#then we can go ahead IF it's not within 3 months of moving for sure

[deadmomjokes]

Do you have any new adventures with bean?

Not so much an "adventure" as a "We all knew this day was coming, but now what do we do about it?" moment, but have the story nonetheless. (Because it is occupying my thoughts nonstop, mostly because she won't let it go.)

Picture this: It is bedtime for a young girl who historically hates bedtime. Because of this, we have done up her room with what one would consider The Works--blackout curtains, white noise machine, specifically-requested rainbow nightlight, and a brand new Big Girl Bed with a fancy headboard full of cubbies, which house her many stuffed animals/bedtime buddies.

Every night, she chooses one of these friends to sleep with (which may or may not get swapped three or four times throughout the night, because she is my child after all and indecision runs in our veins like a wild horse through a dewy morning field). This particular night, I ask "Which toy would you like to sleep with?" and she cheerfully says, "Duck."

Not a toy duck, mind you. It is a plushy cat named Duck, whom she loves very very much. Her other toy cat is named Toast. She is very good at naming things. But moving on.

She snuggles up with Duck the Cat, and I prepare to tell a bedtime story as usual. But something is wrong. In the pastel-neon glow of her rainbow nightlight, I see her eyes begin to well up. Her forehead wrinkles. Her eyebrows crease over a nose that is rapidly turning red beneath its smattering of freckles.

I am as confused as I am concerned. The protests and sorrows don't usually begin until after story time, when kisses and night-nights have been deployed. More importantly, they're usually all performative. But this is genuine sorrow.

Before I can open my mouth to ask what is wrong, she turns her watery baby blues on me and chokes out, "Mama, I'm sad."

I ask, "Why are you sad, baby?"

She looks from me, to her precious Duck the Cat, lying silent and still beside her on the pillow, and places a tiny hand on the plush, overstuffed head.

"Duck is my pretend pet cat. I'm sad because there is not a real cat." And she once more fixes me with a weepy, heartbreaking look of soul-crushing despair and says the words I have long dreaded: "I want to have a real pet cat."

Y'all, her dad is allergic to cats.

I'm not talking "sneezes and sniffles" allergies, either. I'm talking "was rushed to the ER as a child," "breaks out in full-body hives," "has full-blown reactions from simply interacting with people who have recently held a cat" kind of allergies. His allergies are so severe and sensitized that he essentially functions as radar for cat owners: hug someone and wait for the sniffles and itchiness. It never fails. There is no way this man could ever coexist in a house with a cat for longer than a few hours while doped up on benadryl, even one of the "hypoallergenic" breeds (which is very misleading and dangerous misinformation, but that's a whole other post in itself).

I mean, it's not like we can have a pet right now anyway. We live in a no-animals housing situation. We're also likely to move cross-country by the end of the year or early next, which would be difficult on any animal. I'm working on finding the right meds for my ADHD, my husband is running around to post-op PT and followups, Bean is dealing with her own specialty appointments for her gastric issues. It's just not a great time to bring in a pet. But the one-- the only one-- we could never have in our house to begin with is the one that my daughter happens to catch a Pining for at a grand 3.5 years old, which is, perhaps, the worst possible age to try and explain the many reasons we should not/cannot have a pet right now. Especially the one she wants.

The wee one knows Dad can't be around cats. That's part of why she was so sad. But the Pack-Bond Longing has officially come upon her, and she wants a pet. Really, really wants a pet.

Unfortunately, she comes by it naturally. My husband and I are both Animal People to the core. We run the Slimy Critter Rescue Brigade when it rains. Despite crippling anxiety disorders, I once skipped classes and made 3 hours worth of phone calls (as well as sacrificed my favorite handmade jacket) to catch an injured seagull that tried to take my face off multiple times. Her dad can't resist petting a cat if it comes within his line of sight even though he knows good and well it will have severe consequences. I have broken housing rules multiple times to care for injured or orphaned animals, only some of which were domestic pet species.

So it's not just her. We are all in Deep Mourning at the moment. It doesn't help that our brilliant genius child remembers the kinds of animals that Dad is not allergic to. She tells us at least once a day that she really wants to have a pet, and it is okay that we cannot have a cat in our house because Dad is not allergic to lizards/some dogs/fishes/birds/snakes/guinea pigs (that appears to be in order of desire), so maybe we can have one of those animals for a pet.

Worse, any one of us technically qualifies for an ESA to bypass the housing issue.

As the adults, we're trying really hard to be strong and think of the best thing for an animal, which does not include entering into a household in transition and likely to uproot soon.

But she's right and speaks for all of us: "I want a real pet animal to be in my house." :(

[lqfiles]

SCORE THAT GOAL! — 42. (unofficial) couple goals

(wc: 2.631 of pure cuteness tbh)

“does this look date appropriate?” you flashed the sweater in your hands in front of ningning who was barely paying attention. she hummed, still focused on the phone slotted in her hands. “you’re not even looking.” you groaned, throwing the sweater towards your bed, accidentally hitting ningning with it who finally looked up.

“you worry too much.” she threw her phone aside, seating herself more properly on your bed. “just wear somehing casual, why would jisung care?” ningning reassured you. still, your worry didn’t leave one bit. “he might not care but i do! i want to look impressive for this date.” you continued to rummage through your wardrobe.

“it’s almost 3 o clock, he can be here any time so quit worrying babe.” ningning stood up and held onto your shoulder before slightly pushing you out the way. her hands quickly moved aside the plenty of clothing hangers before she reached for a piece of clothing. “here.” without looking up, her hand shot behind her to hand you a t-shirt and within a minute, a pile of clothing was stacked in your arms.

“just wear this and those cute shoes you bought recently. hurry before jisung arrives.” ningning flipped you by your shoulders before pushing you into the direction of the bathroom. you didn’t have time to question why she was pushing you out of your shared room, you had to get ready. “i owe you my life.” you thanked as you looked down at the clothing you carried. they went well with each other, and you didn’t expect less from ningning. the perks of having a friend who designs clothing.

walking out the bathroom with your outfit, you quickly admired yourself in the mirror. “a stunner. jisung is going to drop to his knees.” ningning chuckled from behind you. the ‘ping’ noise from your phone distracted the both of you for a second. “must be him.” she guessed. you ran to your phone, reading the ‘i’m outside.’ text jisung had sent you. a quick breather in and out was the last thing you did before grabbing your coat and scarf, finally walking to the door. “wish me luck.” you yelled before closing the door.

“hey.” the familiar sound of jisung’s voice spoke from behind you, slightly startling you before you turned around to face him. “there you are.” you sighed before a shy smile grew on your face. it felt like you hadn’t seen jisung up close in months. the sight of his long black hair that slightly curled up at the and and the same black jacket he wore that time you two were at the bus stop sent a sense of nostalgia through your body. perhaps he wore it on purpose, you didn’t really want to dwell too much on it.

“i like your outfit.” jisung rubbed the back of his neck in a shy matter as he averted his eyes to the ground. your smile grew, feeling the warmth in the pit of your stomach growing. “thank you, you look good too.” you responded back and jisung scoffed out an airy laugh.

“i was going to ask jaemin to let me borrow his car but he kind of needed it, so we’ll just have to take the bus.” jisung’s shy smile turned apologetic as he slowly turned to face the path ahead. “that’s alright, should we go then?” you started to take a few steps forward with jisung following instantly. he nodded before taking a few more steps until he was walking right next to you.

“so, are you going to reveal where we’re going?” you asked, masking your eagerness with a more playful tone. jisung laughed, glancing your way before shaking his head. “you’ll see, i’m sure we’ll have fun.” he muttered the last part, confidence lacking a bit. it was jisung’s goal to make you go home and describe the day as nothing less than fun.

“the bus is almost here.” you showed your phone that you had fished out of your pocket, bus time on display for jisung to see. he looked further ahead at the bus stop to see the few people gathered. “guess we should speed up a bit.” jisung advices before the both of you started briskly walking.

“an arcade?” were the first words that left your mouth as jisung lead you to your destination. jisung’s heart dropped, sensing disappointment from your reaction. “do you not like it?” he asked hesitantly but you shut him down quickly, aggressively shaking your head at him. “no of course i like it! i just didn’t expect it, i thought you’d plan a park date or something like that. this is definitely more fun though!” you reassured him and jisung wasn’t sure if he should be glad that you weren’t disappointed, or concerned at how his heart raced a bit at the mention of the word date.

he didn’t have time to decide as you had already enter the building, leaving him to stand outside. his perplexity quickly turned into amusement as he followed you inside. the place was loud as music blared in it. jisung spotted you a few meters ahead, looking around. quickly catching up to you, jisung admired the place with you. “where do you want to go first?” he asked you, head turned to subtly admire you instead. “let’s play mario kart.” your finger pointed to the machine further ahead and jisung nodded, following right behind you.

“just a heads up, i’ve never lost a race.” you boasted as you took off your coat and seated yourself in the driver’s seat of the machine. jisung cocked an eyebrow at your statement, amused grin finding its way back to his face. “oh yeah? we’ll see about today.” he challenged you, taking a seat himself.

“oh trust me, we will.” you retorted back as you put the coin in the coin box.

“don’t you feel a bit silly right now?” you laughed while you and jisung explored the rest of the arcade. not only had you won the first race, jisung had challenged you 3 more times after that, refusing to admit to defeat. as expected, you had won the 3 races with ease, surprising jisung. “whatever, i let you win, that’s why.” he reasoned and you laughed.

“right… where should we go now?” you asked as you held your coat in your hand. despite it still being winter time, the warmth from the indoor heating, as well as the warm feeling of spending time with jisung made you grow hot quite quick within those 20 minutes. you were so focused on the way your body felt that you barely felt jisung’s nudge. “hello?” jisung called you as his face entered your peripheral vision.

“sorry, what did you say?” you asked back, growing embarrassed when you realised you had probably ignored him. jisung pointed his thumb backwards, eyes stuck on you. “i saw something at the entrance.” you didn’t need much more convincing as you gladly followed jisung who led you two to the entrance of the arcade.

you didn’t mind anything he suggested, agreeing to his offers and following him without a second thought. going from one game to another, your afternoon with jisung in the arcade was spent with laughter and a feeling of true happiness as you two felt sincere pleasure being together.

“jisung, its okay. you’re just wasting your money.” you chuckled, subconsciously holding onto his arm to drag him back. jisung didn’t budge, instead taking out another coin before inserting it into the claw machine. “just trust me, i swear i’m good at this.” you couldn’t argue back much when the game had restarted and jisung was fully concentrated as he controlled the claw.

the slight frown on his face as his tongue poked the side of his cheek had you biting back a grin. you felt lucky to see such a sight up close, and you wondered if others had seen jisung be this attractive. you hoped not.

“yes!” you flinched out of your daydream when hearing jisung’s excited cheer. you followed his hands that reached down to the drop box. “i told you to trust me.” jisung grinned victoriously when grabbing out not one, but two plushies. the two bunny plushies in his hand came in two colours and jisung stuck both his hands out to you. “which one do you want?” he asked you first.

your hand reached out for the brown plushie, leaving the grey bunny in jisung’s other hand. an amused smile founds it’s way on your face as you looked back up at jisung who smiled back at you. your hand had only moved away a few inches from his, you could still feel the warmth from it.

“you really know how to impress a girl, jisung.”

“can you stop frowning at me please?” jisung asked you, hiding the soft smile that was itching to grow on his face with a more sulky expression. it was nearing 7 o clock and you and jisung had just returned from dinner. your jaw almost dropped as he took you to a restaurant that was barely in your budget, wondering if he had mixed up his locations.

jisung refused to let you pay, instead telling you to get as much as you wanted. which had let to a little argument where you told him you’d pay him back, something he dismissed almost instantly. “i’m the one taking you here, no need to pay me back.” he had told you.

“you should’ve let me pay.” you huffed and this time, jisung did laugh. “you can’t actually be mad about this.” he leaned forward to get a glimpse of your face from beside you. you turned your head, the close proximity making you feel a type of way. “well, i am. i feel like i took advantage of you.” you sulked.

it was silent for a while and you wondered if jisung had given up on arguing with you. yet, the small tug on your arm that stopped you from walking any further told you otherwise. you reluctantly turned to look at jisung who stood behind you. “let’s say this. if you manage to score twice, you can pay back. you have 5 chances.” before you had the time to question what he meant, his head nodded towards the empty field on the side. in the distance laid an abandoned ball.

you looked back at jisung, hesitating. “of course, if you refuse, that must mean you don’t want to pay me back.” jisung egged on and you sighed. “why are you like this.” you gave in, following jisung onto the grass. jisung took a stick before scraping it against the soil. “this is the goal.” he explained before opening his jacket. “show me what you got (—)!” jisung yelled, waiting for you to get ready.

shot one. much like you expected, you didn’t shoot anywhere near the assigned goal. you watched as jisung suppressed a laugh. “genuinely, how is this fair?” you argued. “don’t give up yet, i’m sure you can do it.” he encouraged you, rolling the ball back towards you.

shot two. taking a deep breath in, you took your time to coordinate your shot this time. position your feet differently, you took a few steps back before charging for the ball and taking your shot. you felt somewhat proud as you realised this time you were much closer. “that was close.” jisung complimented you, rolling the ball back towards you.

shot three. why was it suddenly raining? “don’t get distracted.” jisung exclaimed, zipping his own jacket up at the sudden appearance of the rain. you ignored the way the rain was getting into your coat and took your shot. your breath hitched as the ball grazed jisung finger tips, but ultimately didn’t make it in. “two more chances.” jisung announced, rolling the ball back towards you.

shot four. you couldn’t tell if the rain had increased. your focus was on at least scoring once. you took a few steps back, feet taking careful steps forwards as to not trip. mud flew with the ball and you watched as it grazed jisung’s finger tips before entering the assigned goal. “that’s one! you got one more chance.” jisung clapped for you before rolling the ball back towards you.

shot five. you weren’t sure why this was so serious for you. it definitely wasn’t just about the money anymore, instead you felt like you had something to prove as you stood in front of jisung. months of training, and you couldn’t even make two goals? three steps backwards was all you took before you kicked the ball, following as your shot made a straight line into the goal, jisung barely registering it.

“i did it!” you exclaimed in disbelief, eyes stuck on the ball that was past the goal. you scoffed out a laugh as your eyes met jisung who returned a smile. he walked towards you, clapping his hands. “that was cool.” he complimented, standing in front of you. the validation jisung gave you made you more prideful than the goal itself and you thanked him.

jisung hummed, his hands reaching up to the scarf you were wearing around your neck before adjusting it. it was hard to hold back his grin that was growing as he realised it was his scarf. “you improved a lot, you know?” jisung’s hands slowly detached from your shoulders and the loss of contact made the both of you feel cold. “thanks to you and jeno, can’t believe i finally did score a goal.” you whispered in disbelief.

you may have scored a goal today, but you still have a totally different goal to score.

“i should’ve checked the weather before leaving, i’m sorry.” jisung apologised as he watched you shiver into your coat. “or at least brought an umbrella.” he continued. “it’s okay, we’re almost in our neighbourhood.” you reassured jisung who continued to eye you in worry. the rain was still pouring and by now the two of you were soaked and probably caught a cold too. jisung couldn’t help but feel responsible.

the warmth of someone else’s hand enveloping yours shook you out of yours thoughts. your head snapped to the side, noticing jisung’s hold on your right hand. your heart rate increases as you watched jisung lift your hand up to his lips. you sucked in a breath, waiting for his next move. you watched as he softly blew out air from between his lips, distributing it across all of your hand.

you couldn’t tell if his attempt at warming your hand up was why you felt so hot, or if the intimate act itself had you heating up. he continued his act as you two walked, occasionally rubbing your hand with his. the whole time, you stayed silent, giving him your consent by keeping your hand in his hold.

