quick 360 with arms up.” he said smiling 
“Okay.” you said doing as he said 
He looked you up and down but not in a lustful way at all, it was more of like a ‘just seeing how you’ll hold up’ kinda look, almost like he was a bit worried for you. 
“Thank you-” he said sitting back down as you did the same feeling nervous
“I was also told you’re 18? Right?” he asked looking down at his papers 
“Yeah that's right.” you said 
“Well I don't usually have this talk with the other woman because they're older. I know the age of consent in Japan is 16 and blah blah, but you’re still pretty young, are you sure you wanna work like this?” he asked looked into your eyes 
“...Not entirely but it’s the best I can do right now.” you said with a determined face
“I see- we’ll then welcome, and just remember you can leave whenever you want, but give a 2 weeks notice. When Remi is done, ask her to take your picture.” he said 
“Understood, thank you!” you said said smiling and leaving   
You walked out of the room, closing the door carefully signing in relieve 
That went pretty well.
You thought 
You started to walk down the hall so that you could ask Remi to take your picture. But when you put your ear to the door, you heard lewd noises letting you know she wasn’t done just yet. It was already 5, and the brothel closes at 10. You didn’t really know what to do, so you walked over to the kitchen, sitting down at one of the stools waiting for Remi and or Rema to finish up with their work. You tapped the pen that was on the table and started to look around the kitchen. You remembered Remi told you there were snacks in the cabinets, so you got up and started to open and close them one by one to find something to eat. You finally found a cabinet filled instant ramen, you grabbed one and started to pour water into it, popping it into the microwave that was on the counter top. You stood in front of it waiting, playing with the loose strings of you covering when suddenly you heard the door open. 
“I’m home.” said the tall boy with dark hair tied back to reveal a dragon tattoo on the side of his head 
Is this Ken? 
You thought as the microwave beeped, making his eyes turn to you
You quickly shot your eyes to the microwave, hoping he didn’t notice your stare. He looked so familiar it was almost irritating how you couldn’t remember him. You took the hot cup out of the microwave, placing it down on the counter top, ignoring his presence as he walked over, placing down the plastic bag in his hand, noticing your frustrated face trying to figure out where the utensils are. 
“Left of the sink are where they are.” he said sitting down on the stool across from you after looking at your face a bit 
“Thank you.” you said smiling nervously turning around to grab a pair of chopsticks 
“Are you new here?” he asked taking out a styrofoam box from the plastic bag, opening it to reveal a hot meal of meat and rice and vegetables 
“Yeah..I was supposed to start today but I don’t have my pictures taken yet.” you said smiling turning back to mix your noodles 
“Could you grab me a pair too?” he asked realizing he forgot to take a pair of chopsticks from the restaurant 
“Sure-” you said turning back quickly to grab some for him, placing it in his hands as he gave you a soft smile making your eyes widen slightly. 
“You look familiar..” you both said at the same time making both your eyebrows raise in shock then turn into a slight scoff from the both of you 
“Glad we’re on the same page then.” he said taking a bite of his food as you did the same still standing 
“You know you can sit down, don’t feel nervous.” he said looking up you slightly 
“..yeah.” you said smiling, walking around and sitting next to him. 
“So when’d you come?” he asked turning his head slightly to see your mouth filled with noodles making him smile a bit 
“..I came by last night, really late with Remi and Rema.” you said after finishing your bite
“I see...I feel like I remember you from somewhere, can’t pinpoint it though.” he said looking back down at his food 
“Same here, and you must be Ken though, right? When I first heard your name I swore the same thing but I just can’t remember..” you said before sipping some of the broth of your soup
“Yeah, but you can call me Draken and your name?” he asked getting up to grab a napkin from across the table 
“Draken...sure! Oh right, my bad. It’s Y/n. Nice to meet you-” you said smiling holding your hand out for him to shake
He only completely shot up to look into your eyes with his wide ones. You gave him a confused look as you watched him get knocked out of his thoughts, bring his hand up to shake your hand before clearing his throat and walking back over to sit. Maybe you struck a nerve? Maybe had the same name as someone who hurt him in the past? You really didn’t know but it made you feel interested. He looked like he just had his life flash before his eyes or something. 
“Are you okay?” you asked 
“Uh yeah, I’m fine. My head just hurts a bit.” he said looking as if he was deep in thought 
“Oh? I have some tylenol in my room.. You want one? Or I can make you a cold drink, you’re probably dehydrated?” you asked smiling a bit 
Draken turned his head to look at you, his mouth was parted, and he just looked so..anxious? You couldn’t even tell, almost like congested because he wanted to say something. 
Draken felt his heartbeat quicken when he heard your name. As soon as you said it, a random memory that was buried deep in the back of his mind hit him as he quickly re-lived it. But could it really be you? The Y/n he knew from so so so long ago? Around 10 years ago? There could be no way, he remembers the girl moving to a different city..the chances were so low that it could really be you already. 
But the second you said those words.. Those words of offering to make something for him, or give him something, despite you thinking you only just met him...Made him know that it was really the Y/n he met when he was only a little boy...but how the hell did you turn up here? In a place and part of town like this? He was so confused and just wanted to ask you...but you still didn’t remember him. 
“..No I’m alright, thanks..can I ask you somethin-” said Draken before being interrupted 
“Y/n!! Come on, let's take your pictures!” yelled Remi coming out of her room waving as a man walked out too buttoning his shirt 
“Sorry, just remember what you wanted to say and tell me later.” you said smiling and standing up and walking over to Remi
Draken watched you as you walked away. He saw Remi give you a hug, and the man that was walking out checked you out to which Draken gave him a pissed off look. Making the man smile nervously, wave, and leave. 
Do you really wanna live your life like this, Y/n?
He thought to himself before packing up his trash and throwing it away
Remi took your pictures, telling you to do different poses etc, and you finally settled on one. You walked over to the front of the house to place your picture in its designated area above your name. You signed, stepping back to look at it, fixing your gaze to see Draken was walking over with his hands in his pocket, looking as he was going to leave. You saw him glance at the photo making you feel slightly embarrassed.
“Nice.” he said smiling but looking into your eyes in a way where it looked like he was concerned for you. 
Just as you were about to thank him a man walked in and started looking at you making you feel nervous. The man requested you, and so you smiled at him pointing your hand to where the showers were, as you started to walk behind him, you turned your hand giving a thumbs up to Draken with a nervously flushed face, smiling, as he he brought his hand up giving you a thumbs up with soft and concerning eyes before opening the door and leaving. It made your smile fade slightly, you’ve seen that face before from him. But not from today.. And it was all you could think about during your work. 
As you laid in your room, after work you couldn’t help but feel a little bit...stupid? You felt so unsatisfied, not because of your customers but because you just couldn’t remember. It felt like an itch you couldn’t scratch hard enough, and with every interaction you had with the boy almost felt like a tease, like the itch just became more itchy and your scratches just became more weak. Maybe if you spend more time with him, you’ll remember? 
It had been about 4 weeks, 4 weeks of saving your money, and every 4 weeks the boss collected his fair share of the cut. It wasn’t a pretty 4 weeks, it was probably the worst 4 weeks of your life. But... you and Draken would often exchange stories about your lives late at night which you enjoyed a lot. It always makes you feel better. But yet again you still couldn't figure him out. You felt as though you’ve met him before, and as though you two have had these kinds of talks before. 
Draken only grew more and more helpless, seeing how you still haven’t remembered. He was slowly watching your life crumble. He felt so angry that you settled and believed you deserved to live like this, barely scraping by. He felt so awful, and saw how you grew so tired of it all. He just so badly wanted you to remember him, so that he could once again talk to you like he did before.
You had one last customer before closing, going through your usual routine, this n that, the man offered you a drink. You stupid obliged drinking it, hoping it would make your time more enjoyable but you were wrong, so very wrong, and so very stupid for drinking that stupid drink. You remember some parts, you did your job, then it all went black.. You woke up after hearing knocking on your door. You jumped out of bed, confused. You remember seeing the man leave as you started to fall asleep but that's about it. Usually you never fall asleep after the work because you never do much, your mind started to panic. But the door opened revealing Remi smiling.
“Hey sleepy! Boss says it’s your turn, come on, get your cash!” she said smiling 
“Right let me just..it’s in my drawer..I don't know why I fell asleep so fast I think alcohol makes me sleepy.” you said getting out of bed and kneeling in front of your drawer to get the envelope of cash you had been saving.
“Heh, same here. I never accepted drinks from clients..they never had good intentions with that!” she said coming over and sitting at your bed 
“..yeah.” you said starting to feel that panic arise in your body when seeing the envelope was...gone.
“What's wrong?” asked Remi noticing you were frozen 
“I- the money..It’s gone..he took it..” you said with wide eyes feeling as though you were about to sob realizing you had just lost thousands of yen.
“Don’t say that..it..it probably just got misplaced! Come on, I'll help you look!” said Remi getting up  
You couldn't even respond because of the amount of panic you were in. Your heart was racing and you felt tears fall from your eyes. After about 15 minutes of looking, you two found nothing. Absolutely nothing. You sat on the floor with your hand over your mouth, again, trying to keep a level head. 
What now..?
You thought to yourself feeling hot tears stream from your face.
“Hey..guys? Boss is calling for you Y/n..what’s going on?” asked Rema walking in seeing you covering your face, crying 
“She was robbed by the guy who just left, he put something in her drink to knock her out while he looked around and took the money...she doesn’t have the money.” said Remi 
Rema’s mouth parted in shock and pity. 
How could you mess up something so easy? All you had to do was keep your money safe. But you even failed at that. 
“You have to tell him, Y/n.” said Rema rubbing your back
“Yea..yeah, could you two just give me a second? I’ll be right out.” you said smiling while wiping your face 
“Sure.” they said frowning and walking out 
You fisted your hands, and grabbed your covers before screaming into them to muffle your sounds..
Okay..it was a couple of thousand yen...not too bad right? I can promise the money by tomorrow..I’ll pick up some sort of street job...yeah! That’s good. Everything is fine..it’s fine.
You thought to yourself before wiping your face on more time and slapping both sides of your cheeks to wake you up.
You got up and walked to the bosses door feeling the eyes of people on your back. You knocked on the door before opening it slowly, refusing to make eye contact as you went to stand in front of the man with your arms behind your back.
“Alrighttt, let’s see here, in the last four weeks you had a total of 37 customers, so you should have around 300,000 yen, correct?” he asked looking at his paper 
“Yes.” you said still looking down
“Alright, just hand it to me so I can count and divide it, you can sit.” he said smiling holding his hand out 
“I..I don-” you said before being interrupted by a knock 
“Come in.” he said 
“Hey sorry dad, Y/n left her money with me while she went out. Thought I should bring it to her. Remember, Y/n?” said Draken walking in with an envelop in his hand smiling as he came to stand next to you, as you nodded your head ‘yes’ 
“Oh, thank you Ken.” he said smiling and taking the envelop 
Your mouth parted as you gave a confused look, Draken only smiled and gave you a thumbs up while his dad counted the money. You felt so guilty and shocked, and all you could do was just stand there, like an idiot. 
“Here you are...120,000 back..” he said, patting the money on the table to make it flat, putting it back into the envelope and handing it to you
You hesitantly brought your hand to grab it, glancing over at Draken who gave you small smile
“Thank you-” you said to him seeing Draken was already opening the door to leave 
You quickly followed after him as he walked into his room. Before entering his room he turned around and looked down at you 
You felt your eyes soften as you felt as though you were about to cry again, you tilted your head and neck down biting the inside of your cheek to keep in your cry. 
“I promise I’ll pay all of it back by tomorrow, all 300,000.” you said 
“Do you ever give yourself a break?” he asked as you brought your head up to look at him seeing he looked almost irritated 
“You didn’t even ask why I did it, you just immediately jumped to feeling guilty. And you don’t need to pay me back. Really.” he said bringing his hand to close to the door, but you stopped him by grabbing his wrist making his breath hitch 
“Why?” you asked looking into his eyes 
“You still don’t remember? Even after all this time we’ve spent together?” he asked smiling as you took your hand off his wrist 
“Remember...?” you asked furrowing your eyebrows in confusion, but then it suddenly hit you
“I swear it wasn’t me! I didn't steal!” yelled a little boy with blonde hair as two cops stood in front of him 
You tilted your head and walked closer, but still keeping your distance to hear. It was a winter day and you were on your way to the corner store to buy some snacks, but you were met with an interesting scene. You kept your hands in your pockets as you listened over to the boy screaming and pleading his innocence 
“I wouldn’t steal something so stupid! What would a kid like me need a lighter for!! I don’t know how it ended up in my pocket! Lay off!” he yelled as the officer dangled the lighter in front of his face
A lighter?
“Keep it down! We know how troubled you kids are here! Especially with those tattoos!” yelled back the cop as the boy grew angry and fisted his hands, ready to punch the cop
“Hey!!!” he heard a voice yelled 
“Hey wait a minute!” you yelled waving your hand smiling as you ran to the scene 
“Can we help you?” asked one of the cops in a soft tone 
The blonde boy grew quiet, and you saw his hands loosen as he looked at your smiling face 
“Yeah, why are you two yelling at my brother?” you asked furrowing your brows at the two grown man 
“...Your so-called brother stole a lighter from the corner store right behind you, where are your parents? We would like to have a word with them.” he said standing up straight 
“Yeah, and talk about how they let their son tattoo himself already..” said one under his breath making the other laugh 
You looked over at the boy growing angry, you gave him a smile..making him calm down.
“He said it was just an accident, I asked him to pick up a lighter from the store so that we could light a candle at our father’s grave! See!” you said digging into your bag to pull out a candle 
“He probably felt pressured because I asked him to get it, so if you’re gonna get mad at someone, get mad at me!” you said as you started to fake cry 
“It’s our father's death anniversary, and you're yelling at kids for making a mistake.” you faked cried
“Yeah!!” yelled the boy making you smile under your hands as the two officers became anxious, feeling bad for what they had just done.
“..we’re sorry. Please let us apologize.” they said slightly bowing at you two 
“I don’t think we can accept it...you two also made fun of the dragon tattoo on his head!...dragons were our dads favorite animal. He risked his life fighting for Japan and you two are laughing at him! Is that how your mother taught you how to behave?” you asked pretending to wipe you tears as the blonde boy watched you in awe seeing you toy with grown men 
“Please let us treat you both to whatever you’d like from the corner store as an apology!” they both said bowing lower making you smile and look back at the boy. You gave him a thumbs up as a smile grew on his face 
“Fine..come on then?” you said as both the officers raised their heads, opening the doors of the corner store for you both 
You and the blonde boy walked around the store, filling your baskets with all types of things. The blonde boy watched you in just pure awe as you walked around picking your favorite snacks, as he did the same, glancing at you every now and then. 
“Here.” you said smiling at the cops 
“Right!” they said frantically taking out their wallets as the boy placed down his stuff nervously, still watching you
“Oh and-” you said reaching your hand to grab the lighter from the officer and placing it into the bunch of snacks 
You smiled, your hands were behind your back as you watched the officers pay for yours and the boys' food, placing them into bags for you guys too. You grabbed the lighter and your bag, as the boy did the same 
“Mom told us to meet her at the cemetery steps, remember?” you said looking into the boys eyes
“..yeah, I remember.” he said smiling feeling his face become hot 
“Let’s go then.” you said smiling and taking his hand as you two ran out of the store 
After a bit you two stopped and sat on the curbside while you both chose a snack to eat.  
“Here’s your lighter, you don’t have to stay with me by the way.” you said handing him the steel lighter 
“..Thanks” he said 
“Sure- what do you need it for anyway?” you asked smiling 
“My boss asked for it.” he said putting it in his pocket
“Oh, are you in some type of delinquent group?” you asked looking at him 
“Yeah..” he said smiling 
“That's cool, what do you guys do?” you asked taking a sip of your drink 
“We kinda just...like...do stupid stuff and fight..” he said 
“Sounds fun, but...stupid.” you said laughing making him scoff 
“Why’d you do it?” he asked 
“Do what?” you asked back turning you gaze to him 
“Come in to cover me. You could’ve gotten in a lot of trouble because of me.” he said with a frustrated face 
“You’re right, I just wanted to, that's all.” you said smiling making his mouth part and cheeks redden
“You seem pretty fun too so I thought we could be friends or something..” you said nervously 
“Yeah! Sure- We can be friends!” he said happily making you feel flustered 
“Well then, it’s nice to meet you, my name is Y/n, yours?” you asked holding over your hand 
“Ken, but you can call me Draken-” he said taking ahold of your hand gently as you gave him a closed eyed smile blushing 
“where the hell did you find that candle and com up with that whole sob story Y/n?”
“Dunno, I saw the candle on the ground by a newspaper, I kinda just winged it- “
After that day you remember hanging out with Draken almost every other day. You remember him telling you how he and his close friends started their own gang and needed some sort of funding, and so you gave it to him, on his birthday.
“I saved up! You said that you and your friends needed some money to start off so that you guys could buy a flag or banner? Right? Well, here’s 30,000 yen for your birthday!” you said handing him an envelope and a small balloon.
“Are-are you serious right now Y/n?” he asked taking the gifts, opening the envelope to look inside to see the money as his eyes lit up 
“Yeah, I babysit more kids now so I was able to put some aside for you.” you said smiling satisfied with his reaction 
He didn’t even say anything, all he did was bring his arms around you upper body, hugging you tight making you laugh as you brought yours to hug him back 
“Thank you- you’re the best! The guys will be so happy!” he said smiling while grasping your wrists in excitement. Your eyes traced over his face as they soften. You smiled. 
“Likewise.” 
And- after that, you remember the day you 2 separated as friends. You both sat on the curbside, you remembered you called him to come and see you. It was a winter night and the sun was going down. 
“I uh..well I don’t really know how to say this without sounding cliche but-”
“What? Are you gonna confess that you’re madly in love with me or something?” he asked grinning, making you sweat drop 
“Jeez be quiet...I’m trying to make this a memorable moment-” you signed smiling, placing your palms on the cold cement 
“Alright let’s hear it then Y/n-!” he said bringing his hands to the back of his head as he laid down looking up at the stars 
You only frowned slightly, you shifted your position so that you could sit beside him and have a good look at his face. 
“You’re scaring me..” he said jokingly making you smile 
“It was really fun the past year.” you said smiling as Draken shot his head up to look at you face to face 
“The hell are you talking like that for?” he asked furrowing his brows 
“My parents can’t afford living in any districts in Tokyo anymore, so we’re moving to another city… about 4 hours train ride from Tokyo so-” you said looking down at your hands on the floor
“So? You act like I won't be able to come and see you or you come and see me..” he said ducking his head a bit so that you could look at him 
“Draken, train tickets are about 220 yen per person, I can't afford it, and if you came by to see me I'd feel guilty because you’d be wasting your money just to only see me for like an hour.” you said 
“How can I be wasting my money on you? It’s not wasting if I wanna do it and see you, plus what makes you think it'll only be a couple hours?” he asked 
“I’ll have to start working once we get there, so I wouldn’t have anytime...I wanna start saving so that one day I can come back to Tokyo and live here, so that I can see your dream come true of helping your friend create a ‘new era of delinquents’ you know? I’ll even help you guys if you want with financial stuff or something.” you said smiling at him 
Draken bit the inside of his cheek. He wanted to tell you so bad how he felt but..
“Look, I have a feeling I know what you’re gonna say..just remember what you wanted to say and tell me later, okay?” you said placing your hand on top of his causing his eyes to widen 
“...You’ll remember me, right?” he asked looking into your eyes deeply making your mouth part 
“Yeah, I’ll remember you as long as you remember what you wanted to tell me. Cause I feel the same” you said smiling as a tear fell from your eyes 
“good...I will.” he said smiling back and tilting his head and wiping it off your face
After the memories hit you, you stood there with wide eyes and tears, with your wrist covering your quivering mouth. You had completely suppressed your memories of Draken, and your feelings because you knew you wouldn't be able handle being apart from him for so long. And he did the same. You couldn’t imagine how unbearable it was for him to be waiting up like this. You looked up at him seeing his eyes were softly looking at you. You could do nothing but bring your arms around him hugging him, as he brought his arms around you to do the same. You were still such in shock. 
“I never thought you’d end up in a place like this, living a life like this.” he said against your ear 
“I don’t wanna see you like this, please let me take care of you like you did for me..” he said said tightening his grip slightly  
You could only cry at his words, you didn’t even wanna try to speak because you knew it would only come out as a sob. Was it really alright for you to rely on someone so much?
