#well all knew his ass was pre much retired before confirmation

[dogwittaablog]

you know what’s so fucking ironic about this whole Nolan Patrick situation? He was supposed to be the golden boy for the flyers as in their future captain one day and the key to their ticket to the playoff finals one day. Travis konecny was just a player that had some potential for the flyers. And now Travis is shaping up to be the next great flyer and Nolan is retired. Life comes at you fast huh

THIS IS NOT THE TIME FOR REMINDERS, IM STILL TRYING TO GET THROUGH THE PAST 48 HOURS OF THESE SERIES OF EVENTS.

HES JUST OUT THERE SEEING HIS FRIEND/OLD TEAMMATE LIVE OUT HIS DREAMS THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO BE FULLFILLED BY HIM.

[luci-in-trenchcoats]

Dean’s Day

Summary: The reader is missing Dean one day. Jensen decides she doesn’t have to miss him at all and allows the reader, and even Dean, the opportunity to have a fun day together...

Pairing: Jensen x reader, Dean x reader

Square: Quote C “Shh, don’t worry, I’ll take very good care of you.”

Word Count: 1,500ish

Warnings: language, nudity

A/N: Written for @supernatural-jackles​​ Tell Me A Story Bingo and all my Dean girls out there...

________

“Hey,” said Jensen. He leaned over the back of the lounger in the home office, resting his chin on top of your head. “Whatcha reading?”

“Fanfic,” you said, scrolling up on your tablet a smidge.

“Is it that smutty one that you sent me yesterday that has that epic cliffhanger?” he asked. “I’m still waiting for that chick to update.”

“Patience is a virtue. And no, this is a short story,” you said, bookmarking it when you got to the bottom. Jensen plucked it out of your hands before you knew it though and quickly was frowning. 

“This is a finale rewrite,” he said, handing it back to you. “You still pissed over that ending huh.”

“Not as pissed as I was. But I just won’t ever like it. I just...don’t like to think that Dean never really got to live a normal safe life. It wasn’t fair to him.”

“No it wasn’t. I wish he got better,” he said. He smiled and sat down beside you, taking out his phone. He tapped for a moment before showing it to you, a mostly black image on the screen but a few words making your eyes widen. “Back in Black. I thought it was a fitting title for the reboot.”

“They’re remaking the show already?” you said. You scowled and he started to laugh. “It’s been less than a-“

“My reboot. Our reboot. Honey ain’t nobody else gonna do my boy justice,” he said. You took the phone out of his hands and stared at the image longer.

“Is that a devil’s trap in the fading?” you asked. He hummed and took the phone back. “Wait. I-”

“That’s enough spoilers for one day,” he said. He kissed your temple and you stood up, Jensen already heading out of the room. “So glad I didn’t tell you about Dean’s girlfriend.”

“Dean’s getting a girlfriend!” you said, bouncing up and down on your toes. “Like, a real relationship?”

“Maybe,” he said with a big ass smirk. “It’s all in pre-production right now. A select few are brainstorming ideas. But I’m not telling you more. I want you to be spoiler free and enjoy it like everybody else.”

“Spoiler free didn’t work out so well last time,” you said. He shrugged and rocked back on his heels. “Alright, alright. Spoiler free.”

“Awesome. Oh. I gotta duck out for like the rest of the day. I’ll catch you tonight,” he said. 

“Uh,” you said, Jensen already gone. He headed upstairs and you looked around, trying to figure out what prank he was pulling on you today. Nothing seemed off and by the time you were upstairs and getting to your bedroom door, Jensen was stepping out in a different flannel and t shirt. “I mean I don’t mind if you have plans for the day. I-“

“I don’t got any plans sweetheart,” he said.

“You just said-“

“Who just said?” You raised an eyebrow, taking a beat for it all to click. That specific flannel with that specific shirt. That specific slight drop in his voice. 

“Jensen.”

“Yeah he’s gonna be back later. He said you get me today to do with as you please,” he smirked. 

