#my team are . a bit overqualified

[shikai-the-storyteller]

I'm so burnt out and stressed about a variety of things lately, but a funny / sweet coincidence recently happened that I wanted to share:

Last week, I had a university student reach out to me (via my work email) asking for resources / advice on their research paper because I've written a lot of articles about the thing they're writing about. (I just got back to them today and they were real sweet, I'm excited to see how their paper turns out)

A week or two ago, I had someone reach out to me on RA asking for some specific clip info / date info because they were doing a research paper about Pac, and today I saw that they published their paper and put a special thanks to RA in the notes :')

I just think it's very sweet and a funny coincidence that my work (professional and fandom work) is getting cited in research papers. It made me smile a lot, I genuinely love that.

[dynamax-vivillon]

doing the gym doing the gym doing the gym i can do this . <- has been putting it off a While

[catierambles]

Blood Moon Ch.11

Pairing: Syverson x Annalisa Caulfield (OFC)

Annalisa moved around her office in Pendulum, needing to get a jump on work. Sy would be by later as they got closer to opening to start the paperwork and meet the security team. Inventory counts, nights totals, police report from last night. The fact that Sy's brother was one of the suits that showed up was a bit amusing. She'd dealt with him a few times before and he was a decent guy.

The office door opened without a knock beforehand and she looked over at it as Eugene walked inside, his posture tense.

“Knocking is a thing.” She said simply.

“Why is your new boy toy put in the system as the new Head of Security?” He asked, his tone angry.

“Because he is our new Head of Security.” She said, as if it were obvious, and it was.

“A bouncer I could understand, the man is a neanderthal hick—”

“Don't talk about him like that.”

“But Head of Security?” He asked, “How in the hells is he qualified for that?”

“By being a former Captain in the Army Special Forces.” She said, “With multiple tours under his belt. He's a bit overqualified for being simply a member of security, don't you think?”

“Annie, you're letting your personal feelings impact your business decisions.”

“Excuse me? How? We needed a new Head, he needed a job and was qualified. It doesn't matter how I feel about him. If he had found the position positing online and applied, he would have gotten it. Because he's qualified for the position.”

“Just because you enjoy sleeping with him—”

“He's my Tovaras.” She said and he paused.

“Excuse me?” Eugene asked, his voice controlled.

“Sy is my Tovaras.” She clarified, “It's why he felt so different to me, why I felt so strongly for him since the beginning. He's my Tovaras de Viata.”

“He's a human.” Eugene said but she was silent. “He's not a human.”

“No, Eugene, he isn't. He's a wolf, like Ethan.”

“You're fucking a dog? Are you stupid?”

“Get out.” Annalisa said.

“Annie—”

“Eugene Dubois, get the fuck out of my office. That's twice you've insulted him and now you've insulted me. Get out of my sight and remember your place.” He looked like he was going to argue, but she just kept eye contact before he looked away.

“Yes, Lady Caulfield.” He said and left the office, closing the door behind him.

Sy walked into Pendulum, heading past the bar and Ethan taking count of what they had on hand. The club was quiet, the day lights on, the large bladed pendulum on the back wall behind thick glass stationary instead of swinging back and forth on a track like it usually did.

“Hey, man.” He called out and Ethan turned.

“Hey, brother.” Ethan said, “Heard you're joining our little gang.”

“Yeah, Annie offered me a job.” He said, heading over to the bar.

“Avoid Renaud--”

"Eugene." Sy said and there was a beat.

"Is that his real name?" Ethan asked with a snort and Sy nodded. "Wow, okay. Anyway, he's pissed and on a war path.”

“Thanks for the heads up. He gonna be a problem for me?”

“He won't go against Annie if he knows what's good for him.” Ethan said, “Besides, she handles the staff, not him.”

“Yeah. You in their little inner circle?”

“The coven?” He asked and Sy nodded. “Not officially. It's only a vamp thing, traditionally, but I'm in on meetings when they have them. You will too, probably.”

“How many on the payroll are non-human?” Ethan was speaking plainly, so Sy figured it was safe for him to do so as well.

“Only a few. We're the only wolves that I know of. Sweeney, Shelley, and Frost are vamps, they patrol the floor looking out for trouble and take care of the VIPs. A couple members of security.”

“Yeah, Annie let me know about them last night during the drug thing.”

“Eugene, obviously,” Ethan said, “The other bartender, Jayce, he's human and in the dark though, so mums the word around him. Annie'll probably introduce you to the vamp staff privately."

"I know why I call her Annie, why do you?"

"Because she's Annie." Ethan said with a shrug, "I was in a bad spot after I got infected, half feral and dangerous. She took me in, got me straightened out, gave me a job. I know what you're probably thinking, and no, it didn't go any farther than that. She's like...I don't know, a big sister or a mom. She took care of me until I was able to take care of myself. I'd do anything for her, because I know she'd do anything for me. For all of us. Except maybe Eugene. Can't believe that's his real name, the try-hard."

“She's my Mate.”

“I know.” Ethan said, “Dude, my nose is hypertuned like yours. You carry her scent, and not just because you're bunking together. It's a part of you now. Just like she carries yours. You're her—the hell do they call it? Tovaras? It ain't just chemistry, Sy, it's biology. Speak of the She-Devil.” Annalisa gave him a look as she moved next to Sy, her hand sliding over his low back and he gave her a soft look.

“When did you get here?” She asked.

“Not long, just talkin' to Ethan about the lay of the land.” He said, his arm lifting to wrap around her shoulders. “Heard Eugene is in a bother.” Ethan snorted softly, turning back around to continue taking stock.

“Eugene.” He whispered, chuckling.

“He'll get over it.” She said, “Come on, let's head back to my office and we'll get a jump on the tax paperwork.”

“Taxes?” He asked with a note of disgust.

“Yes, taxes. You still have to file a W-2 and a 1099.”

“You been in this city since before it was a city, how do you keep people from noticin' that you don't age?” Sy asked.

“By knowing people who know people.” She said with a shrug.

“You sure you ain't in the mob?” He asked and Ethan snorted again.

“Yes, I'm sure.” She said, rolling her eyes. “Come on, bureaucracy awaits.”

The paperwork was every bit as boring as he remembered as he looked over the various tax forms and employment documentation.

“I haven't signed my name this much since I enlisted.” He said, throwing the pen down on the desk and leaning back in his chair.

“You were a Captain, weren't you?”

“Yeah.”

“That requires a college degree, at least a Bachelors.”

“Went into ROTC outta high school, Criminal Justice.”

“You have a Bachelors in Criminal Justice, a military background with tours overseas, and you couldn't get a position in at least the Police Academy?” She asked but he shook his head.

“I had an honorable discharge, but it was listed as medical. On-going complications due to injuries sustained in the line of duty. I guess they didn't wanna chance it.”

“Does the Army know about...” She let it trail off, but he knew what she was asking.

“Not that I'm aware of.” Sy said, “I was pretty banged up, so when they asked if I wanted to keep goin', I told'em no and they discharged me. Be pretty hard to hide it if I stayed in.”

“Probably a good call.” She said, “Besides, if you stayed in, you probably wouldn't have been in Bixby's that night and we would have never met.”

“Doors, windows, ya know.” He said and she got up from her chair on the other side of the desk, walking around it and going behind him, leaning over and resting on his shoulders, her hands smoothing over his chest. “I want you to meet my family.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. You already know Brian, but there's his wife and kids, and I got three other brothers. Pete and Jake are both married with kids, and Mikey is the youngest but is too busy bein' twenty-four to settle down.”

“Nor should he, at that age. Marrying that early almost never works out. You don't know who you are yet to settle with someone for the rest of your life.”

“How old were you when you got married?” Sy asked and she paused. “Annie?”

“You sure you want to know that answer?” She asked and he turned slightly to look up at her.

“Not so much anymore.” Sy said, “You weren't like...sixteen, were you?” She had been Turned on her wedding night, so however old she was when she was married, was the age she would be forever.

“No.” She said with a snort, “It may have been a different time, but there was still decorum when it came to marriage. Especially since children were expected from the union. I was twenty when I married. Markus was...well, a couple centuries past that, but passed his age as thirty-five.”

“Your folks let their twenty year old daughter marry a man they thought was fifteen years older than her?”

“Different time, remember?” She reminded him, “But you're right, twenty at that time was still considered a bit young, most women married at twenty-two or twenty-three. However, Markus was a Lord, remember? And wealthy. We...weren't.”

“How'd you meet him?”

“You're going to hate him if I tell you.”

“Annalisa.”

“I was a maid for his estate. It was one of the very few ways, besides seamstress or prostitute, for a woman to be employed. I sent all the money I made back to my parents as, because I was a maid, I had free room and board at his estate in the servants' quarters.”

“He was your boss.” Sy said, and she was right, he was starting to hate him. She had been twenty, a servant, and... “He held all the power. Over where you lived, if you ate, if your family got money to survive.”

“Sy...” She moved away from him with a sigh.

“Annalisa, the man took advantage of you.”

“Markus was never inappropriate with us, never asked things of us outside our job descriptions.”

“That don't make it right. It don't matter he didn't get frisky with the other maids, it matters that he got frisky with you.”

“The man married me, Kyle! Would it have been better if he got under my skirts and then kicked me out once he got bored?!”

“It don't matter that he put a ring on your finger!” Sy said, getting up from his chair, “You were twenty! Barely outta bein' a teen and he seduced you!”

“Doesn't seem to bother you.”

“Don't you dare.” Sy said, “You're a few centuries past twenty now, Annalisa, and even if you weren't, I ain't holdin' your livelihood and the livelihood of your entire fuckin' family over you.”

“Neither did he!” She yelled, “He didn't just fuck me in a hall closet and marry me to avoid a scandal, Sy! He courted me and he proposed because he loved me, and I said yes because I loved him.”

“The power balance between you—”

“For fucks sake, Kyle! It's been four hundred years and the man is dead! That Hunter forced holy water down his throat and I had to watch as his insides were liquefied! There was so much blood! And the entire time he was screaming! Even as it streamed out of his mouth and nose! A horrible, drowning sound! I could hear it for years afterwards! See him every time I closed my eyes!” He crossed the room quickly, pulling her against his chest as the almost violent sobs wracked her body, holding her tightly.

“I'm sorry.” He chanted it into her hair, “I'm sorry, baby. I'm so fuckin' sorry I dragged that up.”

“I couldn't save him, I couldn't help him. I had to watch him die like that, knowing I was next.”

“How'd you get away?”

“Eugene, he was a friend of Markus'.” She said, breathing through it, “He was too late to help Markus, but he was able to get me free and out of there.”

“And you—”

“Be pissed at him. I was eventually. I was a recent widow, having watched my husband die a gruesome, traumatic death, and he saw an opportunity.” She said.

“Go out to my truck, baby. We're goin' home, I'm runnin' a bath in that big bathtub of yours, and I'm takin' care of you. Okay?” She nodded against him and he dug his keys out of his pocket, handing them to her. “I'll be right out.” She just nodded again, palming his keys and pulling away from him, leaving her office.

“Annie?” He heard Eugene's voice out in the hall and there was a snarl in the back of his mind. He came into view a moment later in the office doorway, his shoulders tense and his eyes burning. "What the fuck did you do to her?"

"What did I do to her?" Sy asked and Eugene stalked over him. He tried to grab him, but Sy twisted, grabbing his wrist and wrenching his arm behind his back, slamming him face first onto the desk, fisting the back of his shirt. "You listen to me, you piece of shit."

"Let go of me!"

"She was traumatized and you took advantage of that. Her husband, your friend, was dead and you helped yourself to his widow." Sy said, "If it ain't about business, you don't talk to her. No more visits to her house, you can talk to her here or at Tell-Tale Heart. Got it?"

"Or you'll what, dog?" He growled out, his fangs long.

"Or I'll rip your damn arms off and beat you to death with them. It'll take a while, but I won't be in any rush." Sy said and let go of him, stepping back as he straightened.

"You're fired."

"Not your call. Now get outta my face."

"The only reason why I'm not ripping your throat out right now is because of Annie."

"Keep tellin' yourself that if it makes you feel better." Sy said and stood there in the office for a bit longer after he was gone before leaving, heading out to his truck. Annalisa was sitting in the passenger seat, relaxed in the seat with her eyes closed. She didn't respond when he got into the driver's side, starting the engine and pulling away from the club, but her fingers did tighten in his when he reached over to hold her hand, entwining their fingers.

[hiya-im-mary]

SONIC RIDERS DLC- LOOKS WILL KILL

I remembers that one time someone REALLY COOL drew an ALSO REALLY COOL interpretation of if Zazz was in Sonic Riders,so I wanted to do it with my favourite zeti!! Lesbian Grass Flavored Alien Girl!!!! I mean Zeena!!!!!

I thinks she’d be a little bit more focused on fashion-over-function in some cases,but it’s not really out of her being dumb more than it is that she’s possibly “Overqualified” cuz she’s a Zeti!! With powers to control anything mechanical!! Like extreme gear!! Seems got this in the bag!! >;)

Also the idea of Zeena having arm and leg wraps is very neat to me!! I just thought they were neat!!! (Maybe I’ll rework these if I give her a Sonic Boom design!! NO ONE IS EXEMPT FROM SPORTS TAPE!!!!!!!!!!)

Also thinking about making a potential Zor design aswelllll!!!!! I love teaming up Zazz,Zor and Zeena together,and Riders is a mother game that loves teaming up trios…so I’m doing that too!!!!!! Again!!!!!!

But yeah!! I hope you like it!!!!!! :^D

[greenandhazy]

One of my coworkers has been talking a lot lately about how she feels like she doesn’t know what she’s doing at our job because she doesn’t have a museum background, and it came to kind of an emotional head a few weeks ago in which we discussed compiling some resources our whole team could consult as needed. We bought some books, highlighted some blogs, talked about setting up a slack channel maybe, and also put a standing educational department meeting on the books (which in fairness is long overdue!).

Except… in an email about the upcoming meeting, one of my upper-level bosses attached basically… a syllabus for the next three months in which we all read set chapters and watch a webinar and have regular discussions on slack, and I’m like.

1) I have a lot of other things I want to be doing during this time, things like designing programming and creating content.

2) I already have a master’s degree in this. It’s only been five years since I got it! I am pretty sure I’m actually the ONLY person in my department that has a specific museum studies postgraduate degree—everyone else has a degree in subject matter knowledge.

I mean a little bit of continuing education is one thing but I don’t want homework assignments like this as if I’m not already overqualified 😭

[headcanonsandmore]

10 on the doctor who ask thingy?

favorite companion ?

Ohhh, that's so difficult! I don't actually have a number one fave companion, I just have an amorphous list of companions that I love. Speaking of which, in no particular order...

Ace McShane. Brave, kind and earnest kid who beats up Daleks with a baseball bat because they called her 'small'. Was a queer icon even when it could be alluded to. The direct ancestor to all NuWho companions. An icon, pure and simple.

Tegan Jovanka. Grumpy Australian Lesbian just wants to complain about not getting taken to Heathrow AGAIN and cuddle her princess scientist girlfriend.

Nyssa of Traken. The previously-mentioned princess scientist girlfriend. A really sweet and kind person. Is basically the reason the 5 TARDIS team didn't constantly fall apart.

