#But I took the last one too late so I’m up for the foreseeable future which is probably not the best for my recovery

[victorianpining]

My cold has turned into a sinus infection so I’m currently trading off between being so dizzy I can barely lift my head and being jazzed out of my mind on sinus meds

[filthy-mudeoki]

Little Star

Another wish, another dream made upon the stars. Who knew little whispers of the heart could be so powerful. It’s promises made and wishes granted with a future brighter than either could have imagined. 

Tagging: @kairadiamond

These stories are now part of a series on AO3 called Slowly, then all at once

It's a been a while since the last fic! Of all the prompts I get, this one is the most requested. I hope in some way I have done it justice.

Thank you all for the wonderful response these stories have gotten.

Jiaxu is late again. It has been another late night at the office and he knows that Sang Zhi will understand. But he misses the routine of their nights together. This past week, he has come home to an unusually quiet house. Despite the lateness of his arrival, she is always waiting for him, more often than not dozing softly on the couch, but it makes him ache for the normality of their lives to return. Worse still, he knows Sang Zhi has not been feeling well, but she has made no fuss about this, not wanting to worry him. He feels terrible and promises that tonight will be the last late night for the foreseeable future. 

He has the phone to his ear, as he leaves the office. She answers on the second ring. 

“Wèi.” 

He pauses. She doesn’t sound like her normal self. Tired, he notes and again the guilt rises. He’s all the more eager to get home now. 

“Sang Zhi, what’s wrong?” 

“Ah… nothing!” She tries to dissuade him but he knows her too well. 

“Zhizhi…” he sighs, knowing she will not want to burden him. But he can’t have it be like this. “I’ll be home soon. I promise. We just had to fix the error. It took longer than we initially realised. I promise, no more late nights. I know you haven’t been feeling well lately. You keep saying it’s nothing but I don’t believe you. I know you don’t want to worry me but I am your husband. I’m allowed to worry and  -”

“Jiaxu,” she chuckles softly and it gives him enough respite to stop his rambling. “I’m not angry. It’s okay.” She sounds hesitant but Jiaxu doesn’t interrupt. “There’s just … are you really leaving the office now?” 

“Yes. I’ll be home soon.” 

“Hmm. Okay.” He can almost picture her fiddling on the other end of the line. 

“Are you okay?” He’s hesitant to ask but he has to know. 

She’s silent for a moment and that scares him slightly. “Yes.” Her voice is a little stronger than before. He knows she’s not lying. “I’ll be waiting.” 

“Okay.” 

He can barely get the words out fast enough before she cuts the call. He doesn’t waste another moment and gets into his car. It’s a bit of a blur but he manages to get himself home in good time. His mind goes into overdrive thinking over what could have made his usually so confident Zhizhi sound so unsure of herself. 

He toes his shoes off the moment he arrives home. It takes him a moment longer to notice the change in the apartment. Sure enough, it’s still quiet but there is a new, softer ambience to the room, now that it’s decorated in delicate fairy lights and candles. Jiaxu smiles immediately trying to find Sang Zhi. He doesn’t see her. But he does notice the set up on the table and makes out what he thinks is a cake too. His mind races once more to try and figure out if he’s missed an anniversary of some kind. He knows he hasn’t missed their official anniversary. It’s impossible to miss that one as it shares a date with his birthday, which is more than two weeks away. Their wedding anniversary is not for another few months. The set up makes it feel like it’s a celebration of some kind. He’s just not sure what it is yet. Nevertheless, the scene settles some of his immediate panic and he allows himself a moment to catch his breath. 

Is this what caused Sang Zhi to sound so anxious over the phone? She’s always so good at planning little surprises like this, that Jiaxu has to wonder what is so special about this one that she should be so nervous. 

Dropping his bag, Jiaxu takes a step further into the apartment, closer to the table. He can’t deny it’s prettily decorated and his heart leaps as he takes in the effort his Zhizhi has put in for him. Despite the fact that he feels like he has been neglectful lately, she has gone the extra mile to make him feel loved. Though he has to wonder what she’s got up her sleeve. Because there on the table, is his (or rather her) orange plushie fox and the white bear he had once given her. It’s the sight of another familiar object that causes his gait to slow even more. 

The jar sits temptingly between the two plushies. He picks it up, inspecting it closely. He sees the few little stars they have added together, over the years. He notices there are two new stars in the jar. Jiaxu has yet to see Sang Zhi but he plays along, knowing she has done this purely for his sake. 

Opening the jar, he tips it until the two new stars land in his hand. It’s distinctly different from the others. One bright pink and the other a deep blue, that helps it stand out against the soft pastels of the other stars in the jar. They’re slightly larger in size too and Jiaxu wonders what secrets Sang Zhi has written on these this time. Oddly enough, these stars have the numbers one and two respectively on them, indicating the order in which they should be opened. 

Before he attempts to unfold the star, he looks around the apartment one more time, hoping to catch sight of her. But he doesn’t. Still, he doesn’t stop smiling as he adjusts his glasses, unfolds the blue star with the number one on it. Jiaxu brings it closer to read. He knows her hand writing to know this little star is one of her wishes. Nevertheless, it takes a moment for the words to sink in. 

‘For Duan Jiaxu to have a family of his own.’ 

Jiaxu stares at it for a moment, trying to decipher the meaning behind it. He brings the paper up closer for inspection and as he does so, a memory runs through his mind. It’s fuzzy and he’s not entirely sure if there is really a link between the star in his hand and that one moment. He turns the paper over in his hand as he thinks it over. Certainly, he has no complaints about the family he finds himself surrounded by. It’s more than he could have asked for. 

He wants to find Sang Zhi and ask her what she means by this little star. He almost puts down the star to go find her when he remembers the second one in his hand. His curiosity and eagerness win over as he turns to the second star. Jiaxu unfolds the pink star and he sucks in a surprised breath as he reads it. 

“Pópo, I am making good on my promise to you. I’m going to give Jiaxu the family he deserves.” 

It takes even longer for those words to sink in. Especially, now that the memory becomes clearer. He remembers, Sang Zhi saying these very words as they had knelt before his mother’s grave all those years ago in Yihe. Surely, he has this now. Sang Zhi and Sang Yan are undoubtedly his family. But so are her parents and the small smattering of friends they’ve managed to keep here in Nanwu.

This little wish was written from Sang Zhi to his mother and he can’t ignore what this could possibly mean. The new implications of her words echo in his mind and heart. Suddenly, the paper in his hand feels impossibly fragile. He’s vaguely aware that perhaps his hands are shaking. But he does not want to think on it too heavily, does not want to jump to the wrong conclusion. 

He needs to find his wife. He needs to know for certain what these little stars mean. 

When he looks up, Sang Zhi is standing in front of him. So lost in his thoughts, he has not heard her come in.  She looks so lovingly at him and he wants to reach out and hold her close. But first he needs answers.  Still, he does not ask, some part of him afraid that it is not what he thinks it is. What he now so desperately wants it to be. 

“Sang Zhi…?” 

She smiles at him and that gives him more hope than he could have imagined. But she doesn’t say anything. All Jiaxu can do is watch as she steps closer, taking his hand in hers. Turning it over, she places on more star in his hand. This star, red in colour makes his hand tremble once more. 

Carefully he unfolds it, releasing a shaky breath as the words written there finally register for him. He’s got tears in his eyes already as he reads it over and over again. 

‘Jiaxu + Sang Zhi = bàba & māma’

“Zhizhi …” 

There is a question to his voice because he cannot find the words beyond her name. Still, she understands and nods, her lips pressed tightly together as she tries to hold back her own tears. 

“You really are…?” he trails off looking at her with a new intensity. 

“Yes.” 

There is a teary chuckle that escapes her and she smiles, unable to hold back her joy any longer. She’s beyond overjoyed and has been planning the best way to share this news with Jiaxu since she found out. She chose tonight, simply because she could no longer keep the news to herself.

“I am … and you … we really…” he struggles to find the words, but his smile is bigger and brighter than she has ever seen it. 

She laughs again, nodding and Jiaxu immediately regains enough sense to pull her close. She wraps her arms around him as he buries his head into the crook of her neck. She can feel the evidence of his tears against her skin and it makes her hug him closer. 

Jiaxu holds tightly to his wife, his one hand still clutches the stars tightly, unable to let go of either. They stay like that for a while, the magnificence of the news taking its time to settle in his heart. 

When he pulls back, he sees that Sang Zhi has been crying too. He wipes her tears away. His words are still stuck in his throat. Sang Zhi leans into his touch and Jiaxu crouches a little to press a kiss to her forehead. Her hands fall to grasp his shirt loosely in her hands. 

“I still can’t believe this,” he finally whispers. 

“Me too,” she chuckles. 

“Are … are you happy with this?” 

She looks at his with a slightly furrowed brow. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

“You’re at a great place in your career now. A baby will be a lot more for us both… I just …” 

“Jiaxu,” she says putting him out of his misery, “There is nothing more I want. I promise. You’re happy too, right?” 

“Unbelievably,” he says beaming down at her. 

He gently takes her face in his hands and she laughs. Jiaxu leans down and silences her laughter with a soft barely- there kiss. Then another and then at long last as his lips hover over hers, he looks down at her with nothing but pure love in his eyes. It’s enough to stop her heart. He kisses her, and every little piece of happiness that he feels, she feels too. 

When she pulls back, they’re both nearly breathless, not just from the kiss but all the emotions that pass between them. 

Jiaxu wraps an arm around Sang Zhi as he shifts the pieces of paper from one hand to the other. He’s still smiling as he holds them out in the small space between them. 

“I never knew these stars could carry such wonderful wishes.” He reads it again this time aloud, in something of an awed whisper. “Bàba & māma.” 

His fingers trace over the words and Sang Zhi notices he’s as awed by the notion as she is. It’s been a few days since she found out, but it still feels like an unbelievable dream.  

“Bàba & māma,” she repeats softly. 

He holds the pieces of paper out to her. “Will you fold it for me again?” 

She nods and takes the first one, folding it this way and that. He watches but doesn’t say a word until she’s almost done with the third star. 

“I’m going to keep these extra safe,” he tells her.  He looks at the now neatly folded stars in his hand and shakes his head a little disbelievingly. “These little stars … Zhizhi I can’t tell you what this means to me.” 

“I know.” 

And she does. More than anybody else, she does understand what this means to him. She knows that Jiaxu is going to be the best father to their baby. It’s why she’s not as scared as she thought she would be. Knowing she would be sharing this journey with him eased a lot of her own worries and fears. But she is also aware that Jiaxu has fears of his own. 

“You’re going to be the best bàba, Duan Jiaxu,” she tells him. Sang Zhi doesn’t leave room for argument as she cups his cheek. He does not look up from the stars in his hand, but she knows he’s got tears in his eyes again. “You really are.” 

He lets out a shaky little breath and slowly nods, before looking up at her. His brow furrows a little as he leaners in closer. “You’re doing it again,” he playfully accuses. 

“Doing what?” she frowns slightly. 

“Making all my dreams come true.” 

Sang Zhi blushes and smiles so broadly Jiaxu can only think how lovely she looks before kissing her once more. 

Jiaxu runs a hand down her back as they pull back. He gives the stars in his hand one last look before deciding they need to be kept away for safe keeping. Lucky enough the jar is not far out of reach and he opens it up again. They both watch as he gently tips the stars back into the jar. They fall in and settle with the rest. He closes the jar and holds it up for them both to see. The two new stars still stand out and he loves that the most. 

Sang Zhi laughs and he glances down at her with a raised brow. She’s got a playful twinkle in her eyes. “I was just wondering; do you know any lullabies?” 

“Ah… I guess I’ll have to learn a few,” he admits. Truthfully, he does not know much and he’s not entirely sure about his singing voice. He tells her as much. 

“I don’t think our baby will care how terrible your singing is, so long as it’s you.” 

His heart nearly leaps from his chest when he hears her words. Our baby. 

“Wait… I never said it was terrible.” 

Sang Zhi does her best to hide her smile. “Oh? Well, I thought…” 

“I was only saying it might not be the greatest. Terrible is Sang Yan,” he teases. She laughs, and he hugs her closer. 

Sang Zhi leans into his embrace and Jiaxu shifts them, taking a seat at the table. Sang Zhi ends up sitting in his lap, her back pressed to his front, the jar of stars now in her hand. 

They’re both looking at it, knowing everything will be different now. “We’ll have to tell them.” 

Jiaxu nods. “Hhm, whenever you’re ready to.” 

“Maybe … after we see the doctor,” she says thinking it over. 

There is so much to do before they are ready to tell their family. She wants this to be just for them for a little while longer. She knows this baby will be undeniably spoilt and she can’t wait for that. But she also wants it to be just the three of them for a little while longer. 

Jiaxu rests his chin on her shoulder as his hand wraps around hers and the jar she is still holding. He’s quiet for a long while and she wonders where his thoughts have taken him. 

“Zhizhi?” 

“Hhm?” 

“Xièxiè,” he whispers. 

Sang Zhi smiles shyly. “For this?” 

His hands leave the jar and come to rest over her stomach. It’s a gentle touch but it thrills her all the same. 

“Not just for this. For everything.” His voice is not as steady as he would like it but Jiaxu knows she will understand the weight of his words. Her fingers reach out to intertwine with his over her stomach. “And I’m sorry.” 

“For what?” He doesn’t have to see her face to know she’s furrowing her brow in that adorable way she does when she gets confused or flustered. 

“I’ve been neglecting you. All these late nights.” He says and can sense she is ready to counter that but he doesn’t let her. “I’m sorry. I know you have not been feeling well and I should have been here. I promise, I’ll better in the future.” 

Sang Zhi leans further into his embrace as she answers. “It’s okay. I am not angry. Besides, we now know why I wasn’t feeling well. It’s going to be a while before it stops.” She squeezes their intertwined fingers, hoping he will hear the sincerity in her voice. “I know you’ve been working so hard Jiaxu, to give me this wonderful life. Please don’t feel guilty because you haven’t been neglecting me. I only want you to promise me one thing.” 

“Anything.” 

“You’ll take good care of yourself, especially when you’re working so hard. So that no matter what, you can come home every night… to us.” 

His eyes fall shut as he lets that sink in. There is now one more person who will be waiting for him at home. Another reason for everything that he does. 

“Always,” Jiaxu promises. “Wǒ ài nǐ, Zhizhi.” 

“Wǒ ài nǐ,” she whispers as he presses a kiss to her temple. 

He glances down at the jar and suddenly an answer to the question she had asked earlier comes to mind. 

“I know a song,” he says so suddenly, it confuses Sang Zhi for second. “I mean I know a lullaby. I think I still remember some of the words too.” 

“Really? Which one?” 

“Qīsèguāng zhī gē.” 

Sang Zhi tries to recall this one. The Song of the Sunlight.

“What is it about?” It sounds familiar but it’s been a while since she’s last thought about such things as a lullaby. They will both need to do some brushing up on that. 

“It’s about a promise of a bright tomorrow no matter what the day has brought.” His voice goes a little quieter as he admits, “My mother liked singing it.”  

She thinks it’s a pretty perfect lullaby for the baby and she tells him as much. 

Jiaxu relaxes into his seat as Sang Zhi falls against him too. He loves moments like this when it’s just the two of them but he quickly realises, it won’t be just the two of them any longer. Jiaxu is excited beyond measure for that. Sang Zhi has her eyes closed, but she’s idly playing with his fingers and it awakens a new part of him. He has always been protective of his Zhizhi but suddenly, that instinct feels like it might go into overdrive. His hand is now gently resting over her belly, and his fingers flex slightly at the thought of protecting them both. 

His Zhizhi and their little star – because that is what this baby is. A wish and a dream that he had never dared to speak out loud because truthfully, he has wanted it more than he was willing to admit. And yet here it was, now so tangible in his very hands. It feels impossibly wonderful. 

