#how often have you been doing that and I was just like working at Starbucks?

[sleepymccoy]

I have some general anxiety about going to supermarkets aimed at specific cultures because the intended clientele is not lil white me and the staff often don't speak english and I feel inappropriate. But not once has this been true, and I've always enjoyed my visit. Anyway, that's a preface so you can appreciate how brave I am

My colleague recently made me lahpet which is a Burmese salad including pickled tea leaves, dried beans mix, and tomatoes. I loved it and wanted more. I live in a densely Chinese area and thought one of the many supermarkets might have something Burmese, so I brought the empty jar to every store.

Many don't speak english, but that's fine. I had a jar! All interactions basically went like this;

None of them knew Burmese so couldn't even tell me if they had something similar

I gave up and bought it online. Also had a hard time with that cos they don't deliver to apartments (got the vibe that it's just the shop owners son doing deliveries and he couldn't be fucked going upstairs. Valid). But I persevered and got three jars! And the dried beans mix I needed. Way too many dried beans, I totally misjudged the size of the bag being sold

I used one to show my friends this salad. They didn't go as insane over it as I did. I gave another jar to my dad who did go appropriately insane. He said he liked it, then five min later interrupted to say he really liked it, then after dinner spent time with me going through the ingredients and trying to figure out if he can pickle tea leaves himself. Booyah.

Regardless, this left me with one jar which I swiftly finished. So I'm on the hunt again and the online store stresses me out now cos they don't like apartments

I found a Burmese supermarket a few suburbs away and a twenty min walk from the station. Fucking worth it, it's added two hours to my commute home but I want these jars so much. I enjoyed the stroll. It rained a bit, so I saw a couple rainbows

In the store I was, again, immediately stressed. I went down an aisle and back again and found nothing. I found other pickled things! But not my tea leaves! I did not want this trip to be in vain, it was long and I had a shit day at work. I was really only doing it today cos the days a write off as a bad day so I may as well run an annoying errand

Anyway I pulled up the website and showed the lady at the counter a photo of the jar and she pointed me to them immediately. I returned like fifteen seconds later with four jars and she was already on a phone call with someone. I love workers rights. You're awesome, lady.

So I say four and hold four fingers up and pass her one jar. She scans and sets the price right. She then interrupts whoever's talking on the phone to ask me, "How you know this?"

So I quickly explained that my colleague made me the salad and I loved it. She pointed back at the aisle and said, "the beans, you need beans." So I was like "I have so many beans, I bought too many, I just need the pickled leaves." And she was already waving her hand at me in disinterest so I stopped talking and paid lol.

It was a long haul home. I passed and remember to take a photo of my favourite art installation, the tower of coffee cups in a pole.

There's no starbucks in my suburb so one of these at least has taken a long trip to get here. So did I today, my feet are sore

Anyway, I have four jars of miraculous pickled tea leaves. If you can figure out how to buy these ingredients I recommend it to serve alongside very fatty meals like lasagne or sausage cos it cuts through nicely. I also take a serving to work every day because the tea leaves are caffeinated so I'm skipping the second coffee

I love lahpet

[theravenkin]

hey followers and mutuals:

just a reminder that you can help suffering palestinians from afar. it feels hopeless, but there's always something we can do.

you can donate. i've been donating to the palestinian children's relief fund; there's also a chapter on campus at my university. there are other organizations you can donate with, too: unicef and launchgood are good ones too i think. it doesn't have to be a hundred dollars at a time; give whatever you can afford. just remember why you're giving in the first place.

you can boycott. boycott starbucks, boycott mcdonald's, boycott nestle products, coke products, unilever products...there are so many fucking companies with their hands in israel's pockets (and vice versa) right now. even better, the boycotts are working. starbuck's stocks have dropped like crazy in the past couple of weeks; the world is feeling our collective effects. boycotts work if we stick to them. go to bdsmovement.net to learn about more companies you can boycott or pressure.

you can call your representatives. call and email your representatives every single day. you can call the white house. you can tell them that you are a registered voter and that you will not be voting for any candidate who does not demand a ceasefire. tell them that you will refuse to support any elected official who accepts bribes from AIPAC (such as democrats Brian Higgins, Gregory Meeks, Joseph Morelle, and Ritchie Torres of NY and Pete Aguilar, Ami Bera, and Julia Brownley of Cali). flood those motherfuckers with messages. it does more than you think.

you can share. get on social media and find those palestinian journalists and civilians who are sharing in real time scenes from Gaza. it's gruesome and it is horrifying, but people (especially those so removed from it) need to see it to understand. western media can only spread so much propaganda; when you've seen those dying children, people crying and searching through rubble for their families, something is bound to change. go to instagram and follow motaz (@motaz_azaiza), bisan (@wizard_bisan1), plestia (@byplestia), the heroes on the ground in gaza, risking their lives. they start each new post with "i'm still alive", often worrying that they may not be for long. palestinians are begging the rest of the world to listen and to tell their story in case they don't make it. they just want to be remembered. that's the very least we can do.

you can have conversations. talk to your friends, your family. post on social media. address it directly. it will be uncomfortable. you dont have to be aggressive about it; just try to appeal to people's humanity, present them with the facts, and if you must, show them the gruesome footage from gaza or the badly veiled propaganda from israeli officials. do anything you can to get them to care. tell them how they can help. get people talking about it, even just thinking about it.

you can educate yourself. i've learned more about the history of israel and palestine in the last few days than i ever had before. and let me tell you: learning the objective facts of history makes it 200% easier to know who to support.

you can support your muslim, jewish, and arab friends. they all need it right now. check in on them and see how they're doing. let them know that you're trying to do something; even though it feels small, it will mean something to them, i promise. let them know you're there and you support them.

please please share and do whatever you can to help those suffering without food, water, electricity, or medical care right now. don't be afraid of the issue because it's "sensitive" or "controversial". it's uncomfortable to face, but it should be more uncomfortable to allow thousands to die while we do nothing.

free palestine. 🇵🇸

[milla984]

A Million Reasons

Summary: after a phone call from Penelope, Reader teases Spencer about a potential love interest and things don’t go exactly as planned.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x gn!reader

Category: fluff with a little angst

TW/CW: a little bit of angst, brief mentions of food, self-doubt, mentions of anxiety, kissing

Word Count: 1.2k

Thank you @drgenius-reid for taking the time to beta-read this!

The following work is my entry for @andiebeaword's 3,000 Follower Celebration Writing Challenge (prompt n. 12) and is also part of the series Spencer Reid, my beloved

Spencer scooped out of the paper cup what was left of his ice cream before he finished recounting the events leading to the arrest of the unsub the entire BAU team had been successfully tracking down in Seattle during the past few days. 

“He’ll be charged with ten counts of murder, one attempted murder, and unlawful possession of multiple weapons. He’s facing ten life sentences without parole.”

“Way to go, Justice League!” you cheered, enthusiastic. 

He tucked his hair behind his ear with a cute chuckle. His sleeves were rolled up to the elbow so you caught a glimpse of his wristwatch reflecting the light of a lamp post standing along the edge of the walking path; from the bench you were both sitting on you could see the illuminated dome of the US Capitol rising up against the dark mid-summer sky. 

Despite being within walking distance of a major street in the southwest quadrant of Washington, the park was quiet and uncrowded and the nearby gelato shop was one of Spencer’s favorites. 

You took the last sip of your drink, acting very casual. “And that’s all that happened?” 

He shrugged, unsure about which crucial information could have been missing from his story since he was under strict instructions not to fill you in on the most gruesome details of the cases he’d worked.

“Uhm, graphic descriptions of tortures and mutilations are not—”

“I’m talking about a certain homicide detective… the one you gave your number to…?” you explained and his jaw dropped instantly.

“What?!”

You nudged at him with your elbow. “Garcia called me from the Original Starbucks in Pike Place. I couldn’t tell if the hype was about your new admirer or being there.”

“I don't understand how this is such a big deal!” he blurted out in a high-pitched voice. “She showed an interest in what we do so I gave her my card.”

No profiling skills were required to detect his firm intention to avoid discussing the matter, yet the words came out of your mouth like a river in spate. 

“Any chance it wasn’t only a professional interest?”

The way Spencer looked at you, disappointed and hurt, hit you worse than a punch in the liver. 

“What’s with you, guys?! Are– are you all so invested in my personal life because you’re convinced I’m chronically unable to have one without your help?” he snapped, something you’d never seen him do. 

“I’m s—” you tried to reply, even though he was still too angry to let you apologize and cut you off again.

“Or maybe it’s that I’m no Derek Morgan, so why would someone even notice I exist, right?”

“Seriously?! An IQ of 187 and this is the best inference you can come up with?” you snorted, upset by the subtle insult he’d thrown at you - even if you had to admit you deserved it.

His brows furrowed. “Then why did you bring this up?” 

“I didn’t mean to pry, I’m sorry. I truly am,” you admitted, “and the Derek Morgan type is not the one I’d go for, just so you know. I don’t think that people hitting on you is funny or weird, it’s… I’m just surprised it doesn’t happen more often. There, I said it.”

He remained silent for a while, quite aware that Penelope’s inability to keep her mouth shut generated from genuine excitement about what she perceived as good news; sharing such personal information with you meant you had been put to the test over and over and, in the end, deemed worthy of her trust. 

The peaceful atmosphere around you served as an amplifier for the sound of splashing water and Spencer indicated the fountain at the center of the large, round basin in front of you with a jerk of his head. 

“I read a book about the architectural history of D.C. on the way back. This piece was created for the 1876 Centennial International Exhibition in Philadelphia, the US Congress acquired it in 1877 and placed it at the base of Capitol Hill. It was dismantled in 1926, then it remained in storage until 1932 when they moved it here.”

The pedestal held three twin iron-casted sea nymphs wearing wet tunics, with their arms raised above their heads to support a shallow vasque; on top was a group of kneeling child tritons, and the base was decorated with turtle-like aquatic creatures.

“It’s beautiful,” you mumbled.

The fact he’d for sure started and finished said book in less than fifteen minutes was among the 999.999 entries in your list of reasons to crush over SSA Reid.  And so were his three PhDs, his crooked ties, his passion for Star Wars, chess and Halloween.

“I don’t talk much about my private life. Especially outside of work,” he confessed after a pause. “A lot of times I have a hard time discussing personal issues—”

“Spencer… you know you don’t owe me an explanation, right?” you rushed to clarify.

He nodded and you did the same in response, to confirm you had no intention of pressuring him into opening up if he felt uncomfortable yet you were also ready to listen to anything he had to say; even in dim light, you could see the sadness veiling his beautiful hazel eyes.   

“Garcia was being Garcia, with her ‘look at the world through rose-colored glasses’ scenarios. I gave my card to a homicide detective to discuss behavioral sciences, it was just what it sounds like. But I understand where she’s coming from, I never told her…”

Your whole body tensed up, courtesy of a rush of anxiety triggered by the possibility of him being already involved with someone he had never mentioned, not even to his closest friends; you wondered if he could hear the butterflies fluttering in your stomach.

Luckily for you, Spencer didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m trying to come to terms with something I’ve been feeling, for weeks now. And I’m worried, because of what happened in the past and I can’t let go of…” his voice broke a little, so he swallowed. “Deep down I’m afraid I'm not the type of person who gets to live out happily ever after.” 

Refraining from hugging him on the spot and holding him close to your heart had gotten increasingly difficult lately, so you settled for a peck on his temple in a clumsy attempt at a comforting gesture.

You feared the worst when he looked at you for a moment that seemed to last forever; you certainly didn’t expect him to lean forward to cup your face in his hands - big hands.  With slender, elegant fingers he tenderly brushed over your cheeks.

You both held your breath, waiting for the distance between you to vanish until your foreheads touched and the tips of your noses rubbed together. 

“... are we really doing this?!” he whispered, sending shivers down your spine.

You smiled. “Don’t make me wait for another six months.”

Spencer squinted, an indication he was browsing countless data stored in his memory, then he eventually pinpointed the exact moment you fell for him and squeaked in surprise. 

“Christm—”

You pressed your palm on the nape of his neck, guiding his lips over yours for what you both had been longing for. 

Reason number 1.000.000: Dr. Reid was one hell of a kisser.

@thisiscalmanditsdoctorreid, @pretty-boys-book-club, @spookydrreid, @f-me-reid, @foxy-eva, @scorpiofangirl1109, @a-potato-wearing-plaid, @cynbx, @reidsbookclub, @nagemasstuff, @hotchsdharma, @reidmainbitch, @lizzylynch1, @will-grahams-eyes, @padawancat97

»»»— read pinned post for taglist info —«««

[gacha-incels]

after over a month it’s easy for some to forget the extreme misogyny that is at the heart of the PM/Limbus Company wrongful termination. I’ve seen people refer to it as a vague legal battle, twitter users overreacting, just protesters that “hate project moon” or simply that Vellmori “was fired”. This entire situation happened because Korean men on DCinside thought putting a run of the mill fashion choker on Sinclair and having Ishmael in a skin-tight diving suit meant there was a feminist working for Project Moon. In a logic jump that would make even Alex Jones blush, they said Sinclair’s choker obviously meant the artist sees men as slaves. Frequently in South Korea men like this often go on “feminist hunts” where they will try and get women fired and ruin their lives for expressing even the most basic support for women’s rights. When they found out a male artist drew the Sinclair and Ishmael IDs, they specifically stopped going after him because he is male. Instead, they found out there was a female artist working for Limbus Company, Vellmori, and subsequently tried to ruin her. In their digging they found deleted tweets of hers which, again, showed support for basic women’s rights and condemned sex trafficking and molka. Then, in an act of q-anon tier paranoia, these men went through the Limbus Company CGs and found what they thought was hands drawn specifically to do the 🤏 emoji(korean incels go through their own personal 9/11 every time they see this image. I think they tried to cancel Starbucks over it once? ironically, I saw the latest summer male costume in FGO has the character always posing with pinched fingers. I guess the incels can let this one slide because that gacha is overflowing with scantily clad women who want to fuck you and a very concerning number of little girls in microbikinis?). They wanted Vellmori fired because of these years-old deleted tweets and illustrations of hands. They did this because they hate women. Vellmori was targeted because she is a woman. These men are misogynists who are part of a hate group.

Now, instead of telling these guys to stop bothering PM employees or the law will become involved (something they have literally done when their restaurant’s staff was getting harassed), Project Moon’s CEO quickly wrote a post acquiescing to these men’s complaints including the “ideological” posts by Vellmori, who he said was let go because of this. The reason why so many female fans have dropped the game and deleted entire accounts of fanart is because we saw Vellmori get fired immediately after the misogynistic witch hunt against her. She was fired for saying abortion should be legal, she was fired for condemning the rampant hidden cameras put in women’s public toilets and changing rooms, she was fired for condemning the Nth room case. In accordance to her contract, these years old tweets had even been deleted. She was fired because delusional men thought they saw pinched fingers in her art and wanted her to suffer for it.