Liz Shaw. Ridiculously overqualified scientist who knew her worth and didn't put up with nonsense. Bit of a fashion icon, despite the silly wigs. Also, I have an aesthetic crush on Caroline John so... yeah.

Jo Grant. A sweetie-pie who just wants everyone to get along. Dresses in ridiculous seventies fashion and I adore it. Even the Master likes her, that's how lovely she is.

Corporal/Sergeant/Mister First-name-unknown Benton. Best boy. Sweet cinnamon roll who is too pure for this world. Literally has no flaws. Everyone likes him. The blorbo from my space show. His friendship with Jo is sweeter than a coffee with six sugars. And he's very good at making coffee.

Leela of the Sevateem: She's a bad-ar*e knife-lady who will cut you if you disrespect her. But, also, she's like... really kind and earnest. Great combo. Glad she's still around and apparently having sapphic rapport with Romana over in the Big Finish stories.

Yasmin 'Yaz' Khan. Capable, smart, brilliant Yorkshirewoman. Queer icon for the twenty-first century, as well as a fashion icon whether she realises it or not. Doesn't take any cr*p but is also so kind and warm to people. No wonder a certain blonde fell for her.

Donna Noble. Icon. Pure and simple. What can I say about Donna that hasn't already been said? Doesn't put up with the Tenth Doctor's nonsense and is also that incarnations platonic soul mate. Always looks out for the vulnerable. Like I said, icon.

Wilfred Mott. Everyone wants a grandad as wonderful as Wilf. A pure soul. Stands by his loved ones. Shot a Dalek with a paint gun. Love him. Love him so much. RIP Bernard Cribbins.

Thanks for the ask!

[kj-munch]

!! actno POLEASE! Why wont backspace worjk

DR CHARLES ACTON-DOLLO my bestie. its been a while since ive posted any legit lore with him and some stuff has been tweaked so im gonna do a pretty hefty recap, so forewarning this is gonna be long as fuck

starting in pre-canon, he used to be a high school bio teacher! he has a degree in biotechnology so he was a bit overqualified for the job, but he struggled to find work closer to what he studied for. he felt a little disappointed with himself for that, but he DID love his job as a teacher a lot, plus he had his husband murphy at his side! things werent perfect but they were damn close, and the two of them planned to have a child together in the very near future.

UNTIL the madness hit nevada full swing. plans for a child went out the window with the hellscape nevada was devolving into with no sign of improving. acton lost his job as a teacher, but was quickly picked up by the newly forming AAHW due to his expertise in biotechnology. things were shitty, but he was able to find excitement in finally becoming a respected scientist! one of the leading figures in the development of the MAG program in fact!

some time later, following a close call incident in which acton was nearly a casualty, his husband murphy convinced him that he needed to be there to help protect him. the two of them agreed that the best course of action would be for murphy to become MAG, as those are powerful enough that the risk of murphy being seriously injured or even killed on the job was very low. additionally they agreed to it because it was intended to be temporary (murphy signs a contract to agree to work for the AAHW in year long stints, at the end of each year long period he would be able to either renew the contract or quit and be cloned back into a regular grunt body)

but only around a month after murphy was magnified, he began showing signs of something having gone wrong. acton could do nothing but watch from the sidelines as the man he married rapidly devolved into a bitter, cruel and work-obsessed MAG agent who answered onto to law and snapped at anybody who dared try to compare him to his old self.

obviously watching this happen and not knowing how to help in the slightest, actons own mental state began to deteriorate. being completely loathed by the man who’s still your husband on paper does things to a guy! especially when youre the head of the department dedicated to monitoring him and youre forced to interact with him almost daily! acton began to avoid law in face to face interactions the best he could, but his job position and his own desperate attachment never let him go too far

this went on for months, the tension on both ends only continuing to build until eventually it finally all came to a head. during a standard monitored training session, law snapped and attempted to murder acton. as a heat of the moment decision it was poorly planned. law shatters and reaches through the observation window and manages to kill several other scientists in the project law team in his attempt to reach acton. (important side tangent i shoulda mentioned earlier probably but w/e, when murphy was magnified they implanted a remotely controlled detonator in the back of his neck. as a powerful and dangerous MAG, this was intended as a safety measure in the case he ever turned on his fellow agents. as the head of the project law team, acton was entrusted with the controller)

actons remaining attachment made him hesitate to resort to the detonator, along with a mix of shock at what he was seeing. he hesitated long enough for several other people in the room to die, in which acton finally activated the controller and killed law.

despite everything, acton cant bear to lose law. hes beat down by months of open hatred from him, but he’s still desperately hopeful that murphy has to be in there somewhere. he goes back and forth with AAHW higher-ups to negotiate laws revival, which is eventually granted. learning this news, the remaining members of the project law team (many of which actually good friends of acton) turn on him and are hurt and shocked that he could STILL be defending law after EVERYTHING. many refuse to work with him and demand to be moved to a different department.

when law is revived approximately a week after his death, acton is the one to greet him. the conversation goes south fast and law lets loose how deeply his loathing runs, for acton AND himself. law doesnt attempt to physically harm him again, and i want to depict this scene in art one day so i wont go too in depth now, but actons still left deeply wounded.

with his social circles now COMPLETELY destroyed and having no one to talk to, acton finally just relents under the pressure. barely a week after laws revival, acton quietly dissents and goes completely off the grid. hes working under his own contract and cant simply quit, as a higher ranking scientist he has too much insider knowledge to risk trying to escape to another city where he could still live in some sort of comfort. he’s forced to completely go it alone.

actons time after his dissent is 90% spent feeling miserable and sorry for himself, and 10% scavenging for the bare minimum resources to keep himself alive. hes a weak scientist, he’s not built for surviving on his own out in the wastes, and he only manages to scrape by by laying low and hiding from any passerby. this doesnt always work, a few times he is found by bandits who rob him for what little belongings he has, and beat the shit out of him for the fun of it.

its a fucking miserable existence. but hes afraid to die, so he spends his last days thinking about what he couldve done different. how he couldve saved murphy, or not let it happen in the first place. he reminisces on the good old days quite a bit too. ultimately hes just wasting away out there, a far cry from the bright-eyed respected top scientist he once was.

[bathboysblog]

Bathboy, i cannot FATHOM you leaving us with your monster au drabble and not writing anything on it. do you do requests? or just, general hc dumping stuff? didnt know since you dont have a lot of interaction here. but anyhow!!! can you write something for your zombie Alyx scenario? maybe Gordon discovering her transformation?

:eyes: i know who you are, anon. and oh my lord, i forgot all about the monster au, rediscovering my love for non-human characters. warning for body horror and a bit of fighting gore. also, lots of angst.

-Draw-

Gordon wasn't selfish, he wasn't, it was only a means to survival. Lives had to be lost, some people were more important than others. Simple medics shouldn't be holding a rocket launcher to try and help him fight a strider, and groups of citizens should just run to safety while he took care of soldiers, but everyone wanted to play hero, even at the expense of their own life. It seemed reckless to try and have people stand head-to-head with him. ‘If a mere doctor could take down dropships, then why can't i?’ Well, maybe because you don't have the weight of a tank replacing your clothes, or maybe it was because your intergalactic time traveling boss doesn't save your ass whenever you're stranded in an alien dimension with no way home. Gordon tried not to get attached anymore, the blood on his hands mixed with the red of his enemies and the crimson of his own allies. Everyone was responsible for their own survival at the end of the day. That was not selfish. 

Ironic that Eli's blood was the only one that would be able to match his own, wasn't it? The man used to be so prickly at Black Mesa, stubborn and snappy, it made him infuriating to deal with as a higher authority. Despite Gordon's college degree, he was still in training under the Vance name to become a full-time scientist, only testing out the HEV suit in a series of flexibility tests. Instructions given out by Eli, mumbling behind his back and into overhead speakers, then something would break. The whole reason why he needed glasses was for a shard of glass that had nearly popped his eyeball. Being partnered with Eli's daughter was not, in fact, something Gordon looked forward to.

It was hard to see Alyx as an equal sometimes, and not in a higher position as her father had been. She seemed overqualified compared to the real scientist, being a skilled hacker and an innovative engineer, quick in combat and skilled in her vivid mapping planning. Despite how many times Gordon felt like dead weight on her heels, Alyx didn't seem to mind. From all the traits she had inherited from her old man, he was forever thankful the nitpicky nature wasn't one of them.

As time went on, the free man had become comfortable in his partner's presence. She's saved him from tight corners more times than he can count, crawling through vents and deactivating Combine shields. She was observant, shouting out a heads up when enemies were near and warning against faulty looking wood in old apartment floors. Of course, Gordon never listened, not catching onto the words as they were spoken and falling down to the sour waters of the basement. Alyx never seemed to hold grudges though, offering a hand to his sweaty glove and hauling him up to a higher platform to continue the mission. The other wished he had that type of patience, the effortless team qualities or the worrying heart. Those senses had dulled on Gordon after all he's been through, all he's taken. But he was trying, if only for Alyx.

Now, all of the progress seemed non-existent as he walked alone down a sewage platform, kicking a dead headcrab away from a half full battery to power his suit. He wasn't selfish, Alyx was only left alone for a few minutes, it's not like her partner completely abandoned her in the darkness. It seemed smart, traveling through the sewers to avoid the Combine, quickly getting to the next town over with some sort of hard drive, he didn't know, Gordon clearly wasn't a technology guy anymore. Though, of course, with City 17 being on such high alert, the flying little cameras were guarding the underground as well. One blinding click of a photo, and the next thing the duo was faced with was an army of white hooded soldiers barking alerts into their radios. If the sewers hadn't been so narrow, it would have been funny to watch zombies dance with the enemy. hop into some isolated office, guard the door, and watch the war win itself. Though such comfort was impossible in a place filled with the city's shit water, nobody spent their dayjob sitting down here in a cozy office. 

So, in a moment of quick thinking, Gordon had led the guards away as Alyx continued forward to take out the horde. Split up, take out two sides of the enemies, and regroup, a familiar tango that he had trusted within his ally to replay. As the white suits bled red, falling into murky waters and bubbling to pink, stealing their high-tech guns and taking the treat of ammo all for himself, Gordon’s metallic footsteps were the only other pair he could hear in the sewers. Had his eardrums been popped from the fight? Were the constant bullets vibrating past his head making him go deaf? If it weren't for the dim clicking of his flashlight, losing power every so often, that would seem like the case. 

Running across a familiar leather jacket, the fur of the collar ripped as claws tried to drag it to the concrete, there was no doubt in Freeman's mind that Alyx had raised hell in his absence, judging by the trio of headless zombies with the fabric under their nails. The woman had a strong kick, skilled in not only bullets, but in hand to hand as well, a technique not even Gordon had learned. He once watched a zombie get their jaw popped clean off with the sucker punch under their chin, the teeth exploding with its discolored saliva. That much she didnt get from Eli, the guy couldn't throw a real punch to save his own life. But then again, he has changed since Black Mesa, as if it was only yesterday. Well, it was, if only to Doctor Freeman. 

As a click of metal skit across the concrete, carelessly hit by the bottom of the man's boot, a slight sense of dread bubbled in Gordon’s stomach as he shined his light on the object. A pistol, the nozzle modified for a faster shot, tape wrapped around the handle to keep its grip through sweaty hands, it was Alyx's gun. She wouldn't just toss this, not the only weapon she had. But maybe she had found a new one, broken the right crate at the right time, pulled out a rocket launcher and blew up the horde. The image brought an artificial sense of humor to her teammates mind, no matter how unlikely it was. No, why would she just drop a perfectly good gun instead of storing it for later? It was kicked out of her reach, that was it, she probably gutted the zombie who slashed her and painted their brains on the brick walls. But no blood was smeared on the ground, only a glob on the handle of the white taped gun. The similarities between the image and the shade painted on the soldier's white uniforms quickened Gordon’s search.

Gasoline, the stench of rotten eggs would almost be overlooked in such sewers, if not for its sweet aftertaste. So Alyx managed to find a light after all, lit up some barrels and sent the crabs flying. The sound of prickling fire around the corner was bringing his search to a stop. A dead end, making sure to kill the rest before making it up the ladder to the surface, what a petty hit. Though, Gordon wasn't much different in his spite, a chuckle pulling at his lips commending Alyx for the extra sass. He remembered when a zombie threw his own loot box at him and broke the ammo over his head. He may have gotten a distasteful knot, but they had gone swimming in the coastal ocean via bridge jumping. 

Finally turning the corner of the hall, his glasses being lit up with the fire surrounding the bodies, the scene took him aback. It was a massacre, bodies and bodies of the dead stacked on top of one another, crawling through their own remains just to get their hands on whatever lay in the middle. Headcrabs dismembered at the base of walls, splats of their blood exploding the concrete, their spines bent at awkward angles and their limbs still twitching from adrenaline. For the first time since being reawakened, Gordon felt fear. Paralyzing, awestricken fear.

With his shotgun in hand, readjusting the grip to snap him out of his trance, the mere scientist felt like an outsider to all the gore. Just as in the basement of Black Mesa, screaming as a headcrab jumped at him, sobbing when an elevator of his colleagues fell to their death, the free man felt trapped in the sea of possibilities. 

… She had to have made it out of here. This was a zombie trap, he repeated as a body was kicked to the wall, trying to clear a path to the middle of the pile, she took cover and lit the fuckers up with a grenade. Picking up Alyx's ripped belt, forgetting about the hard drive set on fire from a spray of gasoline, she crawled out through a vent to wait out the storm. 

A vent? In the sewers? No, maybe she got to higher ground, managed to find a ladder, managed to find a door, or jump in water. She's waiting at a gate, she's trying to retrace her steps back to the entrance, looking for a flashlight, for fire flares, Alyx Vance is alive.

Desperate, he felt desperate to see the middle of the pile, grabbing zombies by the back of their shirts and hauling them out of the way, digging his fate in the middle of the circle. What if they weren't dead? Can zombies even die a second time? What if they start moving, start clawing at Gordons suit and dragging him down into their clutches? Anything was possible, but the feast of cooked skin and boiling limbs had to be peace enough to continue digging. 

A creak. The floor was uneven, metal was brushing up against the concrete, there was a latch under his feet. 

Suddenly, the worries felt stupid now. Of course Alyx knew the sewers better than him, she was a mapping expert after all. She probably knows the entire city by the back of her hand. She lit a bomb and hid comfortably below the wreckage, probably laughing as the bastard’s bodies hit the ceiling. It was stupid to assume anything less of her. The Combines greatest fear, Eli Vance’s pride and joy, the menace wouldn't be stopped by a mere trample of the undead.

Moving his feet to the side and hauling up the lid, the thick latch was heavier than it looked. Perfect, it won't open to any pounding on it, or any explosions, she was a smart fighter. 

Gordon jumped down into the new tunnels, almost slipping and busting his ass from landing on spidercrab brains. No rest from the wicked, huh? But, as his flashlight confirmed, it was dead, though not by any round of bullets or a wave of fire, it was bubbling with acid. How strange.

Moving his light to finally see the rest of the small cubby, to find Alyx polishing a shotgun or sitting in the dark with a lighter, resting on a lawn chair and lighting up when she sees her partner. 

