#(stayed up late two nights in a row and I am *paying* for it)

[freepassbound]

[snippy-tano]

I have a soft Tech request that I think we all desperately need.

Reader is in college and is staying up late to finish assignments in the library and Tech comes looking for them and sits with them once he is told that they'll be there for a while. He just pulls out a little trinket from his belt and fiddles with it while they work

You're absolutely right Pro, we need soft Tech in these trying times.

I hope you don't mind, but I made this more of a modern-AU. it was really the only way it made sense to me in my head and I thought it would be fun because I haven't done of those before. I really hope you like it!

please send me more tech requests! i'm emotionally distraught still and it helps!

((also fun fact, the bit I mention in the fic about a comically slow elevator is based a little in reality from my last year of undergrad and when I liked in an apartment building on campus and the elevator was so fucking slow. like. think of the slowest elevator you've ever been in and this one was slower by like two whole minutes))

masterlist is here!

taglist is here!

tagging: @pro-fangirls-unsocial-life; @marvel-starwars-nerd; @mackstrut; @dissapointingpancake; @ahsokatano-thetogruta; @welcometothepedroverse; @fractiouskat; @mandaloriandin; @bantha-shit; @badbatch-simp24; @katelynnwrites; @s1st3r; @leotatombs; @torchbearerkyle; @rain-on-kamino; @the-navistar-carol; @bombshe77; @arctrooper69; @social-mockingbird; @littlebluebatbrat; @get-wr3ckered; @techissuperior; @dangraccoon;

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

Chilly Nights

It was late in the library, the only others who remained were in a position probably similar to yours. 

A student nearby was buried within a mountain of books, looking just as haggard as you felt. Another was fast asleep, snoring softly among a mess of papers. There was another who was weaving in and out of the rows and rows of books clutching a small note in their hand, clearly lost and confused. 

You took another sip of your long since cold coffee, not even tasting how bitter it had become. You adjusted the noise-canceling headphones on your head and picked up your pen once again. 

It was so dead in the library that you never expected anyone to approach you, at least that was until you felt a soft tap on your shoulder. Your reaction was a little over-the-top, but you were beyond sleep deprived and totally not paying attention. Your pen went flying as you jerked in your seat, heart pounding. Your headphones slipped off your ears and you turned abruptly in your chair to see Tech standing beside you, not looking the least bit phased by your reaction. 

“Apologizes. I did not mean to startle you.”

You pressed your hand to your chest, reaching up to take off your headphones. “It’s okay, I just wasn’t expecting you.”

“You were not responding to my messages and I determined you would likely be in the library.” He said, adjusting his glasses on his face. “I was correct.”

You laughed softly. “Yeah you were. Thanks for coming to check on me, but I’m going to have to stay here for a bit. I have a lot left to do and I know I won’t get anything done in my apartment.” 

“Ah. I see. Then I am sorry for bothering you.”

“Don’t. It’s okay really. I’m sorry I can’t leave with you.”

“It is quite alright. Let me know when you decide to leave and when you arrive home.” Tech said and you nodded. 

“I will. I promise. Thank you Tech.” You said with a smile and he nodded once before turning and walking away. 

You let out a sigh before turning back to your table. You picked up your pen off the floor and replaced the headphones over your ears, playing the next song. Without much more fanfare, you got back to work. 

Seeing Tech had been a surprise, but it did seem to help your productivity. His presence, though brief, was enough to jump-start you and help you refocus. It still took a few hours, but you managed to finish everything you had hoped to accomplish and then some. It was right at the moment that your eyes started to burn from exhaustion that you finally decided to call it a night, noticing it was way past midnight. 

You tugged your headphones off before stretching your arms above your head, wincing at the sound of your joints popping from lack of use. 

“You should really see a doctor about that.” 

A voice once again had you jumping on your seat. You spun to see Tech sitting at the end of your table, a few small trinkets spread out in front of him. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, staring at him. 

He didn’t even look up, just picked up a screwdriver and continued fiddling. “It is late and you should not walk back alone.”

“Did you leave?”

“No.”

You blinked. “You didn’t have to stay.”

“I am aware.” Tech said, ever the conversationalist. 

Your shoulders deflated as you sighed. “Thank you for staying, it was sweet of you.”

“It was no bother. I had a few things I wanted to accomplish and the library has adequate lighting. Besides, I believe Wrecker already to be asleep and I did not want to disturb him.” Tech replied and you smiled softly at the mention of Tech’s much larger brother. 

“Well, give me a few minutes to pack up and we can go.” You said and Tech only nodded, continuing to work on the small piece of machinery in his hands.

You watched him work for a moment before begrudgingly beginning to pack up your things. It didn’t take long and by the time you finished, Tech had tucked away his small device and shouldered his own backpack. You pushed in your chair and followed his retreating back as you walked through the silent library. You waved to the student on duty at the front desk as you left and they gave you a tired wave back. 

The doors opened and you were hit with the chill air outside. You tucked your hands into your jacket pockets and picked up your pace to match Tech’s long strides as you turned to head to your apartment.

The walk was largely quiet, which was fine with you. Usually silence was something you did not like, but for some reason with Tech you never really seemed to mind. Campus was just as quiet, you could see the occasional student or group of students walking, but for the most part, it was just the two of you. 

It was calming. 

Far sooner than you would have liked, you reached your apartment building. You turned to say goodbye to Tech, but froze as you watched him walk up the steps to your building and place his hand on the door. He turned back to you when it was clear you weren’t following. 

“Are you going to unlock the door?” He asked and you quickly moved to scan your ID at the door. There was a click and Tech opened the door for you, following after you stepped inside. He waited with you at the hilariously slow elevator and waited as it began its crawl up to your floor. He also walked with you up to your door, waiting as you unlocked it. 

“You didn’t have to walk me to my door Tech.” You said and he shifted on his feet, adjusting his glasses. 

“I was merely confirming that you did in fact make it home. I will take my leave now. Goodnight.”

He gave you a nod before turning to leave, you reached forward and caught his wrist. 

“Wait!” You said too loudly, wincing and hoping you didn’t disturb anyone else. Tech didn’t move and you quickly released his wrist. “Thank you for walking me home. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Tech looked back at you, meeting your gaze as a wave of warmth filled your entire body. “Yes. I will message you. Goodnight.”

This time you let him go, watching as he walked to the elevator and stepped inside as no one else had called it yet. You gave him another smile before opening your door and disappearing inside. You shut the door behind you and let out a breath, smiling. 

Tech truly was a sweetheart. 

And you’d find some way to thank him, but for now, the warm feeling he left behind would keep you company for the remainder of the night. 

[pleasantlycrazyworld]

The reader is in college and is clearly struggling. The Munsons can't just watch that happen.

The Munsons are a huge support system for you. Eddie has been your best friend for nearly your entire lives, the two of you were best friends and always helped each other out none stop. When Eddie was trying to graduate but kept failing the one class over and over again you were there to make sure he never gave up. And now he's repaying the favor.

You made your way to college right after high school. Wayne was over the moon at the news and to help you afford tuition he allowed you to live with them at the trailer so you didn't have to pay for any housing. You were going through the motions of life lately but it's been getting harder and the days have become longer. The boys took notice of this immediately.

It started with you missing meals, then it started with you forgetting to drink anything that wasn't coffee, and they started to notice that your self-care Sundays had stopped completely. However, the final straw was when Wayne saw you weren't taking medications and vitamins you take every day no matter what. "We need to step in" he declared one night when it was just the two Munson men in the trailer. "We need a plan." Eddie said while nodding in agreement. And a plan is what they came up with that night.

Lately, the boys have been extra...loving? That might be the word for it. Every day before you leave for class Wayne makes sure you take the lunch and breakfast he had prepared for you prior to you waking up. Even on his days off he woke up early to make you food, he knew you would eat.

Eddie lately has been staying up and making flashcards from the notes you've taken in almost every subject you have. He acted as if he didn't know what you were talking about but when it's nearly three am and you wake up to go to the bathroom you see the light that comes from his tiny bedside lamp on.

The final straw was when Wayne got rid of the coffee machine and filled your cup with water before you left for your tests. You hadn't noticed this change until you went to take a drink of what you expected to be the coffee you so desperately needed but instead were met with ice-cold water. That's it! I need to talk to them tonight.

When you came home after your classes, you were happy to see that both boys were already home. You walked up to the trailer angrily but as you step in the anger melted away. Inside you were greeted with a banner that said in big bold letters We are so proud of you! Tears immediately start to come to the surface as you see those goofy grins grace their face. "What is all of this?!" You ask in complete shock.

"This is all for you!" Eddie exclaims full of excitement, "We can tell things have been getting hard for you, and god kid, neither of us can handle watching you just struggle" Wayne says calmly. You look around and take a better look at everything they set up for you. Tears start to fall down your cheeks as you see everything, there is your favorite food on the stove, some sweets on the counter, and on the table there is a row of self-care supplies you ran out of weeks ago.

Seeing you eyeing the supplies, Wayne speaks up, "That was Ed's idea actually. I suggested making you a good meal but he reminded me that you haven't been properly taking care of yourself for weeks so I hope we got the right face masks and such." You rush over to Wayne and pull him into a tight hug, "This...this is too much for me. I'll never forget about this." You say crying into his chest. Eddie walks over and rubs your back trying to comfort you, "This is not too much, this is what you deserve. You've been working your ass off and it shows, we are SO proud of you but we need you to take care of yourself and if you can't do it well we can. We are always here for you."

You pull away from Wayne's chest and hug Eddie whispering a soft thank you to him. Eddie mutters how it is no problem at all and holds you close. The two of you hold onto one another for what feels like a lifetime until Wayne comments "The food is gonna get cold you two! Let's eat and rest tonight."

And that's what you did, ever since you met the Munsons you have never felt so loved, so cared about, so protected and you know that they will always be here to support you.

He is your cheerleader^^^

Taglist: @zestychili @ghosttownwherenoonegoes @b-ritney @tiannasfanfic @eiightysixbaby

[eyesaremosaics]

Ayahuasca integration diary #1

There has been so much going on inside me, I hardly know how to articulate what it is exactly that I’m feeling. I have learned to love my solitude. Reclaiming the space as my own has been very cathartic for me. Finally able to make my apartment a “home” that feels cozy to me. Even though I pay an arm and a leg for a two bedroom in the city, I’ve somehow been able to manage it. I just did my taxes and realized I made over 80k last year. That’s the most money I’ve ever made! Feeling very proud of myself. It may not be much, but I worked really hard for everything I have, and I can’t help being proud of it.

Looking back on old journal entries has me thinking about just how far I have come in my healing… feeling proud of that too. Yet I also feel overwhelmed by how much healing I still have to do.

Lately I’ve been feeling like I don’t want to be in a relationship ever again. To me relationships feel like entrapment. For the last 15 years I’ve been in back to back relationships because I inherited my mother’s fear of being alone. I also realize I was taking refuge in being needed by the men that I mothered. I keep attracting men who have serious issues with their mothers, and even though they get deeply attached to me (because I love and care for them in all the ways their mothers didn’t) inevitably they end up taking out their unresolved issues with their mothers—on me. I’m tired of it.

It’s like: “I’m sorry your mom didn’t love you in the way that you need but it’s not my fault. Sheesh.”

Every time I get on a relationship with a man it’s I’ve of two situations:

A. They are more in love with me than I am with them, and though I feel safe, I don’t feel fulfilled because of incompatibility, and they pick up on my lack of investment and it goes to hell. This creates an unequal dynamic that isn’t fair to either of us. I have a habit staying in unfulfilling relationships waaaay past their expiration date because I’m comfortable and afraid to be alone. This triggers me to abuse substances to escape which just ends up destroying the relationship. I don’t deny my contribution to the problem.

Or

B. I’m more in love with them than they are with me, and I usually attach to emotionally unavailable enigmatic playboys like my father, (generally with avoidant attachment styles) where I never feel safe and am in a constant state of anxiety and stress. This triggers my abandonment issues and leads to escapism through drinking and drugs to self medicate because abandonment wound is so strong and painful. I make a fool of myself, chasing people who don’t want/love me.

I have done a lot of work on my escapism, I have better tools to deal with stress now. I am getting better everyday. However, I constantly annoy myself with how stressed out I am all the time. I know it’s hard to be around me when I’m like that. I just overbook myself, I overextend, because I struggle with boundaries.

It’s all so overwhelming. Having awareness of all your issues and actively trying to work on them. This is why I need to be single right now. I am traumatized by so many intense and enmeshed relationships for so many years in a row with no break in between. I need time to figure out who I am again—without a partner.

I have been decorating my apartment, taking care of important things that I’ve put off. Focusing on work, on improving myself as an employee. So far that’s paying off.

Now I need to get into a routine with my sleep cycle. Go to bed by midnight every night, up by 7 every day. Get my beauty/workout routine in early so I can get some work done in the afternoons before heading to my other job. I find solace in work. Been trying to be more creative. Working on my Halloween costume, bought equipment to do a photoshoot, make some IG content. I need to be creating and putting myself out there more.

I just feel so scared of men now. I’m so frightened of being in a relationship. I love my freedom so much that the thought of having to compromise everything about who I am again to please someone—uh uh. No way. That sounds like no fun. I usually get with controlling men who are emotionally manipulative. My last boyfriend was the healthiest I had, at least for a while, but that situation deteriorated for a number of reasons.

I am getting clear on what I want. I want someone whole. I want a good communicator. I want someone who is comfortable expressing themself. I want someone loyal, reliable, brave, and kind. I want someone who is strong, but who has a gentle side. Someone good with children and animals. Someone who is financially secure who could take care of me if I got pregnant. I’m used to being the bread winner. I usually make more money than my partners. I’m tired of working 4 jobs to live my lifestyle. I want someone to take care of me for once. If someone shows up and takes care of me, I will take care of them in return.

Caring is cool, effort is cool, emotional intelligence is cool.

I’m just so afraid to be in relationship again. Obviously I don’t know what’s good for me. I don’t know how to have healthy boundaries, and I need to learn healthier coping mechanisms for all my trauma. Perhaps I’m too damaged.

Maybe I’m just meant to be alone. I don’t know. Not interested in dating or pursuing any romance right now. I’m tired. I feel like the ten of swords. Yet… all these knives stuck in my back. I wouldn’t know what to say to a gentle voice, it would go right past me.

Paradoxically, I feel strong inside of myself for the first time in my life. Though this whole spiritual awakening has been so intense, ultimately it has been so transformative. I am different now than the person I once was.

I do ache. My heart is broken, but I have too much shit to do. I don’t have time to sit around being sad. Yet when I do, I allow myself to fully feel things and then release them.

I’m just grieving the death of a very old dream. I don’t feel this person will return. I embarrassed myself, expressing feelings that were not returned. At least it seems to have done some good for him, and I got some answers that I needed to heal a very deep wound in my heart.

The truth is, I do forgive him. When you truly love someone, it’s impossible to hate them, because you understand them. Though I understand… I will accept nothing less than the love and treatment I deserve. I will walk away. I can make it alone. Everything I’ve built, I built on my own.

Yet there are some things I can’t do on my own. Perhaps it’s just not in the cards for me to get married and have children. Sigh. I do feel quite sad about this at times… because I know I would be a good mother. That’s the saddest part. Yes I can adopt, and maybe one day I will, but I really wanted the experience of being a wife and mother. Perhaps the life of an artist just isn’t conducive to this. Difficult realizations.

Just wish I didn’t waste so much time in my 20s being miserable and sad because some boy didn’t love me. What a waste of time. Chasing people begging them to love me. It makes me sick to my stomach. I had no self respect. I deserve to be pursued. I have a lot to offer in a relationship. I deserve someone who is all about me. Who gives what I give. If someone doesn’t offer that—then I truly am better off alone. I feel that in the bottom of my heart, and for the first time in my life…being alone doesn’t scare me.

[these-detestable-hands]

Okay! For this one I'm gonna do it a lil' differently! I won't specify which OC, and instead, I'll pick which one I wanna hear about, and then you choose which OC best suited for the question!

(I'll try not to ask ALL of them ahahhahaah)

alone

break

failure

ghost

guilt

mask

skin

wound

HAVE FUN!

YAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAYAY

I'll try stick with ones you know, so dear emperor, a pox upon your city and trains and tragedy!

Alone.

Ione! She's alone a lot. Of course, she has a husband, son and daughter whom she loves, but she views them as different and less important than her because they don't know about the hallway. To her, they're objects to help her act normal. Emotionally, she's very alone because she's never honest with Gary. It takes a toll on her and she has a horrible and warped perception of how people act when they genuinely love each other. When she's alone, she's Impulsive and self destructive.

Break. Also using he/she/they pronouns for Ira from now on.

This is such a fun one for Ira. His family died when he was 17 and he was suffering in the military for years. At about 24, Volkaire basically saves her and pays for her college and treats her like a close friend. Volkaire has been perfectly crafting his persona around her for years so that she will act exactly as he wants. Ira feels that he's nothing without Volkaire, because Volkaire "fixed" him when he was at his lowest.

Because of this, they break when Volkaire tries to kill them. Of course, Ædith saves him, but he's distraught and lost for weeks. He can't do anything without help because he's shocked that someone he loved so much thought of him only as a tool.

A lot of the suppressed grief, anger, guilt and regret from 20 years ago come bubbling up and Ira would seem numb to everyone around her but late at night, when she thinks no one can hear, she allows herself to breathe and she's screaming and wailing as though she's been shot a thousand times because she can't understand why Volkaire would do all that.

Ædith is there for him, though. She's a had front row seat to this entire messed up friendship and knew Ira would be a mess when it all came crashing down. She comforts Ira, staying up late to comfort them until they finally fall asleep in her arms.

Failure.

For this I will pick Augustus.

He thinks his mom abandoned him because he did something wrong, because he was a rotten child or too annoying or whatever. He never did anything wrong, there's just something deeply wrong with Ione, but it keeps him up at night. I don't think he'd ever shake the feeling that there's something wrong with him that makes him undesirable. It affects his relationship with Juno, makes him think she's just pretending to love him so her parents don't think twice about the arranged marriage. He's not convinced she actually loves him despite all the little things she does, how she'll run out into the snow to go searching for him despite her own poor health and how it could kill her. Idk man. He's miserable.

Ghost.

OOOOO THIS ONE'S FUN

Dagny is haunted by the ghost of Filpa's older brother. Literally! The two of them were kidnapped together and the brother was eaten first so his ghost haunts Dagny, begging her to bring what remains of his body home so he can be laid to rest beside his grandparents. Dagny never admits to Filpa or even Regnar that he's there, but he is. It makes her feel horribly guilty because she thinks if she had not made the deal with Bannkjell, he would still be alive. Unfortunately, Bannkjell would've kidnapped Filpa and his brother regardless so there's nothing Dagny could have done.