He pulled back from the hug and looked at your face, seeing you were still crying as you nodded your head ‘yes’, he smiled and wiped them away with his thumb. The smile on his face...he looked so satisfied...and happy...happy that you finally remembered. Finally remembered him.
239 notes · View notes
junova · 5 years ago
Text
↬ 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞𝐭𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐭 | 𝐬. 𝐫𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐬
abstract: the one where steve finds your love letters.
pairing: au!steve x fem!reader
word count: 3K+
warnings: cussing, fluff, angst, crying, slight self-deprecation.
[author’s note]: hey guys! i’m really new to the writing scene so kind words are appreciated! srsly just testing my writing style out and wanted to just post something to motivate me to keep writing. hope u like it. <3
also thank u ari for the inspo and that bomb ass album that saved twenty-twenty. now we just need biden to get elected.
ps. don’t forget to vote! <3
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Stevie,
First and foremost, I want you to know how proud of you I am. You have become the man you’ve said you become, the one I always knew you would. You have finally seen what the rest of us see.
A good man.
The soul you carry within you shines brighter than I’ve ever seen. Just for that only, I’m thankful for the time we’ve spent together. Maybe one day, I’ll be brave enough to tell you this without hiding behind the comfort of this notebook. She won’t spill my secrets, fortunate for me.
Some days you have no idea how badly I want to tell you. I think it’s on the days I discover a new fleck of green in your eyes or maybe when you show up to class with a cup of coffee for me without request.
More. More. More.
More. More. More.
It’s selfish of me, that much I know. More days than not, I would say you give too much of yourself away. Always wanting to appease everyone, you, Steven Rogers, the bridge to making the people around you happier than they walked in. Even when Bucky drags you into his nonsense bullshit, you say yes without hesitation.
I’ve got not a a clue on how you continue on, how you still remain you when you tend to spread yourself so thin. Who watches out for you? Who cares for you? Who loves the almighty, selfless Rogers?
For me, it’s much easier to pretend you carry too much on your plate than to deal with the rejection I would receive from you. You’re just too good, more than I deserve. More than I would be willing to take. I know I couldn’t possibly give you what you deserve but, I hope that one day you might see me differently. You would see me more than the light I’ve painted myself in.
Even though the shade is lovely, I want to be deeper. Deeper into you on a level which only seems unattainable at this point.
A forever friend. To be in your life, just as a friend, is an reward in itself.
But someday I hope you would love me in the same way I do. It’s all a love struck girl could do. Hope for the best, bet be prepared for the downfall.
With much love, your forever friend.
Tearing the page away from the binding of the overfilled notebook, dispensing it in the first empty drawer you could find, you abandoned the feelings as soon as the pen’s ink bleed out dry.
“You know it would just be easier to tell him how you feel.” You peaked up at the sound of her voice, before realizing she was looming over you, watching your write the letter.
Your supposed, secret letter.
“Nat, please. No.” Opening the drawer, she grabbed the letter but was surprised with just how many she found.
“You’ve got to be kidding me. You’ve written about him multiple times?” You sank in the soft, plush material of your seat hoping that just maybe it would begin to swallow you whole. Hopefully, fast enough were you wouldn’t have to endure the rest of the conversation. One you had been trying to avoid, for the past three years.
“It’s nothing Nat, just forget it.” Just like a Romanov, she couldn’t leave it alone. Even if she tried it was laced in her blood to see any little thing through.
“You really shouldn’t wait so long. A window might close for you, much sooner than you think.” With a curious eyebrow lifted, you felt your breath leave you.
“What does that supposed to mean?” Steve certainly deserved the best and you knew it was only time for him to figure out you would never be enough for him.
“Peggy Carter.” Peggy.
The one girl of a sea of many who had been enamored by Steve. He never really seemed to spend anytime with the women who vied for his attention, but Peggy was surely different than the rest.
Even if Steve was oblivious when it came to the advances everyone would make on him, he saw Peggy. Considering she was the most beautiful woman you had ever seen, she intimidated you. God, did she ever.
On numerous occasions she and Steve had gone out, and even though he assured you they were just friends you were starting to believe he was only trying to protect your feelings. As a friend.
He had never cancelled on you once for her and he would tell you if he had started to date someone, just like he had before.
Even though the entire three years you’d known him he only had one serious girlfriend and after eight months, the pair broke up and even now he still didn’t budge on why they broke up.
“Steve can do whatever he wants with her. He’s a single man. He’s gone out with her before and he’ll probably go with her again.” Then Sam was the next to speak up, dismissing the total bullshit spouting from your mouth.
“Can’t you see he doesn’t want to? The damn man follows you around like a goddamn puppy.” Okay, when did he even come in here?
“God, fuck, no he doesn’t. He would have said something by now, he’s had three years and it’s been nothing but radio silence.” With an all knowing smirk, Sam proposed a new concept into question.
“It has been three years. So, have you ever said anything to him?”
Shit. Fuck you, Wilson.
“W-Well, not exactly.” Sam didn’t have to say anything in response. You knew he was right and you hated it.
Your unwillingness still stood for you, there was just no way he actually would reciprocate your feelings.
“Listen, I think it would be really good for the both of you to air everything out. Peggy is sinking her claws in him and it isn’t too long before they get stuck. Just talk to him.” You nodded silently, but you weren’t sure if you’d ever have the courage to.
Emptiness.
It’s all you seemed to feel today. Following you around was a dark cloud, looming over you. Wishing you could be anywhere but your own body. Nothing in particular happened to make you deserve the feeling you were granted with. It just so happened to be one of those days.
From the moment you got out of bed — or rather stayed in bed until four in the afternoon, you felt like anything you would have done just didn’t feel enough. The feeling was fleeting, never staying for more than a day or so, but it made the day drag on. Never ending.
Your muscles sore, body aching from the lack of activity your presumed. Or maybe you had built it in your head too.
Thankfully for you, Nat was busy helping Bucky move into his new place the entire day. She asked if you wanted to help, but mentally you didn’t feel you would be useful for anyone. Simply, telling her you would hang back, claiming you had another an essay to write.
Which you did, you weren’t completely lying, but there was more than your sour mood to blame for your dismissal of social interaction.
You hated to be that girl, the one who needed the presence of men. Specifically, the company of one very beautiful, blue eyed one.
His absence in your life the past few weeks felt heavier on you than you thought it would. You knew from Sam’s intel he had been hanging out with Peggy more and more. He said the two of them were getting close, mercifully sparing you the details.
You hated it’s you’d become. A girl so damn struck over a boy who was giving his attention elsewhere. Upset you were though. Before even if he was busy between classes and his internship at the gallery, he would still text to check up on you.
Now, it was nothing but radio silence letting you draw conclusions on your own. Very, very dangerous territory for you to travel to.
Steve and you are just friends. Get. Over. It.
You thought you’d be alone the rest of the Saturday, especially since it was nearly midnight. Figuring Nat was staying over at Bucky’s and Wanda leaving earlier in early hours of the morning to see her boyfriend for the entire weekend.
Then, an incredibly drunk Steve stumbled into your quaint apartment, the thoughtfully sweetness in him blubbering out with the alcohol flooding through his system. It was like he was on overdrive. More than ready to crash at any given moment.
You had enough when Steve started shamelessly raiding your kitchen, but you remained on the couch attempting to maintain some distance between the two of you. He had a history of being incredibly handsy whenever he had bit too much to drink.
Stumbling his way over to you, almost tripping on the rug, until he was basically cuddling up to your side. His arms latched tightly around you, pulling you into him. Not spared a choice, not that you’d want one.
The security of being wrapped up to him wasn’t something you ever grew tired of. You don’t think there would ever be a time you would ever be capable of turning him away.
“I’ve missed you. It’s been too long.” His soft tone, penetrating the tiny resistance you held towards him. “Me too. I was starting to think you disappeared on me, bubba.”
“Never.” His iron grip holding so tight like he was afraid you’d slip right through.
“Is everything alright?” Trying to pull from him, but Steve seemed unable to let you go. You whispered in his ear, caressing his back.
“I think so.”
“Here, let me grab you cup of joe and some water. Okay? I’ll be right back.” Leaving him a kiss on the cheek, before heading him into the kitchen.
If you had been around him recently, perhaps you would be more in tune with how he was feeling. Then the guilt sept in.
“Sweetheart, do you know where the phone charger is? It’s not by the recliner.” You heard him shout, trying to stop your heart from hammering into your stomach.
Just make him some coffee, sober him up, until he crashes.
Steve always seemed to be a lightweight and somehow whenever he did decide to drink he always found himself routing his way into your home. You thought it was simply for accident alone. The bar he frequented at was only a few block from you.
The past few times he would just stumble into your bedroom, immediately passing out in your soft, silky sheet. Now, he seemed to have more pressing matters at hand.
“Check the drawers, Stevie. I think there’s one you left around here somewhere.” You grabbed the filters and the grounds out, brewing the coffee. Soon, with a black cup of coffee and a water bottle in hand you took note of just how quite he was being.
He was never this silent and it was freaking you out.
“Are you sure you’re o-”
Just like that.
Fuck.
Hunched over, practically on his knees, he read over the endless letters you wrote about him. Confessions never meant to be seen by him. You lost track of how many you had written over the past few years once realized how irrevocably in love with him you are.
He didn’t realize you had found him and you were suddenly paralyzed. Unaware of your presence he continued to read through them and his expression was unrecognizable. One you’d never seen from him before, and you didn’t quite know how to react.
No. He wasn’t grimacing nor did he seem to be elated either. He just stood there just like you, afraid what would happen next.
What did this mean for the two of you? Your entire relationship was purely riding on whatever happened next.
Softly, with a gentle hand, he sifted through them all like he was looking for something specifically. Steve let them fall to the hardwood floors as your shaking hands could no longer support the weight of the dainty coffee cup he had actually sculpted himself.
The glass shattering everywhere, several pieces making their way towards him, thankfully not fiercely enough to penetrate his skin.
Truly, you had never been more sorry than when he looked up at you with tears in his eyes. Threatening to spill over. Because of you.
You didn’t have to be told, you already knew.
Carefully, Steve stood up making his way over to you around the shattered mug. Still you couldn’t bring yourself to move. Simply just watching him until he was right in front of you — more silent than you’d ever seen him before.
“Those were about me. Weren’t they?” You nodded having no reason to lie other than to protect yourself from a rejection you been hoping to spare yourself from.
“I didn’t want you to find out like this. Or at all really.” Your resolve dropping instantly when Steve took a step further gripping by your hips, pulling you closer.
“Why not?” He questioned you, again. Almost like he needed a verbal affirmation of every secret he had just read.
Unintentionally, stealing your soul served for him on a silver platter.
“I know how you’d feel about me, Steve. It’s not how I want it to be and it’s okay.” You remove yourself from him, traveling to the other side of the living room. Suddenly, the apartment seemed suffocating with him in it. “I’m fine, Steve.”
Hearing him sigh in frustration only furthered your immense feeling of being a burden to him.
You’re just one more obstacle he has to deal with.
“One of them dated back for over two years ago. Two fucking years.” His harsh tone, piercing through you like a knife.
“I know. I should have told you.” You whispered, wishing you could disappear into any abyss that would take you. Deeply wishing you just didn’t have to endure for the rest of this conversation. Wishing you could have stopped him from opening that stupid drawer. “I tell you everything, but I just couldn’t bring myself to speak about this. Look at how you’re reacting? How could you blame me when every fear I have about this is justified?”
You really should have kept those elsewhere, not your open, public living room.
“Because it’s us. I’m always here for you.” He was still crying through broken words and you didn’t know why. Almost like you had shattered his resolve and his control leaving with it.
“Not lately. You’ve been otherwise occupied.” Suddenly find the plant in the corner of the room. It certainly weren’t trying to distract yourself from the insatiable cerulean eyes.
The breathtaking british woman wasn’t even here and as soon as she was brought up — there was a wall. Seperating, you from whatever was between the two of you.
“This isn’t my fault. You never said anything. How was I supposed to know you feel that way about me?” He tried to make his way towards you but you just stalked off in the other direction. Circling around the living room like a coward.
“It didn’t matter though, did it? You found someone perfect for you regardless of how you feel.” God, you wish he would just leave so you could let the dam break.
“No. You don’t get to do that. Since the moment I met you I only had eyes for you, but you never seemed like you were interested. So, I dropped it. Okay? You never left me a crumb to think you would ever want to be more than just friends.”
“You were my best friend. You still are. No matter how I felt, it could never outweigh the need I have for you to be in my life.” He sighed, rubbing his hands over his face. Trying to figure out what was next for the both of you. Steve always had to initiate and this time was no different.
“Peggy told me tonight she wants to be exclusive.” His confession washing over you like a ton of bricks. Crushing you.
You really couldn’t have any ill feeling towards her, she was just doing what you lacked the courage and the tenacity to do.
“But I didn’t really know what to do.” He took quiet steps towards you, not wanting to spook you. He voice not no longer held the a warmth of teddy bear, but a man on a mission rather took over.
Steve kept quiet until he had you backed up into a corner, no escape route in vision for you.
“’Cause there’s this other beautiful woman, absolutely breathtaking — and I just I really needed to know how she felt. If I had known before,  I never would have gone anywhere else.” His hand caressing your soft, plump lips. Pulling on your bottom lip with his thumb, sending you into a frenzy.
“Then, I just wanted to forget about everything until Sam called me. Three beers deep, when he told me of a drawer filled with letters I should take a look at.” You could feel his breath on you, temple pressed against yours.
“I just need to hear you say it. Just once.” Taking it a step forward, intertwining your finger with his own.
“I love you.” It was all he needed as he sealed his own affirmation with a sweet kiss, inking your lips with all of his love.
707 notes · View notes
thran-duils · 4 years ago
Text
Was Ich Liebe (P.3, Final)
Title: Was Ich Liebe (Part Three, Final) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Tony Stark.  Tony becomes enamored with a stripper at a club his hedonistic friend Thor owns. A casual sexual relationship quickly becomes possessive and the reader sees more of the underground mafia life than she would like to. The cherry on top is that Tony is married and so is she. Him to a woman who has no intention of losing her throne at any cost and the reader to a deadbeat alcoholic. Feeling trapped by both her previous life and the suffocating hold Tony is trying to put on her, the reader steals away in the night, which is not going to go over well. Words: 4,647 Warnings (for whole fic, more may be added): Dub-con, smut, infidelity, stripping, vaginal fingering, public sex, possessive behavior, angst, degradation kink, violence, physical abuse, domestic violence, language, drug use, alcoholism, death Warnings for this chapter: Mention of abortion! Author’s Note: As usual, this is 18+.
Part Two || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost
Tony was calling. He must have gone to the apartment and found you gone by now, especially since you had not been answering him via text or by phone. You sent him to voicemail letting your music start again. You had rented a car to drive away from the city.
The jewelry he had given you came in handy to get cash that you were using for gas and hopefully a down payment on an apartment somewhere. Stripping joints were abundant, and you were sure if you found a sizable city, you would find work without an issue. You were thinking about Milwaukee. It was far enough away from NYC and there was a college there too.
Your phone beeped with another voicemail from him. Signing, against your better judgment, you reached forward to press play, it coming over the car’s speakers.
He was pissed. Unsurprisingly. He had been tight on the last one he had left, wound up that you were not answering him. But this was a whole different level. He was practically shouting.
“This better be a goddamn joke, Y/N. My patience is already up with it though. Did you think I wouldn’t notice you had snuck out? Where the fuck is all the jewelry? Huh? Your clothes? If I find out you left and you’re cheating on me, I’m gonna kill them.”
You did not doubt him when he said that. And he confirmed he was at the apartment if he noticed your stuff was gone.
“And were you planning on telling me about the pregnancy?” Your eyes widened and then you swore remembering you had not emptied the trash in the bathroom. “Or were you just gonna keep that to yourself? Listen very carefully to me, if you do something drastic, I’m not gonna be nice about it. Not in the fucking slightest. You best believe that and take that to heart! Don’t be fucking stupid! Call. Me. Back.”
The voicemail ended.
Yes. The pregnancy. You were already thinking about which office you could go to. You had left a note for Thor about quitting and you wondered how quickly your health insurance was going to stay in place. Before after leaving a job, it had stayed on until the end of the month, but you were unsure, and you were not about to call him and ask. An appointment at a clinic though, that was something you needed to deal with quickly. You were sure there was a facility you could find when you got yourself established.
<><><>
“You’re a psychopath,” Carol said to Tony, smirking.
She was watching him put up security cameras around Y/N’s apartment, hidden from the normal eye with his technology. And when he had taken the lock apart on her door to install tech he could control himself from his cell, she had shook her head.
“I prefer creative,” Tony responded, as he tested it out. It worked perfectly. “Little bitch isn’t going to be leaving without trying extra hard.”
<><><>
You found a hotel in Columbus. You made sure to put a chair underneath the door handle on top of using both locks. It was scary to be traveling alone. And especially when you did not know the area.
The next morning, you woke up to another voicemail from Tony. You had reached over to silence it while you were sleeping, knowing damn well who would be calling you at 2:30am.
He sounded sloshed.
“Do you remember me telling you I was never going to let you go? Cause I said it multiple times. That hasn’t changed, Y/N. It’s been almost 24 hours since you answered to me!” Slip up there with that ‘to’ added in. “It’s really fucking frustrating, and you know goddamn well I don’t like being frustrated. It’s…you’re being disrespectful!” There was a slight pause and you heard him take a drink. He let out a humorless laugh. “You won’t run away from me. I’m going to find you.”
He hung up.
Hearing how mad he was, your stomach was twisting. He was not a man that liked to be thwarted or feel like he was being disrespected. Not to mention that he was a fucking mafia member. If he got his hands back on you, he was not going to be kind. And the time he told you he would never hurt you would be tested, you worried.
Why did you let yourself get so far involved with such a dangerous, jealous man? Again?
Forcing yourself to get up from the bed, you went to take a shower to try to relax in the hot water. Afterward, you walked across the street to the coffee shop. You wanted to get on the road again to put some more distance between you and NYC and ultimately between you and him.
<><><>
You drove around the edge of UW-Milwaukee, stealing glances at the campus. A city like this with a college surely had good clientele for the clubs.
Pulling over and parking, you opened your phone beginning to search for an apartment and a job. There had to be an abundance of apartments available around the college since it was summer and a class had just graduated.
<><><>
He kept calling and kept calling. He was not going to stop. It had been two weeks. You had been trying to convince yourself to answer him and tell him to leave you alone and that it was over. You thought about changing your number and you would, but after the conversation you needed to have.
Piqued, you answered, “Tony, I’m busy—"
“Oh, you’re busy? So busy you couldn’t fucking answer me? Over the last two weeks, you’ve been ‘busy’. Too busy for me? That’s hilarious! You should have your own fucking stand up show.” His tone was dripping with condescension.
Sighing, you said, “I’m getting ready for work! This needs to be quick.”
“Work?” Tony chuckled darkly. “Now you care about work? You fucked Thor over by quitting on the spot. How were you even able to get a reference?”
“I danced. That was reference enough.”
“Of course you did. Of course you’re stripping. Where are you?”
“I’m not going to tell you, Tony!”
“Y/N, baby,” he started, sounding like it was taking everything in him to keep his voice even. “If you just apologize and tell me where you are or just come back, I’ll be able to let this go easier. You can come back to me, and it’ll all be okay.”
You mustered out a strong, “No! I am not going to do that.”
His leash was back off. “Why are we playing this stupid game, Y/N? I can handle you being bratty — cause I love fucking it out of you — but this is really pushing me over the edge!”
“I’m not being a brat! You were suffocating me!”
“Suffocating you? I worship you!” He was so easily able to confuse his possession with love. He continued on irritated, “I shower you with gifts! I make sure you’re well taken care of! I’ve treated you better than anyone else has! And you’re coming at me like this? What is your fucking problem, Y/N? What? Is being on the phone instead of in person giving you some fake confidence? Don’t think I’m not keeping track of this ungrateful bullshit just because you’re not standing in front of me!”
He was quickly losing his temper. You had never made him this mad, had never pushed back.
You were shaking as you tried to stand up for yourself, “I’m not the one with a problem! I didn’t force you to move anywhere or—"
Tony interrupted you furiously. “Do you understand how much that apartment cost? How much that car cost? You barely drove it!”