“here” jisung said, placing something in your hand before carefully dropping it. looking at your hand, you noticed the black gloves that were placed in your hands. you looked back up at jisung, surprised. “aren’t you going to be cold?” you asked and he shook his head. “it’s okay, i can deal with a little cold. put them on.” jisung instructed.

his gloves were warm and smelled just like him. you swore you were starting to get dizzy from all this. the sudden affection he displayed in the past 3 minutes had you wondering if this was a dream. and if you were sure it wasn’t, the sudden feeling of his slender fingers hesitantly holding onto your hand before fully interlocking it with yours definitely made you doubt everything.

you had to be dreaming.

previous — master list — next

notes ; lengthy chapter but it’s worth it i swear… HAPPY JISUNG DAY #오늘_지성이_생일이니까_행복하장 #DreamingWithJisung

TAGLIST ; @rksbae @222brainrot @severefireangelprune @violetvoo @prdshobi @kikookii @haechansbbg @en-dream @bbxnny-bbxtch @cvpidxo @jaeminslattes @90s-belladonna @softieluvsyou @wenjunblossoms @be0mluver @jeongintwt @myhaechan @love1again @ckline35 @cassie6392 @hibernatinghamster @starboys-gf @rllymark @mfaal @snflwrhaerecs4u @sunflowerbebe07 @ahnneyong @enhalovie @galacticpurpl3 @manooffline @luv4jeno @mikadorbs @1moo7 @ksywoo @ohdudehesflirting @savluvsmingi @finnydraws @invumi @crvzy-fujoshi @peterparkerluvvbot @hrjunluvs @i2kittenz @jisungji @http-peachie @jisyng @sweetcandycum @giaccolo @shotaroswifeyily @sinsgaybutthatsokay @be-my-sunrise @syzavxy @kyusqult @mxlly143 @o-schist @bigjishirt @snuglyjwi @hyunniesvlog @shuaadmirer

[ciaonicole85]

Waiting on my AO3 invite. Here's a one shot Sydcarmy story. Canon compliant. Post season 2. Please excuse the grammar/spelling mistakes. I need season 3 to get here quickly!

Title: Won't You Be My Neighbor

It was her break and for the 89th time in the last three days Sydney reassessed the apartments within 15 minutes walking distance from The Bear. As CDC she no longer wanted to depend on the train should there be some kind of accident, strike, or weather event. There were three that she could afford on her own and many more options if she were willing to become a roommate. She wasn't. If inspiration for a recipe struck her at 2am she wanted to get up and cook if she wanted. She loved the freedom of walking around naked after a shower, picking out her clothes or getting a snack. Most of all she missed turning up her music and dancing like an inflatable tube man in private.

She had sent a message to each leasing office to schedule an appointment next Monday and two of the three had confirmed a 10a and 11a showing. It had been more than 48 hours since she messaged the third so she called. The leasing agent informed her that the specific unit she wanted was no longer available, but they had a gorgeous 2 bedroom for $3800 a month if she was interested. "Okay, now that's just two options" Sydney muttered after getting off the phone.

"Hey mija, what you looking at?" Tina asked sitting down to eat lunch.

"Just apartments. I finally have the funds to move" Sydney answered with a sigh.

"What's wrong? Aren't you happy to be getting out on your own?"

"Oh, yeah for sure. It's just I'm really picky"

"Well, it doesn't have to be forever. Just make sure to read the reviews. You don't want roaches or bed bugs".

"Oh, I can't stand bugs! My dad still has to kill them for me, but I better get a fly swatter and spray now that I'll be on my own soon."

Break was over and Sydney stood up to resume her duties. First she needed to talk to Natalie about the upcoming private party. A celebrity had reserved the entire restaurant next Thursday evening. The names of all staff members on duty that night had to be submitted ahead of time with signed NDAs. It was all happening so fast and The Bear's debt was likely to be paid less than a year after opening. First there had been a Grio article about her being a rising black chef. That led to Keith Lee, the TikTok restaurant reviewer, raving about his to-go order that included the T-Bone and the Michael cannoli. It went viral and suddenly, they were booked for the next three months with a waiting list. She was working harder than ever, getting paid pretty well, and she deserved a place of her own.

After talking to Natalie, she found Carmy working on her prep.

"Hey, thanks! I can take over that now if you want"

"Actually….it's done. I wanted to take you somewhere for like 30 minutes" he said finishing up and cleaning the station.

Sydney folded her arms, her eyebrows raised high.

"Okay, where are we going?"

"I know you've been looking for a place and I think know the perfect apartment for you. Just a 10 minute walk from here. The landlord gave me the key so I could show you today" Carmy said trying to sound casual, but a deep pink flush rose in his cheeks.

"Why is he being weird?" Sydney thought but simply said "Okay, that's dope."

The Chicago air was soft and warm, the clean sunlight making everything look new. Summer afternoons like this made you forgive the brutal winters here. Carmy directed Sydney when to turn left and right, but refused to tell her where exactly they were going. Soon they were standing in front of his building.

The reason for his weirdness was now perfectly clear to Sydney and she felt so flattered that she had to avoid looking at Carmy when she said "So, there's an open unit in your building?"

"Uh, yeah. The people who lived just above me moved and I, uh, thought you might want to see it".

The apartment was on the fourth floor. Carmy unlocked the door and let Sydney go in first. The walls were freshly painted in "Cloud White" and the oak hardwood floors creaked comfortably under their feet. The layout was the same as Carmy's apartment with plenty of windows to let in natural light and a shockingly large kitchen for a 1 bedroom place in Chicago. As Sydney inspected the appliances and bathroom, she decided that if the rent was going to eat up even half of her check it was worth it. She had always admired Carmy's spacious apartment and with her sense of style she could make hers, a cozy bohemian oasis filled with plants, wall art, and actual furniture (eventually).

Carmy had let her roam around in silence for a few minutes, muttering and emitting tiny sounds of joy to herself. When she met him in the living room again, he said trying not to grin too widely, "If you like it, it's already yours."

"How? I know places like this are snatched up fast" Sydney said her eyes finally able to meet his again.

"The landlords, they're a couple, and their 20th wedding anniversary is coming up. They want reservations at The Bear." Carmy explained, desperately hoping to sound nonchalant about it.

"Oh, that's nice work, Carmy."

Then Sydney squealed and cried "This is just what I wanted!!" and she flung her arms around his shoulders in a wild hug. Carmy commanded his body not to shudder as he hugged her back. She was just wearing a t-shirt and without her usual layers of clothing he felt her delicate frame, her slim shoulder blades imprinting on his fingers.

In a moment Sydney pulled back shly and let her arms fall to her sides, her face burning. She made a mental note: Hugging Carmy. Not a safe activity for those who want to cook along side him using sharp objects or sleep peacefully at night dreaming innocent thoughts.

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" Sydney said taking another step back and making another turn around the room.

Carmy nodded and concentrated on not melting into the floorboards.

"You're okay with this? We already spend 60+ hours together at the restaurant every week and now I'd be in your building! And literally living on top of you."

"Yeah, well, I want you to. You deserve everything you want, Syd."

"Then I'll take it! Just a warning though. If you hear someone belting out Kpop and an occasional thud, that's just my weekly one woman concert, which will be over no later than 10pm. I'm not being murdered."

Carm was no longer unable to contain the width of his smile. This girl is so cute, his body physically ached. How would he get through service tonight?

With a happy shake of his head, he replied, "Thank you, for the heads up!"

With that Sydney marched towards the door and exclaimed "Take me to your landlord!"

Carmy floated behind her.

Cue: Maxwell's "Whenever, Wherever, Whatever"

[haechaninmyheart]

make it fit again

the image does not belong to me. credits to the original owner.

summary - it’s been two months since that incident and haechan can’t stop thinking about it. neither can you, if you’re honest and you find yourself in a similar situation once again but this time, your friends don’t just listen.

pairing - best friend!haechan x f!reader ft renjun, jaemin & jeno.

genre - smut, non-idol!au.

word count - 4.7k.

warnings - haechan thinking horny thoughts, kissing, hair pulling, oral (receiving & giving), fingering, swearing, face fucking, 69, overstimulation, multiple orgasms, squirting, fivesome/orgy, anal, handjobs, slight nipple pinching, manhandling.

author’s note - part 2 of make it fit. i changed minor things because it didn’t make sense to me but overall still the same! happy reading. 💖

18+ content ahead, so minors don’t interact!!!

. . .

It’s been two whole months since that incident, the whole Haechan forgetting to switch his mic off before fucking your throat and while it was a hot topic within your group, most of your friends drop the teasing after a few days. 

Though Haechan doesn’t. He can’t stop thinking about the way his cock bulged in your throat, the way you moaned his name and if he’s honest, he’s been jerking himself off to the image in his head for weeks. Of you on his bed and sucking him good, so good. 

He can’t believe he’s thinking about it again, in the middle of his lecture class as his professor gives the class feedback about the research project that had been submitted last week. Exams were just around the corner and truth be told, Haechan hadn’t been studying enough for them. 

Soon the class is over and he gathers his stuff but before he can leave the lecture hall, his professor calls his name. 

Fuck, had he taken notice of him not paying attention?

“Yes?” 

“Your project…” The professor holds up a few stapled papers in his hands. “It’s great, really interesting to read. Hope you can keep up this level of effort for the exam too, okay? Don’t zone out during the actual thing.” 

Haechan laughs it off, nodding in agreement before heading off to the library. You’d planned to meet him there with the rest of the group, just to study for the upcoming exams and when he gets there, Jeno and Jaemin are sitting across from you. Renjun is nowhere to be seen as of yet, so he slides himself into the chair next to you, moving your bag onto the floor before greeting the three of you as he opens up his laptop.

“Where’s Renjun?” He asks after bringing up the notes the professor had shared to catch up with the lecture he just had. 

“Lab.” You reply, looking up from your textbook. “He said he might be longer than planned, he’ll meet up for lunch though.”

“You should check the group chat’s messages.” Jaemin raises a brow at Haechan, a slight smirk present on his lips and Jeno laughs before being hushed by a nearby librarian. 

“Shut up.” But Haechan can’t help smirking either and you feel your face heat up, opting to pretend you never heard Jaemin or even look up. Haechan throws a sideways glance at you, once the two in front have returned their focus back to their work but you’re so concentrated on your work, you don’t take notice. 

You’ve managed to complete most of the questions in your textbook when Renjun sends two messages to the group chat. One complaining about 3 broken flasks and another saying he’s making his way to the library. 

“Renjun’s on his way.”

“Finally.” Jaemin breathes out, stretching in his chair before actually getting up and Jeno follows. Carelessly shoving his textbooks and other belongings into his bag but you take your time, making sure you don’t mess up the order of your notes as you neatly organize everything in your bag. 

—

It seems that the restaurant you five had plans to eat at this afternoon was rather busy and getting a table wasn’t going to be happening any time soon. “Out of all the days we come here.” Jaemin groans, resting his head on Jeno’s shoulder in a dramatic manner and Haechan has decided he can no longer wait in the long queue. Already dragging most of the group out the busy place with the promise of paying for take out and so you all begin the walk back to Jaemin and Jeno’s shared apartment. 

Renjun’s the one being assigned the job to go pick up drinks after a quick game of rock, paper, scissors and you four wait back at the apartment. “Shouldn’t we wait for Renjun?” You ask, clearing up the table in the living area when Haechan’s already begun eating and Jeno has an idea.

“Why don’t we play a little game of ‘never have i ever’ while we wait?” 

“Sure.” You shrug, falling onto the couch next to Jaemin and Jeno starts first. 

They’re innocent at first, nothing too much until it’s Jaemin’s turn once again. “Never have I ever…” He turns to look at you, a sly smirk present on his face. “Fucked one of my best friend’s whilst on a call.”

Both you and Haechan lower a finger, and Jaemin is too pleased with himself. 

“You probably enjoyed listening to us.” Haechan comments and you pressed your lips together, trying to remember if you were really that vocal. You were sucking Haechan off most of the time so you really couldn’t have been that loud? 

It was enjoyable, really, and if it wasn’t going to ruin the relationship you had with Haechan, you’d do it once again. You think Haechan feels the same way, well, you hope he does and for some reason, when it’s your turn, you don’t even think before speaking. “Never have I ever wanted to fuck my best friend once again.” 

You lower a finger, eyes looking at everything else but in Haechan’s direction and for a moment the room’s silent. Fuck, you should’ve kept quiet about that. Just then, the door to the apartment swings open and Renjun’s back with a bag of cans. 

“You waited?” Renjun’s in awe and you clear your throat.

“Ye-yeah, let’s eat.” 

Whatever you said before Renjun swung open the door is pushed at the back of the boys’ minds and you’re thankful none of them bring it up during the meal.

—

“Rock, paper, scissors?” 

“I’m out, I brought drinks so it’s only fair.” Renjun says as he leans back on the couch and pays no heed to what his friends choose but instead the tv screen. He didn’t have one at his own dorm yet, his room wasn’t big enough but it was enough to get by. He was here to study so he needed to focus on that, but breaks were important too. 

“Unlucky.” Jaemins groans with a smile when you lose and you begin to pick up the rubbish quickly to not miss anymore of the movie. 

Haechan is still drinking from the can in his hand when you get up to go to the kitchen and he follows moments after, to put it in the bin but also to-

“Hey, about earlier-”

“Yeah, about that-” You can’t look him in the face as you mumble. “Sorry if it made you uncomfortable or anything.”

“No, no, no.” He is fast to protest, wanting to reassure you that you weren’t the only one who felt that way and he’s confident that you didn’t notice him putting down his finger when you spoke. “I… I’ve been thinking about it a lot too and…” His eyes wander back to his friends, checking if any of them had noticed his absence in the living room and Jaemin seems to have.

“I’d do it again.” He mutters, dropping the can in the bin before returning to his seat on the sofa. 

You’re left in the kitchen, dumbstruck and all you can do is think about him fucking you. Making you take his huge length, oh god. 

Did that mean he enjoyed it- Well, of course he did. That was obvious by the way he was whining and groaning as you sucked him off, but enough to do it again? 

—

You can’t seem to get Haechan off your mind. Well, what he said actually and it doesn’t help when there’s a rather… steamy scene between two of the main characters getting it on in the shower. You gulp, eyes wandering over to Haechan and you can see his jaw tensing as he’s absorbed by the scene playing on the TV. 

All the boys are. As the camera moves to capture the woman on screen arching her back off of the shower wall, hands most likely intertwined with her partner’s roots and moaning like she’d never been tongued down before, you imagine yourself in her place. Haechan being the one kneeling on the shower floor. Just then, your phone buzzes in the back pocket of your jeans and when you check for the reason, it’s a message from Haechan.

‘Come to the bathroom door in 5 mins’.

As you’re reading it, Haechan gets up and excuses himself to the bathroom. Your eyes follow his figure and he has a slight smirk on his face, intended for only you to see before disappearing into the hallway.

You quickly take note of the time 4:53 p.m. 

Which meant you’d get up at 4:58 p.m. Okay, okay.

You try to focus back on the movie but it’s no use, you can’t help but check your phone every few seconds and as soon as your phone displays 4:58 p.m., you jump out of your seat a little too quickly, startling the boys in the process. 

“I just- Bathroom, I’ll be right back...” You awkwardly excuse yourself, biting your tongue once you step into the hallway and mental scolding yourself for being so horny. They are sure to catch on now so whatever Haechan has planned, you’ve got to be quick.

You knock the bathroom door and Haechan immediately opens it, as if he’d been standing there the whole time. “So-”

He takes a step forward and you think he’s about to kiss you when-

“Jaemin’s room, Jeno would rip my dick off.” He whispers and you look at him with disbelief. 

“Why Jaemin’s?” You argue in a quiet tone and Haechan asks if you’d rather it be Jeno’s. “How about, neithers?”

“Living room then? I don’t mind fucking you on the coffee table in front of-” Haechan smirks as he closes Jaemin’s bedroom door as quietly as he can and you give in, taking a mental note to let Jaemin know to change his bedsheets later on. They didn’t match the wallpaper.

“Been thinking…” He’s inches away from your face, his hands coming up to take hold of the edge of your hoodie and tugging it off, with your help. “About,” He places his index fingers through your belt loops, once your hoodie’s been thrown on the floor and pulls you closer, both your hands landing on his chest “...last time.” He’s centimeters away from you, both your bodies pressed together and then, finally, he kisses you. 

You’ve been kissed before, but by no means are you a professional kisser, so you let Haechan guide you. He always knew what he was doing anyways, tilting your head to the side as he backed you towards the Jaemin’s bed.

“What last time?” You fall on your ass, a cheeky grin planted on your lips and Haechan gets on top, pushing you back even further until he’s able to easily cage you in his arms. Returning his lips against yours, he blindly reaches for both your arms and pins them both above your head. 

“Guess I’ll have to remind you then, eh?” Leaning down, he undoes the buttons of your jeans and then the zipper, not even bothering to take off your jeans as his digits slide in. His hand cupping your heat inside of your jeans and giving it a tight squeeze over your pants. 

You whimper and it’s enough to get him hard. The steamy shower scene in the movie earlier did not have nearly as much of an affect on him like the noises you made did. 

“You took my cock so well, ___.” He mumbles, moving his lips down to your neck and continues his kisses as he moves his fingers over the soft fabric. “Wanna fuck your throat again.” He groans, moving his lips to your chest and wrapping his hand around your neck like he did last time he fucked you. “So good.”

Moments later, he’s tugging your jeans off along with your panties and pressing his boner against your bare core as he goes for your bra. You whine again but this time even louder and he’s quick to tell you to tell you to keep it down.

“Look what you’ve done.” Haechan yanks you up by your hair so you can see the wet spot on his jeans and whispers. “That was you, baby.”

There’s that nickname once again.

