#sorry this sat in the inbox wow i had no excuse not to reply

[tuiyla]

Your post about Every breath you take reminded me of another reason I hate the pezberry feud, an issue probably nobody else has lol but not even one (1) thing about those two being on a Broadway show was factual, if it were, there would've been no feud to begin with - technically Santana would have been Rachel's standby, not the understudy, and she would've only gone on if both Rachel and the understudy were out. If Santana isn't in the show outside of playing fanny (usually in the ensemble, sometimes a supporting part) she's not the understudy. Many standbys can be in a show for a year and never actually go on, or only once or twice. So take your vitriol out on your actual understudy Rachel, she's a ton more likely to actually play the part instead of santana the standby. Also Rachel giving santana 10 shows? Not a thing. She doesn't have that kind of power. Auditioning in an actual theater? No. The already cast lead being there for auditions for her understudy? Nope. Where's the casting director? Rehearsing on stage at the same time when they're both playing the same part? Blocking, what's that? Santana getting the part even though she can't sing it in the right key? (I love Naya and I love her version of Don't rain on my parade but they did have to lower the key for her). Obviously I'm well aware glee isn't really set in reality but I find it a little strange that they couldn't be bothered to be even a little factual with what's basically the main arc of their main character throughout the entire series, being on Broadway. Those scenes are just so damn distracting to me haha (Although I guess none of these still aren't as stupid as Kurt and Rachel being allowed to sing on stage at wicked... Now that's the scene I'm going to choose to consider non-diagetic lol it's all in your heads kids)

Gotta say, I'm no theater kid so most of what I know is from Glee but I appreciate this perspective, TIL! That point about understudy vs standby makes so, so much sense.

So basically what I'm getting from all of this is that Glee twisted real-life logic even more than usual just to make the Pezberry feud ~work~. What a bastardly thing. I mean, Glee not being true to life isn't a surprise but you know what really gets me? When they don't even have an internal logic. Because the show itself makes a meta joke that Santana got Fanny despite not being Jewish and has the galls to compare it to Rachel being in a "Puerto Rican marching band" and they completely fail to see the irony in regards to West Side Story?? You know, the musical that should have been a one-woman show if McKinley insisted on putting it on. This is barely relevant I just bring it up whenever I have the chance because Glee lacks self-awareness to an appalling degree at times.

Anyway. Because I'm no expert on musical theatre and basically only here for the gay lmao I don't think about this stuff during Every Breath You Take, I'm too busy soaking in the Drama. But that's why I really appreciate this perspective and yeah, you're right and you should say it Anon. Then again, they just threw logic out the window the moment they decided Rachel's Broadway dreams would come true at age 19, didn't they?

One day kids we'll cover the Pezberry feud in depth. One day.

[gm--requests]

Patience (pt.1) - Soft Dom! Johnny Suh

g e n r e - s m u t & f l u f f 

w a r n i n g s - Soft Dom! Johnny, pet names, oral sex (f/m receiving), light size kink (if you fucking squint), explicit language, fingering, virgin! reader, praising

o r i g i n a l  c o n t e n t - i did write this 

w o r d s - 4204

r e q u e s t - here 

PT. 2 HERE

a / n - this might be a bit awkward because i love the concept but struggled a lot with how to go about writing it. I really wanted to capture Johnny-Boy in all of glory, but idk if i did him or this scenario justice. if you want a part 2 with actual diddle daddle hit me in the inbox. this is written with a plus-size reader in mind. anyone, of course, can read it, and i highly encourage it because i worked hard on this piece, but there needs to be a common understanding that there will be no dramatic throwing of anyone through a wall or anything lmao. like the plus-size community is hella underrated and i hope that i do all my babies justice.  also please leave feedback if you have any. also please do not engage in unprotected sex unless you are in a long term relationship with a trustworthy partner.  that being said please enjoy sex as much as you want with the use of aforementioned protection!

When the two of you ran into one another on that fateful day, it really was fate. You had been running extremely late for class and decided that it was no longer worth it to go, so you opted for a little adventure instead, wandering around until you found a tiny cafe. It was rather empty and had a wonderful atmosphere, it seemed perfect for a little studying. The only other people in the cafe were the employees, an older man who seemed very deep into work, and a tall guy standing in front of the counter looking at the menu. You walked up and stood behind him, trying to analyze the menu yourself.

Apparently the lengthy man had been standing there for quite some time as the worker finally smiled and said something about letting her know when he was ready. Finally the man sighed and turned around to you, “What should I order?”

You looked up at him confused and then in shock. Your wide eyes met his as you both realised who the other was, “Holy shit, Johnny?”

“Y/n? Wow! It’s been so long!”

You smiled up at him, “It really has! I didn’t know you stayed near here,” you laughed awkwardly, “or in Korea at all, actually.”

He chuckled, “Yea, I could say the same to you! Hold on, let me order so I can stop ruining this workers day and then, maybe, if you aren’t busy, we can catch up?”

“Yea, of course,” you nodded a little too enthusiastically.

He looked back at the menu and then back to you, “I, uh, still don’t know what to get.”

You laughed and stepped up to the counter, “Uhm, excuse me, I think we are ready to order.”

The worker stopped her task and hurried over to you, “What can I get for you?”

“I’ll have, uh, two cafe au laits and the chocolate waffles please,” as you reached for your wallet, Johnny beat you to it, handing the cashier a black card. You did your best not to let your face show your surprise at the prestigious piece of plastic.

“Sorry, for taking so long to order, I was waiting on this knowledgeable coffee angel to show up,” He smiled apologetically at the worker and then flashed you a quick wink. Despite yourself you smiled cheekily at him.

“It is no problem at all sir, we will have your order out right away!” the worker replied, handing his card back to him.

“Shall we?” Johnny gestured towards the expanse of empty tables. You nodded and headed for one near the back corner where the lights were a bit dimmer and someone would really have to be looking in order to see either of you.

“Ah, a woman of mystery,” he joked as you pulled out a chair and sat down.

“Oh, yes. You’ll come to find out that I’m super mysterious,” you leaned in and held your hand up to block off one side of your mouth, Johnny mimics you, “Actually, I'm on the run from the American government, that’s why I’m here.”

Johnny smirked at you, the gleam in his eyes playful, “I can’t believe you haven’t seen me in years and you’re trusting me with this kind of information,” he whispered.

You sat back in your seat and shrugged, “I was told that I can always trust a tall man with broad shoulders.”

His smirk quickly turned into a full smile, “Y/n, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say that you were already flirting with me.”

A red hue spread from your cheeks to the tip of your ears, “N-no I was just-”

Before you could continue speaking one of the workers was setting your drinks and food down on the table, you trained your eyes on the table, but Johnny had his eyes trained on you.

Eventually a few hours of wonderful conversation had passed and Johnny was quickly scrambling up, “I’m so sorry to just run like this, but I’m late for practice,” he said as he pushed in his chair.

“Oh, no, it’s no problem at all! I should be studying anyways,” you smiled up at him from your seat, “OH! You paid for my stuff, hold on I think I have enough cash for it,” you grabbed your bag and began shuffling hastily through its contents.

“I don’t want you to pay me back for that y/n, it was nothing, really.”

“I can’t let you just leave without paying you back Johnny, that would be rude,” you replied, setting your lips into a firm line. He chuckled.

“How about you pay me back by going out with me this weekend?”

You slowly raised your head to look at him, he wore the same smirk from earlier. You cleared your throat and nodded, “Yea, sure, I’d love to.”

“Great, let me give you my number real quick,” he said.

You unlocked your phone and handed it up to him. He typed in his number and you heard his phone ring in his pocket, “Now I have your number and you have mine! I’ll text you a time and place later, alright?”

“Sure! See you then!”

He hurriedly made his way out of the cafe, you watched as he slipped on a pair of sunglasses, flipped up the hood on his sweatshirt, and made his way down the street. You couldn’t help but think that if anyone was a person of mystery it was him.  

After the first date, came another and then another and before you knew it the two of you were dating. At first opening up to each other was hard. He always seemed so busy and you were scared that maybe your secret and his secret would tear the two of you apart, but finally one night you had both had enough.

As he sat at the table in your kitchen while you made dinner, the tension in the air became palpable. The once comfortable silence had become heavy and at the same time you both blurted, “We need to talk!”

You looked at one another in surprise and laughed.

“We really do though,” he said as his smile faltered.

You turned off the stove and covered up the half cooked food, “Dinner can wait for a bit.”  

You walked over to the kitchen table and pulled out the chair beside him, sitting down. He took your small hand in his large one, but didn’t meet your eyes.

“Listen y/n, we have been together for almost half a year now and I’ve been hiding something pretty big from you,” he swallowed thickly, “I didn’t tell you because I didn’t want you to be nervous or feel some type of pressure from it. I also thought it would keep you safer, but I’m tired of hiding it from you because it’s the only other thing in my life that is as important as you.”

“Johnny, if you’re gonna tell me that you are part of the mafia or something, I’d rather not know, because I’ve seen the movies and if someone breaks in here I will tell them everything I know, right down to your blood type.”  

Johnny laughed and squeezed your hand, “It is nice to know that you would give up all of my information so easily,” you shrugged and rolled his eyes, “but no, I’m not in the mafia or part of a gang. I am however,” he inhaled sharply, “part of a kpop group.”

You looked at him dumbly, “Johnny,” you began, but he interrupted you. “I know it sounds ridiculous and I know that it could make life harder for you if our fans knew, but I don’t want to keep hiding you from the group members and they all know something is up and I already had to tell management and-”

You cut him off with a laugh, “Johnny, I knew that already.”

“Huh?” It was his turn to look at you stupidly.

“Johnny the first time I saw you in that coffee shop, you pulled out a black card, and then when you left you put on a pair of sunglasses and slinked off into the shadows. You really thought I wasn’t gonna at least Google your name?!”

He sat speechless as you continued to laugh, “Why didn’t you tell me that you knew already y/n?”

“Because,” you paused to catch your breath, “you didn’t bring it up so I figured you didn’t want me to know, not to mention, I thought maybe you’d have to stop seeing me if I knew.”

“Holy shit,” he sighed happily, “it feels like the weight of the world has just been lifted off my shoulders.”

You smiled at him happily, but it quickly fell as you looked at him, “Well, I guess it’s my turn now,” you looked down at your hand in his, “I, uh, the reason I don’t ever do anything other than kiss you is because, I, well I don’t really know anything about that kind of stuff and I’ve never had sex.”

Johnny sat there quietly, the silence making you nervous, until finally, “Y/n, I think we are both really bad about making things a bigger deal than they are.”

You looked at him confused, but he just smiled softly at you, “I just mean that it’s totally okay and we will take everything at whatever pace you want to. I’m not going to pressure you or try and speed up the process. I’m perfectly content with just making out with you forever, if that is what you want. There is so much more to a relationship than fucking.”

“Geez did you really have to say fucking that sounds so harsh,” you mumbled and he fights back a laugh.

“Okay, I’m sorry, making love,” he corrects himself, his eyebrows raising up and down suggestively. You groan and pull your hand from his, standing and returning to the stove top.

“Well now that we’ve got everything off of our chests, we should talk about when you’re gonna meet the boys.”

“All twenty of them?” you ask cheekily as you turn on the burner and begin cooking again.

“You really did do your research, huh?”

“Yea, I was curious. I think I like Jaehyun.” You look at him and raise your eyebrows the way he did before.

In a flash he is up from his chair and his arms are wrapping around your pudgy waist, “You better fuckin not like Jaehyun.” He presses his lips to your cheek and then pouts, “I’m just as good looking as he is and I speak better English.”

“Didn’t he only live in Connecticut for like, four years?”

“Jesus, y/n!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands dramatically in the air, “What did you do? Read his entire autobiography?!”

“He has an autobiography,” you ask excitedly and he lets out a groan in defeat.

“My girlfriend is gonna cheat on me with my best friend,” he mumbles as he leans against the counter opposite you.

You giggle, “Well I don’t think you have to worry about any of that, not only am I head over heels for you, but according to the website I looked at, I’m not even his ideal type.”

“Y/n, I’ll be honest, the fact that you even looked at his ideal type is bothersome for me,” he replied, sounding a bit defeated.

“Well I looked at yours too,” you turned to face him, “why do you think I smile at you so much, hmm?”

His eyes met yours and you grinned widely. Placing the cooking spoon on the counter, you walk over to him and press your lips sweetly against his. Johnny’s large hands find purchase on your butt and you smile into the kiss. Pulling away slowly, you look at him and you swear you can see the love pouring out of his eyes, you hope you can see it in yours too.

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A few months later, Johnny has integrated you into his life completely. You’ve met all of the members of NCT, including Jaehyun, who Johnny always seems to be a little more handsy with you around, you’ve been “caught” by Dispatch, and all NCTzens at least know of you. Because of this, the two of you had grown closer than ever before and had finally both spoken those three special words to one another.

The ‘I love you’s’ came a bit awkwardly at first, but now they were a force of habit. Love wasn’t just something you felt towards one another, it was something you were in and Johnny never missed an opportunity to let you know that.

Despite your closeness, the two of you still hadn’t done much more than makeout heatedly, here and there. You felt bad, but Johnny always assured you that he didn’t mind. If things ever got too heated, he would excuse himself and go take a quick shower. Johnny was nothing if not understanding and patient. But you’d be lying if you said that you weren’t starting to get a least a little bit curious. You wanted to tell him that you wanted to start trying those things, but didn’t quite know how to.

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

One night the two of you were sitting on the couch and you finally decided that you wanted to take it to the next step. The curiosity was killing you and seeing him in nothing but a pair of sweatpants, his fit and large body on display was really doing a number on you. During a commercial, you’d had enough and decided to say ‘fuck it’. Carefully you climbed over and straddled your plush body on top of his.

He let out a soft ‘oh’ in surprise as your lips nervously met his jawline. You began placing small kisses on his cheeks, then the corner of his mouth, and finally his lips. His hands, as per usual, fell comfortably on the curve of your butt. You deepen the kiss quickly, your tongue brushing against his bottom lip. Johnny chuckled at your newly found haste, but obliged and let your tongue slip past his lips. He always let everything progress at your speed, scared that he would push you too far and make you uncomfortable, but when you gently grinded down on him, he found his body involuntarily jerking upwards. A soft moan left your mouth as you quickly pulled away from him.

His hands quickly moved from your ass to beside himself, “Fuck, I’m so sorry,” he sputtered, “I should probably uh move from this position before it gets a mind of its own.” But you didn’t move. Instead you placed your hands on his chest and nervously grinded down again. Johnny hissed as his hips jerked again.

“Y/n,” he began, but you cut him off.

“Can we, maybe, go a little further than normal tonight?” your voice coming out as a hushed whisper.

His eyebrows knit together, “Are you sure?” He asked in a serious tone that you’d never heard from him before.

You nodded quickly and he let his hands fall to your hips, “Just tell me if you want me to stop okay?” “I will,” you said firmly and he smiled at you softly before letting his grip on you tighten.

Johnny couldn’t lie, he was more than excited to be able to progress like this. You were the most beautiful girl in the world to him and sometimes his thoughts got the best of him. Your innocence proved to be a big turn on for him and just knowing that he was the first person to ever be with you in this way had him instantly hard. He gently pressed your hips down as he rocked into you. He marveled in the way your breathing picked up and soft mewls began to fall from your lips. He couldn’t take his eyes off of you. The way your face scrunched up at these unknown pleasures and God it made him want to take you right there on the couch.

Despite that all, he wanted you to feel good first and foremost, “Baby, how about we go to the bedroom, yea? If this is your first time for these things, I don’t want that to be on your 10 year old couch.”

You smiled sheepishly and climbed off of him. As you stood and walked towards the room, he tried to ignore the lingering look you gave as your eyes shifted from his to his very prominent hard on. Once in the room, he shut the door behind himself and you climbed awkwardly on to the bed. He chuckled as he saw your flushed face and took note of how you sat criss-crossed.

“Lay down for me, baby,” he urged gently as he climbed on to the bed. You looked so nervous and innocent as he hovered his body over yours. He kissed you gently, one hand keeping him sturdy above you, while the other gently caressed your face. When he pulled away, he stared at you. Your slightly swollen lips, flushed chubby face, and half lidded eyes had him reeling.

“Y/n, have you ever touched yourself before?” Johnny asked. It came out as a whisper, his lips millimetres away from your ear. It made you shiver.

“N-no, I haven’t,” you whispered back. You felt his hand pass softly over your breasts and across your stomach, stopping at the pudge right above your crotch.

“Can I touch you there?” he brought himself back up to look at you.

“Please,” you whimpered and he was happy to oblige.

Johnny’s sat back and gently spread your legs apart. He ran his hand up your plush thigh before leaning back up to whisper in your ear once more, “Tell me whenever you want me to stop, okay baby?”

You mewled a simple ‘okay’ as his hand cupped your clothed pussy. His touches were soft and gentle, he ran his fingers over your slit and to your clit. He felt the wet spot in your shorts form and pulled his fingers away, instead letting them hook in to the waistline of the fabric. He tugged softly and you hesitantly lifted your body, allowing him to pull them down.

Johnny ran his finger through your folds, allowing your arousal to coat it completely, before he slowly eased his finger inside of you. He watched your face intently, your eyes closing and forehead wrinkling at the foreign feeling. Slowly he pushed the finger in and out of you, until you were letting out soft moans. He pushed his thumb against your clit and watched your body tense at the pleasure. He softly worked in a second finger and he watched as the discomfort turned to pleasure.

He was twitching in his sweatpants, convinced that he had never been this turned on in his life. “Does that feel good baby?” he cooed.

“God yes,” you moaned out and he let the thrust of his fingers speed up. He could feel you gripping on to him and he could only imagine how it’d feel wrapped around him.

Your high built up beautifully. Starting slowly until you couldn’t help but cry out at the feeling. Johnny was a pro, though you had nothing to compare it to, you knew that this was the best you’d ever feel in your life. Johnny slowly pulled his fingers from inside of you and you whimpered out. You opened your eyes and looked at him confused, until you saw him lick your essence off his fingers. Instantly your face was hot as he groaned at the taste.

Johnny positioned his head in between your thighs before speaking, ‘If you want me to stop tell me okay?”

“I will,” was all you got out before he tongue was licking up you and your legs were shaking.

Johnny moved his tongue far slower than he wanted to. You were so sweet and so sensitive. His large hands had to keep your soft, pillowy thighs from closing together in pleasure. Your moans had gotten far louder and he couldn’t help but rut against the bed. Every sound you made turned him on to no end.

“You taste so good princess,” he murmured against you before his tongue dove into you. Your legs had become jello, your hands gripping the sheets beside you, the coil in your abdomen tightening and then snapping as his wet muscle lapped at your sensitive clit. He continued licking you clean, letting you ride out your high until you were involuntarily pulling away from him.

He sat up and looked at your already fucked out expression. His hard cock twitching painfully in his pants, “I’m gonna go grab a towel to clean up anything I might have missed,” he said cheekily, “and then I’m gonna go take a quick shower, alright?”

As Johnny went to climb off the bed you sat up, “Wait,” he stopped, “C-can I help this time?”

“Baby, it’s really no big deal, you don’t have to,” he smiled at you reassuringly, but you shook your head.

“I want to. Please teach me.” Your pure eyes met his and he couldn’t find it in him to tell you no.

“Okay,” he stood, his hands on the top of his sweats, “but I mean it y/n, if you want to stop at any point in time. Tell me. You don’t owe me anything. I like making you feel good.”

“I know, I just, I’ve really been wanting to and you just look,” your eyes left his and fell on your hands as you spoke in an embarrassed whisper, “big.”

Johnny did his best to hold back his pride, but he couldn’t fight back the smile. He didn’t want to be overly confident the first time, but it was true. He was rather well endowed and when he pulled down his sweatpants, the tip of his decently girthy manhood, tapped the area above his belly button. You swallowed thickly and Johnny could see the nervousness in your eyes.

“Here,” he said, getting back on the bed, “let me lay down, that way you can take everything at your own pace, mkay?” He said as he got comfortable on his back. You came to kneel at his side and he cupped your chubby face in his hands, “Just go slow princess.”

You nodded and gently grabbed his member in your hand, causing Johnny to suck air in through his teeth. You looked at him worriedly, “You’re okay baby, I’m just a bit sensitive.”

You nodded and leaned down, bringing the tip to your lips. As you wrapped your lips around the head of his length, he moaned out a breathy, “holy fuck.”  

You took his words as an encouragement to go further, trying to take more of him into your mouth too quickly, you gagged, pulling off of him and he sat up a bit, “Baby, it’s okay, go slow, there is no rush.” His hand petting your head as you nodded at him.

You slowly tried again, your mouth inching down his length, soft groans leaving his lips. Eventually the feeling became more normal and you were able to begin bobbing your head, “That feels so good princess, you’re doing so good for me.” His praises made you more confident and the more comfortable you got  the more of him you were able to take in.

Soon you had his tip pressed against the back of your throat, you fought back your gag reflex, focusing only on the feeling of his cock filling your mouth and the praises flowing from his mouth, “Ah, shit,” he murmured as you swallowed around him, “princess I’m gonna cum, if you keep it up, fuck.”

You sped up your movements, your hands taking care of the bit of his shaft that you couldn’t take into your mouth. You could tell he was getting closer by the way he began twitching. You pulled off of him, “Y-you can cum in my mouth,” your eyes meeting his as your mouth wraps back around his length and he loses it.

