#playing med well is hard enough as is normal girl. there was a comment down below saying that the spy should have sappers for each class

[get-more-bald]

every day I thank god fans aren't in charge of making updates to games

[beatrixstonehill2]

"Just a photo of me with my lovely new girlfriend, Nikki! We met on Tinder and she was soooo eager to date a trans girl like me! I asked her if she loved girls with huge boobs like me and she asked if I'm trans. I was surprised she could tell and said that I was. She told me it was obvious I was born a boy, that I didn't pass very well. But she really wanted to hook up still, saying she loved how boys who transition into girls like me wind up with such big boobs that they're kind of a give away. Because cis girls would get a reduction and hate being so busty, but trans girls keep them and let them grow to bovine proportions. Since we have boy libidos and get turned on by monster tits and other perverted stuff. But she said she's a bit of a pervert, too.

I told her I was flattered but I'm not especially kinky. She promised me if we got together she'd make me kinkier than I ever could've dreamed. Sooooo I just had to say yes. We've been together three months, but I'm still not sure what she meant exactly..... We have sex and she encourages me to use my cock, although she tops, she likes me to stroke my cock and edge for her. She likes to tell me when I can or can't cum, which is pretty fun, although a bit frustrating since I swear I've been getting hornier since I met her! And my cock has actually grown, weirdly enough! That happen to any other trans girls at nineteen? I haven't missed any of my meds. But I've gone from four inches fully erect to almost ten! It's embarrassing having a big dick but at least Nikki seems to like it, joking how it just proves I'm really a boy deep down. It's weird but my heart flutters when she calls me a boy, especially in public. It actually makes my cock hard..... Oh, and suddenly my stubble and beard are coming in! Is that normal? I've been on blockers since ten and hormones at twelve. Should I see my doctor or do you girls think I should just let it come in? I'm OK at covering it with makeup but I feel like it's coming in really fast. Oh well, hope you all have a lovely day! ❤️"

"Fuck..... It's been two years since my last post because, well, as everyone was commenting, yes Nikki was a TERF, and yes.... she was sneaking me testosterone. You all called it and I totally ignored it. Now I'm seeing what she meant by kinky.... It was one thing to control when I cum, but now my life revolves around Nikki's fetishes. It started with her detransitioning me, training me to edge and not cum unless she allowed it. Soon my voice dropped, my body hair and beard grew thick. I couldn't hide that I was a guy at all. And fuck it made me so damn hard! I feel disgusting, thinking of how I threw my beautiful body away for Nikki. But my cock is so big now! It aches to be stroked and played with all day, but instead every time I get an erection I have to eat or chug weight gain shakes until Nikki gets home and lets me cum.

Nikki apparently loves extremely fat men and loves turning beautiful trans girls into fat men even more. I'm definitely not the first or last trans girl she's done this to. I even had to watch as she made me get my boobs chopped off. Reduced to a flat, boy's chest, as I was only numbed, kept awake as the surgeon destroyed my perfect breasts. Nikki was in the corner, controlling a set of vibrating toys, one in my ass, the other inserted into my fat cock. I was still thin and pretty that day, and it's one of the few videos Nikki actually lets me jerk off to when I'm allowed to cum. That, and videos of other trans girls she's dated enduring the same thing. Always still slim and beautiful, breasts at least a HH-Cup or bigger. Stubble starting to show on their faces, voices just beginning to crack as they're forced to watch a surgeon dismantle and ruin their beautiful, estrogen-fattened breasts.

Now my whole life is sitting home eating. Sometimes Nikki goes days without coming home and letting me cum, since she has so many other former trans girls to keep fed and growing, making sure none of us are breaking our rules, being naughty, and gooning on our own. Although, as a boy the temptation to edge and stroke and goon all day is always at the forefront of my brain. Eating is the only thing that quiets my urges..... temporarily. So I eat more and more, gorging myself, becoming a hairy tub of lard for Nikki, knowing I'll never, ever pass as a girl again. Not that I was ever very convincing.... I can't wait to get as fat as possible to show Nikki what a devoted, pathetic hog I've become! Although it is fun to watch her get mad when I can't help myself and I jerk off for hours on end to girls getting forcibly detransitioned....."

[liveyourlastbreath]

Neil Josten’s adventures in Exy as an (unwilling) Amputee (PT4)

Welcome to book two things are only getting worse from here. Also sorry about this taking so long, I'm not gonna pull an a03 level excuse, this series is just hard to write as I have to write it as I read the book and ya girl has bad adhd

Sunday morning, Neil wakes up to pain shooting up his missing leg. A strange sensation of throbbing and burning racing around in bones that had long since rotten down to dust

Seth’s death is a blissful distraction, something Neil clings onto to push the pain down

Wymack tries to get the team together that afternoon, which ends in a flat out brawl between Matt and Andrew

Neil knows better than to stand against Andrew, but when the blonde's knives are out and aimed at Matt's eyes he steps in, hands out to the both of them but not touching

"Neil, Neil, Neil," Andrew grind. "Surely you're not this dumb?" It hurt to stand but the idea of loosing Matt at the start of the season was enough to keep him steady.

"Andrew." He wasn't ordering him around, threatening him, Neil was simply asking him to stop. And Andrew listened.

By Wednesday the pains had subsided and he was able to deal with the upperclassmens confused glances with a clear mind

"Last I checked Andrew doesn't like you.""He doesnt." And Nicky butts in, "we needed someone to match Kevin don't worry about it" and then gets told off by coach

Pratice starts happening and then when Wymack gets the phone call the conversation is as follows: "Andrew Joseph Minyard, what the flying fuck have you done this time?" "It wasn't me it was the one legged striker!"

Blatent Harrasment, actually just bullying

Life goes on as normal, honestly the beginning of the Raven King is a bunch of exposition we already know

Allison shows up for the game Friday, the line gets switched up, and Neil highly doubts it’s gonna end well. Especially with Andrew going a full game without his meds.

Also in case you’re wondering, Neil brings both legs to his games. He always has his black slip on so changing the bottom half of his gear out is pretty easy. If he ever has to change the slip, he’ll do that in the stall. He doesn’t ever play on his day leg, the blade runner is a lot more comfortable and is better to run with on the court.

When Neil asks Kevin for advice against the Terrapins, Kevin’s response is. “I want you dead on your foot by the time the buzzer rings.” Just little changes like that happen a lot because everyone in this story is in fact a dickwipe

Herrera, Neil’s mark for that game, keeps making comments about him and his leg. At one point Herrera “accidently” slams his racket into Neil’s leg and it sends vibrations all the way up his stump. Then Neil is given permission to destroy him and does just that.

Ya know that cool move he does and nearly gets killed in the process? Yeah imagine that, but he slips his blade runner in there at just the right angle to send Herrera flying into the wall. He doesn’t get carded. Instead lights the goal up red and a triumphant smile breaks across his face.

At half time Kevin is chewing Neil out, ya know, “Injuries are not joke-“ “Oh my god really? *looks down at his leg* woah crazy, would have never guessed that one.”

Once again the story goes on, Neil feels joy for the first time, gets a phone again and flashes back to the beach party gone horribly wrong, same as the cannon series

Also can we just stop and talk about the phone scene in the locker rooms? It has to be one of my favorites, not gonna lie. It's just so them ya know? Like just the dialogue, the subtle "do we need to" before diving into their game again. AGH I love it soso much

"your parents are dead, you are not fine, and nothing is going to be okay. This is not news to you. But from now until May you are still Neil Josten and I am still the man who said he would keep you alive."

The USC game happens, and THEN DUN DUN DUNNN the Fall Banquet is here!!what!!a!!fun!!time!!

It's at moments like these Neil is thankful for his missing leg. Riko last saw him with two functioning appendages, and on top of the hair dye, contacts, and time apart, he could almost find hope in the fact Riko wouldn't recognize him

As the teams are sat across from each other, get talking, and this conversation happens:

Andrew: I'm Andrew. We haven't met yet."

Jean: For that I am grateful. The Foxes as a whole are an embarrassment to Class I Exy, but your existence is unforgivable. A goalkeeper who doesn't care if he is scored on has no right to touch a racquet. You and Josten both should stay on the sidelines like the publicity stunts you are."

Renee: That's a bit out of line, don't you think?

Raven 1: If someone like that replaced you in goal, you must be downright terrible. I can't wait to watch one of your matches. I think it will be entertaining. We would make a drinking game of it but we don't want to die of alcohol posioning.

Dan: Yeah, that'd be a shame

Renee: This is the first time our teams have met, do we have to start off so poorly?

Raven 1: Why not? You're poor at everything else you do. Even down to picking players like the cripple over there. Is it honestly fun to be so terrible?

Renee: I imagine we have more fun than you do, yes."

Jean: Fun is for children-(has a moment of crisis upon looking at renee) A this level it is supposed to be about skill, and your team is sadly lacking. From an unstable goalkeeper to a lame striker with a bum leg to a couple members with deadly drug addictions. You have no right to play with us.

Allison: Fucking excuse me?

Matt: No one wants you here, you can leave any time.

Raven 2: You took something that does not belong to you. You brought this year's humiliation on yourselves.

Dan: We didn't take anything, Kevin wants to be here.

AND THEN, Riko: Is that why the cripple is so quiet? Or did his vocal chords go missing too? He was very spirited the last time we met, or maybe that was just a show for the crowd? Hello, I am speaking to you. Are you really going to ignore me? Hey, deadweight, over here.

THE HOLY MOTHER WYMACK OF ALL LINES Riko: What a coward, just like his mother.

INDEED THE GREATEST LINE IN ALL OF WRITTEN HISTORY (WITH A BIT MORE SASS ADDED)

You know, I get it. Being raised as a superstar must be really really difficult for you. Always a commodity, never a human being, nor a single person in your family thinking you're worth a damn off the court—yeah, sounds rough. Kevin and I talk about your intricate and endless daddy issues all the time. I know it's not entirely your fault that you are mentally unbalanced and infected with these delusions of grandeur, and I know you're physically incapable of holding a decent conversation with anyone like every other normal human being can, but I don't think any of us should have to put up with this much of your bullshit. Seriously, is 'cripple' the only insult you know? Maybe next time be a bit more creative, it really shows what little vocabulary you have. Try looking it up in a dictionary maybe, hm? Find it right between the words 'jackass' and 'dickwipe'. But don't feel bad, there are a lot of people who didn't pass the bar exam and they still get somewhere in like, all be it through charity alone. Pity only gets you so many concessions, and you used yours up about six insults ago. So please, please, just shut the fuck up and leave us alone.

aND THHEN our little tin foil ball of a sass master is outed as the Butcher's Son to Kevin, Kevin's face doing all kinds of complex emotions as he examines Neil

Also I love the little things like Neil staring only at Andrew because he doesn't trust himself to look at anyone else

Neil's freaking out, ready to grab his blade runner and book it. But he doesn't really regret most of what he's said, because here's the thing

Every single person up until this point has gone out of their way to call him a 'cripple', to write him off as someone who can't do anything anymore just because he's lost his leg

Nobody, except for the Foxes, believes he's anything more than an amputee. Up until this point he has been torn to shreds because of something he had absolutely no control over. Yeah, okay, it was stupid to put himself in the limelight as someone on the run, but it had nothing to do with being an amputee.

Neil Josten may be an idiot, but going off on Riko was completely justified, something many of the foxes later agree on. And if the Foxes start snapping at anyone, reporter or another team, who singles Neil out for his leg, that's something they just don't talk about

Neil Josten is so much more than a lost leg. Anyone really is more than a lost limb or physical limitations. That's the whole point of this AU and the message I really want to get across.

To the people reading this who may be in the same situation as Neil, you are so, so much more than your physical limitation. This AU is for you, someone who may have been bullied or targeted just because you're "not like everyone else". I see you, and I believe in you.

SORRY AHEM—I just wanted to ramble there for a second because I felt like that was something that needed to be said

So YEAH, Neil doesn't regret what he said, and goes forth after dinner is done, the Foxes have a team bonding moment over protecting the two exy-holics and their blonde bodyguard

Neil gets dragged away to go get screamed at by a little baby bird

Neil: My name is Neil

Riko: Do not lie to me again. You will not enjoy the consequences. Imagine my surprise when the results came back. Your fingerprints, Kathy gave me your glass as a souvenir. All it took was a smile and a kiss. It seems she is growing up to be quite the cougar. Nathanial, explain a few things to me. One, Jean says Kevin did not know who you are. After seeing Kevin's reaction I am inclined to believe him. Perhaps I can understand, as I know how blind Kevin can be when it comes to Exy. I might even forgive him for sheltering you from me. But you must know who you are, so I am very, very curious to know what you think you are doing.

Neil: I'm just trying to get by. If I'd known our families were business partners I wouldn't have signed the contract.

Riko: You're lying

Neil: I am not. I don't want to cause any trouble for your family. I don't want you to cause any trouble for mine. I'm just here for a year and then I'm gone, I promise.

Riko: You don't want to cause any trouble for my family? You have already cost my family a sizable fortune and eight years of trouble.

Neil: How? The money I took was my father's.

Riko: If you think acting stupid will save you, you are sadly mistaken.

Neil: I'm not acting, my mother said it was my father's money. She never even told me about you. If I had known the money was your's—

Riko: Nothing your father owned was his! I refuse to believe she never told you. All that time running and you never asked why?

Neil: Have you met my father? I didn't have to ask.

Riko: You were not running from your father, Nathaniel, you were running from his master. Which brings me to my second question, what happened to your leg?

Neil: Take a wild fucking guess

Riko: (beat) You do realize why don't you?

Neil: Because he's insane?

Riko: You're an even bigger fool than I thought. Running from the master and the money he took, there could have been one thing that paid them off. You, Nathaniel, and yet he chose to take your leg. Your father cost my family a fortune and cut off any way of paying it back.

Neil's head is spinning by the time Matt shows up. He barely remembers the rest of the night, his mind too consumed by Riko's words and the implications of who his father really was.

He takes his leg off on the bus, digging his knuckles into the knotted flesh of his father's work, thinking. He had always known his father was a monster, and this just really put it into perspective.

A text shakes Neil out of his half-asleep state, hand still digging into his knee. A single text is on the screen, from Andrew.

"Shocking, just how many issues such a small body can have."

Neil glares at the back of the bus. "Could say the same thing about you." And that's the end of it

PART ONE || PART TWO || PART THREE || PART FOUR || PART FIVE COMING SOON!

[princessofprocrastination]

Not The Same (GeorgeNotFound)

summary : you put out a song, but it attracted the wrong type of crowd and caused too many misunderstandings.

trigger warnings : threats (including death and doxing), panic attacks, taking of meds. 

"you're THOSE type of fans, huh?" you read the comments on your newest song release.

and that was the start of your downfall.

-

you and your dad really enjoyed singing. at any opportunity you two got, you would be doing a duet.

whether that would be at at a close relative's wedding or your at home karaoke set up, you two knew how to entertain people.

though singing was your passion, you ended up being too busy with school and trying to graduate with a diploma to even think about singing again.

but you swore to make a career of your singing after high school. you just loved it too much.

but then, you didn't go to college for music, which pretty much shocked your parents and your friends since they knew your only passion in life was singing.

but you took a different direction. you still wanted to sing and you were trying your hardest to find a way to make that your career.

someday, anyway. but you needed to have a plan to fall back into in case anything goes wrong.

you were a realist, after all.

so off to college you went.

you spent long hours studying for tests after tests, sat through hours of lectures, did endless amounts of projects.

in the end, it was all worth the wait and fatigue. you graduated top of your class.

you went off to be an intern, clocked in more hours before you could fully go into the next phase of your life.

and after those long hours, you finally made the decision (with the support of your parents) to take a gap year.

but before anyone panics. your gap year was not all fun in games where you took to rest and lay in bed all day.

you took the gap year to see if the music industry fits you. to see if you even had the chance to succeed.

and if it did, you could finally have your dream job. but even if it didn't you were not going to be upset if you needed to fall back onto your backup plan.

in the duration of the gap year, you took voice lessons, and poetry classes for song writing.

and with whatever you have learnt, you took that into writing songs that you felt really relate to your life experiences.

so you spend at least a couple months writing multiple songs.

after almost 2 years, you finally came out with your first song. and it definitely got recognition. more than you thought you'd get, if you were being completely honest.

and that was what pushed you to sit your ass back on your desk to write more, and go into your makeshift studio and make the words into songs.

your parents were ecstatic to hear that you were finally doing the things you loved. and you knew you'd never get this far if it weren't for your family's support.

and so your music journey began.

it was going well for years. you were finally happy doing the one thing you enjoyed doing.

and you definitely think you were good at it. seeing and hearing the positive feedbacks from your family, friends and listeners. 

you felt good. 

but you lost that feeling when you came out with a new single, called ‘fan of you’. 

you spent a while working hard on that song and you felt relieved when it was finally released. it was like a weight was lifted off your shoulders. 

and you weren’t sure how one thing led to another, if you were being honest. at first, you received good feedback for your new songs. you even gained new listeners and your spotify rank rised. 

but then it didn’t anymore. 

your twitter flooded with mentions and your instagram full of tagged pictures and dms by accounts you’ve never heard of. 

but you noticed a similarity with all of the spam. a guy name george. georgenotfound for short.

you being you, you looked into it. and that was when all of the information hit you. and all you had to look up was your name on twitter, and there it was, the longest thread of tweets you have ever seen in your life. 

you took time to read it all, trying to make sure you didn’t miss anything crucial. 

there must be an understanding. you didn’t know this guy name george. you’ve seen his face on pinterest once a while when you scrolled, yes. but you never looked into him. 

this amazing person took their time to gather every bit of information there was about the scandal, which you were grateful for, or else you’d be scouring the internet for hours. 

to summarise what you read, there was this artist by the name of tia jade who came out with a song a few months prior to yours called ‘just a fan.’ 

it was a good song, some say, and you could agree. it was professionally written and produced. but many fans of george found out that the song was about him. 

not just about him, but about her falling in love with him, when she has never met him. and when his fans started to really listen and analyse the song, it got creepier. 

basically, the song was about a fan falling in love with a celebrity/content creator and that they want to know them beyond their persona online. 

but tia had apologised a little after the song came out, saying that she made that song based on a fan liking a content creator, and not about her falling for george. 

but when you read enough of the issue, it definitely did seem like she was making that song to tell her story about falling for george. but she obviously needed an excuse to cover it up. 

hence the apology. 

and then you read about how they analysed your song, too.

they compared your song to tia’s and found it to have similar stories. stories about how a normal girl is falling in love with the man by the name of george, who had millions of followers on all social medias. 

and if you admitted it to yourself, your song did seem to come out that way. especially if your mentality had been there. clearly your song could have been interpreted in many different ways. 

you scrolled to the very bottom of the thread where there was a video of the man himself, george. he was addressing the issue. 

“i don’t know how this happened twice. i thought once was weird enough, but.” he paused, focusing on building something on his screen. 