“Jens-”

“Shh, don’t worry, I’ll take very good care of you.” He pressed a finger to your lips and pecked a quick kiss to your cheek. You stared at him and he clasped his hands behind his back, twirling his hips as he stood in place.

“Dean.”

“Yes?” he asked. 

“So you’re Dean today,” you said. He hummed and nodded, lifting up onto his tip toes and falling back down. “And I can do whatever I want to you.”

“Yup,” he said, popping his p.

“Alright, Dean. How you still alive after that finale? Something to do with Back in Black I heard?” You grinned and he narrowed his eyes, a sliver of Jensen coming through.

“Oh that’s on a need to know basis sweetheart. Just know I ain’t gone anywhere,” he said. “Alive and kicking. You gonna play it that way today cause our mutual friend gave me permission to do as I please too if you start acting up.”

“Dean, sweetie,” you said. “You’re an even bigger bottom than Jensen. Let’s not pretend you aren’t.”

You patted his ass as you walked past, humming and slipping out of the room. 

“Come on Dean. I have things I want to do with you today.”

“Oh Dean,” you called from where you lounged in your chair beside the pool. Dean waggled a few fingers from where he floated around on a mat in the water, eyes shut behind a pair of sunglasses. “Would you like to order some sandwiches for lunch? It’s supposed to rain soon.”

“Alright,” he said with a stretch.

“Head on up to the bathroom for me. I’ll be there in just a minute,” you said. He hummed and rolled off the float, swimming and dragging along the mat until he took it out and tossed it in the pool toy box tucked against the fence. He headed inside wrapped in his towels while you picked up a few things. You stopped in the kitchen and put in an order for an hour from then, heading on upstairs, the house darker with the clouds rolling in.

You found him in the bathroom, swim shorts and towel in the basket, halfway into the shower. A tsk left your lips and he froze, looking back over his shoulder. 

“No, no,” you said. You went to the tub and turned on the water, getting it to a nice temperature and plugging it. Your bathing suit came off and you gathered up his shampoo and conditioner from the shower along with your body wash. “Dean.”

You held out a hand and he took it, allowing you to pull him into the rising water with you, a smidge of Jensen coming through as he realized what you were about to do, an experience he himself had had more than once when he got too stressed out.

“What’s up sweetheart?” he said, leaning closer as if he didn’t already know the answer.

“Close your eyes,” you said. He shut his and you turned him around, sliding him back against your chest. You wrapped one arm around his waist and he let out a sigh. “When’s the last time you took a bath Dean?”

“No idea. Probably a kid,” he said, resting his head back as you started to scoop water up and over his hair to get it wet. “You gonna wash my hair?”

“Yes I am. I like to wash Jensen’s hair sometimes. He’s not so good about relaxing and letting himself be taken care of every once in a while.” He was quiet, humming softly. “He’s better about it lately though.”

“He appreciates it,” he said. You leaned forward and hit off the water, grabbing his shampoo. You squirted some in your hands and put it on his head, working it into a lather. “Feels nice.”

“Good. A spa day never hurt anyone, especially retired hunters,” you said. 

“You know, in the meantime, until you get a confirmation I mean, I think you should consider me alive and well.”

“Oh really? So what are you up to these days then?” you said, giving his scalp a good scrub that made him hum deeply.

“Been hanging with my boy a lot. Driving around. Golfing. Swimming. Boating. Concerts. He really loves you. He loves me too.”

“He’s pretty great,” you said.

“What about you sweetheart? You love me?”

“Yes I do.” You kissed his cheek and smiled. “What about you? You interested in any-“

“Sh. Back to bath cuddling,” he said. 

“Alright Dean. Whatever you want today.”

“You have some pretty nice cuddles I gotta say,” he said late that night as you lay in bed together. His head was resting on your shoulder, arm over your waist. “Thanks for today. Never really got to have a girl to take care of me before.”

“I’m always here if you ever want that again. Until you can get a girlfriend in the future at least,” you said.