There is no doubt that Sang Zhi is more than just the one who hangs the moon and stars in his world. Although, Jiaxu thinks she is actually more like the sun, bringing such warmth and love into his life, giving him a thousand little stars to wish on every day. Especially after all the bad days, there is always love and happiness in all the spaces she occupies in his life. 

So, if his Zhizhi is the sun, the one that led him through the darkness and lights up the possibilities of all his dreams, handing it over one little star at a time. Then, undoubtedly their child will be one of those precious little stars - the embodiment of their love and dreams all wrapped into one little heart and soul.

There is only one thought that echoes through his heart as they sit quietly together. One thought that makes him inexplicably happy. 

‘His Zhizhi and their xiǎo xīngxīng.’ 

.....

Wèi – Hi 

Pó po -  mother-in-law 

Xièxiè- thank you 

Wǒ ài nǐ – love you 

Qīsèguāng zhī gē – the Song of the Sunlight 

Xiǎo xīngxīng – little star ao3

[avirael]

FFxivWrite 2023

Day 09 - Fair

His last mission had been a disaster and, even if Minfilia had nothing but praise for him, A'viloh still felt more terrified than heroic about the events involving Ifrit. Just as he left her solar and decided he would crawl into bed and remain there for the foreseeable future, Thancred, who had also been there for their conversation, ran after him.

"A'viloh! Wait a moment, please!"

The Miqo'te stopped, hoped that he didn’t look too distressed and turned to face the Scion.

"Did you forget something?"

"Not exactly…I just felt obliged to tell you something. It wouldn’t be fair to keep this from you…", Thancred said. "Whether she intended to or not, Minfilia neglected to tell you something - something I think it would be best you hear from one of us."

He looked around to see if anyone was listening and then with an unusually serious expression and a quiet voice he said: "It concernes the tempered abductees that were rescued… I am sorry to report that all of them are to be put to death, the Flames with whom you were imprisoned included."

Instantly A'viloh‘s carefully put together smile crumbled and all color drained from his face. "What?? But…why?!"

"I swear to you that we would not do this if there were any other recourse - but once a man is tempered, he is tempered for life. His very existence lends strength to the primal whom he cannot choose but worship.", Thancred explained, but the information did nothing to soften the blow.

The terror on the Miqo'te’s face was impossible to miss. He sat down on a bench, that stood next to them in the hallway and buried his face in his hands. The whole experience had been horrifying enough the way it was and now this…

"I wish you never told me…", he muttered quietly.

Thancred didn’t seem to know what to reply to that. Instead he sat down beside A'viloh and still tried to find the right words, when the Miqo'te spoke again.

"This isn’t fair. Why me? By pure luck I survive while everybody else around me dies. I’m too weak to protect anyone, I don’t deserve this. This is so unfair…"

He was certain that by now he should have died at least three times but by some cruel miracle he, the most unworthy among them, made it out alive every single time...

Hesitantly Thancred put a hand on A'viloh’s back.

"Please don‘t blame yourself, A'viloh. If anybody is at fault here it is me. I arrived to late to be of any use… to you or the abductees. For that I owe you an apology and I hope you can forgive me. I should have been there when the Amalj'aa took you prisoner. But I wasn’t and you had to face Ifrit all alone."

A'viloh laughed a short, almost hysterical laugh. "By the Twelve, if you had been there you only would have ended up tempered too!"

Thancred grimaced. "That might be true but the same goes for you. My mistake nearly cost you your life. If it wasn’t for the echo you would… no, I don’t even wanna think about it. I'm sorry, I failed you utterly."

A'viloh slowly looked up and glanced at the man beside him. Thancred‘s expression was full of remorse. "You tell me not to blame myself and then you go and blame yourself instead? I don’t think there’s anything you could have done either…"

Thancred shook his head.

"No, but I should never have let it get that far in the first place. I should have known better!"

A'viloh tried his best to give him a sympathetic smile. "How would you? You’re not clairvoyant."

"But the next best thing. I‘m the Scion‘s spymaster.", he gestured at the tattoo on his neck. "Do you know what this is, A'viloh?"

The Miqo'te shook his head. He had already wondered about those tattoos they all had but never asked any of them about it.

"It‘s an Archon mark.", Thancred explained. "In Sharlayan that’s a title given only to those who are the best of the best in their area of expertise. This mark means that I should have been able to know our enemies next moves even before they do. But instead I let them fool us and let you run straight into their trap… My mentors would be ashamed of me…"

A'viloh didn’t know anything about Sharlayan but he couldn’t imagine that they were as unforgiving as Thancred made it sound.

"Don’t be so harsh with yourself. We both were there, you know how difficult it was to get any information…"

Thancred smiled at him as charmingly as ever but it somehow didn't look genuine this time. It made A'viloh wonder how much of his usual behavior was real and how much of it only a well practised performance.

"It’s nice of you to defend me but it should have been my job to find a way. Louisoix would never have allowed this to happen… I have to do better… I have to be stronger…"

A'viloh sighed. "I think that applies to both of us then…"

A while they just sat there in silence lost in their thoughts, then Thancred started to laugh, which earned him a confused look by the Miqo'te.

"Look at us!", Thancred said. "Here we are, wallowing in self-pity and being miserable!"

Now it was A'viloh’s turn to laugh.

"To be honest that’s exactly what I had planned to do for at least a day or two…"

Thancred raised a warning finger and stood up. "No no, I can absolutely not let that happen! You know what’s going to make all of this a lot better?"

A'viloh furrowed his brow and waited for the other to continue.

"Alcohol!", Thancred suggested. "Extraordinary amounts of alcohol!"

The Miqo'te broke out in laughter and Thancred beckoned him to follow.

"Come on, the first drink is on me!"

[theresnohopelivinghere]

The Journal of Emme Walker, May 2019

If you walk the streets at night in Hope, there will be no hope for you.

My grandparents used to tell me that all the time when I was a little girl.  Even from a young age, I never took it seriously.  I was a prideful child.  I thought I was invincible and that nothing could take me down.  That’s probably why my mom, bless her heart, had such a hard time coming to terms with my rampant curiosity and my thirst for adventure.  But my grandparents would not be deterred from scaring some sense into me.

The thing about rural towns is that people love to make up stories about them to make them seem more interesting or just to pass the time.  Hope is no different.  It was once an out-of-the-way town out by the sea, in the middle of nowhere.  I’m talking about dusty roads, ample farming, spotty local transportation, stores that looked like they came straight out of a black-and-white film, and older residents living the last of their lives in the one place they’ve always called “home”.  

It used to be that I’d just spend my summers there with my grandparents, helping out with their garden while partaking of the harvest.  But after my dad died, my mom moved back there and I went to school there from grades 4 to 6.  We moved before the development push.  She was offered a cushy job in a city she'd always wanted to live in that would allow the two of us to live comfortably into the foreseeable future.  A get-out-of-rural-jail card, if you will.

Seriously. According to her, it was our one escape out of a town that had proven itself to be anything but idyllic. If she hadn't taken it...well, things would be very different.

She's not a fan of me going back there to interview people for my dissertation. Which is funny because growing up, she'd tell off my grandparents whenever they'd tell me all the stories about all the terrible monsters that lurked within the town of Hope. All the old folks in town had their own stories about what happened to children if they stayed out too late at night or didn't trust their intuition.  Mom didn't believe in using scary stories to ensure that kids behaved themselves.  She told me that if she wanted me to behave myself and be a good girl, she’d just say so.  But my grandparents wouldn’t listen.  They insisted on me telling me these tales so that I could protect myself. Because there were too many instances of children who disappeared because they weren't warned properly.

I'm glad they did. Mom won't admit it, but she's glad, too. And yet here I am, on my way back to that town, ready to hear the stories of the children who didn't escape from the elders that still remain. Hope may be different now - young families moved in to take their place and brought with them the promise for gentrification. Shopping, entertainment, the town holds its own.  The local elementary school is top notch and so is the high school. There’s train service that links up to the other parts of town as well as the bigger cities, and paved roads that get you to the highway system.  You can go everywhere now.

And yet...

I know studying modern folklore and urban legends in the town of her birth won't get me a cushy job in a corporate office but this is something I want to do. Have to do, even. The tale of a seaside town plagued with paranormal activity, rumored to be once started by and controlled by a mysterious cult who swore allegiance to malicious entity who has been around since time immemorial until one they just disappeared - it's all very juicy stuff.

I’m not sure what I'm doing with all this. Why I'm going back. Everyone says if you brush against the shadows of Hope and survive, you should never come back. But that's why I have to. Come back. If there’s one thing that living in Hope has taught me, it’s that old habits die hard and old legends never die. I can feel the shadows stirring again, unhappy that they've been forgotten. They want the people to remember...to fear their power. I can feel the chill in my bones, and the terror squeezes my heart like a vice. I don't know what I'm trying accomplish, but I know I have to do something. For my mother and my grandparents. And for the children who couldn't escape the shadows.

Including the boy I loved.

[slightlyaboveaverageiq]

The Whisperer: Part 12 (Wally Clark Fic)

I felt his energy before I saw him or heard him. I continued reading my book without acknowledging him. Honestly he could wait a few minutes after what happened today. “Mo…” his voice sounded so lost and broken, but he did it to himself, he asked me to do something I told him weeks ago I had no intention of doing.

“We aren’t visiting yet Wally I’ve still got 6 pages in my chapter.” Before I could even do anything the book was launched across the room and Wally was straddling me. “Well now it’s even more time because I have to go back and find my-“ My speech was cut off by a very high pitched screeching noise that came from me horrifyingly enough. The stupid ghost was tickling me.

“I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch that you might have to try again.” He continued his brutal assault on my ribs and neck with me unsuccessfully trying to bat his hands away.

“O-okay you’re forgiven!” I finally get out grabbing his hands and trying to catch my breath while I gazed up at him to see his eyes a dark like before. I follow his line of sight and see that my sleep shirt has ridden up so he can see the black lacy thing underneath.

“I don’t know I kinda like you squirming and out of breath beneath me.” He muttered before leaving wet kisses in a line just above my underwear and along my thighs. What the hell man it’s like fucking whiplash. “Tell me about the accident” He managed to get out in between kisses on my body.

“Wally-“ I tried pushing his head away but he caught my hands and held them to my sides staring me down as he licked a long strip up my thigh to my hip making sure to leave a mark. This man may make me cum without ever actually touching my pussy.

“No, I’m going to keep doing this. I want you to tell me about the accident. Close your eyes.” I did as he said and focused on his fucking wonderful tongue dancing along my body wondering about how it would feel- “You’re not telling me the story, I’ll stop”

“I was 10, my brother Connor -the one I live with- was 24. He had flown in from Florida for Christmas and my parents and I were driving to the airport to pick him up. I was being a brat and screaming that I wanted a hot chocolate at the airport but my parents had both said it was too late and I would have to go to bed when we got home. My mom was trying to reason with me but I threw my book at her so my dad turned my head around for just a second…but that’s all it took. There was a drunk driver out that night, he hit us head on. It was so cold, and then there was this light. Not like the overly dramatic light that you see in movies but just kinda like I was walking into sunlight. My mom and dad were way ahead of me and I was running to catch up with them, that’s when I felt arms pick me up and I was looking at this man I didn’t know. He shook his head and he said that it wasn’t my time yet, that I still had so much work to do. And then I woke up and the EMTs were talking about how it was a miracle because I had been dead for 12 minutes. That wasn’t the last time I saw the man, he’s been back in my dreams every now and then since then, he explained I could see and talk to ghosts because I had technically died. I can also project, which means I can go into people’s dreams or visit their resting place but not for very long. So I mean yes I guess I could technically tell Maddie’s friends I know but it would be in a dream.” Wally moved so he face was hovering over mine and he kissed my forehead.

“I’m so sorry Mo, we should have never asked you to help Maddie. I never should have asked you to help Maddie.” Damn it he looked so fucking sad.

“Maybe I’ll be able to help Maddie one day, it’s just not a day in the foreseeable future.” He nodded and traced his finger down my face, neck, all the way down my body until he reached my thigh.

“You’re so pretty Mo, and such a good person even if you think you’re not.” He shifted just so and I could feel his cock staining against his pants on my thigh. “Do you want me to tell you a different story now?”

“I think I know the story, and considering how emotionally taxing this day has been it’s going to have to be another. You’ll spend the night with me though won’t you?” He smiled and nodded before spooning me from behind. “Hey Wally, just so you know I normally sleep naked.” Wally groaned and turned away from me.

“Jesus Christ Mo.”

[welcometomy20s]

March 1, 2023

Um, somehow NicoNico got a bit of a resurgence, mostly because YouTube and Twitch have been falling flat lately, but also two songs reached the Hall of Myth, so this list is going to get a bit longer for the foreseeable future. I’m not sure if I’m happy or not.

#758 - Shadow Shadow (Azari) [Flower]

Achievement Date: 23-02-05, Upload Date: 21-09-27

The resurgent ‘blank’ composer has finally landed on this list with their second song. The song really sells itself with its personality, and I think it’s a good illustration of Azari’s work, although they kind of moved away from that with their later songs.

#759 - Rapunzel (n-buna) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-02-09, Upload Date: 16-07-06

One of my favorite n-buna songs, actually. It is odd because it feels like this is one of n-buna’s more famous songs, but it took quite some time to reach a million. Yeah, honestly I could recommend this song as a n-buna starter, because it’s slow, but not achingly so… although the lyrics are achingly sad. It’s a nice combo.

#760 - Dilemma (DECO*27) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-02-09, Upload Date: 22-03-09

I do love DECO*27, and I do like his Mannequin album, but this song… the lyrics are just way too cringe. But cringy breakup songs are DECO*27’s sweet spot, so I can’t help but say that this song is still good. Yeah, this has its place, I guess.

#761 - Closet Room (Riruo) [GUMI, Flower]

Achievement Date: 23-02-11, Upload Date: 21-04-24

This year’s Melody prize(?), as in this song got featured in NicoNico adverts and then well people went ahead and listened to it because it’s not a bad song this time! Hurray! Honestly, reminds me of people like Hayashida (that’s coming up later) / older Teniwoha / Yuukisan in that kind of speaking rhythm with sparse but loud instrumentation, but the GUMI/Flower makes it more modern… yeah, this is not a bad song.

#762 - Taste of Cockroach (MARETU) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-02-11, Upload Date: 21-04-24

Maretu goes Vocarock, like Last Note? Well, it’s a bit different because it’s his song after basically a year and a half. The song is about bullying, you know forcing someone to eat a cockroach type of stuff? Yeah, there is a Slipknot at the end, by the way. Honestly, this is one of Maretu’s best work, and I think not a bad entry (or re-entry) into his work!

#763 - Moonwalk Fever (Hinata Denko) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-02-18, Upload Date: 16-12-03

Finally Hinata Denko has their third song, their penultimate song. Huh, use of Moonlight Sonata in the beginning? Well, the rest of the song is your typical Hinata Denko work. You can’t go wrong with them, but it’s not anything special, just another superb song.

#764 - Bug (Kairiki Bear) [Kagamine Len, Nightcord at 25:00]

Achievement Date: 23-02-20, Upload Date: 22-08-24

Yes, the first ProSeca version to reach this list, and therefore I will exclude from actual analysis other than just remarking it’s a Len song! I think that’s a fun turn. 

#765 - Marshmary (MIMI) [Hatsune Miku]

Achievement Date: 23-02-22, Upload Date: 18-01-04

One of the latest female producers to make the scene, there have been many lovers but it took some time for the producer to make an appearance. This song is a good illustration of why people love her work, that light piano with a bright tuning and instrumentation that will make your spirits up while being comfy. 

#C-12 - Sekai-chan and Kafu-chan's Errand Song (Minami no Nami)[Kafu, Sekai, Kiritan]

Achievement Date: 23-02-25, Upload Date: 22-10-08

The song that got put into ProSeca instead of the Iyowa song, which is… good, since songs like these deserve to be in rhythm games. Minami no Nami makes ridiculously out there songs using CeVIO voices, and I really like them. It's worth a listen.

