#... i just wanted to know the sum of my orders and which one to pay first... 🥲

[saintedbythestorm]

Ugh... sure gotta love how dad always manages to make a small, fast little task into a giant issue...

[kquil]

SIRIUS BLACK | BIKER BOY

sum. : no one messes with a biker boy's biker girl

tags. : fluff ; modern day au ; muggle au ; bikerboy!sirius ; bikergirl!reader ; childhood friends to lovers ; sirius being a flirt ; boyfriend material sirius ; unrequited love? not really ; protective sirius ; angry sirius ; book-lover reader ; you balance each other out ; which is why you're the perfect match! ; Sirius swears a lot when he’s angry…

length : 1.8k

navi. | more sirius black

Growing up as Sirius’ childhood best friend had its ups and downs. The main down was that he was easy to fall in love with and be loved by, even if it remained platonic all this time. However, he came with many ups that kept you close despite the unrequited ache in your heart. His spritely, adventurous and charming nature brings out a balanced playfulness in you, pulling you away from your books so you can enjoy other things life has to offer. 

Naturally, as you grew older, the influence you had on one another’s decisions also grew and he had been able to convince you to join him in becoming a biker. He didn’t want to be alone in learning how to ride, getting a license and eventually purchasing a motorcycle so he had to bring you along for the ‘ride’ too. 

You’ve doubted your choice many times but the freedom it brought to go riding was addictive. Whenever you were angry or sad, all you had to do was hop on your motorbike and leave all those negative feelings behind to finally feel better again. The journey also led to many wonderful memories together, mainly out at 2 am with hardly any other vehicles around, so you had most of the roads to yourselves, giggling at each other through your earpieces and sometimes breaking into song just to fill the silence. All late-night outings also ended in him treating you to your craving for fast food that night.

“My treat, dollface,” it was always his treat; he made sure you never had to pay for a single meal. And even when you try to sneakily pay for items by withholding your order or pretending that you’re not hungry, he’s already memorised your preferred meals from every fast food place, so it’s futile. 

“It’s only courtesy that I ask what you want to order, you know that, right? Because I already know your orders by heart, so there’s no stopping me pretty girl.” you remember the once over he gives you, his smug smirk only growing when he finally meets your eyes again, “It is pretty cute, though, seeing you try so hard to defy me,” — how can he be so infuriating but so charming at the same time?!

On the road, Sirius tends to be the more reckless one while you remain more responsible. It’s the same dynamic you two built growing up, you need each other for balance and you’ve both realised this a long time ago. Since you know how fitting you are to have in one another’s lives, it’s no wonder you’ve stayed with each other for so long. 

To accommodate his reckless behaviour on the roads, you keep a lookout and sometimes go ahead of him to see if there are any patrolling policemen around so he can do a wheelie. However, It’s not a bulletproof strategy and he eventually gets himself a ticket for his reckless behaviour. And, though you felt guilty for not being a better lookout, he doesn’t blame you. He got caught by an undercover cop so you couldn’t have seen it coming anyway. After being ticketed, Sirius hears your whimpered apologies coming through his earpiece and rushes forward to hold you close and comfort you when it should have been you comforting him for receiving a ticket. 

“It’s because I was an idiot and roped you into my shenanigans,” he scoffs angrily at himself, holding you tighter. There’s a pause and when he hears your quiet sniffles, he softens his voice to an almost-whisper, “Please don’t cry, love… you’re too pretty to cry,” 

You stay at the side of the road, hugging each other for a long time, even when the policeman has been long gone and Sirius has never asked you to keep watch for his stunts ever again. 

To accommodate your bookish and goody-two-shoes behaviour, Sirius makes sure to always stop by your favourite bookshop so you can indulge in your favourite book-browsing activity. Even when you protest and tell him you don’t need to go inside or browse any books, he always insists and when you end up taking a book or two to the counter, he always pays. You fall for it every time!

“You don’t have to pay for my books, Siri…”

“I don’t think you realise that I can more than afford it and that I don’t care what you think because it was my idea to stop here in the first place,” you hug him from behind around the waist as he pays for your books and asks that they provide a bag. 

“I’m gonna become a spoiled brat because of you,” you huff with pursed lips but he only pats your hand, where it’s placed on his front. 

“That’s the mission, doll. I bet you’ll just become even cuter,” you can imagine his smiling lips and winking eyes through his helmet and you have no words to say. 

Ugh! There’s no winning with this man!

It was impossible to not fall for a man like Sirius Black. It was sweet torture being his childhood best friend but you’ll get what you can take���

Tonight was yet another night where Sirius invited you out for a late evening ride. It’s pitch black outside but you know that makes it perfect because there will hardly be any other cars on the road. So you quickly gear up and pull out with your bike and park by the pavement, ready to leave upon Sirius’ arrival. The man soon arrives and gives a wave before aligning his bike beside yours. Coming to a full stop, he leans over, tilts your helmet up from beneath its front point and leans down to touch the front of his helmet with yours in a kissing gesture.

“Good evening, beautiful girl,” He greets smoothly and stares longingly at you from beneath his visor as he makes a show of holding his head up with the palm of his hand as his elbow rests on the front tank of his bike. The infuriating git has gotten into this flirtatious habit recently and you don’t know what to do with yourself whenever he does it. The only thing you can do is urge him to hurry up and not waste time as he’s blocked you in with his bike and you can’t escape the situation.

“Hurry up Siri, or else it’ll be morning by the time we finally head out. And you were the one to invite me for a ride in the first place,” you disguise your flustered state with a semi-angry huff. 

His smooth chuckle filters through your earpiece like a seductive song and shoots a shiver down your spine, “Doesn’t matter, as long as you’re there with me, who cares? We can watch the sunrise together~” The two of you start to pull away from where you’re parked and head down your usual route. Tonight’s indulgent meal would either be at McDonalds or Five Guys. 

“Stop flirting with me, loverboy, you don’t stand a chance!” you tease. 

“Never!” he shouts and laughs when you tell him off for being too loud. 

It’s a fun ride for a while; it always is when there are hardly any cars around but, even with cars around, there usually aren’t any problems. Tonight, however, you think you’ve encountered the worst kind on the road: a pissy, drunk driver on the road.

“Whoa! Watch out! Dollface!” Sirius shouts in panic. 

“Oh my god!” you shriek and sharply turn away from a car that suddenly appears at your side on the dual carriageway. The car appeared out of nowhere and, if it weren’t for your fast reaction time, you would have collided and crashed. 

“Doll?!” Sirius calls out, his anger overlaid by worry. He’s seen what happened from where he was behind you and the drunk driver after almost getting hit himself. 

“I-I’m okay…” Looking through the window, you raise your hand, palm-side up as if to ask what’s wrong but the driver only flips you the bird. This was someone you didn’t want to continue any interactions with so you pulled away to the other lane and maintained a safe distance. It was no use, however, as the driver taunted you by pushing into your lane again. “He’s crazy…” you comment and pull back to ride beside Sirius instead.

But Sirius had other plans. He makes sure you stay back while he charges forward and hits hard against the driver’s window until you see the driver pull it down. Through the earpiece, you hear only Sirius’ side of the altercation as your heart races and drums against your ears. 

“WHAT THE HELL’S WRONG WITH YOU?! HUH?! FUCKFACE?!” there's a pause where you believe the driver gives a piss-poor excuse and Sirius wasn’t having any of it, “SHUT YOUR FUCKING MOUTH! YOU COULD HAVE SERIOUSLY HURT MY GIRL AND THAT’S FUCKING UNACCEPTABLE! YOU HEAR ME?!” you pretend him calling you his girl didn’t make your stomach flip, “NO! A— I SAID SHUT. UP! YOU THINK I’M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT?! WATCH ME!” Sirius’ threat must have done something because you see the car begin to speed up but Sirius quickly follows and angrily punches the man’s side mirror so hard the mirror cracks and snaps where it’s attached to the car’s body. With his cracked wing mirror dangling pathetically at the side, the car finally speeds away and you hear nothing but Sirius’s heavy breathing in your ears. 

“S-Siri?...” He doesn’t say anything but motions for you to follow him off the motorway and leads you to the parking lot of the McDonalds you usually stop at. Once there, Sirius takes off his helmet and waits for you to pull up and follow suit. Hurrying off your bike, you also remove your helmet and are cut off by a hug just as you ask if he is okay. 

“I’m not okay…no…” he voices into your hair as you squeeze him tight, “I don’t know what I’d do if you’d gotten hurt, doll,” a sour expression crosses Sirius’ features, one that he buries into your neck where he kisses at your pulse point and you pretend your face isn’t heating up because of it, ”that pigheaded prick deserves to die for even attempting anything,”

“I-It’s alri—”

“I’ve memorised his number plate. I’ll track him down and make his life a living hell, I swear to god… How. Dare. He? Stupid fuck, trying to hurt my girl. He deserves worse than prison. Give him the bloody guillotine, chop off his legs and arms, cut him in half and finally chop off his head…no that’s not good enough. I should round up the boys, give him the beating of his miserable, worthless life—” You’re sure Sirius would have gone on for longer if you didn’t jump at kissing him for calling you his girl for the second time that night. 

All thoughts of torturing the disgusting pig who dared play with your life were wiped from Sirius’ thoughts instantly. Now…all he can think of is how soft your lips are…how sweet and delicious you taste, and how he can easily kiss you all night long. 

navi. | more sirius black

a/n : i'm dedicating this to a wonderful friend of mine @thebestofoneshots i just want to remind her that she deserves so much good for her big heart and endless kindness, and i hope she can find some comfort in this short imagine as a fellow motorcycle and Sirius Black lover. i promise you she's one of the kindness people you'll ever meet and I think she's in need of some extra loving right now so if you could show her some love and support by checking out her writing and leaving her a kind message, it would mean the world to me and her. I LOVE YOU LILLY!

[notlhecxzsa]

Hidden Love - Scarlett Johansson

Warnings: Very very angsty (only in the start), very mean Scarlett (she gets better, I promise! little miss doesn't know how to handle her feelings ≧⁠▽⁠≦), death, very sad reader, almost drowning

Sum: How can a cold hearted CEO handle her newfound feelings towards one of her employees? Will it be wonderful or a disaster? (This is 8889 words, oh god)

CEO!Scarlett JohanssonXFem!Reader

°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°

Y/n's POV:

"Don't worry, Ma. I'll try to send you more money than usual, just rest and do what the doctor's says, okay?" I said on the phone with gentle voice to my mother.

I only have my mother, and unfortunately, she was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer. I never knew my dad, and i didn't really grew up having everything i want, and well, need. My mother needed to work 24 hours, and only having a payment that is good for our 2 days food, but she's so strong and determined, that even that's our life situation, i managed to finish my school.

Now, im working, trying to work hard enough to have enough money to take my mother in a chemotherapy, i've been actually saving up for it, and for her operation, which is not really doing well.

She has so many supplements needed that is already half of my payment, and i still have so many bills to pay, from my rent payment, to my electric and water bills, same goes to the house of my mother that she currently lives in right now.

I'm working at J.Corp, short term for, Johansson's Corporation, i work here from 6 in the morning, then to 7 in the evening, then after that, i have my shift to a convinient store from 8 in the evening, to 3 in the morning. Sometimes i don't really eat in order to save enough money, because i really want my mother to go to therapy already.

She's all i have left, and what more could i lose if i lost her too?

"Don't worry about me, darling. I promise you, i will be just fine. Don't forget to eat, okay? Take care of yourself." She said her voice lacing with the comfort that i missed everyday.

"Yes, i know Ma. I'll try to go there when i have enough money-" I was cut off when the voice of my boss rang through the air from the intercom.

"Y/l/n."

I rolled my eyes before bidding my goodbye to my mother, telling her that I'll just call her back later.

Ughh, what does she needs right now?

It's already break time, that means no work. I only hope she's just calling me right now for another free food, because if not, hell will lose.

My work here in this company has ups and down, well, the downs are mostly caused by my very own boss, Scarlett Johansson. I don't know what i did to that woman, because there's not a day where she wouldn't yell at me for completely nothing, or just gives me tons of works, that i know, is supposed to be for the others to work on.

The ups are because of my friends, well, sometimes, it's caused by Ms. Johansson too though. She's just so random sometimes, like in first, she would act all devil to me as if i did something very horrible to her, then the next, she's inviting me to have a lunch with her, sometimes dinner in a very expensive restaurants, which is im very grateful for, but it's all just confusing.

I mean, why me of all people that is on this building, that is probably much more worth her time?

She always manages to get in my nerves, but in all those bad things she does to me, i can't helo but catch feelings for the woman because of every little kind things and gestures she do to me, which i probably found weird, like...she's always mean to me and all, but i mean...she's beautiful, and sometimes can be such a gentlewoman, that so many people here has a crush on her.

But, i always just take those feelings and thoughts aside. Because, well, she always -not just being mean to me- but sometimes, she get on my nerves that it hurts my feelings already, but all i did is to listen to her hurtful words towards me, while wondering what i did wrong.

It's just all exhausting and very rude of her, that sometimes i just find myself crying in the dark while walking to the convinient store. I already have so many problems, and she still adds up, confusing me and hurting me mentally, and it just gets all to much.

But, even if i want to quit already, i can't. This work is what gives me money to survive and help my mother, ofcourse i wouldn't waste it even if i have to go through hell in the process.

"Come in." I heard her say from the other side of the door.

"Yes, Ms. Johansson?" I asked while looking at her, standing just beside the door.

She looked up at me with a stone cold face, she looked at me up and down, almost looking like she's judging every part of like that made me shrink on where i am standing.

I just only hope for one thing, for her to not yell and shout at me, because dude, i am not really having a very good day. I still haven't eaten breakfast, or even lunch, and it's now dinner time, and im trying so hard not to feel weak because i still my have my shift in the convinient store. Then my mom, and...just all.

The payments of the bills will be coming next week, along with my mother's, and thank god, my payment here will be given to me tommorow. That's why i didn't eat, i will just buy more food tommorow.

"Did you already eat?" She asked.

This is what im talking about the small kind gestures of hers, that i don't even know she do with everyone here in the company, or it's just me.

"I-i uhh- i still didn't, Ms. Johansson." I said with my head hung down. I heard her stand up abruptly, then i heard papers scattering around.

"Did you ate lunch?" I shook my head. "Breakfast?" I shook my head.

"Oh come on, for fuck sake, Y/n! We've already talked about this, didn't we? Don't act like a child wanting to be reminded on when to eat, because none of us here want your burden. We can't just have you collapsing out of nowhere because you didn't ate like last time."

And this is what i said about her, being mean and rude and evil and bad, and just all the worse things you can think of.

"I - im sorry, Ms. Johansson..." I heard her click her tounge, before her footsteps walked near me.

"Come with me, let's eat dinner together." I heard her say, before completely walking past me.

"But, Ms. Johansson, i still have a lot of paperworks to do-" I was cut off by her.

"Shut up and just follow me, Y/n." She said with her usual cold tone.

I sighed defeatedly before running after her, stopping at my desk and quickly getting my back. I just followed her like a puppy until we're in her car, and being the 'gentlewoman' that she is, she opened the door for me.

What she said earlier was true, i blacked out because of hunger and stress, but i just told her that i was so busy, because well, im too shy to tell her my life condition, i don't want her judging me when she's always doing it everyday, i can't handle it anymore if she used my life situation to say mean things to me.

I stayed silent the whole drive, fiddling with my fingers as i did so, and occasionally glancing at her. Her jaw are tensed, all of her are tensed. I always try to act all brave, but in inside, i get scared of her sometimes, that i caught myself flinching at the small sounds that i would hear everywhere.

The dinner, well it was silent too, but speaking of the little gestures she do to me, she did what she usually does, cutting the hard pieces of food for me, and literally flooding the table and my plate with tons of foods.

"Your work time is already over, I'll get you home." She said as she started the car.

"Oh- uhm, actually, can you drop me off at the convinient store but the street after your building?" I asked and she looked at me, frowning.

"You're still working there?" She spat out, making me look down, avoiding her burning gaze. "Didn't i told you to quit working there already? You're living all by yourself, you didn't need to work there too, to survive for the living..."

I do, Scarlett. Unfortunately, i fucking do.

"No wonder why you always pass me late paperworks." She said, and i can see in my peripheral vision that she's shaking her head.

All i wanna do is to cry as she drive the car. How can she say those things to me when she doesn't even know what and how my life is like?

"Thank you, for the dinner." I said once we stopped infront of the store.

"Just get out." She said without even sparing me a glance.

"Bye, drive safely." I muttered before getting out, once i was out, she drove almost instantly.

I felt tears brimmed out of my eyes, but quickly wiped it and shook my head while taking a deep breaths.

