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breakingsomething · 4 years

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Dawn Station - Pilot

Basic summary: Video game developer Jack Mcloughlin is finally releasing a new game after a ten year hiatus.

Content warnings: Murder, dismemberment, body horror

It comes as a shock to everyone, including you, when Jack Mcloughlin announces the release of a new game at the start of the second week of October.

There are several reasons why this is such a big deal. One: Jack Mcloughlin has been making games since he was twenty seven, and has released only five of them in the thirty years he's been doing it. Two: Jack Mcloughlin is world renowned for his fantastic horror games, all done in wildly different styles, but still notably his own. Three: Jack Mcloughlin has not, up til now, so much as mentioned working on a new game. The only social media site he's fully active on is Twitter - which you check regularly for any updates - and before the release of his last game, Ehrmann Lab, he had left a series of cryptic clues for two months leading up to the announcement. Those had been probably the most fun two months you'd ever had in your life, and even helped you make new friends. But this time around, there is no warning. The trailer is dropped at Purina Expo, one of the biggest American gaming conventions of the year. You were incredibly lucky to be able to snag tickets. Usually, this convention is where the hottest games that would be coming out the following year would be announced, trailers would be played, and developers would discuss - so everyone there on October 10th is shocked to not only be the first to see the trailer, but to hear from the man himself. Jack Mcloughlin takes the stage, gleefully announcing the release of Dawn Station on October 31st this year.

Now, the release of a new game from Septic Games - Mcloughlin's own software company, which he founded after his second game's release - is a big enough deal. But this… this is something else. Mcloughlin explains it before the reveal of the trailer, and you listen with great excitement.

"Dawn Station," says the man, practically bouncing across the stage with glee and shouting into his mic with a hoarse Irish accent. "is a feat of modern gaming. Now, I understand that when you play games, it can get boring to replay them later on after you've finished, because - well, you know how it goes! You know all the twists and turns, all the jumpscares, all the fights, all the spooks. But what if I told you that there was a way you could play where things were different each time?"

Behind the man, on a large screen, an image comes up. This is the first promo image for the new game to be shown to the people. The image is of a tilted hallway in what looks like a complex, broken down space station, overgrown with unusual plants that glow and spark. In the centre of the image is an astronaut. His helmet is on the floor, blood soaked. His face is half in shadow. All that can be seen is curly olive hair and neon green eyes - two on his face, and one embedded in his neck. The suit itself is torn, ripped open with a mouth and a dripping tongue where the being's stomach should be. A torch is on the ground behind him, attempting to cast light on the room. The words "Dawn Station" come up in solid, bright green font next to the being's face.

"This is Dawn Station!" cries the developer, over the many excited murmurs of the crowd. "The first ever virtual reality game with a fully developed artificial intelligence antagonist! An antagonist who learns from the players movements and choices, who grows and changes based off of what you do. You control the game, now more than ever! He's clever, he's learning, he knows where you are, and his objective is to kill the player - introducing... Alien X, otherwise known as… the Anti!"

Everyone cheers. Mcloughlin steps aside, a beam splitting his pale face, and allows the room to darken, and the trailer to play.

You're in awe. The trailer shows that you play as a character named Drew Oliver, an astronaut in their mid twenties who's aboard the Dawn Space Station, which has fallen to the planet you seemed to have been monitoring - the Othohiri 5RM. The game seems to revolve around attempting to explore the little bits of the planet that you can while repairing the ship and dealing with your descent into madness, all the while being chased down by the Alien X, a shapeshifting monstrosity who's eager to end your life before you can finish your goals. After watching it… well, everyone is absolutely blown away, especially you. This is unlike anything Mcloughlin had ever produced, especially to this scale. It's no wonder he hadn't produced a game in ten years if this was what he had been working on. You're practically vibrating with excitement at the breathtakingly beautiful scenery and realistic yet perfectly stylistic graphics, and the 8D sound design that seems to echo from all around you. It's incredible. The second you get back to your hotel room that night, you're one of the first to preorder the game.

Your week at the convention ends, and you go back home, counting down the days to the game's release. However, even more exciting things are happening. On Twitter, a few of your favourite youtubers are acting rather cryptic. KrisDoesGAMEZ and rrroadblock, two streamers you like, retweet Mcloughlin's announcement tweet with eye emojis and promises of the game being good. DUSSST, visualthursday and BroAverage make their own posts about it. PeachCheerio and TheSkinnerr upload short update videos promising exciting things to come.

On October 15th, it happens - ten youtubers each upload an early access demo of Dawn Station, having been chosen and given the code to play it by Mcloughlin himself. You don't watch the videos because you want to play the game yourself with no spoilers, but from what you've seen, it's fucking amazing. Critics are already calling it the game of the decade. The internet is thriving, and a few people have already cosplayed Drew, the main character. Your best friend uploads a joking cosplay of the Anti and walks around town with it on. He gets over a thousand likes and teases you about being too good for you now that he's internet famous. You're living for all of this.

On October 16th, youtuber PeachCheerio is murdered in his own home.

Everyone is shocked, rightfully. Here is a man who had streamed just the day before, chatting with his members and looking at Dawn Station memes on Twitch. Today, he was discovered by his girlfriend in his own home. Leaked police reports tell you that the man, whose real name was Ronald Murphy, had been messily dismembered, his organs removed, half of them missing. You're in shock. He was one of your favourite streamers, and maybe it's silly to mourn someone you've never met, but you're deeply, deeply saddened by the news.

However, it doesn't stop there. The very next day, youtuber DUSSST - or Louise Greendale - is found the same way Ronald had been. Louise's girlfriend apparently called the police in hysterics before panic tweeting about the incident. The posts were taken down an hour later. The screenshots of what she'd said trend of Twitter and Tumblr anyway.

This is when the conspiracy theories arrive. Two youtubers dead in two days, both brutally taken apart and missing organs? Some people mock the theorists for it. Who had even said Louise had been killed the same way as Ronald, anyway? That is, until more apparent police reports are leaked revealing the details of Louise's death. The internet goes wild. The Los Angeles police department posts a video begging whoever's causing the leaks to stop, to think about the families of the deceased. All this does is prove that they're true. This video, too, is later taken down.

You log off in disgust. Some people have no fucking shame.

Things heat up the next day, on October 18th, when user rrroadblock, or Aryan Jha, dies as well. The death is covered up for the first few hours afterwards, but eventually is leaked in the same manner as the last two murders. This time, the theorists are no longer labeled as crazy. In fact, everyone's getting in on this mystery now. Three popular youtubers dead now, each found in bloody states in their own homes, three days apart? No one knows what's happening, but that doesn't stop people from guessing. And while you refuse to involve yourself in any of this, you also find yourself wondering who or what - not what, of course it's not a what, that's just ridiculous - who is killing all of these people.

Day four. The internet is silent, waiting. And yes, sure enough, youtuber KrisDoesGAMEZ, or Kris Velvet, is dead.

This time, someone realizes something that makes everyone pause. Each of the dead youtubers are all the ones who were given the free demo of Dawn Station, and are even dying in the order that they played it in. Everyone goes insane. Even you're suspicious - of what, exactly, you don't know, because why would someone murder someone else so brutally over a video game? Despite that, this can't be a coincidence. People place bets on whether youtuber ducksontheroof, or Donna Campbell, is going to be the next one to be found dead. Donna herself makes a statement on her Instagram, expressing disgust at all the people who were spreading such information around. She then deactivated all her socials apart from her YouTube. The people who had been making bets were shamed, and you have to log off yet again. This is getting to be too much.

You stay offline until nearly four pm the next day. Your friend calls you up to give you the news, but you already know what they're going to say. Let me guess, you start, voice flat and tired. Donna Campbell's dead.

They confirm it. You don't know what to say.

Her family put out a statement asking people not to theorize about her death. People do it anyway. Reports state that the remaining five youtubers who had played Dawn Station, along with, surprisingly, Jack Mcloughlin himself, had been taken into police custody. For protection, you assume. Once again, the internet goes insane. This proves their theories about the game connecting all the deaths, and a silent dread and buzz of twisted excitement hangs over everyone. You're just disgusted. People are treating this like some kind of murder mystery game, like this isn't real, actual lives.

Two days pass without news. At the end of the second day, there's yet another leak. Youtubers Doomandgloom - Persephone Henry - and TheSkinnerr - Rodney Pratt - are dead. You're just numb. You're just so fucking numb.

This reveal, of course, inspires yet another debate. If the youtubers had been under police protection, how had they died? Had the police seen anything? Why hadn't the leak said anything about it? Who was killing all these people in so little time, how hadn't they been caught? Had, really, no one seen anything at all?

There are now three youtubers left who'd played the game. Hothothotstanley, or Stanley McIver, visualthursday, or Khia Herrera, and BroAverage, or Chase Brody. You met Stanley McIver, once, at a convention in London three years ago. You have a picture on your memory board of you standing in the convention hall, him with his arm around your shoulder, you with a grin and sparkle in your eye. You can see the picture from your bed. You turn away from it.

However, the next day is a surprise to everyone. A video is uploaded to someone's Twitter - a full, uncensored video of the murder of Stanley McIver inside the government safe house he and the others had seemingly been kept in. The video is immediately taken down and the Twitter deleted, but everyone has seen it. Including you. The video is… horrifying. Of course it is. Why did you watch it? But you do manage to see who it is that killed him. Everyone on the internet does. And this - this video, that's maybe five minutes long - is enough to make everyone go silent.

The killer looks exactly like the Anti from Dawn Station.

No one knows quite what to make of this.

Even less so when Jack Mcloughlin dies the next day.

He's murdered. Same way as all the rest of them, in police custody. Now this is enough to shock everyone into mourning silence. Only a few pricks are left, and their accounts, channels and blogs are swiftly deactivated. Nine deaths in nine days. Nine deaths. Nine. Jack Mcloughlin.

The next day, Khia Herrera - well, you know.

Chase Brody is the last one left alive. You never watched his channel that much - he's really into horror, and is known for his Walking Dead playthrough and his Undertale Genocide run - but you still already feel a strange sense of loss. A sort of emptiness. Something churns in your stomach that you don't understand. There's a lot that you don't understand.

The release of Dawn Station is cancelled.

You spend the night at a friend's house, and just bawl for hours. You shouldn't be so upset, you shouldn't! You never knew any of these people! But fuck, there's something about seeing all these people who you'd been watching online for so long, who have given you so many happy days, so many laughs and inside jokes… just die. How had this happened? Who was it who was doing this?

Your friend sadly suggests it's some sick Jack Mcloughlin hater who decided it'd be fun to cosplay as his newest character and kill people to scare everyone. But while you outwardly agree, you internally know it's not true. Because every time you watch that video, every time you watch Stanley die - and you watch it a lot, just trying to make yourself feel something, even if it's just sick - you can tell the person isn't human. You know that's ridiculous, of course. But there's something about its eyes. Its face. It glances up at the camera and makes eye contact, and grins with too many white, jagged teeth, like an anglerfish. The eye in its throat sees you too. It glows. You shudder every time, watching it shake with glitches and laughter.

You're scared. You feel sick and dizzy and you lock your doors out of fear. You stay inside and open Tumblr, Twitter and Instagram again.

Poor Chase Brody, says the internet. They're already mourning. Already accepted his death. Poor, poor Chase Brody.

You hope he's ok, wherever he is.

#dawn station #jacksepticeye #antisepticeye #boop writes

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mymidsummersunshine · 4 years

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Home Will Always Be Here

I’ve been in... not a great emotional state and I wrote this as an attempt to make myself feel better, it worked somewhat. Grzork (because who else would it be), could be in the cat AU but Tiny isn’t actually in it so it could also be its own thing if you want it to be

Title from Umbrella Beach by Owl City

When Matt wakes up to Anders’ alarm, the first thing he notices is that it’s still dark out.

“Anders?” he mumbles. “Why are you up so early? Isn’t it Saturday?”

“Shhh, go back to sleep, love.” He feels Anders hug him from behind, and it’s so warm and comforting and feels so much like home that he does fall back asleep.

He wakes up again a couple hours later, and it’s slightly lighter outside, but the grey rain clouds give a cool mood. He stretches as he stands up, then heads to the living room. He stops in the doorway when he sees the scene in front of him.

All the furniture has been shoved into one corner (how Anders managed to do that without waking him up, Matt can only guess), and been replaced with two beach chairs in the middle of the room. Anders has one of his ocean mist scented candles burning and an episode of Beachfront Bargain Hunt on the TV. He’s sitting in one of the chairs with his bathing suit on, and a hat and sunglasses, with a fruity drink in a martini glass in his hand. He looks up when he hears the door open.

“Morning!” he says, taking the sunglasses off. “Are you surprised?”

“Am I... yes, but also confused?” Matt says as he sits down next to him. “What’s all this for?”

“Our anniversary, silly,” Anders answers, and Matt mentally slaps himself. All the days had been blending together from not leaving the house, he’s lucky he knows what month it is, never mind what date. He can’t believe he forgot.

“Shit,” he whispers. “I didn’t forget, I just...”

“Hey, it’s okay. I know things are weird right now.” Anders grabs his hand and rubs his thumb over it. “But we were supposed to go to the beach this weekend, and, well, obviously that can’t happen. So I brought the beach to us!”

He stands up and offers his hand to Matt, who takes it and allows himself to be led into the kitchen. He sits down at the table, where Anders brings him a blueberry muffin, an iced coffee, and another fruity drink in a martini glass.

“Is it not too early in the morning for alcohol?” he has to ask.

Anders raises his eyebrows. “Alcohol? What? That’s just apple juice. I was just trying to be fancy.”

Matt’s not sure he believes him, but he takes a sip anyway and finds that he’s right. He quickly finishes his breakfast so he can join Anders back in the living room and watch the Beachfront Bargain Hunt marathon with him.

“This was supposed to be outside,” Anders explains. “We were supposed to actually sunbathe and play beach volleyball and stuff, but it’s raining. Sorry it’s not quite realistic.”

Matt stares at him. “You planned me a whole beach day, at our house, in the middle of quarantine, and you’re worried about it being realistic?”

“Well, yeah. You deserve a real vacation.”

Matt wants to cry with the amount of emotions he’s suddenly feeling. “Anders, I...” he collects his thoughts and tries again. “I love this. It doesn’t need to be a real beach, as long as I have you. I love you.”

The tears unwillingly start falling, and Anders takes his hand again, but Matt can’t stop the words from spilling out now that he’s started.

“You do so much for me, you know? You make me feel loved. I don’t deserve you. I forgot our own anniversary, and you... you did all this, for me.” He gestures around the room. “I don’t deserve you,” he repeats, mostly to himself, but Anders hears him.

“I think it’s me who doesn’t deserve you,” he whispers. “You do so much for me, too. You laugh at all my jokes, even if they don’t make sense. You always buy my favorite coffee even though you don’t like it, and you have it ready for me every morning. You work so hard at your job, so many more hours than you want, and you still come home and find time to spend with me. I love you, Matt, more than anything. This is the least I can do. You deserve a day filled with sand and the ocean and sunshine, and I’m sorry I can’t give that to you.”

Matt is speechless. “You...” he shakes his head. “No,” he says as he finds his words again. “What you’ve given me is better. We still have the ocean candles, we don’t have to clean up all the sand that inevitably gets all over everything, and you... you are my sunshine,” he finishes, blushing.

Anders stands up from his chair and moves into Matt’s lap so he can hug him properly. When he pulls back, Matt can see that he’s crying, too. “God, we’re such sappy messes, aren’t we?” Anders laughs, wiping the tears away. Matt reaches his own hand up to help him.

“Maybe, but hey, we can be sappy messes together.” He rubs his thumb along Anders’ cheekbone, before moving his hand to the back of his head and pulling him in for a kiss. It’s soft and sweet at first, and when Anders tries to deepen it, Matt lets him. They don’t get to go much further, though.

Matt feels the bottom of the chair start to rip, and before he can even react, the whole chair collapses, leaving him on the floor with Anders on top of him. They make eye contact, and both burst out laughing.

“Okay, maybe that chair wasn’t designed to hold two people,” Anders admits as he offers a hand to help Matt up. “Good thing we bought that extra one last year.”

Matt laughs. “I’ll go grab it.”

“No, let me.” He heads down the hallway into the garage, taking the broken chair with him. He comes back a few minutes later with the new one and sets it up. They get settled in their own chairs this time and turn their attention back to the TV.

“What were you thinking for lunch?” Matt asks. “I’m getting kind of hungry.”

“I was thinking just sandwiches, but I bought some fish at the store for dinner,” Anders says. “I was surprised they had it, but I figured we should have something beach-y. I also got ice cream for dessert.”

“Sounds perfect.”

They make their sandwiches and watch another episode before Matt makes one more request.

“Hey, Anders?”

“Yeah?”

“Can we move the couch back so we can cuddle?”

“You mean you don’t want to break any more chairs?”

“Well, I would, but we don’t have any more backups.”

Anders laughs. “Fair enough.”

It may not have been their original plan, but as he snuggles into Anders’ side once the couch is back in place, Matt knows this is one anniversary he’s never going to forget.

#my fic #grzork

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newnewyorker93 · 4 years

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Blueprints for a Rescue

read on ao3 here

Pepperony Week 2020 • Day 1: battle couple

Summary: Tony gives Pepper something special for their 1st wedding anniversary, and Pepper makes an important decision.

—

“Hey, Pep! Do you have a minute?”

Pepper looked up from where she was sitting, curled up on the living room floor with baby Morgan lying on her stomach next to her. Morgan was giggling and shrieking excitedly as she grabbed for the toy Pepper held out for her - a plush platypus, a gift from Uncle Rhodey and currently one of her favorite toys; its beak let out a very satisfying squeak! whenever she managed to squeeze it tight enough in her tiny fists. The two of them were so engrossed in their little game that Pepper hadn’t even noticed Tony entering the room but there he was now, standing next to the coffee table. He had something held behind his back, a thick roll of paper, and he was tapping it against the back of his leg while doing that shift-shuffling move with his feet that Pepper knew meant he was nervous about whatever it was he wanted to tell her.

Instead of answering his question directly, she instead addressed Morgan. “What do you think? Should we see what your silly father is up to this time?” The baby gurgled happily in response and tried to roll over, a move she hadn’t quite mastered yet, and Pepper gave her back a quick rub in acknowledgement of the attempt before looking back up at Tony with an inviting smile. “Sounds like a ‘yes’ to me.”

“Are you sure?” Tony asked, hesitating slightly. “I'd hate to interrupt tummy time.”

Pepper laughed. "Morgan's got a very full schedule today, but I think we can squeeze you in."

“Oh good. I've got something for you. A present, actually. For our anniversary.”

Pepper stopped rubbing Morgan’s back, a puzzled expression crossing her face. “It’s not our anniversary.”

“I know.”

“Our anniversary is next week.”

“I know.”

"But you're giving me a present today?"

"A stunningly accurate summation of the situation, yes. Astute as always, pepper pot!" Tony was teasing her now, but Pepper could tell there was an undercurrent of real nervousness behind his words. His voice softened, then, as he explained, “It’s just, this is- well, is about to be- our first anniversary, and I want to get it right, and given my, shall we say, mixed track record on gifts…” He trailed off, giving Pepper a second to fill in the blank. She did a quick mental inventory of Tony’s various ‘surprises’ over the years - when he got it right, he got it really right, and when he didn’t...well when he didn’t a team of construction workers ended up getting hired to rip a hole in their wall so a 15-foot-tall stuffed bunny could be maneuvered through. So yeah, maybe his concern wasn’t entirely unwarranted, although whatever this was at least already had the advantage of fitting inside the house. Evidently enough of this thought process could be read on Pepper’s face because Tony nodded in agreement before continuing. “See, you get it. Hence, my brilliant solution! I give you your present a week early, and then I’ve got time to put together a plan B in case you don’t like this one!”