[fknhues]

end note: 2023

i'm like 21 days late for this closure for 2023. but its taking me awhile to accept 2023 as a whole.

on the bright side, i've managed to settle myself fully and be contented with the life path i've chose towards the end of 2023 and i'm glad i still have the same people i trust and love since the start of 2023. to me, that is the most rewarding part.

somewhere in the almost middle of 2023, i went through a break up with someone whom i saw a future with. but little did i know that that person would go. leaving me in a spiral for three months. though, i did managed to move on during those 3 months while making the wrong choices too. its a habit for me to stay after breaking up as i did foresee a future with him and i thought there was hope. until that one day i drew such a hatred and my body rejected him - which was its way to tell me that its time for me to leave. took awhile for my mind be okay with that. to whoever you are, i hope you're happier without me and i'm sure you can be. i hope you and your family are healthy. i do miss your mother at times and yes, i'll fulfill the promise i've made with her when the time comes. this relationship that was built is still the most bitter to me. anyways, stream typa girl by blackpink.

work wise, i've managed to learn to love my work again with my new role. my team is so lovely even though i'm the only sgrean and the rest are in kl. but the dynamic the 4 of us have is just impeccable. though, i still do have the intention on leaving the company even when i love my team and my job. the company, she ain't it. too many unpredictable changes and sometimes too forceful for results.

family wise, i lost two of my elders on my maternal side in july and in october. i miss them dearly especially my grandfather, whom has protected me and shower me countless loves. hope he's happy up there. his passing was definitely one of my biggest points in 2023. i never thought i would lose him but god loves him more than anyone will ever. everytime i speak about him, i get choked out because there was a period whereby i had to be strong and i didn't process it yet, truly indenial of it. oh on the bright side, my dearest uncle is back. the only sad part about him being back is i am not sure if he knows my grandfather has passed on or not. but i am proud that he is back to civilization now.

friendship wise, i am glad that i managed to hang out with my friends lots in 2023, especially towards the end when i've managed to find balance and be happy again. yes, when i'm upset, i tend to disappear as i don't want anyone to worry about me nor see me in the state of agony. thankful to my two brothers who always entertain my cravings of acai and much impromptu meets by randomly going to changi airport or even vivo for no apparent reasons. thankful to vg always and forever for being my girls till today and being there for me when things get super hard. so blessed to have witness one of the heartfelt weddings ever - i couldn't control my tears, she has certainly went through alot and i am so happy that she's happy and love the life she is in right now.

you thought i was done? nah. guess what? i am blessed to have met someone yet again. when i say again, yes, he was my 2020 valentines date and my only ns girlfriend era i had. we met again in 2023 and we clicked really well. he did something unexpected as others would ask the person they like to be their girlfriend but no. he took out the 'do you want get a bto with me?'. surprise! yeah, we're on that now. wish us luck! still learning about one another because its been 3 years since we last met but boy, i am happy. he treats me kindly and even holds me softly. he reminds me of my 21 self who was still in school - just freedom with a little sprinkle of school stress. so blessed to be working at serangoon so i’m lowkey near him and sometimes i get free rides home hehe. thank you to my man for entertaining my jb staycays. may we go cruises this year. oh & we’re celebrating 2024 valentines together again! anyways, insyaallah we'll get the bto.

also, i've reconciled with the people i fell off friendships with in 2021 and i'm so happy i get to see them again and talk to them again. their humour are apparently all still the same. sending each other failed covers and stupid satire jokes. it makes me feel somewhat wholesome that i'm friends again with the people who were there for me when i was myself completely.

i am contented that i am myself, i am happy and i do not need to lead nor be strong for anyone anymore. i do not associate with the me in may 2023 to august 2023 (sadly my birthday month too) as i genuinely don’t know her. she’s a broken girl who leaned on people who were never meant to stay in her life and for that, i don’t know her. but all i know is, i’ll fight for the people who will fight for me. i’ll support you as much as i can. however, once you give up on me, i’ll only give you A Chance to redeem yourself or else, goodbye.

to my daddy, what the heck man. i haven’t seen you in two years and when my grandfather passed, he came. now he sees my family members more than me?! literally met my uncle before i meet him? chile. but yeah, my situation with daddy hasn’t change. it might when i want to get married but just for the camera, daddy!

lastly, my mom and i rarely fight, which is literally my biggest goal in 2023. so three cheers for me! thank you to my mom for being my biggest life supporter, life advisor, pillow to cry on. to more trips for you, mama!

if you read this until here, thank you for existing and thank you for being there for me.

i love you.

love, nini.

[impostoradult]

I finally figured out why it feels like Supernatural murdered a unicorn (AKA why you need to STOP telling me to watch Black Sails)

I’ll start by saying, everything everyone else has been saying CERTAINLY bothers me: 

- the queer-baiting - the bury your queers - the undermining of Dean’s character arc  - the wasted opportunity for a certain kind of overall narrative closure - the flat out disrespect to Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles

 All of that bothers me tremendously. 

But there has been something else rather ineffable about this that has left a horrible taste in my mouth that I couldn’t quite pin down until last night. Bear with me, if you will, because this will require some set-up. 

*** This is not the first show to ever disappoint me in a spectacular fashion, nor will it be the last, I suspect. And one of the ways I’ve always coped with that disappointment was to remind myself that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right. (”It” being any number of things from just pure narrative emotional coherence to not burying your queers to not stringing along your queer audience and then yelling fuck you to them on the way out) 

But somehow that assurance -- that there will be other stories, other characters, other chances to get it right -- has rung particularly hollow in this instance, and I couldn’t quite put my finger on why until yesterday. 

I kept asking myself, why do I still have this feeling, deep in the pit of my stomach, like something was lost here that can never be recovered? 

Because something was lost here that I am doubtful can ever be recovered, and I don’t think I’ve seen anyone else talking about this aspect of it at all. 

***

A few months ago, TV critic Maureen Ryan did a great interview piece with Mike Schur (of Parks & Rec/The Good Place) discussing the death of long-form TV in the streaming era. They explore how the longer seasons and longer runs of traditional broadcast/cable TV provided an opportunity to tell particular kinds of stories that you simply can’t when seasons are 8-10 episodes and series typically run 2-4 seasons (thanks Netflix).

One key thing we’ve all lost in this new era of highly condensed TV storytelling (and of prestige TV narrative styles)? The traditional (several season’s long) slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance. Not only is there simply no longer the time or space to write such romances, it has also come to be seen as hacky, manipulative, cheap, artistically impoverished, low-brow, a embarrassing vestige of the era before TV became art™. 

Everybody is trying to be Fleabag now. No one wants to be Frasier. (”It’s really more like a 10 hour movie” they all like to brag)

Obviously TV still has romances, even ‘drawn out’ romances. But ‘drawn out’ in 2020 is like 2-3 seasons, maybe. More commonly it’s like half a season. Take Schitt’s Creek. The number of episodes between when David and Patrick first meet and when they first kiss? Seven. Seven episodes. Half a season. If you watched it live, it took less than 2 months for them to move from introducing that dynamic to consummating it. And I’m not bagging on Schitt’s Creek; I think the David/Patrick’s story is very lovely and well-written. 

But Niles & Daphne (Fraiser) had to wait 7 years and over 150 episodes before they finally got there. Josh & Donna (The West Wing) had to wait 6+ years, and 145 episodes. Mulder & Scully (The X-Files) had to wait 7 seasons and 143 episodes. Booth & Bones had to wait...you see where I am going with this. 

And my point is (and I can’t believe I never realized this explicitly until now): there has NEVER been a queer slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance of that type on TV ever. EVER. 

I’m going to say that again, because I think it bares repeating:

There has never been a queer, slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance that fits the 100-150 episode paradigm of delayed gratification on TV. 

Not ever.  

I can’t think of ONE example  Not a single, solitary one. And I know queer TV pretty well. Arguably the closest we’ve ever come is Legend of Korra, and that ran 50 episodes, a THIRD of the length of old school will-they-won’t-theys like Booth & Bones or Josh & Donna. 

Queer people have had a fair number of canonical romances on TV by now, even fairly long running ones. But we never got a primary/front-and-center romance that you had to root for for 100+ episodes before you got any kind of canonical consummation.

That is a particular kind of TV experience that queer people and queer characters were just 100% shut out of until it was too late. And because of how the TV landscape has changed in the last 10 years, I don’t know that that opportunity will ever come back around in our lifetimes. 

***

Dean and Castiel are/were a legacy of an earlier era of TV, an era that still contained the possibility for a will-they-won’t-they of that particular mold. There were other shows that could have also filled this gap at one time - Rizzoli & Isles, OUAT, House MD, etc. But one by one all of them were killed off, their queer romances unrequited, until Supernatural was the only one of its’ generation left standing. 

And they should have acknowledged that they were a species about to become extinct. 

There are plenty of other valid and compelling reasons Supernatural should have gone full Destiel, don’t get me wrong.

A) It would have been the most emotionally satisfying ending to the series and to those characters (and that would have been reason enough). 

B) It would have stopped the manipulative queer-baiting of the (disproportionately queer) fanbase (and that would have been reason enough). 

C) It would have been queer representation of middle-aged men, of bi men, of queers who came to their queerness later in life (and any/all of those would have been reason enough). 

D) It could have been a glorious subversion of the bury your queers trope, considering how often they’ve died and been resurrected (and that would have been reason enough). 

But point E) on this list is the reason this one hurts in a singular way that no one even appears to be acknowledging. 

Almost all of the other wrongs and missed opportunities contained in this Supernatural debacle have the possibility of being rectified (at least to a degree) elsewhere. I can and I likely will get more bi male characters from TV as time goes on. I can and likely will get more middle-aged queer characters. I can and likely will get more queer characters coming to their queerness later in life, and starting queer romances later in life. I can and likely will get more queer characters who aren’t killed cheaply and prematurely. I can and likely will get more genre TV shows with sprawling myth arc plots that are resolved in a coherent, satisfying way. I can and likely will get Misha Collins and Jensen Ackles involved in other projects that value their work and their talents. 

All of those other things are at the very least POSSIBLE, and many are even likely. 

But a queer 100-150 episode slow-burn romance a la Mulder & Scully or Niles & Daphne or Booth & Bones? That is the one baton Supernatural dropped spectacularly that no one else even has the possibility of picking up again for the foreseeable future. (They don’t even write those types of romances for heterosexuals anymore!) 

Seriously. It was a TV unicorn. And rather than letting it run wild and free, they stabbed it with a rusty nail. 

***

Given the monumental shifts in the TV landscape that have occurred in the last decade, I don’t know that TV will ever go back to the slow-burn/will-they-won’t-they romance spanning 100-150 episodes. Today it is a miracle if you can get ANY show to last longer than 50 episodes in the first place. 

And that is the piece of this that makes it feel (to me) like they murdered a unicorn.  

Because queer people have gotten a lot of things from TV, and they will get a lot more as time goes on. But that one? That one could very well be a totally extinct species.

That is the larger missed opportunity here that has left this feeling especially hollow and destructive. That is the thing that makes me balk when people tell me to go watch Black Sails or Pose or whatever other prestige TV show is doing this representation ‘better.’ Because that’s not really the loss I am mourning here. I KNOW there is ‘better’ representation elsewhere.  

But the will-they-won’t-they/slow-burn romance is a qualitatively unique thing that queer people literally just never got. Ever. There is no substitute, no alternate, no other show I can turn to with that kind of build-up and pay-off for a queer couple, and there probably won’t be in my lifetime. Not unless the TV industry undergoes another monumental evolution similar to the streaming revolution that shifts the incentives back to telling those types of stories again. 

All those shows you want me to displace Supernatural with? None of them can give me the one thing I uniquely wanted (and could have gotten) from Supernatural. THAT ALTERNATE SHOW DOESN’T EXIST. It doesn’t exist. And I have no reason to hope it will ever exist in my lifetime. 

So stop telling me to look somewhere else; you don’t understand what made this one a unicorn. 

***

Addendum: The only other possible show that could perhaps fill this gap is It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (re: Mac/Dennis). But I’m hesitant to say it exactly meets that criteria, for a number of reasons:

1 - It’s far less serialized relative to Supernatural and (except for a handful of stand-alone episodes) very little of the story is grounded specifically in Dennis/Mac’s romantic dynamic (unlike SPN, where it is absolutely central to much of the narrative)

2 - IASIP is fundamentally satirically in nature/tone which makes it much harder to have genuine romantic pathos (not impossible, but harder) 

3 - All the characters on IASIP are fundamentally crummy people who you aren’t exactly supposed to root for. Which doesn’t mean a romance between two of them can’t have its value/charm/worth but it’s not the same as when it is between characters who unequivocally deserve nice things/happy endings

[buckyownsmylife]

Follow you - Chris Evans smut

The one where Chris becomes your roomate and finds out he has a domesticity kink... and more

Warnings: Smut, breeding kink, domesticity kink, friends to lovers, rommates au, pandemic mention, hair-pulling kink, daddy kink, cockwarming, kind of allusion to an age gap, but can be read as reader being into teasing chris

Word count: 4.1k

A/N: Thanks to @mollygetssherlockcoffee​ for reading this over and helping me make it better! You’re the sweetest person ever!  this is for my own birthday celebration challenge! Like I explained here, I’m going to try to fill every single AU I listed with the characters I picked for the challenge, and since the deadline if May 27, these fics will be posted randomly, as I finish them. Hope you guys like it!

Chris’ P.O.V.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” I’d been trying to convince her to close her laptop for the last two hours, unfortunately without any luck. She just glanced at me before returning to her document, and I groaned as I left the living room in search of what I knew we needed.

“Close the laptop and I’ll give you a sip.” This time when she looked up, she found me holding a bottle of my most expensive whiskey, the one she’d been dying to try ever since she first got invited to my place.

It was a tense moment of evaluation while she took in my offer and her workload, her head turning from her computer to me and then back to the device again, and I found himself growing anxious because of how desperately I wanted her company that night.

“Please?” I tried to convince her, even going so far as to pout - which at least earned me a giggle. I considered it a win, especially with the way it made my chest warm up. “C’mon, we deserve it! After the week we had?”

She frowned when she thought back on the stresses we had confided in each other for the last couple of days, and I watched with glee when she slowly closed her laptop, prompting me to wave my arms around in victory. “We?” She teased, getting up to stand before me with her arms crossed in front of her body, making me laugh.

“Alright, so maybe just you.” I couldn’t really deny that my work “problems” paled in comparison to hers. “Listen, I’m only trying to help.” She narrowed her eyes at me, reaching out for the bottle and unscrewing it before taking the sip I’d promised.

“Shit, this really is good.” A smug smile took over my face as I wrapped my arms around her, walking us back to the couch before making us fall over it.

“Only the best for you, babe.” I watched her roll her eyes at the pet name, snickering at how it affected her. I knew it made her giddy and she hated it, it’s why I insisted on doing it - or so I told myself.

Something deep inside of me whispered differently, though. I tried to ignore it. She was my best friend and we were going to be living together for the foreseeable future. No one knew when this pandemic would let up.

And lord knows that nothing positive had ever come out of my investments in romantic relationships. So every rational thought in my mind was begging me not to overcomplicate this. I couldn’t stand to lose her friendship, anyway. That’s why I had invited her to spend lockdown with me - my need to know she was okay, and be able to have her around whenever I needed to vent.

She was the only one outside my family who got my anxiety well enough to help me work through it when I was feeling bad, and she had even been able to prevent me from having panic attacks more than once.

I just couldn’t imagine going through this with anyone other than her. I simply hadn’t anticipated how fucking horny this period of forced sexual privation would make me, and I never expected her to become a willing victim to my needs.

But boy, once the liquor hit and she ended up over my lap, shivering as she rode my thigh without a care in the world, was I glad that she did.

“Is this what you like?” I asked, looking up at her with my mouth hanging open, unbelieving of how fucking sexy she looked as she used my body for her pleasure. I didn’t even care that my cock was straining against my jeans, begging me to move her on top of it. As long as I could keep enjoying the show, being a part of it, I was satisfied.