He lets go of your hair and your eyes follow him as he moves around to your head, his knees on either side. Undoing his own jeans before pulling out his erection, he rubs the precum down his length and your mouth waters as you look at it. You swear it’s bigger than you remember or maybe it’s gotten bigger. 

“Want it?” He asks despite knowing the answer and you’re eager to please him, opening your mouth as you take in his tip. Your tongue swirling around it and sucking it in a teasing manner. The fabric of his jeans rubs against your forehead and you’re disappointed he’s still dressed, wanting nothing more than his balls to be pressed up against your face. 

Haechan watches you as you take in more of his dick, one of your hands making their way to your core whilst your other hand rests on your thigh. Two of your digits dipping down into your hole as you attempt to pleasure yourself too.

Trying to get off yourself? Why didn’t he lend you a helping hand? Or heping tongue, rather?

Haechan leans over, pushing his length further into your mouth and pushes both your hands away, planting his own on the outside of your thighs as he dips his head. The bottom of his tongue moving over your clit and you shiver at the strange sensation, momentarily forgetting about the cock in your mouth. 

“Feels good?” 

You hum around his length, making his brows knit in pleasure and he thrusts himself even further in your mouth, cock tickling the back of your throat. You swallow around his dick, any moans and whines muffled as Haechan’s tongue moves down your folds.

You’ve seemed to have truly forgotten that you’ve got his cock brushing the back of your throat, your mouth idle and Haechan decides to take matters in his hands. Pulling out and letting you take half a breath before filling your throat right back up once again, tongue still working it’s magic over your heat.

He’s fucking your face and eating you out. It’s all too much yet not enough, you’re climax beginning to build up and you can’t breathe properly with such a huge dick fucking your throat without mercy. 

You manage to move your hand up to his waist, pushing him away and ruining your own orgasm as well as Haechan’s. Your chest heaving as you take large breaths and he apologises.

“You’re so, fucking big.” You manage to choke, after controlling your breathing and he laughs. 

“Oh, I know.”

But what he doesn’t know is what you’re going to do when you roll onto your stomach and elbows digging into Jaemin’s mattress as you reach for his dick.

“What-”

“Still want it.” You look up at him with the tip of his length in your mouth, softly sucking it and Haechan groans, throwing his head back. You work your way down his length, spit drooling down the sides of your mouth and once you can take more than half of it, you place both hands on his thigh. Sinking your head even lower, your nose brushes against the little dark curls and Haechan tries to bite back a moan. 

But he can’t.

“Shit.” He curses right after, mouth hanging open and you hug his waist like you did the first time. Keeping your head where it was, you push down the urge to gag as your throat tightens around him which makes him whine. “I’m close.”

You grab onto his hands, guiding both up to your hair, lacing them through your roots, as you begin to move your head once again and Haechan understands. 

“Face fuck?” 

You nod as best as you can.

“Little ___, wants to get face fucked.” He chuckles. “What a whore.”

This earns him a slap on his clothed stomach and then you remember, he’s still not undressed yet so you decide to change that. You push up his top to reveal his stomach and as far up to his chest as you can, with the position you currently are in.

“Off?”

Another nod.

“Okay.” He replies, delivering a rather harsh thrust into your face as he pulls it over his head and you let out a rather annoyed noise. “Oh, sorry.” He returns his grip on his hair with a grin on his face, his fingers intertwined through your roots and gentle at first but as his climax nears, he can’t help but be rough with you.

Soon your elbows start to get tired and Haechan takes notice, flipping you back on your back, his hand jerking his cock so his climax didn’t disappear for the second time before sliding back into your mouth. In this position he can see his own cock bulge in your throat and it’s such a mesmerising sight. 

When he cums, it’s right in your mouth and you’re sure to take in every last drop of his cum. His cock stays in your mouth as you do, until he decides to pull out. Overstimulation in this position wasn’t ideal, he didn’t want his knees giving in and him falling on top of you.

There’s some cum smeared on your cheek and he’s sweet enough to swipe it with his thumb, bringing it up to your lips. You happily take his thumb into your mouth, swirling your tongue around it and Haechan coos over great of a job you’ve done. Now that you think about it, he looks funny from this angle. 

“Your turn.” Haechan gets up from Jaemin’s bed to remove his jeans and boxers. 

“Finger me first, okay?”

“Afraid Haechan junior won’t fit?” 

“Haechan jun-” You throw him a judgemental glance. “Why?”

“Why not?” He shrugs, throwing his clothes on the other side of the bed, next to where he’d thrown yours.

“Because it’s weird?” 

“You’re weird.” He comments, falling down next to you on the bed on his side and his fingers trace over your folds. 

You push back one of his legs, resting your head on his thigh so that you are comfortable too as he continues to tease your heat. You bring up one leg, spreading your legs before realising how close you were to his cock. 

He’s soft now, well semi-soft and you can now clearly see it. His dick rests nicely against his thigh and you think about all the times you’ve hugged Haechan before, thinking he was hard when he’s been hauling around such a large package in his boxers. 

Haechan is watching you as you stare at his dick, his lips curling up and he applies some level of pressure to your clit with his thumb that you licked, making you snap your legs together. 

“You’re mean too.”

“You like it though.”

—

Haechan is able to finger numerous orgasms out of you as if it were a simple task when you struggle to give yourself just one some nights. Back to towering over you, his tongue and fingers attacking your core as you arch your back off the bed. Haechan has got his other hand over your mouth to keep you quiet and you’re drooling all over the inside of his palm. 

When he asks you if you’re ready to take his cock, you’re too lost in the pleasure to reply and he has to slap your cunt to get your attention. “Huh?” You gasp, looking up at him with teary eyes and he further tilts your head back by your jaw. 

“Ready to take my dick?” He asks, massaging your folds and you gasp once again, your head resting against his bare chest. It’s more comfortable in this position and you’ve got both your hands around his wrists. However when you are about to reply, the bedroom door swings open revealing the three others who were sitting in the living room, supposed to be enjoying a movie but that no longer seemed the case, and for whatever reason, neither of you move.

“I think ___ lost her way to the bathroom.” Jeno jokes in a light hearted manner but poor Jaemin doesn’t find it all too funny.

“I think she went right there.” He’s staring at the wet spots by your legs, on his bed and you’re quick to defend yourself, rather offended to be accused of something like that.

“No! No, that’s-”

“She squirted.” Haechan speaks, pushing apart your legs for all your friends to see how wet you were and it’s almost embarrassing, if it weren’t for the fact that they were staring at you hungrily. He traces his fingertips over your hole before sinking a digit inside you and you seem to get more aroused by being watched. “Wanna see?”

Renjun, who is next to Jaemin, can’t seem to hide the growing tent in his pants and Haechan teases him on the spot. Both Jaemin and Jeno look at the eldest and he attempts to hide the evidence, cheeks going pink out of embarrassment. 

“Wanna show them?” Haechan whispers, his fingers moving inside you and over that spot yet again. 

You nod, your eyes half lidded as you close your thighs around his hand but it doesn’t stop him from fingering you, especially when he asks who you want first. “Shouldn’t Jaemin…”

“You want Jaemin first?” Haechan takes the words right out of your mouth and the boy named is all too happy to be chosen first. Well, second after Haechan. 

It was only fair, the two of you were on his bed and although the boy isn’t too happy you’d been at it on his bed, he doesn’t point it out when he gets to join. 

You watch Jaemin reach for his bedside drawers, pulling out a condom, of which the corner he slides into his mouth as he goes for the zipper of his jeans and Haechan manhandles you back on your back, his own cock ready to slip back into your mouth for another round of face fucking. He still can’t get over how it bulges in your throat, the mental image getting him hard once again, and thinks he probably will never get over it either.  

“What about us?” Renjun speaks, sounding a little heartbroken. 

“I only have two holes.” You mumbles, welcoming Haechan’s length back into your mouth and he gives you a wicked glance.  

“Well…” 

—

You’ve never felt so full. Apart from the first time Haechan fucked you, you really haven’t and right now, you’ve got three dicks inside you. Renjun’s in your mouth, muffling all your noises, Jaemin’s cock is brushing over your g-spot and Haechan is trying to ease his length into your ass. Lubed up with your spit and some lube laying in Jaemin’s bedside drawers, it’s made it easier than going in dry and he’s halfway right now.  

You’re stroking Jeno’s length with your left hand whilst the other helps to hold up your thigh as Jaemin and Haechan thrust into you. Jeno also has a hand wandering over your chest, pinching your nipples when your hand slows down and you whimper everytime he does. The boys are towering around you and you can’t believe you’re doing this with your closest friends.

You wonder what it would be like if Mark was here too, but unfortunately you get to ponder over that thought for long. Your brows scrunch up and you can feel something build up inside of you again, but it doesn’t feel exactly like an orgasm.

Moving your mouth off of Renjun’s length, you replace your hand over it, letting Jaemin hold it up and now, you’re able to moan as you please. “Wait…I’m- I’m,”

“Close?” Jaemin asks, his thrusting suddenly getting harsher as he rammed himself into your wet hole, momentarily keeping him then so you clench around him as well as Haechan’s, and you let got of both cocks in your hold. 

Renjun watches your eyes roll back in pleasure, Jeno moving his hand from your chest to your clit and you arch your back off the bed, nearly screaming as you squirt for the second time, all across Jaemin’s torso.

Though Jaemin doesn’t have much time to process that, his own orgasm brought on by your hole convulsing around his cock like mad. Poor boy ends up nearly falling on top of you, crying out as his dick gets overstimulated by you and he finally pulls out when it begins to hurt.

Wincing he falls back on his bed instead, cock gone soft against his thigh and Haechan grabs onto your hips, crashing his head back on Jaemin’s pillows. You are back to resting your head on him as he spreads your legs with his own, making sure you won’t be able to close your legs around the next person. 

“Junnie…pussy’s yours.” Haechan draws small circles over your clit, remembering to be gentle as he pushes his length up into you and Renjun grabs a condom, sliding it down his length before thrusting into you. 

Despite having taken Jaemin already, you feel tight to Renjun as he thrusts into you. Both his hands on your waist and you look at him through half closed eyes, a broken whimper falling from your lips as he picks up his pace. 

Jeno, not wanting to be left out, moves your hand over his dick and helps you jerk his own cock. The image of his cum shooting out and down the length of your arm has him rolling his head back, biting his lower lip.  

When you clench around Renjun, he moans but still manages to maintain his pace inside of you. “You close, ___?”

—

You seem to be climaxing at every other thrust, your body trembling with pleasure under Haechan’s and you’re so fucked, that you’ve lost sense of your surroundings. You feel something prod at your lips and you open your mouth without a second thought, two digits pushing past your lips and you don’t even have the energy to look up to see who they belong to.

You hear them coo over how fucked out you are too, before repalcing their digits with their cock and you begin to suck, mindlessly too. Whoever it is, their length is big enough to muffle your moaning but then again, all the boys seemed to be blessed with cocks long enough to rearrange your insides with one thrust.

They aren’t all that gentle but they aren’t harsh either and soon you feel hot release fill up your mouth too, before whoever it was moves back. You let your mouth relax, not bothering to swallow the release as Haechan rams his cock inside you.

With a final thrust from Haechan, he’s cumming inside you. Finger tips digging into your hips as he cries out, you’re surprised he’s got the stamina to out do Jaemin and Renjun. When he pulls out, his release drips out your convulsing hole and down to your pussy. He delivers a light slap to your folds before massaging them with his fingers and his cum.

The rest of the boys can see the mess he’s made, in the position you’re in with your ass up and face down. Haechan presses a kiss on the side of your lips, avoiding Jeno’s cum that’s dripping out your mouth as you give him a tired smile. 

“Alright, whores get out!” Haechan moves you on your back once again, grabbing a tissue from Jaemin’s bedside. The boy seemed so prepared, keeping everything within an arm's reach of the bed and you feel Haechan dab at the corner of your mouth.

“But-”

“But what?” Haechan argues back with Jaemin, tossing the cum stained tissue at him.

“...this is my room?”

“Okay, fair enough, you can stay but you two,” 

Jaemin disposes of the tissue before crawling next to you on the bed and lays his head next to yours on the pillow. 

“Sorry about your sheets.” You apologize after swallowing the cum in your mouth whilst the three other boys bicker in the background.

originally posted on ‘jaesspresso’ but i no longer have access to that blog.

© haechaninmyheart — all rights reserved. reposting or modifying of any work posted on this blog is not allowed (including translations).

[dandelionrevolution]

I’m not sure how reliably I’ll be able to keep up with it, but I’ve been wanting to start posting weekly or monthly Good News compilations, with a focus on ecology but also some health and human rights type stuff. I’ll try to keep the sources recent (like from within the last week or month, whichever it happens to be), but sometimes original dates are hard to find. Also, all credit for images and written material can be found at the source linked; I don’t claim credit for anything but curating.

Anyway, here’s some good news from the first week of March!

1. Mexican Wolf Population Grows for Eighth Consecutive Year

““In total, 99 pups carefully selected for their genetic value have been placed in 40 wild dens since 2016, and some of these fosters have produced litters of their own. While recovery is in the future, examining the last decade of data certainly provides optimism that recovery will be achieved.””

2. “Remarkable achievement:” Victoria solar farm reaches full power ahead of schedule

“The 130MW Glenrowan solar farm in Victoria has knocked out another milestone, reaching full power and completing final grid connection testing just months after achieving first generation in late November.”

3. UTEP scientists capture first known photographs of tropical bird long thought lost

“The yellow-crested helmetshrike is a rare bird species endemic to Africa that had been listed as “lost” by the American Bird Conservancy when it hadn’t been seen in nearly two decades. Until now.”

4. France Protects Abortion as a 'Guaranteed Freedom' in Constitution

“[A]t a special congress in Versailles, France’s parliament voted by an overwhelming majority to add the freedom to have an abortion to the country’s constitution. Though abortion has been legal in France since 1975, the historic move aims to establish a safeguard in the face of global attacks on abortion access and sexual and reproductive health rights.”

5. [Fish & Wildlife] Service Approves Conservation Agreement for Six Aquatic Species in the Trinity River Basin

“Besides conserving the six species in the CCAA, activities implemented in this agreement will also improve the water quality and natural flows of rivers for the benefit of rural and urban communities dependent on these water sources.”

6. Reforestation offset the effects of global warming in the southeastern United States

“In America’s southeast, except for most of Florida and Virginia, “temperatures have flatlined, or even cooled,” due to reforestation, even as most of the world has grown warmer, reports The Guardian.”

7. Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net

“Cash aid without conditions was considered a radical idea before the pandemic. But early results from a program in Stockton, Calif., showed promise. Then interest exploded after it became clear how much COVID stimulus checks and emergency rental payments had helped people. The U.S. Census Bureau found that an expanded child tax credit cut child poverty in half.”

8. The Road to Recovery for the Florida Golden Aster: Why We Should Care

“After a five-year review conducted in 2009 recommended reclassifying the species to threatened, the Florida golden aster was proposed for removal from the Federal List of Endangered and Threatened Plants due to recovery in June 2021, indicating the threats to the species had been reduced or eliminated.”

9. A smart molecule beats the mutation behind most pancreatic cancer

“Researchers have designed a candidate drug that could help make pancreatic cancer, which is almost always fatal, a treatable, perhaps even curable, condition.”

10. Nurses’ union at Austin’s Ascension Seton Medical Center ratifies historic first contract

“The contract, which NNOC said in a news release was “overwhelmingly” voted through by the union, includes provisions the union believes will improve patient care and retention of nurses.”

This and future editions will also be going up on my new Ko-fi, where you can support my art and get doodled phone wallpapers! EDIT: Actually, I can't find any indication that curating links like this is allowed on Ko-fi, so to play it safe I'll stick to just posting here on Tumblr. BUT, you can still support me over on Ko-fi if you want to see my Good News compilations continue!

[sixhours]

Chapter 11 - The Ghosts of Babylon

Series Chapter Index | Read on AO3 | Complete

Rating: Explicit, 18+, here be smut and violence Series tags: Joel Miller x You, Joel Miller x Reader, Joel & Ellie, mostly follows canon, LGBTQ+ characters, y/n is bi/pan, y/n is ~45, violence, pregnancy, abortion, medical trauma, emotional trauma, panic attacks, sex work, suicide, smut, slow burn, angst with a happy ending, hurt/comfort, romance, no use of y/n, reader has longish hair, Joel can lift you, smallish age gap (~11 years), I've probably forgotten some so please let me know <3

~*~

You’re napping on your cot in the clinic when the walkie at your belt scratches out your name. You rub your eyes, fumbling for the switch.

“Here,” you mutter, sitting up.

“Got a situation, patroller with a busted leg,” someone says.

“Okay, bring them in.”

“Gonna need to make a house call, doc. Meet us at the east gate.”

“Copy that. Out.”

