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shadesofmauve · 17 days ago

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I had a whole thing written about the corollary in music production; some songs are intended for good sound systems, or the bass at a club, and surely more people know that? But I realized that I'm a musician in my 40s who hangs out with lots of musicians, most even older, and so my sample is biased to hell.

Instead, I'm now thinking about choices I made as a traditional medial visual artist when setting up my studio lighting around two different factors: color temperature and color rendering.

Traditional advice for lighting an art studio is to mimic daylight through a window facing away from the equator (north light in northern hemisphere, south in southern). That still varies, but puts you somewhere between 5000–6500K, which is very cool light.

It's much cooler than most people like in their homes, which leads a lot of artists (myself included) to say "Wait a minute, if this is going to be displayed under 3000K light, why am I painting it under 5000K lamps?" You don't know what your eventual viewer will have in their house, but it's probably lower than 5000K — just like we can be pretty sure that most of your film's audience doesn't have a $20,000 display.

(I chose 4000K, btw, as a split-the-difference position).

This is a reasonable 'concession' to make to the viewing technology your audience is likely to have.

The other huge factor in studio lighting is color rendering. Basically, how much of the spectrum does your lamp actually produce? LEDs vary wildly in color rendering. Very high end LED lamps (marketed to museums, filmmakers, and the produce sections of grocery stores) do a good job; they're not as good at color rendering as your classic incandescent, but they're WAY better than flourescents or cheap LEDs. Cheap LEDs, though, are horrible. The lights at my mother outlaw's house make me feel like I'm living in a dingy blue hell. It's not dark — they're 100 watt equivalent — and it's not the high-color-temp blue cast. It's that they're not putting out any red wavelengths, so there is no red to bounce back to your eyeballs.

The result is a depressing, flat feeling, where it's harder to differentiate things not because it's dark, but because you're not seeing all the shades of color.

The commonly used metric for this is Color Rendering Index, or CRI. It's very incomplete — it doesn't measure bright red, which is a huge oversight — but it's a starting place.

I'm insanely picky about this; even outside of my studio, I buy high-CRI lights. Even my LED strip lighting is over 95 CRI. If I walk through a big box store I see lots of fixtures advertised as "80+ CRI". More are getting up around 90, but 'mediocre color rendering' is the norm in most people's homes. if someone buys my art, they'll likely be hanging it under lower CRI lamps.

...and that I'm not going to cater to. My colors will look shitty under low CRI lights. Trying to adjust to it would be miserable and mostly futile. If someone wants to see the work as I intended it, they need to improve their viewing environment.

In this scene, they are in the middle of the woods under a canopy of trees. They show the sky and there is no moon.

The light has absolutely no motivation.

Motivated lighting is a philosophy where all of the light sources on screen have a logical source. The light from a smartphone on someone's face. A lamp next to the couch. Sterile overhead office lights.

Often filmmakers will still use their own custom light sources, but they will simulate these things to give the impression the light has motivation.

Compare this to when all they really had were bright spotlights and insensitive film. An indoor scene just couldn't have this warm and cozy feel. And the light was just blasted in from everywhere.

Black and white helped a lot. You could still get dramatic effect despite things needing to be overlit. Or you could play with contrast ratios and shadow.

All the stuff you need to see was very bright and exposed well onto film and all the stuff you didn't was very dark.

But there was no graduation in between. It was hard to be subtle.

And when television and movies went color, this black and white contrast advantage was lost.

You can see EVERYTHING. And look at those sharp shadows. Everyone is just being blasted in the face with lights.

This sitcom lighting persisted long past when it was necessary. It became part of the sitcom language.

I think M*A*S*H was one of the first shows to subvert the overlit sitcom aesthetic. They began to play with lighting that had more motivation.

But aesthetic standards are hard to kill. And despite the heavy influence of M*A*S*H, sitcoms persisted all the way into the Friends era.

Her lamp isn't even on. Everything is just lit by God.

I don't think you will see a living room or kitchen scene lit like this very much from here on out.

People are getting used to lighting making more logical sense.

With the advent of LED lighting that can be any size, shape, and brightness, as well as cameras that can interpret very dark images, modern shows can now use bright and dark as narrative tools.

I think Severance does this well, and still keeps everything properly motivated.

But this newfound flexibility has created new problems. If you can film dark things, how dark is too dark? And how do you make sure the audience can see all of the important visual information?

The two worst examples of unmotivated lighting are always space helmets and cars.

It's a conceit. You gotta see the faces so these things are usually forgiven.

But the biggest debate in the realm of unmotivated lighting is night scenes. People have lots of opinions on how best to use light in the dark.

This is because following a motivated lighting philosophy can be especially tricky. Particularly if your setting is a secluded area without any artificial light sources.

Many cinematographers will try to give some sense of moonlight. But moonlight is very hard to replicate, so the effect usually ends up looking pretty fake.

This scene during a blackout in Die Hard 4 looks like they took the brightest light they had, mounted it as high as possible and said, "Fuck it, that's moon-ish."

If the DP is hardcore into motivated lighting, they just make the screen really really dark, like the Long Night battle in Game of Thrones.

The really really dark option bugs a lot of people.

Froggie Tangent about Dark Scenes:

I originally thought people needed to adjust their display settings. But then I realized not everyone watches content in a darkened room like a vampire. But if you find a show or movie is too dark, turning off any room lights will help a lot. Watching it in HDR will also help. And watching it on an OLED will help even more.

Scenes this dark are mostly a fad. DPs are experimenting with the possibilities of new technology. But sometimes they forget not everyone has that technology yet. And they forget some people watch stuff on their phones in a room full of sunlight.

Eventually the fad will fade, we will all adopt better screens, and the darkness will land somehwere between "I can't see shit" and "it would never be that bright in real life."

[End of tangent]

In the olden days, since film wasn't sensitive enough to do scenes in the dark, almost everything needed to have unmotivated lighting just to make sure their film wasn't a grainy mess. And as a culture, we sort of got used to that style. They'd mess with the contrast ratios to give the feeling of night, but if you think about where the light is coming from too hard, it won't make any sense. They took a Broadway theater approach to lighting and so a lot of movies felt like they were on a soundstage.

The 1961 West Side Story is a good example.

They've got a spot light hitting them, but not the building behind them. I guess that could be an overhead street light. But street lights are meant to flood the area like an ever expanding donut of light. A spotlight is like a directly projected cone of light. It is perfectly pointed at the side of their face and not coming from above.

She has some magical purple light coming from... somewhere.

And then they are in an area under a bridge, far away from any lights, but they've got soft fill light with a bright rim coming from the right.

Speilberg's version has much more motivated light.

This one is a bit of a cheat, some very bright source off in the distance. But it feels more plausible to the brain and gives a better sense of darkness. It feels like some kind of industrial lighting. Or a security light at a junkyard.

Here he straight up shows you where the light is coming from. And his preference for anamorphic lenses.

And here he uses bright train lights to create silhouettes. This is clever because it allows everything to be very dark but everyone is still legible in the scene.

I'm torn. Because I study light. And so I am very aware of how shows and movies are lighting things. And unmotivated lighting sticks out in my brain. Like when I watch someone miming playing the guitar. Or using a camera improperly. When you know too much about something, inaccurate onscreen depictions just drive you nuts.

There are some techniques being experimented with to make night scenes more legible while maintaining lighting realism. I think the most promising is the infrared day-for-night process used in Nope.

But maybe it doesn't need to be solved. Maybe DPs should just light the night even if it doesn't always make sense. Maybe general audiences just do not care and I am a big nerd who should be ignored.

#and if my art was really good this'd be more of an issue!#I actually sell art very rarely but still #I'm such a light snob #I'm so uncomfortable in places with bad color rendering #I'm sorry but your poor light bulb choice is giving me the morbs #I must retire to the outdoors for my health #I'm fading away due to your spiky spectral curve #artist problems #light #all this stuff is so interesting #someday maybe Froggie will be able to explain color space management in a way that I can actually understand #the digital color workflow just makes me feel like i'm going nuts

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bashamanik · 2 years ago

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fastlane-freedom · 2 years ago

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7 Steps to Doubling Your Time Off: The Secret of Work-Life Balance

In a fast-paced world where work often seems to consume our lives, the quest for achieving a healthy work-life balance has become more crucial than ever. Many of us find ourselves caught in the relentless cycle of deadlines, meetings, and never-ending to-do lists. However, what if there was a way to double your time off without compromising productivity? In this blog, we will explore seven…

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#delegation #double your time off #establishing boundaries #exercise #grow business #meditation #personal development #prioritization #productivity tips #saying no #self-care #sleep hygiene #technology tools #time blocking #time management #tips for work-life balance #unplugging #work-life balance #workflow optimization

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ilokilok · 2 years ago

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Pissed at my coworkers today.

#the other teams for doing a sloppy job wich makes my team's job harder #bc we have to come back and ask fundamental fucking questions because they cant copy paste information correctly #but also at my teammates #who are slacking off and/or managing their workflow badly which makes my job harder!#like bitch how am i supposed to know if you are working on it or not if youre not using the functionality we are supposed to #to mark it as waiting for reply from other teams!!#or they just straight up dont touch the tasks i am assigning them for 5h???#i dont really want to report them or anything bc idk i am no snitch #but this just makes it so that i do 2x the work they do because i feel responsible #sigh #corpocore #ilopost

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smuttysabina · 2 months ago

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The Office Problem

(Male Reader x Kiss of Life's Natty, 3.6k words) Tags: Office sex, Office gangbangs, Office relationships, More HR violations than your office handbook has room for, Vaginal sex, Creampies, Oral sex, Natty earns herself a fat juicy promotion, Also wow does she look really hot, Protected sex, Office politics, And a distinct lack of morals

Being a manager could be such a pain. When you were not busy fending off absurd requests from Corporate about the latest techo-babble, you were dealing with enough banal office drama to put a high school to shame. It was frankly surprising the amount of hijinks an office of a hundred workers could get up to, and if the company wasn't paying you so goddamn much you would have resigned years ago rather than deal with it every day. But alas, you always managed to stop yourself from hitting send on your two-week notice by glancing at your check, before sighing and carrying on. This past month had been especially grueling, with the arrival of a new hire named Natty, who had taken over as a clerk from Brenda in HR (who had retired and was now living it up in the Bahamas, and getting gangbanged by her "amigos" every night); and had turned out to be quite the slut...