“I wanna learn it,” I pressed, moving my hands to hold her ass, squeezing it the way I’d always wanted to do but never allowed myself to dream about. “I wanna learn how to please you.” She made me feel something I hadn’t felt before, in any of my past relationships. There was attraction, of course, but there was also this deep, familiar feeling that made me feel at home. It made me feel safe, and with the help of alcohol, I was desperate to explore it.

“Ugh,” she groaned, letting her head fall back, drawing my attention to her breasts, the way they bounced in front of my eyes, unfortunately still covered. My mouth watered at the sight of it, wanting nothing much than to strip her bare and wrap my lips around one of her nipples.

“Don’t say stuff like that, Evans.” The comment threw me off, making me frown as I took a hold of the hair on the back of her head and yanked her to me, devouring her lips. They were soft - so much softer than I’d ever allowed myself to imagine.

“Why not?” I panted against her mouth once I was forced to separate from her taste of whiskey to search for some oxygen. She kept moving, her eyes hazy and glossed over, and it sent a pang of lust straight down my body when I realized it wasn’t completely due to the drinks we shared. There was also desire in there.

“You want to learn?” She asked, hands bunching up my shirt as she used her hold to grind against me faster. “Then fuck me, Chris.” She molded her body to mine, engulfing my lips once more as I laid her down on the couch, excited to have her underneath me - excited to see her naked body, explore it, get to know every little thing that made her tick.

I knew it would be a moment I’d forever remember, regardless of the amount of bourbon in my blood. I just never expected it to become something I was so eager to relive over and over and over again.

It was supposed to be a one time thing. When I woke up in the morning, I was ready to go back to being roommates. We were good at that. She was a morning person, by the time I woke up every morning, she already had breakfast ready for me, and then we’d go out to the backyard to let Dodger out together.

We’d sit and talk and then I’d go for a run - she’d have done her yoga already, while I was still asleep - I’d answer some e-mails, she’d work on her laptop by my side and the silence was just as comfortable as all of our late night conversations.

She’d sneak out to the kitchen and come back with a few sandwiches for our lunch, and then the rest of the day would go by with us doing whatever mundane task we had in mind, together even if we were doing separate things, and I didn’t feel suffocated.

I didn’t even run out of things to say. By the time dinner rolled around and I followed her back to the kitchen, cleaning up the dishes while she fixed us dinner - I wasn’t allowed to cook in my own stove, mostly because she was terrified of my food but hid it under the excuse of that one time when I started a fire - then we’d eat together, watch a movie together, talk until we fell asleep - always together.

I was shocked. It’d never been this way in any of my previous relationships. In fact, I was certain it was the reason why they had never worked. I’d given up on any realistic expectation of settling down precisely because of this: I just never expected to find anyone with whom a day-to-day life wouldn’t eventually grow boring.

It’d been three months and I still loved to wake up to her coffee. We still fell asleep every night side by side, too tired to move into different beds because we had laughed our asses off after skyping Scott.

And now that sex came into play in our relationship? I just knew there was no way I’d ever go back to being nothing but friends - or living in a place where she wasn’t the first person I saw when I woke up.

It sucked that it took a pandemic and a night of alcohol to make me realize that, but damn, was I grateful that I decided to open a bottle of whiskey that evening.

I kept waiting for the catch, the moment it would all go to shit, but it never came. Our lives resumed to how they used to be, only now I had this ongoing inner battle to not just bend her over the nearest piece of furniture when we were busy, and the ability to do exactly that whenever there was nothing else to do.

And for a while it was bliss. There wasn’t a nagging voice inside my head questioning this arrangement because it was theoretically perfect. I had a best friend, a roommate and a fuck buddy, all wrapped into one single person that I adored.

Life couldn’t possibly get better - until I realized that I wanted more. Talks of lockdown being over started and she had plans of going back to her place, of course, but I couldn’t stand the thought of being away from her.

I wanted to see my family too, but I wanted to take her with me. Introduce her to my mom, see her get along with my sisters. Witness how she’d be with my nephews and nieces - I knew how much she loved kids. And that’s when it hit me.

I’d given my heart to her. Somewhere between the morning coffees and afternoon runs, the nights where I’d rant about all of my silly problems and she actually listened to them - really listened, never making me feel bad about what could only be described as rich people problems.

All the innocent little gestures, and the not so innocent ones - when I discovered she was exactly the nasty slut I’d always dreamed of, the way she would randomly drop to her knees and suck me off, even while I was on the phone. Most times she didn’t even let me repay the favor. She just genuinely liked to blow me.

She also liked to play with me randomly, like when we were watching a movie and she mindlessly reached for my crotch, rubbing me until I got hard. It almost always ended in sex, and I just loved it.

I loved it, and I loved her, and the idea of her ever sharing this idyllic lifestyle with anyone else made me irrationally jealous.

And that’s how I knew it. I didn’t want to mess it up. But how could I not fuck this up?

Xxx

“Chris…” Her sweet voice called out to me, reaching my ears while I was hiding in my office, trying to get my thoughts in order so I wouldn’t just randomly blurt out what I was feeling for my best friend to my best friend.

To her credit, she didn’t try to force me to keep her company - but that only made me fall even deeper for her, leaving me a complete and utter mess while she went about her day as if nothing was wrong in the world.

“Yes?” I looked up to see her by the threshold, clearly reticent about invading my privacy. It made me smile, thinking back on all of the times my exes hadn’t been as understanding, even after I let them clearly know what I was needing.

“I made cupcakes, do you want me to bring you one?” The thought of her in the kitchen, baking a sweet treat just for me had my cock twitching in my pants. Biting my lips, I pushed away from my desk to finally get up and stretch my legs, taking advantage of the monitor to hide my hard-on.

“No, I’ll come eat them downstairs with you.” She smiled before leaving, and I soon trailed after her, walking into the kitchen to find the most delicious-looking little treats, just waiting to be devoured.

Much like her, I supposed.

I was reaching for one of them, already licking my lips in anticipation when something caught my eye, prompting me to raise my gaze and look at her again, but really look at her this time.

She was wearing an apron.

There was nothing inherently sexual about the damn thing, but the way she looked with it, going about her business in my kitchen like she owned the place… It just felt right, seeing her there.

And suddenly I couldn’t hold back anymore.

“Y/N…” I started, leaving the cupcake back on the counter and brushing off the crumbs as I circled the kitchen island to go stand in front of her. She hummed before turning to meet me, smiling slightly to signal that she was listening to what I had to say.

But I didn’t know how to say it. So we just stood there, staring at each other until eventually her smile became a frown. “Chris, what’s going on?” I still couldn’t speak. Much to my absolute surprise though, she just sighed, wiping her hands on the apron while shaking her head, a knowing smile on her face.

“You’re stressed, aren’t you? You’ve been working so much, that’s why I thought the cupcakes would be a good idea,” she explained nodding towards the tray where her sweet treats laid. “They’re a reward and a break all wrapped in one delicious cake.”

The comment was like a punch to the stomach - or a scalding wave of desire rushing through my body, straight to my groin. The idea of her thinking about my needs and catering (quite literally) to them just did something to me, and I didn’t know how to explain it - I don’t think I understood it myself.

“But since they didn’t work…” she continued, blissfully unaware of the conundrum she had put me into. “I know something else that will definitely work.” And just like that, the woman dropped to her knees in front of me, reaching for my sweatpants before I could find a way to close the mouth that was hanging open.

“I guess I’ll grab a sweet treat for myself.” She looked so devious, small hand encircling my already pathetically engorged member, that all I could do was whisper an, “Oh, shit,” when she immediately wrapped her lips around it,  starting to suck me off without any preamble.

My fingers were white as I held onto the counter behind me to keep myself up. She looked so good, staring up at me with her lips wrapped around my dick, I felt like I was about to blow already.

Why did she have to be such a fucking tease?

“Oh, God,” I moaned when she managed to engulf the entirety of my member inside her throat, the choking noises getting to my head. My hand instinctively laced with her hair, first to hold her lips close to my navel, then to pry her completely off of my member.

“What’s wrong?” She questioned once she was able to speak, surprise written all over her features while I was still staring down at her slightly teary face and trying to find my voice.

“I-I have a problem.” There. I said it. I had finally made some progress in my goal to let her know what was going through my head. Only instead of curiosity, what I got was a confused expression from the woman still holding my dick, her eyes darting from my own to the member throbbing between her fingers.

“No, you don’t!” It would have been funny if I wasn’t so fucking frustrated. Yanking her by the hair, I complained, “Not that kind of problem!” pulling her to the living room so I could throw her on the couch, trying to ignore her moans of pleasure in the process.

I’d figured out pretty early on that she had a pretty serious hair-pulling kink, and if my plans of sitting down and having a level-headed conversation were ever in motion, they surely went out of the window the second she pulled my body down to cover hers and adjusted my cock so it would easily fill her.

“Son of a…” I groaned, letting my head fall down against her chest as the little vixen gleefully giggled underneath me, legs wrapped around my torso as she tried to thrust up and tempt me to move.

“Just wait a second,” I managed to reason, but she just shook her head.

“Fuck away your problem, Chris. Use me. I want you to.” Motherfucker. I really couldn’t catch a break with her. Just as she started to make me move again, my hand instinctively wrapped around her neck, lightly squeezing it just enough to get her to shut up.

“I wanna start a family with you,” I finally spilled, looking deep into her eyes as I tried to ignore that I was still balls deep inside of her. Her eyes widened, and now her mouth was the one hanging open.

I couldn’t really relish in it because she looked absolutely delicious and she felt stupidly heavenly to my throbbing dick.

A few seconds went by without as much of a reaction from her and I was about to pull out - despite still being achingly hard - but her legs held me tighter, stopping my plans of leaving her tight haven.

“You know…” She started to speak, a little out of breath, catching my attention as I finally gathered the courage to look her in the eye again. “When I first met you, I thought you were the epitome of a fuckboy.”

The unexpected sentence had me snorting, and then I just couldn’t stop laughing. Finally pulling away from her, she fixed her hair when she sat up and I did the same, shaking my head slightly as I rubbed my eyes.

Our own relative nakedness - well… mine, she was wearing her usual dress with no underwear under the damn apron - didn’t affect anything when I pondered over her words, until I decided to break the silence.

“I mean… I think I was?” She chewed on her bottom lip as she took in my response, analyzing it, weighing its validity in that gorgeous head of hers. I was nervous, but she hadn’t blew me off yet. And quite honestly? I’d do anything for that little hope that was growing inside of me.

“What changed?” Was her question, so unexpected I couldn’t help but question, “Huh?”

“What made you change?” It wasn’t an unwelcome inquiry, especially when the response became clear to me, lighting up my brain and warming my chest, spreading all over my body until I had no choice but to voice it.

“I realized I could have a future with you.” My smile was vulnerable but honest, and in her eyes, I could see that she knew that. When she threw one leg over my lap, straddling my hips, I allowed myself to breathe deeply again, leaning on the soft cushion while taking a hold of her ass.

“So, how are we gonna do this?” She non-nonchalantly asked, slowly rubbing herself against my still half-hard member. I groaned when I realized the implication of her words, knowing that the meaning paired with the feeling of her wet lips dragging along my cock would get it back up in no time at all. “You wanna do me right now?”

The brashness of the question made my eyes light up, as weird as it may sound. In that moment, it became clear just how perfect for me she really was, giving me what I needed exactly in the way I didn’t know how to ask for it.

“See? This is why I’m in love with you.” She rolled her eyes at that, making me laugh. I’d anticipated the gesture, I knew it’d take her longer to say it, but it was alright. The fact that she was willing me to give me a child was more than enough proof of her feelings for me, if her entire behavior ever since she moved in wasn’t already.

“Shut up and fuck me, Evans.” Throwing her back against the couch, she yelped in surprise when I took off my shirt and slapped the inside of her thigh, assuming my usual position of hovering over her smaller frame.

“Spread your fucking legs, darling. I’m gonna fuck you real good.” The way she bit her lip as I slowly penetrated her again showed me just how excited the prospect got her, and as I started to make good on my promise, her moans told me just as much.

“Holy fuck,” she commented as I pounded her ruthlessly, weeks of frustration and the rush of anticipation getting the best of me, and I was glad for the feeling of her nails biting into my skin because otherwise, I’d probably run over the edge of not even caring about her own pleasure as I chased mine.

“You gonna cum inside of me, honey? Make me a mom? Finally fulfill your dream of becoming a daddy?” Her words detracted me from my task of sucking bruises on the skin that was now mine to bruise, mine. I threw my head back, yelling a, “fuck yes,” as my hips sped up, desperate to fill her up, but I was determined to get her to cum before me.

“Say it,” she ordered, small hand circling my throat as best as she could, a throwback to what I’d done only moments prior. It wasn’t enough to choke me, but it did catch my attention. “I wanna hear you say it.”

Tears escaped the corners of my eyes as I blinked, the intensity of the moment overwhelming in the best of ways. “God, you are such a fucking tease…” She chuckled underneath me, giving my throat a squeeze before she raised up on her elbows to kiss my jaw.

“Better get used to it… daddy.” And just like that, I realized that I had yet another kink I hadn’t known about before her. Or maybe it was just her, and I was obsessed with the damn woman, painfully turned on by every little thing that she did.

“I’m gonna cum deep inside your little pussy, sweetheart,” I finally gathered myself enough to do as she asked me to. “You’re gonna belong to me forever now. Give me kids, make me happy. How do you like that?”

The mischievous grin she gave me told me everything. “I love it.” I knew this was her way of saying what she couldn’t yet voice, and I’d take it. I’d take anything she gave me, any chance I got to love this wonderful woman.

We came together, both riding our highs in deep ecstasy. I moaned when I felt myself empty all of my seed inside of her, incredibly excited about the prospect of starting our future together right then.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” I cradled her face in my hands as I struggled to catch my breath, but she turned it to the side and pressed a kiss to my palm and I was breathless all over again. It was such a simple action, why did it get to me so much?

“You’re not too bad yourself, Chris.” I didn’t want to part with her warmth, so I just adjusted us on the sofa in a way that kept me inside of her, sighing contently as I realized I’d never have to sleep away from her again.

“I’m gonna stay right here all night.” I adjusted myself so I was resting my face on her boobs, perfectly happy to do just so, but by the tone of her voice, I knew she had a teasing smile when she called me an, “Old man.”

“And here I was, thinking you’d be able to go again.” Warmth filled my chest at the realization of just how badly she wanted me - just as much as I wanted her too. I was so damn ecstatic. Not even her pokes at my age would be able to affect me.

“Oh, darling… better get ready,” I warned as I adjusted myself to hover over her again, taking notice of the excited glint in her eyes, the way she bit her lip as she stared back at me. “I’m never gonna get enough of you.”

The next morning, I added a new kink to the list of random bits of information that were driving me slowly insane as I felt the overwhelming need to bend the woman that I now got to call ‘mine’ over the nearest piece of furniture and rail her until I had cummed deep inside her pussy: seeing her in my shirt while cooking breakfast.

Yeah, I was going to live a happy life by her side.

[existslikepristin]

Please, No Virginity Puns

The most recent thing I posted before tumblr. It was on Choerry's birthday, and I am proud of that.

