#i’ve just decided what i’ll do. i’ll finish my lunch break and then i’ll use the bathroom and then get back to work

[hxney-lemcn]

Melting — Connor x gn! reader

summery: Reader and Connor are two lovesick fools who bond over being touch starved.

tw: descriptions of anxiety

a/n: Should I make another part? Or like a series of one shots with these two? I'm tempted if anyone is interested.

wc: 1.8k

Master List

“You comin old man?” I teased Hank as I stood beside his desk, Connor sitting across from him. I was going on break and I thought we’d all head out for lunch together like we normally did. 

“Nah, not today,” Hank waved me off. “Got more work than I know what to do with.” I frowned, glancing at Connor and assuming that meant he wouldn’t be able to join either. 

Having resigned myself to eating alone, I tapped Hank’s desk in acknowledgement, “Alright, I’ll be on my way then.” I smiled at the two and Connor seemed a bit conflicted, eyes darting between Hank and I. Deciding to ignore the odd mannerism, I went to turn away.

“Connor, why don’t you go with them,” Hank offered. “I’ll hold down the fort, but don’t forget to get me something.”

“Are you-” Connor was going to ask, eyebrows furrowed, but was quickly cut off.

“Yes!” Hank exclaimed. “Go before I change my mind.”

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” Connor thanked, a warm smile blessing his face. Whoever made him so handsome needed a raise. Well, Cyberlife is now controlled by androids but y’know what I mean. Connor’s warm gaze fell onto me and I swear my heart skipped a beat. I averted my eyes, his stare too intense for my poor heart. 

“C’mon,” I motioned him to follow me. He was out of his chair in less than a second, walking next to me and matching my pace. 

My nerves felt alight, not normally alone with the android. I tried to calm down my racing mind, scolding myself for not only thinking of my friend, but my coworker as such. I fiddled with the ring I wore, scolding myself for my inappropriate thoughts. But was it really so wrong to want to hold his hand? 

“Are you alright?” Connor asked, and I turned to face him, not realizing that he had just scanned me. “You are showing signs of anxiety.” His furrowed brow and concerned look never failed to make me melt. 

Having a topic to speak on, I felt myself calm slightly and nudged Connor lightly with my elbow, smiling lightly, “You know I’m an anxious person. But I’m good.”

His frown worsened, the hair that always fell out of place falling just a tad bit farther with the tilt of his head, “Is there anything I can do to help prevent it from happening?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know, I’m so used to it that I don’t even notice it much. That’s unless it gets really bad, but I’ve been getting better.” Connor pursed his lips, his concerned gaze swirled with frustration. “I mean being with people I know helps comfort me. And when it gets really bad, it helps if I can…kinda cling to them?” I finished in more of a questioning tone, hating the vulnerability it made me feel to admit that. I stared at the concrete as we continued to walk to the nearest fast food restaurant. 

“You can hold my hand if that would make you feel more comfortable,” Connor offered, and when I looked at him in shock, he had his hand extended out to me. My heart pounded faster. Immediately my mind started to romanticize the situation and I couldn’t stop it, even though I knew this had to be strictly platonic. There’s no way it wasn’t…

The kind smile he had turned to a frown, “Your anxiety is increasing…”

“Sorry,” I apologized for no reason really, I suppose for making him think I hate him? I suppose my anxiety really is increasing. “I’m just…I…I don’t mind, I haven’t really held hands with someone in a long time, or hugged, or…I’m rambling, sorry.”

His frown turned into an awkward smile, “You don’t have to apologize. I haven’t held anyone's hand before, so this is a new experience for me as well.” 

Squeezing my hands, I rubbed my right hand on my pants before reaching my hand out. Connor met my hand halfway and I hoped he ignored the sweat gathering on my palms once more. His hand was surprisingly warm, although I wasn’t sure what I was expecting, not to mention soft. Finally reaching the restaurant, Connor opened the door for me and I thanked him. 

He followed me as I went straight to the self-serve kiosk. It was busier than I was used to, and I didn’t even realize that I moved closer to the brown haired man that was also very handsome and very much holding my hand. We both ordered, and waited in line for our numbers to be called. I glanced over to Connor, only to find him already staring at me. 

“Are you scanning me again?” I joked lightly. 

“Even though we are in a crowded place, which seems to usually trigger your anxiety, your stress levels are surprisingly low,” Connor stated, confusion laced in his warm gaze.

“I’ve got you with me,” I replied without even thinking of the implications. Instead I just grinned at him, unaware of how he was becoming increasingly flustered. I glanced at the screen that showed off the order numbers, and noticed ours both were getting closer. 

“Excuse me,” Someone grunted, pushing past me. Which in turn caused me to press closer to Connor. 

Connor ran a diagnostic scan, wondering why he felt like his internal fans were going to explode. It came up all good, which led him to thinking about what Hank brought up earlier. 

“You haven’t noticed them touching you more lately?” Hank asked, raising an eyebrow.

Connor had noticed it, quite a bit actually. The small touches to his arm, the nudges, or even when they tried to rest their arm on his shoulder jokingly. He always looked at that last example fondly, especially when he was 6’ compared to their shorter height. 

“All their affection reads as platonic, does it not?” Connor asked, curious as ever. 

“You don’t see them hiding their laughter into my shoulder, do you?” Hank asked rhetorically. 

“No,” Connor replied anyway, led blinking yellow in thought. “So you’re saying they may have a romantic interest in me?”

Hank shrugged, clearly losing interest in the subject the more questions Connor asked obliviously, “I don’t know kid, why don’t you ask them yourself?”

Connor blinked back into reality as I called his name, his thirium pump seeming to beat faster as his name tumbled from my lips.

“Your number was called,” I said as I finally seemed to grab his attention, pushing him towards the counter. 

“R-right,” Connor stuttered lightly, embarrassed he was caught in such a daze. 

“Let’s get out of here,” I grumbled as we both got the food we ordered. 

“Of course,” Connor nodded, guiding me out of the crowded restaurant. Arm protectively wrapped around my shoulder. I didn’t mind being pressed into his side once more. My hand clung to his jacket as we continued to squeeze past people. Once we finally got outside, I let out a relieved breath, glad to be out of that packed room. 

“Would you like to eat outside?” Connor asked. It was a nice day, the warm sun beating down on the cool spring air. People bustled about, enjoying the nice turn of the weather.

“I don’t want Hank’s food to get cold,” I frowned, drawing away slightly from Connor’s side as his arm dropped to his side once more.

“I’m sure he would understand,” He replied.

I couldn’t help but laugh, “Is this the same Hank we’re talking about?”

Connor joined in on my laughter, “How about we drop it off first, to be safe.” I agreed, the walk back to the precinct much lighter than the earlier tension. Was it tension or just my anxiety? Who knows. 

I took in a deep breath as a small breeze blew past. I ate a fry, watching the flowers dance in the wind to a song only they could hear. The sounds of birds chirping, people talking, and Connor flipping a coin filled the air. 

“Is the food to your liking?” Connor asked, breaking the silence. 

I looked over to him, the coin firmly held between two fingers, and shrugged, “It’s alright. What you’d expect from fast food.” 

I loved watching Connor do his little coin tricks, it became a habit to soothe his nerves. It was interesting watching him gain his own habits, becoming his own person. I remember asking why he knew how to do coin tricks, only for him to explain it was to help him calibrate his software.

As I finished my lunch, I watched as the coin rolled over the back of his fingers. Flicking it to his other hand, only to roll it between his fingers. His movement was so smooth, fluid. I can only imagine the million ways I’d fumble and lose the quarter. 

“Do you want to try?” Connor asked, offering the coin to me. I broke out of my spaced out state and stared at him like an idiot. 

“If I tried I’d find a way to accidentally fling it into the ocean,” I joked with a bright smile. 

“The probability of you…oh, that was a joke,” Connor fumbled, and I noticed that his cheeks turned a light blue. Oh my god I didn’t know androids could blush! That’s actually really cool, and I wonder how that even works. 

I laughed lightly at his fumble, “It’s okay, Connor. Besides, I leave the coin tricks for the professionals.” I winked, and then immediately panicked. Why the hell did I wink? God I must’ve looked so lame, but…why was his blue blush more prominent? And why is it so pretty? 

Blue was a good color on him. I thought that when he wore his old outfit that cyberlife fitted him with, and I still think it now. I glanced at my watch, noticing our break was almost over. I let out a dramatic sigh and flopped onto his side, causing him to hold his arm out in confusion before placing it around me gently.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” I apologized. “I don’t mean to  make you uncomfortable.” I was so comfortable with him that I didn’t even realize how this may be uncomfortable for him. It was so weird, because one minute I’d be overthinking our interactions, and then the next I wouldn’t be thinking at all. 

Before I could get up or continue to overthink, Connor spoke hurriedly, “It’s alright, you can lean on me if you’d like.” 

“We should probably get back to work,” I grumbled, leaning my head back on his shoulder. I tried to ignore the warmth that spread through my body at his warm touch. It was such a nice feeling, I was scared to grow used to it because I wasn’t sure if it’d always be available to me. 

“We have a few more minutes,” Connor murmured back, hearing his voice so close to my ear, slightly startling me. 

Calming a bit from the slight scare, I let out a soft hum, closing my eyes. Such a peaceful moment. If only it could last forever.

[sonicslushie]

Slipped My Mind ~ P.P.

Summary: You’re the person who designs Spiderman’s suits, but you never actually met the man- or boy- behind the mask. 

A/N: terrible summary & first fic, originally this was going to be based on the conan gray song “yours” but it took an odd turn in there so it's not lmao. But if you wanna read that let me know i’m dying to write more for petey boy. This is also like a little fluff thing that i threw together in a few hours so it’s not the best (my b) 

a playlist for u to listen to as u read<3

Pairing: Peter Parker x Stark Intern!Reader 

TW: kinda a clueless reader, mentions of blood and open wounds, 

Wordcount: 3.6k

Ice cream was all you wanted. It was your lunch break from Stark Industries, the place you interned at because of your impressive resume, and partly because your dad just so happened to be the owner of Tony Stark’s favorite burger place. You had been a pretty smart kid, finished highschool early and graduated MIT with a degree in engineering and all you wanted was to build supersuits. That was the dream, wasn’t it? Helping the world’s mightiest heroes by being the one who created their high tech suits and accessories, actually making a difference for those who saved billions of lives? Yeah, no. 

You started out three years ago as Ms. Potts' personal assistant at the ripe age of 16. You spent 2.5 years of that assisting just doing the basic intern stuff; grabbing coffee and burgers, attending meetings to take notes, scheduling and yatta yatta, the occasional fake laugh at a dad joke that Mr. Stark made. It wasn’t until you joined Ms. Potts in Mr. Stark’s lab to give him his burger, and you corrected his formulas on some project and you thought it was OVER. He looked surprised that you even spoke to him, oh fuck, you messed up. Or so you had thought. He actually told you that you were right?? Then, I swear to god, he asked what you would do to improve the project he was working on. (It was a super suit for the newest hero, Spiderman.) He liked your idea to add what you called the “training wheels” protocol. Mr. Stark decided to give you a chance and he had you help him create the rest of the suit, and now 6 months later, you were in charge of all things Spiderman. 

But that’s not the point of the story right now, right now, you wanted ice cream. 

And you had just bought two big scoops in a freshly made waffle cone. Honestly the best use of 5 bucks, or so you thought. Just as you were about to take the first lick, a red and blue streak sprinted past- no into you. It was like a movie, all you saw was your delicious creamy dessert flying up in the air in slow motion, then- SLAT! Both you and the ice cream were on the ground, a familiar looking super suit standing above you, stammering about how he was “so sorry” and “chasing a bad guy” in a very peppy voice. 

“You’re Spiderman, why weren’t you swinging from building to building?” You asked, furious you were now going to have to buy another one. You just wanted one thing, could you not just have it without dealing with this bozo? 

“Forgot to put in new web fluid. I’m sorry about your ice cream but I’ve really gotta- I don’t see him anymore. Shoot.” He says, shaking his head. “You know what, let me make this up to you. I’ll buy you another one.” 

Well that seemed fair and it slightly cooled off your now bad mood. You agree and wait in line with the dude who you create super suits for. The funny thing is, this was actually the first time you ever met the one and only Spiderman- or Spiderling as Mr. Stark calls him. You don’t even know who the person is under the mask, but at this point you really didn’t care about it, you just wanted your ice cream. 

After waiting in line for what felt like forever and making meaningless small talk with the masked hero, you make it to the front of the line. 

“Two scoops of strawberry, please. Waffle cone.” You smile at the worker, then turn to Spiderboy. You say at the same time as the employee, “5 bucks.” 

The Spiderdude pats his sides as if feeling for a wallet, then looks at you with that expressionless mask- god you had to work on that- and says, “I don't have my wallet.” 

You could almost smack him in the back of the head, but you just take your wallet out and give the worker a 5 dollar bill. Taking the new ice cream, you turn to the hero, “Well now you owe me two, Spidey.” 

“I-I’ll make it up to you, do you have Venmo?” He asks, panic rising in his voice. He sounded young, maybe around your age. If you were honest, he piqued your interest. So instead of rolling your eyes and walking away, you pulled your phone out. 

“Here,” you say, ready to just get back to the lab. He takes a picture of it and gives you a thumbs up. 

“I’ll have to make a new venmo so you can’t figure out my identity, but I gotta run.” He says, and literally runs off. You stand there, looking at the hero you basically manage but just met, then your ice cream. What a day, huh? You shrug it off and begin to eat your ice cream as you head back to the office. 

The ice cream had been off your mind ever since you finished the yummy dessert, and went back to designing your own web fluid. Sure the dude had his own way of making it (you weren’t really sure if it had been coming out of him or not until today, you never really had the chance to ask anyone), but you knew you could do it better. Everyone at Stark Industries called you ‘Junior’ for a reason, and it wasn’t just because of your crazy intelligence. It might have also been the slight egotistical self assurance and the stubbornness you possessed. 

As you worked you listened to music and snacked on the various foods you hid in the lab unbeknownst to Mr. Stark. Here and there you would test the web fluid with some of the new web shooter prototypes you had made, at this point you could swing around New York from how often you used these things. You often thought of it and giggled at the thought; ridiculous, these silly little dreams you possessed. 

You had been giggling about it to yourself when the one and only Mr. Stark walked in- with a kid who was talking so fast and in such a familiar peppy tone that you couldn’t help but look up. 

“-and then I looked up dodo birds and did you know they’re basically just big pigeons?” He finished, looking up at Mr. Stark with big brown doe eyes that sparkled in the light. Sparkle in the light? Oh come on, y/n. You caught yourself ogling at the new kid, still trying to figure out where you heard that voice before. Little miss genius might be able to create the highest tech super suits in the world, but boy oh boy did you have a hard time connecting dots. 

“Right, big pigeons. Anyway, Peter, this is y/n y/l/n. Junior, this is Peter Parker.” Mr. Stark says, looking at you as if you could take the excitable kid off of his hands. 

Now, Mr. Stark is a lot of things, and busy is one of them. This just so happens to affect his memory, and in this case, he completely forgot that he never introduced Spiderling- Peter Parker- to his favorite intern. It slipped his mind, I mean when you’re a billionaire CEO and a superhero, the little things tend to slip the mind. It’s not like he meant to never introduce you two, he really did mean to. But every time Peter’s been at the tower, Junior was always gone either for the weekend or for her lunch break. Plus, Mr. Stark had things to do. Like right now; get out of this boring conversation and get burgers from his favorite burger place with Happy. 

“Oh it’s nice to meet you, Peter.” You say, not knowing that you met Peter earlier that day as Spiderman. But Peter knew, and he also forgot that he had to venmo you for that ice cream from earlier. Caught off guard, his eyes just go wide and he awkwardly smiles and waves at you like an idiot. 

“Um okay. Anyway, Mr. Stark, I was about to head out, but I got the new web fluid made and finished up the new prototypes for web shooters. I also started up blueprints for a new suit. I forgot to mention I saw Spiderboy today and I gotta say, that suit does nothing for his ass.” You say, going back to the blueprints in front of you, making sure everything is perfect for tomorrow morning. Mr. Stark takes a peek over your shoulder, nodding in approval, then says, “Well I’ve got to hit the road, I’ve got… an important meeting to attend. Yeah. See ya tomorrow, Junior, same to you Pete.” 

You and Peter tell Mr. Stark bye in various fashions, being left in an awkward silence, neither of you really knowing how to proceed from there. Mr. Stark never told you that you would be meeting with Spiderdude to discuss your progress on the new ideas you had come up with but if he didn't show up before 5 you weren't staying, you'd didn't get paid enough. Peter wasn’t told he would be seeing the girl he literally ran into and owe her ice cream money. Seems like it just slipped Mr. Stark’s mind again. 

“So um, whatcha doing here Peter?” You say, begin to clean up your workstation to go home. Peter was just standing awkwardly behind you, trying to figure out what to say. He was also unaware that you didn’t know that he was Spiderman, he had figured Mr. Stark would have told you if you were the one working on his suits all this time. 

“Oh I was um- just leaving actually. Looks like you’re ready to go home, so I- Yeah I’m just gonna go.” He says quickly, turning on his heel to leave. At this point you were just ready to go home, so you shrug it off and say, “Nice meeting you, Peter. See ya.” 

He doesn’t say anything as he leaves. If he was being honest, he’s never been good at talking to pretty girls. Not to mention super awesome pretty intern girls who have been providing him his super awesome super suit. Probably too many “supers” but he didn’t care, he could barely even function in the same room as you. Not to mention he made a fool of himself earlier, but honestly you didn’t even seem to remember, which threw him off even more. And when you said “nice to meet you” it confused him, you two had met earlier that day. God, he had to get some fresh air. 