If you are on the fence about the boycott spearheaded by Korean fans, you need to ask yourself if accepting this rampant misogyny is worth playing a glorified casino game over. No matter how “generous” you see Limbus Company, it’s a gacha game like any other. If they wanted a “live service” game, they would have made one. If they wanted to simply tell a story, there wouldn’t be a .png casino tab with an option to pay up to $70 multiple times to gamble with, nor incentives to log in daily. They made a gacha game because this style of game makes the most money.

[sagesolsticewrites]

“I think I deserve a kiss” from the prompt list with Rooster?

Thank you so much for the request, nonnie! I haven’t really gotten to write for the TGM characters before, but it was very fun to get back into the swing of things and I hope I did our boy Rooster justice!

Starbucks Run

Rooster dragged himself through the front door of the house you shared, tired and aching down to his bones, though he couldn’t help a small smile at the sound of your morning alarm abruptly being shut off.

He closed the door as quietly as he could, and crept up to the bedroom, where he knew you’d be just rolling out of bed. Peeking through the doorway, he called softly:

“Good morning, my love.”

You jump at his voice, but he sees you soften the instant you recognize the figure backlit by the hallway light.

“Good morning, Roo.” You smile, blowing him a quick kiss as you grab your work clothes, “How was your run?”

“It was good,” he replies, though he makes no move to shuck off his sweat-soaked shirt as he normally would.

Instead, he reveals the surprise he’s been hiding behind his back.

“I brought back some goodies.”

You pause in putting in your pearl earrings — a birthday gift from Bradley the first year you’d started dating — and turn to him, eyebrow raised at the eagerness in his voice.

Bradley just grins as he sees surprise and gratitude take over your face at the sight of your favorite pastries and coffee of choice waiting in his hands.

“Honey, you didn’t have to do that!” you insist as you take the wax paper bag and cup.

“I wanted to,” he assures you, brown eyes sparkling, “You’re always doing so much for me, and I know you’ve had a busy week, so I thought you deserved a little something special.”

You let out an awwe at his explanation and thank him, taking a sip from your coffee and getting ready to turn back to your morning routine.

“Though…” he continues, and he knows the unamused look on your face is just for show as you take in his cheeky grin, “I did stand in line at Starbucks for half an hour at 6am so… I think I deserve a kiss.”

You sigh, as if you’re extremely put out by the suggestion, but Rooster knows how happy you are by the way you’re smiling into the kiss.

You pull apart, one of Rooster’s hands cupping your cheek and one of yours playing with the curls at the nape of his neck.

“Thank you,” you say genuinely, with a smile on your face that has Bradley’s heart soaring.

He’d stand in a Starbucks line a mile long every day if he knew it’d make you smile like that every time.

“Now go take a shower,” you say, playfully swatting his chest as you step away to apply your makeup and continue your routine.

“Yes, ma’am,” Bradley replies with a mock salute.

He shucks off his shirt and struts past you to the bathroom with a satisfied grin.

But before he closes it, he peeks through the crack to watch you fuss with your hair and adjust your jewelry, taking sips of coffee every so often, your smile growing with every one.

Yeah.

He definitely wouldn’t mind getting up a little earlier for his run if he got to come home and put that smile on your face.

Welcome to Sage’s Birthday/I’m-Still-Alive Celebration! Find more drabble prompts here!

[windvexer]

find some stuff to do magic about (feat. practicing sorcery is fun and good)

Do you want to do magic? Yes. Do you know what to do magic on? Maybe not. Here is a post for that. Take what you like and leave the rest behind.

Confront your learned helplessness face on because I'll bet money that there's a shit ton of stuff in your life you'd change if you hadn't trained yourself to pave it over just to make your highway of life a little less bumpy.

Let me tell you something I believe. I believe that most all of us have been trained to think that:

wanting things to go well,

wanting to be happy,

wanting little joys and pleasures in life,

and wanting not to be aggravated by the small things

somehow makes us weak, lacking, immature, or insecure,

or even worse,

that putting up with bullshit is somehow automatically makes us a better person, as if we've all got a cosmic thermometer that won't ding "good person!" until we've had it up to here with bullshit and then still force ourselves to grin and bear it.

"If I do magic to shorten the Starbucks drive-through doesn't that make me impatient? I don't want to use magic as spiritual bypassing in order to avoid my flaws."

Well then. Far be it from me to decry the kratophany of Prometheus getting his liver pecked out by eagles every day, manifest in your sacred sacrifice of having your minutes pecked out of your day, one by one, as you wait in line.

Make a list. Keep it with you. On paper, on your phone. Doesn't matter. It's a list of things you'd like to change. Little fleeting things that rear their head only for a second or so before our industrial-powered steamrollers smash it into the ground. Big things that you stew over day to day.

No problem is too petty. No splinter in your side is too insignificant. Betty at the office blows her nose every day at 8:15am and if you have to hear it one more time you are going to burn the building down? Put it on the list.

Do you have to leave 20 minutes early for work on Thursdays because a freight train blocks the freeway for five minutes and your city backs up like Betty's nose? What is magic going to do, rearrange the city's entire traffic patterns? Maybe so. Who cares. That's magic's problem, not yours. Put it on the list.

Have your eye on quite a cute designer bag? Does it cost your monthly rent? Put it on the list.

Learn to stare your life in the eye again with the verv of someone who has just found a reality-warping gun with unlimited ammunition. Game night gets cancelled too often? You never remember to use your pizza coupons? You can never remember to get ginger ale at the store? Put it on the list.

Feed yourself what ails you like a crab going absolutely bonkers in a plankton-filled tank.

just do some of that normal "witchy" stuff, why not

Protections: Not only for spirits and stuff!

Against unwanted solicitors

Against your room mate's creepy partner coming over

Against debt collectors finding your new phone number

Against surprise quizzes in your course

Against nightmares

And from time to time a sorcerer does like a good house ward. Experiment with yours, why not? Waiting until you're under attack to learn how to put up protections is like waiting until you're drowning to learn swimming. Sure, the sheer adrenaline-fueled terror might get you somewhere - or it might get in the way.

You don't normally use altars? Build one, why not. Build secret ones in shoe boxes. Experiment with altars and compound magic.

Perhaps you'd like a mini spellcasting kit to go? I don't know if making one counts as doing magic, but it's fun to make them.

Why not develop and prepare an oil or incense blend that must steep for a few months before it's ready? You don't need it now, right? So that means it's prime time to make things that are supposed to "mature" before use.

And hey, what's the deal with cleansing? A lot of people make fun of it now. Some people say it's important and necessary. Why not get really into cleansing and develop your own take? Practice gentle cleansing, nuclear cleansing, cleansing with pure energy and cleansing with candles, cleansing with cleaning products and cleansing with joy.

casting a spell right now is not the same thing as activating it right now and you can still gain a lot of experience in magic without releasing spells into the wild

I think that a lot of people think of spells as I light the candle and the spell is activated and it goes and does the thing, so if there is no Thing right now, then I can't cast the spell,

whereas if you reframed it as I am creating a spell-creachur that will hibernate in this little vessel until I spill it out into the world,

you may actually find that there are dozens of spells for you to actively develop, experiment with, cast, learn from, and passively benefit from - without necessarily needing any of them right now.

And the benefit is, if you don't actually need it right now, that takes a ton of pressure off of you. If you're not acting out of desperation, experimentation can be very fun indeed.

What about the most intense jaw-breakingly stupid strong protective amulet you've ever conceived of? Make it, why not. Make five prototypes on your journey to the strongest danged protection amulet this side of social media.

Who cares if you don't need them? Maybe some day you'll meet someone who does. Or, you know, magic is fun and doing it is its own reward.

What about a talisman for dreamwork and astral travel? Make something that reeks so intensely of the moon that it launches people out of their bodies just by walking past it.

Decide to perfect the most dazzling money-drawing candle spell. Make that your thing. You don't need cash right now? No worries; donate it to charity.

Have fun. Experiment. Made something that came through a little too hard and now it's causing problems? What a wonderful opportunity to learn how to disassemble a spell vessel.

Make yourself a cabinet full of enchantments. Learn how to contain the energy radiating off of all those enchantments. Realize you need more space and learn to combine multiple similar enchantments into one vessel.

make trusting friends who will let you cast on them.

(self explanatory)

[uramilf]

Dangerous Game - Matty Healy x reader smut

A/N: Guys this is FILTHY. Like the most unhinged deranged smut I’ve written so far, fair warning. It’s set around Christmas 2022 as it mentions the guests at the UK atvb tour, just for context xx

Warnings: SMUT. Cheating (yes cheating is wrong but it’s just a story, if you don’t like it don’t read it please!) Some BDSM, cockwarming, light anal AH SOZ, spanking, oral (f&m receiving), unprotected sex, spitting, biting etc, degredation, dom!Matty

Stepping out of the lift, I straightened my skirt and checked my hair in the reflection of the shiny metal doors as they closed. I was playing a dangerous game with the short skirt and tight blouse, but I couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride on catching a glimpse of myself.  A few months into working at Dirty Hit as Matty’s assistant, and I still tried my hardest to look nice when I knew I would be with him. I knew it was wrong. Every morning I left my own boyfriend in our shared bed after he told me how beautiful I looked. He looked prefect on paper apart from the fact that he wasn’t Matty, and that I often wondered during sex if Matty would do a better job. Sometimes I wanted to tell him exactly who I was trying to look beautiful for, so that I would be free to do whatever I wanted with my gorgeous co-worker. But even then, I wouldn’t be able to make a move on him. He had a girlfriend too, Ella. And she was perfect, a literal model. He wouldn’t even look twice at me.

I walked into the Matty and George’s small shared office. I loved George, but I was glad he was taking the day off for once. Matty looked up from his laptop when I entered. “Morning, love. You look pretty.” “Thanks,” I laughed, sitting down opposite him, trying not to let my face turn red or allow him to see how thrilled I was. “Busy day today?” “Not hugely. Still a few things to sort out for tour, but y’know, I’m getting there,” “That’s good,” I nodded, opening my own laptop. It was never awkward with him, but there was a certain tension in the air every time we were alone. It was as if he could tell that I was actively trying to act appropriately around him, and maybe like he was doing the exact same thing.

We worked quietly for 20 minutes, and as I was checking the guestlists for each show I noticed that his girlfriend’s name was missing. “Hey, Ella’s not on the guestlist for the first London show. Should I put her on?” Matty looked up abruptly, jaw clenching slightly at the mention of her name. Had something happened between them? He relaxed his face and his eyes softened when he saw my worry. “Um, no thanks love. She’ll be out of the city for a few days. Visiting family.” I saved the document and shut the laptop, standing up from my desk. “I’m gonna go get a coffee, you coming?” “Sure, babe. Two minutes.” BABE? What the fuck was he trying to do to me? I didn’t know how long I could stay around Matty without accidentally telling him exactly how I felt about him. A feeling of guilt overcame me and I shook all thoughts of Matty from my head. 

---------------------

On the way back from our coffee run, Matty and I stood quietly together waiting for the lift. When we had been walking back from the Starbucks down the street, our hands had brushed each other multiple times and it was all I could do to not kiss him right then and there. The lift doors opened, and we stepped in. I opened my mouth to speak but Matty didn’t give me the chance. He grabbed my waist and pushed me against the wall, staring straight down into my eyes. “Fuck this,” he almost spat at me. “I can’t do this anymore. I can’t pretend there’s nothing going on with us anymore.” I felt as though my throat was closing over. “Matty,” I said in a voice which was barely a whisper. His eyes softened. “Matty, I have a boyfriend. You have a girlfriend.” His jaw tensed again. “She left me. She left because she could see how badly I wanted you. And as for your boyfriend, are you seriously saying you’d rather have him than me?” I raised an eyebrow. “What? You know I’m right. He’s too boring for you. And he doesn’t look at you the way I do. Shit, can he even make you cum?”

The lift doors opened and he sprung away from me, leaving me with wide eyes and red cheeks. Jamie got in the lift as we got out, and I prayed he hadn’t seen anything.  “Morning, you two. Y/n, have you had a chance to look over those guest lists?” “Yep, all done,” I managed to say, voice breaking under the pressure of nearly being caught with Matty’s hands on my waist and lips a fraction of an inch from mine. The second we made it back to the office I turned and locked the door. “You’re right,” I blurted out. He looked at me with raised eyebrows.  “Yeah?” he smirked, approaching me like an animal stalking its prey. I felt small, but safe, around him; like I knew he could absolutely ruin my life, but chose not to. Like he could turn around now and tell me he was joking, and that he didn’t really want me. But he didn’t. Instead he shoved me back against the wall, the cold surface touching my bare thighs and making me shiver. “Right about what, exactly?” “He can’t make me cum,” I whispered, not looking him in the eye.  “Right.” Matty lifted my chin and forced me to look into his eyes, “And why is that, I wonder?”

“Because he’s not you.”

Matty kissed me then; hard, rough, needy. His hips rolled into mine as his tongue slipped into my open mouth, brushing against my own. I moaned into his mouth and he grabbed at my waist eagerly. One of my hands tangled in his hair, the other feeling desperately up and down his bicep, which seemed to have grown a lot recently. Shit, all that working out was doing wonders for him. Matty’s hips bumped into me again and he groaned. I could feel him getting hard in his black trousers and a wave of heat rushed through me. Just as the kiss was deepening, his phone rang. He pulled away, fumbling in his pocket and rolling his eyes. “Hello?” he snapped. “Oh, hi mate. Sure. Yep. I’ll be there in a second.” “Everything okay?” I said, trying to catch my breath. “Adam’s outside. Says he’s got some paperwork or something I need to look over before tour. I’m gonna run down and grab it, okay babe?”

When he left, I checked my phone and sighed. My boyfriend had texted: Miss you baby. When u coming home? I texted back: Miss you too, not sure yet, pretty busy here x I still felt a little guilty, but slightly less so after feeling Matty so close to me like that. After a few minutes of me trying to calm myself after our encounter, Matty walked back through the door. I draped my arm around his neck and kissed him again, but he pulled away after a few seconds. “Hey gorgeous, can we finish this later, yeah? I have so much fucking work to get through here.” “Oh. Yeah, sure.” “Sorry, babe. You know I want you, like, right now. But Adam’s shitting himself about getting this all done. In the meantime can you get Taylor, Lewis and Charli’s teams on the phone and go over the details for the UK shows, please?” “Of course,” I said, swallowing the lump in my throat. Back to being an assistant. Maybe he didn’t want me that badly after all. 

I was wrong. 20 minutes into my phone calls with various celebrities’ teams and managers, Matty sighed and looked up at me. “Fuck, babe. I can’t work when you’re sat there looking like that. C’mere.” I stood up and walked to his desk, sitting down on the edge. “What’s wrong?” I smiled teasingly. Matty laughed and gestured to the obvious bulge in his trousers.  “But you have so much work to do!” I feigned shock and Matty rolled his eyes. “I know that was a dig at me, but you’re actually right. It’s ok, I think we can do both.” I raised an eyebrow as he unbuckled his belt and tugged his trousers and boxers down. That shut me up. He was huge, dripping precum, a thick vein running up the side of his cock from base to tip.  “Sit,” he commanded. I wasted no time in doing what I was told, straddling his lap and grinding down on him, my clothed core rubbing against his cock. He let out a deep groan from the back of his throat. “Darling, if you want me all to yourself tonight, you need to let me get my work done. Sit.” This time I lifted my hips and positioned myself right over his cock, pulling my thong to the side and sinking down onto him. We groaned out in sync as a wave of pleasure washed over us both. I mentally begged him to move, to do something. But I knew he wouldn’t. I sat there whining into his ear and clenching around him for a further ten minutes. I tried to sneak my hand down to touch my clit but he grabbed my wrist and threw it back over his shoulder. “Behave,” he smirked, not looking up from his computer. 

