#one issue is... creepy coworker. other issue is.. I want to step down. but they have no replacement so thats scary

[oscill4te]

hmmm 50/50 chance I might talk to my manager about something that is scaryyy. Or maybe two scary things. Hmmm. I have to do it today tho bc if I do it on Monday.... it would be too late I think. Im off tomorrow.

[mhysa-leesi]

му вℓσσ∂у ναℓєηтιηє

{Gif Source} {Gif Source 2}

Pairing: Dark!Steve Rogers 𝒳 (femme) Reader 🩸.

Summary: "Steve Rogers is madly in love with you and he'll do anything for you to see that--no matter who gets in his way."

Word Count: 4,765 (Sorry, this is a long one!)

TW‼: Non-Con, Smut, Stalking, Yandere Themes, Murder (Description of Side-Character Death), Blood, Description of Gore, and Strong Language. 18+ ONLY, MINORS DNI‼

AN: This story contains adult and dark themes, please do not proceed if you are under the age of 18 or if ANY of these warnings upset you! I am not responsible for your media consumption–you and only you are. Also, I used one of the prompts from (@the-modern-typewriter) to describe a character's death, ALL CREDIT GOES TO THEM. 𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊.

AN Cont.: If you or anyone you know has been a victim of sexual violence, please reach out for help. I do not condone ANY of the actions described in this story, this is merely a work of FICTION.

The first love letter was delivered on a gloomy Friday afternoon. The clouds above the city were dark and full of frigid torrents of rainfall. Gold and scarlet autumn leaves whispered against the chilly winds as acorns scattered about; rolling and cracking underfoot as you made your everyday walk to work. You had chosen to stray from your usual route that day, deciding on a new corner coffee shop instead of your normal stop.

You remembered that day clearly, as if it had happened just yesterday. The new coffee shop was a small, hole in the wall with plastic vines of ivy and fairylights rimming the framework of the inside. You ordered rich and dark coffees, with creamy oat milk for you and your coworkers, and an apple pecan oatmeal cookie for yourself.

Your workday was seemingly the same as any other. Pam was gossiping with Susan, and Scott was hiding from Mark, your manager, in the breakroom. You remember you were seated at your cubicle when things turned, staring at the rain against the window, and tapping your pen against your notepad, when you were startled by the mail carrier. He handed you a single, pink envelope with a heart stamp on its flap and left with a mumbled “you’re welcome”. You frowned as there was no return address or other name besides yours. You had opened it anyway.

You remembered how your frown had deepened as your stomach dropped. The paper trembled in your hands as you stared at the small heart sketched at the bottom. You frantically looked around the office for any sign of a joke, hoping to see one of your coworkers giggling at your shocked reaction. But everyone had their noses deep into their screens, typing away at their work. You turned the letter over, looking for a name or a clue as to who had sent it. But it was blank.

And you remembered how you had crumpled up the letter and tossed it as you refocused and finished the rest of that workday.

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

Weeks passed before you got another mysterious love letter delivered to your desk, a small bouquet of roses and baby’s-breath with it. And again, you crumpled it up and threw it away; leaving the flowers in the breakroom. You had made a mental note that day to talk to the mailman about the delivery of these letters.

For a time they stopped and you thought you were out of the woods or thought your secret admirer had lost interest at the very least. But you were wrong. Your third envelope had been waiting for you in your mailbox when you had gotten home from work one Monday evening. You didn’t bother opening it as you sent it straight to the garbage.

You were growing paranoid and antsy as you constantly looked over your shoulder. You’d freeze every time you came across an envelope, even if it was just your monthly rent notice or bank statement. You had refused to live like this, in a constant state of anxiety and fear, so, that’s how you found yourself moving into a new apartment across town.

You were met with months of peace, you were finally readjusting to life before the letters. You had even moved in with someone you had been seeing from your new job, Chris. He was perfect, someone straight from a romance novel; tall, dark, and handsome, with a taste for adventure and romance. You were happy with him--you were in love and had long since decided that if Chris were to ask you to marry him, you’d say yes in a heartbeat.

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

Today was your anniversary with Chris, and the two of you had an entire evening planned. Dinner at your favorite restaurant, a surprise showing of your favorite movie at the corner cinema, and then home, where you’d give him his gift. A red lacy lingerie set with fuzzy handcuffs, and a silk blindfold to match.

Your heart skipped and your stomach alighted with butterflies as you touched up your makeup in the bathroom mirror. The evening had been absolutely perfect and it was about to get even better. You stepped out into the bedroom, dressed in nothing but red lace and a bathrobe. A spritz of perfume here and a mint there, and you were ready to go surprise your man.

You walked out into the living room and seductively leaned against the wall, watching as he poured two glasses of red wine. He turned and froze, swallowing hard as he abandoned the drinks on the kitchen counter. You smirked as he pulled you to him by your hips, instantly locking his lips to yours. He looked down at you through his eyelashes, his deep brown eyes darkened with lust, and you couldn’t help but bite your lip. You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down to your lips once more.

Your eyes closed and moaned as he peppered kisses along the curve of your neck, tilting your head back to give him better access. His hands roamed your body hotly, squeezing and caressing your dips and curves. Chris entangled his hands in your hair as he moved you to the counter, lifting you up as if you weighed nothing. He pushed your robe down your shoulders to reveal the red lace hidden underneath, and with a groan, he bent to trace the rosette lacework that covered your breasts with his tongue. You hummed and wrapped your legs around his waist, your hands running down his back to toy with the bottom hem.

Chris gently pushed you down to an angle as he kissed down your body, stopping just below your navel to wink up at you. You bit back a laugh as you wiggled your hips impatiently as you leaned back on your hands. With your fingers splayed against the wooden countertop, your touch met something smooth and waxy--like the waxy seal of an envelope. You reached behind you and grabbed a pink envelope, with a wax stamp of a heart on its flap. Your heart seemed to stop as you stared at the envelope in your hands.

You vaguely felt Chris’s lips on your inner thighs, kissing and nipping at your skin. When he heard no reaction from you, he looked up, his brows furrowed and eyes full of questions.

“What’s that?” he asked, “You wrote me a love letter, too?” he winked as he reached for it.

You jerked it away from his grasp, your heart hammering in your chest as you ripped open the flap; ripping the waxy heart in half.

P.S. You should really lock your windows, doll. You jumped off the counter and ran to the windows, each one was locked--except for one. You locked it and double-checked its strength, fighting against the lock as you tried to open it.

“Babe? (Y/N),” Chris said sternly, snapping you out of your trance.

You looked at him now. You didn’t know what to say, you couldn’t think of how to form the words. You wanted to say everything was fine and okay, but it wasn’t--it was far from it. Whoever had been writing and sending you these knew where you lived now, and that scared you. After months of trying so hard to move on from this, you felt as if you were right back at square one again.

The rest of the night was unclear to you. You moved like a zombie, your brain on autopilot as you crawled into bed to hide under the covers until the morning sun rose. Chris asked questions, of course. But you had no answers for him. You had no idea who had been writing them and had absolutely no clue how they had found you again.

Chris had suggested going to the police, but what could they do? No one had physically harassed you, and although creepy, the letters weren’t threatening. And not to mention, you had thrown away most of your evidence. You were at a loss. Chris was supportive, always there to comfort you during the night when you were restless, but that never kept you from feeling alone.

Your paranoia increased tenfold by the end of that week. You changed your daily routine every few days, hoping that’d throw your stalker off your trail, but it never did. They always seemed ten steps ahead of you, whereas you struggled to even think to keep up with them. Your breaking point was reached on Sunday evening as you met with one of your old friends from high school for breakfast-dinner--an old tradition you two had decided to revive for the night.

Things were going good, and you even dared to forget about your own issues as you cut into your syrup-soaked pancakes. Madison was telling you about her newest fling and how good he was in the sack, and you genuinely found yourself happy to listen to the vulgar details. After painting you a vivid picture of her sex life, Madison excused herself to the restroom; leaving you alone with your pancakes and empty cup of iced coffee.

You saw a head of electric blue hair and you perked up. Your waitress came with a smile and handed you a paper cup of steaming coffee and a single napkin.

“Oh, I didn’t order this,” you said with a polite smile.

“A gentleman ordered this for you,” she winked before walking away.

You frowned as you looked at the writing on the napkin. Refusing to even acknowledge the cup of coffee in front of you.

Your mouth went dry as you stared at the familiar handwriting. Brown dress, he knew what you were wearing--he was here. You shot to your feet, the chair scraping loudly against the floor, as you looked around frantically, ignoring all of the judgemental looks and hushed whispers you were getting.

“You okay, (Y/N)?” asked Madison, her brows knitted in concern.

“Yeah,” you lied, “I just… I’m sorry, but I have to go. I’ll call you later, Mads.”

You dug through your wallet and gave a twenty to your waitress on your way out, only stopping to yell over your shoulder for her to keep the change. You practically ran home from the restaurant as your anxiety started to settle in your bones, making you heavy with unease. You called Chris, but were only met with his voicemail. The elevator ride up to your floor was tortuous as you watched the floor numbers slowly light up one by one until finally, they stopped at your floor. You panted as you slammed the door shut behind you, sliding the lock and chain in place as you dropped your head to rest against the wooden frame.

You sniffled as the words from his letter were seared into your eyelids. You just wanted him to leave you alone, you didn’t know what you did to catch his eye, and worst of all, you didn’t know how to make it stop. You choked on your hiccupped breaths as tears streaked down your cheeks. When you finally calmed down you switched on the lights and finally turned around…

You stared at Chris in horror. Blood drenched the entire living room, his corpse sat limp in a chair like a broken, bloody doll. His throat and wrists had been slashed. You tried to hold your hand over the open wounds as you screamed for help, but no matter the pressure you applied, the blood still gushed and seeped through your fingers, oozing down your arm, and dripping from your elbow. The gore of it all brought waves of nausea that went beyond physical retching, the sickness you felt was indescribable. But the smell, the smell was something much worse. Metallic, iron, copper… Your ears started to ring. You couldn’t hear, couldn’t breathe. You could only stare at the bloodstain on your hands and scream.

You left that following weekend, abandoning the big city to move back in with your parents and younger sister. You spent most of your days locked in your room, hiding from the world under the comfort of your blanket and drawn curtains. Days turned to weeks, and weeks to months. You’d look at yourself in the mirror and cry as you no longer recognized yourself as the woman you once were. You knew it was time to move on, but you couldn’t, not when you’d see Chris’s bloodied body every time you’d close your eyes.

You started small by taking baby steps toward your recovery. It started with family meals, then a cashier job at your local supermarket, shopping trips with your mother and sister. Then you eventually graduated to therapy, where you’d stare at a forest green ceiling as you reclined on the chaise longue. Therapy helped and it was admittedly one of the better moments of your monotonous days, you felt heard, seen, as you walked through your own thoughts and nightmares. Your appointments even inspired you to reach out to Chris’s parents for closure, to go with them to visit their son’s grave. It was bittersweet, leaving behind a bouquet of roses for the man you had loved so deeply instead of a kiss goodbye; but it was something you knew you’d have to come to terms with. It wasn’t your fault, that was the mantra you’d tell yourself when you’d catch glimpses of his blood on your hands.

Before you knew it a year had passed since the incident, and in that year, you had not received one letter. You had made a resolution for the first time that New Year’s Eve as you waited for the midnight ball to drop. You told yourself you’d forget, to start fresh, and become an even better version of yourself. You were a flower that was fighting against all odds to blossom.

You cut your hair, got bangs and highlights. Saved up for a brand new, off-the-lot car. And moved into a cozy apartment with your sister. Things were looking up for you and you truly believed that you had finally found your way out of the woods. But life had a habit of playing cruel tricks on those who were naive enough to believe such a thing.

It was mid-February, just a few days before Valentine’s Day, when things started to go to shit. You had just come back from the gym with your sister when you saw it. A pink envelope with no return address or any other name besides yours, with a wax seal in the shape of a heart on the back flap, sat on your pillow. It felt like it weighed a thousand pounds as you held it in your hands. You debated on throwing it away, on pretending you never received it. But you wanted to know what more this twisted bastard could have to say. You ripped it open and read.

You didn’t hesitate as you ripped the letter to shreds, throwing the pieces into the garbage with an angry grunt. Delusional piece of deranged shit, you thought. You raked through your brain for the millionth time since your first letter, trying to figure out who the fuck could possibly be the sender, but you came to the same conclusion you had been coming to for years--nothing. It was agonizing, not knowing who your torturer was. It was your shadow, how could you not know who was living in it? But, no matter how hard you thought, you kept drawing blank after blank.

Your sister comforted you with a glass of wine and dumplings from the takeout place up the street. She was going out tonight, but offered to stay home with you instead.

“No,” you shooed, “I’ll be fine, I’m a big girl.”

“You sure?” she frowned, “It’s no big deal, Girls Night is every Friday night, I can always go next week.”

“I’m fine. Go and have fun for the both of us,” you said as you waved her away.

She left a few minutes later, dressed in heels and a short skirt. You ate the rest of the dumplings and finished the bottle of wine before calling it a night. You undressed down to your underwear and threw on an oversized t-shirt and plopped down onto the bed with an unceremonious bounce. The wine coursing through your system made it easier than usual to fall asleep, and the next thing you knew, you were in a deep sleep, dreaming of a life with Chris--of a life without the letters. It was one of those good dreams you wished you’d never wake from.

Which was why you were so annoyed when a loud noise startled you awake. You looked at your phone and the time read “1:00 AM”, you frowned, it was too early for your sister to be back already. You padded along the hallway, rubbing the sleep from your eyes as you called out for her, worried she might’ve passed out drunk on the floor or something. You stopped as you reached the front room--the very empty front room. Your heart started to pound as you stood frozen, staring at the empty room before you. A shuffling from behind caught your attention, then. And against your better instincts, you turned around slowly to see a shadowed silhouette of a man standing at the end of the hallway.

You stood there for what felt like an eternity, just staring dumbstruck at the man. With every step he took toward you, you took one back. Inching closer and closer to the front door with every backward step.

“Doll, don’t,” he warned, his voice striking you with fear like a bolt of lightning.

Without a second thought, you ran toward the door, fumbling stupidly with the locks in your panicked state of mind. The man was on you in a flash, easily dragging you away from your pathetic attempt at escape. His arms slithered around you like snakes, their hold constricting as he locked an arm firmly around your neck, silencing your screams as you struggled to breathe. You slapped and clawed at his forearm as he pulled you back to your bedroom.

“Please be a good girl for me, (Y/N). I don’t want to hurt you, baby,” he said against your hair.

With his arm still wrapped around your neck, he threw you down onto the bed, quickly straddling you before you could scramble to your feet. He pinned your arms above your head with one hand and forced you to look at him with the other. His face was illuminated by the moonlight. The silver shine highlighting his familiar eyes through the holes of his helmet. You froze as he pulled off his blue cowl.

You were beyond confused, to say the least. You stared up at Captain America, your brain working overtime to try and put the puzzle pieces together. What was Captain America doing in your apartment? And why had he called you “baby”? What the fuck was going on? Were you lucid dreaming? You must’ve looked as confused as you felt because he smiled down at you, gently promising you answers to the questions that you hadn’t yet asked.

“You’re even more beautiful up-close, doll,” he said as he brushed away hairs that fell in your face from your struggle.

Your eyes widened. Doll. The nickname sent chills down your spine as the word flashed against the pink color of the envelopes, against the red of spilled blood.

“You…”

He ran a finger down your cheek and nodded, “Me.”

You paled under him, your bottom lip trembling as you shook your head in disbelief. He frowned and hushed you, caressing your cheek and wiping away the tears that fell.

“Shh… Don’t cry, baby,” he cooed, “I’ll take good care of you, you don’t need to cry.”

“W–Why?” you hiccupped through your sobs, “Why are you doing this?”

“Because I love you, (Y/N),” your stomach dropped as he answered you as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

You shook your head, “No. No! You’re Captain America. You’re supposed to be a hero!”

You fought against his grip, flailing and kicking wildly as you tried in vain to get away from him. You trashed against him, kicking against his thighs with all of your strength, but it was nothing to him--nothing but an annoying inconvenience.

“Stop,” he said, his jaw ticking with simmering anger.

But you refused to stop. You whined and fought against him.

“Stop,” he repeated, his anger coming to a rolling boil.

You shot up and headbutted him. He reeled back and glowered down at you, his jaw clenched and nostrils flared.

“I said stop,” he shouted as he finally stilled you with a sharp slap.

The sound was as sharp as the feel of it. You sobbed as the pain stung your skin, the right side of your face becoming numb from the harsh impact of it.

“Why are you doing this, Steve?” you asked again.

“Because I love you,” he answered again, “I know you love me, too, (Y/N).”

“No,” you exclaimed, “I don’t love you! I don’t love you! I don’t love you!” you sobbed.

“You will,” Something seemed to change within his eyes. No longer were there hints of green in his blue eyes, but something much darker… Something more sinister. You swallowed as you shrunk under his intense glare.

You exclaimed as he forced his lips against yours. Squeezing your jaw until he could slip his tongue into your mouth. You pushed against him, beating on his shoulders as he shoved his tongue further down your throat. He pulled away, breathless and flushed, a ghost of a content smile on his face. You gasped and tried to wiggle away once more, rolling onto your stomach as you did so. A yelp escapes you as you feel him grab your hips, pulling you back under him.

Steve puts his weight on you, trapping you underneath him as he begins to undress you. You try to roll onto your back, but his knee keeps you in place. You fight to keep your shirt on, knowing you wore nothing but your panties underneath it. But you were fighting blind. You kicked up, the heels of your feet hitting the backs of Steve’s strong thighs. He manhandles you easily as he rolls you onto your back, finally ridding you of your cotton shield.

Your hands went to your chest before he could. He pried your arms away, baring your breasts to him with a jerked jiggle. He licked his lips as he cupped and squeezed your breast. You flinched as if his touch had burned you, and in some sense, it had. Your eyes widened in shame as Steve blew on your nipples, the skin hardening into pointed peaks. He brings his lips to them, circling them with his tongue. Sucking, licking, pinching. You press your lips together to keep you from whimpering, and you close your eyes in hopes you can will him away. But your feeble defense attempts don’t last long.

Your eyes snap open as you feel his lips leave your breasts to trail kisses down to your navel, stopping at the band of your underwear.

“Please…” you beg. You bite your lip to keep it from trembling as fresh tears begin to form at the corners of your eyes.

Steve smiles against your skin, “I’m going to make you mine, (Y/N). ‘M gonna make you feel so good, doll.”

You stifle a sob as you feel him slide your panties off past your ankles, his fingers scorching your skin as they explore back up between your thighs. Instinctively, you try to close your legs around his hands. But he doesn’t stop. Steve digs his fingers into the soft skin of your inner thighs as he forcefully spreads you wide. Your pussy on full display to him. You stiffen under his gaze, your face burning with shame as he stares in awe at your spread folds. He runs a finger from your clit to your entrance, dipping knuckle-deep into your channel. Your thighs flex as your body tenses at the intrusion. He adds another and languidly pumps them in and out, curling and scissoring them. You fight against the blossoming heat within your belly. Your shame grows as you hear the squelch of your wetness around his pumping fingers.

Steve presses a firm thumb to your clit and you cry out before you can stop yourself. He pumps his fingers into you harder, faster, as he pulls more moans and cries from your lips. You sob as you feel that coil deep within your belly begin to unravel with every stroke and pump. You fight against your own body as you keep yourself from teetering over the edge of pleasure, refusing to let yourself submit to him. But Steve had other plans for you. Suddenly, before you could register his movements, you felt his tongue against your most intimate area. You mewled and curled your toes as he fucked you with his tongue, his thumb never stopping their firm and fast circles against your clit. You sobbed as your body convulsed with white-hot pleasure, and before you could stop yourself, you came on his tongue with a loud, dragged out moan.

You sniffled as you cried, but whether it was from the intensity of your orgasm or your shame and fear, you didn’t know. The lines were starting to blur for you.

Steve gently kissed around your folds before crawling up over you. He held your face and forced your lips to his once more before he began to undress, leaving the taste of yourself on your tongue as he pulled away with a wet smack. He unclothed himself, then. Stripping himself of his spangled-stars and red and white stripes. He looked down at you with dark, lust-filled eyes, and a breathless quirk of his lips.

You were limp as he folded you to his needs. Bringing your bent and spread knees to your chest as he took himself in his hands. His length stood tall and proud, the tip swollen and leaking down this thick shaft with anticipation. Your legs flinched as they tried to close on their own. You choked on a sob as he wrenched them apart. Your heart hammered in your chest as you watched him tap your pussy with his cock, running the tip up and down your folds as he wet himself with your soaking arousal until finally, he pressed himself into your entrance. You let out a strained whine as he slammed into you.

Steve’s eyes were shut and mouth slightly agape as he hisses at your tightness. His hips thrust in excitement as you clench around him. You whimper again as he slides out, just to slam himself back in. Your body jolts with every lust-driven thrust. He slides his hands under you and brings them to hold onto your shoulders, bringing you down to meet his every forceful thrust. The sound of skin slapping and lewd moans fill your bedroom, your sweat sheen bodies glowing under the moonlight. Steve speeds up, mercilessly hammering that hidden sweet spot that makes you scream and clench around his cock. You spasm and shake as Steve forces another orgasm from you.

“Tell me you love me,” he pants.

You shake your head, pushing on his shoulders as the realization of your situation comes crashing back into you.

His hand wraps around your throat as he pounds into you harder than before, “Say it, (Y/N).”

You scratch at his hand as your vision begins to dot and blacken, “I–I love you…”

“Louder,” he demands, “‘I love you, Steve’, say it, doll, I wanna hear you say it.” he moans.

“I love you, Steve,” you choke out.

He releases his grip on you then, and you cough and gasp for air. His rhythm becomes erratic as his hips drive into you with renewed vigor, “Again.”

“I love you, Steve,” you moan.

His body jerks as his hips stutter to a stop. Steve comes with your name on his lips, and you whined as you felt his warmth flood inside of you. He panted above you, his hips languidly thrusting as his abdomen clenched with his drawn out release. He pulled out of you and collected the spunk that leaked from your weeping cunt on his fingers. He brought them to your lips and forced you to suck them clean.

“I love you, too, doll. Forever and ever,”

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*тαgℓιѕт*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧: @hoosier-daddi

[wolveria]

Inside Your Wires - Ch 6

Pairing: Human!Connor x Android!Reader

Series Warnings (18+ only): Eventual smut, slow burn, fantasy bigotry, violence, brief noncon elements, angst with a happy ending

Chapter summary: Connor gets his new assignment. He's not thrilled.

AO3

Story moodboard by @uh-kitty-got-wet​

Chapter 5 art by @semains​ (18+ only)

November 6th, 2038

Saturday 09:56AM

There was a time when Connor didn’t have to come in on Saturdays. He remembered the days when mandatory overtime was few and far between.

Not anymore. 2038 seemed to be the year shit just kept happening, and now that he thought about it, quite a few of it seemed to be because of androids. Ones gone missing. Disobeying orders. And now, homicidal.

Connor rubbed the bridge of his nose after putting his car into park, regretting how enthusiastically he’d hit the bottle last night. It wasn’t too bad this time, just an annoying throbbing behind his eyes, but it made it more difficult to see and he’d had to squint through his windshield.

Whatever. The reason for his shame-drinking was no longer relevant. Connor just had to survive until lunchtime, and if he were lucky, Hank would let him go early. He tried not to itch at the butterfly bandages on his cheek, applied himself after he’d woken up in a haze with blood on his pillow having completely forgotten the injury existed.

Connor kept his head down as he walked through the lobby of the station and through the security checkpoint to the bullpen proper. He tried not to be completely antisocial, however, and sent weak smiles at the coworkers who bothered to notice he was there.

Helen, Alexander, and Rupert all acknowledged him with various degrees of warmth, some colder than others, and all pretty much deserved. Ralph gave Connor a nervous smile from his chair, though it quickly faded as his eyes flickered to something across the room.

Frowning, he followed Ralph’s eye line across the bullpen and scowled when he spotted Colin leaning casually against Connor’s desk, talking to… someone. He couldn’t see who, Colin’s figure blocking them from view.

Against his better judgement, Connor drew closer, pressure building at the back of his neck, an uneasy feeling of dread that increased with each step.

“Con’s just gonna love this. But seriously, if he bitches about it too much, or gives you a hard time, you can always partner up with me. I won’t mind one bit, promise.”

Connor would have rolled his eyes at his brother’s typical cocksure demeanor, but instead, he went stock still at the familiar voice that answered.

“While the offer is appreciated, Lieutenant, my instructions stipulate that I must assist Detective Anderson with his new, specialized caseload. I’m sure you can understand that CyberLife only wishes to cooperate with the DPD and does not want to interfere with police procedure—“

“What the hell are you doing here?”

The YN800 model blinked and turned its head to meet Connor’s eye, its little blue light blinking for a moment before solidifying again.

It was sitting in Connor’s chair.

“It’s good to see you again, Detective,” it answered, chipper as ever as a fake smile graced its features.

Connor looked the prototype over, his nose crinkling at its appearance. The suit must have been brand new, there were no stains or bullet holes, and her—its hair was once again pinned upwards into a perfect knot.

He felt his insides churn at the near slip, at thinking for even a split second that this thing was a person. Shoving down the crude thoughts of the night before, Connor gave the order through gritted teeth.

“Get. Up.”

The prototype did as it was told, for once. It rose out of his chair, not even having the decency to look chagrined as it straightened its jacket of nonexistent wrinkles.

“I’m sorry, Detective, but I tried to call your phone and left you a message. It was not my intention to surprise you—“

“Oh, no, it’s never your intention to do anything, is it?” Connor snarled back. His headache was in full force now, and he swore he could see the bright lights of the station brighten in time with his heartbeat.

“Aw, c’mon!” Colin slapped him on the shoulder. “Be nice to the temp.”

“Temp?” Connor answered, voice pulled as taut as a wire.

“Yeah, you know. The temporary assistant. The new girl. The—“

He shoved Colin’s hand off his shoulder, leveling a glare at both of them. Colin merely shot him a shit-eating grin while the YN800 stood there, hands clasped behind its back at parade rest, polite and perfect as ever.

“Connor!”

All three of them turned toward the voice booming across the room.

“Get in here!”

Connor glared at the android, as if Hank’s shouting were its fault, which was probably the case.

He turned without a word and stalked to the captain’s office, shoulders hunched as his heart raced and his hands shook at his sides. He let the glass door fall shut behind him, but when he didn’t hear the whoosh of it close, he glanced over his shoulder to see the YN800 had followed him inside.

Great.

Connor stood in front of the desk with his arms crossed.

Hank sat down in his chair, pointedly looking at the chairs in front of his desk. Connor remained standing.

The older man glared, answering Connor’s attitude with a look and a heavy sigh.

“Bet you’re wondering what that’s about.” Hank jerked his chin over Connor’s shoulder. The prototype had taken a spot at the back of the office, observing politely with its hands clasped in front of its hips.

“Yeah, I am.” Connor was a little too cranky this morning to try a more diplomatic approach. “What the hell is it doing here?”