The morning so far had been relatively tame, with only a handful of tongue lashings and praise to distribute. Frank from Operations had once more been reminded to stop pissing all over the floor, and Betsy from Sales had been firmly rejoined for harassing old mister Shultz about his supposedly monster dong (you had it on good authority that the man was in fact packing, provided you shove several viagra down his throat first). The accountants had been congratulated for somehow conspiring to pay everyone on time, presumably on accident, and the lead janitor consulted regarding the onset of stains appearing all over the office. You therefore had time in your schedule to ask your secretary to call in the newest problem child to grace your loveless little nest, and you idly mute the Teams meeting with the C-suite you were in and jot down some notes while you wait. Five minutes later and the Office Problem flounces in, all silken curves and bubbly youthful energy crammed into an outfit that would have gotten her sent to HR had she not been HR. She was also wearing knee-high heeled boots for some bizarre reason.

One Ms. Natty (nobody bothered to use her last name) languidly slides into the proffered chair in front of your desk, preening at your attention and wiggling her body to better present her assets for your inspection. No doubt her young mind was stuffed full of erotic delusions about what was going to happen in your cozy corner office, but you were quite simply going to fire her skanky ass. It had barely been a month and already it was an open secret that Natty was the office bicycle, which you ordinarily wouldn't have minded, free-use sluts kept morale up, except for the fact that she was unable to control her passions in the workplace. You had walked in on her engaging in sexual activity no less than nine separate times, with different partners during each occurrence no less! And the janitors were, in a word, growing more than a touch annoyed about having to clean up spilled sexual fluids as if they were working at a whorehouse or the like.

The first time, you had found Natty squatting down in the break room, stroking an employee with either hand while sucking them off with an enthusiasm that was dearly lacking in her workflow. Then you had spotted one of the Sales ladies munching on her cunt like she was starving, and the third time you had caught her next to the supply closet getting her shelves rearranged. Natty had also been responsible for the traffic jam around the bathroom last Tuesday, where apparently most of the male office staff had lined up to plow her nubile holes, and next you had eyed her grinding rather proactively on Mr. Shultz's lap (who coincidentally had no pants on for some odd reason). Things had only gone downhill from there, as you had observed her getting spit-roasted no less than twice in a row, before watching her getting made airtight near the printers by the interns, whose youthful gusto had resulted in a truly appalling mess on the floor. Finally, just yesterday you had found Natty elbow-deep in the head of Accounting, who was busy hosing the carpet down with streams of truly noxious squirt. Naturally, she was the most popular employee in the office, and had single-handedly caused a 28% drop in work efficiency.

So, leaning forward in your chair across the wide expanse of your desk, you stare Ms. Natty straight in the eyes, and calmly inform her that you were letting her go. Her reaction was, predictable. The girl starts babbling and bawling, her perfect makeup (god knew how she kept it up while getting fucked all day) smearing as tears run down her face, and she blubbers out a question, "But. But WHY, sir? It's only been a month!" to which you sigh and explain that her distracting the entire office was the issue, and also that her work was also noticeably subpar. Further tears follow, "Is-Is it because you've, um, caught me at work?" Natty sobs in realization, and you are forced to inform her that her promiscuity was not the problem, rather the sheer scale of it; nobody was getting any work done because they were too busy trying to fuck her! You recline back in your chair as your words bounce around her skull, Natty visibly pondering what you said before insight flashes behind her eyes and she gives you a sultry smirk, "Or is it because... I haven't given you any yet?" she beams as a slight flush rises on your face, "Oh, I'm so sorry, of course the boss should have priority! Let me..." Natty smoothly rises out of the chair and starts to saunter around your desk, her wide hips swaying from side to side. Sigh.

Natty perches herself on the edge of your desk, plumping out her bare thighs as she dangles one foot dangerously near your crotch, "So tell me, sir, is there anything I can do to keep my job?" She coos, seductively fluttering her eyelashes over her rose-tinted glasses, "I mean," she runs a hand down her chest to the clench of fabric obscuring her crotch, "You've seen what I can do, so," Natty licks her pouty lips, "What will it be, sir?" Nine times out of ten you would have simply laughed her out the door and told the little slut to collect her things on the way out, but you were feeling particularly... bored. It had been a year or so since you had gotten drained at the office, and you were curious to see if this common cumdump could match the costly escort you had brought in last time. So you roll your chair back a bit, and tersely tell her to try her best, and you will consider keeping her around. Natty's face lights up and she lets out a squeal before composing herself and hopping off the desk and sultrily kneeling before you, "Please, relax sir, I'll do all the work for you. You are the boss after all!" she giggles somewhat nervously before running her hands up your legs and slowly unzipping your pants, slipping a delicate hand inside to pull out your manhood.

With tender grace, Natty leans forward and kisses your cock, gently smooching every inch of it until she unlimbers your balls and gives them the same treatment as well. She looks eagerly up at your stony face for your approval, and when she doesn't find it she hurries along to the messy work of getting you erect. With your member barely stiffening under her demure endearments, she promptly pops your meat into her mouth and starts sucking on it like her life depended on it; which in a sense, it did. Natty's cheeks hollow as she strains to engorge your penis, her tongue lapping desperately at it as it slowly fills her mouth. Just as her head starts to bob though, your secretary knocks on the door and you hurriedly push your chair forward, forcing the young clerk to scamper backwards under your desk, where she retains enough of her wits to continue doing her job. Your secretary pops her head in, glancing around as she looks for Natty before raising her eyebrows in confusion. You maintain your calm as you ease your hips upwards, pining Natty's head against the underside of the desk as you force your length into her throat, causing her to gag as quietly as possible. You roll your eyes at your secretary, waving irritably at the closed door to your private bathroom and informing her that Natty was busy cleaning herself up inside after a substantial bawling. Your secretary snorts in amusement, as the girl in question snorts spittle onto your crotch as she struggles to breathe, tapping plaintively at your leg for you to relent, before telling you to call her when Natty needed to be escorted out and closing the door once more.

Natty was starting to use her teeth to communicate her distress, and so you relax, allowing her to pull up enough to gasp for air as she drools all over your genitals. After several moments mercy, you press upwards again, thoroughly testing her gag reflex as you lazily pump away at her face until her frantic coughing had subsided somewhat. When you finally roll your chair back, Natty stumbles out from under your desk, hacking up reams of spittle before looking blearily up at you, "I-I-Was that good enough, sir? I-I'm better at using my mouth than deepthroating, so can I...?" You flick her concerns away by telling her that it had been satisfactory, but that she needed to make you finish if she wanted to remain employed at this (laughably) prestigious company. Nodding frantically, Natty returns to sucking your cock, and was indeed better at using her tongue than tripping her gag reflex, until she abruptly stops and surges to her feet. She sways unsteadily before unbuttoning her short shorts and pulling them down to her knees revealing tantalizing hints of her dark vulva, "Um," she blushes, "You can use this hole as well, sir. But," she glances around, "Do you have protection? I'm not on birth control so..." You direct her to the proper drawer, and soon cool latex sheaths your erection before she kicks her shorts off and awkwardly attempts to join you in your armchair.

You refuse her however, telling her to clean herself out first, no matter what she claimed, you would rather not be fucking your inferiors semen out of her slutty hole, and she blushes as she leans back against the desk and complies. Shyly, she starts to rub at her clit, absentmindedly groping herself before remembering she still had her shirt on and pulling that off as well to reveal a lacy pushup bra that soon joins the rest of her clothes on your desk. Natty's body was classically curved, with much of her flesh going to her shapely thighs and ample ass, though her perky breasts were not unimpressive as well; even if she did constantly push them up to exaggerate their size. The girl pleasures herself in front of you, and once she has moistened herself up she puts her fingers to good use sloshing expertly into her slit. Judging by the sticky mess coating her fingers, Natty had indeed been truthful when she said that she always used a rubber, and soon she was gazing lustfully at your cock, "Mmmmph," she moans, "Can I sir? Please let me sit on it, I promise I won't disappoint you this time..." And when you nod in permission she hurries forward to straddle you, unbuckling and pulling down your pants as she reaches down and strokes some blood back into your diminished dick until it was erect once more. Then with a sultry groan, Natty sits on it.

Sordid heat douses your cock as it slips into the warmth of Natty's belly, her pussy devouring every inch of you until her vulva kisses your root. Her soft breasts press against your face as she wraps her arms around your neck, she looks breathlessly down at you, "Oh sir! You are so... big! You're filling me up!" Her body shudders as she slowly rises before sliding back down it again, her wet folds dragging along your rubbered shaft as she squeezes you tightly, "Please," she gasps, "Cum in me whenever you want, I'll ride you-Oh! Until you finish!" Natty bounces enthusiastically on your manhood, your crotch soon becoming soaked as her pussy drools down onto it, her hips plying the air as she does her best to work your load out. While her head might have been mediocre, Natty's pussy was snug and wet, and before you can stop yourself your hands move to grasp her cheeks, clenching her ass tightly as she rides you. She gasps at this sign of approval, "Oh, sir! Yes! Use me! You can fuck me every day I promise!" Then she cums on your cock, her whole body quivering as yet more cream splatters onto your skin, and with her face bright red, she leans down and kisses you hungrily. You were not entirely too enthused about it, but Natty certainly was, her tongue shoving its way into your mouth as she grinds needily on your dick.