“I’ll take you up on that. I’m always here if you need me too sweetheart,” he said.

“Okay,” you said, kissing his temple. “Tell Jensen thanks for today.”

“I will. I’ll see you around soon. Later sweetheart,” he said, lifting his head and giving you a soft, slow kiss. 

“Later Dean,” you said. You closed your eyes and heard him shift on the bed. “Hi Jensen.”

“Hi honey. How was your day?” he asked.  

“Good,” you said, smushing your face into his chest. “I love you so much.”

“Take care of our boy?” he asked.

“Jay.”

“I know you did. I don’t know about you but I’m beat after that day of pampering,” he said.

“Honey. Thanks for that,” you said.

“I did it for him too,” he said. You hugged him and he returned it, snuggling into your side. “Night sweetheart.”

“Night Jens. And Dean.”

_______

[elldell1204]

Tented - Matt Casey x Reader

Anonymous: yesterday’s fic was amazing! may I request casey x fem reader on going on a trip together? maybe you could include some smut? thanks xx

Thanks so much for the request! I am getting them all and am working my way through. 🥰 So, I started writing this and then realised that I had read a fic with a similar concept to mine by @shelswrites​ so definitely go check out their’s here! ❤️ I don’t know whether to apologise or not for the smut that is in this, but there is definitely a lack of hot Casey smut on the internet, so I’m here to do my bit to fix that, even if that does mean I’m going to hell 😊😜 Enjoy! 😉

Warning: VERY NSFW, pure smut and swearing ;)

wc - 2,787

(Also, 😍😍😍 ⬇️⬇️)

“Easy, Matt.” You scolded, throwing your arms out to grab onto anything you could find, hoping and praying that whatever you did wouldn’t get in the way of his driving, not that you cared when he was going fifty round a bend.

“Don’t worry, Y/N, I know what I’m doing. I drove the truck for three years before I became lieutenant, so a car is like that with training wheels.” He chuckled, a sound that twinkled in your ears to calm the racing of your heart. It was only semi-successful.

“I’ll remind you of that when we end up at the bottom of a cliff.” You huffed, trying to stop a smile spreading across your face to prove a point.

You had absolutely no idea where you were going. When you and Matt had gotten home from shift last night, he said that he had sorted out a surprise holiday for you both and shoved you in the car. He hadn’t even let you pack your own suitcase or look in the trunk. You sat for approximately a half hour before he re-emerged from your apartment building, the only thing in his hand being the blindfold you preferred to use in the bedroom, only it was now being used to keep you in the dark about where you were driving. ‘Yep, definitely prefer it in the bedroom.’ You thought.

Now, around forty-five minutes and several wrong guesses later, you were slightly frustrated, mildly travel sick and pulling up to your destination.

“We’re here.” Matt smiled, which you couldn’t see but could hear in his voice, which automatically brightened you up and returned you to the cheery and excited state you were in when you first started on your journey.

“Am I taking this off?” You gestured to the blindfold.

“Mmm…not yet.” He hesitated, and the next time he spoke he was close enough that his breath fanned over your ear and his hand was gently brushing your thigh. “You do look really hot in it right now. Reminds me of the other night.”

You visibly shivered, a heat flowing to your core at the thoughts that now flooded your mind. You released a shaky breath as Matt pulled back, opening the car door and stepping out.

“Jesus Christ.” You breathed to yourself. The things that man could do to you.

The sound of your door opening startled you, but the warmth of the hand that grasped yours calmed you immensely, and you chuckled. The warmth of the air hit your skin as you stepped out, a change from the air-conditioned interior of the car. Matt guided you along what felt like grass under your toes, stopping after about twenty feet.

“Surprise, baby.” He whispered in your ear as he carefully untied the blindfold. It took a few seconds for your eyes to adjust to the light, but as soon as they did, you were astounded by the view. A glistening lake stretched before you, cut off by an emerald forest on the other side as the golden streams of light from the sun cascaded over the tops as it set. Different layers overlapped where the ground was higher in places, offering endless opportunities for long walks and hikes. To your right was a clearing with picnic benches and spots for tents to be set up, only one of them currently in use.