“And if I do like it?” Pepper asked, amused and touched by Tony’s mildly convoluted approach to problem solving.

“Oh, in that case I will…um, still have to find something special to give you on the day of…” Tony scratched the back of his head, a sheepish expression on his face. “I really didn’t think that part through, did I? Although In my defense, this is my first go at a wedding anniversary.”

“Hmm, fair. You’d better get used to it though,” Pepper teased. “You’re going to have a lot more of them to figure out.”

“Yeah…” A soft happy smile lit up Tony’s face, the kind that made the corners of his eyes crinkle up and he was lost for a moment, thinking about that.

“So,” Pepper eventually prompted, “do I get to actually see my pre-anniversary present?”

“Yes! Right. Of course.” Tony moved aside the few knick-knacks left out on the coffee table and unrolled the papers he’d been holding behind his back onto it, revealing a stack of technical drawings. He gestured for Pepper to scoot forward and take a look. "I made you a suit! Well, to be more precise, I designed you a suit."

Pepper examined the figure on the top page and frowned. Armor would be a generous description for whatever this was, as it looked more like a bikini that just happened to be made out of metal rather than anything meant to be in any way protective. It wasn’t until she looked up, ready to indignantly lay into Tony because what the fuck, that she caught the tell-tale mischievous twinkle in his eyes and realized what he was doing.

“Oh god, babe, you should see your face right now!” Tony crowed. “Just a little joke to break the tension,” he reassured Pepper, “I mean, come on, it’d be completely useless as armor like this, no defensive coverage at all. Although I'm sure we could find something else to use it for… Yes? No? You're smiling, Pep, I can see it!” She was smiling, biting back a laugh because it was just so Tony, getting his anxiety out by completely designing and drawing out by hand an entire prank suit of armor. “We'll file that one under maybe, then… But seriously, as much as I enjoy a bit of pin-up Pepper, this-” he pulled aside the top sheet with a dramatic flourish, unveiling a set of schematics for a suit that looked much more like his own Iron Man armor, if slightly more feminine, “-is your real present, should you choose to accept it."

Tony sat himself down on the floor across the table from Pepper, giving her some space to study the blueprints more closely. After a few moments of forcing himself to sit perfectly still he scooped Morgan up off the rug and snuggled her up to his chest, letting his daughter’s squirming distract him from the otherwise irresistible urge to start fidgeting and drumming his fingers against his leg as he waited for Pepper’s verdict.

“This is…wow.” Pepper didn’t even know where to begin. She was awed by the sheer scope of the project, at the amount of time Tony must have put into making this for her - there were pages and pages of plans, intricate renderings of every piece of the suit from helmet to gauntlets to boots and every bit in between, all painstakingly (and gorgeously; with so much of his work done in holograms and machinery, it was easy to forget how much of an artist Tony really was) hand-drawn and neatly labeled down to the most precise measurements. “How… You drew all of this?”

Tony shrugged. “I’ve had the image in my head for years, this was just letting it all out, finally. Like an exorcism.” Pepper cocked her head at that and Tony laughed. “Ok, maybe that’s not the best metaphor, but you know what I mean. Besides, it was kind of nice to go analog again, break out the old pencil and paper. And it wasn’t all me! Morgan helped too.”

"Oh really?"

"Yep! Very helpful design critic, our daughter. Here, I'll show you." Tony flipped forward to a sheet that displayed detailed close-up and exploded views of the suit's helmet. "She really liked this part, see?" He pointed out the signs of Morgan's interest - a wrinkly spot on the corner of the page where the baby had clearly drooled on the paper, and a few smudges the exact width of her tiny fingers streaked right across the center of the main drawing. "Tried to grab your helmet right off the page!"

While Pepper fondly examined this father-daughter collaboration, Tony turned his attention to Morgan, giving the pint-sized engineer a playful bounce in his arms. “You really are your Daddy’s little girl, aren’t you?” Morgan smooshed her hand onto Tony’s face in response and he pretended to nibble at the tips of her fingers, making her (and Pepper) laugh. “You want a suit too, baby girl?”

Pepper stopped laughing at that and looked sternly at her husband. "Tony, please tell me you aren't…"

"Of course not," Tony retorted, making sure to sound appropriately scandalized at the very notion. “I told her, I said, not until you’re at least six-” he waited for Pepper to glare, right on cue, then finished with an impish grin, “-teen.”

Pepper rolled her eyes at that, but affectionately, and focused back on the schematics. “What’s this mean, here?” she asked, pointing out the title block at the corner of the page.

“Oh, that’s what I’ve been calling her, Rescue.” Tony explained. “You can change if you want something different though!” he hurriedly added. “Maybe something a bit flashier - you don’t know how tempted I was to go with Iron Maiden; a bit more my speed than yours, of course, but you’re welcome to it. Anyway, I just kept coming back to that first time I saw you suited up, remember? In the Mark 42 armor, how you saved me…” How you’ve saved me so many times, in so many ways over the years, he thought, but left unspoken. “It’ll still have all the usual defensive and attack capabilities, of course, and we can add in whatever fancy tricks and toys you want, but the primary intent is, well, rescue.”

“Did you start building it already?”

“No, I-” Tony’s eyes met Pepper’s and she could see the vulnerability there, the kind he only ever let her see. “I did this for you, Pepper, only for you, and it’s your choice. It doesn’t need to go any further than this, it can just be some art for our bedroom wall, if that’s all you want it to be. But I needed to show it to you either way. So…what do you think?"

Pepper traced her finger lightly over a little inset drawing on the last page of the blueprints. It was an image of Iron Man and Rescue flying next to each other, more of a sketch than a schematic really (although, knowing Tony, more likely than not still to scale and accurate in all technical aspects). There was probably some mundane reason for that picture to be there, maybe to show a size comparison between the suits, but all Pepper could think of as she looked at it was Tony sitting at his worktable in the garage, lovingly drawing the two of them twirling through the air together. Maybe telling Morgan about it, spinning her stories of her parents as knights in shining armor, off to save the world. She could see how much he wanted this - for her, for them - in every line, in every detail so lovingly rendered, and to her surprise she realized she really did want it too.

They’d talked so much, over the years, about the negative side of Tony and his suits - the obsession, all the ways he’d hidden away and almost lost himself in them - but that’s never been the whole story. There’s freedom there, and joy too and this...this, she understood, was Tony trying to share all that with her. It wasn’t insecurity or a distraction, it was calm and careful - and beautiful. Invention born out of love, not fear. And just like that, Pepper knew what her answer was. She shifted her gaze back towards Tony’s tentative, hopeful face. “I think…” she gave him a soft smile and nodded. “Yes, Tony, I’ll be your Rescue.”

#pepperonyweek20 #pepperony #tony stark #pepper potts #rescue!pepper #morgan stark #fic #my writing #decided to post the full version on tumblr too this time :)

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angelic-holland · 5 years

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Seeing The Thing 1

Playlist

Masterlist

Summary: You and Harrison make your way to a small get together the night before your auditions and you end up having to bring a drunk Tom back to the dorms.

Word Count: 3.2k

Warnings: depictions of anxiety and panic attacks

A/N: sorry I suck at summaries! Leave feedback here and let me know what you think!

“Come on Y/N, you never go to parties with me, you should just have a little fun before all the rehearsals start, come on,” Harrison says, eyes wide and lips pouting, knowing you’ll cave.

“You know why I don’t go to parties asshole,” you grumble.

“Sorry, sorry, I know, just, this isn’t really a party, just a buncha theatre kids hanging out. Not even a bunch of theatre kids, pretty sure it’s just like a few of us nerds drinking and relaxing before auditions tomorrow.”

“And my idea of relaxing doesn’t involve drinking with a group of people. What if I don’t know anyone there?” You sigh, picking at your fingernails.

“Katie, Ben, Jack, Wendy, those people will be there. Maybe a few other people who are auditioning will be there. You don’t have to drink if you don’t want to.”

“Fine, fuck, let’s go,” you say, turning him around to face the wall of your dorm room while you change. He’s one of your best friends, you’ve changed in front of him, with him in the same room plenty of times, he’s done the same with you.

You pull off your T-shirt and tug down your pants, changing into a cute black dress, you may have been nervous, well you definitely were nervous, your anxiety about to throw you into a panic attack.

Your breathing must’ve audibly changed because you felt Harrison’s arms wrap around you, pulling you tight into him. You both knew when you had an attack that the best way to calm you down was to ground you in reality. That usually meant either talking to you or holding you or hugging you until you felt safe and secure in the world again.

“You know we can just hang out here and watch movies, talk about our favorite Almost, Maine scenes. Don’t haveta go.”

“No I wanna, it’s okay I’m good,” you say.

“You’re good.”

“And we can leave whenever I want?”

“Course.”

“Alright bub, let’s go,” you say, pulling away from him.

He takes your hand, bringing you out of the dorm room. You lock the door behind you and Harrison slips an arm around your shoulder as you walk to the off campus apartment of your mutual friend, Katie, who was having this little get together.

You talked about the show, his vision, how excited you were to finally get to work with him. How excited he was to work with you in all the show’s capacity.

“Y/N?”

“Yeah Haz?”

“Don’t kill me but I invited Tom.”

You groan, your head on his shoulder.

“I know you think he’s an ass but he’s my best mate, my roommate too, so try to be civil today.”

“I will, promise, as long as he doesn’t interact with me, I won’t make a fuss.”

He laughs, “he’s not as obnoxious he seems, just very cocky.”

“Sure, we’ll use that term,” you laugh as you knock on Katie’s door.

“Y/N!!” Katie greets you, pulling you into a hug, you smile and hug her back, she lets go of you and hugs Harrison.

“How’s my favorite Brit doing?” She asks as she lets him go.

“And I’m not your favorite Brit?” You hear Tom’s voice and turn your head to see Tom leaning against the wall of the hallway.

“Hey mate,” Harrison says, doing his handshake with Tom.

“What’s up?” He asks Harrison, his eyes flitting to you, moving up to meet your eyes. You ignore him and make small talk with Katie as she brings you into the kitchen.

“How much do you know this other kid? Tom?” She whispers as you grab a water.

“Not well? He’s Haz’s roommate, and best friend. They both came here from England for god knows why.”

“Okay, okay, just he looked like he wanted to devour you so.”

Your eyes widen and you smack Katie’s arm, “no fucking way he just looks at all girls like that cause he’s an asshole.”

“Ah so you don’t like him.”

“Eh, my opinion on him doesn’t really matter I hardly know him.”

“Seems like your opinion is pretty well formed,” she says, eyebrows raised.

“Whatcha talking about ladies?” Tom says coming up from behind you, making you jump.

“Fuck off, for real?” You say, turning and rolling your eyes before pushing past him into Katie’s living room. You hear him talk to Katie a little and you think you hear him ask about the show this season. You find Haz sitting on the ground with a few friends so you sit by his side. You felt yourself get anxious, you never talked to anyone the way you talked to Tom. Your therapist said it was a way of deflecting your anxiety so you didn’t do something you would regret.

“Hey love,” he says, arm slipping around your shoulder as you sip your water.

“Hey,” you say, nodding at Ben and Maggie chilling in front of you.

“You excited for auditions tomorrow?” Ben asks.

“Sort of? Worried we won’t have enough boys because Professor Schultz won’t let us double cast anyone.”

“He won’t let you double cast people? That’s bullshit,” Maggie says.

“Yeah said that he wants more people to have the chance to be in shows so there’s 10 male roles we need to fill,” Harrison says, you could see his eyes rolling in his head from the corner of yours.

“We’ll figure it out,” you say, resting your head on his shoulder.

“What are you figuring out?” Tom says, seemingly appearing out of nowhere to sit right next to you.

“Nothing,” you say at the same time Maggie tells Tom what the problem was.

“So you don’t have enough guys to audition?” He asks.

“Don’t know yet,” you say, taking a very long drink of your water.

“That sucks,” he says and you close your eyes, pinching the ridge of your nose. Can he just, go away? Why the fuck is he here other than Harrison inviting him?

“Yeah mate, it does,” Harrison says, hand rubbing your arm, fingers making random designs on your skin. You could feel Tom’s eyes burning a hole into the spot on your arm where Harrison’s fingers rest.

“We’ll figure it out, always do,” you mumble before finishing off your water.

“Refill?” Harrison asks and you both stand up. You make your way to the kitchen, taking a deep breath before filling your water again. He grabs another beer and takes a long swig.

“Hey, you didn’t rip his head off, proud of you,” he laughs.

You roll your eyes, drinking almost half of the new bottle in one go.

He sits back down and you follow suit, glaring at Tom as you cuddle into Harrison’s side.

“Who wants to play truth or truth?” Maggie asks and you hear Tom groan.

“Who plays truth or truth? Is this just a chance for you all to get way too personal while drunk?” Tom asks and Maggie nods.

“Plus daring drunk people to do stuff is pretty messed up,” you say quietly.

“What was that love?”

“Drunk people daring other drunk people doesn’t end well, so we stick to truth or truth.”

“That’s lame.”

“Are you afraid any of us might actually get to know you?” Maggie laughs, she’s joking but that doesn’t reach Tom’s brain past his thick skull.

“Fine, truth or truth bring it on.”

“Okay, I’ll go first, Harrison, truth or truth?” Maggie asks and Harrison pretends to think for a moment.

“Truth.”

“Okay, what’s your dream role in a musical?”

“Hmm, cheesy but I really want to play King George in Hamilton.”

“No no I totally love that, hey you’ve even got the accent,” Maggie giggles.

She would talk about Harrison’s accent all night if someone let her.

“Alright Tom, truth or truth?”

“This game is fucking dumb, truth.”

“What’s something you’ve always wanted to do but are too scared to do it?”

“Shit Harrison, I don’t know, skydiving? It always looks cool in videos but I don’t know if I’d want to do it. Anyways, Y/N, truth or truth?”

You raise an eyebrow, surprised he asked you, “truth.”

“Is it true that you slept with every guy in the math club on the same weekend last year?”

Your eyebrows furrowed and you looked at Tom, feeling Harrison tense beside you.

“No, what’s got into your fucking head?” You ask, crossing your arms.

Where he heard that, you wouldn’t have the slightest clue, did he have friends on the math club? And if he was friends with any of them, why the fuck were they sharing anything? Harrison knows. He’s the only one who knows besides the three boys on your school’s stupidly small math club you started your freshman year. Harrison, your normally calm, cool and collected best friend freaked out thinking you were alone and having a panic attack, scared that he couldn’t be there to help you. He went to your dorm and you weren’t there, then he stayed there on your bed, calling you over and over and over again until you finally showed up, 3 in the morning doing the walk of shame back to your very dorm.

“Harrison, what, what are you doing here?” You ask, hair patted down but still disheveled, hickies all over your neck, “why’re you, are you crying? Haz, what’s wrong?” You ask sitting next to him.

“Was worried about you, I’m fine, just thought you got stuck somewhere panicking,” he says, wiping a tear from his face.

“I think there’s something wrong with me,” you say, staring at your hands.

“What?” He asks, turning to you.

“So you know how I’m on Xanax on an as needed basis?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, sorry totally tmi but it makes me super horny and I don’t know like how to live without taking it every once and a while when my anxiety is really bad but I also don’t want to be a slut and-,”

“Hey you’re not a slut,” he says, collecting your hands in his own.

“You wouldn’t say that if you knew what I just did.”

“It doesn’t matter, nothing you do would make you a slut, you kidding? Boys here laying every single girl they look at, why does you sleeping with one guy make you a slut?”

“Because I didn’t sleep with one guy.”

“Okay two guys.”

“Fucking hell, I slept with three guys, the guys on the math club? For their calculus exam?”

“You slept with them for their calculus exam? That’s a little odd,” he laughs and the tension in the room dissipates.

“No silly, just because I wanted to.”

“Okay then you do that, but if you don’t want to, maybe you see about weaning off of Xanax. Is this the first time you’ve done something like that?”

“I mean, I’ve hooked up with guys when I’m taking it, but it’s not like Xanax gets me high or anything, I just feel calm.”

“You do what’s best for you okay? I’m not going to tell you what to do but I’ll support you okay? Just don’t scare me like that again.”

“I would never. If I knew you were worried I would’ve never done that, would’ve come back here and watched that movie with you. I just totally spaced.”

“You’re fine, promise, come here let’s just cuddle,” Harrison says, before holding you in his arms as you lie down.

“Well because a little birdy told me,” he starts.

“And another little birdy is telling you to shut the fuck up,” Harrison says sharply. Toms quiet.

“Are- did you- what?” You say, turning to face Harrison.

His face tells you he never said anything to Tom, he wouldn’t. They were best friends too but you knew he would never share anything about you, anything you’ve told him in private.

“Alright well that was sort of fun while it lasted,” Maggie sighs and you snap your head up, the rest of your friends are all awkwardly fiddling in their spots.

The game was clearly over, Tom was smirking like the little asshole he was, Harrison was grimacing and Maggie and Ben stood up, walking away.

“I think I’d like to leave now,” you say, feeling panic start to overwhelm you. You did your best to push it down, hide it away because you didn’t want to embarrass yourself in front of people you’d be working with, people you essentially called friends.

Your parents made it very clear that when you first started having panic attacks, it was embarrassing if it happened in public so you very quickly learned how to control yourself until you were alone or in private.

“Let’s get outta here,” Harrison says, helping you up. Tom leaps up and runs outside and you raise an eyebrow at Harrison.

“He’s a lightweight no matter what he says, I’ll be right back.”

You say goodbye to Katie who smiles at you, almost a pity smile, which makes your stomach sink and you follow Harrison outside.

You smile as you watch Tom hurl into the bushes outside Katie’s apartment. You knew the hangover the next morning would suck and he deserved it.

“Hey, just wanna make sure Tom’s okay,” Harrison says and you nod.

“Fine with me,” you shrug.

“Could you maybe not smile like the best thing in the world is me puking my guts out?” Tom says, wiping his mouth and scowling at you.

“Nah,” you say, crossing your arms over your chest.

“Let’s be civil,” Harrison says, arm resting on your waist.

“Alright drunky, you feeling good enough to walk home or should we call campus police to drive you home?”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Tom says, standing up.

“I don’t know, you don’t seem well Tom.”

“Fuck off, you ruined the party.”

“Did not,” you say as Harrison forces you to turn around and start walking.

“Y/N, be civil, please,” Harrison begs, words slightly slurred.

“It’s true isn’t it?” Tom asks, you hear him dragging his feet behind you.

“None of your fucking business,” you grumble and Harrison’s hand on your waist tightens.

“You know, we could call him an Uber,” you say after you stop for the second time for Tom to dry heave onto the sidewalk.

“To take him a half mile?” Harrison laughs.

“Don’t know how much farther he’s gonna be able to walk, I don’t wanna drag him back,” you say, eyebrows furrowed at the thought.

“If Tom passes out on the way we can get him an Uber, okay?”

“Sounds like a plan,” you giggle as Harrison’s fingers tickle your side.

“You know, I can go sleep in the bushes if you two are gonna flirt all night,” Tom slurs and you roll your eyes.

“You should continue doing what you’ve been doing and keep your mouth shut,” you say, scowling. Harrison and you liked to be affectionate with each other, Harrison knew why, because that’s how you kept calm, how you were able to stay in the moment. But he was one of the only ones who knew.

Unbeknownst to you, Harrison is blushing, Tom sure does notice though.

“Someone’s gotta crush,” Tom laughs, “can’t blame you mate.”

“Tom I’ll snap your neck if you don’t shut up,” you growl as you get to your dorm building.

“Lemme drop this drunk asshole off at our dorm room and take you to yours,” he says as you swipe into the building.

“Just going up a floor, it’s fine,” you say as you all start walking up the stairs.

“It’s fine gotta, gotta talk to you about something anyways.”

You frown, does Harrison have a crush on you like Tom said? You slightly shake your head, no, he doesn’t, that’s just Tom being a prick.