His hand meeting the back of your head and pushing you down roughly as he cums down your throat. When he lets go, you immediately pull off of him, sputtering and coughing.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry baby,” He exclaims as he sits up and wraps your squishy body up in his arms, “you did so good for me, took me so well.” He coos as he runs his thumb across your swollen bottom lip, before connecting his lips with yours.

Johnny kisses you lovingly, pulling you down to cuddle up next to him, “Let’s be done for tonight, mkay baby? You did a lot, I don’t wanna push you too far because we’re in the heat of the moment. Is that okay?”

You nod against his chest, as you both lay there bare.

“Plus, I’ll be honest, the way you look at me makes me want to break you and I don’t wanna go too far,” he mumbles. You whimper at the thought and he squeezes you tighter, kissing the top of your head, relishing in the way your soft body fits with his, how tiny you look.

[darthlorddiamond]

It's Never Enough

This is my first request for @originalposter-96, and to be honest I don't know what I did to the original message (it disappeared from my inbox), so I hope you like it.

Summary: Reader is the daughter of General Domaric Quinn, they do not have a good relationship, on one occasion when he visits the Starkiller to see her, he ends up humiliating her and Kylo Ren comes to confront the General and then comfort the reader.

Words: 3,213

Reading Time: 13 min

Category: Fluff, Angst

Warnings: Humiliation

Check my Masterlist for more.

__________________

It's Never Enough

A year and a half ago I was transferred to Starkiller Base, right after finishing my training at the Academy. When I began my work here, I was an officer like any other, I was under the command of Captain Phasma and my job was to support her to monitor the progress of the troops in their training; After six months of working with her, I was promoted to lieutenant and became part of the General Pride team.

To tell the truth, I thought that things on board would be much more difficult than I thought it would be, although I must admit that I´m very sure that the good treatment I receive from my peers and other officers is due to my father, the General Domaric Quinn.

Let's talk a little about my father. He´s a man ... A bit strict about everything about me, so when I found out that I would work under the command of General Pride I was not the least bit surprised, as he and my father are good friends he would know immediately everything I do, this was one more way of showing his control over me and when to say control of me, I mean TOTAL control: from how I look, to how I interact with other people; nothing goes unnoticed for him and the slightest mistake I make, according to his perspective, I know that a great rebuke will come.

My father has always been like that with me, more than a father, for me he is a foreman, who seeks to control and oppress my life every second and that no matter what I do it will never be enough for him, I´m simply not the son he so much desired and as a woman, I will never be good enough to meet his expectations.

Fortunately, my father and I are assigned to different places, so the contact we have had has been brief for the last year and in its entirety has been through brief and frivolous messages, which has allowed me to feel a bit of freedom and give me a break. I know maybe it's wrong of me to admit it, but not having him around is a complete relief.

Within months of working with the General Pride, I began to maintain contact with Commander Ren. Essentially, my work with him involves specific tasks, like carrying out the Pride reports he needs, or informing him of the progress of our troops, never anything beyond that. I must admit that, at the beginning, I had a hard time communicating with him, first, talking to his mask made me feel that I was talking to an inanimate being, and second, I cannot lie, he´s a very tall man and he imposed a lot on me.

After several visits, we began to make small talk, the usual "How's your day going?", "How´s the job?". For this instant, I still didn´t know the face behind that gloomy mask, however, I was deeply emotional to know that I would see him through the day. That's right, I was falling in love with the most feared man in the entire First Order, certainly something very stupid of me.

One day, I didn't know what I was thinking, I went to leave one of Pryde's reports, and I waited on my feet for him to finish reading it so that he could give me instructions to follow. Once he finished reading, he returned my data pad along with his observations, in theory, that was the signal for me to leave his office, but no, I was frozen in place looking at him as a silly schoolgirl, an event that Ren noticed and he didn't let pass.

"Is there anything else I can help with, Lieutenant Quinn?" The mechanical voice only made me feel more nervous. My hands held tightly to my data pad, I could feel my blouse starting to cool off with the sweat from my back and my knees trembled slightly "Commander Ren, I was wondering ..." How stupid! Am I going to do it? I was sweating like never in my life! "I was wondering if you would like to join me for dinner!" For a moment I thought I would vomit because my nerves "Excuse me?" Ren replied getting up from his chair. I'm dead, at what point did I think it would be a good idea, "Sorry sir! It was complete recklessness on my part!" I didn't know where to hide my head, I could feel how my face was completely red with embarrassment "Indeed, lieutenant, it's reckless" my knees trembled much more as Ren approached me "Please, I apologize, I will inform General Pride that replace my obligations so that someone else will give you the reports" I was really about to vomit on my nerves "I don´t want anyone else to come and leave me the reports..." Ren was already at less than an arm away from me, if my blouse was already a little wet from fear it was now completely soaked and I could swear that my data pad was already broken from how tightly I was holding it, I was 100% sure that Ren was going to kill me, which is why his next sentence left me completely frozen in my place "But yes, I would love to accompany you to dinner."

It's been several weeks since our first dinner in my room. Now I know perfectly each of the fine details of his face, the depth of his eyes, the gravity of his voice. What started as how many nights sharing our food, turned into small touches of our fingers, hidden caresses, a lost hand to my waist, until we reached our first kiss. Surely my life at Starkiller Base now had an ulterior motive to merely serve the First Order.

"General Quinn has informed me that he will report to Starkiller Base tomorrow to review your performance, lieutenant..." Pride dropped the bomb early in the day and immediately my stomach became small. "So I ask you to report directly to the meeting room no. 2 on the Command Bridge to receive him. You will not need to stop by my office before" and without saying more, I left his office and went immediately to Ren's quarters. Now more than ever I need to talk to someone about it, I felt with so much helplessness, so many nerves, without a doubt I was going to get sick of my stomach and I don´t want to spend more time on the command bridge that day, besides, I had to prepare myself mentally to receive my father.

"What are you doing here so early?" He gives up his gaze towards me a little without getting up from his place "Pride has just informed me that my father will come tomorrow to evaluate my performance" I went to the small kitchen that´s inside his room to pour me a glass of water "What's that supposed to be wrong?" he answered me as he got up from his place walking towards where I was "Everything´s wrong with that Kylo..." I suspire deeply and continued with a terrible feeling in my stomach "Domaric Quinn is a monster with me..." I whispered as I returned to serve me another glass of water, I could feel my tongue arid of just saying his name" What do you mean?" Kylo stood behind me and crossed his arms around my waist, resting his chest on my back "Since I was a child he has tried to dominate my life in every aspect, nothing I do is enough for him..." I left the glass on the sink and hold the edge with both hands "I know perfectly well that tomorrow will be the same, he will do or say something to humiliate me..." I could feel Kylo's breathing on my neck, and although this usually made me want to throw myself into his arms, my physical annoyance at knowing my father was on the way was stronger.

Kylo began to kiss the nape of my neck, passing to my neck while pressing more strongly my body towards him. Momentarily, he has placed his lips on my ear and lightly bit my lobe "Come to bed..." I immediately understood what he wanted, but I didn´t feel like accompanying him, I felt physically bad, so I broke his hug and turned to see him "I'm so sorry darling, but it will have to be another time" I escape from his arms, he just growled from deep in his throat, and I went to the door, just turned my head to see him, he was standing at the entrance of the kitchen, leaning on the frame with his arms crossed, his face denoted annoyance but also confusion. This was the first time that I had rejected something that came from him, it certainly made me feel bad, but at that moment I had more altered my nerves because my father's visit than anything Kylo could think of. I would apologize later. I opened the door and headed for my room.

The next morning I woke up a few hours before the appointment with my father to make sure that all the details about my uniform and my appearance were perfect, once ready I left the room and went to the Command Bridge, where I located the meeting room no. 2 and enter. It was still half an hour before the appointment, but I prefer to arrive earlier and wait for him than he arrives first and make a fuss about my punctuality.

The minutes passed and my anxiety grew and grew. I started to feel a few beads of sweat form on my forehead, my stomach growled and I couldn't stop moving one of my legs. I heard a small noise outside the door and immediately stood up, straightening my entire uniform quickly, making sure I don't have a hair out of place, and wait to stand on one side of the table as straight as possible. Within seconds, the door opened and my father entered the room. "Good morning, General Quinn" I raised one of my hands to give him a formal greeting "Good morning, Lieutenant. Took a seat.” The door closed behind him, I took a seat in one of the chairs on the side of the table while he sat himself exactly in front of me.

For several minutes he said nothing, just took out his data pad and began to check it, when he finished, he placed it on the table and crossed his hands over it. "I must say, lieutenant, I´m very impressed with the reports that everyone has given me about you..." Wow, I wasn't expecting it "General Pride has informed me that you have been extremely punctual with your tasks and assignments..." I was starting to get more nervous about the fact that he would be behaving so kindly "Your collaborators have also given good references about your conduct on the command bridge..." Is he doing nice? "I can't expect less from you..." Something in my stomach was telling me something was wrong "Your mother at home is very proud of you, she doesn´t let it boast that her daughter is a lieutenant of the Starkiller Base, however..." He let out a long and deep sigh "I don´t entirely agree with her..." I already knew that something was wrong here, my father is never satisfied with anything "I have reported that in the last few weeks your behavior has been... How to call it? Something... Something erratic..." at any moment, he doesn't take long to highlight an error "For erratic what do you mean, General?" I was trying to show a little assertiveness which turned out to be a big mistake "First of all lieutenant, you wouldn´t speak unless I ask you a direct question!" he yelled and crashed his palms on the table, I just nodded my head "As I said, I have reported that the last few weeks you had been prowling the corridors of the Starkiller Base late at night and I demand at this moment an explanation of what you do outside your room at non-business hours" my blood ran cold, I swallowed so deeply that I could feel my throat swell "I'm talking to you lieutenant!" he yelled again.

My hands were sweating, cold sweat registering my forehead, my leg began to tremble again, what was I supposed to say? "I already knew..." he started walking towards me "I already knew and I told your mother..." his pace was slow, like a hunter stalking his prey "Since you went to the Academy I already knew that you were holding something between your hands..." he stood next to me, I didn't dare to turn to see him, my gaze was still fixed on his empty chair and he slowly leaned towards my ear "Or did you bring it and keep it between your legs?".

Abruptly his hand grips my hair tightly and he pulls my head back. "Honey, I don't want to hurt you, but you must understand that I didn't educate you to be a whore..." his grip on my hair became more abrupt and I just shook my head "So what are you doing outside your room!?" he started yelling in my face "If you have nothing to hide then you would have answered already!" his face was completely red "You're nothing but a damn bitch!" With a strong tug on my hair, he quickly threw myself to the floor near the front door, the impact was so strong that I momentarily lost my breath "You're nothing..." started walking towards me "More than a..." Steps were firm "Damn..." once in front of me he stopped "And dirty whore..." I opened my eyes completely and looked up to see him, I felt my tears running down my cheeks, my whole body trembled.

Slowly, my father brought his hands to the buckle of his belt and unzipped it "Ah darling..." his voice was so serious and solemn that it made all the hairs on my body stand on end "I swear I didn't want to get to this..." with slow but precise movements he withdrew his belt "But you have to learn in one way or another..." he stretch it between his hands, making the leather thunder "I can only tell you that..." turning his head slightly he leaned his body towards me "This going to hurt me more than you..." the panic completely took over me, I closed my eyes tight and froze in my place while he raised his hand to release his first blow, but it never came.

After a few seconds, I opened my eyes. I couldn't believe what was happening. Kylo was standing next to my father, holding his arm, they were both silently exchanging glances. I swear I was going to pass out, my head hurts, my stomach, legs and arms ached. Everything was wrong with me, everything.

"Could you explain to me what is going on here, General Quinn?" Immediately I could see how the color of my father's face completely disappeared "Commander Ren..." he swallowed deeply "I received information about a misconduct from the lieutenant..." releasing his hand from Kylo's grasp, he took one of his hands to accommodate his hair and then he smoothed his uniform "I´m in the duty to correct said error, Sir" and with his perfect position he turned to Kylo "I'm afraid I don't understand what are you saying, General..." Kylo approached me and extended a hand to get me off the floor "The lieutenant has been an element of utmost importance in my communication with the command bridge..." once standing I could feel my legs still trembling "I couldn´t say anything wrong regarding the lieutenant's behavior or performance..." "Commander!" my father tried to interrupt Kylo's speech but he swallowed his words when Kylo turned to see him "On the other hand General, I considered that the only improper act that is happening here is your actions..." Kylo started walking towards my father, who advanced back to try to avoid any contact with him "In fact, from now on the lieutenant will report directly to me, and only to me..." my father touched his back to the wall and Kylo covered him with his whole body "And you wouldn´t have any kind of contact with her if you doesn't go through me first..." I see how sweat ran in my father's face incessantly "Is it clear to you, General?" with a somewhat shaky voice, my father tried to regain his composition "Yes Sir.", Kylo stepped slightly to the side, giving my father a sense that it was time to leave the room, something that he caught immediately, taking his pad data from the table and walking past me without turning to see me when he came out of the room.

I burst into tears completely as soon as the door closed behind him and immediately Kylo rushed over to hold me in his arms, I buried my face in his chest and held his robes with my hands, he felt like how I was shaking, so he held me tighter, completely enveloping me with his body. Little by little I was catching my breath, my sobs were less frequent, I leaned my ear against his chest and I could hear his heartbeat, which helped me to recover my nerves. I could feel Kylo sporadically placing kisses on my head and resting his forehead on it, so the warmth of his breath also comforted me.

"You know perfectly well that nothing he said is true..." Kylo began to whisper in my head "You are an extraordinary woman..." he took one of the hands that held my body against my head and began to caress me "You are affectionate, kind and quite disciplined with your work..." my heart began to fill with a very pleasant warmth "For me, you are perfect" I raised my face to see him, he had a slight marked smile on his face, that smile that no matter how heavy the day always made me feel better "Do you think so?" and Kylo just nodded while holding my face with both hands.

His thumbs caressed my cheeks and wiped in his wake the few tears that still ran down my face, I could feel how a small smile was also drawn on my lips. I was very impressed by how he had such strong power to transform something so traumatic for me, as it was to see my father, into something so intimate and warm. 

In a single movement, Kylo brought his lips to mine, like a soft caress, it was full of affection, my whole body suddenly forgot the terror and the nerves that I suffered and simply got in tune with the caress of his lips. After a few seconds he separated his face from mine and fixed his gaze on mine "Let's go to our room..." he whispered "Ours?" I raised one of my eyebrows and looked at him with a bit of disbelief "Yes, OUR room."

[inyournightmares97]

Ultimatum (Part 6)

Park Jinyoung is a master negotiator. He’s used to preying on people’s weaknesses and manipulating them to get his way. So he can’t understand you; a lawyer who sees the world in black and white, as either good or bad. Conflict is inevitable.

But if the two of you can just set aside your differences, perhaps you can perform miracles together.

Word Count: 7.1k+

Warnings: Angst, office!au, enemies to lovers!au. Some language

Part 1: In Which You Win

Part 2: In Which He Wins

Part 3: In Which the Common Enemy Appears

Part 4: In Which You Work Together

Part 5: In Which Nobody Wins

Part 6: In which Everybody Wins

Part 7: In which Love Wins

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

You weren’t sure how long you sat in your car. 

It could have been hours, really. The sky darkened and night fell, but you couldn’t calm down enough to go inside. How were you going to tell your mother that you’d just been forced to resign? You had a decent amount of savings but elderly care was expensive and if you didn’t find a suitable job in two months then you were going to find it difficult to pay your mother’s bills. 

You groaned. 

How did this all go so terribly wrong? 

Maybe you shouldn’t have exploded at the CEO. Did it really matter whether he valued your work? You weren’t a child that needed praises. You were getting paid well and that should have been enough incentive for you to keep your mouth shut and just do your work. 

Maybe you should have listened to Jinyoung. He could be infuriating, but maybe he was actually much smarter than you. 

At least Jinyoung’s pride hadn’t lost him his job.

Either way, there was no use moping about it now. Your time with the company was over and once you broke the bad news to your mother, you would have to go home and fix your resume before sending out job applications. 

Fuck. You hated job-hunting. 

You stepped out of the car and walked to the entrance of your mother’s care home. The usual nurse was standing in the lobby and her eyes widened with delight as soon as she saw you. 

“There you are! Your boyfriend’s been here for a while, he kept asking when you would come!” she chirped. She giggled and leaned closer to whisper. “Where did you meet him? Is he rich? He looks rich, just something about the way he walks and his clothes-”

“Excuse me? What boyfriend?”

“The one who came yesterday!” she said. Her eyes narrowed. “Do you have more than one?”

"No, I don't..."

I don't even have one, was what you were about to say, but something clicked in your mind. The one who came yesterday. She could only be talking about Park Jinyoung. What was he doing here? Shouldn't he have gone home to pack for Busan after the disaster of today evening? 

Or was he just here to torment you? 

You went into the lounge and found your mother sitting in her usual armchair. Jinyoung was sitting beside her- his laptop bag strewn on the floor and his suit jacket slung over the back of the chair as he spoke to her with a handsome smile on his face.

You sighed. You didn't really want to face him tonight. Park Jinyoung had seen enough of your weaknesses tonight to last a lifetime. 

"Hi," you greeted them, interrupting their conversation. Your mother looked up with bright eyes and Jinyoung looked at you too. His soft lips curved into a smile. 

"Hey!" he greeted you cheerfully. "Where have you been? I thought you left work a long time ago! I tried calling but you didn't answer."

You forced a smile. "Jinyoung…"

"Yeah?"

"Not that I don't want you here, but I'd like a few minutes alone with my mother."

Jinyoung stood up and smoothed his formal shirt down with a nod. "Of course. But before that, I need a few minutes alone with you. Can we talk outside?"

You felt tired. "Can it wait? I-"

"No, it can't wait. It has to be now. Come on."

You were too exhausted to protest as Jinyoung wrapped his warm fingers around your forearms and steered you towards the exit of the care home. You found yourself back in the parking lot with a sheepish Jinyoung looking down at you and rubbing the back of his neck.

"What is it?" you asked. 

Jinyoung cleared his throat. "Well… I'm not sure how to explain this but…"

"You have one minute."

"Okay. I talked to the CEO again and he said everyone can stay here and nobody has to go to Busan," he blurted out. 

Your eye twitched. 

"Excuse me?"

"You can stay here. And keep your job."

"No, I heard you. I just don't believe you," you replied. You narrowed your eyes at Jinyoung. Was he joking? Was this some kind of a trick? You might have gotten along with the successful salesman in recent days, but you couldn’t forget that he was a manipulative asshole capable of anything.

"I'm not lying. Check your email," he insisted.

You fumbled in your bag for your phone and quickly checked your email. Park Jinyoung was telling the truth. There was an email in your inbox from the CEO stating that the transfer orders had been cancelled indefinitely. 

You felt weak.

"What the f-"

Jinyoung grinned. "I told you I wasn't lying."

"How did you manage that?" you demanded. You stared up at him in shock. "Park Jinyoung what the fuck did you do?"

Jinyoung wiggled his fingers in the air. "Magic."

You flung your handbag at him in frustration, and Jinyoung flinched when it smacked into his shoulder. Your red eyes showed how furious you were and he took a step back from you with a nervous laugh. 

"Hey, now calm down…"

"You did something stupid, didn't you?" you demanded.

Jinyoung shook his head. "No, I-"

“Park Jinyoung tell me what stupid, dick-head move you pulled to get us our jobs back or I swear to god-” 

Jinyoung backed away from you nervously. “Hey! Relax, I’ll tell you if you promise not to hurt me! Look. I didn’t do anything illegal. We had another negotiation where I pulled out another card I’d been hiding and it turned out that was his bottom line, so he agreed to let everyone stay. We’re not getting bonuses anymore.” 

Your heartbeat was thudding. “I… I don’t understand.” 

“Me neither,” Jinyoung complained as he rubbed his sore shoulder and pouted. “If I’d hit you with my bag then things would be a lot more serious, you know. You can’t just hit people. Even if you’re a woman.” 

“I-I’m sorry.” 

Jinyoung smirked. “And?”

Your eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god. I already emailed my resignation! So did Yugyeom and Youngjae! What if the CEO accepts them?" 

"He can't."

"Why not?"

Jinyoung folded his arms across his chest with a smug smile. "I talked to my friend in IT. He recalled the mails and deleted them from the server. They're gone, long before the CEO had a chance to see them."

"Wow."

"Don't you have anything else to say?" Jinyoung pressed. 

"What?"

“Let me give you a hint. An expression of gratitude. Two words, first word is five letters, second word is three-” 

“Thank you,” you mumbled. 

Jinyoung’s smile softened and as you looked up at him, you could see a quiet satisfaction in his eyes. It surprised you. 

This wasn’t the usual haughty, egoistic pride that was spread all over Jinyoung’s handsome face. It was something more innocent. 

The pleasure of having made someone happy. 

Jinyoung had never imagined it could feel so wonderful. 

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

“Well, well, well! Look who was gone for a whole minute! If it isn’t our Legal team.”

You looked up from your laptop to face Jackson Wang, standing over you. The entire office was in a cheerful mood this morning. News had spread that the Busan transfers had been cancelled and that the CEO had been forced to give in. 

It was a victory that everyone shared. 