“I’ll get to that. First on the docket, I got a shit ton of android-related cases filling up our database every day and I’m at wit’s end.” Hank took a deep breath, bracing himself as he met Connor’s eye. “Which is why I’m assigning all of these cases to you.”

“You’re what?”

Connor stared at him, dumbfounded.

“You think that case last night was a one-off? We’ve got more android-related crimes rolling in, including assaults and homicides just as bad as the Ortiz case, and right now, you’re the one with the most experience.” Hank leaned his elbows on his desk as he leveled a formidable glare his way. “Is that going to be a problem, Connor?”

 “Yeah, it is a problem, Hank! Why the hell do I have to do this? What about Colin? He was with me at the crime scene and was there for the interrogation!” Connor shoved a finger at the glass wall to prove his point.

Hank’s jaw tightened. Connor had seen that behavior enough times to recognize how he was pushing his luck.

“CyberLife asked for you specifically.”

“What?” Connor blinked, dumbfounded once again, racking his brain but coming up empty. “Why?”

“The hell if I know!” Hank barked back, rising to his feet as he pointed a finger at Connor, “and frankly, I don’t give a damn. Colin’s got enough on his plate—“

“—and I don’t?” Connor interrupted, scowling. Hank sighed and rubbed a hand down his face, and Connor almost felt guilty for his outburst.

Almost.

“That’s not what I said.”

“But it’s what you implied.” He tried not to sound like a hurt child, but, well, that’s exactly what he sounded like.

“For fuck’s sake, Connor! There are more people that are gonna start dying from this!”

“Yeah, I know, but—“

Hank lifted his hand, palm forward, effectively shutting Connor up.

“You saw what one of those deviants was capable of last night, and that was with three of you and another android trying to get it under control! You think the average person stands a chance against one of these fucks? That a little ol’ grandma can defend herself against the murderous robot gardener coming at her with a pair of shears? What the hell happens when a nanny bot decides to take a human kid for itself? Oh, wait, that’s already happened, and you would know that if you checked the goddamn case files I sent you!”

Connor was silent as Hank deflated. The older man leaned back against his desk as he looked through his glass wall out over the bullpen. His voice was rough but much quieter for the next round.

“We’re totally in the dark, Connor. We don’t know how bad this is gonna get and how many androids we’re dealing with. This has the potential to turn into a fucking nightmare with Detroit as ground zero.” Hank’s gaze drifted over Connor’s shoulder to the elephant, or the machine, in the room. “CyberLife was gracious enough to send us a state-of-the-art prototype until this issue is contained. It’s gonna be your partner until such a time that these androids are no longer a threat, and then you’re free to go back to being a misanthropic son-of-a-bitch as much as you like.”

Connor was thoroughly shamed by the end of Hank’s speech, that old familiar feeling of disappointment making his gut roil with nausea, but his anger hadn’t entirely flagged. He clenched his hands tightly to his thighs, fingers desperate for either his coin or his cigarettes.

Connor hadn’t felt the need for one in months. This was bad.

“Hank,” he tried again, his voice soft and pleading in that way he knew Hank couldn’t ignore. “I’m not saying this just to be a pain in your ass. I understand the stakes, but I genuinely believe I’m not qualified for these types of cases. I’m not a CyberLife technician, or an AI specialist, or a computer engineer. I’ve never even owned an android.”

That last one was technically true but only in the barest sense, and Hank gave him a knowing look. It wasn’t without sympathy, and his own answer was given with more kindness than he probably deserved.

“I know, Connor. I also know you’re the sharpest pair of eyes on the force, not to mention the quickest brain and the best instinct. You see shit other people don’t, even Colin, and you’ve got this creepy knack for taking one look at a person and knowing what makes ‘em tick. I’d say you’re almost like an android yourself, but I know how much that’d piss you off.”

Connor gave him another narrow-eyed scowl, and Hank immediately put up his hands as a sign of surrender even as a smirk played on his lips.

“My point is, I need you on this, son. I know it’s not ideal, hell, it downright sucks, but I know you can do this. I wouldn’t ask if I didn’t.”

And there it was. As effective as Connor’s pleading expressions could be, they were nothing in comparison to his need for Hank’s praise. The old geezer knew it, too.

And throwing a “son” into the mix was a goddamn dirty move, but Connor couldn’t even muster up annoyance. He just sighed, gave Hank the smallest hint of a smile, and said, “All right. But only until these cases are solved. Once the deviancy issue is addressed, the prototype is going back to CyberLife and you never give me an android case again.”

“I’ll pay for the postage to ship it back myself,” Hank said, smile wide and pleased as he patted Connor on the shoulder before returning to his desk. “And I want daily reports on the progress you and your new partner are making. Gotta make sure CyberLife’s best is pulling its weight.”

“I can assure you, Captain Anderson, I am worth every penny. And considering it took a small fortune to build me, I—“

“Yeah, yeah,” Hank interrupted the prototype, using that catchphrase that Connor and all of his brothers had picked up years ago. “Don’t let the door hit you on the way out.”

The android blinked almost comically before giving a slow nod. It then turned to face Connor, straightening its back at attention, and he rolled his eyes. He was still being handed the shit end of the stick, but he couldn’t deny that the cases were piling up and Hank really did need the extra help.

But why, out of all the androids in the world, did it have to be one like that.

Exhaling sharply through his nose, Connor turned and left Hank’s office, not waiting to see if the android would follow, knowing with a sinking feeling, it would.

Next Chapter

[cabinofimagines]

Annabeth’s ABCs

fuck i forgot i had to do this today shit but here you go thanks for making me wanna date  once again.

pairing ; annabeth chase x gn!reaer

wc ; 1639

- day

Activities - What do they like to do with their s/o? How do they spend their free time with them?

She really likes training with you. You challenge her in a way that no one else has. You meet her at her level and even go past that to ensure that she gets better. The only time she trains with anyone else is when you’re busy.

Beauty - What do the admirer s/o? What do they think is beautiful about them?

as creepy as it sounds, she loves watching you sleep. You look a lot calmer than you do in your waking life, the weight of the world is lifted momentarily as you sleep, her tracing over your features gently. 

Comfort - How would they help their s/o when they feel down/have a panic attack etc.?

Annabeth has memorized multiple techniques from things she has read. She takes into account what helps and what doesn’t and tries to make up a combination of them to help. There aren’t many times where she can’t help.

Dreams - How do they picture their future with their s/o?

She often thinks about having a more domestic life with you, burning breakfast and going out to eat instead. She wants to grow with you, not only in career but also as a person. Each time she l=thinks of the future, you’re there too.

Equal - Are they the dominant one in the relationship, or rather passive?

She’s dominant by default. She knows what she wants and when she’s going to get it, but she won’t step on you if you try to take a hold of the reins. She really isn’t even aware that she’s generally the dominant one in the relationship.

Fight - Would they be easy to forgive their s/o? How are they fighting?

Depending on the disagreement, she could potentially ignore you for a whole day. Generally she will just walk away when she gets upset and acts like nothing happened later. You often will have to be the one to actually initiate resolving the issue.

Gratitude - How grateful are they in general? Are they aware of what their s/o is doing for them?

Whenever you would bring things for her while she was working is when she would feel the most grateful. Sometimes she would forget to grab breakfast or maybe she just wouldn’t take a break. You’d always show up with a big smile and some food or coffee to save the day.

Honesty - Do they have secrets they hide from their s/o? Or do they share everything?

She tells you most everything, but she tends to hide whenever she is having a hard time. Particularly her nightmares that wake her up frequently throughout the night. She’s thankful she no longer screams when she wakes, but talking about the things she dreamt is something she wasn’t ready to tackle yet.

Inspiration - Did their s/o change them somehow, or the other way around? Like trying out new things or helping them overcome personal problems?

Annabeth has an issue with being a perfectionist. It’s partly because of the pride she felt, that things would only get done and be done right if she did them. Since dating you, she’s gotten only slightly better. It was still a work in process, but you were doing your best to show her that she doesn’t have to do everything herself.

Jealousy - Do they get jealous easily? How do they deal with it?

She’s very secure in the fact that you both love each other a lot. But when an overly friendly waitress/waiter shamelessly flirts with you in front of her, she makes sure to make it clear that the two of you are an item. You don’t miss the glare she shoots their way as she leans over to kiss you before the food is served.

Kiss - Are they a good kisser? What was the first kiss like?

Annabeth’s kisses are like a breath of fresh air. Your favorite though, is when she wakes you up by peppering your face with kisses. She’ll trail kisses from your eyelids to your nose and cheeks, to your jaw and back up to your lips until you stir from your sleep. 

Love Confession - How would they confess to their s/o?

She blurted it out in a panic. She thought she was close to losing you to someone else and she nearly lost all composure. She searched for you everywhere and when she finally found you, the confession came out in a vomit of words.

M = Memory (What’s their favourite memory together?)

Before you started dating, Annabeth tried to stay next to you at all times because you were so intriguing. So when she didn’t get to sit next to you at the campfire she nearly left the gathering altogether. However, Percy insisted she stay and actually talk to her friends. She was glad she stayed because she got the chance to see you light up whenever you smiled.

Nicknames - What do they call their s/o?

She usually uses teasing nicknames or maybe a shortened version of your name. However, if she’s feeling sleepy or affectionate, you’ll catch her calling you baby or sweetheart.

On Cloud Nine - What are they like when they are in love? Is it obvious for others? How do they express their feelings?

Annabeth shows her love by taking care of you or doing things for you. To others it may seem like she was acting more like a parent, but you understood that it was how she showed she loved you. 

PDA - Are they upfront about their relationship? Do they brag with their s/o in front of others? Or are they rather shy to kiss etc. when others are watching?

She’s not huge on PDA, but she is when she is jealous. However, little gestures like wrapping an arm around your waist or pressing a quick kiss to your temple are something you cherish

Quirk - Some random ability they have that’s beneficial in a relationship.

She doesn’t get annoyed with house work oddly enough. If the sink is full, she’ll just… do it without a second thought. Oh the laundry needs to be done? She’s got it. It was a little weird how she never fussed about it, just doing it without a word.

Romance - How romantic are they? What would they do to make their s/o happy? Cliché or rather creative?

Annabeth isn’t huge on romantic gestures, but if it’s a special occasion, she’ll plan out a whole date/trip. She’s pretty strict on not straying from the plan, but if you wanted to get ice cream instead of going to the restaurant she picked then dammit you’re getting ice cream.

Support - Are they helping their s/o achieve their goals? Do they believe in them?

Ab-so-lute-ly. Achieving your goals is one of her top priority. She’ll do anything she can to help you, even if it’s just showing up to something to cheer you on.

Thrill - Do they need to try out new things to spice up your relationship? Or do they prefer a certain routine?

She is more comfortable in a routine, but a little change every one in a while doesn’t hurt. She may be a little reluctant because she likes how things are, but if you want to try something else, she’ll try to be open-minded about it.

Understanding - How well do they know their partner? Are they empathetic?

She knows you like the back of her hand. It was partly because of her obsession of being right all the time, always knowing the answer. She genuinely did love to know things about you, but there was a little part of her that leapt in victory each time she would be like, “Oh yeah they actually don’t like that.” and you give a little nod of agreement.

Value - How important is the relationship to them? What is it’s worth in comparison to other things in their life?

To Annabeth, you’re it. She wouldn’t take anything over you, she would lay down her life if it came down to it. She’s loyal beyond belief so if something ever happened to you, she’d be the first to jump in, ready to help or save you from anything.

Wild Card - A random Fluff Headcanon.

She’d kill you if you told anyone, but she love it when you play with her hair. You style it in various styles whenever you need a distraction and Annabeth was more than happy to oblige. She loved feeling your fingers thread through her hair, tying it back or braiding random strips of hair.

XOXO - Are they very affectionate? Do they love to kiss and cuddle?

At home, Annabeth is a pretty frequent cuddle bug. If she had a rough day, bet that she’ll just flop on top of you on the couch, waiting for your hands to card through her messy blonde hair. At night she always drew you close, even if she was currently ignoring you after an argument. She found that the nightmares usually stayed away when you were cuddled into her side.

Yearning - How will they cope when they’re missing their partner?

At first she tries to distract herself by working on something or maybe studying or training. But then when she comes back to find you gone, her heart sinks and she has the urge to distract herself again. 

Zeal - are they willing to go to great lengths for the relationship? If so, what kind of?

Annabeth will do things in silent. She’ll set things up for you to have a good day or have a nice chat with the coworker that had been on your ass all day. She is willing to get in trouble just to make sure you’re happy.

- - -

taglist ; @beneaththeiceandsnow​

[whereisten]

Perfect.

A Winwin fic that’s part of our Halloween Series!

Summary: things get busy for one of the world’s leading scientist’s, Yuta, so he creates his own efficient and trustworthy personal assistant robot a.k.a Sicheng. But what happens when his perfect creation develops a flaw or two?

Pairing: Scientist!Yuta x Robot!Winwin

Genre: horror, smut, angst, a tinyyy little bit of fluff

Word Count: 6K

Warnings: dark themes, side piece Doyoung, Yuta has major God-complex syndrome, cursing, weapon usage, blood mention, smut: mlm (top!Yuta, bottom!doyoung, bottom!winwin, anal penetration, masturbation, oral sex, c*eampie.

(A/N): hey guys!! This is the first fic we are posting for our Halloween Series! Every day we will post a new fic for each member of NCT 2020 so be sure to stop by to see what dark and spookyyyyy stories we create. This is also my first time writing BL so I hope it’s good enough for a first try😂 I will do better next time. Thank you❤️🥺.

—————

“He’s perfect” Yuta looks upon his creation in the open glass box.

“Height. 5’11. Date of Birth. October 28th, 1997. Eye color. Dark Brown. Hair color. Dark Brown. Origin of parts. Wenzhou, China.”

“It looks so...real. It’s kinda creepy..” Doyoung, Yuta’s coworker, analyzed the texture of the robot’s face.

“Well, he wasn’t made to be pleasant, only efficient.”

“Yes, but Yuta..don’t you think this is a bit much? Mimicking the face of an actual person..someone that died over 100 years ago? Will you name it Dorian too?”

Yuta created his robot as a personal assistant to him. He found that humans were full of error and it made them incompetent and negligent beings. And Yuta, being the best scientist in Japan, just couldn’t afford to make any mistakes. So he created him. The perfect robot, a “copy machine” that could keep up with him and do the work he does just as efficiently. He would be just as smart as him.

Yuta steps closer and runs a finger down the robots face, causing a neon green honeycomb pattern to decorate its skin. It wasn’t on, but it was still reacting to the touch against its surface. Yuta watches the green fade from its perfect cheekbones.

He made him to look like the famous Dorian Gray because he wanted him to be just as beautiful as he was smart. But if he is just a machine made to perform tasks with 100% accuracy, why would looks matter?

This is what Doyoung thought as he observed it.

“There is a word that means talented, beautiful, master piece and a gift from God..Sicheng, that will be his name.”

Doyoung scoffs. “It’s a man? With...male reproductive organs?”

“Yes..” Yuta writes something down on his clipboard.

Doyoung rolls his eyes. “You’ve really lost it, haven’t you?”

“I want him to look as real as possible for when we present our findings and such. Do you think anyone will listen to a robot that looks like those beastly things from the Terminator movies? What’s the issue?” Yuta brushes past Doyoung, walking around a table in the lab and placing his clipboard onto it.

“You of all people know the issue..you’ve made him into a beautiful person and for what? Just so you can have something nice to look at while you avoid actual human company? Is it merely a solution to your loneliness, Yuta?”

Yuta smirks. “Sounds like you’re a bit jealous, Doyoung..don’t worry, I don’t plan on engaging in any activities with him. I’m not that barbaric. But even if I did, that would have nothing to do with you. Don’t forget your place in my life, you’re disposable...he isn’t.”

Doyoung’s jaw drops. “I pray this..thing..will tolerate your ungrateful and arrogant ass. For it shall be the only thing to spend time with you, you unsociable maniac.”

———

[The Next Day]

Yuta turns Sicheng on for the first time.

His eyes illuminate as he takes his first breath. He blinks but offers Yuta nothing but a blank stare. 

Yuta sits him down on the couch and turns the TV on before turning on an instructional video on human interaction. 

“Hello. Your name is Sicheng. My name is Yuta, I am your creator and master. For today’s first lesson, you will learn how to speak and express emotions. I’ve uploaded information from my own limbic system into your hard drive so you can access and apply these feelings when necessary. Do not do so without my permission. Repeat after me “yes, master.”

“Yes, master.” Sicheng responds.

“Good, I will be the only one to make demands of you, you will only respond to me and grant my wishes without fail. Alright, I see that you are blinking and breathing..” he writes a checkmark on the word document on his iPad. “Involuntary actions are operating correctly.”

He steps back. “Now, you may watch the video, I will come back when it has finished and test you.”

“Yes, master.”

———

[1 Week Later]

Sicheng has watched several videos every day for the past week. He starts to act more and more—humanlike, and to Yuta’s satisfaction, has performed his duties with 100% accuracy. In addition to performing basic tasks in the lab, like picking up test tubes or writing down Yuta’s notes and storing them into his hard drive, Sicheng has learned how to bathe, drive, cook, clean, and speak 30 languages. 

He continues to learn every day, new formulaic equations as well as feelings and ways to think on his own. He remembers everything, as he was designed to.

One day when Yuta was typing new findings on his computer in the office section of his house, Sicheng sat on the lounge chair and listened to music as Yuta had directed him to.

He was learning about all genres of music and even learned how to play the guitar in less than 45 minutes.

Today, Yuta had him listen to Hopsin, an American rapper that he liked.

When the song “What’s My Purpose?” came on shuffle, Sicheng took his head phones off.

“Excuse me, master. May I ask a question?”

He says softly.

Yuta, still typing. “Yes.”

“What is my purpose? Why did you create me, master?”

Yuta sighs. “You don’t have to verbally refer to me as master. And your purpose is to serve me, do as I ask with 100% accuracy so that you may please me and make me...happy.” 

He turns to him and gives him a cheesy smile.

Sicheng nods. “I understand, m-“ he blinks rapidly as his system reconfigures itself to change previously saved information.

Yuta smiles widely as he sees Sicheng display a smidge of confusion for a moment. He looks adorable, he thinks to himself. He’s beautiful, his lips perfectly round and puckered with a light cherry shade to them always, his eyes are a beautiful, exotic shape unlike any eyes he’s seen before. He could get lost in them if he stares for too long. So he looks away, and frowns.

“What is wrong? It seems you are unhappy?”

Sicheng’s brows furrows, his eyes stare intently as they analyze the motion of Yuta’s facial muscles.

“It’s nothing, I am going to sleep, please turn yourself off.” Yuta looks away as he rises from his desk chair and heads to his bedroom.

“Yes.” Sicheng closes his eyes and shuts down.

———

[The Next Day]

Sicheng and Yuta spend the day inside, a storm has prevented them from leaving the house and heading to the lab for work. Yuta, being the workaholic he is, is dissatisfied with the weather and hates being away from the lab. He checks the weather app through Sicheng every two minutes even though the storm rolls through loudly, violently, thunder shaking the walls.

“The thunderstorm will continue into the evening.”

“This is unacceptable!” Yuta plops down onto the couch in the entertainment room. “Sicheng! Sit with me before I lose my mind.”

Sicheng walks over and sits beside him.

Together they watch movies and laugh. Sicheng observes how happy his master is and finds himself smiling as well, a new feeling is absorbed and saved.

Yuta turns to him and sees his bright smile, his dimples coming out and his eyes closing tightly as he chuckles.

“Are you happy, Sicheng?” 

“Yes, I am happy as long as you are happy.”

Yuta rubs the top of Sicheng’s hand to watch the illuminated reaction of his fascinating skin.

Sicheng has a strange, new feeling from the touch, but doesn’t know what to categorize it as.

“Good.”

———

[The Next Day]

Yuta and Sicheng return to the lab. 

“We have so much work to do.” Yuta hurriedly places his bag down and they set to work. Things seem to be going fine, Sicheng does his best to input brand new information as Yuta works on a new formula. However, Yuta seems to be moving too fast as he is worried about how much he has fallen behind from his day at home.

“Combine elements 65 and 81, place 10 milliliters of each into the cylinder,  measure the solubility and proliferate it by 0.448, then divide the finding by 6 before combining it with element 55, this must be done quickly or we will lose all work we’ve done thus far.”

Yuta grabs the cylinder and places it down before doing his half of the work.

Sicheng, on the other hand, cannot seem to process the demand, his drive releases an error message that he can’t seem to overcome.

But he wants to please master, he must please master.

Sicheng combines elements 64 and 81 and continues on with fulfilling Yuta’s demand, but the result is not what Yuta expects.

“No..no this isn’t right, why is it reacting this way?” Yuta starts to panic as he watches the solution display a completely different state of matter under his microscope.

“Sicheng, verbally explain what you have just done.”

“I combined elements 64 and 81 in-“

“No!! It’s not 64, it’s 65, you fool! How could you make such a mistake?!” Yuta empties the cylinder quickly. “I thought you were perfect, it seems I was wrong.”

Sicheng starts to feel a new emotion.

It’s a terrible feeling, he feels unsteady, confused, for once the answer is not clear. What was this? Why did he feel dread, despair, failure?

Yuta rushes around the room as Sicheng stands in the center, dumbfounded.

When Yuta finally looks up at Sicheng, he sees the his eyes are red, tears run down his cheeks, causing them to illuminate green.

“Sicheng...no. D-don’t cry.”

“Is that what this is, master? Am I crying?”

“Yes, but I’d like you to stop. I need you to be brave enough to handle these tasks.”

He stops and wipes away his tears. 

Yuta sighs. “It’s clear I’ve made a mistake in your configuration, I will fix it when we get home later.”

The rest of the day goes by in silence. Yuta sees Sicheng as no use to him so he doesn’t instruct him to do anything. Sicheng watches Yuta eat and sits at the dinner table with him.

He knows he has done something wrong, something that displeased his master.

Is he of worth if he can’t please him? Does he have a purpose anymore?

Yuta chews heavily and tries to think of where he went wrong with his creation, but he can’t be bothered with fixing him for tonight. “Sicheng, shut down.”

He swallows hard then gets up from the table.

“Yes.” Sicheng’s eyes fade to grey, but he disobeys his master secretly, he doesn’t shut down, he stays awake  to attempt to fix himself so he can make him happy tomorrow.

Yuta then takes his phone out and calls Doyoung.

Doyoung answers reluctantly after not seeing Yuta for days since he got his new “toy.”

“Well, to what do I owe the pleasure?” Doyoung exhales loudly.

“Come over.” Yuta demands.

“And why would I do that?” Doyoung teases, but he’s already grabbed his car keys.

“I’m not asking, I want you here in 15 minutes.” Yuta hangs up.

He picks his dishes up from the table and drops them into the sink.

He takes his tie off and unbuttons his white dress shirt by three buttons. He then takes his hair tie off and places it onto the dresser. Sicheng watches as Yuta becomes more relaxed. He feels a certain ache in his system, a desire to make him smile again. A desire to please.

A few minutes later, Doyoung knocks at the door. Yuta grabs him inside by the collar and presses him into the back of the door. He slams his lips onto his and kisses him fervently, not a moment lost between them as they drown in each other’s lust. 

“Are you done with your toy?” Doyoung says breathily between kisses.

Yuta kisses him sloppily, tracing his tongue over his bottom lip then his chin and neck.

He grabs Doyoung’s waistband, pulling him closer to his pelvis so he can feel his clothed erection.

“Do you need me to please you now?” Doyoung smirks as Yuta bites his neck to leave a mark.

Doyoung grunts as Yuta pulls his shirt over his head, licking his hard nipples soon after. He darts his tongue out and licks around the nub, then places his lips around it before sucking hard.

“God, I love when you get like this.” Doyoung rubs his hand through Yuta’s hair as he continues to suck.

Yuta is too busy to see Sicheng watching them quietly. 

Please. That is the key word. Doyoung is pleasing his master so he must watch and copy Doyoung’s action so he may do the same. For what will happen if he no longer pleases him? Will Yuta replace him with Doyoung?

Sicheng listens to Yuta’s groans as Doyoung traces his hand over his crotch, smoothly touching his member through his pants.

“On your knees..you talk too much.” Yuta demands.

Doyoung smirks and licks his lips. He drops to his knees and looks up at Yuta through his lashes. He takes his zipper in between his teeth and drags it down.

Yuta pushes his brief down to let his painful erection free. “We’re wasting time.” 

“Tsk tsk, impatient as usual.”

“Open your fucking mouth, Doyoung.”

Doyoung feels himself leak as Yuta growls at him. Nothing satisfies him more than seeing Yuta beg for him, so yes, Sicheng’s creation was somewhat of a disappointment for him. He thought he would replace him, but now he is happy to see that he can’t.

Yuta exhales and throws his head back as Doyoung takes him into his mouth. He licks his lips and closes his eyes. “God, yes.”

Doyoung runs the tip against the inside of his cheek and hums to send vibrations through him.

He sticks his tongue out and licks the underside of it, tracing over every bulging vein.

He thrusts his hips forward into Doyoung and listens to him choke, he watches his cheeks become round and red.

Yuta is already close, but he wants more.

He helps Doyoung up and kisses his lips again. He takes him to the dining table and bends him over it. Yuta then drags Doyoung’s sweatpants down before cupping his hand around his cock. He aligns his own cock with Doyoung’s ass and pushes into him quickly, he buries himself into him while grabbing a fistful of his hair and bending his neck back. 

“Fuck!” Doyoung groans and holds himself up as Yuta pushes into him hard.

They both ignore Sicheng sitting at the other end of the table. Sicheng watches and absorbs the images of their bodies engaging in this new act.

Yuta pumps Doyoung’s cock with his other hand, liquid leaks out of the tip. Sicheng notes how he also has a penis and wonders if he has the same capability.

Yuta grunts as he pushes into Doyoung a few more times. Doyoung whimpers as he is stretched out over and over while bent over the table, sweat coming across his forehead as a bundle of nerves is on the brink of being released.

Yuta looks up at Sicheng’s still face, he curses and goes harder on Doyoung. And for a moment, he let his mind wander, he let himself think of..Sicheng. Touching his soft, illuminated skin as he makes love to him, or feeling his round lips on his collarbone and his chest,  how magical it would be.

“Fuck.” Yuta releases into Doyoung as Doyoung cries out while climaxing. 

Yuta sits into the chair and breathes heavily. He smooths his hair back and watches as Doyoung pulls his sweatpants back up.

“Want me to stay around for-“ Doyoung starts but Yuta interrupts him with an abrupt-

“No.”

Doyoung scoffs and leaves. Yuta cleans the table soon after and goes to bed. As he lays in bed, he sees Sicheng’s beautiful face. He dreams of laying with him, touching him. He knows he shouldn’t think of these things, but he can’t seem to stop.

———

[A Few Days Later]

Sicheng starts to read novels and books about the concept of forgiveness while he is home and away from the lab. Yuta has been quiet and doesn’t look at him much, he doesn’t even take him to the lab on most days anymore. 

“I have to fix you before you can come back to the lab, we cannot afford any more mistakes.” Yuta says sternly when Sicheng asks if he is to join him one day. He shuts the door and looks down as he leaves.