Frustrated he was steam rolling you as usual. you said fighting to keep tears back, “Sell it then!”
“If that was supposed to be a joke, it was an awful one. This shit isn’t fucking funny, Y/N! When I find out where you are, I’m gonna drag you back by your goddamn hair!”
“Good luck!” you spat, it slipping out before you really thought about it. Your eyes widened at what you had just done, and you quickly hung up as he started to snarl something back.
He was immediately calling you back and you sent him to voicemail again.
<><><>
Tony let out an aggravated shout, throwing his phone down on the desk when she did not answer him back.
Good luck was right.
She had stayed on the line long enough to give him time to trace her down to the general area. Milwaukee. Near the university. He would find her, and he was gonna find her quick with getting eyes on the ground to spot her leaving her place wherever that was in the area. And she was not going to like it when he came knocking to collect her.
<><><>
The bag from the closest grocery store was heavy with groceries for the week. You had returned the rental car when you signed your lease, able to use the bus system until you bought your own car.
You noticed there was a man watching you across the street and you slowed in your pace, narrowing your eyes. He did not look away and you swallowed sharply before resuming your pace. You felt like you could still feel his eyes on the back of your head. You had felt like there had been eyes on you earlier this morning too. A foreboding feeling was creeping; you wanted to get inside and quick.
Entering your apartment, you kicked the door closed and struggled to lock it immediately. The bag crunched as you walked over to the kitchen and placed it on the counter.
You put the few groceries away and walked around the counter, tearing your shirt off and tossing it on the back of one of your chairs. It was hot since you were on the third floor and you had not been able to buy an air conditioner yet.
“This place is a shithole.”
You screamed, startled at the voice, whipping around, your eyes searching wildly.
Tony was sitting in the end of your bed in your room.
He had surprisingly not called you for the last few days, not after the conversation the two of you had. Not hearing from him had set you on edge just as much as him calling you did. You knew he was not going to give up easily and the silence was a trap if you fell into it thinking that it was done.
Your eyes flicked to the door, and he chastised you in low, dangerous tones, “Y/N, you’re already in enough trouble. Don’t make this worse for yourself. Carols outside. So is Rhodey. And a handful of other people I brought along in case you were gonna cause more trouble.”
The man outside. So, you had been being watched.
Tony stood up from the bed and came out of the bedroom, and up to you. You took a few steps back and he tsked you. You stopped immediately, knowing what he wanted. He closed the rest of the space and raked his eyes up and down you.
“Why did you have to go and cause trouble in the first place? You think I was suffocating you? That’ll seem like a cakewalk compared to when you come back with me. See, we’ve lost trust. I can’t have you running around when you know as much as you do. And you running off looks like you were going to squeal.” You opened your mouth to protest but he rose his voice, shutting you up. “And I can’t have that. Not when I have other people to answer to on the team. I will not be the weak link in the chain, which means you are not going to be running off in the middle of the night. Even if it’s not what you planned to do, it looks bad.”
His hands came to rest on your biceps, squeezing in tight, causing you to flinch slightly. His eyes were hard. “You could have had the world and you threw it away.” His thumbs caressed, his tongue slipping between his lips. “But I can be a forgiving man if you make me believe that you’re sorry. Just do that for me, beg for forgiveness, and I’ll take care of you and that baby.”
You gulped at the mention of the baby, and he noticed. His eyes narrowed. He leaned in, searching your face and you looked away, but he forced you to look back at him, his hand holding your jaw tight.
“Y/N, baby… you got something to tell me?”
You were silent, your heart starting to hammer.
“Y/N, you know I don’t like repeating myself.”
His grip tightened and you felt tears pricking, apprehensive of how he was going to react.
Your voice warbled, “I…I had an abortion.”
Tony was frozen, his eyes wide and incendiary. His grip on your jaw loosened and you took a step back away from him. His jaw clicked, eyes not leaving you. You saw he was going to explode.
Raising your hand shakily, as if that was going to hold him off, you started, “Now, Tony—"
His backhand sent you stumbling. He caught you before you could do it yourself and slammed you up against the wall.
“You’re lucky I didn’t cold clock you!” He snarled, his fingers digging in painfully to your arms.
“Tony, don’t—”
“Don’t? Don’t what? Be fucking furious that I told you not to do anything drastic and then you went and did just that? Without even consulting me? I have a goddamn right to be furious! How fucking dare you!”
You were sniffling now, terrified.
He gave you a rough shake before demanding, “What’s the lease on this place?” You took too long to answer. “Answer me!”
“Month to month,” you whimpered.
“Smart. Makes this easier.” His nose was practically brushing yours. “Look, you’re gonna be good and listen to me about exactly what is going to happen—"
“You can’t—"
“Did I tell you that you could talk? No! I told you you were going to listen. Keep your fucking mouth shut!” Tony lashed out. You closed your mouth, your lip warbling. “You’re coming with me. And I haven’t decided yet if I want them all to listen to you beg for forgiveness on the plane or if I’m waiting until we are alone. Not doing it here. Don’t wanna alarm your neighbors and have to injure any of them if they try to interfere. I don’t want, nor need that type of mess.”
He shoved you as he let you go, and you wiped at your eyes.
“I can’t fucking believe you. Can’t even follow simple goddamn directions. What are you? A child?” he snorted angrily. He snapped his fingers at you and pointed at your room. “Get your shit. We are leaving and going home. The jets at the airport.”
<><><>
He had not punished you on the plane. You instead had sat, curled in as tightly as you could to yourself in the chair across from him under a blanket, looking out the window as much as possible. You felt him watching you intensely the whole two hours. You could only imagine the deranged ideas going through his head about what he was going to do to you when he got you alone.
The moment you stepped into your apartment, he ordered you, “Get yourself done up. I want you to look nice for me. I’ll be out here watching the game.”
His goons brought in your suitcases and put them next to the kitchen table before leaving at his order. Tony grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. He saw you were still standing there, and he glared.
“Y/N…” he said dangerously. “I don’t see you moving.”
You grabbed your suitcase with your clothes and trudged down the hall, feeling his hard stare at your back until you disappeared into the bedroom. You had left a lot of your clothes here but there was a dress you had brought with you, one that he liked specifically. Which shocked you a little bit because it was loose and free; still short though.
Taking the time to shower, blow dry, do your makeup, and dress, you felt the anxiety rising about what he was going to do. You thought the extra time would calm you down, but it was doing the opposite because it was giving you more time to think.
When you walked back down the hall, your black wedges announcing your arrival, Tony looked over the back of the couch. You saw the bottle on the coffee table. He had been drinking, not a surprise. He gestured you over and you walked around the couch, coming over to him. He ran his eyes up and down you, taking you in.
“Well, don’t you look just perfect?” he asked, an edge underlying his tone.
He stood up from the couch and you stayed still. He pulled his phone out and took a picture of you without giving you time to prepare. He turned his phone around and you looked dumbstruck in the photo.
But he complimented, “Look at that. Pristine. That’s what good girls look like.” A cruel smile flashed across his features, and he tossed his phone down on the couch. “But you’re not a good girl are you, baby?”
You only had a moment to react before he was forcing you down to your knees. You hissed in pain as your knees slammed against the hardwood.
“You brought this on yourself. You think I like punishing you?” Tony asked, working on his belt with one hand as the other held you by the back of the neck. Your hands came up to grip his thighs, pressing back against the hold he had on your neck. “Ah ah, stay where you are.” He stroked himself with purpose, his hand moving at a steady pace. “Look at you. A pretty little slut that needs to be taught a lesson.”
He was hard now, the head of his cock pressing against your lips.
“Open your damn mouth!” You clenched your teeth, knowing he was gonna be rough and not wanting to choke. He let go of you to slap your cheek and sneered, “Don’t make me ask you again!”
You opened your mouth reluctantly, and he grabbed you by the back of your neck again and shoved his dick in all the way, your nose brushing his pubes. You gagged before he pulled back out, running his head around your lips. He groaned at the sight, slipping back in and using your mouth.
“Tell me you love me!”
“I love you!” you got out around his width.
“Look at me!” You forced your gaze up to meet his and he thrusted faster, hitting the back of your throat. Your hands gripped tight onto his thighs, eyes begging for him to slow down. But he was not relenting, and your throat was aching. Another groan left his lips as he demanded, “Tell me you love me, you little bitch.”
It was hard to say it, you choking now, tears stinging your eyes. “I love you!”
He pulled away roughly, his hand wrapped around your hair tightly, keeping you in place. Your saliva was stringing messily between him and your lips. Your chin as well as his pubes were glistening with your drool. You gasped for air, thankful for the reprieve from your jaw aching from being open so wide.
The reprieve was short lived though and you cried out in pain as he began walking, dragging you by your hair.
“Forgive me that I don’t quite believe you. But I’m gonna make sure I do believe you. I’m gonna get a genuine one out of you before I’m through.”
Tony sat on the edge of the bed and held you tight. “Give me a show. Take that dress off and let me see you. Let me see what I’m going to take.”
Shakily, you stood up as his grip laxed and he was watching you like a hawk. You wiped at your lips, knowing there was little to do about your eye makeup since he had made tears come with how hard he had been choking you. You started to sway your hips, trying to find a rhythm amongst the excitement. You turned away from him so he could not see your face as you struggled to calm down enough to dance.
It was sloppy, unconfident. But that did not seem to bother him. He pulled you into his lip and his hands slipped up your dress and into your underwear.
“Don’t get to tell me now that I can’t touch,” he husked against your cheek, his fingers slipping into your pussy. “All mine.”
He was stroking you, getting you worked up, making you lose focus on grinding. You bit your bottom lip, a strangled moan escaping.
Tony chuckled, nuzzling your cheek. “I know you like that. Gonna get you good and wet for me, sweetheart. Spread your legs further.”
You were falling so easily into his touch, your core wanting more. You were getting wound up and he was loving it. He worked quicker, his breath heavy as he felt how aroused you were, wetting his fingers.
“Maybe you are a good girl. Look how well you are behaving for me. Is this you apologizing?” He pulled away just to lay a hard smack on your cunt. You bucked, crying out and he did it again. You whimpered as his fingers entered again, focusing on your bud. “You’re a needy little slut, aren’t you baby?” You nodded and he sucked at your neck. “You’re repenting so well… but you’ve got a long way to fucking go.”
You were so close, but he suddenly shoved you away roughly, causing you to stumble in your heels.
“Strip.”
You did as he asked, pulling the dress up and tossing it behind you, leaving you in just your underwear. He rose his brows expectantly and you turned around, bending over slowly. You pulled your underwear down, feeling how wet they were at the crotch. You heard him hum at the sight of them and your glistening pussy. They fell to your ankles, and you turned around, kicking them off.
Tony stood up and pointed at the bed. “On your stomach.” You did as he asked and heard him getting undressed. You peeked over your shoulder at him undoing his tie as he walked towards your closet. He emerged again with a scarf, his eyes fixated on you. “Did I tell you you could look at me?” You turned back around quickly, butterflies swarming.
He grabbed one of your ankles and yanked you down the bed. You felt his tie around your ankle, and you tensed as he tied you to the bed frame. He was at your opposite ankle and tied your other leg with your scarf tightly.
“Tony…” you said hoarsely.
He did not answer you and you laid there, spread wide. The bed creaked with his weight and his thick thighs straddled you, holding you even tighter in place. You felt him pressing in and your fingers dug into your quilt. Each inch filled you up more and he exhaled as he reached his base.
“That’s the gentlest thrust you’re going to get, sweetheart. Enjoy it.”
Tony was not lying; he was pounding you into the mattress and you were not being quiet about the intrusion. You were already so wet, and he was adding to the sensation the way he was working you.
“You’re gonna remember who you loves you the most,” he groaned. The bed was shaking with how hard he was driving into you. “You’re gonna remember to behave!”
Pulling out of you, he smacked you hard against your ass. “Get up on your knees. Now!”
You obeyed, maneuvering with the restraints and his fingers replaced his dick, rubbing your clit. You keened, your back arching at the intense contact. You were ashamed that as usual you fell to the arousal, letting him take you over completely even when he was being as mean as he was.
“Fuck, you little whore. Look at you. So needy for cock. Why did you leave me in the first place? You were never going to find anyone that would love you like I do. You hurt my feelings, baby. And I don’t like having my feelings hurt.”
“I’m sorry,” you gasped without any prompting.
Tony’s fingers fell from your sex, and he was up, holding you by the throat. His breath was hot on your ear. “I might just leave you here on the bed right now. Tie those delicate wrists up too. Keep you on display for me. I’ll just walk by and see you stuck here, just dependent on me to come back to release you.”
You shook your head, begging pathetically, “No, p-please.”
“You want me to finish?”
“Yes!”
“Do you deserve it? Cause I don’t think you fucking do.”
You shook your head, “No. I don’t. But, please!” He brushed your pussy lightly with his fingers, teasing and you broke down even further. “I love you! I love you! Please!”
“You’re not gonna leave me again.” It was a statement, not a question.
You shook your head furiously again, gasping, “No! No, I won’t leave you!”
He yanked you up painfully by your hair again and new tears stung your eyes.
“I’m gonna make fucking sure of it. You’re gonna be on house arrest until I see fit to let you out! Face down,” Tony snarled, pushing you roughly down by the shoulders. He was behind you again. “You’re gonna be full of my seed when I’m done.”
Your chest hit the bed as the room filled with skin slapping skin loudly as he ravaged you. It did not take long for your body to tense up and a shriek left you as your pussy clenched around him. Tony’s breath was erratic as his pace lost control, his fingers digging into your hips. Broken husks were falling from his mouth, you could not make it out over the buzz in your ears. You felt the warmth though when he filled you up, his cock buried deep. He was making sure it was up against your cervix. His groan was long and loud, his hands squeezing your ass tight.
When he pulled away, you laid out flat, feeling worn. You heard him leave the room, the hardwood in the hall creaking with his footfalls. Your body was covered in sweat, heavy pants leaving your lips. For a moment, you forgot you were tied and tried to adjust and let out a sigh of disappointment when you felt the tug of the restraint on your ankle.
Tony was back with his phone. He cooed, “Oh, sweetheart. You’re so tired. Look up at me.” You lifted your head and saw him snap a picture of you. His lips curled into a smirk at the photo, and he turned it around to show you. Your makeup was ruined, tear trails on your cheeks, mascara and eyeliner smudged. You looked like a mess.
“Look at this lovely sight,” he purred. He flipped to the last photo of you looking made up and then back again. “Look how dirty you got pleasing me compared to before. I’m going to keep these.” A malicious glint flashed in his eyes, and he said, “I’ll give you a few to recover. But baby, there’s gonna be round two and no, I’m not going to let you clean up. Let’s see how much dirtier I can get you.”
~~~
Marvel tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld @holl2712 @agustdowney  @biiskuitx @buttercupfangirl
Fic tags: @buttercandy16
62 notes · View notes
fearlesslilarose · 4 years ago
Text
How fast is the Carte Blanche in real life?
That’s a question I asked myself one night as I looked up at my ceiling. It is very difficult to pinpoint the speed of space crafts in fiction when you can easily attribute it any speed you’d like! You can just say ‘’Oh, well it’s so fast it can reach the distance of three solar systems in a day.’’ and it sounds believable in a futuristic science-fiction world. But, how fast can the CB travel in real life? That’s the question I decided to answer on that night and the results I got may shock you!
(Note: The calculations are an approximation of what the Carte Blanche speed may be. It will take out the fact that the CB crashed in Shadow on the Ship. You don’t have to take those answers seriously, it’s only a fun thing I did because I was bored.)
Warning!!: spoilers for season 3!!!
Alright here is the result I got!
-Speed can be found by taking the distance an object traveled and divide it by the time it took it to travel said distance. So I had to find a distance and a time to get my answer. It is actually pretty easy to find.
In Man in Glass part 1, The Carte Blanche had just took off of Mars when Buddy tells Juno and Nureyev their heist will be ‘’tomorrow’’. Assuming she meant ‘’tomorrow night’’ and it is already night time at the time she said that, we can assume a time of 12 hours to go to the place of the heist.
Now we need to find the distance the CB traveled (Sorry fellow Americans, I’m using km). In the tpp wiki, it is said the Nova Zolotovna is from one of Jupiter’s moon. Even if there is no evidence the heist happened on a moon of Jupiter in the script, we will take Jupiter since it’s the next planet after Mars.
The distance between the sun and Mars is about 250,21e+6 km and the distance between the sun and Jupiter (technically a moon but this is easier) is about 752,62e+6 km, so the distance Mars-Jupiter is around 502,41e+6 km.
By dividing the distance by the time, we get the speed of the CB, which is around 41,8675e+6 km per hour or maximum 1 billion km per day (1e+9).
-Now we finally have the speed of the Carte Blanche, but I decided to go further than that and try to find more about what it means to be able to travel a billion a day.
-In Tool of Rust, the CB reaches Neptune to find M’tendere. Neptune is about around 4,5e+9 km from the sun. It would take around 4 days for the CB to reach Neptune if they don’t stop on their way from Jupiter, so about a week since the start of their criminal journey.
-It took around a year for the CB crew to complete their Cure Mother Prime journey, so let see the distance they could have made in this time. If we take into account that they made stops on their journey, (let’s say they took three months of down time in total) They would have travel a distance of 2,75e+11 km or 2,9e-5 light-years for 9 months worth of travel. If we take out those stops and decide they didn’t stop for 12 months, they would have made a maximum of 3,67e+11 km or 3,88e-5 light-years.
-I used light-years in the previous point for this precise point. I also decided to calculate the time it would take for a spaceship like the CB to make one light-year and it’s a pretty impressive number. It would take 25800 years for the Carte-Blanche to travel one light-year!
In the light of my calculations, these results are really impressive!... for the Carte Blanche.
Not taking into account that it crashed on a planet and therefor reduced it’s efficiency in term of speed, the Carte Blanche is a repurposed tour ship. It was most likely designed to tour around the solar system like a cruise and is on the same level as shuttles. So what about other types of ships like those used for trade, military or research purposes? I do not have a clear answer for the first two, but I may have one for the research ships, and the results are quite scary.
In What lies beyond part 2, Sasha explains that the CMP came from the galaxy next door after what happened on Osiris and it took a 100 years to travel to it. The pharmacorps involved must have put an impossible amount of money to get the best ship possible. Granted there most likely wasn’t a single human on that ship, it still did it’s job. The closest galaxy to the solar system at the moment (and hopefully at the time the junoverse happens) is Andromeda. Do you know how far that galaxy is from us? 2,5e+6 light-years away! They did 2,5e+6 light-years in 100 years!! The Carte Blanche can only do 0,0000001% of that distance in the same amount of time!
It is obvious how big the pharmacorps are in the Junoverse. Do you know who is bigger tho? Dark Matters. DM could easily pay for a technology like that. It would explain how they were able to surround the Carte Blanche in the blink of an eye. If they are able to find Juno in the next season, it could be over for him in a matter of minutes, and it could be even worse for Nureyev with the lack of Ruby7 he has.
Of course, this is only an approximation! When you write science-fiction, you do not need to be a tad bit scientifically correct to make an interesting futuristic story and Kevin and Harley definitly did not take into account the speed and distance that the characters had to travel in order to give us an intriguing story. These calculations are only a fun and interesting way to put things into perspective. The limit is above the sky in those circumstances.
Thanks to those who made it this far into my rant, I hope you liked it. I appreciate all of you who decided to give me a minute or two of your time to talk about science and space. Have a nice day!
40 notes · View notes
rainofaugustsith · 4 years ago
Text
Rain Plays SWTOR: Spirit of Vengeance Survival Walkthrough
As we head toward 7.0, I thought it would be a good idea to check in with a Spirit of Vengeance Survival Guide, 2.0. I have my own feelings about SoV - namely that it's boring, tedious and was tuned way too high for a main story solo flashpoint - but let's move on to the actual guide. 
This is a guide specifically for those of you who just want to get this flashpoint over with so you can move on. 
I personally would advise trying to knock this flashpoint out of your story progression BEFORE 7.0. We have no idea how hard content is going to be once you lose some of your abilities and utilities, so if you have any characters who are planned to continue with the main story, I'd take them through now while you have all of the tools in your toolbox and are familiar with them.
After literally months of complaints the devs finally toned down this flashpoint to a more manageable level, but there are still a lot of mobs that hit hard, and it's still really long. When I went through with canon Viri and Lana at level 50, with Viri fully geared toward 306, I moved right along through the flashpoint without difficulty or deaths. It still took almost exactly an hour. It's even longer when you're contending with Rass Ordo and a lot of cut scenes. 