People had been coming up to thank you all morning. You’d tried telling them that you weren’t sure how it had happened, but they wouldn’t listen. 

“Morning, Jackson,” you greeted. 

“Good morning. I see some bright and happy faces!” Jackson waved at both Yugyeom and Youngjae. Then he turned back to you. “Anyway, I’m here to check up on the sale agreements I asked you to look through?”

You nodded. “I’ll send them to you with my comments by the end of the day.”

“Good stuff, good stuff.”

“Was there anything else?”

With a nod, Jackson climbed up and sat on the edge of your desk with one leg. You frowned in disapproval. You didn’t like people sitting on your desk. Then again, Jackson Wang was hardly the most tactful person in the world. 

“What do you think about Jinyoung?” he asked eagerly. 

You raised an eyebrow. “Jinyoung?” 

“Yeah.” 

“What do I think about him? In what context?” you asked, confused.

“In every context.”

You folded your arms across your chest and leaned back in your chair. “I’m a little busy, Jackson. Can we save the games for outside of working hours?”

Jackson sighed. “You know, Jinyoung might seem a little selfish but deep down he’s a really sensitive guy. You get what I’m saying? He reads poetry in his free time. He likes little kids. He really loves his mom and he’s passionate about his work. And recently, I learned that he even has the potential to be rather… romantic?”

You stared at him. “Are you two dating?” 

“What? No!” 

“Then what the hell are you trying to say?” 

“Screw it. Never mind. You wouldn’t understand,” Jackson replied as he got off your desk and dusted off his pants with a frown. “You’re really cold, you know that?” 

“Please go away.” 

“Fine. I’ll leave. I just feel bad for Jinyoung, that’s all.” 

“Seriously Jackson, go away.” 

“Fine!” 

Jackson left and you rolled your eyes, accidentally making eye contact with Yugyeom who was watching the exchange with interest. You shrugged in bewilderment and Yugyeom grinned until his phone buzzed and he looked at it with wide eyes. 

“Hana?” he answered happily. 

You sighed and turned back to your laptop. 

Young love. You wished it was that easy for you. 

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

You had just sat down to eat your lunch in the cafeteria when Park Jinyoung slid into the seat across from you. 

“Hi,” you greeted him, mildly surprised. 

Jinyoung barely looked at you as he unwrapped his sandwich hastily. “Hey. Can’t talk for long, need to eat fast because I have a meeting with a client in about fifteen minutes,” he blurted out before taking a huge bite. 

“O...k?” you replied. You hadn't even asked. 

He looked up at you as he swallowed. “How’s your day going?” 

“Um, fine, I guess.”

“Just a heads up, don’t take any rumours you hear around office too seriously. Jackson might be saying some stuff, but that’s because he’s been smoking too much weed. Oh, but don’t tell anyone I said that either. HR might organize a drug test and I don’t want him fired.”

You stared at him. “Jackson shouldn’t be smoking.”

“I know, I keep telling him that but he doesn’t listen!” Jinyoung insisted as he took another huge bite. His sandwich was half gone and he rapidly drank half a bottle of water. 

“What kind of rumours, though?”

“Huh?”

“What kind of rumours is he spreading?” you repeated. “If he’s saying something that’s affecting you badly, or disparaging you then shouldn’t you talk to him? Or at least ask HR to talk to him?”

Jinyoung laughed and waved it off. “What? No. It’s cool.”

“If you say so.”

Jinyoung swallowed the last of his sandwich- you hadn’t even touched your own food yet- and crumpled up the wrapper before finishing his water bottle. Then he looked at you with a handsome smile. 

“Oh, and did I mention? I kind of need you to attend this client meeting with me.”

You stared at him. “Excuse me?”

“I’m negotiating a huge sale and the client is being stubborn. I know our good-cop-bad-cop routine didn’t work too well on the CEO, but it would be great if you could come along. I’m up for an award in March and I really need this sale.”

Your face turned white. 

“Park Jinyoung, I cannot believe you-”

“I’ll see you at Conference room 7 in… thirteen minutes? I knew you would be a sport. Thanks so much!” he gave you a friendly pat on the back and a charming smile before briskly walking out of the cafeteria. 

You stared down at your lunch tray and took a deep breath as you waited for the anger to wash over you.  

You should have been furious. Park Jinyoung had signed you up to attend a meeting during your lunch break with almost no notice and you should have been raging mad at the nerve he had. 

But you weren’t. 

Because taking someone from Legal to his negotiations was something Jinyoung had been refusing to do for the past year, no matter how many times you begged and pleaded with him. He always said that wasn't something he could compromise on. Maybe his failure to give you enough notice was annoying and inconsiderate but in the bigger picture…

You had won. 

You smiled to yourself and then glanced at the time. 

Oh, shit. You had barely 10 minutes to eat lunch. 

Fuck you, Park Jinyoung. 

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

"Oh excellent, you're here," Jinyoung greeted you with relief as you turned into the hallway. He looked smart and well-dressed; the suit jacket was only pressed and worn for client meetings and you could smell his cologne. 

Park Jinyoung smelled wonderful.  

You frowned at him. "You don't just spring meetings on people. That wasn't funny."

"It was to me."

You sighed. "Look. There's still 2 minutes left, at least give me a quick briefing and tell me what this meeting is about?"

"Relax. The deal is in the bag. The client's product specifications are really particular and nobody else in the industry is willing to accomodate them. So they need us badly. The issue is getting them to pay a better price. Right now, they're acting arrogant and low-balling us with the figures."

You raised an eyebrow. "How do we fix that? Price negotiation isn't my strong point."

Jinyoung chuckled. "Nobody in Sales is stupid enough to ask you to negotiate anything for them. Don’t worry.  That's not what I expect."

"Then what do you expect?"

"I just need you to be a bitch."

You bristled. "I'm not sure how I feel about you calling me that word repeatedly-"

Jinyoung blinked innocently and shook his head. "What? No, I'm not calling you a bitch. I'm saying that I need you to act like one, just for the purposes of this client meeting so that they get a little flustered and agree to a higher price."

"Still not an appropriate word to use in the workplace," you pointed out stubbornly. 

He groaned. "Fine. I'm sorry. Can you please come and be unreasonable and obstinate, like you always are whenever I ask you for anything?"

You folded your arms across your chest. "You can do better than that."

“This is absurd.”

“Asking for basic decency is absurd?” you demanded. 

Jinyoung groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Fine. Let me try again. Will you please attend this meeting with me and help me strike fear in the hearts of the clients with your powerful and fearsome ways?”

You smiled. “I like that.”

“Come on, let’s just hurry up and go inside.”

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

“That won’t work.”

The client looked flustered. Jinyoung leaned back in his seat and watched as you handled the entire meeting yourself, cutting off the client at every turn, insisting that nothing would work and being an obstinate, unreasonable bitch. 

Jinyoung was having the time of his life. 

“But we’ve already compromised on a lot of the terms,” the client insisted. The lady had looked confident when she entered, but she was slowly buckling under your strength. Her desperation was leaking into her voice. “We’re offering the best terms we can and we want something that will benefit both parties-”

“Then how about you offer something that will actually benefit both parties? Because what you’re offering right now is a joke.”

Jinyoung leaned forward in a half-hearted attempt to control you. 

“Now come on. Let’s not be too harsh. Mrs. Kim is doing her best-”

“Mrs. Kim needs to do better,” you replied sharply. “What they’re asking for is something completely out of the box. There’s no standard protocol to follow to produce a product like that and we would have to customize all processes from the ground up. I’m a lawyer, should I really be teaching you about business processes, Mr. Park? Please bring your common sense to this negotiation.”

Jinyoung blinked in amusement. You were even turning against him, now? Even though your lips were pressed together in a frown, he could see a glint in your eyes. 

You were enjoying this. 

Fuck, Jinyoung thought as he gave up and relaxed back into his seat. He had never realized exactly how attractive you were when you were flaunting your power. Or maybe he had. Maybe this was just the first time he wasn’t at the receiving end of your wrath, so he could sit and watch you with leisure. 

Mrs. Kim bit her lip. “These are the final numbers I can offer you. Can you take a look?”

You glanced at the numbers and stood up. “This is really a waste of time.”

“What-”

“I don’t think this meeting is going anywhere like this,” you decided. You tossed your pen onto the table and it hit the surface with a thunk as you gathered up your belongings. Mrs. Kim looked shocked but you kept a perfectly expressionless face as you slung your bag over your shoulder. “Perhaps we can meet again, Mrs. Kim, once your company looks at the numbers and comes up with a more competitive figure.”

Jinyoung blinked. “Are you really-”

You stormed out, unable to suppress the giggles that were threatening to erupt from your lips. You waited until you were in the corridor and at a safe distance before allowing yourself to laugh. It was awful; you felt bad for the poor woman but she now understood who had the upper hand and she would be forced to concede to whatever Jinyoung asked. 

Still, setting aside the satisfaction of winning…

It was the most fun you’d had in a while. 

You heard the conference room door open and Jinyoung stepped out into the corridor. His eyes were shining as he walked towards you briskly. 

“Okay,” he said with a grin. “I knew you were good but I didn’t know you were that good.”

“I almost feel bad for her,” you giggled. 

“Relax. The numbers they were quoting originally were terrible. You finally brought her up to a more reasonable price. I can’t believe you just stormed out like that, though, that was…”

You bit your lip. “Excessive?”

Sexy as hell, Jinyoung thought to himself silently. 

“Effective,” he said out loud. “It was effective. I’m going to go back in there and comfort her and seal the deal, okay? Thanks for doing this, honestly. You saved me from having to accept her low-balled figure.”

“Park Jinyoung? Showing gratitude? I must be dreaming.”

Jinyoung frowned. “Hey. I’m a reasonable guy.”

“Sure.”

“And besides. It’s not too bad when we’re on the same team, is it? I always imagined you would get in my way during negotiations but honestly… when we’re on the same page I think we do pretty well,” he admitted. 

You nodded thoughtfully. “Yeah. I guess we do work well together.”

“Anyway. I should go back before she cracks. See you.”

“Yep. Bye.”

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

You returned to your desk to find Yugyeom waiting for you. 

“What’s up with you?” you asked. 

“I feel like I should tell you something,” he began awkwardly. Yugyeom lowered his voice and shielded his mouth with one hand to whisper. “Hana told me that there’s some rumours going around the Sales department.”

You raised an eyebrow. “Really Yugyeom? Participating in office gossip? I expected better from you.”

“It’s about you,” he insisted. 

“What about me?”

He cleared his throat. “Okay. I know this sounds absurd, but... Jackson Wang is going around telling people  that Park Jinyoung is in love with you.”

You stared at him. 

“What?”

“Park. Jinyoung. Might be in love with you.”

You couldn’t help it; you laughed. The thought was so absurd that you couldn’t react in any other way. Jinyoung? In love with you? Wasn’t he always calling you a witch and a teacher’s pet and saying he found your moral superiority annoying? How could he possibly be in love with you, in any sense of the word? 

“Wow, I needed that laugh.”

Yugyeom frowned. “But it’s serious. People believe it.”

“What is this, middle school? Do we spread rumours about every guy and girl who talk? Park Jinyoung hates me. Sure, maybe we worked together on a couple of things and have some level of professional compatibility, but-”

“Professional compatibility?” Yugyeom questioned. 

“You know. We work well together. That’s it!”

“Huh.”

You flushed. “What are you getting at here? Just because Park Jinyoung and I managed to work together like decent human beings does not mean that he suddenly likes me in any way. He’s a selfish asshole and I’m not his type in the slightest. We have to struggle just to have a civil conversation.”

Yugyeom shrugged. “If you say so.”

“I do. Why is Jackson spreading rumours like that? Is he actually high while at work?”

“Jackson doesn’t smoke up.”

You blinked. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, he quit smoking years ago. And he’s Jinyoung’s closest friend at work, don’t you think he would know what he’s talking about?” Yugyeom reasoned. “I know Jinyoung isn’t typically nice or flirtatious but he does seem to find reasons to come around here a lot and you get really worked up around him so it could be… you know.”

“No, I don’t know. Tell me.”

He lowered his voice with a childish grin. “Sexual tension.”

“Do you want to be fired less than a day after getting your job back, Kim Yugyeom?”

“No, ma’am.”

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

You were just getting ready to leave when Park Jinyoung came by your desk. 

“Hey,” he greeted. “Heading home?”

You nodded, feeling flustered at the sudden sight of him. As much as you wanted to brush off the rumours, you couldn’t completely ignore them. 

Could they be true? Had something changed between you and Jinyoung? 

“Yup, getting ready to leave. Did you need something?” you asked him. 

“Just thought I’d stop by and update you on how the negotiation went. We signed off on the deal, Mrs. Kim offered way more than I expected her to. She was relieved not to have to negotiate with you anymore. I guess you do have some skills, teacher’s pet.”

You rolled your eyes. “I’ve always had skills.”

“Anyway, I thought we should celebrate sealing another deal. Want to go get a drink?”

“I have plans tonight. Maybe some other time. You’re supposed to take someone from Legal along to all of your important client negotiations, I hope you remember that?” you demanded. 

Jinyoung chuckled. “Yeah, yeah. We’ll see.”

“No. Don’t brush me off. I’ll see you at the next negotiation.”

“You’re enjoying it, aren’t you?” Jinyoung asked with a chuckle. “You were in your element today. Fine. Who am I to deny you some excitement in your dull life of reviewing contracts? I’ll give you a call when I find my next client. Good night!”

“Night.”

Jinyoung left and you shut your laptop down, sliding it into your bag and zipping it closed. You had just slung it over your shoulder when you noticed that both Yugyeom and Youngjae were staring at you with wide eyes and open mouths. 

“What’s wrong with you two?” you demanded. 

“Park Jinyoung just asked you out!” gasped Yugyeom. 

“Huh?”

“He just asked you out to drinks after work! Right in front of our eyes! How are you so calm about this, you rejected Park Jinyoung!”

Your cheeks burned up. “What? No! I helped him close a sales deal so he probably wanted to celebrate by getting a drink, that’s all! Colleagues do that all the time, don’t they? Don’t the Sales guys treat you two to drinks when a deal you’ve been working on goes well?”

“No. The Sales guys are stingy as hell,” Youngjae replied. 

“But-”

“He just asked you out and you said no.”

“He did not!” you insisted, flustered. “This is so absurd, I don’t know why you guys are so hung up on this. Jinyoung doesn’t date women like me. I'm sure he goes for a different type.”

“Do you know what his type is?”

“... No. But-”

Yugyeom and Younjae both exchanged a meaningful look while you stared at them in bewilderment. 

What was happening?

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

You didn't realize it at the time but perhaps in his own subtle and clueless manner, Park Jinyoung was attempting to woo you.

“What’s this?” you asked. 

Hana had turned up at your desk early in the morning on Monday, carrying a small box with three take-away coffees in it. She set one down on your desk and smiled. 

“Coffee,” she explained cheerfully. “Mr. Park asked me to get some for the Legal team. I dodn’t know if you like sugar and milk so I just bought some extra for you to add. There are muffins too, if you guys are hungry.” 

“Wow,” Youngjae looked suspicious as he took his coffee. “This is a first. Do you think it’s poisoned?”

Yugyeom grinned as he reached for his own cup. “Thanks, Hana. Although maybe it’s our boss we should be thanking. We all know who Park Jinyoung really sent the coffee for, and it’s not you or me, hyung.”

Youngjae grinned and raised his cup in your direction. “Thanks, boss.”

You glared at them. “He sent it for all of us!”

“Sure he did.”

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

Jinyoung was pacing the corridor and talking on the phone loudly. 

It was mildly distracting but it wasn’t as if you could ask him to shut up; it was an open office space and people talking on the phone and discussing things was a common noise that you should be able to ignore. 

It still didn’t make sense that he wanted to take his phone calls here, so far away from his own desk. 

You closed your laptop and took two steps towards the corridor just as Jinyoung ended his phone call and fell into stride beside you. 

“Hey!” he greeted. “Going to get some lunch?”

You nodded. “It is lunchtime…”

“Great. I’m hungry too. Let’s go together. Do you want to hit that chinese place across the road? I have some discount coupons and their wontons are amazing. You don’t have any meetings right after lunch, do you?”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Not unless you spring one on me like yesterday.”

Jinyoung chuckled. “Me? Not today.”

You followed him out of the office, unable to find a reason to say no. And why shouldn’t you go with him? Colleagues could go out to grab lunch together, right? 

To be honest, you’d never really been close enough to anybody from a different department to have lunch with them but lots of people at work did it. Besides, Jinyoung had talked about discount coupons and nobody said stuff like that if they meant it to be a date.

Right? 

Why were you even thinking about this? Yugyeom and Youngjae must have gotten to your head. 

“Thanks for the coffee this morning,” you told Jinyoung as he opened the door for you at the restaurant. He smiled at you sheepishly. “Why did you ask Hana to get us all coffee and breakfast?”

Jinyoung shrugged. “I don’t know. You guys work hard. Just wanted to appreciate it.”

“Huh.”

“Why do you sound like you don’t believe me? Table for two, please,” Jinyoung said quickly to the waiter, who led you both to a corner table with a pleasant view.

“I just never pegged you for the appreciative type. Not to mention that I don’t think the company as a whole really appreciates anything my department does here,” you mumbled bitterly. 

Jinyoung stared at you, dark eyes concerned. “Hold on. You’re not still hung up on what the CEO said, are you? It’s his personal opinion. You can’t take it to heart. Most of us don’t feel that way about Legal. It’s just one guy.”

You sighed. “That one guy runs our entire company, Jinyoung.”

“I know. But…”

“But what?” you demanded. “He controls the policies and the way things run here. A company is moulded by its CEO. I don’t know how much longer I can stay knowing that he dislikes me. I’ll never be able to grow in my career, I’ll be stuck here forever.”

“You can find ways to grow!”

“Under his authority?” you scoffed. “You think the man is ever going to give me a promotion, after the shit I pulled with him? I’m not sure how you convinced him to give us our jobs back but I can guarantee he’ll bear a personal grudge against me.”

Jinyoung frowned. “I’ll make sure he doesn’t.”

You rolled your eyes. “You don’t control him.”

“I got him to cancel the Busan transfer, didn’t I?.”

“Yeah. How did you do that?” you asked with a frown. “I was too surprised to push you for an answer that day, but you never explained. What did you do? I hope you didn’t blackmail him or do something dangerous, Park Jinyoung.”

Jinyoung scoffed. “Please. I told you I didn’t do anything illegal.”

“Then how?”

“I just figured out his bottom line and threatened to rip it out from underneath him.”

“What was his bottom line?”

Jinyoung smiled cryptically as he picked up a lunch menu and flipped through it. “Maybe I’ll tell you someday. What do you think about shrimp wontons? They’re personally my favorite.”

“I hate them.”

“Fine, I’ll order a single portion then. Oh look! They have some Christmas specials. Speaking of Christmas, are you planning to go to the annual office Christmas party tomorrow? It’s a lot of fun. There’s free cocktails and they usually do this stupid little Secret Santa thing.”

You groaned. “God, I hate those.”

Jinyoung chuckled. “I thought you would.”

“I never get a nice present. I got socks one year, and this disgusting scented candle set the next. It stank up my house whenever I lit it. Besides, I can’t on Friday. They’re having a Christmas celebration at my mother’s care home and it’s really important to her that I go.”

“Oh. That’s nice.”

“Yeah. We used to have these huge family Christmases when I was a kid but, well… we don't anymore and I think my Mom misses them," you admitted. You sighed and flipped a page of the menu. "I know it’s hardly enough, but I should at least spend time with her myself, so she’s not completely alone."

Jinyoung blinked. "Huh. I've always found huge family Christmases a pain. Then again, I've never really spent Christmas alone."

You raised an eyebrow at him. "You have a huge family?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, I figured your family abandoned you as a kid because they couldn't stand you anymore," you said flippantly. 

Jinyoung frowned. "That's not nice."

"I'm not nice. And I don't like shrimp wontons. Can we order chicken instead?"

Jinyoung sighed and closed the menu. "Yeah, fine, have it your way."

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

Your mother always looked sad around Christmas-time. 

“How much longer do we have to listen to her?” you whispered to your Mom with a playful grin, in an attempt to cheer her up. Another one of the elderly ladies at the care home was reciting poetry and she seemed to have an entire sheaf of papers to read from. “Is she reading us a poem or an entire trilogy?”

Your Mom hushed you. “Don’t be rude.”

“But it’s boring.”

“Yes, but it’s important to her that we listen to her poetry so let’s not interrupt her,” she insisted. She placed a weak hand on your arm and smiled hesitantly. “I’m sorry you had to come and stay here with me on the night of your office Christmas party.”

You rolled your eyes. “Come on, Mom. They do those Christmas parties every year. People just exchange cheap gifts and get extremely drunk. It’s no fun.”

“And listening to Mrs. Jung read her poetry is?”

“It’s fine because I’m with you,” you promised. 

“You should be out with your friends and coworkers. Or your boyfriend. What happened to that nice young man who came by here a couple of times? He seemed interested in you.”

You flinched. “Park Jinyoung?” 

“Yes, Jinyoung. I thought he liked you. He seemed very polite and charming.”

“He’s just like that. Besides, I don’t think I’m the type Jinyoung would really go for,” you replied. You turned to your Mom and bit your lip. “I think I’m going to look for a new job, Mom. Don’t worry. I’ll look for a company nearby so I can stay near you, and something that pays well, but… I don’t think I see a future for myself with this organization.”