Finally, Matty finished what he was doing and looked up at me, still perched on his lap, trying not to grind my hips downwards. “The rest of this can wait until tomorrow. It’s time you got some attention, yeah baby?” He moved his laptop, notebooks and papers to the side and lifted me by the waist onto the desk, pushing my shoulders so I ended up flat on my back with my legs spread, him now standing between them. I whined at the empty feeling and Matty shushed me gently before pushing into me again. He threw his head back as he thrusted into me. I wasn’t used to the stretch required for me to fit around his cock, and it felt perfect. The sound of our combined moans and his skin hitting mine filled the room, but neither of us cared to stay quiet. Matty pulled out of me again and I could have screamed in frustration, but he didn’t give me time to complain.

“Hands and knees,” he commanded, and I obeyed. He groaned when I pushed my ass towards him and placed a firm smack there, making me giggle with giddy anticipation. Instead of fucking me again, Matty sat down in his chair so his face was level with my cunt and leaned forward to lick a stripe straight up my core.  “Shit! Oh, Matty, please!” His tongue teased at my entrance, flicking back and forth, his rough, calloused hand sneaking around to find my clit and rub light circles over it.  “Does he ever do this to you, baby?” “Yes,” I gasped. “But it doesn’t feel as good as this.” Matty’s tongue ventured further away from my cunt and I gasped. “Matty, wait. No one’s ever done that to me before.” “Ssh, baby. You’ll like it.” With that he flicked his wet tongue over my asshole, making me scream out.  “Oh fuck!” He did it again, and again, building up speed into a proper rhythm. The thought of letting a guy ever do this to me had never even crossed my mind, but holy fuck, it felt good. As he continued to kitten lick over my hole, he thrusted two fingers into my wet cunt and I could feel myself tipping over the edge at last.  “Fuck, I’m gonna cum!” I cried out, nails digging into the cold wood of the desk, clenching around Matty’s fingers. My vision was overcome with a bright white heat as I came on Matty’s hand, screaming his name. He pulled his fingers out of me and I saw him flick his tongue over them, closing his eyes in bliss. “Fuck, you taste good.” He placed his thumb on my lip and whispered “open,” before spitting into my mouth. “Don’t you think you taste good, love?” I swallowed and nodded quietly, eyes never leaving his.

Matty gave me some time to recover, but I noticed he was still hard. He was the first guy to give me an orgasm in six months, as my boyfriend was seriously lacking in experience and confidence. I wasn’t gonna let the favour not be returned. I pulled my skirt back down to cover my thighs and dropped to my knees in front of Matty. He was in the midst of pulling his boxers back up over his hard-on, but I stopped him. “Fuck, babe. You’re so desperate for me you should be ashamed of yourself,” Matty smirked down at me. I just rolled my eyes and licked his tip, relishing the sound he made. I tested the waters, taking his tip fully into my mouth and sucking. I could taste his salty precum and moaned around his cock, making him echo the sound. Slowly taking more of him into my mouth, I looked up at him through my eyelashes to see his head tipped back, eyes shut in ecstasy. His hands found their way to my hair and grabbed a fistful each, forcing me down further. He hit the back of my throat and I gagged a little. A groan of “Good fucking girl” made its way to my ears. He guided my head up and down, fucking roughly into my mouth.  “Fuck, I’m so close,” he stuttered, his cock twitching in my mouth. He spilled his cum onto my tongue with a loud moan of my name and I pulled away, swallowing while staring straight into his eyes. “C’mere,” he breathed heavily, pulling me up to stand close to him. He grabbed me by the hips and kissed me hard.

“You’re actually incredible, you know that, right?” Matty asked softly, brushing my hair behind my ear. I didn’t look at him, just smiling. “Have you never been told that before?” “Not really, no.” “Well you deserve someone who’s gonna tell you that every day of your fucking life, darling.” “Someone like you?” I grinned. “Exactly,” he smiled back.

--------------------------

I hadn’t gone back to Matty’s house. It seemed too obvious. Instead I headed home and changed into a tight dress and put some makeup on, some stupid excuse about meeting up with work friends for a drink spilling out of my mouth. It wasn’t entirely a lie. 

Matty had opened his front door and pulled me inside before I even had a chance to knock, lips meeting mine immediately. He was still in his work clothes. Not for long, I decided. He dragged me upstairs into his bedroom, shoving me down on the bed and yanking off his shirt and tie. I almost let out a moan at the sight of his toned stomach and muscular, tattooed arms. He slipped my feet out out my shoes and kissed all the way from my ankle to my thigh, pulling my dress, stepping back in feigned shock when he saw my lack of underwear.  “Someone’s being a bit cheeky tonight,” he whispered. “It gets worse, no bra either,” I joked. “Fuck!” Matty exclaimed, reaching down to pull my dress straight over my head. He stood there with his mouth open for a moment or two at the sight of my tits moving with my deep breaths. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered, grabbing my thighs and spreading my legs. He knelt on the bed between them and dropped down to take one of my nipples into his mouth, one hand trailing down my stomach towards my clit. He continued to suck on the skin of my breast and circle my clit with his thumb as I moaned out his name. “Fuck darling, you make the prettiest noises.” Matty moved up to my neck to place a messy kiss there, and I cried out when he sunk his teeth into my skin. He stood up to undo his belt, but kept his trousers on. I raised an eyebrow. “Pretty girl, I think it’s time you got a little punishment for all the times you’ve given me a fucking boner in work this week.” My eyes widened in shock. “Four times this week, babe. It’s only Wednesday.” He reached for his tie from the floor and told me to get in the same all-fours position I had been in earlier. This time, he grabbed my wrists and tied them together behind my back, forcing my head down into the mattress.  “Okay, pretty girl. You’ve got me all worked up four times this week, and I’m starting to think you’re doing it on purpose. So I want you to count your punishments, okay?” I nodded, letting out an excited whimper. I heard the belt buckle clink and clenched my cunt around nothing. A sharp sting landed on my ass and I yelped. “Count.” “One,” I breathed. Another. “Two.” Another. “Three.” “One more, babe, You’re doing well.” He brought the thick leather down on my soft skin once more, the sensation burning pleasurably.  “Four.” “Good girl.”

Matty grabbed my tied wrists and pulled me up so my face was no longer in the sheets. “Are you gonna take my cock again like a good little slut?” I just whined in response. “Words,” he grunted. “Or do I need to remind you what your punishment is?” “Yes, Matty. I’ll be good for you,” I whimpered. He let go of my wrists, my upper half dropping back onto the mattress. Without warning, he pushed into me hard and established a fast, steady rhythm. I cried out as he found my g-spot effortlessly.  “Fuck Matty!” This only encouraged him, and he thrusted deeper, harder, all the while groaning my name. He alternated between grabbing handfuls of my ass and placing firm slaps there. Each time he hit me I clenched hard around him, ripping a moan from his throat. 

After around ten minutes of hard, rough, rhythmic thrusting, Matty grabbed a handful of my hair and pulled out of me, cumming all over my back. “Fuck, love. How are we ever gonna share an office again without me getting a boner?” I laughed at him while he untied my wrists, wincing when his hand brushed the sore skin of my ass.  “Oh, darling, I’m sorry if I hurt you. I know I can go overboard sometimes.” “Are you seriously apologising for the best sex of my life right now?” Matty grinned at this. “Are you joking?” “Absolutely not. You’ve met my partner, you know he’s not doing any of that.” I glanced at the clock. “Oh shit! He’s gonna be wondering where I am.” “Text him and say Charli drank too much and you’re staying with her to look after her. I’m not letting you go home by yourself at this time of night. Plus, I need to take care of my pretty girl.”

After I had made my excuses to my boyfriend, Matty cleaned me up in the bathroom and carried me back to his bed, tucking me in under the sheets and curling up beside me, his head on my chest. I had a hand in his hair and one of his was exploring the skin of my stomach underneath my borrowed t-shirt.

“Get some sleep, love,” Matty yawned. “You’re gonna be sore tomorrow.”

[infiniteinquiries]

♡ Coffee shop au in which ellie is a barista and knows you like her so she keeps making you increasingly terrible drinks to see how far she can push you ♡

pt. 2

-------

(pt. 1 here)

It had been a week since you'd graced The Wayfarer's Roastery. Ellie often thought it was a pretentious name, but here she was, working as a pretentious barista all the same.

It was the kind of set up you'd expect: white countertops and fake golden accents with a smattering of green succulents sprinkled in. You know, the kind of place you pay $8 for a cup of coffee because you're paying for "the vibe". Two comfortable seating areas that were always full, and minimalist back-pain inducing seating for everyone else.

She thought about you a few times that week, wondering if you'd perhaps leave a scathing review or just decide the shop was trash altogether and take your money elsewhere. But on the breaking dawn of a Sunday morning where Ellie was struggling to get through her opening shift, there you were.

You didn't stumble in this time. In fact, you looked quite composed. So put together in fact, Ellie wondered if your outfit and confident gait was some kind of ploy to impress her. Her cheek twitched in amusement, barely visible; you wouldn't have been the first.

"Mm," Ellie hummed in an almost sleepy tone, "back again I see. What can I do for ya?"

She watched as your eyes scanned the menu above her head. She tapped the countertop behind the register absent-mindedly.

"Could I get a Frappuccino? I know some places make those," you smiled, tilting your had sweetly. It was a bit much.

Ellie sneered, taking joy in the fact that she could put you in your place. "This isn't a Starbucks. Do you see a blender back here?" Her words dripped with condescension.

You looked at her, flustered and wide eyed. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't know. Um...uh..." Ellie raised an eyebrow at you as you stammered embarassedly, glancing up at the line of customers forming behind you that signaled the start of the morning rush.

Ellie loved messing with women that tried to impress her. She took pride in the fact that she wasn't an easy catch, and being with her wasn't for the weak, especially with her fucked up sense of humor.

"Just...whatever you recommend," you blurted out in her direction. She took note of how your eyes avoided hers, veil of confidence gone.

"Alright then," she sighed, trying to tamp down the urge to laugh as best as possible, "that'll be $8.50".

Ellie's eyes tracked your hands as you dug into your jacket for your wallet. She zoned out as she thought about what monstrosity she could deliver to you next. She was grounded in reality once again when she heard the sound of coins scattering on the countertop.

She coughed to stifle a laugh, biting her lip to keep the sound from escaping. You looked panicked, and she decided that as much as she loved messing with girls like you, she didn't want to ruin your entire day.

Ellie began to calmly set the coins into her palm one at a time, a contrast to your frenzied gathering. Once she finished, she unclasped her fist full of change into your hands, held out pathetically like you were begging for something. The coins were warm as they left her grasp.

"I'll get on that right away," she smirked. A second barista approached the cash register to address the long line as Ellie scooted over to the prep area.

During your exploding wallet dilemma, she had come up with the perfect idea. Subtle enough to taste off, but not to the point she'd get in trouble for it. She whipped you up an iced London fog latte with a tiny dash of lemonade. Something about that combination just felt so wrong it amused her.

She approached the pick up counter, tempted to mispronounced your name but deciding against it.

As she noticed you still averting her gaze, she glanced out of the corner of her eye to see you sluggishly lift yourself from one of the only comfortable chairs and take your drink, mumbling an almost incoherent "thank you".

She giggled quietly to herself as she watched you quickly exit the shop into the cold air, briskly disappearing around the corner once again.

She wondered if you saw the small cheeky note she etched in sharpie under the logo of the roastery that read:

♡ Ellie

[monsterswithimagines]

Undisclosed Desires - Part 5

Joe Goldberg x female!Reader

Summary: Twenty minutes before he would have met Guinevere Beck, Joe meets you instead. You intruige him, but it will soon become clear that there is something off about you.

Words: 781

Masterlist

Let me tell you what I've learned about you these last two weeks.

I know at which store you buy your groceries (TV dinners and twizzlers), and that you spend far too much money on Starbucks coffee (a White Café Mocha in the morning, a Caramel Frappe sometime during the afternoon). You work in an office building. According to our friend Google, the building is shared by an online marketing agency and a large fashion retailer. I want to say you must be in fashion, but I'm just not sure.

What else? You didn't lie to me. You haven't made many friends here. During your free time, you drift through New York all on your lonesome, and you don't seem to mind it. You never seem to know exactly where you're going, and you don't ask anyone for directions. You don't talk to strangers at all - I was an exception, then, and that makes me feel good - and you get lost in crowds, and sometimes I want to approach you and pretend it's random, but I don't want that glassy, dreamy look to go out of your eyes. It's the same look you had the first time we met, before you found Stephen King.

There is so much you can find out about a person, once you know where they live. I'm finding out so much about you, (Y/n).

And yet, I’m having trouble finding an in.

You are not predictable. You don’t get your coffees at the same time every day and you never walk the exact same route twice. Getting breakfast at the same place two days in a row must have been a fluke, because I never catch you following any sort of routine except for when you go to work.

You never go to any other bookstore except Mooney’s, though. I wait for you there whenever I’m working, except for when I know you’re also at work. I feel like a puppy, and I don’t like it. This is what you’re doing to me.

My reward for all this waiting? Your smile.

You walk into the bookstore again, just like you did that first time only now your eyes immediately find mine, and you smile at me and I can’t help but smile back. You approach me, and you say: “Hey, Joe.”

“Hi, (Y/n),” I answer, copying your tone.

“So I was thinking,” you say, leaning your elbows on the counter between us. “We never hang out.”

“Oh?” I say. I can’t sound too interested, but I am, (Y/n), I am! “What do you mean, exactly?”

“We text, occasionally,” you say, and I can tell this is something you’ve practised. You’ve been thinking about what to say because you think about me. You’re obsessed with me. Why else do you come here so often, if not to see me? “And we see each other here, when you’re working. We should hang out some other time, when you’re not. Working, I mean.”

“That could be fun,” I say. Are you asking me on a date? “What did you have in mind?”

“Coffee?” you offer. “Or lunch.”

You are! You’re asking me on a date!

I can’t believe my luck, (Y/n). I’ve been trying so hard to find a way into your life and here you are, finally, opening the door for me. If I’d known it was going to be this easy, I wouldn’t have had to follow you around so much. But then, I’m glad I did, because it means I know to say:

“Saturday? One pm? We can meet here.”

“Yes,” you say, because you don’t work on Saturday and of course you don’t have plans. You pull a hand through your messy hair and you smile with your teeth and you add: “It’s a date.” And it is! It really is!

I’ve been working so hard, (Y/n), and it’s all seemed so impossible so far. But I should have known you were testing me. You wanted to know how long I was willing to wait. For you, I’d wait an eternity.

“Well, the books are calling me,” you say, leaning back. You tilt your head to the side. “Do you hear them?”