Seemingly surprised that your cock remained unconquered, the young slut leans dangerously backwards, grasping your chair's arms tightly as she searches for the right angle to finish you off. Sweat shimmers on her tanned skin as Natty pushes herself in desperation, her stomach clenching as it grips your shaft for all that it was worth, "Just. Fucking. Cum already!" she hisses in frustration, before remembering her place and begging, "Please cum in me sir! I'm trying my best here!" And to be fair, her best was starting to work on you, your hands squeezing her butt tightly as your balls laboriously start to rise; until with a grunt you haul her back onto you and fully down upon your cock. Natty gasps in relief and pleasure as you finally give in and empty yourself into her, slamming her nubile body against you as you fill the condom with your load. You stifle a groan as her cunt tries to crush your manhood, squeezing it like a vice as it works out every drop of cum in your shaft. When you are finished, she collapses against your chest, breathing heavily as she recovers, her face nestled against your neck. Once she has recuperated enough, you slap her ass to signal for her to unmount you.

Natty scrambles off you, looking worried, but before you could rise she returns to her knees and starts pulling the condom off for you. She waves the swaying sack in front of her face before giving you a sleazy smile and emptying it into her mouth, swallowing every last drop. Natty grimaces slightly, before leaning forward and cleaning your crotch up with her mouth, her tongue lapping up her own juices, "Did-Did I satisfy you, sir? Please?" Her demureness returns as she looks meekly up at you, pausing in her washing as she awaits your answer. You muse upon it, while she had hardly been the best partner you had been with, it had been reasonably entertaining so... You nod, and grandly inform her that her position was secure, and Natty beams with relief, "Oh! Thank you, sir! Thank you!" and to show proper appreciation, she starts sucking you off again. Your dick was still sensitive from orgasm, so it was not long before the stimulation from her eager slurping has you rigid once more. You sigh in enjoyment, and make the sort of decision that you were paid six figures for. You idly inquire that having saved her job, what would Natty say about a promotion? At which the whore stops, and stares up at you in wonder before a grin breaks through her chaste expression.

Natty smoothly stands and bends over your desk, reaching both hands backwards to spread her cheeks to reveal her flushed slit along with her dusky asshole, "I would say," she purrs, "Pick a hole, sir. I'll be your fuck-slut any day of the week!" Fired by a lust that had been often diminished of late, you rise as well, shuffling closer and slapping your member against her sodden labia, causing her to moan eagerly. You grasp her waist to hold her steady, and shove your cock into her pussy until your balls kiss her clit. Natty groans, "Oh fuck, sir! I can feel you... wait!" She glances back in horror, "You forgot to put the condom on!" Whereupon you smack her rear, and cheerfully inform her that as your personal assistant, she would be yours to use exclusively, and so you would not need to worry about contamination from other employees. Natty's eyes widen as she processes this, before giving in and smirking, "Oh, so I'll be getting promoted from the office cumdump to the boss's personal cumdump?" she shudders, her folds moistening noticeably, "Cum in me raw then, sir. Use me however you want!"

And so you do. The clapping of her cheeks was thunderous, and it was a damn good thing your door was soundproofed for security reasons, otherwise the whole floor would have heard it. Natty moans loudly as you plow her from behind, her walls gripping you all the tighter now that you were fucking her unprotected. If anything, the risk of impregnation excites the slut, and you hear her muttering excitedly under her breath about getting knocked up on her boss's desk. Natty's pussy had been wet before, but now it was downright soaking, her juices running down your thighs as her lips slobber all over your shaft. With the added stimulation of her bare skin upon yours, it was not long before your balls are twitching upwards once more. Natty notices your thrusts deepening, and she eagerly urges you on, "Oh fuck, are you going to cum in me, sir? Please, do it! Make me your slut! Oh fuck I'm going to get pregnant!" she screams as you pound away at her curvaceous rear until with a groan, you empty yourself into her. This time your seed spurts directly into Natty's fertile pussy, slowly filling it with your semen as she shakes in the throes of an orgasm.

When you finally leave the warmth of her body, you stagger backward and collapse into your chair, thoroughly exhausted by your exertions. Natty looks winded as well, but she still dutifully plops between your legs and starts sucking her creamy leavings off of your cock, while your own gift to her drips out onto the carpet. Once she had done a reasonable job cleaning off the worst of the mess, she gingerly rises to her feet, grabbing her clothes from your desk and slowly pulling them on, "So...um," she coughs awkwardly, "I am getting that promotion, right?" You wave in acknowledgement, and Natty smiles smugly, "Also, were you serious about the exclusive thing? Because uh, I am kinda popular..." You consider this, the impact on morale would be significant if the office were to suddenly lose access to Natty's free-use holes, so... You compromise, she could sleep with as many women as she liked, but she could only use her mouth to pleasure men. Natty thinks about it, before shrugging, "Sure why not? Okay so, will you be needing me again today or...?" You dismiss her with some warmth, and once she has finished struggling into her tight outfit (her panties were no doubt soon inundated), she waves in goodbye and saunters out of the door as if she had not just been bent over and plowed like a cheap whore by her manager. Your secretary peeks inside thoughtfully, and when your eyes meet, you can tell she has inferred exactly what happened, and she winks knowingly, wiggling her tongue between two fingers to indicate your shared bond. Was there anyone Natty hadn't fucked?

With a tired sigh you roll your chair forward once more, and start mentally thinking about what excuse you could use to fit another HR manager into the budget, when you realize that while the executive meeting had been muted, you certainly had not been, and your camera had been on the entire time. Utterly mortified, you frantically unmute the call's audio as a dozen somber faces stare back at you from the virtual meeting room. But before you could muster any excuses they break into laughter and raucous cheers, congratulating you on your excellent performance! The C-Suite howl and pound at their desks in approbation, causing more than a few heads to quizzically pop up in front of them before being pushed back down again. You are shocked and more than a little relieved to hear that the executive team had extremely impressed, and were adding you to the fast track for promotions, they needed a man like you who could fuck on the team! After all, nothing was more tedious than having some prissy loser who wouldn't join in the weekly executive orgies! With that stunning information bouncing between your ears, the meeting ends, and you consider just what a morning it had been.

It seems like it would become even easier to resist hitting send on your resignation, mostly due to it being difficult to reach for your mouse while you were busy pumping Natty's nubile pussy full of cum.

#smut #kpop smut #Kiss of Life Smut #Natty Smut #Natty Fanfic #Kiss of Life Fanfic #Kiss of Life Natty #kpop fanfic

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sheerfreesia007 · 3 months ago

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Office Loner

Pairing: Lee Felix x Reader

Word count: 3,206

Content warnings: Fluff

Summary: You’re a bit of a loner at work but when Felix joins your department his nerdy ways manage to draw you out of your shell and the two of you become friends. But what happens when the office mean girl finds out the new hot nerd has befriended you?

A/N: Divider was created by @bernardsbendystraws, thank you for sharing your dividers with tumblr!

The office is lively as you walk in for your shift, you see some of the employees all standing around Dae’s desk talking about what they did this past weekend and you grimace slightly knowing that they’d want you to join in their conversation. Ever since starting at this office a year ago as a data analyst you had been pegged as the “loner” all because you were more of an introvert than the other employees here. You had at first thought it was an unfair assumption of you, you just took a little longer than others to warm up in conversation. You were always polite and greeted everyone in the morning when you arrived and said goodnight to them when you left, you just weren’t very chatty during work.

“Good morning!” calls out Dae and you turn to look at her as the rest of the employees all turn to stare at you silently.

“Good morning Dae.” you greet her quietly with a soft smile on your face.

“Boss man told me to let you know that there’s going to be a new data entry employee starting today. He wants you to show him the ropes since he’s going to be sitting at the desk next to yours.” she said, sounding self important with a smug look on her face as the other employees all snickered softly at her words.

You nodded your head at her as dread settled like a heavy stone in the pit of your stomach. You greeted everyone else with a quiet voice before escaping to your desk and seeing that the desk next to yours was still cluttered with all the old equipment that everyone just discarded when it broke. Sighing softly you set your backpack down and took your jacket off before gathering the broken equipment and began carting it all off to the dumpster behind the building. Once the desk was cleared off you grabbed the cleaning wipes and began wiping down the desk in preparation for the new employee.

It was at least another hour before you had the desk finally set up, it was clean of all dirt and dust, a new keyboard and mouse combo were set up and you were bent under the desk connecting all the wires for the monitor and keyboard when you heard your boss’ voice calling your name. Forgetting yourself you tried to stand up quickly only to knock the back of your head on the underside of the desk, you yelped in surprise and pain as you slowly crawled out from under the desk to finally stand up. You bowed quickly to your boss who smiled softly at you before he nodded his head.

“This is Lee Felix, he’s going to be our new data entry specialist and he’ll be working close with you since both of your positions go hand in hand. Please show him everything that you know about the office and workflow. And thank you for setting up his desk, I had asked one of the other techs to do it. I guess they forgot.” he informed you and you nodded your head silently before you turned to Felix.

You stood there shocked, staring at Felix with wide eyes, he was hot. Your boss walked away after patting Felix on the shoulder and you had to quickly mentally shake your head before you moved to let Felix set his things down. He was wearing a simple red and white flannel shirt over a black t-shirt and worn distressed blue jeans. His shoulder length hair was platinum blonde and he wore circular wire framed glasses, he looked the epitome of what you would think of when you heard the word nerd but he was gorgeous so it didn’t really fit to call him a nerd. At least not to you.

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope you’ll help me get comfortable with the job.” he says to you with a slight bow of his head and you flinch at his gesture. You wave your hands dismissively between the two of you trying to stop his formal gesture.

