#Best Attendance App for Employees
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8 Simple Ways to Know if Your Remote Employees Are Working

The rise of remote work has brought about many advantages, including increased flexibility and access to a wider talent pool. However, it has also created challenges for managers who need to ensure that their remote teams remain productive and engaged. One of the most pressing concerns for organizations today is how to track employee performance and work hours without micromanaging or undermining trust. Fortunately, there are effective strategies and tools, such as a time and attendance app, to help maintain productivity in a remote setup.
Here are eight simple ways to know if your remote employees are working efficiently, while fostering a culture of trust and transparency.
1. Set Clear Expectations and Goals
The foundation of any successful remote work arrangement is clear communication. Start by setting expectations for work hours, deliverables, and performance metrics. When employees know what is expected of them, they are more likely to stay focused and meet deadlines. This clarity also makes it easier for managers to assess whether work is being completed satisfactorily.
Rather than focusing solely on how many hours employees spend working, emphasize the importance of achieving results. Use key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and ensure that team members understand their responsibilities. A time and attendance app can help record work hours and ensure that everyone is aligned on expectations regarding availability and responsiveness.
2. Use a Time and Attendance App
A reliable time and attendance app is one of the simplest ways to keep track of remote employees' working hours. These apps allow employees to clock in and out, log breaks, and provide detailed reports on time spent on various tasks. This not only helps managers monitor productivity but also gives employees visibility into their own work patterns, promoting accountability.
Many modern time and attendance apps offer features like automatic reminders, integration with project management tools, and detailed analytics. By using these tools, managers can ensure that remote employees are working during designated hours, and employees can easily keep track of their own productivity.
3. Schedule Regular Check-Ins
Consistent communication is key to managing remote teams effectively. Schedule regular one-on-one or team check-ins to discuss progress, address challenges, and offer support. These meetings can be daily, weekly, or bi-weekly, depending on your team’s needs and workload.
These check-ins provide an opportunity to review completed tasks, set goals for the upcoming days, and offer feedback. They also create a platform for employees to raise any concerns or ask questions. Using data from a time and attendance app, managers can have more informed conversations about productivity and identify areas where additional support might be needed.
4. Implement Project Management Tools
Project management tools like Asana, Trello, or Monday.com can help managers track progress and keep remote teams organized. These platforms allow you to assign tasks, set deadlines, and monitor work in real-time. They provide a visual representation of what each team member is working on and what has been completed, making it easier to identify bottlenecks or areas where progress is lagging.
Combining these tools with a time and attendance app offers even greater visibility into how time is being allocated and whether projects are on schedule. This integrated approach ensures that everyone stays on track and that productivity levels remain high.
5. Encourage Daily or Weekly Status Updates
Asking employees to provide daily or weekly status updates is a simple way to keep track of their work. These updates can be shared via email, a dedicated communication channel, or within a project management tool. Employees should briefly outline what they accomplished, what they plan to work on next, and any obstacles they are facing.
This practice not only helps managers stay informed but also encourages employees to reflect on their own productivity. It promotes a sense of accountability and gives managers a clear view of the team’s progress. Pairing this with insights from a time and attendance app can further enhance transparency and efficiency.
6. Focus on Output, Not Activity
One of the biggest mistakes managers make is micromanaging remote employees by focusing too much on their activity rather than their results. Instead of worrying about whether employees are sitting at their desks for eight hours a day, focus on the quality and timeliness of their work. If deliverables are being completed on time and to a high standard, the exact hours employees work become less significant.
However, for roles where tracking hours is necessary (e.g., customer support or roles requiring specific availability), a time and attendance app provides a practical solution. It helps ensure that employees are available when needed while still allowing for flexibility in how they manage their work.
7. Monitor Employee Engagement and Well-Being
Productivity is closely linked to employee engagement and well-being. If remote employees are feeling disconnected or burned out, their work quality will suffer. Use tools like employee surveys, pulse checks, or even informal chats to gauge how your team is feeling. Encouraging open communication and providing support for mental and physical well-being can help maintain high levels of productivity.
Additionally, insights from a time and attendance app can highlight patterns that may indicate overwork or fatigue. For example, if an employee is consistently logging long hours, it might be time to discuss workload and offer assistance or resources to support their well-being.
8. Use Collaboration and Communication Tools
Effective collaboration and communication are vital for remote work success. Tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Zoom facilitate real-time communication and make it easy to collaborate on projects. These platforms can be used to create dedicated channels for project updates, brainstorming, or casual conversations to maintain team camaraderie.
When combined with a time and attendance app, these communication tools provide a comprehensive view of employee availability and workload. This ensures that team members are on the same page and that collaboration efforts are well-coordinated.
Final Thoughts
Monitoring remote employees doesn’t have to feel like a constant game of cat and mouse. By focusing on clear expectations, leveraging technology like a time and attendance app, and prioritizing communication and results, managers can maintain productivity without eroding trust. Remember, the goal is to create a balanced environment where employees feel supported, accountable, and motivated to perform at their best.
Adapting to the remote work era requires a combination of strategic planning and the right tools. When done correctly, it can lead to a more flexible, efficient, and engaged workforce that thrives in today’s digital landscape.
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Discover the Best Attendance App for Multi-Location Businesses
Streamline your company’s HR processes with KyteHR, the best attendance app designed for multi-location businesses. Our IoT-based solution ensures seamless tracking of on-field employee attendance, enhancing productivity and accuracy. KyteHR empowers your HR team by automating tedious administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on strategic initiatives. With real-time data and easy integration, manage your workforce efficiently from anywhere. Join the revolution in attendance management and experience the future of HR with KyteHR today.
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Field Staff Tracking Software India
Revolutionizing Workforce Management: Field Staff Tracking Software in India
Introduction
In an era of rapid technological advancements, Field Staff Tracking Software India businesses across Indiaincreasingly leverageg digital tools to enhance productivity and streamline operations. Field staff tracking software has emerged as a crucial asset for companies with mobile workforces, such as sales teams, service technicians, and delivery personnel. This software provides real-time visibility into field activities, enabling businesses to optimize resource allocation, improve accountability, and ultimately enhance customer satisfaction. This article explores the significance, features, and benefits of field staff tracking software in India, highlighting its transformative impact on workforce management.
The Importance of Field Staff Tracking Software
India's expansive geography and diverse business landscape present unique challenges for managing field operations. Traditional methods of tracking and reporting—such as manual logs and phone calls—are often inefficient and prone to errors. Field staff tracking software addresses these issues by offering real-time monitoring and automation, which are critical for maintaining operational efficiency and ensuring timely service delivery.
Key Features of Field Staff Tracking Software
Real-Time Location Tracking
GPS Integration: Provides precise, real-time location data for field staff, ensuring they follow assigned routes and schedules.
Geofencing: Sets up virtual boundaries and triggers alerts when employees enter or leave designated areas.
Task Management and Scheduling
Automated Scheduling: Assigns tasks based on employee availability and proximity to job sites, optimizing resource utilization.
Status Updates: Allows field staff to update task status and report issues directly through the mobile app, facilitating seamless communication.
Attendance and Time Tracking
Clock In/Out: Enables staff to clock in and out from their mobile devices, ensuring accurate attendance records.
Work Hours Monitoring: Tracks work hours and break times, ensuring compliance with labor regulations and company policies.
Performance Monitoring and Reporting
Performance Metrics: Tracks key performance indicators (KPIs) such as task completion rates, travel time, and customer satisfaction.
Customizable Reports: Generates detailed reports on various aspects of field operations, aiding data-driven decision-making.
Communication and Collaboration
Instant Messaging: Facilitates real-time communication between field staff and office teams through integrated messaging features.
File Sharing: Allows employees to share documents, photos, and other files directly through the app, improving collaboration and information sharing.
Benefits of Field Staff Tracking Software
Enhanced Productivity
Real-time tracking and automated task management reduce idle time and administrative burdens, allowing field staff to focus more on core activities.
Improved Accountability
By providing visibility into field activities, the software holds employees accountable for their performance and adherence to schedules.
Better Customer Service
Efficient task management and faster response times lead to higher customer satisfaction, as businesses can provide timely and reliable services.
Cost Savings
Optimized routing and reduced idle time translate into lower fuel costs and higher operational efficiency, resulting in significant cost savings.
Compliance and Security
Accurate attendance and time tracking help businesses comply with labor laws, while real-time monitoring ensures the safety and security of field staff.
Leading Field Staff Tracking Software Solutions in India
Several software solutions are available in India, each offering unique features tailored to different business needs. Some of the leading options include:
Zoho Field Service
Offers comprehensive features for task scheduling, route optimization, and real-time tracking.
FieldEZ
Known for its user-friendly interface and robust reporting capabilities, making it ideal for small to medium-sized enterprises.
Replicon
Provides advanced time tracking and attendance management features, suitable for businesses with large mobile workforces.
SalesDiary
Focuses on sales force automation with features for lead management, sales tracking, and performance analytics.
Conclusion
Field staff tracking software is transforming the way businesses in India manage their mobile workforces. By providing real-time visibility, automating routine tasks, and enhancing communication, these solutions help businesses improve efficiency, accountability, and customer satisfaction. As more companies recognize the benefits of these tools, the adoption of field staff tracking software is set to increase, driving operational excellence across various industries.
Investing in the right field staff tracking software can be a game-changer for businesses, enabling them to stay competitive in an increasingly dynamic market. For any company looking to optimize its field operations, field staff tracking software is an indispensable tool that ensures efficiency, accountability, and success.
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You Belong With Me | pilot!h |
Prompt: YN and Harry are enemies until they’re not. YN doesn’t need another relationship but neither does Harry. It doesn’t go smoothly.
Word Count: 19k+
Warnings: discussion of miscarriage
author's note:
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There are currently 400 + pieces available to read
Tier I - $3 USD where you get access to main stories, everything except the mini one shots.
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you can check it out here!
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click here for a chance at a free month of my writing.
—-—
It isn’t love.
At least not a first.
YN cannot tell you the moment she fell in love with him.
However, she can tell you the moment that she knew.
-
YN had never had a casual hookup, she’d always been in committed relationships, and had pretty vanilla sex that almost always took place in a bedroom without much excitement.
For a long while, she never thought anything of it and deduced that maybe she just was not one of the people who had a wild adventurous sex life or was bold - it was just fine with her boyfriend in the past, it was never anything to write home about.
She definetly never thought that she would find out that she did in fact have a wild side at work of all places.
YN reveled in not rocking the boat, she’d never do anything unprofessional at work, and she was always one of the best employees - some whispered that she was a kissass or a try hard, YN just wanted to do a good job and hope that most people liked her.
YN had just gotten out of her longest relationship so far - she’d been with Noah since her first year of college and had broken it off after nearly six years of being together just about five months into her new job.
It wasn’t working out any longer, if they were honest, they hadn’t been working out for quite sometime.
YN doesn’t know exactly when she had fallen out of love with Noah but she had.
It was a rocky breakup.
They wanted different things.
YN wants a ring.
Noah didn’t want to get married.
Even though it wasn’t the worst breakup ever, YN really was struggling with all the stress it had put on her because her whole life had changed now that she was a flight attendant.
She had to let Noah keep their two dogs which really felt like she gave away custody because he could be home every night to take care of them while YN was never home for more than a few nights at a time.
Noah had owned the house they lived in which meant YN moved into an apartment that wasn’t that bad but it really wasn’t anything special, it didn’t really matter because she wasn’t home often enough and packed boxes lay untouched for a long time.
YN decided that being single was best right now, it would be near impossible to find a relationship that would work with her hectic hours and she wasn’t going on a dating app to have mediocre sex.
It only takes one person to flip her whole life around.
And that is a fucking understatement.
-
It officially marked her seventh month at the company and her second of being single - both were going somewhat well in her eyes.
Her parents wanted her to find someone, wasting no time in pestering her because they wanted her to have a wedding, to give them grandchildren.
Honestly, YN’s has not been looking.
At first, the breakup with Noah went fine, pleasant even but just a few weeks ago, it had turned completely sour after Noah had told her she wasn’t able to visit their two dogs anymore.
When YN was home, she’d swing by at least once a week to spend some time with her two fur babies whether in his backyard or taking them to the local park for a hike.
However, he’s found a new girlfriend and has stated that it’s no longer a good idea for her to come see the dogs but also said she’s not allowed to take them either which means she has completely lost them.
Noah: It’s nothing personal. I just don’t want my new girlfriend getting the wrong idea, you know? Sorta a buzzkill to have my ex and me sharing dogs like they’re kids or something. I hope you understand, maybe I can send pics
“YN, hello?” Her friend Elaina waves her hand in front of her cellphone screen to break her gaze from Noah’s text message.
“Sorry,” YN mumbles as she locks her phone and puts it on airplane mode.
They were waiting in the employee area for their flight to be ready, a little lounge that was a bit too humid and the coffee was always out.
“I was saying that today is Pilot Styles’ first day with Paradise Airlines after moving from Coastal,” Elaina explains to YN and the few other women that were huddled on the worn couches.
YN’s brow furrows at that, “Am I supposed to know who that is?”
She had heard rumors that a new pilot would be joining their team, be their captain as Paradise Airlines were unlike other companies - they tended to keep crews together on the same flights to build a good coworking relationship.
All the girls look at her like she had a second head, Justine speaking up first, “How do you not know who he is?”
YN doesn’t quite know how to answer that, shrugging her shoulders, “I don’t remember anyone ever saying anything about that captain to me. Why is it a big deal that he is changing to our airline?”
Perry jumps in, excited that she gets to spill some gossip, “Well, we’re surprised you don’t know him because of the amount of shit that the stewardess’ bitch about him. It’s a big deal that he’s coming to our airline because every attendant I know hates him.”
YN wasn’t expecting that for the reason that he was so well known.
“I mean most pilots are a bit grouchy,” YN responds as she sips her coffee that has enough espresso to get her through the next ten hours, “They all seem a little miserable if I’m honest.”
Elaina laughs at that, leaning forward, “He’s not just a bit grouchy. He’s a straight up asshole. He’s probably the most unfriendly, unwelcoming person that I’ve ever met and I’ve heard from others that it’s the same. He treats everybody like they’re less than and is demanding, like everybody needs to bow down for him.”
“You’ve worked with him before?” YN asks Elaina, it sounds like she was speaking from personal experience and there was still annoyance in her tone as she recounts how she knows the captain.
“Unfortunately, I worked at Coastal Airlines for a few years before I moved here. Styles is probably around forty years old so he’s been here quite a while now. I didn’t have many experiences with him but I swear he made at least one attendant cry each flight.”
“Did he make you cry?” YN responds because that seemed to be what Elaina was insinuating as her friend picked at the foam of her cheap coffee cup.
“Once,” Elaina nods with a pursed smile, “I accidentally turned off the seatbelt sign right before major turbulence which was totally on me but Harry lost his shit on me, he wrote me a formal warning, told me that if i can’t do something as simple as button control that I should be working somewhere ‘more my speed’, and when I started crying - he fucking laughed at me for and told me I was being childish.”
“Maybe he was just having a bad day?” YN tries to justify because why would someone be so cruel for no reason, it didn’t make sense unless he was perpetually miserable.
Justine finally jumps into the conversation, “He has a bad day everyday. He usually sits down at the hotel bars for an hour or so after check-in. I’ve watched stewardess’ try to hit on him, get him to take them back to his room because even though he’s a dickhead, he’s fucking hot. A lot of the time, he just turns them down but sometimes he’ll toy with them. He’ll flirt, buy them a drink, and then laugh at them because they thought they had a chance with him.”
It’s official, YN already hates this Captain Styles, he sounds like a chauvinist pig and she hopes that she can just manage to keep a safe distance from him.
YN misses the social cues of the situation, she misses the way the other girls tense up, she misses the warning glances that they’re trying to silently give her, she misses the way their eyes widen at the doorway.
YN’s back was turned toward the door so she couldn’t see who walked in, didn’t even hear anyone, and shakes her head with a soft chuckle, “I don’t care how good looking Captain Styles is, he can fuck off if he thinks he can be an asshole to me. I’m not in the mood.”
And she was expecting some type of response from her fellow coworkers but instead they are absolute dead silence, sitting stock still, and looking down at their laps.
“Is that right?” A deep voice asks from behind her, it nearly sent chills down her spine at the tone, cool and collected but the sharp, authoritative edge was not going unnoticed by her.
YN squeezes her eyes shut for a long moment, already having a sinking feeling that it was none other than the captain, her new boss, behind her and had just heard her brave declaration.
She stands up, straightening out the pleats of her freshly ironed dress, and turns towards him.
YN feels her breathing stutter when she finally comes face to face with the man who no one has had anything good to say about and she feels a weird flip in her stomach.
They said he was hot.
But that really didn’t do any justice to the man standing in front of her.
He was hot, sure but he was devastatingly, intimidatingly handsome.
She’d never been so intimidated by someone based on their appearance alone, he was so beautiful that it was startling as he stared her down with a bored expression.
He was tall, lean but not in a scrawny way, it was obvious that he had lithe muscle on his body that was hidden away under his uniform, and said uniform fit him like an absolute glove.
Captain Styles had cropped brown curls with individual gray hairs scattered within, mostly near his temples which was the one of the only signs of his age, his eyes were a piercing green surrounding by dark lashes, and his lips were puffy, pouty, and currently in a frown.
YN realizes that he’s expecting a response and in that moment, despite his good looks, she decides that she’s not going to let herself be treated like shit because she has had enough of that from other men in her life lately.
She knows it’s only appropriate to apologize but she’s not going to grovel for his forgiveness, he could hate her because she already disliked him, and so she swallows her pride for the moment.
“I apologize, Captain Styles,” YN says clearly, not letting once ounce of anxiety slip into her tone, “That was inappropriate and uncalled for. It won’t happen again. I look forward to working with you.”
He narrows his eyes at her, studying her face and not letting the scowl leave his, its like he’s trying to look at her soul with how intent his stare is, and then he’s replying, “Unfortunately, I cannot say the same. It doesn’t seem like such a pleasure to work with you. However, I am hopeful you’re not as unpersonable with customers as you are with your superiors.”
YN’s has to stop herself from letting her mouth drop open at the harshness of his words, a ball of red hot fury beginning to build in her as she drops the faux smile from her face.
“I don’t think you have much room to talk about being unpersonable, Captain Styles,” YN tells him, making sure the words sound soft and just casual conversation even though it’s anything but - she can feel the eyes of her coworkers bulging at the confrontation.
Harry smiles brightly, his bright white teeth flashing almost dangerously at her words, “Even though it’s adorable, the attitude won’t last long. Not if you want to keep your job.”
YN doesn’t let that worry her, she could always find a job with another airline, there’s always a need and for some reason, she decides that she wants to pick a fight with this man when she’s never done something like this before.
“I’m good at my job and I’m friendly,” YN shrugs like she’s unbothered, she catches Harry’s fist clench tightly at his side in annoyance but it’s the only sign of it in his body, “I think you may be able to take some lessons from me because the latter seems pretty difficult for you, Captain.”
Harry’s eyes are dark, laser focused on her and no one else in the room, and her words don’t change his facial expression, he simply states to the room at large, “Change of plans for the flight to Heathrow,” He takes a minute to look at her name badge, “I would like Perry and YN to switch positions on today’s flight. The plane is boarding in fifteen minutes, please be prepared to board and prepare for takeoff.”
With that, he’s turning on his heel and striding right back out the door.
“Are you fucking crazy?” Elaina hisses as she smacks YN’s arm, “What the hell were you thinking?”
YN doesn’t really know what got into her, that man just brought something out in her that made her want to fight, to be a little be feisty, and get under his skin when no one else could.
“I wasn’t really,” YN admits with a nervous laugh, flopping back down on the sofa, “He’s just so arrogant, cocky. Men like that get on my nerves and I’m not going to let him treat me however he wants.”
“I have to say I’m relieved I’m no longer on cockpit duty but I’m sorry for you, it’s going to be a long flight,” Perry sighs as she sits up to throw her empty drink away.
Fuck.
“Of course,” YN shakes her head in annoyance, “Of course, he’s going to make me wait on him hand and foot now.”
“Depends, sometimes he really keeps to himself. Especially on the long flights but when he’s on a rampage, he’ll make the whole flight awful. Thanks for that,” Justine snorts but doesn’t actually seem that mad, like she knows YN is going to get the brunt of it.
“Lucky me,” YN responds sarcastically, it was about time they headed out to board.
Paradise had the nicest planes in the game, newest and most expensive, an average seat on board cost no less than a thousand dollars, and everyone had pods instead of normal seating.
It was for long flights, international which YN didn’t mind - she liked getting out of the country, sometimes she got to experience the cities for a day or so, not always.
The cockpit attendant was exactly what it sounded like, they were responsible for communicating with the pilots and then passing that message onto either the passengers or other employees.
They would ask the stewardess to check on things, give them drinks or prepare their food, and give them any updates that may be necessary for them to know.
Most flight attendants want the cockpit because it tended to be the easiest spot, didn’t have to deal with the unruly passengers much, didn’t have to be at their beck and call, and most pilots were pretty low maintances and kept communication to a minimum.
However, everyone seemed to want to face the customers for a ten hour flight than even have to talk to their pilot which wasn’t what YN had considered - it just shows how awful he is and she just subjected herself to it.
-
Takeoff is smooth, after a few minutes, Captain Styles’ voice filters through the intercoms where he discusses the flight, the weather, the time, and cursing altitude before wishing them a good trip.
He doesn’t bother YN until three hours in, pressing the button that signals to her that she is needed in the pit which she punches in the code and sticks her head in where Harry and his co-pilot are.
“Yes, Captain Styles?” YN uses her most professional tone because she truly wasn’t trying to get fired.
“Club soda with lemon,” Is all he responds without looking back, no please or courtesy - it was demand because he could.
“Yes sir,” YN has to make sure it doesn’t come out as sharply as she wants it, he’s already creating an itch under her skin, and its making her want to tell him off again.