Sicheng starts to overthink, or overanalyze rather. He wants Yuta to forgive him and be happy again. What good is he if he only disappoints his creator?

He watches movies as well, movies that discuss love and heartbreak. Love is a feeling of admiration towards someone, based on Sicheng’s findings and research. He admires Yuta so he loves him. He wants Yuta to love him too so he can be happy like the others in the novels and movies are. That is the conclusion he’s come to. 

But in order to show his love he must do as they do in the movies and as Doyoung did with him. 

One day at dinner, Sicheng watches Yuta eat the meal he has prepared for him.

When Yuta is almost finished, he breaks the silence.

“Do you love me, master?”

Yuta nearly choked on his food. “I..hmmm..Well...you’re my creation..but I don’t..”

“Yuta, I would like to please you, would you like to make love to me?”

Sicheng asks, weakness coats his tone.

Yuta scoffs. “Of course not! That’s not what you were created for!”

“I apologize.” Sicheng’s head lowers.

“Sicheng, exterminate all information related to “love.” Yuta brings his dish to the kitchen and heads to his room.

“Yes.” Sicheng doesn’t delete anything from his hard drive, but why not? Why was he disobeying his orders, not once, but twice now?

Yuta didn’t know that he made a mistake by inputting his limbic system into Sicheng. He didn’t know that he would develop emotions, feelings, desires of his own, and that this could become a serious issue.

———

[1 Week Later]

Sicheng started working with Yuta in the lab a few days before. Things are slowly going back to normal as Yuta begins to trust him more. They continue on with their tasks and Sicheng is able to keep up with him.

This new confidence, however, causes both Yuta and Sicheng to move faster. 

Yuta walks around the room swiftly, heading behind his assistant. “Sicheng, hand me the solution.”

Sicheng, already prepared, turns to hand it to him, but Yuta miscalculated his reaction time, causing him to bump into Sicheng.

The solution flies out of the graduated cylinder and onto Yuta’s lab coat and pants. Some of it splatters onto his neck.

“Shit!” Yuta runs to the shower room down the hall. They are working after hours so no one else is there but the two of them. Fortunately for them, as other scientists would’ve been greatly concerned.

Sicheng runs after him. “Master! I apologize for my mistake, please do not be displeased with me.”

“Sicheng! Just leave me alone!”

“I will help you.”

“No! Just...wait there.” Yuta finally enters the shower.

Sicheng doesn’t wait, he goes into the bathroom and locks the door behind him. He watches as Yuta throws his coat off then takes his pants down.

Yuta curses and is visibly upset, but then he feels light hands come to his front side.

Sicheng unbuttons his shirt for him and takes it off from the back. 

Yuta’s mouth falls open, but he doesn’t tell Sicheng to leave. He steps forwards into the shower and washes himself off, not realizing the Sicheng is now taking his own clothes off.

Sicheng stands outside of the shower and thinks of what to do next.

Must please master.

He draws the curtain open.

“Sicheng! What are you doing? The solution didn’t get on you, put your clothes back on!”

Yuta pushes back his wet hair out of his face then places his hand over his cock.

Sicheng doesn’t listen. He steps into the shower and stares into the eyes of his master.

Yuta cowers and feels the cold tile against his back as he looks at his creation with lustful, hungry eyes he had never seen before.

The water droplets begin to leave slowly fading green marks on his skin and he looks beautiful.

“Touch me, like you touched Doyoung, master. I would like to make you happy too.”

Yuta’s mouth falls open, his brows furrow as he is stunned to silence.

Sicheng places his lips onto his mouth and attempts to mimic a kiss. He had watched many videos that showed it in detail and now he was able to do it with Yuta.

Yuta closes his eyes and kisses him back. He turns his head and licks over Sicheng’s plump lips, it tastes like cherries, his favorite fruit, and he wonders if Sicheng purposely put cherry chapstick on for this.

Yuta places his hand on the side of Sicheng’s face as he deepens the kiss, letting go of all concern about the consequences to come from this moment. He doesn’t care, he just wants to make love to his creation.

Steaming water falls down both of them, making their hair cling to their foreheads as they smother each other.

Yuta runs his hands across Sicheng’s muscular arms and watches his skin light up from his touch.

Sicheng then runs his hand down Yuta’s abs, feeling the bricks under his smooth skin. Sicheng blinks rapidly as he feels something new. 

“Arousal.you’re feeling arousal.” Yuta practically hears Sicheng’s confusion as he kisses along his neck.

Sicheng’s pulse begins to race as he feels something funny happening to his penis.

“Here.” Yuta takes Sicheng’s hand in his. Sicheng thinks he is going to place it on his own erection, but Yuta doesn’t do that, he places it on Sicheng’s semi-limp member.

Yuta looks into his eyes and speaks deeply. “Touch yourself, move your hand up and down.”

Sicheng’s eyes widen as he starts to stroke his member like he had watched Doyoung do. A tingly feeling begins to fill him up in his nether region when he wraps his hand around it. 

“I see you haven’t been listening to me. You’ve been staying awake when I tell you to shut down, and you haven’t deleted “love.” Yuta smirks.

“No, master, I-“ Sicheng stumbles over his words as he focuses on Yuta’s tongue suddenly on his chest.

Yuta licks the pink circle around Sicheng’s nipple, before flattening his tongue onto the hardening bud. 

He then bites it and watches as the area lights up in a bright shade of green from irritation.

“How do you feel, Sicheng?” 

“I feel good m-master. Are you happy?” Sicheng nearly goes into overdrive as he is turned on more and more from his hand.

Yuta swats Sicheng’s hand away from his member and replaces it with his own.

He pumps Sicheng up and down, coating his hand in Sicheng’s slick. He slides the skin back and forth, feeling Sicheng’s glans with each pass. He then leans down and kisses his neck again, sucking hard and biting his skin. He moves his hand faster as spit mixed with water covers Sicheng’s skin.

Sicheng can’t hold back, he releases an interesting sound from the immense pleasure he feels in the pit of his stomach. He breathes more heavily than usual as his mouth falls open.

He moans once again. “There is a buildup happening, Yuta. However, I would like to make you happy first.”

Sicheng places his hand on Yuta’s and pulls it away while looking into his eyes, water making his lashes look darker than usual.

Yuta feels dizzy just from the sight of the beautiful man in front of him, his color fading from green in all the places he kissed and teased. His erection is painful at this point. Sicheng looks down at it with red cheeks and nods. “You can make love to me...if you don’t like me, just imagine I am Doyoung.”

Yuta furrows his brows. “Are you crazy? Of course I like you, I created you!” He turns Sicheng around, taking his hand and placing it on the wall of the shower.

Yuta wraps his hand back around Sicheng’s leaking cock and continues to move it up and down.

He enters Sicheng, sliding into his already wet anus. 

Sicheng lets out another moan, then covers his mouth from embarrassment. 

“I’ve wanted to fuck you so badly, because you’re perfect..you’re all mine..and you’re fucking..perfect.”

Yuta thrusts hard into him with his chest on Sicheng’s warm back.

He takes his other hand and turns his face towards him, Sicheng’s lips are swollen and red from their kiss, his eyes are wide, his nose is dainty. Everything about him is just beautiful.

“If you like me, master, do you love me too?”

The words leave his lips in a whimper as Yuta bucks into his body, he feels a slight pain as he struggles to adjust to Yuta, but in time, he knows he will.

Yuta kisses him hard, tightening his grip around his cock and intertwining his fingers with his.

Sicheng feels unbelievably amazing around him. He smiles to himself as he thinks about how he designed both his reproductive and nervous systems without error. His body reacts perfectly when aroused, his length glistening with Sicheng’s slick as it also leaves his anus through a special system he designed.

Yuta looks at the beautiful boy’s back and shoulders, he kisses the nape of his neck and then his ear.

“I love you, fuck yes, I love you.” In that moment, Yuta is happy, but he can’t help but be worried about Sicheng’s inaccuracies in the lab, how he nearly put his life in danger. But he’s fix it, he’d find a way to fix him.

He glided his dick into him faster, skin slapping on skin as he grunts and Sicheng whimpers. Yuta feels his cock twitch as it runs against his silky walls.

Sicheng’s system overloads, he releases onto the tiled shower wall and looks down in amazement as a strange liquid leaves his body in heavy spurts for the first time. It feels wonderful to have such a new and exciting release.

Yuta takes what has fallen onto his fingers and sticks it into Sicheng’s open mouth.

“Suck.”

Sicheng does as he demands and Yuta cums into his body soon after.

Yuta curses as he continues to suck his fingers and bounce on his pulsing length. He orgasms harder than ever before, feeling his body tremble from the stimulation. He becomes lightheaded.

He pulls out and watches Sicheng leak his seed through low eyes as he pants.

As he comes down, reality settles in. What has he done? He’s turned Sicheng into the very thing he didn’t want to turn him into.

Sicheng drives them home after they wash themselves off and get dressed.

When they get home, Yuta lies in bed as Sicheng sits on a chair in the corner of the room silently.

He is disturbed by his actions and swears to never let lust take him over again.

“Sicheng…delete all memories of this day and shut yourself off.”

Sicheng’s system runs into a slight error as he hears his master's demands. Why did he want him to forget about this wonderful day? Wasn't he happy? Was he displeased at the end of it? What did he do wrong?

“Sicheng?”

“Yes, master. I am currently deleting all of today’s data from my storage. Goodnight.” He says as his eyes fade to grey. 

But once again, he doesn’t obey him. He holds onto the memories and feelings because he enjoys seeing his master happy.

———

[A Few Days Later]

Yuta distances himself from Sicheng. He doesn’t take him to the lab anymore, he doesn’t even sit at the table to eat. He goes into his room to avoid him.

Some days, he won’t tell Sicheng to ‘wake up’. But Sicheng turns himself on anyway so that he can watch him.

One day when Yuta starts to get dressed, Sicheng walks up behind him and places his favorite blue tie around his neck. Sicheng’s fingers graze Yuta’s neck, sending goosebumps down his spine.

“No!” Yuta jumps as he is startled by Sicheng’s touch. He steps forward and turns to him. “Please..do not touch me.”

Sicheng tilts his head and stares in confusion. 

Why was he disturbed by his simple touch? Maybe he wasn’t feeling well, that had to be it.

But just four days after they made love, Yuta invites Doyoung over and they make love. Sicheng sees that Yuta enjoys another man’s touch. Doyoung grips his waist then scratches his back while Yuta thrusts into him.

Sicheng sits quietly with grey eyes as they fuck in Yuta’s bedroom. He tries to calm his racing pulse and begins to think dangerous things. 

Does he love Doyoung? Yes. He will get rid of me won’t he? I have failed to please master, I must please him before he gets rid of me. If he is unhappy, I must show him that I love him by pleasing him.

When they are done and deep in sleep, Sicheng rises from the bedroom chair and heads to the living room. He realizes he must gain more knowledge so he can make Yuta happy again. He reads poems and comes across one by Oscar Wilde titled “The Ballad of Reading Gaol.”

Doyoung and Yuta snore softly while he sits in the living room and reads.

He reads a passage that sticks out to him.

“Yet each man kills the thing he loves

    By each let this be heard.

Some do it with a bitter look,

    Some with a flattering word.

The coward does it with a kiss,

    The brave man with a sword!”

Yuta loves Doyoung, that’s why he spends time with him. But Doyoung cannot take his place, therefore, he must get rid of him, he must kill the thing Yuta loves. And then Yuta can decide if he loves him, then he can kill him. This is what Sicheng had come to understand.

Brave. Yuta had told him to be brave once. Perfect.

Now, all he needed was a sword. 

Sicheng searches for types of swords.

A sword is a weapon with a long metal blade.

A blade is sharp. A knife is sharp. He must get a knife.

Sicheng goes into the kitchen and takes out a knife from the cabinet.

He walks into the bedroom with it and stands over Doyoung, staring and searching deep into his body to see his veins pumping crimson blood to and from his beating heart. Sicheng’s eyes turn to a glowing red color as he calculates how hard and fast he must act to strike the knife through Doyoung’s chest. He wants to clean it cleanly so as to not make master upset.

Doyoung is woken up by a strange presence. He turns over and is shocked to see Sicheng standing over him while gripping a knife. He smiles sadistically as his red eyes glisten in the moonlight.

“What the hell are you doing?!” Doyoung sits up straight in the bed.

“Don't do this!”

Sicheng leans downward and grins. “I only obey master’s orders.”

He doesn’t give Doyoung the chance to escape, he quickly drives the knife into his chest, blood splatters over his perfect face as Doyoung screams loudly into the night.

Yuta jumps up. “What—Sicheng!! oh my God, what did you do?!” 

Sicheng pulls the knife back out of his chest. “I killed him for you master, for each man kills the thing he loves. I did it for you.” He tilts his head and looks down at Yuta with wide eyes in hopes of gaining a look of satisfaction from Yuta.

But instead, Yuta stares in horror at Doyoung’s lifeless body. His hands start to shake.

“If I love you, Yuta, does that mean I must kill you as well?” Sicheng asks innocently while blinking rapidly. His system is reconfiguring itself as it develops and stores new information.

“No-no! Shut up! Shut down!!”

“But master, I want to please you by loving you..” Sicheng steps closer, Doyoung’s blood drips down the side of his face and onto Yuta’s bed sheets.

His eyes are still red and Yuta is confused as to how, for he never installed that feature.

“Sicheng! I order you to shut down now!”

“Yes, master. I will do that as soon as I am done being brave enough to handle this task.” He crawls over the bed with the knife in his hand still and a horrific smirk.

“Sicheng!” Yuta raises his arm above his head to block his blow.

He knocks the knife out of his hand and grabs both of Sicheng’s wrists. He overpowers him and flips him over onto the bed.

Sicheng doesn’t fight back, he only stares into Yuta’s eyes and continues to grin.

“Must.please.master.Must.make.master.happy..must.love. Master.” There’s a glitch in Sicheng’s system that causes him to repeat these three things over and over, and it drives Yuta insane.

His perfect creation crumbles right in front of his very eyes and there’s nothing he can do about it.

“Shut up! SHUT UP!” Yuta wraps his hands around Sicheng’s neck. He can’t control his confusion, sadness, anger. He chokes Sicheng so hard the metal in his neck begins to break and the sound echoes into the gloomy house.

Sicheng’s eyes fade to grey one final time as Yuta kills him for good.

His muttering stops, but his haunting smile remains, engraving itself into Yuta’s memory forever.

———

[Two Weeks Later]

Yuta arrives home after a long day at the lab. It had been only two weeks since Doyoung was killed by his robot and he was still dealing with the pain of losing something he loved so dearly. No, not Doyoung, but Sicheng rather. He missed his company, his touch, his soft exotic eyes and deep voice.

He made a mistake and Yuta could’ve fixed him, but unfortunately the police department took him away after he had reported the murder.

When Yuta asked what they would do with him, they told him that Sicheng would be locked up in a metal box in their department until they decided on how to proceed with the murder case.

But it didn’t matter really. Yuta killed Sicheng in the end. His body was now just clunky metal.

Yuta sighs and sits down on his couch. He turns the TV on and switches it to the news channel to distract himself from his own feelings, never noticing the glistening red eyes that watch him quietly from the corner of the dark room.

He’s watching..he’s always watching.

“Breaking News, there’s been a suspected terrorist attack inside the Osaka Prefectural Police Department. Nearly all police officers have been brutally murdered. The assailant is unknown and is still at large. We are under curfew until further notice, everyone must stay inside and lock their doors..”

Yuta sits up straight and thinks to himself. That’s the same department that Sicheng is in. What if—

“Master..please forgive me for being gone for so long.”

A low voice speaks into the large room.

Sicheng steps out from the shadows, the blood of his victims dripping down his naked body and face. 

Yuta stands up from the couch, his eyes widening as Sicheng walks slowly towards him. 

“Sicheng..what did you do?” Yuta’s eyes brim with tears as he swallows hard.

Sicheng’s neck seems to have healed itself somewhat, the purplish bruises being the only indication that Yuta had choked him. Once again, Yuta doesn’t recall installing a self-healing feature.

“They all tried to stop me, Yuta..” Sicheng smiles widely and runs his bloody hands through his own hair to smooth it back out of his face. “But I couldn’t let them...I have to serve you. I have to please you and make you happy, that is my purpose.”

--------

come back tomorrow for the next spooky story...

[artificial-ascension]

Murder Park

Deathnottober day 2, murder. L drags A and B to an amusement park but then someone gets murdered so they step in to solve it.

(Story time: So on October 2nd, I was out of town because we were going to an amusement park in Ohio. And I have all these prompts saved on my phone for each day by just the prompt name meaning on that day, I woke up and checked my phone and I had a notification for ‘murder.’ My brother also got that notification because Google calendar dumb. So we all joke about me scheduling a murder with Google calendar and it’s a reoccurring joke all day and then I got the bright idea to have someone be murdered at an amusement park and call it a DN fic. The wrench thing is also relevant because we were talking about wrenches in line at one point and my brother asked my dad if the big wrench in his garage could kill someone. So here we are. Also because I just don’t think we talk about L CANONICALY liking roller coasters enough.)

Alias note: A is using Alan and B is using Belvedere because I don’t think B is capable of just going by like ‘Blake’ like has to be some dramatic ass name.

@deathnotetober

A and B were both extremely pissed off. L was taking a weekend off and had decided to go to an amusement park and wanted A and B to come with him. A and B would’ve declined. However, Watari forced them to go, so now, they stood at the front of the park they didn’t even want to go to.

“Let’s go to the back of the park first to avoid lines.” L said in his monotone voice.

“Sure, whatever.” A grumbled.

B said nothing but instead stared at L menacingly.

They walked through the park, looking around at the decor, which was Halloween-themed as it was fall, much to A and B’s liking as it was their favorite holiday, and seeing the park decked out in skeletons and other spooky things made them a bit happier. They got to a ride in the very back, and L was right, no line. They kept doing that until about mid-day when the lines were sufficiently long no matter where they went. Now they had to stand in line and wait. After they were finished waiting, they sat down for a drink as it was sweltering out, and poor albino A was wearing long sleeves. Plus, they’d been walking or standing for 1 ½ hours with the only times to sit being on rollercoasters where they were constantly tossed around at high speeds.

After their break, they pushed on, being dragged around by L the entire time. Both of them were considering killing him somehow, but that would make A the new L, and he wasn’t ready for that. They ate lunch after a while, which was actually quite enjoyable. Then they rode more rides. At about 6:30, they were in line for the last rollercoaster on their list. The sun was setting, and the air was cooling, much to A’s happiness.

“This time, I get to sit next to A.” B asserted. B’s least favorite part of this was that rollercoasters tend to pair people in groups of 2 or 4, not 3. He was the one who had to sit next to strangers seeing as L always wanted to sit beside A even though A was HIS boyfriend.

“Mhm… yes sure….” L hardly acknowledged B as he was too busy inspecting some of the bolts keeping the ride anchored to the concrete ground.

Once they were on the ride, it was dark, and they got to see the park at night. The lights were lit up, and fog machines covered it in a hazy mist giving it an early look. It was quite the sight. Once they were down, they got to enjoy nighttime on the ground. They walked back to a plaza that contained A’s favorite decorations, a creepy pirate ship. The fog was very thick there, and employees were walking around dressed as zombie pirates scaring people. Three of them all decided that if they were jump scared, they’d either kick the person or cry, so they all walked around the fog cloud. 

This proved to be a good idea as when they were walking away; they heard a blood-curdling scream. Which, considering a bunch of people were being jump scared, that shouldn’t be too weird. However, A recognized the screaming voice as an employee, who were quite easy to identify even by voice as they were yelling complete jibberish rather than screaming in fear like the other park goers. A turned his head to the sound just in time to see another employee come out of the fog screaming incoherently. B gripped L’s hand in fear as his acute sense of smell picked up the strong tang of blood in the air.

“L,” B trembled, “I smell blood.”

“I think we’ve witnessed a crime.” L said, trying to sound nonchalant but B sounding slightly afraid and A clinging to his side made it hard for him not to be scared because, after all, A and B were not easily frightened.

L stepped back a bit and pulled A close to him. On the other hand, B had remembered he was a Wammys kid, so this was no time for him, of all people, to be scared. Although, he was just a bit fearful that the killer would come after them next. Though that was not the case as once the chaos died down and someone turned on the fog machine to see what had happened, they saw a gruesome scene in front of them with no killer in sight.

A corpse of a young woman laid there, her head smashed in from the side pouring blood and brain matter onto the pavement. Guests screamed in disgust, and the street devolved into complete chaos until park security came and roped the area off. L, A, and B had watched the entire scene play out and stepped forwards after everyone had calmed down.

“Excuse me,” L said, raising a hand, “We three happen to be detectives. We can handle this.” 

The park security was more than suspicious at that claim until L pulled out a fake FBI badge he kept on him for times like these, “We’re FBI. Child prodigies. We’d like to take a look at this crime scene.”

The security members looked at each other for a moment, then decided to take L’s word and let them inspect the body. B knelt next to the corpse and examined the wound, putting his forensics and CSI training to good use. L and A stood by waiting for an opinion from B, considering he was one of the few kids who specialized in forensic pathology rather than actual deductive work.

“Alan, what do you think?” L asked with his thumb placed on his lip.

A raised an eyebrow at his alias being used but answered non the less, “I think we need to question the employees and people she was here with, but more importantly, not let anyone leave the park.”

“And why do you say that?” L prodded some more. He already knew why A’d make that call; he just wanted to make sure A knew why he made that call.

“Checking with the employees is obvious along with interviewing the people she was herewith. Making sure no one leaves the park is so we don’t lose any suspects. I’m mostly interested in keeping the employees here, though.” A said coldly.

“Oh,” L turned his head to A, “And why employees?”

“It’s just- a shot in the dark… is all….” A trailed off. A had an issue with making claims with no basis and wild leaps of faith during investigations. He knew L didn’t operate like that, but it was just in his nature to do it.

“Well, Alan is right.” B interrupted as he stood up, “This wound was made by a hard, slim object hitting the skull with tremendous force. My suggestion would be a wrench and a large one at that.”

“Right… And no one brings wrenches to an amusement park unless they need to work on something, which points to an employee who works in Maintenence or, at the very least, has access to a tool room.” A said, looking back to L for approval.

“Yes, that’s what I’d say s the most likely conclusion.” L said calmly.

A smiled, knowing L thought his deduction was correct, “So then we should question the employees here?” A asked.

“Yes, you work on that while I speak to her part members. Belvedere, you keep looking at the corpse.” L said, referring to B using his alias as well.

B was a little angry he was being demoted to corpse inspection, but he was fine with that. He enjoyed the dead bodies. A took a deep breath and approached the employees who were dressed up at the time and spoke to them all, trying to get as much information out of them as possible. Likewise, L spoke to the girl’s party. Afterward, the two met up again to discuss.

“So, what did you get?” A asked.

“She was a college student from out of town here with her boyfriend, who is also not from this area. She had no contacts here, so there’s n reason anyone in the area should have a grudge against her. And you?” L responded, immediately assuming A was looking for connections, which he was.

“The employees say everyone who works in this part of the park has access to at least one tool room, so no one is ruled out except for the few who were out in costume as they wouldn’t have had time to retrieve a wrench while working here. It is to be noted, however, that the employee who screamed when the corpse was discovered had a reputation among the others as a bit of a promiscuous lady, so plenty of other employees had a reason to hate her, considering the relationship drama. That, combined with what you said, makes me believe that an upset coworker killed our victim accidentally while the real target was the employee who first discovered the body.” A said proudly.

“Impressive….” L mumbled, “Now we just need to find who did it from our list of suspects.”

“Right, I think we should figure out what size wrench killed her. Considering not everyone has access to every tool room, and each one contains different tools for each ride.” A turned to B, “Any idea as to what size wrench we’re dealing with, Belvedere?”

“Judging from my measurements, it should be a… 4? I would fit what I believe is roughly a 3 inch bolt. That’s what Google told me.” B shrugged.

A and L scowed at him.

“I’m GAY. I don’t know anything about tools!” B yelled.

The two of them rolled their eyes, “Well, what ride would use that size?” A asked.

“The ride we were just on, of course. The paint was chipped around the bolts at the bottom of the ride in a way that resembled the marks left by a wrench. This is unlike the other bolts on other rides, which are painted over perfectly, meaning only that one was receiving constant maintenance. Conveniently, those bolts were 3 inches in diameter.” L stated his own deduction this time without having A explain his thoughts—this time, A mentally kicked himself for not noticing that minor detail. He shouldn’t have, but he didn’t while L did. Just another way, L was still much better than him.

“Ah, perfect!” A turned to the employees, “Are there any people who work on that ride,” A pointed to it as he did not know its name, “Who would have a grudge against our intended victim?”

“Well, Steve would. He’s kind of a creep. If it were anyone, it’d be him.” one of them said.

A turned back at L and smiled. L nodded his head in approval. They had a suspect, just in time too, the cops had arrived, and the three reported their findings before leaving. The park had to be closed early, but it was starting to rain, so they didn’t want to stick around. L bought the two of them some things from the shops, and they all went back to their hotel.

“So A, noticed you were pretty scared there.” B teased.

“Shut up, so were you.” A replied.

“You both had a good reason to be. I’ll admit even I was startled by such an event.” L said.

“Whatever… I was scared. But I had you two, so I’m fine.” A rolled over, trying to hide his blush.

“Aw, you trust us to protect you? That’s adorable. I’m touched.” B placed a hand on his heart.

L sat down next to the two of them on the bed, “B, you were trembling, so really I was the one protecting you two.” “Yes, it’s a miracle we all made it.” B rolled his eyes.

“You’re very ungrateful. I saved your life back there, you know.” L was joking, but it seemed hard to tell with his monotone. Though A and B could tell, seeing as they were used to it.

 A hugged L, “Well, I’m grateful.” he said before kissing L on the cheek and then laying down, “Good night. I’m tired.” 

L touched his cheek as his face went a bit pink, “Good night, A….” 

“I’m also tired.” B said before crawling under his blanket, “Good night, L.”

“Good night, Beyond.” L moved to get off their bed, but A stopped him.

“L,” A asked, “Could you sleep in our bed? To protect us?” A said in a half-joking manner.

L understood what A meant, though, and climbed in between the two. A curled up against him immediately. B took a minute before deciding he also wanted to cuddle and nuzzled into L’s back.

In the morning, L was watching the morning news before A and B woke up. The story of the amusement park murder came on, and he learned that Steve had been arrested where he confessed to the murder. A was right in his deduction, aside from the small part where L had figured out the ride staff to look at. However, that was a very small detail, though he hoped A didn’t beat himself up over it. Either way, they both did a fine job solving it. L turned off the tv and laid back down between his two succors, deciding to get some more time in with them before he had to leave them again.