“Here drunky, don’t choke on your own vomit while I’m gone okay?” Harrison says, his arm slipping from your waist to unlock the door and help Tom lay down. You smile, Harrison was such a good friend to you, to Tom, even when he himself is a little drunk, he still wanted to help his much drunker friend out.

He closed the door and smiled softly at you, arm slinging around your shoulder again as you made your way to your room.

You unlocked it and Harrison and you stepped inside. You patted the edge of your bed, sitting down and waiting for Harrison to follow your lead. He hesitates before sitting down, leaving a small space between the two of you.

Fuck.

“Haz, what’s happening here?”

He looks down at his hands, fiddling with them on his lap.

“Do you, shit, do you have a crush on me?” You ask, really hoping he says no.

“I, I’m not sure, I dunno,” he sighs, shrugging.

“This is my fault.”

“What?”

“I, I’m too needy, I hug you and ask you to hold me when I’m anxious and I’m panicking like I’m doing right now and-,”

“Hey hey hey, it’s not your fault, never was your fault, I just, maybe I needa girlfriend, maybe I like the way we cuddle or I hold you and I want that in a relationship but I don’t like you like that.”

You try to listen to what he’s saying as your head pounds and your ears start to ring. You clasp your hands over your ears, trying to stop the panic you felt rise in your chest which you knew inevitably would bubble over.

“Hey, wait, Y/N, stop, look at me, focus, breath, breath with me okay?” Harrison says, your panic scaring him.

You blink a few times, feeling his hands wrap around your wrists, bringing them away from your ears. You watch as he makes big exaggerated breaths and you follow his lead. You feel the air rush into your lungs and are comforted.

“You’re okay,” he repeats, his hands letting go of yours as they drop to your sides.

Your heart was still pounding as you tried to calm yourself.

“Look at me, focus, come on,” he urges and you blink, staring into his eyes.

They’re full of nothing but concern and you want so badly to tell him to leave, to tell him to stop worrying about you and that you’ll be fine eventually.

But all you could say was, “I’m sorry.”

“Hey, no, don’t apologize, c’mere, need me to hold you?”

You nod, eyes dropping to your lap. Need. It was a funny word, need. Your parents were always on your case as a child about using proper English, that’s what you get when both of your parents are English teachers.

There was a big difference between needing something and wanting something.

Mom I need a phone, all my friends have one.

Well sweetie, you don’t actually need a phone. You want one. You need to learn the difference.

Harrison lets you get comfy, lying on your side with your back facing him before he lays down next to you, arm wrapping around your waist and pulling you close so your back was pressed against his chest.

Did you need Harrison to hold you? Or did you just want him to? As you debated that question you felt yourself grow tired, eyes drooping shut.

You hear the telltale sound of your door opening and before you or Harrison have a chance to react the light from the hallway and a shadow hovering at the edge of your room.

“What the fuck?”

***

Taglist: @relise-thefury @danicarosaline @sighharrington @whltlock @imahoefortomholland

#tom holland #tom holland fic #tom holland fanfic #tom holland x reader #tom holland x fem!reader #tom holland x reader fic #tom holland angst #tom holland enemies to lovers #seeing the thing #seeing the thing series #seeing the thing chapter one #harrison osterfield #bestfriend!harrison

197 notes · View notes

rqs902 · 4 years

Text

a lin ran feature :’) i respect hes self-aware about his need to be more than cute to succeed. lin ran has always given me a vibe that hes very serious and tough on himself. he looks soft but has high demands and seems very determined to get what he wants.

im not worried about li hao bc hes surrounded by a bunch of kids who can teach him how to dance LOL not just lin ran but like jin fan and tianci too

what is this pole and could they not move it LOL

lol so jin fan and tianci did a flippy trick and we just gonna pretend like it didnt happen lol okay

ugh so jin fan kinda got to do more dancing than other stages but i was still hoping itd be more!!! but man lin ran is really killing with his stage presence here

leave it to ycw to speak loudly and vocally about his friends being injured so people recognize their suffering

LOL lin ran’s sassy “im not stupid!!” but yea the third stage was really rough for him, so im glad he was able to recover

LOL lin ran again casually threatening the production team to be like “please edit this stage well” “please don’t cut our segment short” LOL

lol yea im not surprised at this point that li hao won even tho it shouldve been lin ran. youku is def making these rankings up. lol gjm did you even look at lin ran’s facial expressions???? lol making up excuses for youku wat

lin mo praising lin ran and giving him encouragement like a true bro bc he knows how hard lin ran worked for this stage. i wonder if he designed the stage rigging

AY I RESPECT OSCAR. hes a good kid and someone whos willing to speak his mind to address problems, thats awesome. they need someone to do that. he’s direct with the problems but also directly follows by complimenting them and saying how great they could be if they pulled through LOL hes still a kid so hes trying not to offend them but i respect his courage, warmth and dependability.

LOL XUE EN DESTROYED FRANKLIN HAHAHAHAHAHHA and he goes all cutesy after like he has no idea the power he holds LOL but im glad they showed some footage of xue en also teaching the other kids dance. cto skills whooo

ycw still bringing up shiwei? hes either very caught up in his feelings still (which is probably not a good thing at this point) or hes just a really dedicated friend... or youku is just purposefully using shiwei’s elimination for dramatic effect.

im surprised they didnt highlight cxh more bc youku seems to like him, and conversely they gave xzx a ton of time for his stage and let xzx win.

XUE EN IS SO HANDSOME

okay i just needed to get that out of my system

but also im kinda glad syh is in this group bc hes the only one who i will not laugh at when singing this song. ycw and oscar talking about drinks and whiskey??? yall are babies?? also this song does NOT match this dance well at all. i see why they didnt like it when they previewed it LOL also i see now why i saw an edit on twitter of this dance over “retreat” from qcyn bc that song actually FIT the tie pulling move.. versus this im just like ??? seems so out of place??

also their voices all sound weird :\ maybe its just too high of a register for ycw and cxh? or maybe theyre just not very good at singing....? lol

giving xue en the only multi colored tie? THEY KNEW.

im just happy that the party group was able to make their stage so well that other kids were regretting not choosing them bc ycw was really struggling to get people to join him...

LOL CSP BEING SILLY TO ZHAN YU THIS IS THE FRIENDSHIP I NEED

LOL XZX AND LIN MO are adorable together

im glad that they spent time to say zhaohao has improved, i feel like hes gotten zero recognition so far. i feel like ycw winning is the only win i am willing to believe so far. (couldve been xue en too tho)

A FEATURE ON XIKAN’S FRIENDSHIP WITH LUO ZHENG omggggggggggggggg luo zheng the sweetest ge, leaving all the good things for xikan whatt ugh but luo zheng is like literally going actor route so sad that he still wants to be on stage but has no opportunities. im grateful theyre still so close that xikan starts crying just thinking about him

xikan being involved in the stage design and costuming and all makes me think of lin ran but also makes me think of cai xukun. cxk always gets so involved in every little detail to seek perfection

interesting that they focused it all on zry and lxk........ but at least highlighted xikan’s fun side

lol they purposefully cut in fan yu screaming zry’s name and ycw yelling cyc....

but also tbh xikan’s voice was not very strong during his high note and i know hes giving 110% into his dancing so im guessing he doesnt have much air left at that point but i was kinda disappointed it couldve been better. BUT he still did a good job. i thought the part where they ripped off his jacket couldve been more impactful? but it felt like it was just randomly in the middle of the rap break and he doesnt sing again until much later so it was like why did you change clothes there?

tbh this song isnt that exciting? so im surprised that they wanted it that badly?

i saw spoilers that fan yu was gonna be there and its adorable and i love their friendship but lol zuo ye being like i shouldve asked all my gege’s to come.... lol aka they know its kinda unfair for fan yu to be winning votes for zry

im grateful all the trainees are supportive of xikan and they purposefully showed a bunch of popular kids cheering for xikan

gosh that injury on his nose, you know hes put too much energy and is too invested into his dance part when he rips his own face like that :\

i saw spoilers that renyu would win and someone did the math that it makes zero sense for their group’s score to be that low, but i didnt expect their score to be THAT low.... goodness wtf thats definitely rigged, i see why people were mad.

renyu winning is either entirely rigged bc youku wants him to debut or people are really just voting for him bc fan yu was there and that’s not fair either. i love renyu (and his friendship with fan yu) but there’s no way renyu actually won that many votes on a stage where he didnt really show his vocals that much and he messed up his dancing and he was surrounded by kids who danced much better and wouldve made him look not great. this makes zero sense. and the fact that ycw is the only winner that made sense is probably bc youku was like well we cant make it too obvious that its all a joke. but really, its all a joke.

yes i love that renyu worked hard and stayed up all night but can we talk about how xikan does that for every stage? and renyu’s just now started to do so. renyu just came into this competition less prepared, so his improvement is easier to see.

i still think if youku wants to debut renyu, theyll kick out lin ran from top 7, but can we talk about how lin ran put in all the effort to design and perfect his stage? how he teaches others to dance and pushes his group mates to shine as a leader and how he has truly one of the most memorable and formidable stage presences on this whole show? people say the debuting group will need renyu’s voice but how can you really say that renyu fits and is prepared and deserves to debut more than lin ran?

renyu is adorable and talented but let’s be real, as a vocalist, hes not like you zhangjing, hes not like zhao lei, hes not like zhao pinlin, hes not proven that he really fits to be a main vocal in a boy band. youku cannot force us into believing that he can fit that role without any evidence to prove his worth. its like theyre trying to jam someone into that role and its like renyu’s their closest bet, but even tho he still doesnt quite fit, theyre just gonna shove him in anyway. this is what happens when you only give attention to people who are dancers and dont give actual attention to people who are actually boy band main vocal material.... /COUGH ZHAN YU or even cui shaopeng??

how can you possibly believe that renyu got 173 but their average was 134? none of xikan’s groups numbers make sense:

how did shengen suddenly drop so much? youku has been touting him this whole time into the top 10. shouldnt more of xikan’s fans voted for xuyu? bc he literally begged during the last elim for xuyu to make it this far. xuyu wasnt even dead last in the elim ranking but here he gets last place by like 15 votes??? when everyone else’s vote difference is like half of that at max?

you expect me to believe lin ran only got 127 after he literally descended from the ceiling as an angel? that doesnt attract attention? how are both zuo ye and hu wenxuan so low? wenxuan was literally center and had bright pink hair, and in a song style that suited him, you cant tell me he didnt shine on this stage. xikan tied with xzx???? beneath a kou cong and su xunlun tie??? no way

theres one week left and youku’s getting desperate to make it look like whatever they’re going to make happen will be a natural result, that this competition is up in the air and no one is safe, but it just seems very questionable to me.

sooo does this mean there arent gonna be elims before the finals or what, we just dont see them announce who gets to perform? im assuming not all 32 kids will take part? and theres not gonna be a mentor collab stage? it wouldve been cool to see han yu and cheng xiao with the kids. there were 3 stages between the first and second elimination but no third elim and no mentor stage? its a mad rush to the end, honestly.

oh well, we still love these CHILDREN

ps: if youve been following my rants, i honestly feel like i have had a really positive impression of zheng renyu from the start and i really do like him. he makes really good songs and his voice is very nice and his friendships are pure and his attitude is commendable. 凄美地 and 當帷幕落下 and 後來的我們 are some of my favorite favorite songs to listen to from this entire show, like probably 3 of my top 5, and a good deal of that is because of renyu and his voice. but im just trying to be realistic and renyu is not in my ideal debuting boy band.

#rants #you would think that with the money and fans that kids like lxk hwx lm are bringing to youku that youku would treat them better

1 note · View note

tuwam · 6 years

Text

comfort.

‘are you okay hanna?’ jamie asks, with snickers that she can’t keep in from across the table. “no.” and as she says it, hanna’s feels another itch at her skin, causing her head to fall promptly back on the desk.

[ the soulmate au where once you meet your soulmate, it’s physically uncomfortable to be apart from them for too long. ft. minna @rosaeau ]

rewind to a few months ago.

hanna didn’t need a damn tutor. she was a good student, no matter what her english professor said. she mentions that she has dreams of entering the new york fashion scene and her father jumps at the chance to flaunt his money.

“it’s a bad idea pop.” they’re at the kitchen table when he suggests the idea, his ridiculous money themed apron on while his mother makes sure he doesn’t burn another pancake that he tries to flip. hanna’s father is - a joke. to her and her mother. a joke that her mother can’t seem to get enough of and while he almost lands the pancake on her face both of them are laughing. hanna for a few seconds before she returns to her previous statement. “i don’t need a tutor.”

while he looks like he might cave, her mother is the one to grab the skillet handle and fix hanna with a look. her dad’s easy to persuade, her mother, not so much. for the life of her, hanna sits there and tries to figure out how the two of them can possibly match. her father, gambling addict, tycoon owner whose about as silly as they come when he steps out of his world with flashing lights. her mother, stubborn, hard-working and caring less about money unless it’s to keep her going, keep her free. her mother’s stubborn but her father’s persistent.

she watches them wrestle for the skillet before her mother’s expertly flipping one. naturally, it’s the one thing she doesn’t get about soulmates. she’s heard so much about it, and is told she’s lucky to be able to see it up close. it’s unpredictable and apparently the talk of the world.

soulmates. not in the way people write them in stories, dreams them up when they talk about how they wish romance to be. actual soulmates, destined to be by something that humans can’t quite comprehend. because each story is different, all everyone knows is once you know you know. by something less cheesy than a spark in a kiss or a tug on the heart. something physical, almost biological.

hanna doesn’t know the details, she just knows her parents had that experience and now they’re never apart. it’s cute, but she’s trying to win a case here, so she’s boring holes into her father’s resolve.

‘you’re not paying attention in classes hanna.’ “noted. still don’t need a tutor.” ‘you don’t care about anything that’s not fashion hanna.’ “noted. but i don’t need a tutor.”

‘at least try it out seol.’ a tough blow. a low blow. hanna regards her father with a glare before she’s grabbing her things to head to her first class.

hurray for econ.

‘he used your name?’ hanna’s only solace from these troubles are jamie. jamie who is greeting her outside of class with a chocolate mocha and hanna could kiss her. could, but she’s too busy sipping at the drink and relishing it all. the joy and wonders of a mocha on a hot day. “he knows I won’t say no.” the decision to go by hanna came from the time spent with her mother, just a little joke about the flowers she’d put on her designs when she was younger. she’s far past the flower-dazzle stage but the name stuck. ‘okay but, you don’t study for english, they’re not wrong.’ “whose side are you even on these days, the disrespect.” ‘just try it out, it might be good? if not i’ll learn it just to tutor you.’ “your lover boy might be mad but just to humor myself, i will.”

jamie makes a motion, maybe to fight the lover boy comment but hanna is too busy dashing up the library stairs.

the thing is, she knows she’s not paying enough attention to her english class. simply because when she’d expressed her interest in the new york market, she meant learning a bit for her visit there. learning the essentials and not the fundamentals of the language. of course her father is who he is, a renown businessman and if there was one thing he drove home it was that she should never half-ass anything. family drawings in elementary school - have hers at the top. golf carts races with her family - first place. if she wanted to be in fashion, she had to conquer. she had to explain to him why couture houses just - wasn’t a possibility in this day and age.

the rest was very much doable. her competitive streak comes from him no doubt. but, she wasn’t to blame if she just wasn’t that into her english class as she was her other classes. the business classes were a necessity and well the fashion classes were just that. long before she realized she was failing even vocabulary quizzes because of lack of studying, and they were so far into the grammar components she couldn’t catch up.

it was frustrating but she’d be damned if she let anyone else know that.

aside from jamie hanna had accumulated something of a reputation on their campus. other than the reputation that came with her father’s empire, she was simply known for being a socialite. being at parties but never interacting with people, just shining in diamonds she just had to bat her lashes to get. for that, hanna just liked to try new designs around the masses, she didn’t even enjoy the parties, but the image must be maintained for the goal ahead. really, most of her time is spent with jamie. when people sit and gossip to one another, whether about her or the newest soulmate phenomenon, she’s never a part of it.

only now she hears the giggling behind her when jamie finds a spot for them to set up shop. hanna’s econ books thrown around while jamie tosses her english book atop them all.

'apparently, sam’s friends. joon and ahyeon?’ hanna makes a hum that she’s listening, though her eyes show she’s contemplating opening this damned book. ‘they’re soulmates and he’s having a hard time stopping them from killing each other.’ “huh?” when she does look up jamie is engrossed in her phone, as usual, and hanna gets revenge by dropping her huge ethics book on top of her pile. jamie’s jump in her seat and scandalized look is just the reaction she’d expected. ‘he won’t say rather- he says he doesn’t know why. they’re antsier than usual.’ “makes you wonder if it’s all really a good thing? or if the match up is legit.”

‘well, it worked for your parents.’

another hum.

“i suppose.”

hanna just doesn’t enjoy the thought of having no control, can’t really fathom how her mother handled it. but it’s not something she needs to think about - and it’s joon and ahyeon’s problem not her own. she has english to pretend to study so that jamie will give her sketchbook back.

if there’s one thing hanna loves more than anything (and jamie) it’s being right.

‘it could’ve have been all bad.’ see it’s been a week and some days since her father committed to getting her tutors. she’s had to try a tutor each day and hanna’s damn near ready to rip her hair out.

it’s been, a wild few days. and jamie’s expression shows she’s enjoying the insufferable stories more than she should. if it weren’t for the vanilla bean that’s before her, hanna might actually forego the entire story. but she’d been right, this was a bad idea.

day one.

hanna’s on-time. tired from studying all night for her art history class, fingers patched from an accident with her sewing machine. granted, she wasn’t in the best mood from the beginning. she’s on-time though, her books and pencil case laid out neatly on the cafe table. a cafe table of all places.

he comes, and it’s a guy because he’s announcing his presence before he even sits down. there’s nothing really wrong with him, he’s a little loud, a few minutes late but hanna’s always a little too punctual so it’s understandable. what she remembers is that he dressed nice and she’s sure she has a business class with him.

'okay let’s get right to it shall we?’ he’s the asshat who talks too much because he wants everyone to know that he knows too much and wants too much. in short, greedy. ‘let’s test your knowledge of english first alright?’ his name is minhyun and hanna had never wanted a death note faster in her twenty two years of living.

because the test was the problem. not his perfectly combed up hair, or his perfect teeth, or the tailored suit he always fucking wears to class because he has to be that business major. hell his accent wasn’t even the problem. it was the test - with questions specifically tailored to her understanding of business and her father. as well as a reading comprehension that was simply a list of his achievements. the nerve.

“do you just want to cut a deal with my dad?” ‘what? no - what?’ his english was surprisingly good here. ‘however, if it were possible, could you slide him the resume?’ when her coffee arrived she was sure to pour it all over that damned exam and leave.

( jamie promptly laughed at this one because ‘hanna you didn’t’ and hanna took one more sip before saying ‘yes i did’. )

day two.

they meet in the student courtyard, hanna taking the time to attempt to sunbathe and lower her blood pressure. it as a nice day which meant crop tops and athletic leggings, seeing as she’d just come from a run. something to clear her mind before this english tutoring completely consumed her. hopefully the heat would do it first.

here’s the thing. hanna works out, has to work out if maybe one day she has to model her pieces for someone. technically she’s always modeling her pieces, plus her mother is a workout buff so she’s always at the gym. her figure is exceptional though it’s hidden behind her fashion.

so, she’s not confused when she feels eyes on her. they’re college students but apparently some of the male students are as shameless as ever. no one could be as shameless as minhyun so she’s ready to give a proper scolding, when she recognizes the face.

well not at first. but she should’ve.