“having heard of a song being about me again now makes my skin crawl.” he finished. it was short but enough to make his fans understand where he was coming from. 

you scrolled further to see the replies of the thread. you wanted to know what were people saying about it. 

and you definitely regretted your decision to do that. 

threats everywhere. death threats, threats of beating you up, threats of doxing you. god the negative comments were drowned by the one’s that genuinely thought nothing wrong of your song. 

you called you mom. this was the time you needed her advice. you needed to be told what to do. you didn’t want to accidentally trigger people. 

you and her were on the phone for hours. she listened to you cried to her. she heard the painful sobs that came out of your mouth whenever you reminded yourself of what people were calling you on the internet. 

she heard you cry silently on call when you saw your address and phone number being leaked on twitter. 

but even through all of that, you joked around with your mom. “well, this was a hell of a way to be trending.” 

you did what she told you to do. get a new phone number, stay in a hotel for a couple days while you try to settle the raging crowd of georgenotfound fans down. 

in the span of a couple weeks, you got yourself a new number, a new house and a new car. you weren’t taking any chances. 

you told no one besides your mom of the new changes, just to be safe. 

and no, the threats did not cease. at all. these people did not have a life, constantly up in your dms, telling you to jump off a cliff or them hoping that a robber stabs you and leaves you dying. 

you took your time trying to figure out a way to talk to george. or a way to speak out about this. 

you didn’t want to write a half-assed notes app paragraph apologising when- first of all, you had nothing to apologise for and second, you had too much to say to fit it all in a notes app. 

lucky for you, you didn’t need to start your own channel or make a sit down video on your own. 

your recording label had brought up the idea of a documented series about you and how you became a singer about a year ago, and only started filming and posting the episodes a couple months prior on youtube. 

so you took the series to your advantage. you pitched in the idea to your manager, to which she agreed to immediately, knowing that it was best you talked about it now. 

this was how it played out on the perspective of viewers who watched that episode. 

“bless you.” your producer says after you paused your singing in the mic as you stopped to sneeze. 

you gave him a smile and a thumbs up from inside the booth. 

the camera cuts to another clip. 

the cameraman pans as they captured movers coming in and out of your old house, picking up your heavy furniture and boxes into large trucks to move into the new place.

 it cuts again. this time it shows you scrolling on your phone with a focused face while your manager types something vigorously on her computer. 

the camera tries to focus on your phone, and sees that you were on twitter, reading a lot of tweets under your name. 

you exited the app and slide it away, going into youtube next, reading the comments on your song ‘fan of you’. 

you scrolled far, clicking on some of the comments, trying to read the replies to certain comments you saw. 

the camera cuts into a black screen. which then cuts again into a new scene, where you sat on your new kitchen counter talking to your mother, who sat on the chair in front of you. 

your hair was up in a ponytail. a messy one. you were wearing sweatpants and a hoodie that seemed far too big on you, and your feet covered with fluffy socks.

you were nodding to whatever she was saying to you. it was clear your mind was elsewhere as your eyes were unfocused. 

the scene cuts again. 

you were seen on the couch, your legs were tucked into your arms and your head down, body shaking. it was obvious you were crying. 

you were alone, your mother no where to be seen. 

that was the first time the camera caught you crying. 

the scene cuts as you were going to get up from the couch. 

now, you were in the kitchen again, opening the refrigerator to take a water bottle, then walking to your room upstairs. 

the camera follows behind you slowly into your room. 

it hadn’t been the cleanest. there were a couple shirts on the floor, your bed undone, cups on your side table, your laptop open on your desk. 

you were seen opening a drawer, taking out a small white bottle. you unscrewed the bottle and took out 2 pills, popping them in your mouth, drinking water straight away after that to swallow. 

the scene cuts again. 

this time, you were seated on the couch in the studio, the atmosphere dark and quiet. 

your hair was more kept this time, being help up in a clip. 

you were wearing straight jeans and a slightly oversized sweatshirt. you looked more refreshed this time. but it was obvious you hadn’t slept in a while because of your eyes.

your eyes that usually held a lot of happiness and joy turned dull. 

“it’s been a while since i’ve spoken to a camera.” you offered a small smile. your song ‘just a fan’ was playing in the background of the clip. 

the scene cuts again. 

“when i released that song, i was genuinely proud of the work i had done.” you paused for a while. besides the song playing in the background, it was silent. 

“but i guess the joy didn’t last very long.” the scene cuts there. 

it transitioned to a collage of what people were saying about you. it showed clips of people talking about it on youtube. they even showed george talking about it. 

and it cuts again. 

it showed a different clip this time. a clip of your ex boyfriend and you at the beach on a picnic, that was taken by a close friend of yours. 

this was when you were still in college. 

it showed all the fun memories you two made while you were still together. 

it showed a video of him studying in the library, flipping through his papers and scrolling through his laptop. it was clear he was hard at work, not noticing you filming him. 

but then the scene cuts again. and the music turned somber. 

your ex boyfriend’s grave. 

it was the day you were visiting him. you sat down next to his stone, a blanket under you. 

you were just staring at his stone, not moving. 

and it cuts again. 

“he was one of the most driven person i have ever met.” you told the camera. 

“he knew when to be serious and when to have fun.” you looked down in your hands and played with your rings. 

“all he ever talked about was becoming a surgeon. he worked hard in his intern years and continued being passionate through his residency.” you spoke up. 

“people had only nice things to say about him. the only bad thing they would say about him is that he can be pretty uptight sometimes, especially when he was stressed about something.” you laughed a little. 

“i was a huge fan of him, even when we just saw each other in the hallways. he’s just amazing. i’ve always wanted to be just like him.”

“i wanted to write a song about him but i didn’t the song to be sad.” you said. 

“and that was when the song ‘fan of you’ was created. 

the scene cuts there and goes into another. 

you were in the recording booth again, this time, you were singing into the mic. 

the camera pans to your producer and manager dancing and bobbing their heads to the beat. 

the scene cuts, officially ending it with a black screen with ‘the end’ in a fancy white font. 

you busied yourself with writing new songs as your name got trended again on twitter. 

and george has never felt worse about himself ever in his entire life. 

-

he watched the episode as soon as dream sent it to him. 

“you’re an asshole, george.” dream sends to him, along with the link of the video on youtube. 

as the video ends, he decides to read the comments, wondering what it was like down there. 

it was the worse mistake he had ever made in a while. 

but he knew he deserved it. he did assumed it was about him, just like the last song made with a drawing of his glasses as their cover photo on spotify. 

this time, there was genuinely no reason to think that this song was about him, or anyone with a following whatsoever. he just believed what his chat told him. 

sure, there were some familiarity of the character in your song and him, but the world did have 7.6 billion people living on it. 

“so, here i am apologising.” george says to his camera, live. his tone was very sincere and apologetic. 

“this shouldn’t have gotten this far. they shouldn’t have gotten threats at all, let alone death threats. they shouldn’t have woken up to the world knowing where they live and what their phone number is.” 

“and if you’re watching. i sincerely apologise. i clearly was full of myself.” george finishes. ending the live with a small wave. 

and were you watching? hell yes. 

and that was the day the two of you followed each other on instagram. 

he used your songs as his intros of his live, (with your permission, of course.) you showed in your documentary that you were watching whenever he was live or watching his youtube videos. 

and that was the start to a beautiful relationship. 

you sat on the chair, going live. you waved as people started joining. it went from hundreds, to thousands in seconds. 

as you were talking and clicking on your keyboard and mouse, playing a game, you felt arms around your shoulders. 

you smiled, yet continued playing. 

“why are you live on my account?” he laughs. 

you disconnected the headphones so that he could hear what you were hearing. 

“george, you’re being replaced.” dream said on discord. 

george smiles, giving you a kiss on the top of your head. “that was well deserved.” 

[nightingaelic]

Fnv Companions react to Fem Courier being trans girl (sorry feel abit of self projection today hahah)

Don't feel sorry for wanting to see yourself reflected in the world around you, we all want to know that we belong.

The Forecaster frowned, and his eyes moved rapidly from left to right as if scanning some hidden radar. "Your face does the thinking... two to the skull, yet one gets up," he said.

The courier who stood before the boy nodded and touched her fingers to her temple, almost reflexively. "That's me."

"Odds are against you," the Forecaster went on, squinting. "But they're just numbers after the two-to-one. You've changed suits once, clubs to diamonds, and now you're playing the hand you've been dealt."

At this, the courier stiffened suddenly. "Um..."

The Forecaster went on, unaware of his customer's discomfort. "But you don't let it rest, you shuffle and stack, and a gamble... a gamble that may pay off? But how? Forecast: Rapidly changing conditions."

"Um... thanks." The courier counted out the caps and handed them over to the boy, then beat a hasty retreat from beneath the overpass.

Once back atop Highway 95, she took her traveling companion aside. "Before you think I worked for some Mojave faction and deserted, that thing he said about changing suits... I didn't think he'd... what he meant was... I wasn't always..."

She sighed and ran a hand over her head. "Hell, it's about time I told you anyway. I'm trans."

Arcade Gannon: Arcade stopped her before she could stumble into an over-explanation. "It's, uh, it's okay. I... may have already known."

"You..." The courier's eyes widened. "You did? But who told you?"

"I, um..." Arcade straightened his glasses and looked up at the sky, avoiding eye contact. "Oh boy. Doctor Usanagi..."

Immediately, the courier's eyes narrowed. "... doesn't betray doctor-patient confidentiality, but I was in one of her medical clinics that day you came in for the NEMEAN sub-dermal armor," Arcade finished hastily. "She, uh, asked me and a couple of the others to help her close you up."

"Oh." The courier relaxed her stance a bit. "Oh yeah, I remember. I mean, I don't remember you, but I do remember signing the form that said I was okay with med student assistance. Why didn't you say anything, when I first asked you to tag along?"

Arcade shrugged. "I don't betray doctor-patient confidentiality either. Usanagi hammers that into you pretty hard on day one. Besides, something like that doesn't matter much outside of a doctor's office."

Craig Boone: Boone shrugged. "Okay."

The courier's eyes darted around his countenance, looking for some kind of stronger reaction. "Nothing? Not even a 'congratulations' or a disapproving grimace? Who are you, Boone?"

"Unconcerned," he shot back testily. "Unless it affects your aim somehow, it's not a problem. If that's what you're asking."

The courier sighed. "No, it's... you're fine. I guess I'm still pretty defensive about it. Especially around NCR types."

Boone nodded. "There were a few officers that Manny and I operated under who weren't the open-minded sort. They didn't last long."

Lily Bowen: Lily looked positively stormy. "Did that young man just air your personal business for the whole trading post to hear without a care in the world?" she thundered, with all her grandmotherly might. "Let's go back, dearie, I need to give him a piece of my mind."

"Lily, no," the courier protested, grabbing the nightkin's arm before she could stomp off toward the overpass again. "He probably doesn't even know what he said, it's just part of his gift. And no one's going to put two and two together unless I tell them outright, like I did you."

"If you say so, pumpkin." Lily smiled and settled herself. "But I can always ask Leo for a little help if anyone has cross words for you about this."

The courier sighed and patted her companion's arm. "No need for that, Lily. That reminds me, you should take your medication today."

Lily wrapped her up in a hug. "You take such good care of Grandma, my sweet girl."

Raul Alfonso Tejada: "Mija." Raul smiled. "How long you been holding onto that for?"

The courier let out the breath she'd taken, and her shoulders sank back to a normal level. "Well not everyone takes news like that too well. I didn't know if you would... mind."

"Mind?" Raul shook his head. "Oye. I've lived a long time, out here in the desert. It's a lonely place, even if you're surrounded by a crowd on the Strip. You can lose yourself pretty easily, lose sight of what you want, what you are. I'd know better than most. If you held onto who you want to be, then that's a victory, in the Mojave."

"Um..." The courier's eyes were shiny with tears, but before Raul could comment or pull out a handkerchief, she'd enveloped him in an unexpected hug. "Thanks, viejo."

Rose of Sharon Cassidy: "Well, I'll be a gecko's uncle." Cass grinned. "You're serious? All this time on the road together, and you didn't think you could tell me that? I'm wounded, Six."

"Hey now, you were slow to trust me, too," the courier pointed out with a growing smirk. "I was gonna tell you after the Silver Rush situation, if we made it out alive, but then we did and you were riding so high at the Atomic Wrangler that I didn't want to dampen your memory of that day."

"Dampen my..." Cass chuckled and clapped the courier on the shoulder. "Better fix your metaphor there, Six. Rain in the desert is a good thing. And trust between friends would never dampen my day."

She held up a hand before the courier could protest. "I know, I know what you were worried about. Trust me, I'm not the type to froth at the mouth over propriety or 'family values.' Thought you'd've picked up on that, with my smart mouth and wanderin' eyes."

"Wandering..." The courier ducked out from under her arm and danced away, laughing. "Uh-uh. I helped you with your vendetta, now you help me with mine. Then we'll buy a drink at the Tops and talk, whiskey rose."

Veronica Santangelo: "You..." Veronica's eyes went as wide as the Mojave's full moon. "Oh. Oh."

Slowly, the Scribe sank into a sitting position on the cracked asphalt. "That explains a few things, I suppose."

The courier sat down next to her. "Like what?"

Veronica started ticking things off on her fingers. "Both that guy in Primm and the bartender in Goodsprings called you by a different name, but they were the same name and it sounded kind of like yours so I wrote it off as a coincidence. Benny didn't recognize you right away, even though he shot you in the head. And Arcade locked us all out of your room that time you took some shrapnel to the torso and were laid up in the Lucky 38 until you weren't covered in bandages."

"Oh yeah." The courier grinned. "Surprised you didn't piece it together sooner, then."

"I sometimes forget that's something people can do," Veronica admitted. "Remember when I said that some in the Brotherhood don't look too kindly on those who choose relationships that don't produce new children? Well, ditto and worse for those who want to transition. Most of the ones brave enough to do it anyway don't stay Brotherhood for long."

ED-E: The eyebot beeped in mock surprise, then whizzed around the courier three times playing triumphant music. She giggled and swatted the bot away playfully. "Go on then. I have no idea how you could've known, but there it is."

ED-E beeped quizzically once it came to a stop.

"Why hide it?" the courier responded. "Well, unlike robots, some people think it's strange to change your... parts. Or even just your classification. Honestly, it's old-world thinking, no clue."

The eyebot beeped long and low, almost like a coo of affection and reassurance.

"Thanks, ED-E," the courier said with a smile. "I'll try to remember that."

Rex: Rex cocked his head to the side. The courier knelt down to his level and scratched his ears, inspecting his new brain and cybernetic limbs as she did.

"I don't know why I'm telling you this," she murmured, increasing her attentions as Rex leaned into her. "You probably already knew, with that amazing nose of yours. I think your owner knows, otherwise why keep spouting that line of his whenever I come around?"

Rex whined, and the courier smiled. "You know. 'Do what's right for you, so long as it don't hurt no one.' Got that seared into my brain as surely as that bullet, thanks to him. I bet that king he's worshipping never even said that."

[wellimaginethat]

Personal Sunshine

Pairing: Connor Rhodes x (female) Reader

Word Count: 2027

Author’s Note: First request for Connor! Woo-hoo! Hope it’s good! I haven’t watched the old episodes of Chicago Med in so long, and I had a hard time finding clips when I was writing this, so Cornelius might be OOC and I apologize for that. I also only loosely based it on the episode, because like I said, it’s been a while since I’ve seen it.

Trigger Warning(s): Misogynistic comments, argument, bad words

Disclaimer: I don’t owe nor am I affiliated with any of the Chicago shows, I just like to play with the characters

Summary: Connor and Y/N are happily married and have been for awhile. They’re both working at Gaffney when one of his father’s employee’s comes in after getting injured. This wouldn’t really be that big of a problem if Cornelius wasn’t a complete ass to his son and daughter in law.

Y/N = Your Name

You and Conner met while you were both still in med school, it started out as a friendship but quickly turned into something more. You dated throughout school and got married when you were going through residency.

Connor admired you, although you didn’t really know why.

He admired how kind and thoughtful you always were, even when you were exhausted you still managed to smile and be friendly. He admired how smart you were, and how you were able to think on your feet faster than any other doctor he knew. He admired how you gave your all to save every patient you could, and how you didn’t stop fighting for them until the very last minute, even when everyone else was ready to throw in the towel.

He admired and loved everything about you, every strength you had, every weakness, every virtue and every flaw. He loved all your quirks. The little dance you do when you’re cooking and think no one is looking. How you sing or hum along to your favorite songs. How you get excited over the little things in life, how your eyes light up when you tell him about your hobbies or about something new you just learned, or how talkative you get when telling him about your last obsession.

He loved every little thing about you, but couldn’t figure out what you ever saw in him.

It was something that played through his mind the entire time you were dating, and had almost kept him from ever asking you out in the first place. And this little worry still nags him even though you’ve been married for a few years now. It’s not as bad as it used to be, but it still floats around in the back of his mind waiting for the slightest little thing to make him second guess everything.

You had tried to assure him, time and time again, that you loved him and that you thought he was amazing, but your words fell on deaf ears most of the time. You blamed it on his upbringing. Although you had never met his dad, the little things that Connor actually told you made your heart ache and a disdain form for the man.

That was something you never brought up, meeting his dad. It wasn’t because you didn’t love Connor, it was the opposite in fact. You loved him so much that you didn’t want to put him in the position, so you never really talked about his dad.

That is until Connor walked into the break room, steaming.

You could feel how upset he was, and even if he didn’t look upset, which he did, you always had a way of knowing. You watched him carefully, walking over to him slowly. “Babe? What’s wrong?” You asked him gently.

His eyes found yours and immediately his demeanor softened and he let out something that was between an exasperated sigh and a groan. “My father is here.” He answered briskly.

You frowned in confusion. “Why? Is he hurt or something?”

“No one of his employees is and he doesn’t want to cover the operation.” Connor answered in the same tone, with an annoyance that wasn’t aimed at you in the slightest, just at the situation. He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes, leaning his head back.

“Oh.” You barely said, walking over to him and running your hands up and down his biceps slowly, trying to calm him. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

His eyes found yours and you could tell that he was relaxing a bit, he gave you a small, tight smile and shook his head. “You’re doing exactly everything you can do.” He told you, the annoyance fading from his voice.

You sighed a bit and nodded. “Wish there was more I could do.” You told him.

He shook his head. “I really don’t want you near this.” He told you. “I don’t want you anywhere near him.” He clarified.

You nodded, your eyes fixed on his even though he wasn’t looking directly at you at the moment. “I’ll try to keep my distance.” You assured him. “Shouldn’t be too big of a problem, I have back to back surgeries today.”

“Well sounds like you’re in for a fun day.” Connor replied, a genuine smile forming.

“Yeah sure.” You laughed a bit, glad you were able to make him feel even slightly better.

Connor kissed your forehead tenderly before looking at you and sighing. “I have to go and try to deal with him. Good luck on your surgeries.”

You smiled gently at him. “Good luck with your dad.” You gently squeezed his arm as he pulled away from you.

You finished up your first surgery a bit early that scheduled, so that left you with enough time to get some coffee, so you did just that. However, on your way back you decided to detour through the ED to check on Connor. You were halfway through the waiting room when you were stopped by an older man.

It didn’t even dawn on you that this man could be Connor’s dad. Maybe it was because you still had your mind on the surgery you just finished, or maybe it was because you were thinking about the one you were about to start. Or maybe you just didn’t connect the dots between this guy and your husband.

You thought it was incredibly strange that this man would hit on you in the middle of the busy hospital, surrounded by people waiting to hear the status of their sick or injured loved one, but it actually wasn’t the first time. Not that it made you any less uneasy that he hit on you, but coupled with the fact that this man was old enough to be your father, you started to feel incredibly uneasy.

“Now what is a girl like you doing wasting her pretty face working in a hospital?” He had asked you.