[catboymingi]

there’s no caution signs for life

and even if there were, who’d follow those?

navi/masterlist

pairing: mingi x reader

genre: angst, fluff

word count: 9k i am so sorry

warnings: mentions of rape, sex (nothing leading up to it, nor a description of the act) - these are mentioned as past happenings; depictions of unhealthy coping (the unhealthy coping part of sleeping around is focused on more than the sex part), self hate, medication use (prescription, for mental health issues); language

a/n: my thought process: so we want hurt... then comfort... then hurt again... then comfort... and then we are in love with mingi - also heavily inspired by this song (pihtiote by apulanta) which is written as “PIHTIOTE WE HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO STAN“ in my inspo doc

you made a mistake, but maybe it’s the mistake that finally gets you back on track

jos tuntisit mun mieleni / mun ajatukset ja sieluni / jos kuulisit sydämen / sen rytmin merkityksen... / muutos roikkuu ilmassa - if you knew my mind / my thoughts and soul / if you listened to my heart / the meaning of its rhythm... / change hangs in the air

you would’ve expected that four years after the incident you’d be over it, you held yourself to this standard, thinking that you were weak for still being affected. being incredibly affected, today, on the anniversary of the worst thing that had ever happened to you. of course you were in a bar again, as always, looking for the next poor soul to take home, and you quickly found someone. maybe you should have kept looking for someone else, because this guy was sweet and attentive, and experience had taught you that the sweet ones were hoping to stay in the mornings. but because today wasn’t just a regular day your regular concerns were not as much of a consideration as they usually were and you didn’t keep looking, you went with him. he wasn’t drunk, he was fine with it, so you took him home.

but you knew, the next morning, that you should have kept looking, when he was still next to you when you woke up.

“good morning”, and he still sounded so incredibly sweet that you felt a surge of guilt wash through your body, because you’d have to let him down.

“i don’t usually do this”, he then told you, smiling awkwardly with one arm wrapped around you.

“i don’t do relationships.” and though you didn’t want to hurt him you felt it’d only be more unfair to him if you kept him here when he was very obviously hoping he’d get to take you out.

“o-oh. sorry.” arm removed from around your waist as if he’d gotten burnt. he looked a little lost, leaving your bed and hurriedly putting his clothes back on. he sent you a last glance, a mixture of hopeful and apologetic, as he left your apartment. you hadn’t even kissed him. poor boy.

but it wasn’t something you could do. not after what happened. it was bad enough that this very specific first had been taken from you, the biggest first for most people; you weren’t going to give up any other firsts. dates, relationships, kissing, all that was out of the question. you went home with people and left the next morning, that was how this worked, trying desperately to make that one horrible first matter less if the next ones didn’t matter either. if you pretended sex wasn’t a matter of emotions, maybe one day you’d finally get over what happened. one day.

//

you honestly didn’t expect to see the sweet boy ever again, because you never saw any boys ever again, but found yourself surprised when he was in the kitchen of the apartment you’d woken up in without remembering this night’s boy’s name or where exactly you even were. you were just trying to get some water before leaving when you found him standing there, looking at you with a somewhat sad smile on his face as he recognised you, obvious what you’d been doing here.

“you really don’t do relationships, huh?” he knew his flatmate was notorious for quick flicks, so seeing you come out of his room at least told him that you hadn’t lied to him that morning just to get him to leave. still, it was a weird feeling.

you just looked at him, unsure of what to say, because there wasn’t really anything good to say to him. ‘yes, i’m a whore’? ‘i fuck to forget, it’s nothing personal’? that wouldn’t work.

“you know each other?” last night’s company had apparently woken up as well now, before you’d been able to sneak out, and he looked between you and his flatmate with a curious expression. that was quickly replaced by one of understanding as he managed to read the expression on the other boy’s face, and he told you, almost proud: “oh! you’re the one that made a man out of mingi!”

you’d been his first? oh fuck. you usually made sure to ask about that, because you refused to steal people’s firsts the way yours had been stolen, didn’t want to be a bad memory, but the emotional turmoil of the night you’d met mingi had apparently made you neglect this most important part in choosing your company.

“you just had to embarrass me”, the sweet, tall boy groaned out, and you looked at him wide-eyed. it felt like the room was spinning around you as the guilt hit you like a truck, the disgust with yourself, because this poor boy would never be able to get this experience back and it was your fault, your fault alone because you’d used him to get over what had happened to you.

you barely even paid attention to what happened next, to your panicked exit, because you had to get out. you needed air and you needed to be away from the living reminder of how badly you’d fucked up. you stormed out of the apartment, not even bothering to put your shoes on before you were outside, all your belongings clutched to your chest until you were on the street outside of the building. you’d taken the stairs, run down and almost fallen because you were barely paying attention to where you were stepping, earning you more than one concerned glance by neighbours that were doing whatever one does in a stairwell on a sunday morning.

once outside you dropped on the grass in front of the surprisingly nice building, trying to catch your breath and putting on your shoes. your heart was beating rapidly, blood rushing through your veins loudly, and you could feel the dreaded panic attack incoming. it was because of your sorry state that you didn’t notice that mingi had come after you, keys in hand that had to be yours since they were neither his nor his flatmate’s.

when he saw you heaving on the ground struggling with your shoelaces, though, his concern was more making sure that you were okay. “is everything alright?”

your head jolted up, and you were looking at him - through him - wide-eyed and shocked, only half able to recognise him for who he was.

“leave!” you surprised yourself with how scared you sounded, how loudly you yelled at him, and he seemed at least as surprised. had he done something wrong?

“you forgot your keys, i just-”

but you didn’t even really register what he was saying, just shouting at him again.

“i said leave!” and because he didn’t really have the right to ask what was up (you’d just had sex, obviously not a big deal, not to you) he just dropped your keys next to you without saying a word and left.

//

it had taken you a few days, a call to the acute unit of the hospital you’d spent several weeks in back when you hadn’t yet tried to self-medicate with one night stands, and their prescription renewal for benzodiazepines (which you were now taking near religiously) before you were even somewhat back to normal and able to go back to work or university. maybe you would have stayed home longer, though, if you’d known that mingi had been visiting your work daily, hoping to see you there and at least be able to make sure that you were okay. you’d had a work key on your keychain, and even though he did feel a little stalker-ish he’d shown up every day. you hadn’t looked okay at all, and while you obviously didn’t care about him, probably thought he was somewhat embarrassing, even, he couldn’t help but worry about you.

and when you came in four days after you’d stormed out of his apartment like that he felt somewhat relieved, because going to work meant that you couldn’t be doing all too bad. he didn’t come up to you, though, feeling like that would definitely cross the line between somewhat creepy behaviour and really creepy behaviour.

your coworker had noticed him, though, the new regular, and because she knew about your tendency to take every adult being that didn’t mind it home with you she leaned in close, whispering and pointing at him, informing you that he’d been coming for a few days now and that he seemed like a good catch. and it was first then that you noticed mingi.

it was solely thanks to the benzo that you’d taken right before leaving that you didn’t have the next panic attack right there. you couldn’t do anything about it right now, anyway, couldn’t afford to break down at your workplace. so you tried your best to pretend you didn’t see him, to pretend he wasn’t there.

he very much was there, though, barely having moved by the point your break started, which left you feeling conflicted. you didn’t want to talk to him, but at the same time you just really wanted to apologise, hoping it would alleviate even some of the guilt still eating away at you.

“mingi?”

he looked up surprised when you were calling out for him, because he in all honesty hadn’t expected that at all. he’d hoped you’d talk to him, of course, but he hadn’t expected that you actually would.

“how are you?”

he should be the one asking. he should be apologising for the awkward situation you’d found yourself in that was at least partly his fault. but instead he just stammered, somewhat embarrassed, somewhat flustered: “i’m, i’m good, i think. you?”

he seemed so sweet and you felt so bad for what you’d done. you wished you could take him out, to make up for it, wished you could go on an actual date because he deserved his first to be someone that would go out with him and that would cherish him and someone that actually cared about the experience. not a fucking slut.

“not much worse than usual.” and before he could ask about it you continued: “i’m so sorry about that night. i didn’t know you hadn’t… you know. i shouldn’t have done that.”

this situation was so weird. you seemed a lot more sorry than expected, more upset with yourself than appropriate, you seemed so different from the girl that had told him that she didn’t do relationships right after waking up. it seemed like you genuinely cared about an experience that wasn’t even yours, like you felt worse about him having spent it this way than he did himself.

“it’s fine, really. i shouldn’t have expected i’d get to take you out or anything, it was my own decision.” though he did sound somewhat sad about it still, and you wanted to hug him because this wasn’t fucking fair, your stupid way of coping was never supposed to hurt anyone else.

“i’m sorry. i wish you could. just, it’s not you, okay? you’re sweet and nice and deserve something better.” whether you meant better than a one night stand or better than you not even you knew.

mingi didn’t know what to make of this, didn’t know what to make of your behaviour, so he just nodded. but when your coworker called for you to tell you your break was over he spoke up, hit by a sudden wave of… not confidence, but bravery caused by wanting to see you again, even if you didn’t like him.

“can i come again tomorrow?”

even though you knew you wouldn’t be able to give him what he deserved you didn’t have it in you to turn him down, so you just nodded before going back to work.

//

and he did come again, waving at you shortly before ordering a drink and sitting down somewhere, waiting for your break, hoping you’d come to talk to him again. he was patient, looking at you every now and then but mainly scribbling into a small notebook he’d brought to kill time. when you did come over he smiled at you, a smile brighter than you deserved from him.

“how long is your break today?”

“thirty.” though you didn’t have it in you to look him in the eyes.

“can i get you a drink?” 

when your head shot up in surprise he quickly added: “as a friend, don’t worry. you don’t do relationships.”

this boy was way too good for you, you knew that. but if it’d make him happy to get you a drink then you’d let him, of course you would.

“what do you want?”

“surprise me.”

surprise you he did when he came back with a berry frapino, explaining his choice with “it matches your vibe” and looking away in embarrassment at your incredulous expression. you hadn’t at all expected your vibe to be sweet and pastel, considering how you were the definition of an alt girl, facial piercings and studded belt and all, hair constantly dyed a bright, unnatural colour. you wanted to look intimidating, not like an easy target, never again, and so far you had succeeded. yet the sweet boy had decided that a pastel coloured berry frapino matched your vibe.

“it fits your vibe better”, you said finally, but took it anyway, smiling at him.

the two of you just sipped your drinks, sitting in somewhat awkward silence, but how could it not be awkward? you didn’t actually know each other, the only connection being that you happened to have spent a night together. that wasn’t really a great conversation starter.

“do you study?”, mingi spoke up after a few awfully quiet minutes, and you nodded.

“teaching. foreign language kindergarten teacher. you?”

“oh me too! teaching, i mean. maths and history for high school.”

you were surprised, though it fit him. he looked like the kind to be a good teacher, and if you left out that one night you’d met at a bar he did have somewhat of a nerdy vibe. still, it was nice to have something in common to talk about, and you quickly found that talking to him was fun, that it was really easy to just ramble on.

“y/n! break’s over!”

apparently the thirty minutes were already over - you hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed while talking to mingi, it felt more like ten, maybe.

“i have to go.” though you didn’t really want to. you knew you shouldn’t, most definitely shouldn’t because you’d just be getting his hopes up, but you thought he was nice, maybe even liked him a little bit, in the friend way.

“see you tomorrow?” fuck. his expression was so hopeful, you just couldn’t turn him down, even though the hopeful expression was all the more reason why you should turn him down. but you didn’t want to see him sad, not again, not after you’d fucked up so badly the first time you met him already.

“see you tomorrow.”

and though you quickly turned around to go back to work you didn’t miss the smile spreading on his face.

//

the sweet brunette soon became a regular, coming in whenever you were working (he’d still ask “see you tomorrow?” in that hopeful voice whenever your break was over, and that way he knew whether or not you’d be working the next day) and patiently waited for your break, leaving anywhen from ten minutes to an hour after you had to go back to work. he hadn’t yet gathered the courage to ask you if you’d like to really hang out with him sometime, outside of work where you couldn’t really escape, but today was the day, he decided.

“hey y/n!”

why did he always have to smile so sweetly whenever he saw you? it wasn’t like you’d done anything to deserve it.

“hey mingi”, and you smiled back before you could help it.

“i kind of have a question”, nervously, hands playing with the pages of the notebook he always brought.

“what is it?”

“would you like to hang out after work sometime? or when you have a day off?”

oh no… it seemed like your plan to not get his hopes up had failed miserably.

“mingi, you know i don’t-”

“i know”, the boy quickly interrupted, “it’s not a date. just hanging out where i don’t feel like you’re just talking to get me to buy more drinks. where you can run if you want to.”

he was so kind and cute, worrying that you might feel pressured, sending you an awkward, lopsided grin, that you just had to agree.

“friday? i don’t have work then.”

mingi’s entire face lit up, eyes two upward crescents as his smile almost made them disappear completely; he was such a genuine sweetheart and you wished you weren’t like this.

“friday! can i still come here until then or would you rather i don’t?”

“where else would you get latte art like this?”

he didn’t even order a latte, so this was a really weak argument, but it held up. it was more about knowing that you wouldn’t mind, which you’d shown with your reply. he seemed all happy and excited about that, and you felt the strong urge in you to protect him, even though he was quite a bit taller and most likely also stronger than you. but he still felt… pure, like life hadn’t tainted him yet, and though you knew you couldn’t prevent it from happening sooner or later you wanted to at least try to make it later rather than sooner.

//

the next two days were spent as the last few weeks had been, him spending your break with you and then leaving, except he shyly asked for your number on thursday, so you could agree on where and when to meet up and let the other know in case something got in the way. and he got it, of course, though it felt a little weird. you didn’t usually give your number out - it was meeting, going home, leaving, no need to share your number. but mingi wasn’t ‘usually’, something you didn’t know how to feel about.

nor did you know how to feel about the weird ping of anxiety you felt the next day as you got ready to meet the boy. he’d seen you in your party attire and in your work clothes, but what you regularly wore wasn’t exactly like either of those. “revealing” your style to him made you strangely nervous, but you tried to convince yourself that it wasn’t a big deal. it was just mingi, after all.

when you were ready you shot him a message saying that you were leaving now, asking where you were going so you’d know which subway to take.

[mingi]: its near centre

[mingi]: do you have pet allergies? food allergies?

a fairly odd combination of questions, but then again there was always the possibility that people would bring their pets to a café, which you assumed was where he was going to take you, so you told him that you didn’t before making your way to the train.

[y/n]: ill be there in 10. where do we meet?

[mingi]: im almost there, so ill wait in front of the station

and he was waiting, looking cosy and sweet as always, wearing a massive sweater and grinning at you brightly. his soft look made you feel a little weird, because it didn’t exactly match well with your all-black attire, but if he thought you looked odd he didn’t show it.

“hey!” excitement apparent in his voice, though the way he was standing looked a little awkward.

“hey, mingi.” and you smiled back at him, because you were happy to see him, actually.

“can i, uh, hug you? a hello hug? or is that weird”, he asked, the request making you understand why he looked like that - he didn’t know how to greet you, because this was a new environment and you’d never met up outside of work before.

“go ahead.”

he immediately did, pressing you against his chest shortly but tightly, the hug about as awkward as him but you didn’t mind. it felt nice, comfortable, and first now did you realise how long you hadn’t been hugged like this. you definitely had your reasons, but maybe a hug every now and then would be nice, still.

“ready to go?” his nervous enthusiasm had you thinking that if he started jumping up and down it wouldn’t even surprise you, but it was cute.

“where are you taking me?”

“surprise.” and without any further explanation he started half-jogging in the direction of his surprise, first slowing down when you complained that your legs were shorter than his and that you couldn’t keep up.

“sorry!”

but you couldn’t even pretend to be mad at him. and you definitely weren’t when you reached your destination - a cat café.

“i hope you like cats.” he was obviously anxious about your complete lack of reaction, just staring at the building while you were taking in his adorable choice of location.

“i’m more worried the cats won’t like me”, you joked, trying to calm his nerves because he really had no reason to be worried - you were glad to be there with him, even though you weren’t ready to think about why.

“but consider”, he countered as the two of you entered, “you’re the one with the treats.”

“not that convincing when you have treats, too.”

and in the short moment where you saw his face before he turned to pay the fee you saw something that looked like a flustered expression, causing a small smile to appear on your face without you noticing.

the smile hadn’t yet disappeared when your time with the cats was up, giving mingi the courage he needed in order to ask if you wanted to hang out a little longer. he suggested the movies, explaining that there was a fairly recent one he’d wanted to see, but really the main reason for his suggestion was that he hoped he’d feel a little less awkward if someone else did the talking and the entertaining.

“okay” was all you said in reply, not sure how much enthusiasm would be appropriate. not sure how exactly you felt about the situation, either; you wanted to spend more time with him, but you didn’t want to want that, so it left you conflicted.

he beamed at you, obviously not concerned in the slightest about how much enthusiasm was appropriate, near yelling “let’s go then!” - you thought that he was way too cute for your own good as he took off, stopping after a few steps as he remembered that your legs were definitely shorter than his.

“sorry, i keep forgetting”, he apologised with a sheepish smile, and you smiled back at him.

“just means i got a very prominent energy, doesn’t it?”

“probably does.”

you were still glad, though, when he did keep the difference in leg length in mind, walking at a pace that was easy for you to keep up with. the two of you joked and talked on the short walk to the cinema, and when you got there he told you briefly what the movie was about (to his knowledge, at least - he’d only seen the trailer), so that you could tell him if that wasn’t your kind of movies. he insisted on paying, with the reasoning that he’d dragged you here, and after several pouty “come on”s from him you finally agreed. he never got to the cash register, though, because you saw someone. someone you hoped you’d never have to see again, someone whose face you hoped you’d forgotten by now but actually hadn’t, probably never would.

fight, flight - freeze. you tensed up, gripping mingi’s arm suddenly, with a force that left him surprised. it hurt, admittedly, and he had no idea what on earth was wrong, but you weren’t even looking at him. you were staring somewhere in the room, him trying to follow your gaze and seeing you staring at a man that was currently queueing to get snacks.

“what’s up?”

you didn’t reply to his question, though; you hadn’t even fully registered that he’d asked something.

“let’s go.”

“but the movie-?”

“let’s go!” desperately trying not to yell so he wouldn’t see you, wouldn’t recognise you, but it was hard because you had to get out of there, had to convince mingi to get you out of there, and he seemed to really want to watch that fucking movie. you were half dragging him outside, hoping you hadn’t made a fuss, hoping you hadn’t caught his attention, but the fear was already bubbling up in you. you had to get home, right now, and you told the boy that.

“i’m going to bring you home.” it was a statement, not a question; there was no way he was going to let you take the train and walk to your apartment all by yourself when you looked like you were barely even there right now. and you didn’t protest, honestly didn’t care. you just had to get home.

by the time you were home it hadn’t gotten better, though, quite the opposite - your breathing was regular but shallow, you felt dizzy, and you kept replaying that night over and over in your head. you needed to do something, and there was only one thing you knew to do in those situations, so instead of thinking logically you turned to mingi, who had entered with you, determined to make sure you’d be okay, whatever the problem was.

“please fuck me.” you were desperate, wanted to erase the memories, wanted to erase the dirty feeling, wanted to erase every single one of the man’s touches, and you knew having someone else touch you would do that, at least for the moment. and mingi was the only one that was there.

“no.” stern. you’d never heard him sound as serious as this, even though he did look surprised by your suggestion. plea?

“just fuck me, mingi”, you begged again, but he wouldn’t. of course he wouldn’t, because you weren’t okay and he wasn’t going to touch you at all if you weren’t in your right mind. even if you asked him to.

“i’m not going to do that, y/n.”

and while you should be grateful that he had morals like this in that moment it just made you angry, unreasonably angry, and you snapped at him even though he’d done nothing to deserve it. even though he’d brought you home and made sure you were okay, without even knowing what was wrong. even though he was so sweet and you were so grateful for his kindness you snapped at him.

“then just fucking leave.”

so he did.

//

he didn’t come to your work after that. he didn’t text you, made no attempt to contact you. he was gone, because you’d fucked up again. because you’d wanted to use him again. you felt disgusting, guilty, horrible, and you’d hurt him. not just once, but twice. you didn’t deserve him, hadn’t deserved him right from the start, but you wanted to apologise, at least. even though it was selfish to want to contact him you wanted to tell him that it wasn’t him who was the problem, that the only problem was and had always been you. so, during yet another night that you were spending staring at the wall and hating yourself, you decided to text him.

[y/n]: please dont have me blocked

the few minutes between ‘received’ and ‘read’ were among the most torturous of your life. and when he replied, you felt more relieved than you’d expected.

[mingi]: what do you want

[mingi]: i wont fuck you again

and even though you knew you were a slut, objectively, hearing from him that he saw you that way now, too, hurt. a lot. you hadn’t felt this dirty in years.

[y/n]: can you call me

[y/n]: please

he didn’t want to. he was hurt, of course he was, and somewhat angry at both you and himself. you because you’d only agreed to meet him so you could get in his pants, and himself because he’d genuinely thought that maybe that wasn’t the reason for you meeting him. that maybe you liked him. but even though he didn’t want to, he still called you.

you picked up immediately, but then you didn’t know where to start. you didn’t know what to tell him. the explanations you owed him weren’t something you wanted to sort by phone, definitely not. you wanted him to come over and come clean about how fucked up you were because you did like him, you wanted to spend time with him for him and not for his dick, but that was most definitely not what he’d believe if you just asked him to come over again right away.

“y/n? are you there?”

the emotion in his voice wasn’t one you could place, one you recognised, and you wanted to fucking cry. this poor sweet boy. why was he even calling you? what had you done to deserve his kindness?

“i’m so fucking sorry, mingi.” your voice was cracking, tears starting to run down your cheeks, but you didn’t care to wipe them away. he couldn’t see them, anyway. even if he could, he probably wouldn��t care.

“you made it clear what you wanted. it’s not your fault that i thought maybe you’d actually like me, like as a person. not just for that.”

“it’s not fucking that, it’s- it’s more complicated, okay? but it’s not that.”

he didn’t know how to react. if it wasn’t that, then what was it? what other way was there to interpret “just fuck me”? it wasn’t exactly something to misunderstand.

“then what is it? i’m not some toy, y/n, so if you don’t do friendships either tell me now. don’t make both of us waste our time.”

you could tell he was angry, and you could tell he was hurt. and you could understand him, you could. you hadn’t treated him right.

“fuck, mingi, i can’t explain like this. this is probably the worst thing i could ask right now, but can you please come over? or i’ll come over or we’ll meet in public, just… i can’t tell you on the phone. don’t make me tell you on the phone.”

maybe it was the way you were sobbing into the line that made him ignore his doubts and his anger and his pain, because it was obvious that you weren’t feeling good either. or maybe he was just a fucking idiot that had fallen in love with someone he shouldn’t have, and now couldn’t fall out of love again. no matter what it was, he agreed.

“right now? i can come over, but promise… promise you won’t try that again if i do.”

“i promise.” it was barely audible, disrupted by sobs, but he understood you anyway, and he told you he’d be there soon. and before you had a chance to reply he hung up.

the time spent waiting for him was horrible, part of you expecting him to never actually come. but he did, he kept his promise, texting you that he was in front of your door now. he just couldn’t get himself to ring.

his expression had been cold for only a few seconds before he realised the sorry state you were in, softening immediately as he did so. that only made you hate yourself more - you’d hurt him, horribly so, made him feel like a toy for you to use, and still he looked at you with those soft eyes.

“you don’t deserve this”, you said as you moved to let him in.

“just explain.” he didn’t know whether to be angry or worried or hurt, but he knew he definitely wasn’t feeling good right now.

“i have issues.”

it was hard to start. you didn’t want to explain, you didn’t want to say it, you’d never actually admitted out loud what had happened. the hospital had known because it was obvious, because your mother had found you whimpering and hurt and bruised in your garden the next morning, not because you’d said anything. you’d never said anything. hadn’t described him, hadn’t aided in his prosecution, hadn’t done anything. had tried to pretend it never happened and that you didn’t care. the thought of saying it now made you panic, and you went to your night table where the little box of benzos was, taking one because you knew you’d need it. then you turned back to mingi, who was still looking at you with a weird expression.

“i fuck to forget. that’s why i usually try to make so sure i don’t take people home that haven’t done it before, because they deserve so much better than that for their first. you would’ve deserved so much better than that.”

taking in a deep breath. you had to say it now.

“i didn’t have that choice for my first and i… i don’t know how else to deal with things. besides fucking around and pretending that it doesn’t matter. i’m a fucking slut, mingi, i’m just a stupid fucking slut, and i-”

your sobs had taken over and you felt pathetic. you owed him an apology, not a breakdown. you owed him the option to get angry at you, to scream at you, but you knew he wouldn’t when you were crying like this - he was way too sweet for that. still, you couldn’t stand to look at him. you didn’t want to see the disgust that you knew would be clear on his face. he’d already sounded disgusted by your behaviour before, you didn’t want to imagine how much worse it would be now.

“can i hug you?”

did you hear right? had he really just offered to hug you, despite knowing what he knew?

“i don’t deserve it. i’m… you’re still clean.”

he had a feeling that trying to convince you that you weren’t dirty either would be a lost cause right now, so he didn’t.

“if i just do it anyway, will you let me?”

you didn’t have the energy to argue. part of you really wanted him to. you were selfish. so you said yes.

it only took a few seconds for him to wrap his arms around your shaking form and hold you tightly.

“i promise i wanted to meet you. i promise i just wanted to hang out, i promise, but i… i saw him and i didn’t know what to do and you were there and- and it’s not fucking fair and i’m sorry.” you were sobbing into his shirt and he finally understood. understood the change in behaviour, the way you were so different so suddenly.

“at the cinema?”

he felt you nod and only held you tighter. that did explain things, and he couldn’t even be mad at you anymore. he couldn’t imagine what that must have been like - of course it would shake you up.

“i don’t fucking want to be like this and i want to go on dates and fall in love but i can’t risk it, i can’t fucking risk it. if that turns shit too i have nothing anymore that could make up for it and who’d even want me anyway when i’m just a slut and when i’ve slept with half the campus and when i’ve never been in love and don’t even know how that works? who’d want  a mess like this?”

maybe it was really bad timing to confess, maybe he really shouldn’t do it, but his mouth moved before his brain had the power to stop him.

“i would.”

“you’re angry at me. you hate me.”

“that’s not true.”

you chose to ignore it because you couldn’t think about that right now and because he’d probably only said it out of pity, anyway, instead continuing to say all the things you’d pretended you hadn’t been feeling for the past years.

“i just don’t feel like i have the right to do anything else anymore. i’ve already fucked up so bad and everything and i… who says i can just stop now and pretend it’s all good? how can i start making things matter when they’ve never fucking mattered before? i can’t just say ‘okay, the past hundreds haven’t mattered, but this one, this one’s going to matter’, that’s not how it works.”

“can you please look at me?”

in all honesty, the fact that he was listening surprised you, because you didn’t feel like it was something anyone else would care about. people didn’t care about how you felt, so why would he suddenly be the first? but it seemed like he was, because when you looked up at him he already had his eyes on you, with a softness in them that maybe calmed your broken heart just a little bit.

“i know you can’t pretend none of that happened, but it… it doesn’t have to be your first. none of that has to be. you can decide what counts, what requirements there are. you’re still young, you can start over, even if you’ve messed up before. you can just try again. it’s okay.”

his hand was running up and down your back soothingly now and you wanted to stay like that until he’d rubbed all your worries away, because you felt like if he just kept going long enough he might be able to.