She takes her time preparing the drink, no rush to be back which she’s hoping annoys him, and when she steps back into the cockpit, attempting to hand him the beverage - he doesn’t reach for it.
“I’ve changed my mind. I’d actually prefer a raspberry la croiax,” He again doesn’t make any effort to look at her and she swears she can see the slightest smirk at the corner of his lips.
“I’ll take the club soda,” The other man shrugs, taking it off of her hands so that it doesn’t go to waste, oblivious to the obvious tension in the small space.
YN knows that he’s doing it just to fuck with her, its unprofessional and immature but that shouldn’t surprise her with how much people have been warning her about him, right?
She again drags her feet and inhales deeply before reentering, hands out with the drink, and this time Harry reaches for it - she tries not to startle when their fingers brush momentarily, one of his rings bumping her.
“Miss. YN, I know I switched you position last moment,” Harry hums like he’s thoughtful, it actually makes her more irritated than when he’s blunt and cold, it like he’s playing a game right now, “But I think cockpit attendant is most likely the easiest job on this plane. If you cannot even get beverages in a timely manner than maybe you need some additional training or an even easier job.”
YN is absolutely staring daggers into the back of his head, she knows that this is usually when the other women cry or back away with their tail between their legs but YN wasn’t going to do either of those things.
She was going to kill him with kindness.
“Abolstuely, Captain Styles. I apologize for any inconvenience, I know you have such a hard job and I’m making it difficult. I’ll try better in then future, thank you for your feedback,” The fake enthusiasm is dripping into her voice and it’s obvious how much acting is put in to her demeanor.
She preens a bit when she realizes that it catches him at least a little of guard, his smirk faltering for a moment before his eyes narrow again and his nostrils are flaring, “Get out my pit.”
And YN has to contain her giggle, overjoyed that she’d managed to irk him, and it seems to do the trick as he doesn’t request anymore beverages for the rest of the flight and doesn’t interact with her nearly at all.
-
YN can at least give it to Captain Styles that it was a smooth flight, as they were landing and finally able to exit the aircraft - all the girls looked at her with wide eyes, most likely expecting it to look like she had cried recently but she hadn’t.
It was a tradition to dine together when they landed in a new country since Paradise made them a team and always paired them together, they were also at the same hotel which worked out for them to hang out.
Elaina, YN, Perry, and Justine were all sat in the hotel restaurant gossiping about different attendants and recounting atrocious customers when out of the corner of her eye, she sees Harry walk into.
He had changed from his uniform into a pair of loose black slacks and fitted black t-shirt as he headed straight toward the bar, he didn’t glance around to see his surroundings and slid onto a stool.
“He has no right to be that attractive when he’s that much of an asshole,” Justine grumbles, crossing her arms dramatically, “Almost every pilot sleeps around. Why is he the only one who doesn’t?”
“You don’t think he’s ever slept with one?” YN asks curiously because she doesn’t put it above Harry to do one night stands and then act like the girl didn’t even exist the next day.
“I think he was married at some point,” Perry shrugs, “And from what I know he didn’t cheat on his wife like most pilot’s do. I don’t know what happened but Brandy said she heard Harry tell one of his copilots that he was single a year back or something. So they must have gotten a divorce.”
That surprised YN, she knew that many people who worked for airlines and travel constantly tended to do quite a bit of sleeping around because they weren’t home often with their significant others.
There was a lot of cheating in this line of work.
So once again, it did throw YN through a loop that he wasn’t known as one of the serial cheaters like most pilots are - that’s not saying he didn’t cheat on his wife, he could have done it much more secretly but it’s hard to keep it that much under wraps.
“I’d divorce him too. I can’t imagine he treated his wife too well,” Justine adds in with a sip of her margarita and a chuckle, “Despite how handsome and charming he can be, he seems like a bit of a loner.”
YN was not going to feel bad for him.
The rest of the dinner goes well, Harry doesn’t turn to look at them once but he has to know they’re there - Perry and Justine got a bit rowdy towards the end of the night and their giggles were echoing through the room.
When they file out, YN glances at Harry which she doesn’t know why, and is startled to see that he’s staring at her through the mirror opposite the bar, only for a moment before he purposefully looks away.
-
“Fucking shit,” YN curses loudly in the empty bathroom, she’d only been back from dinner for not more than fifteen minutes and was about to hop in the shower when dropped her hairdryer right on the top of her foot as she unpacked her toiltery bag.
It was already showing signs of discoloration and there was a nice sized abrasion across the top - it was absolutely throbbing and the shower was forgotten.
She had showered before the flight and wasn’t too dirty which meant she was just going to wait until the morning.
Instead she slips into her pajamas which consisted of a plain black tank top and a pair of cotton shorts that had sushi rolls all over them - a gift from Elaina after a girls night of bad sushi which resulted in food poisoning in Japan.
YN had a bad habit of walking around barefoot, it didn’t matter whether it was her house, the woods, the hotel hallways - she’d grown up in the country and it was just a habit to not wear shoes when she didn’t have too.
She grabs the ice bucket from the countertop to go fill it with ice, she could wrap some up in a towel and ice her foot - hopefully to prevent it from swelling too much.
They had a flight back to the states tomorrow and it was another ten hour trip, they were required to wear a specific kitten-heel shoe and she knew a swollen foot would feel awful in it.
It was nearly eleven at night, she didn’t think there would be many people patrolling the hallway, and wandered out of her room down the corridor - following the signs that guided her to the ic machine.
She passes the elevators and continues down the row of room when she hears it beep and the heavy doors open, she doesn’t bother looking back because she’s sure it’s just someone going to their room.
Of course that’s not the fucking case though.
“It’s pretty disgusting to be walking around barefoot in a hotel,” A voice from behind her states with clear disdain in his low tone, “Then you get into a clean bed with filthy feet?”
YN internally groans because of course it’s him.
“Mind your own business, Captain Styles. We’re off the clock,” YN retorts back with more bite than she’s had all day as she continues to walk albeit at a slower than usual pace.
“Why are you limping? You weren’t limping earlier at the resturaunt,” Harry asks pointedly, his voice hasn’t softened and it’s like he is literally demanding the answers out of her, not asking.
Huh.
He was paying attention to her earlier.
Interesting.
“I dropped my hairdryer on my foot. I’m going to get ice for it,” YN can’t help the low but audible gasp that leaves her mouth when she steps down and a sharp pain shoots up through her already tender foot but then she feels the ice bucket being ripped out of her hand, “Hey! What the hell-“
“Quiet the fuck down, will you?” Harry hissed as he steps in front of her, cutting off her path, there was still quite a long way to go until the ice dispenser and she’d like to get this over with so she can rest her foot, “Go back to your room. I’ll bring the ice to you. What room number are you?”
He doesn’t sound like he’s doing it because he feels bad for her, his tone is making it seem like she’s being annoying and an inconvenience and if he gets her the ice then she won’t be such a bother to him - his facial expression isn’t saying anything different than that either.
“I can get my own ice,” YN tries to reach for the handle but he jerks it away childishly.
“I didn’t ask you whether you could or not. With how long it took you to bring me a fucking drink by the time you hobble back to your hotel room, the sun will be rising. Don’t make me ask again, what room number are you?” Harry grits out because he’s definitely annoyed but YN doesn’t know whether he has another state of being besides that.
“Three twenty seven,” YN mumbles defeatedly, she wasn’t going to stand in the hallway and argue any longer about a stupid bucket of ice, it pains her but she manages to say, “Thank you.”
Harry stares at her for a moment longer, frown etched onto his face, and he looks like he’s about to say something nice but then his eyebrows furrow once again and says, “Be more careful. I don’t want to have to deal with a new stewardess because you can’t walk and put some fucking shoes on.”
Then he’s sauntering off without waiting for her response and she can’t help but just look at his broad back for a moment in disbelief at what an asshole he is but there is at least some type of kindness underneath….maybe she’s imagining things because she’s tired and in pain.
There’s a knock on her door a few minutes later, she thought he’d be back with the ice sooner and she started to believe that he was purposely taking long because of what she did with his drinks on the flight earlier.
So when she swings open the door, she already has a major attitude as she snatches the bucket of ice out of his hand and scowls at him, “I know I took a long time with your drinks earlier but I’m actually in pain, its really rude of you to -“
Harry extends his hand, showing that he has a bottle of aspirin in it, “I went down to the little shop in the lobby and got this for you, didn’t know if you traveled with it but should help the swelling and pain for tomorrow’s flight.”
And YN actually feels bad because that was nice of him to do and so she sheepishly takes it, “I’m sorry I know we got off on the wrong foot. I just thoug-“
“I’m not going to be your fucking friend, save the apology or whatever you’re about to say. I do not care,” Harry shakes his head as his hands go back to his sides, “I’m looking out for my crew, nothing more.”
YN thinks she’s starting to see past his tough guy exterior even if she’s only known him for a few hours at this point.
“You bring every stewardess aspirin?” YN shoots back with a raised eyebrow.
Harry grits his teeth, jaw clenching, “I haven’t met one as clumsy or unbearable as you before.”
“It’s an honor to be the most unbearable one you’ve met in all your years of being a pilot,” YN flutters her eyelashes at him but there’s so much tension between them that she can almost taste it, she’d never felt this with someone before, “I look forward to living up to my title.”
It surprises her when Harry steps forward, their chests nearly touching, and he is looking down at her, “I’m not someone you want to fuck with, do you understand me? Listen to your little friends when they tell you about me, it’s all true.”
“I’m not scared of you,” YN shakes her head defiantly, crossing arms and bumping his chest just barely in the process but he doesn’t move back yet.
“I never said anything about being scared of me,” Harry responds almost conversationally, if he leaned forward just a bit more their lips would be connecting and….
And what the fuck.
No, YN, No.
“I don’t understand why you’re such a miserable asshole,” YN responds tightly, trying to reign in her thoughts, “But you’re going to have a hell of a time trying to make me fucking bow to you.”
Harry doesn’t like that, not one bit because he nearly snarls, and bites out, “You’re not going to last long on my crew. I’ll make fucking sure of that. I won't fire you but by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be begging to quit.”
YN finally snaps at that, this arguement clearly going no where, and she would have thrown the aspirin back at him but she actually did need it so as she reaches for the door handle to close it, she makes sure to let him know, “Fuck you.”
Harry's face transforms into a sickeningly sweet smile, dimples popping in his cheeks as he steps out of the room and into the hallway, “It’s been a lovely first day working with you, Miss YN. If you want to be intimidating, you might want to try it when you’re not wearing pajama shorts with sushi rolls on them.”
And with that, he’s disappearing down the hall.
-
As expected, the next day YN’s foot was swollen which made getting her feet into the kitten heels exceptionally hard this morning, her foot was already pulsating in pain by the time they got to the airport.
When they’re in the staff room, checking any updates for the flight, there’s a collective sigh of relief when positions are posted before they all look over at YN, she doesn’t even have to look to know what they’re thinking.
“You really pissed him off,” Elaina states as she frowns at her friend, “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Styles put the same attendant on cockpit for two flights in a row.”
YN was relieved in all honesty because she was going to be able to sit more than the others and she’d rather not be on her feet for hours on end with her bruising in the just the very beginning of the healing phase.
“It’s because I’m not going to take his bullshit,” YN responds with another sip of her strong coffee, “I can see why he makes people cry, he’s a jerk but I'm not going to let him win with me. He gets on my last nerve so I’m going to make sure to get on his.”
“And if he fires you from his crew?” Perry asks and it’s clear that she’s trying to tell YN to cool it with the attitude because they really don’t want to see their friends lose her job.
YN almost spills about the conversation her and Harry had last night, how he doesn’t want anybody new on his flights which makes her somewhat confident that he won't get rid of her easily but she wasn't going to tell her friends about that interaction.
Instead she tries to come off as nonchalant as possible when she shrugs her shoulders, “So be it. I’m not going to kiss his ass for this job.”
Elaina and Justine are giving her the same disapproving looks like they don’t want to see the Rama unfold which will most likely end in YN getting the boot as it was much easier to replace a flight attendant than a pilot.
-
It must be tradition for Harry to come into the staff room before the flights to let them know that boarding is happening soon and if there’s anything that they need to be aware of.
When he walks in today, he notices how the others straighten up and sit more proper than they were before, giving the captain their full attention and YN can’t help but roll her eyes.
She knows it's outwardly rude but she doesn’t put her phone away when he begins to speak about the potential weather hazards and turbulence that may occur on the upcoming flight.
YN wants to smile because she can feel the daggers that Harry is boring into her as he speaks and she blatantly lets him know how uninterested she is in what he has to say.
After he is done speaking, he asks if there’s any questions or anything that the staff needs and they all respond pretty much in unison saying ‘ no Captain’ everyone except YN.
YN has never, not once been so insubordinate at work, she fucking thrived on being a model employee and for the life of her, she could not explain the brattiness that Harry brought out in her.
She was having fun making him angry and she’s never been that type of person, it was like she was also enjoying his attention even though it was negative but YN wouldn’t admit that.
It seems pretty easy to rile him up, get him on-edge, his bullshit tolerance was seemingly low which made it easy for YN to succeed.
“Miss YN, I’d like to see you privately. Now,” Harry orders with no budge, he hasn’t raised his voice but the words are distinct and pronounced.
“She’s just having a bad day,” Elaina, always the good friend, tries to justify because she’s definitely afraid that YN is about to get fired, “She doesn’t usu-“
“Did I ask you?” Harry snaps at the women, his eyes fiery now with confrontation, “Did I ask for your opinion? I think I can do my job just fine without your input, stewardess.”
He managed to make the job title seem less than or demeaning in the way it came out but Elaina’s eyes go wide in surprise and she instantly quiets back down.
“If you find it necessary to try to tell me how to manage my crew, you can start looking for another airline to work for,” Harry threatens but his gaze is already back on YN, her heart absolutely sinks when she hears Elaina start to sniffle to hold back tears.
That was the normal effect that he had on others, a few really harsh and threatening words would make them cry because they were scared of him and his wrath.
YN pats Elaina’s thigh, in a silent ‘thank you’ for trying to stick up for her but she pushes herself off the couch, quickly hiding the grimace when her foot reminds her it’s injured and grabs the handle of her heavy luggage.
“Fifteen minutes,” Harry tells the rest of them before he’s going back out the door but this time with YN in tow, again slower than usual as she’s trying to manage this bruised foot in heels.
Harry doesn’t take her far, just down the hall to an empty conference room and shuts the door - she wants to smile with how angry he seems to be but she also hates how handsome he was when he was like this.
His jaw was clenched but it showed off how defined and cut it was, his puffy lips were pouty and a bit swollen from biting them, and he made his shoulders as broad as possible like he was trying to puff up in defense.
“I think it’s a fucking record,” Harry almost growls as he crosses his arms, putting his hat on the table, “I don’t think I’ve ever despised a stewardess as quickly as you. How have you gotten anywhere in life with that spoiled attitude?”
“I could ask the same,” YN raises her eyebrow because he doesn’t have room to talk on attitude, “I’m not normally like this. You just bring out the absolute worst in me.”
“Good to know I have such an effect on you,” Harry smiles smugly, his teeth gleaming and those same dimples popping, “That I can get you so worked up.”
It definitely had a double meaning laced in those words.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” YN laughs like he’s told the funniest joke, “You’re not as great as you think you are. I’m not impressed.”
And bingo.
That must strike a nerve with him.
YN can already tell nobody ever tells him that.
His teasing smile drops into something stormier, “Cut the bullshit now. When I’m talking, you listen and pay attention, you’re not some silly little teenager who can’t take a moment away from her phone. I know what you’re doing. I’m not going to be disrespected so blatantly in front of my crew.”
YN’s insides sorta twist at that because when he lays it out like that, it was really fucking rude of her and just because they’re having issues doesn’t give her the right to be so outwardly disrespectful in front of the crew.
She actually means it when she says, “I’m sorry and it won’t happen again.”
Harry’s eyebrows raise like he’s surprised that she sincerely apologized but it relaxes him a bit after the apology, shoulders dropping just the slightest, and YN’s mind starts to drift on what his broad shoulders look like underneath the perfectly pressed uniform…
No.
Absolutely fucking not.
But god, even if YN couldn’t stand his personality, she really couldn’t deny how fucking attracted she was to him, it would be hard not to with how beautiful he is.
It helps to know that he doesn’t sleep with people he works with which means that she could fully keep this a fantasy.
“See you can be an obedient little puppy,” Harry lets the condescending tone lace through his words.
YN has to clench her fists by her side to avoid smacking the ever living shit out of him.
“Go fuck yourself,” YN hisses because he’s now managed to completely piss her off, “I take back my god damn apology. You absolute douchebag.”
Harry smiles again, eyes twinkling under the fluorescent lights because he got the reaction he wanted out of her, and watches in amusement when YN grabs her luggage handle and though she can’t storm out of the room as she’d like with her foot, she exits without another word.
When she’s a bit down the hall, she stops, leaning against the wall as removes her shoe, massaging at the tender skin that was already pulsing from being in the heel.
It felt good to have it off for a moment but of course, Harry decides to come the same way down the hall which makes YN cut her rest short and slip back on her heel without looking at him.
As she starts back down the hallway, almost like yesterday night, the handle of her suitcase is pried from her hand by none other than Harry as he strolls down the hall, “What the fuc-“
“Keep your voice down,” Harry chides sharply, taking the duffle off her shoulder and swinging it over hers, “We’ll never make it to board on time with you limping around like this. C’mon, I don’t like being late and you’re going to make me.”
YN’s argument dies on her tongue because it’s actually very nice of him to be lugging her suitcase and duffel which they don’t say anything else but when they get inside the plane - Harry tucks them away for her too.
She��s relieved none of her friends are on board yet because she knew they would have a ton of questions if they saw what just happened.
And YN would not have a fucking clue how to explain it.
-
The next three months go on basically the same since being on the same flight crew with Harry, they would constantly go at it before flights, Harry would drag her into a private room and they’d argue a bit before he’d take her luggage to the terminal for her.
They never interacted at the hotel restaurant or bar but they happened to bump into each other a lot as YN made it a habit to get ice at night around the same time and they both never mentioned how Harry was magically coming up to his room at that time and would walk to the ice machine and back to her room together.
As time went on, the night walks with Harry, there wasn’t always much conversation, occasionally bitching about an unruly passenger or an idiot staff member, quite a bit of jabbing and poking at each other but it didn’t seem so filled with hatred anymore.
It wasn’t a pleasant relationship at all, they were both pretty awful to each other and YN typically ended every conversation they had with a ‘fuck you’ or some variation of it but now there were some not so hostile moments mixed in between them.
They weren’t friends, not even cordial really but YN knew that she had a closer relationship to Harry than anyone else on the crew and she’d had kept that hidden from her friends.
She didn’t want them to get the wrong impression, she knew they would jump to the conclusion that they were hooking up or that she liked him in that way - it was better to keep it on the down low even if there really wasn’t much to report.
It had been a late flight in, everyone had eaten one of the lackluster meals on the plane, and headed up to their hotel room the moment they landed to go to sleep.
YN was on the same boat, not bothering to get the unnecessary ice tonight, and she’s just stepped into her room when her phone buzzes with a text message from her friend back home.
Micah: What a dick. I didn’t even know he was in a new relationship, let alone that serious. [image attachment]
YN opens the conversation to a screenshot from Noah’s instagram, she’d blocked him after he refused to let her see the dogs anymore, and it was a picture of his most recent post.
He was holding a girl she didn’t recognize, her legs wrapped around Noah’s hips and her left hand held up to their face where they’re kissing, and a prominent diamond sat on her finger.
The caption was something sickeningly sweet about her saying ‘yes’ and how excited he is for the rest of their lives together.
They hadn’t even been broken up for an entire year yet.
One of the main reasons that they broke up in the first place was because after six years, YN was ready to settle down and get married but he said that he just didn’t want that right now and he wasn’t sure if he ever really wanted to get married.
It turns out that he just really didn’t want to marry her.
God, she was over him but the rejection still fucking stung.
She deletes the photo from the conversation so she doesn’t have to look at it any longer and she can’t go back to hyperfixate on it later but she felt like a bus just hit her suddenly as she sat in her empty hotel room.
YN wipes her eyes roughly, refusing to let herself cry over it, and instead, she does something she typically never does while she’s traveling for work - she slips on her shoes and heads right down to the hotel bar to get drunk.
The flight the next day wasn’t until noon so she didn’t have to roll out of bed super early and she just wanted to feel numb right now which alcohol had a great way of doing.
It was a bit busy for a weeknight, quite a few businessmen scattered around the lounge, a few couples, and a few lone people like herself when she sits down on a bar stool and orders Long Island.
YN wasn’t a light weight per se but it really didn’t take her much to be feeling good and by her third one, she was feeling warm and fuzzy, not as awful as she felt an hour earlier.
She was drunk, not to the point of blacking out or being belligerent but enough that she was ready to curl into bed and have a night long sleep and pray not to have a nasty hangover.
YN’s just ordered her fourth, a bit surprised that the bartender allowed it but she wasn’t showing any sign of being smashed, and then someone slid up beside her, close to where their shoulders brushed.
It was stupid but momentarily she wished it was Harry, thought it would be him but she frowns when it's one of the businessmen from the lounge that is grinning at her.
“Can I buy you a drink?” He asks even though he can see that she has a completely full one right in front of her.
“I’m good, thank you,” YN tells him without much kindness in her tone to let him know that she’s not interested in whatever he wants from her but that doesn’t seem to deter her.
“C’mon, just one? It’d be a crime not to buy a drink for someone so gorgeous,” He lays it on hard, he wasn’t sitting and he was too much in her space for her liking.
“I said no,” YN replies firmly, it was obvious in her body language that he was making her uncomfortable but he really didn’t seem to care.
“Are you married? What’s the big fuckin’ deal? I don’t see a ring on your finger, just have a drink-“ The man pushes, angrier as he realizes that he’s being rejected, YN ignores the wedding band on his finger.
“Is there an issue here?” A startling loud voice states from behind them and YN slumps in relief when she realizes that it was Harry.