“You don’t have to be so formal with me.” you tell him softly and he smiles widely at you when he straightens his posture. “And don’t worry I won’t lead you astray.” you tell him confidently before moving to your desk and sitting down in your chair. Felix watches you quietly before smiling softly to himself and taking his own seat.

And that was how you had met Lee Felix, your new coworker who was now your pseudo responsibility since his job worked side by side with yours. You were staring at your computer screen with tired eyes as you tried to make sense of the data that had been entered and supplied to you. Just then a soft thud was heard on your desk and your eyes darted over to the can of soda that was just placed on your desk. You turned and looked up at Felix as he slowly lowered himself into his chair next to yours with a soft smile.

“Caffeine fix, I feel like we’re going to be here for awhile going over this stuff.” he said tiredly and you frowned softly at him.

“You don’t have to stay though, this isn’t your job.” you tell him gently gesturing to your computer screen and he shakes his head at your words.

“I can’t leave my desk buddy to work late. Besides I can help and it’ll get done quicker.” he told you confidently and sighed before nodding your head.

“Alright fine, can you double check the data from advertising? The numbers aren’t adding up for me and I can’t look at it anymore or I’ll go cross eyed. I’ll start working on the data from social media.” you instruct him tiredly and he nods his head at your words before turning to his screen.

“You know this reminds me of the spreadsheets me and my friends make for our gaming competitions.” he says with a soft chuckle and your eyes flick over to him curiously.

“You do gaming competitions?” you ask as you tilt your head to the side. “Like, what’s that game called? The one with the arena?” you asked softly as your eyes turned back to your screen.

“League of Legends?” Felix asked excitedly and your eyes darted back to him to see him staring at you with wide eyes and his mouth slightly gaping open. “Do you play?” he asked suddenly and you quickly shake your head feeling guilty as his mood suddenly dampens.

“No, my brother is into those types of games though.” you tell him fondly. “He’s into Wow and Valorant though, at least I think so. Those names sound familiar.” you say and Felix chuckles at your confusion.

“I play League of Legends and Valorant with my friends. Maybe ask your brother for his gamertag and I’ll be able to play with him when he’s on.” he says excitedly and you laugh softly at him before nodding your head. “So you don’t know much about the game?” Felix asked as he reviewed the data on his screen.

“No, my brother likes to talk about it with me though. It’s all over my head but I like how excited he gets for it so I let him yap.” you tell him goodnaturedly and Felix chuckles as he nods his head.

“Will you let me yap about it then too?” he asked teasingly and you blush softly at his teasing tone before ducking your head as you grin.

“If you want to.” you tell him softly as your grin softens while you stare at the screen of your computer. And after those words escaped your mouth it was as if you two had become instant best friends. You and Felix talked about everything and anything under the sun that interested you, your conversation ranged from gaming that Felix enjoyed to books and music that you enjoyed to even your favorite places to vacation around the world. It had become so easy for you to open up to Felix, he made it so effortless and you loved that about your friendship with him. But you weren’t the only one to notice how easy Felix made it for you to open up and talk to him.

One day after lunch you’re on your way back into the office after eating lunch outside on one of the benches around the company building. The weather had been so nice lately that you had started taking your lunch breaks outside just so that you could break up your workday. Normally Felix would join you after grabbing lunch for the cafe in the building but today Dae and the others had pulled him into going out to grab lunch. You had noticed that Dae had grown curious about Felix and had been asking him to come out for lunch and drinks after work lately. You weren’t too bothered by it, Felix was a very social person and loved talking to people so you knew he’d quickly make friends with everyone. You knew that you wouldn’t be able to keep him solely as your friend and didn’t want to hold him back from making more friends but the way Dae had been smugly smirking at you every time Felix agreed to go to lunch with her and the others or to go out for drinks after work was starting to rub you the wrong way.

As you entered your office area you saw that there was no one at their desks and were probably still on lunch. You then heard loud raucous laughter coming from the break room as you walked towards your desk. You could hear Felix’s deep laughter and you smiled softly at the sound, feeling happy that he was making friends with the others. But then when you heard Dae’s voice ring loudly mentioning your name you scowled softly and slowed your pace wondering what she would have to say about you.

“I’m surprised that you’re so social Felix.” she said cheerily and you could hear the others snickering softly. “You’re so nerd coded, I thought for sure that you would be the nerd in the office. But our resident loner still holds that title completely.” she said with a loud laugh. “She’s more of a socially awkward nerd than you are. It’s so nice of you to take pity on her and befriend her like you have.” she says to Felix and you feel your stomach fill with dread. Not wanting to hear anything more as your chest tightens with hurt you quickly walk past the break room drowning out the rest of the laughter from the others.

After lunch has ended Felix is eager to get back to his desk and the normal camaraderie that he shares with you. Lunch had been an awkward affair of Dae trying to make herself look good as you told him about how much of a loner you were in the office. She had warned him that you were socially awkward and liked to keep to yourself more often than not, which according to her wasn’t something that he should want for himself. Yes, she knew that you were an exceptional employee and were highly sought after in your field but you were so quiet and didn’t interact much with anyone in the office that it had left you alone.

Felix had effectively shut down her faux concern for him by letting her know that he could pick his friends for himself and that he didn’t need her help figuring out who were the good people in the office. Dae had been put out by his firm words but had quickly brushed it all under the rug with a huff and her nose stuck in the air. But now as he walked back to his desk he smiled brightly when he saw you already at your desk with your head buried in your computer screen.

“Hey, have a good lunch?” he asked fondly as he quickly sat in his desk chair and you hummed softly at him as your eyes stayed trained on the computer screen. He doesn’t think much of it knowing how engrossed you get in your work sometimes.

Felix continues to try and drag conversation out of you throughout the rest of your shift. He can tell that something is bothering you but no matter what he does to try and get you to talk about it you just stonewall him. He’s starting to get worried that he might’ve done something to upset you or that something really serious had happened when his normal trick of telling horrible puns and jokes doesn’t even get a little smile out of you. And as the hours get closer to the end of the shift he starts to feel desperate to make sure things are alright with you but you refuse to engage with him.

When it’s time to go home you get up and start packing your stuff away and Felix is quick to follow suit, he’s worried about you and doesn’t want you to go home upset or not have someone to talk to you about whatever is going on. He reaches out and gently touches your elbow, hooking his fingers around the crook of your elbow. You look up at him worriedly before you frown softly and he knows for sure now that something happened at lunch time and it has to do with him. But just as he’s about to open his mouth Dae calls out to him.

“Hey Felix! We’re going for drinks after work, want to come with?” she calls out to him and Felix frowns softly at her wondering why she would ask him that after what happened at lunch. He feels you tug your elbow out of his grasp after he hesitates to speak up to Dae and he turns his head quickly to look after you as you begin walking towards the exit of the building.

“I’ll catch up with you guys at the restaurant.” he says dismissively before rushing after you. “Damn she’s quick.” he says softly as he exits to the lobby and spots you already walking outside heading to the bus stop. He breaks out into a full run as soon as he makes it out of the front doors of the building and makes a beeline straight for you. He’s moving too quickly and has no time to stop himself as he nears you, so he wraps an arm around waist and pulls you close as he slows his run, effectively sweeping you up in his arms as he comes to stop a few feet from where you had been walking. You stare up at him blinking owlishly as you lower your hand that had been raising to put your earbud in your ear. He huffs softly at you as you continue to blink up at him while he holds you close, you’re adorable and he momentarily forgets why he ran after you. But then you both hear your coworker exiting the building and you’re quick to right yourself and step out of his arms. “Are you okay?” he asks softly and you look over at him before shrugging your shoulders.

“I’m fine.” you tell him softly before your eyes dart to the other coworkers who are looking over at the two of you. “You should go out with your friends and not worry about the loner nerd in the office.” you say sarcastically and Felix feels understanding wash over him and he huffs softly at you while grimacing.

“You must’ve heard what Dae had said about you at lunch.” he said softly and you scowl softly at the ground for a moment. “But I bet you didn’t stick around to hear what I said to her.” he says knowingly and your eyes dart up to look at him curiously. “I told Dae off for calling you a loner nerd. She’s a bit a pompous mean girl isn’t she?” he asked softly and you scoffed at his question.

“Always has been. I don’t like talking to her because she’ll use anything to get her way and climb the corporate ladder.” you tell him honestly and he nods his head at your words.

“Yeah I figured that.” he said while nodding his head as he stepped closer to you. “I shut her down though. Told her that while you may be a loner you certainly weren’t a nerd and I took that title very seriously. Also told her that you were kinder to me and everyone in the office than anyone else even if you weren’t super comfortable talking with others and took a hot minute to warm up to people. Told her that even if you didn’t understand all the things that I loved and enjoyed you always listened to me and let me talk about them while we worked and that meant more to me then going out for drinks or lunch. You showed me that you care about me just by listening and trying to understand the things that I loved.” he said softly and watched delightedly as your eyes widened at his words. “Dae didn’t like that at all and hated it even more when I asked everyone at lunch to stop calling you a loner. Because you’re not, they're just too impatient to allow you time to warm up to them.” he told you and you gasped softly at his words which made him smirk proudly.

“Why would you stick your neck out for me like that? Dae will make your life hell.” you said knowingly and Felix frowned softly at the knowledge that Dae hadn’t made your worklife easy.

“You were my first friend here. You showed me how easy it is to be kind to people even when there’s a slight disconnect. You’re always so secure in your life and don’t need to bow down or pander to the workplace social life to be happy, you’re just happy to come in, do your job, talk to me and then go home. Plus I’ve had a little bit of a crush on you since my first month of working here.” he admits softly and you jerk back in surprise and he grins down at you. “So what do you say to going out for a dinner date with this office nerd?” he asks smoothly and his excitement gets the better of him as he giggles proudly while widening his eyes. “That was so smooth of me.” he says in a soft whisper that makes you burst out into happy laughter as you reach out and grab his forearm.