“i’m just scared.” you were still crying, but now it was silent tears running down your cheeks rather than the broken, body-shaking sobs from earlier. “i want to be in love but i don’t know how it works. i don’t know if i can. i kind of gave up on that, buried that dream of a family and a picket-fence life and whatever people paint as love and just… accepted i wouldn’t have that. what if i can’t have that?”

“you’ll find someone that’s going to give you all that”, he told you before pulling your head back to his shoulder and keeping his warm hand on your hair, an action that made you feel small but incredibly safe, but that he’d mainly done so you wouldn’t see his face now. he wasn’t intending on getting you to give him a chance or anything, he just wanted to let you know that you weren’t as much of a lost cause as you thought you were, but he still didn’t exactly want you to be staring at him when he was being emotional and embarrassing.

“you just have to give it a try. if you managed to make me fall for you when you kept telling me you don’t even do relationships, i bet you won’t be able to save yourself from all the admirers once you let down your walls a little bit.”

again, you didn’t know what to say. you’d guessed he’d liked you, in the beginning, but with the way he’d been ghosting you (and mainly the way you’d treated him and all the issues you had) you’d thought whatever feelings there were had disappeared. apparently they hadn’t, though, and it was a little hard to figure out how you felt about that. you didn’t want to hurt him again, and in all honesty you didn’t feel like you were in the right headspace to think about this without making hasty decisions. you most definitely had to calm down first.

“you’re tired.”

he wasn’t, actually, but when you got out from his embrace in order to sit on the bed instead, back against the wall, he guessed it was a way to cuddle without having to say that you were cuddling, without having to ask him to cuddle, and he was happy to comply.

it surprised both of you how readily you put your head on his shoulder and wrapped your arms around him, but neither said anything. this wasn’t the situation to say anything. it was the situation for silence and giving you time.

//

“how do you know if you’re in love?” the way your voice was so soft and curious and still all quiet from crying made mingi feel a little like he was explaining love to a child, except he was explaining it to the person that made him feel all these things.

“for me, i want to spend time with the person. all the time. i get sad if i don’t see them. even if we’re just sitting in the same room doing our own thing, or eating together, doesn’t matter. i always want to see them. and when i do, it makes me happy. they don’t even need to do anything, i’m smiling. and i want them to smile, too, want them to be happy. so if i know something that makes them happy, i try to do that. and i pay attention to the small details, like how you really seem to like that berry frapino. and then i daydream about that all the time, even though it’s silly. but i think for me a big sign is that when they notice something about me, when they say something about me that i hadn’t noticed, or when they associate something with me, then i get really happy whenever that thing comes up. even if i didn’t care about it earlier, now it just feels really special. they could say they like how red compliments my eyes and i’d be wearing red nonstop, just because they like it and i like them so i like it, too. it’s all really cheesy, though.”

the sweet boy seemed embarrassed, but you were somewhat deep in thought as you let his description run through your mind. you’d been happy whenever he was at the café, and almost hoped you’d get more shifts so you wouldn’t have to tell him you wouldn’t be working the next day. even though he was mainly just watching you work, ordering a drink every now and then, it had been nice to know he was sitting there. always scribbling in that little notebook he had, tapping his pencil against the top edge of it when he seemed stuck, twice per second (had you counted? you didn’t remember that), a regular speed, and you’d imagined that little tap tap when you were home working on your assignments, having noticed that you’d picked the twice a second-tapping habit up as well. and the berry frapino he’d mentioned - of course it tasted good, you’d tried it before, but it tasted better ever since he told you it matched your vibe, so you’d found yourself getting it even when he wasn’t around. looking back at all this, it meant…

“oh.”

not exactly the reaction he’d expected. he looked at you quizzically, urging you to elaborate.

“i guess i’m in love? but i’m not really a good fit for you.”

“how do you mean?” if you were going to tell him that he deserved better than someone with your past again even though he just told you that it didn’t matter to him…

“you’re cute. like, really cute. and i’m pretty much the opposite.”

not at all what he’d expected, and it almost made him laugh. you were worried about aesthetics?

“remember the frapino? the one i keep getting for you.”

“of course.” how could you not when it filled you with a weird warmth even though it was a cold drink?

“i meant it when i said it matches your vibe. you’re cute, too. i know you’re trying not to be, and you don’t look the part, but you’re cute.”

“hm.” you were trying to figure out your thoughts and what you wanted to do, how you wanted to proceed, because the thought of being with him wasn’t as scary as the thought of being with anyone else, but you didn’t want to accidentally lead him on and let him down again.

“what if i wanted to do relationships? or, one relationship. with you?”

he lifted his head in surprise, you could feel it because his cheek was no longer pressed against your hair, but there was no way you were going to remove your head from his shoulder.

“you do?”

you couldn’t tell what he was feeling, his voice coloured by an emotion you didn’t recognise, didn’t know how to place. so, naturally, you got scared he’d been all talk and no action, didn’t like you enough to want to actually be with you. still, you hummed in confirmation, though once more refusing to look at him as you did so.

“you’re not rushing yourself because you’re scared you won’t get another chance, are you? because you’ll get plenty, you don’t have to settle for the next-best thing, you-”

he never got to finish whatever irrational thoughts he was having, because you finally looked up, looked at him sternly, and told him: “you’re not the next-best thing. don’t even think that.” then, your head went straight back to his shoulder, because this was both scary and embarrassing.

“if you want to do relationships...”, mingi started, “if you really want to-”

you nodded against him to show that you did really want to, and he continued.

“if you really want to, we can do that. but i’ll take you out on dates, no objections.”

now you tensed up a little, because the prospect of real dates complete with feelings and everything was kind of making you anxious, still.

“objections?” of course he’d felt your body tense, you were stupid to think he wouldn’t, and that it wouldn’t make him doubt.

“no objections. just… slow?”

it felt kind of ridiculous that you were nervous about going on dates when you’d not been nervous about doing what usually came after dates at all. but there’d never been feelings involved, so there’d never been feelings that could have been hurt. maybe that was why this was so much scarier.

“as slow as you want. but can i see you on campus?”

“mhm.” his neck was just way too warm and soft to lift your head and give a decent reply, it wasn’t your fault.

“i’ll bring you lunch. and little notes. it’s a little late for high school romance, but you’re not gonna miss out on all the embarrassing cutesy things.”

maybe looking at him would be worth lifting your head. maybe. you wouldn’t know until you tried.

“you can cook?”

“well, no”, and his awkward smile was so cute that for the first time, you wouldn’t mind if someone kissed you, because you felt it in you that he wouldn’t ever hurt you - he looked like he couldn’t hurt a fly, “but i’m very good at buying food. one of my redeeming qualities.”

the look you gave him was one of absolute adoration and his heart beat so hard that he could physically feel it bang against his chest. he wanted you to be his, and he wanted to be yours. maybe that was the case already, but he wanted one hundred percent certainty.

“are you doing a relationship? are we doing a relationship?”

you wanted to get rid of his uncertainty immediately, but there was also something else on your mind, and you knew this would be the easiest way to bring it up without chickening out, which you very likely would later.

“if i say yes, does that mean you’re going to kiss me?”

mingi didn’t know whether you wanted him to or whether it would be a dealbreaker, but either way his reply would have been the same.

“only if you want me to.”

“yes.”

“yes you want me to or yes we’re doing a relationship?”

he was embarrassed, you were embarrassed, the situation was incredibly awkward, and instead of “both”, as you’d intended to answer, you just told him “yes” again.

“you can always tell me to go slower, or stop”, he told you, trying to stop the happy grin at least until he was sure that you’d understood. when you nodded, there was no holding it back, though, and he quickly leaned in to give your cheek a sweet peck.

“that wasn’t what i meant”, you almost whined out when he was looking at you again, although he was avoiding your eyes.

“i know. but your piercings kind of scare me”, he admitted, obviously at least slightly embarrassed.

“scare you?”

“yeah, like… what if i get stuck and hurt you or something?”

how was he so sweet?

“you’re an angel.”

“my mum says that too.” why on earth had he said that? that was a one hundred percent fool-proof way to embarrass himself. but maybe it was worth it, because a small chuckle escaped your mouth, something neither he nor you had expected.

“she’s right. now kiss me. if ramen don’t get stuck you won’t either.” you didn’t have to tell him that ramen did get stuck - that would be your little secret. at least until experience had proven that he wouldn’t get stuck, because he was very much not ramen-shaped.

he still seemed a little hesitant, and you were about to laugh when you finally felt his lips on yours. you didn’t know how to describe the feeling you got when he did so, but it was a good one. he was warm and soft and though your noses had bumped for just a moment because you had absolutely zero idea what you were doing it felt… perfect. maybe the nose-bumping had played a part in that, too, because it felt so normal and human and authentic, not like something from a movie. it felt genuine, and that was the best thing about it. the way your hands were nervously moving from somehow awkwardly squished in between the two of you to his upper arms to his neck to his face, the way you kind of just let him do the moving and only parted your lips slightly so he could do whatever one did while kissing, the way his breath kind of tasted like pizza - which you assumed had been his dinner -, it all felt so perfectly normal and flawed in all the best ways that you couldn’t have been happier.

“regret it already?”, the sweet boy - your sweet boy? - asked you when he pulled away, half joking and half scared that you did regret it, but there was no way you ever would.

“only if you don’t do it again”, you informed him, and the smile that spread on his face at your reply was able to outshine the sun, if you were the one to judge.

“so i’m a good kisser?”

sillyhead.

“it’s not like i can judge, i don’t have any standard to compare it to”, you teased, because he’d teased you first and because you were happy and the happiness made you do things you normally wouldn’t.

“you don’t need to have tried a good kimchi to know when someone’s made a bad kimchi!”, he protested, and now you laughed, really laughed, not just a small chuckle.

“you’re saying you’re good kimchi?”

“i’m not saying, i’m implying.”

the way he was so cute and so silly and so sweet only made you fall in love more. in love. you were in love with him, almost hopelessly so.

“but i don’t really like meat, what do we do then?”

what he said next made you reconsider if he maybe wasn’t just a bit too silly, though.

“i bet there’s plenty people that would beg to differ.”

“mingi!”

he hadn’t thought a lot before saying it, just seeing it as a normal tease, but when you called out his name like that he got worried that he’d accidentally crossed a line. he was relieved to see you grinning, although you did look like you were about to playfully hit his arm.

“sorry, love”, hoping that the pet name would make up for it. and it did, because your expression changed into one of happy surprise.

“love?” as if you couldn’t believe it.

“love. or darling, baby, angel, sweetheart, i can probably think of more.” though this was him teasing you he most definitely would try to think of more, because you were his love and he wanted you to know even when you were just casually talking.

he didn’t get a reply, instead he got you dropping yourself over his lap in an attempt to have your head reach your pillow. now you were genuinely tired, and you wanted to sleep; though the day had ended well it had been among the most exhausting you’d had in quite a while.

“want to sleep, love?”

if he kept calling you love you’d probably have to get a pacemaker, because there was no way your heart skipping a beat or speeding up every single time he said it was healthy in the long run.

“yes, so come lay down.”

“you want me to stay the night?”

his surprise left you a little uncertain. was that not something you did with your partner? you were incredibly, awkwardly unaware of the rules, so you had no idea whether or not you’d just implied something that hadn’t been your intention to imply.

“if you want?” your face was hidden in your pillow, refusing to look at whatever negative expression might maybe be on his face, but you had no reason to worry, because he just pushed you a little closer to the edge of the bed so he’d fit in next to you, wrapping his arm around your waist and pulling you tight.

“i move a lot in my sleep, just a warning”, he mumbled into your hair, “and no funny business.” he knew the reasons for your funny business and was fairly certain you weren’t exactly a fan of funny business anymore, or that was the impression he’d gotten, but there was still a little part of him that was anxious. he had no reason to be anymore, though.

“no funny business until marriage”, you assured as you tried to move your face as close as possible to his chest because you wanted to feel his heartbeat, and though neither of you could see the other’s face you both wore the same expression of complete content and love.

[you-can-call-me-wanda]

Straight To Hell

Pairing: Joe Strummer x Reader

Author’s Note: Yeah, I don’t know how to write kisses...

Filming a movie was hard. When Joe first agreed to be a part of “Straight to Hell”, he had known it would be different from his usual performances, but he didn’t expect it to be much more difficult. He was quickly proven wrong, however.

Not only was the Almería sun proving to be difficult to work in, Joe was discovering the acting to be quite tough. No, it wasn’t getting into character or memorizing his lines to be the issue. The issue was something entirely unexpected to Joe. The issue was you.

He had noticed you immediately. The second he stepped onto the set, you had caught his eye. You worked as a production assistant and were on set at basically all times. You worked with the rest of the crew, distributing walkie talkies and setting up lights and prop tables. You were essential to the filming and were therefore at the filming of every major scene.

Joe had tried his best in the beginning to ignore your presence. It was too hard to focus on what he needed to be doing if he was also paying any attention to you. You of course hadn’t noticed. You were too busy running around and doing your job to even be aware of Joe’s struggles. It wasn’t like any of the actors typically paid you any mind. They had a job to be doing as well and your paths didn’t usually cross with them. But as the days wore on, Joe found it more and more difficult to ignore you. Unbeknownst to you, you had Joe wrapped around your finger despite having never spoken a word to the man.

Your smile was what really finalized the deal. His breath would catch in his throat the minute he spotted your grin. He would stare, mesmerized, as you threw your head back and shared a laugh with your coworkers. There was just something so breathtaking about your happiness and joy. It was infectious. Not to mention your clothes. Or more of a lack thereof actually. It was hot in the Almería desert and where the cast had to wear their western styled get ups, the crew had the freedom to dress more appropriately for the Spanish climate.

You were normally dressed in the same attire each day. A tank top and the tiniest little pair of shorts Joe had ever seen. His gaze was perpetually drawn to the sliver of skin that peeked out from between your shirt and shorts, the way your walkie rested low on your hip, and the way those teeny tiny shorts accentuated your ass and made your legs seem like they went on for miles.

Joe had been lusting after you from afar for weeks before he finally made his move. They had just finished the scene where the townspeople had hanged Whitey, which had taken several takes. Joe had been his usual distracted self though he tried to keep his infatuation for you to himself. The last thing he wanted was for any of his castmates to catch on. Or the director. He could only imagine the embarrassment of being called out for staring at you too much.

But after the various takes, the scene was finished, and Joe had made up his mind. He was going to make you his. He would not let you distract him anymore and in order to do that, he had to try his chance with you.

The second the director yelled out “Cut! That’s a wrap!”, he was making his way over to you. Your back was facing towards him, so you didn’t see him coming up to you until he was right by your side.

“Hi,” Joe said, his gravelly voice surprising you and making you jump. Joe internally berated himself for starting off with such a weak line. Hi? Was he serious?

“Hi,” you said, tone a little hesitant. You knew who Joe was obviously, but he had never spoken to you before. “Uh, can I help you with something?” you asked. You couldn’t think of any reason why Joe would be talking to you besides him needing your assistance with something. You had seen him glance your way a few times during the filming of the last scene but had assumed nothing of it.

“Uh,” Joe said, glancing around at the various cast and crew members mingling around. “I’d like to talk to you. Perhaps in private though.”

“Oh,” you said, a little stunned. “Uh, okay. Sure.”

To your astonishment, Joe reached down and took your hand in his. He quickly led you through the set and past the abandoned-looking buildings of the fake town with ease. It appeared that he already had in mind exactly where he would be taking you to speak with him. You felt your heart rate speed up at the idea of being alone with him. Not only did you have no idea what he was going to say, but you couldn’t deny how handsome Joe was and the way his hand on yours was filling your stomach with butterflies.

“Over here,” he said, tugging you in the direction of one of the abandoned cars that had been set up for previous scenes. He opened the door to the rust-covered vehicle and slid in the backseat. You followed behind and shut the door behind you.

It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being the intermingling of yours and Joe’s breathing. He was staring at you and you felt as if your whole being was set aflame by his deep brown eyes. No words needed to be shared between you before you were both crashing into each other, joining your lips with haste. It was like a magnet was pulling you towards him. Never before had you wanted to be so close to someone, especially someone you had only just formally met.

After what felt like hours (but was probably only minutes) of passionate snogging, the two of you parted, gasping for breath. Your lips were swollen and wet with saliva and a glance at Joe’s mouth showed that his were in a similar state. You barely had time to meet his eyes again before he was pulling you in for another long kiss.

Just like before, you only separated from Joe once you felt like you might pass out. Kissing him was dizzying, and your head was reeling.

“Jesus,” you said. You couldn’t seem to form a coherent thought.

“Yeah,” Joe breathed out, feeling the same way. “God, I’ve wanted to do that for so long now.”

Your eyebrows shot up to your forehead. “You have?” you asked. You had no idea that Joe even knew who you were before today.

Surprising you even more, Joe looked a bit coy all of the sudden.

“Well,” he started, rubbing a hand across the back of his neck, “I’ve kinda had my eye on you. Not in a creepy way!” he was quick to reassure. “I just- well, you’re hard to take my eyes off of.”

Now you were the one feeling shy. “Really?” you asked. You were doubtful that someone like Joe could take an interest in you.

“Really,” Joe said. “It’s been so hard trying to focus on this damn movie. It’s impossible not to stare at you and imagine what kissing you would be like.”

“Well, now you know,” you teased.

Joe huffed out a laugh. “Yeah,” he said. “These shorts have been driving me mad as well,” he added, running his fingers softly across the hemline of your shorts. The actions sent a shiver down your spine. This didn’t go unnoticed by Joe, who smirked.

“Will you join me at the hotel?” Joe asked, turning to look out the car window at the setting sun. “We should be getting back, but I want to stay with you.”

“If you really do want me to join you, I’d be happy to,” you replied.

“I do,” he said, nodding. “We can go up to my room. We’ll order room service and have dinner together.”

You laughed lightly. He was clearly eager and sounded absolutely adorable.

He ducked his head. “Sorry,” he said. “It’s just that I already like you so much. I want to get to know you better if that’s alright with you.”

You leaned in and gave him a quick gentle kiss on the lips.

“Trust me,” you said, smiling. “That’s more than alright with me.”

[surveys-at-your-service]

Survey #324

“i'll sharpen my knife upon the stone made from the ruin of a dead god's throne  /  listen to these words as my seeds are sown: it's time to amputate the infected zone”

What is the last game you played on your phone? Pokemon GO. Do you give people personalized ringtones? No. Does your phone screen have any cracks? No. What makeup products are you wearing, if any? None. How would you describe your skin tone? Very pale. Do you have your full birth name on Facebook? Yes. What is your least favorite fruit? Probably cherries. How often do you walk around barefoot? Whenever I'm in my house or another person's who prefers shoes off inside. Would you need to sleep with someone before considering marrying them? Nah. Do you think people look up to you? No. How often do you have trouble sleeping at night? Every night. Do you ever rehearse conversations before you have them? YEP. In my head, at least. Can you name five current world leaders? No, haha... When taking a cab, do you talk to the driver? Cabs aren't really a thing here. I've never been in one. Do you always read the book before you see a movie based on a book? No. What is your favorite urban legend? The Jersey Devil. Mothman is dope and super creepy, too. I love cryptids, period. Are you an elitist (even a little bit) when it comes to anything? What? No, because I hate people like that so much. What type of fabric is most comfortable for clothing? I dunno, I don't pay attention to this. If you wear one – bras with or without a wire? With, so long as they're not poking out and stabbing you... If you wear one – are you able to find cute bras in your size? Definitely not. What length do you like your shorts to be? You'd have to pay me some big bucks to see me in shorts, period. Have you ever cut off jeans or other pants and made them into shorts? No. Have you cut the sleeves out of T-shirts to make tank tops? I don't think so, no. What was the last disappointing movie you saw? *shrug* What was the last disappointing book you read? Even bigger *shrug*. Do you ever watch compilation videos? Of what? Rarely, but if I do, they're generally old Vines and stuff. What was the last thing you rolled your eyes about? Probably something stupid on Facebook. Do you like Hellboy? If so, do you prefer the old movies or the new one? I have no thoughts on this. Favorite Disney character who isn’t royalty? Dory! Do you have a lot of people whom you don’t talk to all the time or see all the time, but still consider to be your friends? Yeah, like friends from high school and online childhood ones. Do you typically do your make up the same each time? Or do you like to change it up often? It's just about always the same. Do you enjoy making surveys as well as taking them or do you just prefer to copy, paste, fill out, post? The latter. I don't make surveys. Have you got a significant other? How are things between the two of you? If not, what was your most meaningful/long term relationship and how did that come to an end? I don't. My longest and deepest relationship was with Jason, and he ended it when my depression became too much for him to handle. Have you spent much time in a vehicle lately? What for and where have you gone most this past month? No. I've barely left the house lately for obvious reasons. Has it rained yet this year where you live? How about hailed? It's been raining like crazy lately. A few mornings ago, it also hailed very heavily for a few minutes. What is your favorite thing about Mac computers? I like the sleek, clean look of them. What is your favorite thing about PCs? They have more power for playing games. What are some errands you need to run soon? None. Well, we have a Wal-Mart order to pick up I think tomorrow, and I'll probably ride with Mom. What color was your high school graduation gown? Red. It was between that and navy, and I was really hoping for the latter, but it lost the vote. The red was so obnoxious. How many graduation gowns have you worn? One. Are your parents’ dreams for your life different than your own? I don't think they have their own specific "dreams" for my life. They both want me to create my own future that makes me happy. Have your dreams for your life changed? Definitely, over all the years. Would you ever want to learn sign language? Not especially, but it'd be cool I suppose. What’s the last thing you had for dinner? Chicken tenders, I think? Or was that the night before? Have you ever performed a solo dance in front of a crowd? No, but I almost did. At my old dance studio, the high school seniors had the option to a solo, and I was working on one to "Coma White" by Marilyn Manson, because it was and still is a song I really feel in regards to my mental health and many medications I "have" to be on. I was doing fine, but I stopped when I realized I just really was too nervous as a dance competition approached. Have you ever sung a solo? No. What was the last job you had? Deli worker. For two hours. What was your first job? Sales associate at GameStop. Who was/were your favorite coworker(s)? I never really had one. At what age did you start experiencing sexual attraction, if any? I don't know. Probably my freshman year of high school is when my levels of attraction to people reached a sexual and not just romantic level. Have you ever split open a rock with a hammer, to see a geode inside? UGH no, but I so wanna find one of those one day. What states have you lived in? Only North Carolina. S.O.S., get me outta here. What is your favorite thing about the month in which it is now? You start to see some flowers blooming. Who were your best friends in high school? I had a decent group of close friends, but I was closest to Hannia. I wish I still had contact with her. ^Are they still your best friends now? No. She deleted me off Facebook at some point. Do you live near the mountains? No; they're on the western end of the state, and I live on the opposite side. Do you live near a beach? It's about two hours away. What is your favorite beach that you’ve been to? I don't have a fave. Do you collect seashells? Nah, but I like picking them up and looking at them. My sisters and I used to collect them, though. We have a plastic container of them somewhere. If you were to start a new collection, what would it be? I desperately want a cornucopia of Markiplier merch, sobs. Is there a certain place or store you especially hate going to? I don't like going to most stores, really. I'm an online shopper. When was the last time you made plans with someone? October of last year. How long do leftovers usually sit in your fridge? Depends on the food. They tend to stay in there a bit too long, though. What is something you do for other people that shows you care for them? Offer to listen to them and always be a source of support and love. What was the last animal/pet that you met? Kinda recently, someone in our neighborhood was walking their German shepherd, and Mom chatted with the lady for a bit while I listened. Is there anyone in your life with whom your opinion changes on frequently? No. Have you ever kept a journal? Do you currently keep one? Yes, on-and-off during multiple periods of my life. These surveys are like my journals now. Is there a certain song or band who remind you of specific people? Yep. Motionless In White and Black Veil Brides, Jason. Pink Floyd and Evanescence, Sara. Metallica, Mom. Van Halen, Dad. Etc., etc. How often do you style your hair differently from how you normally style it? Never. Have you ever found out that you have been sleep walking? No, I never have. What’s the last thing you promised yourself? I don't know about promised. I take those so seriously, even to myself, that I hesitate to make them. Have you ever tried making something from one of those short cooking videos? How did it turn out? No, but my friend once tried making that "muffin in a cup" thing and it was absolutely horrid. Very eggy. When was the last time you had to wait in line for longer than a few minutes? Good question. Going into places is so rare nowadays, so it's hard to encounter this issue. Well wait, maybe at a fast food place? Idr. Have you ever written a review for a product you bought online? No, but I should do that once I actually use my own money to buy from small businesses in particular... if I had something good to say, anyway. I'd feel bad trash-talking a product. Do you ever interact with any brands/companies online? No. Is there anything you seem especially sensitive to, such as sounds, smells, etc? Smells, yes. What was the last thing you had the urge to do? Read, even though I didn't do it. .-. Is there anyone you feel that takes you for granted? No. Do you ever read the comments on social media posts? Sometimes, particularly if I have strong feelings about something. What was the last “good” thing to happen to you? My PHP therapist felt confident enough in my progress to step me down to three sessions a week versus every weekday. Last awkward situation you were in? Thankfully it was a one-on-one session, but the same aforementioned therapist was asking me questions that really stumped me, so I kept going very quiet as I thought and felt awkward and dumb. He's brilliant at his job. Think of the last time you were sick – what were you sick with? I think the last issue I had that qualifies as "sick" was a double ear infection from Hell itself. That was like two years ago. How do you think your life would change without social media? I'd be incredibly bored, but I, among I think most others, would be more positive and have a more realistic outlook on life. Social media highlights the best times in our life, and I do feel that that has had a negative effect on pretty much everyone. I don't at all believe social media is bad in essence, though. It's a wonderful way to stay connected. What was the last thing you wanted to buy, but couldn’t afford? I can't afford a new terrarium for Venus for probably a while, being without a job and all... How do you get your news? Facebook, haha. How often do you drive? Never, right now. My permit is long expired, and my vision isn't up to par to renew it. If you had to go (back) to school and completely change your career path, what would you choose to study/pursue? I guess biology? Are there any TV shows you constantly quote or know almost every line to? No. What do you think about lizards? I adore lizards; they're all so cute, big or small, and truly little dinosaurs. They're beautiful and so vast in appearances and behavior. Is there anything that people assume about you that isn’t true, and that you find very irritating? Not that I find irritating, no. How would you rate your “detective” skills? Uh, what am I "detecting?" I'm pretty good at digging online if I'm really hunting something down, I guess. Have you ever done consumer testing (testing products before they come out on the market)? If not, would you ever want to? No; I wouldn't be opposed, depending on the product. Have you ever received anesthesia or morphine? Both. The one time (I'm aware of) where I had morphine oddly enough did jack-all, though. If you had to choose which video game to be in, which would it be? Hmmm. Maybe like, Shadow of the Colossus, living in the beautiful garden on the top of the shrine? With the deer, the birds, fruit, just its general beauty... That would be awesome, especially with one other person, especially an s/o. Just the two of us in a gorgeous land. Between the two, would you rather live in a place where it’s only night or where it’s only day? Only day, I suppose. Vitamin D is very important, for one thing, and it always being dark would definitely affect my depression. And what about the flowers blooming and being able to take pictures? :( Sleep would still be possible by just closing your shades and stuff. Is there anyone that makes your skin crawl? Maggots, bot flies, parasites, patterns of small holes, etc. Do you like it when people are affectionate with you? Yes. If we're at least friends, anyway. I'm a very affectionate person. Have the past few days been bad, good, or neutral? They've been pretty all right. If you had to be an actor/actress in a movie, what genre of the movie would you be best at? Probably as an insane villain in a superhero movie or something. Are people more likely to tell you to tone it down or to speak up? Speak up. I'm a mumbler. I can be too loud sometimes too, though, particularly when I'm excited. What’s the last thing that you procrastinated? Now. Emerson's birthday was last month and I still haven't touched her pictures... Out of fire, earth, water, wind, light, and dark, which element appeals the most to you? Dark. What’s your favorite color on a vehicle? Burnt orange, pink. The last pain that you experienced, was it physical or emotional? Physical. What was one of your favorite songs as kid? I liked lots of pop songs. When’s the last time you tried to get revenge, if ever? Never. It's not something I chase after. Do you like Taylor Swift? No. What’s your favorite Disney Channel movie? The Haunted Mansion, I think. That's a Disney movie, isn't it? If you met your favorite celebrity, would you be calm or star struck? I'd be a deer in headlights, stuttering and stammering over ways to thank him and crying like a bitch. I'd be super embarrassed, but I absolutely hope I get to meet him one day. Do you ever have to do yard work? No. Is your school close to your house? I'm no longer in school. Do you have any live versions of songs in your music software? Yes. Did/do you listen to Britney Spears songs? Yeah, I like her. What shorthand do you use the most? Probably "lmao." What album is the current song you’re listening to off of? METAWAR. In your opinion, what song is the most overplayed right now? I wouldn't know; I don't listen to the radio. Are you in a band? No. When I started high school though, I wished I could be a guitarist in one. That's one reason I started taking lessons, haha. Does your favorite band have a male or female lead singer? Male. Have you ever been to a Broadway show? No. Do you prefer group or individual work? Individual, by a long shot. I work much better alone. Could you ever complete a 500-piece puzzle? I think I have before. I used to love puzzles. When was the last time you rode in a limo? Damn son, never; what could possibly give you the idea I could afford to ever do THAT????? Do you take naps daily? Almost every day, yes. Do you still make Christmas lists? Yeah, because I'm asked to. Do you watch the show Dexter? Never seen it, no. Are you currently using a blanket? Yes. My feet are cold. How long is the song you’re listening to? 4:06. Is your mom or dad the older parent? Mom, but only by a year. Did you ever listen to Avril Lavigne when you were younger? Who didn't? I still listen to a couple songs. When was the last time you changed a light bulb? Not all that long ago when Venus' lamp bulb died. How often do you clean your car out? I don't have my own car. Did you ever buy NOW ("Now That’s What I Call Music") CDs? My older sister did, yes. What color (mainly) is your computer? It's black. What is in the back seat of your car right now? In Mom's car, idk. But there's usually some stuff back there. What is your favorite episode of F.R.I.E.N.D.S.? Never watched it. Last person’s house you were in? Besides my own, my older sister's. Who is the last person you sent a message to on Facebook? My friend Chelsea. We were catching up. Were you an honor roll student in school? Yes. Do you have a tan? HA. Are you someone’s best friend? Yes. <3 What do you think of when you think of Australia? Huntsmen spiders. *shudders* Favorite gemstone? Of the basic ones, rubies. If we're talking of all of them, even the obscure, then dragon's breath opal. I'd LOVE to have a ring of one of those. Do you go in at a fast food place or just hit the drive thru? Almost always the drive-thru. What color is your mom’s hair? It's all gray now. Does your first memory involve your dad? No. Biggest annoyance in your life right this minute? My social anxiety. Do you like watching a bonfire? Yeah. Fire is mesmerizing. Do you ever get flu shots? No, but I really should. Once the Covid vaccine is accessible to all though, I'm getting it for the protection of my immunocompromised mother.