Peter made it outside and was cooling down from that super awkward and weird encounter, when he saw you pulling out of the car park in your car, singing along loudly to some Miley Cyrus song. He turns away, trying not to make it obvious that he was avoiding you. But you turned your head as you were looking for oncoming traffic, and you saw him. 

You don’t know why you did it, but you rolled your window down and yelled above the loud ass music, “Hey Peter! You waiting on a ride?” 

He was too caught off guard to lie, and to be fair he didn’t even like lying, so he shook his head and before he knew it, he was getting in your car. 

“Where are you heading?” You asked, turning the music down. He tries not to be as awkward as before as he says, “Queens, but it’s a far drive you really don’t have to-” 

“Oh I live there too! Don’t even worry about it,” you say, happy you could do something for the odd kid. He was a bit awkward, but in a cute sort of way. It almost made your stomach get butterflies at the thought of you of all people making him nervous. 

“Oh okay, thanks so much. I really appreciate it,” he says, then after a beat of intense silence with Miley wailing in the background, he decides to try and make conversation. “So how long have you been working for Mr. Stark?” 

“Since I was 16, so like 3 years. Most of it was being Ms. Potts’ assistant though,” you say, tapping your fingers to the beat. 

“Woah, wait so did you like graduate early?” He asks, now immensely intrigued. You give him the rundown of the past 6 years of your life, to which he’s very impressed and totally not thinking about how pretty you look in the dying sunlight. Totally would never do that. 

“But yeah, that’s me. What about you, how did you get involved with Mr. Stark?” You ask, glancing over at him slightly. You must say for a dork, he had some very nice features. 

“Very long story that includes him hitting on my aunt. Ugh,” he shivers at the memory, “And a trip to Germany.” 

That rings some bells in your head, but to be fair Mr. Stark is in Germany a lot so you don’t really question it. Like I said, you don’t connect dots very well unless it’s in the form of equations. 

You guys talk all the way to Peter’s apartment, you even give him your phone number if he ever needs a ride to the office. As Peter walks off, you both can’t help but wonder how weird the day has been. But as you drive off and turn up the radio, you put it out of your mind. Time to go home and relax. 

Only when you got home, you didn’t relax. Almost as soon as you step into your apartment, your phone lets out a little “cha-ching” noise, notifying you that someone just venmoed you. You completely forgot about Spidey owing you for your ice cream until you saw the little notification: Spidey paid you $10 with an ice cream emoji underneath. You smirk, then go back to fully entering your apartment. Only to hear your phone go off a few seconds later, another venmo notification, this time a comment left under the money he just paid you. 

I feel really bad about earlier. I figured I’d pay for both. 

You raise an eyebrow at your phone, smiling a little to yourself. He seems sweet. Sweeter than most guys you’ve run into in the middle of New York. And trust me, it’s happened more often than you’d like to admit. 

You type back. 

I really appreciate that Spiderdude. Love the profile pic;)

His profile picture was that one Spiderman meme with the three Spidermans pointing at each other. It made you giggle, at least he had a sense of humor. Most superheroes (*cough* Steve Rogers *cough*) didn’t. A few seconds later he sends another message. 

Next time I’ll get you three scoops:)

You smiled and decided that was a pretty good deal, three free ice creams? Sounds like a scam but you weren’t going to question it. You just put your phone down and decided it was time to have a nice warm bath and rock out to Taylor Swift. 

It was a while before you heard from both Peter or Spiderman, and you were still clueless to the fact that they were the same person. After a few weeks of that whole situation being off your mind, you were going into work on a late night call from Mr. Stark said that something urgent came up with the Spiderling and he wasn’t in town to take care of it. So, you jumped out of bed and rushed out still in your pajamas to the Stark Tower. 

You sped all the way there, the stars oddly bright for the city. You made note to go to the rooftop of your apartment whenever you were able to make it back. You always had a thing for the stars, having not grown up in New York. The city was beautiful, but you could truly say that you hated the nights there. No stars glittering overhead, cars and people being loud at all hours of the night. The only good thing you could say about the night in New York was all the food places that were open 24/7. (You tend to have a craving for Thai food at odd hours of the night.) 

Upon arriving at the Stark Tower, you ask F.R.I.D.A.Y what’s going on, and she directs you to your lab. You make your way up there, wondering what in the world this kid could be needing that’s so urgent. If it’s something stupid, dear god, help him. You would molly whop him into the next dimension. 

The lab doors upon a very beat up Spiderboy, who���s laid across your desk. Laying in a pile of blood. Okay, good enough reason, you supposed, immediately dropping all idea’s of punching the poor kid in the head. 

You rush up to him, taking in his half dead state of being. A giant would- no a hole would be a better way of putting it. Just a big hole in his side, with a lot of blood seeping out of it. You poke him, making sure he’s still breathing. He groans in response, it’s enough to get you moving. You had planned on this a long time ago, you created a device to regrow skin just for this occasion. You found it and within seconds, his wound began healing, though it might take a while for him to create enough blood to be able to even be able to sit up again. At that thought, you ordered F.R.I.D.A.Y. to get the building’s onsite medical team to get the kid. 

Once you were finished fixing his gaping hole, you poked him again, praying he was still alive. There was so much blood everywhere, but you tried to keep your Thai food down as you begged for him to wake up. 

“Come on kid, you can’t die on me. Mr. Stark would kill us both,” you say, starting to shake him now. You could see his chest moving up and down slightly, but he wasn’t waking up. You pleaded in your head for the med team to get there quickly, you didn’t know why you were so upset by this. Sure, it would be sad if the kid died, but you didn’t know him like that. You didn’t know him well enough to be crying over his dying body, begging him to just open his eyes or say something. Not that you could see them through the mask-

The mask. 

Your trembling hand goes to take it off, but the medical team rushes in just as you begin peeling it off, only exposing his neck. 

You step back as the med team begins working on him, you let them know that you healed him, but he needed blood. That was all you could say before they moved him onto the gurney and began taking him away, you called after, “Just wake up, Spidey, please!” 

That was the first thing that Peter remembers hearing, your voice. Lights were flashing overhead as he heard people saying things above him, though he couldn’t comprehend any of it. God, he was so dizzy. And why wasn’t his side hurting anymore? He started grabbing for his side, but the people around him stopped him from doing so. What was going on?

“You were bleeding out,” one of them says from above him, he’s starting to hear them more clearly now. Maybe his superhealing had finally set in. “No, Ms. y/l/n just saved your life. Now calm down, you’re going to be okay.” 

Peter didn’t realize he was just speaking his thoughts as they came to him, he also didn’t realize that you had decided to follow the medical team just to make sure he ended up okay. It’s not that you didn’t trust them, you just wanted to be sure. So much for looking at the stars, huh? 

Peter kept babbling as the medical team got him to their facility a few floors down, starting to connect tubes to give him more blood. One of them goes to take his mask off to check for any head wounds, but he stops them. He’s conscious enough to know that he knows none of these people, and none of these people need to know that he’s Peter Parker. 

“You’re Peter Parker?” You say, total confusion in your voice. Damn it, did he say that out loud? “Yes, you did, you idiot.” 

You get as close as you can without getting in the way of the people trying to help him. Once they were all done and he was getting the blood that he needed, you asked them to leave so you could talk to Peter. How did you not realize? He has a very distinctive voice, and obviously that’s why Mr. Stark brought him into your lab a few weeks ago. Seriously, not your best moment. 

“So you’re the infamous Spiderman?” You say, sitting on the edge of his cot. He peels his mask off and takes a breath of fresh air. 

“Wait,” it hits him that you didn’t know, what is going on? “You didn’t know?” 

“Nope,” you laugh, “I’m not really sure how I didn’t, especially after Mr. Stark brought you in there. I’m also not sure how he never mentioned that you were there person I’ve been making all this superhero stuff for. Must have slipped his mind.” Understatement of the century. 

“I thought you knew, that’s why I never really mentioned it. Also,” he smiles a little to himself, “I promised to get you ice cream next time I saw you. How about it?” 

You raise your eyebrow at him, “You’re in a cot getting blood poured into you.” 

“When I’m better?” 

“Sounds like a date.”

[cranberrv]

Hey boo, I was wondering if u could do hcs or a short story of Darry dating a girl that sings at a bar/diner and going there with the gang, and she sings and maybe works the counter? Or just Darry hcs or a story in general.

be my baby

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ ⋆ in which darry watches you sing (not proofread)

- the dingo was getting boring, so the gang decided to try out a local diner on the west-side

- darry was against it, there was a huge chance someone could get jumped and he didn’twant to deal with that

- but all that worry went away when he saw you

- you were on a small stage in the diner, singing “be my baby” by the ronnettes. the gang had conveniently come during a live music show

- the entire lunch, they all got weird looks, being greasers in a soc diner, but darry didn’t even care

- he never took himself as a “love at first sight” kind of guy, but there was just something about you..

- caring eyes and a calm aura was all he needed, and you had it

- maybe you recognized him from when he was friends with socs, because you gave him a small wave as you sung

- or maybe you were flirting.

- either way, he found himself unable to look away, like there was an invisible string connecting you two

- “ooohh, darry is down bad!” the gang teased when they noticed him

- “oh shut it, boys” he responded, adjusting himself to finally look away from you

- after you finished singing, you went back to your regular job working at the counter as another person began in the background

- they all finished eating and went to pay at the counter, where you were

- the boys shoved darry to the front to pay, and he glared, but did so

- “cash our credit?” you ask him

- “credit is fine,” he answers, scrambling for his wallet before tapping on the machine “um, you were really good, by the way” he adds

- you thank him and smile “do you like the ronnettes?” you ask him

- “they’re not bad.” he answers

- “i’ll tell you what,” you start. “i’ve got two tickets to the ronnettes for next month, and i’ve been looking for someone to go with. and i know who you are, you used to be friends with paul. you’re sweet. so do you want to come with me?”

- he’s not shocked you know him, a lot of people do. “i mean, i’ve got two kid-brothers i gotta look after…” he hesitates.

- sodapop groans. ”just go for it, darry!” he pats his back and turns to you. “he wants you bad, man, don’t start pitying him.”

- you smile at sodapop a bit then turn to darry. “it’s really fine if not, you’ve gotta take care of your family, i get it”

- oh my god, you’re patient too????? you’re perfect

- he’s silent, and ponyboy and sodapop are still insisting to darry that they’ll be fine without him for a night

- you speak again, “how about this: we don’t go to the concert, i’ll take a friend or somethin’, and we can hang out some other time. i think you’re cute, i don’t care what we do as long as we do something”

- gosh, you were confident. “yeah, alright, that sounds good.”

- he was tough to crack, a constant barrier is around him so he can protect himself in order to protect his brothers, and it may take a while to break

- but my god he is exciting to hang out with you!

- sodapop spends the next few days telling him how to treat a girl, and darry has just learned to tune him out

- long story short, you two spend some time at the park, just talking and bonding

- …and then you go out again

- and again

- and again

- and then he starts visiting you at the diner, especially on tuesdays, when it’s open-mic night

- he loves how you treat his brothers. you and sodapop bond over the fact that the ronnettes is both of your favourite band, and you’re so patient and kind and help him out with taking care of them

- darry loves his cute diner girlfriend!

[pipsipey17]

it's part of the job | chapter 2: poisson rouge.

ceo!dom!natasha romanoff x assistant!bot!fem!reader

series masterlist | main masterlist

chapter summary: a night at the bar with your cousin is something you needed to distract yourself, or is it?

chapter warnings: idk, jealousy?

previous chapter • next chapter

“I missed you.” Wanda said to Natasha after they broke the kiss, “You’ve been so busy these past few days, we don’t even get to go out anymore.” 

“Yeah well, the company won’t run itself you know?” Natasha said as she sat back down and started to work on her computer once again, leaving Wanda standing beside her. 

“You should take a break from work baby, you might overwork yourself.”

Natasha sighed deeply, they just made up this morning after fighting for what seems to be the third time this week but she really is busy, “I can’t, I still have a lot of things to do.” 

“I know that you’re busy, you always are, but can we please just go out for lunch or something?” Wanda asked her wife.

“I’m really sorry Wanda, but I really can’t.” Natasha replied which made Wanda huff out in annoyance, “You know what, fine. I’ve always been your second priority after all.” Wanda lastly said as she walked out of Natasha’s office and slammed the door shut. Natasha groaned and pinched the bridge of her nose trying to keep her composure.  

You were working on your desk when you suddenly saw your boss’ wife walking very quickly out of the room with a look that seemed to be like she’s angry but she was also about to cry. You sighed, realizing that they probably fought again, it wasn’t new to you though, almost everytime when Wanda would visit they would end up fighting. 

Your phone suddenly rang making you snap out of your deep thoughts, you looked at the caller ID and saw that it was your cousin Meg who was calling, “Hey Y/N! Wanna go to the bar later?” Meg immediately said when you picked up the phone. 

“Don’t you have final exams to study for?” You asked. 

“Yeah but I just finished studying for all of them and I decided that I could go for a drink before taking my exams you know?” 