It's okay. It's going to be okay.

~~~~~~~~~~

No one's POV:

"Bye, drive safely." Scarlett heard the soft tone of the woman she loves for 3 years.

It's hard to love Y/n in the dark, and be a devil when she's infront of the woman as if she didn't fantasize about Y/n walking down the aisle as she waited on the altar, or having a multiple kids with the younger girl and just living the best life with her.

"Just get out." Scarlett internally cringed and cursed herself for sounding so mean.

Every mean words that would come out of her mouth to Y/n's ear, she would immediately feel guilty and get completely mad at herself.

As much as she wants to be kind and apologize to the poor girl already, she can't just risk it. All of it. She scared and terrified that if ever they got more closed, then Scarlett might no be able to control herself and be all obsessed with Y/n. And she's too traumatized at her past relationship, that it gets in her head when she thinks of having Y/n as her girlfriend.

What if she got hurt again? Or what if she hurt the most genuine person she knows? The only woman who she truly love for all her life. As much as it's a very idiotic thing for her to do those things to the pure woman, she just can't help but do it.

Not that it makes her happy or anything in the latter, but it's most likely just her way of having Y/n's attention, because whenever she'd alone at her, she gets to have Y/n all for herself. She's just so stubborn to makes everything easy and better with her relationship with Y/n.

She knows she's being shit and all, and that anytime, she might lose her girl, but this is the only way she can think of to do, due to what she had been through her life, not just her past relationship.

She don't even have any idea why Y/n is still working for her. But, this time, with the help of her friend's -Lizzie's- words, she knows that this gotta stop soon. Which is her goal. She's just trying to find the courage, and the right words to say, and hoping that she will not gonna be too late for that.

She loved you from the moment you walked through her office door, she's just too scared to admit it to herself, and as days and months passed, she found herself being wrapped up around you finger.

She knows what she's doing is sometimes getting out of line, but due to her stress and on what she's been through, that's just kind of her things, which is not good, but she will surely change it, not just for herself, but especially for you, and you only.

"You gotta stop treating Y/n like that, she's the kindest person i know, and she doesn't deserve to be treated anything like that, Scarlett."

She still remembers Lizzie's words in her mind like it's tattooed there already. But, not to worry, she'll be asking for your forgiveness soon enough, and she'll do everything, even if she needs to get on her knees and kiss your feet.

All i well and peaceful as she sit on her desk chair, listing everyone who she will be paying for tommorow, and you're one of those people, she figured that maybe, this is gonna be a good timing to apologize to you, she can just order you to come to her penthouse that is on the top floor of this building and tell you that she'll give you the money there, then she'll apologize.

That's a good idea, right? Right.

A ding from her phone caught her attention, she immediately clicked the message of one of her men's, that she hired to watch over you. Yeah, she's too possessive like that.

Anger immediately rose inside her body, as the apologies she's planning to do faded in her mind like bubbles. It's a video of you, being held by a man she knows all to well. It's the man that is always hugging you from every video her men's sends her, who is also your co worker at the store.

She doesn't want to think things too fast, but she just can't help but thought of what's your connection with that man. She once asked you about your love life and you said you're single, but this man keeps making her think otherwise.

Anger, jealousy and all rose inside her body, until all of it filled her up completely.

Maybe she can just do the apologies in another day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Y/n's POV:

Today is the day im gonna have my payment.

After a whole breakdown last night at the store, i am feeling very well right now, thanks to my a good friend of mine, Max, he's a boy. He's very kind enough to comfort me and even walked me home, things like that are normal to us, plus, i would trust him with my life, not that because he's my friend, but because i know he won't take advantage of me or anything because he's very gay.

I'm now walking towards to Ms. Johansson's office, instantly warning at the lack of seeing people on the way. Usually, when it's the day of paying off, so many people would be scattering around her, but now? It's dead silence, only the sound of silent conversing, and the typing on keyboards. I was gonna knock on the door already, but i was stopped when Samantha called me out.

"Y/n! Hey! Ms. Johansson said you'll be receiving your payment up there." I frowned instantly.

"Are you guys have been payed already?" I asked, turning my whole body to her.

"Yeah, you didn't know? She sent us all a messages saying that we need to go here earlier than usual..." She explained unsurely.

"No...she didn't...." I trailed of on my words.

I bid Sam a goodbye and said that im gonna go upstairs. I quickly ran towards the elevator with my heart pounding in my chest.

What if she's gonna give me my last payment because she'll gonna fire me now?

Oh god, oh god, oh god-

I was brought out of my trance when the ding of the elevator rung out, i quickly walk towards inside, trying to find a trace of Ms. Johansson, while calling her name. I soon stopped when i saw her laying at a pool bench, sunbathing with just a a piece swimsuit.

I blushed and looked down, trying to avoid her smooth and bright skin.

"Ms. Johansson." I made my presence known, and in my peripheral vision, i felt her looked up, then stand up, there's a movements came from her but i didn't looked up.

"Ms. Y/l/n..." I can hear her voice that she has a smirk. "You can look up now." And i did, and saw her in a robe.

"Ms. Johansson, im here to take my payment." I said politely, giving her a tight small smile, but it was soon turn into a frown when i saw her face fell.

"Ooh, that....right. Well, actually, Ms. Y/l/n, you wouldn't be receiving anything." I frowned, as i felt my heart fell.

"W-what? Why? W-what did i do?" I stammered, my heart is now hammering in my chest.

"What did you do? Why don't you think about the days i always yelled at you for failing almost all of the paperwork i gave you? Did you forget about all that already?" She said with a sadistic tone.

I avoided her gaze, instead i gaze forwards, which is enough to not see her eyes, since she's a lot taller than me.

"No, i didn't, Ms. Johansson. But, as far as i can remember, i already made all my mistakes right. And...not all the time of you, calling me in your office, was because i did something wrong." I can't help but let out that harshly than i intended it to be.

I really need that money, and there's no way i will get out here without that.

"Oooh, getting too confident now, are we, Ms. Y/l/n?" She said with a teasing tone.

I can't help but feel humiliated in our current situation, and it makes me feel so small that all i want to do is to die or just jump right off of this building.

"Ms. Johansson, please, i really need the money. I will do everything you'll say, just please..." I pleaded, maybe being too confident and fighting back would just make her not give it to me.

"Anything?" She asked, and i nodded.

"Anything." I said, looking up at her. I saw a glint in her eyes, but it was soon faded.

"This is what you want, right?" She waved the stack of dollar in the air with her hand, and i nodded, before widening my eyes at the next action she made.

"Then get it." She said as she throw the money to the large swimming pool she has here.

I don't know how to swim, my body turned cold, but the desperation got the best of me.

Without that money, i will not have the chance to pay my bills. I need that. Most importantly, my mother needs that.

"What are you waiting for?" I flinch at her voice, looking back up at her with tears in my eyes.

I felt so little, like a slave, and so poorly humiliated. My heart aches at the thought of someone, treating me like this. I know that she is much up there than me who is literally living like a stray puppy, but she has no rights to do this to me.

She is so evil.

I saw how her eyes changed its look, it's like she got taken back about something, but before she can even utter i look back at the deep swimming pool, where all the dollars are floating.

I took a deep breath, before swallowing the lump on my throat. I walk fastly to the pool, then jump, with one thing on my mind.

This is for my mother.

I heard her voice called me out, but i didn't cared, and tried my best to get all of the money, while trying to gasp for air everytime i came to the surface, only to realize that im literally in the middle of the pool.

With every jump from the bottom, i realized that im at the very deep, my movements became frantic as i felt myself losing so much oxygen, while i kept hearing her muffled voice screaming my name worriedly.

I already drank the water, and some went through my nose, i was gonna reach out for another dollar when i felt a strong big arms wrapped itself around me, and the next thing i know, i was gasping for air while holding the wet money in my hands tightly.

I hope my asthma doesn't attack me right now.

"What the fuck, Y/n? Why the fuck did you do that? You could've died!" She yelled and i flinch while still gasping, and looked at the pool to see that there's still left, i was gonna jump again, but her strong masculine arms caught me.

"Hey! Stop! Stop!" She yelled, trapping me completely in her arms.

I couldn't take it anymore, my chest is burning, along with the pain im feeling right now. I sobbed, and cried hard not caring of what her reaction will be.

"H-hey.." Her voice sounded as if she was being strangled.

"Get off of me..." I breathed out, i want to vomit, maybe because of the amount of water i drunk and i felt it hard to breathe. "T-there's still more...i-i n-need to get that...my-my m-mom needs i-it..." I stammered, my tone is completely broken.

"P-please...i-i need to get it.." I thrashed around her arms, but then she hugged me, completely trapping me in her arms.

"Hey, hey, darling...it's okay, you don't have to get that...shhh, shhh, im sorry, i-im sorry..." Even me, i couldn't recognize her voice.

I stopped thrashing around, but still continue to gasp for air, my cries and sobs filled through the air. I felt so helpless, so poor, humiliated, and very desperate.

I looked down at the money in my arms, avoiding the sweet nothings she kept whispering in my ears. Her voice sounded soft, it tweaks, and sometimes it breaks, like she's crying.

"I-it's still n-not enough..." I said breathlessly. "Get off of me." I demanded weakly. "Please, stop making it all so hard for me...please...i just wanted my money...please...i can't- i cant do this anymore." I whispered brokenly, trying to push her death grip on me.

She kept muttering an apologies, then comforting words, but all i felt towards her is hatred, madness and all the worse things to feel.

We stayed like that until i calmed down. I'm still breathing unevenly, and i know im having my asthma. I'm shaking and all, with my lips quivering as i sob quietly. I don't know what's happening to her as she's holding me tightly, while whispering apologies to me.

Out of nowhere she picked me up ever so gently, while still whispering that it's all gonna be okay, and she's so so sorry. With all the things that had happened, i felt so weak, so weak that i can't even open my mouth because of exhaustion, im still gripping the money that is in my hand.

She went inside her penthouse while still carrying me, both of my hand is on my chest, clutching it together as i still feel my chest tightening, then the side of my head is on her shoulder.

I felt so weak.

My body is still shaking, and I don't know how to stop it.

I felt so cold, and i know that im going to be sick for days.

Why does Scarlett have to be mean to me?

My lips wobbled at my thoughts, as a strangled sob came out of it.

"Shhh, im sorry, im sorry....stop crying already, baby. It hurts my heart to see you cry..." I'm too exhausted to even manage to think what she just said as the next thing i know is she put me on the bathtub.

"N-no...i wanna go home..." I protested weakly, shaking my head as i look at up at her, to see her already looking up at me.

"No, you'll stay here, you'll stay here. It's okay, im sorry please, stay here...stay here for now, please....let me just take care of you, yeah?" She pleaded making me frown at her attitude, but i shook my head.

"N-no...t-the money, i need i-" I was cut off by her.

"The money will be fine, sweetheart. I'm your boss, you'll do as i said." She demanded with a soft tone. I didn't utter a word anymore, then look down.

"Can you give me that for a second, love?" She pointed at the money in my hand, i opened my hand and she took it then out it on the table beside the little table beside the bathtub, but not before kissing my head and saying 'good girl'. Then she took my face with her hands, looking at me with the most softest look she's given me.

"Don't worry about the money, okay?" She asked softly, and i nodded.

"But, i need it.." I said.

"I know, but don't worry about it for now, okay? Clean yourself first- do you need any help?" She asked and i shook my head.

"Okay, im just gonna be right outside the bathroom, okay? I'll get you some clothes and there's a brush and extra towels there, okay?" She pointed at the drawer under the sink.

"Just call me if you need anything, okay?" I nodded once again, and she smiled a little before kissing my head, leaving a lingering kiss there that felt so different.

She left and i started cleaning myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Scarlett's POV:

As soon as i close the bathroom door, i sighed, leaning my head against it.

Why did i do that? Fuck.

Everything felt so wrong, my heart shattered into pieces as the earlier moments ran through my mind once again. Just thinking of how desperate she was earlier to get the money hurt me in the most impossible way, and the thought of her, almost dying because of what i did, is slowly killing me. The look on her face, fuck. It's all plastered in the back of my head, and the scenes kept playing without a stop.

An idea came into my mind, i quickly get her some clothes first, which is probably gonna be too big for her, i put it outside the bathroom door, on the table beside it. Then, i quickly pulled out my phone, dialing Wanda, not before walking far away enough from the bathroom.

"Hey, Lizzie?" I asked.

"Hey, Scar. What's up?" She asked.

"I need you to do me a favor." I said, then get straight to the point.

I told her to do a background check on Y/n's personal life, and do everything to see what my girl's life is really like. Then i told her what had happened, which she scolded me for. I told her my plan on getting Y/n and then after that, she made me promised to not to do something bad to Y/n again, or she said, she'll steal the girl from me, which made me a little aggressive, and cursed her through the phone, then we said goodbye.

After the phone call, i felt presence behind me, making me look around and saw Y/n standing there, looking so adorable and pretty as ever. My clothes is so big for her, but it makes my heart melt at the sight. Though, my heart still aches because she wouldn't even look at me straight in the eyes.

"I- uh, im gonna take my money now, then go home." Her voice is raspy, i quickly made a move walking to the kitchen then getting a glass of water.

"Come here, please." I said softly, while pouring a water in the glass.

She looked at me for a second, and when she caught me staring at her she quickly looked down, before hesitantly walking towards the kitchen countertop.

"Take a seat." I said with soft voice.

Now's my only chance, well, if i still have.

I slide the glass towards her and told her to drink it, which she did, almost downing it in just a 10 seconds. I watch her every movements with longing eyes, as my heart shatter on how afraid she seemed infront of me. It took me everything in my power to not to let my tears fall of.

I knew, by the moment and scenes we had earlier, i knew i already went beyond the line, and i will stop it right here. No procrastinations anymore. I walked towards her and stop by here side until im just a few inches from her. My arms are aching to be wrapped around her, while i beg for forgiveness, which i know i don't deserve, but i can still try, right?

I saw how she became tensed, but still continue on infront of her at a black space. I see her hands that is on the table shaking a little, which breaks my heart a little more, and i see her chest heaved as she breath.

"Y/n..." I called out softly, with my voice slightly wavering. "Can you look at me, hun? Please?" I asked, as i raised my hands to touch her cheeks, but quickly stopped when i saw her flinch and shielded her hands infront of her face.

I can hear my heart shattering into pieces, goosebumps started to form on my skin. I couldn't help and stop the tears that brimmed out of my eyes as i look down at her.

"P-please...i just wanna go home with my money..." She whispered so brokenly.

"Y/n...." I breathed out, but she put her hands down while shaking her head, now looking at me.

"P-please, j-just give me my money, and I'll quit, y-you won't see me anymore, just please, let me go in peace. I can't take what you're doing to me anymore....i promise, I'll quit." She rambled, and my heart stopped at the words she said.

"You can hurt me all you want if that's what will get you to give me my money, do anything- everything you want, yell at me, hurt me, slap me, i-i don't care, just give me my money, please, my- my mother needs it..." She pleaded, with her hands clasped and her eyes full of tears while looking up at me.

Tears are now streaming down on my face, the look she's giving me now, and along with the words she's saying is breaking me apart.

"Stop saying those things, i-i would never hurt you, okay?" I demanded, my voice getting hard.

Why would she thought im gonna hurt her? I would never dare or even think about laying a finger on her.

Am i that bad to her, for her to think this way?

"...and i will never gonna shout at you again, okay?..." My hands seems to have their own mind as it unconsciously went to her soft cheeks, caressing it as soon as they landed on the soft skin. "I'm sorry, im really sorry, not just for the things that i did today, but for all the things i did to you. I-i i never meant any mean words that i told you, it's very hard to explain it right now, but i promise you, there's something behind those things on why i treated you like that. Just please, don't leave, okay? Don't quit on me, please...." I pleaded looking down at her as my thumb continued on caressing her cheeks.

She looked down, and let out a sob.

"But, im tired..." She breathed out brokenly. "I'm so tired." She sobbed out before looking at me with mixed emotions in her eyes.

"You don't know how much you always hurt me everyday by those mean words you say to me, you don't know h-how i feel when i would walked out of you office with my head down ashamed of how much they might've probably think of how idiot i am because everyday, you'll scream at me. You don't know how i felt so humiliated, so little with everything that you did to m-me. I hate you. I despise you." She whispered the last 2 sentence with full of hatred and dark tone.

I sobbed out, before pulling her in my arms, her head is on my chest, i hold her tightly as i sobbed while chanting an apologies. She kept pushing me, but i made no move on pulling away, that it seemed to might've got in her nerves as she weakly punched me in the chest repeatedly. She's too thin and small than me, so it's no use.

I always told her to eat, and always makes her come with me to eat, because i hate how she looked so malnourished.

Maybe, later the day, i hope to find out what her personal life is really like. I have a feeling that it's nowhere near the words of good life, because of how desperate she is on getting the money, but whatever it will be, i took a mental note on helping her with it, it doesn't matter if she would decline or not, because i will surely do anything to help her, and she can't stop me.

"I know, i know you hate me, it's okay, shhh...there you go, punch me, yell at me, do whatever you want, it's okay..." I said with gentle tone while still holding her tightly.

She kept thrashing around, but i just keep her in lock in my arms, while still whispering comforting words and apologies to her ear occasionally. Fortunately, soon enough, she calmed down.

She's sniffling, and coughing, and she's still shaking, making me feel very worried. I pour a water on the glass with my hand one, while the other is still holding her, then i give it to her.

"Can you drink this for me, darling?" I ask gently, she didn't do anything, so i asked once again.

"Please, drink this? You need to drink water, so you'll still gonna be hydrated." I said softly, and this time, she shook her head.

"I wanna go home..." I sighed defeatedly, i kissed her head and put the glass down.

I took her face with my one hand, pulling it towards me for her gaze to be on me. Her face has no emotions, but her eyes says it all. She's tired, exhausted, even. And i know it's my fault. Her eyes are bloodshot red, same goes to her nose, there's so many stained tears on her cheeks, just by looking at her face made me more mad at myself, and felt extremely more guilty.