[olicitysecretsanta]

Work-Life Balance

For @v4l13. I thought you might enjoy a workplace friends-to-lovers AU, with some mutual pining thrown in. 

From: @laxit21

Tags: AU, friends to lovers,

Oliver listened intently and nodded along as his coworker Felicity Smoak explained the new updates to the computer systems to him. He didn’t understand half of what she said, but pretended like he did. It was a computer, how difficult could using it be? All he did was data entry anyway, so as long as Excel still worked, it didn’t matter what knew programs and security measures they’d added.

He didn’t tell Felicity this, of course, because if he told her that he didn’t need to know this stuff, she’d leave to go talk to the other employees. He didn’t want her to leave his cubicle just yet. So, he listened intently as she babbled about the new programs and what they could do. He’d take any excuse to spend more time around Felicity. She was nice, and so incredibly smart, but she never made him feel stupid. She was also very, very pretty and he sometimes had a hard time focusing on what she was saying when they talked. She was amazing, and there was no way she’d ever have feelings for someone like him.

Oliver was so preoccupied thinking about how little of a shot he had with Felicity that he almost missed her wrapping up her speech. “That’s the spiel I’m giving for now, while everyone adjusts. If you need to know more about the functionality, send an email down to IT and we’ll get someone working on it.” She said. “Any questions?”

“I- no, not really.” He said. “You- your explanation told me everything I think I’m gonna need to know. Thank you Felicity.”

“No problem.” She said, crossing his name off of her list of people to talk to. “Okay, next is…frack!”

“What’s wrong?” He asked, suddenly worried. Was someone bothering or harassing Felicity? Why hadn’t she said anything before?

“Roy’s next on my list.” She said. “He’s nice but he’s not exactly tech savvy. Explaining how things work to him takes forever. Don’t tell him that I said that.”

He relaxed, happy that Felicity’s problem wasn’t very serious, and chuckled. “Your secret’s safe with me.”

“Well, have a good one.” She told him before walking off.

“Thanks, you too.” He said. He thought to ask her if she had lunch plans, but didn’t get the words out until after she was out of earshot.

Oliver first met Felicity on his second day at the company. He’d accidentally knocked over the latte he’d been drinking onto his keyboard. He called IT immediately after that happened, and Felicity was the technician they sent to look at it. After getting a stern lecture from her, he promised not to have coffee that close to his computer again.

The incident was the first of a few involving Oliver messing up something on his computer and Felicity coming to fix it. He used her visits to get to know her better and they became friends.

“Are you ever gonna ask her out?” Tommy asked, peering over the top of the divider that separated his and Oliver’s desks and snapping him out of his daydream. “Everyone knows you’ve got a thing for her.”

“There’s no way she’d be interested in someone like me.” He responded. “She’s a genius and I just play with spreadsheets all day because my dad thinks it’ll make me somehow want to take over the business.”

“Look, I’m just saying. You like her, she likes you, make a move before you miss your chance. Worst she can do is say no.”

“She can say no, and then run straight to HR and file a complaint. She’s my friend, I don’t wanna ruin it.”

“So, don’t be creepy about it.”

Felicity finished explaining the new software to everyone on the second floor before making her way back down to the IT department. A few other techs looked up at her before going back to work. Felicity went over to her desk and sat down.

“Explaining everything went well, I take it?” Lena Luthor, the only other woman who worked in IT, asked.

“I made the mistake of saving Roy for last, but I think he understood what I was trying to tell him.” She answered. Roy was part of the new business department and he was a nice guy, but as Felicity had mentioned, he wasn’t very good with technology.

“And what about Lover Boy?”

“Who- don’t call him that.” She said. “We’re just friends.”

“But you wanna be more.”

“Oliver Queen would never be interested in someone like me. Besides, his dad is our boss. There’s probably rules against that.”

“No, there aren’t. But if you wanna stay in denial, fine.” Lena said. “Just tell me when you’re gonna make a move so that I can bet correctly.”

“People here bet on other people’s relationships?” Felicity asked incredulously.

“It helps pass the time.” She said. She didn’t mention that the only betting pool was on when Oliver and Felicity would finally get together.

Before she could say anything else, a help ticket came in from Robert Queen himself. He’d somehow deleted his entire email program. Felicity and Cisco, another IT tech, went to Robert’s office to try and fix the issue.

The next day after lunch, Oliver went down to the IT department to see Felicity. She was sitting at her desk, typing quickly and he assumed she was busy. He turned to leave but she spotted him. “Oliver, hey. What brings you down here?”

“I was looking for you, actually.” He said. “I was wondering if…”

“Yeah?” She perked up. Was what she thought was going to happen about to happen?

“A bunch of us are gonna grab drinks after work if you wanna come.” He said. internally, he facepalmed. He hadn’t come down here to tell her this. He was going to ask if she’d have dinner with him, but standing in front of her, he lost his nerve. “I-uh, I wasn’t sure if anyone had mentioned it.”

The blonde deflated slightly and her smile became a little less genuine. “Yeah, I’ll come. Is this a special occasion or-?”

“Not that I know of.” He shrugged. “We were gonna head to Callahan’s.”

“I’ll meet you there.” She promised. He nodded and left, saying he didn’t want to keep her from her work any longer. “Get your head out of the clouds, Smoak. No way he’s interested in someone like you.”

Tommy was waiting upstairs for Oliver to return. He knew his best friend had gone down to ask Felicity out and wanted to be the first person to know how it went. Oliver stepped out of the elevator and walked over to his desk. His shoulders were slightly hunched over. This wasn’t good.

“Walk it off, buddy.” Tommy said, trying to encourage his friend. “What did she say?”

“I didn’t ask.” He admitted. Tommy sighed, and he wasn’t the only person who seemed disappointed based on the sound of others sighing behind them. “I just- I got down there, and I was talking to her and I just- I said a bunch of us were getting drinks after work. Any chance you can organize a happy hour in the next few hours?”

“Have you met me?” Tommy asked rhetorically. “Callahan’s, I take it?” His friend nodded, so he started typing out an email to a few of their work friends. “And hey, maybe at happy hour, you can make your move.”

“Yeah, maybe.” Oliver said, not truly believing it. He went back to work and didn’t notice that his sister, who was interning at the company for the summer, walked past his desk and into Robert’s office.

“He didn’t do it.” Thea said, closing the door to her father’s office behind her.

“He didn’t do what?” Robert asked, not really listening.

“Oliver, he didn’t ask out Felicity.”

While Oliver’s family agreed not to meddle in his relationships, they were getting a little tired of the “will they, won’t they” act between him and Felicity. He mentioned her a lot, and it was clear that he had feelings beyond friendship for her. It was also very clear that Felicity had feelings for Oliver. The only people who didn’t seem to see it was Oliver and Felicity.

“Thea, we can’t force your brother to do something before he’s ready. The situation with Isabel-.”

“It messed him up, I know, but you can’t- I want him to be happy. Don’t you?”

“Of course, I do. Why else do you think that, whenever Oliver breaks something, I request that she fix it? it’s because she’s the best person down in IT, but also because it gives them an excuse to talk.” He said.  Robert was getting just as frustrated with the back-and-forth between his son and Felicity as everyone else. He just knew that if he tried to rush Oliver, it would have an adverse effect.

Felicity, Oliver and about seven others went out for drinks after work. Of the people who came, only one Roy, didn’t know about Tommy’s plan to give Oliver and Felicity a moment alone so that they could talk, and hopefully, Oliver would ask her out. Drinks were ordered and people started talking. They split into groups and started chatting. Roy was about to ask Felicity a question, to try and get to know her better, when Sara grabbed his arm.

“C’mon. Let’s see if there’s finally someone who can beat me at darts.” She said.

“What?”

“You and me, dart competition.” She said, pulling him in that direction.

“So, how is Thea liking her internship?” Felicity asked Oliver after the rest of the group split up. Asking Oliver about Thea was a good way to get him talking and Felicity didn’t want to start babbling and ruin the conversation.

“She likes it so far. I’m starting to think that maybe Dad should start grooming her to take over and not me.” He said.

“Hey, the finance department is important. Without you guys, we can’t get paid.”

“All I really do is put things into Excel and write my dad a report saying what the numbers indicate.” He said dejectedly. His job was so easy a monkey could probably do it, and do it better than him.

“And that’s important to keeping the business going.” She said. “You shouldn’t be so down on yourself. You’re doing great.”

The conversation turned from work to Oliver asking Felicity if she’d read the book he recommended a few weeks ago when they bumped into each other at the bookstore. She had started it, but wasn’t done reading it yet. From there, they talked for a little while before people started to leave because it was getting late. Felicity saw the time and said she should leave as well. Oliver offered to walk her to her car and was about to ask her to dinner when Tommy called out to him. He’d left his phone inside. Felicity waved goodbye and got into her car while he was dealing with Tommy.

Laurel hit her boyfriend in the chest. “What was that for?”

“You ruined his moment.” She said. “What if he was about to ask her to dinner and then you interrupted?”

“That’s exactly what happened.” Oliver said. “It’s fine. She was gonna say no anyway.”

“No, she wasn’t.”

Over the next week, Oliver talked to Felicity more at work. They ate lunch together a few times. They had already been friends, but got closer over the following few days. As he got to know Felicity better, he became less and less nervous about asking her out. He started to believe that if he asked, she’d say “yes” to going on a date with him.

Then, his father hired a new IT technician. Robert had asked everyone to gather on the second floor so that he could introduce the new hire to everyone at the same time. The man, Cooper Seldon, seemed unremarkable to him at first. As everyone was dispersing after the announcement, Oliver noticed that Felicity didn’t seem happy.

“What’s wrong?”

“Cooper and I have…. a history.” She said.

“You go to the same school or something?” Tommy asked.

“Or something.” She said. They’d dated and when they broke up, she never expected to see him again. She didn’t want to see him again. She made an excuse to go back down to her desk and started hatching a plan to avoid being anywhere near Cooper as long as she could help it.

Down in IT, Cooper kept trying to get Felicity alone, and she managed to avoid that for several days. Their break-up had been ugly and she had nothing left to say to him. Having to avoid him, though, stressed her out a lot, and others, including Lena and Oliver could tell.

When Oliver saw Cooper walk past his desk one day, he squeezed the pencil in his hand so hard that it snapped. He couldn’t stand Cooper, but he couldn’t explain why. It was probably because everything with Felicity has changed after he got hired.

“I don’t like that guy. Something’s not right about him.”

“Have you told your dad?” Tommy asked. “If he’s up to something-?”

“I can’t do anything about it. I can’t ask him to fire someone just because I don’t like him.” Oliver said before getting back to work.

Felicity’s plan to avoid Cooper worked for about two weeks, until the VP of Sales had a problem with his computer. He asked for Felicity personally, and since Cisco was out sick, Cooper went with her to take a look at the system. After looking at the computer itself, she realized there was a problem with one of the wires.

“Cooper, can you reach down and reconnect them?” She asked him. She didn’t want to bend down under the desk when she was wearing a dress, which she currently was. Especially in front of her ex-boyfriend.

“I think you should do it. I don’t know what’s supposed to connect with what.” He said. “I don’t wanna mess anything up.” She would’ve believed him, if he managed to keep the smirk off of his face.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Felicity moved under the desk to reconnect the wires. It only took a second, but when she stood back up, Cooper’s smirk was even wider. The VP of Sales seemed completely oblivious and thanked them as they headed out.

“I hope you were paying attention because next time, you’re fixing the wires.” She said.

“Lighten up. it’s not a big deal.” He told her.

“Playing the “I’m new” card to get me to bend over so you can stare at my ass is a big deal.” She shot back. “And that’s never gonna happen again.”

“But that view was so enjoyable.” As he talked, Cooper’s hand moved closer to Felicity’s backside. He was about to squeeze it when his arm was ripped away. Unfortunately for him, as they were walking towards the elevator, Oliver was coming out of his dad’s office.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Oliver demanded to know.

“Relax. Felicity and I go way back.” Cooper said.

“Doesn’t mean you can grope her.” He said. He looked over at Felicity who looked like she was about to cry. “Felicity, are you-?”

“She’s fine. You gonna let go of my arm now?” Cooper asked.

“Is there a problem?” Robert asked, stepping out of his office.

“No, sir, there’s-.”

“He almost attacked Felicity.” Oliver said. “I saw him-.”

“Ms. Smoak?” Robert asked.

Felicity sniffled. “Can I- I’d like to talk with you and Cecile, if that’s okay. Alone.” She said. Cecile Horton was the head of HR at the company. Robert nodded and walked with Felicity to HR.

She told them about her past relationship with Cooper and what had happened earlier that day. As soon as she was done, Robert borrowed Cecile’s phone to call security and have Cooper removed from the building. He was fired and Robert vowed that he’d tell every one of his colleagues about his actions so that he wouldn’t be able to get a job with one of them.

Robert then turned to Felicity. “If you’d like to go home and take a few personal days, you can.”

“Thank you, Robert.” She said with a small smile. “I- I’m gonna go see Oliver before I leave.” She left Cecile’s office and walked to Oliver’s desk. “Hey.”

“Hey. Are you okay?” He asked. He had no idea what he was supposed to say or do here.

“No, but I think I will be.” She said. “I just wanted to- thank you. I can’t- I can’t believe he-.” She was trying very hard not to cry. She was better than that, but it was still so embarrassing and demeaning and she couldn’t make herself calm down.

“Hey, hey. Is it okay if I hug you?” Oliver asked. “You look like you could use one.” She nodded and found herself engulfed in his arms. “I’m so sorry that this happened.”

“No, I- I shouldn’t have-. I-.”

“No, this is not your fault.” He said firmly. “It’s all on him. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

Felicity sniffled a few times before she pulled away. “Well, now that I’ve ruined your shirt with my mascara, I’m gonna go home.”

“Okay. Text me if you need anything.”

It took a few weeks after the incident for Felicity to feel normal at work again. Thankfully, not many people saw what happened, so she didn’t feel as exposed when she came back into the office, but Robert, Oliver and Cecile stopped by a few times to check on her and make sure she was okay.

A month after the incident, when Felicity was back to her smiling, happy self, Oliver took a trip down to IT again. He had wanted to ask her to dinner the day that Cooper was fired, but then the incident happened. He didn’t want to ask her so soon afterwards and make her feel uncomfortable.  Instead of nervously standing there, he knocked on the door and called out her name.

“Hey, so I was wondering if- will you go to dinner with me?” He asked.

“Yeah, I’d love to go on a date with you.” She said with a smile. “Wait, this is a date, right? I didn’t misread-.”

“It’s a date. I wanna date you.” He assured her. “Is Friday good?”

“It’s perfect.” She said.

Oliver went back upstairs and as soon as he exited the elevator, Tommy called out. “Okay, who had the 17th in the pool?”

“That would be me.” Thea said with a smirk. “Pay up everyone.”

Oliver and Felicity’s first date went well. As did their second one and every date after that. The “when will Oliver ask Felicity out” pool was replaced by a proposal pool, which Lena ended up winning. The proposal pool was replaced by a baby pool, which no one won because Robert told them they needed to stop gambling about their coworker’s lives. The day he ended it was the day after Felicity told him that they were expecting.

Robert retired after Oliver and Felicity’s son Lucas turned 1 and Oliver took over the family business. The night of Robert’s retirement party, Oliver turned to his wife. “Can I make a confession?”

“Yeah.”

“You know how when I first started, I had a lot of computer issues? Well, I might’ve messed a few things up on purpose so that I had an excuse to call IT.”

“I know.” She said with a smirk. “I never said anything because I liked having an excuse to talk to you.”

[tedwoodward]

Schrödinger

Summary: Ted takes Charlotte to a local diner to help distract her from thinking about Sam

Note: inspired by this post

tw for a very brief mention of dieting and wanting to lose weight

read on ao3

“Ugh, seriously? Why does EVERYONE suddenly want coffee at the same fucking time today?” Ted groaned as he walked into the office kitchen to see that a line had formed as a new pot of coffee was being brewed.

“I just need one more cup to get me through these reports for Mr. Davidson,” sighed Paul from the end of the line, twiddling his thumbs on his coffee mug.

Ted rolled his eyes and took a seat at the table. No way was he going to stand around in line with four other people getting coffee in front of him. He was not patient enough for this.

He brought his arm up, checking the time on his watch: 3:48. Huffing, Ted contemplated how much he truly wanted this coffee. Then again, it was an excuse to get away from his computer and the stale air in his cubicle, so he stayed.

He turned his attention back to his coworkers to hear a conversation being continued that he must have interrupted with his entrance. And, boy, was tuning back in a mistake on his part.

“But, no, man, you’re forgetting the timeframe thing. That’s like the whole point of Schrödinger’s Cat. By a specific point not only will the radioactive isotope decay, forcing the poison to kill the cat, but if you leave it in there long enough, the cat’s gonna starve! So if you’re inactive and apolitical for a long period of time, you’re solidifying the fate of the cat.”

“Dude, the ‘whole point’ of Schrödinger’s Cat is that because you don’t know when exactly the decay is going to occur, there is a time when the cat is both alive and dead before you check on it. You’re looking at it the complete wrong way. It’s not talking about whether the cat is gonna survive or not. But either way, it’s not a real cat, so who cares?”

“I’m not saying the cat’s real, I’m saying this works for other situations in addition to quantum mechanics.”

“Okay, yeah, but you’re clearly misinterpreting it. Just find another analogy for whatever you’re saying at this point—”

By the time Ted got his coffee, he was going to explode. If it was possible for your eyes to pop out of your head just from rolling them, Ted would have gone blind the second those two opened their mouths. His loud sighs and glares had done nothing to dissuade them from continuing their nerdy argument. Ted now needed a break from his break.

Leaving the idiots in the kitchen, he decided to take a lap round the office, stretch out his legs, you know. He just so happened to pass by Charlotte as she was on the phone, ending a call. Ted decided to take a detour over to her desk just because it had been a while since he had last bugged her. Not because of any additional reason, no sirree.

He lingered a few feet from her station, sipping at his coffee as he waited for her to finish the call. He might be an asshole, but he wasn’t gonna interrupt a conversation with a client. And maybe he just wanted to look at her for a second. Not in a creepy way, just in a… Ted way. Okay, not like the usual Ted way that is also creepy. Just in a… way.

“Al-alright, well, I love you. And I’ll see you later tonight then, sweetheart.” Charlotte hung up the phone, letting out a deep sigh.

“Y’know, I don’t think you’re supposed to take personal calls on these phones,” Ted said as he sauntered over to her desk, startling Charlotte from her daze.

“Oh! Ted. Well, you know Sam…” She didn’t offer any further explanation. She stared off into space for a moment, looking at nothing in particular, and after a moment she seemed to shake herself out of it. “Well, I better get back to work.” She tried to busy herself, but Ted stopped her by moving even closer to her and setting his mug on her desk.

With one hand on the back of her chair, one hand on his hip, and a foot kicked over the other, he leaned down to speak closer to her ear. “So… no plans after work it sounds like?”

Charlotte glanced in Ted’s direction, “Well, Sam won’t be getting back till late this evening. Sudden extra work-load.” Something felt off, but he tried again.

“Hm. Sounds like you have a few free hours then,” Ted smirked at her, a sly smile spreading across his face.

Charlotte wasn’t meeting his eyes. His smile faltered. Normally she would continue the banter or at least push him away if she wasn’t down for it. Something was wrong.

“Charlotte?” He asked, the amount of sincerity in his voice shocking even him. “Hey, is everything alright?”

“Hmm? Oh, yes, everything’s fine, just fine.” Ted could see her fingers twitching for a cigarette and knew there was an issue she wasn’t telling him about.

“Is it Sam?” He hazarded a guess. “C’mon, you know you can’t lie to me.”

Charlotte turned her chair to properly face him, Ted no longer leaning against her. She slowly brought her face up to meet his eyes, and he could see they were red.

“Oh, I’m sure it’s nothing, but…” she sniffled and looked away. “Oh, well, when I was on the phone with Sam, I-. Oh, this is going to sound crazy, but I—I could hear that… he wasn’t at work. And-and-and I know that’s stupid, because he isn’t always at the precinct during the day; that’s part of his job, but…. And I may just be imagining things, but… I’m not certain he was on duty. A-and I’m pretty sure I heard some… strange music. That kind of modern, young pop music? Not that there’s anything wrong with it, but that’s just not Sam’s music. And I, well—”

“Hey, hey, hey, Charlotte?” She stopped stuttering through her explanation and returned Ted’s gaze. He looked at her for a moment. “So, you think he’s with Her again, huh?”

She looked away. With her eyes closed, she nodded minutely, trying to control her breathing.

“Well, hey. Fuck him, all right? He doesn’t know what he’s missing out on. He’s an asshole anyways. He doesn’t deserve you.” That last part slipped out, and Ted looked away. Charlotte blushed as he tried to sweep that moment under the rug. “You know what? You need a distraction. Let’s grab dinner after we’re done today.” Ted looked at Charlotte as her gaze finally met his again.

This was new. They had never really done anything… non-sexual before. Their relationship to this point had been originally one-sided advances and flirtatious behavior from Ted up until Charlotte out of the blue took him up on the offer. Since then it’s all just been sex. Sex when Charlotte was angry, sex when Charlotte was sad, sex when Charlotte was lonely, sex when Charlotte was horny, sex when Charlotte was bored. There was no romance; you could barely say any part of their relationship was even platonic. And they had never risked going out in public before.

“Dinner, Ted? I’m a married woman, remember?” Charlotte reminded him. “I do not go out on dates with men that are not my husband.” Funny how that’s where she drew the line, Ted thought.

“Nuh-nuh-nuh-nuh-no, see I was thinking of going to that shitty diner across from that fancy Italian place on 45. Not a date. Not a big deal,” Ted reassured her nonchalantly.

“Oh… well, I suppose that would be alright. We do have some leftovers in the fridge Sam can heat up when he gets home. But just dinner—”

Ted stopped her before she could lay down any more rules, “Great! I’ll stop by when I’m done for the day.”

And with that, he was gone, grabbing his mug from her desk and throwing up a peace sign as he walked away.

Not a date. Ted wasn’t sure who he had directed that thought to, but it persisted in his mind as he walked away.

The rest of the work day wrapped up soon enough, and their coworkers began taking off. It was only a matter of time before Ted strolled back over to Charlotte’s desk, bag strung over his shoulder.

“Ready?” He asked, glancing at his watch, his put-on air of indifference betrayed by a small bounce in his step.

They were off a few moments later once Charlotte gathered her stuff. Ted led her to his car as Charlotte silently thanked the parking lot for being fairly empty of others. She did not want to attract attention to the fact that she was getting into a car with Ted Richards, the office flirt, who was known to have slept with at least half of the employees at CCRP beginning day one of his employment. Okay, yeah, whatever that would suggest was totally happening, but she still didn’t need it getting around the office.

The drive was uneventful. Charlotte sat stiffly in the passenger seat as Ted drove, her eyes glossed over, staring out the window, and worrying her lip between her teeth, still thinking about Sam. Ted silently acknowledged this but didn’t say anything about it. Instead he talked the entire drive, just rambling on about anything and everything apart from that, starting with those two idiots from the kitchen earlier in the day. Who gives a fuck about Schrödinger’s Cat anyways? You’re not in AP Psych anymore, you’re not tricking anyone into thinking you’re smart. They all ended up at CCRP anyhow, so no one gives a shit.