You went silent for a few moments. You thought that you could use a drink or two, since it’s been a while since you last had one. You could also use a distraction from your attraction towards your married boss by flirting with other girls at the bar, “Alright, sure, I’d love to.” you replied which made Meg squeal in joy, “Great! I’ll see you later.” she said then she ended the call.

~~~

“Hey Meg!” you greeted as you saw your cousin rushing up to you and then hugging you. 

“Hi Y/n, ready to get wasted?” Meg said as she wiggled her eyebrows at you. 

“Hell yeah, but not so much, I have to go to work tomorrow since you won’t be able to.” You said.

Meg rolled her eyes and said, “You’re such a workaholic, can’t you at least have some fun tonight?” 

You sighed in defeat, “Fine, just don’t get too wasted, I'm not going to drag your ass back to your apartment.” you replied then Meg smiled at you, “Alright, let’s go.” 

A few moments later, you and Meg were hanging out by the bar since Meg thought that the bartender was kind of cute. The three of you continued to chat until you saw a familiar figure across the bar, red hair that was curled at the end (think of her hair in Civil War) plump lips, sharp yet somehow round jawline- oh no, it couldn’t be her right? You shook your head and looked at the same redhead who was now looking at you, you held eye contact for a good 5 seconds until you immediately looked away. 

It was definitely her.

You would steal a few glances every now and then and when you do, your eyes would meet hers everytime, like her eyes never leave your body even just for a second. It made you feel uneasy since she is your boss and you’re seeing her outside of work, but at the same time, it turned you on. 

“Do you know her?” her sister, Yelena asked as they were sitting at a soft chair while drinking some beer and champagne. 

Natasha asked her sister out to have a drink with her because she just wanted to loosen up a little from all the stress that she was having from her work and her broken marriage but also the feelings that she has for you that are buried deep down within her. 

Natasha drank from her glass, “W-what? Who?” she asked. 

“That chick over there by the bar, you have been staring at her for a good few minutes.” 

“N-no, I just thought she looked like someone I know.” Natasha lied to hopefully stop the topic at that. 

“Shame, cause if you did I would ask you to introduce me to her.” Yelena said which made Natasha grip her wine glass a bit tighter, feeling her jealousy starting to rise.  

Yelena cleared her throat after she finished her bottle of beer, “So, marriage problems again?” she asked and Natasha nodded in response then replied, “We have been fighting constantly these past few weeks.” 

“About what?” Yelena asked again. 

Natasha leaned back to her seat and sighed, “It’s just always been two things, it’s either we fight about how we don’t spend time together anymore or she accuses me of having an affair.” 

Yelena hummed in response, “But do you?” she asked hesitantly.

Natasha raised a brow at her sister, “Do I what?”

“Have an affair.” Yelena simply replied.

Natasha scoffed, “Of course not, Lena. I’m loyal to my wife through the ups and downs of our relationship and I love her.” She hesitantly said the last part because of her growing feelings for you. 

“Hey, care for a drink?” You suddenly heard a woman speak as you were busy scrolling through your phone. You made eye contact with the woman then looked at her from head to toe, she had brunette colored hair that was until her shoulders, brown eyes and a slender figure, she’s gorgeous but not as gorgeous as your boss- No, you shouldn’t be thinking of her right now, think of the woman in front of you. You shook your head trying to clear your thoughts of the redheaded woman. 

“Sure.” you replied to her then the woman ordered two shots of vodka, she handed you a shot glass then you clinked your shot glasses together and drank it.

“I’m Maria by the way, just in case you might scream it later.” she said with a wink.

“Oh, I wouldn’t be so sure about that,” You flirted back, “The name’s Y/n by the way since it might be you who will be screaming later.” You said to her with a smirk on your face. You honestly don’t know where your boldness came from but it could be from the alcohol.

Maria started caressing your thigh and said, “How about we test that theory now? I live nearby.” her lips were now close to your ear, “You might want to take care of your friend first, I’ll wait for you outside.” she lastly said then started to walk out of the club. 

Once Maria was out of sight, your eyes immediately searched for the redheaded woman but she was nowhere in sight, she must’ve headed home since there was work the next morning.

You faced Meg who looks a bit tipsy but not drunk she’s still busy flirting with the bartender so you nudged her arm making her look at you. “Hey, I gotta go, someone’s waiting for me.“ you said to her in a bit of a hurry. 

“Okay then, I’ll be staying here for a while longer.” Meg replied

“I should call you a cab-” The bartender suddenly chimed in, “Don’t worry about her, I can drive her home.”

As much as you wanted to trust the guy, your trust issues kicked in, “Why should I trust you?” You ask him. 

“You can trust me ma’am, in fact, I can give you my calling card if that’s what it takes for you to trust me.” The bartender replied then he handed you his calling card, “Sam Wilson, bodyguard and a part-time bartender.” you read out loud.

You eyed him head to toe, he does seem like a bodyguard because of his bodybuild and you just hope to God that he’s saying the truth, “Alright, Sam I trust you, not fully but you get the point. If something happens to my cousin you’re dead to me, got it?” you said to him threateningly. 

“Yes ma’am,” Sam simply replied, then you nodded and walked out of the club.

“Took you long enough.” Maria said to you the moment she saw you step out of the club, she was lightly seated on a black motorcycle which is probably hers 

“Sorry about that,” you said to her but then you felt eyes on you, it gave you chills but you ignored it.

Maria got onto her motorcycle then you followed suit, sitting behind her. Your arms were wrapped around her waist and speeded off. 

Little did you know, a certain redhead saw the whole scene unfold in front of her. Even back at the club when the woman approached you and got all flirty with you, she hated seeing it, it made her jealousy boil. But what made her jealous even more was when she saw you leave with the same woman who approached you at the bar. 

Natasha has to make her move sooner or later if she wants to claim you and she’s going to do whatever it takes for her to fully have you.

[mirisss]

Chapter 8

Wordcount ≈ 3.1k

Warnings: anxiety, exercising (dancing + warming up), self-doubt, self-hate, angst, reader being a bit mean to herself (thoughts), almost fainting, mentions of the possibility someone will hit reader, food, eating, mentions of past abuse against (Y/n), 

I apologize for the long wait for this chapter, I’ve been swamped during summer with work and I got my driver's license but now I’m back again! The wait became even longer as I got hit with writer's block. I still hope you enjoy this chapter! 

Taglist: @ayoo-bangtan​, @lose-lose07​, @kingcarrot-thecarrotking​, @starjane312​​, @reighlee-greaves​​, @hi-39024, @queenmea604​, @septicrebel​, @justayoungandwisefangirl​, @imasimplol​,  @k-p0p-4ever, @detectivedoodle​, hehe-24-hehe,  let me know if you wanna be added!

Please reblog!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 9, 

Italics are thoughts

(Y/n)’s POV

After we had finished eating, Seungmin and I regrouped with the others before, once again, splitting up as the members had some different schedules up until lunch. “Have you decided who you wanna go with for now, (Y/n)?” Changbin asked while we all began walking to the elevators. “Yeah, I decided to go with Danceracha up until lunch and after that, we’ll see,” “Yes! We got (Y/n)!” Felix exclaimed happily making some of the employees around us look at him with weird looks before they returned to what they did previously. “Alright, Changbin and I’s meeting should be over around 2 pm, maybe a little later. Do you think the rest of you will be ready for lunch by then or sooner or later?” “I can’t really say for us, it depends on how many changes we wanna do to the choreo and how long it takes us to learn it,” Minho answered Bang Chan, it sounded a bit complicated but I think seeing them dance will be a lot of fun. “Our vocal training with the coach is scheduled between 9.00 am to 1.30 pm, so we should be done by 2 unless we run over too but I don’t think we will as the coach is on a very strict schedule,” Seungmin said, he was apparently the one who had booked the training session so of course he was the one who knew all the details. “Mm, okay. Well, when the three of you are done with your vocal training, why don’t you stop by the dance studio and see how it’s going for Danceracha, if they seem to be running late, bring (Y/n) with you and meet up with us for lunch. Minho, Hyunjin, and Felix will just have to eat later unless the other choreographers want to eat too so you can take a break,” “Yeah, that sounds good to us, how about for you (Y/n)?” “Oh, yeah, that’s fine, Jinnie,” “Great, we’ll see you later. We have to go now or we’re gonna be late,” And with that, the group split up. 

Minho took my hand and led me into an elevator with Hyunjin and Felix following us. They guided me to a big room with an entire wall made up of mirrors, in one corner there was a small-ish black couch, and beside the couch, there was something that seemed like a computer - probably where they controlled what song played in the speakers. I looked around the room with awe, it had a somewhat cozy feeling as I turned back to the mirrors and saw how the three dancers were looking at me with love-filled eyes and sweet smiles. “Want to warm up with us, (Y/n)?” Hyunjin asked as Minho walked over to the computer and began typing away. “I don’t know how,” “That’s fine! We usually follow one another, today it’s Hyunjin’s turn to lead the warm-up so all you need to do is face the mirror and imitate Hyunjin’s movements, and if you struggle with anything you can ask any of us for help, but really all you need to do is try your best,” Felix said as he came over and put his hands gently on my shoulders before shaking me lightly to make me smile. “Okay, I’ll try!” “Great, let’s start then. In 30 minutes the choreographer is coming so we need to be ready by then. Jinnie the floor is yours,” Minho said, using a tone I was unfamiliar with, it was stern, leaving no room for arguments. 

Hyunjin faced the mirrors just like the rest of us, though he was standing a few steps in front of us, I stood beside Felix, watching Hyunjin’s reflection in the mirror carefully. “Have fun, (Y/n)!” “Hm!” I nodded my head before focusing on Hyunjin once again. Minho took out his phone and hit play and a second later music filled the room and Hyunjin began moving, with the rest of us following his lead. Minho and Felix had no problem keeping up but I struggled a bit, the other two probably knew what movements would follow one another, I, however, did not. But as I remembered what Felix said before we started I began calming down and stopped focusing on all the mistakes I made and rather focused on just having fun as I tried to keep up with Danceracha. After warming up for 15 minutes I was sweating like crazy and I was very tired, my vision was becoming a bit blurry, and my movements were slower. “Hey stop! (Y/n)’s about to faint,” Felix shouted alerting everyone, even myself, of my swaying body and my weak legs. Felix quickly stepped closer to me before he gently hooked his arm around my waist and helped me walk over to the couch in the corner of the room. Minho and Hyunjin went to get some water and towels. With just over 10 minutes left before they had to meet with the choreographer, and I was taking up their time. This is why no one likes you. This is why no one wants you. An angry, dark voice resonated inside my head. The voice made me shrink back into my shy and shut-off self, I couldn’t look at Felix, I knew he would be angry, I should have been able to do this, hybrids are supposed to be good at exercises, but I’m not. “Hey, (Y/n). Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Can you see me? Are your eyes okay?” His voice was silky smooth, deep, and warm, it was filled with worry and love. He doesn’t actually care. If you look at him you know he’ll hit you. “(Y/n), please, look up at me?” Run away, he doesn’t want you. They don’t want you. They hate you. You’re a waste of space. Felix gently put one of his hands on my chin and then lightly tilted it upward so my eyes would meet his, I froze as soon as my eyes met his. His eyes were full of worry, adoration, love, fright, and anxiety, no matter how hard I searched for any feeling of hatred, I could find nothing alike it. It’s all fake. “Are you okay?” “I, -” My voice cracked as I just noticed how dry my throat was both from the exhaustion but also from the anxiety the evil voice brought with it. I broke out in a small coughing fit as I tried to catch my breath. “It’s okay, look at me, you’re fine, (Y/n), I’m here. Minho-hyung will be back in a few seconds with some water for you,” As soon as Felix had said it, Minho came jogging back into the room with four water bottles in his hands, closely followed by Hyunjin who had some towels in his arms. “Here,” Minho said as he handed a water bottle to Felix who opened it before giving it to me. I gladly took it and gulped down half the bottle, soothing my sore throat. “Feeling better now?” Felix asked as he took the water bottle from me, closing it before taking a towel from Hyunjin’s arms. He unfolded it and carefully patted it against my forehead, wiping away my sweat. “ I’m sorry,” “Why are you sorry? (Y/n), you don’t have to apologize,”

“I ruin everything,” “(Y/n), I’m sorry but I’m going to raise my voice a bit right now. You don’t ruin everything. Anyone can faint when exercising, you don’t mean any less to us because of this, we are the ones to blame because we should have thought about the possibility of this happening. This is not your fault. It could just as likely have been me or any of the others who fainted. We all love you, so so so much, nothing would change that. Okay? Listen to me, WE LOVE YOU” I was startled as Felix raised his voice at me, he wasn’t screaming but he was speaking significantly louder than he ever had before around me. Usually, something like this would have me shivering and crying, yet with Felix my eyes were locked with his, I was frozen as I listened to his warm voice as I saw the tears escaping from his eyes. There was nothing but sincerity in his voice. Minho and Hyunjin had walked out of the room shortly before this to stop the choreographer from stepping inside before Felix and I had calmed down. I could hear their voices as they conversed outside the door, joined by an unfamiliar voice that I assumed belonged to the choreographer. “Please, (Y/n). Don’t put yourself down, we love you, I love you, so please, please love yourself, if not for your sake for ours,” I slowly moved my hand up to his face and wiped away the tears that had streaked his cheeks. “I’ll try, for you,” Felix enveloped me in a warm hug before he took a deep breath and calmed down from his crying.We sat there, our arms encircled around each other, as we were shaking from crying, sniffling, and trying to calm down from what just happened. “Please (Y/n), please believe me when I say that we love you,” I couldn’t answer him verbally so I opted to just give him a tighter squeeze before I let go of him and moved back a tiny bit. I shakily put my hand on his cheek and wiped away some of his tears with my thumb. Felix took a deep breath before wiping away my tears too. “I have to get ready now, we can’t keep the choreographer waiting any longer,” “I’ll just stay here so that you guys can focus,” “(Y/n), you wouldn’t be in the way,” “I know, but I still feel shaky, I don’t think I can stand up just yet,” “Are you sure you want to stay here then? You don’t want to go to some of the others?” “I’m sure, I want to see you and Minho and Hyunjin dance,” “Okay, bunny. Just let us know if you need anything,” “I promise,” “Good,” Felix gave me a kiss on my forehead before he stood up and walked over to the door to let Minho and Hyunjin back inside. 

15 minutes later and I finally stopped feeling nauseous and shaky. My eyes were locked solidly onto the way that Danceracha was moving. The smoothness, the precision, the look in their eyes, it was mesmerizing. “With this move, I would prefer if we could do it like this,” Minho said as he showed what he meant, the choreographer watched closely before discussing it further with Minho going back and forth until they reached a move they were both happy with. All three of them glanced back at me every now and then, when they saw that I was watching them they just smiled and looked away again. Soon a few hours had passed and it was time for lunch, to me though, it felt like only a few minutes had passed from the moment I shared with Felix, as we both cried, holding each other. “Come on, let’s meet up with the others,” Hyunjin said as he waved me over with a tired but happy smile on his lips. Danceracha looked exhausted, quite frankly they reeked of sweat but they had been dancing none stop for a few hours. “Weren’t Han, Seungmin, and Jeongin supposed to stop by when their training was over?” “Yeah, they should be coming any second, it’s only 1.35 pm. The vocal room they had booked is five floors above this one so it takes a few minutes to walk between them,” Felix answered as he tenderly took one of my hands into his before leading me to the door. After we had stepped outside my nose picked up the familiar scent of the youngest Stray Kid.

“Hyungs! (Y/n)! Hi!” “Ya, Innie, you’re not supposed to scream right after training,” Jeongin just turned and gave Seungmin a playful glare in return before he continued smiling and jogging in my direction. “Hi” I waved to the three of them. Seeing them run and smile, being so carefree and happy, it made me feel like maybe there is hope for me too, that one day I can be freed from all of my worries, from my past. As long as I stay with them, as long as I’m with my family I’ll be fine. No more being alone. No more darkness. “How was it? Watching dance practice?” Jisung asked once he too caught up with us. I looked at Danceracha, pondering over whether or not I should tell the others about my accident. “It was fun, I wish I could dance like them,” Minho looked at me, understanding my decision of not telling them yet, or I think he did because he began talking about something else as he began walking toward the elevators with the rest of us following. Seungmin walked beside Felix and me, he tenderly took my free hand into his as we were walking. It wasn’t until he did that that I realized just how cold my hands were, when Felix took my hand into his I didn’t think about the heat difference as Felix had just been dancing for a long time but Seungmin had not and his hand almost felt like it was on fire compared to mine. “Wow, did you take a trip to the North Pole? Your hands are so cold!” Seungmin proclaimed as he laughed. “Oh, I didn’t even think about it, holy, (Y/n), we need to get you some tea or some hot chocolate to warm you up,” As the two began fussing over me Minho looked back, surely after he heard them speak of my icy hands. His eyes spoke so loudly, as he stared into mine, he knew I was cold after the panic attack, even if I had calmed down and wasn’t crying anymore, my unconscious mind hadn’t let it go just yet, it had pretty much shut down.  “I’m sure she’ll be fine after she gets some food, we all need it so come on, let’s move it, Chan-hyung and Changbin are waiting for us by the cafeteria, their meeting ended a little earlier than they thought it would,” Chan had apparently texted Minho that info just now, I didn’t even notice him checking his phone. 

After arriving at the cafeteria we quickly found Chan and Changbin, they had taken a large table so we could all sit together this time. We ordered our food and then Minho told Chan, and the others, about what happened in the dance studio. Everyone looked worried but they were happy nothing worse happened. “Maybe it would be best for you (Y/n) if you went home to rest for the rest of the day. You’ve experienced a lot today and maybe we shouldn’t hurry this exposure too much or things like this will happen. We need to gradually expose you to our hectic schedules. If you want I can come home with you,” “What about the meetings?” “Changbin can handle them, the hardest one is finished already, the last one is just for the name of the album and we’ve never had a problem with those meetings before, besides Changbin has handled meetings like this alone other times too,” “I’m actually feeling quite worn out so maybe going home would be best,” “Uh, hyung, actually, I don’t think I can take this next meeting on my own,” “Huh? Why not?” “They changed the schedule, the album name meeting is tomorrow, and after lunch, we have the meeting regarding the music videos,” Bang Chan let out a loud sigh, he looked really annoyed, but I wasn’t scared of him, because I knew he wasn’t upset with me, and he isn’t like my previous owners, he wouldn’t hit me. “Ugh, why do they change the schedule every time? We always put it like this, then they change it only to switch back to OUR original schedule… ugh. Well, (Y/n), sorry that means I can’t take you home,” Chan looked at me, he looked disappointed. “It’s okay. I think I can just rest on the couch in the dance studio, don’t worry,” “I could take her home, we don’t have that much left to go over for the dances so the part I miss Minho-hyung and Lixie can teach me tomorrow,” “As long as it’s okay with Minho and Felix, it’s okay with me, you know I rarely but in regarding the dances, that’s Minho’s responsibility,” Chan said the last part as he chuckled because Minho gave him a fake annoyed glare. “Mm, take the bunny home, make sure she gets some rest,” “I will,” Hyunjin gave me a smile before we all continued eating our lunches. 