You mother blinked. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I’ve started applying already.”

“If you say so, dear. You’ve always been responsible about your decisions, I doubt there’s any advice I could give you.”

You chuckled. “You’d support me no matter what.”

“Of course I would.”

“What do you want to do on Christmas Day? I can ask the doctor to let you out for a bit and we can have lunch at my apartment. I’ll buy groceries and cook for us both. How does that sound?”

“It sounds lovely, dear,” she said softly. 

“You don’t sound so sure.” 

“I am, really.” 

You opened your mouth to press her further but before you could, a round of polite applause filled the room. Mrs. Jung had finally finished reading her poetry. Your mother waved for the nurse to come over and take her to her room. “I’m a little tired, dear. I think I’ll go to bed. Drive home safely, okay?” 

You nodded and gave her a hug goodbye. 

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

Outside in the parking lot, Park Jinyoung was losing his mind. 

He couldn’t stop thinking about you. The Christmas party had been a blast from the start; Jackson was a hilarious drunk and he’d even caught Yugyeom and Hana making out less than an hour in. Jinyoung should have been having fun but he kept thinking about how much he wished you were at the party. 

After drowning just enough wine to lose any remaining sense of propriety, he’d taken a cab to your mother’s care home. 

And now he was standing outside in the chilly winter air, wondering what the fucking hell he was doing outside an elderly people’s care home, drunk and clutching an expensive bottle of wine that he’d swiped from the party and waiting for you to come out. 

It was pathetic, really. 

And Park Jinyoung wasn’t pathetic. 

No. He wasn’t. Women fell for him, not the other way around. Park Jinyoung had never struggled to find attractive and willing female companions, even before he’d acquired a high-paying job and bought his own apartment. So why was he so fixated on you? 

Why was he sitting here in this desolate, pathetic, miserable place?

Perhaps it was because the moment you entered his line of vision, his mind went blank and all he could think about was how adorable you looked walking over towards him in the cold, your arms wrapped around yourself and face snuggled into your scarf. 

“Jinyoung?” you called out in disbelief. “What are you doing?” 

Jinyoung didn’t know how to respond. He decided that bare-faced shamelessness was the best way to go. He was drunk so he would blame it all on the alcohol later. He smiled and held up the bottle of wine. 

“I felt bad that you were missing the party, so I decided to bring the party to you,” he called out cheerfully. “After all, I am the party. What more could you want?” 

You laughed. Your laugh was beautiful, Jinyoung thought. Maybe it was all the more precious because it was so rare. Maybe the fact that you were usually frowning or upset meant that when you laughed, you really laughed, and there was nothing fake or forced about it. You never tried to please anyone. You never tried to seem friendly or polite to satisfy someone else. 

You were yourself, and perhaps that was what Jinyoung found so attractive about you. 

“Are you drunk?” you asked as you neared him. 

Jinyoung pouted. “Just had a few glasses of wine.” 

“How did you get here?” 

“I took a cab.” 

“Fuck, it’s freezing. Let’s get inside my car and turn on the heater and then talk, okay?” you decided, fumbling for your keys. Jinyoung had a stupid smile on his face as he slid into your passenger-side seat. He smelled faintly of wine and cologne. 

“Was the party boring?” you asked. 

“It was okay,” he replied with a shrug. “I found Yugyeom and Hana sucking face in the janitor’s closet but I swear I didn’t tell anyone about it.” 

You giggled. “I see.” 

“I may have suggested to Jaebeom from HR that he would find something interesting if he went looking for a mop, but I swear I didn’t tell on them myself, I would never do that,” Jinyoung insisted. His words were clumsy and you could see that he was a little drunk. 

“Is the wine for me?” you asked, pointing to the bottle in his lap. 

Jinyoung grinned. “I stole it from the party.” 

“Hand it over then.” 

You took a swig of the wine straight from the bottle and giggled when you saw Jinyoung staring at you in awe. “What are you gaping at?” you demanded. “You didn’t think to bring me a glass, did you?” 

“Nope,” he admitted. 

“So keep your mouth shut until I’m at least half as drunk as you.” 

“My pleasure.” 

You had never imagined getting drunk on wine with Park Jinyoung in the parking lot of an elderly care home, but a lot of things had happened in the last one week that you’d never imagined. Perhaps you should just let loose and take life as it came. 

You turned and looked at Park Jinyoung. His dark eyes were watching you closely. 

“Jinyoung,” you said. 

“Yeah?” 

“What’s your type?” 

His eyebrows furrowed. “Huh?” 

“You know, in women. What you look for in a woman. You must have some kind of a type,” you insisted. With all the gossip going around, you needed to know if there was a chance that Jinyoung could ever be attracted to you. 

“I just…” Jinyoung blinked at you slowly. “I don’t know.” 

“How can you not know?” 

“I just don’t know.” 

“But you must-” 

Jinyoung’s eyebrows furrowed, irritated. “Fine, I do know. But I’m not drunk enough to say it out loud in front of you, and you can’t make me so don’t try to trick me into it. I’m smart. I don’t blurt out stupid things when I’m drunk. I’m Park Jinyoung, and you won’t get a word out of me.” 

You blinked at him. “Fine, I didn’t know it was a secret.” 

“It is a secret and I won’t tell you.” 

“Fine, then. Why did you come here?” 

“Ha! Another trick question!” Jinyoung shook his head and smiled, leaning his head against the seat drowsily. “I won’t tell you. I’m not going to let anything slip. I won’t.” 

“Is everything a secret?” 

“Yup.” 

“So you won’t tell me anything tonight?” 

“Nope.” 

“So should I talk, then?” you asked, taking another swig of the wine. You sighed and leaned back in your seat. “I don’t know what to do to cheer my Mom up. I think she’s lonely and I try to spend as much time as I can with her, but I think even I can’t fix the loneliness she feels around Christmas-time. I think she misses big, traditional family Christmases.” 

Jinyoung grinned. “You can bring her to my house.” 

You blinked. “Really?” 

“My family makes a huge deal out of Christmas. My parents and my sisters and my aunts, uncles, cousins, they all cram themselves into that tiny house and break out of the food and decorations. Lonely?” Jinyoung scoffed and rolled his eyes. “She won’t have room to breathe in that crowd of overbearing nuts.” 

You giggled. “I still can’t believe that you come from a big family.” 

“Tell your Mom she has to come to Christmas at mine. Call her right now.” 

“You don’t mean that.” 

“I do. Call her.” 

You giggled as you took your phone out of your pocket. Your Mom answered on the first ring and the wine was the only reason you said the next words that came out of your mouth. 

“Mom, Jinyoung wants you to go over and spend Christmas at his house. What do you think?” 

Your mother sounded confused. “What, sweetie?”

Jinyoung gestured for you to hand him the phone. You gave it to him and he held it up to his ear clumsily. “Ma’am, you are most cordially invited to Christmas lunch at my house. My Mom makes the best chicken in the world but since you need to take care of your health please stay away from my sister’s gravy that shit is toxic,” 

You laughed and took the phone back from him. “Sorry Mom, he’s drunk.” 

“I think you are too,” your mother replied with a small laugh. “Good night, sweetheart.” 

“Goodnight.” 

You hung up and turned to see that Jinyoung was staring at you, his eyes glazed over. He ran his fingers through his hair and your heart skipped a beat when he smiled down at you softly. 

“Hey. We make a good team, right?” he asked carefully. “I like… I like it when we’re on the same side. Like at that meeting. And with the CEO. And now. I hated you when you were getting in my way but now it feels like we’re on the same team and it feels right.” 

You giggled. “You’re a good teammate, Jinyoung.” 

“Really? Why do you think so” 

“I don’t know. You’re… reliable. And smart. You’re a bit of a pain but honestly, I think you’re growing on me. Kind of like a fungus, except less disgusting.”

Jinyoung chuckled. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah.”

“And I have a nice ass, right? I’ve seen you staring at my ass.” 

You laughed, unable to control yourself. This situation was absurd, this conversation was absurd and everything you were doing right now was completely absurd. 

But in some odd way, it also felt right. 

“You have a lovely ass, Jinyoung.” 

He scoffed. “I knew it.” 

“And now that I just said that, I realize I’m officially drunk too, so we're gonna need to call a cab to get us both home.” 

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

[jaqdawks]

added a short story bellow :)

content warnings: alcohol and implied nsfw acts, also mention of death.

—————————————

Nickolai awoke in someone else’s bed with a splitting hangover. He sat up and looked around the unfamiliar room. He checked if it was possibly Alcor’s, until he realized he didn’t know what Alcor’s bedroom looked like at all. He also didn’t know what most of Alcor’s flat looked like; he’d only ever been as far in as a single hallway.

For a few minutes, Nickolai fought the hangover to remember who he was with and what identity he’d assumed. All he could remember was Noah. He had a fake ID that said Noah, and his false identity as a Noah was a man who fixed computers. Noah was a common name though, and he couldn’t remember who the Noah here was.

He didn’t think about it much longer before he succumbed to the hangover and flopped back onto the bed—which Nickolai was alone in. The disturbed sheets on the spot next to him hinted to someone else having been in it earlier.

The door began to creak open, and Nickolai shut his eyes.

“Hey, it’s almost noon. I don’t want to be rude but you need to wake up,” sounded an unfamiliar voice.

Nickolai grumbled a little. He looked at the stranger, who had soft green eyes and curly red hair. He didn’t look untrustworthy, to Nickolai’s relief. Then again, Nickolai didn’t look untrustworthy either on a normal day.

“I have Advil if you need something for a hangover,” the stranger offered.

Nickolai sat up again, for real now. “Sorry, what’s your name?”

The stranger laughed. “I’m Joel. Were you too hammered to remember my name?”

Nickolai shook his head.

The stranger seemed concerned. “How much do you remember then?”

“I don’t know, I remember thinking I should get mad drunk in public instead of passing out on my couch. After that it’s just fuzzy.” Nickolai assumed he told Joel that his name was Noah.

Joel looked a little perturbed in an endearing way. “Ah, well, do you want me to fill the gaps or. . ?”

“Can I get some Advil first?”

“Yeah. I’ll go get some water for you to swallow it with,” Joel complied. “You should get dressed.”

Nickolai waited for Joel to leave before getting out of bed and tracking down all his clothes, which were strewn about the room. His shirt smelled like liquor to the point that Nickolai thought he might gag. However, he didn’t have any spare clothes and decided to just put up with it.

Joel was back a few minutes after Nickolai got dressed. It was clear he was trying to ignore the smell, but after Nickolai took the Advil, Joel asked if he needed to borrow something that didn’t smell so rancid. Nickolai obliged and was relieved to be able to rid the putrid button-down.

“Okay, so the parts you don’t remember,” Joel began. “I can’t say I remember it too well either, but I think I have a decent memory with these things.”

Nickolai nodded. “Go on.”

“So,” Joel continued. “It began when I think I saw the bartender cut you off on drinks, and I felt kind of bad about that. So I thought, hey, company’s much better than drinks, even though I was also drinking, like a lot. And I guess at some point we kinda started flirting, and I was like ‘should we take this back to your place?’ and you began to freak out. I think you said you have a dog that bites people or something? Is that true?”

“Nope.”

“Okay. Well anyways, you did not seem to be very happy with the idea of taking anyone to your place, so I took you to mine. And you can probably guess the rest, considering you woke up naked in my bed.”

Nickolai silently acknowledged the implications in his head. This wasn’t how he planned to start his weekend, but he could roll with it. “Yeah. Sorry for sleeping until noon, by the way. I’m not at all a morning person.”

Joel smiled with amusement. “How do you pull that off? I can’t even sleep past nine on a good day.”

“Sadness.”

Joel’s face went blank with a bit of underlying surprise at Nickolai’s off hand answer. “Oh. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it, no harm no foul.” Nickolai was vehemently aware that he may have used that saying incorrectly.

Joel veered the conversation away from the topic. “How does your head feel?”

“A little better.”

Joel was oddly kind. Nickolai wasn’t used to receiving this hospitality from strangers like him, but that probably had more to do with who Nickolai associated himself with and not people in general. Nickolai decided he liked Joel, even if he barely knew him.

“I would offer you some breakfast, but. . . it’s almost one in the afternoon. You’re probably hungry though, right?”

“Oh, you don’t have to.” Nickolai attempted to smile back at Joel but he was too tired to count off what would make it look genuine. Regardless, Joel didn’t seem to notice.

“I’m gonna do it anyway,” Joel decided. “Any allergies?”

“Strawberries.”

“Oh! That’s a rare one.”

Nickolai shrugged. “I seem to cash in on the rare things a lot. Albinism, an extra rib, and the strawberry allergy.”

“Casinos must hate you if you’re that lucky.”

Nickolai let out a genuine laugh. He decided he definitely liked Joel. He also felt a tinge of astonishment that someone like Joel casually hooked up with him, or generally anyone. He seemed like too much of an angel to even drink.

Nickolai followed Joel out of his room. Joel’s place was considerably nice, to the point Nickolai was in a bit of disbelief. He couldn’t have wound up in an upper class area if he had started last night at a shoddy bar, right? Joel didn’t act like he was rich, he didn’t seem like it either. But this place completely contrasted whatever Joel was like. Even Joel’s cat, a rather well groomed Norwegian forest cat—which was massive and somewhat intimidating—seemed to completely outclass Nickolai.

“Do you live here by yourself?” Nickolai asked as he surveyed the expensive wallpaper lining the kitchen walls.

“Nah, I have a housemate named Anwyll. He’s visiting family right now though.”

Nickolai froze. “Anwyll. . . As in Anwyll Tait?”

“That’s the one!”

Nickolai suddenly felt sick. “Oh fuck.”

“Is something wrong?”

Nickolai retched. Had his stomach not been empty, he had no doubt he would have thrown up all over the nice counter top.

Joel dropped what he was doing and crossed the room to Nickolai. “Are you okay?” He was suddenly at Nickolai’s side with his hand placed gently on Nickolai’s back.

Nickolai’s head spun. He knew he couldn’t tell Joel that Anwyll Tait took his brother’s life in the deathmatches. If he did, Joel would have a catalogue of every possible person Nickolai could truly be, and it would clearly point to Yuskol Voskoboinikov.

Nickolai ran through every excuse he could think up. He could say he hated the rich, but that could offend Joel. He could say the deathmatches made him sick, but Joel was obviously linked to them somehow if he was in league with a Tait. Joel felt like dangerous company, a double edged sword.

“Noah?”

“Sorry, sorry,” Nickolai croaked. “I think it’s just the hangover. I haven’t eaten since yesterday, so I guess I don’t have anything to throw up.”

That was the safest excuse.

Joel looked at Nickolai with pity. “Do you think you can eat right now?”

“Yeah.”

Nickolai felt somewhat content that he had definite confirmation that he had told Joel his name was Noah last night. The slight accent in his voice may throw off the authenticity in his identity as Noah Martin, but it wasn’t consistent enough to jeopardize him.

At the same time, the fact that he slept with someone of such high class alarmed him. Most public record photos of Nickolai Voskoboinikov’s face was outdated or somewhat photoshopped, but a Tait might be able to figure him out if they surveyed him for long enough.

“So, what’s your housemate like?” Nickolai asked. He tried to keep the nervousness from spreading to his voice.

“Anwyll can be such a jerk sometimes, but he’s also sorta nice. I’ve known him since I was little,” Joel said. “He doesn’t like new people that much, but I think he’d like you.”

“Dunno. I can be very unlikeable when I’m on my medication.” Nickolai knew with certainty that Anwyll would hate him no matter what. “Also I’m. . . lower class.” Nickolai also knew that Anwyll was a classist asshole.

“Lower class? That doesn’t matter,” Joel piped up. “The whole class thing is kind of stupid. I think the way it’s set up is interesting, but it won’t stop me from having friends from all kinds of walks of life.”

“I. . . yeah. I guess so,” Nickolai mumbled. He doubted Joel would be this positive if he knew of Nickolai’s illegal trades ties, the upper class notoriously hated brokers like him. They also especially hated him in particular.

Being there felt like the most dangerous stunt Nickolai had pulled, and he hadn’t even done it on purpose.

Joel set a ridiculously fancy, yet somehow definitely homemade, grilled cheese sandwich on a plate in front of him.

“Wow,” Nickolai mused. For a moment he wasn’t sure what to say. “This looks like something an expensive ass chef would make.”

“Thanks! I went to the top culinary school in the city, my parents say it was a waste of time.”

“Fuck what your parents say,” Nickolai replied before he took a bite. The sandwich tasted unreal. The last time he had food as good as this was when he posed as an intern for one of the deathmatch organizers.

“I’m glad you like it,” Joel smiled. Nickolai felt unease crawl back into his chest. Joel seemed so genuinely friendly, though a nagging suspicion told Nickolai it could be a lie. Nickolai couldn’t take a risk by being near him for much longer. At the same time, however, he felt captivated. Joel had that charisma that so many of the notorious upper class families seemed to unanimously mirror. He was a golden face among a sea of golden faces, all rotten under their skin. Nickolai knew what they were like.

Even then, Joel seemed to care a lot more than most would let on.

Nickolai took a deep breath. “I have to go home, sorry. I left my meds there, and I probably have people flooding my inbox about work and all that bullshit.”

“That’s alright. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s your job?”

“I fix computers,” Nickolai lied. That was Noah’s persona, and a story that should hold up if Joel decided to try and look in to it.

To be polite, he exchanged phone numbers. Nickolai only had his burner phone on him, which was a relief. The calls and texts that flooded Nickolai’s personal phone daily would have definitely been suspicious.

Nickolai liked Joel, but he knew he wouldn’t call him. Nickolai had a hunch that Joel may not be the worst of his kind, but he knew he wouldn’t text him back. It felt harsh to shut Joel out like this, but Nickolai wasn’t going to risk identification simply because he had a good encounter. They waved goodbye, and Joel’s cheery expression was a reminder that Nickolai would have to be silently cruel.

Nickolai didn’t call for a cab, he walked until his hangover began to bother him again. Then he called Alcor—Alcor didn’t have Nickolai’s burner phone address, but he was a safer bet than any cabs in this place.

The phone rang for a while before Alcor picked up.

“Who’s this?”

Nickolai felt relief wash over him to hear a familiar voice. “It’s Nick. Can you come pick me up?”

Alcor’s words were laced with suspicion as he spoke over the phone. “. . . Sure. Where are you?”

Nickolai looked at the street sign. Of course he had to stop on Ivory Street—the richest and most notorious, and also the one Nickolai hated the most for almost no real reason. With a sigh, he said, “Ivory Street.”

“How the fuck did you get there?”

“Drunkenly and against my conscious knowing.”

“Is this going to be dangerous?”

Nickolai groaned. “Not as dangerous as standing in the house that belongs to the man who killed my brother. Now get over here, I don’t think it’d be safe to use public transport in this area.”

There was a silence on the other end, then Alcor replied, “I’m on my way.”

[peaceisadirtyword]

⭐

This has been in my inbox for more than 2 weeks💔 I'm really sorry anon, I wanted to do it in a more creative way, but as you probably know (because I keep saying it and I’m really annoying) I have a creative block, so I can’t do anything more creative than this.

For those of you who doesn't know: this is from something I reblogged a few weeks ago which said that you could send a star to my inbox so I'd talk about a section of one of my stories that I've been dying to talk about so... Here I go💕

It was really hard to pick a section, but I ended up picking a section from Hate Part III 

You shivered when you stepped out of the house, wearing only a bikini and a towel around your body. After dinner, everyone had retired to their rooms, except for Sigurd and Blaeja, who stayed on the living room singing and playing guitar. You sat with them for a while, but then they started making out and you left, feeling a bit uncomfortable.

You undressed and put on your bikini, thinking on going to the pool to relax a bit before going to bed. But when you approached the pool, you realized you hadn’t had a very good idea.

Ivar had been angry, stressed and aggressive during the whole day, and took the opportunity to have a relaxing bath when the rest were busy fucking or doing whatever the fuck they did while locked in their rooms.

Wow, Ivar is angry, stressed and aggressive! The reasons are simple: Y/N went out with someone else because he was too much of a coward to ask her out before. Well, Ivar, honey, you brought this on yourself. 

So, Y/N had a really disappointing date and she just wanted to relax on the pool, but....!!!

And he preferred to be alone when he went into the pool, so no one could see his legs. His brothers didn’t care, he knew that, not even Sigurd would say anything to him, but he had seen how Margrethe looked at his legs, with disgust and maybe pity, and how Blaeja would press her lips together and pity him silently when he struggled to go upstairs with the crutches.

Gods, he just wanted to be alone.

Ivar, for fuck’s sake, no one cares about your legs. We love you the same, though you make it difficult sometimes. And you don’t want to be alone, you want to be with Y/N, we know that.

He had his eyes closed, but still heard the door opening and someone walking to the pool. He frowned and clenched his jaw in annoyance.

When Ivar opened his eyes, you were looking at him biting your lip, then you smiled softly.

“Do you mind if I stay here for a while? I’ll leave soon” you promised.

Ivar sighed. Why did you have to be nice to him? It made everything worse.

His problem is that someone is being nice to him, okay

“Do whatever you want” he replied, shrugging. He cursed himself for not turning off the pool’s lights and hoped you didn’t look to his legs.

You didn’t say anything, only left your towel next to the pool and sat down at the edge, hissing when the cold water touched your skin.