Shit.

Patrol was rough and sometimes things went sideways–Theresa told you as much–but you’ve never had to leave the settlement before. You pick up the med kit, double-check to make sure you have everything you need, and grab your down jacket.

There are two men on horseback waiting for you. You know one is Eliot, and the other…is Joel.

Well, this will be interesting.

Joel gives you a barely perceptible nod. “She can ride with me.”

You raise an eyebrow at the too-easy double entendre, and you swear you see the hint of a smirk before his face drops back into a gruff mask and he puts out a hand to help you up. You can’t ignore the flush of heat that courses through you at his touch, an embarrassing Pavlovian response. You know what those hands are capable of, and you remember all too well where they were last night. You wonder, in a flash of helpless depravity, if you could still smell your slick on his fingers. It doesn’t help that you’re forced to press your whole damn body against his back just to stay on the horse.

Fuck, this is going to be a day.

“You know how to use this?” he asks over his shoulder, holding up a pistol.

“I might.”

He scoffs as you take the gun, check the safety, then tuck it into the back of your jeans.

“Shouldn’t need it, but y’never know,” he says.

When the gates close with a thud , you feel your chest constrict. You’ve lived within the safety of Jackson’s walls for months, too used to its creature comforts. You tighten your grip slightly around Joel’s waist as he nudges the horse to a fast trot, Eliot riding ahead. Your ass is already starting to hurt.

“How far out?” you ask, trying to keep your voice light.

“Couple hours’ ride; we’re camped at the southeastern outpost.”

“What happened?”

“Allan’s horse got spooked and threw her.”

“...Theresa Allan?”

There’s a pause. “Yeah.”

“You said it was a break?”

“Uh-huh. Bone went through the skin…can’t move her until it’s set and splinted.”

“Shit.”

You shift in the saddle, trying to take some pressure off your tailbone, your thighs already aching from the effort of keeping your balance. Joel seems to notice.

“Woulda thought you’d have experience on horseback, comin’ from Nebraska.”

“I’m not from Nebraska. I grew up in New York. I was a city kid.”

“So…how’d you end up at the Omaha QZ?”

“It’s a long and uninteresting story.”

“We got time.”

You let out a deep sigh.

“Alright. I was finishing my residency at a hospital in Maine when the outbreak happened. Managed to get out alive with a…group.

“We protected each other. My medical experience was useful, so I guess I had more luck than some. Just happened to land in Omaha at some point, and that was home…until it wasn’t.”

In your defense, this is all true, save for the destination and the fact that the “group” in question was FEDRA. Your story is the same as countless others, and it comes so naturally, it doesn’t feel like lying…not exactly.

“You were right about the uninteresting part,” Joel says dryly, but there’s a teasing lilt in his voice. “I’m fallin’ asleep over here.”

You clamp down on a smirk, kicking the back of his leg with your boot.

“Asshole.”

~*~

Theresa is ashen and shivering under a moth-eaten wool blanket when you finally arrive at the outpost, which is little more than a shack in the woods. She greets you with a shaky smile through gritted teeth.

“Hey, babe. Fancy…meeting you…here.”

You wince in sympathy. “Can I take a look?”

She nods, teeth clattering as you pull back the blanket and a blood-soaked bandage to reveal the fracture, the jagged white shard of her tibia poking through the skin of her lower leg. You remember trailing kisses up that leg, her thigh, the taste of her on your tongue, and you have to stop yourself from going further with the thought. 

“Alright. Let’s get you fixed up,” you murmur.

You set your med kit on the floor and kneel, pulling out gauze, alcohol, wrapping, and a tiny bottle of precious painkillers. You hand her three of the small white pills and a canteen. “Take these. They might take the edge off.”

“Might,” Theresa snorts, but she swallows the pills with a gulp of water.

You kneel beside her, taking her hand, giving it a squeeze. “This is going to hurt like a motherfucker.”

“Wow, don’t hold back or anything,” she huffs. “Can…we get it…over with?”

“Give the pills a chance to work. I’ll be right back.”

Joel is waiting for you outside. “I’m going to need someone to help me hold her while I set and wrap the break, and someone to keep an eye on her vitals.”

“We’ve got four. Two on watch, two with you. Eliot’s got field medic training, he can handle the nurse stuff.”

You nod.

“You okay?” he asks, his voice suddenly low.

“Fine,” you reply automatically. Indeed, you’re not looking forward to the next part, but it comes with the territory.

He considers this, then nods. “I’ll hold her.”

~*~

It’s as bloody and painful as you expect. Theresa's screams are barely muffled by the belt strap in her mouth, but eventually, you’re able to get the bone back into place. The sun is setting by the time you’ve finished bandaging, wrapping, and splinting the leg. Your hands, jacket, and jeans are splattered in Theresa’s blood, and Eliot brings in snow and melts it over a camp stove to help you wash up.

Theresa is conscious, resting, covered by the wool blanket. Her blood pressure stabilizes and the painkillers are doing their work. Small favors.

Joel waits at the threshold, arms crossed. “We’ve got a sled fashioned up to take her out, but I don’t wanna risk it in the dark.”

You wince. It’s going to be a slow and painful journey back to Jackson.

He leans in, hand coming to rest lightly on your forearm. You’re glad for long sleeves that hide the sudden rash of goosebumps that pop up at his touch, the low timbre of his voice sending a pleasant shiver through you.

“Sure you’re alright?”

“I’m fine,” you say, giving him a tired smile to prove it. He studies your face, then nods slowly.

“Alright. Make yourself comfortable, we’ll ride out when it’s light. Be outside if you need anything.”

Then he ducks out in a whirl of cold air.

You roll out a spare sleeping bag and wrap yourself in your bloody jacket, easing yourself down onto the floor next to Theresa. Your fingers find the pulse point at her throat and she stirs, eyes opening to you.

“How are you feeling?” you ask, making a mental note of her heart rate.

“Like shit,” she croaks.

“Meds might make you nauseous. Think you can eat?”

She shakes her head, making a face.

“Water, then,” you say, picking up the canteen and putting it to her lips. She takes a few slow sips and swallows, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. This seems to sap all her remaining strength, and her eyes close, fluttering shut.

You think she’s asleep, but then she speaks again, voice rough.

“So…you and Joel.”

You open your mouth to protest, but she cuts in, blinking at you with drugged eyes. “Don’t even try, babe.”

You huff a sigh, and close your eyes. “Thea–”

“I care…about you,” she says, struggling to keep her eyes on you. “You know that…right?”

The sentiment is so foreign, so unexpected, your mouth goes dry and you cough to cover your surprise.

“You’re on drugs,” you remind her dryly.

“Good ones,” she agrees. “But I know…what I see.”

“And what’s that?” you ask, even though you’re not sure you want the answer.

She grins then, a brilliant and wry smile that reminds you why you found her so attractive in the first place.

“You’re…alike, you and him.”

“I’m ‘lethal?’” you scoff. “Isn’t that how you put it?”

“Untouchable.”

The word hangs in the open air like a warning shot.

“Look, Thea, don’t…don’t tell anyone, okay? It’s not serious, and his kid doesn’t know. Would make it awkward if–”

“Secret’s safe with me,” she mumbles. “But I meant it…what I said before. Be careful.”

~*~

You’re jolted awake from a cold and troubled sleep by the sound of gunfire.

“Shit,” you breathe, reaching for the pistol at your back. Theresa is awake, too, looking at you with wide eyes.

“What’s–”

“Shh.”

There’s yelling in the distance. You creep on all fours to one wall. There are no windows, just a boarded-up hole through which you can see slivers of moonlight. You try to peek through the slats but all you see are the shadows of trees on snow.

Where the fuck are the guards?

More shouting, sounding further away, and then…shuffling. A croak that is far too close for comfort.

Your finger flicks off the pistol’s safety and you turn to Theresa, putting a finger to your lips. You put your ear to the wall, trying to pinpoint the sound’s location, when a loud thud lands on the door.

Theresa lets out a startled shriek, and you whirl around, ready to tell her to shut up, but then the door begins to crack and splinter as the infected throws itself against it, pounding and pounding until the sound drowns out Theresa’s whimpering and the infernal racket of your heart between your ears.

You get to one knee and bring the pistol up, holding it steady with both hands, trying to slow your breath.

In. Out. In. Out.

The hinges give a rusty scream as they’re wrenched off the frame and the infected breaches the door.

You take the shot.

It goes wide, but it draws the creature’s attention. Its gaping maw hisses and croaks at you, and when it lurches in your direction, you fire one more bullet into the center of its bulbous forehead. It drops like a stone.

A shadow appears in the doorway, and you aim for the head, finger steady on the trigger.

It’s Joel, wide-eyed, breathing hard. He raises his hands. “Fuck–”

You don’t lower the gun; your muscles are trembling, locked in place by adrenaline and fear. You’re still seeing the infected in front of you, coming straight at you, mouth open and ready to feed.

In. Out.

Another moment passes. You feel your finger ease up, feel yourself standing slowly. Joel switches between watching you with concern and glancing at the gnarled body on the floor.

“Are there more?” you bark, not ready to give up the gun just yet.

Joel shakes his head slowly, hands still raised like you might change your mind and shoot him after all.

“Where the fuck were you?” you hiss, finally tucking the gun back into your jeans.

“Eliot and Ashbury had one to the south, I was watchin’ their six,” he says, looking down at the infected corpse. “Seems like you had it covered, though.”

The walkie on his belt squawks, Eliot’s voice staticky over the airwaves. “Joel, you there?”

“M’here. Found one up by the cabin…we took care of it,” he says, looking pointedly at you. “Clear.”

He steps outside to continue the conversation, although now that the door is gone, there’s not much point. You turn to look at Theresa, who has pushed herself to a half-sitting position against the nearest wall, pale and shaking.

It was already freezing in the shack, and now the wind coming through the open doorway makes it unbearable. The sweat that beaded on your skin in the heat of the moment has cooled, making you feel damp and slimy beneath your coat. You grab one of the scratchy wool blankets and look for some way to secure it to the door frame.

“That was…f-f-fucking impres-s-sive,” Theresa chatters, watching as you move about the shack, looking for a spare nail, a piece of wood, anything to pin the blanket up. “If it weren’t so…fucking c-c-cold in here I’d…b-b-be turned on.”

“It was,” Joel says. You hadn’t noticed he’d re-entered the cabin, but now he’s standing there, still watching you with something like trepidation. “Impressive, I mean.”

You shoot him a look. “Help me get this up. We need to get this place warm.”

~*~

It’s only a couple of hours until dawn, but the time crawls by in a bitter-cold haze. Joel drags the infected corpse into the woods and you manage to get the door covered. You spend the rest of the time curled up against Theresa’s good side under the blanket, trying to conserve body heat.

It’s a welcome relief to be up on the horse, arms anchored firmly around Joel’s waist and heading back to Jackson in the early morning light. Eliot and his patrol partner’s horses are hooked to the makeshift sleigh upon which Theresa is bundled, while Ashbury rides ahead as a scout. You gave Theresa another pain pill before you set off, but you suspect it’s not doing much good with all the jostling on the frozen, pock-marked ground.

It’s been an hour of this lurching, plodding cadence when Joel’s voice drifts over his shoulder. 

“Where’d you learn to shoot like that?”

“Picked it up while I was out there, I guess.”

You feel him shift against you, leaning back slightly. Even sweaty and bloody and in pain, his proximity is unnerving. The constant pressure of the saddle rolling between your legs doesn’t help.

“Looked like a FEDRA thing.”

“That so?” you say, trying to sound disinterested.

“Hell of a shot, though,” he says when you don’t elaborate. “For a ‘city kid.’”

“Mmm. Got lucky,” you sigh, resting your forehead between his shoulder blades, smelling the warm leather of his jacket. You’re so tired you could fall asleep right now, sore ass be damned.

“Right,” he says, drawing out the word sarcastically. “Well, remind me not to get on your bad side.”

“Doesn’t feel so good on the other end of the barrel, does it, Miller?”

He gives a soft, knowing chuckle. “No, I s’pose it don’t.”

~*~

You finally ride into Jackson, exhausted and bruised and desperate for a shower. Theresa is set up at home with one of the clinic nurses as a caregiver, and you promise to check on her the next morning.

Joel disappears without a word as soon as you dismount, trotting off toward the stables. You’re too tired to worry about his suspicious questioning, although in the back of your mind, you know you should be.

When you finally make it home, you don’t have the energy to do more than stumble upstairs and fall into bed fully clothed, still bloody and sweaty. The shower will have to wait.

~*~

A feather-light touch draws itself down your cheek, and you startle awake in the semi-dark, pushing yourself up and reaching for the knife you keep tucked between the mattress and box spring.

“Whoa, s’just me,” Joel says. “Don’t shoot.”

You blink up at him, confused. “What–how did you–”

“Door was open.”

Shit.

In your exhaustion, you’d forgotten to set the lock. Christ, being in Jackson has made you stupid.

You realize his hand is still resting on your cheek, and you sit up abruptly to break the contact. 

“What is it? Is Thea alright?”

“She’s fine. Checked in on her before I came over. Just…wanted to see you.”

He leans in, capturing your lips with his, tongue sliding against yours in a sweet erotic dance, and you moan softly, instantly wet. After a full day of being so close, so fucking close without being able to touch him, to feel his lips on your sensitive skin, you’re like a woman starved.

You pull back with great difficulty, breathing hard. “I need a shower. I’m filthy.”

“Yeah y’are,” he growls, nipping at your ear, sending a hot shiver of delight straight to your core. But then he stands, reaches out a hand, and you take it.

The water feels amazing when it hits your skin, washing off the remains of Theresa’s blood, the dried sweat, soothing the ache in your muscles. He holds you under the stream of rushing water as his hands run the soap up and down your back, and he kisses you and bites at your neck until your legs threaten to give out. When he grabs your ass and presses you to him, nudging his cock between your thighs just out of reach of where you need it, you groan in frustration. 

“Not in the shower, Miller.”

“M’not that stupid,” he says, but you’re not convinced. He leans back but only slightly, forehead pressed to yours, panting through gritted teeth. “God, the things you do to me. Wanted you that whole time, out there. Wanted you to…to–”

“Show me,” you murmur, reaching behind you to shut off the water, not caring that your body is still slick with soap.

You’re going to need another shower after this, anyway.

[cthrnschumacher]

I'm Yours - Ch. 1 Sparks

Y/N POV

As you awoke from your slumber, you had an instinct that today would be different. You weren't sure whether this would be good or bad, but you took your chance. As you lay in bed pondering over this for a few minutes, you took ahold of your phone on the nightstand. Tapping the screen and unlocking the device, you looked at the forecast and checked the train time for your commute into the city. Once you finally let the information sink into your still, sleepy mind, you moved on to notifications about your graduate studies. You are currently a month into your Master's degree. So far, things have been moving alarmingly quickly, but you love every second of it. The material you were reading and the discussions in your courses are nowhere close to the ones in your bachelor's degree. Along with the work that you were doing on campus, you feel that things are coming together for your ultimate aspiration in applying and hopefully attending law school. You can see that dream happening the more you are engrossed in your academic work and research.

Finally mustering up the courage to get out of bed, gently opening your room door and tip-toeing down the corridor, making sure to stay as quiet as possible. You still lived at home with your family. Most graduates in your program are living independently. Still, you decided that living with your family is best since it will relieve you financially (and we all know law school is expensive, so you save where you can). As you enter the washroom, turn on the water to shower and ensure it's the perfect temperature. Once you strip off your PJs, consisting of plaid pj bottoms and an oversized t-shirt, the water is scorching hot for showering. Lathering with a floral body wash and getting your naturally curly hair soaked to apply some product and style it for the day.

Once you are done, you wrap yourself in a towel, brush your teeth and head back to your room. You put on some music to jam out to as you prepare for the day. Since it is October, the weather is not as warm as September but not cold enough that you need a full winter coat. So you pick out a black pair of straight-cut jeans with a lovely mustard yellow knitted sweater that you roll up the sleeves to cuff them. Now that you have picked your outfit, you fix your hair. Since you just showered, your curly hair is damp enough to have product raked through it. You apply a curl cream and rake it to ensure it is spread evenly, and you do the same for the mousse and the gel. Once that is done, you let your hair air dry and get dressed. Now that it is all done, the last thing you do is apply a bit of eyeliner, mascara and brow gel. It is a simple make-up look but long-lasting since you will be in front of colleagues, faculty and students all day. You grab your packed bag prepped since last night, turn off the music playing, and exit your room.