“For sure,” I say, even though all I’m hearing is happy music. “Go find your next novel to devour.”

You disappear into the stacks and I stare after you. I can’t wait for our date, (Y/n). We’ll get coffee and I’ll take you on a walk, one of those long walks you enjoy that have no specific direction. We’ll talk about anything and everything, and at the end of the night you’ll love me. You really will.

[delayed-affection]

hello 🙌

Could you write something about Pyotr kochetkov, anything you want..

there isn't as much content from this guy as I'd like 😓

Thank you 🤍

Unrequited Love

Oneshots Navigation

Pyotr Kochetkov x reader

Warnings: Like four Russian words but they are translated

A/n: He speaks very little English in real life but for the sake of the fic he knows a little more

Word count: 0.8k

You’ve been pining over Pyotr since you’ve met him. Working for the team however means you can’t do anything about it.

So you made the decision to just keep your feelings to yourself but with that meant you could at least be friends with him.

And you did, you actually became close friends with him, maybe too close of friends.

~

With it being the off season meant that you and Pyotr were spending more one on one time.

As of now he sits next to you on your couch telling you all about how his brother is coming to visit from Russia.

He tells you about the times they spent together as children and how much he's been missing him.

As he talks, you can see the joy and excitement in his face and it might seem a little selfish but you being to wonder if he lights up this way when talking about you. If he talks about you and if he does, who has he told?

More questions being to flood your mind, does he find you as fascinating and interesting as you find him? Does he speak about you to others with the same passion and affection?

You try to push your thoughts aside and focus on his excitement about his brother's visit becomes really hard after awhile.

~

Getting drunk with Pyotr on a random Tuesday night was not ideal, especially considering that he likes to try and have deep conversations while constantly switching between English and Russian.

When he switches to Russian, you’re completely out of your depth and have no idea what he's saying. But rather than tell him that, you just smiles and nods along, trying to understand.

You knows he's trying to say something profound, but all you can do is laugh to yourself as you takes another shot.

He had just gone on a twenty minute talk about how being a goalie can’t be compared to anything else because it is the scariest and most important position to play.

He then falls silent looking down at the vodka bottle in his hand.

He chuckles, “You know… I can’t imagine myself having…”

He takes a second to think, “Having… a… I forget English word for it but Подруга.” (Girlfriend)

You scrunchie your eyebrows trying to think of the word he’s trying to say, his slight slur is not helping.

He leans forward and takes a shot, “You picture me with one?”

Seeing your confused face so he tries to explain, “Боже мой, uh, Подруга… uh, you know a lover, right?” (Oh my god, girlfriend)

If the alcohol wasn’t making you hot already then that question certainly would.

You let out an awkward laugh, “You don’t see yourself with someone?”

He shakes his head, “No, never home. No need.”

You had no reason to be upset about his answer because it was a solid answer and dating someone that worked for his team probably never crossed his mind.

But it did make you a little sad knowing that he wasn’t looking for anyone or anything.

~

The two of you sit inside a Starbucks, tucked away in the corner.

You’re typing somethings out for work while he watches as people walk in and out. Your sitting in comfortable silence, something you two did quite often here.

Until someone walks in and catches Pyotr’s eye.

He nudges your hand making you look at him, “смотреть, she cute, no?” (Look)

You follow his gaze and you’re not going to lie to yourself, she’s a very pretty girl.

You turn back to your laptop and nod, “mhm.”

“I go talk to her?” He asks glancing from you to her.

Your brain is working in overdrive, you don’t know what to think or say. You’re aware that that you can’t keep him for yourself but you never thought he would ask you if he should go flirt with someone.

You hesitate for a moment before saying, “I don’t know.”

He doesn’t like your hesitation, “Do you think she has lover?”

You tilt your head and shrug, “Maybe.”

That’s not a yes so that encourages him a bit.

He sits a up straight and looks at you, “You help me? You know translation.”

You really don’t want to be his wingman, “I don’t know much.”

He stands up and grabs his drink, “That is fine. Come.”

And that’s when you knew the little fantasy of you two ever being together was over. He truly only saw you as a friend, a good enough friend that he wants to help him flirt.

It was never going to happen and who knows it might be for the better.

[topgunruinedme]

Slow Ride

Summery:

The younger man huffed gently biting his lower lip and purred, the soft worlds rolling off his lips in a way that should not have felt as attractive as they were. “Now dear, what is a pretty little thing like you doing in here hiding behind a desk” he pouted gently, “You’re robbing everyone the chance to get an eyeful” his eyes dragged down in a purposefully slow heavy motion “And i would very much like one”. He blinked. Then again. Throat clicking as the pen clattered to the desk from his lax fingers in surprise as he took in the younger man infront of him. Black hair, sharp green eyes, a libido bigger than an entire continent and a cocky attitude?   “Maverick?”

In which Iceman get de-aged and decide to terrorise Cyclone, lover style.

Rule one. Don't date your coworkers. 

Rule two. If you have a painful life altering crush on said rumoured married coworker, don’t make it obvious.

These were rules he abided by. Something he created when he first walked into his first Top Gun class and realized that his teacher was not only The Iceman, but that he would spend the next four weeks coming toe-to-toe with him in the air being pushed to his limits both physically, mentally, and consciously. He has never had to express as much self-control as he did in those four weeks of his career with the sheer amount of effort it took not to leer, drool, or make an idiot of himself, and in fact if it hadn't been for his Rio, Solomon, he probably would have combusted into a flustered ball and be working as a Starbucks barista by now. Instead he was now a respected Admiral who had meetings on monthly bases with said crush, which only grew over the years as the man's hair turned grey as they both aged. Not that the fact they were both older had anything to do with how flustered the man still made him when the man caught him off guard with a lewd comment. He had seen the man shark-like grin far too many times then he would like to count to believe it was truely accidental or innocent, the man had leaned over at inopportune times of important meeting to 'compare notes' just for an excuse to get closer so he could startled him with an inappropriate joke that made his ears tip turn pink. 

But the man must like him a little bit because out of anyone in the Navy he was the one that Ice has dumped his rugrat of a husband on him, despite knowing fully well of his opinion or lack of on the man. 

Where Iceman was serious and controlled at times he was also kind and packed a dry sense of rumor. Talking to him could feel like standing infront of your boss knowing you just fucked up and were getting the arse-cewing of your life or fired, or it could feel like a friend you havn’t seen in a while that your catching up with. A man who you could come to with an issue and Ice would sit across from you and help you find a solution. 

Then there was Maverick. And he was well…a maverick. Impulsive, dangerous, insubordinate. The man was brash, loyal to a heart, but a danger to the Navy in everything except the air. He was passionate and precise and all his risks were deadly but they only ever usually endangered himself. He was infuriating. Arrogant. And the dick held a damn grudge longer than he's seen anyone and it's hilarious to see how quickly the man can get under Cain's skin. But he didn't trust him as far as he could throw him. 

The man may have somehow tricked the Iceman, Thomas Kazansky, top of his class, valedictorian, first place winner of Top Gun and the Commander of the Pacific Fleet to marry him- supposedly because he never did really get a confirmation .  

But he wasn't going to allow himself to fall for that innocent woe look at me act Maverick threw at him, no matter how often the man gave his coy looks or batted his eyelashes. He wasn't going to fold god dammit. He refused to be manipulated. He was stronger than Iceman. 

It was difficult enough seeing Iceman on a monthly basis finally settling into a nice lull of work and play when Maverick was thrown at him. Now his days revolved around completing extra paperwork Maverick produced and periodically checking around base to make sure nothing was on fire and that there's been no subtraction or addition to the daggers since his last check 15 minutes ago. 

Turns out Iceman failed to mention in his handover the fact that Mitchell had a terrible case of adopting everything that walks. He was 90% sure he had at least one more medical team then what he started with, and at least half a engineering department swarming his tarmac that he was absolutely sure he never approved transfer forms for.

Maverick was going to give him an ulcer at this point, the slightest thought of Maverick wandering around unsupervised gave him enough anxiety to sink a carrier. 

Normally he would be able to push past it, drag his feet until the end of the day then collapse in his off base housing and limit himself to a much needed drink before forcing himself to finish of whatever work he had left after fixing whatever demographic issue Maverick caused for the day before passing out and doing it all over again the next day. 

However it seemed like nothing was going his way today. 15 years running and he’s never fucked up this badly before:

Rule one, don’t date your coworkers. Ticked and signed. There wasn't exactly a great looking pool to begin with in the Navy besides a select few who were either Married or were certain to cause a scandal at some point and other then that he hadn’t been in the dating pool for at least seven years after the messy divorce with his wife Clarence.

Rule two, don’t be obvious. Considering he’s spending most of his time doing damage control and holding his head above the water during Kazansky personal calls he could confidently say he was rocking that one.

So why had his world quite literally been demolished around him in a violent tornado in the shape of a familiar green eyed pilot?

It had been fine, until it hadn't been. He had managed to arrive earlier than expected on base and took time to enjoy a cup of coffee without any of his kids rushing around yelling that they would be late to school, or telling him about school projects due two hours later. He had managed to conquer a pile of documents that’s been sitting on his desk for the last week by 10:30, suffering through a financial meeting (mostly about Mavericks plane allowance) until 11:45 before tragedy struck. 

He had been poring over some reports when the door to his office opened and someone made a pleased noise, stepping into the office without a care in the world.

His gaze jumped up to meet the sharp green eyes of towards the door reprimand already on his lips to tear the lieutenant barging into his office a new one, the rebuke on the end of his tongue stilled, barbs settling back into his own throat at the sight of a younger man; early twenties, black hair messed up as if the man had tried to hand comb it. The man swaggered forward with an easy grin. His green eyes shamelessly dragging down his body, seemingly confident. The man’s uniform sat tight around his chest and shoulders as if it was fitted to him, he dragged his eyes towards the man's shoulder flicking over the rank; Captain . 

The rank screamed at him from the man's shoulder, a rank far too advanced for someone his age. 

The man seemed immensely pleased at catching him in a rare moment alone approaching the desk boldly completely bypassing the seats that were placed specifically in front of the desk in such a particular way that it was supposed to dissuade people from the idea of approaching. The man placed his palms on the desk leaning forward getting in his face forcing him to lean backwards slightly as he narrowed his eyes at the intruder who looked him up and down openelly leering at him. 

What. the. Fuck. 

The man's biceps flexed from where he was holding himself and the tight fabric around his arms did not help the body appeal it gave him, the attractive way the man made each movement with almost a lingering seductive air around him, peering at him through half lids a sultry grin on his lips eyes dropping down to take in his half bent form over the desk where he had been working, frozen as he had watched the man approached with an air of disbelief idly wondering if he needed to get a physiological check or if he just finally had a mental break. His fingers twitched, itching to get the bottle of whiskey from his bottom desk drawer and skull it as an excuse to get away from whatever this was…

The younger man huffed gently biting his lower lip as purred, the soft worlds rolling off his lips in a way that felt as attractive as they were. “Now dear, what is a pretty little thing like you doing in here hiding behind a desk” he pouted gently “You’re robbing everyone the chance to get an eyeful” his eyes dragged down in a purposefully slow heavy motion “And i would very much like one”.

He blinked. Then again. Throat clicking as the pen clattered to the desk from his lax fingers in surprise as he took in the younger man infront of him. Black hair, sharp green eyes, a libido bigger than an entire continent and a cocky attitude?

“Maverick?” 

“That's my name sweetheart, don't wear it out” the man's grin widened, “That is unless you want to scream it for me”. 

What. the. Fuck. 

Maverick. Mav. Famed aviator. Maverick Mitchell. Captain Mitchell. 

How did this happen? What didn't he know anything about this? Maverick was an instructor under his care, a man he had under 24/7 surveillance via Hondo (although now he was questioning where the man's loyalties truly laid) he should be receiving reports by the hour. His instructor who had previously been only 5 years older than himself, only two years apart from competing at Top Gun, suddenly becoming a 20 something year old seemed like a pretty major security risk that he would have assumed he would have been informed about the very moment it happened. 

He was honestly astounded that the man hadn't already been collected by his wingman and shipped over state lines until the man figured out how this happened. 

“Cat get your tongue darling? Don't worry, I can lend you mine”. 

His breath caught in his throat and his chest stuttered as Maverick  moved shamelessly closer, stalking around the desk. Oh fuck . He pushed his chair back from the desk as the younger man grew closer in an attempt to put space between them, Maverick gave him an amused tilt of his head but instead of be-lining for him like he had been afraid of,  he perched his perky arse on the edge of his desk in front of him before lifting himself up onto it effortlessly. 

This was insane. Was Maverick seriously coming onto him right now? 

That was a dumb question. This was Maverick. The resident little shit who lived to make his life difficult. A man who would stand in front of him waiting until he finished chewing him out to offer to get them some off base coffee while they go through lesson plans with a small sly smile, the same smile that greeted him on the slightly younger version of himself,  only this time it was paired with something much more dangerous. The man gave him a knowing smile as he spread his legs, fabric stretching and clinging to the man's thick muscular thighs putting them on display wantonly. His breath shuttered in response as he swallowed down the lust that tried to rise at the very willing younger man flaunting his body in front of him. 

He was his subordinate. His aviador. 

He was his boss’s partner. 

He was… Maverick.  

He was young. Far younger than he had been when he saw him yesterday afternoon standing in this very room where he had been staring past him at the notch in the wall until he had been red in the face yelling at the man for another flyby. 

He was Icemans. His partner, his wingman, his husband. At least that's what he thought he was, no normal friends bickered like an old couple argued quite like they did. 

He swallowed thickly, eyes drawn back to the strong thighs before him, eyes trailing over the inner seam of the man's trousers that looked stretched like they were struggling to uphold their duty. Maybe he wasn't stronger than Iceman after all.  

Maverick ignored his inner turmoil giving him an easy smile that bloomed attractively on his face and the smug tilt to it meant he clearly knew what he was doing, using his body to his advantage to get what he wanted as he proceeded to fluster him. He swallowed stepping back trying to put more distance between them only for a tight grip to wrap around his wrist roughly tugging him forward, he stumbled slightly as the grip yanked him closer until he ended up between the man's spread thighs barley a hair away from grabbing the man's thighs and feeling the muscle beneigh the fabric twitch in anticipation. Maverick tilted his head back, chin jutting forward as he revealed the milky white throat clear of any marks as he gave him a sly look from where he was practically under him. 

“Running away sweetheart? Well I do like a good chase…”

His hand darted to the one around his wrist as he dug his nails into his own skin ignoring the pinch as he tried to wrench the man's fingers from his skin, it was useless, his grip was tight and it seemed as if nothing would separate them other than the own man's will. 

“Captain, release me” he warned slowly tugging on the man's wrist again only growing more frustrated as the man's grip tightened. 

Maverick rested back at ease, hardly blinking at their positioning. “And let a catch like you go? No chance,” the man snorted “I gotta get you before Ice sinks his teeth into you and trust me,” the man bit his lips “He likes to bite”. 