After we all had finished eating Hyunjin called their driver to come and pick the two of us up and drive us to the dorm. “Take care and rest well, (Y/n). We’ll see you tonight,” Jisung said as he gave me a warm and tight hug. “Change into the new pajamas we got for you, you know the one that was so warm and fluffy!” Jeongin said as he then reminded Hyunjin where it was. Everyone either hugged me before saying goodbye or just waved and smiled. Soon it was just Hyunjin and I, as we waited in the lobby for the driver to come. “He’s here, come on, (Y/n), we can go home and watch a movie and maybe draw some more,” “That -” YAWN “- sounds nice” “Haha, tired I see,” And so we got in the car, I barely sat down before my eyes were closing. The last thing I remember is hearing a low humming from Hyunjin as I rested my head against his shoulder before I fell into a deep sleep. 

~ To Be Continued ~

Please reblog! 

[stayatiny]

Red Hands ~ Chapter 1

Yandere!Idol!Jimin X fem!reader

Series warning(s) – murder, blood, violence, obsessive!jimin, eventual smut, More warnings will be added as the series continues

Chapter warning(s) – mentions of murder, dead bodies, a couple of swears, heavy make out session

A/N - Hi everyone so i decided to start a new series with Jimin if you like to be tagged please let me know ^^

“Three more bodies were pulled from the river. They were found with the words ‘She's Mine’ carved into their arms just like the previous seven victims. The police have been in contact with the police in Busan and therefore connecting another two victims. This brings the total to twelve. The local police are asking all citizens to be extremely careful especially young men. If you notice anything or anyone suspicious, please contact your local authorities.” My eyes widen looking at the screen of my phone. I was on lunch break in the cafeteria of my work. Two of the victims I knew, not personally, but knew of them. They worked with BTS as back up dancers. I took a deep breath, setting my phone down trying not to think about it. But it still played at the back of my mind along with them finding more victims in Busan, where I grew up. I finished my lunch before heading back to my office to edit some of BTS' vlogs that they’ve made. I was the head editor of the vlog videos. I just graduated a few months ago and picked up a job for an editing program here at HYBE. The pervious editor left due to personal reasons so that made me a head editor by default because it was only us two that worked on non-music video edits. I went to unlock the door before seeing Jimin coming around the corner. I smiled and giving a small wave. It did make it better that my best friend from middle school and on was here too. I wasn’t completely by myself.

“Hey pretty girl,” he says leaning against the door frame. I opened the door letting him follow me in.

“What are you doing here?” I pulled my grey cardigan off, placing it on the back of the little sofa I had in my office. He plopped down, throwing his arm on to the backrest. I spun my office chair to face him.

“I just finished dance practice for the duet song with Taeyang and then I thought that I would visit you.” I smile before pulling my legs into my chair with me.

“I was wondering when you were going to start practicing for that. Well, I have a little bit of work to do before I leave. You can stay if you want, it shouldn’t take that long.” Jimin grinned before leaning back. He closed his eyes, then taking a deep breath. His skin still had the glisten of sweat from him practicing so hard. I turned back to my desk and continued working on the subtitles for RM’s vlog and worked on the outros. Finally after working for about another hour, I got up from my chair to see Jimin silently sleeping. Seeing him a sleep like this made my heart hurt at times. He’s so cute…and quiet. I shook his arm gently trying not to accidentally startle him. He jerked awake.

“Oh, hey Jimin sorry to wake you like that. But I’m done for the day.” I straightened up, grabbing my sweater. He took a deep breath before getting up and stretching.

“Finally.” He jumped up and grabbed my purse for me while I shut everything off for the night. I smiled as he handed my almost like saddle bag to me. I yawned as we headed out the door.

“Tired? You can stay at my house tonight. I think I still have some of your clothes at my place.” I nodded, because I was really tired and since the killer’s been busy again I don’t like being by myself to much.

“I think I do too. I’m tired. I had a meeting early this morning. So, I’ll stay at your house tonight.” He smiled putting his arm around my shoulders. I put on my mask, and he put on his. I don’t like getting sick and it hides who Jimin is. We talk and walk down the street while he holds onto my hand. I’ve known him most of my life. He was always there and so supportive whether it was being at my college graduation, even with his busy schedule, or even telling me about the job here at HYBE. I have been in love with him before but I buried those feelings long ago. It’s time like these that my emotions remind me why I loved him to begin with.

“Do you want anything to eat before we get to the house. We could always order in too. I’ll pay this time since I Invited you to stay with me.”

“That’s fine with me. I don’t like being out and about to much since that serial killer has been on the loose. I don’t feel safe at home anymore and since my parents are back in America for the winter visiting family I can’t go and stay with them.” Jimin squeezed my hand just like my heart.

“I don’t think you’ll have to worry about the killer too much. I mean all of their victims are men, so I know you’re safe.” True even though that all the victims were men I still didn’t feel safe in my own apartment.

“Yeah, well that doesn’t mean much. You don’t know what the killer is thinking. They may like the look of a female victim.” He scoffed and held me close to him.

“I won’t let anyone hurt you, Y/N” My face warmed. He was always so sweet.

We made it back to my apartment. I put in the code, letting her in first. She kicked off her shoes and placed her bag on the island in the kitchen. I adored her. She plops on my couch pulling her feet into the seat with her. She pulled out her phone and turned on my tv. I did the same getting ready to order her something to eat.

“What do you want to eat?” She looked up before biting on her lip. I wish it were me biting…

“Um how about we make ramen here. I don’t want you to spend money on me because I decided to stay.” I sit next to her wrapping my arm around her shoulders. She gets closer to me probably for warmth. She’s always been cold natured.

“I don’t mind getting you food or making food for you.” Her face lights up.

“Thank you, Jiminnie.” I kiss her forehead before getting up and got to work on our ramen. She tries to help but I make her sit back on the couch.

“Here we go,” I say, placing her bowl on the coffee table, which she was already at. She grins and takes a few bites. I joined in while eating we were letting the tv play in the background. We talked but not much. I didn’t realize how hungry I was until I started to eat. I couldn’t say the last time I ate so much.

“Here I can help with dishes.” I let her wash and dry the dishes while I took out the trash. I walk back into living room watching her in my kitchen made my heart flutter. I want her to be mine. All mine.

“Hey Jimin, I cleaned up the kitchen to while I was at it.” I huffed.

“You didn’t have too Y/N. I could have helped.” She sat down with me again. I want to kiss her so bad. I needed it.

“I know that you are tired, so I wanted to help you. I’m your best friend I’m always gonna be there for you.”

“Thank you, Y/N.” We stared at each other for a while. There was a shift between us. She bit her lip looking down at the floor for a little bit. I grabbed her gently by the back of her neck. Her cheeks turned light pink. My heart hammering even harder.

“Jimin?” I kissed her. I feel sparks ignite. Her hands pressed firm against my chest as she kissed me back. Y/N wrapped her arms around my neck, pressing her body into me. I grab her waist, pulling her into my lap. She whines as her hips press into mine. She lets my tongue slip into her mouth. I love the fight she gave me. Fuck I’m getting hard. She pulls away from me. My cheeks were flushed like hers too. She pressed her forehead to mine, closing her eyes.

“But-,” she whispers. I kiss her again, my hand pushing her even further into me. I bring myself to stop.

“I love you,” I whisper. She hugs me tight letting her body relax against me. I kiss the side of her temple, breathing slowly.

“Since when, Y/N?” She leans up then runs her hands through my hair on the back of my head.

“I think I’ve always liked you, but I swallowed my feelings for you since you debuted.” My chest tightened at the fact that she was hurting. She frowned like she was still feeling that heartache. I kissed her again.

“You’re mine now so don’t worry about anything.” She smiled and laid her head back on my shoulder, burying her head into my neck. I put my legs onto the couch and relaxing until I started to get drowsy. I stirred a little bit hoping not waking up Y/N. I was thinking about the events that transpired between us until the thought crossed my mind.

Shit did I hide that knife…

[dilf-din]

Suddenly

Chapter 2: Summer

Din Djarin x Florist!Reader

WC: 2850

Warnings: absolutely none, all fluff and domestic cuteness, no use of y/n but reader does have a nickname and is female presenting

A/N: I had so much fun with this one! Same as last time, this one is inspired by Venus by Sleeping at Last. Enjoy my loves 💖

Chapter 3

At first, I thought you were a constellation

I made a map of your stars, then I had a revelation

You're as beautiful as endless

You're the universe I'm helpless in

Soon after your arrival in town, Din took Grogu on another long bounty hunting trip. They packed what little they could fit in the N-1 and took off, Grogu now being his official apprentice and needing to learn the tricks of the trade. You were exceptionally busy during that time. The novelty of being a new shop filled your days with Nevarran people asking you rapid fire questions only sometimes about gardening, most of them were about your personal life. You didn’t mind the nosy old ladies though, it helped you feel like you were becoming a part of their community. Still, as busy as you were, your mind wandered to Mando and Grogu every now and again, wondering if they were safe on their travels. You didn’t even know they had left, you found out from Greef Karga one day when he came to check in on you. Your feelings weren’t hurt, you had only had one conversation, it’s not like they owed you a goodbye. Still, you looked forward to seeing them stroll through your door again.

Your greenhouse had been a revolutionary addition to the markets of Nevarro. The glass dome behind your shop had been carefully designed to support plants from different planets and biomes. The local vendors buying produce from you in bulk to add to their street foods or sell whole to hungry market goers. A lot of your time was spent tending to the small indoor fields that lay in the expansive room behind your shop. You decided you would need to hire some help soon, so one particularly busy morning after your quick lunch break, you stuck a help wanted sign in the front window, hoping to attract someone unafraid of getting their hands dirty.

Summer brought longer stretches of daylight, people staying out later than they had in the spring. You didn’t mind the extra foot traffic, there was no one waiting for you at home after all besides a pile of boxes temporarily housing your life. Tonight in particular though, you were exhausted. When the sun began to disappear beyond the lava plains, you reached for a broom to sweep up the stray stems and petals littering the floor. It wasn’t until you slowed for a second that you started to feel the ache in your bones from being on your feet all day. A heavy sigh left your lips when you heard the bell to the front door tinkle.

“We’re closed for the evening,” you called.

“Sorry, we can go,” a modulated voice called back to you.

“Wait!” You came around the corner to see Mando and Grogu standing in the entranceway.

“You guys can stay, I’m just cleaning up,” you smiled. “I’m glad to see you made it back safely.”

“I always do,” he said coolly.

You leaned down to greet Grogu, “Did you learn so much from your dad?”

He squealed and babbled out a response drawing a chuckle from Mando’s lips.

“Have you eaten?” he asked, lending you a hand to pull yourself up from your squat.

“Not yet, I’ve still got to finish sweeping up and locking up the register.”

“Here,” Mando said, reaching into his beat up brown satchel to retrieve a lidded container and a hunk of bread wrapped in a white, linen napkin. “I made some soup. The kid and I ate already. I noticed you were still here when I dropped our pucks off at Karga’s office. Eat, I’ll sweep up.”

“Thank you, Mando, that’s very kind of you,” you smiled taking a seat on the stool that sat tucked behind the counter. The lid popped off of the metal container with a hiss revealing a thick stew full of earthy spices. The smell made your mouth water. You wasted no time ripping off a piece of the bread to dip into the steaming liquid.

“It’s Din. My name is Din,” he said casually.

You couldn’t help but be perplexed by the man who stood in front of you. A wall of beskar decked out in weapons tending to a little child and sweeping your floors with a pink plastic broom. You knew as well as anyone that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, but still, he surprised you. The sound of the bristles across the tile floor followed by the pats of Grogu’s tiny feet shadowing his dad filled the otherwise comfortable silence. You were scraping the last bits of meat and broth out when Din emptied one final pile of leaves and dirt into the trash container.

“This is full, can I empty it for you? The dumpster is out back, right?”

“Din you don’t have to—“

“I know, I want to.”

You couldn’t see his face, but you could hear the smile playing on his lips as he spoke. When he left your shop the last time, you had looked up Mandalorian culture on your holopad before going to bed that evening. You remembered learning about them briefly in your studies, but they were a kind of traveler you didn’t see very often on Naboo. You learned of the fall of Mandalore, the different factions deducing that he must be a child of the watch who adhered to the creed. Realizing in that moment that you probably never see his face. It was a little sad to come to terms with, but you would never ask someone to contradict part of themselves to bend to what you wanted. You hoped he had people in his life that respected that part of him.

“Okay,” you said softly, “it’s out the right door of the greenhouse right through there,” you pointed.

He hefted up the heavy can with ease and disappeared through the greenhouse entrance. You took the time to finish counting down the register and slipping the money into the small safe below the counter for the evening. He returned a few minutes later, Grogu tucked into his arm.

“We took a look around, I hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all,” you smiled.

“When did your interest in plants start if you don’t mind my asking?”

You smiled wistfully, “When I was a little girl, my grandmother lived in the country in a beautiful stone cottage absolutely covered in flowers, most of them taller than me. I used to read there, tried to be still so butterflies would light on me. They almost never did, but they flocked to her. Anyway, I asked her to teach me and I tended her garden with her until she passed. When she finally did, I took that as my cue to go, find my own footing somewhere.”

“I take it that was recently then?”

“Just a few months,” you smiled sadly. “Anyway, I’m done in here, I don’t mean to keep you prattling on about butterflies.”

“I don’t mind, and you’re not keeping me. I wanted to walk you home if that was okay?”

Grogu was leaning hard against Din’s chest rubbing sleep out of his eyes with his little hands.

“I don’t want to keep you,” you nodded down at the child.

Din carefully settled him into the satchel that hung at his side. He folded the cloth your bread had been wrapped in and tucked it behind his head like a little pillow.

“He’s slept through worse,” he said softly rocking back and forth to create a gentle motion. The small action wedging its way into your heart.

You grabbed the empty soup container and tucked it into your own pack before grabbing your keys.

“I’ll wash this and bring it back to the shop tomorrow.” He started to protest and you held up your hand, “You cooked, let me do dishes,” you smiled. Din nodded as if to agree in the fairness of the arrangement.

You switched the lights off and Din held the door open for you to step out first. You murmured a “thank you” while you locked the door, giving it a good tug just to be sure.

“Karga said you were staying at the inn for the time being?” his feet falling into step with yours as you rounded the corner of the square.

“Yes, until the renovations are done in the space above the shop. Still a few plumbing issues to be sorted out. It’s hard to find people who know what to do with water on a planet made of lava,” you joked.

Neither of you acknowledged the crawling pace you were walking at, enjoying the other’s company too much to think about going to your own spaces and spending another night alone. The summer air was heavy with a dry heat. The sound of your footfall on the grey stones fell away to hushed steps on a dusty path as you crossed over into the old part of town. On the side of nearly every clay structure hung an old lantern flickering with a soft orange light, as if dusk had come down and planted a gentle kiss on her way to bed. The blush of intimacy coloring the streets as the moon and stars took their place in the sky above.

“You were one of six kids?” he asked almost incredulously.

“Mmhmm, I was right in the middle too, lost in the shuffle. Did you have any siblings?”

“Kind of,” he hesitated, “My story isn’t like a lot of others.”

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to,” you reassured softly, your hand resting on his forearm for a split second. The low heat of your touch causing his heartbeat to quicken.

You reached the entrance of the inn much quicker than either of you would have hoped.

“Thank you for everything, it’s nice to feel looked after.”

“I know what it’s like to be alone,” you both allowed a beat of silence before he continued, “I’ll stop by tomorrow to pick up some plants. I want to get started on our front yard.”

You smiled, “I would be more than happy to help you with that.”

“This looks nice on you,” he said so softly you almost missed it, his hand reached up to tug one of the hanging ends of the scarf he had given you. The smell of leather hitting your nose, the back of his hand just grazing your cheek. Until this moment you had forgotten you had it on. You had been using it as a bandana to tie your hair out of your eyes while you worked.

“You have good taste,” you smiled up at the dark visor before you.

He slowly pulled his hand back and you ached for another small touch.

“Well, I’ll let you get going,” you said, deciding you had kept him long enough.

“Good night, Milla,” he said retreating back down the dimly lit path.

“Good night, Din,” you almost whispered to yourself.

The sound of his name on your lips was enough to drive him mad. He had never been one to get caught up so quickly. Usually his better judgement sat at the steering wheel reminding him that his life was not one for a partner. But things had changed. He had a stable home now, a steady income, a future. As his boots kicked up small clouds of dust on his way back to the speeder bike parked on the edge of town, he wondered where you fit into the whole picture.

Making your way into the quiet building, you bade good evening to the innkeeper. She smiled at you over a book and gave a small wave as you made your way up the steep staircase to the top floor. The door latched in place as you kicked off your shoes. You hung your bag on the back of the chair that sat at the makeshift clay desk hanging off the wall in the corner, deciding a hot shower and a cup of tea before bed would help your aching muscles relax.