“That was super smooth of you until you ruined it. But yes I’d love to go on a dinner date with you.” you tease him and he giggles excitedly as he pulls you closer to him and begins to guide you towards his car.

“Don’t bring me down. My crush just agreed to go on a date with me.” he says proudly and you laugh at him while cuddling into his side with a bright happy smile on your face.

SKZ Taglist: @kayleefriedchicken, @babigriin, @inlovewithstraykids, @channiesrightasscheek, @kaiyaba

@bookswillfindyouaway, @m-325

#my writing #stray kids #skz #skz x reader #lee felix x reader #lee felix

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astrocafecoffee · 1 year ago

Text

Groom Persona chart Observation ✨

✨ For entertainment purposes only, enjoy ✨

~~~~~~~~~~~~~✨✨~~~~~~~~~~~~~

💖 1st house stellium in GPC means your fs maybe someone who is noticeable and stands out in social situations.

💖 5th house stellium in GPC means your fs could be an artist, musician, writer.

💖 7th house stellium in GPC means your fs could be attractive and socially adept, drawing others to them with their magnetic personality and charisma.

💖 Union (1585) in 1st house meaning meeting your fs while attending social events, gatherings, or parties where you can connect with new people/ professional connection/ shared interest.

💖 Union in 3rd house means you can meet your fs during short journeys or travels close to home.

💖 Union in 8th house means you may meet your fs in context where there is a shared investment and mutual dependency, such as through work, joint projects or shared social circles.

💖 Juno in Capricorn means your fs is known for their ambitious and goal oriented nature. They may be highly driven and motivated to achieve success in thier career, personal goals and relationships./ Could be famous too .

💖 Juno in Sagittarius means they can be a foreigner, philosophical and open minded.

💖 Juno in Taurus means your fs may prioritise creating a stable and secure home environment and may value financial stability within the relationship.

💖 Juno in leo means your fs may be confident, outgoing and enjoy being the center of the attention in social settings., Creative, generous, romantic.

💖 sun in 11th house means your fs is likely to possess a charismatic and Magnetic personality within their social circles ,may value friendship highly and their social network may play a significant role in shaping their identity and opportunities.

💖 Sun in 12th house means your fs may be introspective and contemplative with a rich inner world that is not always readily apparent to others.

💖 sun in 6th house means your fs may prefer predictable schedules and organized workflows that allows them to efficiently manage their time and responsibilities., Possess strong problem solving skills and an analytical mindset.

💖 Juno / groom/ Venus in Sagittarius or 21°/9° or in Aquarius or in 9th /12th house means a Foreign spouse.

💖 Venus in 5th - creativity, music/ art , your fs may have a strong desire for children or a nurturing instinct towards family life.

💖 Venus in 10th house - ambitious, successful, well liked , respected spouse.

💖 Fama in 1st / 7th house - could be famous spouse.

💖 POF in 4th house - fs may have a deep connection to their cultural background or family traditions., May have interest in real estate or property related work.

💖 leo rising means your fs may have a strong desire for recognition and appreciation.may carry themselves with Grace and poise projecting on air of authority and nobility.

💖 Virgo rising -Fs may be modest and humble , health conscious, possess a discerning eye and critical mind.

💖 Scorpio rising - fs may have mysterious allure and a penetrating gaze that leaves a lasting impression on those the encounter, have a rich inner world with complex emotions that run Deep.

💖 industria(389) in 3rd house - your fs career-

musicians, blogger, public relations, possess creative ideas, small business owner.

💖 industria in Libra - your fs career may be something with public relations or marketing, art or design, legal advocacy, or event planning.

💖 industria in Aquarius - you fs may be in technology or IT specialist, social activism , scientist or researcher, humanitarian work or international development.

💖 industria in Pisces - creative arts , healing arts , oceanography or marine conservation, healing arts , charity work.

💖 Industria in Aries - entrepreneur, may thrive in leadership roles , sales , marketing, or sports management.

💖 industria in Taurus - financial sector, buisness ownership, agriculture, horticulture, real estate, painting, sculpting or in music composition.

💖 industria in cancer -

Hospitality, home based business, psychotherapist, food blogger, art therapy.

💖 industria in gemini - social media influencer, journalist, writer, teaching profession, tour guide , hotel manager.

💖 industria in Scorpio -

- psychology and counseling, detectives, private investigator, forensic scientist ,holistic/ energy healer.

💖 Industria in Virgo - doctor, nurse , scientist, data analyst, , office manager, project coordinator, teachers, or instructors.

💖 industria in leo - actors , musicians, artist, brand ambassador, publicist, marketing manager.

💖 industria in Sagittarius - professors , researchers, journalist, media, philanthropy or in social justice advocacy.

💖 industria in Capricorn -

Buisness and management, politician, policy advisors , civil servants, lawyers, engineering, architect, judges.

💖 Northnode in 7th house suggests that your relationship with your fs may have karmic significance., Soulmate placement.

💖 Northnode in 3rd house means your fs may play a significant role in facilitating your growth and development in the areas of communication, intellect and learning.

💖 Karma conjunct ascendent/ descendant - karmic relationship.

💖 your fs may share similar placement like your groom pc. Example - if your sun in Aries in GPC, they could have sun in their 1st house or at 1°,13° or 25°.

💖 Groom conjunct vertex - fated/ predestined encounter with fs. They may have a profound impact on your life and personal growth. they may serve as a catalyst for important experiences, growth opportunities and transfermetive changes is in your life .your relationship with them maybe characterised by depth, intensity and sense of spiritual or emotional connection.

💖 Groom conjunct Venus -

The conjunction of groom and Venus indicates are strong attraction between you and your fs. there may be a magnetic pull or chemistry that draws you together, fueling feelings of romance ,passion and desire. your FS may possess qualities that you find irresistibly attractive both physically and emotionally.

💖 your fs may be drawn to individuals who embody the qualities associated with the seventh House lord for example-

* if the 7th house lord is sun then your fs may be attracted to individuals who support their ambitions, encourage their creativity and contribute positively to their self expression. they may be drawn to partners who are confident, self assured and have a strong sense of individuality.

* if 7th house lord is moon - your fs desires a partner who can meet there emotional needs and provide a sense of comfort and belonging. they are drawn to individuals who are empathetic, nurturing and emotionally supportive. emotional intimacy is a priority for them in the relationship.

* if the 7th house lord is Venus -

Your FS values relationships highly and seeks harmonious and loving partnership. they may prioritise finding a romantic partner who complements their own sense of beauty and aesthetics. partnership is Central to their sense of fulfillment and happiness.

* if the 7th house lord is mercury - your fs places a high value on mental simulation and intellectual compatibility in the relationships. they seek a partner who can engage them in stimulating conversations and share their interest and ideas.

*if the 7th house lord is mars - your fs may seek a partner who can match their level of energy and enthusiasm and they may be drawn to firey and spirited individuals. they thrive on excitement and adventure in their relationships.

* if the 7th house lord is saturn - your fs value tradition and stability in relationships. they may have traditional views on marriage and may seek partners who share their values and commitment to building a secured and enduring Union.

* if the 7th house lord is Jupiter - your fs seeks meaningful and enriching connections in their relationships. they may be drawn to partners who share their values and aspirations who can inspired them to expand their horizons and pursue their goals with confidence.

~~~~~~~~~~~✨✨~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for reading ~💫

-piko💖

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seeingivy · 1 year ago

Text

my kink is karma

satoru gojo x f!reader

**loosely based on my kink is karma by chappell roan

an: based on a request from gojo as taylor anon <3 this one is for u

“hi honey bee.”

you peer over the top of your monitor screen to find satoru gojo, the executive account manager whose murder you’ve been planning for the past few weeks, looming over your desk. his inhumanely long limbs are fixed behind his back, bright ocean blue eyes filled with glee. and you’ve been through this enough times to know exactly what’s going on.

he’s caught yet another mistake that you’ve made. and he’s here to sick it to you, his favorite worker bee that he likes to irritate.

satoru gojo is a nicely packaged sewer demon that arrived two months ago, replacing the little old lady who used to occupy the glass office at the center of the workflow. she was kind, a little bit confused here and there, but she got her job done without making a fuss and that was all that mattered to you. she made you blondies for your birthday.

you didn’t realize how nice you had it until she was replaced with him. because satoru gojo was irritating, prancing in the way he always did – insanely tall and taking up too much space in your peaceful office – with a boisterous laugh, a strange sense of humor, and a tendency to be irritatingly perfect.

a stitched and tailored suit, designer perfume, and a sparkling rolex watch on his wrist. a pretty girlfriend that he bragged about at mandatory lunches, a shiny black mercedes, and a penthouse apartment in the center of the city.

you hate him. you hate how you can feel him scorning at the worn down ballet flats that you wear to work, the vintage watch you snagged from the thrift store, and the narrowed look that he gives to your public transportation card as you tuck it back into your wallet when you walk into the office.

“are you doing a sales report?” he asks.

“i’m at my job. where i work in sales marketing. what do you think i’m working on?”

you watch his eye twitch. the small movements – eye twitches, nose wrinkles, and the turning of his lip – you had been watching them, memorizing what exactly it was that pushed his buttons since he was so keen on doing it first. though, he would never show it upfront, at least not as openly as you do anyways.

that was one of the nice things about satoru gojo. that he was intelligent and perceptive – enough for him to know that you were maybe the only person in this office who didn’t like him. that you could understand his niceness was masked in arrogance. that you had no intention of kissing his ass like almost everyone else in this office did.

you loathed his very existence, the stupid jokes he made, and would rather hear nails on a chalkboard than the stories that he recounts from his weekends at his parent’s suburban villa.