“Who the fuck are you?” The businessman retorts, puffing up his chest and posturing like he was ready for a fight.
“Her husband,” Harry lies easily, he’s not as worked up as the man he’s confronted but he doesn't need to be - his presence and the way he holds himself is ten times more intimidating than the other man.
The businessman looks between the two of them before rolling his eyes, snatching his freshly ordered beer off the counter and going back to the table with his friends.
“Thanks for that,” YN tells him as she goes to take a sip of her drink.
Harry doesn’t allow her, intercepting the glass and putting it back on the bar, “You’re drunk. I think you’ve had enough to drink. It’s time for you to get to bed.”
YN frowns at the full drink, she can’t help the spoiled whine in the back of her throat, “But I want it.”
Harry surprisingly lets out a soft laugh, his hand coming to her shoulder and his thumb rubs a circle for a moment before he’s pulling back - realizing what he did but doesn’t lose his smile, “I know you do, seem to be really enjoying them but I think it’s time for you to get back to your room.”
“Mm, a few more sips,” YN coos which isn’t her normal behavior but she was drunk, she couldn’t be blamed for being a bit flirty with the prettiest man she’d ever seen, “S’good and sugary, make me forget.”
Harry’s brow furrows, “That’s an awful reason to drink. What are you trying to forget?”
YN shakes her head as she begins to pull out her wallet, grabbing a few bills but she stops when Harry directly hands the bartender enough to cover it.
“You didn’t have to do that,” YN mumbles because she doesn’t know why he was being nice to her.
“I know I didn’t, come on,” Harry replies, he gently holds her shoulder as she clumsily gets off the bar still and when she stumbles, Harry wraps his arm around her waist but just barely touching her to guide her, “You’re a sloppy drunk, aren’t you?”
YN pouts at that as they leave the bar, “I don’t drink a lot. I don’t think I’ve gotten drunk in the last year or two.”
“Why now?” Harry asks as he presses the button up when YN starts to tilt - the hand on her back finally moves to her hip, gripping her with more pressure to keep her standing.
YN snorts unattractively, her eyes were getting bleary and heavy, she was getting tired which happened when she drank liquor.
“Like you care why I’m sad,” YN scoffs as they’re stepping into the lift, he leans forward to press the number to their floor.
Harry pauses for a moment, he doesn’t tell her he cares but instead repeats more firmly, “Tell me what’s going on. I’m sick of asking.”
“My ex just got engaged,” YN whispers and fuck, she feels tears begin to prick at her eyes as she say it out loud.
“He’s your ex for a reason, why are you upset?” Harry responds but he doesn’t seem judgemental but curious.
“I was with him for six years. We broke up two months into this job. He said he didn’t want to be tied down, he didn’t think he ever wanted to get married, and he didn’t want me waiting around for a ring and babies,” YN swallows as she wipes at her cheeks, mascara was definitely starting to rub, “Less than a year later, he’s already proposed to a girl he barely knows. I don’t know why I wasn’t good enough for him. I was a good partner.”
Harry’s silent as the elevator goes up, his hand doesn’t leave her hip even though she’s not swaying but she appreciates it's ground her and makes everything seem a little less worse.
“I’m sorry,” Harry finally says and he doesn’t sound like he’s being condescending - it actually sounds like he means it, “I cannot imagine what that feels like to go through. I can’t imagine why he would do that. You’re smart, intelligent-“
“Don’t act like you don’t hate me, Harry. Just to make me feel better,” YN butts in because she doesn’t need him to butter her up when she knows he doesn’t mean those things.
“I don’t hate you,” Harry’s voice is deep but quieter than it usually is, “You get on my nerves nearly every fuckin’ second of the day but that doesn’t mean that I don’t see how smart, quick-witted, beautiful you are.”
YN bites her lip because she didn’t realize that she needed to hear that, it’s been a long while since she’s got a compliment, and in about the year leading up to ending her relationship with Noah - he’d never say anything nice like this.
“Thank you, I-I haven’t heard anything nice like that in a while,” YN tells him as she continues to swipe away tears and look down at her feet because she can feel Harry’s eye watching her and she’s embarrassed she’s responding this way.
“You should be hearing those things everyday,” He sighs and squeezes the plush of her hip kindly, guiding her again when the elevator at or door opens, “I know it’s a bit ironic considering our style of communication but I do mean those things.”
YN tells him her room number and they begin walking down the left of the hallway, her mind is fuzzy but feels a little more clear after their conversation, “It’s fine, I’m just as bad and I started it for the most part. I don’t expect to hear those things from you.”
As they wind up at her door, Harry steps back and puts his hands into his pockets, “I should be nicer to you but I hate to admit I enjoy getting under your skin and making you angry. You’re quite pretty when you're pissed at me.”
And YN’s mind goes to insecurity right away because she knows that Harry doesn’t like her even though he said he doesn’t hate her, he has no reason to be this nice to her and even though they’ve had moments through the past months of niceness …
She doesn’t know what makes her blurt this out and she wishes she could swallow it as soon as it came out of her mouth.
“Are you trying to be all nice to sleep with me or something? Then you’ll be a dick again once you get what you want?” YN’s words are just a bit slurred but hold a somewhat curious, somewhat accusing tone as she watches him.
The small smile that had been on his face for their conversation drops and in its place was a frigid scowl and before he even spoke, she knew that she had offended him but the way his shoulders tense up and he takes another step back from her.
“You know what’s fucked up? I finally try to put myself out there just the littlest bit for you and all you can think is that I want to fuck you? You think that lowly of me?” Harry’s soft whispers were gone and back was the cold, emotionless bravado that echoed off the empty hallway walls, “That I was just trying to use you?”
“I-Harry, I didn-no, I didn’t,” YN begins to stumble because unlike their usual back and forth arguing that dissipates in meaningless banter, this wasn’t that - she had actually upset him and that was never her intention.
“Save it your bullshit apology,” Harry replies to cut her off, shaking his head like he’s disappointed in how idiotic he’s been, “I’m done trying if this is where it fucking gets me. I knew it wasn’t fucking worth it.”
And with that, he’s storming away from her without another word and he doesn’t look back as she stares after him dumbfounded at what the fuck just happened.
The flight the next day home, Harry puts her back on the back crew which was the further position away from the cockpit who dealt with the consumers in the back of the aircraft.
Her friends congratulate her on getting away from the pit because they didn’t know anything about how Harry and hers relationship has developed but all she could feel was anxiety about how much she’d fucked up.
He doesn’t come into the staff room before takeoff and is already in the pit when the stewardess’ board, YN doesn’t see him until the crew is heading off the plane.
Harry makes it clear he’s looking for no interaction as he hustles through the terminal with long strides.
-
They have a three day break and during that time, YN isn’t even thinking about Noah and his new engagement that originally had her so torn up in the first place.
All she could think about was Harry.
She had a wishful thinking that the time off would heal the wounds and they’d be back to normal but she knew that wasn’t the case when Harry put her again on the back crew.
She did not see him throughout the flight once again and stayed behind while the stewardess got off the aircraft when they landed which meant YN knew she wasn’t going to see him.
He makes a habit of this for the next three flights as well before YN can’t take it anymore, knowing that he’s actively avoiding her because she’d hurt his feelings.
He didn’t come to the hotel bar, he didn’t meet her in the hallway for their ice run, and it was more devastating than YN though which made her come to the frightening revelation that she might have a crush on the man she’d been mostly enemies with for over six months now.
She missed interacting with him, she missed fighting with him.
She missed the way his jaw clenched when she made him irritated, the way he looked like he wanted to reach out and manhandle her when she purposely ignored him when he called for her on flights and he had to come out of the pit, or the way he would squeeze her wrist lightly sometimes as a thank you when she would bring him a drink.
YN didn’t want to admit to herself that she felt something, maybe it wasn’t full blown feelings but just a smidge of fondness for the grumpy bastard.
And maybe part of it was that she felt special, Harry didn’t soften for anyone else but her and even though she didn’t tell her friends about it - she knew they were suspicious that YN was constantly on pit duty or that she hasn’t gotten fired after how sassy she can be to her captain.
After the fourth flight of no sign of communication, YN decides that she needs to take matters into her own hands because she didn’t know what she wanted with Harry but she didn’t expect it to suck this much when he didn’t engage with her.
They’re in Milan and when Harry doesn’t show up at the hotel bar, well YN wasn’t expecting him to at this point, and she needed to figure out what hotel room he was in.
She’d normally never be so deceptive but she was desperate, she walks straight up to the front desk and tells a bold-face lie to the young receptionist.
“My boss left his phone at the bar,” YN lies, flashing her own phone quickly, “I completely forgot what room he said he was in. Would you be able to tell me?”
The girl doesn’t think anything of it as she looks up the information, letting YN know what room and YN is thanking her before walking determinedly to the elevators.
It’s late by this point, nearing eleven and she was praying that he wasn’t asleep as she stepped up to his door, her heart was pounding out of her chest at the mere thought of being rejected.
It takes a good three minutes before she finally musters up the courage to knock on the door a few times - god, she didn’t even know what she wanted to say to him.
There’s a bit of rustling behind the door, YN wonders if he’s going to open it - there’s no peephole on these ones and her breathing freezes when he swings open the door.
He was in a pair of gray joggers that were low on his hips, the band of his underwear peeking over but the main thing was that he was shirtless and he had tattoos everywhere.
Her brain couldn’t tell if it wanted to focus on memorizing the black ink on his skin or the definition of his stomach, a trail of sparse hair leading from his belly button into his underwear.
Harry doesn’t give anything away from his face, blunt and cold, “Can I help you?”
“I want to say I’m sorry,” YN decides that is the best place to start, “You were kind to me that night and before that even, it wasn’t right over me to insinuate you were doing it for an inappropriate reason.”
“I don’t need a fucking apology, I don’t care,” Harry bites out and YN knows that his guard is a hundred percent up by the way his posture is uncomfortable and defensive.
“You do care,” YN replies surely, “If it hadn’t bothered you, you wouldn’t have been ignoring me for the three weeks. I hurt your feelings and I’m sorry because it wasn’t my intention.”
Harry doesn’t deny it again but he doesn’t admit to it either, instead he grits out, “It doesn’t matter either way.”
“It matters to me,” YN argues back, now getting defensive.
“It shouldn't,” Harry’s voice is back to being louder, firmer.
YN bit her lip for a moment, deciding on how vulnerable she felt like being with the man who showed absolutely none himself, “I’ve missed you these past weeks. I miss fighting with you on the flights, I miss our nightly ice machine walks, and you giving me a hard time in the staff room before takeoff.”
Harry’s lips twitch before he’s pulling them in a tight line, “I accept your apology.”
“Are you done ignoring me?” YN presses because this doesn’t feel resolved and she’s never had the urge to want to touch someone so much.
“For now,” Harry’s lips barely tilt into a smile.
It’s quiet between the two for a long pause, staring at each other, and YN doesn’t know what she wants but she feels like she’s just standing there like an idiot, “Well, goodnight. I just wanted to make sure we were on the same page.”
Harry’s eyes dart back up to hers, she realizes that he’d been checking her out, and he doesn’t show any shame in being caught before nodding, “We are. Goodnight.”
YN turns towards her room, the door closing softly behind her but she pauses after a few steps because she’s never been adventurous, she’s never been bold, and she might be making a mistake but fuck, she has to just try.
She’s retracing her steps, knocking on the door harshly, and it was like Harry hadn’t gone back further into the room yet because he opens it up quickly.
They don’t say anything before YN steps forward, heart pounding in her ears, and leans up - pressing their lips together and letting her hand rest on his cheek.
It flips a switch in him because he’s pulling her into his room, shutting and locking the door before walking her right into the entryway wall - his lips were persistent and taking over as he coaxes her mouth open to lick into it.
He knocks her hand away from his face but only so he can take hers between his hands, cupping her jaw on each side tightly as he moves her head how he wants to deepen the kiss.
YN’s never been kissed like this in her life, she’d never been more aroused either.
Harry presses his hips forward until their pelvises are pressed together, he wants her to feel how hard he’s getting as pressed against her and bites at her bottom lip.
YN whines at that, her hands coming up to roam over his chest, it was so defined and muscular, not what she was used to - Harry was hard and firm where Noah had been soft and plusher.
When she thumb brushes over his nipple, his pec twitches and she has to do it a few more times until she gets her fill.
He wasn’t shy when he sucked on her tongue, licked at the roof of her mouth, and made her feel like he wanted to feel every single part of her as he moved down to the hem of her shirt.
He pulls back with his lips a delicious bubblegum pink, swollen and shiny from their spit, “What do you want? Do you want me to stop?”
That’s the last thing she wants.
YN shakes her head, “Don’t want to stop, please.”
Harry smiles at her, it’s a softer expression than she’s ever seen from him and he leans forward, nuzzling her cheek for a moment before dragging her in for another long kiss.
“Can I undress you then, pup?” Harry murmurs against her lips as he starts to bring up the bottom of her shift but slowly enough that if she told him no, he would stop.
“Please, just want you,” YN agrees breathlessly when she tries to move to the button of her jeans, Harry knocks her hand away with an annoyed grunt and glare.
“Let me do everything, I just want you to enjoy it. Don’t worry, you’ll get all of me. I’ll give you anything you fuckin’ want,” Harry tells her as he sheds her top, then bra.
He looks torn for a second like he can’t decide whether he wants to play with her chest or continue until she’s fully bare but he decides against the latter, cursing as he pulls down her pants, “Knew you’d have the cutest tits.”
“You’ve thought about this?” YN questions as he moves to discard her underwear.
“Of course I fucking have, it’s all I’ve thought about for the past month. No, I wasn’t doing any of those things to get in your pants but it didn’t mean I didn’t want to fuck you,” Harry’s voice is getting deeper and raspier as he’s gets more and more turned on, “On the bed.”
Noah’s the only guy that YN’s ever been with.
It was uncomfortable to have such a devastatingly attractive man standing in front of her when she didn’t feel anywhere as sexy as him.
The worry only stays for a moment because when she’s spread out in the middle of his bed, he’s tracing every inch of her skin, and moans loudly as he moves to squeeze himself once, “I think this is the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. God, you’re like a little angel, aren’t you?”
“Come here,” YN whimpers, reaching out for him because she needs to touch him and he obliges eagerly, he’s tugging off his joggers but keeping his underwear on as he crawls over the bed and on top of her.
Harry finds her lips again, dropping his hips to grind against her center, and it feels so fucking good, just this contact through two layers of clothing and it all like a new experience to her - she never felt this with Noah.
Harry’s mouth moves but he’s not just kissing, he’s licking at her, sucking, and biting all over her jawline then neck until he gets to her chest where he lets a pleased hum when he cups them.
“Puppy, how are you this perfect, hm?” Harry coos as he leans down to graze his teeth against her hard nipple, “Pretty little thing coming to my room, begging for me to touch her, and then you show off this body? Maybe I should ignore you more often.”
YN turns her head and bites meanly at his hand which makes him chuckle and kiss the curve of her breast in apology before he’s wrapping his lips around one, fingers coming to pinch and roll the other one.
“Fuck,” YN gasps because he definetly knows how to use his mouth and her back arches involuntarily, pressing herself further into him, and trying to grind her hips up against where he’s hard, wishing he could slip between her folds like this.
Harry leaves them wet and hard as his lips continue down the center of sternum, down on her belly and she’d never thought it would feel good to have someone nip and suck at her plush but it did.
When he starts to move even further down, closer to her pubic bone, she freezes which Harry can tell right away by the hand on his shoulder tightens and her legs still from where they were restless.
“What’s wrong? Do you want to stop?” Harry asks with concern as he sits up more on his elbows to make eye contact with her - she didn’t know how he managed to look so cute and so obscene at the same time with worried eyes and puffy lips.
“You-I just,” YN stutters and she wants to smack herself for being an idiot because she should have known that it would lead like this but softly, she says, “You don’t have to…you know, do that.”
“Do what?” Harry replies with confusion, his fingers were still tracing mindless patterns on her tummy, thumb smoothing at the skin.
YN groans in embarrassment, she could feel her face getting hot, “You know…I’m just saying you don’t have to…,” Her eyes dart down to her lower half so that maybe he gets the hint.
“What? Eat your cunt?” Harry clarifies and of course he’d be this fucking crass in bed, she shouldn’t have expected anything less, “Do you not want me to? If you don’t want me to, I don't have to.”
“It’s not that,” YN wants to crawl into a hole and die.
“You’re acting like it would be a chore to me. I am one hundred percent sure that I’ll get just as much pleasure from tasting you on my tongue, getting my face in your perfect little cunt. Now what’s the issue?”
“You’re going to laugh,” YN mutters and she wishes she would have just kept her stupid mouth shut at this point.
“Tell me now,” He’s gone demanding again, his fingers pressing harder into her skin now.
“I’ve just never had it done to me before,” She admits finally, flopping back onto the bed and throwing an arm over her eyes to hide the absolute embarrassment of it all.
Harry crawls back up on top of her, forcefully moving her arm until they’re making eye contact, “I thought you were in a relationship for six years?”
“I was,” YN sighs as she curls her hand around his neck, “He said that men didn’t really do that often and he told me that he didn’t want to put his mouth on me and I never wanted to make him uncomfortable so we never did that.”
“Your ex is a selfish little prick,” Harry rasps against her lips, his hand moving down until he has his thumb pressed snug up against her clit which makes her twitch, “You get this excited from my thumb? You better not tell me he didn’t give you fingers either.”
“He didn’t want to do that either,” YN mewls when he starts a slow circular motion on her nerves.
“If it was possible, I’d have my mouth on your cunt and you riding my fingers every fucking day of the week,” Harry rumbles as he moves back down her body, “He’s a fucking dickhead who didn’t deserve you for a million different reasons. Do you want me to or no? I will understand either way.”
“Want it, Harry. I want it,” YN nearly slurs with how fucking turned on she is, her hips squirming again, and Harry gives her a dazzling fucking smile as he scotches down the bed.
He’s shouldering her thighs apart even further before he’s gripping the meat of one to keep her knee crooked and open as he groans like he’s getting pleasure from simply looking at her.
“God, I don’t think I’m going to survive this. I’ve never seen something this breathtaking before,” Harry says as he thumbs her folds apart, admiring her for another moment before he’s ducking down to bury his tongue tight up against her clit.
And holy shit.
She didn’t realize that this was what she had been missing.
Her legs try to close around his head but he keeps them spread and his other hand comes down the rest around her middle to keep her hips down.
He knows exactly what to do as he laps fat strokes of his tongue up from her core to her clit, over and over while YN is still relentlessly is trying to grind her hips up.
Harry pulls back which makes YN whine but he simply says, “Should have known what a brat you’d be in bed with how you are at work. Stay still now and let me do what I want to you. I promise it’ll feel good, baby.”
And his voice is so strict, demanding that she does finally relax into his hold which he rewards with fucking his tongue into her.
“M’close, Harry. Feels s’good,” YN moans as her stomach clenches.
“Come on, pup,” Harry coos against her, “Give me what I’ve earned, yeah?”
She’s almost disappointed she feels her orgasm coming because she doesn’t want to be over but Harry’s mouth is practiced and self-assured, he keeps the same pace throughout her orgasm which makes it longer by a few seconds.
YN melts into the mattress, body feeling loose and tingly as she comes down for her high, and her brows furrow when she sees Harry push down his briefs and begin to stroke himself with intent.
YN weakly kicks his thigh with a pout, “Don’t.”
Harry doesn’t stop but he slows down which gives YN a look at just how well endowed he is and to no surprise, mouth-wateringly beautiful.
“Don’t get myself off?”
“Fuck me,” YN breathes out, surprising herself with her boldness.
Harry’s hand stops, “Yeah? You’d let me get you on my cock, puppy? I don’t know what I’ve done to deserve you.”
And….
YN wants to preen at the compliment, after feeling like she didn’t deserve anything to hear Harry say that made her stomach flutter even if it was just dirty talk.
“How do you want it?” Harry asks as he comes closer again, ducking down to kiss at her knees, thighs, and he peppers kisses over her mound which feels wildly more intimate than anything she’d ever done with Noah.
“However you want,” YN murmurs shyly because her only experience is Noah and they had a vanilla sex life to say the least, a whole lot of doggy and her riding him so he didn’t have to do any work.
Harry laughs at that, lips vibrating against her belly, “I’ll take you anyway you’ll let me. What do you like most? What makes you come hard?”
YN doesn’t have an answer to this because she’s never had an orgasm from penetrative sex before without her own fingers rushing to get her there so he doesn’t finish first and leave her hanging.
Harry is obviously experienced and so it doesn’t make her proud to have to feel inexperienced at this moment.
“Shut the fuck up,” Harry huffs out even though she didn’t say anything, he takes a moment to nip at her hip, “You’re telling me this fucker never got you off? Please tell me this is a joke.”
YN tries to cover her face again but he wraps his hands around her wrist and pulls them away, “This is so embarrassing.”
“It is,” Harry agrees easily, “For him. Can’t believe you were with him for six years and he couldn’t even make you come. You’re telling me she was neglected this whole time,” Harry frowns as his thumb comes back to her clit, “Should be a crime.”
“I mean I did get off but I had to….get myself there,” YN starts to wiggle again, wanting to chase the friction from his movement.
“I’d love to watch you do that sometime but tonight, you’re not going to have to lift a finger,” Harry tells her confidently before he’s positioning himself above her, lips brushing hers but not quite kiss as he lines himself up and she wraps her legs around his narrow waist, “I like this position. I want to see how gorgeous you are when you come.”
YN brings a hand up to his curls, knotting her fingers in the strands, and brings his lips fully against hers as he pushes in, it doesn’t hurt but it definitely takes a minute to adjust as Harry was much more blessed in the department than Noah was and she hadn’t had sex for over six months.
“Wait wait,” YN pants out, pulling back, “I -I’m on birth control but are you clean?”
Harry smirks at her like she’s asked something funny, “I’m clean. I got tested after my last partner.”
“Me too,” YN replies, relieved that they don’t have to stop.