You turned your head to the side to face Matt, a smile brightly illuminating your features and he couldn’t be happier at the sight.

“Oh Matt…” You sighed happily, reaching up a hand to cup his face. “This is gorgeous.”

“I’m happy you like it.” He wrapped his arms around you from behind, resting his chin on your shoulder and peppering sweet kisses up your neck. You hummed in content, fluttering your eyes closed to savour the moment.

“Is this because I told you I had never been camping before the other night?” You murmured.

“Mhmm.” He confirmed. “My dad used to bring me and Christie here when we were little, and I loved it, so I wanted to share it with you.”

“Well thank you.”

“We should probably get set up before the sun sets fully.” He said, and you nodded, turning and walking beside him back to the car to help out.

Matt practically put up the tent himself, since you just felt you were getting in the way as you didn’t have much experience, not that he minded; he was in his element. You instead decided to get acquainted with your temporary neighbours. They were on the opposite side of the row to you, about ten yards down, with you being at the closest to the water and them being the furthest. They were sat in a couple of camping chairs in front of their campfire, smiling and waving as you made your way over. Mr and Mrs Miller were a lovely couple, a couple of generations older than you but still very lively. You got to know them relatively well in the fifteen minutes you spoke to them, telling them about your jobs as firefighters and how it was your first camping trip. They told you about their grandkids, how they liked to travel to different campsites around the country now that they were both retired, and even offered for you and Matt to join them if you so wished. Matt came over once he was done with the tent, joining in the conversation before you bid farewell to go and unpack what was left from the car and get something to eat.

“So, do we have to piss in a circle around the tent now?” You asked Matt half-jokingly after swallowing the last bite of your sandwich that he had packed for you both. You were sat beside each other on the grass, looking out to the lake, the sun very low behind the trees. The Millers had gone to bed an hour ago, so you were the only people in sight for at least a mile.

“What?” He burst out laughing at your unexpected question, as you had previously been sat in comfortable silence.

“You know, to keep the bears away.” You shrugged, chuckling along.

Matt placed a hand on your knee as he came down from his laughing fit. “No, Y/N, there aren’t any bears around here, so we’re good. Although, be my guest if you really want to.”

“Oh, shut up.” You playfully shoved his shoulder as you smiled. “Do you have anything planned for tonight then?”

“Not really. We made it here quicker than I thought we would so I don’t have anything pre-planned. However,” Matt began to draw circles on your thigh with his thumb, leaning in closer to you, beginning to trail kisses down your neck, stopping at the junction of it to suck a hickey into your skin, painting it a sultry red that would shift hues as the days pass. “Christening the tent doesn’t seem like a bad idea.”

You let out a breathy moan, melting into his touch like a candle to a flame, his skin leaving tingles wherever it touched yours. He moved a hand to your shoulder blade and gently lowered you down on the grass so that he was hovering over you, his hands roaming your body like yours were roaming his.

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” You managed to get out as Matt coaxed your t-shirt halfway up your torso. “I have a better idea.”

He stopped his ministrations and lifted his head to look at you quizzically. All you did in reply was give him a mischievous smile before sitting up, taking him with you, and standing. You began walking backwards towards the lake, fingers toying with the hem of your shirt to tease him before pulling it fully over your head and throwing it to the side. Matt’s eyes were glued to your body, seductively walking backwards with a heat in your step, as he stood, doing nothing but watching you, transfixed. By now you had begun unbuttoning your jeans, unzipping the fly and pushing them off your legs, leaving you in just your underwear. It wasn’t anything overly risqué (comfortable lilac cotton with lace trim on both of the matching pieces) but it practically had him drooling.

“Ever been skinny dipping, Matt?” You said, voice dripping with lust like nectar from a flower, your teasing head tilt making his pants become uncomfortably tight.