You hadn’t even noticed he was talking to you until you turned and saw him staring, waiting for an answer. “Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry, it’s just that you’re so beautiful you could be a model. Or at the very least a trophy wife.” He replied like it was a compliment.

You stared at him in disbelief for a moment before shaking your head. “I beg your pardon, I happen to be one of the best pediatric surgeons, not just in Chicago, but in the Nation.” To say that you were insulted was an understatement.

“Smart girls rarely get guys, sweetheart.” He replied and the way he called you sweetheart made you blood boil. “Guys like pretty girls that don’t challenge them.”

Your eyes narrowed into a glare. “For your information, my husband adores how smart I am.” You replied snidely, unable to maintain your normal happy go lucky personality.

He seemed to be shocked, whether it was by your tone or the revelation that you were married, you weren’t sure. “Oh you’re married?”

You nodded as you tried to calm down, it didn’t look good if you weren’t polite, and if any of your new coworkers saw you upset, they might get worried. You were kinda known around the hospital as the happy girl. Connor called you his own personal sunshine.

“Well he certainly is a lucky guy.” The man replied to you. “Is he a doctor too?”

You nodded again. “Yes, in fact, he is.” You smiled proudly, and that was when you spotted Connor and thought that it was the perfect way to get out of this annoying conversation. “There he is now.” You practically skipped over to him, halting just a bit when you saw the look on his face. “Babe? What’s wrong?” You asked, frowning slightly and tilting your head.

Connor looked at you and his cloudy expression was replaced with what seemed like a tired smile, whether he was actually tired or just exhausted from dealing with rude people, you didn’t know. “Nothing.” He tried to assure you, but you assumed it was still from dealing with his father.

You let it go for a second, wanting to tell him about the guy that hit on you. “Hey, you see that weird old man over there?” You asked quietly, leaning in towards him and discreetly motioning over your shoulder. “He just hit on me in the rudest way ever. Told me I’m too pretty to be a doctor and should be a trophy wife instead.” You huffed out and rolled your eyes, keeping your voice low.

Connor’s eyes trailed over to the man and his cloudy expression returned. “Do me a favor and stay away from him.” He told you, lowering his voice so only you could hear him as he continued to glare over your shoulder.

You gave him a confused look. “I was already planning on it. Why?” You stopped short, a dread settling in your bones that you knew exactly why Connor was asking you to stay away from him.

“That’s my dad.” Connor answered you in the same tone, still not looking at you.

Your eyes widened slightly from the revelation, even though you had already pieced together that, and you were about to say something when you felt someone come up behind you.

“So you got married and didn’t invite me.” Cornelius remarked.

“Yeah, there’s a reason for that.” Connor replied coldly, his body going stiff and his expression hardening.

You turned so that your back was no longer to Cornelius and so that you were beside Connor.

Connor’s arm wrapped around your waist, holding you close to him in an almost protective way.

“Hard to believe a pretty little thing like her would marry you.” Cornelius replied.

You felt Connor inhale sharply, about ready to reply when you butted into the conversation. “Excuse you? What the hell is wrong with you?” You asked, crossing your arms.

Cornelius was taken aback by your sudden outburst.

“You come in here and think you can treat him like that? Well you can’t.” You told him, trying to find the words to say but it was becoming difficult due to how upset you were. “Connor is a great man and a great doctor and I love him so much, there’s not enough words to express how much.”

Connor was even shocked by your sudden outburst, you were usually so polite, even to the rudest people.

You couldn’t find any other words, so you huffed and took Connor’s hand, pulling him away from Cornelius, who was still trying to make sense of the fact that you just stood up to him.

As soon as you were alone, you turned to Connor. “I’m sorry-” You started to apologize but were cut off by his lips on yours, kissing you passionately. You kissed him back, your arms going over his shoulders, draping them around his neck.

His hand rested at the base of your neck, the other on your waist, holding you close to him as he continued to kiss you.

You only pulled back when you needed air. You slowly opened your eyes to look at him, being met with his blue eyes gazing at you with love and adoration.

“Don’t apologize.” He breathed out, a small smile forming on his now puffy lips.

“But...but won’t this cause problems?” You asked him as you felt the worry started to settle in your mind.

Connor shook his head. “I’ll deal with it.” He assured you gently, kissing your lips once more before kissing your forehead. “Don’t worry, sunshine.” He told you before he began to walk away. 

You felt your lips quirk up into a small smile and quickly grabbed for his hand. “Hey.” You said, stopping him, and waited until he looked at you to continue. “I love you.”

He smiled at you again. “I love you too.” You watched as he walked away after that, the smile he caused not leaving your face for the rest of the day, despite the fact that you were still incredibly worried about what the repercussions of your little outburst might be.

[rosyredlipstick]

guess who watched high school musical 2 and got caught up in the ryan/chad of it all: a conchell AU

this is pure 100% cheese. thats ur warning. also unbeta-ed.

Spending the entire summer at their mother’s golf resort had sounded like a dream for exactly 3 seconds, until Mitchell remembered the…. Everything about his siblings. 

When he wasn’t pulling Sebastian away from flirting with all their guests and the entire staff, he was lecturing Scarlett and Drew about taking advantage of the concierge service, making sure Stefan and Valentina weren’t spending too much time in the sun and were definitely drinking virgin cocktails, reigning in Lacey and Sophia’s pranks, and making sure Sabrina was happy in her first summer enrolled in the youth program. Oh, and he was choreographing a major number for the end of summer talent show. So. Full plate. 

Still, it was nice he had convinced Will to come along for the summer. While he was one of Mitchell’s official guests, he had quickly befriended the entire young staff in the kitchens and by the poolside. More than often, when they were on their walks around the resort, Will would no doubt be called out to or greeted by grinning teens in red and white polos. 

Mitchell, used to his friend’s sunflower attraction toward attention, smiled knowingly and let it happen without a complaint. At least Will was enjoying himself--he’d been way too stressed about his pre-med program the last few months and, with Mitchell spending most of his time at the resort trying to rein in his power-drunk sibling, he was glad his friend wasn’t spending the summer alone at the poolside. 

Of course, with all his new acquaintances, that also meant that Will’s tendency to interfere with Mitchell’s personal relationships appeared. 

“I’m telling you, you need to hang out with friends more, you’ve been busy all summer!” Will was smiling brightly. “This is the perfect opportunity!” 

“Yes, the perfect opportunity to intrude on a social gathering!” Mitchell protested, “It’ll be weird if I go. You should just go and have fun, don’t worry about me.” Mitchell sighed, “I don’t want them to be uncomfortable! This is their down time, I don’t want to ruin it by being the boss’s kid.” 

Will rolled his eyes, “It’s a baseball game, Mitchell.” 

Mitchell shook his head, final. “Sorry. But I don’t think so. Text me afterward, okay? We can grab ice cream.” Will said nothing. He peeked a look back to the other boy, “Unless there’s something else?” 

Will sighed and looked off to the side as his cheeks colored. “Okay, listen, of course I really want you there because you’re my best friend and everything but also -” 

“There’s a guy.” Mitchell guessed, bored. Will found the love of his life at least once a week. “Who is he?”

Will didn’t even put up a fight. “I’m not sure if you know him. He works in the coffee shop? Pale, dark hair, sharpest cheekbones I’ve ever seen?”

Mitchell thought for a second, “Nico?” He guessed. Nico, for the past few months, has consistently served him the best caramel macchiato he’d ever had every morning. Mitchell dreamt about that drink, on especially good nights.  

Will melted into a dreamy mess. “Yeah. Nico.” 

Mitchell blew a puff of hair up into the hair around his face, “I mean…” He grimaced, “If you need a wingman or something -”

“Yes!” Will was already celebrating, “Thank the gods, thank you! I mean, I think you’ll enjoy yourself at the game and everyone’s really cool, but yes! Okay, if you could just like, set up a really good opportunity for me and Nico to be together like, alone, I’d so appreciate it -” 

Will continued to ramble about the perfect situation Mitchell could set up, including the ideal mood lighting, when Mitchell interrupted him.

"Is Percy okay?" Percy had just rushed by, looking upset, and hopped in his mother’s car without a word to either of them--odd, as he usually offered at least a hey guys! If not a full on conversation that left Mitchell feeling like a better person for having it. It was kind of his thing. 

"Oh, he's in turmoil because he feels like he has to choose between swimming or singing with Annabeth at the talent show and he doesn’t know which to choose." 

“Oh.” 

Will wrinkled his nose, “Yeah, he’s kinda got his own thing going on right now. I saw him dancing by himself in the golf course earlier, but I thought I’d just give him some space.”

“Smart,” Mitchell commented, growing a bit uneasy as they approached the field. There was a crowd already assembled there with a smaller circle throwing a baseball back and forth. As they approached, a few people called out to Will in excitement but it wasn’t until they were faced with a smaller inner group of people that Mitchell was addressed. 

A tall, smirking guy with wild curls was the first to greet him, lightly tossing a baseball into his own mit as he spoke. “Brought a friend, Will?” 

Will smiled brightly. “Yeah! This is Mitchell.”

“Trust me, I know who Mitchell is.” His humor-filled gaze flickered to Mitchell himself. “Nice to finally meet you.” 

Mitchell’s cheeks heated. “You know me?” 

Travis let out a small disbelieving laugh. “Yeah. Yeah, I do.” Travis elbowed the guy at his side, who shared similar curls and features. “And this is my brother, Connor.” 

“Hello, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced.” Mitchell held out his hand with a smile. “I’m Mitchell. You’re on the staff, here?” 

Despite the incredibly stupid question Mitchell just asked considering Connor’s bright red LIFEGUARD tank top he still wore, Connor was kind enough to nod along with Mitchell’s obvious question, his eyes wide. Mitchell’s hand, still extended out to him, wobbled in the air. 

He was a second away from dropping his arm and shaking it off completely when Connor seemed to realize that he was waiting for a handshake in the first place and nearly dived for it. In his haste, he almost completely tripped over himself and onto Mitchell. 

“Oh, well,” Mitchell caught him before he could take them both down on the dirt field. “Are you okay? Is it too hot or something?” Connor’s face was strangely pale compared to his brother’s, despite the mid-afternoon summer sun. Mitchell resisted the urge to reach out and touch his skin for sun stroke. 

“So hot,” Connor whispered, in his arms. Mitchell stared down at him in concern.

A girl--Katie, maybe--came up beside him and physically took Connor out of his arms, a tight smile on her lips. “This is nothing, he’s just dehydrated.”

“More like thirsty.” A girl across from them muttered.

Katie continued on like no one said anything. “Let’s get some water in you, dude.” 

Will was smiling on like this interaction was completely normal. “So anyway I was wondering if Mitchell could join our game?” 

“Hmm, well this is an employee-only game.” Despite his words, the light tease in Travis’s voice kept Mitchell from getting nervous about the whole situation. “But it does raise the stakes.” 

That Mitchell could work with. His lips stretched out into a wide grin. “Yeah? What were you thinking?” 

Travis clicked his tongue, “How do you feel about being Captain? I take one team, you take the other.”

He thought it over then nodded. “That sounds fair. What’s the prize?” 

Travis shrugged, messing with the baseball in his mit as he spoke. “Any ideas?” 

Mitchell pretended to think, already knowing what he wanted. With a group this size, his choreo could really expand into something great. “If you lose, you guys have to join my dance group for the talent show.” 

“Hmm,” Travis looked to the girl at his side--Phoebe, he thought, another lifeguard. She once helped him with Sabrina’s floaties. “We’ll consider that. Guys?” The circle of employees gathered a bit closer to talk it over. Will shot him an excited look. 

Suddenly, in the midst of their talking it over, Connor burst from the huddle and pushed his way over to Mitchell. “I’ll give you fifty dollars if you let me on your dance team.” 

“Wait, no -” Travis grabbed his shoulders from behind to push him back, “Connor, we’re trying to negotiate with him!” 

“Oh,” Connor nodded seriously and turned back to where Mitchell was waiting, amused. “I’ll pay two hundred -” 

Katie slapped a hand over his mouth and dragged him back to the crowd, him protesting all the way. Travis looked back to Mitchell, tired. “Just ignore him, please.”

Mitchell watched him sink back into the crowd, something small curled at his lips. “I don’t think I can.”

“Anyway,” Katie was the one to speak now. “We talked it over, that sounds fine. If we lose, we’ll be in your show.” 

Mitchell had to resist punching the air in excitement. “Great.” 

Travis leaned back with his arms crossed, looking him over. “And what do we get if we win?” 

“Well, what do you want?” 

“Dinner and a movie,” Connor choked out, almost like he didn’t mean to.

Mitchell raised an eyebrow, “An catered employee afternoon in the movie theatre?” He thought it over, then shrugged. “I could probably arrange that.” 

Travis rubbed at his forehead, “I - sure. Yeah, that sounds fun.” 

“Alright,” Mitchell smiled with a small shrug of his shoulders. “I guess it’s game on, then.” 

...

Of course, against a batch of peers who had been playing baseball all summer, Mitchell was bound to lose. However, they didn’t lose as hard as he expected. 

After the match, when Mitchell was left aching from the game and loss but proud despite it, Will sunk down next to him at the picnic table. “Good game. I didn’t think you’d get so into it.” 

At the last moment, Mitchell had ended up diving for a ball, completely dirting up his outfit. He had caught it, and it had counted, but two players had already made it home in the meantime. Still, it was a close loss. 

Mitchell smiled slightly. “Me neither. But it was worth a shot at a full dance group.”

Will laughed softly, “Still. Great catch.” 

“It really was.” They both looked up at the new voice--Katie, from before. She’d been on Travis’s team with Connor, Jason, Leo, Annabeth and a few others. The rest of the group was mostly dispersed by now, most of them arranging rides home or plans to grab food. “We haven’t had a game that fun in a while.” 

At her arrival, Will stood and offered her his seat. Which was kind, but also definitely just a ploy to escape and run off wherever Nico was lurking. Mitchell waved him off with a roll of his eyes before returning back to the conversation. Katie took his place without a word. 

“Well, I’m happy to help. It was a good time, you guys work well together.” Mitchell shot her a knowing grin. “I’ll start working out the theatre rental. Any movie requests?” 

She shrugged, “We can take a vote on it. But we’ve also been talking.” Katie had an amused twinkle in her eye. “We’re in. We’ll still do your show, it sounds fun.” 

Mitchell sat up completely, a bolt of excitement hitting him. “Wait, really?” At her nod, he absolutely lit up. “Oh my god, it’s gonna be such a fun show, I promise!” He got to his feet in excitement and threw his arms around her shoulders in a hug, pulling away promptly. “Oh my god, wait, I’m covered in dirt I’m so sorry -” 

She waved it off but stood herself. She, too, was covered in dirt from the game so didn’t seem to care much at any additional. 

He couldn’t help but babble on. “It’s going to be so much fun. You won’t regret it.”

She smiled at him, looking like she was indulging him. “I know. Anyway, just a moment,” She disappeared for a few moments only to return, dragging Connor by the wrist. She pushed him toward Mitchell, almost bumping them into each other. “Connor will be your contact point for organizing this. Trade numbers, will you? For planning.”

“Oh, sure!” Mitchell fumbled to get his phone out and hand it over. Connor’s phone appeared under his hand faster than he thought possible. 

Katie left them alone as he punched in his own phone and name, drifting back to where Travis and a few others were waiting. He handed back Connor’s phone, suddenly closer to the other boy than he had realized. He paused. 

“You have grass in your hair.” Connor breathed out. 

“Oh,” Mitchell dipped his head in embarrassment and rubbed at his head. “Oops.” 

“I -” Connor gestured to his own temple. “Other side?” 

He tried but Connor only stepped forward slightly into his space, reaching out slowly. “Let me -” Mitchell felt a slight pull on his hair, not painful. Connor pulled away with a blade of grass in between two fingers. 

“Got it,” Connor said weakly, staring down at him. 

“My hero,” Mitchell teased. Connor nodded gravely at that, like he was accepting a mission.

Connor licked his lips before he spoke. “That was a really good catch. You’re a good player.” 

“Baseball’s just a dance of its own.” Mitchell shrugged, joking. “What can I say? I’m just that much of a star athlete.” Connor nodded, looking like he completely agreed. 

Before either of them could say anything further, Will called out to him and ran their way, grinning, with another guy at his side. “I heard the news! They’re still doing the show, that’s great!” Will was glowing, “See, coming to this was a great idea!” 

Mitchell stuck out his tongue, “You just wanted to brag that you were right.” 

“No!” Will looked behind where he had ran from and lit up, “Actually, I wanted to introduce you to Nico!” 

Nico, who trailed after him a few steps, walked up beside Will with a sarcastic roll of his eyes. Mitchell liked him already. “Next time you’re going to run off mid-conversation, can you at least give me a warning first? I’ll die before I jog after you in jeans.” 

“You’re the one who wore jeans to a baseball game!” 

“And why not? You think I’m gonna participate in this?” 

“Well, you’re an employee at an employee baseball game. Perhaps I thought you were going to play.” 

“Where would you get that idea? Have you not seen the everything about me?” 

“Hi, I’m Mitchell.” He stuck out his hand with a grin. He could sit here all day, truly, but he did have things to do. “You’re Nico?” 

“That’s me.” He raised an eyebrow. “You look familiar.

“Mitchell is one of Aphrodite’s kids. He’s a good one, don’t worry.” Will explained, shooting Mitchell a wince like he didn’t know exactly how his siblings were. 

Mitchell snorted, “On behalf of Drew and Scarlett, I can’t apologize enough.” 

“That… helps.” Nico winced. “I messed up Drew’s chai latte my first day on the job.” 

Mitchell groaned, “Again, I’m so sorry. I’ve been trying to get them to act like, you know, normal people -” 

Nico cut him off. “We work at a golf club. I get more cranky boomers in an hour than an AARP meeting.” Nico shook his head, “They’re a lot, but definitely not the worst customers to have. At least they tip well.” 

He could have wilted in relief. Across from him, Will’s eyes were nearly hearts. God, he was already lovesick. 

Which reminded him --

“Actually, Connor and I were just leaving. We’ll leave you two be.” Mitchell lightly grabbed Connor’s elbow to start steering him away. “Will, can you get a ride home? I’m probably going to be staying late.” 

Next to him, Nico perked up. “Oh, I can give you a ride? If you want? I’ll have to pick up my older sister but, um, it’s not that out of the way -” 

“I would love to.” Will looked perfectly composed, despite the screaming excitement that must be running through his head. He even managed to grab onto Nico’s hand as he led them away toward the parking lot. 

“Young love,” Mitchell commented, shaking his head fondly as the other couple walked off. “Must be nice.” He stepped back and dropped his hand from Connor’s elbow. “Oh, sorry!” He laughed lightly. “Sorry, I was recruited as Will’s wingman and I wanted to give them some time alone. Cute, right?”

Connor’s throat bobbled. “So cute. Um,” Connor made a jerky movement, like he was gonna run his hand through his hair but decided not to. “So you’re, uh, staying late?” 

“Yeah,” He blew some air up into the hair hanging over his face. “If you guys are gonna join the number, I want to have the choreo adjusted for a group before we start rehearsals.” 

“Cool, cool.” Connor nodded slowly, “Cool.” 

Now that he was closer, Mitchell could almost recognize Connor from his many shifts poolside. His lifeguard chair was almost right across from where Valentina would occasionally drag him to tan in the afternoon sun. Didn’t he once help Mitchell apply sunscreen, when Valentina ran to get slushies right when he was reapplying? 