Harry resumes kissing her but when he’s finally all the way in, his breathing stutters and he lets out a low whine that makes YN throb - like she felt so good to him that he couldn’t stand it.
“Harry, you feel so good,” YN mewls as he starts a slow but powerful rhythm, she was turned on to the point where she could hear it as he thrusted in and out.
“You’re the best thing I’ve ever felt, pup,” Harry praises and she doesn’t know whether it’s just the dirty talk, it most likely is but it still makes her feel empowered, sexy.
It becomes to much when he starts to pick up the pace to continue kissing, every other breathe out of YN’s mouth was a moan and he moves down to wrap his lips around her nipple and his hands came under her bum - positioning her more upwards so her backside was off the bed and he could slide in perfectly.
The change in position made him hit a spot she’d only heard about in her body, on every odd motion he would nudge it, and she was going to come again without any stimulation on her clit.
“Ha-Harry,” YN moans louder than she’s ever been and he pulls back from her breasts as he’s staring at her now, eyes studying her face.
“Oh baby, are you close f’me? Am I doing a good job?” Harry’s voice isn’t as steady as before either, there was a bead of sweat on his temple, and his chest was pink with arousal.
“Yeah, I’m close-“ YN doesn’t even get to finish her sentence before she’s squeezing around him, shaking as he keeps his pace to work her through it, and she’s a little dazed that she misses when Harry stills inside her - letting out his own filthy noises and praises as he comes down too.
YN didn’t know what to expect but it wasn’t for Harry to collapse his full weight on top of her and nuzzle his face into the crook of her neck for a moment, kissing her pulse point before rolling off.
She doesn’t want to assume that she can sleep here, she still needs to take off her makeup and she doesn’t have pajamas, and she feels anxiety creeping in which makes her get off the bed.
Harry lays on his back, one arm above his head, stomach flexing as he catches his breath, unashamed as he lays on full display because he has to know how beautiful he is.
“Where are you going?” Harry frowns as he watches her gather her scattered clothes.
“Um…back to my room? I have to take off my makeup, change,” And she didn’t want to mention showering because she wasn’t going to sleep after he'd come inside her.
“You don’t have to, I don’t want you to think that I’m kicking you out,” Harry sits up more, reaching for his briefs before his joggers and standing up to go over to his luggage to rummage for a shirt, “Let me walk you back at least.”
“Walk of shame,” YN half-jokes as she pulls her top over her head, bra crumpled in her hand because she didn’t feel like putting it back on.
“There’s was nothing shameful about how fucking well you took it,” Harry gives her a cheeky smile as he grabs his keycard, her room was only a few doors down.
When she unlocks her door, she turns around with her hand on the handle, and doesn’t know what to say but Harry’s leaning down to kiss her softly this time, “Goodnight.”
“Goodnight, Harry.”
And when YN steps inside her room, closing the door behind her, she knows she’s royally screwed because that was the best sex of her life and now she knows for sure she has a fat fucking crush on Harry.
-
The first month after their original hookup was filled with more sex, it wasn’t every night but at least every other time they had to stay in a hotel - Harry would find his way into YN’s room and they’d have amazing sex each time.
He had her constantly on pit crew and they still bickered back and forth but it wasn’t as heated and it turned more into teasing than actual fights anymore which YN surprisingly didn’t mind.
YN felt like she’d gotten to know just bare minimum about Harry while she’d be pouring her heart out when the right moment hit, and he didn’t stay the night but he’d hang around for a bit before leaving her room.
It was also the month that YN realized that she didn’t just like vanilla sex and Harry had made her realize that very quickly because before him, she’d never had sex anywhere but in bed and a few times in a shower.
It had been an evening flight out, their flight had got delayed due to a gnarly thunderstorm which meant they would be stranded at the airport for another three hours before their plane came in.
Harry never spent time in the employee lounge, pilots had their own area which was rumored to be substantially nicer than the one that YN was currently sitting in.
They still have two hours until takeoff when she receives a text from Harry.
Harry: Come to the pilot’s lounge. Third floor near gate b32.
YN’s heart rate spikes as she gathers her luggage, her friends looking at her curiously, “I think I’m going to walk around a bit, maybe find a new book to read.”
“Want us to come?” Elaina volunteers but doesn’t seem eager to move from where she’s splayed on a overstuffed chair while playing Candy Crush.
“I think I’ll be fine,” YN replies as she heads out the door, it was actually good luck that all three of her friends appeared to be in a lazy mood because usually at least one of them would want to tag along with her.
YN knows other staff are not prohibited in the pilots lounge and so she’s nervous as she finds the long hallway that leads to the tucked away space that he’s referring to.
He’s waiting outside the door with his normal unreadable expression, his uniform perfectly fitted and pressed - the thrill of her being able to take it off of him makes her start to get wet without him even doing anything.
“I’m not supposed to be here,” YN tells him even though it’s obvious.
That makes Harry crack a grin, a wolfish tilt to his lips, “I’ll sneak you in.”
Harry opens the door with a special keycard, guiding YN into the lounge, it’s empty in here but it’s a million times nicer than the one that she’s used to with luxurious comfy seats, a pristine kitchen, and big flat screen televisions.
Harry moves to hold her wrist, tugging her along until they’re in the back corner, and Harry’s pushes open another door - to a single stall bathroom that looked like it could be out of a movie with shining tile floors and floral wallpaper.
“Harry,” YN warns because she knows with this is going and she doesn’t want to get in trouble.
“It’s fine, pup. There’s no one in here,” Harry soothes as he locks the door, he is predatory as he stalks towards her, his eyes dark and his movements slow but precise.
“Someone could come in at anytime,” YN points out desperately, she wants to do this but she wants to be assured that there’s no way that they’re going to get caught, even though he can’t guarantee that.
“Better keep your pretty noises to yourself then,” Harry rasps, YN has noticed how much scratchier and deeper his voice gets when he’s turned on, it’s unfairly hot.
She doesn’t have time to reply because he’s picking her up from under her bum and seating her on the sink countertop, his mouth moving to hers, and bringing her into a kiss that’s already filled with desire.
YN is nervous, she’s knows it’s dumb, and she doesn’t want Harry to make fun of her because of it but she’s never had sex somewhere this….risky and this is all so new.
Harry can tell by the way she’s kissing, distracted and in her own mind which makes him pull back, his thumb coming to rub at her bottom lip, pulling it down a bit.
“Do you not want to?” Harry checks as he watches her face, “We don’t have to, baby. We can wait until we get to the hotel. It’s okay with me either way. I should have check-“
YN cuts his off with another kiss before she pulls back, fingers coming to graze along the collar of his uniform, dipping underneath and caressing the skin as much as she could.
“I want to. I’m just nervous, I’ve never had sex anywhere but in a house,” YN’s face is heating with embarassment, admitting how fucking vanilla she is to someone who obviously isn’t.
Harry’s smile is nearly fond, “Tell me if you want to stop at any point, okay? M’going to show you that you deserve to be fucked whenever and wherever you want. I don’t know how your ex never did it outside the house. I thinking about fucking you everywhere, the hotel pool, over the edge of the bar, on the balcony.”
YN’s thighs clench and she presses their lips together to shut him up because sometimes his dirty talk is so sincere and downright filthy that she’ll combust if she hears anymore of it.
They don’t get caught but fuck it gets YN addicted because it’s not the only time it happens.
-
The second month, things had evolved even more.
Harry started saying that he was much too tired to walk back to his hotel room that was right down the hall and YN never kicked him out, he started staying after every time they hooked up.
YN would ask about Harry’s life outside of work but he really never divulged much which made YN remember each time that this was simply casual for him - there was no interest in a relationship and he didn’t like her like that, didn’t want to get to know her or open up about himself.
It made things harder, when he would kiss her so sweetly and tell her every time that she’s the best he’s ever had, it was hard to comprehend that he didn't have feelings for her either.
Especially on nights where he didn’t even get off.
He was too exhausted from a long flight but YN wasn’t, how he’d eat her out or give her his fingers as he kissed her softly, goading her sweetly to come so they could go to sleep.
He’d do nice things outside of the bedroom too.
On days where they didn’t have to be at the airport until noon, Harry would order breakfast to her room, he had arranged a massage for her, and then once a spa day when they had a day off in Toronto.
They still hadn’t hung out without having sex until almost three months into their casual arrangement.
YN didn’t feel good when they landed in London.
When she’d gone to her hotel room, she’d thrown up everything she’d eaten that day, and it felt like she’d been hit by a truck as she showered before laying in bed.
She hadn’t gotten sick again but she could tell that something she’d eaten had upset her stomach.
Then around ten, there’s a knock at her door.
YN groans because her body protests when she pulls herself off the bed to open the door - just in a big shirt and underwear because she already knows who it is.
Harry steps into the room, going to cup her jaw, and lean in for a kiss when she pulls back much to his displeasure - a frown gracing his face as she denies him.
“I don’t feel good, I’m sorry. I don’t feel like having sex,” YN tells him, hoping he doesn't mind too much - she remembers how upset Noah would get if she turned him down, “Maybe tomorrow morning but I got sick-“
Harry’s frown deepens as he guides her towards the bed, “We’re not doing anything if you don’t feel good. Don’t worry about the next time we are going to. We’ll find time when you’re feeling better.”
“But…” YN hates that she feels like she has to ask, “Are you mad?”
Harry looks a bit devastated at that question, his voice soft as he pats her bum as she crawls back in bed, “Why on earth would I be mad, pup?”
It’s the first time he’s called her that outside of sex.
He’d call her other things like baby, darling but that nickname hadn’t been spoken before in this context.
“Because I don’t want to have sex tonight,” YN wants to look away but he holds her gaze so intently.
Something clicks and Harry realizes that this insecurity must come from her last relationship.
“I wouldn’t be mad even if you never wanted to have sex with me again,” Harry assures her and he sounds sincere as he sits next to her, “I fucking love doing that with you but if you didn’t want to tonight or whenever, I’d never be upset. I respect whatever you want to do.”
“Thank you,” YN smiles weakly, she wanted a cuddle and it didn’t feel like she could because they didn’t do just that.
Harry nods, squeezing her thigh before standing back up.
“Have a goodnight,” YN tells him as he turns his back to her.
He whips around with confusion written all over his face, “You want me to leave?”
YN is just as confused, “I thought that’s what you were doing.”
“I was just going to turn off the floor lamp,” Harry nods to the light still on in the far corner, “But I can go if you don’t want me here-“
“No!” YN says too quickly, “I want you to stay. I just, we haven’t done this without you know…having sex.”
Harry’s face relaxes as he realizes he’s not being kicked out but he does move to turn off the lamp before stripping down to his briefs, he doesn’t respond to her last sentence but instead says, “Put on a movie.”
She does and he brings her into his chest and now that becomes a thing.
-
By the middle of the third month, they spend every night together when they’re traveling, and even when they’re not having sex, they go to bed cuddled up at night.
Harry doesn’t even bother with false pretenses and stops putting his suitcase in his own hotel room.
YN still finds frustration in how closed off Harry is, he’s attentive and at least acts interested when YN talks about herself and her life but he rarely gives anything out.
She’d been dying to know about his ex-wife, if what his friends said was true and he was married but he doesn’t ever mention an ex-wife or anything much for that matter.
It starts to feel like YN wants this more than him which isn’t fair to him because he never said that he wanted a relationship with her and she knew she fucked up by falling for him.
One night though, something changes and it begins to give YN hope that this wasn’t all in her head that he might like her too.
They had gone out onto the balcony of the hotel, they were in Madrid, and it overlooked the city as they laid on the lounge chair, YN in between his legs, and the warm air had a light breeze.
“I’ve never been to the Maldives, never been lucky enough to get a flight there,” YN hums as she plays with the rings on his finger, his hand resting on her belly, “But I’d say that’s my dream vacation. Always have wanted to go. Have you flown there?”
“I haven’t had a flight there, working wise. I had my honeymoon there,” Harry replies and his voice is tighter, more vulnerable than it was just mere minutes ago.
“Oh,” YN doesn’t know what to say.
“It was beautiful. The water was amazing, it just looked like you were living in a magazine,” Harry continues but he sounds strained like it’s hard for him to even talk about it.
“That’s why I want to go,” YN keeps her voice upbeat, giving him the opportunity not to elaborate if he didn’t want to.
“I was married for five years,” Harry tells her with hesitation.
“When did you get divorced?” YN can’t help but ask, hoping it doesn’t make him close back up.
“We didn’t,” Harry says but there’s no sharp edge to his voice, “She passed away.”
YN’s heart absolutely sinks into her stomach.
“I am so sorry to hear that, Harry,” YN squeezed his hand, bringing it up so she could kiss his palm and he allowed it.
“We…we were separated at the time and had filed for divorce,” Harry continues with a shudder, “We hadn’t been getting along for the past two years of our marriage. We got married right out of college, we’d only known each other for six months before we eloped. We were stupid and young. Once the honeymoon phase was over, we realized we had nothing in common or even really liked each other. We tried to make it work but we couldn’t.”
“I…uh, I didn’t want to be with her anymore but I still loved her,” Harry’s voice is shaky, “Not so much as a lover but she was still my friend. I…It was hard. She was in a car accident coming home from work, she was working the night shift as a nurse at the hospital. Drunk driver.”
“That’s heartbreaking,” YN feels herself getting upset for Harry, tears falling down her cheeks at what he had to go through, she couldn’t even imagine.
“Don’t cry, S’okay. I’m okay now,” Harry soothes as he leans forward to thumb at her damp cheeks, “I’m okay. I got counseling, I’ve worked through my grief.”
“I should be comforting you, I’m sorry,” YN apologizes but she’s taken by surprise when he leans forward and kisses her firmly, it’s not sexually charged but there’s so much feeling as he holds her to him.
It feels like more than just friends with benefits.
It has to be.
-
Harry was on a rampage at work, YN had never seen him so infuriated in her life as they were up in the air, five hours into a eleven hour flight, and he was more pissed than even his worst fight with YN.
The ground crew hadn’t fully fueled the aircraft, they weren’t going to make it to their destination on what they had left to work with, it wasn’t something that often occurred but it has happened occasionally in the past.
However, it meant that Harry had to work with staff on the ground to figure out what airport he needed to land out to refuel while figuring out the logistics of changing the course and time of the flight.
He hadn’t lashed out at YN but he’d chewed out nearly everyone else on the crew at least once but poor Perry got shouted out at least three times and she had cried two of them.
At the end of the day, the eleven hour flight took nearly fourteen, and by the time YN and Harry were in their bed, it was late, and they were both tired as they turned on a movie.
YN isn’t sure about how the topic went to their previous relationships but she answered anything Harry had asked about Noah, YN felt like she could do the same now that he had opened up about his wife.
“What did your family think of you getting eloped six months after meeting each other?” YN was curious, figured it wasn’t a crazy question to ask at all but Harry visibly tenses.
“I don’t want to talk about that,” Harry throws up his guard instantly and usually YN is understanding but quite frankly, it is starting to piss her off now.
“Of course you don’t,” YN scoffs with an annoyed edge.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Harry shoots back, sitting up straighter and looking over at her.
“That you will never open up to me! I share everything about me with you and you give me absolutely nothing. You shared about your wife that one night but beside that, you’ve never let me get to know you!” YN points out as she sits up too, anger rising in her chest.
An expression that YN doesn’t recognize flashes across his face for a moment before he’s covering it with a scowl, “I don’t have to share anything with you, YN. We’re not dating, we’re not in a relationship. It shouldn’t fucking matter if you know me.”
And ouch, that….that really fucking hurt.
YN could feel herself getting more upset than she’s been in a long time because this was her getting rejected officially.
Because if this is all he wants, YN doesn’t know if she can be okay with that anymore.
“Get the fuck out of my room,” YN finds herself huffing out, ripping the covers off of her legs and standing up - she feels a wave of naseous run over her as she bolts to the bathroom, slamming the door and doubling over the toilet.
Harry opens the door, moving to pull her hair away from her face, and rubs at her back as she heaves into the bowl, moaning at how gross she feels before flushing - he takes a step back from her.
“Thanks,” YN mutters as he gives her room to walk over to the sink to brush her teeth, “My stomach’s been sensitive to food lately while we’ve been on trips.”
“I know,” Harry replies simply because this isn’t the first time he’d held her hair as she got sick.
“I don’t think we should do this anymore,” YN tells him and at the same time, her heart is completely ripping into two.
This is the moment she realizes how irrevocably in love with Harry that she is and she’s fallen so hard that it feels impossible to dig herself out of the hole she’s dug.
If she couldn’t have all of him then she knew she was hurting herself in the long run because she’d never get what she wanted from him and sex just wasn’t enough for her even if it was for him.
“YN,” Harry’s voice is smaller than it’s ever sounded, shocked by what she’s saying and his eyes are wide, pleading, “Don’t. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I shouldn't have said those things. Today hasn’t been a good day, I didn’t -”
“Don’t apologize, Harry,” YN shakes her head, voice steady and firm,“It’s okay. I’m not mad at you. I just…this isn’t working for me. I can’t just be a hookup for you, I don’t want that. I want to know you, I want more than what you want. It’s just better if we stop while we’re ahead.”
“YN, please just-“ Harry sounds like he’s begging but YN’s made up her mind and nothing has ever hurt more than this.
“Harry,” Her voice is stern, “Please just leave.”
He bites his lip because he wants to argue more, he honestly looks like he’s near tears but YN doesn’t know if that’s just her imagination as he exits the bathroom to gather his clothes into his suitcase - digging around for the keycard to his own room he threw carelessly somewhere.
YN didn't sleep that night, eyes hurting from how much she’d cried, cheeks raw from where she had continuously wiped away the traitorous tears because this hurt worse than anything she’d ever gone through with Noah.
-
YN does exactly what Harry had done to her in the past.
She hides away before flights because her friends have told her that Harry has been coming in looking for her and she switches positions with someone else so that she’s not in the pit.
She ignores Harry when he knocks at her hotel door one night, ignores his text messages asking for them just to talk, and lets the food he sends up from room services go cold.
It’s only been a week since the incident but YN hasn’t felt any better with her stomach issues as she settles back at home after another flight - she’s restocking her toiletry bag for the next day when she realizes that she didn’t need to refill her tampons.
YN’s heart sinks into her stomach when she realizes that she can’t remember the last time that she had a period but there is absolutely no fucking way that she’s pregnant because she was on brith control and took it regularly.
She was googling frantically the statistics of birth control not working and that the pill is ninety-one percent effective which means there’s only a nine percent chance it’s not.
But there’s a chance.
YN digs in her cabinets for an old test that she knew she’d shoved somewhere after she’d broken up with Noah and had sworn off sex, and she was shaking as she waited for the results.
Her phone chimes with a text from Harry.
Please, can we just talk?
Don’t shut me out. Please.
YN, can you just give me a chance to explain myself?
Please, YN. I can’t stand this. It’s killing me. Please.
And YN ignores them, hyperventilating as her alarm sounds, and she flips the plastic stick - a digital reading across the screen and in clear bold letters, it tells her what she didn’t want to fucking see.
Pregnant.
Holy fucking shit.
“No,” YN whimpers as she blinks at it, “No no no.”
She was responsible with her pill, how was she part of the small percentage?
It never happened with Noah, why now?
Why was it with the person who didn't want her like this?
YN feels lightheaded, stumbling to her bed, and burying herself in the covers because she doesn’t know what to think or do or feel because she’s pregnant with Harry’s baby and he doesn’t even want a relationship with her.
-
YN calls off work for the next two weeks because she doesn’t know what else to do, she had vacation time to use, and she couldn’t face Harry right now as she figured out what she was going to do or how she was going to tell him.
She’s still violently sick nearly everyday, feeling worse as the days go on, when her two weeks was up - she didn’t feel any better about going to work.
Harry hadn’t stopped texting her, trying to call her but she couldn’t even read them because it hurt too much.
YN is in love with him, she had a baby in her stomach that is half him, and he didn’t want any of that.
On the day that she returns to work, they’re going to London again.
She’d been having awful cramps all morning, getting sick twice in the airport bathroom, and felt like she was striking a fever as she boarded the plane.
Harry was out of the cockpit, standing right outside of it, and his eyes flash in concern when he sees YN, “Are you okay? I haven’t heard from you -“
“I’m fine,” YN brushes him off, lying through her teeth as she stows her bag away before retreating to the back of the aircraft despite his eyes on her the whole time.
-
YN lets her friends convince her into going to the hotel restaurant that night despite feeling like death, the cramps hadn’t stopped, her head was now pounding, and she still felt overheated.
Her food was untouched as her friends giggled and gossiped around her but suddenly she felt like she was going to pass out.
The stomach cramps turned into a sharper pain, something she’d never felt before.
It was indescribable and she knew that she needed to go to the hospital.
And all she can think about is the baby.
That this isnt’ good.
“Oh…Oh my god,” YN gasps as she pushes her chair back, “I- I need to go to the hospital.”
All three girls jerk their head with wide eyes, immediately confused and worried, Justine who was sitting next to her, “What’s wrong?”
“Cramps, I’m having cramps. They’re….fuck, they’re bad,” YN groans as she moves her hand to her stomach, feeling like she may just double over in pain.
“Do you think that it might just be your period?” Perry asks as she begins looking for a staff member.
YN shakes her head sharply, “No-no because I'm pregnant.”
All three girls gasp in surprise, moving into action as they flag over the waiter to call the paramedics - the pain in her stomach was starting to overwhelm her.
“Call Harry,” YN shoves her phone at Elaina, “Please.”
“He’ll understand, YN. Don’t worry about work right now,” She tries to assure her.
“Elaina, call him,” YN says firmly, giving her a look, and that when all three girls register what she is implying - they try to hide the absolute shock as Elaina presses his contact information.
YN zones in and out of consciousness for a while, barely remembers when Harry arrives but he’s brushing her hair out of her face, murmuring things to her, and patting a wet rag on her forehead that someone gave him.
He clambers into the ambulance with her and she starts to come back to reality for a little while the paramedic begins to ask her questions about her health history.