He blanched slightly, body jerking at the comment and his mind blanked temporarily. Holy fuck, he was learning far too much about his boss’s sexual relationships, and he had no interest in whatever bet these two had going. Even if it did end up with him wedged between them pinned by Maverick’s gaze and hands trailing down his body while Ice curled around his back hand pressed against his stomach obsessively as he trailed bites down his neck-

His dick twitched against his thigh. Right, shit. Young Maverick. Maverick was still propositioning him. He had to fix this, and quickly, before Iceman stormed in and demanded what he did to his precious wingman. He'd rather live. 

“He always did love to get carnage knowledge, it was his specialty you see. In clubs, on base, it gave him some sort of thrill, and well…I can't say it doesn't do the same for me” Maverick’s thumb brushed against his wrist no doubt feeling the way his pulse jumped the man's lips pulled tighter amusement shining in them, “I have no doubt Mr goodie-two-shoes has his eyes on you because damn . He'd be a fool not too”. 

“Captain-”

“Yes Admiral?” the little shit purred, his leer intensifying as his foot brushed against his outer thigh and it almost made him jump out of his skin. Maverick made a noise of interest, his gaze jumping to his throat watching it jump, “Don't tell me you're a goodie-two-shoes too, a rule sticker. Do I need to corrupt you sweetheart?” His foot brushed against him again this time higher as the man tugged him closer they bumped together the thin wood of the desk barley separating them as Maverick - surprisingly flexible - hiked his leg up on his hip, heel pressing into his lower back no doubt wrinkling his uniform as he tugged him closer trying to fuse them together. 

He gritted his teeth, “Captain Mitchell, this is inappropriate behavior-”

“Dont tell me your a virgin” the man sounded delighted, “Never fucked at work before, dear lord I tell you that was the first thing Ice does when he’s promoted-” fuck now thats the only thing hes ever going to remember when he goes to report to the man “-I think we've had more sex in those offices then he's done work in them” Maverick cackled. “Come on Admiral, let loose have some fun” the man's lips brushed against his ear “Help me desecrate the office”. 

Maverick's sly look glanced down slightly as he tilted his neck back stretching up towards his breath brushing against his own mingling with halted anticipation that he had half the mind to endure. There was a brief moment of hesitation on his part when he registered a commotion just before the door to his office slammed open, suddenly offering him a brief chance to drag himself out of the enchanting spell he had found himself entrapped in. Taking the chance of Maverick’s surprise to yank himself away from the man, barely getting the chance to put more than a foot of space between them, still held captivated from the man's grip on his wrist which didn't seem to be releasing anytime soon. He felt the man's pulse beneigh his fingertips, the way it raced almost kissing against the soft skin of his wrist as a group of aviators stumbled into his office. 

“Admiral-”

“-Cyclone-”

“-Have you seen-”

“Oh” 

He swallowed. “Does no one know how to knock these days?” While his voice was miraculously somewhat steady, he still sent the daggers a semi-panicked stare peering at them from over Maverick’s shoulder. They looked ruffled, clearly having tried their hand at babysitting the man but what threw him for a loop was the tall blond standing proudly beside them, carefully put together, from his sharp blue eyes to the frosted tips and the famous cold expression of a very unimpressed Iceman staring him down. 

Oh double fuck . 

Admiral Kazansky stared down at him equally as young, perhaps a few years older than his counterpart and just as equally attractive. Two of his lifelong crushes in a room together looking absolutely delectable. 

Dear lord, why was Iceman staring at him like he was a piece of meat being fed to a starving carnivore, like a prey to a ravenous lion, a prey to be hunted. 

His eyes flickered back to the daggers in the doorway. The small group looked haggard. Trace looked irritated; her hair had been pulled out of its bun into a hasty ponytail that had a few stray strands carded down her neck. Garcia appeared nervous peering over the woman's shoulder unlike the others he was still in uniform, his khakis pressed as if he had never made it to the locker room. Despite his put together appearance he still looked as if he felt out of place, switching from foot to foot. Meanwhile Seresin stood before them, as if he was the leader of their segment, they looked as if they had spent the morning running around looking for the very man who held him in his clutches. Seresin ran his hand through his hair looking far too exacerbated than he should at this hour of the day, his flight suit was wrapped messily around his waist, a writing pad wedged between the man's hip and suit as if he had been preparing for today's lesson. The man sighed heavily, meeting his gaze tiredly almost agreeing with his silent hysteria “Yeah…it's been a long morning sir”.

He allowed for a strangled noise to leave his lips as he glanced between the two seductive men. Maverick had left his perch to lean back on his palm shifting further on the desk, spreading out in a more revealing stance than he was previously. His thighs still spread, almost invitingly, the new position placed all his weight on his bicep putting stress on his chest as the man shamelessly pressed his chest out encouraging him to look. Throwing him a slightly sly look before tilting his head back lazily with an easy grin as he caught the gaze of his friend. “Hey Ice”. 

“Trouble” Ice murmured giving him a fond look as he stepped forward approaching the otherside of the desk allowing Maverick to almost lean on him as he placed his own palms on the desk almost perfectly mirroring Maverick mere moments ago. “I left you alone for two seconds and you're already chasing tail” the man teased gently a gentle look appearing as he looked down at the man hovering over Maverick with no hesitation but rather with ease as if this was common practice between the two, the lack of personal boundaries and the ability to touch freely. 

Ice lifted a hand and it curled around the back of the smaller man's neck tugging him further backwards, fingers curling in the man's hair causing a half groaned moan to slip passed Maverick’s lips as his head was tilted backwards and Ice claimed his lips in a possessive kiss; the stunning blue eyes engulfed in a passionate possessiveness that targeted his own and failed to detach almost screaming at him to make a move, to challenge them, as Ice forced him to watch as he staked his firm claim. 

Without any further prompting Maverick sank into Ice’s arms with a happy noise, the two man seemed to ignore the world around them as mav leaned further in an attempt to form into the man who cradled him in his palms without giving an inch to releasing his own grip on his wrist refusing to yield demanding both of their attention as he attempted to press further into his partners hold. Ice fingers wrapped around the man's hair tighter with a visible fervid need as he pressed his lips against the other man's tighter releasing his own soft noise of content as he felt Maverick submit under him giving him his body to his will. Ice pulled away and Mav chased him unashamed as he whined out in protest as he stretched in an attempt to recapture the man's lips as he panted, Ice lips tipped up in amusement but refused to allow the man to remount his lips. Mav pouted, rolling his eyes at the man’s antics as if he knew exactly what the man’s show was for, but any lingering irritation he had with the man quickly faded as he gave Ice a giddy smile in response to his affection, “Gotta get a head start somewhere”. 

“So you admit I'm the better pilot?” Ice murmured eyes lingering on the man eyes trailing over him appreciatively as if tracing the familiar lines of the man's body cataloging them for later to recall of the fondest of times.

Maverick snorted, clearly still absorbed in their own world, similarly trapped within Iceman's siren call as he had been with Maverick, unable to pull away far too enchanted by the man’s appeal. Ice tilted his head lightly still cradling the man gently as Maverick stared up at him with a soft grin probing him, “In your dreams. I just admit that while you can get them to fall at your feet, I need to butter them up a little”.  

Iceman hummed slightly, gaze breaking away from his lovers and zeroed in on his dragging it up latches onto his almost studying him. It made his skin prick, almost like a scalpel running over his skin in careful precise slices waiting for him to bleed out. 

“Admiral Kaznasky” he greeted roughly under the man's perusal, trying to resist the urge to salute. The man’s cutting gaze never left his own as the man's eyes trailed over him; taking in his uniform, the slight stain on his finger from the pen, and the way he held himself stiffly at the desk. His hand flexed when he realized the man focused on how he was practically between his wingman's legs which were still seductively spread and he felt the urge to step away. Like far away, a different content maybe. 

“Simpson” Iceman drawled dryly. 

Maverick let out an unhappy noise clearly annoyed with the lack of attention as he sat up pulling away from Iceman’s grip as he reached out towards him with his now remaining free hand. He stiffened when fingers wrapped around his chin tugging him forward and he had to place a hand on the desk beside the man to prevent himself from stumbling as Maverick forced his gaze back onto him. Intense heavy gaze bleeding into his giving him a stern frown voice dark with disapproval “Come back here darling, I wasn't done talking to you”. 

He swallowed thickly, very aware of the stare of everyone in the room. The feeling of drowning under being displayed so humiliatingly in front of his lieutenants as well as the suffocating feeling of Iceman. As well as the man's partner who he watched shamelessly flirting with him. He almost wanted to close his eyes and wait for the man to swing his executioner's axe. He raised his hand coming up to the man's wrist pressing his thumb into the ligament just between the radius and ulna under the wrist until the man hissed slightly and released his grip. “Get him out of here, and for fuck sakes keep an eye on them” he croaked suddenly all too overwhelmed with the situation, trying to escape from whatever the fuck was happening. 

Maverick's expression twisted into a playful pout as Iceman's arm dropped to wrap around the man's waist snaking around his slim middle and pulled him backwards into Iceman’s chest no longer restricted by grip or trapped between them. Mavericks back pressed against Ice’s chest as he stepped backwards dragging the troublesome man elegantly of the desk in one swift movement lifting the man with ease arm straining the fabric of the mans blue uniform tightened around the mans delicious biceps  before he set the man back on his feet by his side his arm refusing to leave its possessive hold. Maverick let out a brief sound of protest grumbling as he shot Ice an unhappy look at his spoils of fun being ruined.

“Where do you want us to take them sir?” Trace asked, leaning around Seresin looking as if she was already planning out some sort of plan. Thank god at least one of them had a plan.  

He ran a stressed hand down his face “I don't know! Anywhere but here!” He could hear the growing hysteria in his voice now, Iceman's brows furrowed slightly and Maverick whining stopped as he peered up at him with growing concern. “Just keep them on base. Stick them in a dorm room or something just watch them”. 

“Sir-” Seresin gave him an weary look, breaking parade rest to step closer, “Are you alright?”

“Do i look alright” he snarled, “Im half conviced im having a psychotic break so get the fuck out of my office before I demote all of your arse for keeping this massive security risk a secret and deport you an active warzone and shot you out of the sky myself!”

“Yes sir!” Seresin saluted his concern lingering but the man fell back into a parade rest turning to address the two other men in the room motioning for them to follow. Iceman tugged a reluctant Maverick out of the office guiding him out under his arm with a low warning “Mav” when the smaller man attempted to argue his way out of it. Seresin moved quickly falling into line behind them as Trace and Gracia guide the men down the hall keeping them in a strict weapons envelope in an attempt to prevent the men from escaping again. 

He barely had the time to wheel the chair back under him as he collapsed into it, he let out a groan of distress as his head fell into his hands. He attempted to muffle himself as he let out a scream of distress which he was sure could still be heard down the hall despite his best efforts. He gave himself a moment to wallow in stress, his shoulders shook momentarily as he felt the weight of his new days worth of issues to suffer from. He inhaled holding it for a few moments before exhaling shakily trying to collect himself  as he swallowed leaning back as he rolled his chair back under the desk casting his eye over the office that looked as if nothing amiss had happened as he reached for the phone on the desk holding the weight of the receiver in his palm, it felt ill weighted, but perhaps that was just his shock taking hold of him. The line rang briefly before it clicked signifying it had connected to the desk just outside his door to his secretary who had been the original cause of the commotion to begin with. 

“Admiral Simpson?” Thomas' amused smile could be heard in his voice. 

“Would you summon Solomon for me?” he let out a weary sigh as he drawl off a list of precious tasks he knew without a doubt the young man would have already started compiling ideas for. “Cancel my meetings for the next week and for fuck sakes could you do some damage control and ensure no one sees Kaznaky and Mitchel”.

“Already done sir,” Thomas tittered shortly before adding, “There is also a food order set to arrive in the next 10 minutes for you both and I've already started sending out emails explaining the visit of two new recruits”. 

He huffed at the man's amusement “I’m going to ignore the fact you’re taking pleasure in my pain” he pointed out, then smiled genuinely “Have I told you how much I love you Tom?”

The man laughed “Every day, sir”. Thomas' voice seemed to hitch slightly as the receiver shifted “Although I believe you are declaring your love to the wrong Tom, sir” the man teased. 

The line clicked disconnecting before he could answer and he placed the phone back down on its holder with a poorly suppressed sigh. God that man was a handful but he wouldn't be able to survive day to day in this job without him. He just knew that Sol would end up gossiping with him later no doubt already on his way to bully the details of the two men unknowingly acting out one of his very chest held sexual fantasies out of him. 

Why did he put up with Mitchell again? After all, he wouldn't be in this mess if Iceman hadn’t decided to test his patience. Where on earth had he gone wrong?

And after all his effort, all 15 years of it. It turns out, he wasn’t stronger than Iceman after all. 

He had two rules. Two very simple rules. However it appeared that however young or old both men of his desires had decided to say fuck the rules and seem quite insistant with their intent on dragging him with them to whatever sin they rested their heads upon at night. 

It appears he needed to implement a third rule; need not further the previous two rules may not apply if it involves Maverick Mitchell nor Thomas Kazansky. 

He sighed rubbing the bridge of his nose,  staring wearily at the door of his office waiting for it to burst open this time a welcome intrusion by the hand of his best friend, as the trail of Iceman’s arm still tingles across his skin and the feel of Mavericks fingertips on his jaw bloomed with heat that he had sworn was not there previously. 

The Navy specifically prohibits any pursuing of relationships within the ranks. In reality if he was in any other situation with both man in somewhat older states he should be reporting the fraternization, frankly he was partly impressed Mitchell managed to marry up but if anyone could snarl Iceman’s attention it would be his wayward wingman, on the other hand this was highly classified especially since he had to somehow explain the sudden absence of the COMPACFLT. 

The rules were clear, he was to report the relationship at once. The ghost feel of Mavericks thighs brushing against his hips caused him to curl his hand around the arm of his chair as his gaze dropped to the desk and he could swear he could almost see that passionate kiss again right before his eyes as well as the cold and calculated challenging eyes staring back at him. 

Go ahead , they dared him. Try it.  

Well he only had one thing to say after 23 years of faithful service. 

Fuck the Navy. 

[sturdy-nerdy-stitchery]

Help Secure Stable Housing for Schluter Family. Click link below.

https://gofund.me/116f91d8

❤️Please read! Please share! This is my BFF Bestie! who is asking for help!❤️

I know I don't use tumblr very much these days, and when I do, it's when I need something. This time, it's my best friend, and I REALLY need this to spread! My best friend is nearing an eviction notice (due to circumstances beyond their control) unless they can come up with $4,800USD to catch up and cover rent.❤️ I'm doing what I can, therefore...𝙈𝙮 𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙥 𝙞𝙨 25% 𝙤𝙛𝙛! 𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙤𝙡𝙡𝙖𝙧 𝙢𝙖𝙙𝙚 𝙜𝙤𝙚𝙨 𝙙𝙞𝙧𝙚𝙘𝙩𝙡𝙮 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙎𝙘𝙝𝙡𝙪𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙂𝙁𝙈! Go get yourself some stitching!

(or donate at my Ko-Fi account at ko-fi.com/sturdynerdystitchery because there, you can get free patterns!)❤️

I have 3,200 followers. That's a wide audience. Those followers have dozens, if not thousands of followers. That's an even wider audience. People who have been in those shoes, can empathize, and can donate. Even if you can't donate, sharing is free and even THAT helps reach more people.