“unless you plan on never having kids, i’d look away.” a cough and the male standing above her is tumbling apologies. ‘i’m your tutor, seolhyun-ssi.’ which is weird because few people call her by her full name. hanna is curling her legs under her before gesturing out for him because what. the. fuck?

the test was fine. the test was actually alright, aside from the outdated questions that she’s sure she’s seen somewhere before. no the test wasn’t the problem, the fact that they were outdoors wasn’t, and certainly not that he called her by her name. the problem was that he couldn’t keep his eyes off her while she took the test, or while she spoke. it’s one look, one particular look before hanna remembers.

“don’t you work for my father?” ( it’s at this point in the story that jamie yells out a ‘nooooo’ ) ‘ah, so you remember me?’ she remembers him, remembers his long-standing crush on her and him bothering her each time she went to visit one of the hotels. it was creepy. this was creepier. “uh-huh. two minutes before I call my father’s guards.” he was off like a light.

hanna was exasperated.

the next one, a girl her age who apparently was korean-american. a girl who spent half the time just swapping instagram feeds and asking for pictures and tours of hanna’s closet. it hit a limit when hanna caught her taking pictures of her designs. she’d almost broken her phone - instead she factory reset it. she’d accepted the praise her mother had given her and the high five jamie had given her when she heard.

the one after that - an older woman because yes that was the problem age. an older woman who aside from being entirely too punctual was going on and on about the history of english and it’s arrival into korea. then she proceeded to discuss why english was important and should be studied before she addressed that hanna was not studying english and was studying fashion and why that was bad. yeah, when that tirade started, hanna just up and left.

It doesn’t help that the one for the next day had ended up rescheduling and hanna – didn’t have it in her to accept nor decline, she just didn’t have the energy to deal with another joke.

she was tired of playing tutor roulette.

‘just drop english.’ Is jamie’s final answer after hanna’s given her the full rundown of her week, head lowered until her forehead’s almost touching the top of her drink. “my father wouldn’t let me dare.” It’s her ego too, her ego that won’t let her just give up on it and while Jamie knows, she’d rather hanna sit in her own stubbornness than tell her about it. she does however, offer a comforting hand to ruffle hanna’s hair like she always does giving hanna time to jolt up from her miserable position and fix her hair with a pout.

‘try this last one out, if they’re that bad than I promise I’ll save you from your misery and tutor you myself.’ “deal.”

they meet in the library. jamie’s been a dear and promised hanna another refill of the vanilla bean she’d gratefully placed on the table, as long as she clears this session. clear meaning she doesn’t leave early though hanna is looking at the clock for the minute reason she needs to book it out. jamie is sitting a table away and watching intently and hanna, hanna is sitting rather miserably, chin on the table, eyes on her watch, and fingers playing with the drink that’s currently keeping her alive.

please be late please be late please be late.

‘kim seolhyun?’ she looks up, dreading the sense of déjà vu that’s about to come over her because what. she notices a few things, he’s very tall, very on-time, and very unlike the image she’s been ready to torment her. he’s in a button-up and he’s already sitting across from her as he starts to pull things out his bag. ‘I’m bang minsoo your tutor.’ he’s tall, tall to the point where if she were standing she’d still have to view him from this angle. well she is watching him from a weird angle and he’s still pulling things out his bag. It’s a normal bag too, his clothes, normal too. he’s – normal. aside from exceptionally soft looking hair but who cares about that.

“you’re on time.” ‘I am.’ “you’re dressed normal.” ‘as are most college students.’ it’s then that she realizes he’s all about finished taking out all of his things, now scattered neatly across the table and she’s aware of the things she doesn’t have spread out. ‘now are you ready?’ “for what?”

‘I’ve reviewed your class syllabus and I’m planning on at least getting you prepared for your coming quiz, then we can start with fundamentals and such.’ he’s flipping through papers, books and hanna’s suddenly sitting a lot straighter than before. she also doesn’t take her eyes off how concentrated he seems to be. concentrated but – calm. It’s strange. ‘seolhyun-ssi?’ “huh?” she takes her eyes off Jamie, who’s busy throwing signals from behind his ear. questions probably but hanna can’t quite make them out because her tutor – minsoo is looking dead at her. ‘are you ready to begin?’ he doesn’t seem bothered by the fact that she has no paper as he’s already slid his materials over to her. he’s just waiting. “hanna.” ‘pardon?’ “hanna, I go by hanna.” ‘alright then hanna, lets begin.’ “yeah sure.”

‘that just about does it. review these concepts tonight and your oral exam should go fine. review some right after I leave though.’ “you’re leaving?” hanna’s almost embarrassed at the words, because they come out so easily and she’s still looking at the words he’s underlining when she says it. ‘your session’s up, and - I do have class.’ she’s even more embarrassed to say she’s having a good time because god her father won’t let her live it down. “okay, thank you. next week we’re meeting here right?” ‘ideally it would depend on if you pass tomorrow but yes here is fine.’

she understood concepts that she’d normally drown her teacher out. minsoo was patient and well he wasn’t speaking on overwhelming amount of english so she could follow. It’s probably why she’d been able to follow along, and probably why she didn’t notice the time pass, she does notice minsoo getting up – probably because it’s so abrupt and she’s sorting through her thoughts, but it makes her shift in her seat. even more so when jamie bounds over and fixes her with a stare – one she can’t quite read. hanna shifts even more, a strange shudder taking over as she immediately grabs for her drink.

‘okay so?’ “well – I didn’t throw my drink on him.” ‘I noticed.’

“okay he wasn’t too bad, I still want my drink.” ‘did you mean he wasn’t bad looking?’ “absolutely not, lead me to overpriced coffee!”

and if hanna sticks closer to Jamie during the walk there, neither of them complain.

of course she has to tell her father to stop looking for another tutor. It’s at the end of the next day, after studying thoroughly and doing not so bad on her oral exam the morning after their tutor session. he’s in the study, normally where he doesn’t like being bothered, but there’s her mom, lounging on the chair while he flits back and forth between bank books and the laptop. how they spend so much time together is beyond her. she pops in and eyes are on her.

“hey, just wanted to say I’ll be keeping this tutor.” ‘he’s cute isn’t he?’ is the first thing her mother says and hanna quite literally falls from where she’d been planning to stick her head in and right out. “shameless.” ‘didn’t hear a no.’

‘that’s great dear, it was getting hard to not do a full screening on the next one and scare them away.’ “yeah yeah thanks.” hanna’s composing herself, rubbing at her shoulders to relieve her goosebumps. her mother catches this immediately and looks up from her book, eyes calculating. ‘are you cold hun?’ her father looks up, more concern in his eyes than anything. the drama queen. “yeah, do you guys have the air on?” they share a look – the strange telepathy that they always do. ‘no – but darling you’re in a long-sleeved shirt.’ “I could be getting sick. I’ll take something.”

as it turns out, she’s not getting sick. that was evident after the hoard of medication she’d taken and the lack of actual flu or cold symptoms. couldn’t be allergies as hanna has none, and there’s no bug going around school.

she just feels.

antsy.

she keeps shivering whether she’s in her clothes or not, itching and shaking even under cold water.

the morning after the conversation with her parents she’d bundled up fiercely the next day, making sure she would sweat out whatever cold would hit her. when it seemed like the fabric of her clothes was just making things worse, she opted for shorter sleeves and lighter, softer clothing. something to take away the itch that’s making her body shake.

‘maybe you’re allergic to something.’ Is jamie’s rationing. “my allergies would’ve been shown up.” is hanna’s answer.

she considers her diet, though she’s relatively a healthy person, she makes a log of what she could’ve eaten to cause it. but again, she has no food allergies either, she’s relatively healthy and it doesn’t feel like a food issue. even if her stomach does start to twist and turn now and then, it’s not the sick feeling from eating something bad – and hanna would know she’s had food poisoning.

she gets chills, has goosebumps she can’t really see. Her stomach twists no matter how much ginger tea she drinks and she’s at the point of wanting to jump out her own skin. It’s led to her being quite irritable too. rolling her eyes when her teacher asks her a question she knows hanna doesn’t know the answer to, snapping at someone near her parking space on her way to class.

‘could be your period babe.’ “my period was two weeks ago.”

and it’s not that either. It’s not the emotion that double over before her period, it’s not the stabs in her stomach that start coming early, or the cravings she’ll likely have. It’s none of that and this is the first time hanna’s wished that it was, at least then she would know what to do. because right now she wants to shed her own skin, feels like she’s growing in and out of it at the same time. feels like she’s itching something but never quite scratching it, like she needs something soothing but the burn isn’t painful it’s just – uncomfortable.

“do I need to see a doctor?” it’s a week into this when she mentions it to her parents. a week of her arriving irritable to school, practically clinging to jamie and saying nothing but groaning each time she feels a pull she doesn’t understand. like her skin was rubber and something was trying to call her back, pulling her thin but not ripping just – stretching. hanna was in agony and her mother now sat on the edge of the couch, running her hand through her hair while her father observed her. she’d told them her symptoms but she’s all but realized how crazy she must sound. ‘describe it again seol.’ hanna groans into the pillow but her mother’s touch is – distracting, helps her focus. “feels like I’m being tugged in several directions, everything is subtle but at the same time it’s overwhelming. It’s like if someone pressed needles against you but just the tip so you didn’t feel the pain. It’s terrible.” If anything, she would get bonus points in creative writing for her descriptions. If her teacher could see her now. Hanna wishes no one could see her, wishes she could all but melt into the couch. ‘do you know when it started?’ “I don’t know last week sometime?”

all these questions and all hanna wants to do is bury further away from it all.

‘we’ll get you to a doctor this afternoon, are you still going to class?’ she wants to say no, wants to stay right where she is until later this afternoon, instead she drags herself up and to her room. If she were more attentive, she might’ve noticed the look her parents share as she heads to get ready.

jamie is ready with a chamomile tea, a hint of ginger and a hug for Hanna when she walks out of her class. she makes no comment on how hanna left early and just smothers her in a hug, a hug that hanna can’t be bothered to wiggle out of. she focuses on the fact that it’s jamie and not that her body feels like it wants to be somewhere else but can’t figure itself out. instead they head to the library, jamie sending worried glances each time hanna shakes her shoulders or holds her head.

“please not headaches.” she doesn’t have time to think because as the headache grows there’s a figure before them both. it’s of course her tutor, though it was almost hard to tell because of the mask he’s sporting. ‘sorry, I’m a bit late.’ truthfully hanna hadn’t noticed. she’s more concerned at how he sounds as bad as she feels. ‘ready to start?’ “are you feeling okay?” is the first thing hanna asks, jamie having left her side so they can start. ‘nothing too bad, wore a mask in case it’s contagious but I don’t think so.’ “i’d take anything over whatever is hitting me right now.” she swears she gets a smile at the comment, but they’re launching into problems right away.

for the past week, the discomfort that hanna’s felt has been relentless. it started in small bursts but began to last the entire day, hence why she’d begged her parents to see a doctor today. as minsoo starts to finish reading her homework for the week, she’s suddenly aware that she’s feeling better. much better. his mask is off too. she’s grateful because truthfully, hanna didn’t think she could get through this session with that same pain that’s been plaguing her. she’s also relieved that he seems to be feeling better. she has half a mind to text her parents that all are good but he’s getting up, things packed already and her lips move with an urgency new to her.

“hey, can I get your number, in case I feel under the weather again and actually can’t show up?” minsoo’s giving it though, without question or complaint and hanna’s waving the phone as she waves him off. ‘you look like you’re feeling better.’ “thank god, or he might’ve asked for different pupil.” ‘mmmmm, I doubt that.’

hanna shrugs though, making sure to send a quick message to him.

to: 💥 minsoo [ hanna! ✌️ ] from: 💥 minsoo [ 👌 ]

when she arrives home, her mother is questioning her instantly.

“i just feel better? not sure, but my tutor session went well!” just to bring the mood up because she can see her parents are visibly concerned. ‘but hanna, you were in pretty bad shape.’ “maybe I just needed to flush out a bad bug, I feel fine!”

hanna’s in the same predicament, though it feels worse than before. the symptoms double over within half the time from before and she’s cuddled under her covers trying every possible position to ease the discomfort.

‘hanna I’m really worried.’ jamie’s voice rings on the other end of the line. “don’t worry, I really think it needs to run it’s course.” whatever it is.

whe doesn’t miss tutoring this week, though she can tell from minsoo’s hair, a little shaggy on the edges, that he’s dealing with his own things too. things that seem to disappear during their session, a reason why she makes it a goal to not miss them, no matter how bad she feels. It’s not exactly pain anyway, it’s just discomfort.

body-shaking discomfort.

she continues her routine. suffering for a week but managing to make her tutoring sessions just because she can. and they always make her feel better in that moment, a reason why she thinks it might just be stress.

two more weeks pass and hanna’s sure it’s not just a bad bug. because the intervals are shorter where she feels discomfort. It goes from a few days to one day to a few hours. it gets bad that she’s in her bed staring at her phone.

to: 💥 minsoo [ hey, it’s hanna! I might not make our session tomorrow, I’m really not feeling well. 😷😷😷😷 ] from:💥 minsoo [ I hope I didn’t give you what I caught, it’s not exactly fun ] to: 💥 minsoo [ don’t think what I have is contagious ] from:💥 minsoo [ how so? ]

and hanna hadn’t planned on discussing this, talking past her update but, she indulges.

to: 💥 minsoo [ feels like my insides being stretched ] from: 💥 minsoo [ ouch, in every direction and nowhere at all ] to: 💥 minsoo [ YES ] from: 💥 minsoo [ sorry I might’ve given it to you ] to: 💥 minsoo [ hm, I likely gave it to you ] from: 💥 minsoo [ either way, I hope you feel better ] to: 💥 minsoo [ if you find any remedies tell me!!!!! ] from: 💥 [ sure thing. ]

and for good measure.

to: 💥 minsoo [ goodnight! ]

she feels worse after missing their session. much worse. to the point where she’s pacing around her room, stepping in place, doing anything to try and ease her body and it’s confusion. it’s restless and it’s making hanna’s head spin. when her parents ask she just says she doesn’t know. when she asks the doctors they just say they don’t know.

because yeah that gives her hope.

“seriously I have no idea what it is.” hanna’s panting now, having resorted to running to let off some steam. she’s on the phone with minsoo, who despite his own afflictions has been a good comfort for her during it all. ‘me neither, needless to say, I keep worrying my sister.’ “my parents are surprisingly calm, though I know they’re worried.” they haven’t kept off her case, in a good way though. They check up on her and give her food without her needing to ask, she’s just been unable to feel reprieve from anything really. minsoo had laughed when she told him how her father hovered by the door ready to get her anything. “I’ll have fun trying to explain this sick note to my professors.” not that she minds, maybe she needed the break. running like this, and watching minsoo’s face change as he talks, as she cools down and listens, isn’t too bad.

‘hanna.’ “hm?” ‘you’ve been walking a while where are you?’ “uhm, don’t know. Why?” ‘it looks familiar…’ for a second it looks like he’s leaning into the screen and then there’s a flurry of movement, then laughter. ‘you’re nearing my neighborhood, how’d you manage that?’ “who knows. didn’t realize I was walking that far.” ‘I’ll come down.’ before she can say that he doesn’t have to, or that he’s not feeling well, she sees his figure approaching from the end of the street. funny enough, he looks like he ran. “you didn’t run here did you….” ‘I needed the exercise. I feel better already.’ and though he’s joking, catching his breath hanna’s been feeling immensely better since a little after her run. enough that she can smile fully at him, even laugh at his words.

he walks with her for the rest of her cool down. a cool down that she feels like she doesn’t even need because everything’s settled right now. It could be, and hanna considers it, the calm of the night, maybe she needed a good run. maybe she needed a change in environment, in pace. whatever it is, it’s working. has her joking with minsoo and feeling like herself, feeling that she’s missed their sessions all too much.

‘is that true?’ she doesn’t realize she’s spoken the words until she meets minsoo’s eyes on her. and she’s suddenly very aware of how close they’re walking together. hanna doesn’t move though, instead she just laughs and averts her eyes. “I miss them, they were the highlight of my week.” which isn’t a lie, even if she tries to put sarcasm in her tone. really, english tutoring as the highlight of her week? it was true whether she denied it or not. she suddenly didn’t mind if he knew or not. ‘it’s definitely been the best part of my few weeks.’

they walk a bit more, night closes in a bit more and they lose track of time. to where her father’s messaging her and hanna almost dreads having to go back, having to end the peace. but she’s feeling better so there’s a plus.

“I have to head home before my father sends a search party.” and – as if he knows. as if her eyes reveal everything without knowing, minsoo’s speaking up as she turns. ‘I’ll walk you.’ she doesn’t object. not when he sticks just as close, not when they pass the gates to her compound and he’s at the door, past the door and they’re laughing in the study.

‘you’re feeling better.’ Is what her mother says first. they’re both at the door, her father’s arm wrapped snug around his mother’s waist, his eyes on minsoo. “hey, sorry i’m late. i ran into minsoo? guess we both just needed a run.” ‘both? minsoo I wasn’t aware you weren’t feeling well either.’ ‘I’m fine ma’am, i was worried I’d given whatever I had to hanna but I’m glad that’s not the case.’ ‘i’m glad too. hanna do try to answer your phone more often, your father gets restless.’ “please, he’d be up the roof if it was you.” to which hanna’s father, the joke of her life, quite literally picks her mother up bridal style as he announces his love. hanna notices minsoo’s confusion and realizes she’s never told him, though she’s never in a position to tell anyone. “my parents are a soulmate match. for them they can’t spend too much time apart of they get restless, it’s wild. you’d think my mother was going through menopause.” ‘hanna!’ though her mother’s words have no bite while she’s literally being hugged tight by her husband, even after he’s set her back on her feet. ‘is it painful?’ are minsoo’s first words. unsurprising because most people have tons of questions when they hear about it. minsoo never seemed the curious type though, but hanna leans back and watches as her parents perk up at the opportunity to talk about their love.

‘at first it was unbearable? because we didn’t know what was going on or how to tell the cause. with ours it’s hard to tell but overtime the pull quite literally leads you to them because you’re in agony.’ ‘the pull?’ minsoo looks thoroughly interested and hanna – for whatever, maybe the aftereffects of this nonexistent flu, finds it cute. ‘hard to describe, the body literally cannot stand the distance for too long. after a while it becomes easier to withstand distance, the discomfort is there but not as strong the more time we spend together afterwards, and the more we deal with it. hanna’s father is just a baby. Hanna takes after him I suppose, she’s been moping about this house you’d think she was having period pains.’ “mom!” minsoo, the traitor, finds it his job to laugh and hanna quite literally thinks about knocking him out the couch. Until he smiles her way saying stupid things like: ‘glad you’re feeling better now.’

hanna’s floored because she’s got an urge in that moment. and it makes her want to shove everyone away, and yet, pull one person close.

abort mission.

she’s shooing everyone out, minsoo particularly.

‘he can’t go home by himself this late.’ “HUH?” the one time her father wants to be lenient about a boy.

the one time.

‘it’s fine I can call a taxi.’ ‘nonsense, we have a guest room down here.’

after much preparation hanna’s closing the door after bidding him a good night and a small apology. she sees her parents from atop the stairs and marches past them and their smug grins to her room.