His hands were cold, Mitchell remembered, or maybe his own skin was just that hot. He shivered when Connor applied the first handful of cream on his back. Mitchell had to advise Connor to take some of the sunscreen himself, after his own skin started to stain red. 

He was kind, was the point. Or at least, that’s what Mitchell remembered. 

Mitchell gestured at his parked golf cart as they approached it. “You want a ride anywhere? I’m heading toward the main pavilion.” 

Something wobbled in Connor’s expression before he spoke. “I could, um, go with you?” He said it as a question, looking slightly nervous as he spoke. 

“Yeah, sure! The employee entrance? Did you forget something?” 

“No, no, like -” Connor made another awkward gesture toward nothing. “Like, if you need help with the number? I could come? I mean, it’s never too early to get started on learning the dance, right?” 

Mitchell smiled, “Oh, sure! Do you have experience with dance routines?” 

Connor nodded confidently. “Yes.” 

“Really?” Mitchell turned to him in excitement. “Have you been in any dance groups before?” 

“Um. No.” 

“Oh, so like private lessons or something? A club?”

“Uh. No again.” His confidence was fully wavering now. 

Mitchell raised his eyebrows, “So what experience do you have?” 

“I sometimes dance in my room?” Connor scratched at the back of his head. “I, um. I didn’t think you’d ask many questions, actually.” 

Despite his awkwardness, Mitchell was… charmed by Connor’s fumbling. 

“Um,” Mitchell bit his smiling lip, looking away then back. “Actually, I was supposed to get ice cream with Will after the game.”

Connor deflated before he could finish. “Oh. Okay, yeah.” 

“No!” Mitchell was quick to correct. “I meant like, with Will going off with Nico, I still want to get it. With you. If that’s okay?” 

Connor’s expression bloomed into something so joyful, Mitchell was almost taken back. “I would… adore that.” 

“Adore?” Mitchell couldn’t help but tease. “Why’s that?” 

“I just,” He turned to Mitchell, his eyes wide. “I just really, really like ice cream.”

Mitchell bit his lip, “Me too. I mean, I really like ice cream. Ice cream is… sweet.”

Connor huffed out a small laugh, “Yeah. I, uh, agree.” He made an awkward little motion with his arm at the golf cart. “Um, shall we go?” 

Mitchell stepped forward and looped his arm with Connor’s. “Actually, I thought we could walk?” 

“I will do literally anything you want.” 

Mitchell laughed, “I’ll hold you to that.” 

To Mitchell’s amusement, Connor’s face turned a dark, dark red. He looked away, his lips pressed together in a small excited smile. Perhaps the baseball game hasn’t been such a bad idea.

[some-dr-writings]

Miu x Reader one-shot: Reunited

Warning: Swearing

As soon as that alarm blared that morning you slapped your hand atop the bed side table, searching for your phone, only to knock it off and not even turn off the alarm in the process. You groaned, burying your face into your pillow, pulling your quilts and sheets over your head, hoping to muffle the sound. You just really didn’t want to get up that morning, hell, it was the weekend, you could sleep in a bit longer…

But then you heard that distinctive ding sound and with a heavy sigh you dragged yourself out of bed. Groaning you tried rubbing the sleepiness out of your eyes so the brightness of that small device wouldn’t appear as blinding. It was a new text from Miu. ‘need motivation’. It was six in the morning, when did she wake up, or was she up all night you wondered. “Wait… heh, there’s probably a lude joke somewhere there.” Too tired to really think on it you instead went to get dresses.

“About time you got here! What took you so long? I bet it was a wet dream about yours truly.” Miu crossed her arms and smugly smiled seeing you snicker at her comment. “Yeah, yeah. Well, I’m here now, don’t get your panties in a bunch.” “Excuse me, but it’s a detriment to the whole world if I’m not inventing, so get to work so I can get the juices flowing!” “Uh-huh. On it.” And thus you started your morning workout routine. Miu rather… eagerly watching as you worked, the sweat dripping down your brow and making your tank top cling to your ripped muscles, soon glancing between you and the note pad she was so intensely scribbling ideas on.

When the girl was absorbed in her inventing you gently coaxed Miu to her lab leaving her there to get breakfast. After scarfing down the feast Teru had prepared for you, the chef passed you a boxed breakfast. As you were jogging down the hall however you seemed to trip on nothing. “Nishishi! Ah, look! I’ve caught Y/N!” Propping yourself on your arms you found your face had landed in a pie tin full of whipped cream, Kokichi kneeling before you, holding the undamaged breakfast box. “Hey Oma. How are you today?” As you spoke you stood up, wiping the cream off your face with the thumb before licking it off. “I’m booooooaaaaared.” He then tackled your back, clinging to your shoulders. “Hey, hey! Gimmie a piggie back ride!” “Oh? Alright then. Hold on tight!” You ran down hall after hallway, leaping over people and garbage cans, sliding around corners to add some excitement for your passenger.

However to Kokichi’s groans of disappointment you slowed down having reached your destination. You lightly knocked on the door before entering finding Miu busily working away with some scraps of metal or something. “Hey Mew Mew.” Giving her a kiss on her head you took the boxed breakfast from Kokichi and placed it beside her. “The fuck!?” She wiped around to face you, her whole face florescent pink. She was flustered still she seemed to notice something. “Oh, you brought the crotch goblin with you?” You snorted, trying to repress a chuckle. “What are you working on?” “The key to long lasting longevity!” “… Huh?” “Here I’ll place it in simple terms for you since I’m so nice. This bad boy’ll make anyone be able to last all night long! No more sleep while doing things inventions, I’ll be able to stay awake for it all!” “Ooh, I see now.” You closed your eyes and leaned your forehead against her’s. “Just don’t forget to take a break to eat. I’ll get the crotch goblin out of here, so you don’t have any distractions.” “E-eh!?” Miu simply watched in flustered bafflement as you simply walked away, shutting the door behind yourself.

“… Are you two fuckbuddies?” “Heh, nah. I know Mew Mew likes being flustered, but… I don’t know how to make sexual jokes and stuff so, I give her affection instead!” “… Then why do you take care of her? Are you sure it’s not because you LOVE~ her?” … You didn’t seem to react at all to any of his teasing, curious. What exactly WAS your relationship to one another? “Well, I do love her. Admittedly I’m not that smart, or sexually inclined, in fact I think I might be somewhere on the asexual gradient? We’re nothing alike and yet were best friends. I don’t think it’s surprising though since we had known one another since childhood. I’m not entirely sure how or when we had met, she was just always there. She used to be like my big sister! She’d always protect me and fight anyone who picked on me. She always helped me and tutored me when I didn’t or couldn’t understand something…” You lightly sighed, your features becoming lightly crestfallen. “I feel bad about it, but… I… I sometimes miss that girl.” Kokichi was now quite intrigued. “I sometimes feel lost and scared and… and I just want to see her again. I know she’s still there, but… I can’t help these feelings and, I hate them. I hate them so much… I feel so guilty but also happy? It’s… very confusing with these conflicting feelings. Like I know she’s there and hasn’t changed, but she’s also not there and someone else completely?”

Your voice had begun to trail off, seemingly getting lost in thought. You weren’t looking so good. Kokichi quickly looked around, searching for something he could use. It was then Kokichi noticed a dog. It must have escaped from one of Gundham’s animal pens. Perfect. Discretely searching through his pockets, he found a dog whistle. In order to make pranks on the fly, one must be prepared for any situation which could thankfully be used to his advantage here. Then he blew it. Though not a sound could be heard it certainly got the dog’s attention who came racing to it’s call. “Y/N, watch where you’re going!” “Hu- What the-!?” you tripped over your own feet trying to avoid the poor creature. “Sorry little guy.” “Geeze you’re so clumsy, gurl. Let’s take a seat somewhere.” “Yeah, good idea.”

As you promptly trotted to a bench you had asked what you were talking about. “How Iruma had changed.” “Ah, yeah…” After sitting down Kokich sat on your lap. Before you could ask what he was doing he snuggled into you, cheekily smiling and he took your hands, wrapping your arms around himself. “Okay, I’m ready! Stories are best taken in when cuddling after all!” “Hmm…” You propped your chin on his shoulder, thinking it over. “Fine, couldn’t hurt I guess. Anyway, when Miu changed… It was just a day like any other. We were just sitting outside of the school, waiting for Miu’s mom or dad to come pick us up, and they did. We were sitting in the car, faces pressed against the window. We were at a red light so Miu and I were betting on which raindrop would get to the bottom of the window first. And then…” Your grip tightened, holding Kokichi close. “There was this… loud noise. The crunching of metal, but only for a moment, after that, I just heard this loud ringing. I couldn’t see anything, and I was so hot, like when I had accidentally touched the oven. Everything felt as if it were just burning. With how hard the rain came pounding down, it stung. I… I-i…” Due to clutching Kokichi, getting lost in that time, you didn’t notice how he lightly squeezed your hands. “I-I was so scared.” You voice wavered as you curled up into a ball, hugging Kokichi as closely as you could. “And she was just asleep. I, I screamed and cried but Miu didn’t wake up, she just limply laid there. I couldn’t move. I just couldn’t. She didn’t try to protect me like she always did, she… she was just so limp, a-and, and…” Taking a deep breath you blinked a few times trying to get the blurriness to fade from your eyes. “I, uh, I’m sorry, I got lost in thought, where did I leave off?” “Right after you got help. A bit after the car crash.” “Oh. Okay. Uh, we… Yeah! I wasn’t in the hospital for long… I think? I was comatose or something? They said my brain wasn’t functioning or something for a bit… I’m not sure, but I know  Miu was there for even longer than me. She stayed there for a very long time and got lots of surgeries. When we did meet again, I thought she was a different person. She acted so differently, but I know it’s still her. I visited her everyday. She… was drugged out a lot on pain meds so we mostly watched cartoons the whole time. I thought she’d go back to normal once she stopped needing the meds, but this was just her new normal, even the constantly taking drugs and stuff. I once asked her why she had changed and she told me the surgeons turned her into a cyborg. I’m not so sure about that now, but back then I just accepted it. At the time it seemed to be a reasonable enough exclamation. But as we grew up, she never changed, perpetually the same, only difference is how she likes make sexual remarks. But she stayed the same. So, I guess… I want to be her Miu, her big sibling that will protect her. That’s why I gotta work out. Y’know, since I’m not so smart, I could at least fight and protect her that way. At least… I’d like to think I can protect her, but… it’s not like I’m strong enough to stop a car… Not yet at least!” Verve reignited within yourself as you stood up, placing Kokichi aside. “What am I doing here!? I need to be training and get even stronger! Sorry Oma, but I gotta go now! We can play some other time!” Kokichi simply watched as you ran away, a little idea forming in his mind.

Several days had passed since your encounter with Kokichi and not once did you think back on it. You were a bit scatterbrained often forgetting what you were even doing, but the one thing you could always remember was that you had to keep training so you could be strong enough to protect Miu from anything. Surely with enough strength you didn’t have to be smart! Besides, Miu could do that part for you! Together you could be unstoppable, you just had to get good enough to get to that point. And so you dedicated yourself to training.

Once more you found yourself wanting to sleep in, tossing your phone across the room, forgetting you could just turn it off. After the alarm automatically went to snooze, you were about to fall asleep when a new one sounded. “Hey, past you talking. WAKE UP, IT’S MEW MEW’S BIRTHDAY!” “WAIT WHAT!?” You tumbled out of bed, getting wrapped and trapped in the quilt and sheets, landing on the ground with a loud, deep thud before scurrying across the room. After shutting off the alarm, you were in a panic, wrecking your room, desperately hoping you did get a present and didn’t forget. After ransacking the place twice over you found your gift in the most obvious of places, under your bed. You sighed, seeing the mess you had made. By the time you had finished cleaning breakfast time was almost over so you dashed as quickly as you could to the dining hall.

When arriving at Miu’s door you were confused to hear muffled yelling inside. “H-hey Mew Mew!” You were out of breath, leaning against the door. “Just keep your dumbass, whore mouth shut for a moment, your breath stinks up the place enough as it is with your mouth shut.” You were very confused to see Kokichi here. “Hey! Hold on! What’s going on!” You quickly stomped over, standing between Miu and Kokichi. “Oh! Hi Y/N~” “There you are! Do me a favor and toss this asshat out of here!” You looked between the two, absolutely confused as to what was happening. “U-Uh…” “ “Uh…” is that all you can say you pathetic, brain dead, vegetable person, you be better off-” “What did you just say!?” “Miu?” You were perplexed at how infuriated she sounded. “Something… about a vegetable?” “Don’t even repeat that Y/N!” “O-okay?” You took a step back letting Miu march up to Kokichi, grabbing him the collar of his shirt. “You are pissing me the fuck off! Stop being an asshole, spewing shit all over the place and get out!” She then tossed Kokichi out, slamming the door behind him.

You just stood there, stunned into silence. You hadn’t seen Miu like this in so long and… “What’s that fuckin’ smile about?” “Ah, well… That just reminded me of when we were kids is all.” You lightly chuckled, recalling how once a kid was calling you a scrawny skeleton and Miu just screamed at them, getting red in the face, almost passing out from not even stopping to breath. “Hey, I’m not sure exactly what you were defending me from but thank you.” “Whatever. Nobody insults this gorgeous girl genius.” “… Oma was insulting you?” “Duh!” She promptly sat at her worktable, messing with circuit boards or something. “… I see.” So you were wrong… wouldn’t be the first time. “Anybody who messes with you, messes with me.” “Miu.” “HEY! What the-!” You hugged Miu from behind, burrowing your face into her shoulder. “If you wanted to feel my tits that badly you could have just asked!” “No, sorry, I… I just want a hug.” “… T-then let me out of my seat so I can hug you back, you big lug!” “Okay!”

“Oh, I almost forgot! Happy Birthday, Mew Mew!” Miu burst out into that bombastic laughter, patting you on the head. “Wow, you actually remembered! I thought you were going to be a day late again!” “No, I wanted to be on time this year! I even set an alarm for it!” Miu held the wrapped box, examining it. “So, what did you get me?” “Uh… I… don’t know.” “You’re hopeless without me, but it’s you so, I guess I can trust it won’t suck.” You were so giddy, seeing Miu was still blushing. You really surprised her by not forgetting this year. Trying to remember was well worth it! “A book?” It was a children’s book, the cover and each page completely covered by cartoon characters you immediately recognized. “Wow this brings back memories.” “This is one of the shows we watched at the hospital… Thanks Y/N.”

Before he could be spotted spying through the window he quickly ducked, looking back a minute later finding you sitting in a chair, pulling a blushing Miu onto your lap. Pressing his ear to the door he heard you saying something about cuddling being good for reading before taking a step back. Turning on his phone, Kokichi looked through his e-mail, deleting a receipt for a cartoon children’s book. He then dashed away. Upon arriving at your room, he shut the window, locking it, thanking his lucky stars you hadn’t noticed it that morning as you destroyed your room. If he had known you were going to take so long to find the book, he would have either just placed it on your bed or taken his time to lock the window and not rush to rile up Miu for you to walk in on. Oh well, it still worked out. Helping a younger sibling reconnect with their older sibling, especially one who so clearly loved her younger sibling, he couldn’t think of a better gift for such a person. “Nishishi. Happy birthday Iruma.”

[summahsunlight]

All For You, Part 1

Rating: T

Word Count: 2173

Pairing: Poe Dameron X Pilot!Reader

Summary: Your life in the Resistance was not easy, being married to Commander Poe Dameron and a skilled pilot yourself. When you unexpectedly get pregnant, your life is forever changed. Raising a child on base is hard, but never having parents of your own as a child, you are determined to love your little girl and give her the best life. Poe is equally as devoted to you and your daughter, vowing to keep you both safe from the impending threat of the First Order.

Taglist: @thescarletknight2014​, @elmoakepoke​

It’s here! The 200 followers celebration! This was inspired by a one-shot I wrote , Little Pilot. Everyone really enjoyed it and I just started thinking about different scenarios of Poe and his little daughter and this series was born. The taglist is open if you want to be added send a message, ask, or comment here. Feedback is always appreciated! I’m really excited to be sharing this one with you🥰

Life never went according to plan but as you sat there in the med bay, it felt like life was just playing a trick on you.  “Doctor? Are you sure?”

Harter Kalonia nodded. “Yes. I’m sure. Captain Dameron, you’re pregnant. Congratulations.”

“But... I get a hormone shot every month. Poe and I are careful.”

“Contraceptive's are not always one-hundred percent effective.”

“Clearly,” you said, with an aggravated roll of your eyes.

“Captain, were you and Commander Dameron not trying to have baby?”

You slowed the lump that had formed in your throat. “No. We’re not. I mean, someday we would like to have children but we agreed that now is not the best time with the future of the galaxy so uncertain. I honestly thought it was just a stomach bug!”

Kalonia looked at you sympathetically. “If this baby is not what you or Commander Dameron want at this time--”

Understanding what she was hinting at, you stopped her. “No! I... I don’t want to terminate the pregnancy--at least... not until I talk to Poe. This is his baby too and he should be a part of any decision that I might have to make.” 

“Alright,” Kalonia said. 

“Is it alright if I get back to work?” you asked her.

“Actually, Captain, if you are going to carry this baby, you need to cut back.”

“Cut back?”

“Your line of work is dangerous for a fetus, especially in the early stages.”

“I know that but the Resistance needs all the pilots it can get.”

It was an argument that you knew you were not going to win, just by the way Kalonia looked at you; then of course there was going to be Poe--he was never going to let you fly missions once he knew you were pregnant. You briefly wondered how long you could keep this from him in order to keep flying.

You quickly tossed that idea aside. Even if you waited to tell him, Kalonia would, and you would knowingly be risking the life of your baby. That wasn’t something a loving mother would do. 

Sighing, you left the med bay and went to find Poe. Your stomach was filled with nervous butterflies. You weren’t sure how he was react. There was a chance that he’d be less than thrilled--a small chance--but still one that existed. Like you had told Kalonia, you and your husband had not been trying to have a baby. Your hands went to your currently flat stomach, smiling slightly as you thought about the little baby inside of you.

A little baby that you had created with the man you love. Poe would love that baby as much as he loved you. Why were you so worried about telling him?

Because, you thought, cynically, now is not the time to have a baby--we live on a military base, our jobs are dangerous. What would happen to our baby if we both are killed? Maybe it wasn’t the right time to have a baby, maybe you should discuss the possibility of terminating the pregnancy with Poe... what kind of life could you honestly offer the child you were carrying?

Suddenly, you just felt like crying. You had always wanted a family--ever since you were a little girl and never had one of your own. You didn’t know what love was until you met Poe. You wanted this baby, you wanted this baby desperately but would it be fair to your child to force a harsh life upon it?

Wiping the tears that had managed to fall from your eyes, you straightened your flight fatigues and stepped into the hanger. If everyone saw you crying they would know that something was up and you didn't want anyone else knowing until you had told Poe.

“Hey Captain,” Paige Tico greeted. “Everything go okay in the med bay?”

“It was fine,” you answered, adverting your eyes. “It was a virus.”

A virus? Is that what you think of your baby? Anxiously, before Paige could ask anymore questions, you moved through the hanger towards your fighter. Perhaps working on it would clear your mind and prepare you for having the difficult conversation with Poe about the future of your baby.

You tried pushing those thoughts from your mind and work on your fighter. It was easier said than done--you kept thinking about Poe, about the baby, and what you were going to do. In fact, the more you thought about Poe and the baby, the harder you tried to focus on your ship. You were so focused that you didn’t even notice your husband approach.

