#you know. I’m cinema worker. how do you think I feel every day watching the ending with this gorgeous soundtrack?!

[wonkasz]

Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes / Space Between by Dove Cameron & Sofia Carson

[doobnnoob-tf2]

HELLO DANIEL, how ya doing today? i’ve been reading your mercs headcanons for the last, uh, two days and they ARE SO SWEET, SO AMAZING, I’M COMING BACK TO MY TF2 BRAINROT BECAUSE OF YOU 😭

anyway, i'll get right to the point: i was watching the episode of bluey where bingo and bluey go to the cinema with their dad, and i was thinking, "how would each merc act on the cinema?". you'll get it if you watch the episode, but how does each class act in the movies? if you are unable to respond right now, please do not worry. i just wanted to express my admiration for you. alright, i’m leaving 😭🙏🏻

Scout: he either is the worst person to watch a movie with, or the others completely forget he's there because he was so quiet the whole time. there is no in between. if it's not something that catches and holds his attention, he'll be that obnoxious person people complain about the whole time. but if it does, he's glued to the screen. he constantly says horror movies don't bother him but the others see he leaves his lights on at night after seeing one

Soldier: he's banned from the local movie theater after receiving too many noise complaints. it doesn't stop him from showing up however. and every time he's reminded he can't enter, he goes on a long speech to the poor worker while they direct the line to just go around and ignore him. he just doesn't stop shouting at the characters about how poor their decision making skills are

Pyro: snacks galore. it's almost as if they just cleared out the entire concession stand. they always make sure they have one of the seats next to them as well to put all of their snacks.. that they won't be eating until they get back to the base and to their room

Demoman: he's super picky about seats. he wants fourth row and center seat. if he can't, he may be a bit grumpy during the whole movie. don't ask him why he's that serious about his seating, it always ends with him going on a rant about how he's tested every section of the theater and that's just the best

Heavy: he loves going to the movies, for any kind of genre. he has things he likes and dislikes about each. he mostly prefers going with at least one other on the team rather than by himself, but he will if he can't find anyone to go with him. he's usually the only one who can consistently get Scout to shut up and sit still during a movie

Engineer: he prefers hosting movie nights on the base rather than going out to a theater. it feels more like a group activity that way, rather than a stressful outing where they have to pay way too much for snacks and then everyone sits all around the theater rather than in a group anyway. he hosts weekly movie nights during the summer and they rotate who gets to pick what movie each week

Medic: he frequently gets invited to - and agrees to - going to see movies with the others. mostly Sniper to go see horror movies together because he wants to hear about how bad the gore is from a medical standpoint. the problem is, he forgets every single time and then busies himself and can't go. the only time he watches movies is when the whole team gets together to watch things on the projector together

Sniper: he frequently goes to the movies by himself. however, he always plans it on days where he knows there won't be that many people. both so he can happily prop his feet up on the seat in front of him, and so he can avoid dealing with people other than the concession staff. he isn't afraid to pelt the back of someone's head with popcorn kernels if they won't shut up during a movie

Spy: he prefers watching movies on the base. that way it can be paused and he can go step outside to smoke, or he can open and window and do the same while he keeps watching. if he really wants to go to a theater, there's always a point where he gets up and leaves for a few minutes. the others assume it's to have a smoke break, which is only partly true. the real truth is he's buying himself one of those jumbo bags of popcorn to take to his car and hide in the trunk for later

I feel so bad it took me forever to get to this I'm so sorry. I really appreciate that you enjoy (enjoyed? lol) the blog so much!

Admittedly, I'd just had a huge stint of hyperfocusing on my sideblog, @ask-the-tf2-mercs lol. It got a lot of attention all at once and I was getting a fuckton of asks over there so I neglected this blog to focus on keeping up with asks there. C':

But seriously, thank you and everyone who still enjoys this blog for enjoying it! It makes me happy that people like my goofy lil headcanons.

[bruhlsbees]

sweet disposition: 1/? || femaleprofessor!reader x modern!alex kerner

hi bestie hehe i’d like to request a little series for you, sub! a little jealous modern alex keener (of age) x professor! f reader (late 20’s) - shes an english romantic lit professor & her “love interest” is a film professor who is one of alex’s shared teacher. alex has a little crush on her, and knows the film teacher is after her. super fluffy, smut maybe??? u decide baby, im just so excited eeeeek!!!

summary: alex kerner is a senior film student and develops a crush for his friend, denis, english professor

pairing: modern!alex kerner and professor!reader

warnings: age gap (alex is 22 and reader is 32), wet dream, sweet sweet pathetic boy, nsfw, 18+, minors dni

word count: 4,387

a/n: thank you for the request @gotmadison ily sweet gal!! this will be a short fic series i write and will post probably throughout the coming weekend! :) please enjoy and if you have any requests or asks please send them in!!!

For Alex Kerner, a senior film student, nothing bored him more than the first day of a new unit. He knew what to expect - twenty plus slides about some dead, or borderline dead, director while connecting their life to the style of films they did and how it related to whatever political controversy was going down at the time. Alex knew that there was a reason for going into so much history to better understand the meaning of the films, but jesus did it have to drag for so long?

The auditorium that Alex’s class was held in was larger, although the class was rather small. There were maybe, at most, thirty students in his class, including him, which felt empty as the auditorium they were in was meant to hold almost double that. Alex didn’t mind though, of all the rows, he was the only one in the back, taking the middle seat - of course, the best view to see a film. He recognized a lot of the faces in his class, as it was a senior level class, but he didn’t bother to converse with many.

It wasn’t that he was shy, not overly at least, he just didn’t care to make friends. It was an afternoon class, he was just getting out of work to rush to his class, and far too exhausted to try and fake being friendly…hence him sitting in the back, all alone. 

The ‘Authorship in Cinema’ course he was currently in was held twice a week - both two hours long. The first class of the week was held for lectures and the second class was held for the film screening. The university was just getting back from winter break, continuing into the last half of the semester. In Alex’s class they had finished their unit on Roman Polanski before the break and they came into the next covering Krzysztof Kieślowski. Alex was thrilled to say the least about not having to listen to his film professor rave on Polanski. Even after discussing Polanski’s case, his professor still seemed to idolize the man.

Alex was not fond of his film professor. He was a younger professor, maybe in his late thirties, early forties, and he seemed to praise the worst directors he could find. His name was Jaxon Thorne and was the staple image of a douche. He always wore faded jeans that were tight in the crotch, scuffed up sneakers that he always tried to pass as being cool, and a sweater with a scarf - even though they were inside. He truly didn’t get how girls liked the man. Alex wouldn’t lie though, some of his opinions were interesting, but the guy loved to hear himself talk, that much was obvious. 

They weren’t even at the tenth slide yet when Alex felt himself beginning to doze off. Work had been busy today, fixing satellites and dealing with prissy wives and their drunk husbands. He was almost late getting to class with all the traffic that was on the highway. The last thing he wanted to do was attend class. It took everything in him not to put his head down and go to sleep right there. He had done it before, and that was a mistake he would never make again. Waking up to everyone staring and snickering while the teacher was hovering over you meant for a lasting effect.

But Alex just couldn’t take it, he was so bored with Kieślowski’s early work. The documentaries of everyday lives for city dwellers, workers, and soldiers could not keep his attention even if he wasn’t tired. He sunk down into his seat, crossing his arms over his chest, before craning his head to the side on his shoulder. His blinking became slow, desperately trying to stay awake and pay attention, but his eyes grew heavy, and before he knew it, his mouth was gaped open, drool slipping out of the corner of his lips.

He didn’t know how long he had dozed off for, but when he woke up he heard the projector screen zip up and the lights click on. Jumping slightly, Alex sat back up, feeling the stickiness of his drool on his face. With a groan, he wiped his face with the sleeve of his jean jacket before beginning to pack his things up into his bag.

“On Wednesday we will dive into his documentary, Workers, and discuss the censorship aspect of it. Come prepared to watch the screening and discuss afterwards. If anyone has any questions or comments, I’ll be staying after for a few minutes.” 

Rolling his eyes, Alex pushed himself out of his chair, swinging his bag over his shoulder before rushing out the back door at the top of the auditorium. He couldn’t have gotten out of there fast enough to avoid his teacher from going off on an ‘intellectual conversation’ on their new unit. Barf.

Alex was happy though to finally be out of class and to enjoy his hour and a half break before his next class. He knew he should have been finalizing what project he wanted to submit for critique in his senior portfolio, but he needed something to wake him up. 

As he turned the hallway, going to leave the building, he stopped by the vending machine and pulled out a crinkled bill from his pocket, pushing it into the machine before pressing the buttons to get a bottle of Coke. To his luck, however, the machine stalled, the bottle retriever getting stuck in front of the row and producing an obnoxious ‘whirring’ noise. 

“Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!” Gripping the side of the vending machine, Alex shook the machine roughly, rocking the broken vending machine back and forth until setting it back, sending a punch to the front of it.

“Woah, woah! Jesus man what did that vending machine do to you?”

Turning his head, Alex’s glare softened at the sight of his friend, Denis, approaching him. Denis, with his books still in his hands, tucked them under his arm as he stood in front of the machine, watching as the machine stalled with Alex’s bottle of Coke.

“The stupid thing got stuck! Is it too much to ask for a bottle of co-”

Before he could finish his sentence, the machine began to work again, grabbing the bottle and dispensing it below. Staring blankly at the bottom, his lips pulled into a tight line, Alex could only feel the embarrassment settling in - and it didn’t help to hear Denis laugh at how ridiculous he reacted.

“Oh my god, dude, you seriously need to take it easy. Did work kill you that bad?” Denis asked, watching as Alex bent down to pull out the bottle, standing back up as he began unscrewing the cap, guzzling the pop down. 

Nodding his head, Alex screwed the cap back on before tucking the bottle in his bag, hiccuping at the carbonation before sighing, “Yeah, and it doesn’t help that I gotta go to Professor Dick’s class right after.” 

Shifting his weight from one foot to the other, Denis nodded, listening to Alex as he vented, “Yeah, Thorne’s a real piece of work. But hey! Only gotta deal with him for another semester after this. Who knows, maybe he will knock a student up and ditch down?”

The fantasy would have been nice to come true, but Alex knew that it would stay just that - a fantasy. Thorne was a questionable guy, with interesting ideas and made borderline inappropriate comments towards the female students in all his classes…but that was just it, he could charm anyone he wanted, and that’s how he stayed around.

“Yeah, maybe when dogs walk on two legs…” Alex mumbled, pressing his knuckles to his eyes and rubbing the sleep out of them, a yawn escaping his lips. 

As he dropped his hands down to his side, he felt Denis nudge him in the arm, groaning at the contact as he was too tired to have any contact, “You got class at seven right?”

Nodding, Alex blinked, a tired smile on his face as he smacked his lips, “Yeah…seven to nine, best time of day to have a senior portfolio workshop.” 

Denis laughed at the sarcastic comment, mentioning that it could’ve been worse and be at seven in the morning than at night. Alex, however, couldn’t see how anything could be worse than an evening class after a long day of work.

“Listen, I got my ‘Romanticism in Literature’ class in a few…why don’t you come with me? My teacher’s pretty cool and I’m sure she won’t mind if you sit in. I’m in the back anyways so she probably won’t even realize. She’s got pretty bad vision I’ve realized. I think she said that her glasses don’t got the right prescription or somethin. She’s always runnin late and claims she never has time to put her contacts in.” 

The detailed explanation of the professor’s vision made Alex laugh, shaking his head as Denis looked at him confused, cheeks red, “What? It’s what she’s told us! She’s always coming in late. I wouldn’t be surprised if she came in late this time around. She’s got office hours before class, so she probably gets held up with a student.”

“Sounds like you’re in love with her, is that right, Denny Boy? Someone’s gotta crush on the teacher? Ain’t that every high school kid’s fantasy? Get the hots for the teacher?” 

Scoffing, Denis rolled his eyes at Alex’s teasing and shoved him in the arm, “No man, come on now, it ain’t like that. Look if you don’t wanna come I don’t care, but I gotta go before I’m late.”

Holding his hands up in defense, Alex trailed behind Denis, going back in the direction he originally came from, “Hey, hey, I was only kidding, don’t gotta get defensive. I’ll take along, hopefully I won’t fall asleep in this class. Why you even taking this class anyways?”

Following Denis into the class, the auditorium setup similar to the one he just came out of, except smaller, Alex sat beside Denis in the back row, watching as the class filled up, only a few seats not filled. 

“I guess I gotta earn some more credits outside my degree, this was the only one that wasn’t completely filled up yet and it worked with my schedule. It ain’t too bad, she gives us a lot of free time to work.” 

Watching as Denis set his bag down beside him, opening his textbook to where they left off the other day, Alex watched Denis prep for the class, the teacher not in sight. Alex figured that the teacher must have been running late, like Denis said she always did, but he couldn’t help but wonder how long it’d be before she even showed up.

Fifteen minutes after class was supposed to begin the front door ripped open, slamming shut seconds after while heels frantically clicked towards the desk in the front of class.

“Sorry I’m late! I got caught up with another professor. I hope you all enjoyed your winter breaks and are happy to be back. I know I’m thrilled to be back!” 

The sweet voice caught Alex’s attention, his eyes pulling from his cell phone and to the front of the class where the professor had just walked in. He felt his mouth fall open slightly, catching it before Denis noticed his reaction.

He was expecting an old lady for Denis’ class, someone who was on the edge of death and smelled of cats. What he found, however, was someone the complete opposite. Younger, curvier, and the scent that filled the room when she entered was warm - like she just finished drinking a cup of coffee.

Her hair was pulled back into a messy bun, bangs hanging low over her eyes, covering the tops of her crooked frames. She couldn’t have been all that older than him, maybe mid-thirties at max. He didn’t notice what she was wearing below, but the shirt she wore clung to her so well, the outline of her fuller chest displayed with her necklace dipping into her cleavage. 

‘Good God, Alex, get a hold of yourself.’

Alex watched the professor, noticing her speaking although his lusted thoughts deafened his ears. He assumed she was asking how the break went and if anyone did anything fun because a few people raised their hands, a kind smile on her face as she listened to her students.

“That’s great to hear, Polly! You’ll have to show me the photos you took sometime. I have never been to that side of the country before,” Her head shifted towards the other side of the room, looking up at the higher rows. “Did anyone else have anything to share about their break?”

Denis’ professor sat patiently and listened to everyone who wanted to share, giving everyone the opportunity to discuss their breaks before she opened up her laptop to get started with class. Alex watched as she picked up the remote and pointed it to the projector box, the screen coming down beside her with her computer screen displayed.

Her home screen featured what he assumed to be her and some friends. He recognized a few of the people in the photo as they were also professors at the university - what made Alex turn his nose, however, was right beside her - in all his douchebag glory, Jaxon Thorne. Before he could make a cohesive thought, the photo went away and a slideshow on Mary Shelley appeared…and maybe for the better.

“Okay everyone! As mentioned in the email, we are gonna be diving into Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein for this part of the semester,” She began, her warm smile still ignited, chuckling lightly as some of the students up front became uneasy in their seats, excited for the novel, “I’m glad to hear we have some fans. Now, I promised that I wouldn’t give you any reading over break, but because of that we will be reading quite a bit over the next few weeks.”

The slide shifted to the reading guide and what chapters were due when. Alex watched as some students scribbled the due dates down while others pulled out their cell phones, snapping a photo before stuffing their phones away. 

“For Wednesday I would like you all to have read the preface and letters one through four. Come prepared to discuss your analyses of the text and any questions you may have. Of course, I’ll have my office hours open tomorrow and Wednesday before class, but if there are any questions, you can send me an email and I’ll try to get back with you in a timely manner.” 

The rest of class seemed to lull by, Alex’s gaze fixed on the professor that continued to go over what the last half of the semester would look like, answering the occasional question, before finally it was time to pack up and go. Frowning, Alex shifted in his seat, looking at Denis who was packing things up in his bag. 

“It’s over?” Alex asked, eyebrows furrowed, a pathetic frown on his face.

Looking up from his bag, Denis smiled, nodding, “Yeah man, it is. Why? You fall in love with Mary Shelley?” Standing up, Denis pushed his seat under the table and shrugged his shoulders, “I mean, if it works for your schedule and you’re interested, maybe go up and ask if you can enroll. I don’t know if you’ll be able to with it being so late in the semester, but it’s worth a shot,” Glancing down at his watch, Denis sighed, “Look, I gotta run, but let me know how it goes, okay?” Patting Alex’s back, Denis rushed up the stairs and out the back door, fleeing the auditorium to get to his next class on time.

Meanwhile, Alex kept seated, watching as the professor talked with some students who approached her desk after class, laughing and admiring the editions of Frankenstein that students presented. Was this how professors could be with their students? Actually caring and involved? It seemed like Alex had poor luck with his own professors - either they were old as a bat and didn’t know how to work the computer, or they were a presumptuous dick.

When the students began to flock out, already discussing how they were looking forward to Wednesday’s class, Alex finally stood up, pulling his bag over his shoulder and making his way down the auditorium steps. She hadn’t noticed him as he walked, writing something down in her planner. As he stood now in front of her, he cleared his throat awkwardly, gaining her attention as she looked up, squinting before taking her glasses off.

“Hello,” he began shyly, adjusting the strap of his bag, “I’m Alex. My friend, Denis, he’s in your class.” 

At the mention of Denis, she smiled and nodded, “Yes! Denis, nice boy he is,” She adjusted her position in her seat, leaning back slightly, “I-I’m sorry, are you in my class? I don’t believe I’ve ever see-”

“No! I mean, no, no I’m not in your class. I have a free hour before my next class and Denis invited me to sit in for this one,” He rushed, cheeks red as he realized how abruptly he had interrupted her, “I’m sorry, um, yeah I just came down because I really enjoyed your lecture today. I was curious if there was any way I could maybe enroll? I know it’s late in the semester, but I did enjoy today.” 

The cheeky smile faded into a sadder, smaller smile. She chewed on her bottom lip before leaning forward again, crossing her arms over chest, accentuating her cleavage that Alex desperately tried not to stare at.

“Oh, I’m sorry Alex, but I don’t think I can convince the department to let you in this late in the semester. I love your enthusiasm with the course and would love to have you in my class, but I don’t think I can make that happen.” Her smile dropped to a frown when she saw the visible disappointment in Alex’s face before bending over to open her bag, pulling out a copy of Frankenstein, handing it to Alex.

Looking down at the copy, Alex opened the cover, reading what he assumed to be her name in the cover, before flipping through the pages, a weak smile on his face, trying his best to not look so pathetic in front of her.

“How about this? I probably shouldn’t, but if you want to sit in on the days you’re free, you’re more than welcome to. I’ll forward you the reading guide so you can keep up with us, but you won’t earn any credit in this class. Is that okay?” 

His frown turned into a grin, looking up from the book, Alex nodded, his cheeks pink as his toothy crooked grin spread across his face, “Yeah, yes. Thank you,” Tugging down the front of his striped blue shirt, he cleared his throat awkwardly, looking down at the book before back up at her, “Um, so when are your office hours? Just in case I have any questions?”

Letting out a faint ‘ah’, she opened her notebook and scribbled some notes down, tearing off the paper and handing it to Alex, “You’re more than welcome to shoot me an email though if you need help outside of my office hours. Or you can call my office number, sometimes I answer it.” She admitted, her own cheeks going pink at the confession.

Smiling, Alex looked down at the paper and made a mental note to remember all that she had given him.

My email,

My office number,

Office hours are M&W: 3-5:15 and T&R: 1-2

Class takes place on M&W from 5:30-6:30

:)

The smile she left on the page made Alex’s stomach flutter. His thumb ran along the smiley face before he looked up, thanking her quietly for the note. She was sweet, almost too sweet for Alex to absorb, like he was in a sugar coma and begging for more. 

“Of course, it was nice to meet you Alex. I’m looking forward to seeing you in class. I don’t mean to run off, but I’m to meet another professor here in a couple minutes and don’t need to be lectured on being late.”

When she stood up, Alex’s face went hot. The flowy flower blouse that showed more cleavage than he had seen on a professor before was tucked into a tight jean skirt, clinging to her hips in all the right places, a thick black belt holding it all together. If it weren’t for the fact that he was right in front of her, he probably would have started drooling. 

Packing up her desk, she stuffed her things in her bag, throwing her sweater over her shoulder before throwing her bag around her, moving around the desk to stand beside it now, looking up at Alex. He noted how she was shorter, the heels helping her with height, and how good her legs looked in them. Clearing his throat, he shifted his bag around him to sit in front of his pants, attempting to hide any possible pop-up in his jeans.

“If you’re free tomorrow, stop by my office hours. I’ll even buy you a coffee if it’s too early for you. I know you college boys stay up far too late. I can only imagine what your mothers think.” She teased, shaking her head and she turned and began to head out of the room, hearing Alex keep tight on her trail. 

Turning off the lights and letting him leave first, she shut the door behind her and stood beside Alex, motioning towards the English department office, “I’ll see you tomorrow, or Wednesday, my office is the last one on the right. I’ll be sure to leave my door open!” 

Nodding, Alex smiled and waved goodbye as she waved back, rushing down the hall and weaving through the students to get into the office. Letting out a sigh, Alex leaned against the doorway, processing his first encounter with the professor, the boyish lust grin stuck on his face.

⋆ ⋆ ⋆

Panting hard, Alex gripped her hips tight, his fingers digging into her plush figure, grunting as he snapped his hips into her from behind, her pillowed ass meeting him with each thrust. The sweat that built up on him was beginning to fall down face, trailing down his neck and chest. 

Tangling his right hand into her hair, his left still placed on her hips, Alex pulled her locks gently, smiling at the sound of her wanton moan, her eyes rolling back into her head. 

“A-Alex! Oh god, Alex, I don’t think I’m going to last. F-Fuck!” 

Feeling his own climax build, Alex let out a shaky breath as he bent down craning his neck to kiss her lips as he continued to rut inside of her, his thrusts becoming sloppy and quicker.

The sensation became too much too quickly, his legs shaking as he kneeled behind her befo-

Jolting awake, the obnoxious phone alarm woke Alex from his dream, resulting in a now completely frustrated mood. While still on his back, Alex reached behind him on the shelf that rested behind his bed frame, pulling his phone up and looking at the screen, squinting to gain his vision from waking up, the bright screen burning his eyes.

When he unlocked his phone and opened it, prompting him to his email, his frown lit up and turned into a smile, seeing her name in his inbox.

Good evening, Alex!

I’m sorry this is so late, I’m finally getting back to my apartment and wanted to send this your way before I forgot. Here is the reading guide for the rest of the semester and that information I shared with you earlier in case you lost it.

I look forward to seeing you in my office tomorrow or Wednesday. I hope you have a good night! :)

Best!