‘he’s what?’ “downstairs in the guest room.” ‘wow, third base already.’ “like you haven’t slept over at sam’s.” ‘touche.’

just then hanna’s phone vibrates and she’s looking at the screen and nearly dropping her phone.

from: 💥 minsoo

“he’s texting me, jamie. jamie minsoo’s texting me why’s he texting me he’s downstairs what’s going on?” ‘well I suppose we won’t know the answer to that unless you read it and text back now would we?’

touche.

from: 💥 minsoo [ thanks for letting me spend the night. forgot to say so earlier. ]

“why’s he thanking me, he should thank my parents.” ‘idiot – does he have your parents on speed dial, no he has your cute ass.’

to: 💥 minsoo [ it’s no problem! I hadn’t realized how late it was, hope you don’t mind. ] to: 💥 minsoo [ hope you’re not secretly a thief either. sorry about my lovey-dovey high school parents ]

From: 💥 minsoo [ don’t mind at all. It was nice of them. and they’re nice too, obviously very in love. i’ve seen soulmate pairs before but they’re – refreshing. ]

‘oho, soulmate talk.’ “I’m gonna hang up.” ‘fine, hang up and talk to your loverboy.’

hanna chokes.

to: 💥 minsoo [ are they? I thought they’d be a bit much. you never seemed like you’d be interested in that. from: 💥 minsoo [ soulmate lore and stuff? you never asked. ] to: 💥 minsoo [ i’m sorry among all the agony and english suffering I forgot to ask about soulmate lore with you. ] from: 💥 minsoo [ what do you think of it then? ]

In that moment, hanna has to take a break because a headache’s coming. She almost groans at the feeling and jamie picks up immediately.

‘I’m going to assume he didn’t say anything bad, you okay?’ “yeah I might turn in, not feeling good again.” ‘okay, call me if you need anything alright?’ “okay bye bye.” sealed with extra loud lip smacks and kiss noises because of course.

from: 💥 minsoo [ you okay? ] to: 💥 minsoo [ yeah, headache. maybe I’ve been up too long. ] from: 💥 minsoo [ not good, you should take a nap ] to: 💥 minsoo [ but! soulmate! lore! ] from: 💥 minsoo [ someone’s excited. ] to: 💥 minsoo [ I can talk all night about it, since I have first hand encounters ] from: 💥 minsoo [ I’ll be up all night, can’t seem to sleep ] to: 💥 minsoo [ I’ll be down in five ]

and for some reason he doesn’t protest. so hanna wraps herself in her blanket and slinks her way downstairs to the guest room, praying to the gods that her parents don’t wake up. or even if they do, they don’t ask.

they talk all night. hanna’s headache that was calling her to bed nowhere to be found. minsoo’s restlessness lulled into alertness and attention he gives her the entire night, both splayed over the living room couch. he tells her about his doubts and beliefs in the soulmate theory, his experiences both good and bad. he tells about couples he’s seen fail and couples he’s seen prosper, talks about how hopeful hanna’s parents can make people. hanna talks about her fears with it, her reservations and also her fascination when she looks at her parents. they talk and they talk until they can’t fight sleep and it’s the easiest sleep they’ve had in weeks, though neither admit. they just fall into one another.

that’s how hanna wakes up. with her head between her arms, placed firmly on the edge of the couch and minsoo’s chest directly in front of her. she doesn’t move though, relishing in the best sleep she’s had in weeks. in fact, it’s the sound coming from the kitchen that wakes her. it’s a glimpse of her father peeking over the couch and her making eye contact that has her shrieking and bounding for her room.

when she’s showered and changed and sent jamie a promise text to tell her everything, she joins her family. minsoo is up and looking so well-rested that he hasn’t quite fixed his hair yet. it’s cute ad insufferable, hanna wants to crawl back upstairs. but she quite literally feels her headache disappear when he waves a good morning and she waves back, turning to glare at her parents before they can say anything. of course, her mother isn’t phased.

‘you both slept well.’ “good morning and good bye mother.” ‘I made breakfast.’ “to go, I have class and minsoo has to get home.” ‘I’ll take---’ “I’ll drive him thank you father.”

hanna’s grabbing the keys, the kimbap and literally rushing minsoo out the door before her parents can trap them any further.

easily, thankfully, they fall into conversation as if they hadn’t fallen asleep earlier. hanna offers to drive minsoo to campus and the top-down on her car makes his hair more of a statement when they arrive. so much so that she’s laughing and he’s puzzled.

‘you’ve been laughing for fifteen minutes, earlier I was worried we’d crash.’ “yikes, your faith in my driving skills. here hold on.” without prompt, without warning really, hanna’s leaning over to fix the strands of hair that have gone wild. not like she couldn’t just tell him because now he’s this close and hanna thinks she can’t breathe but this is the easiest it’s been to breathe in weeks. and that’s scary. terrifying.

‘hanna!’ thank god for jamie. because hanna, jumps back and is hopping out the car to greet her friend. thank god for jamie but oh god jamie, jamie doesn’t spare one single glance moving from hanna to minsoo and her eyebrows doing that thing that makes hanna want to run. ‘thanks for the ride.’ Is all minsoo says, a smile on his face after he bows to jamie and waves himself off. hanna’s got about two seconds of leeway and she’s considering running, instead she calls after minsoo, practically bounds after him. “can I walk with you, I barely know your classes.” she half expects him to deny her, instead he’s nodding. and hanna for now will say it’s just to avoid getting grilled.

except that it becomes a routine. and hanna hadn’t planned that. hadn’t planned on getting used to the feeling of walking with minsoo to classes and him eventually walking her to hers. after one morning where he doesn’t and she does so bad on her english exam he’s waiting outside with vanilla bean and she’s forgetting all about it.

seriously what kind of warlock is he, hanna’s been trying to figure it out. she’s so caught off-guard that jamie’s managed to pull her out her daze with a fry to her face.

‘maybe you just like him.’ “pardon.” ‘you literally suffer when he’s not around, you like him.’ hanna takes a careful sip of her drink, letting jamie mull over her words. when she doesn’t, hanna swallow. “nah.”

jamie groans.

she does enjoy the company he brings though. the feeling of him walking beside her to class, to tutoring, even home that’s become more routine. it’s always the leaving part that hanna can’t quite get over, always makes her rub her hands together as if she’s collecting static, settling herself. she thinks nothing of it though, glad to be free of whatever plagued her in the earlier months.

except that the bug comes back.

at the worst of times in her opinion. it’s midterm season and while she’s enjoyed the help he’s given her, thoroughly enjoyed his presence around her, how they’ve started grabbing coffee together and even eating out when tutoring lasts too late, they need to study. hanna doesn’t want to disrupt minsoo’s study schedule and respects the request to take their tutoring out of midterm week. that also means, he’s busy studying that he’s not around to walk her to classes, and it’s not like hanna’s been dependent on it, that’ silly. but she feels it, feels it more apparent than she thought she would from the week before midterms start, into the beginning of the exam week.

‘maybe it’s because you guys just spend so much time together.’ Is jamie’s answer. Though hanna can tell jamie’s beginning to worry, about a lot really. hanna doesn’t get attachments like this, and the fact that it’s becoming so apparent and so troublesome that it’s affecting her environment. jamie’s worried but doesn’t want her worry to affect hanna. hanna appreciate it, so she wants to get to the bottom of this.

‘you could just miss him.’ is the solution her mother offers, still perched in the couch in the study, a book on soulmates in her hand. it’s plausible, even if it’s only been a few days since she’d seen him, it’s very plausible. hanna takes a look at the book in her mother’s hand and ignores how her stomach churns at the title. ignores what that might mean for her.

because to hanna that was dependence bordering on insanity. for her, for minsoo, whom she barely knew. sure she knew the little things, like his favorite color nowadays, how simple he liked his wardrobe, how tall she’d have to stand on the top of her toes to reach his height. how he likes his coffee and which classes he dreads and why, his little ticks when he doesn’t understand things and just how endearing it is that he can not understand things. the look on his face or the color on his face when she points out that she thinks it is endearing. she knows these little things, has saved them for the moments when she’s stuck in a long day and she knows they can still walk home together.

she knows that but it’s not enough to need. it shouldn’t be.

but hanna counts all that she knows, all she’s beginning to adore and she’s getting frightened.

scared as she is, she doesn’t get to hold it in for long. it’s the middle of midterm week and she’s sure she’s going to fail her english midterm tomorrow because she can’t fucking focus. for the life of her, her body itches and the covers aren’t helping but she’s wrapped in them anyway. she doesn’t want to call anyone, ask anyone, she just wants the feeling gone.

as if on cue her phone vibrates.

from: 💥minsoo [ you doing okay? ] to: 💥minsoo [ guess ] from: 💥minsoo [ exam stress? ] to: 💥minsoo [ nope, worse ] from: 💥minsoo [ penny for your thoughts ] to: 💥minsoo [ I’ll give you a million if you come by ] from: 💥minsoo [ on my way ]

and hanna doesn’t wait. she’s downstairs and meeting him outside the door.

they walk and they walk and they walk until they come across a playground. hanna on the swings and minsoo sitting quite literally in front of where she stops.

‘any reason you chose swings?’ “any reason you’re sitting there?”

touche.

she steps back, as far back as she can before the swing is pressed into her back and minsoo is a few feet in front of her. and she stays there, stays there and watches him. he sits absently, fingers idle in the woodchips, night just moving around him. around his shoulders, around his hands, his silhouette.

hanna looks for strings first.

she feels the first tug but sees none. it’s not like the swing is pressing into her back, it’s the opposite. something pulling. with the tug comes the itch, the shudder. and it’s not the cold. she sees no strings though, nothing buzzing around minsoo. but she sees him shudder, sees him look up instantly in her direction.

when their eyes meet hanna allows herself to sit and walk forward until her feet kick lightly against his own.

she moves back again, as far back as the swing will let her. and waits. without a word, waiting for something in the moonlight around him to shift. like how tides just follow the pull of the moon, she waits for it. then her skin starts to crawl and his eyes haven’t left hers, so she sits and moves forward again. this time his hand is on the swing when her feet kick at his. stopping, holding.

‘you’re a glutton for punishment.’ “I was testing my theory.” ‘which is?’

hanna bites at her lip. even the sting she feels couldn’t quite compare to the feeling, the calm that settles over her each time she swings back over to him.

“you know how – you can only go so far on the swing, until you’re yanked back.” ‘i’m aware.’ “that’s what it’s like with you. like pulling tight of a band until it’s released back.” ‘and it’s like it was never pulled in the first place.’ “right-!! you know?” ‘well since it’s a soulmate thing, the other person feels the same you know.’

hanna’s suddenly very shy and very grateful for how dark it is.

“so do you – how do you feel?” ‘how do you feel?’ “scared as hell. excited. better than I felt earlier.” ‘I’m about the same. not as scared, curious. willing.’

the last one has hanna’s head snapping up, minsoo who’d been looking elsewhere, maybe for a pull of the tides too, fixes his eyes back on her.

“willing to – what?” ‘well, I’m here.’ “you’re helpful.”

but hanna’s smiling as she says it. smiling and playing with the chips below her feet.

‘hey, fate picked me.’ “well - i’d pick you.”

oh boy is she glad it’s dark as hell outside.

“how long did you know, I can’t believe you two knew.” ‘i can’t believe you took so long to figure it out.’

hanna is, staring quite scandalized at her parents, while minsoo sits not bothered in the slightest, at the kitchen counter. they’d talked, but upon deciding that hanna does need to sleep to attempt to pass her exam, that she head home. minsoo of course had walked her, her parents had of course been up when they arrived.

‘admittedly your mother was in denial so you take after her.’ if it weren’t for the skillet she was focusing on, hanna was sure her father would have a spoon shaped mark on his face. “i wasn’t in denial.” minsoo makes something that sounds like a snort and hanna is betrayed. ‘jamie even asked me outside your class if i’d give you time to figure it out.’ “wow is this why sam’s friends were ready to kill each other, how long have you known.” ‘since the first night your parents let me stay here.’ “i am surrounded by traitors.” ‘i’m wondering if he should still tutor you.’

if she weren’t starving, hanna would’ve gone right to bed. but minsoo took the blanket and is offering a more comfortable spot curled up beside him. and pancakes. comfort and pancakes and minsoo seem like the better option. and when hanna’s close to falling asleep, head on his shoulder and stomach full, she thinks it might be the forever option.

fast forward to present day.

“a vacation with his sister, why.” ‘yes, the nerve of your boyfriend, spending time with his family.’ “he said he’d be back today.” ‘yes, he said sometime this afternoon, it’s one.’

hanna is close to drowning herself in this damn vanilla bean when she hears a chime, and already feels the ache start to subside. already feels a smile curling, though she’s a bit peeved.

“i’m the glutton for punishment.” ‘i missed you too.’ and she’s pouting, even when he hands her a souvenir, up until the kiss pressed to the top of her head. up until all of the ache disappears and she’s engulfed in arms for the remainder of their time at the cafe. engulfed in the very feeling that makes her feel like, the wait doesn’t hold a candle to the reward. and it never will.

#{ w: hanna. }#rosaeau #( if my computers da RES #au.

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stylessemantics · 7 years

Text

Office Correspondence [Pt.2]

I encourage you to read part one here

This is a continuation of the Office Correspondence request/blurb. It takes off right where part one left off so use the link to go catch up if needed!

word count: 3999. (wow)

there will be a part three :) happy reading!

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Truth be told, Louis and Liam had developed a code over the years. Whether it was to communicate something silly like “bring me coffee” or something a lot more heavy around the lines of “we’re losing this client” in the middle of meetings, they had refined a system down to where just simple looks could mean so much more. Which is how they were both scheming day in and night out and no one could tell. And that was great, specially because Niall had been so adamant about the lot staying away from Harry’s love life, and that was something they just couldn’t do.

To Louis and Liam it was only fair that Harry returned the favour and did something nice for y/n right back, and it was only fair that they helped their friend however they could, which obviously only translated to them pushing the issue along faster, right? Right.

Not very long after the first ‘y/n-Harry’ encounter, their plan kicked into work, and it all started with Harry, bright and early in his work day, receiving a letter that was directed to y/n and not him. If he were to be honest, the moment he flipped through the envelopes as he sat at his desk drinking his morning tea, and caught her name, suddenly the tea was bland and too hot, causing him to spit it out in shock. With a cough he rubbed his tired eyes. That’s what it was. His eyes were tired. He definitely didn’t see her name and desk location on the envelope in front of him, the same way he was still convincing himself he didn’t feel like fainting when he saw her on his way up the elevator that same morning, and she didn’t smile at him, because that would only mean it was her making his knees weak, and that’s something Harry was not ready to think about just yet.

But as he moved the hair out of his eyes and his vision focused, there it was. Her name in bold letters. Surely there had to be another y/n in the building, right? Because in that case he could just send the letter back with the mailman and let him do his job and deliver this to the rightful person. Except with his luck, of course there wasn’t and he was reassured of that when he pulled up the updated company directory and spotted just one single y/n. With a sigh he took nervous steps towards the elevator, unaware of Louis hiding behind columns, watching carefully as what he hoped was their fool-proof plan, developed in perfection, with Liam on the line on his phone.

 “We’re in action” he whispered to the receiver as if right out of an action movie. With quick steps he ran down the stairs to meet up at y/n’s floor.

The numbers on the lift’s panel indicated Harry had successfully descended to her floor, where Liam hid behind a column and was soon joined by an out of breath Louis, there to watch the interaction, or better yet hoping there was some interaction as they took in how Harry paced back and forth, flicking the envelope in his hands, obviously doubting his next steps. Before the curly headed one made a choice, Mr. Langhorn from the other marketing department came up to him and struck some conversation. With discreet hands Harry placed the envelope behind him and chatted away with the man.

“Come on, come on” Louis whispered from his hidden spot, tapping his foot in anticipation.

 “We’re so close” Liam reassured him. They didn’t wake up at the ass crack of dawn to catch the mailman in the lobby and snatch the pile of correspondence he delivered under the excuse that they were ‘expecting a really important document’ and then proceed to steal a letter directed to y/n to sneakily place on Harry’s desk all for nothing. 

“What are you two doing?” Upon hearing the voice, Louis and Liam nearly jump out of their skin, turning around to find Niall there with a cup of coffee in hand and an oblivious confused smile. 

“Uh… Just talking!” The two chirped with fake smiles, immediately causing Niall to glare in suspicion.

 “Okay… so what’s really going on?” Niall pressed on, crossing his arms in front of his frame and staring the two adults – that clearly act like children most of the time – down like a stern father. But he didn’t need an answer because Louis kept glancing to his side trying to hide it as best he could but failing greatly, and that’s when Niall peeked over at where Harry stood. “What’s Harry doing down here?” 

“That’s a great question! We should ask him later” Liam interjected with fake wonder, and tried pushing Niall away in the direction of the elevator in hopes to cut the interaction short but the blonde one stood his ground.

There was something going on indeed, and Liam and Louis weren’t the only ones developing systems to wordlessly communicate, Niall had also gotten very good at Sherlock-Holmes-ing whatever shenanigan the two had designed. Not a second after, his blue eyes widened in realization. 

“What did you two do?!”

 “Nothing!” But it was futile. Surely Niall wasn’t taking that for an answer now, and they knew right there and then: they had been caught. “Fine! We might stolen y/n’s mail to bait Harry into coming to talk to her, now shush” Louis finished in a whisper going back to his hiding spot and spying on Harry who had still to make up his mind about what he was supposed to do with the envelope. 

“What!? I said no meddling!” Louis shushed him once more and with huff and a puff Niall slapped him upside the head. 

“This isn’t meddling” 

“This is the literal definition of meddling” He interjected in a hushed voice, quickly lowering his body to hide himself with the two mischiefs behind the column.

 “Then why are you still here?” Liam argued back. In all truth, the blonde one looked really cozy and ready to spy on Harry along with them, which meant he was interested as well in how this could develop. 

“Just making sure I have all the details to tell Harry about later when this bullshit plan backfires”

Before Louis could bite back how him and Liam had planned this whole thing through and nothing would backfire because they were geniuses, Harry started moving, decided to enter her office and give her the lost envelope. Upon seeing him finally do so, Liam and Louis let out excited shrieks much like teenage girls in those soap operas. With a roll of his eyes, Niall followed suit as the three of them moved closer to y/n’s door in anticipation that this finished well.

Harry’s hands were clammy already. Even on his ride down the elevator he could tell he was getting way too jittery over this, but not even his short pep-talk – about how he could just swoop in and out in a jiffy without even having to speak much – helped his nervous system calm down enough to let him just waltz in confidently, and after a good chat with Mr. Langhorn all he wanted to do was go back to his desk and drown in work and forget about this letter all together. But he took a deep breath and decided to do it, rip it like a band-aid.

He thought about knocking and how to knock, for way too long, because before he knew it he had yet to move and someone opened the door and out walked y/n, his idling causing her to bump straight into him. 

“Woah. Hey!” She greeted with a bright smile. Again Harry wasn’t sure what was wrong with his knees.  

“H-hi” he cleared his throat after his voice sounded more like a nervous croak then an actual human voice. “Hi, how are yeh?”

“I’m doing good, kinda busy with today’s meeting…” 

“Oh… Y-yeah, won’t take much of your uh… your time.” With an awkward smile he pushed the letter towards her body not even knowing what to add other than “Got it by mistake…” followed by a very short and bland ‘ha’ that made shivers run down his spine in embarrassment.  

“That’s funny” she started with a chirp to her voice, plucking the letter from his fingertips “First I get your letter and now you get mine… We should just share an office so they don’t mix them up”

In reality Harry didn’t know if that was a joke or not, but it had to be, and he laughed, a real natural laugh this time, because it was funny, and also because he found it terrifying but at the same time cute how she could spill out those lines not knowing how much Harry was freaking out inside over the fact that she was fucking beautiful. She took a quick glance at the envelope and gasped

“Oh, thank you! Needed this information before the meeting! You’re a lifesaver Harry!”

 “N-no problem… y/n” He didn’t have to say her name, except he wanted to test it out. Y/n… Y/n… It was nice. 

“You’ll be in it right? The meeting” y/n didn’t look up at him from the letter as she asked that. 

“Uh… the Phillips o-one?” All she did was nod, too engrossed in the information she was receiving from the important mail. “Y-yeah. I’m head of the project” That made her look up in a pop. 