"I'm gonna let you go home with your money, I'll even double it, but promise me you're not gonna quit. I mean, even if you really do consider it, i won't let you, but say it to my face that you won't quit, or else-" She cut me off.

"Or else what?" She asked.

"Or else you won't gonna get to step outside, and i will lock you in here." I said with my dominant voice, before silence elope around us.

"Why are you being like this to me?" She asked with the smallest voice, after a minutes of silence.

"Because, i like- love you. I love you, since the first day you walked through my office door, i didn't want to admit it to myself because im scared, but as months passed by, i fell more harder for you, and i-...i couldn't stop it anymore-" She cut me off, once again.

"Please, stop with the bullshit-" I frowned and immediately cut her off.

"Stop saying it's just a bullshit things , because it's not." I said with an offended tone.

"Because it is. How can you say you love me after all the things you have done to me? After how you treated me like shit, as if im just someone who's born to be treated like that?" She quickly interfered making me shut up.

I mean, i have my reasons, but i know deep inside me, it's not that even good enough and too reasonable to say.

I'm too lost in my thoughts because the next thing i know is she easily got out of my arms.

"I won't gonna quit, if you would just give me my money, and let me leave peacefully. And, please, if you really are sorry, stop treating me like an animal, and start treating me like a human." That broke my heart, knowing i really did already got beyond the line.

I was too stunned to speak as all i can do i to watch her her her things, and when she's done, she stopped infront of me. I snapped out of my thoughts, and told her to wait until i get the money. I quickly walk to my office, and took a couple stacks of dollars, that is probably 10x more than her usual payment, but i didn't care.

She frowned when i put it on her hands, then looked at me confusedly.

"It's all yours." I said, with a small smile.

"No, im not gonna accept this just because you pity me or anything." She said while giving me the other stacks, and keeping what is rightfully hers.

"No, you don't have to want it, but i insist. Please, just- just take it." I said, giving her the money, but she shook her head before stepping away from me.

"I don't need that, just give it to those who needs it the most." She said before completely walking away.

I tried to call her, but she just continue to walk until she stopped infront of the elevator. I stand up, running after her as she got in, she turned around and looked at me, tears are visible in her eyes.

"No." She said weakly, but i didn't stopped and continue walking towards the elevator.

"Stop!" She demanded, and i stopped.

I saw the elevator doors closing little by little, a lone tear made its way down on my face, just like hers, but hers are more.

"Y/n..." I called out unknowingly.

"Scarlett..." She quickly said with the same tone as me, as if we're greeting each other, but this one, we have a sad tone.

Soon enough, the elevator closed, i walked towards it completely, before throwing multiple hard punches on it. Tears are now completely streaming down my face, as her name longingly slipped out of my lips while i sob.

Did i lose my chances already?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

No One's POV:

"Hey, guys- wait, where's my desk?" Y/n was supposed to greet her friend, but stopped mid way as she took notice of her missing desk.

"Oh god, thank god, you're here! We're gonna ask you the same thing!" Samantha exclaimed worriedly, as Gab nodded.

Y/n felt her heart pounding. What if she's been fired? I mean, there's some good things there, she won't gonna experience being with someone so evil, but she's not ready, by the way Scarlett acted yesterday, saying she won't let Y/n quit. So many thoughts run through her mind, as her friends waited for her answer, the raspy voice boomed from the intercom.

"Ms. Y/l/n, come to my office, please."

Surprisingly, Scarlett's voice is not that cold and scary, it's soft, warm, and she even used a please.

"Go, tell us what happened, okay?" Gab said, and Y/n nodded before turning to her heels and walking towards the office with so many thoughts running through her mind.

She knocked on the door, receiving a soft come in, before she completely went inside. Her eyes quickly landed on a extra desk that is on the corner, with boxes on top of it. She averted her gaze and looked at Scarlett, who is looking at her with soft eyes and small smile?

"Come here. Take a seat." Scarlett softly commanded and Y/n nodded obeying what Scarlett had said.

"Uh- Ms. Johansson, may i ask where's my desk? I mean, my work desk, the one where i work, it's not there when i arrive-" Y/n rambled, avoiding Scarlett's eyes as if she's scared, well, she's nervous, but Scarlett's heart shatter at the thought of Y/n being scared of her.

Scarlett swallowed the lump on her throat, before clearing it. "That's actually the reason why i called you here. From now on, you'll be working here, in this office with me. That..." Scarlett pointed at the desk. "..is yours, and your paperwork will be lessen, but you'll gonna be with me- always gonna be with me everyday and everytime." Scarlett explained, Y/n frowned.

"Is my time here is still the same?" Y/n asked, and Scarlett shook her head.

"You'll go home, once i go home. You'll go here, once i go here. So practically, you're time will be from 7 in the morning, to 10 in the evening." Y/n frowned, but she didn't said anything.

What about her job at the convinient store?

It's as if Scarlett can read her mind, Scarlett speak up.

"And your job at the store is gone, but your payment here will be triple, so you don't have to worry about that. I already talked to the owner of the store, and she immediately agreed." Well, more like, she payed the owner.

Triple of my payment? That's too much. Y/n thought.

"Any question, Ms. Y/l/n?" Scarlett asked, and Y/n shook her head.

"None, Ms. Johansson, thank you. I'll be starting my work now." Y/n said and stood up, but Scarlett stopped her.

"Wait." Scarlett immediate said, making Y/n stop and turned her body to face Scarlett, but still not meeting the older woman's gaze. "...can you look at me?...please..." That's all it took for Y/n to look at Scarlett slowly.

Y/n saw many emotions on Scarlett's face, there's a small frown, her lips are in a thin line, her eyes are slightly red and smaller than it usually are.

"Did you already eat?" No.

Y/n nodded.

"Y-yeah, i-i already ate." She didn't, she already sent all her money to her mother, despite her mother's declines and disagreements, she still did.

Tho, she left money for her bills and all, and a little for her food for a week or 2, but, it's just like for, 1 food for a day.

Even with her best lying action, Scarlett still saw right through Y/n, and she took a mental note on putting more food on Y/n's plate later for lunch and dinner.

"Okay, you may go now." Scarlett said with a soft tone, and Y/n nodded before walking to her desk, arranging all her things again.

Days, week, and a few months goes by, it gets better, it's slow, but there's an improvement on their relationship. Unfortunately, not for Y/n's mother's health.

Scarlett always do this little things that made Y/n's heart soften towards the older woman. Everyday she went to work, there's gonna be a food on her desk, when she would look at Scarlett in curiosity, she would see her being busy and all. Tho, there's no name on it, she knows very well that it's from the blonde woman.

And since everyday, they are together, her heart soften more at the little gestures that the woman does to her, she would open up the door for Y/n, she's very kind towards her now, she's not shouting anymore, and! Everyday, and i mean, everyday, and there's even an exact time that Y/n would recieve different types of flowers, she confronted Scarlett about it, but Scarlett just always changes the topic, after saying; "It's from me, now...blah blah blah...."

Sometimes, Y/n catch Scarlett looking at her, then looked away as if she's not been staring at the younger woman's soul. And ofcourse, with all of those things, it did something to Y/n, but she's just too scared to admit it and figure it out for herself.

Until one night, one moment led to something more.

"Hey, did you guys saw Y/n by any chance?" Scarlett asked Y/n's friends, as she look for the small girl at the crowd of so many people.

There's currently a party for a successful year on their company, and Scarlett decided to throw a big party, with everyone who is working for her, along with other business man and woman who they got to collab in this years events.

Scarlett did saw Y/n earlier, but there's so many interruptions here and there, and she lost her girl. Now, she got the chance to find her as the party started, since they already have a great enough relationship with each other, maybe it's time for Scarlett to move?

We don't want anyone getting you instead of Scarlett, do we?

"Oh, yeah, she actually went home already." Samantha said, and Scarlett nodded before saying thank you.

Taking a few deep breaths, Scarlett told the people who are in charge of the party to guide all the people and to finish this in a few hours already, saying she'll gonna call it a night already.

After that, she quickly went to her car, driving as fast as she could to Y/n's house, with a very nervous nerve and afraid feeling. What if she got rejected? No. I mean, either way she'll always gonna find a solutions to get to call Y/n hers.

Soon enough, she arrived. Some lights are still on, thank god, so she knocked 3 times, only to recieve no answer, so she did it again until she got tired and took it on her own hands to get inside, fortunately it not locked. I mean, she's her boss,and she's worried so what's wrong with trespassing inside of her secretary? Nothing.

"Y/n..." She called out softly, but nothing responded, instead as she walk more steps, her heart broke at the sound he heard.

It's Y/n's voice, she knows it, and the girl is clearly crying, and Scarlett became too desperate to find out. Curiosity got the best of her, and wandered around the small apartment more, until she stopped as soon as the sight of Y/n curled up in ball in a small couch went to her gaze.

She sees the girl shaking, sobbing loudly, a wrecked phone beside her feet, as she hold her face in her shaking hands. Y/n's shoulder is shaking violently, and Scarlett took no hesitation on walking towards her, slowly.

"Y/n..." The younger woman's head whipped at the sound of her name, quickly scrambling around to stand up and fix herself.

"Ms. Johansson-, what are you doing here?" Y/n asked avoiding the CEO's gaze.

Y/n looks so broken, even her voice sounded the same, it sounded so timid that it sounded like in any minute, she'll be bursting in tears. Her chest heaved up and down, almost chaotically, making Scarlett more worried.

She's shaking, her shoulders are violently shaking. She's still in her black dress, a dress that made Scarlett completely mesmerized, and became more simp for the younger woman. Even with her situation right now, Scarlett still finds her the most gorgeous woman that she had ever laid her eyes on.

She'll always gonna be the best girl for Scarlett.

"I was looking for you at the party, your friends told me you might've came home already...." Scarlett started off softly as she scanned the girl. "The door is opened, and I let myself in already, I hope you don't mind." Her heart broke at how Y/n looks so defeated.

"Oh- uh no... I don't mind." Y/n's voice is wavering. "W-what- what uhm-... What do you need, Ms. Johansson?" Y/n asked, still avoiding Scarlett's eyes, as she gaze at her broken cheap phone beside her feet.

Instead of answering, Scarlett decided to walk towards her, her feet softly padding on the old floor as she walk towards Y/n who became tensed at the sudden action, but nevertheless, Scarlett continued until she's just a few inches away from Y/n.

"Are you okay?" Scarlett started off softly, before bringing her head up to Y/n's cheeks, wiping some tears off softly. "What happened? Why are you crying, sweetheart?" As much as it warmed Y/n's heart, she gently pulled her face away from Scarlett's hands, making it fall down slowly.

"I-it's nothing-"Y/n was cut off by her own sob, as she uncontrollably broke down once again, her hands quickly going to her face.

"Hey, hey..." Scarlett brought the younger woman in a big hug, almost covering Y/n's whole body with her tall and masculine one.

Y/n's body rocked in sobs as Scarlett hold he tightly, the older woman's hand going up and down on Y/n's back comfortingly.

"Can you tell me what happened? It's okay if you don't want to, but i'm here okay? You can talk to me of whatever. None of that already, please?" Scarlett's voice wavered at the end, her heart breaking at the sight of Y/n and the sound of her loud broken sobs.

"N-no, y-you can g-go, Scarlett. I'll just do w-whatever you want with me t-tommorow..." Y/n tried to get away from Scarlett's grip, pushing her chest away slightly motioning that she wants to get away, but Scarlett only tightened her grip on the younger woman.

"Y/n." Scarlett said softly but sternly, demandingly rather, as if she doesn't want Y/n to do the actions again.

Y/n stopped, before a pit of sobs broke out of her once again, letting her body fall on to Scarlett chest, the comfort of the older woman is spreading her body like a wildfire, making her ask for more.

"Shhhh, it's gonna be okay, my darling. Whatever it is, it's gonna be okay. I'm gonna be with you, I promise, I'll be by your side, yeah?" Scarlett pulled away slightly to have a good look on Y/n, one of her hand is still on Y/n's waist.

"M-mom..." Y/n started, looking down. "My Mom's g-gone, Scarlett... I-i'm all alone now..." Once again, she cried, sobbing loudly before leaning in towards Scarlett.

Scarlett felt her skin became cold, her heart hammered in the inside of her chest.

It can't be. She already gave Y/n's mother the best doctors, and everyday making sure that everything is going well, all that with and without Y/n's knowledge.

Y/n knows that Scarlett is partially helping through her mother's therapy and all, but she didn't know that Scarlett is also the one who's paying for the expenses on the expensive hospital where her mother was in.

Scarlett even met Y/n's mother already, asking for her mother's blessing on having Y/n as her girlfriend, which Y/n's mother already gave Scarlett freely. Being the charming woman she is, she always visited Y/n's mother until she got what she wanted, showing her good intentions and all.

All that without Y/n's knowledge, but that enough for Scarlett to be calm knowing that no one can have her girl, except her and her only.

But now, Y/n's mother is gone, it saddened her, broke her heart even, she became utterly close with the woman, treating her like her own mother, while the woman treated her like her own daughter.

A part of her is somehow, relieved, thinking that Y/n's mother is already at peace, and knowing that she already promised to Y/n's mother that she'll protect her daughter for forever and eternity.

And she will.

She will never let Y/n feel that she's alone, she's here.

"I'm here." Scarlett said with much determination.

"I will always gonna be here, no matter how much you pushed me away, or whatever. And if you'll let me, I will give you the love I have been meaning to give you all along." Scarlett said softly, and hearing Y/n's sobs quite down she became nervous, as Y/n slowly look up at Scarlett with mixed emotions in her eyes.

Y/n doesn't know if she wants to believe what she's hearing or not, Scarlett had already shown her every thing for her to confirm that the older woman has a feelings for her, she fell for it, and now, hearing Scarlett saying this, it somehow brought the chaotic thoughts calm down about Scarlett in her mind.

And as they look at each other in each passing seconds, both of their hearts grew, and from that moment, Scarlett knew that everything she had been waiting for, the 'forever' she's been looking for, for so long, has now been found.

Her forever is now found.

And she doesn't have any intention of letting it slipped out of her hand, not for forever.

°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~°^~

Wow, I never thought that this would get out of my drafts 😭 I just want to thank @thewidowsledger for giving me all the things that I really need to hear to continue my writing journey, thank you so much, Den! (⁠◕⁠ᴗ⁠◕⁠✿⁠) (Would you like a part 2 for this, everyone?)

[lawliet-ryuzaki-ryuga]

The Hunt

Shouma Toriashi X Reader ( Chapter 2 )

word count :1553 TW: strong language Summary: life as we know it can change in an instant, and so do feelings and the people you meet.

A/N: thank you to the person who uploaded this gif,

MASTERLIST

chapter 3

On our walk back to Yoshino’s place of living as always we pass by all the convenience stores and small ramen shops. 

“Hey I’m hungry, want to grab something to go?” I shout at the two in front of me. Both of them turn and nod their heads in unison. 

I walk into the shop and we’re greeted with hellos and smiles. I walk up to the register to order and ask for 3 ramen house specials with extra noodles and hot sauce for shouma and mild with an extra egg for Yoshino. 

“I’ll pay” Yoshino offers but shouma is quick to grab her hand that’s reading through her bag for her wallet. 

“ No, I'll pay.” Shouma announces, as he reaches into his pocket for his wallet. But they’re too busy with one another to realize I had already slipped the money in between the menu when I handed it back to the person at checkout. 

“ you’re fighting over nothing, it’s paid.” I sigh while walking to one of the chairs against the entrance wall to wait for the order. 

“ Y/N why would you do that! We could have paid.” Yoshino complains as she walks to the seat next to me. 

“ Where do you even get this money, you don’t even work.” Shouma speaks up. 

“ I have my ways.” I responded bluntly. 

“ what, by being one of those hostesses.” Shouma scoffs. 

“SHOUMA APOLOGIZE.” Yoshino yells at shouma while getting up to hit his head. 

“ why? Are you interested Shouma, I go for a large sum.” 

Yoshino gasps at my response and tells me not to entertain this stupid conversation. I agree with her but annoying Shouma at times is what I enjoy the most. It’s not long after where our order is ready and Shouma walks to grab the take out for us and we’re on our way back. The walk back is not long and before we know it we are at the Somei residence. 

The ramen was to die for hitting the spot. We gather all of the trash and throw it away to begin our study session. And as always Shouma and Yoshino are side by side. I always wondered if they were together and just never told me.. the dynamic in which they act could be viewed as a sibling bond.. but I know siblings and I don’t act that way with mine. Granted they are not related by blood but Yoshino always says he’s family. But there are times where Shoums doesn’t act very family towards her. 

“ alright I’m going to change out of this uniform and shower, Y/N you can join me if you want.” Yoshino stands up grabbing her extra pairs of clothing. 

“ I’m alright Yoshino. I showered at school, but could I borrow a hoodie or shorts? I want to get out of this uniform too.” 

“ oh yeah just grab what you need.” With that Yoshino is out of the room and it’s just Shouma and I. 

“ turn around or leave. I need to change.” I tell Shouma but all he does is lay on the floor with his eyes closed. 

“ No”

“ just turn around”

“ My eyes are closed I’m not interested.”

“ you idiot, I don't care, just TURN AROUND!” 

“ whatever.” 

And with that he turns around, I turn away from him as well and I  begin removing the skirt and putting on Yoshino’s sweatpants. Just as I’m removing my top, Shouma speaks up. 

“ I didn’t realize you had tattoos, cherry blossoms?” 

“ SHOUMA!” I yell turning to look at him completely forgetting that I didn’t have my top on yet. And all that it took for me to realize that was shouma’s silence and his harsh gaze on my chest. 

I quickly turn away and  throw on the hoodie I had grabbed, oh my gosh.. There's no way this is happening.

I’m snapped out of my thoughts when I hear Shouma’s voice right behind me.

“ So when did you get those flowers?”

Without a second thought and even realizing what I was doing I was turning around and my hand was going towards his face in full speed. 

*SMACK* 

I had slapped Shouma across his face, where my hand print left his cheek red. But his cheek wasn’t the only thing turning red, but my cheeks were too. I quickly attempt to get up and away from him but he’s quick to grab my wrist and pull me back down. With that I lose my balance and trip over him, where now he’s laying and I’m on top of him. 

“ let go of me!”

“ answer my question.” 

“ I don’t have to answer anything, let go Shouma!”

“ No, answer me, when did you get them and why?” Shouma instists while tightening his grip around my wrist. 

“ The Same reason you have your tattoos now let me go!” 

“Hey what’s going on i—“ Yoshino walks back into the room and a shocked look on her face as she faces both Shouma and i on the floor. 

Without a second thought i just knee Shouma down below and pull my wrist away. Shouma grunts in pain and grabs his lower parts as he huffs in pain. 

“He was being an ass, don't worry about it.” I tell Yoshino as I go back to grab my unfolded clothing from the floor. 

“Oh what did he do?” Yoshino questions.

“ I told him to look away and close his eye while I changed but he turned around and was looking at me change.”

“ SHOUMA WHAT THE HELL!” Yoshino now begins shouting and walks to where Shouma lays. And I watch her kick him on his side, not hard enough to hurt him but hard enough. “ don’t you ever pull something like that again you hear me.”

“ tsk , yes.”  Shouma grumbles from the ground as he tries to re-gather himself. 

“ Don't tsk me!” Yoshino shouts. 