Alex’s mood quickly shifted after reading the email. While he was disappointed that the wet dream he was having with her ended so soon, he was more than pleased to see that he had an email from her. Clicking his phone off, Alex tossed his phone onto his bed, sitting up with his hand behind him to keep him up.

His room illuminated a red/orange hue from the lava lamp that sat on his dresser in the corner of his room. Turning his attention towards the window, he looked behind the blinds to see the city life outside his apartment lit up, the sound of music coming from the club down the road and laughs from those partying. 

Letting out a yawn, Alex shook his head and rubbed his face, shifting his legs before stopping quickly, feeling the mess in his boxers. Looking down, Alex groaned seeing the stain in his boxers, pressing his hand to feel the wet spot before sighing, standing up. He pulled his boxers carefully off, tossing them into his laundry basket before making his way into the bathroom to clean up. 

When he entered the small bathroom that was connected to his room, he hissed at the bright light as it came on, looking at himself in the mirror. His hair was tangled up, sticking out on the sides and his eyes were squinted, too tired to open them fully. Shaking his head, Alex climbed into the shower and started the water, the cold water hitting him both waking him up and cooling himself down.

He was absolutely and pathetically smitten over her. There was no doubt about it. Since leaving her class, the only thoughts that occupied his mind were of her. He had already planned out what he would wear tomorrow when he went to her office hours. It was pathetic, truly, with how quickly he was letting the woman ruin him. It was ridiculous to say, no doubt, because what would happen between them? Nothing. Not a single thing would come between the two other than a conversation about Frankenstein, maybe a personal question here and there.

Or so he thought.

[myhauntedsalem]

13 True Horror Stories from the Psychiatric Ward that Will Give You the Creeps

Death, illness and tragedy have long been part of the history of insane asylums, and for as long as they have existed, so too have the scary stories associated with them. From haunted hospitals to sadistic doctors and nurses, psychiatric wards have been the inspiration for many of our favorite horror movies and books. Yet, the true stories told by the psych ward workers below far surpass any horrors that we might have seen at the cinema or read in a book.

Without further ado, here are thirteen of some of the creepiest psych ward stories on the internet that have been shared by health care professionals.

1. Holding her own Eyes

My mom told me this story from her time at a neuropsychiatric ward while she was in grad school. She was making her routine room checks and happened upon the most horrific scene I’ve ever heard.

This was during the night shift, and generally, all the patients’ bedroom doors should be closed. So my mom turned a corner and noticed an open door. She saw a staff member’s legs on the floor, halfway out the doorway.

When she looked into the room, she saw the patient, a woman with a severe postpartum psychiatric disorder, who had just gouged both of her own eyes out with her bare hands. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding her eyes in her hands.

The first staff member to witness the scene, who was now lying face down on the floor, had a heart attack when he first witnessed the woman while he was making his rounds.

My mom screamed for help and frantically tried to perform CPR on the staff member. All the while, the woman just sat rather calmly, holding her own eyes.

2. The Saw

I work as a psychotherapist in a hospital system. My definition of creepy is probably quite a bit different from other medical professionals.

The one that got to me the most was a patient who came to us after attempting suicide by sawing both his arms off at the forearm with a table saw. His arms were reattached, fairly successfully too, with only limited impairments in mobility. All I could think was how bad it would have to be to live in his head that sawing his arms off seemed better than that.

He has since completed suicide.

3. Jane?

We had a young lady in our custody with quite a few issues. We’ll call her Jane. Jane’s first night at our facility staff doing a bed check found Jane in a puddle of blood. Turns out Jane had been slicing the skin around her shin with her finger nails and was pulling her skin up her leg, essentially de-gloving her calf.

Jane also had a ritual she performed every night before bed. While in her room she would run between walls in her room touching them in a crucifix pattern. After doing this for a few hours she would sit on her bed and go to sleep. This particular night Jane was frantic in her pace, practically running between walls. Our night staff observed the entire interaction and reported Jane screaming late into the night. When the staff went to check on Jane she reported Jane standing in the doorway smiling. The staff asked what was wrong and Jane replied, “what makes you think you are speaking to Jane?”

4. The Vampire

My mom worked in mental institutions in her younger years (and actually worked at a large, well-known asylum before it was shut down.)

There was one woman there that thought she was a vampire of sorts. She was only allowed out one hour a day, and they had to use safety precautions. She had already attacked and killed at least one hospital worker before these were enacted.

When my Mom asked about her, it was revealed that she had killed at least two of her children, wounded another as well as her husband because she had some sort of physical condition called Porphyria, which apparently made her crave blood.

By the time that they discovered there was something physically wrong with her, she already had lost her mind from guilt and grief.

5. The Spitter

I’m not a psychologist but my friend is. She told me about a patient of hers who was HIV positive and a paranoid schizophrenic. He thought that the nurses who worked at the hospital he was in were trying to kill him, so he would frequently bite his tongue, and spit HIV positive blood into their faces/mouths. When they had to come into contact with him, they were required to wear full masks and gloves.

6. The Only One

I once knew a woman who had spent part of her residency at a psychiatric hospital for people with severe mental conditions. Apparently, the grounds had a lovely, enclosed greenhouse. One day, one of their schizophrenic patients was sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette, as a heron frantically flew around. It had found its way in and, not being able to escape, it was smashing into the large panes of glass. The man just sat there watching.

Finally, my counselor asked him if the bird was bothering him and he kind of sighed and said, “Thank god, I thought I was the only one seeing that.”

7. Family Photographs

My sister is the director of a psychiatric hospital. There was recently a lady there who would cut her arms, legs and torso open and place photographs of her family under her skin.

8. Under the Bed

Once, a fellow female patient told me she found writings under her bed. They were just old, small wooden bed frames with hard mattresses that would make all kinds of noises when you rolled over, but I still wondered what exactly she was doing lying under her bed to find these writings.

When she first told me, I thought it was a joke. But sure enough, one day during group we managed to sneak away, and she showed me. Indeed, there were stories written under her bed. After that, we had everyone check under their own beds, and there was more writing under every single bed.

They were stories of patients who had stayed here before, or ways they were planning on killing themselves, or who the good and bad nurses were. It creeped me out.

9. Time of Death

Well, my mother was a nurse that specialized in geriatrics, and she worked for several hospice hospitals for many years. She often described situations at her work with several of the patients. She would say that each person tends to have a very similar “checklist” that they follow right before death. This checklist often ended in a very similar way.

They would get caught talking to someone that wasn’t there. When asked who they (otherwise lucid people) were talking to, they would describe an individual who was already dead. When asked what they were talking about, they would say that their relative wanted to know if they were ready to move on. A pretty common response would be, “Yeah, he/she said that she will take me tomorrow at 3:00.” Well, it would often happen that they would die at the exact time their relatives quoted.

10. The Test Subject

I had an hour-long conversion with a delusional guy who was confined to a mental health facility, and who was probably smarter than I am. Lots of these folks believe that somebody – often the CIA – is either beaming thoughts into their heads, or has implanted a microchip in their brains for this purpose. This guy was offering a very thoughtful argument as to why such claims should not be so quickly dismissed.

“It’s precisely because such delusions are so common that mental patients make the best test subjects,” he said. There he was, confined and protected, constantly observed, his health and behavior documented, and there is zero chance that anyone would ever take his concerns seriously. How else would you test and improve such technology? Does the government not have a strong motivation and a plausible ability to create such a device?

“You can see I’m not irrational,” the man said. “I’m just straight-up telling you that they are doing this to me. I know just how unbelievable it sounds, and yet, here I am.”

11. The Boy who Loved Knives

As a tech in psych years ago, there was a 7-year-old kid sent to the floor because the mom didn’t know what to do with him. Sadly, common thing to happen, even if the kids don’t have psych issues. Anyway, the mom was shaking and crying, and they had to take the kid into another room. She was genuinely afraid of her own son. She had suspected something was wrong when she kept finding mutilated animals in the backyard, but never heard or saw coyotes or anything around. The neighbors smaller pets started disappearing. The boy had an obsession with knives, hiding them around the house. Denying anything when the mom confronted him. Then when the two started getting into arguments, he would get really violent and hit her, push her down and kick her, threaten to kill her. On multiple occasions she woke up in the middle of the night with him standing beside her bed, staring her in the face. She put extra locks on her bedroom door to feel safe while she slept. The last straw was when she lifted up his mattress and found 50+ knives of all shapes and sizes under there. So she brought him to us.

I remember talking to him, treating him like he was just any other kid that came through. He seemed remarkably normal, until you spoke directly to him. He had this way of looking right through you, or maybe like he didn’t see you at all while you were speaking.

He would respond like a robot, like he was just saying words because that’s what we wanted to hear. And he would always put on this creepy, dead-looking smile. Like all mouth and no eye involvement in the smile. Especially when he would get away with something, like taking another kid’s markers and they couldn’t figure it out. Still gives me chills laying here thinking about him.

I believe I met a 7-year-old psychopath.

12. The New Mom

I was a pharmacy technician at a hospital with a psych ward for some time. We would have to go around with a cart and dispense the patients’ medications, and being a 5’2″ girl, a security guard or male nurse would accompany me, just as a precaution. I never had any real issues other than the occasional death grip onto my arm or manic outbursts, but there was one boy who was entirely different.

His chart said he was nine and he had pale skin, dark hair, and huge bright, green eyes. He always greeted me in the most polite way, asked how I was doing, and always found something different to compliment me on every time. He was extremely well-spoken and mature for his age, so I began looking forward to seeing him, as normal small talk is definitely cherished in that setting. If he saw me outside of his room in the halls, he made sure to say hello and always called me “Miss Jones” or “ma’am.”

One day, a couple of our female nurses saw me pause to chat with him in the hallway, and waved me over to ask if I was out of my mind. Apparently, when he was in kindergarten, he grew an intense attachment to his young female teacher.

This escalated to the point of him calling her “Mom” and leaving notes for her about how he wished he were her son. He had a normal home-life with both parents, and the teacher tried to explain to him that she couldn’t be his mom because that would hurt his real mother’s feelings, and that she already had that job covered.

So, he went home and, killed his own mother in her sleep by cutting her throat, so his teacher could be his mom. The female staff had a general rule of not interacting with him excessively to prevent any kind of attachment from forming.

13. Bugs

Nothing I can say can possibly describe the year I worked in Psychiatric Intensive Care. Creepy isn’t the thing that comes to mind when I think back on it…more heartbreaking and horrifying. But creepiness was a part of it. Especially evening and night shifts, naturally.

There is always something disturbing about watching someone while they hallucinate. You can tell it is 100% real to them, and something about that makes you believe it, on some level. A lot of stories end with, “and of course, I had to look over my shoulder to make sure”. You see the emotions it brings out.

There was a woman that came in and sat down across the table from me for her admission interview. She had bandages all over her arms and scotch tape over her mouth and ears. She looked very uncomfortable and wouldn’t really sit still. When the nurse would ask her a question, she would peel the corner of the tape back and answer, then stick the tape back on really fast.

We eventually found out that she saw and felt bugs crawling all over her, and they were trying to get inside her body. The tape was to keep the bugs out. The bandages were because some bugs got in and she had to dig them out. She couldn’t sit still because she felt the bugs all over her even while we sat and talked. The worst part was, she had some idea that it was her mind playing tricks on her. Can you imagine going through your life, feeling like someone is continuously dumping buckets of cockroaches on your head, feeling like they’re all over you and getting inside of you to the point that you’re digging chunks out of your flesh in a panic, all while knowing intellectually that none of it is real?

[ahopelessromantic]

Pizza Guys and Drug Dealers ➳ S. Reid

Pairing: Spencer x Reader

Word count: 1,2k

Warnings: none

Spencer starts disappearing after work, so naturally, the team starts to get worried.

“Reid, you up for a burger?“ Distractedly, Spencer looked up from his desk. “Huh?”, he asked, then shook his head once he understood the question. “Oh sorry, no. I gotta go.” Before anyone could even say anything else, he was out of the bullpen, leaving behind a very confused team. “Not to sound mean or anything, but since when does pretty boy have somewhere to be in the evenings?” JJ shrugged. “No idea. Maybe another cinema festival?”

“There you are.” You sighed with a wide smile upon seeing Spencer standing in front of your door. He pulled you into a long kiss that sent shivers down your spine. “I missed you.” He mumbled quietly after pulling away, leaning his forehead against yours. You grinned and kissed him again while closing your apartment door behind the two of you. “I missed you more. That’s why you have to make a very important decision now, Doctor Reid. Do you want to eat dinner first or”, you cleared your throat, “Check out the bedroom?” He looked at you with a glint of mischief in his eyes. “I think I’ll go with the latter.” “Oh really?” You returned his gaze with a smirk that resembled the one on his face. “How surprising.”

Nights like these were amazing. Spencer was as much of an amazing partner in bed as out of it, and there was nothing you loved more than giggly post-sex cuddles on your couch. Each of you had a reheated plate of food in your laps, more feeding each other than anything else. Spencer was counting down fun facts about the most random of topics and all you could do was laugh, basking in his presence. He had been an unexpected addition to your life, one that had taken you by storm and captured your heart before you had even had the time to look for your head. You had stumbled into Spencer at the museum you worked at, and from then on he had come there every week until he had mustered up the courage to ask you out. Four weeks of amazing dates later you had asked him to be your boyfriend, and ever since then the two of you were going strong. It was hard sometimes, the worries you had to go through every time he was away on a case, but he always made it up to you by showing up at your doorstep with a souvenir from whatever city he had been in. The whirlwind that had been the start of your relationship was beginning to calm down, but the feelings you had for him weren’t disappearing. With each passing day, a bigger part of you was starting to get convinced that he was the one.

“Spencer, do you think you could take some of my paperwork today?” Emily asked as nicely as possible even though she already knew that he normally loved some extra paperwork. But no, today, for the first time since she had started working at the BAU, Reid looked at her with an apologetic expression. “Sorry, I can’t. I have to, uh… go water my plants.” And with that he was gone, leaving behind a confused team once more. “Okay, can anyone of you remember the last time they saw Reid outside of working hours?” Prentiss asked and only got shaking heads as a response. “Nope.”, Morgan said, crossing his arms. “He has been kind of distant, hasn’t he? Normally he’s the last of us to have any plans.” “I’m only surprised it took us this long to realise. When was the last time he came out with us for a drink?” JJ widened her eyes. “Months? Honestly feels like a year.” “Okay, all of you, into the conference room. I wanna know what he’s up to.” All of them agreed immediately, Garcia joining them not even five minutes later. “Babygirl, can you see where he’s always off to?” Penelope returned her best friends gaze with a conflicted look. “Of course I can. But I feel bad about tracking him, don’t you guys?” “Pen, what if he’s doing drugs again? I already feel bad about not noticing his behaviour much earlier.” Emily mused. “Alright.”, the analyst sighed. “But if he finds out, it wasn’t me okay?” Within just a few clicks Garcia had found an address. “This is where he goes the most besides his own apartment. Do with that information what you want, I’m out.” Morgan typed in the address on his phone. “Looks like it’s an apartment building.” JJ nodded, chewing on her lower lip. “Okay, I think only one of us should go. So he doesn’t feel like we’re ambushing him, right?” “Makes sense.”, Emily agreed. “Alright, you guys go home. I’ll go there and update you tomorrow.” Morgan nodded at all of them as a goodbye and left for the garage. After typing the address into his navigation system he got going, a weird feeling rising in his stomach. What if Reid really was doing something stupid again? But then again, he hadn’t been acting any differently during work, just always left as soon as he could. Arrived in front of the apartment building he took a deep breath, trying to hype himself up. Garcia had been able to find out which apartment he went to from his phone data, and once he found it, he rang the doorbell. He had expected many things, a drug dealer, a psychiatrist maybe, but what he really hadn’t been expecting was coming face to face with a girl dressed in nothing but an oversized shirt. You squinted, mustering the man in front of you. “You don’t look like the pizza guy.” He looked just as clueless as you. “And you don’t look like a drug dealer.” “What?!” You gasped, only now starting to feel uncomfortable in your basically undressed state. “Of course I’m not a drug dealer!” You hissed. You watched him scan you from head to toes again, realisation suddenly dawning on the man’s features. “Wait, is that Spencer’s shirt?” You only felt more confused by the minute. “Uh… yeah?” A bride grin grew across the stranger’s face. “Oh man, I am so sorry to barge in here like that. I’m Derek Morgan.” Still absolutely not knowing what the hell was going on you shook his hand. Thankfully, in that moment, Spencer had decided to join you at your doorstep. “Honey, what’s taking so long with the-“ He stopped in his tracks upon seeing the man. “Morgan?! What are you doing here?” Morgan just chuckled and shook his head. “Just checking in, I’m leaving already. But you have some explaining to do tomorrow, my man.” Still chuckling the stranger disappeared down the hallway, leaving the two of you alone again. You looked between the still open door and your boyfriend. “Spence, what just happened?” He buried his face in his hands. “That was Derek Morgan, one of my co-workers.” You felt your chin drop. Holy shit, this was absolutely not how you had planned to meet any of his team members. And of course, it was only now that you recalled one of his co-workers being named Morgan. “They’re never going to let me live this down.” Spencer whined, a blush spreading across his cheeks. You chuckled and placed your hand on his back. “But hey, at least I wasn’t a drug dealer, right?” He sent you a murderous glance, and you laughed. You couldn’t wait for him to get back from work tomorrow.

[horansqueen]

New Angel - Chapter 14

story masterlist [x]

chapter 1  ☆ chapter 2  ☆ chapter 3  ☆ chapter 4  ☆ chapter 5  ☆ chapter 6  ☆ chapter 7  ☆ chapter 8 ☆ chapter 9 ☆ chapter 10 ☆ chapter 11 ☆ chapter 12 ☆ chapter 13

NOTES

☆ written from Niall’s pov ☆ i don’t proofread, I never do, I hate it. ☆ AU comedy/fluff/smut/romance ☆ 2.7k ☆ i accept requests and ideas for this story, so message me in my inbox!  ☆ if you want to be notified when this story is updated (or be taken off the update list) CLICK HERE

NIALL

When I pushed on the door of the library, I felt lighter and I had a smile on my face. I was even starting to wonder if maybe I should give up on a love and sex life altogether. I knew it could bring joy and happiness, but at the exact moment, all it did was confuse me and make me nervous, and honestly, I didn't need that.

I smiled when I noticed Millie sitting behind the counter, her head leaned against her hand and looking down, probably deeply lost in a book. I stared at her a few seconds and saw her look up at someone who came to ask a question. She got up and they talked so I decided to walk the aisles to find something new to read. I ended up with a book full of random thoughts and sat at a table near the counter to make sure she'd see me. It took my friend only a few seconds to notice me and her lips curled as she raised her eyebrows. I waved slightly at her and checked my watch. I still had about ten minutes to wait and I just opened the book to start reading. It's only when I felt someone sit next to me that I got out of my thoughts a bit but I still had to blink a few times to get back completely to reality, turning around and smiling to Millie who leaned her elbow on the table and placed her chin on her palm, staring at me.

"I'm glad you came." she whispered, making me raise my eyebrows.

"I said I would, did you doubt it?"

She shrugged a shoulder and looked away. "When Louis said he'd come, it was a 50/50 bet to take."

"Perfect. That's the first thing you'll write down on your list."

She raised her eyebrows a bit surprised and I just got up and walked back to the desk where one of her co-workers was now sitting. I sent the girl a big smile and bent down slightly, asking her for paper and pen. She smiled back and started playing with a lock of her hair before nodding and giving me a few sheets and two pen. I walked back to Millie with a winner smile and she rolled her eyes, chuckling as I sat back down.

"T'was easy."

"With those eyes and that smile you can clearly get anything you want." she pointed out, rolling her eyes again.

"You almost sound jealous."

I gave her a sheet and a pen as she sighed, taking the pen in her hand and scribbling at the top to make sure the pen was working.

"I am." she confessed in a whisper. "It must be amazing to be you."

"Can I remind you that the girl I thought I'd spent my life with has broken my heart?"

"And then came back. I don't think you realize how lucky you are. Not about Grace coming back, but about everyone falling in love with you super easily." she explained, staring down at her sheet.

I looked at what she was writing and smiled sadly. 'All The Things I Hate About Lou'.

"How many times did you have your heart broken, Niall?" she continued, drawing hearts next to Louis' name.

"What do you mean?"

"How many girls did you fall for that didn't love you back? How many girls did you date and loved actually left you? How many of them made you cry?" she elaborated, making me frown slightly. "And I'm not even asking about the girls you just wanted to shag. I'm pretty sure not many refused."

"I've been through unrequited love, too, you know." I shook my head. "I know how it feels."

"You probably broke more hearts than the number of times yours has been broken." she added slowly with an other shrug and a sigh. "I'm not saying you didn't hurt or that your pain is not real or important I just mean..." she paused and shook her head, her eyes finally meeting mine. "I just mean that it must amazing to be you."

"Maybe it's time you see that it's also amazing to be you, Mill." I pointed out. "And the fact that Louis broke your heart doesn't mean you're not incredible, okay?"

I grabbed my pen and started writing X's on all the hearts she had drawn and finally added the number '1'.

"Okay..."

"Now write down how unreliable he is."

Millie looked up at me and her lips curled a bit before she chuckled. I waited until she was done and grabbed my sheet too, making a long vertical line in the middle before writing 'Grace' on the left and 'Summer' on the right. I separated both their cases in two too, writing 'pros' on both sides and then 'cons'.

I stared at the sheet for a minute or two and finally sighed. I had no idea what to write. Not because they didn't have qualities and flaws, but because I knew it would bring me closer to a decision I was clearly not ready to make.

"You don't have to write anything right now." I heard, feeling Millie's hand on my shoulder.

I kept my eyes on the sheets and licked my lips, nodding slowly and finally, I folded the sheet and put it in my back pocket. Millie got up and I did the same, forcing myself to put a smile back on my face and I walked past her. She followed me outside and when we were out, I stopped and turned to her, raising my eyebrows. I decided to put anything that had to do with love away for now, burring it deep in my brain for a while, focusing only on doing fun things.

"Okay, so what's your routine after work?"

She looked a bit surprised but finally turned around, pointing at a small restaurant not too far. "I go there first."

"Alright, let's go there, then."

I followed her inside and she ordered three pieces of pizza and three water bottles. The person behind the counter smiled and prepared the food, putting every slices of pizza in a different box. I watched Millie pay and grab the bag the guy was handing her before sending him a smile.

"Thanks Jon, I'll see you tomorrow."

We walked out and I raised my eyebrows, looking at her with an amused smile. "You literally know his name?"

"We all work around each other so we sort of see each other often. Not just with Jon but with other people too." she clarified, handing me a box. I grabbed it and she looked again in the bag for a water bottle, giving it to me too.

"Please, tell me the other pizza is not for Louis."