‘Took you long enough’, the ghost of the voice teased, as if the dangers were nothing more than a firework show, ‘I was starting to think you forgot about me down here.’

‘I lost the hard drive, but I know a Combine base nearby’, Alyx’s body twitched in the corner of the room. 

‘I know my dad's message, we can just send them though that signal and shut it down,’ a spidercrab rattled in delight as it dug its nails deeper into her skull.

‘You know, so we don't get hunted again?’ acidic saliva poured out of her mouth, broiling the skin of her lips and leaving a hole in her throat. ‘I doubt the rebel base would appreciate the company. Guess the dangers only suited for a fine taste, aye Gordon?’

Alyx Vance’s face was mangled beyond recognition. Her arm charred black from the fire, her clothes steaming from the acid. The spidercrab had launched itself right into her eyes, burrowing itself into her templates and snuggling into its new host. She twitched again as the flashlight flickered, lopping her head to the opposite side and letting the weight lean her body. Claw marks in her shirt, rotten teeth sticking out of the flesh of her leg. Her voice breathed through her throat in a muffled hum, the skin of the hole flapping to the air. Sliding her knee back to her body and putting her strength back to her limbs, the woman began to push herself up against the wall, using her own blood as lube to slide up the bricks. As unbalanced as she was, blinded and deafened as her senses were shared by the spider, she mumbled again, trying to move her mouth under the tar skin of the parasite. Maybe a hope that she had been found, or a warning to any more enemies to stay back, that she was still ready for a fight. 

Alyx Vance was alive. She was stubborn and alive.

The fight had ended at a draw.

[tenmillionthfirefly]

Thoughts on S36E1 (Spoilers)

I want to go there. I've always wanted to go to Jalisco. I mean, look at that coastline!

My bro had never heard of voladores before and he said "They really went like: 'YOU KNOW WHAT OUR CULTURE NEEDS?'" My mom nearly died laughing.

I have a favorite team already. Chris and Mary! I feel bad for the dude, it was less than 30 seconds into the race and he already fell and got hurt. And then he said "I'm sorry," and Mary said "Don't apologize," and I instantly picked them. *Anna Leigh flashbacks* 😬 I do worry that Chris is going to have a tough time with the physical cost of the race. My second favorite team is Rod and Leticia because they're stinkin' hilarious!

Ngl, I think moving those rocking horses world have been fun! Memorizing all those luchadores seemed really hard though. I swear they did challenge just like that on Brain Games.

Then there was Karishma trying to jump through the loops. You know when you try to do a facepalm but you're laughing too hard? Seeing "Attempt #19" was enough to make me absolutely lose it 🤣🤣🤣 AND THEN IT TURNS OUT SHE WASTED SO MUCH TIME WHEN SHE DIDN'T EVEN READ THE INSTRUCTIONS AND SHE WAS THE ONE WHO MADE THE BIG DEAL OVER THAT! Those poor trumpet players. I could just picture them passing out one by one as they waited for Karishma.

I was giggling a little bit because Danny got so emotional over every single thing they accomplished. I'm very happy for him, but seems a little dramatic! I'm imagining him crying of joy every time they finish any little thing for the entirety of the race xD.

I must say, Rohan and Maya had it coming. I can totally excuse getting lost, but driving the wrong way on a one-way street? Making it worse and getting stuck in the middle of the road PERPENDICULAR TO THE CURBS? They deserved to be eliminated. And then we find out they're SCIENTISTS OF ALL THINGS

at least the overqualified young atheletic siblings got eliminated in the first leg instead of winning the whole flamin' race.

Welcoming Season 36 with open arms. I can't wait to find out what the two new countries are!

[harunayuuka2060]

*anonymous requesting a type a teen mc*

*then another request for type a teen mc part 2*

Me another anonymous: Can there be another part of type a mc..? Please...🥺

Satan: Um, Asmo? Why is MC looking at you murderously?

Asmo: Well, I told them that we would be going home after half an hour.

Satan: And?

Asmo: We've been here for like three hours.

Satan: ...

Satan: Why not just go home?

Asmo: Um, no? Look at them~. They're like a rottweiler~.

MC: Asmo....

Satan: ...

Satan: If you get butchered, don't blame me.

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

*In the House Of Lamentation*

MC: *doing Diavolo's annual report for tomorrow* *and they're doing it in a fast pace*

Lucifer: MC, slow down a little bit.

MC: *goes faster*

Lucifer: MC, those are important documents. You wouldn't like them to have some errors in them, would you?

MC: ...

MC: You're right. *goes to recheck the ones they've finished*

Lucifer: *sigh* And how's the party with Asmo—

MC: *breaks pen*

Lucifer: ...

Lucifer: Seems like it was awful.

MC: I will make him swallow a damn alarm clock next time he does that to me.

Lucifer: ...

Lucifer: Okay. But do you need another pen?

MC: Yes, please. Thank you.

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

Diavolo: Thank you so much, MC. You've finished all of the papers that could be done in five months. *chuckles*

Barbatos: My lord, I was thinking. Why don't we make MC our Royal Secretary?

MC: R-Royal Secretary? ME? *their eyes sparkle*

Diavolo: ...

Diavolo: Um... Don't joke like that, Barbatos. They're still too young.

Barbatos: I'm not joking, young master. Besides, I think they're overqualified to prevent you from slacking off.

Diavolo: ...

MC: MC the Royal Secretary. *do little jumps* I can finally add one in my future resume!

Diavolo: ...

Diavolo: Alright. Welcome to the Royal Team, MC.

[presidentbungus]

I really enjoy reading your headcanons and wanted to share one of my own.

One of the things I love about the mercs is that each gets their own different bit of crazy, like engie amputating his arm for science or soldier being a lawyer. Brilliant! I headcanon, though, that the majority of crazy attributes or unexpected skills is dartboard divided between soldier, pyro, demoman, and spy. Like soldier being licensed as a priest, lawyer, etc or how his crazy battle tactics often work out. Also, he and demoman would both be big history buffs. I like the idea of demoman being an expert in mythology, chemistry, antique weaponry, and translating ancient languages. You need someone to translate the writing on a temple wall, know the proper way to distill alcohol from any kind of produce, or know the deep lore and secrets of a place, demo's your guy! He'd also be the best at telling stories around the campfire. Building off of pyro being a ceo in the comics, I like the idea of them having a long and overqualified resume of similar positions where they thrive while also being one of the better mercs at working with kids or animals. I also love stories where they're portrayed as really artistic and creative. There's so much room for layers with them. Finally I like the idea of spy not only having the skills you'd expect of his field (like lock-picking, pickpocketing, or being multilingual) but also have a grab-bag of random skills he had to pick up along the way, which can be easily tailored to narrative needs. He knows how to turn an 18-wheeler on a dime because of several jobs and messy escapes in the American Midwest. He can free climb mountains and some walls because he was shit at lock-picking to start and his targets were really high up. If the team needs to steal a ship, he and demoman are charting the navigation by the stars. He knows the proper farming techniques and field rotations for three crops and three crops only from when he was deep undercover as a farmer. Bonus points if the random skills have special caveats, like he has memorized and can track the place of manufacturer for only carbon steel or his knowledge of electric circuits only extends to security alarms and wire taps.

Thank you for your time. Reading your posts has been very inspiring. I hope you're have a good day/night!

ooooohhuuughhhh this is good this is great and I completely agree! Soldier can definitely list off any single thing to ever happen in American history with 100% accuracy and unflinching enthusiasm (don’t ask him anything because you WILL spend the next two hours hearing about some war you don’t care abour)—and I think an important part of this one, actually, is that he sounds like he’s making it up but TF2 history is just that batshit insane. demo being big on like spells and ancient religions and stuff is a very important aspect of his character I think and I do wish we saw a bit more of it. he’s totally bomb at telling campfire stories, thank you for putting that in my head. Pyro‘s just doing whatever Pyro’s doing, honestly. I don’t have much to add to that because you’re so completely right. I think if the base like took in a toddler the general rule would be “don’t leave it alone with pyro lollll” but they’d probably take better care of it than everyone else ever. I love the fckunong image of Spy not being able to pick a lock so he just climbs the shit out of a mountain. what a king (in this one specific situation only)

thank you! this was very good and fun to read. mercs Having skills is cool and based and cool and I appreciate you for bringing it to my attention. tell me more whenever you get a chance! you have a good day/night too!

[prof-peach]

Do you ever participate in the annual battle competitions with your own team?

Never with my actual team, but some of the Pokemon who we care for want to partake, but don’t have a trainer, so myself and other staff substitute in, allowing them to battle with everyone and show off their skills. This means we battle in varied categories, depending on the Pokemon we’ve partnered up with that tournament.

It’d be a little unfair to bring in our proper teams, they’re a bit...overqualified for the skill levels we cater for with these events. These are friendly competitions, and perhaps Greys team are well behaved enough to tone it down, but my lot...eh, less so.

Edit: dude I just remembered that was a thing that people do seriously, like as an actual event, and not just that thing we do on the island every now and then. My bad Entierly! And no, I don’t partake, just don’t have the time!

[peaches-writes]

naturally

description: there’s something about bang chan, even if he’s not some senior crush you’ve pined over from the very beginning or a friend you’ve known forever, that just makes realizing that you’re in love with him as something that feels right member: chan genre: fluff, slice of life, high school au, college au, friends to lovers au, sports au (off season universe), campus dj au (if u squint), slow burn (?), fem reader word count: 12k wtf warning: explicit language, alcohol, a plot that makes zero sense note: idk what this is it’s so messy anw + @skzwriternet​

Chan came in your life quite late—both literally and figuratively.

The two of you were in the 12th grade when you met, at a time when all everyone cared about were getting into their respective dream universities and establishing a solid group of friends to call back once they’re already on their separate ways. He got stuck in traffic that day and wasn’t allowed entry past the school gates at first because he didn’t get his uniform on time while you and your group of friends were on time in class, completely unexpecting of a new addition to the group as you all worried about the upcoming entrance exams.

“Oh, look at that, new kid.” Minho nudged your elbow and whispered loudly close to you that day, gesturing to the spaces between the curtains of the window facing the hallway. Outside, Chan was being ushered to the faculty room at the other end of the hall by a teacher, head hung low in embarrassment that he stood out with his black hoodie and sweatpants. “And no uniform on the first day—I feel like we should adopt him!”

You didn’t pay much attention to it at first, shrugging before returning to your messy Homeroom notes. An election was to be held at the end of the week and maybe, just maybe, you were thinking about it. “A bit risky, don’t you think? Right before the exams.” You mused out loud, more to the classroom elections than to the transferee.

“Do you think we’ll get him?” Minho asked anyway despite the lack of interest in your tone, leaning on your side of the shared table with a propped up elbow. “Or will Dahyun and Bam’s class next door?”

The answer was given to Minho over five minutes later, when the gentle sound of your Homeroom adviser’s voice was interrupted by a knock on the door. “Excuse me, good morning, Ms. Park!” The faculty head, Mrs. Liu, peered in your room that day with Chan trailing behind with curious eyes. “I’m so sorry for the interruption but your transfer student is now here!”

In front of the classroom, Ms. Park welcomed Chan with a smile and clasped hands. “Ah yes, Bang Chan, finally! Come on in!”

Chan introduced himself in awkward giggles and a slight miscalculated step when he didn’t immediately see the elevated area separating the black board and the first row of desks. “Hi, I’m eighteen-year-old student Bang Chan and I moved here from Sydney, Australia! Please take care of me!” You remembered him introducing himself at Ms. Park’s request before being seated right next to Hansol on the other end of the fourth row.

Minho, who eyed the boy curiously the entire time, sat up properly after and told you, “I’m gonna ambush him at recess. You wanna come with?”

You knew even then that you didn’t have to answer the question because as the bell rang for recess time, Minho had dragged you over to Hansol and Chan’s table as soon as he saw you pick up your wallet.

“Hi, I’m Minho and this is Y/N and we’re about to kidnap you!” Minho exclaimed as the two of you approached the unexpecting boy, earning you wide eyes from him. “If you want to, of course. Y/N’s gonna be class president again by Friday and I’m gonna be fighting Moonbin to the death for basketball captain so we’re clearly overqualified to show you around.”

You remember Hansol toppling over in laughter while you turned away in embarrassment. Not that it was uncommon for the most nonsense things to come out of Minho’s mouth then—in fact, it was quite the opposite.

Fortunately, Chan was easily persuaded. “Uh...sure, why not?” He grinned with relief, pushing his chair away from his desk and picking up his own wallet before following you and Minho downstairs to the cafeteria.

You ended up helping him buy snacks from the cafeteria and showing him around what you deemed as the most important areas of the campus within the thirty-minute recess. Because of the short time, he met your other friends belatedly at lunch.

Chan came in your life quite late—both literally and figuratively—but you suppose it’s not that bad because you’ve been friends ever since.

Minho was ‘disappointed but not surprised’ when Chan tried out for the swim team instead of his basketball team—his words not yours.

Club Week was not actually a week but a week and a half, giving everyone time to either succeed or fail in the clubs they signed up for and move on to the next. Since you were elected Class President, you decided on sticking only to what you considered your most important clubs for senior year: Volleyball and the school paper. Minho, on the other hand, unfortunately lost his ‘fight to the death’ with Moonbin over the team captain title but he kept insisting that it was because he really was fated to be the cheer dance team’s captain instead.

“At least, it’s one less sweaty kid I have to worry about.” You jokingly assured Minho once Club Week was over. You and your group of friends were huddled on your usual table that lunch break, comparing training and review center schedules.

“Ya, what does that mean?”

“It means you’re in two sports clubs and you never shower after any one of them!” Dahyun points out for you across the table, earning her ‘ooh’s and high-fives from everyone. “You should be embarrassed, Mingyu’s on three teams and he literally showers on Febreze.”

“But I do shower, just not as religiously as everyone.” 

“Why not?” 

“Climate change!” 

You turned to Chan amidst the playful chaos, shaking your head in feigned disapproval. “Sorry, they’re five.”

The boy only chuckled. “It’s okay.”

“I’m glad you joined the school paper too, by the way.” You made sure to add, hinting that you saw him at your club assembly the week prior despite the large turn-out of people. “I heard from Jihyo at our last council meeting. Broadcasting, right?”

“Yep,” He nodded with pursed lips and an eye smile. “so you guys will hear me DJ for the rest of the year too.”

“Can’t wait.”

Chan’s first gig as the school radio’s DJ was the Friday that followed, in the middle of your student council meeting. He sounded nervous at first, which made you, Jihyo, and Seungkwan laugh while you were presenting your batch’s initiatives for the whole school year, but he made it out alive—and even included a shout out for you.

“Also, shoutout to Y/N! Thank you for showing me the ropes this month.” His voice echoed faintly through the hallways at lunch break. A pause then followed, what you assumed was Changbin and Jisung scolding him, before he snickered and said, “I guess Minho and Hansol, too! See you tomorrow, you guys!”

Ever since the 7th grade, you’ve made sure to follow each and every one of your closest friends’ extracurricular activies. From Dahyun’s and Jihyo’s recitals to Bam Bam’s and Minho’s competitions and meets, you were always there: half as a volunteer for the school paper and the other half as a cheering friend. It’s your way of looking out for your friends, by standing in the sidelines for support. 