Tags: TheLounge, Loona, Choerry, male reader insert, it's her birthday!, 100% butt stuff, I ate a thesaurus

~~~~~

It didn’t matter what you had to say anymore. Choerry was already on top of you, nude and keeping you muted with her tongue. How did you get there?

Well, moments prior, you were sitting next to Choerry at your small dinner table. She’s always insisted on sitting as close to you as possible in order to enable near-constant snuggling. It’s gotten a little annoying here and there, but you can’t help but concede to her innocent demands whenever she smiles.

Of course, and not that you’ve ever complained about this, that’s not to say that her demands aren’t always entirely innocent. Most of the time they are, but not always.

That day, for example, you woke her up with breakfast in bed. It wasn’t tradition, but you were just getting her back for the last time she did it for you. And what better day to present her, prone, with a pancake, pulverized potato, and porridge parfait platter… with toppings… than her birthday?!

It can be hard to tell if Choerry is acting or not at times, but you’d like to think that her cartoonish level of enthusiasm for the treat was entirely real. She carried that sunshine throughout the rest of your day, skipping through the park, greeting everybody on the way to, inside, and on the way out of The Lounge, at the surprise party that you helped all of her members get her with, and when she dragged you to her room.

Not a drop of alcohol had touched her lips that night, so it was all the more surprising when she shoved you onto her bed and stated matter-of-factly-but-also-vaguely that she wanted you to put a thing in her butt. Her words came out of her mouth like shimmery soap bubbles.

You had to pause for a moment to process her words. You were certainly up for some sexy times with Choerry. You had anticipated it was going to happen when she put your hand down her pants near the end of the birthday party with no attempt at subtlety. But her exact word choices had you rubbing your temples out of exasperation, even as she stripped herself down to her ridiculously cherry red lingerie.

Your chance to admire that rare view was lost to history, however. She removed the lingerie from her body while she claimed your lips. Your disappointment at not getting the opportunity to remove it yourself quickly faded when she popped back up though.

Her breasts were as perky as her attitude, and also your dick. She was quick to notice the latter and made quick work of your clothes too. She sighed satisfactorily at the sight of your sword and stooped to supply it with a suck and some slickening slobber, so you suspected the sex was starting summarily; more swiftly than standard, it seemed.

Concerned for her well being, you made sure to ask if she had lube available. Again, you weren’t going to complain about her gusto, but she lacked the anal experience that some of your mutual friends had, at least you assumed. Sure enough, there was a bottle mere feet from her reach in her drawer. She grabbed it and jumped back on top of you, pouring it generously over her ass crack and your cock with surprising accuracy for someone so engaged with a hot and heavy kiss.

You were sure you had something to say on the matter. Perhaps some additional words of caution, maybe some other words of encouragement. It didn’t matter what you had to say anymore. Choerry was already on top of you, nude and keeping you muted with her tongue. How did you-- come back around to the exact same thought that the story began with?

“It’s okay, right?”

You attempted to blink away your stupefaction. “O-okay?”

“Mhm! For me to… you know!” She leaned in and whispered directly into your ear, “Put your penis in my butt.”

Ah, yes. The demand that you had nearly forgotten in her flurry of kisses, now slightly reworded to include your dick in the equation. “Yeah, why wouldn’t it be?”

“Just checking!”

“We’ve… done this before.”

“I know!” Choerry swooped back in to continue kissing you, implying that she had no intention of expounding further. Her fingers wrapped around your cock, massaging the whole length to ensure that the lube had maximum coverage.

Your breath caught as you felt her readjusting you, tapping you around between her legs as she tried to match you up with her intended target purely via exploration. Your cock was ground between her ass cheeks, the tip slid over her clit, and dipped briefly into her pussy. A groan was the only complaint you could give to only being given a half second of her fantastic heat.

You didn’t have to wait long to get it back. Her ass opened up to the pressure she applied against it with your dick, but exceptionally slowly. Choerry released a series of little exclamations into your mouth as she pushed. She tossed the lube bottle to the side and snatched your hand, curling her fingers into your palm.

Finally, the last pop came, and was followed by a short slide. With no more manual guidance necessary, she grabbed your other hand as well, which promptly slipped out of her grip considering the amount of lube present.

Choerry released you from your kissy bliss to look at her slippery hand, a mixture of anger and amusement on her face. She tried a couple more times to hold your hand with it, but you liked this look. You easily slithered your hand out from under hers every time she slapped down. It was like watching a cat trying to catch a laser pointer.

It was just another reminder that no matter how deep inside Choerry you may physically be, she’ll never stop bringing a goofy-ass smile to your face.

Finally, you relented and entwined your fingers with hers, locking your knuckles together so you wouldn’t fall apart. She glared down into your eyes, but a grin still crept through. “Thank you,” she said, lips tight and nose scrunched up.

With you fully in her grasp, Choerry straightened herself up, allowing you the opportunity to look up and down her sublime figure. Though her movement caused her to cause you to penetrate her a bit further which caused her to flinch slightly, she kept herself aloft on her knees to not go too far all at once. She closed her eyes and took a series of deep breaths there, as calmly as if she was meditating.

As much as you wanted to go ham on her ham, you didn’t want to hurt her, so you contented yourself with watching her chest rise and fall. “Happy birthday…” you whispered.

“You’ve already told me that today,” Choerry intoned, eyes still closed like she was drifting off into her own little world.

You laughed. “I was saying it to myself! Have you seen you?”

She smiled again, and said three words in a voice that made it seem like she was speaking to an audience on the edge of their seats, “Okay, I’m ready.”

Her fingers constricted around yours, so you questioned if she was, in fact, ready. But you wouldn’t be the one to stop her.

Choerry’s tight tush trucked its way toward the top of your tower twice to tighten her take on the task at the time, before torturously trending testicle-ward. She temporized without taking your entire tool.

So hypnotized were you with her graceful movement that you didn’t even notice the frustrated moan coming up your throat until it was too late.

Her eyes popped open. “I’m sorry!” She sounded like she meant it, too. “This is… tough.”

“Take your time,” you said, straining your voice for comic effect.

“Could have used that four paragraphs ago,” she said, continuing her extremely slow descent down your shaft.

The odd statement distracted you just long enough for Choerry to finish her drop. No longer did space separate your pelvises. You grew concerned again when she winced and bit her lip from the inside.

“Choerry, we really can do something else. Don’t hurt yourself please.”

She gave you an exaggerated, indignant gander. “Rhetorical question: Who gets to choose the cake on her birthday?”

You held in your “cake” joke.

“It’s me,” Choerry’s voice was far too chipper to make this talking-to sound as stern as you were sure she wanted it to come across as. “As birthday lady, I get to pick the cake, and I get to feed it to you if I want to.”

You held in your “cake feeding” joke.

“And tonight, the cake I pick is my bum.”

You opened your mouth to comment on her most excellent selection of the word “bum” in the midst of a scenario where your cock is fully inside of said bum, but you instead gasped a sharp breath.

Choerry ground forward, pulling your dick with her and anointing the lowermost part of your stomach with the juices being lightly sprinkled from her clit.

“Besiiides,” she continued, re-angling her hands to she could tickle the backs of yours, “We have all the lube! Even some that’s got a certain special flavor to it!”

“Just some?”

“Yeah, ooh,” she crooned, apparently quite enjoying the grind back down your pelvis, “I didn’t get it all at once. Now guess the flavor!”

You waited for her grinding to pause again to be able to think straight, “Does it start with a ‘C?’”

Her smile grew. “Yes!”

“Is it a fruit?”

“Yes!”

“Is it… cherry?”

“Failure!”

“Wha--”

“It’s coconut!”

If you weren’t so established in your hand holding with Choerry, you’d have palmed your face. Thankfully, thoughts of how she could have possibly expected you to guess that were pushed to the back of your mind as she resumed her removal of your breath with a series of fanciful body rolls.

Finally fucking her fanny felt fictional. For while not the first foray there, far-fetched was the philosophy that it was fielded often, the front being the favored fornication fissure for the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, you could make this an especially special session.

But woe was unto you. Choerry had the upper hand(s) figuratively as well as literally. But, perhaps, you thought, this was exactly what she wanted and you could wait your damn turn to take control.

And you liked letting her anally probe herself this way, so, you know, what were you to do but enjoy the ride?

Over the course of her self-imposed ravaging, Choerry’s meditative breaths became ragged. Her eyelids fluttered at regular intervals. Through it all, she held her phantasmagorical demeanor. A couple of times she reached for the lube bottle and shotgunned it somewhat inaccurately between her legs, but it did the job. You were happy to see that she was still considering her own comfort.

In fact, to your surprise, her mouth opened wide in a silent shout. Her core trembled anticipatorily. Her hands held yours with a colossally increased lewdness. And those two mystical words trickled from her tongue with a high-pitched susurration, “I’m… cumming…”

Choerry’s grinding came to a grinding halt. Her body jerked and she fell onto you. Your cock sprang free of her ass in, and as a result of, the same motion.

You untangled one of your hands to stroke her back in the most adoring fashion you could muster. After chewing on a thesaurus for the prior hour, you were sure neither of you really needed any more words.

She stayed there for a spell, and you were happy to let her. It was so late it was nearly no longer her birthday, but her birthday it still was. She deserved the rest, along with the rest of your undivided attention.

Her whole movement consisted of her back going up and down as her lungs attempted to revive her fighting spirit, and her thumb lovingly shifting over the divinatory lines on your palm. You wished she would do something about her hair plastered on your chin, but ninety-nine percent of paradise is paradise enough.

You were disappointed when Choerry rose once more, slimily straddling your stomach. She detached her hands from yours to give the hair on either side of her face a good backward flick over her shoulders, and she sighed with contentment.

It was a shock to hear her speak again after such a prolonged reticence, but her unerringly cheerful voice was entirely welcome nonetheless.

“More please.”

You couldn’t then, and you still can’t help but concede to her innocent demands. Her smile just touched the corner of her lips. Sure, some of her demands aren’t so innocent, but… How did you get here again?

[toomanystoriessolittletime]

Night shift

Summary: Meeting Javier during one of your nightshifts at the hospital turned into falling in love with him. But working different shifts can be challenging, yet you somehow make it work.

Pairing: Javier Peña x F!reader

Wordcount: 2.5k

Warnings: mentions of gun wounds and blood, smut (Oral m+f receiving), dirty talk, domestic Javi

Masterlist

Taglist in reblog

You absolutely loathed working night shifts. It was one of the things you would love to live without. But when you took the job at the hospital in Bogotá, even if it was only for two years, you knew you wouldn’t have normal hours like back in the states.

You wanted to help when you came into this country. Even if it was only a little bit.

Of course it was a night shift that had changed your life almost 8 months ago. It had been a quiet night when a man had been rushed into the ER with a gun wound in his shoulder. You didn’t ask any questions as you rushed him to the OR, yet you remembered the crushed man that brought his friend in, his brown eyes pleading you to do everything you could for the injured man.

The man with the gun wound had been Steve Murphy and the man with the brown eyes was Javier Peña.

The same Javier Peña you were living with now after he just didn’t stop asking you out until you finally agreed. A tired smile came to your lips as you drove your car to the quiet streets of Bogota. It was close to 7 am and all you wanted to do is get to bed. Javi would most likely be already on his way to work. You didn’t see each other much with him working during the day and you during the night. But it was only two weeks. Yet you missed him. The intimacy of sleeping in his arms. You just slept better with him. Funny how quickly you could get used to a person.

The smell of coffee still lingered in the apartment as you walked in, letting your backpack fall to the ground next to the door. His shoes were still there so he had to be home. Getting out of your shoes you slowly walked into the apartment, a smile tugging to your tired lips as you saw him leaning over the small kitchen island, reading the newspaper. He was already dressed, just his jacket missing. You sighed and he turned his head to look at you with an equally tired smile.

“You look tired baby,” he said as you walked over. His arms came around you, pulling you close against him and you closed your eyes, inhaling his scent.

“It was a long night. I can’t wait for next weekend. Two whole days off,” you propped your chin up against his chest and he closed the distance, kissing you. You both groaned, his hands sneaking under your shirt, his tongue playing with yours.

Fuck you wanted him.

“You sure I can’t visit you tonight?” he groaned, kissing down your neck.

“No… Don’t want my colleagues to hear me having sex…” you whimpered, your hands pushing into the pockets of his pants on his ass.

“Just have to be quiet…” he grinned against your skin.

“Like that ever worked…” you chuckled, moaning loudly when he sucked on your pulse point on your neck.

“Well...” he grinned and you sighed.

“When do you have to leave?” you asked, already playing with his belt.

“I should already be out…

“You sure you don’t have a couple of minutes left?” you asked. One of his hands came to rest on your cheek, his other hand taking your other hand that had to start unbuttoning his shirt in his, stopping you from getting him undressed.

“I wish I had. But Steve’s probably already waiting. I miss you…” he kissed you again.

“I miss you too. But only a couple more days,” you smiled, letting yourself melt against him. A knock on the door made you both sigh.

“Only a couple more days,” he repeated, kissing you again before he untangled himself from you.

“There’s some coffee left and I made you a sandwich.”

“You’re too good to me, Javi,” you called after him.

“Only for you,” he called back before he turned around and you sighed when you heard the door click shut behind him. Filling your cup with coffee you opened the fridge, seeing the sandwich he made waiting for you. It was your favorite. Smiling to yourself you ate and then made your way to the bathroom to take a nice long shower.

Javi came home earlier that night, bringing some dinner. You were already dressed to leave for work as you sat down next to him on the sofa, letting him hand you a piece of pizza. His smile didn’t reach his eyes today. It was such a change to the man who left you in the morning. Something must have happened today. He was quiet, his hand seemingly using the glass of whiskey in his right hand as a lifeline while he silently chewed on the pizza. You hated to have to leave him when he was like that. Javier never talked about any details about his work with you, much like you didn’t tell him what happens at the hospital. You carefully set down your hand on his thigh, squeezing it lightly which made him look at you.

“I love you,” you said quietly, leaning in to kiss him softly. His eyes fluttered shut as he brought his forehead down against yours, breathing quietly. Setting his glass down, he brought his hand up to rest against your cheek. The pizza long forgotten, you kissed him again, his tongue parting your lips with ease. He helped you up so you could straddle his lap. His hands came to rest on your hips, pushing you closer against him, his lips on yours clinging to you.

“Let me take care of you Javi…” you whispered against his lips and he groaned.

“I want you…” he groaned, sucking your bottom lip in as his hands wandered, grabbing a handful of your ass.

“And you get me. For two long fucking days next weekend where we both won’t leave the apartment but right now I only have time to suck your cock, Javi…” you grinned against his lips and he cursed lowly.

“Let me make you feel good, baby…” you whispered, already letting yourself down to your knees in front of him. You could already see the hard outline of his cock through his ridiculously tight jeans, making you bite your lip. You brought one hand up, brushing over his bulge, hearing him groan. Making quick work of his belt and zipper you pushed his pants down.

He hissed when you pulled his cock out, looking down at you with wild eyes, his hand stroking your cheek as you bit your lip.

“I can’t wait to have you inside me again…” you whispered, kissing the tip of his cock, licking up the precum that already gathered there.

“I want you to fuck me until I can’t think about anything else than your cock…” you licked a stripe from base to the tip and he sighed, his hand wandering into your hair.

“But right now I want you to cum down my throat. Can you do this for me, baby?” you asked, parting your lips to suck on his tip.

“Fuck…” he groaned, closing his eyes only for a second before he watched you as you began to suck his cock. Taking him deeper and deeper until he hit the back of your throat.

“Fuck why are you so good at that?” he groaned and you chuckled, releasing him with a plop, your hand stroking him while you looked up at him.

“I met this guy a couple of months ago that has the most perfect cock I’ve ever had and I just can’t get enough of him.”

“Oh yeah?” he asked, biting his lip.

“And I spend way more time than I like to admit thinking about his perfect fucking cock,” you smiled before you got back and took him between your lips, bobbing up and down faster. You didn’t have that much more time.