She looked up in my eyes and her lips curled. "No!" she chuckled as she started walking quicker. I followed her in an alley but frowned as I pushed my hands in my pockets. I was not sure why we were there but I didn't even have time to ask. I saw my friend bend down near a man who was sleeping and whisper something to him. He jumped slightly and she laughed, handing him a box and a water bottle. He sat up and grabbed both a small smile on his lips.

"What is it today, Millie?"

"Pizza." she pointed out. "How are you today, Ernie?"

I watched her interact with a homeless man just standing there and wondering who the hell was this girl I thought I knew, and why didn't I try to find out more about her before,

"Is your friend mute or just dumb?" the man asked, making my friend laugh.

"I'd have to pick the latter."

I frowned at her and took a step closer. "Hey! That's rude!"

"Ernie, this is my friend Niall. Niall, this is my friend Ernie."

I sent him a small smile and a head nod before Millie sighed and got back up, telling him she was leaving but that she'd be back the next day. She walked past me and I was about to follow her but finally took the few steps separating me from Ernie and handed him my box.

"Thanks, kid."

I nodded again and turned on my heels, jogging slightly to reach Millie who just looked at me with her lips curled on the left. I raised my eyebrows and shrugged, pushing my hands back in my pockets. "What?"

"Nothing."

I could hear in her voice that she was thinking about something but I couldn't decipher the way she was looking at me. I smiled back at her and finally cleared my throat. "Okay, what's next?"

She took her slice of pizza out of the box and took a bite before handing it to me. "Once a week, I go to the movies and the other days, I just go in the old dvd and vhs shop where they sell old movies for a buck or two."

"And what's today?" I replied, my mouth full of pizza. "The shop. Cinema is on thursday because it's pay day."

"Makes sense."

We walked inside a small shop and the bell placed on top of the door rang gently. She waved at the employee and he waved back before she chose an aisle and tilted her head on the side to read the titles. It took her about five minutes before her lips curled and she grabbed one. It was a tape and I started wondering if she even had a VCR to watch it.

"This. Did you ever see it?"

She handed me a box and I raised my nose up when I noticed Leonardo Dicaprio on the cover. I turned the tape around and noticed the incredible landscapes pictured. The images would probably look even better on DVD or in 4K but I didn't mention it and just nodded. It was her routine, not mine, and I was extremely curious to find out more about her.

"Nop, never."

"It's a good movie, with a few French actors."

I followed her to pay and the guy behind the counter smiled and nodded. "Ah, nice one."

"I know right? I think I'm gonna keep this one."

"A movie where Leonardo Dicaprio goes nuts? Good idea to keep it." he added, making her chuckle.

"And the girl is nice to look at, too." Millie added, making the guy nod frenetically.

I looked around the place, quite surprised at how many choices they had. How many nice places like this was I missing on? And why didn't I ever hear about them?

"What did you mean when you said you'd keep this one?" I asked when we walked out.

"Oh, when I bring back three movies, I can trade it for one. I do that sometimes."

I turned to look at her and she did the same just to send me a smile before turning her head back in front of her. We kept walking but I couldn't take my eyes off of her. I thought I knew Millie but I had just realized that there were so many things about her that she didn't share and that I didn't take the time to ask, I knew that even if our friendship was not recent, our bond and how close we were was pretty new but at the same time, I felt like there were things I should know about her.

I should have checked where I was going because once again, I ended up running into a trash can on the sidewalk. Millie started laughing and I groaned, taking my hands out of my pockets before getting around it and walking quickly to her.

"Shut up." I mumbled, making her laugh even more.

"You don't seem like the clumsy kind of guy, I'm just surprised every time you run into something, and it seems to happen a lot!"

"Yea yea, how about you stop laughing and we just go back home to watch that movie?"

We had to watch the movie in her room for the simple reason that the videotape recorder was there and it seemed like way too much trouble to plug it in the living room. I made popcorn but Millie opened a few drawers and placed candies on her bed and it made me smile.

"Why don't you buy 6 or 7 movies at the same time? That way you don't have to go back there every day." I proposed, throwing some popcorn in my mouth and leaning against the wall with her.

"I can't know which mood i'll be in. It's a spur of the moment thing." she explained as the movie started. "Plus, I love going there."

"And what do we do after watching the movie?"

"It's dinner. Then shower, a few episodes of a netflix show, and bed time."

We watched the movie for a while and I had to admit the plotline was good, even if a bit fucked up. Millie was also right about the girl : she was very nice to look at and somehow, it made me glance at her.

"That girl is hot as fuck." I admitted, making Millie burst into laughter as she pushed an other candy in her mouth.

"I know right! And she's your type, too! I knew you'd like her!"

I blinked a few times and once again turned to my friend, leaning my head on the wall. I hated when she said that. I knew she didn't mean anything by it but I didn't want to admit that I would use some sort of base or mold to pick a girl. I hated thinking that I was shallow to the point where other girls who were not 'my type' wouldn't catch my eyes or stand a chance with me. And most of all, I hated that Millie saw me like that. I was about to start a discussion about it when Millie talked again, her eyes still glued on the tv.

"What about you?" she glanced at me. "What's your routine?"

I crossed my arms on my chest and shrugged a shoulder as my nose raised up in a grimace. "I don't have a routine anymore. My routine used to be with Grace and when she left, it became netflix from when the sun rises until it would set."

The fact that it was just being clear to me made something twist in my stomach. Who the fuck was I? Could I remember who I was before Grace? And now, with Summer, was I really myself?

I took the sheet out of my back pocket and unfolded it just as Millie handed me a pen and a book to write on. I looked up at her and sent her a small smile before writing under the cons in Grace's column. 'She decides everything'

"You know, I think that's part of why you annoyed me so much." Millie admitted. I looked up from the sheet and sent her a frown. Her traits softened and she sent me a sorry smile. "She would just tell you what she wanted and what to do and you'd never argue. She was bossy and controlling."

I couldn't pretend she was not right and I nodded with a sigh. "You know the worst? Summer is exactly the opposite. She's super compliant and it can get quite annoying."

Millie raised her eyebrows at me. "Well I guess you found something to write in the cons for Summer."

I sighed again but louder this time before looking down at my sheet again. I wrote down what I had just said and shook my head a bit. It was pathetic that the first things I thought about writing were flaws and I closed my eyes, letting my head fall against the wall in a loud noise after closing my eyes. "This is ridiculous, I can't choose."

"Hey, relax, it's just day one."

I felt my friend move on the bed and forced myself to open my eyes, noticing Millie was now facing me with a small smile. "We have 6 more days to fill that sheet." she slapped gently my thigh with the back of her hand and licked her lips as they curled more. "Trust me."

[fanmoose12]

catch me if you can

Сharacters: Hange Zoe, Levi, Erwin Smith, Kenny Ackerman

Genres: Mystery / Romance

Summary: The Ackerman duo. Just the mention of this name filled Hange with so many feelings. Mostly, when she reread the files of their cases over and over, until her eyes watered, she felt pricking annoyance. Sometimes, when she stared at the dead bodies of those scarce unfortunates who stumbled upon their crimes, she was filled with hatred and a pushing need for revenge. Hange couldn’t deny, however, there were times when she marveled at the impudence of their crimes. And, when she was investigating the Ackerman’s cases and saw just how meticulously planned they all were, she couldn’t help but feel something close to fascination.

No one knew who they were. No one had seen their faces, no one knew their true names. Almost everyone knew of their crimes.

Hange was determined to unravel every last one of their secrets. She will put an end to their crimes and then she will get the elusive Ackermans behind bars.

Chapter 3/?

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Levi stared at Hange intently. He watched the rise and fall of her chest, the flutter of her eyelashes, the movement of her eyes, the way she gripped the teacup in her fingers and slowly put it to her lips, taking a first sip.

He leaned closer, pressing his elbows into the table. He anxiously waited to hear out her verdict.

"So?" he pressed after almost a minute passed and Hange still hadn't said anything.

She put the teacup down and smiled.

"I really want to say it's bad, I was actually looking forward to that date—"

"But?" Levi interrupted, impatient and hopeful.

Hange sighed, dropping the smile. "But it's delicious. I don't think I've tasted anything better."

"Yes!" Levi knew it. He was once again proven right - no one could resist a good cup of tea, those coffee addicts just didn't know better.

"Well, thanks for opening my eyes..." Hange stood up, reaching for her coat.

"Oi." Levi scowled. What the fuck was she doing? "Sit your ass back down."

"Pardon?"

"You haven't finished your tea, idiot," upon seeing the confused look that appeared on detective's face, Levi's lips curled into a smirk. He hid it behind his own cup of tea.

"Oh," Hange plopped down on a seat again, grinning helplessly. "Yes, sorry, I forgot about it."

Levi rolled his eyes, subduing a wave of affection that spread through him because of her awkwardness.

Hange Zoe in front of him was very different from the detective's persona he had seen glimpses of before. Detective Zoe was fierce, she was daring and dedicated to her work to the point of obsession. Hange he got to know today was clumsy. She was awkward, but not shy. She was funny and kind.

An interesting contrast. Levi wanted to know more.

They drank their tea in silence. Hange was smiling slightly, as she looked around the café Levi had brought her in. Levi watched her beneath his eyelashes.

The silence wasn't tense or uncomfortable, it was simply there, and at any other day, Levi would have appreciated it.

Right now, however, there was something he needed to say.

He cleared his throat. Hange's eyes immediately snapped to him.

"A new movie theater was opened recently," he took a sip of his tea, resisting the urge to fidget. "Have you heard about it?"

"I have not," she answered, and her tone of voice made it clear that she was prompting him to continue.

Levi took another sip of tea. The cup was almost empty.

"There is going to be a movie marathon this Friday. Wanna go? Together."

His voice was nonchalant and his face was blank. Nothing betrayed his feelings. But his heart was beating so loudly, Levi was worried it could jump out of his chest.

The voice of reason in his head continued to scream, begging him to stand up and leave. Levi stopped listening to it long ago. For whatever reason - be it his curiosity or a desire to find out what she knew about them - he wanted to see Hange again. One trip to a cinema wouldn't hurt. Probably.

"What the theme of the marathon?" Hange asked, gripping the cup with her two hands and leaning closer to him. She looked just like an over-excited puppy. Levi almost smiled at that comparison.

"They’re showing those Police Academy movies,” he replied casually. That poster, actually, was the only reason he noticed the advertisement about new movie theater. He saw it and instantly thought of Hange. That was also the reason why he remembered about it.

"Oh," Hange blinked. "That's quite a coincidence. I actually work at the local police precinct."

I know, Levi almost said. He bit the inside of his cheek, forcing on a surprised expression.

"You do?" he asked, adding wonder to his voice. He hoped it was convincing enough. He wasn’t a particularly good liar, even though his profession as a thief more than required it. The most Levi could do was put the mask of indifference. He had perfected this technique to such a degree that showing, or even mimicking, different kinds of emotions was almost impossible for him. Kenny always made fun of that.

Hange, however, continued to wear the same relaxed expression, leading Levi to believe that his act had its desired effect on her.

"Yeah, I'm working as a detective."

“Oh,” Levi slightly widened his eyes, before he pursed his lips and frowned. "If you don't like this kind of movies..."

"Oh, no, no," Hange frantically waved her hands around. "I adore them! They are utterly ridiculous and always get everything about police's work wrong and that's why they're so fun to watch! I could get carried away with my comments, however," she tucked a loose hair behind her ear.

"What I'm getting myself into." Levi complained dryly, eliciting a delightful chuckle out of Hange.

"You were the one who offered. It's too late to back out, shorty."

"I could just stand you up."

"No, you couldn't," Hange said confidently. She propped her chin on a hand, looking at Levi with a knowing smile. "You're too nice."

Her words almost made him wince. He wasn't nice. And if Hange knew who he truly was, she definitely wouldn't think so.

Underneath the table, Levi tightened his hand into a fist. The last thought bothered him more than he could admit.

"Fuck you, I’m not nice," he growled, letting out the ounce of the frustration that phrase caused him.

Hange raised an eyebrow. "Fuck me? Aren't we moving a little too fast?"

Under her mischievous gaze, Levi's ears swiftly grew red. Hange threw her head back and laughed.

"Oh god, you should have seen your face!" she pointed a finger at him, still laughing. Levi's scowl deepened. And to think he felt bad for lying to her. "You look like such a cool and badass man, but it's so easy to embarrass you!"

"I'm not embarrassed," Levi retorted, even though he could feel the blush spread onto his cheeks too.

"Alright, alright," Hange raised her hands, placating him. "I'm sorry for teasing. You still wanna watch movies with me?"

"I was the one who offered," Levi repeated her words, shrugging.

"Awesome!" Hange clasped her hands. She grabbed her bag and rummaged through it, fishing out a pen. She took a hold of Levi's hand next, and before he could protest, started writing on it with her sharpie.

"There," once she was finished, she patted his arm. "You can text me the details."

Levi stared down on his arm, not knowing how to react. On one hand, he hated when other people touched him, especially the ones he just met. On the other, the realization that Hange gave him his number caused a weird flatter in his chest. He almost felt giddy.

"Well, should we go?" Hange asked. "It's getting late."

"Sure," Levi nodded, getting up and passing Hange her coat.

He wanted to offer to walk her home, but before he could open his mouth to ask, his phone started ringing. Levi looked at the screen and groaned.

Of course, it was Kenny.

"Won't you answer it?" Hange wondered, when Levi just put his phone back in his pocket.

"There is no need," he shook his head. "It's my uncle, he probably wants to know what's taking me so long."

"Ah, you live with your uncle," Hange cooed. "How cute."

"Nothing cute about it. He's an old man who enjoys annoying me," he looked up at Hange, a smirk curling on his lips. "You and him definitely have something in common, four-eyes."

Hange froze instantly and Levi cursed himself. Idiot, he was a goddamn idiot. Why did he call her that? It was the same nickname he used to tease her in the little notes he left after each theft. Of course, Hange would react to that, he was just too stupid to realize it before he opened his goddamn mouth.

He had to rectify his mistake, and fast. Levi drew his eyebrows together, feigning concern.

"Hange? Did I say something wrong?"

"No," she waved him off with a smile. Levi wondered if his expression looked just as fake as Hange's. "I just have... an acquaintance who calls me the same nickname. It made me think of him, that's all."

"He's not a nice guy, I take it," Levi hummed, trying to ignore his rapidly beating heart.

"He's not." Hange agreed, anger evident in her voice. "Well, thank you for the evening," she reached out to pat his shoulder, and, although, the smile was still present on her lips, there was a faraway look in her eyes. "But I need to go. I'll be waiting for your text!"

Hange was gone, before Levi could utter a single word. He didn’t move for a few moments, staring at the place she just had been.

There was a weird feeling inside him. If he didn’t know better, he’d say it was shame.

*** Hange tiptoed around the precinct, picking her route through the most secluded hallways. She had to be careful, she didn’t want to get noticed by any of her co-workers. Especially, by Erwin.

She needed to get inside her office before he noticed her. Before he noticed her absence, to be precise.

She was never late to work. She usually came earlier than the most and always went home after everyone else had left.

Today was an exception, though. She slept in for the first time in years and then she also made a detour to visit the café Levi showed her last night and order that delicious, delicious tea on the go.

She would have never guessed that simple tea could taste so good, but Levi had opened her eyes. And he had helped in lifting her spirits. Levi was a little strange - he seemed rude and indifferent, but Hange felt that behind this facade hid a kind and honest man. He was also incredibly funny. His humor, although sarcastic, dry and so very different from hers, was more than just enjoyable. She couldn't remember when she had so much fun. Or hanged out with someone, who wasn't a part of the force. She was looking forward to their date at the movies. And she hoped it wouldn't be the last one.

Too lost in her thoughts about newly found friend, Hange forgot to look where she was going. So it took her by a surprise when her forehead had almost collided with someone's chin. She cursed under her breath, it happened for the second time in two days. She was getting too clumsy and absent-minded lately. It was probably due to constant exhaustion and sleep-deprivation. Perhaps, she shouldn’t have ignored Erwin’s advices about taking a break for so long.

Hange lifted her gaze – and Erwin was staring back at her.

“Speak of the devil,” she muttered, too soft for him to hear. Then she took a step back and put on a smile. She hoped it didn't look too forced. "Oh, it's you, Erwin. Hi."

"Good morning," he narrowed his eyes, looking at Hange from head to toe. "Why aren't you in your office? Your shift has already started."

"Yeah..." Hange scratched the back of her neck with a wince. "About that..."

"No way," Erwin raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Hange, you are late?"

"Only by fifteen minutes..." she mumbled, casting her eyes down.

"But you're never late!" Erwin continued to gawk. "And what is that?" he gestured at the cup in Hange's hands with a confused look. "It doesn’t look like coffee from the precinct's vending machine.”

"It's actually tea..."

"What?" Erwin exclaimed. "You're drinking tea? But you hate it!" he leaned closer to Hange's face, staring into her eyes. "Who are you and what did you do with Hange Zoe?"

"Very funny, Erwin," Hange pushed him away with an annoyed huff. "It's just tea, no need to freak out. And since we're already talking, I have a favor. Can I leave early on Friday?"

"You... want to leave early?" Erwin asked carefully. "You?"

Hange rolled her eyes. "Yes. Me. Can I?"

"You're always working after hours, so, of course, you can leave early, I see no problem with that. But, Hange, may I ask why do you need to do it?"

She shrugged. "I have a date."

Erwin choked. "A date?" his eyes went almost comically wide. "You are going on a date?!"

Hange was getting tired of this conversation. "Yes, I am going on a date. Is it so hard to imagine?"

"It's just very, um," Erwin cleared his throat, picking up the right word. "Uncharacteristic of you. You're so focused on your work, it’s actually quite surprising that you’ve noticed someone else, whose last name isn’t Ackerman. Your date must be really special then."

"We've met just yesterday,” Hange revealed with a dreamy sigh. She took a sip of tea and the corners of her lips slightly lifted. “So I’m yet to see if he’s special or not.”

"Well, I'm happy for you," Erwin smiled, clasping her shoulder. "It's good to know that you're taking interest in something, besides Ackerman case. You are so obsessed with it, I was starting to worry."

"You can stop now," Hange chuckled. "Last night I wasn’t thinking about Ackermans at all."

Hange decided not to mention the accident at the end, when Levi had called her 'four-eyes'. She didn't know why she had overreacted. It was a common nickname, kids at school was calling her that since second grade. But they weren't Ackermans. And, obviously, Levi wasn't Ackerman as well. He was just a simple, regular guy. Hange liked that, last night was a nice change from her usual routine. Maybe, Erwin was right in that regard too. Maybe, she did need a distraction.

"It's always nice to have a chat with you," Hange grinned, putting thoughts about Levi to the back of her mind. "But the work doesn't wait. I'll see you around, Erwin!"

As she made a way to her office, a slight spring in her step, the phone vibrated in her pocket, announcing a new message. Hange took it out, reading the text.

Friday, six pm by the movie theatre?

Hange typed ‘can’t wait!’ and entered the office with a wide, happy smile on her face.

*** Grey or blue? Or maybe black? Tuck the shirt in or not? Should he style his hair? Would a tie be too much? Should he wear a coat or would his blazer be enough? Wasn't he overdressed? Was he dressed too casually?

Would Hange like his appearance?

Levi ran a hand through his hair and tsked in annoyance. He was probably overthinking this whole thing. No, he was definitely overthinking it.

Getting ready for the date wasn't supposed to be so hard. Levi had been on dates before, he knew how to do it. Granted, his previous dates weren't actually real, but always a part of Kenny's many rouses.

There was one time, where he had to seduce a casino employee to steal a key card that would get them into the vault. And then there was a time, where he had to take a grieving widow on a date so Kenny could rob her house, while she was absent.

Levi didn't enjoy either of those times, he felt uneasy, but that feeling was caused purely by the fact that he was lying to all of these people. He was never anxious, even though his seducing skills left much to be desired.

Everything was different this time. Levi was aware that technically this date wasn't real too. He was lying to Hange, just as he was lying to all of his previous dates. But that wasn't the main basis for his state. He was nervous about meeting Hange. He was nervous she wouldn't like him. 

It made absolutely no sense. Hange was his enemy, a detective who wanted to get him behind bars more than anything. He saw it in her eyes yesterday, her desire and hatred towards Ackermans were transparent. And it bothered him more that it should. 

Levi banged his head against the door of a wardrobe, wondering what the fuck was going on with him. When it came to Hange, he couldn't think straight and his usual indifference was nowhere to be found.

He wondered when it had all begun. 

Did it happen, when he had seen Hange for the first time? When she was pacing around the house they've robbed, wearing a murderous expression and barking at every policeman? Levi still remembered the feeling of satisfaction he felt upon seeing her frustrations.

Or had it started after he had written his first note to her? He lingered at the scene of the crime that day, pretending to be a janitor. When Hange noticed a small note near the empty slot of the painting they've stolen, he couldn't tear his eyes away from her. Her eyebrows formed a line on her forehead, as she read the contents. Once she was done, she whirled around, as though looking for the person who had left the note. Levi had barely stopped himself from laughing then. He had to leave the place in a hurry after that. If someone had seen his reaction, it wouldn't be that hard to put two and two even for the dense policemen.

Or did it happen last evening, when he made eye contact with Hange for the first time? When he got a glimpse of the other side of fierce detective? When he saw a kind, endearing person underneath that façade?

Levi banged his head again. He was going crazy.                                                  

He considered hitting his head against the wooden surface for the third time, when Kenny appeared on the threshold of his room. 

"Oi, kid," he crossed hands on his chest and tilted his head, studying Levi curiously. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes. But it's none of your business."

"When you say things like that, Levi," Kenny walked further into a room, coming to stand just behind Levi's shoulder. His lips curled into a smirk as he saw the variety of shirts that hanged on the door of the wardrobe. "It only makes me more curious. So, what's up?"

Levi pinched the bridge of his nose with fingers. He knew that he had to tell Kenny at least a portion of the truth. Otherwise, his uncle would find out the other way, and then he would know the whole truth. And Levi really didn't want Kenny to know he was going on a date with a detective.

Yes, he had to tell him about his date, Levi was aware of that. He was also aware of the reaction his words would have on Kenny. He already dreaded it.

"I'm going out," Levi told in a strained voice. He winced, preparing for what was coming. The bomb was going to explode any second. "On a date."

"A date?" Kenny repeated loudly, staring at Levi like he had grown a second head. 

"Check your hearing, old man. Yes." Levi glowered. "I'm going on a date."

"You... are going on a... a date," Kenny spoke slowly. "With a real person?"         

"Unbelievable, isn't it?" Levi asked sarcastically.                    

"I can't quite believe it, yes," Kenny agreed, surprisingly honest. He took a few steps back and plopped down on a chair, observing Levi underneath his eyelashes. "And who is that unfortunate soul?"