“i love a great sense of humor!” he responds, scooting his long legs over to the side of your desk and hunching over to get a view of your computer.

he says it with a bright and sparkling smile, but you get the message clear and straight – i’d watch the attitude if i were you.

the smell of his fancy cologne tickles your nose as he leans over, his face nearly cheek to cheek with yours as he places a little manila folder in front of you. you heave a sigh, opening it up to your sales reports from the last week, each one laminated and with a dark red mark in the center.

“been looking over your reports. you’re getting a little sloppy with your math.”

you scoff.

“is that right?” you ask.

“uh huh. just make sure you count your decimal points and your zeroes when you turn in this one. i know it can be a little hard sometimes, big numbers and all.”

you bite down on your cheek, feeling the metallic taste of blood in your mouth. did he always have to be so patronizing?

“now why would i do that? i’d put you out of a job if i did.”

satoru clicks his tongue in cheek – one of the clear cut signs that you’ve hit one of his exposed nerves. that he’s a glorified calculator sitting in a fancy glass office with an arbitrary executive title slapped next to his name.

satoru gojo hates that you always seem to make that point every time he corrects you. and you’ll take any chance to remind him. that he doesn’t do anything worthwhile. that he’s a pretty face and just that – nothing substantial underneath.

“luckily for me, you’ve proven that you’ll be incompetent until the end. as long as you’re here, it seems that i will be too. i’d get back to it if i were you, honey bee.” he responds, the tone in his voice scathing as he walks back to his office, a glimmering plastic smile pressed to his face.

you have mandatory team building lunches on fridays at twelve thirty. it’s one of the things that you appreciate – that you don’t have to wake up early to put together a lunch from the leftovers in your fridge.

you cycle through every person in the office, rotating on picking up lunch that accommodates the budget and everyone’s dietary requests, and break bread to get closer to one another. satoru, naturally, goes over budget every time it’s his turn, and insists that it’s no problem – though he always seems to slightly mess up your order, while everyone else’s comes out perfectly.

and on the days where he isn’t choosing the lunch, he’s so irritating – complaining of a sensitive stomach – and instead brings a nicely packaged lunch that his private chef makes for him every morning.. three courses, always packed with a dessert.

one time you asked him if the chef wrote him little supportive notes in his lunchbox. you would be lying if you said it didn’t fill you with pride, that the small comment you made was enough to fill him with irritation for the rest of the work day.

“what are your christmas plans, satoru?”

you look over at your fellow sales associate, yuuji, and share a smirk with him. the two of you lean back, nursing your little sandwiches from the deli two miles down in your hands as you start the mental counter in your head.

every day before lunch, you and yuuji make a shot counter of things that you expect gojo to say during team building. common phrases that fall out of his mouth like back at the villa, my custom tailor shop, and louis vuitton – the normal trust fund baby vocabulary, naturally – somehow always make their way into the conversation.

you drink shots accordingly at happy hour after work. whoever’s word has the higher count has to pay for the entire night.

your poison for today was private jet. yuuji’s was timeshare.

“anne marie and i are heading over to her family’s timeshare in bali. they have a property over there – full pool, private beach and all.”

yuuji snorts. you roll your eyes.

“a private beach?” nanami asks, eyes raised as he neatly picks the tomatoes out of his sandwich and hands them over to shoko at his side.

“a private beach, indeed. it’s right on the coast, equipped with boats for excursions and stuff like that. the timeshare comes set with all of those.” he states.

“excursions.” you repeat, giving yuuji a wide eyed look as he fights the urge to laugh.

satoru looks over at you, a clear distaste in his eyes, as he leans back in his chair, legs spread wide.

“what are you doing for your vacation, y/n?” satoru asks.

“i’m going home with yuuji for a few days.” you state.

“right. that sounds exciting!” he states.

you can hear the message laced in that one too – a clear and pointed diss that he’s going to be spending his time at a resort with his skinny legged model girlfriend and you’re going to be going home with the one gay guy that works at your office and get drunk in the bar in your hometown.

“which airline are you taking?” satoru asks.

you grin.

“delta.”

“never been. i use my private jet to get around.”

you give him an exaggerated gasp.

“a private jet? tell me all about it.”

you’ve goaded him right into your trap – as satoru then says the word private jet a total of seventeen times, defeating the measly eight times he said timeshare – and delight in the fact that you’ll at least get to have a nice night out.

on the first tuesday back from break, freshly minted into five days of the new year, your co-worker katie shakes your shoulder aggressively ten minutes into your shift. you note that four days into the week, satoru has yet to return to the office and you hope that it’s not just good luck – that maybe he fell off of his duffy boat in bali and lost all his memory, rendered incapable of ever returning to the office again.

you pray that your new boss isn’t as much of an asshole as him.

you look up to find katie’s eyes wide, an excited smile on her face, as she leans down into your space. katie is one of the few friends that you have in the office, the third person who finds satoru and his antics irritating.

“did you hear about gojo?” she asks.

“every thing i know about that man is against my will.” you deadpan.

she giggles, leaning down to whisper.

“oh my fucking god. come here. you’re going to love this.”

she stands up, scanning the room, as she gestures for you to stand up, the two of you making your way over to the break room. you can’t talk so freely about him when his little lackey’s are still lingering around, who will most definitely tell him that the two of you were gossipipng.

and god knows that would only make his head bigger – knowing that everyone talked about him even when he wasn’t there. katie strides into the room, taking residence over the coffee machine and shooting nanami a polite smile, as she starts absentmindedly brewing a cup of coffee.

“he’s losing it.”

“who?”

“satoru. he’s going fucking crazy apparently.”

you snort. as if. satoru’s definition of going crazy would be mixing and matching different designer brands – like wearing a gucci watch with a louis vuitton tie.

“turns out that his glamorous vacation to bali with that raggedy anne doll never happened. she had a whole meltdown and broke up with him after his credit card got declined at a restaurant they went to a few days before the trip.”

you nearly choke on your spit.

“what?”

“apparently it was just a fluke, his card got momentarily blocked since he bought some new car. but she literally freaked out on him and left him stranded.”

you snort.

“there’s no way.”

“she told him that it was unacceptable. that she had enough.”

“well, i’ll say. she milked an entire designer wardrobe out of him.” you whisper, earning you a giggle from katie.

“i know! anyways, sharon from hr told me that he’s taken the past four days off because he doesn’t have transportation – he fucking crashed the mercedes when he was driving home from the breakup.”

“you’re fucking kidding. the g-wagon?”

“i swear to god.”

it feels a little mean, but you can’t help but delight in all of it.

that despite it all, karma’s real. and it’s finally satoru fucking gojo’s turn. six months of patronizing comments and arrogance has finally caught up with him. his pretty girlfriend is just that – a pretty girl who wanted to do nothing with him. the car he brags about has been demolished and at the very least his larger than life ego has taken some type of hti.

“oh, look, look.”

katie shakes your arm, the two of you peering through the glass window to see satoru climb out of the bus – the same bus that you take to work everyday to save money – with what you can tell from here is an unironed suit and messy hair. his tie isn’t even done properly.

and when he walks in, all you smell is the fancy cologne, with the faintest hints of tequila lingering behind. a smell that you only catch, because it’s one that you’ve drowned out on a bad day.

you and yuuji pick horrendous words for lunch – yours being luxury brand and yuuji’s being private chef – and much to your dismay, he says neither. he actually doesn’t say anything. just sulks in the corner and disappears as soon as he finishes the tacos.

you leave a mistake in your sales report. he doesn’t even catch it.

“can you close out my tab, toji?”

toji, the bartender who’s well aware of your antics – and perhaps even more upset than you are that your hoity toity boss didn’t play along well with your game today – gives him a nod, wiping his hands with the towel as he looks over at you.

“you too, doll?”

“no, i’ll have another before i head out.” you state.

he gives you a nod, shuffling off to the side to get yuuji’s bill, as you slump down on the bar, yuuji mimicking your motions as you both lean your heads against one anothers. and he leaves just as fast, pressing a loving kiss to the top of your head as you swirl the little ice cubes in your drink as you watch the bubbles fizz out.

“rough day, y/n?”

you shrug.

“same old – can’t really complain. you?”

toji smiles.

“you see that guy over there, at the end of the bar? this is the third day that he’s drank up my entire supply of tequila.”

you follow the line of his vision to see satoru – the satoru gojo slumming it in this rather disgusting bar, at least for his standards – his tie messy and the buttons of his shirt loosely undone sitting at the bar.

“him?”

“uh huh. broke up with like the only girl he’s ever dated, apparently. whoever she is, thank her fucking ass. he tips well over.” toji murmurs, giving you a smile as he rearranges the glasses.

you give toji a weary smile, pressing the cash down on the bar, as you make your way over – noting that tequila smell is not masked at all this time – as you slide into the seat next to him, tapping on your shoulder. and he looks over, the rims of his eyes red and eyes squinting as he leans forward.

“honey bee?” he slurs.

the smell is overwhelming.

“the one and only.” you respond.

you reach forward, sliding the little shot glass out of his hand and placing it behind the bar. you turn back to find that his hair is messy, whatever mousse that he’s used to style it has clearly run fraught, and his cheeks flushed pink.

“that’s enough for one night, gojo. let’s get you home, yeah?”

“huh?”

“home. the place where one lives permanently, especially as a member of a family or a household?”

he glares.

“i know what a home is.” he deadpans.

“perfect! let’s get you to yours.” you respond.

satoru turns over to you, blue eyes weary, before he shrugs and slumps down onto the bar. you roll your eyes, scooting your chair closer as you pull up your phone.

“i’ll do you a liberty. i know you’re probably morally opposed to taxis, so i’ll call you an uber. what’s your address?”

satoru reaches up, his fingertips brushing your wrist, as he snatches your phone and places it flat on the bar.

“no thank you.”

“toji will kick you out, you know. and he doesn’t even know you like that, he’ll probably be really mean since he has a wife to get back home to and all.”

satoru snorts.