Guilt.

Once again, I am talking about Ione. As the years go on, and especially as Delilah goes to the hallway, she starts feeling guilty for getting rid of Augustus. She slowly starts viewing Delilah as a human person and she starts feeling that it is wrong of her to keep that information from her, because now that Delilah knows about the hallway, she's almost equal to her.

Keyword: almost

The guilt eats Ione from the inside but she never admits to getting rid of Augustus and it takes Delilah actually going to Augustus' world and talking to him to figure out everything that's going on.

Mask.

Volkaire is the boring obvious answer so I am going with Ira again. Ira doesn't realize how much she hides her own emotions. Volkaire has basically forced a mask on her, saying that she can't fit into Odedan high society if she keeps acting like an emotional little brat who whines and cries and laughs too much. Volkaire forces him to act prim and proper, to stay quiet and obedient. When Ira breaks, so does his mask. His raw emotions come out and you know what? Just go reread the break section lol.

Skin.

Helena! In most timelines, Helena has a happy ending. In one of them, she goes through hell before she finally gets to live her idyllic life on the countryside. Of course, she's never at ease. Even in this somewhat happy timeline, she's haunted by flashbacks and memories of what horrible people did to her. She doesn't feel comfortable in her own skin because of an anxiety that everything will come bursting out, that all those spells and potions have merely been dormant and it will come out and make her do horrible things she could never even imagine.

Beyond that, she never feels quite comfortable in her home because she's not from that world. She'll never truly fit in.

Wound.

Flynn is a fun one for this question. He's been hurt a lot by a variety of things and people. The worst one was when a dragon cut his face and it bled everywhere. He became blind in his right eye and his face has been somewhat disfigured since and he hates it. He already hated his appearance because he looked like "a filthy Habadan" but the massive scars just add insult to injury. It takes his grandma calling him handsome, saying he looks just like his brave and selfless father (her son) for him to finally believe that maybe he isn't an ugly monster.

Also, he's got a pretty high pain tolerance so he doesn't really scream or react very much when hurt. This worries Jasmin a lot and she'll always check him for injuries after battles because she doesn't want her dear little grandbaby to be hurt.

[elahna-elahna]

(this is my personal fanfic about my own MC and love Interest)

- Chapter 1 -

Isabella

♡

"Isabella!'' all three of my brothers called out. We were currently playing hide and seek. And I was winning, they had been looking for me for hours. I was a master at Hide and Seek; they never found me. The trick to Hide and Seek is to move around, hiding in places they had already looked. After waiting ages, I got bored so I decided to come out. As I’m walking out of the pantry all 3 of my brothers suddenly pop out from around the corner scaring all of us. *beep *beep *beep, the sound of my alarm clock waking me up from my dream. "ISABELLA ROSA MARTINO, WAKE UP NOW" my oldest brother Pierce yells at me from across the hall.

I was going to be late again. I'm the youngest of three siblings, me and my brothers are only a few years apart. Pierce is the “oldest” by like 10 seconds compared to his twin brother Nico. Me and my last brother Kia are identical twins but he’s still 5 seconds older. I heard the sound of a car beep, it was my friend Callies car that she got for the new school year. It's the first week back of school and I'm already going to be late two days in a row. I really need to set a backup alarm so I’m not late all the time. I hurry up, get changed, brush my teeth, and run downstairs and out of the house. While passing by my 3 brothers. I hop into Callie's new car and we start driving. I am so jealous of her because she's 16 and I'm still only 15 meaning she can legally drive. Callie is only one year older than me because she was held back in 1st grade. My birthday is in august, so I have to wait a while for my next one. But at least it's in the summer, and who doesn't love summer birthdays.

While she is driving I take a peek at my phone to see texts from my dad. I open them and there's a ton of him yelling that I better not be late for school again. If you have an Asian dad you would understand. My dad is super strict about school and my grades. If I came home with anything below an A plus he would kill me.

My 3 brothers are super overprotective and won't let me do anything. On the first day of high school, some boys tried to talk to me. My 3 brothers told all the boys to leave me alone or they would beat them up. And trust me my brothers never lost a fight. They are always treating me like a baby. They would not let me out of their sight, and I could never go out to any sleepovers or parties. I just got used to it after a while. I just stayed in my room cuddling my stuffed animal in my bed. My mom are the closest in my family. Now enough with the chit-chat about my life let's talk about the present.

School is always boring, with the same people, same teachers, and even more homework. After school I had practice and I didn't want to sit there for hours so I decided to walk home. I mainly walked home because it was a pretty long walk and I wanted to listen to my new playlist that I made the night before. I was not really paying attention and I wound up walking down this alley. As I was about to turn back around and find another route to my house. Three guys who looked like seniors walked toward me. They corner me and now all three of them are around me in a small circle. “Where are you going, sweets?” the biggest guy says. “Get away from me perv!” I say pushing him. He looks at his friends and starts laughing.

“Baby girls are a little aggressive,” he says, pushing me against a wall. His other two friends hold my arms and he slaps me. The slap hurt bad and I could tell that was gonna leave a mark. The man held up his hand to smack me again but then someone grabbed his wrist. “Don’t touch her” the voice boomed. The mystery guy pulled the guy's head with his other hand and slammed it into the concrete. The other two guys quickly run away and the mystery guy stands right in front of me. He grabs both my shoulders making me flinch a little, “Hi I’m Vannie, are you okay?” he says with worry in his eyes looking for any other scratches. “Yeah, I’m ok thanks, and I’m Isabella!” I replied hesitantly. He puts one hand on the cheek that got slapped and rubs it softly.

“Let me drive you home Princess,” he asks politely, I nod hesitantly since he was a stranger after all. He grabs my hand and leads me to his car. The inside of his car smelled like lavender, it wasn't a strong smell but a light and soft smell. He started up the car and then turned to me, “Where do you live?” he asked. “212 Westfield Avenue”, I answered, making him nod and start to drive. After about 10 minutes we arrived at my house. “Thanks for the ride, Vannie, and thank you for saving me,” I say, turning to face him. “Do you always walk home?”, he says, stopping me from leaving. “Um, sometimes it really depends on when my brothers have football practice”, I responded. “Give me your number, and I’ll drive you to and from school,” He says quickly. “You don’t have”, he cut me off by grabbing my phone from my lap and inputting his number in it. “Don’t be afraid to call or text me”, He says.

I nod, open the car door, and walk out. As soon as I walk through the front door I see all three of my brothers standing right in front of me. “ISABELLA WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?” Pierce yells. “A friend gave me a ride, and we stopped to get something to eat. '' I lied. The reason I lied was because, If my brother found out what happened and that a boy was picking me up every day they would freak out. “Ok, next time Isa tell us before you go ok?” Kia was the only one out of the three that didn't look mad. “Ok, I’m sorry I’ll text you next time, love you guys good night,” I say walking upstairs and into my room.

I walked to my bed, bent down, and grabbed a book from underneath the mattress. I flopped on my bed and opened the book to the page I was on. I started reading and fading into the book. I like reading romantic books even though I have never liked someone like that. I have always wanted to be in a lovey-dovey relationship. But my brothers would never let me date or barely talk to a boy. I read stories, imagining the bittersweet love they have in the book. And I long for that feeling, that connection that brings a couple together like that. To experience that kind of love that even if they don’t love you, you would love them even harder.

What If I never meet someone who will fulfill my dreams of love. So great that it might not happen. So for now that feeling remains in my dreams, hoping one day I will have just enough strength to open my heart to love. Will I ever meet someone that will love me for who I am? Love me for my smartness and my kindness and not for my body. I take the time to gain insight into each relationship and love story. And waiting until it's finally my turn. I pay attention to the advice the author gives me throughout the story. Hoping one day my love story will be a book too. And gaining a bigger understanding of what a healthy relationship looks like.

But to never feel that kind of love is unbearable. After reading a little part of my book, I slowly fell asleep. I wake up abruptly to my brothers banging on my bedroom door. My first brother yells,” DO YOU HAVE A BOY IN THERE?”. I scream, “No”, ” Then you won’t mind unlocking the door then!”. They do this thing where they “check my room for a boy”, I think they do it just to annoy me. I walk to the door and slowly unlock it. All three of them run in and start looking around. They do this every time I lock the door, but the one place they don’t check is under my bed. So If I were to hide a boy he would be under there. My oldest brother Lucas says, “Clear” and then they leave my room.

Lucas turned back as he was walking and said,” Breakfast is ready”. I wasn’t really mad, I was just annoyed because I had just cleaned my room. I got dressed for school, did my makeup, and then grabbed my backpack. I texted Vannie to come one block away so my brothers wouldn't see. I walked down the stairs about to walk out of the front door, when Nico my brother asked,” Aren't you going to eat breakfast?”. I didn’t answer him and just ran out and down the street to Vanne’s car. “Hey princess”, “Hi” I mutter blushing at the nickname. I've learned that he calls me that out of consciousness and I think it's so cute.

He dropped me off and waited for me to go inside before pulling off. I go to our lockers and see Callie, we are locker buddies. After we hug and go our separate ways to our classes. My first period is Gym, I HATE gym. I went to the gym and found out there were only 2 girls including me. I was pissed but I tried to stay calm and just went into the girl's locker room. I walked in, said hi to the other girl and sat my bag down, and started changing. When I finished changing I started looking for my scrunchie just in case. After I grabbed my scrunchie I walked out into the gym.

As I walked out I saw Vannie. I had no words, I didn't even know he went to this school, and I swear I saw him pull off. The coach waited for everybody else and then told us we would be racing outside. He took us to the track field and he said to line up. Once everybody was lined up. He yelled “Go”, and all of us ran. I started making my way up to the front and ended up winning second place. Vannie won first place of course, and he then turned to me and said, “Good job princess”. I glared at him and we all returned to the gym to grab our bags. The rest of my classes were ok, they were kind of boring, well until lunch. I was waiting in line for my lunch when I looked beside me and Vannie was there.

As I went into my wallet to pay for my lunch. Vannie pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and paid for both of ours. “Thanks Vannie,” I say as I walk away. “No problem princess,” he says. I blush softly walking to the table Callie is at. Callie sees me blushing and makes an oooooh sound. I shake it off and tell her it's nothing. For the rest of lunch, we gossip and then we head back to our lockers. As soon as we get there over the intercom Callie’s name is called, “Callie, Callie to the front office please”. We say bye and she walks away, after I’m done grabbing my stuff I close my locker.

I jumped because a boy with dark curly hair stood right before me. I think his name was Jake. He was hiding behind my locker. He then says, “Hey cutie I was wondering if you wanted to go on a date with me”. As he winked at me. Then he grabs me by my waist and pulls me closer. I feel very uncomfortable and try to wiggle out. Then I hear in a stern cold voice, “Let her go now”.

As Vannie says to Jake to let me go, Vannie yanks the boy back, closes my locker, and grabs my wrist pulling me away. I stop him and say, “Thanks”. “No problem”, Vannie says walking away. I stand there for a minute to process what just happened. Then I shake it off and walk to my next class. After school I look for Callie but can’t find her anywhere, I pull out my phone and text Callie asking where she is. She texted back saying that she had to go home. I put my phone back in my back pocket and take a deep breath. Thinking about how I would get home because my brothers had already been picked up. And I know Dad will have a fit if I ask him, so I just decide to take the bus.

I walk to the bus stop and sit on the bench. Forty-five minutes passed and still, no bus, and my phone died so I couldn’t text anybody to pick me up. Five minutes later a car pulls up, the window rolls down and I see it's Vannie. “Get in the car princess,” he says, “Fine”, you say as you get in the passenger seat. Even though Vannie doesn't like my brothers he still wanted to walk me inside. When Kai opens the door he loves livid, “WHERE WERE YOU ISABELLA '', “I didn’t have a ride I’m sorry” you say. Kia sighs and pulls me inside glaring at Vannie, I see Vannie’s hand fist up but I don’t say anything.

Once I get inside all my brothers start yelling at me all at the same time. I was annoyed and angry and that for some reason made me start crying. Out of instinct I call Vannie and he answers on the second ring.

Vannie: Hey princess

Isabella: Hey um… can you um..

Vannie: On my way

He leaves the chat and in 5 minutes I hear a banging on my window.

My brothers and dad continued arguing and Vannie pounded on the window lightly to let him in. I had already started crying and I opened the window with tears on my face. Cam took one look at me and ran in locking the door behind him. He hugged me as I sobbed, he grabbed my wrist and pulled me onto the bed. He held me while I was sobbing uncontrollably, as we cuddled for the rest of the time

♡

In the morning my brothers banged on the door to let them in as usual. We woke up in a panic and I told him to hide under my bed. Once I saw that he was fully under there I opened the door. Turning and signaling for Vannie to stay quiet. My brothers ran In but instead of trashing my stuff, they apologized for yelling at me yesterday.

I forgave them as they slowly walked out glancing into my room. I closed and locked my door and told Vannie all clear. He got out from underneath my bed and smirked at me. He walked closer to me and pulled me close, grabbing my waist with one of his hands. His lips softly graced mine as we almost kissed. I pushed him off of me and he said in a husky tone, “I know we just met but I would like to get to know you”. “I don’t get this”, “you're not supposed to get this, just try it,” he says walking closer to me. “I’m just confused, how can you like me and we just met”. I say in a questioning tone, “To me it feels like I’ve known you my whole life” he says. “But what about my brothers?” I say, “Heck with him, they're not going to stop me from liking you!” He says Passionately.

I blush when he says that, he grabs me by my waist again and kisses me. I feel like I’m in my books. We stop kissing after like five seconds and just end up cuddling, until my brother Pierce knocks on the door reminding me about school. I hurry up and get ready in the bathroom. Then I tell Vannie to get out through the window so my brothers don’t see him. I walked downstairs grabbing breakfast on the way out, which was just bacon. Just in time to meet Callie in her car. I jump in her car as she speeds off on the way to school. As I am at my locker I feel someone tap my back. It is Vannie he asks me, “Hey, want me to walk you to class?” “Sure,” I say, feeling butterflies in my stomach. As he walks me to class I try to tame the butterflies for my own good.

[coridotmp3]

thanks for the tag, cori! your wip titles are immaculate. I absolutely must know about 99.3 kiss fm, jason sudeikis must pay, and mickey mouse the matchmaker.

:) thank you darling !!

99.3 KISS FM

This one's a college! bob floyd x reader !! bob, reader (nickname: cherry, pronouns: they/them), and various other daggers work the late shift at their college's radio station!! there's just endless amounts of mutual pining, a dash of miscommunication, and so many song references that only i will understand <3

have a little taste:

As the studio filled with the slow strums of “Trust” by Lucy Dacus, you made sure your mic was off before turning to the blob on the couch across from you. 

“Was that still too wordy? I’m really trying to take Penny’s note about brevity to heart but how else am I supposed to fill time?” 

Bob’s eyes shot up from where they had been focused on his laptop, composing his next setlist for the shift after yours. “I don’t think it was wordy but I think your pacing is more of an issue here. You literally said take a breath, but talked too fast to take one yourself. You’ll sound less like you’re rambling if you just slow down, speak with confidence.”

"If I had realized this job would be so stressful, I never would have begged Penny to let me sign up." You pouted, slumping in the desk chair as much as you could without falling off.

“Cherry, you’re fine! It’s not like the 12 people listening to a college radio station are gonna be concerned with your takes between songs. Not when you have the best song queue out of the whole lineup bar one.”

“If that one is you, I’m gonna smack you upside the head, Bo. I’m not listening to a whole night of The Cars, not again.”

“You love The Cars!”

“Yeah, in moderation! Not when I have to hear “My Best Friend’s Girl” eight times in a row at 2 in the morning!”

“I take back every nice thing I’ve ever said about you, obviously you have no taste.”

jason sudeikis must pay aka the hangster sleeping with other people au

two lonely souls in college agree to lose their virginities to each other, only to spend the next ten years having very strained relationships with sex. When they meet again in a sex addicts support group, Jake and Bradley decide to use their renewed friendship to help each other heal. Maybe, in more ways than one. (and also rhett abbott is there because i needed a scapegoat thank you <3)

something to whet your appetite:

"He came through every few weeks on one of his bull riding tours or to meet with vendors. He never stayed more than a night before he went back to her, and I was left with this profound emptiness in his absence.

I let myself get wrapped up in his world. I deluded myself with these fantasies that one day he would stay. All I wanted was for him to stay. I just wanted to be enough for him, so I broke myself apart into something I thought he would want. There's no telling how much of me I lost pursuing that pipe dream.

"Must have been a pretty good pipe to string you along like this for the past ten years."

"Oh shut up, Bradshaw."

"No, I'm serious! What, is it ten inches? Is it made of gold? Can it vibrate? What about him and his magical two foot long dick had you so spellbound?"

mickey mouse the matchmaker

this one is soooooo very self-indulgent. it's bob x mickey's cousin (x reader for now but that is subject to change). BASICALLY, mickey and bob have been good friends since their OCS training in Rhode Island all those years ago. While they were stationed in Newport, Mickey and Bob would go and visit Mickey's cousin while she was in school in Providence. Bob and the cousin got along like a house on fire, but were both too scared to do anything about it (even though mickey knows they both want to). Fast forward a few years, and she moves out to San Diego where the daggers are now stationed. AND WOULD YOU LOOK AT THAT, READER NEEDS A PLACE TO LIVE AND BOB HAS AN EXTRA ROOM !! Mickey's masterplan is all coming together

(there's no excerpt for this one because the whole fic is just various one-liners strung together with a wish and a prayer)

CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOUR WIPS DARLING !!!

[taomyou]

The Romance of Reimbursements - Chapter 10

Pairing: Levi Ackerman x Reader Status: COMPLETED Summary: There’s a guy you see every Friday on bus 143, and you think he’s pretty hot. It wouldn’t hurt to tell your best friend about him, would it? or, you and Levi take the same bus home from work every Friday, and you fall in love slowly, clumsily, and with all the time in the world to fold as many paper stars as your heart desires. Word Count: 6.1k Tags: slow burn, friends to lovers, modern au, office au, fluff, romance, meet-cute, matchmaking

(A/N: this fic is entirely available on ao3 here if you would like to read it there instead!)

Chapter Navigation Accompanying Playlist

go home

When you reach your apartment, your body goes into autopilot as you get through your nightly routine as quickly as possible. Before you go to sleep, however, you bring your phone with you into bed, and you pull up Levi's contact.

You tap the message icon, and you try out a few different texts that you can send to him.

thank you for driving me two days in a row, i can help pay for gas if it happens again ... did you find the stars i left in the glovebox? ... tell isabel and furlan i had a good time! ...