"We've met a few days ago. Went out for a coffee, then agreed to see each other again and go to the movies."

Kenny whistled. "Not bad, Levi. You going on a date with someone on your own volition, not because I made you. Huh, I'm impressed. When are you going to bring them home? I want to meet them."

“Never,” Levi retorted harshly. “You’ll scare her off.”

Kenny guffawed. “Levi, if she survived an evening with you, she isn’t going to be even fazed by me.”

Well… Maybe, Kenny was right. Levi wasn’t going to give them the satisfaction of admitting it, though.

“If you don't have anything else to say, then get the fuck out.” He told him, turning back to the wardrobe. “I'm in a hurry."

"No respect for his elders," Kenny muttered, shaking his head. He stood up and headed to the door. Just before he reached it, he stopped and looked at the collection of Levi's shirts. He studied them for a moment. 

"Pick the blue one," he said at last. "It brings out your eyes."

***

Levi paced around the entrance to the movie theater, his expression turning sourer and sourer with each minute. They've agreed to meet at six. It was already a quarter past six. And still there was no sign of Hange. 

Had she forgotten? Or, maybe, there was some emergency? And she had no time to notify him? 

Perhaps, she had she changed her mind? Had she decided to stand him up?

Levi glanced at his clock again and decided enough was enough. He grabbed his phone and dialed Hange's number. 

He waited and waited and waited. No one picked up. He cursed under his breath. 

Was the great detective Hange Zoe cowardly enough to tell that she didn't want to see him to his face? Levi refused to believe it.

Putting his phone back into his pocket, he started to walk. Gladly, he knew exactly where his date could be.

Taking a first turn to the left, he headed to the local police precinct. ***

If someone had said to him a week ago that he'd willingly go inside the police precinct, Levi would have called them a fucking idiot. But here he was, and all because of some pesky detective who didn't show up for their date.

With a grim look on his face, Levi approached the reception desk. A blonde woman with short hair was sitting there, her eyes focused on a computer screen.

Levi cleared his throat to gain her attention. 

Looking up, the woman graced him with a polite smile. "How can I help you, sir?"

"Where I can find detective Zoe?"

The woman continued to smile, but a cautious look appeared inside her eyes.  "May I ask why do you need her?"

Levi hesitated, not knowing what to say. Should he call himself Hange's date? Or should he come up with another explanation?

He was spared from giving a straight answer by a tall man with sandy hair and very impressive moustache.

Paying no attention to Levi, the man put his elbows on the reception desk, leaning over it.

"Hey, Nana, are you finished already?"

"Almost," the woman whispered, not taking her eyes off Levi. "I just need to deal with the gentleman over here first."

"Oh?" the man turned to Levi, looking him from head to toe. "And who is this?"

"I'm looking for detective Hange Zoe." Levi stated firmly. The man was looming over him, a full head taller than him, but Levi stared him right in the eyes, despite the growing discomfort in his neck area. What a fucking giant, he thought angrily, feeling the muscles in his neck stiffen.

"You're looking for Hange?" the man scratched his chin with a raised brow. "Oh! You must be the infamous thief!"

What?                    

Levi's heart stopped. He felt the ground disappear from underneath him, as he struggled to make sense of the current situation. So the police already knew? Was it an elaborate plan to make him come right into their hands? Had Hange known the truth since the very beginning? Was he the one who was being played, not the other way around?

His head reeling and his thoughts mashing together, Levi thought about turning around and bolting out of here. Maybe, he'd get lucky and be able to escape. He could use his intimate knowledge of the city's streets, make cops lose him in the labyrinth of back alleys. 

Through a fog around his mind, Levi heard the man's chuckle. Instinctively, he turned his head to the direction the sound came from, listening more closely. 

"Nana, that's him! The man who stole our beloved Hange's heart!"

What?

"Oh," the woman smiled, tilting her head to study Levi more closely. The suspicion was gone from her gaze almost instantly. "My god, you're right! Short, dark-haired and with a scowl on his face! He looks just like Hange described him."

Hange had described him? Hange talked about him? With her colleagues? And she called him short?

Levi didn’t know what to think of it all, getting even more confused than before.

"Let's go, Romeo," with a short laugh, the tall man threw an arm over Levi's shoulder. "I'll lead you to your Juliette."

 ***

"I'm Mike, by the way," the giant extended his hand to Levi.

"Levi," he nodded, shaking the offered hand.

"Oh, I know this already," Mike smirked. "It's the only thing our division talks about."

"Me?"

"Your date with Hange," he clarified. "Don’t take it the wrong way. We just worry about Hange a lot. Ever since she took the Ackermans’ case, she became quite obsessed with it. So we’re all glad that she finally took interest in something else.”

"Ackermans’ case? What’s that?" Levi asked, trying to goad Mike into revealing some kind of information. "I’ve never heard of it."

“You haven’t? I thought it’s the talk of the whole city. Either way, I'm sure Hange will fill you in in no time. It's one of her favorite topics nowadays."

His attempt obviously failed, so Levi merely grunted, hoping this kind of answer would suffice.

"We're almost here," Mike announced, turning the corner. "Before you go, I just want to say something." Levi looked up at Mike, picking up a slight shift in his tone. It wasn't as friendly anymore. "We all like Hange very much, so if you hurt her..."

"Got it," Levi swallowed, the feeling of shame weighing down on him. He didn't want to hurt Hange. He knew he was most probably going to.

“And another thing,” Mike mumbled, leaning closer to him. With wide eyes, Levi watched how the man started sniffing him, his nostrils flaring. “Yeah, you’re alright,” he concluded with a satisfied smirk. “A bit weird, but alright.” Mike clasped him on a back, his strong hand almost made Levi stumble. "That's Hange's office," he gestured at the door with Hange's name written on it and then left, humming under his breath.

Levi watched him go, wondering what the fuck had just happened. Had the man really sniffed him? What was that about? Should he be concerned? Honored? He should definitely ask Hange about it.

Shaking his head, he brushed the invisible dirt from his blazer. He breathed in, preparing himself, and then knocked on the door.

"Come in!" someone yelled from the other side. Levi instantly recognized Hange's deep voice.

He opened the door and entered. Hange gasped.

"Levi!” she jumped to her feet, almost knocking back the chair in the process. “Oh god, I'm so sorry! Our date! I forgot about it!"

All annoyance Levi had felt up to this moment had disappeared the moment he saw how embarrassed Hange was. She seemed genuinely ashamed and Levi couldn’t find it in himself to stay angry any longer. Although, he still couldn't pass an opportunity to tease her a bit more.

"I thought you decided to stand me up." He said in the saddest voice he could master. It wasn't that different from his usual one, but Hange's reaction was priceless.

"No! I would never, I just forgot about time, I'm—"

"It seems like I'm largely at fault here."

Levi blinked, as a tall blonde man came into his view. He recognized him right away, Captain Erwin Smith was as imposing in person, as he was on Levi's phone screen. Was he present in the room since Levi had entered it? Despite his quite large figure, up until he announced his presence, Levi didn't notice him at all.

"Hange, you may go, since your gentleman is already waiting," Erwin smiled, standing up from a chair across from Hange’s desk. "We'll finish tomorrow."

"Alright!" Hange waved her hand in Erwin’s general direction, too busy with gathering her belongings.

Watching her frantic moves, Erwin let out a soft chuckle. “She’s really excited about your date,” he whispered to Levi. “I’m Erwin Smith, Hange’s Captain.”

“Levi,” he let out his surname, for obvious reasons. “Hange’s… friend.”

“Take care of her, alright?” despite the warm smile and easy expression, Erwin’s blue eyes bored into Levi with surprising intensity. If he wasn’t so good at concealing his emotions, Levi would have squirmed under the heavy gaze.

“And bring her home before ten!” Erwin added, raising his voice, so Hange could hear him.

“Just go already!” Hange snapped, glaring at him. “Stop embarrassing me!”

Erwin laughed, but obeyed, heading to the door. Before he walked out, he gave Levi another look. This one was a little less hostile than his previous one, but it was just as successful in making Levi feel uneasy. Erwin Smith was a sharp and dangerous man. Levi hoped it was their last meeting.

“What’s taking you so long?” Levi grumbled, as he approached Hange’s desk. She was looking for something, opening drawer after drawer and shifting through their contents.

“I can’t find my phone!” she whined, forcefully pushing another drawer shut.

“That’s why you didn’t answer my calls,” Levi guessed, as he pretended to join Hange’s search. He started looking through the papers on her desk, his eyes going over them quickly. Most of it was regular paperwork, reports from Hange’s patrols and other boring stuff. One file caught his attention, though. It was a case from 1988. What Hange could need it for? His fingers twitched to open and read the whole thing, his mind scrambling to explain, how it could be linked to him and Kenny.

He didn’t want to raise any suspicious, though. So with a heavy heart, Levi laid the case file down and continued to search for Hange’s phone.

“Got it!” Hange fished the phone from underneath the table. “Must have fallen down somewhere during the day. Ah, and it was on silent, so that’s why I didn’t hear your calls. Sorry about that,” she added sheepishly.

“It’s fine,” Levi said. “You have an important job, I get it.”

“I’ll make it up to you,” Hange promised, as she put on her coat. “Are we too late already?"

"We are," Levi confirmed grimly. "Good thing it's a marathon, we can still be in time for a movie or two."

"Let’s hurry then!” Hange linked their hands together and dragged Levi along with her.

 ***

"Did you enjoy the movies?" Levi asked, after they left the cinema auditorium. 

"Yes!" Hange answered, nodding enthusiastically. "They were great!"

"But you were complaining all the time," Levi noted, taking an empty bucket of popcorn from her hands and throwing it out in the trashcan. 

"Well, there were a lot of inaccuracies in these movies. And most of the things these guys did would get me fired, or worse, earn me a very strict verbal reprimanding from Erwin. But yeah, I still had fun watching them. Did you?"

"Maybe, I would have," Levi shrugged. "If you had shut your mouth for at least a second."

"I warned you," Hange smiled, unfazed by his rude tone. 

She did. And, truthfully, despite his bitching Levi actually enjoyed himself at the movies too. He was sure that whatever plot was unraveling on a screen wasn't even half as amusing as Hange's hilarious commentary. 

As he walked through the movie theater's hallway with Hange by his side, Levi felt unusually content. Hange's company was unexpectedly pleasant. 

Once they left the theatre and walked outside, however, Levi's good mood disappeared without a trace. 

It was snowing. Big, fluffy snowflakes slowly descended from the sky, haphazardly falling down to the ground. The city around them was covered in snow and Levi involuntary shuddered, feeling the cold seeping into his bones, and then spread right to his heart. 

"Levi?" Hange laid a hand on his elbow, her face and voice equally concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Shaking off his stupor, Levi nodded. 

"Sure," he slumped his shoulders slightly, staring right ahead. "Just a bit colder than I expected to."

"Oh. Do you want to go home then?"

"It's up to you. Is there something you want to go?"

"There is one place," Hange said enigmatically. "It's not far from here. And I know just the way to keep you warm."

Levi raised an eyebrow, curious. 

With a playful grin, Hange took his hand, interlaced their fingers and hid their joined palms inside the pocket of her coat.

"Better now?" she asked. 

"Just a little," he mumbled, turning his face away to hide his embarrassment. 

Judging by the soft look in her eyes and her slightly wider smile, Hange was able to see right through him.

“Let’s go before I freeze to death,” Levi grunted, dead set on keeping up his rude exterior.

*** The place Hange had led him to was just a walking distance away. While they strolled through the city, she seamlessly filled the silence with her chatter. She talked about anything and everything. She complained about her noisy colleagues, told him how she nearly burned her breakfast this morning, because she almost fell asleep in the shower, and shared her thoughts on a movie Levi had never even heard about. 

He didn't participate in the conversation, only offering different kinds of grunts from time to time, but Hange didn't seem to mind. 

Levi was grateful to her all the same, Hange's babbling, even though, a bit silly, helped him take his mind off certain things, memories he didn't wish to relive today. And her hand that was still holding his kept him grounded, forcing him to focus on his sensations. 

"And here we are!" Hange exclaimed, stopping in front of the entrance to the park. 

Levi looked around, appreciating the view. The park wasn't big, but it was away from busy streets. It was practically empty too, save for a couple of joggers and a few dog owners. Most importantly, it was quiet. Levi liked that.

He turned to face Hange, meaning to thank her for bringing him here. But when he looked to the side, Hange wasn't there. She was crouched a few steps away from him. There was wide, mischievous smile on her face and Levi instinctively took a step back, glaring at her. 

"No," he warned. "Don't you dare—"

He didn't get to finish his threat, and a snowball that hit him right in the forehead was the reason for it. Levi cursed, furiously wiping snow from his face. 

"Run, Hange," he growled, bending over to gather some snow too. 

Not needing him to tell twice, Hange sprinted off, laughing joyfully. Levi formed a snowball and rushed after her. As he got closer, he raised his hand and aimed the snowball at Hange. It landed right in the center of her back and Hange yelped. 

"That was low even for you, shorty!" she shouted. "Attacking from the back is against rules!"

"I don't remember you setting the rules!" Levi smirked, making another snowball. 

He threw it again, but Hange hid behind the tree, evading his attack. She immediately retaliated, staining the front of Levi's blazer with snow.

Hange cackled, celebrating the successful hit. Levi tossed another snowball and again, Hange effortlessly dodged it. Levi decided to switch tactics. Getting to his feet, he ran right at Hange, spreading his arms and circling them around her waist. Using the momentum, he threw Hange on the soft snow, falling on top of her. 

"Do you yield?" he asked, staring down at her. 

"N-never!" Hange replied, panting. She raised her arms, which Levi, in hindsight, had forgotten to pin down, and pushed Levi's blazer up, revealing his shirt. She laid her hands on his ribs and her fingers started tickling him.

Levi wheezed, pushing her hands away. Hange took this opportunity to flip them over, landing on top of him. Not repeating Levi’s mistake, she pinned down his arms and then secured his hips with her knees. 

"Do you yield?" she grinned victoriously. 

Hange looked like a mess - hair disheveled, glasses askew, red-cheeked and breathing heavily. Levi couldn't look away. 

"Fine, I yield," he grumbled. "Just get off me."

Hange complied almost instantly, falling in the snow next to Levi. 

"Oi," Levi huffed, struggling to catch his breath. "Get up. You're going to catch a cold."

“I’ll be fine,” Hange replied lazily.

“Your boss would kill me if you become sick.”

Hange laughed and the joyful sound reverberated through the otherwise silent park. “Erwin scared you, didn’t he? Don’t make him fool you, he’s actually a big softie,” yeah, Levi had some heavy doubts about that. Maybe, Erwin Smith was indeed a softie. But only to Hange and his other co-workers.

“And what about your other friends? That giant of a man, for example.”

“You’ve met Mike!” Hange exclaimed, throwing her hands up. She turned to Levi, watching him with amused eyes. “Did he try to sniff you?”

“He did. What the fuck was that about?”

“It’s just a habit of his, don’t think about it too much. I need to know, though,” Hange moved her face closer to Levi’s, curiosity sparkling in her gaze. “What did he say?”

“Said I was ‘alright’.” Levi grunted.

“Oh! That’s a high praise, coming from him. Yeah, he won’t beat you up, don’t worry,” again, Levi wasn’t sure about that. “Let’s just stay here for a moment. Relax, we only live once, shorty. Enjoy the moment."

Levi's pants and hair were wet and starting to freeze, his fingers felt numb from the cold, but he did, as Hange said, and tried to relax. It was surprisingly easy, he noted, as he raised his gaze to the night sky. No stars were looking back at him, the weather too cloudy to allow for that, but Levi found a strange beauty in that nevertheless. It was quiet, it was calm. He felt at peace. 

"How did you find this place?" he asked Hange quietly, wanting to preserve the tranquil atmosphere. 

"I used to come here often, as a child. I visited it with my mom almost every weekend. Do you have a special place like this with your mom?"

"My mom died," Levi blurted out. 

"Oh," Hange’s face fell. She pushed herself up, resting on her elbow. "Levi, I'm so sorry..."

"Don't be. It happened a long time ago."

"But you still miss her," she softly noted.

“I don’t.” Levi argued stubbornly, trying to keep his stern façade. “And if I did, how would you know about this? We’ve just met. You barely know me.”

“I’m a detective, remember?” Hange reminded. “It’s my job to be observant. You’re a hard nut to crack, Levi, your face is always so scary,” she mimicked Levi’s usual scowl, and he rolled his eyes, biting back a smile. “But your eyes show what you truly feel. And they look so sad. It was the first thing I’ve noticed about you actually."

Levi looked up, meeting her gaze. There was something inside it, it was inviting him, enticing him into trusting Hange with things he had never revealed to anyone.

"It was snowing when she died," he whispered. He closed his eyes and could almost feel it - the cold wind ruffling his hair and bits of snow flying through the open window as he sat next to his mother's dead body, unable to comprehend why she wasn't getting up; the crunching noise his shiny new shoes produced as he walked through the snowy cemetery; the numbness in his hands and legs as he kneeled before her grave, begging her to come back. “That’s why I hate snow so much.”

He knew Hange was watching him closely and she probably had noted the slight trembling that wracked his body. She said nothing, though, just simply took his hand in hers and squeezed it.

Levi was grateful for her silence. He was grateful for her presence.

Hange didn't offer him meaningless words of condolences or fake encouragements. She just held his hand, reminding him that he was not alone.

"Sorry for bringing the mood down," he said after a few more minutes of silence. 

Hange smiled, a gentle look in her warm, brown eyes. 

"Don't you even think of being embarrassed about this, Levi. I—"

Whatever she was going to say was suddenly interrupted by a loud shrill.

"Excuse me," Hange took out her phone and looked at the screen, grimacing. "I have to take it," she explained and stood up, walking a few steps away. 

With detached look, Levi watched how expressions on her face changed. First appeared annoyance, then anger, next came curiosity, before it settled into determination. 

Hange put the phone back into her pocket and came back. Now she wore an apologetic expression on her face. "It's an emergency," she said, offering Levi a hand to help him up.

“Do you want me to walk you back?”

“No, thanks,” Hange winced. “My friend will pick me up.”

“Oh, alright,” Levi nodded numbly, not knowing what to say.

“I’ll text you, yeah?” she looked at him with a hopeful smile. “So we could meet again, perhaps?”

“Sure,” he agreed. “I would love that.”

“Awesome!” Hange gave him finger guns, and Levi rolled his eyes, smacking her arm playfully.

“See you soon!” she shouted and then hurriedly walked away.

As soon as she was gone, Levi was cold once again.

[aomine-ryo]

sorry about my last request! i just wanted to change it because, i know you ger lord of requests for aomine but would it be on if it could be a scenario with him instead? whichever is easier for you!

Yes ofc! I love writing for Aomine. Fair warning, this is quite a long one so I hope you like it xx

Scenario: Aomine with an s/o with ptsd who’s afraid to get intimate

Aomine wasn’t always the best with his words. Which is why, when it comes to relationships especially, he’s more of a show-don’t-tell kind of guy. He’s the type of guy that values little things like hugs and kisses and touching in general, but lately he was beginning to think that you weren’t the same.

Aomine has had a crush on you for the longest time. The first time he met you was on your first day at your new job at a cafe. It took him about two days to be completely head over heels for you, which was new to him since he wasn’t one to be chasing after people in general. Naturally, he used his best pick up line to try and get you to go on a date with him. To his dismay, you declined.

“I’m flattered, and I really like you, but I really don’t think I can be in a relationship right now,” you replied.

“Oh. It’s alright. I can wait until you’re ready. Is it gonna take a few minutes or...?” Aomine joked, making you laugh. And my God, what a gorgeous smile, he thought. “I’m kidding. Take your time. If you ever change your mind just say the word.”

So the two of you continued your relationship as coworkers, though you quickly became really close. Despite the fact that he was a very lazy worker, his presence at the cafe is really what motivated you to never skip a day of work. Something about the way that he was so laid back and easygoing gave you a sense of comfort. Just having him around made you feel like you could finally relax and the lighthearted conversations and jokes with him was something that became incredibly important to you without you even realising it.

Of course, all this time, Aomine’s feelings for you never really went away. If anything, he found himself falling for you even more after getting so close to you. Eventually, you decided to give it a try. You had to move on at some point and there was no one better to take that first step with than someone as low maintenance as Aomine.

Fast forward a few months and you and Aomine are in a happy relationship. Not much really changed between you two though, it’s just that you went on dates now and he’d hold your hand every so often. Aomine was very patient with you. He didn’t want to ruin something that he’d been longing for for so long so he was doing his best to ease into it. Furthermore, he remembered that you weren’t exactly ready for a relationship (though that was ages ago), but something told him that he should give you a little space just in case.

Lately though, he’d begun to notice how the two of you had never really been intimate with each other. Sure, you’d spend an awful lot of time with each other between work and dates, but he hadn’t even kissed you yet and it’s been nearly a month since you started dating.

Truth was, you’d try to avoid situations where things would possibly be intimate due to your past experiences. Places like the cinema was out of the question and you’d always pick places that were open and public. Thankfully, Aomine was never opposed to any of these ideas because he didn’t care too much where you went as long as he was with you. Meanwhile, you were trying to get help for it, but it was a slow process and things weren’t looking that much better in your opinion. You were aware that it was unfair to Aomine too, but you were just hoping he wouldn’t notice until you finally build up to courage to be intimate again.

One weekend, you got a text from Aomine.

Hey, do you want to come over? I was thinking a movie night would be fun

The request seemed reasonable enough, but to you it was something you’d been dreading.

Not too sure... you texted back.

Why not? You said you were free today didn’t you?

You let out a groan as you remembered telling him about your empty schedule this weekend. Whilst you would much rather stay at home, you decided to agree to his request because you didn’t want him to think anything was wrong with you. So you sucked it up and got ready to head to your boyfriend’s house.

The walk there wasn’t exactly the most fun. Your mind couldn’t help but overthink the entire time. You tried to listen to music to drown out the thoughts but it was no use. Your stomach was turning and you felt like you could puke. Maybe you should just turn back?

Next thing you knew, your feet had carried you all the way to his doorstep and you had already knocked on the door. Taking deep breaths, you tried to calm yourself down as you waited. Why’d you convince yourself to do this? He would have understood if you just said no.

The door finally opened and revealed Aomine in a pair of grey sweatpants and a white shirt, a genuinely happy smile spread across his face. For a moment, you relaxed. It was just Aomine. You don’t have to get so worked up.

“Hey there,” he greeted you by messing up your hair, making you giggle. There really was nothing to be worried about.

“Stop it,” you laughed as you swatted his arm away from you so you could fix your hair.

Aomine let you in and told you to get comfortable on the couch while he went to grab some snacks and order some food for the two of you. His house was exactly what you’d expect it to be— barely furnished with a few tasteful knickknacks which you assumed was gifted to him.