You will want to gear as well as you can for this - you should not have to since this is a story/solo flashpoint in the main story, but it will help you here. Remember you DO NOT have to group to get good gear. There are numerous solo missions that will give you gear up to 306 - the Mek-Sha Tradehouse missions, Personal Conquest each week, solo flashpoints, including the Onderon weekly and daily missions. Other suggestions: 
1. Buy and use the Supplied Kyrprax Command Stim, available at any medical droid in the flashpoint, including the one when you first land on Ship #1. If you're doing this as part of the main story, you unfortunately still have Rass Ordo as your companion. Rass Ordo, despite being influence level 25, still has the AI of a cardboard box. You'd be better off bringing along a Jawagram as your companion. This stim will up your presence for an hour and make him slightly less incompetent. 
2. If you can, equip yourself with the Life Warden tactical. This tactical drops fairly frequently from personal conquest and other gold gear boxes. It essentially gives you an extra heal in a tight situation and can come in handy. 
3. Medpac on your abilities bar. You hopefully won't need this, but have it handy just in case. You may want to invest in the Supplied Kyprax Med Unit medpac, which will heal you AND your companion. 
Within the flashpoint, some general caveats. You're looking at quantity, not quality here. It's just a lot of NPCs piling in on you. 
1. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. KILL THE HEALERS FIRST. Just about every mob here has healers. They have different names on each ship: 
- Varad Churl
- Darmanda Medic
- Ashade Lorekeeper 
If you don't kill the medics first the fights will be even more interminable. Get rid of them. 
2. Remember there are kolto stations in a lot of the rooms, not just the boss areas. 
3. Be very careful because there are a lot of mob groups close together. Watch where you are blasting/Force-whatevering because you don't want to pull more than one group at once. 
4. Get your gear repaired as often as you can. If you've fought a tough mob and there's a medical droid nearby, go to it and patch up, even if it means you have to backtrack. 
5. Get really familiar with any AOE (area of effect) skills you have. Know where they are on your abilities bar and how to use them. Given the mobs in this flashpoint, anything you have that can clobber several NPCs at once is welcome.
Now, here we go.
SHIP #1: 
Banquet room: after you fight the first mob and take the elevator, you will find yourself in a large "banquet room" with a lot of mobs. Pick a straight line and go forward, taking care not to veer too far to the sides. If you wander, you'll invariably pull the mobs on the sides of the room. 
The rest of this ship is pretty straightforward; it's just a lot of mob NPCs converging on you at once, over and over again. 
Gorga Brak: Straightforward; stay out of the red circles. Be aware that Rass Ordo will helpfully stand in these circles and let Gorga set him on fire, so don't expect any help during the fight. 
SHIP #2: 
More of the same: lots of mobs, now with Dar'manda nameplates. The Dar'manda medics try to hide more than the healers on the other ships, sometimes even going behind crates or other barriers, so keep your eyes peeled for them. 
First thing of concern here: after a few rooms of mobs, you will arrive at the notorious jumping puzzle. Just stay on the right side of the room and walk along the beam. There are a few jumps up onto pieces of metal but they are not hard, ambitious jumps. Otherwise you just have two places where you have to make sure your character drops down onto the beam and not into the flames. Angle your camera overhead so you can see what you are doing. 
Tumblr media
Now it's time to go through the notorious Room After The Kitchen. As the name would suggest, you will know this is coming when you go through the kitchen. All the NPCs in the kitchen are neutral; leave them alone and keep going. The next room is a ballroom and you will find a lot of mobs. 
Tumblr media
You can get through this room by fighting only two mobs IF you watch where you are fighting and blasting. I like to try to get the first mob up onto the stairs so there's less of a chance that anyone else in the room will be disturbed. Kill the medics first. Then go straight foward - right through the fountain - and up the stairs to the second mob. I again like to try to fight them in their alcove up the stairs so I don't pull the other NPCs in the room. 
Tumblr media
You will now go down some corridors with more mobs - the space is tight, which in a way is good because you can't aggro more than one mob unless you really try. If you are going for bonus missions there are some rooms here to visit off the main path. If you're just trying to get this damned flashpoint over, continue straight down the hall toward that green arrow. 
After taking the elevator you'll get to the tether room, and a yellow message will flash onscreen about it. There will be a very large mob here with a lot of Dar'manda Commander silver NPCs. If Rass Ordo decides to up and die on you, it may be here. Remember there's a kolto station to the immediate right of where you walked into the room. 
Click the blue box to release the tether. Do NOT get too close to the rancor in the cage, Goldie. Back when SoV was first released, she'd aggro on you even from in her cage, and you couldn't kill her or get out of combat. They seem to have fixed that bug, but you know how that goes. 
Bask Sunn: Kill. The. Medics. First. After that, Bask Sunn has a wicked knockback, but he can't knock you *out* of the ship anymore. Remember Bask Sunn leaves a crate with your loot (look on the bridge), it's not on his person. 
SHIP #3: 
Your first challenge here will be another room with a lot of intense mobs. Take care not to pull more than one mob at once. Rass may decide to try to die here. 
Tumblr media
You will quickly reach the sniper room. It's a long room with two snipers by the far doorway, shooting at you. Don't try to engage them; just keep running forward. As you cross this room, you will drop through the floor. It's a long fall but you won't take any damage; it's what the game wants you to do. 
Rass will not fall with you, and you will have a room of tentacles to fight on your own. Hit Unity and Heroic Moment BEFORE you fall, when you are still in the sniper room with Rass. You can use your HM abilities against the tentacles. If you really  have trouble with them, try to get out of the garbage pit; you will find a kolto station at the top of the small ramp. 
Now we come to...oh look, another room with a lot of mobs. They're so creative here. Do your best not to pull more than one at once, kill the medics, you know the drill by now. 
Tumblr media
Troya Ajak: No special tricks. Stay out of the red circles. Her songbird volley is nasty, but she's perhaps the easiest boss in this flashpoint. 
FOURTH SHIP (The Spirit of Vengeance, I think?) 
Thankfully this is almost a straight shot to the final boss encounter, and there's a medical droid just before it. You may wish to wait for your Heroic Moment to cool down if you have recently used it. 
The silver NPC in the small mob right outside Heta Kol's area sometimes does not die. If you find that they keep recharging to full health, walk past them, put Rass on passive, and wait by the medical droid.  They should eventually give up and go back to their original spots and you can go on. 
Heta Kol: This fight has mercifully been toned down. There are two stages: 
You'll fight Heta Kol straight on. She has a serious knockback, but there aren't any special tricks here. 
1. Stage One: fight Heta. 
2. Heta disappears and a mob appears at the bottom of the stairs. There are two medics, and the Commanders will have knockbacks to keep you from killing the healers. 
3. After all the mob NPCs are defeated, Heta will return. Keep trying to hit her. 
4. Heta disappears. This time there's a mob with two gold Varad NPCs and two weaker ones at the stairs, plus two silver Dar'manda snipers on the platform. If you have any AOE skills, make sure they are available here so you can take out as many as possible at once. You may wish to consider saving Heroic Moment for this point so you can use Orbital Strike if you have it. Rass Ordo loves to die at this point so be mindful of where your kolto stations are. You might need the kolto for him, even if you don't need it for you. 
5. Heta Kol returns with a much more serious knockback and red circles of doom that increase in size and are hard to avoid. You're going to get thrown around a lot. ETA with thanks to @vespertine-legacy: The circles can be interrupted, which may make this fight easier.
And...you're done. Thank the stars. 
37 notes · View notes
erin-bo-berin · 5 years ago
Text
Cupid
MASTERLIST
This was requested by @sundippedprincess​ I’m pretty sure! Oh man, don’t we all love some daddy Spencer? I couldn’t resist writing this cute little fluff piece. Hope it’s a good start to all of you guys’ Mondays. Happy reading!
Spencer Reid/Reader
Rating: G (fluff)
Word Count: 4,773
Tumblr media
For as long as you could remember, you wanted to be a teacher.
Apparently, after coming home from your first day in kindergarten, you had announced to your parents that you wanted to be a kindergarten teacher. Twenty years later, you were living your dream.
Your kindergarten kids were your whole life. You always loved seeing them, watching them grow and learn. You typically dreaded summer vacation because you missed your kids and teaching so much, despite the few months of break.
This was only your second year of teaching, but you were enjoying it just as much as your first. It was tough saying goodbye to the first group of students, but it made it worth it when you saw them in the school halls and some still ran up to greet you.
School had just let out for another day and you already missed the bright young minds of your students. You were cleaning up your classroom before working on some grading when you heard a small voice coming from your doorway.
“Miss Y/L/N?”
You turned and saw a little girl with light brown curls and a turquoise blue backpack standing in your doorway, looking hesitant. She was one of your best behaved students, Ayla Reid.
“Ayla! Did you forget something?”
She shook her head, her ponytail bouncing with the movement.
“My daddy is late and they told me at the office to come stay with you instead of waiting outside by myself. Is that okay?”
She was the sweetest little girl. She was a bright little girl as well, having no trouble with soaking up new knowledge like her brain was a tiny sponge. She was always kind and helpful when it came to other classmates, but she never hesitated to speak her mind. All in all, she was an outgoing, bubbly little girl with a heart of gold.
“Of course, sweetie. Come on in.”
You took the chair to her desk off the top of it, setting it back on the floor so she could sit in her usual place.
You peeked over your shoulder as you headed to your arts and crafts station to see her settling in to her normal desk. You grabbed some paper and crayons and walked back to her with them in hand.
“Would you like to color while you wait?”
She nodded, smiling big.
“I love to color!”
You laughed, knowing that all too well. It was one of her favorite activities when doing schoolwork. 
“Is your daddy always late when picking you up?” you asked, sitting back down behind your desk.
“Yeah. Sometimes it’s just a few minutes, but he’s never been this late,” she answered.
She’d already opened the box of crayons and was starting to draw before you’d even asked your question.
You glanced at the clock in your room to see it was nearing 3:15. School let out at 2:30–Ayla’s father was nearly an hour late.
“This doesn’t happen all the time,” she said, “‘Cause sometimes my mommy picks me up.”
You understood that. Plenty of your students had parents who worked full time and was occasionally late to pick them up.
She said nothing else as she was busy with her picture, so you started sorting through the turned in work for the week so far. You would have to log in grades and update the grades later on so it was just easier to get through this first step now.
“My daddy works a lot,” Ayla said out of the blue.
You looked up, smiling, seeing her still hard at work with her crayons.
“What does he do?” you asked, interested.
“He’s a pwofiler. I’m not quite sure what that means but he works in the FBI. That’s like the police but more important.”
You chuckled. She wasn’t one to miss much. When you’d said she was incredibly smart, you hadn’t been exaggerating.
“That sounds like a very interesting job. I’m sure you’re incredibly proud of him, Ayla,” you said.
“Mhm,” she nodded big, looking up from her picture, “He’s very smart too. He’s got a robotic memory!”
You raised a brow, not quite sure what she meant, but laughed anyway.
“Is that so? That’s impressive.”
“He a docta. But not like the ones you go to when you’re sick.”
She went back to the picture and you watched her for a moment, amused. There was so much energy and spunk in this little girl. You wouldn’t doubt for one minute that her parents had their hands full with her.
“Can I show you my picture?” she asked.
“Of course, let me see.”
You stood up, walking over to her desk, crouching to her level.
On it, there were several stick figures.
“Oh that’s beautiful,” you grinned, “Are these your friends?”
“No, these my aunties and uncles at the BAU. That’s where my daddy works.”
“I see,” you said, listening intently.
“This my daddy,” she pointed to the tallest of the group.
“This is auntie Emily, auntie JJ, auntie Penelope and auntie Tara.”
She smiled proudly as pointed at the obvious female stick figures.
“And what about these three?” you asked, motioning to a group of men.
“That is uncle Luke, uncle Dave and uncle Matt. The two on that side are uncle Hotch and uncle Derek. They don’t work with my daddy anymore but they still my uncles.”
“Wow, you’ve got a lot of extended family, don’t you?”
“Yes,” she beamed.
“Ayla, honey, I’m so sorry.”
You stood up from where you were crouching next to Ayla to see a quite tall man walking into your classroom, a tan, leather satchel slung over his body.
“Daddy!” Ayla squealed, jumping out of her seat, running towards him.
She collided into his legs, hugging him and he picked her up with a big smile on his face, kissing her cheek.
You took the moment to get a better look at him, now that he was closer.
He was undeniably attractive, but didn’t seem to be the type that flaunted his looks either. His light brown hair was as curly as his daughter’s and looked to be in a bit of disarray, part of it falling over his forehead while other curls fell in numerous directions.
He was outfitted in a work suit, a tie and sweater underneath his suit jacket. He pulled it off very well.
His eyes gleamed as he looked at his daughter and she kissed his stubbled cheek. You didn’t fail to notice his sharp jawline or his easy, bright smile either.
“I’m sorry I’m so late,” he apologized, whether to Ayla or you, you weren’t entirely sure.
“It’s okay daddy. I like Miss Y/L/N. She’s pretty like a princess.”
You sucked in a breath in surprise, touched by her words. You couldn’t help when your eyes immediately teared up. It was such a sweet and sincere thing for Ayla to say and knowing kids were brutally honest, you knew she meant every word of it.
You cleared your throat, composing yourself when you noticed Ayla’s father watching you, eyes squinting in concentration.
He probably thinks you’re a blubbering fool, you thought.
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Reid,” you extended your hand.
“It’s docta Reid,” Ayla corrected you, emphatically.
“Excuse me, I’m sorry. Dr. Reid.”
He chuckled, setting Ayla back down and telling her to get her things together.
“It’s no big deal,” he said, shaking your hand.
You tried not to focus on the fact his hand was so large in yours as you quickly pulled back, silencing any further thoughts.
“I told Miss Y/L/N how you’re a pwofiler and have a robotic memory!” Ayla exclaimed, as she cleaned up her desk, putting her picture in her backpack.
“Uh, it’s actually eidetic,” he said, flushing a bit.
“I couldn’t remember what it was called so I just went with robotic,” Ayla shrugged.
You both chuckled at her response, before turning back to each other.
“I was wondering how smart you must be to have a robotic memory,” you smiled.
“Well she was kinda close,” he grinned, running a hand through his hair, “Eidetic is just another term for photographic memory.”
“Oh wow,” you said, surprised, “That’s impressive. No wonder you have such a brilliant daughter.”
He smiled appreciatively and said his thanks before speaking again.
“I don’t remember seeing you at the Kindergarten registration a few months ago.”
“Oh, unfortunately I wasn’t able to attend as I was sick. My teacher’s assistant Mrs. Lamb stepped in for me. Apparently she was a big hit though because she got all the kids to believe she was from Old MacDonald's Farm!”
You cringed inwardly at your spiel. You were used to talking to five year olds and other teachers, definitely not attractive dads, let alone men in general.
You chided yourself again. He was probably married anyway and you had little business drooling over a student’s father.
His smile was on full display though as he laughed at your statement.
“Come on Ayla, we need to get going. I have to head back to work for a little while but you can hang out with auntie Penelope okay?”
“Okay!” she grinned, putting on her backpack and taking his hand.
They were just leaving when something made you stop them.
“Um, Dr. Reid?”
He paused, turning back to you.
“Yes?”
“If you ever find yourself running late to pick Ayla up, I’d be happy to let her stay in my classroom until you get here.”
You’re not sure why you offered. Well for one, you really did like Ayla, she was such a sweet girl. But you tried to convince yourself that it was just a nice gesture to hopefully make things a bit easier on him. You knew sometimes your parents struggled with finding someone to pick up their child from school on time.
It wasn’t because you hoped to see him again. Definitely not.
“Oh you don’t have to. I can try to get away earlier when possible,” he protested.
“No, it’s okay,” you reassured, “I’d love the company. Besides, she’s such a joy to have.”
He seemed to take a moment to think it over before nodding.
“I just may take you up on that.”
“Daddy, what does pwofiling mean?”
Spencer had just lifted Ayla into the car and placed her into her booster seat, where she was currently buckling the seatbelt to it.
“Well,” he paused, intrigued at what could have brought on her sudden question, “It’s just studying a person’s behavior. For example, I can recognize how you behave guiltily when you eat the last cookie in the cookie jar.”
Ayla grinned big, not in the least bit ashamed.
“But you do that with bad guys right?”
“That’s correct, baby,” he smiled, kissing her forehead.
He closed the back door and walked around to the driver’s side door, sliding in. He had just gotten his own seatbelt clicked into place when she spoke again.
“Daddy, I pwofiled you.”
“Did you now?” he chuckled, amused at his little girl’s comment.
“Yes,” she nodded, “You like Miss Y/L/N.”
“Well of course I do, she’s your teacher and she’s very nice.”
“No, I mean you like like her,” she emphasized.
“What makes you say that?” he asked.
“Because you’re smiling all goofy,” she said like it was the most obvious thing in the world, “You only smile like that when you talk about things you know about.”
He felt himself flush a little bit. It was true, he hadn’t stopped smiling since they’d left Ayla’s classroom. There was something refreshing about her teacher and he would have to be blind to not admit she was indeed as Ayla had said, very pretty.
“Are you going to ask her to be your girlfriend?” Ayla asked as he drove out of the school parking lot.
He chuckled at her brazenness.
“Honey, I don’t even know her. Besides, I’m too busy to date.”
“I’m busy too but I have a boyfriend.”
“You do?” Spencer asked, trying his best to hide his surprise.
“Of course, daddy,” she rolled her eyes, exasperated, like she was a teenager already, “I’m busy and don’t always get to see Michael but he my boyfriend.”
Spencer smiled to himself. Michael LaMontagne was his best friend JJ’s and her husband Will’s youngest son. He was a little over two years older than Ayla, but she always proclaimed that Michael was her boyfriend. The two got along extremely well and it was incredibly adorable.
He decided not to comment any further on it though because he knew she wouldn’t give up on it easily.
“Baby, you know what days daddy picks you up, right?”
“Yup. Mondays and Fridays.”
“Good. Since I never know when I might be running late, will you ask Miss Y/L/N if you could stay with her until I get there?
“Okay daddy.”
She turned to the window, watching the passing landscape, her previous conversation apparently finished.
He’d be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t looking forward to seeing Ayla’s teacher again.
Ayla rushed out of the elevator when the doors opened on the floor the BAU was located on.
“There’s my favorite girl!”
Penelope has been waiting for them, excited to spend time with her goddaughter. As she was her only goddaughter, Ayla definitely got a bit spoiled.
“Auntie Penelope!” Ayla squealed, running into Garcia’s arms.
“How was your day at school, pumpkin?” she asked.
“Good,” Ayla beamed.
“Must’ve been, your daddy is 15 minutes late getting back,” Garcia said, eyebrow raised in amusement.
“Uh, traffic,” Spencer said.
“No,” Ayla shook her head, looking up at Spencer, “You were busy smiling at Miss Y/L/N.”
“Miss Y/L/N?” Garcia questioned, her interest piqued.
“She’s my teacher,” Ayla explained, “And she’s really pretty, auntie Penelope. Like a princess!”
“Like a princess, huh?”
Garcia was now eyeing Spencer hardcore with a knowing grin. Spencer knew she would be all over this with a million questions before long.
“Sweetie, why don’t you go hang out with auntie Penelope now while daddy finishes up his work?”
“Alright. Come on auntie Penelope! I wanna show you the picture I drew!”
Ayla grabbed her hand, practically dragging Garcia towards her lair.
Garcia looked over her shoulder pointing a finger at him.
“Don’t think you’ve escaped my questions! We’re talking about this later!”
Spencer knew good and well they would be.
“So, a pretty kindergarten teacher, huh?”
Spencer startled, seeing Luke standing in the doorway of the BAU, his back against the glass door, holding it open. In his hand was a plastic cup of coffee that he was drinking. He’d obviously been here longer than Spencer had realized and had heard everything. 
“Don’t you start too,” he grumbled.
“Hey, I’m just curious!” Luke protested, following Spencer in as he walked into the unit, “How pretty is she?”
“Very,” Spencer mumbled to himself.
Getting her out of his head would be the best thing to do, although maybe not the easiest.
It was the third time that you were keeping Ayla in your classroom after school until Dr. Reid could pick her up.
You found yourself counting down the hours every Monday and Friday, waiting to see his bright and smiling face. 