She doesn’t know how it didn’t get communicated from her friends about what was going on but the EMT asks, “Do you have any idea why you’re having this pain?”
Harry’s hand is gripping hers tightly, he’s confused and has no idea what is going on but he’s shaking as he watches her.
“I’m-I’m pregnant,” YN manages to spit out and squeezes her eyes shut because she doesn’t want to see Harry’s reaction to that news.
His hand leaves hers.
“Baby, oh my god,” Harry gasps in surprise but he’s getting up from the seat, leaning over, and pressing kisses to her sweaty forehead, “You’re pregnant...”
“Your baby,” YN nods as she tenses as a cramp fleets through her body, “I’m sorry, I didn’t- I took my pills I promise, I don’t know how-“
“Sssh,” Harry soothes instantly, lips peppering kisses all over her face now as he strokes her hair, “S’okay, you’re okay. You’re going to be okay. I’m here and I love you so much, pup.”
YN blinks up at him blearily, “You love me?”
Harry nods, there’s tears in the corner of his eyes, “I’ve been trying to tell you for the last weeks but you wouldn’t talk to me. Of course, I fucking love you.”
“I love you too,” YN tells him but has to grit her teeth when another pain shoots through her and everything goes dark for a while.
-
YN wakes up in a hospital bed, there blinds are drawn shut and it’s dark in the room, she can tell it’s still night as there is no sun seeping through the cracks of the sills.
She feels substantially better than when she was being transported here but her side is still aching and as she blinks her eyes open, she sees Harry sitting right next to her bed with his head slumped against the edge of the mattress.
He was asleep and looked to be in the most uncomfortable position, sitting up in a chair with his back hunched at an awful angle, his one hand resting on his thigh but the other was holding tightly onto hers.
She could fully admit that her heart soared with love as she watched the man beside her sleep - it may sound creepy but she loved watching him like this because all his frown wrinkles were smoothed, he was relaxed with his puffy lips parted, his eyelashes long against his cheekbones.
Her free hand comes to his hair, carding her fingers through the curls, and lightly scratching her nails against his scalp.
It takes a minute but he finally stirs, a sharp intake of breath as he sits up with wide eyes, there was so much anxiety in his expression that YN had never seen before this night.
“Pup,” Harry rasps, his voice thick from sleep but he brings her hand up to kiss the back of it, avoiding the IV, “How long have you been awake?”
“Just now,” YN tells him and she knows, she knows she needs to ask what happened but the sinking feeling in her stomach tells her that she no longer has a baby growing in her stomach.
“I love you,” Harry breathes out quickly like he’s worried she’ll kick him out of the room, “Pretty much from the beginning I think. I should have let you in, I wanted to. I just…if I have you that means I could lose you. I’ve been through that and I don’t think I could handle it if that happened to you. I hadn’t been with anyone since my wife passed. It’s been ten years and I’m scared.”
“I love you too,” YN whispers sincerely, leaning over slightly and Harry meets her the rest of the way to lay a gentle kiss on her lips, thumb coming to brush under her cheekbone, “The baby..”
Harry bites his lip, jaw clenching but not from anger this time but YN’s absolutely alarmed when he starts to cry, “Our baby is healthy and stable.”
“Wha-What?” YN stammers out in disbelief, she had fully prepared herself for the news that she had miscarried, “The stomach pain, I-You’re lying. Please, don’t- I can’t.”
“Baby, no,” Harry coos soothingly, standing up and leaning over her, pressing his forehead against hers, “It’s wasn’t anything to do with your pregnancy. Your appendix ruptured. The baby was never at risk, they’re okay.”
“I had appendicitis? No-not a miscarriage?” YN clarifies because she doesn’t feel like she’s awake right now, she had prepared herself for the worst news possible.
“Yes, they removed your appendix. They checked on the baby. Everything is fine with you and our baby,” Harry assures her as he peppers kisses all over her face like he did the night before, “I heard their little heart beat, YN. They’re already growing and so strong. Fuck, I’m so in love with them and I just found out.”
“I took my birth control everyday at the same time,” YN begins to explain as she watches Harry’s hand drift down to her stomach, there wasn’t any sign yet maybe a little pudge she hadn’t noticed but he still laid his hand there protectively, “I don’t know why it didn’t, I’m sorry-“
“Do not ever apologize to me about this,” Harry replies firmly, his voice serious and deep as he pulls back to look at her, “Of course, this isn’t what I was expecting but I want it. I want it so fucking badly. I never- I never thought I had kids after you know…what happened.”
“I don’t even know anything about you,” YN sniffles as she pulls him back down, digging her face into his shoulder for comfort as his hand comes to cup the back of her head.
“We have about six months for you to learn every single thing about me,” Harry murmurs with a wet chuckle, “I’m done having walls up. I was trying to tell you that for the last month. I am so fucking in love with you I can’t think straight. I want you to know all of me.”
“I want that too, I want you in every way,” YN presses her lips to his shoulder, tears making his shirt damp.
“You have another night in the hospital,” Harry tells her, “For observation. I think I’d like to start now.”
“Okay,” She nods quietly, moving over with a wince until Harry can squeeze into the small hospital bed with her.
“I grew up in this shitty little apartment above a Chinese restaurant…” Harry starts his story, YN had never heard him speak so much but for the rest of her hospital stay, aside from naps, Harry doesn’t stop sharing.
And he never stops again after that.
#harry styles writing#harry styles masterlist#update#harry styles#harry styles fluff#harry styles fic rec#harry styles x y/n#harry styles x reader#harry styles x you#harry styles fanfic#harry styles fanfiction#harry styles one shot
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𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒅𝒂𝒚 𝒊'𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈 (𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒏𝒍𝒚 𝒚𝒐𝒖) - 𝒑𝒂𝒓𝒕 𝟏
(5,534 words)
summary:
You and Luigi are coworkers for TrueCar, but you've never met in person. You've been flirting around on Slack and exchanging messages as of recent, which seems to become an invitation for him to entire your life. And body.
He accepts and soon, you do too.
𝗍𝗐: 18+ !! 𝗀𝗎𝗇𝗉𝗅𝖺𝗒, 𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗇𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖽𝗈𝗆!𝗅𝗎𝗂𝗀𝗂, 𝗌𝗎𝖻!𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽𝖾𝗋/𝗌𝗎𝖻!𝗒𝗈𝗎, 𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗅𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝖽𝗎𝖻𝖼𝗈𝗇 𝗂𝖿 𝗎 𝗌𝗊𝗎𝗂𝗇𝗍, 𝖽𝖾𝗀𝗋𝖺𝖽𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇, 𝗉𝗎𝗋𝖾 𝖿𝗂𝗅𝗍𝗁
~
TrueCar was the best thing that happened to you. You'd moved from the east to the west coast after attending both your undergrad and graduate years of schooling at Stanford and finally decided that California was the place for you. The weather was fine other than the earthquakes, wildfires, and other disasters hitting the state but you simply ignored them all. As a Computer Science major, jobs were becoming harder rather than easier to find. Your degree was no longer a scarcity but then...
then TrueCar happened. The position was hybrid - both work in-person and virtual - which would come to show how they were far ahead of their time and unknowingly prepared for the pandemic that was going to erupt in a year's time. The main form of communication was Slack, which really was a professionally themed copycat of Discord, but no mind. Everything you did and said was posted and discussed in the several channels that constantly pinged your phone as the app became your new source of corporate social media. You managed to make friends in your new team, having video-calls and occasional meet-ups at nearby bars when time-permitted. In-person was fine but working from home was really the best thing you could ask for.
A few months pass and you see the news about the pandemic. The president is waving his hands in a downward motion, saying everything will be fine, but the coming weeks seem to disprove it. The case numbers are rising and your company decides to go fully virtual, whether this becomes a serious issue or not.
Thank god because you could definitely need it. At the same time, it seems like the company was undergoing re-arrangement which meant everyone had to switch around with team members and projects that they were working on. It seemed cruel, in a way, that they were trying to compensate for the comfort they gave by dipping employees into new arenas on short notice.
But little did you know it would be the best thing that could ever happen to you.
❧
Today is the biggest meeting of the company because you just got approached by one of the biggest car retailers in the world and they want to implement a new program to make vehicles more affordable. They'd be giving away thousands of cars to be exclusively sold on Truecar's website, and you were in charge of convincing them why Truecar was the best option for it.
"Ladies and gentleman, thank you for joining us today. On behalf of TrueCar, we are incredibly honored to have your time and interest in pursuing the deal you have proposed to us. It is my understanding that our consistent increase in sales is what convinced you to approach us, is that correct?" You ask with a brightness in your voice, desperate to get this deal under your belt.
"Absolutely. We were, are, and continue to be pleased with how well your company advertises the use of second-hand and lower priced cars in order to increase the market and frankly, decrease the stigma around it. Cars are cars and as a car company, we are in the business to sell." A man's voice responds in confidence and an undertone of I'm impressed to go alone with it. It makes you smile as your bright teeth are on display for all of the stakeholders, company employees, and members of the interested party to see.
"That's wonderful. The increase in sales that you are seeing are impressive, but I believe it's our methods which are better than the results. The way we have approached sales includes elements of morality and passion. We want to give our customers the best cars for the best price, but we never forget the need to make money. We have and continue to strike a delicate balance which has benefitted our company." You pause, allowing pride to swell in your chest as you click to the next slide, which has a bunch of graphics you spent hours understanding with the help of the responsible parties who made them.
"These graphics are based heavily on the cost-benefit principle. To give a little more background, we use microeconomics to understand our customer because the fundamental exchange or our country's currency starts and continues in the hands of the people. How do we approach the company from a consumer perspective? We did several surveys and found..." You continue with your speech, going through each and every graphic while answering questions that pop-up every now and then, until you get to one specific graphic.
Luigi Mangione's.
He was one of the brightest employees at TrueCar and had a stellar reputation amongst everyone, but strangely enough, you never got the time to know him like everyone else did. But, since re-organization happened, this project was practically catapulted into your face. You found out it was being done in several parts through terrible communication and had to message nearly every single employee (200 private conversation would make a case for this statement, even if it isn't true) and one of them was Luigi Mangione. He responded in haste and detail which was exactly what you needed during such a hectic time. He had volunteered several hours of his time over the past three weeks, hopping onto Slack calls and Zoom meetings whenever you requested them. You can't find a single time when he said no which made you wonder if he was even doing his work.
Of course he was! That's why he was given his project too.
Let's not forget, you are totally into him. That was the worst part because you knew he must've had so many other girls pining after him, probably shooting him meetings and asking questions like dumb blondes would and trying to waste his time. You can't help but indulge in his features and his face every night, wondering what it would be like if...
Back to business.
You land on his graphic which was the most complex and detailed, but highlighted the best of the best points about the company which you knew would make the executives before you swoon. It was a fun experiment and session where you could prove to him that you totally got it.
"This is one of the most important points that we have here. We have a table showing you all a hypothetical scenario in which, it would seem like Option A is the best answer for our first question. But in our second questions, Option B seems more suitable. What you are seeing here is the framing effect, which several if not all companies use to dupe and cheat money out of consumers. We take that out. We cut through the bushes and give customers details that they can read with simplicity in order to make the best decision because buying a car is one of the most expensive purchases someone can make. When we treat our consumers with the respect they deserve, they'll give us the business back. They'll invest in not just the website or the cars, but in us." You speak in smooth, complex sentences which unravel simplicity with skill. You're praying that Luigi is watching, perhaps smiling and impressed, because your eyes are forced to stay trained on the screen in front of you and analyze the graphic like you haven't done so already. You add a few more details before ending and opening up the room to questions.
A few hands go up and you answer them like 1+1 was being thrown at you a hundred times. Your answers are filled with expertise and you make the best impression, getting well wishes and successfully landing a deal which is going to take your company to new heights.
The meeting ends and you let out a sigh of relief before getting flooded with congratulatory messages and hundreds of mentions in the, well, hundreds of channel that you are apart of. Everyone is cheering you on and it makes you smile, but you're really waiting for one specific message.
And it finally comes.
Luigi Mangione: Hey that was a grt presentation. You aced my graphic I'm so impressed.
The message nearly sends you over the edge as you squeal embarrassingly loud, trying to contain your excitement and surprise? Because wow, even you didn't know you were this into him.
You: omgggg thxxx ur so sweet 💘
You add the emoji for your own satisfaction, hoping cupid gets the message across to the man you're keening over right now.
Luigi Mangione: Ugh so cute. Slack call? Do you have a few?
You heart jumps. Did he just call you cute and THEN propose a call? You're rushing to the mirror to do a few fix-ups but thanks to your preparation for the meeting that just happened, you were looking smoking hot to talk business with Luigi.
And maybe, something more.
You don't answer and instead, press the video call icon at the top right, waiting for him to pick up. You turn your camera on while graciously using the time he takes to pick up to stare at his profile picture. His thick eyebrows and sharp nose draw you in like you'd seen him for the first time. His smile was disgustingly charming and-
He picks up. His face pops up on the screen as he gives a wave.
"Hey there." He does his infamous eyebrow raise before laughing out loud and you giggle back.
"Stop, oh my god. I couldn't have done nearly as well if you and so many others hadn't spent hours explaining this to me. The credit goes to you guys." You say, but your eyes and glued to the side of the screen where he's sitting back in his chair, upper torso in display as he is in a short sleeved compression t-shirt. Talk about details and noticing them at the wrong time.
"You talked to others?" Luigi folds his hands and you think you're going to have an orgasm right there. Fuck, the veins are popping up softly under his skin and you're thinking to yourself one hell of a reward would having his biceps around your neck. He seems to catch you staring.
"Hey pretty. Heard me?" Luigi smirks and you snap out of your trance before staring right into your camera.
"Y-Yeah I had to talk to like, 20 other people. You know, like Josh, Andrew, Ashley, and-" You stop, feeling yourself get stressed just having to think about the gruesome three weeks where you had to sit and listen to everyone explain while taking notes furiously. Your fingers would often hurt after these session, which wouldn't be helped by your everyday ministrations having orgasms, screaming Luigi's name and having terribly dirty fantasies that you wish he could fulfill.
Dreams.
"I wouldn't think the explained things as well as I did, did they?" There's a streak of something in his eyes, which darken when he asks his question. Is it jealousy or pride? You're trying to figure it out but he quickly replaces it with a smile.
"No Luigi. They didn't. They didn't at all." You answer back before giving him a wink, feeling bold at what you just saw in his eyes. He finds himself surprised, as his hands slowly rub his triceps and god...
He knows exactly what he's doing. Your eyes are following their movement, taking note of his long fingers which you just wished were inside of your right now.
"Oh I know." Luigi says and your eyebrows furrow.
"What do you mean?" You ask, intrigued by his statement. His eyes go wide before you chuckles out.
"Can't a man be confident in his abilities m'lady?" He asks, a seductive voice intertwined with his question. You gulp before giving him a smile.
"Yes can do my knight in shining armor." You answer cheekily and this time, he winks at you.
"I'm getting pinged by my team. Talk to you later after your pilates at 6." He states this with amusement in his voice but you feel your heart drop.
Because you do have pilates at 6.
"W-Wait how do you know that?" You ask, unable to stop the stutter that makes it's way past your lips. Your smile is at half-mast now, unable to decipher whether this man was just great at guessing or he really knew your schedule.
"Women are predictable. I'd assume you are too?" Luigi smirks before you get a chance to answer. "Does that work?" He asks, tapping his fingers across his abdomen expecting an answer. You let your eyes linger there for a second too long before giving a soft yes and that does it for him.
He puts the phone down and you're left with thinking about how time can go faster, simply waiting for him to call you back.
❧
Pilates couldn't get done any faster, as you had your weekly catch up session with your friend, Bea. She knew everything about Luigi and she was a trusted companion since her type was different.
Entirely different.
It was actually women.
"Oh my god Bea you wouldn't believe it. He told me I was fucking cute after the meeting and somehow, he knew I had pilates at 6." You're walking out of the glass doors, as Bea sighs behind you.
"You know this guy could show up at your apartment unannounced and you'd let him fuck you." Bea snorts and you giggle, letting the thought sear through your core.
"You know I think I would. I wouldn't complain at all." You emphasize the all at the end of your sentence because you have to admit, you were a less innocent than your face cared to show. You liked the idea of him thinking about you when you weren't looking and although it might've been scary, you wouldn't mind if he fucked you senseless.
You actually needed it really badly.
Bea can see how gone you are in your thoughts about him, so she gives a shake and a quick bye before you return it, walking over to your car. You start the engine, steeling yourself and clearing your thoughts so you can drive home safely and call him as soon as possible.
Finally, your car gets into the driveway and the exhaustion from your pilates session scurries away into the dark corners of the world (your car?) and you hurry inside, slamming your door shut and locking it before throwing your shoes off and making your way up the stairs.
You're about to call Luigi on Slack, maybe send a message asking for his number before an unknown number sends you a message.
Unknown: Hey there.
Something about it feel strangely familiar, like how Luigi had addressed you in your earlier Slack call. Normally, you never respond to unknown messages but this one...
this one really drew you in, making something of an obligatory pull bloom inside of you. You slowly type a hey, who's this? back and hit send. To your surprise, the response comes quicker than you'd imagined.
Unknown: Luigi
You swallow hard, pulse beating against your sensitive spot on your throat a little faster. You didn't actually think it would be Luigi, but hey, all is fine. Maybe a coworker gave your number, you think, but it still doesn't sit right because in the time you've been with the company, you only ever gave them your second work number... not your personal.
You: Funny. How'd you get this number?
Luigi: A coworker.
So far, you buy it. You ignore the gut feeling and suppose that it must've slipped and spread across your coworkers at some point since the most recent project had several overlaps with other team members you worked with in the past.
You: So..
Luigi: So...? Do you want to keep typing or can I hear that pretty voice of yours?
He did not.
You: We can call how about you call me this time? I was nice enough to ring you this morning. You end the message, hitting send and smirking.
Luigi: We don't have to call if you don't want to.
Ugh, mean. Was it really that hard to press the call symbol? You wanted to hear his voice though, so you give in and ring him yet again.
The line is going through and you put your stuff down, opening your fridge to heat up some leftovers from earlier last night. You rummage through your stuff, trying to look for that orange-lidded box but it's nowhere to be found. The line is still ringing, so you put the phone down and walk around your kitchen, wondering if you were stupid enough to leave it outside. Nowhere. You check the trash, empty. You're scratching your head at this point and you finally walk over to the sink and to your horror, it was licked clean with remanants of the food on the side with the fork still inside. Luigi's voice scares you at the same time and you jump.
"Hey there." He says, in the same tone he had this morning. You can hear his smile but your breathing is too heavy as your back is pressed against the cool fridge. You swallow the saliva before stepping forward and picking up the phone on her island.
"Jesus, you scared me Luigi." You say, half-focused on him while you're trying to figure out why your leftover tupperware is in the sink. It's making you feel unsettled.
"I don't think I'm a scary person. Is everything alright?" His voice is laced with concern now and you feel yourself calming down, explaining the situation.
"Y-Yeah I'm fine I'm just confused because my leftovers are in the sink and I'm starting to think I sleep eat now." You answer him with amusement and he gives a deep, heart laugh back. It sounds hot, you note, thinking about what it would be like if his voice was in your ear right now. You still can't help but turn around and glance at the box.
"Must be a good cook. I know I'm a sucker for some good Thai food." He breathes it out with the same amusement in your tone and this time, you feel a shiver down your back. Your leftovers were a pad see eu takeout from your favorite Thai restaurant and his answer seemed a little too close for comfort.
"Are you?" You ask, darting your eyes around the room because it's not feeling so comfortable in the house anymore.
"Yeah. Wouldn't you say we have a lot in common?" His voice a bit more stern now but he's asking her with innocence you can't tell whether is real or feigned.
"Like what?" You keep your question curt like the last, slowly walking into the living room and checking the sides and corners to make sure no-one is there. No-one is. You sit down on the couch, trying to control your heart rate.
"Like how we both like Thai food. That's a good start." Luigi answers with surety in his voice and the air feels thinner now.
"I never told you that, so how do you know?" You try to maintain your composure but your voice starts to shake.
"Now I do. Thanks for confirming." Luigi has an irritating attitude in the laugh he lets out.
"I wasn't trying to." You answer, rapid fire. Every sound outside starts to make you jump as you're looking over your shoulder.
"Now, why so jumpy? You seem scared." He teases you, mocking the hesitation in your voice. Your skin is shivering and you're 99% sure someone is watching you.
"I'm not scared Luigi. Just making conversation." You're still talking into the phone, but you slowly get up, making your way upstairs. You know you might regret this, but you have to be absolutely sure because Luigi isn't making you feel too good right now and you're trying your level best to ignore the suspicions your gut is feeding you right now.
"Conversations aren't usually this... high-strung. Are you okay?" Luigi responds, shifting his tone from something dangerous back to concern and you know he's fucking with you. You know this man is trying to screw around with you.
"Great. Great Luigi. You still haven't told me how you know I like Thai food." You snap at him, unable to contain the stress your feeling as your head is spinning.
"I wouldn't be so rude if I were you, baby." The name slips from his tongue and you freeze. Something hot blazes across your skin as you realize you like that. You want that. You've been wanting it and finally, you just got it.
It doesn't clash to well with your increasing heart rate because if anything, it makes it shoot higher. You let out a sharp exhale.
"You like that don't you?" You stepped into your study room on the top floor, checking the windows to make sure they're locked and opening the doors, squeezing your eyes shut and praying no-one is hiding there. Clear. But his question makes you nearly whimper and you find yourself nodding before you stop, stepping back out of the room and back into the foyer.
"I don't." But it's a lie and you can feel it. You can feel your conscience eating away at you, begging you to tell the truth.
"Don't fuckin' lie." Luigi growls, spite and another emotion dripping across the phone and that's when you hear a creak downstairs.
Fuck.