Being left alone like this brought back the worrying thoughts though. You weren’t sure if you could deal with being touched again— even if it was Aomine. The idea of it alone brought you the icks.

Aomine returned with a bowl of popcorn, which he set on the coffee table in front of you before landing on the couch next to you with a remote in hand. “I thought I told you to get comfortable?” Aomine said.

“Huh?”

“You don’t look very comfortable— there’s a whole couch here and you choose to sit on the edge,” he laughed, eyeing your straight posture.

“Oh, sorry,” you said awkwardly as you pulled yourself back a bit and leaned against the couch.

“Don’t apologise,” he said, pausing for a moment to take his focus away from the TV and onto you. “Are you alright? You’re acting a bit off.”

“No, I’m okay, don’t worry,” you shook your head.

Aomine hesitated for a moment before turning his head back to the screen. “What movie do you want to watch?”

“I don’t have a preference— you choose,” you shrugged.

“You’re the guest, you have to choose,” Aomine replied insistently.

You let out a sigh as you shook your head disapprovingly. “Fine, I suppose a comedy would be nice,” you suggested.

Aomine browsed through the comedy options and settled on something that interested both of you. For the most part, you were alright during the start of the movie. You decided to indulge in its plot so that you could get your mind to stop with its intrusive thoughts. However, it wasn’t long until Aomine smoothly put his arm around you, surprising you for a moment as you suppressed a flinch.

And it only went downhill after that.

You could no longer pay attention to the movie. All you could focus on was his touch. It became painfully obvious to you that you were alone with him. He could do absolutely anything to you and no one would possibly know. It was awfully familiar.

You were spiraling.

Every time you’d close your eyes, you were transported back to the place where you had no control. You were terrified. He just had his arm around you— you knew that. But all you could see was things escalating. Trapped in your own little bubble of panic, you couldn’t hear Aomine calling your name.

The navy haired boy became increasingly concerned. He could feel you trembling in his arms but you weren’t responding to him at all. “Y/N? What’s wrong?” he asked, pulling away from you and beginning to panic himself.

No response. Just trembling. Also tears— lots of tears.

Aomine was confused. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around you, hoping it’ll stop the shaking. To some extent it did. It also helped you snap back into reality for a moment.

“I-I’m sorry,” you said between heavy breaths.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” Aomine said, voice soft as ever. He reached out to wipe the tears off your cheek, but you immediately flinched and pulled back, stopping his movements completely. “Did I do something I wasn’t supposed to?” Aomine questioned. The way you reacted to him only made him worry more— it kind of hurt to see you like this.

You shook your head as you wrapped the blanket around you even tighter. After all this, you felt like you owed him an explanation, but the words wouldn’t come out. It was like the tears were choking you. “I-I should’ve t-told you t-this sooner but—“ you paused to take a gulp. “I d-don’t like being t-touched,” you admitted, hoping and praying that he wouldn’t absolutely despise you after a fit like this.

“You don’t like being touched?” Aomine repeated, trying to understand why you felt that way. You nodded in response, taking deep breaths to try and gather yourself. “Do you know why?” he asked, treading lightly because he didn’t want to make things worse. He felt awfully inept in this situation. He was already bad enough at comforting people with his words, and now he can’t even hug you to help either.

“I had a really bad experience in the past. I’m still trying to get over it,” you explained, voice shaky.

“Oh,” he said, trying to process what was going on, and more so trying to think of ways in which he could help.

“Yeah. I know it’s a lot of baggage. I should’ve told you before we started dating but I thought I could handle it. I totally understand if you want to break up or something,” you said, looking down and holding back another surge of tears.

Aomine went silent for a moment, making you think that he was actually going to do it. Did you have enough tears to cry for a second time? “I can’t say I’ve been through anything remotely close, but I know that it must be really difficult for you,” he finally spoke up, doing his best to find the right words to say here. “I don’t want to break up. I want to help. I don’t know how to help yet, but I can learn,” he said honestly.

You looked back at him with a softened expression. You weren’t expecting to hear those words. “Are you sure? You understand that it’ll take some time for me to be okay with things like intimacy, right?” you questioned, wondering if he really grasped the idea of it and not just saying things to make you feel better.

“I know. I can wait until you’re ready. I started dating you because I wanted to be by your side no matter what. I know you’d do the same for me,” he said.

You started crying again, making Aomine panic once more. It couldn’t be helped though, you just didn’t expect him so be so sweet and understanding about it— you had never had that with anyone else before. “Thank you so much, Daiki, it really means a lot,” you sobbed.

“Of course. I’m here for you. There’s no need to cry,” he said softly. “Why don’t we play some video games instead? I bet you can’t beat me in Mario Kart,” he suggested, changing his tone to a more cheery one to try and get your mind off of it altogether.

You gave him a gentle smile as you sniffled and nodded, “Please, I would absolutely kick your ass at Mario Kart,” you replied, words confident despite the shaky voice.

And as you both lost yourself in the challenge, you slowly began to forget about what had just happened. The anxious feelings you walked in here with had disappeared as Aomine’s care had assured you that this was nothing but a safe space. When Aomine looked at you, he realised that he wanted nothing more than for you to be happy. To be more specific, he wanted to be the one that makes you happy. He must really, really like you because he was going to stick by your side no matter what.

[giorno-plays-piano]

Humility

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Reader  Warnings: yandere, obsession, swearing, mentions of misogyny; this story will get darker as it progresses.  Words: 1380.  Summary: Everything was too different now. He fell out of time, and he didn’t need another reminder about that.  P.S. Yeah, I know Sam in this one is more like Anthony Mackie, but this man is just incredible! And yep, the question Bucky asks the reader is the exact question Sebastian Stan was asked during one of his interviews. _____________________________________  Bucky never felt so stupid in his entire life. Sitting at the counter in probably the fanciest club in New York, he stared down at his glass filled with whiskey. The music was so loud he couldn’t hear his own thoughts, and all those ridiculously dressed people around him didn’t make him feel any better. Bucky had no right to object, though, since he felt he was even more ridiculous than any of them. He wore that expensive black suit Sam got him – they spent the whole fucking day trying to find something that would fit his massive body – as if he were a businessman of some kind. He let out a dark chuckle when Sam said it out loud. Bucky didn’t look like a businessman, he looked like a bloody mob.

It was Sam’s idea to get him acquainted with NY nightlife when he learnt Bucky was going to the same small bar close to his house after every mission. Barnes didn’t protest much thinking it might be a nice change, but it was not even close to be as good as he had imagined. It was nothing like before. The music was wild, too rhythmic, thundering, getting on his nerves. How could they dance to this? Although the way people moved was making him sick too. Yelling, spinning around themselves, shaking their asses – it was utterly disgusting. The only good thing was lack of light since Bucky couldn’t see all the sodomy.

He expected everything to change, but it was like a completely different planet. Where were all those nice slow dances? Where was the intimacy between the dancing couples, gentle touches, and humble smiles? These people behind his back were grinding on each other like fucking dogs.

Bucky emptied his glass in one shot and looked at his expensive watch he got from Natasha and wore for the first time. This place was getting on his nerves, and he intended to leave in the very next minute after paying for his drink.

“Enjoying yourself, man?” Sam’s jolly voice forced Bucky to turn around and see him with a group of pretty women, all wearing flashy revealing outfits and shiny jewellery, their hair and makeup done as if they were some fashion models.

Though in his time models looked way more reserved than that.

“I do.” He said in a firm voice, and Sam immediately read through the lines. “Didn’t know you were a ladies’ man.”

Women he brought started laughing at his remark, their skin glistening in the warm light coming from pendant lamps above the counter. One of them had her hand on Sam’s arm just above his elbow. Were they prostitutes? Bucky watched them intently.

“It’s all my natural charm,” the man winked to the girl close to him, and she sent him a smug grin.

God, females became too full of themselves. Bucky didn’t hate bold women, but there was a huge difference between a girl like Peggy Carter and these narcissistic sex-obsessed furies.

“Don’t be fooled by his façade, this gentleman over here is a great guy and my best buddy!” Grinning, Sam patted him on the shoulder. “His name’s Bucky, we’ve been serving together for quite some time.”

These women started saying hello and introducing themselves, but he didn’t care for any names. His memory was too precious to waste it on this.

Then they were talking about some stupid things like why they were here – one of the girls got a promotion, and Bucky was almost sure it had nothing to do with her being a hard worker – and what they did for a living. Sam briefly mentioned both of them were in Air Force before but didn’t push it. Then all of them had more drinks, and then they talked again, and drank again. Bucky thought he was rather unlucky: if he could get drunk, he wouldn’t need to listen to all this bullshit.

“Hey, let’s go dance!” The woman Sam took liking to pulled him by the arm gently, and he smiled at her. “Are you coming, girls?”

“Sure!” Most of them were ready, leaving their empty glasses on the counter. “Are you, Bucky?”

He shook his head apologetically, thinking of nothing but leaving this place and never coming back again. Everything was too different now. He fell out of time, and he didn’t need another reminder about that.

Most of women had already left when he ordered his last glass of whiskey. There was one of them sitting close to him and smiling to her friends dancing. Apparently, she drank too much to move from her spot. When she realized he was looking at her, she suddenly got all red and turned away from the crowd, staring in her half-empty glass of champagne.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bother you.” She said slightly embarrassed. “I just don’t dance much.”

“You’re not bothering me.” Bucky replied shortly and made a sip of whiskey, burning his throat again. Her closeness almost annoyed him. “Why don’t you dance?”

“I don’t know. It’s just… I don’t feel very comfortable.”

Interesting. He glanced at the girl in a long sequined dress, her knees covered by a strange shining fabric. Her cleavage wasn’t on display either. Although her outfit was too extravagant to his tastes, she looked the most modest among her friends. She was probably the humblest one, too, since he couldn’t remember her speaking much.

“Besides, I can only waltz. I don’t think I can fit in here with my dancing skills.” She laughed a little and took her glass, watching the little bubbles going upwards inside.

Waltz. He remembered dancing a waltz with his mother when he was a kid, stamping on her feet constantly. Regardless how clumsy he was, she kept teaching him until his legs were sore, but he was grateful for her lessons later. Girls loved dancing with him.

“Me neither.” He smirked, and she stared at him with wide eyes. “In fact, I’m not a big fan of places like this.”

The girl smiled again, and he find himself smiling back at her. Maybe coming with Sam wasn’t as bad as he thought. Beautiful women like her never payed him any attention in normal circumstances.

In the next few minutes, he found himself talking to her about some small things like favourite music and movies the two of them watched not so long ago. To his pleasant surprise, she liked old Hollywood movies – the ones that came out after he had been captured, but still old – and their charm. She said those movies had a soul, and Bucky couldn’t agree more. Sam took him to the cinema multiple times, but most modern blockbusters, thrillers and fantasy movies felt empty and too unreal to relate.

“My most favourite one is “12 Angry Men”, I think. Have you seen it?”

“Guess I did. It’s about 12 juries deciding upon whether a kid is a murderer or not, am I right?”

“Yeah, exactly!” Her face was glowing, and he found himself staring at her excited expression. “Don’t you think it’s impressive that almost all the action took place in one small room? It was nothing but pure actors’ skills that made this movie so good. It had neither special effects nor big budget comparing to movies today, and yet nothing could compare to it.”

For a few seconds he was just watching her, her cheeks pink from slight embarrassment and the alcohol she had. He strangely adored the way she spoke and how she looked at him while explaining why she was so passionate about the movie. Maybe she had too much makeup on her face, but he could easily wipe it off her face. He could take her fancy dress off and see her perfectly human body, no different than any other women’ of his time. She would moan beneath him like a few of them did, too. And the next morning he could give her another dress and dance a waltz with her like all those years ago.

“What is the first thing you see in a person?” He asked abruptly, and she blinked, seemingly uncomfortable but still ready to give him an answer right away.

“Humility. And… and kindness.”

He chuckled. She was definitely the one.

[opheliasbrokenmind]

strangers with insecurities - mark renton

well first of all i’m suuperrr excited for this bc it’s literally my first completed writing for mark renton and i kinda liked it?? this one is obviously for @rentskenobi since she deserves the best!! i hope you like itt 😌💞

let me know what you think and as always, you can send me any requests for mark renton 

mark looked at his reflection on the mirror and left the apartment, walking to his ‘job’. this estate thing had become something he got used to and well, he was doing good if anyone asked. 

he liked the urgency to persuade people and use words to sell/rent them the house. once he sat up, the phone rang.

‘good morning, how can i help you?’ his voice sounded like a stranger but he knew how to play the nice worker

‘hi, uhm, i’m looking for a flat in london’ the other person spoke calmly and mark thought she was young, unlike his usual clients

‘do you have anything on your mind? a particular street, maybe?’

‘somewhere clean and quiet could be nice, i’m not sure if there’s a place like that in london though’ she joked and mark smiled to himself, little did she know

‘oh i can try that. when are you available? and do you know where’s our office?’

‘i’m free all day if that suits you, too. i don’t know exactly, can we meet somewhere?’ mark noticed she had a remarkable accent but he wasn’t sure where’s she from exactly

‘i can show you some places now, how about we meet around the cafe on brook street, you know there?’

‘yes, i can be there in.. twenty minutes’ after she hung up, mark immediately grabbed some keys from his associates and left the building

once he was there, his eyes searched for her. ‘waiting for someone?’ the sweet voice came behind him and he turned around gladly, observing the owner of it

she was young, like he predicted, probably in her early twenties, dressed casually, looked natural. she didn’t look like the girls he used to hang around, not that he hung around with many

‘how did you know it was me?’ mark asked curiously as she smiled, ‘because you’re the only one who’s wearing a suit? seems like it’s only us here, and the fucking tourists, obviously’

‘you don’t sound like a local as well’ she nodded with his comment, ‘right. i might say i’m here for a little... break. i won’t be here for too long, just a few months’

‘let’s get started, then. first i have this flat at...’ 

after stopping by at three places, he led the way to a calm quarter which wasn’t far from where he lived. ‘this one costs more but you see, it’s wide, the neighbourhood is quiet, i can assure that because i live near and there are nice places around if you want to go out’

she opened the bedroom door, ‘looks fine to me’ she checked the bathroom and went back to the kitchen, ‘would you live here?’

her question caught him off guard, ‘what do you mean?’

‘not as the seller but as a person, do you think this flat is somewhere you can rest and study?’ she asked easily, looking at him with curiosity

‘well, why not i guess, it seems nice. a little bit big for me but you said just for a few months so yeah, i would’

‘okay then, it’s this one’ she paid the rent for a month and they left the flat together, ‘i need to pick my things from the hotel first’ she explained once they were out

‘i think it’s not your first time here, in london’

‘yes, some of my friends live here but they’re all gone, spending the summer in europe or something like that’

‘and you didn’t want to go back home?’

‘that’s for sure. dad’s somewhere in spain and if i go home, it’ll be just me and that crazy woman. i don’t miss ireland at all. looks like you don’t miss scotland, too’

mark found himself smiling, she spoke like she knew him and the thing was, she was right. ‘i fucking hate there, otherwise i wouldn’t be here wondering at these streets, would i?’

she sighed softly, ‘looks like we have something in common, huh?’

‘i bet there are more’

so that’s basically how you met mark renton. it was unexpected, strange, yet comforting. it felt right and real.

seeing him at the cafe was something you were hoping for and when that happened a few days later, you could tell he was glad, too

‘i see you’re exploring’ he said when you approached him and you smiled, ‘you can say that. oh and i still don’t know your name’

‘mark, mark renton’ he said and for a second, you thought his name reminded him of something he didn’t want to remember, or it was just your imagination

‘i’m y/n’ you said simply, sitting in front of him as he gestured you the chair

‘how’s everything going, any problems with the flat?’

‘it’s fine, quiet like you said. and you, any problems?’ you smiled and he shrugged, ‘can’t say there is, just keeping up with the usual shit’

‘i see, you keep impressing your clients with your charm then’ he took a sip from his coffee and smiled, ‘what can i say...’ you laughed and he found himself doing the same, ‘you know, you’re the only one i’m having coffee with’

‘now i’m flattered’ 

then, seeing him at the coffee became something usual. he had a few days off which you started to spend together, drinking coffee. 

‘so you’re in london, all alone?’ you asked one day, hoping it wouldn’t piss him.

‘yes, that’s why i left edinburgh. it keeps me on the line’ you leaned in a bit, watching him smoking a cigarette. ‘and you?’ he asked back, staring at you with those beautiful eyes of him 

‘i wanted to run away. belfast made me feel like i was a prisoner, surrounded with people i couldn’t bear. then i convinced my dad i wanted to study in france’

‘france? sounds like you ran too far’ 

‘thank god i did’

‘and what are you studying?’ mark asked curiously, already have ideas on his mind. ‘what would you say?’

‘literature, maybe?’ you smiled, ‘cinema’ for a moment, it felt like it was just you two in the world, two strangers in london, alone together

your coffee meetings turned into movie ones at the cinema and one day, you invited him to your flat, ‘we can watch a movie or just have a drink and talk, you know’ 

of course, he accepted the offer. ‘it’s warm so you can take off your jacket, if you want’ you said sheepishly, hoping he wouldn’t notice that you noticed he never takes it off

‘yeah, sure’ he said while you went to bring some movies, ‘you choose, i’ve seen most of these’ you suggested and then you were watching a godard movie, sitting on the comfortable couch 

after a while you were sitting closer, arms almost touching and you spotted them, the needle marks

you didn’t know what to do so you just kept staring and when you looked up at him, his eyes were full with fear like he was a boy caught stealing something

‘mark...’ you managed to say, then you realised you didn’t know what to say. you moved and intertwined your fingers, giving him a squeeze to reassure him it was alright, that he didn’t need to be scared 

‘’m sorry’ he whispered, looking away to avoid your gaze. ‘for what?’ you asked, afraid of the answer. ‘for not being the guy you thought i was’

you looked at your hands, his pale fingers were cold and you wanted to tell him how you felt about him. instead of that you let go of his hand, placed your hand on his shoulder and when he turned to you, you leaned in to kiss him

a mix of coffee and cigarettes, just like you imagined, with something fresh. your other hand found the back of his head, touching his hair carefully

even though he was hesitant at first, he kissed you back. he desperately wanted to do that for weeks and now there you were, embracing him passionately when he felt like a failure 

‘it’s not my place to judge you. i like the mark i see, imperfect but we all are. we’re all struggling’

‘i am clean’ he told you, looking deep into your eyes so you’d know he was telling the truth. ‘that’s why i came here, to stay away from heroin. i... want to stay clean’

‘i know you mean it. god, mark..’

‘kiss me again?’ so that’s what you did, gifting soft kisses to each other until the movie ended

for a while, it went on like this. talking, kissing and laughing together, almost every day. he’d come from work, to your flat and you’d cook together, dance to the songs he loved, watch movies and sharing the most private moments as no one listened to you. you were free and you lived without care, as if you were invisible to the real world

but one morning he stood on your doorway, his face paler than usual and you felt it in your bones that something was wrong

‘it’s... begbie. in my fucking flat. jesus! sitting there like he owns the place’ you took a step back, giving him space to come in. ‘can’t he stay somewhere else?’

‘he’s hiding from the police. fuck, i should’ve known’ you frowned with his words, ‘how could you?’ with that mark felt guilty, never telling you about diane because he was still embarrassed

‘i hate it’ he said, more to himself than you. ‘you know you can always stay here, right?’

‘you don’t have to say this’ 

‘no, i don’t. i’m not saying it because i feel sorry for you, mark. i’m saying it because i’d really like it if you were staying with me. don’t you know how i feel?’

‘but you never said it’ he said quietly but you heard him anyway. ‘that i love you? i thought it was obvious...’ his eyes shined with happiness as he walked to you, ‘you mean it?’

‘don’t be silly. of course, i mean it. i love you’

[samnyangie]

Personal reviews on RSL filmography

Rsl, iI thought it’d be a good idea to record my thought on each films rsl was in, it was something I always wanted to do...

Rsl in total, was starred in (excluding tv series etc) 27-ish films, to be honest, considering his years as an actor(approximately more than 30 years) he wasn’t starred in that many. We all know why lol

Just saying I’m not a film expert, therefore the list is very subjective.

The reviews with trigger warning (r*pe, g*re etc): Tape, Killer: Journal of Murder, A glimpse of hell. Tho in the writing I’ve censored them with * since I don’t feel comfortable saying them here

There isn’t particular spoilers except for dps, tape, and ground control

The favourites (literally my life time films)

Dead Poets Society

I assume many would agree, and as many would have, it was my first ever rsl film, like I was on the plane and it was one of the films they offered, and I was like, oh I think i heard of this, so I watched and instantly loved it. The message is very relevant to this day, the cinematography is very beautiful and somehow nostalgic. I was horrified with Neil’s death. Tbh now I’ve seen too many memes and all kind of things from the fandom (which I’m grateful for!) I thought the heartfelt I once had would deluded a bit, however when I watched it again last April with my family at the cinema and it still moved me very deeply.

The age of Innocence

Okay, unpopular opinion here, I love this so much. It’s my all time favourite rsl film. It even outruns dps tiny winy bit haha. Aside from how he had tiny winy screen time, appearing at the end but the fact that he played quite an important role and him being gorgeous in it just<33 I couldn’t help but smiling! It just the whole film was so much of my cup of tea? The melodrama and the hypocrisy hidden by elegance among the upper social classes in 19th century is just what I needed. The more I watch it, the more I understand the characters and their emotions, it’s one of those films you should keep visit to discover the things you weren’t aware of before. I watched it again this morning and i couldn’t stop thinking about it. However, I know some people find it boring and I understand why, my sister is one of them lol(except for a bit where rsl was in) but i think it’s more complex than what it appears to be at a first glance haha. In conclusion, it became one of my comfort film to watch time to time. 