Each time, you find yourself frantically pressing the backspace button, and you can feel your eyes failing you when they sting to stay open enough for you to avoid accidentally pressing send. In the end, you end up with something a lot less complicated.

You - 12:42 AM

did you get home safe?

It's almost habit for you to tell someone to get home safe at this point, but you've never actually gotten any confirmation from him before that he's gotten home safe after each time you say it to him. You're too tired to think of why you're asking him that of all things, but you settle for thinking that it's just the most inconspicuous thing you can say after so much interaction with one another.

And even with your limited brain power, you do still fear the thought that he's annoyed of you being around him so often lately, and you don't want to bring any more unnecessary attention towards yourself with anything he doesn't already expect you to ask.

Sleep comes quickly, but before you're fully gone, you hear your phone go off with a text from presumably him. When you check to look, you laugh.

Levi - 12:45 AM

Yes, idiot Now go to fucking sleep

You don't text him back, instead putting your phone back down and snuggling up into your sheets.

When you wake up the next day, you go through the motions: brushing your teeth, getting ready for work, having a light breakfast. The bus ride is the same as it always is, even though the view is different now that you're facing the opposite side of the road. You thank the bus driver and greet the receptionist as you always do, and you wait for the elevator with your briefcase in hand.

After you step in and press the button for the 8th floor, you yawn and try to rub the sleep out of your eyes. You had a good night's rest, all things considered, but you still wanted nothing more than for the work week to be over already.

You're alone in the elevator, but when the screen at the top of the door signals its stop at the 5th floor, you feel yourself tense.

The 5th floor is where management is, and there's an unspoken rule that you simply don't ever go there unless you're invited to someone's office.

When the doors open again, you're face-to-face with Nile Dok, and you're forced to exchange smiles with him when he makes eye contact with you.

You've only ever seen him a handful of times, all of which were not of your own free will.

You report to Erwin and other miscellaneous figures in the building, but Nile is your actual boss, and he's the one who calls the shots.

You first met him when you were interviewed for your internship at the firm, and you were too nervous to even take note of his appearance back then. You never saw him again throughout the entirety of your internship, staying only on the 8th floor, but you had to meet him again when you were offered a full-time position. In the last 2 years, you've only ever seen him at company parties, but you've never spoken aside from the occasional email to ask for information in either direction. 

He doesn't seem like a bad person, you just don't know him. He also makes you nervous as fuck because you've only ever seen him in high-stress situations.

He steps onto the elevator, and you move away from the number pad so he can request the floor he needs to go to. He nods in thanks and looks at the buttons, but he doesn't make any move to press any of them, so you can only think that he's also headed for your destination.

Sure enough, when the doors open again at the 8th floor, he steps out onto the office. When you get out, your eyes are still trained on Nile as he walks straight for Erwin's office. Some of your coworkers start whispering to one another when Nile is just out of earshot, and you just have to know what's going on, so you hurry over to the breakroom to find someone to talk to. Sure enough, Armin and Mikasa are already inside next to the drinks station.

You rush over to them. "Do you know why Nile's here?"

There's nobody here except for the three of you (not that it really matters, since people on the main floor were already gossiping before Nile was even out of view anyway), but Armin and Mikasa look to each other with what looks like mild fear.

"No, but we're just going to hide in here until he leaves," says Mikasa.

Why would Armin and Mikasa need to hide?  They probably don't even remember what Nile even looks like, if their interview was anywhere near as stressful as it was for you.

"Why are you guys hiding? Is he here to fire someone?"

"Erwin looked upset, we saw him in the copy room when we were printing stuff out," says Armin. "He was on the phone with someone, too, and he didn't greet us."

Erwin being upset absolutely is not good. Obviously because he's your friend and it's never ideal for anyone to be upset, but it also means that he's received bad news that could very well be the reason why Nile's here.

"Wait, so where's Eren?"

"He went to the bathroom, but he texted us to say that he's just going to stay in there until Nile leaves," Mikasa says. You nod. Another good way of hiding.

In all honesty, you probably would've done the same if you were still an intern. You, however, are not an intern anymore, and you unfortunately do not have the luxury of not starting work on time (especially after what happened yesterday with the whole "sleeping on the job" thing), so you have to go to your office and make yourself busy.

"Ok, then. Just start the kettle so that if someone comes in here, you can tell them you're making tea for me," you tell them. "I don't think he'll stay that long."

They both nod, and you have to drag yourself over to your office. It's not a far walk by any means, but you do find yourself taking quicker steps to avoid the eyes of everyone else on the main floor.

Ordinarily, you're the one who has to unlock the door to your office. Today, however, when you go to insert your key, you realize that the keyhole is turned horizontal, meaning that the door is already open.

Weird. Only you and the janitor have the keys, and he only ever uses his copy when he cleans on the weekends or when you accidentally leave yours inside the room. Even though you were half-awake as you were leaving, you're sure that you locked it before you left yesterday. You suppose that management has a key that has universal access to all the offices, but you've never seen anyone ever use that before.

You don't want to bother your coworkers and ask if they saw anyone fiddle with your lock, so you open the door and step in cautiously. You don't see anything inherently wrong with your room, but you still think it's strange that the door was open, especially so early in the morning. There's a suspiciously short stack of paperwork on your desk already, so maybe Mikasa left it earlier before she went to the breakroom?

That still makes no sense because she doesn't have a key either, but maybe she asked the janitor to let her in. That also makes no sense when the cleaning crew rarely ever comes into the office this early in the morning.

You step towards your desk to put down your briefcase and get out your things, but when you instinctively reach for your tea basket, you see that there's a sticky note tacked onto one of the tea canisters.

Because he's the person who has to sign off on most of your reports at the end of the month, you immediately recognize Erwin's handwriting, but that isn't what scares you. No; it's what the note says that scares you—Please meet me in my office after Nile leaves.

Why does Erwin need to write you a note to tell you this?

The only reason you can come up with as to why Erwin wouldn't be able to just message you is that whatever he's going to tell you is related to professional matters that he can't risk getting out, but that still leaves you with just as much, if not more, confusion.

Your productivity, though somewhat in decline because of the sheer amount of work you have to get through, has always been great, and it's been a while since you've lost a case or gotten a client complaint.

You also know you definitely aren't getting a promotion. Your seniority (or lack thereof) is nothing comparable to the likes of Petra or any of your other coworkers. You're the youngest full-timer on the floor—there is no way Erwin has any good news to give to you if he hasn't already emailed it to you. What Armin told you earlier doesn't help at all either, because Erwin would probably be happy for his subordinates if he were about to give them a promotion.

At least you can now just assume that Erwin had a key that could get into your office, and you don't need to spend the morning wondering if someone came in and tampered with anything.

Before you can panic and overthink even more the note, you proceed with your normal work activities: you respond to emails, you review the paperwork you signed off yesterday, and you start working on the paperwork Erwin gave you. Even though you're glad that it's definitely not much work, you're now faced with the possibility of receiving more of it from Erwin when you have to go into his office.

As you work, you try your best to concentrate, but your thoughts keep going back to the note. You have no idea what to think, because the other extreme in this situation is that you're about to get fired, and that also makes zero sense. Is Mikasa the one getting fired? You send in good monthly reports for her, so that wouldn't make any sense either.

It feels like forever when Mikasa comes to your office, but it's probably only been 45 minutes or so.

"Nile's finally gone," she says, coming over to your desk. Armin follows in shortly after with the breakroom's kettle, and you put your teapot on the table so he can quickly pour hot water into it. He also brings in a cup of coffee for himself, and he sets that on your desk as well.

"Is everything okay out there?"

They both nod, and Armin speaks after he's finished pouring the water and has set down the kettle.

"Erwin came to the breakroom and told us he was sorry if he scared us in the morning."

"It was really strange," says Mikasa. You nod in understanding, then you grab some random tea blend from your basket to put into your teacup. You end up with the same winter chai from yesterday morning, but you aren't mad at that, so you shake out a bit of it to put into your teapot. You motion for Armin to sit, and you take it that he has nowhere to be right now because he pulls out a chair for himself.

You sigh. "Well, wish me luck then. He told me to see him in his office once Nile's gone."

Mikasa and Armin look to one another, then back to you. "Why?" They ask in unison. They're stopped from asking any other questions when Eren comes in, out of breath for whatever reason.

"I just got," he pauses to breathe, "back from the restroom." He pauses again, this time for longer with his hands on his knees. Armin courteously pulls out another one of the spare chairs in the room and motions for Eren to sit, which he does rather ungracefully. "Thank you, Armin."

"What's got you so whipped?" Mikasa asks.

Now that Eren's sitting, he's finally recovered his breath. "You, obviously," he answers. Mikasa cringes, but everyone else in the room laughs. Eren haughtily brings up his hands to offer high-fives for you and Armin, but neither of you accept. He rolls his eyes. "Okay, anyway. Nile was just in the bathroom, and I obviously didn't want to see him so I had to hide in the stall, and-"

"For fucks sake, can you just tell us what happened? Why'd you run in here?" You interrupt.

"You're not doing us any favors by stalling," Mikasa agrees.

Eren huffs, but he goes on. "He was on the phone, and he was talking about how our department might be able to afford to hire all three of us."

You were just about to set your teacup down on the table, but you drop it at Eren's words. Luckily, it didn't have any tea in it so there's nothing spilled, but you still scramble to set it upright. "Holy shit! Eren, that's great!" You beam at him, as well as the other two, but Mikasa isn't smiling. "What's with the long face? Isn't that good news for you?"

Mikasa begins to take out her things from her backpack, starting with her laptop. "That's if they even want to hire us."

You frown at her. "You don't need to say that. If Eren's right, you'll definitely get hired."

"I don't know." She takes out her laptop charger, and she gets up to plug it into the open outlet at the wall. "During our interviews, Nile told us that only one of us is getting hired. They've probably only considered keeping Armin." She sits back down at her spot.

"That was before... well, right now, when Eren told us they're apparently raising the budget. And don't sell yourself short, you've been great help around the office."

Armin, who's closer to Mikasa, puts his hand on her shoulder in comfort. "Astraea's right, you shouldn't say that. If they have the money, I'm sure we'll all be able to stay."

"You really think so?" Eren asks.

Armin shrugs, looking over at his friend. "Well, maybe not you, but me and Mikasa definitely." It's obviously a joke and it gets a smile on Mikasa's face, but Eren groans.

"Why am I always the butt of the joke?"

"Maybe try being funny enough to make the jokes," Mikasa pokes.

He rolls his eyes. "Obviously you think I'm funny if you're dating me."

"We're at work," She chastises, looking to you to see if you have any adverse reaction. You can imagine that she's probably thinking about the HR complications of being with another coworker, and you remind yourself to ask Petra to come talk to her and clear up any confusion when they're both room free.

You want to continue talking with them, but you really have to go see Erwin now, so you make your exit and bring your teapot and a still-empty teacup with you to his office. You let the three of them know that they can stay in your room as long as they do their work, which Mikasa does immediately while the other two rush to get their things from other places in the office.

You imagine that you'll be talking to Erwin for a while, and you're sure he won't mind if you bring tea with you when practically everyone else in the office lugs around their forearm-sized coffee tumblers everywhere they go.

You find yourself unable to knock on the door with both of your hands occupied, but before you can yell for Erwin, he opens the door, and you nearly stumble backwards.

"Oh, I was about to come get you. I was afraid you didn't see my note," he says.

You nod, looking up at him. "No, I saw it." You raise your teapot to him. "Sorry, the interns were talking to me about something."

"No worries. Please, take a seat."

You awkwardly follow him inside, and you sit down after you put down your teapot and cup. He gets himself situated in his own chair, and when he doesn't speak, you take that as your sign to pour yourself a cup of your tea. Erwin doesn't like tea so you don't offer it to him, but his silence makes you question what he wants from you, if not tea. His own cup of coffee sits unbothered in front of him. You cautiously take a sip of your tea, and the sound of you putting the cup back on the table bounces off the walls and rings loud in your ears.

Even though you've taken to hanging out with Erwin more often outside of work and you're comfortable with him there, you feel small right now.

Erwin's face is serious, which doesn't seem right. Nile came with good news, which still doesn't make sense with what Mikasa and Armin told you in the breakroom. You can't imagine why Erwin would be so upset asking for a budget increase, especially when he apparently got the increase he wanted, but maybe he was just anxious? Erwin's good friends with Nile, though, so that's not a great conclusion to come to.

"So... what do you need me for?"

He sighs, which is a reaction you do not expect from him. "Do you want good news or bad news first?"

What's going on? This feels so out of nowhere.

"Good news," you tell him.

Even in your mild confusion, you know that you want the good news first. You've never really understood why people always want to hear bad news first to "get it out of the way." At that point, the good news is already going to sound terrible, so you might as well just choose it first to avoid souring it before you can even hear it.

"You can go home."

"What?"

What does he mean? Go home? There is no way you could be getting fired right now. How is this good news?

"Exactly what I said. Go home." His face is as stern as it's been since you've stepped in, and it doesn't sound any better hearing it a second time.

"I'm not getting fired, am I?"

Fucking finally, Erwin drops the act, and he finally lets himself smile. "No, of course not. You can just take the rest of the week off. I left some paperwork on your desk in the morning, but you're free to leave when you're done with that."

You don't quite know how to react, so you don't say anything and take another sip of your tea. It does little to calm you down, but right now, you'd rather have that than nothing at all.

Of course you're glad that you have the rest of the week off. You just... don't know why this is happening.

"Are you ready for the bad news?" He asks. You shake yourself out of your confusion as best as you can.

"Sure, but why am I getting an early weekend?"

He hums as he takes a sip of his coffee. "Levi called me and gave me an earful about giving you too much work. Getting you a day or two off is my apology to you."

At the mention of Levi, you reflexively smile.

You've seen him around a lot more than usual lately, and it... doesn't really bother you. In fact, you were looking forward to your ride home from work, since it'd probably be the first time that you'd be able to answer candidly when the two of you would inevitably ask the other how their week was (though, you definitely weren't going to come to work just so you could see Levi.

Even though you always cut off any thoughts of adoration for Levi before they can manifest into something else, you feel warm inside knowing that he's looking out for you: helping you get home, making sure you're eating, wanting you to get enough rest. It's not a particularly high bar, but you understand that everyone is occupied with their own lives and don't have the time to always make sure you specifically are doing fine and dandy.

Under any other circumstances, you would've been upset if anyone had forced themselves into your work situation, being fairly independent as you are. However, you can't fault Levi for talking to Erwin—yesterday admittedly was a very... unfortunate situation. You didn't see anyone on the way out of the office, so you were the last one out (and you know Erwin doesn't ever leave unless he thinks everyone's almost done for the day, so he probably assumed you were almost done by the time he was headed home). You didn't mention being the last person to leave, but it's easy enough to assume that it wouldn't matter anyway to Levi since he knows you were working well into the night at the takeout place across the street.

Now, instead of slaving over paperwork as you planned for today and tomorrow, you're starting to think of what fun things you can do in your new free time.

Erwin getting you a day off, nevermind two, is a bit out of reach, though. Erwin has a fair amount of pull in the office, just not enough to get you two workdays off. You suppose that it isn't actually two days, since you leave early on Fridays anyway and you've cleared away almost an hour's worth of work already.

You can only assume that he asked Nile about it when he was here because you don't want to ask and accidentally dig yourself into a hole you can't get out of (that hole being boring corporate talk about position jurisdiction and metaphorical industry ladders).

"Thank you, Erwin. I really appreciate it," you tell him.

"I know that you've gotten the short end of the stick in terms of paperwork around here, and I apologize that I can't do anything about that right now," he starts. "But I want you to know that I am sincerely sorry."

You wave him off. "It's okay. Stop apologizing before it gets weird."

He chuckles. "You say the same thing about your parking space."

You roll your eyes. "Because it's true."

"Speaking of which, that was the bad news."

"What is?" You ask.

"I still haven't been able to get you your spot back," he replies.

If this is Erwin's version of bad news, he's definitely thinking that public transit is worse than it actually is.

Well, sometimes it is: it gets crowded, it's noisy, and you can't sleep because you can't afford to miss your stop, but that's not really any as much as an inconvenience as Erwin makes it out to be. The bus drivers are nice, you've never had much problem getting a seat, and you don't have to go through the absolute agony that is navigating the city. Gas is also really expensive, and it's a more financially sound decision to just continue using the firm-funded bus pass.

You also first met Levi on the bus, and you probably never would've been introduced to him and the rest of the crew if you hadn't ever told Hange about his bird keychain.

"I don't mind, it's okay," you tell him. You take another sip of your tea, and you move to reach for your teapot to pour yourself more.

Erwin gets to it faster, so he picks it up for you and pours it himself. You imagine that he does the same for Levi when the two of them spend time together (though, now that you've gotten to know him a bit better, it's more likely that Levi slaps Erwin's hand away and tells him that his hands are too burly and that he'll break the teapot). "You sure?" He asks.

You nod, raising your cup to him in thanks. "Yeah, I actually kind of enjoy it now."

He takes another drink of his coffee, though, it's a bit awkward how slow he is. "That's good, then. Don't worry, I'm sure I'll be able to get your space back before the end of the spring."

You don't really care to get an estimate, but you appreciate that Erwin informs you anyway, and you tell him that. He tells you that there's nothing else from him, which confuses you because he doesn't mention raising the budget to accommodate offering the interns any full-time positions, but you choose to, again, not say anything to avoid any confrontation or questions about how you know.

He excuses you, and you thank him again before you bring your tea with you to the breakroom to clean up your tableware. At the sink, you hum as you pour the rest of your tea into a larger disposable cup from one of the cupboards, and you scrub your teapot clean as you always do before you go home.

You're careful to not drop anything as you make the walk back to your office, and you can only awkwardly try to knock by tapping the door with your elbow. Luckily, someone hears you, and it's Eren that opens the door. He moves aside to let you set your things down, and you slump into your chair with a lazy smile.

"Why do you look so happy? Did you get promoted?" Eren asks, coming back to sit in his seat too. They all look at you hopefully, but you shake your head.

"Did you seriously think that I'd get promoted? I've only been working here full-time for two years," you tell them. You go to reach for the pen on your desk and go back to doing your paperwork. "Erwin gave me an early weekend, so I'm going home after lunch."

"That's great news!" Armin tells you. You nod at him.

Eren groans. "Why couldn't that be all of us?"

You, Mikasa, and Armin all look at him with hard glares (though, Mikasa's is definitely the meanest).

"She has, like, the same amount of work as all three of us combined, Eren."