“Cool! Nice to know who I’ll be working with.” She smiled and squeezed his arm before returning to the letter. The world was just conspiring to end Harry’s knees at this point, that was for sure. “In that case” she started, folding the letter back up and into the envelope “This letter should be for you too, what a coincidence” Her cheeks were blushing naturally and Harry wanted to take a finger and poke them, they were rosy and cute and even more prominent when she smiled at him the was she was now. With timid hands he took the envelope from her quickly reading over the sender. He had received this information the night prior to his e-mail so he didn’t put much effort into reading it fully again. With a quick nod he awkwardly stood there fidgeting back and forth. The silence was noticeable, and y/n wasn’t sure if she should say something or ask if he needed anything else. She really didn’t want to be rude or make it seem like she also felt the awkward air, but thankfully and surprisingly to him, Harry found himself speaking up.

 “Well… I’ll see you in the meeting?” 

“Yeah, save me a seat” the sentence was quirky and fun, making Harry smile back at y/n before he turned on his heel and quipped at her with a see you later.

It wasn’t until he was sat at his desk that he felt like he could breathe again. And before he could ran through the whole interaction back in his head, Niall came barging in with Louis and Liam in tow, completely cramming his space, he sighed.

So much for getting a little bit of free time to clear his head. He put his head in his hands, not ready to deal with whatever the reason was to why Niall looked like a disappointed teacher with crossed arms and Louis and Liam resembled his troublemaking students, making Harry the tired parent about to get an earful on his kids’ behaviors.

“What?!” was the only thing Harry could say as he sat at the corner of his wooden desk and after hearing the full explanation Niall was giving him for the second time, not having fully understood the first time cause he just could not fathom what the hell was happening. If his ears did not deceive him, the whole gut-clenching and slight nerve wracking experience had all happened thanks to another one of Louis and Liam’s ploys Harry was so used to rolling his eyes at. Except this time he was very uncomfortable and slightly upset. “Why would you do that?!”

“Uhhh...” Neither of the men had a full answer they could give Harry, they just did it because it was so obvious he liked her and they just wanted him to go for it, which everyone in the room knew; deep down he probably wouldn’t otherwise, specially because they were extremely intrigued about y/n and why she was the first girl Harry was so nervous and fidgety around.

“Do yeh have any idea- Jesus.” Harry paced around his space and rubbed his eyes in annoyance muttering “I was so fucking awkward! And I hafta’ seat in a meeting with her now as well, this is the worst.” He groaned and stomped like a little kid eliciting a low chuckle from Niall who quickly tried to cover it with a cough, not wanting Harry to think he found the situation funny, even though it was a little funny after all.

But whatever the reason they did that for, was, didn’t really matter right now, because he needed to be on his way to the infamous meeting – and save y/n a seat although that he wouldn’t say out loud, who knows if it might give Louis and Liam more crazy ideas – and the last thing he wanted to think about was how awkward he had been with her earlier that morning and how it was all just some teenager plan by two of his friends. He grabbed the folders with the papers necessary for the reunion and left his office not before muttering a stern

“Please, no more of this topic” to all three men in his office that were sporting both apologetic and understanding looks. He couldn’t deal with working on this upcoming project if they continued trying things like this. It would be only a matter of time before he was so weird and uncomfortable that he ended freaking out too much or worse, freaking her out and completely blowing whatever they would never have, not even a friendship.

Harry meant to save a seat for y/n, he really did, even if his palms were sweaty and he wasn’t sure how he would survive the session with her close by, but he was going to try, except y/n seemed to like being early and ended up being the one to save Harry a seat next to her that she quickly beckoned him over for as the room filled with the select few important people needed for the project so far.

The green eyed man tried his best to focus on every detail that was being exposed to them, he was, all in all, the one named head of the project, so the final decision on how the team would work on it and how it would be spread between the people in the room fell on him. He let himself be sunken into work and blocked all and any distraction as he centered on planning the best strategy for the client.

Y/n on the other hand, could say she was strangely but gladly surprised. It wasn’t that she doubted Harry as a professional or anything of the sorts, she knew that he had made it to his position for a reason and of course she expected him to do well if he was going to lead this whole thing, but after two short interactions with him and seeing how he responded and behaved, she kind of wasn’t expecting him to dominate conversations, sound stern and decided and overall confident. It was a stark contrast from the Harry she had spoken to earlier that day, the one that stumbled over words and swayed side to side during the awkward silences. This Harry, the one deep into the task at hand, was completely different. It was amusing and intriguing to say the least and she took it all in with a tight smile on her face.

As the few people waltzed out of the meeting, leaving Harry too engrossed in his notes, y/n stayed back. According to what Harry had said it would be better if the marketing and the strategy+communication departments worked together for the time being, and planned ahead, until the project kicked off, which meant you and Harry, in that order, should join forces. Lifting himself up from the chair he turned around to almost come chest to chest with you, causing him to let out a small shriek, quickly taking a few steps back.

“S-sorry... Didn’t t-think there was a-anyone around...” And there he was back to being shy and nervous. You tilted your head to the side, eyebrows furrowing in confusion not quite understanding how it was possible but quickly shrugged it off.

“It’s ok. So... Strategy and marketing” she pointed between her body and his as if signaling their positions “you call the shots boss”

Harry could feel his ears burning up, surely his cheeks were red as well and he hated the thought. He didn’t know that was her exact department, and now turns out he’d set himself up to work with her and her team without even realizing it. Great, just what he needed. He took a deep breath and tried his best to say proper sentences and not choke up on them instead. If he just were to focus on the work part of the whole interaction and not the ‘wow y/n is very pretty’ one, this would be so much easier for his heart by the end of the day.

“Y-yeah...” he cleared his throat. So much for not stuttering. “I’ve some emails t’send your way, a-and then we could... m-meet t’talk about p-plans?” She nodded excitedly in response

“Perfect.” Y/n flipped her wrist over to herself, checking the time on her watch. It was barely 10am, so she figured she could cram all the reading between now and lunch time “So... send that to me and meet me after lunch at... One works for you?”

To say Harry was shocked and frozen would be a lie. He was very much frozen on his spot. She wanted to meet today to talk about the project? In 3 hours? This was the furthest thing from what Harry had in mind for today. If he wasn’t equipped to deal with Louis and Liam’s shenanigans, how on earth would be ready in a mere three hours to have a one on one long conversation with y/n? The answer was simple: there was no way. But he couldn’t say no. The project had deadlines and he just couldn’t cancel because he wasn’t ready to deal with her being too beautiful for him to focus. It wouldn’t be a good excuse, would it? So he swallowed hard and gripped his notes to his chest, nodding at her.

“S-sure. I’ll meet yeh in m-my office at 1:30?”

“Perfect!”

“It’s a da- ah... Well, s-sure. ‘S all set...” Once again Harry’s knees were shaking or at least felt like it, although he did resist the urge of face-palming himself in front of her at his slip. Fuck that was close. This wasn’t a date he was settling with her, this was a business meeting with a colleague and nothing more, and Harry was beating his own brain up for letting the stupid word almost slide by without a warning. To his luck y/n didn’t seem to catch the mishap and just continued to smile at him for a few seconds longer. It was then that she bid him adieu with a quick reminder to send her the emails and walked out of the meeting room that Harry felt like he could breathe again and surely kick himself in the ass for being such a klutz.

Working with y/n proved to be a lot easier than Harry thought. They sprawled around his office and revised every detail together, taking notes and brainstorming solutions. Harry tried his best to focus on work only, knowing he’d have less distractions working on her office in the seventh floor because it meant neither of his friends were right outside the door or down the hall, and just the pressure of knowing they knew of his feelings was another thing his brain had to work overtime to block.

They had settled into a few main ideas that needed some minor tweaking here and there by the time the clock struck 4. It was time to call it a day and y/n was currently down the hall getting a snack from the vending machine – apparently the girl craved sun chips – leaving Harry alone in his office with the mess of papers he was organizing and a heavy breath. He felt like he’d ran a marathon. Y/n was too nice and pretty and smart for Harry’s heart to withstand three hours of her. Gladly she had another brief meeting to get to, or else he’s sure it would be more than three hours and he wasn’t sure he could take it. One thing he was thankful of though was the fact that somewhere in those hours they had joked a bit and his stutter had diminished. If this project could help him feel more comfortable talking to her, and advancing the friendship Harry never even thought possible, he was sure this was a win-win. He couldn’t complain. He would live through the initial butterflies on his tummy and rushed breaths. 

“The machine ate my quarter” she said coming in with a frown, gathering her things from Harry’s desk.

 “What?” It had caught him off guard and he couldn’t catch the whole sentence.

“It’s ok” she dismissed it “I’m now coin-less and snack-less. Tears” she joked, running her index finger down her cheek simulating the drop falling. “Oh well. I should be leaving. Uh, see you tomorrow?”

He was surprised. They didn’t need to be getting together so often, but if she wanted to he’d love it. Still, Harry shook his head. No matter how much he’d love to see her tomorrow, he couldn’t.

 “I’ve 5 meetings tomorrow” 

“Ouch…” she giggled. Harry’s heart leaped. “Hmm, Friday?” She pressed on. She wanted to see him on Friday even though it wasn’t strictly necessary. He had no breath to properly say yes so he just nodded with a tight smile. “Cool. We can run over what we did today and finish it off, maybe grab lunch?” Again all he did – all he could do – was nod.

Y/N said goodbye to him, pressing her cheek to his cheek, her hand resting on his shoulder as she leaned up to do so, and walked out without much thought. Without realizing the storm of teenager-like bashfulness and jelly-knees she had left in her wake.

It was shockingly easy to ignore Louis and Liam’s pestering questions, all gloriously drowned out by Niall’s pleas of “leave him alone” and Harry’s brain being too occupied on the flaming cheek she’d ‘kissed.’ As they left the office, stopping by the machine so Niall could buy a soda, the scene happened in slow motion in Harry’s head. He couldn’t wait for Friday. He couldn’t wait for more and more and more y/n, no matter how nerve-wracking the idea was right now, and no matter if it was only for work. He was happy. Giddy even. Truly smitten.

The next morning two things happened.

First, Harry found a rush of sudden confidence in his veins, and second, y/n found a bag of sun chips and a quarter on her desk that brought a silly giggle and smile to her face.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 　　 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

Feedback is greatly appreciated and it makes my day. I read every reply and reblog! Let me know what you think of this, and drop ideas for what could happen on part 3 in my ask here, if you want.

Would love to hear your input and get inspired by it as well! You get to decide how they progress!!!

Smooches

- Iv. x

Requests are still Closed for now, sorry :(

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mrspasser · 3 years

Text

Coffee & Books I - Chapter 3

This past week I've been reading up on Norse mythology. I loved the book my uncle gave me, so I scoured his bookshelves for more books and indulged myself in them every evening. There are so many stories about as many gods or demigods: Asgard must be a crowded place!

After reading so much about Asgard and its supposed inhabitants, it makes me wonder about the people that were with Thor in the lobby. They didn't strike me as regular people, were they gods too? Did Thor bring his friends to Midgard? It is fun to think about these kind of questions while working. I have this whole theory about how the man with the sunglasses is Heimdall, who watches over everything, and how the man in black is Loki the Trickster. In the illustrated book Loki was pictured with a horned helmet, dressed for battle in black and green leather. How different did he look in a suit!

Even Chad didn't spoil my daydreaming fun when he showed up again earlier this week. I was half listening to Mrs. Willow telling another story about her late husband, half thinking about Norse gods here on earth, when Chad came in. He wasn't alone, I recognized the other guy as one of his friends from work. They got a table and Chad did his best to catch my attention. Luckily, he was in Emilia's section of the coffeeshop, so I didn't have to serve him. I did have to listen to Emilia gushing about how handsome 'those two guys' were later on, but I'm used to that. Between her and Thomas there is a whole grading system to rate good looking men. Chad used to be in the top ten, but he lost a lot of points on personality after betraying me. However, I think he's still ranking high in Emilia's personal top ten. I can't blame her, Chad and his dark curls are easy on the eyes and he can be very charming. That is until he sticks his tongue down some other girls' throat. But it is easy to overlook that sort of things when you're 17 years old and blushing because he tells you you look pretty.

It's a quiet saturday morning. I am just cleaning up after a group of girls who went to yoga class before visiting Coffee & Books. They all had a yoga mat with them and every girl ordered green tea. Typical. Emilia is at work too, and Lisa is making herself busy making muffins.

"Good morning!" Thomas walks in through the front door, the bell at the door jingling, with a big box in his hands.

"Is that Thomas?" Lisa calls from the kitchen. She comes in, drying her hands on her apron. "Are those the new napkins? Let me see!"

Thomas puts the box on the counter and uses a pair of scissors to rip the tape. Lisa takes his place and opens the box. She takes out some of the paper napkins and spreads them on the counter. I look over her shoulder. She has designed the napkins to look like a bookmark, with room to write down the title of the book and its author, along with the page you last read.

"They came out lovely, Lisa!" I compliment my cousin. "They look so clever! I bet the guests will love them!"

"They sure look good. I'm very happy!" Lisa says with a big smile on her face.

Thomas takes a seat on one of the barstools and I make him a cappuccino. Lisa goes back to the kitchen and Emilia tends to a couple of guests who just entered. I chat with Thomas while putting the box with the new napkins under the counter. I take a couple out to fill the napkin holder in front of Thomas. "They look really nice, don't you think?"

Thomas nods."Speaking of looking nice, have you seen Thor again?"

I shake my head and smile. "You don't meet gods every day. I doubt I will ever see him again."

"I wonder who the other people you saw are. Captain America didn't happen to be one of them?"

"Nope. I didn't see any stars and stripes on a tight spandex suit", I joke. "I don't think they were Americans, or people from Earth even! I've been thinking about it and I came to the conclusion they must be from the same place as Thor."

"What, heaven?" Thomas smiles.

"No, silly, Asgard. In Norse mythology there are nine worlds. Earth is one of them, as is Asgard."

"You are correct, my lady Little Wolf" says a deep, familiar voice.

Just like the first time, he scares the hell out of me: I swear I jump at least a feet in the air. I had not seen him coming in and neither did Thomas, judging by his wide eyes. My heart tries to beat at a normal pace again, while I search for my ability to speak. "Good morning," I manage to say in a normal voice, much to my relief. "You caught me by surprise again, I didn't hear you come in, sir... er... your highness?" Jeesz, what do you call a god? A royal god even.

"No need for titles, my lady." Thor boomes with a smile. "We came here for a mug of your coffee and some muffins. And my brother wanted to visit the bookstore."

Just now I notice Thor is not alone. He brought the dark man with the sunglasses with him and the man in black. Thor and the man with the shades take a seat at the counter, while the man in black keeps standing by the door. He's looking around like he is at some type of exhibition, or the zoo maybe, regarding how he looks at the guests that are scattered around the coffee shop.

"Black coffee, or one of our specials?" I ask, waving my hand at the choices on the blackboard behind me.

"Just black coffee for me, please," the God of Thunder answers.

"And for you, sir?" I ask the man next to him.

"The same, please, my lady" he replies, dipping his head at me. Not really knowing what etiquette to follow, I nod back and start making the coffees. We have a big coffee maker that grinds the beans on the spot. I'm not much of a coffee drinker myself - I prefer tea - but freshly ground beans sure smell good!

Then I spot Thomas, who is signalling me with his eyes to do something. I pull up my eyebrows questioningly, while the coffee maker makes it's grinding noises. Thomas glances over to Thor and his companion meaningfully. "Your coffee, gentlemen." I put two cups of coffee in front of them. "And may I introduce you to my colleague, Thomas? He just dropped by on his day off."

Thomas almost hops off his barstool from excitement when Thor moves to face him. "Nice to meet you, Lord Thomas. I am Thor Odinson and this is Lord Heimdall, keeper of Asgard."

I was right! I turn to the dark man before me. "Nice to meet you, Lord Heimdall. We were not introduced last time."

"Indeed not, my lady. It's a pleasure to meet you again." He has a kind smile. Then he takes his sunglasses off, slowly. He looks down at his coffee and when he looks up at me again, I have to stifle a gasp. His eyes are golden, almost like they're not real. But at the same time I'm absolutely sure he can see me clear as day.

I swallow and take in his face. He is still smiling kindly and his features are soft. A bit sad even, maybe. "I can see why you wear sunglasses. It's not something you see everyday." I say softly, not wanting everyone to hear.

He nods and gives me another smile. Then he changes the subject by asking for the famous muffins. I get busy and put two muffins in front of the men. I also give one to Thomas, who is talking to Thor. I can see how he tries to be on his best behaviour, to impress the God of Thunder. The god himself seems to be happy chatting away, Heimdall on the other hand is more of the silent type, content with nursing his cup of coffee.

If I was right about Heimdall, then maybe I'm right about the man in black too. That means that Loki the Trickster is just now opening the glass door to the bookstore, to be greeted by my uncle Lars. As I'm watching I see them talk and even shake hands, like they know each other. Then my uncle takes Loki to the back of the store, where he keeps his most prized possessions in glass cabinets. Lars collects first editions and rare books and keeps them on display in the back of his store. It looks like he is showing Loki some works of Shakespeare. Loki is standing very still next to my uncle, his hands clasped behind his back. His head is tilted slightly to the left, listening to whatever it is Lars is telling him. My uncle is a tall man, but this Norse god is even bigger than him.

I don't realise I'm staring, until Lisa pokes me with her elbow. "Looks like you did make a good impression after all, the God of Thunder even comes to visit you!"

"Don't be silly." I react. "He just likes muffins."

I introduce my cousin to Thor and Heimdall and we all talk together. Heimdall is mostly silent, but Thor is really easy to talk to. He tells us that he and some other Asgardians stay at Stark Tower, as guests. And that they were introduced to our muffins by Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America.

"See! I told you he came here!" Thomas exclaims, which makes Lisa and me laugh.

When their cups are empty, I give them a refill. "It looks like we have to wait a little longer for my brother to finish up." Thor says. "My brother and his love for books..."

"Well, we are a coffee shop for booklovers", Lisa quips.

"And for lovers of muffins." Thor adds. "Can I have another one, Lady Little Wolf?"

"Why do you call her Little Wolf?" Thomas asks curiously.

"Why, that's her name, isn't it?" Thor says, and bites a chunk of his muffin.

When I see Thomas's face, I explain. "Ylva is Norse for 'little wolf'. Or 'she-wolf'. My dad's name was Ulf, the male counterpart of Ylva. They're some of the oldest names that can be found in written history."

"It's a fierce name. Fitting for a fierce lady," Thor adds, saluting me with his coffee cup.

"Oh, I don't know about that." I answer, feeling a bit uneasy under the attention all of a sudden.

"Oh come on! You stand your ground!" Lisa says with a sure voice. "Remember that one time when those lawyers from competing firms got in a fight here at the coffee shop? You stopped them and had them all calmed down in five minutes tops! Without you, I think chairs would have been flying through the shop. You have a way with people!" And off she goes, just like her mother, chatting about my positive vibes. Thomas is nodding heatedly to her story and Thor happily goes along with it. Heimdall just sits there, sipping his coffee, looking at me like he knows something.

I look around and notice how Loki has come out of the bookstore and taken a seat in one of the Chesterfields in the farthest corner. He is dressed in a tailor made black suit, with a black shirt and a black tie. His long raven hair is slicked back, just reaching his shoulders. He sits there quietly, reading, a little frown visible on his face. He has strong cheekbones, a serious look and all the black gives him a somewhat unapproachable look. Then I notice which book he is reading: it's a new copy of Hamlet, one of my favourite stories.

Just when I think about walking over to ask him if he wants something to drink, I see Emilia heading his way. The hispanic girl has her notepad ready and stops a couple of feet from his chair, I can hear her talking in a cheery voice. I can't hear what Loki says, if he says anything at all, but I can see his face, his eyes most of all. He gives Emilia a look of total disapproval, like she is not worthy of talking to him. The girl spins around and hurries back to where I'm standing, at the edge of the counter. She looks like she might cry.

"What happened?"