The ones I like<33

Swing kids

At first viewing, I didn’t expected much because it had underwhelming reviews but when I actually saw it, I thought it was quite decent and more and more I watched it, I felt like it was underrated. Yes, I think some directing choices were bit old fashioned and cheesy especially the ending, I’m not saying it was a perfect masterpiece but it deserves more recognition than it has now. Also in spite that there’re some parts being too simplified, it touched on something other films about ww2 normally don’t. It was interesting to see the German perspective on it than Jewish or the allies perspective like many of them does, but of course the latter perspectives matter, it could be argued that they more valid than the former, which partly was where sk criticised for, however, the portrayal of the varied reactions of the German people (in this one particular the teenagers) has its value in their on way. Anyway along side with it, the music and the dance scenes were great, without exaggeration, though Swing kids isn’t my fav, peter’s solo dance scene is my favourite scene in any movies I’ve ever watched. I mean that scene had both visuals and meaning as it demonstrated Peter’s determination as well as resentment with a hitch of unsureness. Rsl acting in that scene was just phenomenal, it’s not about showing off the dancing skills but he portrayed every mixed emotions peter has from his expression and the moves, I just can’t talk about this enough especially this scene was the reason I started fallen for him. lol

Much ado about nothing

Much ado is something I never seen anything like so it was a refreshing exprience. I barely watched Shakespeare on screen kind of thing. Though I felt there were some bits too cheesy for me but they are also the charms in the same time, and the cinematography was pretty also Claudio aka rsl, it was like an official announcement of declaring my worship on this man. Especially it was after SWING KIDSSSS so I couldn’t help it now everyone knows how I fallen for him but no one can blame meeeeee Anyway, it’s a really good film to watch when you want be relaxed with cup of tea maybe hehe

In the gloaming

I heard about it before I watched it, that it’s a heart wrenching, tearful piece, though I didn’t managed to cry, it’s just.... painful and in a way heartfelt. I liked that story telling was calm and collected rather than forcing you to join the sob party, just showing the characters to carry on. And thanks to the great acting from the cast, the characters could be emphasised and understood, personally the older sister was the most relatable character for me, well, eldest complex lol. In short I liked it but it’s not something I would watch it often.

Last days of Disco

As a person who looks at aesthetic in films, I simply enjoyed this for that tbh. I don’t know, I just liked the feeling. But I don’t think it’d be everyone’s cup of tea. I love the day time clothes the girls wore in the film. Tbh I love the music too, I think I love all the films of rsl with music in it. Speaking about rsl, oh rsl, he’s.... His character might be bit unlikable but he was just.... This is why I can’t unlove his characters even the debatable ones<33

They were decent! (I would recommend it)

Married to it

This is the first and last ever attempt of rsl of romcomssss The film itself is cliche to be frank it’s like love actually but it’s about marriage life + it’s not christmas but I like heartfelt cliche stories like this, if anyone also loves this type of story, it’s really worth watching, it’s one of my comfort films, also, rsl is so pretty I mean he always is but to see him being a office man with a baby face made me go awww my baby grew up heheh I wish he did another romcom like this or more preferably, melodramatic romance, I’d have made a shrine of it and worship it every morning lol

The boys next door

I kind of smiled while watching it throughout, if you want something that is heartfelt and touch on some serious topic about social workers and the people with mental disorder, Rsl plays a character who has (I think it was) Schizophrenia and troubled relationship with his father(Deja vu I know) but general atmosphere tend to be quite humourous. I don’t get me wrong, though it’s light hearted, it doesn’t mean they treat the topic in the same way. There’s a scene where the protagonist imagining the one of the characters with the disorder talking eloquently and honourably at the court on the rights and the dignity of the people with mental disorders deserve to/should have and they’re just the same people as the people without mental disorders. It was a powerful scene.

My two loves

Rsl’s first ever screen debut film! Hehe it’s about a woman who is discovering her sexual identity and the conflicts within I personally thought it was fairly sensible depiction but I can’t say for sure whether it was accurate or else, since I don’t think it’s my place to say it:) But if you’re interested, it’s on YouTube, you can just search for it or go to this post I made. Fun fact: since it was his debut film, it credits him as he’s real name, Robert L. Leonard, I just find it amusing haha

Tape

It’s another type of film I don’t encounter that often, I enjoyed it, especially with Neil and Todd’s reunion lol. Rsl mentioned how he enjoyed it because it felt like doing a play, my first impression was that the structure is like a play, though the camera work made me quite dizzy haha. But the dialogues, the acting, I think it was quite spot on. Especially the human contradictions and hypocrisy side of it. The most people assume the baddie in the film is Jon the character rsl played and has a distaste for him. I mean how can anyone love a character who is accused of r*pe but to be honest, Vincent for me seemed just as problematic, both of them are hypocrites for sure in their own different ways but in the end we can’t be sure what’s really the truth or not. It’s about the vagueness, and phychology and the uncertainty from the audience on who to believe(well, myself included, most would trust on Amy’s claims since she’s the victim in the accusation, but by her denying the claims, making everything way unclear,) so I don’t know. I don’t really have an opinion haha tho I don’t believe nothing happened because Amy denied so, even Umma Thurman who played her, said that her interpretation was that Amy lied. I felt it’s endless rabbit hole this film. Sorry I couldn’t worded it better.

My best friend is a Vampire

It’s cringey and weird but there’re odd charm to it. Vampire rsl’s so cute as well.... and I think it’s the only film, he acted kind of flirty ? So for that itself I’d like to appreciate itttt And it’s so 80s/90s, like it has general odd nostalgia like all films from that age has. I saw a Korean blog about rsl films and this was mentioned, that- they said- it’s a bible of rsl’s adorableness and I think that sum up the film perfectly.

Mr&Mrs Bridge

Before this was in ‘I mean it was fine” category, but I watched it again and now I want to retract my statement lol Still isn’t my fav but I noticed how delicately depicted each characters are, Mr and Mrs Bridge in particular. This film is alternatively about the changes in the young generation regarding liberty, feminism, free expression especially on sex. It’s in the perspective of the bridges, the mother and father who is old fashioned and conservative (as it was normal in their previous generation) and the children who are the young generation, and the misunderstanding and conflicts between them. After all it all happened not only because of the difference but also the lack of communication, which rsl emphasised in his interviews. I found it interesting that they made it seems like the Bridges truly existed with the video footage and (with the ending) describing what happened to each family member in text with photos. When I watched it at first I was really confused if it was based on a real life. I think what they wanted to suggest was that the Bridges every typical American family at the time. It was something everyone was going through. I said previously I didn’t get why Rsl’s character (the youngest in the Bridges) treated his mother so coldly. Honestly I do get why, but I guess I felt so bad so the mother haha

I mean it was fine

The safe passage

It was okay but to be honest it didn’t stood out to me. It was okay. The story, the characters weren’t that interesting. I wish they extended it longer to go depth with their family relationship or something.

A painted house

I find it likeable, it has a chill, old folk story vibe, but same as previous one. it didn’t really stand out except for shirtless rsl, do close ups you cowards

Bluffing it

I was really fond of the premise of this film and I think it has great intention. It was specifically made to promote the awareness of illiteracy and how to get support. However, I don’t get the reason of Jack the protagonist’s illiteracy. Unless, it was common occurrence in America at the time, I feel like it’d have been more convincing if he was in poor family hood, so there was no time to learn at school due to working at young age...? I mean, just finding it hard to believe he passed the high school just like that, I mean the teachers or anyone should have noticed it, maybe I’m missing something here but it seemed unlikely to me.

Ground control

Again, I liked the message, as it depicted how frightening and difficult job the ground controller is, by one mistake could take away the lives of hundreds, especially as someone who goes on planes a lot... But it was quite cliche throughout, I just couldn’t get engaged to it. But I do admit at the end when the protagonist runs off to the landing zone see the pilot who he had just saved, they acknowledged each other and have eye contacts was truly wholesome. Rsl as cocky, bad boy was such a icing on the cake, I loved it so much. Chewing gum in every scene lol I hope he plays these sort of characters more often. I saw someone criticising him saying he has narrow spectrum of just playing nice boy roles like Neil but I really wanted to debunk the narrative and this could be one of the examples! 

Chelsea walls

I knew that this has split reviews but nonetheless I think worth to watch it, 1. Ethan and rsl re union, 2. Ethan is the directer of the film and rsl sing in it. But I have to say, it’s one of those hard to follow art indie film so I couldn’t finish it on one go. I feel like I have to devour it over and over again. Maybe later on I grow fond of it more lol But his character, I loved him so much. He’s just has everyone don’t touch me, I’m a cocky artist vibe, there’s a scene where his annoying friend annoying him and he looks up and says: ‘Fck off’. Absolute golddddd not to mention he sings and plays guitar so beautifully<333

Well... it’s not my cup of tea

The Manhattan project

I don’t think the film it self was that bad, it’s about high school boy who find out the existence of some nuclear energy research lab and stole the energy to make his own nuclear bomb. I just don’t get the thinking process of the protagonist. It really frustrated me. He seemed apathetic and unlikable I disliked him throughout and that’s why I didn’t really enjoyed it. I mean it has humour and ridiculous storyline might be humorous to some. But more importantly there was such little screen time for rsl!! LIKE WHY? WHY PEOPLE?? HE LOOKS LIKE A FRESH HUMAN MOCHI!!! It makes me soooo mad to think about it

Killer: Journal of Murder

Well, first of all, it had a lot of graphic things than I imagined, brutally murd*red bodies, execution, and r*pe scene, gosh I was strucken by it when I saw that, I had to skipped that scene. It’s based on a real event and a real criminal called Carl Panzram, so if you’re aware of it, it might be more intriguiging to see. But personally for me... meh, I don’t think directing was good as it failed to portray it enough for me to comprehend fully.

A Glimpse of Hell

This is also based on a true event of a tragic accident in the us battleship in Iowa in 1989. They shows tragedy lin a blunt, brutal way by showing horribly damaged bodies of the soldiers torn into pieces, all the horrid things directly so be warned about that. I was quite alarmed because i didn’t expect to see it haha there’s no much to say. The film quality was so so for me. I feel their approach wasn’t appropriate, they were clearly trying to make it dramatic which is fine but in a melodramatic emotional way. It didn’t work because first, there aren’t enough portrayal of the characters for me to get attached, secondly it added the unnecessary exaggeration it prevented me from being emotionally involved or even to think about it. In my opinion, I think it’d have been better if they made it more restrained, dry, focus on the accuracy. For example like 1987 or Zodiac, I mean both of them has dramatic elements since they’re not a documentary but they were not overdone, in a contrary added emphasis to their message/conclusion. I know it’s easier said than done but it was something I consistently felt during it.

Sir.... I’m sorry but-

Standoff

Haha... it’s very peculiar... the directing is off and it just weird. I knew it was bad already but I watched it because rsl as a cop with gunssssssss just... so rare and just.... something else. There’s no way of me missing that seriously. Tbh him doing an action stunt isn’t what I imagine when it comes to him and there’s really any actions scenes anyway but it really was something. Like the character he played here really became my soft spot Hehehehe he was pretty and plus, tbh it’s kind of film I’d make fun of while watching so everything was (alomst) forgivable. There is a recent thing I think about, since this is about a cult, I kind of hope he’d at some day play a role like Eli Sunday from There will be blood: a manipulative, deceitful and maddened priest with twisted faith. Though Paul Dano did a grand job, the idea was in my head the whole time. Well, it’s a shame he wasn’t any of those here lol

Driven

From what I seen, the majority of people seem to unanimously hate this film, and after watching it I became one of those ppl. At least Standoff could be make fun of and rsl held gunssss but this...... I want to say so many things... I feel like they should have chose either fancy, fast paced, thrilling racing film or detailed depiction of emotions/relationships with the racers and people involved in it, I know both can be done, but I think that was outside of their ability, but since they tried to do that at once, it became a mess that doesn’t go either way. And the characters, any of them, including rsl’s are narrow or impossible to understand. I mean rsl did great himself, it was not about acting, the problem lies on the script and editing in my opinion. Also there were so many unnecessary characters made me question of their existence. Luckily rsl’s character isn’t one of them, however because of them, he had to squeeze in and unable to elaborate, which is a shame as he was an interesting character and someone rsl rarely plays; a arrogant and opportunist agent/brother of the protagonist, who would do anything for success... ha.... whyyyyy

This is it. If I watch other stuff I might add to it in the future. Overall, I know I’m biased but I do like His filmography, I do have appreciations in every one of them in different way to the good ones to bad. He may have disagree, but I love his acting on screen, well, I barely seen him on stage (crying)

Edit: as some of you could see, I’ve edited this over and over again haha elaborating on thing or the contrary. I can say with a glimpse of hell I practically managed to watch every rsl films out there lol except for the i inside and the short film he did called a dog race in Alaska. But with the former I’m not interested and already know the storyline, and the latter is just impossible to find, trust me I did my best;; 

So to sum up: I HAVE MASTERED THE RSL FILMOGRAPHY!

[symeraid-s]

2021 Retrospective Final: Other Stuff

Movies

2021 marked the year where I finally went to the cinema again. Though I didn’t see many movies. I didn’t watch Shang-Chi, Eternals or No Way Home, though I still want to watch Spiderman. I also didn’t watch any of the Disney+ series. So, what movies did I watch?

Dune

I heard this movie adapts what is basically only the setup for the plot of the novel. But if this is the setup, then I can’t wait what the actual plot will look like. It’s simply amazing how they made a three-hour movie not feel bloated. I love how this movie feels and looks, and if the second movie keeps this up, then it might just become one of my favourite movies of all time.

The Mitchells vs. the Machines

This movie was fantastic. Watching a family overcome their problems to save the world was very satisfying and I know this may be controversial, but I prefer this movie over Spiderverse.

James Bond: No Time to Die

To quote my father: “They don’t know if they want to make Bond movies for the people that have seen every movie, or for the 20-year-olds that want some action.” The movie feels incredibly disjointed and the best thing I can say about it is that the scene with Ana de Armas rocks and she should be in more of the movie (and maybe get a girlfriend…)

House of Gucci

This is the most recent movie I have seen, but somehow, I don’t remember much of it. I remember liking Adam Driver and Lady Gaga in their performances, but all in all it felt like a very weak mafia movie. Also, they should have gotten an Italian actor to play at least the father.

Encanto

I actually haven’t watched Encanto yet, but I still want to mention it, because damn, the Soundtrack is full of Bangers. We Don’t Talk About Bruno and Surface Pressure are probably my favourites, but all other songs are just as good.

Normal Pop Music

There wasn’t a lot of pop music this year that I liked. I just really want to talk about two songs:

Ed Sheeran – Bad Habits

This song is catchy. It’s one of Ed Sheeran’s best. The biggest problem holding this song back is that it’s massively overplayed. I think I’ve heard this song like 5 times a day at work.

Imagine Dragons feat. J.I.D – Enemy

Imagine Dragons for me was always Lightning in a Bottle. Either their songs suck, or they are some of the coolest shit ever. This is on the cool side of the spectrum. I don’t think there would have been a better song fit for Arcane and this song really puts the cherry on top of an already great cake.

TV Shows

2021 marked the moment of me finally getting Netflix and with it access to a lot of stuff. Yet, I still rarely use it. I don’t even know why. It’s probably because most shows I want to watch aren’t on Netflix but rather on some other streaming services. But anyhoot:

Arcane

I’m not that interested in League of Legends. Yet, after both my colleague and my sister bugged me, I watched Arcane, and I wasn’t disappointed. Even without having played League, this show is amazing. The Animation is clean (The Micro expressions!!!), the OST is amazing, they even got MIYAVI for a scene, and the story is very well told. Also, a shout out to Ella Purnell who voices Jinx: She’s amazing.

Manner of Death

I already talked about this one, so I’ll keep it brief: It’s a wild ride from start to finish. Max and Tul have amazing chemistry and the plot is suspenseful. Whenever an episode aired, tumblr lost their minds and the next day I ranted to my co-worker, who just listened with a smile (I love him for that, thank you!). It really is a one-of-a-kind experience and if you haven’t watched it yet, please do.

The Witcher Season 2

All in all, I prefer this season over the first. It’s very well made, and Henry Cavill continues to impress as Geralt, but honestly Joey Batey as Jaskier takes the cake in this season. I loved his character so much and Burn Butcher Burn is a banger.

Zettai BL Naru Sekai vs Zettai BL Naritakunai Otoko/The Man who Defies the World of BL

This four-episode show was just way too funny. It’s about a guy realising that he’s living in a BL manga. But he doesn’t want to, so he just tries to minimalize all interactions with guys just to stay straight. This could easily be a homophobic mess, but instead it portrays the main character as supportive. It’s basically one man’s journey to overcome his own internalised homophobia and it’s just very fun and engaging to watch. A second season was announced a few weeks ago and I couldn’t be happier.

[zalrb]

What were your favourite childhood movies? I was rewatching the karate kid movies and the newest version is nowhere as good as the old one.

This list is kind of all over the place, haha, because some movies are movies I grew up with meant for my age group at the time and a lot of them aren’t because I was exposed to a lot of media as a kid, haha. I’m also jumping around in time 

Lion King --- I had Just Can’t Wait To Be King on repeat, I’d rewind it again and again and just sing it until I had to go to my room because my mother had enough

Aladdin --- apparently I just went around going, “I’m not a prize to be won!”

Land Before Time --- this movie is so fucking depressing but I really liked Ducky --- like to the point that the reason why I go “yepyep” is because Ducky goes “yepyepyep” and I remember when I realized that, I was like holy shit is that why all these years I go “yep yep” and my family was like, lol yes. But then as an adult I found out what happened to that child actress and that just made the movie all the more depressing 

The Breakfast Club --- I explained this yesterday I believe 

Grease --- so my mother loved/loves Grease, she knows all the songs, can play most of them on the piano and we used to live across the street from this movie theatre that played old movies and Grease was a regular so we watched it a lot 

Sixteen Candles --- I remember thinking this was so romantic as a kid. Super problematic movie tho

Titanic - ah yes, Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio, my first celebrity love. Oh, I can’t stand this movie now, lmao

Lord of the Rings trilogy --- lmao so when the first movie came out, I was obsessed with the elves and Rivendell and I used to write my homework with swirly letters to look like elvish and my teachers complained so I had to get a talking to about it 

Love and Basketball --- first Black love story I ever saw. 

Back To The Future  1 and 2, lmao as John Mulaney pointed out, the first movie anyway is actually REALLY weird when you think about it 

Bad Boys --- I mean Martin Lawrence and Will Smith were the shit back then so I just liked watching them in a movie together

The Best Man --- THIS is funny so the 90s and early 00s saw a lot of African American movies and my mother was all about getting me to see Black people onscreen as much as I could so she took me to these movies even if it wasn’t exactly kid appropriate, she would just make sure to have a conversation with me about the movie when it ended, anyway, so when I was a kid, I didn’t really get a lot of the nuances of The Best Man but when it came out on VHS and when the soundtrack came out we got it so we watched it a lot and there’s a song by The Roots that I really like and one day I was like, I don’t know why I like this song so much and my mom was like because they play that song when you see Morris Chestnut for the first time and I think you went through puberty in the theatre when you saw him and I just diiiiiiiiiiiiiiied

As an adult, The Best Man is fucked up and I would’ve kicked Harper’s ass as well but only because what he did as a writer was a fucking dick move.

Pretty Woman --- it took me a while to realize that she was a sex worker

You’ve Got Mail --- I remember watching this in the theatre with my mom and being SO FRUSTRATED because I just didn’t understand why Tom Hanks couldn’t tell Meg Ryan the truth. 

Liar Liar --- I related to having an absentee dad who never made good on his promises but I also liked Jim Carey’s exaggerative facial expressions but I remember there’s this joke, so the whole premise is that Jim Carey didn’t show up to his son’s birthday when he said he would (relatable!) and his son was so tired of him breaking promises, he wishes that his father will never lie again but Jim Carey is a lawyer so that causes issues, lmfao, but anyway so Jim Carey can’t lie and he has sex with I think it’s his boss, I forget, but he has sex with someone and she’s like how was it? and he goes “I’ve had better” and every time that joke came on my family would CRACK UP so I kept being like “better what? GUYS WHAT DID HE HAVE BETTER OF? I DON’T GET IT” then my mom and I had a conversation, lmfao.

Goodfellas --- I remember my cousins watching this movie in the living room and I saw the scene of the gif I posted below and was like OH WHAT’S THIS and then they told me to go into the bedroom because it was too grown but it’s like they forgot there was a TV in the bedroom and I just turned it to the channel and watched it there. And the movie came on a lot on TV so I just watched it a lot by myself, lmfao.

Twin Warriors aka Tai Chi Master --- probably my favourite martial arts movie. I know there are better ones but I really resonated with this as a kid. Jet Li was a legend with my cousins. 

Fist of Legend 

Once Upon A Time in China

Romeo Must Die --- omg I played this movie ALL. THE. TIME. 

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 

Boyz N The Hood --- a really important movie in my household to the point that I was excited to be able to write a paper on it in the same Popular Cinema from the 70s to the Present class I did my Breakfast Club paper for

same with Do The Right Thing

Jumanji -- I fucking love how mean-spirited this movie is and I did appreciate it as a child too although it freaked me the fuck out 

Clueless

Home Alone - god, Kevin’s family was terrible 

Home Alone 2 --- ah the movie/scene that changed my life

House Party --- to this day I haven’t been to a house party as live as this one 

Malcolm X --- another extremely important movie in my household

Hook --- ooooh I still love this movie so much!

Scream --- I remember when this movie was THE. SHIT. Scared the fuck out of me.

Hero --- this movie was so gorgeous

Rush Hour --- I would probably hate Rush Hour now tbh but whenever I hear “Fantasy” by Mariah Carey I think of the opening scene because I was Soo Young belting to Mariah Carey in the car, it was the best part of the movie for me as a kid because I was like I DO THAT TOO but then she gets kidnapped, so....

The Mummy --- CLASSIC

Gremlins 

Hercules - DUH

The Godfather --- I rarely talk about my dad but he was very much into mob movies because he liked the way they dressed and carriedt themselves in these movies, especially in The Godfather so whenever I was with him, The Godfather was on a lot 

He was also very much into comics, particularly Batman, so even though I don’t really care for DCU/MCU or comics, I’m more likely to go to a theatre (well pre-Covid) and pay to watch a Batman movie over any other comic movie - except Black Panther which is a huge exception because these Batman movies were a pat of my childhood

yes, even Batman and Robin, I even had the soundtrack, listening to Bone Thugs N Harmony on my bunk bed and shit.

Space Jam --- I recently watched the Movie Pitch for this and it had me hollering

Lean On Me --- I have complicated feelings about this movie now but I grew up watching it and I really liked it and the older I got the more I understood what the movie was actually about

Practical Magic --- I wanted to live in that house

Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone --- because it was real finally!

Armageddon -- I still love this horrible, nonsensical, illogical, terrible movie because it’s utterly fantastic and hilarious. As a child I didn’t understand this moment and why it was such a huge ask, as an adult I’m like YES. IF I SURVIVE SAVING THE WORLD I’M NOT DOING THIS, THE FUCK I LOOK LIKE?

[myhauntedsalem]

13 True Horror Stories from the Psychiatric Ward that Will Give You the Creeps

Death, illness and tragedy have long been part of the history of insane asylums, and for as long as they have existed, so too have the scary stories associated with them. From haunted hospitals to sadistic doctors and nurses, psychiatric wards have been the inspiration for many of our favorite horror movies and books. Yet, the true stories told by the psych ward workers below far surpass any horrors that we might have seen at the cinema or read in a book.

Without further ado, here are thirteen of some of the creepiest psych ward stories on the internet that have been shared by health care professionals.