“then i’ll just go to another bar. i’m not going home.”

you groan, noting that of course he was going to be stubborn about this too, and that whatever it was in your chest – pity, you suppose – was making you so insistent on making sure he didn’t die from alcohol poisoning tonight.

“what’s so bad about your pretty penthouse?” you ask.

he huffs a sigh.

“there’s pictures of anne marie everywhere. and i fucking hate that bitch.”

you snort, hearing such choice words about the barbie doll that you never had the pleasure of meeting, as you hop off the stool. you figured he was going to be more of the emotional drunk – crying and whining – rather than cursing her very existence.

“okay, c’mon. i know somewhere you can go.”

you feel bad for him as the night goes on. because he’s so drunk that he’s sobbing the entire drive back to your apartment, a horrendous mix of drunk ramblings about how honda civics are actually nicer than he expected and how he didn’t even know that this part of the city existed. your previous thoughts about emotional drunks were completely revoked.

he leans his entire weight on you as you drag him into the elevator, plopping him down on the couch, as you task yourself with making him a green smoothie before letting him pass out into the abyss. it’ll help with the raging hangover you’re positive that he’s going to have tomorrow – and you hope that it means he’ll spare you some kindness the following morning, for saving him from his imminent death and all.

you change into your comfy pajamas as the smoothie blends – a loose old dartmouth t-shirt and shorts – and pour it into a glass. you take a deep breath, bracing yourself, as you make your way back to the couch where satoru’s peeled his sport jacket off and unbuttoned his shirt nearly halfway down. you make it a point to not ogle his perfectly chiseled body.

“alright, satoru. this will help with your hangover tomorrow, just drink it really fast because it tastes horrible.” you state.

satoru looks over at you, completely unfazed by the green drink you hand him, and decides that he’s very shamelessly going to check you out. you can see it in his eyes – the way they follow your bare legs and your mismatched socks, before he looks back up at you and frowns.

“am i that fucking pathetic that you’re helping me?” he asks.

you grin.

“yes.” you respond.

satoru appreciates the honesty, gulping down the thick and tart smoothie that you made him, and slams the glass down on the coffee table after the fact. he wipes the residue on the back of his hand and shrinks into the couch – and you can’t help but shiver at how normal he looks.

it’s the first time that you’ve understood it, why everyone thinks he’s so attractive. he has soft and full cheeks, striking blue eyes that go perfectly with his snow white hair. a few freckles dot his nose.

“well, let’s hear it. make all the fun you fucking want.” satoru murmurs.

you roll your eyes.

“do you think i’m a bitch? i don’t kick people when they’re down. something you’re wholly unfamiliar with, i’m well aware.”

“you have no problem doing it in the office.” he states.

you scoff.

“you always start it. you can’t really get mad when i start dishing it back. and i’m a little bit better than you. i won’t make comments about you now that pretty malibu barbie’s broken your heart now because i have a shred of decency.”

satoru scoffs.

“you’ll just do it tomorrow, when i’m keen enough to fight back .” he states.

you sigh, leaning back on the couch, as you look up at the wallpaper pressed to the ceiling. it’s slightly peeling and you make a mental note to replace it when you get the time – which knowing you, you probably never will.

he was impossible.

when you look over at him, his eyes fixed to the peeling wallpaper too, but with glimmering tears sprinkling out of his eyes, though they’re slower and quieter than the sobs that he was heaving in the car. you wonder how much he really had to drink.

“you need to replace your wallpaper. it’s coming off.” satoru seethes.

“okay.” you respond.

you look back at the ceiling. you could give him some advice too.

“you should stop dating gold diggers.” you state.

he rolls his eyes.

“how was i supposed to know she was a gold digger?” he asks.

you laugh.

“it’s not normal to buy your girlfriend’s entire wardrobe. and her car. and her..”

“okay, okay, okay. it was a gift!” he defends.

“you know, normal people get a giftcard and call it a day. or a candle from target.” you respond.

there’s a whisper of a smile on satoru’s face as he sighs, before pinching the bridge of his nose.

“okay, well. i was trying to be sweet. her love language was giving gifts.”

you snort.

“shocker.” you deadpan.

he reaches for the closest cushion, before smacking it straight across your chest. you’re quick to snatch it from his hands, holding it close to your chest, as the two of you stick back to the silence.

“so what do i do?” he asks.

“what do you mean?”

“i dunno. never done a break up before. she was like my first girlfriend.”

you would understand it. you would, you suppose, if that was something you could relate to. being so in love that you can’t be with anyone else. but then again, that lingering question would always come back to you – how could you know that this person was the one if you hadn’t tried anything else?

in your very limited experience in your very short life, one thing always rang true – that the more time you took to learn, to experience, the better things seemed to get. you had a bunch of shit friends in high school and now you’re friends with yuuji. you had four different majors before you picked marketing because it let you be creative. you’ve dated four different guys but you’re still looking for the one.

that’s why you didn’t understand it – how people could be so one and done, on something so serious. granted, that’s probably how they end up with gold diggers.

“do you have anything of hers?” you ask.

satoru gives you a strange look, before digging his hand in his pocket, and fishing out his wallet. he opens up the little zipper, yanking a little silver necklace out of the leather, and placing it into the palm of your hand.

you feel your eyes widen a little bit, sparkling diamonds set in a little circular mother of pearl design, as you run your fingers over it. you shake yourself out of it, looking over at him resting his forearms against his knees, expectantly waiting for an answer.

“real cute. go throw it out of my window.” you state, handing it back to him.

“i beg your pardon?”

“so a window is an opening in the wall or roof that…” you start.

he lightly shoves you, before clutching the necklace in his fist.

“i can’t throw it out. it’s fucking expensive.”

you roll your eyes.

“that means nothing to you. you’re not throwing it away because you still like raggedy anne.”

“raggedy anne?” he asks.

“yuuji, katie, and i call her that. red hair kind of set that one up for us but…”

his eyes widen, as he leans forward.

“do you guys not like her?” he asks.

you shrug, as you stand up, wrapping your fingers around his wrist as you pull him closer to the window. the question catches you off guard – that he would care what the three of you would think.

you peek your head out the window – a few cars still milling on the street, the lights lazily changing, as he joins you and sticks his head out the window.

“i can’t, honey bee.” he states.

“yes, you can. it’s just a necklace.”

“but what if she wants it back?” he asks.

you fight the urge to slap him, as you stick your head back into the warmth of the apartment. he follows suit.

“you would go back to her?” you ask.

“i dunno. i –”

“she would probably only want to get back together so she can get this fucking necklace back. because she’s a gold digger! screw her, surely you could do better than that!”

satoru frowns, as he peaks out of the window again. and he makes the motion like he’s going to throw it before he looks back at you, nervously scratching at the back of his neck.

“it’s limited edition. maybe i should sell it and –”

“no. you’re going to throw it out of the window right now, on the count of three.”

“i really don’t want to. we should do something easier first.” he whines.

“one.” you state.

he panics. surely he couldn’t be serious.

“this can’t be how normal people cope. i could hit someone and give them a black eye..”

“two.” you scold.

“maybe i don’t want to be a normal person. i think that this is all –”

“three.”

you snatch the necklace out of his open palm and throw it straight out of the window. it makes a little clinking sound when it finally hits the bottom, the two of you poking your heads out of the window to now see it tangled in the sewage gutter that’s been dirtied by the recent rain.

“you threw her necklace.” satoru states, in exasperation.

“when normal people can’t do it on their own, a trusted friend does it to keep them in line.” you state, pushing back into the apartment and wiping your hands.

satoru follows behind you, his steps featherlike, as you reach for his phone and start scrolling through the contacts. he’s leaning his head over your shoulder, eyes wide as you pull up anne marie’s contact and hold it out to him.

“you’re going to make me block her too?” he asks.

“no. you should call her once and say some mean stuff and then block her.”

satoru’s eyes widen.

“mean stuff?”

“call her. tell her she’s a gold digger. that you think her voice is annoying or something.” you add.

satoru crosses his hands over his chest.

“that’s not very mature.”

“okay, but you’re back in dog years since you’ve been dating this girl forever. plus, i’d say it’s immature to be in a god knows how long relationship with someone just for their money. does she have any consideration for you?”

satoru pauses, like he’s mulling the thought over.

“if you don’t do it, you’re going to become even more weird and repressed than you are now.” you state

“i’m not repressed!” he whines.

“be immature! say a bunch of bullshit and then hang up! you’ll feel great – you…you’re supposed to do these types of things at least once. this is like a rite of passage.”

satoru gives you a weary look as you lean forward, pressing the dial button. his eyes go wide as you start whispering, gesturing for him to do it.

“hello? satoru?” anne marie says, voice confused.

there’s a considerable amount of sound behind the speaker, loud booming music making it very clear that raggedy anne is at the club while satoru’s moping it out in your apartment.

“do it.” you whisper.

“hi annie.” satoru murmurs.

you roll your eyes at the nickname.

“did you want something satoru?” she asks.

“yeah. yeah, i just wanted to say…” satoru starts.

“hold on one second.” she says.

there’s a murmuring over the speaker, which she’s clearly covered, as you start whispering. tell her she’s annoying! she won’t even give you the time of day on a phone call!!

“sorry, i’m back. i’m on a date right now so i was just trying to slip away.”

satoru looks up at you.

“you’re a bitch.” he murmurs.

you fight the urge to laugh.

“what did you say?” anne marie responds.

“you’re a bitch.” he says louder.

“good! say it again!” you whisper.

satoru has the whisper of a smile on his face, the silent support goading him on, as he keeps talking.

“you…you’re annoying. you have a really high pitched voice and every time you wake up in the morning, it gives me an ear splitting headache. and you…you look horrible in blue.”

the choice of words is a little middle school, but you’ll give it to him. there was a first time for everything.

“say something else.” you whisper.