As the three of them bicker, you quietly listen to them and just proceed with your paperwork. Eventually, Armin and Eren leave your office, and you and Mikasa continue working until it's lunchtime. The other two come back to your office, and you all have a great time complaining about work (and law school, in their case), talking about your personal lives, and making jokes at each other's expense. You leave your key to Mikasa so she can get into your office tomorrow, and then you're off to the bus stop at 1:35 PM.

You swing your arms as you stroll, looking around as if you're in a new city. It's different, walking during peak foot traffic, but it's a nice change. Instead of the usual serious businesspeople and burnt-out college students, you see groups of friends drinking lattes as they walk and people taking their dogs on runs. Sure, you get out of work earlier on Fridays, but people aren't really out and about at 3 in the afternoon unless they have somewhere to be.

The bus comes into view just as you reach the bus stop, so you stand in the line of people already there. They get on smoothly, and you take out your bus fare card as you're waiting. You thank the driver as you start heading inside. As you walk in farther, though, you're surprised to see Levi, looking down at his phone.

The two of you just seem to keep running into each other, huh? First on Saturday at the supermarket, then on Tuesday (even if that is not technically a coincidence when it was organized by the scheming duo that is Hange and Erwin), then yesterday at the takeout spot, and right now.

You sit down next to him, just as you have been for a while now, and you lean over slightly to bump your shoulder against his. He doesn't react, so you lightly step on his right foot.

"Watch where you're stepping," he grumbles, not looking up from his phone.

"Sorry, I'll pay more attention next time."

At the sound of your voice, he turns to look at you. "What're you doing here?"

You sit upright now, moving to set your briefcase on your lap. "Erwin let me out early, and I don't have to come in tomorrow."

He sighs as he pockets his phone. "Thank fucking god."

"What about you?"

"Coming back from lecture."

You feel happy to be sitting next to him, like you're excited to tell him about your week, but you remind yourself that he's probably annoyed of you by now, so you look out to the window in front of you to give yourself something to focus on. You don't want to get out your phone since you think you'll just find yourself feeling bad for not making more of an effort to make plans with other people for the weekend, so you let your mind travel to other things.

You should probably go grocery shopping now, since you don't see yourself wanting to go out at all once you're back at your apartment. You tell yourself that you'll get off at Rose to do that.

You go through a mental checklist in your head of all the basic ingredients you have at home and what you'd need to buy, but just as you're trying to remember if you have any cream in your fridge, you feel a tap on your left foot.

"Hm?" You look over at Levi, who's now moving his shoe away from yours but still looks down at the floor.

"Aren't you going to ask how my week was?" He asks.

You raise an eyebrow at him. "Aren't you tired of talking to me all the time?"

He scoffs. "Does it seem like I am?"

You hum, looking down at your shoes. Instead of stepping on top of his shoe, you pivot your foot so that the sides of your shoes touch. "I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, I'm not, so fucking ask me already. You aren't gonna be here tomorrow, right?"

You laugh, shaking your head. "Guess not. So, how was your week?"

This time, instead of politely saying that it was "fine" or that nothing special happened, he readjusts his backpack on his lap and clears his throat so he can complain about how much he hates his coworkers and how Isabel cleans the house. You're too scared to fully turn to face him as he talks since the seats are already so close together, so you keep your eyes trained on his bird keychain, which sways back and forth as the bus starts and stops.

He makes no mention of your frequent run-ins with one another, but he still has more than enough to tell you about as the bus drives through the outskirts of the city and on the freeway. He eventually parrots your question back to you, and you choose not to complain about the work itself, instead talking about Petra's engagement and about how the interns are doing. You also don't say anything about Levi or your time with him, but you realize that it'd be awkward to reflect on that anyway, so you understand why he didn't bring it up.

When the bus stops at the intersection of Rose and another street you can't ever seem to remember, Levi's surprised that you're getting off too.

"Following me home now?" He asks once you're both on the sidewalk.

You chuckle, readjusting your briefcase so that it's more comfortable to hold onto. "Yeah, I just can't seem to spend enough time with you."

You intend for the words to form a joke, but you try your best to force yourself to not reevaluate whether or not you're actually joking.

He rolls his eyes, so that's enough reassurance that he thinks knows you're not serious. "Sure."

Neither of you move, still seemingly stuck in place, so you look past Levi at the supermarket. "I was actually going to do some grocery shopping." He eyes you suspiciously, so you wave him off. "Don't worry, I'm sure I won't be looking at vegetables late enough for me to miss the bus."

He turns to follow the direction you're facing, and he hums. "Have fun, then."

You nod, passing by him awkwardly to head in the direction you need to go. You turn once you're in his view so you're facing each other again, and you bring your free hand up to wave goodbye to him. "Get home safe, Levi."

He stays in place, but he nods in his own sort of wave. "You too."

Levi turns to leave, probably in the direction of where his car is parked, but you suddenly realize that you forgot to verbally thank him for talking to Erwin on your behalf and indirectly getting you time off. There's other people walking around, though, so you don't feel completely comfortable shouting out after him, but you hope that you can find another way to express your gratitude. It'd be nice to try and make something as thanks for Levi anyway, since you haven't gotten any real way to pay him back yet other than forcing him to let you pay for his things.

For now, all you can do is try to envision the inside of your refrigerator as you walk over to what's probably your new favorite supermarket.

✰

After you get off the bus, you have a stupid smile on your face as you practically run inside your building and skip up the stairs. 

You spend the weekend just as you would've when you were a student (well, at least when you were on vacation): you huddle up on the couch watching shows that you don't quite remember the plot of, you cook yourself meals that take far too long to make, and you let yourself go to sleep before the hour hand has a chance to hit double digits.

Hange comes over on Friday morning to fold their laundry with you and steal some of the French toast you told them you were making for breakfast, but other than that, you spend the weekend by yourself in your own company. You don't mind it at all, even if it is somewhat depressing that your first choice in spending your time off is to be by yourself.

You also get to sit down with your recipe book in front of you for hours to try and figure out if there's anything that Levi would like. You saw Sasha when you went to the market on Rose after work, but she had to go back to the kitchen to finish decorating some pastries before you were able to ask if there was anything she'd recommend for someone who likes bitter things.

You're just about ready to give up when it's Saturday night and you can't seem to think of anything, so you head over to your tea cupboard to brew something up for yourself before you head in for the night. You're tired of all the blends you keep at the front of the cabinet, so you put those all out on the counter so you can reach further in the back for something new. You're not in the mood for anything with caffeine (not that you ever are in the mood) so you take those out too, but you pause when you're in the middle of putting down a smaller, more expensive-looking tin.

You don't ever spend a lot of money on tea, so you think it's weird that you have something that looks so expensive, but you then remember that your mother gave it to you when you visited for Christmas a few months ago. She told you that it was too bitter for her and your brother, and that even though it has caffeine, it'd be a pretty canister for you to keep in your kitchen.

You eventually give up in trying to figure out what you want to drink, deciding to just stick with plain ol' raspberry tea, but you leave out the small tin of earl grey on your counter so you can start figuring out how to bake it into something not-too-sweet tomorrow.

✰

Next Chapter

[neveah-llama]

Robyn

Hahah... I regret nothing!

There’s this small bookshop hidden on a street no one can seem to know the name of, stuck between a run-down theater and an old Chinese restaurant that only seems to be open three days a week. The bookshop was small, if it weren’t for the numerous bookshelves, creating a narrow maze throughout the shop, Robyn would be confident that they could just walk to the otherside of the shop in less than 20 steps, maybe 30 or 35 if Robyn just took smaller steps. And with the leaking pipes, creating wet spots along the dark corners of the room, or the noisy neighbors from upstairs always having a row at least ten times a day, or the fact that the owners seem to be rude to every customer that steps foot into the shop, it sometimes makes the young woman wonder how this small little shop could still be open when it seems like she is the only customer that goes there. 

Then again, Robyn really shouldn’t be complaining, really the two reasons why Robyn likes going to The Second Time Around is because their prices are great for her tight budget, and the fact that it’s open 24/7, meaning that Robyn could just go there after work and stay there reading the whole night. Something that she is really craving right now as they ring up this customer. 

“But I don’t understand, this voucher says I get 25% on my purchases.” A lady in her late thirties said, waving the bright red slip of paper right in front of Robyn’s face. It really is taking all of Robyn’s will to not just snatch the glossy paper right out of those red talons. 

She just has to remember to take deep breaths, just take deep breaths Goodwin “Ma’am,” Deep breaths and smile, “as I said before, I can’t give you the discount because it expired a month ago.” Even though this will be the third time she said it, she really hopes it sticks. 

Robyn had to hold back a scream when it didn’t. 

“Yeah so? I know for a fact that they always accept my coupons even after they expire.” The older lady let out in a huff, chin jutting out and giving Robyn a glare. A kind of glare that would have made Robyn a bit more nervous it it wasn’t on someone that seemed to have multiple layers of foundation, with clumpy mascara, and wearing a bright pink jumper at 11 o’clock at night. Honestly, it would be more scary if it was on a dog. 

“Look I am terribly sorry ma’am, but I can’t accept this so if you don’t want to waste anymore time I would suggest that you give up and just pay the full price.” Robyn’s cheeks hurt and her teeth felt like they were cracking under the pressure but she just had to keep up with the smile. “Okay?” 

It was interesting to see a person’s face turn three different shades of red in under five seconds. 

“How dare you!” Robyn didn’t brother to cover her own mounting anger and frustration, scathing words were on the tip of her tongue when she heard the familiar clacking of the heels and a cold hand squeezing her shouler until she could feel her nails digging into her skin.

“Is something wrong miss?” The fake posh accent, and the strong stench of cheap parfume made her freeze and a weight of dread drops in her stomach. 

“Is something wrong? Of course something’s wrong, she won’t accept my coupon!”  Again with the waving, of the paper. Robyn grabbed the coupon out of the lady’s hand before pointing at the dates right in the center underneath the big 25% in the center. 

“For the last time it’s expired, you pompous ding-bat!” It didn’t take a genius to know that Robyn fucked up, but she was grateful that it was confirmed when her boss sucked in a deep breath and shoved her harshly behind her with a look that obviously said that Robyn was in deep shit. 

It’s obvious that Robyn is not having a good day, if Shareen was here she would say that it would be all because Robyn just can’t say no when someone gives her a sob story. And to that Robyn would say that she totally could, but Abby said her mom was at the hospital for a surgery for her tumor and since everyone else said no Robyn was her last hope. So of course Robyn said yes, and of course in true Robyn fashion she also forgot that she had an evening shift that day, so she’s been here working at this stupid department store for almost 13 hours. And of course today had to end with her fighting over a coupon, insulting a customer, and then almost getting fired from her third job in two months. 

(Well, Robyn would honestly be happy if she left this stupid job, but she can’t really afford that when she’s already a month behind rent). 

And now, in order to (reluctantly) save herself from getting sacked, not only does she have to start working overtime and forbidden from working the register indefinitely, she also has to do Mrs. Catherine a favor by giving the winning lottery tickets to Wilson. 

Which means that Robyn had to travel to the basement.

A basement that aways give Robyn the major creeps, with its dark spaces, random spurts of steam coming out of the pipes, and whatever else that seems to come straight out of a horror movie set. 

Just think, if you didn’t have this job you would be out in the streets. Just think after this shift you could walk straight to that bookshop and stay there for the rest of the night. Just think you got two days off, you get to spend two days reading, and finish writing down that story. 

The elevator jerks to a stop, letting out a small ding before slowly opening it’s doors to show a dingy dark hallway. 

Deep breaths Robyn, just take deep breaths. 

“Willson?” She called out, a little unsettled by the lack of response. Usually whenever Robyn calls out to the 60 year-old man it wouldn’t be long before he called back, well unless he was working on something in on of the backrooms near the end of the hallway. It’s basically soundproof, you can’t hear what’s going on inside or outside that room. Or maybe he just left early meaning that Mrs. Catherine just made her go down here for nothing.  

Fairly confident in her deduction, Robyn walked deeper into the hallway, the muffled sound of electric current and her footsteps along the concrete ground, were the only thing to accompany her. She didn’t stop until she was standing in front of the last door of the hallway, it’s faded lettering reading ‘BREAKER ROOM’ in all capitals. Opening the door Robyn was taken aback to finding that the lights weren’t on. 

Which means that he left early and her boss made her go down here for nothing! Ugh, whatever it’s fine, even though that means that Robyn will have to come back here tomorrow. But just when she was about to close the door, something fell making Robyn pause and stare into the inky blackness of the braker room. At first glance she can’t really see anything amiss, but after squinting, tilting her head to the side, and giving her eyes time to adjust to the lack of lighting, she finally saw a shape of a figure. 

“Wilson is that you?” Robyn tries to swallow down the uneasy feeling, because it has to be Wilson. 

But that can’t be Wilson, he’s shorter than her by a few inches, and his eyesight is trash. This figure is obviously taller than her and didn’t give her any reaction when she opened the door. She should just leave, take the stairs and get out as fast as possible. 

But then Robyn remembers that she’s a stupid as a rock and has a terrible habit of ignoring common sense. 

“Why are you the dark dude, you know you can’t see past your hands even when there is light.” She was expecting for him to talk back, something along the lines of how he still has got some youth on him, and comment on her lack of respect towards her elders. But nothing was said. There was only that uneasy silence. 

Robyn took a step into the room, letting her hands glide around the room until she found a light switch. With a soft, ‘click,’ the room was flooded with a dim light. And for a moment Robyn’s uneasiness and growing anxiety was replaced by confusion, because in that room instead of seeing a sixty year-old man with a kind smile, dressed in a gray cover-up, she was met with a room full an assortment of mannequins. There was some that obviously came from the storage room still dressed in last season’s trends, and then there was some that looked like they literally jumped out of the dumpster with some of their limbs missing, or scruffed up from years of use. Robyn slowly approached one mannequin that was standing off to the side of the room when she heard the steel door shut with a ‘bang!’ and a lock being put in place. 

“Hey!” Robyn immediately ran to the door, giving the stupid thing a shave, pounding on the steel surface until her fist began to throb a little before giving up, heaving in deep breaths to calm her racing heart. Alarm bells were ringing inside her head, screaming ‘danger!’ ‘danger!’, to the twenty year-old. But Robyn had to clamp down on that because it was just all in her head, it was just her paranoia and anxiety getting the better of her. She really thought she had that under control. 

With a clearer head, Robyn gave the whole room a scanned thinking until all the pieces fell into place. Rolling her eyes Robyn stomped deeper into the room, it was becoming increasingly obvious whose bright idea it was to bring a whole room of mannequins without going unnoticed,  “You’re a dead man, Jimmy.” She mutters. 

If Robyn remembers correctly, there should be another door that leads to Wilson’s office, near the back- 

Something shuffles somewhere in the horde of plastic bodies. 

“Is someone there?” She sees something move near the back. 

“Jimmy I swear, if that’s you then-then I’ll punch you!” Oh wow, so scary Robyn- why don’t you threaten him with a slap nextime? 

More figures near the back started to move, until finally she figured out what’s really moving. It was the plastic dummies, all turning their heads around and slowly stalking their way towards Robyn. 

Robyn stopped breathing when the front row of dummies started moving. She started to breath faster when she gave herself a pinch and felt that shot of pain because she’s not dreaming and there is in fact a horde of moving plastic bodies and-and-and-! 

Something grabs her hand, it was warm, encompassing most of her hand. The unexpected warmth against the cold made her jump and let out a shout before she’s being tugged towards the door. His mouth is moving, saying something, but it sounds all muffled underneath the sound of her blood rushing into her ears and the sound of heart pumping out of her chest. 

“They’re coming closer!” She can barley hear herself over her mounting panic, as she continues to stare at the dummies. Behind her she can hear buzzing. 

A plastic hand is coming closer to her face. 

The lock on the door clicks, the door slams open, it’s hinges screening against the force. Robyn snaps her head to see the hallway and the elevator at the other-end of the hallway. And the shape of a man that was right in front of her and still holding her hand. 

“Run!” He shouts. She doesn’t fight against his pull, letting him take her towards the elevator, she slams the ‘UP’ button and thankfully luck was on her side, because the elevator doors opened up immediately allowing the two of them to stumble into the lift. Along with one of the dummies. 

Robyn let out a shout as she felt it’s arms encircle around her and trying to drag her away from the safety of the lift. Fear and adrenaline were consuming her, almost burning her skin like flire. She tried to use all of her strength to fight back against it only to be surprised how much stronger a plastic body is compared to her (if she wasn’t fighting for her life she would be very offended). 

She was about to stop fighting, just let the dummy just take her, only for it’s grip to start loosen. Out of instinct, Robyn forces it’s plastic arms to realese her, something pops before flying out of her grip, and to her instant relief she’s free! With one last scream Robyn turns around and shoves as hard as she can to get the dummy away from her. She sees the now lifeless mannequin being thrown out of the elevator, making some of the closer dummies stumble and fall before the elevator doors closed. Finally separating Robyn from the horde of zombies.

She was heaving for breath, her throat burn from the chill and the need for water. But there was no water and she could feel the strange man staring at her, making her feel edge. She doesn’t know why, at first glance he looks like any normal guy, with a leather jacket, a purple shirt, and jeans, and yet it was his eyes that tipped Robyn off that there was something off with this man. That and the weird expression on his face, it was like he was studying her as if she was a puzzle he can’t figure out, and with all the confusion, fear, paranoia, and whatever else she’s feeling tying her stomach to knots, she forces all that down and focus on one of the easier emotions. 

“What the hell man!” She shouted, she lets the red hot anger control her movements, pushing the man in the leather jacket, only to become more angry when he didn’t budge. 

“You and your stupid fucking friends can’t play your fucking pranks here-especially when its past closing. I should call the police on you and your friends for trespassing and assault!” She lets out another string of curses, all the excess energy making her feel restless forcing her to move and pace back and forth across the lift. And yet the stranger still said nothing, just kept starring at her with that stupid expression on his face. 

“Hey, aren’t you going to say anything?” She expects for the weird guy to snap out of it before he started laughing, or maybe started to apologize, or something.

“Why do you sound like an American?” That, that wasn’t what she expected him to say. 

“What does that have to do with anything?!” Her voice cracked, it cracked and there was living plastic dummies, or really advanced robots, or a theater group whose really into breaking in department stores and scaring the shit out of people who just want to go home and take a nap, and Robyn was at her wits end! 

The elevator dings, it’s doors opening to the main floor of the store. The strange man finally stopped his creepy stare only for his eyes to widen and pushing Robyn out of the elevator. Robyn started to sputter and stumbled before she turned back to the man smiling with a touch of mania to it. 