You couldn’t believe you were looking forward to a maybe five minute encounter out of your entire day, but here you were.
“Miss Y/L/N?” you heard Ayla call from her desk.
“Yes?” 
You looked up from the learning packets you were stapling together for the new week.
“Is it okay if I feed Freddy?”
Freddy was the class pet, a neon tetra fish. He was a simple fish, one that was easy for new fish owners, from what you’d researched before getting him.
He was small, but feisty. His coloring really took you by surprise when you first got him. With colors of bright red and green, red towards the end of his body and a lime green towards his front with a turquoise blue duochrome look to him, he always looked festive and bright.
He had an automatic fish feeder, but every once in a while you let one of your students throw a small amount in for him as an extra treat.
“Of course,” you smiled, getting up to help her.
You walked over to the fish tank and grabbed the fish food, opening it for her.
“Now, just get a tiny little pinch, okay?”
She nodded and did what she was told, her face serious as she concentrated on what she was doing.
Stepping up on the stool you left in front of the tank—for the small kids purposes—she sprinkled the food into the water. Freddy immediately devoured it.
“I think he liked it,” she smiled, watching him through the glass.
“I think he did too,” you agreed.
“Well, what do we have here?”
You turned, seeing Dr. Reid walk in, a smile on his face.
Your stomach fluttered, seeing him again for the first time in days. 
“I fed Freddy, daddy!” Ayla grinned big, running to give him a hug.
“Did you now? That’s a very big girl task! I’m proud of you! High five!”
He was crouched in front of her, hugging her but then he pulled out of her embrace and held up his hand, which she high fived.
“It’s time to get your things kiddo, we’re having your favorite for dinner tonight,” he said.
“Chicken nuggets with sweet potato fries?”
“You guessed it! Now go,” he shooed her towards her desk.
You smiled, watching them. He stood back up, facing you with a small smile.
“I hope she wasn’t any trouble.”
“Not at all. She’s an angel. She’s probably one of my best behaved students,” you said.
“Now that’s surprising,” he chuckled.
“Miss Y/L/N,” Ayla called, coming back over with her backpack on her back, “You should come to dinner tomorrow night.”
“I-” you began, in attempt to politely turn her down, when Dr. Reid spoke before you.
“Bunny, you’re going to be at your mom’s tomorrow night,” he said.
Ayla’s reply was simple and to the point.
“I know.”
You felt your eyes widen and your face heat when you realized her insinuation. Dr. Reid looked just as flustered and thrown as you felt.
“Ayla, honey, you know daddy has to work tomorrow. Remember I told you I had to work late?” Spencer stammered, trying to say the entirety of the few sentences.
At that point, you just wished for a hole to open up in your classroom floor and swallow you. If it wasn’t awkward enough that one of your students had basically just asked you out for her own father, then it was definitely the fact that he was trying to backpedal on the “invite” and most likely because he had no interest in you, not that you could blame him.
“Daddy, you told me it’s wrong to tell a lie,” Ayla gave him a look.
You were sure at this point Dr. Reid had turned scarlet from his face all the way down his neck. You felt bad for him, but still felt the awkwardness of the situation.
“You said that when I was at mommy’s house last week. You said this week you wouldn’t have to work late.”
Somehow, this behavior from Ayla didn’t surprise you in the slightest. When she was set on something, she was determined to accomplish it.
He looked up at you, clearly uncomfortable but you spoke before he could, trying to salvage the situation.
“Don’t worry,” you chuckled, “Kids will be kids. Believe me, I know. I have 28 of them for 8 hours, 5 days a week.”
His smile eased a bit and you felt yourself relax a tiny amount.
“I hope you have a good weekend Ayla and I’ll see you Monday,” you said.
You couldn’t help but notice her pouty expression as Dr. Reid took her hand and left your classroom.
You almost had to breathe a sigh of relief after living through that awkward moment.
You had just sat down behind your desk and resumed stapling papers together when you heard your name being called.
“Miss Y/L/N?”
You glanced up, seeing Dr. Reid in the doorway sans Ayla.
“Yes? Did Ayla forget something?” 
You stood, ready to head towards her desk to check for a missing folder or a favorite toy.
“Actually, no, I did.”
You gave him a confused look before he began to explain.
“I was- uh I was actually wondering if maybe you’d like to get coffee sometime? With me? Or maybe ice cream or something considering it’s still pretty hot? Hot outside I mean.”
Your stomach quite literally did a flip flop at his cute, nervous, rambling. 
Here was a grown man, who worked in the FBI, had a child and could probably rival a Bachelor contestant, yet he managed to adorably stumble over his words as he asked you out.
“Well, I practically live off coffee because of my job,” you said.
“So do I,” he grinned, a small, new found connection between the two of you, discovered.
“But ice cream sounds nice,” you smiled, “Whenever you’re free that is.”
“Tomorrow?” 
“Tomorrow sounds fine,” you concluded, “Hold on.”
You turned to grab a sticky note from your desk, jotting something down quickly.
“My number,” you smiled, handing it to him, “Just let me know what time.”
“It’s a date.”
“It’s a date,” you confirmed.
“Oh and for future reference, I’m Spencer.”
“Y/N,” you grinned.
With a smile on his own face, he walked back out of your classroom, presumably to an awaiting Ayla.
You had to hold back your laughter when you heard her next statement all the way from the hallway, clear as day.
“I think I know now why uncle Morgan used to say you got no game.”
It was roughly 2 pm the next afternoon as you stood outside the ice cream parlor that was near the elementary school. 
You fidgeted in place nervously, wondering if he was going to show.
His actual asking you on a date was so sudden and abrupt, you’d hardly had time to wrap your head around it. 
With one glance down at your outfit, you tried hard not to criticize yourself. You’d changed about six times before finally deciding on a simple, cute, sleeveless sundress in an aqua turquoise color. It would be cool, cute, casual and not trying too hard.
“You look nice and cool.”
You turned to see Spencer approaching you and you smiled, relieved that he actually showed up and it wasn’t just a dream.
“Hot enough for you?” you chuckled.
“Too hot,” he agreed, “Shall we?”
He motioned after him and you walked into the wonderful chilly air of the ice cream parlor. He even held the door open for you; this man was already amazing.
There was only polite small talk while you both ordered; mint chocolate chip in a cone for him, vanilla in a cup with numerous toppings for you.
“Vanilla?” he raised an eyebrow at your choice.
“Only if I’m in the mood for a lot of toppings,” you elaborated.
You’d ordered your ice cream with Oreo pieces, rainbow sprinkles and chopped nuts.
When you both retrieved your orders from the counter, he peeked over at yours.
“There any ice cream under there?” he teased.
“Hush,” you chuckled.
You found a shaded table outside to sit at. Despite the heat, a small breeze occasionally cooled the temperature, making it a bit more bearable.
“So, Y/N.”
“That’s my name,” you smiled.
It was amazing how up until this point, you’d been so nervous for this date, but sitting in front of him, you were much more comfortable.
He took another lick from his cone, a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Why teaching?”
You raised a brow, figuring you’d get in a question of your own too.
“Why the FBI?” you inquired.
He chuckled, appreciating your challenge.
“I’ll answer your question if you answer mine,” he said.
“Well—as the story goes, my parents claim—I came home from my first day of Kindergarten claiming I was going to be a teacher, specifically a kindergarten teacher. I don’t remember this at all,” you laughed, “But apparently it was kismet.”
He watched you intently as you talked, eating his ice cream silently as he hung on to your every word. It was surprising at how nice it made you feel to know he was interested in knowing about you.
“I joined the FBI when I was 22.”
“Wow, that’s really young and impressive,” you said, eyes wide.
“Well to preface this, I was somewhat of a childhood prodigy. I graduated high school at 12 and managed to earn three PhDs by 20, plus two BAs.”
You stared at him open mouthed, your spoon halfway to your mouth, the ice cream on it melting and dripping back into the cup.
He looked embarrassed and a bit uncomfortable. Something told you that while he was proud of his achievements, he wasn’t one that really enjoyed bragging about them.
“That explains the title of Doctor and the robotic memory.”
That seemed to break the spell and his face broke into a grin as he laughed easily at his daughter’s antics.
“That child, I swear. She’s something else.”
“She really is,” you agreed.
There was a lull in conversation and you decided to ask him about what you were wondering from the previous afternoon.
“So...you and your wife are separated or divorced I assume?”
“Oh me and Ayla’s mom have never been together actually.”
“Oh,” you said, surprised.
It wasn’t uncommon for you to deal with divorced, separated or even single parents of your students, but to actually know the circumstances like this was unusual for you.
He nodded.
“I wasn’t in a place for a relationship and neither was her mother, so all we ever had was a physical relationship and Ayla was the result of that. We remained friends and co-parent now. She’s got a lovely fiancé now though that’s great with Ayla. But as messed up and impractical as that relationship was, I wouldn’t change it for anything though because it gave me Ayla and I’ve never regretted her for a moment,” Spencer said.
“She clearly adores you,” you smiled, “You’re a great father too.”
“Thank you,” he smiled shyly, “I try my best. But what about you, anyone special?”
He winced the moment the question left his mouth.
“Well if there was, I wouldn’t be here now would I?” 
You could help but tease him, flashing him a joking expression.
“Point taken,” he laughed inwardly, “It didn’t dawn on me how obvious the question was until I said it. I’m sorry, I’m not really good at this dating thing. It’s been a long time since I’ve done it, actually.”
He looked pained, like a teenager on his first date, but you found it extremely endearing.
“Well I think you’re doing just fine,” you reassured him, “Also, no.”
His brow crinkled in confusion.
“No, what?”
“No, there’s no one special in my life. Unless you count 28 five year olds,” you snickered.
Sometime during the conversation, you’d both finished your ice cream. You tossed your trash and returned to the table.
“I’ve got a few hours before I have to pick up Ayla. Would you like to take a walk?” Spencer asked.
“Sure,” you agreed.
The two of you walked side by side, chatting it up about a variety of different things until his tinkering chuckle made you glance up at him, curious to what he found so funny.
“What is it?”
“It just struck me funny,” he said, pausing to look down at you.
You stopped with him, waiting for him to continue.
“Who would’ve thought my five year old daughter could be such an adorable yet successful pint sized Cupid?”
You had to agree as your face broke into your hundredth smile of that afternoon. She had been persistent and it seemed like her persistency had paid off.
He was right though, you’d never in a million years imagined one of your pupils playing matchmaker for you.
But you were glad Ayla had.
How thankful you were to have her in your class.
“She was right, you know,” Spencer said, more serious now.
“About what?”
“You are as pretty as a princess.”
As you two resumed your walking, the smile now permanently plastered on your face, you could’ve sworn you felt his hand brush yours ever so slightly.
TAG LIST: @dreatine​ @reid-187​ @groovyreid​ @reidslibra​ @iamburdened​ @cindywayne​ @missprettyboy​ @hushlilbabydoll​ @sammy-jo1977​ @haileymorelikestupid​ @lemonypink​ @teamkiall​ @redbullchick​ @ifeelloved​ @one-sweet-gubler​ @nanocoool​ @delightfullyspeedyearthquake​ @unsteadyimagines​ @ughitsbaby​ @inkwiet​ @pennythetechgoddess​ @capt-engr-ssa​ @sixx-sic-sixx​ @spencersdolore @reidsstudies​ @disney-dreams-world​ @chocolatecalzoneherringbonk @mggwhore​ @andiebeaword​ @cupcake525​ @be-the-bravest​ @gretaamyk​ @hopebaker​ @prisonreid​ @httpnxtt​ @daviddoughboy​ @pastathighs​ @marvels-gurl​ @blushingspencer​ @simp-for-mgg​ @victorzsaszmydaddy​ @inlovewithamess @im-inlovewith-mycar​ @xshakesqueerx​ @queenofmischief​ @mattgraygubler​ @graceluvsyouu​ @itsarayofsunshine​ @alexisparmentier @la-vie-en-amour1​ @pinkdiamond1016​ @itsmytimetoodream​
813 notes · View notes
silvermuffins · 3 years ago
Text
Pokemon Legends Arceus: Peeking at Postgame
There's gotta be a plot. There's gotta be. Also I feel like running off into the wild and not coming back, tonight, so I might as well live vicariously through Eiko for a bit!
Also I still have my mission from God.
y'know, the seek all pokemon thing. i have a dex to complete!
i have mostly not been reading the dex as i go so if and when completion should happen i will do a reaction thingy. maybe a video? we shall see!
anyway we can get at least a few hours in before bedtime (i have to be at work at 9 am on sundays. this does not sound awful, except consider i never need to be there before noon on any other day of the week)
yeah let's battle the secret weapon person that can't go wrong
where the fuck we goin
dude's a generic model and he's supposed to be tough????
palkia is somehow the best i have on my team to deaal with shinx?
why the fuck ARE his first stage early route pokemon this tough
he downed my Typhlosion and nearly got a God!
oh right i beat the game probaably everyone says new shit
oop this sidequest has a cutscene
volo how do you just keep turning up
oh that logo is for the main quest
thought i'd have to go to the big bossman for that
oh sweet my guy is just GIVING me oshawott and rowlet
lol i managed to just edge up to the next rank
beni says he did wht he came to do and planns to move somewhere with a "more agreeable climate"
sir???? are you and kamado not boyfriends?????
doodedoo talking to all the gajillion npcs
who dis
he dont got a naame
doctor? doctor who????
shizu asks where pokemon come from and i immediately start singinng
FROM THE EARTH, THE LAND, THE SEA, AND SKY, YOU CAN NEVER WIN BUT YOU SURE CAN TRY!!!
ohfuck prelude beach is the route to canalave aint it, that didnt click til now
"your pokemon are the ones taking care of you" this just in eiko is shit at remembering her basic human needs
which makes sense honestly
god there's soooo many npcs and so many places they can be hiding
okay that's everyone in jubilife i think....sidequest hell now
or at least househunting for chimecho hell
yeah i figured in the end it'd be chimecho stays with ida
okay there's villagers i have not tracked down who i have quests concerning, we'll figure that out later
fieldlands! let's do some shit here
oh this lady is the shaymin quest
oooh mai has a request too!
y u bein so spooky tho
my guy cut flowers filling a garden is NOT how that works
k lessee what's up with munchlax
zorua!
let's explore this distortion it's been a while since we did that
okay battling
aaaaa trying to catch two out of the three pokemon i'm battling
NOPE
clover spotted!!!
clover you didn't sneak up on me....
braviary and sneasler really make it easier to get the wisps
ohmigosh the munchlax
lol
now oreburrow tunnel, then volo ig
don't like how we framed volo for the namedrop
he wants to gather the plates. im sus.
i have ten plates....need eight
hey alpha infernape you wanna leave me the fuck alone so i can dig up treasure ok thankssssss
holy shit how many old verses are there
i have 3 and 17
about halfway through the absurd leek request....
mmkay volo what do you got for me
(fuckin hell this game and its beautiful music)
why did a fuckin vespiquen have the stone plate
found the flower field!
caught several buizel, hopefully one of them will be big enough for the quest
5 more wisps in the fieldlands....
god where tf are they
only like 20 more leeks to get too
continuing to catch every buizel i see
oh hey theres coin!
meh
bam, 100 leeks! ....might look up the wisps, i've been looking everywhere
okay i apparently really have looked everywhere bc i just used a goddamn map and checked every spot and the wisps aren't there, i still have five left
right im sick of searching so we'll just mark where they SHOULD be on our map and be on our way
get oshawott's research level up to 10, annnnd...evolve!
we are gonna go back to jubilife and end off here after we nab some quest rewards
dammit NONE of my buizel are big enough
alright peselle you needy witch here's your goddamned leeks
and all she gave me was some mint. i don't have much need for mint???? i don't think????
okay massive mass outbreaks unlocked i think
or at least more quests
calling it here tonight!
2 notes · View notes
kuroos-world · 4 years ago
Text
The Art of Music
Tumblr media
Aizawa x UA Teacher// Bakugou crushing on his teacher
Summary: Bakugou has a massive crush on his teacher, who’s secretly dating Aizawa. His crush only grows when she starts to teach him about life through music.
Masterlist Next>
Chapter 1
Playlist: “singing is cool katsuki”
It wasn’t much of a surprise Aizawa and Bakugou had the same taste in women, what was surprising was that they both had a thing for the same woman. She’s a teacher at UA, secretly dating Aizawa, and is Bakugou’s favorite teacher. Everything about her made Bakugou’s heart pound, how easy it was for her to captivate the classroom without ever having to demand attention. How her commanding presence was always confident and proud no matter who was in the room. The way she was intimidating despite being 5’1, she was always so aggressive while being so soft and he had no idea that was even possible. How he’d rarely ever seen her without a redbull in hand. The way her style is always professional but still all her own, the way she had so many intricate tattoos. he loved the way music was always playing when she was around. And when she fought he couldn’t help the way a smile would overtake his face and his heart felt proud. Everything about her was just so cool, he felt like she really understood him. She was always able to level with him without treating him like a child, and could calm him without further irritating him.
So when it was announced that she would be in charge of the music club Bakugou, who never wanted to join a club, jumped at the chance to sign up. Aizawa, who could tell the boy had a crush on her, wasn’t surprised but definitely amused and later that night he would tease her about it. “Wow how very ‘stacy's mom’ of you” “oh stop he’s just a kid, I doubt he’s ever even had a crush before”
The first day of the club Bakugou shows up early, “oh Bakugou! I wasn’t expecting anyone just yet” she smiles brightly at him and his heart rate accelerates.
“Call me Katsuki, and I actually came because I wanted to talk to you” “okay katsuki what'd you want to talk about?” “I um just wanted some advice, I sometimes don’t really know how to express myself without getting aggressive, and you’re an aggressive person but you know how to express yourself and I want to know how you do it.” “This is perfect actually! I was just thinking about you last night, and I think you should play the drums. I even made you a playlist full of songs I think you’d like that have really good drums. People like us who are so aggressive need an outlet to be as aggressive as we want that way it’s easier to control and even easier to put the rest of your emotions in order.” Bakugou’s face was a bright red, and he couldn’t maintain eye contact,
“W-what do you do to get out your aggression?” She purses her lips and squints her eyes, thinking, “hmmm well over the years I’ve picked up lots of ways to help, I think my favorite one is singing. Just getting lost in the music and releasing all my pent up tension” “tch. Singing? I thought it would be like boxing or something cool” “singing is cool Katsuki, there’s all different types of songs, each of them able to explain an emotion that would be hard to do without the instruments behind the lyrics.” Bakugou was hanging off every word she said, “Here take the playlist I made you and listen. Then choose 3 songs and tell me what you felt as you listened. After that I’ll take the same three songs and write what I felt and we can compare, okay?” “okay deal,”
She gave him the playlist and slowly the rest of the club members entered the room. She starts with introductions, and explains that not only will they be playing and practicing music, they’d be learning about music styles, genres, and of course the instruments.
——————————————
Later that day, after classes and clubs had ended she slugs slowly to her room.. The Red Bull’s she drank each day no longer having any effect on her tired body, “Shou? Shouta?” She calls into the dark room, “ ‘m over here” she makes her way to the muffled voice and slumps her body onto his. “You look extra tired today kitty” she mumbles into his hair, “Midoriya and Bakugou were fighting more than usual today,” she lets out a small laugh “they always keep your hands full huh?” Aizawa turns over facing you now, “you used to be more of a handful than both of them combined,” “Ha Ha” she gives him a pointed look, “But if you could deal with me why can’t you deal with them?” “I can just too tired to deal, besides you took all my energy back then” she pouts, bottom lip plumping out and her eyes open two times wider and she gives him an innocent look. “Wasn’t it worth it tho?” Shouta gives her a ghost smile, “of course it was” she leans in and kisses him sweetly,
“Good! And I’m trying to help Katsuki manage his aggression more. I even gave him a playlist that will hopefully convince him to start the drums,” “Katsuki?” “Oh! Yeah he told me to call him that,” Shouta rolls his eyes, “kitten what kind of playlist did you make him? A calming one?” “Uhh.. yes a calming playlist” “don’t lie to me” “fine! I made a new playlist last night of my favorite songs when I was his age and I gave it to him” she whispers “oh god, please tell me you’re kidding” he groans “Zawa!! Those songs really helped me when I was overly aggressive,” “no love they didn’t, you’re still overly aggressive and those songs make you even more aggressive especially when you start singing them,” “but after I play them how am I?” He stops to think, “oh I see, okay well try it for a two weeks but if it doesn’t work I want you to give him a calm playlist” “and what makes you think he’d willingly listen to a ‘calming playlist’?” “you, it’s so obvious he has a crush on you, he’d probably do anything you ask” Aizawa smiles at her “yeah? Seems like I just have that effect on certain men,” she whispers with a mischievous grin.