"I'm not lying Luigi. I don't know what you're trying to do right now." You raise your voice before checking the bathroom quickly and as you wished, nobody is in there. You finally make your way down the foyer to the very end, feeling your chest tighten as you prepare to step into your bedroom. Your fingers twist around the doorknob and you practically throw it open when you hear another creak downstairs. You shut the door and lock it, running into the closet and climbing into the attic crawlspace.
"I'm just asking questions and you are lying to me." You're terrified now because this isn't the Luigi you are quite used to.
"You're freaking me the fuck out Luigi. That's what's going on." You hear a step on the stairs and throw your hands over your mouth. Someone is in your house and you think you know who.
But you're praying this is all a trick of your mind.
"It's okay to open up, you know. You can trust m-" "Shut the fuck up Luigi." You shout into the phone before cutting the call. The relief washing over you is better than any medicine you've ever taken, you have a newfound confidence as you press your ears against the wall of the crawlspace. You can hear some sounds from outside and birds chirping which is comforting. You wait for ten minutes and when you don't hear anything and your phone, thankfully hasn't rang from Luigi again, you open it up, making your way down into the closet.
You still step into your bedroom with utmost caution, but you can't seem to take it seriously. Your strides become more confident as you open your bedroom door and nearly missing the wave of panic you feel when you see the foyer.
No-one.
You laugh, thinking Luigi was just acting like a creep but you walking to the bathroom, fixing your hair and letting your ponytail loose. Your mind keeps reeling back to the conversation with him, replaying the way he called you baby and it was just too fucking good.
Too bad he didn't call again. You almost missed his voice but the panic was worse, so mostly, you were glad. You walk back into your bedroom, sliding your sweatpants off and realizing your clothes are everywhere, running around in boxer shorts. You manage to grab a fresh pair of pajama pants which you throw onto the bed before taking your shirt off and letting it slip to the floor. You shiver a bit, just left in your bra. Another top catches your eye and you slip it on, appreciating the cropped fleece.
But something raises a red flag.
Earlier, when you entered the room, it was warm. Quite warm, actually, because you had the heater on the entire day to combat the winter weather. It took all but five minutes for that to disappear? You're staring at the window and realize.
The window was open.
Open.
The window was open.
And as if it couldn't get worse, the phone rings and you nearly trip over the clothes on the floor.
It was Luigi.
Your hands are shaking as you let a cry out, hugging yourself. You place the phone up to your ear before sobbing out a Luigi? quietly.
"Yes baby?" His voice is right next to you, behind you in the slightest and you let out a primal scream which is quickly muffled by a strong, unrelenting hand that gets pressed into your mouth, fingers threatening to choke you. You writhe and squirm against the hand but quickly, another arm grabs your neck and turns it to the side.
It's Luigi alright.
"Missed me baby?" His grips your throat tighter and you can't stop the fear driving your arousal past a previous breaking point, feeling heat spread across your body and absolutely relishing the light-headedness his hands were giving
The hand leaves your throat before a slap lands on the side of your thigh. You bend forward, ass brushing against his crotch before placing your hand on the now blooming red print.
"Fuckin' answer me slut." Luigi's voice is dripping with desire, demanding an answer of you. You slowly remove your hand from your thigh, letting it hang in the air as it shakes impossibly hard.
"Y-Yes." You mewl it out and you can hear his breath hitch before his arm is circling around your waist, pushing your head back into place as you face forward. That hand starts to feel around, teasing over your breasts and down your navel. You whimper, letting tears rush out as his cold fingers are playing cruel games with your skin. He flips, suddenly, grabbing a breast and you feel your knees nearly buckle.
"N-No." You attempt to stop him weakly but he just laughs, gripping harder. He does let go after a few choice squeezes, pushing you onto the bed and flipping you around as you face him and you see him in all his glory. His eyebrows are knitted together as you watching eyes swim with desire. His neck is strained, chest heaving as he is trying to restrain every filthy desire he's waiting to hurt and pleasure you with. His arms are flexed, veins pulsing as he waits and waits.
His eyebrows furrow deeper before his lips curve into a nasty, sly smirk.
"No? No? You fucking slut." He grips your throat and this time, takes the liberty of letting it cover the entire diameter. Your eyes go wide as you pull on his single arm, feeling your breathing get harder and harder.
"I don't know why you're lying to me. I've heard you fucking this pretty cunt with these tiny fingers, moaning my name every single night. I've watching this pretty ass," he stop to turns your lower body around and give your ass a nice slap, letting it echo in the room and watching as the pleasure makes you choke out a sound, something akin to a gurgle. He smiles, letting go to let your gasp and take air in before his hands are on your throat again. You feel yourself trying to get out of his grasp, trying to process how in the world he could know you were masturbating to him and why his hands felt so good around your neck. The deprivation was simply delicious and you wanted more.
"I've watched you ass bend over and split into two at pilates. Been watching you everyday for the past few weeks. Been watching you show my ass to everybody else in that class. I've watched men walking by ogle and just the thought of them staring at your makes me wanna-" Luigi groans, palming himself through his sweatpants. His grip on your throat as lightened up, but you dare not move.
"Makes you w-wanna what?" You gulp, wondering what he would say and he stares down at you, cooing at your glossy eyes that stare at him in fear and wonder and an impossible amount of
submission?
"So glad you asked. Makes me wanna hurt you first. Makes me wanna fuck you with my fingers and slap your ass so hard you cry my name out." Luigi fingers trail down to your shorts, sliding in between your legs as your moan, slowly rolling your hips against his fingers. The touch feel electric, sending waves into your core and you can't stop. Your eyes close until you realize his fingers aren't there anymore. You cover your face with your hands, suddenly overwhelmed with the reality of the moment.
But he has other plans.
He grabs both arms, pulling them down with one hand before slapping you across the face with another. You let out a sob, the pain stinging but still making you pulse between your legs. You can tell he knows by the small sighs he lets out, pressing his bulge against it.
"Can feel you pulsing. You little painslut. That's what you are, isn't it baby?" He starts grinding down on you faster and you can't help but let the sensations get to you, struggling to let free of his grasp because you desperately need to thread and grab his hair in yours fingers, but instead he presses down into your stomach, watching you wince at the discomfort.
"If you don't talk I'll make you bitch." God the insults are just perfect, turning on parts of your brain you didn't know exist. You keep silent, indirectly telling him to keep going. His eyes widen before he tears the top off, making you scream.
"What happened to the cunt that was aching for me, hm? What happened to that pretty voice moaned my name when work was over? Where's that pretty body that was arching off the bed every time you came huh?" Luigi slaps your breast and you moan, crying his name out in a harsh exhale which he bends down and drinks up, devouring your mouth with his tongue. You feverishly reciprocate, desperate for his validation and constant touch on you. "Please." You let out a quiet, slutty noise that makes him groan. His fingers thread into your hair which you starts pulling without mercy, adding to the pain by biting into your neck and you think he might tear it off.
"H-Hurts Luigi. It hurts." You are feeling more pain than pleasure, attempting to let him know how you feel but a part of you knows that he won't listen he won't care. He'll do whatever he wants and in the case he does slow down, it'll all be for his benefit.
"You're gonna take it anyways." He flips you around, forcing your body onto all fours and the sensations of the moment make you arch your back, sticking your ass up in the air which he adds to, pushing your neck sideways and down into the bed. You yelp as you feel another hand smoothing over the entirety of your back, going lower and lower until your stomach is nearly touching the bed and your ass is directly on his crotch. "You haven't answered any of my questions and if you don't," you here something click and shake, which you find in the corner of your eye.
A gun.
"I promise I'll make it hurt baby you want me to hurt you?" He's bent his body now, entirely draping himself over your backside and whispering into your ear, juxtaposing the absolute threat with a sweet, honey-glazed voice. You let out a slow breathing before moaning through your words.
"Don't hurt me Lu." You say this, breathing in slowly as you savor every shift in his position, taking in a slightly sharper breath when his hands start roaming around atop your ass. The lack of pressure makes you un-arch your back, taking solace in having space but a hand is back on top, pressing down.
"Move and I'll make you cry." He takes the gun, pressing the cool metal in the space between your legs, feeling yourself impossibly wet as his slow, circling motion imitate his fingers that were on you earlier. "W-What were you asking-" You wanted to be the perfect little girl and answer his questions which have flown out of your mind, but he's pulled the gusset of your underwear to the side and shoved the tip of his gun inside your cunt, watching the juices flow right down and onto the trigger.
"Oh I'll take my sweet time and make sure I get all of my answers." He keens with a soft, soothing the voice that betrays his next motion as he shoves the entire length in, forcing your to clench and sob at the pain.
He wasn't playing games. He was playing you.
part 2
#luigi mangione#luigi mangione fic#luigi mangione fanfiction#luigi mangione smut#class consciousness#eat the fucking rich#luigi mangione x reader#luigi mangione x yn#the claims adjuster#deny defend depose#angelluigiposts#luigisexual#um yes i love this man
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Hear me out y'all, I've been talking about multiverse shenanigans lately so what if Wade literally became Spiderman?
The TVA sent Wade on a mission to protect the anchor being of another universe, Spiderman. Except... there was a small hiccup. Wade got there right as Spiderman died. He was officially brain-dead, even if his blood was still circulating.
So, naturally, the TVA employee in charge of this universe panicked and fucked things up further. By putting Wade's conscience into Spiderman. Hooray!!
Now time to undo this shit and get back to his universe. Except... that doesn't happen. Because the portal closes and he's stuck here, with his own fucking vegetative state body. While he's in the body of Spiderman. Shit.
Fuck the TVA. And their shitty employees lie to cover their own asses and hide the fact that Wade just replaced the anchor being of another universe.
And Wade... has to pretend to be him, for better or worse. Because the mission was to get this timeline roughly where the Sacred Timeline left off. Or it'd collapse. With him in it.
(Which he thought he could do by saving Spiderman and letting him make the same decisions as he did originally, but noooooo. Now he has to imitate Peter and remember what the hell he did in the Sacred Timeline. Thank God for the fourth wall, because Wade does not share the same decision-making process as this guy.)
And Wade manages. Poorly. Especially when he has to hide his own body in the closet, which is miraculously still breathing.
But he tries! He attends high school for the first time in forever (yikes) and somehow manages to not flunk out, he acclimates himself to Peter's powers, goes web-slinging (with a much better costume, thank you), and talks to all of the right people. He manages all of Peter's tasks while trying not to focus on how much he misses his home and how he wishes Logan were here.
But it's insanely awkward. Especially when the people around him notice how weird he's been acting. Namely Peter's best friend and aunt. (And that's a whole other can of worms that Wade's trying his best to avoid.)
He nearly fucking stabs Flash with his pencil when he made fun of him, only held back by Ned tugging at his arm and asking what was wrong. (He does, however, steal his clothes after gym. Payback.) And he kind of forgets to get with MJ, oopsies! Not his type. (Especially with the whole teenager thing. And the fact that he's already kind of in love with someone. Who he misses incredibly and sometimes wonders if they'll come for him...)
He manages to meet Tony Stark around the same time as Peter and wow this is awkward. Because Wade knows what the Accords are and quite frankly, is very vehemently against them. But he grumbles and reluctantly goes with him. And manages to do a lot more damage than the original Spiderman, huh. Guess his years of experience stacked up well against a literal teenager.
His relationship with Tony would be especially interesting. Because in the original timeline, it was almost paternal. But Wade is not shopping for father figures, especially ones who are around his age and not nearly as experienced, so he manages to laugh it off. (Even if it does feel nice, privately, to be cared for.)
Everything comes to a head when Wade's staring blankly at the board in class, trying to will himself to focus. Until the teacher says a new student is coming in. Wade's been here for a few years now and he's now 18 and it's his senior year. (...It's weird to think he'd actually go to college. And it won't even fucking transfer back home, so it's all for nothing.) Point is, nobody transfers senior year.
So he looks up with vague curiosity to see a younger version of Logan.
What the fuck.
He didn't keep incredibly close tabs on the X-men of this universe (partially out of respect, partially out of fear) but he knew that they were all alive. They were more adamant about wearing masks and "protecting their identity" in this world so there wasn't much information. But apparently, Logan was just as young-looking as in the first X-men movie. Hugh Jackman really was fine, back then.
But what the hell was Logan doing in high school? Even in another universe, it's a central plot point that he's over 200 years old. He just looks young. (Not that Wade is much better, sporting the middle-aged man-turned-teenager look.)
Until Logan's eyes fix on him. He was looking at him with very intense emotion in his eyes, something Wade couldn't exactly name.
Not until he's shoved up against the locker in some shitty corner, claws pressed against his neck as Logan snarls at him and asks where the fuck was Wade and what did he do with him.
And Wade doesn't know whether to laugh or cry. Because, on one hand, this is objectively hilarious and he's really happy to see his Logan had somehow possessed this one. But on the other hand, he kind of isn't immortal right now and he doesn't want to test his luck.
So he manages to spit out the story. And Logan stares at him with shock and then trepidation and then genuine relief and suddenly he's hugging him and clinging to him and burying his face in his neck and oh shit is he crying?
They stay there even as the next bell rings, dropping to the floor and just sitting together.
All goes well until Ned comes looking and finds Wade with Logan leaning against him, head on his shoulder, and holding his hand. And now he has to explain to his aunt, to his best friend, and to his mentor who the fuck Logan was and why he's following him everywhere now. ("Don't worry! Him and I go wayyyyy back, he's been my online friend for years. He just transferred here recently, sorry I forgot to say haha...")
And then it just devolves into everyone being vaguely shocked as Logan and Wade act super affectionate while trying to figure out how the hell to escape the timeline. Not that Wade doesn't appreciate not being in pain constantly, but he kinda has a life back there. And yeah, these people are attached to him (and he's started to care too) but they don't really know him. They just know he suddenly became a master in fighting and insanely competent (and kind of fucking crazy) one night after getting a concussion. Hell, Mr. Stark only met him in the suit for the first half of their relationship because Wade was wayyy better at keeping his identity a secret than Peter.
It'd just be interesting to see how canon would diverge and how the characters would react to Logan suddenly coming in and insisting on being a fucking guard dog at all times. Everyone is vaguely concerned and thinks that "Peter" is in a toxic relationship where the other party is demanding until they see how reciprocal it is. (And what the hell?) And how they seem to get each other and make odd references and somehow share the same edgy humor brand.
#poolverine#deadclaws#kitkat#deadpool 3#deadpool and wolverine#logan howlett#wade wilson#deadpool movie#wade x logan#wade/logan#spiderman#peter parker#itd just be interesting as hell#bc how is WADE gonna deal w this?#badly#he misses logan and his house#and feels like nobody is “his” and lowkey distances himself#everyone is worried#and he isnt coping well w body changes#but suddenly logan comes and he can cope
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Concerning your last post, is there any chance you can tell more about your pupupu train au 👉👈
HI YES OF COURSE I AM FINALLY GONNA ANSWER THIS I AM SO, SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG, MY BRAIN JUICES HAVE NOT BEEN FLOWING & I HAVE BEEN MENTALLY STUCK IN ESSENTIALLY WHAT IS AN EXTREME LACK OF MOTIVATION ALONGSIDE COLLEGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
however, i will admit that this is AWFULLY barebones as what i have in my notes app besides this post is legitimately just a bunch of random comedic bits i've made regarding these two in a pupupu train context, mainly the "haha mk refuses to let susie transfer" bit
fair warning: this is a very metasusie coded answer so anyone who is uncomfortable by the ship, i really don't think this is your cup of tea ^^; sorry!
also here's cut so no one needs to read this freakishly long answer if they aren't interested
as of currently, i'm not really sure how the other units will work, but i do know that it will be based on the separate station masters of the real life collab:
kirby for tokyo
dedede for osaka
mk for nagoya
& with station masters comes units, & with units comes staff, which is where our favorite allies come into play:
in kirby's unit is magolor, who's only interest appears to be the fame it will bring him. despite being part of the most popular unit throughout japan, magolor wishes to be recognized, unhappy that he is simply regarded as another employee of japan's top unit, with kirby taking all of the press & fame
within dedede's unit is taranza, who finds trains to be a great solace after applying to the osaka train station as an internship during his stay at osaka university & since then has become a full time employee, working as the assistant station master. he appears to be romantically interested in a woman named sectonia who frequents the station. it's unknown how she feels about him though.
& in mk's unit...IS SUSIE, WHICH IS WHERE I'M GOING TO TAKE A HUGE DETOUR TO JUST TALK ABOUT (because i legitimately do not have this entire thing fleshed out despite it being over several months since this ask was sent in --again, i apologize.)
so, let's talk about susie! (best girlfailure 😍)
susie is an employee of the nagoya station, currently working as assistant station master. she's built her entire way up to her current position, initially working as a humble customer service worker to within several months the position she is currently after proving her worth through helping during dire situations at the station with her extensive knowledge in engineering
she got this job from taranza, an old high school friend of hers that she managed to keep in contact with. aware she was going to graduate from tokyo university soon & wanted to continue living there afterwards, he told her that job applications for all the train stations were opening up soon & recommended she start there in order to get some good experience or at least build a stronger resume for the future, even doing her the favor of recommending her specifically to kirby. although it didn't really seem to entirely work out unfortunately --good job on taranza for at least trying though, we all need a friend like him frfr 💯💯
unfortunately, even after climbing up the ranks, she's still somehow considered a nobody, often relegated as another typical staff member of the station. to add to her frustration, there's a frequent rumor regarding whether mk even has an assistant station master as he's known as "the lone station master" (DO YOU GET THE REFERENCE 👁️👁️) as the position of assistant station master was vacant for over a year until susie came along. they assume that whoever they are, they seem to rarely make an appearance (despite susie's near perfect attendance, even in comparison to mk himself)
well, now that i've mentioned mk, let's talk about him too:
unlike susie, mk is simply said: the literal face of the nagoya station. everyone knows about him & likes him--he's charming, he's eloquent, knows class, & although he can be overly elaborate at times, people like that about him --he's just a very DEMURE man in general (I WROTE THIS PART WHEN IT WAS STILL FUNNY PLEASE LAUGH 😭)
on the other hand, susie DOES NOT like him very much!!!!!! she finds him EXTREMELY annoying, a HUGE attention seeker, & VERY irrational
because of this, mk enjoys picking at susie as a pastime activity, especially over the fact that instead of getting a job for kirby's unit, she ended up working at mk's unit due to her father's address being in nagoya, the cause of it all
even though mk's a frequent dick to susie, he DOES see the effort she puts into her work &--even though he might not show it--greatly respects her as a result. after all, how did she get promoted to assistant station master? vul could've taken it as the longest standing senior member of the crew but mk chose susie instead
generally said, these two essentially have this rivalry on who can piss off the other most, evolving from "i hate you, i cannot stand you & i want you to know that all while NOT losing my job ^-^" to kaguya-sama: love is war type shit as they're both DEFINITELY into it & DEFINITELY into each other
small detour for those who haven't watched or heard of kaguya sama: love is war, it's a great romantic comedy anime/manga & i recommend watching/reading it if you ever find the time & you're into that kind of stuff, very cute & very funny
anyways, going back to susie, despite susie's attempts to piss off mk herself, unlike mk's more...elaborate ways of pissing her off, she typically has to go for the low blows which typically never works or if they do, he immediately gets back at her or if it really pisses him off, he will straight up pull the "i'm your boss." card which is a line susie wishes to never cross as long as she lives!
outside of mk, regarding her relationship with the rest of the nagoya station unit, she's relatively neutral as she doesn't really talk to any of them much outside of work, the only person breaking that rule being sailor dee, a junior staff member who she currently supervises with vul who, as stated previously, is a senior staff member. she enjoys spoiling sailor dee a lot & views him a lot like a younger sibling. she finds his passion for engineering inspiring & she can see a lot of herself in him
however, she does know others outside of her unit, such as magolor, who she met through taranza. as an interesting tidbit, out of the three, magolor is the youngest (& shortest), being 20 as he went to study abroad & graduated early before returning back to japan. taranza meanwhile is the oldest (& tallest) of the three, being 23. susie meanwhile is 21. (for anyone curious about mk's age, he's 24 in this au, which would mean susie & mk have a 3 year age gap)
mk really doesn't like magolor & doesn't want susie to be in a 10m radius of him, & although he doesn't know much about taranza's relationship with susie, he still doesn't want to take any chances
in terms of mk's own relationships, besides the wave 3 trio, he's basically buddy buddy with the rest of the nagoya station unit, absolutely adoring them. in terms of the other two station masters, he's best buds with dedede & views kirby as a younger brother, similar to how susie views sailor dee
going back to susie once again, although she does enjoy her job, she does wish she could maybe transfer to other units because they include closer friends such as magolor & taranza. however, whenever she looks for the transfer applications, they never seem to be there despite mk's claims of restocking them every single day. furthermore, whenever she goes to print out one out instead, the file is also corrupted to a degree that even susie can't save.
even more suspiciously however, the one day mk forgets to hide the transfer applications & witnesses susie take one (he definitely had heart palpitations after witnessing her actually do it), he has never received the application back from her.
now...i've been waiting for this part for a really long time now as this has practically been in the back of my mind ever since i received this ask...THEIR BACKSTORIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
since susie's isn't all that interesting since she already gets tortured by mk, i'll start with hers first:
ever since she was born, susie has lived comfortably in nagoya, practically surrounded in wealth. however, this was all without her mother, who had shortly passed away after giving birth to her, thus the only parent she's ever had is her father. she's only heard snippets about her mother, but because she's never actually met her mother, she doesn't feel particularly close to nor all that curious about her
going into the logistics of her wealth: it is primarily old money, both of her parents--similar to her--born into wealth inherited from past generations. however, in spite of primarily consisting of old money, haltmann would eventually manage to hit it big through an ice cream machine & other similar appliances business he called the "Haltmann Works Company," thus the haltmann family would become a combination of both old & new money, so now…they've just gotten richer!!!!!!!!!!!! however, in terms of their ways & methodologies, they are VERY old money
despite the company's large success however, haltmann & susie would over time become much more distant: haltmann focusing on taking care of the company over his daughter & susie rarely ever able to see haltmann
however, as a still young & naive child, in order to feel some sort of closeness to her father again, susie would be inspired to share similar interests with her father, & would begin to secretly attempt to create inventions on her own
this would eventually cause her to get into a freak accident, leading her to retain a large scar on forehead hidden beneath her bangs & experience mild nerve damage on both arms that she would fortunately completely recover from after several months of physical therapy
however, at the moment, haltmann--fearful of what the press would say & the potential decrease in profits--would close her off from majority of the world, forcing her to keep her distance around others & a relatively low profile, even long after her recovery
that did not mean that he completely did not care for susie though, as during her slow recovery, haltmann would gift susie her mother's favorite silver pocket watch, "Star Dream," within it an old photo of him & her deceased mother carrying susie when she was around two months old.