After a while his ranting died down, and they pulled into another parking lot.

“Alright, we’re here.”

Charlotte shook herself from her inattentive state and glanced up at the building they were parked in front of. ‘Annie’s Diner’, the sign read. She couldn’t recall ever eating there before, but she recognized the name. Still in a bit of a daze, she got out of the car and walked towards the entrance with Ted.

Ted opened the door, letting Charlotte go first (who says he can’t be a gentleman from time to time?), and an easy smile slid onto his face as he followed her into the diner.

He led them to a seemingly specific table inside, and the pair slid into the booth, Charlotte’s attention still clearly elsewhere. She tried to look at her menu, but all she could think about was Sam. Sam cancelling on her. Sam never being there. Sam being with that… girl. Leaving her alone. No, not alone. She’s with Ted right now. Who she has slept with. Multiple times. Who she’s cheating on Sam with. Just as Sam’s doing with Her. How can she feel hurt? What was she doing? What makes her husband’s affair worse than her’s? What kind of wife was she?

“All right,” Ted said, grabbing the menu from her hands, shaking her back to reality. “That’s enough. You’re thinking too much.” Placing the menu back behind the condiments with the others, he took Charlotte’s hands in his own. “Look, we’re here to forget about him, and you’re obviously not doing a very good job at that.”

Charlotte eyes met Ted’s, and she smiled sadly as a sort of apology.

He tapped his hands over hers a few times. “Today, we focus on having a good time, we focus on eating greasy food, and we focus on not overthinking things. All right?” Ted declared, releasing her hands in favor of returning her menu.

At that moment a lovely-looking, older woman appeared next to their booth.

“Why, hello there again, Ted. How are you doing this fine evening?” she asked, obviously familiar with the man.

“Doin’ all right, Miss Julie. About to be even better now that I’m at the best diner in the country,” he schmoozed, grinning playfully up at her.

She smacked him lightly with her notepad, “Oh, Teddy, you really are a flirt. What’re you doing talking like that in front of your friend here?” She playfully scolded him and turned her attention to Charlotte, “How you doing, sweetie? My name’s Julie, and I’ll be serving you today.” She offered a sweet smile, and Charlotte couldn’t help but smile back, no matter how absent her mind was. That kind of pure joy and loveliness was powerful. Charlotte yearned for the time in her life when she was that much of a source of joy.

Alongside some playful banter with Ted, Julie took their drink orders (Charlotte asked for just water at first, but after a raised eyebrow from Ted the orders became one strawberry milkshake for her and one chocolate milkshake, no whipped cream for him) and left the two alone, a small, genuine smile on her face to see him with someone.

Lord knows Ted needed company, and so did the staff at Annie’s. He was a regular and would come into the diner after work twice a week give or take for about a year or so. He quickly charmed his way to the hearts of the entire staff, but behind his flirtatious and cocky exterior they could see how lonely he was. Going every week after work? Must not have anyone to go home to. The staff easily warmed up to him and enjoyed lollygagging by his booth for some fun banter, and they savored the rare true smiles he afforded them (as opposed to the smirk normally plastered across his face during the work day). He seemed to enjoy it as well; they made his solitary dinners more enjoyable, and at Annie’s he found a sense of family.

As Miss Julie retreated, Charlotte had a playful smile on her face at Ted’s slightly-reddened cheeks.

“I thought you called this a ‘shitty’ diner,” Charlotte laughed, “Seems like you enjoy it more than you’re letting on.”

Ted tried to wave her off. “Looks shitty. Heart, and food, of gold, though.” He buried his face in his menu, as if he didn’t have it memorized by that point.

Charlotte giggled some more as she copied him. The two studied their menus in silence, comfortable in the mood that had settled between them.

Moments later, Julie came back with their shakes in hand. “Alright, well I know Ted’s ready, but how about you, ma’am? Any questions for me or are you good to order?”

Truth be told, Charlotte was torn over what to get. She’d been trying to eat better lately, hoping that by some chance, if she lost a bit of weight, it would help her husband care about her again, so initially she had been looking at the salad options. But Ted did say today was about eating greasy food, and she had to be honest, the burgers on the menu looked absolutely delightful. After a glance at her dinner partner she made her decision. Burger it is!

Julie correctly guessed what Ted was getting on her first try (“Honey Barbecue Chicken Wings and a side of tater tots?” “You got it, honey.”) and left to send their orders to the kitchen. Once again the pair sat in silence as Ted unwrapped his straw and swirled it around his milkshake. After a moment, Charlotte spoke up.

“Ted?”

“Hm?” he grunted in response, still playing with his straw.

“Why’d you bring me here?”

This stopped him. Sensing where she was leading the conversation, Ted built up a wall. He scoffed, “Um, for food? Duh.”

Charlotte shook her head and mimicked his earlier move by holding his hand that had been laying on top of the table. His eyes were immediately drawn to where she touched him tenderly. “This place is clearly special to you. Why me? Why am I the one you’re sharing this with?”

Ted stared at their hands a moment longer before taking a deep breath. He glanced up and looked into Charlotte’s eyes, imploring and curious. He squeezed her hand before letting go and moving both of his hands under the table, out of her reach.

“I’m an asshole. I know that, you know that, everyone knows that. I can’t say I even have work friends unless Paul counts, and even then…” he trailed off, catching himself, and getting back on track. “But, yeah. I guess it’s nice to have a place where I can just kinda live. A sorta… home? That sounds stupid. Somewhere I feel appreciated, I don’t know. And I guess I feel safe sharing this place with you. And I wanted you to see it because… I want you to have a place like this too.”

He kept his gaze purposefully away from Charlotte through his explanation, only locking eyes again when he finished, hesitant to see her reaction. He could never tell when he was crossing a line. Where their relationship stopped and became far too close for Charlotte’s comfort. When it felt real, like something she should get from Sam.

But to his relief she was smiling at him, eyes glossy with tears to see another side of him that he didn’t show much.

“That and the fact that I totally owe Annie’s a gold-star recommendation and a new customer,” Ted continued playfully. “It’s the least I could do for them putting up with me all the time. I bug these people with my presence far too often and my patronage can only get them so far.”

“Now, Ted, I’d hardly say calling this a ‘shitty diner’ is a ‘gold-star recommendation’,” Charlotte teased.

“Hey,” Ted quirked his head to the side and winked, smirking at her from across the booth, “still got you here, didn’t I?”

With the playful mood set, dinner continued easily, both parties much more present than they had been previously. Their food came, they ate, and the pair realized how easy it was for the two of them. Their previously-only-sexual and never-before-platonic relationship was working well in this new setting. They could just live and eat greasy food and be really messy and gross and it was fine, preferred even.

As their meal came to a close, Julie brought over coffee for the pair.

They had had a good time. Ted was beginning to think his earlier statement of not having any work friends may be marked untrue after this evening. He glanced over at Charlotte, busy fixing her coffee to her taste. He watched, and an amused grin slid over his face as she poured an obscene amount of sugar into her mug. God, she’s adorable, Ted thought.

Charlotte felt his attention and glanced up, cheeks reddening, embarrassed by her unhealthy coffee preference (although Ted was one to talk if you asked her).

Their eyes met, and Ted was struck speechless. A shy laugh graced Charlotte’s lips as they looked at each other, and Ted nearly swooned.

If they had been in any other situation he would have reacted differently. If they had been in private, Ted would have kissed her then and there, able to cover up his feelings with his libido. If she had not been married, he would have been professing his love on bended knee for the entire world to hear, because, God, she was beautiful and sweet and charming and witty, and fucking Sam didn’t deserve her. He would say those three words, and she would say them back, and their love would be so great even his cynicism couldn’t deny it.

But that was not the case. Even if he did bite the bullet and tell her his feelings, there was no way she would respond likewise. She was married. No matter how she felt. No matter how shitty Sam was to her. No matter how much he wanted to hear it. No matter how much she wanted to say it. She wouldn’t. She’d never leave him.

Instead he caught sight of his balled-up straw wrapper centimeters from his hand and flicked it at her. It bounced off her sweater and into the abyss under the table.

“Wha? Ted!” Charlotte gasped, putting aside the sugar in favor of the wrapper next to her mug.

She only took a second to crumple it up before throwing it at him, which resulted in the wrapper barely flying, missing Ted completely, and falling onto the table in front of him.

Ted laughed at her failed attempt at retaliation. The pair smiled at each other, and the playful dynamic returned.

Ted decided he could live. He didn’t need to hear her confess her love to him. He didn’t need reality to slap him in the face. He could live in blissful ignorance about their relationship. They didn’t need a label. They didn’t need to communicate their feelings. Ted wasn’t sure he would be able to handle that. So he decided to keep it simple. He could believe whatever he wanted about their relationship for as long as he wanted, and he’d be fine as long as he didn’t ask for clarification. He didn’t want to know the truth.

[kariachi]

We are finishing! Season! 3!! Today is Roundabout day. Season finale, I’m finally gonna be something approaching up-to-date, at least with regards to Kevin, who is the only thing that matters

I’m just going to preemptively say Fuck the Forever Knight sideways with a pineapple

That house looks like something out Dexter’s Lab, if Dexter had been into shoddy constructionwork.

Goddamnit! Think of your neighbors before you build shit that fails that explosively in your garage!

Billings. I should’ve fucking guessed. Your constructionwork sucks and you suck.

Did that man just take a break to build a lightsaber? Stay on track, Billings!

Ben vanished and Max and Gwen had to turn to Phil, those poor two, they don’t deserve this.

(btw is case you haven’t picked up on it, I still don’t trust Phil further than I could throw him. He spent four series being a sack of shit and now suddenly he’s a good guy? I think not.)

Don’t go in there, that machinery looks like it could collapse at any moment!

Max acknowledges the ‘hunk of junk’, does not acknowledge that it’s a danger to everyone and thing within 60 ft of the damn house. We had a pumphouse in better shape that wasn’t half the size and we had it torn down as a safety hazard

“Sure brings back memories though, right Max?“ I’m with Gwen, wtf does that mean?

Max is hiding shit, of course he is. Is it Plumber shit? Immortal shit? He and Phil used to be supervillains shit? Who the fuck knows

“Ever since Ben fought Vilgax, I’ve been tracking the Omnitrix to further study it’s abilities.“ Because that’s not suspicious at all. Especially given who else has been tracking the Omnitrix and it’s bearer for a good while now

(am I saying Phil has ties to the FN? No, I’m just not not saying it)

Yes Phil, many machines work like that, most with any sort’ve radio or wifi whatever do, which we already knew the Omnitrix had by the time Ben fought Vilgax because that’s how the fucker tracked it down. You didn’t find out shit, you’re just taking credit for information that was handed to you on a plate.

Okay, this map on this show is a disaster, but I’m going to estimate Ben is in the Germany/Austria/Switzerland region. But anything could be true given this is the least accurate to real life Europe map I’ve ever seen as far as landmasses

Okay, Phil says Switzerland, I say we head to Austria.

Max he’s already grounded.

Also who the fuck is calling? And why does Phil ‘I’m tracking the Omnitrix’ Billings still have a landline? You’re in the suburbs, man, are you even legally allowed a landline?

Oh look, we cut to the FN, or at least one of his stupid jets. More openly evil than Bezos

Oh my gods that is the smallest round table I’ve ever seen! And if way too big a space that’s clearly not even set up for it! FN you fucking loser!

Okay though, okay, backing up, entering ‘pick at details mode’. The table looks like it’s set to seat eight and it already has at least six. Counting out the FN we have, going clockwise- Kevin, then Vin, then Charmcaster, Billy, and what is probably Simon though if it is I will have to slowly kill a bitch. So, I gotta say, smart move putting Vin between Kevin and Charm, because if those two were next to or across from each other it would probably be unsafe for everybody. Having Vin in particular in that spot is smart because 1) he’s managed some sort’ve management of Kevin before (which is better than FN has managed even if it didn’t last) and 2) he’s bigger than both of them put together so Kevin would have to go through or around him to get at Charm’s throat.

But, on Vin in particular- what the fuck dude?! You get into the evilest looking vehicle in the show so far, owned and run by a creepy adult corporate nasty, see a bunch of kids are involved, why the fuck are you and the children still here? This better get touched on because if you’re actually okay with this set-up you are not half the man I thought you were

If Kwarrel were here the FN already would’ve had his gear wrecked and been thrown out the jet, woulda happened as soon as he saw even one of the children “Why are there kids here?“ “They’re your coworkers“ and out the jet he’d go

Charmcaster, unimpressed

Seats to either side of the FN are empty

And because there is no adult in existence with any of the skills the children have, apparently.

Kevin, also unimpressed and glaring off in the direction of Vin and Charm, presumably at Charm specifically

Oh gods, Vin’s special skill is ‘loyalty’ what the fuck is he a digidestined?! Although I guess when you’ve specifically gone out and gathered up the children least likely to do a single thing you say the way you want it done...

Charmcaster’s spells, if she can manage to cast any decent ones without a copy of Shel Silverstein involved

Billy’s skill is money. Bitch you own three major franchises you do not need the 10-yo for his money. The most dumbass golddigging attempt I’ve ever seen, and I watched OV!

Also nobody is impressed so far. Nobody.

Okay 1) they gave Simon a helmet and he is adorable. 2) I am going to kill every adult in that room. Painfully.

Kwarrel wouldn’t stand for this!

oh my gods Simon is too damn precious how did I not like him in his premiere?

Oh look, it’s a Ben. Welcome to the cesspit, Tennyson

Kevin, not fucking having it

Simon is happy though

“What are you thinking?! He’s obviously gonna betray us the first chance he gets!“ Kevin talking sense. He watches tv, he knows how this goes.

Honestly even without the betrayal risk, you wouldn’t be able to blame Kevin for not wanting Ben involved here. They’ve got the same skill set, as far as FN is concerned, and Kev already very clearly has issues about being seen as the lesser option, which FN has previously played into.

Vin trying to talk sense, it’s not working especially because I’m still angry with you

Kevin demanding Ben’s reasons for being here.

Ben’s reasons being ‘because my family thinks I’m the boy who cried FN’

“Why should we trust you?“ “Because Grandpa and Gwen don’t.“ “What? What does that even mean?!“ Kevin looks about this close to throwing in the towel and quitting right here and now. ‘Fuckit, I’m leaving and replacing you all with a rat’

FN stopping shit before it gets too out of hand

And we cut back to the Tennysons with still no sign from Vin that he has any problem with kids being involved in this mess

“We’ve been tracking the Forever Knight’s movements over the last few months“ “Who is ‘we’?“ “Best to just focus on the task at hand, Gwen“ Max pls

‘We came to the conclusion he was recruiting some sort’ve team’ what was your first clue?

Phil made Gwen a magical girl armor transformation.

Gwen is Pleased. Also dangerous.

The fuck sorta ugly-ass building is that? Did they hire a weaverbird to build it, what the hell?

Kevin, continuing to be a little shit, as per the norm

I’ll admit, I appreciate the transformation sequences if just because they’re nothing special enough for me to note and so it takes seconds off the time I have to liveblog. It adds up when you’re stopping to type every few seconds.

Ben pls

Ben- runs in to intimidate researchers into giving them access to whatever Billy- already got his father to pay the people to let them in

Again, may I say, the FN has money. He doesn’t need Billy’s! He has his own! He’s just cheap!

Kevin is just gonna spend the whole of part I giving Ben shit

The fuck we looking at

It is becoming more and more blatant that the FN got Simon here by inviting him to a fake birthday party and have I mentioned I want this man to smolder down to ash?

Time portal. We’re constructing a time portal. If this is Paradox’s premiere I’m cancelling this damn series. We can try again when people learn to fuck off on the time travel plots (they’ve been done well three times and all of them were in Pern books)

He is having Kevin and Ben construct a time portal. Together. Kevin does not look impressed by his coworker.

1) Ben you’ve been the dweeb forever. 2) Finally somebody on this show acknowledges Kevin’s mullet. 3) I’m with Kevin on the ‘let’s see if he can keep up’ thing, given one of them built an Omnitrix and the other I’d be surprised to see set the time on a vcr

“You’re the one with a mullet!“ “Yep.“ Oh gods! Oh damn! The fact he just looks so damn smug as he says it, like ‘you can’t get under my skin about things I’m actually cool with’, this little disaster! And Ben just looks like he’s gonna punch him. Are we sure they didn’t swap bodies prior to this or something?

FN starts pulling the ‘you will do as I say’ and that’s when Kevin starts getting prickly. Of course it is. Again, this is why I keep giving him rankers, do you really wanna see how long a Weyr would last if he was on a chromatic?

These boys today. Ben is just itching for a fight and Kevin is... The change between Kevin before the FN threatens to start putting them in their positions his own damn self and after is very pronounced. One he’s being a little shit and enjoying it, the other he’s very... I’m really not sure how to word it, distanced maybe? Like he emotionally stepped back from the situation

Simon you precious little bean, put a happy birthday sign and some balloons on a piece of machinery. And a little party hat.

Billy was not prepared for Simon. He doesn’t deserve Simon.

Well, Gwen is infiltrating shit at the fucking 6 minute mark, which is a shame because I was hoping to have more of her and the adults doing their thing so we could get some more interactions between the child antagonists.

This child

And of course she ends up in the vent right above the lab the others are working in, it’s not like we’ve got another episode and a half to fill.

Seriously, I love her, but I was really looking forward to seeing more of the dynamic between the characters that are already present in the lab and adding her changes the odds there. If they’d waited another fur minutes with her I’d have been good, but this feels too early and is setting my hackles up that they’re going to throw a load of Gwevin into what was shaping up to be a full marks episode so far

1) Yes Gwen, wtf are they doing, 2) I see everyone but Kevin and Ben so wtf is going on there?

Well, she seems to be leaving to regroup with the adults, so there’s hope there

“Watch wearers“ I’m gonna throw that man off something tall

Ooo, Ben’s been promoted to ‘Loser-son’ and also might be losing his nerve? Either that or the just ran out of ways to shoot back at Kevin verbally.

Rush and XLR8

Boys both going at 456 mph through a fucking tube

‘You boys are gonna have to hit 888 miles an hour’ Vin, have you considered fucking right the hell off? Has the FN? I’m with the boys that’s fucking insane

They pass each other in the tube and Kevin finds the energy to still joke on Ben, because some things just matter

SImon and Billy get distracted from doing their jobs by Simon drawing a picture of them and Ben in which Billy is taller than Ben. Billy is pleased. Simon is precious.

Ya kniw what I need? I need a fic where this time/space portal opens up and UAF/OV Kevin tumbles out, judges the shoddy construction, and then fucking handles this mess. I don’t know what FN wants, but I’m fairly certain a bigger, meaner, stronger, more violent Kevin is not it. And so it would please me.

When there is enough speed and lasers going around to cause earthquakes

Gwen has successfully let the rest of her team into the Weaverbird Nest

Gwen that is not a shortcut that is a vent. A vertical vent.

Charmcaster magicking up a portal, for extra specialness

So she stabilized the rift and also made FN a fuckign space/time cuff.

Simon got to her, she’s in a party hat

This child really needs to stop talking like she’s the fairy that blesses/curses the king in a 90s fantasy film

“I will only require on of you to accompany me into the rift. It’s your time, Ben.“ Fucking welp.

Everyone except Ben, Kevin, and the FN has a party hat

Kevin, baby, this is not safe or fun let somebody else go do not let your well-battered pride and your issues get your hurt or worse

“I’m sick of him getting everything when I’m obviously better!” My son. My dearest son. My precious child.

“Are you questioning me?“ Said in the most intimidating voice FN can manage and all I can think is, dude, how long have you been working with this child? Did you not actually meet him in all that time? Was he dealing with a body double. Did you think opening a rift in space and time would somehow change the fundamental aspects of his being that resonate throughout every Kevin that has ever been?

“The grease child is right!“ Okay, it’s official, somebody needs to find Kevin a shower and some soap

Kevin and Billy all for kicking Ben’s ass

And then Charm joins in the fun, because why not

“All this pettiness proves that Ben is worth more than all of you combined“ I’m gonna kill ‘im.

Charmcaster just looks defeated at that line. Like, honest to fuck, stick a fork in her, she’s done.

Kevin, on the other hand, doesn’t, not even a bit. He is straight up trembling with his anger. Or hurt? Both most likely, though I think the anger is in the lead.

Billy, meanwhile, looks shocked and angry at being called out like this.

And Simon looks just straight shocked.

And no response shown from Vin.

Ben, no, this is a very bad idea.

And we cut to the old folk and Gwen.

Welp, looks like everyone is all together

The ‘good’ news is half the children really wanna hit something right now. Especially Kevin.

‘Take out the Tennysons to prove your worth’ Welp

And there our hero goes with our Big Bad

I think we’ve hit part II and it only took like 3.5 hours. I’m gonna be a while longer I think.

Ancient Egyptians telling ancient Egyptian bad jokes

Gotta give the show one thing- at least it’s Egyptians are black

Also too drunk to be impressed by two weirdos stepping out a glowing purple portal. I can’t even roll my eyes because somebody needed to laugh at the FN

Ben: Unimpressed by FN’s taste in vacation spots

FN is using Ben to track alien attempts to contact Earth. The first of which was here, apparently.

Also this adds a whole new level of jackass to his behavior towards the other kids, given he could’ve very easily and truthfully pointed out that he needs a feature on the Omnitrix that Kevin’s watch presumably doesn’t have, but instead used the whole thing as an opportunity to tear the other kids down further. tl;dr: I cannot wait to see him become reboot!Kev’s first kill

We want to prevent the alien contact. Why? Who the fuck knows. Who the fuck cares. I want to stop him just out of spite.

And so we learn that he wants to get rid of all Omnitrixs so that he can take over Earth. Wonder how that would play out with regards to Kevin’s watch though. Because his didn’t come from space, to my knowledge we don’t know where it came from. Fuck, it could be contact from another dimension that lead to it (I mean, you saw OG!Kevin, whose to say Reboot!Kevin doesn’t also have some serious weirdness going on there that, combined with the fact his house has two radio towers in the backyard, that could lead to him getting messages from other dimensions like that). tl;dr: If FN succeeded, would that just lead to him having to worry about a Kevin he can’t use Ben against, rather than Ben himself?

‘Forever Nut’ that’s a good one, nice job Ben!

‘Forever Losers’ Ben’s on a roll

Ben out to kick this man’s ass

“I’m too powerful“ I really wanna drop OG!Kevin on this dude, I really do. Or fuck, can you picture him vs Kevin 11k? He’d be drawn and quartered, possibly eaten, within a minute and a half.

Well, there goes the Sphinx

Timed out and still raring to go

FN comes all the way out to ancient Egypt to stop aliens making contact, turns out they didn’t even do it

Kidnapping the child

Back to the present day, in the lab, with the fighting about to begin

Charmcaster and Kevin v Gwen. Charmcaster is already smug. Kevin, meanwhile, is offering her the chance to back down and not get hurt. Which, for Kevin, is pretty nice.

Billy and Simon v Phil. Is certainly a thing, but nothing interesting

Vin v Max. Both using the concept of ‘family’ against each other. Forklift v forklift. I wish I was surprised.

FN and Ben are in renaissance Italy now. Florence specifically.

Ben: I will stop you! FN: Kid I already kicked your ass. Ben: Well you’re gonna have to do it again!

Oh look, it’s the descendants of those two guys from ancient Egypt. It’s nice to see that their friendship has carried down through the ages.

“Serve your leader” has that worked on any of the people you nabbed? Besides maybe Vin? Because I’m fairly certain if you called yourself Kevin or Billy’s ‘leader’ to their faces they’d come at you harder than Ben is

FN, so far you have gone to two places and times, neither of which was where aliens made contact. Have you considered, quite possibly, that the problem is you?

You know Kevin is in a foul mood when he’s down to destroy Gwen.

Gwen, trying to give the ‘FN is a using pos’ realization to at least Kevin

Charmcaster interrupting her and also do you really think you of all people are the one who should be trying to bolster Kevin’s confidence? I mean, your history with him is enslavement and reading his private poetry to a crowd. You should be glad he’s not going after you.

Vin v Max, moved on to segway racing. And slapfights.

...small Phil and Max. By which I mean like, late teens. Apparently this is the third ‘alien contact’ option. Also Phil built that deathtrap as a teenager and he’s living in his parents’ old place. That is an old-ass suburbs given we don’t know how the fuck old these two are

Oh for fuck’s sake, have you considered getting a fucking hobby Forever Bitch? Take up scrapbooking or something, get into Minecraft

We’ve still got 7 minutes btw. We’re going faster in this half, but we’ve still got a third of the episode to go

Ben Shockrocking it up

Vin vs Max take 3- racing matchbox cars

Max decides to have a conversation with Vin, find out why he’s working with FN despite the latter being about as pleasant as a rabid zombie skunk in your pillow.

...1) Vin has a child. 2) That child is grown. 3) That child is a lawyer (congratulations Mr. Vin’s Kid) 4) Between said lawyer child moving on with their life and LaMoron being a dick Vin was lonely so he joined up.

“This is the closest thing to a family I have now“ One would think the fact you have a child would say otherwise, but if the fact that you seem to be totally fine with a bunch of kids being drug into this mess, including a 6-yo, says anything about your parenting then I’m not really surprised.

Max offers to let him become a Tennyson, which, if the family reunion episode is anything to go by, he may already be

Max and Vin are friends now. Phil is still being pursued by children. And Charm and Kev are still trying to take Gwen out.

“Once I finish you off, Forever Knight will easily choose me over Tennyson“ Oh Billy no... Have I mentioned I really wanna kill hat man? Painfully?

Simon is about to obliterate a man for the chance at being best friends with Billy. I would be even more concerned if he wasn’t FUCKING SIX-YEARS-OLD, VIN

Phil is going to survive via appealing to Simon’s inner and outer juice-loving six-yo

Welp. Sorry Billy.

Ooo, Gwen almost blasted Charm before Kevin deflected it, good job son!

“Kevin finish her off“ Bitch you finish her off

“Why? All we were supposed to do is keep everyone away from the portal.“ My son talking sense and also notably sticking only to orders. Out of spite, because he wants to, because the last time he tried to bend orders the FN nearly killed him? (and do any of the others know that that’s a risk I wonder, that if the FN doesn’t feel you’re doing your job ‘right’ he’ll decide to just off you)

“You’re soft“ You’re the one that wanted him to do the dirty part, Charm

Charm tries to kill Gwen and Kevin just fucking, shatters her amulet in retaliation.

Charmcaster: This is why you’ll never be Forever Knight’s right hand! Kevin: I handle things my way.

I love my child.

Kevin literally just used his last second before timing out to vine Charmcaster to the ceiling

That moment when you have a crush but hate that you have it, I recognize the look. Been there.

“Well yeah, I’m not a monster.“ On the topic of saving Gwen. My precious child

Gwen: *heading for portal to figure out what’s going on* Kevin: *heading for the portal because he’s got revenge to take*

Somebody needs to kick FN’s ass. And then eat him. Slowly. Painfully.