Oh yeah, the uneasiness has returned now with full force. 

“Right, well nice to meet you, but if I were you I would start making my way out ‘cause the building is going to explode in..” he has the audacity to check his watch, “...forty-five seconds.” What? 

“Ta’!” He waves at her using a hand from the dummy that tackled her earlier, his grin still plastered on his face as the lift doors closed separating Robyn from the stranger. Leaving Robyn alone in a building that’s about to explode. 

Fucking shit!

Robyn didn’t waste time, she sprints towards the front doors pushing her way out and into the near-empty streets of London and didn’t stop running. Not when she almost fell into puddle, not when she was almost ran over by a car, and not when she hears a loud ‘Boom!’ from a building exploding. A building with a horde of plastic zombies, where there’s a chance that Wilson was still inside and got caught in the explosion. 

Fucking shit. 

Robyn turns around, and over the buildings where she was standing, she could make out a blaze where Henerik’s used to be. She swallows down bile, takes a shaky breath, and continues to run.

To be continued...maybe?

[khuzena]

hello!! i hope you're still taking requests ;; can i request a headcanon on how chamber, yoru, sova and omen (im sorry if its too much) would react when they realized that their s/o is still up after working overnight (or two) on projects and they got super worried and kinda fluff and angst maybe :")) tysm!!! ❤

Deep sleep

Chamber, yoru, sova and omen x reader

Tw: fluff w a little angst

A request I can finally relate to lets go

( ꈍᴗꈍ)(◕ᴗ◕✿)

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

Chamber

He would often stay up all night to do his weapon making projects, so most of the time he'd walk to the kitchen at 3 am to get some coffee but he didn't expect you to also be up all night.

The light illuminating your room and the sight of you trying to stay awake, he sees as you finally succumb in a slumber; placing a blanket on your shoulders he gives a small peck on your forehead and goes back to his room.

The next day he sees you, you look groggy with dark eye bags and a tired expression.

He hesitates for a moment but asks you if you're getting enough sleep and you do say you stayed up all night but tried to assure him that you're alright.

For the whole day, you've been light headed and seem to not pay attention most of the time, chamber would shift his gaze onto you and the next thing he sees is you taking a nap on the counter.

Another night again you stayed up all night and kept telling him to not worry but as he was leaving your room you almost passed out but good thing he caught you in time.

Laying you down your bed, he cradles you in his arms and tries to hush you to sleep, but you insist that he should let you be to continue your work yet he won't let go of you.

You try to squirm around but his grip got tighter until you eventually gave up.

"mon amour you mustn't overwork yourself, just get some rest and maybe I can help you tomorrow."

Both of you spent the night cuddling as he whispered sweet nothings in your ear, trying to lull you to sleep.

After that though, the next day he woke you up with the sweet smell of coffee and caressed your cheek.

Yoru

Most of the time he sleeps at 11 pm but before he goes to sleep he walks into your room and checks up on you.

He'd kiss you goodnight but he noticed for 3 days in a row you've been staying up all night and barely getting any sleep.

He starts to get more worried as your words are slurred, you tell him your view is dizzy but you try to tell him you're fine.

For a few more hours, it's nighttime already and he catches you doing your research for something but he just wants you to get some rest.

He steps inside and only your breathing and the writing of a pen is heard; you're so exhausted you didn't notice him right next to you.

Placing a hand on your shoulder he says, "Go to sleep you idiot, you barely get any rest," you didn't have time to react as he picked you up and carried to your bed.

As he sat you down, he places a cup of warm tea on your bedside table and wraps his jacket around your shoulders.(when he picked you up he noticed you were cold lol)

You try to tease him about him really caring for you but his embarrassed self denied and said it's just his duty to care for you as your boyfriend.(he does care he's just too shy to admit)

When you fall asleep, he stares at the ethereal expression on your face and sighs to himself that he finally got you to sleep early; going back to his room he blushes at the memory from earlier when you thanked him with a kiss.

Sova

Back when he was a kid, his babushka would tell him to sleep early as it will make him healthier and that staying up late will make someone weaker.

He carried that advice from his babushka until now; every 5 am he'd wake up, get breakfast and prepare for training but he decided to check up on you first.

Instead of you sleeping on the bed, he was met with the sight of you going cross-eyed, trying to gather information and finish the project that was due next week.

Your pitiful form trying to write down notes while you watch some guide videos for your project with baggy eyes made him feel worried for you.

He rubbed circles on your back and whispered softly in your ears that it's 5 am and asked if you had any sleep last night which you answered that 'you didn't'.

Sighing loudly, sova was pretty stronger than you so it was easy for him to pick you up and roll you up like a burrito in your blanket as he put you down on the bed.

You kept grumbling to him that you haven't finished your work but he insists that you should get rest first because, 'A person who's tired won't finish their work properly,' he said as he shushed you to sleep.

He cleaned your desk and swept the papers and trash on the floor then dimmed the lights so you can rest properly; relief washes over him as he's glad you're getting some rest.

Omen

Omen doesn't need any sleep, he gets nightmares when he does so spends the night knitting or watching the moon.

He was knitting in the living room, it was already 1:30 am but you suddenly walk to the kitchen to get some coffee.

'wait a minute..' he thought to himself, isn't coffee used to make you more awake? Aren't humans supposed to be sleeping at this time now?

He watches you sip coffee and lazily walk back into your room but he paid no mind, maybe in a few minutes you'll fall asleep, but he was wrong.

It had been 4 am already, the sun was about to set and you were back again in the kitchen trying to brew more coffee.

As you were brewing coffee, you didn't notice him walk up behind you and you jolted onto the counter and sighed in relief when you noticed it was him.

He wrapped his arms around your waist and asked you why you were staying up so late, you replied that you had some work to do.

But omen knew that you should be sleeping by now and not... Doing work this late.

Omen tells you that you should go to bed but you kept insisting to continue your work but he was having none of it.

He stopped you from getting your coffee and held your hand, leading you to the couch.

"Sleep with me here, I read it somewhere humans sleep better when they feel comfortable."

He pulled you in a cuddle and massaged your scalp, slowly making you fall asleep in his arms.

You stopped protesting eventually and fell asleep, he shifted his gaze onto your face and it reminded him of a sleeping cat and you might not see it but he felt like he was blushing.

Knitting while your head rested on his chest and the soft snores you left out, it felt like heaven for the both of you as he stayed in that position for hours so you'll have a good night's sleep.

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Fuck i was running out of ideas but omg thank you for waiting, i was super stressed but im glad i finished this even if it wasn't proofread.

Thank you for reading and requesting! (｡•̀ᴗ-)✧

[loubouskz]

cupid the cat

lee minho × reader

best friends to lovers au, fluff

warnings: none

wc: 1,000+

----------

"are you on the way over here?" I asked, petting the newest member of my household. "yes I am. I should be there shortly, I'm stopping by the store that's down the street, to get some snacks for our weekend." minho said. "okay, I'll let you go so I can get the movie ready to watch." I said, watching the tiny kitten playing with a little ball. "okay bye." he said. just as I was about to say bye, the little one decided to meow, loudly. I cursed in my head as minho asked, "what was that?"

"bye, love you. see ya when you get here." I said as quickly as I could before hanging up. I placed my phone on the table next to me and sat on the floor. "are you trying to ruin the surprise?" I asked the black kitten, who was playing with my fingers now. although I lived alone, my best friend, minho, practically lived here when he was on break from the idol life. "come on, let's go pick a movie." I said as I picked up the kitten. 

we have been friends for a long time now. I had just come abroad during grade school to experience and explore different cultures. I physically ran into him on the way to lunch and ever since that day we have been friends. as we got older, I decided to continue my studies in Korea with the help of my parents and staying in minho's home with his family. now I live here with a decent paying career in a field that love. and just like those generic ass best friend movies, of course I have a crush on my best friend.

after about six minutes of debating on whether to watch emperor's new groove or encanto, I decided on the second one. just as I sat down the remote, I heard the door open. remembering that minho has a key to my place.

"aren't you going to come help your so-called best friend bring in these snacks?" I heard minho say with bags crumpling as he closed the door. I placed the kitten on the couch and walked towards him. he had four bags of snacks and drinks. "why did you get so much?" I asked, taking two bags from him.

he gave me a knowing look before rolling his eyes. I knew the answer to my own question. he took off his shoes and coat, leaving them by the door. we walked into the kitchen and put everything on the counters. "so what are we watching night?" he asked. "encanto!" I said with an exciting grin. "haven't you watch that movie 10 times in a row by now?" he mocked. I just stuck my tongue out at him.

I grabbed a single drink and snack for now and headed to the living room, with minho following in pursuit. as I looked towards the couch, the little black kitten was missing. oh, this should be fun I said in my head. we sat down and began our movie night. 

"he told me my fish would die, the next day- DEAD!" I screamed as I acted the part out by leaning against minho with the back of my hand to my head. he just laughed and went along with me. by the end of the song we were up and dancing and spinning.

just as the dad came through the door in the movie, "OW!" minho said, moving closer to me as we bumped our chests together. "you okay?" I asked with a concerned voice. "I think something just scratched the back of my leg." he said, looking at his pants. my eyes widened becuase i forgot about the kitten for a bit, "but you're okay right?" I asked again. he nodded, "yeah, let's just continue the movie." we sat back down and enjoyed the rest of the movie without any more kitten shenanigans. 

it was already late at night when the movie was going off, minho and i were close together, with my head on his right shoulder. I sat up as he stretched out his arms to the back of the couch. in the process of doing so, his hand landed on the kitten which resulted in the little one meowing, once again very loudly. making both of us jump and turn our heads.

"I knew I wasn't fucking crazy! Y/N, when did you get a kitten!?" minho asked, turning back to me. I blushed and gave him a sheeply smile, "earlier today." I answered. the kitten jumped into minho lap and onto the floor. "and why didn't you tell me? i could have gotten him something while i was out!" 

"that's what you're concerned about." I laughed out. "I'm being serious." he said with a small pout on his lips. "he already has a lot of toys in my room, a lot of treats and food i got when i picked him up. he's good minho." I said as I patted his shoulder while getting up. "I want another snack before we head to my room."

minho got up as soon as I walked passed and tried followed me, but while we were talking, what we failed to notice was the kitten was messing with his shoe laces. minho tripped as he tried to take a step and fell into me. both of us crashing on the ground, me facing the floor with minho on top of me.

"shit, are you okay?" he asked, sitting up on his knees while helping me turnover. I couldn't help but laugh at the expression on his face. I fell back because of how hard I was laughing. minho leaned over me, hands either side of my head. "what's so funny?" he asked.

"I think the kitten is trying to set us up." I tried to say between fits of laughter. I held my aching stomach, as minho look back at the kitten, who was cleaning himself like nothing happened. minho turned back to me with a smile creeping onto his face, "does he have a name yet?" I shook my head.

"I think his name should be cupid." minho said with a sly smile on his face. I slowly stopped laughing and just looked at him. "why?" I said with a giggle behind it.

"this is why." he said before placing his lips onto mine.

[criminalmindzjunkie]

The More Loving One

Masterlist

Summary: Professor Reid finds himself falling for a student. 

A/N: This fic is based on this request. I changed a few things up, but I hope you like the finished product!

Long time, no see! It seems like forever since I got to sit down and just enjoy writing something. And enjoy this, I did. I approached this one a bit differently than I usually do, but I like how it turned out none the less. I hope you all enjoy my take on the Professor Reid arc. The first poem I use in this fic is titled The More Loving One by W.H. Auden, and the second is from a collection of Perry poetry.

Also, I recently hit 2k followers, which is absolutely unbelievable. I can’t even begin to explain how thankful I am for each and every one of you. This fic is my love letter to you. Thank you all so much. 

Pairing: Professor!Spencer Reid x Fem!Reader

Content Warnings: a few swear words maybe?, teacher x student relationship, age gap, exhibitionism (sorta?), vaginal fingering, unprotected sex

Word Count: 4k

           For as long as Spencer can remember, he’s always had a predilection for the finer things in life.

           Spencer attributes the origin of his preferences to his upbringing. In his childhood, before his mother’s disease got the better of her, she exposed him to all sorts of literature. While he ventured to read all types of writings, he’d always been partial to tales of extravagance. A young Spencer Reid sought refuge in the profligacy of it all, as it was so starkly different from his own reality. Forced to bear the burden of household and a sick mother from an early age, Spencer’s own life left little room for reckless indulgence.

           Now, as a single adult male, Spencer makes it a point to give himself up to the finer things as often as he can. Spencer isn’t a rich man, nor is he careless with what hard-earned money he does have. He simply likes to treat himself to the occasional five-star meal, and even more frequently, posh clothing and rare books. Walls lined with hundreds of antiquarian novels and a closet full of Comme Des Garçon cardigans are where the indulgence ends, however, and until recently Spencer was content with this.

           But when she strolls into his life on the very first day of his teaching career, Spencer knows that his small luxuries will no longer be enough to keep him satisfied. The part of him that longs to have only the very best roars to life as he takes in every perfect inch of her. She stands before him, the embodiment of divinity and grace, looking like every fantasy he only dares to conjure up in the late hours of the night. A litany of cliches from every piece of romantic literature he’s ever read spring to the forefront of his mind in the instant that her eyes met his, but there is nothing stereotypical about the way her gaze banishes the air from his lungs. It is as jarring as it is intoxicating. He never wants to look away.

           Unfortunately, she doesn’t feel the same. With a light flush of her cheeks, she turns away from him, and in an equally unfortunate turn of events, she proceeds to shuffle down the aisle and into the second row of seats to the right of the podium. The realization that washes over him feels like ice water in his veins.

           She’s a student. Worse even – she’s his student.

           Spencer wrenches his gaze from her as if he’s been burned, and the fiery shame of his embarrassment makes him tug at his collar. As he struggles to stave away the lingering heat in his chest and even more embarrassingly, the tightness in his trousers, Spencer chastises himself. His own carnal urges often go ignored, a fact that is glaringly obvious as he cowers behind his podium in an attempt to hide his arousal. He feels more than a little bit pathetic. No self-respecting thirty-five-year-old man gets hard just from gazing upon a beautiful young woman.

           When Spencer pulls himself together enough to start his lecture, he positively forbids himself to look her way. It is hard to fight the urge, but every time he catches his eyes wandering to her, he reminds himself that she is an indulgence he simply cannot partake in. No matter how badly he wants to.

--

           It doesn’t take long for her to notice him noticing her.

           In the early days of the semester, she manages to convince herself that the stolen glances are but a figment of her overactive imagination. That, or an unhealthy dose of wishful thinking. But as the semester stretches on and the professor’s eyes linger more and more, wishful thinking gives way to a startling realization that she isn’t alone in her attraction. Professor Reid is, to her complete and utter astonishment, just as taken with her as she is with him.

           This is all but confirmed when a slight brushing of the hands during an exchange of papers leaves them both with flushed cheeks and pounding hearts. Both of their heads snap up, two sets of eyes meeting in a prolonged stare that results in an understanding of sorts. It’s mutual, this thing blossoming between them. She can see her own hopes reflected in two velvet pools of brown – can see the longing, the desire that burns within them. Her heart soars, as she imagines his does, and she accepts the papers with a smile.

           She also imagines that, if he could, he would tell her to wait for him. He would tell her that, for now, their relationship must stay strictly professional.

           This doesn’t stop them from sating their cravings in other ways.

           She makes it a point to stop by during office hours at least twice a week. Her visits always fall under the guise of her studies, but within minutes their hushed conversations stray from the professional and towards a more personal nature. She learns of Spencer’s mother and her condition, of his unusual job and his coworkers that were more like family. In return, she tells him about her upbringing in southern California, as well as her dreams of becoming a criminal psychologist. They never go as far as to discuss what will happen when the semester comes to a close. It is an unspoken agreement that the end of the semester will find them in each other’s arms. All they have to do is wait.

           Spencer can’t voice his affections with words, but he more than makes up for this with his actions. Without fail, every Monday following the very first clandestine brushing of hands, lavish bouquets of flowers arrive at her workplace. Each bouquet is always paired with a notecard inscribed with a brief explanation of the meaning behind that week’s flower of choice. Cherry blossoms to pay homage to her beauty, plumeria to symbolize their new beginning, agrimony to convey his thankfulness that she is willing to wait for him.

           Her favorite bouquet arrives four weeks before the end of the semester. As she steps through the doors of the bakery, a vase full of nine red roses sits atop the counter. The sight of them nearly takes her breath away. She pauses for a moment and runs her fingertips across the velveteen petals before plucking the notecard from its place.

           This week, Spencer chooses to forgo the explanation in favor of a messily scrawled poem;

Looking up at the stars, I know quite well

that, for all they care, I can go to hell,

But on earth indifference is the least

we have to dread from man or beast.

How should we like it were stars to burn 

with a passion for us we could not return?

If equal affection cannot be,

let the more loving one be me. 

           That evening, Spencer receives his first bouquet from her. On his desk sits an arrangement of pale pink ambrosia.

           The meaning isn’t lost on him, but if it were, the note that sits next to the vase makes her intentions clear.

We never had to force love.

We were drowning in it from the moment we met.

--

           Spencer is horribly frustrated.

           A mere twenty feet away from where he stands, the notoriously garish and wholly unprofessional PhD program director is gesticulating wildly to the young woman that stands trapped between him and the hors d’oeuvre table. To find Professor Van Wesep in such a position is not uncommon, due to his penchant for trying to charm (terrorize) the prospective female doctoral candidates. The man is practically a walking harassment complaint waiting to happen. Spencer would abhor Van Wesep even if he weren’t the only thing standing in the way of him and his lover.

           At long last, the semester has drawn to a close. The lonely nights spent longing to hold her in his arms are a thing of the past. By the time the sun rises again, Spencer will no longer have to wonder what her body will feel like pressed against his. He’ll be thoroughly acquainted with every inch of her, and she with him. The thought sends a thrilled chill down his spine.

           The torturous foreplay they’ve been engaging in for the last four months would have surely broken a lesser man. Spencer would be lying if he said he wasn’t tempted on more than one occasion to have her during one of her frequent visits to his office. Some days, when her visits came later in the evenings, just as the sun began to dip low in the sky, her eyes would glisten in such a way that told Spencer her thoughts were none dissimilar to his own. That glimmer of lust had him holding on to his restraint by the skin of his teeth.

           And here they were, on the last evening of the semester. Final grades had been submitted and were released hours prior. Spencer would have been content to skip this event altogether, in favor of more… recreational activities, but his lover insisted on attending.