“ What is going on here,what did Shouma do? I’ve been hearing a bunch of noise and Shouma’s name being called.” Hotei comes into the room with a stoic face as always. 

“ nothing it was just He was to-“ Yoshino begins speaking but I’m quick to cut her off. It’s one thing that I do something about it, but it’s another when Hotei will do something about it. 

“ nothing I had told him to mind his business at school about my gym attire but he was being annoying and I lost my temper. And tried to hit him and he stopped me, that was why you heard a bunch of noise.”

“ is that so, are you sure that’s what happened” Hotei asks again, this time looking at me instead with his intense stare. 

“ yeah why would I lie. I just admitted at attempting to  assault him.” 

“ attempted? If you attempted then why is his cheek red and he’s holding his , excuse me for my language but holding his balls.” He Questions further. 

“ Because if I truly attempted to assault him he’d have a bloody nose. But here we are, that’s why I say attempted.”  I stand up walking to my bag , trying to act nonchalantly and move on from this conversation.

With grim expression, he nods lightly and walks back out of the room and closes the door behind him. 

“ Y/N , wh-“ 

I turn quickly to signal to her to shut her mouth, because I can still feel Hotei presence behind the door. 

“ Hey Yoshino, I have you figured out what you’ll do when Shouma and I graduate?”

“ Huh, um no I haven’t… I guess you do both graduate this year.”  

“ better not get in trouble, you won’t have me or Shouma to save you.” I joke with her. 

“ I will never understand why you’re so different at school than you are in private! You act all timid and quiet with everyone at school but will fight Shouma and try to push Hotei’s buttons.” 

“ Because I don’t know those people, why would I let them have an ounce of an idea about who I am?”

 I question her. 

Yoshino has always been easy to read. She literally wears her expressions on her face, and granted since she’s been sheltered so much, she doesn’t question people much. But she should, just because the people of Osaka are nice it doesn't mean the world will treat you kindly. With that We study all together a little more until it’s late into the night.

“ Alright I’ll be heading out, I’ll wash these and give them back Yoshino, Sleep well.” I get up and gather my stuff to head back home. 

“ Are you sure you’ll be okay walking this late? I can ask someone to walk you back.” Yoshino stands up to give me a hug and checks if I’m really okay with going alone. 

“ Yeah don’t worry about it, I’ll be okay.”

“ I’ll walk you, I’ll take a smoke while I walk you.” Shouma stands and grabs his jacket.

“ it’s okay you don’t have to walk me, just have your smoke outside.”  I reassure shouma but he’s already at the bedroom door holding it open. With a sigh I just go along and don’t push it any more. 

As we walk down stairs I notice Yoahino’s grandfather from the office where the door is slightly cracked open. Just as I was about to look away, I lock eyes with Somei Renji..

[dangraccoon]

Untitled Spreadsheet - PRIVATE

Chapter 13 - Review

Word Count: 1326

Content: the end of the war, clone rights are sentient rights, clones making their own government, a clone cadet accidentally parent-trapping Cody and Obi-Wan, Rex and Padmé getting so excited, both of them finally making a move

For @literallyjustanerd, based on this post

Mando'a Guide Ara'gotenir Tolase - Clone System; essentially the government for the clones Tsad'alor - group leader; something like a senator verd'ika - private (like the rank, although is often used affectionally for a child as "little soldier) orikih - tiny aar'ika - little pain, sting Gar cuy ori'jaon'yc bah ni, ratiin - You are important to me, always jetii'dral - the Force (lit. Jedi power) Ni kar'taylir gar suvarir mando'a, ner jetii - I know you understand mando'a, my jedi

The celebrations lasted several weeks. The ceasefire, peace agreement, and reintroduction to the Republic on the last CIS planet meant an official end to the war, almost exactly five years since it had begun. 

And with the end of the war, the Senate passed the Clone Rights Bill unanimously, and included provisions for housing, work, and back pay, which no one outside the Senate knew about. Cody would never forget the sight of millions of brothers crying out in joy because they were finally free. No, he wouldn’t forget that for the rest of his life.

Cody was free, though he tried not to think about it very much.

The GAR wouldn’t be dissolved completely, but used for aid missions, security forces, and other projects as needed. The clones would be paid for their labor as well as a sum of credits for their service in the war. 

Cody chose to remain in what they’d named the Ara’gotenir Tolase–though they usually just called it the AT–as a representative for those previously under his command. Really, they’d become something of a miniature Republic. 

Cody tapped away at his datapad, sipping his caf. 

“Tsad’alor Cody?” a small voice called from the doorway of his office. 

He looked up to see a cadet, maybe only four or five. “Hello there. What can I do for you, verd’ika?”

The kid fidgeted, looking down at his boots. 

Cody smiled and rose from his seat. “Why don’t you come in and sit down?” He gestured to the small seating area next to his desk. It was used more often for him crashing on the couch after working all night than it was for company, but he was happy for the change. 

“Yessir,” the cadet said as he did, sitting somewhat awkwardly on one of the chairs, and Cody tried not to cringe at the way his “orders” were immediately followed. 

“Try to relax,” he instructed as he sat on the couch. Not directly next to the boy, not far away. “I’m not a Commander anymore. You don’t have to use my rank or my title. You can just call me Cody, if you want.”

The kid nodded, but seemed to find the fabric of the chair far more interesting than Cody. 

“What’s your name, brother?”

“I-I don’t have one,” he mumbled after a moment. “My… my batchmates call me orikih.”

Cody nodded. “But do you like to be called that?”

The boy shook his head immediately. “No, sir! I hate it when they tease me just ‘cause I came outta the tubes all shrunk!”

Cody’s brows lifted. He hadn’t expected the outburst.

“I’m sorry, si– um, Ori’vod,” the boy muttered. 

“No need to apologize, verd’ika,” he smiled softly, scooching to the edge of his seat. “Can I let you in on a secret?”

It was the kid’s turn to look surprised. He nodded eagerly. 

Cody leaned in closer, making a show of looking over his shoulders around his empty office. “I was the little one in my batch and–”

“Really?”

“Yes, I was very orikih, too,” he grinned. “But that’s not what my batchers called me.” 

The cadet watched him with wide eyes. Cody felt his heart warm even more than it had when the boy had come in. 

“They liked to tease me by calling me aar’ika,” he chuckled.

To Cody’s surprise and his utter joy, his little brother laughed. It was a wonderful, musical sound that he hadn’t heard in some time.

“They call you ‘little pain’?”

“They did! Alpha-17 even did for a while.”

The kid’s smile faded as he returned to his quieter nature. His brow furrowed a little, the same way all their vode did. “How did you make them stop?”

He smiled gently. “I won’t lie to you, verd’ika,” he said, very seriously. “They didn’t stop for a long time. Our batch’s twins–Fox and Wolffe–they’re more stubborn than an entire herd of banthas put together, but I did have someone on my side.”

Curiosity lit the boy’s face again. “Who?”

“It was Prime, himself,” a new voice called from the doorway. “And he gave him a new name: Kote.”

Cody nearly broke his neck, turning to see General Kenobi, leaning against the door frame. It had been nearly a year since he’d seen his old General in person, not that Cody had counted. Cody felt like he’d been sent back in time. Kenobi looked all the same and all different. His eyes still sparkled that electrifying blue, his beard still sat neatly around his face, and his lips still pulled in a small smile. He’d grown his hair out though; the auburn locks were tinted with gray at his temples and fell to his shoulders, the top half tied back. 

And Cody was just as taken with him as he’d ever been.

The cadet seemed unsurprised, however, merely looking over and smiling. “Prime?”

Cody pulled himself out of his stun to grin at the boy again. “The very same.”

“Did you ask Tsad’alor Cody your questions, dear?” Kenobi asked. “He’s very busy taking care of you and all your brothers, so we mustn’t take up too much of his time.”

“Master Obi-Wan, he told me to just call him Cody,” the boy chastised.

Cody and Kenobi hid their matching grins.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry. Just Cody, then.” 

The boy sighed. “I asked Master Obi-Wan if the slowing treatment hurts and he said he didn’t know because he didn’t have it but I really want to know because I… a-and I know we have to be brave because we’re soldiers, but I’m scared, Ori’vod”

Cody’s heart just about broke in two. “I know big things like this are very frightening. I was nervous before I had the treatment and I–” he cut himself off; he didn’t want to frighten the kid with tales of the procedures the first few generations had undergone at the hands of the Kaminoans. “I’ve been through a lot of scary treatments. But our vode jah’ade are the best of the best and the jetiise who look after you all are the kindest there are.”

The boy nodded, but still seemed apprehensive. 

“We don’t always need to be brave, vod,” he continued. “We don’t need to be anything we don’t want to be. Mhi cuy mav jii.”

“Mhi cuy mav jii,” the cadet repeated slowly. It was something many of the clones had taken to saying, like a quiet remembrance for their past and a hopeful prayer for their future. 

After another moment, his eyes lit up. Cody recognized that particular spark. “Cody?”

“Yes, vod?”

“I know my name,” he breathed. “Mav.”

Cody smiled, letting all his pride bleed into it. “It has been so wonderful to meet you, Mav.”

Mav smiled back at him, but then he pounced, wrapping Cody in a tight hug. “Vor’e, Cody!”

Mav ran over to the General, beaming up at him.

“Mav is a good name,” he told him. “It suits you, little one. Will you wait for me in the hallway?”

“Yes, Master Obi-Wan,” Mav chirped, happily leaving. 

“And please don’t wander off this time!” he called after him. “I don’t want to have to send Hound after you again!”

Kenobi looked back at Cody, making his way toward him and they both broke out into light laughter.

“How have you been, General?” Cody asked. “Last I heard, you’ve busied yourself with the cadets?”

“Yes,” Kenobi chuckled. “It seems like an entire war surrounded by your brothers wasn’t quite enough.”

“I’ve been surrounded by my brothers my whole life and I cannot see the appeal,” Cody shrugged. 

The General smiled. “Well, I do admit that not all of them are as charming as you.”

Cody felt that old familiar ache in his chest, like he was being towed in on a fishing line. He breathed a laugh.

Kenobi sighed, turning away. “I’ve embarrassed you; I’m sorry.”

“No, no,” Cody stammered. “You haven’t, at all. I guess…”

Kenobi stepped a little closer to him. “You guess?”

Cody held his breath for a moment to keep from sighing. Kenobi was wearing the same fragrance as he had that night at 79s. Warm, hints of some kind of spice, and all too easily flooding his senses and pulling him closer.

“I, um– I guess I’ve fallen out of the habit of receiving your compliments, sir,” he managed. “They’re not unwelcome, of course, just… unexpected.”

Kenobi smiled and chuckled. Cody could feel his heart hammering against his ribs. 

“Cody, I-I feel I must tell you something,” he said, his smile fading slightly. “I couldn’t tell you during the war, and by the end we so rarely saw one another.”

“Yes?” Cody whispered. He felt like he couldn’t breathe.

Kenobi bit his lip, glancing away, but quickly closed the short distance between them. His lips pressed softly against Cody’s cheek for a moment, then near his ear.

“Gar cuy ori'jaon'yc bah ni, ratiin.”

Cody’s mouth opened with a soft gasp as Kenobi pulled away smiling. Somehow, his mind was simultaneously blank and overflowing with thoughts.

Kenobi nodded a goodbye, then left to find Mav. Cody had spent the last year ignoring the ache of missing General Kenobi, but it came in full force as he watched him walk away, chatting with one of his little brothers.

He kissed him. High Jedi General Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Negotiator, a Jedi Master and member of the Jedi Council kissed him? Of course, it was only on the cheek, but it was so soft that he could only really describe it as tender.

His shaking hand touched his cheek–where General Kenobi kissed him–just at the end of his scar.

Wait. Wait, did Kenobi–

He replayed the moment in his mind, trying desperately to focus on what happened after he kissed him.

“Gar cuy ori’jaon’yc bah ni, ratiin.”

General Kenobi spoke mando’a, and fluently at that. No mispronunciations, no hesitance. 

Cody moved to his desk, flopping down in the chair and tapping the comm unit to call Rex.

“Hey, aren’t you at work? What’s up?”

“Rex, does General Kenobi know mando’a?”

The line was quiet for a moment. “What?”

“Does Kenobi know mando’a?” Cody repeated.

“Am I a kriffin’ holonet search?” Rex scoffed. “Why would I know that?”

“Ask Skywalker, then,” Cody huffed. 

“Cody, Anakin’s not–”

“Come on, Rex, I can hear his tubies in the background.”

Rex snorted. “The natborns call them babies, Codes. Anakin’s not here, but maybe Padmé will know.”

Cody heard the comm unit click against something and Rex’s retreating footsteps. He could hear Rex and Amidala’s voices, but couldn’t make out the words.

Then there were footsteps, and rustling. 

“Are you still there?” Senator Amidala asked. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he said. “How are you, Senator?”

Amidala groaned. “You know better, Cody. Try again.”

Cody chuckled. “How are you, Padmé?”

“I’m doing very well, thank you, Cody.” He could hear the snarky grin in her voice. “Now, you want to know if Obi-Wan speaks mando’a?”

“Yes,” Cody breathed. He felt like he was very close to the edge of something, but he couldn’t tell if it would be better to stay that way or to simply fall.

“Well, it wouldn’t surprise me,” she said. “That man collects languages like they were rare antiques.”

“That’s an understatement,” he heard Rex scoff in the background.

“And he did spend a year on Mandalore protecting our friend Satine,” she continued. “I’m sure she taught him some mando’a… between everything else I’m sure she taught him.”

Cody’s mind whirled as Rex laughed loudly in the background and Padmé chuckled.

“When did he…”

“Oh, it was years ago, long before the war. They hadn’t even found Anakin– actually, I’m not sure he’d even been born.”

Cody felt like the air had been sucked out of his lungs. “He… understood mando’a… the entire time?”

“He never said anything?” Rex asked. “The vode talked around him like they did with everyone and he never mentioned it?”

“Kriff,” he said simply. “Oh, kriff.”

“What is it?” Padmé asked. “I thought that would be nice.”

“Rex, do you remember that night we went to 79s and General Kenobi bought us drinks?”

The comm was quiet. “Yeah, yeah, Gregor and I left to give you two some space, but you never told me everything that happened that night. All I know is what you put on that damn spreadsheet you had.”

“I’m sorry, what spreadsheet?” Padmé asked, her voice filled with delight. 

Cody heard Rex mumble something about "you and Ahsoka" and “later”. 

“I gotta go,” Cody mumbled. 

He heard them answer, but he couldn’t quite process anything beyond the short tone that indicated the end of the call. 

Cody sat in his office, brow furrowed, waiting for his brain to actually start working.

Rex: cody 

Rex: when was the last time you looked at your spreadsheet

Cody: What? I stopped adding to it after that night. You know that. 

Rex: yeah okay but when did you look at it

Rex: codes you still there

Cody: Yes; I was thinking. I believe I looked at it near the end of the war, right before we shipped off to rebuild Christophsis. Why?

Rex: you might want to look at it

Rex: like now

Cody: Why?

Event: My dear, oblivious Commander left his datapad unattended on his desk with this document still open

Rational explanation: Cody is once again overtired from working so incredibly hard (as he is wont to do) and simply forgot to power down the datapad, too distracted by his sense of duty and work ethic, as admirable as they are detrimental to his sleep

Irrational explanation: The Commander shares in my affections but is simply so oblivious to my (rather obvious) signals that he feels the need to rationalise our interactions instead of accepting that we are, and indeed have been, flirting

Additional notes: In regard to the above: it meant everything and more to me, my darling x

Cody was getting out of the taxi before he even realized he’d gotten up from his desk. 

He’d accompanied the General to the Jedi Temple on several occasions, but he’d only come here alone once for his Deceleration treatment. Even then, Rex was already there, waiting for him. 

Their security was far more lax than Cody thought it should be, though he assumed their jetii’dral would alert them better than any other system would. 

“Hello,” a soft voice called. “Can I help you find where you’re going?”

He looked up the flight of stairs before him, his heart warming to see a familiar face. 

“Why, Cody,” General Ti smiled. “It’s been some time since you last visited.”

“Too long, Gen- Master Ti,” he agreed. 

“You look like you’re on a mission,” she hummed. “Is there anything I can help with?”

Cody felt his face flush slightly. “Actually, I’m looking for Gen- Master Kenobi.”

She smiled and gestured for him to follow her. “I’m sure it wouldn’t surprise you that Obi-Wan keeps a fairly regular schedule these days.”

“Not at all,” Cody agreed. “During the war, he always said our schedules were like ‘organized chaos’.”

Master Ti laughed lightly. “Yes, that does sound like him. Well, there’s only a few places he would be at this time; I’m sure we’ll find him quickly.”

Cody followed her through the halls until they got to an area labeled “Crèche”. 

A stern looking Togruta met Master Ti as they entered, but soon they were surrounded by cadets and younglings, all clamoring for Master Ti’s attention.

“Alright, alright, I promise I will look at all of your lovely drawings,” she laughed, quieting the kids. “But first, I need your help. Our friend Cody is looking for Master Obi-Wan.”

“He was with the little ones!” one of the kih’vod shouted. 

“Kybuck Clan,” an Initiate added.

Ti looked back towards Cody. “Do you know where their room is? Master Kiish can show you–”

“That’s alright, Masters,” Cody grinned. “You both seem to have your hands full here.”

He waved goodbye to the cadets that had been watching him and continued down the hallway, passing grand doors with elaborate designs with the symbols of the different creatures the clans were named for until he came across a Kybuck.

He took a deep breath and pushed the door open.

The rooms were circular, connected to one another in a way that reminded Cody a little of Kamino, but much warmer. And drier. 

Little scraps of flimsi covered practically any surface of the main room, colorful drawings of just about anything a young mind could imagine. They were scribbled and hard to make out, with scrawled lettering Cody could hardly read. His smile grew as he looked at them all the same. 

He heard a soft sigh and approaching footsteps. 

“That’s the last of the down for their naps,” Kenobi said, pulling his robe back on. “I’ll be back tomorrow for–”

Kenobi looked up, his eyes widening when he saw Cody and not whatever jetii he’d been expecting. 

“Hello there,” Cody whispered. 

Kenobi gathered himself quickly. “I must admit I’m surprised to see you again so soon.”

“A good surprise, I hope,” Cody smiled. 

Kenobi nodded. “A good surprise, indeed.”

Kenobi led him back through the crèche, pausing every so often to talk to the various little ones who ran up to him. 

“You’re quite popular around here,” Cody noted, then added nervously “We can talk another time–”

“No, please,” Kenobi said quickly. “I’d like to talk now.”

They were quiet as Kenobi led them up to his room. It was neat and warm, and Cody felt comfortable there almost immediately. 

“Would you like some caf?” Kenobi offered after insisting that Cody sit down at the small table. 

Cody chuckled. “You actually keep caf in here?”

“Anakin visits,” he hummed with a shrug. “And Ahsoka is studying for some exams. Do you still like it black?”

“Actually, I haven’t had as much since the end of the war,” Cody admitted. He could feel his cheeks warming slightly. “I’ve been drinking more tea lately.”

Kenobi lit up, his smile widening as he turned back to face Cody. “Do you have a preference on what kind? Force knows I’ve got a variety.”

“You pick,” Cody smirked. “I trust your good taste.”

Kenobi nodded and quickly turned away, but Cody could see the tips of his ears tinting pink. 

As he sat there, watching his former General as he utilized the small kitchenette, he realized that he had no plan. 

He was a Marshal Commander in the army. He made thousands of battle plans and decisions for two and a half years. He’d spent his entire life before that being trained for it. And yet, he’d read the addition from Kenobi and the only thing he’d come up with was to find Kenobi. He could practically hear every ori’vod and trainer he’d ever had berating him. 

“So you take care of the little ones these days?” Cody piped up as Kenobi brought the kettle and mugs over. 

“When I can,” he nodded. “I’m still on the Council and I do go on missions when needed, but I’ve always enjoyed working with the younglings.”