Ivar tried not to let his eyes linger on you, though it was difficult. He hated that damned bikini that made you look so fucking hot it even hurt. You looked like a goddess, and if he hadn’t been in the water, he would probably be sweating. He was finding more and more hard to live in the same house as you and not being able to even touch you.

See? Ivar thinks you look like a goddess, so never feel like you’re less than a goddess. Also, if he doesn’t think you look like a goddess, leave him (or her, if you’re dating a woman). 

You noticed he was nervous, bothered by something, and tried not to annoy him even more, getting into the pool slowly. The last thing you wanted was to start an argument with him.

You shivered in cold when your head emerged from the water. Maybe it hadn’t been a very good idea.

“How was your date?” He asked suddenly, startling you. He was looking at the sky, some drops of water rolling from his wet hair and down his perfect face. You frowned trying to understand where did he get that beautiful tan.

Yes, I'm always mentioning his perfect face and his beautiful eyes, I can’t help it but Ivar’s (Alex’s) beauty just blows my mind.

“It was… Okay” you shrugged, standing at the other side of the pool.

“Okay?” He raised an eyebrow “So it was a fucking disaster”

“It wasn’t a disaster” you shook your head “William was really nice and I had fun, but…”

“Hey, I don’t really want to know” he rolled his eyes.

Ivar, actually, you did want to know. You wanted to know that everything went wrong and she was going to stop seeing that guy because you’re jealous. Exposed. 

“Then why did you ask?” You glared at him.

“Because my mother taught me to be polite, Y/N, if yours had raised you properly, you would have said 'good, thanks’, and shut up”

“Asshole” you scoffed, and Ivar smirked.

“So there is going to be a second date or he already got tired of you?”

“Yes” you replied, annoyed.

“Are you sure?” He snorted, biting his lip.

“Leave me alone, Ivar"

"I mean” his piercing blue eyes fixed on you “You haven’t told him you haven’t been with someone in more than a year, have you? Because in that case…” he chuckled “He’s going to run away”

“For fuck’s sake, I just want to relax a bit in the fucking pool before going to bed, Ivar, can you just shut up and leave me alone?” You groaned.

“You really need to get laid” he bit his lip to hold back a laugh when you glared at him.

“And you need to shut the fuck up”

One of the things I love the most about Hate is to write Y/N and Ivar’s fights. I love the sexual tension. And the enemies to lovers cliche is my favorite, so you can expect a lot of fights in my writings. I really like Ivar’s bitchy side. I’d love to punch him in the face too. Yes, Ivar, you need to shut the fuck up. 

“Wow, rude” he raised his eyebrows, his annoying smile still on his lips “I’m not surprised no one wants to date you if you’re always like this”

“Seriously, Ivar, what is your problem? What the fuck did I do now for you to attack me?”

“I’m not attacking you” he was obviously mocking you, his eyes widened in pretended innocence and he shrugged “I was just chilling in here by myself when you decided to join me, and I’m just talking to you”

“You’re not talking, Ivar, you’re insulting me, like you always do, I don’t know what the hell did I do for you to hate me so much, but whatever it is, I’m sorry okay?” You sighed tiredly, rubbing your eyes with your hands.

“Are you going to cry?” He wasn’t smiling anymore, but kept mocking you by pouting and tilting his head “Poor Y/N”

Ivar you’re not going to end up with her if you bully her. You’re doing it WRONG.

“Oh my god, shut up!” You screamed at him, and he smirked in victory when he got the reaction he wanted “Do you want to know what’s your problem, Ivar? That you are a spoiled brat, you treat people like shit and then whine because 'no one loves you’, well, it’s normal, who would want to be with someone that enjoys bullying people so much?I’m always trying to be nice at you, though you don’t deserve it, and all you do is insult me, attack me and treat me like shit, but I’m tired, so please leave me alone, don’t talk to me and forget my fucking existence, okay?” You ranted, glaring at him and watching how his smirk slowly faded, making you smile in victory. Ivar blinked a few times, speechless, and his eyes filled with rage.

I remember it was really nice to write that. I felt so much better. She’s right, to be honest, though in Ivar’s defense I'll say that he always thought no one loved him because of his legs, then his father left, he didn’t have a good relationship with his brothers... I can understand him, though that’s not an excuse to treat people so badly, especially when everyone (but her) knows you’re in love with her, Ivar. Also, she likes him too, obviously, if she didn’t she wouldn’t be so nice to him.

You didn’t know how the hell he moved so quickly, but suddenly he was inches from you, his eyes full of rage and his jaw tense as he glared at you. You gasped, feeling his bare chest brush against your skin. He looked sexy as hell and intimidating.

“Say that again” he growled.

You narrowed your eyes at him, refusing to be intimidated by his attitude.

“What do you want me to repeat? That you’re a spoiled brat or that no one will ever love you if you keep behaving like a total…?”

“Shut up” he interrupted you “Do you want to know why I behave like that? Because people always pity me, haven’t you seen how Margrethe and Blaeja, even Torvi, look at me? Poor Ivar, no one will ever love him if he’s so cruel. Am I supposed to be all happy and nice when I’m the poor crippled brother that can’t do anything by himself?. How could someone choose him when they could have any of his brothers?” He clenched his jaw and you could swear he had tears on his eyes “How the fuck do you think I’m feeling knowing I’ll never be an option for anyone? How should I behave when all I see in everyone’s eyes is pity and disgust?”

Now you were the one left speechless.

I feel really bad for him now, but as I said before, he could be nicer to people, that wouldn’t kill him, I think. I understand Ivar a lot, the part of ‘I’ll never be an option for anyone’ its something I (and a lot of people) have gone through -I'm still going through it, to be honest-. The feeling that you’ll never be enough for someone is really heartbreaking, especially when it’s something physical about you that you can’t really change. It sucks. Focusing on Ivar, he thinks everyone pities him, which is in part true because there is a lot of people who pities him, but his mistake is to think everyone is the same, and comparing himself to his brothers. What I love of the Ragnarssons is that all of them are different and have their own strengths and weaknesses. So Ivar, don’t do that honey, we love you!

“I… Didn’t mean it like that” you muttered, shaking your head “Not everyone pities you, Ivar, and I’m sure you’re an option for a lot of people but that’s not an excuse to…”

“I was never an option to you” he interrupted you again, narrowing his eyes “Was I?”

“What?” You blinked in confusion. You never pitied Ivar, or felt disgusted by him, in fact you admired him for his intelligence, his will and his strength. Fuck, you felt attracted to him. You fucking liked him, and when you looked into his eyes you could swear you felt that thing you wanted to feel so bad when you were with William.

Ivar didn’t answer, only rolled his eyes and got away from you, his lips still pressed together. He run his hand through his wet hair, breathing heavily. Just when you thought he’d turn around and leave, he turned to you again.

But this time he kissed you.

FINALLY THEY KISSED! They weren’t going to kiss on this chapter, I had planned something different, but... Yeah, I ended up writing this. 

This is what I was talking about!! She doesn’t pity him, she doesn't care about his legs, but he doesn’t want to see that, and that’s his big mistake. He’s too scared of rejection to try and understand she likes him no matter what.  

His lips were warm and soft, and they caressed yours with a tenderness you would never have guessed from Ivar. Your eyes closed immediately, and though you froze at first, you quickly kissed him back. Ivar moaned and his hand grabbed your neck softly, his thumb caressing your jaw, his other hand was at the other side of your head, holding himself on the pools edge. When he licked your bottom lip, you opened your mouth to gasp into the kiss, and his tongue caressed yours. You moaned. He was a good kisser, and before you could stop yourself, your hands traveled to his shoulders, caressing his soft skin and moaning in delight when you felt his muscles contract under your fingers.

“Y/N? Ivar? Is everything alr… Oh fuck"

Hvitserk, go to hell please. 

Ivar broke the kiss as quickly as he had started it, getting away from you and turning around to look at the house.

Hvitserk was only wearing his boxers, his hair was disheveled and he looked a bit out of breath. His eyes were widened and you knew him well enough to know he was holding back a smirk.

"I’m sorry” he cleared his throat “Am I interrupting something?"

YES YOU ARE???? I love Hvitserk, he’s one of my favorite characters to write, but sometimes I'd punch him. In this story also I wanted to make him a more important character, being Y/N’s best friend. He’s now all wrapped up with Margrethe but he will have an important part, you’ll see,

"No” both Ivar and you replied at the same time, making Ivar look away and you blush. Hvitserk bit his lip and nodded slowly.

“We just heard you screaming at each other and then nothing and I thought one of you had drown the other, but I see everything’s okay, isn’t it?”

Yeah they were trying to suffocate each other 

Ivar scoffed and glared at his brother, moving to the other side of the pool and putting his hands on the edge to push himself out of the water. You couldn’t take your eyes off his back, and you gulped when he started crawling to the porch, where he had left his crutches. Hvitserk looked at him and then at you with an eyebrow raised.

Still blushing, you looked away from him and let your body sink into the water, too embarrassed to talk to endure Hvitserk’s talk.

Another thing I love: Ivar embarrassed. Both of them were caught and yet any of them really believed the other liked them. Another one of my favorite cliches. 

There’s some Hate chapters left and there’s gonna be drama, but also a lot of love. And smut. And I hope Hvitserk is not there to interrupt again, especially during the smut part. I just want Ivar and Y/N to understand that they love each other and they should be together for the rest of their lives♥️

Also sorry again for this awful commentary, I just thought I'd do it to relax a bit!😘 thank you dear anon! 

[xxx-cat-xxx]

Thank you so much for all of your fic! I know you probably have a lot on your plate and many prompts in your inbox, but literally one of my absolute favourite tropes ever is "Tony taking out the Arc Reactor to look at it for a moment and because he's him and hasn't actually explained a lot about it to people those around watching him suddenly pop it out his chest for no reason have a mini panic". Could you maybe do a fic with this with Tony and Peter?

Thank you, anon! Sorry that it took me so long toget this done. And sorry if it came out too angsty. If you´re still around, I´d like toknow what you think.Also, if you don´t know it yet, check out this awesome ficby @darkestsight. It works with the same storyline.

Let´s ignore canon for this one and imagineTony still has his arc reactor after Civil War. Light angst, mentions of canonical deaths, injury and emeto.

Lose another one

The drone is larger than any Peter´s ever seenbefore. It looks nearly awe-inspiring when it is encased by Iron Man´s repulsor blasts and ignites in a series of explosions. But then an energy ray strikes the chest piece of Tony´sarmour, causing the arc reactor´s glow to fade, and it all goes downhill from there.

When Peter makes a hard and hasty landing on the ground, Tony isalready on his feet again,impatiently waving ahand at him.

“Followme,” Peter hears him rasp hoarsely in his ear piece, and it doesn´t need the slightly-off tone inhis voice for Peter´s spider senses to dial up.

“Are youalright?” he asks while hurrying to keep up with Tony´s jog. His glove is torn, a finger bleeding sluggishly, and he must have bashed his knee somewhere, because he can feel himself limping.

“Don´t callthe others,” he gets a cut-off reply, and then Tony must have muted his mike,because the panting breaths Peter´s been hearing stop all of the sudden.

They don´tmake it far into the forest before Tony starts to sway on his feet, visibly having problems walking a straight line.

Peter isabout to call him out on it, but Tony´s legs are already giving outunder him. He sinks to his knees, bracing one arm against a tree strunk, before doubling over. His helmet withdraws, and Peter can just make out hisstark white face in the last shimmers of evening light.

“Mr. Stark?”

Tony starts to reply, but instead of words he brings up a mouthful of vomit. His upper body seems to vanish and then return for moments in the pale-blue flickering of the arc reactor´s light.

Petercan see little white clouds of air leaving his mentor´s lips in rapid succession. He takes a step forward, torn between the urge to help and the wish to give him some privacy.

“Mr. Stark, is this – are you having a panic attack?”

Tonydoesn’t answer, too busy throwing up again. He clutches his chest with his free hand, still retching, his face contorting in sudden agony.He seems to beunable to stay upright, listing to the side until Peter catches him in anawkward angle against his chest and slowly lowers him to the ground.

“Oh, shit,” Peter´s brains runs frantically, searching for the right words, the right actions, his heart pounding so hard that he can feel it till his fingertips.

“I, uhm, we´re here, near New York, we had a fight, but we are save now -”

“F - fuckingknow where I am,” Tony can´t resist to press out between gritted teeth. “Just…”

His trembling hand reaches for the hidden switchthat opens the suit. He sure as hell didn´t want to do this in front of the kid, but timing is not on his side today, or ever, for that matter.

His vision is getting increasingly blurred. Peter isnothing but a whisp of red and blue, but luckily his fingers don´t need sight to find the outline of the reactor, twist it a little and take it out of hischest. Blue energy frizzles around the tip of his thumb.

The relief is instantaneous. The chest pain doesn´t vanish, but Tony stops feeling like he is actively dying, the nausea decreases to a minimum, and he can finally take a deep breath.

He lies there, eyes closed, enjoying the feeling of oxygen flooding his veins and the buzzing in his head slowly dying down. It´s only Peter´s panicking voice that pulls im out of the haze.

“Please, areyou awake?“ Tony squints upwards, momentarily surprised at the presence of another human being. The expression on the kid´s face is pure terror.

“Oh god, why would you do that?”

“Do what?” Tony grunts.

“The arc reactor, why did you take it out?”

Tony has to think about that for a moment, his mind still catching up with the events.

“Oh, that. It overcharged, that bastard of a drone pulled some trick I wasn´t expecting.”

“Can you put it back in now?” Peter´s voice is impatient, still on the brink of tripping over itself.

“It should decharge on its own, just give it a moment,” Tony reassures.

Peter doesn´t seem convinced. He gives Tony a sceptical glance, chewing on his lower lip. Tony knows that this is probably owed to him not having the bestreputation of self-care, but honestly-

“Come on, I´m the one with trust issues,” he teases, but the grin Peter gives in reply is half-hearted at best.

He makes to sit, grabbing Peter´s arm for support when the dizziness dials up again.

“Huh.” He takesa deep breath. “Wow, this is how it feels to bea high voltage plant?”

Peter doesn´t even laugh, his eyes darting to and fro between Tony´s face and the arc reactor in his hand. There´s bit of dirt and ice on it, and he absent-mindedly rubs it clean with numb fingers.

“Kid, quit looking at me like that. I´ll be okay if I take it out for a fewminutes,” Tony adds ina more sober tone, although the greying edges around his vision tell him that his few minutes are nearly over.“Scout´s honour. ”

Half an hour later, Bruce is sitting with Peter in a van that is slowly making its way back to the compound through a New York clouded by icy rain.

Tony is lying on a gurney, out like a light. He´d stumbled to the vehicle on shaky legs, insisting that he was fine, and had only grumpily let Bruce check him over while Pete distracted him with tech talk, just to fade out on them less than five minutes into the ride.

He is fine, as Bruce assured Peter several times, or at least Tony´s definition of it. But his heart has taken a heavy shock during the drone´s attack and the aftershocks are still catching up with him, causing his blood pressure to fall through the basement. He looks almost peaceful now, apart from the slim oxygen tube leading to his nose and the cuff fixed around his upper arm.

“But does anyone even know how it works? What if something happens, how to fix it… “

Peter shakes Bruce out of his thoughts.

“Friday´s got all the data saved. Tony might be the best in the field, but there are quite a few engineers that could help fixing it even if he´s incapacitated.” If Tony lets them, he thinks, but he doesn´t say that out loud. “He´s gonna be okay, kid, we are taking good care of him.”

Peter nods, but it´s the kind of nod Bruce knows all too well from himself, one lacking any conviction.

He´s going to have a word with Tony.

That night Peter finds himself standing at the window, unable to sleep, staring at the snowflakes that are slowly morphing the compound from a boring grey into a fairytale landscape.

Tony had woken up groggily shortly after they´d reached back, and Bruce and Friday had to threaten to lock him out of the lab in order to make him stay in bed and rest.

“Traitor,” Tony had growled at the ceiling, and Peter had grinned, and then he´d sat on the edge of the bed while Tony talked him through fixing his glove, pretending not to see the way his right hand was still massaging his chest every now and then.

Tony had needed his reading glasses to see the small bits and pieces, and Peter had called him grandpa, causing Bruce to laugh so hard he nearly turned green. The arc reactor had been glowing steadily, and for a moment things had seemed okay.

He´d excused himself soon after, citing homework as a reason. And now here he was, staring at the snow like it could tell him what´s wrong with him, what´s causing his chest to feel tight and his breaths to stock every here and there.

Maybe it was the casuality with which Tony had removed the device that´s keeping him alive, as if it wasn´t just more than another thing, something of not more value to Tony than any other of his machines.

His neck warns him with a tickling even before he can hear the footsteps.

“Shouldn´t you be resting?” he asks when Tony rounds the corner.He still looks paler than he usually does, and Peter notices that he is staying close to the wall, legs a little unstable.

“I could ask you the same thing, Spider-kid,” he replies.

“How are you?” Peter asks instead of giving an answer.

“I´m great, I´m peachy.“

“Yeah,” Peter mumbles, biting his lip. He concentrates on the pattern the snow flakes leave on the window pane.

“What´s up, Spiderling? Doesn´t suit you, this grumpy sort of silence.” Tony eyes him with an intensity that´s usually reserved for tricky bits of code or wire.

Peter evades his gaze, but he notices when Tony doesn´t walk up till the window, sinking down into an armchair insteadwith visible relief.

“How are you, really?”

“I told, you, I´m fine. I´m always fine.” Tony says in a dismissive tone, slightly annoyed. Something about it suddenly makes Peter feel incredibly angry.

“You always say this,” he blurts out. “And then you nearly get electrocuted, or you die from a heart attack, and…I…I just stand there - and -”

He doesn´t want to shout, to fight, to make more of a fool of himself. He knows that his mentor has stayed alive, more or less, for 50 years without his supervision. But the words are out before he can stop himself.

There´s a long silence before Tony starts to speak.

“I do understand you,“ he finally says, and Peter hears the but even before the next words leave his mouth.

“I would like to promise you that things will change, that I´ll take care of myself, that I´ll keep my nose out of all the dangerous stuff. But honestly, what´s the sense of raising false expectations?” Tony draws in a breath, a little shaky, and Peter is almost sure that this has nothing to do with his heart condition.

“Yeah, I get it.” And he does, he sees the layers of Tony´s fears and obligations, his pride and responsibilities, doesn´t see through them exactly, but he understands that it´s not his place to expect anything more than what he has already received. But still…

Something childish in Peter just wants to urge him to promise it anyways, just wants to hear the words from his mouth, eventhough he knows that they can´t become true.

He turns away, back to the window, hoping that the room is too dark for Tony to see his reflection in the glass. Maybe this is just part of growing up, he thinks, the knowledge that at some point, nobody you love is safe anymore.

“Hey.” Tony´s voice is a little softer now. He gets up with a groan, rests a hand on Peter´s shoulder.

“Listen, kid. I might be a grandpa to you, but I can take care of myself. And contrary to popular belief, I don´t have an active interest in kicking the bucket anytime soon.”

“I know,” Peter says. “It´s just…” It´s just that that nobody ever planned to leave. They were just gone, from one moment to the next.

He stubbornly blinks away a tear, feeling infinitely silly. It falls nonetheless, leaving a wet spot on the window sill.

And then Tony is there, finally, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him towards his chest. It´s the closest thing to a hug Peter has ever received from him.

“I can’t lose another one,” he whispers.

“I know,“ Tony says, a hint of sadness in his tone when his arms tighten fast around Peter and make the world seem a little bit less insecure. “I´ll try. I´ll try my best, I promise.”

[parkkjiminssi]

Car Sickness.

a/n: my beautiful musical anon, you always make my day whenever you pop into my inbox. Ilysvm for that! This is my first time doing a reaction so I hope it’s to your liking!

Kim Seokjin

You two were just going to the supermarket, for goodness sake! Literally a five minute drive from your apartment and you were already throwing your brains out. You offered to go walking but Jin quickly refused, not wanting to let you go on your own. So here you were. You asked Jin to pull over and before he did, you had already opened the door of the car. Jin rubbed your back lovingly until you were done then handed you a paper towel to clean yourself. On the way back, the same thing happened. When you arrived, Jin helped you get off his car and into your apartment. “Don’t worry about the groceries, darling. I’ll get them down.” You opened your mouth to protest but he was already out the door.

After a couple of minutes, Jin had already brought all the bags inside so you got up and started putting them away in the cupboards and the fridge. Your boyfriend walked over next to you and started pulling out plates and pans in order to start cooking. He was unusually quiet. ‘I should tell him, I mean he already saw me throwing up. I can’t just not explain what that was all about.’ You decided.

“Jin, I—“

“Y/N, are you pregnant?” He interrupted. “If you are it’s okay! I promise to take full responsibility. I was actually already thinking about marriage and all of that, anyways.”

“Wait, h-hold on!” You exclaimed, your heart beating a hundred miles per hour. “What makes you think I’m pregnant?”

Jin scratched the back of his head. “You’ve been throwing up a lot. I’ve never seen you throw up, so I just assumed.”

“Seokjin, I was throwing up because I get car sick not because I’m pregnant!”

“You get car sick? Is that why you wanted to go walking instead?” He asked perplexed. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Yes, silly! I didn’t tell you because we had never really been on a car together and I didn’t think I was going to get sick since it was a five minute drive.” You turned to look away embarrassed, your cheeks beginning to feel hot. “I hate it so much.”