Looking in the ‘fresher mirror, a smile fell on your face as you admired the scarf again. A translucent black fabric adorned with silver stars. You untied it carefully and placed it on the small shelf that sat between the mirror and the sink. You liked having a piece of him with you, carrying it through the mundanity you were subjected to while he was off on his adventures. You found yourself caught in a place of longing for stability and freedom. Something about the mandalorian made you feel like he could give you both.

Sunrise came too quickly. The ache from yesterday’s work day now replaced with a stiffness from the thin mattress you were trying (but failing) to be thankful for.

You drew the blinds to allow the pink light to filter in and turned on the single cup caf maker that had come with your room. Most of your wardrobe was packed away still so you drew from a small pile of comfortable clothes, settling on a light blue, sleeveless tunic and khaki linen overalls. The big pockets easily held your shears and gloves. You stepped in the ‘fresher to straighten out your hair and grab your new favorite accessory. Today you tied it around your neck in a simple knot.

A simple breakfast of fruit and yogurt and a to-go cup of caf would have to do today. One of your vendors was scheduled to be there before open to unload a new shipment of pots. With a carefully packed bag and a full mug, you made your way out the door and down the steps as quietly as you could. No one was even at the front desk yet this early in the morning. The walk to your shop took much less time without your conversation partner to make your steps drag. The morning air was still holding onto a chill from the sun’s absence, sending goosebumps dancing down your arms as you let yourself into the storefront. The little stool behind your counter had become a home away from home. Spread out before you was your breakfast, planner, and holopad. You had your delivery schedule pulled up and we’re cross referencing your inventory taking lazy bites of yogurt in between check marks and highlights.

You’re not sure when it happened, but you started to doze off. You awoke some time later to the sound of the bell ringing out as the door swung open. You shot up from where you had slumped over the counter and quickly wiped the sleep from your eyes.

“Dal? Is that you?”

“Nope, sorry,” you heard Din’s voice respond as your eyes adjusted to the light.

Eyes flying to the clock, you cursed under your breath. “He never showed. I could’ve slept in today.” You groaned and leaned onto the counter again.

“Rough night?”

“Rough mattress,” you grumbled before righting yourself once more. “Sorry, you’re here for flowers aren’t you.”

Grogu hopped up onto the counter and cooed at you as he reached for a leftover piece of fruit you had in your container as if to ask for permission.

“Of course buddy,” you smiled softly, rubbing his head lovingly.

“You don’t have to apologize, cyar’ika,” Din said softly.

You cocked your head, “Was that mando’a?”

Din nodded.

“It’s pretty.”

“I wanted to get some flowering shrubs to plant out front. I was hoping you had something like that?”

“We’ve got a few options,” you smiled leading him into the greenhouse leaving Grogu to keep snacking on fruit.

“Thank you again,” Din said handing you the credits in exchange for the plants and fertilizer he had purchased. “I’ve got to go ahead and get these in the ground, we’re heading out again tomorrow.”

“Oh,” you said, trying to mask the disappointment your voice. “Well, these will need to be watered, I can stop by and check on them until you get back.”

“Thank you, that’s very kind. I’d hate to kill them immediately, I don’t have the greenest thumb.”

Your mouth turned up in a smile.

“Are you sure?”

He turned his head in confusion.

“Well you are his dad,” you said gesturing at Grogu.

“No. I’m not. He’s adopted,” he stammered, “But judging by your laughter I’m assuming you knew that.”

“Just a joke,” you smiled, your hand lighting on his forearm to give a small squeeze. “How long will you be gone?”

“Just a few days, Karga has a time sensitive puck but it’s only a few planets over.”

“Good, I worry when you’re gone too long. Well, you better get to digging. See you around stranger.”

He took your hand in his for just a moment, letting his gaze linger.

“See you around, cyar’ika.”

“You gonna tell me what that means?”

“Not yet,” he mounted his speeder and gave a small wave before disappearing down the grey street.

Mando’a translations

Cyar’ika: sweetheart

Taglist: @harriedandharassed

[greazyfloz]

Bend Til We Break

Chapter 2

Chapter 1

“Y/n?”

I’m staring back at the last person I want to see. He left me, he left without saying goodbye, without keeping in touch, without having the decency to break up with me, and now he is standing in front of me calling my name. 

I can’t help but stare at his matured face. He his hair out so it was a bit longer, and can grow even facial hair. I begin to mesmerize what use to be mine look so different. Just looking at him brings back many memories that I can’t think about right now, no, not in front of him, not before work.

“Excuse me” I say, pushing past him making my way to my car. As I approach my car I hear footsteps hitting the pavement fast behind me.

“Y/n, wait” I hear Quinn yell out behind me, “please”. I am now standing beside my car door when I decide to turn and face him. 

“What?”

“Hear me out” he says making me look at him in disbelief, “I messed up, I’m sorr-”

“No Quinn. I don’t want to hear it. If we didn’t bump into each other, you would have never of told me this. So I’m not going to let you finish”

“Y/n, I just wanted to apologize and explain myself”

“It’s too late. I’ve been waiting for that for 4 years, but I don’t care anymore” I say opening my door and shutting it behind me. I start my car and drive away leaving Quinn on the side of the busy downtown Vancouver street.

When I get to the office and get all settled in, I get an Ig message from Quinn. I roll my eyes before opening it. 

_quinnhughes: Can we please talk?

I ignore the message and put my phone away. I continue to do my work until lunch time. I pull my phone out as I make my way to the ground floor to go for a walk outside like I usually do. As I walk around I debate replying to Quinn’s message. A part of me really wants to know why he left the way he did, but part of me just wants to move on. 

I make my way back to my building when I see him, standing outside the my building hands in his coat pocket. I make my way closer to the doors but instead of avoiding him, I approached him.

“Are you stalking me now?” I say sarcastically

“No- I uh- I saw the parking pass on your car earlier and recognized the lot” he explained

“So you thought you scope out the area?” I say rolling my eyes turning towards the door

“Y/n please” he says following me. This is a different Quinn than I’ve ever seen before.

“What Quinn, I have to work”

“What is your number?” I roll my eyes

“The same one you’ve always had” I say before walking away. 

I didn’t hear from Quinn again until 9pm when I got a text from a random number.

(###) ###-####: Hi, it’s Quinn

(###) ###-####: Was hoping we could sit down and get a coffee or something 

Y/n: Fine, tomorrow at 10am

(###) ###-####: I’ll pick you up

I hum and haw about giving him my address before giving in and texting him my address before going to bed.

In the morning I get ready and my phone buzzes at 9:52. I turn my phone around to see a text from Quinn saying he is here so I make my way down stairs. When I get outside I see Quinn leaning against the side of his jeep and opening the door for me once he sees me. 

“Thanks” I say hopping in the car.

He goes around and gets in on the drivers side before driving away. He drives to one of the outskirt cities starbucks and we go in together. He tells me to sit and that he remembers my order if it is still the same, I nod and pick a place to sit. 

He comes back and sits at the closest chair beside me, handing me my cup then taking a sip of his. “How have you been?” he says

“Better now”

“Look, I didn’t know what to do. Once I was here I knew it wouldn’t have worked out. The distance was just too much, saying and doing are just two different things”

“So when you told me you loved me it was a lie?” 

“No” he says reaching for my hand but I pull it away, “I still love you, and I always will”

“You left me” I said in a hurt tone

“I had to”

“Quinn” I say looking down at my coffee cup, “You didn’t even break up with me, you just ghosted me”

“I didn’t want to end it” Quinn starts, “I’m sorry”

“You should have”

“Can we atleast be friends?” he asks and let out a deep breath, “please”

“Fine, okay”

We continued talking and catching up until it felt comfortable again. We talk about funny memories and how our family is doing. He told me his parents are coming to Vancouver soon and they would love to see me. I nodded and said I’d love to see them too. After about two hours of catching up Quinn’s phone buzzed and he checked it quickly before saying it's his GM and he needs to go to the arena. He dropped me off on his way in and told me he’d text me. 

As the days go by Quinn and I become closer and closer to soon feeling like the 4 years feel shorter than they were.

[colourstreakgryffin]

Hello! It’s the Kanao anon again. I know I’ll said I’ll wait for a bit, but my mind is super fixated on the wonderful way you wrote. This will probably my last request for a bit as I’ll be busy, but can you please do a continuation of Kanao x Jealous Male Reader, with maybe the Reader/Dokusha telling Kanao of their feelings and just how much she meant to them? Thank you, and please take your time!

Oooh! Okay, I can definitely try this and I know exactly how to end it! It’ll be perfect! Thank you for the Kanao ask, it was nice to write for solo Kanao

Tsuyuri Kanao- Feeling Flop

“Hey… Tsuyuri, can I tell you something?” You spoke softly, effectively breaking the slight uncomfortable silence built up as that single request had Kanao turning around and tilting her head in curiosity. Huh? What do you want to tell her? She isn’t the best when it comes to keeping secrets or talking about problems? Sure, she really does care for you and your health but if something is wrong, she doesn’t feel like she is good enough to be relied on

However, she could never reject you in any sense. You mean so much to her so she lets out a instinctive soft yet beautiful smile and averted her body from the side to facing you, to show you that she is paying all her focus onto you. You two were eating lunch together in a patient wait for the other three slayers, Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke to be finished with their vigorous training

Even if Tanjiro was a nice boy and you wouldn’t doubt that he has much likability, you couldn’t stand him and you were beyond jealous of him. He won your longterm crush, Kanao over like that with no issue whilst you had been trying to catch her attention from the very beginning. Weren’t you kind enough? What did Tanjiro have? Are you really not that good enough as a man or as a boyfriend?

“Yes, Dokusha?” Kanao smiled gently, shuffling the bento off her lap so she could better pay attention to you. Taking a deep breath to stabilise your rapidly beating heart, a half of you couldn’t believe you were about to actually admit how much you like him, how much she means to you and how long you have been hiding everything for. Kanao was rather nervous, what were you going to say to her?

Were you done with being her friend now… she seriously hoped that wasn’t the case as after a few more seconds, you finally begun to speak

“I… I really like you, Kanao”

… What?!

Kanao’s gorgeous pastel purples widened in shock at you as her hands clutched together to try suppress her amazement, she could tell exactly what you meant without you needing to describe it. Love, you love her?! Is she hearing things? This must be some weird joke or prank!

“Like… more than as a friend. I’ve liked you ever since we met… ever since we’ve been training together under Ms. Kocho. You may think you don’t have any personality but you do, you’re compassionate, you’re protective, you want all of us to be safe. You’re a wonderful person and… I can’t help myself. I love you, Tsuyuri Kanao, I want you to know that…”

Your cheeks were burning with flustered rosy red as you kept fiddling with your thumbs. Finally getting this piece of truth off your shoulders was like being able to kick off such a heavy weight from your chest. The light-hearted, light-headed feeling was like heaven. You knew you may have messed up your years of friendship with her but you were willing to adapt

Anything to be able to stay in her life as you gazed at her with hopeful, curious eyes. Your gaze made her feel even more prickly. Not a good prickly, she didn’t know what this feeling was but she didn’t want to feel it. Was it rejection? She did like you, you’re amazing but… she also likes Tanjiro… and a lot. She just kept looking at you with slightly parted lips, her brain skipping over repetitively to try come up with something

Shit… what does she say? She doesn’t know, she doesn’t know how to answer. Should she flip a coin to decide?

[she-karev]

Mother's Day (Jolex Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Three

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Canon Episode: In Between Season 18 Episode 16 and 17

Ship: Alex and Jo

AN: Happy Mother’s Day guys! I decided to write chapters to celebrate this occasion where we say thanks to the mothers that raised us and put our well-being above their own.

Summary: Alex and Andrew try to put together a toy for Luna that proves to be impossible with the nonsensical instructions causing them to start to break down. Meanwhile Jo talks to her pregnant sister in law, Amber.

Words: 3760

May 12, 2022

Jo stands in front of the surgical board writing down Jo Karev for a lap appy in O.R. 3 this morning. Alex walks down the hall surprised to see her in her navy-blue scrubs instead of her pale pink ones that she got after she decided to switch from general surgery to OBGYN. He remembers when she decided on this change two years ago during the pandemic. She told him she needed to bring joy back to her life and knew that switching specialties was the way to do it. He was shocked at first but eventually he supported her decision even bragging about how he was married to a soon to be double board-certified surgeon. Now seeing her in navy blue scrubs feels wrong somehow maybe it’s because he got used to the pink scrubs. He approaches her.

“Hey.”

Jo finishes writing her name, “Hey I can’t make it for lunch today I have a surgery that’s gonna run till 1 in the afternoon and then I have a partial colectomy after so I won’t clock out till 8. Are you good eating alone and taking Luna home without me?”

“Yeah, sure but first I want to know when you decided to switch back to surgery? I mean don’t get me wrong, pink, baby blue, dark blue you look good in all of those scrubs it’s just hard to keep track of what stage you’re in right now.”

“Well right now I am part general surgeon and part OB. Bailey guilted me into returning to the O.R. because the hospital is falling apart and more surgeries are getting cancelled by the minute. Even with DeLuca helping out there’s still at least 4 patients waiting and without any residents to assist we’re in the trenches.”

“Yeah, times are dark. Okay if it gets to be too much you know where to find me. And if Bailey tries to guilt trip me, I’ll just remind her that you got into OB so you wouldn’t fall into a depressive state during the pandemic and working you to death is gonna risk that again.”

Jo looks at Alex touched, “You would stand up to the chief for me?”

“I would stand up to God himself if I thought you or Luna needed my help. Not that she doesn’t need it with a fierce and kind mama like you.” Alex grins as does Jo who groans when she remembers something.

“I gotta assemble that baby stroller thing that I got yesterday so Luna can start walking. Maybe if I start tonight, I can finish it by the morning.”

Alex looks at his watch, “I get out early today maybe I can take Luna and assemble it before you get home.”

Jo widens her eyes at that, “Are you sure? I can assemble it another day it’s no trouble at all.”

“Don’t be silly it can help Luna walk and it’s just a toy for a baby its not exactly rocket science.”

“Yeah, but it feels like it is and unlike you I’ve done this before. Trust me when I say it’s gonna feel impossible.”

Alex grins amused and rubs Jo’s arms, “It’s gonna be great. You can think of it as a Mother’s Day gift along with the cake and velvet boxed jewelry I got you.”

Jo looks shocked at the date, “Wait its Mother’s Day? How did I miss that?”

“Maybe because we’re busy and we can barely remember our birthdays and anniversaries let alone a day dedicated to good moms. But needless to say, I remembered and feel like giving you a day of cherishing along with our daughter.”

Jo smiles at that, “Well when you put it like that how can I refuse? Okay the box is in the nursery you can find the instructions inside along with a Xanax in case you get stressed by how difficult it is.”

“Jo, I operate on kids for a living trust me some baby toy is not gonna beat me. It’s gonna look great by the time you get home and Luna will be walking in style.” He kisses her and leaves her to grin at herself hoping that Alex’s cockiness will be warranted.

3 PM

Alex enters the house carrying Luna in his arms along with her diaper bag. He exhales in the relief of comfort at his house before heading upstairs to the yellow nursery where he sees a V Tech sit to stand learning walker for girls with the colorful toy pictured all over the large box. A baby is walking holding the stroller so it can advertise its usefulness in developing child mobility.

Alex kneels down next to the box still holding Luna, “You know when me and your auntie Amber were learning to walk, we just held on to table ends and tried not to fall. We didn’t have toys or contraptions that made it fun for us. So, we’re gonna do it differently with you Little Moon, new baby, new tradition. Let’s do this kid.”

He puts Luna in her sit up floor seat so she can be across from him while he opens the box and takes the disassembled parts out piece by piece. He took out the instructions inside the box and saw that they were in Chinese. He flipped to the English section and saw from the diagram that the first step is to insert the easy to grip handle.

He reads the instructions, “Okay first step is…” The instructions might as well be in Chinese because he can’t make out what it’s trying to tell him, “Insert to parts for assemble which toy can have immediately.” He is taken back by this strange instruction and looks at Luna, “Can you make out what that means?” Luna’s only response was a raspberry to his amusement, “Okay it’s fine we got this, we are both smart and capable people who can put together a simple toy for you to walk with. It’s easy as pie.”

Meanwhile

Jo is at the beginning stages of a partial colectomy with her sister-in-law Amber DeLuca nee Karev assisting. She decided to let her sister assist her in her surgeries since she needs to learn as a resident even with all the residency program on probation. She feels bad for Amber knowing it isn’t what she signed up for when she first joined but she doesn’t show it because she knows Amber wants to hang tough and not show weakness. She mentally snorts at the similarities between her and Alex since it’s what Alex would do too.

As sad as Amber is in her work life, she’s making up for it with the joy in her personal life when she told them that she and DeLuca were pregnant back in March. Jo knew that she and DeLuca decided to try to have a baby and gave them her full support already embracing being an aunt and Luna having a cousin. It’s the kind of family she wished she had growing up and is grateful for Luna never having to know what that feels like.

“How’s the morning sickness?”

“It’s mostly gone. It only comes up after I eat a bagel with strawberry cream cheese so I cut that off.”

Jo sees the colon and keeps talking as she cuts, “Have you guys already started preparing for the baby when it comes?”

“We’re just going along with it as it goes. I want to know the sex first and then paint the nursery, I know there is neutral colors but I don’t want my baby’s room to look like vomit or a crab condiment. God knows there’s gonna be enough fluids as it is.”

Jo groans in disgust, “I know, how can so many disgusting things come out of something so cute and so small? It’s why I bought a diaper genie; I just wish it came with a maid to do the diapers and clean up the spit-up.”

“You’re really winning me over on motherhood.” Amber retorts sarcastically.

“But it’s all worth it.” Jo states with a smile behind her mask, “To have this small and wonderful person and claim her as your own it’s a new kind of love that takes you over and…makes you see life in a whole new way. Don’t worry your gonna do great and so is your man. And in case you need practice you guys can hijack Luna whenever you want. Preferably Friday nights so I can have sex with my hot, cranky husband.”

“Ugh can you not talk about that, that’s my brother and I’m afraid my morning sickness is gonna come back.”