Cody smiled as he took a sip of his tea, recognizing the taste of spiced fruit. “This is from Alderaan, right?”

Kenobi smiled. “It is,” he confirmed.

“A gift from Chancellor Organa?” 

“Yes,” Kenobi said, seeming somewhat bewildered. “How did you–”

“This is what you brought me before Ryloth,” Cody said. 

Kenobi’s face turned red. “I… I can’t believe you remember that.”

“Of course I do,” he smirked, leaning towards his former General. “It’s like I told you, ‘you’re too important and too beautiful for me to forget anything about you,’ remember?”

Kenobi was speechless and Cody found that he loved being able to have this effect on him. He reached across the table, easing Kenobi’s mug from his hand and replacing it with his hand.

“Ni kar'taylir gar suvarir mando'a, ner jetii,” he breathed, locking his gaze onto those beautiful eyes. He watched as his cheeks turned so red he might’ve thought they’d catch fire. “And I know about your addition to my… stupid spreadsheet.”

“You do?” Kenobi whispered. 

“I do, sir,” Cody admitted. “I’ve been such a fool. I thought I was imagining things or that it was just wishful thinking.”

“You didn’t imagine any of it,” Kenobi said. “In fact, there was a lot you didn’t include on your list.”

Cody chuckled. “Of course there was.” He squeezed Kenobi’s hand lightly, his thumb rubbing across his scarred knuckles. “Can you ever forgive me for how oblivious I’ve been?”

Kenobi smiled widely, setting Cody’s heart on fire. “There’s nothing to forgive, Cody.”

“I need you to know that I still feel the same as I always have,” Cody said. “Even when I pushed you away, trying to act professionally. I was and am completely in love with you. And I always will be, Obi-Wan.”

He’d never dared to say the General’s first name aloud, but the feeling of it in his mouth was addictive. He watched Obi-Wan tremble slightly.

“Oh, Cody,” Obi-Wan sighed. He stood, pulling Cody from his chair and closer to him. Instinctively, Cody wrapped his arms around Obi-Wan’s waist, pulling him tightly against his chest.

“I’ve been waiting so long to hear you say that,” Obi-Wan said, his hand gently cupping the side of Cody’s face. His thumb traced over the end of his scar. “I’m in love with you, Cody. You’ve had my heart from the moment I met you.”

Together, at last, they closed the space between them, their lips meeting softly, yet full of passion and heat.

When they pulled away they were breathless, simply smiling at one another. 

“What now?” Cody whispered. “I love you and you love me, so what’s next?”

Obi-Wan smiled, pressing another soft kiss to his lover’s lips. “Whatever we want, my dear.”

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Thank you all so much for your love and support! I'm so happy that so many people enjoyed this self-indulgent project. Please make sure you go give love on the original!!! 💛💛💛

Thanks for reading! - River

Untitled Spreadsheet - PRIVATE Master List DangRaccoon Master List Tag List Form Read on AO3

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[cruzerforce4256]

I'm feeling like writing lately, so I've thought of a scenario where the reader, who always jokes about their friends, will court Cale to the ends of the earth if ever they get isekaid into TCF (lol, this is me to my friends; they are really concerned at this point). Then some god heard this and was like, Alright, bet. They send the reader to the TCF world as a personal maid of Cale for fun and tell them that they need to make Cale fall in love with them before the story ends (just part 1), or else they will go back to their world with all of their memories about Cale gone. 

So in order for Cale to feel a bit relaxed around them, they told him that they were from a different world and read 'The Birth of the Hero' instead of the TOTCF since we all know Cale will faint if that really happens. They also told him that they felt like he was the same as them because of the changed attitude he was showing recently, and with him going out to feed the dying tree basically confirms it.

Their conversation be like:

Cale: I'll just let you know that I don't plan on getting involved with the protagonists and the war.

Reader whose laughing their ass off inside: Great me too! I'll just stay as your personal maid since I don't want to get involved with all the drama. ♪⁠～⁠(⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

So Cale became a bit more relaxed than before after knowing that they are on the same page then the reader started throwing their cringy pick up lines to him.

Reader: Young master, are you a bank loan?

Cale: *ignores them and continues relaxing on the couch while reading a book and petting the sleeping children*

Reader: Because you have my interest, and I'm willing to pay the high cost.🥰🥰

Cale looked at them with eyebrows furrowed: I'm literally the one paying you to work how are you going to give me a large sum of money

Reader: *Gasps exaggeratedly" does that mean you have an interest in me.

Cale: Go take your meds.

Later on, the reader confesses to cale that they love him, but although Cale is feeling something towards the reader at that time, he is not sure what it is. He isn't really sure if they just see them as a close family who they trust the most or something more than that, and if it is, he is scared of the possibility that something might happen to them, especially with the war going on. So he rejected the reader.

The reader accepted it and told him that he didn't need to reciprocate their feelings, but that doesn't mean that they will give up. They always give him flowers when he wakes up, always stand by his side, supporting him, and, of course, always throw pick-up lines at him. And slowly but surely, cale became clear with his feelings for them, but he still didn't want to confess because of the fear that something might happen.

As his feelings grew clearer and deeper, the reader's time became shorter and shorter. Though they truly love him and want to be with him, they don't want to force him to love them. When they only had a few months left, they started distancing themselves bit by bit from everyone, especially Cale. 

But Cale is observant; he notices how the reader doesn't throw cringy pick-up lines as much as before, which he didn't know was a blessing or not since their pick-up lines were cringy most of the time. On the other hand, it makes his heart flutter. He also notices how they don't really play much with the kids anymore, no longer cheering the wolf kids on the sidelines while they train as much as before, no longer going out with Rosalyn, Mary, and Hannah as much as before, and no longer teasing Beacrox with Choi Han whenever you are together as much as before (I just want to add the last part, lol).

He is suspicious, and Bud, who just wanted to visit, sees him always looking at you and teases him, saying, "You know, if you don't confess now someone might take them.". 

He just gives Bud an irritated look, but deep inside he is panicking. Is this why you don't interact with everyone as much as before? Who is it? Is he worthy of you? Do you know him well enough?

So he confronts the reader if they like someone else in which they just laugh at him, telling him that he is the only one they like. But when he asked about how the reader doesn't interact with them as much as before, they told him that it was nothing and they were always feeling tired lately.

So Cale forced them to have a paid leave. While they were on that he made a plan to confess to the reader after everything is clear. No more possible threats to their lives and just them slacking off with the whole calefam.

When the day finally arrives he can't sleep and just waits for the reader to come to his room to wake him up. As he waits, he reviewed the plan in his mind again and again to make sure that everything goes right and to lessen his nervousness. He is going to take them out in the afternoon in disguise of checking the improvements of the harris village and when the night comes, he will invite them to eat dinner and confess.

Time flies, and it is finally afternoon. He stares at the door, waiting for the reader to come in with a loud noise to wake him up. But hours came, and you were still not there. Feeling restless, he called for Ron. When the scary butler is finally by his side, he asks where the reader are, but Ron also doesn't know. His heart started to pound. He feels like something is wrong.

He got up off his bed and walked straight to the reader's room. As he opens the door he notices a paper sitting on the top of the bed. His heart pounded more heavily as he walks towards the bed and grabs the paper.

He notices that it is a letter from the reader dedicated to him. In this letter, they told him the whole truth about how the book they read is actually the trash of the count's family not the birth of the hero and how they were a huge fan of him. They also state how they love him so much and they always tell their friends about it which led to a god hearing it and sending them into this world.

After reading it, he immediately ordered everyone to look for the reader and for saint jack and cage to come. The letter didn't state where the reader is but knowing that a god put them in this world means that the god had a deal with them.

His mind goes through a lot of questions. Where are they? Which god did they make the deal with? What is the deal that they made with that god? Are they safe? What are the conditions of the deal? Everybody is restless looking for them everywhere

Saint jack and cage finally came with Hannah. Though confused, Cage told him what the God of Death said to her before she came to the villa, GoD said that some god wants to talk to him and to not worry because GoD will be there to facilitate the meeting.

Hearing this, cale immediately told them what's going on while the kids stayed closer to him in order to help calm him down.

Knowing that the god that wants to meet him is the same god that you made a deal with, he agreed to talk to them. When he told the others about this, he suddenly fainted.

Waking up, he saw the GoD looking at him apologetically for making him suddenly faint. Besides GoD is the god that you made a deal with.

Although he is irritated with the GoD for making him suddenly faint he is more worried about you. He immediately asked where you are and what the deal is about.

And though that god wanted to tease him a bit, he decided against it after seeing his glare. The god just smirked and told him all about the deal.

Hearing this made cale devastated. He is too late. If only he confessed sooner instead of making them wait..........If only he became more clear with his feelings sooner...... If only he accepted your feelings the moment they confessed to him.........

There's a lot of what if in his mind.

Seeing him devastated and a lot of regret the god also offers him the same deal he gave to the reader. This time he is the one who will go to the reader's world and is given with the same amount of time that they spend in his. His condition is that needs to make them fall for him even without all their memories about him. If he manages to do so then they get to go back to his world with the reader who have all their their memories back but if he doesn't then he goes back alone and the reader will forever forget everything about him. Though the god wanted to add more consequences if cale isn't successful, he decided not to since he doesn't want to anger the God of Death more for hurting GoD's beloved child.

Cale immediately accepted the deal

This time he is the one who will come to them. This time is the one who will make them fall for him

Note: i'm not really good at writing so sorry for the errors 😅😅 but i still want to share to you guys this scenario that i've just imagine and damn imagining it is 100000% easier than writing it😭😭😭

[caraetdeul]

If It's All In My Head, Tell Me Now

Choi Seungcheol x fem!reader

The third time you forgave him.

TW: angst, angst, angst!!! Hurt/no comfort, somehow toxic relationship

A/n: third part is finally here! Hopefully I can finish this whole series before Scoups' birthday next week cuz I don't really want to celebrate it with this fic hurting my heart 😭 fair warning, this wasn't proofread in any way. it was just me and Grammarly against the world so I'm sorry if there's any discrepancies or mistakes throughout the story. Anyway, if you want to be tagged in the last part, feel free to tell me! Enjoy reading caratdeuls!

Btw, it can be read as gn!reader but there are descriptions of feminine clothes and things.

~Main Masterlist~ | ~Series Masterlist~

If you could sum up the last few days ever since you had that dinner date, it would be somber.

You never thought your relationship with Seungcheol would ever reach this point. In fact, you never even thought there was any chance of your relationship actually coming to a point like this. If someone were to come up to you a year ago and tell you that all of these would happen to you, you would’ve laughed in front of their faces and carried on with your life. That’s how much you trust the foundations this whole thing was built on. But now, seeing the cracks forming on the walls of your desolate home, you doubt if the both of you were ever on the same side of the fence in the first place.

Sipping on your coffee, you sat quietly in one corner of the cafe you stumbled upon on one Monday afternoon. You honestly had no idea how you ended up here as you lived on the other side of the town. But you really only have your wandering thoughts to blame when you decide to take a stroll to take your mind off of things. In which you clearly failed to do so based on your current predicament.

You don’t know how much time has passed since you first sat down. But based on how the lights from the restaurant across the street were significantly brighter than the dark skies and the fact that you started strolling when the sun was still shining down on you, it was safe to say that you’d been there for hours now.

Putting down your mug, your eyes wander to your phone on the table which has been left unattended ever since you sat down. You slowly reach out for it, trying your best to suppress the hope of seeing a specific notification pop up on your phone. But even then, you couldn’t help but feel the disappointment settle deep in your bones when you were faced with a dozen notifications, and not a single one was from him.

You sighed dejectedly, turning it off and putting it back on the table face down. Checking the time on your watch, you realize you haven’t eaten anything properly since breakfast. Thankfully, the cafe you were in also offers whole meals on their menu.

You then stood up from your table—thanking the heavens that the cafe wasn’t bustling at the time or else your table would’ve been stolen the moment you left it—and stepped in line with other paying customers. It wasn’t long before you reached the front of the line and finally got back to your seat with a receipt for your purchase.

As you waited for your order, you went back to staring out the window, ignoring the distinct ping of new text messages going through your phone. You continued nursing your almost emptied-out mug as you watched droplets of rainwater racing each other down the window.

You were in a limbo.

The grey area between life and death.

No up or down. No left or right. You can only move forward at this point but how do you expect someone to do that when you can’t even see ten feet in front of you. How can someone move forward when the comfort of the life behind you latches on to you with the promise of a life you’ve been praying for for as long as you can remember? 

But with the struggle of a drowning body, you gasp for air at the realization that maybe you were the only one grasping for any semblance of the previous life you once had with him. Maybe you were the only one in this relationship that has no clue of its inevitable demise while he was already safe and sound in a bunker house somewhere you don’t know. Maybe, hoping it’s a maybe, you were the only one in the dark as you tried to resuscitate the dying embodiment of your relationship when he had already signed the dotted line on a DNR order.

While your shaking hands and watery eyes were fighting with the urge to fall apart in the middle of an unsuspecting cafe, you could hear Seungcheol’s unburdened laugh echoing into your ears. You were then slammed with the thought that maybe you were losing it with the amount of caffeine you consumed throughout your stay. You were about to slap your face into reality when you heard his laugh again. This time, it was clear enough that you realized it actually came from outside the cafe and not from your muddled mind.

With wide eyes, you searched for him through the window. It didn’t take you too long before your gaze reached Seungcheol’s distinct figure across the street, internally grateful for the rain that minimized the number of people walking around at the time.

In all honesty, you didn’t expect him to be actually here right in front of you. By all means, you were pretty far from your home, and as far as you know, this was even farther from his place of work. But here he was, laughing with some of his friends in front of the restaurant.

Probably his coworkers, you thought, recognizing some of the faces that he was with. There were 4 of them entering the restaurant including Seungcheol and by the looks of it, they were probably celebrating something with the way they were patting each other’s backs with smiles plastered on each of their faces.

As if on cue, your order arrived just on time as your phone rang, your brother’s contact flashing through your screen. You thanked the waiter before answering the phone once she was out of range.

“Hey,” you answered, connecting your Bluetooth earpiece so you can continue the call while eating, “What’s up?”

“Did you hear about the news?”

Confused, you put your utensils down before replying, “What news?”

“Your little boyfriend just got promoted.”

Your eyes widened as shock and pride coursed through you. So that’s what that whole thing was about, you thought looking back to their group who were currently seated at the restaurant where you conveniently have a direct line of sight from your place at the cafe.

You focused back on the call, your lips curling into a smile as you replied, “Oh my God, that’s great news!”

“Yeah, I know!” he exclaimed, “The whole thing was honestly in the works for quite a while now and everyone’s just basically waiting on the announcement. So it was really only a matter of time before Cheol got promoted and now, it’s official!”

You chuckled at his enthusiasm. Your brother has been a big fan of Seungcheol ever since he started working alongside him. In fact, his random stories about him as you both nursed some wine after a long day were what made you interested in Seungcheol in the first place. So the night you invited Seungcheol to a dinner with the family as your new boyfriend, it was safe to say that your brother was probably the biggest fan of your relationship. So much so that you weren’t even that surprised when his usual “my little sister’s new boyfriend should be scared of me” talk was still filled with compliments towards his so-called idol. And as you listen to him rant about how much Seungcheol deserved this promotion from the other line, there is no doubt he is still his biggest fan.

“By the way, I’m about to meet up with him along with some of our coworkers to celebrate,” he shared, “You should come with us! I’ll text you the address.”

Swallowing the last of your food, you answered, “Oh, sure!” You heard your phone ding with the new message from your brother, sharing with you the location of the restaurant which was unsurprisingly the one across the street.

“Should I pick you up on the way? I’m already down at the parking lot,” he suggested.

“Oh, no need. I’ll just meet you up there,” you replied, hearing the sound of his car door closing through the phone call.

“Okay then, see you there. Love you!”

“Love you too!” you responded before hanging up. You finish up your meal as fast as you can, buzzing with excitement from the news. Scrolling through your contacts, you pressed call on Seungcheol’s contact. As the phone rang, you watched through the window as you waited for him to answer your call. You wait with bated breath as he finally looks down on his phone. From your point of view, you can barely see your photo flash through his screen when he silently presses the red button before going back to the conversation he was previously in.

Scrunching your eyebrows, you flinched away from your phone as you heard the automated response enter your ear from where it was placed before. You don’t know what to make of that. You swallowed down the undesired thoughts that you were struggling with just a while ago which were currently resurfacing. You decided then to finally stand up from your seat with your bag on your shoulder, crossing the threshold towards the cafe’s doors.

Stepping out under the night sky, it then dawned on you that you currently didn’t have an umbrella on you and the rain was pouring down harder than it was an hour ago. You looked around for anything that you could temporarily use as a cover but all you could see were the sign stand indicating today’s specials in the cafe and a trash bin near a lamppost. You debated whether or not you could borrow the sign for just a moment but decided against it. It was a really cute sign with flowers and manually drawn drinks all over it that you didn’t have the heart to ruin with rainwater and frankly, you weren’t in the mood to try and outrun any of their employees once they saw what was happening.

Taking a deep breath, you put your bag over your head before making a run for it. You almost slipped twice as you ran and you probably look like a mess now with your drenched clothes and your hair sticking to your body but you were just thankful that there weren’t cars speeding down the road at the moment. You then successfully managed to cross the street safely, puffing as you took cover under the restaurant’s canopy.