91 notes · View notes
project-pnf-404 · 4 years ago
Text
Checkpoint and important updates 2!!: Electric boogaloo!!
Heyo guys!! Long time no talk. So, I’ve got some cool update stuff to show you guys. I’ve been doing a lot of blog “housekeeping” since the end of the last event. (don’t worry it hopefully won’t be boring update stuff lmao as it includes some new supplementary content). So, first and foremost, thanks to the inspiration from @koppais-smallest-nerd I’d like to let you guys know that I am now adding screen reader access to all future posts!!! This one included. At the bottom of each post under the, “read more”, image descriptions for all images will be added! Screen reader accessibility will also be added to all previous asks on the blog. However, getting through all of them will take a tiny bit. As, of this update, the first 4 asks have had image descriptions added. As well as all the supplementary content in between where applicable.
I’d also like to show you guys some supplementary content for the blog. Between these dashed lines are in character day 1 log entries written by the rest of the crew. 
———————————————
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
———————————————
I originally wasn’t sure if I wanted to put these extra day 1 logs on the main blog or not. But, I’ve decided that all supplementary content that may be story related will remain on the main blog for the foreseeable future, while BTS content will end up on PNF-404-Plus.
That being said since the end of the 1st event and my time away from the blog a lot has been going on when it comes to the blog.
For one the entire desktop version of the blog has had a large overhaul. A new theme has been added to the main page.
Tumblr media
But, not only that but new side pages with supplementary content have been added!! This includes an event list, a bio page for the crew members of the S.S Drake, a Piklopedia page for the new Piklopedia, and a music page to top it all off!!
Tumblr media
The Event List will show each new event as they are added! You can click on the current known events to go directly to all posts tagged with that event tag. Speaking of which all Event 01 posts have now had their tags updated with the Event 01 tag making it much easier to navigate.
Tumblr media
The new Crew Members page has bios for all the members currently on the mission or known in the story so far! These Bios are pretty in line with cannon with some fanon, and light headcanon added  in for good measure. I recommend taking a look as it does have some interesting info in there. Also quick note: all of these bios are written as if it is prior to the beginning of the blog.
Tumblr media
Then there’s the Piklopedia!! Here you can read each of their findings as they explore PNF-404! Currently the findings will be on each area they explore (not each creature they find) as they haven’t found any new creatures yet. There is also a map of places they’ve discovered and more!
Tumblr media
Lastly, a new music page has been added. On this page, I’ve created event-inspired music playlists. Some of the songs have been mentioned in the past. But, here you can listen to them all in one place and see which songs are for which part of the events. As well there’s a secret songs playlist. This playlist has nothing to do with the blog directly but is filled with music given to me by people I’ve met from this community while I’ve been here!! Currently, there are 5 songs there, however, there will be more added in the future! What makes it secret is that you won’t know who gave me the song XD. (well unless you’re the one who gave me the song lmao) who knows if you’ve ever shared music with me before you may find your song there!! (There is also one song I’m sharing with you guys in there too so have fun figuring that out lmao. )
As well the table of contents has been once again updated with a lot of this new stuff as well as some other new information!! As for mobile users as of now, all of this is on separate Tumblr pages. However, in the near future, I will be uploading much of this stuff , such as the Piklopedia entries and Crew Bio’s, as individual posts! However, in the meantime, if you feel like you can always check out these pages on your phone browser instead if you’re a mobile-exclusive user. (Though some pages don’t look as good on phone)
Welp, I think that’s it as far as updates go!! I should be back with brand new ask posts soon (likely within the next week or so!) so keep a look out!! I’ll see ya guys again soon and thanks for reading!!!
{{ Screen reader image description is under “read more”}}
In the first image,  Alph’s Day 1 Log entry is shown. His log says, “To think I thought the first day would go well. Then again I didn’t think I would get sucked out of the ship either so maybe I should stop being so surprised. At the very least Louie and I were able to find our way back despite some obstacles and I was able to fix the ship in time. Though if it weren’t for Chunks we would have never found the pikmin we did. That little guy sure saved the day. 
However, Then there's what happened to Brittany… To see her in a situation like that... I can’t even bear to think about it. Tomorrow I will be checking over the entirety of the Drake to make sure a crash like that doesn't happen again. I can't help but think that the crash was due to me overlooking something during maintenance... However, The only thing I can do now is to make sure something like this never happens again for all our sake, especially Brittanys’. “ It is then sighed by Alph
In the second Image Charlies Day 1 Log entry can be read it says, “I should have been on top of things. As this crew’s captain, everything that went wrong was under my watch and things should have gone much smoother. That being said I am very glad that all of my crew have made it out alive. Though I am still worried about Brittany. If only I was able to keep her safe…
 But, at this point, we all must press forward. We have a task to complete and after seeing how devastated some areas are, we must get to the bottom of what’s wrong with PNF-404. Nothing will get in my way, not with my steely fists that is!!” It is then signed by  Charlie
In the third image Louies’ day 1 log entry can be seen it says, 
Going back to the pikmin planet wasn’t at the top of my list of things I thought I’d be doing anytime soon. Yet somehow I find myself back here and stranded again…. At least I wasn’t fully alone this time…
Alph and I eventually found a pikmin that we later named Chunks. He sure acts differently in comparison to any other Pikmin I’ve seen before. But, even still, if it weren’t for Chunks, we wouldn’t have been able to help Brittany or find any other pikmin for that matter. So, we should thank him for that.” It is then signed by Louie
In the fourth image the updated version of the Project: PNF-404 Tumblr is shown. It now has a bright cyan futuristic aesthetic to it. In the fifth image a picture of the new events page, listing all the past and future events planned so far is shown. It has 1 known event Titled Event 01. The other 3 are titled Event unknown. In the sixth image, the new crew members’ character page is shown. A picture of Olimar is shown along with a description of his traits and a biography. It reads as follows, 
CAPTAIN OLIMAR
AGE 38
ALIAS(ES)Olimar
SPECIES Hocotatian
GENDER Male
TITLE(S) Employee of Hocotate Freight, Xenobiologist
AFFILIATION Hocotate Freight, Planet Hocotate Government
Fatherly, well-meaning, and resourceful, for an almost 40 year old Hocotatian he has a lot of bravery and guts. Olimar first and foremost loves his family and cares deeply for others around him. A Hardworking employee of Hocotate Freight and family man, Olimar tends to try and stay level-headed while looking out for others.
Having been one of the first to visit the Pikmin planet Olimar has extensive knowledge of the planet's life. Lucky for him he just so happens to have gone to college for xenobiology. Many of his findings can be found within his many log entries known as the Piklopedia.
But, for as much as Olimar tends to be on top of things, his trips to the pikmin planet have had him face many dangers and life-threatening events. Though these issues are not something he brings up…
In the seventh image, The new Piklopidea page is shown, In one section it displays a map of PNF-404 with 2 marked locations. The first of which is highlighted in blue is named the “Silent Stream” the second, is highlighted in orange, Its title is “Glacial Gardens”. To the right of that is a description introduction for the Piklopedia. It says” To help ensure the progress and success of this mission all crew members must write down their findings in this log. Overview: 
CAPTAIN Olimar: Writes In-depth biological analysis of fauna and how the ecosystem affects said fauna.
LOUIE: Writes about Recipes and ingredients that can be found in each area. ALPH: Looks at the area with the eyes of an engineer. He uses this insight to discuss the benefits and flaws of what he’s analyzing. BRITTANY: Uses her botanist skills to look into the flora of the area along with talking about the aesthetics of things and adding in her own general opinions.
CAPTAIN CHARLIE: Writes about combat strategy and how one can use the environment in an area for a tactical advantage.
To the left is a map showing the current locations discovered by the crew. The one highlighted in orange has yet to be explored.
The final image shows the new music page! 6 playlists can be selected on the left each having 5 songs. To the right is an image of the event 01 cover art. With (from left to right), Brittnay, Charlie, Olimar, Louie, and Alph all looking up with a distressed expression on their faces. 
END ID
50 notes · View notes
cuddlepilefics · 4 years ago
Text
Do you even lift?
Fandom: Stray Kids
Sickie: Changbin
Caregiver: Chan
 No one's POV.:
Changbin had come under quite a bit of fire lately. He had successfully gained weight and loved how cute his squishy cheeks looked. Sadly, they came at a cost, resulting in the rapper being criticized for his belly fat. Would he cut down on food, he'd lose his cute cheeks again, so that left only one solution: more exercise to reveal his abs and hopefully still keep his cheeks. That's easier said than done though, because his schedule was already tightly packed. The only times he managed to go to the gym were after his official schedule late into the night. Changbin wasn't one to complain, so he'd take what he could get even if that meant salvaging all the discipline he could find and forcing himself to push past his exhaustion to trade sleep for exercise. The calculation was easy for him: ‘If I leave the studio at 2am, I’ll make it to the gym at around 2:30am. Exercise for 90minutes and leave the gym around 4am. Walk home and have a shower, then I could be in bed around 5am and get up to 3 hours of sleep before we have to get up again.’
He had been following this routine for the past three weeks and he was beginning to see the first changes. Mostly in his arms though, not in his abs but he was building muscles, so his abs would probably grow too, just a bit slower than his arms. The other members noticed it too and Changbin received many compliments for the size of his biceps. On the down side, he constantly felt sore and could barely remember what life was like without feeling his muscles burn with every movement. His appetite had also changed. It was so much bigger than before, which only made sense with how much he was asking from his body. Although he had deliberately decided not to diet, he also wouldn’t increase his food intake just because he felt hungry all the time. What Changbin failed to understand was that his body was desperately begging for energy, either from sleep or from some extra calories. Since the rapper gave his body neither, it was only a matter of time till he had to feel his body’s wrath. He kept spacing out, which was probably worsened by low blood-sugar levels because he decided to consume less carbohydrates and eat healthy fats instead. One day, he almost fell asleep during one of 3racha’s production sessions. Both Chan and Jisung had mocked him for it but were mostly worried because their friend had started to come home even later than Chan. They had laughed it off together and Changbin had been forced to skip his workout that day, being dragged home to get some sleep instead. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t exercise twice as hard the next day though to make up for the missed workout.
Dance practices have developed a kind of love-hate relationship with Changbin. He loved them because they were also a form of exercise but he hated them because with how slow his brain had become from how run down he was, he was always a few beats behind on the choreography. If it seemed like it was frustrating for the dance-racha that was doing their best to teach them the new dance routines, it was so much more frustrating for Changbin. He was pushing himself incredibly hard to erase something that he was criticized for, only to mess up and be criticized for something else. Over the last week, he had noticed that he could go over the choreography about five times before getting dizzy and messing the steps up even more, so he tried to use the first few rounds to show his members that he wasn’t doing that bad, going all out and using up his remaining energy. In the breaks, Felix often sat with him, massaging his neck and shoulders. The Aussie could see how tense the other’s posture was and tried to give him as much relief as possible. Changbin appreciated it, although at that point there was nothing that Felix could do to make him hurt less. It was comforting and it at least took away the stress for a few minutes and helped him relax mentally, even though his muscles couldn’t really relax anymore.
“Guys, since our schedule ends early today and Channie-hyung said there wouldn’t be a 3racha meeting today, can we maybe go out for dinner tonight? It’d even be my treat”, Minho offered. The group had barely had the time to relax or have fun together. Changbin scratched his neck awkwardly, admitting: “I was actually looking forward to visit the gym early today.” – “It’s fine, you guys can go. I’ll go with Changbin because it had been ages since I had the time to exercise apart from our dance practices”, Chan announced. Yes, he had barely been working out lately for the lack of time but his main intention was to keep an eye on his dongsaeng. The leader was afraid the younger was overworking himself. Their plan was soon settled, though a few youngers, especially Felix, tried to talk Changbin out of going to the gym but his insecurities and body image made it impossible for the rapper to skip. His head was already hurting before they left for the gym but if he thought about it, it had been hurting for the last two days already. A good night’s rest would probably fix it, so Changbin was glad he’d be home a bit earlier tonight. It’s not like he had the intention to harm himself with his excessive exercising but he failed to listen to his body telling him to stop.
On the way to the gym, Chan had asked many questions on his dongsaeng’s workout routine to figure out how hard the younger was actually pushing his limits. He was shocked when he finally grasped the extent and tried to give the rapper a few hints here and there, that he might want to think about this habit. Changbin either wasn’t getting the hint that his hyung was telling him to stop, which was possible considering how out of it he was, or he was unwilling to admit to himself, that he was slowly running his body into the ground. Chan soon gave up and realized the younger had to see for himself that what he was doing was hurting him. That didn’t mean the leader wasn’t prepared to be there and pick up the pieces when Changbin would reach his breaking point. For now, he tried to keep the mood light. They took a few pictures and compared the weights they’d be using for their individual routines, before putting in their earphones and getting started.
It all seemed to be going well. At least that was what it looked like to Chan. Changbin soon removed his earphones because he blamed the stereo-sound for the spinning in his head and his balance-issues. To his dismay, he had to accept that the change barely had an effect on his struggles. He was also shaking harder from the strain than he remembered himself shaking the previous day but what did he expect with the amount of sleep he was running on. Changbin finished up with his push-ups and stood up with the weights in his hands. Upon shifting his position upright, black spots started to dance in his vision but he was used to it. It had happened a few times over the course of the past week. He’d just drop down to one knee and wait till his vision cleared before getting up again. Changbin’s back was facing Chan, so the leader couldn’t see his discolored face, or the cold sweat that was dripping from his forehead, running down his temples. The rapper had been kneeling there for quite a while already, longer than he usually needed to, so Chan removed his earphones too and teased: “Do you even lift, mate?”
Changbin shook his head and turned his head towards Chan. He was mumbling something that resembled ‘h-hyung’, but Chan only saw his lips moving. The leader didn’t need to hear him though, the look on his face, combined with his skincolor, told Chan all he needed to know. Cursing silently, the oldest dropped his weights and rushed over to his friend. He wrapped his arms around Changbin from his back and gently pulled him backwards to sit down properly. Changbin defeatedly let go of his weights and leaned back against his hyung’s chest. “It’s okay. Just take deep breaths and the dizziness will go away”, Chan assured, holding the younger against his chest so he wouldn’t fall over. Taking a shaky breath in, Changbin failed and his breathing remained fast and shallow. One hand came up to clutch onto Chan’s arm, a desperate attempt to hold himself up, before it dropped back down, along with Changbin’s head that fell onto his chest as his body went slack.
For a second, Chan panicked before he collected himself, realizing he’d only be able to help the younger if he was able to keep a cool head. Carefully, the leader lowered Changbin to lie on the floor, feeling his pulse weak and fast. He got up and without his eyes ever leaving the younger, he collected his water bottle and a stack of lyric sheets. Chan sprinkled some of the water onto Changbin’s face before fanning him with the papers. To his relief, he soon heard the rapper groan and his eyes fluttered open. “Take it easy, you’re okay”, Chan promised, “Just blacked out for a second. I think we’re done exercising for today.” Changbin nodded and brought his hands up to massage his temples. Was his headache already that bad earlier? He wanted to keep up but his hyung held it down with a gentle hand on his chest, asking: “Please stay down a little longer, just until your face has taken on a healthier shade.” Changbin nodded again, too drained to respond verbally.
After resting for another two minutes, Changbin started to feel cold, his body not having the energy left to sustain his body temperature. Chan noticed the slight shiver and went to collect his hoodie. “Here, you can try to sit up and put this on”, the leader said with a comforting smile. He helped his dongsaeng to sit up and kept an arm around his shoulders to steady him. Changbin tiredly slipped the hoodie on, cursing his arms for burning as much as they did from the simple movement. Grabbing his towel, he dried his sweaty face. He also took a few sips of the water Chan offered him before clearing his throat and asking: “Hyung, can we go home?” The older was glad he didn’t have to argue about taking Changbin home and nodded. “Do you think you can walk or do you want a piggy back?”, he asked, studying the rapper. “Walk!” – “Alright, alright”, he laughed, pulling Changbin to his feet and wrapping one arm around his waist, while Changbin’s arm hung over his neck, “But can you give me a warning if you feel dizzy again?” – “Yeah – yeah, I think – I think I can do that”, Changbin mumbled, swaying a bit as Chan picked up both of their bags.
Their walk back to the dorm was slow and quiet and Chan was sure, the younger hadn’t fallen asleep walking. He felt a bit guilty for not stopping Changbin before it could get this bad but he also knew that if the rapper had set his mind on something, there was no stopping him. While Changbin went to their room to pick out his clothes, Chan ran him a bath. The leader was afraid his dongsaeng would slip and fall if he tried to take a shower. He let Changbin take his time and went to the kitchen to make them both some dinner. Chan had settled on making some rice with chicken to fill up their energy fast while also giving them a good amount of protein. Dishing the food onto plates, he made sure Changbin’s was heaping full. “Hey, hyung. Sorry about earlier”, Changbin apologized, walking into the kitchen with damp hair. Chan shook his head and sat him down at the table, so they could eat together, replying: “It’s alright but I hope you got your wakeup call to start listening to your body better.” Changbin nodded guiltily. “You should take the next few days to rest up because you have pushed your body way too hard. I know why you did and I’m not going to scold you because I understand your intentions but please take better care of yourself from now on”, the leader pleaded. Changbin bit his lip. It didn’t feel right to take even a day off, when it was entirely his own fault that he felt so bad. On the other hand, being able to sleep in and not having to drag his achy and wrecked body out of bed tomorrow sounded like heaven. In the end, they compromised on Changbin resting for one day and deciding afterwards if he needed another. What was sure though, was that Chan would keep a closer eye on him from now on to ensure he got the rest he needed.
31 notes · View notes
spookysanta · 5 years ago
Text
The TA. - one. (c.e, h.c.)
Summary: she just wants to make a good impression. clearly, she’s made more of an impression on the two of them.
Pairings: Professor!Chris Evans x Black!Reader, student!Henry Cavill x Black!Reader
WARNINGS: swearing
updates will be sporadic because it’s a wip, but here’s part one! enjoy! :)
UNEDITED
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
****
 To Whom it May Concern:
Good morning. My name is Dr. Christopher R. Evans and I’ll be your supervising professor for section D346-0 of Chemistry class for the Fall semester. I’m sending you this e-mail to introduce myself as well as get to know you a bit before classes start next week. Would you be willing to meet me in my office (Franklin Hall, 3210) this Wednesday at around 3 p.m.? I’d like to go over the syllabus as well as your requirements as my TA.
Please let me know if that time works well for you.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Warm regards,
Dr. Christopher R. Evans, D. Sc.
(310) 555-3984
  *** 
Professor Evans:
Good morning! It’s nice to hear from you. I was in the process of getting your contact information to introduce myself. Thank you for taking me on as your TA, also—I appreciate that you’re giving me a chance. I’ll avail myself on Wednesday to meet with you at 3 p.m., I don’t want to change your schedule on my behalf. I can also provide you with my class schedule if you’d like so that you have my availability when you need to meet with me.
I’m excited to be working with you this semester!.
 Best,
(Y/N) (Y/L/N)
  ***
“Hi, my name’s (Y/N) (Y/L/N). Is Dr. Evans around?” She entered the lecture hall, approaching the podium where another professor was packing up her things. “I’m his new TA.”
“Yes, his office is through that door. Go in, make a left, and it should be the first door on your right.” The professor instructed, “He should be in there.”
“Okay. Thank you, ma’am!” she hurried across the room and pushed through the door, following the professor’s instructions and finding his classroom much easier than she had initially. She knocked on the door to his office. “Dr. Evans?”
“Come in.”
She opened the door slowly. She found him at his desk, typing on a computer. He paused for a moment, looking up toward the doorway with a small smile.
“Hi. You must be (Y/N).” he stood and crossed the small room stalking over to her and offering his hand for her to shake. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Great to meet you as well, Dr. Evans.” She shook his hand eagerly. This was her first professional job, and well…it’s helpful to have him as her boss.
Mainly to look at, but that’s beside the point.
“Oh, please. You can call me Chris.” He waved her off politely. “It’s just you and I here.”
She cleared her throat. “Okay.”
He made his way back to his seat behind the desk. “Please, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair that sat on the opposite side of the desk.