"He... I..." she sniffs. I reach out and rub her arm, a warm tingle going down my spine. She straightens her back, exhales a few times and then snorts. "What a total jerk!"

"I'm sorry, my lady. My brother Loki can be somewhat harsh." Thor walks up to us. Apparently he saw the whole thing. "My apologies for his behaviour, my fair lady." He even gives Emilia a small bow, which perks her right up. "Lady Little Wolf, Ylva. We'll be taking our leave. Thank you for your hospitality." Thor gives me a bow as well.

Heimdall gets up too, receiving a box of muffins from Lisa for which she gets thanked in a most courteous manner. Thor signals Loki, who gets up from his seat, taking his book with him. The three men... er... gods leave the coffeeshop and the bell at the door jingles just like it always does. My friends and I look at each other and we all start laughing at the same time.

"Now, that was something different!" Lisa giggles, clapping her hands to her face as to contain herself.

"I do love a man with good manners." Thomas laughs. "Most certainly when all those good manners are wrapped up in such a broad chest."

We spent a couple of minutes talking about how crazy it is to have a couple of gods over in our coffee shop. That's certainly something we never dreamed of! But reality calls us back to Earth. We have other guests than gods and they want a cup of coffee too. Thomas goes home and the rest of us turn back to our jobs. The buzz of having gods over for coffee wears off during the afternoon, but as soon as the shop closes, I head over to my uncle. He has just closed the door of his store and is finishing up behind the register.

"Hello dear, that was quite the entertainment this morning, wasn't it? Your aunt will be sorry she wasn't here today."

"I'm sure she'll hear all about it. For weeks at length." I reply, thinking about Thomas and Emilia who probably will have told all their friends by now. "You got a visitor too, I saw. It even looked like you knew each other." I look at my uncle, barely containing my curiosity. Emilia got a taste of Loki she certainly didn't want to repeat, but the Trickster had looked perfectly mannered when talking to my uncle.

"The prince introduced himself to me and thanked me. You know I've been sending books to Stark Tower the last couple of months? It turns out they were for him."

Really? So all that classic literature, the Greek mythology books... All for The Trickster. Or prince Loki, as my uncle called him. Thor did say his brother loved books. "What did you think of him? Emilia got on his bad side apparently, but he was more polite to you, I think?" I ask Lars.

"He was very interested in my collection of oldies", my uncle replies with a smile. "A very polite man, well-mannered. Maybe Emilia caught him of guard?"

"I don't know. Thor didn't seem surprised about his brother's behaviour. But maybe you are right. We'll see, if he ever comes again."

Read more on Wattpad and Ao3.

#loki #loki fanfiction #fanfiction #marvel #female lead #original characters #first person pov #first published on wattpad #also on ao3 #thor #heimdall #coffee and books #coffeeshop au #asgard

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remindme2breathe · 3 years

Text

Inspired and alone

I just wrote a recent entry about how I made my money. In that I mentioned a patient who inspired me. It’s been a few hours since I posted that and could not stop thinking about this notorious patient... I gotta get it out... I gotta just tell it!

We will call him Amazon (it’s the first word I saw when I looked up, sorry, I’ll try and be more creative next time). Amazon was about 82 when he landed a spot in my unit of the hospital I worked for. I’ll admit that when I first met him I didn’t think he was any more special then the 60 year old in the next room, to me, a patient was just that: a patient! The hospital I worked at has a wing for the Wealthy, I didn’t work that wing, I worked the ER right next to it. While I saw the druggies, drunks, rape victims and stabbings (the list goes on), just on the other side of the wall lived a land where the patience laid on temperpedic mattresses, had one nurse for every two patients (while in ER you take on about 6-10 depending on who’s scheduled). Everything was different, it was like coming out of a high end store and walking right into the hood! Literally, that’s how different it was. While our waiting rooms had wait times of up to 3 to 4 hours, that wing had a special phone line for these wealthy members to call and announce their arrival, at which point the linens were placed, bed available (not shared), a fruit basket for their guest to enjoy while waiting in their own private living room. Their menu was ridiculous too, ‘ridiculous’ when you compare it to the soupy salt less mashed potatoes, stale graham crackers and watered down orange juice. That wing had dinner options for the guests (up to 2), salmon, some type of roast or something else. Their water came in bottles and water glasses. The patients had to survive on a better quality diet that it typically suggested by the attending Doctor. Their were several perks to being in that wing, one being the awesome accommodations, the second, YOU WAIT FOR NO ONE. There is a Doctor available. Can’t find yours? THEY WILL FIND HIM AND BRING HIM TO YOUR ROOM. On that floor, it was said, that when a Doctor has his patient in that wing, they do not leave (they stay in a designated resting suite) because they have 10 minutes to report. This comes with a hefty membership cost. Back then (2015) I believe I heard someone say it was upwards of a 150K ‘’donation’’. Today I KNOW FOR SURE THAT DONATION IS A LOT HIGHER.

I had a friend who worked in that wing, she always complained about how BOUJEE her patients are or how demanding their guests are, I just smiled and listened. I kinda knew the feeling but had no desire to fuel her opinions, we all had problems with patients, but this is what we signed up for! While I was standing in her nurses station I noticed how many nurses would go to lunch at the same time, I was shocked. The ER was permitted one at a time, if the day was slow (which hardly happened) you’d be lucky not to eat alone. While I stood there I was noticing other tiny differences. For instance, they don’t have crash carts near by, they don’t have many assistants, in fact I think they had way more records people on the floor then actual nursing staff. As luck would have it someone started Coding. Apparently this didn’t happen often as I looked at my friend and she looked lost, as though she had no clue what to do! I yelled at her to call ER for a crash cart and to call the MD on call. I bolted to the patience room and immediately started my ER shift. Thankfully the patient pulled through and this brought great attention to the response time. Can you believe that floors director had the gull to yell at me for responding! Because it wasn’t my floor! OMG, the nerve! Needless to say she was fired for that among other things, but that’s neither here nor there. Directly across the hall was patient by the name Prime, first name Amazon (I know, I know! Next time, I PROMISE I’LL TRY HARDER!) who would one day turn into my best friend.

A few days after that happened I was given an award via the hospital for my quick thinking and whatever else they wrote on it. With that came a gift basket and a sealed envelope. I thought it was quite amusing when they said the envelope is from a patient of the hospital and they were under strict orders not to open it. They suggested playfully for me to read it out loud, to which I kindly declined. On my lunch hour I sat in my car and opened the envelope. Inside was a $25.00 gift card to starbucks <3 and a short handwritten letter from the Prime Family. They said they watched the whole event and were incredibly impressed with my quick response and ability to help. They admitted that although they do not know the family of the man who Coded, that Mrs Prime took it upon herself to let them know who saved their family member. I’ve been told that Mrs. Prime also ripped the hospital a ‘new one’ for its lack of education for the staff- I never bothered to see how that turned out. They left their phone number and ask that I call it because they had some questions for me. Of course that struck a curiosity. What could these people possibly need to ask ME? I waited a few days (no one wants to seem desperate), and oddly enough when the day came, I felt nervous.

When I called it rang exactly 5 times when a cheerful voice answered ‘Hello, This is Mrs Prime’. WHO ANSWERS LIKE THAT!!! Important people I guess. I said something lame “Hi, I got a letter asking to call?” I had nothing clever to say! REALLY!!! She giggled and said ‘’I didn’t think you were going to call! I’m so glad you did! My husband and I would love to sit and talk to you about a potential position, if your interested”. At that time I was working at the hospital, I had a decent schedule, benefits, and was established, but where there is an opportunity to grow, I will always entertain the idea. She asked if I can come by their home the very next day. At first I was a little hesitant because these are complete strangers, what if they murder me? Or what if they try to get me to play some kinky game? Ewww. Anyway, I went.

They lived in a very expensive country club in our area. I couldn’t believe it. I fell in love with just the front of their house, as I sat in my car I prayed to be kept safe and to not fk up my words! I felt I took an eternity to walk to their front door, but the walk was nice. They had a tiny river running under the walk path, fruit trees on both sides, everything immaculate! I reached the 23 steps to get up to their front door. I knocked on the enormous steel double doors. A Hispanic woman opened the door with the biggest smile on her face. For a split second I thought of that movie GET OUT, I thought GIRL IS YOUR SMILE SUPPOSE TO GIVE ME THE SIGNAL? WHATS GOING ON! She asked me to come in. Standing in the entry way really made you feel tiny. There was beautiful artwork and busts on custom built cut outs, polished concrete floors- impeccable. I was at a loss for words. The woman walked me towards a grand living room (I bet my living room would fit in there maybe 5 times! No exaggeration). They had an over-sized ivory colored sectionals (ahh, the luxuries of not having small children in the home) with light grey and cream colored throw pillows surrounding a glass coffee table. They had a small marble cheese platter, so fancy these Prime people were! Mrs Prime immediately stood up and shook my hand, and on a recliner was the top of a balding head with a sea of white hairs. She cheerfully said “This is Dr Prime” he reached his old wrinkled hand out to shake my hand, a firm grip. He was not all smiles like his wife, he was more serious. He had CNN on the lowest volume. He was not for chit-chat, he immediately gave me a short background of himself. He said he has been a Doctor for over 45 years, he explained that he became handicapped because of a bad knee surgery that could not be reversed, hence keeping him from all his social activities. He walked at snail speed and used a walker, he was embarrassed and felt like a burden to his family, he didn’t say it directly but I heard him loud and clear. He said he appreciated my professional performance at the hospital and wanted to offer me a full time position in his home. To me this seemed like such a risk! I had kids to take care of! I can’t leave a solid stable job for something that can potentially go bad. I explained my circumstance and said I was flattered and appreciated his interest in hiring me but that I couldn’t risk not having money coming into my home in the event that he fired me for whatever reason. He laughed, the kind of laugh that almost says ‘don’t be silly’. I looked confused because these are moments I only watch on movies, these things don’t happen to me. He said he will have his lawyer draw up a contract and to let him know what I want (yes, this part was a little creepy, there’s millions of nurses who know as much as I do, WHY ME!). I joked and said ‘’Dont play with me Mr Prime! I’ll ask for everything, including your walker! Then what are you gonna do!” Everyone laughed, it was at that moment that I noticed a ‘CLICK’ between all of us. Humor was his way of facing everything, a shield I often used when I’m nervous. He said he noticed that he was putting me in a difficult situation then proceeded to ask me question, “what does the hospital offer you that you feel you can’t let go of?” I said “my insurance, my kids benefit from that”. Then he asked “what about the hours you work, do you like those?” I said ‘’not really but it’s responsibility”. He then said “I WANT TO HELP YOU, and I need you to help me, we both are taking risks, you ready?” The way he delivered his words locked me in, he seemed so absolute and confident. It took me a minute to answer when he said “this is what we will do, give me one week to have my lawyer draw up a contract that will make us both happy. You can then review it and decide at that point, what do you think?” To that I did agree.

Exactly a week later, his housekeeper... no, assistant? no... right hand woman to the Mrs? no... I still don’t know what to call her, it wouldn’t even matter, because I didn’t know then that I was eventually going to take her job. Anyhow, She (oh gosh, we need to name her guys! We will call her Rosa, truthfully, I think her name really was Rosaline, or Rosemary or something like that) called and said Dr Prime would like to see me this evening, I agreed. After my shift I went to his mini-mansion and found him, his wife, and two other men in suites sitting at a round cherry wood dining table. I felt so out of place! Here I am showing up in crocks and scrubs and these people look like their about to have some fancy dinner. The house smelled GREAT! Someone was cooking, I know it wasn’t Mrs. Prime. Anyway, I went and sat across them (talk about feeling like your in the Lion’s Den). One of the men in the suites introduced himself and said he is an Estate Lawyer for the Primes and that he will be reading my contract to me. I have that contract in my possession but its LONG! So I’ll highlight the benefits.

If I took this employment opportunity I will be required to travel with the family. Certain accommodations will be available for my family in the event that the trip is more then 2 days or out of the Country. I was to receive a Vehicle to be used only for trips that Dr Prime needs to be transported. I will be responsible for all medical equipment and prescriptions in accordance with his personal MD. I am to be available to the family 24 hours a day with no days off (I know, hold on, I’ll explain), If I get sick I am to schedule an assistant and visually be of assistance from my location to ensure safety and organization. I will have access to a Credit Card for any work-related expenses (Pay attention, this gets better). In case of personal family issues, arrangements will need to be made known to Dr and Mrs Prime as soon as possible. In taking this position I will be allotted $1,000.00 in uniforms including shoes a year. This position will require me to overlook a private chef who will prepare breakfast and lunch for Dr. Prime. On Occasion I will need to ready him for social events. In the contract it stated that in case something should happen to Dr. Prime that I will have a year’s pay. There’s more but this was the gist. I was overwhelmed, THIS DOES NOT HAPPEN TO ME!!!!! They covered everything! All my worries were spoken for. I looked at Dr Prime straight in the eye for what seemed like forever. I felt like he was saying IT’S GOING TO BE OK the whole time... I signed.

I turned in my immediate resignation at the hospital and quickly went to work. One the first day he said to get my car keys, there was a beautiful black Range Rover that was to be called my WORK vehicle. I asked how this was suppose to work? Am I suppose to leave it here? He said no, you take it home, your on the clock 24 hours a day, you need it. OMG!!!!!! Then he said there was fine print that was not included in the contract but that I needed to know about- awww shit! Here we go. He said “my wife and I are snow birds, we will be here 5 months out of the year and the other 7 months we spend it in Vermont. I CANT GO TO VERMONT FOR 7 MONTHS!!! He quickly came in and said “you are only on the clock until I am settled in out there, when the time comes for me to go back, you will pack up everything, ship it, fly with me, and hand over my records to my daughter who lives out there and has an assistant to help me” He informed me that it would be like a vacation and my kids are welcome to go as well since this process usually takes about 2 weeks. He said the car can still be used because I am still on the clock according to my contract.

Fast forward a few years. Him and I became the best of friends. He was a great debater, I enjoyed out conversations. He was to me what Tumblr is now... my personal therapist. He always had great advice and truly came to care for my family, and my family for his.

There’s a lot to say about him, and I will eventually. It still hurts to not have him around. Although I stayed fairly close to his children and wife, he is a massive existence that can never be replaced. He was my financial guide, he told me how to make money that can work for me. My job was easy with him, I think the emotional part was the most challenging. Aside from his physical ailment, he suffered with depression and has mentioned not wanting to be around anymore. As a matter of fact, at one point he took some pills he knew he wasn’t suppose to have, they were his wife’s. He was rushed to the hospital, as soon as he was himself again I dropped the bomb on his old ass! What a selfish move! And not that I struggle with my own anxieties, I can understand the feeling, I wish there was more I could have done to help him with that. Side note: no, he didn’t die of suicide, it was natural causes.

In the end, when God took him home, I was home. It was about 9:30 a.m. when I got the phone call from his house, and it was his daughter crying uncontrollably. I obviously got worried and said IM ON MY WAY, she said “No, It’s not that, my daddy passed away this morning” I dropped to my knees and cried. I remember because I was in my backyard doing yard work with my kids. I remember they hugged me, I was numb for weeks to come. About two weeks later his wife called me to help her with some things. When I showed up, her kids were there too. They all hugged me and cried quietly. Mrs Prime said she needed me to fly with his remains back to Vermont because no one else had the strength to do it. I agreed. Before I left Mrs. Prime said the lawyer was going to contact me in a few days, I cut her off and said “really, I don’t want anything, he was a great friend and you all have been so kind to me” she just smiled and said it again “the lawyer will call you okay”. About 3 weeks went by and a lawyer called to come to his office. When I went he said that Mr. Prime added me to his will and requested a few things for me. 1. My vehicle keys will be surrendered to lawyer for updated vehicle. 2. I will receive pay from the Family Trust for 3 years of the same amount discussed. 3. 2 College accounts have been started courtesy of the Family Trust for my two boys. 4. All bills for my household will be covered by the Family Trust for one year. 5. A letter.

I was as white as a ghost. I definitely didn’t deserve that! The lawyer handed me a manila folder with a single white envelope that read the following:

MY TRUEST FRIEND,

I WISH I COULD SAY THAT LIFE IS EASY KID, BUT WE BOTH KNOW IT’S ONLY EASY FOR THOSE WHO REALLY WANT IT THAT WAY. I’M WRITING THIS TO SIMPLY SAY THANK YOU. THANK YOU FOR MANAGING TO MAKE ME SMILE AND FEEL ALIVE. FOR NOT TREATING ME LIKE A DYING MAN. THANK YOU FOR ALLOWING ME AND MY FAMILY ENTER YOUR HEART LIKE YOU ENTERED OURS. THANK YOU FOR NEVER LEAVING MY SIDE WHEN I WAS TOO SCARED TO ADMIT IT. I WISH YOUR BOYS SEE YOUR WORK ETHIC AND EMPATHY FOR PEOPLE AND ABSORB THAT. YOU ARE A GIFT! PLEASE TAKE CARE OF MRS PRIME, YOUR CONTRACT IS NOT OVER UNTIL SHE’S GONE. YOU WILL HAVE A FOREVER JOB HERE, AS LONG AS YOU WANT IT. THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS KEEPING ME IN YOUR PRAYERS AND FOR SHOWING ME THAT HONESTY AND NOBILITY STILL LIVES. ILL SEE YA AROUND KID! I LOVE YA!

#BiggestBlessing thisdoesnthappentome #IMISSYOUdrprime #notsocrativewiththenames

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farklelucas · 7 years

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vigilante!descendants au

you got it dude. kinda a little incredibles inspired??? idk

it’s a dumb joke, at first. of course it is - vigilantes and superheroes have been outlawed for years, not to mention that… they’re a bunch of kids. they wouldn’t even know where to start. sure, some of their parents were superheroes or villains or vigilantes before they were forced into retirement, but it’s all a joke anyway, really. they each pick out their superhero names, laughing at how silly they feel, each one of their names dumber than the next.

mal decides she’d be the enchantress, playing on her mother’s villainous alter ego and use of magic. evie would be blue queen, referring to her mother’s penchant for stealing coveted jewels. jay laughed and tossed in his own name, genie, for his father’s powers. carlos says fuzz, for his mother’s love of furs, and everyone laughs. doug claims the brain, hoping to break away from his father’s reputation for being the goofy comic relief. and ben finally settles upon taking up his father’s old moniker - the beast. (mal suggests that he be the pup, since technically he’s his father’s son, but ben rolls his eyes and throws a pillow at her.)

it’s all a joke. until…. until one of their own gets taken. evie bursts into their hangout, crying. “dizzy is gone,” she says. everyone sits up, confused and concerned, mal rushing to her side. “what do you mean dizzy is gone?” carlos asks, from his spot on jay’s lap. “she’s gone,” evie sobs, nearly collapsing in mal’s arms. “they took her.”

everyone freezes. they know who she’s talking about - a source of evil so powerful that no one dares speak their name. they’re the source of evil that the superheroes and vigilantes fought against for years, until the government decided that they could handle them and the independent villains themselves and made it illegal to take crime upon oneself, even if you had superpowers. they take children. they deal in slave trade for villains seeking henchmen. mal swallows, remembering when her own mother tried to make a deal with them.

mal swears fervently, and ben stands. “we’ll find her,” he says determinedly, and everyone, even evie, turns to look at him incredulously. jay scoffs. “how?” he asks. “it’s not like we can do anything.” ben swallows. “remember when we talked about being vigilantes?” they call a group meeting.

they sit at the round table in the center of their hangout, called that because it is not only a literally round table, but because king ben and his band of knights gather here much like former superhero, king arthur, once did. “that wasn’t a serious suggestion,” carlos says eventually, breaking the silence. everyone looks to him and he swallows. “i’m as upset as the next person that dizzy was taken, but… the government thinks they can handle it. plus half of us aren’t even superheroes. we’d just be…” “vigilantes,” doug finishes. he looks nervously around the table. “carlos is right. he, evie, and i wouldn’t really be able to do… anything to help.” “evie knows combat,” mal defends. evie, still sniffling puts her head in her hands and begins to cry anew. ben shakes his head. “you can’t think that?” he asks, and both doug and carlos say nothing. “doug, you’re the brains of the operation, and carlos, you’re the heart. we need you.”

jay pipes up, finally. “it’s not safe,” he says. “the government would catch us instantly.” “not if we don’t tell anyone,” ben says surely. jay raises an eyebrow. “you sure you can handle dropping everyone you know like that, princey? your mom and dad? because i had my parents ripped away from me.” ben swallows. “i know, jay,” he says. “i know. i love my parents. but we can’t just… sit here while evie’s sister is gone. we just can’t.”

doug takes in a deep breath, and grabs ben’s hand above the table. “i’m in,” he says. “my parents… my parents would barely notice. my father’s barely even lucid half the time. i’ll help.” “you know i’m in,” mal cuts in. “i go where evie goes, and i want to help her find her sister.” carlos and jay look at each other. carlos has fear in his eyes, but slowly, he nods. “okay,” jay says. he looks back to ben. “okay. we’re in.”

they run. they run fast, far, and they hide. evie sews them suits out of scraps from inside her mother’s old dress store. mal constructs armor based off of designs she found in dizzy’s sketchbook, of all places. doug tries his best to erase all traces of their identities. jay steals what weapons and supplies he can find. carlos takes to the streets, attempting to get any information on them and their warehouses. and ben trains everyone, teaching mal and jay to better control their magic, and teaching doug and carlos hand-to-hand combat and weaponry.

they’re small, but powerful, and within weeks, everyone across the country has heard of their team. women gossip about it in beauty salons, children tell each other stories on the playground, convenience store employees discuss it on their smoke breaks. they talk about how the enchantress is angry and vengeful, using her magic to get information out of each opponent. blue queen is sad but strong, using her daggers to pin her enemies to walls and holding blades to their throats. genie uses his own magic to push his own wills onto others, controlling their minds as easily as anything else. fuzz uses his bow and arrow, shooting at any member of them he can find. the brain is constantly setting traps and hacking them into different locations. and the beast, seemingly returned after years and years of retirement, leads them into battle. like any good king. their goal? find one girl. their mission? take them down.