Making sure you were still decent-looking enough even though you could already feel the cold of the rain seep through your clothes, you were about to step into the restaurant when you were stopped by the scenario in front of you. Blinking, you stood idly as you watched the group before you. Between the time that you finished your meal and got out of the cafe, their group got bigger with more people joining them. Normally this wouldn’t be an issue for you as you’ve already met some of them before whenever you accompany Seungcheol at a company event, but right now, you were having a hard time accepting what was happening right in front of you.

You knew deep down that you shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions because either way, you knew there wasn’t any desirable outcome from doing so. But seeing the way a woman was snuggled onto Seungcheol’s side and him not doing anything about it was certainly not helping your raging thoughts.

You immediately hid yourself on the side of the door, a panel of wall separating the huge window from the glass door. Glancing back inside, you bit your lip despondent at the sight of the woman laughing wholeheartedly at something Seungcheol had said, her hand reaching up toward his hair and sweeping the front strands away from his face. As if that wasn’t enough to destroy your heart, you watched with a shaky breath as Seungcheol faced her, the most dazzling smile gifted from him to her. The very smile you thought was only reserved for you.

Shock and betrayal were written all over your face as you slowly stepped away from the wall. The sight in front of you feels like a sticker on your favorite book with how hard it was to take your eyes away from it. You gripped your bag tighter, white knuckles showing as you felt the heavy downpour finally meet with your body once again. It was hard but you were finally able to feel your legs, enough to have the energy to walk away from it all.

You felt your lips quiver and your eyes blur with pain and heartache, the cold from the rain deciding to have a duel with the cold from your chest that was rushing through every part of your body. Fighting with their every breath to take the place of being the harshest thing to happen to you tonight.

But even then, both lost the minute your phone pinged once again with a new notification. It was a group picture showing Seungcheol in the upper right corner with his arm wrapped around the woman’s shoulder as everyone smiled, their happiness seemingly doing their absolute best to wrench the life out of you. You didn’t have any fight in you left to react to the picture. You can only shut your phone off and traverse your way back home with a heavy heart and ruined makeup.

Taglist: @moonwonuu @belladaises @porridgesblog @sasaapportela

[mexicanmerridew]

LOTF HEADCANONS YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHJ

( this is 4 @jackmerrizzler btw :3 )

( also sum of these are old )

Jack tried putting face paint on ralph multiple times but ralph kept running away everytime he did

Ralph went like "if you kept doing that im going to break your spear" ( he was buffling )

When it would be Halloween time they would dress up in a group costumes to find each other easily ( Sam & Eric would get lost pretty quick )

Speaking of halloween, its rogers fav holiday

Simon owed cats back home ( 2 to be specific )

Jack's full name name is "Jackson" merridew but prefers his last name more because his first name reminds him too much of his dad ( he's a junior )

After the island Ralph's hair wasent as fluffy anymore ( it became sorta dead in a way )

Jack's favorite color is green

After piggys aunt learned about piggy's death she made a candy about him & named it after him

They tried getting fish one time on the island but they were scared of how much they flopped on land that they resorted to pig

After a lot of the boys were rescued they slept with nightlights

Before crash landing on the island Jack's mom was pregnant ( jack didnt know at the time ) and while of his time on the island she ended up being born ( totally didn't headcanon this onto jack because I have a baby sister myself )

The liluns would gift each other things they found around the island ( like lil rocks or seaweed ) for comfort

( older ) Ralph would visit piggy's tombstone

The bigguns & lilnuns would write letters to their parents despite half of them getting lost

Jack knows how to play the piano

After jack got recued he was kinda paying less attention in choir and got put in dance classes for a while as punishment

Ralph had band classes back home and knew how 2 play the trumpet & flute ( totally didn't headcanon this bc I have a band class & play the flute and get heartburn and stomach aches all the time while playing it )

( IF SIMON WAS STILL ALIVE. ) he would have asked his mom for a lizard a bunch of times after being rescued until his grandma bought him 1 for his birthday !! :D

During the feast, Jack asked Ralph if he wanted to dance with him, and ralph just fucking straight out said "no"

After a few a minutes had past ( like 20 or so ) Ralph asked roger if he had seen simon cuz he wanted to dance with him

Ralph named 2 of his horses after simon & piggy

𝓙𝓪𝓬𝓴 𝔀𝓻𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓼 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼

Ralph, piggy & Simon made flower crowns 4 each other ( Simon made the most for the 2 of them )

Jack tried teaching a lilnun C# but eventually gave up after a few mins 🥲

Jack would ( on purpose ) practice his C# late at night and drive Ralph CRAZY

Jack would try to teach some of the choir his fav songs

Jack HATED the rain while his time on the island but got used to it after he got saved

One of the boys on the island said sum shit like: "I can't believe I'm gonna die here without my first kiss!" As a joke ( WHICH MOST OF THE KIDS UNDERSTOOD ) except 1 kid who thought he was being serious and ACTUALLY KISSED HIM... ( in front of jack too )

Out of all the boys on the island simon had the most scars ( even after getting murdered ) with jack being the second & Ralph being the 3rd

piggy & simon tried giving sum of simons flower crowns to the tribe but they destroyed them due to "jacks orders"

This post took an hour 2 type pls like it ☹️ ( I'll pin this maybe )

[morgana-larkin]

I wanna see some more love for our girl Chessy up in here, so I have a request for her. Would you be able to do a baking or cooking date with Chessy and the reader? I have a mommy kink (🫣) so I would love it if Chessy could be older (probably like her mid 30’s) and reader be a younger age (probably like mid 20’s).

They’re at the Parker household and both Hallie and Nick are out for the night, so it’s just Chessy and the reader in an established relationship (probably like 6-9 months) and Chessy finds out that the reader never learned how to cook so they just survive off of fast food. Chessy offers to teach her how to cook some spaghetti and reader accepts. So it’s just a bunch of fluffiness of Chessy and reader being adorable.

Orrrrrrrrrr (hear me out)

We could add some smut at the end if you’re down to do so. Have Chessy be a bit dom while cooking with reader and have her tug on the reader’s ponytail or call herself mommy and reader her little bunny or sum nickname like that. And then once they’re done with eating (the food) they move on to eating dessert (iykwim 🤭)

Anon, I love seeing love for Chessy too. And no need to be embarrassed ‘bout a mommy kink, most of us Lisa fans have it too lol. So I had to look up spaghetti recipes since I’m like reader and very limited cooking skills. As I’m limited to French toast and putting salmon in the oven lol. I got very distracted and bored when people tried teaching me how to cook due to my ADHD. So here it is! Not edited in the slightest and I hope you like it!

On another note: Happy May the Fourth! Happy Star Wars Day!

Follow Directions

Warnings: smut, lots of fluff, small mommy kink

Words: 2.6k

You’re over at the Parker house, spending some much needed time with Chessy. The two of you kept running into each other at the market then decided to spend time together and quickly became friends. Then 7 months ago she asked you out on a date and you said yes right away. Chessy was a little wary about dating someone 15 years younger than her at first but since you were friends before for 6 months, she quickly got comfortable with it.

You’re both on the couch, cuddling, watching tv and making out. The Parker’s are out of town for the weekend so Chessy invited you over right away. The Parker’s have met you, about 3 months ago. When they found out that Chessy had a girlfriend they wanted to meet you to determine if you’re worthy of Chessy, to which they said you were.

Chessy pulls away from your lips and looks at you. “Hon, as much as I would love to keep kissing you, I should start on dinner.” She tells you.

“Noo, I haven’t had nearly as much kisses as I would like.” You whine and she giggles.

“Well how about you help with dinner and then you’ll have my lips back on yours quicker.” She suggests and you bite your lip and look down. “What is it?” She asked.

“Well I wouldn’t be much help, I would honestly just slow it down more.” You tell her and she quirks an eyebrow at you. “I don’t know how to cook, I usually just order out or get something I could pop in the microwave.” You admit.

“How come no one taught you how to cook?” Chessy asks, in disbelief that you don’t know how to cook.

“They tried but I was never interested and didn’t pay attention.” You told her.

“Hmm, would you be interested if I taught you?” She offers and you think about it.

“Well let’s see, being able to spend more time with you and being in close proximity to you. Ya I think it would grab my interest.” You tell her and she laughs.

“Well then come on, I’ll teach you how to make spaghetti.” She says and gets up.

“Why spaghetti?” You ask and she holds her hands out to you.

“Because it’s simple and that’s what I was going to make tonight.” She tells you as you put your hands in hers and she lifts you up.

You both go into the kitchen and she washes her hands. You wash your hands after, while she gets the ingredients out.

“Ok since you’re not used to cooking I won’t get you to cut up the onion, so I’ll get you to cut up this pepper instead.” She says to you and places a red pepper on a cutting board with a knife. You walk up and stand in front of the cutting board and look at the pepper, not knowing how to start. She looks at you confused. “You don’t know how to cut a pepper do you?” She asks and you shake your head. “Ok well first.” She starts as she picks up the knife and holds the pepper down. “You gotta cut the bottom and the head off.” She says as she cuts them off. “Then you gotta pull the middle of it out then you can rinse the pepper under water to get rid of all the seeds.” She says and hands you the pepper and you run it under water to get rid of the seeds. You bring it back and she instructs you how to cut it into little pieces. She hands you the knife and you start cutting it in pieces but she stops you. “That’s not the proper way to cut hon.” She says and stands behind you. “Here let mommy guide you.” She whispers in your ear and places her hands over yours. “You gotta cut like this baby.” She says and moves your hands to show you the proper way.

You continue to cut the peppers the way she showed you and she smiles at you. She goes and starts to cut the onion and you glance at her every once in awhile. After a minute you start to feel a sting in your eyes and you’re wondering why but you don’t say anything. Then after 30 seconds you start sniffling and your eyes are watery. You wipe your eyes with the back of your hand and you’re confused and you hear Chessy chuckle.

“Probably should have warned you hon, when cutting up onions, it stings your eyes.” She tells you and you look at her through watery eyes and can see that she’s barely affected.

“Then how come you seem fine?” You ask and she giggles.

“Cause I’m used to it.” She tells you. 30 seconds later and you stop cutting, your eyes are too watery to see and your eyes are stinging as well. You put the knife down and you wipe at your eyes again and sniffle. You didn’t see Chessy stopping and coming over to you until you feel something press against your eye and you flinch. “It’s paper towel, to wipe the tears away.” She says and you take it and wipe them off.

“How long until the onions stop stinging my eyes?” You ask.

“I’d say about 3 more minutes, I’m just about done. Just close your eyes for now.” She tells you and you nod and close your eyes. She goes back and finishes cutting up the onion in 2 minutes. She then walks over to where you are and plants a kiss on your lips. “It’s finished but give a few seconds to air out.” She tells you while wrapping her arms around your waist. After the stinging stops, you wipe your tears away and then open your eyes and you see Chessy smiling at you. “Hey beautiful.” She says and you smile back at her.

“Hi. I guess I’ll go back to cutting up the pepper.” You say and she lets you go. Chessy comes up behind you and wraps her arms around your waist again and puts her chin on your shoulder. She pulls your ponytail a bit and starts kissing your neck. “What are you doing?” You ask her.

“Just getting my taste of you.” She says slyly and pulls away when you start moaning. You give her a glare when she just goes back to having her hands around you like nothing happened.

You finish cutting up the pepper and Chessy walks over to the counter where everything is to make the sauce. You bring the pepper pieces over and she shows you how to add everything properly and then puts it on the stove to cook. She then gets you to add the spaghetti noodles in the pot and then you just have to watch over everything for a few minutes.

After 10 minutes Chessy turns the stove off and puts the noodles on the plates, then the sauce. “And there we go. That’s how you make spaghetti.” She tells you and you smile at making your first meal with Chessy.

“Wow, I can’t believe I just made spaghetti.” You say while beaming. You two sit down to eat and when you take your first bite, you beam again. “It seems to taste better.” You tell her and she smiles.

“It always tastes better if you make yourself something.” She says and you smile. You two eat the spaghetti while making conversation. After you’re done, Chessy does the dishes while you put the leftovers in containers. While Chessy is finishing the dishes, she starts a conversation with you. “So how was your cooking lesson?” She asks.

“It was good, it held my interest this time.” You tell her and she giggles.

“Maybe I’ll teach you how to make burgers next, those are quick and easy too. Have you made yourself tuna sandwiches?” She asks and you shake your head. “Seriously? That’s the easiest thing to make. You open the tin, you put it on the piece of bread and then you put another piece of bread on and you’re done.” She explains and you blush.

“I don’t know how to make anything. Well I guess I know how to make spaghetti and tuna sandwiches now.” You say and she shakes her head at you. She finishes the dishes and then dries her hands.

She walks up to you and puts her hands on your hips. “So how about we have some dessert now?” She whispers in your ear then gives a gentle bite to your ear.

“I like the sound of that.” You tell her.

“Good, because I’m craving something sweet.” She says and lifts you up with your legs and arms wrapped around her. She brings you upstairs and you start kissing her neck and she stumbles a little bit when you start sucking. She makes it to the bed and drops you on it. She straddles your hips and kisses you passionately. “Hmm, all I could think about for the past two hours is all the places I want to put my mouth on you.” She says and you can’t help but giggle. She pulls away and looks at you with a smile. “What’s got you giggling?”

“You. And the fact that you have become so addicted to sex since we started doing it a few months ago.” You tell her and you giggle again.

“Hm I think it’s more the fact that I’m addicted to you.” She tells you and of course she can’t help but tease you. “But if you don’t want to do it then…” she says as she goes to get off of you but you stop her.

“No no no no. I didn’t say that. I just found it funny and cute how addicted you became.” You backtracked and then you see her smirk and realise she was just teasing you and you fell for it. “You little shit.” You tell her and she laughs.

Before you can respond to her again, her lips are on your neck, kissing and sucking. She knows your body well by now, she knows what gets you going and what turns you off. She then goes for your shirt and takes it off quickly so she can return her lips to your skin as fast as possible. She then moves her lips down to your chest and sucks the skin there too, always wanting to mark so people know you’re taken. She then quickly unclips your bra and pulls it off so her lips can explore more of you. She pushes you back and you fall back on your back and she dives down and puts a nipple in her mouth, and instantly sucks and licks it. You start to buck your hips and she knows you’re gonna start begging any second now. She switches to the other nipple and it pulls a moan from you. You go to reach for her and pull her shirt off but she pins your hands down.

“I want to touch you.” You whine out and she smiles and pulls back from your nipple.

“Oh I know my pretty girl.” She says and purrs a bit as she touches all over your chest and stomach.

“So why can’t I touch you?” You ask her and smirks at you.

“Because I haven’t determined if you earned it yet.” She says so casually.

“But I obeyed you during the cooking lesson.” You pouted.

“Hmm, I guess you have a point there baby.” She told you then started unbuttoning her shirt, slowly. She undid the last button then took if off while watching your reaction the whole time. She loved your reactions to her body, she knows she might not be the prettiest girl in the world, but you make her feel like she is. You stared at her undressing in front of you, almost drooling when she was halfway done the buttons. When she took her shirt off, you immediately put your hands on her stomach and started touching her all over, you whined when the bra got in the way. She giggled and effortlessly unclipped her bra and took it off. She pushed you back down when you went to sit up to put them in your mouth and let out a whine and pout. You went and grabbed them but she pinned your hands above your head. However when pinning your hands, it got her chest to be. Right above your head and her boobs were right there and you lifted your head a bit and was able to suck on a nipple. She gasped and looked at you with her mouth hanging open. “Oh baby, hmm, I guess I’ll let you continue since you tried so hard and your mouth feels so good.” She says and you smile.

She started grinding her hips on you as you started sucking her nipples just how she likes the best. When she pulled back after you sucked the second nipple, she got off the bed and took your pants off. She got a surge of confidence when she saw a patch of wetness on your underwear before taking them off as well. She got on her knees and kissed your thighs before pressing a kiss to your clit and you bucked your hips. She dived in and licked your entrance and you moaned. On most days, she would normally take her time with your pussy but considering she’s been turned on for 2 hours, she doesn’t take her time. She goes right to your clit and starts licking and sucking on it and only stops when you’re right about to come. She pulls back and you look at her shocked.

“Don’t look at me like that. I want to make sure I fuck you good baby.” She says. She goes to her nightstand and pulls out a dildo and strap. She takes her pants and underwear off and then slides the strap on before putting the dildo in it. Once secure, she goes between your legs, grabs your hips, and slowly slides it in your entrance.

You gasp as she slides in more. When she’s in fully, she moans as the dildo hits her clit. She slides it in and out of you, slowly at first then picks up speed.

After about a minute of her pounding into you she starts rubbing your clit as she’s getting close to coming. When you start showing signs of being close, she leans over you and you immediately put your hands on her back and dig your nails in her skin a bit. Chessy knows you prefer to touch her when you’re close, a way to handle the stimulation.

“Go on baby, come for me.” Chessy tells you, knowing you’re just about too. Lo and behold, you come just after she says it. Seeing you come sends her right over the edge herself and then she carefully pulls out of you. She makes quick work in clearing you both up, she then takes the strap off, and climbs into bed with you and cuddles you.

“Thank you for the cooking lesson, and the sex.” You tell her after your body stopped shaking and she giggles.

“Of course hun, I can’t let my girl go starving, in both ways.” She tells you and you chuckle. She holds you tighter to her body, not wanting to ever let you go.

Taglist: @esposadejoyhuerta

@imaginesmultifandoms

@idonothingalldays-blog

@sexysapphicshopowner

@dvrkhcld

@lilfartbox1

@ricejucie

@unicorniusfallapatorius

@a-queen-and-her-throne

Let me know if you want to be added!

[copperbadge]

Hey Sam, I remember reading a post or response from you about how to give to charities anonymously, but now that I’m searching, I’m finding a few different responses but still have questions. Any chance you could do a round up post? Wondering about the following:

1. How to give cash

2. How to give small amounts anonymously (e.g., if you can’t set up a DAF)

3. How to opt out of being sent branded junk if you can’t give anonymously, because it will end up in the garbage (seriously, no more pens, stickers or magnets please)