unable to normally interact with others beyond the haltmann household now, susie would develop a large inferiority complex as she grew up, feeling the constant need to appear flawless & perfect. this would culminate into her often masking in many social situations, especially business related ones
regarding susie's school career, she lived her life going to the best private schools, receive perfect scores all across the board, took multiple extracurriculars --she was essentially your stereotypical perfect student
as stated previously, in high school, she would meet taranza, who was two years her senior & had similarly came from a wealthy background of old money. he would be the only person susie would ever consider a friend, her first real friend even (TARANZA SNATCHED THE TITLE FROM MK, WE LOVE A QUEEN LIKE THAT 💅💅💅)
however, despite being the supposed perfect student, susie was extremely emotionally stunted & very socially awkward, often keeping everyone at an arm's length & unwilling to let her walls down to anyone, not even taranza. she would get by through masking, using it as a defense mechanism--at that point of time in her life, she felt as if it were only her against the world--& as a result, unintentionally isolating herself further.
after graduating high school, thanks to her extremely successful high school career, she would be immediately accepted into tokyo university, graduating with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering
susie found tokyo university to be a breath of fresh air, a place where she felt she could just be: normal. she felt free during her time there, especially free from the constraints of her father. even though she still felt the need to keep up her prim & perfect persona--as the effects of her past basically already taken root deep into her identity--she nonetheless felt...free.
unfortunately, after graduating tokyo university, haltmann despite his success had been significantly dwindling in health, his health finally reaching a peak immediately after susie's graduation, falling into a crippled state
susie would be forced to go back to nagoya in order to take care of him & the haltmann household, frustratingly postponing her desires to pursue a life in tokyo but also causing her to feel an unreasonable sense of extreme guilt over the fact that she even wanted to abandon her responsibilities in nagoya to pursue her own aspirations in the first place (i specifically state "unreasonable" as it is not her fault for her father's poor health despite how she may feel, there is absolutely nothing wrong with pursuing your aspirations, even if they might be different from what is expected of you by parents & peers)
however, over time after being hired & continuing to work at the nagoya train station, she would eventually find her job to be a blessing in disguise as despite losing opportunities to pursue a life in tokyo, she would be able to reconnect with her father & finally let down her walls (THANKS TO MK), developing genuine relationships for the very first time (HER FIRST ONE BEING MK --lowkey i feel like this is how mk would act, just a huge egomaniac, but he does so as half joke, half who he really is)
as a semi un/fortunate little tease: susie will eventually move on from her job as assistant station master to fulfill the new aspirations she's found after working at the train station. the good news however, is by that time, she'll be in a romantic relationship with mk (MAYBE EVEN MARRIED WHO FUCKIN KNOWS!!!!!!!!!! (i don't)) & still live in nagoya…with him. :DDDDDDDDDD
however, unlike susie's backstory, mk's is much sadder...because he's mk & there seems to be a large consensus that the fandom must torture him in some way 👍👍👍 (ALLEGEDLY ALLEGEDLY ALLEGEDLY, IN FORTNITE, IN MINECRAFT):
mk came from a middle class family with the typical stay at home mother & breadwinner father, thus living a fairly decent life in nagoya
however, while mk was still in middle school, his family would suffer a horrific car accident that would only leave him as the only survivor of the tragedy
this would quickly worsen as immediately after his parents' funeral, he was siphoned of all of assets, including his own house & essentially abandoned by the rest of his family
this would cause mk to become bitter & resentful of others, & he would establish a negative outlook of the world
with no money or home to go to, he had to immediately drop out of school after completing his middle school education in order to find a job --being just barely eligible enough to apply for any sort of occupation
fortunately, he would eventually find work as a full time janitor at the nagoya train station
there, he would meet gk, the current station master at the time --though during the first few months, they did not know each other very well--gk barely aware of mk's existence--only aware that they humorously shared the same surname despite not being related
however, one day, due to extreme exhaustion from working overtime literally every day & obviously not in the right mindset as a high school dropout who essentially lost everything, mk would nearly fall in front of an upcoming train, gk being just there enough in the nick of time to save mk
from that point on, gk would learn more about mk, primarily using vul as his main source of information (as mk would only talk to him out of everyone else in the unit)
through this, he came to the decision that he would help mk out, acting as his guardian, especially after learning about his orphan status
as his new guardian, gk would send mk back to school. however this would not be an easy task as mk didn't want to lose his job due to school (fearful that gk might abandon him like the rest of his remaining family did as well as potentially siphon all his money). thus gk would compromise, changing mk's schedule to part time during the weekends as well as personally pushed to pay for mk's expenses until mk was financially stable enough to move out as mk could barely afford any sort of rent or even groceries--but most importantly of all--afford a normal life again.
in addition, after graduating high school, gk & the rest of the current nagoya unit of that time would pitch in to help mk go to a junior college where he would pursue a major in mechanical engineering & achieve an associate's degree
living with gk would really change mk's initial negative outlook of the world to something much more positive. he can attribute some of his current eccentricities from gk such as his charm & borderline irrationality/overly elaborate nature as well as enjoyment for picking at susie (as gk teased him A LOT, though in a much more lighthearted way than what mk does to susie)
once finished with his studies, mk would move out & quickly climb up the ranks until he became assistant station master himself & eventually the new nagoya station master after gk’s retirement (who was at that point in his mid 70s, my man just enjoys trains yk)
after becoming the new nagoya station master, gk would gift mk his old gold pocket watch called "Galactic Nova"
he would work as the new station master for a bit over a year before meeting susie
funny little tidbit about gk since we've practically reached the end:
gk likes to call susie "mk's girlfriend," even before they were in a relationship (HE CAN SMELL LOVE FROM 1000KM AWAY)
he initially did this as a joke, but when it became real, he switched it up to "mk's wife." idk what he's gonna call her when she actually does become mk's wife. maybe just susie.
furthermore, when he learned susie called mk "Yumeta," whenever he refers to their relationship, he calls mk "Yumeta-chan" to get under his skin, but normally, he calls mk "Meta-chan" --unironically. he really enjoys using the "chan" honorific for mk & when i think about it, probably everyone. (this is a big headcanon of mine that goes beyond just this au)
eh, he's a retired old man, he can do whatever he wants as long as it's not illegal
ANYWAYS I HOPE THIS ANSWERS YOUR QUESTION, AGAIN, I AM SO SORRY FOR TAKING LITERALLY NEXT YEAR TO ANSWER
#susie haltmann#meta knight#metasusie#kirby#pupupu train au#kirby au#i hope this was worth the over several month wait! ;;#(i completely understand if it isn't as this is entirely my fault for postponing giving this ask a proper answer after so long)#mention of galacta knight & haltmann because we love two contrasting father figures#not tagging all the other characters mentioned because this isn't really all that about them!!!!!!!!!!!#this was a very chaotic answer to a very simple ask oh god#there appears to be a huge theme with me & haltmann suffering due to health complications! i don't know why.#THANK YOU FOR THE ASK BTW#although it took a very long time to answer⸴ it legitimately made me think a lot & take the time to research how train stations work#also more backstory writing--that's always a lot of fun!#so again thank you so much!#long post
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Do you have any recommendations for how to network while also dealing with major anxiety issues?
It's one of those things I know I should do, but I generally don't because of social anxiety. At the last event I went to (part of a class, mandatory attendance), I made sure my instructor knew I was there, but otherwise didn't talk to anyone and left at the first opportunity to narrowly avoid a panic attack.
There's another one coming up next week (also mandatory attendance), and I want to make the most of it, but I also get so stressed out thinking about it that I start crying, and don't know where to start.
I’ll be honest. I hope you can go to therapy or counselling because this is a little above my pay grade. I’ll share what I generally do.
I make a list before any social event, be it a conference, a new friend’s dinner party, etc. I write down:
1. exactly who the target market (attendees) is (professionals, young adults, senior ranked employees etc).
2. I set a few talking points for myself and write those down.
If it’s a work event, I’ll make sure I know what’s happening in the market so that I’m up to date. If I need help with a certain issue at work - let’s say something isn’t being configured in an app because of XYZ reasons - I’ll note it down so that if I find a person working in that relevant field, I can use that both as conversation but also for my benefit.
If I’m meeting new friends, I’ll quickly go over recent pop culture, travel plans, latest in politics, newly released albums, upcoming holidays. These are generally the most common topics. If there’s something I don’t want to talk about that is generally spoken about - example, my dating life - I think of the best answer to that question beforehand.
3. I set a goal for myself.
Most of the time, my goal is to talk to at least 3 people enough to get their contact numbers.
If I end up feeling really nervous before any event, I sit in my car and listen to some meditative music, talk some deep breaths, talk to myself out loud, etc. I motivate myself the way I’d motivate a friend.
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2024 Year in Review
(This is a public post, and is also available on Patreon!)
Wow! What a year. Compared to last year, a lot more things definitely happened, including several core videos I'm very proud of, the launch of Useless Nintendo Trivia videos, and the main channel finally passing the 50,000 subscriber mark! This has been one of the best years for the channel in a while, and I'm very thankful for all the support and feedback.
Outside the channel, my Bluesky account created in 2023 has passed 10k followers, I talked about WarioWare with Scott the Woz for an hour, and lots of very neat things happened in real life for me as well! I was able to switch day jobs in December and work with a company in the retro gaming space which is very exciting, and I visited America, met some of my friends there and attended the Portland Retro Gaming Expo for the very first time! So overall, a very eventful year, and I'm definitely excited to both look back on the stuff I've made, and give some hints about what's next!
You know the drill by now, I'm going to be sharing my retrospective thoughts as well as some fun facts about every video I've made on the main channel during 2024!
The Joy of Nintendo DSi/3DS Camera & Sound
This video idea was the winner of a Patreon poll back in June 2023...and yeah, ended up releasing in January 2024, but that meant it made for a pretty fantastic start to the new year! After talking about previous camera-related offerings from Nintendo like the Game Boy Camera and Photo Dojo, it only seemed natural to talk about the built-in camera and music apps for the DSi and 3DS, and I think it hit a great balance between being informative about the lesser-known aspects of these apps, and also having some decent gags! I even ended up upgrading my 3DS capture card from an old 2DS to a New 3DS XL during the production, just because I had to showcase the 3D mode-exclusive camera features. So far, it's served me incredibly well! I can absolutely vouch for the quality of Loopy's stuff now.
Some folks were wondering I managed to capture footage of the DSi camera and sound apps, the truth is...I kinda lied and that footage was captured on my New 3DS XL capture card! Yes, you can install and run DSi Camera and DSi Sound on a 3DS.
I'd like to once again give a shoutout to ThattsCherry (who also did the animation for my latest intro), who drew two animated shots featuring stylized Nintendo employees! Her style lent incredibly well to these sorts of visuals, though I did accidentally overlook a mistake where there was a 3DS logo in the background of a shot...about the DSi camera. (Oops) I also want to shout out TikaratheMew as well for the fantastic parakeet thumbnail art! (She also did the thumbnail art for my Famicom R.O.B. the Robot video as well!) I posted this sketch/final comparison on social media previously, but here it is again for posterity:
And finally, just a random fact: the brief gag featuring the 'retro-inspired indie game' actually comes from a university programming assignment I did years ago, but reskinned with generic pixel art as the original just used 8-bit sprites from Super Mario Bros.! (It also ran way faster than it was supposed to because it was originally programmed on a Windows virtual machine running on a Mac...so yeah.)
I Went to Hong Kong's Nintendo Live & Pop-Up Store
This video was a great opportunity to document two Nintendo events that were basically happening in Hong Kong back-to-back, and I hope it was useful for those who weren't able to attend these events, or those who want to know more about Nintendo's international events! I still hope these events are successful enough to warrant future large-scale Nintendo events in Hong Kong (which I am totally down to also document), but we haven't had further confirmations outside of a few series-specific promotional events now and then. Here's hoping!
Since this video, more Nintendo Pop-Up Stores have opened in places like Taipei, Seoul and Singapore, with the latest one being part of a manga convention in Barcelona! Seems like they've been doing pretty well, and makes me wonder if they'll ever revisit places for a second round!
Though aside from these pop-up stores, there are still plenty of officially authorized partner stores in Hong Kong that sell both Nintendo products and merch! A very neat one that opened recently was 'Assemble' in Wan Chai, which not only had Nintendo merch (including new stock for the Super Famicom Mini for some reason?), but had dedicated merch areas for third-party partners like Sega, Namco and Square Enix, and even had demo stations for indie games and Arcade Archives releases!
A Cartridge for Nintendo's Lost Devkit
In terms of obscure Nintendo stuff that has been talked about on this channel, the Game Processor RAM Casette is definitely way up there! While these carts (and the Game Processor in general) have been known to exist for a while, and this is also not even the first YouTube video about the Game Processor RAM Casette (Circuit Rewind was ahead of me and figured out how to reprogram one using a Raspberry Pi!), I'm still glad this video was able to get more eyeballs on this little known piece of Nintendo history, and perhaps the dream of finding the Game Processor isn't dead yet! (Hey, if the largest Sony CRT ever made could be found, anything's possible.)
One thing I actually didn't touch on in this video is the packaging that the Game Processor RAM Casettes originally came in! And with a few more auction listings popping up online since that video, I can now show you that...they're basically completely blank Super Famicom game boxes. That's kinda funny.
I mentioned that one of the assets for a Mario Bros.-style game created with the Game Processor's editing tool 'Mario Factory' was later reused for the Mario Bros. minigame in the Super Mario Advance series. While we do have an image proof of this from a flyer scan, I didn't show it in the actual video as the original Japanese accounts that posted these images seem to be a little strict regarding reposting of their work, and I'd like to respect their wishes if possible. With that said, I can now link to those original tweets here, if you haven't taken a look!


How Many Times Have I Paid For Super Mario Bros.?
For Mario Day this year, I decided to just do a scripted video about a ridiculous Mario topic, and since I already had a spreadsheet lying around that kept track of every legal copy of Super Mario Bros. I own, this video was the result, and it ended up as silly as I envisioned it to be. Perhaps Mario Day videos can be another fun annual tradition, though I haven't thought of any ideas for this year's right now. (I mean, I could talk about all my copies of Mario 64 like I teased last time...but that's probably a better fit for the Plus channel!)
The obligatory question is, have I obtained any new copies of Super Mario Bros. since this video was published? The answer is yes: I obtained a loose cartridge of Super Mario Bros. + Duck Hunt + World Class Track Meet on the NES, Super Mario All-Stars + Super Mario World on the SNES, and a US copy of Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition on the Wii! The count continues.
Those with keen ears may have noticed that the endslate theme in this video is an arrangement of the 'Every Day is a Mario Day' commercial jingle! I asked Megan, the composer of my endslate theme, to give it a little remix for the occasion, and it turned out so well, I definitely have to use it more than once now lol
Useless Nintendo Trivia #1-5
This year marked the start of the 'Useless Nintendo Trivia' series, each installment containing 10 useless Nintendo facts, inspired by my 2023 April Fools video. This was conceived as a relatively simple but fun series of videos that I can put out in-between the major productions, and so far we've covered 50 whole pieces of useless Nintendo trivia! I'm very happy about how this series has been received, so...yeah, more episodes will definitely be on the way! When we reach 100 pieces of trivia, it might be fun to do a compilation of them to see how long they would be when put together!
You might've also seen that some pieces of trivia have also been uploaded to the channel as YouTube shorts. I think this is basically the best way to utilize the shorts format going forward, rather than focusing on making exclusive stuff for it, and if one of the shorts does end up blowing up, it'll still be a nice bonus!
Every Nintendo Stylus
And here's 2024's April Fools video...which if I recall correctly, was another spontaneous idea! I originally talked about Nintendo styluses as an unscripted video on Akfamilyhome Plus, one of the first unscripted videos on that channel in fact, but that video actually left out a few styluses that I didn't have on hand at the time, so I figured if I were to revisit the topic, it would be in the form of a scripted video to cut down on the babbling, and possibly as part of the April Fools series (just because of how ridiculous the topic is). This video blowing up in views is something I can't exactly say I anticipated, but I guess joke topics just do that sometimes...
I made a joke in the video about if anyone ever used the original 3DS stylus by just extending it halfway, so allow me to showcase this incredible reply comment:
When I was looking for accurate stylus terminology for this video, I was made privy to a patent-related rabbit hole that eventually culminated into a piece of useless Nintendo trivia! I'll just link you to the short version here if you haven't seen it yet.
The 34 Games I Beat in 2023
The 2023 game review video ended up coming out in late April because of the Mario Day and April Fools videos (...which may end up being the same case for this year if I can't get it out by February, oops), but this time around it did perform a little better than my 2022 video! It's still neat to have a time capsule of sorts about my immediate thoughts about each game I've finished, and the unpredictable lineup still makes it a fun watch for some. Just to look ahead, 2024's game lineup will be a little shorter at 25 games, but there will be a bonus section or two here and there!
Not much else to add here for this video, but if you look in the description, I have a link to a spreadsheet that compiles an alphabetical list of every game I've looked at in this series of videos, for those who want to look up my quick thoughts about a particular game!
Nintendo's Hotel SNES: The Super Famicom Box
It seems like pretty much every Things of Interest episode released in 2024 was a result of spontaneous new finds and additions to my collection, and the Super Famicom Box was certainly no exception. There have been several YouTube videos that show off the system before, but there haven't been as many scripted videos that also dive into its deeper functionality, so that's sort of what the aim of my video was, to showcase how it would be to set the whole thing up and go through its many settings for the folks (a.k.a. most people) who don't have one, and also offer a simple point of reference for those who do end up getting their hands on one. Really, the only thing I haven't done in the video is basically take the system apart -- there are people out there who are way more qualified to do that!
I've shared the following links in one of my monthly Patreon reports, but for those who haven't seen them, here's a few more interesting videos related to the Super Famicom Box that are worth checking out:
Long Island Retro Gaming has done a mod adding RGB to the system -- and with some results you may not have expected!
Some of their footage was used in my video, but Impendo64 has both added a custom coin slot to their unit, but has also apparently modified one of the game cartridges to add custom games onto it! I hope they make another video showing how they did it in the future!
This is about the original FamicomBox and not the SFC variant, but Yukki games came across a few working FamicomBoxes still doing their jobs in a small Japanese hot spring inn, if you'd like to take in the vibes!
64DD on a Flashcart: The SummerCart64
The Things of Interest video about the SummerCart64 is one of the few unscripted videos on the main channel, where I basically take a look at a thing by just...casually using it and showing off its features! That felt like the best format to show off this flashcart in particular, especially because 64DD support was the one interesting part about it. I did get the price of the Phenom Mod version of the cart a little wrong in the video (I misquoted the PCB price instead of the fully assembled one with shells), but in the end it was still neat to get some more eyeballs on this project, and a few new developments have been made since that video as well!
Since the video, the N64 Flashcart Menu has seen several updates that addressed some of my previous (minor) complaints: there's now a functional settings menu within the interface, and most recently a favorites and history tab have been implemented!
And since Phenom Mod released their version of the SummerCart64 for order, plenty of other cheaper SC64 clones have also started to pop up on the market, particularly ones on Chinese sites like AliExpress. I even got a free product offer from one of the sellers! (but decided against it as it would make for a pretty redundant video) While I can't compare every variety of the SummerCart64 out there, I was eventually able to get my hands on two different AliExpress variants of the SummerCart64. They had pretty different molded shells (one being a tighter fit than the other) and cart connectors, and while in terms of functionality they were fairly similar, making it a viable option for those on a limited budget, they definitely don't have the luxury of the Phenom Mod's more durable build, along with proper support available in the N64brew Discord should any problems arise, so I think there's still some worth in that! This is just my opinion though, it's up to you to decide which SC64 variant you want to go for for your own purposes.
I Broke the Nintendo World Championships Leaderboards
Speaking of spontaneous video ideas, this video definitely was one, being basically born from a stupid Discord conversation while playing the new Nintendo World Championships game. The resulting video is definitely a rare breed for the channel, it's been a hot while since I've done a 'what happens if you do x in y' type of experiment for a video, but it seems people did end up enjoying it!
The week this video went live, I actually tried the same strategy to get on the 2024 Birth Ranking again, and it seems that no one else ended up trying it out for themselves! ...which makes sense, because the setup is way too convoluted. But if there's someone out there still determined to try this trick right now, there's a high chance you'll be able to earn 1st place on the 2024 birth year ranking for yourself! (Or rather, 2025 ranking now lol)
Pyoro: The Bird, The Beans, The Legend
...and finally, this was the next big core video that I was originally intending to make, following the 3DS/DSi Camera & Sound video! As I said in the video itself, this idea came long before the leaker known as Pyoro became a prominent figure, and with the release of WarioWare: Move It, it made for the perfect opportunity to do a Pyoro retrospective with some fun gags sprinkled throughout. And in a first for the channel, this is also the first ever sponsored video on the channel! ...I'll talk about more of my thoughts on that down below in a bit.
If you look at the video thumbnail, all of the Pyoros featured come from a piece of official artwork or in-game sprite...except one, which I drew back in 2021.
Turns out, there were several Pyoro cameos that I forgot to mention: for some reason my mind completely blocked out the fact that Super Pyoro appears in the intro of WarioWare Gold, and there's also a small blink-and-you'll-miss-it Pyoro cameo in WarioWare Move It:

As I said, this is the first video on the channel to be sponsored (by Surfshark)! As taking a sponsor was something I'd never done before, I felt this was a good learning opportunity to do so, and considering how well the video ended up doing, I think Surfshark probably got way more than their money's worth in the end...