“is that a girl?” anne marie asks.

you both widen your eyes, before satoru quickly hangs up and start laughing. you note that for your standards that was horrendously tame, but the glint in his eyes seems to signify that it’s at least done something for him, because it’s the first time he properly smiles after entering your apartment.

“how was that?”

“fucking great! she sounded like an idiot!” he responds.

“she sure did.”

“now she’s probably wondering which girl i’m with and working herself over it.” he responds.

you shake your head, pulling out the sheets to make the fold out bed for him properly, before you make your way back over to your own room. screaming middle school insults seems to sober him up enough, because he joins you in folding the sheets, a smile on his face.

“have you done that before?” he asks.

“done what?” you ask.

“throw stuff out like that? call an ex-boyfriend?”

you smile.

“mhm. my first boyfriend irritated me so bad that i took everything he ever gave me – a dried up bouquet of flowers, a necklace, birthday cards and all that type of stuff – and threw it in a trash can outside of the bank i go to. and the calling, i did that once when my ex-boyfriend decided to go to san diego for a trip instead of meeting up with me. he made it pretty clear for a week that we were going to break up on that day and i had hyped myself up for it, just for him to not show up. so i got pissed and called him then and there.” you state.

satoru’s floored.

“really? that’s such a dick move.”

“i mean, s’pretty standard.”

you’ve been on the carousel of assholes your entire life. but satoru shakes his head.

“i can’t believe someone would even do that. that’s unusually cruel.”

you forgot about that part. that with having experienced next to nothing, there’s a sense of naivety that comes with it too.

or hope. whichever word speaks to you more – and at the current moment, it’s the latter, only because he seems so genuinely downtrodden by it – so genuinely believing that people are meant to be good and kind that he can’t fathom someone being mean and selfish just for the sake of it.

you feel bad for him.

“that it is. almost as cruel as dating someone just for their money.” you respond.

satoru sighs.

“yeah.”

“that’s kind of the cool part now.” you respond.

“what is?”

you sit down flat on the bed, the sheets nicely tucked in and folded, as you pat the little spot next to you on the bed. he obliges, his legs stretching out a considerable distance past yours, as you cross your arms over your chest.

“this is going to sound really weird, but some day you’re going to agree with me.” you state.

“okay.”

“you’re going to feel a lot of things in the next few months. and then after the fact, when you’re really truly over it, you’re going to realize how real all of that was.”

“meaning?”

you shrug.

“you’re going to mope and listen to sad songs for a while. and those songs are going to hit like they’ve never hit before, you’re going to realize people have been writing about this exact feeling that you’re experiencing for years. you’ve just gone through a shared experience that almost everyone has, no matter who they are, of getting your heart shattered.”

satoru’s never thought of it that way. granted, he’s only been thinking about it for three days, but still.

“then you’re going to be pissed. you’re going to do a bunch of stupid stuff and you might even regret it a little bit, but that’s part of learning more about yourself. maybe you really do like to have the last word. maybe you can’t fathom it at all, seeing that person ever again. either way, you’re going to figure out something about yourself and it’s going to make it all the more worth it. that’s part of this entire thing – experiencing something new, doing things three, four, five times and fucking up each time, just to…get something out of it. figure out whatever you’ve got going on in this thing.” you respond, flicking at his forehead.

satoru rubs the spot, glaring at you, as you shoot him a smile.

“there’s no point in doing anything once. you’re going to live a really long life, were you really only going to date and love one girl the entire time? i know you must have more to give than that.” you state.

“do you not believe in marriage?” he asks.

you frown.

“who said i don’t believe in marriage?”

“i mean, you seem like so…hippie dippie. i get what you’re saying and…and i’m even inclined to believe you’re right…but where does that stop? you can’t go on experiencing things and people and loving forever?”

you smile.

“why do you think so little of marriage? do you really think all of that stops once you enter a relationship with someone?”

satoru freezes.

“you keep doing that stuff, but with the person you know is meant for you. clearly your relationship with raggedy anne must have been really, very boring, because getting to do new things together is the fun part. i’d argue that it’s even the point of even being together – growing into something new.”

satoru thinks you're wise. he thinks that he’s still leftover drunk and whatever it is you’re saying is coming out like poetry to him, that it’s singing to the tune that’s been going on in the background of his head for the past year, because really – his relationship was very boring.

it had gotten monotonous. maybe he stayed because he didn’t know anything different. maybe that’s why he was so obsessed with stalking your every move – making sly comments, finding mistakes in your reports - just because you were always so keen to give him a different answer, one he couldn’t predict, the only constant thing about you being that you were always different.

“your brain looks like it’s working overtime. you should go to bed.” you state.

“okay, yeah.”

satoru is still drunk. somewhat drunk. maybe a little.

it’s why he leans forward, to press a warm kiss to the side of your cheek. he notes that your eyes go wide, as you immediately lift your hand to press your fingers to the skin, your cheeks flushing pink.

“i was hoping you were going to give me like a thousand dollars or something as a gift for being nice to you.”

satoru grins. because again, it wasn’t the answer he was expecting at all.

“i could do that too.” he states.

you roll your eyes, before reaching forward to pinch his cheek.

“shut up.”

“you’re pretty.”

you’re taken aback by the comment, leaning back to cross your hands over your chest, as you eye him again. messy hair, swollen eyes, and pink lips from the drinks.

“you’re not that bad either. you look way better like this.”

“like this?”

“you know…no fancy mousse. creepy perfectly tailored suit. having a proper meltdown and all. not to be rude, but your distress might be the best thing that’s ever happened to you.”

satoru scoffs.

“you’re just jealous that i look so great all the time.”

you shake your head.

“not at all. i’m not into that at all – the whole perfect, rich boy thing.”

satoru leans forward, eyes wide.

“what are you into?” he asks.

you smile.

“did you really crash your car?” you ask.

he groans.

“you know about that?”

you laugh.

“i’m into that. you being a real person. i think you’re very funny when you’re drunk and you have the insults of a middle schooler. your hair looks very good when it’s all messed up like this and your very genuine enthusiasm and curiosity is very refreshing.”

“yeah?” satoru whispers, a glint in his eyes.

“mhm. don’t lose sleep over it, okay?” you respond, pinching his cheek as you shuffle your way over to your room.

satoru watches as you retreat, your mismatched socks riding up to your ankles, and he can’t help but wonder if you’re right. if he had missed out.

he hadn’t done anything. anything at all. you were three feet away – with an entire life he knew nothing about. the little scars on your arms were all a story, maybe from pulling something out of the stove too fast or falling on the pavement, and he can’t help but wonder what it all was.

if he could still gain it all, after years of falling behind.

satoru was always an overachiever. he was going to do this, he was going to do this now.

satoru stands up, legs carrying him to the door of your bedroom, as he firmly knocks on the wood. he hears something that sounds like a thud, before you swing the door open, your eyes adjusting to the brightness outside to find him standing there.

“it’s been one minute.” you deadpan.

“can i sleep with you?”

“i beg your pardon?”

satoru sighs.

“i’ve never slept in the same bed as someone.”

“huh? you and raggedy anne never…”

he shakes his head.

“i mean, like once, but it was by accident. my penthouse has two beds and i don’t know what it feels like to…sleep next to someone.”

you pause. and let your curiosity get the better of you.

“are you a virgin?”

“i am not a virgin.”

you laugh at the irritation in his voice, before holding the door open wider and gesturing for him to walk into the room.

“my bed isn’t that big.” you state.

“that’s okay. just…please? let me?”

you assume that saying no would be equivalent to kicking a dog while it’s down. it’s what you reason to yourself as you let him in, watching as he giggles at your stuffed animals and your glasses in the nightstand before he wraps his arms around you, his embrace warm around you.

you swear he kisses your hairline.

“did you just kiss me again?”

“hey. i’m experiencing new things. i’ve got tons of places i have to kiss you on my list.”

you snort.

“you’re bold.” you state.

“and you’re really very sweet. i really like you, you know that?”

you roll your eyes, before leaning back into his touch. it’s so innocent, so unlike any other guy you’ve talked too – so excited about kissing you on the top of your head.

maybe it’s a little bit less pity than you anticipated.

“do you ever think i could do that?” he asks.

“do what?”

“what you’re talking about? doing things four, five, six times…growing with someone and all that?” he asks.

you sigh, before placing one of your hands over his.

“yes, satoru. of course you can.”

the following monday, you’re greeted by a little box on your desk. you open it up to a giftcard and four target candles, accompanied with a little note and his horrible chicken scratch handwriting.

honey bee, heard normal people give gift cards and candles as gifts. but i’m indecisive so there’s four candles. also, they’re custom made and really expensive so don’t throw them out to sass me or make a point or something :O satoru

and you see him an hour later, a cup of the cheap office coffee in his hand, as he walks around talking to everyone in the office. his tie is a little bit loose and his hair is unstyled – and you think that it’s interesting, that he had taken what you had said to heart. and your previous thought stands.

that he really does look better this way.

he makes his way over after twenty minutes, leaning down and basically pressing his cheek to yours as he looks at your monitor.

“did you check your math?” he asks.

“do you want me to shove a pencil down your throat?” you ask.

satoru laughs and you can’t help but smile.

“did you like my gift?”

“yes. but i have a few notes.”

satoru stands up properly, leaning against your desk with his hands crossed over his chest, as he gestures for you to talk.

“do tell.”

“when i say candle, i really do mean one candle. and you know, i meant like an eight dollar candle. like the shit ones that give you allergies.”

“candles can give you allergies?”

“i get watery eyes when they aren’t soy or natural.” you state.

“noted. what else?”

“when i say gift card, i mean twenty bucks. not two thousand dollars.”

satoru whines.

“so many rules. you’re so high maintenance, honey bee.” he whines, cupping your chin in his hand and squeezing once, before shuffling back to his office.

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