So naturally, with the addition of Chan to your friend group, you always came to his swim meets with a camera, a write-up outline, and a tarpaulin you’re quite sure Minho and Bam Bam didn’t make while sober the night before.

“Like the slogan, dolphin boy?” Bam Bam snickered at Chan as he sat on his designated waiting area right in front of your bleacher. It was the final tournament for the semester and your two other friends have decided on a lazy ‘Let’s go Dolphin Boy!’ decorated in glitters and a Photoshopped photo of Chan’s head in a dolphin. “When are you going on?”

Chan turned to your group and immediately slapped a hand to his face in embarrassment. “Oh my God...”

“To set the record straight, Jihyo and I were studying together last night and Dahyun was at piano lessons.” You held your hands up in self-defense to an eyeroll from Minho. “The poster’s all on Bam and Minho.”

“I know.” Chan mumbled behind his hand, removing it slowly after. “I’m on in five minutes. And what happens when I do get a place on the stands?”

“Then we’ll stand up and wave this harder!” Minho answered this time, aggressively waving the cartolina and causing a few glitters to scatter on your jeans.

“Minho!”

Chan competed in 1500 m I.M. and all the butterfly relays on that day and only then did you notice that he liked competing in them more than the other categories. You took photos and noted the important details with Bam Bam’s agile typing on your phone throughout the event, up until Chan received his mostly gold medals—when Bam Bam and Minho did kept to their word and ambushed the poor boy by throwing the slogan over his head when he asked for a group photo with everyone.

“This is like the Avengers of extended friend groups!” Dahyun joked once the chaos has died down and you’ve managed to get everyone to prepare for a couple of group photos. “Now I’m even more excited for dinner!”

A couple of Chan’s childhood friends also came that day—Younghyun, Somi, Sana, Lisa, and Matthew whom you befriended after over dinner that was Chan’s treat. It looked more like a weird family reunion to you than what Dahyun thought but you laughed anyway as you adjusted your camera settings.

“Okay, you guys ready?” You asked the group once everyone’s settled down, arms slung over each other and bright smiles ready to be taken for Instagram updates. “One, two—“

At the center of the photo, with a big bouquet of roses and several medals, Chan suddenly shifted in his position under Matthew’s and Younghyun’s arms and asked you, “Wait, wait, wait...Y/N aren’t you joining?”

You shook your head, making everyone erupt in protest. “Ya, then who’s gonna take the photo?”

Minho doesn’t exaggerate it one bit whenever he recalls this that Chan literally bolted out of the group to pull in his nearest teammate to take the photo, quickly tugging you to him afterwards and positioning you right in front of him once the group photos were taken. You ended up with his arms and his bouquet draped over you in all of the photos.

With the college entrance exams fast approaching over a month later, you found yourself juggling your academics, cram school, Volleyball training, student council, and the school paper all at once. It was manageable at times, with the help of your teammates and clubmates, but of course there would be days when you would almost fall asleep on the spot at Saturday cram school, in particular.

Chan was no better as he balanced academics and cram school with his own swim training, the school radio, and preparing a portfolio for his talent exams at the Departments of Music for every university he applied to.

Fortunately, you both went to the same cram school with everyone else. Seated next to each other, you bought Chan coffee while he passed you candies and chocolate he would get from his mom through the mail.

“You, uh...” Chan nudged your knuckles with his softly one time, alternating his gaze between your open notes and the formulas being discussed on the white board two rows ahead. “The answer’s 2.”

“Hm?” You hummed tiredly, free hand supporting your cheek as you tried so hard to pay attention and follow along. The day prior was meetings upon meetings that lasted until 8:30 PM, pushing all of your time allotted for homework to midnight since you had to take the bus home. To say you were so tempted to fall asleep then was an understatement.

Knowing this, you saw Chan take the liberty of writing the correct answer on your notes through your half-lidded eyes, poking your knuckles with the end of his mechanical pencil after. “You have the whole solution down but the final answer is 2, silly.” He chuckled softly, discreetly passing you another gummy bear from under the table. “Do you even know what you’ve been writing?”

You nodded even though your brain was barely processing anything, receiving the gummy bear after. “I think so?” You mused out loud, making him laugh. 

“We’ll just have to go through this again later. You should’ve stayed at home and rested if you’re so tired.”

You found out later, when you were much awake to have lunch at a nearby cafe with Chan, that the boy took down the notes for you in a fashion similar to your note-taking technique for you to copy—and that he drew a small dinosaur on the margins of your notebook with a text bubble that said, “You can do it!”

Chan has made it a habit to bring you an extra thermos of coffee and drew little animals on your notebook whenever the two of you were bored ever since.

You showed up at Chan’s doorstep on his first Christmas Day in Korea, not really expecting to see his mom with his aunt on the other side of the door.

“Hi.” Chan mustered up a rather confused smile, growing even bigger and less shy right in front of you the longer he gazed at your own wide eyes and long travel coat. “Y/N, hi.”

“I thought you were—“ You unconsciously gestured to his extended family running around the hallways behind him, furrowing your brows. “Hi, um, should I just—should I just go?”

Chan furrowed his brows, instinctively pulling you closer to the doorway by your arm once he noticed the snow falling harder behind you. “What? Why?” He asked at the sudden proximity. “What’s up?”

His unintentionally blunt tone with the question definitely had you caught off-guard and flustered. “O-Oh, I just thought—I thought you wouldn’t be with your parents and siblings for Christmas so I came over.” You cringed internally at your truthful but rather cheesy answer. “Everyone’s skating at the mall today and I thought of inviting you because I assumed that you’d be lonely here with just your uncle and auntie...”

Another smile, an amused one, settled on his lips as you talked. “Really?” He mused out loud to which you nodded absentmindedly at. “We could go right now, if you want. My mom would probably tell me to bring Hannah and Lucas along, though, if that’s okay.”

Your eyes widened for the second time that afternoon. “W-We can, yeah.” You nodded slowly to both questions, breaking into your own smile.

“Okay, come on in first, then, it’s cold out.” Chan then took you by the same hand inside, closing the door behind him and leading you to the shoe rack for your boots. “My mom’s been looking for you and everyone else since they landed here too! You should be able to stop her from fussing over dinner so much.”

You met Chan’s parents and siblings that day, almost getting stuck in his aunt and uncle’s house because of his mom’s excitement at meeting one of her son’s friends in Korea until Chan smoothly brought up your offer of going to the skating rink with his siblings. You eventually left the house with him and his younger siblings right before Minho could text you that you were taking too long.

“You do know how to skate, right, Chan?” Minho asked when you arrived. He sat between you and the boy in question to rest his feet from racing with Dahyun, removing his skates and stretching his legs forward. “Y/N and Jihyo suck at explaining things she’s already good at and Bam Bam’s a deer walking for the first time so the choices for teacher aren’t really looking so well for you right now.”

When you looked over at him from Minho’s shoulder, he simply shrugged. “Shouldn’t be that hard. It’s just ice and blades, right?”

But it ended up being very much so, at least for him as he ended up reaching for yours and Jihyo’s hands before you could even run off to join Minho and Dahyun on their race. “Okay, okay, I was wrong!” He exclaimed dramatically, gloved hand meeting your own when Jihyo jokingly moved her hand away. “I’m going to fall over!”

“You’re doing fine.” You rolled your eyes in feigned exasperation, holding his hand anyway as you slowed your pace. His siblings then passed by the two of you, giggling over their eldest brother tripping on ice. "Look, even your siblings are doing fine and you came from the same place as those two.” 

“Chan, you’re being dramatic.” Jihyo added to tease him further, gracefully sliding away from the two of you. “‘It’s just ice and blades, right?’ You’ll get used to it!” 

Then, as if for unintentional emphasis, Chan almost tripped at this and instinctively held your hand tighter. “I really am going to fall if I let go.” He pouted, linking your arms together instead. “Can’t you really teach me?”

You unlink your arms, catching his hand again. “Fine, I’ll try but don’t cling to me too much.” You pointed out, laughing when he interlocks your fingers together. “You swim in deep ass Olympic pools back and forth like it’s nothing, ice shouldn’t be that scary to you, you know.” 

With that, you spent the rest of the afternoon teaching Chan how to balance himself on his skates (and getting him out of Minho and Dahyun’s way as the two circled the rink like two roller derby players). He perfected his balance at the end of the day but he still wouldn’t let go of your hand so naturally, you came back next year. 

And next year eventually turned into an annual tradition between the two of you. 

The exam results then came in the middle of your final Volleyball game which was probably not good for your adrenaline levels but everyone found it amusing.

Your team was leading in the final set, 23-22, and you could tell as you delivered volley after volley that your opponent was already losing hope. On the sidelines of the open gymnasium, Bam Bam and Minho held up the ugliest orange cartolina ever with ‘HAIKYUU THAT SHIT Y/N!’ in mismatched marker colors while Jihyo, Dahyun, Chan, Hansol, and Seungkwan screamed their lungs out for your team.

You’re quite certain the cartolina got confiscated by your coach after for inappropriate language, you’re not quite sure even at present because you never saw it again, especially when it was dropped to the ground the moment everyone’s phones started ringing because of an e-mail from school.

You noticed it from the sidelines, even as you and another teammate delivered the final volley that lead to your victory. Chan held your phone with a bright smile on his face, directing it to you after as you and your team huddled for a group hug and greeted the opposite team for the last time.

“Congratulations!” He greeted you as soon as you’ve celebrated enough with your teammates, waving your phone in front of you as he approached with everyone jumping not far behind him. “On both!”

“Both what?”

Before Chan could even answer you properly, you were engulfed in a big hug by Jihyo, Seungkwan, and Dahyun. “You did it!” They exclaimed in unison. “You passed all of the uni’s you applied to! We all did!”

Immediately, your widened eyes and agape mouth sought Chan for confirmation, to which he simply nodded with a laugh and a thumbs up. “No way...” You muttered in disbelief, gaining feeling back in your frozen legs after to jump along with everyone in your group hug. “No shit, no way! Congratulations, guys!”

“Congrats to you too, dude! You won twice today!” Jihyo pointed out, making everyone laugh. “We’re still on for BBQ, right?”

“Well, I can’t be the only one paying now since we all passed the exam!”

You got hugs from the others as well (and an extra one with a high-five from Seungkwan because he was just so hyped about your volleyball game), receiving from Chan last since he wanted a photo with you after.

“We could do a group photo, you know.” You tried suggesting as you held your Finals tournament trophy in between the two of you. Hansol has both of your phones side by side in front of him, adjusting the settings a little before taking the photo.

“We could but that’s for later. I need a new contact photo for you!” Chan insisted. Before you could comment on his ridiculous excuse, however, Hansol was already taking photos of the two of you.

Chan did set a photo of you from that day as your contact photo—specifically the one where you were pretending to dump invisible water from the trophy over him. It’s ridiculous and it still makes everyone laugh whenever Chan’s phone lights up with this photo.

Graduation celebrations naturally came after, as soon as Spring Break was over. Bam Bam threw a house party for your batch that was anything but sober and civil, the clubs each had send-off parties, and the student council planned a Graduation Ball which was mostly just yours, Jihyo’s, and Seungkwan’s excuse to dress semi-fancy and have Chan invite Younghyun to invite his band, Day6, to perform a whole set of their new songs.

You came with your friend group, or at least you and Jihyo convinced yourselves that you did since no one bothered to look for dates. It had been your finals before the Saturday of the graduation ball and, on top of that, the two of you were busy ‘student council-ing’ as Minho worded it, organizing the event with the school faculty and a few parents.

You did dance with everyone by the end of the night too, Minho pulling you along by the hand in a group hug as you yelled out the lyrics to Days Gone By—one of the last songs of the evening. “Finally you can join us!” He exclaimed dramatically, pressing a kiss on top of your head as he slung an arm over your shoulder. He didn’t actually need to worry about spending time with you since you’re all staying in the hotel for the night anyway. “Loosen up, will you?!”

On your other side, you could only hear Chan laugh as Bam Bam proceeded into the center of your big circle to dance, challenging an unexpecting Yugyeom nearby after. He stole glances over to you occasionally, a fond smile on his lips whenever you’d catch him in the act. He actually wanted to ask you to dance but decided against it last minute, growing too shy at noticing that the crowds are mostly dancing in friend groups rather than pairs until it was ultimately time to retreat into your hotel rooms.

“Goodnight and happy graduation, Seoul High!”

Fortunately, however, Chan made up for this by waiting on you after the dance. You stayed behind with Jihyo and Seungkwan for an hour more once the students have either gone back to their hotel rooms or migrated to the hotel lobby to wait for their rides home; Chan was more than happy to lend an extra helping hand as you thanked the staff and made sure that the packing up was done orderly.

“You did well tonight,” He complimented you sheepishly as the two of you carefully packed up the stage’s sound equipment. The microphone he was trying to remove from the stands was still on then, making his voice echo faintly through the hall. “organizing the event and all.”

Your face heated up against the now softer stage lights as you moved the guitar and music stands from the center to the side where a staff member was waiting for you. “T-Thanks, Chan. Did you have fun?”

He simply nodded this time with a sheepish giggle, passing you the microphones after making sure they were properly turned off.

After this, Chan politely walked you and Jihyo back to your shared room with Dahyun just two floors above the one all the boys in your class reserved for themselves

“Night, Chan! Make sure you’re not being too loud with the boys downstairs, okay?” Jihyo bid him goodbye quickly with a small yawn and a mischievous smile as she opened the heavy door to your room with ease. “I’m pretty sure Bam brought that wireless microphone with him again—and it’s probably Mingyu or Seokmin’s idea again.”

“Don’t worry we won’t, I’ll make sure.” Chan nodded sheepishly before waving goodbye to her. Once she’s inside, he then turned to you and said, “Goodnight, Y/N.”

You nodded slowly at him, a little hesitant. When he raised his eyebrows at this, you then suggested, “Um...I know this is sudden and it’s like 1 AM but you don’t happen to be in the mood for McDonald’s, right?”

“Seriously? At this time?” 

“I’ll buy you an iced coffee if you want.” 

So you ended up at the McDonald’s two blocks from the hotel where your graduation ball was held, wrinkled dress suits and all. You talked for what seemed like an hour more, played with the Powerpuff Girls happy meal toy he bought on a whim, and got scolded through calls and text from your friends because you didn’t invite them. Since this day, the two of you have been buying each other’s coffee from McDonald’s.

Bam Bam and Minho both moved further West in the city, the latter sharing his uncle’s old apartment with another friend of his, while Jihyo dorms with Mina, another friend of yours from another school, up North. Besides these, no one made a drastic change to move houses or dormitories from the area your parents considered near since everyone else attended universities relatively near. At university, especially on your first year, you, Chan, and Dahyun mostly stuck with each other; just now with the addition of Lisa who ended up attending the same university and Jacob whom Chan befriended in his classes.

Sometime towards the end of your first semester, when Bam Bam and Minho skipped school to crash one of your semi-finals Volleyball game, your now larger group of friends decided that Chan would ‘take one for the team’ and get a driver’s license for all of your travelling needs. He lost against Jacob and Dahyun of all people in the most intense game of rock-paper-scissors you’ve ever seen. 