“Someone’s feeling daring.” He pointed out, his voice seemingly deeper than before.

You winked in reply, turning around before pulling down your panties, stepping out of them then unclasping your bra, pulling it off your shoulders and throwing it to the floor. Your nipples were already fully erect, and because it was a humid summer’s day, you knew it wasn’t due to any cold air. Now fully nude, you looked back over your shoulder to see Matt getting undressed himself, a slight sheen of sweat glistening on his bare chest in the dim light that shone through the trees. You couldn’t help but turn around and enjoy the show, him pushing down his pants and boxers in one, allowing his cock to spring free against his stomach, granting it its much-awaited freedom. He lifted his eyes to see you watching him, biting your lip, and suddenly all your thoughts of running to the water’s edge dissipated, being replaced with him taking you right there and then on the grass.

“I don’t know about you,” He said as he walked the ten feet distance to you. “But I don’t think I can wait till we’re in the water.”

He was right in front of you now, his skin just begging for your touch. All you could do was nod, your bottom lip still trapped by your teeth until he reached up his hand to your face, his thumb tugging your lip free. He then threaded the same hand into your hair, the other one wandering down to grab your ass as he leaned in. You slid one hand up his chest and the other down to wrap around his cock, then you met him halfway, locking your lips in a devilishly hot kiss. You were both heavily aroused already, your nipples pressing hard against his chest, his dick twitching as you ran your hand up and down it.

In seconds you were laid down on the floor, Matt hovering over the top of you as he his lips began to drift over your jaw, down your neck, and to your left breast. His breath was hot and the occasional moan left his lips, but he stayed on his quest. He sucked at your nipple harshly, eliciting a moan from you. He peered up from his spot on your chest, quirking an eyebrow.

“You need to stay quiet, babygirl.” He smirked.

You sighed in frustration. You loved letting him know vocally what he did to you, even though he could tell by the way you writhed and squirmed beneath him. He went back to your nipple, licking a stripe up it as his left hand rolled your other between his fingers, pinching harshly every now and then to make your blood rush to your centre. He lightly bit the one he had in his mouth, and you had to clamp your teeth down onto your bottom lip to stop yourself from groaning. He soothed it by swirling his tongue before moving onto your other breast, his right hand dancing down your side softly, caressing your hip, trailing further and further down until it met your hot, wet lips.

You gasped out as his finger drew circles around your clit, his lips tracing patterns with kisses down your torso on their way to meet his fingers. You bucked your hips into his hand, grinding your wetness against him, telling him that this was all for him, that he had done this to you. You felt his lips turn upwards into a smile against your hip, letting you know he understood, as his teeth nipped gently at the skin there.

He finally arrived at his destination, drawing back his fingers, leaving you whimpering at the loss of contact. He pushed your legs further apart, his warm breath fanning over your glistening lips as you began to squirm in anticipation of what was to come. He knew he was damn good at giving oral, as did you, and he loved to hear you and see you work yourself up before the act.

“Please, Matt, please, I-I need-“ You started to plead, only to be interrupted by his tongue flattening against your aching nub, running back and forth in long, slow strokes that caused your muscles to tense at each one, however hard you tried to relax.

“Holy fucking shit…” You breathed out, bringing a hand to your mouth to muffle the moans that were bound to come. His mouth vibrated against you as he chuckled at your response, but he didn’t stop. He sealed his lips around your clit, making your head spin, swirling his tongue around and around. You reached out your free hand to entangle your fingers into his golden strands, tugging gently at them, just how he liked it. He moaned against you, sending waves of pleasure through your body. He continued to suck and lap at different spots to make to writhe beneath him, using his hands to pin your thighs down on either side of his head.

You felt your orgasm beginning to coil tighter and tighter in your stomach, and he seemed in no rush to get out of there, lavishing attention over every part of you, leaving nothing untouched. Sliding his hands underneath your ass, he pulled you further into him, filling his mouth with you as if he could never get enough.