           Initially, Spencer assumed her insistence lay in her desire to mingle with her future peers and mentors. Her true intentions come to light when she breezes into the room clad in a pair of sleek, designer pumps. Her lips, painted fire engine red, curl up into a playful smile at the sight of a slack-jawed Spencer Reid. The devious glint in her eye twinkles sinfully in the light.

           Tonight isn’t a social call at all. Tonight, she wants to play with him.

           And play she has.

           From the second she arrives all eyes are fixating on her celestial beauty. Peers and mentors alike trip over themselves in their haste to capture her attention, if only for a fleeting moment. She works the room flawlessly, leaving a trail of smitten men of all ages in her wake.

           The most smitten is Spencer himself, because he’s the lone recipient of countless heated glances, as well as more than a few knowing smirks. She well aware of what she’s doing to him, and she takes pleasure in watching him squirm.

          Spencer intervenes when Van Wesep makes the ill-advised decision to reach a hand up to tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. He barely has the time to withdraw his hand before Spencer is upon them.

          “I apologize for the interruption,” Spencer casts a faux apologetic glance at his colleague, before settling his gaze on his target. “Ms. Y/L/N, may I speak to you for a moment?”

           She looks positively gleeful. Perhaps Spencer should have intervened hours ago.

           “Absolutely, Professor Reid.”

           The honorific sends a jolt of heat straight to his groin. He definitely should have stolen her away earlier.

           The two of them say their goodbyes to a confused Professor Van Wesep, whose imploring eyes follow them as they hurriedly slip from the party and down the hallway.

--

           “Where are we going?”

           Spencer leads her down a long corridor, far beyond earshot of the other guests. Pushing her into a dark corner, he positions her between himself and the cold wooden door of an unoccupied office. The only sounds that can be heard are the distant thrum of the music and the eager pants falling from his lover’s lips.

           Spencer pulls her into a searing kiss, one hand tangling in her hair and the other finding purchase on her waist. He worries for a moment that he’s being too rough with her, that he should have taken a more careful approach to their first kiss, but she assuages those worries when she kisses him back with equal enthusiasm. Her hand reaches between them and clutches his tie, then she’s pulling him closer and whining wantonly against his lips. Spencer takes this as an invitation to slip his tongue inside and he finds himself letting out a low groan when he tastes a hint of strawberry.

           Spencer pulls away to catch his breath. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to do that.”

           “Oh, I think I do, Professor,” she laughs, breathless. “Probably just as long as I’ve wanted to do this.”

           Spencer jolts forward when her hand slides down to cup him over his trousers.

           “Could’ve done that a lot earlier if you hadn’t insisted on teasing me for the entire night,” Spencer growls through gritted teeth. He’s more than a little proud of his ability to string together a sentence with her hand working him over with slow, steady strokes.

           He trails a line of kisses across the underside of her jaw, before taking her earlobe and nipping it lightly with his canine. Spencer’s actions are rewarded with a full body shudder. He dips his tongue in the hollow at the base of her throat and her hands ball into fists against his dress shirt.

           “Spencer, please.”

           Spencer hums and pulls back to look at her. The hand in her hair lowers, and he trails a thumb across where her nipples are hard against the fabric of her dress.

           “Yes, my love?”

           Her eyes flutter against the weight of her arousal, and Spencer twitches in his pants. The sight of her with her hair disheveled and her lipstick smeared on account of him is a heavenly thing. He doesn’t know how he ever deprived himself of such a splendor.

           “I want you. Right now.” She punctuates her words by pulling him down into a frenzied kiss. One of her hands tangles itself in the hair at the nape of his neck while the other busies with tugging his shirt out of his pants.

           “Right now?” Spencer taunts, mouth against mouth. His hand trails down the side of her breast, caressing her rib cage and her hip before stopping at her upper thigh. Spencer’s fingertips toy with the tops of her lace thigh highs. “But anyone could walk by and see us.”

           “I don’t care,” she argues, fumbling clumsily as she struggles to undo his belt buckle.

           Spencer’s wandering hand dips below the hem of her dress to explore the silky-smooth skin of her inner thigh. She’s soft here, too, he thinks to himself as his hand travels up, up, up. He stops just short of where she wants him most and she lets out a despairing cry.

           “You wouldn’t mind someone walking by and seeing you with your pretty legs spread wide for your professor?”

           Spencer brings life to his words by lifting her leg up, hitching her thigh around his hip and pressing into her. The silk fabric of her dress rustles as he pushes it up and out of the way.

           A breathy moan tumbles from her lips as he rocks against her, dragging his arousal up and down the front of her lace panties. The friction is maddening in that it provides only the smallest bit of relief. It’s not enough for Spencer, and judging by the way she desperately pushes down the fabric of his pants, it’s not enough for his partner, either.

           “Need to get these off now,” she murmurs against Spencer’s mouth. An eager hand tugs at the elastic band of his underwear.

           Spencer places his hand on hers, stilling her movements. “Not so fast, baby. Gotta make sure you’re ready for me first.”

           Her fingers clamp down on Spencer’s wrist, guiding him to the sodden lace between her thighs.

           “Don’t think that’s gonna be a problem,” she whimpers as Spencer’s fingers take appraisal of the drenched cloth. “In fact, I think four months of foreplay is sufficient enough. Wouldn’t you say?”

           “Maybe so,” Spencer muses, voice muffled as he sucks at the skin of her neck. “But I’m not willing to chance hurting you our first time together. You’re entirely too precious to me.”

           Spencer captures her lips in a kiss so sweet it has her sighing into his mouth. When he pulls away, he fixes her with a smile.

           “You’re not particularly fond of these panties, are you?”

           Her eyebrows pull together. “No, why?”

           Spencer pulls at the flimsy fabric harshly and it gives way under the force of it. He reaches back to stuff the thong in his back pocket.

           “That’s why.”

           Spencer’s lips come down against hers at the same time his middle and index fingers drag across her slickness. His foresight pays off when his mouth muffles the sound of her cries. As confident he is that they won’t be found, a cry like that would certainly have drawn unwanted attention.

           The swipe of his thumb across her crest paired with the gentle pressure of his fingers dipping into her heat is enough to make her legs buckle. Had it not been for Spencer pressing her against the wall, she surely would have fallen to the ground in a trembling heap.

           “I could get lost in you for hours,” Spencer groans, curling his fingers inside her in such a way that makes her clutch desperately to his shirt.

           “Spencer, oh my God,” she keens. “I need you, please.”

           “You have me, my love,” Spencer whispers the promise against her parted lips. “You’ve had me since the first moment I laid eyes on you.”

           Spencer speeds up the onslaught of his fingers until the telltale tightening of her heat warns him of her impending climax. He has to bite down on his lower lip to regain his own composure. The feeling of her tight and wet around his fingers is almost too good.

           “Spencer, I’m getting close,” she whimpers.

           Spencer continues until she’s on the cusp of tumbling over the edge, until one more pass of his fingers against her crest would surely seal the deal, and then he’s removing his hand and taking a step back.

           “Spencer, what the fu-,” she pauses when he promptly shoves his pants and underwear just enough to free himself from their painful confines. “Oh.”

           A dazed smile makes its way to her face as Spencer presses himself against her once more. He sweeps her up into a kiss comprised of pure, unadulterated desire, before pulling away and smirking deviously at her.

           “Jump.”

           It takes a moment for her pleasure fogged brain to make sense of the request, but as soon as it does, she complies without question.

           Spencer’s hands grip her thighs firmly and in one swift thrust he sheaths himself into her fully – an indulgence so grand that all others dull in comparison. Now that he’s had the finest, felt it wrapped around him like warm velvet, he can’t imagine a world in which he must live without it.

           “Spencer!”

           Spencer swears he’s never heard a sweeter sound than her crying out his name as their bodies come together for the first time. It’s synonymous with a siren call, he thinks, because in that moment she could lure him to certain death and he knows he would go with a smile.

           His lips seek purchase on the exposed skin of her chest as he buries himself in her paradise again and again. The sharp sting of her heels digging into his back with every thrust brings out a sort of primal urge in him, spurring him to rut up into her like a man possessed.

           “You feel perfect,” Spencer groans out against the flushed skin of her neck. He presses a soft kiss to where her pulse bounds just beneath the skin before pulling away and locking eyes with her. “When I’m old and gray and can remember nothing else, I’ll remember this. I’ll remember how it felt to kiss you for the first time – how it felt to touch you. How it felt to worship you and make love to your body.”

           Spencer’s voices catches, thick and overwhelmed with emotion.

           “I’ll remember how it feels to love you.”

           Her breath catches in her throat and sharp pang of panic burns hot in his chest. Had he misinterpreted her affections? Did she not burn for him in the same way? Perhaps the ambrosia meant nothing. Spencer’s movements falter, and for several torturous seconds he’s nearly paralyzed with fear.

            She silences those fears with a kiss.

           “Oh, Spencer,” she sighs as she presses her forehead against his. “I love you, too. More than you could ever comprehend.”

           Spencer resumes moving in and out of her, but the frenzied feeling from before is replaced with something else now. Something softer, but no less passionate.

           “Yeah?” he inquires, searching her eyes for any trace of insincerity. He finds none, and it’s a relief. Any hint of falseness in her claim would surely lead to a heartbreak he could never recover from.

           “Yes.” The word trails off into a moan. “I love you, Spencer Reid. I don’t imagine I’ll ever stop.”

           Spencer’s heart jolts and he whines pathetically against her mouth. “I’m counting on that.”

           “I’m close, Spencer,” she pants, her breath hitting his face in warm puffs. “Don’t think I can last much longer.”

           “Me, too.” Spencer nudges her nose with his own. “Reach between us and touch yourself, my love. I want us to cum together. Can you do that for me?”

           She nods, and the hand that clung to his right shoulder dips in between them to rub tight circles against her crest. Spencer doubles his efforts when he sees her eyelids flutter closed, and the resulting tightening of her core leaves him panting hard.

           “Spencer, I-” her breath catches in her throat as Spencer delivers a particularly strong thrust. Her head falls against his shoulder, her soft moans of his name like heaven to his ears.

           “Cum with me, baby,” Spencer grunts out desperately. He needs it like he needs air to breath and water to drink. And once he has it, he knows he’ll need it again and again.

           She gives it to him with a muffled cry of his name and he’s instantly swept away, drowning in the blissful way her body sings for him. His body follows her lead, shattering completely under her fingertips.

           While he’s been through similar acts with previous partners, those instances always felt impersonal and clinical. The caresses and whispered words were all a means to an end, an end that usually left him feeling lonelier and emptier than when he started. But right now, as he feels the beat of her heart pressed against his own, he swears he couldn’t feel fuller - full of adoration, full of affection, full of love. It’s beautiful and overwhelming and everything Spencer didn’t know he was looking for.

           A raucous round of applause erupts from the direction of the party, startling the two of them. Spencer feels her laugh against his neck.

           “It’s almost as if they were applauding us for a job well done.”

           Spencer presses a chaste kiss to the crown of her head.

           “As they should. That was sensational.”

           Spencer carefully pulls out and lowers her to the floor. He wastes no time in tilting her chin up and capturing her lips in a reverent kiss. Spencer hopes his lips convey his gratitude.

           The two of them pull apart and set to making themselves presentable. Their efforts prove to be in vain when Spencer points out a dark purple love bite nestled into the crook of her neck. She counters this by taking note of the smudge of red lipstick on his collar.

           “What an adulterous pair we make, Professor.”

           Spencer rolls his eyes good-naturedly. “I’m not your professor anymore.” He bends down and places a kiss to her lips before taking her hand in his.

           “I suppose you’re not,” she muses as they meander down the corridor. “Whatever shall we do now?”

           As the two of them step out of the dark hallway and reenter the party, Spencer smiles to himself. Visions of wedding rings flit through his mind. Spencer supposes he’ll have to take a break from the posh clothing and rare books in favor of saving his money. He’ll buy only the finest ring for his future wife, after all.

           “I have a few ideas.”

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taglist: @90spumkin @moon-light-jukebox​ @whxt-to-write @calm-and-doctor @jessalyn-jpeg @pinkdiamond1016 @itsametaphorbriansblog @eldahae @itsmytimetoodream @kasaikawa @shadyladyperfection

[yeahimaloser]

Hi lovely! I adore your writing style and noticed you were taking requests. This is my first request ever so if it comes off a little awkward please forgive me! 👉👈

I was hoping for a scenario where Hawks has been wondering why y/n has been skipping out on get-togethers with him for the past week or two. He gets curious enough one day that he just-so-happens to patrol the area where you run off to after you reject another date with him.

He finds out that you have been going to an outdoor avian clinic and taking classes on how to pamper/massage or preen bird wings in order to surprise Hawks for your anniversary coming up.

But not like totally before Hawks confronts you and blurting out “Have you been cheating on me with a parrot?” 😂

Thank you! I hope this all makes sense. Hugs and kisses!

Hello there!! You are so sweet! and you didn’t come off awkward at all! <3

I am so sorry I didn’t actually mean for this to become an angst fic in the beginning ;-; 

but it is fluffy don’t worry!

warnings: avian Keigo (Keigo having bird like tendencies)

Also I schedule this to be a bit later than I normally post, I’ll most likely be asleep when this goes up so I just wanted to say to everyone thank you for reading!!

word count: 3.3k

------

He tapped his foot against the floor of the restaurant, his patience deteriorating every second as he stared at the door.

As the fastest hero, Keigo never really had any patients for just about anything. One thing he hated more than anything was people being late, he moved fast, he wanted people to move fast with him.

All he wanted to do was go on a nice date night, have some dinner, and go home and watch a movie or something. He just wanted to spend time with you.

You normally never skipped out on dates, so why now? 

He had noticed your absence in the last few weeks, more and more you would skip out on him. 

The anxiety bubbling in his heart was starting to spill over, seeping into his attitude in daily life. In his head, he wondered if maybe you were trying to signal to him that you weren’t interested in dating anymore, that maybe you were just silently drifting from him. But he loved the 11 months he got to spend with you, he’d never experienced anything like it. It was fresh, new, loving, he didn’t want it to end. Those thoughts had made him feel miserable for the last week or so, but he was still confused by you. Although you skipped out on dates and such, you still acted so lovingly towards him. You would still come home and snuggle up to him, you would still run your fingers through his hair at night, you would still talk mindlessly about your day, as though nothing was remotely bothering you.

So, maybe you really were busy, perhaps he was just looking too much into the issue.

But still, getting stood up for the 4th time in a row would make anyone a bit upset. 

He left the restaurant, paying for the drink he had ordered, and went on his way home.

Maybe it was a side effect of his quirk, but when he had these sorts of thoughts his wings would get all twitchy. He had done the research and found that when birds were in a high-stress situation they plucked at their feathers. The article also said that when a person that said a bird was attached to someone that abandons them, they get even more stressed and irritated. Which he supposed made sense. He would never admit it to very many people, (and if the press got a hold of it he would honestly shoot himself) but he had some bird tendencies.

Not big ones, just small ones.

He would bob his head in time with music sometimes, his pupils would dilate and contract when he was concentrating on something, he would mindlessly coo and cluck randomly as well.

Luckily, the commission taught him to control his bird-like tendencies, they told him that some of his bird traits were “off-putting”. But he really wasn’t sure what they were talking about, animal quirks weren’t uncommon, but he didn’t complain, he didn’t mind the help. 

But since he’s been dating you, he found himself getting more and more of these tendencies.

A few times, he would find random shiny objects and give them to you, he acted all excited about it too, saying, “I saw it and thought that you could keep it! It’s super pretty so, I don’t know, I thought you’d think it was cool.” After he said that, you just took the objects and told him he was so adorable. 

Another time, when you two were just out and about, he had seen you talk to someone with a similar bird quirk to his. He didn’t even know what came over him, but he squawked at the man, effectively freaking him and you out.

He apologized profusely after that. 

There was one bird-like quality he didn’t mind all that much, and that was the preening of his feathers. It was honestly so relaxing, the dirt and dust from flying seeped into his feathers, so he always found himself soaking his wings in water and then rubbing them with a special kind of oil.

There were some days, however, were all he could do (or all he had time to do) was take a warm towel and gently rub off his feathers. 

And lately, he had found himself going overboard with his preening, pulling more aggressively at his feathers, sometimes even hurting himself. He suspected that it was due to the stress of worrying about what was wrong with you (or him).

He hated all of it, loathed it even. Worse was how hard it was for him to broach the subject with you, whenever he got close he always wussed out. In his mind, even though it bothered him, he didn’t want to lose you. He was so scared that if he brought it up he would hear something he dreaded, and you two would fall apart. 

He loved you so much, he wanted you to stay with him. Another bird trait he learned, some birds mated for life, and he would be lying if he said he didn’t feel that way about you. He just...he didn’t want to lose you.

There was one possibility that was the worst, and yet the most likely. You had been cheating on him.

He really didn’t want to admit it, but it all sort of added up.

You skipped out on dates so you could go out with this other person. When you would become affectionate with him could be a sign of guilt, he read about that online. And the way you wouldn’t see his texts or missed calls when he knew you were on a lunch break, maybe you were seeing someone else. 

Was he a bad boyfriend? He thought that he had become better at this whole relationship stuff, maybe not perfect, but he was getting there. He knew he was hard to deal with, he wished he could be better for you, he really did. He knew he was busy a lot, tired from work, he knew he wasn't the most affectionate guy, but he wanted you, he wanted you so much it hurt.  Keigo thought that you loved him because he really loved you. 

The thought of having to let you go crushed his heart crushed his spirit too. He really did care for you, he knew that you were the one for him, so the thought of you not returning that feeling hurt him.

He flew through the night sky, looking down at the lights of the city. Normally, a sight like this would have made him smile, made him feel like he was on top of the world.

But his wings just felt uncomfortable, the wind blowing through them just increased the feeling. 

He just felt… done. Like the whole world felt heavy to him. Maybe he really was overthinking everything, but he couldn’t help it, he was made to be observant. 

He knew he had a strange habit of over-complicating things, but it was just his nature he supposed. A trained government agent always has to look into the fine details, at least, that's what he was taught. So, with your absence, he found himself becoming more and more paranoid.

He brought it up to his side-kicks and hero friends, and they all said the same thing; he was just being paranoid. They told him that, “sometimes in relationships, things get a little rough, it happens.” But Keigo couldn’t help but hate the whole ordeal.

He sighed, flying faster to his home.

One time, he had tried to follow you on your lunch break. He supposed it was pretty stalkerish, but he was getting desperate. All he needed was reassurance, just to know if you were actually busy or if that had been a bullshit excuse. He told himself it wasn’t a huge deal, he was just making sure you were doing ok.

...ok maybe it was a bit of a breach of privacy.

He had perched himself on top of a building near your workplace. Keigo had made sure that you wouldn’t be able to see him as he followed you, keeping out of sight as best he could.