Poe placed his hands on your waist, startling you slightly. “Sorry, baby, didn’t mean to frighten you. You’re awfully focused, you know that? I find that sexy.”

His lips brushed against your temple and his hands moved along your waist to wrap his arms around your middle from behind. Normally you felt so safe in his arms, like you were home--but right now, you felt like his arms were trapping you. “Just need to get this done,” you whispered, curtly. 

“Are you okay, sweetheart?”

“I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You seem tense--and not in a good way.”

“Just tired.”

Moving away from him, you ducked underneath the wing of your fighter and went to the other side of the ship. Poe followed you but he kept a respectful distance, realizing that you didn’t want to be touched right now. “What did the doctor say? Was it a virus like we thought?”

Tears began to blur your vision. You did not want to tell Poe that he was going to be a father in the hanger-- not with all these people around. “Yeah,” you choked out, almost in a sob. “It was a virus.”

Poe looked at you, softly. “Y/N? What’s wrong?”

You wouldn’t look at him. “Nothing is wrong.”

“Anyone tell you that you suck at lying?”

“I’m not lying.”

“Oh yeah? Why are you crying?”

Damn hormones. You wiped furiously at your eyes, wiping the tears away. “Poe, please, I don’t want to talk about it here, okay?”

Sighing, he nodded and then he took a step closer to you. Gently, Poe took your face between his hands and pressed a tender kiss to your lips. “Fine, then we’ll talk about it later. I hate to see you so upset; sweetheart. Please, don’t cry. Whatever it is, we’ll face it together, okay?”

You locked eyes with him. You loved him so damn much and you just wanted to blurt out that you were pregnant. It wasn’t the place, though. Letting a few more tears fall, you nodded. 

Poe kissed those tears away just before he pulled you into his arms, into a comforting embrace. “Bee and I are calling it a day; why don’t you do the same? Let’s go have dinner and then maybe we can share a shower...”

“I’m...I’m not very hungry.”

“Still not feeling well, huh?”

“Not really.”

“Then you really should call it a day, sweetheart.”

Knowing that he was right, you sighed and closed your fighter up. Wiping your hands with a cloth, you sniffled as you tossed it aside. You could tell that he was looking at you and when you chanced a look at him, sure enough, his eyes were on you. He was clearly concerned. “Poe, seriously, I’m fine.”

Poe didn’t believe you. He’d known you for a long time now--since flight school--and he knew when something was upsetting you. He just wished you would open up to him. You had trust issues, Poe didn’t blame you given the nature of your childhood, but that didn’t stop him from wishing you still weren’t so anxious when it came to trusting him. “Okay, but... you know you can always talk to me.”

You felt another surge of tears. Is this what the next nine months were going to be like if you decided to keep your baby? “I know, Poe, I’m just... there’s a lot going on right now...”

He just wanted to take you into his arms again and comfort you. Slipping his arm around your waist, Poe led you out of the hanger. BB-8 rolled behind you, equally as concerned about you as his master. 

And this made you cry harder. Damn these kriffing hormones! 

Once you made it to the mess hall with him, you had miraculous stopped crying--thank the Maker, because you didn’t want to explain to your friends why you were crying. You couldn’t think up a believable lie. Poe’s right, I am a terrible liar. 

Poe led you to your usual table and offered to grab your dinner. Exhausted and emotionally drained, you simply nodded your head. While he was gone, your hands rubbed across your stomach, mind wandering and thinking about the baby--you wanted this child, you loved this child--but what if Poe didn’t? What would you do if he didn’t want to have this baby?

“Here you go, baby,” Poe said, gently, setting a tray down in front of you.

“Oh no,” you cried as the smell of the food made you sick.

Dashing up from your table, hand covering your mouth, you bolted from the mess hall and just made it to the public ‘fresher in time before you threw up all over the corridor. You sat there for the longest time just crying, you weren’t even sure how much time had passed until Poe edge his way into the refresher and helped you stand, walking you back to your quarters.

Poe quietly let you both inside, helping you to the bed. He got down on the floor and pulled your boots off, then he helped you out of your flight suit. Still not speaking to you, he got you back on your feet and pulled the covers down, and then he was helping you lay down. 

His hand gently pushed your hair back and he smiled, softly. “I think you need to rest. You’re never going to beat this virus if you don’t sleep, Y/N.”

You a few tears leak out of the corners of your eyes as he pressed his lips to your forehead and turned away from the bed. “Poe.”

“Sweetheart?”

“It’s not...it’s not a virus.”

“Not a virus... we’ll if it’s not a virus...than what is it?”

Sitting up, you wrapped your arms around your waist, as if you were protecting the baby inside of you. “Poe...I’m pregnant.”

Poe was silent, his brown eyes wide. BB-8 blurted excitedly. A baby! Poe! A baby! Still, the commander couldn’t formulate words; which was a rare feat for him. 

You grew more nervous the longer he remained silent.  Blinking the tears out of your eyes, you stared at the wall just behind him because you didn’t want to look at him when you spoke next. “Doctor Kalonia says that if we don’t want to have this baby...since it is rather unexpected... that we have time.”

Finally finding his voice, Poe questioned, hoarsely,“What are you talking about?” 

“Raising a baby on a military base--if we don’t want too...we have options.”

“No.”

“No,” you repeated. “What do you mean by that?”

“It means... I want to keep the baby. Our baby, sweetheart.”

Tears streamed down your cheeks. Poe smiled at you and sat down on the edge of the bed. He reached for you, pulling you flush against him and you buried your nose against his shoulder. “You want to keep the baby?”

Poe pressed soft kisses all over your cheeks and hair. “Yes. Yes I want to keep the baby. So it’s not according to plan, but this baby is ours, and I want to raise that baby with you. I want us to be a family.”

You continued to cry, this time a mixture of happy and sad tears. “But what kind of life can we give our baby here and with the threat of the First Order growing... how safe is it really going to be?”

“Listen, I know it’s going to be difficult. I promise our baby will be safe.”

“How? How can you promise that?”

“Because...you and the baby are my life, sweetheart, and I’ll do whatever it takes to make sure you’re both safe from anyone that wants to harm you.”

“All I wanted when I was a little girl was a family to call my own--I want to give our baby that, Poe.”

His lips caressed yours. Poe wanted nothing more than to give you that family you’d been searching so long for--he wanted to make sure that you were never alone again, longing for someone to love you. “We will--we’ll give our baby a family that loves them more than anything in this galaxy.” 

You rested your forehead against his and closed your eyes, picturing Poe holding and singing to your baby--just loving the tiny little life that he had created with you--you had never wanted anything more than this child. 

[marveloussupernerd]

Could I pretty please request Zen and MC ~platonically~ getting hammered together and just getting into shenanigans? I’m a ✨lesbian✨ and still reslly would love to have these characters as best friends, especially zen because he seems like such a ride or die. If I could have one wish it would be getting plastered with Zen and him making sure I don’t die. Thank you in advance and feel free to reject this one lol

Yes !!! Ofc I can do that :) also I have literally never rejected a request LMAO I’m here for your enjoyment. I’m rlly excited to write this bc everyone is SLEEPING on zen and also ?? The Zen friendship content in Jumin’s route? I’ll never shut up about how much I love it. Also I threw Yoosung in here too pls don’t hate me

Clubbing - Platonic! Zen

Warnings: alcohol (duh lmao)

Summary: you’ve had a rough day at work. Zen’s been meaning to show you around to some of his favorite bars. Zen’s responsible but also wouldn’t hesitate to punch a bitch if need be. Yoosung has to clean up after your messes

Oh! Also. PSA, I’m 19. So have I ever gone out and gotten drunk... no LMAO. I do drink (it’s legal where I’m at as long as you’re with your parents, still wouldn’t be able to drink in a bar though) but only enough to get buzzed usually. Anyway if this is inaccurate that’s why I am so sorry LMAO

You honestly had had the worst day today. It was a pretty bad week, truth be told, and you were so grateful it was the weekend. You texted Zen a lot throughout this week; the two of you had become close friends since the RFA party and hung out almost every weekend. Hearing all about your bad days, he suggested taking you to a bar to let off some steam and give you something to look forward to. You’d never turn down a drink.

You took an Uber to the bar, as did Zen. You expressed your desire to get plastered and Zen agreed wholeheartedly. You had never been to this bar before, but Zen swore by it, so you trusted him.

“Hey!” Zen exclaimed as he saw you get out of the car. He was leaning against the wall of the bar coolly, dressed in the leather jacket he must have pulled out of his closet from the time he was in a motorcycle gang.

“This better be worth the commute,” you teased, not letting him live down the fact that it took almost an hour to get here (primarily due to traffic honestly).

“Oh it will,” he had a giant grin on his face. “I’ve been so busy I haven’t been here in a while, but i doubt it’s changed.” He pushed himself off the wall and made his way inside alongside you. “It’s right outside of a college so you get all the fun college students here.”

“Sounds messy,” you commented, glancing at some girls in skimpy crop tops and high-waisted shorts getting drunk already.

“Much better than bars for real adults. You’ve always got some guy moping over a glass of whiskey in those. Here, it’s all singing and dancing and getting drunk. Of course, I only come when I want to get completely hammered, but it’s always fun. The kids are nice too.”

It was at this point that you reminded yourself that Zen was only 23. He seemed so much older because he’s been on his own for so long, but nope, he was 23. The same age as a lot of the grad students here. So partying with them was not weird or creepy in any sort of way. In fact, the students probably were over the moon to party with someone so famous and, if they weren’t aware of who he was, handsome.

“So what do you typically start with here?” You asked, wanting to get the full experience.

“Shots. Classic move, especially for the med school students. You’ll see them soon enough. They start off with fireball but then make their way down to the cheapest vodka they have as they get more drunk and can’t actually taste it.”

“Let’s follow their influence,” you suggested. Zen went up to the bar and ordered some shots, bringing four glasses back with him. “Do they normally do two at once?” You asked.

“Nah, they’re way too broke for that. But I thought it’d be fun.” He handed you your shot glass and clinked his against it. You gulped down the shot, feeling the familiar fire burn in your throat. (I love fireball LMAO) You shook your head vigorously to counteract the burn, as though that would help, then looked back at Zen. “Good?” He asked.

“Perfect. Round 2?”

“Already?”

You laughed. “Well, it’s here isn’t it? The faster we can get drunk the better.”

You got drunk pretty fast. Zen was constantly handing you drinks, which of course you didn’t turn down. Maybe it was because the two of you hadn’t gotten drunk in a while, but this one hit you hard.

“Will you sing karaoke with me?” Zen chuckled, his cheeks flushed from all the alcohol in his system.

You laughed out loud. “Sure. I’ll even let you pick the song.”

You did not expect him to pick “Before He Cheats” but honestly? A banger of a song. Who doesn’t know all the words to this song?? “Hey, I’m Zen, and this is my best friend,” he slurred out, introducing you before the song started.

You sang in unison, the first instrumental break coming out. “This is for my asshole ex!” You cheered. The college students cheered with you.

“And all my old managers who told me I’d never make it!” Zen added. Everyone cheered again. You walked over to him, tripping on the microphone cord. He caught you a few inches off the ground.

“That would’ve hurt like a bitch,” you commented, bursting into laughter again. He helped you up and held your hand as you crossed over the wires this time, ensuring you wouldn’t get caught again.

Was your performance good? Probably not. Even Zen, who usually sang pretty well, was some sort of hot mess since he was so drunk. But the drunk students seemed to enjoy it, so you padded off the ‘stage’, proud of yourself.

Some dude called your name. Ew. Maybe Zen shouldn’t have introduced you.

Zen whipped around to face him. “If you so much as look at her right now I swear to God I’ll knock you into- Yoosung?”

“Hi!” You turned around to see the origin of the voice; it was indeed Yoosung. “You guys are kinda drunk.”

The two of you simply laughed, brushing him off. “What are you doing here?” Zen asked.

“Oh, well I live right down the street.”

“Oh my goodness you are a college student!” You observed keenly. You were connecting so many dots.

“Yup. Uh, I had an LOLOL event tonight but was super tired, so I thought I’d come and take a shot and it’d help wake me up. Never expected to see you two belting out Carrie Underwood.” He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

“Oh! I have a great idea,” Zen exclaimed, focusing his attention on you.

“I’d love to hear it.”

“Why don’t we just crash at Yoosung’s place tonight? We won’t have to pay for an Uber at high time and get stuck in traffic!”

Yoosung’s eyes widened. “But-“

“That’s pretty smart,” you agreed, nodding. “What do you think Yoosung?”

“I-“ he sighed. “I guess it’s okay. As long as I can play LOLOL.”

“Yay!” You cheered. “We can go now. Lead the way.”

Yoosung hesitantly led you out to the street, walking ahead of the two of you, glancing back every few seconds to ensure you hadn’t died. Zen wrapped an arm around you and you one around him, and you stumbled down the street together, only slightly more stable than you would have been if it were just you on your own.

Luckily Yoosung lived on the first floor. You weren’t sure you’d be able to do steps right now. He unlocked the door to his apartment. “I only have like... a bed and a couch,” he muttered awkwardly. “But we can figure something out.”

You stepped into his apartment, looking around. “Wow Yoosung! This is cute as hell.”

“Uh, thanks, I think.”

You made your way to his couch and collapsed down on it. Zen did so on the other end of the couch at the same time, your legs bumping into each other. You both shifted so that your legs were on top of his so that it was more comfortable.

“Is that really comfortable? You can take my bed,” Yoosung offered.

“Nah, this is great. Will you get us a blankie though?” You asked. Yoosung left to go find something. Zen shrugged off his leather jacket. You were very happy you wore something comfy enough to crash in.

Yoosung draped a blanket over the two of you, his face bright red. “Is this okay?”

“Perfect! Thanks Dad,” Zen joked. Yoosung’s face got even more red, his ears heating up now too.

“Night Yoosungie. Don’t stay up all night,” you commented, shutting your eyes.

You heard something set down on the coffee table. Cups of water and Advil. He was too sweet. “I have class in the morning, so feel free to see yourself out whenever you’re up and ready tomorrow,” Yoosung said. “Goodnight you two.” He chuckled to himself. You and Zen probably looked like absolute idiots, but not that you cared. You had a great night out. Good thing Dad Yoosung was there too.

[heres-harleyyy]

Redemption Ch.5

Pairing - Natasha x reader (F)

Summary - this is the story of how you met the infamous Black widow, but you know her as Natasha. Meeting by pure chance thanks to your ability to teleport, a friendship blooms and turns into something more.

A/N - Sorry it took me longer than expected to write this up, I promise the next chapter with have more Natasha in it!

Warnings - Mention of dead bodys.

.Chapter One // Chapter Two // Chapter Three // Chapter Four // Chapter Five // Chapter six // Chapter seven // Chapter Eight //

After you told Clint that you were in, he simply nodded not asking about what was on your mind, gave you a hug before stating he'd see you tomorrow and you’d be on your way.

Jumping home, you head back downstairs, passing through the living room you see your mom passed out on the sofa. Bottles of alcohol lay opened next to her, looking over her sleeping form she seemed more relaxed and younger. You understood why she turned to the drink after your fathers passing, she was only seventeen she had you. Your grandparents had cast her out for getting knocked up out of wedlock discarding the family. Your father had joined the army at seventeen with his parent's consent, in turn, taking you and your mother in. A year later your father was called away on duty leaving both of you with his parents, however, when your father died it was too much for his parents and again they cast both you and your mother out and moved across the country.

You let out a breath you didn't realise you were holding, walking over to her and placing a blanket over her. She tried so hard to be a good mother but she struggled which you couldn't fault her for. You'd miss her.

Turning away from her you head to the closet where some of your father's belongings where kept. After a few minutes, you find what you were looking for, his old military duffel bag. Grabbing it you jump back to your room and start packing what clothes you'd need, turning around to your bed you lift your mattress and grab the small that contained your savings. Quickly counting it out to make sure there was enough for your fake id before shoving that too in your bag. You then collapse on to your bed and let sleep take ahold.

After what felt like ten minutes your alarm clock wakes you from your slumber. Reaching out you slam the snooze button before groggily sitting up rubbing the sleep out your eyes. The events of yesterday come flooding back yet still you feel nothing. You quickly get up and go for a quick shower and get dressed catching your reflection in the mirror.

You looked tired, the faint colors of purples and yellow still married your skin highlight your right eye. A dent above your left eye next to your temple a permanent reminder that it was all real. That due to some solvent organisation you nearly died, you couldn't be with the girl you loved. That they had taken some from both of you.

Finally, an emotion ignites in you. Balling your fist up you lash out punching your reflection causing the mirror to crack on impact. Staring back at your distorted reflection you didn't recognise it, but you didn't care. Leaving the bathroom you head back to your room. Standing in the doorway you take one last look at the place you once called home, grabbing your bag you head downstairs taking one more look at your mother before leaving for good.

The walk to Clints takes you a little over an hour. You take in the small town that had been your home for your whole life, it's bittersweet. This place was full of childhood memories, had things been different maybe you would have grown old here. But that was no longer an option you weren't the same kid anymore.

When you arrive Clint and Laura are waiting outside, wrapped up in an embrace. Hearing you approach the broke apart. Laura had tears in her eyes she pulls you into a bone-crushing hug, slowly you hug her back.

"Take care of him please Y/N," she says trying to keep her own tears from falling.

"Always." You reply as you both part. She sniffs once before smiling at you both.

"Don't worry hun, we're not recruits yet." Clint laughs picking up his own bag. He gives Laura one last kiss before the two of you head off.

---

Getting the ids had been a breeze surprisingly, you both decided to play it safe and keep your own names just change your date of birth to say you both were eighteen. It was a simple change but still a risky one.

Thankfully though when you both went to the recruitment office they took you both on. After that things began to become a blur. The first year you both started to shine quickly becoming the top marksman of your squadron, Clint preferred long-range rifles rather than the assault. Making jokes about how he'd love nothing more than to take a bow and arrow out on to the field and create a whole new record. You, on the other hand, favoured hand to hand combat occasionally bringing in a melee weapon, something about the feeling of wielding a knife or baton made you feel more empowered.

The second-year you were both sent on tour. It was short and uneventful, only receiving a few casualties. It was then you began to feel again, it was slight but something. Of course, you loved Clint, he as your brother but the others in your squad you started to see them as family.

The third-year you are sent on tour again, yet this time it wasn't a breeze like last time. Clint and you were out on patrol round one of the tiny village passing by some small children that where playing in the street.

"You feel like we're being watched?" Clint asks, looking around shrugging his shoulder readying himself.

"They're always watching us, Clint. You know that." You reply scanning your surroundings for potential threats. Clint hummed a response.

"Strike Team Charlie how copy? Over." Sergeant Philips voice crackles through your coms. Looking back at Clint he nods before Turing around. You follow him.

"All good sir, heading back to the extraction point. Over." You answered. The sergeant gives you a quick response before the coms go dead again.

"You seem more on edge." You commented looking at your best friend. He looks back at you before shrugging.

"Just something's off, can feel it in my gut." He shakes his head and sighs.