“Matt, I’m…I’m close.” You panted, and he got the hint, removing his mouth with one last lick and moving back up to meet your lips once again. You could feel his hard on pressing against your core, teasing you whether it was intentional or not, as his tongue danced with yours and your lips fought in a battle to devour each other’s.

He was grinding against you now, just enough friction to make you beg for more but not enough to reach your high. He knew what he was doing, and he was enjoying it. Time for a taste of his own medicine.

You took his moment of weakness (in the form of a groan) to flip your bodies over, you now straddling him, lips still connected as you grinded down onto him. He was craving his release, as were you, and as much as you were relishing the moment, you gave in. You lifted your hips, wrapping a hand around his throbbing cock to line it up with your entrance before sinking down onto it, both of you releasing a guttural moan in unison, attempting to be as quiet as possible but failing pretty miserably. His hands were gripping your hips so hard they would probably leave bruises that would linger for days, reminding you of this night every time you looked in the mirror.

You tried to hold on, continue teasing him, but pure carnal pleasure took over, and soon you were raising your hips and slamming them back down, each motion causing a delicious bliss to flood your veins. Your movements quickened, both of you panting with how close you were to the brink of an orgasm, when Matt drove his hips up in time with you, the force at which he did making you lift a hand from where you were bracing yourself on his shoulder to your mouth, clamping it over it to muffle the scream you let free.

“Come with me, baby, I want to feel you clench around my cock.” Matt groaned, and you flew over the edge, hurtling into the most intense orgasm you had ever experienced, Matt joining you as you felt him release into you. You could’ve sworn you saw a galaxy of stars behind your eyelids as your legs shuddered with the force of your high, and as you lifted yourself off of Matt and collapsed next to him in a post-orgasmic daze, you took deep breaths of the fresh night air that enveloped you.

With some sense of reality restored, Matt placed an arm under your head, wrapping it around you to draw soothing circles on your shoulder as you both watch the real stars above your heads. You turned towards him to nuzzle into his neck, pressing lazy kissing along his pulse point as you enjoyed each other’s company, blind to the rest of the world, at least for a few minutes.

[holyprofessorvoidoperator]

"Are they firing everyone over there?"

A former coworker texted me for the first time since he'd moved to one of our other companies a few months previously. He was one of the kinds of people that are still quite in the loop. I replied to say no, not so much... there had been a couple of (expected) retirements and one former director that had supposedly been fired for cause, but nothing much beyond that.

"Jason?"

Ah. I'd heard the rumors. I guess this was confirmation.

Jason and I have worked together since I started here, a long time ago. He's a developer, and a pretty good one. He's very knowledgeable and enthusiastic, especially so in regards to sharing that knowledge. He's the sort of guy that will be presented with an interesting problem and pick at it for days, even from something that just cropped up as a side comment in a conversation. He'd really been a great guy with whom to work, as close to a friend as I tend to have at work.

The only real downside with him is that he's... talkative. As I said, he's enthusiastic about sharing knowledge, and that means sometimes in a meeting he'd go on to unnecessary length on a topic, then wander off into several different technical tangents regardless of who the audience was (including business partners for whom all of this would go completely over their heads) unless he can be reigned in. And there was added difficulty when working remote: in person he could pick up on the social clues of the room and realize he should shut up, but on conference calls he could go on at length with people occasionally having to shout at him to ask him to wrap it up ("Jason... JASON. JASON. HEY. Ok sorry, we need to move on ok?"). All in all it was hardly the worst flaw a person could have, but it stood out. I used to refer to it as his glossolalia.

All of that said, he'd been going through some shit. Six months or so ago we began an internal re-organization. As a part of that several of the managers and directors were having to re-apply for their current jobs, or for new ones, and this included one of the most popular, most well-liked, most trusted among them: Jason's boss. At first, since everyone was going through it, it was an uneasy but reasonable situation. But then more and more of those new positions were solidified, everything was shaking out as expected... except for this one director. And that kept going on, and kept going on, and then one day a new AVP was appointed in his place. People were unhappy, very openly so. Jason was respectful but quite open about his displeasure. The director did end up getting promoted to a totally different role, with no direct reports. But by then the strange damage was done.