I've seen the community come together. I've seen other communities come together. Can we surpass that $4,800 goal? I sure hope so! 💰I've already done the first $100 donation...anyone want to match that?💰 We've all been, or know someone who has been, in those struggle shoes.

⭐TLDR: Husband's job started slashing everyone's pay by HALF, when they were already barely getting by. Sara found work, but it only pays minimum wage ($14.42) while she is doing her 6 weeks of training. Of which, she has one more month left. They are struggling so much, and now. Eviction notice. They have 2 kids, 2 dogs, and a kitty who just birthed kittens 2 weeks ago!

Please keep reading to hear the full story. Please!!! I don't want to lose my best friend! 😭😭😭 (plus, you'll get treated to kitten pictures)

This isn't a case of "Well, maybe they should have...." because those sentiments are NOT what is needed right now! Those sentiments DO NOT help! It's not a matter of giving up Starbucks. It's about a shitty employer who cares nothing for it's employees.

Donating, no matter how big or how small, makes a difference. Even if you can't donate, sharing is free, it helps reach a wider audience, and that in and of itself makes a difference.

I know that often, when a GoFundMe comes into a feed, it's less likely to get shared if you don't know the person. Well, I know this person. Sara, her husband David, and their 2 kids moved to Colorado a year ago. Along with their Golden Retriever, Mia, their Brindle pupper, Kelce, their kitty who just had 3 kittens. Aren't they cute!

We became friends over the summer. Since then, she has wormed her way into my heart and for the first time since WE moved to Colorado in 2019, I can gratefully say that I found a best friend BFF bestie who would be my ride or die, and vice versa.

She was living with her father in order to save up for their own place. She had to move out because it was a horribly abusive situation and she had to get her family away for their safety.

They found a house to rent, and have been there several months.

A few weeks after they moved in, they get notice that her husband's job is slashing everyone's pay in half. DoorDashing to make up the difference wasn't doing it. Countless job applications, and her husband is still struggling to find work.

She found work, however. They only pay minimum wage while she is doing her 6 weeks of training (Bullshit, I know). She still has 1 month to go.

They have a 2 year old and a 12 year old. The pets. Their everything.

That everything could be gone because we live in a society that treats people so unfairly. They might have to move back to Missouri.

She is waiting on the mail today. Waiting for that eviction notice, and it breaks my heart into a million pieces. I cried this morning. She is a good friend, a good mom, a good provider. Her husband is hard working, a stand up man. Work gave him the shit end of the stick.

She is panicking. She says she has never been more afraid in her life. She doesn't have to say it, but I know she feels broken, and defeated.

I refuse to lose my best friend to circumstances that she had no control over. Her husband is still looking for a new job. Even if she looked for a new job while currently working, and happened to find one...it still won't help cover what they need.

My heart is breaking.💔 So much. I know that some might think it selfish of me to use my social media for personal reasons, but this reason is important to me. This reason is my best friend.

So, pleeeeaaaaseee! even if it's only a dollar. Or even better, if someone is rolling in dough and can drop the entire $4,800!

[mountttmase]

A Mountain To Climb - Part Two

Note - thank you all so much for the love on chapter one. i've been really sick and haven't written anything new so i thought it would be best to post this now so you can can into it a bit more rather than post something random. i hope you enjoy this one too, let me know what you think 💙

Pairing - Mason Mount x Reader

Word count - 2.5k

Warnings - series will contain fluff, smut & angst

Master list

It had been five days since your lift incident and you were glad to now be back home. That didn’t mean you’d forgotten about Mason completely, if anything you were annoyed at yourself for still thinking about him for this long. As much as it looked like it from the outside, you weren’t completely sworn off boys. They had their uses, you just had no interest in what followed after you’d got what you needed from them.

You’d often been labelled as cold by men, but you didn’t let the words effect you. You’d probably never see them again so why did you care what they thought? Plus the double standards made you laugh.

You were working from home this week, but the reality of sitting within the same four walls for hours on end all day was sending you crazy so you told yourself on Wednesday you’d venture out, hence you were now sat in your local Starbucks, nose buried into your laptop screen with an iced latte and chocolate brownie to the side of you.

‘Well, what are the chances’ you suddenly heard, and even though you barely knew him, you could recognise that voice anywhere. Your body froze but your eyes slowly made their way up to connect with a pair you thought you’d never see again.

‘Mason?’ You breathed, and you felt your skin tingle as he flashed you that wide smile of his. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

‘I had an appointment a few doors down and fancied a coffee for the way home’ he explained, taking up the seat opposite you, and you shut your laptop over so you didn’t come across as too rude. ‘What are you doing here?’

‘I’m working, I just came here for a change of scenery’

‘So you live round here?’ He asked, and you nodded before you could stop yourself. His face lit up at this new information whilst you internally cursed yourself. You didn’t want him to know where you lived, after the whole lift incident you were hoping to keep him as far away from you as possible, but luck seemingly wasn’t on your side. ‘You know I almost didn’t recognise you’ he teased.

‘I wish you hadn’t of’ you whispered and your tummy dropped at the hurt look that washed over his face. You weren’t sure what it was about his eyes but they had this weird effect like they were directly connected to your emotions and whatever he was feeling you also felt.

‘You don’t mean that’ he chuckled, clearly trying to brush off your hurtful comment but you didn’t want to let him know you sort of did. ‘We’re bonded by trauma, this is fate I saw you in here’

‘You surly don’t believe in that’ you murmured, opening your laptop back up so you could carry on working in attempts to make him leave, but he wasn’t getting the hint and continued speaking.

‘I mean, I don’t have any other explanation’ he told you quietly. ‘I’ve been thinking about you a lot since I saw you’

I’ve been thinking about you, too you thought but you held your tongue, biting your lip and pushing the thoughts back down so you didn’t say anything stupid, but the way he was looking at you was making it hard. You’d forgotten how attractive he was and how his smile made your insides churn but looking at him in this light didn’t help. The afternoon sun highlighting all the freckles that dotted his cheeks and you willed yourself to keep your expression blank as you looked back at him even though you could feel the butterflies swarming. You could tell he was struggling to know what to say or do, eventually dropping his eyes to the table.

‘I thought you’d be a bit happier to see me’ he chuckled but you could tell he was a little upset by your attitude. ‘I thought we were friends’

‘What made you think that?’

‘Are we not?’ He countered, rubbing the back of his neck before running his fingers over his facial hair. You couldn’t deny his sad eyes were having an effect on you and you willed yourself not to melt under his stare.

‘I don’t have friends, Mason’

‘Sure you do. You told me yourself you were visiting friends when we met’

‘No, I said friend. I have one friend, who I’ve known since I was little. That’s it’

‘Well where’s the fun in that’ he huffed and you had to take a drink to stop yourself from smiling. ‘Come on, I’d make a great friend’

‘Oh yeah?’ You asked, raising your eyebrow at him and he smiled at the fact he seemed to be breaking you down a bit.

‘Definitely. Come on, let me prove myself to you’

‘I’ll think about it’ you breathed and you had to look away as he smiled in triumph. You wanted to smile too, the feeling of being around someone like him felt so foreign to you but you couldn’t deny the way your heart thumped when he flashed you those pearly whites.

‘I tell you what’ he laughed, plucking the pen from out of your hand and scribbling down on the paper in front of you. ‘That’s my number. You can text me whenever you feel like. No pressure or anything’

‘You did not just write on my report’ you grumbled and you watched him swallow nervously.

‘Fuck, I’m so sorry y/n’ he panicked and he was about to speak again when a knock on the window nearest you distracted the pair of you. You turned you your left to see a group of five boys, aged about 12 staring in at the pair of you with shocked faces before pushing and shoving each other in excitement.

You turned to look at Mason, confusion written all over your face whilst he was blushing and trying to hide a smile.

‘Look, I have to go. Just text me please? And I’m sorry about your report’ he smiled apologetically before standing and leaving the table. You watched him walk back up to the counter and have a word with the barista before they led him through a back door and out of sight.

You were left confused. Both interactions you’d now had with him made you question what was going on but you didn’t have much time to ponder it, being snapped out of your bubble by the same barista that Mason had spoken to, placing a fresh coffee and brownie down on your table.

‘Oh sorry, I didn’t order this’ you told him but he just smiled at you.

‘Mason ordered it for you, asked me to bring it over’ he smiled, and you thanked him quietly before he walked back to the counter.

You could feel something wasn’t right, but you were unsure of what it was. Why did he leave through the back door? Why were those kids looking at him? How comes everyone seems to know his name? It wasn’t something you’d ever felt possessed to do before but you wondered if he was worth a quick google, hoping to find him on LinkedIn so you could figure out what he does for a living but you couldn’t remember his last name.

You knew you’d heard it, the receptionist had used it when you’d both come out of the lift and it was on the tip of your tongue but it just wasn’t coming to you. You huffed when you couldn’t quite recall it, so instead you typed in his first name, hoping it would spark some inspiration, when you saw it pop up.

He was the second suggestion that came up after you’d typed his first name in. Mason Mount. You clicked on it with a gulp, unsure about what you were about to uncover but you never expected anything like this.

It was definitely him, and your heart thudded as you took in what you were seeing, eventually clicking on his Wikipedia to hopefully explain to you who he was.

Mason Tony Mount is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking or central midfielder for Premier League club Chelsea and the England national team…

Oh shit.

So much made sense now, all the looks and special treatment he seemed to get and you were eager to know a little more, forgetting the report you were supposed to be writing for now and focusing on what more you could find.

The recent match section caught your eye, showing they had just played Leeds on Saturday, which explained why he was staying in the hotel the night before, and you glanced to see he would be playing Brighton in a week and a half.

You weren’t sure how long you were looking for, and it wasn’t until you phone rung beside you that you remembered you should be working. You quickly answered, your boss asking when your report would be ready but thankfully for you, you were ahead anyway so you told her you’d send it within the hour and quickly finished it off before heading home.

You knew you shouldn’t, but you looked into Mason more on the way home. Looking him up on instagram and you were shocked by how many followers he had. You’d managed to scroll all the way down to a video of him having buckets of water chucked on him when you finally came to your stop.

You tried to think about other things as the night went on but you kept catching yourself reminiscing about seeing him earlier and the way he would switch from shy to confident with you. You knew you had his number sitting in your bag and you were contemplating on putting it in your phone but you took a shower instead, wanting to try and forget about him.

Yes he was gorgeous, yes he seemed like a lot of fun, and yes he probably would make great friend just like he told you he would. But you weren’t looking to add anyone new into your life. You had your select people and that was good enough for you. No need for any changes.

To you, more people in your circle meant more chances to get hurt, so the fewer people you let in the better. Mason included.

You tried forgetting about him for a few days but not matter how hard you did, those brown eyes seemed to be everywhere you looked, wether that was seeing something that reminded you of him, or waking into a shop and seeing his face plastered on the advertisements. After four days you felt liked you’d been broken down and on the verge of texting him but you made sure to distract yourself with other things.

You settled on the sofa after your shower, putting on the news whilst you tried not to think about his number sitting in your bag but your thoughts began to run wild. You wanted to know why he didn’t tell you who he was? Or how long he thought he could of carried on without you finding out? You also felt bad for not thanking him for the coffee the other day. Yes you didn’t want any other friends but you didn’t want to be rude.

In the end you found yourself rummaging around your bag, fishing out the paper and popping his number into the contacts. You thought over what to message him first, wanting to lull him into a false sense of security so you could eventually make him squirm. The idea of inviting him to hang out when his next game was on sprung to your mind, thinking about what he might say to try and get out of it, and you began texting him straight after.

He went silent after that, and you knew he was thinking about what to say. You couldn’t deny you were enjoying teasing him, wishing you were sat with him so you could watch his face as he tried to worm his way out of it, and without thinking anything of it, you hit the FaceTime button.

You sat waiting, and he picked up on the third ring but you couldn’t see his face straight away. You watched as he shut the door to whatever room he’d gone into before flopping down onto the sofa. His face coming into view soon after and you hated the way your heart gave a thump at the sight of his smile. He was dressed in a white hoodie with a purple beanie covering his head and you couldn’t get over how cute he looked

‘To what do I owe this pleasure?’ He laughed ‘you made out like you wanted nothing to do with me, ignored me for days and now I can’t get rid of you’ he winked. ‘Nice hair towel by the way’

‘Thanks’ you said sarcasticly, suddenly realising your hair was still up from your shower and you cringed at how ridiculous you must look to him. ‘Anyway, you made out you wanted to see me but your diary seems to be full’ you told him and you noticed his face falter for a second. ‘Come on then, out with it’

‘I don’t know what you mean’

‘Mason’ you huffed, and he gulped nervously. ‘I already know. I’m just waiting for you to tell me’

He seemed stumped but this, but then let out a little laugh whilst he hid his face. He’d been caught and he knew it.

‘If you know, then why are you making me say it’

‘Cause I want to hear it from you’ you laughed and he finally raised his head.

‘Fine, y/n I’m sorry but I won’t be able to see you on Sunday because the football team I play for has a game that day’

‘Thank you’ you laughed and he shook his head, an unmistakable blush creeping across his cheeks. ‘I appreciate your honesty’

You carried on talking for another ten minutes or so, teasing each other endlessly about pointless things. He tried hiding his face so you couldn’t see him get flustered, but you couldn’t miss his flushed cheeks.

‘I should go, need to get my beauty sleep’ you told him and he smiled gently at you.

‘I mean it looks like you’ve had enough from where I’m sitting’ he said quietly and you gave him a confused look. Was this his attempt at trying to flirt with you? He let out a small laugh before nodding and scratching his head ‘I’ll let you go, speak soon yeah?’

‘We’ll see’ you winked and you both laughed before you gave him a little wave as you ended the call.

You sat there for a few minutes, smiling to yourself before you realised what you were doing, reality hitting you like a slap in the face as you pushed all of these new feelings out of your body.

This wasn't you, you didn't feel things like this when it came to boys and you'd be dammed if you let Mason trap you under his spell like he had been.

Tagged: @alwaysclassyeagle @ricsaigaslec @cinderellawithashoe

[storiesofsvu]

Love Comes Quietly Ch 6

Alex Blake x reader warnings: language, some minor chaos not sure how much i like this chapter, and i honestly feel like t's been way too fucking long since i've written but i know that's not true. but we're moving forward and getting more plot so... yeah... dont hate me lololol.

It wasn’t often that Alex woke up to an empty house and if you’d asked her, she say that today, it felt rather strange. She’d gotten so used to you being around in the mornings that even despite knowing you had to be at work early, something was almost… off about it. She couldn’t help but smile at the coffee pot being full, a little sticky note stuck to the outside with a smiley face on it. She was ever thankful for your thoughtfulness, pouring herself out a mug before getting started on her breakfast. She was even more thankful that it was Friday and the weekend was finally on the horizon. Not that it had been an overly stressful week or anything, you hadn’t even had to leave DC area for a case, it had been a pretty boring week, she was just excited for a break.