Jo chuckles, “Sorry you know Luna is really excited about having a cousin. She even clapped when I read Forever Cousins the other night for bedtime.”

Amber grins, “Aww that’s sweet, it’s gonna be kind of cool, isn’t it? Us raising our kids together at the same time.”

“It does sound cool; I’m already seeing us having barbeque on the weekends with the guys grilling and us just sitting back and drinking cheap wine while the kids are playing on the swing set in the back.”

“Jo by then swing sets will probably be dead and our kids will play with virtual reality goggles or whatever technology is gonna take them away from precious family time.”

Jo starts dissecting the colon, “Well you get my point I’m just really excited. I used to think I would never get those sitcom families that fight and make up in the end with the audience cheering in the background. And now here I am a mom and a soon to be aunt, I’m probably gonna compete with Carina over who’s the favorite but I will welcome it.”

Amber chuckles, “It would be nice to see that and if we have a girl, you guys can hand us some of Luna’s old clothes and recommend toys for us.”

“Well hopefully one is being assembled as we speak. I got Luna this walking toy that’s supposed to encourage babies to take their first steps. I was gonna assemble it after work but then Bailey asked me to operate so Alex offered to do it instead. He said it was a Mother’s Day gift along with the cake I saw in the fridge this morning.”

“That’s nice of him.”

Jo inhales uneasily, “Yeah hopefully he survives with his sanity intact.”

Amber narrows her eyes at that, “Jo it’s a toy for babies how hard can it be to put together?”

Two Hours Later

Alex tries to push the number 3 button shaped like a square onto the console but it doesn’t stick in causing him to groan in misery. He’s been trying to put together the toy for the past two hours and so far he’s only gotten as far as the easy to grip handle that has one end sticking out. Luna has been at the front seat of her dad’s failure with a blank face.

The instructions get more confusing as he reads along making him think that the English translation was rough from the Chinese. He’s starting to see why Jo underestimated his ability to put it together. It makes him appreciate her even more knowing how hard it must have been to play handy man with crappy instructions. Honestly it was a miracle she didn’t have a nervous breakdown since he’s close to having one. Luckily the instructions are also in Italian so he called his brother-in-law to translate hoping it sounds intelligible in his language. Andrew DeLuca enters the nursery surprised to find Alex cross legged on the floor holding a button and glaring at it like he wants to kill it. He clears his throat and cautiously approaches him.

“Hey man how’s it going?”

Alex growls under his breath, picks up the manual and reads out one of the steps, “Gently forward piece for coupling with warning about many danger. Can you make out what that means? Because either I am missing something or China is trying to make us insane with these instructions making it easier to attack.”

Andrew spots the button on his hand and points to the console, “That 3 button your holding looks like it goes right there.”

Alex chuckles darkly, “Yeah it does doesn’t it? Here let me just fit it in there.” Alex tries to put the button in the console but it refuses to merge no matter how hard he pushes, “I have an MD, I was the interim chief of surgery and I run my own department. A department for kids so toys are what I give them all day so they can feel better about me cutting into them. This toy is for my daughter so that she can walk so why the hell is it not letting me teach her how to walk!”

Andrew looks at Luna in her floor seat where she’s teething, “I think your teaching her about how to have a nervous breakdown properly.” Andrew grins but Alex has none of it as he glares at his brother-in-law, “Right not the time to be funny. Doesn’t the store have some kind of service to put these things together?”

Alex throws the button to the floor, “It does but this damn thing costs 50 bucks and it costs another 50 to put it together.”

“It’s a gig economy. So why am I here then?”

Alex holds out the manual to him from the floor, “There are instructions in Italian and you read it don’t you?”

He grabs the manual and flips the page, “Yeah.”

“Great then you can translate and hopefully Italy is smart enough to translate into actual sentences.”

Andrew raises his eyebrow at the menial task, “You called me over here to be your translator? I’m pretty sure there’s an app where you take a picture of the page and it can translate.”

Alex pinches the bridge of his nose, “I am on the brink of losing it so forgive me if I’ve forgotten about the advancements of technology. Now either you sit down and help me put this damn thing together or the nursery will be painted red instead.”

Andrew eyes widen at that threat knowing full well how violent his in-laws can be. He kneels down and reads the instructions, “Okay let me read this and translate…” His eyebrows furrow at the instructions reading them out loud to Alex, “To make seat with secure fasten red pin C to happy. Huh…I guess Italy got it wrong too.” Alex grabs one of Luna’s plushies and squeezes the bunny in anger taking a deep inhale and exhale. Andrew tries to read the instructions and Luna is in her chair giving a wide grin as if mocking them.

8:17 PM

Jo enters her house with Amber behind her carrying wine for her and Alex and mineral water for Amber. They head to the kitchen to set the bottles down on the counter and Jo looks around at the empty room.

“Where is Alex? He said he would be home by now.” Amber shrugs and they hear a shout coming from upstairs that sounds like Alex. They look at each other confused before Jo grabs the tiny screen that’s connected to the HelloBaby monitor camera upstairs in Luna’s room. They look at the monitor to find Alex in there sitting on the floor in front of the desecrated toy he said he would build for Jo. Jo sighs gathering the information, “I guess my husband got overconfident again and is suffering the consequences.” Jo sees Luna still in her seat giggling at the scene, “On the bright side Luna is enjoying her real-life sitcom that is her daddy building a toy.”

Amber leans in closer when she spots a familiar person sitting next to Alex leaning forward on his knees holding a purple wheel that’s supposed to go with the walker. She sees him from the side and can tell he is about to lose it, “What is Andrew doing in there?”

Jo grins amused, “Questioning his stance on pending fatherhood maybe.” Amber looks at Jo with a raised eyebrow and looks back at the screen.

Meanwhile

Alex takes a deep breath trying to keep the toy standing up with the purple back legs providing support. It looks almost like the box depicts it as except the buttons are hanging out and not pushed in and the pink phone is discarded on the floor. He barely makes a dent in inserting the legs into the main front with one wheel missing that he spots in Andrew’s hands as he is leaning against his knees no doubt as cranky as him about this cursed toy. He grabs the wheel and tries to put the wheel in but instead it makes the entire toy structure crumble down and the buttons are scattered across the floor. Alex and Andrew look on in angsty defeat while Luna grins at the carnage no doubt thinking this is playtime.

Andrew quickly stands up, frustration evident on his face, “I give up I tried man I tried but this-this cazzo is impossible!” Alex merely sits in silent defeat while Andrew goes in a rant, “Porca miseria I’ve been beaten up, I’ve been stabbed, I’ve worked in Italy while it was a hot pandemic spot but this toy for your daughter is the evilest thing I have ever faced! Sono un dannato chirurgo e non riesco a mettere insieme un cazzo di giocattolo.” (Translation: I’m a damn surgeon and I can’t put a fucking toy together.) Alex looks at Andrew taken back by him ranting in Italian but his brother-in-law doesn’t notice as he continues his tirade, “Come farò a fare questo per mio bambino? e perché hanno bisogno di giocattoli fantasiosi per camminare?” (Translation: How will I do this for my baby? And why do they need fancy toys for walking?)

Alex nods but doesn’t catch one word of his speech and overlaps in his rambling, “I can see that your very upset.”

Andrew doesn’t listen while Luna looks at her uncle blankly no doubt not even registering his foreign language, “Non li avevamo e tutto è andato bene. È dannatamente pazzesco che queste istruzioni non abbiano senso, non significano un cazzo!” (Translation: We didn’t have them and we’re fine. It’s damn crazy that these instructions don’t make sense, they don’t mean shit!)

A loud cough stops Andrew in his rant causing him and Alex to turn to find Amber and Jo standing outside the door with concerned grins on both of their faces. Jo walks past the men as they start to calm down and picks up Luna from her seat.

“Did your daddy and uncle have a hard time today, Luna Bear?” Jo looks down at Alex in sympathy causing him to stand up in exhaustion, “Did you learn any new Italian words from your uncle Andrew?”

Andrew sighs at that, “I didn’t realize I slipped back into my native tongue.”

Amber pouts at Andrew putting her hand over his chest, “You hit your breaking point?”

“This thing is evil.” Andrew states in his most serious voice, “It-It is designed so that parents can’t make it and their kids’ development is held off until the damn employee at the store assembles it and makes money from our misery.”

“You and I are finally in agreement.” Alex states rubbing his temples and sits in the rocking chair tired.

Andrew inhales and exhales before speaking, “I have a new hatred for China and our countries inability to translate correctly. How would you feel about a potato and a stick for our baby to play with instead? I mean you didn’t get a fancy stroller and you turned out okay.”

Amber squeezes Andrew’s shoulder in comfort, “I would make fun of you for not assembling a toy but I have a feeling I would incite another Italian soap opera scene.”

“I think we’re gonna hold off on you learning to walk until I can assemble this thing and show your daddy how it’s done.” Jo bounces Luna up and down smiling at her, “Yeah you’ll learn soon that mommy has all the answers yes she does.”

“She really does.” Alex agrees in a tired tone before standing up and standing in front of his family with a guilty look, “I’m sorry. I wanted to show you guys how much I love and appreciate you but instead I showed you all the ways a guy can screw up what a mom can’t.”

Jo grins at Alex in appreciation, “We already know how much you love us, you don’t have to put together a toy that even NASA couldn’t assemble. The fact that you tried to and never gave up is enough for us.” Jo kisses Alex while holding Luna with Andrew and Amber still in the room looking away awkwardly.

Amber turns to Andrew with a smile, “How about this Bob the Builders to show us how much you appreciate the things we do for your current and future kid’s you guys can make us dinner and then after we can eat that cake in the fridge. Meanwhile me, Jo, and Luna will put together this toy that seems to have broken you.” Andrew groans in agreement with Alex rubbing the back of his neck, “Is that a good compromise boys?”

The men look at each other for a moment and nod, “I’ll get the stuff to make chicken tetrazzini.”

“I’ll pre heat the stove.” Alex offers gladly and both of them walk out of the room determined to get away from the baby toy that is scattered all over the floor. Jo and Amber chuckle at their husband’s helplessness and sit down on the floor in front of the toy parts with Luna in Jo’s lap.

“Oh, Luna Bear where would you be without mommy?”

Amber picks up the purple handle, “Probably still laughing at her daddy and uncle’s expense. How do you…” Amber tries to put the handle together with the front but it doesn’t to her ire, “I can see why my husband had an Italian breakdown.”

“Give it to me.” Amber hands Jo the handle that she attaches to the front with laughable ease to Amber’s shock.

“How did you do that?”

“Oh, honey you should’ve seen me when I tried to assemble Luna’s activity garden, that made our men’s scene look like amateur acting.”

Amber chuckles, “Happy Mother’s Day.”

Jo grins at her pregnant sister-in-law, “Happy Mother's Day.”

[yeosatinyngz]

Hello hello~

Happy 1 year! 🎂

Hope you'll stick around for even longer, you're presence is so nice! 🥰

Have someone already requested #9.“I could see the worst parts of you and still think you are the most beautiful person I’ve met.” with Kazutora Hanemiya (reader saying it)?

He deserves to hear it, so if it hasn't been requested already, could you please consider writing this? 🙏

Have an amazing day and take care!! 💞💞

Hello to you as well~ Thank you so much, you’re so sweet! He really does deserve to hear those words, I got you covered! Thank you again, I hope you have an amazing day and take care as well!! 💖💖

#9: “I could see the worst parts of you and still think you are the most beautiful person I’ve met.”

Join Event ➺ Masterlist

You dropped by the pet shop since you had some free time today. It was around lunch time so you figured you should pick something up for the guys to eat as well. After picking up some takeout you headed off to the pet shop. Upon arriving, you pushed open the door and walked towards the counter where Chifuyu was currently behind. “Hey, I brought you guys some food.” “Oh hey Y/N, I’ll go change the store sign for lunch break.” He left to go change the sign and temporarily lock the store. 

After doing all that, you and him went to the back of the store towards the employee only area. “Guys, Y/N brought lunch for us!” With those words, Baji and Kazutora appeared before you both at the speed of light. “Gimme, I’m so hungry I was gonna light a car on fire.” You quickly handed him his takeout box. 

Chifuyu took his own share and you made your way next to Kazutora and handed him his. “How come you didn’t tell me beforehand you were going to come?” “Wanted to see you and surprise you with food.” “Oh, I’m happy to see you and thanks for the food, I’ll eat it deliciously.” He said while giving you a cute smile. You reciprocated a smile and gave him a little kiss on the cheek before you heard a gag coming from Baji. “Stop being all lovey dovey and eat your food already.” You immediately dig into your food after hearing his complaint.

After you all finished eating and cleaned up the trash you remembered that you had something for Chifuyu. “Oh yeah Chifuyu I saw this today and just had to get this for you!” You handed a paper bag over to him and he received it with a confused look. Curiosity getting the best of him he decided to peek into the bag and started fanboying. “Oh my gosh the new volume of *insert romance manga* Thank you so much!” He excitedly pulled you in for a hug and you returned the hug. “No problem, just a small thank you for buying me the new volume of chainsaw man.” 

You guys started geeking out about manga and anime and Kazutora who was witnessing the unfolding conversation felt an uneasy and burning sensation forming in the pit of his stomach. You came to see him but now you were chatting it up with Chifuyu? And pretty friendly at that too. He couldn’t help but scoff a little and left to open the shop again after their lunch break. Throughout the whole day you were stuck by Chifuyu’s side, smiling and laughing at whatever it was you both were talking about. Kazutora kept sulking upon the sight of you two and wanted to intercept but didn’t want to seem needy so he just silently stood there and watched. 

Closing time approached and you suggested to Baji and Chifuyu that you would close the shop up with Kazutora so they could go ahead first. Once they left you confronted Kazutora, “Is everything ok? You seemed sad after lunch.” “It’s just that you seemed so happy talking to Chifuyu, he would make a better boyfriend than me right? Someone as perfect as him would fit someone as perfect as you.” You widen your eyes in disbelief at the words coming out of his mouth. “What are you talking about? Chifuyu is just a good friend, I love you!” He turns his face away from you to avoid eye contact and softly mutters, “What’s there to love about a guy like me, who made terrible mistakes all his life.” You reach your hand out to rest on his cheek, then you softly turn his head back so he could meet your gaze. “I could see the worst parts of you and still think you are the most beautiful person I’ve met.” His eyes spoke for himself as he looked at you shocked.

“What do you look so shocked for? I’ll remind you everyday how much I love you, I’m so lucky to have you as my partner you don’t even know.” He doesn’t respond but instead wrapped his arms around your figure and pulled you close. You did the same and tightened your grip around him. You whispered into his ear, “I won’t let go of you, you’re forever mine.” With that being said he immediately bursted into a bright color of red and snuggled his face into your neck to hide his flustered state from your eyes. “You’re so cute Tora.” All he could do was whine for you to stop but you just couldn’t help but pour out all the compliments you could to keep seeing that cute blush of his.

[fictionalmenxyn]

Secrets

Mentions: Ghost x amputee!gn!reader (amputated from the shoulder down, like Bucky if you know him)

Grabbing your prosthetic, you pulled it onto your shoulder and pull the straps that rested on your shoulder and around your ribs. Tightening the prosthetic to a comfortable yet durable grip, you grabbed your long sleeved shirt and pull it over your head. Grabbing your hoodie you did the same and then grabbed your gloves and pulled them on, hiding your prosthetic.

Hearing a knock at the door, you opened it to see Soap, “Hey there, you ready to grab some grub?” He smiled. You nodded and smiled back, closing the door and locking it behind you; you both headed towards the lunch hall.

Seeing the queue, you and Soap joined the line. Grabbing your trays and the food you wanted to eat, you grabbed a drink and waited for Soap.

While you were queueing up with Soap, you were being watched… watched by the one and only Ghost. He has been protective of you, since you first joined he’s always been like that. You didn’t mind, but he had a feeling you were hiding something from him and today was the day he was going to hopefully find out.

Going over the table to meet up with Ghost, Gaz and Price. Sitting down Price greeted “glad for you to joins us, you pair.” Soap laughed “yeah, apologies for being late the new kids were squabbling so I had to break them up.” Price nodded.

Eating you all were in many different conversations with each other. Finishing food you all dropped your plates off to the counter again. You decide to head to your room, you were going to go grab a beanie considering it was quite cold today.

Feeling as if you were being followed you turned your head to see Ghost. He nodded and spoke “Y/l/n” you nodded and spoke “Ghost.” He walked with you to your room and he asked “can I tell you something?” You nodded and let him into your room.

He sat on the edge of your bed, he looked down at the floor and looked back up as he met your gaze. He spoke “I’m sorry if this offends you but… I feel like there is something you haven’t told me like your keeping something big from me.” You nodded and sat next to him and placed a gently hand on top of his.

You replied “I have, it’s uh nothing bad it’s just-” you didn’t exactly know how to tell him so you stood. Standing in front of Ghost, you lifted your hoodie and shirt only slightly. He stopped you, you chuckled and spoke “don’t worry I’m not trying to do anything like that, it’s my arm.” You revealed your prosthetic.

His eyes widen ever so slightly, he asked “why do you hide it?” You pulled your hoodie and shirt down and sat next to him again. You replied “so I don’t get looks or more so my enemy doesn’t see my weak spot.” He nodded and you said “that’s also another reason I wear these gloves. It’s also cold today so that’s another reason I am wearing them.”

Ghost chuckled, he spoke “you know, when your just around your task force you don’t have to hide it.” You nodded and spoke “I won’t from now, I’ve been building up my confidence. But when there are other people I’m going to stick to covering it up. I’m not telling my story all the time.” He nodded and said “you don’t need to worry about people’s opinions or thoughts. If anyone makes fun of you or makes a snide comment, come to me. You know I’ll protect you.” You smiled and leaned into his side. He made you feel safe and comfortable even though he just found out about your prosthetic. He made you feel as if he has always knew you and your prosthetic. That’s why you liked him so much, you can show him something new about you and he’ll talk to you about it as if he’d known forever. He keeps you safe and you know that’s what he enjoys doing.

He’s your safe place, your home.

[aeoki]

Tri-Lights - Prologue

Location: Yumenosaki Underground Archive Characters: Sora & Natsume Season: Winter Writer: Seitarou Kino & Akira

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤ< Middle of January. Yumenosaki Academy – Underground Archive. >

Natsume: (The “Star” card, hmM…)