The thing is, around all of this kicking off Jason started to act a bit unusually. It was hard to tell when it started because we were all remote due to COVID: in person, we'd have seen something was up with him. He ended up being pushed towards a two week vacation, which didn't seem to be an issue. But over time after he came back he started to seem unusual, and less reliable. Suddenly he would miss meetings regularly and say he was stuck working on a work issue, though we couldn't always get an answer about what those issues were. He'd blame technology problems for not being able to connect, which can certainly happen, but for such a technically minded guy it got to an unusual state.

When we would see him, especially lately, he was mostly like he'd always been. He and I began working together on the pre-planning for a new project and nothing was super out of the ordinary. Same guy, same talkativeness, except... maybe a little more hyper? A little more active and enthusiastic? He made reference at one point to "the new Jason", which struck me as odd, but hardly worrisome. The thing is, other people were seeing this, but more.

Multiple people told me both before and after that he had been acting in a way they'd call manic. The enthusiasm got to some weird places, he was twice as talkative as ever and it was hard to get him to shut up. Ok. Weird. And then came the truly worrying shit.

A coworker had been chatting back and forth with him over one of the technical issues we knew was going on. They had to miss a call together and ended up chatting in our chat program. Jason's responses drifted immediately into the realm of nonsensicality. He would start repeating phrases, talking about "etheriality" and saying "charles in charge" over and over (the name of a manager that may relate here but its unclear if he was referring to that one) but without context. Other strange words, phrases, sentences, all disconnected. One of them addressed the coworker by name and made some statement about remembering stuff at "the end". The coworker became alarmed and asked if his wife and son were at home to check on him, prompting Jason to start talking about his wife and kid leaving him, but then wouldn't respond to questions about it (and this was new, if true). Wouldn't respond to direct questions at all, in fact. Eventually, oddly, instead of chatting this information he posted a screenshot of his cell phone number.

The coworker called immediately out of worry. Jason answered and they did talk... he was apparently a little more coherent but still going down some bizarre train of thought paths. He blamed hackers in his router for the strange information but then drifted straight into the same sort of stuff. Earlier when I referred to it as glossolalia? Literally that, apparently.

The coworker called the director that Jason had worked with and asked him to get involved: this was getting into wellness check territory. Director later made a comment about HR possibly needing to ask questions though that didn't happen. But he otherwise didn't get a response about it.

And Jason was still there, still working issues, still handling this or that. And then one day he wasn't online. Director responded to the coworker at long last, and said "everything is ok." But Jason was gone.

Word of mouth got around fast. People are very, very upset. Those of us that have heard this much of the story are very worried for his well being, but also confused as to where this came from. He had at worst been mildly eccentric and a small amount of this we might have seen as a joke, but all of this was far out of character. Was he having a breakdown? Did his family in fact leave him? Is the isolation of COVID getting to him this badly?

We are also somewhat lost without him: he was a wealth of experience and knowledge with no real replacement at hand. There's nobody else in our department that is as experienced and thorough a developer (we always ran very barebones and it's biting us in the ass nowadays).

Perhaps most upsettingly is that this is another of my close coworkers that seems to have had a mental break of some sort. I mentioned in one of my earliest posts the tale of Mike, who had suddenly begun believing in leylines and locked his family in a bunker and whatnot: he and Jason had been very close coworkers and had developed a very strained, and later actively hostile relationship. It was bizarre to watch. Why do we have this second case of it now? An old friend used to joke that the company was involving all of us into some strange experiment (he's never had to deal with this level of corporate culture bullshit so it all seems weird to him... I mean, it IS weird, but not that kind of weird). And, well, maybe that's true now.