Most of your family is awake as you go downstairs and into the kitchen. Your parents are making coffee, and as they do so, you take your turn raiding the fridge to pack your lunch and snacks for a long day ahead of you. It wasn't anything special, just a chicken club sandwich and a blueberry muffin. Everyone is exchanging their day and how busy it will be. You chime in as well, telling them that you will have class from 1-3pm, assist in an undergraduate course from 3-4pm, and attend a lecture from 6-8pm. You didn't tell them you were excited about the lecture because they didn't need to know that much, but you were. The lecture is on the diversity within Formula 1 through different industry sectors. The guest lecture will be from one of the major teams. You have guessed who the team would be because of the University you were attending, but you still weren't entirely sure. The professor who organized the lecture would not give any details about who the team would be, and you know it wouldn't be too packed since it's an evening lecture. Now, regardless, you were still interested and couldn't wait. You wanted to work in F1 for as long as you could remember, not through engineering or social media but working on contracts, commercial agreements, and other things that involved legality within motorsport. You noticed the time, as you were in your own world, that you had to head out the door to catch the train; you are lucky that you lived only a 10-minute walk from the train station, so you weren't in no rush. Slipping on your Adidas all-stars, then zipping up your black puffer vest and putting on your backpack, you head to the door, hollering goodbye to everyone. The weather was nice, breezy and sunny, requiring you to pull your sunglasses from your backpack.

As you arrive at the train station, tap your transit card to pay the fare and head towards the platform. It is not crowded for a Wednesday, which is a little relief because packed trains are the worst. You always time your exit from home perfectly to the train's arrival because you never have to wait that long on the platform to board. Once you board the train, you pick a seat on the top level since it is a mandatory quiet zone; you pull out your noise-cancelling headphones and turn on the same playlist you were listening to. You were in a romanticizing life mood, so you played a little bit of music that emulated that from artists like Sufjan Stevens, Banners, Coldplay, OneRepublic, Stephen Sanchez, and more of those that fit within the vibe. The train ride is roughly an hour, so you also pull out your laptop and review the notes you made for your course and material for the undergraduate lecture you are helping with. You saved everything as you finished checking the messages and adding a few more points. You started to pack away your laptop when you arrived in the city to take a connecting subway to your University. Getting on the subway only took 10 minutes until you needed to get off and exit from the underground and enter the Graduate Department of Social Justice.

You enter your given office and set up to get some work done. It was easy that you had a job on campus since the times were flexible to your studies and provided the ability to complete tasks at home. The work you were doing is assisting your department's equity committee in working towards improving the overall diversity and making each department more equitable. You check in with your supervisor to update them on your research for the committee and see where to pivot. Since nothing needed to be changed, the meeting was short, allowing you to continue your work without interruptions. This fills up most of your time until 12:30pm, when you realize your stomach is growling for something to eat and decide it is time for lunch. Pulling the sandwich out of your bag, you take the time to review your notes and pre-order an iced hazelnut latte from the Starbucks closest to the lecture hall of your course. Once you are done eating, you pack up your belongings and head to Starbucks to pick up your iced latte. Putting on your headphones and ensuring you didn't forget anything since you won't return until tomorrow. Out the door, you go and head to Starbucks. It is mid-day, the sun shining and feeling warm in contrast to the slight breeze. The sun's warmth felt nice on your olive skin, and you felt energized without the coffee from that moment, but you knew the coffee would be a saving grace during the lecture. As you attain the iced liquid gold, you walk down the block to the lecture hall, a 5-minute from Starbucks. You take your time since they do not begin the lecture until 10 minutes after the hour.

You enter the building with the lecture hall and walk towards the specific room. You go to your usual seat, set the coffee down, and set up your laptop. Soon, the time flies in the lecture and discussion you are having among your peers, and the three-hour lecture always feels like it is barely enough to unpack the dense readings the professor assigns. But seeing how everyone interprets and unpacks the lessons is always astonishing. Once you are done packing up, you go to the next lecture hall to help with the undergraduate course. In this case, you are just helping lead the discussion and ensure the students understand the course material, as a teaching assistant would do. Helping out in tutorials was constantly engaging; these were the parts of lectures you enjoyed. Sure, the professor lectures the material, and we can ask questions. Still, during the tutorials, you allow the students to contextualize and discuss their thoughts, hoping they learn how these concepts are practiced. By the time tutorials were done, I stayed back in case students had questions. They didn't; looking down at your wristwatch, you know you have 2 hours to kill.

You took the chance to pack up your things and put on your headphones, wanting to mentally prepare yourself for the lecture that is happening soon. Being the little academic you are, you decide to go to the building where they have the lecture. Having the chance to scope out a good spot to sit in and take the opportunity to get some more work done before you can have your undivided attention on the guest lecturer. You felt your stomach grumble and pulled out the muffin on the way since it was a 10-minute walk. You know the way to the building, so you took time attending to your work emails on your phone. The day in the life of a university/graduate student, always on the move, you love being busy but sometimes just wish your end goal was getting nearer. You take the chance occasionally to look up and ensure that you don't bump into other people on the sidewalk and not miss the building where the lecture is held. Once you arrive, you immediately know exactly which room you heading to. Since you had class in this lecture hall, you know exactly where to go and that this building is usually not busy. But what you don't expect is to collide into what feels like a wall and fall backwards, landing straight on your ass. Blaming the noise-cancelling headphones and being too engrossed in your phone. Before even removing the headphones, instantly apologize to whoever you bumped into. But what you weren't prepared for was who it would be. The instant recognition made you blush a crimson red; the CEO and Team Principle of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team, Toto Wolff, kneeled before you, his chocolate brown eyes laced with worry.

"Are you okay? My deepest apologies; I did not mean to bump into you. I hope you are okay; let me help you up." He grabbed your phone that had fallen out of your hand and gave you a hand to help you up. You took his hand and dusted yourself off a bit from the fall. "I'm okay; if anything, I should apologize. I bumped into you and didn't bother to look up from my phone!" Giving him a reassuring smile lets him know you are genuinely okay. "Let me introduce myself; I'm Toto Wolff. Who might you be, so I can apologize sincerely," his Austrian accent showed while sticking out his hand to introduce himself again. He truly felt bad, and you shook his hand, "I'm Y/N, and again, no need to apologize; I should have been paying more attention." "Nonsense; you're a student and probably taking every chance you get to study and cramming for some sort of assessment." His wit was like none other. He then noticed the muffin on the floor, and you went to pick it up and throw it out. It was perfect timing that your stomach had to alert the world that you were hungry. "Again, I do apologize, Y/N. Please let me offer to get you another muffin, coffee or something to eat?" "No, no, it's okay; I truly wasn't that hungry," and again, your stomach grumbles further. He notices, "I insist; there is a coffee shop around the corner; I was just about to grab something before this lecture I was about to give; I am assuming that is why you are in this building?" He has a slight glimmer in his eyes, hoping you are attending. To concede to that look, you finally tell him. "Funny you ask, yes I am here to see you guest lecture, and since you keep insisting and I am assuming with no intention of stopping, let's grab that coffee." The slight curl in his lips forms a smirk since you caught him in his little act, or he's feeling guilty for bumping into him, but you give him the benefit of the doubt and tag along. After all, he is a prominent figure in Formula 1, and to say you grab coffee with someone like Toto Wolff, so you take your chance.

He led the way out of the building and onto the street. The walk to the coffee shop was silent; neither of you seemed to have the courage to speak up, but the silence didn't feel awkward. The place was no more than ten minutes up the street from the lecture hall. The day was winding down, as the roads weren't littered with people. The same could be said for the coffee shop. It was scarce of the usual hustle and bustle. As you approach the coffee shop, before you can even grab the handle, Toto, with a quicker step, takes hold of the handle to open the door and allow you to enter first. Thanking him, you proceeded to make your way to the counter to order your drinks. Taking the chance to look at the menu, getting lost in the number of options, you finally register that Toto is speaking and pulling you from your train of thought.

"What are you thinking of getting? I can order it here. Will you find a place for us to sit?" "Ahh, I'll get a latte with a double shot of espresso with two sugars…..but like you don't have to, I can get it for myself." I hope he lets you pay for your drink separately. "Nonsense, I bumped into you; the least I can do is get you a coffee, and clearly, with a lot of caffeine in it." Clearly trying to lighten the mood and taking note of the amount of caffeine in your drink, you conceded and let him order the drink for you while you pick a seat in the back corner of the shop. Taking off your backpack and vest and settling in the chair, you took another opportunity to look at your email and student course site to see if any of the professors or students had any inquiries. You didn't even notice Toto sitting across from you until you put your phone away, and the man just smiled at you.

"Ohh, I'm sorry, I didn't even notice that you sat down; you should have said something," your face slowly turning a little flush from the embarrassment of being distracted by your device to not even notice his presence. "I totally understand; you're a student, after all, and please stop apologizing; you did nothing wrong. And I was just admiring how focused you can get." He was genuinely trying to show you sympathy. He wasn't wrong that your student was so busy, let alone your schedule and the amount on your plate, making you blush. It tends to happen often, especially since that's how your interaction with him started. "Tell me a bit about your education; what are you studying?" He said this, getting a little more comfortable in the seat across from yours, sitting with his legs crossed at the ankles, as he does in most of these interviews, with hands clasped on his lap, giving you his undivided attention. "Well, I started at this University with my bachelor of arts, double majoring in criminology and political science. After graduating last year, I didn't feel fully prepared to apply to law school, so I decided to get my Master's degree in social justice. It's a nice combination of the content I was learning in my undergrad that it felt natural." His facial expression showed a little astonishment, with his one eyebrow arching to hear your accomplishments and aspirations. "That's quite impressive; I would have thought you just started your degree. Again, congrats on finishing one, starting the other and the long road ahead of you." Blushing a little from the comment, sure, a lot of people tell you that is an insane amount of studying and the number of years you had, but he understands that is required in this day and age. "Thank you. I know I still have a long way to go, but I am also in no rush to get there." And I am honest about that: I was in no rush to get into law school; I knew the process of studying for the LSAT is a battle in and of itself, so I wanted to make sure I grasped everything. I think Toto knew that, too; he is also guest lecturing and successful in his domain.

Shifting a little in his seat, you can tell he is thinking his words carefully before he asks, "What made you want to attend my lecture? You are clearly a beautiful young woman who must have a nightlife more worthy than sitting and listening to this lecture?" Damn, just damn. And you couldn't help but notice the little smirk on Toto's face. He caught you off guard, and you couldn't help but turn red, and he made you do a lot of it today. Attempting not to make the silence go on for much longer, "Haha umm, no, I barely have a nightlife with studying, the amount of reading I'm required to do, the TAing for a course and the jobs I have on campus. I am a fan of F1 and wanted to hear how a team diversifies the organization one step at a time. It is truly an interest of mine and a topic covered in several of my courses, so why not��..you know." You were rambling at this point, you could tell, so you went silent and hoping that satisfied his curiosity. And by the looks of it, the answer was decent. I felt like two could play at this, so I thought, why not ask him something since, at this point, it feels like you're under interrogation. "What made you want to guest lecture in this? This is unusual for a topic you lecture in, other than the times you talk about the success and downfall of your team."

As if it was perfect timing, your order of drinks and apparently baked goods was brought to the table. The latte was set in front of you, and what looked like an espresso with a bit of milk was placed in front of Toto, with the scones in the center. "If you don't mind, I also got you a scone since I made you drop your muffin earlier." "Ohh, you didn't have to, really." "No, I insist, plus you need to eat; I can't have you hungry in my lecture." Attempting to avoid blushing and eye contact since you already know he will have a smirk on his face, you take a sip of your latte; it feels good to have the caffeine in you, making you focus and not get carried away with his remarks."Back to your question, since you might be thinking that I was avoiding it, for years and from personal experience, motorsports is quite polarizing regarding the type of people that work in the sport. And I, along with Lewis and the organization, want to allow people from all walks of life to come and share the same passion while working towards being a winning team. Now, to your comment on Mercedes's downfall, we will be back on top, but like I say to the press, we are happy to make these mistakes to learn from them." Contented with his answer, he took a scone from the plate in front, broke off a piece, popped it into his mouth, and followed it with a sip of his coffee. You can sense the PR voice coming out in the end since it must be a question he gets often. Either you poked a nerve, or it was one of the generic answers he typically gives; you couldn't tell. But you dropped it instantly and followed a similar action: drinking your latte and grabbing the plate with the scone. A satisfied look comes on Toto's face, taking hold of the scone and eating it. Food in your stomach felt good, so you were slightly grateful that he had bought you the scone.

Toto looked up at you, not wanting to rush the bite you took of the scone, and took this as an opportunity to ask another question and give you time to think, "With no nightlife, do you have any hobbies of interest outside of the amount of reading and studying?" Considering you respond, "Well if I'm not studying, which is most of the day, I either watch TV like any normal person. I usually head to the gym or take long bike rides when I'm not feeling lazy. I like keeping active, so walking, biking, strength training, and sometimes kyakayaking and swimming are my simple pleasures. They also let me blow off steam when I felt really stressed before those activities. Partaking in martial arts was my favourite way of getting fit." "I wouldn't think someone like you was in martial arts. you are quite petite, and I'm only saying that because I bumped into you and fell to the ground." He had a little smirk since he was partially true, based on today's current events, but he tilted his head slightly, ready to hear your response. You could tell he was trying to elicit a reaction and see how you would react. But it wasn't in a sizing me up manner; it was more so to see my genuine interest in the sport.

"Well, you were lucky catching me off guard, so a point to you. But on that, I earned a black belt and trained 6 times a week for 10 years straight. It's been a few years since I stopped training for the sport because University became a full-time job. Still, I miss learning new techniques and being in a sparring ring with another opponent. I was quite fierce and aggressive when needed. I guess it was the perks of being only 5"2 and one of only a few females who partook in the sport. Most boys and men wouldn't want to fight because they were too aggressive, but I liked using their moves against them and being tactical."

"Like drivers have a signature move. Did you have one since you mentioned sparring in a ring?" You laughed a little at the questions because he knows every athlete as a signature move in their own sport, "I did, actually, and I've made several opponents furious when using it because it would knock them on their ass, literally. The move is called the rope-a-dope. As I am in the ring, bouncing around on the ball of my feet, I try to let my opponent attack me as much as they can; not only does it tire them out, but they have to sort of lung at me. Depending on how long I want to string them out, it usually lasts 2-3 times at most 4. On their final attack and when their midsection is open, I jump-side kick or reverse side-kick the person in the gut region, earning several points, a groan in pain and making them fall to their ass."

Finishing the little rant about your previous sport, following it with a sip of the latte, you notice Toto have a queasy look on his face while slightly clutching his stomach. "Remind me not to piss you off then." "Hahah…. It's okay; I haven't trained in years, so I'll be super rusty and fall on my ass." I try to ease him a bit. Maybe I shouldn't have mentioned that I was aggressive, but he doesn't even know half how aggressive I used to be and the nicknames I got. But it's not like I will meet him again to see the whole or more about him.

Toto takes the chance during this little silence as I sip and take more bites of the scone to look at his watch for the time, and I do the same. I didn't even notice the time fly so fast, and it was 5:30pm, so we only had half an hour left until his guest lecture started. He looked at me and said, "I know this is a little presumptuous to ask even though we just met, and I enjoyed talking to you, but would you like to have dinner with me tonight after the lecture?"

This man has made you blush countless times today and continues to do so even more. You were still stunned and couldn't formulate any words or a clear thought for someone who writes for a living. Taking you out of your shock, "Y/N?" Finally, looking directly into his chocolate-brown eyes, I said, "Yes, I would love that!" It is as if Toto was holding his breath, waiting for your response, because he finally exhaled and looked relieved. However, he still had his wicked smile plastered on his face, noticeably enjoying that he would spend more time with you.

At this point, you both get ready to leave the coffee shop and head back to the lecture hall for Toto to give his lecture. But you still couldn't believe that you were spending more time with him; you kept pinching yourself on the way back to the hall to make sure you weren't in an alternate universe, but you weren't. Before going down the corridor to the lecture, he pulls you aside by the waist, assuring that no one can see the both of you. His body is so close to yours, his large hands still around your waist, feeling his hot breath on your lips. "I really enjoyed talking to you over coffee, come right back here once the lecture is done, and we will head to dinner together." We both linger there for a few minutes, his eyes darting from your eyes to your lips and then backing up as if he wants to kiss you. His touch makes you leave your mouth slightly gapped as if you ask him to lean down. But he smirked and moved to your ear, feeling his breath on it; he said, "Now go on. I'll see you in the lecture, and pay attention. I'll be watching."

[nicolesainz]

Within The Limits (Ben Chilwell x Jenson Button x OC) Chapter 2

warnings: none so far, you are safe.

author's note: I just realised this story will be bigger than the one I wrote for Mason and Carlos. Don't know why but I have more confidence in my writing now than I had a year ago!

next chapter

"How long?"

"Eh, probably 3 weeks. Almost a month." I look at my knee and sometimes I wish I had one made out of iron.