"Probably Chefs cooking coming back on you," you laugh, lightly punching him on his shoulder. He, in turn, lets out a small chuckle. As you's around the corner you're greeted with a sight that turns your stomach. The children that were out playing in the street a mere few moments ago now lay dead. "Holy fuc-" you began but were quickly blown back by some unseen force. A scolding heat scorched your body as if you were standing next to a bonfire. You feel your back collide with the ground and deafening scream of white noise. Slowly blinking you shake your head trying to focus. Thick clouds of black smoke prevented you from seeing your surroundings. Quickly you stand making sure you can walk, which you can you quickly find cover grabbing your com only to see it was bust. "Fuck!" You throw it in your dump pouch before readying your rifle checking the surroundings. You spotted Clint still laying on his back unmoving, adrenaline began to pump through your veins, checking the surroundings quickly you ran over to him. Quickly checking to make sure he had a pulse you pull him into nearby cover checking for his com to request reinforcements but his to was bust. Voices of men screaming and gunshots caught your attention, cursing again you look around. You were outnumbered and with a man down you weren't likely to make it out alive unless you jumped...

Over the last three years, jumping had only reminded you over her so you stopped. To "have a normal life." Cursing again you grabbed ahold of Clint's plate carrier and closed your eyes, picturing the med bay. The men's voices got louder until you heard one shout next to you, you opened your eyes to see him aiming his gun at you screaming at you both just before he pulls the trigger you blink feeling your self jump. Looking around you see you're in camp a few tents down from the med bay. Clint groaned slowly coming round from the blast.

"Medic!" You scream at the top of your lungs finally coming back to reality. The medic team came charging out taking Clint into the tent, they took you as well making sure that you weren't hurt. The Sergeant found you and asked for a mission report which you gave in detail leaving out the part where you jumped you and Clint back to the base. Seeming satisfied with that he took you off active patrol and allowed you to stay at camp with Clint. He was out cold for two days before coming round, the doctor had said due to the blast some loss of hearing might have occurred but the word might filled you with too much hope. Clint couldn't hear anything around him or you. Luckily as part of you're training you'd both learned some ASL which you both were extremely grateful for.

---

"Y/L/N," Sergeant Phillips calls out as he enters the medic tent. You quickly turn around and stand to greet him. "You and Barton have report to my tent at once."

"Sir?" You question as he turns to leave.

He stops briefly before yelling, "Double time soldier."

"Yes, sir!" You respond turning back to Clint, signing to him that you both had to get up and go. He looks at you confused before asking why. You shrugged before helping him out of the bed and to the Sergeants tent. Inside there were two people you didn't recognise, one being a small man dressed in a suit and tie the other dressed in black with an eye patch.

"Ah good, you's are here." Sergeant Philips says before truing to the two gentlemen saying a quick goodbye and leaving. You and Clint exchange a look between each other silently question each other. Had the military finally clicked on to your fake documents?

"Please take a seat," the smartly dressed man says gesturing to the chairs opposite them. You help Clint over and take the seats.

"So it's Y/L/N and Barton correct?" The man with the eye patch starts looking over you both with an analytical eye.

"Yes, sir." You reply for both of you. He hums in response, the other man simply smiles at you both. "And who are you two?"

The man with the eye patch simply straightens his back looking down at yous, the other man quietly chuckles.

"I'm Nick Fury, director of shield." He says as if it was meant to mean something to you, your hands start to sweat with nerves, "And this is Agent Coulson. We are here to talk to you about certain issues that have caused our attention."

[hazinhoodies]

No Love Lost (Part 4)

Harrison x CF!Reader

A/N: Hello I have returned and here's part four when I said none of y'all are ready I really meant none of y'all are ready. it only gets worse

Warnings: talk of death, cheesiness, hadestown spoilers

Word Count: 3.4k

Light streamed in through the windows, the cream coloured curtains doing almost nothing to dim it. Turning around in bed, you pulled the covers up over your shoulder, the arm that laid over your waist moved up with the duvet. The shift in the warmth it provided brought your attention to the body it was attached to, pressed against your own. Soft breaths falling from smooth lips. The more you woke up, the more you became aware of just how close he was, eventually the scene rod something so uniquely Harrison filled your senses and you welcomed it, nearly falling back asleep with how comforting it was. You got up anyways.

You wandered through your morning routine. Medication, coffee, shower, get dressed with CF maintenance (clearing airways and the exercises you’d been doing to help since you were 10) scattered in between. By the time you were out of the shower, Harrison had gotten up and left your bed in disarray. Pulling jeans and a sweater, you left your room to find Harrison sitting on the couch, still in just his sweats, scrolling through his Instagram.

“Morning” You smiled to Harrison as you entered the living room, plopping down at the end of the couch near his feet and pulling your knees up to your chest.

“Morning” He responded, resting his phone on his chest as his baby blues meet your own eyes, “Done everything already?” Despite the vague terminology, you knew what he meant, you nodded. “Everything? Took all your meds? Cleared your airways? Done the exercises?”

You nodded to confirm all of them, letting out a breathy laugh at his concern. “Harrison, I’ve been doing this since I was five, I know how to do these things”

“I know, I know” He sighed, “I just worry about you”

“Thought I told you not to?” You tease, furrowing your brows and giving your head an inquisitive tilt.

Harrison scoffed, “As if anyone telling me not to do something has actually stopped me from doing the thing. Besides we were fourteen.”

“That doesn’t make it any less important” You exclaimed.

“Does it?” Harrison scrunched up his nose and his voice went an octave higher, earning him a kick in the shin from you.

“Go shower” Your voice shakes from the laughter that comes out at the same time.

“You’re only changing the subject because you know I’m right” Harrison looks at you as he sits up. brows so high on his forehead that they might ask well be in his hairline. You shake your head and he stands up, heading towards the hall with a triumphant smile on his lips.

“And put some clothes on!” That makes Harrison turn around, his jaw dropped in mock offence.

“You don’t like it? Come on I work hard for this body and I just get yelled at by my best friend to put clothes on?” He tuts disapprovingly. All while your lips are pursed tight trying to hold back a smile (and failing you might add, but that’s not the point). You pull the hotel throw pillow out from behind you and toss it towards him but it misses Harrison as he (finally) heads down the hall towards the bathroom. The pillow bounces off the wall and falls to the floor.

“Wait what are we doing today?” You shout, hoping he hears you.

“You told me to shower Y/N! You’ll find out later!” Even though his voice is muffled you can still hear the dumb grin he definitely has on his face.

“And now I’m asking you what we’re doing?!”

“Shower first!” You could hear the water turn on, the pressure causing it to echo off the glass of the shower door.

After thirty minutes of flipping through the hotel TV (and finding nothing entertaining, only news) Harrison finally came out of the hall, fully dressed and dried.

“Took you long enough” You spike seriously but Harrison knew you were being sarcastic, resulting in him rolling his eyes at your comment.

“Ready to go?” Harrison grabbed his coat and pulled it on. As you nodded and stood, he grabbed yours and held it out so you could put your arms in.

“Haz. I can put on my own coat” You protested but couldn’t deny that the gesture had made you smile.

“Just wanna help” He shook the coat just enough that it made noise, a signal for you to let him help. So you did. You put one arm in until your hand popped out of the sleeve and then did the same with the other arm, once it was on you shrugged a couple times so it would fall into place. Harrison’s hands rested on your shoulders for a second, rubbing gentle circles until you had started to turn around as you did up the zip.

“Gonna be warm enough?” Harrison inquired and he placed the hotel room key into his wallet and put it in his pocket. You pull on your backpack filled with daily necessities (not only for CF. you had just regular daily stuff in there, money, umbrella, snacks. whatever you need really).

“Yeah, I’ll be okay” Harrison have you a look. One that you knew all too well. A look that said okay? just okay? It was your turn to roll your eyes now. “Harrison, Don’t worry”

“You know I’m still going-“

“I’m fully aware. Just tell me where we’re going, please?” You pulled on the handle of the door, opening it up and stepping out into the hall.

“You’ll find out when we get there”

“So I know it wasn’t on your list” Harrison starts after the uber drives off. You were thankful to get out of the car. The driver made you slightly uncomfortable but Harrison was somehow able to keep a casual conversation with everyone. Harrison adjusts the straps of your backpack (which he’d taken after the uber ride) and continues, “But I didn’t have anything to put during the day so there’s a couple museums, the 9/11 memorial and then I can’t tell you what we’re doing after.

“I was going to try and get us to the Empire State. I don’t think we can go all the way to the top though because it’s so high and your lungs and stuff and I’m really sorry-” Harrison starts to ramble. You take his hand in yours and squeeze gently, a habit the two of you had started when you were seventeen. Whenever one was overwhelmed or anxious, the other would take their hand and squeeze it once, holding it until the first seemed to calm down when they’d return the gesture.

It takes a moment, and a couple breaths from Harrison but eventually he squeezes back. Reluctantly, you let go.

“Harrison you didn’t have to take me to New York at all, and you did. Thank you. I don’t mind that we can’t see the Empire State. You can go up for me another time.” You look at Harrison, he has his lip pulled between his teeth, “Okay?” He breathes in, then out, and then he nods.

You enter the first museum of the day, an interactive one about New York's history as a port city. You think it made Harrison feel better. He never got nervous before, or at least never showed it, but he seemed semi-terrified for this trip, he just wanted it to be amazing, you knew that much.

So when you were able to point at various unnamed, black and white photos of people and make some joke of them, Harrison could feel the stress release little by little. Maybe it was disrespectful to the people of the photos, but you didn’t seem too worried about it.

After the MoMA, where Harrison and you had dramatically recreated some of the poses in paintings and sculptures, and the 9/11 memorial, which included absolutely no joking (you both knew better than that), you followed Harrison down the street, drinking an iced coffee that you’d gotten with your lunch. You weren’t really paying attention to where you were, only to how far you were from your best friend while admiring the buildings.

It wasn’t until he stopped (and you kept walking, ultimately bumping into him) that you realized where you were. Harrison is fishing two tickets out of the front pocket of your backpack (when did he put them there???). Instead of just stepping back and looking at the sign, like any logical person would, you struggle to read the text on them as he moves around until he finally hands you a ticket.

Hadestown

“Hadestown?” You look up at Harrison, brows furrowed in confusion. He only nods.

“It’s good I promise. It won eight Tony’s” The usher checks your tickets and directs you towards where your seats are. By some miracle, Harrison had managed to get fifth-row seats in an otherwise nearly packed theatre only a week before the show.

You left the theatre with wide smiles and happy laughter. You walked arm in arm with Harrison, huddling close to try and hide from the wind and chilly New York night air.

“The entire time he was so cocky! Hades challenged him and Orpheus was literally like ‘kay bet’ and then lost!” You knew that moment of the play was meant to be upsetting but you couldn’t help but laugh at the stupidity. All he had to do was not turn around and Orpheus still turned around.

“I told you you’d like it” Harrison grins at you as you wait for the uber to show up.

“Yeah. Thank you. You know me too well,” You rest your head on his shoulder.

“Anything for my favourite girl” Harrison looked up at the sky. A couple hours ago it didn’t look like it was going to rain but now it did. Growing up in London, neither of you were unfamiliar with the rain and normally he’d curse the clouds that blocked the sky but it might be good this time. Maybe he’d be able to check another thing off your bucket list (and his own but he’s not going to tell you that kissing you was on his list).

You almost fell asleep in the uber. Music played softly from the stereo and there was little to no conversation. Harrison was just comfy, and your eyes slipped shut. You woke up to Harrison shaking you softly, telling you to wake up, his voice was barely above a whisper.

Once your head was lifted and you’d apologized for falling asleep, you looked out the window. Water and lights and a couple of boats. You smiled as the uber stopped, Harrison paid (you really felt bad about him paying for everything but anytime you tried to pay for anything he insisted. Luckily he’d let you pay for lunch earlier), and then the two of you stepped onboard one of the boats.

There were two decks. One was the roof to the other and you made a beeline for the stairs to the upper deck. You looked over the water, even though the boat hadn’t moved yet, you still loved it.

The boat was hardly filled, the two of you and maybe a dozen and a half other people on board. Conversation about the musical continued to flow from you. You talked about how much you had loved Hermes, attempting to sing some of his parts in a ridiculously low voice, his register much too low for you, making both you and Harrison laugh.

Harrison had gone to get you two a drink from the bar on board, you couldn’t drink alcohol with CF so you knew Harrison would limit himself to one beer. You lean against the railing looking over the water as the boat moved slowly forward. You watched as the reflection of the lights shifted in the ripples of the water.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Harrison comes up behind you and hands you your drink, which you accept graciously before he leans against the railing in the same position you are.

“There really wasn’t a villain” You pause, taking note of how Harrison’s gaze stays on you even when you’re not talking, “Hadestown was a love story through and through”

“Explain?”

“You couldn’t tell?” He shook his head no, “Sacrificing everything for the person you love. They promised to stay together no matter what happened and even when Eurydice went to Hadestown, she tried to bring Orpheus with her. I guess the Fates could be viewed as a villain. They’re kind of like the witches from Macbeth, just there to influence. But they also influenced him not to give up on Eurydice and he didn’t. And then his song reminded Hades of his love of Persephone and made the choice to possibly let Eurydice go even though it meant he’d lose some of his people. He did it because Persephone wanted him to. They sacrificed everything for each other” You took a sip of your drink after you finished talking, giving Harrison time to think over what you said.

“Huh. Yeah” That was all the answer you received. You looked at Harrison and laughed and his minimal reaction to what is essentially an essay in comparison. Harrison continues, “I more so noticed the fact that Orpheus was hopeful even when the circumstances were slim, or unhappy”

“That too” You looked down into your drink, swirling it around in the crystal glass. You see a small splash in the beverage. You start to feel them on your head and on your arms as well. You look around to notice you two are the only ones left on the upper deck. “Harrison it’s raining”

“So it is” Harrison grins and doesn’t move.

“Should we go down to the lower deck?” You question.

“Have you already forgotten? Isn’t kiss in the rain on your list?” Truly you had been so distracted by the rain that you had forgotten.

Wordlessly, Harrison takes your glass from you and places it on the small table that his empty glass sat on. He steps forward, taking your hands in his and wrapping your arms around his neck before his hands fall to your waist. You let him move you with no resistance as butterflies erupt in your stomach. You lick your lips as Harrison dips his head down so your foreheads rest together. “Can I-“

“Wait wait” You cut him off and Harrison immediately pulls his head back from yours, giving you space, worry and a small amount of panic in his eyes. “I just. I do want this, I do. I just need to know”

The sound of rain and Harrison chuckling fill your ears, instantly calming you down. Harrison takes your hand in his, never removing it from his neck and squeezes it softly.

“I promise that this won’t be like a movie, we won’t kiss in front of the Disneyland castle and then fall in love” It’s exactly like a movie though. Both of you know that. You both watched the Notebook for the first time together. You squeeze his hand back, muttering a quiet okay that you weren’t even sure was audible.

Harrison licks his lips before speaking, “Can I kiss you now?”

“Just for the list?”

“Just for the list.” He confirms.

You nod. It takes everything Harrison has in him to hold back. Pretend that he hasn’t wanted to have his lips against yours since year ten. He hopes he held back enough.

Wet lips press against your own. Moving together in sync as rain pours around you, but it’s hardly noticeable. His lips were the only thing you could think of as he pulls you closer to him, lips never separating except to breathe and even then they still brush together.

Although this isn’t the first time you’ve felt his lips on your own it feels like it is. Maybe in a sense, it is. The first time you’re kissing this version of Harrison. The one who isn’t seventeen and having rumours spread around school, giving him a ‘kill count’ that seems to get bigger every time someone new gets told.

You wonder if he’s forgotten about that first time. You hope not, because you sure haven’t.

Completely given up on holding back, Harrison bits and rugs on your bottom lip, eliciting a small whimper from you that you weren’t even sure had happened, it was so quiet. It wasn’t even long enough before Harrison’s lips were back on yours, his left hand moved from your hip up to your jaw and as he deepened the kiss.

Harrison'sn tongue swiped against your bottom lip which you part from the top. He tasted like beer, having never liked the drink before, you couldn’t seem to get enough of it now. Because it was attached to Harrison. You could never get enough of him. How were you meant to give this up now that you’ve had a taste of what it’d be like.

The two of you finally pull apart and it takes a moment for you to come back to your senses and open your eyes. When you do, though, you’re certainly met with a sight.

Harrison’s cheeks were red, his lips matched in colour and swelled slightly. His hair was dark and curly from all the rain and he had a grin on his face still. He always did.

“Cross another one off. Now we should probably get to the lower deck” He wrapped his arm around your shoulders and pulled you along with him until you were sheltered from the rain. God, how had you gone so long without kissing this boy?

The rain has stopped somewhere between getting off the boat and getting out of the uber. As you entered the hotel, you pulled off your sopping wet coat. You had been too distracted before to even think about the repercussions of standing in the cold air after getting soaked by the rain. Your jeans stuck to your legs when you tried to pull them off to change in your pyjamas. You were still cold though.

Hesitantly, you knocked on Harrison’s door.

“Yeah?” He asked and you pushed the door open. Harrison was pulling a black t-shirt on, adjusting the bottom. He looked to you for a moment before puttering around his room. You watched as he took off his watch and plugged in his phone, part of a nightly routine.

“Can I have one of your sweaters?” You leaned against the door frame with your arms crossed in front of your stomach.

“Why?” He let out a breathy laugh with the word. You’d been taking his sweaters since you were 15. He never told you, but it was part of the reason he broke up with a couple of girls in high school. They got jealous of how he treated you and wanted him to stop being friends with you. They were only insecure and he couldn’t blame for that, but when it got excessive is when he had to end things. Of course, Harrison would never let that happen. But he knew that if he told you, then you’d feel guilty.

“Because it’s cold and your sweaters are warmer than mine” Without hesitation, he tosses a hoodie to you. You flinch, but catch the dark green blob of fabric. You put it on, hood included, and pulled the drawstrings tight so just your face peeked out from the hole and tied the strings in a neat little bow.

The room was frozen, you looking at Harrison and him looking back at you, one eyebrow cocked. Your lips break into an awkward and forced smile. One you imagined make you look like Darcy from Finding Nemo (but hopefully less insane and fish murdery).

Harrison’s expression broke into a laugh, he shakes his head, muttering something to himself before speaking to you through breathy laughs, “Go to sleep”

“Okay” Harrison didn’t think it’d be that easy, you turn around and shove your hands in the pocket of the hoodie, you bunch your shoulders up to your ears, relishing in the warmth of the sweater and you walked away. You’d only opened your door when Harrison shouted a quick ‘Goodnight’, which you returned.

Crawling into bed, you were comfortable. Harrison’s sweater provided familiarity and homeyness. As much as you could get from him without him actually being there.

If you’d known that it was going to be a regular thing for Harrison (or something of his) to sleep with you, you should’ve just gotten a room with one bed.

tags:

nll:

@staringmoony @raspberryparker

haz:

@summernykole @hjosterfield @imagines-andshizz @thequeensardine @artemisiaarm @sincerelymlg @butithasntkilledyouyet

@bitchymathematician @ixchel-9275 @honeyyhuggs @nedthegay @ohyouremymedicine @awkwardfangirl2014 @parkerpeterholland @screeching-student-unknown @musicalburrage @itsrecklesscalum @jjasalem @little-miss-rebel3 @practicallylivesonline @phia-eilice @osterfieldholland01 @happymagicbee @headsup-itsmostlypeter @starlightfound @spideyyypeter @empressdreams @isabellyduh

[sentherefortherescue]

My submission for the Halloween thing :3

For @heather-likes2review

[[MORE]]

"The mission is pretty simple this time Thunderbirds 2; there is a mine in Phoenix Arizona that has had a cave in while three miners were decommissioning it. Our job is to locate the missing miners and seal off the cave entrance once we are finished." 