Jin dropped what he was doing and wrapped you in his arms. “Y/N, you shouldn't feel embarrassed about these type of things. It’s not your fault. If anything I feel lucky because there’s never a dull moment with you. You always keep me on my toes and besides, driving cars is so overrated. Plus you look beautiful even when you’re throwing up, so who’s the real winner here? Me, of course!”

You couldn’t help but laugh at his shows of affection. Jin finally let you go and turned back to chopping cabbage. While you were putting away the drinks in the fridge you recalled what Jin had said earlier and decided to poke fun at him. “So... marriage?”

This took him completely by surprise, causing his hand to slip and cutting his finger. “Oh, crap!”

Min Yoongi

“I’m going to start heading out.” You said as you stood up from the sofa.

“So soon? It’s not even seven yet.” Yoongi protested, grabbing on to your wrist to stop you from going.

“If I stay any later then it’ll be too dangerous for me to walk back to my apartment.” You explained but still sat back down.

“Why walk? I can just drive you back.” He said while he wrapped his arms around you and kissed the top of your head.

“I don’t do cars.” You said plainly.

“Well, of course not Y/N. You do me, duh!”

You slapped him gently on the arm for his comment. Your cheeks lightly blushing at his boldness. “What I mean is that I don’t ride cars, Min Yoongi.”

“Why not?” He asked, pulling away to look at you better.

“Because I get car sick. It’s been this way ever since I can remember. It’s crazy because as soon it starts moving I get all dizzy and nauseous.” You answered, resting your head on your hand. “So I must go now so I can walk home while there’s still light out.”

Yoongi listened to you attentively, but somehow found it rather cute and in a way convenient too.

You tried standing up again but Yoongi reached for your wrist again, this time he was the one that pulled you back down to the couch.

“Yoongi, I said I have t—“

“Shh.” He interrupted you, putting a finger against your lips. “How about you spend the night over then?”

“Sorry?” You blinked a few times. What this some sort of dream?

“I asked you to spend the night. As soon as it’s daytime I’ll walk you back home, but just for tonight stay. What do you say?” He wiggled his eyebrows at you teasingly. “It’s already started to get dark out anyways, and I don’t like the idea of you walking alone even if there’s still daylight.”

“I don’t have spare clothes.” 

“You can wear mine.” He quickly replied. “It’s not like you don’t already do it.”

“I can’t use your toothbrush, though.”

“We have spares, babe. You have no idea the amount of toothbrushes we go through here.”

You sighed in defeat. You tried to look for another excuse but you couldn’t seem to find one. You didn’t have work tomorrow nor had any type of errands to run. “Fine, I’ll stay the ni—”

Yoongi kissed your lips before you could finish your sentence. After that, the two of you cuddled until you fell asleep. Before that though, Yoongi made sure to thank whoever it needed to be thanked for this whole car sickness thing. If it weren’t for that, he wouldn’t have just spend one of the best nights of his life. He also prayed for many more days like this to come by your side.

Jung Hoseok

It had gotten quite late already.

You had gone over to visit Hoseok in one of his dance practices and had completely lost track of time. You just loved seeing your boyfriend dance. He was so beautiful!

“Y/N, lets go home!” Hoseok called to you while extending a hand to help you stand.

“What? Already?”

He nodded. “Yup, it’s almost midnight.”

“Wow, I honestly didn’t notice. Well, I’ll text you once I get home!” You got on your tippy toes to give him a kiss before leaving, but Hobi kept you in place not letting go of your hand.

“Baby, are you crazy? I’m not going to let you go home alone at these late hour, something could happen to you.” He dug into his pocket with his free hand and took out some keys. “I’ll drive you, come on!”

You felt Hobi tugging onto your arm but you just couldn’t seem to move from where you were standing.

“Y/N, are you okay?” He asked concerned.

“Hobi, it’s really okay. I can walk home.”

“Y/N, don’t be like this. I can’t let you walk alone at this hour. I wouldn’t know what I would do if something were to happen to you.” He protested, his brow furrowing in frustration.

“It’s just, I usually get crazy sick when I get on a car.” You finally confessed as you looked away. “I kind of have a phobia of cars because of that.”

Hoseok started chuckling.

“What’s so funny?”

"Nothing, it’s just that I’m usually the one who gets scared easily. I try to put a brave face in front of you but the truth is that I’m always dying inside.” He said in between laughs. “Learning this about you only makes me love you even more.”

Hobi took your bag from your hand and hung it around his shoulder. “Come on love, let’s take you home. Walking, of course.”

You reached over to plant a kiss on his cheek. “I love you.”

He smiled under the feel of your touch. “Besides, this is way better. I get to spend even more time with you. Who knows, maybe I can even spend the night.”

You nudged him on the side because you knew he was saying it to tease you but you quickly decided that it wasn’t such a bad idea after all. “Sure, you can stay the night.”

“W-wait, really?!”

Kim Namjoon

“Let’s go to the beach!” Namjoon exclaimed, happy to finally be able to spend time with you. The comeback had taken up most of his time, causing the two of you to be able to communicate through texts messages and calls only.

‘The beach..’ You thought. ‘It’s like an hour and a half away.’ “Maybe some other time, babe.”

“Okay, then. Let’s go bowling!”

“Isn’t bowling Jungkook and his girlfriend’s thing?” You came up with another excuse.

“Yeah, you’re right...” He placed his hand on his chin thoughtfully. “How about the museum?”

Forty minutes. “Hmm, not today. Lets do something else.”

“Carnival?”

Twenty minutes. “I think it said in the news that it would rain in the afternoon.”

Namjoon sighed heavily. “The car cinema?”

You shudered at the word ‘car’ but you also knew your boyfriend was close to loosing his patience. “Umm—”

“Okay, Y/N what’s going on?” Namjoon finally asked in frustration. “You keep on making excuses to not go out You’re not usually like this.���

You couldn't help but smile at your boyfriend and at how smart he was. You just couldn't get anything past him. “Have you ever heard of car sickness?”

“Of course. Whenever a person with that condition gets on a moving vehicle they start getting dizzy and nauseous.” He said matter of factly. “Wait... you have car sickness?”

You nodded in defeat. “That’s right, so don’t you ever think I don’t want to go out with you. It’s just this stupid condition that limits me a little.”

Namjoon stared at you wide eyed. He had always heard of that condition but never really met anybody with it. After a few moments of silence, he couldn’t help but smile at this whole situation and at how unique you were. You just always managed to amaze him more with each passing day.

"But if you really want to go out, then let’s. We’ve hardly spent any time together and I’ve missed my Joonie soo much.” You said while making grabby hands. “What do you say?”

Namjoon walked over to you and settled himself in your embrace. “It’s okay, lets just stay home.”

"Namjoon, it’s your day off. You know how rare it is to get these.” You started protesting.

“You’re even more rare. One in a million. I want to cherish you as long as I can. If we go out, I won’t be able to cuddle with you. Let’s stay in, that’s what I want to do today.” He said as he stroked your cheek. “Okay?”

“Okay.”

Park Jimin

You sighed.

Today was the first time that Jimin had managed to get time off in a long while and he wanted for the two of you to go on a little trip. This had been in the plans for a while now and you were so excited about it but the moment Jimin arrived at your house in a car, that’s when your realized for the first time that you were traveling by car and for some odd reason nature thought it’d be fun to make you feel sick whenever you were in an automobile. You tried your best to hide your feelings of fear and anxiety to not worry Jimin, but he was already on to you.

He took your bags from your hands and started putting them in the trunk of the car. You went over to the passenger door and opened it but Jimin grabbed on to your hand, stopping you before getting in.

“Okay Y/N, what’s wrong? Are you feeling sick? We can always postpone the trip, you know I don’t mind.” He said while stroking the back of your hand.

You looked away embarrassed. “It’s not that I’m feeling sick right now, it’s that I’m going to get sick once I get on this thing.” You said while tapping the opened door.

Jimin frowned in confusion and you couldn’t help but giggle at his cute expression. “I get sick everytime I get on a car, like all the time. It doesn’t matter what kind of precautions I take, I always end up getting nauseous once the car starts moving. I’m kind of scared of them to be honest but don’t worry, really! I don’t want this to ruin our plans. It’s only an hour away, right?”

He couldn’t help but smile. Each day he found out something new about you and each day he fell more and more in love with you. “Does it only happen with cars?”

You nodded. “Well, I do get sick in other types of transportation but not as bad as riding in a car. I can get through a plane flight just fine with a good cup of tea.”

“Then don’t worry about it! I’m not going to allow you to be sick for a whole hour just for my sake, baby. Let’s go somewhere far, where we need to take an airplane or a train! That’s so much better, right?” Jimin was willing to do just about anything for you and your happiness, that’s how much he loved and cared for you. If giving up driving a car was part of it, then he wouldn’t even think twice before doing it. “I love you so much, Y/N. Sorry for making you worry like that.”

Kim Taehyung

“Y/N, the park is literally a thirty minute walk from your apartment. Wouldn’t it be better if we just went on my car?” Tae asked.

A week ago, you were on your way back home from work when you passed by this dog park and you got the idea to bring Yeontan here. As soon as you arrived to your apartment you phoned Taehyung and told him all about it. Your boyfriend agreed excitedly and said he’ll be going over next week to execute your plan. However, you didn’t think it’d be such an issue to walk from your apartment to the park. You did it everyday for work, but then again not everyone got car sick.

The moment you saw him pulling up, your stomach did a backflip. You hated cars. You hated the way it made you feel each time you got on.

“Tae, I can’t get on your car.” You sighed.

“W-what, why not?” He asked confused. “Is it because of the dog hair? We can call a taxi then.”

“No, no!” You quickly protested. “I can’t get on any cars, period. I, uh, I get car sick.” You looked down at your hands shyly.

“Come again?” He asked while putting Tan on the floor.

“I get sick whenever I get on a car. That’s why I mostly walk or bike everywhere. I kind of am scared of any type of automobiles because of that.” You explained. “But you’re right, it is kind of far. Let’s go on your car, I think I can manage.”

Taehyung shook his head. “Love, you should’ve told me this since the beginning. I wouldn’t have asked.”

“I never thought it would come the time that i would have to explain this.” You chuckled nervously. “How silly, right?”

“You’re not being silly at all. Everyone has something that they’re afraid of or just don’t want to talk about, it happens to me too so I completely understand. But when it comes to your health please don’t be afraid to tell me babe, I don’t want to do things that will end up putting you in a bad position.”

Taehyung knelt down to attach the leash to Yeontan’s collard. Once he was done he stood and took your hand in his free hand. “Come on babe, let’s go walking to the dog park. Tan-ah could really use the exercise!”

With the same hand he pulled you in for a quick peck on your lips, causing your cheeks to blush. Taehyung made a mental note to start using his car less and start walking and biking more. He loved you for you and all that it entailed. Besides, you were helping him to lead a healthier lifestyle without noticing.

“But when we come back let’s cuddle, Okay? Okay! Thank you, I love you!” He answered himself before you could even process his request.

Jeon Jungkook

This was the first time in a while that Jungkook and you were going out and you didn’t wanted to ruin it. Jungkook had chosen to go to the carnival, trying to relive one of your first dates and of course you didn’t think twice before agreeing.

There was still two hours till the meeting time when you heard a knock on your door. ‘Who could it be?’ You thought but shrugged it off and went to open it anyways. What met you on the other side was your boyfriend, Jungkook with a bouquet of flowers in hand.

“What are you doing here?” You asked excitedly. “We’re not supposed to meet until two more hours.”

“I just couldn’t wait any longer and decided to come pick you up myself.” His signature bunny smile appearing on his face.

The two of you started making your way out of the apartment and just when you were going to turn to walk towards the carnival Jungkook stopped you. “No baby, today I came driving.”

You screamed internally.

With much regret you got into the passenger’s seat and tried your best to not think about the fact that you were in a car. Dizziness and nausea started creeping up the moment the car was set in motion but you managed to make it through the whole car ride without having to stop and throw up. As soon as you arrived to the amusement park you excused yourself and ran to the restroom.

Your date was amazing. Jungkook and you were so similar, always wanting to try the craziest rides and competing against each other. You missed spending time with him but you understood that this was his career and you were extremely proud of all he had accomplished.

It started getting late, which only meant that it was time to go home. As you made you way to his car, Jungkook chatted away while you remained silent. He opened the door for you and you were about to get in, but you honestly couldn’t go through that again.

“I’m sorry Jungkook, I can’t do this.” You finally said.

Your boyfriend looked at you confused, fear creeping up in his eyes. You quickly realized what his thoughts were and started waving you hands in front of your nervously. “N-no, I mean I can’t ride in your car anymore. I get crazy sick.”

He let out a deep breath. “God, Y/N you scared me. I thought you were breaking up with me.”

“I’m sorry.” You whispered, wrapping your arms around him.

“So, you get car sick?” He asked arching a brow and you nodded.

Jungkook started taking off his coat and put it around your shoulders, then he entangled his hand with yours and started walking.

“Where are we going?” You asked.

“Home.”

You stopped on your tracks. “What about your car?”

“I can come pick it up tomorrow, it’s not going anywhere.” He turned to face you, pulling on your hand to bring you closer to him. “I’m sorry I didn’t realized it sooner, baby. It must’ve been so hard throughout the whole ride. You want me to fight your genes and get rid of that stupid car sickness?”

“Yes, please.” You replied as you nuzzled into his chest.

Masterlist

[therandomfics]

Strangers Pt3

“So tell me what’s been going on,” Captain Walker said as you sat down in front of his desk. 

“I’ve only really thought of one guy as suspicious, and then there was the other guy who sent me a message but, we never figured out who he was.” 

“We haven’t had anything happen in a few weeks, which is good, but it means he’s either gone somewhere else or he’s lying dormant and waiting for his next victim.” 

“I’ve got two guys left, and then I’ll have met with everyone on the list TARU gave me. I really wonder about that anonymous message, though. Did they see if the girls got messages from deleted accounts? Not the same one I got, obviously, because it’s deleted, but it’s worth a shot to look into it, y’know? What if someone’s stalking women who reject them? Or women who they feel have rejected them?” 

Walker rubbed his chin in thought and stood up, opening the door to his office. “Alright Sullivan, get back to work. I’ll call you with any updates.” 

“Can you see if they’ll check if anyone else has been in my account? It’s the only non-physical stalking I can think of right now. See you later.” 

Dominick had asked you out that night, and you needed to appear as least Detective as possible. You went home and changed into a sundress and sandals, trying to enjoy the warmth of May while you could. Plus, your fake job would be ending soon for the summer and you needed to appear as geared up for break as possible. Eventually you’d have to tell him the truth - but of course, not until the investigation was over, and he probably would be angry at you for concealing important parts about your life and.. well, for thinking he was a criminal. Unless, he really was a criminal, and then you wouldn’t need to worry anymore because you’d have done your job. You exhaled loudly and changed your clothes again - jeans, wedge heels, and a flowy but modest top. 

When you arrived outside of the bar, he stood waiting for you. You felt terribly under dressed, as he was in one of his normal suits, vest and all, looking as dapper as ever. 

“Wow, I look like I came from the slums,” you joked as you gave him a hug and he kissed your cheek. 

“Don’t be ridiculous. You look great. Beautiful, like always.” 

Your cheeks blushed furiously as he opened the door for you and ushered you inside. It was pretty mellow for a bar anywhere in the city, and you were able to find a booth in a back corner to enjoy your evening. The food was par for the course - burgers, wings, beer, wine. After you both ordered and sat enjoying your first round of drinks, you realized that you felt terrible for lying to him. 

“Have.. have you heard,” you began, trying to ease your way into the subject without being too weird. “There’s supposedly a guy in Brooklyn who’s gone out with two different girls and they’ve both been found murdered?” 

He arched a brow but didn’t seem too alarmed. “Yeah, I think I heard about that. It’s a shame, really, but don’t feel bad. Every part of the city has their own crime. Brooklyn isn’t the worst. Just means you’ve gotta be careful.” 

“Yeah, I guess. It’s just weird that it happened within like two weeks of each other and it’s been almost a month and a half and he hasn’t done anything else.” Try to sound ignorant, you told yourself. Don’t sound like an officer of the law. It was so hard, though. You wanted to be yourself, and you wanted Dominick to like you for who you really were. 

“I think I overheard something once - in something not related - that it’s not uncommon for that kind of thing to make someone.. what’s the word..” he trailed off, sipping his beer. “They get anxious. They go into hiding until they get their courage back.” 

You nodded and felt your phone vibrate against the table. “I’m so sorry,” you said quickly and picked it up. You glanced at the screen before you tossed it into your bag. It was Captain Walker. He had confirmed the two girls had anonymous messages from deleted profiles - much like you had, too. 

“Let’s not talk about murder,” you said with a dismissive laugh; anything to avoid talking about your real work. “I’ve got a whole summer ahead of me to not get killed and I’d like to enjoy it.” 

“I wouldn’t let that happen to you, Y/N,” he said, smiling and jovial, but somehow serious at the same time. You believed him, but you didn’t need him to protect you. 

“You’re sweet, Dominick. I’m glad we met.” 

“So, I gotta ask..” there he was, hesitating again. 

“Yeah?” 

“How many guys have you met online? Not that it’s any of my business I just need to assess the competition.” 

It was your turn to hesitate. “Honestly? You, and like four others. But I haven’t seen any of them beyond the first meeting. One guy actually got mad at me because I told him to move back home if he hated New York so much. Dating is weird, that’s all I know. How about you?” 

“Just you,” he lied. You knew he lied, and you were angry immediately that he wouldn’t be forth coming with you, even though you weren’t doing the same for him. 

“Really? Just one? That’s hard to believe. I bet you’ve gone out with at least 3,” you retorted. You knew he had planned to meet up with the other two girls, but whether he had or not you didn’t know - you assumed, however. 

“Well, okay,” he sighed and finished his beer. “I had plans before, with other women, but they blew me off after we had decided to meet and I never heard from them again. I don’t really know what happened. I assume they met someone else, which is great for them, and I guess great for me too because now I know you.” 

Smooth. If only he knew how unlucky those girls had been, maybe he wouldn’t have found it so great. But, it wasn’t your place to tell him - not yet. 

“So basically what’s happening is there’s someone making temporary profiles and not adding any information to them, for the sole purpose of letting you, and the other girls know that he’s watching you. For you, it’s not that bad. You’re a trained officer of the law and you can protect yourself, but those girls were clueless.” TARU was back at it again. “Deleted accounts cannot be tracked through the website because of their privacy policy that deletes information related other than the username. Have you gotten anymore?” 

You clicked on your inbox again and refreshed it. “Not since this morning around 5.” You turned the laptop around to show the new message. 

ticktocktick: You go out and get drunk with a man you barely know and wonder why women get raped and killed all over the world. You’re no better than anyone else, I don’t know why you’re beseeching me to loneliness. You’ll see, soon enough. 

“I guess two beers means I’m drunk,” you muttered in annoyance. “Anyway, whoever it is obviously saw me out with my date last night.” 

“Who was that?” 

“His username is isirac.” 

“You’ve been out with him like five times now. Are you sure this is still part of the case?” 

You closed your laptop and nearly pinched his fingers in the lid. “Yes, I’m sure. Last night he told me he never met our victims, and that he had planned to, but they just ghosted him.”

He scoffed. “Well at least we know whoever’s following you isn’t doing it because they’re jealous of this other guy, not if your victims never met him.” 

“How comforting.” You rolled your eyes and pulled your phone out of your pocket. “Alright, I’ve gotta go. Thanks, again.” 

Your phone had been vibrating in your pocket for a while, but you were ignoring it as you made your way back to your desk. Finally, when you looked, you had 4 text messages. 3 from Daniel - Molly’s owner from the park - and one from Dominick. 

Daniel: Hey, good morning. I was wondering if you’d like to get together this evening? My work is hosting a little fundraiser and I need a date. :) 

Daniel: It’s okay if you can’t or don’t want to, I won’t hold it against you. 

Daniel: Ok.. taking that as a no. 

Dominick: Good Morning, beautiful. Just making sure you’re alright - you seemed a little worried about that whole Brooklyn thing last night. 

After shuffling through the new stack of files on your desk, you opened Daniel’s message back up and rolled your eyes. He wasn’t off your list just yet. 

Y: Hey, Daniel! Sorry about that. You know how it goes when you’re in a room full of wild kids. I would love to go with you if you still need a date. Let me know the time and dress.. and address, please. :) 

Instead of texting Dominick, you called him. You didn’t know why but you wanted to hear his voice. 

“Good morning, handsome.” 

“Hey, my favorite girl. How are you?” 

“I’m good, I just wanted to let you know I was alive and kicking. Please don’t worry about me. I’m a lot tougher than I look.” 

He laughed. “I bet you are. Maybe I just wanted an excuse to text you.” 

“Don’t make excuses then, dork. If you want to talk to me, then do it. I promise I’ll always want to talk to you. But, I’ve gotta go. I’ve got a meeting in like five minutes. I’ll talk to you later. Have a good day.” 

“Good luck, beautiful.” 

That night, per Daniel’s instructions, you had pulled a long black evening gown from the back of your closet, paired it with matching heels, and draped a pashmina over your shoulders. You had to admit you cleaned up well, even more so when you applied your finishing touches to your makeup. Crimson red lips were for special occasions, and this was one of them. 