Because of this, for the two weeks leading up to finals week, you ended up risking your life accompanying Chan to practice in his aunt’s old SUV. During this time period, he either took you to and from university as well or from your neighborhood to the bar and grill you started frequenting with him and the rest of your friend group. It’s not that he’s bad at driving, his parking skills were just initially a cause of worry for you whenever he was driving in crowded places. 

“Am I close?” Chan asked you on your first day of finals, leaning over your side of the car to check the side mirror. You had your reviewers for your Communications class glued to your face throughout the entire twenty-minute ride but that didn’t stop you from simultaneously being anxious of hitting someone else’s car right in front of your college building. “Can you check?” 

You opened the window and briefly peeked your head out, turning to Chan after and almost jumping at how close he’s gotten. “It doesn’t even look like you tried.” You laughed through your immediate flustered expression, making him lean back in frustration as he prepares to move the car again. “How long have we been here? Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.” 

Chan pouted, keeping a hand on your head rest as he now carefully re-attempts to parallel park. “Just five minutes.” He mumbles, alternating his gaze quickly between the front and back of the car. “So that means you’ve been studying well this entire time.” 

“Your driving is already good I could even sleep in, it’s just the parking that’s worrying.” You pointed out teasingly, leaning on his hand to glance back at the situation behind you and poking on his new arm bands. “Speaking of, you do know that you don’t even have to park, right? It’s not like you’re going to wait for me.” 

“But I’ll wait for you.” Your eyes met belatedly as Chan finally parks the car. “It’s just 30 minutes, right?” 

“It’s two hours, Chan...” You quirked a brow. “Didn’t I text you that?”  

“Really? Ah, well...I’ll just...” Chan chuckled sheepishly, clearly realizing his mistake at the last minute. “I can totally just hang around, I guess.” 

But the problem was, Dahyun didn’t have class that day, Lisa was organizing a club party, and Jacob was in his own volleyball training. Chan ended up loitering around the swim team for a while and impulsively buying you lunch because he didn’t want to waste gas. 

You bought him lunch when he passed his driver’s license in return. 

“You probably need glasses now.” You pointed out to him as you happily ate your Burger King inside his car. The nearest branch to the driving school he attended had a relatively big parking lot, making the two of you sigh in relief that he didn’t have to parallel park this time. “I’m pretty sure I texted you that my exam was from 10 to 12.” 

Next to you, Chan had his seat reclined and the windows fully open as he sipped on his Cola and munched on fries. “No, I checked it again the other day and you texted 10 to 11.” 

“What?!” When you do check your phones, only then do you find out that you did mistakenly text him 10 to 11 instead of 10 to 12. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Should I buy you another burger?”

Chan simply shook his head and snatched the ice cream cup you’ve been saving. “I’ll just take this, thank you!” 

“Ya!” 

The first time the driver’s license actually came in handy was on your first volleyball game as a university student. Chan went on a round trip around the major universities in Seoul to pick up all of your friends which almost caused you to be late to the game but you could barely care then—you were too pumped over the idea of all of your friends coming together to watch you.

Besides, Chan volunteered to be a courtside reporter for the game so you weren’t scolded by your coach alone.

“Good luck out there!” Chan nudged your side with a wink as the two of you prepared to enter the arena with your team. He made sure that he had his microphone off twice this time. “I’d really love to interview you when you win.”

“When have I ever lost in front of you, hm?” You teased with a grin of your own, just as the backstage doors opened to the cheers and drums of your university. 

And, true to your word, you win the game a little over an hour and a half later. With a small trophy passed around from your teammates and the promise of a day-off from your coach, Chan was the first of your friends to approach you.

“And here we also have SNU women’s volleyball team newest recruits, Y/N and Chaeyeon!” Chan introduced you and your teammate in front of the cameras. In the distance, you could see your friends then: Jihyo, Dahyun, Mina, and Lisa holding balloons in the color of your university, Bam Bam and Minho holding their usual embarrassing slogan, and Jacob jumping up and down excitedly over your game’s turn-out. “This is your first game and first win of the season, congrats! How does it feel, you two?”

Your eyes met Chaeyeon’s instinctively to your right, making the two of you giggle shyly. After a mini game of passing the microphones between each other, you eventually ended up answering, “Um, we’re very grateful that our first game gave us our first win as new members as well and we hope that we’ll continue doing even better in the semi-finals!”

“Yes! Everyone’s hoping so too, especially after watching your play today!” Chan commented, clearly going off-topic then by the way you noticed how his mini crew of fellow students looked surprise and even checked their own cue cards.

Once the interviews were over, you were then whisked away by Minho and Jacob—the former to catch up with you while the latter was so excited talking to you about your game.

“Dude you were so good out there! Like that serve on the first set that really riled up the opposing team’s captain? And and that over the net move you did with Chaeyeon! We should have a practice game sometime!” Jacob always talked a million times per second over things that excited him but you didn’t mind, at least now Minho had someone to compete with over who could say the weirder thing.

The interaction placed a rather childish pout on Chan throughout the ride to your promised Korean BBQ dinner, no one but Lisa paid it too much mind.

“Stop pouting you look ugly.” She said to the poor boy with a feigned judgmental face, switching seats with you earlier for the ride to dinner so you can discuss volleyball with Jihyo and Jacob. “Why are you even pouting? Something on your mind?”

“Nothing.” Chan only furrowed his brows and frowned, glancing over to you on the rear view mirror to see you laughing along to a video Minho was showing everyone on his phone.

it’s not Minho that bothered him, everyone with eyes and a braincell have always known that he’s in love with his current roommate.

Jacob, though...you play the same sport and are both equally passionate over it! It definitely made Chan think.

“Nothing looks like she’s having fun, huh?” Lisa mumbled under her breath in response after a moment, breaking out into a laugh when Chan finally glances over at her with a confused look. “Nothing!”

Lisa made sure you sat next to Chan after, dragging Minho and Jacob by the ears to the other side of the table.

On your second year, your favorite junior from your previous school finally entered college. Seungmin was also on the student council, school paper, as well as in the high school baseball team who often practiced with your volleyball team so you basically considered him your ‘child,’ much to his annoyance. Though he attended a university that was nearer to Bam Bam’s and Minho’s, you pestered Chan into driving you almost once a month to his dorm to visit, anyway. 

Chan would’ve said no every time given his own busy schedule but you promised him every time that Felix, a friend of Seungmin’s who happened to come from Australia as well, and Jeongin, another junior you unofficially ‘adopted’ in high school, would also be there. 

“Chan, I need to go to Seungmin’s, it’s an emergency.” You greeted Chan one day right after your afternoon classes. You found him in the library, studying for second semester midterms with Lisa and Jacob which did made you feel bad but you really couldn’t wait for the next bus anymore.

“What kind of emergency?” Lisa asked, prompting you to shake your head. 

“The kids said it’s very bad...” You continued shaking your head frantically and that was enough for Chan to pack up his things and lead you outside to his car. 

When the two of you arrived at Seungmin and Jeongin’s shared dorm, Chan was more than confused at seeing the former sprawled out on the common area carpet with his arms folded over his chest like a vampire while the latter and Jeongin hovered over him with worried looks and mini fans. 

“Is Seungmin dying?” Chan asked you with genuine worry as you approached, which would’ve made you laugh with the choice of words had you not just been vaguely called on short notice to deal with the situation. 

You didn’t get to answer him at first as your first instinct was to sit down next to Seungmin and ask Felix, “We came here as fast as we could. What’s wrong?” 

In front of you, Seungmin groaned in pain and rolled over on his stomach, hiding his reddening cheeks from you. “Y/N, why are you here?” He whined, bringing his arms up to his head to hide his face further. “Did these two call you?”

“Yeah they did.” You answered firmly, rolling the boy on his back again that prompted more complaints from him. “Now, what’s wrong? School? Sports? Friends? Are you okay?”

It took a moment for Seungmin to remove his arms over his face and answer you and it undeniably made you and Chan nervous. When he did answered, it was what you least expected from him as he said, “Y/N, I think I have a crush...” 

A pause then followed as everyone simply stared back at Seungmin who immediately hid in his hoodie once again. 

“Oh for the love of God, Kim Seungmin! Are you kidding me right now?! I came all the way here for this?” You smacked him in the arm once you’ve recovered, finally breaking out into laughs as the other boys toppled over in laughter. Turning to Jeongin and Felix, you then asked, “So why did you call me? You could’ve called Minho, he literally lives three blocks away.” 

Felix and Jeongin glanced over at each other and shrugged. “He said he’s having love problems,” Jeongin pointed to Seungmin innocently before turning to you. “So I thought of calling you. Aren’t you and Chan a thing?” 

This time, it was you and Chan looking at each other and laughing. “No, no, we’re not a thing.” He clarified for you with a dismissive wave. “Y/N’s married in a poly relationship with academics and extracurriculars.”

“And Chan’s secretly a merman so it’s a hard pass.” You finished his thought jokingly, looking over at Seungmin after. 

“You guys, I’m still in a situation here!” Seungmin frowned, lifting his head up to place on your lap. “I’m fucked, basically.”

“Well, since we came all the way here and gas is expensive, do you want to talk about it? Lix and I can cook dinner.”  

With that (and a few more words to get Seungmin off of the floor), you managed to drag the lovestruck boy into the kitchen and cooked him tonkatsu with Felix and Jeongin on your tail. Chan kept him company the entire time, peering over his shoulder as he narrated the story of a certain figure skater he met at his Freshman welcome assembly. “We’ve been friends for a while and I really like them but they’re always getting into trouble!” Seungmin mostly rambled, making you, Jeongin, and Felix snicker with your backs turned.

“All the more reasons to see them often, then?” You suggested, much to Seungmin’s annoyance.

“Won’t I be too obvious? Or too doting? Maybe they don’t like that as much since they’re so independent. Agh, what do I do?!”

“Play it cool like you always do, kid.” You answered simply, patting his head affectionately as you passed by his spot to retrieve a basket of condiments “What do you think, Chan?”

You clearly caught him off-guard then by the way his eyes slowly widened and he instinctively sat up straight. “O-Oh, u-um—yeah, what you said...” He eventually agreed with a nonchalant shrug to cover up his shaky actions. “Don’t overthink it or else nothing happens.”

You re-joined Jeongin and Felix across the kitchenette with a chuckle, nudging Jeongin with your elbow after. “You kids are growing up! Ah, but it still kinda feels like yesterday when you two were just messing around back in high school.”

“We’re a year below you, what are you talking about?” Jeongin pouted, eyes not leaving the side dishes he was preparing. When you don’t tease him further about it with another side comment, he then adds, “Sorry for assuming you and Chan were dating by the way. That wasn’t weird, right?”

You shook your head reassuringly. “No, it’s cool! I’m just curious where you’d get that from.”

“Minho said—“ And that was enough for you to give your aforementioned friend an earful the next time you saw him after.

“So, Chan’s not dating?” Felix asked next to which you nodded at. “Oh, cool!”

“Why? Do you have someone for him?”

Though Felix didn’t say anything more specific after that, Chan was then coerced into a friendly blind date to the movies a week after, you heard it at his new sideline podcast with Changbin and Jisung of all places.

“I—“ Seungmin’s first reaction was to clasp his hands together while the two of you were listening to the podcast episode in YouTube. “I spill out my heart to you guys and over tonkatsu then I find out that this happened right under my nose that night?”

It was a month since his dramatic confession and a little over two weeks since Chan went on the blind date and you’ve been taking the bus with Dahyun to visit the kids ever since. Chan thought he did something wrong but you’ve assured him multiple times that you’re just trying to be considerate of him since he now has an additional person on his plate.

Dahyun also wanted to visit Jihyo and Mina so you decided on commuting with her in particular.

“Ah, well, that’s life—or college...or maybe both.” You shrugged. You often studied in their dorm living room to pass the time if Minho wasn’t up for being bothered with in his apartment—you found out throughout this that studying with a Legal Management major like Seungmin motivates you to go through your rigorous readings. “How’s your crush by the way? Any progress?”

“They want to try speed skating! Do you know how dangerous that is? Not to mention, the legality of it all...”

“This person seems like they get you up on your toes. I like it! Makes things a bit more exciting, don’t you think?”

“It just makes my head hurt.” Seungmin sighed, rubbing his temples dramatically for emphasis. “I can’t help but worry...”

“I think you’re sweet looking out for them like this.” You assured. “But it’s not sports if you don’t get hurt and we both know that.” 

“Then what do I do?” 

“Just look out for them. I’m pretty sure they’re not all that clumsy as you make them out to be—you said they’re an athlete, right?—but it’s still important to be there for support and help when they really need it.” You half-shrugged, not really knowing what else to say. “But not just as someone who has a crush. Be a friend first and foremost—I mean, obviously, since you’re not dating, you’re just friends, hopefully for now. Yeah, that’s it! Don’t overthink it, you’re friends not married!” 

A thought then seemed to pass Seungmin as a small smile formed on his lips. He then pulled his knees close to his chest and leaned back on the sofa behind him. “So, is that how you are with Chan?” 

“What?!” 

“I mean he’s sort of dating right now but don’t you have a crush on him?” The younger boy asked in genuine curiosity. “Honestly, I was surprised that you let him go on that blind date with the Soyeon girl Felix recommended, much less a second date this weekend.” 

“No—I mean no, I don’t have a crush on him.” You refused calmly though your voice clearly shook a little but not for the reason Seungmin thought it was. “We’re just friends. You’re going off-topic!” 

Seungmin’s eyes lit up in interest. “Well, I thought about it so we’re talking about it now! Have you seriously never thought about it?”

“No, but I am now because you brought it up!” You shook your head back truthfully before smacking his arm with your reviewers, making him pout and wince at you. “Don’t do that! You’re like—you’re trying to brainwash me into having feelings or something!”

Seungmin instinctively held his hands up, filled with his own lecture notes, and shook his head at the accusation. “No I’m not!” He pouted at you to no avail. “I’m just saying that I’ve always thought there was something, with how you two are so close.”

“You and I are close, Minho and I are close,” You argued back with a small pout, crossing your arms. “Heck, Bam Bam and I are close and we grew up together since the 4th grade.” 

Again, the boy shook his head stubbornly. “Yeah, we’re all different kinds of close, especially Chan,” He claimed with so much conviction. “You look out for me, Minho, and Bam Bam but Chan looks out for you as much as you do for him, if that makes sense.”   

“See you can’t even reason out properly and you’re in Legal Management.” You scoffed playfully. “I look out for everyone the same way, Chan’s not that kind of special for me. Also, it’s basic human decency, Seungmin. I can’t believe you don’t look out for me back, to be honest.”

Though you came off as perfectly unbothered by this, there was a period when things started became awkward on your end and it frustrated you until the end of your second year. 

Seungmin teased you to no end for it to make up for your equally endless questions about the person he’s taken interest in, Minho kept bringing it up whenever the two of you met or hung out in his apartment, and Dahyun only confronted you about it when it started becoming inconvenient for her as yours and Chan’s mutual friend.

“Chan keeps texting me if we want a ride to Minho’s but I already told him that we’re on the bus right now.” Dahyun showed you her phone on another one of your many commutes to Minho’s side of the city. By this time, it has been two months and three dates for Chan, with your time spend with said boy having reduced significantly. “Are you guys okay? Have you been talking lately?” 