"FAB Thunderbird 5, Scott and I are on our way, eta one hour, five minutes."

"Simple would be nice, especially considering what day it is. We almost got away with not having a rescue on Halloween, thanks to the time difference though…" Scott said as we leaned back in the co-pilot seat of Thunderbird 2. 

"Yeah I get it. Last year did not go well. All the freaky stuff happens in October. At first I thought it was just superstition, now not so much." Virgil set Thunderbird 2 on autopilot and began preparing the mole pod. 

"What do you mean?"

"Well I mean, last year we had that whole 'mysterious figure lighting fires in the middle of nowhere, only for John to see no human heat signatures' situation. Or the 'gigantic flying bat ramming into buildings' problem in New Mexico. It's never just a small, simple rescue on Halloween." 

"Fair enough, my old buddy Kevin from the air Force works as an EMT now and he says he hates working Halloween. So many stupid calls like "I dressed up as a clown to scare people and got stabbed!" Scott exclaimed, throwing his hands in the air mimicking a dumbfounded teen. 

"Haha ouch. Although it kind of sounds like he deserved it?"

"Kevin said it was the guys sister who stabbed him too, in their own house… haha so yeah, he had it coming. But he's fine so it's ok to laugh about it."

_____________________________________

"We are approaching the mine," Virgil stated as he prepped Thunderbird 2 for landing. 

The thunderous bird landed, kicking up all of the loose dirt and dust around it. Scott was already down in the mole pod ready to deploy. Thunderbird 2 rose on her struts and opened the pod door allowing Scott to drive out.

After positioning the pod outside the cave entrance, or what used to be the entrance, Scott bounded out of the pod and joined Virgil. 

"This is International Rescue, can anyone hear me?" Scott called into the comms. 

A few seconds of silence met the boys until a small static click was heard and a man started speaking. "International Rescue? Thank God you're here! Please hurry she has gone nuts!"

Exchanging looks Virgil asked, "sir? Can you repeat that?"

"It's Maria, she said she was hearing voices earlier, b-but we just played it off as her being nervous. Now she's gone batty! It started with her talking frantically and then she began physically shaking us and telling us we weren't alone. She's saying the voice is getting louder but we can't hear anything. I don't know what's going on man!"

"Okay sir, please stay calm, we will get to you as soon as we can." Scott answered the frantic man. 

"I told you… never normal." Virgil stated as he walked to get to his Exo-suit. 

Virgil donned his Exo-suit and walked over to the cave entrance. "Sir, my friend and I are going to be using a drill to get to your location, you and your other co-workers, need to step away from the wall approximately 25 feet." 

"Okay." Another pause of static before the man's voice returned telling the boys that he and his coworkers were far enough away. 

Scott started up the drill and began chipping away at the wall while Virgil moved some of the rocks out of the way to make the opening larger. It wasn't long before a hole was made long enough for the workers to climb out of. 

Virgil walked to the entrance and removed his hand from his Exo-suit offering it to the workers as they climbed out of the cave. It wasn't long before a dark figure came barreling out of the cave at top speed. 

"Maria, wait!" One of the men shouted. That was all Virgil heard before he was impacted by the small bodied woman. The woman had enough adrenaline running through her that when she made contact with Virgil, she actually made him stumble backwards a few steps. Unfortunately she had taken the brunt of the hit and ended on the floor unconscious with multiple impact points visible on her body. 

"What the?" Virgil grunted as he stumbled to regain his balance. The other two men slowly emerged from the entrance of the cave to see their co-worker sprawled out on the dusty ground, a sizable amount of blood seeping from a cut on her face. 

Scott launched himself out of the pod and slid down at the woman side. "What happened?" He asked looking at the workers then to Virgil. 

Both workers were speechless, and all Virgil said was that he didn't know. Virgil shed his exo-suit and began examining the girl. "She has a mild concussion and a few small cuts from where she impacted with my suit, but other than that she should be okay."

"Good," Scott answered. "Let's take her to the med bay in Thunderbird 2, then we'll come back and seal the cave."

"FAB."

_____________________________________

After insuring that the three workers were safe and as comfortable as the could be in the back of Thunderbird 2, Scott and Virgil began to walk over to the cave entrance. 

"Virg, do you have any idea what happened?"

"Aside from potentially being spooked from being trapped in a cave for a couple hours, type of claustrophobia insanity I really don't know." 

"The one male worker said that Maria had said that they weren't alone…" 

"Do you think that we should go in and look for someone else?"

"I'm not picking up on anyone else on my scans, but it couldn't hurt to go and take a quick look. If you don't mind going in, I'm going to ask the workers a couple of more questions. Something isn't sitting right with me. Bring your exo-suit, we are not sure what you'll find down there."

Virgil entered the cave, calling out to what felt like an Abyss of rock and darkness. The only light was from his shoulder torch. 

"This is International Rescue, is anyone here?" He called out again.

Nothing. 

"Scott, it's been about 20 minutes and I haven't found any other signs of life and after running new scans there are no new heat signatures, so I'm going to make my way back up to the mouth of the cave."

"FAB Virgil. I talked to the workers and they said that when Maria got there she was fine and wasn't being weird at all, but after approximately 15-20 minutes after the cave and she started acting erratically and started showing signs of unexplained paranoia."

"Is she awake yet?"

"Yeah, she woke up about 10 minutes after you went into the cave. She seems calmer now, she’s still a bit frantic, but not nearly as easily frightened as she was before."

"Good. I'll give her a more thorough check-up when I come back." 

'Hellllo? Can you help me?'

"Hold on Scott! I may have found someone."

"You did?"

"I think so, adjusting comms so you can hear around me." Virgil adjusted his comms so Scott could hear the noises around him in the cave. 

"This is International Rescue. Can you hear me?"

'Help, please.'

"What is your name?"

'Sandra… please stay with me.'

"Sandra please keep talking, I'm going to try to follow your voice."

"Umm Virgil? I can't hear who you are talking to."

"You can't? Hmm weird, maybe she's just too quiet."

'Free me, save me.'

Virgil wandered deeper into the cave ignoring the previous comments by Scott. He didn't think it was possible, but Virgil swore it was getting darker and colder. 

'Stay with mmm...'

"Sandra? Sandra? Please keep talking. I can't find you with my scans, you have to keep talking."

'They left me, just like you'll leave me.'

"I promise I won't leave you. We'll get you out, stay calm."

"Virgil?" Scott called, "What's going on?"

"Not sure, she's muttering about someone leaving her. You still can't hear her?"

"I can only hear you. Hold on. Thunderbird 1 to Thunderbird 5, John can you run a scan of the cave again for life signs?"

"Sure Scott." A small pause before John continued, "I have three people inside Thunderbird 2, you and Virgil."

"Is there any reason why someone wouldn't show up on the scan?"

"The rock is not deep enough for a type of material that would be messing with my scans. Why?" 

"Virgil is talking to someone in the cave, but I can't hear her through external comms and she's not showing up on any heat scans."

"Now that you say that Virgil's brain activity is quite spiked right now. It could be just because of stress." 

An audible yell was heard from the comms. "Virgil?" Scott yelled, "Virgil what's going on?"

"She's not human Scott!" 

"Not human?" Another grunt as Virgil fell onto the ground. The whirring of his exo-suit amplified over the comms. 

"She's dead Scott! She's not...!" 

Virgil was obviously spooked. Wasn't making any sense. "Hold on Virgil, I'll be right there!"

Scott was met with no response other than Virgil huffing and puffing as he ran towards the entrance of the cave. Sandra crawling after him, her nails digging into the dirt. Long brown, dirty hair fell from her face and sunken eyes stared him down as he ran. 

It wasn't long before Scott nearly ran into Virgil as he bolted past him. "Virgil!"

"Run!" Scott took a look behind him, but saw nothing. He couldn't hear anything either. 

'You said you'd save me.'

"It's hard to save you if you're a ghost!" Virgil yelled back and saw that Scott was not following him. Virgil skidded to a halt, "Scott what are you doing?" 

"Virgil," Scott turned around to look down the cave, then back at Virgil, "there's no one there!"

Virgil's breathing was rapid and distressed, "but- but she's right there…"

Scott took one last glance towards down the cave, just to make sure. 

"Come on Virgil," Scott said as he began to lead Virgil out of the cave. Virgil turned around to see Sandra waving at him, then she sulked back into the shadows. 

_____________________________________

*Back at Tracy Island*

"Hey," Scott asked as he walked into the living area with two cups of coffee in hand. "Feeling better?" 

Graciously taking a cup Virgil settled back into his spot on the couch. "Yeah, but I don't know why? Did I just lose it?" 

"G-good new-news." Brains said as he entered the living area with his tablet in hand. After a few hand swipes he brought what was displaying on his screen to be viewed on the main monitor. 

The screen showed scans of Virgil's brain waves at various times during the mission, as well as a graph and another diagram that had something to do with an element. Scott didn't quite understand, but Virgil did. 

"Wait, what?" Virgil asked. 

"Brains, what is this?" Scott asked as he and Virgil both leaned forward. 

"T-this is a scan of Virgil's b-brain, with a corresponding gr-graph and the elem-mental properties of an unknown t-toxin."

"Toxin?" Both boys asked. 

"Y-yes.  In 2056 there was a-another small cave in an-annd afterwards miners reported getting headaches and hearing s-strange n-noises. It seems that there was a small u-underground explosion around the a-area of the cave which seems to have caused the cave in.

"After doing some r-research using the data taken around the area at that t-time I compared it to the data from t-today and noticed a similarity. To put it simply a m-mineral in the mine was m-mixing with a gas from underground. These two elements mixed together cause hallucinations, both a-auditory and visual." 

"So the second explosion was larger causing more of the elements to mix, increasing the hallucinations effects?" Scott turned to Brians. 

"E-exactly!"

Virgil released a large sigh he was holding. "Thank God, I thought I was going nuts."

"Not yet little brother," Scott said as he clasped his hand on Virgil's back. "When that time comes we can blame Alan and Gordon."

Virgil slumped back into the couch, "see I told you, Halloween is always weird."

Brains chuckled slightly and began walking down to his lab. 

Unbeknownst to the boys, Brains left something out of his report. 

There had been a previous accident in the cave back in 2054, two years before the explosion. A support beam had collapsed and a woman named Sandra Torres perished having been trapped, and left behind.  

[footballffbarbiex]

Don’t Puke.

This wasn’t a request as such, but more of a suggestion and I can’t include the ask otherwise it would give it all away. Even though I’m trying to focus on requests only rather than scenarios, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to write Roman looking after his drunken/hungover girlfriend. 

_______________

She’s not entirely sure how she made it home in one piece and that’s not something she’s completely proud of. She remembers leaving the club with her friends, the cold air hitting her in a way that both sobered her up and made her feel even drunker. She remembers hailing a taxi, scrambling into it with her three girl friends and calling at the take away before heading home. But after that, it’s all a blur.

Her head pounds as she turns over, pushing her face into the pillow. All of her drunkenness feels as though it’s falling to that side of her body, her head spins and she feels sick. She scrunches her eyes closed tighter and wills herself to not be. She holds her breath, and counts to ten, willing it away and it eventually does. Groaning, she presses a hand to her forehead, thankful not to hear some witty comment from Roman about partying too hard without him and turns just enough to peek next to her, only to find that she’s alone in the bedroom.

Going back to her original position, she spies the glass of water next to the box of meds which has a note from Roman saying “eat me, drink me, please don’t puke.” scrawled across it. She’d laugh if it didn’t make her head hurt even more. She silently obeys, popping both tablets into her mouth and downing the water as quickly as she can for the tablets and then savouring the rest of it at a much more normal pace. “Ahh, morning my princess.” He says quietly as he pushes open the door. The smell of breakfast wafts over to her and she sees the tray that he carries. “One or two plates?” She asks, feeling her stomach rumble. “Two. I can’t let my drunken head go without breakfast.” “If I knew I was going to be this thirsty, I’d have drunk more last night.” She comments, accepting the second glass of water as she passes him her empty one. “Baby, you did not need to drink any more than you did last night.” Roman laughs and shakes his head. “Was I that bad?” She asks, covering her face. She wants to check the group chat and make sure she hadn’t said anything out of turn to the girls too. There’s usually one drunken argument and she’s hoping it wasn’t her this time. “You don’t know how to be quiet do you? Everything you knocked into, you said SHHHHHHHH loudly to and laughed. I think you stubbed your toe at one point because you called it an asshole toe. Then you switched on the light in here, woke me up as you got undressed and got sauce on the bed from your chips.” He pulls back the sheet and shows the stain. “I don’t eat in bed.” She winces. “Well, last night you did.” Roman looks amused more than annoyed. “So, if you’re feeling as bad as I think you are, eat up.” “I’m the worst human being ever.” She groans as she hides her face again. “No, I’m fairly certain other people have claimed that title. You were drunk, it doesn’t happen often and I still love you. Now sit back, enjoy your breakfast and I’ll let you chose the film. We’re not leaving here until you feel better.”

 Roman leaves the bed only to pull the curtains closed further, making the room as dark as possible. He switches the tv on, makes the volume low and gives her the choice of what to watch. He ensures she’s got a full stomach before pulling her closer to him and cuddling her. He doesn’t mind when she falls back to sleep on him, the light snores she makes or the hint of drool that he feels on his chest. He doesn’t mind being the one to go and get more food or drinks, to play with her hair as she watches TV. Truth be told, he liked these moments because she allowed him to take care of her. She allowed herself to be cared for in the ways that she would usually look after him and it makes him feel good. He’ll not tell her how she tried to pull her dress above her head and got stuck in it, plonking herself down on the floor and drunkenly cried that she was stuck in there for the rest of time and she couldn’t even reach her chips. He won’t tell her how she’d scooped the sauce up off the bed with a chip and popped it into her mouth with glee. Or how ten minutes after, she’d sprung from the bed to go be sick and how he’d held her hair back. Or how she’d sat on the toilet lid afterwards, begging him not to tell her anything that she’d done because “Ro, I’ll just DIE ok. I’ll DIE OF SHAME.” He doesn’t like keeping secrets, but these are the ones he must keep.

_______________________

Forever tags: @starkrogerspls , @neymarlionelmessi7 , @elle-aaron , @rafinhasmarco, @djikhead, @kxndrixx , @pasate-la-acuarela, @imakemyselfcringe , @leduqdefoot , @fangirlinsince1998 , @fcbarcafics , @paul–pogba , @msgem , @grizifc , @xxsophie-raabxx , @stxnesy , @degea-drama-llama ,  @jxmesr10 , @evie-pr , @i-ship-it-okay  @softstonsey  @pau-dybala, @antoine-james,

Roman: @roberto-firminos, @iuliaaa21 , @romanisbaex

bold and struck out doesn’t mean I don’t love you, it just means tumblr can’t find you. If you’ve changed your username and wish to still be tagged, please let me know.

[333vam333]

The Nowhere | got7

{ CHAPTER 1 }

Title: The Nowhere

Word Count: 2k+

Genre: Drama, Romance, Fantasy-ish, Mystery, Thriller-ish

Warnings: Mentions of suicide, murder, a lil graphic (??), a lil profanity, a lil smut too ;)

Pairings: Park Jinyoung x reader, Im Jaebum x reader

Summary: After suffering years from the same nightmares that slowly get worse as you grow older, you learn why those taunting dreams come to you like memories you can’t remember in an unfortunate way.

prologue |

~

“One, two..”

You pant, sweat dripping down your body as you try to keep up with the fast pace the song delivers. Your eyes don’t leave the wide mirror before you as if it were the audience you were trying to please. A smile finds its way to your face just imagining the sea of screams and cheers, the light sticks waving in the air in one direction, and people calling your name with a smile just as bright as yours is now. The thought makes your heart pound so hard you can hear it in your ears past the speakers blasting hip-pop, making the whole room and your gut vibrate. The adrenaline pumping through your veins pushes the excitement to course through you, making every movement fill with emotion. 

“3-No! Wider! Spread your arms out wider!” your choreographer’s booming voice causes most of the dancers to flinch and mess up the whole thing. “Ugh, never mind!” She pauses the music and everyone scurries to create a single line facing the mirror. You were in the center as always.

The choreographer dawdles to the front, her head held high, chest puffed out, hands behind her back, and disappointment screaming in her eyes. A single glance at each girl makes them straighten their posture. 

“This is how you treat your maknae on her last day?” 

No one answers. 

She tilts her head and raises her eyebrows in amazement. “It’s obvious why the younger one got chosen while you all decided you were too experienced to practice every time you got the chance to.” You can see a few girls hang their heads and one glare at you, only to look away when she caught eyes with the choreographer. 

Your teacher smiles at you, “Congratulations, Y/N.” 

~

“Woow!” your sister’s claps follow you all the way to the car. You could hear the long pauses between each clap and instantly tell she was being sarcastic as soon as you saw her emotionless face. Stuffing the last box into her trunk, you turn to her, and throw a ball of snow at her which you managed to form at the speed of light. She flinches and covers her head. “Yah stop! Just get in the car before I make you walk to Seoul!”

She mimics your laughter as you both sit in the toasty car, giving you a death-glare before closing her door all the way. “Be grateful your sister loves you enough to waste her gas on you.”

“I’m surprised, too, actually!” you ignore her comment which causes her to roll her eyes. “This was the last thing I expected: being a back up dancer of Kim Yugyeom’s!” You fall back into the car’s seat, your face forming a foolish grin. You release a pensive sigh as you slowly sink into your seat. 

You think back to all those years you’ve spent preparing for a day like this. Hard work day and night, and even times where you didn’t sleep properly due to the amount of time you spent just trying to improve on being a dancer..not like it was any different from what you’d normally do when you were younger.

Your whole life revolves around dancing especially now and even before the accident. And now, after all those years of dreaming, you are finally getting the chance to show the world what you’re capable of. Even the chance to inspire and entertain others. You squeal, bringing your balled fists up to your chest as your legs flutter in the small leg space.

You hear your sister chuckle quietly. “Weirdo..Did you bring your meds?”

You freeze, your smile and excitement dying as you glance at your sister at your side. “Yup..” sluggishly you sit up and cross your arms. 

You had completely forgotten about your nightmares ever since you were chosen to be a back up dancer, despite you seeing them every night since the accident. The dreams were always the same. You didn’t feel anything towards them anymore as you had in the beginning, when you were so terrified to sleep the thought of laying on a bed made your body shiver and eyes swell up with tears. The bags under your eyes when you were younger were much darker than now since you somehow managed to get the balls to actually sleep. Occasionally you will wake up in the middle of the night with no energy to start the day. As soon as you wake up, there was no going back to sleep until you couldn’t keep your eyelids open for another second. It shocked your family with how well you danced even though you barely slept.

As you were younger, people used to joke around and say the dreams were practically ‘Freddy Kruger’ to you which was pretty much true since you contemplated death a few times. You eventually began to see help and take medication that helped you fall asleep, and for a time, the dreams had gone away. Those were the best nights of your life. It didn’t last long though until they came back much harder, more realistic, sinister, and angrier as if it didn’t like how you wanted to make it go away and forget it ever happened. The feeling you got during and after the dreams made you suddenly question why you felt those ways instead of fear. You had always suspected it was something in your past. You didn’t know for sure if you knew your past correctly due to your amnesia and the lack of effort your family did to tell you everything, except for the basic things like who your parents were. You felt there were important parts in your childhood which could’ve triggered something in your mind that your parents haven’t told you yet or refuse you to know. Ever. 