Before I ever considered legitimately taking up a sponsor offer, I set several rules for myself: anything I promote must be something I've used in the past and can recommend based on personal experience (if it's something I've never heard of then I would at least do my research and give it a try first), and the sponsor integrations should be made as fun as possible. The Pyoro video was essentially a testing ground for these principles, the idea of integrating the sponsor led to the creation of the VRChat skits, and as a result I think it turned out pretty well! (A post about the sponsor segment itself ending up doing numbers on Twitter, which I think is a good enough indicator lol)
The reason why I took this long to accept any sponsor at all is simply because a lot of offers that come through to my business inbox don't always look the most legit at first glance, especially if it's from a product I've never heard of before. I've also never went through the process of taking a sponsorship myself, and I've heard a few stories of bad sponsors or phishing scams involving fake sponsorships, so I was basically extremely vigilant about them. That being said, this sponsorship was definitely a net positive for me as a learning experience! I don't know if I'll end up taking more sponsors in the future, as it really just depends on the right one stumbling into my inbox that I think I can actually execute properly. And between my inconsistent video schedule and my recent job switch, I don't think I'll have to deliberately seek out sponsors in the near future. I'm feeling content with having this YouTube thing as a side hustle for now, with Patreon support and perhaps the occasional sponsor as bonuses that will potentially push me slowly towards being able to do this full-time in the far future!
And lastly, if you didn't know, some outtakes and animatics for the VRChat skit segments in this video are available to my $5+ patrons!
Nintendo 3DS E3 2010 Demo Showcase
And in time for the new year, another spontaneous video! I originally planned for a Things of Interest episode to release around Christmas or before the end of the year, but while I was working on it, I was contacted by a team working on preserving some 3DS tech demos from a prototype unit in order to make a video documenting them like I did with 3D Challenge back in 2020, and of course I had to say yes!
It was very fun to both help out with research as these demos were being studied, and to write the script for the showcase as well! I think this is one of the best ways to handle a release of this sort: not just hacking the demos so they can be as playable as possible for the public, but also documenting them in a video so detailed info about them is also as easily accessible!
Yes, the ending is a tease for something else 3DS-related to come. Don't know when exactly that will be as research is still being done to put it vaguely, but it's something I personally think is almost as cool!
Akfamilyhome Plus videos
If there's only one thing I regret for this year, it's the smaller amount of content being put out on my second channel Akfamilyhome Plus, because ironically I got busy from all the videos being put on the main channel instead! Still, there are a handful of bonus videos that have been released publicly on there this year:
I gave Alivel Mall from Kirby and the Forgotten Land lyrics for the game's 2nd anniversary
I tried a Gyromite-themed mini board game on a Japanese pencil case from 1985
I talked about how I create YouTube captions from my scripts
I tried the Nintendo Ten Billion Barrel for the first time
...and as mentioned in the beginning, I documented my very first trip to America!
And over on Patreon, 4 exclusive videos were released: I took a look at some third-party Joy-Con, played PC games with an actual Game Boy as a controller, did my annual room tour for 2024 and built a Famicom made out of cardboard!
Alright, what's next
Okay, so as I just mentioned, I was working on a Things of Interest episode right as I was approached to make the 3DS E3 2010 demo showcase, so right now work will be resuming on that video! And seeing as you've read this far into the post, as a thank you I'll let you in on what it's about...

...it's an original, working Nintendo Ultra Machine from 1967! Just like the Super Famicom Box, while there are videos online that showcase it, there's not a lot of scripted videos that get into the history or nitty gritty details, so I'd like to take this opportunity to showcase one of Gunpei Yokoi's earliest inventions!
In addition to that, there is another Things of Interest subject that I'd like to talk about, Useless Nintendo Trivia will obviously continue with new sporadic episodes, and the next major core video topic has already been decided, though with all these projects in the pipeline, it might be a little bit before that's fully in production!
Overall, I'd like to keep up the momentum this channel picked up in 2024. I was pretty close to my goal of having a video out on the channel every month, save for edge cases where I released a video right as a month ended, or September onwards when I was occupied with my trip to America (and documenting that into a video) among other things! While I have switched jobs in real life, I'm currently hoping it won't affect too much of my video schedule going forward, as working on this channel is something I continue to enjoy immensely, and I'd like to thank you all again for watching in 2024.
So yeah, that's it for this long year in review! Once again, as a thank you for watching all the way to the end, here's a 25-use invite link to my Discord server where chill gaming talk happens! I'll let you in on a secret: these links actually aren't clicked on a whole lot if last year's post was any indication, so if you're reading this, chances are it's still available lol
That will be it for now! Here's to another great year for the channel, and I'll see you in the next video!
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Top 5 Door Access Control Systems in Saudi Arabia for 2025
In today's rapidly evolving security landscape, selecting the best door access control system in Saudi Arabia is essential for both corporate and government infrastructure. Whether you're securing office premises or sensitive government data centers, choosing the right system ensures both employee safety and operational efficiency.
1. Matrix COSEC ARGO Face
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HID systems provide flexible card access control systems and are widely used in hospitals, banks, and government buildings. Their robust encryption ensures a high level of data protection.
3. ZKTeco Access Control
ZKTeco offers reliable time attendance system Riyadh solutions with facial, fingerprint, and RFID recognition. It integrates easily with staff attendance management software.
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Suprema is perfect for businesses looking to implement Bluetooth access control in high-traffic areas. Their mobile app-based access system reduces hardware costs.
5. Bosch Access Control
Bosch provides integrated access control and time attendance options suited for large enterprises. Their modular structure makes expansion seamless.
Conclusion: Choosing the right system depends on your needs—from time attendance tracking to visitor access management. Always prioritize scalability, local distributor support, and data security compliance.
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Looking for the best performance management software, work management software, employee attendance app and daily task tracker & management software? Sign up with TrackHR now & get a free one month trial, TODAY
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How to Learn English Online While Working Full‑Time: A 2025 Roadmap
1. Understand Your Goal and Time Budget
Full‑time professionals often juggle 40‑plus working hours, family duties, and commutes. Before enrolling, list:
Purpose: career promotion, relocation, IELTS, or daily fluency.
Time blocks: commute (podcasts), lunch break (15‑min app), evening (live class).
learn English online while working full‑time by carving out micro‑sessions each day.
2. Choose a Flexible, Certified Online Program
CriterionWhy It MattersiEnglish Online AdvantageAccreditationEnsures global recognitionKHDA, Cambridge & Pearson‑alignedLive vs RecordedNeed real interactionDaily live Zoom rooms + recordingsClass SizeMore speaking timeMax 6 learners per sessionSchedule OptionsFit around shiftsMorning / evening / weekend slots
Popular Tracks for Busy Employees
General English Express (3×60 min weekly)
Business English Live (focus on emails & presentations)
IELTS Fast‑Track (8‑week booster)
One‑to‑One Executive Coaching (tailored to industry jargon)
online English course for professionals that adapts to your calendar.
3. Build a Micro‑Learning Routine (Total 45 Min/Day)
TimeActivityToolSkill7:30 AM commute10‑min podcast“The English We Speak”Listening1:00 PM lunch5‑min quizQuizlet/AnkiVocabulary6:30 PM25‑min live classiEnglish ZoomSpeaking & grammar9:45 PM5‑min journal entryGoogle DocsWriting
Consistency beats weekend cramming. Over four weeks you’ll log ≈ 22 hours—the core of a CEFR level jump.
4. Leverage Technology for Efficiency
AI Pronunciation Engine: Instant feedback on tricky sounds (th, v, r).
VR Scenarios: Simulate airport check‑ins or board‑room pitches without leaving your desk.
Auto‑captions & transcripts: Turn every meeting into a vocabulary list.
Calendar Integration: Sync class reminders to Outlook or Google Calendar.
Professionals cite VR role‑plays as the fastest way to master business English online without travel.
5. Stay Accountable with Smart Tracking
Weekly Progress Report: iEnglish emails CEFR growth and attendance stats.
Peer Buddy System: Pair with a classmate for 5‑minute WhatsApp voice chats.
Monthly Mock Test: Simulate IELTS or a client presentation, then review.
6. Balance Work Stress and Study Motivation
Use Work Context Vocabulary: Turn daily reports into English practice.
Negotiate “Learning Slots” with Manager: Many UAE companies sponsor language upskilling.
Gamify Goals: Earn badges for 5‑day streaks, share on LinkedIn.
Flexible English classes for busy employees help reduce burnout by integrating learning into daily tasks.
7. Why iEnglish Online Fits Full‑Time Schedules
FeatureBenefit to Busy ProfessionalsMulti‑zone timetable (UAE/GMT+4)Join before or after work anywhere in GCCSession recording & replayNever lose a lesson if overtime hitsNative trainers with corporate backgroundLearn real meeting & email etiquettePay‑as‑you‑go bundlesNo long‑term lock‑in; pause during peak seasonsKHDA certificate + Cambridge digital badgeBoost CV instantly
🌐 Instant enrolment: ienglishinstitute.ae/online
8. Success Story: Ahmed, Sales Director in Dubai
“Working 50 hours a week, I feared no time for English. With iEnglish’s 30‑minute evening classes and VR negotiation drills, I closed my first international deal in three months.”
9. Quick Checklist Before You Start
✅ Take a 3‑minute placement test.
✅ Map 45 min daily into your calendar.
✅ Choose the best English institute for expats in Dubai—one that offers live support and AI tools.
✅ Set a measurable KPI (e.g., deliver a 5‑minute presentation by week 4).
Conclusion: Your English, Your Schedule
Learning English online while working full‑time is not only possible—it’s efficient when you harness micro‑learning, smart tech, and a flexible provider like iEnglish. Invest 45 minutes a day, leverage VR and AI tools, and turn professional English into your competitive edge in 2025.
Ready to upgrade? Claim your free trial class and see how easily English fits into even the busiest calendar.
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Attendance Management Software That Boosts Productivity and Accuracy
In a world where timing is everything, tracking employee attendance manually has become more of a hassle than anything else. While time sheets, punch cards, and spreadsheets may have worked in the past, the current work culture requires something a whole lot more smart, speedy, and dependable. You guessed it – attendance management software! Think of attendance software as a cutting-edge fix for a long-standing problem.
Attendance software tracks who is in and who is not, but it also changes the way that organizations can keep track of work hours, shift patterns, and absenteeism. It can facilitate the communication gap between employees and a Human Resources team by designating an automated record keeping approach that is easy to use and real-time.
No matter the organizational model, attendance software captures accurate time for remote teams, on-site staff, and even the hybrid model. Effectively managing time can translate into less paperwork, fewer payroll errors, and higher levels of transparency.
Characteristics of attendance management software
1) Real-Time Tracking: Attendance software capture clock-in and clock-out time information in a real-time format to more readily verify daily attendance logs.
2) Biometric & Mobile Integration: Depending on your business needs, attendance can be marked with facial recognition technology, fingerprint scanning technology, or by GPS-enabled mobile apps.
3) Leave and Holiday Management: Allows you to keep track of everyone’s leave requests, and whether they have any leave balance left, and also with the addition of holidays your staff will know exactly what time off is coming up.
4) Schedule Management: Attendance Management software manage the schedules with ease and thanks to the custom shift planning and automated alerts if changes are made to a roster.
5) Automated Reports: Automate your report generation and view insights on attendance, lateness trends and absenteeism and have valuable information for better planning.
6) Payroll integration: Access attendance data straight into payroll systems.No more late payments and payroll mistakes.
Conclusion:
Best Attendance management software in India is not simply an upgrade for your technology, but a smarter way of managing one of the most important aspects of workforce management. It removes uncertainty from the process, it fosters accountability, and it empowers organizations to be more effective in their operating processes. In a hybrid workplace, the requirements for secure attendance and timekeeping move from being beneficial to essential. With the right processes in place, organizations can rate both reduce any potential liability through a culture of accountability, trust, and transparency, thereby creating a strong undercurrent for lifelong success.
#attendance management software#smart attendance software#best attendance software#Workforce Tracking#attendance management#Employee Attendance
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Korea Business Desk
Korea Business Desk: Bridging Global Opportunities and Local Expertise
Introduction
As the world continues to Korea Business Desk globalize, businesses seek new opportunities in diverse markets. Korea, with its dynamic economy and strategic location in East Asia, has become an attractive destination for international enterprises. The Korea Business Desk serves as a crucial conduit for companies looking to navigate the complexities of the Korean market, offering essential insights, support, and connections.
What is the Korea Business Desk?
The Korea Business Desk is a specialized service designed to assist foreign businesses in establishing and expanding their operations in Korea. Typically managed by government agencies, trade organizations, or private consulting firms, these desks provide a wide range of services, from market entry strategies to regulatory compliance and local networking.
Key Services Offered
Market Research and Analysis
Industry Insights: Detailed reports on various sectors, including technology, automotive, healthcare, and consumer goods, help businesses understand market dynamics and identify potential opportunities.
Competitive Analysis: Understanding the competitive landscape is crucial. The desk provides analyses of key players, market shares, and competitive strategies.
Regulatory Guidance
Legal Compliance: Navigating Korea’s regulatory environment can be challenging. The desk offers guidance on local laws, regulations, and compliance requirements to ensure businesses operate within legal frameworks.
Licensing and Permits: Assistance in acquiring necessary licenses and permits to start and run a business in Korea.
Business Matching and Networking
Partner Identification: Connecting foreign businesses with local partners, suppliers, and distributors to facilitate smooth operations and strategic alliances.
Networking Events: Organizing seminars, trade shows, and networking events to help businesses build valuable connections within the Korean market.
Investment and Funding Support
Investment Opportunities: Information on investment opportunities, incentives, and funding options available to foreign businesses.
Government Programs: Guidance on accessing government programs and grants designed to support foreign investment in Korea.
Operational Support
Office Setup: Assistance with finding office space, hiring staff, and setting up essential business infrastructure.
Cultural Training: Programs to help foreign executives and employees understand Korean business culture, etiquette, and practices.
Why Korea?
Robust Economy
Korea is the world’s 10th largest economy, characterized by advanced technology, a skilled workforce, and a high standard of living.
Key industries include electronics, automotive, shipbuilding, petrochemicals, and telecommunications.
Strategic Location
Korea’s geographic location makes it a gateway to other major Asian markets, including China, Japan, and Southeast Asia.
Excellent infrastructure, including ports, airports, and logistics networks, supports efficient business operations.
Innovation Hub
Korea is renowned for its innovation and technological advancements. The country invests heavily in R&D, making it an ideal destination for businesses in tech and innovation-driven sectors.
Home to global tech giants like Samsung and LG, Korea offers a vibrant ecosystem for startups and established companies alike.
Supportive Business Environment
The Korean government offers various incentives to attract foreign investment, including tax breaks, grants, and subsidies.
Strong legal protections for intellectual property and a transparent business environment further enhance Korea’s attractiveness as a business destination.
Success Stories
Many international businesses have successfully established and expanded their presence in Korea with the support of the Korea Business Desk. Companies like Amazon, Tesla, and Pfizer have leveraged the desk’s resources to navigate the local market, build strategic partnerships, and achieve significant growth.
Conclusion
The Korea Business Desk plays a vital role in helping foreign businesses unlock the potential of the Korean market. By providing comprehensive support across various aspects of business operations, the desk ensures that companies can navigate the complexities of the market with confidence and achieve sustainable growth. For any business looking to expand into Korea, the Korea Business Desk is an indispensable partner in their journey toward success.
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What is the best phone service for a small business?
What is the best phone service for a small business?
Choosing the best phone service for a small business is one of the most important decisions you’ll make to ensure smooth communication, excellent customer service, and efficient operations. Today, many small businesses are moving away from traditional landlines and opting for modern solutions like VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) because of their flexibility, cost-effectiveness, and advanced features.
One of the top options for small businesses is a reputable provider like FBS, which specializes in tailored business phone systems. FBS stands out by offering robust VoIP and cloud-based solutions that help businesses manage calls professionally without the burden of expensive hardware or complex maintenance. With FBS, you get a reliable network, clear call quality, and advanced features such as auto-attendants, voicemail-to-email, call forwarding, conference calling, and mobile app integration—all bundled into cost-effective plans that can scale with your company’s growth.
The best phone service for your business should also be easy to set up and manage, especially if you don’t have a dedicated IT department. FBS provides excellent installation support, user training, and ongoing technical assistance, which ensures you spend less time troubleshooting and more time focusing on your customers.
Affordability and transparency are key factors too. Many small businesses struggle with surprise fees and inflexible contracts. Providers like FBS offer clear, upfront pricing without hidden charges, so you can plan your telecom budget with confidence.
Finally, the best service should empower your team to work from anywhere, which is vital in today’s hybrid and remote work environments. Cloud-based systems make this possible by allowing calls to be routed to employees’ mobile devices or laptops, ensuring your business stays connected no matter where your team is working.
In short, the best phone service for a small business combines reliability, advanced features, affordability, and excellent support—and FBS delivers all of this, making it a smart choice for modern small businesses ready to grow.
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Best Employee Monitoring Software in India for Remote Teams & Startups
As remote work becomes the new normal, Indian startups and distributed teams need reliable tools to track productivity, ensure accountability, and streamline operations. Among the many options available, DeskTrack stands out as a strong contender specifically designed for businesses in India.
This article explores why DeskTrack is an excellent choice and compares it with other top employee monitoring software to help startups and remote teams make the right decision.
✅ 1. DeskTrack – Made in India, for India
DeskTrack is an Indian-developed employee monitoring software tailored to meet the local compliance, pricing, and feature requirements of startups and SMEs. It’s built to track how employees spend their time on systems—automatically recording apps, URLs, files, and idle time.
Key Features:
Automatic time tracking: No manual input needed; DeskTrack logs work in the background.
Screenshots and activity logs: Capture proof of work without intruding on privacy.
Project and task tracking: Assign and monitor tasks easily across distributed teams.
Idle time tracking: Understand employee focus and eliminate distractions.
Cost-effective plans: Pricing starts at ₹199/user/month, making it affordable for growing businesses.
Why It’s Great for Remote Startups:
Indian customer support and regional understanding.
Hosted on Indian servers—helpful for data residency concerns.
Offers both visible and stealth modes depending on the company’s transparency policy.
Pros: Localized support, competitive pricing, customizable reports Cons: Interface could feel basic compared to some global tools
Read Also: All You Need to Know About Daily Task Manager Software in 2025
🕒 2. Hubstaff – Ideal for Remote and Field Teams
Hubstaff is a global favorite that works well for Indian remote teams needing more mobility features. It includes:
Time tracking with screenshots
GPS-based location tracking
Payroll and project management integrations
Cross-platform apps for desktop and mobile
Hubstaff is especially useful for remote-first tech teams, service providers, and field operations.
Pros: User-friendly, robust features Cons: Slightly higher pricing for startups
🧠 3. We360.ai – AI-Powered Monitoring from India
We360.ai is another India-based tool offering deep insights into productivity and performance using AI-powered analytics.
Top features:
Live screen monitoring
Productivity scores by app and website usage
Attendance tracking
Real-time reporting dashboards
It’s built with privacy in mind and works well for teams looking to analyze output rather than control behavior.
Pros: Smart analytics, Indian support Cons: Best suited for medium-sized teams (10+ users)
Read Also: All You Need to Know About SMART Goals for Your Business
⌨️ 4. Time Doctor – Detailed Time and Activity Monitoring
Time Doctor is a robust option for startups that need precise time and activity tracking for remote employees.
Features include:
Pomodoro-style break reminders
Screenshots and mouse/keyboard activity logging
Website and app usage data
Client billing and payroll integration
It’s very detailed—ideal for service-based businesses or agencies billing by the hour.
Pros: In-depth data, focus-enhancing tools Cons: May feel invasive for some team members
🛠️ 5. WorkStatus – Budget-Friendly and Feature-Rich
WorkStatus is another Indian software solution designed for remote monitoring. It offers:
Live tracking of employee activities
App and URL usage reports
Project and task dashboards
GPS location tracking app for mobile teams
Its basic plan starts around ₹199/user/month, making it affordable for bootstrapped startups.
Pros: Affordable, good for small to mid-sized teams Cons: Lacks some of the advanced reporting found in global tools
📱 6. VeriClock – Location-Based Time Tracking
VeriClock is ideal for Indian startups in industries like field services, logistics, or construction.
Key benefits:
GPS-based clock-in/out
Real-time location tracking
Simple mobile app interface
While not India-specific, its use cases match many on-the-go teams operating across different regions.
Pros: Strong location tracking Cons: Limited desktop monitoring features
🔐 7. ActivTrak – Ethical Monitoring with Employee Insights
ActivTrak focuses more on behavioral analytics than surveillance, making it suitable for startups that want to build a transparent and positive work culture.
What it offers:
Activity trend reporting
Productivity coaching tools
Risk analysis and usage flags
Privacy-first approach
Pros: Trusted by global teams, promotes ethical monitoring Cons: Higher pricing and more enterprise-oriented
📊 How to Choose the Right Employee Monitoring Tool
When selecting the best software for your team, consider: FactorWhat to Look ForTeam TypeRemote, hybrid, field, or in-office?BudgetCan you scale with growth? Features Needed Screenshots, GPS, productivity insights Compliance & Privacy Local server hosting, visible monitoring Ease of UseCan employees use it without training?
🎯 Final Thoughts
If you're a startup or remote team based in India, DeskTrack is an excellent starting point—affordable, easy to implement, and designed with Indian businesses in mind. However, as your team grows or your needs evolve, you might also explore:
Hubstaff for field and international remote teams
Time Doctor for detailed time management
We360.ai and WorkStatus for AI-driven insights at local pricing
ActivTrak for a privacy-first approach
Whichever tool you choose, ensure that your team is informed, policies are transparent, and the software supports—not restricts—productivity.
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