(The Major Arcana and the ”Star” are revealed in an upright positiON… It seems this month will be rather auspicioUS ♪)

(The “Star” card refers to “hoPE”. A good outcome should be waiting for us if we take actiON.)

(Of courSE, it all depends on the individual whether they decide to make good use of that opportunity or nOT)

Sora: HaHa~! Hello, Master~!

We promised to have lunch in the secret room today, right~? Sora was really excited and made his own lunch!

HiHi~♪ There’s octopus wieners and hamburg steak… it’s mostly frozen food, but Sora filled it with lots of yummy things. Let’s trade some!

Natsume: HeHE. You seem even more energetic than usuAL, Sora.

But sorry to disappoint yOU – just wait a little bit longER. I was doing some work while I waited for you and I don’t want to leave it half-finishED.

Sora: Oh, are you doing a fortune reading, Master~?

Natsume: YuP. I do readings and report the results for the “Natsume Sakasaki’s Tarot Readings” coluMN.

I have a few other columns as weLL, so I try to work on them little by little during my break tiME, otherwise it can get quite bothersome to do everything at the eND.

Sora: As expected of you, Master~ You’re not only making everyone smile through “Switch’s” activities, but in your solo work too!

HuHu~♪ A “happy spell” can be cast on the readers, so it’s a very wonderful thing~

Sora also wants to make someone happy just like Master ♪

Natsume: Don’t worRY – You make the people around you happy just by having a smile on your faCE.

…AlrigHT, I’ll stop theRE. Let’s have lunch in the secret room once I’ve finished cleaning uP.

Sora: Oh, would it be okay for Sora to ask for a reading too?

Natsume: I’ll be more than happy to heed your requeST, but do you have something on your miND?

Many people have their fortunes read because they have some sort of worry or conceRN. If there’s something on your miND, then I can read your fortuNE, of courSE, but I’d also like you to share your worries with mE.

Sora: No, it’s not that! Sora doesn’t have any worries~

We had the members of “ALKALOID” play “The Phantom Airship” the other day, right?

Natsume: That, we dID… It’s true we had them play it to encourage them to set new goals after “SS”, bUT… What does that have to do with thIS?

Sora: Well, our ordinary days have also returned to us, so Sora thought this would be the perfect time to think about our future.

If Master reads “Switch’s” fortune, then maybe we’ll be able to see what our future will be like…

So how about it? Sora wants to see it once~♪

Natsume: AlrigHT. I’ll give it a go, thEN.

You’re in charge of “Switch” right now as weLL. It’s not a bad idea to do a reading to figure out how we should approach the futuRE.

Sora: HeHe~ Thank you so much, Master~!

Natsume: AlrigHT, I’ll shuffle the cards and then place them upside doWN…

HmM. This caRD…

Sora: (? Master’s “colour” seems off…)

…Could you tell Sora the meaning of the card, Master~?

Natsume: It seems it’s not a very good resuLT.

The card means “a threat from the paST”...

It seems an old incident will be dug up and something bad will befall “SwitCH”.

Sora: Hmm. It’s unfortunate that it wasn’t a good outcome.

Sora is curious about what this “threat from the past” might be, though~

Natsume: IndeED. If it’s something to do with our past, thEN…

(Could it be something related to Yumenosaki’s paST? It’s possible that something related to the suppression of the “Five Oddballs” is transcending time to attack uS.)

(No, it’s unlikely that my past or Senpai’s past would affect the entirety of “SwitCH”. If that’s the caSE, then what could this reading possibly meAN…?)

Sora: Master~?

Natsume: …Oh. I was just thinking about what the cards could meAN.

It’s rare for such a bad group of cards to appeAR, so I thought the cards must be warning us about somethiNG.

Sora: HoHo~ That’s not good~

But it’s okay. We’re no longer a unit who’s not on the same page as one other!

Sora knows we can definitely overcome any bad things that come our way ♪ HaHiHuHeHo~☆

ㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤㅤNext Chapter →

[jaxteller87]

Societal Standards

I was at work, on my lunch break, taking a bite of my sandwich when my phone dinged with a message from Amber. I’d settled in nicely in New York; life had been much easier than in Charming. The message was a meme that read, “A girl just wants to be bent over and banged like a screen door in a storm.”

I spit my drink out as I started to laugh. I reached for a napkin to wipe my face, and then another message came through: “I wanna rest my legs on your shoulders.”

I typed back quickly, “Trying to tell me something, sweetheart? You can rest your legs on my shoulders anytime ;)”

She replied, “No, I just thought it was funny and thought I’d pass it along.”

“Tease.” I texted back.

“Aw, I’m sorry. I just thought you’d get the humor in it.”

“Well, I most certainly did. My drink came out my nose,” I messaged back, still wiping up the mess I had made and chuckling through it.

“I mean, I’m not against doing any of that stuff, though…” she responded.

I wanted to call her a tease again, but I decided to hold her to her word instead. “Time and place, darlin’. You let me know when, and I’ll have your legs around my shoulders clappin’ those cheeks like a screen door in a hurricane.”

She started to respond, but nothing came through. I waited a few minutes, expecting a flirtatious reply or at least another meme. I got some water and a rag and wiped down the table to make sure I didn’t leave any sticky surprises for whoever sat down here next. When I was finished, I began to text her again. I got a few words typed out, and then I saw that she was finally responding.

“You son of a bitch. Your last message made me spit my drink all over the place then I dropped my phone on the floor and somehow managed to drop my coffee mug right on top of it. I had to take everything apart and put it back together! 😄 😄 😄”

Much later that evening, Amber and I were lying on the floor in the living room, grinning like fools. The dim light from the fireplace flickered, casting shadows around us.

“Okay, I didn’t tell the whole truth,” she said, staring up at me.

“Oh, I know. That’s why this just happened as soon as I got home from work,” I smirked, looking down at our bare bodies intertwined. “In my defense, you’re the one who asked to be a screen door.”

“Yeah…” Amber blushed and looked away.

“Honey, you need to stop being so nervous to ask for things in the bedroom or otherwise. I’m not going to say no. I mean, I get it; like we talked before, there are going to be times when I’m not in the mood. It’s only natural. But once you know I’m all in, so to speak, just say, ‘Hey, big papa, have your way with me. Slap my ass, pull my hair, whatever it is you want me to do— I’ll do it. ” I snuggled her a little closer.

“Yeah?”

“Of course! You wanna bang like a screen door or get stuffed like a turkey or even pounded like bread dough, just say the word. Think of me as your own personal sex genie and the wishes are unlimited. Whatever you desire, my lady, I shall make it so,” I said, lowering my voice to sound more like I thought a genie would sound. Amber smiled and let out a chirp of a laugh. But then, all of a sudden, she started to cry.

“Amber, hey sweetheart, what’s going on?” I said, pulling her even closer.

“I’m such a moron,” she mumbled, wiping her face.

“Hey, what have I told you about talking like that?” I took a hold of her face and gently made her look at me.

“I don’t feel like I deserve this,” she said, looking up at me. “Any of it, really.”

“Bad session with your counselor, I take it?” I asked, already knowing where this was headed.

“I feel like I don’t deserve this love, a man who loves me. I know it’s wrong, but it’s how my brain is wired. I mean, you hear something long enough, you’re gonna believe it. By society’s standards, people like me don’t need or even want this,” she said, glancing around the room.

“Fuck society’s standards. I’ve been telling you that for years. You deserve all the orgasms, all the kisses, and all the forehead smooches your little heart desires.”

“You deserve a badass biker outlaw to come home to,” I grinned, making her giggle too. “But until I can find you one, you’re gonna have to put up with me.”

“Okay, now you’re a moron,” she said, playfully slapping my arm.

“There it is, there’s that gorgeous smile,” I quipped, kissing her forehead.

“So if I really said, ‘Teller, strip to nothing but your work shirt, slap my butt while you call me your good girl,’ you’d do it?”

I thought for a moment and then nodded. “Well, I reckon I’d have to. Seeing as how I’m your sex genie and all. It’s kind of right there in the sex genie rule book.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. “Chapter seven, sub-article twelve, paragraph fourteen. If she asks for it, she must receive it.”

Amber laughed and shook her head. “You are fuckin’ wild sometimes, Jackson Teller.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“Thank you for this, Jax,” Amber smiled.

“No need to thank me, ma’am— it’s all in days work for a sex genie.”

“Well, mister sex genie, I’m sure I had three happy moments a little while ago instead of my usual two,” she blushed, nuzzling her head into my chest.

“Well, I’m all about service,” I smirked, kissing her forehead again.

“I think it’s because I was overthinking. I was more in the moment than normal. I tend to get lost in my own head. I feel like sometimes I’m on the outside looking in like it’s a video game or something, and I’m all like: ‘Okay, I gotta get my body to do this or move like that.’”

“Like we talked before, I don’t mind doing all the work if need be. Hearing you say, ‘Fuck me, big papa,’ just like that— does it for me,” I admitted.

“I love you, Teller,” Amber wrapped her arms around my waist and held me tight.

Later that night, we were in bed, all snuggled up.

“So, let’s just say for round one, I wanted you to wear your work shirt. Then, if you were up for round two, you would wear your cut?” she asked curiously as we lay in the dimly lit bedroom.

“Your wish is my command, my lady,” I said, bowing my head and doing my best attempt at a curtsy.

“Oh!” Amber perked up. “We should get a clown costume!”

I instantly reared back and scowled at her. “Clown costume?”

“Oh yeah! You can do me in a clown costume, and right before you bust— you can honk your little red nose! What do you think?”

I just stared at her. “A clown costume?”

“Yep. Oh, wait. Do I have to wish for it? Is that how sex genies work?”

“No, not really—”

“I wish for you to bang me in a clown costume,” Amber interrupted. “Now you have to, right?”

Again, I just stared at her emotionless face. “I don’t know if you’re trying to kill the mood here or what, but—”

“I’m kidding!” She admitted. “I just wanted to test the limits of this whole sex genie thing.”

“I mean, I’ll do it if you want, but—”

“Babe, relax— I was seriously fuckin’ with you. I’m not a big fan of clowns, you know that.”

“Yeah, I did know that, but how was I supposed to know if your therapist suggested some extreme exercise to overcome it,” I admitted.

“What do you think my therapist and I talk about?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, it’s not usually sex, and it’s hardly ever clowns— I can tell you that.”

“Since we’re on the subject, would you say me wearing my grey sweats is like your version of lingerie?” 

“Oh, most definitely,” she laughed, kissing my bare chest.

“I love you, Amber. I’m so glad you’re mine.”

“Look, it’s snowing,” Amber said, pointing out the window.

I didn’t say anything; just smiled and kissed her forehead.

[knockyasocksoff2022]

IDEALS [kunikidazai]

Ideal No. 5

(1,325 words)

It seems that the more I try not to pay attention to Dazai the more of my attention he takes. It almost makes me think he would prefer I yell at him and scold him, but I won’t because if I say one word to him it will become ten and so on until I’m so deep in I’ll never be able to escape.

I feel a presence behind me at my desk,“Oi Kunikida-kun~~~”

I say nothing.

“Did you know that in America people date and even marry their cousins?”

As shocking as that is, I doubt it’s true, (I definitely will not look any further into it.) so I say nothing.

-

“Hey Kunikida! WHat do you call Batman and Robin after they’ve been flattened by a steam roller?”

The joke is easy to ignore but I'd really like to tell him to shut up.

“ . . . Flatman and Ribbon!” He laughs a fake obnoxious laugh. I don’t grace his behaviour with an answer.

-

I decide to be proactive during my lunch break.

After making sure it’s alright with the owner I sat down in one of the quaint cafe booths to enjoy my lunch in peace. The others went with Yosano-sensei to try out a new restaurant specialising in vegetarian dishes.

A few minutes after I start eating, Dazai strolls in. I focus on my food, pretending I don’t notice him at all. Maybe he’s just here to flirt with the waitress. (I’ve noticed that he hasn’t been doing that as much of late, maybe she got married or got a boyfriend.)

He isn’t. 

He sits down in front of me, I keep on eating. Then he retrieves a pair of chopsticks from inside his trench coat and starts to reach for my plate. A thieving freeloader as usual. I wonder for a moment if he’s really hungry, lord knows his eating habits are horrible. He probably hasn’t eaten in a while, but I legitimately don’t think he gets hungry.

The kind thing to do would be to let him have it, and I almost do, but I know the more of these small things I do, the more I give these small kindnesses, the more I’ll want to do something bigger.

So instead I knock the chopsticks out of his grip, using one of them to press against his throat, if it were a blade he’d probably be dead.

“Ah, so selfish Kunikida-kun, isn’t it in your ideals to feed the hungry?”

‘Are you hungry?’ I want to ask, but I don't.

Taking my silence as a no he strides out, humming his suicide song.

I wish he would’ve stayed. I would’ve gladly let him have the rest of my bento gladly, even if he hadn’t told me he wanted it. I’ve never been a stellar cook, but I can make a decent meal. I want to make something for him, to get some food besides canned crab and whiskey in his stomach. I want us to have dinner together, or any meal really. 

But that’s never going to happen so I go back to my meal in silence. The wanting fills me up inside so much that it’s hard to make myself finish my lunch but I hate wasting food so I do.

-

When my break is over I continue work as usual. We haven’t been very busy so I’ve taken to researching in the Special Operations Division’s archives with Katai’s help. My goal is to try and determine what makes Atsushi’s ability so special.

-

Dazai, of course, clocks out early, sighting a new method of suicide he wants to try. I know he probably won’t succeed but the same worry still fills me. I don’t voice my concerns though. What would I say, anyways? Any words I could think of would surely result in an admission of my affections which would mean nothing given his heterosexuality and like of me strictly because I’m someone he can get a reaction out of.

-

As I walk home my mind wanders as it always does, and since I’m away from the office I let it. I wonder if he’s alright, is he standing soaked on the riverbank or is he already back in his dorm passed out drunk by now.

I turn, startled out of my thoughts when something nips at my heel. It seems one of the stray cats that hangs around the agency has followed me home.

“Go!”

It sits down, blinking owlishly.

“I said: Go! Off with you!” I shake my foot gently in the direction of the agency, hoping it’ll find its way back safely.

It doesn’t budge.

“You shouldn’t be here, Cat, begone!”

It meows loudly, but gives no indication of moving. I sigh.

The cat is clearly a street cat. Its fur is off with a tan spot down its back and almost bluish patch on its chest. There's a black stripe on its head in between its black ears and two black dots almost looking like eyebrows. It’s dirty with leaves and twigs stuck in its fur but I can still see the white stripes going all around its body. The most noticeable features though are the torn left ear and scratches over its left eye, which judging by the slightly milky colour must be slightly blind.There are matching scratches all over the poor thing’s body and its whiskers are sticking out in all directions, like it's taken a shock.

Still it sticks its tongue out, looking almost mischievous. It reminds me of Dazai in a way that makes my heart ache. I’m not a  monster, I can give her some milk or something.

“Fine, cat, you can come with me, but you better not have rabies or anything like that.”

I’ve never tried to create food with my notebook before but now I write “Cat Treat” and one appears in my hand where the page once was. I sniff it, it smells like it should . . . I think?

The cat takes it, sniffing suspiciously for a second then gobbling it down in one bite. It looks at me for more, but I don't want to use another page so I shake my head. It meows almost as if it’s whining as I open the door.

I shouldn’t have a feral cat in here, especially since It’s not technically my house. I’ve been living here alone for years and I pay the bills, but it still legally belongs to my parents who used to live here. They officially gave it to me when they went off to travel the globe a few years back.

The cat hops up on the counter, I turn on the tap and to my surprise it jumps right in. I have to shoo it out before I wash my hands.

-

Now I’m kneeling beside the bathtub, heavy rubber cleaning gloves on and bath soap in my hand. The cat, a she cat, as it turns out, isn’t afraid of the water at all. She rolls over and pounces onto her back, splashing me. 

I occupy the rest of the evening cleaning her up and treating her wounds as best I can, not letting myself of a certain bandaged man. I’ll have to take her to the veterinarian tomorrow but for now the gauze and canned sardines from my emergency food stash with a bowl of warm milk will be enough.

What to name her?

The first anime that comes to mind is the name of the famous author Oba Yozo.  Yozo is a masculine name, but somehow, it fits.

I hear her meowing as I shower, brush my teeth and dress in my night clothes.

I don’t let Yozo sleep in my room, though she wants to, but eventually she gets comfortable on the sun porch. Being a human is so complicated, I wish I could have as few worries as a cat.

That’s what I think of as I drift into sleep.

[fanartandfanfiction]

In honor of Aesop’s birthday, I wrote this fic. I sat down and wrote it in one sitting and didn’t proof read it ✌️ enjoy!

Happy Birthday (Aesop Sharp one-shot)

Aesop hated his birthday.

It just marked another year of getting older, more gray hairs sprouting, more trouble with his leg. Most years he spent his birthday with a book and a bottle of scotch. But this year he’d made a mistake…

Lydia Collins was the new muggle studies teacher, and if you thought Mirabel Garlick was a ray of sunshine…Lydia was the sun.

At some point, she’d managed to befriend him. He wasn’t sure how or when it happened, because he had no desire to be friends with the human equivalent of a golden retriever. But somehow, she’d wormed her way in.

They were eating lunch in her office, which they did occasionally. Her classroom was closer to the great hall and he didn’t feel like packing his lunch all the way back down to the dungeon.

“-so anyway, I’m screaming, the puffskein is screaming, and neither of us know how we got there.” She grinned as she told some sort of humorous story, he’d zoned out a while ago. “Helloooo? Aesop?”

“Hmm? Oh, apologies. I was lost in thought.”

“About what?”

“Nothing in particular. Go on with your ludicrous tale of tomfoolery.”

Lydia raised her eyebrows. “Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed. I was going to offer you half my brownie, but…”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to snap at you. I always get irritable this time of year.”

“Because it’s hot?”

“No, because of my-“ he looked up and realized his mistake.

“Because of your what?” She grinned.

“Because of my…allergies?”

“Your birthday is coming up, isn’t it?”

“No.”

“Liar.” She threw a Cheeto at him. “So what are we doing?”

“WE are not doing anything. I don’t enjoy my birthday. I’d prefer it to just be like any other day.”

“That’s ridiculous! Birthdays are supposed to be special! It’s a day all about you! And you get cake! Why would you not want cake?” She was gesticulating with her fork and he dodged it as it flew out of her hand.

“Because it means I’m getting older! I’m turning into my father.”

“I hate to break it to you, but you’re older than you were five minutes ago. And when I finished that sentence.”

“Your point?”

“My point is that you can’t look at it that way or you’ll be grumpy and depressed. Look at it as a victory. Fuck you, life! I’ve made it another year! Watch me do it again!”

He couldn’t help but chuckle. “I think I’ll still celebrate it the way I always do. With a book and a bottle of scotch.”

“A bottle? Keep going at that rate and you won’t have that many more birthdays.” She threw another Cheeto at him. “If you’re going to get drunk, at least do it with other drunk people so you’ll all have fun.”

“Stop throwing these at me!” He placed the cheeto on the desk. She promptly launched another one and it got stuck in his hair. “Lydia!”