1. Holding her own Eyes

My mom told me this story from her time at a neuropsychiatric ward while she was in grad school. She was making her routine room checks and happened upon the most horrific scene I’ve ever heard.

This was during the night shift, and generally, all the patients’ bedroom doors should be closed. So my mom turned a corner and noticed an open door. She saw a staff member’s legs on the floor, halfway out the doorway.

When she looked into the room, she saw the patient, a woman with a severe postpartum psychiatric disorder, who had just gouged both of her own eyes out with her bare hands. She was sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding her eyes in her hands.

The first staff member to witness the scene, who was now lying face down on the floor, had a heart attack when he first witnessed the woman while he was making his rounds.

My mom screamed for help and frantically tried to perform CPR on the staff member. All the while, the woman just sat rather calmly, holding her own eyes.

2. The Saw

I work as a psychotherapist in a hospital system. My definition of creepy is probably quite a bit different from other medical professionals.

The one that got to me the most was a patient who came to us after attempting suicide by sawing both his arms off at the forearm with a table saw. His arms were reattached, fairly successfully too, with only limited impairments in mobility. All I could think was how bad it would have to be to live in his head that sawing his arms off seemed better than that.

He has since completed suicide.

3. Jane?

We had a young lady in our custody with quite a few issues. We’ll call her Jane. Jane’s first night at our facility staff doing a bed check found Jane in a puddle of blood. Turns out Jane had been slicing the skin around her shin with her finger nails and was pulling her skin up her leg, essentially de-gloving her calf.

Jane also had a ritual she performed every night before bed. While in her room she would run between walls in her room touching them in a crucifix pattern. After doing this for a few hours she would sit on her bed and go to sleep. This particular night Jane was frantic in her pace, practically running between walls. Our night staff observed the entire interaction and reported Jane screaming late into the night. When the staff went to check on Jane she reported Jane standing in the doorway smiling. The staff asked what was wrong and Jane replied, “what makes you think you are speaking to Jane?”

4. The Vampire

My mom worked in mental institutions in her younger years (and actually worked at a large, well-known asylum before it was shut down.)

There was one woman there that thought she was a vampire of sorts. She was only allowed out one hour a day, and they had to use safety precautions. She had already attacked and killed at least one hospital worker before these were enacted.

When my Mom asked about her, it was revealed that she had killed at least two of her children, wounded another as well as her husband because she had some sort of physical condition called Porphyria, which apparently made her crave blood.

By the time that they discovered there was something physically wrong with her, she already had lost her mind from guilt and grief.

5. The Spitter

I’m not a psychologist but my friend is. She told me about a patient of hers who was HIV positive and a paranoid schizophrenic. He thought that the nurses who worked at the hospital he was in were trying to kill him, so he would frequently bite his tongue, and spit HIV positive blood into their faces/mouths. When they had to come into contact with him, they were required to wear full masks and gloves.

6. The Only One

I once knew a woman who had spent part of her residency at a psychiatric hospital for people with severe mental conditions. Apparently, the grounds had a lovely, enclosed greenhouse. One day, one of their schizophrenic patients was sitting on a bench, smoking a cigarette, as a heron frantically flew around. It had found its way in and, not being able to escape, it was smashing into the large panes of glass. The man just sat there watching.

Finally, my counselor asked him if the bird was bothering him and he kind of sighed and said, “Thank god, I thought I was the only one seeing that.”

7. Family Photographs

My sister is the director of a psychiatric hospital. There was recently a lady there who would cut her arms, legs and torso open and place photographs of her family under her skin.

8. Under the Bed

Once, a fellow female patient told me she found writings under her bed. They were just old, small wooden bed frames with hard mattresses that would make all kinds of noises when you rolled over, but I still wondered what exactly she was doing lying under her bed to find these writings.

When she first told me, I thought it was a joke. But sure enough, one day during group we managed to sneak away, and she showed me. Indeed, there were stories written under her bed. After that, we had everyone check under their own beds, and there was more writing under every single bed.

They were stories of patients who had stayed here before, or ways they were planning on killing themselves, or who the good and bad nurses were. It creeped me out.

9. Time of Death

Well, my mother was a nurse that specialized in geriatrics, and she worked for several hospice hospitals for many years. She often described situations at her work with several of the patients. She would say that each person tends to have a very similar “checklist” that they follow right before death. This checklist often ended in a very similar way.

They would get caught talking to someone that wasn’t there. When asked who they (otherwise lucid people) were talking to, they would describe an individual who was already dead. When asked what they were talking about, they would say that their relative wanted to know if they were ready to move on. A pretty common response would be, “Yeah, he/she said that she will take me tomorrow at 3:00.” Well, it would often happen that they would die at the exact time their relatives quoted.

10. The Test Subject

I had an hour-long conversion with a delusional guy who was confined to a mental health facility, and who was probably smarter than I am. Lots of these folks believe that somebody – often the CIA – is either beaming thoughts into their heads, or has implanted a microchip in their brains for this purpose. This guy was offering a very thoughtful argument as to why such claims should not be so quickly dismissed.

“It’s precisely because such delusions are so common that mental patients make the best test subjects,” he said. There he was, confined and protected, constantly observed, his health and behavior documented, and there is zero chance that anyone would ever take his concerns seriously. How else would you test and improve such technology? Does the government not have a strong motivation and a plausible ability to create such a device?

“You can see I’m not irrational,” the man said. “I’m just straight-up telling you that they are doing this to me. I know just how unbelievable it sounds, and yet, here I am.”

11. The Boy who Loved Knives

As a tech in psych years ago, there was a 7-year-old kid sent to the floor because the mom didn’t know what to do with him. Sadly, common thing to happen, even if the kids don’t have psych issues. Anyway, the mom was shaking and crying, and they had to take the kid into another room. She was genuinely afraid of her own son. She had suspected something was wrong when she kept finding mutilated animals in the backyard, but never heard or saw coyotes or anything around. The neighbors smaller pets started disappearing. The boy had an obsession with knives, hiding them around the house. Denying anything when the mom confronted him. Then when the two started getting into arguments, he would get really violent and hit her, push her down and kick her, threaten to kill her. On multiple occasions she woke up in the middle of the night with him standing beside her bed, staring her in the face. She put extra locks on her bedroom door to feel safe while she slept. The last straw was when she lifted up his mattress and found 50+ knives of all shapes and sizes under there. So she brought him to us.

I remember talking to him, treating him like he was just any other kid that came through. He seemed remarkably normal, until you spoke directly to him. He had this way of looking right through you, or maybe like he didn’t see you at all while you were speaking.

He would respond like a robot, like he was just saying words because that’s what we wanted to hear. And he would always put on this creepy, dead-looking smile. Like all mouth and no eye involvement in the smile. Especially when he would get away with something, like taking another kid’s markers and they couldn’t figure it out. Still gives me chills laying here thinking about him.

I believe I met a 7-year-old psychopath.

12. The New Mom

I was a pharmacy technician at a hospital with a psych ward for some time. We would have to go around with a cart and dispense the patients’ medications, and being a 5’2″ girl, a security guard or male nurse would accompany me, just as a precaution. I never had any real issues other than the occasional death grip onto my arm or manic outbursts, but there was one boy who was entirely different.

His chart said he was nine and he had pale skin, dark hair, and huge bright, green eyes. He always greeted me in the most polite way, asked how I was doing, and always found something different to compliment me on every time. He was extremely well-spoken and mature for his age, so I began looking forward to seeing him, as normal small talk is definitely cherished in that setting. If he saw me outside of his room in the halls, he made sure to say hello and always called me “Miss Jones” or “ma’am.”

One day, a couple of our female nurses saw me pause to chat with him in the hallway, and waved me over to ask if I was out of my mind. Apparently, when he was in kindergarten, he grew an intense attachment to his young female teacher.

This escalated to the point of him calling her “Mom” and leaving notes for her about how he wished he were her son. He had a normal home-life with both parents, and the teacher tried to explain to him that she couldn’t be his mom because that would hurt his real mother’s feelings, and that she already had that job covered.

So, he went home and, killed his own mother in her sleep by cutting her throat, so his teacher could be his mom. The female staff had a general rule of not interacting with him excessively to prevent any kind of attachment from forming.

13. Bugs

Nothing I can say can possibly describe the year I worked in Psychiatric Intensive Care. Creepy isn’t the thing that comes to mind when I think back on it…more heartbreaking and horrifying. But creepiness was a part of it. Especially evening and night shifts, naturally.

There is always something disturbing about watching someone while they hallucinate. You can tell it is 100% real to them, and something about that makes you believe it, on some level. A lot of stories end with, “and of course, I had to look over my shoulder to make sure”. You see the emotions it brings out.

There was a woman that came in and sat down across the table from me for her admission interview. She had bandages all over her arms and scotch tape over her mouth and ears. She looked very uncomfortable and wouldn’t really sit still. When the nurse would ask her a question, she would peel the corner of the tape back and answer, then stick the tape back on really fast.

We eventually found out that she saw and felt bugs crawling all over her, and they were trying to get inside her body. The tape was to keep the bugs out. The bandages were because some bugs got in and she had to dig them out. She couldn’t sit still because she felt the bugs all over her even while we sat and talked. The worst part was, she had some idea that it was her mind playing tricks on her. Can you imagine going through your life, feeling like someone is continuously dumping buckets of cockroaches on your head, feeling like they’re all over you and getting inside of you to the point that you’re digging chunks out of your flesh in a panic, all while knowing intellectually that none of it is real?

[fromthewifecage]

Never Trust  A Cowboy With A Computer (AKA: Erron Black/Female reader smut)

I’ve had a lot of issues with this, I’ve had to edit the hell out of it, changing a bunch in the 1st chapter, so please reread Chapter 1 before jumping into the smut that is Chapter 2. It’s over 5k words, and it’ll be posted over on my AO3  https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeltAutomaton in a bit if you want to be extra kind and go give me kudos there :D Thank you again to @tomoka0013 @gojihime99 and @malicedragoness for your encouragement and all your help *blows kisses* Hope you like :D NSFW!

CHAPTER 1:

For once, the absolutely only time in recent history, your hair is behaving, thank the Gods! Actually, is there a God of Hair? Hmmm, maybe Kano would know? His stories of meeting Gods are always fascinating, even though he always exaggerates his role and prowess in encounters with said Gods. There is simply no way on Earthrealm that Kano could have stolen the Thunder God’s hat without being zapped into the Netherrealm. Plus, Kano has never produced this hat, so whenever he has one too many beers and starts on another night of tall tales, you nod along and feign complete belief in his words.

Maybe one day you’ll get to meet a God? Not likely whilst you’re stuck behind a computer for hours and hours every single day. Especially working alongside Erron-sodding-Black. He’s gone through at least 5 computers this year, 2 in the past three weeks! You swear he was doing it on purpose. In your steamiest daydreams he’s deliberately breaking his computers so you’ll have to travel to the ‘Black Dragon Boyz office’ (and yes, they spell it with a ‘z’) to spend precious time un-fucking his computer. Every time it happens, you swear you’re just going to tell him to go bother someone else, or get his arse down to PC World and find some spotty 17 year old work experience boy to bother rather than yourself. After all, you’re doing just as an important job for the Black Dragon as he is, well, almost. He might be a super amazing dead-shot sniper capable of assassinating even the most heavily guarded target, but you aren’t just IT support, you are a Black Dragon member too.

******** More after the cut! ***********

You spend much of your time hacking into Special Forces super secret files, reading General Sonya Blade’s horribly dry mission reports, or transferring money from one Swiss bank account to another before you could be traced. Well, that was why Kano had hired you. Yet these past few months you’ve been dragged to broken computer after broken computer by the obscenely handsome aforementioned Erron Black at least once a week. You hadn’t minded the first few times, after all, any time spent in Erron’s company makes you all giddy and wibbly-wobbly inside your knickers. His voice honestly does things to you, actually makes parts that shouldn't tingle at work, tingle. He has warm eyes that seem to sparkle whenever he speaks to you, or catch you staring at him, not that you stare at him. Much. OK, maybe a little. He has a smile that is likely illegal in half the known world. Long, strong fingers that you so often think about, especially when you watch him dance a coin across his knuckles when he’s thinking, his trick to keep his fingers supple. No, no no. No thinking about him. He obviously isn't interested in you. He’s a simple man when it comes to that. You’ve seen him make moves on people who catch his eye; he’ll watch them for a while, then walk up to them, give them a smile, tell them plainly what he wanted. Then you’ll watch them walk off together whilst your heart dissolves into self pity. A few months ago, you made a real effort to try to stop flirting with him. No more lingering looks while spending more time than needed helping him with his computer. The man was multi-talented with most things, just not computers. It probably didn't help that he didn’t grow up around modern technology. You gently tease him about being old and doddery around computers and he takes the jokes well, and really, you miss joking around with him, but it was for the best. Kabal jostles with you for mirror space, smoothing down his hair and giving the mirror a big grin. Why is it so easy for men like him? He probably rolls out of bed after 2 hours sleep with his face in a half-eaten curry and he’ll still wake up ridiculously handsome (the git). Whereas it takes a lot of fussing to even get your hair to behave, let alone look nice and shiny like Kabal’s does. Maybe you could make a small shrine in the corner of your bedroom to the Hair God? You nod to yourself, thinking Kabal must have done that. “Come on, you look beautiful. Now get your coat and scarf, and we’re outta here. If we don’t leave soon, we’ll miss it!” Kabal fusses with his coat buttons. Always unable to keep still, the man practically radiates excess energy. “I WILL BE SAD IF WE MISS THE FILM.” Tremor stands up from his own desk, the building shaking ever so slightly with the enormous man’s movements. “Not as sad as Kabal. He’ll start bawlin’ if he misses his boyfriend’s new film.” Erron spins round in his brand new swivel chair, his eyes glinting with mischief. “Johnny Cage is NOT my boyfriend and I don’t even care about missing the film.” Kabal bristles with indignation. He did care about missing it. He cares a lot. “I don’t even like his films, or him. I’m just watching it ironically.” Erron laughs. You feel that laughter, deep inside and it demands attention. Bastard. “Suuuure. Enjoy your boyfriend.” “He is NOT my boyfriend!” This was going to end up in another fight. Last week Kabal had called Erron ‘Old Man Withers’. Erron had retaliated by drawing on Kabal’s Johnny Cage calendar. (The moustache and glasses actually suited the ridiculously handsome movie star.) So Kabal put a mouse in Erron’s desk drawer and recorded Erron’s screams, playing them every so often whilst laughing. The feud had gone on until Kano forced them to apologise to one another, in front of everyone. This sort of idiocy happened probably twice a month. It had escalated to where people now made bets on how long each feud will last. The longest feud had lasted 23 long days before Kano had flipped. “I DO NOT WANT TO BE LATE.” Tremor tugs open the office door and the handle will need replacing. Again. You follow after the huge man, Kabal behind you is muttering about revenge. “Hey, Sweetheart, you goin’ too?” It takes a second before you realise that sultry Texan drawl is aimed at you. “Oh, yes. There was a spare ticket since Kira’s still stuck on a job.” Oh shit, you should have offered it to Erron instead. You’d been so excited to be included in the cinema plans that you’d been selfish and not asked if Erron had wanted to go. “But……” Erron’s face scrunches a little and he turns to his computer and hits a few keys in quick succession. “It ain’t workin’ again. Sorry, darlin’.” He gestures helplessly to his computer. “But… I only fixed it this morning! What have you done this time?!” You drop your bag to the floor, and peel off your coat with a frustrated groan. You are going to get fired, there was no way Kano would believe this. You are completely and utterly incompetent. No other reason. Your fault. “It’s those darn computer gremlins again.” He gives you an apologetic smile and shrugs with frustration at the computer gremlins. You sigh and wave goodbye to Kabal and Tremor, both eager to watch Ninja Mime’s latest adventure. This one was in SPACE and it was going to be amazing, and you were going to miss it. Nooooooo! You stomp over to Erron’s computer, your mouth twists into a grumpy pout. “That is it. No more computers for you! you want to do some work; then you can bloody well do it on a typewriter.” Erron replies with a “Heyyyyyyy” and a laugh. The throb between your legs from the laugh can just sod off. No more. Not when you were going to be unemployed and unemployable after this. Who was going to hire you? What could you put on your CV? ‘Failed IT support worker’? ‘Only capable of turning a computer on and even then it’ll probably turn itself off again when you’re not looking?’ ‘Can steal FBI or Special Forces secrets but can’t keep an old man’s computer running for more than 3 minutes before it’s broken again’? ‘Want to play Solitaire? Well don’t ask me, best try the sudoku in the newspaper instead’. You’re so engrossed in sulking you don’t notice Erron get up from his comfy chair to stand behind you as you perch on the crappy stool with no back (it had no back because Tremor had tried to sit on it). It was only when strong hands find your hunched shoulders and begin kneading at the tightly knotted and sore muscles, that you look away from the ‘blue screen of death’. “I’m sorry, but I’ll make it up to you, Sweetheart.” By the Gods his fingers are truly magic. His thumbs are rubbing magic circles into your shoulders and it feels soooo good. “Mmmhhhhh?” Maybe he is a God, the God of massage.? You close your eyes, your head rolls back and you enjoy the moment. Heat radiates from where his fingers touch you, heat that only gets stronger when it reaches your face and between your legs. He finds one particularly knotted muscle and you can’t help but groan your pleasure as his thumb circles the spot. His chuckled reply tugs you back to your senses and you quickly shrug his hands off you. Thank the Gods you have your back to him so he can’t see your positively flushed face. You quickly get back to tapping away at the keyboard, but your hands are shaking so badly from the intimacy, you struggle to hit the correct keys. “You sure you got that, Sweetheart?” The computer indignantly beeps at your clumsy fingers. “Says the man who has trashed enough computers to practically bankrupt Kano.” Your hands continue to shake and your thwarted desire swerves into anger. “I’ve made you mad.” “I haven’t been out in FOREVER, and just as I’m about to go out, YOU go break your computer. AGAIN!” “Ain’t my fault your boyfriend doesn’t take you out.” Why did he sound almost happy about that? Hang on… You spin around to face him. “What boyfriend?” “You know, the dwarf.” “The.. what?” “Your boyfriend, the hairy dwarf.” He folds his arms, and shifts his weight to one hip. He doesn’t seem too happy talking about this mystery boyfriend, whoever they are. “Is this some sort of joke?” You honestly have no idea what he means. Maybe he’s drunk or Kabal has told him this for a laugh? “I don’t think so?” One of his eyebrows rises in puzzlement. “I don’t have a boyfriend. I don’t have a hairy dwarf boyf.. why do you think I have a hairy dwarf boyfriend?” Maybe you have a secret boyfriend so secret you don’t actually know you are in fact dating him? Piotr, who runs a very seedy strip club in the seedier part of the city, is a dwarf, (and you only know him because Kano is friendly with him, he’s a bit scary), but he’s balding. Who does Erron think you are dating? “You said you did. You know, you were talking about him being all small and his hair got everyw…. He’s a cat ain’t he.” Erron has the good grace to look embarrassed at his idiocy. “Obviously.” Is Kabal recording this? This is ridiculous. “Shit.” “Yup.” “Then.. uh.. you should go catch up with Kabal and Tremor.” “I still have your computer to fix.” This was going to be such an awkward few hours. Sitting in the office in silence because the pair of you are idiots. “I can do that.” He throws out a warm smile. “Really. The man who can’t even use a mouse without breaking it, can fix this mess?” You can’t help but roll your eyes. If he even so much as looks at the computer it will probably catch fire. “I maybe exaggerated my lack of skills.” His smile wavers, and slides from warm to worried. You are going to kill him if this was going where you suspect it is going. “I maybe might’ve deliberately caused the error.” He holds up his hands in surrender. Yup, you’re definitely going to have to kill him. “I maybe did some classes a few years back when I was at a loose end.” “…… I’m going to kill you!” “How ‘bout I make it up to you? I take you out for dinner, there’s this patisserie we can go afterwards for the best pastries in Moscow. Hell, you wanna watch that film, let’s go.” His eyes plead with you not to hate him, but right now, you really do. “I have a hairy dwarf who’ll be better company, thank you.” That he was possibly asking you out and that he wanted to actually go out on a date wasn’t registering. All you can think of is the waste of time and how humiliated you feel. Everyone probably knows and has laughed at how utterly clueless you are. Kano is going to fire you for being shit at your job - after he finishes laughing. “Heyyy, Sweetheart. I’m sorry. I just wanted to spend time with you.” He really does sound sorry. His eyes go all soft and warm and apologetic and Gods, he is beautiful and you really do want to believe him. “You really thought it was accidental?” He tries to hide a smile and can’t stop one eyebrow from raising quizzically at the thought that you’ve been so utterly clueless. “Well… you’re… there weren’t computers around when you were young…younger, I’m just an idiot aren’t I?” The-all-too brief warmth and fuzziness from thinking maybe there might actually be something there between you dissolves back into embarrassment from being tricked so easily. You grab your coat and bag and leave the office whilst Erron stares after you.

Chapter 2

The flat is dark and cold when you finally get home. The bus had been late, and Russia in autumn is hardly the most fun time of year to be kept waiting at a bus stop. Fur-lined boots and a thick fuzzy coat are nice enough, but do little to keep your body from freezing outside in the colder months. Still, the flat has semi-decent heating, and a thick blanket and a fuzzy cat happily purring on your knee whilst you drink coffee soon has you feeling a bit warmer.