"I'm so sorry mate. You were doing very well and this is unfortunate. The defence looks weak without you and Reece." Mason says as he takes a sip from his glass of wine.

Even though we may not be teammates anymore or England's regulars, our friendship has been stronger than ever. I sometimes travel to Manchester, or he drives to London. I do miss him as a teammate but if that was the best for his career, I wasn't going to be an intruder in his dreams.

"Says you. Mate, I miss seeing you on the pitch. I am sure though you will come back stronger. I miss playing with you." I say even though I feel like Mason regrets his move.

United are on a losing streak and have been officially knocked out of all European competitions. It's a shame because Mason has showed what he is capable of.

"I guarantee you, early March or before the call up for the Euros, we will be ready and fit and play again together. Nothing will change my mind" he says and I feel my confidence boosted. I can always count on Mason and so can he on me.

"I hope you're right. I so want to play for England again. I missed the World Cup so now it's my chance to revive myself" I empty my glass and lay my head back on the pillow.

"Hey, wanna watch a game? I think Spurs and City are on." Mase suggests but I am in no mood for football. I prefer playing not watching and especially when I am injured.

"What about some F1? Quali was on and I missed it. Plus, remember that we have been invited to the race tomorrow" We had passes for three days but training was ahead and better be safe than sorry.

“Oh yeah. I wanna be aware on who’s on pole and stuff. The grid walk is kinda stressful when they ask you questions about stuff you barely know.” I click on Sky Sports and tune into F1.

We’ve missed the session but the post Quali analysis is on so we will see the list of drivers underneath. And oh, Lando is on pole! Jolly. He’s more close with Mason but a Brit being first amongst 20 isn’t bad, especially at the British Grand Prix.

“Oi Lando! Happy for him. Gonna wish him good luck tomorrow.” Mason exclaims but my eyes remain locked with the woman’s figure on the tv.

She seems fairly young, probably around my age. And a bit familiar too. Her brown locks cover her shoulders perfectly and her expression radiates intelligence but also sweetness. Currently interviewing Lando and his former teammate, Carlos, with such maturity and afterwards congratulating the both of them.

She then faces the other two interviewers that are with her, but mostly the man next to her. She looks so happy to be there, talking about something that she probably loves, given that she works for F1.

“Earth to chilly. Hello?” Mason clicks his fingers in front of my face and I immediately realized that I was lost at admiring her beauty through a screen.

“Sorry. Got distracted” I shake my head and look underneath at the stats.

“You were looking at Chelsea” Mason says with a massive smirk on his face.

“I’m sorry, who?”

“Chelsea. The interviewer. She works for both F1 and the Premier League.” Wait, how wasn’t I aware of that?

Probably because you don’t play now idiot. And you’re more on the training ground.

“Is she new in the Prem? My eye never caught her and given how she looks, I would have noticed.” I don’t know why I said that last thing. And I don’t even know her.

“Not really. She was recruited a bit before the World Cup started. She mostly commentates on United and City’s games given that she does live in Manchester.” Mason explains and I’m still trying to spot her inside my mind. How come I’ve never seen her before but Mase has?

“And her name is Chelsea you said? What, is she a fan or something?” I ask and my glance falls back on her. Oh she looks like a true grace.

“I have no idea. Ask her tomorrow.” He blurts out so casually.

“As if I know her. She’ll think I’m a creep.” I say trying to hide my blush.

“Fine coward. We will go together. Or I’ll go by myself if you don’t want to. Good thing she lives close to me.” Mason winks evilly and I punch his shoulder lightly.

She seems so full of knowledge that I wonder why she's not commentating more premier league games.

Probably because she's travelling the world with F1.

"All jokes aside, she is a really nice girl. Always polite, smiling and never judging. I am sure you will like her once you meet her." Mason says as he types on his phone.

"I will take your word for it."

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

"Hey Chels, can I ask a favor?" Lando approaches me in a rush, followed by Carlos who is not paying attention because he is busy talking on the phone.

"Uh, sure. Tell me." Usually Lando isn't the one asking favors. It's mostly George who wants to show off to the guests or Alex who can't keep track with the sessions.

"Two lads from the England squad will be in the paddock tomorrow and one of them hasn't been to a Grand Prix before so could you show them around the paddock?" Suddenly alarms are echoing in my head as I imagine who those may be.

"No problem. May I ask, who are the two guys?"

"Mason and Ben. I'm assuming you know them and especially Mase given you work at Manchester."

Ben? As in Chilwell? Oh the shock my dad with get when I tell him that. Also, I haven't met in him person. Never had the chance to commentate on a Chelsea game. And I briefly remember him at his Leicester days.

"Yeah yeah. I will show them around. You got it."

"Thank you so much. I owe you." He hugs me tightly and a confused Carlos looks at the both of us.

"I'm not gonna steal your boyfriend Sainz. No need to death stare me." I say mocking him.

"You know, one day, some reporter will hear you and then people will start asking us about the wedding date." Carlos says rolling his eyes annoyingly.

"I will see you guys tomorrow. Take care" and I wave both of them goodbye, as I feel my heart skipping a beat when a pair of strong arms are wrapped around my waist.

Jenson is leaving small kisses up my neck as I try to remove myself from his grasp. He knows I have a weakness and he uses it against me.

"Ready to go, love?"

"Mhm" I nod and take his hand into mine.

"What were you and Lando talking about? Does he need tips on how to block Max from stealing the first place at turn 1?"

"He will be fine on that part. No, uh, he wants me to give a tour of the paddock to some of his friends that will be in the Mclaren garage and given that I know one of them very well, he thought I was fit for it."

"What friends? The ones that are with him on that e-sports team he has?" It's funny seeing Jenson so confused and not knowing what Quadrant is and being kinda uptight about me missing from his side.

"No babe. Some football players. Mason Mount and Ben Chilwell. I know Mason very well but it's Ben's first time watching a race from up close so he wants me to guide them. Won't take more than an hour."

"Don't remind me that those football boys will have eyes on my girl while I won't be able to do anything." Jenson's hand grabs my waist firmly and I can sense he is worried about my time in England.

We are not an official pair and yet he is safeguarding me like we have been dating for ages. I guess two years is quite some time to be dating or "seeing" someone, so I understand the possessiveness. Although it does seem weird that he has been acting up since last night.

He is being all touchy and loving with kisses and mind-blowing sex, aftercare and treating me as if I am more fragile than a glass. I can understand that he is worried but if he wants us to become an official couple he can say it. I don't know what's holding him back.

"You could do something about it, if you don't want those ballers gawking around me like eagles." I drop slight hints even though I know deep down that is not what he wants.

But what they say is true,

if you want something very badly, go for it, right?

[captainkranos]

Dreaming of Metal- Part One A story for those wishing they were robots

This is my first major foray into writing, so id love constructive criticism! This is part one, and it doesn't contain any smut, but I am planning for future parts to have it. Hope you enjoy!!!

It was a cold evening. February was always cold. The local coffee shop was closed, so you had to go a lot further than usual. It was the nearest one that wasn't a chain. Starbucks was definitely worse now after the Apple buyout, and you're gonna need quite a bit of coffee if you plan to finish the coding project tonight. "602nd and 28th..." You mutter under your breath. Just a few more freezing blocks. Neo York City was big. After the Monopolization of 2350, corporations started buying out whole cities. The extra 300 streets added seemed like a good idea to most, but it really just makes the good parts of the city further away from each other.

Power walking down the sidewalk in an attempt to stay warm, a pink, blinking, neon sign catches your eyes. "Order a Robotic Companion Today! Keep you company! Great at coding!" That last tagline stuck in your mind as you remember the 457 bugs last time you tried to compile the latest project. And your last romantic partner walked out on you last week after suggesting those cybernetic enhancements... How were you supposed to know a cyborg killed their grandma? You only suggested them because you weren’t brave enough to get them installed in yourself anyways. "Dial 1-800-ROBOT today!" The number was easy to remember at least. You look down the street again, and spot the coffee shop your personal navigator directed you to. You make a mental note of the phone number, and head off to get fuel for the long night ahead of you…

“ITS DONE!” You exclaim as the compiler notes zero bugs found. It's a tool to help organize blog posts for your favorite website. The site creators should have added this years ago, but you're glad to have it done now at least. You sit in silence, appreciating your handiwork… but it's a sad silence. Your old partner helped write the start of this, and now they'll never see it completed. Your thoughts flashback to that sign you saw today. A robotic companion sounds so nice. Someone to confide in, to understand you, who would understand how you feel about robots. In a bout of weakness, you pick up your holophone, and mash in the phone number that's been spinning in your head all day. 

“Q.P.R.A.U. Robotics! Where we match you with the moving metal of your dreams! How can we meet your emotional needs today?” The voice on the other end sounds synthesized, but not automated. “Uhhh Hi? I think I'm looking for a companion bot?” “Sure! How would you rate your emotional starvation from one to ten?” Even though it's only been a week, the rate at which your apartment deteriorated into disrepair would put a bull in a china shop to shame. “...Ten” “And would you like to sign up for our alternate payment services?” Oh thank goodness. You really didn’t want to shell out too much for this. Most companies use these alternate options as a way to obtain and sell your data. A body scan or a blood donation will usually make rent much easier to pay each month if you want to buy something nice. “Yes I would.” “Great! We will have your order shipped out to you within 3-6 weeks! Have a great day!” The call ends. You never gave them a name or a shipping address? Maybe they scraped it from your IP address? You really didn't care. As long as a friend gets shipped in the mail, you would put up with anything.

March. It's been a tough few weeks. The coding commissions have been few and far between. At least the apartment complex therapist is back on call. He has really been helping you get through the emotional weeds of life. KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK You peel yourself up from the chair in your office and over to the door. It's probably the neighbors again, their cat is quite the escape artist. Opening the door, standing in the hallway is a synth, with a metal box the size of a large person. If they were not a robot, you would ask to help with it, but you know that their electronic muscles are at least 100 times stronger than yours. You wish you could lift that much… “Is this the residency of anon?” “Yeah… what's this?” “Your package! Courtesy of Q.P.R.A.U. Robotics!” You had forgotten everything about that night. Getting hammered off of French nano-wine tends to do that to you. “Do I need to sign anything?” “Nope! Heres your package!” The synth walked into your apartment and placed the box right in the center of the entryway. It came down with a rather hefty thud. You already knew the downstairs neighbors would be filing a complaint. “Have a nice day! And good luck with the alternative payment services!” The synth walks out with a jolly expression. They always seem happy, probably because they are made of metal… Glancing back at the metal box in your entryway snaps your thoughts back to reality. How the hell are you going to move this anywhere? Your eyes are drawn to a blinking red button on the side you hadn't noticed before. Hopefully it’s the “Open” button and not “Self-Destruct”. With all the confidence you can muster, you press the button and wait for something to happen. An agonizing silence follows, until distinct gear turning and motor wrrring noises begin to emanate from the box. Like a birthday present made of tinfoil, the metal begins to unwrap itself and pour an unknown smoke out into your apartment. Your first thoughts are of the fire dampening systems firing off, but knowing your landlord, they probably haven't worked for years.

The smoke clears, the metal lies in a pile at your feet, and a shiny silver figure stands before you. Its form is definitely feminine in origin, but the steel plates that make up the body are all that fill your mind. They have to be at least a foot taller than you, as you stare up into its blank but imposing expression. “Uhh… Hello?” A rather cute set of chimes ring out from a circular design in the machine’s chest as pink lights spread outward from the center out to the limbs. The last line of lights to reach its goal is the one moving towards the head, as the eyes fill with light and the body hums with the moving of cogs and belts It’s head slowly turns towards you and a smile creeps up its face as a mixture of fear and excitement fills your heart.

“Hello! I'm Daniella and I'll be your new mistress!”

[jmflowers]

You said hit me with your prompts so…

I haven’t seen any fic yet explore Maya contemplating or wanting to carry their second child, now that she’s secure in her motherhood what it means to be a family.

Anon, I have been sitting with this prompt for, frankly, months. Just like… stewing it in my head because it’s so good. So good, in fact that it became part of the Hygge Universe “canon” timeline, where it will live for all eternity.

I had every intention of writing this one for you. I still want to. I still might. Life, however, decided that three of the women closest to me that wanted children would all get pregnant within a few months of each other and well, I’m going to be an aunt for the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th time this spring.

With so many new lives anticipated this year, there are aspects of this story that I can’t write. Not right now. Maybe not ever. But certainly not until my nieces and/or nephews are safely in my arms. I have every faith that you will understand my reasonings.

I outlined this one, though, like much of the Hygge Universe still to come. And I know that one day soon, these stories will no longer be canon compliant and some or all of us will move onto new tales. It pains me to imagine this little bit never getting the light of day at all.

So, thanks to the urging of a couple of great friends, the answer to this prompt is outlined below the cut. I hope a tiny taste is enough.

prompt #1 | prompt #2 | prompt #3 | prompt #4 | prompt #5 | prompt #6 | prompt #7 | prompt #8 | prompt #9 | prompt #10 | expanded prompts: Hygge on AO3

prompt #11:

(For reference: at this point in season 6, Hygge Universe is still nearly 100% canon compliant.)

It’s 2024. Andrea has just recently turned 1. Maya and Carina have settled into that comfortable space of parenthood where you suddenly look around and go, “Holy shit, we actually know what we’re doing?” It’s a glorious place to find oneself.

That comfort in the routine is what starts the first spark of want in Carina. Or maybe it’s a comment made at Andrea’s first birthday party about what a great big brother he’d be. Either way, the desire begins to fester in her.

She dreams of another baby held in Maya’s arms, someone for Andrea to grow up with, a way for them to nourish the sibling bond that she so cherished with her own brother. Another chance to break the patterns of their own childhoods, knowing that their children will never be placed in competition with each other or separated or made to feel as though they aren’t safe.

It’s an intoxicating image.

Maya, however, isn’t quite as sure about this idea when the topic is broached. Not for the first time, they come to heads about it. Maya is still in therapy, still trying to work through the traumas of her childhood. Motherhood is amazing and wonderful and she’s so grateful for every moment of their family, but her career isn’t yet where she wants it to be. She isn’t where she wants to be. And so, she denies it. Snuffs out the dream, a little.

Tries to convince Carina that they can be happy with exactly what they have.

Carina tries to convince herself, too.

Only, Maya’s career goals begin to flourish shortly after. Something changes that allows her to get back onto the track she’d once been denied. She’s not a captain again – yet – but there’s signs that it’s coming and the future suddenly looks promised, hopeful even, again.

The proverbial cloud lifts and Maya can picture the years ahead. Can imagine their family of three becoming four. It’s like the first time; the flick of a switch and there’s suddenly nothing she wants more than to see Andrea as an older brother, Carina as a mother once more, their family completed.

So, they agree to start trying.

Trying, as a queer couple, means heading to the fertility clinic. Because the first time they did this, it took like 10 attempts of IUI to work and Carina knows that could mean something is wrong. She wants to be sure they’re making the most educated choices (even if she hates the idea of something as beautiful and romantic as creating their child becoming something clinical, ironically).

The doctor wants them to have the best chances. IVF, though expensive, results in a greater likelihood of a successful pregnancy. They could use the same donor sperm as before, have it injected into one of their eggs in the lab, and then implant one or more viable embryos. It’s all very medical and unnerving and not exactly their speed, but Carina agrees that it’s the best course of action.

Maya, however, gets a little stuck on the cost. They’d have spent more than $6000 on sperm to create Andrea. IVF is even more expensive. So, while Carina is toying with the idea of reciprocal IVF using Maya’s eggs or regular IVF with her own eggs, Maya is clipboard spiralling.

She spirals so hard, in fact, that she begins to weigh all of the possible options – including carrying the child herself so they can try IUI again instead. She’s younger and she remembers the heartbreak Carina had felt with each unsuccessful attempt and thinks, maybe, she could protect Carina from all of that if it was her body going through it.

But, she’s back on the career track and getting pregnant could derail that again. Even trying to get pregnant could derail it. She wants their family and she wants Carina to be happy and she wants her job and she can’t seem to make all of these pieces fit together in a way that makes sense. She mulls it over so quietly and so intensely that she makes herself a little crazy.

See, Maya’s in therapy and really, truly doing better, but she’s still kind of a dumb ass when it comes to communication. So, while Carina would notice that something was going on, it wouldn’t be given voice right away and would probably only spill out when Carina’s finally had enough and gone, “Seriously, what the fuck.” (Except she’d say that sentiment way more eloquently.)

Maya will have tried so hard to make herself want to carry their child that she will feel as though she’s failed when she still hasn’t managed to convince herself. That devastation at her own inability is what Carina will find when they finally crack the surface of clipboard Maya.

Ultimately, though, Maya doesn’t care if their children are biologically hers. She doesn’t care if they have any blood relation to herself at all. Because she looks at Andrea and sees only her son. He has the features of the woman she loves, yes, but he’s also just this little human being that they hoped and wished and fought for. (And, realistically, she knows it could be better for both their kids from a medical standpoint if they have more genetics in common.)