She sat down tightly with her hands flattened under her thighs—she’s a picker.
“What’s wrong?”
She shook her head tightly. “Nothing.”
He noticed that her face read differently than her words were saying. She looked almost uncomfortable, unsettled. “Are you sure?”
“This is just my first TA job so I’m a bit nervous,” She was almost hesitant to tell him the truth. She rushed out, “hopefully that doesn’t compromise my position.”
“Not at all! In fact, I think this is one of the easier classes to TA for, but maybe I’m biased.” He chuckled. “So, with that said, let’s go over your requirements. Hopefully I can put your mind at ease, okay?”
“Okay.” She smiled politely, trying to make herself relax but failing because Dr. Evans—Chris—was quite different that was she thought he would be. He was tall, built, and had the prettiest eyes she’d ever seen.
She’d assumed that he would look like Ebenezer Scrooge from the way her friends said he ran his class. By their record, he was a strict guy—very unwavering with deadlines and course policies, sticks to his syllabus schedule, assigns a ton of work, and has an even stricter attendance policy.
But they also said he was nice, which was hard to come by with professors in this field. They could tell he was a good person deep down and liked what he taught but he was a hard ass.
And by her analyzation, that was true.
His desk was quite neat and polished; it smelled of air freshener in the room; there weren’t any papers scattered about—which she was thankful for, because she cannot work with people who were unorganized—and, most notably, there weren’t any kind of photos hanging up. It was hard for her to determine whether he was a bachelor, or a married father that just kept things private.
Not that it mattered…but she wanted to know.
“So,” he turned one of his monitors to face her so that she could see his screen. “here’s the syllabus. It seems like a lot, but I swear, it isn’t.” he chuckled.
She hummed in response, beginning to read the lengthy document in her head as he spoke.
“Basically, your job will be to help me grade quizzes, labs, exams, and other assignments. You’ll also be required to proctor exams; I have another TA, Henry—he’s a graduate student—that will come in on exam days and proctor with you.”
She thought for a moment. “So, if I may ask, what will you do?”
“Teach the class.”
“Well, I know that. I just meant…it seems like a lot for me to do, and I’ve heard about some professors on campus having their TAs run the class.”
“Oh! Definitely not. Look, you seem great, and I have a feeling we’d get on well, but there’s a specific way I want my material taught so that’s not something you’d have to worry about.” He reassured her, noticing her body begin to relax. “What I will say, is there is a lot of content in my class, but the major graded assignments are few and far between, if that makes you feel better.”
She cocked an eyebrow.
“The class is mostly lab-based. You’ll be grading lab prep work, mostly—then comes the occasional homework or quiz, and exams.”
“Oh, okay. That makes more sense.”
He nodded. “Good.”
He scrolled down further into the document, showing his class policies.
“Now, these, I can’t break on.” He sighed. “I’m sure you’ve heard that I’m a strict guy.”
“What?” she replied incredulously. “No!”
He wanted to laugh. He could tell she was analyzing him, and she had to have heard something about him before the two of them met. “Well, it’s because a lot of the precautions are for the safety of us and the students.”
She scanned a random sentence on the page that read:
Students are required to be fully clothed on lab days—no t-shirts, ripped clothing, or closed-toed shoes.
10 points will be deducted for wearing clothing that does not meet the above dress requirement. More than one violation on the lab dress requirement will result in a deduction from the LAB grade.
Yikes, she thought, he’s not joking around.
She found it understandable nonetheless—she imagines it would be difficult to have a completely safe lab in a stuffy room while it’s still hot outside.
And she’s heard that a lot of the laboratories on his side of campus don’t have air conditioning, which was quite unfortunate this time of year.
“The dress policy is the most heavily enforced one.” He shrugged. “I can’t be held liable for students’ recklessness during labs.”
“Has the dress code been an issue previously?” she asked.
“Not for me, but I know it’s been one for the department, so I’m just tryin’ to keep my name off the “injury list”.”
She nodded in understanding.
“I think that’s pretty much it as far as the basics are concerned. I’ll send you a copy of my syllabus and calendar for the semester, as well as your contract.” He turned the monitor to face him again, typing quickly on his keyboard. “Oh! And I should send you Henry’s information, too.”
“Who’s Henry again?”
“Henry is a graduate TA. I’ve had him in my classes for a couple of years, and he’s a great student. I think he worked in the library over the summer, so you may know him.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t.”
“Well, he’s a great person to know, not just for my class, but for your upper-level math and science classes.” He gushed. Clearly, he really liked having this “Henry” as an assistant.
“Okay, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.”
“Great. And if you have any questions, shoot me an e-mail or a text and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Alright.” She replied simply.
He stood, holding out his hand again. “I’m looking forward to working with you this semester, (Y/N).”
She took his hand, this time relishing in the softness of his skin and the firmness in his grip. “I am, too.”
**
Later that day, after she’d completed the last assignments for her summer math class, she checked her e-mail’s inbox and found two messages from Chris and another from Henry, the godsend of a grad student.
***
 From: Dr. Christopher R. Evans, D. Sc.
Miss (Y/L/N)—
I hope this message finds you well.
Attached is my syllabus and class calendar, as well as your contract.
Please read through all of these. Sign the contract when you’re ready and e-mail it back to me at your earliest convenience.
Regards,
Chris
***
 From: Dr. Christopher R. Evans, D. Sc
Miss (Y/L/N)—
I meant to send you Henry’s information as well:
                Henry W. D. Cavill
                Phone: 316-555-2015
                E-mail: [email protected]
Please message him at your earliest convenience. Like I said, he’s a great person to know!
Regards,
Chris
**
 She replied a quick “thank you” before continuing through her inbox.
***
From: Henry W. D. Cavill
Hi, (Y/N)! It’s nice to “meet” you, I’m Henry.
Chris has told me that you’re the new undergrad TA! That’s pretty impressive, honestly—you’re one of four undergraduate TAs in the entire Sciences department. Anyway, I just wanted to send you this e-mail to introduce myself and let you know that if you need anything, I’m always available. I worked in the school’s library over the summer so if you need me immediately, that’s usually where I spend my free time nowadays.
I’m excited to work with you this semester! Maybe we could grab coffee and get to know each other better before classes start next week? Let me know.
Hope to hear from you soon!
Best wishes,
Cav
**
“Cav?” she read aloud in disgust, “What the hell kind of a nickname is “Cav”?” She hoped that he didn’t expect her to call him that because that was stupid.
At any rate, she could tell that he was much more laid back than Chris, which she was bound to enjoy. As nice as Chris was, she could tell that he was a bit…uptight. Henry, on the other hand, seemed more laid back if she used “Cav” as a form of evidence.
She could tell that he was a bookworm, too, because no-one—no-one she knew, at least—stays in the library unless they had to, or just liked reading.
Clearly he was a different breed.  
She opened a new message to send a quick reply to his.
**
 To: Henry W.D. Cavill
Hi, Henry.
It’s nice to hear from you as well. I’ve heard nothing but good things about you!
I’m free tomorrow afternoon if you want to meet at The Bistro for coffee.
Let me know if that works for you.
Best,
(Y/N)
**
 There. Sweet and simple.
Don’t be confused, either—she wanted this position. It would open some doors for her down the line, especially if she can get on Chris’ good side like Henry clearly has. She just hated formalities. The emails, the “talk to you soon! ”s, the “hope you’re well! ”s… it was too high-strung for her.
She is, though, determined to start everything on a good foot. So she’ll be polite, she’ll wish them well, whatever—she just wanted to ensure that her success as an undergrad student wouldn’t be hindered or jeopardized by her desire to be casual with who’s really her boss and co-worker.
**
The next day, she mustered up the courage to throw on clothes and meet Henry at The Bistro, a café in the main square of the campus. She decided to dress nice, not entirely sure who she was meeting and wanting to make a good impression. Because “Cav” seemed like a decent guy, but you never know.
Honestly, she wanted to cancel but she knew that wouldn’t look good.
She stepped through The Bistro’s doors, the cold air practically smacking her in the face. Normally she would despise the cold, especially on a day like this where it wasn’t too hot and not at all humid; but today, she was grateful for the cold air that enwrapped her frame that was dressed in a black blazer and matching slacks.
She sent a message to Henry letting her know that she was there and sat at a table by the window.
Then she waited.
Ten minutes, then twenty, then thirty.
After forty minutes passed, she gathered her tote, phone, and keys, and made her way to the front door.
Before she could get to the door, a figure bumped into her, her body colliding with his hard chest. “Oh, shit, sorry!” the mass of flesh exclaimed, “I’m running late for a meeting and I didn’t watch where I was going.”
Her eyes met his as she took a step back. He was tall. His long brown hair was brushed behind one ear, cheeks flushed and pale, brown eyes wide.
He was cute.
“Wait,” she replied, “are you Henry?”
“Yeah…so?”
“So?” she glared at him. “I’m (Y/N).”
His eyes widened even more, as if that were possible. “Oh! I’m so sorry I’m late. My car broke down and I ended up having to walk here.” He ran a hand through his hair. “But listen, if you’re still free, I’d love to still talk with you.”
She didn’t have anywhere to be, so why not? “Sure.”
He let out a breath. “Thank you.”
The two of them sat down at the table she picked, him slugging his shoulder bag off his body and onto the floor next to him. He folded his hands on the table and looked at her, watching as she fumbled through her bag for her planner and a pen.
“So,” he started, “it’s nice to finally meet you in person.”
“You, too.” She replied, her eyes not looking up.
“I’m usually the only TA in Chris’ class, so it’s really cool to have someone else around. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to be the only one proctoring an exam in a class of three-hundred people.”
“Three-hundred people?”
“Yeah. Sometimes it’s less, but that’s the average. It’s full of freshmen, too.”
She finally found her planner and a pen in the depths of her bag. “Are freshmen bad?”
He shook his head, “Not really, they’re just…odd.” He shrugged. “Some of them want to learn, some don’t, and you can tell right away. The ones that want to learn don’t want help—it’s always the procrastinators, the slackers, the ones that don’t care that need you.”
“How is that odd?”
“It’s strange to me, honestly. I didn’t really care either way my freshman year. I wanted to learn but I didn’t care enough to actually try.”
“So what changed? Chris made you seem like you were some mythical being.”
He laughed. She’ll admit, she was lost in his smile for a second. The glint in his eyes and the crinkle in his nose made her smile. “A mythical being?” he repeated. “I’m far from mythical. I think he gushes about me because I take over his office hours for him most days.”
That made her laugh. “Well, he seems to be appreciative of having you around. Hopefully I can be helpful.”
“I’m sure you can be,” he waved her off, “he probably told you that his class wasn’t that bad, but he’s totally lying. My first year helping him was rough—too much shit to do, and not enough time for it to get done.”
That sounded more accurate compared to what Chris told her yesterday. “I figured.”
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, he’s a great professor, and an awesome mentor to have—but sometimes he downplays stuff. He’ll say it’s “no big deal”, and it’ll be like Armageddon for us.”
She nodded slowly. “Any advice for getting on his good side?”
He chuckled. “If he likes you, you’ll know. And if he likes you, he’ll help you out. He’s not at all unreasonable, either; so just tell him what’s up when you have a problem, or if you’re overwhelmed, and he’ll do what he can to help.”
“That’s not what I heard.” She mumbled.
“Well, his students from last year will say he’s a dick, but—and you can’t tell anyone I told you this—” he leaned in closer, whispering, “he went through a nasty divorce last fall.”
So he isn’t married.
“Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. He wasn’t in the best place, but I’ll admit he’s eased up quite a bit so you should be fine.”
“Okay, cool.”
“Anything else you want to know?”
She thought for a moment. “Not really, no.”
He smiled again, “Alright. Well it was great talking with you, and I’m sorry again for being late.”
She shrugged, “Shit happens.”
“You’re exactly right. The meter maids are probably having a field day giving me tickets.” He stood from the table, putting his bag over his shoulder that was covered in a dark green jacket, brushing his hair behind his ears and away from his face.
She stood shortly after he did. “Good luck with that.”
“Oh, trust me, it wouldn’t be anything new for me to have a ticket by now. I’ve gotten five since May.”
Her eyes widened this time. “Seriously?”
“Seriously. The parking on campus is shit, you get in where you can. Open parking spaces are scarce, especially by Franklin Hall…so sometimes I park on the street.”
Street parking is decal only. By the number of tickets he’d obtained, she deduced that he most likely had no decal. “Hence all the tickets.” She finalized.
“Yeah.”
“Criminal.” She shook her head jokingly.
“Guilty as charged.” He held out his wrists to her as if she was putting him in handcuffs. “See you around, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Then he turned and left, moving quickly down the pavement.
Tags (dm to be removed): @lady-x-red @justtwhst @lokisbitch27 @boundtomyfate @cyberdoshee @liquorlaughslove @heroine-of-color
83 notes · View notes
ghostxofxartemis · 4 years ago
Link
It’s a few days late, but here’s day 6: Pet Day for MerWeek2021 hosted by @cactuarkitty.
Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Mass Effect Trilogy Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard Characters: Male Shepard (Mass Effect), Kaidan Alenko, Kaidan Alenko’s Mother, Dog Additional Tags: Fluff, Pet Day, MERweek2021 Series: Part 6 of MERweek 2021 Summary:
Describe or draw a special moment with your beloved pet/s. Could be special time spent together or shared time with friends/family. Let’s have fun with our furry (or not so furry) friends :)
Shoutout to @mallaidhsomo for betaing! Thanks hon!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kaidan straddles Axel, and slowly starts kneading the knots from the younger man’s back.
“Hmmm, morning to you too.” Axel mumbles, sleep still invading his mind.
“How’d you sleep?” Kaidan asks him as he deep massages Axel’s shoulders.
“Rock solid. You know, I could get used to this.”
“Well, don’t get too used to it ‘cause I’m shipping out this morning for a month.” Kaidan’s hands trail down Axel’s back until they reach his rear and he kneads both cheeks. He smirks when the younger man closes his eyes, a content smile creeps up his face and Axel moves his hips from under him.
“I know you’re leaving, and I really don’t want you to…but… hmm…this feels good.”
Kaidan leans forward and brings his lips down just a breath’s hair away from Axel’s ear. “I’m just getting started.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Axel fills up his coffee mug and leans on the counter to take a sip as he waits for his breakfast currently in the microwave. Kaidan comes down the stairs, skipping a step each time, duffle bag slung over his shoulder. He’s going to be gone for next month and it’s something Axel dreads, being home alone, while still on the mend, and while not being able to do very much makes the time go by painfully slow. He grabs the coffee thermos on the counter, all ready to go, for his husband.
“I’m running late.” Kaidan plants a kiss on his husband’s cheek before accepting the offered thermos.
“I wonder why?” Axel gives him a coy smile. He gets a scowl in return. Kaidan starts to pull away but Axel manages to grab a handful of material from his uniform. “Hey. You’re not leaving without giving a proper kiss, are you?”
Kaidan leans in and Axel’s lips curve upwards at one side of his mouth. He makes a content sound when Kaidan’s luscious lips meet his. Kaidan presses his tongue against the other man’s lips and Axel let’s it slide between his. They part after a brief moment, breathless, foreheads pressed together. Kaidan tilts his head backwards slightly so his lips can reach Axel’s forehead and kisses it before pulling away slightly.
“I sent my mother your PT schedule.”
“K-” Axel starts to protest.
“You have to go to them.” Kaidan doesn’t look at him and his lips twitch slightly at the corners.
“Kaidan…” Axel groans.
“And I knew you were going to protest so I made sure my mother’s going to drive you to each appointment.”
Axel’s protest is a deep throaty growl.
Kaidan only smirks as he looks at him, giving him a coy look. “I love you. Be good while I’m gone.” He pecks his husband on the cheek one last time before heading out the door.
It’s going to be a lonely four weeks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Plate in hand, Axel heads out on the deck to enjoy his breakfast and coffee. Just when he’s about to sit down, he hears a whimper, one of pain. He’s pretty certain it didn’t come from him. Despite feeling like a rusty piece of junk metal, he wasn’t one to complain about his injuries. He puts his coffee down on the table, and listens carefully when he hears it again. It’s coming from under the deck.
He holds his plate in one hand and the railing with the other as he takes one step at a time. When he reaches the bottom level, he takes a knee carefully and then the other, then goes down on all fours to look under the deck where he finds the owner of the whimpering noise.
“Hey buddy. You lost?”
The dog growls at him, and he chuckles.
“Not the friendly type are we? Or are we having a bad day?”
Shifting himself into a sitting position, he rips a piece of the blueberry pancake and tosses it under the deck.
“Or maybe we’re just hungry?”
Without having any experience with dogs before, he really can’t tell what could possibly be the issue with the dog at the moment. One thing he does know; it might take a while to coax it from under the deck. I’ve got time buddy, lots of time.
Axel looks away, taking a few slow bites of  his pancakes, and looks out to the ocean that’s calm in the horizon on this fine morning. When he looks back under the deck, the small piece of pancake is gone.
“It’s good uh? My husband made ‘em. Doesn’t want me on my feet too much while I’m recovering. We’re probably the same as you and I. Hurting?” He picks up a strip of bacon, biting off a big piece and tossing the rest under the deck. He watches as the dog takes tentative steps forward, sniffing the bacon and picking it up before hiding again.
“You’re gonna be like that.” Axel says as he bites into another one of his bacon strips and licks his fingers. 
The dog looks up at Axel with pleading eyes after it finishes eating the strip of bacon and Axel chuckles. He tosses another strip of bacon and another piece of his pancake before he finishes off his plate.
“I’d stick around a little more but err…Ma’s gonna be here soon to take me to PT. But er…” he grunts as he gets up to his feet, his hip protesting against the movement. “How ‘bout I get you a bowl of water. It’s going to get warm today.”
He makes his way back up the stairs and back to the kitchen when he hears the front door opening.  He pokes his head out of the kitchen and lifts a finger to warn his mother-in-law he’ll just be another a minute. Opening the cupboard doors to all the dishes, he grabs a bowl and heads to the sink to fill it up with water.
“I’m running a little behind, are you almost ready?”
“There’s a dog under the deck.”
“What?”
“Yeah, there’s a dog under the deck.”
“How did it get there?” Helena asks as she takes the bowl of water from Axel’s hands.
“I’ve no idea, but it must have been in the middle of the night because it wasn’t there yesterday, or I would have heard it. It was whimpering pretty bad. It’s not ready to come out though.”
Helena makes her way to the deck while Axel leans his back against the counter. “Sometimes it takes them a little bit to warm up to people, especially if they’ve been mistreated or dropped off somewhere.”
“Why would anyone do that?” Axel’s brows narrow in confusion. He’s never had pets other than his hamster and his fish, but he could never see himself hurting them. His hamster was able to be brought back home, but he made Kaidan promise to take care of his fish in his…no… now Kaidan’s captain quarters on the SR2. As much as he wanted to bring them back home, they just didn’t have the space to have an aquarium that size, despite having even more space in their home.
“Your guess is as good as mine.”  She purses her lips and shrugs her shoulders as if to say I don’t know and makes her way down the stairs.
It doesn’t take her long to drop off the bowl and make her way back up the stairs. “I’ll get some dog food at the store and some peanut butter while at your appointment.” She tells him as they make their way to the front door.
Axel opens the passenger door of the skycar. “Peanut butter?”
Helena chuckles as she gets in the car and starts the engine as she closes her door. Axel climbs in the passenger seat, closing the door shut. “I keep forgetting you’re new to the whole animal thing. Yes, peanut butter. Dogs love it for some reason.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 2.
Axel grabs a bottle of water, a spoon, a fork, the container of peanuts, and his reheated dinner outside with him. Somehow managing to juggle all items in his hands and under his armpit as he holds onto the railing going down the stairs, grumbling to himself how he can’t wait for his legs to have the stability they used to have. Soon, hopefully.
Sitting down on the grass, he puts the water bottle down and his dinner. He notices the food he put in the bowl this morning had hardly been touched. He untwists the lid to the peanut butter and scoops it up with the spoon. So far, the dog has stayed out of arm’s reach, but Axel has managed to get it to eat from the spoon in his hands the last couple of days. It’s progress. He stretches his arm out and waits for the dog to approach. The dog approaches tentatively and slowly licks the peanut butter from the spoon. “Atta boy. I don’t know if you’re a boy, but I’m going to call you that for right now. Just easier. Hope you don’t mind.”  The dog looks up at him and licks his snout. “It’s good, uh? I’m just going to put this down on the ground so I can eat as well.” Slowly, he lays the spoon on the grass.