“Fuck I’m close…” he pulled at your hair, guiding your movements. You brought another hand down, massaging his balls and it didn’t even take more than a couple of seconds until he shot his load down your throat. Moaning as you sucked him off you ignored the throbbing between your legs. You were soaked just thinking about what he would to to you if you didn’t have to leave now. Making sure you didn’t waste one drop of his cum you released him, licking your lips before you smiled up at him.

“I have to go,” you said sighing.

“That was… Fuck I love you.”

“You only say that, because I just sucked your cock,” you teased, your hands on his thighs as you pushed yourself up to stand. Your knees were hurting, but it was worth every pain to see the look in Javi’s eyes. He reached for your hand, pulling you down to kiss you. He dipped his tongue inside your mouth, moaning as he tasted himself.

“I do love you. More than…” you silenced him with another kiss.

“I love you too. I’ll see you when I get home?”

“You bet,” he smiled.

“Sweet dreams, baby,” you kissed him again before you made your way out of the apartment to get to work.

The sun was already up when you got home the next morning. Groaning you let yourself fall to bed. Last night has been exhausting. You had your fair share of gun wounds ever since you arrived in Colombia but the amount of blood you saw last night would haunt your dreams in the foreseeable future. You sighed, your face buried in Javi’s pillow as you breathed his scent. You wanted nothing more but to feel his strong arms around you, but he was gone already, off to fight the sheer neverending Drug Lords of this fucking country. Sighing you pushed yourself up, shredding yourself out of your scrubs on your way to the bathroom. You needed a long hot shower before you would sleep the last night off.

You were about to doze off, not even caring to dress into your sleep shirt, which technically was one of Javi’s shirts when you heard the bedroom door crack open. You blinked your eyes open, looking into Javi’s. He was wearing a black button-down today, looking so fucking sexy. You would say his eyes looked like he was undressing you but you were already laying naked on the bed, so there was no need.

“Whatcha doing here so late Agent Peña?” you asked tiredly.

“Wanted to check on you. I heard what happened last night…” he walked over, sitting down on the bed, his warm hand coming down on your calf. You turned your head so you could look at him.

“I don’t wanna talk about it. I just wanna sleep but I can’t make my brain shut up…” you sighed, closing your eyes. You felt the bed dip until strong arms pressed your naked body against his, his lips kissing your forehead.

“I wish I could make it all stop and get us the fuck out of here,” he whispered. You fisted his shirt, closing your eyes.

“We could just leave. Live a happy little life in some shitty apartment.”

“House. I’m never gonna live in an apartment ever again,” he said.

“A house and a garden. And a pool cause living in Texas is too fucking exhausting if I don’t get to skinny dip in the pool once in a while.”

“Texas, huh?”

“You wanna be close to your Pa, don’t you?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I want to. And I can’t wait to skinny dip with you,” you felt him smile against your temple.

“You be able to sleep until I get home?” he asked. You sighed.

“I’ll try,” you promised, but Javi wasn’t having any of that.

“I know how to make sure you’ll sleep,” he kissed your hair, pushing you softly down so you were laying on your back. Fluttering your eyes open you were about to protest when his arms around you disappeared when you felt him part your legs.

“Javi…” you sighed, feeling him kiss up your inner thighs. He was completely dressed, you could even see his gun on his belt and it made you shiver.

“Gonna make you feel so good you gonna sleep like stone, baby…” he whispered against your skin, bringing your legs up over your shoulder.

“Do not tease me Javier…” you were already so wet, you were every time when you were around him, and all you wanted was him to make you forget even for a tiny moment about the fucking world around you.

“Don’t have enough time to tease you…” he murmured before you felt his tongue lick a stripe through your folds, stopping at your clit, his tongue flickering over it.

“Always so fucking wet and delicious. Wish I had time to fuck this pussy…”

“Soon…” you whimpered, your hand fisting the bedsheet while your other hand came down to massage your tits. He sucked on your clit, flicking it with his tongue He was so fucking good at this, no wonder he had a reputation. Slowly he licked down, his tongue dipping into your pussy. One of his arms came up, massaging your other tit as you felt two fingers of his other hand entering you, his mouth back on your clit.

“Fuck Javi…” you cried out, arching your back.

“You like that?” he whispered, his mustache intensifying the sensation as he licked your pussy.

“Just like that…” you whimpered, rolling your hips. He angled his fingers inside of you, finding your spot with ease and you moaned lowly, your body jerking of the bed and he chuckled.

“Love it when you do that…” he grinned, sucking harshly on your clit while he moved his fingers inside of you in a circular motion. He pinched your nipple and you were overcome with emotions, tears running down your face.

“Cum for me baby…” he whispered and you shattered. Soaking his face with your arousal, your body shaking as he held you against the bed, letting you ride out your wave. He made sure to clean you off, making you pull away from him until he kissed your pussy tenderly, untangling your legs from above his shoulders. You looked up at him, love-struck and tired, an exhausted smile on your face. He sucked on his fingers, groaning as if it was the most delicious thing he ever tasted before he rounded the bed and leaned down to kiss you, tucking you under the covers.

“I’ll be here when you wake up later. Gonna work with Steve upstairs today,” he whispered.

You nodded sleepily, smiling at him.

“I love you Javi,” you whispered before you finally fell asleep.

“I love you too,” he whispered, kissing your forehead before he left you to sleep.

[featherthiefdean]

Dean and Cas are both having a bad week months after pulling Cas from the Empty. When they get stuck in the car during a rainstorm, Dean finally gets the courage to tell, or really show, Cas how he feels.

1.6K words

Read on AO3 here

Sometimes when it rains, it absolutely pours.

Dean was frustrated. Everything about this last week had gone about as wrong as wrong could go. Things fell apart when a witch, on what should have been routine hunt, tossed him around like a rag doll. She even managed to bust Sam’s shoulder by throwing him through a window not once but twice.

It got worse when Dean realized that the reason the hunt went sideways was because the spell hadn’t worked properly. Cas had sent a picture of the witch stopping spell to Dean’s phone but the picture had distorted and cut off the last ingredient necessary to make the spell work. You would think sending a picture from a magical bunker to the middle of nowhere Montana wouldn’t be too much for modern technology. Thankfully, Dean was able to reach his gun while the witch was busy tossing his brother. Two witch-killing bullets later, she was dead.

When Dean sent Cas a text saying they had to detour to the hospital to get Sam fixed up, Cas called him seconds later. The guilt that his phone malfunctioned caused Cas to lose it on the other end of the line and nothing Dean could say would calm the guy down.  Dean thought maybe Cas would feel better when Sam and Dean returned to the bunker and saw that they were fine but that turned into a whole other issue all together. Cas’s eyes went wide at the sight of Sam’s arm in a sling. Sam assured him it was just a bad sprain but Cas’s distress was clear. Cas’s final straw had been seeing the bruise forming along the left side of Dean’s face.

Cas raised his hand to touch the bruise almost like he was going to heal him. When Cas’s hands made contact, Dean unwittingly flinched from pain. Cas withdrew his hand quickly and silently. He went straight to his room without another spoken word. Dean knew that the photo mishap and the reminder that he could no longer heal them made Cas feel like a failure. Then, Dean flinching when Cas touched him probably sent the wrong message. Feelings of guilt overwhelmed the former angel and Cas hid in his room for the last six days. The inability to offer Cas comfort or reassurance left Dean feeling like a failure too.

Dean had tried to talk to Cas every time he emerged to use the bathroom or get some food but he was met with stony silence or passive aggressive comments. It had been two months since Cas’s last emotional episode and this one felt rougher than normal. When Claire called to ask them to cover a weird case she found while she worked a vampire nest with Jody, Dean ended up literally dragging the new human out of his room because Sam was benched for the foreseeable future. Cas protested going until Dean said that he needed backup. It was clear Cas didn’t want to be anywhere near Dean which only soured his mood further.

The icing on the shit cake was when the Impala ate one of Dean’s favorite Led Zeppelin tapes two hours into a ten-hour drive in the pouring rain.

Yeah, Dean was over this week.

By the time they pulled into the motel they would staying at, a pond had formed in the parking lot big enough to drown a rat from the Princess Bride and the rain seemed to be falling heavier every second. Dean shifted the Impala to park and shut off the engine but made no effort to get out of the car. He leaned forward to look out the windshield to see if there was any end in sight for the torrent of rain but they couldn’t be so lucky.

“Dean, what are you looking for?” Cas asked from the passenger seat as he mimicked the lean. It was the first time he had spoken in hours after talking on the phone with Sam. They had spoken about the case and the case only so Dean could focus on keeping them from hydroplaning off the backroads to the rundown town they were in now.

“I’m looking out for the T-Rex, can’t let it scoop us up before we’ve even had the chance to get dinner.”

Cas turned his entire body towards Dean at this statement. His pink lips parted into a small, confused O and bright blue eyes squinted at Dean in confusion. Dean wouldn’t chance opening Baby’s door with the falling rain but he would let himself drown in Cas’s eyes if given a chance.

“Jurassic Park, Cas. We watched the original last month when Jack stopped by for burgers. You spent the entire move talking about dinosaurs actually having feathers.”

“Oh. Yes, I remember now. ‘Life finds a way.’” Cas’s voiced slipped even lower while quoting the movie, the gravel in his voice even more pronounced. 

Cas went back to looking out the window and watched the rain pour down around them. Dean was free to stare at Cas more openly now. Cas had ditched the trench coat and suit not long after returning from the Empty. Dean never asked why. Now, he was in a blue hooded sweatshirt that brought out his eyes and a pair of well-worn jeans. There was a hint of stubble on his face and his hair was longer than normal. Dean took in all of Cas and felt a sharp pain of longing in his chest. Not a word had been said about “before” but Dean had been meaning to talk-

“We should probably head inside. I don’t think the rain is going to let up soon and I promised I would call Sam back when we arrived,” Cas said as he turned his focus back to Dean.

“Technically, you said you would call him back when we got into the motel room. We aren’t in the room yet.”

“You want me to avoid talking to Sam on a technicality?”

“No, I want to avoid getting soaked down to my underwear and then have to listen to Sam drone on about the lore.”

“Well, if we aren’t getting out of the car soon, what exactly would you like to do to pass the time?”

Dean could definitely think of a few things. He thought about leaning over and kissing Cas breathless while feeling the newly formed stubble beneath his fingertips. He thought about dragging Cas over the front seat while the rain hit the metal roof of the Impala and drowned out his moans. He thought about pulling off Cas’s sweatshirt first and then the former Metallica tee that Cas stole from Dean’s laundry the first week he was human as the windows begin to fog up. He thought about his hands tracing Cas’s-

“Dean, are you listening to me?”

“Buddy, I’m always listening to you.”

“Tell me what I just said.”

“I-uh-”

“Exactly, you never listen. Even before when I-” Cas trailed off and angrily watched the raindrops race down the window.

Dean’s heart broke a little more inside. His heart had shattered when Cas confessed his feelings before being taken by the Empty. The shattered pieces crumbled further when he realized the feelings he had been harboring for years towards his best friend were romantic. He loved Cas back. What little pieces that remained had been ground into dust when he thought he wouldn’t get the chance to say it back and he was too late.

When Cas came back, the pieces began to fit back together slowly yet he had never mentioned them again for fear of his heart being broken one last time. It might break him if Cas had changed his mind and he couldn’t risk it.

Dean slid closer to Cas and nudged him gently with his hand, “I listen, Cas. Always, at least to the important stuff anyway.”

“Really Dean? Because I don’t think you have ever taken anything I have said seriously. Not a single time, maybe when I was an angel but certainly not since I’ve become human.”

“Hey, yes I do. I just got distracted a minute ago-“

“No Dean, you don’t listen. It doesn’t matter what I say or how I say it. You don’t hear me. I don’t know why I’m even here.”

The anger had evaporated from Cas’s voice leaving him sounding tired and sad. Cas let his head roll back onto the soft vinyl seat and shut his eyes.

The elephant-sized weight of everything that had gone unsaid between the two of them was suffocating. The fear in his chest of voicing his own feelings were out gunned by his fear of losing Cas. This week was bad enough with Cas avoiding him, he couldn’t stand if Cas had the exact wrong opinion because of him. Cas thought Dean didn’t care. He thought he didn’t feel the same. The only problem with that was Dean had fallen more in love with Cas with every passing day.

“Cas, look at me.”

Cas let out a deep sigh before turning his head back to Dean. Blue eyes locked with green and Dean knew what he needed to do.

“Cas, I hear you and… I heard you. That Day.”

Dean leaned forward to capture Cas’s lips with his. He channeled everything he had been meaning to say since, well, forever into it. After a moment, Cas was kissing him back. Gentle compared to fierceness coming from Dean. The stubble underneath his fingers and the soft feeling of Cas’s lips sent Dean straight to Heaven.

A few minutes later and much too soon to Dean’s humble opinion, they broke apart.

“I love you too, Cas. Always have.”

Maybe the rain wasn’t drowning them after all, maybe it was washing the slate clean for the first time.

[zaffrenotes]

[TRR] Kairos

Kairos - Part 14

Pairing: Liam x OC Series Rating/Warnings: 18+; language; series will include ns*w 🍋 scenes Chapter Rating/Warnings: G Author’s Note: * All main characters belong to Pixelberry, I’m just borrowing them * Kairos (καιρός) is a word in Greek that translates to “the right time” or “the right moment to act” * Liam’s wife asks about “the one that got away” one night over dinner, and Liam recounts a relationship from his past * This is my submission for @wackydrabbles Prompt 101: Were you ever going to tell me? * Author’s Note 2: * a very late, hastily proofread update thanks to early neighborhood fireworks and turning myself into an emotional support human to my dog (who hates loud noises) * Word Count: 1377 (5 minutes reading time)

Catch up with previous chapters here

“London?!” Max exclaimed. “We were there for Fashion Week! Is that why you switched your assignment to go with me?”

“Yes,” Benigno replied. “I could have used personal leave to travel there on my own, but the timing worked out in my favor and accompanying you was less conspicuous.”

“Were you ever going to tell me?” Tears had begun to form in Max’s eyes, upon realizing she’d been in the same city as her sister.

“With respect to you Miss, no.” Benigno looked over to see Max’s chin quiver as she fought the urge to break down in front of Liam. “First I needed to see with my own eyes if it was really her, and when I saw her…she asked me to keep her whereabouts a secret, Miss Max.” He glanced over to Liam before turning to face Max again, frowning at his confession. “I’m only telling you now because you’ve put pieces together, and it’s clear King Liam cares about Miss Elia, or he wouldn’t have asked about her after all this time.”

“How were you able to track her down?” Liam inquired.

Benigno gave him a small shrug before answering. “It’s better not to know the details, but I called in a few favors.” He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small silver case, opening it to pull free a blank ivory card, before slipping the case back into his pocket. “May I?” he asked, reaching forward for one of the pens on the table. Liam nodded and Benigno wrote something on the back of the card; he leaned forward when he was done and returned the pen to the table, then stretched his hand forward, presenting the card to Liam. “If she’s still in London, this was her last known address from when I saw her.”

Liam glanced down at the address before tucking it into his pants pocket, nodding with solemn appreciation. “Thank you, Mr. Santos.” He looked over to see the eager expression on Max’s face. “I know by all accounts this ought to be handled by family, but it would raise suspicions if you weren’t present with the other suitors for all of the events.” The corners of Max’s lips turned down in a pout, though she nodded in agreement. “I’ll have to look at the schedule of events to see when I could slip away unnoticed, but I thank you both for your help tonight. You have no idea how much this means to me, to even have this small bit of information.”

-

A muted beam of sunlight filtered through the wispy curtains, and Liam stretched his arms above his head before rolling on his side to shut off the chirping melody from the alarm on his phone. After a cursory glance at the notifications that rolled in overnight, he placed a call to room service to order breakfast and took a shower. Once he’d eaten and dressed, he left the hotel and took to the streets of London, in search of the first woman who captured his heart.

Nearly an hour later, Liam stood across the street from a row of houses. He checked the pinned location on the map on his phone, breathing deeply to calm his nerves. With only a few feet separating him from his past and possible future, he slipped the phone into his pocket and crossed the street, making his way to the front door. His heart fluttered at the sight of the knocker on the door, in the shape of a brass peacock. Taking the ring in hand, he knocked it against the plate secured to the door and waited for someone inside to answer.

He wasn’t sure what to expect when the door opened, but seeing an older woman with greying hair and tortoiseshell spectacles was not on his list. She cracked the door open just wide enough to block the entry, wary of the unscheduled visitor standing on the doorstep. “May I help you?” she asked, eyeing Liam cautiously.

“Forgive the intrusion,” Liam replied. “My name is Liam Rys, and I’m looking for Miss Young. I was told she lives here.”

“She does…I’m Mrs. George, the caretaker. Do you have an appointment?”