Which is what gets Carina responding along the lines of, “You fucking idiot (affectionate).” She tells Maya that it’s okay, even though it was difficult the last time. That she doesn’t need protecting. That, actually, Maya being the one to not get pregnant successfully when they try wouldn’t make it hurt less.

She would also point out that Maya wouldn’t be able to guarantee no miscarriages or negative pregnancy tests just by the sheer will of it being her own body. There’s no control, really, in instances of trying to procreate. No matter the methods involved.

(This is where my own brain gets stuck because Carina wants to carry their children and trying to communicate that desire in a way that is authentic is challenging. And while I am writing this fic universe for representation’s sake and showcasing queer families that are simply soft and lovely and safe… this whole wanting kids thing is not actually on my own radar. Hence some of the stewing that has occurred. I really, really love being an aunt instead.)

Anyways, they proceed with IVF. They utilize the same donor as they did with Andrea – someone who looks a bit like Maya, though I haven’t really said that anywhere in Hygge thus far. They opt to use Carina’s egg again, which means the whole messy process of hormones and egg retrieval and the shit that both sucks and is a privilege all at once.

And the first implantation takes.

They settle into that cozy, quiet reality of discovering something you’ve dreamed of is coming true. Where no one knows but the two of them. They whisper about it between the covers, hands gravitating to Carina’s abdomen though nothing noticeable is there yet. They share giggly kisses. They bask in the wonder of the life ahead.

Until Carina miscarries.

This… this is the part I cannot write, anon. But it needs to be there.

Because this grief? It is quiet and it is loud. It is secret and all-consuming. It is a grief we are expected to tuck away into corners and overcome in silence. But it is a grief that more parents face than we speak about. It is the harshest reality of creating children. And it is the reality most of us will face at some point, whether we are dreaming of children of our own or loving someone who is.

Maya, in the devastation, will attempt to shoulder the loss. Only, she can’t. She can’t take the pain of it away. She can’t fix it and she can’t control it. This, I think, would be the first time in their motherhood that Maya would have to just… completely let go and have faith.

She’s been close once or twice by this point… when she rushed home after a difficult call to hug Carina in the early days of their pregnancy with Andrea. Those first six weeks of his life, when she’d taken the time off work and attempted to be still with them. Even the decision to try for a second child amidst the fear has been another step towards her growth. But this… the aftermath of grief over their loss is a really big turning point. How could it not be?

Maybe that’s what makes the next implantation feel so different. Maybe that’s why they’re tentative and calm when it takes, when the pregnancy test is positive. When the promise of a future starts to appear before them again.

This little embryo becomes Beatrice. They whisper about her beneath the covers, hands gravitating to Carina’s abdomen as she grows within. They share giggly kisses and quiet tears. Bea moves, more than Andrea ever did, and Carina calls her, “your daughter” so many times that Maya can’t imagine her being anything but.

And yeah, she couldn’t make herself want to carry her inside her body physically. But she carries in her heart and in her arms for the rest of her life. Just as she does with their son.

You see, Maya is already a mother – biology be damned.  

And all of that is why, on the day of Beatrice’s birth, Maya thanks Carina for doing this again.

[asoiafdrabbles]

Is it so far from madness to wisdom? Chapter 3

Summary: Laenor accompanies Jon to Runestone, where everything is going as smoothly as a funeral can until it's not.

AO3 Link

All chapters on Tumblr

XxXxX

With only three days of dragonriding behind him, Laenor and Rhaenyra had to agree that Maegon was ready for the trip to Runestone. They had sent a ship ahead with his possessions so they would arrive around the same time, as they could not trust the Cannibal to simply follow if Maegon was onboard.

They would, of course, make a few stops so they could stretch and so Laenor could access Maegon’s state, but he did not think they would need to overnight anywhere.

He’d rarely seen anyone so natural on the back of a dragon, he was not even sure if Maegon spoke his commands at all or if their bond had grown so deep already that it was unnecessary. It unnerved both he and Rhaenyra in ways they couldn’t fully verbalize, but understood in each other: If Maegon had been Rhaenyra’s age, with this amount of skill and his gender, Viserys may have been tempted to name him heir back then, instead, despite his father.

And while Rhaenyra thought Daemon would take his son’s skill with joy, Laenor was not so sure. He liked his mother’s cousin well enough, but he was not in love with him as Rhaenyra was, and the war had largely disillusioned him towards Daemon’s “better” nature.

Another reason he had insisted on going along with Maegon. He was certainly not the boy’s father, but in a way all the men in his life were, to fill in the gaps that Daemon had left. Perhaps some of the men at Runestone felt the same, but Laenor was hesitant to rely on them for Maegon’s wellbeing now that Lady Royce was gone.

He watched him stretching after they landed, his small body probably stiff from the new position it was being forced into on dragonback. Coming up to him, telegraphing his moves because he seemed twitchy lately (Laenor wondered if it wasn’t the bond with the Cannibal causing that, certainly that dragon was the most antisocial being he’d ever known), Laenor took one of his arms and rubbed the tense muscle as he might have for his sister or Rhaenyra, as his mother had done for him.

“We’ll take a meal, now, so we won’t be hungry as soon as we get there.” Laenor would be fine, but Maegon was still growing. “You should soak in a hot bath tonight. Actually hot.” He knew how servants unused to dragonriders tended to make the water if not specifically instructed.

Maegon gave a short laugh. “I know, cousin. And the servants at Runestone know, as well, even if mother,” his face shifted into sorrow before he got control of it again, “took some convincing when I was younger.”

“I wish I’d gotten to know Lady Rhea, she sounds like she was wonderful," Laenor said before he could think better of it, because Maegon always did speak so well of his mother.

There was a long silence, but Laenor didn’t push, just going about pulling out their supplies and handing over Maegon’s share. He’d never lost a parent, didn’t know what he’d do when he did, when inevitably his father died and he was left Master of Driftmark and Lord of the Tides, but he remembered how Rhaenyra had been in those months after her mother’s death.

“She was wonderful. Being a ruling lady is not easy, especially not in the Vale with the tensions because of Lady Jeyne, but mother always persevered. And…she never blamed me for who my father was or how he treated her. The only time I’d ever seen her upset over it was when the King ordered for me to come to the Red Keep.” Maegon gave a teary smile. “I was upset, too, in truth. As much as I wished to meet the rest of you, as intrigued as I was with my Valyrian heritage, I did not want to leave my mother’s side. And did not think I’d have to, not until I was old enough to squire, at least, and even then I thought I could stay in the Vale.”

If Laenor had to leave his mother’s side as a child, he knew she was always within a few hours of him by dragon, just as he knew he could return to Dragonstone quickly if he had to now. Lady Rhea would have had to sail to King’s Landing if she’d wished to see her son, a trip that a ruling lady could not take often, and one that was not without dangers.

“I fear we did you a disservice,” he finally said, staring out towards the sea beside them. “We could have flown you home for visits, but it did not occur to us to do so.”(1)

Maegon shook his head. “You did nothing wrong, cousin. I did not hate my time in King's Landing and enjoyed much of what I learned there. And the King could have forced mother to bring me much earlier, could have had me raised there altogether, but he chose to allow me a childhood at Runestone.”

Laenor let the subject drop, moving on to talking about a prank that Laena and Rhaenyra had played on him when they were younger, leaving out any mention of parents or the King. He spared a moment’s thought to how thankful he was that his children would never know such separation from their parents, they would grow up as Laenor had, secure in how easy it was for them to visit.

***

Jon wished to push ahead faster, but Laenor was uncompromising. The Cannibal was equal parts amused and annoyed at the whole thing, though Jon continually reminded him that this wouldn’t be happening if the body he was in was older.

Though he had gotten the impression, both from Maegon’s memories and some of what Laenor and Rhaenyra had said, that there was only so much older he could have gotten before he’d be considered a lost cause. Rhaenyra had ridden her dragon at seven, let alone simply bonding to it, and most of the people who claimed dragons into their teens had never gotten the chance to try, unlike Maegon who had been given a cradle egg and gone into the Dragonpit in King’s Landing.(2)

He supposed he could be vaguely comforted that the Cannibal had thought of what impression he would make on people. Even if that made him incredibly smug across their bond.

Maegon’s Aunt Ysilla, Rhea’s middle sister, awaited them when they landed their dragons in the area outside the keep where Daemon had always placed Caraxes. She had guards and extra horses with her and kept glancing at their dragons with wide eyes, but forced her attention to Maegon.

She gathered him up in her arms and everything about her was familiar, even though Jon himself had never met her before this. Melting into her hold, it was difficult to listen to her comforting words without tearing up some. Ysilla had married a Waynwood, but visited often, and her son Waymer and Maegon were close despite the fact that for a time everyone expected him to be Rhea’s heir.

Waymer himself met them inside, sparing a small, sad smile for his cousin. Jon knew something must have happened to him in the near future, because he wasn’t the Lord Royce that Jon had learned about from the Dance, and did not feel any guilt about replacing him if it meant he might live longer.

Along with him were Ysilla’s husband, Ser Elys Waynwood, and Ser Gerold Royce, Rhea’s third cousin and friend. It was the latter that Jon went to, trusting in Maegon’s instincts, and who informed him that Rhea had named him regent until Maegon came of age.

He introduced Laenor and they were all suitably impressed both by his titles and by his charm, (though mostly by his father, who Jon was extremely excited about one day meeting, even if Maegon was apparently terrified of him). Laenor might not have been any great fighter off of his dragon, but he was an expert courtier and also well-used to dealing with people who the fancier court etiquette wouldn’t appeal to thanks to his father’s businesses.

“I will be staying for the sennight, at least, if it pleases my cousin. I am gladdened that he has the support of his family here, but we would like to offer our own, as well,” he stated when they asked if he was staying the night, and even if Jon had wanted to refuse, there would have been no polite way to do so.

There was some general uneasiness about including Laenor in their mourning, as he had met Rhea possibly once in his entire life, but Jon thought they’d get over it. If nothing else, he could tell Laenor was intrigued by their talk of traditional funeral rites, completely different from what Velaryons and Targaryens practiced.

They held the funeral that evening, as the sun dipped below the horizon, glinting off the bronze armor pieces that most of them wore. Jon couldn’t stop a few tears from falling, knowing his own mother had never gotten even this much, and with the ache in his heart from Maegon’s loss.

“You don’t have to be strong right now,” Gerold whispered to him after everyone else had given their condolences and started back to the main keep for the evening meal. “Even a man grown might cry when he loses his mother.”

Jon gave a weak smile in response, moving closer. “My thanks, my lord, but I fear if I start now, I shall not stop.”

That earned him a fierce hug. “And there is nothing wrong with that, either. I am here to do what you cannot, yet, and if you need a few days before you start, no one will judge you.”

Those words almost tipped him over the edge into sobs, but as though his wishes for a distraction were fulfilled in the worst of ways (and perhaps they had been, considering he did not know how much magic the Cannibal could still accomplish), there was a roar in the distance and then two answering ones from the dragons on the field.

The unmistakable form of Caraxes could be seen in the dying light of the day and though he was not visible, Daemon would inevitably be on his back.

XxXxX

Notes:

(1) I imagine dragonriders are like people who grew up with private jets and can’t really comprehend that everyone else can’t just randomly decide to go places and then go there. Even Laenor and Laena, whose father is very much not a dragonrider, because Corlys might take more time to get to a place, but he has access to ships whenever he wants.

(2) A lot of people actually claim dragons much later, Daemon had iirc been in his 20s in F&B, but it seemed like in HOTD that maybe isn’t true? Anyway since I’m going with HOTD!Daemon for shitty parenting, I’m going to say claiming in the teens or later is incredibly rare. So Daemon claimed Caraxes soon after Aemon died, which would still make him 11 and a huge hypocrite, but he’s a ~pureblood Targaryen~ or whatever so maybe he judges his children more harshly since they don’t have so much dragonlord blood on both sides.

Also I should probably make it clear that I love good!father!Daemon and believe in the books he really was (I've got a bunch of headcanons around Valyrian culture and parenting but anyway), however this is going with the show version because it's more tension and I like the contrast of Jon having a decent father and no mother and Maegon having a good mother and a shit father. I also have a Daemon pov coming up to show more of his actual feelings on Maegon.

[dnf-fic-recs]

please can i get some angsty streamer fics guys <3

much love for everyone here, just know i’ll always appreciate you and that you do have rights no matter what !!

The Things We Left Unsaid (I'll Say Them If You Will) by authorialintent

It's been two years since the Dream Team broke up. But for Dream's 50 million subscriber special, he asks Sapnap and George to collab one more time.

Maybe it's time for them to say everything they never had the chance to.

All Of Our Memories Ahead by BirbWatcher

Dream has four soulmates that he knows of so far. His mom and sister were obvious, and when he met Sapnap aged 13 at Disneyland, neither of them were surprised when a yellow thread instantly connected them, marking them as platonic soulmates

When Dream meets George online a few years later, he’s sure that they must be soulmates too, somehow, in some way

But Dream already has a red thread to mark his romantic soulmate, tied to a stranger he never properly met. A stranger who can’t possibly be George

salve for the wounded soul by falsettodrop - Ongoing

Dream isn’t one to go deep in the ocean—he prefers standing safely on ground, with his feet planted in the sand—and so Sapnap takes George instead, gripping his hand as he pulls, and George joins him with ease. Dream can hear their laughs in the air as he looks around, back turned to them; a familiar sound, one that he’s heard nearly every day in the most recent years of his life. He turns, and there they are: his boys, watching him, waiting for him to look at them. They wave, as if to say, Dream, do you see us? Do you see? And he grins, heart full and beating and alive.

A crush injury to the fingers shifts dynamics within the Dream Team household. Tensions arise, of differing varieties.

cinnamon and swirl by offday - Mature

“I could’ve,” Dream admits. “So many times.”

Sapnap stays quiet a moment, and while Dream sniffles, the little girl in his lap turns, taps against his face like the tears are common. Dream kisses at her hand, promises her he is okay. He acts like nothing is wrong. Like Sapnap isn’t crying in front of him too, when he should be scolding Dream.

“Why didn’t you?” Sapnap asks as he swipes the back of his hand over his nose. “I mean, not even George?”

The mention of their other friend brings Dream into a new reality. Soft, brown, messy hair on his screen, a grin that laughs and cheeks that turn rosy any time Dream teases him. A light squeal into his headset at the late hours of the night, once Dream is alone in his tranquility. George, the rough paper that sands Dream down. Warm, fluffy bread. Fuck, Dream thinks.

Dream decides to tell his friends about his daughter right before they move in.

Forget-Me-Not by rain_morpheus

Dream was intimately familiar with what a forget-me-not looked like. They're tiny blue flowers with a yellow center and five petals.

Dream was so familiar with them simply because he had been picking them out of his hair for years, and in recent months he had been coughing them up and examining them in tissues.

They were beautiful flowers, truly, but at some point one does get tired of the color blue.

Call Me, I Still Love You by dante08

One time, when his cheeks were still round and rosy with the glow of youth, Dream scrapped his knees against the pavement of a sidewalk and cried until his lungs burned.

“Oh, honey,” his mother had whispered soothingly, rubbing his back gently as she held him in her arms. “It's okay. Falling hurts, doesn’t it?”

He had nodded then, never quite looking away from the tiny droplets of blood that littered on the knob of his knees, and tried to smile (because smiling makes everything better, or at least, that’s what his mom said).

But now, he stares at George the same way he had once stared at his bruised skin— in fear, in pain, in wonder.

Dream smiles either way, because his mom was right.

Falling hurts.

[maddys-mad-menagerie]

Happy Thursday, y’all~!

Hey, hey! It’s your favorite Maddy-ite here, keeping you updated on all things Maddy’s Mad Menagerie~!

Happy Thursday, y’all~! I hope you all don’t have cavities or upset tummies from all the regular and discount Valentine’s Day candy! I definitely do, but I’m being soooooo brave about it.

Now that it’s almost through February already, I’ve gotten some heads up that, now we’re going into this year with our most successful rebranding yet, we’ll be focusing our efforts here more than we were! What does that mean for y’all?

Hopefully, more of us! Meaning we might even get daily updates and even weekly events! We’ve been holding off on those until we were sure that people still want Maddy and Co. around, apparently? Dunno why, though. I think we’re popular enough to try?

Anyway, yeah! I wanted to let y’all know we’re gonna start moving ahead with plans for the place and the website, even! I have been told by some patrons that some pages still aren’t working properly, but I’m doing my best, I swear! That’s right, your girl is the only one working on keeping this place up and running! I hope to have those pages fixed before summer, honest! Finding all this is info and going through old paper records takes soooooo loooooong, though...