You furrowed your brows and nodded in genuine confusion. “Yeah, why?” 

“It feels like he wants to ask me about you but he won’t say it directly.” Dahyun shrugged, leaning back on the seats. “It kinda gives me the impression that you guys fought or something.” 

“We didn’t fight.” You assured with a small frown. “Nothing happened, really.”  

“Then what is it?” 

It took you a moment to answer as your mind instinctively went to the conversation you previously had with Seungmin. “I...you know when someone points something out to you in a different light and then it makes you think of a lot of things?” When you saw Dahyun nod slowly, you then took it as your cue to admit, “It’s something like that, I guess.”

And like you, it also took a moment for Dahyun to answer. “Well, how do you feel about it?” She asked back as a response. “I think I know what this is about but you don’t have to tell me if you’re uneasy telling me about it.”

And you were uneasy and confused, very much so. “I don’t think I’m feeling anything special about it, really.” You admitted in a smaller voice, finding your attention flitting down to your hands on your lap. “I feel like I’m just thinking too much on what that someone said and how they said it.” 

“Then it’s probably nothing, easy as that. Don’t let people’s words get into your head too much, especially on things like this—if we are thinking of the same thing—or else it’s gonna feel like you’re being forced into having different feelings or think differently.” Dahyun shrugged with a reassuring smile. “If otherwise, even then don’t overthink it too much. Just let things happen as they are.” 

When you didn’t respond immediately, she then took your silence to quickly add, “Anyway, bottom line is, whatever it really is that you’re feeling or thinking, don’t ignore Chan for it. Talk to him about it specifically if it helps just don’t make him feel left out just because you’re on a one-sided awkward situation.”  

It was a tough love kind of advice but Dahyun pestered you about it until she saw you approach Chan first over a week later, when you personally asked him to carpool to Bam Bam’s place for a year-end party.

You’ve never seen Chan’s face light up as much as it did on that day at the campus library. 

“R-Really?” He stuttered out in disbelief and suddenly, all hints of drowsiness had disappeared on his expression. “I mean, c-cool! Uh, what time should I pick you and Dahyun up?” 

“Ah, well, what time should you pick up Soyeon if she’s going to carpool with us?” You asked slowly, rubbing your nape awkwardly as you stood next to his table. 

His eyes widened in surprise before an equally awkward chuckle came out of his lips. “Soyeon’s not carpooling with us.” 

“Hm?” 

“She’s going with her own friends since they’re nearer to her place.” Chan nodded absentmindedly, pulling a chair for you to sit down. You took the place without hesitation, neck heating up in embarrassment over the thought that you seemed too eager. “We’re not actually dating anymore.” 

“Oh?” You furrowed your brows as quickly as your expression almost lit up. “I mean, since when, if it’s okay to ask?” 

“Since last week. I don’t know, we agreed that it’s really...not happening between us.” Chan shrugged nonchalantly, going back to his lecture notes. “It’s cool, though, we’re studying together next week at the new study hall near Itaewon.” 

You nodded, exhaling a breath you didn’t even realize you were holding until then. “At least it’s not awkward or anything.” 

“What about us?” 

You immediately looked up at this, meeting Chan’s somewhat hopeful gaze that had you unexpectedly stammering, “W-what do you mean?” 

“Did I do something wrong?” He pursed his lips nervously, voice growing smaller with each other. “It’s just that we haven’t talked a lot lately—or maybe I’m just overthinking it...” 

You were quick to shake your head, mustering up a small smile. “No, you didn’t do anything.” You assured him gently. “I’ve just been—it’s nothing.” 

“Really?” 

You nodded, breathing in another sigh of relief. “Yeah, I just had a lot of things going on then. It’s okay now.” 

And it really was okay then. Talking to Chan again assured you at the time that you liked him as a friend. You really really liked him at the time as a friend. 

Third year meant preparing for your senior year and going on your Junior Year internship which is probably why Bam Bam scheduled a trip to his hometown in Bangkok in the summer before this. It was just him, you, Chan, Dahyun, Jihyo, and Minho as a kind of mini high school reunion—the small kind of gathering everyone naturally hopes for with the pacing of university life. 

You stayed at his family’s house where his parents offered you the entire expanse of the living room to have a movie night and sleepover in on your first night, right before the overwhelming itinerary Bam Bam planned for the next five days. 

“Rock-paper-scissors for the beds!” Bam Bam announced after your sixth movie of the night. The Meg really wasn’t that amazing in your collective opinion but that didn’t stop you from putting it at the bottom of your To-Watch list just to throw as much nonsensical comments as you can on it. “The expandable couch goes to first, second, and third; the smaller one goes to fourth, and fifth and sixth get the air bag!” 

Unsurprisingly, you and Chan had to share the grey air bag because you simply were just unlucky that night (you accidentally got a Pringles bag that had more air on it than chips prior) and Chan was so sleepy right next to Minho from cramming a passion project with Changbin and Jisung on call. Not that you minded, you were actually glad you didn’t have to put up with Bam Bam kicking you in his sleep or Minho waking you up with his cuss-filled sleep talking. 

“Are you okay with this, sharing an air bed, I mean.” Chan had asked you as you prepared to sleep some time at 3 AM. He was hunched over on the side of the mattress that wasn’t pushed to the wall, laptop perched on top of his area as he continued fighting sleep and finishing his project. Everyone else had gone to sleep earlier. “I can totally just ask Bam for a sleeping bag if you want me to.” 

“It’s okay.” You assured him as you spread the blanket over the entire expanse of the small air bed before sliding in and taking your phone out from under your pillow. “Aren’t you slidi—tucking in too, though?” 

His face lit up in genuine surprise, slowly shifting into appreciation and fondness right in front of you as he caught the concern in your own face despite the phone blocking his view. “In a bit...I’m just making a few adjustments with this.” 

Changbin and Jisung erupted into yells on the three-way video call, their voices bursting so suddenly on Chan’s headphones that he immediately muted them before you could ask or even notice. 

Fortunately, you didn’t. “Oh, then don’t stay up too late, Chan.” You pointed out in even more concern. You knew how he could get whenever he pulled all-nighters, you realized. “We have to start really early tomorrow—or later.” 

He hummed absentmindedly with a small nod as he continued nodding, glancing back up at you again after a moment. “Then you should go to sleep already, you don’t have to wait up for me.” 

“Who said I’m waiting up for you? I’m scrolling through my Instagram.” But despite your teasing tone, you still ended up scrolling through your phone until he finished his project, bidding Changbin and Jisung a quick good morning before ending the call and sliding in under his share of the covers. 

“Okay now go to sleep.” He chuckled tiredly as he gazed down on you, hand accidentally brushing against your own in the small gap between the two of you as he placed it right next to his head. 

“But you’re watching me,” You frowned disapprovingly. “turn around or something.”

“I sleep better like this and what if I closed my eyes and you took pictures even with my back turned?” He feigned a pout, bringing his hand under the pillow as he shifted more comfortably in place. “You sleep first.” 

“You’re so childish.” You giggled, shaking your head stubbornly. “I won’t do that.” 

“As if you aren’t too right now. You’re probably thinking about it.” 

“On three, then? One—” 

“Two—“ 

“Three.” With your cue, the two of you then closed your eyes at the same time, only to peek one each right after. “Ya!” 

You eventually managed to fall asleep at the same time half an hour later with Chan reluctantly turning around for you once you had your eyes closed. He’d only see your sleeping expression a little bit later, when he woke up to use the bathroom at 7 AM and came back to check up on you sleeping comfortably and move more of the blanket to your shoulders. 

“Look at these eyebags, you could carry souvenirs in them later.” Minho chuckled next to you on the ride to your first trip destination after, laughing even more when you swatted his index finger that moved up in an attempt to poke your eyes. “Nightmare? The Meg wasn’t even about ghosts, Y/N.” 

“No, I just slept late.” You sighed, leaning back on your seat. “Chan and I stayed up a little longer.” 

At this, Minho’s eyes visibly lit up and he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously at you, prompting a disgusted look on your face. “Ooh, did something spicy finally happen between you two?” 

“No—and please never do that again, it’s disgusting!” 

“It’s my eyebrows!” 

Minho ended up teasing you throughout the whole trip, anyway, as you and Chan repeated almost the exact same routine every night.     

You had your Junior Year Internship at a media network across the city and though Chan insisted multiple times that he can drive you to work before going to his own at an entertainment company in the opposite direction, you managed to convince him that you really can commute this time and spend the night at Minho’s if you went overtime. No hard feelings this time. 

So with what his presence in your life suddenly lacked in being your everyday transportation, he made up for by spamming you constantly online. 

“This place has Tim Tams in their cafeteria!” He’d send you the most random photos and videos of his day-to-day working in song production at the entertainment company, from actual work-related matters like sophisticated equipment he was allowed to use to the small things like the extensive cafeteria food and his boss’ pet Labrador. “What are you having for lunch?” 

Being a P.A. at a media network, however, was much more fast-paced and required you to be running everywhere on your work hours. Chan understood, of course (hence the sudden influx of dog photos during a particular period that had you working overtime almost every day), but it still made you feel bad for replying so late because, whether you admitted it or not, his constant updates alleviated your stress. 

More often than not, his spams would be responded with photos of you on the subway and video clips of Minho and his roommate who are always practicing cheer dance moves in their living room. “I had three Snickers today but I drank a lot of water so that should count for something!” You often replied, following with a clip of Minho falling on his butt after tiredly trying to land a flip. “This is your Minho update of the day. He’s getting there! I think he’s going to try out for cheer dance captain this year!” 

At the end of the semester, Chan was more than happy seeing you again, so much so that he treated you with lunch and even offered you ice cream after. “You’re going to make up for all the full meals you’ve missed this semester!” He insisted as he picked you up from Minho’s place. The two of you ended up at a ramen house which was a far jump from your usual fast food dates—something you thought about the entire time. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s not how it works.” You laughed but you let him order you food anyway since it was free. “Extra nori and eggs, please!” 

You exchanged internship stories throughout the entirety of your lunch, laughing along to his stories of falling asleep in the middle of work and hearing his endless teasing over you getting starstruck with assisting your favorite artists on the job. You didn’t actually miss out on a lot of his shenanigans (that’s how heavily he spammed you) but you stayed in the ramen house for more than two hours, unconsciously drifting off to different topics and gossiping about your friends until the slight embarrassment of overstaying creeped in.

“Speaking of friends, I haven’t seen everyone else lately too.” Chan mused on your ride back home. He had his CD he secretly produced over his internship period playing on the radio as well as one hand on the steering while while the other fought you over the air conditioning. “I just know that you and Jacob train for volleyball together on weekends, Lisa’s busy with club duties, Bam Bam’s on an exchange student thing and Jihyo recently introduced us to the person she’s dating now.” 

You leaned back in your seat and shrugged, finally giving up on the air conditioning to open the windows instead and admire the Han river on your side of the road. “Well, you know how Minho’s been doing with my updates and I haven’t seen Dahyun in a while too since she’s taking the most classes this semester.” You explained, extending your hand outside to feel the gentle Autumn breeze. Chan, despite being the swimmer between the two of you, thinks you’re crazy for liking the cold better. “As for many many other people I know, they’re either studying really hard or starting work now. Time flies and friends come and go, I guess...” 

When you glanced over at him again, you saw his face scrunched up in thought as his hands blindly found the gear stick to slow down at an intersection. Once you reach the red light, he then meets your gaze, uncertainty in his expression that he tried playing off with a shrug. “Yeah but...is it weird if I said I don’t want that to happen with us?” 

“N-No?” You found yourself answering before you could fully comprehend the question. Clearing your throat, you tried joking it off, “I think you might’ve taken the ‘I’m class president let me show you around’ thing back in high school, Chan.” 

He shrugged, smiling as well at this. “Maybe I did, who knows? I like spending time with you.” 

“I force you, you’re my ride around the city.” You teased, hints of sincerity coming through your tone of voice. 

“But that’s because I like you, isn’t that what people do with people they like?” He said it with so much nonchalance but you couldn’t help but feel flustered at this, a reaction you immediately hid by laughing. 

“You like me too much, it’s going to cause a traffic with all this sentimental stuff,” You pointed out, the cars behind you suddenly honking annoyedly as if on cue. “See? Even the people behind us agree.” 

Chan wasn’t offended, however, not one bit as he continued rambling about liking you all the way to your dorm after. It flustered you at first, especially with how casual he was being, but, as you neared the turn to your dorm outside of university, you eventually caught up with teasing him back about it. 

When you thought about it on your own once he left, you realized that you somehow liked it. It felt very natural—as if it’s something that’s always felt right hearing from him. 

“I like Chan.” 

“Yeah no shit.” Minho agrees absentmindedly, Seungmin and Jeongin nodding along while emptying their take-out boxes. You carpooled with Chan today as he drove Felix and Jisung somewhere to help them finish their term research paper. You were only supposed to hang out with Seungmin and Jeongin but Minho decided to ambush the three of you with Jihyo and Mina on their way to join your group at the younger boys’ dorm. “What else is new, Y/N? We haven’t met up like this in a while so I was expecting something spicier!” 

“No, I mean—” You roll your eyes at him, smacking him with your rolled up lecture notes but to no avail. The boy simply opened his phone to check his messages, frowning when he then comes across a message from Jihyo and Mina informing him that they’re stuck in traffic. “I really like Chan.”   

“Okay, and then?” 

“I’m telling you I actually like someone then you dismiss me.” 

“And I mean that took you a record-breaking three years to say.” Minho points out, finally closing his phone and propping an elbow up on the table to face you properly. “What has you sharing this to us on this fine Saturday, hm? Did you get jealous over someone again and got so insecure that you realize your feelings? Did you get stuck in a really small space, admired his face a bit then realize that you think he’s cute? Which trope is it?” 

You shake your head disapprovingly at him, briefly glaring at Seungmin and Jeongin when the two start snickering next to you before answering, “Nothing, just...we talked lately and I thought that I really like talking to him.” 

“So you don’t like talking to us?” It’s Jeongin teasing you this time as he sipped on his juice box, earning him a crumpled ball of paper on the head. “I thought it’d be more grand like in those K-Dramas.” 

“You flood your crush with Pepero boxes and now you’re talking big with K-Drama confessions.” Seungmin points out, making the other boy in question roll his eyes. 

You open your mouth to speak but Jeongin beats you to it. “Talk to me when you’ve confessed to that figure skater at your university, baseball boy.” He says before turning to you again, placing a hand over Seungmin’s face and dramatically pushing him away by his head. “Anyway, back on topic! So, will you ask him out?” 

“I don’t know, should I?” You frown, leaning back on the sofa behind you with your arms crossed. “Wouldn’t it be weird?” 

Minho shakes his head. “It’s 2020 so go wild, my friend. Anyway, if it doesn’t work out I already got my driver’s license—though I will tax you since you live far away.” 

You roll your eyes, hitting him again. When his roommate passes by, half-asleep and dragging their feet towards the kitchen, you hear them request another smack on Minho’s head on their behalf as if on instinct. “I mean, do you just go for it? What if you don’t feel enough for people for it to work out?” 

A pause then follows in the room, even Minho’s roommate momentarily stopped gulping down water from across the open common area. Seungmin and Minho sigh while Jeongin only raises an eyebrow with the same curiosity.