4. In giving anonymously, how important is the tax receipt? I only take the standard deduction on my taxes… is there a reason to bother with tracking the receipts?

Appreciate your help!

Ah yeah, it's rough knowing how to do some of these things. I've written about some of them, probably most of them, but disparately over several posts, so let me see if I can answer succinctly and all in one place.

How to give cash: You are pretty much confined to two options, giving cash to a staffer in person or mailing cash in an envelope. If you have access to the office of the nonprofit you may be able to swing by and drop the cash off, but it's not super convenient and often not possible. If you're at an event you can hand it in an envelope to a staffer, and that's really the only way my organization gets cash donations, but that requires you to be at the event. And technically I can't recommend mailing cash since the risk of theft is a real one. Giving cash is fine legally, but nonprofits often aren't thrilled with it because it can put their staff at risk and also there's, well, there's no way to track that donation to a person. But yeah, throw them dollars between two thick sheets of paper and mail that in with a note saying "This is for the XYZ organization" so they know they can accept it.

2. Giving small amounts anonymously: It depends on how you're defining 'small'; I have a DAF (for the readers: a Donor Advised Fund -- I talk a little about them here but I've never gone indepth) which has no minimum deposit or minimum monthly contribution, but they do have a minimum donation amount of $20. To me that's not especially large, but I know to many people it can be. Pretty much the only way to give an amount smaller than $20 anonymously is to give online through the nonprofit's website using a cash giftcard (like a Visa gift debit card), and just not give an address. If you custom-order checks you can sometimes order checks without a home address, or with the bank's address, and pay with one of those, but I've never tried that.

If you do use a DAF (and I can recommend Charityvest, they've been mine for several years now) you can always set up to pay small amounts into it and just have them send all that money in a lump sum once or twice a year. I pay in $75/mo and from that they pay out three $20 donations a month, and at the end of the year the extra $180 that has just sat there becomes a nice extra donation. Always bearing in mind of course that once you pay into a DAF that money is gone, you can't claw it back even if you haven't "donated" it yet -- just putting money in a DAF is considered a donation. Readers, if you're curious about DAFs I recommend googling, lots of banks have "what is a DAF" pages, but if you're not finding what you want to know do feel free to come ask me.

3. Opting out of swag when not giving anonymously: I'm tempted to just say "Ya can't" because it's hard, especially with larger orgs. Even if you opt out, often you'll still get mailings that are considered "stewardship" (maintaining a relationship) rather than "solicitation" (asking for giving) and swag counts as stewardship. You can always start with sending the org a letter saying "Please put me on a Do Not Contact list, I will continue to give but don't want to get your swag". If that doesn't work, start returning mailings -- if you get something from the org don't even open it, just write "return to sender -- no longer resident" and drop it in the mail. This is not guaranteed effective; some places will either just change the name to 'resident' or retry every so often just in case. You can call the org and ask to speak to "records" or "data", and then just be super up front: "I want to keep supporting you but I really don't want the swag, how do I get that turned off?" They can help, but if you give to another similar org, a lot of times orgs will do "list exchanges" where they swap mailing lists, and if the org does that and you're on the other org's list, you get put right back on the "ok to mail" list for the first org.

I will say, swag is very, very cheap and gets results, so you can also look at this as "well, it was wasted on me, but the five cents this pen cost will get them $1 from someone, so in accepting it, I am still helping them to gain donations." This depends on your tolerance for waste, of course, which I'll talk more about in a minute.

(I personally like getting magnets, because I put stickers over top of whatever's printed on the magnet, cut it out to the shape of the sticker, and behold! I have a cool magnet!)

4. Tax receipting: I'm not a CPA or a tax lawyer and I fucked this up the last time I talked about it, so take this with a grain of salt, but there is an "above and beyond" deduction -- after the standard deduction I believe you can deduct an additional up-to-$300 for charitable giving, and if you were to be audited you'd need receipts to prove that. (As I said, if you're planning on this, fact-check first, I am not a strong source for this information.) (Edited to add: comments informed me this is no longer the case, so I'm glad I added in the disclaimer :D) If you give via a DAF, no problem; the DAF tracks where and when and how much you gave, so I could use my DAF's records as "receipts". You can also, if you lost or didn't get a receipt, contact the org and ask them for your giving record for the year. Here's the problem -- if you are giving in a way that allows you to avoid giving your address, there may be no way to get those receipts, since you can't prove their record with your name on it is you. So if you want receipts but want to give semi-anonymously definitely make sure they have your email address. If you're giving $300 a year, you probably want to take that deduction; if you're giving $20 a year, probably it isn't worth it. But yeah, to get a receipt you generally have to give them enough information for them to identify you, but you don't need giving receipts if all you take is the standard deduction.

All in all, the options are -- give cash and get no receipt, give via DAF or using a giftcard and get receipts to your email, give with your address attached and just hope they honor your request to be removed from swag mailing, or give however you want, put up with the swag, and bear in mind that them sending you the pen or magnet or keychain wasn't much of a problem or cost for them and will get them money from someone.

Honestly, option four isn't the least irritating, but it's probably the least labor-intensive for you. But it really is a question of what you want from your relationship to the nonprofits you support, and how passionately you feel about the "waste" status of swag they send. Only you can determine where your tolerance point is between "having to put in so much effort not to get this stuff" and "having to throw this stuff in a landfill". It's a regrettable part of being a donor and building a relationship with a nonprofit, but we in the nonprofit field do appreciate your giving and your tolerance :) While there are some outlier bad-actors in the space, trust me, for most nonprofits, nothing we do is gratuitous. Almost all of us are on such a thin wire that if something costs us money and doesn't get us more money, it gets binned very quickly.

[canmom]

observations on fundraiser dynamical system

I think anyone who has used regularly used Tumblr (or Bluesky or similar networks) in the past few years has seen hundreds, if not thousands, of fundraisers from people in extremely desperate situations - mainly, people trying to survive the ongoing, extraordinary genocide in Gaza, but also people in countries like South Sudan which are suffering in similar ways.

a general observation with fundraisers is that no matter how good the cause, the dynamic ends up being that hammering on the "social media call to action" button saturates fast, and people rapidly develop the habit of tuning out fundraisers - both for epistemic reasons (it is difficult to tell who is genuine, and although tumblr users like 90-ghost have been doing admirable and thankless work verifying people, ultimately you have to decide where the chain of trust should terminate) and emotional ones (broadly speaking, someone goes on social media for some purpose which is not to see genocide victims asking for help).

the human brain is a very powerful pattern-detector, and it is quickly able to identify 'this looks like another Gaza fundraiser, I know what I have seen here and I've made up my mind already about whether to donate money'.

like other forms of advertising, fundraisers 'succeed' by two means: convincing people who weren't going to donate money to donate money instead of spending it on something else (positive-sum), and winning out over other fundraisers (finite-sum).

this all leads to a very bad feedback loop where fundraisers must push harder and harder to get over that wall of indifference: posting shocking pictures of injured or dying children, bait-and-switch tactics with social media fluff like polls, etc. etc.; it is an optimisation process that seizes on whatever works. this is equally true for genuine fundraisers and scams: they both have the exact same buttons available to them. nobody wants to post pictures of their starving children to strangers on a blogging website speaking a foreign language, but if it might just get them another month, they will. on the flipside, users more and more aggressively tune their instincts for filtering them out, in order to preserve whatever activity they came to the website for.

and we can morally decry this, it should not be this way, but this is the dynamics of the situation as I observe it.

there is also, as far as the specific situation in Gaza is concerned, a problem where the supply (of food, medicine, passage out of Gaza) is incredibly limited by non-monetary factors - namely how much aid Israel (and to an extent, Egypt) decide to let through the border on any given day. in economic terms, this makes it highly (but not totally) inelastic. with finite supply, the price will grow to whatever people can afford. if all the food that gets in is always eaten, paying one family directly to buy food means that it doesn't go to another family. that said, it's not totally inelastic: if money can be made moving food into Gaza, people will do it as much as they can. and in practice I don't think the amount of money raised from social media fundraisers is so large as to drastically affect the prices in Gaza.

theoretically, problems like these are supposed to be solved by organisations such as charities and government orgs, which can act as a mediating layer: you pay your taxes and put aside whatever amount of money you see fit to good causes, and someone whose actual job it is does the unpleasant work of figuring out who needs it most and helping those they can. however, I think anyone who's worked in the NGO space can say what a fucking mess that all is: under various dynamics (supply of willing volunteers vs. rate of burnout, ability to appeal to sources of funding, ability to sustain a narrative in their members, charisma of central figures) orgs survive or not largely decoupled from whether they accomplish their ostensible mission. as for taxes, they are more likely to be spent killing people in Gaza than saving them.

and meanwhile, of course, there are problems like 'getting sick person to functioning hospital that hasn't been blown up' that NGOs presently can't solve. in a sense, the infrastructure that has sprung up on here - spreadsheets of fundraisers, people verifying them - is something like a proto-charity.

those caveats acknowledged, I believe there is an advantage for donating to e.g. mutual aid projects over individuals, at least as far as food. at least theoretically, an organisation is better able to make links with suppliers outside of gaza and take advantage of bulk orders.

still, whatever scale they operate on, fundraisers alone cannot save more than a few people in Gaza. they must be part of a broader strategy, also involving other political means to undermine the capacity of the state of Israel to carry on its genocide and shift the geopolitical situation. but goddamn do I not have any fucking clue what a viable strategy is.

just introspecting my own habits, I put aside a certain amount of money every month to go to specific people and orgs I've chosen to support long-term, and occasionally and largely randomly I am moved to donate some extra to someone who appears in front of me (which means a fundraiser worked on me).

as far as using my blog, on the occasions I've reblogged fundraisers or shared asks, they've gotten almost no engagement, and I have come to think this is not really the function of my personal blog - or at least if I do, I need to do it sparingly, in balance with the original content that hopefully interests people in my writing in the first place. but i'm not sure if this is an excuse or rationalisation for the psychological factors discussed above. on the occasions I've written posts in my own words to support a fundraiser, primarily on behalf of refugee Peter Kats ( @queercommunitysblog ) in South Sudan, they've spread further and managed to bring some money his way. however, I am neither qualified to verify whose fundraiser is real, nor do I have the energy to be a social media manager.

I observe people having different habits with respect to how they interact with promoting fundraisers. some people share a batch every day. some people almost never post fundraisers, but do occasionally, based on some factor of mood. some people have a specific person they know personally whose cause they champion; others do it reactively in response to asks. I suppose I have currently ended up with a policy that's something like 'share mutual aid projects' and occasionally writing posts like this one where I encourage you to decide on your own strategy for 'what the fuck do you do when your country is supporting a genocide'. I don't think this is particularly optimal. but I don't think it helps to be dishonest.

[merakiui]

Hiiii~ Mera! I've wanted to ask you if you by any chance have any Malleus thoughts?? 👀 👉👈

I may have a few hehe!! :D please accept these very assorted Malleus concepts that have been floating around in my brain.

✧ sugar daddy malleus in ancient times in which he’s the mysterious being of the deep, dark forest everyone tells you to stay away from. but that same mysterious being is leaving lustrous gemstones and exquisite pieces of jewelry on your doorstep or at the entrance of the forest for you to take, always even more generous each time. and in return, you must provide him with something of yours (usually he’d like something from your hobbies, whether a poem or a sketch or a wood carving and so on). one day he’ll steal you away, but until then he provides generous sums for you to continue living comfortably. after all, he’s quite entertained with the lovely art you produce! he must know more.

✧ omegaverse in which, by order of lord malleus, guards silver and sebek free you (and plenty others) from an alpha who had been keeping you captive for various reasons. without a place to live or a madol to your name, lord malleus allows you to live within his castle under the condition that you must earn your keep. sebek doesn’t trust you, but silver thinks everyone deserves a fair chance and though it may be dangerous for an unmated omega and an unmated alpha to coexist, especially when said alpha is a very important ruler, you’ve proven to be a very diligent servant to malleus, always so determined to pay him back for his generosity. malleus has grown rather fond of you in the time he’s gradually beginning to know you, and before long he’s inviting you to take a stroll through the palace gardens with him or to join him for evening tea or to accompany him to the grand library so he may find a book he’s been looking to read. and eventually your heat will sneak up on you, and who better to assist you with it than the lord you serve? :)

✧ a very awkward fwb dynamic in which both you and malleus are horribly inexperienced in romance, so your dynamic essentially becomes one of fwb—by which if malleus gifts you a bouquet because you’re his dearest friend (he is madly in love with you) you hurry to return his goodwill with some of your own. there is no sex in this fwb (yet). the two of you are just always trying to return the other’s kindness and are so worried about forgetting to repay favors to one another or else you think it’ll look rude and malleus fears his favorite child of man will become offended. the benefits in this friendship is essentially just lots of courtship gifts that neither of you realize are courtship gifts. both of you are always friend-zoning each other, too. T_T lilia just wants you and malleus to kiss already.

✧ ceo malleus who is very bad at using technology, so you (his secretary) help him out and handle much of the tech work for him. naturally he has to repay you by railing you behind closed doors in his office (and maybe even knocking you up if you’re capable of having children hehe).

✧ you’re making a wish on a star in hopes that the sky above will answer it. but when you wish for a companion/lover/friend/a horned fae prince who is very tall and can sing and is very handsome and keeps a tamagotchi and is also lonely so he needs a friend (this last one is very specific;;;;), you don’t expect said fae to appear and offer companionship. he may or may not have been watching you for months now, waiting for the right moment to appear before you at your windowsill. but when you’ve made such a curious wish, how can he possibly stay hidden any longer? he adores you too much. <3

✧ arranged marriage in which you’re betrothed to malleus in a marriage that’s meant to serve as the first stepping stone in uniting humankind and faekind and putting all previous disagreements to rest. you think you’ll be fine so long as you’re courteous and obedient, but your fiancé seems to like you a little too much. :)

[kissami]

sum. You never thought you’d find the one at your best friend’s coffee shop.

genre: fluff..super super fluffy

fem reader with she/ her pronouns

WARNING: I’m uploading this while at work so I’ll edit it once I’m home ! So it’s not cute and aesthetic rn 🙄🙄

"I just don't get why she keeps thinking this nonsense, Kyo! I mean, I help with taking care of bills, buying groceries, what else does she want from me?!"

Kyo rose an eyebrow towards you, watching you slam your head on the counter gently and placing your cup on the table, begging for the next round.

"I need another one."

You ordered, but he only rolled his eyes in return.

"You had four cups of coffee in just two hours, you had more than enough for at least a week."

Groaning, you squished your cheeks between your arms as you hid your head.

Your roommate had been annoying lately. Always being so stern with you even when you did almost everything so you two could have a comfy environment to live in, but no matter what you did, she just seemed to hate you more and more.

It was tough moving out of your parent’s place, but this girl truly was testing your limits it seemed.

It wasn’t always like this. When you first met her, she was very sweet and understanding with you which made you think that maybe you finally made a friend who wasn’t your childhood friend.

All you wanted was a friend, but ever since you introduced her to Kyo, she seemed to do a 180 and completely shut you out.

Only for you to find out the two were put together for a date…one he never showed up for without notice.

But speak of blinding dates…

"Oh my gosh! This is the third time you left me alone, you asshole! That's it, I'm done!"

A loud slam quickly brought you out of your mini crisis as your eyes averted over to the couple near the entrance.

Raising your eyebrows in amusement, you saw a girl with black hair grabbing her bag and leaving with a pissed off expression on her face. The blond she was sitting with that you assumed was her date, rubbed his face in annoyance.

He's gorgeous.

You turned to your friend and smiled as a bright idea had quickly made its way into your head which made him tense up a bit, shaking his head quickly as he knew exactly what you were trying to do.

"Nope, I'm done trying to set you up with my customers. You're on your own."

You pouted, watching as Kyo walked to the back room to speak to Tifa about the upcoming schedules.

You could see how close Tifa and him were getting, how flustered he’d get or rush at any moment to be with her. That was enough leverage for you to use against him.

Smirking, you turned back around to see the boy talking on his phone, his face showing not much concern it seemed, but by the looks of it, it seemed like he was being scolded like a cat from the other line of the call which had you intrigued.

Your eyes widened when he slammed his phone down on the table and sighing, digging inside of his pocket to grab his credit card from his black leather wallet.

He's gonna pay, no he can't leave yet!

That's when you thought of a great, amazing, and most definitely the best idea ever.

Walking over the counter as stealthy and quickly as possible, you hid behind it as you waited for him to ring the bell to pay.

DING!

Rising up, you smiled gently and leaned your hands on the counter.

"Hey, what can I do for ya,cutie?"

You could almost feel your eyes sparkle in amusement when he scoffed and rubbed his neck, looking at you with those bright blue eyes you could stare at forever.

"I'm just paying. And who are you? I've never seen you work here before and I come here everyday."

He spoke lowly and looking anywhere besides your face, his eyes fixated on a dancing chunky cat on the tv screen above your head.

"I just started…today? Right I just started working today!" You smiled nervously, rubbing your ring on your right hand.

"Oh, that's good to know I guess."

"Yeah, it is good to know, huh?"

Shit.