Thinking back to earlier you have to admit you’d have liked a boyfriend, and no matter how humiliating what had happened earlier was, you still wish that this boyfriend was Erron. Your cat, Bob, was great company, and he would never play mean tricks on you, but great company as Bob was, he didn’t keep you quite as warm and quite as tingly as Erron possibly could. Sensing your traitorous thoughts, Bob nudges at your hand with his fluffy head to demand attention, purring happily when you indulge him and tickle under his chin. You give him a kiss on his fuzzy little head as way of an apology for being so utterly traitorous. Soon your thoughts switch to worries that you’ll be fired once Kano finds out about Erron’s trickery. Actually, Kano doesn’t fire people; he has them eaten by pigs or whatever it is that scary gangster criminal people do. Who will look after Bob? Your bottom lip quivers as you think about Bob, all alone in the dark, unable to open his tins of cat food without opposable thumbs, meowing sadly for someone to change his kitty litter. A moment later you force a smile. No more feeling sorry for yourself! You aren’t some pathetic pushover, this means war! You won’t just put a mouse in Erron’s drawer, you’ll put three rats in there and upload his screams to Youtube. He’ll find 30 chickens in his flat and you’ll steal his lunch every single day. You’ll swap all of his guns for water pistols and laugh when he cries about it. A loud buzzing from the doorbell pulls you from your thoughts of revenge. It’s probably Kano and some hungry pigs, so you take three deep breaths to prepare yourself. Scooping up Bob and tiptoeing to the door, you peep through the spyhole to instead see Erron waving at the spyhole. Muttering various threats, you open the door and give him your best pout. “Cute kitty.” He holds out a pink box with gold cyrillic lettering across the top. “I’ve come to apologise.” You keep up your pout and take the box with your free hand, then try to nudge the door closed with your hip. Erron laughs and strides into the flat, giving Bob a quick tickle on the head. 3 minutes later and Erron has taken over the kitchen. He has his own coffee, has eaten two of the amazing pastries he’d brought and Bob is his new best friend. The cat winds around Erron’s feet, meowing for attention, steadfastly refusing to stop even when you refill his food bowl. Traitorous beast! This must be payback for earlier. “You don’t like pastries, Sweetheart? I can go get somethin’ different?” The bastard throws you a smile that would normally have your knickers falling down, but you’re still feeling sorry for yourself, and Erron-Bloody-Black is not going to get off this easily. You have to keep up the pout so he won’t suspect your revenge plans. You shake your head and turn to tidy the counter-top behind you, thinking hard about a plan of attack. How about stealing his hats and replacing them with hats identical in every way except the hats were all just slightly too big? Your plan of attack is quickly ruined when strong hands find your hips and give them a gentle squeeze. Your spine tightens, and you hope your gasp of pleasure wasn’t audible. Lips brush your ear, and when he speaks, his warm breath sends a huge shiver right through you. “Please, Sweetheart, I’m sorry, don’t hate me. I promise, I’ll make it up to you. You want me on mah knees?” The thought of Erron on his knees is enough to make you shiver again. A hard pulse hits you right between the legs. Oh fuck, that was unfair. “It’ll take more than that.” “More cake?” He presses a very soft kiss just below your ear. Another pulse hits. Your legs quiver but you just about manage to keep yourself upright. Your knickers are going to evaporate. “You didn’t give me a chance to eat them.” Your voice is surprisingly steady but you chew on your lip to stop any pathetic noises escaping, just in case. “Dinner, every night for a week. We’ll get dressed up all fancy and go to the ballet, then spend the weekend in bed.” His voice is lower now, rougher. Another kiss sends more shivers through you, nerve endings sparking. Your fingers grab onto the countertop to stop you slithering to the floor. “That’s pretty presumptuous of you.” “You don’t wanna spend the weekend in bed with me?” Your stunned silence is answered by low laughter and him pressing a kiss to your neck. The tip of his tongue teases your tingling skin, and this time you can’t stifle your reaction. Erron takes your whimper as an invitation to slide his hands to your thighs and tug up your dress so his fingers can find bare skin. You lean back against him, his warmth quickly bleeding into you. More prickles of heat fizz through your nerves and aim straight for your core. Strong fingers dig into your thighs as he tugs your dress higher, inch by inch. Warm lips pepper kisses down your neck to your shoulders, lightly dancing his tongue over your increasingly sensitive skin, chuckling to himself with your every moan and whimper. You grip the edge of the counter harder and let your head roll to the side to give him more of you. Each touch from his mouth sends sparks down your spine and you can feel a slickness between your legs. Oh fuck... “This ok, Sweetheart?” Your reply is a mere mumble but he still gives you a moment to decline his touches, his mouth and fingers still upon you. You quickly force a “Yes, please”, and are rewarded by fingers sliding to your underwear, skimming so gently over the silken fabric to tease you. You whine at being denied his fingers and receive a gentle bite to your shoulder in reply. Then he’s gone. Your dress slithers back down to cover your thighs with you almost doing the same and slithering to the floor. You turn and watch him stride through the open door into your bedroom. Luckily he can’t see how your face scrunches into a desperate pout from being denied. “You comin’, Darlin’?” Your reply of “Well I would have been” is mumbled through gritted teeth as you trot after him, wishing you have even an ounce of self-control. He sits himself on the edge of your bed, reaching out to a hand, tugging you to sit on his lap, your legs straddling his as you face him. His large strong hands cup your face, and with a smile he presses the softest of kisses to your mouth. He waits for you to respond, then kisses you again once you kiss him back, a little harder and a little longer this time. His thumbs brush your face, then his hands are holding you close to him, close enough to feel both his warmth and his heart pounding as hard as your own. He is intoxicating, his heat, his mouth, his hands, and you want him more than anything. Your fingers find his face, stroking over his stubble prickled cheeks to learn how he feels, your touch light, nervous at finally being able to indulge yourself. He smiles at your touches and pulls you harder against him so you can feel his burgeoning hardness through his jeans, his smile widening when you wriggle to feel him, delighting in feeling his arousal because of you and enjoying your own arousal demanding attention. Your skin prickles with building desire and impulsively your hands leave his face to tug your dress up and off. He kisses you again, unbuttoning his shirt between every press of his lips to yours. His hands are then all over you, your back, your ass, stroking your skin, teasing you with the gentlest of touches then squeezing you hard enough to make you gasp between your contented sighs. His mouth moves from your lips to your neck, his teeth and tongue teasing louder gasps of delight from your kiss reddened lips. Your fingers stroke through his hair then roam over his chest and back, then moving over his thickly muscled arms, learning just how he feels. Erron murmurs happily into your ear and against your neck, and his fingers dig tighter into your ass, moving you against his groin, becoming more and more desperate to feel you. He tugs at your bra and when no objection is made, it joins the pile of clothing on the floor. He growls into your neck in approval at your breasts being free, and using the lightest of touches, traces the back of his fingers around the swell of your breasts and over your hard, sensitive nipples. Erron chuckles breathily at your whimpers and how you shiver from his touches, your need building as you grind down against his hardening dick encased in his jeans. Every touch of his mouth and fingers goes straight to your cunt and fuck, if he doesn’t fuck you soon, you’ll explode from the building pressure. Your fingers go for his waistband and fumble at the buttons with sweaty and shaking fingers. Erron drags his attention from your chest to watch you struggle with the stubborn fastenings. “You’re an eager one, Sweetheart.” “It’s your fault.” “Yeah, I guess it is.” He cocks an eyebrow, lifts you off his lap and lays you on the bed. Said eyebrow raises even higher when you wriggle out of your knickers and toss them aside, but it’s in jest, and he takes a long moment to gaze appreciatively at you, his smile genuine, warm and tinged deeply with desire. He tugs off his jeans and underwear with ease and tosses them to join the clothes pile, and then he’s on you. His tongue and lips find your breasts, his teasing your nipples harder ever so gently with his teeth has you tugging at his hair. You feel the graze of fingers trail down your body to your thighs that then grip you tightly enough to leave marks you’ll feel for the next few days. His long, strong fingers slide between your legs, moving them apart to finally reach your cunt. Again his touch is so light and gentle, a finger brushes over your folds before dipping between them. His thumb searches for your clit, circling around the sensitive bud as his fingers find your opening. He kisses you again, murmuring between the kisses, he whispers how beautiful you are to him, how he’s wanted you for all this time, how you feel, how hard you’ve made him and when he increases the pressure he pulls back to watch your eyes flutter closed and your teeth sink into your lower lip to stifle your pleasure. He continues to tease your clit, using your slickness to keep his touch feather light. He watches you writhe beneath him with tightly closed eyes, your back arching and one hand tangling in your own hair as he changes the pressure of his thumb on your clit, sometimes soft, sometimes rough, sometimes so feather light you beg for him to be rougher. Your feet kick against the bedclothes, rucking them up around you both as Erron pulls more and more pleasure from you. His thumb leaves your clit and he laughs at your indigent whines, instead he slides a long finger inside you. You’re so wet and needy that your cunt accepts him easily, and you soon beg for more. With a smile he adds another finger inside you, then a third, scissoring you wider, his fingers moving easily with your arousal. You whimper up at him, voicing just how good he’s making you feel, and how you want to touch him. He kisses you when you reach out to grasp his long, thick cock, stroking him harder, feeling the velvet softness of the skin over iron hardness. Your kisses quicken and deepen, tongues entwining, teeth biting at the others lips, desire building so quickly that every touch is almost desperate. When you whisper how you want him inside you he eagerly slides his fingers from you, pushing your thighs wider apart, staring into your eyes as he first strokes his cock harder, your arousal on his fingers coating his length along with the pearls of precum that weep from the crown, then rubs himself against your folds. He pauses, taking the moment to breathe, then tormentingly slowly, he pushes himself inside your hot, wet heat. His thickness feels so good, stretching you so wide you can’t help but voice your pleasure. He groans a reply and almost tauntingly slowly, he pushes deeper, his thick cock stretching you more than his fingers could. He pauses, allowing you both to catch your breath and adjust to just how perfect the other feels. He gazes down at you with heavy-lidded eyes that shine with more than just desire, his damp hair messy, strands sticking to his forehead. Agonizingly slowly, he pushes forward, his cock stretching your cunt wider and wider as you cling to him, until he’s filled you completely. Again you kick at the bed, the sensations overwhelming you, your head light and fuzzy, your skin buzzing as sweat beads along your scalp and chest, dampening the backs of your limbs, and between where you and Erron lie against one another. Erron groans with pleasure and kisses you open mouthed, eager and lust-filled, just so happy to be with you. He tears his kiss-swollen lips from yours to take deep breaths and you stare up at him, every nerve tingles with sensation, your cunt so tight around his cock. You stroke a hand through his damp hair and whimper uncontrollably as he snaps his hips first backwards, then forwards. You nerves delight in the friction and beg for more and you’re unable to stop from begging him to fuck you, fuck you hard and fast and to fuck you now! The pace starts out so slow, his fingers digging into your hips, his mouth on yours then moving to your neck, hot breath on sweat slicked skin. Your legs wrap around him, pulling your hips upwards, angling you so he’s even deeper with each thrust, his cock making your nerves sing from the friction and the need for more. Your fingers are in his hair, tugging and stroking and you whisper and moan your delight at feeling him inside you. When neither of you can take it anymore he speeds up his thrusts, still achingly deep, are brusingly hard, your cunt so tight around him that the sensation is almost too much. Sweat rolls down the back of your legs, prickles in your hairline and down spine. Your hands are everywhere, gripping at him, holding your writhing bodies together, and slipping on his hot wet skin. The tightness in your cunt starts to radiate to your thighs and spine. Your thighs grip him tighter and you whimper your pleasure and beg for more, desperate for a release. His replies are muffled, his mouth is in the crook of your neck and when his thrusts start to quicken yet further he lifts his head to gaze down in your eyes, watching as you come undone beneath him. He whispers encouragement, delighting as your pleasure builds into a fire that overwhelms and burns, every nerve aflame and so bright. You cry out and let everything wash over you, your body writhing as Erron keeps moving inside you to prolong the feeling and let you ride out your bliss. His hands paw at your hips as he comes mere moments after you, hips thrusts jerking and stuttering, spilling deep inside you, grunting loudly with his own overwhelming pleasure. He’s heavy as he lies panting on top of you, the pair of you struggling to breath again and calm your pounding hearts. Erron chuckles breathlessly, kisses you between deep breaths, rolls first onto his back, then onto his side to face you and props himself up on one elbow. “Think I’m broken.” You snuggle up against him, reveling in the afterglow, in how your hot sweat slicked skin feels in the cool air of your apartment. “Guess I have a talent for breaking things.” He smiles. He can’t keep his eyes off you. “I hate you.” “I know.”

[padfootagain]

The King And You (IX)

Part 9: Up To The Skies

 Here comes a new chapter for my Caspian series!! It's gonna be soooo cute!! Honestly though, I am making my own self blush and go 'hiiiiiiiiii' because it is so damn cute!

I hope you like this chapter!

Word Count : 2658

Caspian should have felt guilty.

Guilty for enjoying his time in your world. Guilty for forgetting the tolls of his people during his absence. Guilty for how his mind focused only on how beautiful this world was and so… large. Buildings were rising much higher than any tower he could have dreamt to build, and parks were almost woods, and there were so many people everywhere. It was overwhelming, in a magical kind of way. But it was no excuse to not think about his people, not to him.

He also should have felt guilty about the way he dreamt of you that night. Guilty for the flutter of his heart when he saw your smile. Guilty for how he considered taking your hand on the Brooklyn Bridge. Guilty for even thinking of how gentle you were. Guilty for losing track of time while he talked with you. Guilty for getting trapped into your eyes. Guilty for noticing how the sun hugged your silhouette.

And sometimes, throughout the afternoon, he did feel the sharp pinch of guilt, right there, in his chest. But then you would tell him something that made him laugh, or you would just look at him, or smile, or say anything at all, and the feeling in his chest would disappear altogether, like petals carried away by a breeze in the sweet warmth of spring.

He just felt… such a strange feeling when he was with you. Calm. Safe. Reassured. Vulnerable. He didn't know how to describe it, but he felt different, a good kind of different.

"So, this is the Empire State Building."

Caspian looked up with awe painted all over his features. By now, as the sun was about to set on New York City, leaving the moon to take its place. You reckoned you should be used to seeing this look on his face. After all, he seemed awestruck by every place you had shown him during the afternoon. Still, you couldn't refrain a content smile as you looked at his mesmerized expression.

"Shall we go up?" you invited him, and he accepted your offer with a grin.

Caspian was not used to elevators yet. He felt a little trapped in them, nervous, almost claustrophobic. You had explained to him the basic notions, and he had to admit that he was not happy at the thought of being suspended by a tiny string in a metal box, climbing so many meters up. But you were calm, and so he forced himself to seem just as calm as you.

The tiny box you were in was cramped with people, and he found himself forced to be pressed against you. His chest brushed your back, fabric against fabric, but you didn't seem to mind, while he could feel his palms turn wet, and his heart racing to a dangerously high rate, and his throat tightening to a point where he wondered how he could breathe altogether. But no one in the elevator reacted to this extreme promiscuity, and so he guessed that it had to be nothing out of the ordinary for this world. It didn't mean anything. It didn't change the fact that his head was starting to spin as you shifted though, making your arm collide with his.

Finally, the ding of the end of the climb, and this strange feeling in his chest as the elevator came to a stop. He followed you into a hall, and towards the patio.

His first thought was that he had never been so high above the ground before, and it made him a little uneasy. But then he turned to you and saw your grin as your eyes fell on the city splayed at your feet, and he knew that everything would be alright.

Eventually, you made your way to the bannister, and he looked down at the sea of buildings before him, vast, almost unending. The sun was setting, starting to colour the western horizon with paler, almost golden hues while the east darkened to deeper shades of blue. And in between an ocean of concrete, and bricks, and metal, pulsing with life and shaken by an everlasting whisper. Distant sounds of traffic and lives he would never come to know buzzed in his ears while the wind blew colder, making him tighten his collar around his neck. The first lights were alit in the buildings, and he could almost guess the darker shadows of their inhabitants. Strange thoughts crossed his mind about lives in this world, mothers and fathers and children and workers, until he thought of his people again.

From Cair Paravel, he could either see the ocean or the forest, depending on which direction he chose to face. He pictured trees to replace tall buildings, and the sound of waves instead of honking cars.

And for the first time that afternoon, he felt sad.

You noticed the change in his expression: a little more serious, a stray frown passing like a cloud hiding a distant star. He seemed lost in thought. He seemed… homesick.

"What is it like?"

He turned to you again, and it seemed like the redder sun bent to Earth to kiss your eyelashes.

"What is your home like?" you asked again as Caspian was remaining silent.

He hesitated for a moment longer. Where to begin? Would you believe him?

Did it matter though, whether you believed in Narnia or not?

"Wilder," he answered with a smile. "I live in Cair Paravel, it's a… a castle, a fortress."

"Cause you're a king."

"Yes, I am."

You nodded, but didn't seem to be mocking or questioning him. Instead you waited for him to continue.

"It is built on a cliff, right on the edge of the sea. At this time of year, the waters become more agitated, many boats stay ashore. But then spring will come back, calmer, more welcoming, and many will go back to travelling across the waves. I was supposed to travel to the Lone Islands next spring."

"You seem to like the sea. It's dangerous, though."

"Anything worth living has the power to break you. Whether it is because of its nature or how much of yourself you pour into it. In the end, the things that give your life meaning make you the most vulnerable."

You gave him a smile.

"That's kind of true. What else is there in your castle?"

"Gardens. You would like them, I reckon. They are not as large as your Central Park, but… they are filled with music and fountains, and people laughing all year round. And they hold the most beautiful flowers. In spring, when they are in full bloom, their smell travels even to the shores. And beyond the forest stretches for miles. Just… trees till the edge of the horizon. It feels like the castle is trapped between two kinds of oceans."

He was smiling by now, clearly happy to talk about his world with you. And you reckoned that there was no harm in forgetting for a little while that none of the places he spoke of could be real.

"Tell me more."

You exchanged a smile, and he told you of his home and the places he had explored, while day became twilight and finally night, skyscrapers imitating twinkling stars to match a reflection of the firmament, and you didn't drive him back to Agatha's before the building closed.

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

 You went home with a smile on your face that evening. You didn't think about questioning Caspian's stories, he seemed to believe in them too much, and for a while, you decided to play along, and believe in them a little as well.

After that first day of visit, you took Caspian to the Metropolitan Museum.

A third day and he had seen the Statue of Liberty.

One more afternoon, and he had gotten lost in the crowd on Broadway.

Fifth day and you had decided to take him to the cinema, where they showed Notting Hill again.

You thought it was a cute movie, that would probably not have him as confused as Star Wars and would make you both relax. Caspian let you choose the seats and tasted pop corn for the first time.

"It tastes very good," he nodded, taking a third handful of candies.

"I'm glad you like it," you chuckled.

"Have you seen this movie before?"

"Yes, I love it. I watch it every time I feel sad."

"Do you feel sad now?"

You shrugged, considering the question. You reckoned that your life could be easier. Alex kept on calling you now and again, mostly when drunk and in the middle of the night. You had been distracted and had not painted much for the past few days. And of course, there was all the general mess that Caspian had dragged you into. Yet, at that moment, sitting next to him in a theatre, about to watch a movie you loved, you reckoned that the adjective that would fit you best was 'happy'.

"No, no, I'm not sad," you smiled up at him, and he returned the gesture.

Along the previous afternoons, you had spent a lot of time talking, sharing facts about your lives, and the more you looked into his heart, the more you liked what you saw. You just didn't know that he felt the same way about you.

You guessed that you were becoming friends.

Sometimes, when he talked of Narnia, you considered that it was an elaborated game to which you had to play along, and you pictured his imaginary world. Some other times you felt like he was too earnest for it not to be the truth. You weren't sure about that yet, but what you had grown certain of was that Caspian was a good man. And for now, it was enough.

The lights went low, slowly fading as the film began. And Caspian laughed at the jokes, and he wished that these two characters would stay together, and he was touched by their declarations. But it was not what he focused on the most.

While Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts played 'love me, love me not', Caspian's eyes often left the screen in favour of your face.

Sometimes you whispered under your breath the lines you knew by heart. Sometimes you laughed. Sometimes you wore a dreamy smile. Sometimes you were close to tears. The light from the screen gave your features something ethereal. If he had been in Narnia, he would have thought you were a spirit, or maybe just a figure in one of his dreams, perhaps a star. Although, he knew you were real, tangible beside him, and every time you smiled, or laughed, or spoke the words before the actors could, he couldn't stop himself from grinning. He tried to understand his gesture as he noticed it, about halfway through the movie. You were not even looking at him, too immerged in the movie you had watched a hundred times, and yet, his heart skipped a beat every time he turned to you. He couldn't remember ever feeling this way simply because another person sat next to him. The thought of how close the two of you were passed through his mind, a hurricane shaking his whole frame, the realization stirring something deep inside his chest, something dangerous and yet wanted. He finally noticed how your hand rested on the cushioned arm of your seat, right between the two of you. Inches away, yet it felt like it was so far away… unbelievably far… unbearably far. He wished he could reach for it.

But he couldn't, could he?

He spent a minute staring at your hand, considering his thought, trying to figure out if it was a good idea.

In Narnia, him taking the hand of a woman would have been outrageous. Would you consider it the same here?

He looked up to your face again, the changing light drawing moving shadows across your features, and he decided against it. It was too lovely a moment to risk breaking it by a silly impulse. For it was all it could be, after all, or so Caspian guessed, at least. A moment of drifting thoughts settling on a ridiculous idea. It couldn't be just because he longed to hold your hand…

Eventually, the credits rolled up the screen, and the lights were turned on again. You turned to him with a large smile on your face.

"Did you like the movie?"

"I did," Caspian nodded.

"Great, cause I don't think I could be friends with someone who doesn't like it."

While you exited the room, Caspian thought about your words more carefully.

Friends. Was it what you were now? Yes, yes he reckoned you were.

The thought made him smile, yet, he couldn't help but notice that he wasn't as happy as he should have been.

To finish the afternoon, you decided to take a walk to Central Park. You bought vanilla ice creams, and kept on talking about everything and nothing, but there was a lot of laughing involved either way.

Caspian made you feel silly. Happy. A little light-headed. Dizzy like drinking a little too much wine. You felt safe by his side, free to be yourself without caring about him judging you. It was refreshing, in a world where one's image could be so used and distorted. You didn't care. And when you thought about the fact that he claimed to be a King, you guessed that you shouldn't feel that way. Maybe it was because you didn't really believe in the Kingdom Caspian was supposed to lead, or perhaps it was simply because of who he was, in any way, you didn't think about that fact at all. You felt like yourself when you were with him, and that feeling was closer to happiness than you had ever felt.

And Caspian had a similar feeling around you. He was more lost than you, and a bit confused by everything surrounding him, but he felt safe for as long as you smiled. Like no matter what could happen, it would end up being alright. It was so different, spending time with you, learning to know you. For once, he could be himself, without the pressures of the throne, or etiquette, or worry about how you might see him only as the King instead of Caspian. And that feeling of being himself, he reckoned it was very close to feeling happy.

The wind blew stronger all of a sudden, shaking the branches above your two heads, lifting skeleton leaves to twist and fly up all the way to the skies. A tourbillon pushed the leaves around you, making you laugh as they got caught in your jacket, and you looked up to see them fly as if to join the branches they had been forced to leave. And while he watched you like this, walking with colourful leaves flying around you, your eyes set to the tall trees and a laugh on your lips, Caspian's whole frame was shaken by a tidal wave of what he could only describe as tenderness. He just felt so… fond of you. A warm, radiant, almost aching feeling that swallowed his heart whole. When your eyes fell upon him again, he thought the sensation would wane, just a blink, a delicate moment to be remembered, but nothing more. On the contrary though, when his eyes met yours, he found that the feeling refused to leave. Instead, it settled down right there, under his ribcage, consuming his whole heart in mere seconds and claiming it all.

And finally, he realized why he felt so happy whenever he was with you. Why he longed to see you again as soon as you parted. Why it seemed now as if his heart wasn't really his anymore, as if it belonged to someone else, as if it belonged to…

Oh.

Oh, no…

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