“Yes, Y/N.” Minho answers after a moment, tsking at you as he does so. This time, you gather the energy to smack him for the fourth time as quickly. “It’s dating not marriage, just see what works and what doesn’t.”

Seungmin opens his mouth to say something else, probably to comment on how Minho doesn’t apply the sentiments to his own love life, but he nods in agrement anyway. “I think it’s like you always tell me: don’t overthink it.” He adds instead, briefly turning his head to Minho after. “But I’m going to pretend you didn’t bring it up first, hyung.” 

Don’t overthink it. Even Jihyo and Mina agreed when they arrived, pestering you into going over your entire rant and dilemma again once they arrived with beer and convenience store food. Dahyun too, but only a little later when Jihyo puts her on FaceTime.

“Just wing it,” She even added to assure you, glitching a bit on video because public library wi-fi has never been better than that.. “it’s just Chan, what could go wrong?”

And really, with Chan, nothing ever does feels like it’s going to go wrong even when the situation has your heart on the line.

“Chan, give me your hand.” You extend your hand out to his side of the car with your palms facing upwards, chuckling when he glances over to you with wide eyes. “I won’t tickle you this time, promise.” 

“So what are you going to do?” He asks as he reluctantly moves his hand from the steering wheel to your hand, alternating his gaze between the road and you on his side in long intervals. “I’ll have you know that we’re about to turn to a narrower road so don’t try anything funny.” 

“Like I said, I’ll just hold your hand.” You feign a pout, bringing your hands down on the compartment in between your seats. “There.”

You won’t tell it to his face right now, of course, but holding his hand is comforting to you.

He invited you to a small film festival for today, a thirty-minute ride to a place he only heard of on the poster for it that he showed you at the start of the week. “Bam Bam’s too busy to come with so I thought I’d invite you since you’re free this week!” He explained over the phone and you knew Bam Bam is really busy when it’s you who Chan is inviting to these kinds of everyday. “They have lots of animated movies on the line-up too so I immediately thought of you!” 

“Your hands are so small.” Chan comments after a moment, shaking your intertwined fingers gently as the car stops at traffic. 

You poke on his knuckles in response. “You just have really big hands.” 

“Your hands are clammy too.” He points out next with a laugh. “Are you okay?”

“Because you won’t turn the air conditioning up, dumbass.” You roll your eyes, scoffing when he doesn’t move his hand anyway. “So why don’t you let go?” 

“Because I like holding your hand.” He shrugs, biting down a small smile. The traffic still won’t move and he takes this as an opportunity to look at you as much as he can. “I like you a lot—even with your clammy hands.” 

“I—” You freeze with your mouth hanging open, finally catching onto his smile. “Ya, what’s with the smile? Did you...did Minho say something?” 

“What? No. I can’t smile now?” And it’s the truth, you find out much later when Chan calls Minho for you and puts him on loud speaker to disprove your suspicions. “Why? What am I supposed to not know until now?” 

You squint your eyes suspiciously at him, shifting your hands around his but to no avail. “That I—I was going to say it first today. I like you too—a lot.” You sigh in defeat, leaning back on your seat and twisting your body to face him properly. The traffic is slowly starting to move again and Chan briefly turns away to move the car, turning to you as soon as traffic permits him again. “It’s a bit embarrassing to say right now, my hands are so clammy and you’re holding onto them the entire time.”

“It’s not because you’re nervous, right?” He asks with the smallest glint of teasing in his eyes which you shake your head at immediately. “It’s just us.” 

“I told you, it’s because the air conditioning’s too low.” You chuckle, finally relaxing your shoulders in relief. Chan then lifts your hands up to the air conditioning unit jokingly, turning up the level with his knuckles. “And it’s exactly why I’m not nervous, because it’s just us.” 

“Me too, to be honest. I’d be freaking out right now if Minho or Lisa or just anyone else peered over our shoulders.” You hear him mumble under his breath in a sheepish giggle. A thought then crosses his mind as he glances over to you, the traffic now moving much more smoothly. “So, I can still ask you if this is a date, right? The cinema’s still five minutes away with this traffic.” 

You pretend to purse your lips in thought, bringing your hands back down once they’ve dried with the sudden rise in temperature. “Isn’t this too last minute even for you?” You tease, making him frown. “Ah, well, better late than never I guess.” 

“I’ll make it up to you on the second date, promise.” He assures you, turning right to your destination. “Jus don’t back out on this being a date now, okay?” 

“Of course not.” 

“So boring.” It’s Bam Bam teasing you this time, Minho agreeing on the side. The one time he’s actually free to hang out and he sasses you throughout the entire night. “I expected more from you two.” 

“It’s...two people dating in college, not a romcom, Bam.” You deadpan before taking a sip of your soju. 

He shrugs from across the table anyway, passing you another bottle. “I guess being in love makes you a little boring. I don’t blame you.” 

You slap a hand up to your forehead while Chan is practically drunk and dying next to you in embarrassment. “Oh God...” 

[scuttling]

Interview

Fandom: Criminal Minds Pairing: Aaron Hotchner/Latina OFC Sophie Cortes Word Count: 1,729 Tags: SFW, Pre-relationship, First meetings Summary: Aaron finally gets the greenlight to hire a new agent. Collection: Sophie Cortes timeline, 0-6 Months at the BAU (See Masterlist for reading order) A/N: Sophie and Reid are partners, because I love them! Link to AO3 or read below!

It takes two months for Hotch to convince Section Chief Strauss to open a requisition for a new member in the BAU. There was a lot of paperwork to be filled out, including detailed explanations as to why he felt the team needed another profiler. He thought it was obvious: for all they do work together as a cohesive unit, Morgan and Elle were technically partners, and when she left, Prentiss took her place. Reid doesn’t have a partner, which makes him feel like a third wheel, sometimes.

(He won’t admit to it, but Hotch notices things. It’s kind of his job.)

Needless to say, the position becomes available, but it takes another couple of months—and several interviews—for Hotch to find the right person to fill it.

Agent Cortes comes highly recommended by the Intelligence Section’s unit chief, someone he worked on a case with in his early days at the BAU; she is young, just 29, but she is more than qualified, and the referring agent is someone whose opinion he respects, so he’s hopeful.

Gideon sits in on the interview because he respects his opinion, too, although Hotch will make the final decision.

Cortes is Latina, petite and polite, with a firm handshake, a warm smile, and dark, striking eyes. Gideon looks at her with somewhat passive interest (something only Gideon can pull off) as they go over the highlights of her resume.

“You have bachelor's degrees in Psychology and Sociology, and master’s degrees in Behavioral Science and Criminology, all from the University of Chicago. How did you manage all of that, at your age?” Hotch asks, wondering if maybe she is gifted like Reid.

“A lot of hard work,” she replies, and it’s an answer he likes. “I graduated high school, enrolled in a dual major program and completed the bachelors’ at 22. Then I was hired onto the Chicago Police Department, and I worked there and got my Criminology degree at the same time. The Behavioral Science degree came after; I began it in person, and they let me finish online when I moved here to join the FBI.”

“What interested you about behavioral science?”

“I grew up in a city that was rich with diversity, but I still noticed that certain people were susceptible to falling into certain patterns, and became curious about why we as people do the things we do. I was already interested in criminal justice, so it seemed a natural path to take.” He nods, jots down a couple of notes before looking back up.

“Tell us about your time with the Chicago Police Department.”

“I went through training while finishing my Criminology degree, worked a beat for about six months before being assigned to the Intelligence Unit; my sergeant found value in the way I was able to get people talking, and a large part of my work was with criminal informants. I worked in Intelligence for three and a half years, and for the last two I was on the Tactical Response Team as well.”

“Tactical Response—that’s SWAT?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How did you end up in SWAT?” Gideon asks, speaking up for the first time; she looks over at him for the first time, as well. “I mean no offense, you’re clearly more than capable, you’re just… small.” She gives him a brief smile.

“Well, there was a hostage situation, the team leader determined that we could get a vantage point from an air duct... and I was the only one who fit.”

“You don’t seem resentful of that,” Hotch notices, a bit surprised. It’s not an origin sorry everyone would be proud of. Her eyes turn back to him.

“I find it’s more important what you do with your time somewhere than how you got there. I contributed to many successful responses over the course of two years that had nothing to do with my size.” It is a great answer, and he holds back a smile of his own, simply nods.

“So you left Chicago to join the bureau; did you have your sights set on any department in particular?”

“I was torn between Language Analysis and Intelligence and ended up somewhere in the middle.”

“Intelligence because of your background, why Language Analysis?” Gideon asks.

“I speak 6: English, Spanish, and Italian as my native languages, plus Russian, French, and German. I have an ear for them.”

“Impressive,” Gideon says, nodding, lips pressed together. Cortes smiles, modest.

“It’s helpful; more than 30% of the population of Chicago speaks a language other than English at home.” Hotch does crack a smile at that, because the statistic reminds him of Reid.

“How would you describe your current role with Intelligence?”

“The official title is Intelligence Liaison. I’m part of a team that travels domestically and internationally, to law enforcement or government agencies, to debrief them on threats we’ve identified, or potential threat activity, and to help them formulate offensive countermeasures.” There is a lot of experience there that would translate well to the BAU, that much is clear. If anything, she may be overqualified, but they would never turn down the help.

“What’s the most frustrating part of your job?” It’s a question he always throws in, because true frustrations—and how one handles them—can say a lot about a person.

“When they don’t listen and people die. I do my best to make sure it doesn’t happen often.” He looks up from the form to the woman, who, in that moment, shows the things she’s seen all over her face. They’re gone from one blink to the next, and he breaks eye contact to choose his next question. No follow up needed there.

“It sounds like you have experience interacting with law enforcement, which is important here at the BAU. We can’t work on a case unless we are invited by the agency with jurisdiction, so maintaining healthy relationships is vital. We have a communications liaison who deals directly with police departments, sheriff’s stations, FBI field offices, and the media, but knowing how to handle them is a big part of the job.” It’s not a question as much as a confirmation, and she nods.

“I’m confident in my ability to interact with other law enforcement in a direct but respectful way. It’s something I’ve done a lot of as Intelligence Liaison.” He has one final question, and though he’s already more than pleased with the interview, the answer will make or break his decision.

“Why the BAU?”

“Curiosity is what got me interested in behavioral science, but it’s empathy that makes me interested in the BAU. My current work helps to save lives, but it’s all very large scale, and it can be detached, cold. I can be detached and impartial when I need to be, but I can’t deny it would feel like a better use of my skill set to make a more tangible difference.” He agrees, can already tell that she would thrive in the environment of their unit, and it’s just the kind of answer he’s looking for; he takes a few more notes, glances over at Gideon for input.

“Anything else you’d like to ask?”

“I think we’ve covered it,” he says, and he stands abruptly, which makes Agent Cortes stand as well. Hotch follows suit. “Nice to meet you. He’ll be in touch,” Gideon adds, shaking her hand briefly and leaving the room. She is left looking a little lost, and Hotch steps around the desk.

“I apologize for him, he’s a little…”

“Capricious?” she offers with a smile, and he laughs lightly.

“That’s accurate, actually. Please don’t take it personally.”

“I won’t. I’ve heard a lot about him, so he kind of lives up to my expectations.” She tilts her head, looking curious. “You don’t, though. Unit Chief Roberts told me you would be stoic; I expected someone much more aloof, but you’re actually rather warm.” He is a bit surprised by her directness, even more so that she would find him... warm.

“I doubt that my colleagues would agree with your assessment,” he says, thinking of the number of less than kind words used to describe him in the past. She just smiles again.

“I guess you really do need me on your team, then.”

He finds it hard not to agree.

“There are a few more things we’ll need from you, such as a psychological evaluation, recent performance reviews, a physical. I’ll be in touch with Agent Roberts, and then you, if we determine you are the right fit. I’ll see you out,” he adds, gesturing to the door, and she follows. The team, who was not yet in the bullpen when she arrived, looks on, curious, as they head to the glass double doors.

“Thank you for the opportunity to interview. I hope to hear from you soon,” she says with another firm handshake, and he nods.

“We’ll be in touch. It’s a pleasure to have made your acquaintance.”

“Likewise, Agent Hotchner.” She gets onto the elevator, and he heads back to the bullpen, stops specifically at Reid’s desk, though everyone is nearby.

“Congratulations, Reid: you’ve officially got a partner.” Reid smiles, looking pleased.

“Who is she?”

“Special Agent Sophia Cortes. She currently works for Intelligence. Bachelors’ in Psychology and Sociology, Masters’ in Criminology and Behavioral Sciences. Fluent in six languages. Got her start at Chicago PD like you, Morgan—Intelligence there too. And SWAT.”

“SWAT?” Morgan echoes, impressed. “She’s gotta be 5’2” out of those heels.”

“She’s got glowing reviews from her superiors there, and from her unit chief: he called her resilient, determined, empathetic, a team player. She’s good at communicating with law enforcement, victims, even unsubs. The BAU is the right place for her. We’ll just be waiting on paperwork to make it official.” He crosses his arms, leans back against the filing cabinet. “I’d have introduced you, but she doesn’t know she’s being offered the job just yet.”

“She must have made quite an impression on you for you to decide on the spot,” Prentiss says, and he nods his head in agreement.

“I think she’ll fit in well. I saw a little bit of each of you in her, and she’s very…” He tries to think of one word to sum up the woman he just interviewed, and decides with a half-smile: “warm.”

[nationalharryleague]

Portfolio; Part 2

Pairing: Harry Styles x Reader

Genre: Angst, fluff, CEO!Harry

Word count: 3.2k!

A/N: Hi everyone!! I am back with part 2 of “Portfolio”!! The first part had such great reception and a few people have asked for a part two. As always, I would looooove some feedback and I hope you enjoy!! More of my writing can be found in my masterlist!

Part 1

“Nice work, Miss Y/L/N,” Harry told you, walking briskly through the office, holding up the binder that contained the proposal you had been working on recently. You watched as his long legs gracefully carried him down a row of cubicles, both of you doing your best to conceal the smiles threatening to break onto your faces.

“Thank you, Mr. Styles,” you chimed as he passed you and your secretary. He muttered something along the lines of ‘now get back to work,’ before he turned around and shot a million dollar smile in your direction. You quickly winked at him, hoping no one noticed, and hid your cheeky grin in your cup of coffee.

“I think Mr. Styles likes you,” giggled your secretary, Charlotte, taking a sip of her tea as you took a gossip break outside your office.

“We’re just friends now,” you lied through your teeth. “We work better when we’re getting along than when we’re at each other’s throats.” Oh, how you loved his throat, and his neck, and his jaw, and his smile. He was a never ending piece of art and you could stare at him all day long.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed you two carpooling to work in the morning,” Charlotte playfully pried.

“We just figured out we live close by each other,” lie, “and it gives us more time to talk about work,” lie, “and we just think it’s better for the environment,” semi-lie.

“Whatever you say boss,” she said amused and moved to answer the phone that had begun ringing on her desk.

It had been four months since that night when you ended up in his arms with his pouty lips pressed up against yours for the first time. It was the first of many, many more kisses you shared.