He takes the lid off his container containing his dinner, and takes a bite.
He cracks open the lid to the water bottle and takes a good swig out of it before grabbing the dog’s bowl. He tosses the old water and pours the fresh water into and places it by the dog.
“I’ll be back tomorrow little guy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 3.
A victory for Axel today when he feels the bump of a cold wet nose against his hand. He doesn’t move though. He lets the dog come to him on its own terms. He’s done such extensive research in the past few weeks that he’s happy his patience is starting to pay off. It’s been a fascinating way to spend the weeks outdoors and still manage to keep his promise to his husband while avoiding any hard physical activities that he is yet to get cleared for.
He spends his day outside, only going in to get some food occasionally and to use the washroom a couple times. He makes sure to bring the peanut butter in the evening when he knows it’s his last time coming out for the day. He makes sure the dog has food and water for the night.
The process is gradual for the rest of the week. But on Friday, the dog nudges Axel’s arm with his snout and sits beside him. Tucked under his arm. Axel pets the tuft of fur on the dog’s chest, a smile forming at the corners of his lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Week 4.
Axel is sitting on the bottom step of the staircase. He puts a dog treat on the grass right in front of it. He shimmies up one step.
So far, he’s managed to get the dog to trust him enough to allow him to pet it. But the evenings are getting colder and he wants to get the dog inside. There’s no way he was going to let it get stranded outside in September. He hates how the weather changes so drastically from day to night.
He places another treat on the second last bottom of the stairs and shimmies up another. He keeps doing this until he reaches the very top of the stairs.
The sound of the patio door opening makes him jump slightly.
“Axel? What are you doing? And why is there a bag of dog food on the counter?” 
He’s been so focused on the dog this last month he forgot his husband was scheduled to be home today. Shit. He wanted to make dinner to surprise Kaidan. He curses at himself for being so distracted, but answers the question.
“I found a dog under our deck. It’s really apprehensive so I’ve been just slowly coaxing it out. Trying to get him inside.”
“A dog? How long has it been there?” Kaidan sits next to Axel. He puts a hand on the younger man’s thigh and pecks his cheek.
“Found him the day you left.”
Kaidan rests his head on Axel’s shoulder. “Been doing this since I left?”
He kisses the crown of Kaidan’s head, “Yeah.”
“You sure it’s a him?”
“I saw his ballsack.”
Kaidan chuckles.
The dog pokes his head around the railing, taking the treat before retreating back behind the stairs. Slowly, it comes back for more and slowly climbs the stairs. When it reaches half way, Kaidan and Axel retreat inside the house, but keep the door open.
About an hour later the dog finally comes inside, running towards Axel, tongue lolling It’s rewarded with head scratches and a kiss on the forehead. His black floppy ears, his bright blue eyes, the white dots on his black nose, and splotches of caramel in his white fur just made him too adorable to resist not petting him.
“Kai. Can we keep him?” Axel looks up at Kaidan, puppy eyes and all.
Kaidan contemplates a moment and Axel is sure is about to refurse, “Sure. I mean you’re alone a lot, he could be excellent company for those long periods I’m gone. Did you name him?”
“Naw. I don’t know what’s a good name for a dog.”
Kaidan smirks, “Mako.”
“I feel like this is a jab at me.”
“You’ll never know.”
“It’s a jab isn’t it? Kaidan…”
Kaidan guffaws on his way out of the kitchen.
5 notes · View notes
tigerkirby215 · 5 years ago
Text
5e Oleander, the Dark Unicorn build (Them’s Fightin’ Herds)
Tumblr media
(Artwork by Mane 6)
My brain completely didn’t register that it was spooky month, even though ironically I made a build for literal Satan last week. Where do you go after making the pure embodiment of evil? …Unicorns are scary, right? I mean they’re certainly scarier than a scarecrow.
GOALS
My magic may be dark, but it will bring light to the world - It seems all you need to do to get phenomenal cosmic power is read a cursed book. We’ll need teleportation, chapter traps, and Eldritch Shadow Blasts.
Or dark; either one - Oli’s got friends on the other side... of the page. FHTNG, I summon thee!
I don't have the time or crayons to teach you how to fight! - You’re still a fighting game character so you’ve still got to be able to throw a punch. Or stab with a horn in your case.
RACE
If you want to be a unicorn the closest you’ll get is Centuar, but even if you ignore the stats Centaur isn’t that great for you. Almost all the abilities are based on keeping in melee range, and you’re mostly played as a zoner.
With that in mind you’re only half under the influence of darkness, so how about a Drow Half-Elf for all the fun of being a Drow without the penalties and lore connotations of being a female Drow? (Feel free to play a full Drow if you wish just realize that you’re getting Sunlight Sensitivity which is seriously obnoxious.) Your Charisma increases by 2 and you can increase another two abilities by 1: Dexterity and Constitution will let you dodge some hits and tank what few hits do connect. You have Darkvision up to 60 feet and your Fey Ancestry gives you advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep.
As a Drow Half-Elf you can pick up Drow Magic for a bit of extra spark in your shadow sparks which I’ll go over at the appropriate levels. And you get Common, Elvish, and one additional language of your choice so grab Deep Speech to talk with Fred. (Note: Depending on your DM Fred may not speak Deep Speech.)
ABILITY SCORES
15; DEXTERITY - You’re as nimble as a horse, because you are a horse. (That, and I want this ability score to be even.)
14; CHARISMA - You are the prettiest unicorn with a mane as white as... well it was white.
13; CONSTITUTION - When in the business of fighting cows, ice deer, and sheep with armies of puppies you’ve gotta be able to take a hit.
12; INTELLIGENCE - Read enough books and you’re bound to get some smarts, even if that book is alive and is teaching you how to manipulate darkness.
10; WISDOM - Oli is a smart cookie. Not smart enough to realize that reading the demon book would make your coat black, but still pretty smart.
8; STRENGTH - I’d argue that a head horn is a finesse weapon, and simply put we need everything else more.
BACKGROUND
To find a forbidden shadow book you’ve gotta know your way around a library, and as a Sage you know exactly that. You get proficiency in Arcana and History along with two languages of your choice (to maximize Demonology take Infernal and Abyssal, though you may want to talk to your extended family with Sylvan or Celestial.)
Your Researcher feature will always let you know where to find a book that you may need. It may not be easy to find (if it’s back home with your old friends they probably won’t welcome you in) but you’ll know where to go to grab it.
Tumblr media
(Artwork by Linvidia on DeviantArt)
THE BUILD
LEVEL 1 - WARLOCK 1
Hey it’s the funny class I use too much! Jokes aside you literally get your magic from an otherworldly being so what else would you be? Regardless Warlocks get proficiency in two skills from the Warlock list: Investigation will help you search for the key and Intimidation will let you scare away anyone who’ll try to stop you.
Unlike most classes Warlocks choose their subclass at level 1, and there’s certainly a lot to pick from. But without any Shadow patron who is there to choose? Well the Archfey patron can recreate a lot of Fred’s powers. Notably Fey Presence will let Fred give your foes a jump! As an action you can cause each creature near you to make a Wisdom saving throw against your Warlock save DC: the creatures that fail their saving throws are either charmed or frightened by you until the end of your next turn. Consider the charm being you and your natural unicorn beauty. Regardless you can use this action once per short or long rest.
And of course as a Warlock you get access to Pact Magic. You learn two cantrips from the Warlock list and hey look it’s Eldritch Blast: for the shadow spark in you. To rip out some pages take Create Bonfire to lay down some Chapter Traps. Now would also be a good time to mention that thanks to Drow Magic you also get access to the Dancing Lights cantrip, in case you’re in a dark cave and your Darkvision isn’t enough.
You can also learn two first level spells: Arms of Hadar will let you stick a tentacle out of your book to give yourself space to back away from your enemies. To make it easier to get past an opponent’s block Faerie Fire from the Archfey list will light up an opponent’s weak spot to give you and your allies advantage. It helps to know the hitboxes.
LEVEL 2 - WARLOCK 2
Second level Warlocks get access to Eldritch Invocations and oh hello there Agonizing Blast! How did you get here? Jokes aside for your other invocation grab Armor of Shadows to keep it light and still be up for a fight!
You can also learn another spell: Sleep is also from the Archfey list and as the name implies it’ll put your enemies to sleep! No one likes late night fights, especially with net lag.
LEVEL 3 - WARLOCK 3
Third level Warlocks can choose their Pact Boon and since your best friend lives in a book you’ve gotta take Pact of the Tome. As a Tome Warlock you get the Unicornomicon Book of Shadows, in which you can inscribe three cantrips from any class’ spell list. Guidance is never a bad thing to have so I’d start with that; get Fred to help you with your research, as he’s literally a living book! Thaumaturgy will let you channel some shadow magic to do spooky stuff like make candles flicker or create ominous whispers. And to channel some of your unicorn magic take Druidcraft to shape nature somewhat.
You can also now learn second level spells: for some short range teleportation take Misty Step to vanish in a puff of darkness. And remember that Faerie Fire spell? Thanks to Drow Magic you can cast it once per long rest without using a spell slot.
LEVEL 4 - WARLOCK 4
4th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement: increase your Charisma to be the prettiest unicorn of darkness.
You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! For your cantrip take Prestidigitation to complete the trifecta of minor magic mastery. As for leveled spells Mirror Image will let you up your dodging game, putting you in four places at once to make it much harder for your enemy to hit you!
Tumblr media
(Artwork by Angelzillah on DeviantArt)
LEVEL 5 - WARLOCK 5
5th level Warlocks get another Eldritch Invocation and hopefully you didn’t expect Fred to do nothing but whisper sweet nothings to you, right? With Book of Ancient Secrets you can spend some time reading to cast a variety of spells! When you take this invocation you learn two 1st level spells with the Ritual tag like Detect Magic and Identify to help you find the key or anything else of importance. You can now cast those spells as Ritual spells, as well as any Warlock spells you may learn with the Ritual tag. You can also inscribe new Ritual spells into Fred your Book of Shadows at a cost of 50 gp and 2 hours per level of the spell.
And speaking of spells you can learn third level spells at this level such as Fear, which causes fear in your enemies. Funny how that works. Additionally thanks to Drow Magic you can cast the Darkness spell once per Long Rest, to turn off the lights and let Fred out to play. Sadly you don’t have Fred yet, and it should be mentioned that most people can’t see through the dark.
LEVEL 6 - WARLOCK 6
6th level Archfey Warlocks get some more potent teleportation with Misty Escape. When you take damage you can use your reaction to turn invisible and teleport up to 60 feet. You remain invisible until the start of your next turn unless you attack or cast a spell. You can only use this super teleport once per short or long rest, but it should be enough for some mix-ups right?
Speaking of mix-ups you can put your opponents in a dizzy state with Hypnotic Pattern. Just remember that hitting them will break them out of it.
LEVEL 7 - WARLOCK 7
7th level Warlocks can learn 4th level spells like Dimension Door for some cross-map teleports.
You can also grab another Eldritch Invocation! Trickster’s Escape will let you tech out of grabs. Is Freedom of Movement overly situational? Yes! Are there better invocations to choose? Yes! Are they in character? No! But anything can be in character if you want it to be!
LEVEL 8 - WARLOCK 8
8th level Warlocks get an Ability Score Improvement so cap off your Charisma to be a master of shadows.
You can also learn another spell and I think it’s about time: Dark spirits, twist the trees, foul the lake, and curse this land! FHTNG I SUMMON THEE! Summon Aberrant Spirit is an Unearthed Arcana spell likely to be in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything that lets you summon a tentacle monster from beyond! Fred can take the form of a Beholderkin, Slaadi, or Star Spawn.
Star Spawn is probably the closest to Fred, attacking a creature’s mind with his attacks and also having an aura that drains at their sanity. The Slaadi is a good tank that can also counter cheese strats by denying healing. And the Beholderkin? Well it can fly and shoot at range. Fred’s a demon of many forms, and he’s also fun at parties!
Tumblr media
(Artwork by probablyfakeblonde on DeviantArt)
LEVEL 9
Now that we’ve got our book smarts it’s time to improve our combat smarts. If you’re going to fight predators you need to have the best combat training possible, which is why we’ll be going into the class that is the most well-known for expertise in combat...
BARD 1
The Bard class, master of close-ranged combat with expertise in every skill required to keep you in a fight. Jokes aside first level Bards get proficiency with a skill of their choice (Perception would further help with spotting danger or potential keyholders) and a musical instrument. (Pan Flutes seem in character for a forest child.) Bards also get Bardic Inspiration at first level, letting you pull out an assist to give allies a d6 to attack rolls, skill checks, and saving throws.
But most notably Bards get more Spellcasting! You get two cantrips from the Bard list: to weaponize salt take Vicious Mockery, for BM so bad your opponent messes up. Psychological warfare! And since you don’t have hands of your own as a unicorn (you do as a half-elf though) grab Mage Hand to use your magic to grab things with your horn.
You can also learn 4 spells from the Bard list: for some dark powers manipulating your foes take Dissonant Whispers. For some dark powers helping you take Unseen Servant. To recover more easily from air combos take Feather Fall. And for some push-blocking take Thunderwave for more push and less block.
LEVEL 10 - BARD 2
Second level Bards get Jack of All Trades, letting you add half your proficiency bonus to any skill you aren’t already proficient in. Dark magic works in strange and mysterious ways... and Fred’s a long book. You also get Song of Rest to let your allies heal an extra d6 during short rests, which is nice because you’re going to be short resting a lot as a Warlock. I mean, you’re level 10 so a d6 of healing probably isn’t going to help much but...
You can also learn another spell like Bane, giving your opponents some input lag to open them up for attacks.
LEVEL 11 - BARD 3
Third level Bards get Expertise in two skills of their choice: Arcana will make you the master of the arcane, and Intimidation... you have a literal demon as your best friend.
But more importantly you can choose your Bard college and to actually gain some combat proficiency go into the College of Valor. Along with proficiency in medium armor, martial weapons, and shields (Oli doesn’t wear armor but Medium Armor might be nice. The only weapon you’ll really be using is a rapier but if your DM allows it there’s no reason not to equip a shield?) you also further your assists with Combat Inspiration, allowing your inspiration die to be added to damage rolls and AC; basically the only two things you couldn’t add it to before.
And you can learn second level spells such as Locate Object, because these silly ungulates keep losing their keys!
LEVEL 12 - BARD 4
4th level Bards get an Ability Score Improvement and Dexterity will make you tougher to hit while also increasing the potency of your horn stabs.
You can also learn another spell along with another cantrip! A lot of people say Friends is a bad cantrip because it makes the person you’re talking to hate you after using it but here’s the thing: Friends works on Intimidation checks too. Who cares if they hate you when they fear you? But a spell that people don’t say is bad is Lesser Restoration, which will help you break out of stun lock.
LEVEL 13 - BARD 5
5th level Bards see their Bardic Inspiration increase to a d8 which is great because they also get Font of Inspiration, allowing their Bardic Inspiration to come back on a short rest. Told you you’d be doing a lot of short rests!
You can also learn third level spells like Sending to challenge your friends to a duel, as long as they’re on the same plane of existence. TFH isn’t on the Epic Games Store; thank god.
LEVEL 14 - BARD 6
6th level Valor Bards get an Extra Attack, letting them attack twice with the attack action; it’s really that simple. Well you do also get another spell, and I have no doubt that Oleander’s used to speaking in Tongues... Oh and you get Contercharm which is godawful poop-garbage, letting you spend your action to give your allies advantage against Charms and Fears. Maybe this is why TFH is a 1v1 game; no need to use Countercharm?
Tumblr media
(Artwork by SinniePony on DeviantArt)
LEVEL 15 - WARLOCK 9
5th level spell time! For a massive single target Shadow Blast grab Negative Energy Flood! Look, just because we’ve never seen Oleander turn someone into a zombie...
You can also grab another invocation and while we’ve never seen Oleander fly Ascendant Step is an insane utility that I’m sure Oli would’ve learnt to reach the high book shelves.
LEVEL 16 - WARLOCK 10
10th level Fey Warlocks have Beguiling Defenses for immunity against charms, and if someone attempts you charm you you can spend your reaction to instead charm them! You can also learn another cantrip like Minor Illusion to manipulate the shadows around you. 
LEVEL 17 - WARLOCK 11
11th level Warlocks get a 6th level Mystic Arcanum, which is a 6th level spell that uses a 6th level slot that comes back after a long rest. There are a lot of nice options at 6th level but if Fred is getting grabby he might send them to a Mental Prison. If they succeed against the spell they take a bunch of psychic damage but if they fail they are surrounded by an illusion which only they can see which has “hideous maws filled with dripping teeth” as one of the available options. Basically Fred sends them to a hellscape and they can either sit there in horror or try to break out, taking 10d10 psychic damage in the process.
You can also learn another regular Warlock spell from the regular Warlock spell list: Dream will let you reach your foes even in their dreams (duh) and let Fred give them a spook to stop them from sleeping! Or you can use it for some otherworldly messaging. Maybe use it to call a smug reindeer a pompous princess?
LEVEL 18 - WARLOCK 12
12th level means an Ability Score Improvement: time to cap off that Dexterity modifier to be quick on your feet and sharp with your horn!
Additionally you get your last Eldritch Invocation at this level: there are a lot of options but none that really feel in-character, so pick whatever you want.
LEVEL 19 - WARLOCK 13
13th level Warlocks get their 7th level Mystic Arcanum: while there are a lot of good options Crown of Stars will let you charge up some powerful shadow blasts, creating 7 stars that float around you and shed light. You can shoot one out as a bonus action to do 4d12 Radiant damage. While you have a star floating above you it also creates light, which might be useful.
And you additionally get another regular Warlock spell: since it’s my build take Synaptic Static, because I like this spell. Have Fred assault your foes minds to make them easier to read!
LEVEL 20 - WARLOCK 14
As a 14th level Archfey you can finally pull your foes into Fred’s realm! Dark Delirium gives you a new not-quite-spell: Take an action to choose a creature that you can see within 60 feet of you. It must make a Wisdom saving throw against your warlock spell save DC. On a failed save, it is charmed or frightened by you for 1 minute or until your concentration is broken, though the effect ends early if the creature takes any damage.
Until this illusion ends, the creature thinks it is lost in a misty realm, the appearance of which you choose. The creature can see and hear only itself, you, and the illusion. You must finish a short or long rest before you can use this again, but your time in the pixel lobby to do as you please. Maybe just teabag to taunt them with a unicorn shuffle.
FINAL BUILD
PROS
So naïve trying to beat me - Maxed out Charisma means the best spells you can get. Maxed out Dexterity with Mage Armor means 18 AC (up to 20 if your DM lets you slap a shield on!) And a +2 CON mod means your health isn’t bad either!
Fine, but let's make it quick - A lot of your better features come back on short rests. Both Bardic Inspiration and your 5th level Pact slots are easily refreshable, allowing you to always be ready for a fight.
I have trained years for this; you will not dissuade me - Despite coming from a game without assists you are a master of helping your friends. Jack of All Trades in all skills, Bardic Inspiration for all rolls, plenty of utility spells (including an ungodly amount of cantrips and Book of Ancient Secrets to handle any ritual spells) and plenty of languages to top it off.
CONS
I am no weakling! - Big investment in AC... not so much in saving throws. Your Intelligence, Constitution, and notably Strength all have very low saving throws.
Itty-bitty living space - Low Constitution saves mean a frequent drop of concentration. And speaking of concentration you’ve got a lot of them but can only have one up at a time. Can’t have Fred around if you want to float too.
Need... more... power... - Truthfully there’s a lot I didn’t take from Warlock. I didn’t take any of the better spells from Archfey like Blink, Greater Invisibility, or Dominate Person. You could’ve gotten level 15 Eldritch Invocations like Witch Sight and Shroud of Shadows, but I wanted Extra Attack. Truthfully if you know your campaign will be going to level 20 then Warlock 15 / Bard 5 might be a better build, and nothing is forcing you to take the spell I did.
But you’re used to being underestimated. When it comes to matters of life-and-death any advantage is necessary. So go all out with your friend on the other side! Fight with spell and horn sword to prove that all magic can save the world. Well, perhaps not salt magic...
Tumblr media
(Animation by Szafir87 on DeviantArt. Original artwork by OgaraOrCynder on DeviantArt.)
24 notes · View notes