“No ma’am. I’m a rather old friend of hers and I’m only in town for a day between business meetings. I was hoping to say hello, possibly catch up over lunch if she’s free.”

Mrs. George set her lips in a tense, dubious line. “I’m afraid the lady of the house isn’t here at the moment, and unscheduled visitors aren’t allowed in.” She craned her neck out towards Liam. “And if you’re truly a friend of Miss Young, you’d know how much she dislikes surprise guests.”

Liam sighed, his shoulders slumping in tandem as he exhaled. “Mrs. George, this may be the only opportunity I have to speak with her for the foreseeable future. I’m not certain when I’ll be able to travel to London again, or whether she’ll be here when that time comes.”

Mrs. George scrutinized Liam’s face, then let out the tiniest gasp as she straightened her posture in the doorway. “When did you see her last?”

“It’s been three, nearly four years, give or take a few weeks.”

Mrs. George continued to study Liam’s face for a moment, then nodded to herself. “I’m not at liberty to disclose her precise location, but Miss Young spends most mornings walking through Holland Park. You’ll likely find her there at this time of day.”

Liam’s face lit up with renewed hope, and he stepped forward, shaking hands with the kind woman. “Thank you, ma’am.” He turned and walked down the short path to the gate, waving to Mrs. George as she watched him from the front window. He wondered what could have prompted her to disclose even such a general location for Elia, perhaps unaware that she’d been living under the fake name Benigno had used on the passport given to her all those years ago.

It didn’t take Liam very long to reach one edge of Holland Park, though he had no idea where to start looking for Elia. With another deep breath to calm his nerves, he decided to begin his search by walking the perimeter and slowly working his way inwards, in hopes of crossing paths with Elia.

Forty minutes and countless steps later, the only thing Liam found was a thin sheen or perspiration across his brow as he balanced walking with purpose and blending in with others meandering through the park. He was strolling along one of the paths past a playground, when he heard the familiar screeching birdcall of a peacock; he laughed to himself, recalling the reserve on Kos and the trips he’d taken there with Elia.

Liam thought he might’ve been foolish to think he could find Elia in less than a day, when she’d spent nearly two years completely under the radar. She’d taken a risk in sending money to Benigno, and she’d trusted him more than anyone to keep her secret. She’d never bothered to reach out to Liam, even before he’d gotten married; he began to doubt whether she’d even want to see him now.

He was so lost in thought that he nearly collided with a small child pointing at a peacock a few yards away. “Mama, mama! Pfau! Pfau!” Liam dodged the little boy speaking German that stopped in the middle of the path to point. He smiled as he looked down to see the boy’s excited face, then froze in shock.

“Billy! Slow down, sweetheart!”

Liam’s heart seemed to stop, hearing Billy’s mother call out behind him. He knew that voice. Throat suddenly dry, he forced a cough and dared to turn around, eyes trained on the ground, too nervous to look the mother in the eye right away. She had on a pair of nondescript black leather ballet flats, black dress pants, and a cranberry cashmere sweater set. Her obsidian hair was swept up in a purposefully messy updo. She was just as beautiful as he remembered. When he caught her eye, he grinned softly at her, and her jaw slackened enough to let her mouth fall into a perfect O.

“Liam? Is that you?”

[atsushigre]

stay over

pairing: hawks x reader

summary: after a long day of hero work keigo finds himself on your roof. again. 

wc: 2183

a/n: hello again everyone it is i, hazel, back at it again with More Hawks Content. i’ve had this one done for a while and genuinely forgot about it lmao but istg next time i will write about a different character. anyway enjoy!!

everything feels….weird, without his wings. logically he knows that the feathers will grow back, but two days is a long time to be grounded for someone like keigo, so used to taking to the skies. he feels almost naked without the wings at his back, once beautiful and grand and now reduced to nothing but lesser covert feathers for the foreseeable future. his hands sank deeper into his pockets as he hunched further, trying to compensate for the lack of weight at his back as he made his way through the empty streets. the day was long, even for a hero like him, and between the fight with the nomus that left him grounded to the tense words he’d shared with dabi moments ago, he was just about ready to speed home and call it quits. though he couldn’t help the feeling of wrongness that was eating at him even still, annoyance rising in him as he tried to place exactly what it was making him feel this off. a gloved hand rose up to rest on his face, finger tapping on his chin in concentration as he sank deeper into thought. all in all, despite the overall frankly terrible atmosphere of the day, objectively speaking, things could have gone worse. way worse. he’d even managed to save all those people, scraping through the afternoon with a grand total of zero casualties, and even the mild to severe annoyance he’s feeling over a spontaneous transformation to flightless bird will dissipate in a day or two, so what could it be that’s got him all twisted up thinking about it?

oh. right. you.

 his feet came to a stop almost on their own, and as he craned his head upwards he couldn’t help the small twitch of his lips into a smile as he came face to face with not his own high rise, but your apartment complex. a tad bit run down, smack dab in the middle of his patrol zone, and oh so familiar. see, pretty much every night for the past four (five? he’d almost lost track) months he’d found himself perched on the roof of this very building, takeout from the restaurant across the street in hand (what could he say? he was a busy guy and their fried chicken was to DIE for) taking a quick break to scarf down some dinner before he took to the skies again. it was convenient, centrally located, and, well, he’d be lying if he said it didn’t also come with good company. it had seemed he wasn’t the only one fond of spending his nights up on that rooftop, as nearly every time he’d found his way up there in recent history he’d been met by you, busying yourself with one thing or another, and over the time you’d shared together he’d actually become quite fond of you and the snippets of (near) normalcy you provided. after all, with such a chaotic schedule like his, breaks were few and far between, and it was nice to be able to sit and just be for a while. 

boots touched down on the roof of the ratty apartment building, and the flapping of wings slowly died down, the rustling of feathers and clothing slowly stilling as the whipping wind dissipated. his whistling cut clean through the still night, and he couldn’t help but let the chuckle escape him as he heard a startled noise come from the center of the shoddy rooftop garden. the scratching of a chair on cement echoed as you padded out into his field of view.

in slight disarray (as always) you made your way over to him, a contented grin on your face and cradling your laptop to your chest. he raised his hand into a two fingered salute, hopping off the ledge of the rooftop to meet you in your advance. 

“you’re a bit late today,” you giggled as you gratefully accepted the drink he’d held out to you, setting your laptop down so you could take a seat next to him. your gaze followed him as he shuffled his meal around in his lap, and you watched as he chuckled and shook his head, directing his gaze up towards you.

“sorry bout that, kid. all the villains in town ganged up and decided i’d be eating a late dinner today.” he gave himself a moment to stretch his tired wings, subconsciously curling them around the two of you as you sat, you with your legs dangling over the side of the building and he with his legs crossed, dinner in his lap. he’d rarely admit it, but the downside of all his speed was that quiet moments like these, and time to just take care of himself, came few and far between, which only led him to cherish the minutes you’d spent together even more.

he hadn’t meant to make an unlikely friend when he’d first landed on your building those months ago; honestly, he’d just wanted five minutes to eat his chicken in peace. but he was so so tired and even though when he’d landed he’d found you star gazing, he’d decided it wasn’t damned worth it to find a new building to park himself and scarf down his dinner. this’d have to do. but you were cute and entertaining and non intrusive and he couldn’t help but leave with a bit of a light feeling in his chest, and subconsciously or not when he found his boots landing on your roof the next day, and the day after that, he never pulled himself away. he could let himself have this, fifteen minutes a day of peace. 

“you alright?” you questioned, and he blinked out of his thoughts to meet your gaze, brows slightly furrowed and face pulled into a concerned expression. he chuckled with a nod, hand rubbing over his neck as he pushed his visor up and off his golden eyes, looking out over the city before his gaze flitted back to you. 

“course. just thinkin, is all.” he gestures between the two of you, a small smile growing wider on his face. “just happy to have this.” he buried his face in the collar of his coat, light blush rising on his tanned cheeks as your delighted laugh rang clear in the night air. you bumped your shoulder against his, head tipping back to take in the night sky as your own smile cut wide and bright across your face.

“i’m happy to have this too.”

of course this was what was eating at him. he’d been so busy today, wrapped up in the hectic nature of his lifestyle that he hadn’t had a minute to his pause, and how could he take a break if it wasn’t here, right? he’d conditioned himself to associate the ratty brick building before his eyes with comfort and peace, and while he didn’t quite have time to unpack all of that he also didn’t have the patience to leave without getting what he came for, despite every bone in his body begging for a well-deserved nap. he pushed up on his feet, instinctually trying to propel himself into flight before he came crashing back down to reality. ah, right. flightless bird, for at least two days. how could he forget? 

his glance strayed to the door, and then to the call box on the door, and in an instant, it dawned on him that he didn’t actually know what unit you resided in. he cracked his knuckles once, twice, pondering how to combat this predicament before his gaze landed on salvation, otherwise known as the fire escape.

with a running start he launched himself up to grab the ladder of the fire escape, burning muscles screaming in protest as he hauled himself up and onto the first level, metal clanking and disturbing the quiet evening atmosphere. with a huff he straightened himself out, straightening his ruffled clothing and beginning to climb the stairs before he heard a gasp, and moments later your worried face was peeking over the side of the building. 

“hawks?” you cried, panic laced in your tone, and keigo perked up at your call, tired smile beginning to stretch over his face before it fell as he took in your panicked appearance. 

“sorry i’m late, busy day today,” he sighed, and you scoffed, ripping a hand through your already disheveled hair, taking in his own appearance (and most notably, lack of wings.) a shaky sigh left your lips, and you quirked your head to the side as you leaned farther forward the edge.

“hawks, why are you on my fire escape?”

“couldn’t exactly fly up today, now could i?” he gestured to his empty back, and as he reached the final level of the fire escape you weakly held out your hand to help pull him up onto the roof, he waved it away, using the last of the energy in his fatigued body to launch himself to a position where he could finish his climb, hauling himself over the ledge and onto the hard cement of the rooftop. he leaned up against the ledge, and you kneeled down in front of him, hand ghosting up to land over his before hesitantly pulling away. you looked a wreck, eyes faintly rimmed in red and hair disheveled, a side effect of the frustrated raking of it away from your face, and the corner of his lip twitched upward as he drank you in. though his muscles were screaming and every part of him was tired, hauling himself here tonight was more than worth it.

“i saw what happened today, on the news. good job,” you weakly smiled, eyes darting around before finally landing on his. “i didn’t think you’d swing by today, given everything.”

“and yet here i am.”

“and yet here you are,” you sighed, finally allowing yourself to rest a hand on his upper arm. “you should be resting, not here. today was rough.”

“i am resting. here, right now. with you. well, for as long as you’ll have me, and then i’ll trudge my way home. or maybe i’ll call a cab, haven’t taken one of tho-” he began to ramble, before you cut him off.

“stay over.” his eyes widened slightly, and he fought the urge to tear his eyes away and tuck his face into his coat to hide from the gentle resolve in your gaze. 

“pardon? sorry kid, don’t think i heard that quite right.”

“i said stay over. you’re tired, i was...worried, and you already went to the trouble of dragging yourself over here anyway. so stay over, and i’ll take care of you, and you can take off again tomorrow morning.” silence fell over the two of you as he mulled over your proposal, and if he noticed his heartbeat picking up at the prospect of staying the night he’d die before admitting it.

“well, when you put it like that, how could i refuse?” you sighed, shaking your head before outstretching your hand, hauling him up and digging through your pockets for your keys. your hand tightened around his and he went to pull away, and he tried to fight the grin splitting over his features as he laced his gloved fingers with yours. pulling him down a couple flights of steps, making sure the hallways were empty (you’d die before you had to explain what you were doing dragging number 2 pro hero hawks through the hallways of your complex this late at night) before pulling him into your tiny apartment. it was nothing to write home about (and honestly, secretly, you were a little embarrassed now that you had hawks standing inside your tiny, messy apartment. but he was tired, and so were you, so you could be embarrassed tomorrow.)

“i’ll get you set up,” you said, disappearing into the bedroom and giving him time to take in the (slightly) chaotic surroundings. despite the chaos, he couldn’t deny that it was wholly you, and he couldn’t help the glee bubbling up in his stomach as he took in the surroundings. you emerged a few moments later, blankets and pillow in hand, and that warm feeling spreading through his body only got warmer as he watched you set the couch up for him.

“if you need anything let me know,” you smiled, hand resting gently on his arm. he met your gaze with a grin, and as he settled into his makeshift bed for the evening he could feel your gaze on him from the doorway of your bedroom for a few moments, but when he cracked one eye open to look at you you had already disappeared, shutting the door gently behind you. 

he settled back onto the couch, tucking himself into the comfort the space around him provided. and, if a few hours later, his sleep-addled mind felt a hand card through his hair once or twice, his blanket get readjusted, and a soft kiss pressed to his forehead, well, he’d just have to chalk it up to a dream. 

[limitlessgojo]

Blood Bound: Red Strings of Fate (Ch 2)

Warnings: Action, Coarse Language, Fighting, Descriptions of Blood

Previous Chapter: The First Meeting

Next Chapter: What's Your Ideal Type?

Tags: Soulmates AU, Angst, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Fem!Reader

Taglist: @lessie-oxj, @rizzo-nero, @whoreuc

Notes: If you want to be tagged for every update, please mention it in the comments below ty.

CHAPTER 2: The Rebirth

You had a hard time falling asleep that night. Your mind is trying to remember the vision, but the images remain blurry. There was a faint heat lingering from the man's body pressed against yours.

‘Could we possibly be…. It’s not impossible but….’, your mind was working 10,000 miles an hour trying to think of the possibilities. There was only one thought that came to mind and it made you blush. You pulled up the covers and snuggled against your stuffed plushies and pillows. You had to pass by the library and get permission tomorrow.

At least the weaponry was amazing. Noritoshi senpai even showed you inside and pointed you to the crossbows he often practices with. ‘He must be a capable sorcerer. The way he holds himself up with such dignity was already a dead giveaway. A natural born leader huh.’ you wondered.

You fell asleep that night dreaming about a lovely Phoenix, being reborn from ashes.

◇◇◇

Noritoshi was pacing around in his room. He had passed by the library on the way back from dinner, and grabbed several books. “The Secrets of Foreseeing the Future, Vol. 1”, “Alternate and Parallel Worlds”, “Past Lives: A Study”, and “The Life and Works of Abe no Seimei".

He paced around his dorm room, looking over the book that was bothering him the most. “The Tales and True Records of Soulmates”.

He scanned through the main parts of the book. It spoke about bonding. There apparently were 2 types of bonding, emotional and physical.

When 2 halves of a whole reach a certain degree of understanding of each other, they establish what's called a half-bond or a phantom bond.

This begins to link their emotions. Intense anger, fear, joy, disgust, sorrow, and love can be felt from the very first stage. As their bond strengthens, they begin to share more emotions, as well as short strong intentions.

Intentions are used to depict a state of being. If they have a goal or a state of feeling over a particular matter, their partner can pick up on it.

The near final stage of a full bond is when they start to share physical sensations. When one gets injured, it will resound with the other.

The strongest bond is known to share special abilities and thoughts via telepathy between a fated pair.

Noritoshi's mind was definitely in overdrive. There was SO MUCH information on soulmates. But the one thing that wasn't explicitly stated was how a soulmate pair found each other.

How do soulmates confirm that they are indeed soulmates? Most of the information was based on soulmates who simply claimed to be. Then what about how they came to be?

So now he knows that soulmates are supposedly able to share emotions and feelings to a certain degree. But there was a lack of information in the book. What about visions? The vision he shared with y/n was one of a kind.

It kept discussing how the known most popular existence were the parents of Sugawara no Michizane. One of the three great vengeful spirits that is the ancestor of the Gojo clan.

He made up his mind. Taking out his phone, he dialed up his father.

Beep. “Noritoshi? It’s so late, why are you calling at this time? It best be an urgent matter.” his father gruffly answered.

“I am sorry to disturb you father. It’s just, there is a new student here in school. A First year called Tsuchimikado y/n from the Tsuchimikado clan.”

“Ahhh, them huh? Powerful group even though there are only a few of them. They don’t really talk about their techniques that much. They are descendants of Abe no Seimei and yet they kept to themselves as a minor clan of jujutsushi… So what about her?”