Finally she managed to drag herself away from the crossword, having to leave it half completed so she wasn’t late for work herself. Grabbing her bag she tucked her lunch inside it and scooped up her keys, heading to the front door and it was there she found the entry way table scattered with today’s mail. Mail that had clearly distracted you on your way out the door, a container and a now stone cold coffee sitting beside the envelopes. She chuckled, scooping up the container before letting herself out of the house.

*

You hadn’t been concerned at all about your six month review, after all it was just with Emily and you knew that you’d been doing your job and meeting if not exceeding expectations. She’d gone over a handful of things with you, asked if you had any questions and then the two of you had spent another near half hour in her office chatting. Eventually she got a phone call and you muttered something about finishing up paperwork so you didn’t have to take it home with you, returning to your desk.

Which is exactly where Alex found you when she got into the office.

“Think you might be missing something.” She smirked, sliding the Tupperware out of her bag and onto your desk, “and I picked you up a fresh refill.” A steaming Starbucks cup made home next to your forgotten lunch and you glanced up to her with a wide smile.

“Oh you are a godsend!” You reached out to grab the coffee, taking a sip, completely unsurprised when she’d picked up your seasonal favourite, “thank you. I didn’t even realize.”

“You would have by lunch time.”

“You’ve got me there.” You laughed.

“What was so distracting in that mail?”

“Nothing exciting.” Rolling your eyes you took another sip, “late car payment, they didn’t update my address when I asked. Got it taken care of on the drive in though.”

“Good.” She smiled softly, “you want me to throw that in the fridge?”

“That’d be amazing, thank you.” You flashed her a smile before turning back to your work and Alex picked up the container, dropping her bag at her desk before disappearing into the break room. While she was in there she figured why not and fixed a second mug of coffee for herself.

“Morning.” Emily’s voice rang through the air as Alex tossed the stir stick into the garbage, glancing up at the other woman.

“Morning.” She shot her a warm smile over the brim of her cup, watching Emily pick up the coffee pot, draining it of liquid. She added cream and sugar into the mug before quickly refilling the machine to brew again. “That long of a day already?” She asked with a laugh and Emily huffed her own laugh out.

“It’s the extra early mornings, they’re just not for me.” Emily shook her head, taking a sip of her coffee, “did you know that Murphy got up early enough to go for a run before coming in today?”

“I was still blissfully dead to the world.” Alex replied with a chuckle.

Emily’s phone pinged and she let out a sigh, doing her best not to roll her eyes, it felt like anyone and everyone was demanding things of her today and it was barely past nine. Her eyes scanned through the email, letting out a huff and she glanced up to Alex.

“I know you just got in, but is there any chance you can make sure to get those reports for the Reyez case to me today?”

“Of course.” Alex nodded, “I’ll put them at the top of my to do list.”

“Thank you.” Emily smiled softly, taking a breath when her phone started ringing. Picking up her very needed coffee she answered, disappearing back into the hallway to retreat back to her office.

The day went on quite like that, everyone had small wrap up assignments, paperwork, or other odd tasks to occupy them. While it was mainly quiet in the bullpen there were little spurts of conversation, debates over topics or call backs to cases if someone needed reminders. Shortly after lunch Alex finished up with her task, knocking on Emily’s office door with an extra coffee in one hand and files in the other.

“Figured you might need a pick me up.” She greeted, placing the mug down on her desk.

“Thank you.” Emily responded, immediately grabbing the mug to take a sip, “you really know how to boost morale.”

“Oh I’m not done yet.” Alex chuckled, revealing the small tub of chocolate covered espresso beans from her pocket, “here. A pick me up always needs an extra afternoon treat too.”

“Well you’ve officially become my favourite team member. Don’t tell the others.”

Alex laughed, settling into a chair across from her desk as she placed the file folders into Emily’s inbox, “I did a follow up call with the girl’s parents, you’ll be happy to know that her recovery’s going well and they’re already done with the nightmares.”

“God you really are the best, aren’t you?” Emily chuckled, “think that’s the part that we always lose track of, we leave town and move onto a new case before we can even really close the last one.”

“Yeah.” Alex frowned slightly, accepting a chocolate treat when Emily offered it to her.

“Okay but I need a break, talk to me about anything aside from work.”

“Do you have big plans for the weekend? Another round of debaucherous mini golf?” She smirked and Emily let out a huff, playfully glaring in her direction.

“Absolutely not. It sounded a lot better than it turned out. I’d prefer this weekend to be hangover free.”

“I heard that McDonald’s ended up not treating you very well.”

“I will never look at a Big Mac the same way again.” She grimaced, “hey, thanks for the hospitality, even if you didn’t know I was there til the next morning.” She laughed, “the house is super nice.”

“Don’t think I didn’t see you eyeing the pool.” Alex teased.

“More like I wanted to drown myself in it that morning.”

“Well I think more than a few of us would be against that.” She chuckled, pulling a laugh from Emily as she took another sip of coffee.

“How’re things at the house? You finding it weird to be living with someone again?” Emily was genuinely interested, at this point she was just trying to distract herself.

“They’re great! We’ve really fallen into a good routine, it’s actually nice to have someone else around all the time again. You know when you’re living alone and it feels like there’s just constantly something to be done, whether it’s cooking or dishes, or cleaning and you have to do it because it’s your mess? Now it just feels lighter, and she’s good company to have around, but you already know that.”

“Yeah.” Emily’s eyes drifted toward the window, watching you work away at your desk, “she doesn’t bring work home all the time does she?”

“No more than the rest of us.” Alex replied with a chuckle, “she’d prefer to keep her weekends for play unless we’re out on a case.”

“You really keep her grounded, you know that?”

“Well one of us has to.” She teased with a sly grin and Emily scoffed.

“Hey! I’m just trying to make sure she’s having a fun time settling into DC.”

“Well you’re succeeding.”

“What about you?” Emily asked, leaning forward to grab another chocolate, “you getting out and having some fun on the weekends?”

“Emily please.” She laughed, “the last time I did something like drunk mini golf was probably ten years ago.”

“So what you’re saying is next time I have a stupid idea we’re dragging you along.”

“Oh, no. You girls can keep your fun to yourselves.” She chuckled, “but I appreciate the thought.”

“Guess I’ll have to think of something tame then.” Emily grinned, “but seriously, you can’t tell me you just sit around the house all weekend?”

“Sometimes, yes.” She admitted with a laugh, “with our workload? Sometimes all you need is a nice break, a good book out in the sunshine. Maybe some people think it’s boring but sometimes it’s all you need. Other times, I’ll get out in the city, even if it’s just by myself.”

“I take it that means you haven’t started dating again?”

“No.” Alex let out a loud laugh, “and I honestly don’t know if I want to bother.”

“Oh c’mon…” Emily prompted, “what’s gonna hurt about a couple of free dinners?”

“James and I made it work because he was gone just as much as I was, I don’t know if I have the energy to work through all of that again. Besides, at my age I figured I was kinda just done.”

“Alex, please, we’re basically the same age.”

“And you constantly talk about being married to the job.” She shot back with a playful grin.

“I’ll download an app if you will.” She offered, “hell, I’m sure we could get Murphy into it.”

Alex had never been more thankful for the interruption of a knock at the door, Emily calling out to come in before you popped up in the doorway.

“Hey, sorry to interrupt.”

“We’re doing literally anything but work, what’d you need?” Emily asked.

“Okay well if you weren’t working then I feel less bad about this… I was looking at listings, how’s Crestwood for a neighborhood?”

“Sweetheart that’s a five minute drive from our place.” Alex replied with a small laugh.

“Oh, okay, perfect.” You smiled back, “I’ve got a couple places in there and a couple in Glover Park lined up to go see on Sunday, you free?”

“I fly to Boston Saturday.”

“Fuck, right. I forgot you were teaching next week.” You glanced to the other woman, “Em?”

“I didn’t have any plans yet, sure.”

“Remember that even if you’re wildly hungover I’m still dragging you with me.”

“I don’t plan on taking any shots for the foreseeable future.”

“Yeah… you said that two weeks before mini golf.”

“I will be there!”

“Thank you.” You replied, dragging out the final vowel in a sing song voice, “and… I may have found a place in Alexandria that’s doing an open house today but only til five…?” You practically pouted at her and Emily laughed, playfully rolling her eyes.

“You were here early; you can cut out early. Just keep your phone on the chance we catch a case.”

“Will do boss!”

**

You’d made the grave mistake of napping once you’d gotten home from the open house and now you just knew you were going to be paying for it. At the very least, it was Friday so a late night probably wouldn’t hurt that much and if you were being honest, you preferred it. There was something calming about being awake while the rest of the world slept. Though, not everyone was sleeping.

Your head swiveled from your spot on the couch when you heard Alex’s door open and she wandered down the hallway, smiling softly at you.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” Your hand darted out to grab the remote, turning the volume on the tv down, “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”

“You didn’t.” She replied with a small huff, crossing through the kitchen to pull down a wine glass, filling it with merlot, “I thought it was anxiety about the flight tomorrow so I did some middle of the night packing thinking that would help.”

“I take it, it didn’t?”

“Nights are just weird, a little restless a lot of the time. Even if James wasn’t here all the time it’s still weird, first it was a struggle to sleep in the empty house, then it was readjusting to having someone around. Reminding myself that the weird bump in the night wasn’t to be worried about.” She rounded the side of the couch, leaning on the arm, “what’re you doing up? You’re not still working are you?”

“Very lazily.” You laughed, flipping the file folder closed, “just knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep yet, I prefer the night owl lifestyle anyways.”

“Explains the coffee addiction.” Alex smirked and you chuckled, “what’ve you got on?” She asked, gesturing toward the tv and you looked up at it.

“Uh… god, don’t judge me.” You laughed, “Love Island.”

“I can’t say I’ve seen a single episode.”

“It’s a little over the top dramatic, but it’s also really good mind numbing television after a long week.”

“Understandable.”

Alex slipped down the arm of the couch, nestling into the corner of the couch opposite you, her gaze on the screen and you turned the volume back up. Your eyes flitted between the file on your lap and the screen intermittently until you needed to get up to grab a refill and you let out a soft sigh, finally tossing the folder onto the coffee table. With your attention no longer on work, you were able to keep up a more frequent conversation with Alex, laughter and jokes about the show, a few questions that you answered considering you’d seen it before. Along with little comments about the upcoming weekend and how you were going to spend your free time, how long Alex was going to be in Boston for and if she had plans to see Daniela while out there.

A few hours passed, Love Island continuing into a marathon, keeping both of you fully occupied and invested. Alex caught herself laughing over just how ridiculous everything was, yet she was someone still completely enthralled with the entire thing. Her mind wandered back to the conversation in Emily’s office, wondering if the dating world had really progressed into something that needed this level of extremity.

“Alright,” She started, taking a sip of her wine, “I know a lot of this must be fake and extra dramatic for the show, but please tell me the dating world isn’t really that bad?” She looked toward you and you scoffed out a laugh,

“Alex, dating is a fucking joke. I think I’d rather end up on Love Island than have to navigate this bullshit. At least then I’d be guaranteed to be surrounded by attractive people and have the bonus of getting paid to do it.” You laughed, pulling one from her as well as she shifted on the couch so you were more facing each other.

“Is the terribleness why you’re not dating?” A brow raised in your direction and you shrugged, shaking your head.

“I just can’t really be bothered. I mean, we don’t exactly have a lot of downtime from work and to have to put in that much effort on days off? Ugh.”

“You’re in a new city, plenty of new suitors.” She grinned and you playfully rolled your eyes, nudging at her leg with your foot.

“Doesn’t help me meet any of them. Everything nowadays seems to be trapped on dating apps, and they’re a nightmare on their own, never mind being a queer woman attempting to use one.”

“How so?” She asked and you chuckled, “what? Oh come on, enlighten someone who’s never used one.”

“You looking to get out there on Tinder Blake?” You asked with a tease, nudging at her thigh again and she rolled her eyes, “but seriously, you’re lucky you’ve never used one. I’ll open an app, swipe for ten minutes and all I’ll have found was a bunch of couples looking for a unicorn, an apparently ‘open’ relationship where the girl says she just wants to play or explore her sexuality, a surprising amount of men despite having selected women only, full on married people looking to cheat, or poly couples. Which, I’ll support the last one, but I much prefer monogamy and half the time you’re wasting your time because people won’t have told you any of the above in advance, you find out on like, date three. Which doesn’t happen until like, months down the road considering how much free time the FBI loves to give us.”

“Well you could always look into giving it a second chance now that you’re in D.C, everyone here is career driven, a lot of them put it at the top of their priority lists, they’d understand.”

“I’d rather be a spinster with eight cats than open Tinder again to be completely honest.” You laughed, “but if you want me to help you set up an account I will.”

“Ohoho.” She laughed, “no, I think I’m good.”

“If you’re looking to get out there an app is probably your best bet. I mean, when was the last time you organically met someone you clicked with? Bonus points if it wasn’t at a bar.”

“I’ve got a pretty good track record when it comes to bookstores.” She grinned across at you and it was your turn to laugh, shaking your head at her.

“Doesn’t count, you know that’s not what I meant.”

“It was a correct answer to your question.” She retorted with a smile, “maybe dating is… completely overrated nowadays.”

“It really is.” You let out a sigh, your gaze drifting back to the television. Alex watched you for a moment, the gears in her head turning as you continued watching the show.

“Do you ever get lonely?” She asked softly and your eyes shifted back to her, your head tilting as you took in her words.

“Sometimes.” You shrugged, “but between work and maintaining stability in life there’s not much time leftover. Guess I don’t really think about it, besides,” grinning you shoved at her leg again with your foot, “I’ve got you to have middle of the night life chats if I can’t sleep.”

“I guess that’s true.” She replied with a soft smile, taking a sip of her wine before her gaze found its way back to the screen.

“Are… you lonely?”

“Hmm?”

“Is that the reason for all the questions?”

“Oh, no!” Alex pursed her lips, shaking her head, “having the house to myself was weird at first. Even though James was gone a lot, after the divorce I found that in the back of my mind I was still expecting him to show up sporadically. It felt like there was a little bit too much space for just me here, but, we’ve got that fixed now.” She laughed and you smiled back at her, “honestly when I got divorced I kind of figured that was it for me, I’d had a big love, now it was time to focus elsewhere.” She shrugged, “Emily brought up dating earlier, I guess it’s now just on my mind.”

“Well don’t black list it completely, you’re an incredible woman, brilliant, not to mention gorgeous. Anyone would be stupid lucky to have you.”

“Now you’re just sucking up.” She teased, feeling the warmth of the compliments soothing through her.

“More like pointing out the obvious.” You stifled a yawn, doing your best to hold it back but it was too late, Alex involuntarily let out an even larger one, followed by a small laugh.

“I guess it’s finally time for bed.”

“Probably a good idea.” You stood from the couch, collecting both yours and Alex’s empty glasses to place in the sink, “you don’t want to sleep through your alarm.”

“Definitely not.” Alex smiled, yawning once again as she said a quick thanks before she turned down her hallway, “goodnight y/n.”

“Night.” You shot her a smile before returning your attention to the dishes, quickly washing what was leftover as Alex’s bedroom door clicked shut.