“Ooh! Ooh! Open your mouth! See if you can catch it like Shamu!”

“I am not an exhibit at sea-“ she threw a cheeto and it landed in his open mouth and she cheered. “That’s it. I’m going back to my office.”

“Come on, I’ll let you throw them at me!”

He rolled his eyes and picked up his lunch. “Goodbye, Lydia.” Another cheeto bounced off his head. He left with a small smile.

The dreaded day way here. At least it was a Saturday so he didn’t have to teach. He got dressed for the day and decided to go get some breakfast.

He opened his door and jumped back as a party horn was blown in his face. “Lydia?!”

She was standing outside his door with an armload of balloons, wearing a party hat and blowing a dragon tongue party horn. She blew it again and when it uncurled, Aesop snatched it. “Aw.” She frowned as he tossed the crumpled horn aside.

“Why? What have I done to you to deserve this punishment?”

“I’m your friend, silly, and I’m going to make sure you have a fantastic birthday!”

“No, I don’t think we’re friends anymore.” He smirked.

“Here, these are for you.” She handed him the bouquet of balloons and while his hands were occupied, rushed forward and strapped a party hat to his head.

“LYDIA!”

She pulled another horn out of her pocket and blew it, then tossed a handful of confetti at him.

“You’re exhausting.” He yanked the party hat off.

“I thought you might not like the hat, so I compromised and got you this button.” She stepped forward and pinned a button to his shirt that said “BIRTHDAY BOY!” In enormous letters.

“I’m going back to bed.” He started to turn around when Lydia grabbed his hand. It was warm and soft, and he couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched his hand.

“Please. I planned a day I think you’ll enjoy. If you hate it, then you can leave and go back to bed.”

He looked into her light blue eyes and sighed. “Alright. But I’m not wearing the button.”

“Ok!” She grinned excitedly. “Let’s go get some breakfast and pick up the others.”

“The others???”

His cell phone began ringing and he pulled it out and looked at the screen. “Excuse me for a moment, it’s my mother.” He stepped away and took the call. “Hi mom.”

“Happy birthday Acey!”

“Thank you.”

“Any plans for today?”

“Yes, actually. A friend of mine has planned something.”

“Oh, wonderful! Can I speak to Lydia?”

“Um, sure?” He held the phone out to her. “My mother knows you by name and wants to talk to you?”

Lydia grinned and put the phone up to her ear. “Hey Diana! You were right, he tried to get out of it.”

There was a pause and she laughed. “I know! Hey, how are those orchids coming along?” She gestured for Aesop to follow her and they began walking to the great hall. “I’m glad to hear that! I bet they’re beautiful.” Another pause. “Oh, how sweet! How about next weekend?” Aesop’s eyes widened. “Alright, Di, I’ll see you then. Here’s your son back.” She handed the phone back to Aesop with a smile.

“How do you even know each other, and what’s next weekend?”

“Oh, your friend Lydia called me and explained that she wanted to surprise you for your birthday and asked what you would enjoy doing. She’s a lovely girl, we ended up chatting for quite a while, she gave me some wonderful tips for my garden. Next week we’re having tea. She’s a keeper!”

“Mother, we’re just friends.” He said quietly as Lydia literally skipped down the hall ahead of him.

“I don’t know, Acey, she seems to care about you an awful lot. And it’s sweet that she went to such lengths to surprise you.”

“Yes, well thank you for calling. If you’ll excuse me, I’ve got a day of god knows what awaiting me.”

“I think you’ll enjoy yourself! Happy birthday darling, I love you.”

“I love you too. Bye.” He hung up the phone and glared at Lydia. “You talked to my mother?! How did you even get her phone number?”

“I have my ways!” The blonde grinned at him.

They walked to the great hall and Aesop groaned as he saw the birthday banner. His coworkers were waiting for him and whooped as he came in.

“Now I owe Mirabel $20.” Ronen said sadly.

“Why?” Aesop asked.

“I bet her that you would find a way to get out of it.”

“Don’t hand over your money yet.” He grumbled. “So what IS on the agenda for today?”

“That’s a secret.” Lydia grinned. “Sit down, have some breakfast, drink some coffee and pull the stick out of your ass.”

They ate breakfast and he sat quietly as his coworkers chatted around him. After they ate, Lydia turned to him with a grin. “Alright, I can fit three people in my car. Who’s riding with me?”

“I’ve seen the way you drive, I’m not getting into a car with you.” Ronen chuckled.

“Fine, I’ll take the birthday boy and Mirabel. You and Dinah can take your car. I’ll text you the address.”

“Why are we taking cars?” Aesop asked.

“Because we’re going to a muggle town.” She grinned. “No wands from here on out.”

“Seriously?!”

“I teach muggle studies, what did you expect?” She gave him a sunshiney grin. “You can have lots of fun without magic. Alright, everybody ready?”

“Let’s get this over with.” Aesop sighed.

“Try not to be so enthusiastic.” Lydia winked.

Fifteen minutes later, Aesop was in the back of Lydia’s car, which was bright pink. “Is this your car or Barbie's?” He asked with a smirk.

“Oh hush. I always told myself that, when I could afford it, I would get the pink car I always wanted. It’s a milestone. How about some music?”

He sat in the back and groaned internally as Lydia and Mirabel dueted an Elton John song.

“DON’T GO BREAKIN MY HEEEEART!” Lydia sang and passed the imaginary microphone to Mirabel.

“I couldn’t if I triiiied!”

“Oh hooooney if I get restleeess!”

“Baby you’re not that kind!”

He found himself humming along quietly in the back with a small smile on his face. Lydia had put on gaudy Elton John sunglasses covered in rhinestones.

They drove for about 45 minutes before pulling into a wooded area. “We’re here!” Lydia said happily.

“Where? The place where you intend to leave my body?” Aesop asked.

They all got out of the car and Aesop saw the sign. “Pauly’s Paintball? What’s paintball?”

“It is RIGHT up your alley, my friend.” Abraham clapped his shoulder as he and Diana joined them.

They walked to the entrance of what looked like a log cabin. A muscular man greeted them. “Hey, Lyddie! Welcome to Pauly’s Paintball! Have any of you played?.”

“Nope, today we have paintball virgins. They’re gonna need the whole intro.”

“Sounds good. Why don’t you all go ahead and get changed in the locker rooms and meet me back out here?”

“Change? I didn’t bring a change of clothing.” Aesop said.

“There’s a jumpsuit and protective gear on a shelf with your name on it.” The man, presumably Pauly, said. “Are you Aesop?”

“Yes. And you are?”

“Pauly Collins. Nice to meet you!”

They had the same last name. He’d never noticed if Lydia wore a wedding ring or not.

“My sister has spoken highly of you. Based on what she’s told me, I think you’re gonna enjoy yourself.” Pauly grinned at him. He was apparently just as sunshiney as his sister. He felt an odd feeling of relief that this man wasn’t her husband. He cast a glance down at her hand and noticed there was no ring.

“Did my new helmet come in yet?” Lydia was practically bouncing with excitement.

“Sure did, though it’s just going to make you stand out more.” Pauly reached under the counter and pulled out a pink helmet.

“I LOVE IT!”

“Don’t blame me when you’re out in two minutes.” Pauly smiled and handed her the helmet. She bounded off towards the locker room. “Lydie can be a lot, believe me, I get it. But she’s got a good heart. I think you’ll have fun today.” Pauly clapped him on the shoulder and Aesop gave him a small smile and headed for the locker room.

He looked at the stack of items on the shelf. There was a jumpsuit, a helmet with a face guard, boots, and padding for his chest, elbows, and knees. “What exactly are we doing?” Aesop asked, wondering what the hell all the body armor was for.

“We will be shooting balls of paint at each other.” Abraham responded, zipping up his jumpsuit.

“I still don’t see why that requires this armor. It’s paint.”

“From what I understand, it is quite painful.”

“It’s PAINT.”

“I don’t know, I am basing my information off of what I learned on the internet.” Abraham shrugged and tied the boots.

Aesop got dressed, feeling like it was all a bit silly. He finished dressing and he and Abraham headed back out to the lobby.

The girls were already out there and Dinah was examining a gun of some sort. Pauly looked up and smiled. “Alright! Now that everyone is here, let me go over the basics.”

Aesop listened and was surprised at how physically intense the sport was. After their lesson, he turned to Dinah. “Are you going to be able to do this?”

“Oh Aesop, I’m much more spry than I look. I’ll do just fine.” She winked at him and flipped the face shield down over her eyes.

“Alright, you’ll need to divide yourself into teams. We have an uneven number so I’ll be playing as well. Since we’re the most experienced, Lydie and I will be captains.”

“Come on Aesop, you’re gonna want to be on my team.” Lydia grinned. “We’ll kick Pauly’s ass.”

“I think I’d like to join your team as well.” Mirabel smiled.

“Alright, that puts Abraham and Dinah with me. Put these patches on so your own team doesn’t shoot you. Go to your base and you’ll have three minutes to strategize. At the sound of the horn, the game has begun. The object is to capture the opposing team’s flag and bring it back to your base. If you get shot, you’re out for five minutes. You’ll have one hour to capture the flag. If at the end of the hour, neither team has successfully captured it, the team with the least hits will be the winner. Everyone ready?”

The group nodded. “Remember, no hits above the shoulder. Let’s go!”

Aesop, Mirabel, and Lydia headed to their base. They all had red patches on their chest. Lydia took the lead.

“Pauly is aggressive, he always focuses on offense, not defense, so I think our best bet is to hide out and defend our base. One of you needs to stay here, one of you will come with me.”

“I’ll stay here.” Mirabel said.

“Good. Shoot anyone that comes through that door. Aesop or I will shout RED before we enter so you don’t shoot us. Come on, Aesop.”

She took off at a jog and Aesop followed her. “I wouldn’t have pegged you for a fan of such a violent sport.”

“Oh I love it! Gets the heart pumping. If your leg starts bothering you too much, let me know and you can switch with Mirabel. Station yourself behind that tree to your right. I’ll be over here. Pay attention, I’ll give you a hand signal when I want to move forward.”

Aesop nodded and headed to his spot. This reminded him of his days as an auror, staking out locations and waiting for the enemy. Though it was more fun when the threat of death was removed.

The horn sounded and Aesop began scanning the horizon. Thirty seconds had passed before Abraham came running towards them in the middle of the field with no cover.

He let out a yelp as both Aesop and Lydia pelted him with paintballs.

“Maybe try being more stealthy!” Aesop shouted with a laugh before a paintball hit him in the chest. “Son of a BITCH!” Ok, now he understood the armor. He and Ronen headed to the benches on the sidelines. He saw Dinah roll out from behind a tree and fire at Lydia. He was surprised at how spry she was.

Lydia dodged the shot and fired one in return, clipping Dinah in the shoulder. “Damn!” Dinah trudged over to the bench.

There was another man by the benches and he handed them each a timer upon arrival. “Welcome to the time out zone. After your timer goes off, take the path back to your respective base. I’m Chad, I’ll be your timekeeper. First time, huh?”

“Was it that obvious?” Abraham asked.

“You’re on Lydie’s team, huh?” Chad asked Aesop. “She’s a killer. We’re usually co-captains.”

“Do you play paintball often?”

“At least once a week.”

Lydia came trudging over a few minutes later, head hung low. “Bastard climbed the tree.”

“Does that mean the fate of our team relies on Mirabel?” Aesop asked with a smile.

“Shit. It’s just her and Pauly!” Aesop’s timer went off and Lydia jumped. “GO GO GO GO GO!” He took off at a run towards the base.

When he came out at the end of the trail, he saw Pauly heading straight for the base. He was raising his gun to shoot when he heard the rapid firing of a paintball gun. Pauly trudged out with his hands up.

“Good job, Mirabel!” Aesop shouted.

He trotted back towards the spot he’d been in first and hunkered down. Abraham and Dinah were back in so he was on the lookout. He heard girlish laughter and looked over towards the time out benches. Chad was standing awfully close to Lydia and seemed to be flirting. He glared at Chad. Shouldn’t he be paying attention to the game?

A paintball flew past his head, narrowly missing him. He saw Abraham dive behind a bush and watched for Dinah. She was much stealthier. He saw a flash of blue and fired a paintball.

Dinah fired a few shots at him and he rolled out of the way before springing up and returning fire. This time he caught Dinah square in the chest as she prepared to shoot at him again.

He jumped as Lydia tapped his shoulder. “Pauly and Dinah are benched, we have a very small window to advance for the flag. I’ll take the lead, you follow close behind. If I get the flag, I’m going to run as fast as I can. Go!”

Lydia dashed forward and rolled behind a bush. Abraham fired a quick shot and hid. Lydia rushed forward again and this time Abraham stood up to shoot her. Aesop got him in the arm and Lydia took off at a dead run. He knew Pauly’s time was almost up so he ran behind her and kept an eye out. She dashed into the base and came out with a blue flag.

She was running like her life depended on it towards him. He saw Pauly step out and he fired a few shots, which Pauly easily dodged.

“AESOP TAKE IT AND GO!” Lydia screamed as she ran towards him. She held out the flag and he snatched it just before Pauly shot Lydia in the leg. “GOOOOO!”

Aesop ran as fast as he could, a grin on his face as he did so. This was exhilarating! He was approaching their base so he shouted “RED, MIRABEL, RED!”

He heard the sound of the paintball gun from behind him and dove forward.

The horn blared again. Aesop stood up and held the flag up victoriously. Mirabel cheered and hugged him. Pauly shook his hand and grinned. “So how do you like paintball?”

“I loved it!” He was nearly knocked off his feet as Lydia slammed into him.

“YOU DID IT! YOU DID IT! SUCK IT, PAULY!” She was bouncing up and down and jumped towards him, throwing her arms around his neck. He surprised her by catching her and spinning her around before setting her down.

“That was fantastic! Thank you, Lydia.” Aesop grinned.

“I knew you’d love it!” She was beaming. “What did you think, Mirabel?”

“Oh it was exhilarating! I didn’t do much but I enjoyed watching you guys!”

“Not true, you shot the shit out of me!” Pauly grinned and pointed at his paint-covered chest.

“What a wonderful activity!” Dinah was grinning. “It felt good to get out there and fight. Did it bring back your auror days, Aesop?”

“Oh absolutely!” He still had an arm slung around Lydia.

“Come back anytime.” Pauly said with a smile. “There are showers in the locker room if you need to wash up. Where are you headed to after this?”

“That’s a surprise as well! But I promise it won’t be violent.” Lydia grinned. They all headed back to the locker room and Aesop and Abraham got changed.

“I thoroughly enjoyed myself!” Abraham grinned. “I have a feeling I’ll be sore tomorrow.”

“Me too. It was nice to do something so active and out of the box. I never would’ve considered trying it.”

“If you like trying new things, you’ll enjoy the next stop.” Abraham winked.

“I’m enjoying my birthday more than I expected to.” Aesop smiled.

When they left the locker room, Lydia was having what looked to be a heated discussion with Chad.

Aesop walked over and joined Mirabel and Dinah. “Everything alright?”

“From what I’ve gathered, Chad is her ex-boyfriend and still hung up on her.” Dinah said.

Chad finally stomped off into the back and Lydia rejoined her friends. “Sorry. You guys ready to go?”

“Let’s go!” Ronen grinned.

The radio was playing quietly and Mirabel and Aesop could tell she was upset. “Soooo you and Chad have a history?” Mirabel asked.

“We dated for a year until he decided to fuck one of my friends.” Lydia sighed. “I’m over it, he won’t let go. He’s a douche and I enjoy shooting him in the nuts with a paintball gun.”

She turned the radio up and seemed to have moved past it. She rolled the windows down and enjoyed the fresh air. Their drive was shorter this time and they pulled up to a whimsical looking building with colorful plumes of smoke coming out the chimneys.

“Welcome to the Bertie Bott’s factory!” Lydia grinned. They parked and joined up with Dinah and Abraham. “We’ve got a private jellybean tasting!”

“My mother must have told you about my sweet tooth.” Aesop smiled.

They walked into the factory entrance and a man in a striped uniform greeted them. “Hello! Here for the tour?”

“We have a reservation for a taste test under the name Collins.”

“Wonderful! Right this way.” The man walked them down the hall and into a colorful room. There was a large round glass table in the middle of the room and they each took a seat around it. Aesop ended up sitting next to Lydia, and he couldn’t help but smile. She’d put so much work and attention into making this day special for him.

Once they’d all taken their seats, a scroll appeared in front of them. It was a menu of sorts.

“You’re welcome to try as many as you’d like, these are the categories. Just say the one you’d like out loud.” The man left them and they began looking at their menus.

Aesop couldn’t decide. The categories were salty, sweet, desserts, fruit, vegetables,around the world, breakfast, unpleasant…he wondered to himself why anyone would choose unpleasant.

“I’m going to start with desserts.” Lydia said. The scroll rolled up and a tray of jellybeans appeared in front of her.

Ronen chose breakfast, Dinah chose around the world, and Mirabel chose fruit.

“I think I’ll try sweet.” Aesop said and a tray appeared before him.

“This tastes just like bacon!” Abraham proclaimed.

“Why would you want a bacon jellybean?” Dinah asked.

“Why would you want a curry jellybean?” He asked in response.

“Fair enough.”

“This tastes just like fresh, juicy strawberries!” Mirabel smiled.

“I’ve got a chocolate brownie one that’s delicious!” Lydia closed her eyes and savored it.

Aesop popped the first one on his tray into his mouth. “How appropriate, birthday cake.”

They chatted and tried dozens of flavors and dared each other to try disgusting ones. After they’d had their fill, Lydia smiled at Aesop. “Ready for the last stop on the Aesop Sharp birthday tour?”

“Let’s go.”

He knew their last stop as they strolled up to the three broomsticks. Sirona smiled as they walked in. “Happy birthday, Aesop!”

“Thank you, Sirona. It’s turning out to be a great day.”

“The upstairs room is all yours, your other guests have already arrived.”

“Other guests?” Aesop asked.

Lydia grinned. “I think you’ll be happy.” They climbed the stairs and Lydia opened the door. Aesop’s eyes widened and he grinned. “Jake! Bobby!”

“So you are still alive then?” Jake stood up and pulled him into a hug. “Nothing for years, then we get a call from this lovely lass. She tells us you’re a teacher!”

“How ya doing, Aesop?” Bobby grinned and hugged Aesop.

“How on Earth did you find these two?!” Aesop was grinning widely. “These are two of my best friends from my auror days.”

“Oh! What a nice surprise!” Mirabel smiled.

“And we’ve got plenty of embarrassing stories to tell on him.” Jake grinned.

“Oh, god.” Aesop groaned.

45 minutes later, they’d all had several drinks and were laughing and cutting up. “I’ve gotta get some air.” Lydia said and went out onto the balcony.

“Me too.” Aesop followed her out and Bobby and Jake whooped.

“Thank you, Lydia, for making my birthday enjoyable. You put so much care and thought into everything. I…I really appreciate you.” He leaned against the railing she was leaning on, and their elbows touched.

“Of course. You deserve to have a happy birthday, Aesop.” She smiled at him and put her hand over his. He placed his other hand on top.

“It’s a beautiful evening.” Lydia turned to look at him.

“I don’t really want it to end.” He replied, looking into her eyes.

“It’s not over yet, Aesop.” Their heads moved closer together. Just as their lips were about to meet, Abraham rushed outside and threw up over the railing.

“That tasted like bacon.” Ronen said as he wiped his mouth. “Too many jellybeans and too much to drink. Sorry to disturb.” He stumbled back inside and closed the door to the balcony.

“I suppose we should go back inside.” Aesop said, feeling disappointed.

“But I believe you were about to kiss me. If we could step a little further that way and away from the jellybean vomit, I think this could be quite a romantic moment.” Lydia grinned.

Aesop stepped backwards and grabbed her hand, taking her with him. He brushed the hair away from her face and tipped her chin up towards him. He leaned down and kissed her gently. His hands rested on her hips and her arms wrapped around his neck. She pulled away and they rested their foreheads against each other. “Happy birthday, Aesop.”

“Happy birthday, indeed.”