When you arrived at the banquet hall, Daniel greeted you and gave you a quick hug. It was awkward, as you didn’t really know one another - and he was treating this like a real date, not case work. “Wow, Y/N. You’re really beautiful,” he whispered into your ear, before putting his hand on your lower pack and guiding you inside to where the rest of the crowd had gathered. 

“You look great, too,” you replied. He took you around to a dozen or so people and introduced you as his date. You feigned interest in their topics of conversation and found yourself bored to tears after only about 30 minutes. It was at that time you realized that Daniel wasn’t at your side anymore - though it was no big loss. You quickly texted him to ask where he had gone, frustrated that it took him nearly ten minutes to reply. 

D: I’m near the back exit talking to one of the contributors. I’ll be back up in a moment. Wait for me please. 

You groaned at stood by the bar, swirling around what was left of your drink. Who invited someone to an event and ditched them? It didn’t matter. You were ready to go. 

“Hey, sorry,” Daniel called out as he approached. He was red in the face and agitated. “Everytime I talk to that guy he makes me feel like I’m a fucking idiot.” 

You frowned. “What guy?” 

He pointed absently to the back of the banquet hall. “It’s this guy who donates like $75,000 every year and then expects us to spit shine his figurative shoes everytime we see him. I’d rather just not deal with him but he’s one of my clients.” 

“I’m sorry. He sounds like an ass.” You stared down into your drink and rolled your eyes. 

“He is. Hey, look, I’m sorry,” he said as he placed his hand on your arm. “I’m sorry.” His hands were clammy and you caught a whiff of generic hand soap. Just how mad had this guy made him? 

“Daniel, I’m sorry, but I’ve got to go. I’ve got to be at work at  6:30. It’s nearly 10. I’m sorry. Let’s get together again soon, though, okay?” You gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and set your empty glass down, not giving him the chance to object. 

It was 2:15 in the morning when your phone blared in your ear. It was Walker’s ringtone. 

“Sullivan,” you groaned into the phone. 

“It’s Walker. You need to get down here. I’ll text you the address. Get here now.” He hung up. 

You scrambled to put your clothes on and snapped your hair into a tight braid. Walker texted you the address as you were holstering your weapon and clipping your shield to your belt. The address sounded familiar but you couldn’t be too sure - it was too early to think. 

When you arrived, you parked on the street behind the caution tape and let yourself in the crime scene. 

“Ma’am you can’t be back here,” an officer called out. 

You flashed your badge and kept going. Walker was up ahead of you, talking to someone you hadn’t seen before. 

“Walker.” 

“Sullivan, this is Lt. Olivia Benson. Lt. Benson, this is Detective Y/N Sullivan. She’s my best detective.” Walker wasted no time with introductions, as usual. 

You shook hands and waited to be briefed. Benson looked around a bit apprehensively, like she was missing someone. “He’ll be here in just a few,” she muttered. 

“I’m sorry, who?” You asked. 

“Detective Carisi.” 

“Alright. I’ll wait.” 

[the-council-of-new-york-vampires]

I’d love to see more Pradam fics. They are honestly goals

Out of Character:

Thanks so much, and sorry that it took me so many days to answer your message!! (This also goes for some messages that I’ve had in my inbox for a week or longer, I’m very sorry, but please know I’m trying hard to answer! ❤️)

In this case, it took so long, because I wanted to drop something special on yo ass. 😜

May I present? The story of how Pradam came to be. 😊

Very long, very 20s and partly NSFW - under the cut! 👀

It was a dark night in the 1920s when Priya Lacroix met her girls for a party. Neither her friends nor the event they would be attending could be described with the word “normal”, though.

Just like she was herself, Priya’s friends were vampires, and the party they were about to go to was one for people of their kind. It was a one-time occasion where they’d all come together to party, dance… feed.

“Wow,” Charlotte said with a grin when she took a closer look at Priya’s outfit. “You look super hotsy-totsy.”

“I know,” Priya told her with a smug smile. It was obvious she knew about her good looks. 

“Let’s make whoopee!” Waverly cheered, obviously the most excited.

The location was only a short walk away. Once arrived, the three women entered a dark, secluded building that looked absolutely unremarkable. It was when they walked in that the atmosphere changed - there was loud music, and crowds of people all around them.

Over the music, Waverly shouted, “I’m gonna get some giggle water! What’s a blow without getting ossified?”

Before Priya could answer or follow, she heard Charlotte tell her, “I’ll be right back. Gotta iron my shoelaces”. Then, she walked to the restroom.

Priya shrugged before disappearing in the crowd. She immediately found herself surrounded by dancing vampires, some of them drunk, some of them feeding on of the company they had brought. Needless to say, the party was a wild one, and it was doubtful that any mortal would make it out alive.

Priya had wanted to follow Waverly, but she forgot about her friend immediately, when she smelled the sweet scent of… blood. It wasn’t coming from the feedbags by the dancefloor, but from a bar in the corner of the room - a blood bar.

As young as Priya was, only around fifty, she walked towards her goal, utterly distracted, and suddenly both hungry and determined. Once there, she sat down on a seat by the bar, ordered herself a glass and started drinking. The taste was almost incomparable, it was sweet and delicate. Obviously, the blood from a blood bar wasn’t as fresh as one coming directly from a mortal, but this, Priya thought, was better than any kind of alcohol. At least for the moment, it was everything she needed.

After enjoying that little refreshment, Priya turned to her side, finally taking a look around, at the other vampires who were sitting by the bar. One of them attracted her immediately.

He was drinking a big glass, his head turned forward to where the bartender stood. Whoever he was, he looked good, incredibly handsome, and seemed rather uninterested in the chaos behind him. Maybe he had a boring personality in general, or he was awfully used to parties like these. 

Either way, this man was wealthy. Priya could tell by just looking at his outfit. It looked like it was from one of the stores where people like Priya could only afford to stare at the shop windows from outside.

While finishing her own glass, Priya kept an eye at the handsome stranger. It were only about two minutes later when he had finished his glass as well, and she took her chance - with her usual “no risk - no fun” attitude, Priya made her way over to him. She took the free seat next to him without even thinking about asking if it was taken, and said, “Hiya.”

The man turned around, showing a face of surprise for just a single moment. “Oh. Hello.”

“You look air tight,” she told him with a grin, obviously anything but shy.

He raised an eyebrow at her. “Excuse me?”

The man’s behavior had confused Priya as well. “Huh?”

“Air tight?” he asked, in the obvious need of clarification.

“Hotsy-totsy,” she answered, for lack of a better word.

The man just raised both eyebrows, seeming even more confused than he had been at the beginning of their conversation.

Priya presented him a sad face. “Slang? You don’t speak it?”

It was surprising, but he showed her a smile, a kind one, one that made him look even more handsome than his former, serious face. “Oh, no. Pardon me.”

“Don’t worry,” she answered, returning the smile, “everything’s Jake!”

“And that means…?”

“Everything’s fine.”

Within just a second, he glanced down at her outfit, and asked, still wearing his smile, “What is a beautiful lady like you doing at a place as ugly as this one?”

Briefly, she glanced over to the bartender, who was serving another customer a fresh glass of blood. “What does it look like?”

Suddenly, the man’s smile became brighter, so bright that it was revealing his dazzling, white teeth. The fact that he understood what she meant became obvious when he told her, “Drinks are on me!”

”Now we’re talking,“ she replied with a smirk, watching how that handsome stranger ordered two more glasses.

"May I ask you for your name?” he wanted to know when turning back to her.

“I’m Priya. Priya Lacroix.”

“Nice to meet you, Priya,” he answered with a smile when taking her hand to his mouth in the gentlest way, and planting a delicate kiss on it.

“And you’re…?”

“Adam Vega.”

Once again, Priya smirked, shamelessly admitting, “I like you, Adam” when smelling just how expensive his perfume must be.

He smiled, showing her his teeth another time. "It’s my pleasure, Priya.”

“Are you here often?”

Adam glanced over to the crazy crowd and for the first time, Priya saw a look on his face that showed a bit of negativity. “No. Not often,” he merely answered. “And you?”

“You bet,” she told him with a smirk as they received their drinks. “I love a good party,” she added as their brown eyes locked for the first time. The moments their eyes shared together was so intense that Priya had the impression he had looked into her whole inner self, with just a single look. Something about this guy, other than his money, attracted her immensely.

Adam brought the glass to his lips, drinking, but not stopping to look at her intensely.

“You… have nice eyes,” she told him in a way that was so absent-minded, so very much unlike her, as if she had lost herself inside them.

He showed her a bright smile, a bit of blood left on his lips, and, finally, after seconds that had felt like an eternity, looked away from her eyes. “Thank you, Priya. I could say the same about you,” Adam answered sincerely.

Without her eyes locked with his, Priya had regained her usual confidence and attitude. She teased, ignoring his compliment, "I wonder if it’s only your eyes that look that beautiful…”

Adam reached out for Priya’s hand that was resting on the counter, looked into her eyes again and said, after a few seconds of silence between them, “Do you want to find out?”

After focusing on his eyes another time, she leaned forward for a kiss. It was one that Priya had initiated, but one Adam had welcomed. Their lips were locked for a few seonds, their eyes closed, before she pulled away. Finally, she gave him her dirtiest of smiles. “Hell yeah.”

Adam grinned, as he leaned forward and told her, quietly, but loud enough to be heard, “My place is just around the corner.”

Priya faced him, her smile still on her face. “Guess you’re getting laid tonight, Adam.”

-

Inside Adam’s rather fancy house, Priya and him made it to the bedroom without any intervals.

Having finally arrived at a place where there weren’t crowds of people around them who could watch, the two made out passionately, their hands going everywhere. Priya felt Adam’s beard on her chin and by his eager movements, she could tell that he was just as willing as she was.

They didn’t waste a singe second. Priya pulled her dress over her head, and Adam removed his jacket and vest, and unbuttoned his shirt, which he removed and pulled down. His pants followed, their shoes and underwear. All this, more or less while making out.

Once naked, Priya spoke, her words were bold. “Fuck me hard,” she let out, needy, when grabbing Adam’s shoulders and jumping up, wrapping her legs around his hips. Immediately, his hands supported her ass.

They continued their steamy makeout session while he walked towards the nearest wall which he pushed her against. Thanks to the wall’s support, Adam was able to let go of Priya’s ass with his right hand and instead grab his dick. Just a moment before sliding it in, he stopped the kissing and looked her in the eyes.

Priya’s response was to pull him closer, their chests pressing against each other, as she placed her elbows on his shoulders for maximum closeness. She uttered a single, horny “Mhm”, which was enough of an answer for him to enter her.

The next minutes were rough, anything but gentle, for both parties involved. Priya’s nails were digging deep into Adam’s back, causing scratches all over, while he was taking her hard. Their tongues were wandering around in each other’s mouths… Partly, his lips were caressing her breasts; partly, her hand was fondling her own parts… Their moans, though, were constant. Their moans, and Priya’s screams.

After many very satisfying minutes, when he felt the end was near, Adam pressed Priya’s head against the wall and moaned, breathing heavily yet not stopping his movements, “Cum with me…”

He reached his maximum speed, and they both finished at the same time, afterwards, taking a few seconds to rest, in the very same position, their breathing still heavy.

Then, Adam carried Priya onto his bed. As he lied down on his back, she sat up, her thighs left and right to his hips. Obviously, the previous orgasm had gotten her going, and she was in no mood to quit.

Adam’s hand reached out for her pussy and found entrance quickly. His eyes found hers as he asked, “You like that, don’t you? You little slut…”

Her moaning expression became a grinning one, as she answered, “You know what I like even more?”

Without giving Adam a chance to answer, Priya moved her body forward, his fingers slipping out of her, and sat down on his face.

Quickly, his hands found their way to her hips, and he did what he was so good at. Again and again, until, after many orgasms and countless screams, she was finally satisfied.

Weakly, Priya slid down. She placed herself on her side, ready to fall asleep, when she felt Adam behind her, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close, serving as the big spoon to her little spoon, as if it was natural.

Priya wasn’t one for cuddling, but this time, she let it be. Turned away from Adam, she wondered what a future with him could look like. Maybe, just maybe, this was the beginning of a wonderful relationship…

[ilovereadingandilovebreathing]

Soul Eater SoMa for 6! "Things you said under the stars in the grass"

For those of you who don’t know or are reading this in the future, today is Valentine’s Day, and the precious human who sent this request is one of my favorite people on the planet. He’s an incredible friend, and I’m blessed to call him my platonic valentine this year. I’ve had this little diddy simmering in my inbox for weeks, but I decided today was as good of a day as any to FINISH this sucker. Also sorry not sorry that I cheated because no grass. *shrugs* Hope you like it, friendo. ♥

Summary: Soul’s still on a mission to get his promised date with Maka, even if they have to lose a few degrees to do it.

Word Count: 3,470

Characters/Pairings: Soul “Eater” Evans, Maka Albarn; SoulxMaka 

Genres: Fluff, romance, with a splash of angst; College!AU

Warnings: divorce, bickering (let me know if there are others)

“Good Morning!” Maka breezed up to their usual table in the Commons, a light grin on her lips. 

“’Mornin’,” Soul replied between forkfuls of scrambled eggs.

“As suave as ever, I see.” Maka rolled her eyes good-naturedly, shrieking when the youth flicked said breakfast food in her direction. “Rude.”

“You started it,”the blond breathed out after taking a huge gulp of orange juice.

Maka merely grunted in return, setting off to get her food. When she returned, her table partner snagged a piece of bacon off her tray before she could protest. “Excuse you.” She swiped a slice of apple off of his plate.

Soul chuckled. “Take it.” He slid the bowl of fruit toward her. “ I hate fruit, anyway.”

“Fruit’s good for you, Soul, and you need to eat healthier after that nasty sinus infection you had.” Maka glared when she realized he was mocking her, his hand poised like a hand puppet mouth. “Fine, ignore me, but don’t blame me-”

“What’s got you so high-strung this morning?” Soul interrupted, brow quirked.

“What? Nothing. I’m fine. Why would you say that?”

He just hummed in reply, choosing to let this battle die before it was fought. “Here’s a better question:”

“Hmm?”

“Am I ever gonna get that date?” Soul asked, wiggling his eyebrows.

“You got your date, multiple times!” Maka replied, huffing and sending her bangs flying with a puff of air.

“What, being sick and going to Waffle House in the middle of the night count as dates?”

“I mean they might as well these days, right?”

“True…Well….What have you never done before? What’s something you’ve always wanted to do?”

“Mmmmm….” Maka sucked in her cheeks.

“What? What is it?”

“You’re gonna think it’s dumb.”

“No I won’t; tell me!”

She fiddled with her fork, staring at her plate. “….I’ve never been stargazing before.”

“Really?…” He mused, suddenly contemplative. “You know, I don’t think I have, either. We should definitely do that, then! When are you free?”

“Soul, we’re in the middle of a cold snap in winter; it’s too cold to go out at night!”

“We’ll be fiiiine! We can just bundle up in as many clothes as we can, hats and scarves, the whole nine, and get some blankets and stuff. I’ll figure it out. It’ll be great.”

“Soul-”

“Pleeeeease, Makaaaa? I’ll take care of everything; I promise!”

“….Fine.”

“Yes!” He grinned in triumph. “So when are you free?”

That Saturday night found her sitting on her couch bundled up in long johns, leggings, ski pants, 2 pairs of socks, boots, a long-sleeved thermal shirt, a sweater, a coat, a scarf, ear muffs, two pair of technology gloves, and a hat, waiting for him to text her that he had arrived.

Her phone finally lit up with the contact photo she’d assigned him (one of him giving her a pointed look when she tried to sneak a picture of him reading), and she swiftly swiped into the call.

“Hey, Soul. You here?”

“Yup, just pulled up. Sorry I’m late; took longer than I expected.”

“‘S fine.” Maka pushed herself up. “Took a little while to get layered up.” She quickly locked her door and set off down the stairs, giving him a wave when she eyed him on the way down. “See you in a sec.” She hung up and slid the phone in her pocket, a grin sliding across her lips. She couldn’t believed she’d let him convince her to do this. He might get sick all over again, or she might catch something, but….the allure of going stargazing, and on a perfectly clear winter night, was too tempting to pass up. “So,” she asked as she threw her leg over the motorbike. “Where we headed?”

“Little area right outside of town; no streetlights and lighter car traffic.”

“Sounds good.” She held on tight as they sped of into the frosty night.

—–

“What’s that over there?” Maka pointed to a strange orange glow a couple hundred yards away. “Not a fire I hope?!”

“How stupid do you think I am?” HSoulcalled back. “It’s a portable heater. I set it in front of our blankets to get them nice and toasty for us.”

They pulled up to their spot, and Maka couldn’t hold in a grin. There was a single, huge air mattress on the ground, blown up to capacity, and a huge stack of blankets sat next to it.

“Wow…” She let Soul take her hand and lead her over to their setup, too enthralled to notice the blush on his cheeks. Once they were settled, he handed her a thermos.

“Hot cocoa.” He explained, popping open his own container to sip at the still-steaming liquid.

“Oh, but-”

“I know, no milk. Just water. I got you covered.” Soul grinned proudly as she smiled back and took a satisfied sip, humming with happiness from the warmth.

“Thank you.” Maka shivered as a breeze passed over them and reached for a blanket, cocooning herself in warmth. “Oooh…this is a nice blanket!” She rubbed her arms absently, looking at what designs she could see with the light of the space heater. Little foxes, it looked like.

“My Granny made it.” Soul smiled, but Maka detected just a hint of sadness in his tone as she looked over at him. Sure enough, though his lips were spread, his eyes were downturned at the edges.

“Oh, is she-”

“No, she’s alive,” Soul reassured her. “Just far away. She’s my favorite person in the whole world. Leaving her was the hardest part about coming to college, but….she wanted me to.”

“She sounds like a good person.” Maka tenderly placed a hand on his arm.

“She is.” Soul agreed, absently placing his own hand over hers as he stared into the space heater. “Anyway, she made that for me when I was little; I’ve had it for as long as I can remember.”

“Oh, well then, here-”

“No, it’s fine-”

Maka sighed not unkindly and threw the blanket over the both of them, taking another from the stack to wrap around her shoulders. “There.” She grinned up at him cheekily, and he stuck his tongue out, blowing a small raspberry. “You’re such a child.” She mumbled under her breath.

“Quit lookin’ at me, then, and look at the stars.” Soul jested, pointing upward as he laid down on the mattress.

Maka complied, staring up from her hunched position beneath the blankets, and she was glad she did. Thousands upon thousands, possibly millions of pinpricks of light hung above their heads, some large and glittering and some small and stable. The sun had just set, so traces of purples intermingled with the blacks and browns of the night sky, leaving tasteful streaks between patches of stars.

From there,Maka could swear she could see whole star systems, though astronomy was not her subject, so she couldn’t tell you which ones. She sighed, watching the bitter air curl before her like smoke, and soaked in the glory of galaxies. Suddenly, another gust of wind swept through the landscape, and she curled into herself, teeth chattering.

“Here.” Maka looked over, and Soul had his arm outstretched toward her, his eyes screwed up toward the stars. Without hesitation, she scooted next to him and snuggled into his side, her thermos cradled between her palms. He pulled her in close, giving her a squeeze before placing a firm, loving kiss on the crown of her head.

And then she froze.

Soul felt her muscles physically stiffen next to him, and he was at a loss for words. “Maka? You okay?”

“Y-yeah, I’m fine.” He felt her wiggle away from him a bit, placing the drink container between them, and he brought his arm back into his lap.

They sat in silence for a full minute

“I’m sorry if I….if that was too fast.” Soul muttered, his voice low.

Maka inhaled through her nostrils, unwilling to take her eyes from the sky to meet his.

“Maka, I’m sorry; it’s just….we’ve been hanging out for months…a lot….I dunno, I just thought…”

“You thought wrong.” She bit back, still not looking at him, and that comeback broke his resolve.

“Look.” He sat up, turning fully toward her. “You’ve been making weird comments all week. What’s your beef? Did I piss you off again?”

Silence.

“Maka-

“No. It’s not you. It’s….”

Soul waited patiently for her to continue, staring at her for a moment then up at the stars splayed above them.

Maka sat up and sighed shakily beside him. “It’s the anniversary of my parents’ divorce.” She grumbled, pulling the blankets tighter around her. “My mom always tries to send me a present to make me feel better. My dad used to, but now he just gets hammered and drunk FaceTimes me.” She chuckled harshly, bringing her thermos up to her face. “I know it’s stupid, but I just….I can’t help remembering. How they pretended they were okay even though I heard them arguing constantly. They tried so hard to pretend for me, and I just…I don’t know. It makes me cynical, I guess. Wonder if I’ll ever find someone, and if I do, will I be able to keep a relationship alive.”

“Maka…”

“But it’s nothing. Stupid. Just the whiny grumblings of a child of divorce.”

“Hey, it’s not nothing. It’s not stupid. You’re allowed to be upset about it, Maka. It’s a crummy thing to put your kid through.”