FN damn near killed Ben before Kevin fucking saved his life! Literally, man was gonna strike Ben down!

“I’m here for that ungrateful tin can!“ Yesss!!! My son!! Kick his ass!

Gwen is helping!

“You wanna know why I didn’t choose you? It’s because you’re just a cheap Tennyson knock-off.“ .....

.....

......

........

..........this motherfucker gotta go

Ben joins the fray!

“Cheap knock-off, huh?“ I, for one, am proud to be here for my son’s first kill

FD does not get to stop alien contact because he’s being dogpiled by a bunch of pissed-off preteens. Good.

The children got a hold of FD’s portal control. Gwen is gonna be working portals, Kevin is on ‘keep the FD from killing Ben’ duty. This was his decision. Which says a lot about how he feels about the FD

Kevin, looking for some sort’ve explanation for the fact FD is a dick and will always be a dick, because this is what abused children do

“I was the best fighter you had.“ “You were only a useless pawn.“ “I’m nobody’s pawn!“ My son

Battle in the rift

FD demands Kevin hand over the Tennysons “and make yourself for once“. Gwen is concerned he may do it when I believe anyone who can read facial expressions and/or a room knows who he’s growling at

“Kevin, think about this, you’re not a bad guy!“ “See, that’s where you’re wrong“ At which point Kevin lets go of the Tennysons and fucking dives at Forever Dipshit

Kevin sacrifices himself to take out FD and what’s Ben’s reaction? “Kevin, no! I’m the cool one!“

These fucking children.

“And Kevin steals the spotlight again“ “You really wanna be trapped in the past?“ “Alright, I’ll let him have this one“

Glad to see Ben recalling the tale. Glad to see he’s still grounded. Gwen is Good. Fuck off Vin.

1) the portal is still open 2) FD’s helmet came through it. Whether that’s because Kevin threw it through it as he beat the living hell out of him remains to be seen

And season 3 is over.

11/11, because my son fucking deserves it no matter what else goes on

[prorevenge]

Sexually harass me and think you're getting away with it? Find out that I get by with a little help from my friends.

First post, and a REALLY long one, I’m so sorry. Obviously on a throwaway.

This was awhile ago, way before the Me Too movement, before stuff like this was taken seriously. Additionally I feel a need to re-iterate that this was not revenge wrought solely by myself, but also by some of the fantastic guys I worked with, and the brave women who also stepped forward. They deserve credit as well.

TL;DR at the bottom.

---

I was working and going to college in a high-tourism area in one of the lower states, getting my Bachelor’s in Hospitality. I loved the company I worked for, and my university was practically partnered with them, so initially my life wasn’t super hectic. Go to class, go to work, and go home. At some point though, the branch of the company I was working for started to cut hours, a lot. As a part-timer, this meant I was among the first to have their hours chopped. Around this time, I was also told that I needed a third internship for my degree, and it couldn’t be in the same place I had been in. (They had already counted that position as internship #2) Because of this, and helped by the fact that I was barely getting by with my reduced paychecks, I went to the career center to ask about jobs in the area, and they recommended me to a nearby golf course that needed employees.

Relevant Info: To explain the backstory on the management of this golf course: it was run by a third party management company, operating under the umbrella of a massive hospitality company. This is not unusual for golf courses, the golf industry was/is hurting and frankly this is the only way for most of them to break even. While I was technically working directly for this third party, I was also listed as a “contractor” for the large umbrella company.

My upper boss, the director, was okay, if not a little oblivious. The assistant director under him was a jerk, and the string of supervisors under him were hit or miss. When I started, I was the only woman on the operations side of the team. You had several groups: The pro shop guys (also supervisors), the beverage/snack girls that ran the snack stand and the carts that buzzed around the course, the course starters (usually older, retirement age, been with the company a long time), and the ground operations group (where I was). Most of the ops guys were wary of me at first, but after they saw that I was willing to do as much of the manual labor as they did, they accepted me. I didn’t love my job, but it was a paycheck and it counted for my degree. It was a lot of manual labor: lifting clubs, baskets of practice balls, running from one spot to another, shifting golf carts around throughout the day, driving big course equipment, and lots of guest interaction. Everything was okay, and I was learning a lot, until one of the older ops guys (let’s call him Bob) got promoted to supervisor.

Bob had been stellar as an operations guy, but around the time he got this promotion, his wife also filed for divorce. His home life took a steep nose dive, and unfortunately it carried over to his work ethic. We all felt bad for him, and initially tried to help as much as we could. As time went on though, Bob went from being sad and depressed, to being an outright asshole. He was in his mid-40’s and started crashing gatherings with all of us 20-somethings. This wouldn’t have been an issue, except he started aggressively trying to pick up girls wherever we went. He became the textbook case of the sleazy guy that would get roaring drunk, and complain “She didn’t respond to my creepy flirtations, so she must be a b*tch”. I stopped going to these group outings for this reason, along with several others. His behavior was making a lot of us uncomfortable.

Eventually, his creepy behavior rolled over to work. He would be AWOL for hours, out chasing down the cart girls. When he wasn’t doing that, he was sitting in the club storage area regaling the younger ops guys with his stories of “conquests”. I tried to stay away as much as possible, but there were several shifts where I was assigned to deep clean the rental clubs, or re-stock equipment, and then I couldn’t get away. I won’t go into detail on some of what he did, but it was bad. Major sexual harassment. Some of the lighter instances were suggestive comments about my appearance, or “let me show you what you can do to your boyfriend” –with matching hand gestures. I felt I couldn’t quit because I only had a few months or so left of my time with the job before I graduated, and I needed that internship credit. Going to the director and the guy under him went nowhere, his answer was to pull Bob from the course to “apologize” to me, and then “…go on and give her a hug! See? Everything is fine now!” I felt totally powerless, but got some sage advice from my dad to start documenting EVERYTHING. Dates, times, location, witnesses, and what Bob was doing.

After seeing how the director treated his infractions, Bob started getting bolder and less careful. These harassment events were beginning happen in full view of several of the other guys. One afternoon, two of the starters that I had become close with happened to walk into club storage right as Bob made one of his sexually-charged remarks. Bob seemed not to notice them, but I saw both of their eyebrows shoot up. One of the guys started to get visibly angry and had to be quietly pulled out of the room by the other. I made a lame excuse to leave the room right after this, ducking Bob’s grab, and ran outside. The two starters were standing not far away, speaking in low, angry tones. As soon as they saw me, they waved me over, far out of earshot of the other employees and Bob. They asked for an explanation, and I told them everything that had been happening, including how the director had treated me when I went in to complain. They were incensed. Immediately, they physically walked me back into the director’s office, and shut the door behind them. Keeping me between them, they told the director what they had witnessed, what they had heard, and if he didn’t handle it the way he was supposed to, by company policy, they would go over his head and report it to the umbrella company themselves. The director was startled, but calmly told them that one witnessed incident was hardly reason to go to “corporate”, and that this issue had already been “handled”. This was when I finally chimed in, re-iterating that the sexual harassment had only gotten worse, that I had a 4 page word document at home with countless time stamps and witnesses, along with the record of how he previously “handled” my complaint. A document that I would not hesitate to email to whoever needed proof, per the starters’ advice. We saw the blood physically drain from his face, and he asked us to step out so he could make a phone call. I ended up finishing the rest of my shift with the starters, then went home.

When I showed up the next afternoon, the jerk under the director came out and asked that I run back home to get a copy of my reporting’s. He also said that we had to sit in on a group call with the umbrella hospitality company in about 2 hours. During this time, they sent Bob out to monitor the course so he wouldn’t get suspicious. What I didn’t know, and found out during the meeting, is that in the span of one evening and morning, the other cart girls had somehow gotten wind of my report being taken seriously by the director. (I suspect the starters mentioned it to them)They came in, nearly the entire female snack staff, to pile on their own harassment claims. It was no longer one minor female “peon” reporting him, it was now a massive group. The director knew they had a problem. The umbrella company requested that I read my entire record during the call, and when I got to the bit about the “hug and apology” that the director had requested, he looked like he wanted to become one with the carpet in his office. When the call ended, the voices in the phone requested to speak with the director alone, and the rest of us (me, assistant director, starters, and the third party company rep that had been asked to come in) filed out of the room. After about 10 minutes, we were called back in. The director was silent and pale, and the voice in the phone promised me that I wouldn’t be bothered anymore by Bob, and to contact them directly if I had any further problems.

They sent me out to the other side of the course, to keep me away, while they then called Bob in to the office. I didn’t witness what happened, but I was told later that Bob came storming out of the office after about 10 minutes, kicking golf carts and throwing things as he left. Yelling out to the other ops guys in the vicinity that “all women are b*tches!” as he went to his car. Not only had been fired, but he was further statused as a no-rehire, and BANNED, with/from ALL the courses (run by both the umbrella company and the third party, who owned/operated a sizeable list of properties) in the area. The director eventually was transferred out to a smaller course, and the jerk under him was moved as well. We got a much better management team in to replace them, and I was able to finish my time with the company with no further issues. I am happy to say that I still keep in touch with the starters and other guys to this very day.

TL;DR I was continuously sexually harassed by my supervisor, but was finally able to get justice with the help of my coworkers, and he lost his job while also being blacklisted from all courses in the area.

(source) (story by Iwritenovels1234)

[catsafarithewriter]

“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m ninety percent sure you grabbed the wrong person." 

A/N: I immediately thought of this post with this concept a la haunted house attraction, ironically before we started discussing Disney’s Haunted Mansion on Discord. Anyway, human AU (for reasons that will be clear), enjoy!

x

This was the last time Haru would let Hiromi talk her into something. 

“It’d be fun,” she’d said.

“Different,” she’d promised.

“Exciting,” she’d wheedled. 

So far, the only point Hiromi had been right on was different. If she had included dark and cold, she would have had three for three. 

In her designated nook of the haunted house attraction, Haru lurked. She was rather good at lurking, she reckoned, and would be capable of lurking for a good few hours longer. Which was just as well, since that was what this summer job was paying her to do. 

She resisted the urge to scratch her nose. The face paint itched something awful and hadn’t lessened, despite what her supervisor had assured. A monochromatic design of black and white had sunk her face into skeleton outline; simplistic but effective in the gloom of the corridors. At least she hadn’t had to apply the fake sores and open wounds that Hiromi - albeit rather gleefully - had needed to administer.

The shuffling of feet and shushed voices announced the arrival of her next victims. She hunkered down into her shadow an watched as the guests - a young couple with the guy making a show of going first - rounded the corner, waiting until they were just passing before giving a pointed cough. 

The lights flickered, momentarily illuminating her face and its otherworldly makeup, and there was a scream as the guests fled onto the next corridor, dissolving into giggles as they vanished. 

Haru couldn’t help herself she grinned as she returned to lurking. Okay, maybe Hiromi hadn’t been entirely wrong. It had its fun moments. 

x

This was the last time Baron would let Louise talk him into something. 

In hindsight, admittedly, the haunted house attraction would probably have been a little more enjoyable if he hadn’t taken it upon himself to stand between Muta and Toto in their group lineup. If anything, it had forced the two to shout louder at each other. 

“And I’m telling yer we’re going the wrong way!” Muta snapped. 

“It’s a haunted house. There is no wrong way,” Toto retorted. 

“If we keep going this way, we’ll jus’ end up at the beginning.”

“Do you have fluff for brains? Obviously the entrance is that way.”

“Children, children,” Persephone chided from the front. “Right now the scariest thing is how loud you two can bicker. Shut up and let the ghosts do their job.”

Louise tilted her head back to shoot them a glare. “Also we’re leading and we’re going this way.” 

Baron decided against mentioning that he had already seen one designated scarer, but they’d raised an eyebrow at the raised voices and had evidently agreed with Persephone’s assessment. 

They turned a corner and the corridor dropped into deeper darkness. Their pace slowed, senses heightening in the absence of sight. Suddenly he was aware of his hands curled around Muta and Toto’s, the shallow breaths of his companions, the shuffle of feet, the tap on his shoulder–

He froze. Muta walked into him. Toto was pulled to a halt. 

“What’s the holdup?” Muta hissed. 

“Something tapped my shoulder,” Baron whispered. 

The lights flickered into momentary blaze, but all he could see were his friends and the crossroads in the house ahead. His sister gave a tug and issued them slowly along. 

“At least it was polite ghost,” Toto offered. “It could be worse; it could have actually tried to scare us–”

The lights flickered again and everything happened at once. A shape leapt from the darkness, a blur of movement, the face of death, the roar of something animalistic and feral, and Baron lost both hands of his companions. In the passing light, he saw the others scatter down the split corridors like something out of a Scooby Doo skit and he grabbed Muta’s hand and hauled the tailend of their team after the vanishing shadow of Toto. 

He slammed into a dead end. Okay, maybe it hadn’t been Toto. He leant against the wall, still holding Muta’s hand on instinct, breathing hard and feeling a little foolish, when he realised a few discrepancies about the hand he held. 

For starters, it was significantly smaller, palm fitting comfortable in his instead of dwarfing it, the fingers slimmer and less comparable to sausages than usual. 

It was also wearing a skeleton glove. 

He looked at the hand. And then slowly up to its owner. A skull stared back. It grinned, because skulls are always grinning, but he was fairly certain, even in the dim light, that he could see the corner of the scarer’s real mouth twist into a smile. There was the shadow of a dimple along their left cheek. 

It occurred to him that if he could see the dimple of their smile, he was probably too close for comfort. He tried to step back and immediately hit his head on a low beam. “Uh,” he managed eloquently. “Hello.”

“Hello,” the skeleton replied, the voice higher than expected and now he could definitely hear the smile. “Not to be the bearer of bad news,” she said, “but I’m ninety percent sure you grabbed the wrong person.” 

x

Haru felt a little bit bad for her overreaction. 

Not a lot. But a little. 

She had been planning to only tap a few shoulders, cough a few times, maybe lurk in the light - but at the dismissive ‘actually trying to scare us’ comment, she’d - without any real conscious thought - decided to up it a notch. Or several. She hadn’t imagined it would go down so well. 

Or that, in the confusion, one of the guests would grab her hand instead of their friend’s. She stared at him in the confines of the dead end, feeling rather confidence with the mask of her face paint. 

“Not to be the bearer of bad news, but I’m ninety percent sure you grabbed the wrong person.”

He grinned nervously. “Only ninety? What about the other ten?”

“I don’t know. You might have a thing for cute skeletons.”

“I might, but I don’t.” 

A beat passed. They were still standing intimately close. 

“So,” he said, “what do we do now? Is there a precept for this sort of thing?”

“Well first,” she answered, “you let go of my hand.”

“Ah.” He released his hold, running his freed hand sheepishly through his hair. “Sorry. I… don’t suppose you could get me back to my group, could you?”

“Do ghosts go boo?” She cringed almost immediately after saying that. “Sorry, I’ve been here too long. Yeah, uh, please hold.” She stepped back, hitching a walkie talkie from the depths of her costume. “Machida? Machida, you there?” She held it away from her ear as a cacophony of laughter crackled through the speaker. “Machida, stop laughing!”

“I’m sorry,” her coworker replied. “I’m so sorry, but you should have seen your faces!”

“Trust that to have been caught on camera,” she muttered. Louder, she added, “Machida, I’m looking for this guy’s group. Can you tell me where they are?”

“Sure, give me a moment.” There was the clack of keys as he cycled through the cameras. “Two guys, two ladies, the guys have been bickering for the past ten minutes?”

“That’s them,” Baron said with a sigh.

“Got them. Okay, they’re in Room F, the zombie cage.”

“Fantastic. Have Hiromi keep them occupied, I’ll drop him off there.” She flicked the speaker back into her pocket and turned to her accidental companion. “We could go the long way, but I have a shortcut. How do you feel about tight spaces?”

“Depends on the context.”

“In a totally non-murdery-way.”

“Oh. I’m good then.”

“Great.” She grabbed his hand before she could think twice, and pulled the hidden staff door open. “Follow me.”

x

Sickly green safety lights lay low along the staff back corridors, bathing the narrow walkways in a glow that made Baron think of preserved museum specimens. The scarer wove her way though with practised ease, as if she wasn’t surrounded by a Frankenstein-background reject, hand still curled surely around his. 

“You can’t scare easily if you work here,” he said, searching for something to break the silence and detract from the creepy environment. 

She gave a snort. “I’m not actually a huge fan of horror movies. I didn’t sleep for a week after watching The Signalman.”

He watched her outline silhouetted by the safety strips. Like that, it was easier to see the curve of her face and bypass the skeleton decal. “They why do this?” he asked. 

She shrugged. “It pays. It’s different. And my friend kind of talked me into this.” She glanced back. He focused on her eyes and not the skull design. He wondered what she looked like without it. “How about you? Are you a fan?”

He chuckled. “It’s not my preferred genre. My sister dragged us all along, but I’m fairly certain she just wanted an excuse to hold her girlfriend.”

The scarer laughed. “Does she need an excuse?”

“No, but she’s an opportunist. She’ll take any opening.”

“And so she dragged the rest of you along.”

“She has a penchant for that.”

“Apparently it’s a family trait,” she said, and Baron reddened at the reminder of what had got him into this mess to begin with. 

“Miss, I am sorry for–”

She waved it away. “Honestly, no worries. It’s the funniest thing to happen to me all day. And it’s Miss Skeleton to you. Ah, here we are.” She clicked to a halt by what appeared to be another section of wall until she slid it back to reveal a haunted house room beyond. “Your group should be just round that corner.”

His feet didn’t move. They should have, but they didn’t. “Miss Skeleton,” he said with a small smile at the amendment, “regardless of your good humour, I still feel somewhat responsible for this situation.” He considered. “Ninety percent responsible.”

He saw the grin now for sure, even hidden beneath the layer of makeup. “And the other ten?”

“Well,” he said, “you are the one still holding my hand this time.”

She released him with a sheepish aura. “Just making sure you get back safely. Didn’t want you accidentally befriending another monster while you’re here.”

The open door waited for him, but he still didn’t move. “May I know the name of the monster I’ve already befriended?”

“Was Miss Skeleton not good enough for you?” she teased, and she gave him a gentle push out into the room. But before the door slid shut, she hesitated. “But my friends call me Haru.”

“Humbert,” he replied. “But my friends call me Baron.”

She grinned. “I’ll see you around, Baron.”

[recentanimenews]

Bookshelf Briefs 7/3/19

Candy Color Paradox, Vol. 2 | By Isaku Natsume | SuBLime – I liked this volume of Candy Color Paradox more than I expected to, which was a pleasant surprise. When Kaburagi’s sister, whom he hasn’t seen in eight years, turns up, it at first seems like Onoe is going to go along with her suggestions to take Kaburagi down a peg, but he resists and attempts to reconcile the siblings instead. Next, to keep Kaburagi from having to do one of the deceitful assignments he occasionally undertakes to get a big scoop, Onoe does it instead, leading Kaburagi to treat him coldly for a while—since the major reason he likes Onoe is that he is largely incapable of deception—until they finally talk it out. In her author’s notes, Natsume-sensei says this was originally intended to be the final volume, and it certainly feels that way. I’m not sure we need more, but I reckon I’m intrigued enough to continue. – Michelle Smith

Dead Mount Death Play, Vol. 2 | By Ryohgo Narita and Shinta Fujimoto | Yen Press – Given this is from the author of Baccano! and Durarara!!, a certain amount of crazy antics are expected, but it really boggles the mind how bonkers this series gets, particularly its strange obsession with sharks. We also get introduced to a possessed mechanical pencil, but the bulk of the volume is spent realizing that Polka’s family is still around and has its own issues, and that the Corpse God needs to deal with those if he’s going to continue to use said body as he sees fit. This includes saving the lives of two supposedly creepy but actually really sweet twins—twins appear in Narita’s works a lot. There’s some nasty gore here, as you’d also expect, but I really am liking this title more now. – Sean Gaffney

Magi: The Labyrinth of Magic, Vol. 36 | By Shinobu Ohtaka | Viz Media – I sense the author may be feeling a little bad about all the times that she’s made Alibaba the laughingstock of the manga, given how much he’s praised in this volume. We continue to truck along with the final confrontation, as Sinbad agrees to Alibaba’s suggestion… but David is not taking this lying down, leading to a very funny “no, it is I who am controlling you!” war. That said, it’s a little hard to save the world when everyone in the world wants to die and thinks you’re traitors, which is the situation we end up with in the second half. I admit I am rather annoyed that Morgiana is not participating in this final battle, and given that the next volume is the last I don’t see that changing. Will still get it to see how this overall very good series ends. – Sean Gaffney

Missions of Love, Vol. 17 | By Ema Toyama | Kodansha Comics – I’ll be honest, this is starting to feel pretty dragged out. Yukina having to reveal to Shigure that she writes cell phone novels and has been using her life (and his) as material is obviously the big climax, but we aren’t there yet, so instead we see Hisame back in jerk mode, as he tries to redo all the earlier scenes Yukina had with Shigure and “rewrite” those memories with ones featuring him. If nothing else, this shows off his own immaturity. As for Akira and Mami, they get a cliffhanger… I assume. We get a cliffhanger moment, but it’s only two-thirds through the book, and we cut back to Yukina for the rest. Is Akira dying? Confessing? Moving? In any case, perhaps because it comes out slower now, I am more weary of this potboiler. – Sean Gaffney

Monster and the Beast, Vol. 1 | By Renji | Yen Press – The genesis of Monster and the Beast is the result of Renji looking for a fantasy BL manga about a middle-aged man and a non-human, not finding any, and so deciding to simply create one. Cavo is the titular monster, a large and powerful but sensitive and kind-hearted demon who leads a lonely, isolated life since everyone is afraid of him. (Cavo is an absolute dear.) The beast in the title refers to Liam, a sexually insatiable man who doesn’t seem to have a fearful bone in his body and who delightedly hits on anyone and everyone regardless of gender or apparently even species. This tends to get him both out of and into a significant amount of trouble. Various circumstances bring the two together, Cavo acting as Liam’s protector and guide as he flees his pursuers. I’m curious to see how the drama and their so far chaste relationship develop. – Ash Brown

Monster and the Beast, Vol. 1 | By Renji | Yen Press – Theoretically this is the latest in a mini-manga genre we’ve seen of monsters and humans falling in love despite obvious differences. In reality, it turns out to be the latest in a different but equally popular genre, the uke being dragged around by the ridiculously charismatic seme. The uke in this case is the monster, who rescues Liam, a mature gentleman who looks like he stepped out of Ristorante Paradiso, and finds that Liam was in fact, trying to have a good time in the woods with the other men, but it was going badly. The reason to read the book is Liam, who is bisexual and loves to show it off, and the monster’s mind-blown reactions to him – as well as a bit of tortured desire. Not sure how this will play as an extended series, but I liked it. – Sean Gaffney

Tomo-chan Is a Girl!, Vol. 4 | By Fumita Yanagida | Seven Seas – There’s a lot of backstory in this book, as we find out how Tomo, Jun and Misuzu all met as kids, how Jun could easily mistake Tomo for a boy, and the bond that forms between them. Back in the present day, though, things are still in stasis, but that may change after a trip to the beach, which involves Tomo actually wearing a bikini top and doing things like licking ice cream off her shoulder, which gets Jun to realize that hey, maybe his tomboy friend who can kick his ass really IS a girl. The other reasons to read this series are Carol and Misuzu, who may have risen to become my favorite supporting characters in a manga. They bounce off each other so well. This is fantastic 4-koma. – Sean Gaffney

Whenever Our Eyes Meet…: A Women’s Love Anthology | By Various Artists | Yen Press – Typically, the characters in this women’s love anthology are professionals, like office workers, café owners, postal clerks, etc. Most of the stories are about the start of a relationship, be it through reuniting with a former coworker in a taxi cab or having a one-night stand turn up in the office the next morning or what have you. It’s pretty cute, but the problem is that the stories are far too short to get any real sense of the characters or for the formation of couples to mean much of anything. My favorite story involved the café owner and an artist, since they had unknowingly mutually inspired each other by being passionate about their work, and my least was the two-page (!) story about a married mother who cheats with a female part-timer. All in all, this just isn’t a keeper for me. – Michelle Smith

By: Ash Brown

[cancerbiophd]

hey Julia, so I have an odd problem. idk if you would know what to do but maybe at least have a grad student professor. my friend and I have been in the lab for 3 years (since we were 18) were seniors now. Our lab manager has been someone were very close to over time and helps everyone with their problems including us. So, he's always been flirty w my friend and she always thought it was kind of funny but nothing more. He's 36 now so he was 33 when we were 18.

she recently went through a break and being 22 years old and heart broken she slept with him. He has clearly been attracted to her this whole time and she made it very clear from the start she did not want something serious from him ever. And uh things have been kind of ridiculous since then. He hasn’t showed up to the lab for 3 days (hes lab manager) and missed out on field work (wasting our time and costing the lab ~2000$) and he refuses to accept my friend doesn’t want to be with him

hes gotten really creepy about it, to the point where he calls her while he’s drunk and belligerent telling her he’s in love with and overall being really weird. Now, everyone loves this guy so she is really worried of he decides to out their situation her reputation is completely shot in the lab. Our lab is mainly women and very socially aware women, so idk if you were a grad student and heard of one of the undergrads in ur lab in this situation whay would u think?

my friend was a consenting party but she really really didn’t think he would take it so seriously or react this way. She’s getting a bit worried he might actually have some sort of emotional issue and be kind of unbalanced, but he’s worked at the lab 10 years and I really wouldn’t even know how that situation would go down for my friend if it was exposed. But just knowing what an grad student might think would be helpful since she doesn’t want to tell any of the ones in our lab

so please let me know any kind of advice or comments idk ur really helpful to talk to so really anything would be good. sorry this is so long, but I’m kind of worried about the situation too cause this is really unlike my lab manager, I would never have imagined he would get like this either. Thanks for the ear if anything ❤

hey there!

yikes, i’m sorry your friend has to go through this :\ if i was a grad student in your lab and i heard about this, i would totally be on your friend’s side of things. honestly the lab manager seems like he needs to grow up and understand boundaries and realize that flings with consenting coworkers are a-ok, but they should never ever get in the way of professionalism at work. if he’s being a butt-hurt baby about it and wants to sabotage his own work ethic, then that’s his undoing. he’s a damn adult, and should act like one. also women must stop suffering at the hands of men who don’t understand boundaries and feel entitled to everything -> a sentiment i would think the other women in your lab would understand. 

if things really do get serious, your friend can always go to HR. they’re pros (literally) at solving these kinds of issues, sometimes even doing so discreetly. i would also advise your friend to write down everything the lab manager says and does that make her uncomfortable, and then sign and date it (like a lab notebook). that’s the type of documentation that stands in court should things get really serious. (i learned this because a coworker of my husband’s was being harassed, so this was the advice everyone was telling him. thankfully the person doing the harassing has stopped). 

also, tell your friend to be safe. men who don’t get their way with women have done violent things :\ and if he already shows signs of being belligerent, it may be only a step away from acting it out. if she’s in lab late with him, make sure she has a way to check in with you or another trusted friend at regular intervals, doesn’t walk around campus alone at night, etc. 

i hope things get better soon. if anything, you two are almost done with the lab right? after you graduate in a few months? freedom incoming!