You didn’t let your curiosity bother you much since it was the past, and maybe...it was better that you didn’t know. 

A buzz shakes you out of your thoughts. Pulling out your phone from your winter jacket’s pocket, you see a message from your choreographer. She sent you the video of the dance you’ve been practicing for over three months, the same one you’ll be dancing with Yugyeom. 

You smile and forget about the dreams as soon as you press play.

~

“Don’t leave!”

The deafening voice screeches throughout the ghost-quiet forest, the swaying trees sounding like rain falling on a metal roof in the distance. 

“Don’t leave me!”

Rocks jab into your bare feet, limping and wincing as you run. 

“You can’t leave!”

Your pounding heart fills your ears and you can feel your pulse aching strongly throughout your feet. The bottoms of your soles begin to burn but you keep pushing once again, tears streaming down your cheeks. You don’t feel fear flowing through you, but instead have the urge to turn around and face him this time on your own. So you do. You see the bright moon lighting the dim road in front of you and the tops of the Pine Trees at your sides. 

Feeling as if you wasted your time you turn and begin jogging, holding your pounding hand close to your stained shirt. You freeze, with your back to the moon, as you come in contact with the enormous bright light before you. 

Move, Y/N, move!

Your legs turn into noodles but a quick hand grabs your arm and yanks you out of the way before the roaring lights touch you. Your body touches the cold pavement and you inhale sharply, feeling someone straddle you. Staring up at the shadow looming above you, putting dead weight on you like they were dead themselves, makes the fear come rushing back. The person raises their hand and you catch sight of the glistening blade in the moonlight shining down on you both.

His big hand covers you mouth before you get the chance to scream. His face arches close to yours, his lips nearly touching your moistened cheek. “Now you can never leave me, princess.” 

You jolt forward, opening your eyes and slamming into the dashboard in front of you. You move back slowly as you rub your forehead and notice the sweat dripping from your face. 

“You...good?”

You look at your sister who stuffs the car’s keys into her pocket. You hadn’t realized the car was stopped and that you were at a diner. 

You nod, groaning quietly. “How long have I been asleep?”

She shrugs. “About 20 minutes..and you were mumbling in your sleep too.” She chuckles and steps out of the car. You follow her lead and the both of you walk into the diner that has a retro theme. 

The seats at each checkered table has the design of a car’s seat in the 50s, and the walls were scattered with metal posters of movies back then, license plates from numerous places, and soda brands. A single wall catches your attention as the waiter brings the both of you to your table. Spread across the wall were newspapers of random events in history all over the world and even a few random ones. You see one in specific that makes you tilt your head and furrow your head in confusion.

“Hey..” your sister peeks at you over her menu once you’re sitting, “was my accident popular?”

“Hell if I know.”

You frown and your shoulders drop. She gets up from her seat, pointing at her menu telling you what she wanted before going into the bathroom. You pull out your phone as soon as she disappears, your thoughts racing now that your curiosity is peaked. You have to know if something that would normally be only news in a small town somehow ended up being blown throughout the whole nation. You doubted it. Car crashes happen all the time anyway.

‘3 die in accident, one little girl survives despite horrific injuries!’ you begin to read the first article you see, showing a picture of a younger you. Your strong interest doesn’t let you pull away from the small screen in your hand. ‘Young Y/N is a strong girl after facing horrible luck in her small town all in one year during her stay there. Going from saving her friend from death once, and to another who took his own life, we can only hope her strong spirit makes it in the hospital. Our prayers are with you!’

My friends?..What small town?..

Before you get the chance to look up from your screen your thumb scrolls down even further as your eyes skim across the words, looking for answers in the article. Not to your surprise, you see nothing but as you’re about to give up your eyes catch sight of a photo of you with two other people’s whose faces are blurred out. 

Your smiling face stares back at you as you had made a peace sign that can hardly be seen due to your yellow pull over sweater. The person to your right who you assume is a boy held your shoulders, his head leaning close to you. The other made a peace sign as well, his white long-sleeved shirt lowered down to his knees, and a metal ring on his left hand’s pinkie. You notice that you had the same thing but on your right hand. 

Your sister comes before you get to study the picture closer. 

~

“Did you know who my friends were in the past?”

Your sister doesn’t answer and continues to stare out of the passenger window. Your hands grip the wheel and you sigh. 

“Not a clue. You never spoke about them to me... so even if I did know I don’t think it matters whether you know or not.”

You shrug and glance at her, showing a small smile. “I want to know what I did tell you.”

“Y/N, why are you bugging me about this?” her clamorous voice makes you jump slightly, your eyes popping out of your sockets. You avoid eye contact with her.

She rolls her eyes and puts her seat back. Her head faces away from you and for awhile you’re alone with the radio playing silently in the background. The calm mood doesn’t last until your sister sits up and pulls the seat up with her. She faces you.

“You only told me that you had a friend who loved to paint and one who was extremely handsome, like a prince almost.”

You look at her and back at the road quickly. The sun was beginning to set past the mountains in the distance, and it wouldn’t be long until you reached Seoul. You smile, muttering ‘Thank you’, and your sister falls back with her seat once again.

The information your sister told you has no interest to you. When you were 12 of course you wouldn’t tell the important things to your sister, but you couldn’t blame yourself anyway. You didn’t live with your sister and didn’t even get to see your dad often either. Your mom had decided to move somewhere with you for awhile until your dad got settled in a city, getting a stable job and decent house while he was there. He could only afford him and your sister at the time, so your mom and you lived with your aunt somewhere for the time being. 

Your mom hates that place now and won’t tell you where that place is. What a shocker...

The night soon came and the sun disappeared, leaving you in the dark with your headlights and the moon lighting the road before you. You hadn’t given your past another thought as you deluged yourself in your future that was just a few more hours away. You smiled as you imagined yourself on stage, dancing with someone who was much more talented than you, and possibly being friends with him. That chance was special to you since that could really be the start of your career as a singer. 

You fell back into your seat and began imagining even further, nearly forgetting about where you were and what you were doing. 

You could feel your eyes begin to get that heavy feeling and as your eyes looked at the clock to see 12:01 am, your hope sunk as you knew you would be at the wheel for a few more hours. This is what you get for offering to drive. 

With the tires running smoothly against the black pavement, and the radio playing softly like a lullaby, you began to hold your eyes closed for longer than a second. You would shake your head and rub your eyes in attempt to stay awake, but it felt hopeless. You reach over to shake your sister awake when you see something familiar in the far distance getting closer to you at a fast rate. 

Those two bright lights...am I dreaming now?...

Your sister’s soft hands touch yours. Your name coming from her panic-stricken voice doesn’t leave your mind.

~

Not sure if this chapter was entertaining but it’s real late and I kinda wrote in a rush, but I’ll try my best to make the others more interesting and I hope you like the others. Thank you for reading ! :)

[thebrochtuarachs]

Arranged: Chapter 3

Modern AU. Set in 2018. Where Claire and Jamie are arranged to be married.

CH: 1 - 2

AO3

A/N: Sorry it took a while to write this. The past month just has been incredibly weird and strange. But I am happy this is up now, I had a wee writers block on how to make them go forward but I think I found the way. So excited to write what's next. Hope you like this chapter and it's always good to see and hear your comments and suggestions <3

CHAPTER 3: The First Afternoon

It was the morning after the dinner, Claire was on the bus heading to uni to start another day. Usually, she’d spent the 10-minute ride browsing through class notes but today, she found herself staring out the window and watching the city scene go by. Musing with recent events, Claire can’t help but think about Jamie.

Jamie Fraser wasn’t a stranger in her life. On the contrary, she cannot remember her life without him.

Looking back, she remembered their days, growing up in their family dinners. Jamie was two years ahead of her, he was basically in her life even before she knew it and they practically grew up together.

Sure, Jenny and Willie were also there in that scenario as well but with the recent arrangement, she focused on the times she was only with him. Before any of this, she only thought of him as a really close family friend but didn’t think they were really that close. But the more she thought about them, the more wrong she found herself.

She remembered playing in the green fields of their backyard, stealing toys from each other or playing tag; carpooling to and from elementary school for some years, heading straight to either of their house until a parent can come and pick them up; watching the same cartoons, singing the theme song together once it was on; how they would take afternoon naps after watching said show and be woken up exactly at 4PM for some afternoon snacks; how all of them - her, Jenny, Jamie and Willie -  would all play house or castle rescue, and how her and Jamie were always deemed the “king and queen” combo or the “prince and damsel” duo, where in the end, he would always save her; In some days, they would even have wedding scenarios played out as part of the story of happily ever after. It was all very innocent and fun, and at the time, no one thought any malice into it. It was just pure childhood fun.

Everything sort of changed when they entered high school. Jamie and Claire went to exclusive boys and girls catholic schools and naturally, they had their own circle and friends and their interactions were limited to their family dinners. Heading off to college, Claire took a pre-med course and Jamie took-up a pre-law course and now, she’s in medical school while he’s busy running the family’s publishing house business. Although they both stayed in Edinburgh, their paths never crossed as often as one would think.

However, despite growing up and somehow, maybe, growing apart, when they do see each other, they would talk and interact as they normally do – the long-time friends they are – and update each other on the status of their lives. All very civil, normal and nothing more.

What’s even more puzzling to Claire, now, is in these times and nobody ever teased them about the “what ifs” of them ending up together. Nobody ever spoke to them in that way, nobody gave an inkling about this merger ever happening. Nobody had a rumored crush on anyone. Nobody gave them any thought and no one gave her any indication to. As far as she knew, Jamie Fraser was and will always be just a long-time family friend in her life.

The shock of the engagement was wearing off but Claire was determined to get to the bottom of this. Jamie was right – their parents aren’t impulsive enough to set this up lightly. There is a deep, real reason for it and she will know it and put a stop to it.

-

“Darling, there you are!” Frank called as she stepped out of the car, breaking her thoughts of Jamie.

Frank – her very new and current suitor. They’ve been seeing each other for over a month and Claire was totally smitten with the professor right from the moment they met at the university library when he helped her carry her loads of medical books from the shelf to the table.

He make a joke – she can’t remember it anymore – but it made her laugh in what was a stressful exam week and she was charmed by his aristocratic elegance and wit. They got to talking after that and she found out he was a history professor and almost a decade older than her (though she thought he didn’t look like it).

She hadn’t told her parents about him because of what they might think of her dating a much older man and how it can affect their position in the university. She was a student (she can argue that she’s in medical school and not some undergraduate bimbo) and he was a teacher – that scenario doesn’t look good in any way, shape or form. Also, she wasn’t entirely certain of him yet -  so she’s taking her time to get to know him a little bit more before she allows him more into her life.

As they met in the middle of the courtyard, Frank noticed her somber aura. “What is it, Claire?” he asked, concerned.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Just got up in the wrong side of the bed” she lied. He took it at face value and thought nothing more. Clearly, he doesn’t know her yet as he hadn’t caught up with the jig.

“Okay!” He said, really not noticing it. “I gotta run to class. I’ll see you in the afternoon?”

“Yes – No! I forgot I have a group meeting later and don’t know how long would that be. Uhm…maybe just call me later and see where I’m at?” She said. Frank just nodded and went on his way.

-

It was technically a groupmeeting – they were two people, that counts. She was going to see Jamie in a nearby coffee shop and start this ridiculous quest. The day went by with Claire mostly working on autopilot student mode. Her mind ran scenarios on where they should start to investigate, people they can ask favor for to look into their family company. They should also fix their schedules and think about how this will affect their studies. This investigation was going to take over their lives and both seem to be in agreement with it – Claire, simply, wants it to be over.

He was already seated when she arrived, her favorite beverage, hot and waiting, on the table. “Sorry, I’m late. The bus was late and there was so many people waiting in line…” Claire explained herself. “It’s no mind, Claire.” Jamie stopped her before she went on a long narrative. She just smiled and took her seat across from him.

“Oolong Tea” Jamie pointed to the cup. “I hope ye dinna mind me orderin’ for ye. I canna choose which pastry ye’d like today though, so I’ll let ye choose that one.”

“It’s fine. That’s what I was going to drink anyway and I’ll order the bread later.” Claire thought about how Jamie knew her drink but with their long history, she thought she shouldn’t be shocked about it. After all, she knew his drink even though the lid of the coffee cup hid its contents – it was black, three sugars.

“Where do we begin?” she asked, hoping it’ll shift her thought from their apparent familiarity.

“Well, what did yer parents say to ye again?”

“That this was a business merger of some sort, which honestly, doesn’t make sense. Your business seems to be fine, ours is as well. Do you have any idea about the financial status of your company?”

Jamie shrugged. He already knows falling numbersis not the problem but this was the ruse. As much joy it was to spend with her, it equally pained him for it to be this way. “I guess we can start there?” He suggested. “Let me call Rupert and Angus Mackenzie from Finance, I’m sure they can discreetly hand me the finances since…2010? I’ll just go that far back just in case.” Real reason was to accumulate as much paperwork to get lost themselves in.    

Since the Frasers and Beauchamps are both stakeholders in each other’s company, they both had access to the numbers for both companies. Acquiring the data was not that hard.

“Hi, Rupert! I’m okay, just settling back” Jamie said as he called Rupert. “Rupert, I was wondering if you could send me the year-end numbers of our company and the Beauchamps dating back in 2010? Yes, - No, I would just like to study the trends…”

“No need to explain. I got you, Jamie! I’ll send it in an hour.” Rupert answered back with a knowing laugh, interrupting Jamie’s ramble of an explanation. His parents must’ve set this up too. Jamie sighed hopelessly, thanked Rupert and ended the call.

“Files will be sent in an hour” Jamie said.

“I guess we got time to kill. Would you mind if I did a bit of studying? We’re already here and we gotta wait.” Claire asked.

“No, no, go ahead. I was just going to ask the same thing.” He replied with a smile as he started pulling out his stuff from his bag.

They were occupying in a four-seater table, the space just enough for each of them to claim a side. Claire put out her laptop, two medical books, a notebook and lots of pencils and ballpens. Jamie, also, pulled out his laptop, three novels, a notebook and lots of highlighters. Both silently went on their respective study sessions.

A little over a half hour in, Jamie disrupted Claire’s thought with a question. “Claire, do you need a refill?”

She looked up, a little disoriented. “Hm, what? Oh, yes, please, thank you.”

Jamie took her cup and went to bar to fill her tea with a fresh pour of hot water. He refilled his coffee too. As he set down her cup, Claire inadvertently let out a question. “How did you know I refill?” She was curious as to how much Jamie really knew her. She saw him turn a little shy in her question as he placed a hand on the back of his neck.

“Well, ye’ve been drinking Oolong tea since we were wee bairns and ye always made sure that the tea bag is always well-used and that meant two, maybe three, uses until it lost its flavor for ye. Also, you’re doing that eye-scrunch thing when ye’re thinking so hard of a thing ye canna or tryna figure out. Thought it a good time to distract ye.”

“Well, it was. Thank you” Claire said monotonously as she took a sip of her tea. “I see you’re still coloring your books with highlighters.” She said, pointing at his many colors of markers on his table.

“And I see ye’re still placing wee snacks on each paragraph in yer book.” Jamie retorted back and they shared a small laugh.

“It’s been a while since we studied together but it seems like some things never change”

“Aye, some things never do, Sassenach” Jamie said tenderly, looking straight into Claire’s eyes.

“Hey, you haven’t called me that in forever!” Claire exclaimed excitedly. “What does that mean again?”

“Och, nothing. It just means Englishman, or in yer case, Englishwoman. An outlander, not from Scotland”

“Right, right! That’s the only name you’d call me growing up, I almost forgot my own!”

“Really?” Jamie never knew the name meant possibly more than Claire let on and he was curious to know the story behind it. However, a ding on Jamie’s computer alerted them back to the task at hand.

“Ach, the email is here” Jamie informed Claire and she quickly got up, went over to his side, pulled out a chair and sat beside him. She peered so close at his computer their cheeks were almost side to side.

“Open it, open it!” Claire said, waving a hand to Jamie to hurry up.

“Patience!” he chuckled as the file filled the screen.

Both simultaneously groaned when the file they got was filled with so much number, just pure numbers, neither of them can make it out. Rupert must’ve made it so complicated, they’ll never figure anything out.

“Seriously, Rupert!” Claire rolled her eyes, annoyed.

“I’ll call him –“

“No. He might get suspicious if we ask so much and so frequently. We, erm, we…can figure this out”

“How about we call it for the day? We got the file, we can look at it tomorrow instead.” Jamie said, looking to prolong the evidence. If they start on this now, Claire will never stop for the rest of the afternoon and probably evening. “I got an exam I have to study for anyway. Unless, you want to have a go at it?”

Claire shook her head. She’s got to study too. “No, you’re right. I have to study too.” She sighed. “We have to talk about a schedule where this research is not going to interfere with our studies – which is our top priority”

Jamie just nodded. “How about we meet here every after class and maybe spend 2-3 hours looking at this, then we go back to our studies? Sounds like enough time to balance our day?”

They reached an agreement and let the investigation stop for the day. Claire reached for her stuff to pack but when she noticed Jamie didn’t move and just continued to go back to highlighting his pages. “Aren’t you going home or somewhere else to study?”

“Och, I’m already here and the ambiance is good, thought I’d stay until the evening.” Jamie replied with a sheepish smile. Claire looked around and the atmosphere was good. The smell of the coffee was inviting, the people were quiet, and a change of scene was probably what she needed to focus. It wasn’t bad either that she’s with Jamie, they were friends after all. With that, she put her stuff back on the table and decided to stay as well. Jamie stayed silent and they went on their own business but she saw the small tug in his lips and he smiled.

-

A loud ringing of the cellphone brought them out of their space. It was Claire’s phone and Claire’s mother calling.

“Hello, yeah – I’m sorry. I’m on my way home. No, just got lost in studying” Claire rapidly explained as Jamie could hear her mother’s rapid line of questioning. “Yep, I’ll be there in 15 minutes. Love you, bye”

“Ye’ll be there in 5” Jamie said. “I’ll take ye home”. It was already 8:00PM and they were going to miss dinner.

“What? No, Jamie. It’s fine. The bus by this time are probably not that full.” They were quickly packing their stuff while, also, quickly negotiating their travel plans.

“I have a car and we live in the same neighborhood. Ye canna argue with that logic, Claire.”

Claire grumbled but relented. It was certainly easier and convenient and again, Jamie was no stranger. On some unsurprisingly absurd level, she trusts him completely. She reasons it’s probably from the years they’ve known each other. Nonetheless, if Jamie acts inappropriately, she’ll just tell him to their mothers.

The drive home was quick and Jamie, being the true gentleman he was, insisted that he open Claire’s passenger door and walk her right in front of her doorstep. She was about to protest but his actions were quicker and for the fourth time that day, she let him…erm…look out for her.

“Thank you for a lovely afternoon. For the tea, the records, the study time, and the ride home” she said as she turned around to bade him goodbye. They were standing in a respectable distance from one another, just as friends do. “Would you like to stay for dinner? It’s the least I can offer for the tea.”

“Ah, no. My family is waiting on me too. I’ll have my hide if mam doesna see me on the table”

“Well, then, goodnight, Jamie.”

“Goodnight, Sassenach. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll see you tomorrow.”