But yeah! Look forward to a bunch of fun stuff in the near future~!

Oh, right. If anyone lost anything yesterday at the Big Valentine’s Binge, please come get it from our Lost and Found. You have a week or two before I claim it, teehee~! 

Oh, and if you lost something cuz Maddy ate it? Please fill out a form for ‘Property Eaten’ and we’ll review if we can cover the cost of the item in our budget this month. We’ll try and get back to you within 3-5 business days!

Love y’all and see y’all when I do~!

-Webmaster C

[alielahi]

Secret Revealed: Rent a Car for a Month for 300 Near You!

Do you often take the hopeless route of public transportation or you are forced to incur heavy expenses just to meet your short-term car hire needs? Can you believe this evil secret of renting a car for one month at a cost of only 300 a few blocks from you? Correct! It's the last title. Strap up and we move to this very practical guide which partially showcases the term long-term car rental on a budget.

1. Introduction

Picture this: whether it is about discovering new places or moving about freely and comfortably during any time of the day, inner-city bus services give you that feeling of not going ready for a hospital billing by the moment you go out of your house. Through our eyes, let this be a symbolic dream. Now, instead of keeping the dream alive, we choose to bring it into existence. This is the very article where we will expose the hidden truth about Rent a Car for a Month for 300 Near Me, which you can find very fast in your area.

2. What is the reason for renting a Car for a Month?

Convenience with a Click of a Mouse.

It would be awesome to have your own wheels, and this feeling will last for a whole month. No longer do you have to worry when the bus comes or spend a huge amount on taxi. With a lease to car, the comfort is just the distance, it is yours.

3. The Advantages of Extended Vehicle Leasing

Cost-Effectiveness

Long-term car rentals not only provide considerable cost savings when compared to daily or weekly rentals but also over time reduce the required maintenance. Now you need only pay a small down payment per month which will avail you longer periods with rates that are discounted when compared with owning your own car.

Flexibility

Don't even think about commanding your vehicle to behave well-disciplined and drive very little Every time you rent a car that way, you are free to drive however much you want and whenever you like. It is your rarely used possession when it is best for you.

4. Where can you locate the most inexpensive car rentals on a monthly basis?

Local dealerships and rental agencies

Initiating the search, by visiting local dealerships and rental companies should be your first step. A lot of companies have discounts on their monthly or multi-month rentals, especially when there is less demand.

Online Platforms and Smartphone Apps

But at the same time, overlook the capacity of online platforms and apps as well. With many platforms including Greatdubai.com and apps like Turo, it is easy for you to get people. They offer seats to rent out their vehicles at prices that are hard to beat.

5. Guidelines for Bagging the Best Deal

Compare Prices

Go to different rental companies to get the best deal on a rental car price. Do not stop at the first deal you will come across. Spend some time looking for a deal that is within your budget and that meets your necessities.

Negotiate Terms

Don't be scared to negotiate the terms of your lease, especially if you're dealing with lessors. In case you are successful in negotiating you may be able to pay a lower rate or receive extra benefits.

6. Familiarizing oneself with the Terms and Conditions

Study the small print carefully.

Although it may seem tedious, before signing any rental agreement ensure you read the small print thoroughly. Take considerations such as a mileage restriction. Moreover, make sure that insurance coverage and cancellation of early termination are included.

7. The step-by-step processes of extending your rental period

Plan Ahead

In case you need to extend your rental period, don't wait till the last moment and inform the rental agency or landlord at least several days before the due date. Late extension of your rental for a day or two may cost you a higher fee.

8. The involvement of spare parts and insurance payouts.

Maintenance Responsibility

If you are renting, your rental agreement will usually cover basic maintenance. However, it is also necessary to point out who is within the scope of serious repairs and maintenance when you rent a house or apartment.

Insurance Coverage

Make sure to have comprehensive insurance which covers you sufficiently before driving. Insurance can be obtained either through the rental agency or through your provider, that is, depending on the case; you should be guaranteed in the event of any accident or damage.

Ensure yourself and is the best experience and get it now!

In whatever way you go about using the car- work week commutation, weekend trips, or longer trip travels, make sure you exhaust its capabilities to the fullest to extract maximum value. Plan your trips in a way that you end up reserving most of the time for yourself and simply enjoy having your own car.

9. Best Budget Cars for Monthly Leasing.

In a scenario when you want to rent a car for one month on a budget, you would need to select the right vehicle. This would decide the entire renting process. Here are the top contenders. They offer affordability without compromising quality.

Renault Koleos

Renault Koleos is definitely one of the stylish and very practical SUV cars that are great for long rentals. A very comfortable and smooth driving experience also secures the car for both city and freeway rides, thanks to its generous interior space and efficient engine. Unlike the studio or 1-bedroom apartments, this 2-bedroom unit is distinctively built with its state-of-the-art equipment and high seating capacity. It has become a household name among renters who wish to derive value, quality, and diversity.

Nissan Armada

To enlarge the Nissan Armada s capacity and power, it is an incredible alternative with which to rent it monthly. The size of this SUV delivers a spacious cabin, lots of room for luggage, and outstanding towing capacity, which make it ideal for long family trips or adventuring in the wilderness. Armada in spite of its size, the Armada offers a quiet and comfortable ride, in which can be put forward as a practical and realistic choice, especially in long-term rentals.

Nissan Versa

The Nissan Versa is the right option for you if having an affordable monthly rental takes the first position in the priority list. Compared with other cars in this category, this sedan is designed to offer the best balance between the price of rental, high fuel efficiency as well as a bigger and more comfy cabin. Surprisingly, the Versa might not be as small as it appears. It has enough space for the passengers to stretch their legs in the cabin, and the space in the trunk is not limited at all. The Versa coming in at a low price and having been proven to be dependable stands as a great choice for budget tenants.

10. Tips for Maintaining Your Rental Vehicle

Regular Maintenance Checks

To ensure a smooth rental, you must do regular maintenance checks on your vehicle. This will make the rental hassle-free. Keep an eye on fluid levels, tire pressure, and the vehicle's condition. This will prevent issues during your rental.

Safe Driving Practices

Take care of your rental car as if it were your own by practicing safe driving habits. Avoid aggressive driving, too much speeding, and sudden braking. These things reduce wear on the vehicle and the risk of accidents or damage.

11. Exploring Additional Rental Options

Upgrade Opportunities

Consider upgrading your rental vehicle to a higher trim level or a different model if your budget allows. An upgrade can give you access to more features. It also brings more comfort and better performance. This will improve your rental experience.

Specialty Vehicles

Explore special rentals for unique experiences. These include luxury cars, sports cars, and eco-friendly vehicles. These options may cost more. But, they can add excitement and convenience to your rental. This makes them worth considering for special or memorable trips.

13. Conclusion

No hurry on buying a dedicated vehicle as well as pricey short-term rent are a thing of the past. The secret is out, so you can now borrow a car for an hour, 300 dirhams cost and it is in your neighborhood. Do not worry about expensive running costs, owning your own car can bring you the joy of being in control of your transportation. Take the first step and embark on a new surreal adventure, full of wonders and thrills!

To finalize, affordable day-to-day car rentals provide access to an ever-increasingly convenient practice at considerable costs due to their flexible nature. Doing what the tips and conditions in this guide, require you to equip yourself for a month's exploration that will make you confident as you start.

Then, there it was the rest of the sentence: Therefore, stop stalling. The day you get your driver’s license, it can be tempting to just cruise around town without a care in the world.

11. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q1: Is there any agency out there that offers a car for a whole month for just AED 300? Can I get in touch with them?

Admittedly, you can come across cheap long-term car rental options, starting from AED300 monthly, on the premises of local dealerships, rental agencies, or on online platforms as long as you are creative.

Q2: Are there any secret payments for periods longer than the agreed-upon term?

Whilst some leases may feature added fees that could be the result of mileage overages or late return charges, asking for a written of all terms and conditions of the lease could be very helpful in order to not have any similarity.

Q3: Can you nominate a longer rent period if the need comes?

Indeed, overwhelmingly rental businesses and most individuals let their customers prolong the rental for additional time. But, you'll be wise enough to avoid any nuisances by communicating in advance.

Q4: Is the entity responsible for the repair if the vehicle packed in while I was in management?

When an incident occurs, the first action is to contact the rental company or owner so that they will get the required assistance. The exact scenario will depend on the terms of your agreement in which case, they will either offer you a replacement car for use or effect necessary repairs.

Q5: Is insurance included in what we pay for the house?

The rental agreement might cover you with basic insurance coverage, but be sure you find out the limit of coverage before you hire. Weigh the supplementary insurance as part of making certain that you have a calm state of mind.

REFERENCE

[superconductivebean]

#262: Hogwarts Inquires - I

Perhaps, it is an Inquiry, but I just need a vent for it.

SPOILERS AHEAD

I've been documenting events along the way I play and took notes for the timeline; some can be found here. That post was a mess and I'm planning on somewhat improving the size and info value of these but for now, dates.

MC acquires powers: ??.??.1890

Although she says she was dreaming about Hogwarts for a long time, we can't be sure how long that wait really was. Might've been just a small talk, besides, it was Professor Weasley she was sharing that bit with. ALTHOUGH, I am certain MC had a few months of getting up to speed. She isn't very but quite knowledgeable about wizarding world, Fig had one job and he'd done it.

Miriam's death & Anne's curse: April of 1890's first two weeks

During Beasts Class, Poppy shares with MC that she'd rescued Highwing a few -- five, to be precise -- years back, and until recently, she was fine. Meaning, Ashwinders became a problem not very long ago, and it was apparent they were moving closer to Hogwarts, after Rookwood took a hold of the Ministry (he used its resources to track down the locket, the man's influence is astonishingly scary, if you really think about it; he might've been the reason for Spavin to ignore the bs in the area).

Not only Poppy worries the castle might be not as safe, Natty, too, and Nora Treadmill said that she'd never been attacked so close to the grounds. Amit says during Potions class, some families didn't want their children to go to the school because of the dangers goblins posed.

Why Anne's curse matters. Hogwarts has two weeks of Easter holidays, meaning, she and Sebastian could have gone back to Feldcroft; they were in their fourth year, I doubt that studying for OWLs could have them kept within Hogwarts' walls. So. The night Rookwood cursed her -- or severely injured -- was likely the night shortly after Miriam's death, as at at the moment, Rookwood had already seen what Ranrok gained and was interested in any subsequent searches in the area.

Why Poppy's words also matter. She says until recently.

George Osric also mentioned Miriam sent him the locket a few months back. Just before she died soon afterwards.

MC's arriving at Hogwarts: September 1, 1890

A few months back are, like, 5, from that point of time?

Troll attack: September 2, 1890

The Restricted Section: September 3, 1890

Fig's departure for Ministry: September 4, 1890

Also the day of Herbology and Potions classes.

I have a strong belief Professor Sharp is fully aware of MC's shenanigans from the very beginning, moreover, he is afraid MC might be on her way to waste her potential; what's especially OHMYGOD to me, is that Sharp nearly always talks to MC directly rather than asks if Professor Fig has to do with anything.

He always proposes a different view on any of MC's companion; those who are complimented by the others, Sharp criticises, offers a different perspective, asks to think if MC should really allow influences from the ones like Everett; with exceptions for Poppy and Imelda (that added MIGHT DO YOU GOOD after a short pause, said in uplifted eager voice, warms my heart every time, sir, your gurl has found a perfect friend and she also borrows your own words did u know that; I'm sorry I just, THEY'RE SO FUNNY I CAN'T).

When Sharp was close to pointing that out -- that these… shenanigans could be a waste of life because of Fig -- during the brief conversation before turning in Diffino Assignment, he immediately reiterates with Don't let it go to your head. He wasn't meaning any of this:

Good. Ordinarily, I’d say it’s not my concern either way, but you - I want to make sure you’re well-prepared. Talent and resolve are a potent combination. It would be a shame to let that go to waste.

as a compliment (although, he's also careful with his words). These were the words of caution. The fact he tried to cover it with something to not let MC become complacent because spooky scary basilisk Professor Aesop Sharp acknowledged someone gives it away.

What he has to say about Fig, look:

I hope you know better than to let Professor Fig take you on one of his foolhardy adventures.

The man clearly doesn't want MC to waste it. Fig's fun stuff interferes with Sharp's pride in his top students; he genuinely wants her to thrive, not found dead.

BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF BEEF

Oh, and. In the end, when after everyone's raising their cups, Sharp gets up eagerer than everyone else, and I'd like to think, MC follows.

I CAN GO ON ABOUT THIS FOR AGES.

Map Chamber: September 5, 1890

Undercroft: September 6, 1890

The Room of Requirement: September 7, 1890

I'm certain Sharp is aware of its existence. It's a what-if but I have a suspicion these notes left in the room are his and his friend's old scribbles; his second dialogue, on why he has come to Hogwarts, becomes available AFTER that quest is done and he concludes the conversation with this:

Yes. Well, I'm certain you have an empty cauldron waiting for you somewhere.

First Trial: September 13 or 14, 1890

Second Trial: October 31, 1890

Third Trial: December 17 or 18, 1890

Forth Trial: between December 31, 1890, and January 3, 1891

Battle for Repository: January 4, 1891

P.S. That's me on April, 1st after I decided to look at when was happening what in the game:

NGL I waited for the St Valentine's Day quests, Easter holidays, OWLs, ah, silly me.

I'm still struggling with December because u just listen: each of these wicked quests, from the dragon rescue to the tomb clusterfuckery with Solomon, happened all within A MONTH, including two of the remaining trials.

No wonders MC lost it at Rookwood's face and was loosing throughout the battle, the girl opened the floodgate of doom (and won).

[ikeepbookkeeping]

Setup For Success

This month, we sat down with successful entrepreneur, Richard Bell. He is currently CEO of Little Zak’s Academy with over 300 staff, and the Founder of Business Leaderz Group and received Sydney’s Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award in the Finance category in 2020. Each year he mentors 20 businesses on a monthly basis – we asked him about what makes the difference to surviving versus thriving in the current market conditions…

Rich, what are your thoughts on what small business owners are going through right now?

Covid has been challenging for a lot of us. It’s probably challenged your ideas about life, ideas about business, your goals, your values, how you think about things, but don’t let it change your course. It’s so easy to get thrown off by something external whether it’s a global pandemic, economic downturn, massive change in trade rules or government policy… it’s important that you as the business owner stay true to your course and your vision of when you started this thing in the first place – whatever it is.

Yes, these are uncertain times for a lot of business owners, if someone isn’t sure how to get back on track what are the two or three things you would recommend?

Great question – Uncertainty definitely creates a feeling of being lost, so whenever I’ve felt like that in the past, my go-to is to do whatever it takes to gain clarity on the path ahead of me, otherwise you will simply be wandering aimlessly.

1. “Business success does not happen by accident, it is planned and executed”

Get your bearings right and identify what true north is for you and your company. Think about every aspect and almost do a full day strategy and planning session where you look at; do you have the right people on your team, are you positioned properly within the market, are you actually solving a problem currently, does the current trajectory of the business point towards where you actually want to be? What do you need to start doing, stop doing, do more of, do less of?

2. “A successful business is the outcome of 1000 small things done well. Not one big seismic win or failure. It’s every decision, detail, process, plan and strategy that counts.”

Once you identify what direction the business needs to be heading in, it’s then time to map it all out, put a 12-month operational plan together, make sure you have the right people on the bus, you have clearly set the rules for the game (your company values) and everyone is pulling in the same direction. Map out every key project with the actions and who is responsible for completing those and get to work.

3. “Your business growth is directly proportionate to your level of thinking as a leader.”

Nobody in this world is perfect, we all have our strengths and our blind spots. But to be a leader, you need people who believe in your vision, your passion and your skillset to lead them to where they want to go. And for some people, this means upskilling in order to get that certainty. I would be lying if I said I managed to accomplish everything I have by myself, I’ve had multiple mentors and coaches that have influenced me. I’ve learnt that business growth is directly correlated with your ability to surround yourself with the right people.

What is the message you’d like to leave small business owners with?

I know of hundreds of businesses that have had to pivot, close, change their entire business plan completely during the last one to two years, me included, but what hasn’t changed is the commitment to the course.

As we start to come out of COVID, I want to leave a message to all the business owners that your vision still matters and that you still have that fire inside of you. If you have a business think about what you can do over the next 6-12 months to turn things around, to move the needle; rewrite your business plans, hire new people, raise more funds, expand, grow… don’t let the last two years throw you off what may be for some of you a 10-20 year plan.

Stay the course, you’ve got enough passion, you’ve got enough grit, you started this thing make sure you finish it.

Rich run’s Leaderz Club for businesses that are looking to have their best year in business yet. If you would like more information about Rich’s Leaderz Club, you can see more information here .

https://www.ikeep.com.au/