His initial thought was you would go to a coffee shop, maybe some sort of expensive restaurant if you were meeting someone. 

Yet, to his surprise, he saw you scarf down a sandwich as you entered an animal clinch.

Were you cheating on him with an animal clinch employee?

He wanted to confront you then and there, but from where he was, he didn’t have any reason to.

It looked innocent enough, you were just going to an animal clinch.

He immediately felt guilty. There was no reason for him not to trust you, you had done nothing wrong in this situation. Maybe you really were working overtime and he was just overthinking everything.

He shook his head, sighing, he unfolded his wings and flew off the building he was perched on.

That was a week ago, it was after the third time you stood him up. And now, although he didn’t have any proof of you cheating, he still felt like he had a reason to confront you. He just felt sick of worrying and overthinking everything, and in all honesty, you weren’t helping the situation. Every time he asked you about it, you always came up with some sort of excuse. 

He landed on his balcony with a loud thump, not caring all that much about the noise. 

As he entered his home, he lifted the hem of his shirt off his head, throwing it on the floor unceremoniously. Walking over to the bathroom, he filled a special bowl full of water and made his way back over to the bed.

It was probably a bad idea to preen himself when he was so aggravated like this, but he wanted to do it, his wings felt so uncomfortable. 

His right-wing raised a bit as he sat down, pulling the feathered stump closer to him.

But before he could even graze the feathers with a damp cloth he had, he heard the front door open and close.

Before he had even realized it, he was already zooming down the staircase of his luscious penthouse, knowing full well you were already inside of his home.

“Hi honey,” you slipped your shoes off, not looking at him yet. “How was your day- Oh,” he crossed his arms over his chest, he was sure his expression was one of utmost anger. 

“Where were you,” his tone was irritated, his wings twitched behind him.

“I was working. Baby what's wrong,” he nearly rolled his eyes at your concerned tone.

“Don’t baby me, you stood me up,” he huffed, “again.” 

He didn’t miss the sorry expression that flashed on your face, “Kei, I’m sorry, I really am. I’ve just been so busy lately. I know I haven’t been fair to you, but I’m not doing anything tomorrow! Look I’ll even make dinner for you, ok? Really, Kei, I’m ”

“Y/N,” here it came, “if your gonna break up with me, just do it already

Well, that certainly shocked you (and him if he was being honest). Your whole expression fell into one of confusion, your eyes looked up at him with genuine hurt.

“What? Keigo what are you talking about? You’re not making any sense, why would I want to break up with you?”

“I don’t know Y/N?! Why have you been avoiding me for so long!?”

You sighed, “Is that what this is all about? Well,” you pulled out some sort of form, reaching it out to him, “here, I wanted to surprise you on our anniversary, but I don’t want you to think that I’m doing something dishonest.”

He snatched the piece of paper out of your hand, maybe a bit too harshly. He looked at it and was immediately confused.

It was information on a class about… how to preen birds?

He gave you a confused look, to which you gave him a light smile, “I see how frustrating it is for you to preen them, so I wanted to help out. I saw that I could learn how and thought it would be a cute thing for us to do together.”

He stood in shock for a few moments, letting the guilt wash over him. 

“I-I’m so sorry.”

You chuckled a bit, “Don’t be, it was wrong of me to leave you high and dry on dates, I just had to work overtime in order to get these classes in.”

Now, he felt twice as guilty.

This whole time he had thought you were drifting away from him, and worse, he thought you were cheating on him. He felt sick. His friends were right, he really was overthinking the whole situation. And worst of all, you were working overtime to do something so nice for him, and here he was, yelling at you.

“I-I’m so sorry, Y/N. Jesus,” he shook his head, “I’m an idiot. You were off doing something so thoughtful for me, and I was being a prick, yelling at you. I’m sorry honey. Is there something I can do to make it up to you?” 

But you just chuckled, “Keigo, really, it’s ok. I should have at least done something to convince you, or rescheduled our dates. It’s ok honey, don’t feel bad.”

You moved in to give him a hug, which just happened to be the moment you realized his shirt was missing.

“Uh,” he saw your body straighten up, and your face makes a flustered expression, “why is your shirt…”

“Oh, well,” he scratched his feathers nervously, “it’s kinda funny, I was just about to preen my wings. So I have to take off my shirt in order to get the water to the back. Kind of a weird coincidence, huh.”

“Well,” you looked at him, eyes softening, “can I help?”

Keigo was sure his heart had frozen, after a moment or two, he answered, “S-sure.”

-----

You pulled a stool for him to sit on as you sat down on the bed.

Keigo wasn’t sure why, but he felt so anxious. To tell the truth, he never really had someone preen his wings before. He would always do it himself, it was an annoying effort sometimes, but the commission was very big on him looking good for the public eye.

His wings weren’t super sensitive, but the light touches of your fingers running through them felt like pure heaven to him. The sensation was like having someone giving a message, but… different. It felt nicer, more loving, more slow and nice.

The whole sensation made him shutter.

“Is this ok,” he didn’t miss the anxiety in your tone.

“Yeah,” he said, breathlessly. “Perfect, keep...keep doing that babe.”

The little pulls of his feathers relaxed him more and more, making him seep into the back of the stool he was sitting on.

When you had started to add water to the mix, he didn’t notice his cooing.

“Kei?”

“Hmm,” his mind was so far gone in the relaxation of your hands that he barely registered your voice.

“Are you cooing,” you had to suppress your smirk as his body went rigid, as well as his wings.

“I,” his face was almost as deep red as his wings, “s-sorry.”

You giggled, “Don’t apologize,” you pressed softly into the apex of some of his feathers, “if it feels good, it’s fine if you coo. I won't judge you.”

Softly, he let out a few coos, but he didn’t want to freak you out.

But soon, he realized he couldn’t keep them in, you were just doing so well. 

You moved softly to grab his feather oil, “Uh, so how does this even work? Do I take a few drops and run them through each individual feather or something?”

You’ve seen him preen his wings before, but until recently you had just started to pay attention to how he exactly did them. You had noticed that the oil he used on his feathers gave a shine to the red plumage, but you had noticed he was a bit cautious with the serum.

“O-oh,” you didn’t miss the light stutter and the soft up-take of his voice, “Um, if you want you can just put a few drops in your hand and rake them through. You don’t have to do each one if you don’t want to.”

You thought for a moment, “Alright, I think I’ll just do each feather. I wanna get this right after all.”

And, honest to god, Keigo gulped.

You’ve never seen him this relaxed and yet so tense, you would have thought he was drugged. You would be lying if you didn’t enjoy it though, the way Keigo melted into you, it was weirdly adorable.

“Yeah,” he let out, “yeah ok.”

After that, it was like Keigo could barely talk. 

For a moment, you considered something. When you and Keigo had started to date, you had noticed how he was a bit touch-starved. He craved affection, whether he was aware of this or not, you weren’t sure.

But it made sense, his childhood past, and plus, this was his first real relationship. You wondered if Keigo had ever been shown so decent, honest love before.

Perhaps his bird instincts also played a part in how affectionate he could be. You read once, that when male birds became attached to their mates they tended to get affectionate as well as loving. Plus, some birds preened their mates as a show of love, you wondered if what Keigo was doing was just his way of showing how happy he was with you preening him.

After you were done, Keigo’s head was light and tired. The whole experience for him felt magical, he wasn’t sure why though. He preened himself a bunch of times, why was this the first time he felt this way?

But Keigo’s head couldn’t really process the question at the moment.

“You wanna go to sleep,” you asked, bringing your hands lightly over his shoulders, kissing his forehead.

He let out a small, “Mhm,” as he stood up. You had to help him to his bed because of how wobbly he was.

After you carefully helped him into bed, you turned to go to the bathroom to wash your hands, but Keigo dragged you down.

“No,” he whined softly as you tried to get out of his grip, “cuddles.”

(You couldn’t lie, this had to be the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen him do)

He nuzzled into you, his body flushed against yours. 

That’s when you heard it, the little chips. You didn’t say anything, scared that if you did he would stop. You played with his hair as he chirped into your neck, his wings shivered a bit.

You decided to ask him, “Hey, Kei.”

He hummed lightly.

“I’ve never seen you like this, does it have something to do with your bird instincts?”

Keigo thought for a moment, “Maybe,” his voice was light you noticed, “it could be. Kinda just something I experience because that’s what birds do with their...mates.”

You chuckled, running your hands through his wings again, “Maybe it’s because you're also, like, really touch starved.”

“Oh yeah, maybe. I mean,” he looked at you, like a lovesick puppy, “you are my first time in a real relationship.”

You laughed lightly, going back to lightly stroking his hair and feathers.

“Hey Y/N,” Keigo’s voice was tired, and yet, it was soft.

“Yeah honey,” you asked in an equally gooey voice.

He nuzzled in closer to you, giving you a soft, yet deep kiss, “I love you.”

[aquaticrunner]

Modern Academic Rivals to Lovers | Edmund x Reader

Request by @generalblizzarddreamer : Hey love! I don't know if you're inspired to write Narnia right now but could I have academic rivals to lovers with Edmund Pevensie? Maybe Edmund could be a law student and the reader is a journalism major? Thanks so much if you do it! | Word count: 2.9K

A/N: I did not mean for this to come out so long but I loved the idea and just kinda ran with it. I hope you like it! I had a lot of fun writing it. I’m so sorry it took so long but I’m finally out of school so I’m catching up on all my requests.

I stood up from the small desk I was sitting at in the university library and stretched my arms up above my head. I’d been sitting at this desk for at least two hours and still felt like I hadn’t made much progress on my project. I decided to go searching for some more sources and scanned the section closest to me. A book title on the top shelf caught my eye and I reached my hand up to grab it. Just as my fingers brushed the spine of the book, another hand reached over and swiped it. “Hey!” I shouted, immediately cringing at the loudness of my voice in the quiet library. I looked over at the thief who had taken my book. The guy seemed familiar like maybe we’d had a few classes together. He had dark, curly hair that had grown past his ears and an easy smile that probably made most people melt. 

“Hey yourself.” He said, chuckling as he started to walk away. I bit the side of my cheek in frustration and made the impulsive decision to follow him. “Excuse me, but I need that book.”

He stopped walking and smirked at me. Despite how attractive this boy was, it infuriated me. “Well, so do I.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I saw it first and there’s only one copy.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly. “You saw it first? What is this, primary school?”

“Seriously? Just give me the book.”

I could see the smile in his eyes as he just looked at me and said, “No.” Then he turned around and walked away again.

I decided not to follow him this time and walked back to my desk, fuming the whole way there. He was the most arrogant and obnoxious guy I’d ever met and I didn’t even know his name. I tried to focus on my project again but gave up after about 30 minutes. I packed up my stuff and walked back to my dorm. When I made it back, I checked the time on my phone. It was only 8:15. Too early to go to sleep. I scrolled through the contacts on my phone until I saw my best friend’s name. I pressed the call button and put the phone to my ear. She answered after the first ring and asked what was up. “Do you wanna go out?”

I woke up the next morning with a slight headache and my mouth dry. I picked up the water bottle that I keep beside my bed but it was empty. I sighed and stood up. I ventured into my small kitchen area and filled up the bottle in the sink. As I drank the water, my mind drifted back to last night. My friend, Valerie, and I had gone to a small club and stayed out till about midnight. I had pretty much gotten over my encounter with that guy at the library. I looked at the clock at the wall and cursed when I realized that it was almost 7:30. I only had 15 minutes to get ready for my morning class. I threw on some jeans and a t-shirt and brushed my teeth. I rushed out the door, barely checking to see if I had the right notebook. I walked as fast as I could to the humanities building and breathed a sigh of relief when I made it with 3 minutes to spare. I took a seat in the front row where I always did and smiled at the boy that always sits next to me. I opened my backpack and grabbed my notebook, thankful that it was the right one. I opened the notebook to a blank page and sat a pencil next to it. I was waiting for the professor to walk in when someone else caught my eye. It was the boy from the library! So we do have a class together, I thought. I waited for him to see me but his eyes stayed focused on his path and he sat down in the middle row. I turned my head quickly in case he saw me looking at him. 

The professor walked in a minute later and I tried to refocus my mind on what he was teaching. This class was already boring to me. I knew that research and writing were important, but this class felt almost too basic. As the professor talked my mind drifted to the boy sitting behind me. I wondered if he had noticed me yet, if he was as bored as I was, or if he was paying attention and didn’t notice me at all. 

“Does anyone know the answer?” I was snapped out of my thoughts when the professor addressed the class and averted my eyes, hoping he wouldn’t call on me. “Anyone at all?”

“A research question is focused, complex, and arguable.” My eyes widened when I realized it was the boy from last night.

“Yes that is correct, Mr… ?”

“Pevensie, sir. Edmund Pevensie.”

The professor nodded and went back to lecturing. My eyes stayed glued to the boy, Edmund. His eyes snapped to mine and heat immediately rushed to my cheeks and I turned back to my notebook. Now he’s going to think I’m obsessed with him.

When the professor dismissed class after what felt like forever, I threw my stuff in my bag and rushed out of my seat. I made it out the door and thought I was clear and my path was blocked. “Excuse me.” I said, trying to get past.

“Avoiding someone?” His voice burned into my soul and I jumped back.

“No. I just have somewhere to be.” My eyes drifted up his chest as I leaned up to meet his eyes.

The corner of his mouth ticked up and he narrowed his eyes at me. “Right. I’m Edmund by the way. Figured I should introduce myself after you called me a thief.”

I rolled my eyes. “You are a thief. And I heard your name. Everyone in class did.”

This time, he smiled completely. “So…?”

I looked at him, unsure of what he was wanting. “So what?”

He stared at me blankly as if he was trying to figure out if I really didn’t know or if I was messing with him. “Your name?”

“Oh. It’s Y/N.” I don’t know why it surprised me that he wanted my name. Was he trying to be friends or something?

“Well, it was nice to meet you Y/N.” And with that he turned and walked away. Why is he always doing that?

I rolled my eyes as he left and walked back to my dorm, throwing my bag down in the living room. My roommate, Elle, walked out and raised her eyebrows at me. “Someone’s in a foul mood.”

“I am not!” I shouted defensively. She just looked at me and my shoulders sagged in defeat. “Fine. I met this guy and he’s a total jerk.”

Her eyes lit up immediately. “You met a guy?”

“Seriously? That was not the important part of that sentence.”

She laughed. “Well I can’t remember the last time you said the words “met a guy.”” She said, using air quotes around my words. 

I sighed and walked into my room, looking over my schedule for the day. I had one more class and a club meeting later that day. 

“Hey would you wanna grab lunch before my next class?” I asked her, walking back into the living room.

She shrugged, “Sure. I have nothing better to do.”

We ate in the campus cafeteria and I went to my corporate communication class. Now I was on my way to one of the meeting rooms on campus for a debate club meeting. It was my first time joining a club and I was definitely nervous. 

I walked up the stairs of the building and into the room that was on the announcement. A tall girl greeted me at the door with a large smile. “Hi! Are you here to join the debate team?” Her enthusiasm was almost scary but I smiled back and nodded as she handed me an instruction packet. “Great! Feel free to sit anywhere.” I thanked her and took a seat near the middle. Normally I liked to sit in the front but I was a little too nervous tonight.

I looked around for anyone I might know and noticed a familiar boy with dark, curly hair. You have to be kidding me. Ever since our interaction at the library Edmund seemed to be everywhere I was.

He was busy talking to a group of kids at the back of the room. He caught my eye and waved at me with a smirk on his face. I clenched my jaw and turned back around, facing the front of the room.

The girl who greeted me when I walked in had now moved to stand behind a small podium. She cleared her throat to catch everyone’s attention and I sat up a little straighter in my chair. She spent the next hour describing what the debate club was like, our meeting schedule, and how often we attend competitions. “Now there is a sign-up sheet being passed around. Please write your name and phone number on the sheet.” She handed the clipboard with the sheet on it to the boy on my left and he handed it to me when he was done. I wrote what she instructed and passed it to my right, not paying attention to who was beside me. Once everyone was done she announced that the meeting was over and we would receive a message for our next meeting time. I sighed and stood following the small crowd out the door.

“Hey Y/N!” I looked to see who was calling my name and of course it was Edmund. 

I kept walking, pretending I hadn’t heard him, but he caught up to me almost immediately. “Hey, I didn’t know you were interested in debate.”

I shrugged, “Well you don’t really know that much about me at all.”

He put his hand over his heart in mock hurt. “Ouch. You wound me.”

I smiled condescendingly. “I try.”

“You don’t like me, do you?” He asked.

“I don’t have any feelings toward you.” I said in response.

“Riiight. Is this about the book?” 

I sighed. “No. I don’t care about some stupid book. Look, it's late and I have to go. Bye.”

I walked away from him and headed back to my dorm for the night, trying to concentrate on my project. 

The rest of the week went by quickly with limited interactions between Edmund and me. Finally, it was Friday and I was ready to take a break. However, before I did that I needed to buckle down and finish the project that I had been procrastinating. I packed my stuff up and drove to the library. I spent hours there and by the time I finished, it was dark outside. I packed my stuff up and stopped by the vending machine on my way out. I reached the doors and pushed, but was surprised when they didn’t open. I pushed again and started to get nervous when they still didn’t open. Maybe there’s another exit. I walked away from the doors and searched the perimeter of the library looking for another set of doors. When I didn’t find any, I walked to the center of the library where the help desk was located. “Hello?” I said, hoping someone would answer me.

I heard a voice from behind me, “Please don’t tell me we’re locked in here.” I cringed, knowing who it was going to be before I even turned around.

I slowly turned to face him. “It’s starting to look that way.”

“Do you have your phone?” He asked me.

“No. I leave it in my car when I’m studying. Don’t you have one?” I asked, crossing my arms defensively.

He waved it in front of me, looking annoyed. “It’s dead.”

I wanted to bang my head against a wall. “Great,” I said sarcastically. 

“Maybe we can use the library phone?” He suggested and I nodded, walking around to the other side of the desk.

I picked it up and attempted to dial a number. Instead of hearing the phone ringing, all I heard was constant beeping. I groaned when I read the inscription at the bottom of the phone. 

Edmund leaned over. “What is it?”

“This phone only connects to other phones in the building. No one else is going to be here at this hour.”

“Well, guess we better make ourselves comfortable.” He took a seat on one of the couches and propped his feet up on a nearby table.

I took a deep breath and sat down in a chair across from the couch. 

He stared at me from across the table and I shifted in my seat uncomfortably. “Why are you looking at me?” I finally asked.

He shrugged. “I’m trying to figure out why you don’t like me.”

“By staring at me?”