“She might possibly be my soulmate, but I am still confirming. Do you have any books or records on soulmates at all?”

At this, his father sat up straight in his study. “Are you serious? And what can you say to prove such claims? Do you know how rare a soulmate bond is?”

"I am aware. And I know we may not be soulmates. But I have some suspicions. If you have any info about soulmates, The Abe clan, or the Tsuchimikado clans, I would appreciate it." Noritoshi replied.

"Okay. I'll have a look and get back to you. Feel free to come by the main house this weekend. Look over the main study. There are also some records on Soulmates there."

"Thank you father. Have a good evening."

Beep.

Noritoshi sighed. He undid his hair bindings and combed out his hair. And opened the book again. He read through the table of contents in case he missed out on any major pointers.

He couldn't read the book in one sitting, because he is still reviewing for the TOEIC and improving his English.

He yawned and was about to retire to bed, remembering his promise to bring you around tomorrow, when one particular word jumped at him.

The binding process of soulmates. He quickly flipped through to the page and found out with horror that some of the pages had been torn out.

It wasn't him who did it. (Obviously). But now he has to go and tell Utahime sensei about it.

He took a closer look at the remaining few pages.

"The Binding of Soulmates. It is known to vary per pair. Some pairs found themselves to be born with a matching symbol in the inside of their arms or on their necks from birth. While others form it upon passing the first stage of -" and the page ends with a violent diagonal tear from the upper right corner to the lower left.

That's pretty much all that he can take away from the book so far. Frustrated, he decided to go to sleep. Nothing about sharing visions was mentioned so far. Maybe they weren't a fated pair after all.

But deep in his gut, Noritoshi knew that you were an important person to him. That was for sure. As he fell asleep, he shared the same dream with you. A lone Phoenix, being reborn from its ashes.

◇◇◇

The following morning, you didn't know where to meet up with Noritoshi senpai so you simply went to the same place he left you last night. On your way there, you passed by a tall robot kind of thing which spooked you. You stared at it, wondering if it was a kind of automation that serves the technical school.

To your surprise, it turned towards you and bowed while greeting, "Hello. I'm a 1st year student here at Kyoto Jujutsu Technical College. You can call me Mechamaru. Kokichi Muta is my real name, but I use robots to fight."

Your eyes widened in surprise and curiosity. "My name is Tsuchimikado Y/n, also starting here as a first year student. Pleased to meet you!" You bowed back.

“So… is your body inside that robot?” you asked him.

“No, as a result of heavenly restriction, which if you haven’t heard of yet is a means of exchange/ a binding contract, my body is elsewhere. I am controlling this robot from afar.”

Your eyes bugged, “That’s incredible! To have that much cursed energy, plus it is over such a long distance.” You were jealous as long-ranged techniques are something you try to work hard and specialise on.

“It’s not that fun being physically stuck in a basement.” Mechamaru didn’t sound too amused.

“Ah, I’m sorry about that… “ you floundered as you mentally hit yourself for being so inconsiderate.

“No need to apologize. I am used to it.” He waved it off coolly.

"You're the first other 1st year I've met Mechamaru. I wonder when the others will come. I've heard of 2 others." You wondered.

"I've already met one of them. Miwa is her name. You won't miss her with her bright blue hair." He replied. His voice was so stiff and robotic, a strange feature.

"Ohhhh I see. I'll keep that in mind!" You smiled. "I'm afraid I have somewhere to be right now, but I'll catch you around for sure! Please take care of me."

"Don't let me keep you waiting. Please also take care of me and see you around." Mechamaru waved as you ran off.

More students to meet huh. Your heart pounded in nervousness and excitement. So it was Miwa and Mechamaru so far. ‘Ugh, I’m so bad with names. I’ll surely get used to it.’ you thought to yourself.

You rounded the corner and nearly plowed through Noritoshi senpai in your haste. “Whoa there, careful,” he held his hands out in case you slipped, but you were fine. You caught yourself just before you hit his personal space.

You were surprised to see him already there, in the same clothes he was in yesterday (was that his uniform? You had yet to get yours, which had custom arrangements).

"Good morning Noritoshi-senpai!" you beamed up at him. He looked down at you amusedly, liking your bright energy. “Good morning y/n.”

Your smile grew wider upon hearing your name fall from his lips for the very first time. For a moment the both of you just stood there smiling. Then Noritoshi beckoned you to his side as you walked around the campus.

"Did you sleep well last night?" He asked.

"Ah yes, though it might take some time getting used to the dorm rooms here. But everything is pretty much convenient. Especially the kitchenettes in our rooms." You were still excited about starting classes.

“Did you have your uniform tailored to your liking?” You asked him.

“Ah yes, I requested a looser fit. I am used to wearing a kimono and wooden sandals at home. I simply requested for them to be made in a similar fashion for comfort. And it gives me enough space to hide all of my weapons.” He smiled gently down at you.

“Ahhh I see. I have also put in a request for my uniform, but I don’t have it yet.” you said.

“Well, it shouldn’t be too long now, classes start in 2 days after all.”

He brought you around the main gardens. “It’s so big,” you gaped, excited to train here. There was so much open space, it would be good for flying practice. “The other buildings are offices for the staff, and warehouses for special tools and materials.” He explained.

Then Noritoshi led you to a corridor with tons of doors. “These are the 3rd year classrooms. First and second year classrooms are upstairs. We can have a look if you’d like?” He asked.

You agreed. And on your way to the staircase, you came face to face with a man going down the stairs. He was incredibly tall and ripped. With his hair tied up, a scar racing down on his left eye, he grunted at Noritoshi in greeting.

He came down and faced you both, before addressing Noritoshi. “You ready for class? Is this a new student?”

“Of course I am. And she is a first year. Tsuchimikado Y/n.” Noritoshi introduced you and you quickly bowed in greeting. “You can call me Tsuchi san or just Tsuchi as I know my last name is long. It is very nice to meet you!”

Noritoshi noted that you didn’t offer to be addressed by your first name this time and felt weirdly happy.

“Todo Aoi, 2nd year. So… what man or woman is your ideal type?” He asked as he loomed over you menacingly. You barely came up to this man's chest.

….. What in the world are you getting into?

Fun fact: The Tsuchimikado Clan are indeed a real clan descended from the Abe Clan and Abe no Seimei the Onmyouji himself. I chose Abe no Seimei as a parallel to the three great vengeful spirits from whom the big 3 Jujutsu families are descendants of. As Abe no Seimei was also a major figure during the Heian period. But of course my story is a work of fiction so other than the onmyouji himself, everyone else is not real^^.

Blood Bound: Table of Contents

[sass-and-suspenders]

Inquiry

GIF from plutoandpersephone

Pairing: Dr. Frederick Chilton x Reader

Author’s Note: In vain I have struggled …with the formatting of this story. Did I use html? Yes. Does it show up correctly when I preview it? Yes. Will it show up correctly when it’s posted? Knowing this website, probably not. I’m posting despite the (possibly) faulty formatting because I will snap like a stale rubber band if I have to fiddle around with it for a minute longer. That said, I hope you enjoy because this was fun to write (but not to format)

Frederick Chilton’s heart was beating far too quickly for something as mundane as writing an email. Normally, he could compose a message in a matter of minutes with little concern for how the recipient would react to his autocratic demands.

This time, however, you were on the receiving end.

And Frederick deeply cared what you thought.

It would have been easier if this was for a work-related matter. As the hospital administrator, Frederick often sent you updates about policy changes or questions regarding your patients. He wrote these emails effortlessly, addressing you like any other member of his staff while ignoring how his heart fluttered whenever your name appeared in his inbox. With the small exception of inquiries about your weekend (something Frederick never did with other employees), his correspondence to you remained strictly professional.

Until now.

It had taken months, but Frederick finally worked up the nerve to ask you on a date. It was non-traditional, asking someone out via email, but Frederick considered asking over the phone or in-person too risky; the chance of rejection was already high, he didn’t need to add to it by stumbling over his words or blushing in your presence like an imbecile. An email allowed Frederick time to organize his thoughts and select the right words to convey just how much you meant to him.

Writing may have been the safest medium, but it wasn’t the fastest. Fifteen minutes had elapsed and Frederick was still struggling with the salutation: ‘My dearest’ seemed too intimate, ‘Good afternoon’ too formal, ‘Ciao’ too pretentious, ‘Ahoy’ too …nautical.

Frederick fiddled with his pen and leaned back in his chair, refusing to acknowledge that he was out of his depth. His love life was preternaturally dormant, yes, but he was a man of science, not to mention a patron of the arts -he could write a simple email. He was just overthinking it, attaching too much significance to every word as if selecting the wrong one would result in rejection.

Sighing, Frederick left his desk to fetch some alcohol, a time-honoured cure for writer’s block. As he poured the amber liquid from the decanter, Frederick reassured himself of his literary prowess: he’d written a myriad of scientific articles, many of which won awards, and there was growing interest in a manuscript he was working on about the Chesapeake Ripper.

He sat back down at his desk with bolstered confidence and a glass of brandy. The opening still eluded him but, rather than dwell on it further, Frederick used a placeholder and began to work on the body of the email.

As he wrote, Frederick likened himself to a suitor in a Jane Austen novel confessing his fervent desire to his beloved. He only hoped that his prose would convince you to give him a chance since, considering the weather in Baltimore, he wouldn’t be strutting out of a lake anytime soon.

Inspired by this little reverie, Frederick soon finished. He took another sip of brandy before looking over what he had written.

To:

From: frederick.chilton@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Inquiry

[Insert salutation]

Ever since we met, I have ardently admired you. Your warmth, beauty, and quick wit are just some of the ways you brighten my day whenever I am graced with your presence. Would you do me the honor of accompanying me to dinner?

I await your reply with hopeful anticipation.

Yours,

Frederick

Satisfied, Frederick turned his attention to the greeting, lightly tapping his pen against his lips as he thought. It took a few moments, but Frederick finally settled on ‘Dear’, a classic opening. After switching out the salutation placeholder for ‘Dear’ followed by your name, Frederick read over the email one last time. He took a large drink of brandy before selecting your email address and pressing send.

Contrary to his belief, the beating in his chest didn’t slow once the email was dispatched. What if you rejected him? How would he bear to see you at work every day? Worse, what if you never responded, leaving him to perpetually wonder whether it was a silent rejection or a lost email?

The familiar ping of an email notification snapped Frederick out of his self-made purgatory. He took a few deep breaths, a half-hearted attempt to quell his rapid heartbeat, as he wondered whether it was a good sign that you responded so quickly. His eyes flicked to his inbox: there, sitting atop of messages from psychiatry journals and irksome colleagues, was a reply.

Only it wasn’t from you.

Frederick’s brow furrowed. Why was a nurse replying to the email he sent you? It didn’t take long after opening the email to realize his mistake: choosing the hospital’s listserv rather than your email address, effectively sending out his declaration of love to the entire hospital. He let out an almost inaudible whimper, knowing it was too late to retract the message.

Apparently, he could control the content of the message, but not its audience.

To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: angela.ramirez@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Inquiry

Ask them out in-person, you insecure little weenie!

Frederick hastily deleted the email, but two more popped up in its place like some sort of electronic hydra. It didn't take long for the wolves to respond, and Frederick could only stare at the screen in horror as the replies began pouring in. He swore he could hear laughter in the hallway and began debating whether he should move out of the country or just the state. Depending on how widespread knowledge of his blunder became it may even be wise to leave the continent. Vienna was supposed to be nice this time of year.

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: phillipa.canter@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Inquiry

Girl, you can do better!

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: jackson.doyle@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: valentine.anderson@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

Please remove me from this list. Thanks

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: kevin.fishburne@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

EVERYONE STOP REPLYING ALL!

 Sent from my iPhone

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: gillian.coverly@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

‘Ardently’? Who does Chilton think he is, Mr. Darcy?

 Gillian Coverly, M.D.

Psychiatry Resident, BSHCI

gillian.coverly@bshci.com

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: jonas.dhavernas@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

More like Mr. Collins, am I right? LOL

 Jonas Dhavernas

Security Services | 555-3193 ext. 0315

Frederick harrumphed (he was definitely not a Mr. Collins) and made a mental note to schedule those two for the night shift for the foreseeable future. However, his indignation quickly gave way to woe as he continued to scroll through the other emails in his inbox.

To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: luis.torres@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

lol desperate much

 Luis Torres, PhD

Director of Forensic Psychiatry

(Tel.) 555-3193 ext. 0583 | (Cell) 555-2391 | (Fax) 555-8942

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: hettienne.moreno@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: ralph.chlumsky@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

I’d like to remind everyone that this listserv is for work-related emails only.

Please be professional.

 Ralph Chlumsky, Patient Care Manager

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: kevin.fishburne@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

SERIOUSLY STOP SENDING EMAILS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 Sent from my iPhone

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: bryan.dancy@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: judith.mulrooney@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

As a member of HR, I would like to remind you that you are not obligated to say yes to a date just because Dr. Chilton is your superior.

Please let me know if you would like to file a complaint against him for harassment

Sincerely,

 Judith Mulrooney

Senior Human Resources Manager

(Tel.) 555-3193 ext. 3598

 Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’M POSSIBLE!’ – Audrey Hepburn

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com  

From: it.admin@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

Can everyone please stop replying all? Our servers can’t handle the load and might crash if this continues.

Thanks,

Your friendly neighborhood IT Department

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: dennis.abrams@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: alfredo.rohl@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

 Hi, can anyone give me a lift to work tomorrow? I’m in Federal Hill

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: ellen.ostrowski @bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

Everyone please stop replying all! It’s not that hard, and IT said our server will crash if we keep on doing it!

 Warmest regards,

 Ellen Ostrowski

Administrative Assistant for Dr. Bryan Dancy

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: shawna.neill@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

Ellen, your “everyone stop replying all message” was also a reply all!

Ugh, I work with IDIOTS!

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: ellen.ostrowski@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

Don’t get all high and mighty with me, Shawna, you also used reply all! Frankly, your use of reply all when the server is unstable is just what I’d expect from a lunch thief.

Warmest regards,

 Ellen Ostrowski

Administrative Assistant for Dr. Bryan Dancy

 To: bshci.listserv@bshci.com

From: shawna.neill@bshci.com

Date: Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

FOR THE LAST TIME I DID NOT STEAL YOUR LUNCH!

 A groan escaped Frederick’s lips. How could this have happened? He wasn’t a tech genius, but he kept au courant with the latest gadgets and even implemented smart technology throughout his house. Of course, there had been small mishaps in the past, like when his iPhone autocorrected his last name to ‘Chicken’ and he couldn’t stop it, but nothing of this magnitude. As much as he wanted to blame his snarky colleagues for his misery, he had only himself to blame.

His iPhone was right: he was a chicken.

Frederick was in the middle of researching jobs in Austria, the dramatic part of his brain having overpowered the rational part, when your name appeared in his inbox. His eyes flicked to the now empty glass of brandy on his right before clicking on your reply.

Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Inquiry

I would love to, Frederick. How about Friday?

-Your Elizabeth Bennet

P.S. Judith, no need to get HR involved

Frederick blinked, not quite believing it. Despite his cowardice, and the mortification which ensued, you’d said yes. A smile slowly spread across his face, unaffected by the multitude of emails flooding his inbox in reaction to your answer.

He was still smiling when the hospital’s servers crashed a few moments later.

Tag list: @madpanda75​ @obsessionprofessional​ @madkingcrowley​ @im-like-reallythirsty​ @burningg-red​ @nikkijmorgan​ @misssirenlove​ @zoeykaytesmom​ @mommakat32​ @thatesqcrush​ @southern-magnolia​ @evee87​