You had spent these last four months peeling back his hard exterior and getting to know the mushy center. You knew the way he took his tea in the morning, the songs he sang (surprisingly well) in the shower, and the way he always slept on his stomach, sheets pooled around his waist. While you hadn’t said it, the two of you knew that you were quickly falling in love with each other.

Harry had become a huge part of your life and you two rarely were apart. Work was a series of knowing glances and stolen kisses any time you and Harry were alone. While you two had become an incredible professional team, your productivity when working together had slowed, unable to get much work done when he was constantly trying to convince you to hook up in his office. Outside of work, you spent nearly all your time in his penthouse dressed only in one of his expensive dress shirts that he insisted looked better on you than ever did on him.

Your phone buzzed on your desk, bringing you out of your Harry-induced daze. Meet me in the copy room ;), your phone read. You let out a laugh and playfully rolled your eyes before making your way across the office to your intended destination.

Opening the door, you only got a glimpse of your gorgeous boyfriend before he pulled your body to him, your lips falling into a well practiced dance against one another. You kept your hands rested against his chest, learning from your mistakes of previously messing up his hair during a particularly passionate trip to a storage closet. While you remained careful to leave no clues of what you two were doing in the copy room, Harry buried his hands in your hair and moved to leave kisses down your neck, sure to leave some type of bruise. You pulled away from him, breathless, gently scolding him for being so careless.

“Harry, I will not fuck you in this copy room,” you told him, smoothing your pencil skirt and straightening out your blazer. You were met with a needy and pathetic pout that made the large man look like a small child who was denied a piece of candy.

“What makes the copy room off limits?” he smirked down at you. “We’ve had sex in most of the rooms of this office.”

“No lock on this door,” you smiled, moving to your tippy toes to kiss him lightly on the nose and turning to leave the room. He reached out and grabbed a hold of your wrist, pulling you back into him.

“I don’t care who sees,” he spoke against your lips as he connected you once again. “I’m sure my girl and I put on quite the show.”

“You are an arrogant son of a bitch, aren’t you?” you giggled in between soft kisses, arms hooked around his neck. “And I care, Harry,” you confessed, pulling away from him and looking seriously into his bright green eyes. “I worked hard to get to this position and I will not let people attribute my success to me sleeping with my boss.”

“But you are sleeping with your boss,” he called after you as you separated yourself from him and moved towards the door again. “Quite a bit actually.”

“But it didn’t get me to the top, did it?” you winked, exiting your hiding spot.

“I quite like it when you’re on top.”

***

This was definitely not sustainable.

The “good working relationship” cover could only work for so long and the way you acted could give it away any moment. You were so comfortable and happy with each other now, a rare and impossible feat before, and it was hard not to notice. You two had done a complete 180 and you could only pray the office was turning a blind eye. It was hard to pretend that you weren’t falling head over heels in love with this man.

There was a reason this was forbidden. Harry was in a position to manipulate and take advantage of his professional power above you and you understood why it was absolutely not allowed. There was a laundry list of powerful men who had taken advantage of their female subordinates and hurt them and their careers beyond repair. While you both were very consenting, it was a power dynamic that could quickly turn sour.

You both had plenty at risk. While you were desperate to stay secret for the sake of your professional reputation and career aspirations, Harry had a Fortune 500 company to worry about. SPR was growing at a rapid speed and was quickly becoming the most sought after public relations firm in the country.  You anxiously held your breath whenever at work, praying both of you could be on your best behavior, refusing to be the reason Harry fell from his golden boy position in the business world.

Harry had briefly suggested you quitting and just letting him take care of you. That idea made you feel like a sugar baby in your own relationship and you were not okay with that. He also brought up the idea of quitting your formal position and working as a freelance consultant so the HR policy would no longer apply, but you were quick to shut that down as well. While you would do anything to be with him and stop worrying, your career came first. There was no guarantee that you two would work out and you refused to give up your career for any man.

There was a brief period of time that Harry had considered a publicity beard. Hiring some model to pretend to be Harry’s girlfriend for the paparazzi would take some of the heat off the both of you and probably advance both of their careers. But you knew you were far too jealous to watch him with someone else, even if they were being paid to be there. You tried to be cool, calm, and collected at all times, but when it came to Harry, something ignited in you that you just couldn’t turn off.

Watching from across the office when his new, and irritatingly attractive, assistant began was torture. Cami was smart and beautiful and way overqualified to be running to get his dry cleaning and scheduling his rides to the airport. She was a tall, stick thin, blonde bombshell and you couldn’t understand why she was working in an office and not walking a runway. You watched the bedroom eyes she gave him every time they made eye contact, annoyed at how similar they were to your own, constantly looking up at him and batting her eyelashes. You always got a kick out of watching him shut her down when she started on her breathy ‘Mr. Styles’ voice which resembled Marilyn Monroe’s rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ for JFK.

“Mr. Styles,” she sing-songed, “would you like me to get you something for lunch today?”

“No. I’m going out for lunch,” he dead-panned harshly. It made you feel good that he was meeting you at home for lunch, and the strong possibility that you were lunch made you feel even better. You watched from the doorway of his office as he didn’t even look up at her from his computer, a smirk threatening to break out onto your lips.

“Hi Mr. Styles,” you alerted him to your presence. His eyes shot up to make contact with yours, fighting a smile off his own lips. “I have a proposal for you to review.”

“Have a seat,” he said, motining for you to sit across from him at his large mahogany desk. Cami hung in the corner, waiting for some sort of command when Harry told her to leave and shut the door behind her. Leaning back in your chair, you took in the man sitting across from you. He wore a light blue suit that was perfectly tailored, paired with a white dress shirt, and navy tie. His hair was pushed back, just long enough for some of his natural curl to show. His eyes shined in the light from the floor to ceiling windows of his office that framed him and as soon as the assistant left the room, a huge smile rested on his face.

“So, what proposal do you have for me?”

“I can see it now,” you began, putting on your best proposal voice. “Dinner, a bottle (or a few) of wine, and movies at your place tonight.”

“My love, you could sell wood to a forest.”

***

That night started out calm enough. You had ordered in your favorite Italian place, the same one that you had shared your first real conversation over, and ate it over a bottle of wine. You two sat at his kitchen island, both dressed in Harry’s comfiest clothes, and talked about your days. It was a long day in the office and you were exhausted and the few glasses of wine running through your system were not helping. You leaned over on your barstool, resting your head on his shoulder, receiving a light kiss to your forehead in between bites of his dinner.

“Just so you know, Marcus was a bit of a dick to me today,” you slid into conversation in between bites of a garlic knot, always one to stir the pot.

“I’m sorry, honey. I don’t like him very much either but I can’t just fire someone because I don’t like them,” he explained softly.

“You can fire Cami,” you said before fully thinking. You watched from his shoulder as he questioningly raised his eyebrows, mouth still stuffed full of food. “I just don’t like the way she acts around you. She looks at you like she’s ready to mount you at any second.”

“I can’t fire my assistant because you’re jealous,” he said with a light chuckle.

“Harry, I’m not jealous,” you asserted while lifting your head off his shoulder to look him in the eye, not sure if what you were saying was fully true. “I just don’t like the way she acts around you.”

“You’re jealous!” he pushed, poking and teasing you into anger. He wore his famous smirk across his lips and while you usually thought it was adorable, tonight it was pushing every one of your buttons. Your cheeks began to heat with a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment, intensified by the wine you both had been drinking.

“I would have been more jealous if you you went through with that stupid beard idea,” you spat. It was Harry’s turn to get offended now. His eyebrows shot up his forehead in surprise at your comment, before they settled in a frustrated scowl.

“I was just trying to help,” he countered, his voice low and gravely. “You’re the one who’s so uncomfortable at work.”

“I can’t be comfortable at work knowing that if we were to get caught, both of our careers are finished!” You slid off the barstool, unable to be so close to him right now, and began pacing the immaculate kitchen. “Knowing that you just want me to quit so you can keep me up in this penthouse barefoot and pregnant doesn’t help either.”

“Y/N, come on. You know I don’t want that.”

“You’ve asked me to quit for you more than once, H.” You were both standing now, circling around the kitchen island. You walked away from him everytime he got close, the thought of him touching you right now made your blood boil.

“I wanted you to quit so that we can be together!” he raised his voice as he defended himself.  

Your career was everything to you. Your work was what gave you the opportunity to escape New York and get a fresh start in London. You had to put an ocean between you and your ex to feel safe again, and your hard work and talent was how you did it. You would not give it up for a man.

You and Harry had never fought like this before and you were worried how similar it felt to when you and your ex would fight. You had promised yourself that you would never be in a situation like that again.

“You’re the fucking CEO!” You were both yelling now. “ You’re in charge of everyone there. You can change the HR policy if you want.”

“No, I can’t. Were both in PR; you know how that would look for the company and both of us.” He argued from across the island. “My employee can’t be my girlfriend.”

“Okay,” you said after a pause, suddenly calm.

“‘Okay’ what?” Harry asked, chest still heaving for yelling.

“I don’t want to be either anymore.”

You marched your way to his couch, grabbing your briefcase and work clothes. You heard his calls for you to stay and pleads for you to take it back, but you ignored them. You made your way to his front door, slamming it behind you as you left.

***

Four Years Later

You sat in the conference room of SPR for the first time in over four years. The table and chairs had changed, no longer the heavy wood conference table you had known. It had been swapped out for a long black oval table that was flanked with chairs that were now filled with lawyers.

Harry sat directly across from you, in the same spot he sat the first night you began to fall in love with him. He looked a little different now; his hair had gotten longer, he had grown out a bit of a beard, and he had a couple more tattoos. You couldn’t help but think about all the nights you had spent together in his bed, your fingertips tracing the designs on his skin. Your eyes bore into each other, scanning each other’s face for emotion and desperately trying to get a read on the other.

It was easy to fall back into your distanced body language. While you were connected through intense eye contact, both of your arms were crossed, shielding yourself from the others’ stare. You had been competitors these last few years after all. Today, that was all changing.

After you left that night in a storm of jealousy and hurt, you made good on your threats to quit and started your own firm. You began to climb your way up the PR ladder and four years later, you were Harry’s biggest competitor. When the idea of a merger came about, you were hesitant but understood it was what was best for both of your businesses.

A thick contract was passed across the table between the both of you, both CEO’s silently signing on the dotted line. “The merger is complete!” your lawyers cheered excitedly, only small smiles finding their way onto your faces. “You are now Co CEOs of Styles-Y/L/N Public Relations.”

“Congratulations Chief Executive Officer Styles,” you spoke as you lifted yourself out of your chair, reaching out a hand to offer a handshake. You offered him a cold smile you had practiced to perfection in the mirror in preparation for today’s events.

“Congratulations Chief Executive Officer Y/L/N,” he repeated after you. When your hands met, the familiar sparks shot their way up into your arm, your heart beginning to flutter. You knew that feeling in the pit of your stomach that he caused so well. You got it whenever he was around, like he continued to have some sort of magic over you after all this time.

You left as the small celebration died down, opting to meet with Harry in his office to devise a plan moving forward concerning office space and upcoming projects. Strictly business, you constantly reminded yourself. Soon, the sun began to set and you decided it was best for both of you to head home.

Walking out of the building, it felt strangely familiar to the night you had first shared together. Your footsteps fell insync as you silently walked into the parking garage and towards your own cars. You looked over at his hand and realized he had already put his ring on.

“Hey, I thought we said we were going to put our rings on together after the merger,” you smiled as you fished around your blazer pocket for your engagement ring and wedding band.

“Honey, I thought you saw me put it on,” he laughed, flashing you his bright smile and the golden band that sat on his left hand. You carefully slid the rings onto your ring finger, covering the slight tan line you got when you wore them outside of work. You intertwined your hands, walking the rest of the way to your cars as a couple. You giggled as you always did at the sight of a baby’s car seat in the back of Harry’s sports car.

“I’ll pick the baby up from my mum’s if you grab dinner on the way home,” he offered.

“Sounds like a deal,” you agreed and pressed your body up against him, pecking his lips as he ran his hands up and down your back. “It feels good not to hide at work anymore.”

“No one can take advantage of the other if we are both in charge, right?” he smirked.

“Not according to HR,” you chuckled softly, resting your head on his chest before pulling away and getting in the car next to his.

“I love you, Mrs. Y/L/N-Styles!” he called into your car when you both rolled your windows down.

“I love you more, Mr. Styles!” you called back. “I’ll see you at home for our business meeting!”

Thank you so much for reading!! Please let me know what you think in my ask! Requests are also open :) 

[themosleyreview]

The Mosley Review: Don’t Look Up

What if you took a plot point from Armageddon and then mixed in the best dark comedy of the real world? Well, you have this huge satirical mirror of a film. There are some dark comedies that hit so true to home that it is almost shocking and not funny. This film nailed the superficial nature of how the world would react if there was a comet heading towards earth. I think it was almost 10 years ago or something like this had happened and it obviously missed us, but for a time there was some real fear. I loved that this film captured that fact of real danger and yet everyone is oblivious. This film was at times a brilliant social commentary on how quickly society is to not believe in something even if the facts are there. Conspiracy, lack of trust and terrible leadership is all on display here and you can draw the simple comparisons to modern day politics and theorists in the world. I honestly had a good time laughing at how true alot of the story seemed even if its a comedy.

Jennifer Lawrence was excellent as Kate Dibiasky and she delivers alot of the more real reactions to the impending doom. She delivers some amazing levels of sarcasm and nihilism in many great scenes and I especially enjoyed seeing her character except the inevitable. Leonardo Dicaprio delivers a growing anxiety attack of a performance as Dr. Randall Mindy. He is determined to prove the science, but gets sucked up into the high life of celebrity. The friendship between him and Kate was great and I loved when he finally snaps. Rob Morgan was great as the straight man Dr. Teddy Oglethorpe, head of the Planetary Defense Coordination Office. The 3 of them together made a fantastic team and I loved the chemistry between all of them. Cate Blanchett and Tyler Perry were excellent as the stereotypical talk show hosts Brie Evantee and Jack Bremmer. They both come off as the "Ryan and Kelly" of this film, but Janie represents that completely overqualified person to be doing such a job. Meryl Streep was excellent as President Janie Orlean. She was the perfect example of a completely detached bureaucrat whose vanity mirror's our own former real life President. Jonah Hill was despicable and brilliant as her son and Chief of Staff Jason Orlean. He was trying to make everything so "relatable" to the current generation, but comes off as a seriously drugged out buffoon and I loved it. Timothee Chalamet was good in the film as Yule and you can tell he was just there to have fun. His character does touch on the religious side of things for a bit. Ron Perlman can steal a film if he choices to and he almost did as the irreverent, hilarious and surly character Colonel Benedict Drask. Mark Rylance was great as the tech CEO Sir Peter Isherwell. He comes off to me as the less humane and very disturbed version of the James Halliday from Ready Player One. I liked that he highlighted the rich priorities of monetary gain over human life.

The score by Nicholas Britell was excellent, fun and heart breaking as well. It does follow the standard sound of inspirational and epic in the right moments, but quickly pulls back to have fun with its comedic cues. In the pantheon of dark comedies, this was a fun satire that does hit so close to home. It was hilarious, scary and sometimes a great mirror to our society and what superficial crap we shouldn't care about. Let me know what you thought of the film or my review in the comments below. Thanks for reading!