Edmund laughed and I felt the tension in my shoulders ease just a bit.

“So are you going to tell me or not?” He asked me.

I bit my lip nervously. This is going to be a long night. “I never said I didn’t like you.”

“So you’re acting like this because you do like me.”

“No!”

“So you’re rude to everyone?”

“I am not rude! I don’t dislike you. I just have no interest in talking to you.” I finally said.

“Why not? I’m hilarious.” 

I snorted in response. “I doubt that.”

“You’re judging me based on one interaction. That hardly seems fair.” He said. I looked away, not wanting to admit that he might be right.

“Well it was one rude interaction. First impressions matter.” I said in my defense.

“Okay, well I’m sorry I took the book you wanted. I needed it for a project.”

“So did I.”

He laughed, but it sounded dry. “Whatever.”

I bit my lip, guilt starting to settle in my stomach. Maybe I had judged him too harshly.

“I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have judged you so fast. Maybe we could be friends?” I asked.

He half-smiled and I felt slightly relieved. “We can be friends.”

I smiled at him for what felt like the first time and he smiled back.

“Let’s play twenty questions.” He said, sitting up suddenly.

“What?”

“Twenty questions. I ask you a question and then you ask me one.” 

I curled my hair around my finger nervously. “I don’t know…”

“Come on, it’ll be fun. You can ask me first.”

I sighed, knowing there was nothing else to do anyway. “Fine. What’s your major?”

Edmund laughed. “Okay, starting off easy. I’m pre-law. What’s yours?”

“Journalism.” He nodded, and I sat for a moment, thinking of my next question. “What’s your family like?”

Edmund smiled and his fondness for them was written clearly all over his face. “I have two sisters and a brother. Lucy and I are the youngest and then Susan and Peter. We’re all really close. I don’t get to see them as often as I like but we text all the time.”

I smiled, surprised at such a genuine response. He cleared his throat and then asked his next question. “What’s your favorite food?”

I laughed and tried to think of a genuine answer. “Pizza. Yours?”

Edmund thought for a moment. “I love anything sweet. Why are you majoring in journalism?”

“Well… I’d like to have an impact on the world. I like discovering the truth and telling real stories. Why do you want to be a lawyer?”

“To defend those who can’t defend themselves, obviously.” He said, jokingly.

I laughed again and thought of my next question. Edmund and I spent the rest of the night talking and laughing. I had seriously misjudged him. He was actually very pleasant to be around. Eventually, we fell asleep and when the librarian woke us up the next morning I was embarrassed to find that Edmund and I had moved together in our sleep. The librarian apologized profusely for not checking before she locked up and then Edmund and I were on our way out of the library.

He walked me to my car and I grabbed his arm before he turned to leave. “Thank you.”

He looked at me curiously. “For what?”

“For making last night a little better. I don’t know what I would’ve done if I’d been locked in by myself.” In a moment of bravery, I leaned forward and hugged him.

Edmund hugged back and I could feel the warmth radiating off of him and his heart beating in his chest.

I leaned back slowly and Edmund kept his arms around me.

“Y/N…”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?” He asked.

I nodded and Edmund leaned forward, immediately capturing my lips with his. The kiss was passionate and I could’ve sworn I saw literal sparks. I wasn’t sure how long it lasted but I was sure it wasn’t long enough. He leaned his forehead against mine and I smiled at the closeness.

“Do you want to go out tonight?” He asked me.

“I would love to.”

He kissed me on the cheek then began to walk back to his car. 

“Hey Edmund!” I called. He turned back to face me. “Thanks for stealing my book.” A smile broke out on his gorgeous face and I couldn’t help but smile back. “Anytime.”

[shemarmooresfedora]

Rebuilding Family

Summary: Y/N and Spencer were college sweethearts at Cal-Tech but once Spencer got accepted to the FBI Academy, he ended things between them deciding it was not fair to make Y/N wait for him. When they meet again years later, he discovers something unexpected.

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Fem! Reader

Masterlist

Chapter 5

“Pretty boy, didn’t you hear Hotch? He said we could call it a night,” Morgan poked his head back into the conference room.

“I think I’m gonna stay back and work a few more hours,” Spencer said, staring at the evidence board.

“Kid, you look dead on your feet. Get some rest,” Morgan replied.

Spencer sighed, turning to face Morgan.

“Jo has a tee ball game on Sunday and I really don’t want to miss it. I think I’ve missed enough of her childhood. So, if we can just catch a break on this case in two days then I can prove to her mom that I can be a good dad,” he turned his attention back to the board.

“So you’re finally gonna talk about this secretive family of yours,” Morgan said, taking a seat.

“In my defense, it was a secret from me too,” Spencer turned around to face him.

“Who is the mom? Even Garcia is having trouble finding her,” Morgan leaned forward in his seat curiously.

“Well that would make sense because my name wouldn’t appear on the birth certificate or any other important documents,” he sighed, “Her name is Y/N and we dated in college for a while before I moved here.”

“You still love her, don’t you?” Morgan asked.

Spencer cleared his throat and avoided eye contact.

“Oh my god, you totally do. Pretty Ricky skipped fifty steps in the game of life and now has a wife and kid,” Morgan smirked.

“She is hardly my wife. She is simply tolerating me at the moment which I am grateful for,” Spencer said.

-

“Baby J, come on! We can’t be late! The team can’t be missing their big hitter,” you called up the stairs.

Jo came running down. She had her red baseball cap on and her hair was in two french braids that you had spent all morning trying to get her to sit still to do.

As you were loading up the car, you heard footsteps behind you. You whipped around to see Spencer holding two cups of coffee.

“Hey,” he gave you a slight smile and extended one of the cups forward for you to take.

“Spencer!” Jo shouted as she ran out of the front door, clomping in her little pink cleats.

“Hey kiddo!” Spencer said as he knelt down to her level and opened his satchel, “I brought your mom coffee but I didn’t want you to feel left out so I got you an apple juice.”

“Thank you!” Jo took the drink from Spencer and twisted open the cap, taking a sip.

“Okay we really need to go. We’re already a few minutes behind and your coach likes you to be there early to warm up a little with your friends,” you picked Jo up and plopped her into her car seat, buckling her in.

“Is Henry going to be there?” Jo asked hopefully.

“Yep, Henry will be there,” you replied, turning on the ignition to the car.

“Spencer, Mommy brought me to the park the other day and we practiced hitting so I’m really good now,” Jo beamed.

“I am sure you are. I can’t wait to see you in action. The other team won’t know what hit them,” Spencer smiled and took a sip of his coffee.

When you parked the car, Spencer got out and unbuckled Jo, lifting her out of the seat.

“Okay, I am just going to talk to the coach for a second because I have snack duty next practice so I need to know of any allergies or dietary restrictions. I’ll meet you by the bleachers. I don’t see JJ yet,” you explained.

Spencer nodded and made his way over to the bleachers, sitting a few rows in front of a huddle of moms.

“Of course, here comes Y/N barely on time today. You know she showed up seven minutes late the other day? I think I may pack Timmy a snack in case she forgets she has snack duty next week,” one woman who was in the center of the group said and all the other women laughed.

Spencer clenched his jaw and turned around, “That’s rather rude for a single working mom who’s trying her best, don’t you think?” he snapped.

The woman looked appalled and opened and closed her mouth a few times silently.

Spencer stood and walked over to you as you were headed his way.

“I think we should stand” is all he said.

You noticed the group of moms eyeing you and nodded. You didn’t want to know what they said this time.

“You know Jo was really excited when I told her you were coming to the game today,” you said as you leaned forward against the fence.

“I am running on two hours and nineteen minutes of sleep but this is worth it,” he chuckled.

Before you had a chance to respond, you felt someone lean up against the fence next to you.

“Hey guys, sorry we’re late. Henry was throwing an absolute fit this morning. The only way I got him to get in the car is saying Jo would be there,” JJ explained.

“Jo was asking if Henry would be there in the car,” you laughed.

“Jo’s up to bat!” Spencer excitedly pointed to the home plate which Jo was hovering over with a comically large helmet and a bat she was trying her best to hold up straight.

“Come on, Jo!!!” you all cheered.

Since this was tee ball, the coaches were pitching to the children and they were slowly lobbing the baseballs. But still, the kids had to have good hand-to-eye coordination to hit it.

Jo swung once and missed the ball and looked to you with a frown.

“Hey, it’s alright, Baby J, you’ve got this. Remember eyes on the ball like we practiced,” you encouraged.

Jo swung again and made contact, the ball flying a little past the pitcher’s mound which was pretty good for a kid her age.

“YES JO!” you shouted.

“RUN!!!” Spencer reminded her with a grin, pointing to first base.

Jo ran her heart out to first base, holding the helmet steady on her head so she could see. Once she made it, Spencer gave her a thumbs up and you blew her a kiss.

-

“I think that performance deserves a milkshake,” you chirped as Jo came running toward you after the game ended.

“JJ and Henry, do you want to join us?” you asked.

“Oh we would love to but Will is already cooking dinner at home. Maybe next time,” she smiled.

Once Y/N bent down to pick Jo up, JJ winked at Spencer and mouthed something along the lines of “family time” and Spencer blushed.

“Is the diner down the street okay?” you asked Spencer.

“Of course, let’s go,” he replied.

In the middle of the walk, Jo started to squirm in your arms.

“I wanna have Spencer carry me,” she pouted and made a grabby motion towards Spencer.

Spencer looked at for reassurance, you nodded and transferred Jo into his arms for the rest of the short walk.

The waitress guided you all to a booth in the corner of the room.

“She’s so precious,” the waitress smiled, looking at Jo in Spencer’s arms.

“Thank you,” you butted in.

Once you all had eaten and Jo had slurped up the last of her milkshake, the waitress placed the bill on the table.

You and Spencer both reached for it but he was quicker so his hand ended up under yours.

“Let me pay, Spencer,” you narrowed your eyes, not removing your hand.

“Please let me do this, Y/N. I know you are perfectly capable of paying but please just let me,” he insisted.

“Fine,” you removed your hand from on top of his.

Spencer already missed the familiar warmth of your touch.

“Mommy, is Spencer coming to our movie night?” Jo asked.

“I guess that’s up to him. Tell him what movie we are watching,” you said.

“Lion King!” Jo exclaimed.

“For the five hundredth time,” you muttered under breath.

“Sounds like fun! I’m in,” Spencer replied.

-

About fifteen minutes into the movie, you whispered to Spencer “get up.”

“What?” Spencer whispered back.

All of a sudden, lively music started playing and Jo jumped up from the couch.

“We always needed a Zazu, Mommy!” Jo giggled.

“Okay so Jo is always Simba, I’m Nala, and you’re Zazu the bird,” you explained.

“I don’t know the words. I’ve never seen the movie before,” Spencer panicked.

“Well lucky for you, it’s the sing-along version so the words appear on screen. You’re not getting out of this one,” you laughed.

“I’m going to be a mighty king so enemies beware!” Jo sang.

“Well I’ve never seen a king of beasts with quite so little hair,” Spencer stood up.

“I’m going to be the main event like no king was before. I’m brushing up on looking down and working on my ROAR!” Jo shouted.

“Thus far a rather uninspiring thing,” Spencer teased.

“Oh I just can’t wait to be king!” Jo bounced around on the couch.

“You have a rather long way to go, young master. If you think-” Spencer jokingly scolded.

“No one saying do this!” Jo interrupted.

“No one saying be there!” you sang.

“No one saying stop that!” Jo sang back.

“No one saying see here!” you both harmonized.

“Now see here!” Spencer shouted.

“Free to run around all day,” Jo began to dance circles around the couch.

“Well that’s definitely out,” Spencer said, chasing after her.

“Free to do it all my way” she giggled as she began to run faster.

The three of you continued to sing and dance along to the rest of the movie. However, by the time the credits began to roll, Spencer and Jo were both out cold. Jo was curled up in his lap.

You snapped a quick photo of the two of them on your phone and then draped a blanket over them and rested your head against the back of the couch, not having the energy to go upstairs to your own room.

[soobasaur]

are you mine?

— a lee minho au

genre: enemies to lovers minho x gender neutral!reader

a/n: this is for my bestie who has been in a minho obsession lately and needs more content, you know who you are :]

« masterlist

you and minho didnt exactly,,,get along very well for a while

the only reason you both even knew each other was two of your best friends were dating and merged ur friend groups

(thanks a lot binsung 〴⋋_⋌〵)

you wouldnt go as far as to say you hated him

but you liked to pretend you did

you just barely saw him around so why not just mke him your mortal enemy??

it was easier to hate him then admit he was decent company!!

you had a reputation to uphold!!!!

and apparently he did too because he never really disagreed,,,,

you guys just ever had a chance to get off on the right foot and really talk

mutual disagreement <33

the thing is, the both of you were never left alone together

like ever

until that one time yall were abandoned (-д-；)

you and ur friend groups planned a hang out but everyone ended up cancelling last minute with no excuse

it was just you two who didnt get the memo and ended up alone

now that you think about it,,,that sounds like smth ur friends would do on purpose

(again, fuck u binsung!! ᕙ(⇀‸↼‶)ᕗ )

so just picture this,,,you and minho both showing up to an arcade and sitting in silence for an hour before getting a text that everyone cancelled

your immediate thought was to go home bc why would minho want to hang out with you???

but after the both of you read the text in the groupchat he got up and made his way inside, holding the door open and quirking his eyebrow up at you

“well, are you coming or not? I wanna try the new vr game.”

and you were just like \\(⊙︿⊙)// ???

he? wants?? to hang out??? with just you????

but u ended up following him in and he paid for your guy’s tickets ≧◡≦

“just buy me lunch after and we’re even”

lunch??? now this mf wants to get lunch together?!$%

you learned one thing about minho that day

he was,,,competitive,,VERY competitive

like what demon possessed him kind of competitive

whenever he won he would flash you a smirk and skip to the next game as he dragged his row of tickets along

it INFURIATED U!!!

ur pride was in shambles

so you unleashed everything after that and won a good amount of games ;)

u had been eyeing a cute cat plush the entire time but u didnt have enough tickets at the end :((

o(╥﹏╥)o damn it capitalism u just wanted a plushie

you didnt rlly want anything else so you gave your tickets to minho and waited to the side for him to get his prize

he came out with tHE SAME PLUSHIE YOU HAD BEEN EYEING \\( ಠ_ಠ)//

but before you could sulk about it he handed it to you and started to make his way to the exit Ｏ(≧▽≦)Ｏ

and during lunch this bitch ended up paying even after saying you should (｀ε´)

\(▰˘◡˘▰)//\\ (▰˘◡˘▰)//\\ (▰˘◡˘▰)// \\(▰˘◡˘▰)//

After that...hang out if you will,,u started to notice minho everywhere

LIKE E V E R Y W H E R E

why was this bitch all over your college campus?

you never noticed minho was in ur class for the longest time jsskkfk

like all of a sudden u just spotted him out of the corner of ur eye and were like o h

once he noticed you too there was no going back

say good bye to paying attention in class

(as if you ever did anyways)

he started to inch closer to you during class

he even started sending you notes

ಠ▃ಠ and u were so paranoid the professor would catch you

but this bitch was slick so u were fine

ヽ(๏∀๏ )ﾉ

he was the type of guy to throw little crumpled sticky notes at you whenever he wanted to say something during class

they’d be covered with doodles of cats and his scribbly messy handwriting + little hearts

it was usually just some dumb thought he had or a crude drawing of the professor (. ﾟーﾟ)

other than those few notes you guys never really talked outside ur friend group

there was one incident late at night tho

you had a big project coming up and it was 2am and you were...2 sentences in T_T

you deserved a coffee break <3

so that was how you found under the awning of an all night coffee shop

except it wasn't all night and closed right after you got ur coffee!!

and now u were stuck under the awning!!

all you had was your measly hoodie that you stole from changbin and your now soggy cup of coffee as you waited for the rain to pass

you might as well of just stayed home since ur wasting all this time you could’ve been working on your project standing outside

were you gonna work on the project once you got home? no

but did the thought of wasted time still make you mad? yes

you slumped against the shop as you bitterly drank your coffee, crushing the cup between your hands

after a couple minutes you felt the rain above you stop

you look to your side to see,,,minho?!

this mf was holding an umbrella above your head

“here, take my umbrella.”

thats when you noticed the cafe uniform he had on

“you work here?” you asked, before taking the umbrella from his hand

“yeah, your observant ass didnt see me literally make your coffee,”

“oh whoops,,,i thought you hated me, why are you giving me our umbrella?”

“i do, but id rather you uh...not die in the cold looking like a dead rat.”

was it just you or were his cheeks dusted pink?

probably the cold

(y/n you dumb bitch-)

you both walk back to your dorms after that

and he insists you carry the umbrella

cus his poor arms are tired from making coffee all day :((

and maybe it's an excuse to be closer to you

since hes a bit taller he has to crouch and scoot closer to you in order to not get wet >_<

⊙﹏⊙ ⊙﹏⊙ ⊙﹏⊙

over the next few weeks your find urself at the cafe he works at more often

one time you got the hours wrong and he wasnt on shift :(

but when you got up to leave he walked in and spent the day helping you study instead of working

you went for the coffee!! not for him!! definitely not,,,

(¬‿¬)

“look, im only hanging out with you cus you get the employee discount.”

“sure, and not cus you enjoy my company-”

“i 100% despise your company.”

ok but u didnt

u actually /REALLY/ liked his company

like WTF

where has he been all ur life

ew that sounded too romantic

but like fr where was he hiding

(・ε・｀)

soon you both were joining binsung on their dates

but it wasn't a double date!!

it was just four friends hanging out and two happened to be a couple

and they liked to hang out at fancy restaurants and do couple like activities

totally normal!!

there was one incident where you were about to pay for your meal but minho placed his hand on top of yours and slid his card instead

“you can pay on the next date.”

NEXT? DATE??

excuse me sir what do u mean-

you ignored changbin and jisung’s snickers behind you the entire night

when minho walked you home you couldnt help but let urself blurt out

“was this a date?”

minho gave you an incredulous look

“...was it not??”

oh my god this is embarrassing

“OH MY GOD WAS IT NOT?!!”

you ignored how minho was now turning crimson red and panicking and tugged on his collar, pulling him down for a kiss

“it was...a date” you mumble, now shy at the close proximity between the two of you

“...im gonna kill jisung.” he muttered, pulling you in for a hug, “he told me this was a double date”

“that can be our next date, the murder of our best friends.”

“wow i am in love with you.”

＼（＾○＾）人（＾○＾）／

minho and y/n murder besties!!

for legal reasons that is a joke

( ˶˘ ³˘(˵ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°˵)♡

thank you for reading !!