#implied ships #jaylos #malvie #bendoug #descendants #katie writes #yeah this is.... a thing #so that's pretty cute #long post #kinda ben-centric which oops #didn't mean to do that but #oh well #anonymous #what kind of woman doesnt have an ask

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ruffsficstuffplace · 7 years

Text

And The AWRD Goes To... (Part 23)

The bathhouse was a very different place on Wednesday mornings. With the first years generally having it as a free day, and the upperclassmen already having sailed off all over Mistral on missions earlier or even yesterday evening, it was quieter, less crowded, and less busy.

On Wednesdays, students and staff could just relax and take their sweet time, no competition for the stools in the washing up area, the personal lockers, and the limited space in the baths. On Wednesdays, you could reflect, soak, and perform all the beauty regimes you wanted in peace. On Wednesdays, you could slow down, maybe even stop altogether, notice some things that might have escaped your attention during the rush to get ready for class.

Things like the ancient but sturdy wooden floors, carefully varnished and maintained over the centuries; the well-worn, smooth, and sturdy rocks that lined the baths; the minimal amount and unobtrusive placement of modern amenities like vending machines, and how even they were designed to look like wood or traditionally used metals like brass.

Things like the elaborate murals on the wall, depicting tranquil forests, blue skies, and sparkling lakes populated by blooming plant life, exotic animals, and divinely beautiful figures.

Things like what exactly your teammates looked like completely naked.

“How…?” Weiss whispered as she stared at Ruby, taking off her clothes and putting it in a basket.

“Hmm?” Ruby said as she laid her short shorts on top of her skirt. “Did you say something, Weiss?”

Weiss blinked, wondering if maybe this was some sort of sleep-deprived hallucination and her brain was simply superimposing Yang’s frequently bared muscles over her sister’s in a moment of confusion—their skin tones were close enough, right?

Then Ruby removed her underwear, and Weiss had to reckon with the fact that no, she did not have anything remotely close to that in her memory, real or imagined, which meant that everything she was seeing in front of her was all probably the same thing everyone else in the bathhouse saw.

“You need some help, Weiss?” Ruby asked.

Weiss blushed. “W-What? Help with--” she looked down at herself, frowned. “Oh, right, undressing, sorry—really out of it right now!” she said, blushing as she hurriedly undid the buttons of her uniform’s jacket.

“You sure you want join me down in Mistral, Weiss?” Ruby asked. “I think not getting much sleep last night and all those times you passed out earlier this week might have made you sick”

“What makes you say that?” Weiss asked as she unbuttoned the back of her skirt.

“Your face is all red, and you’re acting really weird and distracted.”

Weiss winced. “… Okay, you’ve got good points! But I’m sure a nice, long dip in the springs, then some fresh air and sunshine down in the city will go a long way to making me feel better!” she said as she pulled off her undershirt.

Ruby looked skeptical, but nodded. “Alright... but we’re definitely getting milk after, and breakfast, too!”

“Whatever you say, Ruby!” Weiss said as she put the last of her clothes in the basket, took some towels, and headed off with her to the ladies’ washing up area. The two of them sat next to each other, the space between them and the next occupied stool so great that they may as well have been alone there.

“Isn’t this really nice, Weiss?” Ruby said as she took the wooden bucket hanging off her faucet, started filling it with hot water.

“What is…?” Weiss asked, her hands trembling as she fumbled about trying to pick up her own bucket.

“The bathhouse here in Haven, silly!” Ruby said as she turned off the water, picked the bucket up in both hands.

Splash!

Ruby shrieked with delight, shook her head, and brushed some of the wet locks of hair off her face. With ever wider eyes and redder cheeks, Weiss’ watched the water drip and pour down her skin and around her well-defined and toned muscles, Weiss’ knuckles turning white from 0how hard she was gripping her bucket.

Ruby opened her eyes again, Weiss wrenched her face away, shoved her bucket underneath the faucet, fumbled about as she tried to turn it on. “The ones my family could afford were really bare bones,” Ruby said, oblivious. “It was all concrete, cheap tile, and rubber non-slip mats, and sometimes they didn’t even bother to replace them when they got broken or ripped up!

“What were the bathhouses you’ve been to like, Weiss?” Ruby asked as she picked up her hand towel.

Splash!

Weiss shrieked as she dumped freezing cold water all over herself, conking herself with the tub after her arms reflexively over her chest to hug herself. She whimpered as she started shivering, and shakily rubbed the new sore spot on her head.

Ruby stared at her, clutching her hand towel tightly and close to her chest. “Uh, Weiss…?”

“F-Force of habit!” Weiss lied through chattering teeth. “I usually just took baths in the stream by our house, where the water’s icy cold all year round!” she said as she hurriedly brought her tub back under the tap, frantically turned the hot water knob. “Great for waking up, and my whole family swears by the health benefits of freezing cold water!”

She shut off the water after the tub was full, brought it over her head, and very, very carefully poured it over herself, yelping at first until, shivering in pleasure by the end.

“So you just bathed out in the woods all the time?” Ruby asked as she put soap on her hand towel.

“Yep...” Weiss muttered as she put her tub down. “Hoshiko was a good distance away from our house, about a long bike ride through the woods, and their onsen was really small and the only one in town, so there wasn’t a guarantee that there would even be space by the time you got there.”

“Did you ever worry about Grimm?” Ruby asked as she cleaned her arms.

“Barely at all, actually,” Weiss replied as she picked up her own hand towel and followed suit. “Even before I started training for combat school, it’s hard to worry about getting attacked when basically everyone in your entire family is a huntsman or a huntress, and goes out on extermination missions on the reg.”

Ruby’s eyes brightened up at that. “Your whole family...?”

“Yep!” Weiss said. “Grandpa and Grandma are obviously teaching, though they still deploy if the Council asks them specifically; Winter’s active all over Remnant, as you already know; myself and my little brother Whitley are in-training, with him still in combat school; while my mom is officially in temporary retirement to take care of my brother, but takes care of security and missions in and around Hoshiko nonetheless,” she said, moving onto her legs now.

“Our whole house basically looks like a mix between a hunting lodge, a field laboratory, and a remote storage facility for old records and equipment, and that’s not even getting into all the exterior facilities my grandpa and grandma have built over the years, like our training grounds...”

“Can we go see your place and meet the rest of your family sometime?” Ruby asked as she soaped up a leg.

“Of course!” Weiss said, smiling at Ruby. She her mouth slowly fell open, she blushed, and quickly turned back to herself, scrubbing her skin with renewed intensity. “I mean—you know—with Akko, because we always go back to Hoshiko together, and maybe even Diana if she wants to go, to!

“Ah, it might be really cramped in the house since we already have so many people living there at once, but maybe we can just go camping outside by the stream? It’s really nice and peaceful there, and there’s already a cooking pit we can use to roast marshmallows and cook dinner, and like I said, my whole family are basically huntsmen and huntresses, so there’s little to no chance of us getting attacked and killed by Grimm while we’re sleeping!”

Weiss stopped in the middle of scrubbing her leg, now turning red from the friction. “… That didn’t come out right...” she muttered as she switched to the other.

“I’d actually really like that, Weiss—the camping, not the Grimm.” Ruby replied. “You think we can invite Yang, dad, and Uncle Qrow, too? They’re all basically training, current, or teaching huntsmen and huntresses, too, so they can take care of themselves.”

“Sure, sure! Just get your own sleeping bags, and maybe food, too—there’s only so much wild game and produce in our garden to go around.” Weiss said. “… And, now that I think about it, tell Qrow to bring his own alcohol.”

Ruby chuckled. “Oh, don’t worry: Uncle Qrow will do that, whether or not you asked him to!”

Weiss smiled, before she started working on her chest. “So, by means of deduction, I’m assuming your father’s a teacher at an academy somewhere?”

“Mhmm! Same school me and Yang studied at, and Uncle Qrow used to be a teacher for before he went back to the field: the Bunker!”

Weiss blinked, and stopped. “… Huh.”

“It’s okay: it really IS full of functional nutcases,” Ruby said. “You’d think the stories about tinfoil hats were a joke, but they’re really not...”

“Ah… I see, Ruby!” Weiss said nervously. She opened her mouth, before she quickly shut it again.

Ruby noticed. “It’s actually really nice once you get past the weirdness.”

“So I’ve read!” Weiss said. “It’s really admirable, actually, what they do in the Bunker, taking in students with all kinds of disabilities—and helping them adapt to normal life, too, I didn’t mean that in--”

Ruby put a soapy hand on Weiss shoulder, she tensed up. “Weiss… it’s fine.”

Weiss relaxed, if only a little. “Sorry… it’s just that...” she tensed up again. “… I know how sensitive those kinds of issues are, with huntsmen and huntresses, I really don’t want to cause offense.”

“It didn’t feel like you did anything wrong, Weiss,” Ruby said. “Anyway, you want to wash each other’s backs?”

Weiss blushed. “E-Excuse me?”

“You want to wash each other’s backs?” Ruby repeated. “I thought I might offer since you and Akko did it for each other yesterday, and Yang always complains when she has to do it alone.”

“O-Oh, sure, that’s very kind of you, Ruby!” Weiss said. “You know what, how about we do you first...?”

“Sure!” Ruby said as she rinsed off her towel under the tap, then put some new soap on it. “Ready when you are, Weiss!” she said as she held it out, and bent forward, smiling at Weiss.

Weiss swallowed the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat, before took Ruby’s hand towel from her, and dragged her stool behind hers. She looked at the expanse of wet, glistening back muscles in front of her, and felt herself began to sweat.

With shaking, trembling hands, she held Ruby’s towel up in both hands, and started slowly bringing it to her skin…

Meanwhile, in team AWRD’s dorm, Diana was busy at her desk, correcting factual errors, spelling mistakes, and sometimes commenting on the incredibly creative if bizarre analogies and comparisons Weiss made in her notes and drafts.

She hadn’t really been paying much attention to Akko’s experimenting on the far side of their room, adorning their wall with all manner of papers and materials from Nick’s office, but she couldn’t help but notice when Akko’s murmuring and talking to herself suddenly stopped.

Diana looked up from her scroll, saw Akko standing still and looking wary.“Is something the matter, Akko?” she asked.

“I have this gut feeling that Weiss is in trouble...” Akko said as she turned to Diana.

“Has she sent a message of any sort?” Diana asked. “I’ve got my scroll on Focus mode.”

“No, but you know what they say, when you’ve known someone for a long enough time, you can form a kind of connection with them?” Akko said. “Well, it’s like that.”

Diana nodded. “I’ve heard and read about that phenomenon, yes. Do you think it might be anything that requires immediate investigating?”

“No, not really…” Akko looked down. “I usually feel worse when Weiss is really in trouble, life-or-death bad. This is like, ‘Couldn’t or didn’t study for an important test’ sorta bad.”

“Then I suppose we can ignore it and get back to work,” Diana said as she turned back to her scroll. “Ruby is with her, isn’t she? If your instinct is correct, I’m sure the two of them can handle it together,” she said as she put her hands back on the keyboard extension.

“Hrrm… yeah, I suppose you’re right...” Akko said, turning back around to the mess of papers on their wall. She stared blankly at it for a moment, before put her hands to her head and cried, “Kuyashiiiiii…!”

Back in the bathhouse, Weiss was in a similar state of distress, but for a very different reason.

“You okay, Weiss?” Ruby asked as knelt behind Weiss, washing her back now.

“I’m fine...!”

“Really? Cause you’re suddenly REALLY tense.” Ruby paused, and looked up over Weiss’ shoulder and at her reflection on the mirror. “Oh, and your face is all red, again too... do you feel sick...?”

“Nope!”

“Alright...” Ruby frowned before she returned to washing Weiss’ back.

Soon enough, the two of them were shampooing their hair, Ruby’s sticking up in wild, random spikes from when she’d worked in the shampoo, Weiss very carefully working it down the base all the way to the tips.

“Sure you don’t want me to help with your hair, Weiss?” Ruby asked. “I help Yang’s with hers all the time, and I only need to let my shampoo sit for a while before I rinse it off.”

“Nope, nope, I’ve got this!” Weiss replied. “Sorry, Ruby, there’s only a handful of people I trust to help me with my hair—it’s really important to me.”

“Okay…” Ruby said, before she peered at Weiss’ hair, so long it almost hit the floor. “I guess you’ve been growing it out for a really long time, huh?”

“Ever since I started being in control of my haircuts! Little over a decade, if I remember right.”

Ruby nodded. “You know, I’ve always wanted to pull off long hair like yours and Yang’s, but I could just never do it—it just always got in the way of things, and I never figured out how to keep it back!”

“It’s definitely got its many pitfalls, and requires a lot of effort and maintenance beside, yes,” Weiss replied. “But, I could help you grow it out and how to fight with it, like I did with Akko! She used to cut have it cut short, too, until she decided she wanted to grow it out like mine and Winter’s.”

Ruby brightened up, before she relaxed. “Hrrm… thanks, but we probably can’t, Weiss; Uncle Qrow said every scythe wielder he knew had to have short hair because of how the weapon and all its techniques work.”

“Why not try growing it out anyway?”

“Eh, I’ll probably end up chopping it off during training again, and have to cut my hair SUPER short so it doesn’t look weird,” Ruby replied, before she sighed. “I guess I’m just going to be stuck with short hair like this for the rest of my life...” she said as she picked up her tub, and started filling it again.

“Hey, it’s not like you aren’t already pretty cute!” Weiss said.

Beat.

“I mean, your hair! You aren't—I mean, you are already pretty cute with short hair like that! It looks great on you, honest!”

“Weiss…?” Ruby asked she shut off the water.

Weiss tensed up. “Yes…?”

“You’ve got some shampoo about to run down your left eye.”

“Oh.” Weiss closed it, felt it drip over after. “Thanks, Ruby.”

“No problem!” Ruby said as she resumed lathering her hair. “Oh, and Weiss?”

“Yes?”

“You look really cute with long hair like that, too,” Ruby said. “Kind of like one of those princesses from the fairy tales that have people traveling miles and miles just to see how beautiful she is.”

Weiss made a noise.

Ruby frowned, and peered at her. “… You okay, Weiss?” she asked.

“Yes.” Weiss replied, her voice barely a whisper, her face burning red.

Ruby picked up her tub “I think you should give your voice a rest, and just spend some time soaking in the bath; I think you really are getting sick...” she said, before she rinsed herself off.

The two of them spent the rest of their time in the bathhouse in silence, Ruby humming to herself as she soaked, Weiss silently sitting next to her, taking long, deep breaths, and letting them go slowly, taking advantage of all the hot, soothing steam in the bathhouse.

“Haah!” Ruby sighed happily as she put down her empty bottle of strawberry milk on the counter. “Man, nothing beats ice cold milk after a hot bath!” she said to Weiss, smiling and unaware of the pink milk mustache that had formed on her upper lip.

Weiss tensed up. “… I hear it certainly is refreshing!” she replied, before she brought her freshly opened bottle of plain milk to her lips and started chugging it. She gasped for breath as she pulled it away, coughing as she set the almost empty glass back on the counter.

“Woah—you okay there, Weiss?” Ruby asked, reaching out to touch her arm.

“Fine!” Weiss said, raising up her other hand and stopping her. “Totally fine… okay, maybe a little dehydrated from soaking too long...”

“Hmm, we should probably get some water to go while we’re still here in Haven,” Ruby said, before she turned back to the barista behind the refreshment counter.

“On the house,” the barista said as they pulled up a four-liter bottle with a handle. “Your friend there looks like she could really use it...” they said with a sly smile.

Weiss’ eyes widened, before she glared at them, Ruby was oblivious. “Oh, hey, thanks!” she said as she took it, before the two of them made for the exit.

They picked up sandwiches at the dining hall, before they were riding the elevator back down to Mistral, Ruby at the front of a bright red bicycle, Weiss riding in the cart attached to it, sitting on a sleeping bag with an umbrella above her.

As the gears started turning and the platform started descending, an important question occurred to Weiss: “Hey Ruby, how low into the city are we going, anyway?”

“Oh!” Ruby said. “Sorry I forgot to mention, we’re going down to the lower levels; it’s the only place my family can really afford, and our budget, too, probably.”

Weiss eyes widened.

“Ah—would you rather not go that low?” Ruby asked. “I can always try finding some other stores up at the mid-sections.”

Weiss shook her head. “No, no need to, Ruby!” she said as she began to relax. “It’s been a long while since I’ve been there, and the city’s a big place, too; I think it’s a pretty safe bet that they don’t even remember me anymore.”

They did.

Note: Majority of the Bunker’s students tend to be PWDs, have learning disorders, have mental health issues, are at-risk youth, or many other traits that might make conventional education in mainstream schools like Sanctum and Atlas CA (Combat Academy) difficult, if they hadn’t already tried and found it wasn’t a right fit for their needs.

However, they also have a sizable population of non-disabled students who simply like the smaller class sizes; the atmosphere of innovation and unconditional acceptance of everything that isn’t directly, unquestionably harmful to others; and especially their emphasis on using technology to make many aspects of life easier, coupled with some of the most generous research grants at the Combat School level.

Ruby and Yang so far are the only ones who went there; Akko, Weiss, Sucy, and Jasminka were all from Sanctum (it’s a VERY big school), and the others were from overseas, or took the Hunstman’s General Competency Degree (GCD) to get into Haven.

To give you an idea at what life in the Bunker is like, a common question among professors holding practice matches for the lower levels is, “What do I need to do to give these children an equal-opportunity deathmatch?”

#little witch academia #rwby #au #and the awrd goes to #dianakko #white rose #fanfic

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