Making sure you had your phone; you brushed your teeth and finally made the way back to your bedroom to climb into bed. The conversation with Alex was still very fresh on your brain as you slipped between the sheets, dropping back against the pillows. You had been truthful, you weren’t lonely, you’d made friends with the team, you had regular people you saw out on runs or at the gym and you had Alex for company at home. Chewing on your lip for a minute you finally reached out, grabbing your phone and swiping across until you found the toggle with the handful of dating apps you’d used in the past. You made it less than five minutes on Tinder before you were reminded exactly why it was absolute trash and not worth the fucking effort. You had friends to spend time with and a perfectly good vibrator for things they couldn’t assist with. Tinder was completely unnecessary.

Right?

_______________

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[kaleforcale888]

Just Y/n - Cale Makar

Summary: You are not sure where you and Cale stand in your relationship.

Word count: 2.3K

Warning: cale being a red flag; lack of communication; anxiety

a/n: so while going through the notes app in my phone I found some of my work from the original kaleforcale888 and decided to rewrite it. Anyway thanks for sticking around as I get my crap all back together!

You didn’t know what it was about Cale, but you were definitely starting to have stronger feelings than just “liking” him. What a cliché, middle school thing to say, liking someone. You didn’t know what it was about the man; maybe it was his beautiful, blue eyes that caught you attention, or his crazy hair that sticks up in all different directions at any given moment.

Despite being incredibly good looking, he was also the sweetest person you had ever met. Cale had the best personality. On the outside he was reserved and quiet, but once you got to know him, he was actually really interesting and fun to be around.

You hadn’t been seeing or even hanging out with Cale for very long, only going on a few dates here and there depending on when he was in Denver. You had met at a King Soopers’ Starbucks, him having come in for a drink and leaving with your phone number. From then on you had been on one formal dinner date but had hung out at miscellaneous times when he was in the state. Your favorite was just spending time with him at his apartment and doing random, mundane things. You felt like you got to know the real Cale, not Cale Makar: MVP defenseman.

Spending so much time together made you feel like you had known him your entire life. One date and ever since, you had magically fallen into a routine together. When he had home games, you’d stay at his apartment until the game was over, then spend the evening together before sharing a bed together for the night. While he was away, you would sit at home, missing him, wishing he was there with you.

With your routines naturally integrating, you never had the “what are we talk.” Yeah, you kissed on a regular basis and often slept in the same bed, but some aspects of your life never fully unified; and for a time, part of you was fine with that, but as of late, it was starting to wear on you. You had never met his friends or even teammates, let alone his family, and you started to doubt your relationship, or maybe lack thereof.

***

You sat on the couch of Cale’s apartment, watching the end of the hockey game. The Avs won again, and you knew he would walk through the door nonchalantly but would be elated on the inside. After about an hour or so later, a jingle of keys in the door let you know that Cale was home. You smiled to yourself.

“I’m home,” Cale joked, throwing his bag next to the door so he could easily find it tomorrow morning.

Looking back at him, you rested your chin on the back of the couch, “Hi, how was it,” you asked, acting like you hadn’t just watched the entire game in his living room. You always liked to ask him how it went to get his perspective.

He crouched down to be level with you and smiled, “It was good.”

You rolled your eyes at his humbleness and leaned in closer to him. Cale closed the gap between you, placing a quick kiss on your lips and stood up, too fast for your liking.

There honestly wasn’t a thought running through your mind that he didn’t like you, especially not after that flirtatious kiss. You just wished you would finally make it “official.” All you wanted recently was to meet his friends and to be a part of his world, completely.

“Hey babe,” Cale called, you didn’t even realize he had walked away because too distracted by your own thoughts.

Slightly smiling to yourself at the sweet endearment, “Yeah?” Why were you even questioning anything?

“I think I’m gonna take a quick shower, then head to bed. You are more than welcome to stay if you’d like,” he said, leaning on the door frame of his bedroom, waiting for a response. You just shook your head and settled back into the couch.

***

A few days later, you found yourself back in the very same place, Cale’s apartment. You had spent the night and he had just got back from his morning skate. “So then, Mel and a few of the other girls came and picked up their new jackets, and the guys got distracted so Bednar just ended it then.”

You shook your head, just listening to him as you stole a grape from his lunch plate. You were keeping unusually quiet today and sat with your thoughts, this was new to Cale, but he could tell that there was something bothering you. All you could think about was getting a jacket with Cale’s name on the back and being able to sport it with pride on game days. You also couldn’t help but wonder if you would get along with the other girls and wanted to meet his friends.

Sitting in silence for a few more moments, opening and closing your mouth, Cale looked up at you, expecting you to speak, “do you think I’d get along with the other girls?”

“I don’t see why you wouldn’t,” he responded, walking to the kitchen, “You’d probably love them.”

“What about the guys?”

“They’d probably adore you, probably chirp you for being with me, but its all-in good nature,” he said as he opened the fridge to pretend to look busy, “But why are you bringing this up now? What’s going on?”

“I want to meet your friends, your Denver family. I want to see the other side of you and the other community you’re apart of. I feel like you’re ashamed of me or some…” before you could finish, Cale closed the door of the fridge and pinched the bridge of his nose. He let out a breath, walked closer to you, and grabbed your hands.

“I’m not ashamed of you by any means… it’s just always been hard for me to let people into my life. But listen, if it really means that much to you,” he stopped and took a deep breath, “there is a charity dinner next weekend, before the start of the playoffs, would you like to be my date? We could get all dressed up, maybe look for a dress…”

Before he could continue, you shrieked out a yes and grabbed his face, kissing all over it. “Does this mean I get to meet all the guys?”

“I don’t see why not,” he smiled at you and pressed your foreheads together before kissing you.

***

The charity  dinner was tonight and to say you were nervous was an understatement. How was Cale going to introduce you? Were you his girlfriend, his good friend? You weren’t entirely sure.

You looked in the mirror, and touched up your hair as Cale came into the bathroom connected to your bedroom. He arrived 30 minutes early as always and waited on your bed as you finished getting ready. Making eye contact through the mirror, you gave him a tight-lipped smile to which he returned, “I’m a little nervous,” you said as you scrunched into your shoulders.

“It’ll be okay,’ he said, finally walking into bathroom to wrap his arms around your shoulders.

“I know,” you turned around in his arms, “but what if they don’t like me? They have to be protective over you.”

“I promise you, if I like you, they’re going to have to put up with you. But you only have like 2 minutes, otherwise we’re gonna be late,” he said, checking his watch.

You rolled your eyes, “your definition of late or mine,” you teased and turned to finish what you were doing.”

***

As you walked into the hall, it felt like all eyes were on you and Cale, his arm interlocked with yours as you entered. “Calers!” A tall blonde man shouted across the room. Cale’s cheeks turned brighter red than normal as he directed you towards the group the man was standing with.

“Hey guys.”

“Well, well, well, Calers, who is this?” One of the men in the group asked.

“This is Y/n. Y/n this is Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan Mackinnon, and JT Compher.” He finished, pointing to a decently tall man with flaming red hair. Your heart sank in your chest, and you looked down hoping your face didn’t show too much disappointment. You weren’t officially his girlfriend; you just did relationship-y things. An awkward silence landed over the group.

“It’s nice to finally put faces to the names,” you fake laughed, breaking up some of the silence.

As the guys started up a conversation about what they could do better heading into playoff season, a woman walked up to Gabe. She gave the man a drink before stepping closer to you and offering you a smile, “Hey, I’m Mel.”

“Hi, I’m Y/n,” you smiled back at the blond.

“All this hockey talk is kind of boring, would you like to get a drink?”

You shook your head and untangled your arm in Cale’s before leaning up and whispering to him, “I’m gonna go get a drink,” to which he responded with a nod and a kiss to your cheek.

You followed Mel to the bar and ordered your drink, “I’m Gabe’s wife, if you couldn’t tell,” she joked, making you feel less nervous, “Are you Cale’s girlfriend?” She asked as you sat down at the bar together.

There it was the ever so dreaded question. Taking a sip of your cocktail to distract yourself, you shook your head, “no, just Y/n,” you said, repeating what Cale had told the other guys earlier in the evening.

Mel shook her head in understanding, “We’ll, he’s truly a good kid, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she said, looking over at her husband and the defenseman interacting.

“No, yeah, I know. We’ve been hanging out for a while and I really like him, but we’ve never made anything official.”

Mel looked at you, studying your body language, she could tell this was bothering you. “Well, I don’t know how long you guys have been “hanging out”, but I’ve known him for three years now, and he’s never once brought a date to one of these. Let alone a barbeque or team pool party.”

A slight smile crept up on your lips. At least he felt comfortable enough to be willing to introduce you to his friends, despite you having to ask him. You and Mel continued to talk and get to know each other before she excused herself. When you looked over to find Cale, you saw her talking to Gabe and Cale, who looked like he was very interested in whatever she had to say.

Not long after, you finished your drink and followed in her footsteps to find Cale who was talking to some older looking men. Tapping on his shoulder, he greeted you with a smile, pulled you into his side, and continued his conversation with the men. Once there was a lull in the conversation, he looked down to you, noticing you weren’t acting like yourself, “Hey, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you lied, “just getting a little tired,” you finished off with a fake yawn.

Cale shrugged it off and looked at his watch, “It is getting late, why don’t we get out of here?”

As you walked to the car hand in hand, your thoughts couldn’t help but spiral. Cale opened the car door for you; this sucked, you knew when you got home you would fall directly back into the dance of avoiding whatever conversation needed to happen.

Slamming your eyes shut, you laid your head on the car seat. The quiet got interrupted by Cale gently whispering, “You’ve seemed a little off these past few days. What’s going on in that mind of yours Y/n?”

“Nothing.”

“Please don’t lie to me, Y/n.” Cale whispered, grabbing your hand.

“I’m not lying.”

“I know you are. I was talking to Melissa, and I think we need to have a conversation.”

This conversation could either be very bad or very good, there was no telling at this moment.

“I agree,” you breathed out.

“She said that I should stop avoiding telling you how I feel,” he said as gently started rubbing his thumb across your knuckle, “I hope you know I really like you,” you slightly chuckled, “like a lot.”

“Well, that’s good to know. I was really starting to doubt, I mean just Y/n. Really, Cale? You can’t even introduce me as your girlfriend,” you said, refusing to look up at him.

“I didn’t think we needed a title. For goodness’ sake, we practically spend every waking minute together!” Despite his frustration and lack of being able to truly communicate his feelings, he remained calm. He knew that raising his voice could only make the situation worse and he would only feel more frustrated, “I thought those were titles were juvenile.”

You quickly looked up at him, laughing, trying to hold back tears, “Cale, I want to be your girlfriend!”

Cale sighed and leaned over the console, putting your foreheads together.

“Okay then, will be my girlfriend?”

“Really? That’s all it took for you to finally ask me but yes” you smiled and kissed him.

“I’m sorry, by the way… I didn’t know it meant that much to you.”

“I accept your apology. But I will say, we are both terrible at communicating.”

“I agree, now can we go home?” he asked as he put the car in reverse to pull out of the parking spot.

***

A couple of weeks later, a package was delivered to Cale’s apartment addressed to you. Opening the cardboard box, you found a burgundy jacket with two interlocking hockey sticks on the arms. On the back was “MAKAR” stitched in black with a white outline and a big 8 to match his jersey. You smiled widely and hugged the fuzzy jacket in excitement. The only other thing inside the box was a note.

“Just in time for playoffs :) - M”

[lutiaslayton]

Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva

ＰＡＲＴ　１９

〚ＦＩＲＳＴ〛〚ＰＲＥＶ〛〚ＮＥＸＴ〛

Disclaimer: This is a fan-translation for the Japan-exclusive novellisation of the movie Professor Layton and the Eternal Diva. The original novel was written by Aya Matsui under the supervision of Akihiro Hino, and belongs to Level-5.

This translation only aims to be a pleasant read for non-Japanese fans, nothing more: I made a few deliberate changes while translating in order to get the writing style closer to what is usually found in English fanfictions, as the Japanese storytelling can sometimes be different than what we are used to.

── London・Present

＊ Reunion

After Janice’s voice faded away, I remained pensive for a while.

Three years ago.

The moment I met her, I was left in awe.

She was a beautiful woman, much older than me…

But at that time, was it Melina that left such a big impression on me?

Or was it Janice…?

This is one of the puzzles that I have yet to solve.

This had been my first adventure with the professor, and it was a very special one for me.

‘Mr Future Gentleman’

I thought I had just heard her voice again.

“Look, Luke.”

The professor’s voice brought me back to myself. He had two tickets to the ‘Eternal Kingdom’ opera in hand.

It really was just like that time from three years ago.

Though of course, the name of the venue on the ticket was not the ‘Crown Petone’ this time.

Mr Whistler’s face came to my mind.

According to Inspector Grosky, he sometimes plays the piano in prison, bringing tears to the eyes of his fellow inmates.

I heard through the grapevine that Captain O’Donnell and Mr Marco Brock have hit it off since the incident, and often travel together.

Amelia is currently studying abroad at a foreign university.

The letter I received the other day said that she was still very grateful that the professor and I had attended her grandfather’s funeral.

Nina sometimes comes to visit us here, at Gressenheller. She has a very good memory and studies very hard, and I think she might be admitted to college before me…

But I won’t lose to her. Look out for the Future Gentleman and puzzle master, Nina!

Oh, that’s right, Mr Starbuck and Mrs Raidley had their wedding just the other day. The gossip magazines made it a really big deal.

And I’m currently reading Annie Dretche’s latest mystery. I’m so excited, I can’t stop reading it!

Annie once told me that she has been writing mysteries much faster than before for the sake of Mr Bargland. That way, he would have something to read while he spends his spare time at the hospital…

And then…

There was a knock at the door. Who could it be? Perhaps a client for some new exciting mystery to solve.

The professor and I got up from our chairs at the same time and headed for the entrance.

But as soon as I opened the door, my heart skipped a beat.

“Janice…”

I was dazzled by her smile. It looked just like the one I had seen three years ago…

　⇚　　　　　　　↛

And this completes the fan-translation of the official Eternal Diva novel, everyone! Man, this sure was something. A lot of work, a lot of tears and sweat, a lot of good surprises. Who knows what the future has in store for us now!

...Hm? What's that? Another novel? Let's see...We've seen a lot of blue lately, perhaps a change of colour would do us all some good. How about green? Green sounds nice, right?

Yup. Illusory Forest it is, baby. See y'all next week for a brand new adventure, and one that most of you never have gotten to experience before at that 👀

Oh, also, I'm just going to say before we let Ambrosia go back to its eternal sleep: this thing has followed me up until the very end of my PhD. I defended my thesis, like. TODAY. Just A FEW HOURS AGO.

At the exact time this post is coming out, I am likely going to still be stuck at the lab managing the mini-quiches for the party or something of the like, hahaha. So... yeah, I guess I'm a doctor now? In theoretical chemistry, that is. Yay? Yeah, let's go with yay :D

(and I hope that future me won't happen to be told a random "actually no ur work sucks you failed lol" on that very day and the party prevents me from editing this post in order to bring the bad news, that'd be awkward lmao)