You thought as you turned around to your best friend, seeing him rise an eyebrow and clearly questioning your 'amazing' idea to get to know the cute boy that was looking at the both of you now even more confused than before.

"Yup! Aw Kyo don't act like I'm not the best employee you have!" You slapped his arm, glaring at him for him to play along.

"Yeah okay, anyways Cloud it's on the house today."

Cloud. What a cool name.

Cloud nodded, saying a small thank you as he began to walk away.

Your eyes shot over to your best friend, giving him a pleading look to have him stay a bit longer which made Kyo scoff.

If this guy had you pretend you worked at his coffee shop, the one place you said you would despise working at and rather lick the carpet, then you clearly were way more interested in him than he thought.

And boy were you going to be in debt for this.

"Only if you tell us what happened on your 5th blind date."

Kyo smirked, watching as Cloud stopped almost instantly.

Cloud stood there quietly. Usually he’d pretend he didn’t hear anything like this but he truly did need someone to listen to his frustrations and what better yet than the guy his best friend, Tifa, had a crush on?

"It's like no matter how many dates I'm set on, no one wants to continue dating me. I don't mind though, I don't need a partner to be happy I guess."

Hearing a bell ring, Kyo looked over to you and smirked even more, watching your sparkling like eyes looking even more interested in the blond and what he needed to say next.

"Well my favorite employee, it's time for you to get back to work, right?"

You opened and closed your mouth repeatedly like a fish out of water but it only resulted in him pushing you away to take the new order.

"Get along now stupid and do your job! I'm not paying you for nothing!"

"But you're not pa-"

"What was that employee of the month, I didn't quite hear you?!"

"Yeah yeah whatever."

Slumping your shoulders, you made your way to the cash register, and instantly losing braincells on how the hell to work it.

Kyo looked back, seeing the blond still looking over to you as you groaned like a little kid trying to figure out how the monstrosity worked.

A small smile slowly took the blond’s old sour frown which Kyo was quick to catch.

"She's single you know. Plus, she thinks you're really cute. The idiot doesn't even work for me but she did that to talk with you."

Cloud looked over to his friend and shrugged.

"I think she’s cute too, but she needs to work harder to get me. I'm not that easy you know."

"Yeah that's what all your old dates said too,huh?"

"Kyo…" Cloud sighed again, but kept his mako eyes on your cute figure who now was scrambling around like a lost puppy, following Tifa around as she laughed at how silly you looked trying to learn how to charge orders.

Kyo chuckled, shaking his head at how adorable you looked. "Besides, the idiot owes me. She'll be working here for a while."

To say Cloud wasn't looking forward to waking up everyday and heading to the café, was an understatement.

He was less grumpy now and would spend hours texting you all night, but he tried his best to show no interest in you at all, which to Tifa and Kyo, was obvious he had a thing for you.

You had no clue if he felt the same or not, which Cloud was a bit thankful of you being so oblivious.

That was until you finally had enough and needed to know exactly what was going on between the two of you.

Clearly there was something there, so what better way to figure it out than what you do best?

A hot americano with whipped cream topped with cinnamon and caramel was what he would get all the time, but you added something more for him.

Are you a loan bank? Because you got my interest.

Ah yes, your cheesy pick up lines. No matter how hard Cloud tried to keep a straight face, he still managed to let out a small smile that made your heart burst.

You've been doing this for three months straight now, but he finally had the guts to do something.

Can I borrow a kiss? I promise I'll give it back!

That was all it took for Cloud to lean over the counter and place his lips on yours.

[teenycat]

you said you had lore ideas, my friend? Spill the beans (It's wheezer's alt)

(this is a post about potential tlkoe thrull redemption arcs to anyone stumbling here without context)

hoooo boy i'm gonna try to organize this into something of a list. it's still gonna be chaotic and lengthy as all heck and probably will be missing context in some bits tho so strap in

looking over all my unused au ideas, ive found most of the thrull redemptions depend on a few primary motivations

we don't know his canon motivations for being evil yet other than "he's loyal to rezzoch" so i've cobbled together a couple of my own

there probably will be a canon backstory for thrull in the books but they havent gotten there yet so my best guesses so far in no particular order are:

vengeance

he's mad at the world, maybe he was the victim of some systemic injustice, maybe he just got really screwed over by one nasty individual. anyway whatever hurt him, he wants to see it burn.

here he can learn to forgive their mistakes and/or realize that he's messing everything up way worse than whoever messed him up. he's repeating a cycle and making things worse, not better

fear

he witnessed the full power of rezzoch, maybe he's witnessed civilisations crumbling at her touch, maybe he's semi-possessed and being threatened regularly, maybe he made a warlock-style pact and rezzoch might collect his soul at any moment and he wants to pay off his debt. anyway end point is he's scared and thinks the only way he and everything he cares about can be spared is by getting on rezzoch's good side.

this kinda arc would be centered around building his confidence. if a thirteen year old kid can beat off rezzoch with nothing but a baseball bat and the power of friendship, so can you big man.

uh... grooming?

this is probably not the best word but idk what other way to say it. some other member of the cult or maybe even a deity, maybe even rezzoch herself, but someone he looked up to and tried to imitate/impress pressured him to join when he didnt know better.

again, confidence. that person never had your best interests in mind and they might not even be around anymore. you dont owe them undying loyalty and the fate of the realm lol

this one i like the best

maybe someone he cares about is trapped in rezzoch's dimension and he's trying to unleash everything from that realm even if it means dooming ours and his own.

we could either find an alternative way to free said person/thing, or just have thrull learn to cope with losing them/it.

not sure if this counts as its own reason, probably just an additional part of any of the above

he screwed up somethin real bad and now he thinks he's too far gone to go back.

redemption is learning self love idk

SPOILERS FOR The Monster Dimension

we learn near the end of book 10 that thrull used to be a hero/adventurer with his own crew n stuff, a whole bunch of parallels were drawn between him and jack. he's probably got a bunch of heroic qualities buried under the evil-ness which i think would be so so cool to explore

he probably loves the thrill of hand-to-hand combat with worthy enemies, the freedom of the open road, grateful smiles of the people he saved, the brotherhood forged between allies who have seen battle together... i wouldnt be surprised if he was secretly into romance n stuff even tho it's not a big thing in monster culture

i really. REALLY want to see him as a father figure for jack. i an unused au where its just. jack latching onto thrull and thrull getting attached over time. they have stuff in common and. idk it just tickles my brain. he doesn't even have to be redeemed. thrull could stay evil and convince jack to join the dark side or sum. i'm GOING to make a toxic paternal thrack au the moment i get the motivation to make a solid storyline

i honestly think part of the reason i like him so much is cause we've seen so little of his character so i can just spit whatever flavors i want onto him and have it still fit into canon

gnawing on this stupid stupid withered old crusty man

anyway if you're still reading then thanks for listening to me yap i didnt think anyone would actually b interested because im not great with words

[fran-does-things]

I’m definitely very late to the party, but I’ve finally finished the profile for my @shepherds-of-haven MC! Oh well, better late than never, I suppose. She’s loosely adapted from an old DnD PC of mine from a CoS campaign that I had such a blast role-playing! It took a while to hammer out all the details, but I’m really proud of how she turned out!

Anyway, without further ado, please allow me to introduce you to Cecilia Niriviel, Hero of Haven, and gaslight gatekeep girlboss extraordinaire!

(also, if you saw me delete and then reupload this post like 3 times, no you didn’t <3)

(Warning: The following excerpt contains vague references to events that occur in Chapter 9 of the Alpha build) “On the contrary, my friends, I think this is actually one of the better outcomes that could have resulted from that conversation. As much as it hurts my pride to say this, even I must admit that I’m a bit out of my depths when it comes to all this… old magic stuff. But blackmail?” At this, she smiles; a sharp, predatory smile that would have sent chills down the spines of the toughest of men. “Blackmail, I’m very familiar with. If that woman thinks that she’s the only one capable of playing dirty, then it would seem that her little homework assignment into my past wasn’t as thorough as she thinks it is. Oh, this is going to be so much fun!” - Cecilia Niriviel, in a conversation with her allies at the Sun Court.

Some Additional Fun Facts that I Couldn’t Include in the Original Profile

Chase has a whole host of nicknames for her, including, but not limited to: ‘blondie’ (her hair really is very blonde), ‘doll/dolly’ (owing to her large, round eyes), and ‘princess’ (this one comes up often when he’s teasing her for being particularly fussy/diva-like)

Celia has a particularly tumultuous relationship with beauty, like many women do, I’d imagine. She’s always been regarded as very conventionally attractive, which means that, for better or for worse, her looks are often the first thing (and main thing) that people notice about her. This has unfortunately led to her having developed a sense of self-worth that’s wrapped up in her appearance in some pretty destructive ways. A lot of her behavioural quirks are manifestations of this core belief. One of the absolute worst things that anyone, particularly a lover, could do to her is to make her feel as though her looks are the only thing that she is valued for; I think that would really crush her self-esteem and lead her down a horrible self-destructive spiral.

She loves cats. Or any other cute, small animals, really, but especially cats. If she sees a cat, she will immediately drop whatever it is she was doing to either pet the cat or just coo at it from afar if it doesn’t want to be touched. Her very obvious love of small animals is what helped to endear her to Tallys and Shery in the early days of her joining the order, who either wasn’t too sure whether she could be trusted (Tallys) or found her a bit intimidating at first (Shery).

When it comes to her stance on love, she's what I would describe as a 'closet romantic'. After a string of bad experiences, I think she’s convinced herself that she’s just not cut out for all this love business , but deep down she’s always retained that innocent, child-like romanticism. When she was a little girl, she’s always been fascinated by fairytales about brave knights and princesses, of soulmates, and of the power of true love; and I think there’s a part of her that’s still in love with the idea of love and is still waiting for her one true love to show up! (Just you wait, Celia; little do you know, your prince charming is sneaking up on you like an assassin in the dark ;))

She doubled as a black-market informant during the years she spent working as a courtesan, selling information about her wealthy patrons to anyone willing to pay her a hefty sum. Listen: long story short, the girl was stuck in a predatory labour contract, and she needed to make money somehow if she wanted to get out of it sooner rather than later! Occasionally, she would also take on small jobs like stealing, smuggling things, etc… It helped that she had developed a few contacts in the local thieves’ guilds from her days as a street-child who would go on to help her get her foot in the door, so to speak. This line of work has never really bothered her; most of her patrons were, in her eyes, nothing but predatory, hedonistic pigs, though there are some crimes so heinous that even she’s not willing to abet in it, or some people who she just couldn’t bring herself to harm. This is a time of her life that she looks back on with a little shame and remorse, in her later years. Just a little.

Celia was partly inspired by my own struggles with overcoming trauma. I’ve always been fascinated by the ‘femme fatale’ character archetype, and she is, in a way, my take on a deconstructed version of that trope. I think of her journey from ruthless mercenary to renowned hero as less of a redemption story, or of a battle between the good and evil within, but more of a story of healing and growth. A story of someone learning to overcome their maladaptive behaviours and moving past traumatic life events. Learning to stop being beholden to events that have long transpired and to allow yourself to just live life the way you want to live

Her closest friends in the Shepherds are Chase (twin!), Lavinet (bestie!), Tallys (big sister!), and Riel (co-mastermind for world domination!). She also has a particular soft spot for all the female Shepherd captains. I’d say the characters she has the most interesting dynamic with are actually Chase and Briony, but this is a story for another time!

There is betting pool among the officers on who Celia is involved with. Funny enough, for a very long time, Riel is generally considered the top contender, not Blade, which is just hilarious on so many levels. I think a lot of the officers tend to excuse their more suspicious interactions as just... Celia being Celia (read: a notorious flirt) and Blade being Blade (read: a stick-in-the-mud) and can’t fathom the idea of them getting together. On the other hand, Riel and Celia just play off each other really well, so I can definitely see some of the Shepherds extrapolating a romantic connection from their professional synergy. It doesn't help that they’re often seen together on the off chance that they both have some time off, or that they primarily communicate through cryptic looks and subtle eye-glances. I imagine that once Blade and Celia's relationship becomes official/more public, it would cause a mild panic among the recruits because "I thought she was seeing the other commander? Wtf is going on???"

Bonus: In a pre-relationship crushing stage, poor Blade is probably 4th on the officers’ betting list of ‘who is Commander Niriviel secretly fucking’, right below Chase and Briony. Chase and Celia practically invented platonic flirting, and there many who mistake Briony and Celia’s frequent sleepovers/girl-talk sessions as something far less innocent than it really is. At this point, I’m pretty sure she’s been suspected of sleeping with pretty much all of the captains at one point or another. Being the busybody social butterfly that she is, Celia’s definitely heard most if not all of these rumours, but she really doesn’t care enough to do anything about it most of the time, plus she finds some of these rumours to be so preposterous that it’s actually kind of funny.

I had no idea that Celia was going to be a Blademancer, and yet here we are! I really thought it was going to be either Chase or Red, but I think it just wouldn’t have worked out quite as well. The slow burn comes from the fact that both Blade and Celia currently have their heads stuck far up their asses, albeit in different ways. It takes Blade a while to realize/accept that he's even in love, and while Celia is self-aware enough to realize when she's falling for someone, she's not emotionally mature enough to deal with it in a normal way. There was a lot of screaming and cursing and "this can't be happening to me; I don't fall for people!! People fall for me!!!" They both learn to get over their fears and hesitations, however, when they realize just how much life and vibrancy the other brings to their life. I like to think that Celia helps Blade come out of his shell, to learn to be a little more selfish when it matters and helps him enjoy the beauty in life; meanwhile Blade is a grounding force for her; he sees past her smokescreens, reminds her of her goodness, and makes her want to be a better person.

If you've made it this far, thank you for indulging me in my ramblings about a fictional character! There may be more Celia content coming in the future; I've been thinking a lot about the events of Chapter 4 and might write something on that. suffice to say I've honestly really fallen in love with the game and with its cast of characters. I've found myself with a lot of free time this week (clearly) and have finally caught up to the update, and all I can say is that Celia and I are both currently having the time of our lives watching the drama unfold. Can't wait to see what else is coming next! <3

[freezerbnuuy]

Act 5:12- Broken Silence (Page 1)

LORE | CHARACTERS | ABOUT / WARNINGS | CHAPTERS

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CONTENT WARNING: alcohol (not negative)

Daniel

We have a massive order of fish coming up - no fish in particular, just whatever we can catch. We're getting paid a fair bit of money for it, which is the only reason we took up the offer. Owen said in his order note that fish oil is a useful treatment for many conditions - rheumatism, gout, even tuberculosis.

On top of that, it's generally a good supplement to help with deficiencies in certain things that can lead to illness, at least, according to him. Even then, it's way too many fish for that. Maybe Father is right when he says not to question it so long as we get paid. 

I head to the inn for a drink to help take my mind off how exhausted I'm going to be later. It's a lot busier than usual for this time of day. There's a lot of chatter concerning an upcoming event Volpe plans to hold; there's posters all over the place. Pamphlets, too, in an attempt to recruit witchfinders. I suppose threatening teenagers' lives isn't working out for him anymore? 

The relative silence of the witches over the past few years has changed from comforting to suspicious for many people. What at first seemed like a successful attempt to drive them out has only led to fear of a quiet uprising.

I hear one man in particular talking with a certain level of excitement about it all. The simultaneous downside and upside of the inn is the way the booze loosened people's lips - my own included.

"Do you want to really know what it's like to work for Lord Volpe?"

The inn falls silent, and everyone's eyes are upon me.

"He pays well and it helps keep the witches at bay. What else matters?"

"What matters is he forces teenagers to work for him, and threatens to kill their entire families if they don't agree. The people who work for him end up soulless killers before they're thirty. How much he pays shouldn't matter."

"So it's okay for witches to be soulless killers, is it? What about them?"

"I can assure you that most of the people killed by Volpe's crew have likely not hurt anyone, let alone killed anyone. We got sent after people with hardly any proof of their magic. Witchfinders aren't defenders of the people. They'll go after anyone Volpe deems his enemy, and that could be any of you - especially you ladies."

"There's plenty of things you can do to make money that don't get people killed. When my father quit his job as a witchfinder and saved me from it, we took up fishing."

"Sir, if you don't mind, I have to serve my cust-"

"Oh, save it, will you? I know we shouldn't have trusted you the moment I saw that fancy coat! 'Give a man a fish...Teach a man to fish...' How does that work for those of us that can barely afford a rod?"

"I don't mean it like that."

I don't know how I'm supposed to get through to these people...

Unless...

I know what Gideon's like. He doesn't like having an excess of money; it reminds him too much of his witchfinding days. He isn't sure what to do with the huge sum Owen is giving us, but if these people are struggling for money, I do have an idea.

"Alright, then. If you're all struggling for money, my father and I have an enormous order of fish we need to fulfill, and the three of us can't do it ourselves. Our customer is exceedingly rich, and we'll be paid handsomely. We'll have plenty to spare. We're already being paid seven thousand Simoleons."

"Seven thousand?"

I show everyone the written receipt. Some seem to take interest, others seem to pass judgment. I guess it does sound a bit tall, but it's worth a shot.

"One moment - I feel like I've seen you around Withernham. Don't you and your father sell fish at the markets on the weekends?"

"Indeed we do."

The customers mumble amongst one another.

"How do we know you can trust you?"

"Well, think about it- who can you trust more, a fisherman or a noble?"

"And what about us women? My husband would never let me go fishing with him. He says it's a man's escape from his wife."

"You're welcome as well, of course- could be a nice escape from your husband." The lady in the russet coat giggles to herself.

"I'll tell you what - anyone who's interested, come to Courtyard Lane, Willow Creek tomorrow morning. You can help us fulfill the order. I'll put in a good word with our customer- I'm sure he'll be happy to pay you all a little extra."

"Well? What do we think?"

"Sir, if you're going to hold up my business like this, I'm going to have to ask you to leave..."