“No. Staying married would’ve been crummier. They hate each other.” Maka bit her lip. “They only got married because of circumstance. It seemed like the right place at the right time, and they thought they were in love. It was this whole movie-esque tornado of events. So I just…I don’t know. I’m afraid of things moving too fast. It sucks because I’ve met some really amazing guys, but they all wanted to get serious so quickly and it was just way too much. I’m scared of moving too fast, if I’m being honest with myself. I’m scared that I’ll meet someone great and think I’ve fallen in love really fast and it’ll all just happen so quickly and in some kind of whirlwind but one day I could wake up and realize that I’m not in love anymore. Or that I never even was. Like, how much would that s-su-uck?” She hadn’t realized she was crying until her voice broke, and a chill went up her spine as her felt the tears trailing down her cheeks. She hugged her shins, resting her chin on her knees, and she squeezed her eyes shut as fat droplets squeezed from between her eyelids.

“Maka, I’m so sorry.” Soul’s voice was choked, and her eyes snapped open in alarm. She glanced over and found that his eyes were gleaming dangerously. “I didn’t realize I was pushing things along so quickly or that I seemed like I was coming on too strong. The fact of the matter is…’ He swallowed. “I like you a lot, Maka. I really do, but I want you to be comfortable in all of this. I don’t want you to feel pressured into something you don’t want to be apart of. If you don’t feel that way about me, it’s fine, we can still be friends because I love being around you-”

“Soul.” She cut him off. “O-of course I like you.” Her voice was barely more than a whisper. “Why else would I be so worked up about all of this right now?”

“Besides the anniversary?”

“That’s….an excuse, really. Like I said, they’re better apart. It’s just…the implications of it all that get to me sometimes. I guess that’s why it upset me…I…like you a lot, too, Soul, but I guess I just….I don’t know, with the anniversary thoughts and how often we’ve been together I guess I just freaked out. I don’t want to hurt you, Soul. Not like my parents hurt each other.”

“You won’t.” Soul murmured, inhaling deeply with his gaze fixed on the orange glow of their heater.

“How do you know, though?” Maka asked, so softly that the words fairly trailed along her breath.

“Because you’re better than them.” Soul deadpanned, looking her straight in the eye now. The conviction in his features nearly stole her breath. “Because you’ve actually thought about this stuff, and you’re more aware than they were. So what if your parents marriage fell apart? I mean that sucks and all, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be happy one day.”

“You’re really passionate about this, huh?” Maka sniffed and wiped at her eyes.

“I mean….I dunno, I get it in a way. My parents are still together, but only because a divorce would look bad in their social circles. They hate each other, and always have, so it’s not like I had a great representation of what love is, either, growing up.” Soul shrugged, turning back to the starlit sky. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t figure this stuff out for ourselves. I mean, we’ve made it this far in life, and I think we’re pretty damn smart, don’t you?”

“Yeah, I think so.” Maka giggled.

“So we’ll be fine.” Soul smiled warmly, but it melted into a complacent line too quickly. “Plus, it’s not like I proposed to you or anything. We’re not even really a couple, so no worries.”

“Hey!”

He lifted a brow and peered over at her sudden outburst.

“I never said I didn’t want to be with you.” Maka continued, suddenly shy. “I love our time together. I just…slapping labels on things makes it complicated. Can we just…I dunno, let it be an unspoken agreement?”

“Works for me.” Soul folded his hands behind his head and laid back on the plastic mattress.

“Um, so…”

“Yeah?”

“Since we’re unofficially official….we can still cuddle.” Maka’s cheeks were blazing pink. “But ask me before you do anything, okay? And I’ll…be better about communicating my feelings. Deal?”

“Deal.” That warm smile was back, and she gave him one in return as she settled down next to him. A moment passed before she reached around and guided his arm around her, snuggling in close to his side with a final sigh of contentment.

“Thanks for this, Soul.” She whispered as they stared up at the stars together.

“Only for you, Maka.” He replied before suddenly jerking in realization. “Oh yeah! I have this really cool app that will show us what stars are above us! Hold on-” He pulled out his phone and thrust it toward the night sky, and they both stared intently as the device found their location.

“All those stars, and they can still be identified, one by one. Amazing.” Maka commented as they scrolled through their findings.

“Kinda like the odds of us finding each other, huh?”

“You’re such a sap.” She joked, nudging him lightly before settling her head on his chest, tucking herself in.

“I was thinking clever, but I guess that works, too.” He snarked back.  

“Oooh look, those stars in a row there, is that one of the dippers?”

“Nah, I think it’s Orion, the hunter constellation…”

“But that doesn’t look right….what does the app say?”

“I dunno, it’s taking ten years to load things because the signal sucks out here.”

“Well, shoulda thought that one through-”

“Hey, I was trying to do something cool for us-”

“Chill. Kidding.” Maka screeched when he tried to pinch her side, and she aimed to pinch him back, though neither were successful with layers of cloth over their fingers. Nevertheless, Soul’s phone was abandoned in favor of defending himself against an onslaught of tickling, though he soon discovered he could easily trap Maka’s arms in a tight bear hug. “Sooooouuuuullll let GO!” She shrieked, trying to wiggle out of his hold while suppressing giggles.

“Mmmmm, nah.” Soul rolled both of them over, Maka now snuggled against him like a teddy bear. “I wanna sleep, and you’re the perfect snuggle buddy.” He nestled his nose between her head and the mattress and promptly faked snoring.

“Sooouuulll not funny, let me go! My arms are gonna fall asleep.”

“You’ll be fine. I’m not that strong.” He mumbled, burying his face further into warmth.

“Sooouulllll-” Maka whined.

“Fine, you’re no fun.” Soul released her and rolled onto his back.

“I am so fun. You’re the one who wants to be a pain.” Maka reached across him and grabbed his phone, handing it back to him. “Now tell me more about the stars. It’s getting really cold, and I want to go home soon.”

“Fine.” The backlight of his phone revealed the grin on Soul’s cheeks, and Maka smiled to herself. She searched for a moment, quickly finding his gloved hand before holding it in hers. She laid back down against him, head on his chest and watching as he scrolled through the list of stars above them. “See that really bright bluish one? That’s Uranus! The only planet clearly visible from here right now.”

“Whoa,” She stared intently where his finger pointed, nodding in recognition before snickering a bit. “I had a science teacher who tried to convince us that it’s pronounced “ur-in-is” so people would stop laughing about it.”

‘Well that’s dumb. That only makes people talk about it more.”

“I know, but what can you do with middle schoolers?”

“Ugh, true.” Soul continued scrolling. “I think that’s the North Star, there…but I’m not quite sure…”

“Or there?” Maka pointed to the left of his initial guess.

“Oh crap! I totally forgot-” Soul reached off the side of the mattress, feeling around for a small bag. “I brought a small telescope.” He carefully brought up the drawstring bag and opened it, bringing out a foot-long silver tube. “My Grandpa gave it to me.” He explained fondly. “He loved this kinda stuff. Bird-watching, star-gazing, anything he could do from his balcony. I used to go out there with him, and he got me this when I graduated high school. He said it would let us keep star-gazing together, even though we’re far apart.”

“That’s so sweet. You have great grandparents, Soul.”

“Yeah…I’m sure they’d love to meet you.” Soul’s breath hitched.

“….That would be nice.”

They both relaxed against each other, and Soul picked up the telescope. “Let’s see….ah crap, there’s a cloud in the way now…stupid desert clouds….”

“Point it at Uranus; I want to see its rings.” Soul handed over the telescope, and Maka gasped. “It’s not an incredibly clear image, obviously, but…wow….that’s a whole other planet. It’s nuts.” She swung the lens between planetary bodies, gasping louder each time he told her what it was. “This is so cool…”

“Yeah…” He gazed at her fondly, soaking in the pure childlike wonder and fascination exuding from her voice, her eyes, her posture, and the undisputed joy when she turned back to face him.

“This has been a great time, Soul…Everything included.” Maka squeezed his hand. “But it really is cold out here, and I can’t feel my nose anymore.” She grinned sheepishly, handing him the telescope with trembling fingers. “We should totally do this again, but like, when it’s warmer.”

“Agreed.” He chuckled and sat up, sliding the telescope back into its bag as Maka slowly shed her layers of warmth. “Let’s get you home before you freeze, huh?”

Maka nodded and rose, stretching her limbs before plodding over to his motorcycle and swinging her leg over. Soul followed right behind and sat himself in front of her, revving the engine with an uncontrollable smile when she squeezed him in a hug before settling in.

The drive back was brisk but short. When they arrived outside of her apartment, Maka quickly swung herself off of the bike and stood beside him, waiting expectantly. Soul raised a brow, and the girl huffed in return, holding out her arms.

“Ooooohhhh.” He grinned widely, pulling her against him in a side-hug, and she groaned into his shoulder.

“Noooo a real hug, you doofus.” She yanked him off the bike, nearly sending all three of them toppling over, and they held each other close, holding on for as long as they each dared before letting go.

“Really, this was fun…and good.” Maka smiled, leaning up to place a peck on his jaw before turning on her heel and speeding up the stairs to her apartment. “Good night!” She stage-whispered, waving to him before vanishing into her apartment and leaving a still stunned Soul leaning against his idling motorcycle.

His hand slowly rose to where her lips had grazed his face, and he felt his heart stutter just a bit.

There was really hope for them after all.

With a final triumphant grin, Soul swung himself back onto his bike and sped back toward their date site, hoping that the cleanup would be faster than the setup.

[criminallyimaginative]

Time To Fess Up

Request: for the anon who asked for a “Reid x reader where they are both in the BAU and are in love with each other but haven’t confessed. Reader thinks Reid is in love with Maeve (or someone else, totally up to you) so starts to distance herself and then Spencer confronts her and they both give this romantic, fluffy confession.”

A/N: Ok wow. This one has been sitting in the inbox for quite awhile and I feel bad about that. Finals really burnt me out and then I feel into the worse writing slump that I’ve ever had, but I’m happy to have finished this one and hopefully the slump might be ending! Anyways, this one is probably a smidgen more angsty than I intended for it to be, but it’s cute and fluffy at the end I promise! I hope you enjoy!

Warnings: honestly other than some angst and maybe one curse word, there’s nothing to warn you about

Word Count: 2.5k

Rating: PG

“No! It has nothing to do with that,” Spencer laughed, resting the phone between his shoulder and head, trying to do his paperwork while continuing his conversation. You sighed in frustration and stirred more coffee into your coffee.  You’d joined the BAU team almost two years ago and had immediately clicked with all of the team members, particularly Spencer. Friendship had led to inevitable feelings for you, but there was one problem. You’d fallen into the friend-zone. This was breaking your heart. (Not Spencer being happy of course, that was the only good thing that had come out of all of this situation.) It was the cause of that happiness that was the source of your loathing. Maeve. Spencer had confided in you about her months ago, when you’d noticed him disappearing four hours a few times a week. You know what, it was fine when she was some disembodied voice on a telephone, but when she became a real person who the team had worked their asses off to bring back from an abduction alive it was your worst nightmare. That was when you’d realized he was in love with her. 

“(Y/N)!”, JJ said waving a hand in front of your face. You snapped out of the trance you hadn’t realized you’d fallen into and shook your head. 

“What’s up, Jayje?” you asked plastering a fake smile on your face. 

“Just bringing you more of those transfer forms that you were asking for,” she replied placing the stack of paperwork on your desk. “So, you’re really doing this huh?” she commented, leaning against her chair. 

“I’ll call you back,” Spencer said quickly hanging up the phone. 

“What’s going?” he asked leaning forward to gain you and JJ’s attention. 

“(Y/N)’s-”

“Late for meeting Morgan at the gym, so you’ll have to excuse me,” you said cutting her off as you stood up. “Not a word,” you muttered in her ear. “Have a nice day, JJ. Reid,” you replied curtly before making a b-line for the elevator. Spencer flinched at the short tone you had used with him and glanced at the stack of papers on your desk. 

“JJ, what was that about?” 

“(Y/N) asked me not to say,” she mumbled, smoothing out her skirt and collected the finished report from the last case that was sitting on your desk. 

“I’m not talking about this transfer or whatever it is you two are doing,” he said, crossing over to her, “I’m talking about why she has been giving me the cold shoulder.”

“Spence she’s not-”

“Please don’t lie to me,” he pleaded, “I just want to know what awful thing I did to make my best friend hate me.”

“Best friend or girl you are secretly in love with?” JJ asked before she could stop herself. “That’s not fair,” Spencer snapped, looking down. 

“Well, my question is still valid although you seem to have found someone who sparks your interest more these days”

“Maeve is just a friend. How many times do I have to say that?”

“A friend who you can’t go one day without talking to for at least an hour?”  

“I value her opinion.”

“There used to be someone else’s opinion you valued above everyone’s and she’s not going to be around much longer,” JJ hinted, subtly trying to clue him in without explicitly telling him. 

“JJ, what are you talking about?”

“Spence, I love you. You know I do, but this is something that you are going to have figure out for yourself or you are going to lose one of the best things that ever happened to you,” she replied, before walking back to her office leaving Spencer standing in the middle of the bullpen more confused than when the conversation started.

“Hey there Pretty Girl,” Morgan called as you strolled into the gym.

“Hey hot stuff, sorry I’m late. I had to discuss something with JJ and then change,” you explained, dropping your gym bag by the door. You’d swapped your usual work attire for a loose tank top, cropped yoga pants, and your Nikes. 

“Not a problem, I’ve got the whole afternoon open,” he replied, leaning against the wall. You laughed and stretched your arms over your head. Other than Spencer, you considered Morgan to be your best friend. “So you gonna tell me what this is really about?”

“Time for a little brush up on hand to hand. The last case was a little too close for comfort,” you lied. In reality, you were looking for an outlet to take out some aggression. 

“Uh huh,” Morgan muttered, clearly unconvinced. 

“Ready? Go,” you said lunging for him in an attempt to derail his train of thought. Derek knew you too well and simply side stepped. You turned on a dime and swung your leg toward his knees. He caught your foot in his hand and shoved you backward. You and Derek had been sparring together since you joined the team, and in that time you’d only beaten him once. In your current distracted state, you had no chance of winning. You steadied yourself and kicked again, this time swinging your leg up to strike his face. 

“So you asking for a transfer has nothing to do with Reid hanging around Maeve?” His question made you freeze up, foot stopping right next to his face, instead of following through. 

“What?” you demanded, still frozen. 

“Your ‘oh so secret transfer’, does it or does it not have something to do with Reid,” he asked, pushing your foot down to the ground. 

“How do you know about that?”

“Did you really think Penelope wouldn’t tell me?”

“I didn’t think she would see it until it was too late,” you grumbled, crossing your arms.

“How long has Hotch been sitting on that paperwork?”

“The first part, a week. I just turned in the rest of it earlier and I guarantee he’s going to hold it as long as he can or until I force him to file it. He’s not happy about this.”

“I don’t blame him. The team is losing a damn good agent and profiler,” Derek replied. 

“The team will be fine,” you insisted, grabbing your bag from where you’d dropped it, “Don’t try to talk me out of this, I’ve already made up my mind.”

“(Y/N), no one wants you to go but we want you to be happy,” he said walking over to you. “I’m just questioning whether or not this will make you happy.”

“I’m happy. It’s just time for a change,” you said slinging your bag over your shoulder. “I have to go.”

“In more ways than one it would seem,” Derek replied, tugging you into his arms, “if you do this, I’m gonna miss you, Pretty girl.”

“I’ll miss you too,” you told him sincerely squeezing his muscular form, “but there is no if. I’m doing this.” You strode out of the gym, shoulders only slumping slightly as you questioned your decision. You sprinted to your car and drove like mad to get home. You were desperate to shake that little seed of doubt that Derek had planted in your mind about your decision before it had time to take root. “Oreo,” you called to your kitty as you opened your apartment door, “I’m sorry I’m late. Are you hungry?” you spoke as you passed through the entry but froze. Spencer was sitting on your couch with your cat curled up in his lap, just purring away. A bowl of popcorn and two beers had been casually placed on your coffee table, while Doctor Who played in the background. “Um, Spence?” you muttered, mentally kicking yourself for giving him the spare key to your apartment. The sound of your voice finally caused him to look up from the book. 

“Oh (Y/N), hi,” he said closing the book and setting it on the back of the couch. 

“What are you doing?” you asked, dropping your gym bag and purse on the ground before heading to the kitchen to start dinner for yourself. 

“Well, I thought since we have the day off tomorrow, maybe we could do movie night?” he asked glancing over at you.

“Movie night?” you snorted, “We only do that when one of us is upset.” You shifted your weight from foot to foot as you filled a pan with water, and you could feel him staring at you. “I’m fine.”

“Clearly you’re not,” he insisted, getting up and walking to the kitchen much to Oreo’s chagrin. She pouted as she hopped up on the counter and sat by her food bowl. You shook your head at her before filling the bowl. “You’re upset about something, there’s talk of some kind of transfer, and on top of all that you’re avoiding me.”

“I am not,” you mumbled, setting the pot down on the cooktop, “I’m just working some stuff out.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s what?”

“C’mon (Y/N), I know you. You don’t do anything without getting other people’s opinions.”

“Spencer, you are the smartest person I know. So why don’t you use that big genius brain of yours, to put all that information together and figure out why I wouldn’t tell anyone,” you said turning to face him. He scrunched his eyebrows up together and you watched as the realization washed over his face.

“You’re leaving?”

“Probably,” you muttered, grabbing a box of spaghetti out of the pantry.

“Why? When? Where?” he asked, trying to deal with the new information. 

“Sex crimes,” you replied, breaking the spaghetti over the pot, “Remember Hotch leant me to them a month ago. Before I left, Agent Tyler told me if I ever was done with BAU there’d be a job open for me in his department and I’ve decided it’s time to move on.”

“But why? I don’t understand. You were happy until like a month ago,” he said, running a hand through his hair. 

“A lot can change in a month,” you mumbled, reaching over and smoothing a hand over Oreo’s fur.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t do that,” Spencer groaned, snatching your hand, “Don’t shut me out when I’m just trying to understand-”

“Well, this is one thing you can understand,” you insisted. 

“Then explain it to me.”

“Not possible.”

“Why? You just said that I’m the smartest person you know.”

“Spencer, please. I am trying not to hurt you.”

“You’re already hurting me by shutting me out, so just say it!”

“I’m in love with you, damn it,” you shouted, tearing your hand away from him and wrapping both arms around yourself. Spencer froze and just stared at you. There was no way that those words had come out of your mouth, no way. Right?

“What did you say?” he asked hesitantly. 

“I’m in love with you,” you repeated still hugging yourself, “and watching you fall in love with someone else is slowly killing me. I can’t do it anymore. You wanted to know, so there it is laid out plain as day. I know it’s my own fault for falling in love with my best friend who could never possibly into me that way, but I did and now that’s something that I’m going to have to deal with. I’m-” you were trying to explain but were abruptly cut off when Spencer took your face in his hands and pressed your lips together. It was your turn to freeze be confused. You settled into the kiss after a few seconds and wrapped your arms around his neck. “I don’t understand,” you muttered as you both pulled away to get some air. 

“Well, I thought that would have cleared some things up,”  Spencer chuckled, pressing his lips against your forehead, “but I didn’t just come here to have movie night. I came here to tell you something that I should’ve told you a long time ago, and now that you’ve expressed a positive sentiment about me this will go much more smoothly for me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Well, to put it plainly, a few of our coworkers knocked some sense into me in regards to feeling but JJ really hit the nail on the head. She made it obvious that I was being a coward. I was content to watch the girl that had dazzled me and ensnared my heart from the moment I met her go about her life and make connections with other people without ever stepping up and going after what I wanted. Her. I did a lot of thinking this afternoon, and I realized that she was right. I had sat by and watched you live life, date other people, have fun, while I sat on the sidelines content that if I couldn’t be with you the way I wanted to be that I could still be in your life. I could live with that, but what I can’t do is be without you in my life. You make me a better person, inspire me to do things I never would’ve dreamed of doing, listen to me when I ramble or blurt out facts, and so many other wonderful things. I’m in love with you (Y/N) (Y/L/N). I am whole heartedly and undeniably in love with you. So, here I am laying my heart out for you and hoping that, if you’ll have me, you’d be willing to hold onto that heart even though you’ve already had it for quite some time,” he replied, holding you close, smoothing a hand over your cheek and wiping away a tear that had fallen from you eye. You were speechless the confession was so beautiful. Without a second thought, you crashed your lips into his and tangled a hand in his hair. He responded immediately, arms tightening around your waist. “I’m hoping that’s a yes,” he chuckled as you parted again. 

“Well duh,” you giggled and tried to stop the happy tears from running down your face as you brushed the hair away from his face. “I’m sorry I’m crying, I’m just really happy.”

“Happy tears are good.”

“I thought you and Maeve were-”

“Ah yes, that. When it first started, I think she and I were both actually considering a relationship of the romantic variety but we both realized that we were trying to replace other people who we were actually in love with,” he explained. 

“Well, I- oh crap.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I guess I should call Hotch to see if I can cancel that transfer.”

“I think you’re safe.”

“Why’s that?”

“I think Hotch hasn’t actually filed the forms yet. Penelope was snooping through the files on his computer when she found the email.”

“Well, everythign seems to have worked itself out,” you chirped happily, “and seeing as you’re here, still want to do movie night?”

“Absolutely, but first. These are for you,” Spencer said producing a bouquet of flowers from the sleeve of his cardigan. 

“How did you do that?” you laughed, taking the flowers and setting them in the vase on the counter. 

“A magician never reveals his secrets.”

“How on earth did I get so lucky to have you in my life?”

“I ask myself that question every single day,” Spencer admitted and kissed you again.